1 CORINTHIANS 14:6-402004 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 Corinthians 14:6-40

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2004. Last Sunday I started off with a question. The question was, do you ever wonder why you come to church? Do you ever wonder why? And we talked about last week the two different ways you can come to church. Coming expecting to receive God.

And be blessed, or you can come expecting to give and to bless others. And I encourage you, we talked about looking at the two gifts, the gift of tongues and the gift of prophecy, and how one is for the edification of yourself, but the other is for the building up of the body of Christ, for blessing others, and how we need to have that attitude, that mentality that we come here to serve, to bless one another. And it's not just about me and what I can get out of a church service.

So I would encourage you, as you're here this morning, be prepared to use your spiritual gifts. Be prepared to step out in faith and do the things that God puts upon your heart.

We also, I'd like to invite you back actually to this evening, Sunday evening. We have our services every Sunday evening at 6 p.m. Now, this evening especially, I'd encourage you to come because we are starting a new study, a new book, going through the book of James. We just finished Galatians a couple weeks ago. And so now we're starting through the book of James. But

in line with the spiritual gifts and the things that we're talking about, I'd like to invite you because what we do with the Sunday evening study is we give people who God is raising up within the ministry who have been gifted with the gift of teaching and maybe don't get to use it very often or just want to grow in that way. We give them opportunities on Sunday evenings to use that gift. And so there's four guys who are

just really excited about sharing the word with you guys over the next couple weeks as we go through the book of James. And so I would encourage you to come out and encourage them. Encourage them and instruct them and just allow them to bless you if you don't, you know, you get tired of hearing Jerry all the time.

and you want to hear someone else, come out on Sunday evenings. It's going to be great as we go through the next couple of weeks looking at the book of James, allowing them, watching God grow them up in their giftings and bless them as they teach us through the word of God. So I'd encourage you to come out, like I said, at 6 o'clock this evening and the next few weeks as we go through the book of James. But as we talk about spiritual gifts, as we continue our study through 1 Corinthians 14,

We understand, as we talked about last week, the gift of tongues was for personal edification. It was something between me and the Lord. If I speak in tongues, it's not something everybody understands or is edified by, but it's something that God has given to me, to my spirit, to minister and to pray to him. But prophecy, on the other hand, is a

a gift that God gives in order to bless and to benefit others. And so Paul explained to us in the first five verses of chapter 14 that prophecy was the gift that we should eagerly desire and desire to use within a church setting, within an assembly, within a gathering together of brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Well, the rest of chapter 14, which we'll look at today, I know it's a lot of verses, it's 35 verses, but it's basically talking about the same thing a little bit more in depth. And so we'll cover a lot of ground, but understand the same thing that God is giving us here in this portion of Scripture, verses 6 through 40 of chapter 14. He's giving us order here.

He's giving us how to do things the way that he desires that we should have services, that we should have the giftings and these things in use, that it would be in decency, that it would be in order, that it would be something that's edifying and uplifting for everybody who comes, for everybody who is able to hear the word and the words that are shared. So let's read together. 1 Corinthians chapter 14, starting in verse 6, says this,

But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching? Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played?

for if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound who will prepare for battle so likewise you unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand how will it be known what is spoken for you will be speaking into the air

There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance. Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me, even so you. Since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel. Therefore, let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret."

Verse 1.

What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the Spirit, and I will pray also with understanding. I will sing with the Spirit, and I will also sing with understanding. Otherwise, if you bless with the Spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say, Amen, at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say? For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified.

Paul here, verses 6 through 19, gives us a very clear picture of the purpose and the use for tongues and why it's not proper for them to be used in a setting like we're at this morning.

He tells us in verse 6 that there's no profit to the brethren, to the brothers and sisters in the Lord, if the speaker comes speaking in tongues. He says, if I come to you and speak to you in a language you don't understand, what does it profit you? You can't understand it. You can't receive it. You can't agree with it. It doesn't profit you anything. It doesn't edify you. It doesn't build you up. What does profit? Well, he tells us in verse 6, there's four things. He tells us revelation,

The revealing of God's word. Knowledge...

the things that we learn from God's Word, prophesying. We talked about that last week. That's speaking the very heart of God upon a matter or circumstance and then teaching the instruction that comes from the Word of God. He says these four things, these are very useful because they're brought forth in a language you understand, in a language you know, and the result is very fruitful in our hearts and in our lives when these four gifts, when these four things are in place or taking place within a church service.

But he says, if I come to you speaking a language you don't understand, speaking in an unknown tongue, then it's no profit for you. Now, if you weren't here last week, I would encourage you to get the CD because we talked in depth about what speaking in tongues is and what the gift of prophecy is. And we covered the first five verses of chapter 14. But Paul says, look, it's no profit to you.

