The Gift of the Working of Miracles
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The Gift of the Working of Miracles
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
TO ANOTHER THE WORKING OF MIRACLES; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
— 1 Corinthians 12:7-11
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: 11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
LIFE NEED ANS ..SOLUTION and GOD has design you to have answers.
After Paul listed the nine gifts of the Spirit as shown in the text above, he went on to say, "But covet earnestly the best gifts . . ."(1Cor. 12:31).
The 'Best' Gift Is the Gift Needed at the Time ....
as we get awaking of this truth and the manifestation in our misdt .. Some one faith will be beging to activates to see this expression in their life and circumsatnce .. example you work , sickness, deals ..
26 What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.
Sometimes people become confused about what the best spiritual gift is. They miss the fact that under some circumstances, even the very best gift of all the spiritual gifts, may not be the best gift in a given circumstance or the gift needed at that particular time.
For instance, the word of wisdom, which is a divine revelation of the plan and purpose of God, is the greatest of all the gifts of the Spirit. However, if you are sick, you don't need that manifestation; you need a manifestation of the gifts of healings.
In other words, under that particular circumstance, the "best" gift would be the gifts of healings, not the word of wisdom. So, you see, the best gift, the word of wisdom, is not always what's needed in every situation and circumstance. In that sense, the best gift would really be the one that is needed at the time.
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Find Your Place of Ministry
We look at Paul's letter to the Corinthians in which he said, ". . . covet earnestly the best gifts ..." (1 Cor. 12:31). Paul also said, ". . . desire spiritual gifts . . ." (1 Cor. 14:1).
Paul was exhorting the Corinthians to desire spiritual gifts.
Many times, we take this verse of Scripture personally and we think it means that each person is to desire spiritual gifts as his own personal possessions.
However, Paul was not writing this letter to an individual member of the Church of the Lord Jesus . We can desire and pray his manifestation and expression in our midst ..
The possiblility of the spirit .
Christ. He was writing to the whole Church at Corinth. He was telling them as a church, as a group, to desire these gifts. And this also applies to the Church, the Body of Christ today. Then if believers as a group would earnestly desire spiritual gifts to be manifested in their midst, the Holy Spirit would manifest Himself, "dividing to every man severally as He wills"
(1 Cor. 12:11). The phrase, ". . . dividing to every man severally as he will" in First Corinthians 12:11, infers that each of us will not all have the same spiritual gift manifested through us at the same time.
At some time or another, those who are called to the fivefold ministry would have to be equipped with certain gifts of the Spirit in order to stand in certain offices. Therefore, those people have more consistent manifestations of these spiritual gifts than others in the Body of Christ. But no one will have all the gifts operating through him.
Too many times, we try to be a "jack-of-all-trades and master of none," spiritually speaking, instead of just staying in our places and using whatever gift God has given us, or instead of functioning in the ministry to which we were called. For example, many times people try to do the other fellow's ministry or job, or try to be used in a gift that someone else is used in.
I have heard people say, "If they can do that, so can I." That causes confusion in the Body of Christ, and will eventually lead to error.
By way of illustration, you would really have confusion in your own physical body if your foot said, "If the eye can see, so can I." Of course, your foot can't see; it can't fulfill the role of the eye. It's not supposed to. And conversely, the eye cannot fulfill the role of the foot.
The Working of Miracles Defined
In our studies on the gifts of the Spirit, we now come to the gift of the working of miracles. First of all, let us define the working of miracles.
Also
We might say that it is the supernatural demonstration of the power of God BY WHICH THE LAWS OF NATURE ARE ALTERED, SUSPENDED OR CONTROLLED, (EXCEPTING, OF COURSE, IN THE SPHERE OF DISEASE).
A miracle can be defined as a supernatural intervention by God in the ordinary course of nature.
As is the case with many words in the English language, when we use the word "miracle" generally speaking, it means one thing; but used specifically, it means something else. For example, sometimes the word "miracle" is used generally as a figure of speech. We talk, for instance, about miracle fabrics, miracle drugs, miracle detergents, and so forth.
In nature we might see a beautiful sunrise and say, "That's a miracle." We might look at a beautiful rose garden ablaze with glorious color, the perfume of the flowers ascending into the heavens, and say that it is a "miracle" of nature.
None of these things are a miracle specifically speaking, but generally speaking they are. In the magnificent sunrise, the sun is doing exactly what it ought to do according to the laws of nature. The rose is doing exactly what it was meant to do according to the laws of nature. Therefore, specifically, these are not miracles because a miracle is a supernatural intervention in the ordinary course of nature.
Another example of a natural miracle, or a miracle generally speaking, is the birth of a child. Sometimes the medical profession calls it the miracle of birth. Generally speaking, a natural birth is a miracle. But it is not a miracle in the specific sense, because it is an event occurring in the normal or ordinary course of nature.
The same is true in the spiritual realm regarding the "miracle" of salvation. Generally speaking, salvation is a miracle; but specifically speaking, salvation isn't any more a miracle than a natural birth is a miracle. In the supernatural realm, the new birth is a very natural or normal occurrence. It is a supernatural act, but it is not the gift of working of miracles in operation.
So, generally speaking, as a figure of speech, both the natural birth and the spiritual rebirth of one's spirit are miracles.
But specifically speaking, neither is a miracle because they are not a supernatural intervention in the ordinary course of nature, neither in the natural realm nor in the spiritual realm.
The new birth is a supernatural act which takes place in the spiritual realm. We do not call that a miracle according to our definition of the word "miracle": a supernatural intervention in the ordinary course of nature. What we call a miracle in the specific sense, is a supernatural act on a natural plane.
Therefore, the new birth is not a supernatural act in the natural realm; it is a supernatural act in the spiritual realm. The natural birth is in the natural realm. One is spiritual and the other is natural, and neither are miracles in the specific sense.
Every one of the gifts of the Spirit is miraculous; they are all supernatural. In the general use of the word "miracle," all gifts of the Spirit are miracles, not just the gift of the working of miracles. But specifically speaking, all of them are not.
When the working of miracles is in manifestation, there is a divine intervention in the ordinary course of nature.
For example,
1. the dividing of a stream by the sweep of a mantle is an example of the working of miracles in operation (2 Kings 2:14).
2.After Elijah ascended to heaven in a chariot in the whirlwind, Elisha received his mantle and smote the Jordan River. Dividing the waters by a sweep of his mantle was the working of miracles because that was a supernatural intervention in the ordinary course of nature.
In the area of healing, many times miracles are received, but this is not necessarily the working of miracles; they are simply called healing miracles.
Everything that God does is miraculous in a sense, but receiving healing by supernatural means is not a miracle in the same sense that
3. turning common dust into insects just by a gesture is a miracle (Exod. 8:16), or
16 So the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ”
4. turning common water into wine just by speaking a word is a miracle (John 2:7-11). Those two occurrences are examples of the working of miracles.
7 Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. 9 When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom. 10 And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when the guests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!” 11 This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him.
Water turned into wine by the aging process, or the process of nature, is a natural phenomenon. But water turned into wine just by speaking a word, as Jesus did (John 2:1-11), is a miracle according to our definition — a supernatural intervention in the ordinary course of nature.
A miracle, therefore, is a supernatural intervention in the ordinary course of nature, a temporary suspension of the accustomed order, or an interruption in the system of nature as we know it, operated by the power of the Holy Spirit
Old Testament Examples Of the Working of Miracles
We've defined the working of miracles. Now let's look at examples from the Bible of this gift in operation.
Moses and the Israelites
This working of miracles was used time and time again for miraculous deliverance of God's people. We see this gift used in Egypt when God convinced Pharaoh to let Israel go (See Exodus chapters 7 through 14). A number of miracles were wrought during this time.
When Aaron threw down his rod and it was turned into a serpent, for example, that was the working of miracles in operation (Exod. 7:9-12).
9 “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’ ” 10 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. 12 For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
When the dust was turned into insects (Exod. 8:16-18) and all the other plagues followed, this was the gift of the working of miracles in operation.
16 So the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your rod, and strike the dust of the land, so that it may become lice throughout all the land of Egypt.’ ” 17 And they did so. For Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the earth, and it became lice on man and beast. All the dust of the land became lice throughout all the land of Egypt. 18 Now the magicians so worked with their enchantments to bring forth lice, but they could not. So there were lice on man and beast.
When the children of Israel came out of Egypt and approached the Red Sea, Pharaoh and his hosts were close behind, ready to recapture them and make them slaves again (Exod. 14:5-9).
5 Now it was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled, and the heart of Pharaoh and his servants was turned against the people; and they said, “Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 6 So he made ready his chariot and took his people with him. 7 Also, he took six hundred choice chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt with captains over every one of them. 8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the children of Israel; and the children of Israel went out with boldness. 9 So the Egyptians pursued them, all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen and his army, and overtook them camping by the sea beside Pi Hahiroth, before Baal Zephon.
There the Israelites were with the wilderness on one side, mountains on the other, the sea in front of them, and the enemy behind them. It seemed hopeless.
But Moses looked to the Lord and the Lord told him to stretch forth his rod. Moses stretched it forth and the sea divided (Exod. 14:15-31).
That was the working of a miracle. That was a divine intervention in the ordinary course of nature.
Actually, two gifts of the Spirit were in operation at the parting of the Red Sea. The working of miracles divided the sea, but what kept it divided? It took the gift of faith to do that. It took the gift of faith to sustain this miracle as an ongoing act.
God's people walked over dryshod to the other side. The enemy attempted to do the same, but the waters came together as they attempted to do so, and the Egyptians were drowned in the depths of the sea.
Joshua and the War.. Moon Stand still
12 Then Joshua spoke to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon; And Moon, in the Valley of Aijalon.” 13 So the sun stood still, And the moon stopped, Till the people had revenge Upon their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. 14 And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel.
Elijah and the Widow
The working of miracles was also used in the Old Testament to provide for those in want. For exam-
ple, it was a working of miracles when the widow's cruse of oil didn't fail, but kept flowing out like a fountain of oil until it filled up every vessel she had, and still the cruse kept flowing with oil (1 Kings 17:8-16).
8 Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 So she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the Lord God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.’ ” 15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.
Working of Miracles in the New Testament
Now let's look at a few examples of the working of miracles in operation in the New Testament.
Jesus and the Feeding of the Five Thousand
We see the working of miracles in the New Testament when Jesus took the little boy's lunch and fed five thousand with it (John 6:5-14). I am sometimes amazed at the way some folks — even educated folks — try to explain away the Bible.
5 Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” 6 But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. 7 Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little.” 8 One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, 9 “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” 10 Then Jesus said, “Make the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. 11 And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost.” 13 Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. 14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
Ananias and Sapphira
1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession. 2 And he kept back part of the proceeds, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part and laid it at the apostles’ feet. 3 But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land for yourself? 4 While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God.” 5 Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things. 6 And the young men arose and wrapped him up, carried him out, and buried him. 7 Now it was about three hours later when his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. 8 And Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much?” She said, “Yes, for so much.” 9 Then Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” 10 Then immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. And the young men came in and found her dead, and carrying her out, buried her by her husband.
This working of miracles was also used to carry out divine judgment, as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-10), because this was an example of divine intervention into the ordinary course of nature.
At one time, the Christians in the Early Church had sold all of their possessions and brought the money and laid it at the apostles' feet. They owned everything in common. God didn't tell them to do it.
They evidently felt prompted by the Holy Spirit to do this, and it proved to be a wise move because within a few years the city was overrun, and they would have eventually lost everything they owned.
Ananias and Sapphira had sold their land, but kept part of the money they received. It would have been perfectly all right for them to have said to the disciples, "This is half of the money we received from the sale of our property."
God wasn't requiring them to give all their money to the disciples. There is nothing in the Scriptures that even infers that. It would have been fine if they had been honest and had said, "Here is half the money. We are going to keep the other half."
Ananias came in and laid his money at the apostles' feet, seemingly making the same consecration and dedication that the others had made. Peter asked, "Is that the price of the land?"
"Yes, that is the total price," Ananias answered in effect, but he was telling a lie because he had kept back part of it.
Peter knew through the operation of the gift of the word of knowledge that Ananias was keeping back some of the money. He said, ". . . why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost. . ." (Acts 5:3).
Ananias fell down dead, as a result of divine judgment that came through the working of miracles in operation. The disciples didn't even dismiss for his funeral, and no one went to tell Ananias' wife that he had died.
Three hours later Ananias' wife, Sapphira, came in (Acts 5:7). I don't know how long the service had been going on when Ananias arrived, but three hours later it was still going on. Once while listening to a sermon on Ananias and Sapphira, I heard the preacher say, "Sapphira came in about thirty minutes later."
About that time I thought, Wait a minute! And I read that verse again. It was three hours, not thirty minutes later, that Sapphira came in (Acts 5:7).
