Episode 298: Don't Speak Into the Air! | +Quigg Lawrence

We are in 1 Corinthians 14. If you have a Bible or Bible app, or you just want to go online, look at 1 Corinthians 14. I'm gonna give you two verses, then we're gonna see some videos that hopefully illustrate the point.

Before we dive in, what do we always say? Context, context, context. Right? Otherwise, it'd be like going to a movie theater and you walk in. Remember, you paid for the first movie, and you snuck into another movie. Maybe you did that once in your life. You come to the other movie halfway through, and you have no idea what's going on. So we like to look at the bookends—what comes before, what comes after.

Context: Love and Gospel

1 Corinthians 13, verse 1:

If I speak in tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I'm a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

In verse 13, it's talking about tongues of angels—that is, speech that a man does not know, cannot learn. God gives it to them. The Corinthians were all about tongues. Tongues, tongues, tongues. Paul's saying, that's great. It is a gift for the church to build them up. However, if you have not love, it's nothing. It's like, ching, ching, ching, ching.

Now, let's look at the back bookend. 1 Corinthians 15. The first one is about love. Without love, the gifts are nothing. On the backside, Paul is saying to the church, "Hey, I want to remind you about the gospel. Like, all that we do should all be about God's good news. Right?"

He that was rich for your sake became poor, who's put to death because of your sin. A terrible death. He was put to death. He was in the grave. On the third day, he rose from the dead, and he sits at the Father's right hand.

You think you need friends in high places? You got one. Jesus is at the Father's hand, praying for you right now. And so you've got love and gospel. Love and gospel. Any message devoid of love and gospel is a dead work, or even harmful.

The Call to Pursue Love and Spiritual Gifts

Now, that said, let's go to 14, which is our chapter. The same man writing 13 and 14 says this to the church in Corinth:

Hey, y'all pursue love.

We want to have all these strategies for evangelizing, all these strategies for discipling people. We go to LifeWay, and we go there, and we go there. And really, the strategy is speak the truth in love. Share the gospel with love. He's saying, pursue love. What a novel idea for Christians. Pursue love. A lot of people go, "Amen. Amen." But what's the next phrase?

Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts.

Earnestly, earnestly. You've had a dog in your life at some point. You might have had a bone or cookie in your hand, and that dog is looking at you. You tease him—voof, voof, voof, voof. That dog is earnestly, earnestly desiring that bone or that cookie that you have. It's with the same intensity that the Lord says, "I want you guys to earnestly desire the spiritual gifts."

Some of those seem like regular everyday kinds of things—administration, mercy, helps. And some of them are more sensational—tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophecy, healing. But He says, whatever, just desire them.

The question I have for myself, and the question I have for you is: Do you earnestly desire the spiritual gifts? I didn't say, do you earnestly desire to be charismatic? Do you earnestly desire to be Pentecostal? Do you earnestly desire the gifts God has given His church to make it strong? Is that part of your prayer life? If not, it's time to wake up and start praying. "Lord, for Your benefit, for Your name, for Your name's sake, give me whatever gift—whether it's a low one or a high one. If it's from You, it's great." Do you make that part of your prayer life?

Pursue love, earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophecy.

That sounds kind of weird. I don't know if I want to do that. We're going to talk some more about that.

Speaking in Tongues

It says in verse 2:

For one who speaks in a tongue or an unknown language speaks not to men but to God. Consequently, no one understands it.

I want you to see a couple videos. First one's in Chinese. Next week, I'll be preaching in Japan. I realize that's Chinese, not Japanese. But next week I'll be preaching in Japan, and the guy wants a full sermon so he can do notes.

Were you edified in that? I didn't understand a word the man said.

Now, the next one. I don't know. Maybe he had a mole in his hand removed. I'm not sure what happened. He's speaking in Arabic. A few of you may know Arabic, but I don't. I don't understand a word he's saying.

Those are legitimate languages, and they're committing to people who understand those languages. So they're being built up and edified. They're hearing the good news.

Now, this is something else. Watch this one.

