18.What is interpretation of tongues? .

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Supernatural ability given to some members of the Body of Christ so they may be able to understand languages that have not been studied by them

The Scripture indicates that "divers kinds of tongues" are Spirit-given abilities to speak from time to time in languages spoken currently or in time past on the earth, or by angels in Heaven; and that "interpretation of tongues" is the Spirit-given ability to understand statements made in a foreign language, whether the speaker is "in the Spirit" or employing his native tongue.

It is possible, too, that these gifts apply to writing as well as to speaking, as in the case of the handwriting on the wall the prophet Daniel interpreted.

If a Christian person were able to understand by hearing or by reading a communication presented in a language he had never learned through study or sufficient exposure—that, to our way of thinking, would be an example of "interpretation of tongues."

The Holy Spirit does not intend for us to regard the list of nine "gifts" of the Spirit as being an inflexible pattern for the manner in which he will enable members of the Body of Christ to communicate the purpose and plan of God.

The emphasis should be placed on diversity. There should be an infinitely varied array and assortment of spiritual talents and abilities, each saint being a unique expression of the ascended Christ.

The apostle, the prophet, the evangelist, and the pastor-teacher are major revelations of Christ. Mixed in with these are innumerable endowments, each designed in terms of the ministry of the individual saint. The result of the multiplicity is the radiating of God’s Word in a splendor of color and beauty.

Here we see the Lampstand of the Tabernacle, the many-dimensional revelation of God in Christ. Christ is the light of the world, and the Body of Christ is part of that light.

Physical light is a composite of several colors that can be seen individually when part of the light is absorbed and part is reflected. So it is with the Holy Spirit. The shining of the Spirit from a saint is not a blinding white light but a beautiful "color" that is seen because part of the light is "absorbed" and part is "reflected."