I said, "Well, how did I do?"
"Oh, you did splendidly."
"Good. I didn't know what I was saying."
He said, "What? You mean you don't know the Aramaic language?"
"No, I don't. I didn't know what I was saying," I answered. "I was speaking with other tongues
and interpreting the tongues as the New Testament tells us in First Corinthians chapter 14."
"Oh, I don't believe in the New Testament," he said.
"Well, I cannot talk to you about it then, because what you heard me do tonight — speak in
tongues and interpret — is found in the New Testament. You see, in the Old Testament, all the
gifts of the Spirit were in operation except tongues and interpretation. Tongues and
interpretation are distinctive of this New Testament dispensation."
He said, "You mean, what you did tonight is found in the New Testament?"
"Yes, it is in there. You know your Old Testament, don't you?" I asked.
"Oh, yes," he said. "But I don't accept Jesus. In fact, this is the first time I've ever spoken His
Name. He is not the Messiah."
"Well," I said, "you know your Old Testament. In the Old Testament the prophets of God were
anointed with the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. We can see a word of wisdom being given to one.
And we can see a word of knowledge, discerning of spirits, the gift of faith, or special faith in
operation being given to others."
I continued, "And we see gifts of healings and working of miracles and prophecy. All of the gifts
of the Spirit listed in First Corinthians 12:8-10 were in operation at different times in the Old
Testament except one: tongues and interpretation. No one in the Old Testament spoke with
tongues and no one interpreted, because tongues and interpretation are distinctive to this New
Testament dispensation."
He said, "If that is in the New Testament, then show it to me. I have never read that, but let's
see it."
I opened my Bible and read to him out of First Corinthians chapter 14. Then he said, "Well, I
could be wrong, you know. I am going to say His Name again for the second time in my life
without using it as cursing. Jesus may be the Messiah. I will come back to your services."
Praise God, tongues and interpretation of tongues aren't just for the benefit of the believer.
Tongues and interpretation of tongues can also minister to the unbeliever (1 Cor. 14:22)!
Some people believe that all speaking in tongues is prayer, and that those who speak with
tongues are just praying to God and that God is the only one who understands what is being
said. However, if I had been praying, that Jewish man would have known I was praying.
However, I wasn't praying. I was addressing the congregation in tongues, and then the
interpretation came. The interpretation of those tongues ministered to that man.