A Walk Through I Corinthians 14

 

𝟏 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐲.

Notice it says, that with love as the motivation it's okay to desire spiritual gifts—to desire the things of the Holy Spirit.

Ever since I was a kid, I've always desired to be in meetings where not only was the Word of God spoken but the Spirit was also in manifestation.

I can remember kneeling by my bed many times as a young teenager, and telling God, "When I grow up I want to have a supernatural ministry, not a natural one!"

You can experience the Holy Spirit working through you—we can be a church marked by the manifest presence of God—and it can all start with desire.

Perhaps you sometimes think in yourself, "The Spirit will show-up for someone else, but not for me".

But God will do for 'whosoever', 'whatsoever' he desires, asks and speaks, when he believes that what he says will happen.

So simply make room for it deliberately, in your meetings, and you will find that He will do it—God will give you the desires of your heart!

Notice also, that the word 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘴 is in italics (in King James Bibles)—that indicates that the word wasn't in the original Greek.

It's the same as in chapter 12 verse one, where Paul said:

"Now concerning spiritual 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘴, brethren, I would not have you ignorant".

Inserting the word 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘴 was probably a suitable option for the translators, because just saying "Now concerning spirituals, brethren..." or something like that, would sound a bit awkward in English.

One modern version puts it this way: "But about spiritual things..."

And another version says:

"Now concerning what comes from the Spirit..."

So, these chapters were speaking not just about what we call the nine 'gifts' of the Spirit, but about matters to do with the Holy Spirit broadly speaking.

Concerning such matters—things to do with the Holy Spirit, etc—Paul said: "...I would not have you ignorant".

And God doesn't want us ignorant about Holy Spirit matters either!

You know, it's possible to be a Christian and yet be ignorant about the things of the Spirit.

But what's worse, is when someone thinks he knows about it but what he thinks he knows about it isn't the full story or it's even wrong!

We don't want to be ignorant about this! Like the Corinthians, we want to come behind in no gift.

So let's notice what Paul had to say about it all.

𝟐 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝: 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦; 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬.

Notice Paul said that someone who speaks in tongues isn't speaking to men, but to God, because no-one understands him.

Speaking to God—in other words, prayer: you can pray in tongues.

Over the years I've had some people tell me instead that the purpose for speaking with tongues was really only so early Jewish believers could instantly understand foreign languages so they could preach the gospel to the nations.

Certainly, on the day of Pentecost when 120 people were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke with other tongues, a multitude from every nation under heaven heard them in their own languages.

(I've seen the same thing happen. In one place many were filled with the Spirit and spoke in tongues—and one teenager was so full of the Spirit that when she went to her State high school, she was still speaking in tongues in the classroom! And her teacher said she recognised the language.

The teacher was so amazed, she asked the girl to explain her experience; and she watched as the student laid her hands on all her classmates, and every one of them fell to the floor under the power of God, and got up in tears either speaking in tongues, prophesying, or asking, "What have I got to do to be saved?" I saw it with my own eyes.

Another time someone spoke in tongues, and a visitor from Hong Kong said she heard a remote Chinese dialect which she understood. To say it made a tremendous impact would be an understatement.

So, we can and should expect to see this, on occasion, too!)

However, if we say that the purpose for tongues was to preach the gospel, we’d be making those 120 people the worst preachers in the Bible! Because, after the multitude heard them, it says they were left confounded, in doubt and asking one another, “What does this mean?” (see Acts chapter 2).

No, Peter still had to stand up and preach the gospel. It was only once the multitude heard Peter preach, that they were able to respond. Hearing the 120 speaking in their languages didn’t quite do it.

The multitude heard them talking about the wonderful works of God, in their languages—but it was those who accepted what Peter said when he preached, who believed and were baptised. And there were 3,000 of them!

So, in Acts 2, tongues and preaching served two distinct functions with two distinct effects. Tongues wasn't for preaching.

