In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul gives clear instructions to the Corinthian Church for the use of the gifts of tongues and prophecy in public worship.
Wes
Welcome to the Two Journeys Bible Study Podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys Ministry. If you’re interested in learning more, just head over to twojourneys.org. Now on to today’s episode.
This is Episode 20 in our 1 Corinthians Bible Study Podcast. This episode is entitled Prophecy, Tongues, and Order in Worship, where we’ll discuss 1 Corinthians 14:1-40. I’m Wes Treadway and I’m here with Pastor Andy Davis.
Andy, what are we going to see in these verses that we’re looking at today?
Andy
Oh, what an exciting chapter we’re going to walk through today, and a challenging chapter as well. I mean, there’s a lot of history here at the modern Pentecostal or Charismatic movement. A lot of questions come, questions on cessationism or these kinds of signed gifts like tongues and prophecy still operating today. But for all of that, Paul gives clear instructions on the management of these gifts during the apostolic era, and timeless principles that we can take from it. So, I’m excited to walk through it with you.
Wes
Well, let me go ahead and read chapter 14 in the Book of 1 Corinthians.
Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.
Now brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? So, with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you’ll be speaking into the air. There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. So, with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.
Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than 10,000 words in a tongue.
Brothers do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then, they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers. If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.
What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But all things should be done decently and in order.
Andy, the first 25 verses of this chapter really are aimed at helping us properly understand gifts of tongues and prophecy. What role should our desires play in our spiritual gifts? And should we desire to attain gifts that we do not have?
Andy
Sure. At the beginning, he says eagerly desire spiritual gifts, and especially desire prophecy over tongues. He’s making a clear case here for clarity, and prophecy is a clear word from God. So that’s the case he’s going to make and so you should desire it. So, the answer is yes.
And just because something is a gift from the Lord doesn’t mean you shouldn’t desire it. Think, for example, of a single man who would like to be married someday. We’re told very clearly that a prudent wife is a gift from the Lord. That’s a gift from the Lord. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek her. She’ll want to be courted. She’ll want to be sought, so he’s going to make some efforts to go after it. And so those are not mutually exclusive. Just because God gives the gift doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek it, and I think he openly commands to seek greater gifts.
“Just because God gives the gift doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek it, and I think he openly commands to seek greater gifts.”
Wes
Now, Andy, how would you define the gift of prophecy? And what purpose does Paul find in this gift?
Andy
All right. So, the whole Bible is prophetic. It’s fundamentally a revelation of words from God. A prophet is one who is gifted to say, “Thus says the Lord,” and what follows after that are words that God is willing for that prophet to speak into the hearts and minds of his redemptive people, the Jews in the Old Testament and the church in the New Testament. And so that’s a definition of prophecy. It is a direct revelation of words from God.
Now those words can have to do with anything God chooses to talk about. In terms of a time orientation, they can have to do with the past, present, or future. However, there is a unique aspect of prophecy that most of us know about when we just use the common… the word commonly is a prediction of the future. It’s like, “Well, that’s an amazing prophecy you’re making.” Or let me make a prophecy, “Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States.” It’s not a prophecy, that’s in the past. So, we believe that prophecy can cover the past, but there is something unique about predicting the future, and it is one of the ways that the Lord set himself apart from the false gods.
In the book of Isaiah 40-49, he has a contest with Israel’s gods, and he says, “Bring in your gods. Let’s have a contest. Let’s see if any of them can predict the future like I can.” Well, clearly, God is the only one that can predict the future. He’s the only timeless being. He’s the only eternal being. Also, he’s the only sovereign being. So, someone can say X is going to happen, but if God says it will not happen, well, guess what? It’s not going to happen.
And so, that’s ultimately, with the distinctiveness of prophecy is the ability to predict the future. However, not all prophecies have to do with the future. Some could be addressing an immediate circumstance that needs to be addressed, and God does that frequently in the Old Testament prophets. So, the New Testament had prophets; they were both men and women, and they would directly speak the word of God. They would speak and the word would come. The New Testament, all of the words of the New Testament that are written down are prophecies, all of them. Not necessarily about the future, but all of them are, “Thus says the Lord,” and so the prophets would write.
Wes
What shortcomings does Paul find then in the gift of tongues, especially if they’re not translated or interpreted for the hearers?
Andy
Intelligibility, it’s not clear. And so, what is “tongue”? Let’s talk about a tongue. Tongue is just… We don’t really use the word that way anymore. I think it means language. It’s a language, an orderly progression of sounds that has meaning. It has meaning.
Now here’s the thing. Every language has meaning. Every language has order. Every language has sequence, or it’s what we’ll call gibberish. Gibberish. You can hear when a little toddler can reach up and reach the keys of a piano and starts making sounds, that’s not music. That’s musical gibberish. But then you see somebody else sit down who’s not only trained but gifted, and music flows, and there’s an order and there’s science to it. There’s a science to music. So, it is with languages.
Any language can be studied, and the repeated patterns and not repeated patterns come out as a language. Paul is talking about a language that you can speak fluently that you have never studied. That’s the gift of language. Now, it could be a known language, or it could be, some argue and it’s possible, a heavenly language or a non-human language, but it’s still orderly. So that’s what tongues is.
Now, if tongues are spoken but there is no translation, what’s called interpretation, then it’s not clear. It’s not a clear communication, and that’s a problem. So, he didn’t want tongues being used in public worship, without a translator saying what was meant.
Wes
It’s interesting, on the heels of this description of those shortcomings if there’s not someone to interpret that, Paul says he wants all the Corinthians to speak in tongues. Why would he want that, if prophecy is superior to tongues, according to verses 4 and 5?
Andy
Well, it’s still a gift. You have good, better, best, and so, it’s a good gift. And we also know from the Book of Acts, repeatedly, there was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit then directly manifested by the supernatural speaking of tongues. We see this with Cornelius and his family, and they immediately begin speaking in tongues. We see it at other times as well. And so, it was a mark of the pouring out of the Spirit on people, a mark of conversion. And it’s a gift. It’s a supernatural gift. Paul says, I’d like you to have it. If God wants to give you the ability to speak in a foreign language that you haven’t studied, and he chooses to do that for his own purpose, I wish that it would happen. I would like you to have that.
Wes
Now verses 6-12 unfold or unpack for us what we were just talking about, some of the challenges or problems with speaking in a foreign language in a public setting if that language is not translated for the hearers. Why is intelligible speech so important, according to verses 7 and 8?
Andy
Well, in verses 7 and 8 he makes it plain that you have to understand what’s going on. If the tune that’s being played isn’t played according to the science of music, a distinction made in the notes, verse 7, you won’t recognize the tune. That’s how… Wes, you’re a skillful musician, and tunes follow sequence. And if you don’t know it yet, you can’t sing to it. But once you learn it, then it’s like, well, I know that song. That’s A Mighty Fortress or that’s Great is Thy Faithfulness. We recognize the chord progression in the notes, and that’s what Paul’s saying in verse 7. The issue comes down to intelligibility.
Now let’s get to the bigger issue. The bigger issue is the role of the mind, of thoughts, in Christian life. As you think, so you will live, and we are transformed in our living by being transformed in our thinking. And that’s done by the ministry of the word. The word changes minds. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds. So, if what’s happening is unintelligible, if there’s no conscious thought, if there’s no ideas that are coming, it has no effect towards salvation. It has no effect toward justification or sanctification. We’re not growing at all. We need intelligibility. We need the word of God.
Wes
What more do we learn from verses 6-12 then about the importance of someone being present to translate these tongues if they’re going to be utilized?
