1 Corinthians | Chapter 14 – Scripture Supply

1 Corinthians 14:1-12

“Look, Who’s Talking?”

I. Intro

Paul has systematically answered the Corinthian believers’ questions concerning spiritual matters. In the 12th chapter, his point was that diversity was fine as long as it was maintained in unity. Then in the 13th chapter, Paul spoke on the motive behind the gifts—love. In the 14th chapter, he combines both of these thoughts into function as he gives guidelines concerning their operation within the church service. I think we would all agree that the most difficult daily task we struggle with is communication. Misunderstanding or being misunderstood is an everyday problem, but for the most part, all that happens is a little ruffled feather. But what if we had one of those professions where misunderstanding could cause irreversible consequences? Or worse yet, what if our communication caused eternal consequences?

Most of you have attended other Church services prior to coming to Calvary Chapel, and they all differ somewhat, don’t they? Well, in this chapter that deals with communication, Paul reveals three things every Church service must have as he weighs in on the subject of the spiritual gifts in the church service. To do this, he uses three words that outline what ought to make up our meetings:

Vs. 1-5 Edification: Four times in these five verses, Paul uses this word, which comes from the construction realm as it literally means to “build up.” The primary quest of our gathering together this day is to build each other up in our walk with the Lord. Jude put it this way: “beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” (Jude 1:21)
Vs. 6-25 Understanding: This word appears eight times in these verses, and it is clear that what we do here this morning needs to be easily understandable. You cannot build anyone up if what we are saying is not coming through! I’m not just talking about the quality of the sound but that it is presented in a way that people can grasp it and apply it to their lives. All too often, I’m afraid that you go to church, and a variety show breaks out.
Vs. 26-40 Order: Although this word only appears once in these verses, it is the sum total of what Paul is speaking about. Believers need to be able to come to Church and have answers to the questions of how to handle life on this planet, and order makes certain that they will be able to do so. No one likes disorder or chaos. I’m not saying that we are all neat freaks, but we sure do like to go to a store and find things neatly arranged on the shelves.

What’s the thread that links these three ingredients together? Well, it is communication! If our communication is geared towards building others up, is done so in a way that is easily understood, and always found in the same place, you can bet that lives are becoming more like Jesus!

II. Vs. 1-5 Who Are You Talking To?

Vs. 1: The first verse here ties the three chapters together:

Pursue love: This takes us back to the last chapter and the single greatest need that the Corinthian Church had. Their problem lay not in the gifts but rather in that they operated the gifts without love. So Paul says, “pursue love,” literally “hunt after with great intensity”—the word is used elsewhere to mean persecute. They had hunted after gifts but had forgotten to hunt after love, and the outcome was just noise!
Desire spiritual gifts: This takes us back to the 12th chapter, and by this, Paul sets the balance, as these two things are not mutually exclusive of each other. In fact, it is love that is the motive of spiritual gifts, and spiritual gifts that cause us to grow in God’s love. The importance is to get the motive right so that the outcome would be right.

Ah, but how will this work within the Sunday morning Church service? Well, Paul says, “especially that you may prophesy.” I know that this may be a bit confusing because of the misconception of what prophecy is.

First, the structure of this sentence in the Greek makes the emphasis not upon the individual believers seeking to prophesy but rather that the Church desires that the gift be used when they are gathered.
Second, the gift is, as we have said before, not as much concerned with predicting the future as it is revealing the meaning of the present. Since the goal is to build others up in a way easily understood, then what could be better than this gift where believers gain understanding of God’s mind so that they can apply it to their circumstances? Perhaps we could substitute the phrase “expository teaching” for the word prophesy and gain better understanding? Any time we Christians can better understand what God is doing in our lives instead of being overwhelmed by the illusions and mistaken notions that the world offers us, we are going to be more loving!

