The Priority of Prophecy

From the record, we learn that the church in Corinth had a turbulent history. It began with a riot when the founding apostles were hauled to Gallio’s judgment seat by opposing Jews. But Gallio refused to hear the case, dismissing it with these words: “If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters” (Acts 18:14-15).

We should pay attention to what lay behind this riot. Some people, as we say, couldn’t care less. Nothing matters. Anything goes. But some people believe very deeply what they believe. Both of these probably should modify their positions a bit, and yet I must say to you there are beliefs worth dying for.

My counsel is to believe what you believe. And be ready to modify when new truth is learned. Be sure you heard me right. I said, Be ready to modify when new truth is learned. The caution I leave is, Not everything new is truth.

The message of I Corinthians 14 is controversial and has split many congregations. Properly understood it need not. This time I have called my message THE PRIORITY OF PROPHECY. The text is I Corinthians 14:1-9:

1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.

2 For 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.

3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.

5 I 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.

6 Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?

7 And 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?

8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?

9 So 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.

My desire is to bring from this text several DISTINCTIVES that I find in Paul’s words so we may more clearly understand The Priority of Prophecy.

The first distinctive is we need to seek:

1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.

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.

3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

Most of us consider prophecy as a prediction. There are hundreds of examples in the Bible of predictive prophecy. Let me give you several illustrations:

For example, in Genesis 17:19 God promised Abraham and Sarah a baby boy. They had no children and they were hoping for a son. Genesis 17:19 states:

And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

Now that is a predictive prophecy.

In Genesis 21:1-2 we see the fulfillment of that prophecy.

And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

So we have predictive prophecy.

Let me give you another example. In I Kings 17:1 God, speaking by the prophet Elijah, gave us these words:

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

We go now to I Kings 18:41-45 for the fulfillment of this predictive prophecy.

And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

So we have predictive prophecies and fulfillments of them.

These two illustrations teach us that predictive prophecy is possible. What the prophets predicted came true.

For other predictions, we still look for their fulfillment. For example, John 14:1-3 is often read at funerals. Perhaps you know this by heart.

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

We are still looking for that fulfillment, but it has been spoken.

Now, here in I Corinthians 14:3 we have another definition:

But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

To prophesy means to speak to edification, which means “the act of one who promotes another’s growth in Christian wisdom, piety, holiness, happiness.”  The Greek word oikodomeo “to edification” is associated with the building trade, construction, and building up. To prophesy means to speak to exhortation. The Greek word paraklesis“to exhortation” is related to the Comforter Jesus spoke about in John 14:16: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.” To exhort means to admonish and to encourage. To prophesy means to speak to comfort, which means “any address made for the purpose of persuading or of arousing and stimulating or calming and consoling. . . . To address with soothing and chilling words.” There we have Paul’s definition of prophecy. It has three elements in it: edification, exhortation, and encouragement.

Next, we look at:

4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.

5 I 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.

6 Now, brethren, if I come untoyou speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?

As we look at the condition for prophecy, right away we notice that Paul is addressing the assembly—the assembled body of Christ, the church in meeting. And he goes on to explain that prophecy or prophesying edifies the church, that is, the building up of the membership. As I said, edification has in it the idea of construction. It was intended for the corporate experience of the body of Christ, not the individual tongue language, we might say.

Paul goes on to say that prophecy is greater than speaking in tongues. Notice verse 5: “I 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.” Please notice the words but rather. “But rather that ye prophesy, for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues.” Prophecy comes by intelligible address, by revelation.

Paul goes on to explain, “If I come to you and I spoke with tongues, what would I profit you, except I should speak by . . .” Here he has four different elements: “by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine.” Revelation means new truth unveiling. Knowledge means instruction. Prophecy means building up, as in verse 3. Doctrine means teaching. All of these are building processes, to strengthen the congregation, to build up the believers, and to help them in their Christian walk.

I believe Barnes’s comments will help us again:

The power of speaking in an unknown tongue was certainly a more striking endowment than that of speaking so as simply to be useful, and yet the apostle tells us that the latter is the more valuable. So it is always. A man who is useful, however humble and unknown he may be, really occupies a more elevated and venerable rank than the man of most splendid talents and dazzling eloquence, who accomplishes nothing in saving the souls of men.

Thus the purpose is carefully and clearly laid out. The condition for prophecy, therefore, is in the gathering of the membership for the building up of the congregation.

We now look at:

7 And 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?

8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?

9 So 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.

The apostle uses a very interesting and common experience, we might say, that things without life, like a flute or a harp, must give a melody if anything is to be understood. Without any change in pitch or tone, nothing happens. Without giving a distinction in sound, he said, how shall it be known what is piped or harped. You probably have seen little children sitting at a piano keyboard, pounding away. But what they pound, what they produce, is not particularly pleasing, because they do not have any rhythm or melody.

And, Paul says, the trumpet, if it gives an uncertain sound, does not call anybody to battle. Trumpets in biblical days were used for that. They were rams’ horns; shofars they were called. And they had a certain sound, a certain rhythm for certain reasons. The shofar was blown as the sabbath began and at the new moon. It was blown at festive occasions. The people learned what the sound was and responded accordingly.

Now we will better understand what the trumpet meant if we notice what happened in the days when Gideon was the judge. In Judges 7:19-22, Gideon was asked to rid the country of the Midianites.

So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and their trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.

The sound of those trumpets was not an uncertain sound.

Then, easily understood language is a part of the competition. The apostle says it like this: “So likewise ye, except that 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.” Keep it short and simple. Speak understandable language. If no one understands, then the speaking is of no value. The speech is worthless. It’s like speaking into the air. Go out into the woods and shout to your heart’s content. What difference does it make? Nobody is there to hear you. So prophecy, unless it connects with the hearer, is useless. Any speech that does not connect with the hearer is useless.

Now prophecy so understood is less spectacular, because it is simply simple speaking. But it builds up the church. And therefore it is more desirable. We need to seek for a balance. I have been in some churches that got pretty noisy. I have been in some churches that were very staid, and you understood their priority.

In summary, to understand the Priority of Prophecy, we need to seek

Which is to speak to

edification, exhortation, and comfort.

Then we need to understand

Which is to build up the congregation.

And lastly we need to appreciate

Which is to keep a balance so all may profit

in the assembly.