Paul
the apostle told the church members in Corinth, “if
any man speak in an unknown
tongue, let it be
by two, or at the most by
three, and that
by course; and let one interpret”,
and in chapter fourteen and verse
twenty-eight of First Corinthians, Paul declared, “if
there be no interpreter, let him keep silence”,
where we read:
But if
there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church;
and
let him speak to himself, and to God.
The
verse begins, “But
if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; ”.
Paul began
with the word, “But” which
is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be
written takes precedence over what was just stated “if
there be”
which means “whether there is present” “no
interpreter”
which refers to “an explainer”, “let
him keep silence”
which means “hold one's peace and be concealed” “in
the church”
or “within the assembly of Christians gathered for worship in a
religious meeting”. Paul exhorted the church members who spoke with
the spiritual “gift of tongues”
to “keep silent”
if there was no one there who could “interpret”
what was spoken.
The
verse goes on to say, “and
let him speak to himself, and to God.”
Paul
continued with the words, “and let
him” which
means “and allow or permit him” “speak”
or “utter a voice, emit or articulate a sound” “to
himself”
which means “to the person's own self”, “and
to God”
which refers to “the Godhead bodily and trinity which is comprised
of God the Father, Christ the Son and the Holy Spirit”. Rather than
“speak in tongues”,
if there was not an “interpreter”
in the church, the person who “spoke
in tongues”
was to speak to themselves and “to
God”.
When
we meditate upon these words from Paul, we see another measure of
order concerning the “vocal spiritual gifts” within the
church. If a person within the church was blessed with “speaking
in tongues”, they were to recognize whether an “interpreter”
was present. If “no interpreter” was in the place, they
were to “keep silent”, “speak to themselves and to
God”. Once again, the edification of Jesus' church is the
intended outcome, and when the church members followed Paul's
instructions, they would enjoy the “edification” that Jesus
intends.
Next
time Paul tells
the church members,
“let the prophets speak two
or three, and let the other judge”,
so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.
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