This is the last one. For angels have even dispatched from Africa right now. Were you built up? Were you edified? So today, what I want to say is there are legitimate gifts of the spirit. There are times and honestly, you don't plan it like the Holy Spirit moves when he moves, right? It's not like some supercharge comes over you and you just can't control yourself, but it's birth from on high where the Lord occasionally will give you the ability to speak an unknown language so that the gospel can be communicated.

We talked about our friend Robert Nat, who went on a high school trip with our youth group, and he knew where the bano was and all that, but he did not know Spanish very well, except for when he went to whatever country it was—I forget. He all of a sudden was able to speak and preach and teach in Spanish, but when he came back to high school, he could barely pass high school Spanish. The Lord gave him that gift and grace.

I would encourage you that tongues and prophecy are real gifts and they are holy if used in a holy and biblical manner.

Now, that lady—I want to be careful not to attribute the works of God to Satan. But what I will tell you, I watch a lot of people on TV. Again, I think most of it's fake. I think it's like Borat, that crazy guy. I don't watch his movies. They're filthy. He just makes up languages. It's kind of like if you started speaking pig Latin today. I think most of those are fake, but I do need to be a little cautious.

In seminary, I went up for prayer, and I've told you about these ladies. I don't know why they were in our church. They wore polyester, big hair. And I had something I wanted to pray about that I didn't want to pray with some women. And I sure didn't want to pray with nut jobs. And I went up there and the first thing they started doing is tuning up in a tongue. And I was furious. God, I cannot believe you gave me these fake freak women.

Except when they were praying, all of a sudden, I started to feel like burning in the Holy Spirit, and it was beautiful, and it was holy, and God healed my shoulder in the midst of their prayers. Wow. And then he gave me the ability to understand an interpretation. I didn't ask for it. I didn't see it coming. He just did it.

But we are to be discerning. And so:

Pursue love, earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. — 1 Corinthians 14

Well, what's prophecy? You're on Jeopardy and you're all Christians. The guy's going to go, "You're a Christian, right? What's prophecy?" Yes. Well, it's a lot of things. It could be. Some people say preaching's prophecy. I think preaching can be prophetic—strengthening, encouragement and comfort—but the gift of prophecy is different than that. Cessationists say the gift of prophecy is only preaching. I don't believe that. Sometimes the Lord—nothing's above his word—but sometimes the Lord will speak to a very particular situation that nobody would know, nobody would humanly know, because he loves his bride, the church.

For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men, but to God, for no one understands him. But he utters mysteries in the spirit. — 1 Corinthians 14

Friends, there are going to be times in your prayer life. There's going to be times in your life where you can pray happily in English with your mind. I pray with my spirit. I pray with my mind. The Lord's not opposed to praying with your mind. Ninety-nine percent of your prayers are going to be with your mind. But there are times where you're standing over somebody who is really sick, or a marriage that is really broken, or somebody that is in such pain that human words don't seem to work, and so God occasionally will give this gift that we would speak in an unknown language and then there's going to be an interpretation to build and strengthen that person. And yes, it may seem weird, but it's also biblical to build up his bride, the church.

Now, let's keep going.

For no one understands somebody speaking a tongue, he utters mysteries in the spirit, but on the other hand, he who prophesies speaks to people. — 1 Corinthians 14

This is what prophecy is. It's not weird. It's not a guy in white boots and a zip up and all that. Prophecy is this: let's don't make it weird. It is what it is. It's for the upbuilding. Some versions of the Bible say for edification, like edifice. Prophecy is given to build up the body, to build up you. Prophecy's given to encourage you and the body of Christ. Prophecy's given for comfort or consolation.

I don't know. I guess this morning, a couple came here and go like, "This is the greatest day of my life. Hallelujah. You're just doing well," and you know what, man, if life is sweet for you right now, surf the wave and enjoy it. Surf the wave and enjoy it.

But I know that there are plenty of us that woke up this morning, and we are deeply sad. There's some of you right now who are under such condemnation, you can't hear a word I'm saying.

Right? There's some that have so much pain in their hearts right now. You can't hear a word. And what I want to say is the Lord knows this, and so he gives these gifts to the church to speak to you for strengthening, encouragement, and comfort.

See, I had this idea that if people rightly use the gifts, right? Call out fake, call it out, but if we rightly use these gifts as unto the Lord, the church would be strong, and the church would be growing, just like it did in the early church. Strengthening, encouragement, comfort.