You don't understand. It doesn't make sense. And he gives us an example. The example is found in verses 7 and 8, and it's the example of music. He says, look, even things without life, they tell us these things. He says, look, the flute, the harp, if they make a sound, unless there's a distinction within the sounds, how will it know what is piped or played?

And that's why we have distinction between the sounds. We have the different notes and the different chords and we're able to follow, we're able to worship because there's distinction. It's very clear what the procession is, what comes next, and the sense is very logical and it's in order. In fact, if you could do me a favor and respond. I'm going to make a sound and you'll probably know what comes after that sound if I make it correctly. But

Go ahead and do it. Okay? Oh, that was weak. Did I do it wrong? Okay.

There we go. See, there's a distinction in the sounds. Even though it's just dee-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee, there's a distinction that causes us to internally go, hey, that means charge. That means, hey, I'm supposed to respond and, you know, we do it at games and different kind of things. It's exciting and there's that distinction. That's why in verse 8 he says, look, if someone sounds a trumpet and it makes an uncertain sound, who would prepare for battle? Well, nobody. If I just said dee-dee, then...

Who would prepare? Who would say charge? You'd be like, what are you doing, Jerry? What's up with you? Sometimes you do that anyways, but that's okay.

But the trumpet call, we know to charge. There's got to be a distinction. There's got to be a clarity that we all understand. Now, some other cultures might not understand that because they haven't known that. They haven't heard that sound before and know that you're supposed to say charge afterwards. So what he's saying is the music, it makes distinctions. It makes sense because we know it. We follow it. And it comes in order so that we can sing along, that we can respond to it in the proper way.

Well, he says the same thing. He gives us this example for speaking in tongues. In verse 9, he goes on to say, So likewise. So just like the music has specific way that we know it so that we can follow along. He says, So likewise.

It's just like we need to have the distinction in sounds and the separation in sounds with music for us to follow along and know it's being played and know it's being sung. He says, likewise, if we come and utter something other than English here, or maybe Spanish for some of you as well, that sounds...

You're not going to be able to follow along. You're not going to be able to understand. He says, unless I speak to you in something that is easy to understand, you're not going to know what's being spoken. You're not going to know what's being shared.

Unless your tongue speak a language that people know, it's fruitless. He says the end result will be you'll be speaking into the air, like talking to yourself or just talking to the wall or talking to nobody, just speaking into the air because nobody can hear you. Well, people can hear you, but they don't know what you're saying. They can't receive it. They can't respond to it. They can't be built up by it. So it's fruitless. It's just like wasting your words, Paul says.

So we need to understand this. In verse 10, as he goes on, it says, There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance. But therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me.

He says, there is a lot of languages within this world. And I was trying to look it up online. I came up with a few numbers, but the most common one was about 6,800 known languages in the world today. And that's a lot of languages. And I don't know how accurate it is, but we get the picture. There's a lot of languages. And he says, each of them have their significance. Each of them have their place, have their people that speak it, that has their role and place within this world. He says, but

You know, when we come together, if you're speaking a language I don't understand, then it's out of place. Then it's not the right place. We understand from the scriptures that when we gather together as Christians, when we gather together as believers, when we come to church, that we're a part of the family of God.

And we're brothers and sisters in the Lord. The assembling together of ourselves, of the saints, is for unity. That the body of Christ would come together in one accord. And that's how we look at the book of Acts, and that was mentioned time and time again, that the church was gathered together in one accord, with one purpose and one mindset. But Paul says, if I come to you and...

Do you know what it's like?

to feel out of place. Have you ever felt out of place? Maybe you've spent the holidays with another family before. And, you know, there's the jokes and the stories and all the things that they talk about that you're not on the inside scoop. You know, you haven't been there. You haven't been involved. So they're not funny to you and you don't get them. And why are they talking about that? And what are they laughing about? And it's just a very...

And I'll see you next time.

Well, they're making themselves a foreigner. They're making themselves separate and distinct as opposed to the unity that's supposed to be arrived or achieved as we gather together. There's no one accord there because we can't understand each other. We must be able to understand each other and be family and not foreigners. So he says, since this is the case, since it makes you a foreigner, verse 12, he says, to seek to excel in things that edify. Verse 12 says, even so you...

He says, look, so you don't want to be foreigners, but you are zealous for spiritual gifts, which is good. It's very good that you be zealous for spiritual gifts. We talked about that last week. 1 Corinthians 12, verse 31 says,

Chapter 14, verse 1 of 1 Corinthians. Desire. Again, same word. Earnestly desire spiritual gifts. We should desire. We should be passionate about spiritual gifts. Paul says you're zealous for gifts. That's good. You should be. But make it...

