1 Corinthians 14:12–19

He praises their desire to stand out spiritually, and shows them how real greatness is reached. Building up the Church, which is the Spirit's temple, should be the aim of those who seek His gifts. God's dwelling should also be His rest. But He can rest only where His truth is honoured and obeyed.

If they really wanted the Spirit's power among them, why did they not seek to overflow in building one another up? That would be divine love, not empty display, and worthy of Christ and His saints. It is the flesh that likes distinction for itself. It does not want the Lord's service for the good of others, where God stoops to deal with souls.

There is one word that marks this chapter. The keynote of 1 Cor. 14 is one word, "edification." What will edify? That will always be a serious question to everyone who has any gift. I may think I am edifying the Assembly, and be mistaken. If I do not edify, I think you ought to tell me... The great point is, what will edify. What takes place in the Assembly must have that character, and love would stop ministry that fails to edify... Often in our meetings a good deal is not edifying, simply because it is not heard. How can you say "Amen" to a brother's prayers if you do not hear them?

Every work of the Spirit of God in the assembly aims at building up the saints together as one body. This must be the test of every word spoken in the assembly.

So if we are eager for spiritual gifts, let it not be to exalt ourselves and rise above other believers. Let it be to excel in building up the assembly. Nothing that sets aside this great principle of edification can be of the Spirit. Where nothing hinders the Holy Spirit, love rules, and where love rules every word spoken will build people up.

Verse 12 gives an excellent guiding principle for all gifts. If we eagerly desire spiritual gifts, let our honest aim be the true building up of the assembly. My own blessing, joy, or prominence are very unworthy motives. Others are in need, and I should care that their need is truly met.

To be understood, then, is essential to edification. However excellent the content carried by an unknown language, it has no claim to be spoken in the assembly unless someone interprets it properly. It is foreign there, even more out of place than a conversation with a foreigner.

The gift of tongues was what seemed to man the most wonderful, and the Corinthians delighted in displaying it. Instead of love seeking the edification of all, it was vanity seeking to display its gifts. They were real gifts — gifts of the Spirit. And here is the solemn thing for us to weigh. A person may have the Spirit's power for service without the Spirit's living guidance in using it. That guidance comes only where self is crucified and Christ is everything to the soul. The object of the Holy Spirit is not to glorify the poor earthen vessel which contains His gifts.

See 1 Thessalonians 5:23, where the word "spirit" plainly means the spirit of a man, in contrast with mere soul and body. See 1 Corinthians 14:14 and the verses after it. There we have the man's spirit as distinct from his intelligence. The spirit is the vessel of the action, or power, of the Holy Spirit.

Perhaps he did not understand himself. He was the unknowing instrument of the Spirit. Yet he had a powerful sense that God was speaking through him. So in the Spirit he felt he was in communication with God, although his understanding was unfruitful.

If Paul prayed in an actual tongue, his spirit prayed. If his spirit prayed, then he knew what he was praying, for "who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him?" (1 Cor. 2:11). But his understanding was unfruitful. Some have said this means he did not understand; but this is plainly wrong. Unfruitful means not bearing fruit. So suppose I pray in the assembly in a tongue the assembly does not know. I understand myself, but my understanding bears no fruit in the understanding of others.

Praying in a tongue is ruled out on this principle just as firmly as any other kind of speaking in a tongue. And it is clearly the strongest case. It is an address to God, who of course understood it all. So it settles the question against prayer in any unknown tongue. Communion is the joy of the assembly; at the very least edification is essential. If the assembly as a whole cannot understand it, it has no claim to be heard there — unless someone interprets it, directly or indirectly.

"But," says the apostle, "I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also." … He argues at once that if you bless in the spirit only, the one who is in the place of an outsider cannot say "Amen" to the thanksgiving. He does not know what is being said. You may give thanks ever so well, but there is no edification for the other. So even in prayer and praise the same principle holds. In the assembly everything is done for the assembly. The speaker must be either the voice of the assembly to God or the voice of God to the assembly. It is solemn to realise that even giving thanks well in this way would not justify the thanksgiving. The gift comes from God, but that does not by itself justify using it.

I must know what to pray about. And I must pray so that others can understand me — in a language they know, and loud enough to hear. I once said to a brother, "I never say Amen to your prayers." He said, "Don't you? Why not?" "Because I never hear what you say," I replied. He was a mumbler. There should be no such thing in public. The point is what is profitable.

Verse 14 has often been wrongly interpreted through inattention to what the verse actually says. If Paul prayed in an actual tongue, his spirit prayed. If his spirit prayed, then he knew what he was praying... But his understanding was unfruitful. Some have said this means he did not understand; but this is transparently wrong. Unfruitful means not bearing fruit. So suppose I pray in the assembly in a language the assembly does not know. I understand myself, but my understanding bears no fruit in the understanding of others.

He will have his private blessings, and shared ones too. All that God gave he would use thankfully, but in the spirit of a sound mind. What he said to God alone, others need not know. What he prayed and sang with others must make sense to himself and to them.

