Tongues and Prophecy
1Let love be your highest goal! But you should also desire the special abilities the Spirit gives—especially the ability to prophesy. 2For if you have the ability to speak in tongues,* you will be talking only to God, since people won’t be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit,* but it will all be mysterious. 3But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them. 4A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church.
5I wish you could all speak in tongues, but even more I wish you could all prophesy. For prophecy is greater than speaking in tongues, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church will be strengthened.
6Dear brothers and sisters,* if I should come to you speaking in an unknown language,* how would that help you? But if I bring you a revelation or some special knowledge or prophecy or teaching, that will be helpful. 7Even lifeless instruments like the flute or the harp must play the notes clearly, or no one will recognize the melody. 8And if the bugler doesn’t sound a clear call, how will the soldiers know they are being called to battle?
9It’s the same for you. If you speak to people in words they don’t understand, how will they know what you are saying? You might as well be talking into empty space.
10There are many different languages in the world, and every language has meaning. 11But if I don’t understand a language, I will be a foreigner to someone who speaks it, and the one who speaks it will be a foreigner to me. 12And the same is true for you. Since you are so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives, seek those that will strengthen the whole church.
13So anyone who speaks in tongues should pray also for the ability to interpret what has been said. 14For if I pray in tongues, my spirit is praying, but I don’t understand what I am saying.
15Well then, what shall I do? I will pray in the spirit,* and I will also pray in words I understand. I will sing in the spirit, and I will also sing in words I understand. 16For if you praise God only in the spirit, how can those who don’t understand you praise God along with you? How can they join you in giving thanks when they don’t understand what you are saying? 17You will be giving thanks very well, but it won’t strengthen the people who hear you.
18I thank God that I speak in tongues more than any of you. 19But in a church meeting I would rather speak five understandable words to help others than ten thousand words in an unknown language.
20Dear brothers and sisters, don’t be childish in your understanding of these things. Be innocent as babies when it comes to evil, but be mature in understanding matters of this kind. 21It is written in the Scriptures*:
“I will speak to my own people
through strange languages
and through the lips of foreigners.
But even then, they will not listen to me,”*
says the LORD.
22So you see that speaking in tongues is a sign, not for believers, but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is for the benefit of believers, not unbelievers. 23Even so, if unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your church meeting and hear everyone speaking in an unknown language, they will think you are crazy. 24But if all of you are prophesying, and unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your meeting, they will be convicted of sin and judged by what you say. 25As they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed, and they will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring, “God is truly here among you.”
A Call to Orderly Worship
26Well, my brothers and sisters, let’s summarize. When you meet together, one will sing, another will teach, another will tell some special revelation God has given, one will speak in tongues, and another will interpret what is said. But everything that is done must strengthen all of you.
27No more than two or three should speak in tongues. They must speak one at a time, and someone must interpret what they say. 28But if no one is present who can interpret, they must be silent in your church meeting and speak in tongues to God privately.
29Let two or three people prophesy, and let the others evaluate what is said. 30But if someone is prophesying and another person receives a revelation from the Lord, the one who is speaking must stop. 31In this way, all who prophesy will have a turn to speak, one after the other, so that everyone will learn and be encouraged. 32Remember that people who prophesy are in control of their spirit and can take turns. 33For God is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in all the meetings of God’s holy people.*
34Women should be silent during the church meetings. It is not proper for them to speak. They should be submissive, just as the law says. 35If they have any questions, they should ask their husbands at home, for it is improper for women to speak in church meetings.*
36Or do you think God’s word originated with you Corinthians? Are you the only ones to whom it was given? 37If you claim to be a prophet or think you are spiritual, you should recognize that what I am saying is a command from the Lord himself. 38But if you do not recognize this, you yourself will not be recognized.*
39So, my dear brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and don’t forbid speaking in tongues. 40But be sure that everything is done properly and in order.
November 21 Reflection & Worship
Questions and Answers
EVERY DAY YOU ARE HELD FAST BY THE INFALLIBLE LOVE OF GOD THROUGH CHRIST.
LOOK BACK Romans has been called “the gospel according to Paul.” Writing like a trained lawyer, Paul probes the significance of Jesus’ death and resurrection. All people stand condemned before a holy God. Jew and Gentile alike are without excuse.
But what the human race was powerless to do for itself, God did in the person of his Son, Jesus. Through his sinless life and sacrificial death we are declared “not guilty” before God—not because of anything we have done, but because of God’s love and grace. We had a debt we could not pay; Jesus paid a debt he did not owe. The result? Sin’s power was broken, freeing us to live a new life in him.
But that new life is not a problem-free life, as you’ll learn by reading Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. Here, a church that was “called by God to be his own holy people” (1 Corinthians 1:2) was nonetheless beset by a myriad of sins and excesses that needed Paul’s discipline and direction. Clearly, the wealth of the believer must be translated into a worthy walk by the believer.
LOOK UP Romans 8 is one of the richest “mother lodes” in the Bible. There you’ll discover nugget after nugget of truth for the Christian: the limitless boundaries of God’s love, the proven way to be an overcomer in any circumstance, the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of the Christian. There you’ll also find the answers to several important questions. According to Romans 8:31-39,
• If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
• Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen?
• Can anything ever separate us from the love of God in Christ?
In case you had trouble with the above exercise, the answer to all three questions is the same: no one!
LOOK AHEAD Often, the challenge is to take what we know about God from the pages of his Word and apply it to real-life situations that have us baffled and anxious. For example:
• Who is seemingly against you and out to get you today? (Answer: my boss, my spouse, my rebellious teenager, the IRS, my business competitors—in short, everyone!) . . . But in reality, if God is for you, who can be against you?
• Who is accusing you falsely today of things you never did or said? . . . But in reality, who can bring any charge against God’s chosen, and make it stick?
• Who or what is trying to drive a wedge between you and your Lord today? . . . But in reality, who or what can separate you from the love of Christ?