In this study, I would like to examine the topic of the gift of tongues and address some things about this subject that you may not have known or fully understood.
It all began on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended, and the disciples who were staying in the upper room received the baptism of the Holy Spirit according to the promise that Jesus Christ had given them earlier. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. On that day, God specifically gave the apostles the ability to speak in other languages that were understandable to the people, so that those around them would receive clear and undeniable proof that this was indeed the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of God – descending on Christ’s disciples, and not some demonic spirit. On that day, believers in God who had come from other nations heard the disciples of Christ, by the Spirit of God, speaking about the mighty works of God in the native languages of the representatives of those nations who had come to Jerusalem for the feast.
Here we see that the Holy Spirit knows all earthly languages and is able to speak any of them. And God received thousands of witnesses that the Spirit received by Christ’s disciples was indeed the Holy Spirit of God.
Acts 2:1–11 (NIV):
1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.
6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.
7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?
8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language?
9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome
11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
God showed the Jews, God-fearing people from every nation under heaven, a sign that His Spirit had come, and that Christ’s disciples were filled with His Spirit and were speaking by this Spirit and not by any other demonic spirit. Hundreds of witnesses heard the Spirit glorify God and speak through the disciples about the mighty works of God. And this event was the fulfillment of prophecy.
Isaiah 28:10–12 (NIV):
10 For it is: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there.
11 Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people,
12 to whom he said, “This is the resting place, let the weary rest”; and, “This is the place of repose”—but they would not listen.
The apostle Paul also confirms that tongues are precisely the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah’s prophecy, and that even though people will hear tongues, they still will not believe God and His teaching.
1 Corinthians 14:21–22 (NIV):
21 In the Law it is written: “With other tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.”
22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers…
That is, tongues are a sign that God has come and that God is speaking through a Spirit-baptized person, but people, even hearing this sign, do not believe God or His servants.
Did Jesus Christ Himself pray in tongues? The Bible does not describe a full prayer of Jesus Christ in tongues.
Some believe that the gift of tongues was needed in the early church to spread the Gospel, but there are no examples in the Bible of the Gospel being spread through the gift of tongues. Even on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit did not proclaim the Gospel of salvation through faith in Christ; rather, He spoke about the mighty works of God (or glorified God) through the mouths of the disciples. The Gospel was proclaimed there by the apostle Peter in the native language of the Jews. However, the Spirit can speak to people whatever He deems necessary – whether future events, the Gospel, or the teaching of God.
In the book of Acts, we clearly see that the Gospel was spread mainly through Jewish synagogues located outside Israel in other countries. The Jews living in those countries knew their native language, and after believing, they further spread the Gospel in their countries of residence. The apostle Paul was sent to the Gentiles; he knew the Greek language, which was widely spoken at that time, as many knew it – Greek was the international language of communication, much like English today.
Here are the Scripture passages confirming this:
· Acts 13:14 (NIV) – …they entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and sat down. (Antioch)
· Acts 14:1 (NIV) – At Iconium Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. (Iconium)
· Acts 17:10 (NIV) – …and on arriving they went to the Jewish synagogue. (Berea)
· Acts 17:1 (NIV) – …where there was a Jewish synagogue. (Thessalonica)
· Acts 17:17 (NIV) – So he reasoned in the synagogue with both Jews and God-fearing Greeks. (Athens)
· Acts 18:4 (NIV) – Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue. (Corinth)
· Acts 18:26 (NIV) – He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. (Ephesus)
· Acts 18:19 (NIV) – …he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. (Ephesus)
· Acts 19:8 (NIV) – Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months. (Ephesus)
· Acts 16:13 (NIV) – …where we expected to find a place of prayer. (Philippi)
· Acts 18:7 (NIV) – …whose house was next to the synagogue. (Corinth)
· Acts 18:8 (NIV) – Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.
In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, we read that the one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to people but to God, speaking mysteries, and this is what Isaiah prophesied (Isaiah 28:11) – a sign from God.
The Holy Spirit has the right to manifest Himself through a believer in different ways. Depending on the situation, the Spirit may speak in understandable languages or in incomprehensible ones; it all depends on what the Spirit wants to do through the person. In one case, He shows that He is from God and speaks directly to a person in a language they understand. In another case, He intercedes and speaks mysteries to God the Father that no one but God is meant to know.
1 Corinthians 14:2 (NIV):
2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.
The foundational truth given in Scripture is that the Holy Spirit is in us – that is, in born-again Christians – and we are His temple, i.e., the temple of God.
· 1 Corinthians 6:17 (NIV): But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
· 1 Corinthians 3:16 (NIV): Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?
· 1 Corinthians 6:19 (NIV): …that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you…
· 2 Corinthians 6:16 (NIV): …for we are the temple of the living God. As God has said…
We know from Scripture that all the gifts of the Holy Spirit are produced by the Holy Spirit Himself, and He distributes them among believers who are united with the Holy Spirit just as He determines.
1 Corinthians 12:8–11 (NIV):
8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit,
10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues.
11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines.
The Holy Spirit heals; the Holy Spirit gives the word of wisdom; the Holy Spirit speaks in other tongues; and the other gifts are likewise produced by the Holy Spirit through the believer because He is in their heart.
The Holy Spirit is called in Scripture the Intercessor, because He was sent by the Father to intercede for His children.
