It was in 1983, I think, that John MacArthur
Jr. was speaking here in town. And we made arrangements
to have John come over for dinner one evening.
You know how it is when you're having someone
over that you respect a lot, right? And we had
four kids, the oldest of whom was 11, the youngest
was one. At first we thought about a babysitter,
or a jail, or something to... Get the kids out
of the house, you know. And we decided, no, you
know, this is our family, so John's just going
to enjoy our family. And the one -year -old at
that time was in that age when a lot of goo -goo
-ga -ga stuff, you know, just a lot of words
that meant nothing. And Jeanette teased him by
saying, oh, you're speaking in tongues. Well,
this was a time just after John had written his
book called The Charismatics, in which he...
characteristically pretty strongly articulated
his position regarding charismatic gifts and
As he was there in the house that night John
started doing his thing just at the table just
speaking wildly And Kelly who was 11 years old
very innocently turned to John MacArthur and
said he's speaking in tongues I suppose that
most of us from time to time have, by the way
John took it in good humor, but I suppose that
most of us from time to time have had a question
of whether it's right and proper to speak in
tongues as to whether that is an experience that
we ought to seek as part of the spirit -filled
life. We hear anecdotes and read books and listen
to sermons from televangelists. that sometimes
point us to this experience as a desirable one,
if not an essential one, if one is to know the
fullness of the Holy Spirit. In this section
of chapter 14, Paul asserts that, in the first
section rather, Paul asserts that there are three
biblical priorities in the church. You may open
your Bible please to 1 Corinthians 14 and just
remind yourself in verse 1 that the first priority
that he tells us the church ought to have is
that of love. This is to be a lifelong habit
for every congregation and every member of every
congregation to love one another. And then the
second priority is that of prophecy or the proclamation
of divine revelation. That is to be a priority
in our church. the declarations of the doctrines
of God. And the third priority he talks about
in verses 2 through 12, but he sums it up in
verse 12 where he says, seek to abound for the
edification of the church. And so the third priority
is edification, the building up of the church.
Now in these verses he makes it clear that the
proclamation of the word is a gift that is to
be esteemed more highly than speaking in tongues.
That gift, without a proper interpretation, he
says, does not edify the body. But the proclamation
of the truth of God in prophecy does. So he exhorts
them to seek that which builds up the Church,
which is the proclamation of the Word. It is
important to understand that the gift of tongues
was a legitimate gift. of the Holy Spirit and
that Paul did not condemn it in Corinth. But
he did correct it. That is, correct the abuse
of it. He says it is a weaker gift that tends
to excite and which appeals to the sensational.
And so these rather sensational carnal Believers
were careless in the exercise of the gift of
tongues, and they selfishly abused it, though
it was a good gift of God. The rest of the chapter,
beginning in verse 13, is largely devoted to
how they should consider the gift of tongues,
and then the laying down by Paul of regulations
for its proper use. What we learn in this chapter
is this, that spiritual gifts are beneficial
when exercised in the Spirit. We learn in chapter
12 that they are given for the common good of
the body of Christ. They are beneficial when
they are exercised in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Peter puts it this way, that we're to exercise
our gifts by the strength that God supplies.
So understand this, that spiritual gifts given
by God are beneficial when exercised in the spirit,
but they are baneful when abused in the flesh.
They become irritants. They become problems.
Spiritual gifts become destructive. As a matter
of fact, God gives the gifts to build us up,
but those same gifts can be equally effective
at tearing us down if we use them in the strength
of the flesh rather than in spirit. Now the flesh,
let me define that for you. The flesh, as I'm
using it now, is that pattern of action that
was imprinted on our minds and our emotions and
our will. by what we were before we were converted.
