1 CORINTHIANS 14:6\u201319<\/b><\/p>\n
Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks<\/i><\/p>\n
(1 Cor. 14:11)<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Because so many people think the type of \u201ctongues\u201d Paul is talking about here is an ecstatic utterance, inarticulate sounds that carry no meaning for the speaker, we must look carefully at vv. 6\u201319. Some conclude that Paul\u2019s comparison of tongues to musical instruments implies that tongues are just noise, not a real language. But keeping the passage in the context of the definition as it is used in Acts 2 (which means languages), we find that he is simply saying that if one does not understand the language, it carries no meaning. In v. 8, he says if a trumpet makes a particular sound, but the hearer does not grasp its meaning, how will he prepare for battle. Likewise, if someone speaks in a language, but it is not interpreted, what good is it?<\/p>\n
Next, Paul says that there are many languages in the world\u2014again the emphasis is on real languages. But if the church is left without an understanding of that language, what good will it be? You will know what you are trying to say, but others will not. This will only disrupt unity and cause brothers in Christ to become foreigners to one another in the worship of God.<\/p>\n
When Paul says, \u201cif I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my understanding is unfruitful,\u201d we must not conclude that he is no longer in control of his faculties, or that his spirit is separated from his mind\u2014a dichotomy that is not supported by the rest of Scripture. To assume the speaker is not aware of what he is saying would contradict what Paul states elsewhere, especially v. 17 which implies that the speaker gives thanks, knowing full well that he is giving thanks, but the uninformed listener cannot join in that thanks with him. What Paul means, therefore, is that he prays according to the spiritual gift he has been given, but his understanding of divine truth is unprofitable for others\u2014this is in keeping with the whole context in which Paul is proving that the higher good is transmitting truth for the edification of others. Unfruitful, in this context as in others (Eph. 5:11; Titus 3:14; 2 Peter 1:8; Matt. 13:22) means unbeneficial to others. In verse 15, to pray \u201cwith understanding\u201d means to speak in such a way as to convey instruction, which is done through interpretation.<\/p>\n
CORAM DEO<\/b><\/p>\n
Psalms 38\u201340<\/p>\n
Acts 23<\/p>\n
Paul says that you pray, speak, or sing \u201cwith understanding\u201d when what you have said is interpreted (v. 13). Like any spiritual gift, tongues can be abused. What spiritual gift do you have? Are you using it as God would have you use it? You can know this by examining whether you use that gift for the building up of others in the body.<\/p>\n
For further study: Ps. 47 \u2022 Eph. 5:15\u201321 \u2022 Col. 3:12\u201317<\/i><\/p>\n
wednesday<\/p>\n
july<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
1 CORINTHIANS 14:6\u201319 Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks (1 Cor. 14:11). Because so many people think the type of \u201ctongues\u201d Paul is talking about here is an ecstatic utterance, inarticulate sounds that carry no meaning for the speaker, we must … Continue reading “IS IT JUST NOISE?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12809\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}