1Cor 14:11-12 | KingComments | STEP | . Now Paul will demonstrate by means of some examples what happens when speaking in tongues is not interpreted. He uses a flute, a harp and a bugle as references to make a comparison. First the flute and the harp. Only by the melody you can know which song is piped. When children get hold of a flute, they can blow the same sound/tone for a long time. To their imagination they pipe a song, but they still have to explain to me which song, as I can’t recognize the melody because there was no melody. When they get hold of a guitar they do the same: they just hammer on the strings back and forth, and again I need to ask them what song they were playing if I want to know what they have played. . The second example has to do with war. To be ready to fight in the war, the soldier has to be alert to the sound of the bugle. In former days, when there were no sound amplifiers, broadcasting equipment or the internet, the bugle was used to pass on messages. Each signal that was transmitted through the bugle had a distinctive meaning. In that way there was also a signal for the warriors to prepare themselves for the war. Therefore the man with the bugle had a great responsibility. In the case of war he could not risk blowing just a sigh, or into the air, for that could only result in frowning eyebrows, confusion and irritation, while no one would prepare himself for the war. . This is what happens when someone speaks in tongues. Because no one understands anything of it, it produces no reaction among those present. It is just some words, spoken into the air, and it doesn’t profit anyone. . Try to listen carefully to the sounds in the world around you. In nature each animal has its characteristic sound. We teach children at an early stage: ‘What does a dog say?’ ‘What does a cat say?’ Also the different birds you can distinguish from the way they hum or sing (or whatever they do). If you work in a factory or a working place, you hear other sounds there. Every sound has its own tone. To recognize a sound, you should be accustomed to it. . Paul applies this again to speaking in tongues. You should know the foreign language that is spoken to understand what is said, otherwise you are outside it. You have no part in it, you are strangers to each other. I once was on a Russian ship with some other people to preach the gospel. The captain of the ship translated what we had sung and said, otherwise it was no use for anyone, of course. I do not speak a word of Russian; neither do I understand anything of it. You feel totally incapable to tell those people something and to make anything clear to them. There it was about preaching the gospel to unbelievers. In the church it is about believers and for them it is about receiving edification. Paul doesn’t get tired to repeat again and again what the standard of practicing the gifts is: the edification of the church. Edifying the church is something that happens consciously, with understanding. A person who edifies the church knows what he is doing and can be questioned on that. Other people can judge that ( ). . In pursuing to practice their gift the Corinthians had to remember this well. If someone still necessarily wanted to speak in tongues, he ought to have a prayer in his heart at the same time to be able to interpret what he had said, for only then it profits the church. . Praying in tongues happens without understanding. It happens with the spirit, not with the understanding. He who speaks in tongues doesn’t even know for himself what he is saying. It happens without his understanding. In you read that he who speaks in tongues, speaks in mysteries in the spirit. What he is saying is not verifiable by others. . How should it be? Praying and singing happen with the spirit. It is a spiritual activity in which you address God. It is not something in which your understanding doesn’t partake. When you speak out a prayer or when you sing a song, you also do that with your full understanding. You know what you are saying and you know what you are singing. You are not put at the mercy of a whim or some feeling that suddenly arises. A Christian is someone who acts with his full understanding and with insight. It indeed is a renewed understanding. Formerly your understanding was darkened ( ). You might have been thinking that you understood a lot of things, but you were missing the right conception of things, and you were not able to understand the meaning and purpose of your life and of the things of God and the church. Only after you received the Lord Jesus you could use your understanding rightly ( ; ; ). Your understanding is not the measure of your intelligence. It is your spiritual ability for judgment. Even if you have not been highly educated after worldly measures, you still have the ability to judge everything through the new life and the Holy Spirit Who dwells in you now. To be fully aware of that you ought to have the right mind, which means that your goal is the honor of the Lord Jesus in all things. He who doesn’t use his understanding in what he is saying or doing at the meeting, cannot expect the consent, the ‘amen’, of the others. After all, they do not know what has been said, do they? . This is the case of speaking in tongues whereby the understanding remains unfruitful, thus out of order. It may be quite a good giving of thanks, but no one can understand it and therefore no one can say ‘amen’. Giving thanks should also be for edification. That doesn’t mean that in a thanksgiving all truths of faith should be presented to God that others will notice how much a person knows of the Bible. That also will be a performance, a presenting of oneself. We do not have to tell God how much we know of the Bible. He knows that better than we do. After all He has written the Bible. A good giving of thanks will surely be in accordance with the Bible, but will mainly be a sincere expression of gratitude toward God and the Lord Jesus. Haven’t you ever had such an experience that a thanksgiving of a brother made God and the Lord Jesus grow in your heart? In your heart also the feelings of gratitude arose and you could say heartily ‘amen’. (Just a note in passing: it is a good thing giving thanks loudly and clearly and not too softly. When this giving of thanks is spoken too softly, the other believers might not hear it and neither do they know what has been prayed and they cannot say ‘amen’.) . Paul was grateful to God that he spoke in tongues more than all of them. God gave him this gift for the purpose of his ministry in the gospel to spread the good news in many countries. However, when it is about his ministry in the church, he had only one desire, and that was to instruct others. Just pay attention to how strongly he expresses himself here: rather five words with his understanding than ten thousand words in a tongue. Of course that is by way of comparison. Nevertheless, as you notice here, having a ministry in the church has nothing to do with the length of giving thanks or of a sermon. Do not think that you have first got to know a lot of the Bible and to have developed a large vocabulary before you can express yourself at the meeting. A giving of thanks in just a few phrases from a newly converted person has often been a large contribution to the spiritual growth of a local church. And that is what still matters: the edification of the church. Now read 1 Corinthians 14:7-19 again. Reflection: Why is edification of the church so important?

