Author: David Petts

Talk 10.   Paul’s Teaching on Prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14

Having discussed Paul’s teaching on tongues and interpretation in 1 Corinthians 14, we now turn to the subject of prophecy. We will consider what it is, its value and purpose, its limitations, and its use in church.

What is prophecy?

In both Old and New Testaments the basic meaning of the word prophesy is to speak on behalf of someone else. A good illustration of this can be found in Exodus 7: 1-2 where the Lord says to Moses :

See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet . You are to say everything I command you, and your brother Aaron is to tell Pharaoh to let the Israelites go…

Aaron  is called Moses ’ prophet  because he is going to speak on his behalf. Understood this way, to prophesy is to hear from God and then pass on to others what he has said [1].

Today, however, prophecy is often used to mean foretelling the future, but although it can contain an element of prediction, this is not its essential meaning. And it should not be confused with preaching or teaching. In Body Builders I described the gift of prophecy as:

speaking on behalf of God by the supernatural  inspiration of the Holy Spirit  for the strengthening, encouragement  and comfort of the church . It may at times contain elements of revelation  or even prediction , but must be distinguished from the ministry  of the teacher  whose message comes from God by way of the Scriptures. 

In the New Testament, apart from the many references back to the prophecies contained in the Old Testament, we find that there are three different ways in which the words prophecy and prophesy are used.

First, remembering that the basic meaning of prophesy is to speak on behalf of someone, as God’s people there’s a sense in which we can all ‘prophesy’ because we are all called to speak on his behalf. The purpose of the Spirit’s coming at Pentecost  was that we might receive power  to be witnesses (Acts 1:8). The Spirit was poured out so that all God’s people could prophesy  – sons and daughters, young and old, servants, men and women  (Acts 2:16-18).

Secondly, however, although we are speaking for God when we witness for Jesus, it is not the same as the gift of prophecy that brings strengthening, encouragement and comfort to the church (14:3). In 12:8-11, where Paul  lists nine spiritual gifts , one of which is prophecy , he says:

 …to another prophecy … he (the Spirit ) gives them to each person just as he determines.

This shows that this gift  is not given to everybody, and Romans 12:6 backs this up by saying:

We have different gifts  according to the grace  given us. If a man’s gift  is prophesying…

So, although all Christians are to ‘prophesy ’ in the general sense of speaking on God’s behalf, not all will exercise the gift of prophecy Paul talks about in 1 Corinthians.

And, thirdly, not all who exercise the gift of prophecy will be prophets  in the Ephesians 4:11 sense. In Body Builders I have suggested that the clearest role of a New Testament [2] prophet is to be seen in the ministry of Agabus who spoke with great revelation  from the Spirit  (Acts 11:27-28, 21:10). This included the accurate prediction  of certain future events. His prophecy  about a widespread famine (Acts 11:27-30) and  his prediction of Paul ‘s captivity in Jerusalem  (Acts 21:11) are well-known examples of this. They demonstrate that his ministry  involved more than the simple gift  of prophecy.  In short:

·        All God’s people should prophesy  (speak on his behalf).

·        Not all will receive the gift  of prophecy  (to edify the church ).

·        Not all of these will exercise the ministry of a prophet like Agabus .

With these things in mind, as we now turn to 1 Corinthians 14, it should be clear that it’s the gift of prophecy and possibly the ministry of prophets that Paul is talking about.

The value and purpose of prophecy

Returning now to 1 Corinthians 14, as we read verse 1 it becomes immediately clear that Paul valued prophecy very highly indeed. He says that we should eagerly desire it:

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.

This is the main theme of the chapter. He ends the chapter as he has started it:

Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy…(39).

The Greek word Paul uses for eagerly desire is very strong. It’s the origin of our English word zeal. God wants us to be passionate about prophecy. Notice that in verse 1 Paul doesn’t say or. He says and.

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts.

The pursuit of spiritual gifts is not an optional extra. We must not say, I have love, so I don’t need spiritual gifts. We must eagerly desire spiritual gifts, and especially the gift of prophecy (1). But why?

The value of the gift is to be seen in its purpose. We should be passionate about prophecy because it edifies the church. Paul says in verses 4 and 5:

… he who prophesies edifies the church. I would rather have you prophesy… so that the church may be edified.

What he means by this is explained in verse 3 where he says:

But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort.

In the context of church worship this is the practical outworking of Paul’s teaching about love in chapter 13. We are to love our fellow Christians, and if we love them we will want to be a blessing to them, to strengthen, encourage, and comfort them. And that’s what prophecy does.

But that’s not all. Prophecy can also have a powerful effect on unbelievers who may come into the church. In Talk 8 we discussed some of the difficulties in understanding verses 22-23, but verses 24-25 are very clear:

But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all,

25 and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

So prophecy is to be valued very highly, not only because it strengthens, encourages, and comforts believers, but also because of the powerful effect it can have on people who do not yet believe. But having said that, prophecy is not without its limitations. In 13:9-10 Paul says:

For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

This is because at present our knowledge is incomplete. We see but a poor reflection as in a mirror (12). Our prophecies are imperfect because they are our prophecies, and we are not perfect yet. That’s why in 14:12 Paul tells us to try to excel in it. If our use of God’s precious gifts were perfect, we would not need to try to excel in them – in fact all Paul’s instructions about their use would have been unnecessary! And that’s why we’re told in 14:29 that we should weigh carefully what is said. But that brings us to how prophecy should be used in church.

The use of prophecy in church

Perhaps the first thing to say about the use of prophecy in church is that we should always bear in mind its purpose, which is to strengthen, encourage, comfort, and edify God’s people (3-4). There is no suggestion that it should be used to rebuke them, or even to give them guidance.

Paul tells us in Romans 8:14 that it’s our privilege as God’s children to be personally led by the Spirit . Guidance received through prophecy should simply serve as confirmation of something that God has already spoken to us about in our hearts. A good example of this is found in Acts 13:1-3 where the prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch were told by the Holy Spirit to set Barnabas and Paul apart for the work to which he had already called them [3].

So, bearing in mind the purpose for which the gift of prophecy is given, we are now in a position to consider Paul’s specific teaching on the use of the gift in church. This is found in verses 29-32 where he says:

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.

Two or three prophets should speak (29)

Note the contrast with verse 27. Paul does not say if with regard to prophecy. It is not merely to be permitted but to be encouraged. The prophets should speak. But how is Paul using the word prophet here? Is he talking about prophets like Agabus, the kind of ministry he refers to in Ephesians 4:11, or does he mean those who exercise the simple gift of prophecy?

Some have suggested that two or three prophets should speak in verse 29 refers to those with the ministry of a prophet (as in Ephesians 4:11), but that when Paul says in verse 31 you can all prophesy he is referring to the whole church. However, the use of the word for in verse 31 clearly identifies the people he is speaking to as the prophets he addresses in verses 29-30. This means that verses 29-31 must all refer to the same people, either those who are prophets, or those who have the gift of prophecy, or even to both.

In my view we cannot say with certainty which group Paul is addressing in these verses, it is very clear that the principles he is teaching apply to both. The first of these is that although prophecy is to be encouraged its use is to be limited and it needs to be judged or weighed carefully.

The others should weigh carefully what is said (29)

The verb translated weigh carefully is the same as is used for distinguishing between spirits in 12:10. The clear implication is that every prophecy needs to be evaluated, and this illustrates the point that we made earlier that it is by no means infallible. However, despite its limitations, Paul tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:19-20 that it’s not to be despised. But even that  may indicate the possibility of human weakness in the operation of the gift, for why else would the Thessalonians have been despising it?

So prophecy needs to be judged or weighed carefully. But this raises two questions. The first is: Who is responsible for judging it?  Looking at the immediate context, Paul seems to mean the other prophets. The things of the Spirit are spiritually discerned (2:14), and those with a prophetic gift are more likely to accurately weigh a prophetic revelation.

But surely the others may be applied more widely than that? As we have seen, there is a sense in which all God’s people are prophets, and we all have the capacity, and the responsibility, to weigh prophetic words. And certainly those who are pastors or teachers have a special responsibility to be alert for anything that might mislead the flock.

Secondly, we need to consider the question: How is prophecy to be judged? There are two areas of importance here, its authenticity and its application. By authenticity I mean its conformity to Scripture. Paul is very clear in verse 37 that what (he is) writing… is the Lord’s command. All prophecy must be judged in the light of what the Spirit has already said in the Bible.

By application I mean that we need to consider to whom the prophecy may apply. Is it for me? Is it for the whole church? How do we apply it in practice? These are decisions that we all must make after hearing a prophecy. Clearly, we cannot judge it until we have heard it! However, in some churches people who feel they have a prophetic word to bring are expected to share it with the church leadership before bringing it publicly. The church leaders evaluate it before it is given. The advantages of this are twofold:

·        It prevents any unauthentic or inappropriate prophecy being given in public.

·        Those who are inexperienced, but eager to prophesy, feel more secure in having their prophecy confirmed by the leaders before bringing it.

However, it’s surely unthinkable that those with a proven track record in prophecy should have to consult the church leaders before they prophesy. Their prophecies should be judged after they have delivered them, which is almost certainly what Paul intended. Furthermore, the insistence that leaders must be consulted before prophecies are given seems out of keeping with the encouragement Paul gives in verse 26 for all to participate, and with the spontaneity implicit in his teaching on the matter in verse 30.

And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop (30)

This not only shows the spontaneity that Paul envisages; it also shows that, although the purpose of prophecy is mainly the strengthening, encouragement, and comfort of the church, it may also contain an element of revelation. It also seems to suggest that it was the custom to stand when prophesying while others were seated. Perhaps the second person would stand to indicate that they had received a revelation from the Spirit and that is how the first person would know it was time to stop. Be that as it may, the important point here is that each prophet must be prepared to make room for others who exercise the gift.

For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged (31)

What does Paul mean when he says, You can all prophesy?  In my view this cannot possibly refer to all the congregation, as this would contradict the principle taught in chapter 12 that the gifts are distributed as the Spirit determines and would be out of harmony with the phrase to another prophecy (12:10).

Taken in context he must surely mean that all the prophets, or all those with the gift of prophecy, may prophesy. Each person must be given opportunity to exercise their gift as the Spirit may lead, but presumably not in contravention of the two or three principle of verse 29.

The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets (32)

It seems likely that by spirits here Paul is referring to their spiritual gift. While the Greek word pneuma normally means spirit, Paul does use it in 14:12 to refer to spiritual gifts, when he says, Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel… Understood this way, verse 32 means that the spiritual gift of prophecy is under the control of the person who exercises it.

Indeed, all the gifts that God gives us are under our control. This is clear from the fact that specific instructions are given for their use.  If the use of the gifts were only dependent upon the Holy Spirit  himself such instructions would be both inappropriate and unnecessary.  And because of our responsibility for the control of the gift  God has given us, as we have already seen, Paul  teaches that we are able to:

·        regulate the number of prophetic utterances in any one meeting (14:29).

·        cease prophesying if something is revealed to someone else (14:30).

·        prophesy  rather than speak in tongues  if unbelievers are present (14:23-25). 

Our ability to control the gift  of prophecy also implies that we are responsible for the terminology in which we express the message that God has given us.  Since we are not infallible, we would be wise to phrase our prophecies in the third person rather than the first, to talk of God as he and not I.  For example, it would be better to say

 The Lord loves you…

than to say, ‘

               I love you, says the Lord.

We may believe that God has given us something to say, but we are not God, and we should not talk as if we were! 

But that now brings us to the final verses of 1 Corinthians 14. As our subject in this talk has been Paul’s teaching on the gift of prophecy, we will confine our attention to those verses that are directly relevant to this subject. Verses 34-35 in the NIV read as follows:

34 women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.

It is clear that in the context silence is relative and not absolute. The exhortation relates to asking their husbands questions at home (35) and not to worship or exercising spiritual gifts such as prophecy. In fact we read in 11:5 that Paul permitted women to both pray and prophesy in church, and although it’s possible to pray silently, it’s certainly not possible to prophesy silently!

37 If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. 38 If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored. 39 Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40  But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

As he draws to his conclusion Paul summarises his teaching on public worship in a few short verses. Whatever your spiritual gift may be you must submit to the authority of the apostle’s commands (37). This has obvious implications with regard to the authority of Scripture, but also to the authority of ministry gift over spiritual gifts. Prophecy is to be encouraged and tongues should not be forbidden (39). Whatever happens, everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

Next time, we’ll be looking at the key principles that underlie Paul’s teaching in this chapter with a view to indicating how church leaders might seek to implement them in their churches.

