It is of utmost importance that we understand the difference between the public use of unknown tongues and the private use. Although every Holy Spirit-baptized believer can speak in tongues at any time, that does not mean God will use him in the public gift of various kinds of tongues. The primary use of speaking in tongues is in the private devotional life of each believer. The Corinthians, however, were coming together and simultaneously speaking in tongues without any interpretation, and, of course, no one was being helped or edified by it (see 1 Cor. 14:6-12, 16-19, 23, 26-28).

One way to differentiate between the public use of tongues and the private use of tongues is to classify the private use as praying in tongues and the public use as speaking in other tongues. Paul mentions both uses in the fourteenth chapter of his first letter to the Corinthians. What are the differences?

When we pray in tongues, our spirits are praying to God (see 1 Cor. 14:2, 14). Yet, when someone is suddenly anointed with the gift of various kinds of tongues, it is a message from God to the congregation (see 1 Cor. 14:5), and it is understood once the interpretation is given.

According to Scripture, we can pray in tongues as we will (see 1 Cor. 14:15), but the gift of various kinds of tongues only operates as the Holy Spirit wills (see 1 Cor. 12:11).

The gift of various kinds of tongues would normally be accompanied by the gift of the interpretation of tongues. The private use of praying in tongues, however, would normally not be interpreted. Paul said that when he prayed in tongues his mind was unfruitful (see 1 Cor. 14:14).

When an individual prays in tongues only he is edified (see 1 Cor. 14:4), but the entire congregation is edified when the gift of various kinds of tongues is in manifestation with the accompanying gift of the interpretation of tongues (see 1 Cor. 14:4b-5).

Every believer should pray in tongues every day as part of his daily fellowship with the Lord. One of the wonderful things about praying in tongues is that it doesn’t require the use of your mind. That means you can pray in tongues even when your mind must be occupied with your work or other things. Paul said to the Corinthians, “I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all ” (1 Cor. 14:18, emphasis added). He must have spent a lot of time speaking in tongues to outdo the entire Corinthian Church!

Paul also wrote that when we pray in tongues, we are sometimes “blessing the Lord” (1 Cor. 14:16-17). Three times I have had my “prayer language” understood by someone present who knew the language in which I was praying. All three times I was speaking in Japanese. Once I said to the Lord in Japanese, “You are so good.” Another time I said, “Thank you very much.” On another occasion I said, “Come quickly, come quickly; I am waiting.” Isn’t that amazing? I’ve never learned a word of Japanese, but at least three times I’ve “blessed the Lord” in the Japanese language!

The Bible is full of instances when men and women were given sudden supernatural abilities by the Holy Spirit. In the New Testament, these supernatural abilities are called “gifts of the Spirit.” They are gifts in the sense that they cannot be earned. We should not forget, however, that God does promote those whom He can trust. Jesus said, “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much” (Luke 16:10). Thus we would expect that gifts of the Spirit would be more likely to be given to those who have proven their trustworthiness before God. Being fully consecrated and yielded to the Holy Spirit is important, as God is more likely to supernaturally use those kinds of people. On the other hand, God once used a donkey to prophesy, so He can use anyone He pleases. If He had to wait until we were perfect to use us, then He couldn’t use any of us!

In the New Testament, the gifts of the Spirit are listed in 1 Corinthians 12, and there are nine altogether:

For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues (1 Cor. 12:8-10).

Knowing how to define each individual gift is not crucial to being used by God in the spiritual gifts. The Old Testament prophets, priests, and kings, as well as the ministers of the early New Testament church, all operated in the gifts of the Spirit without knowledge of how to categorize or define them. Nevertheless, because the gifts of the Spirit are categorized for us in the New Testament, it must be something that God wants us to understand. Indeed, Paul wrote, “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware (1 Cor. 12:1).

Paul’s instructions to the Corinthian church were very specific. In any given gathering, the number of people who were permitted to speak out publicly in tongues was limited two or three. They should not all speak at once, but should wait and speak in turn (see 1 Cor. 14:27).

Paul did not necessarily mean that only three “messages in tongues” were permitted, but that no more than three people should speak out in tongues in any given service. It is thought by some that if there were more than three people who were frequently used in the gift of various kinds of tongues, any one of them could yield to the Spirit and given a “message in tongues” that the Spirit desired to be manifested in the church. If this is not so, Paul’s instruction would actually limit the Holy Spirit by limiting the number of messages in tongues that could be manifested in any given meeting. If the Holy Spirit would never give any more than three gifts of various kinds of tongues in a gathering, there would be no need for Paul to give such intstructions.