‏ 1 Corinthians 14:11-12

To Pray and Sing With Understanding

1Cor 14:7. Now Paul will demonstrate by means of some examples what happens when speaking in tongues is not interpreted. He uses a flute, a harp and a bugle as references to make a comparison. First the flute and the harp. Only by the melody you can know which song is piped. When children get hold of a flute, they can blow the same sound/tone for a long time. To their imagination they pipe a song, but they still have to explain to me which song, as I can’t recognize the melody because there was no melody. When they get hold of a guitar they do the same: they just hammer on the strings back and forth, and again I need to ask them what song they were playing if I want to know what they have played.

1Cor 14:8. The second example has to do with war. To be ready to fight in the war, the soldier has to be alert to the sound of the bugle. In former days, when there were no sound amplifiers, broadcasting equipment or the internet, the bugle was used to pass on messages. Each signal that was transmitted through the bugle had a distinctive meaning. In that way there was also a signal for the warriors to prepare themselves for the war. Therefore the man with the bugle had a great responsibility. In the case of war he could not risk blowing just a sigh, or into the air, for that could only result in frowning eyebrows, confusion and irritation, while no one would prepare himself for the war.

1Cor 14:9. This is what happens when someone speaks in tongues. Because no one understands anything of it, it produces no reaction among those present. It is just some words, spoken into the air, and it doesn’t profit anyone.

1Cor 14:10. Try to listen carefully to the sounds in the world around you. In nature each animal has its characteristic sound. We teach children at an early stage: ‘What does a dog say?’ ‘What does a cat say?’ Also the different birds you can distinguish from the way they hum or sing (or whatever they do). If you work in a factory or a working place, you hear other sounds there. Every sound has its own tone. To recognize a sound, you should be accustomed to it.

1Cor 14:11-12. Paul applies this again to speaking in tongues. You should know the foreign language that is spoken to understand what is said, otherwise you are outside it. You have no part in it, you are strangers to each other.

I once was on a Russian ship with some other people to preach the gospel. The captain of the ship translated what we had sung and said, otherwise it was no use for anyone, of course. I do not speak a word of Russian; neither do I understand anything of it. You feel totally incapable to tell those people something and to make anything clear to them. There it was about preaching the gospel to unbelievers. In the church it is about believers and for them it is about receiving edification.

