Every preacher or evangelist is commanded to "Reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching" (1 Timothy 4:2). The notable violations of this during our own times have in no sense cast any reflections upon the wisdom of this rule, but rather have confirmed it as divine. Moreover the essential authority of the eldership is such that a woman's place in it would violate the primal law regarding her lawful subordination to her husband. Anyone in possession of God's Spirit would have exactly the same attitude; but no, the tongue-speakers would rather speak ten thousand words in tongues than five words that anybody could understand! Such persons are sincere, to be sure, but sincerely wrong. The spontaneous, informal nature of the early church services is clearly visible. Women may not be evangelists. Tongue ... would mean, not the counterfeited non-sensical "utterings" of the fakers, but the real gift (with the great big IF stated in 1 Corinthians 14:29, IF there was an interpreter). In one of your teachings on 1 Corinthians 14 you said … The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets ... means that any true prophet could control his speaking; there was not any such thing as an irresistible compulsion for any TRUE prophet to speak. This is proving himself the servant of Christ. This whole section of this chapter (1 Corinthians 14:1-12), if it had any purpose at all, was to get rid of tongue-speaking in the assemblies of the church in Corinth, with the delicate purpose of Paul, always in view, not to discourage any real gift that might have existed there. The apostle, in the foregoing chapter, had himself preferred, and advised the Corinthians to prefer, Christian charity to all spiritual gifts. It is not the subjective understanding of the participant that is meant, but the objective purpose of conveying understanding to others. or came it from you alone? The Corinthian women had violated that intention and Paul immediately assigned two reasons for forbidding the action (speaking in tongues publicly) which frustrated God's purpose. This is the verse, beyond all others, that is supposed to take the lid off tongue-speaking and to legitimatize it for all generations; but this cannot be. He begins the chapter, I. The quotation of these verses in the sense of people singing and praying in the public services "with the spirit and the understanding" is based upon an incorrect discernment of their meaning. [8] F. F. Bruce, Answers to Questions (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1972), p. 99. On no occasion may tongues be used unless an interpreter is standing by to tell the audience every word that was spoken.SIZE>. From this, it is to be inferred that rule (1) is still operative in the sense in which it is applied in the Old Testament. Not as long as there is a single believer in it! "Or of knowledge" refers to the spiritual gift of knowledge which Paul assuredly had. The word from which the Pauline expression "edifieth" is translated is related to the building up of an edifice; and Paul demanded that EVERYTHING ("all things, 1 Corinthians 14:26) be done unto edification of the church. Follow after love; yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. 14 I do not write these things to shame you, but as my beloved children I warn you. When the apostle exhorts Christian women to seek information on religious subjects from their husbands at home, it shows that believing families ought to assemble for promoting spiritual knowledge. Yet thus the preachers did who delivered their instructions in an unknown tongue. However, there is another force operative in the tongue-speakings of post-apostolic times, and that is satanic instigation. The thought evidently is, "I will sing as the Spirit directs or inspires, and I will sing in a language that those who hear can understand. ... McGarvey understood this is idiomatic for "What is the conclusion of the argument? VI, p. 273. His speaking in tongues was genuine, a true gift, to edify himself; the "gifts" he was correcting were (1) either the misused genuine gifts, or (2) the affectations of the tongue counterfeiters; well, actually both of these were condemned. Wherefore my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. [7] J. W. McGarvey, Commentary on First Corinthians (Cincinnati, Ohio: Standard Publishing Company, 1916), p. 137. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. This is viewed as totally wrong with regard to all of the conduct which demanded Paul's attention. What about the woman whose husband is an ignoramus, an unbeliever, or an open enemy of God and all religion; should she comply with this rule? Brethren, be not children in mind: yet in malice be ye babes, but in mind be men. This is therefore a call for the Corinthians to stop chasing after tongues and to grow up spiritually. We know there are no authenticated holders of this gift today; and the strong suggestion persists in this whole chapter that there were none of that class in Corinth. These reasons were: (1) The Old Testament gave man the authority over the family, as in verses cited above, and (2) the customs of the age made it shameful for a woman to speak in public. Is he the author of similar confusion in our own times? The notion that speaking in tongues is to convert unbelievers is foreign to this text. However, the overwhelming certainty presses upon us that the visible tongues of Corinth were totally sinful and contrary to the will of God, being either: (1) a prostitution of a private gift for public glory in the case of the true gift, or (2) a sensational orgiastic counterfeit demonstration having no connection whatever with the Holy Spirit. Their vigorous advocacy of it had cast them in a role of immodesty and rebellion even against their husbands, hence Paul's rule as stated here. This has the weight of "no tongues in any case," except, of course, if such might have been duly interpreted by an inspired interpreter. Again from McGarvey: Of course, the gift of prophecy is no longer found in the church; but again to quote McGarvey: McGarvey's comment written during the previous century cannot be set aside as a mere catering to current trends. He simply issued apostolic orders that would inevitably, if followed, diminish and destroy the bastard gift, while at the same time cautioning "not to forbid to speak in tongues" (1 Corinthians 14:39). Despite Paul's mention of the interpretation of tongues as a genuine gift, the possibility in view here that even the tongue-speaker himself might possess it, it does not appear in this chapter that any of the Corinthians were said to have this gift. Barclay also observed this and suggested how it comes about: The phenomenon called tongue-speaking can be faked; this writer has seen it faked; and the simple truth is that anybody can fake it. Throughout this chapter, it has been stressed that the existence of actual gifts of tongue-speaking and interpretation made it impossible to declare all such things out of order. But if those who minister, plainly interpret Scripture, or preach the great truths and rules of the gospel, a heathen or unlearned person might become a convert to Christianity. 