Text: I Corinthians 14: (NKJV)
(Introduction) – What does a Spirit-filled Church look like? What does it sound like? How does it function? What is the purpose?
I Corinthians 12: is about the “spiritual gifts,” or divinely endowed capacities for use and service in the Body of Christ.
I Corinthians 13: is the classic definition of the word “love,” the grace which makes gifts fruitful.
I Corinthians 14: primarily compares two of the gifts in the church gathering for a church service.
See all three in one verse,
I Corinthians 14:1
“Pursue (follow after) love (chapter 13), and desire spiritual gifts (chapter 12), but especially that you may prophesy (chapter 14).”
In I Corinthians 14: Paul compares two spiritual gifts which were being exercised in the church at Corinth namely, tongues and prophecy.
Although the gifts are claimed by only a small part of the Church today, the principles and truths which they embody, because these are timeless, make this chapter vitally contemporary or useful and important for us today. Thus we want to study the chapter with present-day applications in mind.
Edification Clarity I spirit & the hearers I Order & Procedure
I Understanding I in Church
v.1 – 5 v.6 – 12 I v.13 – 19 v.20 – 25 I v.26 – 40
Part One Part Two Part Three
v.1 – 25 —–Tongues and Prophecy Compared ———–I
Tongues Prophecy
- Directed to God 1. Directed to people
- Content: mysteries 2. Content: edification, exhortation, comfort
- Edification: self 3. Edification: Church
(Jude 20)
- Private/Personal 4. Public/Church Gathering
Prayer Language
Gift of Tongues/Message plus Gift of Interpretation is equal to prophecy.
I Corinthians 14: 2
“For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.”
- 3 “But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.”
- 4“He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.”
- 5 “I wish you all spoke with tongues but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.”
- 6 “But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching?” Clarity
- 7 “Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played?” Clarity
Clarity
- 8 “For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?”
- 9 “So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air.”
- 10 “There are, it may be, so many kinds of language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me.”
- 11 “Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me.”
- 12 “Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.” Clarity