Later I pointed this out to that minister. He read it again, shook his head, and said, "I guess I got it confused with our services. If it had been in one of our churches today, if she had come in more than thirty minutes after the service had begun, there wouldn't have been anyone there!"
I believe that most of the time, this is true. However, where the gifts of the Spirit are in operation, I have seen people stay in church all day. Where God's Spirit is moving, folks are not in any hurry to leave.
Divine judgment came to Sapphira and she, too, fell down dead. The working of miracles was again used to carry out divine judgment (Acts 5:8-10).
Paul and Elymas
The working of miracles is also used to confirm the preached Word. When Paul was preaching in Cyprus, Elymas the sorcerer withstood him. Elymas was struck blind for a season through the power of God in the operation of the gift of the working of miracles. That was a supernatural sign to others nearby (Acts 13:4-12).
4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 5 And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant. 6 Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? 11 And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. 12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
The Gift of Faith vs. the Working of Miracles To Deliver From Danger
This working of miracles is used to deliver people from unavoidable danger or harm.
The gift of faith would carry a person through the danger with great peace and calm without the person's being harmed at all. But the working of miracles is different.
For instance, when Paul was shipwrecked, the storm did not cease until it "blew itself out" (Acts 27:1-44). Paul didn't stand up and say, "Storm, you stop!" But because God had spoken to him through a message from an angel of God, Paul had extraordinary faith to believe for divine protection. Paul passively received a miracle. That was the gift of faith in operation, and he received divine protection and safety for everyone on board the ship, although the ship itself was greatly damaged.
In another incident, however, when Jesus stood on that ship and said, ". .. Peace, be still. . ." (Mark 4:39), and the storm ceased, that was the working of miracles and those on board were delivered from danger.
As I previously mentioned, the difference between the gift of faith and the working of miracles is that the gift of faith receives a miracle and the working of miracles works a miracle. and us an individual ..
The working of miracles is used to display God's power and magnificence. In Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible, the Greek word for "miracles" in First Corinthians 12:10 is "dunamis," and can also be translated acts of powers.
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 other words, the working of miracles could also be called the working of acts of powers. According to the Greek concordance, the Greek word also means, explosions of almightiness or impelling, staggering wonders or astonishments.
In other words, the Greek could read, "To another the working of impelling, staggering wonders or astonishments, or the outworkings of explosions of almightiness and acts of powers."
Gifts of Healings More Prevalent In the New Testament
Although in the Old Testament people were healed and the gifts of healings were in operation, gifts of healings were more commonly in operation in the New Testament than they were in the Old Testament.
On the other hand, the working of miracles was more prominent or more commonly manifested in the Old Testament than in the New Testament, with the exception of the gift of working of miracles in Jesus' ministry.
However, the working of miracles could possibly be included where it says, "And by the hands of the apostles were many SIGNS AND WONDERS wrought among the people . . ."(Acts 5:12).
12 And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people. And they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Porch.
According to the Interlinear Greek-English New Testament, verse 12 says, "And many miracles and works were worked among the people by the hands of the apostles."
Although the Bible doesn't specify what signs and wonders or miracles and works these were, it does go on to tell us about some healings which occurred through the ministry of the apostles (Acts 5:15,16). These healings were not actually the working of miracles in demonstration but gifts of healings in operation. Any spectacular manifestation that has to do with healing is the gifts of healings in operation.
15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.
16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
But it could be that because Acts 5:12 does not specify whether these signs and wonders were specifically miracles of healing or not, that this verse could refer to the workings of miracles by the apostles, particularly when the Greek does say that miracles and works were worked by the apostles. But, again, the Bible does not specify what miracles and works these were. Another example of the gift of working of miracles that is specifically mentioned in the New Testament is found in Acts 8.
ACTS 8:5,6
5 Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.
6 And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the MIRACLES which he did.
The passage goes on to tell about some of the miraculous healings which took place. However, again, that would not be the same as the gift of the working of miracles. It could be that verse 6 is talking about miraculous healings, or it could be that it is talking about some other miracles that were wrought.
The Bible does not specify what miracles were wrought, except to say, ". . . hearing and seeing the MIRACLES which he did" (Acts 8:6). So it could also be that some miracles were wrought that weren't healings. If so, that would be the gift of the working of miracles in operation.
We see other passages in the New Testament where the working of miracles is also directly mentioned.
ACTS 6:8
8 And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and MIRACLES among the people.
ACTS 15:12
12 Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what MIRACLES and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.
ACTS 19:11
11 And God wrought special MIRACLES by the hands of Paul:
The word "miracles" in Acts 6:8 and Acts 19:11 is the same Greek word, "dunamis," meaning acts of power (Young's) or mighty, wonderful works (Strong's).
The word "miracles" in Acts 15:12 is the Greek word "semeion," which according to Vine's Expository Dictionary, translates as a sign, mark, or token and "is used of miracles and wonders as signs of divine authority." '
The Importance of the Working of Miracles
1. Howard Carter said in his book, Questions and Answers on Spiritual Gifts: "The working of miracles is a very important manifestation of the Spirit. It is the mighty power of God flowing through a person."
2 .We might say that when this gift is in manifestation through a believer, he participates in the same power of God that was in manifestation when God created the world
God certainly worked a miracle when He spoke the earth and the world into existence.
When the Lord permits a person through the power of the Holy Spirit to speak a word, and the miraculous occurs, then the same God who created the world is allowing some of His omnipotence to be manifested through that person.
But, remember, these gifts of the Spirit, including the gift of the working of miracles, operate as the Spirit wills.
By the working of miracles, a nation was plagued to ensure the deliverance of God's people and to bring Him glory (Exod. 7:12).
By the working of miracles, the shadow cast by the sun went back ten steps on a sun dial as a sign that King Hezekiah would live and not die (Isa. 38:1-8).
Through the working of miracles, suddenly and astonishingly a rod that was thrown to the ground miraculously became a serpent (Exod. 7:10).
Through the working of miracles, fire flashed from the sky and consumed a sacrifice as well as the altar upon which it had been sacrificed (1 Kings 18:38).
One time through the working of miracles, a prophet even made it thunder and hail (Exod. 9:23).
By the working of miracles through Samson, even lions were overcome and were slain.
In the case of Daniel, however, the lions were not overcome and slain. Instead, an angel came down and shut the lions' mouths. Daniel received his miracle through the gift of faith in operation. He lay down and went to sleep among those hungry, ravenous lions and was kept in perfect safety.
The Bible says that when Daniel came out ". . . no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God" (Dan. 6:23). That kind of faith to receive a miracle is beyond the ordinary faith that every Christian possesses (Rom. 12:3). It is the gift of faith in action.
Remember, the gift of special faith receives the miracle; the gift of the working of miracles does the miracle.
Through the working of miracles, loaves were multiplied (Matt 14:17-21; Mark 6:38-44; Luke 9:13-17; John 6:9-14).
Through the working of miracles, a solid iron axe head was made to float in water as if it were a piece of wood (2 Kings 6:5-7). Our Word for 2021 : Our YEAR OF SUPERNATURAL HAPPENING .. MIRACLE BECOEM COME TO US , THING WORK THROUGH US AND IN US
Axe Head Floating
5 But as one was cutting down a tree, the iron ax head fell into the water; and he cried out and said, “Alas, master! For it was borrowed.” 6 So the man of God said, “Where did it fall?” And he showed him the place. So he cut off a stick, and threw it in there; and he made the iron float. 7 Therefore he said, “Pick it up for yourself.” So he reached out his hand and took it.
Through the working of miracles, the raging force of a storm was quieted (Mark 4:37-41; Luke 8:23-25).
Through the working of miracles, a multitude of fish filled the disciples' net when they let it down at Jesus' instruction (John 21:6-8,11).
Through the working of miracles, the widow's small pot of oil became a fountain of oil and provided sustenance for her and her son (2 Kings 4:1-7).
The Gift of Working of Miracles Is for Us Today
Someone said, "But the working of miracles is not for us today." Who said so? The Bible certainly does not say that (1 Cor. 14:1). Some answer, "Well, if the miraculous were for us today, then we would have it operating in our midst." But I say, if God says we can have the miraculous operation of spiritual gifts, then we ought to have them!
1 Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
We not only need to believe in the gifts of the Spirit, but we need to have them in manifestation in our churches too. The church become a place of experience ....
Desire Earnestly Spiritual Gifts ....
Why is it that we know something about these gifts, and talk about them, and yet do not see many of them in operation? The fact is that we are not coveting them earnestly enough. The Lord Jesus asked if He would find faith on the earth when He came again. All these gifts require faith, so that if we are living in a time of spiritual declension we should pray the more earnestly for a mighty manifestation of the Holy Ghost.
Why don't we have more manifestations of spiritual gifts then?
Because we are not meeting God's conditions. God said, ". . . covet earnestly the best gifts . . ." (1 Cor. 12:31).
31 But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you a more excellent way.
If we as a local church, for example, don't have spiritual gifts in manifestation among us, it is because we are not coveting and desiring these things as we should.
I am thoroughly convinced that as we covet spiritual gifts and earnestly desire them, they will be more in manifestation than they have ever been. But it is not going to come just because we sit around and talk about it and just wish we could see them in demonstration.
God said to desire spiritual gifts. If someone really desires something, he is going to make some effort in that direction in order to see what he desires come to pass. we desire and pray for the reality of his presence , we come with expectation , celebrate it and support it .
Paul said, "But covet earnestly the best gifts ..." (1 Cor. 12:31).
The dictionary defines "covet" as to desire earnestly. In other words, Paul said to desire earnestly spiritual gifts.
Many people have desires, but they are not very earnest about making sure those desires are fulfilled. But let's desire gifts of the Spirit to be made manifest among us.
Let's covet them as a body of believers — as a group — and let's pray for them to be manifested in our midst. It is all right to pray that the mighty Holy Ghost will manifest Himself among us dividing to every man severally as He wills according to the Scripture(1 Cor. 12:11). .. WE ENGAGE MORE IN THE SPIRIT . PRAYING MORE
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
Let's pray that these gifts of special faith, the working of miracles, and gifts of healings, and all the gifts of the Spirit will be more in operation in our midst than they have been.
Let me encourage you as a believer to start praying for the fullness of the spiritual gifts to be in manifestation. That is not a prayer to pray once and then quit.
But daily say to the Lord: "Lord, these manifestations of your Holy Spirit are for us today. You haven't taken them out of the Church. You said these gifts are given to the Church; they belong to us and we ought to have them in manifestation. We pray, Lord, that they will be in manifestation in our midst." Then as a body of believers, let's covet them; let's desire spiritual gifts earnestly.
38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.
WE MAKE THAT OUR INTENTIOANL PRAYER EVERY SERVICE .......THAT NO ONE COME TO OUR MIDST WITHOUT A TOUCH OF MIRACLE
This working of miracles "is indeed a mighty gift, glorifying the God of all power," as Howard Carter said, and "stimulating the faith of His people and astonishing and confounding the unbelief of the wicked."
I am convinced that in this hour, God wants this gift of the working of miracles to be more in prominence, for what "explosions of almightiness" that would be as a sign to the unbeliever and as a mighty demonstration of God's power to all. What it would do for the Body of Christ in this final hour of God's outpouring upon the earth!
Without SIGN and WONDER they will not belives..
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Gifts of Healings
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
To another faith by the same Spirit; TO ANOTHER THE GIFTS OF HEALING BY THE SAME SPIRIT;
To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
— 1 Corinthians 12:7-11
The gifts of healings are manifested for the supernatural healing of sickness and disease without any natural source or means. As I've mentioned, every one of these nine gifts of the Spirit are supernatural.
Some gifts are more spectacular in demonstration than others, but they are all supernatural. We may have some difficulty, because of our limited knowledge, in defining some of the other gifts. But I think we should have little difficulty defining this gift, the gifts of healings.
Most of us basically understand the subject of healing. Healings were, of course, in prominence, in Jesus' ministry as He walked on the earth. Jesus had a healing ministry, and He also gave authority to His disciples to heal the sick (Matt. 10:8). Healing the sick is also included in the Great Commission (Mark 16:18).
Gifts of Healings: Not Medical Science
First, I want to emphasize the supernatural character of the gifts of healings. The gifts of healings have nothing to do with medical science or human learning.
Luke, who was a medical doctor, was with Paul on many of Paul's missionary journeys. Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles as well as the Book of the Bible that bears his name. Luke was with Paul when he was shipwrecked and they were on the Island of Melita.
Nothing at all is said to the effect that Luke ministered to the folks on that island with his medical knowledge. But the father-in-law of the chief man of the island was sick, and Paul laid his hands on him
and he was healed. He was healed by the supernatural power of God. This was the gifts of healings in manifestation.
Then the islanders brought the sick from all over the island, and Paul ministered to them, and they were healed.
Certainly I believe in medical science, and I thank God for what it can do. I am certainly not opposed to doctors, but some people confuse medical science with the gifts of healings.