The same could well be true for the interpretation of tongues. It is thought that perhaps more than one person in the assembly might be able to yield to the Spirit and give the interpretation of a “message in tongues.” Such people would be considered “interpreters” (see 1 Cor. 14:28), as they would be frequently used in the gift of interpretation of tongues. If that is true, perhaps that is what Paul was referring to when he instructed, “let one interpret” (1 Cor. 14:27). Perhaps he was not saying that only one person should interpret all the messages in tongues; rather he was warning against “competitive interpretations” of the same message. If one interpreter interpreted a message in tongues, then another interpreter was not permitted to interpret the same message, even if he thought he could give a better interpretation.

In general, everything should be done “properly and in an orderly manner” in church gatherings—they should not be a hodgepodge of simultaneous, confusing and even competitive utterances. Additionally, believers should be sensitive to any unbelievers who may be present in their gatherings, just as Paul wrote:

If therefore the whole church should assemble together and all speak in tongues, and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad? (1 Cor. 14:23).

That was precisely the problem in Corinth—everyone was speaking in tongues simultaneously, and often there were no interpretations.

Paul offered some instruction regarding the “revelation gifts” in regard to their manifestation through prophets:

And let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment. But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, let the first keep silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; for God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints (1 Cor. 14:29-33).

Just as there were members of the body in Corinth who apparently were frequently used in the gift of the interpretation of tongues who were known as “interpreters,” so there were those who were frequently used in the gifts of prophecy and revelation who were considered “prophets.” These would not be prophets in the same class as Old Testament prophets or even someone like Agabus in the New Testament (see Acts. 11:28; 21:10). Rather, their ministries would have been limited to their local church bodies.

Although there might be more than three such prophets present at a church gathering, again Paul placed limitations, specifically limiting prophetic ministry to “two or three prophets.” This again suggests that when the Spirit was giving spiritual gifts in a gathering, more than one person might yield to receiving those gifts. If this is not so, Paul’s instruction could result in the Spirit giving gifts that would never be enjoyed by the body, as he limited how many prophets could speak.

If there were more than three prophets present, the others, although restrained from speaking, could help by judging what was said. This also would indicate their ability to discern what the Spirit was saying and possibly imply that they could have yielded to the Spirit themselves to be used in the very gifts that were manifested through the other prophets. Otherwise they could have only judged prophecies and revelations in a general way, by making certain they were in agreement with revelation God has already given (such as in Scripture), something any mature believer could do.

Paul stated that these prophets could all prophesy sequentially (see 1 Cor. 14:31) and that “the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets” (1 Cor. 14:32), indicating that each prophet could restrain himself from interrupting another, even when given a prophecy or revelation from the Spirit to share with the congregation. This shows that the Spirit might give gifts at the same time to several prophets present in a gathering, but each prophet could and should control when his revelations or prophecies were shared with the body.

This is also true concerning any utterance gift that might be manifested through any believer. If a person receives a message in tongues or prophecy from the Lord, he can hold it until the proper time in the gathering. It would be wrong to interrupt someone else’s prophecy or teaching to give your prophecy.

When Paul stated, “you can all prophesy one by one” (1 Cor. 14:31), remember that he was speaking in the context of prophets who had received prophecies. Some have unfortunately taken Paul’s words out of context, saying that every believer can prophesy at every gathering of the body. The gift of prophecy is given as the Spirit wills.

Today, as much as ever, the church needs the Holy Spirit’s help, power, presence and gifts. Paul instructed the Corinthian believers to “desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy” (1 Cor. 14:1). This indicates that our level of desire has something to do with the manifestation of the Spirit’s gifts, otherwise Paul would not have given such instructions. The disciple-making minister, desiring to be used by God for His glory, will indeed earnestly desire spiritual gifts, and will teach his disciples to do the same.

It is important to realize that gifts of the Spirit are given as the Spirit wills and not as any person wills. The Bible makes this quite clear:

But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills (1 Cor. 12:11, emphasis added).

God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will (Heb. 2:4, emphasis added).

A person might be used frequently in certain gifts, but no one possesses any of the gifts. Just because you are anointed once to work a miracle is no indication that you can work a miracle any time you desire; nor is it any guarantee that you will ever be used again to work a miracle.

We will briefly study and consider a few biblical examples of each gift. Keep in mind, however, that God can manifest His grace and power in an infinite number of ways, so it is impossible to define exactly how each gift will operate every single time. Moreover, there are no definitions of the nine spiritual gifts in Scripture—all we have are their labels. Thus we can only look at examples in the Bible and attempt to determine under which label each one should fall, ultimately defining them by their apparent differences. Because there are so many ways that the Holy Spirit can manifest Himself through supernatural gifts, it may be unwise to try to be overly strict in our definitions. Some gifts might actually be more like combinations of several gifts. Along these lines Paul wrote:

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. There are varieties of effects [or operations], but the same God who works all things in all persons. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good (1 Cor. 12:4-7, emphasis added).