When you come together

Talk 9 Paul’s Teaching on Interpretation of Tongues

The gift of interpretation of tongues is a gift imparted by the Holy Spirit that enables Christians to understand what is said when someone speaks in tongues. It is given to individual Christians, as determined by the Holy Spirit, with the specific purpose of edifying the church.

Paul’s entire teaching on this gift is found in 1 Corinthians, chapters 12 and 14. In chapter 12 it is mentioned twice, first in verse 10 where it is mentioned among the list of supernatural gifts given to individual Christians as the Holy Spirit determines, and then in verse 30 where Paul asks the rhetorical question, Do all interpret? clearly implying that all do not. This means that apart from Paul’s overall teaching on supernatural gifts, some of which we have outlined in Talk 2, our main source of material for understanding this gift is found in 1 Corinthians 14. In this talk I will:

·       Examine the references to interpretation of tongues

·       Discuss certain practical issues that arise from this

·       Share a personal testimony.

References to interpretation in 1 Corinthians 14

These are found in verses 5, 13, and 26-28. We will examine each of these in turn.

Verse 5

The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in tongues, unless they interpret so that the church may be edified.

This verse makes clear the purpose of the gift – the edification of the church. We have already seen that in verses 1-5 Paul is arguing that prophecy is preferable to tongues because prophecy edifies the church whereas speaking in tongues does not, because no one can understand it (2).

Here, however, he acknowledges that if speaking in tongues is interpreted it can edify the church, in which case it is as valuable as prophecy. But this need not mean that it’s necessarily the same as prophecy. We will discuss this later when we consider the form the gift should take.

Verse 13

In verse 12 Paul underlines his teaching that the main purpose of spiritual gifts is to build up the church by telling the Corinthians to try to excel in gifts that build up the church. This gives the reason for what he says in verse 13.

Anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say.

He says this because the only way that speaking in tongues will edify other Christians is if it is interpreted. This does not mean, however, that all interpretation should be given by the person who has spoken in tongues. Far from it. The interpretation may very well be given by someone else. And to allow someone other than the speaker in tongues to interpret means that more people are participating in the meeting, something Paul is keen to encourage, as the next passage makes clear.

Verses 26-28

26 What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. 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 God.

Verse 26 is the key verse upon which this series is based. It gives clear guidance on the sort of things we should expect in our meetings, and it’s noteworthy that tongues and interpretation are included in what Paul is recommending. But note the use of the word if in verse 27:

If anyone speaks in a tongue…

This shows us that Paul does not automatically assume that there will be speaking in tongues in the meeting. The things mentioned in verse 26 are not obligatory ingredients for every meeting. They are the kind of things to expect, but not necessarily in every meeting. The manifestation of spiritual gifts will vary from meeting to meeting as the Spirit leads. The main point is that whatever is taking place, everything must be done for the strengthening of the church.

So, if anyone speaks in tongues, what should happen next? Paul is quite clear on this as the following literal translation shows:

If anyone speaks in a tongue, let it be by two or at the most three people. And let one person interpret (my translation).

At first sight the first part of the verse is reasonably clear. Paul seems to be saying that during the course of a meeting, no more than three people should speak in tongues. But this clearly applies to the use of tongues for the purpose of interpretation, because he says, Let one person interpret.  However, he does allow for the private use of tongues in church, provided that this is done quietly, speaking to oneself and to God (28) and this need not be limited to three people because it is done privately.

Furthermore, even with regard to the use of tongues for interpretation, bearing in mind the flexibility of starting and finishing times that would have been current in Corinth, it’s possible that Paul meant no more than two or three people should speak in tongues before moving on to other things. We will consider this further when we discuss practical issues that arise from Paul’s teaching.

Another practical issue that we will need to consider in due course is how to understand and apply the final part of verse 27, which NIV translates as, Someone must interpret, but which KJV translates this as,

Let one interpret (my emphasis),

which is the literal translation of the Greek word that Paul uses here. The word is heis and students of Greek will know that this is used for the numeral 1. (The Greek for 1, 2, 3, is heis, duo, treis). It occurs 20 times in 1 Corinthians and everywhere else it can only mean one. That’s why, in the translation I offered earlier I translated it as

Let one person interpret.

But does this mean that Paul is saying that if there are two or three utterances in tongues, the same person should give the interpretation for all of them, as some have suggested? I think not, and I will give my reasons for saying so later.

Finally, we have already commented on verse 28 in the last talk with regard to speaking in tongues, but Paul’s use of the word interpreter is interesting. He says:

If there is no interpreter, the speaker (in tongues) should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.

The term interpreter clearly indicates that those who exercised the gift of interpretation were seen as permanently possessing the gift. If that were not so, how could the speaker in tongues know whether there was an interpreter present or not? Supernatural gifts are not something which God gives and then takes away. They are given to individual Christians (12:8-11) for the benefit of the church. A person who has interpreted once can be expected to do so again. Obviously this places a heavy responsibility on the interpreter, as I know from my own experience, which I will share I the last part of this talk.

Practical issues arising from Paul’s teaching

The form the gift should take

We saw in the last talk that Paul describes speaking in tongues as speaking with our spirit as distinct from speaking with our mind (14:14). This may take any one of several different forms – prayer, praise, thanksgiving, and speaking mysteries, which, we said, could well be connected with declaring the wonders of God revealed in the truths of the gospel. Now, if the gift of interpretation enables us to understand what is being said when someone speaks in tongues, it follows that the interpretation should take the same form as the tongue, whether prayer, or praise, or thanksgiving etc.

It’s my view that interpretation can take any of these forms and it would be wrong to limit its expression to just one of them. However, in some churches interpretation almost always takes the form of a prophecy and in others it tends to take the form of praise. Those who take the view that interpretation should take the form of a prophecy base their argument on 14:5 where Paul says:

The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in tongues, unless they interpret so that the church may be edified.

The argument goes like this. Prophecy edifies the church. Interpretation edifies the church. Therefore, the interpretation of tongues equals prophecy. But there is a logical flaw in this argument. It’s like saying,

Tea is a drink. Coffee is a drink.

Therefore, tea is the same as coffee!

Paul says that both prophecy and interpretation edify the church, but that does not necessarily mean that they do so in the same way. If, for example, interpretation were to take the form of praise, rather than prophecy, would it not edify the church? And who is not edified by the psalms of praise? I have personally been greatly edified by both forms of interpretation.

Those who insist on praise interpretations base their argument on the NIV translation of 14:2, which reads:

For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him…

So, it is argued, if the tongue is to God, the interpretation must be to God, in the form of either praise or prayer. However, as I explained in the last talk, a more literal translation would be:

For the person speaking in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him, but he is speaking mysteries with his spirit (my translation).

This makes clear that the reason for saying that speaking in tongues is to God is that no one can understand it. When the disciples spoke in tongues at Pentecost, did it not speak to men? And why was this? Because they understood what was being said. It follows, therefore, that if tongues in church can be understood through the use of the gift of interpretation, it can most certainly speak to us.

I have said more on this in the chapter on interpretation of tongues in Body Builders, but I hope that I have said enough here to show that both praise and prophecy style interpretations are legitimate manifestations of the gift and we should accept and encourage both.

Two or at the most three…

I suggested earlier that, bearing in mind the flexibility of starting and finishing times that would have been current in Corinth, Paul may have meant that no more than two or three people should speak in tongues before moving on to other aspects of worship. However, I am not convinced that this would be helpful for most of our meetings today, but during protracted meetings like days or nights of prayer it would make room for further expressions of the gift. For meetings of normal length, it would, in my view, be wise to apply quite strictly the limitations Paul imposes in this verse. But that raises the question, What should we do if someone brings a fourth utterance in tongues? Should it be interpreted?

The first thing to say in response to this is that it’s unlikely to happen if the church has been taught how spiritual gifts should be operated in our meetings. However, on the rare occasion when it might happen, my own view is that it should be interpreted on the grounds that the overriding principle in Paul’s teaching in this chapter is edification, and interpreted tongues are more edifying than tongues that are not interpreted.

However, to avoid repetition of this, I would gently point out to the congregation that the scriptural limit is two, or at the most three. But this is something about which the leaders of the church should decide in advance their interpretation of Paul’s teaching and how it should be applied locally.

Let one person interpret

I said earlier that the Greek in verse 27 is best translated as, Let one person interpret. This in fact reflects how the Authorised Version translates it and, as a result of this, some churches have taught that, if there are two or three utterances in tongues, the same person should give the interpretation for all of them.

However, although this is a valid application of what Paul is saying, I think it more likely that his intention is to say that each utterance in tongues needs only one person to interpret it – an instruction that may well have been needful for the unruly members of the Corinthian church.

A personal testimony

I said earlier, when talking about Paul’s use of the word interpreter (28), that a person who has interpreted once can be expected to do so again. Paul’s teaching implies that, if we want to speak in tongues publicly, we need to check that there’s an interpreter present. And if there is, we are free to go ahead. That places a heavy responsibility on the interpreter to be ready to interpret at any time, because we do not know when someone is going to speak in tongues..

I confess that I have sometimes found this difficult and am often tempted to doubt, wondering how I can be sure that any interpretation I might bring will be correct. But I have also discovered that, as we overcome our doubts by trusting the Lord, he does not let us down, as the testimony I’m about to share confirms.

I first started interpreting tongues as a student at Oxford, shortly after I was baptised in the Holy Spirit. The Pentecostal church I was attending in Oxford was a good church and the gifts of the Spirit were in evidence during most Sunday morning services. However, there were one or two occasions when speaking in tongues was not interpreted, and I was quite concerned because I knew that this was not in line with Scripture.

I shared my concern with a friend who was an evangelist and he said that the solution was simple. I should interpret it. But the problem was that I didn’t have the gift of interpretation. To which he replied, Then ask for it. As I knew that this was in line with 1 Corinthians 14:13, I began to pray that God would give me the gift, and a few weeks later the opportunity came. Someone spoke in tongues, and I was expecting, and hoping, that someone else would interpret it! But when no one else did so, I began to speak out in faith, believing that God would not let me down, yet wondering all the time if I was saying the right thing!

For months I wondered if the gift I had received was genuine, or whether it was ‘just me’. Then, one day, at the close of a meeting in which I had interpreted, someone came up to me and told me that they had received word for word the interpretation which I had given.  I had exercised the gift in faith for months, but finally I had God’s confirmation that it was real.  Similar confirmation has come dozens of times since. The following testimony is the most outstanding example.

In November 1977 I was serving as Acting Principal of Mattersey Hall Bible College prior to becoming Principal in 1978. One Saturday evening we took a bus-load of about 45 students to Bethshan Tabernacle in Manchester. There were several hundred people in the meeting during which the students sang and testified, and I preached. As soon as I had finished preaching, a woman near to the back of the meeting began to speak in tongues. As I was still at the microphone, it seemed appropriate for me to interpret so that everyone present would hear and be edified. As usual I spoke out in faith what I felt the Lord had put on my heart. When I had finished, we sang a hymn and the pastor closed the meeting in prayer.

As soon as the meeting was over, one of our students, Guetawende Roamba from Burkina Faso rushed up to me. He was clearly very excited, and when I asked him what was the matter, he told me that the woman who had spoken in tongues had been speaking his native language. Now in Burkina Faso they speak French, and because I also speak French fairly fluently, I knew that she had not been speaking French. So I wondered what language it might be.

‘What language?’ I asked. Moré, he replied. Frankly, at that time I had never heard of it – and we found out later that the Irish lady who had spoken in tongues had never heard of it either! But I was excited that I had been present when speaking in tongues had been recognised as a real language.

At the same time I was not a little concerned because I was the one who had given the interpretation! I had been interpreting tongues since I was a student at Oxford in 1960, but it had always been (as it always must be) ‘by faith ’. I had simply trusted the promise of Jesus  that God gives good gifts to those who ask him (Matthew 7:11). Of course, I had no need to fear, but it’s easy to imagine how embarrassed I would have been if I had ‘got it wrong’ in the presence of one of my Bible  College students!

I hardly dared ask the question, but I knew I had to.

And what about the interpretation, Gueta? Was it accurate?

 Of course, you know the answer, because I wouldn’t be telling this story if the interpretation had been wrong!

