How To Exercise Vocal Gifts

Primarily I want to talk to you tonight about the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or spiritual gifts. And most of my teaching will be taken from 1 Corinthians chapter 12 and chapter 14. But I’d like to begin by way of explaining a distinction in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 8. What I’m going to read about here are another set of gifts, five in number, which are frequently referred to as ministry gifts. I want to point out to you that there’s a distinction between ministry gifts and gifts of the Holy Spirit. In the terminology of the New Testament, both kinds are called by that rather overused word, charisma. They’re all charismatic, and within that genus there are different species. One species is the ministry gifts, another species is the gifts of the Holy Spirit or spiritual gifts.

Just for a moment, though we’re not going to dwell on it, we’ll look at the ministry gifts. We might as well start in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 8.

“Whereof he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.”

Now this refers to the Lord Jesus Christ. It does not refer to His resurrection, but it refers to His ascension which took place forty days later. And leaving out verse 9 and 10 which are a parenthesis, we come to verse 11.

“And he [the ascended Christ] gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; . . .”

If you want to be technical, the Greek word for gift there is doma, which is not the same as is used in most other places in the New Testament. There are various different Greek words, all of which are translated ‘gift’ in English.

Now the gifts that the ascended Christ gave, He gave to His church to continue the work of His ministry, and the gifts are men. The men themselves are the gifts. Each man in his ministry is a gift and through these gifts, Christ, as it were, gave Himself back to His church. It says in verse 7:

“…[they are] according to the measure of the gift of Christ.”

So it’s the measure of Christ in a man that makes him the ministry that he is. Christ the apostle that makes a man an apostle. Christ the prophet that makes the man a prophet. Christ the teacher that makes the man a teacher. None of them depend upon seminary training or special education, although those things may sometimes be helpful. But each one of them in its essence is a re-impartation of Jesus Christ to the church in the form of men whom He sovereignly elects and chooses. And we can see these gifts therefore, as in a certain sense, the way Jesus Christ manifests Himself and operates through His people and through His church. And they are required for the building up of the body and the completion of the body of Christ, and for various other functions that we’ll not look at.

Now I want to turn to the other list of gifts which is in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. These are called spiritual gifts or gifts of the Holy Spirit. The key word in this list is the word manifestation. Each one of these gifts is a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit indwelling the body of the believer is Himself invisible. But through these gifts He manifests Himself in a way that we can become aware of through our senses. Every one of these gifts is a manifestation of the invisible Holy Spirit, out of the believer in whom He dwells. And there are nine such gifts listed here. Just to make it simple and at a possible cost of offending somebody’s theology, the essence of the ministry gifts is: they are Christ in the believer. The essence of the spiritual gifts is: they are the Holy Spirit in the believer.

Now I’m not suggesting there’s any opposition between the two, but there is a distinction. What we are talking about tonight are gifts, or manifestations of the Holy Spirit. I’d like to point out right at the beginning Paul writes in a way which implies that every believer in Christ should have these manifestations in his life. Anybody that does not have these manifestations in his life is living below the level of the revealed will of God. Let’s look now at the words in 1 Corinthians chapter 12, beginning at verse 7:

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.”

In the New American Standard it says: ‘Is given to each one individually for the common good.’ You’ll notice it’s ‘each one.’

Then we get the list of the nine manifestations of gifts and then in verse 11 at the end of the list, Paul again emphasizes everybody is entitled to his share in these gifts.

“All these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally [or to each one individually] as he will.”

So right at the beginning and at the end of the list we have the words ‘each one individually.’ Very clearly Paul emphasizes every believer in Christ is entitled to these manifestations. God has not withheld them from anybody who’s a believer.

Now we’ll read the list and I’m going to read it in the ‘Prince Version,’ which is just changing some of the words a little to make them a little more up-to-date and a little more literal. Beginning then in verse 8,

“For to one is given by the Spirit a word of wisdom [not the but a.]; to another a word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit [but in Greek both parts are plural—it’s gifts of healings]; to another the workings of miracles [again, both parts are plural]; to another prophecy; to another discernings of spirits [both parts are plural. This is rather a familiar pattern.]; to another kinds of tongues [divers
is put in]; to another the interpretation of tongues: . . .
I’ll go down that list once again quickly.
A word of wisdom
A word of knowledge
Faith
The gifts of healings
The workings of miracles
Prophecy
Discernings of spirits
Kinds of tongues
The interpretation of tongues.”

You can count up to nine and agree with me in your mathematics, you’ll find there are nine. It’s common when teaching on these gifts to divide them up into three classes each containing three. This is not authoritative. It’s not inspired. There’s probably many other ways to do it. But tonight, just by way of introduction, I’ll give you these three categories. Three gifts of revelation, three vocal gifts that must operate through human vocal organs, and three gifts of power or effective gifts. The three gifts of revelation: a word of wisdom, a word of knowledge and discernings of spirits. I think it’s important that we keep it in the form a word. As I understand it, God has all wisdom. Fortunately for us, He doesn’t dump it all on us at one time, because we would collapse beneath the load. But when we’re in a situation where we need wisdom and it’s not available by natural means, then the Holy Spirit gives us ‘a’ word of wisdom; just one word that meets our need in that situation. Or where we’re in a situation where we need to know something and we cannot know it by natural means, the Holy Spirit gives us ‘a’ word of knowledge. You may ask, ‘What’s the difference between wisdom and knowledge?’ Ecclesiastes 10:10 says, ‘Wisdom is profitable to direct.’ That’s the essence of wisdom. It’s directive. Knowledge is informative. Knowledge tells you facts; wisdom tells you how to act. It’s important not to separate them, because when we get knowledge we usually need wisdom to know how to use the knowledge.

