1 Corinthians 14:13-25

                                                     1 Corinthians 14:13-25

Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret.  For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful.  What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.  Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying?  For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.  I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.   Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.  Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.  In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.”  Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.  If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

Paul continues to compare tongues and prophecy as to their source and their purpose.  He wants to make sure that we understand that the gift of tongues can be easily misunderstood and therefore should be practiced with great care and limitation especially in a public setting.  These two principles can be helpful.

 

TONGUES ARE FROM THE SPIRIT NOT THE MIND: We are to love God with both our mind and our spirit.  The gift of tongues when spoken in public will have no impact on the mind because nobody knows what is being said.  No matter if the tongues is being used as a form of prayer, praise, or thanksgiving.  If there is not an interpreter Paul says that five words spoken from the mind are better than ten thousand that are spoken in the spirit only, that is in tongues.  We are to use our words and gifts in church and in public as a means of building others up. 

 

TOUGUES ARE FOR BELIEVERS NOT UNBELIEVERS: Though Paul spoke in tongues, he did not use them without wisdom or without limits.  He recognized that in public settings where it was possible that there would be unbelievers present, tongues would not be understood.  Those who are unbelievers and witness people using their gift of tongues would not understand what they were saying and would think that they were insane.  However, if and unbeliever enters, and hears believers teaching or prophesying, they will understand and could be convicted.

 

APPLICATION: Our gifts and speech should stimulate both the spirit and the mind of both those who speak and those who hear.  We must consider how others will view our services and what they will understand.  Our goal is for others to understand the Word and will of God through our teachings.

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