It is what is left over still in us of the old
man. It is the old programming that was a part
of our sin in the past. And it is energized by
the principle of sin that operates within us
still, even though we are redeemed people. Paul
makes it clear that we can choose to conduct
our lives in the energy of the Holy Spirit or
in the energy of this flesh. Paul gives to us
an example of how a good gift can be wrongly
used when it is energized by the flesh rather
than by the spirit. In these verses that we're
looking at this morning, Paul takes three steps
to correct the abuse of the gift of tongues as
well as other gifts in Corinth. The first thing
he does, the first step he takes, is to expose
the problem in verses 13 through 19. The problem
is twofold. The gift of tongues, improperly used
and without interpretation, Number one is unfruitful
to the speaker. He says this in verses 13 through
15. He says it provides a spiritual experience,
but there is no edification for others. One who
speaks in tongues where there is no interpretation
edifies himself. Look back at verse 4. It's what
he says. But the result is that his mind nonetheless
is unfruitful. In other words, that gift, though
it is an experience that he has, does not produce
any benefit through his mind. He does not know
what he himself is saying and therefore he cannot
make a contribution for the good of others. It's
unfruitful to himself as well as to others. The
second part of the problem is that The gift of
tongues improperly used is incomprehensible to
the hearers, verses 16 through 19. He talks here
about the ungifted, which probably means the
unlearned or those who are without understanding.
He says that the ungifted will not comprehend
and they cannot profit from the words that are
spoken when they abuse the gift of tongues as
they were. And so that's the heart of the problem.
It is two -fold. It's unfruitful to the speaker,
improperly used, and it's incomprehensible to
the hearers. That leads him in the second part
of the text, beginning in verse 20 through verse
25, to express the purpose of tongues, the purpose
of the gift of tongues. It is found only here
in the New Testament. He exhorts them in this
part of the paragraph to be mature in their thinking
by striving for intelligible speech that they
can understand rather than emphasizing that which
they cannot comprehend with their minds. And
he says, that's not only good for you, it's crucial
for the sake of unbelievers who are among you.
Now notice that he gives the purpose of the gift
of tongues When he says verse 21 in the law it
is written by men of strange tongues and by the
lips of strangers I will speak to this people
and even so they will not listen to me says the
Lord so then tongues are for a sign Not to those
who believe but to unbelievers And so the purpose
of tongues is that it is a sign. It is a sign
gift to the unbelieving and particularly to the
Jews. He quotes in verse 21 a verse from Isaiah,
actually two verses from Isaiah, the 28th chapter,
verses 11 and 12. In that historical context,
in Isaiah's day, he was telling the people of
Israel that when they heard the speaking of a
foreign language they did not understand, it
was the sign of impending judgment upon them
as a nation. That tongue in that day was the
Assyrian tongue. The Assyrians brought judgment
to them at the hand of God because of their unbelief
and their rebellion. The Apostle Paul goes back
to that incident, brings that verse up to his
day, and he says, the strange languages that
you are hearing in your midst is a sign to the
unbelieving and especially to the Jews. Because
they had in that day again disbelieved, and rejected
their Messiah, and judgment was at hand. As a
New Testament sign gift, it is interesting to
note that the gift of tongues is always mentioned
where there is a Jewish context. You see that
in the book of Acts. And in Corinth, there is
a strong Jewish flavor. to the church there and
to the whole community. And so it is a sign gift
that was intended especially for Israel. And
it is interesting that when Israel was judged
by its dispersion in 70 AD, this sign gift disappeared.
I believe that is why Paul says, as he does in
chapter 13, regarding this gift specifically,
that it will cease of itself. It will no longer
have any use. It will cease of itself. It's like
if you were driving out through South Dakota
and you see these signs that tell you to visit
Waldrug. Have you ever seen those signs? You
don't have to be in South Dakota to see them.
You see them all over the place. But it's interesting,
as you're driving toward Wall South Dakota, you
see sign after sign after sign. Stop at Wall
Drug, but once you get there and pass it, you
don't see signs anymore, except maybe one that
says, you missed it. And so it is with sign gifts.
They warn and they warn and they warn of impending
judgment. When the judgment comes, they stop.
They're no longer needed. They cease of themselves.
Now it is true that a byproduct of this gift
being exercised in the church was the edification
of people as people spoke their praises to God
and those praises were interpreted so people
could understand them. However, the gift was
really a sign gift to the unbelievers. And Paul
makes it clear that it was much better even for
first -time hearers of the gospel who would come
to visit them to hear the word, to hear prophecy.