Andy
Yeah. Okay. So he’s talking, again, about the issue of intelligibility, and he says, look, if you have tongues going on and people are speaking in tongues, and someone comes in and doesn’t understand what’s going on, it just seems like mayhem. There’s nothing beneficial coming. They will not understand what you’re saying. Your mind is, he says in another place, unfruitful. There is no edification. And that’s one thing I want to say.
He says, again and again, the purpose of all spiritual gifts is edification. It’s the building up of the body. That’s why spiritual gifts are given. Verse 3, verse 5, verse 12, verse 17, all of them use this language of building up or edification. So, you’re not edified. If you don’t understand what’s happening, it doesn’t help you. It doesn’t build you up. And so, he wants clarity, and that comes in one of two ways.
Either tongues are used and immediately translated or interpreted, then benefit comes. Or prophecies are given right in that self-same language in the vernacular, and they know right away what’s being said. And at one point, he says their hearts are laid open and bare, and they fall down and say God is in this place. So, we want that clear ministry because, again, of the importance of the mind, the importance of thinking. We have to understand the gospel in order to believe it. And by believing it then we’re saved, so intelligibility is the issue.
Wes
Well, it’s also such a helpful interpretive key for us, as we seek to understand what Paul is unpacking really in this whole chapter, is his primary aim or his single concern driving all of these commands is the building up of the church through the use of these gifts.
What remedy does Paul give to those who are speaking in tongues now with no interpretation?
Andy
Well, he wants them to stop. He wants them not to do it in public worship.
Now, he doesn’t want all of that going on in public worship, but he does say in another place, I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. So, it implies that Paul himself was speaking in tongues, either in corporate worship with a translator, or by himself without one. He doesn’t require the use of translation if you’re not in a public setting, and so some people then think that there is, at least implied here, a private prayer language, and that may or may not be the case.
One preacher, Alistair Begg, said, if he’s forbidding all this public use of tongues, but he says, I speak in tongues more than all of you, it must’ve been in private and that implies some kind of private use. So, the use of tongues in public should be with a translator. If there is no translator, it should not be done in public. And that’s where I have problems with some charismatic churches or Pentecostal churches where they don’t follow that rule. There’s a clear prohibition here. They need to stop. It needs to be shut down.
Wes
Why does Paul argue, in verses 14 and 15, that it’s far better to pray or speak with full understanding of what you’re saying?
Andy
Well, again, it goes to the issue of the mind. We believe as you think so you will live. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in someone of whom they have never heard” (Romans 10:13-14)? All right. Stop right there.
Heard? Heard in a language they understand? Yeah, it’s implied there. You tell me about Jesus, tell me who he is, that he was born of the virgin Mary, that he lived a sinless life, that he did this miracle or that miracle, or he walked on water or stilled a storm, or that he preached the Sermon at the Mount. Really? What did he say? And then you say some of it. He taught parables. What’s a parable? You give him an example. All right. Well, guess what? This is all information. He’s learning about Jesus. There’s a basic biography of Jesus being communicated, intelligently, intelligibly. How can someone hear unless someone preaches it intelligibly? And so therefore, all over the world, the Lord has had to send out missionaries who have settled into communities, have learned the heart language of the people, and then been able to speak in that heart language intelligible messages. So, behind all of this is the transformation of the life by the changing of the mind. We’re transformed by the renewing of our minds, and that happens by the ministry of the word of God.
Wes
I love that. And verses 16 and 17 really turn to show us Paul’s concern for the one who’s hearing. What does Paul say about others who hear one speak in a tongue without understanding what he’s saying?
Andy
Well, we want to be able to agree. He says amen. If somebody says something, and I’m like, I’m on board with that, amen. Amen to that. Now we’re not a church that calls out “Amen.” I don’t mind it. I like it, actually, as I’m preaching. But you can tell from non-verbals at least and sometimes, and recently I’ve not been preaching, I’m on study leave, and I am in the congregation, and I can hear. It’s like the congregation’s a living thing. And when the preacher says something that hits them in a new way, you hear different sounds. There’s different breathing. There is an assent to what’s being said. Paul says they openly say amen. They say, all right, I understand what you’re saying, and I agree. I stand with that. I’m wholeheartedly concurring. Well, I can’t do that if I don’t know what you’re talking about.
And I’ve been in that setting. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve been in corporate settings in China, a good example, where I didn’t understand a word. And honestly, like Paul says here in 1 Corinthians 14, my mind was unfruitful. I was looking around at the setting. I was looking at the windows. I was looking at what kind of light fixtures they had. But whatever in the world they were talking about meant nothing to me. And there would be some moving moments in which the Chinese Christians were clearly moved and then were calling out or whatever, pass me by. I had no idea what was going on because my mind was unfruitful. It was unintelligible to me. Paul’s talking about that exact experience here.
Wes
And Paul continues that same argument through verse 18 into verse 19. How does Paul use his experience with both tongues and prophecy to drive home his point here?
Andy
He says, first of all, I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. Paul had an interesting side to him. Let’s be honest. He boasts, all right. He does a lot of that from time to time, but he deals with it. Sometimes he says, look, I had to do it. I had to say I suffered more than anyone, or I worked harder than all of them, this kind of thing. But here he says, I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. It’s like, I don’t know how he knows that, but he’s a prophet, he’s an apostle, he knows that thing.
So, what we get from that is Paul did the gift of tongues. He did speak in tongues. And he was grateful for it. He thanked God for it. He considered it a gift. But he would rather, he says, speak five intelligible words, like, “Christ is risen.” is three. “Jesus Christ rose from the dead,” I don’t know how many words that is. Anyway, the point is, I want to communicate actual doctrines. I’d rather speak a few intelligible words than 10,000 unintelligible words. There’d be of no value. You can multiply a hundred million unintelligible words. Words only have meaning, or words only have value or impact if the meaning comes across.
Wes
Now, verses 20-25 help us see a different facet of why Paul is so concerned about their use of this gift. What new point does Paul make about tongues in verses 20-25?
Andy
Well, he says here that tongues are a sign for unbelievers. Prophecy is for believers, to edify and build them up. It’s an interesting statement. How are tongues a sign for unbelievers?
Well, you have to understand the quote that he gives us from the book of Isaiah, “Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners, I will speak to this people,” et cetera. That’s Isaiah 28:11-12. If you read the context there in Isaiah 28, Paul is criticizing the Jewish leaders that were mocking Isaiah… Sorry, Isaiah. I should have said Isaiah. Isaiah the prophet was criticizing the leaders who were mocking his clear proclamation of biblical truths, prophetic truths, as though it was baby talk. He was saying, who does he think he’s instructing? Like children just weaned from the breast? For he’s saying, do and do, rule and rule, little here, little there, “Sav lasav sav lasav, kav lakav, kav lakav.” It’s the Hebrew. It’s like baby talk. He’s like, fine. Fine.
I have sent my prophet Isaiah. He is speaking to you in clear Hebrew. He is giving you clear biblical instruction. But if you don’t listen to him, I’m going to speak to you through a foreign tongue. I’m going to bring men whose language you will not understand. And then the word of God to you will be like that. It’ll be like, “Sav lasav sav lasav, kav lakav, kav lakav,” blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, gibberish. But it isn’t. It’s going to be Babylonian or Chaldean. It’s going to be Assyrian. And what is God saying when the Assyrians, or when the Babylonians, let’s go Babylonians, are in the streets of Jerusalem, when they’re right outside Solomon’s temple speaking, that is impending judgment. They’re there because God sent foreigners to speak their foreign language in the holy city. And why? Because of their wickedness, their sin. He’s going to bring judgment.
