Let's begin our look, now, at 1 Corinthians 14. I'm going to divide the chapter into three parts: The Position of the Gift of Tongues--Secondary (vv. 1-19), The Purpose of the Gift of Tongues--A Sign (vv. 20-25), and The Procedure of the Gift of Tongues--Systematic (vv. 26-40).
I. THE POSITION OF THE GIFT OF TONGUES: SECONDARY (vv. 1-19)
In the first nineteen verses of 1 Corinthians 14, Paul establishes that the position of the gift of tongues is secondary relative to the other gifts--specifically, the gift of prophecy. He gives three reasons to support this. Let's look at the first one:
A. Prophecy Edifies The Entire Congregation (vv. 1-5)
The gift of tongues is secondary to the gift of prophecy because tongues cannot edify and prophecy can. You say, "So what!" Well, what is the purpose of the church when it meets together? Its purpose is edification. At the end of 14:26 Paul says, "...Let all things be done unto edifying." At the end of 14:12 Paul tells the Corinthians to "seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church." In other words, the purpose of the church when it meets together is edification. Throughout chapter 14 this same concept is repeated over and over again. For example, verse 4 says, "...he that prophesieth edifieth the church." Verse 5 says, "...that the church may receive edifying." Verse 31 says, "...all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted." The point is this: The church is to come together for edification--to be built up. So Paul says, "Look, tongues cannot edify--especially the counterfeit kind that you have. But prophecy edifies the whole congregation." That's the basic proposition of the first five verses.
1. THE PURSUIT OF PROPHECY (v. 1)
"Follow after love, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy."
a. "Follow after love..."
This phrase is really the end of chapter 13, isn't it? Paul's really saying, "I've just told you about love--the greatest thing there is. That's what you ought to chase." In 12:31, which is best translated as an indicative because of the context, Paul is actually saying to the Corinthians, "You're coveting the showy gifts, but I show you a more excellent way. You're busy chasing the ego-building, up- front, dramatic gifts, but I want to show you a better way-- seek love." Then he gives them a great statement on love in chapter 13, which is almost parenthetical. In 14:1, he picks up where he left off in chapter 12 and says, "Now, if you're going to earnestly seek something, then earnestly seek love."
The phrase "follow after" is the Greek word dioko, which means "to chase, to run after, to pursue." Oftentimes it is translated "to persecute." It is to be so vehement, so excited, and so energized, that you literally persecute it and dog its steps. So Paul says, "If you're going to chase, follow, or run after something, let it be love. But at the same time...
b. "...and desire spiritual gifts..."Literally it says, "...but continue desiring spirituals...." The word "desire," because of the context, should be translated as a continuous imperative. And the word translated "and" (Gk. de), would be better translated "but," as a contrast rather than a statement of equivalent ideas. In other words, Paul is saying, "You are pursuing the showy gifts instead of pursuing love. But don't stop pursuing spiritual gifts, because you should want the ministry of the Holy Spirit through the gifts of the Spirit. I'm not saying don't have anything to do with gifts. I'm just saying to pursue love and continue to seek the spiritual realm, the realm of the operation of the Holy Spirit, the true things that the Spirit of God is doing."
c. "...but rather [lit. `most of all'] that ye may prophesy."
You see, tongues are secondary. Paul is saying, "When you come together to worship, instead of having the chaos, confusion, and gibberish of tongues, you should have the clarity of prophecy."
The verb "to prophesy" in the Greek is propheteuo. It comes from the two words pro, which means "before," and phemi, which means "to speak." Literally, then, the verb propheteuo means "to speak before." To prophesy is to speak before somebody else. That's what I do every Sunday from the pulpit--prophesy. You say, "I thought to prophesy meant to predict the future." No. The idea of predicting the future never came along until the Middle Ages when the English word took on that meaning. That isn't its intention in the Greek. Propheteuo simply means "to speak before somebody." So Paul says, "Instead of everybody shouting at the same time in ecstatic gibberish, somebody ought to stand up before everybody else and speak the Word of God." You see, that's what ought to be going on. The speaking of those who speak the voice of God ought to take the place of the chaos and confusion of tongues.
