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Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 14:1-25
As Paul was writing chapters twelve, thirteen, and fourteen of 1 Corinthians, there was a burden in his spirit and on his heart concerning certain crucial matters: speaking, the Spirit, the Body, God’s administration, and love. These five matters are emphasized in chapters twelve and thirteen. In chapter fourteen Paul comes to another main point: the superiority of a particular gift for the building up of the church. Among the many spiritual gifts, one is superior not for our work, maturity, or spiritual interests, but for the building up of the church. As we shall see, this superior gift is that of prophesying. Therefore, in dealing with the gifts, Paul emphasizes six matters: speaking, the Spirit, the Body, the administration of God, love, and the gift which is superior for the building up of the church.
Paul’s ultimate concern is not speaking, the Spirit, the Body, God’s administration, or love as the excellent way to exercise the gifts. Rather, Paul’s ultimate concern is the building up of the church. Paul was very church-conscious and church-centered. His concern was focused on the church.
In Colossians 1:24 Paul says, “Now I rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf, and fill up that which is lacking of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His Body, which is the church.” Christ died not only for redemption, but also for the church. According to Ephesians 5:25, Christ gave Himself up for the church. Yes, Christ died to accomplish redemption. Redemption, however, is a procedure; it is not God’s goal, God’s destination. Redemption is a way to reach the goal, but the goal is the church.
Because the church is God’s goal, we cannot agree with those Christians who neglect the church and who have only a superficial grasp of Christ’s redemption. Many do not even like to hear the church mentioned. But the death of Christ mainly and ultimately is for the church.
In eternity we were chosen and predestinated by God. Because we fell away from God, there was the need for Christ to accomplish redemption in order to bring us back to God. But redemption is not God’s goal; it is not His ultimate intention. God’s goal, His intention, is to have His chosen people organically united to be the Body, the church. Even if we had not fallen, it nevertheless would have been necessary for God to carry out a certain procedure to obtain the church.
When I was young, I was told simply that Christ came because we had fallen into sin. I was taught that God loved us and gave His only begotten Son to save us. According to this understanding, if we had not fallen, it would not have been necessary for Christ to come. But it is a mistake to think that God’s intention is merely to redeem us from hell to heaven. God’s intention is to have the church, and the death of Christ redeems us so that we may become His Body. This was the reason Paul was church-conscious and church-centered. In his consciousness the church was an extremely crucial matter.
As we consider the spiritual gifts, we need to ask what the gifts are for. Many Christians care only for the gifts, but they do not care for the purpose of the gifts. Some desire to have a gift of preaching, and others desire the miraculous gifts such as the gift of tongue-speaking or the gift of healing. But they may not care at all what these gifts are for. Paul was different. The concern deep within him was for the building up of the church. He knew what gifts were useful for the building up of the church. We need to learn of Paul to be concerned for the building up of the church. Whether we are spiritual, mature, or gifted is secondary. The primary thing in God’s economy is the building up of the church. Paul’s emphasis, his main point, in chapter fourteen concerns what gift is best, not for us, but for the building up of the church. Yes, God has given many gifts, but not all gifts are important with respect to the building up of the church. Therefore, in this chapter Paul shows us which gift is superior for the building up of the church.
In 14:1 Paul says, “Pursue love, and desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy.” This charge is based upon the revelation in 12:31 through 13:13. To pursue love is to seek after the growth in life for the development of the gifts in life. Hence, it must be matched with an earnest desire for the most profitable gift, the gift of prophecy.
Paul was very wise, and he composed verse 1 in a wise manner. In this verse he was not actually encouraging the Corinthians to seek such gifts as healing, miracles, and tongue-speaking. Instead, Paul’s intention was that they would seek the gift of prophecy. However, Paul did not tell the Corinthians to forget all the spiritual gifts except the gift of prophecy. He told them to desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather, or especially, that they would prophesy. He wanted them to pursue what was best, what was most valuable. He knew that there was turmoil among the Corinthians and that they needed to be calmed down. For this reason, he exercised wisdom, telling them that love is the best way to exercise the gifts and then charging them to pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that they may prophesy.
