I Corinthians 14:13  Wherefore let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.
14  For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.
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.
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?
17  For thou verily givest thanks well, but the other is not edified.
18  I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all:
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.

God says there is a place for someone with an unknown tongue to speak in a church meeting. There may be a visiting speaker who is called to preach. He may not speak the language of the local church. He will need to have an interpreter. It might be someone from another area that has a particular message that another local church needs to hear.
The important fact here is to get away from that heretical idea that the “unknown” tongue must be some babble. Some years back I was serving as a summer student pastor in a Metis community. A member of the church there knew people on a nearby reserve. On a particular day he wanted me to attend a funeral of a friend of his at this particular reserve. We arrived in good time and sat down in the building where the funeral would be held. The building was full, but nothing was happening. I did not know what the delay was. After some time, one of the people in charge of the service, called out to my friend in Cree and asked if I would open the service in prayer. I found out the reason he had asked me to open the meeting in prayer is because I was the only person there with a tie on. He assumed I might know how to pray. After the prayer, things got quiet again. There was nothing taking place. Again the man at the front called out to my friend and asked if I would give a funeral message. He spoke in Cree again and told my friend that the minister that was supposed to preach did not show up. I agreed to preach a message.
I had not come there to preach. I did not know the man that had died. I did not know the Cree language. I went up front and as I was going, I asked God to give me a text. He gave me John 11:17-27. The man who had asked me to preach was the interpreter. Most of the people attending that funeral did not know much English. My message would not have been very effective without an interpreter. God gave me the opportunity to preach a Gospel message to that group of people. One of the important facts to remember is that at a funeral there is no point in preaching to the dead person. There is no point in exalting the dead person. The people who attend a funeral need to hear the Gospel. There will be lost people at just about any funeral. The saved also need words of comfort and encouragement. I spoke in an unknown tongue to most of those people. However, I trusted that the interpreter translated the message accurately.
In verse 14, the same is true with a prayer in an unknown tongue. The Holy Spirit understands all human languages. There was no reason to pray in an unknown tongue. It is important here to note that it does not say he did pray in an unknown tongue. It says “if I pray in an unknown tongue”. Again, this is no reason to assume that Paul was babbling. The devil does give people involved in false religion the ability to speak in unknown tongues. They babble. God’s gifts are for His glory and for the edification of those receiving the message. God is not interested in performances. At times He has made one of His servants look big in the eyes of people. He always expects His servants to exalt Him.
In verse 15 Paul stated that he would pray with the spirit and with the understanding. He would also sing in the spirit and with the understanding.
God was not impressed with the corruption taking place among the saints in Corinth. He is still not impressed with the exaltation of false teaching. We as people are normally attracted to showmanship. Adam showed that we are quite easily led astray. We do not have good discernment. Adam’s failure was that he rejected the truth. The Corinthians also were rejecting the truth. The apostle Paul gave them the truth. Since that time, many have taken the truth and twisted it to suit their fleshly desires. Not a wise plan.
In verse 16 Paul asked a further question regarding their false teaching. How can others join in your prayer if they do not know what you are saying. There is a time for corporate prayer. When praying in public, other saints should be able to agree with your prayer. However, if you are praying in an unknown language, they cannot agree with what you are saying. It is important to be edified even through the prayer of another saint.
In verse 17 we see that the person praying might well be honouring God. However, the others are not edified. They are not built up.
In verse 18 Paul admitted that he spoke in tongues more than they all did. He travelled to many different areas and he was directed by God to minister to the Gentiles and to the Jews as he travelled. However, as Paul stated in verse 19, in the church, he would rather speak 5 words with his understanding than 10,000 words in an unknown tongue.
God was pointing out here that the Corinthian saints were way off in their doctrine. They assumed they really had something because they were exercising tongues. According to God they were just feeding their flesh. They were not helping themselves nor anyone else that would come to their church. Their efforts were worse than worthless. That is not what God designed for His children.
The Charismatics take this and distort it and claim they try to have an interpreter anytime someone is going to speak in an unknown tongue. Of course they are not referring to languages known to man. They are referring to babbling. They assume that as long as they have an “interpreter” then everything is good. It has been proven many times that both the babbler and the interpreter are frauds.
Those who are truly born again, would not want to do harm to the precious name of the Lord. They would not want to mock His holy name. They would not want to be a distraction to others. False professors have no concern about these things. They would rather listen to deceivers than allow God to direct them and show them the truth.
Those who insist on being deceived cannot be helped. The apostle Paul was told to teach the people the truth. What they did with the truth would be their choice. They would be held accountable for what they did with the truth. The same is true today. We are given the opportunity to hear the truth. If a person rejects the truth, God will deal with them. They might live a long time and they might spread their heresies for many years. We need to keep in mind that God is keeping a record of all the sins of the lost. At the great white throne judgment the books will be opened. There will be many false teachers who will shudder when they are reminded of the wickedness of their hearts.
We have the truth now. We can build our lives on the truth. The truth shall make you free. It was important for the Corinthian saints to build on the truth. It is equally important for us to build on the truth.
Pastor Bartel