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Whether out-of-doors or inside a building, there was every likelihood that unbelievers
might arrive or be brought in by other Christians. In these circumstances the gift of
tongues, properly controlled, could be a help. If they were foreigners they would
possibly hear a message delivered in their own language and the rest of the group would
share in it when it was interpreted by someone with this Divine gift. But this could only
happen with profit when these gifts were controlled by those who possessed them . . . . .
No one was forced to use them against their will (verse 32), so that anything that
approached confusion because more than one was speaking at a time, was inexcusable.
If the gift of prophecy alone was being used when any stranger entered, then
conviction would surely follow, with the result that such would own the fact that God
was truly with them (24, 25).
Paul now sums up his instructions concerning the exercise of tongues and prophecy in
the assembly:
"What is to be done, then, brothers? When you assemble, each one of you has a
hymn, a piece of teaching, a revelation, a tongue, an interpretation. Let all these be
exercised for the building up of the community" (xiv 26, 100: K. Barrett).
As we have before seen, the exercise of these gifts was principally for the benefit of
the church as a whole, not for the individual. Any shifting of this emphasis was
dangerous and still is, and is not according to truth. It has been said that in verses 26, 27
we have a small glimpse of the simplicity of early church meetings.
It is noteworthy that there was no one in charge like the modern clergyman and when
one considers the ornate modes of service and ritual that we see all around us in modern
Christendom, we can judge how far this has gone astray from the Divine set-up at the
beginning.
However, we must not fall into the error of assuming that this gives in every detail the
example for assemblies today, for, despite Pentecostal claims, we have not the
confirmatory gifts of the earthly Kingdom that were prominent during the Acts. When
these lapsed after Israel's failure at Acts 28:, no doubt the order of service and
worship was modified and God-given leaders, humble men drawn from the ranks, took
their place in ministering the truth of the Word of God. We can be perfectly sure that all
conformed to the administration of the Truth of the Mystery and that nothing was added
or detracted from this climax truth and the gospel of God's grace upon which it is based.
Coming back to the Apostle's instructions to the Corinthian church, tongue speaking
was limited to two or at the most three speakers on each occasion, and then only one at a
time, to be followed by another member interpreting (verse 27). If no interpreter was
present, the tongue speaker was commanded to keep quiet. Regarding prophets, they
were also limited to two or three and then the important injunction is "let the others test
what they say" (verse 29, 100: K. Barrett). Here was God's check against the deceiving
work of Satan. In no case were the early Christians expected to swallow uncritically
everything they heard (I Thess. 5: 21; I John 4: 1). This Divine check is conspicuously