Lessons #501 and 502
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+ 1. It is best to use this note after you have listened to the lessons because there are +
+ comments given in the actual delivery not in the note. +
+ 2. The Bible abbreviations are as follows: CEV =Contemporary English version, +
+ CEB = Common English Bible, ESV= English Standard Version, +
+ GW = God’s Word Translation, ISV = International Standard Version, +
+ NAB=New American Bible, NASB= New American Standard Bible, +
+ NEB= New English Bible, NET = New English Translation, +
+ NLT = New Living Translations NJB = New Jerusalem Bible, +
+ NJV = New Jewish Bible, TEV = Today’s English Version. +
+AMP = Amplified Bible, UBS = United Bible Society +
+ 3. Notes have not been edited for grammatical errors. +
+ 4. Text is based on 1984 edition of the NIV +
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Regulating tongues and prophecy in public worship (1 Cor 14:26-33a)
26 What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God. 29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
We have come to the final consideration of Apostle Paul in this first epistle to the Corinthians about the gift of tongues and prophecy. He had so far compared the two spiritual gifts and in the last section of 1 Corinthians 14:20-25 compared the usefulness of both gifts in worship in a mixed assembly of believers and unbelievers. To end his consideration of the topic of the use of tongues and prophecy in public worship of believers, the apostle regulates how these two gifts should be handled in practice to ensure an orderly worship in the local church in Corinth, and by application to public worship of believers in all local churches.
The section of 1 Corinthians 14:26-33a that we are about to consider begins with an introductory remark regarding the various typical activities of worship in a local church in verse 26. This is followed by regulation of the practice of speaking in tongues in verses 27 to 28 that limits the number of those who could speak in tongues during worship and when not to use the gift. The apostle moved from the exercise of the gift of tongue to that of the use of the gift of prophecy in verses 29-32, limiting the number of people that could be involved in its exercise during worship service and the order in which those who exercise the gift should operate. He conveyed the reasons for the regulation of the use of the gift of prophecy. He then ends with a general reason for regulating worship activities of believers in a local church. This reason is given in verse 33a. Based on this summary, we state that a message the Holy Spirit wants to convey to the church is this: All worship activities in a local church should be orderly. It is this message that will be expounded as we consider the text before us. However, we begin our exposition with the apostle’s introductory remarks.
The introductory remarks of the apostle as we stated are given in verse 26. The apostle in a sense applied his discourse on the subject of tongues and prophecy in that he stated what should result from the preceding discourse. In other words, the Corinthians might be wondering how they should handle the exercise of tongues and prophecy in public worship with or without unbelievers present. We say this because of the beginning rhetorical question of verse 26 What then shall we say, brothers?
The word “then” is translated from a Greek word (oun) that has several usages. It may be used as a marker of continuation of a narrative in which case it may be translated “so, now, then.” It may be used as a marker of emphasis with the meaning “certainly, to be sure.” It may be used as a marker of inference indicating that what it introduces results from or is an inference from what precedes so may be translated “therefore, then.” When the Greek word is used with a Greek word that means “what” in a formula as a part of a question, it may have the meaning “what then?” or “what, then, are we to conclude?” as the apostle used the Greek formula in his discourse of the doctrine of election as it pertains to Israel as we read in Romans 11:7:
What then? What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,
If the Greek formula includes a Greek verb that means “to be” as in our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:26, the formula may be translated “what, then, is to be done?” This is the way the formula is translated in the question addressed to Apostle Paul by some in the church of Jerusalem because of a false accusation levied against him as we read in Acts 21:22:
What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come,
The translation of the Greek formula as we indicated is applicable to our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:26. Almost all commentators agree that in our passage the Greek formula has the meaning of "What does this imply?", which I also agree. Therefore, the Greek formula is used in our passage to indicate that what follow should be regarded as that which result from the apostle’s discourse on the comparison of gifts of speaking in tongues and prophecy in a mixed worship assembly of the preceding section. Put in another way, the apostle applied his discourse on tongues and prophecy to address the proper handling of the two topics of tongues and prophecy in worship.
