Patrick: 00:12

Thank you for listening to First Today. I am Patrick Cooley. Please like, subscribe, and share so the podcast can reach its goal of 70 new listeners per series by the time of 2024 end Wait, let me try that again, by the time 2024 is over with, so, we're coming up on the conclusion, actually, of this series on 1st Corinthians, and so let's get going on chapter 14 Paul writes, pursue love and desire spiritual gifts and especially that you may prophecy. For the person who speaks in a tongue is not speaking to people, but to God, since no 1 understands him. He speaks mysteries in the spirit.

Patrick: 00:55

On the other hand, the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation. The person who speaks in a prophecies builds up the church I wish all of you spoke in tongues, but even more that you prophesied. The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets so that the church may be built up. This reminds me of when Joshua tried to get Moses to stop all of the leaders of the people prophesying and Moses's response to Joshua was, oh 0, but if all Israel were prophets so so, Pilate continues his discussion of charismatic and his focus on agape Teaching, preaching, healing, miracles, and prophecy, all have been gifted by God for the purpose of building up the church and the people of God, for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation. Although he does not dismiss the most valued gift among the Corinthians, which is the gift of tongues, out of hand, he does diminish its importance, because in the exercise of this gift, a person who speaks in tongues builds himself up and not the rest of the congregation.

Patrick: 02:26

Paul tacks a caveat onto the end of this, is that if the tongue is interpreted, then there is greater value for the members of the body. Paul's most treasured gift, and the 1 that he suggests all Corinthians should strive to possess, is the gift of prophecy. This charisma does not allow a person to look into the future like a fortune cookie or like Sister Roberta and her crystal ball. No, the gift of spiritual prophecy is 1 that's been present since the very beginning of humankind's relationship with God. Put simply, God's prophets examine the world and the people around them and seek to bring them in harmony with God's righteousness and God's life.

Patrick: 03:19

They have been chosen by God to speak his word. Thus, the prophecies build up the church. Verse number 6. So now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you with a revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching. Even lifeless instruments that produce sounds, whether flute or harp, if they don't make a distinction in the notes, how will what is played on the flute or harp be recognized?

Patrick: 03:59

In fact, if the bugle makes an unclear sound, who will prepare for battle? In the same way, unless you use your tongue for intelligible speak, how will what is spoken be known? For you will be speaking into the air. There are doubtless many different kinds of languages in the world. None is without meaning.

Patrick: 04:24

Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker will be a foreigner to me. So also you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, seek to excel in building up the church. In these verses, we may well be catching a glimpse of why the Corinthians are so enamored with glossolalia. Often, in Paul's letters, we're not told exactly what the problem the congregation is facing is, so we must make an educated guess about the circumstances by examining the details of the instruction and the teaching that Paul gives to them. When considering the ongoing theme of this letter and Paul's effort to convince the Corinthians to come together as 1 community instead of continually working to show out.

Patrick: 05:24

Paul's words here reveal that the Corinthians are babbling divine language, or some other language that no 1 can understand. It's just noise that draws attention to the speaker and humiliates the listener because the listener thinks there must be something wrong with them because they don't understand it I can imagine it well you don't understand because you aren't as wise as I am I guess I'm just holier than you if we apply the same standard that Paul used when discussing holy communion it is reasonable I think to argue that these Corinthians who are babbling divine language, speaking incomprehensibly, etcetera, that these Corinthians may not even be practicing a charisma. If the purpose of the gift is the same as the purpose of communion, which is to bring all together as 1, if you use your gift, your spiritual gift, to separate you and your friends from others, is it even a gift of the Spirit that's being utilized? I don't know. Verse number 13.

Patrick: 06:41

Therefore, the person who speaks in a tongue should pray that he can interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit says, but my my spirit prays, but my understanding isn't fruitful. What then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with my understanding. I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will also praise with my understanding.

Patrick: 07:06

Otherwise, if he praise with the spirit, how will the outsider say amen at your giving of thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? For you may very well be giving thanks, but the other person is not being built up. I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. Yet, in the church, I would rather speak 5 words with my own understanding in order to teach others than 10, 000 words in a tongue. Paul has already explained why the Corinthians should seek the spiritual gifts that edify others over glossolalia.

Patrick: 07:49

Here, the Apostle points out that there are 2 limitations to their sought after gift of tongues. Firstly, without interpretation, the gift is unfruitful in edifying one's Christian's brothers' and sisters' understandings. Secondly, the charisma engages only the speaker's spirit. Speaking in tongues is internally focused. There is some debate over Paul's use of the Greek term to pneumatae, or the spirit.