Since to prophesy is to speak for the Lord and speak forth the Lord, that is, to minister Christ to others, which is the main thing in the church meeting, prophesying requires the divine life to fill it as its content. Love is the excellent way to experience the divine life and make it the content of the gift of prophecy for the building up of the church. Hence, we must pursue love and desire earnestly these greater gifts.
In verses 2 and 3 Paul says, “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one hears, but in spirit he speaks mysteries. But he who prophesies speaks to men for building up and encouragement and consolation.” The apostle’s word in verses 2 through 6 gives a clear and definite view that speaking in tongues is much less important than prophesying. He strongly belittles the gift of tongues and exalts the gift of prophecy because his main concern is the church, not the individual believers. Speaking in tongues, even if it is genuine and proper, only edifies the speaker himself, but prophesying builds up the church. To prophesy in revelation or to teach in knowledge with clear, understandable words is more profitable to the church than to speak in tongues with unknown words. Since to prophesy, to speak forth the Lord, ministers Christ to others, it builds them up and gives them encouragement and consolation.
I would like to emphasize the fact that in the New Testament to prophesy is not mainly to predict, but mainly to speak for the Lord and to speak forth the Lord. Even in the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesying is not mainly a matter of prediction, but of speaking for God and of speaking God forth. Of course, the element of prediction is included. Throughout the Bible, to prophesy means to speak for God and to speak forth God and, in a secondary way, to predict. To prophesy is to tell for, to tell forth, and also to foretell. This is a proper understanding of prophecy in the Bible.
To prophesy in the sense of telling for and telling forth requires much growth in life. For this, we need to know God and we need to experience Christ. If we do not have the adequate knowledge of God and experience of Christ, we do not have anything to say for Him, and we cannot speak Him forth. To prophesy in the sense of foretelling, of predicting something before it happens, is miraculous and does not require the growth in life.
To repeat, in 1 Corinthians 12 and 14 the noun prophecy and the verb prophesy do not mainly refer to prediction; they mainly denote speaking for God and speaking forth God. Nevertheless, many of those in today’s Pentecostalism or charismatic movement place great emphasis on the element of prediction and neglect the more important matters of speaking for God and speaking God forth.
In verse 4 Paul continues, “He who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but he who prophesies builds up the church.” To prophesy, to speak for the Lord and speak forth the Lord, not only builds up the individual saints, but also builds up the church. Tongue-speaking, on the contrary, does not build up the church.
In verse 5 Paul goes on to say, “Now I desire that you all speak in tongues, but rather that you may prophesy; now greater is he who prophesies than he who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, that the church may receive building up.” What was on Paul’s heart was not that the Corinthians would seek the gift of tongue-speaking; it was to encourage them to prophesy so that the church might be built. Paul’s burden was the building up of the church. This was the concern deep in his heart.
In verse 6 Paul asks a question: “But now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what shall I profit you, unless I speak to you either in revelation or in or in prophecy or in teaching?” This implies that speaking in tongues does not profit anyone except the tongue-speaker. Here we again see Paul’s wisdom in writing to the Corinthians. He knew they were in turmoil, and he spoke to them with a certain amount of carefulness in order to calm them down. He pointed out to them that he would not profit them unless he spoke to them either in revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching.
In verse 7 Paul continues, “Even lifeless things, whether flute or harp, in giving a sound, if they give no distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp?” The apostle’s illustrations in verses 7 through 11 indicate that the Corinthian believers abused speaking in tongues by doing it in a nonsensical way, uttering an “uncertain sound” (v. 8) of “no distinction” (v. 7), “without significance” (v. 10). They also overused it by practicing it in any place, in any way, and in any situation. Hence, Paul corrects and restricts them from their abuse and excessive use of such a small gift of the least profit, that they may seek the greater gifts and abound in the building up of the church.
In verse 7 Paul is definitely indicating that the Corinthians should cease uttering meaningless sounds. Today many practice tongue-speaking in a meaningless way. In many cases those who speak have no idea what they are saying.
In verse 8 Paul asks, “For if indeed the trumpet gives an uncertain sound, who will prepare himself for battle?” Among many Pentecostal people today, no one can prepare for battle, because there is no definite direction.