1 Corinthians 14:26-33 Rules for the orderly exercise of spiritual gifts in the church. Therefore, we view Paul's words, "Verily givest thanks well? Clearly, the prophetesses of the Old Testament exercised their gift publicly, even the priests and the king being subject to what they said. As Billy Graham said of tongues in the United States at this present time (March 26,1976), "There is much that is counterfeit ... tongues are no evidence that a person has been baptized in the Holy Spirit. What is it then, brethren? Even fervent, spiritual affection must be governed by the exercise of the understanding, else men will disgrace the truths they profess to promote. If any man thinketh himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him take knowledge of the things which I write unto you, that they are the commandment of the Lord. 2 You know that n when you were pagans o you were led astray to p mute idols , however you were led . So also ye, since ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may abound unto the edifying of the church. Teaching ... would refer to the instruction of ordinary, uninspired teachers; and in this, it corresponds roughly to preaching in the present time. Certainly not! As McGarvey said, "To understand the passage we should know the ignorance, garrulity and degradation of Oriental women. Language plain and easy to be understood, is the most proper for public worship, and other religious exercises. God of course could hear. 1. (b) The apostle Peter, on Pentecost, cited the Old Testament Scriptures which prophesied that in the times of the new covenant, "Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy" (Acts 2:17). Despite this forbearance, there never was a church anywhere which could practice tongue-speakings while observing Paul's rules, which inevitably diminished them to the vanishing point; and which, after the cessation of miraculous gifts, eliminated them altogether. [13] Henry H. Halley, Bible Handbook (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1927), p. 549. XX, Number 13. A very early description of Christian worship stated that "they sang by turns a hymn to Christ as God";[14] and there can hardly be any doubt that this was true. We have already noted that Paul never used the gift in the presence of others, or in church assemblies. The office of the evangelist is one of authority in the name of God; and as DeHoff expressed it: What is said of women being elders, deacons or evangelists is also true of their being "preachers" in any sense whatever; because it is the duty of all preachers to be evangelists, even if their preaching sometimes gives little evidence of respecting their commission. Scripture truth, plainly and duly taught, has a wonderful power to awaken the conscience and touch the heart. From this, it seems mandatory to view the genuine gift at Corinth as different from that of Pentecost, and also of far less importance, even that genuine gift (at Corinth) being by Paul ranked last among spiritual gifts. The need for an interpreter of the true gift proves that the possessor of it would not have known what he said, unless, of course, he also had the gift of interpreting tongues. This would have made for shorter services, since the probable result was that they could run through the maximum number of three rather quickly under those rules! The way to keep peace, truth, and order in the church, is to seek that which is good for it, to bear with that which is not hurtful to its welfare, and to keep up good behaviour, order, and decency. The meaning of this is exactly the same as in 1 Corinthians 14:7, the repetition of the thought using another illustration was for emphasis. This command comes right in the middle of an extensive treatise on tongue-speaking; and to blow this up to a universal law that no woman might open her mouth in a church service is simply contrary to all reason. But if I bring you a revelation or some special knowledge or prophecy or teaching, that will be helpful. Tongues in a church? First 30-days on us! In view here is the almost total uselessness of this gift in the area of instructing the church, even the true gift. It was customary from the earliest times for Christians to say Amen to the public prayers and thanksgivings of the church. No! This is the golden rule for organizing and conducting public worship services of the church in all ages. 2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. In this context, it is not amiss to point out that the appearances of prophetesses in both Old Testament and New Testament seem to have been simultaneous with periods of decadence and spiritual lethargy. Let your women, &c. — The last clause of the preceding verse is by some critics, and among the rest Bishop Pearce, joined with this, so as to make this sense; as in all the churches of the saints, let your women keep silence in the churches, namely, of Achaia. Difficult as some of Paul's intentions may be for people to discern, the unqualified inspiration of this chapter, and the entire epistle, must be received. In a word, all the post-apostolic tongue-speakings for nineteen centuries have not contributed one authentic sentence to the revealed will of God, like that in the New Testament. Revelation ... is a reference to the words of an inspired, miraculously endowed teacher who had "the gift of prophecy" as used in this chapter. 363-367. This shows how unspectacular it was as compared with tongues. From these passages from both testaments, it is clear that the total exclusion of women from any public speaking did not occur, nor was the action of such women construed as "usurping authority" over a man. Furthermore, Paul's speaking in tongues "more than ye all" is tremendously significant. (c) So Hilkiah the priest ... went unto Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum ... and they communed with her (2 Kings 22:14). Bruce gave the probable explanation thus: If Paul had not possessed the gift, some of his critics would have responded merely by saying, "Well, you know nothing about it." 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