1 Corinthians 14:25 - Printer Friendly

ESV: the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

NIV: as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, 'God is really among you!'

NASB: the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you.

CSB: The secrets of his heart will be revealed, and as a result he will fall facedown and worship God, proclaiming, "God is really among you."

NLT: As they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed, and they will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring, 'God is truly here among you.'

KJV: And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.

NKJV: And thus the secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is truly among you.

How would an unbelieving outsider respond if he or she came into a Christian worship service? What would his impression of Christians be? What would she think of our God? What would they feel about their own responsibility to God?

Paul has described a worship service in which everyone has and is displaying the gift of tongues, the supernatural ability to speak in unknown languages. The result, in that case, would be a conclusion on the part of the unbeliever that the Christians were out of their minds. Since they cannot understand any of the words, they would receive no message from God and no incentive to learn more about Him. The problem would not be one of conviction, or spirituality—it would simply be that the message is entirely gibberish.

Next, Paul pictured a roomful of Christians displaying the gift of prophecy: supernaturally declaring God's messages to those assembled. He insists the result may be very different. Prophecy would involve intelligible words and statements the hearers can all understand. The unbeliever is much more likely to feel convicted about his sins and realize that he is accountable for them.

Now Paul adds that the secrets of this unbeliever's heart would be disclosed. It is unclear if this phrase describes an inner conviction about personal sin, with those secrets being revealed to the unbeliever himself. Or, perhaps, those exercising the gift of prophecy in Paul's day would speak, by God's power, about the unbeliever's sins out loud for all to hear. If so, the unbeliever may experience shame, but also amazement that God knows his heart and deepest sins.

In either case, the result is repentance and worship. Paul describes the unbeliever as falling on his face in the position of the worship of a deity. He worships the one true God along with all the Christians in the room. He declares openly his belief that God is present with them. In short, he comes to faith in Christ through witnessing the display of the gift of prophecy, a far better result than seeing all the believers speaking in tongues with nobody to interpret what is said.

First Corinthians 14:1–25 describes why the gift of prophecy is superior to the gift of tongues in church services, especially when nobody with the gift of interpreting tongues is available. Prophecy benefits everyone in the room with a revelation from God. Praying in a tongue, when nobody can interpret, only benefits the one praying. In fact, displaying the gift of tongues without interpretation may do more harm than good—it generates confusion and division. In contrast, the use of prophecy provides the opportunity for unbelievers to hear from God, be convicted about sin, and come to faith in Christ and genuine worship.

Paul encourages the Corinthians to desire the gift of prophecy, especially, among the other gifts. He shows why its use in the church service is superior to the use of the gift of tongues if nobody is available to interpret. Prophecy benefits everyone; praying in tongues with nobody to interpret benefits only the speaker. Only two or three tongues-speakers should contribute to any service, and only then one at a time and followed by interpreters. The same applies to prophecy and the gift of discerning spirits. Orderliness and building up the church are guiding principles for any worship meeting. Modern churches are divided on the extent to who which these gifts are given, or should be practiced.

1 Corinthians 14 concludes Paul's teaching on the spiritual gifts begun in chapter 12. Between them, chapter 13 declared that Christlike love matters most of all. The gift of prophecy is better than the display of the gift of tongues in worship services unless someone with the gift of interpreting tongues is available. Even then, only those things which build up the church should be included in any service, and everything should be done in an orderly way, reflecting the character of God. The final two chapters of this letter discuss the resurrection of Christ and Paul's concluding remarks.

First Corinthians is one of the more practical books of the New Testament. Paul writes to a church immersed in a city associated with trade, but also with corruption and immorality. These believers are struggling to properly apply spiritual gifts and to resist the ungodly practices of the surrounding culture. Paul's letter gives instructions for real-life concerns such as marriage and spirituality. He also deals with the importance of unity and gives one of the Bible's more well-known descriptions of love in chapter 13.