- 1 Pursue love- chase, follow hard after, pursue with earnestness and diligence in order to obtain.
Make the pursuit of love an important priority in your life.
Be directed by love, seek to show love, encourage others to practice that self-sacrificing love.
Pray for an increase of God’s love within your heart.
Pray for the strength to display God’s love to others.
Pray for more of a willingness to love the way Jesus loved us.
The greatest display of love may be a great act of self-denial, so that another can be blessed.
Loving more like Jesus is something that we are encouraged to make effort to embrace and practice.
desire spiritual gifts- to burn with zeal, desire zealously, desire with eagerness or enthusiasm.
As love is the supreme character which we are to pursue, Paul does not forbid also desiring spiritual gifts, whereby we may be a special blessing to others.
It is not wrong to desire to be specially gifted with spiritual gifts.
Those special giftings may be used to bless others, as they are exercised in the love which we encouraged to pursue.
prophecy- sacred preaching. Foretelling. Forthtelling.
Teaching is a bringing forth of instructional teachings concerning the things of God.
It is done in a prepared manner, and not in a momentary experience of inspiration.
Prophecy is also a bringing forth of the word of God, but typically in an unprepared and inspired moment of time.
It is just as anointed as teaching, tongues, or the working of miracles.
But it brings forth a special blessing unlike the other gifts.
Paul’s focus on this section of scripture is to show the broader and greater blessing which comes from the gifts of prophecy.
He desires to show why prophecy is such a valuable gift to the Body of Christ.
- 2 Tongues are of comparatively little value to prophecy.
In the gathering of believers, only the one speaking is blessed, and the others sit by not understanding the things spoken.
Indeed, that person speaks true and wonderful things to the Lord, if he is led of the Holy Spirit.
As true and as beautiful as those things may be, they are meaningless to those around who cannot understand them.
- 3 Tongues, unless interpreted, does not communicate to others.
Prophecy does communicate to others.
Both may be equally anointed and speak the same truths.
Prophecy given for edification, exhortation, comfort.
Edification- to build one up.
Exhortation- to encourage a person towards virtuous living.
Comfort – to soothe in distress or sorrow. Reminds others of the promises of God.
- 4 It is designed to build up the individual. If you have the gift, use it and be edified.
However, prophecy edifies all who hear it, and is more useful for the entire church gathering.
- 5 Tongues is a beneficial gift for the individual.
In its place, in private worship, it is a very beneficial gifts to have.
It is also beneficial when brought forth in a public setting, only if it is followed by an interpretation.
Paul only desired that tongues would not be overly emphasized over the gift of prophecy.
Prophecy is of greater overall benefit for the church.
The gifts of the Spirit are not to be evaluated by their impressiveness, but by their usefulness.
Many times, the less spectacular displays of gifting are the more useful for the church.
The speaking of an unknown tongue may be exciting but is useless to the church unless interpreted.
Unless indeed he interprets… This is when tongues can be elevated in value over and above plain
prophecy.
To speak in an unknow language, whether human or angelic, and then interpret, is of great value to the church.
Especially when that unknown tongue is human and used as a sign to others.
Vs. 6-9 The clarity of the language is important.
Just as in the distinction of the notes played by an instrument.
Trumpets were used to communicate ton troops in battle.
It was essential that the notes were played clearly, or else there would be confusion.
Vs. 10, 11 The importance of language is obvious, but not beneficial if not understood.
Foreigner-Barbarian, one whose language is like bar, bar, bar…
- 12 Pray for gifts that edify the church, not just for gifts that are impressive and exciting to see.
- 13 Instead of just exercising the gift of tongues, pray that you may interpret.
It is possible to be able to do both, though that is not always is the case.
Vs. 14, 15 It is possible to be built up spiritually, without the participation of the intellect.
It is also possible to be built up in the spiritual man through the avenue of the intellect.
Paul said that he would be built up in every way available to him.
If he should pray or sing in a tongue publicly, then he would pray or sing in a known language as well, if he had that interpretation.
Vs. 16-19 Tongues may here include blessing God, or the giving of thanks.
In these verses, Paul is describing the content of tongues.
- Blessings God
- Giving thanks to God.
- In Acts 2:11, they spoke of the wonderful works of God.
NOTE-The Bible never describes tongues as being prophetic, or as a rebuke or exhortation to men.
Paul tells us that he who speaks in a tongue speaks to God. It is always vertical.
It is desirous here that those present may be able to agree with what is said, and interpretation would enable them to do that.
Paul was greatly blessed to be able to speak freely in tongues, but saw the greater value of the understood word, rather than that which was not understood.
- 20 Do not be overly impressed with tongues, just because they may be exciting.
Rather than being childish and undeveloped in your ease of being impressed by tongues…
Be childish and undeveloped in malice: ill will, envy.
Be naïve about being rude, mean spirited, jealous, envious.
Be experientially unaware about those things.
- 21 Isaiah 28. Not a direct view towards tongues.
The Israelites would be rebellious and go into captivity under the Chaldeans.
They would be under the domination of those whom they did not understand.
Only in this loose sense, does Paul mean to say that God will work through those whose language may seem foreign.
The Israelites would remain rebellious under the hand of those with a foreign language, although some would yield again to God.
The unbelievers will be touched in their hearts by those who speak in an unknown tongue.
God can speak to His people through an unknown tongue, if it is interpreted.
- 22 The classic example is Acts 2.
Tongues is that gift whereby a person may speak in a human language not known to him and magnify God.
Others hear and are touched and convinced that God is in the midst.
Speaking in the tongue of men would both edify the Believer and be a sign to the Unbeliever.
A tongue interpreted then becomes a word of prophecy as it builds up the body.
Interpretation can become like an exhortative or comforting prophetic word.
Prophecy builds up the body.
- 23 Unless those tongues are intelligible, it will seem like madness.
Vs. 24, 25 When clear prophecy is brought forth, the forthtelling of the things of God, then…
When the message becomes clear, the conviction goes to the heart.
God may speak a message about certain people.
Things only God could know and speaks forth. Could overlap here w/word of knowledge.
The men and women were separated and seated on either side of the assembly during services.
The women were calling to their husbands to ask questions during the service.
Paul asked the women to wait until they were home to discuss the message.
Women shouldn’t be judging prophecy or disrupting meetings.
Judging prophecy was to be done by the male leadership of the church.
Paul has already assumed the right of women to pray or prophecy publicly
1 Corinthians 11:1-16 speaks of how a woman ought to pray or prophesy in church.
Paul did not forbid that kind of speaking by women in the church
Here he is probably emphasizing the right of women to judge prophecy, something restricted to the male leadership of the church
1 Tim 2:12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
As well, women (or men for that matter) shouldn’t be disrupting meetings with questions or chatter
Vs. 36-38 Paul’s insistence on his authority in these matters
Some think it “spiritual” to defy God’s order; others rationalize a “call” to do so – Paul rejects the truth of these possibilities
If we are really spiritual, then we will stick to the Word of God, and not go “beyond” it
Vs. 39, 40