It was the same when the Spirit later fell on Cornelius' household (while Peter was still speaking, mind you!). The Spirit fell on them, and Peter and company heard them all speaking with tongues, and magnifying God.

But notice the tongues wasn't the preaching—Peter had already preached—the speaking in tongues was done next, by those who had been preached to! So again, the purpose of tongues wasn't for preaching per se.

And now here in Corinthians, Paul explains, "...for no man understandeth him".

It evidently wasn’t always the case then even in Bible-times, that whenever someone spoke in tongues the audience always heard their own languages.

In fact, in the meetings at Corinth, it seems tongues usually were not understood. Otherwise—think about it: the gift known as the interpretation of tongues would never have been needed!

If tongues were always understood, then the very scenario Paul addresses in this chapter could never have arisen in the first place; and the advice Paul proceeds to give in this chapter wouldn’t have made sense—in fact, it would have been flat wrong.

So, tongues were often not understood, and therefore they were speaking to God, not to men—that is, praying. You can pray in tongues.

As you pray in tongues, you're praying-out mysteries, it says—that means you're praying with the added advantage of things which the Spirit of God knows that you don't know: and the Spirit of God knows everything God knows.

I remember some years ago when I was staying in Toowoomba in a house with some students, one weekend they each left town and I was left alone in the house. So one evening I decided to spend time praying in the lounge room. I didn't even turn the lights on: I just prayed out loud in tongues.

After a few minutes I began to have a sense of urgency in my tone even though I had no idea what I was praying about. I found myself pacing the floor, battling in the spirit, in prayer.

I wondered who or what I was praying about: and straightaway the wife of a very good friend of mine came to mind.

Then after about half an hour the burden lifted, and I stopped praying.

Not too many days later I happened to be speaking to my friend on the phone:

"A few days ago I was praying in tongues, I had a feeling of urgency, and your wife came to mind—was everything okay with your wife?” I asked.

"When was that?" he replied.

So I told him the day and time.

Then he told me that that very night his wife suffered a complication with her pregnancy.

“I had to rush her to hospital, at that exact time!” he told me.

My friend’s precious wife’s need was unknown to me, but known to the Lord.

You can make yourself available to the Spirit for Him to give you utterance to pray for things you don't know about but He knows.

That's a great weapon to have in prayer, isn't it!

𝟑 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭.

𝟒 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟; 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡.

Speaking in tongues edifies you.

If ever your heart and mind are too overwhelmed to even know what to pray for, in such moments you can always speak in tongues.

Often it only takes a few sentences in tongues before you begin to feel something virtuous well-up deep inside. It restores your soul—let's you know again that everything is okay.

You might even begin to laugh! That's your spirit being built-up, your soul being restored, by speaking in tongues.

Thank God for speaking in tongues!

𝟓 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐝: 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬, 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Paul wanted everyone to speak with tongues, because of its benefits.

One of the best pieces of advice I feel I could ever give anyone is: spend time speaking in tongues. Because the benefits are invaluable! Speaking in tongues edifies you.

Now notice Paul said that someone who speaks in tongues can also interpret.

We can experience the interpretation of tongues: this is another operation of the Spirit about which we need not be ignorant.

𝟔 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?

A lot of modern meetings tend to major on what we call the sermon, don't they—but Paul mentions tongues and interpretation as another tremendously helpful way of speaking in a meeting (along with revelation, knowledge, prophesying and doctrine).

One time I was invited to speak at a church on the Gold Coast; and as soon as I stood to the pulpit, I felt inspired to speak in tongues. I kept going, and everyone sat there looking at me.

After some time I felt I better stop and let something come which the congregation could actually understand. Straightaway I felt inspired with a message for the congregation. It wasn’t anything I’d premeditated. I just carried on speaking out of the inspiration of the moment.

After the meeting one of the church-elders remarked, “That was exactly what we needed to hear!”

I laid hands on a number of them, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit. One dear lady was observably filled with joy.

