6.3. THE SPEAKING GIFTS

The Church gathered is blessed and built up by the speaking gifts. The first of the speaking gifts is PROPHECY (1 Corinthians 12:10 ).

	Prophecy in its simplest form is Holy Spirit inspired utterance of edification, exhortation and strengthening (1 Corinthians 14:3,4 ).
	Prophecy can be a means of convicting and convincing the unbeliever attending a meeting (1 Corinthians 14:24 ).
	Prophecy is a priority gift to be desired (1 Corinthians 14:1 ).
	Prophecy is not a thought out message - it is an inspired manifestation of the Holy Spirit given to profit the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 14:7,11 ).
	Prophecy is open to the evaluation of other prophets and can be judged by the written Word (1 Corinthians 14:29 ).
	The one using the gift is responsible for its use (1 Corinthians 14:29,32,33,40 ).
	Prophecy is to be appreciated, not to be despised (1 Thessalonians 5:20 ).

The second speaking gift is diverse kinds of TONGUES. Tongues are supernatural utterances by the Holy Spirit in languages never learned by the speaker, nor understood by the speaker. The Holy Spirit gives real languages. In a receiving meeting I was praying over a couple in an utterance of the Spirit and went on with the interpretation. The man told me I had spoken in Dutch, a language totally unknown to me, and the interpretation, he said, clearly set forth the meaning. I have heard several in Africa who had no knowledge of English, speak with perfect clarity in an accent like to that of the Queen herself. Another young woman spoke by the Spirit in German, not knowing the language - a young man who was fluent in German was so amazed he started to praise God - and began to praise God in a new utterance by the Spirit of which he had no knowledge.

SPEAKING IN TONGUES is a result of being filled with the Spirit (Acts 2:4; 10:44-46; 19:6 ). The Greek tense in Acts 2:4 indicates that the 120 who received at Pentecost, continued to speak with tongues from that time on as a private, personal experience and prayer language. This wonderful gift is available for all Spirit-filled believers. The public ministry gift of tongues seems to be left to certain ones in the body (1 Corinthians 12:30 ). Even though all are not used in the giving of messages in tongues, all, like Paul, can decide to pray and sing in tongues and in their understanding (1 Corinthians 14:15 ). Speaking in tongues is indeed a continuing experience.

There are great benefits and blessings from the use of the GIFT OF TONGUES. It greatly assists praise and worship. It is speaking to God supernaturally (1 Corinthians 14:2, 15; Acts 10:45 ). It is a mighty aid to prayer. By tongues, prayer is made by the Spirit as distinct from the mind of our understanding (1 Corinthians 14:14 ). This gift is a means of personal edification (1 Corinthians 14:4 ) - something Paul rejoiced to do (1 Corinthians 14:18 ). This gift is a means of edifying the Church when accompanied by the GIFT OF INTERPRETATION (1 Corinthians 14:5,12,13,26 ). The emphasis is on a ministry of edification that is open to all Spirit-filled believers. This is a controlled gift. It may be used or refrained from in the interest of edification and profit (1 Corinthians 14:24 ). The choice of each individual member of the Church is always theirs - each can decide to speak or not, at their own will (1 Corinthians 14:32 ). Disruption and disorder is not authorised by God (1 Corinthians 14:33 ). No human reaction is to be blamed on God.

The third speaking gift is the INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES (1 Corinthians 12:10 ). This gift is the supernatural showing forth by the Holy Spirit of the meaning of an utterance in another tongue. The interpretation is as miraculous as the tongue. The interpreter never understands the tongue he is interpreting. He is borne along by the Holy Spirit in his utterance, revealing the mind of the Spirit in the tongue utterance, and so edifying all in an equivalent way to prophecy (1 Corinthians 14:5,26-28 ). In the incident above when the young woman spoke in German, a language, like her, I did not understand, I gave the interpretation. The young man who did know German excitedly exclaimed that it was better than a translation, it freely and fully expressed its meaning. For me it settled what I knew about the gift of interpretation: that often it is a full expansion of the utterance spoken - not a stilted translation. Interpretation is open to like judgment as prophecy (1 Corinthians 14:29 ). Everyone who speaks with the gift of tongues is told to "pray that he may interpret." (1 Corinthians 14:13 KJV).

This teaching on the spiritual gifts is intended to remove ignorance. Those who are prophetic and spiritual will acknowledge that Paul wrote by "the commandments of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 14:37 KJV). Those who want to be ignorant cannot be helped (1 Corinthians 14:38 ). Avoid sitting in judgment on the level of another's understanding or personal reactions, but seek with all your heart, manifestations of the Holy Spirit. What a wonderful supernatural ministry is made available through the gifts of the Holy Spirit.