Vs. 2: Paul is going to compare the gift of tongues, which the Corinthians so prized, with that of prophecy to show why prophecy was more useful in the public service. First, Paul reveals several things about the gift of tongues that help us to understand its usage:

First, the word used here is the common Greek word for language. That fact, combined with the context of the passage, makes it clear that we are talking about a gift of language that the person has never learned.
Second, we notice right here that Paul says, “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God.” This is further brought out in verse 28 as Paul says, “if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.” Simply put, this language is to God and not to men unless there is an interpretation, and then as he says in verse 27, “let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret.” So we learn that this is a gift of communication between man and God, but just what is being said? Well, Paul gives us three applications of the gift of tongues in verses 14-16, but remember, this is only to be used between us and God unless there is someone who has the interpretation, and then only two or three at most.
- Vs. 14 Prayer: “If I pray in a tongue,” Clearly, there is a prayer language in which the believer who has been given this gift communicates with God in a language never learned. In Romans 8:26-27, Paul has something very enlightening to say on this as he says, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” Here the gift is used because of the weakness of not knowing how to pray for specific situations, making intercession for us with groans or “sighs that baffle words.” Have you ever had that experience where you just don’t know how to pray, but your heart emphasizes with the person and you sigh? Well, then, welcome to the world of tongues! The language is unknown to me, but thank the Lord it is not unknown to Him. That is why Paul says, “I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful,” and that is fine because I’m praying for someone else.
- Vs. 15 Praise: “I will sing with the spirit.” Here we see another application of tongues, and it is praise towards the Lord. Worshipping Him directly from a heart of adoration in a language unhindered by our sorting through the right things to say. I believe that is what happened in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost. We are told that they were “all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” And what each group heard—at least 15 different dialects—was the same thing as they marveled, saying, “we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” Yes, tongues were a witness to unbelievers, but that was not what the disciples meant it to be, as they were just overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit and began to praise the Lord.
- Vs. 16 Thanksgiving: “If you bless with the spirit.” Again, this needs to be put into context as being towards God and not men. So then the thanksgiving would be directly towards the Lord and not men. The blessing of the Lord without interference from our intellect—just pure thanksgiving. It is no wonder that this gift will become of no use in heaven, as our hearts and minds will unify without any worldly distraction.

The final point on the gift of tongues is that the one who receives the “building up” is the person who exercises the gift unless there is the companion gift of interpretation. In the public Church service, where the main emphasis is that of building up others, this gift is not necessary. It is for this reason here at Calvary Chapel that we do not exercise this gift during our service, as others would not receive any benefit. In fact, it could cause others just to be confused (verse 23).

There are those who like to say that Paul is making a distinction between tongues that were being practiced by the Corinthian believers and that of what was spoken of in the book of Acts. They say that what Paul was coming against was a pure pagan practice, which is what is being done today by those who have the gift. It is true that ancient cultures did whip themselves up into a frenzy in which gibberish was uttered, but Paul makes no such distinction between what was being done by the Corinthians and what he himself practiced. Paul does not put down the gift—in fact, he says that to use it was to God and not to man. The problem was not that it was a pagan practice, but rather that it was a spiritual gift exercised in an unbiblical manner.

Vs. 3: In contrast to the gift of tongues, Paul speaks of the three effects of the gift of prophecy when exercised in the Church service. The first thing to note is that when this gift is exercised, it is from the Holy Spirit to men, whereas tongues are from man by way of the Holy Spirit to the Lord. “He who prophesies speaks… to men”:

Vs. 3a Edification: The word here is one that we have already discussed, as it means to “build up,” specifically by way of laying a proper foundation. So we see that the expositional teaching of the Word of God will lay the foundation for people to get them away from their emotions and feelings and upon the truth of the word.
Vs. 3b Exhortation: This word in the Greek is the same word as the one used for the Holy Spirit—“paraclete”—which means “one called alongside to help.” Here the idea is to strengthen, steady, or support a person. Thus, expositional teaching steadies us in our walk with the Lord by way of encouragement as well as warning.
Vs. 3c Comfort: This word (only found here in the N.T.) has the same root as the above—“called alongside”—but here the ending means “put oneself in the place of another,” thus the idea is coming to the aid of another not to strengthen but for emotional support. We have all had this experience upon hearing the Word of God, feeling as though the person speaking knows just exactly what you are going through.

