Biblical perspective on Prophecy and Tongues – 1 Corinthians 14:1-25

Good morning church! Hope you’re well this morning. A warm welcome to you all in the name of Jesus Christ. If you’ve been tracking with us, you would’ve noticed that we’ve been going through a series titled The Church: God’s Dwelling Place from the letter of 1st Corinthians. 

And the recurring theme that we’ve seen week after week is this that the church isn’t a building but a People – God’s redeemed people among whom He dwells! Today we arrive at 1 Corinthians 14 where Paul directly addresses the “controversial” topics on the gifts of prophecy and tongues in the life of the church. But before I proceed, I would love for all of us to pray and ask God for help with this text.

As we tackle this difficult and controversial topic of prophecy and tongues in the church, I just want to be honest to say that we’ve not spoken a lot about this in the last nine years that we’ve been gathering as a church.

We’ve preached a sermon once on “prophecy” few years back. Usually if someone asks me or Saju on what is our church’s position, we’ll tell it to them but overall we’ve not spoken on this a lot.

So in some ways I see this as God’s providence in bringing this text because it gives us an opportunity to teach and disciple biblically on this topic. So what’s our position on this?

We believe that all of the spiritual gifts mentioned in the bible including the miraculous gifts like healing, prophecy and tongues still exist in the church today and are equally valuable and beneficial to the church.

Even as I say this, we’re aware that there could be some among us who believe that these miraculous gifts don’t exist in the church anymore. We respect that and we know of many well meaning, godly believers through the years have held to that conviction.

What we would say is that this isn’t a major doctrine of the bible like salvation through faith over which we need to break our fellowship or be divided over. In fact we welcome conversations where we can sit across the table and biblically work through passages like these so that we land on a position which is not based on our personal preference or our past experiences but based on the word of God.

You may say “brother Jinson, all this great but what’s the biblical basis for your position?” And my response would be that there’s actually no clear, direct passage in the Bible which tells us that these miraculous gifts ceased to exist after the establishment of the early church and after the NT was written down. In fact it’s quite the contrary, where there are more passages which encourage us to desire and use these gifts.

In this chapter alone, Paul tells us to earnestly desire the gift of prophecy not once but twice. In 1 Thess 5:20, Paul instructs to not despise prophecies but test them.

Even some of the passages which are used to support the position of miraculous gifts ceasing to exist after the early church don’t actually say that. Usually 1 Cor 13:8-12 is used as a supporting passage.

1 Corinthians 13:8-12 ESV [8] Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. [9] For we know in part and we prophesy in part, [10] but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. [11] When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. [12] For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Now as we heard in last week’s sermon, these verses are not referring to the ceasing of miraculous gifts after the establishment of church or after the NT was written. It’s instead referring to the second coming of Jesus Christ when at that point there will be no longer any need for spiritual gifts because at that time we will know Christ fully.

But until that time, we will need spiritual gifts including the miraculous ones. So in a sense, these verses support the opposite view which is that these giftings will continue to exist until the second coming of Jesus.

Having said that, the biblical definition and practice of these gifts are quite different from what we see in churches around us. Though we believe that these miraculous gifts exist today, we believe that there’s a biblical guideline on what is the nature of this gift and how it is used in the context of the church. It’s not spooky, it’s not awkward, it’s not chaotic and that’s precisely why Paul wrote this passage.

And that’s what I want to invite you all into – if we could lay aside our judgments and preconceived notions about these miraculous gifts and embrace whatever God’s Word is telling us on this topic.

Now with that, let’s get into chapter 14. Today for a change we will look through the text verse by verse instead of 3 points.

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

Pursue love – Don’t you find it interesting that Paul spent one whole chapter – chapter 13 teaching the church about love before getting to the “how to” of spiritual gifts? He knew that they were eager to talk about miraculous gifts, so he wanted them to pause and think. He basically set the foundation by telling them that if they didn’t have love for each other, then no matter what gift they had, it was all going to be useless. I think it’s a helpful place for us to start as well.

Earnestly desire spiritual gifts – One thing this tells me that although we need to be content with the spiritual gift that God has given us, it’s not a bad thing to earnestly desire and ask God for more gifts so that we can serve the church.

especially that you may prophesy – Now it seems like he’s singling out this gift but it’s not the case. There is a context to this. The Corinthian church were big on speaking in tongues and they saw that as a gift that would make them appear to be more spiritual and superior than the others. And what Paul’s going to do over the next whole chapter is build a case as to why prophecy is a more helpful gift in the setting of public corporate worship.

Prophesy – One quick disclaimer on the NT gift of prophecy. It is not to be equated with the Bible. It is not authoratative like the Bible. It’s not infallible and inerrant. People who have the gift of prophecy can go wrong, which is why their prophecies need to be weighed by others (v29).

Look with me at verses 2-6:

[2] For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. [3] On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. [4] The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. [5] Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

So Paul is in no way degrading or downplaying the gift of tongues. He’s basically saying that tongues are meant for private worship but prophecy on the other hand is meant to build up other believers in a public worship setting.

The only exception to using the gift of tongues in public worship is as long as there is an interpreter of tongues. So if there is someone to interpret, then tongues can be expressed during public worship. If there is no one with the gift of interpretation, then it should not be exercised in that public corporate setting.

