keep silence in the church
1 Corinthians 14:28
14:28 keep silence in the church. In verse 27, Paul insists that only one man speak in a foreign language at a time, with never more than three doing this at one meeting, and then only if there is someone present who can translate each message. Since one could only plan to use his gift of tongues if he knew in advance that an interpreter would be there who could explain his message, this restriction would have the practical effect of essentially eliminating this practice in the church. Nevertheless, Paul would not forbid the use of this gift (and neither should we—note I Corinthians 14:39) in case some circumstance should develop comparable to that at Pentecost.