Coming with Tongues without Profit 1 Corinthians 14:6

Paul the apostle told the church members in Corinth, “I would that you all spake with tongues, but rather that you prophesied”, and in chapter fourteen and verse six of First Corinthians, Paul told the Corinthian church members, “if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you”, where we read:

Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?

The verse begins, “Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you,...”. Paul began with the word, “now” or “at this very moment”, “brethren” or “fellow believers who are united to another by the bond of affection”, “if I come” which means “in case and whether Paul appeared” “unto you” or “before the church members” “speaking” which means “uttering a voice or emitting a sound in order to declare one's mind and disclose one's thought” “with tongues” or “the language or dialect used by a particular people distinct from that of other nations”, “what” or “where or how” “shall I profit you” which means “will Paul assist, be useful to or benefit the church members”. Paul asked, “what” “benefit” would it be to the church members if he came “speaking” to them in a language they did not understand.

The verse continues, “...except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?” Paul added the word, “except” which means “if not or unless” “I shall speak” or “Paul will utter a voice or emit a sound in order to declare his mind and disclose his thought” “either” which is a disjunctive comparative that means “rather, save that or except it be” “by revelation” or “through or with laying bare, disclosure of truth, instruction, manifestation or appearance”, “or by knowledge” which refers to “through or with general intelligence, understanding and a deeper and more perfect and enlarged knowledge of this religion such as belongs to the more advanced”, “or by prophesy” which means “through or with a discourse emanating from divine inspiration and declaring the purposes of God whether by reproving and admonishing the wicked, comforting the afflicted or revealing things hidden” “or by doctrine” or “through or with teaching and instruction”. Paul knew “speaking in tongues” without any interpretation would not be of any benefit to the church members as a whole, and if he “manifested and disclosed truth, gave a deeper more perfect enlarged knowledge of Christianity, declared the purposes of God by reproving or admonishing and taught them”, it would benefit them.

When we consider these words from Paul, we see how he does not eliminate “speaking in tongues”, but qualifies the proper use of it when it is offered in the church. There was no advantage or benefit to the church as a whole for Paul or anyone else to “speak in tongues” unless there was an interpretation, and the better “gifts” would be “revelation, knowledge, prophesy or doctrine”. The Corinthian church members were employing these “spiritual gifts” in a manner that needed to be addressed by Paul, and as he guides them toward the proper use of these vocal “gifts”, may the Lord Jesus, who through the Holy Spirit who desires to use them to “edify” His church, also guide us into the truth concerning them.

Next time Paul makes comments to the church members about, “things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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