He says, He says,

It is those gifts, Paul says, in which you should seek to excel. And I really like that phrase, to seek to excel. I mean, we think about it, we think of striving for the best, to do the best that we can and try to do the best that you can in those gifts. Literally, the word excel means to exceed a fixed number of measure. To exceed a fixed number of measure. In other words...

Use your gifts more times than you can count. Do good things. Do edification, strengthening, repairing. Use your gifts. Build up more times than you can remember. Use your gifts so much that you can't keep track of it, is what he's saying. More than you can measure. More than any number can count. Just continually use the gifts that God has given you. The gifts of prophecy, the gifts of knowledge, the gifts of service and health.

All the different gifts that we've talked about the last few weeks as we looked at chapter 12 and 14. That we need to understand that God desires that we be very productive and useful in the gifts that he's given to us. He doesn't give them to us just so we can kind of bury them and keep them to ourselves. But he says, no, seek to excel. Use them so many times you can't even keep track of it anymore. You've just shared God's word that many times. You've ministered to people that many times.

So he says, if those are the things that we need to excel in, in verse 13, he says, So if you want to excel in building up the church, he says, when you speak in tongues, well, pray that you may interpret that. Why? Well, because in verse 14, he says,

So he puts it in context now. In the church, in the body of Christ, we should seek to build up those around us. He says, however, when I pray in an unknown language, when I use the gift of tongues, I'm not even myself understanding the things that I'm saying.

We talked about it last week for a simple definition. Praying in a tongue is the Holy Spirit putting words in your mouth in prayer to God. And so, being that it's the Holy Spirit putting those words in your mouth, you don't even understand what you're saying, Paul says. So, you have to pray for the gift of interpretation that you yourself would understand to be able to share with others

what you prayed, what you said to God, what praise or adoration you lifted up to him. So he says, if you want to excel, if you want to build up the body of Christ, if you speak in tongues, then pray that you would be able to interpret also that everybody would be blessed. In verse 15, Paul gives his own conclusion. He says, what is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit and I will also pray with understanding.

I will pray with the Spirit. I will use the gift. She's not saying don't use the gift of tongues. She says I will do it, but I understand that there is a proper order. There's a proper place for it. There's a context in which it is proper and there's a context in which it is not.

So he says, I will pray in the Spirit, but I will also pray with understanding. Pray with the language that I'm familiar with or the language that you're familiar with. Since Paul knew several languages, Paul would pray with understanding that those who are hearing would be able to understand as well as himself. He said also, I'll sing in the Spirit again in the proper context and I'll sing with understanding. We'll worship together in a language that we understand we can worship him.

But then on our own we can also worship him in the language that God gives us to worship him. So he says, my conclusion, I'm going to do both. I'm not forbidding that you speak in an unknown tongue, but just remember the importance of keeping it in the right place. The right place. In verses 16 and 17 he goes on to tell us,

Paul says, look, if someone you're praying with or the people you are praying with don't understand what you're saying, it means that they are not edified.

Now, when you pray in an unknown tongue, you don't understand, but it's your spirit that's praying to God. And therefore, your spirit is edified. But if other people are around you, hearing you speak in tongues or pray in tongues, they're not edified because they don't understand. They're not able to receive. So Paul says, how will he be able to say amen to the things that you're praying? How will they be able to agree with you when they don't know what you're saying, what's being said? So he says, yeah, it's good for you.

You're giving things, you're edified, you're built up, but nobody else is. And that's the reason why the gift of tongues is not really proper in a context like this, unless it's accompanied by the gift of interpretation.

We talked about that last week. That if we do... If we were to do that, speak in an unknown tongue, in this context, from here or from there, in an afterglow, it just depends. But if we were to, without the gift of interpretation, it's not an act of love. Because love says, I want to bless you. I want to give to you. I want to build you up. But if we...

Pray in a tongue without interpretation. We're saying, I don't care that you guys don't understand and it doesn't benefit you. I'm just going to bless myself right now and speak out in tongues and pray to God. So Paul says, no, each is important, but they need to have their place. They need to be kept in the right order. And church is not the place, he says, for this. In verse 18 and 19, he concludes it by saying this.

So he says, first, I thank God that I speak in tongues, Paul says. And this is important to note because in contexts like this and as we read this, we could think, man, why is Paul dogging this gift so much? He doesn't like it or what?