Now, there were times in the early church when the gift of prophecy was revelatory. And there were also times when the gift involved reiterating revelation that had already been given. But the point that I want to make here is that the church is to come together to hear the Word of God spoken-- not to hear an ecstatic and emotional free-for-all. All things are to be done to edify. We are to gather to hear God speak to us through men who have been given the gift of preaching and teaching. So Paul says, "More than seeking tongues, you should seek that which is intelligible-- prophecy."
The obvious reason for the inferiority of tongues is that nobody could understand what was being said. The only time the gift of tongues was ever to be used was when there was somebody present who could understand what was being said, or when there was a connection to be made to Pentecost (such as in the repeated occasions in Acts). The gift of tongues was a sign gift, and was never intended for edification. In fact, tongues were useless to edify the church by themselves. Edification could only come when tongues were interpreted by someone who understood what was being said or by someone with the gift of interpretation. However, its purpose was not edification. Its purpose was as a sign to show that God was speaking and that the prophets and Apostles of the New Testament were truly representatives of the voice of God.
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2. THE PERVERSION OF TONGUES (v. 2)
"For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God [lit. `a god']; for no man understandeth him; however, in the spirit he speaketh mysteries."
a. The Principal Purpose Violated
What Paul is saying is this: "You people with your pagan ecstasies are not doing what all spiritual gifts were given to do--minister (or speak) to men. Rather, you are all wrapped up in speaking pagan mysteries in ecstatic speech to a god. Nobody can even understand what you're saying!" Paul's not referring to the mysteries (Gk. musterion) of God or the mysteries that he taught, he's referring to the mysteries of paganism.
Now let me give you a basic, bottom-line truth: All spiritual gifts are given for the purpose of ministering (or speaking) to men. No spiritual gift was ever given for the purpose of ministering to God. All spiritual gifts are given to build up the body of Christ by ministering to the members of the body. God doesn't need us to minister a spiritual gift to Him--He's not incomplete! So Paul is saying, "You have fallen down on the basic use of spiritual gifts--their use among men to build up the body. The tongues speaking that you are involved in, however, is not for men, it's for a god."
By the way, the word "God" does not have an article in the Greek (the anarthrous construction). And because of the context, I think it's better translated "a god" rather than referring to the true God. In other words, they were involved in ecstatic communication with some pagan god, and speaking in pagan mysteries. And they were violating the principal purpose of spiritual gifts--the fact that they are to be ministered to other people in the body of Christ. God certainly didn't need them to talk to Him in some ecstatic gibberish!
b. The Private Prayer Language Condemned
It's amazing to me that the modern Charismatic movement is simply repeating the same error that the Corinthian church was involved in. Charismatics teach that the essential use of tongues is as a private prayer language to God. Well, that is exactly what Paul is condemning here in this passage. Paul is saying, "You've missed the point of the true gift of tongues. This gift was designed to speak to men, like all the other gifts.
Is there biblical evidence for a private prayer language?
It was never God's intention to be addressed in a language that is incomprehensible to the speaker. I believe the Bible supports this. If you were to examine every prayer prayed in the Bible, and if you were to study every passage in the Bible which taught about prayer, you would not find anything, anywhere, anytime that even suggests that prayer should ever be unintelligible. You'll never find it. In fact, Jesus said the exact opposite. In Matthew 6:7 Jesus said, "But when ye pray, use not vain [or `meaningless'] repetitions, as the pagans do...." The phrase "vain repititions" is the Greek word battalogeo. The verb logeo means "to speak," and the prefix batta is not even a word. It is a figure of speech that in English we call an onomatopoeia--the naming of something by a vocal imitation of the sound it makes. For example, we say that a bee goes buzz, or a zipper goes zip, or a plane goes whish. Those aren't words, they're onomatopoetic figures of speech. Well, batta isn't a word either. What Jesus is literally saying in Matthew 6:7 is, "When you pray, don't say batta, batta, batta--the sound of the stammering, stuttering gibberish that the pagans offer to their gods. The Father isn't interested in that kind of communication." So, we are to pray intelligibly and "with the understanding" (1 Cor. 14:15).
