Eagerly Desire the Gift of Prophecy

1 Corinthians 14:1-40, Key Verse: 14:12

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

1. What two things did Paul urge them to do? (1) To whom is speaking in tongues directed? (2) Prophesying? (3) Why did Paul emphasize prophesying? (2, 3)

2. What does it mean to prophesy? (3, 4) Why is it important to edify the church more than oneself? How did Paul again encourage them to seek the gift of prophecy? (5)

3. What three examples does Paul use to illustrate the importance of meaningful communication? (6-11) How does meaningless communication affect church members negatively?

4. Read verse 12. What principle should guide us in developing and exercising our spiritual gifts? How can we excel in the gift of prophecy and use it to build up our church? (1,3, 26)

5. If someone wants to speak in tongues in church, what should he/she pray, and why? (13) What are the dangers of praying and singing without using our minds? (14-17) How did Paul use his gifts of tongues and prophesying? (18-19) In what respect were the Corinthians thinking like children? (20a) How did Paul help them? (20b)

6. How had God used the sign of tongues as a sign of judgment? (21) How did Paul apply this to the gifts of tongues and prophecy? (22) What two scenarios of worship did Paul give, and with what outcomes? (23-25)

7. How did believers participate in the Corinthian church? (26a) What principle must be followed in doing these things? (26b) What were Paul's instructions about tongues-speaking? (27-28) About prophesying? (29-32) What kind of worship service does God want us to have? (33a)

8. What instructions did Paul give the Corinthian women about public worship, and how did this help build orderly worship? (33b-35) What attitude should they have toward Paul's teaching? (36-37) What is the consequence of ignoring it? (38) What is Paul's conclusion? (39-40)

Eagerly Desire the Gift of Prophecy

1 Corinthians 14:1-40, Key Verse: 14:1

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

In chapter 12, Apostle Paul mentioned that God gave all different kinds of spiritual gifts as a body has many parts, thus each one of the gifts are equally important in order for the body of Christ to function as a whole. In chapter 13, he teaches that love is supreme. We must use the spiritual gifts in love. The definition of love is patient and kind. The action of love is to ‘protect, trust, hope, and persevere.’ The ultimate love is the love of God in Christ. Love never fails as Christ never fails! I pray that each one of our members may find the gifts the Holy Spirit gave and use them in the love Christ has shown in your life, little by little, slowly and steadily growing in His love. Amen!

In today’s passage, Paul is going in detail about the gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy and tongues. Love and prophecy may be two wheels in a bicycle. Love is the back wheel, the main power, as prophecy is the front, making the direction. Based on this context, I would say that Jesus is full of God’s love and truth. There are two parts.

I. PROPHECY IS BETTER THAN TONGUES (1-25)

Look at verse 1. “Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.” Paul encourages the Corinthians to eagerly desire prophecy above other gifts of the Spirit as they practice them in love. He is not providing a clear definition of prophecy, but shows what prophecy does and the reason why they should desire it more than other gifts, especially compared to the gift of tongues. Look at verses 2-3. “For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. ³ But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.” A tongue of the Spirit can be a foreign language people can interpret and thus understand, just as at the time of Pentecost in the book of Acts. The Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak other languages that God fearing people, both Jews and converts to Judaism who came to Jerusalem, could understand, and so they heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. What is the origin of different tongues or languages? Based on Genesis 11, different languages were made by God in order to confuse the proud people who built the tower of Babel in order to challenge the throne of God. Therefore, the communication barrier was made by God and broken by the power of the Holy Spirit in order to give us the mystery of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In this context, I think that God gave the person a tongue in order to share the gospel with native people who can understand the language. And there is another kind of tongue the Spirit gives to a person, who utters mysteries only to God and no one may understand. Based on today’s passage it seems that there were many people who spoke in tongues in the Corinthian church, going out of control.

A prophecy is God’s message given to his servant to speak to people in order to strengthen, encourage and comfort them. There are many prophets in the Old Testament, giving people God’s promise of salvation and judgment; salvation for those who believe and obey but judgment to those who do not obey. Among them, I would like to talk about Moses. God gave Moses many prophesies, such as the blood of the lamb, crossing the Red Sea, Ten Commandments, the tabernacle, and all the laws, which all point to Christ. I would share one of them, the blood of the lamb, in depth. God gave Moses a prophecy that if they put the blood of the lamb on their door frame, the plague of death would pass over the house. How mysterious this could be for the people to hear and believe! Those who believed the prophecy not only put the blood of the lamb on their door post and were saved from the plague but also obeyed all instructions, eating the lamb and bitter herbs in a hurry. Thus, they experienced God’s salvation and blessing. They were comforted that God remembered his promise to his ancestors and their miserable life. Later, with courage and strength, they asked Egyptians for articles of silver, of gold and for clothing before they leave the land of slavery, Egypt. (Ex 11-13)

This prophecy has been fulfilled not only at the time of Exodus but also at the time of Jesus’ death on the cross and even today to those who believe in the power of the blood of Jesus. John the Baptist prophesied, saying, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Jesus prophesied many times, saying, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise them up at the last day.” (Jn 6:54) In 6:40, “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.” This prophecy is not fulfilled to us because the last day did not come yet, but we believe in Jesus that he shed his precious blood for our sins and rose again from the dead to give us eternal life. Faith in this prophecy not only has freed us from our sins; it also strengthens us to live a new life. The promise of Christ is the prophecy to those who believe and God comforts them. When we believe in Matthew 6:33 and seek his kingdom first, God fulfills his promises, providing all our needs, thus encouraging us to fight the good fight with the sword of the Lord.