I heard someone say on the radio one time that the gifts of healings were what God had given doctors and medical science. But the gifts of healings are not doctors and medical science. If that is God's method of healing, then doctors ought not to charge anything; medical treatment ought to be free because the Bible says, ". . . freely ye have received, freely give" (Matt. 10:8). However, as anyone who has had any experience with doctors knows, medical treatment is not free. Also, if doctors and medical science were God's method of healing, medical treatment would always be free from errors; doctors would make no mistakes. However, we know that this is not true either. Doctors and medical science are natural means of healing. The gifts of healings and other methods of divine healing are supernatural.
I would not speak disparagingly about doctors, hospitals, and medical science because they do much good for humanity. I thank God for the number of good Christian physicians who have the best interest of their patients at heart and who minister to them with their natural human ability as a trained physician.
But the healing that is supernatural doesn't come by diagnosis or by prescribing treatment. Divine healing comes by laying on of hands, anointing with oil, or sometimes just by speaking the Word, just to name a few examples from the Word of how healing is ministered.
I believe in natural healing and I thank God for it. I think one of the greatest areas in medical science, and one in which the greatest strides have been made, is in the field of preventive medicine. But not only do I believe in natural healing, I also believe in supernatural, or divine healing.
Gifts of Healings Prominent in The New Testament
It will help us to understand the operation and the purpose of these gifts of healings by looking at some of their uses in the Scriptures. We know, first of all, that the purpose of these gifts is to deliver the sick and to destroy the works of the devil in the human body. And the Bible is full of such examples.
We have discussed the working of miracles and the fact that the working of miracles is more prominent in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. It is just the opposite with the gifts of healings. The gifts of healings are more prominent in the New Testament than in the Old Testament.
In the New Testament, there aren't many records of the gift of the working of miracles in operation. There were a few instances in the ministry of Christ and less in the Acts of the Apostles. But in the New Testament, there are many examples of the gifts of healings in operation.
Jesus Ministered as a Man Anointed by the Holy Spirit
Jesus Himself ministered not as the Son of God but as a man anointed by the Holy Ghost. Jesus was just as much the Son of God when He was twenty-five as He was the Son of God when He was thirty years old. Yet at twenty-five years old, He had not healed a single person; not one miracle of healing had been wrought under His ministry prior to His receiving the anointing of the Holy Spirit at the age of thirty.
And Jesus was just as much the Son of God when He was twenty-nine years old as He was when He was thirty. Yet at the age of twenty-nine, not one single person was healed in His ministry, nor had He wrought one miracle of healing.
Even when Jesus was thirty years of age, on the day before Jesus was baptized by John in the River Jordan and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him to anoint Him to minister, Jesus was just as much the Son of God as He was after His baptism.
Yet until Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit, He never healed a single person. Before Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit, there was no manifestation of the power of God operating in His ministry. It was only after the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in the form of a dove in order to anoint Him to minister that the gifts of the Spirit began to be manifest in His ministry. In fact, Jesus Himself said, ". . . the Father that dwelleth in me, HE doeth the works" ( John 14:10). He never did claim to do them Himself or on His own. He said, "My Father in Me, He does the works." How did He do them? Through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus stood up and read in His hometown synagogue, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me . . ." (Luke 4:18). Then Peter, preaching to Cornelius and his household, said, "How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him "(Acts 10:38). Although Jesus had always been the Son of God, He never healed anyone until after He was anointed with the Holy Ghost and power.
This should prove conclusively that Jesus didn't heal the sick by some power that was inherent in Him as the Son of God, the second Person of the Trinity. Rather, He healed the sick just as anyone else called of God would minister to the sick today — by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, by the manifestation of these gifts of healings, and by the preaching of the Word of God. The Word of God tells us in the Book of John that Christ had the Spirit without measure (John 3:34). Therefore, we would see a full manifestation of spiritual gifts operating in Jesus' ministry that we wouldn't see in anyone else's ministry because, as John 3:34 infers, Jesus had the Spirit without measure. No other person has the Spirit without measure.
However, it seems to me that John 3:34 infers that the entire Body of Christ has the same measure of the Spirit collectively as Jesus had individually. Therefore, just one person would not have the same measure of success in ministering even the gifts of healings that Jesus had in His earth walk because He had the Spirit without measure.
Having the Spirit without measure, Jesus would have the manifestation of all the gifts of the Spirit in His earth walk, except tongues and interpretation, which are exclusive to the dispensation of the church age which Jesus ushered in. Of course, all the gifts of healings would be included in the spiritual gifts which were manifested in Jesus' ministry.
The Gifts of Healings
I want to point out a few verses in First Corinthians chapter 12. In verses 9, 28, and 30 the gifts of healings are mentioned.
1 CORINTHIANS 12:9,28,30
9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the GIFTS OF HEALING by the same Spirit.... 28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then GIFTS OF HEALINGS, helps, governments, diversities of tongues....
30 Have all the GIFTS OF HEALING? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
Notice in verse 28, both the words "gifts" and "healings" are plural, and this is the way it should be listed in every one of the verses where this gift is mentioned.
In the Greek verse 28 is "... gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues." And according to Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words, the word "healings" is plural in the Greek in verses 9, 28, and 30.
Notice that this is the only one of the spiritual gifts listed in First Corinthians 12 that is in the plural — gifts of healings. All the other gifts of the Spirit are singular, except tongues, which will be covered in a later lesson.
Why are they "gifts of healings" and not the "gifts of healing"? The Bible doesn't specifically say, but I have an opinion which I believe is well-founded as to why this is so. I don't think any of us could know for sure scripturally because the Scriptures don't specifically tell us. However, it may be that there are gifts of healings because there are different kinds of diseases and one gift wouldn't heal every kind of disease.
For example, I have noticed in my own ministry, as well as in the ministry of others who have these gifts of healings in operation in their lives and ministries, that when it comes to healings, in some areas I have more success than in other areas. Other ministers have concurred that this is also true in their ministries.
For instance, other ministers have told me that there are certain kinds of diseases they seldom get people healed of in their ministry, and yet, when it comes to other diseases, nearly every person they pray for is healed.
Of course, this is not to negate the fact that believers can be healed on their own faith in God's Word. And yet we must also recognize that there are those in the Body of Christ who are endued with particular spiritual gifts, such as gifts of healings.
For instance, in my own ministry, ruptures, growths, hernias, or lumps of any kind are almost always healed when I pray for people. I once kept a record in every meeting I had over a
period of several years. And in ninety-nine cases out of one hundred, these types of afflictions were eventually all healed.
Some of the growths disappear within a month. Others sometimes take several months before they completely disappear. But in most cases these growths disappear and the people are healed. That is a manifestation of the gifts of healings.
One fellow who was greatly used of God in praying for people who were deaf, said by his own admission that he very seldom got any other type of malady except deaf folks. I watched him several times in various meetings, and I never saw a deaf person fail to receive healing under this man's ministry.
In the ministry of Jesus, every manner of sickness and every manner of disease was healed (Matt. 9:35). That's because Jesus had the Spirit without measure and all the gifts of healings were in manifestation in His life and ministry.
Gifts of Healings vs. Receiving by Faith
There is a difference between receiving healing through the manifestation of gifts of healings and just simply receiving healing by our own faith in God's Word. God has taught me through the years the difference between the two. Both are scriptural ways to receive healing.
When I received healing for my own body, for example, no one laid hands on me. In fact, I didn't really know there was any church group that believed in divine healing. I didn't know there was such a thing as a Full Gospel movement.
But as a Baptist boy on the bed of sickness, I read Grandma's Methodist Bible and I was healed, not just because I believed in divine healing necessarily, but because I acted on and stood on Mark 11:24: ". . . What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."
So I prayed and began to say, "I believe I receive healing for my deformed heart. I believe I receive healing for my paralyzed body. I believe I receive healing from the top of my head to the soles of my feet." And God's healing power was manifested in my body.
My healing came because I acted in faith on God's Word. You can do the same thing. God's Word will work for you if you believe and act on it. Gifts of healings are manifested through another person to you. All healings are done by God, of course, but the difference is in the channel through which healing is manifested.
Someone has said that any time you receive healing, it is done by the gifts of healings in operation. In one sense of the word "gift," healing by any method is a gift because anything you get from God is a gift generally speaking.
However, all healing is not necessarily the gifts of healings in manifestation. My own healing, for example, was manifested as I believed God's Word and acted on it in faith.
Ministering by the Gifts of Healings
Look again at First Corinthians 12:28: "And God hath set some in the church. ..." Paul was not talking here about spiritual gifts, or the gifts of the Spirit when he said, "And God hath set
SOME in the Church. . . ." He was talking about men and women who were equipped with spiritual gifts and ministries.
The "some" that were set in the church includes ". . . first apostles . . ." (1 Cor. 12:28). "Apostles" isn't an individual gift that someone might receive; it is a ministry gift to the Church. "Some" also includes ". . . secondarily prophets . . ." (1 Cor. 12:28). That is a ministry, not to bless an individual, but it is a ministry that is given to bless the whole Church, the Body of Christ.
First Corinthians 12:28 says, ". . . thirdly teachers. . . ." The teaching gift is not something that is given to bless the one who ministers in that anointing. It is a gift that is given to enable a person to bless others. It is a ministry gift to the Body of Christ.
Paul went on in this passage to talk about the working of miracles: ". . . after that miracles . . ." (1 Cor. 12:28). He was saying that there are some people in the ministry who are equipped with the working of miracles in their ministry. That verse continues: "... then gifts of healings . . ."(1 Cor. 12:28).
Then Paul asks the question, "Are all apostles? . . ." (1 Cor. 12:29). In other words, Paul was saying, "Does everyone have the ministry of an apostle?" The answer is no. ". . . are all prophets? ..." [No.]". . . are all teachers? . . ."The answer is no.
Not everyone has the ministry of a teacher to the Body of Christ. Certainly, we could all teach to the extent of our knowledge, but that's not the ministry gift of the teacher. There are those whom God has put in the Church who are equipped by the Holy Spirit with a teaching gift.
I wasn't always a teacher. In fact, for the first nine years of my ministry, I was strictly a preacher. I liked to preach. I was a sermonizer and I had received a great heritage and background along this line from the Southern Baptists. I could read Spur-geon's sermons and preach them just as he did. I loved to preach, but I did not like to teach.
In my pastoral work, it was customary many times for me as the pastor to teach the Sunday School class in the main auditorium, which was attended by folks thirty-five years old and older. I didn't like that.
Sometimes I would wait until Sunday morning to prepare for it, because I knew I could read the lesson and get up and recite it without a lot of study. I took time to prepare my sermons and get ready to preach for my church services, but I just didn't do much about preparing when it came to teaching. I never was so glad about anything in my life when that Sunday morning ordeal was over.
But in May 1943 in the parsonage of the church that my wife and I pastored in Farmersville, Texas, God gave me a teaching gift. I knew what it was when it came. I didn't have it before, but I knew when I got it. It was just as real to me in the Spirit, as it would have been in the natural realm if someone had handed me a $500 bill.
Teaching is a ministry. It wasn't given to me for my individual benefit: it was given to make me a blessing to others. The same is true of the working of miracles and the gifts of healings and of all the ministry gifts.
As we've seen, in First Corinthians 12:29, Paul asks, "Are all apostles? ..." Of course not. ". . . are all teachers? . . ." The answer is no. Everyone doesn't have a teaching ministry. I didn't for years. I would teach when I had to, but I didn't have that ministry. Then Paul asks, ". . . are all workers of miracles?" Well, it is quite obvious that all are not workers of miracles.
Then in verse 30 it says, "Have all the gifts of healing? . . ." No, all people do not have the gifts of healings. This scripture refutes the idea that if a person receives healing, he has also automatically received the impartation of the supernatural gifts of healings — a gift of the Spirit to minister healing to others. And this scripture refutes the idea that a person is necessarily always healed by gifts of healings; he could be healed on his own faith in God's Word.
So First Corinthians 12:28 isn't referring to a healing that is given to a person to bless him; it is a ministry of healing given to bless others.
Any healing from God is a gift, of course. In fact, anything we receive from God — any blessing — would be a gift. But these gifts of the Spirit are supernatural manifestations of the Spirit, and gifts of healings are one such operation manifested to someone through another. Gifts of healings are one way of receiving healing. But as I've said, there are ways of receiving divine healing other than by the manifestation of the gifts of healings.
As a Baptist boy preacher, I would preach on faith and prayer. I wasn't conscious of any kind of anointing or any manifestation of the gifts of the Spirit in operation as I ministered to people. I would just pray for people in faith and God would honor faith because God honors faith in His Word. Therefore, people were healed.
Later I learned that there were others preaching divine healing besides me. They called themselves "Full Gospel." I would fellowship with them, and soon afterwards, I got the baptism of the Holy Ghost and spoke with other tongues.