He says it is better to proclaim the word nonetheless
than it is to speak in tongues. Now, why is that?
Well, he explains it. He says the word brings
conviction. Verse 24. If all prophesy and an
unbeliever or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted.
by all. In other words, the preaching of the
Word disturbs the self -righteousness of that
one who is visiting, who is not a Christian.
He tells us secondly, he is called to account
by all, verse 24. That is, the preaching of the
Word brings guilt. He is called to account. The
word here means to be called to account as before
a judge. The Word of God becomes a judge. to
expose the guilt of the sinner. The third thing
the preaching of the Word does is that it brings
shame. Verse 25 says, the secrets of his heart
are disclosed. That is, those things that are
hidden in the person's life, the Spirit of God
using the Word will bring to the open in his
mind and conscience and it brings shame. And
the fourth result then of the preaching of the
Word is that it brings repentance. For the sinner
then falls upon his face and worships God. And
so the proclamation of the Word, says Paul, is
what brings sinners to faith. He says, yes, the
purpose of tongues is for unbelievers and especially
Jews. It has this purpose. However, it is still
better to proclaim the Word than to emphasize
tongues. because it is the Word that provides
for the Holy Spirit to invade the heart of the
sinner and bring him to faith. And yet the gift
was a legitimate gift, and so the third step
that Paul takes is to explain the principles
regarding the gifts, verses 26 through the end
of the chapter. Generally what he tells us here
is that All of the gifts are for the edifying
of the body. In verse 26 he says, What's the
outcome, brethren? When you assemble, each one
has a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue,
an interpretation. Let all things be done for
edification. He says, Whatever your gift, however
you participate in the public gathering of the
service, let it be for the building up of the
body. That's what the gifts are about. But more
specifically, he goes on then, to talk about
some principles that are necessary to guide in
the use of tongues and of prophecy. Regarding
tongues, he says in verses 27 and 28, regarding
tongues, there should be two or three at the
most that would speak at any one meeting. Furthermore,
he says, they must speak one at a time. And finally,
he says, And interpretation is always required
when someone speaks in tongues. Those are the
regulations, the principles that Paul lays down
for the legitimate use of this gift in the church
in Corinth. Two or three at the most, one at
the time, always an interpreter. Verses 29 to
33, the first part of the verse, he lays down
the principles regarding prophecy. Again, he
says there should be two or three at a meeting
at the most. Secondly, he says the content should
be carefully examined by the other prophets who
are there to make sure that the one who is speaking
at the time is on target. He may be corrected.
Third, these prophets who are speaking are to
do so one at a time. And finally, verse 32, He
says that there is to be self -controlled exercise.
A prophet is not going to get up and be out of
control. There must be self -control in the exercise
of this gift, which suggests that that may not
have been the case in Corinth in some respect.
And so he says, this is how you are to exercise
the gift of proclamation in your fellowship in
Corinth. Now in the last part of verse 33, by
the way, I think the translations of the scripture
that put a period after peace and begin a new
sentence with as in all the churches are closer
to what Paul was saying here. I think the last
part of verse 33 really goes with verse 34, where
he says, as in all the churches of the saints,
let the women keep silent in the churches. For
they are not permitted to speak, but let them
subject themselves just as the law also says."
Here the word law means the Scriptures also say.
Now what he does beginning in this verse is to
give some principles regarding either one of
these gifts. He says, I want to give you some
principles that are universally practiced in
the churches. These are not unique to you. All
the churches do the same thing. In the first
place, he says that women are not to exercise
these gifts in the public worship. Was that a
problem? Well, we can only guess that it must
have been. He says, let the women keep silent
in the churches. Now, earlier in chapter 11,
Paul had seemed to accept women who prayed and
prophesied. And he did not condemn that, indicating
that women had the gift of prophecy. And so does
that seem to be a contradiction? Well, superficially
it might. But in chapter 11, he does not mention
it in the context of public worship. In other
contexts, perhaps, it's fully appropriate. But
here, actually beginning in chapter 11, verse
2, he begins to talk about their public gatherings.
