Again, I want to remind you that even though
we have been discussing the nine gifts of the
Spirit, do not limit the Holy Spirit to just
nine. There are members of the body of Christ,
members of His church, who have been given gifts
that are not numbered among these nine. I believe
that the gifts of the Spirit... are in operation
today. I do not believe that the giving of the
gifts by the Holy Spirit was limited just to
the early church. He will continue to give gifts
to members of the body of Christ until that day
when the church will be taken out of the world
at the time of the rapture. when the Holy Spirit
himself believes. There is no scripture whatsoever
to substantiate the fact that we are no longer
to expect the giving of gifts to individuals
by the Holy Spirit. I believe with every atom
of my being that we have in operation today the
gift of the Word of Wisdom. the gift of the word
of knowledge, the gift of faith, the gifts of
healing, the working of miracles, the discerning
of spirits, the speaking in tongues, the interpretation
of tongues, and on and on. We have every right,
every scriptural right, to expect to covet these
gifts today. in the body of Christ? Well, sir,
now let's consider the gift of tongues. And I'm
going to try to speak as simply as possible because
this is something that has been grossly misunderstood
and misinterpreted. And yet it's so simple that
even a child can understand. In exactly the same
way, Jesus left no doubt whatsoever in those
last words that he spoke before he went back
to heaven. When he said, ye shall receive power.
After that, the Holy Ghost is come upon you.
Now, everyone knows what power is. And when you
have spiritual power, that... is something. And
those who have received the Holy Spirit, those
who have been filled with the Holy Ghost, those
who have experienced the baptism of the Holy
Spirit should have power, the power of God, the
power of the Holy Spirit in their life. Jesus
said you would have. Jesus said we would have
power. In our lives, after that wonderful experience
of being filled with the Holy Spirit, power for
what? Power to be witnesses. The only Christ
that the unsaved man sees today in the world
is the Christian. The only living Christ. that
many women where you work sees today is you.
If you are a Christian, you represent Christ
where you work. The only Bible that the unsaved
man, the unsaved woman reads today is the life
of the person who professes to be born again.
That's what the scripture means. For me to live,
for me to be living, for me to be alive today
is Christ. I represent him. And he is love. And
I must manifest his love through my life. And
it's the Holy Spirit who gives me that power
that enables me to be a witness, to represent
Him, to manifest His love. That's what it means
to really be filled with the Spirit. We need
to get back to the Bible again. We need to realize
what it actually means to be a Christian. It's
something more than just escaping hell. You know,
a lot of folk, oh, they're so glad they're born
again because they're not going to hell. There's
a whole lot more involved in being a Christian
than to just escape hell. Yes, ma 'am, there's
a lot of living that needs to be done right here
on earth. Great is our responsibility. Now, I
want you to see something. difference in being
filled with the Spirit. And in that experience
that they had in the upper room, the experience
of the 120 they had in the upper room. Oh, that
was glorious. When the day of Pentecost was fully
come, they were all with one accord in one place.
And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as
a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the
house where they were sitting. And there appeared
unto them cloven tongues like as a fire, and
it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled
with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other
tongues. Now remember, this was not the gift
of tongues. It is one thing to speak in an unknown
tongue. It is another thing to have the gift
of tongues. First of all, we're going to talk
about this experience that they received in the
upper room. They were all filled with the Holy
Ghost. Jesus said they would be. He told them
to tarry. He told them to wait until the Holy
Spirit came. And it was even as Jesus said it
was. They waited. They knew he'd keep his word.
The Holy Spirit came. And they began to speak
with other tongues. As the Spirit gave them utterance.
Now I'll tell you something. I'm giving you the
word. You can't just take a penknife out and
rip out. certain chapters of the Bible and accept
only what you want to accept, you have to accept
that all are none. It has to be that way. You
know, we're living in a peculiar time where men
and women only believe what they want to believe.
The thing that pleases them most. And if they
don't want... to do something, they're not going
to do it. You know, that's the way I feel about
people when they come and ask me advice. They
might just as well not ask me because I know
good and well that no matter what I say, whatever
advice I give them, they're going to do what
they want to do anyway. So they might just as
well save their time and my time too. And it's
exactly the same when it comes to our belief.
