LESSON 21
(14:1-25)

THE GIFTS OF LANGUAGE

14 Make love your aim, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.  2 For one who speaks in tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.  3 On the other had, he who prophesies speaks to men for their unbuilding and encouragement and consolation.  4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.  5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy.  He who prophesies is greater than he who speaks in tongues, unless some on interprets, so that the church may be edified.
6 Now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how shall 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 you in a tongue 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 shall 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.
13 Therefore, he who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to 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 the spirit and I will pray with the mind also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also.  16 Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how can any one in the position of an outsider say the “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying?  17 For you may give thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified.  18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than you all; 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.
20 Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; be babes in evil, but in thinking be mature.  21 In the law it is written, “By men 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 not for unbelievers but for believers.  23 If, therefore, the whole church assembles and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are mad?  24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, eh 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.

This chapter concludes Paul’s anser to the complex question about spiritual gifts.  Two of the gifts are discussed from the viewpoint of the “common good” of the church.  the last part of the chapter outlines some important facets to be kept in view in a corporate worship.
Love, Paul said, was to be pursued with an earnest vigor because it ave the correct motivation to deeds done or words spoken.  It had the best interests of others in mind and was an attribute that everyone could possess.  From this background in Ch. 13, and the general teaching in Ch. 12 as to the divine origin of all of the gifts, Paul gave some further discussion about use of gifts.  Concern for others and edification of the whole body were to be prominent considerations in usage of any gift.
Since the problem of “tongues” has been around some 2,000 years, the following points are thought worthy of consideration.  The Bible never indicates that:

1) 	People were “more spiritual” who spoke in tongues than those who didn’t do so.  One might be carnal though, or be profited nothing, who did so.
2) 	A person has no control over self in respect to speaking in tongues.  On the contrary, as 14:28, 32 show, self-control was not only possible, it was expected.
3) 	Languages of any sort are helpful unless understood by the hearer.  There must be content that is translatable, 14:6.
4) 	That the Greek term gl_ssa is to be understood in any way except as a bona fide language.  See v. 21.  The Greek term hermeneu_ is never used except to translate another language spoken by some language group.
5) 	Ecstatic utterances as practiced then in many heathen religions were ever a part of Christianity.  Christianity always made sense rather than nonsense.
6) 	Languages as a special gift would continue.  Instead, they were to cease.
7) 	People were to pray to God in any language except their own, or seek to do so.  A “prayer language” is non-scriptural if not anti-scriptural.
8) 	Any experience, such as some charismatics claim in our day, was the criterion by which one could determine whether or not they were Christian.  I John gives at least seven reasons to test one’s Christianity, and not one of them is by such an experience.
9) 	We should expect or seek the so-called “baptism of the Holy Ghost” as some teach.  No one was ever commanded to be immersed in the “Holy Ghost” at any time.  It was promised only to the apostles, Acts 1:5.  By the way, we should disassociate the concept of “ghost” from the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is a being, not a ghost.

