: Gifts of the Holy-Ghost:

~1: Corinthians: ~12:18, 28:

But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the Body just as He pleased (not by a demonocracy or mob-rule).

28 And God has appointed these in the church: first apostles (see Rev 2:2; 2Cor 11;13-15), second prophets (cp. 2Pet 2:1-3), third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues.

: Titles of the Gifts/Roles of the Members of the Kingdom:

1. Apostle
2. Prophet
3. Teacher/Doctor
4. Miracle-Worker
5. Healer
6. Helper
7. Administrator
8. Communicator

: Gifts of the Holy-Ghost:

"The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord." (CCC 1831)

"The fruits of the Spirit are perfections that the Holy Spirit forms in us as the first fruits of eternal glory.  The tradition of the Church lists twelve of them: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity." (CCC 1832)

The Gift of Wisdom - - The gift of wisdom, (words of wisdom) carries the peace, the will, and the authority of the Lord.
The Gift of Knowledge - - knowing or sensing the needs of others.
The Gift of Faith - - believing that God will be true to His Word no matter how impossible the situation. A gift of great power.
The Gift of Healing - - of the spiritual, psychological, and physical embodiments, when the Lord uses us, He is present among us in power.
The Gift of Miracles - - The visible, tangible, concrete, and divine display of the power of God can be a reality in the life of the believer. They usually occur in response to a prayer of expectant faith, are of value only insofar as they give evidence of the Good News of the Gospel, or insofar as they edify and build up the community of faith in the body of Christ.
The Gift of Prophecy - - speaking out in the Lord's name as we are prompted.
The Gift of Discernment of Spirits - -The ability to distinguish at one moment in time whether the spirit behind a particular person, place, event, action, or situation is "of God" or not.
The Gift of Tongues - - a manner of prayer, and praising God in a foreign language unknown to the speaker or in a flow of indiscernible syllables. (Acts 2: 3-4)
The Gift of Interpretation of Tongues - - being led by the Spirit of God, to sense the meaning of what is being spoken.

Prophecy
The Greek word for 'prophet' means someone who forth-tells God's word - i.e. any person inspired to speak God's words, which at times included foretelling of future events (see 2 Pet. 1:19-21). Thus "prophets" - those with the gift of prophecy - came "from Jerusalem unto Antioch. And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth (famine) throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren" (Acts 11:27-29). So sure were the early church that this gift really was possessed amongst them, that they gave their time and money to relieving the hardship which had been prophesied.

Healing
Seeing that the apostles were preaching the good news of God's coming Kingdom of perfection on the earth, it was fitting that they should confirm their message by doing miracles which gave a foretaste of what that time would be like, when "the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap..." (Isa. 35:5,6). God's miraculous confirmation of His Kingdom is conclusive.
A classic example is Peter's healing of the lame beggar who was laid each morning at the temple gate. Acts 3:2 mentions that they laid him there daily, so he would have been a familiar sight. Having been healed by Peter's use of the spirit gift, "he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping...And all the people saw him walking and praising God: and they knew that it was he which sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which had happened unto him. And as the lame man which was healed held Peter...all the people ran together unto them in the porch...greatly wondering" (Acts 3:7-11). Peter then immediately launched into an open-air talk about the resurrection of Christ. Having the unquestionable, irrefutable evidence before them in the form of that healed beggar, we can be sure that they would have taken Peter's words to be those of God. The temple gate at "the hour of prayer" (Acts 3:1) would have been thronged with people, like a shopping mall on a Saturday morning. It was in a place like this that God chose to confirm the preaching of His word by such a clear miracle. Likewise in Acts 5:12 we read that "by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people".

Even the orthodox Jews of the first century with closed minds to the possibility that Christians possessed God's miraculous spirit gifts had to admit, "This man doeth many miracles" (Jn. 11:47) and, "For that indeed a notable miracle hath been done...is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it" (Acts 4:16). Likewise those who heard the Apostles speaking in tongues were "confounded" (Acts 2:6). It is evident that some of those healed in the first century did not have faith: one did not know who Jesus was (Jn. 5:13; 9:36).

Peter was able to use the gift of miracles to heal people as they lay in the streets (Acts 5:15); Paul's use of the miraculous gifts was personally witnessed by an unbelieving Government minister (Acts 13:12,13), as well as by many of the pagans living in the city of Lystra (Acts 14:8-13). As was required by the very purpose and nature of the spirit gifts, these things were done publicly, and could in no way be shrugged off with any other explanation than to admit that here was God's power being openly displayed by His servants.

The effect of one of Christ's healing miracles was similar: "They were all amazed (those who saw it), and glorified God, saying, We never saw it on this fashion" (Mk. 2:12).

Tongues
The apostles, rough fishermen that some of them were, received the great commission to go out into all the world, preaching the Gospel (Mk. 16:15,16). Perhaps their very first reaction was, "But I don't know the languages!" For them it wasn't even a case of, "I was no good at languages at school", for they had had no schooling. It was written all over them "that they were unlearned and ignorant men" (Acts 4:13) when it came to that kind of thing, except for Judas. And even for the more educated preachers (e.g. Paul), the language barrier was still formidable. When converts were made, the reliance which they would need to have on each other for edification (in the absence of the written New Testament) meant that not understanding each other's language was a sizeable problem.
To overcome this, the gift of speaking in foreign languages ("tongues") and being able to understand them, was granted. Obviously there is stark opposition between this view of "tongues" and that of many 'born again' Christians, who describe their ecstatic utterances of unintelligible sounds as ''tongues'. This confusion can be cleared up by showing that the Biblical definition of "tongues" is "foreign languages".