“I haven’t experienced that for a long time,” she said.

Smith Wigglesworth reportedly often spoke with tongues spontaneously during his preaching, intermittently with interpretation. It brought a whole 'nother dimension into his content, and no doubt helped set the stage for other things which the Spirit wanted to do next in the meetings

Next, we have some verses which illustrate the value of interpreting tongues.

Then let's scroll down to verse 12.

𝟕 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐢𝐩𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩, 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐝?

𝟖 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞?

𝟗 𝐒𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐞, 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐲𝐞 𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧? 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫.

𝟏𝟎 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝟏𝟏 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞, 𝐈 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞.

𝟏𝟐 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐞, 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐳𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐬, 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡.

It's okay to be zealous for the things of the Spirit to be expressed—because it can truly edify the church.

When the Holy Spirit is in manifestation in a meeting, it is Jesus at work in the meeting—and no-one ministers to the needs of people quite like Jesus!

Love therefore compels us. The church is edified when a meeting is a Holy Ghost meeting.

𝟏𝟑 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭.

If you speak in tongues, you can also pray that you may interpret.

You can. You can ask for the gift of the interpretation of tongues.

That's exciting, if you ask me!

𝟏𝟒 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞, 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐭𝐡, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥.

This is another proof-text that the gift of tongues didn't mean acquiring the intellectual capability of preaching in a new language—your understanding is unfruitful, it says.

You don't understand what you're saying, when you speak in tongues—usually no-one does—it is your spirit praying, as the Spirit gives you utterance.

𝟏𝟓 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧? 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨: 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨.

So, there are two ways we can pray: (1) We can pray with our spirit, that is, in tongues; and (2) We can pray with our understanding—and notice, you can do so whenever you wish.

Some people have told me over the years that they can only speak in tongues when the Holy Spirit especially inspires them to. But notice it says, “I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also…”

The words I will indicate volition. That means you can decide whether you’ll pray in tongues or whether you’ll pray with your understanding.

Once you've initially spoken in tongues, you can keep speaking with tongues as often as you like after that!

You can also sing with your spirit, that is, in tongues–just like we sing with our understanding—you decide when.

If that wasn’t the case—if it wasn't up to us—Paul could not have made the Corinthians responsible for when and how they spoke with tongues, could he.

If it's only the Holy Spirit who sovereignly decides, then everyone at Corinth could only ever have behaved entirely appropriately with the gifts. But instead Paul needed to give them some guidelines about it.

Consider what an enormous privilege this is: that we can choose to speak, pray or sing in tongues with utterance given to us by the Spirit of God Himself, with the whole advantage of all of His knowledge, as often as we will.

𝟏𝟔 𝐄𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐭 𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐀𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬, 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐬𝐭?

Bless with the spirit—that's another function of speaking in tongues: we can bless people, situations, a meeting—by speaking in tongues.

𝟏𝟕 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐞𝐝.

We can also give thanks, in tongues.

Notice there are a lot of functions of speaking with tongues mentioned in this chapter which don't have anything to do with preaching as such. They each assume that that the tongue was not understood.

Notice also that Paul never said the Corinthians’ tongues were illegitimate even though no-one understood them.

“Thou verily givest thanks well,” Paul said—nothing wrong with unknown tongues in and of themselves: Paul was just pointing-out how beneficial it can can be when it's also interpreted.

𝟏𝟖 𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐦𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐈 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐲𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥:

More than ye all. I don't know whether we've realised what a massive part of Paul's life tongues was!

I know an evangelist who regularly expressed the Holy Spirit powerfully with words of knowledge, healings, miracles and casting out demons—he recommended speaking in tongues an hour a day.

Brother Hagin also said that when he was a young boy-preacher, he often went out into a hay barn and spent time praying in tongues.

One day while praying he felt God tell him that when he'd reach his 60s, a major thrust of his ministry would be the printed page.

And it came to pass: by the time brother Hagin was in his 60s his ministry published a monthly magazine, a daily devotional, and over a hundred books with millions of copies in multiple languages. His books helped lay a foundation in ministers all over the world.