The book of Proverbs says, ‘The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright.’ There are a lot of people who’ve got knowledge but they don’t use it aright. It takes wisdom to use knowledge aright. But if you just want to think in simple terms: knowledge is informative; wisdom is directive. You’re in a situation, you don’t know what to do, you need direction, it’s not available by natural processes, so the Holy Spirit gives you a word of wisdom and it’s on a higher level than your own reason. It’s always supernatural.

Or you’re in a situation where you must have a piece of knowledge. You’ve lost something. You don’t know where it is. You desperately need it. The Holy Spirit says in a gentle voice, ‘Try the bottom drawer in the dresser.’ And you go there and there it is. So that’s a word of knowledge. It’s very simple but very helpful.

Now the third of the revelatory gifts is discernings of spirits. I think it’s plural because I think every discerning is an operation of the gift. To discern means ‘to recognize and distinguish between.’ So discernings of spirits is recognizing different kinds of spirits and distinguishing between them. It does not say ‘discernings of evil spirits.’ That’s included, but it doesn’t exhaust it. There are also angelic spirits. There’s human spirits. There’s the Holy Spirit. Very important when we get into the realm that we’re going to be in tonight and from now on, that we learn to discern between the human spirit, the Holy Spirit, and an evil spirit.

I have a background of about thirty-six years in Pentecost. Without desiring to be critical, I’ll have to say one of the big problems of Pentecost was that people didn’t discern between the Holy Spirit and evil spirits. I remember when I first came into Pentecost the people that helped me in, they described a prayer meeting and they described with glee how one young man stood on one leg in the corner of the room and crowed like a cock. And they thought this was a glorious manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Well, I’ve come to realize it was something very different. But this frequently happened and still happens amongst Pentecostals. There are manifestations, but not all of them are manifestations of the Holy Spirit. The devil is very foxy. In Latin he’s called ‘the ape of God.’ He imitates what God does but he just changes it a little. And sometimes we have to be pretty alert to discover that this isn’t a real manifestation of the Holy Spirit.

Then also it’s helpful at times to discern the kind of human spirit you’re dealing with. Jesus said of Nathaniel, ‘Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile,’ which is a remarkable thing with all His knowledge. He discerned a guileless spirit in Nathaniel. That’s something you don’t meet too often. Or you might discern a wounded spirit in a person. In other words, discernings of spirits gets you below the surface of the fleshly realm and into the realm where we’re dealing with spirit beings and spirit powers. It’s like a kind of radar. It shows us what we’ve got to deal with, very, very essential. By no means a luxury.

Then we’ll just glance briefly at the gifts of power—faith, the workings of miracles, the gifts of healing. There’s various kinds of faith. There are at least three different forms of faith in the New Testament. As a matter of fact my book Faith to Live By has some teaching on this. The basic kind of faith is just that, faith to live by. It’s a faith that unites us to God in a continuing relationship that supplies the motive and direction and power for living a righteous life. The Scripture says, ‘The righteous shall live by faith.’

Then there’s a faith which is listed in the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. That’s an aspect of character. I would say it’s a kind of steadfastness, reliability, a steady continuing trust in God no matter what happens. That’s something that has to be cultivated. All fruit has to be cultivated. You don’t have fruit that just appears instantly. In a moment or two I’ll try to illustrate the difference between fruit and gifts.

And then the kind of faith we’re talking about in this list of gifts is supernatural faith. Jesus said after He cursed the fig tree and it withered from the roots and His disciples were amazed, He said, ‘Have the faith of God.’ That’s the gift of faith. That’s God’s own faith. When you operate with that faith you’re just as affective as God Himself. It doesn’t make any difference whether God speaks to the fig tree or you speak to the fig tree. It just has to wither. It’s not the person. It’s the faith in the person. That’s a very useful gift.

Then there’s the workings of… Well, let’s take the gifts of healings first. Healing stands in relation to sickness, so healing is a way of God’s power being brought to bear where sickness is and bringing health. For instance, you have the influenza. The power of healing comes, drives out the influenza, and restores health. Or you might have typhoid, or you might have pneumonia, or you might have tuberculosis and the healing power of God is available to meet these physical needs. But miracles go beyond healings. For instance, if a person has a sore on his leg, healing will heal the sore. But if the person has a leg that’s shorter by two inches than the other, you can’t heal that. That requires a miracle. It requires a sort of structural change. Or if a person has a disease of the eye, healing will heal the eye. But if the person has no eye, then it takes a miracle to give him an eye. And don’t imagine that God can’t do that, because there are recorded cases of where He has done it.

There’s a rather interesting case which was carefully attested of a young boy that had a plastic eye. When the evangelist prayed for him he saw through his plastic eye. No one could explain how, but it happened. So that’s faith, healings, miracles.