It is often thought that, because Jesus was the divine Son of God, He could work a miracle or heal anyone anytime He desired. But as we examine the Scriptures closely, we discover that, although Jesus was certainly divine, He was apparently self-limited during His earthly ministry. He once said, “The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing” (John 5:19). That clearly shows that Jesus was limited and dependent on His Father.

According to Paul, when Jesus became a human being He “emptied Himself” of certain things that He would have previously possessed as God:

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:5-7, emphasis added).

Of what did Jesus “empty Himself”? It wasn’t His divinity. It wasn’t His holiness. It wasn’t His love. It must have been His supernatural power. Obviously, He was no longer omnipresent (existing everywhere). Likewise, He was no longer omniscient (all-knowing), and omnipotent (all-powerful). Jesus became a man. In His ministry, He operated as a man anointed by the Holy Spirit. This becomes abundantly clear as we look closely at the four Gospels.

For example, we might ask, If Jesus was the divine Son of God, why was it necessary for Him to be baptized in the Holy Spirit when He began His ministry at age thirty? Why would God need to be baptized with God ?

Clearly, Jesus needed the baptism of the Holy Spirit in order to be anointed for ministry. That is why, soon after His baptism, we read of Him preaching these words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach….to proclaim…to set free…” (Luke 4:18, emphasis added).

That is also why Peter preached, “You know of Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Spirit and with power , and how He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38, emphasis added).

That is also why Jesus did no miracles until He was baptized in the Holy Spirit at about age thirty. Was He the Son of God at age twenty-five? Certainly. Then why did He do no miracles until age thirty? Simply because Jesus emptied Himself of the supernatural power that God possesses, and He had to wait for the time when He would be empowered by the Spirit.

Bartimaeus was a blind man who was healed by his faith in Jesus. Let’s read his story in Mark’s gospel.

Then they came to Jericho. And as [Jesus] was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him here. ” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take courage, stand up! He is calling for you.” Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. And answering him, Jesus said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” And the blind man said to Him, “Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!” And Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road (Mark 10:46-52).

First notice that Jesus didn’t seek Bartimaeus. (This is the exact opposite of what happened with the man at the Pool of Bethesda). In fact, Jesus was walking past him, and if Bartimaeus hadn’t cried out, Jesus would have kept on walking. That means Bartimaeus wouldn’t have been healed.

Now think about that. What if Bartimaeus had sat there and said to himself, “Well, if it’s Jesus’ will for me to be healed, then He’ll come over and heal me.” What would have happened? Bartimaeus never would have been healed, even though this story plainly reveals it was Jesus’ will for him to be healed. The first sign of Bartimaeus’ faith is that he cried out to Jesus.

Second, notice that Bartimaeus would not be discouraged by the ones who were trying to quiet him down. When the people tried to silence him, he just cried out “all the more” (Mark 10:48). That shows his faith.

Third, notice that Jesus didn’t respond to Bartimaeus’ initial cries. Of course, it is possible that He couldn’t hear Bartimaeus’ initial cries, but if He did, Jesus didn’t respond. In other words, Jesus let the man’s faith be tested.

If Bartimaeus had given up after crying out only one time, he would not have been healed . We, too, must sometimes persevere in faith because many times it looks as if our prayer will not be answered. That is when our faith is tested, so we need to continue to stand, refusing to be discouraged by contrary circumstances.

Finally, it is important to know that Jesus was anointed with tangible healing power during His earthly ministry. That is, He could actually feel that healing anointing leaving His body, and in some cases, the sick person who was being healed could feel that anointing as it entered his body. For example, Luke 6:19 says, “And all the people were trying to touch Him, for power was coming from Him and healing them all.”

Apparently that healing anointing even saturated Jesus’ clothes so that, if a sick person touched His garment in faith, the healing anointing would flow into his body. We read in Mark 6:56:

Wherever He entered villages, or cities, or countryside, they were laying the sick in the market places, and imploring Him that they might just touch the fringe of His cloak; and as many as touched it were being cured.

The woman with the issue of blood (see Mark 5:25-34) was healed by simply touching the fringe of Jesus’ garment and expecting by faith to be healed.

Not only was Jesus anointed with a tangible healing anointing but so was the apostle Paul during the later years of his ministry:

God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that handkerchiefs or aprons were even carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out (Acts 19:11-12).

The tangible healing anointing saturated any cloths that were attached to Paul’s body, evidently indicating that cloth is a good conductor of healing power!

God hasn’t changed since the days of Jesus or Paul, so we shouldn’t be surprised if God anoints some of His servants today with such a healing anointing, as He did Jesus and Paul. These gifts, however, are not passed out to novices, but only to those who have proven themselves faithful and unselfishly motivated over a period of time.