I continued to pray for the sick by the laying on of hands and by the anointing with oil. In 1938 I accepted the pastorate of a little Full Gospel church in the blackland of north central Texas. While in prayer late one night, the Lord said to me through the Spirit, "I have given thee gifts of healings and have sent you to minister to the sick."
As a pastor, I had been anointing people with oil and praying for them in faith for healing by the laying on of hands. Up to that time, there had been no manifestation of the gifts of healings through me. Many times people would be healed because they got in agreement with me, and we were acting in faith on God's Word.
But after the Lord spoke to me concerning my ministry to the sick, I became conscious of this other "something" working in my ministry, and there would be a manifestation to other people through me. And I really didn't do anything about it except to yield to the Spirit. Then I saw the difference
between healing by simply believing God's promises and by the operation of the gifts of healings.
People can be healed directly by believing God for themselves. Many are healed as I was, simply by believing God. But when it comes to the gifts of healings, there is a special manifestation of the Spirit through one person to another person who is in need.
When people ask me to minister to them, all I can say is that I will minister to them with all the ability I have and with all that God gives me. But we don't operate the gifts of the Spirit as we will; it is as the Spirit wills.
However, if there is no gift of the Spirit in manifestation, people can always be healed and set free based on the Word of God. The Bible says it is the anointing, or the power of God, that breaks the yoke (Isa. 10:27). The anointing is on the Word of God.
That's why it is so important for believers to be members of a local body — a local church — where the Word of God is preached and where God moves by His Spirit. Also, I have found that when the Spirit of God is moving, it is a whole lot easier to receive whatever it is you need from God than it is at other times
However, that still does not eliminate receiving healing on your own by simple faith in God's Word because the Bible says, ". . . by whose [Jesus'] stripes ye were healed" (1 Peter 2:24). Thank God for His Word and for the privilege of believing and acting upon His Word. Thank God, too, for supernatural manifestations and for gifts of healings.
Chapter 18 Gift of Prophecy
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
To another the working of miracles; TO ANOTHER PROPHECY,, to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
— 1 Corinthians 12:7-11
As I explained earlier, the simplest way to describe the gifts of the Spirit is to say that three of them say something. Three of them do something. And three of them reveal something.
Three gifts of utterance that say something:
Prophecy
Divers kinds of tongues Interpretation of tongues
Three gifts of power that do something:
The gift of faith
The working of miracles The gifts of healings
Three gifts of revelation that reveal something:
The word of wisdom The word of knowledge The discerning of spirits
In this lesson, we will begin our discussion of the three gifts of inspiration or utterance. Of these three gifts, prophecy is the most important. Of course, the reason it is the most important is that it takes the other two inspirational gifts — divers kinds of tongues and the interpretation of tongues — to equal this one gift.
The Bible says, ". . . greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret ..." (1 Cor. 14:5). This infers that to speak with tongues and to interpret the tongues is equivalent to prophecy. Therefore, prophecy is really the most important of these three gifts of inspiration or utterance in that it does not require another gift to complete it.
Prophecy is supernatural utterance in a known tongue.
Divers kinds of tongues is supernatural utterance in an unknown tongue.
Interpretation of tongues is a supernatural showing forth of that which has been said in an unknown tongue.
The Hebrew meaning of the phrase, "to prophesy" is to flow forth. It also carries with it the thought: to bubble forth like a fountain, to let drop, to lift up, to tumble forth, and to spring forth. The Greek word that is translated "prophesy" means to speak for another. So "prophesy" can mean to speak for God or to be His spokesman.
In First Corinthians 14:1 we read: "Follow after charity [love], and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may PROPHESY." We are told to desire spiritual gifts, but especially that we might prophesy. That doesn't mean we are not to desire the other gifts, but we are to especially desire to prophesy.
Again, at the end of First Corinthians chapter 14, Paul repeated, "Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy ..." (1 Cor. 14:39). Paul was writing by the inspiration of God. We could say it this way: God through Paul spoke to the Church at Corinth (and it applies to the Church everywhere) to desire spiritual gifts, but rather that we may prophesy (1 Cor. 14:1,39). Foretelling vs. Forth Telling
The simple gift of prophecy should not be confused with the prophetic office or with prophetic utterance that may come forth in the prophet's ministry. Paul said, "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to EDIFICATION, and EXHORTATION, and COMFORT" (1 Cor. 14:3).
Thus, we can readily see that in the simple gift of prophecy there is no revelation. The simple gift of prophecy is given for edification, exhortation, and comfort. In the office of the prophet, however we very often find that revelation or foretelling does come forth, even through the vehicle of prophecy.
It is also interesting to note the difference between prophecy in the Old Testament and prophecy in the New Testament. In the Old Testament prophecy was essentially foretelling, but in the New Testament we see that the gift of prophecy shifts strongly to forth telling. Prophesying Is More Than Preaching
Some people think that "to prophesy" means to preach. All inspired utterance is prophecy in some form or another, but the spiritual gift of prophecy isn't preaching. Sometimes there is an element of prophecy in preaching when a person is anointed by the Spirit and is inspired to say
things spontaneously that come from his spirit rather than his head. But that is only one phase of the operation of the gift of prophecy.
I have heard people say, "I was witnessing to someone about the Lord and I said things to them that were in line with the Word but that were beyond my own thinking. I didn't think it and it didn't come out of my mind. I was just inspired by the Holy Spirit to say it." That is a part of the operation of this gift of prophecy because prophecy is inspired utterance. The gift of prophecy goes beyond speaking by our own reasoning processes and intellect.
"To preach" means to proclaim, to announce, to cry, or to tell. The scriptural purpose of the gift of prophecy is different from the purpose of preaching.
For example, Jesus didn't say that men would be saved by the foolishness of prophesying, but by the foolishness of preaching (1 Cor. 1:21). The supernatural gifts of the Spirit are given to arrest people's attention, not to save them. Even on the Day of Pentecost when people were speaking in tongues, none of those standing by listening got saved until Peter got up andpreached to them (Acts 2:14-41).
The Gift of Prophecy vs. The Office of the Prophet
As we have said, the gift of prophecy should not be confused with the prophetic office. The simple gift of prophecy has no revelation in it. Rather, it speaks unto men for their edification, exhortation, and comfort (1 Cor. 14:3); it is to edify the Church (1 Cor. 14:4).
Notice that in First Corinthians 14:1, Paul was telling the whole Church at Corinth to covet to prophesy and to desire spiritual gifts, ". . . but rather that ye may prophesy." Yet in First Corinthians 12:28, Paul said that all are not prophets. If prophesying made a person a prophet, then Paul would be contradicting himself. In other words, the fact that the gift of simple prophecy operates through a person doesn't make him a prophet.
For example, a rich man has money. Most of us have at least some money, even if it's only a few cents, but that doesn't make us rich. By the same token, a prophet would of course prophesy, but a person who prophesies wouldn't necessarily be a prophet.
Also, a prophet would have more of the gifts of the Spirit in operation than just the gift of prophecy.
He would have revelation gifts operating along with prophecy for the simple reason that Paul says in First Corinthians 14:29 and 30, "Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If any thing be REVEALED to another that sitteth by [that is, another prophet], let the first hold his peace."
Here Paul is talking about revelation. "If any thing be REVEALED . . ." (v. 30). Therefore, the prophet would have other revelation gifts operating in his ministry, as well as the gift of prophecy.
To constitute standing in the office of the prophet, a person needs to have at least two of the revelation gifts operating on a continual basis in his life and ministry, plus the gift of prophecy. In other words, for a person to stand in the office of the prophet, he would need to be called to the fivefold ministry as a preacher or teacher of the Word (Eph. 4:11,12), and have two of the
three revelation gifts — the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, or the discerning of spirits ¦— plus prophecy operating consistently in his ministry.
Therefore, we should not confuse the office of the prophet with the simple gift of prophecy which we are all told to covet: "Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy . . ."(1 Cor. 14:39). We can all have the gift of prophecy because God wouldn't tell us to covet something that wasn't available to us, nor to desire something that we couldn't have (1 Cor. 14:1,5,39). Yet all will not have all the gifts of the Spirit operating in their lives and ministries.
1 CORINTHIANS 14:1,5,39
1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may PROPHESY....
5 1 would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye PROPHESIED: for greater is he that PROPHESIETH than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying....
39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to PROPHESY, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
We can all prophesy, but we can't all be prophets. And although we can all prophesy, we must also realize that prophecy through the office of the prophet carries more authority than the simple gift of prophecy would operating through the laity.
New Testament Example Of the Gift of Prophecy
In Acts chapter 21, we see a scriptural illustration of some believers who had the gift of prophecy operating in their lives.
ACTS 21:8,9
8 And the next day we that were of Paul's company departed, and came unto Caesarea: and we entered into the house of Philip the evangelist, which was one of the seven; and abode with him.
9 And the same man l Philip i had four daughters, virgins, WHICH DID PROPHESY.
All four of Philip's daughters had this simple gift of prophecy operating in their lives. They must have prophesied in the services held in their house because otherwise Paul and his company would not have known that they prophesied.
Philip's daughters spoke to the whole company to edification, exhortation, and comfort (1 Cor. 14:3). However, when the prophet Agabus came, he had a message from the Holy Spirit on a higher order, which brought revelation.
New Testament Example of The Prophet's Ministry
ACTS 21:10,11
10 And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.
11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.
Agabus wasn't necessarily prophesying here in the sense that we normally think of the gift of simple prophecy. He just had a message from the Holy Ghost. He had a message that had some revelation with it — the word of wisdom.
However, no definite direction was given to Paul in this message in the sense that Agabus didn't tell Paul to go or not to go to Jerusalem. That decision was left up to Paul. Agabus just told Paul what was going to happen in the near future should he go to Jerusalem.
There are two possible ways of interpreting the word of wisdom that Agabus had for Paul. One, it was a word of wisdom delivered through the vehicle of prophecy. Two, Agabus was just reporting the word of wisdom he already knew by the Spirit of God.
Therefore, we see that the prophet may prophesy, but the message he brings may not be simple prophecy at all. In other words, the message the prophet gives may come through the vehicle of prophecy (inspired utterance), but the message may actually be the revelation gifts in operation, such as the word of wisdom or the word of knowledge.
Or the prophet may just speak what he has already previously received from the Lord, reporting, "Thus saith the Lord," and the message may actually be other gifts of the Spirit in operation, such as the word of wisdom.
Therefore, in Acts 21:10,11, one of the revelation gifts — the word of wisdom — may have been manifested through the gift of prophecy. In that case, prophecy would just be the vehicle through which the word of wisdom came.
As I said, the other possibility is that when Agabus gave the word of the Lord to Paul, he was only reporting the word of wisdom he already knew by the Spirit, saying, "Thus saith the Holy Ghost," and was not literally speaking under the unction of prophecy.
Misuses of the Gift of Prophecy
The misuse of the gift of prophecy can cause confusion among believers. If folks would use prophecy as the Scripture teaches, it would be a great blessing to the Body of Christ. But some people hear a minister who operates in the prophet's ministry bring forth revelation and they think they can do that too. So they try to bring forth some foretelling instead of just forth telling, and they get into trouble.
A woman once told me: "I attend a prayer group where all they do is lay hands on one another and prophesy. But if anything has ever come to pass, I don't know it. They laid hands on me and prophesied that my mother was going to die within six month's time, but it's been longer than that and she hasn't died yet."
The woman continued, "Then they prophesied that my husband was going to leave me within the year, but it's been longer than that and he hasn't left me yet. We have a good marriage. They have prophesied a lot of other things, too, none of which has happened."
These people were misusing whatever gift they may have had. But if people would just stay with the simple gift of prophecy, "speaking unto men to edification, to exhortation and to comfort," they would be fine.
Certainly, there are those who stand in the prophet's ministry who sometimes minister along the line of foretelling or prediction. There are others who operate in other gifts of the Spirit such as a word of wisdom or a word of knowledge, which may also come forth in prophecy.
However, those who operate in the word of knowledge or the word of wisdom through prophecy do not necessarily stand in the office of the prophet, because, as we saw earlier, there are other qualifications needed to stand in that office. Also, revelation gifts are ministered more on a continual basis in the office of the prophet.
The Simple Gift of Prophecy Is Not Prediction
Many people think the gift of prophecy is prediction. The simple gift of prophecy, however, is not prediction but is speaking unto men ". . . to edification, and exhortation, and comfort" (1 Cor. 14:3).
When it comes to the gifts of the Spirit, you don't have them when you are born into this world. You must first be born into the Kingdom of God through the new birth (2 Cor. 5:17), and then you must receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4).
Then the Bible says the Holy Spirit divides the gifts of the Spirit to every man severally as He wills (1 Cor. 12:11). Also, you must then be in the Spirit for the gifts of the Spirit to operate; gifts of the Spirit do not operate in the flesh. In other words, you must wait upon the unction of the Holy Spirit for the manifestation of spiritual gifts. That is not something we do apart from God.
