Prophecy & Tongues – Part 2: The Regulation of Tongues

Introduction

As a church, we’ve been studying the Spiritual Gifts or Charisma, and why we are called to desire and practice these gifts.
The Gifts of the Holy Spirit have not ceased, as some claim! There is absolutely no textual backing for it. Exegesis is the method of interpreting a text by drawing out its true meaning from within its context, whereas Eisegesis is the method of poor interpretation where one puts on unnecessary strain upon the text to make it say what the reader prefers.
And since there is zero exegetical evidence for cessationism, one has to crash a cargo plane load of eisegesis upon the text.
Spiritual Gifts remain tools that the Spirit chooses to distribute among the saints so that the church of God may be built up.

Good & Bad Tools?

How can that which was given for the building up of the church, be the instrument of its destruction?
We are all in agreement here, whether cessationism or continuationism, that the modern charismatic movement has damaged many Christian churches. The abuse of the contemporary Charismatic movement has been used as one of the main arguments for cessationism.
However, I take issue with that argument, as some have made it. I do not believe that the question here is of good & bad tools but good & bad Christians. You don’t blame a carpenter’s tools for the lack of his carpentry. In the same way, it would be foolish of us to blame the gifts for the Christian’s lack of theology.
A hammer can be used to set a nail on the wall to hang a beautiful portrait, or it can be used to break the wall entirely. These tools are no more useful than the godly intention of the one who wields them.
A heart full of malice & deceit can use almost anything to seek and destroy. A preacher gifted in speech and persuasion can both strengthen another’s faith and even tear it down.

Ephesians 4:29 ESV
²⁹ Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

Proverbs 18:21 ESV
²¹ Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Do not presume to answer the question of the Gifts based on their abuse or misuse, instead answer it based on the written word of God.

Exegesis

Just as I mentioned last week, we are now in the arena of the controversy. We’re now discussing Prophecy & Tongues. Therefore, I want to be cautious in my approach, but at the same time, I want to be decisive.
I find in Scripture, or otherwise, no reason to believe that the gifts have ceased.
Now, there are many ways to go about this subject, but I thought it best that we survey the 14th chapter, hear Paul’s argument, and then do a systematic study of prophecy and tongues.
So, today we’re picking up from where we left off last week.

1 Corinthians 14:6–9 ESV
⁶ Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? ⁷ If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? ⁸ And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? ⁹ So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air.

• Paul alludes to the obvious benefit that revelation, knowledge, prophecy & teaching, has on others. And unless the speaking of a tongue has that kind of effect on the church, it has no benefit for the corporate gathering.
  This then suggests that a known tongue, or an interpreted tongue, on the other hand, has precisely that kind of effect. It benefits the corporate gathering. An interpreted or known tongue has the effect of revelation or knowledge, or prophecy or teaching.
  After all, Paul did say just a few verses ago, that the one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit (v2).
  However, these mysteries revealed are to the church’s benefit.
• Hence, his comparison to instruments. If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? (v8) And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?
  We are God’s living instruments. The Holy Spirit dwells inside of us, and if we then make indistinct sounds that have no benefit to those who hear us, what are we communicating regarding the activity of the Holy Spirit?
  If lifeless instruments like a bugle can communicate better than a living instrument like a tongue-speaking Christian, then bulges are of a better benefit in the church.
• (v9) – So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air.
  I want to make several observations here before we move on.
  • Unintelligible speech is speaking into the air, for no one understands him. Now, the obvious conclusion then of many Christians, especially cessationists, is that tongues have no place in the corporate gathering. But I take issue with a strict prohibition of such tongue-speaking, though I agree that the uncontrolled use of this gift in the congregation should be avoided as Paul makes mentions. I have several reasons for thinking this.
    • 1. For one, Paul defines tongues as the speech of mysteries made unto God that no one understands. Not even the speaker. The gift in that sense serves the purpose of edifying the self because it serves as prayer.
      Such a gift within a corporate setting can have limited space for such an exercise. I’ll give you three examples.
      • Consider a foreigner (say a German) who visits our church on a Sunday, while praying, and feels prompted to say a few words in his native God to praise God. Such a speech, although not the gift of tongues has the same effect on the church.
        Paul mentions this scenario in the next two verses,
        1 Corinthians 14:10–11 ESV
        ¹⁰ There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning,
        ¹¹ but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me.Such speech can also be called unintelligible language.
        Yet, we would not forbid such a prayer, instead, we would rejoice in one’s desire to praise God in his native tongue.
        However, if such a person only spoke in a foreign language, for all the prayers he offers, for every gathering, we would encourage him to avoid doing that for it has no benefit to those around him.
      • Consider the exercise then of tongues itself, during a routine prayer like the prayer I offer before a sermon if I’m prompted to say a few words in tongues, among the gathering of saints, none of us understands what is being said. Yet, all of us know that whatever is being said are mysteries spoken by the Spirit to the Father. Therefore, we can trust God to use that prayer to our benefit.
      • Lastly, consider what Paul is about to say moving ahead.
        1 Corinthians 14:13 ESV
        ¹³ Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret.How does one know that he has been given the gift of interpretation, or that someone else in the room has the gift of interpretation unless he speaks that tongue?
        These are reasons why I believe Paul exhorts at the end of this chapter,
        1 Corinthians 14:39–40 ESV
        ³⁹ So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy and do not forbid speaking in tongues. ⁴⁰ But all things should be done decently and in order.I do not believe Paul’s trying to do away with tongues in the corporate gathering, but rather trying to bring order and decency to it. And an explosion of unbridled tongues speaking does exactly the opposite and should be entirely prohibited. Yet, the speaking of tongues is not to be prohibited.

