1 Corinthians 14:20-40
Tongues a Sign to Unbelievers
20 Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature.
21 In the law it is written:
“With men of other tongues and other lips
I will speak to this people;
And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,”
says the Lord.
22 Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. 23 Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all. 25 And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.
Order in Church Meetings
26 How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. 30 But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. 32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. 33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
34 Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. 35 And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.
36 Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached? 37 If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord. 38 But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.
39 Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. 40 Let all things be done decently and in order.
It is so unfortunate that English translations of the Bible choose to use the word tongue to describe a known language (γλῶσσα) and the word language () for dialects when both Greek words describe utterances of the tongue in different languages or dialects (διάλεκτος) as in Acts 2:6. Some will even bend the meaning of 1 Corinthians 13:1 concerning, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,” where ‘though’ is a word conveying a hypothetical situation and not a statement of fact that men actually use angelic languages. That verse was to show the minimal value of speaking in a God-enabled known language of men compared to the supremacy of showing divine love to others in ministry and life. The Corinthians emphasized the miraculous with a background of pagan babbling and so wanted to emphasize the real gift of languages divinely given men to speak to reveal the glory of God and the gospel to foreign listeners without having to first stop and learn their tongues. Unfortunately kmwe in the last one hundred plus years have gone the wrong direction as the culture of Corinth in making tongues into vain babbling instead of the divine gift to speak other known languages of men unknown to the speaker but heard by those around the speakers who needed to hear the prophetic message clearly and understandably. That is the real miracle. Even in Corinth this got out of hand and Paul had to set guidelines to keep the supremacy of the important gift of prophecy in the forefront where God’s word is spoken and explained in depth and applicability to the hearers as modern preaching does today. He calls us also to be mature in these gifts and not swept up into the thrill and mystery of ecstatic speaking apart from meaningful exercise of the real gift supporting the revelation of God’s word and edification of the hearers instead of the emotional expression feeding one’s own importance. Yes, God predicted that He would speak to Israel with other languages in Isaiah 28:11-12 and yet they would miss the opportunity to hear about the Messiah and their salvation as they turned deaf ears to the prophets bringing the word of God to them to repentance and faith in His work. That has not changed. The display of divine languages in Acts chapter two was the fulfillment of that promise with those there divinely speaking the known and listed languages described and heard by those native speakers gathered for Pentecost. These same words pointed to the outpouring of God’s Spirit promised as a permanent sealing (Ephesians 1:13-14) of God’s people in Christ and was ensured reception by all those visiting Jerusalem to be heard and understood by divine speaking of real tongues and not divine hearing of gibberish passed for the same in our time. These known tongues or languages divinely enabled and spoken by those to whom they were unknown were a sign by God to unbelievers that they might hear and turn in trust and repentance to the Lord. They were not for the ente of the disciples who already were believers, so that is why He says here, “tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers” and then points to prophecy revealing the things of the Lord as being for the believers. The gifts are given to bring people to Christ and then build them up as they are taught all things (Matthew 28:19-20) with the gospel. Uncontrolled use of real tongues can dilute and confuse the message and is to be avoided, rather limiting the use of any such real gift for the purpose it is given. Also, this gift is not given to everyone nor expected to be aquired by the teaching or coaching of men as is misguidedly done in some circles today and never in the past. This applies to prophetic revealing of the already written word of God to understand it better as well that all may learn and all may be encouraged as it is written here. The driving reason given us is that “God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches.” We should not stop true divine language speaking but only the false babblings passing as from God but originating in the pagan culture as in Corinth as we encourage true prophetic teachings and preaching to reveal the meaning and application of God’s word to the church done decently (honestly) and with order as the scriptures command us. These are His commands and if we disagree we will remain ignorant of the truth as Paul had to remind the Corinthians and us.
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