COVET TO PROPHESY…FORBID NOT…

In these two verses Paul summarises the main teaching of chapter 14. The purpose of all spiritual gifts is the ‘building up’ of the church and they should therefore be exercised in a ‘seemly’ and ‘orderly’ manner, v. 40. Once again, this exhortation is aimed specifically at the practice of speaking in tongues which was evidently causing such confusion in first-century Corinth. Even so, orderliness should characterise all assembly gatherings today.

Verse 39 is a favourite verse with those who claim to have the gift of tongues today and, as such, deserves some consideration. Paul, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, has fully explained what the gift is and why it was originally given to the church. It is the ability to speak intelligently in a human language foreign to the speaker, Acts 2. 5-11, predominantly as a sign to unbelieving Jews, v. 22. He has put strict controls on its use, made very clear its inferiority to prophecy, and indicated that it would cease, 1 Cor. 13. 8. It was not an evidence of spirituality, and, since not every believer had it, nor was it the result of Spirit baptism. When Paul says, ‘forbid not to speak in tongues’, he is indicating that whilst the gift was still in force it would be wrong to forbid its use. This instruction would become irrelevant when tongues and prophecy eventually ceased upon the completion of the canon of scripture. In any case, even in New Testament times, prophecy was the more desirable gift because of its ability to edify, exhort and comfort, v. 3.

From verse 26 Paul has been educating the saints in the need for godly order in assembly gatherings, and, in verses 36-37, he anticipates resistance to his teaching by insisting that ‘the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord’. These words of unambiguous inspiration and divine authority also answer the challenges that face assemblies of God’s people in the twenty-first century. May it be our desire today that, both in doctrine and practice, we stand for the truth of the word of God and avoid being sidetracked either by the pursuit of long-defunct gifts or the maintenance of ‘vain traditions’ which have no scriptural basis.