It’s the very thing he predicted in Deuteronomy. He said, you’re going to come in. You’re going to go after the sins of the Canaanites, and then I’m going to have to bring other people of strange tongues to come and speak their language in your cities. And the language will be ultimately one of judgment. So, Paul’s picking up on that and he’s saying, basically, this in-breaking of the Holy Spirit, this Pentecostal age, is a warning to the entire human race of a far greater judgment than the Jews ever experienced, the end of the world and judgment day to come. And so, the coming of supernatural signs and wonders is a marking of the coming age and you better get on board. The kingdom of God is at hand, repent. It’s a warning. Isn’t repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. The king is coming, you better get on his side. So that’s how tongues are a warning to unbelievers, to come to faith in Christ.
Wes
And really, that’s where he ends this first section of the chapter, showing how prophecy tends to strip people bare and expose their sin. How is that and why is that really helpful, as Paul is making this point to the church in how they should think about these gifts?
Andy
Right. So, in comes the unbeliever. There’s nothing but tongues going on. And actually, Paul’s argument here is a little difficult to follow because if tongues are a sign for unbelievers, but then he argues that if they come in, they’re not going to be helped by it. He wants them to be saved; that’s what he’s getting at. He wants them to be rescued from the wrath to come. And how are they going to be rescued? By believing the gospel. And they’re not going to hear it through people speaking in tongues but it not being interpreted.
So, they come into your congregation. And there are prophets speaking clear words of prophecy, and they are cut to the heart, as it says in Acts 2. And they say, brothers, what should we do? They’re convicted. Their hearts are laid bare, and they say, surely God is in this place, and I’m not ready to meet God. I need to believe in him. How can I be saved? That’s the good outcome. If, on the other hand, they come in, it’s nothing but tongues uninterpreted, they’ll think you’re out of your minds. You’re crazy.
By the way, you and I both know, we’ve used this issue of these verses here as the rule of intelligibility. We want our services not to be seeker-sensitive, but we’ve said seeker-sensible. It should make sense to the seeker. Somebody coming in will look around and say, God is in this place. And based on this chapter, it has to do with orderliness and clarity. So, they’re hearing the word of God clearly. They’re seeing good order. And they’re cut to the heart, and they’re converted.
Wes
For the remainder of the chapter, Paul deals with this idea of orderly corporate worship. And in verse 26, we see this same motive and function of these gifts being highlighted again, that it’s the building up of the church that Paul has in view. What rule does Paul lay down to address the use of tongues in a corporate setting? And how does this solve the problem he’s been arguing against since the beginning of the chapter, as we look at verses 27 and 28?
Andy
Okay. So, he’s just giving very clearly, clear rules that need to be followed. “When you come together, there are different ones that have something to offer, a hymn, a word of instruction, revelation, tongue interpretation” (1 Corinthians 14:26 paraphrase). First of all, your motive should be, from 1 Corinthians 13, love, and from 1 Corinthians 12, edification. Also here in chapter 14, out of love, your desire should be to use your gift to edify, to build up the body. Now that should cut off any of the egomaniac type things where you want to be up front, you want everybody looking at you. It’s not about you. It’s about building up the church. So, if you do something, make sure it’s done for the edification and the strengthening of the church.
Then there’s practical rules. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two or at most three, should speak one at a time, not all at once. And there should be an interpreter. If there is no interpreter present, then the speaker should keep quiet and speak to himself and God. All right. So just keep it to yourself.
Now with both tongues and prophecy, he’s going to say, the gifts are subject to your control. Don’t tell me there is nothing you could do. Now that gets at the whole ecstatic pagan babble thing that was going on with priests and priestesses, in the cults and the shrines in paganism in Greece before the gospel ever came there. They’re these ecstatic moments where they’re in a frenzy, like whirling dervish type things, and they would even use alcohol and sex to get all juiced up and all whatever excited. And they’re saying they’re having an actual encounter with the god or goddess. That’s not what’s going on here. That’s not how God works.
God is a God of order. He’s a God of beauty. He’s a God of truth. And so, tongues should be done this way. Prophecy should be done this way. Everything done decently and in good order, that’s what he’s getting at here.
“God is a God of order. He’s a God of beauty. He’s a God of truth.”
Wes
And verse 29 is where he gives a similar instruction regarding prophecy; 27 and 28 deals with tongues; 29 then, “let two or three prophets speak and let the others weigh what is said.” Again, the idea being that things would be done orderly, and in a way that, like you said, is intelligible. It’s understandable by those who are present.
Andy
Let’s be honest. If two people are speaking at the same time, you can’t follow it. Somebody has to be quiet and then there’s order. And so, he even gives order of that. If one of the prophets is speaking and a prophecy comes to the other, then he should wait until it’s the right time, and then the one should stop and say, you go ahead, brother, et cetera. And so, they’re going to do the gift of prophecy, and do it in an orderly way, because there’s no point in two prophets speaking at the same time.
And again, you can’t say I couldn’t help myself. “The spirit of the prophets is subject to the control of the prophets” (1 Corinthians 14:32). So, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. But he’ll wait for you, and he’ll wait for you for the right time. He knows not to interrupt. So, there’s just some good manners here.
Wes
How do those verses that you’ve just been referencing, verses 30-32 there, help to keep order in public worship? And what do verses 33 and 40 teach us about God in relation to public worship?
Andy
Okay. So, to answer the second question first, “God is a God of order, not of disorder, but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33). God is a very orderly being. I remember, I was talking to my kids, we homeschool our kids, and we’re talking about math, and one of my kids was just not a big fan of math. And I was just trying to explain how orderly the universe is. And my desk in my office is not a desk but actually a table. And on top of the table is a big sheet of glass. And I tried to explain, it was my daughter, I was trying to explain to my daughter, I said, I can’t even give you a sense of the silicon dioxide, the molecules that make up this glass. And how if you were within the matrix of this glass structure, you would look as far as your little microscopic eye could see, and there’d be glass molecules in an orderly perfect matrix, in every direction. That’s the material that we have right in front of us here.
And the whole world is like that. God is a God of order. And he also wants humans to order with each other. That’s why parents teach their children good manners. That’s why we don’t interrupt. That’s why we use table manners when we eat. There’s an orderliness to things. God is not a God of disorder but of peace. There’s an orderliness that comes to that. Sin is very disorderly. Sin is destructive, and we want to see order. Everything, again, Ephesians 2:10, “God in Christ is bring all things together under one head and making them one in Christ.” There’s an orderliness to everything.
Wes
What restriction does Paul then place on women in verses 34 and 35? And how does Paul seek to humble the proud congregation or individual in verses 36-38?
Andy
Right. So, the women, this is one of the two really controversial women’s passages in 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 11 and 14. In 11, it’s about head coverings, and it says, I want you to know, the head of every man is woman. “The head of every man is Christ. The head of a woman is man, head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:3 paraphrase), and all that, and so headship. Order. And the order, it works biblically, both in the home and in the church.
So, men are to lead, husbands are to lead at home. They’re to lead their wives. “The husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church,” Ephesians 5:23. And then, men are to lead in the local church. He says in 1 Timothy 2:12-13, “I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man. She must be silent.” Why? “For Adam was formed first, then Eve.” There’s an order to things.
Now, what we need to understand is this order does not, in any way, imply inferiority. He does not say men are superior to women, but there is an orderliness to it. And that order is essential for the local church to communicate.
Now the way he communicates it here is on a specific issue. I think the head coverings is a timeless principle of male leadership in the local church, displayed in a temporary pattern of a certain kerchief or head covering that was done in a certain way. So, the timeless pattern is male leadership. The temporary pattern is the actual physical head covering. That’s what we argued in 1 Corinthians 11.
