1 Corinthians 12:10 (NKJV) 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
In my last post we looked at what are often called the utterance gifts or the manifestations in which the Holy Spirit speaks through us. We began with prophecy. 1 Corinthians 14 speaks of prophecy as words spoken by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for the purpose of exhortation, edification and comfort.
In the church, we have learned that prophecy must be judged. This is because when a word is identified as prophecy, we are saying that the words spoken are directly inspired by God. In the New Testament there is no such thing as an infallible prophet. The Holy Spirit is in every believer and is the primary voice of God to people. It is understood that even the inward voice of the Spirit as we understand it is subject to the written Word of God. It is also necessary to allow those who are accountable for our lives to have input into what we believe we are hearing.
There are two other utterance gifts that I want to touch on briefly before we move on. They are the gifts of other tongues and interpretation of other tongues. Whereas prophecy is a word given by the Spirit of God in the language known to the speaker, other tongues consists of words given by the Holy Spirit in a language the speaker does not know. The most familiar example of this is in Acts chapter 2. When the disciples were baptized with the Holy Spirit, they spoke in languages they did not understand. In that case, those outside who heard them did understand the languages they were speaking. Those who heard said the disciples were speaking “the wonderful works of God.” The definite understanding is that the speakers did not speak the languages listed in Acts 2 by natural learning. They spoke by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
I have heard of this happening many times and witnessed it once myself. A woman we knew stood up in an ecumenical service where many different denominations met to worship together. It was not a Pentecostal gathering but the woman asked permission to share a word. She then spoke in tongues. When she was done God gave her the interpretation through the interpretation of other tongues gift listed in 1 Corinthians 12. After the service, a Polish woman asked why our friend spoke first in Polish and then in English. She thought maybe she was nervous and spoke in her native tongue first. Our friend did not speak a word of Polish, but God used this manifestation of other tongues with the interpretation of tongues to speak a special word to this Polish woman.
This has not been a common experience in my life, but it does happen. More common is that someone will speak out a message in other tongues in a service. If there is no interpretation to such a message, Paul points out that there would be no purpose to the word in other tongues for the general congregation since no one could understand it. He says if there is not one to interpret, the speaker should keep silent. If there is an interpretation, the rules that apply to prophecy would apply to the interpretation. Some would argue that this is the only use of other tongues, however Paul seems to indicate that it is actually quite a common thing.
1 Corinthians 14:18-19 (NKJV) 18 I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; 19 yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
Paul says two things I find significant. First, he says that he speaks in tongues more than all the people to whom he was writing. Second, he says, “but in the church I would rather speak 5 words people can understand than a thousand words in a tongue (that that cannot be understood.) It is clear to me that he is speaking in tongues when he is not speaking in the church. Why was he speaking in other tongues outside the church with no need of interpretation? There are two possibilities. One might be that he was routinely speaking to people in languages he did not know but the hearers did. This is possible, but there is no indication that is what Paul is talking about. There is, I believe, another use of speaking in other tongues that is more likely to be what Paul is referring to.
Romans 8:26-27 (NKJV) 26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
This is the same Paul who wrote 1 Corinthians 12. What might these groanings which cannot be uttered be? It could be just that. Groanings. However, how than would the Holy Spirit be helping him to pray according to the will of God. Prayer involves words. What words might be in these groanings?
In 1 Corinthians 14:14 Paul points out that, “If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my understanding is unfruitful.” Jude 20 tells us to build ourselves up on our most holy faith “praying in the Holy Spirit.” All of the manifestations in 1 Corinthians come from the Holy Spirit. If, when Paul speaks in a tongue “more than you all”, is it possible that he is praying in the Holy Spirit with words that cannot be uttered in his own language. These would be words spoken by the believer but given by the Holy Spirit to help him or her pray for situations beyond their understanding. Jude would indicate that we can build ourselves up on our most holy faith by praying in the Holy Ghost.
For those who have experienced what has become known as a Pentecostal or Charismatic experience, we know what Paul is talking about. We speak with tongues regularly. We do not speak openly in the church to anyone but God. We pray in our private times in the “Holy Ghost” as he gives us words that cannot be uttered in our own language. We pray things we do not know nor need to know but the Holy Spirit uses us to pray them. We build ourselves up as we pray the will of God in our own lives and in more ways as well. I do not believe this use of other tongues for our private prayer lives needs interpretation as the one to whom we speak knows what we say.
Some would ask, “Why would the Holy Spirit need to pray through us?” To that I would say, “Why do we need to pray at all?” If Paul in Romans 8 is talking about praying in tongues or praying in the Spirit, he says it is the Holy Spirit helping us to pray beyond our faith and ability to understand. If this was common practice among the first century church, it makes sense why a warning as to the public use of tongues might be needed. People were flowing in this gift all the time and needed to understand that it was not used to address people unless it was interpreted. When interpreted it held the same weight as prophecy and was subject to the same rules.
I ended my last post by indicating we would look at the utterance gifts and how they need to be part of the manifestation of the Spirit and Power as we go to the world. I apologize for not getting to that but come back next time. I believe taking these gifts out of the church atmosphere is vital to what God is preparing to do today. The world needs to hear what God has done for us. That is our job as a witness. However, I have seen how hearing what God has to say can set people free, break down the walls of resistance and bring freedom. We need the utterance gifts in the world. The question is how they will function there and how it will be different from how they function in the church. This is what we will tackle next.
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