Tongues and Prophecy

Good morning.

For those of you who are visiting, my name is Sean.

I'm one of the pastors of Trinity Cambridge Church,

and I have the privilege of preaching God's word on most weeks,

and we want to welcome you here.

The passage, of course, today is from 1 Corinthians 14.

We didn't choose this separately for this Sunday.

We've been going through this whole book as a series,

so this is really just the next passage in line,

and so we're speaking from 1 Corinthians 14 today.

Many churches and denominations throughout the world

actually are experiencing what they call charismatic renewal,

with more manifestations of the Holy Spirit becoming apparent in their midst.

And the manifestations of the Holy Spirit always seems to divide people into two camps,

to two sides, so to speak.

On the one hand, some people deny that the spiritual gifts are real manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

They point to the excesses that they see, manipulative tactics, and disorderly practices,

and they accuse the charismatics of zeal without knowledge.

On the other hand, people who accept the spiritual gifts point to the rigid formality

and the lifelessness of their spirituality, of the people who deny the spiritual gifts,

and then they accuse them of quenching the spirit, of despising prophecies.

And within this debate, the gift of tongues is usually the litmus test,

the test by which they determine which camp you belong to.

People who reject the gift of tongues see those who use it as raving charismatics,

and people who accept the gift of tongues see those who reject it as unspiritual legalists.

In order to understand how rightly to use the spiritual gifts and to understand them,

including the gift of tongues specifically,

it's imperative that we turn to Scripture, the Word of God itself, to govern our understanding,

so that we can have a faithful, balanced approach.

And in this passage, Paul gives us that.

He teaches us that we should use the spiritual gifts of utterance in understandable ways for the upbuilding of the church.

That's the main point of this sermon, that we should use the spiritual gifts of utterance in understandable ways for the upbuilding of the church.

The first point will be that it should be, spiritual gifts of utterance should be upbuilding, from verses 1 to 5.

And the second point will be that they should be understandable, from verses 6 to 25.

And so first, Paul teaches us that gifts of utterance should be upbuilding for the church.

So he begins with his thesis statement, really for the last three chapters, chapters 12, 13, and 14, in verse 1.

He says,

Pursue love and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

Just so you know, we don't put our main passages up on the screen because we want you to follow in your books, in your Bibles,

because that helps you practice using Scripture.

But also it shows you that we're not making stuff up, putting whatever we want up there.

You're actually seeing it from God's Word, and you see the full context of what's there.

So please use your Bibles to follow along.

So that verse 1 in chapter 13 is really the thesis statement for chapters 12, 13, and 14.

When he says,

Pursue love, he's referencing chapter 13, where he taught us that all the spiritual gifts are supposed to function in the context of love for one another.

And when he says,

Earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, he's referring back to chapter 12, where he gave us a list of spiritual gifts that functions, a representative list.

And then when he says, especially that you may prophesy, that he's talking about the higher gifts that he mentioned at the end of chapter 12.

The higher gifts are the gifts that have the greatest potential for building up the body of Christ.

So really this verse is a good summary of those three chapters.

So as believers, we are to pursue love above all things.

That's the first thing.

It's a good recap of last week's sermon.

Having all the spiritual gifts in their fullest measures would amount to nothing without love.

And that should be an encouragement to all of us, and especially those of you who might feel like you don't have very many spiritual gifts to bring to the table.

Because the gifts are temporary, but love is eternal.

Even if you don't possess many gifts of the Spirit, every Christian possesses the fruit of the Spirit.

And the chief and sum of that fruit of the Spirit is love.

And so you might be unable to prophesy.

You might not be able to teach, but you can love.

So don't be downcast.

Pursue love above all things.

Yet it would be a big mistake for us if we conclude from this that since love is supreme, the gifts are unnecessary.

Which some people do.

After his soaring teaching on love in chapter 13, we might expect Apostle Paul to begin chapter 14 this way, saying,

Pursue love and don't worry so much about the spiritual gifts.

We might expect them to begin that way, but that's not what he says.

Look at what he says.

Verse 1, chapter 14.

Pursue love and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

Theological error always seems to swing like a pendulum throughout history.