The issue here is of women speaking up in a certain way, at a certain time. It isn’t an absolute women speaking in churches. It’s not that. I think there are implications that women prophets were prophesying, and that women were praying in the church. I had the feeling they were together all day. And I think people would bring different things at different times. We have a very tightly timed ninety-minute thing. I think they were together.
I went overseas to Africa, and I spent the day, Sunday, at church. And so, you could imagine, women aren’t silent the whole time. That’s just not what’s going on. However, in this case, the prophecy comes forth, as I defined it, thus says the Lord, a prophet, both men and women were prophets, would speak, but then the other prophets would weigh carefully what was said. What was the weighing? They had to be sure, as it says in Romans 12:6, I think it is, “If your gift is prophecy, you should do it by the analogia or the analogy of faith.” In other words, it should fit into what we know is the word of God. Keep in mind, the New Testament didn’t exist. It hadn’t been codified yet. It was developing. Paul hadn’t written some of the epistles yet.
And so, you had to be able to evaluate, to weigh, whether this new word from God was valid or not. Did it fit in or not? 1 John 4:1 says, “Brothers, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they’re from God.” And then he gave doctrinal tests in 1 John. If a spirit points to the incarnation, holiness, things like that, that’s how you can know. Same thing here. So there has to be a weighing. There’s a free flowing speaking. There are tongues going on with interpretation. There are prophecies going, okay, how can we know whether it’s true or not? Don’t just accept anything. Evaluate it. Test it. Now here’s the point. Who should do the evaluation?
Well, it says here, the other prophets. But then it says women should not do that evaluation. I think the silence here is not a universal silence, but a weighing. Women are not to do the weighing. That’s an elder function. That’s a function by the prophets who are men. They’re going to weigh and say, yes, this is a valid prophecy. So that’s what I think the silence here. It’s a limitation of women in a leadership role.
Now, in our day and age, it’s offensive, because in the West, we really do tie significance and worth and value to achievement. We tie it to what you are able to do or allowed to do. And if you are limited, like there’s a glass ceiling for women, you’re limited in certain roles, you’re saying you are a lesser human. You are of less value. Nothing could be further from the truth. We do not believe that pastors have more value than non-pastors. We don’t believe that those with the gift of prophecy have more value than those that don’t have it. Paul argued against that view in 1 Corinthians 12. Not at all. They don’t have more or less value. It’s just a role, and there’s orderliness to it. And so, we need to push back on feminism, as it pushes at the word of God. There are gender-based roles, in the home and in the church. They are not demeaning. They’re not degrading. They need to be elevated. They need to be embraced and celebrated really. It’s not bad news or whatever. It’s order. And it’s beautiful, and we need to do it.
“We need to push back on feminism, as it pushes at the word of God. There are gender-based roles, in the home and in the church. They are not demeaning. They’re not degrading. They need to be elevated. They need to be embraced and celebrated really.”
And we do it in our church. We have men clearly leading on Sunday mornings and women gladly submitting to it, and that’s the pattern that we followed from the Bible.
On the issue of how Paul seeks to humble them, he says, look, first of all, you’re not the first local church there ever was. I mean, the gospel didn’t originate with you. You’re not the first church. You’re not the only church. We need to look around and see what the other churches are doing. You need to realize that, as in all the congregations, women are silent there. They’re not doing the evaluation. As in all the congregations, they’re following these rules, so you need to fit in. And so, he’s humbling them. He’s saying, look, also, this is a test of… You want to know a test of a prophet? Let any prophet in Corinth there acknowledge that what I’m writing to you as an apostle is the word of the Lord.
Wow, that’s pretty bold. Paul wasn’t shy about his gift. He knew very well he was the apostle to the Gentiles. He might’ve even had a sense that the epistles he was writing were going to be protected and timeless. He knew the writing tradition of the prophets of the Old Testament. And so, he maybe knew that he was in the process of writing the word of God. And he’s saying, you want to be recognized as a valid prophet? Then acknowledge that the prohibitions and commands I’m giving you are from the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you do that, you can keep being a prophet. If not, you’re going to be ignored. So that’s pretty humbling.
I want to say a word about the gift of prophecy. It’s kind of, these two gifts, tongues and prophecy, are very controversial. There are some cessationist people that believe that the gifts have ceased. And I’m not that way. I don’t think that we can make a biblical case for cessationism, but I do make a more practical… I do raise questions. All right? I think it’s valid to say, what is going on in all the other churches? Let’s look around. What’s going on in church history? I think it’s valid to look at that, not just at the scripture, because the scripture, the gifts were going right to the end of the apostolic age, and so we don’t have cessationism in the Bible.
So, with tongues, I would say this. It needs to be proven to not be gibberish. If it’s just repetition of seven or eight syllables in reversing order, that’s not a language. I’ve heard languages I don’t understand, but I know they’re languages. You can just tell. The breadth of the different sounds you’re hearing, the fluidity, whatever you’re hearing, a language you don’t understand, but it’s a language. So, it’s got to be a language. And beyond that, it needs to be interpreted or cannot be used publicly.
Furthermore, I would say about tongues, it should never be stated that if you do not speak in tongues, you’re not a Christian. Paul implied, when he said, do all speak in tongues? We don’t all speak in tongues. So, he means all Christians, not all Christians speak in tongues. So that’s set that aside. Some versions of Pentecostalism taught that. That’s false.
Now let’s get to prophecy. Prophecy also is part of those controversial gifts. Sovereign Grace churches, others have open mics and prophets come and speak. I think it’s reasonable to urge that prophets be able to predict the future at least once, to validate their gift. If they cannot predict the future, I don’t know how I can know that they are a prophet and not just a reader of the Bible. I’m a preacher. I read the scriptures. I can make true spiritual pronouncements, based on the scripture, that I know are true. But that doesn’t make me a prophet. It makes me a teacher-preacher.
If I say I think that God wants husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church, I’m just reading Ephesians 5. I’m preaching Ephesians 5. But if I’m claiming to be a prophet, and I’m saying, men of FBC Durham, God is saying to you, you are uniquely not loving your wives. This is a unique problem to you. Similar to what Jesus said to the church at Ephesus, you have forsaken your first love. I don’t know that that’s true of this or that or the other local church. A prophet could know that. But if I’m not proven as a prophet, how do I have the right to say that to the church? Predict the future in a way that can be measured, like when Agabus predicted the famine that would come on the entire Roman world. Hey, that can be proven. You do that, I’ll know that you, like Agabus, are a prophet. I think that’s a valid test of prophecy for the 21st century.
Wes
Well, there’s much for us to consider in these 40 verses of chapter 14 in the book of 1 Corinthians. Any final thoughts for us today, Andy?
Andy
Yeah. I think the bottom line here is the centrality, the importance of the clear word of God, done in such a powerful way that people are cut to the heart and fall down and say, surely God is in this place. I hope to preach in that way. I hope, Wes, I know that you hope to lead songs and lead worship in that way, that people have a sense of an encounter with the infinite living God, and that it’d be done in a beautiful, orderly, clear way. And that outsiders would come and feel that, and be impacted by that, and fall down in our midst and be saved. That’s what I yearn for, and also, for all of you that are hearing, that that would happen in your churches as well.
Wes
Well, this has been Episode 20 in our 1 Corinthians Bible Study podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for Episode 21, entitled Raised from the Dead in Accordance with the Scriptures, where we’ll discuss 1 Corinthians 15:1-19. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Wes
Welcome to the Two Journeys Bible Study Podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys Ministry. If you’re interested in learning more, just head over to twojourneys.org. Now on to today’s episode.
