Question:
Please explain the subject of the gift of tongues, as found in 1 Corinthians 14. What does it mean by saying, “In the Spirit he speaketh mysteries”?
Answer:
Among the gifts of God recorded in the twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians are mentioned “divers kinds of tongues” and “the interpretation of tongues.” A “tongue” that is a gift of the Spirit of God is an intelligible thing. It speaks intelligently, whether the listening individuals may understand it or not. The person talking knows what he is saying and is saying something in some language known to Earth.
The second chapter of Acts clearly illustrates the Spirit’s gift of tongues. There were in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost—doubtless most of them having been drawn there to attend the Jewish feast—people of all nationalities, and the holy city was stirred because of the events connected with the crucifixion of Christ. The story of the cross must be told, and must be understood by all these various nationalities; and when the Spirit was poured out on the Day of Pentecost, the text says:
“And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?” (Acts 2:7-12).
Now that gift of tongues on that occasion, which illustrates God’s plan, shows intelligence. It shows a need for that particular gift at that specific time, and it shows the people listening to the gospel and understanding “the wonderful works of God” as they were presented.
Some people claim to have the gift of tongues, but no intelligence is connected with it. It is an unintelligible jargon. It is one of the deceptive counterfeits that Satan is imposing upon the world, with which to delude and destroy people. In the twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians, note that after enumerating the various gifts, the apostle says, “But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.” (1 Corinthians 12:11). These gifts are bestowed upon individuals who will appropriately and intelligently use them, and as the need arises for such gifts. Otherwise they would not be given. They are not to be seized by individuals, and exercised upon their authority or in harmony with their whims.
Study closely all that God’s Word says regarding His gifts, and you will not be led astray. God continually seeks to divulge the mysteries of His truth, and He asks us to base our faith upon mysteries that have been revealed, not upon some mysterious something that no one can understand. God’s people will always study the unfolding mysteries of His great truth, but their faith is based upon what they understand and not upon something that is ever bewildering. There is something divinely dignified in the gifts of God, and they carry convincing power to intelligent people.
