Misconception #2: ‘Tongues aren’t for everyone.’
Another misconception is the idea that believers can receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit without the evidence of speaking in tongues. Speaking with tongues is not the infilling of the Holy Spirit, and the infilling of the Holy Spirit is not speaking with tongues— but they go hand in hand. You are not receiving tongues when you get filled with the Spirit. You are receiving the fullness of the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.
Some people erroneously say, “You can have the infilling of the Holy Spirit with or without tongues.” But that’s not biblical! We saw earlier the biblical pattern for receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit in the Book of Acts. Those believers were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues (Acts 2:1-4). And if you receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit, you can and should expect to also have the Bible evidence that goes along with it!
Receiving the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues is kind of like the tongue in a man’s shoe. If I bought a pair of shoes, I wouldn’t buy a pair without any tongues in them. But at the same time, I’d never buy just the tongues of the shoes either! I’d buy shoes, but I certainly wouldn’t accept them without the tongues in them—even if they were the most expensive pair of shoes in the store!
Other people say, “Well, I believe in speaking in tongues, but tongues aren’t for everyone.” Then they point to First Corinthians 12:29-30 for their supposed scriptural proof:
1 CORINTHIANS 12:29-30
- Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
- Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
Since the implied answer to all the other questions in verses 29 and 30 is no, these people conclude, “Since all are not apostles, prophets, teachers, or workers of miracles, then it is also true that all do not speak with tongues. Therefore, tongues are not for everyone.”
But you can take one verse or a part of a verse out of context and put it with another verse in the Bible to prove anything in the world you may want to prove.
So let’s read the whole context of these verses and see what Paul is actually talking about.
1 CORINTHIANS 12:27-30
- Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.
- And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.
- Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?
- Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?
Someone might say, “See? Paul is saying that not everyone speaks with tongues!”
But Paul isn’t talking about spiritual gifts here. He already talked about that in First Corinthians 12:1-11. He’s talking about ministry gifts, not gifts of the Spirit. Ministry gifts are people who are called to the fivefold ministry and equipped with gifts of the Spirit (Eph. 4:11-12). For example, an apostle is a ministry gift. A prophet is a ministry gift. Evangelists, pastors, and teachers are ministry gifts. People who are called and equipped to stand in a ministry gift office carry a specific calling upon their lives whereby they can minister and bless others.
Paul then goes on to say, “. . . After that miracles, then gifts of healings . ..” (1 Cor. 12:28). Now, Paul doesn’t change his mind and start talking about something else in the middle of this verse. He isn’t illogical. This phrase “miracles, then gifts of healings” is really referring to the office of the evangelist.
We can see the office of the evangelist in Philip’s ministry in the city of Samaria.
ACTS 8:5-7
- Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and PREACHED CHRIST unto them.
- And the people with one accord gave heed unto those things which Philip spake, hearing and seeing the MIRACLES which he did.
- For unclean spirits, crying with loud voice, came out of many that were possessed with them: and many taken with palsies, and that were lame, WERE HEALED.
The evangelist’s ministry consists of preaching Christ to the people for their salvation; working of miracles; and gifts of healings in operation.
Next comes the helps ministry. The ministry of helps includes those people called by God to assist ministers called to the fivefold ministry. The ministry of governments refers to the pastoral office, because the pastoral office leads the government of the local church. Finally, Paul mentions another ministry— diversities of tongues.
So in this passage in First Corinthians 12:27-30, Paul is not talking about being filled with the Holy Spirit and speaking with other tongues as the Holy Spirit gives utterance. He is also not talking about a person magnifying the Lord in tongues and speaking divine mysteries to Him. He is also not referring to a layman who occasionally gives a message in tongues in the public assembly to edify the church.
Thank God for each one of these applications and uses of the gift of speaking in tongues, but Paul isn’t talking about any of them in this passage. Notice that “diversity of tongues” is listed along with the rest of the ministry offices, because it is also a ministry gift! Paul is saying that God set some—that is, specific people—in the Church who have a ministry of diversities of tongues.