The application of the apostle’s discourse on the gifts of speaking in tongues and prophecy is directed to those he described as brothers. The word “brothers” is translated from a Greek word (adelphos) that has several meanings in the Greek. It could mean brother in the sense of a male person from the same mother as the referenced person. It is in this sense that the word is used by Apostle Paul to reference those who are from the same mother as Jesus in His humanity as he defended his right to marry as stated in 1 Corinthians 9:5:
Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us, as do the other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Cephas?
The word may mean “a believer” as that is the sense of the word “brother” used by Apostle Paul in his instruction to slaves regarding how to treat their masters who are believers in Christ as we read in 1 Timothy 6:2:
Those who have believing masters are not to show less respect for them because they are brothers. Instead, they are to serve them even better, because those who benefit from their service are believers, and dear to them. These are the things you are to teach and urge on them.
It is clear that “brothers” is used here for believers because of the clause because those who benefit from their service are believers. Hence the word “brother” is the same as “believer.” Thus, it is not surprising that the translators of the NIV translated the Greek word as “believers” in the letter of the first church council that was sent to Gentile believers as we read in Acts 15:23:
With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.
The phrase the Gentile believers in Antioch is literally the brothers from among the Gentiles in Antioch. In keeping with this understanding, the word may mean “brother” in the sense of one who has the same beliefs with the one that uses the word, irrespective of gender, that is, the word refers to “a fellow believer.” It is in this sense of one who shares the same faith and so belongs to a specific Christian community, that is, a “fellow believer” that Apostle Paul used the word to describe Epaphroditus in Philippians 2:25:
But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker and fellow soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs.
It is in this sense of fellow believers, regardless of gender, that Apostle Paul used it in his final greetings to the Ephesian church in Ephesians 6:23:
Peace to the brothers, and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The peace the apostle wished on “the brothers” could not possibly apply only to male members of the church in Ephesus. Therefore, the word “brothers” has the sense of “brothers and sisters in Christ” here in Ephesians 6:23. It is in this sense that the word is used in 1 Corinthians 14:26. The point is that when Apostle Paul used the word brothers in 1 Corinthians 14:26, he addressed all believers in Corinth regardless of their gender so that some English versions, such as the NET, the TEV, the 2011 edition of the NIV, among others, used the phrase brothers and sisters to translate our Greek word in this verse of our study. Thus, what the apostle states in what follow are directed to believers in Christ regardless of their gender, geographical location or even the time in which they live on this planet.
The apostle not only indicated that the instructions that follow are directed to believers in Corinth and so the universal church, but he also indicated that he was concerned with public worship of believers as indicated by the clause of 14:26 When you come together. This clause provides the time and occasion for the instructions that follow. The apostle defined the time of the application of the instructions that follow because of the word when that is translated from a Greek particle (hotan) that denotes time. If the point of time is roughly to or overlaps with another point of time it may be translated “when” as it is used to describe what would happen to believers when Christ returns according to Colossians 3:4:
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
When time involved is linked to a specific event it could mean “as soon as” as in the use of the word by Apostle Paul to describe when Titus should come to him based on the event of the arrival of one of the members of his team as we read in Titus 3:12:
As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there.
The word may mean “whenever” as it is used in James to describe the time believers should rejoice instead of being depressed as the time of trials as we read in James 1:2:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:26, the Greek particle is used probably with the meaning of “whenever” to indicate that what follow should be seen as taking place repeatedly or regularly since the Greek word translated “come together” is in the present tense. Thus, the apostle was being indefinite as he describes what should take place repeatedly.
We stated that the apostle not only provides the time of what he wrote following verse 26 but he also stated the occasion or the place of the instructions that he gave should take place because of the sentence of 14:26 When you come together. The expression “come together” is translated from a Greek word (synerchomai) that may mean “to assemble, gather,” that is, to come together with others as a group as in the description of the meeting of Jewish religious leaders to hear Paul’s defense against the charge of some Jews against him as we read in Acts 22:30:
The next day, since the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.
The word may mean “to come/go with one or more persons,” that is, “to travel together with” as it is used in Peter’s narrative to convey that some believers traveled with him as he went to preach the gospel to Cornelius and the Gentiles that assembled in his house as we read in Acts 11:12:
The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house.
