Signs & Secrets

1 Corinthians 14:6-25

Welcome! Today, as promised last week, we will really delve into the main body of I Corinthians Chapter 14 and explore the meaning of the gifts, especially prophecy and speaking in tongues. I’ve got a huge amount of ground to cover today. It is critical that we see the passage in context, so I am going to go back to I Cor. 12:7, going through to today’s passage, with brief comments as we go.

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each one, just as He determines. – I Cor. 12:7-11

There are 9 manifestations of the Spirit given here, including prophecy, speaking in tongues, and the interpretation of tongues.  This list is not complete; Romans 12, Eph. 4, and I Peter 4 provide different lists. Romans 12 and Ephesians 4 mention prophecy but not tongues; I Peter 4 speaks only in generalities of speaking and serving. So when it comes to tongues as a gift of the Spirit, I Corinthians is really our only source, apart from the “historical” description of how the Holy Spirit came upon believers in Acts.

But back to I Corinthians: this passage listing the gifts emphasizes that it is the Holy Spirit behind them all. These verses are followed by a passage using the analogy of the human body to show how the gifts work together in a body of believers and how each person is indispensable. Then, picking up the passage in verse 27,

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. – I Cor. 12:27-31

Here there are 8 roles given, including prophets and those who use tongues. But the questions in the latter part of the passage expand out the tongues into speaking as well as interpreting, so prophecy, speaking in tongues, and interpreting tongues are all here. For the purposes of this message, I am going to call these the “big three,” not because they are the “biggest” in any sense, but simply because they are mentioned over and over.

The answer to these questions, by the way, is “No.” Not all do these things. Specifically, with regards to the big three, not all are prophets, not all speak in tongues, and not all interpret.

This passage is followed by the passage showing that love is the most excellent way; the gifts are useless without love. It describes love – what it is and what it is not. It also talks about how the gifts are temporary but love is eternal. Then, in I Cor. 14:1,

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified. – I Cor. 14:1-5

This passage really focuses on the big three. Prophecy is elevated over speaking in tongues. Speaking in tongues accompanied by interpretation (presumably by someone else) is elevated over speaking in tongues without interpretation. We talked about this passage last week. But now let’s look at the following verses:

Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. – I Cor. 14:6-12

This passage makes it very clear that when someone spoke in tongues without interpretation, it was not something that others could understand. The trumpet analogy makes perfect sense because there were multiple trumpet calls used in the military. One might mean to retreat, another to hold your ground, another to charge forward. If the trumpeter didn’t do one of the known calls, but played some light jazz or played a tune that sounded half like “charge” and half like “retreat,” the army would be thrown into complete confusion. Paul isn’t dismissing tongues, but he is saying that gifts that build up the church are better.

For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified. – I Cor. 14:13-17

This passage says that when one prays in a tongue, it is an activity that does not directly involve the mind. The passage does not say this is evil, or false, or anything like that, but it does say that, for the sake of the body, for the sake of edifying one another when a local group of believers meets together, there is something better: praying with understanding, which I think pretty clearly means praying such that you know what you are saying and so do those around you. The passage also talks about singing – singing also can also be done “in tongues” or in a way that is understandable to those around you – that is, in the language both you and your fellowship understand.  

At this point I want to talk a bit about our position as a church on tongues: we don’t have one! This is not because we are afraid to take a position, or because we don’t want to offend anyone. It is because we see in I Corinthians 13 the primacy of love and because in I Corinthians 14 we see Paul’s clear point that speaking in tongues (or not speaking in tongues) is a minor topic compared to those things that build up the church. It is certainly not something to split up churches over!

