DEVOTION
THE 1ST
LETTER TO THE CORINTHIANS
BUILDING UP THE CHURCH
1 Cor 14:6-12
6 Now, brothers, 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? 7 Even in the case
of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the flute or harp, how will anyone
know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? 8
Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for
battle? 9 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. 10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet
none of them is without meaning. 11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what
someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to
me. 12 So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to
excel in gifts that build up the church.
NIV
We are going to get more
clarity regarding the gift of tongues and prophecy in the following instructions
from Paul to this church in Corinth. From what we see here this church had gone
wild with the idea of tongues and what appears is they were simply babbling
away, all speaking in tongues with no purpose even from the inspiration of
the Spirit. As we determined before, they were just speaking into the air. When
the disciples were filled with the Spirit on that day of Pentecost and spilled
out into the streets of Jerusalem, they were all speaking in some foreign language
they had not learned. Still, there were men from all over the world, so to speak, whose
native tongue was one of those the disciples were speaking. That is, someone understood their tongues, and men from all over heard the disciples praising
God. This is what Paul is talking about in that tongues are certainly a gift of
the Spirit, however, correct instruction for the church should be in the form
of intelligible words. We must speak in a language that is understandable in
order to build up the church. This is a call for all believers to speak in a manner
that builds each other up. The fact is that we should not be foreigners to each
other, speaking words that have no meaning, but rather have the singular purpose
of edifying the church. Certainly, the gift of prophecy is to build up, whereas
the gift of tongues, as we will see later, lifts up the glory of God with praise
and thanksgiving, no one will know what is being said unless someone interprets.
However, all this should be done in order and not in chaos, which it seems was what was going on in the Corinthian church. Since we have pretty much set
aside the gifts of tongues, interpretation, and even prophecy, we are left with
our own words that should be based on scriptural truth. We are called to give
spiritual instructions to each other in order to build each other up. These
instructions, these intelligible words are to be for the edification of the church.
Certainly, we know that although gossip can be understood, it does not build up
others, but rather tears them down. Let us look to the Spirit to give us a
revelation, knowledge, prophecy, or a word of instruction so the church will be
edified.
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