What an amazing thing! The Holy Spirit inspired an Irish woman to speak an African language which she had never heard, or even heard of, and then gave the interpretation to an English man who had never heard of it either! God is faithful. His word is true. And his Spirit is still at work distributing his gifts  as he himself determines.

Talk 8   Paul’s Teaching on Tongues in 1 Corinthians 14

So far in this series we have suggested that 1 Corinthians 14:26 should be taken as a serious indication of what God desires when we meet for worship, and we have been looking at chapters 12 and 13 to see how they might influence our understanding of this verse.

In chapter 13 Paul has demonstrated the futility of spiritual gifts unless they are exercised in love. He now goes on to give practical instructions concerning the use of the gifts in public worship. The underlying theme of the chapter is edification, which must be the basic motive for the exercise of spiritual gifts. Prophecy is seen as the most appropriate means of edifying both believers and unbelievers. The New Testament believers’ meeting was a time when all should participate with a view to edifying the church (26).

In this talk we’ll be considering what Paul teaches in chapter 14 about speaking in tongues. In following talks we’ll consider what he says about interpretation of tongues and prophecy, as they are all mentioned in verse 26 and much of the rest of the chapter is taken up with these themes. As we do so, we will discover what Paul has to say about the value, purpose, and use of these gifts.

In the final talk we’ll be looking at some of the key principles which underlie his teaching, such as edification and the need for intelligibility, variety, order, and balance in our meetings. Handling things in this way will mean that we will not be moving through chapter 14 verse by verse, as Paul’s teaching on each of these themes is scattered throughout the chapter.

Today we will seek to answer three questions:

·       How does Paul describe speaking in tongues?

·       What is the purpose of speaking in tongues?

·       How is speaking in tongues to be used in church?

How does Paul describe speaking in tongues?

Perhaps the first thing to say is that Paul uses exactly the same Greek expression as is used by Luke when he describes the events that took place at Pentecost. Acts 2:4, when literally translated, reads:

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages…

I have translated the word for tongues here as languages for two reasons. First, because the context clearly shows that the disciples were speaking the languages of the people in the crowd, and secondly, because tongues is in fact just another rather old-fashioned word for languages. Our English word language is derived from the French word langue which can mean either tongue (the thing in your mouth you speak with) or language (the thing you speak).

The words used by both Luke and Paul are laleo (speak) and glossa (tongue or language). So when Paul talks about speaking in tongues he is referring to the same phenomenon as took place at Pentecost when the disciples spoke languages they had never learned. However, at Pentecost there were people present who recognised the languages the disciples were speaking, whereas usually there is no one present who will recognise the language we are speaking. This is probably why in 1 Corinthians 14:2 Paul says:

For the person speaking in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him, but he is speaking mysteries with his spirit (my translation).

Here Paul tells us that when we speak in tongues we are speaking to God. This is because, unless it’s interpreted, as we shall see later, no one can understand us. We are speaking mysteries with our spirit. Indeed, we ourselves do not understand what we are saying. This is confirmed in verse 14 where Paul says:

…if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

So speaking in tongues is speaking a language we do not understand and which no one else can understand. When we speak in English we are speaking with our mind. We understand what we are saying. But when we speak in tongues we are speaking with our spirit, and we do not understand what we are saying.

In verse 14 Paul has described speaking in tongues as praying with our spirit, but in verse 16 it’s clear that it can also be praising:

If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying?

So he also refers to it as thanksgiving and this is repeated in verse 17 when he says:

You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified.

This is in harmony with what we read in Acts 2:11 when the bewildered crowd at Pentecost exclaimed:

We hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!

This could either mean that the disciples were praising God in tongues or that they were proclaiming the gospel. The Greek word musterion which Paul uses in verse 2, which tells us that when we speak in tongues we are speaking mysteries, is used elsewhere in Paul’s writings to refer to the gospel as a secret made known by God to man (my italics) through his Spirit (e.g. Ephesians 3:4-5). 

So Paul describes speaking in tongues as speaking with our spirit rather than with our mind. He uses verbs like speaking (2), praying (14), praising (16), and giving thanks (17). And, as at Pentecost, it can also be a sign for unbelievers (22). But this is something we will discuss in a moment.

What is the purpose of speaking in tongues?

The apostle Paul valued very highly his ability to speak in tongues. In verse 18 he says:

I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.

But in verse 19 he adds:

But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

This makes clear that, although he spoke in tongues a great deal when he was not in church – that is, when he was in private – he did not do so in public. In an earlier talk we have already argued that the distinction between the public and private use of tongues explains what Paul means when he says in 12:30, Do all speak in tongues? All may speak in tongues privately, but not all will do so publicly.

But chapter 14 sheds light on both these uses. The purpose of private tongues is, as we have already seen, that we might speak with our spirit as distinct from speaking with our mind. This may take the form of prayer, or praise, or thanksgiving. Used in this way it is an important means of building ourselves up spiritually, as Paul says in verse 4, He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself.

This is presumably why Paul valued so highly his personal use of tongues, and it may well be what he was referring to when he told Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God that he had received when Paul had laid his hands on him (2 Timothy 1:6-7). Verses 14-15 reveal Paul’s personal determination to do the same:

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 15 So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.

He is clearly recommending that we should do the same. And if we really want the Holy Spirit to move powerfully in our meetings, we will be willing to make time in private to pray, not only in English with our mind, but also in tongues with our spirit.

Now with regard to the purpose of the public use of tongues, we have already mentioned the day of Pentecost, where the miracle of unlearned Galileans speaking languages they had never learned led to the conversion of some 3000 people. But his was clearly not the scenario Paul had in mind when he said to the Corinthians that tongues are a sign for unbelievers (14:22).

It’s clear from the next verse that, far from expecting unbelievers to come to faith when hearing speaking in tongues, he thinks it more likely that they will conclude that the Corinthians are out of their mind! So in what sense are tongues intended as a sign to those who do not believe? As we examine the passage in which he says this we find what at first sight appear to be two contradictions, one with regard to speaking in tongues and the other regarding prophecy:

·       Regarding tongues, in verse 22 Paul says that they are a sign for unbelievers, but in verse 23 he implies that it’s not good to speak in tongues in their presence in case they think you’re out of your mind.

·       Regarding prophecy, in verse 22 he says that it’s not for unbelievers, but for believers. However, in verses 24 and 25 he says that if unbelievers come into a meeting where everyone is prophesying, they will be convinced that they are sinners and fall down and worship God.

So how do we explain these apparent contradictions? Paul’s instructions are fairly clear. He is continuing the theme he started at the beginning of the chapter that prophecy is preferable to tongues. It is more helpful to believers and now, he says, it is more helpful to unbelievers too. So if unbelievers come in, it’s better to prophesy than to speak in tongues.

But the argument he uses to back up this teaching is extremely difficult to follow. However, one possible way of resolving the difficulty is to begin by taking the reference to prophecy in verse 22 as referring, not to the gift of prophecy, but to the prophecy of from Isaiah 28:11-12 that he has just quoted. Abstract nouns like prophecy usually take the definite article in Greek, whereas in English we leave it out. So he propheteia can be either translated prophecy or the prophecy. In Matthew 13:14-15, for example, he propheteia is used to refer to a specific quotation from the prophecy of Isaiah. It is possible that Paul is doing the same here.

Taken this way, verses 21-24 could be paraphrased as follows:

21 In the law it has been written that I will speak to this people in other tongues (even though they are an unbelieving people, as the context of Isaiah 28:11 makes clear) and yet they will not listen to me, says the Lord (Isaiah 28:12).

22 So, on the basis of the quote from Isaiah, tongues were and are given as a sign to unbelieving people. However, the prophecy (Isaiah 28:11-12) is not given for the benefit of the unbelievers but for us believers in order the we might act upon it in the following way:

23 (Because Isaiah’s prophecy was written for us believers telling us that the unbeliever would not hear even the sign of tongues), when we gather together in worship we shouldn’t speak in tongues when unbelievers are present, because it’s a sign they will reject (and will only lead to their condemnation).

24 On the other hand, if we all prophesy the unbeliever will be convinced…

Although we cannot be sure that I am right in understanding the passage in this way, this suggestion does overcome a notorious difficulty for which, in my view, no satisfactory explanation has been offered so far. But, even if it’s correct, we still have the difficulty that Paul’s warning that, if we all speak in tongues unbelievers will say that we are out of our mind, appears to be contradicted by events on the day of Pentecost.

However, we need to remember that in Acts 2, when some 3000 people were added to the church, the first effects of the miracle of tongues were bewilderment (6), amazement and perplexity (12), and, on the part of some, cynicism (13). It was the preaching of the gospel by Peter that led to their conversion. So Paul’s warning that speaking in tongues may lead to opposition, and his insistence that prophecy – speaking words that people can understand – is preferable to tongues, are not out of harmony with Acts 2.

On the basis of all this, it’s better, in my view, to consider the use of tongues as a sign to unbelievers as something exceptional [1]. We rarely, if ever, know that a language we may be speaking in tongues is going to be recognised by someone present and we must trust the Holy Spirit to enable us to speak that language if he so determines. He alone knows what impact it will have on the hearer.

But this is by no means the only way that tongues may be used in public, as Paul makes clear in the opening verses of chapter 14, where he says:

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. 3 But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. 4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.

The reference to interpretation of tongues in verse 5 makes clear the purpose of its use. It’s for the edification of the church. Tongues are unintelligible unless they are interpreted and without interpretation the speaker is just speaking into the air (9).  But when interpreted they can fulfil a similar function to prophecy, which also edifies the church (4) bringing strengthening, encouragement and comfort (3).

We will return to this in the next talk when we consider Paul’s teaching on the gift of interpretation of tongues, but for now it’s sufficient to note that the purpose of the use of tongues in church must surely be the same as that of the gift of interpretation – namely, the edification, strengthening, encouragement and comfort of believers.

How is speaking in tongues to be used in church?

Despite Paul’s clear teaching that prophecy is preferable to tongues (1-5), he by no means discourages the use of tongues in church. Although in verse 5 he says that he would rather have them prophesy, he does say, nevertheless, I would like every one of you to speak in tongues. And we have already seen that he expects speaking in tongues to be a regular part of the worship of the church (26) and it is certainly not to be forbidden (39).

However, the key to its use in church is that it needs to be interpreted so that everyone may be edified. In fact, in verse 28 he tells us that

If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.

This suggests that the personal use of tongues in church is not prohibited, but it must be done quietly as it will edify no one except the speaker (cf. 4). Speaking out loud in tongues, therefore, is to be strongly discouraged unless it is intended that it be interpreted, and that of course will require someone with the gift of interpretation to be present.

This may, of course, be the person who has spoken in tongues, as in verses 12-13 Paul encourages those who speak in tongues to pray for the gift of interpretation:

So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church. 13 For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says.

But if a person who wants to speak in tongues does not possess the gift of interpretation, they must first make sure that someone is present who does, and if not, they must speak quietly to themselves and to God (28).

However, if an interpreter is present, the speaker in tongues may  speak out loud with a view to its being interpreted for the edification of the church, subject to the conditions Paul gives in verse 27, where he says:

If anyone speaks in a tongue, two, or at the most three, should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.

This instruction is so clear that it hardly requires further comment, but we will discuss some of the practical implications in the final talk in this series.

Conclusion

In this talk we have argued that when Paul uses the term speaking in tongues, he is referring to the same gift as the disciples received on the day of Pentecost – the ability to speak languages they had never learned. We saw that tongues may be expressed in a variety of ways, including, prayer, praise, thanksgiving, and declaring the wonders of God.

We discovered that when we speak in tongues it’s our spirit that is praying, not our mind. God gives us this gift to help us edify ourselves – to build ourselves up spiritually. It is also given so that when it’s interpreted it will edify the church. It can also be used as a sign to unbelievers when, as at Pentecost, they understand the language that is being spoken.  Finally, we saw that Paul does expect this gift to be in operation in our meetings, but that it should be used quietly if it is not for interpretation. It must only be spoken aloud if an interpreter is present, and  it must be used only two, or at the most three, times in a meeting. We will consider this further in the next talk when we examine Paul’s teaching on the gift of interpretation.

Talk 7. We’re Nothing without Love – 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

1 Corinthians 13 is one of the best-known chapters in the Bible. It is often chosen as a reading at weddings and is widely recognised as one of the greatest statements that has ever been written on the nature of love. I well remember how it was read on the first and last day of every term in the Chapel at Brentwood School where I attended as a pupil in the 1950s.