Therefore, Paul is encouraging the Corinthian Christians to eagerly desire the gift of prophecy more than tongues. Paul is explaining several reasons why a person should not speak in a tongue in a church when there is no interpreter; thus it is inferior to the gift of prophecy.

First, a tongue only edifies oneself while a prophecy edifies the church. Look at verses 4-5, “Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. ⁵ I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.” A person who speaks in a tongue builds up themselves, as his or her spirit speaks to God. The purpose of giving the gift of the Spirit is to edify the church. But when there is no interpreter, a tongue does not edify the church, because the person is speaking to God only. In verses 6-11, Paul gives three examples why speaking in tongue is useless in a church without interpreter. 1) It is like the pipe or harp playing without distinguishing notes. A beautiful music is made by the harp with distinguish notes and pauses. If it plays one note constantly, it is going to be unbearable noise. 2) It is like a trumpet without a clear sound. Usually, there is a clear trumpet sound for a battle. There is a clear different sound from attack to retreat. It the trumpet sound is not clear, soldiers do not know what to do and will die in a battle. 3) It is like a foreign language. I know Korean and English and a little bit of Spanish. For example, when coworkers from Ukraine visited us and talked with Missionary Anastasia in Ukraine, I and Dr. Jason became a foreigner in America, until she translated what they were talking about to us.

But prophesies edify the church because it is God’s message spoken to the people in the same language, most likely Greek in the Corinthian church. Those who take it as God’s promise to them experience the prophecy fulfilled in their hearts and lives. Therefore, prophecy is greater than tongues without translation because it edifies the church. In this sense, Paul gave one principle in practicing the gift of the Spirit. Look at verse 12b, “Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.” Whatever gift of the Spirit you have should be used to edify not yourself but the body of Christ. If you speak in a tongue, that is wonderful but you should pray to interpret it so as to the church.

Secondly, my mind is unfruitful speaking in tongues. Look at verse 14. “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.” When Paul was praying in a tongue, he was praying in spirit, not in mind. His mind should sing as well as his spirit. He should intellectually praise God and give thanks to God for what he had done for him. If he did all these things in a tongue, his mind was unfruitful. His mind was not changed and bore no fruit of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, Paul prayed in tongue and also in mind as well. To him, five intelligible words are better than 10,000 words in a tongue. He is encouraging Corinthian Christians to be mature, quoting Isaiah 28:11-12, as Isaiah prophesied that they will listen to God’s message from the foreigner, Assyrian army, because they did not listen to his message to the king of Judah, Hezekiah. Likewise, the Corinthian Christians should grow mature in Christ listening to Paul’s encouragement; not to boast and misuse the gift of tongues but to build up the church with their gift.

Thirdly, tongues are a sign for unbelievers while prophecy is for believers and also for unbelievers. Look at verses 22-25. When the whole church members speak in tongues and an unbeliever comes and hears them, they will say this church is for crazy people. But when they come in to a church where all members are prophesying, they will be convicted of their sin as they hear the gospel of salvation and of judgement. Then, they have a chance to repent of their sins and accept Jesus Christ as their savior and worship God together. Isn’t this what happened during our Easter Conference in spring?

There was one young man who took Genesis 12:1-3 as God’s promise to him. When he believed in it, he began to get rid of his old sinful way of life and pray to be a source of blessing to others wherever he went, sharing the gospel at work or on campus, using his gift of teaching. God raised him to be a missionary and a general director of a worldwide organization, fulfilling God’s word in his life. May God bless each one of us to receive God’s gift of prophecy and experience his prophecy fulfilled in life and thus build the body of Christ. Amen!

II. WORSHIP IN AN ORDERLY WAY (26-40)

Look at verse 26. “What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.” When the church members gathered in Corinth, each of them sang a hymn or spoke a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. But there was no order in using their gift. While some were singing, others, speaking in a tongue, and some others, were giving a word of instruction and some, a revelation. It was chaotic with just a big noise. Thus Paul is telling them that everything must be done in order to build the church.

Specifically, a tongue should be spoken when there is an interpreter. If not, the person should be quiet. Two or three prophets could speak but it should be done in order, and prophets have to give their prophecies in order, one after another. For the Corinthian church, he gave an order for the women to remain silent, while in other Paul’s letter we see other women who were speaking in their church as there were prophetesses in the Old Testament. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Yet, a man should be a head of his family as God designed; otherwise, it is disgraceful.

Look at verses 36-38, “Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? ³⁷ If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. ³⁸ But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored.”. The Corinthian Christians did not originate the word of God, but received it as a gift, and gifts were given by the Holy Spirit. When they examined Paul’s words, they would find that his command was from God because they were inspired by the Holy Spirit. If they ignore it and do whatever they like to do, they will be ignored by God. Once again Paul encouraged them to be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues with an interpreter in the church. But everything should be done in orderly way in order to build up the church.

Through today’s passage, we learned that we should eagerly desire prophecy more than tongues. It is because tongues without an interpreter cannot edify the church but prophecy does. Prophecy will strengthen, encourage and comfort those who accept it. Prophecies convict unbelievers of their sin and of God’s judgment and salvation, thus they may repent of their sins and accept Jesus as their savior and worship God with us. May God bless each one of us with the gift of prophecy so that we can share the gospel with the power of the Spirit and build up the church.