Eager for Manifestations of the Spirit
April 6, 2025
Preached by Ron Smith
Scripture Reading
1 Corinthians 14:1-25
1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.
6 Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7 If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? 8 And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? 9 So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air. 10 There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, 11 but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me. 12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.
13 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. 15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. 16 Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.
20 Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. 21 In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” 22 Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.
Today we are going on a journey – we will look at the church today, the church then, and even our specific church. All the while we are going to be asking ourselves a question. “What does this have to do with us?” What I mean by this is certainly this chapter. What does chapter 14 have to do with us today? But I think we can focus in a little closer.
The Corinthians were having a sharp disagreement over spiritual gifts. And now here in chapter 14 Paul seems to put his finger right on the sore spot. Tongues. The indication from these chapters and specifically these 25 verses in chapter 14 was that they were having a sharp disagreement over the use of the gift of tongues. This was putting in jeopardy something vital: the building up of the church.
There is something satisfying about building something. Purposeful, fulfillment. Despite that, it is all too easy for us to destroy. Especially when there are disagreements about how to build or what to build. We turn to destructive behaviors lashing out in anger ready to fight for our personal building.
So, as we go on this journey, let’s ask ourselves this question: what does the disagreement over tongues have to do with us as we seek to build up this church and not destroy it?
Let me give you a map for our journey. We are going to stop at three destinations. First, we will step foot on the continent of love and take a look at the panoramic view of the debate over tongues in the broader Christian church today and how love should define us. Then we will head over to the village of knowledge and just walk through this chapter to see what Paul wanted the church at Corinth to know and understand and so, what knowledge we need to gain. And finally, we will end at the street called edification as we consider how we here at Community can build up this church. Love, knowledge, and edification.
The Continent of Love - Pursue Love
One of the theological debates that we see in the broader Christian church is rather or not certain spiritual gifts have ceased. Specifically, for our purposes this morning we are talking about the gifts of prophecy, and tongues. On one side of the spectrum, we find those who say that these gifts have ceased and are no longer in use. The understanding is that the Lord used these miraculous gifts in a special way for the establishment of the church. Prophecy and tongues are seen as carrying inspired and infallible messages from the Lord – on par with the Bible. Since we have the complete Word of God today in the Bible, there is no need for these gifts. There are a variety of Scriptures that people who believe these miraculous gifts have ceased will appeal to in establishing their position. We are not going to take time to go through the passages, but please know that they are not arbitrarily coming to this conclusion. There is a concern to base what they believe about spiritual gifts on the Bible.
Now, on the other side of the spectrum, we have those who believe that all of the gifts continue to operate today. So, prophecy and tongues are gifts the Spirit may give to some in the church. We need to zoom in a little bit on this side of the spectrum only because there is a vast array of differences of opinions as to what this actually looks like in the church.
On the extreme end, furthest away from those who say the gifts have ceased, we find those who not only believe the gifts are for today but insist that the person who has truly been filled with the Holy Spirit will speak in tongues. We can reject this teaching in light of what we have seen here in 1 Corinthians 12-14. It is clear that not all Christians will speak in tongues just as not all Christians are teachers or have gifts of service.
Also in this extreme end, the gift of prophecy is used with no sense of restraint. What I mean is that there is no hesitation to use ‘thus saith the Lord’ language. So, perhaps a prophet would say, “The Lord says that you are to be a missionary in Ethiopia.” Or, “the Lord told me that you are going to be a pastor one day.”
Moving away from this extreme version, we see Christians who believe that all the gifts are available today but are more cautious. They are not necessarily expecting tongues to be spoken in the church service. They may even say that while the gift of tongues is available, they would see it used more in missionary settings where a missionary does not know a language yet is able to present the gospel in the that language. When it comes to prophesy, they tend to not use ‘thus saith the Lord’ language. Preference would be given to phrases such as, “I feel impressed to tell you…” They may see prophesy being used by the preacher who calls the people to faithful obedience to the word of God. Much like prophets of the OT called the children of Israel to covenant faithfulness. And they would also affirm that any use of the gift of tongues or prophecy should not be considered inspired and infallible words on par with the Bible.
What does this have to do with us? Now most of us here in this room are going to fall pretty close to the middle of the road. There are some of you here who believe that the miraculous gifts are available today, but you would firmly reject the extreme versions that we discussed. Others of you believe they have ceased but remain very open to the supernatural. Even among the elders of this church, there are those of us who sit just to one side or the other.