Going from one side of the extreme to the other.

But we need to avoid that.

Avoid overreacting, overcompensating, and be faithful.

And yes, don't be overzealous and misuse the gifts, but use the gifts in appropriate ways.

And Paul's not telling us here to pursue love instead of the spiritual gifts.

He's telling us that we should use the spiritual gifts in the context of love.

He's not saying that the gifts are unimportant, but that they are not as important as love.

And spiritual gifts, that means, are not some extraneous things, extra things that you could take or leave.

They are needful for the church.

And scripture commands us not only to desire it, but to earnestly desire it.

So are you obeying this commandment?

If you think that we can be a fine church without the spiritual gifts, then I'd like to know why you think that we can be just as healthy, disobeying God's commandment, as obeying God's commandment.

God tells us, earnestly desire the spiritual gifts.

Yes, pursue love above all things, but don't neglect the gifts.

Pray for the gifts.

Earnestly desire the gifts.

Learn about the gifts.

Ask our generous Heavenly Father for the gifts.

And among all the spiritual gifts, Paul adds that we should desire especially that we may prophesy.

And why this preference for prophecy among the other gifts?

Paul explains it in verses 2 to 3.

He says,

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 Corinthian believers were especially enamored with the gift of tongues.

And they boasted that they spoke in the tongues of angels.

And they were using the gift in a disruptive and disorderly way in the context of their corporate worship.

So Paul singles out the gift of tongues and kind of demotes it and elevates prophecy as a gift, as a higher gift that they should pursue.

And in order to understand his preference for prophecy over tongues, we need to define tongues and prophecy.

So let's do that first.

Gift of tongues.

Paul tells us three things about gift of tongues in verse 2.

First, a tongue is addressed to God and not to men.

Sometimes in charismatic circles, people say things like,

Hey, I received a message from God for you in tongues.

And then they'll say something in tongues, right?

But that cannot be true because biblically speaking, tongues is addressed to God and not to men.

So in that case, they probably have received prophecy.

And then now they're misusing that and thinking that and speaking in tongues,

that really has nothing to do with the word that they received for that person.

Paul in verse 14 says,

Tongues is like praying with his spirit and singing with his spirit, right?

When we speak in tongues, we are uttering prayers on the one hand or praises directed to God.

Unlike prophecy, which is directed to other people, tongues is addressed to God.

And this is a fundamental difference between those two gifts.

So that's the first thing it tells us about the gift of tongues.

Second, a tongue is not an intelligible language.

He calls it the utterance of mysteries, right?

What Paul means by mysteries is explained by the context.

He says,

For no one understands him, right?

Not even the speaker himself, right?

There's a lot of confusion about the gift of tongues.

And main reason for that is because in the Greek,

the word tongue and the word language are identical.

So sometimes people think maybe it just means another language, another human language, right?

And people get confused about that.

And usually the verse that comes up in talking about this is Acts 2-4.

I'll read the 4-8.

It says,

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

This is at Pentecost when this happened.

Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.

And they were amazed and astonished, saying,

Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?

And how is it that we hear each of us in his own native language?

So in Acts 2-4, I think this is most likely a reference to actual human languages, other human languages.

And the reason why I think that is because it says other tongues or other languages,

meaning it's a language that's other than the ones that they already spoke,

which is they spoke a human language.

This is another human language.

And then it says that they were able to understand.

So these Jews from all over the world who had gathered for Pentecost were able to understand what they were saying without interpretation, right?

Which gift of tongues requires.

So they were able to understand without interpretation.

And they understood it in their own native language.

So I think they're speaking various foreign tongues in this context.

And what's happening at Pentecost is this.

This is a once, kind of a once in, really history, kind of a phenomenon,

where it's a reversal of what happened at Genesis 11 at Babel.

You guys remember that story?

In Genesis, we went over that series.

So in Genesis 11, God, people are in their hubris constructing a tower to reach the heavens,

saying that they don't need God.

And God comes down and confuses their languages and scatters them so that they're unable to rebel against God, right?

So that's what God does in Babel.

What happens in Acts 2 is the exact reversal of that.

Now that Christ has died and he's risen, and the salvation is not for all people, not just the Jews.