The word may mean “to come together,” in the sense of intimate relationship that implies sexual relationship as it is used to describe Mary’s pregnancy before the consummation of her marriage to Joseph in Matthew 1:18:
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:23, the word has the sense of “to meet together” for worship.
Apostle Paul, having introduced the time and location of the application of his discourse on the exercise of the gifts of tongues and prophecy, proceeded to mention some of the activities that would take place in public worship of believers. We use the phrase “some of the activities” because the apostle did not list everything that takes place in worship setting of believers. The activities the apostle gave in the passage we are considering did not include two of the activities of the early church as stated in Acts 2:42:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
The list that we will get to shortly did not include the Lord’s Supper as the apostle had already indicated that it is part of the activities of the church of God that is assembled for worship since he had already addressed the abuse of such activity in the eleventh chapter of 1 Corinthians. Prayer was not mentioned either, probably because the apostle assumed that that would take place although he had already indicated that speaking in tongue may involve prayer. That aside, the apostle listed primarily activities that involve the gifts of tongues and prophecy.
The first activity Apostle Paul mentioned as taking place in public worship of believers concerns songs that are inspired by the Holy Spirit as in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 14:26 everyone has a hymn. Before we consider this sentence, we should note that the word “has” is translated once in the English, but the Greek word translated “has” is used five times in connection with the activities the apostle listed. There is the problem of how to translate the Greek word (echō) that may mean “to have, possess.” It is probably that the apostle used it with the sense of “to be ready with something” without any reference as to how that person became ready with the particular activity involved. That aside, someone may wonder why I indicated that the songs that is the apostle’s concern are inspired song since the word “inspired” does not appear in the text. There are two reasons for stating that the songs under consideration are inspired. The first reason is that meaningful songs that are intended to praise God result from the control of the Holy Spirit. This we can learn from the fact that Moses was instructed by Yahweh to write down a specific song that he taught Israel as we read in Deuteronomy 31:19:
“Now write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them.
The psalmist also asserted that his song was from God as we read in Psalm 40:3:
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD.
Apostle Paul mentioned what he described as “spiritual songs” in Ephesians 5:19:
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.
The “spiritual songs” are those that describe salvation in Christ in words that are familiar to the worshippers but sang or composed under the filling of the Spirit. Thus, they are probably of two kinds. The type of songs spontaneously offered in worship situation where the one who sings is enabled by the Spirit to utter the words that describe salvation in Christ. This kind of song will be similar to that of Zechariah who under the special filling of the Holy Spirit sang the song known as Benedictus recorded in Luke 1:67-79. We say this because as, we have indicated, he was under special filling of the Spirit when he sang the song, as conveyed in Luke 1:67–68:
67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: 68“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people.
Zechariah’s song elaborated on what redemption for Israel involved, so a person who sings a spiritual song will use words that elaborate the meaning of salvation in Christ in words that people will understand. The second kind of the spiritual song is that composed by Christians that speak more to salvation received in Christ and do not have to involve exact wordings found in the Scripture but are words of those who truly understand the doctrines of salvation as given in the Scripture. It is in part because the wordings of the songs classified as “spiritual songs” are those of believers who are immediately prompted by the Spirit or those who understand the word of God and so could be considered spiritual individuals that the apostle used the adjective “spiritual” to qualify the word “song” in Ephesians 5:19. Anyway, the first reason for stating that the songs Apostle Paul mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14:26 are inspired is that meaningful songs that are intended to praise God result from the control of the Holy Spirit, that is, the filling of the Spirit.
The second reason for stating that the songs Apostle Paul mentioned in 1 Corinthians 14:26 are inspired is that the word he used in the Greek refers to songs that are inspired. The apostle stated in verse 26, everyone has a hymn. The word “hymn” is translated from a Greek word (psalmos) that originally means plucking of the string of a bow or playing of a stringed instrument. In the Septuagint, the word translates several Hebrew words. It is used to translate the Hebrew word (šîr) that means “song” in the title of Psalm 48 (LXX 47) that reads: A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. It is used for a Hebrew word (neḡînāh) that means “taunting or mocking song” or “a stringed instrument” so it is with the meaning “mocking song” that the word is used in Lamentations 3:14:
I became the laughingstock of all my people; they mock me in song all day long.