We notice as we read the Gospels that there were times when Jesus possessed supernatural knowledge and other times when He didn’t. In fact, Jesus often asked questions to obtain information.

For example, He told the woman at the well of Samaria that she had had five husbands and that she was living with a man now to whom she was not married (see John 4:17-18). How did Jesus know that? Was it because He was God and God knows everything? No, if that were the case, Jesus would have demonstrated that ability consistently. Although He was God and God knows everything, Jesus emptied Himself of His omniscience when He became a man. Jesus knew the marital history of the woman at the well because the Holy Spirit granted Him at that moment the gift of “the word of knowledge” (1 Cor. 12:8), which is the supernatural ability to know something about the present or past. (We will study in more detail the subject of the gifts of the Spirit in the next chapter).

Did Jesus know everything all the time? No, when the woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of Jesus’ garment and He felt healing power proceed from Him, He asked, “Who touched My garments?” (Mark 5:30b). When Jesus saw a fig tree in the distance in Mark 11:13, He “went to see if perhaps He would find anything on it.”

Why didn’t Jesus know who had touched Him? Why didn’t He know if the fig tree had figs on it? Because Jesus was operating as a man anointed by the Holy Spirit with gifts of the Spirit. Gifts of the Spirit operate as the Spirit wills (see 1 Cor. 12:11; Heb. 2:4). Jesus didn’t know things supernaturally unless the Holy Spirit willed to give Him the gift of “the word of knowledge.”

The same thing was true of Jesus’ healing ministry. The Scripture makes it plain that Jesus couldn’t heal anyone at any time. For example, we read in the Gospel of Mark that when Jesus visited His hometown of Nazareth, He was unable to accomplish everything He wanted to do.

And [Jesus] went out from there, and He came into His home town; and His disciples followed Him. And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue; and the many listeners were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things, and what is this wisdom given to Him, and such miracles as these performed by His hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James, and Joses, and Judas, and Simon? Are not His sisters here with us?” And they took offense at Him. And Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his home town and among his own relatives and in his own household.” And He could do no miracle there except that He laid His hands upon a few sick people and healed them. And He wondered at their unbelief (Mark 6:1-6, emphasis added).

Notice Mark didn’t say that Jesus wouldn’t do any miracle there, but that He couldn’t . Why? Because the people of Nazareth were unbelieving. They didn’t receive Jesus as being the anointed Son of God but only as a local carpenter’s son. Just as Jesus Himself remarked, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and among his own relatives and in his own household” (Mark 6:4). As a result, the most He could accomplish was to heal a few people “with minor ailments” (as one translation says). Surely, if there were any place where Jesus would have wanted to work miracles and dramatically heal people, it would have been the town He had lived most of His life. The Bible says, however, that He could not.

Jesus healed primarily by two different methods: (1) by teaching the Word of God to encourage sick people to have faith to be healed, and (2) by operating in “gifts of healings” as the Holy Spirit willed. Therefore, Jesus was limited by two factors in His healing ministry: (1) by the unbelief of sick people, and (2) by the will of the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself through “gifts of healings.”

Obviously, the majority of the people in Jesus’ hometown did not have faith in Him. Even though they had heard of His healing miracles in other towns, they wouldn’t believe He had power to heal, and consequently, He couldn’t heal them. Moreover, apparently the Holy Spirit didn’t grant Jesus any “gifts of healings” in Nazareth—for what reason nobody knows.

Luke records in more detail than Mark exactly what happened when Jesus visited Nazareth:

And [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book, and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” And He closed the book…and He began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” And all were speaking well of Him, and wondering at the gracious words which were falling from His lips; and they were saying, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” (Luke 4:16-22).

Jesus wanted His audience to believe that He was the promised anointed one of Isaiah’s prophecy, hoping that they would believe and receive all the benefits of His anointing, which, according to Isaiah, included freedom from captivity and oppression as well as sight for the blind.^[1] But they didn’t believe, and although they were impressed by His speaking ability, they wouldn’t believe Joseph’s son was anyone special. Recognizing their skepticism, Jesus responded,

No doubt you will quote this proverb to Me, “Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard was done at Capernaum, do here in your home town as well”….Truly I say to you, no prophet is welcome in his hometown (Luke 4:23-24).

The people in Jesus’ hometown were waiting to see if He would do what they heard He had done in Capernaum. Their attitude was not one of expectant faith but skepticism. By their lack of faith they limited Him from performing any miracles or major healings.

^[1] All of these could well refer to physical healing. Sickness can definitely be considered to be oppression, as Scripture says that “God anointed [Jesus] with the Holy Spirit and with power, and…He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38).