In the assembly the Spirit should control every motion... God's assembly is marked by prayer — the expression of dependence — and singing, which is the outlet of the heart's joy. Some people think it is not spiritual to sing — I do not think they have the Spirit's mind... What a lovely picture of the assembly in action — ministry that profits, and prayer, singing, and worship. That is what God's assembly is put together for: to turn to Him in prayer, song, and worship.

The apostle brings singing forward along with praying and blessing. He does this to show what marks the true working of the Spirit of God in the assembly: the saints joining in together with understanding. Singing in this corporate way is the expression of the hearts of all to God as one. Without a spiritual nature the saints cannot sing to God at all. Without spiritual understanding they cannot sing in communion with one another. So when we are gathered together, let us sing with both the spirit and the understanding also.

But we see also that prayer, singing, blessing, thanksgiving, as well as prophesying, had their full place in the assembly. They are all to edification... Power on its own is not enough, however clearly divine it is. What comes with the understanding, and so speaks to the understanding, carries the greatest weight with the apostle. He counts it as speaking with the Lord's authority. That is as true of prayers and hymns as it is of teaching. The least in the assembly is presumed to go intelligently with the praise or thanksgiving that rises up to God.

Suppose someone has found great joy in a certain hymn. It is a completely false principle for him to think he must at once take it to the assembly and ask everyone there to sing it with him. It is no doubt very natural to assume that what I find to be good, I should ask others to share. But it goes against the truth of 1 Corinthians 14... the hymn should be the expression of the minds and hearts of the saints at that particular time, and this shuts us up to the Spirit of God.

We may sing a hymn of praise tunefully with our lips, but if our spirit is not with it, it is not acceptable worship to God. I must sing with the spirit and with the understanding. My heart must be right before my lips.

1 Cor. 14:16 gives clear proof of what other passages already make plain — that "blessing" means giving thanks. Elsewhere Scripture uses the two words for the same act. (Compare Matthew 14, Matthew 15, Luke 9, John 6) Here it identifies them as one.

idiotes (from idios, 'one's own')... is used of private persons, as distinct from officials or professionals, and so of simple or untaught people. The apostle asks how such a person could say Amen to the giving of thanks by someone speaking in a tongue, when he does not understand what was said (1 Cor. 14:16). In 1 Cor. 14:23-24 Paul classes him with unbelievers.

The striking thing here is the clear recognition of the "unlearned," and his place as a true worshipper in the assembly of God. The apostle's thoughts rest mainly on him. God's assemblies are not set up for the empty display of gift. They are a means of building up His saints together... In a gathering of worshippers, anything the weakest member of Christ's body cannot understand builds nobody up, though it may interest a few.

Some have said this means he did not understand, but that is plainly wrong. Unfruitful means not bearing fruit. Suppose I pray in the assembly in a tongue the assembly does not know. I understand myself, but my understanding bears no fruit in the understanding of others.

So the same principle applies even in prayer and praise. In the assembly all is done for the assembly. The speaker must be either the voice of the assembly to God or the voice of God to the assembly. The assembly as such is always in mind. The gathering is not to be turned into a field for the private exercises of the saints, whatever their character might be. It is solemn to see that even giving thanks well in this way would not justify the thanksgiving. That the gift is from God does not by itself justify using it. Its use at any moment must be governed by the principle running through all this: building others up.

Power is not enough, however clearly divine. What comes with understanding, and so speaks to the understanding, carries the greatest weight with the apostle... Even the least in the assembly is meant to follow, with understanding, the praise or thanksgiving that rises up to God.

So the speaker must carry the assembly with him. They understand and follow what he says. They confirm his words before God and make them their own by saying "Amen" (meaning "So be it") at the end. They cannot say "Amen" with sense or honesty if they have no idea what it was all about.

Note that verse 16 assumes that everyone in the assembly, even the unlearned and the insignificant, does say "Amen." They say it; they do not just think it... If someone praying truly puts our own desires into words, let us confirm what he has said with a good, clear "Amen." If he has not, honesty makes us hold it back.

One may give thanks well, with both he and God understanding what he says, but "the other person is not being built up."

Building others up, then, is the absolute rule for what is said in the assembly. However astonishing the display of divine power in answer to the name of Jesus, if it does not build up, it has no rightful place there. For love builds up, as knowledge puffs up, and power startles or stuns. God is love, so the assembly is the fitting place to exercise love, the energy of His own nature.

Power is not enough, however clearly divine. What is done with the understanding, and so speaks to the understanding, carries the most weight with the apostle, since it speaks with authority for the Lord. This is as true of prayers and hymns as of teaching. Even the least person in the assembly should be able to follow the praise or thanksgiving that rises up to God. To be understood, and so to build others up, is required in the assembly.

You may give thanks ever so well, but there is no edification for the other. So even in prayer and praise the same principle holds. In the assembly everything is done for the assembly. The speaker must be either the voice of the assembly to God, or the voice of God to the assembly. The assembly itself is always in mind. The gathering must not be turned into a mere field for the private exercises of believers, whatever their character may be. Even giving thanks well in this way would not justify the thanksgiving. The fact that the gift is from God does not automatically justify the use of it.