1 Corinthians 14:12 ESV
¹² So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

• Here is a church, conflicted and confused because of their zeal for the spiritual gifts, and Paul’s attempt is not to dumb down their eagerness, but to channel their desire appropriately.
  The Corinthians were eager for manifestations of the Spirit. Are you?
  Paul did not rebuke such eagerness, he encouraged it. He writes to such a people by saying that they should earnestly desire the spiritual gifts (v1). Paul commended such eagerness.
  Are we a church that is eager for the manifestations of the Spirit?
  The word ‘eager’ here is not referring to an inclination towards something, but rather a fervent enthusiasm to see these gifts on display. The word can even mean a militant proponent of something.
  Also, the phrase here rendered ‘manifestations of the Spirit is the word pneumaton and not the general term charisma that is being used throughout this discourse. So, we see that the Corinthians expressed a desire not just to see the charisma, but the explicit display of the Spirit’s manifestations in their midst.
• And so Paul tells them that since they have such a desire, it would benefit them only if they then strived to excel in building up the church.
  All that Paul is asking of the church is that they consider the benefit of one another and not themselves. As I mentioned last week, the only constraint that Paul seems to be applying is “love”. That is why chapter 13 exists between 12 & 14.
  Pay attention to the exhortation here. Paul is not merely saying that we should strive to build the church, but that we should strive to excel at the building. It is not just that we must build the church, but we must get better at it.
  And according to Paul, the gifts of the Holy Spirit have a great benefit to that end. One could logically conclude that excelling at the proper use of these gifts is to excel at building the church.
  Church, we must not just be desirers of the spiritual gifts, we are called to be skilled practitioners of it.

Now, given the arguments I’ve made so far, reading the rest of Paul’s regulation on tongues, I hope will make his intentions clear.

1 Corinthians 14:13–14 ESV
¹³ Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. ¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful.

• Since our utmost desire is for the benefit of the church, and not ourselves, we must pray for the gift of interpretation. Here is the first regulation to those gifted in tongues, pray that you may interpret for the sake of your brethren.
• Praying in an unknown tongue, puts one’s spirit to fruitful use, but the mind is unfruitful. This is a spiritual exercise but the mind is unaware of the details.

1 Corinthians 14:15 ESV
¹⁵ What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.

• Look here at Paul’s reasoning. He does not refuse to pray or praise with his spirit. Instead, he emphatically says that he will. But also, he ensures to pray, and praise with his mind.
• Paul adds intelligible speech to unintelligible speech, instead of replacing it. He will do both.

1 Corinthians 14:16–17 ESV
¹⁶ Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? ¹⁷ For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up.

• You want others to be able to say, “Amen” when a prayer is being offered. Brothers and sisters, may I encourage you to practice saying “Amen” and use other terms of the agreement while someone else offers a prayer.
  It was important for Paul to pray with intelligible speech, not just so that others would understand what was being said, but so that they could partake in that prayer by making a verbal agreement to what is being said.
  This is a great way for us to pay attention to what is being said, and to keep our minds from being distracted.

1 Corinthians 14:18–19 ESV
¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.  ¹⁹ Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

There are a couple of things I would like to note here,
A. Paul was thankful to God for being a prolific tongue speaker, more than the Corinthians. He exerted this gift as much as he could. His desire for the local church did not dry up his tongue. He knew when and where, and by how much, he should use this gift.
That is why in church, he preferred to speak five words of instruction than ten thousand words in a tongue.
But then, would it be all right to speak ten thousand words in instruction, and five words in tongues?
Again, I do not see Paul here prohibiting the speaking of tongues, but rather regulating the measure and intention of such speech.

B. The text is suggestive of the fact that Paul himself did not have the gift of interpretation. If he did, he would have said that he speaks in tongues because he can interpret. However, he resorts to the local language precisely because he doesn’t have the gift of interpreting whatever tongue he possessed.
This adds to the textual argument that the gift of tongues is not strictly earthly language. If this missionary Paul who travelled far and established so many churches, especially among the Gentiles, spoke in consistently unintelligible tongues, it suggests something.
Now, that is not to say that Paul may have never spoken in the tongues of other earthly languages. He may have, but within this context, we can see a different gift.
Paul spoke mysteries unknown to men, and himself, but known only to God.

Conclusion

Let me bring this to a conclusion by first reading the next verse,
1 Corinthians 14:20 ESV
²⁰ Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature.

• Spiritual Gifts are a blessing in the hands of the mature and dangerous in the hands of the immature if they are not disciplined well.
• The instruction of Scripture upon the one who possesses the greater gifts, is greater maturity.
• So much of what is being said by Paul can be explained as a need for spiritual maturity among the saints. Such maturity is immersed in love and theology.
• And I find hyper-charismatic practice, and cessationism both as immature reactions, one way or another.