Paul
the apostle told the church members in Corinth how they, “are
zealous of spiritual gifts”,
and he exhorted them to, “seek
that you may excel to the edifying of the church”,
and in chapter fourteen and verse thirteen
of First Corinthians, Paul told the person who “speaks
in an unknown tongue” to “pray
that he may interpret”, where
we read:
The
verse begins, “Wherefore
let him that speaks in an unknown
tongue ...”. Paul
began with the word, “wherefore”
which is a
conclusion word that means “on which very account” “let
him that speaks”
or “allow and permit the person who utters a voice or emits a sound
or uses words in order to declare their mind and disclose their
thoughts” “in an unknown tongue”
or “in a language or dialect used by a particular people distinct
from that of other nations ”. Paul's challenge is to the person
within the church who “speaks in an
unknown tongue”.
The
verse continues, “... pray
that he may interpret.” Paul
continued with the word, “pray”
which means
“supplicate, worship or make prayer” “that
he may interpret”
which means “unfold the meaning of what is said, explain or expound
it”. Paul exhorted the person who “speaks
in an unknown tongue”
to “supplicate to God” that he might be able to “unfold the
meaning or explain” what he said to the other church members.
When
we meditate upon these words from Paul, we see his conclusion
concerning “speaking in tongues”. If a person has the
“spiritual gift” of “speaking in tongues”, they
are to petition the Lord for the “interpretation” of those
“tongues”. Once again, Jesus desires for His church to be
“edified”, and without the “interpretation” of
the “tongues”, no one knows what is being said. This leads
to “confusion” and does not “build one another other up”. Let
us allow the Holy Spirit to direct us in the “spiritual gift”
of “speaking in tongues”, and should we exercise it,
let us “pray that we may interpret”.
Next
time Paul tells the church members, “if
I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays”,
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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