The sentence they mock me in song all day long is literally from the Hebrew their mocking song all day long. But the word is used with the meaning “stringed instrument” in Lamentations 5:14:
The elders are gone from the city gate; the young men have stopped their music.
The sentence the young men have stopped their music is literally young men no longer play stringed instruments. It is used for harps or musical instrument in Amos 5:23:
Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.
In the NT, it is used seven times, four times in Luke and Acts and three times in Pauline epistles. Three of the four times it is used by Luke in the plural, it is as a reference to the OT Psalms as a whole. Thus, it is used to refer to Jesus’ quotation from psalms in Luke 20:42:
David himself declares in the Book of Psalms: “‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand
It is used in plural in Peter’s quotation in Acts 1:20:
“For,” said Peter, “it is written in the book of Psalms, “‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, “‘May another take his place of leadership.’
Once it is used by Luke in the singular for a particular passage of Psalms during Paul’s sermon in Pisidian Antioch, as we read in Acts 13:33:
he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: “‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’
Three times the word is used by the Apostle Paul, it has the sense of Christian songs of praise used in Christian worship, as for example, in Colossians 3:16:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
The other two usages of the word by the apostle are in the passage we previously cited, that is, Ephesians 5:19 where it is used in the sense of songs of praise from the OT psalms. We should bear in mind that Psalms as a whole is concerned with the praise of God by all His creation as we can see, for example, in Psalm 148:1–2, 11–12:
1Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. 2Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts.
11kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, 12young men and maidens, old men and children.
There are psalms that are sung in a special day, for example, we have the psalm for Sabbath as indicated in the title of Psalm 92 that reads: A psalm. A song. For the Sabbath day. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:26, the word means “psalm,” probably referring to words of psalms in the OT that are sung in a worship situation or simply a sacred song used to praise God. In any case, when Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 14:26 everyone has a hymn, he probably was concerned with the situation where many believers have songs of praise that they have been prompted by the Holy Spirit to sing or song they have composed under the filling of the Spirit that they want the congregation to join them in singing the specific songs. Although it is possible for a person to burst out singing songs suddenly as directed by the Holy Spirit, it is more likely that the song the apostle had in mind is one that was composed prior to worship. By the way, it does not mean that all believers would have a song to sing but that some would. We say this because the word everyone translated from a Greek word (hekastos) that means “each, everyone” is probably used here in the sense of one does one thing and another does something else as the Greek word is used to indicate that in the display of the partisanship in Corinth one claims to follow Paul and another Peter as we read 1 Corinthians 1:12:
What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
The phrase One of you is literally each of you. The context indicates that all of them did not make the same claim but to each belongs the unique claim the one made. It is this situation that applies in our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:26 to convey that not everyone is involved in the first activity of worship the apostle mentioned but that some are involved in it while others are involved in the other activities the apostle listed.
The second activity Apostle Paul mentioned as taking place in public worship of believers, concerns teaching as in the sentence of 1 Corinthians 14:26 or a word of instruction. Literally, the Greek reads has (a) teaching. This is because the expression “word of instruction” is translated from a Greek word (didachē) that has the basic meaning of “teaching.” However, “teaching” may refer to the content of what is taught, as the Greek noun is used in Romans 16:17:
I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
Teaching here refers to what one has been taught and so the content of instruction received. Teaching may refer to the activity of teaching hence means “instruction”, as the Greek noun is used to describe Timothy’s responsibility as a pastor in 2 Timothy 4:2:
Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.
In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:26, the word is used in the sense of “content of what is taught”, that is, “teaching.”
The teaching as an activity of worship is that which comes from men with gift of teaching. This is because the apostle had already indicated that there are those in the church with gift of teaching. They are the ones who are the focus regarding the teaching activity mentioned. That this is the case may be learned from the existence of such men in the church in Antioch as we read in Acts 13:1:
In the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul.
Furthermore, Apostle Paul in his epistle to the Roman believers conveyed that those who are to teach are those with the gift as implied in Romans 12:6–7:
6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach.