This is Episode 20 in our 1 Corinthians Bible Study Podcast. This episode is entitled Prophecy, Tongues, and Order in Worship, where we’ll discuss 1 Corinthians 14:1-40. I’m Wes Treadway and I’m here with Pastor Andy Davis.
Andy, what are we going to see in these verses that we’re looking at today?
Andy
Oh, what an exciting chapter we’re going to walk through today, and a challenging chapter as well. I mean, there’s a lot of history here at the modern Pentecostal or Charismatic movement. A lot of questions come, questions on cessationism or these kinds of signed gifts like tongues and prophecy still operating today. But for all of that, Paul gives clear instructions on the management of these gifts during the apostolic era, and timeless principles that we can take from it. So, I’m excited to walk through it with you.
Wes
Well, let me go ahead and read chapter 14 in the Book of 1 Corinthians.
Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.
Now brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? So, with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you’ll be speaking into the air. There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. So, with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.
Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than 10,000 words in a tongue.
Brothers do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then, they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers. If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.
What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But all things should be done decently and in order.
Andy, the first 25 verses of this chapter really are aimed at helping us properly understand gifts of tongues and prophecy. What role should our desires play in our spiritual gifts? And should we desire to attain gifts that we do not have?
Andy
Sure. At the beginning, he says eagerly desire spiritual gifts, and especially desire prophecy over tongues. He’s making a clear case here for clarity, and prophecy is a clear word from God. So that’s the case he’s going to make and so you should desire it. So, the answer is yes.
And just because something is a gift from the Lord doesn’t mean you shouldn’t desire it. Think, for example, of a single man who would like to be married someday. We’re told very clearly that a prudent wife is a gift from the Lord. That’s a gift from the Lord. Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek her. She’ll want to be courted. She’ll want to be sought, so he’s going to make some efforts to go after it. And so those are not mutually exclusive. Just because God gives the gift doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek it, and I think he openly commands to seek greater gifts.
“Just because God gives the gift doesn’t mean you shouldn’t seek it, and I think he openly commands to seek greater gifts.”
Wes
Now, Andy, how would you define the gift of prophecy? And what purpose does Paul find in this gift?
Andy
All right. So, the whole Bible is prophetic. It’s fundamentally a revelation of words from God. A prophet is one who is gifted to say, “Thus says the Lord,” and what follows after that are words that God is willing for that prophet to speak into the hearts and minds of his redemptive people, the Jews in the Old Testament and the church in the New Testament. And so that’s a definition of prophecy. It is a direct revelation of words from God.
Now those words can have to do with anything God chooses to talk about. In terms of a time orientation, they can have to do with the past, present, or future. However, there is a unique aspect of prophecy that most of us know about when we just use the common… the word commonly is a prediction of the future. It’s like, “Well, that’s an amazing prophecy you’re making.” Or let me make a prophecy, “Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States.” It’s not a prophecy, that’s in the past. So, we believe that prophecy can cover the past, but there is something unique about predicting the future, and it is one of the ways that the Lord set himself apart from the false gods.
In the book of Isaiah 40-49, he has a contest with Israel’s gods, and he says, “Bring in your gods. Let’s have a contest. Let’s see if any of them can predict the future like I can.” Well, clearly, God is the only one that can predict the future. He’s the only timeless being. He’s the only eternal being. Also, he’s the only sovereign being. So, someone can say X is going to happen, but if God says it will not happen, well, guess what? It’s not going to happen.
And so, that’s ultimately, with the distinctiveness of prophecy is the ability to predict the future. However, not all prophecies have to do with the future. Some could be addressing an immediate circumstance that needs to be addressed, and God does that frequently in the Old Testament prophets. So, the New Testament had prophets; they were both men and women, and they would directly speak the word of God. They would speak and the word would come. The New Testament, all of the words of the New Testament that are written down are prophecies, all of them. Not necessarily about the future, but all of them are, “Thus says the Lord,” and so the prophets would write.
Wes
What shortcomings does Paul find then in the gift of tongues, especially if they’re not translated or interpreted for the hearers?
Andy
Intelligibility, it’s not clear. And so, what is “tongue”? Let’s talk about a tongue. Tongue is just… We don’t really use the word that way anymore. I think it means language. It’s a language, an orderly progression of sounds that has meaning. It has meaning.
Now here’s the thing. Every language has meaning. Every language has order. Every language has sequence, or it’s what we’ll call gibberish. Gibberish. You can hear when a little toddler can reach up and reach the keys of a piano and starts making sounds, that’s not music. That’s musical gibberish. But then you see somebody else sit down who’s not only trained but gifted, and music flows, and there’s an order and there’s science to it. There’s a science to music. So, it is with languages.
Any language can be studied, and the repeated patterns and not repeated patterns come out as a language. Paul is talking about a language that you can speak fluently that you have never studied. That’s the gift of language. Now, it could be a known language, or it could be, some argue and it’s possible, a heavenly language or a non-human language, but it’s still orderly. So that’s what tongues is.
Now, if tongues are spoken but there is no translation, what’s called interpretation, then it’s not clear. It’s not a clear communication, and that’s a problem. So, he didn’t want tongues being used in public worship, without a translator saying what was meant.
Wes
It’s interesting, on the heels of this description of those shortcomings if there’s not someone to interpret that, Paul says he wants all the Corinthians to speak in tongues. Why would he want that, if prophecy is superior to tongues, according to verses 4 and 5?
Andy
Well, it’s still a gift. You have good, better, best, and so, it’s a good gift. And we also know from the Book of Acts, repeatedly, there was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit then directly manifested by the supernatural speaking of tongues. We see this with Cornelius and his family, and they immediately begin speaking in tongues. We see it at other times as well. And so, it was a mark of the pouring out of the Spirit on people, a mark of conversion. And it’s a gift. It’s a supernatural gift. Paul says, I’d like you to have it. If God wants to give you the ability to speak in a foreign language that you haven’t studied, and he chooses to do that for his own purpose, I wish that it would happen. I would like you to have that.
Wes
Now verses 6-12 unfold or unpack for us what we were just talking about, some of the challenges or problems with speaking in a foreign language in a public setting if that language is not translated for the hearers. Why is intelligible speech so important, according to verses 7 and 8?
Andy
Well, in verses 7 and 8 he makes it plain that you have to understand what’s going on. If the tune that’s being played isn’t played according to the science of music, a distinction made in the notes, verse 7, you won’t recognize the tune. That’s how… Wes, you’re a skillful musician, and tunes follow sequence. And if you don’t know it yet, you can’t sing to it. But once you learn it, then it’s like, well, I know that song. That’s A Mighty Fortress or that’s Great is Thy Faithfulness. We recognize the chord progression in the notes, and that’s what Paul’s saying in verse 7. The issue comes down to intelligibility.
Now let’s get to the bigger issue. The bigger issue is the role of the mind, of thoughts, in Christian life. As you think, so you will live, and we are transformed in our living by being transformed in our thinking. And that’s done by the ministry of the word. The word changes minds. We are transformed by the renewing of our minds. So, if what’s happening is unintelligible, if there’s no conscious thought, if there’s no ideas that are coming, it has no effect towards salvation. It has no effect toward justification or sanctification. We’re not growing at all. We need intelligibility. We need the word of God.
Wes
What more do we learn from verses 6-12 then about the importance of someone being present to translate these tongues if they’re going to be utilized?
