Cor14:1Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.
the already written word = prophesy
for a thing to be prophesy to someone, the thing must be understood
2For 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.
by example
if a greek man speaks the gospel in greek to an englishman who does not understand greek
then he'd be preaching to only God
even tho the greek man is in the Spirit and speaking about God
his words are a mystery to the englishman
instead of edifying the englishman in the Lord, his words would be unintelligible babble
only God would understand the greek man, instead of the englishman, and the point was to edify the englishman.
it is a negative not a positive
if that tongue is understood, whether by birth/learned/translater/supernatural,
then those words become prophesy
3But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.
the positive above
4He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.
the negative first
if the tongue you speak is unknown to the audience, then you'r only speaking to yourself (as in verse 2, to God only, or verse 9, to the air)
the positive after
if that tongue is understood then your words edify the church
5I 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.
if we all spoke all tongue of man, then that would be great
but we dont so those words need to be interpreted to the audience so that those words can become prophesy to them
so the audience can be edified
6Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you,
that's the negative
if Paul spoke in Hebrew, to those in Rome, what profit is there?
except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?
that is the positive
the words must be understood to be revelation / knowledge and become doctrine to those in attendance
his words must be understood to be of any value
7And 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?
a negative
8For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?
9So 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.
explained much the same way as i explained it above
this a repeated pattern, over and over again
speak into the air is like verse2's speak unto God...a bad thing if you were supposed to edify the audience.
10There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification.
11Therefore 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.
again
if we speak and hear babble, then it will sound like babble
this refers to gentile tongues/languages.
speak greek to an englishman and the englishman here's barbarian speech
much the same way when charismatic tongues are spoken, we all hear barbarian speech
12Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.
by them understanding your words
remember that this is a multi-lingual gentile nation, and their only church for hundreds of square miles.
folks gathered there to share scriptures and the gospel and to praise God
it evidently was mass confusion because there was no order
ie. the greek man preaching in greek, to a crowd filled with a multitude of people
all speaking different tongues/languages/dialects.
people talking over one another etc
probably 10 sermons going on all at once...wow what a headache
confusion
13Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.
that he(his greek words) may be interpreted by another in attendance
someone who is a believer, that also who speaks one or more of the crowds tongue/language
having an orderly way to spread the Good News is paramount
14For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.
if I pray out loud, to an audience in my ie. native greek language
and that audience doesn't understand greek
then even tho i am in the Spirit, even speaking the Gospel
the fruit i am trying to produce is unfruitfull to the audience
15What 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.
can't be more plain
pray with the Spirit AND understanding
16Else 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?
we have to understand the words to have the desired response to them
17For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.
you speaking greek to a culturally diverse audience, you might give thanks to God well,
but the audience would'nt know it
18I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:
Paul spoke many languages that we know of
He was a Roman citizen, Hebrew, tribe of Ben, house of Judah
God chose him to travel around for the gentiles
he was a linguist
and his speaking multiple tongues/languages was a reason why he was chosen
19Yet 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.
even though he speaks many different languages
speaking 1000's of words in greek to an english audience, would accomplish nothing
he'd rather speak 5 words that they'd understand than 1000 that they don't
it is paramount that the audience understand his (our) words so they can come to God.