Brother Hagin said later in his career that most of the blessings in his life and ministry could be attributed to two things: acting on the Word; and praying in other tongues.

By praying in tongues, we can set-up our day with Divine appointments. You can pray your destiny into being, years in advance—by praying in tongues.

A good habit to get into might be to begin praying in tongues whenever you get into a car by yourself; or while you're out for a walk; or even silently, lying in bed.

Time spent praying in tongues is never wasted time!

Now, Paul addresses a matter which I think still causes many contemporary Charismatic/Pentecostal ministers to swing one way or the other, in regard to Holy Ghost meetings.

I've seen many ministers feeling conflicted between whether to abandon themselves fully to having Holy Spirit meetings, or instead reining it in, going with a run-sheet, and screening-out manifestations from the main meetings, all for the sake of visitors. Understandable, perhaps—but a great pity too, I think.

It's as if they felt they had to choose between two important sets of values instead of holding the two together. It's possible to have meetings where you always let the Holy Spirit move as He wills, that are also thoroughly edifying and 'normal', if I can use that word—at the same time. It's not a one-or-the-other proposition, as Paul proceeds to show.

𝟏𝟗 𝐘𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐦𝐲 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐈 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞.

For all our moving in the Spirit, people still need to get something out of it that they can understand. That wasn't spiritual advice, it was just practical common sense. We don't have to sacrifice common sense for the sake of expressing spiritual gifts.

𝟐𝟎 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐧, 𝐛𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞 𝐲𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐧.

You'll never have to abandon basic maturity, in your pursuit of excelling at letting the Spirit have His way in the church. Holy Spirit meetings can be conducted in a way that shows rich understanding. It doesn't have to be one-or-the-other.

𝟐𝟏 𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧, 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐞, 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.

𝟐𝟐 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭: 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞.

𝟐𝟑 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝?

It sounds like individuals in the church at Corinth were jostling for their chance to stand up in the meetings, hold the floor, expecting the whole audience's undivided attention, and address everyone at length in languages no-one understood, without giving others much of a chance, not even caring that no-one understood them, not thinking of whether anyone was getting anything out of it, but just putting their own giftedness on display. Any reasonable person would know that lacked common sense and maturity. That wouldn’t even have been a spiritual judgment: it's just normal.

In order to excel at spiritual gifts, you won't have to sacrifice 'normal'. You can and should still have normal manners, politeness, maturity and considerateness.

𝟐𝟒 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨𝐭, 𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐥𝐥:

𝟐𝟓 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡.

These verse show how profoundly a visitor can be impacted by the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in a meeting. The manifestation of the Spirit is for visitors too: we're not meant to shield visitors from it. There is no better soul-winner than the Holy Spirit. Imagine wanting to shield visitors from the Holy Spirit!

𝟐𝟔 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐧? 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐩𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦, 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞, 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞, 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠.

Everyone can contribute something from the Spirit, in a meeting. In doing so, you don't have to lose the goal that everyone, including a visitor, benefits from it in a very real way.

𝟐𝟕 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.

𝟐𝟖 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝.

Two or three people addressing a congregation in languages no-one understood, was probably enough before someone with the gift of interpretation should be given the chance to speak, don't you think? Just common sense.

Paul didn't mean though, that there couldn't be meetings where the Spirit falls and everyone gets filled with the Spirit and filled with joy and everyone speaks with tongues at once. Because that's exactly what happaned at Jerusalem, and among Cornelius' household, and at Ephesus!

Paul's advice here didn't contradict that. In those instances no-one was impolitely jostling to address the whole crowd in tongues. Unbelievers could readily see that something wonderful and profound was happening, even if they didn't quite know what yet; and many even came to the Lord as a result—thousands of them, at Jerusalem.