Well, no, he just understands the place. And he says, hey, I thank God that I speak in tongues more than you all. I thank God. And it's a good gift. And it's a gift we should desire, as we talked about last week. But he says, in a church, yet in a church, and assembling together. Remember that the word church here doesn't mean a building, that they didn't have buildings and they weren't as structured really as we are in this day. But the word church really means the gathering together. As church,

Paul says, look, in the gathering together, in the place where brothers and sisters gather together to spend time with the Lord, I would rather speak five words with understanding, he says, than 10,000 words in an unknown time. Now, being that they're

services weren't probably as formal as ours. We don't run into the abuse of this gift a lot like within Calvary Chapel churches because we have a little bit more structure. We have a little bit more formality in the way that we have service. But there are times when we gather together more informally and that's at our home Bible studies or in the afterglow setting or different times as we're together as brothers and sisters in the Lord. And so this is something to remember. He says, as we're gathered together as brethren,

I would rather speak five words with understanding, five words that people could understand and receive, than 10,000 in a tongue. You know, we've heard that a picture is worth a thousand words, but unless it's in a language that I understand, it doesn't even matter. If it's an unknown tongue, you could speak 10,000 words, Paul says, and it's fruitless, it's pointless, it doesn't matter. Five words is better than 10,000 if people are able to understand it and receive it.

So Paul, looking at the gift of tongues here in verses 6 through 19, says the gift of tongues is good and it has its place. But for those who aren't able to understand it, they become foreigners and not part of the family. For those who are speaking it, they separate themselves and isolate themselves and make themselves a foreigner to those who don't understand them. Those who are not able to understand also are not edified. They're not built up.

So Paul says the church is not the place for the speaking in tongues unless it's accompanied by interpretation. And he'll go on to explain that a little bit more in detail towards the end of this portion of scripture. But let's go on reading verses 20 through 25.

Verse 20 says,

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. 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 you are out of your mind? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in, he is convinced by all, he is convicted by all.

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. Now, as he goes on to talk about the gift of tongues, he gives us the contrast, the difference between the gift of tongues and the gift of prophecy. Excuse me.

But he starts out in verse 20 and he says, brethren, do not be children and understanding. We started out chapter 12, verse 1, where Paul said, hey, I don't want you to be ignorant concerning spiritual gifts, uneducated. He reaffirms that. He kind of reiterates that to us now. He says, don't be children and understanding.

Don't be children in understanding the things of the spirit or spiritual gifts. He says, however, in malice and things that are evil and things that are not of God, oh, be babes in that. Be children of understanding in that. Don't understand or don't seek to understand. Don't try to understand the things of the world and the things of the flesh. But in understanding, he says, be mature.

And it's a good reminder to us that there needs to be maturity in the use of the gifts that God gives us. There is a lot of immaturity within the body of Christ in the use of spiritual gifts. They're used out of place, out of context, not in a way that's uplifting and edifying or encouraging. And so we need to be careful. We need to use maturity effectively.

and to understand and to be mature in our understanding of what the gifts are and what they're for. And he goes on in the next few verses to describe to us the proper context and why one is good for a church gathering context and the other is not. He goes on in verse 22 and he says, He talks about tongues first. Now, signs and wonders were used by God often throughout scriptures,

And they were used to authenticate the message that was delivered by his prophets. Speaking in tongues, Paul says, is also a sign. It's a sign not to believers, but to unbelievers. Why is it a sign to unbelievers and not believers? Well, believers, they don't profit from these signs because they've already believed that God is real. They've already believed that God can speak and they have God's word available to them.

However, unbelievers, those who don't believe that God is real and powerful, those who don't believe that God is still speaking to us today, they need a sign. They need to know that God is real. Pastor Chuck, in his book, Living Water, shared about a lady who spoke in a tongue.

And I shared with you guys as we went through chapter 12, but it's a good reminder for us of the proper use and how this can be used as a sign. But the story was that there was a lady in his congregation who, when she spoke in tongues, the language that she spoke was French. Now, as they were in an afterglow at one time, they were spending time with the Lord, and she spoke out in tongues.

a tongue and the language of course was French and then the gift of interpretation was put into use and someone else interpreted by praying to God the very things that she had said except for she interpreted and prayed the same prayer in English. Now what they didn't know was that there was a guest among them. There was someone in the congregation in the service that night who had never been to Calvary Chapel before, wasn't a believer, but

As, of course, as God plans things, it worked out that she knew French. She had lived in France for some time, and so she knew French. And so she understood when the lady was speaking in tongues, she understood what the lady was saying. She heard the interpretation.

And knew that it was the same because she spoke the language. And afterwards that she spoke with a lady who had spoken out in a tongue and realized, hey, she doesn't know French. She knew that that was something that only God could do. She knew that God was real at that point and gave her heart to the Lord. And it was a demonstration of tongues being assigned to unbelievers, that God can work in miraculous ways and still speaks to us today.