It is amazing how many people have followed the wrong teaching along this line. But there is no use in backing off from the real and the genuine because of the counterfeit. No, that is all the more reason we need to allow the Holy Spirit to demonstrate the genuine gifts of the Spirit through us and show people from the Word of God what is genuine.
It is unfortunate that even some Christians are misled about spiritual gifts. For example, one fellow told me that before he went to work every morning, he waited for the Lord to give him a word of prophecy to know which tie to wear. God is not interested in which tie you wear! That wasn't a word of prophecy; actually he was opening himself to deception by the devil. Someone once wrote asking me to prophesy to him which church he should attend. This is unscrip-tural! Each believer has the Holy Spirit as a Guide and Counselor on the inside (John 16:13). And the primary way God leads His children is by the inward witness (Rom. 8:14), not by someone else prophesying to them.
On another occasion while I was holding a meeting in Colorado, some folks from New York called the owner of the motel where I was staying at 4:00 in the morning and said that it was an emergency and they needed to talk to me.
My wife and I had no phone in the room where we were staying, so the owner came knocking on our door. He said I had a telephone call. I got out of bed and about half awake, I put my shirt on and started out the door to the motel office. My wife called out to me, "Honey, aren't you going to put on your pants?" Only half awake, I hadn't realized that I wasn't wearing them! I went back and put on my pants.
When I answered the phone, the person on the other end said, "Brother Hagin, we are having an all-night prayer meeting and we just got to thinking we would call you and see if you had a word for us." She meant a word of prophecy. Well, I had a word for them, all right, but it wasn't a word of prophecy! And I didn't give it to them because it wouldn't have been from the Lord — it would have been from my flesh!
Sometimes God may use you to give a word to someone, but that doesn't mean you can just turn the gifts of the Spirit on and off whenever you want to. Let's realize that what we have is from and by the Spirit of God, and let's minister what we have according to the direction and unction of the Spirit of God.
Manifestations of the Holy Spirit In Corporate Worship
We find additional instruction regarding this use of the gift of prophecy in First Corinthians 14:26.
1 CORINTHIANS 14:26
26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
This scripture shows us that the Spirit of God is more apt to move when folks come together in the Name of Jesus to worship. The Spirit of God manifests Himself more readily in an atmosphere of worship and praise where God is being glorified.
For example, in my ministry I always get greater results when I pray for people under the anointing. Whether praying for the sick, praying for people to be filled with the Holy Spirit, or praying for the needs of the people, I have found that it is better to pray for the people after the Word has gone forth. Then I am usually more anointed to minister. That is why I pray for people many times at the conclusion of the service
Some want to rush in and be prayed for right away, but when we come together in the Name of Jesus, worshipping God and teaching the Word, we are often in a much better spiritual attitude to believe God and to receive from Him. And the gifts are more likely to be manifested in an atmosphere of praise and worship.
The Holy Spirit Manifests Himself As We Seek the Lord
We find another indication about the kind of atmosphere the Holy Ghost manifests Himself in as we read Acts 13:1: "Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers. . . ,"and it goes on to list the names of five men.
ACTS 13:1-4
1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2 AS THEY MINISTERED TO THE LORD, and fasted, THE HOLY GHOST SAID, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed....
Notice that it was as they ministered to the Lord and fasted that the Holy Spirit manifested Himself.
But notice in Acts 13:2, the Scripture doesn't say that the Holy Ghost just witnessed to the disciples' spirits about separating Barnabas and Saul unto the ministry. It says the Holy Ghost said something. He said ". . . Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them" ( Acts 13:2).
The Holy Ghost said something through one of the prophets because it is through this ministry gift, the office of the prophet — those who are especially equipped with certain revelation and utterance gifts — that the Holy Ghost normally speaks. Otherwise, the Holy Spirit leads by an inward witness, which every believer has (Rom. 8:14).
Notice something else in this passage. This wasn't when Barnabas and Saul were called to the ministry; they had already received the call to the ministry because the Holy Spirit said, ". . . for the work whereunto I HAVE CALLED THEM" (v...forthe. 2). That's past tense.
Therefore, Barnabas and Saul had already received the call to the ministry from God in their own private lives. In other words, they weren't receiving their call to the ministry through a . The Holy Spirit was merely confirming that call through a prophet.
Caution Needed With Personal Prophecies
Let me stress that we need to be very careful about personal prophecies. Lives have been ruined and many unfortunate things have happened through misuse of personal prophecies.
I have to be very careful myself because God uses me from time to time prophetically in this way. But over the years I have seen so much error in the area of personal prophecy that it almost makes a person want to draw back from the genuine prophetic ministry. I have to watch myself in order not to pull back too far the other way and not yield to the Spirit of God to be used the way He wants to use me.
Simple Prophecy Edifies, Exhorts, and Comforts
1 CORINTHIANS 14:3
3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edifica(ion, and exhortation, and comfort.
If we keep in mind the scriptural use of prophecy, we will not get offdoctrinally in this area. The simple gift of prophecy is given to speak to people super-naturally - to edify the church: ". . . he that prophesieth edifieth the church" (1 Cor. 14:4).
This gift of prophecy is also given to edify the Church through exhortation. In the Greek, the word "exhort" in First Corinthians 14:3 means a calling nearer to God or an invitation.
First Corinthians 14:3 also says the gift of prophecy is given to comfort. Much of what some people call "prophecy" never comforts anyone; rather, it discomforts them.
Therefore, it could not be this bona fide gift of the Spirit in operation because the gift of prophecy is given for edification, exhortation, and comfort. We might find, however, that the revelation given forth in a prophet's ministry may sometimes be discomforting because it sometimes brings with it correction or conviction of sin. But the simple gift of prophecy only ministers edification, exhortation, and comfort.
For example, once while teaching a faith seminar in Phoenix, Arizona, I discerned an evil spirit in a fellow sitting near the front of the church. I knew he had a wrong spirit and would disrupt the service if given an opportunity.
I tried to keep from pausing in my sermon long enough to give him a chance to break in. However, at the conclusion of the message he leapt to his feet, threw up his hands, and started telling the congregation everything he thought was wrong with them.
This fellow did everything except what the scriptural use of the gift of prophecy should do. Instead of edifying the people, he tore them down. Instead of exhorting or calling them nearer to God, he drove them, away. Instead of comforting them, he discomforted them.
Realizing that he might be mentally unbalanced, I tried to bear with him somewhat, remembering the following passage of Scripture:
1 THESSALONIANS 5:14-21
14 ... comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.
15 See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.
16 Rejoice evermore.
17 Pray without ceasing.
18 In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. 19 Quench not the Spirit.
20 Despise not prophesy ings.
21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.
It was necessary for Paul to give these instructions because the Church at Thessalonica had so much misuse of the gift of prophecy that these folks almost despised it. Therefore, Paul, writing by the Spirit of God, had to instruct them, "Despise not prophesy ings" (1 Thess. 5:20). However, those who go around telling everyone what is wrong with them and tearing people down, supposedly operating in the gift of prophecy as this fellow in my meeting did, are not operating in the bona fide gift of the Spirit of God.
A woman once came to me and thanked me after I corrected her for her misuse of the gift of prophecy. Teachable people like to know when they are wrong and appreciate godly correction. She said, "I can see that I misused what I had. God uses me in prophecy sometimes, but I see now that what I was trying to do was to get everybody in line through prophecy."
She had been trying to regulate people's lives through the gift of prophecy; she was trying to make all women dress as she dressed. But she had some strange ideas about dress and about a number of other things! Comfort, not correction, is the purpose of this simple gift of prophecy.
Prophecy in One's Prayer Life
The gift of prophecy, like tongues, has to do with more than just public utterance. Prophecy can be used in one's prayer life too. For example, in the
Book of Psalms, prophecy was used in prayer and praise to God. As a matter of fact, the whole Book of Psalms was given by the spirit of prophecy. The Psalms were Israel's prayer and songbook. Some of the psalms are prayers that were given by inspired utterance.
We can see prophecy being used in the believer's prayer life in the New Testament too. For example, in Ephesians 5:19, believers are encouraged to speak to themselves ". . . in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord." That is the gift of prophecy in operation.
Many times while praying, a person can speak in tongues and then speak out things by the Spirit of God. Speaking with tongues is the beginning of the things of the Spirit, because speaking with tongues is the door into the supernatural. And we know that the gift of tongues is given to every Spirit-filled believer as the evidence of the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
Also, Jesus didn't say that just a few disciples should speak with tongues. He said that all believers should speak with tongues: "And these signs shall follow them that believe . . . they shall speak with new tongues" (Mark 16:17).
But God wants every Spirit-filled believer to do more than speak with tongues. He wants us to be able to interpret what we pray in tongues, as the Spirit leads. "Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret" (1 Cor. 14:13). God wouldn't tell us to pray for something we couldn't have. Of course, it is not necessary to interpret everything we pray in the Spirit in our own private prayer life.
And then, of course, there is also the public use of the gift of interpretation of tongues. That is to be used in the local assembly: "If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret" (1 Cor. 14:27). Not every believer will have this gift; not every believer will minister publicly in the gift of interpretation of tongues.
And God also wants us to prophesy in order to bring comfort and encouragement to the Body of Christ because the Bible plainly says, ". . . desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy . . . he that prophesieth edifieth the church" (1 Cor. 14:1,4). Through this gift of prophecy we can speak super-naturally, not only unto believers and for our own personal benefit, but we can also speak supernatu-rally unto God (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16).
Prophesying in your own personal prayer life begins with speaking in other tongues (1 Cor. 14:2). In my own experience, for example, as I pray in other tongues, my spirit is in direct contact with God, yet I am communicating with Him in a tongue that is unknown to me.
When you are speaking in tongues, that is a supernatural utterance in an unknown tongue. Paul said when we pray in an unknown tongue, our understanding is unfruitful, unless we interpret what we are praying (1 Cor. 14:14,15). In other words, we don't always know what we are praying about when we pray in other tongues. However, when you pray with prophecy, you can listen to yourself speak in a known tongue and, therefore, you can know what you are saying.
Very often praying in tongues is a springboard to go into prophecy in prayer. Remember, prophecy in its broadest sense is inspired utterance. For example, sometimes I pray about certain things with my own understanding, which may not necessarily be inspired utterance at all. I may just be praying as well as I know how to about the situation in my own understanding
— in my own native language. (Of course, one can also pray in one's understanding in his own language in the Spirit; that is, inspired and directed by the Holy Spirit.)
Then as I pray about the situation awhile in tongues, many times I move over into prophecy — inspired utterance. Then as I pray by inspired utterance, I can actually be praying out the plan of God by inspired utterance as the word of wisdom (John 16:13; Cor. 14:1-5 Amplified) manifests through the gift of prophecy in my private prayer life. This can happen in the private prayer life of any Spirit-filled believer.
Praying in prophecy can carry with it a more authoritative anointing because you can actually be praying out the word of wisdom in prayer through the vehicle of prophecy. Praying out the word of wisdom through prophecy lifts you above where you were before in prayer and many times reveals to you a part or a fragment of the plan of God — a "word" of wisdom. You are actually praying out the plan and purpose of God for your own life in prayer (John 16:13,14). However, a distinction must be made between praying out the plan of God in one's own private prayer life by the word of wisdom through the vehicle of prophecy, and in the word of wisdom manifesting through a believer in prophecy in public ministry.
Any believer can pray out the plan of God for his own life (John 16:13,14) either in tongues or as the Spirit wills, in prophecy. But that is distinct and separate from public ministry. Because the Holy Spirit may show the believer things to come in private times of prayer, does not necessarily mean that the word of wisdom will operate through the believer publicly.
Also, we must realize that the word of knowledge or the word of wisdom may operate in the believer's life in prayer, but that doesn't make him a prophet. There is a difference between the believer who may operate in these spiritual gifts in his own private prayer life, and one who stands in a fivefold office (such as the prophet) through whom the Holy Spirit manifests spiritual gifts in public ministry.
Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs By the Gift of Prophecy
Paul said, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18). Then in the next verse he said, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord."
We read in Acts chapter 13 that the disciples ministered to the Lord. This was perhaps one way that they ministered to the Lord — by singing and making melody in their hearts to Him. Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are not songs that are sung out of a songbook. They are songs given by the inspiration of the Spirit of God. A psalm is a spiritual poem or an ode. It can be recited or chanted or sung. The hymn and the spiritual song are, of course, sung. One who is given more to singing would probably sing the psalms and hymns given to him by inspiration of the Spirit.
Psalms and hymns come through the spirit of prophecy as an inspired utterance, and therefore could also come through the vehicle of tongues and interpretation.
I am not a singer. Therefore, when I get psalms, particularly during times of stress or strain or when I am going through a crisis, I just recite them. Sometimes I will speak in psalms all night long to myself and to the Lord, one right after another.
These psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are given spontaneously by the inspiration of the Spirit. They are a demonstration of the gift of prophecy or its equivalent tongues and interpretation in manifestation. These psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs can be used to comfort us in times of tests or trials.