Verses 4-8 are a favourite source of sermon material for many a preacher and Christians have often been challenged to replace the word love with their own name and ask how true these verses are in their own lives.  By contrast, of course, all Paul says about love is wonderfully true as we look at the life of the Lord Jesus, and I confess I find it easier to use his name, rather than mine, to replace love throughout these verses:

4 Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind…

So there can be no doubt that the truths Paul teaches about love in this chapter extend far beyond the context in which it is set. But they do nevertheless have an immediate relevance to all he is saying throughout chapters 11-14 about what should happen when Christians meet to worship the Lord.

And that is what we will be considering in this talk. How does 1 Corinthians 13 affect our understanding of chapter 14, and of 14:26 in particular?

We will divide the chapter into three sections:

·       It’s all meaningless without love (1-3)

·       The nature of love (4-8)

·       Recognising our limitations (8-12)

It’s all meaningless without love (1-3)

In the opening verses of the chapter Paul says:

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

The general sense of this passage is very clear and requires little comment here [1]. In saying this, however, we must be careful not to diminish its importance. Its clarity must not detract from its urgency. Nothing is more important than love. Whatever gifts we may have and whatever we may do, if our motive is not love, it counts for nothing. Without love I am nothing (2) and I gain nothing (3).

This principle applies to every function of the body of Christ, not just to the things mentioned in these verses, which are just illustrations of it. As we saw in the last talk, every part of the body is needed. Every member is important. And when one member suffers, we all suffer (12:26). Each member should have equal concern for every other (12:25). And now in chapter 13 Paul says that the only way that all this is possible is when we love one another.

So the things Paul refers to in verses 1-3 are just illustrations of the great principle of the paramount importance of love. But why does he choose these particular illustrations to make his point? The answer must surely lie in the particular problems facing the church in Corinth at the time. It’s evident from chapter 14 that there were problems in Corinth with their use of gifts like speaking in tongues and prophecy which are the two gifts he mentions first here in chapter 13. And the reference to knowledge may well reflect what Paul has said in chapter 8 about food sacrificed to idols, where he stresses the importance of love compared with knowledge:

We know that we all possess knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. The man who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves God is known by God (1-3).

This, along with the final verses of chapter 1, indicates that some of the Corinthians were in danger of boasting about their knowledge and wisdom. There Paul reminds them that they would be nothing if it were not for the fact that God had chosen them and called them:

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord“ (1:26-31).

This is surely why he reminds them in 13:4 that Love… does not boast. And it may well account for the inclusion of faith that can move mountains (13:2). Spiritual gifts are charismata. They come from God’s grace. There is no room for boasting, however greatly God may have used us.

So as we later consider Paul’s encouragement in 14:26 for all to participate by bringing a contribution to our meetings, we need to remember that whatever we may bring must be brought in love and that, of course, includes humility. But now we need to consider how verses 4-8 might affect our understanding of 14:26.

The nature of love (4-8)

As I have already acknowledged, these verses have a far wider application than our understanding of chapter 14. But chapter 13 is no mere parenthesis. It is set firmly between Paul’s teaching in chapter 12 on the importance of the role of every Christian within the church as the body of Christ and his application of that principle in chapter 14 where he gives specific direction as to how certain roles are to function when the church is gathered for worship.

Furthermore, the link in Paul’s thinking between chapters 13 and 14 is clearly established in 14:1 where he says:

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy.

As we will see in the next talk, the underlying principle of all he says in chapter 14 is putting other people first which is surely the main way in which we express our love for them. Prophecy, for example, is to be desired more than tongues because it edifies others, not just ourselves (14:1-5). So his teaching on the nature of love in 13:4-8 has a direct application to our understanding of chapter 14 and of 14:26 in particular. But how? Paul says:

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.       8 Love never fails.

Some of these wonderful attributes of love are more obviously applicable to the contents of chapter 14 than others. So it is these that we’ll consider here, bearing in mind that they have a wider relevance that’s beyond the scope of our present discussion.

Love is patient

In a gathering where each member is encouraged to contribute something for the edification of the others (14:26), there is an evident need for patience. Waiting one’s turn isn’t always easy, especially when some people are praying or prophesying at great length. As a preacher I confess that I have often been somewhat lacking in patience when the musicians are prolonging the worship to a point where I am wondering if there will be enough time left for me say all that I believe God’s given me to say. But then I do well to remember that the congregation may well need to be patient with me!

Love is kind… it is not rude

Consideration for others is so important if the meeting is to meet its full potential. My old pastor, Alfred Webb, used to compare the time available in a meeting to a cake. If there were six people around the table, hopefully you wouldn’t dream of taking more than one sixth of the cake! So, he said, don’t take more than a fair share of the time available. Be kind. Making way for others is certainly taught in 14:30 where Paul encourages someone who is prophesying to stop if someone else has a revelation to share.

Of course, kindness in a meeting can take many forms, but perhaps one of the most important is with regard to judging other people’s contributions to the meeting. Paul encourages us to try to excel in the use of the gifts God has given us (14:12), but that implies that the level at which we use them may not always be at the highest, and we are in need of kindness when this is clearly the case with regard to the contributions of others.

Love does not boast…It is not proud… It does not envy

We have already noted that pride was a major problem at Corinth – pride in who their favourite preacher was (ch.1), pride in their tolerance (ch. 5), pride in their knowledge (ch. 8), and possibly, here in chapter 13, pride that they were able, so they believed, to speak the languages of angels (v1). There is also a suggestion of pride in 14:37 where Paul says:

If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command.

No doubt it would have been difficult for some to submit to Paul’s apostolic authority in this matter, but the key to humility is the understanding that we are what we are by God’s grace (15:10). Pride and boasting are totally inappropriate for a Christian:

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:8-10).

All that we have and all that we are is by the grace of God. And this includes the gifts that we may use in our meetings. They are charismata.  They come from God’s grace. So there’s no basis for pride, and there should really be no need for us to envy our fellow Christians, but sadly it’s all too possible to do so.

We may envy the gifts God has given them, or the amount of time allotted to them, or the prominence given to them in the meeting. But if we love them we will be glad for them. Why am I glad when my children and grandchildren are taking part in the meetings? Because I love them! But as a Christian I am called to love every member of the body of Christ, and I should rejoice with them (12:26) when they are honoured.

Love is not self-seeking

That this was a problem in Corinth is clear from the fact that at the Lord’s supper – which at that time would have been a meal rather than the tiny emblems that are generally used today – some were going hungry while others were getting drunk:

For as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk (11:21).

It’s not surprising, therefore, that this self-centred attitude manifested itself in other areas too, as we see in the opening verses of chapter 14. The Corinthians were edifying themselves by speaking in tongues (v.4) but needed to be encouraged to prophesy so that others might be edified. But this is something we will address in more detail in the next talk.

Love… rejoices with the truth… It always protects

Much of what Paul writes in his epistles is there for the express purpose of safeguarding the truth. What we believe is of vital importance. It determines our eternal destiny. And nowhere is this more important than when we are gathered together in church. Among the things that Paul encourages in 14:26 is a word of instruction – literally a teaching.

Love is to be the motive for all that we do, and that includes teaching. In Mark 6:34 we read that Jesus was moved with compassion for the people because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and so he began to teach them many things. In John 8:31-32 he said:

If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.

Love was the motive for his teaching and its purpose was to set people free. The same must be true of those who bring a word of instruction in our meetings.

But the need for truth is relevant not only to teaching, but also to prophecy. As we shall see in the next section, we know in part and we prophesy in part (13:9). Our knowledge and prophetic insight are limited. That’s why we all have a responsibility to weigh carefully what is said (14:29).

Recognising our limitations (8-12)

Love never fails, but where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. 12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

The overall sense of these verses is very clear. Paul has already taught us that supernatural gifts are pointless unless they are motivated by love (1-3). He has explained what he means by love and extolled its virtues (4-8). Now in verses 8-13 he makes it clear that, although there will ultimately be no need for supernatural gifts, love will remain for ever. It never fails (8). It remains (13).

In Chapter One we discussed what Paul means by perfection in verse 10.  We rejected the views of the cessationists who believe that perfection refers to the completion of the canon of Scripture. The supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit will be at work in the church right up until the Lord’s return. In the age to come, prophecy will not be needed – it will have already been fulfilled! Words of knowledge will be unnecessary – we shall know fully, even as we are known! But until then, these wonderful gifts are essential to the effective witness and worship of the church.

But wonderful though these gifts are, their operation is not infallible. We know in part and we prophesy in part. The contributions Paul is encouraging in 14:26 must be understood in this light. God’s gifts are perfect, but we are not. We do not yet see face to face. Paul says, we know… we prophesy. The gifts come from God but they come through us, and we are fallible.

This must affect our understanding of all that Paul says in chapter 14, not just verse 26. As we eagerly desire spiritual gifts we are to try to excel in our use of them (12). This clearly implies that it’s possible to exercise them without excelling in them. That’s why words of prophecy need to be weighed carefully (29) and why Paul found it necessary to give instruction as to how the gifts should be used. Had the operation of the gifts been infallible, such instruction would have been unnecessary.

In short, whatever contribution we may make during the course of a meeting, we must always be aware of our own fallibility. Paul encourages us to participate (26), but to make sure that we do so in love. Our use of spiritual gifts may well be imperfect, but he tells us to eagerly desire them (14:1) nevertheless. But that’s something we will consider in more detail in the next talk.

In our first talk we saw from 1 Corinthians 14:26 that one of the features to be expected when Christians meet together is the power of the Holy Spirit manifested in the use of supernatural gifts which are given as the Holy Spirit determines to individual Christians for the benefit of the church.

In this talk we’ll be considering 1 Corinthians 12:12-31 and its bearing on those words in 14:26 where Paul says every one of you has. His clear intention is that they should all actively participate in the worship of the church, but they needed to do so in a spirit of unity and love. Their lack of love was evident from the serious divisions in the church (chapters 1-4), their need to consider others in the way they exercised their freedom (chapters 8-10), and their selfish behaviour at the Lord’s Supper described in chapter 11.

In the light of all this, it’s easy to understand why Paul felt the need to address the question of unity in chapter 12, of the importance of love in chapter 13, and of the need to put other people first in chapter 14. Keeping all this in mind will help us to understand more clearly the passage in 12:12-31.

We also need to remember that in the first part of the chapter Paul has been dealing with supernatural gifts. This is the immediate context of the passage we are about to consider. In verse 12 Paul says:

For the body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.

The use of the word for shows that there is a link between what Paul has just said in verse 11 with what he’s about to say in verse 12, and this indicates that supernatural gifts are still very much in mind. However, the subject is now broader and Paul’s teaching applies, not just to supernatural gifts, but to every function of the body, by which Paul clearly means the church, the body of Christ. He is drawing a parallel between the church and the human body. Just as each human being has one body which is made up of many parts, so too the church, which is the body of Christ, is one body with many parts.

Paul goes on to develop this theme in the following verses where the major theme is unity and interdependence in the midst of diversity. He shows that all the members of the body are different (diversity) but are united by the fact that they are all part of the same body and empowered by the same Spirit (unity). Each part of the body is dependent on each of the other parts. Everyone is needed (interdependence). Just as the parts of the human body all need each other, so the individual members of the church all need each other.

The table below outlines the verse references for each of these themes:

Diversity:    4, 5, 6, 8-11, 12, 14, 20, 28.

Unity:         One Spirit:  4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 11, 13.

                    One Body:  12, 13, 20, 24-25.

Interdependence:  21, 25, 26.

We will now consider this in more detail under the following headings:

·       The illustration of the human body (14-26)

·       The illustration applied to the church (27-31).

The illustration of the human body (14-26)

Paul’s use of the human body as an illustration of the church and its members is easy enough for even a child to understand. He reminds us that our body is not made up of one part but of many (14). He then mentions different parts of the body – feet, hands, ears, and eyes – to point out that every part of the body is needed. Just because a foot is not a hand, it does not mean that it’s not part of the body (15) and just because an ear is not an eye, it does not mean that it’s not part of the body (16). In fact,

If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? (17).

Paul then goes on to say that God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be (18). And because it is God who has done so, it follows that every part is necessary. No part can say to another, I don’t need you (20-21). Even the weaker and unpresentable parts are indispensable (22-23).

And that’s why there should be no division in the body. Its unity is expressed in all the parts having equal concern for each other (25) and the fact that,

If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honoured, every part rejoices with it (26).