Now, just a word about the difference between fruit and gifts. This is not the subject of my talk. I don’t want to dwell on it, but it’s important that you see the difference. I think the best way to illustrate it is the difference between an apple tree and a Christmas tree. An apple tree carries fruit. A Christmas tree bears gifts. No sensible person would expect instant apples from an apple tree. Everybody knows there’s a process of growth and cultivation and time before apples appear. And in the world today there is no market for uncultivated fruit. Any fruit that’s got to be sold in the open market has to be very carefully cultivated. And I believe that’s true of the fruit of the Spirit. It has to be very carefully cultivated. It’s a question of building character. Essentially the fruit of the Holy Spirit is the reproduction in the believer of the character of Jesus.

But on the other hand, if you come to a Christmas tree you can place a gift on it or under it by a momentary action and you can take the gift from it by a momentary action. That’s what the gifts of the Spirit are. They don’t require character. They don’t take time. They’re received by an instantaneous transaction of faith, and they do not necessarily prove character. Some people have spiritual gifts but very little spiritual fruit. Partly, in many cases, simply through the lack of proper teaching. Gifts in a certain sense are ability—fruit is character.

Now you can preach about gifts and ministry gifts in one evening. But to produce character in one evening, no sensible person would even try. It’s a different process. If you ask, ‘Which is more important?’ well, we have to say in the long run character is more important than gifts, but gifts are temporary, character is permanent. Character is eternal. However, that does not mean that gifts are unimportant. And fortunately, as I’ll show you tonight, God hasn’t offered us two mutually exclusive alternatives, He doesn’t say, ‘Do you want fruit or gifts?’ He says, ‘Seek both.’

All right, then we come to the third category—the vocal gifts which are the ones I’m going to teach about tonight, and they are tongues, interpretation and prophecy. Tongues, interpretation and prophecy.

Essentially all of them operate through the vocal organ of believers. That’s why we call them the vocal gifts. And because the tongue and the mouth are such difficult things to control, most of the problems with gifts center around these gifts. It’s very interesting. Paul has very little teaching on how to operate the gift of miracles, though he has some in Galatians. But he devotes probably a whole chapter one way or the other, teaching how to control the vocal gifts, because the tongue is the unruly member. And so we’re going to teach about tonight is the use and the control to some extent of these gifts.

All right. We’ll start with tongues. In a certain sense, it’s misleading to speak about tongues. It would be better in a way to speak about languages. Because when you’re baptized in the Holy Spirit, God doesn’t give you a new physical tongue. You keep the same tongue but you get a new language. Now this goes back to the fact that the word tongue meant ‘language’ in the days of the King James and it has such an influence on our thinking that many of the modern translations have perpetuated it. But when it says, ‘These signs shall follow them that believe, they shall speak in new tongues…’ really, in modern English we would say, ‘They will speak in new languages.’ Their tongues remain unchanged. The language is what’s different.

Now the gift of tongues is probably the hardest of all the gifts fully to understand. Again I think the reason is because the tongue is such a problem. But I’m going to try to give you what I consider to be the four different aspects of tongues. This may seem a little complicated, but I hope we can make our way through it. Some people want everything simple. Well, I’m all in favor of that, but not at the expense of doing away with the truth. And I think this is one case where the truth is somewhat elaborate. So I’m glad we’re starting this pretty early in the evening while you’ll still alert because you’re going to need it.

All right, the first aspect of tongues as I see it is the culmination of the baptism in the Holy Spirit— the outflow or the overflow. People say, ‘Can you have the baptism without tongues?’ Well, let me answer first of all, I’m not asking for a minimum. I want all that God has, not how little I can get away with and still say I’ve got something. I would say, technically, yes. You can be immersed in the Holy Spirit without speaking in tongues, because when we spoke about the baptism last night we said there was an immersion, there was an infilling, there was an outflow.

The outflow is tongues. Now you can stop, but why should you? Why not get the package deal? I have observed this in many different countries of the world, what you preach is what people get. If you preach uncertainty about tongues, people are uncertain. If you preach clearly scriptural examples—that those who are baptized in the Spirit will speak in tongues—the result is they speak in tongues. The way you think about things determines to a considerable extent what you’re going to experience. Personally, I like to say it this way. Speaking in an unknown tongue for the first time is the culmination of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It’s where it’s intended to come out. I’m not saying you can’t have a real experience without the tongues, but why not have the tongues? It costs no more. It’s all been paid for already. All right. That’s number one aspect of tongues. The overflow from the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Number two—an unknown tongue or a new tongue—is a private language to communicate with God. This is not for public use in the assembly of God’s people. This is for personal, private communion with God. And I personally do believe that it’s the will of God for every believer to have this special way of communicating with God. If we turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 14 verses 1 through 4, we read this:

“Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.”

Notice it’s not ‘Follow after charity, or desire spiritual gifts…’ It’s ‘and desire spiritual gifts.’ The two go together. They’re not in opposition one to the other.

“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. But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.”

Paul is pointing out a contrast between speaking in an unknown tongue and prophesying. Later on we’ll talk about prophesying. For the moment let’s focus on what he says about speaking in an unknown tongue. He says three things which are very important.

First of all, the one who speaks in an unknown tongue is not speaking to men, he’s speaking to God. That’s important. It’s a way of direct communication with God.

“Secondly, he’s speaking mysteries, things that his mind may not be able to comprehend. Thirdly, he’s edifying or building up himself.”