Paul writing to the Church at Colossae even further said, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. . ."(Col. 3:16).
Another interesting thing to note is that the order of the services in the Early Church evidently differed from ours in that believers went to church because they had something, not just to get something.
1 CORINTHIANS 14:26
26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation....
Why did they have a psalm they could share with one another? Because they had been speaking in psalms to the Lord; they had been edifying themselves at home.
The Book of Psalms in the Old Testament were not written to us in the same way the Epistles were written directly to us — the Church. We read the psalms and they bless us and encourage us because they are inspired by the Spirit. There is some revelation in some of these psalms concerning prophecy of the coming Christ and of things pertaining to the future and to the Church. But many of the psalms were given to David, for example, when he was going through a certain test or trial in his life.
For instance, one time Saul sought to kill David. While hiding in a cave, David got a psalm by the spirit of prophecy, and it was given to him personally to encourage him. It encouraged him then, and those psalms encourage us, too, when we are facing tests and trials in life.
So we can see why Paul said to the members of the Church at Corinth, and to Christians everywhere, to covet to prophesy, for in this way they can talk to God supernaturally and to themselves in a known language. There is a fellowship in the Spirit that comes through using prophecy in prayer that is beyond what we've previously experienced.
God's Word teaches that all Spirit-filled believers should not only speak with tongues when they are initially filled with the Spirit, but they should continue to speak with tongues as a continual experience, after they are filled with the Spirit. The Word also teaches that all Spirit- filled believers should be speaking to themselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
If we follow Paul's admonition today and covet to prophesy, we, too, can speak to ourselves in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Begin to covet to prophesy because the Word of God encourages believers to do so.
First Corinthians 12:31 says, ". . . covet earnestly the best gifts. ..." As you do, then you will be able to speak supernaturally to the Body of Christ God's words of edification, exhortation, and comfort as the Spirit wills. You will also be able to speak supernaturally through the gift of prophecy in your private prayer life, edifying yourself and worshipping God in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
Chapter 19 The Gift of Divers Kinds of Tongues
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; TO ANOTHER DIVERS KINDS OF TONGUES; to another the interpretation of tongues:
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
- 1 Corinthians 12.:7-11
In our study of the gifts of the Spirit, we come to the subject of divers kinds of tongues. The word "divers" in First Corinthians 12:10 is italicized, which means that it was added by the translator.
Actually, this verse reads, "... to another, kinds of tongues. . . ." However, in another scripture, Paul said that God set in the Church diversities of tongues (1 Cor. 12:28); therefore, we would not be out of line scripturally to say "divers" kinds of tongues, or different kinds of tongues. This utterance gift of tongues is an important gift in that tongues is the door into the supernatural. This doesn't necessarily mean the gift of tongues is the best gift, for as we indicated previously, the best gift is the gift needed at the moment.
Tongues: The Most Prominent Gift
Of the three vocal gifts, or as they are sometimes called, the gifts of utterance or inspiration — the gift of prophecy, divers kinds of tongues and the interpretation of tongues — the gift of tongues is the most prominent.
A question often asked by those in denominations is, "Why do Full Gospel people place such emphasis on tongues?" The answer is, "We do not." There are several reasons why it may seem that we do.
First, we are often questioned about tongues and are therefore drawn into discussions about tongues.
Second, speaking in tongues is the initial physical evidence when people are baptized in the Holy Ghost. Third, utterance in tongues in public assembly is the most frequently manifested gift of the Spirit.
Fourth, tongues and interpretation of tongues are distinctive to the Church Age. Therefore, they are more in operation.
We see all the other gifts of the Spirit in operation in the Old Testament — the word of wisdom,
the word of knowledge, special faith, gifts of healings, working of miracles, prophecy, and discerning of spirits — all the gifts of the Spirit except for tongues and interpretation of tongues.
And in the ministry of Jesus, too, we see all the gifts of the Spirit in operation except for tongues and interpretation of tongues; you won't find tongues and interpretation of tongues in operation in His ministry.
The fifth reason why it seems that Full Gospel people emphasize tongues so much is that Paul gave prominence to tongues. One reason he did was that then, just as now, speaking in tongues was widely misunderstood.
The Gift of Tongues Is a Supernatural Sign
Divers kinds of tongues is supernatural utterance by the Holy Spirit in languages never learned by the speaker, nor understood by the speaker, nor necessarily always understood by the hearer. Speaking with tongues has nothing whatsoever to do with linguistic ability; it has nothing to do with the mind or the intellect of man. It is a vocal miracle of the Holy Spirit.
We might ask, "What is the good of speaking with tongues?" Jesus said in Mark 16:17, ". . . these signs shall follow them that believe . . . they shall speak with new tongues."
One preacher, endeavoring to explain that, said, "This just means that a fellow who used to curse and tell lies and vulgar jokes doesn't do that anymore; he speaks with a new tongue." This argument, however, is a little thin because in reading the entire context of the following passage of Scripture, we see that every one of these signs is supernatural.
MARK 16:15-18
15 .. (.Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils [ exercise authority over demons and evil spirits in His name]; they shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents [meaning believers won't be harmed if they do so accidentally, as Paul did on the island of Melital; and if they drink any deadly thing [accidentally], it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Any thinking person could see that if the other four of these signs — casting out devils, taking up serpents, drinking any deadly thing without suffering harm, and laying hands on the sick — are supernatural, surely the fifth sign, speaking in tongues, is also supernatural.
Therefore, one reason we speak in tongues is that Jesus said this is one sign which should follow believers. Also, tongues is the scriptural, initial evidence also of the baptism in the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:4).
The Gift of Tongues Is Unique To This Dispensation
One preacher disagreed with speaking in tongues, saying, "John the Baptist had the Holy Ghost and he didn't speak with tongues. Prophets of the Old Testament had the Holy Ghost, but they never spoke in tongues. So why do we need to speak in tongues?"
But we must remember that John the Baptist ministered as a prophet under the Old Covenant. Prophets under the Old Covenant had not been born again. They did not have a recreated
human spirit; they had never been made a new creature in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) because Jesus had not yet come in His death, burial, and resurrection to redeem mankind.
Therefore, prophets under the Old Covenant did not have the infilling of the Holy Spirit in the same way that a born-again, Spirit-filled believer does living under the New Covenant. Under the Old Covenant, the Holy Spirit came upon those who stood in the offices of the prophet, priest, and king to enable them to fulfill their offices or ministries, but He did not indwell and infill them in the same sense that He does the born-again, Spirit-filled believer living under the New Covenant.
We are not living under the Old Covenant. What happened under the Old Covenant was written as an example for us now, but that doesn't mean we are to try to live like they did under the Old Covenant. We want the Holy Ghost and His gifts manifested in our lives according to the dispensation in which we live. And the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues are unique to the dispensation of the Church Age.
John the Baptist was still under the Old Covenant. He was a prophet under the Old Covenant. Jesus Himself said concerning John the Baptist, ". . . Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he"(Matt. 11:11).
Therefore, we have to start with the Acts of the Apostles. We can't go back to the Old Covenant to pattern our lives because we are not living under that covenant.
We have a better covenant established on better promises (Heb. 8:6), particularly in the area of the promise of the Holy Spirit.
Tongues Is the Evidence Of Being Filled With the Spirit
Having been taught in a denominational church that when one is born again he receives the Holy Ghost, and that is all of the Holy Ghost there is to receive, I decided as a young boy pastor to find out about this for myself. I went to the Bible for my answer.
I believed that I was preaching in my church the same new birth that they preached and experienced in the Acts of the Apostles. I believed and still do believe that I was preaching the same water baptism that they preached and practiced in the Acts of the Apostles. I believed and still do believe that I was teaching and observing the Lord's Supper or Holy Communion just as the Early Church did.
I wanted to be scripturally based and New Testament taught and follow biblical doctrinal practices, so I simply went to the Acts of the Apostles to satisfy my own mind.
As I examined the scriptures closely in the Book of Acts, I found that there are five recorded instances where believers received the Holy Spirit.
These five instances, discussed in Chapter 8, are sufficient to show us a pattern of the Holy Spirit's dealing in the Early Church: people were saved and subsequently filled with the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. This is a pattern for us living under the same covenant today. God desires that every believer be filled with the Holy Spirit — the enduement of power from on High (Luke 24:49). Let's review these five instances once more.
1. Acts 2:1-4
The 120 on the Day of Pentecost: These were men and women, including Mary, the mother of Jesus. Gathered in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost, they were filled with the Holy Ghost and spoke in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
2. Acts 8:5-17
The Samaritans: Saved under Philip's ministry, they received the Holy Spirit when Peter and John laid hands on them. Simon saw physical evidence of the infilling of the Holy Spirit, which was probably speaking in tongues.
3. Acts 9:3-18
Saul (later called Paul): When Ananias laid hands on him, Paul received the Holy Spirit. We know Paul spoke in tongues because later he wrote to the Church at Corinth, "I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye r. 14:18).
4. Acts 10:44-46
Cornelius and his household: This incident occurred years after the Day of Pentecost. As Peter was preaching the gospel to these first Gentile converts, they were all saved (Acts 11:14) and filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke with other tongues.
5. Acts 19:1-7
The Ephesian disciples: This incident occurred many years after the Day of Pentecost. These Ephesian disciples were saved and baptized in the Name of Jesus after Paul explained the gospel to them. Then when Paul laid hands on them, they were immediately filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke with other tongues.
Thus, in the Bible in the Acts of the Apostles, we see that over many years there are three recorded incidents of believers receiving the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking with tongues. And twice it is inferred that the evidence for believers receiving the Holy Spirit was speaking in tongues. We should expect to have the same witness of the baptism of the Holy Spirit in evidence today.
Purposes of Speaking in Tongues
We talked in detail in Chapter 8 about the reasons for speaking in tongues. Let's briefly go over a few of those reasons again.
Initial Evidence of Receiving the Holy Spirit
Speaking in tongues is the initial evidence or sign of the Holy Spirit's infilling Presence (Acts 2:4). I believe, of course, that there are other evidences that will follow, but this is the first or initial physical evidence.
Speaking Mysteries Supernaturally to God
Paul gives another reason for speaking with tongues in First Corinthians 14:2: "For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but UNTO GOD: for no man understandeth him; howbeit IN THE SPIRIT HE SPEAKETH MYSTERIES" (1 Cor. 14:2).
Moffatt's translation reads, "... he is talking of divine secrets. . . ." Therefore, one reason for speaking with tongues is so that men may speak mysteries supernaturally to God: ". . . he . . . .peaketh not unto men, but UNTO GOD . . ." (1 Cor. 14:2).
I remember as a young Baptist pastor, my heart longed to fellowship supernaturally with God. I sometimes prayed several hours at a time, but I always went away feeling somewhat cheated in my spirit. My spirit hadn't said what it wanted to because I was praying mostly out of my head — my own understanding — and I was not able to fully express my heart supernaturally to God that way.
One of the great benefits of being filled with the Spirit and speaking with other tongues is that we can talk to God supernaturally. It is your spirit, by the Holy Spirit within you, talking to God: "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful" (1 Cor. 14:14). The Amplified Bible says, ". . . my spirit [by the Holy Spirit within me] prays ..." (1 Cor. 14:14).
Magnifying God
Another scriptural purpose of speaking in tongues is to magnify God.
ACTS 10:45,46
45 And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished . . . because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.
46 For they heard them SPEAK WITH TONGUES, AND MAGNIFY GOD....
So, you see, speaking in tongues is a means of magnifying God.
Edifying Ourselves
Still another scriptural purpose for speaking with tongues is to edify ourselves. In First Corinthians 14:4, Paul makes the statement that "He that speak-eth in an unknown tongue EDIFIETH HIMSELF. . . ."To edify means to build oneself up.
Then in verse 18, Paul said, "I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all." In other words he said, "I thank God I edify myself more than ye all." If Paul needed this edification, we need it too.
Jude also links praying in tongues with spiritual edification.
JUDE 20
20 But ye, beloved, BUILDING UP YOURSELVES on your most holy faith, PRAYING IN THE HOLY GHOST.
Praying in the Spirit
Jude instructs believers to "pray in the Holy Ghost." Paul uses a similar phrase in his letters. Writing to the Church at Ephesus, Paul said, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication IN THE SPIRIT. . ." (Eph. 6:18). What does it mean to "pray in the Spirit"?
One meaning of "praying in the Spirit" is found in First Corinthians 14:2, where Paul says, "For he that speaketh in an UNKNOWN TONGUE speaketh not unto men, but unto God . . . howbeit IN THE SPIRIT he speaketh mysteries." As I mentioned earlier, praying in the Spirit also can mean praying in your understanding as the Holy Spirit inspires you.