There's many missionary stories, and you can find them all over, about missionaries who have gone out and ministered to different tribes or different nationalities or different people who spoke different languages, and God has gifted them supernaturally with the ability to speak their language. Or they've spoken English, and supernaturally they have heard them in their own language. God does miraculous things. Tongues are for a sign that people might believe and know that God is real.

He goes on to contrast prophesying. He says prophesying is not for unbelievers, but for those who believe. Since prophecy is God's word to man, then it doesn't really profit those who will not hear his word, but it does profit those who will hear his word. So Paul says prophecy is for believers. And he goes on in verses 23 through 25 to give us two kind of extreme examples to kind of demonstrate why prophecy,

The church context is appropriate for prophecy, but not for speaking in tongues. Verse 23. He says, look, picture this. And this is Paul's mind, right?

He says, okay, you're all here right now. And suddenly you guys just begin to speak out in different languages, unknown languages. And someone comes in and goes, man, these guys are crazy. What's going on in here? We don't know what's going on. Who would want to be participating in that? And so they would kind of run away freaked out saying, man, this church is crazy. Don't go back there.

Paul says, look, if everybody was speaking out like that, it would be chaotic. It would be chaos. It's not good. He says chaos is in a sign. Yes, tongues was given as a sign to unbelievers, but it has to be used in its proper context. And that's not it. The proper context is as the Lord leads, as God takes you to unbelievers on the mission field or one-on-one or daily.

as he works it out with the gift of interpretation and the gift of tongues, as Pastor Chuck shared about. So if everybody in the assembly, though, is speaking in tongues, it's going to convince them that you're crazy, not that God is real. And it's only a sign when it's used in the proper way, in the proper context, that the way God designed it. Well, he says, in contrast to that,

So he draws us this picture.

What if someone comes in and everybody's speaking in tongues? Well, even though it's assigned to unbelievers, the unbeliever is going to be pretty freaked out. The unbeliever is going to say, well, this is crack. This is crazy. I don't want to be a part of this. He says, but prophecy, on the other hand, is for believers. Yet, if people are speaking the words of God, if people are prophesying, if people are sharing God's heart,

and an unbeliever comes in. Even though specifically the gift is for believers, it has a benefit, it has a blessing, it has a work amongst unbelievers. It has a work that takes place within those who hear it

Even though they are not believers at the time. Because God will speak to them through words of prophecy. It says he'll be convinced by all and convicted by all. He'll know that God knows his heart. And he'll be forced to report that God is truly among you. And so he gives us this example to tell us, look.

Tongues is a sign and it has its place, but prophecy in a gathering like this is better because those who hear it, whether they're unbelievers or believers, will be able to be edified and lifted up and they'll be encouraged in their walk with the Lord. Let's read on now in verses 26 through 40. How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a song, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.

If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the church and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak and let the others judge. But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent.

For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. 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.

And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is shameful for women to speak in the church. Or did the word of God come originally from you, or was it only you that it reached? 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. But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant. Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.

Verse 40, let all things be done decently and in order. Paul lays out for us in these verses the order that things should take place in. The way things should go so that it is decent and in order. So that the church is edified, the church is lifted up, and everybody is blessed and not just the person who's speaking or sharing. He starts out with a question. He says, how is it then, brethren?

When you come together, you have a psalm. People have different things to share, prophecy, word of knowledge, insight, so on and so forth. He says, that's good. You know, we need to have that. You need to use your gifts. But he puts in the reminder, let everything be done...

for edification. And so that's why this evening, if you'd like to join us, we will be having an afterglow after the evening service. At 6 o'clock we'll have service and we end usually about 15 minutes after 7 and then we'll spend the next 15 minutes or so just allowing God to work and giving him an opportunity to use these different gifts. God can give us words of knowledge and insight and wisdom and

And prophecy and so on and so forth like we've been studying for the past few weeks. And so we want to give them that opportunity and we invite you to come out. Come and use their gifts. Come and use your gifts in the proper place and time. But he reminds us, let everything be done for edification. Let it be done to build up those around you. Not to show off, not to edify yourself, but to bless the body of Christ and to minister God's word to them.

So he says in verses 27 through 28, So he gives us a couple principles here. Two or at the most three.

should be able to be allowed to speak in tongues. He said we should not have a whole service in an unknown language, in different things, in different kind of tongues and displays in tongues. They shouldn't consume the whole service. There could be a couple. He says, but two at the most three.

The next thing he says is each in turn, which is stressing to us the order that must be in service, that people shouldn't be speaking at different or at the same time different things, but it should be in order. One person can speak and then another could speak. Also, he says, and let someone interpret. Let someone interpret. He says in verse 28, if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the church and let him speak to himself and to God.