So instead of people being scattered, they are gathered again to one place,

and they are able to understand each other in their foreign tongues.

So it's a reversal of Babel.

So it's what God's showing us is that now salvation, which had come to the Jews,

and now that salvation has come to all the Gentiles, and that's what's happening in Acts 2.

So that's why it's other human languages.

But that's different.

That's not what's going on here in 1 Corinthians 14.

That's a once in history kind of phenomenon that's actually shown.

It's a sign of that reversal of Babel.

What's going on in 1 Corinthians 14 is a gift that is given for the ongoing edification of the church.

And that's why I think here, if you look at what the Corinthians refer to it in 1 Corinthians 13 as tongue of angels,

and if the tongue is addressed to God primarily, it's not addressed to other people,

it would make sense for it to be not in an earthly language or a human language,

and they call it the tongue of angels.

And that's why also when in verse 10 Paul uses the analogy of human language to prove the importance of intelligibility

when you speak in tongues in the context of corporate worship,

he intentionally used a different word for language.

He doesn't use the same word as tongues.

And I think he's trying to distinguish the fact that it's not the same thing as another human language.

So first, to summarize up to this point, a tongue is addressed to God,

and it is an unintelligible non-human language.

Okay, so that's, again, if it were just another human language,

they'll tell us to go get a translator, right?

It doesn't do that.

It tells you to pray so that you can interpret,

because the gift of spiritual interpretation itself is a spiritual gift,

the gift of interpreting tongues.

So first, it's addressed to God.

Second, it's an unintangible non-human language.

Third, it's uttered in the Spirit.

It's uttered, it's an utterance enabled by the Holy Spirit.

It is a gift of the Spirit.

Therefore, people are in error when they try to teach people how to speak in tongues.

I don't know if you guys have been in churches where this happened.

I have been in churches that did that.

It's, they will say, you know, for example, it's like some Christian teachers will say,

hey, come, everybody gather here now.

You want to speak in tongues?

I can teach you how to speak in tongues.

All you need to do is say, hallelujah, really, really, really fast,

all over and over and over and over again.

And open your heart to the Spirit, and then He will start speaking in tongues.

Well, of course, I mean, it's possible that God can still, in His sovereignty,

give some people the actual gift of tongues during that time,

but it's not because they were babbling.

That's just babbling.

That's not the gift of tongues.

It's a gift that God gives.

It's not a skill that can be learned.

It's not just from twisting your tongues over and over again,

so that you say something that you don't know what you're saying.

That's not the gift of tongues.

It's something that God gives as a gift.

And that's why it says He utters mysteries in the Spirit.

And verse 14, Paul elaborates,

If I pray in a tongue, my spirit, my spirit prays,

but my mind is unfruitful.

This shows us that while we're speaking in tongues,

it's our spirit that prays, not our mind.

So whatever you're thinking about while praying in tongues

is not necessarily what you're saying.

It's a mystery that's unknown even to the speaker

apart from the gift of interpretation.

But nevertheless, it brings benefit to the speaker.

It edifies their spirit.

So there is a way this tells us that you can be built up in the spirit

even when our mental faculties are bypassed.

And that warns us against overly rationalistic understanding of spirituality.

We can be built up spiritually even when our mind is not engaged.

Though usually the way God works is that

we are transformed by the renewal of our minds,

as Romans 12.2 says.

So what about the gift of prophecy?

What is that?

In verse 3, he says,

On the other hand, the one who prophesies

speaks to people for their upbuilding

and encouragement and consolation.

Those who have the gift of prophecy

receive God's revelation,

interpret it,

and apply it for the sake of building up the church.

God is the God of truth,

and he is infallible in his words.

So his revelation itself is infallible,

but our interpretation and application of it is fallible.

In the same way,

the word of God can be misinterpreted,

misapplied by people, right?

So that's why prophecy needs to be tested.

And it frequently involves spontaneous knowledge

into people's circumstances and conditions,

and God gives it for people's upbuilding,

encouragement, and consolation.

Throughout this passage,

Paul mentions the importance of building up one another six times,

and that's really his overarching concern.

We need to help the church grow with this.