Men and women believe what they want to believe.
But when you come to the Word of God, you had
better believe what God's Word says. You can't
just pick out a couple of chapters that you like.
The 23rd Psalm, or the Gospels, and just leave
the rest and forget all about the rest of the
Bible. It's all there. Either all or nothing
at all. Because it is all God's Word. Now, what
I'm talking to you about now is not the gift
of tongues. I'm just reading this wonderful experience
that they had in the upper room. They were all
filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak
with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The Holy Spirit did it. I'm all for it when the
Holy Spirit does it. When he does it. Anything
that he does, I can say amen to, and I'll accept
it. Mm -hmm. But I'm going to be dead sure that
he's the one who's doing it. I'm not going to
just accept anything and everything that comes
down the pike. I'm going to be dead sure it's
the Holy Spirit. And this was the Spirit. They
began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit
gave them utterance. And there were dwelling
at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation
under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad,
the multitude came together, were confounded,
because that every man heard them speak in his
own language. It wasn't just spiritual communication.
It was literally that they were communicating
every man in his own language. And they were
all amazed and marveled, saying one to another,
Behold, are not all these which speak Galileans?
And how hear we every man in our own tongue?
wherein we were born. That's it. The power of
utterance in languages unknown to the speaker,
given to men and women by the Spirit of God.
That's it. When you talk about speaking in an
unknown tongue, it's exactly what it says that
it is. Every man heard one speak in his own language.
Tongues is the ability to preach the gospel in
languages that people had never learned. The
preacher, the child of God, the saint of God,
in the power of the Spirit, able to stand up,
witness, teach, preach, talk in the language
without even having had a course of schooling
to learn the language. That's what it actually
means to speak in an unknown tongue. It's still
one of these things that's beyond our comprehension.
But when the Holy Spirit does it, we don't ask
to understand. How? I can't tell you how, but
I know He does. does it, and I know it is scriptural.
Now, we come to the gift of tongues, and I want
you to understand something. One might have the
most marked gift of God, but that does not mean
that he is at liberty to use it wherever he will.
The spirits of the prophets are subject to the
prophets. That's the 14th chapter of 1 Corinthians,
the 32nd verse. And if any are gifted of God,
they are to hold that gift in subjection to the
Lord Jesus Christ and not make spiritual nuisances
out of themselves. Our blessed Lord's authority
must be recognized in the use of... all gifts,
including the gift of tongues. Yes, ma 'am. If,
for instance, God has given you, God has given
me some particular gift, I am not to use that
gift just whenever I see fit, but only in subjection
to the Lord Jesus Christ. All gifts must be used
in subjection to. the Lord himself. The Bible
teaches that. Now the gift of tongues is the
power of utterance in languages unknown to the
speaker, given to certain individuals in the
church by the Spirit of God, and capable of interpretation
by means of an equally supernatural gift in order
that these utterances may thereby become intelligible
to the assembly. They are given for the edification
of the church, for the glory of God. And when
the gift of interpretation is in operation together
with tongues, the two are equivalent to prophecy.
The gift of interpretation of tongues is like
the interpretation of a foreign... tongue to
us in English by one who knows both languages.
It is a supernatural endowment of the Holy Spirit.
It implies no natural knowledge by the interpreter
of the language spoken in tongues, and thus the
interpretation is received not by close attention
to the words of the one speaking in tongues,
as by close concentration in Spirit upon the
Lord, who alone gives the interpretation. The
words are given by revelation. And if it is the
Spirit who is doing the speaking and the Spirit
who is doing the interpretation, no message will
ever be contrary to the Word of God. The Holy
Spirit will never give to an individual In the
gift of tongues or in the interpretation of tongues,
anything that is contrary to the Word of God,
neither will he add to the Word or take from
the Word. It will all be in perfect harmony with
God's Word. And the one who has been given the
gift, either of tongues or the interpretation,
will never use that gift to draw the public to
himself or draw attention to himself. Never.
I repeat, if you have the gift of tongues or
the gift of the interpretation of tongues, you
will never, never use that gift to draw attention
to yourself. It must be used for the glory of
God.