Paul doesn’t get tired to repeat again and again what the standard of practicing the gifts is: the edification of the church. Edifying the church is something that happens consciously, with understanding. A person who edifies the church knows what he is doing and can be questioned on that. Other people can judge that (1Cor 14:29).

1Cor 14:13. In pursuing to practice their gift the Corinthians had to remember this well. If someone still necessarily wanted to speak in tongues, he ought to have a prayer in his heart at the same time to be able to interpret what he had said, for only then it profits the church.

1Cor 14:14. Praying in tongues happens without understanding. It happens with the spirit, not with the understanding. He who speaks in tongues doesn’t even know for himself what he is saying. It happens without his understanding. In 1Cor 14:2 you read that he who speaks in tongues, speaks in mysteries in the spirit. What he is saying is not verifiable by others.

1Cor 14:15-16. How should it be? Praying and singing happen with the spirit. It is a spiritual activity in which you address God. It is not something in which your understanding doesn’t partake. When you speak out a prayer or when you sing a song, you also do that with your full understanding. You know what you are saying and you know what you are singing. You are not put at the mercy of a whim or some feeling that suddenly arises. A Christian is someone who acts with his full understanding and with insight.

It indeed is a renewed understanding. Formerly your understanding was darkened (Eph 4:18). You might have been thinking that you understood a lot of things, but you were missing the right conception of things, and you were not able to understand the meaning and purpose of your life and of the things of God and the church. Only after you received the Lord Jesus you could use your understanding rightly (Mk 5:15; Lk 24:45; 1Jn 5:20).

Your understanding is not the measure of your intelligence. It is your spiritual ability for judgment. Even if you have not been highly educated after worldly measures, you still have the ability to judge everything through the new life and the Holy Spirit Who dwells in you now. To be fully aware of that you ought to have the right mind, which means that your goal is the honor of the Lord Jesus in all things. He who doesn’t use his understanding in what he is saying or doing at the meeting, cannot expect the consent, the ‘amen’, of the others. After all, they do not know what has been said, do they?

1Cor 14:17. This is the case of speaking in tongues whereby the understanding remains unfruitful, thus out of order. It may be quite a good giving of thanks, but no one can understand it and therefore no one can say ‘amen’. Giving thanks should also be for edification. That doesn’t mean that in a thanksgiving all truths of faith should be presented to God that others will notice how much a person knows of the Bible. That also will be a performance, a presenting of oneself. We do not have to tell God how much we know of the Bible. He knows that better than we do. After all He has written the Bible.

A good giving of thanks will surely be in accordance with the Bible, but will mainly be a sincere expression of gratitude toward God and the Lord Jesus. Haven’t you ever had such an experience that a thanksgiving of a brother made God and the Lord Jesus grow in your heart? In your heart also the feelings of gratitude arose and you could say heartily ‘amen’. (Just a note in passing: it is a good thing giving thanks loudly and clearly and not too softly. When this giving of thanks is spoken too softly, the other believers might not hear it and neither do they know what has been prayed and they cannot say ‘amen’.)

1Cor 14:18-19. Paul was grateful to God that he spoke in tongues more than all of them. God gave him this gift for the purpose of his ministry in the gospel to spread the good news in many countries. However, when it is about his ministry in the church, he had only one desire, and that was to instruct others.

Just pay attention to how strongly he expresses himself here: rather five words with his understanding than ten thousand words in a tongue. Of course that is by way of comparison. Nevertheless, as you notice here, having a ministry in the church has nothing to do with the length of giving thanks or of a sermon. Do not think that you have first got to know a lot of the Bible and to have developed a large vocabulary before you can express yourself at the meeting. A giving of thanks in just a few phrases from a newly converted person has often been a large contribution to the spiritual growth of a local church. And that is what still matters: the edification of the church.

Now read 1 Corinthians 14:7-19 again.

Reflection: Why is edification of the church so important?