1 Corinthians chapter number 14 starts out with these words Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him.
The title of this mornings message is Charismatic Chaos, A Return to Babel.
In the Scripture reading this morning we read the account of the Tower of Babel from Genesis 11 where the people of the earth all spoke one language, they were united, but because they disobeyed the commandment of the Lord to be fruitful and multiply and to spread out and fill the whole earth, the Lord came down and confused their language.
In Acts chapter 2 we see a type of reversal of this when on the Day of Pentecost the apostles spoke with tongues, and the people gathered there in Jerusalem the Scripture says were from every nation under heaven and they heard the apostles speak each one in his own language. But unfortunately here in 1 Corinthians 14 which was around 25 years after the day of Pentecost we see what is in a sense a return to Babel where some in the Corinthian church were speaking in what the Bible calls an unknown tongue, a type of Babbling sound that no man understood. So…..
Paul begins chapter 14 by saying follow after charity, this is his conclusion from chapter 13, to pursue love. The conclusion of this chapter, chapter 14 is found at the end, in verse 40 where Paul says “let all things be done decently and in order”. So what does that tell you? It tells you there was disorder in the church.
So, some of the church members along with lacking love, they were abusing the gifts, especially speaking with tongues and this led to chaos in the church, so much so that Paul says in verse 23
If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? Because of your behavior people are going to get the idea that Christians are out of their mind! So it was a chaotic scene to be sure.
So verse 1 sets the tone, follow after charity, desire the spiritual gifts (the spiritual gifts are good, it’s just the abuse of them that’s the problem) so pursue love, desire the gifts but especially prophesy.
When we hear the word prophesy we often think of a prophet who receives direct revelation from God as he predicts future events so prophesy while it can be foretelling, prophecy can also be forthtelling or preaching.
The prophets of the Old Testament after all were preachers! So why does Paul tell them to desire preaching over tongues? The answer is found in verses 2 and 3.
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.
3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
Now at this point some of you have noticed that I am preaching from the King James Version of the Bible. The King James translators seemed to recognize something here that is easy to miss.
We’ve already established that the gifts, especially the gift of tongues was being abused and if you look closely, in this chapter (generally speaking) when you see tongues plural with an “S” Paul speaks about it in a positive way, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit after all, but when he speaks about a tongue singular he appears to speak about it in a negative way.
The King James Version picks up on this and whenever the singular use of tongue is mentioned the KJV calls it an unknown tongue - Nobody understood what was being said, most likely because nothing was being said, it was gibberish or maybe what people call an ecstatic utterance. Many religions have their own version of speaking in an unknown tongue. We talked about this back in the first sermon from chapter 12, how Paul talks about pagans being carried away to these dumb idols. They worked themselves up and supposedly were being controlled by spirits and in that altered state of consciousness would make ecstatic utterances and or speak gibberish.
Do you remember what Jesus said in Matthew 6? He told his disciples “when you pray, do not use vain repetitions like the heathen do.” The fact is sometimes Christians whether it’s intentional or unintentional pick up on pagan practices. Take Yoga for example, now on the one hand there is nothing wrong with, stretching, breathing, doing certain exercises etc but if you put those things together just right it can become a gateway into Eastern Pagan Religion. Repeating words over and over again, there are churches today that have monks who practice chanting, or they repeat a particular phrase over and over again sometimes for hours ---- and listen!
That does something to your mind and it can lead to an altered state of consciousness, someone might say, but what’s the big deal? Well, Jesus said don’t do it. Also I believe it can open you up to the Spiritual realm in such a way that can be very dangerous. There are a multitude of video’s online right now where Christians are supposedly teaching others how to speak in tongues.
They tell you to choose a few sounds, a few syllables, repeat them, mix in a few more and BOOM! You’re speaking in tongues! Listen, nobody can be taught to speak with tongues! It’s a spiritual gift either you have it or you don’t. To do something like that is an abuse and that’s probably what Paul was speaking of here, what he called an unknown tongue.
This is a practice borrowed from paganism.
Now I think we need to be careful and also gracious. Notice that Paul doesn’t say these people are unsaved, he doesn’t say if anyone does this they are controlled by demons. Paul was wrote this letter from a long ways away, he got a report, he was responding to it, he may not have even known all the details so again, he doesn’t question their salvation nor does he say these people have opened themselves up to demonic realm.
So here’s the thing, just because someone does this, just because someone falls into error, you don’t condemn them nor do you assume that their abuse of tongues is some sort of demonic counterfeit. There is a lot of people who believe that so I want to be clear, I’m not saying that. What I am saying is it could be a possibility in certain cases, after all the Apostle John spoke about false teachers (people who claimed to be Christians) and he said they had the spirit of Antichrist. Read the book of 1 John and 2 John and that is clear, John said Brethren do not believe every spirit but test the spirits whether they are of God.