Andy
Yeah. Okay. So he’s talking, again, about the issue of intelligibility, and he says, look, if you have tongues going on and people are speaking in tongues, and someone comes in and doesn’t understand what’s going on, it just seems like mayhem. There’s nothing beneficial coming. They will not understand what you’re saying. Your mind is, he says in another place, unfruitful. There is no edification. And that’s one thing I want to say.
He says, again and again, the purpose of all spiritual gifts is edification. It’s the building up of the body. That’s why spiritual gifts are given. Verse 3, verse 5, verse 12, verse 17, all of them use this language of building up or edification. So, you’re not edified. If you don’t understand what’s happening, it doesn’t help you. It doesn’t build you up. And so, he wants clarity, and that comes in one of two ways.
Either tongues are used and immediately translated or interpreted, then benefit comes. Or prophecies are given right in that self-same language in the vernacular, and they know right away what’s being said. And at one point, he says their hearts are laid open and bare, and they fall down and say God is in this place. So, we want that clear ministry because, again, of the importance of the mind, the importance of thinking. We have to understand the gospel in order to believe it. And by believing it then we’re saved, so intelligibility is the issue.
Wes
Well, it’s also such a helpful interpretive key for us, as we seek to understand what Paul is unpacking really in this whole chapter, is his primary aim or his single concern driving all of these commands is the building up of the church through the use of these gifts.
What remedy does Paul give to those who are speaking in tongues now with no interpretation?
Andy
Well, he wants them to stop. He wants them not to do it in public worship.
Now, he doesn’t want all of that going on in public worship, but he does say in another place, I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. So, it implies that Paul himself was speaking in tongues, either in corporate worship with a translator, or by himself without one. He doesn’t require the use of translation if you’re not in a public setting, and so some people then think that there is, at least implied here, a private prayer language, and that may or may not be the case.
One preacher, Alistair Begg, said, if he’s forbidding all this public use of tongues, but he says, I speak in tongues more than all of you, it must’ve been in private and that implies some kind of private use. So, the use of tongues in public should be with a translator. If there is no translator, it should not be done in public. And that’s where I have problems with some charismatic churches or Pentecostal churches where they don’t follow that rule. There’s a clear prohibition here. They need to stop. It needs to be shut down.
Wes
Why does Paul argue, in verses 14 and 15, that it’s far better to pray or speak with full understanding of what you’re saying?
Andy
Well, again, it goes to the issue of the mind. We believe as you think so you will live. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how can they call on one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in someone of whom they have never heard” (Romans 10:13-14)? All right. Stop right there.
Heard? Heard in a language they understand? Yeah, it’s implied there. You tell me about Jesus, tell me who he is, that he was born of the virgin Mary, that he lived a sinless life, that he did this miracle or that miracle, or he walked on water or stilled a storm, or that he preached the Sermon at the Mount. Really? What did he say? And then you say some of it. He taught parables. What’s a parable? You give him an example. All right. Well, guess what? This is all information. He’s learning about Jesus. There’s a basic biography of Jesus being communicated, intelligently, intelligibly. How can someone hear unless someone preaches it intelligibly? And so therefore, all over the world, the Lord has had to send out missionaries who have settled into communities, have learned the heart language of the people, and then been able to speak in that heart language intelligible messages. So, behind all of this is the transformation of the life by the changing of the mind. We’re transformed by the renewing of our minds, and that happens by the ministry of the word of God.
Wes
I love that. And verses 16 and 17 really turn to show us Paul’s concern for the one who’s hearing. What does Paul say about others who hear one speak in a tongue without understanding what he’s saying?
Andy
Well, we want to be able to agree. He says amen. If somebody says something, and I’m like, I’m on board with that, amen. Amen to that. Now we’re not a church that calls out “Amen.” I don’t mind it. I like it, actually, as I’m preaching. But you can tell from non-verbals at least and sometimes, and recently I’ve not been preaching, I’m on study leave, and I am in the congregation, and I can hear. It’s like the congregation’s a living thing. And when the preacher says something that hits them in a new way, you hear different sounds. There’s different breathing. There is an assent to what’s being said. Paul says they openly say amen. They say, all right, I understand what you’re saying, and I agree. I stand with that. I’m wholeheartedly concurring. Well, I can’t do that if I don’t know what you’re talking about.
And I’ve been in that setting. I’ve been all over the world. I’ve been in corporate settings in China, a good example, where I didn’t understand a word. And honestly, like Paul says here in 1 Corinthians 14, my mind was unfruitful. I was looking around at the setting. I was looking at the windows. I was looking at what kind of light fixtures they had. But whatever in the world they were talking about meant nothing to me. And there would be some moving moments in which the Chinese Christians were clearly moved and then were calling out or whatever, pass me by. I had no idea what was going on because my mind was unfruitful. It was unintelligible to me. Paul’s talking about that exact experience here.
Wes
And Paul continues that same argument through verse 18 into verse 19. How does Paul use his experience with both tongues and prophecy to drive home his point here?
Andy
He says, first of all, I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. Paul had an interesting side to him. Let’s be honest. He boasts, all right. He does a lot of that from time to time, but he deals with it. Sometimes he says, look, I had to do it. I had to say I suffered more than anyone, or I worked harder than all of them, this kind of thing. But here he says, I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. It’s like, I don’t know how he knows that, but he’s a prophet, he’s an apostle, he knows that thing.
So, what we get from that is Paul did the gift of tongues. He did speak in tongues. And he was grateful for it. He thanked God for it. He considered it a gift. But he would rather, he says, speak five intelligible words, like, “Christ is risen.” is three. “Jesus Christ rose from the dead,” I don’t know how many words that is. Anyway, the point is, I want to communicate actual doctrines. I’d rather speak a few intelligible words than 10,000 unintelligible words. There’d be of no value. You can multiply a hundred million unintelligible words. Words only have meaning, or words only have value or impact if the meaning comes across.
Wes
Now, verses 20-25 help us see a different facet of why Paul is so concerned about their use of this gift. What new point does Paul make about tongues in verses 20-25?
Andy
Well, he says here that tongues are a sign for unbelievers. Prophecy is for believers, to edify and build them up. It’s an interesting statement. How are tongues a sign for unbelievers?
Well, you have to understand the quote that he gives us from the book of Isaiah, “Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners, I will speak to this people,” et cetera. That’s Isaiah 28:11-12. If you read the context there in Isaiah 28, Paul is criticizing the Jewish leaders that were mocking Isaiah… Sorry, Isaiah. I should have said Isaiah. Isaiah the prophet was criticizing the leaders who were mocking his clear proclamation of biblical truths, prophetic truths, as though it was baby talk. He was saying, who does he think he’s instructing? Like children just weaned from the breast? For he’s saying, do and do, rule and rule, little here, little there, “Sav lasav sav lasav, kav lakav, kav lakav.” It’s the Hebrew. It’s like baby talk. He’s like, fine. Fine.
I have sent my prophet Isaiah. He is speaking to you in clear Hebrew. He is giving you clear biblical instruction. But if you don’t listen to him, I’m going to speak to you through a foreign tongue. I’m going to bring men whose language you will not understand. And then the word of God to you will be like that. It’ll be like, “Sav lasav sav lasav, kav lakav, kav lakav,” blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, gibberish. But it isn’t. It’s going to be Babylonian or Chaldean. It’s going to be Assyrian. And what is God saying when the Assyrians, or when the Babylonians, let’s go Babylonians, are in the streets of Jerusalem, when they’re right outside Solomon’s temple speaking, that is impending judgment. They’re there because God sent foreigners to speak their foreign language in the holy city. And why? Because of their wickedness, their sin. He’s going to bring judgment.