Now it should be clear that in this passage Paul has been reminding the Corinthians of things they already know about their own physical bodies. But by telling them at the beginning (12) that the church is the body he is really concerned with, he knows that the Corinthians will have a pretty good idea of what he is getting at.

And so should we. The key lessons are as follows:

·       The church is the body of Christ (12, 27)

·       The parts (or members) of that body are individual Christians (27).

·       Every member is different from all the others, but every member needs all the others (21).

·       Every member is needed because God has put them just where he wants them to be (18, 24). Everyone is indispensable (22). Everyone is special (23).

·       No member should ever say of themselves, I am not a part of the body (15-17). We mustn’t think of ourselves as useless. Whether we believe it or not, like it or not, we belong to the body.

·       No member should ever say of another member, They are not a part of the body. We mustn’t think of anyone as useless (21-24).

·       All the members should have equal concern for each other (25).

We’ll consider how all this affects our understanding of 14:26 after we have examined verses 27-31.

The illustration applied to the church (27-31)

In verse 27 Paul says:

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

Paul now begins to apply to the church the principles he has been teaching in verses 12-26, and it’s important at this stage to remind ourselves of something we have mentioned already. What Paul is saying is not only applicable to when we gather together for worship – though that, of course, is our main focus in this book – but to the wider ministry of the church. The body of Christ is at work 24/7, not just for an hour or so on Sundays! This is reflected in verse 28, where Paul says:

 And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.

Here Paul lists some of the different gifts and ministries that function within the body of Christ. These are not intended as an exhaustive list, but as representative samples of how different parts of the body are at work, whether in a church meeting or outside it.

It is not my intention to discuss in detail the precise nature of each of these gifts. I have already done so at length in my book Body Builders – Gifts to make God’s people grow, (where, incidentally, I suggest that the Greek translated by NIV as those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, might be better understood to refer to the roles of deacons and elders).

But what’s important here is to notice that Paul begins by saying GOD has appointed. This reemphasises what he has already said in verses 18 and 24:

GOD has arranged (18) and GOD has combined (24).

We are what we are because that’s what GOD has made us, and that’s why every member of the body is important. Whether we are an Ephesians 4:11 gift, like apostle, prophet, or teacher, or whether we have supernatural gifts like working miracles, or healing, or speaking in tongues, we need to understand that it is by the grace of God that we are what we are and have what we have. As Paul later says of himself,

by the grace of God I am what I am (15:10).

Here Paul is referring to his role as a church leader, an apostle, and it’s significant that, in the list we are now considering, he puts apostles first. And although it’s unlikely that he’s implying some form of hierarchy when he says, first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers, it’s clear from chapter 14 (and especially 14:37) that Paul understood that the use of spiritual gifts like prophecy, tongues, and interpretation was subject to his apostolic authority.

Turning now to verses 29-30, we see that Paul repeats (in question form) the list of functions he has mentioned in verse 28 – though note the omission of those able to help others, and those with gifts of administration, which is probably because Paul felt it unnecessary to repeat all the functions listed in verse 28 to make his point. He says:

Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?

The sense of these verses is very clear. The questions are rhetorical. The answer Paul clearly expects to each question is NO. Paul is reiterating his point that just as all the parts of our body are different and have different functions, so too all the members of the church are different and have different roles to play in the body of Christ.

It’s particularly important to understand this when we consider the implication of his question, Do all speak in tongues? which clearly indicates that all do not. This is sometimes used as an argument against the teaching that we should expect to speak in tongues when we are baptised in the Holy Spirit, but that argument is easily dismissed when we bear in mind the context of Paul’s question which, as we have seen, relates to functions within the church.

This is confirmed by his next question, Do all interpret? The purpose of the gift of interpretation of tongues is the edification of the church (14:5) and it is clear, therefore, that when Paul says Do all speak in tongues? he is referring to the use of tongues in church. However, in chapter 14 Paul distinguishes between the use of tongues in church and its use in private:

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

This surely indicates that in private Paul valued highly his ability to speak in tongues.

This is how he could pray with his spirit (14:14-15) and was a valuable way of edifying himself spiritually (14:4), but in church his teaching gift would be of more benefit to other members of the body of Christ.

Once we have understood the clear distinction Paul makes between the use of tongues in church and its use in private, the meaning of his question in 12:30 becomes very clear.

Does everybody speak in tongues with a view to its being interpreted for the edification of the church? No.

That does not mean, however, that it would not be beneficial for every Christian to speak in tongues privately in order to pray with the spirit. And that ability, as we have seen from Acts, was imparted when new converts were baptised in the Holy Spirit.

But we must now turn our attention to how Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 12 affects our understanding of 14:26, where he says:

What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.

1 Corinthians 14:26 in the light of chapter 12

In our first talk we identified three key principles in this verse – participation, variety, and edification. These principles may be seen as a summary of all that Paul is teaching in these chapters and all three are implicit in his teaching in chapter 12. In fact, what Paul says in chapter 12 enriches our understanding of what he means in 14:26.

With regard to participation, in 14:26 Paul says, When you come together, everyone has… or as later versions of NIV put it, each of you has. The implication is that every member of the body has the potential to bring something to the meeting that will be a blessing to others.

In chapter 12 we see examples of the kind of things that people might bring, and we’re told that in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work (6). The Spirit distributes his gifts  to each one, just as he determines (11). And, as we have seen, the major emphasis of verses 12-26 is that every part of the body is needed. The head cannot say to the hand, I don’t need you (21). So, if everyone is needed, there must surely be room for them to participate.

With regard to the variety, in 14:26 Paul mentions a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. There are three main elements here – the musical, the doctrinal, and the supernatural. We will say more about these when we reach chapter 14, but it’s evident that Paul expected all these elements to be present when Christians meet in church.

It’s interesting that in chapter 12 Paul appears to say nothing about the musical, though it would undoubtedly be included in the different kinds of service he mentions in verse 5. He also says little in this chapter about the doctrinal, although its importance is strongly implied in verse 1 where he says that he does not want his readers to be ignorant,  and he mentions teachers in verse 28. But we need have no doubt about Paul’s view of the importance of sound doctrine, which is evidently his major purpose in writing his letters and becomes very evident in his teaching in chapter 15 on the most important doctrine of all – the resurrection of Christ.

However, if in chapter 12 he has nothing to say directly about the musical, and relatively little to say about the doctrinal, he has plenty to say about the supernatural. We have already seen that the gifts he lists in verses 8-10 are supernatural gifts, that the supernatural is still in mind in his illustration of the human body as the body of Christ, the church, and that supernatural gifts are still very much in evidence towards the end of the chapter in verses 28 and 29. It seems likely, therefore, that the variety he has in mind in 14:26 would be far wider than the things he mentions there, and could well include any or all of the gifts and ministries he has talked about in chapter 12.

That brings us finally to the principle of edification of which Paul speaks in 14:26 when he says that all of these must be done for the strengthening (or edification) of the church. We will say much more about this when we come to chapter 14, where edification is the dominant theme of the chapter. For now it’s sufficient to note that it also underlies his teaching in chapter 12. The gifts of the Spirit are distributed for the good of all (7). We are baptised in the Spirit for the benefit of the church (13). And each part of the body has been placed there by God for the benefit of all the members because we all need each other (14-26).

So chapter 12 enhances our understanding of what Paul teaches in 14:26, but it also sets the context for our understanding of what he about to say about love in 1 Corinthians 13. But that’s the subject of our next talk.

Applying what we’ve learnt from Acts to 1 Corinthians 12:13

In this series we are looking at what we should expect in our meetings as we gather together to worship the Lord. We have suggested that 1 Corinthians 14:26 gives a clear indication about this and have noted among other things the importance of congregational participation and variety of manifestation, including supernatural gifts like speaking in tongues and interpretation.

We’ve examined the supernatural gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11 and noted our total dependence on the Holy Spirit if these gifts are to be in operation in our meetings. We are now considering the significance of 1 Corinthians 12:13, and I have argued that in this verse Paul is talking about the same experience as Jesus spoke about in Acts 1:5-8, and several examples of which we see later in Acts.

In our last talk we examined those examples in more detail and discovered that the baptism in the Spirit was promised by Jesus in Acts 1:5, was received by the first disciples when they were filled with the Spirit in Acts 2:4, was made available to all who would repent and be baptised (Acts 2:38), and received by subsequent disciples in Acts chapters 8, 9. 10, and 19. We saw that the baptism in the Spirit is not the same as the Spirit’s work in salvation or sanctification, but is an enduement with power for service accompanied by miraculous manifestations including speaking in tongues.

Today we’ll be considering how all this applies to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:13, and perhaps the first thing to say is that, because the baptism in the Spirit was so vital to the experience of the early church, it’s unthinkable that Paul could have a radically different understanding of what it means to be baptised in the Spirit from what we have discovered in Acts. So what we’ve learnt from Acts must inform our understanding of what he means in 1 Corinthians 12:13 when, following my translation, he says that we were all baptised in the Spirit for the benefit of the one body.

In Talk 3 I began by arguing that the first part of 1 Corinthians 12:13 should be understood to mean that Christians are baptised in the Spirit for the benefit of the church. The supernatural gifts listed in verses 8-11 come as a result of believers being baptised in the Spirit and are to be used for the benefit of the whole church (13). We then saw in Talk 4 that in Acts the baptism in the Spirit is a supernatural experience accompanied by charismatic gifts including speaking in tongues.

So, both in Acts and in 1 Corinthians, baptism in the Spirit is closely related to supernatural gifts. But in Acts the emphasis is on evangelism, while in Corinthians it’s on the edification of the church. Or to put it slightly differently, in Acts the gifts which result from the baptism in the Spirit enable those who are not yet believers to come to faith, while in Corinthians they edify those who are already believers and strengthen their faith.

I see, then, no disharmony between Acts and 1 Corinthians 12:13 with regard to the baptism in the Spirit. The difference in emphasis is easily understood in the light of the fact that in Acts Luke is primarily concerned with evangelism in the power of the Spirit, and in 1 Corinthians 12-14 Paul is concerned with pastoral issues relating to the use of spiritual gifts in the worship of the church. The baptism in the Spirit enables both.

So, if we’re to expect the supernatural in our meetings (14:26, 12:1-11 etc), we are totally dependent on the Holy Spirit, and since spiritual gifts are operated by individual Christians, it’s vital that those who do so are baptised in the Holy Spirit. I say this because, from everything we have said so far, it should be clear that the baptism in the Spirit is what has often been referred to as the gateway to the supernatural gifts of the Spirit.

Personally, I have reached this conclusion because I believe that we must decide what to believe on the basis of what we understand the Bible  teaches, not on the basis of our experience. Once we have done that, we may evaluate our experience in the light of Scripture , rather than trying to read our experience into God’s word.

So, if what we have been saying about the meaning of 1 Corinthians 12:13 is correct, it must surely follow that from a biblical perspective the reception and operation of supernatural gifts will be preceded by the baptism in the Spirit. And as far as Acts is concerned, it is significant that the baptism in the Spirit always came before the manifestation of spiritual gifts.

The first disciples did not begin to speak in tongues until they were first filled with the Spirit at Pentecost  (Acts 2:4). The same is true of Cornelius and his household (Acts 10:44-46). And in Acts 19:1-6 the Ephesians spoke in tongues and prophesied after the Holy Spirit  came upon them. Indeed, the fact that people were usually baptised in the Spirit on the day they were saved suggests that the manifestation of spiritual gifts  before being baptised in the Spirit would have been unlikely.

But can we insist that the baptism in the Spirit must precede the manifestation of spiritual gifts? After all, we read that Jesus’ disciples worked miracles  and this was, of course, before their baptism in the Spirit at Pentecost. However, as we examine these passages in the gospels we discover that they did so in a special authority  delegated to them by Jesus at that time. After Jesus went away, they needed the Spirit if they were to continue to work miracles (cf. John 14).

So in my view the baptism in the Spirit is rightly understood to be the gateway to spiritual gifts . Indeed, we might well ask how anyone could expect to manifest the gifts that come from the Spirit without first being filled with the Spirit himself. But we must now consider how all this works out in practice.

The idea that the baptism in the Spirit  is rightly understood from a biblical perspective to be the gateway to supernatural gifts raises certain practical questions with regard to how this teaching  should be applied today. What, for example, can we say of Christians who exercise spiritual gifts but who either would not claim to have been baptised in the Spirit or who do not believe in the baptism in the Spirit? How do we explain this and what should be our attitude to such people?