14:1 – Make love your aim – The term is di_k_, to persue avidly.  It is often translated as “persecute” since it suggests such a strong pursuit of something or someone. Paul had given plenty of reasons to make their goal love.
prophesy – As will be shown, the prophet was valuable to the church as God’s spokesman.  The revelation that came through the prophet was a means to build up the church.
V. 2 – Unless the language is translated, the only one who understands is God.  Tat is not profitable to those present.
V. 3 – here is the value of the prophet for the brethren.
upbuilding – The prophet’s message was for the “common good” and, since understandable, provided a base for growth.  See on 8:1 for the word behind upbuilding.
encouragement – From parakale_.   See on 1:10, then check Lk. 2:25; 6:24; Jn. 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7; Acts 4:36; 9:31; 13:15; Rom. 12:8; 15:4; II Cor. 1:3-7; Phil. 2:1; I Thess. 2:3; I Tim. 4:13; Phile. v. 7; Heb. 6:18; 12:5; 13:22.
consultation  – paramutheolmai is the word.  It has the idea of cheering up, consoling, or giving solace.  Read Jn. 11:19, 31; Phil. 2:1; I Thess. 2:12; 5:14.
These would be distinct assets in any assembly of the brethren.  So the prophet was valuable to them.  The one who had the gift of language might receive a revelation from God but unless it could be interpreted (i.e., translated) to those present, the gift was of no value.  The prophet was then of greater worth by far.
As 14:6-11 will show, there is no edification unless there is understanding.  To be fruitful, the mind must comprehend, vv. 14-15.
edifies – The whole and sole object of gifts is to edify (“build up” is from the same word in Greek).  Just how the one who spoke in a language built himself up is not stated, but the value of the prophet is clear enough.
V. 5 – The same point as above in different words.  All the gifts, including the language gift, were of God and so of value in the right circumstances.  If they were perceptive, mutual edification would be their prime objective.  As such, all effort would be made to accomplish that task.  Lest we forget, one could be a Christian with no special gifts, but if love were in his/her life, then they would be profitable, 8:1.
interprets – As suggested at the beginning of this lesson, the Greek term behind this word is never used except in reference to translation of a known language to another known (i.e., spoken) language.  It is hermeneu_ in its root form, and comes into English in our word hermeneutics.  The word itself came from the mythical Greek god Hermes, who is mentioned in Acts 14:12.  the term can be found in Lk. 24:27; Jn. 1:38, 42; 9:7; Acts 9:36; I Cor. 12:10; 12:30; 14:26, 27, 28; Heb. 7:2.
V. 6 – This verse through v. 12 deals specifically with the gift of language.  the gift of prophecy had been shown to be valuable to everyone in the church.  Turning to the gift of language (which seemed to be rather desirable to some or Paul wouldn’t have dealt with it at such length), he gives the possibilities (revelation, teaching, knowledge or prophecy) of the gift but then, as in v. 5, dismisses the gift as profitless to the church unless interpreted.  As in 13:1, the language speaker would belike a gong or cymbal, or here, a musical instrument with no intelligible notes.  In fact, the situation would be like two people attempting to communicate but neither knowing the other’s language.  In Corinth, with all the sea traffic and commerce, that example ought to have been clearly understood.
distinct – That is, a note of melody that communicates a message the hearer understands.
V. 8 – No army wants a bugler who can not sound the melody or note that means “charge” or “retreat” or whatever.
V. 9 – speech – From logos, a word or speech.  Any utterance not understood is as useless as can be.
V. 10 – As remarked above, the cosmopolitan city of Corinth would have many languages spoken in its streets, each with meaning to those who knew it.  So also throughout the whole world.  No language group has “babble” as the norm.  Each language has distinct sounds, sound patterns, words with meaning, grammatical relationships, certain tones or pitch contours to be used with certain expressions, etc.  (As an aside, the so-called ecstatic utterances of our day, without exception, have been shown to have no resemblance to language but are just so much noise.)
V. 11 – meaning – That is, the “power” of the impart of the word.
foreigner – The Greek term is barbaros, our barbarian.  It simply meant a person who could not be understood because of the language barrier.
V. 12 – A not so subtle statement about their value systems.  They needed to get their selfish interests out of the picture and get to work in the direction that would benefit the body.  What they were failing to see, seemingly, is that if they built up others, not only would they be like Christ, as part of the body they would benefit themselves as well.  Paul challenged their motives in straight-forward fashion.  Three illustrations had been presented that taught them why the language gift was at the bottom of the list, 12:30, as far as value was concerned.
V. 13 This vers through v. 19 is another attempt to help them understand.  He used himself as a case in point.   Since the gift of language is of no value without interpretation, the person so gifted is told to keep silent in the assembly, v. 28.  The only help offered is here in v. 13, where prayer to God is suggested for the person in question that God might grant to the person the gift of interpretation as well as the gift of language.
