Speaking Unknown Languages and Prophesying 1 Corinthians 14:12 Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel. In view of this, the Corinthians should mingle their zeal for spiritual gifts with the desire to edify the church. “Make the edification of the church your aim in this desire to excel,” Moffatt translates it. Notice that Paul never discourages them in their zeal for spiritual gifts, but seeks to guide and instruct them so that in the use of these gifts they will reach the highest goal. 1 Corinthians 14:13 Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. If a man speaks in a tongue, he should pray that he may interpret. Or the meaning might be to pray that someone may interpret. 1 Corinthians 14:14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. If a man, for instance, prays in a tongue at a meeting of the church, his spirit prays in the sense that his feelings find utterance, though not in the commonly used language. But his understanding is unfruitful in the sense that it doesn’t benefit anyone else. The congregation doesn’t know what he is saying.” 1 Corinthians 14:15 What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding. What is the conclusion then? It is simply this: Paul will not only pray with the spirit, but he will also pray in such a manner as to be understood. Likewise he will sing with the spirit, and also sing so as to be understood. 1 Corinthians 14:16 Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say “Amen” at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say? If Paul gave thanks with his own spirit, but not in such a way as to be understood by others, how could one who did not understand the language he was using say “Amen” at the close? He who occupies the place of the uninformed means a person who is sitting in the audience and does not know the language that is being used by the speaker. This verse incidentally authorizes the intelligent use of the “Amen” in public gatherings of the church. 1 Corinthians 14:17 For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified. Speaking in a foreign language, one might indeed really be giving thanks to God, but others are not edified if they do not know what is being said. 1 Corinthians 14:18 I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; The apostle apparently had the ability to speak more foreign languages than all of them. We know that Paul had learned some languages, but here the reference is undoubtedly to his gift of tongues. 1 Corinthians 14:19 yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue. In spite of this superior language ability, Paul says that he would rather speak five words with his understanding, that is, so as to be understood, than ten thousand words in a foreign tongue. He was not at all interested in using this gift for self-display. His chief aim was to help the people of God. Therefore he determined that when he spoke he would do so in such a way that others would understand him. 1 Corinthians 14:20 Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature. Paul next exhorts the Corinthians against immaturity in their thinking. Children prefer amusement to usefulness, flashy things to stable ones. Paul is saying, “Don’t take a childish delight in these spectacular gifts which you use for self-display. There is one sense in which you should be childlike, and that is in the matter of malice or evil. But in other matters, you should think with the maturity of men.” 1 Corinthians 14:21 In the law it is written: “With men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people; And yet, for all that, they will not hear Me,” says the Lord. Next the apostle quotes from Isaiah to show that tongues are a sign to unbelievers rather than to believers. God said that because the children of Israel had rejected His message and had mocked it, He would speak to them through a foreign language (Isa. 28:11). The fulfillment of this took place when the Assyrian invaders came into the land of Israel, and the Israelites heard the Assyrian language being spoken in their midst. This was a sign to them of their rejection of God’s word. 1 Corinthians 14:22 Therefore tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe. The argument here is that since God intended tongues as a sign to unbelievers, the Corinthians should not insist on using them so freely in gatherings of believers. It would be better if they prophesied, since prophesying was a sign for believers and not for unbelievers. 1 Corinthians 14:23 Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?