It’s the very thing he predicted in Deuteronomy. He said, you’re going to come in. You’re going to go after the sins of the Canaanites, and then I’m going to have to bring other people of strange tongues to come and speak their language in your cities. And the language will be ultimately one of judgment. So, Paul’s picking up on that and he’s saying, basically, this in-breaking of the Holy Spirit, this Pentecostal age, is a warning to the entire human race of a far greater judgment than the Jews ever experienced, the end of the world and judgment day to come. And so, the coming of supernatural signs and wonders is a marking of the coming age and you better get on board. The kingdom of God is at hand, repent. It’s a warning. Isn’t repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. The king is coming, you better get on his side. So that’s how tongues are a warning to unbelievers, to come to faith in Christ.
Wes
And really, that’s where he ends this first section of the chapter, showing how prophecy tends to strip people bare and expose their sin. How is that and why is that really helpful, as Paul is making this point to the church in how they should think about these gifts?
Andy
Right. So, in comes the unbeliever. There’s nothing but tongues going on. And actually, Paul’s argument here is a little difficult to follow because if tongues are a sign for unbelievers, but then he argues that if they come in, they’re not going to be helped by it. He wants them to be saved; that’s what he’s getting at. He wants them to be rescued from the wrath to come. And how are they going to be rescued? By believing the gospel. And they’re not going to hear it through people speaking in tongues but it not being interpreted.
So, they come into your congregation. And there are prophets speaking clear words of prophecy, and they are cut to the heart, as it says in Acts 2. And they say, brothers, what should we do? They’re convicted. Their hearts are laid bare, and they say, surely God is in this place, and I’m not ready to meet God. I need to believe in him. How can I be saved? That’s the good outcome. If, on the other hand, they come in, it’s nothing but tongues uninterpreted, they’ll think you’re out of your minds. You’re crazy.
By the way, you and I both know, we’ve used this issue of these verses here as the rule of intelligibility. We want our services not to be seeker-sensitive, but we’ve said seeker-sensible. It should make sense to the seeker. Somebody coming in will look around and say, God is in this place. And based on this chapter, it has to do with orderliness and clarity. So, they’re hearing the word of God clearly. They’re seeing good order. And they’re cut to the heart, and they’re converted.
Wes
For the remainder of the chapter, Paul deals with this idea of orderly corporate worship. And in verse 26, we see this same motive and function of these gifts being highlighted again, that it’s the building up of the church that Paul has in view. What rule does Paul lay down to address the use of tongues in a corporate setting? And how does this solve the problem he’s been arguing against since the beginning of the chapter, as we look at verses 27 and 28?
Andy
Okay. So, he’s just giving very clearly, clear rules that need to be followed. “When you come together, there are different ones that have something to offer, a hymn, a word of instruction, revelation, tongue interpretation” (1 Corinthians 14:26 paraphrase). First of all, your motive should be, from 1 Corinthians 13, love, and from 1 Corinthians 12, edification. Also here in chapter 14, out of love, your desire should be to use your gift to edify, to build up the body. Now that should cut off any of the egomaniac type things where you want to be up front, you want everybody looking at you. It’s not about you. It’s about building up the church. So, if you do something, make sure it’s done for the edification and the strengthening of the church.
Then there’s practical rules. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two or at most three, should speak one at a time, not all at once. And there should be an interpreter. If there is no interpreter present, then the speaker should keep quiet and speak to himself and God. All right. So just keep it to yourself.
Now with both tongues and prophecy, he’s going to say, the gifts are subject to your control. Don’t tell me there is nothing you could do. Now that gets at the whole ecstatic pagan babble thing that was going on with priests and priestesses, in the cults and the shrines in paganism in Greece before the gospel ever came there. They’re these ecstatic moments where they’re in a frenzy, like whirling dervish type things, and they would even use alcohol and sex to get all juiced up and all whatever excited. And they’re saying they’re having an actual encounter with the god or goddess. That’s not what’s going on here. That’s not how God works.
God is a God of order. He’s a God of beauty. He’s a God of truth. And so, tongues should be done this way. Prophecy should be done this way. Everything done decently and in good order, that’s what he’s getting at here.
“God is a God of order. He’s a God of beauty. He’s a God of truth.”
Wes
And verse 29 is where he gives a similar instruction regarding prophecy; 27 and 28 deals with tongues; 29 then, “let two or three prophets speak and let the others weigh what is said.” Again, the idea being that things would be done orderly, and in a way that, like you said, is intelligible. It’s understandable by those who are present.
Andy
Let’s be honest. If two people are speaking at the same time, you can’t follow it. Somebody has to be quiet and then there’s order. And so, he even gives order of that. If one of the prophets is speaking and a prophecy comes to the other, then he should wait until it’s the right time, and then the one should stop and say, you go ahead, brother, et cetera. And so, they’re going to do the gift of prophecy, and do it in an orderly way, because there’s no point in two prophets speaking at the same time.
And again, you can’t say I couldn’t help myself. “The spirit of the prophets is subject to the control of the prophets” (1 Corinthians 14:32). So, the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. But he’ll wait for you, and he’ll wait for you for the right time. He knows not to interrupt. So, there’s just some good manners here.
Wes
How do those verses that you’ve just been referencing, verses 30-32 there, help to keep order in public worship? And what do verses 33 and 40 teach us about God in relation to public worship?
Andy
Okay. So, to answer the second question first, “God is a God of order, not of disorder, but of peace” (1 Corinthians 14:33). God is a very orderly being. I remember, I was talking to my kids, we homeschool our kids, and we’re talking about math, and one of my kids was just not a big fan of math. And I was just trying to explain how orderly the universe is. And my desk in my office is not a desk but actually a table. And on top of the table is a big sheet of glass. And I tried to explain, it was my daughter, I was trying to explain to my daughter, I said, I can’t even give you a sense of the silicon dioxide, the molecules that make up this glass. And how if you were within the matrix of this glass structure, you would look as far as your little microscopic eye could see, and there’d be glass molecules in an orderly perfect matrix, in every direction. That’s the material that we have right in front of us here.
And the whole world is like that. God is a God of order. And he also wants humans to order with each other. That’s why parents teach their children good manners. That’s why we don’t interrupt. That’s why we use table manners when we eat. There’s an orderliness to things. God is not a God of disorder but of peace. There’s an orderliness that comes to that. Sin is very disorderly. Sin is destructive, and we want to see order. Everything, again, Ephesians 2:10, “God in Christ is bring all things together under one head and making them one in Christ.” There’s an orderliness to everything.
Wes
What restriction does Paul then place on women in verses 34 and 35? And how does Paul seek to humble the proud congregation or individual in verses 36-38?
Andy
Right. So, the women, this is one of the two really controversial women’s passages in 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 11 and 14. In 11, it’s about head coverings, and it says, I want you to know, the head of every man is woman. “The head of every man is Christ. The head of a woman is man, head of Christ is God” (1 Corinthians 11:3 paraphrase), and all that, and so headship. Order. And the order, it works biblically, both in the home and in the church.
So, men are to lead, husbands are to lead at home. They’re to lead their wives. “The husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church,” Ephesians 5:23. And then, men are to lead in the local church. He says in 1 Timothy 2:12-13, “I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man. She must be silent.” Why? “For Adam was formed first, then Eve.” There’s an order to things.
Now, what we need to understand is this order does not, in any way, imply inferiority. He does not say men are superior to women, but there is an orderliness to it. And that order is essential for the local church to communicate.
Now the way he communicates it here is on a specific issue. I think the head coverings is a timeless principle of male leadership in the local church, displayed in a temporary pattern of a certain kerchief or head covering that was done in a certain way. So, the timeless pattern is male leadership. The temporary pattern is the actual physical head covering. That’s what we argued in 1 Corinthians 11.