In verse 9 Paul says, “So also you, unless you give by the tongue an intelligible word, how will it be known what is being said? For you will be speaking into the air.” The tongue here refers to the physical tongue, not to a language or dialect. Certainly in this verse Paul is not encouraging the practice of tongue-speaking.
Verse 10 says, “There are, perhaps, so many kinds of voices in the world and not one without significance.” In Greek the word rendered voice is the same as sound in verse 7 (the singular one) and verse 8. Here it denotes voices, that is, languages.
Verse 11 continues, “If then I do not know the meaning of the voice, I shall be to him who speaks a barbarian, and he who speaks a barbarian to me.” Literally, the Greek word rendered “meaning” means power, force. The Greek word translated barbarian, barbaros, means foreigner, that is, a non-Greek, one who does not speak Greek. “Supposed to be originally a descriptive word of those who uttered harsh, rude accents.…Later, the word took the sense of outlandish or rude” (Vincent).
In verse 12 Paul declares, “So also you, since you are zealots of spiritual gifts, seek that you may abound to the building up of the church.” From this verse we see that the Corinthian believers were not only zealous; they were zealots. They had become such persons.
In this verse we see once again by the words “abound to the building up of the church” that the apostle is fully occupied with the consideration of building up the church. He is fully church-conscious and church-centered, altogether different from the self-centered Corinthians. Their problem with spiritual gifts was due to their self-seeking, not caring for the building up of the church. In dealing with the first six problems, in the realm of human life, the apostle stresses Christ as God’s unique portion to us. In dealing with the last five problems, in the realm of the divine administration, he emphasizes the church as God’s unique goal for us. The Corinthians were not only devoid of Christ, but also ignorant of the church. The apostle’s completing ministry (Col. 1:25) is comprised of Christ as the mystery of God (Col. 2:2) and the church as the mystery of Christ (Eph. 3:4). However, the Corinthians missed both, even though they were under the apostle’s ministry. They were pitifully in themselves, blind and ignorant.
In verses 13 and 14 Paul continues, “Wherefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.” For our spirit to be used and exercised in prayer is surely healthy to our spiritual life. But for our mind to be unfruitful and unused is absolutely unhealthy. We must exercise our regenerated spirit with our renewed mind in praying to the Lord. Our mind should be set on our spirit (Rom. 8:6), never detached from it, even in our daily walk, needless to say in our prayer. Our prayer must be from our God-contacted and God-contacting spirit and through our sober and understanding mind, with clear and understandable words, that our prayer may touch God, nourish and strengthen ourselves, and build up others.
Verse 15 says, “What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray also with the mind; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing also with the mind.” Paul’s word about praying “also with the mind” implies that he encourages the receivers of his letter to pray not merely in an unknown tongue, but also with clear and understandable words.
The phrase “with the mind” does not mean with the mind only and not with the spirit at all. In Ephesians 6:18 the apostle charges us to pray at every time in spirit. Prayer is worship, which should be in spirit (John 4:24). When we pray with the spirit, not in an unknown tongue, but in understandable words, our mind is automatically used to interpret and express the thought of the spirit. What the apostle means here is that in the church meeting, for the profit of all the attendants, we should pray with our mind in intelligible words (1 Cor. 14:19) to express the burden in our spirit. In a church meeting our prayer should not only be heard by the Lord for His answer, but should also be intelligible to all the attendants for their profit. For this purpose we should also learn to use our mind in public prayer as we do our spirit, training our mind to cooperate with our spirit, even to be one with our spirit, that the spirit may become the spirit of our mind (Eph. 4:23).
Verse 16 continues, “Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how shall he who fills the place of the unlearned say the Amen at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying?” This reveals that in the church meetings during the apostle’s time, when one prayed all the others said Amen, even “the Amen,” at his prayer.
In verse 17 Paul again indicates how much he is concerned for the building up of the church: “For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not builded up.” This indicates that not only our prophesying and teaching in the church meetings should build up others, but also our prayers and thanks to the Lord. This shows how much the apostle is concerned with the building up of the church and the saints. His word in this verse is not only a correction but a charge.