And that's what he means by upbuilding.

And the other two words,

encouragement and consolation,

are related words.

They are sometimes used interchangeably,

but the word encouragement has a specific nuance

of exhorting someone towards something,

and consolation has a specific nuance

of comforting someone.

So really, with those two words,

Paul probably has in mind

a full range of verbal exhortation and encouragement.

So we can translate that as both conviction and consolation.

It both convicts prophecy

and consoles and converts.

That's comforts.

That's what a prophecy does.

Sometime last year,

and toward the end of the year,

one of our members had a prophetic word

based in Psalm 68, 5 to 6.

It read,

Father of the fatherless

and a protector of widows is God

in his holy habitation.

God settles the solitary in a home.

He leads out the prisoners to prosperity.

And the prophecy was that

God wants to comfort those

who have felt lonely and solitary

and have for a long time

a desire to be placed in a home and a family.

That was the prophecy that was shared

in that context called the worship.

And it turned out that unbeknownst to us

at the time that was shared,

we had two guests

who were visiting our services for the first time

that Sunday

who were both really past marriageable age,

single woman who had for a long time

wanted to be placed in a home,

in a family.

And God was speaking to them,

comforting them,

saying,

I see you.

You're part of my family.

I'm your father.

So that's an example of how God uses that,

uses prophecy in the context

of our corporate worship.

And there's a popular misconception

that prophecy is about foretelling the future.

And in actuality,

less than 10% of prophecies

contained in scripture

actually predict the future.

Yes, it can predict the future,

but it certainly includes foretelling.

But even more importantly,

it includes foretelling.

It's about telling the truth,

the spiritual truth,

the reality as it is presently.

That's why it's given for the consolation

of building and consolation

and encouragement of the people now.

It's given for our edification presently.

So it has to have significance for the present,

even if it foretells the future.

And these differences between tongues and prophecy,

I explained Paul's preference for prophecy

in verses four to five.

He says,

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.

Note that Paul is not discouraging

speaking in tongues in general,

but only in the context of corporate worship.

The gift of tongues is highly useful.

It is of great personal spiritual benefit

to the speaker,

and as such,

it is a gift that should be eagerly desired.

But Paul says,

now I want you,

that's why he says,

I want you all to speak in tongues.

But some people actually argue from this,

this is a slight aside,

that all people should and can speak in tongues,

since Paul says,

now I want you all to speak in tongues.

But I will note that saying that you want someone,

you want everyone to speak in tongues

is not the same thing as saying

that everyone can speak in tongues.

And I think Paul made it very clear

in chapter 12,

well actually,

if you look at chapter 7,

verse 7,

he says,

I wish it all were as I myself am,

he's talking about his gift of celibacy,

but each has his own gift from God,

one of one kind and one of another.

So he's clearly saying,

he wants everyone to have the gift of celibacy,

but not everyone has it, right?

I think that's the same thing with the gift of tongues.

He says in chapter 12, 29 to 30,

are all apostles,

are all prophets,

are all teachers,

do all work miracles,

do all possess gifts of healing,

do all speak with tongues,

do all interpret?

And from that context of the passage,

the obvious answer is no.

No, not everyone's an apostle.

Not everyone speaks in tongues.

Not everyone interprets.

And that's why we need the church,

the body of Christ,

so we all do our own part to build up the body,

because we're interdependent,

not interchangeable,

because we are given different gifts

that are supposed to function

in the context of the church.

That's the whole point of the imagery

of the body of Christ.

And so he's not saying that everyone can

and should speak in tongues.

He wants everyone,

because he knows it's edifying in that way.

And so that's the difference,

really, between prophecy and tongues.

And he wants especially that we should prophesy.

The problem is not tongues in and of itself,

but tongues without interpretation,

because it doesn't edify anyone.

And so with that, he says,

saying that having told us

that the spiritual gifts of utterance

should be up-building,

he turns to the way

in which it should be understandable,

because without it being understandable,

it will not be up-building.

So look at verses,

look at verse 6 with me.

He says,

Now, brothers,

if I come to you speak in tongues,

how will I benefit you

unless I bring you some revelation

or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?