When Jesus went into the Garden to pray to the Father, He didn't talk in some heavenly language. Why should you? When deity communed with deity, it was in a language that was clear. When Jesus stood by the grave of Lazarus, He prayed before He raised him from the dead. John heard every word of that prayer and wrote it down just the way He said it--clear and intelligible. John 17 is the intimate prayer between Jesus and the Father. It's all very clear--translated beautifully into English from the original language. The point is this: There is no biblical evidence whatsoever of a private prayer language! We are to pray in an intelligible, understandable way.
3. THEPRODUCTS OF PROPHECY (v. 3)
"But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort."
Paul says, "When you come together, don't seek to speak in an unknown tongue that no one even understands. Rather, seek to prophesy." Then he lists three things that will happen when the Word of God is spoken: People will be built up, people will be encouraged to a new kind of behavior, and people will be comforted in their agonies and their hurts. Instead of coming together and saying, "Batta, batta, batta," they were to hear the proclamation of the Word of God.
4. THE PROSTITUTION OF TONGUES (v. 4)
"He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself, but he that prophesieth edifieth the church."
Now, which is better? To edify oneself, or to edify the church? Well, what's the point of the whole chapter? The point of the entire chapter is the edification of the church, not edifying yourself! Listen, beloved, we were not given spiritual gifts for ourselves. If a person takes a spiritual gift, however, and uses it to edify himself, he has prostituted the gift. Why? Because it's for others. It's only to be used to build up the body of Christ.
a. The Inability of Tongues to Edify the Church
You say, "John, it says in verse 4 that you can speak in an unknown tongue and edify yourself." Well, the point is that it doesn't edify the church. You say, "But if the tongues are translated, they edify the church, don't they?" Yes, but it was the gift of interpretation that edified, not the gift of tongues. The gift of tongues was useless to edify the church, because nobody knew what was being said. You see, even if the real gift was used, it wouldn't edify anybody by itself. It would always have to be translated first. That's what he says at the end of verse 5: "...except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying."
It's wonderful to know that when the true gift of tongues was used as a sign and other Christians were present, God would always have somebody there with the gift of interpretation to interpret what was being said. Why? So that it would not go without meaning to the church. God gave the gift of interpretation so that the church would be edified. You see, God never wanted anything going on in the church that didn't edify and build up. The Corinthians, however, were using the gift in a very chaotic way. Not only that, they had determined that it would edify the church all by itself. Well, it won't!
b. The Issue of Tongues Edifying Oneself
The Corinthians' use of the gift of tongues for personal edification was a second perversion. First of all, they had perverted the fact that spiritual gifts are meant for men, not God. Second, they had perverted the fact that spiritual gifts are meant for others, not for yourself.
Donald Gee, a well-known Charismatic, wrote the following statement: "...the revealed purposes of the gift of tongues are chiefly devotional, and we do well to emphasize the fact" (Concerning Spiritual Gifts [Springfield: Gospel Publishing House, 1937], p. 59). Another Charismatic, Larry Christenson, wrote, "One speaks in tongues, for the most part, in his private devotions. This is by far its most important use and value" (Speaking in Tongues and Its Significance for the Church [Minneapolis: Bethany Fellowship, 1968], p. 28). Now that is the very opposite of what Paul is saying here in 1 Corinthians. He is saying, "Your gift is not to speak to God, and it's not for you. Your gift is for others in the body. So, if you seek to edify God, or yourself, you're out of line."
When Paul says, "He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself," it's possible that he's being sarcastic. So far in this epistle, Paul has already dealt with the whole idea of self-edification in a rather pointed way. For example:
1) 1 Corinthians 8:10-11--In this chapter, Paul is telling the Corinthians, "It's not wrong to eat meat offered to idols. But because there are some weak Christians who think it's wrong, don't do it--or you'll make them stumble." In verses 10-11 he says, "For if any man see thee, who hast knowledge [i.e., you're a mature Christian], sitting at the table in the idol's temple [eating the idol's meat], shall not the conscience of him who is weak be emboldened [Gk. oikodomeo=`built up, edified'] to eat those things which are offered to idols, and through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish...?" In other words, it is possible to edify someone to his harm. In this case, edification would cause a weaker brother ruin.
So, edification can be for good or for bad. In chapter 14, the point is that if you use a gift to build up the church, it's for good. If you use the gift just to build yourself up, it's an act of selfishness...and that's bad. The word edify, then, can be for good or for bad, so you have to find some qualifying principles.