Vs. 4-5: It is for this reason that Paul says that he wanted the Corinthians “even more to you prophecy… that the church may receive edification.” Why? Because as he says in verse 4, “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.” The purpose of the gifts in the Church service is to build up others, as Paul had already told them in 12:7 that “the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all.” And since “tongues were” primarily for personal use unless interpretation, it was not what they should be focusing on.

III. Vs. 6-12 What Did You Say?

Vs. 6: What interests Paul is the Church service and each person being “profitable” towards others. Interestingly enough, he mentions four things that he could speak that would be useful to them:

Revelation: The word here means to disclose that which was previously hidden.
Knowledge: The word here means experiential understanding, and in context, would be used of this kind of knowledge concerning the Word of God.
Prophesying: We have already looked at this word, which refers to disclosing the mind of God to present circumstances.
Teaching: This word means instruction and would point to particular doctrinal matters.

In each case, we can see that prophecy does those four things for others, whereas tongues do not. Paul even uses himself—an apostle—as an example, saying, in effect, that even if he came and exercised the gift of tongues within the church service, it would not profit them because it would lack the above four things.

Vs. 7-11: To support this, Paul gives three examples to illustrate his point that there must be understanding if there is to be corporate benefit:

Vs. 7 Music: There is within music distinct sounds played in pitch, rhythm, and harmony if it is to be enjoyed. Without that, all you end up having is noise. Music played with those things is very enjoyable, but without it, it is unbearable. I was treated to a concert in Russia, which represented the atheistic view in which everything is random without any musical composition, and at best it sounded as if they were all just tuning up.
Vs. 8 Battle call: The military used bugles and their sounds to move thousands of men either to battle, to get up out of bed, or to supper. But if the sound were uncertain without understanding, the soldier would not know what to do. He may be running to battle when he was supposed to be just called out of bed!
Vs. 9-11 Everyday conversation: Every language is an agreement by all that certain sounds mean certain things—that is really all language is. The problem lies when we are in an area where certain sounds that mean certain things are not sounds that we are familiar with. Because if that is true for us, then our speech would be confusing for others. Why? Because of the lack of understanding. We have all had this experience where we are around those whose sounds mean something different than ours, and we feel foreign, don’t we? The first thing you do is to try to establish what sounds go with what things, but this is very time-consuming.

Vs. 12: The goal, then, is the mutual building up of the body of Christ, thus use the gifts that will best accomplish this! To this end, they were called to make their continual search for that which builds up all the body and not just themselves.

1 Corinthians 14:13-25

“Can You Hear Me Now?”

I. Intro

This chapter deals with proper communication within the Church service. Paul reveals three things every Church service must have as he weighs in on the subject of the spiritual gifts in the church service. To do this, he uses three words that outline what ought to make up our meetings:

Vs. 1-5 Edification: This word appears four times in these five verses. Paul uses this word, which comes from the construction realm, as it literally means to “build up.” The primary quest of our gathering together this day is to build each other up in our walk with the Lord.
Vs. 6-25 Understanding: This word appears eight times in these verses, and it is clear that what we do here this morning needs to be easily understandable. You cannot build anyone up if what we are saying is not coming through! The word needs to be presented in a way that people can grasp it and apply it to their lives. It is this section that we will conclude this morning.
Vs. 26-40 Order: Although this word only appears once in these verses, it is the sum total of what Paul is speaking about. Believers need to be able to come to Church and have answers to the questions of how to handle life on this planet, and order makes certain that they will be able. No one likes disorder or chaos, least of all when they are trying to understand something.

Communication is the thread that links these three ingredients together. When our communication is geared towards building others up, is done so in a way that is easily understood, and always found in the same place, you can bet that lives are becoming more like Jesus!