Now people say to you many times, ‘What’s the use of speaking in tongues?’ There’s three good answers. Number one when you do it you’re speaking to God. That’s a privilege by my standards. If you were going to have an opportunity to speak personally to the President of the United States you’d get excited. Why not get excited about the opportunity to speak to the God of the universe in a direct and personal way? All right. Number one you speak to God.

Number two you’re speaking mysteries—things that your poor, finite little mind of yours can’t altogether grasp. Please don’t reduce God to the level of your understanding because He’s a lot bigger. Thirdly, you’re edifying or building yourself up. Well that’s a good thing to do. Many, many people who’ve been baptized in the Holy Spirit and spoken in an unknown tongue fail to make the subsequent use of it which they ought to make. I would suggest to you that you should never let a day go without speaking in tongues. Because all the time you do it you’re edifying yourself—building yourself up. Some people have said, ‘Tongues is the least of the gifts.’ I haven’t found that anywhere in the Bible. Anybody that ever finds it, please show me. But my late wife used to explode when people said that in her presence. Anyhow I thank God for it, it’s a beautiful gift. And I can testify she used it frequently. Many, many times each day. And I believe it gave her peculiar power in prayer. It’s part of what it’s intended to do.

Keep your finger in 1 Corinthians 14, we’re coming back there. Just look for a moment at the epistle of Jude and we’ll read from verse 17 a few verses there, the epistle of Jude beginning at verse 17. Jude is just before the last book of the Bible, Revelation.

“But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.”

Notice, this is an ugly picture of what the world will be like at the close of this age. And then there’s the alternative for the believer.

“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy [Spirit], keep yourselves in the love of God, . . .”

So when we pray in the Holy Spirit we’re building ourselves up on our faith and we’re keeping ourselves in the love of God. We’re kind of insulated against the corruption and the wickedness that’s in the world all around us. Going back to 1 Corinthians 14, we look also in verses 14 and 15:

“For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful [or inactive]. What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.”

Paul tells us something else there about when we speak or pray in an unknown tongue, he says, ‘If I speak in an unknown tongue, my spirit is praying. My mind is taking a rest.’ Every one of us needs to know that there’s something in us much deeper, much richer, much more exciting than this poor little finite mind that we trust so much in. There’s something in us called the spirit. The spirit is God-centered, God-conscious. The mind has theology. The spirit knows God. The mind gets ideas. The spirit gets revelations. Scripture says 1 Corinthians 6:17, ‘He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit,’ not one mind. One spirit. It’s the spirit that relates direct to God. And until the spirit can relate to God, it’s frustrated, it’s starved, it’s stunted. But speaking in an unknown tongue enables my spirit to communicate directly with God without the monitoring of my mind. My mind just doesn’t have any access to what my spirit is saying.

You find many times when people come to the baptism in the Holy Spirit there’s a kind of release. Sometimes they sob or weep. I believe one reason is that there’s been a spirit in there that’s been pent up, imprisoned, unable to express itself, unable to tell of its hurts and its needs and express its joys, because the mind is not sympathetic. The mind says, ‘I don’t want all that fanatical stuff! Let’s keep sober; let’s be respectable. We’ve got to be logical.’ The spirit’s in there somewhere just hurting and grieving and longing for some release. And then one day you begin to speak in tongues and the Spirit says, ‘At last. I am no longer under the dominion of that poor mind of his. I’m free to express myself without any inhibitions direct to God. And because the Holy Spirit is giving me the expression I know everything I’m saying is all right. I don’t have to be ashamed of it, don’t have to apologize for it. It’s good. It’s liberated.’ And then in the 15th verse Paul says:

“…I will pray with the spirit [that’s in an unknown tongue], . . . I will pray with the understanding . . . [Then he says what’s more] I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding.”

I suggest you read through the Psalms sometimes and see how many, many times you’re exhorted to praise God with a song. And often it says ‘a new song.’ That’s one reason why the Holy Spirit is given you, so that you can sing a new song nobody ever heard it before, not even you. You just launch out in faith and the Holy Spirit will give you a new song and you’re able to praise God with it. But bear in mind that you make the decision. Paul says, ‘I will pray with the spirit, I will pray with the understanding.’ Your will is the switch. You can switch from the understanding to the spirit and back to the understanding. Nobody else is driving you. You’re not under the control of some outside force. You’re in the driver’s seat. If you want to turn left, you turn left. And if you want to turn right, you turn right; if you want to go fast, you go fast. I can speak in tongues fast, slow, loud, soft, I can change from language to language. I make the decision.

I don’t suppose Joska will be embarrassed if I mention that when she was five years old my wife and I were traveling with her in the back seat of a car from Seattle, Washington, to Vancouver, British Columbia. And when we were about halfway through the journey, we heard some strange noises coming out of the back of the car and Joska said to us, ‘Am I speaking in tongues?’ ‘Well,’ I said, ‘I don’t know. But anyhow, carry on if you like.’ So she did. Well, I wasn’t quite sure either.