Be Being Filled With the Spirit
Paul also encouraged the saints at Ephesus to edify themselves, for in Ephesians 5:18 he says, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT." Remember that this letter was written to Spirit-filled believers, because we read in Acts chapter 19 that Paul came to Ephesus, and there he found these disciples and laid hands on them. The Holy Ghost came on them and they spoke with tongues (Acts 19:1-6). In Ephesians 5:18, Paul is later writing a letter to that same church, and he said, "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit" (Eph. 5:18).
Greek scholars tell us that a more literal translation would be,"Be being filled." In other words, we should maintain a continuous experience of being filled up to overflowing with the Holy Spirit. It is one thing to be filled with the Holy Ghost initially; it is another thing to stay continually filled with the Holy Ghost.
Beginning in verse 19, Paul lists the characteristics of the Spirit-filled life.
EPHESIANS 5:19-21
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, SINGING AND MAKING MELODY IN YOUR HEART TO THE LORD;
20 GIVING THANKS ALWAYS for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jes us Christ;
21 SUBMITTING YOURSELVES ONE TO ANOTHER in the fear of God.
Those believers who are continually being filled with the Holy Spirit have a song in their heart; they are always giving thanks to God; and they have a submissive attitude. They sing and make melody in their hearts to the Lord continually.
As we discussed in Chapter 18, the Lord wants us to maintain a continual experience of being filled with the Holy Spirit. One way the believer does that is by speaking to himself in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in his heart to the Lord.
These psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are given by the inspiration of the Spirit of God. They come through the spirit of prophecy (Rev. 19:10), which may include tongues and interpretation.
Allowing Our Spirits Contact With the Father of Spirits
Another scriptural purpose for speaking with tongues is so that our spirits (as distinct from our minds or our own understanding) might pray. God is a Spirit, and He has provided a supernatural means whereby the human spirit can be in direct contact with the Father of spirits (Heb. 12:9).
Paul said, "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, MY SPIRIT PRAYETH, but my understanding is unfruitful"(1 Cor. 14:14).
Paul also made reference to this in Romans 8:26: "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered."
A more correct translation would be, ". . . with groanings which cannot be uttered in articulate speech." Therefore, praying in the Spirit provides a way whereby the Holy Spirit enables our spirit, apart from our understanding, to pray to God and commune with Him.
Spiritual Refreshing
Isaiah prophesied not only about the coming Messiah and the great plan of redemption which Jesus would consummate, but also about the Holy Ghost and speaking in other tongues.
ISAIAH 28:11,12
11 For with stammering lips and ANOTHER TONGUE will he speak to this people.
12 To whom he said, THIS IS THE REST wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and THIS IS THE REFRESHING....
There is a very real spiritual rest and a spiritual refreshing in communicating with God our Father, as our spirits pray distinct and separate from our understanding.
Interpreting Tongues In Our Private Prayer Life
Let us notice something else in this scripture in
First Corinthians 14:14,15.
1 CORINTHIANS 14:14,15
14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.
15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also. Paul had just stated in First Corinthians 14:13, ". . . let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret."
Through the gift of interpretation of tongues, we may know by our understanding, as the Spirit wills, what our spirit prays. This is not always necessary, but it is available to us through a gift of the Spirit, the interpretation of tongues.
Years ago when I was filled with the Holy Ghost, I took First Corinthians 14:13 literally. After I was filled with the Spirit, although no one told me to, I found that I received spiritual blessing by continuing to pray in other tongues. Later as I studied the Word of God, I learned that this was scriptural.
Then when I read, ". . . let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret" (1 Cor. 14:13), I began to pray that I might interpret what I was praying about. I was sure God wouldn't tell us to pray for something we couldn't have.
That is when I first started moving in the gift of interpretation of tongues — in my own prayer life. As I interpreted some of the things I prayed, I began to know in my understanding what I had prayed about.
I am convinced that all believers, as the Spirit wills, can interpret their prayers. They may never be used, however, to interpret tongues in a church service because one use of interpretation of tongues is for private benefit, and another use of interpretation of tongues is for public ministry. Tongues Is Primarily a Devotional Gift .
In talking about the subject of tongues in general, let me say that tongues is primarily a devotional gift. We need to put emphasis on tongues where the emphasis belongs. That is what Paul was trying to do with the Church at Corinth by saying to them, "I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all" (1 Cor. 14:18)
Paul was telling the Corinthians the purpose of speaking in tongues and what praying in tongues would do for them. Tongues is primarily a devotional gift to be used in one's prayer life for praising and worshipping God, for speaking mysteries to God, and for building oneself up on his most holy faith.
We should not be as concerned about ministering in tongues and interpreting tongues publicly as we should be about maintaining the blessing tongues produces in our personal prayer lives. However, as we are faithful to pray in tongues in our own personal prayer lives, that allows us to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit should He desire to use us in tongues and interpretation in the local church.
As mentioned earlier, Howard Carter spoke of the continual blessing that tongues are meant to be to believers in their individual prayer life:
We must not forget that speaking in other tongues is not only an initial evidence or sign of the Holy Spirit's indwelling, but it is also an experience for the rest of one's life to assist in the worship of God. It is a flowing stream that should never dry up, but will enrich your life spiritually. '
The Gift of Tongues in Public Ministry
In addition to praying in tongues in one's individual prayer life, it is also true that there is a public side to speaking in tongues. Paul said that not everyone would be used in what we call the public ministry of tongues, for he said in First Corinthians 12:30, "... do all speak with tongues? ..."
The obvious answer is no because in this verse Paul is talking about the public ministry of diversities of tongues which is a ministry gift denoting more the prophetic office, not the devotional gift of tongues.
Some take First Corinthians 12:30 out of its context and conclude that Paul was saying, "Speaking in tongues isn't for everyone. Therefore, you can be filled with the Spirit without speaking with tongues."
However, again, we must remember that here Paul is talking about the ministry gift of tongues, for he began by saying, "AND GOD HATH SET SOME IN THE CHURCH, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, DIVERSITIES OF TONGUES" (1 Cor. 12:28). Ministry gifts or offices are "set" in the Church by God; they are people called to the fivefold ministry.
Then he asked the question in First Corinthians 12:29 and 30, "Are all apostles? . . . fNo, all are not apostles:29and.) ... are all prophets? . . . [No, all are not prophets.] . . . are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? . . ." Of course, the answer is no.
Let's look a little further in verse 30: ". . . do all speak with tongues? . . ." The obvious answer is no. Paul was talking here about fivefold ministry gifts, just as he was talking about fivefold ministry gifts when he asked, "Are all apostles? . . ." (v. 29), and so forth.
Paul was again talking about the public ministry of tongues in First Corinthians 14:27 and 28: "If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God."
In the Greek, the words "two" and "three" are personal pronouns and refer to people. Paul was simply saying that not more than two or three people should speak in a service.
In the next verse he said, "Let the prophets speak two or three . . ." (1 Cor. 14:29). There may be more prophets who could speak in the assembly, but in any one particular service, this verse says only two or three of them should do the talking.
This administration was given to prevent competitive utterances in the local body. The Bible gives us these instructions regarding the public ministry of the utterance gifts in order that ". . . all things be done decently and in order" (1 Cor. 14:40).
Prophecy Is Equivalent To Tongues and Interpretation
The church is edified when someone speaks with other tongues in the public assembly and there is an interpretation. Paul plainly stated that to prophesy — which is the equivalent of tongues and interpretation — is to speak unto men ". . . to edification, and exhortation, and comfort" (1 Cor. 14:3).
Paul also said, ". . . greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, EXCEPT HE INTERPRET. . ."(1 Cor. 14:5). Paul was saying that if someone interprets what he gives forth in tongues, then the one who prophesies is not greater than the one who gives forth a tongue and interpretation. Paul was also saying in this passage that tongues with interpretation is equivalent to prophecy.
To illustrate this point, it takes two nickels to make a dime. Two nickels are not a dime, but they are equivalent to a dime. Paul was saying in effect that prophecy is like the dime, and tongues and interpretation are like the two nickels. In other words, they are equivalent.
Naturally, it would be better to have the "dime" (prophecy) than to have just the "nickel" (speaking with tongues) in the public assembly. But if interpretation went along with the tongues, then the two of them together would be equivalent to prophecy, the "dime."
As I said before, prophesying is not preaching per se. Certainly, there can be an element of prophecy in preaching sometimes because prophecy is inspired utterance. But in the specific sense prophecy is a supernatural gift that is manifested spontaneously as the Spirit wills.
If prophesying were just preaching, then you wouldn't have to make any preparation to preach. But you have to study in order to preach effectively. Paul said, "STUDY to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed ..." (2 Tim. 2:15).
You don't have to study to speak with tongues or to interpret tongues. You don't have to study to prophesy. That comes by inspiration of the Spirit.
Of course, when one is preaching under the anointing and suddenly he says something he hadn't previously thought of, that is the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And that kind of supernatural speaking has an element of prophecy to it because it is given by the inspiration of the Spirit.
When someone speaks with tongues and interprets the tongues, the church is edified. When used in line with the Word of God, speaking with tongues with the interpretation of tongues can convince any unbelievers who are present of the reality of the Presence of God, and that often causes them to turn to God and be saved (1 Cor. 14:22).
Speaking in Tongues in a Public Setting
Is there ever a time when it is appropriate to speak with other tongues in a public setting? We find a clue to the answer in Mark 16:17 and 18.
MARK 16:17,18
17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; the y shall speak with new tongues;
18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
First let's look at verse 17. Jesus said, "And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils . . ." (Mark 16;Inmyname:17). Casting out devils can be done privately or, if necessary, publicly (although wisdom must be exercised if it is done publicly).
That same passage of Scripture continues, ". . . they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:18). Laying hands on the sick can also be done privately or publicly. Another sign that will follow those who believe is also stated: ". . . they shall SPEAK WITH NEW TONGUES" (Mark 16:17). As with the other two signs, speaking in tongues can be done publicly at times, as well as privately.
Of course, we don't want to have prolonged praying in tongues in public services because unless there is an interpretation, folks don't know what is being said and they won't be edified. However, it is all right to pray in tongues quietly at the altar as long as you desire, because you go there to get edified.
Also, if everyone in a service is worshipping God and praying in tongues, then it is all right for you to pray in tongues at that time too. As the congregation prays and worships God in tongues, I join in and pray that way too.
But when the congregation ceases praying, I cease praying. The congregation wouldn't be edified if I went on and on praying aloud in tongues. So we do need to know how to use what we have to the greatest advantage so that people are blessed and edified.
Private vs. Public Operation Of the Gift of Tongues
1 CORINTHIANS 14:18,19
18 I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:
19 YET IN THE CHURCH I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.
In this passage, Paul was explaining the difference between tongues used as a devotional gift: ". . . I speak with tongues more than ye all" (v. 18), and tongues used in public ministry: "Yet IN THE CHURCH I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that... I might teach others .. ."(v. 19).
Tongues is not a teaching gift or a preaching gift.
This is not the purpose of tongues. For example, if I were to speak in tongues from the pulpit instead of teaching or preaching from the pulpit, it wouldn't edify the congregation at all. It would edify me, but not the hearers. Therefore, it is more profitable that I teach the congregation, not speak to the congregation in tongues.
Paul was not belittling tongues when he said, ". . . I had rather speak five words with my understanding . . ." (1 Cor. 14:19). He merely divided it as it should be divided. He said, ". . . I HAD RATHER speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue"(1 Cor. 14:19).
In other words, he was saying, "The congregation would get more good out of just those five words spoken in their own language than ten thousand words that I could speak in other tongues."
Every believer can pray to interpret his tongues in his own private devotions (1 Cor. 14:13). However, God will not use every believer in public utterance in tongues, for that is a gift and is not given to everyone: "But all these [spiritual gifts] worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, DIVIDING TO EVERY MAN SEVERALLY AS HE WILL" (1 Cor. 12:11).
As with every gift of the Spirit, the gift of tongues operates only as the Spirit wills. No one should try to operate this gift in the public assembly without the unction of the Holy Spirit. This is the mistake the Corinthians were making, and this is where many believers today often make a mistake.
As we have seen, God has given us instruction in the public use and operation of the gift of divers kinds of tongues. We need to obey those instructions. But most of all we need to exercise devotionbal tongues in our private prayer life on a consistent basis. As we do so, our spirits will be edified as we speak mysteries supernaturally to God.
Then we as a body of believers should covet the spiritual gifts earnestly, and as the Spirit wills, God will bring forth His messages to His people through the gifts of tongues and interpretation of tongues.
1 Howard Carter, Questions and Answers on Spiritual Gifts, (Tulsa, Oklahoma: Harrison House, Inc., 1976), p. 120.
Chapter 20 The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.
For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;
To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;
To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; TO ANOTHER THE INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES:
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
— 1 Corinthians 12:7-11
In studying these gifts of the Spirit, we have come to the end of the list: the gift of interpretation of tongues. First, we covered the three gifts of revelation or the three gifts that reveal something: the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, and the discerning of spirits.
