Tongues

Speaking Various Languages

Paul continues his discussion of the subject of irregularities in the worship of the Corinthian church. There was a self-indulgent spirit around spiritual gifts that produced selfishness, disunity, and apparent chaos in the assembly (12:7,25). Unfortunately, the members were grieving the Holy …

Preoccupation with Tongues

From the various gifts mentioned in chapter 12, the apostle selects three for discussion in this chapter. These are (1) prophecy, (2) speaking in tongues, (3) and interpretation of tongues. Paul compares the Corinthians’ preoccupation with tongues and their apparent disinterest in prophecy …

A Special Sign for the Early Church

There were three great Jewish festivals to which every male Jew living within twenty miles of Jerusalem was legally bound to come—the Passover, Pentecost, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Pentecost was so called because it fell on the fiftieth day, a week of weeks, after the Passover. At …