Sermon Tone Analysis

INTRO/ILLUSTRATION:

This is a REALLY loaded passage, isn’t it?!?!

Set the stage - what’s happening…The worship gatherings in the Corinthian church were a mess.

Remember, now, they didn’t worship together in a large building like we do.

They were in houses.

There wasn’t a whole lot of “order” in their worship gatherings.

It was kind of a “free-for-all.”

Kind of this, “Let’s show up and see what happens” approach.

So, you had people talking over each other, you had people all speaking in tongues over each other, you had someone trying to cut in and share some teachings from scripture, you had someone over here singing a song…it was chaotic.

KIND OF LIKE MY VEHICLE WHEN WE TAKE THE KIDS SOMEWHERE…someone’s singing at the top of their lungs (out of key), someone’s yelling at their sibling, the other one is crying, the radio is going, it’s a zoo!

And, here, Paul addresses three particular areas that the Corinthians need to correct and address...

Speaking in Tongues

Now, this particular spiritual gift has been at the center of a lot of heated debate within Christianity.

Different denominations believe different things about the gift of tongues and some Christian - Jesus loving - brothers and sisters practice the spiritual gift of tongues.

In the NT we’re really first introduced to “tongues” in

The Corinthians were, in a very unhealthy way, distracted and obsessed with the gift of tongues?

Why?

Because they felt that it was the “mark” of a genuinely spiritual person.

What does Paul say about this spiritual gift (in chapter 12 and here)?

A) “Tongues” comes from the Greek work, “Glossa” which refers to the actual muscle (tongue) and also “language” or “speaking.”

It’s clear, in the NT, that Paul understands the gift of tongues to be...

“A language inspired by the Spirit and not a noncognitive, nonlanguage utterance.”

It’s not just meaningless babble....which is apparently what many in Corinth and many today think it is…just nonsensical babbling that is supposedly a “spiritual language.”

It is a GIFT…now, some believe that the gift died out with the apostles…I believe, again, as I’ve said several times - I’m not going to limit God.

I believe God is going to gift people whom He chooses WITH the gift He chooses.

I do believe, too, that it there has been an unhealthy and unbiblical emphasis placed on the gift by many…you can’t learn it, you can’t teach it.

But it is unintelligible.

The purpose of “tongues” is PRAISE not REVELATION.

“Communion with God.”

There MUST be an interpreter.

Limited to a “few.”

NOT a sign of “true” Christianity or “spirituality.”

Limited to a “few.”

“Look at me!”

This was a very individualistic gift…it was a competition…it was to draw attention to the person.

And THIS is exactly what Paul is writing and warning against.

What does Paul say they should strive for?

Look again…he talks about the gift of prophecy.

2. Prophecy

“To proclaim a divine revelation…to speak on behalf of God.”

Not individualistic in focus but is communal.

A gift that any believer can have.

In short…when God gives insight, by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, into a matter - whether it be in the life of a person, according to Scripture...

Piper:

Prophecy is a regulated message or report in human words usually made to the gathered believers based on a spontaneous, personal revelation from the Holy Spirit for the purpose of edification, encouragement, consolation, conviction or guidance but not necessarily free from a mixture of human error, and thus needing assessment on the basis of the apostolic (Biblical) teaching and mature spiritual wisdom.

Foretelling vs. “Forth”telling

Paul says that this is the gift that is to predominate worship…why?

For the building up of believers and as a witness to the lost - it builds up the church through exhortation and consolation and convicts unbelievers and leads them to repentance and worship of the one true God.

“Prophecy has the potential to penetrate the innermost sanctum of an unbeliever’s soul with the laser light of divine judgment.

It presents evidence that causes the individual to be scrutinized, exposed, and convicted of sin or of the truth.

It calls the individual to account.

In this case, prophecy must be gospel proclamation.

Paul says that Christian prophecy causes the unbeliever to experience an overwhelming sense that they are in the presence of God.

This happens in a house church, not a grand temple, and it happens through the instrument of simple people articulating God’s power and love in simple language without pomp and circumstance or spiritual fireworks.

What are exposed are the secrets that are buried like splinters in the hidden recesses of the heart and that one hopes no one else will discover.

Prophecy lays open these secrets and heals them, though it might be a painful process.

In a society concerned about external appearances, the message rips away the camouflage used to hide who one really is.

It unmasks secrets but also reveals the one who loves and accepts them even when they are fully exposed.

This prophetic scrutiny of inner thoughts, conscious and unconscious, leads to the recognition of God’s presence.”

NEED A GOOD ILLUSTRATION

Must be measured against Scripture.

vs. 29 - NOT INFALLIBLE

3. WOMEN SPEAKING IN CHURCH

WHY DOES THIS MATTER?

WHY IS PAUL ADDRESSING IT?

OUR CORPORATE WORSHIP - HOW WE WORSHIP, WHAT WE SAY, WHAT WE DO - MATTERS.

PAUL SAYS, IN VS. 33, THAT GOD IS NOT A GOD OF CONFUSION.

HE’S NOT A GOD OF CHAOS.

HE’S A GOD OF ORDER.

DOES IT MEAN THAT WE HAVE A “SCRIPT?” DOES IT MEAN THAT WE ARE RIGID AND THAT THERE’S NO FREEDOM OF FOLLOWING THE SPIRIT’S LEADING?

THAT THE “ORDER OF WORSHIP” IN THE BULLETIN IS THE INFALLIBLE, INSPIRED, UNCHANGING GOSPEL?

NO!!!

HERE’S WHY IT MATTERS…HERE’S WHAT MUST HAPPEN WHEN WE GATHER TOGETHER FOR WORSHIP…3 THINGS QUICKLY:

JESUS must be exalted.

Believers must be edified.

The lost must be evangelized.