So again, an ecstatic utterance and or speaking In gibberish, it seems pretty clear Paul is trying to correct them on this, he doesn’t condemn them so let’s not go beyond what the Bible says but at the same time it is possible this could be something more dangerous. I think the possibility is left open. Look at verse 2 again.
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.
This is out of the ordinary. We don’t see this type of thing taught anywhere else in the Bible. Jesus never taught His disciples to speak mysteries in some sort of unknown tongue. One Bible commentator says this, that in the Greek because there is no definite article this is better translated “he that speaketh not unto men but unto a god” // A similar idea would be in Acts 17 where Paul said I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.
You say but it says they were speaking unto God, the one true God, not necessarily because if this is a pagan practice the true God isn’t going to recognize or accept it. So that statement by Paul could go either way.
We have to remember, the Christians in Corinth were former pagans, idolaters, a few chapters back Paul had to address more than once those who ate meat sacrificed to idols and how there were temples in the city made for these idols. It’s not unreasonable to think that unchristian practices had crept into the church -- That’s always a danger!
But what is Paul’s overall point? Forget the gibberish, forget the unknown tongue, you should want preaching because with preaching you’ll actually learn something along with being edified, motivated and comforted. Verse 4
4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.
5 I would that ye all spake with tongues (notice that’s the plural mention of tongues, that’s the legitimate gift that was still in use at the time) but rather (that is even more I wish) that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.
Now I’m not going to get into all the views on the interpretation of tongues, I’ll just say this, speaking with tongues means speaking with languages, so if someone comes into the church and speaks with another language you’re going to need someone to interpret. It appears to me that on the Day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit acted as the interpreter but that was a unique event, here God gave this gift to men, it’s hard to know all the in’s and out’s of how all this worked.
Verse 6
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? These things of course are profitable. Verses 7 and 8
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?
8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?
The Israelites while camped in the wilderness would respond to different sounds from the Trumpet. One sound meant prepare for worship, another sound said prepare for battle. If you get those sounds mixed up you’re in a lot of trouble. Paul’s basically saying if musical instruments are expected to make sensible sounds that can be understood how much more should human speech make sense. Verse 9
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.
10 There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. Turn to Acts chapter 2 for a moment. Acts 2. 1 Corinthians 14:11 says 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. The NKJV translates barbarian as foreigner and of course people don’t understand foreigners who speak another language.
Again, the account from Genesis 11 with the tower of Babel. Babel became Babylon, the term Babylon is synonymous with sin and ungodliness. The people who built the tower of Babel were united under one leader, they all spoke one language and the Lord saw their pride and how they were growing in might and power so what did the Lord do? He confused their language and scattered them.
I’ve wondered if something similar is going on with us today? That the Lord looks at our nation, how we’ve grown and become the most powerful nation on earth, and we like those in Genesis are turning our back on God trying to make a name for ourselves and the Lord says no, I’m not going to allow this to get past a certain point and even now the Lord is allowing our nation to be filled with chaos and confusion.
Acts chapter 2, in a way is a reversal of the tower of Babel, instead of the confusion that exists when everyone speaks another language what do we see? Verse 4
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language.
7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans?
8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”
Is there any doubt that the authenticate gift of tongues are foreign languages that can be understood? We just read the clearest definition of tongues in the whole Bible, it could not be more clear!
Remember last week we brought up the principal of first mention? Well, this is the first time anyone ever spoke with tongues and what does the Bible say? Each one heard them speak in his own language.
Now turn back to 1 Corinthians 14.
So, the languages were confused at the tower of Babel. They were brought together (at least on a small scale) and made clear on the day of Pentecost, but unfortunately they’re being confused again here in 1 Corinthians 14.
The next few verses are often used by those who believe that tongues is for today, and that tongues is a type of unintelligible prayer language, but many commentators look at these words were about to read as Paul being sarcastic. I hold to that view since we know Paul often speaks with sarcasm but let’s read it. Starting in 1 Corinthians 14:12
12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.
13 Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.
14 For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.
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.
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?
17 For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.
18 I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:
See, tongues (plural) are good, Paul spoke with languages but notice what he said! Paul said in verse 14 If I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth! So that’s good right? Wrong! Verse 19
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.
Now I’ll admit, this is a difficult chapter to interpret and up until this point I can understand why some people have a different view on this but not after that verse! Paul literally says he would rather speak five words that could be understood than 10,000 words in an tongue. Why? So that I might teach others also.
