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THE KING’S BUSINESS
of the gift being exercised before unbe lievers for evangelistic purposes than that specified, namely, at Jerusalem before per sons of the Jewish faith. In the case of the gift of tongues being exercised in an assembly—-the assembly at Corinth representing all other assemblies— certain rules were to be closely observed and explicitly followed. First, the public display of the gift was to be for “edifica tion,” that is, for moral and ethical pur poses (1 Corinthians 14:5, 28). Second, the . exercise of the gift to this end was always to be accompanied by interpretation, either by the individual who might be speaking in tongues, or by some other person (1 Corin thians 14:13, 23-26, 28). Third, the gift being thus lawfully exercised, it was to be in, a measure repressed and to be always under control; not more than two or three in a given meeting being permitted to speak, these being required to speak by course, that is, in succession, and only one being allowed to interpret (1 Corinthians 14:27). The fact that the" presence and power of the Holy Spirit was being manifested in the gift of tongues at a given meeting was never to be made an excuse for hysteria, for loss of self-control, for want qf orderliness, or for doing or saying anything that would lead to confusion. The injunction of the inspired Apostle Paul was plain and definite to this effect. The person speaking with tongues was not to pass into unconsciousness, or even into a state of semi-conscious ecstasy, but he was rto speak with the “understand ing” to those who were in a like state of mind, and with the purpose of expressing— with the final aid of "interpretation—intelli gent thought through intelligible speech; and in case this calm state could not be maintained and this end be reached, the per son was to give up speaking in tongues and was to prophesy in a commonly understood language (2 Timothy 1 :7; 1 Corinthians 14: 2-20). Also, the women—who were sub ject to emotionalism and most likely to make disorder—were to keep silence, re
serving their questions to the home (1 Cor inthians 14:34, 35). Also, all of the prophets were to understand that their spirit were entirely subject to themselves (1 Corin thians 14:32). Also, if one had a revela tion, and should discover that another had a similar revelation, the first was to exer cise such self-abasement and control as to make him hold his peace (1 Corinthians 14: 30). Also, if confusion should break out, they were to understand that it was not the work of the Holy Ghost, since God is not the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14 : 33). And, finally, a fixed rule was to be observed, in and through all, namely, that everything in the assembly was to be done decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40). Several general facts—so far as the scrip tural record is concerned—are to be care fully observed. First, the gift of tongues as manifested at Pentecost, was never re peated; that is, there was-never again given to believers languages which were unknown to themselves but were understood without interpretation by others, and for the pur pose oh preaching the gospel to unbelievers, a fact which gives that manifestation a dis tinctly dispensational and Jewish aspect. Second, from Pentecost onward the exer cise of the gift of tongues was shut up to the Church, that is, to believers in behalf of believers, any other use of the gift being discountenanced (1 Corinthians 14: 23-25). Third, the gift of tongues was not generally practiced in the Churches, there being no record of it in any other assembly than that at Corinth. Fourth, it is evident that the gift of tongues was not considered the su preme gift, it being put last in the list of spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 12:28), and the less dramatic gift of love being consid ered infinitely above it (1 Corinthians 12: 31; 13:8, 13). And lastly, it is to be noted that the fact that love was the supreme gift led to the positively stated-conclusion that prophecy—which is the interpretation of Scripture was to be preferred before the gift of tongues since it was more to edifica tion (1 Corinthians 14:1-5).
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