About a week later we were back in our living room and she was standing looking at me and she said, ‘I feel so happy. Shall I speak in tongues?’ I said, ‘If you feel like it, you do it.’ And she did very clearly, fluently, no babbling, no blurred sounds. And she looked very happy. About a week later we were in the same situation again. She said to me, ‘I feel so happy. Shall I speak in tongues?’ I said, ‘Fine. Carry on.’ So she did, spoke in tongues for maybe a minute. Then she looked at me and said, ‘Shall I speak another language?’ I said, ‘If you can, do it.’ And she started with a completely different language. Well, that was a little demonstration to me how real it is that you’re in the driver’s seat. Paul said, ‘I will, I will, I will, I will.’ You make the decision. You can speak or stay silent. You can talk fast or slow. I’m not saying you can talk any language you want, but I’ve got quite a repertoire of languages in tongues that God has given me over the years.

One of the exciting things is getting a new language. How many of you ever enjoyed that excitement? You know. It’s a kind of release. There’s so much in language. Language has been one of my subjects of study. There’s an Arabic proverb that says, ‘___________________.’ I quoted that in Arabic in Brisbane in Queensland and up came an Arab to me afterwards from Jerusalem and said, ‘I hear you speak Arabic.’ So at least he understood me. Well, that proverb means, ‘In every language there is a person. Every language expresses a personality.’ That’s why you like your mother tongue, in a way, because you can express yourself.

This is—I mustn’t get too wrapped up in this, but any language will tell you something about the people that speak it. For instance, just to take two very different personalities in Europe: French and German. If a thing is obvious, the French say, ‘It goes without saying.’ But the Germans say, ‘It says itself.’ The German mind couldn’t ever allow that it wouldn’t be said. It has to say itself. The French mind says, ‘Why bother with saying it?’ Well, if you know—I’ve traveled and lived both in Germany and in France. It’s such a vivid picture of the difference between those two personalities. So every time you get a new language, in a sense, your personality is being enriched. You’re getting a new way to express yourself. So that’s the second purpose. It’s a language for communication with God to express your spirit.

The third is a little obscure and takes a little time to unfold. It is a sign to unbelievers. I’ll say that once more. It is a sign to unbelievers. Now if you want to look in 1 Corinthians 14 verses 21 and 22:

“In the law it is written [that’s Paul’s way of saying it’s in the Old Testament], With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.”

Now that’s a quotation from Isaiah chapter 28 verses 11 and 12. Then Paul goes on to draw his own conclusion in verse 22:

“Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe.”

Now this is a distinctive use of tongues as a sign to unbelievers. In order to understand it better, keep you finger in 1 Corinthians 14 and turn to Isaiah 28 verses 11 and 12:

“For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.”

In the year 1946–47 I attended the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and was privileged to sit in the classes of the man who was considered then to be the greatest expert on the Hebrew language, Professor Torchener (?). And one day, his main textbook was the Bible. He was not what I’d call a religious man— he went to it for a source of language, not faith. One day in the class he read that 11th verse: ‘With stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.’ He said, ‘I have to tell you frankly I don’t know understand what it means.’ I sat there in the back of the class and thought, ‘I wish I could tell you but I don’t dare.’ For one thing my Hebrew wasn’t sufficiently reliable. But you notice that, ‘With stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.’ It’s rather interesting to notice that stammering lips—some people object because when some people begin to speak in tongues they don’t speak fluently to start with. They stammer, but it’s there in the Bible. So if it didn’t happen, there would be something wrong with the Bible.

Now I’m not suggesting that you need to stay stammering. But if you begin stammering, don’t get embarrassed. Just go on and it will come fluent. You know what ‘to stammer’ is? You want to say butter (being English you want to say buttah) and you say b-b-b-b-butter. All right. That’s stammering. Well, now, many of us have heard people come into this new dimension and begin by stammering—repeat the same sound over and over again. It’s really a lack of confidence. It’s a failure to yield completely to the Holy Spirit. When you relax and yield, you’ll cease to stammer.

And then it says, ‘With stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.’ Now who is this people? Well it’s quite clear from the context it’s Israel.

“To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.”

Notice two things. First of all, what is the rest? Speaking with other tongues. It’s the release; it’s the relaxation, the letting go of your inhibitions and your fears, the breaking down of the barriers. And then the comment is ‘Yet they would not hear.’ Who would not hear? Israel. You see, that was historically fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost. Because they heard 120 persons speaking with other tongues. They knew that those men didn’t know the languages they were speaking. They recognized them as valid languages. Can you imagine the expanse of prejudice and unbelief that would refuse to believe a sign like that? Just think if you were to go out and hear ten men speaking languages that you could recognize and understand and you know those men didn’t know one word of any of those languages. It would surely get your attention. One of the most amazing things about Israel is that even with that supernatural demonstration as a nation they would not hear.

But I quote that now because I want you to see what it means: ‘Tongues are for a sign to unbelievers.’ What happened? Believers, by the Holy Spirit, spoke languages they did not know. Unbelievers present heard them speak, recognized the languages and knew that those men themselves didn’t know those languages. That became a supernatural sign to those unbelievers. Is that clear? I hope it is.

This happens from time to time. There was a lady visiting the sick from an Episcopal church in Seattle, Washington, when I was there. She came to one man who was sitting in the bed in the hospital and he looked dark and gloomy and unhappy. She spoke to him in English and he didn’t respond. So being an Episcopalian she took a risk, and she just opened her mouth and began to speak in an unknown language. And the man brightened up and answered her. So having faith, she went on and spoke. Later she discovered she had been speaking Canary Island Spanish to that man, which was his native tongue. She’d been telling him about the Lord’s goodness.