I find it interesting that while we are looking at proper communication within the Church service, we come to perhaps the most difficult and controversial section in the entire book—the section that deals with the spiritual gift of tongues and its use within the Church. By way of review, here is what we have seen so far concerning the gift of tongues:

First, the word used here is the common Greek word for language. That fact, combined with the context of the passage, makes it clear that we are talking about a gift of language that the person has never learned.
The second point on the gift of tongues is that the one who receives the “building up” is the person who exercises the gift unless there is the companion gift of interpretation. In the public Church service, where the main emphasis is that of building up others, this gift is not necessary. It is for this reason here at Calvary Chapel that we do not exercise this gift during our service, as others would not receive any benefit. In fact, it could cause others just to be confused (verse 23).
The final thing we notice is right here as Paul says, “For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God.” This is further brought out in the 28th verse as Paul says, “if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.” Simply put, this language is to God and not to men unless there is an interpretation. And then, as he says in verse 27, “let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret.” Paul gives us three applications of the gift of tongues in verses 14-16, but remember, this is only to be used between us and God unless there is someone who has the interpretation, and then only two or three at most.
- Vs. 14 Prayer: “If I pray in a tongue.” Clearly, there is a prayer language in which the believer who has been given this gift communicates with God in a language never learned. In Romans 8:26-27, Paul has something very enlightening to say on this as he says, “Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.” Here the gift is used because of the weakness of not knowing how to pray for specific situations, making intercession for us with groans or “sighs that baffle words.”
- Vs. 15 Praise: “I will sing with the spirit.” Here we see another application of tongues, and it is praise towards the Lord. Worshipping Him directly from a heart of adoration in a language unhindered by our sorting through the right things to say. I believe that is what happened in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost. We are told that they were “all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” And what each group heard—at least 15 different dialects—was the same thing as they marveled, saying, “we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”
- Vs. 16 Thanksgiving: “If you bless with the spirit.” Again, this needs to be put into context as being towards God and not men, so then the thanksgiving would be directly towards the Lord and not men. The blessing of the Lord without interference from our intellect—just pure thanksgiving. It is no wonder that this gift will become of no use in heaven, as our hearts and minds will unify without any worldly distraction.

Nowhere in this section does Paul put down the gift; in fact, he himself says that he spoke in tongues more than all of them. The problem was not that it was a pagan practice, but rather that it was a spiritual gift exercised in an unbiblical manner.

II. Vs. 13-19 Church Communication

Vs. 13-14: The word “therefore” brings us right back to Paul’s words in verse 12 that “spiritual gifts” within the church are for the building up of others. Since the context is that of the gifts within the Church service and the goal is building others up, then interpretation would be necessary as Paul will declare in verses 27-28. Most of the complaints concerning the gift of tongues and its biblical viability lie with the misuse of Paul’s words here, making the gift of tongues apart from this nothing more than a disruption within a church service.

Paul uses his own testimony concerning his use of tongues in verse 14 (“For if I pray”). The question is just what does Paul mean by the words “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful”? The difficulty in this statement lies in determining what “spirit” he is speaking of that lacks personal understanding. There are three possibilities:

The word “spirit” represents the higher intellectual power of the soul. As such, the speaker of tongues is in some emotional excitement in which he did not understand what he was saying. The problem with this is that it is inconsistent with the context, especially since Paul is using his own use of the gift as an example.
The second possibility is that Paul means to say that his spirit or “feelings” find release in tongues, but his mind does not gain insight. The problem with this is that the word for “spirit” (pneuma or breath) is most often translated as referring to the Holy Spirit and is never translated as the word “feelings.”
The final possibility is that Paul’s use of the words “my spirit” refers to the Holy Spirit’s exercise of the gift of tongues in Paul. In other words, Paul is just an instrument of the Holy Spirit, and when it is the gift of tongues that the Holy Spirit is working through, Paul’s understanding would be unfruitful as well as others. It is this interpretation that best fits the Greek, as Wuest interprets this section as, “(the human spirit as moved by the Holy Spirit) is praying but my intellect confers no benefit upon others.”