Those who advocate the practice of tongue-speaking appreciate Paul’s word in verse 18: “I thank God I speak in tongues more than all of you.” However, they often seem to forget that Paul’s thought is not completed in verse 18, but continues into verse 19, where he says, “But in the church I would rather speak five words with my mind that I might instruct others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.” This shows how much speaking in intelligible words is needed in the church meeting for the building up of the church, and how speaking in tongues actually is not needed at all. To be sure, in these verses Paul is not encouraging us to speak in tongues.
In verse 20 Paul goes on to say, “Brothers, do not be children in your understanding, but in malice be babes, and in your understanding become full-grown.” The Corinthian believers were not only infants in life (3:1), but also children in understanding. They needed to grow both in life and in the understanding of their mind. All the apostle’s dealings with their problems were for this purpose, that they might mature in every way.
The Greek word translated understanding also means thinking, reasoning, mind. In Greek it is different from the word for mind in verses 15 and 19. It “emphasizes the distinction from ecstasy” (Vincent). This is in regard to the Corinthian believers’ understanding and thinking concerning speaking in tongues. They were ecstatic in this practice, thus childish in their understanding concerning it, not using their mind properly as a matured believer should. The apostle advises them to grow and become full-grown in their understanding, that is, in the proper use of their mind, as he uses his (v. 19), in the matter of tongue-speaking. The childish Corinthian believers needed to become full-grown in their understanding so that they might be able to know the things which are to be mentioned in verses 21 through 25.
Verse 21 says, “In the law it is written, In other tongues and with other lips I will speak to this people, even so they will not listen to Me, says the Lord.” The law in this verse refers to the Old Testament. This word in Isaiah 28:9-13 indicates that the speech in strange tongues was a chastisement for the children of Israel’s unbelief toward the intelligible word of God. Hence, the apostle’s quotation of this word implies that the Corinthians have not properly received the intelligible revelation of God through the apostles.
Verse 22 continues, “So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe, but to the unbelievers; but prophecy is not to the unbelievers, but to those who believe.” “So then” at the beginning of this verse indicates that according to the word in verse 21 quoted from Isaiah 28, tongues are for a negative sign to the unbelievers, signifying their poor condition of unbelieving. It implies that whenever or wherever a strange tongue is spoken, peoples’ unbelief is there. The apostle’s intention here is to hold the Corinthians back from their excessive practice of speaking in tongues. But prophecy is for a positive sign to those who believe, signifying their proper condition of believing. This is an encouragement to the practice of prophesying. The fact that tongues are a sign to unbelievers may indicate that those who want to receive the gift of tongues may have an evil heart of unbelief.
Verse 23 says, “If therefore the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak in tongues, and the unlearned or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are insane?” Paul’s word about all speaking in tongues refers to all the functioning ones, not to all the attendants in the meeting. If in a meeting all the functioning ones speak in tongues, others may consider they are mad. Hence, to encourage all to speak in tongues in the church meeting is not right; it is against Paul’s word.
The Greek word rendered insane also means mad, raving mad. This word is a strong discouragement to the excessive practice of speaking in tongues.
In verse 24 Paul says, “But if all prophesy and some unbeliever or unlearned person enters, he is convicted by all, he is judged by all.” The phrase “all prophesy” refers to all the functioning ones, not to all the members of the church in the meeting. If all the functioning ones prophesy in the church meeting, this will convict others. This kind of prophesying must not be mainly to predict, but to speak for the Lord and speak forth the Lord.
The matter of being convicted by all, judged by all, must not be by the prophecy of prediction, but by the prophecy of speaking for the Lord and speaking forth the Lord. This kind of prophecy requires some amount of growth in life. This word is also an encouragement to the practice of prophesying.
In verse 25 Paul concludes, “The secrets of his heart become manifest; and so falling on his face, he will worship God, reporting that God is really among you.” This implies that prophecy, speaking for God and speaking forth God with God as its content, ministers God to the hearers and brings them to God. This also indicates that the church meeting should be filled with God, and all its activities should convey and transmit God to others so that they may be infused with God.