I remember years back when we had meetings in London. One night one of our daughters brought in a young man who’d been standing around the open-air meeting in the street, listening to us. He came on to the meeting and I’d just finished my gospel sermon and was getting ready to make the (quote) ‘appeal’ and an old man stood up and spoke in an unknown language. Very loud, well, not very loud but very clear. And I was very irritated because I thought, ‘Now he’s spoiled everything.’ The young man turned to the girl who’d brought him in and said, ‘Why is that man telling everybody about my sins in public?’ The young man was from Wales and the man who was speaking in tongues was speaking Welsh. And it took about ten minutes to convince that young man that that old man didn’t know one word of Welsh. That Welshman is my son-in-law. I’ve just visited him recently in Australia, so that’s a story that I’ve been able to check on personally.

So that’s a sign to unbelievers. That’s unusual. It’s not a normal use, but it’s a use. And thirdly, going back to 1 Corinthians 14 now, fourthly, I beg your pardon, fourthly 1 Corinthians 14 verse 5:

“I 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.”

Let me point out to you that the key word in 1 Corinthians 14 is the word edify, which occurs seven times. In other words, the basic purpose of all these spiritual gifts is to edify or build up. Paul says the one who speaks in an unknown tongues is not edifying his fellow believers, as is the one who prophesies. Unless the one who speaks in an unknown tongue then interprets what he says. So there is another use of tongues where it’s given out in public and it’s followed by an interpretation. And when that happens Paul says, it’s equivalent to prophecy.

So let me recapitulate. I hope you’re with me. I know it hasn’t been altogether easy. I’ve distinguished four different functions of tongues or uses or aspects.

Number one, the culmination of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The outflow that proves the infilling. That was what convinced Peter and his fellow Jews that the Gentiles had received the Holy Spirit. They heard them speak with tongues. That was all the evidence they needed—nothing else.

Secondly, a language for private prayer, communion with God. And when you pray that way, you’re doing three things. You’re speaking to God, you’re speaking mysteries, you’re building yourself up. Did I say thirdly? Secondly.

Thirdly, a supernatural sign to unbelievers. An unusual thing that’s not regular, but in this case a believer a believer speaks a language he doesn’t know, but it’s understood by an unbeliever present and it convicts the unbeliever of the fact that God is dealing with him.

“And fourthly, as a public utterance to be followed by interpretation.”

Now let’s look for a moment at the gift of interpretation. We’ve had the word there, ‘Let him pray that he may interpret.’ Interpret is not exactly ‘translate.’ There are many different ways of interpreting the same words. It’s ‘rendering the meaning in a way that the people who are listening will appreciate it.’ For instance, when I was in East Africa there were two Africans that frequently interpreted for me from English into Swahili. Both of them were good interpreters, but one used about twice as many words as the other. He was the kind of interpreter who did a lot of explaining as he went along. And I remember once that a visiting Canadian missionary was preaching with the first interpreter, and the missionary said about one sentence in English, the interpreter took off and spoke for about two minutes. So the missionary turned to the interpreter and said, ‘Did I say all that?’ And the man said, ‘No, but for the people to understand what you meant, I had to say all that.’

So that’s just a little indication that interpretation is not hard-and-fast. It’s not necessarily word for word translation. And God uses people the way they are. I, myself, frequently interpret in King James English. It’s not because I try to. It’s simply because it just comes out. But you take a young man who’s come into the move of the Spirit recently and grown up on Good News for Modern Man or The Living Bible, his interpretation will take that kind of phraseology. So it’s not hard-and-fast. Some people will be very flowery and some people will be rather brief and to the point. There’s room for a good deal of diversity in interpretation. Sometimes it will be a word for word translation.

Now you might say, ‘Why does God do things that strange way? Why does He give one person an unknown language and the other person the interpretation in the known language?’ Well, I’m not sure that I can tell you exactly why God does it, but I’ll point out two things. First of all, it promotes interdependence which God favors in the body. He’s happy when we need each other, and He doesn’t like us coming to the point where we think we can do it all on our own. So tongues plus interpretation makes two people dependent on one another.

Frequently when my wife and I used to pray together, she would get an unknown tongue and I would get the interpretation. This happened regularly over our married life for about thirty years. And many, many times God spoke to us, warned us, directed us, encouraged us with that particular combination of gifts. And I would have to say in all those years I do not recollect a single time where it was not very definitely correct and from God.

Another reason, I think, for the use of an unknown tongue followed by interpretation is that sometimes God’s people are somewhat unruly. And if you were to speak immediately in prophecy they wouldn’t be ready to hear. But when an unknown tongue is given forth, especially if it’s given forth with authority, then that arrests the attention of the people. And if they’re properly instructed, they’ll remain silent waiting for the interpretation. So sometimes I think God just has to do it that way to get through to people.

Another thing I would say is, if you do get an utterance in an unknown tongue that you think ought to be interpreted, have mercy on the interpreter. If possible, don’t go on for ten minutes. It’s too long. Secondly, when you come to the end, cut it off, turn the tap off, don’t leave it leaking. Some people go on and then there’s a little dribble and another word and another word and you really don’t know when they’ve finished.