It is sadly quite ironic that in our so-called pluralistic society, so many people demand that other people accept their own views. We should be able to come to conclusions about things and accept that others have come to different conclusions. Fortunately, our church body has done this for many years in this topic of tongues. There have been members of our church who have personally explored this topic, prayed to have this gift, and have begun to speak something unintelligible to themselves, felt a closeness to God in the process, and are convinced that this is the very gift described in I Corinthians. There have been members of our church who have personally explored this topic, prayed to have this gift, and have also begun to speak something unintelligible to themselves, but have later decided that they did not think that what they were doing really was the same as what is described in I Corinthians so they did not continue to do it. There have been members of our church who have personally explored this topic, prayed to have this gift, even tried to speak in this way, but for whom nothing happened. There have been members of our church who have personally explored this topic, prayed to have this gift, but felt that they didn’t want to try to speak in this way because, to be sure it was of God, they wanted God to “initiate” it, and for whom nothing happened. There have been members of our church who have personally explored this topic, and felt that, because Paul de-emphasizes it, they would not actively seek tongues. There have been members of our church who have personally explored this topic and still have no idea what to think. (That’s OK!) The important thing, and this is a testimony of God’s goodness, is that we all get along because we choose to not make it an issue. It is OK that fellow members of our body can explore this topic and come to different conclusions, because this is a minor issue. It’s not like we are talking about whether Jesus is actually God, or some other core doctrine. And as I Corinthians 13 explains, love is so much more important!

When people have asked about our church position on this topic, I have, for as long as I can remember, described us as charisneutral. We simply refuse to make it a point of contention. And we will refuse to do so in the future. We know that Satan seeks to divide churches any way he can, and we refuse to let him divide us over this issue.

I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. – I Cor. 14:18-20

The key words here I think are “in the church.” This implies that Paul’s speaking in tongues occurred not in the church setting (when believers were gathered together), but in other times (presumably when praying alone or with just a few others). Paul may at first seem harsh here when he says to stop thinking like children (the Greek means young children). But I think he is on track. Have you ever watched very young children play together? Often it becomes “show-off mode,” where everyone tries to outdo everyone else, whether with what they can do, or with a story they tell (and it is often more important to have the most impressive story than it is to be truthful). Young children are often very emotional, especially if they perceive any slight against them, real or imagined. They are quick to sow discord; try to reason with a 3 year old that, for the sake of unity, they should forgo anything at all, and, well, good luck with that! Paul is saying here, choose to do what builds up the body, even at the expense of what you might prefer to do at that moment. This is what adults do – well, it is what adults should do.

In the Law it is written: “With other tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to Me, says the Lord.” Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” – I Cor. 14:21-25

At first reading (or second or third) it may seem like this passage is self-contradictory, but it really is not. The challenge is in understanding the second sentence. But before I get into that, let’s go back to the first sentence. This is a quote from Isaiah 28. It is helpful to look at more of this passage. Here is the opening of the chapter:

Woe to that wreath, the pride of Ephraim’s drunkards, to the fading flower, his glorious beauty, set on the head of a fertile valley—to that city, the pride of those laid low by wine! – Isaiah 28:1

The passage gets quite graphic; it’s not just the “common” people who are drunkards, it’s also the religious leadership:

And these also stagger from wine and reel from beer: Priests and prophets stagger from beer and are befuddled with wine; they reel from beer, they stagger when seeing visions, they stumble when rendering decisions. All the tables are covered with vomit and there is not a spot without filth. – Isaiah 28:7-8

If you have spent much time with people who get really drunk, you know this goes with the territory! Continuing in Isaiah:

“Who is it he is trying to teach? To whom is he explaining his message? To children weaned from their milk, to those just taken from the breast? For it is: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there.” – Isaiah 28:9-10

The point is that the religious leaders are babbling nonsense in their drunkenness. In English, we lose a lot of the babbling nature of what the leader says. In Hebrew, it is tsav latsav tsav latsav kav lakav kav lakav z’ayr sham z’ayr sham. It is easy to imagine these more repetitive sounding Hebrew words being spoken with slurred speech by a rambling drunkard.

The passage continues:

Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, 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. So then, the word of the Lord to them will become: Do this, do that, a rule for this, a rule for that; a little here, a little there—so that as they go they will fall backward; they will be injured and snared and captured. – Isaiah 28:11-13

So back to the I Corinthians passage:

In the Law it is written: “With other tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to Me, says the Lord.” Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” – I Cor. 14:21-25

Verse 21 is explaining that even other tongues do not convince unbelievers and the unrepentant of anything. Verse 22 is saying that tongues are not a sign for the benefit of the unbelievers (literally faithless ones), but more like a pronouncement against them. This is similar to how in Isaiah 28 God says “tsav latsav” etc. in judgement of them. But for those who are ready to repent, to hear from God, those literally to be of faith (pistis), prophecy is for them. The passage then describes an unbeliever or inquirer (literally unlearned, idiotes), coming in on, A) a service with people speaking in tongues (without translation), and B) a service with people speaking in prophesy. In case A, the person thinks you are all crazy, but in case B, the person may actually feel convicted of their own sin, leading them to turn to God.

