1 CORINTHIANS LESSON 22


     We will begin this lesson in I Corinthians 14:1 "Follow after
charity, and desire spiritual [gifts], but rather that ye may
prophesy."

     Charity, again, here is love. If you love as God loves, then you
will want all mankind to be saved. "Prophesy" means to foretell future
events, but it, also, means to speak under the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit. When the Lord sent the disciples out to minister, He told
them, first of all, to preach the gospel to every creature. All of the
other gifts are important, but the one of most importance is preaching
to the lost world. By the foolishness of preaching many are saved. The
miracles, healings, raising from the dead, and casting out demons were
important, but not as important as saving their souls.  The Lord is
interested in the infirmities of our body, but He is more interested
in our spirit. He wants us saved, then all the extras can come. Jesus
had said, if they did not believe Him for any other reason, then
believe Him because of the miracles. They should have believed Him by
the Word of power that He brought.

     I Corinthians 14:2 "For he that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue
speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth [him];
howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries."

     I have said before that this unknown tongue is unknown to the
people in the immediate vicinity. If he wants to speak to the
congregation where all of them can understand, he would speak in their
native language. Perhaps, this message in the tongue is to build this
man up in his most holy faith. When a person is praying for a special
need for someone and runs out of words, to pray in tongues would be
allowing the Spirit to pray through you. In this sense, it would be
for God's ears alone. Only someone gifted with interpretation would be
able to understand what he was saying. These mysteries that he is
speaking, are mysteries to the speaker, as well as those listening.
As we will see in the following verses, this is not a blanket policy,
but is speaking of public worship. God may send a message to the
entire congregation in tongues, but if He does, there will be an
interpreter to bring the message in the native language of the
congregation.

     I Corinthians 14:3 "But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men
[to] edification, and exhortation, and comfort."

     "Prophesing" in this sense, would be preaching the good news of
the gospel. "Edification" in the sense it is used here, means to build
up. "Exhortation" in this particular instance, means comfort, or
consolation. We see then, that preaching should not just win people to
the Lord, but should build them up after they are saved. It should
comfort and console them, as well. The gospel message is good news.

     I Corinthians 14:4 "He that speaketh in an [unknown] tongue
edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church."
     When a person speaks in tongues, it builds the person up who is
speaking. Preaching builds up all the congregation. It continues to
say unknown, because it is saying that the tongue is unknown to all in
hearing distance.

     I Corinthians 14:5 "I would that ye all spake with tongues, but
rather that ye prophesied: for greater [is] he that prophesieth than
he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church
may receive edifying."

     Paul is not telling them not to speak in tongues. In fact, he
says, I wish you all had the evidence that the Holy Spirit had filled
you with spiritual gifts. Now he says, it is better to try to win
people to Christ with the spoken Word of God than to try to impress
them with your spirituality. The exception to all of this, is when the
person speaking is moved upon by the Spirit of God and brings the
message in tongues to the body of Christ. In this case, there would
always be an interpreter to tell the congregation exactly what the
message is from God. Then the church is built up, when it knows the
message is from God to them. There is something really personal in
knowing that God has spoken to you through the tongues and
interpretation.

     I Corinthians 14:6 "Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking
with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you
either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by
doctrine?"

     Paul is saying, here, that he will not speak to them in tongues,
because they would not benefit from it. He will preach by revelation
knowledge from God. He, also, speaks to them of the things he has
learned. Preaching comes in several different forms, I personally
believe the most effective sermons are when the speaker is overwhelmed
by the Spirit of God, and God speaks through the preacher. One of my
friends who has been a preacher for many years, says that when this
happens to him, he marvels at what he hears himself saying. Paul,
since he was trying to establish churches and have them not in error,
would sometimes speak of doctrine, as well. That is great if it is
God's doctrine, and not the doctrine of men which Jesus had denounced.

     I Corinthians 14:7 "And even things without life giving sound,
whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds,
how shall it be known what is piped or harped?"

     If an instrument of music is out of tune, it would be impossible
to bless anyone with the sounds it produced.

     I Corinthians 14:8 "For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound,
who shall prepare himself to the battle?"

     The trumpet was used to call the people to battle when it was
played a certain way. You would not know what to do, if a recognizable
sound did not come from the instrument. This same trumpet was used to
call the people to worship. The trumpet was silver {redemption} that
was used for the gathering of the people. This is the same trumpet
{silver} that will be blown to redeem the Christians from the earth.
We will know the sound well and go to meet the Lord in the air.

     I Corinthians 14:9 "So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue
words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for
ye shall speak into the air."

     To speak in tongues and no one interpret would be of no use to
the winning of souls at all. I, also, believe music played in the
church so loudly that you can not understand the words is of no
advantage, as well. The message in the song is what softens up hearts
to receive the Lord. Speaking in tongues in public should not be done
without an interpreter.

