But if all prophecy
That is, all that speak publicly in the church, not together, but in their order, one after another, as is hereafter directed:
and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned;
an unbeliever that has only the knowledge of his mother tongue, in which prophesying or preaching is used:
he is convinced of all, he is judged of all;
of all the prophets or preachers; they all reprove him, and detect his secret, as the Arabic version renders the words; and to the same purport the Ethiopic. This must be understood of such persons whom the Spirit of God, under, and by the ministry of the word, powerfully works upon; whose hearts he opens to receive the word, and to whom he effectually applies it; whom he convinces of sin, righteousness, and judgment, shows the evil of their hearts and ways, reproves their errors, convicts them of their mistakes, and informs their judgments, and condemns all their principles and practices which are not agreeably to the word of God.