I Corinthians 14:24  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.
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.
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.

Biblical preaching is a powerful tool that God has given to the local church. Years ago there was an attack against preaching. Professing Christians were offended by preaching. They took the position that no one has the right to tell someone else what is right and what is wrong. No one has the right to limit a person’s involvement in a local church. Many churches began to replace preaching with story telling. No longer would the preacher stand up and declare: “thus saith the Lord”. No longer would sin be exposed. Now it would be a social gospel that would go after those who seek to know and serve the Lord. The result of that has been to encourage many lost and carnal people to continue in their rebellion, rather than helping people to know the true peace of God.
In our text we are told that rather than the babbling that the carnal Christians wanted, they would be far better off preaching the truth. Of course in order to do that, they would need to be walking humbly with the Lord and actually spending time studying God’s Word, rather than checking in with the latest “spin doctors”.
Biblical preaching is effective. Biblical preaching educates the hearers with what God says. Biblical preaching is effective because it is directed by the indwelling Holy Spirit. The preacher does not need to know what the visitor has been doing in the past week. He needs to know what God has to say. As the true preacher declares the truth, the unbeliever or the unlearned person will be convicted in his heart. That is not because the preacher is up there yelling and jumping around. It is because the Holy Spirit can bless the feeble work of the preacher and He can pierce the heart of the hearer.
In verse 25 we see that the hearer will be exposed. No one in the congregation may pay attention to what God is doing in that person’s heart. However, God knows and the sinner knows that God knows what is going on. The good news is that occasionally an unsaved person will actually repent and be saved. The good news is that the unlearned will have his eyes opened to what he needs to pay attention to. That is an amazing thing. God loves people so much that He works in their hearts to expose what is actually there. His Word is sharper than any two-edged sword. He reveals the facts. His Word will offend the naysayers. They will often attack the preacher and they will try to get others to agree with their defiance.
As we see in verse 25, when God’s people behave like God’s people, the truth is revealed and people sit up and take notice. They can see that there are these people who actually believe in God. This might shock some, but it is a good thing when the world can see that there are some people who are actually following the true God.
In verse 26, Paul continued to address the problem of pride. The church in Corinth certainly had many problems. They were so ‘informed’ that when they came together they all had some ‘wonderful insight’ to share. They were not going to be outdone by anyone else. They were not going to let the preacher tell them anything. They might even tell the preacher a thing or two.
There are groups like the Quakers who have a distorted view of the work of the Holy Spirit. The Quakers would gather together and supposedly wait for the moving of the Holy Spirit. They assumed that the Holy Spirit would move in their midst and cause people to start shaking. They assumed that the Holy Spirit would just take over the meeting and certain enlightened people would get up and start speaking. They frown on someone actually studying to prepare to preach. That is of the flesh, according to them. They believe that there must be a spontaneous moving of the Spirit to make it real. The Quakers are still around. There are other groups that follow a similar pattern.
There were people in Paul’s day that were quite impressed with the disorder in the local church in Corinth. They were certainly deluded.
In verse 27 the apostle Paul reminded them that their antics were not of God. If there would be someone who spoke in an unknown tongue/language, it should only be by two or at the most three. It seems there were people gathering together there that spoke different languages. People of all different language groups can be saved. Some might be quite excited about what they learned. Some of them were led by God, but others were just wanting to say their piece.
Paul again reminded the saints that speaking in an unknown tongue without an interpreter was worthless. If a Frenchman came into our church and started witnessing to us in French, he would be wasting his time and ours. We would not understand him. If he came in with an interpreter and was invited to speak through an interpreter, then we could be blessed by what he has to say.
In verse 28 we see that God says if there is no interpreter, then the person needs to be quiet. We learn here that God did not give this man a message for others if there is no interpreter. Rather than be impressed with the noise and confusion that was going on there and still does in many churches today, they needed to demonstrate their true faith in God. If God gives you a message for others, He will guide you in giving that message effectively. If God gives you a message that is for you, then learn the lesson and serve Him. Others will already see the benefit of that message if it is from God. God does not want us to walk around with flashing lights to make sure others will notice us. He wants us to know Him and serve Him.
We know that every true born again child of God is to be a witness unto Jesus Christ. There are lost people all around us. If you are saved, you have the privilege and responsibility of telling someone else the good news. Make sure it is the good news you are giving them.
The church in Corinth was in quite a mess. It is not surprising that the devil would take the distortions of that church and elevate them in the hearts and minds of carnal saints. The apostle Paul shows us that God is not content to leave carnal saints in that messy place. The fact that so many “religious” people are content to remain in that ungodly place, indicates that they are not even carnal Christians. They are lost and thus not being moved into truth. They are defiant against the truth. That is a dangerous place to be at.
Pastor Bartel