Patrick: 08:27

Is he speaking here of the Holy Spirit, or is he speaking of the human spirit? Which 1 it is depends on if the translator has chosen to capitalize the s in spirit or not. In great script, there is no variation in script size. There's everything is in lowercase letters or everything is written in uppercase letters. Here, I think Paul is referring to human spirit, his human spirit, since he contrasts his spirit with the mind, his understanding.

Patrick: 09:06

Notice the contrast in these statements below. If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. If he prays with the spirit, how will the outsider say amen at your giving thanks, since he does not know what you are saying? Yet in the church, I would rather speak 5 words with my understanding in order to teach, teach others also than 10, 000 words in the tongue. It appears that when Paul uses the term, the Spirit, here, he's speaking about his spirit.

Patrick: 09:47

This is that intangible, unrelatable part of human existence that only you, yourself, and God knows. It's his emotions and his feelings. It's it's it's his will and his desires and his choice, perhaps, is a good way to look at it. It's his mind and his will. This raising your hand during a song or a sermon, it's it's what Mary did the night when the shepherds came and told her about the angels.

Patrick: 10:20

She cherished it in her heart. Paul compares this to his mind. He would rather speak 5 words from his own understanding to others than 10, 000 words in a tongue. To put this another way, he would rather speak a few words from his head for others, for their benefit, to come to a deeper faith in God, to understand themselves and others and the Lord better, than to speak countless words from his heart. Paul goes on in verse number 20.

Patrick: 10:53

Brothers and sisters, don't be childish in your thinking, but be infants in regard to evil and adult in your thinking. It is written in the law, I will speak to this people by people of other tongues and by the lips of foreigners, and even then, they will not listen to me, says the Lord. Speaking in tongues then is intended as a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers. While prophecy is not for unbelievers, but for believers. If, therefore, the whole church assembles together and all are speaking in tongues, and people who are outsiders or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your minds?

Patrick: 11:40

Here, we modern Christians should take this to heart. Recall from back in chapter 2 when Paul tells the congregation that the wisdom of God will sound like nonsense to the rulers of the world, or to those who are concerned with earthly things, who, unfortunately, are also represented in the Church of Corinth, so. If anyone is speaking in tongues and no 1 is interpreting them, it proves that everyone in the church is looking out for themselves, and the visitor will be wide eyed and confused at the chaos that's going on around him practically we should see Paul's teaching here to be proof that we should be paying a bit more attention to hospitality and a little less attention to who's sitting in our spot. Okay? The choice is ours we must remember that it is our responsibility to introduce those outside of the church to the gospel and not to scare them away from it.

Patrick: 12:44

Paul tells the Corinthians that outsiders are just as capable of understanding the gospel as they are if the gospel is communicated to them in a comprehensible way. Again, recall chapter 2, where Paul tells the Corinthians that only the Spirit understands the things of God, and that the Spirit wants people to know those things. So the understanding comes through the Spirit, but that Spirit can be communicated through prophecy or through tongues or through all of these gifts of the spirit, through healing, through tangible, understandable ways, and through ways that we don't even understand. Well, the outsider isn't going to understand it spiritually yet, but the spirit moves and the spirit transforms. It's just that those concerned with the world don't want to know the things of the Spirit, hopefully yet.

Patrick: 13:54

But just as Paul communicated to them in an approachable way although it was the spirit that opened their minds to this they too must do the same for outsiders. Paul uses a Greek word, that translators have chosen to interpret as outsiders. I think it's safe to assume that the English word, we get from this here is, you know, idiot but in Greek the word doesn't include a sense of stupidity or ineptness. The apostle uses idiotes to describe a person here who is unskilled in discerning the things of God. He or she should be understood to be a novice, in other words.

Patrick: 14:46

And we learn a possible result of this in the following verses. In verse 24, Paul writes, but if all are prophesying and some unbeliever or outsider comes in, he is convicted by all and is called to account by all. The secrets of his heart will be revealed, and as a result he will fall face down and worship God proclaiming God is really among you the goal here is not for church members to set themselves apart by speaking in tongues but to bring others to repentance and into the possession of a new heart. The product of the Corinthians' action should be the declaration from the, the novice, that god is really among you. So the chaos and the self absorption of the Corinthians' worship is a problem of biblical proportions.