In my view we should certainly not say that their gifts are not genuine! Personally, I distinguish between what I see in the Bible, and therefore teach, and what God in his grace may do today even if it is not completely in line with my understanding of the biblical pattern. It seems to me that God is far more willing to give than we are to receive. He is longing to lavish his gifts upon his people if only we would desire them more! This means that he is pleased when any of his children seek after any spiritual gift, whether or not they have come to understand or believe in the baptism in the Holy Spirit .

This may well explain why some have been greatly used in healing even though they have a different understanding of what it means to be baptised in the Spirit. In my view we should thank God for the way he is using them, but still encourage them to receive the baptism in the Spirit with its accompanying blessing of speaking in tongues , for how else will they be able to pray  with their spirit (1 Corinthians 14:14ff)? 

But instead of looking at the experience of others we would do better to consider our own. If we have been baptised in the Spirit, we should press on to the gifts  by eagerly desiring them and praying for them [1]. And if we have not yet received the baptism in the Spirit, we should ask God to fill us today. Our heavenly Father  does give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him (Luke 11:13) and Jesus  said that if we are thirsty we will drink (John 7:37-39). As we reach out in faith he will not disappoint us [2] .

To summarise, then, I believe that in 1 Corinthians 12:13 Paul is referring to the same experience as Luke describes in Acts, where Christians receive the power of the Spirit accompanied by the manifestation of supernatural gifts. Those gifts are vitally important, not only in confirming the message of the gospel, but also when Christians are gathered together in worship. It follows, therefore, that, if we are to see them in operation in our meetings as Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 14:26, we need to encourage all Christians to be baptised in the Spirit. It is only through the power of the Spirit that we can properly fulfil our purpose as members of the body of Christ.

Baptism in the Spirit in the book of Acts

In this series we are looking at what we should expect in our meetings as we gather together to worship the Lord. We have suggested that 1 Corinthians 14:26 gives a clear indication about this and have noted among other things the importance of congregational participation and variety of manifestation, including supernatural gifts like speaking in tongues and interpretation.

We’ve examined the supernatural gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:8-11 and noted our total dependence on the Holy Spirit if these gifts are to be in operation in our meetings. We are now considering the significance of 1 Corinthians 12:13, and in our last talk I argued that in this verse Paul is talking about the same experience as Jesus spoke about in Acts 1:5-8, and several examples of which we see later in Acts. In this talk we’ll be looking at those examples in more detail in order to help us better understand what it means to be baptised in the Spirit.

This will be important because in 1 Corinthians 12:13 Paul does not define baptism in the Spirit. This is almost certainly because he knows that the Corinthians will understand his terminology. He is using their knowledge of an experience with which they were already familiar to illustrate the unity of the body of Christ. So for us to understand what he means by baptism in the Spirit we need to turn to the book of Acts which often describes experiences referred to in the epistles and helps us understand them.

To begin with, it will be helpful to understand that although Acts contains only two references to the words, You will be baptised in the Holy Spirit[1], it’s clear that Luke uses a variety of expressions to refer to the same experience. These include:

• Receiving the gift the Father had promised (1:4)
• Being baptised in the Holy Spirit (1:5)
• The power of the Spirit coming or falling on you (1:8, 8:16, 10:44)
• Being filled with the Spirit (2:4).
• Receiving (the gift of) the Holy Spirit (2:38, 8:15, 8:17, 8:19, 10:47, 19:2).

So all these expressions are references to the baptism in the Spirit and teach us something about it. For example, we’ve already noted that in Acts 1:5 Jesus said:

Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised in the Holy Spirit’…

He goes on to clarify its meaning in Acts 1:8 when he says:

…you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

And the power they were to receive from the Spirit was supernatural, miracle-working power, as the opening verses of Acts 2 make clear:

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them (Acts 2:1-4).

The promise that Jesus had made them was fulfilled. He had told them to wait for the gift that God had promised (Acts 1:4) and that they would be baptised in the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:5). This would be the power of the Holy Spirit coming on them empowering them to be witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). And this happened on the day of Pentecost when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak languages they had never learned (Acts 2:4).

As a result of this amazing miracle, a large crowd gathered and, after Peter had preached the gospel to them, over 3000 people were added to the church. Acts goes on to tell us how, through the power of the Holy Spirit, thousands more people became Christians and churches were established throughout the then-known world.

But there’s more that we can learn from Acts about what it means to be baptised in the Spirit. Please note carefully the following points:

• It’s not the same as becoming a Christian.
• It’s not the same as sanctification.
• It’s a supernatural experience.
• It’s available to every Christian in every generation.

It’s not the same as becoming a Christian

The first thing to notice is that when the disciples were filled with the Spirit on the day of Pentecost they were already followers of Jesus. Their experience of the Spirit that day was not what made them Christians. They had already left all to follow Jesus (Matthew 19:27). They had confessed that he was the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16). He had told them that they were already clean (John 15:3) and that their names were written in Heaven (Luke 10:20). But until Pentecost they were not yet baptised in the Spirit.

We see something similar when we look at the Samaritans who were converted through Philip’s preaching in Acts 8. They had believed Philip as he had preached the gospel to them and they had been baptised (v. 12), but the Holy Spirit had not yet ‘come upon’ any of them (v. 16). However, when Peter and John placed their hands on them (v.17), they received the Holy Spirit.

Other examples in Acts are the apostle Paul who was converted on the road to Damascus but was not filled with the Spirit until Ananias had laid his hands on him (Acts 9:3-17), and the Ephesians in Acts 19:1-6. The Spirit came on them after Paul had laid hands on them after he had baptised them in water after he had explained to them that it was Jesus who was the Christ about whom John the Baptist had told them. (Note, too, from the examples we have mentioned that the baptism in the Spirit was often received through the laying on of hands, but in the New Testament this was never used to impart salvation).All these examples show us that, when Luke uses expressions like ‘being baptised in the Spirit’, ‘being filled with the Spirit’, ‘receiving the Spirit’, ‘the Spirit coming upon a person’, he is not talking about the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives which brings about our conversion.  Being baptised in the Spirit is different from being born again[2].

It’s not the same as sanctification

The next thing to notice from the Book of Acts is that being baptised in the Spirit is not the same as sanctification. It’s something that happens suddenly. Let’s go back to the first few verses of Acts 2. For ten days the disciples had been waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit. They were no more filled with the Spirit on the ninth day than they had been on the first day! But on the tenth day, the day of Pentecost, they were suddenly (v. 2) filled with the Spirit (v. 4). This is clear from the use of the word ‘suddenly’ in verse 2 and from the tense of the Greek verb which Luke uses in verse 4. And the same is true of the verb used in Acts 4:31 when the disciples were filled again with the Holy Spirit[3].

Other examples in Acts include Acts 1:5 where Jesus promises his disciples that they will be ‘baptised’ in the Holy Spirit and Peter’s statement in Acts 11:15 that the Holy Spirit ‘fell on’ Cornelius[4]. Falling seems to suggest something that happens suddenly and ‘baptism’ – always by immersion in the New Testament – can certainly not be administered gradually! This is important because some Christians have mistakenly confused being filled with the Spirit with the gradual process of sanctification that takes place in our lives day by day as we seek to become more like Jesus.

So, being baptised in the Spirit is a sudden experience that’s not to be confused with regeneration[5] or with sanctification. But it’s also important to understand that it’s a supernatural experience.

It’s a supernatural experience

We only need to read Acts 2:1-4 again to see that being baptised with the Spirit is a supernatural experience. They saw supernatural tongues of fire, heard the supernatural wind of the Spirit, and spoke by supernatural power languages they had never learned. In Acts there is a clear connection between the initial experience of the baptism in the Spirit and speaking in tongues (Acts 2:4, 10:46, 19:6).

In fact, wherever there is a full description of people being baptised in Spirit, the first thing to be recorded immediately afterwards is that those who received the Spirit spoke in tongues (Acts 2:4, 10:46, 19:6). In Acts 10:46, for example, it was how Peter and his companions knew that the new converts in Cornelius’s household has been baptised in the Spirit.

But their experience of the Spirit was not to be limited to speaking in tongues. The baptism in the Spirit accompanied by speaking in tongues was only the gateway to other mighty gifts. As we read on in Acts we see that by the same supernatural power of the Spirit they healed the sick (Chapters 3, 5, 8, 9, 14, 19, 28), cast out demons (Chapters 8, 16, 19) and even raised the dead (Chapters 9 and 20). As a result, thousands were added to the church (Acts 2:41, 4:4).

So Acts paints a picture of the baptism in the Spirit, which is in itself a supernatural experience, but which leads to further manifestations of the miraculous which confirm the preaching of the gospel and lead to the formation of churches. And these things were not just for the early disciples.

It’s available to every Christian in every generation

This is made clear in Acts 2:38-39 where Peter says to the crowd:

Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.

The gift of the Holy Spirit is available to all who will repent and be baptised. It was not just for those Peter was speaking to in Acts 2, but for their children and all those of future generations who would become Christians.

And, as we read on in Acts, we see this promise being fulfilled. The Spirit comes upon the Samaritans (Acts 8), on Paul (Acts 9), on the Roman centurion, Cornelius, and his household (Acts 10), and on the Ephesians (Acts 19). These all had similar experiences to the disciples on the day of Pentecost and nowhere does the New Testament suggest that they are not for today. Indeed, the experience of millions of Christians alive today confirms that it is!

But that does not mean that all have received it. In Acts the normal experience of those coming to faith in Christ was repentance followed immediately by baptism in water and baptism in the Spirit. Those who, like the Samaritans in Acts 8, did not receive the Spirit immediately after they were baptised in water, received soon after through the laying on of the apostles’ hands (Acts 8:17, 19:6). Today, sadly, this is far less common, even among Christians who believe in these things. The root cause of this is, I believe, lack of teaching on the part of church leaders, an issue I will be addressing in the final chapter of the book I am writing on this subject.

So, to summarise, the baptism in the Spirit was promised by Jesus in Acts 1:5, was received by the first disciples when they were filled with the Spirit in Acts 2:4, was made available to all who would repent and be baptised (Acts 2:38), and received by subsequent disciples in Acts chapters 8, 9. 10, and 19. It’s not the same as the Spirit’s work in salvation or sanctification, but is an enduement with power for service accompanied by miraculous manifestations including speaking in tongues.

In our next talk we’ll see how all this applies to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:13.

1 Corinthians 12:13

In the introduction to this series of talks we suggested that 1 Corinthians 14:26 gives clear biblical guidelines as to what Christians should expect as they gather together in worship. We noted that these include supernatural manifestations like speaking in tongues, interpretation, and prophecy.

So in our last talk we considered the supernatural gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12:1-12 and concluded that all the gifts listed there are supernatural, that all these gifts are certainly for today, and that we should certainly expect to see them in evidence in churches today.

Now such manifestations would clearly be impossible if it were not for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. So it’s not surprising that in 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 there are no less than eight references to the Holy Spirit.

It’s only by the Holy Spirit that we can confess that Jesus is Lord (3). Although we have different gifts, it’s the same Spirit that inspires them all (4). If we have received a gift from the Spirit, it’s not for our benefit alone, but for the good of all the church (7). All these supernatural gifts are given by the same Spirit who gives them to each one, just as he determines (8-11). And in verse 13, Paul goes on to talk about being baptised in the Spirit.

It’s clear, then, that if we are to see these gifts in operation in our meetings, we need the presence and power of the Spirit moving among us. But what exactly does Paul mean in verse 13 when he talks about being baptised in the Holy Spirit?

In this chapter of my book I shall:

1. examine the meaning of 1 Corinthians 12:13 and explain why I believe it’s a reference to the baptism in the Holy Spirit as described in the book of Acts.
2. outline what Acts reveals about what it means to be baptised in the Spirit
3. consider how this relates to our understanding of 1 Corinthians 12:13 and give reasons why we should understand baptism in the Spirit to be the gateway to the supernatural gifts of the Spirit.

Although these three topics are contained in Chapter 2 of the book, I will devote 3 podcasts to them in order to keep each talk relatively brief and to allow time for feedback from you. So today we’ll just be talking about the meaning of 1 Corinthians 12:13. Now please be aware that this will involve consideration of the Greek text, and some listeners might find it a bit complicated. But, please, don’t switch off! I’ll try to explain it as clearly as I can.

