The Gift of Prophecy

by John Edwards 

When I was a young child, a lady whom we called auntie Marjorie taught us a few flannelgraph Bible stories. Do you remember those?

In one of those sessions, she described some Bible-character as a 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘵, as she stuck his flannel figure on the board.

"What is a prophet?" I asked.

"A prophet is someone who God speaks to," was her answer.

To have 𝘎𝘰𝘥 Himself speak to you, I imagined. 𝘞𝘰𝘸 - 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦! (I shan't describe here all that was going on in my spirit.)

"When I grow up, I want to be a prophet," I said.

𝘗𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 wasn't only an Old Testament thing: it is something that belongs to us in these New Testament times too, only more so!

𝐉𝐎𝐄𝐋 𝟐:𝟐𝟖,𝟐𝟗

𝟐𝟖 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐡; 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬:

𝟐𝟗 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐈 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭.

Even children shall prophesy. Old men shall dream dreams. Young men shall see visions. Men and women. All flesh. I think you’re included in there somewhere! We all are.

𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒 𝟐:𝟑𝟗

𝟑𝟗 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐟𝐟, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥.

The promise of the Spirit began to be available on the Day of Pentecost, and signs and wonders and all this shall continue to be available all the way up until the Day of the Lord, Peter said in Acts 2.

The 𝘨𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘺 is therefore something we can receive and see expressed in our church meetings.

Prophesying is something distinct from ordinary sharing and preaching: it involves specific inspiration and sometimes revelation too, often in the moment.

It's listed among nine gifts which the Holy Spirit gives for church meetings:

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟐:𝟕,𝟖,𝟏𝟎

𝟕 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐥.

𝟖 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭...

𝟏𝟎 ... 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐲...

Prophesying is something we can 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘳𝘦 to do in our meetings:

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟒:𝟏

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

It's commendable to be 𝘻𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 about it:

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

You may 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘵 it:

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟒:𝟑𝟗

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

Three benefits to a congregation of prophesying include: 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘦𝘹𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵.

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟒:𝟑

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

It also achieves 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨:

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟒:𝟑𝟏

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

Prophesying is one of the ways we can minister vocally in a meeting:

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟒:𝟏𝟔

𝟏𝟔 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?

Prophesying can especially make a profound impact on a visitor in a meeting:

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟒:𝟐𝟒,𝟐𝟓

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.

Prophesying is meant for a church's 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 gathering too, not only relegated to smaller meetings:

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟒:𝟐𝟑,𝟐𝟒

𝟐𝟑 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞...

𝟐𝟒 ...[and] 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐲...

It's a gift we may all have:

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟒:𝟑𝟏

𝟑𝟏 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞...

It's one way we can all contribute:

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟒:𝟐𝟔

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.

We ought to be careful not to quench the Spirit. Prophesying is an expression of the Spirit which we must not despise:

𝐈 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟓:𝟏𝟗,𝟐𝟎

𝟏𝟗 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭.

𝟐𝟎 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬.

Our meetings need not be lacking in this particular gift:

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏:𝟕

𝐒𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐟𝐭; 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭:

It is possible for someone to conduct himself in a less-than-ideal way though despite having spiritual gifs. I think this is a big reason why many contemporary churches have by-and-large screened-out the move of the Spirit from their main services. Which is a pity, because the answer of course is not to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

Paul never denied the legitimacy of the Corinthians' gifts; and he never wanted their main church gatherings to ever stop being full of the manifestation of the Spirit: he only addressed how they could be more 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 and 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 about it all. That's the way to go, don’t you reckon!

Holy Ghost meetings can and must always be 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, Paul said:

𝐈 𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝟏𝟒:𝟐𝟔

𝟐𝟔 ...𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠.

The privilege of prophesying oughtn't ever to be hogged by one person:

𝟑𝟏 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐲...

They were to politely give others their chance to prophesy also:

𝟑𝟏 ...𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞...

Without speaking over the top of each other:

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

And no prophecy was above judgment:

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

They were to maintain basic 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨, basic 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺, in the way they conducted themselves in their meetings:

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

This next verse contains sense so common even an unbeliever knew it, it wasn't even spiritual advice:

𝟐𝟑 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬 [addressing the congregation, without an interpreter], 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝?

Spiritual gifts don't take away self control:

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

The main issue at Corinth and everywhere is, being a Holy Spirt church didn't mean there should be confusion or division:

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

Societal institutions, norms and manners can always be upheld, while expressing gifts (see verses 34,35). Being spiritual doesn't involve throwing all that out:

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.

But reacting the opposite way and throwing the move of the Spirit out altogether isn't the way to go either. We ought always to be Spirit-filled and always to have Spirit-filled meetings, while always staying considerate. All of that is the commandment of the Lord!

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

𝟒𝟎 𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫.

𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘦, and 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 didn't mean however that there couldn't also be meetings where the Spirit falls on everyone at once and everyone prophesies or speaks in tongues or are filled with joy (like in Acts 2, Cornelius' household, as at Ephesus, and when the 70 prophesied without stopping in the Old Testament). In that type of meeting, no-one is addressing the congregation per se, so it doesn’t demand the same protocols.

Let’s “Stir up the gift that is in” us, as Paul said.