     I Corinthians 14:10 "There are, it may be, so many kinds of
voices in the world, and none of them [is] without signification."

     The only thing that seems explainable here, is the fact that
there are many different languages in the world. "Signification", in
this instance, means voiceless. This just means that the hundreds of
languages in the world are all spoken languages. In World War 2, the
Navaho language was used for sending messages by runners, because it
had never been written down. It would have been very difficult to
intercept the message, because of this. All languages have a voice
though.

     I Corinthians 14:11 "Therefore if I know not the meaning of the
voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that
speaketh [shall be] a barbarian unto me."

     This is just saying that there can be no understanding between
two people who speak different languages, unless there be an
interpreter. They are barbarian to each other, because they cannot
communicate their thoughts to each other.  That is what language is, a
way to communicate thoughts with words.

     I Corinthians 14:12 "Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of
spiritual [gifts], seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the
church."

     We all want to be able to minister more effectively in the
church. The various gifts of the Spirit are for that very purpose.
Paul is saying here, seek the gifts that will do the most good to
build the church up.

     I Corinthians 14:13 "Wherefore let him that speaketh in an
[unknown] tongue pray that he may interpret."

     Many who speak in tongues, also have the gift of interpretation.
That is one way that you would know for sure that the message in
tongues would be understood by all in the church. Paul is saying pray
for the gift of interpretation to go with your gift of tongues.

     I Corinthians 14:14 "For if I pray in an [unknown] tongue, my
spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful."

     This is very true. The Holy Spirit prays through you when you
pray in tongues. Perhaps, it is not important to know what you are
praying for. In the verse above, Paul had said to pray for the gift of
interpretation, so that you will know what the prayer in tongues is
saying.

     I Corinthians 14:15 "What is it then? I will pray with the
spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with
the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also."

     Paul has both gifts. He prays as the Spirit gives him utterance,
and then he speaks in his native language to God, as well. This would
be worshipping in the Spirit in both instances. This would not matter
whether it was just for God's ears, or for the congregation, because
he would interpret his own tongues.

     I Corinthians 14:16 "Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit,
how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy
giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest?"

     The interpretation would be so that the people around you would
be able to praise God with you. Amen means so be it. How in the world
could they agree, if they did not know what you were saying? We know
the importance of agreeing in prayer, and this is saying that it is
also proper to agree in praise.

     I Corinthians 14:17 "For thou verily givest thanks well, but the
other is not edified."

     With your own private worship, it would not be so important to
know the exact meaning of the tongues in praise or prayer, as it would
be in public. The public would not be built up by praise they did not
understand the meaning of.

     I Corinthians 14:18 "I thank my God, I speak with tongues more
than ye all:"

     Paul, in all of this, is not speaking against tongues. He is just
explaining the proper use of tongues. Paul is not ashamed that he has
the evidence of speaking in tongues and that he is filled with the
Holy Spirit. He just wants to explain not to run people who do not
understand off from the church.

     I Corinthians 14:19 "Yet in the church I had rather speak five
words with my understanding, that [by my voice] I might teach others
also, than ten thousand words in an [unknown] tongue."

     Paul is just explaining the importance of the church being built
up by the things that are said. Understand that Paul is saying, think
of other's understanding whenever you minister.

                      1 Corinthians 22 Questions


1.  Follow after charity, and desire __________ gifts.
2.  What will you want, if you love as God loves?
3.  What does "prophesy" mean in verse 1?
4.  What is the most important gift?
5.  What is the Lord more interested in, than in the body?
6.  He that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaks to whom?
7.  Who would be the only one, besides God, that would understand the
    unknown tongue?
8.  He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to what 3 things?
9.  What is "prophesieth" in verse, 3 meaning?
10. The gospel message is _______ _____.
11. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth __________.
12. Why is it using the word unknown?
13. What is the exception in verse 5?
14. What is speaking in tongues evidence of?
15. Name the different ways that Paul ministered to the congregation.
16. Why will Paul not speak to them in tongues?
17. Did Paul speak in tongues?
18. What does the author believe to be the most effective preaching?
19. Why did Paul speak on doctrine?
20. If an instrument of music is out of tune, it would be __________
    to bless anyone with the sound it produced.
21. What instrument was used to call them to battle?
22. What is the trumpet of assembly made of?
23. What would be wrong in speaking in tongues with no interpreter?
24. What is verse 10 speaking of?
25. People who can not speak the same language think of each other as
    a _____________.
26. What spiritual gift should those seek who are zealous to receive
    spiritual gifts?
27. Those who speak in an unknown tongue should pray for what?
28. What prays through you when you pray in tongues?
29. What does Amen mean?
30. Paul said he would rather speak 5 words with his understanding
    than what?