This charge is based on the revelation in 1 Cor. 12:31; 13:1-13. To pursue love is to seek after 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.

See note 1 Cor. 12:31¹ (so also in v. 39).

Since to prophesy is to speak for the Lord and speak forth the Lord, that is, to minister Christ to people, which is the main element in the church meeting, prophesying requires the divine life to fill it as its content. Love is the most 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 this greater gift.

The apostle's word in vv. 2-6 gives a clear and definite view that speaking in tongues is much less important than prophesying. Speaking in tongues, even if it is genuine and proper, edifies only 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 (v. 19).

Or, edification. Since prophesying, speaking forth the Lord, ministers Christ to people, it builds up people and gives them encouragement and consolation.

Prophesying, speaking forth the Lord, builds up not only the individual saints but also the church.

Lit., without soul.

The apostle's illustrations in vv. 7-11 indicate that the Corinthian believers abused speaking in tongues by doing it in a nonsensical way, uttering sounds with no distinction in the tones (v. 7) and giving forth uncertain sounds (v. 8). They also overused it by practicing it in any place, in any way, and in any situation. Hence, the apostle corrected them and restricted them from abusing and using excessively such a small gift of the least profit, that they might seek the greater gifts and abound in the edifying of the saints and the building up of the church.

In Greek the same as sound in vv. 7-8. Here it denotes voices, that is, languages (so also in v. 11).

Lit., voiceless.

Lit., effect. The same Greek word as for power.

The Greek word means a foreigner, i.e., 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).

Here the apostle said, "So also you, since you are zealous of spirits." This shows that in their spiritual pursuings in those days, because of their background the Corinthian believers, who were Gentiles by birth, confused the unique Holy Spirit with the various evil spirits; they were not clear about nor did they adequately hold the uniqueness of the Holy Spirit. This is proved by the words but the same Spirit in 1 Cor. 12:4. The apostle's word here did not sanction their confused pursuings; rather, based on the fact of their confusion, he exhorted them to seek to transcend and thereby to excel in the midst of their confusion.

The Greek word denotes to become full, to abound, to overflow; it also denotes to excel. See note 1 Cor. 8:8¹. According to the context of this verse, the word here does not denote to abound, to increase, but to excel and be extraordinary. The words since you are zealous of spirits in the first part of this verse indicate already that in their pursuing of spiritual gifts, the Corinthian believers were confusing the Holy Spirit with the evil spirits. The apostle considered that kind of confused pursuing very demeaning, to the extent that the Corinthian believers might even have been considered barbarians. Therefore, the apostle exhorted them not to pursue some indiscernible, intermixed spiritual things for their own enjoyment and display, but to pursue so as to excel, that is, go beyond the low pursuing, for the building up of the church.

The apostle was fully occupied with the consideration of building up the church. He was fully church-conscious and church-centered, altogether different from the self-centered Corinthians. Their problem with spiritual gifts was due to their self-seeking, their not caring for the building up of the church. In dealing with the first six problems, which were in the realm of human life, the apostle stressed Christ as God's unique portion to us; in dealing with the last five problems, which were in the realm of the divine administration, he emphasized the church as God's unique goal for us. The Corinthians were not only void of Christ but also ignorant of the church. The apostle's completing ministry (Col. 1:25) is composed 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.

For our spirit to be used and exercised in prayer is surely healthy for our spiritual life. But for our mind to be unfruitful and unused is absolutely unhealthy. In praying to the Lord, we must exercise our regenerated spirit and our renewed mind. Our mind should be set on our spirit (Rom. 8:6) and should never be 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.

This implies that the apostle encouraged the receivers of his letter to pray not only in an unknown tongue but also with clear and understandable words.

This does not mean to pray with the mind only and not at all with the spirit. In Eph. 6:18 the apostle charged 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 meant here is that in the church meeting, for the profit of all the attendants, we should pray with our mind in intelligible words (v. 19) to express the burden in our spirit. In a church meeting our prayer not only should be heard by the Lord for His answer but also should be intelligible to all the attendants for their profit. For this purpose we should learn to use our mind in public prayer just as we use 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).

This implies that the apostle encouraged the receivers of his letter to pray not only in an unknown tongue but also with clear and understandable words.

This does not mean to pray with the mind only and not at all with the spirit. In Eph. 6:18 the apostle charged 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 meant here is that in the church meeting, for the profit of all the attendants, we should pray with our mind in intelligible words (v. 19) to express the burden in our spirit. In a church meeting our prayer not only should be heard by the Lord for His answer but also should be intelligible to all the attendants for their profit. For this purpose we should learn to use our mind in public prayer just as we use 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).

