As
Paul the apostle continued to share with the church members in
Corinth about “spiritual gifts”,
he declared, “he
that prophesies speaks unto men to
edification, and exhortation, and comfort”,
and in chapter fourteen and verse four of
First Corinthians, Paul told the Corinthian church members, “he
that speaks in an unknown
tongue edifies himself”,
where we read:
The
verse begins, “He
that speaks in an unknown
tongue edifies himself;”. Paul
began with the words, “he that
speaks” or
“the person who utters, emits or articulates a sound to declare or
disclose one's mind or thoughts” “in
an unknown tongue””
or “in the language or dialect used by a particular people distinct
from that of other nations” “edifies”
or “builds up or promotes growth in Christian wisdom, piety,
happiness and holiness toward”
“himself”
which means “to the person themselves”. Paul stated “speaking
in an unknown tongue”
“builds up himself”.
The
verse goes on to say, “but
he that prophesies edifies the church.”
Paul
continued with the word, “but”
which is a
disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be written
takes precedence over what was just stated “he
that prophesies”
or “the person who speaks forth by divine inspirations and predicts
with the idea of foretelling future events pertaining especially to
the kingdom of God, utters forth and declares a thing which can only
be known by divine revelation and breaks forth under sudden impulse
in loft discourse or praise of divine counsels to teach, refute,
reprove, admonish and comfort others” “edifies”
which means “builds up or promotes growth in Christian wisdom,
piety, happiness and holiness toward” “the
church” or
“the company of Christians hoping for eternal salvation through
Jesus Christ who observe their own religious rites, hold their own
religious meetings, and manage their own affairs according to
regulations prescribed for the body for order's sake”. Paul
declared “prophesy” to “build up” the church in it's
entirety.
When
we meditate upon these words from Paul, we understand there is an
advantage personally to the person who “speaks in an unknown
tongue”. “Speaking to God” in an unlearned and “unknown”
language builds up the person who uses this “spiritual gift”,
and still, Paul shared how “prophesying” benefits and
“builds up” the church as a whole. Both of these “gifts”
are important in the church, and we are to realize the benefits of
God's vocal “spiritual gifts”.
Next
time Paul tells the church members, “I
would that you all spake with tongues, but rather that you
prophesied:”,
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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