Then we studied the three gifts that do something, or the three power gifts: the gift of faith, the gifts of healings, and the working of miracles.
Now we will finish our study of the three utterance gifts or the three inspirational gifts, the three gifts that say something: prophecy, divers kinds of tongues, and interpretation of tongues. There has been a great deal of misunderstanding about the gifts of the Spirit. That is the reason Paul said, "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I WOULD NOT HAVE YOU IGNORANT" (1 Cor. 12:1). As I said before, if God didn't want His people to be ignorant in the days of the Early Church, He certainly doesn't want His people to be ignorant today. Yet it is amazing the ignorance that exists among people of God concerning spiritual things.
Many people do not believe that any of the gifts of the Spirit are for us today. Some people believe that a few of the gifts are for us, but not all of them. However, if any of them are for us today, then all of them are for us today.
Also, the Bible says that the Holy Spirit gives these gifts to every man to profit (1 Cor. 12:7). God wants us to profit and spiritual gifts are one means whereby we may profit. I have never read anywhere in the Bible that He took them away from the Church. These gifts are rightfully ours today, and ignorance concerning them exists only because people do not understand what the Bible says aboutspiritual gifts.
The three utterance gifts — prophecy, divers kinds of tongues, and interpretation of tongues — are very closely associated. In fact, as I've said, the Bible plainly tells us that tongues with interpretation is equal to prophecy: ". . . greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret. . ." (1 Cor. 14:5). Although spiritual gifts can be closely associated, we differentiate between them and list them separately so we can better define and understand them.
As we begin our study of the last of the three vocal or inspirational gifts, let us first define them. Prophecy is supernatural utterance in a known tongue.
Divers kinds of tongues is supernatural utterance in an unknown tongue.
The interpretation of tongues is the supernatural showing forth by the Spirit the meaning of an utterance in other tongues. Also, it is not translation of tongues; it is the interpretation of tongues.
The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues
The gift of interpretation of tongues is the least gift of all of the gifts of the Spirit because it depends upon another gift — divers kinds of tongues — in order to operate. It does not operate unless tongues have been in operation.
The purpose of the gift of interpretation of tongues is to render the gift of tongues understandable to the hearers so that the whole church congregation, as well as the one who gave the utterance in an unknown tongue, may know what has been said and may be edified thereby. Paul said,". . . greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, THAT THE CHURCH MAY RECEIVE EDIFYING" (1 Cor. 14:5).
But can't God speak to us in some other way in the public assembly? Yes, He can and does. We have other public messages given by the Spirit of God that are not interpretation of tongues; they are a manifestation of the gift of prophecy. For example, psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are also given by the Holy Spirit through the gift of prophecy (we discussed this in chapter 18).
All these gifts operate by faith, but it takes more faith to operate in the gift of prophecy than tongues or interpretation of tongues. That is because those who operate in the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues have another person to lean on to complete the utterance. The person with the gift of tongues can lean on the one with the gift of interpretation of tongues, and vice versa. However, the one who has the gift of prophecy must have enough faith just to start giving what he has received (Rom. 12:6).
The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues In Our Private Prayer Life
In private prayer it is not necessary that everything we utter in other tongues be clear to our understanding, because Paul said, "For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful" (1 Cor. 14:14).
Therefore, it isn't necessary that everything I pray in tongues be clear to my understanding or be interpreted because I am not talking to myself, I am talking to God. What I pray in tongues is clear to God and that is sufficient: "For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, BUT UNTO GOD: for no man understandeth him; how-beit in the spirit HE SPEAKETH MYSTERIES" (1Cor. 14:2).
Yet on some occasions God may desire that we interpret our prayers. Paul suggests this in First Corinthians 14:13: "Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret."
There may be times, if it is as the Spirit of God wills, that we know what we are praying about in tongues in our personal devotions, and God will give us the interpretation. That is the way I first started interpreting tongues — in my private prayer life. I was simply praying in other tongues when suddenly I realized I was speaking in English, and I understood that I was interpreting what I had been praying about.
God knows what we are praying about because when we are praying in other tongues, we are talking to Him. But sometimes He wants us to know what we are praying about too.
For example, once before I was married, I was praying in the Spirit. I wasn't even thinking about getting married. I had been praying two or three hours in the Spirit when suddenly I
began to interpret part of my prayer. I realized then that I was talking to God about a wife, although from the natural standpoint, I hadn't been thinking or praying with my understanding along that line. I wasn't even concerned about getting married at that time.
I prayed in English, interpreting what I had been praying in tongues. As I did, by interpretation of tongues I knew in the Spirit that I would be married.
I knew who the girl was that I was going to marry, although at this time I had only had one or two dates with her. I also knew by interpretation that we would have two children; the first child would be a boy and the second would be a girl.
Naturally, after we were married and were expecting our first child, I told my wife, "It's a boy." We only picked out a boy's name. We didn't select any girls' names. Then when we were expecting our second child, I said, "This one is a girl." This is what I had learned in the Spirit even before we had been sweethearts.
So we see that there is a private side to the gift of interpretation of tongues that is of great importance to us personally.
There is also a public side to the manifestation of this gift. But not all of us will be used in this way. That will occur only as the Lord wills.
The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues In Public Ministry
1 CORINTHIANS 14:27
27 If any man speak in an unknown tongue, LET IT BE BY TWO, OR AT THE MOST BY THREE, and that by course; and LET ONE INTERPRET.
In ministering publicly in tongues in any one service, Paul is saying here that it should be done by two or at the most by three people. In other words, only two or three people at the most should participate.
The meaning of this passage is made clearer in the New International Version.
1 CORINTHIANS 14:27 (NIV)
27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two — or at the most three — should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.
Some have asked the question, "Does that refer to three messages?" Actually we do not find the expression "messages in tongues" anywhere in the Bible. This is just a phrase that man has coined to try to explain this verse. A better term would be "utterance in tongues."
But this particular verse is talking about people, not messages or utterances: "If any MAN speak [not necessarily referring to the male gender but to any human being] . . . let it be by two, or at the most by three. . ."(lCor. 14:27).
Paul didn't actually say how much they were to speak or not to speak. He just said to let two or three people speak and let it be by course or in succession.
The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues
139
This implies that they shouldn't all speak at once. And it also implies that the same person might speak more than once.
Based on these scriptures, my suggestion to any congregation is that if three people have already spoken publicly in tongues, a fourth one should not join in and give out an utterance in tongues. If something else needs to be said, one of those who has already spoken should say it. That maintains good order and is consistent with this passage of Scripture where Paul was laying down principles of proper order for supernatural utterances in the local assembly. Notice that Paul said, " . . let one interpret" (1 Cor. 14:27). There is nothing in the Scriptures that would negate the thought that a person may speak with tongues and interpret the utterance himself.
In fact, one of those who is giving the message in tongues may certainly interpret it himself. Or there may be more than one person who could interpret it.
According to First Corinthians 14:13, those who speak in other tongues are instructed to pray for the gift of interpretation: "Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret."
What Paul was saying here was that the reason a person is to seek for the gift of interpretation is not necessarily so that he can interpret publicly, but so that he can interpret his own prayers privately if God so wills. That would mean a great deal to his spiritual edification. Then if God did will to use him publicly, he would be equipped to operate in that realm as well.
Actually, in First Corinthians 14:27 when Paul said, ". . . let ONE interpret," he was admonishing us not to have competitive interpretations; that is, two or three people trying to outdo one another by interpreting an utterance. So there is nothing wrong with someone giving an utterance in tongues and interpreting it himself. That would not be unscriptural.
When someone is speaking with tongues, a person who is used often in the gift of interpretation of tongues should immediately begin to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's moving, if he is not already in tune with what the Holy Ghost is doing in the service. He should make himself available and be ready for the Lord to use him in the operation of that gift.
Sometimes I have waited on someone else to interpret, but they were waiting on me. Either one of us could have interpreted the message given in tongues, but we lost it because we didn't tune in to
the Holy Spirit; we were waiting for the other one to do it. Of course, we are not going to get things from God unless we are sensitive to Him.
This is the reason that sometimes we don't have an interpretation of a message when we should have. Sometimes when I have missed it, I've said to the person who had the message in tongues, "Please give that again and I will interpret it." Then when they started speaking, the unction came on me again — I got into the Spirit again — and God gave me the interpretation.
The Gift of Interpretation — Not Translation
As we mentioned earlier, the interpretation of tongues is not a translation. I am sometimes asked why it is that when someone speaks at length in tongues, an interpreter will occasionally give only a short message.
The reason for that is the interpretation is simply showing forth supernaturally by the Spirit of God the meaning of what was said in tongues, and it may not take as many words to declare what was said.
For example, someone may speak a short utterance in tongues and another will speak at length in interpretation. It may take longer to give the interpretation in order to show the meaning clearly. Therefore, we can see why this gift is called the interpretation of tongues and not the translation of tongues.
Also, very often when one is interpreting tongues, if that person is also used in prophecy, he may finish that interpretation and go into prophecy. I do this quite often.
Most people who are keen in the Spirit can recognize the difference because the minute prophecy begins, there is a little higher authority that can sometimes come with it. In other words, the words in prophecy can sometimes take on more authority and have a greater anointing. There can be more inspiration to it and people are blessed in a greater measure. Maintaining Good Order In the Public Use of Utterance Gifts
Paul devotes the entire chapter of First Corinthians 14 to the gifts of prophecy, and tongues and interpretation of tongues. In verse 33, he says, ". . . God is not the author of confusion ..." (1 Cor. 14:33).
Paul was saying that in the use, or rather the misuse, of prophecy, and tongues and interpretation of tongues there is sometimes confusion. I have been m some services where I have seen the misuse of these gifts and it has brought confusion to a congregation. (These were not my own services, as I usually try to bring out any errors and explain them to the people so they won't go home confused.)
This doesn't mean that the devil was necessarily working in the service. It just means that people can get things mixed up. If we will learn to stay in the Spirit and walk according to the Word, however, we will not operate in these gifts in confusion. God is not the author of confusion.
In this chapter we see such statements as " . . God is not the author of confusion . . ." (1 Cor. 14:33) and "Let all things be done decently and in order" (v. 40).
We know these verses refer to public services in the church because it said, "If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God" (1 Cor. 14:27,28). One wouldn't be disturbing the service by just sitting there and talking quietly to God in tongues, but he would be edifying himself.
Sometimes we just need practical advice concerning these manifestations to help us maintain good order. Then even folks who come in to the service who aren't saved or who aren't familiar
with the operation of these gifts would understand and be impressed by the good order. More importantly, we would not grieve the Spirit of God. The Bible says, "And grieve not the holy Spirit of God . . ." (Eph. 4:30).
The Holy Spirit has been grieved at times in some of our church services. He has been grieved because He wanted to manifest Himself and wasn't permitted to do so. And it grieves the Holy Spirit by the way some folks misuse the gifts of the Spirit and bring confusion to others.
All Things Done Unto Edifying
A final point I want to stress about tongues and interpretation of tongues is that Paul said, ". . . Let all things be done unto edifying" (1 Cor. 14:26).
When the gift of tongues and interpretation of tongues is manifested by the Spirit of God (and this is one way to judge if it is by the Holy Spirit or not), the utterance will be edifying, inspiring, and a blessing. Of course, if we ourselves are out of tune with the Spirit, we will not always be in a position to judge.
For example, once when I was a pastor, our church was participating with several other churches in a service nearby. I had been particularly busy all that day. I had been on the go all day long, and I hardly had time to pray at all. Then I just ran in, got ready for the service, and hurriedly drove to the church meeting. I was exhausted when I finally got there and sort of just sank into a pew.
God moved in a wonderful way in that service, but I couldn't enter into the blessing; I was just too tired. I knew that what was going on was right and that it was a blessing, but if I had been going to judge the moving of the Spirit that night, I would probably have said, "Boy, they are all out of tune but me." The truth was that I was out of tune with the Holy Spirit and with them.
So it won't always be easy to judge spiritual things if you are out of tune with the Holy Spirit. This doesn't mean you are backslidden, but just that you are not able to enter into the moving of the Holy Spirit and of worship at that particular time.
Spiritual manifestations do need to be judged, however. And we do judge them, whether we do it publicly or not, because we either accept them or reject them. We can't always accept just any man's judgment, however; we only accept those who know the Word of God and who are sensitive to the moving of the Spirit.
We need to be very careful how we regard the gifts of the Holy Spirit in walking before the Lord. We need to stay open to the Spirit of God and to the move of God as we walk meekly, honorably, and reverently before the Lord.
Certainly, we need to invite the operation of the Spirit of God among us, but we need to reverence God and the things of the Spirit of God, and allow God to use whom He will to manifest Himself in our midst through the gifts of the Spirit. Then when God moves, we will be open to Him and ready to receive whatever He has for us.