Speaking in Tongues Explained

Acts 2:4 “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance”.

In this section, we will discuss some (not all) of the physical reactions that can occur as a result of spiritual encounters. The purpose of this discussion is to provide a biblical framework for these manifestations, thus making it easier for us to recognize the cause of the physical reaction. Sadly, there are ministers of the gospel who have encouraged manifestations of the "spirit" in their meetings and, when asked about certain questionable manifestations, have openly admitted that they have no idea what spirit is behind them—whether it is the Holy Spirit, a display of the flesh, or an unclean spirit. Very often, their recourse is to say, "Wait to see what fruit is produced by the encounter, and that will reveal which spirit was responsible." In other words, if the person draws closer to God as a result of their encounter, then it was likely an encounter with the Holy Spirit. However, if the person draws away from God as a result of their encounter, then it was obviously an encounter with a demonic spirit. The Lord would never condone such a viewpoint, for it is an absolute disservice to the body of Christ, and ministers who cannot discern which spirit is being manifested in their meetings have no place exposing fellow believers, especially young and vulnerable ones, to their meetings. Satan will quickly take advantage of the minister's ignorance and contaminate the church with demonic spirits.

In this section, we will discuss the phenomenon revealed to us in the passage of scripture quoted above: people speaking in other tongues when they are filled with the Holy Spirit. As with all the phenomena discussed in this section, there are potentially three different types of manifestations that can occur in this area:

·         People speaking in tongues by the Holy Spirit.

·         People pretending to speak in tongues.

·         People speaking in tongues from a demonic spirit.

We will first discuss the false before we discuss the genuine. As already mentioned, there are two types of false tongues, the first being people pretending to speak in tongues. These are normally quite easy to identify because, for the most part, they repeat a similar phrase every time they speak in "tongues." For example, a phrase like "sha-ka-ba-ba" will form the mainstay of their vocabulary, with a few variations added every now and then. The genuine gift of tongues, however, is a proper language and not gibberish. These people know that they don't have the gift of tongues but try to fool others into thinking that they do. The only people they are able to fool, however, are baby believers. This brings us to the second type of false tongue, which is speaking from a demonic spirit. The saints should not be concerned about this practice, however, for it is only those who are exposed to cultish practices that become vulnerable in this area. Every believer who seeks to be filled with the Holy Spirit in a normal church environment can be assured that they will never be exposed to this.

This brings us now to the genuine. There are numerous manifestations that can occur when the saints are filled with the Holy Spirit, but the first and main evidence is always that they will begin to speak in other tongues. Because speaking in other tongues is the main evidence that we have been filled with the Holy Spirit, we will now examine this gift in more detail. The gift of tongues is a proper language which, when spoken, is recognizable as such. It may start out in small syllables, but as the saint speaks more and more in tongues, it eventually develops into a proper language that can be clearly identified as such. On the day of Pentecost, the saints spoke in languages that others could clearly understand (Acts 2:6). The gift of tongues is unique to this dispensation. All the gifts of the Spirit as listed in the book of Corinthians operated under the Old Covenant, except the gifts of tongues and the interpretation of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:8-10). The Lord, in His infinite wisdom, has given to His church a divine language which enables them to supernaturally communicate with Him as no other saints before the church age could. As we study this gift, we will see that it is of immense value to the saint in enabling them to walk in the fullness of the Christian life that God intended for us, and no saint can reach their full potential in Christ unless they regularly give themselves to praying in the spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:7-10 “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:  (8)  for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,  (9)  to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,  (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.”

First, however, we need to distinguish between the gift of "other tongues," which is given to every believer who is filled with the Spirit, and the spiritual gift called "different kinds of tongues," as mentioned in the scripture quoted above. The context of this passage is teaching on the nine gifts of the Spirit, and "different kinds of tongues" is listed as one of those gifts. It is mainly believers who have not been baptized in the Spirit who get these two gifts confused by thinking that there is only one gift of tongues. The spiritual gift called "different kinds of tongues" is not given to every believer, however, for it is only given to those who are anointed by the Holy Spirit to speak out a divine message in a church gathering. This particular gift works in conjunction with the spiritual gift called the "interpretation of tongues."

One who has the gift of "different kinds of tongues" will also have the gift of other tongues. The two languages will be completely different, however. These individuals will be able to speak with "other tongues" as their prayer language any time they choose. However, the language of "different kinds of tongues" will only manifest itself through them when the Holy Spirit anoints them to bring a message to the church. From time to time, the gift of "different kinds of tongues" can also manifest in several varied languages, as the Spirit wills. Thus, we see that the gift of "other tongues" is not the same as the gift of "different kinds of tongues."

Romans 8:26-27 “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groaning’s which cannot be uttered.  (27) Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”

So why does the Holy Spirit give us the gift of other tongues? There are several reasons, but the primary reason is so that the believer can pray God's perfect will. In the passage of scripture quoted above, the apostle Paul specifically refers to the Holy Spirit Himself making intercession for us with groanings (a better translation of that word is "sighings") which cannot be uttered. In this passage, Paul is not referring to speaking with other tongues, for notice that these groanings cannot be uttered or spoken out. All believers, even those not filled with the Holy Spirit, can learn to yield to the Holy Spirit in their prayer life so that they too can pray with sighing. The point that I want to make from this passage, however, is that it is the Holy Spirit who always knows God's perfect will, and by yielding to Him in their prayer life, believers can pray God's perfect will for every situation they bring before God by praying in other tongues.

Michael E.B. Maher

Holy Spirit Encounters

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