So he's listing all the gifts of utterance, right?

Revelation is communicated through prophecy.

Knowledge is communicated through teaching.

He's saying these are gifts

that are given for the benefit of the church,

and the tongues is singled out here,

because it's the only gift

out of all the gifts of utterance

that does not bring any edification

without interpretation.

And that's why he says,

don't use tongues in the context of corporate worship

unless you have interpretation.

And then he deliberately explains

why he deliberately abstained

from using tongues himself

in a series of analogies

in verses 7 to 8.

He says,

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?

If a guitar is out of tune, right?

So that a G string sounds like an A string

and an E string sounds like a D string,

it really doesn't matter how skilled you are,

and it really doesn't matter

what kind of masterpiece

you're playing on the guitar.

No one's going to know what you're playing,

because it's indistinct.

The notes don't make any sense.

In the same way,

if you don't know how to play

brass instruments like a trumpet,

I don't know how to blow one,

or like,

I don't know if you've ever tried it.

It's kind of fun to try to blow a trumpet

when you don't know how to blow a trumpet.

All you do is you don't produce any sound.

You just produce a lot of spit and noise, right?

Just trying to blow on something

that you can't blow.

And so if you blow a trumpet

with an indistinct sound like that,

will the army come,

march into battle?

Will the army gather for the battle?

No, it'll just cause confusion.

They'll be like,

wait, is that supposed to be the signal or what?

I mean, you don't know.

That's what Paul is trying to say.

So, so with yourselves,

Paul says in verse 9,

If with your tongue you utter speech

that is not intelligible,

how will anyone know what is said?

For you will be speaking into the air.

Tongues without interpretation is unintelligible,

and therefore people won't know

what to make of it.

It'd be no different from speaking into the air.

Paul continues with another analogy

that's even closer to the point.

In verse 10 to 12,

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.

You won't do someone any good

by speaking to them in a language

that you don't understand.

Right?

It'll just become gibberish.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Right?

And likewise,

you won't do any good for the church

by speaking in tongues without interpretation.

And the fact that Paul uses speaking in a foreign language,

it's foreign human language,

as an analogy to further prove

that the gift of tongues is not a human language.

Right?

Because when you use an analogy,

an analogy is something that is similar,

not identical to what you're trying to prove.

Right?

So here he's trying to prove

with the analogy of the human language

that the gift of tongues

should be also used with interpretation.

Therefore, Paul continues in verse 13,

One who speaks in a tongue

should pray that he may interpret.

It's not saying don't speak in tongues at all.

Pray.

Seek the gift of interpretation

so that you can use your gift of tongues.

I do know of churches within our denomination

that have people that have the ability

to give interpret tongues,

and they use it.

We don't use it in our church

because so far I'm not aware of anyone

who can interpret tongues.

And I pray that we get it.

I've been praying for our church for that.

I've been praying for our church

for prophecy as well.

We have people who speak in tongues.

We just don't have people who interpret.

And otherwise, Paul says in verse 16 to 17,

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.

The word outsider is a word

that ordinarily means non-expert.

And Paul's referring to Christians

who do not understand tongues

because they don't have the gift of interpretation here.

These people are unable to say amen

in response to the thanksgiving uttered in tongues.

And during corporate worship,

Christians have historically expressed

their endorsement and affirmation

of what is being said or sung

by saying amen,

which is a Hebrew word

that means surely, truly.

And that, by the way,

is a practice that I would love to reclaim in our church

so that when you hear something

that is true,

that is resonating with your soul,

you say amen,

and you affirm

and you endorse

and I think

but if you don't understand

what is being said,

of course,

you can't affirm

what someone is saying

so you can't say amen.

That's what he's saying.

Sure, the person who is speaking in tongues

may very well be giving thanks

and it may be some wonderful thanksgiving

that he's doing

in the gift of tongues,

but regardless,

the other person

is not being built up.

And you could be edifying yourself,

all right,

but you're not edifying anyone else.

And that's really the crux of the issue.

Corporate worship,

and this is important,

it's not about

your personal time of worship.

And this is what's wrong

with the widespread consumeristic attitude

that Christians have toward church

and toward worship.