The meaning of 1 Corinthians 12:13

The first thing we need to say is that there are several different interpretations of this verse. This arises from the fact that it’s possible to translate the text in a variety of different ways. So I’m going to begin by stating what I believe to be the best way to translate the first part of the verse, where Paul refers to being baptised in the Spirit. He says:

For we were all baptised in one Spirit for one body.

I have emphasised the two prepositions, in and for, because this highlights where my translation differs from the NIV which says:

For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body…

As we proceed I will justify my decision to translate the verse this way, but at this stage, all we need to determine is what the New Testament church believed about what it means to be baptised in the Spirit, and for our answer we turn to none other than the Lord Jesus himself.

In the first chapter of Acts we read Luke’s account of the very last words that Jesus spoke to his disciples before he finally left them and ascended into Heaven. In Acts 1:4-5 Luke tells us that

On one occasion, while Jesus was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptised with water, but in a few days you will be baptised with (or in) the Holy Spirit’…

This is the same terminology as Paul uses in 1 Corinthians 12:13. The Greek preposition used in both passages is en. This can carry a variety of meanings, including by and with, but it usually means in.

This means that in Acts 1:5 Jesus is saying

You will be baptised in the Holy Spirit

and in 1 Corinthians 12:13 Paul is saying

We were all baptised in one Spirit…

It seems reasonable, therefore, to conclude that Paul is referring to the same experience, and since, in Acts, supernatural gifts like speaking in tongues followed the disciples being baptised in the Spirit (Acts 2:4, 10:44-46, 19:6), it’s not at all surprising that Paul mentions baptism in the Spirit in close connection with supernatural gifts.

However, this understanding is challenged by versions such as NIV which translates the first part of 1 Corinthians 12:13 as follows:

For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body…

or, in later NIV versions:

For we were all baptised by one Spirit so as to form one body…

We can deal with the translation of en very briefly.  Does it mean in or by? Although NIV translates it as by, it recognises in a footnote that in is a possible alternative. And as I have already pointed out, en usually means in, and that’s how ESV translates it here in 12:13. But, in a way, the English translation is not so important. What matters is that in the original Greek text, both Acts 1:5 and 1 Corinthians 12:13 use the word en. And that clearly suggests that what Paul is talking about is the  same experience of the Spirit as Jesus referred to in Acts 1:5.

But there’s a further problem with the NIV translation of this verse. You will have noticed from the two quotes above that the NIV translators appear to have changed their mind about the next part of the verse. Earlier versions say into one body while later versions say so as to form one body. In my view, neither of these translations is entirely satisfactory, but, to explain why, we need to look at the possible meanings of another Greek preposition – eis.

Although this can, and very often does, mean into, this is by no means its only meaning. In the New Testament it is frequently used to mean for and often conveys the idea of purpose.

The Greek expression eis polemon, for example, is used in the context of preparing for war and the phrase eis ti means ‘for what?’ or ‘why?’  

A highly significant example of this use is found in Matthew 3:11 where baptism in the Spirit is contrasted with baptism in water.  Here eis does not carry the force of ‘into’, for repentance was required before John would baptise, as the preceding verses make clear.  Accordingly NIV translates, I baptise you in water for repentance.  By analogy, the baptism in the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:13 no more puts a person into the body than baptism in water puts them into repentance.

More important still, we know that Paul himself understood and used eis with this force as is demonstrated by the NIV translation of eis as ‘for’ in, for example, 1 Corinthians 8:6 and Ephesians 4:30. So eis certainly can mean for the purpose of. This is supported by the fact that, as we’ve just seen, later NIV versions translate it as, so as to form which recognises the fact that eis can convey the idea of purpose.

But the NIV translation suggests that the purpose of our being baptised in the Spirit is to form one body, the body of Christ, the church. However, the words to form are not found in the Greek text, but NIV translators have clearly felt it necessary to supply some additional words to clarify the meaning of eis. However, in doing so they have, in my view, applied the meaning of eis too narrowly.

Of course, it’s possible that Paul’s meaning here is that we’re baptised in the Spirit to form the church. After all, the purpose of the disciples being baptised in the Spirit was that they might be witnesses to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:5, 8) and the church was formed when they were baptised in the Spirit at Pentecost.

But in my view the context in 1 Corinthians 12 implies more than this. If the baptism in the Spirit is given for the purpose of forming the church, it is also given for the benefit of the church. The verse is set in a context where Paul is discussing the use of charismatic gifts within the context of the church. 

We know from chapter 14 that the Corinthians were using gifts like tongues for their own edification instead of seeking to edify the church (14:1-12). Paul had to teach them that spiritual gifts were not given for their own selfish benefit, but for the good of all. That’s why he says:

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good (12:7),

And if my understanding is correct, he seems to be saying much the same thing in 12:13, which might be paraphrased as follows:

You have been baptised in the Spirit for the good of the whole church, so that by the spiritual gifts which result from that baptism, you might edify, not just yourself, but the whole body of believers.

But do we need to choose between the NIV translation and the one I have suggested? Might not both be implicit in what Paul is saying? As we have seen, eis often carries the idea of purpose. Might there not be a twofold purpose in the baptism in the Spirit, both the formation and the edification of the church? I have argued from the context in which 1 Corinthians 12:13 is set that it’s primarily edification that Paul has in mind.

But as we shall see next time when we turn to baptism in the Spirit in the book of Acts, its purpose is strongly connected with evangelism by which the church is formed. It is also invariably connected with the manifestation of supernatural gifts. Those gifts are vital as signs confirming the message of the gospel. They are no less important in strengthening those who have already come to faith in Christ. The baptism in the Spirit and the gifts that come as the result of it are for both the formation and edification of the church.

To summarise, I believe that in 1 Corinthians 12:13 Paul is talking about the same experience of which Jesus spoke, and examples of which we see in the book of Acts. So if we take seriously the idea that 1 Corinthians 14:26 is an indication of what we should expect when we come together to worship the Lord, we will not only recognise the importance of supernatural gifts, but also of the baptism in the Holy Spirit which is the gateway to the exercise of those gifts.

 1 Corinthians 12:1-11

As we’ve already seen from what he says in 1 Corinthians 14:26, Paul certainly expected manifestations of the supernatural in the meetings of the church. He refers to a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.  But these are by no means the only expressions of the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. In 12:8-10 Paul mentions nine gifts:

a message of wisdom, a message of knowledge, faith, gifts of healing, miraculous powers, prophecy, distinguishing between spirits, speaking in tongues, interpretation of tongues.

In this chapter I will be seeking to answer three questions:

• Can we be sure that all these gifts are supernatural?
• Can we be sure that all these gifts are for today?
• Can we expect that all these gifts will happen in our church?

Can we be sure that all these gifts are supernatural?

To answer this question, we need to look at the immediate context in which these verses are set. In verse 1 Paul tells the Corinthians that he does not want them to be ignorant about spiritual gifts. His usual word for any gift that God may give us is charisma, something which comes from his grace (charis). But here he uses the word pneumatika. This may well indicate that the gifts he has in mind are a unique form of charisma.  All God’s gifts are charismata, but only the gifts in these verses are referred to as pneumatika. And verses 2-3 indicate that it’s supernatural gifts that Paul has in mind:

You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. Therefore I tell you that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.

Before their conversion the Corinthians were idol-worshippers. This meant that they had been involved in devil-worship. This is clear from 10:19-20 where Paul says: 

Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be participants with demons.

The confession that JESUS IS LORD is what marks a person as a Christian. In Romans 10:9 Paul says:

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

As Christians, the people in Corinth to whom Paul was writing acknowledged the Lordship of Jesus. So there is no suggestion that they would have manifested demonic gifts, for no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit (v3). But people who were not yet believers and were still worshipping idols could come into their meetings (cf. 14:23) and might well do so.

It was therefore vitally important that Paul’s readers should understand how to distinguish between divine and devilish manifestations. And it’s just as important today. Demons do not acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus, as I once experienced during an encounter with a witch in Chester[1].

Furthermore, unlike demonic manifestations, where different gifts come from different spirits, in Christian worship the different gifts all come from the same Spirit:

There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men (vv.4-6)[2].

Paul draws attention to the many different gifts and ministries in the church and points out that they all have their origin in the same God. The reference to the Trinity in these verses is interesting. Paul seems to be suggesting that the unity and diversity in the Godhead is reflected by a similar unity in the midst of diversity in the church, a theme he is to develop later in the chapter. 

So, from the context which immediately precedes the list of gifts in verses 8-10, it seems likely that Paul intends each of these gifts as a supernatural manifestation of the Holy Spirit, but he does not define them. This suggests that the Corinthians obviously knew what they were. In fact, in 1:7 we read that the Corinthians did not lack any spiritual gift. They knew what they were, but their ignorance lay in the fact that they did not use them correctly.

In the following four paragraphs I have given what I consider to be the most likely definition or description of each gift, but for a more sophisticated analysis please consult what I have said in Body Builders[3].

I have rejected Wayne Grudem’s view that, although most of the gifts in this list are miraculous, a message of wisdom and a message of knowledge are simply the ability to speak with wisdom and knowledge. It seems to me far more likely that, although we cannot be certain about exactly what Paul had in mind, he intends us to understand them as some form of supernatural revelation[4].

As far as the remaining gifts in the list are concerned, what Paul means is fairly clear.  Faith is the miracle working faith that can move mountains (cf.13:2). Gifts of healing are miraculous healings performed without medical aid. Miraculous powers are, by definition, miraculous, and probably include miracles that do not come under the category of gifts of healing.

Prophecy, which is to be distinguished from prediction on the one hand and preaching on the other, brings by inspiration of the Spirit words of edification, encouragement, and comfort to the church (14:3). Distinguishing between spirits probably refers to discerning whether a supernatural occurrence is motivated by the Holy Spirit or by an evil spirit, or detecting the presence of evil spirits where their activity might not otherwise be obvious.

Speaking in tongues is speaking a language one has never learned, as the disciples did on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), and interpretation of tongues is the ability imparted by the Spirit to interpret what has been spoken in tongues.

Assuming that these definitions are broadly correct, we see that both the contents of the list and the context in which it is set confirm the view that these gifts are all supernatural. This is further confirmed in verse 13 by Paul’s reference to the baptism in the Holy Spirit which we will consider in the next chapter. 

But whether these gifts are all supernatural or not, our contention that we should expect the supernatural in our meetings still holds good. Because, as we have seen, in 14:26 Paul mentions supernatural gifts like tongues and interpretation as part of what can be expected in our meetings. But that raises the next question. Are these gifts all for today?

Can we be sure that all these gifts are for today?

People who believe that the supernatural gifts of the Spirit are not for today are known as cessationists. Perhaps the most common version of cessationism is the view that these gifts were withdrawn once the writing of the New Testament was complete.

Obviously, if they are right about this, then my view that 1 Corinthians 14:26 gives us direction as to what should happen in church today is entirely wrong. But that would make much of what Paul says in chapters 12-14 irrelevant for the church, not only of today, but of the last nineteen centuries!

However, the cessationist view has no valid basis in scripture. The verses that are usually quoted to support their view are I Corinthians 13:8-10, where we read:  

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

Cessationists claim that gifts like prophecy and tongues have ceased because they believe that perfection (v10) came once the word of God was complete. But do they really believe that knowledge has also passed away?  And a look at the context quickly reveals that their view is misguided. This is clear from what he says in verse 12:

Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Paul is looking far beyond the completion of the New Testament. Perfection will come when he sees Jesus face to face. What he sees now is only a poor reflection of what he will see then. Then he will know him completely – fully. This must surely refer to when he sees Jesus in heaven, where tongues and prophecy will not be needed, and ultimately to the return of the Lord at the end of the age. Indeed, Paul strongly implies this when he says in 1 Corinthians 1:7 that the Corinthians do not lack any spiritual gift as they eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed. He clearly expected the gifts to be in evidence until the second coming of Christ.

Finally, the cessationist position does not stand up in the light of present-day Christian experience. For example, there are numerous well documented cases of speaking in tongues being recognised as it was at Pentecost by hearers who recognised it as their own native language[5]. Such miracles can only spring from one of two sources – the divine or the demonic. But Christians who speak in tongues gladly acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus, and that, as we have seen, is the biblical test of that which is truly divine.

Can we expect that all these gifts will happen in our church?

So far we have argued that the gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 are all supernatural, that they are for today, and that we should expect the supernatural in our meetings (14:26). But can we expect all these gifts? The answer to this question in any particular situation will depend on two main factors – divine sovereignty and human responsibility.