· Romans 8:26 (NIV): …but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
· Romans 8:27 (NIV): …because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
There is an opinion in Christian circles that the Holy Spirit intercedes on His own, apart from the believer, but this claim is refuted by Scripture.
To verify that the Holy Spirit intercedes through a person, let’s examine the full context of Romans 8.
· Romans 8:9 (NIV) – …the Spirit of God lives in you
· Romans 8:10 (NIV) – …Christ is in you
· Romans 8:11 (NIV) – …through his Spirit who lives in you
· Romans 8:14 (NIV) – …those who are led by the Spirit of God
· Romans 8:23 (NIV) – …we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit
· Romans 8:26 (NIV) – …the Spirit himself intercedes for us
Here is the fuller text of Romans 8 so you can see I have presented the information correctly:
Romans 8:9–11, 14, 23, 26–27 (NIV):
9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.
10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.
23 …and we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
From the context, we see that the Spirit is in us, and the Spirit intercedes through us or using our mouths.
Romans 8:23 says: “we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly.” The word “groan” (Greek: στενάζω) means to groan, sigh, or lament. Then, in the immediate context, verse 26 speaks of the Spirit’s intercession.
The meaning of “wordless groans” (Greek: ἀλάλητος – inexpressible, unutterable) does not at all mean that the groaning, sigh, or lamentation with which the Holy Spirit intercedes is inaudible to the person. “Inexpressible” or “unutterable” means a language that cannot be reproduced by ordinary human desires, because it is produced not by man but by the Holy Spirit through man.
In 1 Corinthians, Paul also teaches about the intercession or prayer of the Holy Spirit through the believer.
1 Corinthians 14:13–15 (NIV):
13 For this reason, the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say.
14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.
15 So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding.
From the context, all these expressions –
1. speaking in a tongue
2. I pray in a tongue
3. my spirit prays
4. praying with the spirit –
all refer to the same gift: the gift of tongues given by the Holy Spirit. This is biblical confirmation that tongues are given, among other reasons, for prayer.
Throughout the biblical narrative, we see that God uses the gift of tongues in different ways according to the situation:
1. As a sign for unbelievers – 1 Corinthians 14:22 (NIV): “Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers.”
2. As secret prayer to God that no one understands – 1 Corinthians 14:2 (NIV): “Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.” Here, the Holy Spirit intercedes for or through the believer for something.
3. In the church assembly – when tongues are interpreted, people receive instruction, edification, or teaching – 1 Corinthians 14:5 (NIV): “so that the church may be edified.”
Romans 8:26 (NIV):
In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.
Of course, there is no point in praying in tongues in a church gathering that no one present knows or understands, wasting time unnecessarily. It is logical that in a gathering, teaching or preaching should be given in a language everyone understands, so that all may learn and comprehend the speaker’s words.
God gave the gift of tongues to provide us with perfect prayer that is 100% in accordance with God’s will – both in content and in manner of execution. God knows better what a person needs because He is all-knowing. Therefore, it is logical to trust God in the matter of prayer and to use this gift of God’s grace – the gift of tongues – following the example of the apostle Paul, who spoke (or prayed) in tongues more than all.
The one who prays much in tongues edifies themselves and builds their life according to God’s will. How does this happen? The Holy Spirit intercedes for you; God hears this and answers His prayer; and you and your life are arranged and built by God through the intercession of the Holy Spirit.
I want to emphasize particularly that the Holy Spirit may use for intercession not only languages that have existed or currently exist among the peoples on earth, but also so-called angelic tongues or groans.
The apostle Paul mentioned that such languages exist in heaven.
2 Corinthians 12:3–4 (NIV):
3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows—
4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.
And in 1 Corinthians, Paul mentions the existence of angelic tongues.
1 Corinthians 13:1 (NIV):
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels…
The Holy Spirit can use angelic tongues – that is, languages from the spiritual world – in His intercession. There is a simple explanation for this. It is logical to assume that the Holy Spirit intercedes not only for earthly things but also for what happens in the spiritual world. For the spiritual world, earthly languages simply do not have suitable words that would give precise definitions to the realities of the spiritual world.
To understand this, here is a simple example. In our time, there are many things that did not exist in the 18th century – for example, a quadcopter, a computer, a smartphone, etc. I imagine there are thousands of such words. In the same way, there are countless things in the spiritual world that do not exist on earth, for which there are not even words in earthly languages. So the Holy Spirit uses angelic tongues – or languages from the spiritual world – when interceding for something related to the spiritual realm.
The Holy Spirit knows all languages – both human languages and the languages of the spiritual world. Therefore, He can use any language He chooses to speak through a believer who has the gift of tongues. As I wrote earlier, His choice depends on what He wants to accomplish – whether it is needed as a sign, or to say something to a foreigner, or whether the Holy Spirit wants to speak to God the Father.
The Holy Spirit is the perfect Intercessor. He can accomplish through you and for you a prayer that is perfect and pleasing to God 100%. In this prayer, He uses a perfect language that conveys all information ideally.
It is a pity that some neglect this bestowed spiritual gift – this magnificent pearl of God’s grace – given by God for your edification, for the ordering of your life, for being filled with the Spirit, and for perfect prayer to the Father.
1 Corinthians 12:3 (NIV):
Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.
4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them.
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