It is inconceivable that the apostle would have meant that everyone would be involved in teaching activity in worship, especially as he elsewhere had indicated women were not permitted to teach as we read in 1 Timothy 2:12:
I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
Of course, the teaching activity the apostle mentioned is not the same as that which is expected of every believer to carry out with respect to one another mentioned in the passage we cited previously, that is, Colossians 3:16:
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
The activities of teaching and admonishing each other involve passing on information one has received from gifted teachers of the church as well as correcting each other. The teaching the apostle had in mind is the teaching that the teacher takes time to prepare before delivering it to other believers. Anyway, the second activity Apostle Paul mentioned as taking place in public worship of believers concerns teaching carried out by men with the gift of teaching.
The third activity Apostle Paul mentioned as taking place in public worship of believers concerns revelation as in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:26 a revelation. The word “revelation” is translated from a Greek word (apokalypsis) that literally means “uncovering” but this meaning does not appear in the NT; instead, the meaning is “revelation, disclosure.” The word can be used in the sense of communicating knowledge or truth that was not previously known to an individual by God through vision or any other supernatural means of communication. It is in this sense that the Apostle Paul used the word to describe the various communications he received from the Lord Jesus Christ in 2 Corinthians 12:1:
I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord.
It is because of this special communication from God to the apostle that he went to meet with the leaders of the church in Jerusalem, as he stated in Galatians 2:2:
I went in response to a revelation and set before them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did this privately to those who seemed to be leaders, for fear that I was running or had run my race in vain.
The Greek word is used to describe the disclosure of secrets that belong to the last days. It is in this sense that the word is used with the disclosure of God’s judgment when Christ returns as implied in Romans 2:5:
But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.
The translators of the NIV and many of our English versions turned the Greek noun as a verb in their use of the word “revealed.” Actually, the clause when his righteous judgment will be revealed is more literally and of the revelation of the righteous judgment of God. Our Greek word can also be used for revelation of truth as the word is used by Simeon during the dedication ceremony of the baby Jesus in Luke 2:32:
a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.”
In this context, it is salvation that is described by the phrase a light for revelation to the Gentiles. The phrase means that salvation is a light that reveals the true knowledge of God to Gentiles who are in spiritual darkness. In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:26, it is used in the sense of “revelation,” that is, communication by God the Holy Spirit to a human of a previously hidden knowledge. We, of course, do not have any example of this activity taking place in a local church but Apostle Paul referenced an example of such revelation to him which involves the secret of God including Gentiles as His people through faith in Jesus Christ, as we read in Ephesians 3:3–6:
3 that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly. 4 In reading this, then, you will be able to understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which was not made known to men in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.
The fourth activity Apostle Paul mentioned as taking place in public worship of believers concerns tongue as in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:26 a tongue or literally has a tongue. The word “tongue” is translated from a Greek word (glōssa) that we have considered previously but let me review briefly what we said about it. It is a word that basically means “tongue.” The “tongue” may refer literally to a body part as an organ of speech as what was loosed to enable Zechariah to speak just before the naming of his son, John the Baptist, as we read in Luke 1:64:
Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed, and he began to speak, praising God.
The word may mean “language” unique to a people as it is used by those from other nations that were present on the day of Pentecost to acknowledge hearing the disciples speak in their various languages the great things God has done when the outpouring of the Holy Spirit took place as we read in Acts 2:11:
(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
To remove any misunderstanding of what tongues means in this passage, some of our modern English versions rendered the phrase our own tongues as our own languages as we find, for example, in the NET, among others. It is in the sense of “language” that “tongue” is used to describe different peoples of the nations that are redeemed as we read in Revelation 5:9:
And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.
The English versions that are prone to literal translation such as the Authorized Version (KJV) or the NASB translated the word “tongue” instead of “language” in this passage in Revelation. The Greek word may mean “ecstatic language,” that is, “an utterance outside the normal patterns of intelligible speech and therefore requiring special interpretation.” After considering various usages of the Greek word, we concluded that the Greek word translated “tongues” could mean either “ecstatic language,” that is, an utterance having the form of language but requiring an inspired interpreter for an understanding of the content or “foreign, unintelligible human utterances.” In our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:26, the apostle used it as a reference to either an “ecstatic language” or “human language that is foreign to others and the speaker that is given by the Holy Spirit.” In either case, speaking in tongue here requires interpretation hence the next activity of worship the apostle mentioned.