Vs. 15-17: Based upon the lack of understanding, Paul offers the practical conclusion of how to exercise the gift “in the church” (verse 19).

Vs. 15 Understanding: First, Paul says that, using again himself as the example, he will not only pray to exercise the gift, but he will pray that it may be understood by those in the Church as well. Later on in verses 27-28, Paul gives specific guidelines as to how this gift should operate in a church service, but it is based upon the individual who has the gift of tongues understanding what he says in this verse to begin with.
Vs. 16 Comprehension: To further illustrate his point of the need to be understood by those who would hear the gift of tongues, Paul says, “How will they who hear you know when to say amen?” The word “amen” is a Hebrew word that means, “so let it be,” and it was the custom in the synagogue for the people to respond to the prayers by agreement by saying, in effect, “Oh let it be true”! The point is that those that listen will not be able to understand and agree with what is being said.
Vs. 17 Application: The way in which the Corinthians spoke in tongues was done in a way that was both acceptable before the Lord as well as personally beneficial, but others received no benefit, which is what the gifts were to be exercised for.

Vs. 18-19: These two verses reveal two things about tongues that both extremes need to remember:

Vs. 18: It is clear that Paul spoke in tongues on a consistent basis and as such was not against the use of this gift as some today are. In fact, in verse 39, he wanted the Corinthians not to “forbid the use of the gift of tongues.”
Vs. 19: It is also clear that based upon this verse, Paul did not exercise his gift in public, as he wanted them to have understanding. So that would mean that he did so privately for his own edification and not during the church service, as he realized that it was far better that the people heard the expositional teaching of the word of God.

III. Vs. 20-25 What Are You Saying?

Vs. 20: There are two characteristics of children that Paul mentions here, which he is going to use as they relate to the gift of tongues and its operation within the Church service.

Negatively: “Do not be children in understanding; …but in understanding be mature.” Children by nature are naive when it comes to understanding, especially when it comes to the appreciation of things. One only needs to watch a child get more entertainment out of the box than what was in it to realize the truth of this.
Positively: “However, in malice be babes.” Second, children are innocent when it comes to worldly things. This is a good thing—to be ignorant and lack understanding on. Personally, it is unfortunate that most of us have too much history with evil.

So this is Paul’s way of telling the Corinthians to be mature in the word of God and ignorant in the ways of the world. Their problem was that because they did not practice the word of God in the area of the gifts, they were causing others to misunderstand the gifts.

Vs. 21: To further illustrate this, especially as it relates to the gift of tongues, Paul quotes Isaiah 28:11-12. The background on this verse has to do with Israel’s refusal to listen to the word of God. The warning is that since they were not willing to listen to the Lord, then He would allow a nation to invade them who would speak a language they would not be able to understand. Even in this, the Lord declares that they would not hear Him. The sending of the Babylonians was a mark of judgment and not designed for their conversion.

Vs. 22: Here Paul clarifies his point by giving us verse 56. The harm of death is caused by sin and…

Vs. 23-25: To make sure all understood his point, Paul says, “if the whole church comes together in one place.” He is speaking of the Church coming together for a service, and everyone speaking in tongues at one time without any interpretation. All that would happen is that those that would hear this would think only that they were out of their minds.

Yet taking the same scenario of all being together, if the word of God was taught expositionally, then one came in either as an unlearned believer or an unbeliever. They would hear the truth because they would understand it, and as such, would become convinced. How many times over the years have I seen the truth of this as the Bible is being taught—just simply explaining the passage, and someone comes up wanting to give their hearts to the Lord. The first step in any conversion is the realization that we are in need of the Lord. Paul put it this way in Romans 10:17: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” It is the hearing of the word of God that will produce faith!

1 Corinthians 14:26-40

“With Beauty & Arrangement”

I. Intro

In reading through the commentaries on this last section of Scripture, I found a solid word from Alan Redpath. He said, “I have a conviction that many of us Christians need to have a new experience of the Lord. I am not going to quarrel with anyone about the terminology, but I am concerned about the reality of the experience.” What Mr. Redpath writes is the balance between the two positions concerning the gifts of the Spirit. Instead of arguing over the terminology, we ought to be much more concerned over the reality of the experience, not wanting to settle for that which we ourselves manufacture.