On the Jewish feast of Pentecost, soon after Christ's ascension, the apostles "were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues...The multitudes came together (again, a public display of the gifts!) and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. 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 (the same Greek word translated 'languages') wherein we were born? Parthians and Medes...we do hear them speak in our tongues...And they were all amazed" (Acts 2:4-12).

Apart from the clear parallel between "tongues" and "languages" in Acts 2:4-11, "tongues" is very evidently used to mean "languages" in other parts of the New Testament; the phrase "peoples, and nations, and tongues" is used five times in Revelation to speak of all the peoples of planet earth (Rev. 7:9; 10:11; 11:9; 13:7; 17:15). The Greek word for "tongues" occurs in the Greek version of the Old Testament (called the 'Septuagint') in the sense of languages (see Gen. 10:5; Deut. 28:49; Dan. 1:4).

1 Cor. 14 is a list of commands concerning the use of the gift of tongues; v. 21 quotes Is. 28:11 concerning how this gift would be used to witness against the Jews: "In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people...". Is. 28:11 primarily refers to Israel's invaders speaking to the Jews in languages ("tongues") they would not have known. The parallel between "tongues" and "lips" indicates that "tongues" were foreign languages. There are many other indications in 1 Cor. 14 that "tongues" refers to foreign languages. This chapter is Paul's inspired criticism of the abuses of the gifts which were taking place in the early church, and as such it gives many insights into the nature of the gifts of tongues and prophecy. Verse 37 is a key verse:
"If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord."
If anyone claims to be spiritually gifted, he must therefore accept that the preceding commands about the use of the gifts are inspired by God. Any who today disobey those commands are therefore openly admitting that they see fit to despise God's inspired words. Verses 11-17:
"Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.
Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.
Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.
For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.
What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?
For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified."
"Amen" means ''So be it.'

Verse 18:
"I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all."
Because of his wide travels in the preaching of Christ, Paul needed the gift of universal communication more than most.

Verse 19:
"Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue."

Verse 22:
"Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe."
The use of tongues was therefore mainly to be used for outgoing preaching of the Gospel. Yet today most claims of 'tongues' possession occur among groups of 'believers' or in their individual, personal experience, while alone. In contrast, it seems that relatively few modern examples exist, such as Padre Pio, being able to communicate miraculously beyond language barriers in carrying out the missions of the Church. In the early 1990s the door of opportunity opened to preach Christ in Eastern Europe, but the so-called 'evangelical' churches had to distribute their literature in English because of the language barriers! Surely the gift of tongues should have been used if it were truly possessed.

Verse 23:
"If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?"
This is exactly what has happened. Muslims and pagans alike have mocked the bizarre behaviour of those claiming the gift of tongues throughout West Africa. Even a level-headed Christian putting his head round the corner of a Pentecostal meeting would be tempted to think that the members were mad.

Verse 27:
"If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret."
Naturally multiple speakers must speak "by course", one after another. Confusion would result from them speaking simultaneously; yet, because of the fundamentally emotional nature of present 'speaking in tongues', the phenomena does occur from the mouths of many people simultaneously. I have observed that once one person starts, others are quickly influenced to do likewise.
The gift of tongues would often have been used in conjunction with that of prophecy, so that an inspired message from God could be spoken forth (by the prophecy gift) in a language foreign to the speaker (by the gift of tongues). An example of such use of the two gifts can be found in Acts 19:6.
Without the presence of one with the gift of interpretation (understanding the foreign language) when it was needed, the tongue gift would not be used: "...let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church" (1 Cor. 14:27,28). The fact that many modern claimants of 'tongues' speak in 'language' which cannot be understood by anyone, and without an interpreter, is a case of disobedience to these commands.

Verses 32,33:
"And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints."
Possession of Holy Spirit gifts is not therefore to be associated with an experience which takes a person out of the realms of normal consciousness; the spirit is subject to the control of the user, rather than a force which takes them over so that they act involuntarily. These powers of the Holy Spirit came on the apostles at certain times to perform specific things, rather than manifesting with them permanently.

Verse 34:
"Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law."
In this context of using the spirit gifts, it is undeniably laid down that a woman should not use them during a church service.
The prominence of women in alleged 'tongue speaking' and 'prophecy' in modern churches cannot be reconciled with the clear command of this verse. "If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord." (1 Cor. 14:37)
Any believer in an infallible Bible must therefore accept that these commands of 1 Cor. 14 must be taken seriously. To openly flout them can only indicate a lack of belief in the Scripture.
Those sects which claim to speak in tongues have higher levels of depression compared to people from other backgrounds. Keith Meador, Professor of Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University, U.S.A., undertook a major study analyzing the relationship between depression and religious background. He found that "the rate of serious depression...among Pentecostal Christians was 5.4% compared to 1.7% for the entire survey group". (in 'Hospital and Community Psychiatry', Dec., 1992) An article reaching the same conclusion appeared in the International Herald Tribune, Feb. 11, 1993: "Pentecostals top charts when it comes to the blues". In contrast, when asked, Padre Pio claimed that this type of miracle and others, such as bilocation, were not performed by him as such, but just appear to us that way.