This leads to the question of what this whole chapter really means by prophecy. To help us, I want to quote from Thayer’s Lexicon of Biblical usage. The word in Greek is propheteuo.

1.    To prophesy

2.    With the idea of foretelling future events, pertaining especially to the kingdom of God

3.    To utter forth, declaring a thing which can only be known by divine revelation

4.    To break forth under sudden impulse in lofty discourse or praise of divine counsels

a.    Under like prompting, to teach, refute, reprove, admonish, comfort others

5.    To act as a prophet, discharge the prophetic office

The key thing I want to point out is that prophecy can involve foretelling the future, but it isn’t limited to that.  It also can involve declaring something that the declarer cannot naturally know. This seems to be the form of prophesying that Paul is talking about here in I Cor. 14 – the secrets of their hearts laid bare.

One place in which this happened in Acts is with Ananias and Sapphira.

Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. – Acts 5:1-6

About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.” Peter said to her, “How could you conspire to test the Spirit of the Lord? Listen! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. – Acts 5:7-11

We actually see both kinds of prophecy here: Peter knew the truth about holding back the money, and he also foretold Sapphira’s death.

Another example is Paul on Cyprus:

They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer and false prophet named Bar-Jesus, who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. – Acts 13:6-8

Then Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas and said, “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. You are going to be blind for a time, not even able to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord. – Acts 13:9-12

Here we see Paul predicting the future – that Elymas would go blind for a time. In both cases these are not distant prophecies, but essentially immediate ones.

In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk. – Acts 14:8-10

Here we would more properly call this a healing, but note that it is also like prophecy in that Paul saw the immediate future spoke what was to be. This is usually the way of healing in Acts – it is accompanied by someone telling the sick person he is healed in advance of him getting up, and so in this way it is prophetic. And by the way, things went really badly in Lystra after this. This is just a reminder that even if God uses you in a miraculous way like this, you will still face trials and suffering like the rest of us – indeed, maybe more so! Few people suffered more in their lives than Paul.

Here are some additional supernatural ways God worked in Paul’s life in Acts. In Acts 16 Paul has a vision of a man from Macedonia begging him to come. Later he cast an evil spirit out of a woman fortune teller (and was arrested as a result). Then he was supernaturally released from prison via an earthquake. In Acts 18, while in Corinth, Paul had a vision in which he was told to stay there and keep on speaking, which he then did for a year and a half (a really long time compared to past cities where he was thrown out very quickly). In Acts 19, Paul laid his hands on believers in Ephesus and in response they spoke in tongues and prophesied. Paul spent two years there. And of this time Acts says this:

God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. – Acts 19:11-12

I share this because I think it helps immensely to understand where Paul is “coming from” as you read his instructions to the Corinthians. God has done extraordinary things through Paul. God has introduced people to Christ, laid hands on them, and they have both spoken in tongues and prophesied as a result. What I have left out in these descriptions is that Paul was constantly doing evangelism. These gifts happened as part of a life devoted to evangelism. Tongues and prophesy are repeatedly described as happening to new believers in a new area that had not yet known the gospel. I am not saying it only happens in this way, but I am saying that if you really desire to see God do miracles through you, be involved in evangelism.

In my experiences in evangelism, I have often sensed God guiding my words. I have an insight that is new to me as I am speaking it. Or I remember a verse I didn’t know I knew. Or I feel led to say something that is, well, out on a limb. During our most recent outreach (last weekend), when I was sharing the gospel with the second lady that was open to the gospel that afternoon, as I was speaking I felt led at one point to say, “You have heard these things before; growing up, when you were little, right?” And she confirmed that she had a grandmother that had told her these kinds of things. Was that a divine word of knowledge? Was that prophesy? Maybe. I suddenly felt confident it was true. Is it possible I was somehow reading her expressions and this revealed it to me? Yes, it is possible. But that doesn’t make it any less from God. I’m normally pretty terrible at reading people!