What this all has to do with us is this. The first two words of the chapter: “Pursue love.” We must realize that there are differences of opinions in these secondary theological issues and be committed to showing love to one another. It is amazing how this issue of tongues was a problem then as it is today. And it generates all kinds of discussions, misunderstandings, accusations, and even hatred. It can get heated discussing these things and leads to destruction.
Will we be kind to another when we differ on these issues? Will we be rude? Will we insist that everyone believe exactly as we do?
We can pursue love and yet still debate this issue, come to differing conclusions, and simply agree to disagree. Continue worshiping the Lord together in the context of this local church.
Pursue love.
Let’s continue on our journey to the village of knowledge.
Gain Knowledge - The Village of Knowledge
What we want to do here is go back in time and look at what was happening in the church at Corinth. From everything that Paul has said about the gifts, it seems that there were some in the congregation who were wanting to elevate the gift of tongues and those who wanted to dismiss it. So, let’s look at these verses so that we can have a firmer understanding of what was happening then that will also help us to be convinced in our own view of this issue. Let’s start off reading verses 1-5.
1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. 5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.
We have considered pursue love, but we find here another command as well: desire spiritual gifts. They are something we should want in our lives. They make the church whole. They make the church function in a way that brings glory to Christ.
But curiously he adds these words, “especially that you may prophesy.” Now given everything he has said about the gifts until this point this is a bit confusing. He has underlined the beauty in diversity. The Spirit has sovereignly given gifts to each one as he desires. How can he now say that we should desire one gift above another? This idea was hinted at the end of chapter 12. He rattles off a bunch of questions: Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? It is clear that the answers to these questions are all “no.” Then he adds, But earnestly desire the higher gifts.
How can this be? How can some gifts be higher than others (how would you answer)? Why should we desire spiritual gifts, especially that we prophesy?
The way Paul resolves this tension is by comparing and contrasting the gift of prophesy with the gift of tongues. Ultimately, I think the heart of Paul’s argument is laid out in the first 5 verses and the remaining verses flesh it out. So, let me just sketch out Paul’s argument focusing on these first 5 verses.
The one who speaks in tongues:
Speaks to God (2)
No one understands (I)
Speaks mysteries in the Spirit
Unfruitful for the mind (14).
Foreign language or heavenly angelic language? In either case it is a language – not just babbling.
The one who prophesies:
Speaks to people (3)
Speaks with his mind (15)
Explaining / exhorting people to obey the will of God.
Speaking specific truth into specific situations with the words of God. – Not special revelation (Bible).
The one who speaks in tongues:
Builds himself up (4)
*Builds up the church if there is interpretation (5) Pray for interpretation (13)
Creates a division. Foreigner/national (10-11)
No benefit for others (6) Does not give knowledge to others (9) Speaking air (9) Others can’t say Amen to your thanksgiving (16) Bugle
Others are not built up (17)
The one who prophesies:
Builds up the church (3, 4, 12)
Encourages (3). Comforts those in distress (3). Strengthened
Benefit to others (6) – also knowledge, revelation, teaching. Instructs others (13).
Instruments playing together to make a song.
The one who speaks in tongues:
Might be tempted to think that tongues is useless or that we should strive not to speak in tongues, but Paul desires that they speak in tongues (5) Paul is thankful he speaks in tongues, but does not want to do it in church (18-19)
The one who prophesies:
Greater than the one who speaks in tongues without interpretation (5) Better in church to speak with mind (19)
The one contrast that is missing that we need to talk about is what Paul says about evangelism. Essentially what he says is that the gift of tongues does not help unbelievers. Actually, they will end up being weirded out and make the accusation that the church has lost its mind. On the other hand, through the gift of prophecy, unbelievers can come face to face with their sin and turn to the Lord. Let’s walk through 21-25.
In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.”
This is a quote from the prophet Isaiah. God was saying that he was going to judge his people because they would not listen to him. They clearly heard the words of prophesy meant to bring them to repentance, but they rejected. So, he was going to bring in a foreign country to conquer them and take them away. God would continue to talk to them, however, it would be through a foreign language. They would not understand. Not only would they feel the distance from their homeland, they would also feel the distance from their God. He would continue to speak, but in a foreign language that they did not understand.
22 Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign[c] not for unbelievers but for believers.