You see speaking in an unknown tongue wasn’t helping the Corinthian church, it was just another thing tearing them apart. Verse 20
20 Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men. Once again Paul is calling the church to maturity and speaking in gibberish that is something a babies do.
Verse 21
21 In the law it is written, With men of other tongues and other lips will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the Lord.
Here Paul paraphrases the prophet Isaiah showing that the legitimate gift of tongues was a sign of judgement against unbelieving Israel. The Jews hated the gentiles and yet in Acts 2 it was the foreigners who understood the Apostles and you remember how some didn’t understand and accused the apostles of being filled with new wine. Why didn’t they understand? Because they didn’t have ears to hear, they believed not. Verse 22
22 Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not: So speaking with a tongue has no purpose in the church because it’s purpose is not for them that believe, Paul clearly says that! It’s a sign for them that believe not, it spoke of judgement against unbelieving Israel, it was a sign and many Bible scholars believe that tongues ceased by 70 A.D. when the temple and the city of Jerusalem was destroyed. 1 Corinthians was written about 15 years before that.
So tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe. In other words the church doesn’t need tongues, the church needs preaching! Verse 23
23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?
24 But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:
25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.
What’s going to get someone saved tongues or preaching the gospel?
What’s going to bring the conviction of the Holy Spirit, tongues or preaching repentance of sin?
What’s going to get through to a person, speech that can’t be understood or straight talk and sound doctrine? The answer is obvious. Verse 26
26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
27 If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.
28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God. It’s my view (I’m not dogmatic about this) but it is my view that Paul imposed this rule in order to silence the gibberish.
If he lays down a rule that someone has to interpret it, and nobody can. Problem solved! Now legitimate languages can be interpreted but nobody can interpret gibberish and in order to do so would be an act of dishonesty.
I’ve heard of people doing this today, they’ll find folks who claim to have the gift of interpretation of tongues and they’ll show them a video of someone speaking in tongues and they’ll ask them to interpret. Then they’ll bring in someone else who claims they can interpret and so on and so forth and guess what? They all give different interpretations.
So this is one rule Paul lays down to fight against the chaos. Now in verse 29 he lays down a rule for the prophets who needed to be tested.
In 1 Thessalonians 5 Paul says “Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good.” Today when people preach their words are not to be blindly accepted. Don’t just think “hey he went to seminary, he knows what he’s talking about” don’t think, this guy is on TV, he has a lot of followers, we should listen to him WRONG! Everybody and everything needs to be tested against the word of God! Verse 29
29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.
30 If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.
31 For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.
So things were to be done in an orderly fashion and people were to control their behavior. Verses 32-33
32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.
As far as these next few verses there may have been some disruption from some of the Corinthians women, perhaps an early form of feminism, we talked about that in the message from chapter 11 on head coverings and the proper gender roles, so some of the women may have been questioning the leadership and being disruptive, Paul says
34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.
35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. Despite how people might feel about this today There were no female bishops in the early church, Jesus chose Peter, James and John not Patty, Jamie and Joanne.
If that makes someone angry they’re going to have to take it up with God.
I didn’t write the Bible. Some say about this prohibition against female leadership in the Bible that that’s just the way it was back then, things have changed, it’s just cultural. Well that’s not true, Paul says in verses 36-37 these are the commandments of God.
36 What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?
37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
Well’ I don’t agree with that, Paul says in verse 38
38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.
In conclusion this is the bottom line. The Bible is clear, about tongues, female preachers, the commandments of the Lord, either stand on the word of God and be called ignorant by the world (because that’s what will happen) or stand with the world and be called ignorant by God? We can’t please both God and man.
We can either be like the Corinthians and do our own thing, thumb our nose at the word of God or we can heed the message, obey God, love one another and study to show ourselves approved. It’s a choice. Verse 39
39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues (this is the legitimate gift of tongues he’s talking about and finally verse 40
40 Let all things be done decently and in order.
A church that goes it’s own way will be a church that will fall into indecency and chaos.
But a church that knows Gods word and obeys Gods word will be a church that is decent and orderly.
We don’t want confusion in the church, we don’t want the judgement that happened at the tower of Babel happening to the church of Christ. The Lord wants His people to be unified, walking together in harmony, perusing love. 1 Corinthians 14 is an example of a church that was doing it’s own thing and because of that confusion entered in.
Charismatic Chaos, a return to Babel.
This was not God’s will as we read in verse 33 God is not the author of confusion.
Father
We pray that the Holy Spirit would sink Your message deep into our hearts.
May we be a church that would follow after charity.
May we be a people who are willing to put others first.
May we seek to glorify You in all that we say and do.
May our words and our doctrine be clear and easy to be understood for the edifying of the body of Christ.
And unto You be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen!