Corporate worship is neither about you

nor for you as an individual.

It's not about

whether you get a lot

out of the sermon or not.

It's not about

whether you like the songs

that they sang or not.

If corporate worship exists

for your personal gratification

and edification,

then you could just stay home

and listen to a podcast

of a celebrity preacher

who preaches much better than I do.

And you could stay home

and listen to music,

Christian worship songs

that are done professionally,

if that's what this is all about.

And in fact,

that's exactly what thousands

of Christians in the country do

because they don't understand

the purpose of corporate worship.

Corporate worship is corporate

for the reason that it serves

not to build up an individual Christian,

but to build up the whole church together.

We gather as the church.

The church means a gathering of people,

not as a group of individual Christians.

We come not for me,

but for us,

for each other

so that we can remind one another

of God's truths,

so that we can stir up one another

to love and good deeds,

so that we can build up one another

with our gifts.

We have a part to play

when we gather as a corporate church.

That's why Paul so vigorously

opposes speaking in tongues

without interpretation

during corporate worship.

Unless they think that Paul's

discouraging the use of tongues

merely because he himself

doesn't have the gift,

he adds this in verses 18 to 19.

What a shocker.

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

to have 10,000 words

in a tongue.

That's a singer, right?

Far from being unable

to speak in tongues,

Paul insists that he speaks

in tongues more than all of them.

This shows us again

that tongues is a good gift

that we should use.

And that's probably a statement

to make to the Corinthians

in particular

because they're boasting in this.

They're like,

oh, we speak the tongues of angels

and they're speaking

even out of turn

in all kinds of disorderly ways

in the context

of corporate worship.

And Paul tells these people

who are really raving

about this gift,

I speak in tongues

more than all of you.

I think there's some

hyperpile there, right?

But he's making a point.

He's saying,

I would rather speak five words

with my mind

in order to instruct others

than 10,000 words in a tongue.

Just as some people say

a picture is worth

a thousand words.

In the context

of corporate worship,

five intelligible words

are better than 10,000

unintelligible words

in the tongue.

So we should use

the spiritual gifts

of utterance

in understandable ways

for the upbuilding

of the church.

And this is not only

for the sake of believers,

which Paul's talked about

up to this point.

In verses 20 to 25,

he tells the Corinthian church

why it's essential

that the spiritual gifts

are understandable,

not only for the sake

of believers,

but also for the sake

of unbelievers

in their midst.

He says,

Brothers,

do not be children

in your thinking.

Be infants in evil,

but in your thinking

be mature.

Paul's bringing

the prideful Corinthians

down a notch.

He's telling them

that even though

they boasted

in their spiritual maturity,

Paul compares them

to an immature child.

And this is

Theodoret of Cyrus.

He's a 5th century

Christian pastor.

He summarizes

really helpfully.

Do not emulate

children's ignorance,

but their innocence.

Do not possess

grown-ups' wickedness,

but their shrewdness.

When it comes

to their thinking

about prophecy

and tongues,

they should be mature,

not children.

And Paul's about

to quote Isaiah 28,

11 to 12,

as his final argument

for why the Corinthians

should not speak

in tongues

without interpretation

in the context

of corporate worship.

And in that same passage,

just before those verses

that he quotes.

In Isaiah 28, 9,

the Jewish leaders

mock prophet Isaiah

by saying that

his message to them

is infantile.

He says to them

that his audience

must be,

quote,

those who are weaned

from the milk,

those taken from the breast.

So by comparing

the Corinthians

to children,

I think he already

has Isaiah 28 in mind,

he's warning them

that they are treating him

like the Jews

treated prophet Isaiah,

in thinking that

he's immature

because he doesn't

teach them about tongues

and things like that

with the Corinthian church.

And then he quotes

the actual verse.

He says,

By people of strange tongues,

by the lips of foreigners

will I speak to this people,

and even then

they will not listen to me,

says the Lord.

In this original context,

God was declaring

to his people

that since they refused

to listen to him

when he spoke to them

in a language

that they understand,

that they will hear

the voice of God's judgment

in the barbarian languages

of the Assyrian invaders.

