1 Corinthians 12:8–11: “For one person is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, and another the message of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another performance of miracles, to another prophecy, and to another discernment of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues. It is one and the same Spirit, distributing as He decides to each person, who produces all these things.”
I am now on tongues, and I have already established that the tongues in the Bible are not what the other person can understand, and that this is how to square it with 1 Corinthians 14.
People with the other kind of interpretation will tell you that it is a language that is learned. They struggle with some verses in 1 Corinthians 14. And people who say it is a language that is not learned and not understandable also struggle with Acts 2 to see how to square it. This is the way I have squared it.
I have concluded that what happened in Acts 2 was two things happening at the same time. One was the speaking of language, as people are saying now, that people do not understand. And second, another thing was happening, which was their hearing. “They heard them” is different from “they spoke their language.” They heard them speaking in their languages and glorifying God (Acts 2:6, 11). That is what they heard.
I was saying before yesterday that Paul wanted the Corinthian church—not us, the Corinthian church—to situate the gift of tongues in the right place. He was saying that the whole context of this gift is that it should benefit others. And he is telling them, “Your tongue is not benefiting anybody. Unless you can interpret, it is not benefiting everybody” (1 Corinthians 14:5, 9).
He also said, “Do not forbid speaking in tongues” (1 Corinthians 14:39), meaning do not cancel it out and say it cannot happen, must not happen, should not happen, “Do not do it.” No. Do not forbid it, but situate it properly. We see his emphasis: how do you benefit the whole church? And he said, “Okay, fine. You really want to excel in gifts? Then pray that you may prophesy” (1 Corinthians 14:1, 12–13).
Because you are speaking and somebody else is understanding. You may not have knowledge, you may not have the wisdom, but you can prophesy and somebody else will benefit. And he listed some of the ways you can benefit there, and I have already talked about prophecy.
That was a careful concern of Paul. He is making something clear: you can be excessive. The place you give tongues in a body can be excessive. And he is not saying, “Do not do it at all.” He is trying to give us an understanding of how to properly put it, giving us a kind of guide.
He said, if you want to speak in tongues and there is no interpreter, then keep silent in the church (1 Corinthians 14:28). And he also said, “The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets” (1 Corinthians 14:32). He is trying to create control, to put some limits, put some guidance. And he is zeroing in on tongues. You see his explanation: he said if somebody comes into your midst and all of you are just speaking in tongues, and you have like thirty minutes and everybody is speaking in tongues, and this person spoke in tongues and that person spoke in tongues, and you think something has happened—he says nothing has happened, because “I have not benefited from anything that just happened” (1 Corinthians 14:23–25, in effect).
He says, “I would rather speak five words with my mind to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue” (1 Corinthians 14:19). So that is that for the gift of tongues.
What about the interpretation of tongues? I think interpretation of tongues is one thing that we really do not have an example of in the Scriptures, except when Paul mentioned it and said, if somebody speaks in tongues and there is no interpreter—that is, somebody who will give a meaning, in understanding, of what has just been said in the spirit—then let them be quiet (1 Corinthians 14:27–28).
He also said some things about speaking in tongues: “You are speaking to God” (1 Corinthians 14:2). He said, if you have a tongue and there is no interpreter, then you can “speak to yourself and to God” (1 Corinthians 14:28). He said, “The one who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church” (1 Corinthians 14:4). You are doing something to yourself, but the church is not edified.
He is not trying to shame every tongue speaker. He is trying to tell them, “Yes, you are doing something; just know how to position it properly. And I know you are so zealous for spiritual gifts; therefore aim for the gift that can benefit the church” (1 Corinthians 14:12).
Did you see?
God bless you.