That is his theme. And he says that in that context,
apparently, women were to keep silent. Now there's
another understanding of this. Well, there are
several understandings. One of the most extreme
is that women are never to speak in church. I
don't believe that is all what Paul is saying
here. Another understanding which fits the cultural
context of the day was that men and women sat
separately in the services. Families did not
sit together. The men sat on one side, the women
and the children in another place. And there
are commentators who think that it is possible
that when someone was speaking from the front
and a wife did not understand something, she
would say, George, what did he mean by that?
And so George, well, he meant this. And that
there was disruption. Or that perhaps there was,
because there were children present among the
women, that there was extra talk going on. And
Paul is saying that that is to stop because of
the disruption it was presenting to the service.
Whatever the issue was, it was a matter of disorder.
And so Paul is laying down this regulation. He
says, if they desire to learn anything, let them
ask their own husbands at home. And so that verse
tends to go with the second interpretation that
I gave you. It's improper for a woman to speak
in the church. The thought is, so as to disrupt
God's orderly arrangement. Now we know from what
1 Timothy chapter 3 says that women are not to
serve in a church in the position of an elder,
or a de facto elder, for they are the ones delivering
the doctrine of the church to the body. But I
don't think he forbids women from ever saying
anything in the service. Even the churches that
are very strict about this usually have women
who sing in the service and who, in that sense,
are teaching the congregation. And so I like
to point that out to them, that they're not quite
as strict as they think they are about it. These
verses are They're disputed, they're debatable,
and there's obviously room for difference of
interpretation. In the few minutes that I have,
I'm simply throwing out to you what I believe
to be the best understanding of them. The first
principle then is, at least is this, that women
are not to exercise these gifts he's talking
about in the context of public worship, so as
to create disorder of God's orderly arrangement.
And then in verses 37 and 38, the principle is
this, that the inspired revelation of God is
the final authority. He says, if anyone thinks
he is a prophet or spiritual, let him recognize
that the things which I write to you are the
Lord's commandment. Paul is here. authoring these
words with a full understanding that he is speaking
the inspired revelation of God. He is demanding
that they be subservient to what God says. And
if anyone does not recognize this, he is not
recognized. Verse 38 is just five words in the
Greek, it's bam bam bam. He says, if they don't
recognize this, they're not recognized. He just
kind of wipes his hands of it that quickly. And
so the inspired revelation that Paul is writing
for us as well as in the broader context the
inspired 66 books of the Bible, these are the
final authority that we have as to how we ought
to conduct ourselves in church. It is not culture
that dictates how we conduct ourselves in church.
That's happening far too much these days and
the pressure is going to get greater and greater
and greater as our culture disintegrates and
gets further and further away. from what the
Judeo -Christian heritage of our nation has been.
There's a third principle regarding either one
of the gifts. In verse 39 he says, Allow the
proper exercise of the gifts, but emphasizing
the greater ones. My brethren, desire earnestly
to prophesy and do not forbid to speak in tongues.
It was an appropriate gift, correctly used in
the city of Corinth. So he says, don't forbid
it, but, he says, desire earnestly to proclaim
the word because of the greater advantages of
that to the congregation. And then finally, he
says, everything is to be done decently and orderly.
Verse 40, the fourth principle. Everything is
to be done gracefully, in a becoming manner,
one that is fitting. for the church. It's to
be done orderly, in an arranged manner. And why
is that? Because of what he says in verse 33,
which I think is really the key statement to
the whole chapter. God is not a God of confusion,
but of peace. Their public services had become
a matter of confusion because of the disorder
of God's people. Paul says that does not reflect
God. in your midst. So what do we learn about
the gifts and about public worship? Let me summarize
the apostolic instruction in this way. These
are the lessons that I see about gifts and public
worship. Number one, exercise your gifts. They're
given to you by God to be used, not to be set
on. Not to be hoarded for yourself. They are
given by God to you to be used. Exercise your
gifts in the energy of the Spirit. Beware taking
your giftedness and using it for the flesh. Because
that will destroy God's church. Exercise your
gifts in the energy of the Spirit for the benefit
of all. with obedience to the Word. That's what
he says about spiritual gifts. Secondly, he says
regarding public worship, gather yourselves.