Now God gave me the gift of interpretation before I even knew there was such a thing. In fact, when I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, about the second night I ever spoke in tongues, I interpreted. I thought, Why am I saying that? What was it? and I had to look in the Bible to find out what had happened to me. In my case, every time I spoke in tongues, practically, I interpreted. And after a while this became a kind of mental burden. I couldn’t remember all the things I’d interpreted. So I said to God, ‘Do I really have to do this?’ And God said, ‘No. You decide.’ And so I learnt early on a lot of useful things about spiritual gifts—that really, much more than we realize, are under our control, especially the vocal gifts. All right. Thirdly, we come to prophecy. Prophecy, I would say, is ‘speaking out by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit not as a product of your own natural reasoning, words in a language which you understand and which are understood by those to whom you are speaking.’ That’s a bit complicated but let me try and say it again.

Prophecy is speaking out by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, words that do not proceed from your own natural reasoning or understanding, in a language that you understand and that is understood by those to whom you are speaking. Now it may not necessarily be your mother tongue.

I remember once in Cairo, in about 1943, I was in a small group of servicemen praying, and there was a French sailor who didn’t know any English. Now he’d been my companion for two or three months and I spoke French, but at this point God gave me prophecy in French for him. I knew what I was saying. It was not an unknown tongue. It took a certain amount of nerve to deliver it, but I did. It was a very, very beautiful message. The Lord told him that he was ‘His sheep which was lost and He had looked for and found, and now He had saved him and washed him in His precious blood.’ It was very beautiful word. And afterwards that Frenchman told me, he said, ‘I could not have spoken such good French as you spoke at that moment.’ So that was a kind of a supernatural enabling of the Holy Spirit. But normally, prophecy will be in a language that is the one we use daily.

Now turning back to 1 Corinthians 14 verses 2 through 4, we’ll look at what it says about prophesying.

“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. But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.”

Now I hope you can see the difference. I’ll use my right hand for tongues, my left hand for prophecy. All right. Three points of difference.

“He that speaks in an unknown tongue speaks to God; he that prophesies speaks to men.”

In an unknown tongue, it’s mysteries; prophecy is things that can be understood. When you speak in an unknown tongue you edify yourself; when you prophecy you edify the church, the assembled believers.

“So there’s three points of difference. Let’s say them again.
Tongues is to God, prophecy is to men.
Tongues is mysteries, prophecy is things that can be understood.
Tongues edifies the one who speaks, prophecy edifies those who are spoken to.”

And so, because it’s always better to serve others than yourself, Paul says, ‘He that prophesieth is greater than he that speaketh in tongues, unless he interprets.’ Because if you follow the tongue by an interpretation into the language that’s understood, then it becomes equivalent to prophecy.

And notice the scope of prophesying: ‘He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, exhortation and comfort.’ I believe that is basically the scope of prophesying. And it does not say condemnation and it does not say confusion. And there’s a matter of general principle I will not accept as valid a prophecy that brings either condemnation or confusion.

I had an experience when I was preaching in a church in Chicago. I was on the platform but I was not behind the pulpit. It was a big building. There were probably about six hundred people present, and a man had come in who was not known to anybody, and about halfway through the (quote) ‘worship service’ he stood up at the back and in a rather loud, harsh voice thundered forth denunciation on the people of God for their disobedience, etc. Well, I writhed and fumed inwardly but I did nothing. Having been allowed to get away with it, about ten minutes later, he did the same thing again. I was still not behind the microphone. But this time I couldn’t stand it, so I asked the brother behind the microphone if I could come to the microphone, and I said, ‘I just want to tell you all something. I do not accept what we have just heard as a valid exercise of the gift of prophecy, because the one who prophesies speaks to edification, exhortation and comfort. In what was uttered I heard no edification, no exhortation, no comfort. All I heard was confusion and condemnation. Now,’ I said, ‘the Scripture says, ‘Let the prophet speak two or three and let the others judge.’ I want any other brothers in this auditorium that exercise the gift of prophecy to stand up and give me their verdict.’ Well about four or five men stood up and I said, ‘Do you accept that as from God?’ And every one of them in turn said no. So the man was squelched, which is what he needed.

Then I said to all the people, ‘I want to tell you why I did that, because we had in that church a system by which the high school and college age young people sat in a group at the front on the preacher’s right. While the man was thundering out these denunciations I was watching the faces of the young people. And they all registered very clearly ‘phony.’’ So I said, ‘I just want these young people to know that I, at least, do not accept that as a valid manifestation of the Holy Spirit. It isn’t what I believe in and I’m not asking them to believe in it.’

Well, when I said that they heaved a kind of sigh of relief, and I can’t tell you how many times intelligent young people have been put off the gifts of the Spirit by misuses and abuses taking place in public and not being checked and dealt with. I believe any person who prophesies must be prepared for his prophecy to be submitted to judgment, and if he isn’t he shouldn’t prophecy. I also believe that those who encourage the exercise of spiritual gifts must be prepared to exercise authority if the gifts are misused.

I was in another case situation, talking in a convention about the gift of interpretation. And I was explaining that when the Holy Spirit speaks it’s alive, it’s vital, it quickens, it brings life. And if it doesn’t do that, it probably isn’t the Holy Spirit. Well, then I did what I’m going to do this evening, I led the people into the exercise of some of the gifts. So somebody spoke in tongues and a man stood up and he gave what was supposed to be the interpretation, but it was as stale as flat beer. It was, ‘Thus saith the Lord, I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh etc.,’ but there was no life in it. So I thought, ‘What do I do now? I’m absolutely on the spot. I’ve got to live up to what I said or else back down.’ So I said, ‘Now our brother has just quoted some of the Scriptures which he memorized. We will now wait for the interpretation.’ Now the interesting thing is, I discovered later, that that man was in error. He had a heresy and he’d come to that convention to spread his heresy. How important it was that he was publicly checked. So how important it is that we make sure it’s the real thing, that it’s to edification, exhortation and comfort.