The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. — 1 Corinthians 14:4

And so, we're always thinking about ourselves, ourselves, ourselves. We want to build ourselves up. But friends, God's heart is that you be used to build up the church. And what's crazy is, you know, if you lose your life for Christ's sake, you find it. When you are concerned about building up his church, his bride, people like you. When you're concerned about that, and you say, Lord, fill me, use me, you're going to have more joy than if you focus on yourself.

He says, "I want you all to speak in tongues." Paul said, "I speak in tongues. I want all of you to," but we have to balance that. What does First Corinthians say? Do all speak in tongues? The answer is, no. Because that's not everybody's gift.

And think about it. If you come right now—it's summer, so maybe we have 300 people here. If all of you came and spoken an unknown language or tongue, we would never get to the preaching of God's word, nor will we get to holy communion, nor will we get to prayer. And so the Bible puts bumper guards or rails, like going up a mountain. Bumper guards or rails. And he says, if you have a tongue, or even if you do prophecy, what does that mean? Two or at most three. In other words, even if you have the gifts, if you're in the most charismatic church in Roanoke, the rules, the boundaries, bumper guards are two or at most three.

So you could see, if the only gift use of this gift of tongues or prophecy is in this room right here, not many of you are gonna get to use those gifts, because it says two or at most three. I actually think the Lord wants us to use spiritual gifts outside this room. It's a novel thought.

For one who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets so that the church may be built up. — 1 Corinthians 14:5

Verse six. He says, "Now, brothers," and I love the way he does this. Even though the Corinthians were really messed up and really fleshly and really thought too highly of themselves, and they were kind of perverted in some ways, but he still calls them brothers because they're in Jesus. If you're really messed up, and you're not doing well with the Lord, if you're in Christ, you're still my brother. If you're in Christ, you're still my sister. It's not about being perfect. We won't be perfect until we're face to face with the Lord. At the end of time, we'll be fully like Jesus.

If I come to you speaking in tongues or unknown languages, how will I benefit you unless I bring some revelation, knowledge, prophecy, or teaching? — 1 Corinthians 14:6

If I bring revelation, knowledge, prophecy, or teaching. Now, a lot of you guys were brought up in quiet, protestant churches, and we don't do that stuff. And you hear this. Okay? This is how you hear it. I will bring you some revelation. I'm gonna bring you some revelation and some knowledge and some prophecy and some teaching. Amen? Some of y'all been to churches like that.

Now, if we just said it normal—one of the things Tim taught me is, preachers should speak in the same voice in the pulpit that they speak in the foyer or outside. Don't use weirdo voices. So, if you can get over that, the Lord says this, man. He's like, "If I come to you in tongues, how will I benefit unless I bring you?" See, the whole purpose of this gift is to bring something to the body.

And so sometimes, the Lord is gonna reveal something that there's no way you could ever reveal yourself. There's no way you could ever uncover it. He reveals it to you. One man told me he was going to get on the Titanic, and he had this nudging, nudging, nudging. Don't go, don't go, don't go. And so, he didn't. That's a miracle. That's a revelation. God saved him.

I come to church to bring God's revelation, to pull back blindness, and to let you see the things the Lord wants you to see. Or I want you to have knowledge—not so you could be puffed up but so you could know the things the Lord wants you to know, right? So spiritually, you will not be a knucklehead but you'll be wise.

Revelation, knowledge, prophecy. Again, it's for strengthening, encouragement, comfort. Do you want that? Do you want strengthening in your faith? Do you want encouragement? Lord, the world tries to discourage us. Do you want consolation or comfort? I do. And when you frame it like that, you're like, yeah, I want it. Bring it on.

The Problem with Unintelligible Speech

Look at verse seven. Any of you guys have middle school kids, you'll really get this.

If even lifeless instruments, like the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? — 1 Corinthians 14:7

This took me right back to Mr. Tucker and Miss Tucker who oversaw the high school and middle school bands. Have you ever been to a middle school band concert? Lord Jesus. I don't know if these kids don't know how to read music yet, or they're just freelancing and think they're a bunch of jazz players, but it is a cacophony.