2) 1 Corinthians 10:23-24--Paul says, "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient; all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not." Edify who? Well, look at verse 24, "Let no man seek his own [edification], but every man another's [edification]." Do you see the point? Paul is saying, "All things might be okay for you, but don't do them because they're okay for you-- do them because they're going to mean something to somebody else." That's the point of all spiritual gifts. They're not for God and they're not for you, they're for the church. So Paul says, "When you come together, instead of everybody seeking his own edification, seek to love one another." Why? Because love "seeketh not its own" (1 Cor. 13:5). Gifts are not supposed to be directed to God, and they are not for self-edification.
What is Paul saying here in 1 Corinthians 14? He's telling them, "Tongues can't edify the church. Furthermore, if you have the true gift of tongues and you use it on your own for self-edification, you're misusing the gift. Use it for what God intended. Otherwise, even if you were able to speak with the tongues of men and of angels, if you are seeking your own edification, you don't have love. And without love, you're nothing more than sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal."
5. THE PLACE OF TONGUES (v. 5)
Now finally in this section, Paul balances his strong words on the secondary nature and the uselessness of tongues to edify, by acknowledging that there was a true gift of tongues and that it did have a true place.
a. The Emphasis of Hyperbole (v. 5a)
"I would that ye all spoke with tongues..."
You say, "Why did Paul say that?" Well, the Charismatics interpret it to say that Paul wanted everyone to speak in tongues. However, we have to take this statement of Paul's in light of other passages here in 1 Corinthians. For example, in 12:30 Paul says, "Have all the gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?" What's the answer implied by the Greek construction? No! And in 12:11 he says, "But all these [gifts] worketh that one and the very same Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will." You say, "Why does Paul say, `I wish you all spoke in tongues,' if he knows they can't?" Well, I believe that he is talking in hyperbole. Let me show you why.
In 1 Corinthians 7:1-6, Paul talks about marriage as a good thing. Then in verse 7 he says, "For I would that all men were even as I myself...." In other words, "I wish you were all single." Now is that an actual divine mandate? No. That's wishing the impossible for the sake of emphasis-- which is exactly what Paul is doing in 1 Corinthians 14. He's saying, "Hey, I'm not downplaying the gift of tongues. I wish that everybody could have the real gift. But we know, of course, that that isn't possible." You see, Paul is using hyperbole as an emphasis. He's balancing off his strong words denying the primacy of tongues to emphasize the fact that there is a true gift.
b. The Excellence of Prophecy (v. 5b)
"...but rather that ye prophesied; for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying."
Paul says, "If I had my way it would be fine if everybody spoke in tongues; but if everybody was a proclaimer with the gift of prophecy, that would be even better!" But that isn't going to happen either, is it? Now, why does Paul say that prophesying is greater than speaking in tongues? Because unless tongues are interpreted, they don't do any good to the church.
In fact, those people who think they have a great thing going with a private prayer language, are severely mistaken. A private prayer language won't do anybody any good for the same reason that it won't do the church any good--there's no knowledge of what's being said. Consequently there's no learning in the mind, and it's nothing more than sensual ecstasy, a feeling, an emotion. Christianity, beloved, has never been predicated on a feeling...never!
Well, what does all of this say to us in our day? Basically, two things. First of all, when the church comes together it is to come together to hear the Word of God. Second, we need to be careful to prevent pagan religious forms to infiltrate the truth of God's pure church.
There's an interesting little footnote here. Notice in verse 2 and in verse 4 where it says "tongue," that the King James translators put the word "unknown" preceding it. However, notice that in verse 5 where it says "tongues," the word unknown isn't there. Do you know why? It seems that the translators put the word unknown in with the singular word tongue and left it out with the plural word tongues. It's possible that they did this because they believed that Paul was using the singular to refer to the ecstatic gibberish (which was all one kind--gibberish) and the plural to refer to the true gift (which would have been responsible for many languages [cf. Ac. 2:6]). So in verses 1-4 he's saying, "Your false gift is all wrong." But in verse 5 he's saying, "The true gift is all right when it's used properly and interpreted."
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