Tongues are not very useful ‘in the church’ (v.19). In verses 20-25 Paul will say that they are not very useful for evangelising outsiders.
- Be child-like and mature.
- 14:20; like Matt.10:16. In evil, we are to be like children – unaware of it, as innocent as we can be in a fallen world. But in our understanding or our thinking we are to be mature.
- the mania for entertainment has taken over modern society. Note Eph.4:14-15.
- Tongues are a sign to unbelievers.
- 14:21-22. See Deut.28:49-50; then Isa.28:7-10, 11-12.
- tongues are a sign ‘to’ (NKJV) or ‘for’ (NIV, ESV) unbelievers. Chrysostom said that the aim was to astonish. God spoke to His wayward people in (Assyrian) tongues which they did not understand.
- 14:23; contrast to Acts 2:8-15 where the message is understood. The cults of Dionysius and of Cybele had meetings where people raved. You can only believe if first you understand what God is saying.
- Prophecy can convert.
- 14:24-25. The outsider could come to know three things – the secrets of his own heart, the reality of God, and an awareness of God’s presence with His people. John 16:8; see 2 Sam.12:7 and John 4:29. Plato: ‘No one in possession of his rational mind has reached divine and true exaltation.’ Paul says the opposite. See Acts 8:30-35.