Just a side note – look at the way prophecy is described in v3 – upbuilding, encouragement and consolation. One of the main goals of prophecy is to encourage and comfort God’s people. There’s a shepherding and a caring that is taking place. It’s not fortune telling or future prediction.

I hope you can already see here – the definition and practice of these gifts that we see in churches in the world are quite different from the guidelines mentioned in the Bible.

In the next few verses, Paul will use different examples and analogies to drive home the point of how prophecy is a more helpful gifting in the context of public corporate worship.

[6] Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?

(Paul uses his own example to say that if he came to their church only to speak in tongues which they didn’t understand, how would they benefit from it?)

[7] If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? [8] And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? [9] So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. [10] There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, [11] but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me.

The point Paul is trying to make here is that being able to understand and help each other takes priority over simply exercising our spiritual gifts.

Imagine if our sermons were loaded with alot of heavy theological terms and sophisticated language but no one understands what we are trying to say, it’s useless.

[12] So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

The Corinthians were very eager in displaying and showing off their spiritual gifts, and Paul was trying to tell them that they were getting it wrong. Their focus needed to be on building up each other. Their focus needed to be on serving each other. Their focus needed to be on helping each other. Their focus needed to shift from themselves to the others in their church.

One of the hardest things to do is to avoid the tendency to make our spiritual gifts all about ourselves. Our sinful heart craves for validation, affirmation and glory and so often times we view our spiritual gifts as something to get us that validation, affirmation and glory that our hearts craves for.

[13] Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret.

The Bible’s instruction to all who have the gift of tongues is that they pray so that they may also have the gift of interpretation because then they can be of better help to the local church.

[14] For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. [15] 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.

When someone has the gift of tongues, his spirit communicates with God but his mind is unengaged. So the desire of every believer should be that he’s also able to engage his mind along with his spirit and that’s why the gift of interpretation will also benefit the believer himself. V14-15 also gives us hints on what is the content of this speaking in tongues – it’s prayers and praises to God. That’s what we see in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost – they were uttering praises to God in strange tongues.

[16] 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? [17] For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.

[18] I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. [19] Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

Is Paul looking down on the gift of tongues? Absolutely not. He himself had the gift of tongues but he chose to use the gift of teaching and prophecy in public corporate settings because that would be more beneficial for others in the church.

It should make us stop and think – when was the last time we intentionally thought about how to encourage and serve someone else at the church before arriving at a Sunday gathering or GC? When is the last time we decided to willingly give up on something because we felt it would be unhelpful to the others in the church?

I remember as a new believer in my previous church, I would view the communion time as a window to demonstrate my best keyboard solos. People noticed me and some others came and congratulated me after the service but in reality I was a distraction to others in them experiencing God. I’m using my failed example to illustrate how there will be times when we will need to willingly give up on certain things (even using certain spiritual gifts) if it’s not being helpful to others in that context.

[20] Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.

The Corinthians were being childish and immature by using their spiritual gifts as a way to make them seem more superior than others.

[21] 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.” [22] Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.

V21 is a quotation from Isa 28:11-12 where it spoke about God speaking to the Israelites in a foreign language as a sign of His judgment. Through this they would sense God’s judgment and their great distance from God.

Paul is applying this quotation in this context to say that tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers because if an unbeliever hears a believer speaking in strange tongues, they would sense God’s judgment and their great distance from God.

But it’s not all doom and gloom for the unbeliever who comes to a church gathering. We are after all a people of hope…

[23] 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? [24] But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, [25] 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.

In this context, Paul is going from the lesser to the greater. Even if you look from the perspective of your gospel witness to a lost world, if all your church did was speak in tongues it would only remind the lost of their judgment and their great distance from God. But if you prophesy in a language that they understand, then it will actually bring them to conviction, repentance and worship – which is what we desire right?

Paul is nailing down the point – desire prophecy over tongues because it will not only benefit believers but also make the gospel message real and accessible to a lost and dying world around you.

As you can see again, this gift of prophecy is quite different from the versions of prophecy we see in churches around us. It’s not giving us a dreamy future aspiration, it’s not revealing what kind of job we will have next, it’s not telling us about our future financial success, it’s not telling us about the kind of person we will marry, it’s not telling us of who will be the next political power in India.

Real biblical gift of prophecy will convict us of sin and point us to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. So it obviously means that the person with this gift should have a good, solid gospel understanding to be able to communicate that clearly. If the person doesn’t know the Gospel, how will he be able to convict and call someone to repentance?

There is quite some more that we will like to share on these gifts especially on the time & setting for using these gifts. So I’d ask all of you to join us next week as we conclude this topic & also provide some helpful next steps.

As I close, I just want to acknowledge that this isn’t an easy topic for some of us to process and embrace especially if you’ve witnessed the abuse of these particular spiritual gifts. If I’ve to share my story, growing up we had a lot of evangelists and pastors who would drop into our home who claimed to have the gift of prophecy. We were in a very vulnerable position relationally and financially and sad to say they took advantage of us.

So when I became a believer, it became easy for me to swing to the other side and label all of them as fake but it took me some time to study Scripture and also have conversations with other mature believers who have helped me deal with my past baggage.

So if you’re there today, I just want you to know that God doesn’t want you to be skeptical and cynical. He wants to help you deal with this baggage & embrace the purpose that He has through these valuable giftings in the local church.