Speaking in other tongues vs. the Gift of Tongues

In my previous article I promised we would explore the highly controversial topic of Tongues. Tongues simply refers to "other languages". Listen when you are in a strange place among people of different origins and you will hear them speaking what may seem to be utter gibberish and if they were to listen to you speaking in English you would seem to be speaking gibberish as well. Yet the bible says that no language is without meaning but if it is not understood the speaker is a barbarian to the hearer. The main reason that there is so much controversy surrounding tongues is lack of understanding what is intended by the scriptures and the proper use of God's gifts to us. It seems these days that much of what God has given to us is either being ignored or misused or abused. Again I must ask "where are the teachers who understand the scriptures and can explain them"?

First of all when speaking in tongues is brought up the first thing that comes to mind is someone in church babbling away in a language that no one can understand and causing some people to be frightened enough or offended enough never to return. Usually when this occurs it is a misuse of a gift. To understand why I say this we must examine the gift itself. There are two entirely separate aspects of tongues that few know about or understand. On the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given the entire 120 disciple present were speaking in different languages they had not learned and the crowd that gathered were amazed because they recognised these languages as their own and knew that these disciples could not have naturally been able to speak those languages. This was a multiple exercise of the Gift of Tongues that is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12 among the 9 gifts of the Holy Spirit. The purpose at the time was that the Holy Spirit was speaking to the hearts of the witnesses and convincing them that something supernatural was taking place which really got their attention and caused them to listen when Peter stood up to speak to them. This is example number one that if speaking out loud in tongues does not accomplish a specific purpose it probably was not prompted by God in the first place.
God is not honored by foolish outbursts. When the bible uses the term "gift of tongues" it is referring to a one time bestowing of an unknown language to accomplish a particular task and will always achieve it's purpose. On the other hand there are references to praying in the Spirit or speaking in a tongue that is for every believer. We must remember that God is not a respecter of persons and does not give one person more tools to live a holy life than another, He is truly the "equal opportunity boss".Jude 1:20 (New King James Version)
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
The scriptures are written for all people for all times and the only scriptures that are not for all Christians are addressed clearly to either a person by name or by office, such as pastor or teacher. Therefor the the admonition to pray in the Holy Spirit is for all Christians not just for those who have been given the "gift of tongues". So from this point forward I will refer to speaking in tongues or praying in tongues as that ability that is available to every christian to communicate with God on a supernatural level, whereas the Gift of Tongues is a one time dispensation given to a Spirit Filled believer to accomplish a given purpose determined by God.
Important to know is that one must experience the first before he can experience the second. In other words a believer must receive the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues first before he can expect to ever exercise the Gift of Tongues in church or a given ministry.

Another point that I can add from personal experience
is that when exercising the Gift of Tongues the language will be different than what the user is accustomed to hearing when he speaks or prays in tongues in private. That is how I know if I have heard from the Holy Spirit or not. There are times when I felt that I was to pray for someone in person for healing or some other serious problem and often I will also pray in tongues. Without fail if I have heard from the Spirit the language will be different and the need will be met but on occasion I have erred and let my own heart of compassion lead me to think I was supposed to pray for that person and had nothing happen and always my prayer language would be what I was used to hearing in private. It can be embarrassing but that is one of the ways we learn to recognize God's voice over the thoughts of our own mind.

The scriptures say that the Spirit distributes severally as He wills.
1 Corinthians 12:11 (King James Version)
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will. This not only means that you can be given the ability to speak in multiple languages but that when baptised in the Holy Spirit you can be given any of the gifts at any time the Holy Spirit deems needful to accomplish God's purposes. Here is a critical point to understand. Some people having received the Holy Spirit will say "I have received the gift of healing" or "I have received the gift of discerning of spirits" or one of the other 9 gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12. This is in error because the true Gift is the Gift of the Holy Spirit and the 9 actions listed are "enablements" and are distributed as the Holy Spirit wills. He can give you the gift of knowledge but it is one time for a specific reason and next may be the working of miracles but that is why people go to crusades where healing ministry is going on and some people get healed and others do not. It is the decision of the Holy Spirit every time and when man says "I have the gift of healing" and people come to be healed and it's not happening all the time then to save face they begin to resort to fakery or lay the blame on the sick person by saying they just didn't have enough faith. Ok, enough on that I am getting away from the primary topic and that is speaking in tongues as in your privat life.

The result of my personal experiences is that I don't care if I ever heard tongues spoken in church whether there was in interpreter or not. I cannot say that I have ever been blessed or encouraged by such an experience and that is because it is so little understood that it is almost always out of order or simply not God inspired in the first place.

On the other hand I am writing this article because I want to emphasise the awesome benefit that speaking in tongues in private is to our spiritual life and awareness of a personal God.1 Corinthians 14:14-15 (New King James Version)
14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. 15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding.


1 Corinthians 14:4 (New King James Version)
4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.


Ephesians 6:18 (New King James Version)
18 praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints—


Jude 1:20 (New King James Version)

20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,

Christian who have not received the baptism in the Holy Spirit with the evidense of speaking in tongues can only try to conjure up in their mind what the scripture means when it says "pray or praying in the Holy Spirit". It does not mean setting your mind into a serious mode and praying with fervency but praying with words you do not understand and that are provided by the Holy Spirit. You may wonder why God woould have us pray when we can't understand the words. The best answer I can come up with is that my mind is polluted and when I pray in tongues and my understanding is disconnected then I am praying the perfect prayer that is in accordance with the will of God and it will receive an answer always. How do I know this? The more I do it the better life gets. Also Romans 8:26-27 tells us what is happening. Romans 8:26-27 (New King James Version)
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[a] 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 has gotten rather long so I will stop here and continue in a new article. I will address the argument that I often hear that tongues are not for every christian.

Please pray that God will give you understanding because if you don't get your confirmation from Him you are always subject to error. God honors those who humble themselves and those whose pride tell them they can understand for themselves will be humbled by Him.1 Peter 5:5b-6 “ God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”[a]

6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time

John Martin
Email justjohn@eoni.com