Tongues is a sign for unbelievers. There is a knee jerk reaction to think that the word sign is a positive word. However, considering what we saw in verse 21, the sign for unbelievers is negative. It is a sign of judgement. Just like the children of Isreal felt the judgment of God because they could no longer understand him when he spoke, so the gift of tongues is a sign of judgment for the unbeliever. It only says that he is far off from God. And so,
23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds?
Not understanding what is being said, even if it is a message from God, the unbeliever can only conclude that these Christians are crazy. But…
24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.
The gift of prophesy allows the unbeliever to hear the word of God in his own language. It convicts him. What he thought was secret is now made plain – he sees his sin for what it really is. He becomes a worshiper of God.
Those verses can be difficult to understand as it almost appears that Paul is saying two different things. I hope this brief explanation makes things a little clearer.
As we step back and consider everything we have seen in the village of knowledge, let’s ask ourselves, what does this have to do with us? One thing that I will point out is that understanding what was happening in the church of Corinth is beneficial to us as we form our own opinions on these things. But I think there is something more.
With that let’s go to the last stop in our journey, the street called edification.
Excel in Edification
This street has an address: 3640 Ash Street, Harrisburg PA. It’s us.
We find the heart of these twenty-five verses in verse 12:
So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.
It’s particularly the last phrase. Strive to excel in building up the church. All through these verses Paul is concerned that the church be built up, edified. He wants the whole church to benefit when we use our gifts. When the church is built up there is growth in spiritual maturity, there is a growth in love for one another, there is growth in the advancement of the gospel as people come to Jesus. The church that is being built up is a church where there is sound teaching, encouragement, and comfort.
We are to excel in this.
How are we striving to excel in building up the church? This church. What are the things you can point to that you would say, the Lord used me in this thing to build up Community?
There is a lot of building up going on. I am so grateful for all the wonderful things that people do around here to edify the church. It is a frequent topic in our staff meetings and prayers for the church – thanksgiving.
But just for a moment, let’s ask ourselves, are we excelling in building up the church?
Perhaps think of it this way. If Paul were addressing a letter to us, what would he say to us? We don’t have a problem with tongues. We don’t even have problem with prophecy. So, what problem of ours would he focus on as it relates to spiritual gifts?
Maybe we are weaker in the first part of verse 12. “Since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit.” Is that true of us? Are we eager for manifestations of the Spirit? Are we eager for spiritual gifts? Do we in the words of verse 1, desire spiritual gifts?
Perhaps our pursuit of knowledge, of what is rational, inadvertently takes away from the spiritual aspect of spiritual gifts. That idea of being led by the Spirit of God.
What if each of us on the way to church prayed a simple prayer, “Lord who can I minister to today?” Is there a word I can share with someone? A word of encouragement, of comfort, a verse of scripture.
What would we do if we are praying and we feel impressed to share a particular message with someone? I am not talking about ‘thus saith the Lord.’ “The Lord told me to tell you that you should quit your job.” NO. But it might be, “I was praying the other day and you popped in my mind. Is there any way I can pray for you?” Or what if you are praying for someone and you feel led by the Lord to send them a text or give them a call to encourage them. Church in Philly area – elders prayed who might be sent out to the mission field as missionary from their congregation. They felt led to approach 15 people, 12 of them said yes. They equipped them and sent them out. Not, “the Lord told us that you should be a missionary.” No manipulation. Just trying to be led by the spirit. Eager for manifestations of the Spirit. Do we feel free to do that?
Or what if you have gifts of service and you feel impressed to offer to help someone around the house? Would you offer unsolicited help? What do we have to lose in situations like that? Even if they said no, the person would know that you care for them. They would be encouraged by your kindness. They may hear of someone else who has need and connect them with you. The church is built up.
I totally get that there is a way to do all of this in a weird or manipulative way. * But that is no excuse to run the other way.
This is what all of this has to do with us. We are to be about building up the church. To strive to excel in building up the church. You want to know why we should do this? This building project is Jesus’ building project. This is the very mission of Jesus. Jesus told his disciples that he was going to build his church and the gates of hell will not prevail. As much as you want to see the church built up and edified, Jesus wants it more! He died for his church. He died to take away all of our destructive behavior and equips us to build his church. If you are longing to be a part of something that is bigger than you, that builds up rather than destroys, be a part of Jesus’ building project. Trust in him to forgive you of all of your destructive behavior. Use your gifts to build up the church. Strive to excel in building up the church.