So if we're to speak in tongues, or if that's what the Spirit is leading, then God will also accompany that with the gift of interpretation. So if we are in an afterglow setting and someone shares a word in a tongue in an unknown language,

then nothing else should be shared until God gives the interpretation. That's what scripture says. It must be accompanied by that. And so we wait then, if someone shares in a tongue, for the interpretation. We wait for what the interpretation of that message or that prayer is. As things are done in order and decently, we have the opportunity to do that. However, if someone over here is speaking in tongues and someone else over here is speaking a prophecy and another tongues over here, there can be no interpretation because it's just all over the place. It's not in order.

So we have to do it decently and in order. We have to do it each in turn, as Paul put it. Now, the question is, well, how do you know if there's an interpreter so that you can share what you believe God has given you if he's given you the gift of tongues? Well,

There's not really a great way to know. We just have to be in the Spirit and to know for sure that, hey, this is what the Lord is leading me to do. This is what the Lord is leading me to say. And trust Him that He'll provide the rest. But we need to make sure that we're in the Spirit, that we're listening to the Lord and not listening to our flesh. We're listening to outside influences, but allowing God to speak through us as we use that gift in the proper context. So that's tongues. If they're used...

Well, the order for prophecy then, what's the guidelines for that? He goes on in verses 29 through 33 to describe that to us. He says, So, same kind of guidelines as far as the number, that just a couple people, if the Lord puts it upon their heart, if the Lord gives them a word of knowledge, a prophecy of insight, let it be a couple, two at the most, three, he says.

And again, it's not for the whole service. It's not a big, you know, prophecy service. And he's just going to do that the whole time. He says, just let it be a couple. But he also says something very interesting. He says, let the others judge. Who are the others? Well, that's everybody who's listening.

Everybody who's listening in these kind of settings, as a word of prophecy is shared, as things are shared, we should be judging. Now, I thought scripture says don't judge. Well, no, we are to judge. We're to take what's said. We're to take what we hear and put it to the test of God's word, whether it falls in line with God's word or whether it does not. That's how we test. That's how we know and are able to judge if things are true or not.

So we are to determine as hearers, as listeners, if the prophecy, if the thing shared is from the Lord or not. And we're to make a determination, to make a decision, yes or no. This is of God or this is not. So he says, prophecy, a couple share, the others who aren't sharing, let them judge. Let them determine if that's of the Lord or not. In verse 30, but if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent.

Again, he's basically saying the same thing that he said about speaking in tongues. That if someone is speaking a word of prophecy, and then someone over here says, oh, I got a prophecy, and they stand up and start sharing in the middle, that's going to be, again, chaotic. It's not going to benefit anybody. So he says, let the first just wait. Just wait until the other person sits down, and then when it's your turn, then get up and share what God has given.

There needs to be that order. In verse 31, he says, And so that's important, that we know and understand that it needs to be an order, one at a time, to allow God to speak, and then the whole congregation will be blessed. He also says, in verse 32, Now this is important, because Jesus,

You might have run into people, I know I have, that they say, well, but if I'm in the service and it doesn't matter if it's a Sunday morning or Wednesday night or wherever I'm at, man, if God speaks, I can't wait. I've got to speak now. And so you'll have instances where people will stand up in the middle of a service on Sunday morning or some other time and stand up and say, thus did the Lord and begin to sprout it out. But we need to remember that Paul says,

The Spirit of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets. If you can't wait, if you've got to speak now, that's not of the Lord. That's not the Lord prompting you to do that. That's not the Lord telling you to interrupt this service or interrupt that other person because that other person is speaking through the Holy Spirit as well. And so God's not going to interrupt Himself. He's not going to contradict Himself in that way. The Spirit of the Prophets are subject to the Prophets.

Sometimes they respond, well, if I don't speak it right now, I'm going to lose it. Well, that's okay. Then God didn't want you to share it because if God really wants you to share it, he's big enough, he's powerful enough to give you what he wants you to say right when he wants you to say it in the proper time, in the order, in the context that these gifts are used. And so we need to understand that.

That the Holy Spirit doesn't cloud our judgment and our mind and say, oh, I'm under control of the Holy Spirit and I can't control myself and I just got to speak. You guys remember that, right? The craziness that I did. There's none of that. The spirit of the prophets are subject to the prophets, meaning that the prophets, when they're given a word of prophecy, they have control of the spirit. They have control of how they share it. It doesn't have to be in some weird whacked out voice, but just regular sharing of

What God has said. And that's what we need to do. We need to remember that. God is not the author of confusion. He says in verse 33. But of peace. As in all the churches of the saints. He's not the author of confusion. The word confusion means a state of disorder. If we're all disorganized and doing our own thing. God's not the author of that. If it's confusing. Paul says. That's not of God.

