Sermon – 1 Corinthians 14 Gifts of Prophecy and Tongues

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

First Presbyterian Church of Ocean City

Sermon – 1 Corinthians 14 Gifts of Prophecy and Tongues

February 7, 2016

Today I will be preaching my third in a series of sermons on spiritual gifts. The Holy Spirit provides many gifts for the building up of the church. There are people gifted in preaching and teaching and administration. Others have the gifts of cooking, caring for children and evangelism. Still others care for the building, finances and personnel. This list can go on and on. We have many gifted people in this church.

We have seen that a church must have the gift of wisdom. With this gift we can understand the good news of scripture. Wisdom allows us to know who God is and what He expects of us. We know how God blesses us in Jesus Christ. We acquire the gift of wisdom by diligent study and daily meditation of the word of God. The gift of wisdom is present in the church’s preachers and teachers.

We have also seen that a church needs the gift of knowledge. With this gift we can see what God is doing in our lives. And we are empowered to share our testimony of what God has done for us. Sharing testimony is the basis of all evangelism. And so everyone in the church should be praying for the gift of knowledge so that you will see what God is doing in your life, and will share this with others.

Last week we saw that the gift of healing was a gift the early church prayed for and received. But for centuries this gift has been neglected by the church. I think it is time to reclaim this gift and pray for healing for those who suffer. We couldn’t offer any greater gift to the world than this.

Today we will look at two gifts that divide the church. These are the gifts of prophecy and tongues. We will get to this, but first let’s pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

The church at Corinth is divided over worship. There is a group within the church that wants an emotional worship service where people can experience the presence of God. Another group in the church wants a more intellectual worship service where people can understand more about faith in God. Is worship to be emotional or intellectual? This is what Paul is dealing with in the book of 1 Corinthians. Let’s listen to the good news from the Apostle Paul to the church at Corinth.

1 Corinthians 14: 1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. ² For anyone who speaks in a tongue^[a] does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.³ But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. ⁴ Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. ⁵ I would like every one of you to speak in tongues,^[b] but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues,^[c] unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

Paul is talking about two gifts from the Holy Spirit, prophecy and speaking in tongues. Let’s start by looking at prophecy. Sometime we are confused about what a prophet does. We confused prophets with people who try to predict the future. Prophets do not use crystal balls. They will not read your palm and tell you your fortune. Prophets are always grounded in the word of God. They have studied the Bible for years. They know what God expects of his creation. Prophets also have eyes and ears to see and hear what is going on in the world around them. What prophets do is to show how the behaviors they see and hear deviate from God’s plan as revealed in scripture. Then they speak a warning that unless we live our lives in accordance with God’s plan disaster will fall upon us.

The prophet Jeremiah read in scripture that the king was responsible for feeding the poor and needy. But he saw that King Zedekiah did no such thing. So he warned Zedekiah that unless he obeyed God as revealed in scripture, God would remove his kingdom. And this prophecy turned out to be true.

Today a prophet might read Jesus’ commission to the church that we are to make disciples. He might see that the church refuses to talk about faith with others and invite people to church. And so he would warn the church that unless they were obedient to Christ, Christ would take the church away from them. This would be a prophecy.

The gift of prophecy is therefore manifest in the ministry of preaching. The preacher, like the prophet, must be firmly rooted in the word of God. The preacher, like the prophet, must have eyes and ears to see and hear what is happening in the congregation. And so the preacher, like the prophet, should issue warnings to the church that they must follow Jesus Christ or suffer the consequences. The gift of prophecy is used in the ministry of preaching.

Now let’s turn to the gift of speaking in tongues. Unlike a prophet or preacher who speaks in a language that others can understand those who speak in tongues use a language that is usually not understandable to people. It probably is understandable to God. Because of this fact speaking in tongues, according to Paul, should not be done in worship. In worship we are brought for greater understanding of our faith through preaching. Speaking in tongues does not lead to greater understanding and therefore has no place in worship.

It does have a very important place in our personal devotions. As we pray and meditate on scripture each day you will begin to sense the presence of God with you. You will rest in his arms. You will allow the Holy Spirit to comfort you. You will experience his love. As a part of this emotional experience of God you may find yourself speaking in a language you don’t know. And this is ok. If speaking in tongues helps you to experience God more fully then do it. But experiencing the presence of God in speaking in tongues in private must never be allowed to replace the understanding of God you receive from preaching in worship. So in your daily devotionals strive to experience God. And come to worship on Sundays to understand more about your faith.

The Apostle Paul put it this way.

¹⁸ I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. ¹⁹ But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

On January 1, 1901 at the Bethel Bible School in Topeka, Kansas, Charles Parkam was leading an intensive Bible study on the book of Acts. That night some the students began speaking in tongues as the Holy Spirit gave them this gift. A preacher in Los Angeles, William Seymour, began preaching about this at the Azusa Street Mission. Soon his church was filled with people speaking in tongues. This went on day and night for years. Thousands of churches were started all over America and then the world. Today there are nearly 500 million Pentecostal Christians in the world, the largest group in the church.

In the 1950’s many people in traditional churches became curious about what was going on in the Pentecostal movement. Some of these people began speaking in tongues and receiving other gifts of the Holy Spirit. These became known as Charismatic Christians.

Pentecostals and Charismatics have introduced new ways of worship, just as people speaking in tongues tried to change worship in Corinth. Here is how the Apostle Paul describes true worship to them.

²⁶ What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.²⁷ If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. ²⁸ If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.

²⁹ Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. ³⁰ And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. ³¹ For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. ³² The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. ³³ For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.

So in worship we are to sing, read scripture, pray and listen to prophecy from preachers and teachers. If someone speaks in tongues there must be someone to interpret because everything in worship must be to improve our understanding of the faith that builds up the church. And so ordinarily there is no place for speaking in tongues during worship.

The protestant reformers were very clear about this. At the beginning of the 15^th century all churches in the west worshiped in Latin. Almost no one spoke Latin. So almost no one understood what was going on. Most priests didn’t know Latin either and they just mumbled through an unintelligible worship service. The reformers said that worship should be conducted in a language that people can understand. And so today we worship in English. Using the gift of speaking in tongues in worship would be a backwards step to an unintelligible worship.

I have visited my wife’s old church in South Korea. This is a Presbyterian church, and you would recognize its worship. They sing to God. They read the Bible. The preacher delivers a prophetic sermon. They celebrate the sacraments. They are a church. The only thing you would find a bit unusual is that they worship in Korean instead of English because everyone there speaks Korean. But on Wednesday evenings something else happens. There is preaching and singing, but then they begin to pray. They all pray together, in loud voices, speaking in tongues. It’s quite an experience.

I don’t speak in tongues. I am far more on the understanding side of things. But there are people in this church who do speak in tongues. And there is nothing wrong with that. As long as we understand our faith through the gift of prophecy in worship, then we have the liberty to experience God in times of meditation and prayer through the gift of tongues. And when you are meditating on scripture and praying if you begin speaking in tongues, don’t be afraid; rejoice that God is with you.

This church has been blessed with many spiritual gifts. These all work together for the building up of the church. Each of us has gifts that are needed by the church. And each of us has the opportunity to ask God for even more gifts. We are blessed with the gift of prophecy in the preaching and teaching of God’s Holy word. We are blessed with God’s presence in our private devotionals. We are a blessed church. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven we ask for the gift of prophecy so that with the wisdom of your Holy word and with the knowledge our own lives we may know what we need to change to please you. We ask for an experience of your presence in our private devotionals. We pray this in the name of our loving God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.