Lit., layman; i.e., one who is brought into a certain matter untaught, uninstructed (so also in vv. 23-24).

This reveals that in the church meetings during the apostle's time, when one prayed, all the others said Amen, even "the Amen" with emphasis.

This indicates that not only our prophesying and teaching in the church meetings but also our prayers and thanks to the Lord should build up others. This shows how much the apostle was concerned with the building up of the church and the saints.

This shows how much speaking in intelligible words is needed in the church meeting for the building up of the church, and that speaking in tongues is not needed at all.

This implies that prophesying, speaking for God and speaking forth God with God as the content, ministers God to the hearers and brings them to God. This also indicates that the church meeting should be filled with God, and that all its activities should convey and transmit God to people that they may be infused with God.

This would not result from the prophecy of prediction but from the prophecy of speaking for the Lord and speaking forth the Lord. This latter kind of prophecy requires some amount of growth in life. This word also is an encouragement to the practice of prophesying.

This implies that all the attendants have not only the obligation but also the capacity to prophesy. If all prophesy in the church meeting, people will be convicted. This kind of prophesying must not be mainly to predict but to speak for the Lord and speak forth the Lord.

Or, mad, raving mad. This word is a strong discouragement to the excessive speaking in tongues.

If in a meeting of the whole church all speak in tongues, an observer might consider that all the attendants are insane. Hence, to encourage all to speak in tongues in the church meeting is not right; it is against the apostle Paul's word.

So then at the beginning of this verse indicates that according to the word in v. 21 quoted from Isa. 28, tongues are for a negative sign to the unbelievers, signifying their poor condition of unbelief. It implies that wherever a strange tongue is spoken, people's unbelief is there. The apostle's intention here was 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 belief. This is an encouragement to the practice of prophesying.

This word in Isa. 28:9-13 indicates that the speaking in strange tongues was a chastisement to the children of Israel because they did not believe the intelligible word of God. Hence, the apostle's quoting of this word implies that the Corinthians had not properly received the intelligible revelation of God through the apostles.

Referring to the Old Testament. See note 1 Cor. 14:34^3d.

The childish Corinthian believers needed to become full-grown in their understanding that they might be able to know the things that are mentioned in vv. 21-25.

Or, thinking, reasoning, mind. In Greek the word is different from the word for mind in vv. 15, 19, which "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 and thus were childish in their understanding concerning it, not using their mind properly as a mature believer should. The apostle advised them to grow and become full-grown in their understanding, that is, in the proper use of their mind, as he had done (v. 19), in the matter of tongue-speaking.

The Corinthian believers were not only infants in life (1 Cor. 3:1) but also children in understanding. They needed to grow both in life and in their mind's understanding. All the apostle's efforts to deal with their problems were for this purpose, that they might mature in every way.

See note 1 Cor. 14:15².

Has, occurring five times in this verse, is a widely used Greek word, a word with many meanings, of which the following three are the main ones:
1) to hold, to possess, to keep (a certain thing);
2) to have (a certain thing) for enjoyment;
3) to have the means or power to do a certain thing.
The first two meanings should be applied to the first three of the five items listed in this verse, and the third to the last two — a tongue and an interpretation of a tongue. This indicates that when we come to the church meeting, we should have something of the Lord to share with others, whether a psalm to praise the Lord, a teaching (of the teacher) to minister the riches of Christ to edify and nourish others, a revelation (of the prophet, v. 30) to give visions of God's eternal purpose concerning Christ as God's mystery and the church as Christ's mystery, a tongue for a sign to the unbelievers (v. 22) that they may know and accept Christ, or an interpretation to make a tongue concerning Christ and His Body understandable. Before coming to the meeting, we should prepare ourselves for the meeting with such things from the Lord and of the Lord, either through our experience of Him or through our enjoyment of His word and fellowship with Him in prayer. After coming into the meeting, we need not wait, and should not wait, for inspiration; we should exercise our spirit and use our trained mind to function in presenting what we have prepared to the Lord for His glory and satisfaction and to the attendants for their benefit — their enlightenment, nourishment, and building up.

This is like the Feast of Tabernacles in ancient times. The children of Israel brought the produce of the good land, which they had reaped from their labor on the land, to the feast and offered it to the Lord for His enjoyment and for their mutual participation in fellowship with the Lord and with one another. We must labor on Christ, our good land, that we may reap some produce of His riches to bring to the church meeting and offer. Thus the meeting will be an exhibition of Christ in His riches and will be a mutual enjoyment of Christ shared by all the attendants before God and with God for the building up of the saints and the church.