The writer of Hebrews says, do not forsake the
gathering of yourselves. Do I need to say anything
about the influence of culture upon this today?
and how so many other things come in the way
of the gathering of the body. We gather when
there's not something else to do. We gather when
the family is not meeting for some reunion somewhere.
We gather when it's convenient and give God that
and say, we've done our thing. We are called
upon to gather ourselves together. faithfully.
And to do that, number one, to edify the body.
When we gather together, our concern ought not
to be, what am I going to get out of this? Our
concern needs to be, what can I give to the body?
What can I give to someone else to build them
up? And when I do that, the result is that I
am edified. But when we come to the church with
that American cultural value in view, what do
I get out of it? We neither get anything out
of it, nor do others. We are a Corinthian culture.
And so it is appropriate to emphasize that when
we gather ourselves together, it's to edify the
body with respect for the greater gifts, recognizing
that many gifts may come into play. on a typical
Sunday as we gather, but with respect for the
greater gifts. And we are to do this in graceful
order. This word orderly manner that he uses
is a military term. It means in precision. It
at least means this, that we ought to value order
in our service. We ought to value arrangement.
We ought to value excellence in our service.
I have been in services and so have you. But
on Sunday morning, the song leader waddles up
to the pulpit, five minutes late, opens up his
hymnal, flips around and says, well, has anybody
here got a favorite this morning? You say, well,
that's wonderful. That's informal. It is not
wonderful. It may be informal. It is not godly.
Now, there's a time to have favors. Don't misunderstand
me. But we are to do that in the context of planning,
in the context of order. But you say, I believe
in spontaneity. So does God. And I think that
we always have to be ready for God to hijack
a service. But it doesn't give us an excuse for
not planning the service and planning and trying
to carry it out well. And by the way, I think
we have a man who plans our services, who's one
of the best, who is the best I've ever worked
with, and that's Paul Van Der Werf. He's the
best I've ever worked with. And that's not to
denigrate anybody else, I'm just being very transparent
about that, and I appreciate the thought and
the heart that he puts into these services that
he's responsible for. Now how do we do this in
graceful order? One way by being here on time,
by being in our place when it's time to begin
the service and not wandering in later, by showing
good manners in the service. I sat here a few
Sundays ago when someone was singing up here
on the platform and watched a whole family with
a line of kids come in and be seated while this
person is trying to communicate a song. That's
rude. It's disorderly. It's not pleasing to God.
When someone is in the front trying to do something,
when the congregation is singing, then that's
one thing to come in. But when someone is up
here seeking to communicate with giftedness and
by the Spirit of God, but it's been laid on his
or her heart, we need to respect that and show
good manners. He says that we're to gather ourselves
to edify the body with respect for the greater
gifts. graceful order and to be sure that we're
not disruptive but being sensitive to what God
is doing. There needs to be peace. Peace is the
deliberate adjustment of my life to the will
of God, somebody has said. Paul here pleads for
peace in this body of believers. God has provided
for that peace But now it was up to them, to
each one of them, to choose how he or she would
live so as to bring about that peace. And ladies
and gentlemen, it hasn't changed in 2 ,000 years.
God wants us to be at peace as well, not disorderly,
not confused. He wants us to be at peace. But
that's a choice that you make and I make with
respect to our gathering together. So it's a
very practical chapter, isn't it? It talks to
us about gifts. It talks to us about roles. It
talks to us about worshipping together and how
we need to respect the presence of Him who is
a God of order and not a God of confusion. Let's
pray together. And now Father, I pray that the
Holy Spirit will help me and each of us to see
what we need to do to be at peace with your Word.
Lord, if peace comes when we conform ourselves
to your Word, then I pray that we will conform
where there isn't peace right now, where there's
a problem. and that we will do that individually
and as a group, as a congregation. Teach us,
I pray, to be sensitive to what the Spirit of
God desires to do in our hearts and through us
in the lives of others that we worship with.
In Jesus' name I pray, amen.