If anyone speaks to God in the assembly, in prayer or in thanksgiving, he must remember one thing. He is voicing the desires or the praises of the assembly. He is not speaking merely on his own behalf. So he must carry the assembly with him. They understand and follow what he says. Then they confirm it before God and make it their own by saying "Amen" (meaning "So be it") at the end. They cannot intelligibly and honestly say "Amen" at the end if they have no idea what it was all about.

If I sing, if I pray, if I speak, what is the good of doing so unless the rest are edified? I once said to a friend of mine, "I never say 'Amen' to your prayers." He looked surprised and asked, "Why?" "Because," I replied, "I never hear what you say. You mumble so much in your prayers that I cannot hear you. And I am not going to say 'Amen' to a random string of words that I do not hear."

He takes great care to show that he did not feel this way out of jealousy. It was not because he had fewer gifts than they had. He had no reason of his own to run down the gifts he was speaking about. In verse 18 he says, "I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you." But what he wanted was edification, that is, the building up of the saints.

The Corinthians had certainly overrated tongues. They lacked spiritual discernment and had prized the gift too highly. So, to avoid seeming to undervalue it, he solemnly thanks God for the fuller display of that same power in his own case. God had chosen him as a messenger to the nations. So besides the mysterious gift of speech no one could understand, he could speak without limit, as his calling required. But in the Church (at Corinth, or anywhere else), he would be heard only in the spoken language of the place.

The tongue here is a real language, as we see in Acts 2:6, but one the speaker did not normally understand. The wonder of the gift was that God gave him the ability to speak his own thoughts in this foreign language, by the power of the Spirit, while he stayed in full control of his words. This had clear value when speaking to a foreigner whose own language it was. In this respect Paul spoke with tongues more than others. But in the assembly, where everyone understood Greek, other tongues were unnecessary.

How beautiful is this self-renunciation in Paul! He had every gift. Yet with a single heart he sought not to display his gifts, but to exalt his Lord and build up the saints... Coming from such a man, these words of the Holy Spirit carry great force: "Let all things be done for building up."

He spoke more foreign languages, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, than they all. But his soul loved the things of God. He loved to receive truth from Him with his mind engaged. He loved fellowship with others where minds truly met. So he would rather say five words with his understanding than ten thousand without it in a language no one knew.

There was the fullest proof in that city that it is no question of power. The Spirit of God worked among those saints openly and powerfully. They spoke with tongues, we are told; but they were worldly. In their ways they were a spectacle of shame, instead of being a practical witness to the grace of the Lord Jesus. Is not this a solemn lesson to us?

All these rules and statements teach us one thing. The churches were allowed to use this gift rather than encouraged to use it (see verse 39). It got in the way of what was really needed, which is building up in love, instead of helping it. Furthermore, tongues were for a sign to unbelievers. Prophesying is for believers.

The great aim of speaking in the assembly is to build people up. That aim is only reached when people understand what is said. It is impossible for a man to build me up if I cannot understand what he says. He must speak in a language I understand, and loudly enough to hear, or I receive nothing that builds me up. This is plain, and worth the serious attention of all who speak in public.

The apostle is careful to show that he had no reason at all to be jealous of others speaking in a tongue. He himself had this gift more than all of them. But in the assembly he would rather speak five words with the understanding than any number in a tongue. He said this because his heart was set on instructing others as well. It is love that should move us, not self-pleasing; and love works with a view to edification.

He wants the mind to be at work. This remark is of the highest importance when we judge men's claims to the Spirit. He does not deny that they might speak with tongues without the mind being in it at all — and that had clear power and use when people were present who understood no other language, or whose own language it was. But in general it was a lower thing when the Spirit did not act on the mind of the speaker, and so work through it. When the speaker did not understand his own words, there was no communion between souls in a common subject through the unity of the Spirit. The one speaking did not himself enjoy, as from God, what he communicated to others.

He desired to speak of things that he intelligently grasped, in such a way that they were thoroughly intelligible to his listeners.

The apostle plainly grieves over the Corinthians because they failed with the gifts of God. They loved to make a display before the world, instead of enjoying God Himself in His word and building up His saints, and that grieved him. So he tries to convince them of their mistake, showing them that tongues are one of the lowest forms of the Spirit's working, and prophesying one of the highest... Refreshment, comfort, the lifting up of the heart — the building up of the saints — should be the one great aim of the Christian teacher. The man who ministers Christ and His work to the soul, out of the fullness of his own heart, is the minister who always builds up and never disappoints.

The use of tongues was tolerated rather than commended, because it was a hindrance rather than a help to the thing that was needed, which is building up in love.

Our only warrant for standing up to speak in the assembly is that the Lord Himself has given us something to say. If it is only "five words," let us say the five and sit down. Nothing is more foolish than for a man to try to speak "ten thousand words" when God has only given him "five."... An earnest heart is better than a clever head. A fervent spirit is better than an eloquent tongue.

It is a waste of time for any of us to go on with what does not profit. You might not be able to say much, but if God's Spirit gives you something to say to His assembly, say it — you have that liberty in God's free church, and the "five words" might help greatly.