According to the stress and emphasis of this Epistle, all five items listed in this verse should focus on Christ as God's center for our portion and the church as God's goal for our aim. The psalm should be the praise to God for giving Christ as wisdom and power to us for our daily life and church life. The teaching from a teacher and the revelation from a prophet should teach and minister Christ and the church, which is the Body of Christ, to people. A tongue and its interpretation also should have Christ and the church as their center and content. Any stress on things other than Christ and the church will bring confusion to the church and distract it from the central lane of God's New Testament economy, making it like the church in Corinth.

Or, edification. Whatever we do in the church meeting must be for the building up of the saints and the church. To exhibit Christ and enjoy Him in the meetings for the building up of His Body must be our unique purpose and goal.

This indicates that the church meeting is the church itself.

Actually, this entire chapter deals with prophesying and speaking in tongues. Since prophesying is the most profitable gift for building up both the saints and the church with the rich ministry of Christ, it was highly esteemed and promoted by the apostle. Since speaking in tongues affords no profit for building up, the apostle was faithful to expose its lesser value. Both the apostle's esteeming and his exposing were according to his concern for the fulfilling of God's purpose in building up the church with the riches of Christ. At the conclusion of this chapter he still charged us to desire earnestly to prophesy for God's building. However, in order to keep the all-inclusiveness and oneness of the church, he also charged us not to forbid speaking in tongues.

The apostle's concern for the church was that Christ as God's center and the church as God's goal might be carried on and carried out, with all things done becomingly and in good order before men and the angels (1 Cor. 4:9; 11:10). Our natural life is useless in fulfilling such a high purpose. The experience of Christ crucified (1 Cor. 1:23; 2:2) for the termination of our self and the experience of Christ in resurrection as our daily sanctification and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30) are needed for a proper church life.

Or, judge. Lit., discriminate. This is to judge or discern whether what is prophesied is of God or not, discriminating the right from the wrong. This indicates that some prophesying may not be of God.

God desires that each of the believers prophesy, that is, speak for and speak forth Him (v. 1b; cf. Num. 11:29).

Or, comforted.

This means that the prophets are not under the control of their spirits, but their spirits are under their direction. Thus, they can determine when to prophesy and when to cease prophesying, to maintain good order in the church meeting. Their spirits are not their master but their means to function. They should learn how to exercise and use their spirits at their discretion.

According to 11:5, women may prophesy (of course, in public) with their head covered, and Acts 2:17-18 and Acts 21:9 confirm that women did prophesy. But 1 Tim. 2:12 says that women are not permitted to teach, that is, teach as authorities (there, teaching is related to the exercising of authority), so as to define doctrine. Hence, according to the New Testament principle, for women not to be permitted to speak in the church meetings means that women are not permitted to teach with authority in relation to the defining of doctrine. In this sense they should be silent in the church meetings. They are not permitted to speak, because they should be subject to men. This is related to the matter of authority ordained by God in His government. In God's governmental ordination, women are not permitted to speak with authority over men. They may pray and prophesy, that is, (mainly) speak for the Lord and speak forth the Lord. However, they must do this under the covering of the brothers, because they are charged here to be subject.

Referring to the books written by Moses (Matt. 5:17; 7:12; 11:13). In Moses' writings, Gen. 3:16 charges the woman to be subject to man's rule. This is God's ordination.

This too indicates that a local church should follow the other churches in its practice. All the local churches should submit to the universal order of the Spirit according to the word of the apostles, from whom the word of God goes forth.

Prophet - is one who speaks for God and speaks forth God, and who has received revelation of the mysteries concerning Christ and the church (Eph. 3:5), which revelation is the foundation for the building of the church (Eph. 2:20). A spiritual person is one who lives according to his spirit, which is mingled with God's Spirit, and who is able to discern all the spiritual things (1 Cor. 3:1 and notes; 1 Cor. 2:15 and note). Such spiritually knowledgeable persons should fully know that the apostle Paul's teachings are the commandment of the Lord, and their speaking should correspond with his teachings. Paul's spirit was strong and his word was frank in dealing with the disorderly Corinthians.

Since the apostle's teachings are according to God's ordination (v. 34), they are the commandment of the Lord.

The principle of the charges in vv. 26-32, mainly concerning speaking in tongues and prophesying, is that a peaceful and becoming order, according to what God Himself is, should be kept.

This indicates that all the local churches should be the same in practice.

Verses 1 Cor. 1:2 and 1 Cor. 10:32 use the term the church of God. But here we read the churches of the saints. The church of God points to the element that constitutes the church: the church is constituted with the element of God. The churches of the saints points to the components of the churches: the churches are composed of the saints.

This means in the church meetings. See note 1 Cor. 14:28¹. So also in v. 35.