In this last section, Paul gives the specifics concerning where, when, and how the gifts of the Spirit are to operate within the Church service. In other words, Paul lays down some rules for the operation of the gifts of the Spirit. People don’t much like rules, do they? I mean, we tend to want to go faster the moment we see the speed limit. I can’t stand the city telling me what color the stucco on this building has to be. But the truth is, without rules or order, we would not be able to function as we do. Take, for instance, the football playoffs. What kind of game would it be if there were no rules? Who would win, and how would you know if they did? I had an experience while in Russia that has been repeated in other countries—people in other countries don’t have traffic rules. They don’t stop for red lights or use their turn signals. The result is total chaos. I’ll tell you, after being over there, you sure do appreciate our driving rules.

II. Vs. 26-35 How to Conduct an Afterglow

Vs. 26: Several things strike me as I read this verse:

The zeal and enthusiasm this church in Corinth had as they came together to share what the Holy Spirit had given them with others: Now don’t misunderstand me—I’m not condoning the Corinthians’ misuse of the gifts, but I am going to praise their desire to come to church and share what the Holy Spirit had given them. Read this verse carefully, and you will see that Paul’s complaint was not that they each had something to give from the Holy Spirit to others, nor does he say that what they had to offer was not from the Holy Spirit. Instead, he says, “the way in which they shared it was not building others up.” I’m personally convinced that there is nothing wrong with getting excited about the Lord, especially as it relates to His revealing more of who He is! The truth is, most of us here who have become Christians did so by the witness of a new believer who was so excited about their new understanding of the person and work of Jesus that they could not contain themselves. This is not a new phenomenon; take, for instance, Peter, who came to Jesus because his brother Andrew had just spent 12 hours with the Lord. Prior to Andrew’s 12 hours with the Lord, he had been with John the Baptist, who had spoken of the Lord, and Andrew just had to see for himself. So he followed the Lord back to where He was staying, spent the night, and then went straight to his brother and proclaimed, “We have found the Messiah!” (John 1:40-41)
How very different their meeting was than what we call church today: Paul lists five things that these Corinthians brought to share with their fellow brothers and sisters—a song of praise, a new insight into the word of God, a proclamation in a tongue of the wonderful works of God, a word from the Lord, and finally, someone ready to interpret what was just spoken in tongues. How are we to understand this in light of our gathering here this morning? The Corinthians’ meeting seems like a “potluck,” only what is being served was not food for the body but rather for the soul! There appears to be no sense of preparation; furthermore, there is no mention of systematic teaching or even preaching the gospel to the lost! Even more surprising is that Paul only offers the exhortation that they make sure that what they do builds others up, with no rebuke for this type of service. Paul’s words address not the content, only that people were doing everything all at once, and because of that, the service looked more like a classroom of 2nd graders who were all vying for attention.

So what about this “Church service” of the Corinthians? Well, it is important to realize that the Church in Corinth did not have a building as we do, thus their ability to meet all at once most likely did not happen very often, if at all. Christianity was not popular, and for the most part, participating could cost you everything. Furthermore, the words Paul uses here to describe this type of gathering are called “come together,” which implies a less formal, more spontaneous meeting. The word in Greek is the same root word where we get our word for “fellowship.” This, coupled with the list of five things that each of those who attended brought, and the lack of systematic teaching or preaching the gospel, leads me to believe that this was a different type of meeting. What I believe Paul is describing here is what some call a “fellowship meeting,” others call a “believers meeting,” and we call an “afterglow.” This makes the most sense to me, seeing that Paul has already spoken about the gift of tongues being primarily for one’s personal building up, thus not necessary for a corporate worship service where there may be unbelievers present. So what we have here is a list of rules for an “afterglow,” which is a meeting of only believers—more spontaneous, where believers come prepared to share their excitement about the person and work of the Lord.