The fifth activity Apostle Paul mentioned as taking place in public worship of believers concerns interpretation of tongue as in the phrase of 1 Corinthians 14:26 an interpretation or literally has (an) interpretation. The word “interpretation” is translated from a Greek word (hermēneia) that appears twice in the Greek NT; in our passage and in 1 Corinthians 12:10 where it is also translated “interpretation.” The word refers to “translation ability,” that is, the ability to interpret a language not one’s own. The Greek noun is related to a Greek verb (hermēneuō) with two related meanings. The word may mean “to explain, to interpret,” that is, to help someone understand a subject or a matter by making it plain as it is used to describe what Jesus Christ did to His disciples after His resurrection as it pertains to the Scripture regarding Him as we read in Luke 24:27:
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
Another meaning is “to translate,” that is to render words from one language to another as it is used to give the meaning of the name Cephas in John 1:42:
And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).
The meanings of the Greek verb enable us to understand that the gift of interpretation of tongues is the gift that is concerned with translating or explaining what one with gift of tongues uttered so that others will understand what is said. We are saying that the gift of interpretation of tongues functions differently depending on the nature of the tongue spoken. If “tongue” refers to a known human language that the audience or the speaker does not know, then the gift of interpretation of tongues functions in a way to translate what was said in a foreign language to the language of the audience so that they would understand what the one with gift of tongues uttered. If, however, the “tongue” is of spiritual nature or ecstatic utterance then the gift of interpretation of tongues functions in a way to explain or make intelligible to the congregation the message conveyed by the one who spoke in tongues.
The apostle not only listed some of the activities of public worship of believers, but he also reminded the Corinthians and so all believers that these activities are for the purpose of building up believers spiritually as we read in the last sentence of 1 Corinthians 14:26 All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.
The word “strengthening” is translated from a Greek word (oikodomē) that has two categories of meanings. A first category of meaning refers to the process of building and so means “building, construction.” The literal meaning of a building process is not found in the NT, but it is used in that way in the Septuagint in Ezekiel 17:17:
Pharaoh with his mighty army and great horde will be of no help to him in war, when ramps are built and siege works erected to destroy many lives.
The verbal phrase and siege works erected to destroy many lives of the NIV is more literally and the building of siege works to destroy many lives, indicating the process of building siege works. However, we find the figurative meaning of building process used in the NT with such meanings as “edifying, edification, building up.” So, we find Apostle Paul use this word in the spiritual sense of edification in 2 Corinthians 12:19:
Have you been thinking all along that we have been defending ourselves to you? We have been speaking in the sight of God as those in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening.
The phrase for your strengthening of the NIV may be alternatively rendered for your edification or for your upbuilding. The apostle also used the Greek word in the figurative sense of building up the Corinthians spiritually in 2 Corinthians 13:10:
This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority—the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.
A second category of meaning of the Greek word in question refers to the result of construction process and so means “building, edifice.” The literal meaning of building as a result of construction is used in a disciple’s description to the Lord Jesus of the greatness of the Temple in Jerusalem, as reported in Mark 13:1:
As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”
The meaning of “building” is used figuratively by Apostle Paul to describe the church in Corinth and so every local church in 1 Corinthians 3:9:
For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
The meaning “building” figuratively refers to spiritual or resurrection body as the apostle used it to convey that our present body will be replaced with a more permanent body in eternal state as we read in 2 Corinthians 5:1:
Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.
It is in this second category of meaning, although in a figurative sense, that the Greek word is used in our passage of 1 Corinthians 14:26 and so the word has the sense of “building up,” that is, “the act of bringing something closer to fullness or completion.” Thus, worship activities should be aimed to enhance spiritual growth of believers. The spiritual growth could be in the believer’s faith as stated in 2 Thessalonians 1:3:
We ought always to thank God for you, brothers, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love every one of you has for each other is increasing.
Faith growing must be due to the learning of God’s word and applying it. Spiritual growth may be adding of knowledge to the believer about God through teaching. It is growth in the knowledge of God the Son that the Holy Spirit referenced through Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3:18:
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
In any case, we have considered the introductory remarks of the apostle concerning worship activities in our passage of study but let me end by reminding you of the message of this section of 1 Corinthians 14:26-33a which is All worship activities in a local church should be orderly.
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