Patrick: 15:50

Paul quotes Isaiah 281112 in verse number 21, where God criticizes those who have received him as, quote, a crown of beauty in a diadem of splendor. He accuses them for staggering because of wine and stumbling under the influence of beer. The prophet describes god's remnant as confused, stumbling in their judgment, and muddled in their visions. The Corinthians, by allowing themselves to be wise in the ways of the world, to be adults in sin, risk failing in their calling to demonstrate the power of the gospel to change people's lives. What then brothers and sisters whenever you come together each 1 has a hymn a teaching a revelation a tongue or an interpretation everything is to be done for building up if anyone speaks in a tongue there are to there are to be only 2 or at the most, 3, each in turn, and let someone interpret.

Patrick: 17:03

But if there is no interpreter, that person is to keep silent in the church and speak to himself and God. 2 or 3 prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate. But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, the first prophet should be silent. For you can all prophecy 1 by 1 so that everyone may learn and everyone may be encouraged, and the prophets' spirits are subject to the prophets since God is not a God of disorder, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. Paul tells the Corinthians that there must be order in their worship for the sake of outsiders who are present with them.

Patrick: 17:54

Worship, then, is just as much a tool of evangelism as it is intended to bring each of them into closer contact with God. So you can't have 1 without the other. Worship is not a place for tail topping, but 1 where the unskilled, the outsider, the might take his or her first steps with Christ, who is the way and the truth and the life. However, we mustn't take this to mean that Paul is telling us to add or to remove smoke machines and screens from our sanctuaries he's telling us that our worship whatever style we worship in however it is we do worship our worship must be genuine 1, and secondly, it must remain free from manipulation. Verse number 34.

Patrick: 18:53

The women should be silent in the churches for they are not permitted to speak but are to submit themselves as the law also says. If they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home, since it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. Or did the Word of God originate from you or did it come to you only okay These 3 verses can provide discussion material for a month's worth of episodes, and it has been used to shape a number of denominations in how they go about worshiping and running their churches. I have to recognize, 1st and foremost, and I think all of us have to recognize, 1st and foremost, this is hard language. It's an out and out declaration that women are completely subject to men and that they are enjoined to keep silent in worship.

Patrick: 19:53

It contradicts, though, Paul's earlier teachings in this very letter, that husbands and wives are to be in subjugation to 1 another. It also contradicts earlier in this letter where Paul clearly states that women are praying and prophesying in worship. So, some say this suggests that these 3 verses are a later editorial addition indicated by this lack of any specific law he simply says Paul simply says, it's just what the law says, but he doesn't specify anything or any particular law, which is not something that Paul would normally do. On the other hand, this may be an example, again, in his letter of Pauline sarcasm. Another example of the Corinthians is childish thinking.

Patrick: 20:47

Men in the Corinthian church may be responding to the apostles' demand for order by blaming the women for speaking in public worship. After all, equality in the Hellenized world is not understood to be at all like it is today, nor would it have been by Paul's standard, since in Christ there is no male and female. In Greek culture, for example, men were equal, and all men were free to speak in the Agora, but women, not so much. I promised to be as direct and honest as possible with y'all at the first beginning series back in Jane back in Jane back in James sorry so here it is I believe that men and I believe that the men in the Corinthian church are, or have been, attempting to bring order to their worship by silencing the women's voices. This is evidenced by what Paul writes in the concluding verses of the chapter.

Patrick: 21:59

If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord's command. If anyone ignores this, he will be ignored. So then, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophecy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues, but everything is to be done decently and in order. Church members should be wary of neglecting instructions on how they are to live their lives as demonstrated by Jesus's life and as demonstrated by their interactions with others, including women. We should also be careful of adding to our practices those that have been imported into the church from society and the culture at large be eager to prophecy unless you're a woman and do not forbid speaking in tongues again unless you're a woman that that sort of loses something doesn't it so I believe to be as direct as possible, that the Corinthian men are responding to Paul's a declaration in his first letter that we don't have, letter A, of you must maintain order and they're looking for some excuse to silence the women.

Patrick: 23:30

They're looking for some excuse, I believe, to set to, or some way to say, okay, we have orderly worship. But again, they are importing into the church practices in the world so Paul isn't actually telling women to keep silent he's essentially he's pointing out the hypocrisy of the men in the church who are blaming women in the church for doing the very things that they are if you have any questions or comments please reach out to connect at firstday.us I am Patrick Cooley. Visit our website at www.firstday.us. Goodbye for now, and blessings.