I don’t want to dwell on this but let me suggest to you there’s a difference between the ministry gift of a prophet and the spiritual gift of prophesying. Paul says in Ephesians 4, ‘He gave some prophets…’ not all. But as we’ll see tonight in 1 Corinthians, he says, ‘Ye may all prophesy.’ You may all exercise the gift of prophesying. That doesn’t make you all prophets. A prophet’s got to have a lot more than a few times he prophesies. In fact I would suggest that if you look for the distinctive gifts of a prophet, they’re not so much prophesying, it’s a word of wisdom and a word of knowledge. That’s just a matter of opinion. But anyhow, I want you to bear that in mind. Tonight we are talking not about the ministry of a prophet, but about the spiritual gift of prophesying.

Now to close this message I just want to present to you from the Scriptures some exhortations to use these gifts. All of them are positive. It won’t take long to go through them in order. First Corinthians chapter 12 verse 31:

“But covet earnestly the best gifts: . . .”

There’s a specific direction to covet or seek earnestly or desire actively the best gifts. It doesn’t tell us what the best gifts are. According to my understanding, the best gifts for you are the gifts that enable you to function the way God intends. They may not be the same as the ones for me. So ‘best’ is relative to your function and position in the body. But we’re told to covet the gifts. Then in 1 Corinthians 14:1 it says:

“Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts [we’re told to desire them], but rather that ye may prophesy.
The gift we’re specifically told to desire is prophesying. And then it says in 1 Corinthians 14:5:
I would that ye all spake with tongues [so it’s the will of God that we all speak with tongues], but rather that ye prophesied.”

And that’s ‘all of you,’ so it’s in the will of God for all of us to speak with tongues, but it’s even more the will of God for all of us to prophesy. And then 1 Corinthians 14:12:

“Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.”

If you’re seeking gifts, seek those which will enable you to edify the church more. And then in verse 13:

“Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.”

So if you speak in an unknown tongue and you want to know what you’ve said, you believe God has given an utterance that’s to be interpreted, you pray for the interpretation. And then in 1 Corinthians 14:23:

“If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, . . .”

Paul envisages a situation in which everybody could be speaking with tongues. And then verse 24 he says:

“But if all prophesy, . . .”

He’s also envisaging a situation which he considers preferable where all the people are prophesying. And then in verse 31 he says:

“For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.”

There’s a very clear statement that all who wish to prophesy may do so if they’re willing to learn. ‘For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.’ The word all occurs three times in that verse. Paul wants everybody in on this thing. First Corinthians 14 verse 39, the last Scripture:

“Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.”

‘Covet to prophesy.’ It means to desire it earnestly. So at least three times we’re told specifically that we ought to desire and seek and covet to prophesy. It’s good for everybody to speak in tongues, but it’s better for everybody to prophesy. And if you do speak in tongues, then you’re entitled to ask for the interpretation.

I want to give you three Scriptures to encourage you. This is the last of my preaching. First Corinthians 12 verse 7 and 11. We’ve looked at it already, but we’ll look at it again.

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given [how many?] to [each one] to profit withal. Nobody’s left out for the common good. And in verse 11:
But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to [each one individually] as he will.”

So at the end and the beginning of that list we’re reminded it’s God’s will for each one to have these manifestations of the Holy Spirit. And then a principle of receiving from God which you’re going to have to exercise tonight—Mark 11 verse 24. Mark 11:24:

“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”

When do you receive what you’re praying for? When you pray. So when you pray for spiritual gifts, when do you believe you receive them? When you pray. So if you believe you’ve receive them when you pray, what do you do? You act as if you’d received them and you discover you have. That’s important. Don’t put off receiving to some unspecified moment in the future. ‘What things soever ye desire’—and it’s very scriptural to desire spiritual gifts. We’re told that. ‘When ye pray, believe that ye receive them’ at that moment and ‘you shall have them.’ Receiving takes place when you pray. Having is manifested later. But if you don’t receive first, you won’t have later. So bear that in mind. Receiving takes place when you pray, having follows.

And then one last Scripture. Luke 11 verses 9 through 13. Luke 11 verses 9 through 13. Jesus is talking to us as His disciples. He says:

“And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.”

No ifs, no buts. In six different ways Jesus says, ‘Come and get it.’ And then He applies it specifically to the Holy Spirit:

“If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?”

Three cases where the child asks something good, Jesus says, ‘it would be monstrous and unthinkable for the father to give something evil to a child who asks him something good.’ Then He applies it to us and God and the Holy Spirit:

“If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”

And the context is gifts. So if you ask for bread what will you get? Bread. If you ask for a fish what will you get? Fish. If you ask for an egg what will you get? Egg. And if you ask for prophesying what will you get? Prophesying. Are you sure? Let me ask you that again. If you ask for prophesying what will you get? Prophesying. That’s right. You’ve got the lesson.