And so we need to keep things. And so if you ever wonder, why do we have services as structured and kind of as formal as we do on Sundays and Wednesdays? Well, it's to keep things in order and to keep it in the proper context that the whole body might be blessed. That's why we have children's ministry, so that the children are able to learn at their level and they're edified, as well as you're able to come and hear the Word of God without the distractions, that things are done in order, and that you're able to be blessed and edified.

That's why we don't just allow people to stand up here or there and do these different things. Now in an afterglow, we do. We give that opportunity. We need to use the gifts. And so that's why I encourage you to come back tonight and to use them. But now is not the time. Today is not the place. We need to do it in the proper context that God has laid out and set aside. We're going to skip over verses 34 and 35 and move right to 30. No, just kidding. Just kidding. Just kidding. Verse 34. If you didn't get it, you'll understand right now as we read it.

Okay, what is this talking about? You can drop your guns and tomatoes and all that stuff, okay? There is a lot of debate over this whole topic. Should women be allowed to speak, to teach, to share words of prophecy? Should they be allowed to pray within a church, within a service? Now,

I don't believe that this is saying that women cannot share, cannot pray, cannot prophesy, cannot use the gifts of the Spirit within a church. Why don't I believe that? Well, two reasons. Number one, the best...

1 Corinthians 11

women should be allowed to prophesy, should be allowed to pray, should be allowed to use their gifts within the church. And you can check that out or you can get the CD as we talked about chapter 11 a few weeks ago. So Paul's clearly not saying that women can't speak or can't ever share or utter anything or, you know, that they must always be silent if they open their mouth and they're condemned. No, he's not saying that. And husbands, you stop telling that to your wives, okay? He's not saying that. Well, what is he saying? Well,

First, before I go on to that, a couple more examples. Luke 2, verse 38. We find Anna. Who's Anna? Well, she's a prophetess in the temple of God. God had ordained, God had anointed a prophetess. She was a woman, but she shared the word of God, and she announced Christ to those who were around when his parents brought him to the temple. Acts 21, verse 9. Philip, he had four daughters who were all called prophetesses. Those who are able to prophesy, it's easier to say.

God ordains that. It's not saying that women can't talk, women can't use the gifts within the assembly, within the gathering together of the brethren. We also need to look at the context. Look at verse 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 the church.

What is he saying? Well, remember he's talking about order within the church. He's talking about things must be done decently. Things must be done in order. If there's tongues, let it be one at a time. Let there be interpretation. Prophecy, let it be done one at a time. No disruptions, not interrupting each other. And then he goes on to talk about this couple verses about women. Now,

Here's what I believe he's saying. Because of verse 35 where he says, if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands. He's not talking about women sharing their gifts or using their gifts. He's talking about women asking questions in the middle of service. Asking questions

And disrupting the service. Now, some have speculated, and it might be true, it might not, we don't really know for sure, but the Jewish settings for temple services and for meetings was that the guys would be on one side and the girls would be on the other. Could be that Corinth was meeting like this? Could not be as well because it was not a predominantly Jewish meeting.

But it could have been that way that they met like that. And so if the wives are on this side and the husbands are on this side and they're talking back and forth, well, yeah, obviously that's going to be disrupted. Or in the middle service, you know, she's elbowing him and saying, hey, what does he mean by this? Or what is that prophet saying? Or this or that? Well, then there's going to be disruption. There's going to be problems. And so Paul's saying, look,

We don't want disruptions. We don't want these distractions, these things, because they distract or they take away from the things that God wants to do. There shouldn't be that interruption, that disruptive talk in the middle of service. And I'll leave it at that and we'll move on.

There's other scriptures if you want to look at 1 Timothy 2. It talks about women are not to usurp the authority in a church and teach doctrine in a sense. And so there's a place for that and there's a context for that. But he's not saying women have to be silent in the church by all means. Use your gifts. Use your gifts. God has given them to you that you would lift up, that you would edify, that you would build up all those around you. Well, verses 36 through 38 now.

He questions them and he says, Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it only you that it reached? 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. But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.

He asks a question. He's basically anticipating that they're going to argue or question some of the things that he's saying. Because their spiritual services, their gatherings together from what is reported is quite chaotic. There was people talking all out of turn, crazy things going on. But they were eagerly desiring after those spiritual gifts and those things. And so they thought they were really spiritual because all this chaos was going on. But Paul says, no, it needs to be done in order.

Now, as he's correcting them, he's anticipating that they're going to say, well, wait, no, Paul, this is what God has given to us. You don't understand. Maybe it's not that way everywhere, but God has given this to us. And Paul reminds them, hey, you're not the standard. You're not the standard. God's word didn't come only to you, but God's word has come to all of us.