So it was entirely okay to have meetings where the Spirit moved and everyone was touched by the Lord at once. But at Corinth, when individuals were seemingly wanting to directly addressing the congregation as a whole, they needed reminding that the goal of such activities is that others get something out of it, not just that you show-off your giftedness.

When addressing a congregation, whether in tongues, interpretation, prophecy, knowledge, doctrine, revelation, or song, you can do so with common sense, politeness, restraint, maturity, manners and even still comply with certain societal institutions and accepted standards and protocols. The two values—of allowing the move of the Spirit, and of common manners —can and should be held together. They're not incompatible with each other.

Holy Ghost meetings can and should be profoundly full of wisdom, knowledge, edification, exhortation, comfort, learning, revelation, doctrine, tongues, interpretation, prophesying, healing, miracles, deliverance, discerning of spirits, faith, song—and organisation, decency, politeness, considerateness, orderliness, selflessness, honour, self-restraint when appropriate, and charity.

I've been in meetings where everyone was filled and ended-up on the floor speaking in tongues. That's entirely Biblical. Then one person stood up from among them, held the floor, and addressed the congregation in tongues; another person also stood, and interpreted: the person who spoke in tongues politiely let her interpret— and then she resumed speaking in tongues, and the cycle repeated. That exactly complied with the sort of thing Paul wanted at Corinth when people were addressing the congregation. But when no-one's addressing the congregation as such, then it doesn't breach common manners even if everyone is getting filled at once.

If there's no-one present with the gift of interpretation, Paul advised to refrain from addressing the congregation in the tongue and to instead pray privately to God in the tongue. That means the tongues were legitimate, even though no-one understood them! Otherwise Paul wouldn't have told them to pray in such tongues. Praying in tongues is a valid function of the gift of tongues.

𝟐𝟗 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞.

𝟑𝟎 𝐈𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐛𝐲, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞.

𝟑𝟏 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝.

𝟑𝟐 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐛𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭𝐬.

One by one. This advice didn't mean there couldn't be times when the congregation as a whole were receiving from God visibly and audibly at the same time. It was about taking your turn politely when addressing a congregation.

When we've received something from God, we can still control how we express that to the congregation.

It's okay to comply with protocols of expediency, decency and orderliness, and even to wait until another time to share wt God's giving us, if necessary.

Even secular events have to run that way. But a meeting-wide outpouring of the Spirit, when all are touched but no-one is addressing the congregation as such as a whole doesn't conflict with that normal sense of values in the community.

𝟑𝟑 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬.

𝟑𝟒 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬: 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤; 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐰.

𝟑𝟓 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞: 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡.

When we address a congregation, we needn't ever breach acceptable community ways of doing things in the way we are considerate of others, charitable and desire for others to benefit. Being a Holy Spirit church fits nicely. Having meetings when everyone is in the Spirit together, doesn't in and of itself breach those values.

𝟑𝟔 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭? 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲?

𝟑𝟕 𝐈𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭, 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝.

𝟑𝟖 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭.

𝟑𝟗 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐧, 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬.

So don't stop coveting the things of the Spirit.

It's never a solution to prohibit the move of the Spirit from our main meetings.

The visible and audible move and manifestation of the Spirit doesn't in and of itself breach common manners. But if individuals are breaching common manners, deal with that—but don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Remain committed to being a Holy Ghost church.

𝟒𝟎 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫.

Perhaps we could illustrate it this way:

During a game at Suncorpe stadium, it isn't considered indecent and disorderly when the home-team scores a tryl and most of the crowd errupts in adulation, even in multiple languages, at the same time. Society is okay with that.

But during the formalities after the game, imagine if the announcer spoke in a language no-one understood; and at the same time other individual officials jostled, pushing one another aside from the stage, wanting to address the crowd on the mic in their own languages if no-one understood. The crowd would think the organisers had lost it.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, I recommit to hungering after the manifestation of your Spirit, in my life and in our church.

Thank you that we don't have to choose between being a Holy Spirit church, or being sensible and helpful.

The two work best together.

Amen.