Prophecy is Greater than Tongues 1 Corinthians 14 Notes

 Prophecy > Tongues Sermon Notes

Open with me to 1st Corinthians 14 and let’s Pray.

-The Holy Spirit Teaching Us

-Unity of the Brethren

-To Pursue Love

1 John 1:5 “God is light: in Him there is no darkness at all.”

Of all the light [electromagnetic spectrum] that is whizzing around us.  Humans can only see what we call visible light, and this light makes up less than 1% of all the light, actually less than 35 ten thousandths of a % of all the light.  We see in a mirror dimly but one day we will see Him face to Face.  And so it is with the Holy Spirit Gift of tongues.  There is some small percentage of the Glory that God is due that I am actually able to give in the English language.  But, when praying, it can become overwhelming and we just don’t have the words to express to God what needs to be said, so the Holy Spirit intercedes for us with groaning beyond our understanding… and this exalts God to His True place, this is 100% of the light or 100% of the Glory that He is due.  Tongues are important and tongues are a good gift from God than are used to give that 100% Glory TO GOD.  But, in this chapter Paul says, prophecy is greater… and we are to seek the greater gifts.  

So what is Prophecy, this can be confusing because prophecy in the Old Testament was almost always telling the future, but in the New Testament this word profetaia means words that come with divine inspiration and can do 5 specific things: 

1) declaring the purposes of God 

2) exhortation or encouraging the abandonment of sin 

3) comforting the afflicted 

4) revealing hidden truth 

5) foretelling future events

Notice only 20% of that list is telling the future.  Much of New Testament prophecy is forth-telling not foretelling, bringing forth the declaration of God to the people… in a language they can understand and think about and agree with.  

So, in short, Tongues is spoken TO God to give him that 100% Glory that our human language is incapable of and Prophecy is FROM God to speak His Heart for our building up.

Now after Paul writes, the Love Chapter 13, declaring that all these spiritual gifts are nothing if we have not love that the Greatest Commandment is Love! He continues in chapter 14, saying.

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

Now, if we weren’t so such sticklers for expository line by line and precept upon precept preaching then we could just stop there and call it a day.  But, his whole point that he has been building up to throughout the letter is that the church services in Corinth are a problem, they are a free for all of chaotic mess with everyone speaking in tongues and prophecying loudly over the top of each other, with people bringing feasts for themselves and others starving, with people having Communion then turning around and sleeping with a temple prostitute, the whole issue with separation in the church over whether to eat meat offered to idols or not to, with women who used to be temple prostitutes shouting out questions in the middle of teaching, and Paul has built a case throughout this letter teaching carefully about unity and love and how order and spiritual gifts should be used in general for the building up of the church so that now he can finally get to the specific issue of the disorderly use of the gift of tongues.

 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.

If you get nothing else from this understand what Paul is saying here very clearly.  Tongues is projected TO GOD and Prophecy is projected FROM God.  Tongues Glorifies God and therefore builds up the speaker.  Prophecy Builds the Hearer.  Now, please don’t think that Paul or I are down on tongues that we are against it in any way, here’s what he says:

 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.

I want you all to have this blessing of 100% adoration that human language just can’t do in order to build yourself up through Glorifying God FULLY.  But, even more I want you to declare the deep things of God to one another, encouraging and comforting each other, revealing hidden truth, and even foretelling what is to come.  That builds up everyone who hears it.  That is even better.  Why is it better?

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

So tongues is a wonderful thing but when you do it around me it makes me feel like a foreigner to you… I don’t know what you are saying so I’m just waiting for you to be done and not getting anything out of it… but when you prophecy, which could be a comforting word, or an exhortation or encouragement, I can hear it and synthesize it with my mind and agree with it.  I’m involved in the situation.  It becomes a moment where we can have unity together as the body of Christ.

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

Now, those of you that have been in a charismatic or pentecostal movement for some time might think that Paul is anti-tongues here or that I am anti-tongues but check out this next verse.

 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.

Well there it is.  It’s not about speaking in tongues or not speaking in tongues, it’s about what is best for building up the church.  If Paul feels so strongly that you shouldn’t speak in tongues in the church service but he speaks in tongues more than all of us, where must he be speaking in tongues?  It must be in his personal prayer life.  So, it’s not that prophecy is better in all circumstances, when you are alone with God overwhelmed with emotion and unable to express in the English language the Glory that He deserves, tongues.

Anecdote: I probably don’t speak in tongues more than all of you, but I have spoken in tongues when overwhelmed and it’s a wonderful thing to Glorify God in that way.