Israel will be conquered

by Assyria,

and the foreign language

that they hear

in their own land

will be a sign for them

of judgment,

alienation,

and exclusion.

Do you follow

the original context?

In Isaiah,

because this foreign nation

has occupied them,

and they're speaking

a language

that they don't understand,

that will be a sign

to the Israelites

that God has rejected them,

that they're alienated.

It's the language

that they're excluded

because they don't understand.

And using that illustration,

historical illustration,

Paul argues in verse 22,

thus tongues are a sign

not for believers

but for unbelievers,

while prophecy is a sign

not for unbelievers

but for believers.

By speaking

in unintelligible tongues

without interpreting it

during corporate worship,

the Corinthian church

is unwittingly projecting

a sign of judgment,

of exclusion,

and of alienation

to the unbelievers

in their midst.

Far from being

a positive sign

of their spiritual maturity,

oh, we're speaking in tongues,

look, come look at me.

No, it's not a sign

for believers,

it's a sign for unbelievers.

You're excluding them

and projecting to them

a sign of God's judgment.

So he says,

don't do that.

In contrast,

prophecy is a sign

not for unbelievers

but for believers.

When there is prophecy,

when God's speaking

to us in our midst,

it's a sign

that God is with us,

that he's speaking

through us.

Therefore,

it serves as a positive sign

of God's presence

and involvement

with his people

so that unbelievers

who are in our midst

say,

look at that

and say,

God is with you.

Surely God is in this place.

It's a sign

of God's presence

for the believers.

That's why it's a sign

for believers.

Then in verses 23 to 24,

Paul contrasts

the respective effects

of uninterpreted tongues

on the one hand

in prophecy

and on the other hand

for unbelievers.

Read with me.

It says,

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 mind?

That's pretty

self-explanatory, right?

If all people

break out all of a sudden

in tongues simultaneously,

outsiders and unbelievers

visiting our service

would think

that we're all crazy.

And I think this verse

effectively prohibits

many people simultaneously

praying in tongues

as happens

in some churches.

But if all prophesy

and an unbeliever

or outsider enters,

he is convicted by all,

he is called

to account by all,

the secret of his heart

are disclosed

and so falling

on his face,

he will worship God

and declare that God

is really among you.

Since prophecy

is assigned

for believers

of God's presence

among them,

even unbelievers

in our midst

would be convinced,

convicted,

and acknowledged

that God

is really among us.

Tongues without interpretation

will drive

unbelievers away,

but prophecy

will draw them in.

Tongues without interpretation

will convince believers

that we're all crazy,

but prophecy

will convince them

that God is real

and with us.

A couple weeks ago,

I used an illustration

from Charles Spurgeon's

autobiography

and there's many instances

of this

and here's another one

that I can tell you about.

I like to quote

from Spurgeon

because he's a very

sober-minded guy,

not someone that you

would expect

to be using these gifts

and he,

I think it seems,

appears to have used

these gifts

without even knowing

that that's what

he was doing.

But this is an account.

He says,

While preaching in the hall

on one occasion,

I deliberately pointed

to a man in the midst

of the crowd

and said,

There is a man sitting there

who is a shoemaker.

He keeps his shop open

on Sundays.

It was open

last Sabbath morning.

He took nine pence

and there was

four pence profit

out of it.

His soul is sold

to Satan

for four pence.

A city missionary,

when going his rounds,

met with this man

and seeing that he was

reading one of my sermons,

he asked the question,

Do you know Mr. Spurgeon?

Yes,

replied the man.

I have every reason

to know him.

I have been to hear him

and under his preaching

by God's grace

I have become a new creature

in Christ Jesus.

Shall I tell you

how it happened?

I went to the music hall

and took my seat

in the middle of the place.

Mr. Spurgeon looked at me

as if he knew me

and in his sermon

he pointed to me

and told the congregation

that I was a shoemaker

and that I kept my shop

open on Sundays.

And I did, sir.

I should not have minded that,

but he also said

that I took nine pence

that Sunday before

and that there was

four pence profit out of it.

I did take nine pence that day

and four pence

was just the profit.

But how he should know that

I could not tell.

Then it struck me

that it was God

who had spoken

to my soul through him.

