He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability to prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said. It is the one and only Spirit who distributes all these gifts. He alone decides which gift each person should have.”
1 Corinthians 12:10-11 NLT
Of all the spiritual gifts, “tongues” is arguably the most contentious, both to unbelievers and even other Christians. Some people question why such a gift is of any use. Others say that it can’t be valid because all the gifts died out at the end of the Apostolic age. Still others ridicule tongue-speaking Christians as being deluded and even possessed by an evil spirit. But those believers of a Pentecostal persuasion know the benefit of this gift today, putting it up there in a prime position with which they can worship and praise God. Today, in many churches, the gift of tongues will be heard, either in a public setting or on the lips of believers in their private devotions and prayers.
There are three manifestations of the Holy Spirit gift we call “tongues”. The first is the gift of being able to speak in other world languages. On the day of Pentecost, we read what happened in that Upper Room in Jerusalem. Acts 2:2-4, “Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability”. In this very public setting, the Holy Spirit’s gift of tongues was indeed miraculous, granting the believers the ability to communicate with other Jews in their native language. We read in the next few verses, “At that time there were devout Jews from every nation living in Jerusalem. When they heard the loud noise, everyone came running, and they were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!”” (Acts 2:5-11). There are two things to note about this gift of tongues: firstly, it was manifested as a valid language, such as English, French, Urdu, and so on, enabling communication between people who would otherwise have had no clue what each was saying. Secondly, the messages spoken in these languages communicated “the wonderful things God has done”, giving God the glory that He deserves.
The second use of the gift of tongues is in a public setting, where believers have a gift of bringing a prophetic message in a language or tongue that would be incomprehensible unless someone had a gift of interpretation. The use of this manifestation of tongues seemed to be misunderstood in the Corinthian church, as we read in 1 Corinthians 14. In verse 9 of this chapter, Paul wrote, “It’s the same for you. If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space”. In verse 13, Paul wrote, “So anyone who speaks in tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said”. Regarding the public use of tongues, Paul wrote, “So you see that speaking in tongues is a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers. … ” (1 Corinthians 14:22a).
The third use of the Holy Spirit’s gift of tongues is for personal edification. We read in 1 Corinthians 14:2, 4, “For if you have the ability to speak in tongues, you will be talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit, but it will all be mysterious. … A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church”. Speaking in tongues as part of a believer’s personal worship will edify them, being as it is a spirit-to-Spirit form of communication. The believer’s spirit talks to God through tongues that bypass the believer’s thought processes. Romans 8:26, “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words”.
There are benefits, public and personal, in the Holy Spirit’s gift of tongues that many believers are missing out on. All believers have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, as we read in Acts 2:28, and that enables them, amongst other things, to speak in tongues. But the public manifestations of tongues are given to believers as one of the nine 1 Corinthians 12 gifts, to be used for the edification of the church. We thank God for His many gifts, for His love and kindness, and for equipping us for life in this outpost of His Kingdom on Planet Earth.
Dear Father God. We do indeed thank You for all the good things that You have provided for us. We worship and praise You today. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 