The ministry gift of diversity of tongues approximates the office of the prophet. It refers to one who is called to minister in the public assembly in tongues and interpretation.
Paul goes on to ask, “Are all apostles?” No. “Are all prophets?” No. “Are all teachers?” No. “Are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healings?” In other words, “are all evangelists?” No. “Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?” In other words, “Do all stand in the prophets office with the ministry of diversity of tongues?” Well, of course, the answer is no!
So don’t take that question out of its scriptural context and conclude, “It is readily apparent from this verse that not everyone will speak in tongues.” This passage isn’t talking about spiritual gifts such as speaking in tongues given to individual people. No, it’s talking about ministry gifts given to the Church. And in First Corinthians 12:30, it’s talking about people called to the prophet’s office as ministry gifts through the diversity of tongues and interpretation.
The first people I ever saw ministering in diversity of tongues and interpretation were Brother and Sister Goodwin. The Goodwin’s were two of the dearest friends and fellow ministers my wife and I’ve ever had the honor of knowing. They had a remarkable ministry in this area of tongues and interpretation.
For instance, I remember the time my wife and I held a meeting in a south Texas city. In times past, we had fellowshipped with a certain family that lived in that city, but I noticed that the husband never came to any of the church services.
That man’s wife asked to go to lunch with us one day. During our time together, she told us, “I don’t mean to run my husband down because he’s a fine man. But something happened at the church that offended him, and he stopped going. He refuses to go there anymore.”
Well, when a person gets out of church, he gets out of fellowship with God, because a believer who doesn’t fellowship with other believers isn’t walking in the light of God’s Word (1 John 1:7). This man needed prayer, and, of course, we prayed for him with his wife that day.
We closed that meeting and traveled a hundred miles away to minister in another town. Brother and Sister Goodwin were in attendance at this meeting.
This time the man showed up, along with his wife and three carloads of people. He wouldn’t come to the local meetings, but he drove a hundred miles to get to these other services!
At one of these meetings, the Lord said to me, “Minister to that man and his wife,” so I called them forward. Suddenly I had what I call a mini-vision flash in front of me. I saw the couple walking along, and the wife was looking down.
In the vision, the husband asked, “What’s wrong?”
The wife answered, “Well, now, I know Brother Hagin said all that to me prophetically, but he knew part of the situation because I told him.”
Then the Lord said to me, “You could minister to this husband and wife, but it will be better if Brother and Sister Goodwin came and ministered to them. Then the devil won’t be able to take advantage of them because they know the Goodwin’s don’t know anything about them.”
So while the worship leader led the congregation in singing, I asked the Goodwin’s to come up and minister to them. Sister Goodwin spoke in tongues to this couple and Brother Goodwin interpreted. You would have thought I’d told the Goodwin’s all about their exact situation! Brother and Sister Goodwin told this husband and wife word for word what the wife had told Oretha and me at lunch that day. The Goodwin’s told the couple what their problem was and where they had missed it with one another. Then they gave the couple God’s answer for their situation.
I saw the Goodwin’s minister like that over and over again through the years. You see, when laymen give a message in tongues in the public assembly, the number is to be limited to at least two or three people (1 Cor. 14:27). But in the ministry of diversities of tongues mentioned in First Corinthians 12:30, there is no end to its operation as the minister is led and anointed by the Holy Spirit.
Many times in my own meetings people would come forward to be ministered to, and the Lord would say, “Have Brother and Sister Goodwin minister to them.” Then the Goodwin’s would minister to every one of them in tongues and interpretation. They wouldn’t know anything about the people, but they would tell each one exactly what was wrong and give the person God’s exact answer from Heaven.
So there are those who are called to minister in diversity of tongues and interpretation in the public assembly. Everyone isn’t called to that ministry; God is the One who chooses and sets people into this ministry gift office.
However, every believer should, could, and ought to be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives him or her utterance. These tongues are not for public interpretation in the church; rather, they are to be used in the believer’s private devotional life before God.
Living as a Christian in this World 