Now, Paul apparently either witnessed their “afterglow” or was told of what was going on, as he specifically addresses three areas that needed to be brought under control. But first, Paul gives the general rule concerning these types of meetings as he says, “Let all things be done for edification.” It appears that these Corinthian believers were so eager to share that they became more interested in self-expression than in making sure that others were being built up. So, just because these “afterglows” are more spontaneous doesn’t mean that they were to be anything other than for others’ growth in Christ.

Vs. 27-28: First, Paul reels in the Corinthians’ use of tongues in the afterglow, and looking at those four things together, I think that they point to a particular problem that Paul, by regulating, will bring under control:

The use of tongues tends to be an emotional event as the Holy Spirit is speaking directly to our hearts, and we, in turn, speak directly back to the Lord. Emotions are given to us by God, but too much emotionalism tends to cause meetings that are centered more upon what we are feeling than the One who has caused us to experience more of Him!

In other words, people can easily get more caught up in the experience than the reason for it. In fact, they begin to gauge whether or not the Holy Spirit was in it based upon the amount of emotionalism at the gathering. So Paul gives four rules and says: “If anyone speaks in a tongue,”

“Let there be two or at the most three”: Paul limits the number of tongues that were to be uttered out loud in a believers’ meeting, even with interpretation, to make sure people didn’t get all wrapped up in the emotionalism of the moment. Paul didn’t want to kill the enthusiasm the Corinthians had for the Lord, but he did want to make sure that their walk went beyond just the emotional enthusiasm of the experience to the practical walk of love that he had spoken of in chapter 13!
“Each in turn”: Simply put, the exercise of tongues must not be simultaneous; the one, two, or three at most need to take turns. So much that is rejected by some in the Church today centers around those who have this gift not exercising biblical control. The outcome is a misuse of the gift and total chaos within a church service. Again, you can see how everybody doing something all at once tends to ride the emotions to a frenzy, all of which would benefit no one else but the person with the gift.
“Let one interpret”: What they said must be interpreted, and as we already saw, the interpretation would be towards God and His wonderful works. Again, you can see how the interpretation would take the emphasis off of the tongue and onto others understanding what was being said.
“But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God”: If the person so gifted with the gift of tongues did not have the gift of interpretation and did not know that anyone there at the meeting did, then Paul clearly instructs them to remain quiet and speak in tongues to themselves and God.

All of this flies in the face of those who say, “The Holy Ghost just came upon me, and I could not control what was happening!” Clearly, Paul didn’t believe that to be the case, as he gives these four guidelines, as well as reminding them in verse 32 that “the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.”

Vs. 29-31: The second area that Paul regulates in the “afterglow” deals with prophecy, which as we have seen deals with both “foretelling” and more commonly “forth-telling.” The Corinthian believers came together with new insight into the person and work of God, but this too had gotten out of control. Again, he offers four guidelines for this gift as well, and generally tying his four guidelines together, we can see the particular problem that Paul’s regulation would control. Too much sharing of what God is revealing to us about himself can tend to put everything upon our intellect, which can quickly move to debate. People also, when they have something to share, tend to go on and on.

“Let two or three prophets speak”: This would tend to prevent lengthy meetings, wouldn’t it? A wise old pastor once told his young protégé after him giving a teaching, “The mind can only absorb what the seat can endure”! I’m told that there are only two types of speakers: those who have something to say and those who have to say something.
“Let the others judge”: Others were to judge whether what the person said was true or not. In other words, just because a person stands up and says something doesn’t make it true, and everything needs to be brought to Scripture to see if it is so! We are told in Acts that even the words of Paul were judged as the Bereans “searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.”
“If anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent”: To avoid arguments, the person who had new insight should wait until the first person was finished, then he could speak while the other person remained silent.
“For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged”: They were to take turns in their sharing of insight, otherwise, no one would be able to follow the conversation.