The issue here is of women speaking up in a certain way, at a certain time. It isn’t an absolute women speaking in churches. It’s not that. I think there are implications that women prophets were prophesying, and that women were praying in the church. I had the feeling they were together all day. And I think people would bring different things at different times. We have a very tightly timed ninety-minute thing. I think they were together.
I went overseas to Africa, and I spent the day, Sunday, at church. And so, you could imagine, women aren’t silent the whole time. That’s just not what’s going on. However, in this case, the prophecy comes forth, as I defined it, thus says the Lord, a prophet, both men and women were prophets, would speak, but then the other prophets would weigh carefully what was said. What was the weighing? They had to be sure, as it says in Romans 12:6, I think it is, “If your gift is prophecy, you should do it by the analogia or the analogy of faith.” In other words, it should fit into what we know is the word of God. Keep in mind, the New Testament didn’t exist. It hadn’t been codified yet. It was developing. Paul hadn’t written some of the epistles yet.
And so, you had to be able to evaluate, to weigh, whether this new word from God was valid or not. Did it fit in or not? 1 John 4:1 says, “Brothers, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they’re from God.” And then he gave doctrinal tests in 1 John. If a spirit points to the incarnation, holiness, things like that, that’s how you can know. Same thing here. So there has to be a weighing. There’s a free flowing speaking. There are tongues going on with interpretation. There are prophecies going, okay, how can we know whether it’s true or not? Don’t just accept anything. Evaluate it. Test it. Now here’s the point. Who should do the evaluation?
Well, it says here, the other prophets. But then it says women should not do that evaluation. I think the silence here is not a universal silence, but a weighing. Women are not to do the weighing. That’s an elder function. That’s a function by the prophets who are men. They’re going to weigh and say, yes, this is a valid prophecy. So that’s what I think the silence here. It’s a limitation of women in a leadership role.
Now, in our day and age, it’s offensive, because in the West, we really do tie significance and worth and value to achievement. We tie it to what you are able to do or allowed to do. And if you are limited, like there’s a glass ceiling for women, you’re limited in certain roles, you’re saying you are a lesser human. You are of less value. Nothing could be further from the truth. We do not believe that pastors have more value than non-pastors. We don’t believe that those with the gift of prophecy have more value than those that don’t have it. Paul argued against that view in 1 Corinthians 12. Not at all. They don’t have more or less value. It’s just a role, and there’s orderliness to it. And so, we need to push back on feminism, as it pushes at the word of God. There are gender-based roles, in the home and in the church. They are not demeaning. They’re not degrading. They need to be elevated. They need to be embraced and celebrated really. It’s not bad news or whatever. It’s order. And it’s beautiful, and we need to do it.
“We need to push back on feminism, as it pushes at the word of God. There are gender-based roles, in the home and in the church. They are not demeaning. They’re not degrading. They need to be elevated. They need to be embraced and celebrated really.”
And we do it in our church. We have men clearly leading on Sunday mornings and women gladly submitting to it, and that’s the pattern that we followed from the Bible.
On the issue of how Paul seeks to humble them, he says, look, first of all, you’re not the first local church there ever was. I mean, the gospel didn’t originate with you. You’re not the first church. You’re not the only church. We need to look around and see what the other churches are doing. You need to realize that, as in all the congregations, women are silent there. They’re not doing the evaluation. As in all the congregations, they’re following these rules, so you need to fit in. And so, he’s humbling them. He’s saying, look, also, this is a test of… You want to know a test of a prophet? Let any prophet in Corinth there acknowledge that what I’m writing to you as an apostle is the word of the Lord.
Wow, that’s pretty bold. Paul wasn’t shy about his gift. He knew very well he was the apostle to the Gentiles. He might’ve even had a sense that the epistles he was writing were going to be protected and timeless. He knew the writing tradition of the prophets of the Old Testament. And so, he maybe knew that he was in the process of writing the word of God. And he’s saying, you want to be recognized as a valid prophet? Then acknowledge that the prohibitions and commands I’m giving you are from the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you do that, you can keep being a prophet. If not, you’re going to be ignored. So that’s pretty humbling.
I want to say a word about the gift of prophecy. It’s kind of, these two gifts, tongues and prophecy, are very controversial. There are some cessationist people that believe that the gifts have ceased. And I’m not that way. I don’t think that we can make a biblical case for cessationism, but I do make a more practical… I do raise questions. All right? I think it’s valid to say, what is going on in all the other churches? Let’s look around. What’s going on in church history? I think it’s valid to look at that, not just at the scripture, because the scripture, the gifts were going right to the end of the apostolic age, and so we don’t have cessationism in the Bible.
So, with tongues, I would say this. It needs to be proven to not be gibberish. If it’s just repetition of seven or eight syllables in reversing order, that’s not a language. I’ve heard languages I don’t understand, but I know they’re languages. You can just tell. The breadth of the different sounds you’re hearing, the fluidity, whatever you’re hearing, a language you don’t understand, but it’s a language. So, it’s got to be a language. And beyond that, it needs to be interpreted or cannot be used publicly.
Furthermore, I would say about tongues, it should never be stated that if you do not speak in tongues, you’re not a Christian. Paul implied, when he said, do all speak in tongues? We don’t all speak in tongues. So, he means all Christians, not all Christians speak in tongues. So that’s set that aside. Some versions of Pentecostalism taught that. That’s false.
Now let’s get to prophecy. Prophecy also is part of those controversial gifts. Sovereign Grace churches, others have open mics and prophets come and speak. I think it’s reasonable to urge that prophets be able to predict the future at least once, to validate their gift. If they cannot predict the future, I don’t know how I can know that they are a prophet and not just a reader of the Bible. I’m a preacher. I read the scriptures. I can make true spiritual pronouncements, based on the scripture, that I know are true. But that doesn’t make me a prophet. It makes me a teacher-preacher.
If I say I think that God wants husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church, I’m just reading Ephesians 5. I’m preaching Ephesians 5. But if I’m claiming to be a prophet, and I’m saying, men of FBC Durham, God is saying to you, you are uniquely not loving your wives. This is a unique problem to you. Similar to what Jesus said to the church at Ephesus, you have forsaken your first love. I don’t know that that’s true of this or that or the other local church. A prophet could know that. But if I’m not proven as a prophet, how do I have the right to say that to the church? Predict the future in a way that can be measured, like when Agabus predicted the famine that would come on the entire Roman world. Hey, that can be proven. You do that, I’ll know that you, like Agabus, are a prophet. I think that’s a valid test of prophecy for the 21st century.
Wes
Well, there’s much for us to consider in these 40 verses of chapter 14 in the book of 1 Corinthians. Any final thoughts for us today, Andy?
Andy
Yeah. I think the bottom line here is the centrality, the importance of the clear word of God, done in such a powerful way that people are cut to the heart and fall down and say, surely God is in this place. I hope to preach in that way. I hope, Wes, I know that you hope to lead songs and lead worship in that way, that people have a sense of an encounter with the infinite living God, and that it’d be done in a beautiful, orderly, clear way. And that outsiders would come and feel that, and be impacted by that, and fall down in our midst and be saved. That’s what I yearn for, and also, for all of you that are hearing, that that would happen in your churches as well.
Wes
Well, this has been Episode 20 in our 1 Corinthians Bible Study podcast. We want to invite you to join us next time for Episode 21, entitled Raised from the Dead in Accordance with the Scriptures, where we’ll discuss 1 Corinthians 15:1-19. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