In 1 Corinthians 12:11 Paul tells us that

All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he gives them to each one, just as he determines.

This means that the Holy Spirit decides what gifts he will give to any individual Christian. He knows what’s best for us as individuals. But he also knows what’s best for the church. And no two churches are alike. It follows, therefore, that the gifts manifested in a local church at any particular time will be distributed by the Spirit in accordance with the needs of that church, because the purpose of every gift is the good of the church:

Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good (12:7).

This theme is picked up in 14:1-5 where Paul says that prophecy is to be preferred to speaking in tongues, because uninterpreted tongues only edifies the speaker, but prophecy edifies the church. The gifts are given to individuals, but they’re for the benefit of the whole church[6].   

So the gifts are given at the discretion of the Holy Spirit. But that does not mean that we have no responsibility in this matter. It’s our responsibility to follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts (14:1).

In some churches there is little or no desire for these gifts simply because they know little about them because their leaders never teach about them or encourage them. I will be saying more about this in the final chapter of this book, but at this stage it’s enough to note that we can’t expect these gifts in our meetings if there’s no desire for them.

But in churches where there is a desire and where the members are encouraged to be filled with the Spirit, it’s safe to assume that at least some of these gifts will be manifested. If the word of God tells us to eagerly desire spiritual gifts then we can be sure that God wants us to have them. As we have already seen, 1 Corinthians 14:26 encourages the use of gifts like tongues and interpretation in our meetings, and 14:1 especially mentions prophecy as a gift to be eagerly desired. And although it would probably be wrong to suggest that these gifts should be in evidence in every meeting, we need to remember that Paul did recommend their use when you come together (14:26)[7].

But what about other gifts like healing, for example? We certainly cannot say that they cannot be used in the context of the gathered church, for all the gifts are given for the benefit of the church (12:7). But it is evident from Mark 16 and the book of Acts that gifts like healing and miracles were very much used in evangelism which usually took place outside and not in a meeting where the church had gathered for worship.

I have no wish to be dogmatic on this matter, but in my view, although miraculous gifts like healing may well be expected in evangelistic meetings held in churches, from a New Testament perspective they would be more effective when used out on the streets, as was most often the case in the book of Acts.

If this view is correct, it’s possible that in 14:26, when talking of supernatural gifts, Paul restricts himself to mentioning those that are usually to be expected in a church meeting. So we should not be surprised if gifts like prophecy, tongues, and interpretation are the gifts that are in greater evidence in our meetings today. But that by no means precludes the possibility of other gifts being manifested as the Holy Spirit determines.

Conclusion

In this chapter we have seen that:

1. God does not want us to be ignorant about spiritual gifts.
2. The gifts listed in 1 Corinthians 12:8-10 are supernatural.
3. Not all supernatural manifestations come from the Holy Spirit. The test that a gift has genuinely come from God is the confession that Jesus is Lord.
4. Although there is a rich variety of supernatural gifts, each gift is given by the same Spirit.
5. The gifts are given, as the Holy Spirit determines, to individual Christians for the benefit of the whole church.
6. The view that these gifts were withdrawn once the writing of the New Testament was complete is entirely mistaken.
7. These gifts are for today and we should expect them to be regularly in evidence in our meetings.
8. Where they are not in evidence, this may well be caused by lack of desire, possibly due to a lack of teaching or encouragement on the part of church leaders (especially those who hold a cessationist view).

Finally, two more things should be added:

9. Although in this chapter we have stressed the supernatural, our natural gifts and talents are also important. All God’s gracious gifts are needed, whether natural or supernatural. We should not be content with the natural, but neither should we minimize its importance.
10. However much of the supernatural we experience there will always be unanswered questions. We know in part, and we prophesy in part. Who knows why Peter was supernaturally delivered from prison while Stephen was stoned and James was beheaded? Questions like these may never be answered until that day when we know fully, even as we are fully known. Until then, we walk by faith and not by sight, and we must continue to expect the miraculous gifts of the Spirit to be manifest in our lives and in our meetings.

Three books – an old one, a new one, and a future one  

I know that many of you will be familiar with my book on spiritual gifts, Body Builders – gifts to make God’s people grow. Since it was first published in 2002 it has been translated into several languages, including French, Italian, Finnish, and Amharic. I know it has been regarded by some as something of a Pentecostal classic, and for this I’m very grateful to the Lord. I’m happy to tell you that Body Builders has now been republished in English and is available from my website, www.davidpetts.org price £15.00, (296 pages). (Actually, having a copy of this book would be helpful, but by no means essaential, to refer to in the new series we’re beginning).

Now if you enjoyed my last series on how God speaks to us today, you may be interested to know that this has now been published as a book, The Voice of God – how he speaks to us today. This is now available from my website, price £12.00, (228 pages).

Finally, I have already started writing a new book with the provisional title, When you come together based on 1 Corinthians 14:26 and I’m expecting this to be available by Easter, if not sooner. Today I’ll be sharing with you the Introduction I have written and this will make clear why I’m writing this book and give you some idea of its contents. But that brings me to my suggestion about how we might have more interaction with you.

Interaction

We have some idea from the number of downloads my podcasts receive that I am now teaching many more people each week than I ever did in pastoral ministry or as Principal of a Bible College. Such are the wonders of modern technology. However, the amount of interaction with one’s audience is considerably less.

So I’m suggesting that if you have questions about anything I say in a podcast, or if you have any comments on how you think the book I’m writing might be improved, you contact me by email by writing to info@davidpetts.org You will have a good idea of the contents of the book as in each podcast I’ll be sharing with you what I have written, and, as usual, the text will be available on my website. So, if anything is not clear, or of you think there’s something important that I’ve left out, please let me know.    

Now I realise that not everyone will want to do this, and that’s fine, but the offer is there if you’d like to get involved.

But now it’s time to turn to the first talk in our series, When you come together – towards a biblical understanding of church – is our worship biblical?

Why I am writing this book

Church changed quite a lot during the COVID pandemic. Christians around the world were challenged by the restrictions placed upon them imposed by government, and church leaders have been asking if God is trying to show us a better way of ‘doing church’.

This in itself is a challenge, as many older Christians, like myself, have come to love many of the things we used to do, and the older you get, the harder it is to adapt to change. But it’s always appropriate to take a look at the way we do things and ask ourselves if we could do better – or, more importantly, whether what we do is actually what God would want – whether what we are doing is biblical.

This book I’m writing is based on the understanding that God’s will is revealed in his word, the Bible. It’s based on the assumption that in the Bible God has something to say about how we should worship him, and the kind of things we should expect to happen when we gather together in Jesus’ name.

It’s not my intention to tell church leaders how they should do things. But I do believe that God’s word teaches us clear principles about what should happen when Christians come together, and it is those principles that I’m seeking to underline and clarify. How they are worked out in practice in any local situation will be for leaders prayerfully to consider.

INTRODUCTION

1 Corinthians 14:26

Some listeners may be surprised to know that the Bible does give us clear guidelines as to what should happen when Christians come together. In I Corinthians 14:26 the apostle Paul writes:

What then shall we say brothers and sisters? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.

Now from the outset we need to make it clear that when he says, What then shall we say…? Paul is giving them an instruction, not, as some have suggested, a rebuke. This is indicated by his use of the same Greek phrase[1] in verse 15 where he is clearly encouraging the Corinthians to follow his example:

So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.

Indeed, in verse 37 he tells them that the things he is writing to them are the Lord’s command:

If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command.

This strong statement must surely alert the attention of every Bible believing Christian to the fact that God cares very much about what we do when we meet together. If God is worth worshipping at all – and he certainly is – shouldn’t we do all we can to be sure that we’re doing it his way?

So, verse 26 deserves our serious attention. It contains several underlying principles which are, I believe, vital for us to understand and apply to the way we do church, whatever the sociological or cultural situation in which we may find ourselves.

But, before we proceed any further, one further point needs clarifying. What does Paul mean when he says, When you come together? He is undoubtedly referring to the occasions when the Corinthians gathered as a church. This is clear from verse 23:

So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?  (cf. in church in verse 19).

Of course, he is not referring to a church building. At the time of writing the epistle (AD 53-54) there were no church buildings, and the Corinthians were almost certainly meeting in the home of one of the members. This means that the numbers in the gathering would inevitably be smaller than those in some churches today. Paul’s teaching can be made to work well in a relatively small church or in a home group, but not so easily in a larger church.

But does this mean that larger churches have nothing to learn from Paul’s teaching in this verse? By no means. The basic principles underlying Paul’s teaching are relevant to all churches, and even larger churches can and should organise smaller gatherings where that teaching can be followed more easily. But we will return to this subject later in the book, after we have considered the implications of the verse in more detail.

The first principle we find in the verse is participation. Everybody is needed. Paul says, every one of you has… Perhaps we need to ask ourselves how many people are really involved in our meetings – or is their involvement limited to joining in the singing or saying Amen to the prayers? This is clearly not what Paul had in mind.

The second principle is variety. In 1 Corinthians 12:13-30 Paul teaches that every member of the body is different from the others, but every member is important. Here in 14:26 that variety is expressed as the members meet together. One may bring a hymn, another a word of instruction, another a revelation, another a tongue, and another an interpretation.

Although these are presumably representative of the many different ways that Christians may contribute to the worship of the church, we see at least three important ingredients that Paul expects in our meetings:

• the musical – a hymn
• the doctrinal – a word of instruction
• the supernatural – a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.

In my experience of Christian worship in over 40 different countries around the world there is no lack of the musical. In many, though by no means all, there is usually adequate scope for the doctrinal. But sadly, in many there is little manifestation of the supernatural. Even some churches that profess to believe in these things make little room for the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit in their meetings.

But it’s clear that Paul expects to see the supernatural in the church. In 1 Corinthians 3:16 he teaches that the gathered church is the temple of the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 2:21-22 it’s a holy temple in the Lord… a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. And it’s the presence of God’s Spirit among us that makes the miraculous possible every time we meet.

The third key principle is edification. Paul says all these must be done for the strengthening of the church. In chapter 13 he has taught the Corinthians that, whatever gifts we may have, if they are not motivated by love, they are of no value at all. And if we love people we will want to bless them. We want to edify them. That is, to see them built up in their faith. Whatever takes place must be for the strengthening of the church.

So the kind of meeting Paul is envisaging is one where every member has opportunity to contribute something as they are led and empowered by the Holy Spirit. That contribution may come in a rich variety of ways, but whatever it may be, it must be motivated by love and the desire to be a blessing to others.

The three principles we have outlined from 1 Corinthians 14:26, participation, variety, and edification, in many ways summarise Paul’s overall teaching on public worship contained in chapters 12-14.  We see the principle of participation in his teaching on the right use of spiritual gifts in chapters 12 and 14.

The principle of variety is vividly illustrated in 12:13-30 where Paul’s theme is unity and diversity, and where he demonstrates our dependence on each other as members of the body of Christ.

And his wonderful teaching on love in chapter 13 leads us into the understanding in chapter 14 that the best way to show love is to put others first by seeking their edification, rather than just seeking a blessing for ourselves.

But underlying these principles is one that is even more important – the leading and power of the Holy Spirit.  It’s the Spirit who must enable our participation. It’s the Spirit who brings variety to our meetings. And it’s the Spirit who inspires us with words that will bring edification to the church. In I Corinthians 12:13 Paul refers to the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and we’ll devote a chapter to discussing what it is and its relationship the supernatural gifts of the Spirit.

To consider these themes in more detail, we’ll be exploring chapters 12-14 to gain a fuller understanding of what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 14:26.

As we do so, we’ll discover, among other things, that:

• There’s supernatural dimension to the worship of the church expressed in the manifestation of supernatural gifts given by the Holy Spirit (12:1-11).
• These all spring from our being baptised in the Spirit (12:13).
• The church is the body of Christ, and every member of the body is different and everybody is needed (12:12-30).
• Everything we do must be motivated by love (13:1-13).
• As an expression of that love, we must always seek to put other people first (14:1-25).
• This will mean using correctly the spiritual gifts God has given us by taking responsibility for our actions (14:26-40).
• In everything we must submit to the authority of scripture (14:37).

And when we’ve completed our study of these chapters we’ll conclude with a chapter on the role of church leaders in seeking to implement Paul’s teaching in the church today.

Finally, please remember that If there’s anything you’d like me to cover in these talks (and in the book) you can contact me by emailing info@davidpetts.org