Not just through Paul, but through the apostles. And there's a proper way, Paul says, to use the gifts. And the way that you're doing it is not it. But it needs to be done decently and in order. So you're not extra spiritual because of the chaos. But you're more spiritual if you do it decently and in order. Because that's the way that God has ordained. So he says, hey, if you're arguing, if you think you're a prophet, if you think you're spiritual, acknowledge that the things I'm telling you are the commandments of the Lord.

Understand that this is what God is saying, Paul says. This isn't what I'm telling you just because that's what I feel like. This is what the Lord is saying. And those who think they're spiritual and contradict this thing, they're fooling themselves or they're fooling others, but they're not fooling God. They're contradicting the things of God and it's not the way that God has ordained it. God doesn't contradict himself. He doesn't interrupt himself. He's not the God of chaos, but he's the God of order.

And he concludes by saying, if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant. Now, this is interesting. If anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant. Many times, as believers, we feel that it's our responsibility to correct everybody in every situation in every way possible. But that's not what God says. Now, if there's sin involved, then we definitely do need to take action. 1 Corinthians 5 told us all about that. But,

In this instance, hey, if someone believes a little bit differently, if they're ignorant about the use of the gifts, he says, it's okay. Let God instruct them. Pray for them. But you don't have to correct everybody. You don't have to correct every denomination, every church that doesn't use these gifts right. Every person in the body that uses their gifts or misuses them a little bit or is a little bit immature in the way that they use their gifts. If they're ignorant, if they don't want to receive it, it's okay. Let God do the work in them. Pray for them. God will instruct them. God will teach them.

He wraps it all up in verses 39 and 40 by leaving us with three things. He says, Number one, he says, desire earnestly to prophesy.

We talked about that last week, but let me ask you, have you desired earnestly this week to prophesy? Have you been passionately seeking, Lord, use me to share your word with my family, with the family of God, with my friends, with my co-workers. Use me, Lord, to speak words of prophecy. Again, not just telling the future necessarily, but speaking on behalf of God, speaking God's heart to a situation or circumstance.

Have you been eagerly desiring? I challenge you to eagerly desire the gift of prophecy, to be able to share with people what God has to say. Come here expecting to be used by God, not just to be blessed, but come here to be used by Him, to minister through Him and through His power, to use the gifts that God has given you. The second thing he says is, do not forbid to speak with tongues. Again, we can go from one extreme to the other. We can allow tongues like crazy tongues,

Or we can forbid it. But Paul says neither of those are the right position. We need to find the balance in the middle that says, yes, tongues is a good gift. Earnestly desire that gift as well. It builds you up spiritually. It helps you in your walk with the Lord. It draws you close to the Lord. But use it in the right context. Don't forbid it completely. But just give the proper instruction that it's used in the right context at the right place.

And then thirdly, in verse 40, let all things be done decently and in order. And that's why we do the things that we do. That's why we have the services the way that we have them. That things would be decent, that things would be in order, that we would all be able to come and be blessed. And so use your gifts. Seek to use them. Look for opportunities to use them. Desire earnestly to be used by God, but be even sure about it. Keep it in the proper context. Allow God to direct you, not your flesh. Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, we do thank you for this morning and your word which speaks to us, Lord, and encourages us.

to desire spiritual gifts, Lord. And sometimes, Lord, it's just amazing, Lord, when we think about the fact that you want to use us, Lord, that you desire to empower us and to speak through us, God. We're not worthy. We don't deserve it. But, God, we thank you that you desire to use us, that you desire to speak words of prophecy through us, words of knowledge and insight, words of wisdom. God, we ask that you would help us to be open to that, that we would seek and earnestly desire to be used by you,

but help us to come here to bless others to encourage others to build up others to strengthen others in their walk with you use us lord

Lord, I pray that you would help us also not to forbid to speak in tongues, God, that we wouldn't look down on it, that it wouldn't be a gift that we despise, God, but that we would encourage people. But just in the proper context, Lord, I ask that you would pour out the gift of tongues upon this body, Lord, that we would be Christians and believers who are able to draw close to you, that we spend time with you on our own, in our prayer closet, speaking to you, drawing close to you, allowing our spirit to be edified.

And Lord, I ask also, lastly, that you would help us help this body, Lord, living water, to continue to allow services to go on, to continue to allow gifts to be used, but to keep things decent and in order. God, that we would be in your will, that we would be in balance in the teaching of the gifts and the use of the gifts, Lord, in the way that we live, in the way that we bless others, the way that we lift up and we edify it.

Use us, we pray. Thank you, Jesus. It's in your name we pray. Amen.