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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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DIFFICULTIES IN CHURCH WORSHIP (CH 11-14): THE USE AND ABUSE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS (CH. 12-14) 1Co 14:1-11 (1/25/12) (unedited) Grace Bible Church, Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert INTRODUCTION A. Paul concluded in chapter 13 that the
Corinthians lacked love in their ministry of spiritual gifts and therefore
all sorts of spiritual problem developed in the church. B. One of the gifts that were being abused at
Corinth was the gift of tongues. Paul exhorts them by showing that
forth-telling gifts, such as prophecy, are greater than tongues because the
church is edified when it hears and understands God’s truths. I. PURPOSE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS WAS
EDIFICATION (1Co 14:1-11) A. Pursue Love and the Forth-telling Gifts
(1) 1. [1Co 14:1] - After Paul exalts the
superiority of the virtue of love over other virtues and also over spiritual
gifts, he commands them to pursue love. a) According to the context, he is especially
referring to pursuing love in the use of spiritual gifts. b) In fact this is a command with continued
action (present imperative - diō,kō - put to flight, pursue, even persecute), therefore love is to always to be the
basis and goal of spiritual gifts (cf. 1Co 13:1-3). 2. They were indeed to “earnestly desire” (present
imperative - zêlo,ō - zealous or jealous) the use of spiritual gifts for they
have been given in general by God for the building up of the saints. a) However there was a clarification. They
were to “especially” (mallon - more) earnestly desire the use of
prophecy. b) In this context prophecy is defined as the
gift of forth-telling and teaching God’s truth, along with the other teaching
gifts. B. Tongues are for Men not God (2) 1. [1Co 14:2] - His explanation for such
emphasis was that tongues was essentially for men to hear and understand it
as a sign. God understands all languages. a) If a person in a particular native tongue
is not present, no one else will understand. It becomes something of a
mystery, though he may indeed be sharing a revealed truth or “mystery” (musterion - to initiate into unrevealed truths) from God. If it cannot be understood
it should not be stated. Paul will speak more on this point in vss. 7-11, 19,
23. b) There is some controversy over the
understanding of the difference between a “tongue” (singular, 8 times) and
“tongues” (plural, 8 times) in this chapter. (1) Some see the use of “tongue” in the
singular as a reference to the pagan ecstatic gibberish of pagan religions
and prophetesses (ex. Cumaen sibyl; Pythia, or Dionysus) often called the
“mystery cults,” while “tongues” in the plural refer to the true spiritual
gift. (2) Although this very well may have been a
problem at the immature Corinth church, Paul’s language of either “tongue”
(sg., cp, 1Co 14:26, 27 - Paul would not give instructions for this to be
carried out) or “tongues” (pl., cp. 1Co 14:21) seems to substantiate that in
either case it referred to the divinely enabled spiritual gift of speaking in
a dialect (Rev 14:6; cp. also Act 2:4 & Act 2:6). C. Prophecy is for Edification (3-4) 1. [1Co 14:3] - Paul begins to show the
striking contrast between tongues and prophecy. The purpose for the gift of
prophecy was clearly for edification. “Edification” (oikodomê,) means to build up spiritually (Eph
4:12) of which believers, the body of Christ, is the Lord’s building (1Co
3:9). a) Edification means helping the spiritual
good of another (Rom 15:2). b) Edification, unlike puffed up knowledge,
builds up the body through love (1Co 8:1). c) Edification ought to be the goal of every
activity and decision (1Co 10:23). d) Edification is the goal of the church and
ministry to the church (Rom 14:19; 1Co 14:15, 26; Eph 4:16). 2. Prophecy in the sense of forth-telling,
along with other teaching gifts encourages (“exhortation” - paraklêsis -
one called alongside) and comforts (“consolation” paramuthia - comes
alongside to speak comfort) the church. 3. This is what the church so desperately
needs but this is not what the Corinthian was doing. In fact they were doing
the opposite by tearing each other down and creating divisions 4. [1Co 14:4] - Those who were exercising
the gift of tongues in an unbiblical and unloving way were merely attempting
to build up themselves. Prophecy on the other hand, is attempting to edify
the church (ekklesia -“called out
ones”, those assembled as the body of Christ). D. Prophecy is Greater than Tongues (5) 1. Paul is not degrading the true biblical
spiritual gift of tongues. In fact, he wished (thelō - wish or desire)
that they all could have this bona fide gift. However, as he emphatically
stated in 1Co 12:30, the gift of tongues is not given to everyone, contrary
to some doctrines even today. Note that he did not pray that they would
receive the gift but merely expressing his wishful thinking. 2. However, his real desire was that they
would all have the gift of prophecy because it was “greater” (megas -
comparison of degree, i.e. greater) than the gift of tongues. Without an
interpreter on the speaker understood his praises to God. The exception was
if there was an interpreter to help the church understand the praise toward
God. Otherwise, it was the forth-telling and teaching gifts that provide
edification for the church. E. Tongues is Not Understandable and
Profitless (6-11) 1. [1Co 14:6] - Paul uses himself as the
first example. a) If he would have come to Corinth speaking
in tongues, no one would have understood it and would not have profited them.
b) However, they could have only understood
the gospel if he came preaching God’s truth through forth-telling gifts
(revelation, knowledge, prophecy, or teaching). 2. [1Co 14:7-8] - He next uses sounds from
instruments a) If lifeless (apsuchos - a - without, psuchos - soul) instruments like a “flute” (aulo,s - a
reed instrument more like musical pipe(s)) or a “harp” (kitha,ra - a
lyre) plays the wrong
notes or key, it is mere noise. No one will recognize or appreciate the
melody (7). b) If a bugle makes unrecognizable sounds,
the army will not be called to prepare for battle or anything else for that
matter. There must be intelligent communication and understanding for
anything to be appreciated or learned (8). 3. [1Co 14:8-11] - He illustrates with human
language a) If someone is not “clear” (eusemos - intelligible or recognizable) in their speech or language, no one understands what is
being said and no one is benefited. They are literally “speaking into the
air” (9). b) There are many different languages in the
world, even some that have not been discovered, but none of them are “without
meaning” (aphonos - a - negative, and phonos recognizable sounds and speech) (10). c) When people hear a language they do not
understand, it is often gibberish, babbling, or like the speech of a
barbarian (barbarous - onomatopoetic sounds for unintelligible language).
d) The point is tongues does not edify
because no one can understand it unless they are a native of that dialect or
there is an interpreter. II. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS A. Since tongues are a dialect that the
speaker did not previously know, others do not know the language and nothing
is learned. It is easy to see why tongues are no longer needed today because
they do not support the church greatest emphasis, edification. B. Worship is not based on emotions alone.
Rather it the knowledge of God that evokes emotions of worship. Remove the
intellect and there is no coherent worship. C. Music is only worshipful
when there are words and those words edify. When favorite hymns have been
memorized, the mere melody calls forth the words, which evoke heartfelt worship. D. Churches that participate in tongues have
misunderstood the purpose of tongues, edification, and biblical rules for
speaking in tongues. |
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