V. 15 – Since understanding was a necessity for any profit, v. 14, then no expression should be in a language not understood.  The clear teaching in these verses is as follows: 1) each person could control self (as v. 32 shows also), and there would be no overriding compulsion to speak that couldn’t be controlled; 2) Paul would do noting, even to praying, unless the hearers could be edified, even if it meant only five words would be spoken, v. 19.
In thinking about prayer and singing, both in Paul’s mind were to be intelligent expressions of the mind.  both the words spoken and the meaning of them were involved.  Singing, Col. 3:16,, could accomplish many things if it was done so that the hearers were built up (i.e., taught, admonished, etc.).  Hence, no utterance was to be given except with the criterion of being understood.
V. 16 – As many know form experience, someone who comes from another culture and doesn’t speak the language understood by the audience, has little if any value.  From personal experience, most of us know whereof Paul speaks.
V. 18 – The clear fact here is that P0aul knew that only some of the brethren in Corinth possessed the gift of language, yet all in the church were Christians.  Consequently, one cold be Christian with all the promises involved and not have the gift of language.
While Paul could speak in various languages (some of them learned as we learn them), yet we have no record that he ever used them for evangelistic work.  He did speak in Aramaic in Acts 22, but that was a learned language, perhaps even his native language.  He could write and speak in Greek, but Greek was taught in Tarsus and was spoken all over the Roman world.
V. 19 – The bottom line for Paul: nothing would be done in his ministry to the brethren that was in any way selfish and not edifying to others.  he would offer a prayer, a song, or whatever only if he understood it himself and thus could explain it to others.  Notice how self-controlled and spirit-led he was!  Such an attitude was one of the reasons for this greatness and quite in contrast to some who were reading his epistle.
instruct – From katache_.  The old English word catechetical is from this word.  It meant to teach or impart doctrine, etc.  You can find it in Lk. 1:4; Acts 18:25; 21:21, 24; Rom. 2:18 and Gal. 6:6.
V. 20 – children – They were so, in too many cases.  They were like some mentioned in Hebrews 5:11ff.  Peter had to exhort brethren to grow up in II Pet. 1:3ff.  Paul mentioned this point to the Ephesians in 4:14-15.
evil . . . mature  – That is, be innocent of, free from evil, but be grown up (recall 13:8-12 here) in respect to Christian conduct.  (Check 2:6 for discussion of “mature.”  The Greek term is teleios.
V. 21 strange tongues – This expression translates a compound word made up of heteros which means “another” or “different” and the word language, gl_ssa.  The quote is from Isaiah 28:11-12 in reference to the people of Assyria.  God was going to use them to punish the Israelites. Plainly enough, the Greek term gl_ssa meant a known language, spoken and understood.  There is no reason not to so understand it in every place in the N.T. where it refers to something spoken (not the physical member or symbolically as in Acts 2:3).  We should let the Bible define its terms if at all possible and not read into a text what we wish to get out of it.
V. 22 – A sign . . . for unbelievers – However, as the next verses show, only under certain circumstances would the gift of language be profitable: if 1) such gift were used one at a time, and 2) someone could interpret what was said.  Otherwise a false conclusion would be drawn by the unbeliever v. 23.  God did bear witness to His message and messengers by signs, etc., Heb. 2:4, but these verses indicate that He expected discretion to be used in respect to such things.
V. 23 – One of the reasons that conclusion of “madness” would be drawn is clear.  Another consideration was that such activity was part of other religions of the day, and God would be dishonored, v. 33.
V. 24 – Again the surpassing value of the gift of prophecy is brought out – not only did the prophet edify the church but the prophet’s message could also provide reason for repentance.  The prophet then had the dual value of teacher and evangelist.
convicted . . . called to account – The reason for these results was that the message from the prophet was understandable.  The power in the message of God could, if received by an honest and good heart, accomplish the rest.  check Titus 3:3-7; James 1:21; I Pet. 1:22-23.
V. 25 – Just like Heb. 4:12-13 asserts, God’s Word can penetrate the deepest recesses of the heart and bring new life.
worship – The intent of the message is to turn men’s hearts from darkness to light, from idols to the living god, Acts 26:17-20; etc.  The scales fall away from blinded eyes, cleansing from sin, release from captivity, freedom from the “god of this world”: all take place when God’s message is received.  What a powerful weapon God’s Word is when spoken so that hearers can understand!

	LESSON 21 QUESTIONS

1. 	Do reread from 12:1 – 14:40 to keep the whole context in mind.  Make a brief outline to help remember it.

2. 	List the advantages of the prophetic gift.

3. 	List the qualifications for use of the language gift.

4. 	What illustrations did Paul use to clarify the reason for his statements about the restricted use of the language gift?

5. 	What was Paul’s approach to use of his gifts among the churches?

6. 	For what stated purpose (check 12:7 again) were the gifts given?

7. 	How could an unbeliever draw a false conclusion from an assembly of Christians?

8. 	What should the message of God, heard and understood, be able to accomplish in the life of an unbeliever?  (Has it done so for you?)