I remember when I was a kid, we used to go to Essex County to this old farm, and there's a bunch of us kids. Our parents would play bluegrass, so we wanted to play. The problem is we hadn't studied music. But that didn't deter us because they had a drum set there and some terrible cheap guitars. About five or six of the kids said we love the Beatles because the Beatles were really hot then. So we scheduled a concert for our parents. I played drums, and that was easy enough because you can always beat on something. But my friend Frank Hester was playing guitar, and I think my sister was playing something else. They had no idea about notes, no idea about chords. It was miserable. It's like grabbing a bunch of cats by the tail. It was just absolutely terrible.

So he says, look, if you speak in a tongue but there's no interpretation, it sounds like those kids at Fawn Hill Farm—bing, bing, bing, bing. It doesn't make any sense.

If the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? — 1 Corinthians 14:8

So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone else know what's said? — 1 Corinthians 14:9

The whole point of the gifts is not so you can feel spiritual. The point of the gifts is so that God's bride, the church, will be healthy and strong. Healthy and strong.

I don't have all the gifts, neither do you. But have you had times where God will give you a gift? I mean, there've been a few times I've gotten a word of wisdom or a word of knowledge. One time I got the interpretation of tongues and could I tell you, I wasn't in some hyper trance. I wasn't feeling really spiritual. It was the Lord who did it—almost like I was a pipe. He just did it. And the scripture says the spirits of the prophets are under the control of the prophet, but the Lord did it.

So you don't plan, "Hey, today I'm going to go to church and I'm going to speak to some people to sow to strengthen, encourage, and comfort." That's awesome. Do that. But that's not what this is. This is where the Lord is actually using you. He's using you. You probably don't even really know what's going on. You certainly don't know the situation to which you're speaking. And yet He calls you to speak. I'd rather you prophecy—strengthening, encouragement, and comfort.

Speaking Into the Air

If your tongue you utter speech that's unintelligible, how will anyone know what's said? For you will be speaking into the air. — 1 Corinthians 14:9

I love words, and you all know that. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. We can have a talk fest. I will out talk the best of you. Talk, talk, talk, talk. But I don't want to waste my words speaking into the air.

If you're a parent, let me just talk to you for a second. Do you know sometimes God gives you wisdom for your children, and you're trying to impart it to them? Sometimes they receive it gladly—awesome. But sometimes they kind of roll their eyes or they just can't hear it. To them, it's just like a clanging symbol. Parents, you don't want to speak into the air. You don't want your words just to be wasted words. And same in the spirit—God wants us to do stuff that builds up His bride, the church.

There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning. But if I don't know the meaning of the language, I'll be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker a foreigner to me. — 1 Corinthians 14:10-11

I talked to my Rwandan friends. I talked to my Nigerian friends. They all speak four to eight languages.

Some of them brought up in a rural school speak four to eight languages. And I say, guys, can I be honest with you? When the Lord was handing out linguistic ability, and every country in the world got in line, America was at the end of the line. I took eleven years of Spanish, and I can ask where the baño is. That's it. I'm terrible.

And so when you want to be able to speak in a way that people understand, you're not speaking into the air. And in verse 12, it says this:

Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church. — 1 Corinthians 14:12

Going back to the first verse, be eager for the gifts. Be eager for them. Don't treat them with disdain or indifference. Be eager for the manifestation of the Spirit.

Closing Questions

What's the takeaway? Could you go, "Tongues, prophecy, that's not really my universe"? What's the takeaway?

Earnestly desire these holy gifts. Whatever you've seen that makes them look freaky, put that out of your head. Earnestly desire the manifestations of the Spirit. Use them in humility and faith, not for making yourself great, but so that God's name will be great and His church will be strong.

Last question is this: How can you integrate what you learned today? Because the Bible already says two or at most three, so those gifts—tongues, prophecy—are not going to happen that often here. How can you use the gifts God's given you when you're not in the blue room?

Do you know your gift? Do you know why God has given you that gift? For the common good, to build up His bride, the church. What are you going to do with that? Are you going to tuck it in the closet? Are you going to go to Freakville? Are you going to use it under the holiness and love of the Lord to build up His bride?

What are you going to do? In Jesus's name, we pray. Amen.