So I shut up my shop

the next Sunday.

At first,

I was afraid to go again

to hear him

lest he should tell

the people more about me.

But afterwards,

I went and the Lord

met with me

and saved my soul.

The secrets of his heart

were disclosed

and so that shoemaker

repented of his sins

and submitted himself to God.

Don't you long for that

to happen in our Sunday gatherings?

I pray for this gift

for myself

and for our church regularly

because I imagine,

I can imagine so many ways

in which this gift

could build up our church.

So pursue love.

Earnestly desire

the spiritual gifts,

especially that you may prophesy.

In fact,

I already know

that several of you have

and probably more of you

have the gift of prophecy.

And just like we have

the music ministry

for people who are gifted

in music

and hospitality ministry

for people who are gifted

in hospitality

and creative ministry,

people who are gifted

creatively and so on,

we hope to create

a prophetic ministry team

with people

who have the gift

with the goal

of utilizing this gift

to greater effect

in our church.

So if you think

you might have

the gift of prophecy,

maybe you have

very vivid dreams

that you think

might be from God

or you have

these spontaneous words

or phrases

or images

that pop up

in your mind

and you think

that might be from God,

please meet with me

over by the piano

after the service

for a few minutes.

I have a few books

that I want to give you guys

and also want to

get together again

to practice

and to pray

and for the gifts,

for strengthening of the gift

and have a more systematic way

of actually using the gift

so that it just doesn't become

a haphazard thing.

So we should use

the spiritual gifts

of utterance

in understandable ways

for the upbuilding

of the church

and that's great

but of course

that's easier said

than done, right?

When we receive

a good gift,

especially something

that seems spectacular,

right?

Like the gift of tongues

for example

because it's so strange,

right?

And that's why I think

it's fascinated people

for so long.

Our natural sinful tendency

is to be selfish

and to be self-centered

and for that reason

we could

and to show it off

to others

even when it doesn't edify

or build up anyone.

And that's why

we can only

follow this teaching

and use the gifts

as they ought to be used

when we follow

the pattern

of Jesus

who,

it says in Mark 10 45,

came not to be served

but to serve

and to give

his life

as a ransom

for many.

Right?

Jesus deserved

all the credit

and glory

and honor

he could receive

the work

the world could give him

but instead

he chose to die

for our sins.

He took our shame.

He took our dishonor.

He died on the cross

and Jesus lived

every second

of his life

not for himself

for his own glory

but for the glory

of his father

so that he could give

his life

as a ransom

for us

and we are saved

from our sins

not because we earned

the right to be saved

but because we freely

receive the gift

of salvation

that Christ

procured

for us.

And every

spiritual gift

received

tongues

prophecy

they all flow

from that first

initial gift

of salvation.

So if you're an

unbeliever

who is hearing

this message

for the first time

you chose

quite the service

to be with us

for learning

about these gifts

that you probably

never heard of

but

before you can

receive any

of these gifts

you must first

receive the giver

have a relationship

with the God

who is the giver

of all these gifts

and who is

the source

it's his generosity

his love

that is the fountainhead

of all these gifts

and the greatest gift

of all

is not these gifts

but the gift

of his son

Jesus Christ

who died

for our sins

to save us.

And for those of you

who are already

followers of Christ

I want to give you

some hope

Romans 8.32

says

He who did not

spare his own son

but gave him up

for us all

how will he not

also with him

graciously

give us all

things

these are good gifts

that God tells us

to earnestly

desire

when my child

comes to me

and asks for

something that's

good for her

she knows

and expects

that I would

give it to her

because I never

withhold anything

that's bad for her

that's good

for her

I mean

it's so funny

so she knows

and she would be

really

quite sad

if I

refused her

something that

is good for her

so we're God's

children

and he tells us

these gifts

are good for us

he wants us

to give them

for us

and if he

did not withhold

his only son

for our salvation

would he not

generously

liberally

give his good

gifts to us

so seek it

pursue love

earnestly

desire the spiritual

gifts

especially

that you

may prophesy

let's take a

moment of

silence

to reflect

on this

to pray

for this

and respond

by

with the

time of

prayers

of the

people

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of