 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.

I think that’s very clear.  Tongues is a wonderful gift for your prayer to God but in the church service, let’s prophecy for all these reasons layed out, unless there is an interpretation of the tongues, those who hear it will be foreigners to you and it is unfruitful.  But, prophecy, is fruitful for the building up of the church… prophecy again meaning ecplaining the deep things of God, comforting, encouraging, exhortation, etc…  Now, here’s the hard part.

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

I think that might be Paul’s way of saying, “here’s the hard part.”

 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.”

Ok, here is why this begins to be a little tougher to understand.  This is a quote from Isaiah 28:11,12  which is not in the Law and Paul knows that Isaiah is not in the Law, the Law is the first 5 books of the bible called the Pentateuch and Isaiah is in a group of writings that Paul would have called The Prophets, so that’s our first conundrum, why did Paul say it is written in the Law? However, if we go back to the Law, specifically Deuteronomy then we can see the context of these verses in Isaiah 21:  You see, in Deuteronomy, I think, 28, it talks about curses that will happen to those who do not follow God’s ways, His commands and decrees, and it says a nation with a language that you do not understand will come and invade and basically that every time you hear them speaking that foreign language in your streets it will be a sign to you that you have not followed the Lord.

Deuteronomy 28:49 The Lord will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand,

Now, what’s happening in Isaiah is that the prophet warned the kingdoms of Ephraim and Judah not to reject the Lord but they went against the Lord and against Isaiah saying that he was always precept upon precept and line upon line and here a little and there a little, and Isaiah predicted rightly that when the Assyrians invade it will be a sign to you that you should have listened to that line upon line, precept upon precept, real prophecy from the Lord when you see that God tried to reach you with your own language and you wouldn’t listen you’ll see the sign of not understanding a foreign language when they take over, essentially, I’ll speak through their foreign tongue to you as a sign that you should have listened to the prophecy. 

 Isaiah 28:11 Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people,

12 to whom he said, “This is the resting place, let the weary rest”; and, “This is the place of repose”— but they would not listen.

 22 Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers. 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?

What I think Paul is getting at here is a bit tricky, he’s saying that just like the Israelites invaded by the Assyrians because they wouldn’t follow the Lord, these people who are unbelievers will not be persuaded to follow the Lord by tongues, it will just be a sign to them in a bad way, a sign that the people in this church are foreigners to them, they will have a reaction to them like that of an invading army and hate your church.  I felt like that was a little tricky to unpack but Paul is basically saying, when you speak in tongues in church without a translator it makes everyone uncomfortable.

 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.

So, when you hear the deep mysteries of God, the comfort, the exhortation: the prophecy, in your own language, you are drawn to God, you are able to move from hearing to thinking to mulling over to realizing it is Truth not from man but from God that you are hearing and you are won into the kingdom of God.

Orderly Worship

26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 27 If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 30 If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

Now, I don’t know why he limits things to 2 or 3 but maybe the children’s church workers will run out of snacks or something and people get tired and you’ve got to end sometime, I don’t think the specific 2 or 3 really matters as much as having order to  your worship, it can’t be a free-for-all where people are shouting over each other and all speaking at the same time and interrupting ending with my favorite verse in this section that my wife and I quote to each other that our God is a God not of confusion but of Peace.  That can get you through some tough times, that verse.

Pastor Dan did a great job speaking about the women of Corinth a few weeks ago so I would have you reference his remarks about the next section, Paul expresses the importance of order and submission one to another in marriage and there were a lot of problems with that as there are alot of problems with that in our day, but as you know, Paul also clearly spoke of women that had prophetic gifts and teaching gifts and that were leaders in the church, but in this moment, with a bunch of women who were reformed temple prostitutes this is how he could best say this to help the church build each other up, because that’s what it’s about, it’s not about personally what I want or what you feel you should be able to do, it’s about pursuing love with your spiritual gifts to build up the whole church.

As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. 35 If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

36 Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? 37 If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. 38 If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. 39 So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40 But all things should be done decently and in order.

Prayer.

-Thank you for this teaching

-Give us the Gift of Tongues that we could exalt you and glorify you in our daily prayers, that we could give to you the Glory due your name in moments of unspeakable awe.

-But, even moreso give us the gift of prophecy to uncover and explain the deep things of God, to comfort and encourage one another in the Faith.

–and above all, show us how to do so with the utmost Love, respect, and orderliness so that we can show that you are not a God of chaos but The God of Peace.  Give us peace today and throughout this week that can only come from knowing you through your son Jesus Christ.

Amen.