I have often felt what I think is God leading me as I prepare my messages. He gives me an analogy, or insight into what I am reading, or He reminds me of something I thought was unrelated I read that week, or a conversation, or I feel prompted to look into the Greek at the right moment so that I understand the passage better. As I prepare my messages I am in prayer with God, asking for insight, for wisdom, for understanding. Am I claiming my messages are therefore infallible? Absolutely not! Is this prophesy? I don’t think that is the right name for it. But is God helping me? Absolutely!

There have been times that I believe the Spirit’s presence in my life was so tangible, so strong, so sweet, that I wouldn’t have been surprised at all if I had started bursting out into praise of God, in English or in another tongue. I want to describe two such experiences. One was the morning my mother died. She was in California while I was in Clemson. But that morning I woke up early and just felt God’s love for me in a way so powerful that I really don’t know how to describe it except as a cosmic hug. God did more that morning – eventually I got up and saw it was a particularly blustery and rainy day. I put out the garbage and recycling bin. But when I came back into the house I saw that the wind had whipped up the recycling materials and was starting to blow them across the lawn. I ran back outside, in flip flops, to chase the stuff down. In the process, I slipped in the mud and fell, making myself a muddy mess. Disgusted, I gave up chasing the materials and went back into the house. I was angry at this point and didn’t care if the materials blew all the way to Seneca. But then a member of Clemson Community Church who lived in my neighborhood drove by on his way to work, saw my mess, got out in the rain, and picked up my junk, putting it back in the recycling bin. Again I felt God’s presence. I didn’t fully understand yet, but it was as if God was saying, don’t worry, when you are in pain, I’ll take care of you. Later that day when I learned my mom had died of a heart attack, that whole experience of the morning carried me through the hard days that followed. I have no evidence to suggest that my mom died a believer.

The other experience I want to mention is while volunteering for an Urbana Missions Conference. My job was to direct cars where to park for several hours. Unfortunately, it was snowing. For those that know me well, you know I don’t do very well with cold. It is true that when I was a kid I used to ski quite a bit, but the act of skiing warms you up, especially if you skied aggressively, which I did. But on this day in Urbana I was getting colder and colder. My hands and feet were numb. The traffic was terrible – cars were slipping and sliding and having to wait a long time. But the people were happy, joyful. One nice lady even rolled down her window and gave me a cup of hot cocoa from a thermos! But again, for whatever reason, I sensed God’s presence in an intimate, powerful way. I knew I was loved. I knew God was here. Despite my coldness I was warmed by God’s Spirit in my heart. I wanted to sing to God – I think I did sing some.

One more experience. Many years ago, out of the blue, I had what I can only describe as a “word of knowledge” – I suddenly “knew” something someone in the church was involved in a sinful behavior. I had no way of really knowing this, but I suddenly felt that I knew this with absolute certainty. I hardly knew what to make of this, but a short time later that day, this same person came to me and confessed the very thing I “knew”. Because of this, while they were telling me, I had this sense of déjà vu. Why would God do this? I think it was so I wouldn’t freak out, so that I could be calm and rational and be able to help this person. What did I do? I suggested we call a pastor right then so this person could tell the pastor what the person had just told me, so that the pastor could help, so he could suggest what to do next. And this is what we did – we went to the pastor together. With me there, the person didn’t chicken out and actually told the pastor, and was helped.

I tell you these stories for several reasons. First, I absolutely believe that God still does miracles today. We can discuss whether they are less frequent today than they were in the early church – but after reading The Insanity of God and The Insanity of Obedience I don’t think so. Second, I believe that if you want to see God supernaturally at work in your life, you need to be involved in “body life.” Doing evangelism, serving the body – these are where I have seen God do amazing things. Put yourself “out there.” Do things outside your comfort zone! Depend on God, and He will work through you! Third, I believe that God supernaturally comforts us when we need Him to, sometimes even before we know we need Him. In Acts 16, Paul had been severely flogged and thrown into prison with Silas. Right before the earthquake that threw open the prison doors, what were they doing? Singing hymns and praising God! I believe they weren’t doing that in their own power. They were a bloody mess, probably not far from death. But I am convinced they were filled with the Spirit, and out of that filling, they were singing praise to God. They felt His presence, His love for them.

So be involved in “body life,” in evangelism and service. Seek and desire the greater gifts. Pray for God’s Spirit in your life. Confess your sin to Him. Open your heart to Him. And may He do more than even you would ask!