Vs. 32-33: Here Paul offers two more general statements in anticipation of what some might say to his regulation of these two gifts:

Vs. 32 “We could not help it as we were just possessed by the Holy Spirit!”: To this, Paul plainly says that you can control the gifts. Spirituality does not mean a loss of etiquette; in fact, it is the opposite. One who is under the control of the Spirit would not interrupt others and be rude, as Paul has already stated in chapter 13.
Vs. 33 “This is just the way the Holy Spirit operates here in Corinth!”: To this, Paul has two things to say:
1. “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace”: First, Paul says it doesn’t matter how you think God may be working in Corinth if it is fundamentally inconsistent with His character and nature. What they were doing with the gifts was chaotic, and God does not create chaos but rather He brings about peace. The word “peace” comes from a root word that means “to join,” whereas the word for confusion means “instability.” So Paul makes a play on words, saying that God is not the author of instability, but rather He causes the opposite by causing stability.
2. “As in all the churches of the saints”: Not only were they acting contrary to the way God’s nature is, they were alone in doing so, as God was not working that way in any other Church!

Vs. 34-35: The final area Paul corrects in the “afterglow” service was dealing not with a particular gift of the Spirit but rather with some ladies who were abusing their liberty in Christ by asking too many questions, disrupting the service. These were no doubt the same gals who were using their liberty to cause others to stumble by wearing clothes associated with the temple prostitutes.

It is also important to remember that the gathering probably had women on one side and men on the other, so the problem was that women who were less educated were yelling across the aisle at their husbands asking what was going on. In chapter 11:5, Paul already indicated that women prayed and prophesied in the meetings; his only problem was when they disregarded the Biblical order that God established. The word “to speak” is from a Greek word that means conversation, and we get our word for chatter from it. In other words, Paul is saying idle chatter during this kind of service is out of place, and apparently, it was the women who were doing so.

Man, can you imagine this afterglow? You’ve got several people all speaking in tongues at one time, others trying to interpret. At the same time, you’ve got folks debating over the word of God and some insight God had given them, while the ladies are talking about the sale at Macy’s and yelling at their husbands to tell them what was being said. I’ve watched some Christian services not much different than that and can say that no one is being built up into the grace and knowledge of Jesus.

III. Vs. 36-40 The Place of the Word of God

Vs. 36-38: Here again, Paul anticipates some objections that the Corinthian believers may have to his regulations:

Vs. 36 “You don’t have the corner market on the word of God”: They weren’t the apostles or even the only church that was reached by the word of God. That is why we Christians need to take our practice from God’s word, otherwise, we make ourselves the authority in faith and practice instead of the Bible.
Vs. 37 “If you think you’re truly spiritual, then you will agree that what I’ve just written is the word of God”: This is an important verse as Paul recognizes that what he was writing was, in actuality, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and as such, was the standard by which other practices were to be judged (canon). The Spirit of God never operates contrary to the written Word of God, never! Thus, anyone truly spiritually minded and Spirit-filled will always recognize the sole authority of the Word of God over what and how they practice their faith!
Vs. 38 “If you are going to remain ignorant on this, then you ought to be ignored!”: If a person was going to refuse to order the “afterglow” the way that Paul had commanded in the Word, then they should be ignored and not allowed to be a part of it. They should not be given a platform to speak if they show themselves as not under the authority of the Word.

Vs. 39-40: Here Paul sums up his discussion concerning the “afterglow” by offering two closing statements:

Vs. 39: First, desire to speak words that build others up, with prophecy being better for this than tongues, but nonetheless, do not forbid its use. Tongues clearly have a place, especially in their personal use, but are limited in “afterglow” service.
Vs. 40: Second, let everything be done in this service (as well as everywhere else) “with beauty and arrangement.” Our church services ought to be arranged in such a way as to be non-offensive. Now, the word of God is an offense, Paul said in the first chapter, but the way in which we conduct ourselves ought not to be an offense. More than just not being an offense, how our service flows should be a work of art! There should be a sense of harmony as we meet together, even in an “afterglow” where no preparation has been made.