Gifts are Made to Give - 1 Corinthians 14

If you have your Bibles, please open them to 1 Cor 14

One quick announcement as we get started. Next week, we are having our first official youth event in over a year. Next week, on Wednesday, we are having a Nerf Night here at the church.

It’ll be during our regular time for YG, but if you are able to come early to help set up, that would be great! Be here by 4

Tonight we are continuing our time in our series called ‘Messy Church.’ Every church is messy, because it is full of sinners. But make no mistake, though church life gets messy because of sin, the church full of God’s people who have been redeemed, and we have been called to love our brothers and sisters no matter how messy things get in the church.

So far, Paul has addressed division, sexual immorality, idolatry, and most recently he has been addressing the order of the worship gathering. Today we will finish the section of Paul’s letter where he is calling the Corinthians and us to order.

If you would, please stand for the reading of God’s Word.

1 Corinthians 14:26–33 ESV

26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 27 If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 30 If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

Let’s pray

Free Jazz

I love jazz. Back when I was in high school, I was a major band nerd. I took every music class that I could take, but my favorite music class was Jazz Band.

Jazz in an interesting genre of music though, because it is quite broad. Jazz has all kinds of sub genres

there’s swing jazz, cool jazz, there is fusion and funk. While there is a lot of variety in jazz, the fun thing about it is that all the instruments and vocalists are playing together. But there is also a unique thing about jazz in that all the different instruments get a chance to play a solo. During these solos, each instrument, and each musician expresses themself, and their uniqueness. But they don’t just do what they want, they play in a way that complements the rest of the band.

And I love each kind of jazz, except one....

There is a kind of jazz that in my opinion is the most obnoxious kind of music in the world. It’s called free jazz. Free jazz, is said to be the ultimate expression of freedom in music. Now if you’ve never heard of free jazz before, let me give you just a taste of what it’s like.

Play Free Jazz Music

If free jazz isn’t your thing, then worshiping with the Corinthians wouldn’t be your thing either.

You guys know how our order of worship goes. Especially on a Sunday morning, but even here on a Wednesday night. There is an order to our service.

That structure is very intentional, but there are some freedoms that we have. We can sing 2 songs, we can sing 5 songs, we can sing 10 songs. There can be a sermon for 30 minutes, 1 hours, there can even be a sermon that goes for 2 hours.

While there is freedom in what we do, there is a crucial component to our worship services that Paul reminds us of here. That is this;

Everything we do, must be done in love for the building up of the church.

But the Corinthians lacked this love. There were interruptions throughout the service, and multiple people would start speaking in tongues in the middle of the service even at the same time. So to correct this Paul says;

1 Corinthians 14:1–5 ESV

1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. 5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.

Over the last three weeks, we have been talking about the order of the church. In the church there is diversity and unity.

There is diversity in the kinds variety of gifts that God has given us all.

But there is also unity, in that we are all one body that is called to love one another.

So here in chapter 14, Paul takes these two ideas… the idea of diversity, and the idea of unity that is expressed in loved, and he brings them together.

For the Corinthians, they were pursuing some of the more miraculous gifts… gifts like speaking in tongues, and prophecy.

Speaking in tongues, means that they spoke in unknown languages. Speaking in tongues is an evidence throughout the NT that God is working through an individual in a miraculous way.

Prophecy is similar, in that prophecy is a word of knowledge that comes directly from God. But what sets prophecy apart from tongues, is prophecy can be understood, as God speaks to his people through a person in their own language.

The Corinthians were pursuing these gifts, and they believed, that the more mysterious gifts were a directly related to how important they were. So even between prophecy and speaking in tongues, they preferred to speak in tongues.

But Paul flipped the script on them… He tells them that what is greater than speaking in tongues, is to prophecy, because prophecy can be understood by the rest of the church and will build them up in Christ.

This is what I want us to see.

1. The pursuit of spiritual gifts must be joined with the pursuit of love for others.

The Corinthians wanted the more miraculous gifts, because they wanted to be seen as super spiritual…

Now, all should be pursuing spiritual gifts. We should all look for ways to be actively involved in the church in one way or another. That’s what Pastor Josh M preached on a few weeks ago.

And some of you are doing that, and if so, great! Keep it up!…

If not, then talk to your small group leader about this after the sermon, or talk to me, and let’s find a way to get you serving in the church!

There are all kinds of ways to serve. Brian and I were talking the other day saying we want to get you all serving on the worship team. Many of you are already serving in the sound booth, others still serve in the kids on Sunday mornings, or help on the serve teams with setting things up, serving coffee, or by sanitizing the building throughout the services.

But simply pursuing serving for the sake of serving is not enough… Paul said in v 1

1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV

1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

Notice they are not to just pursue the gifts, but they are to pursue love!

and why prophesy? instead of tongues?

1 Corinthians 14:2–4 ESV

2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.

This is why last week Paul said,

1 Corinthians 13:1 ESV

1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.

Paul’s focus here is not on what gift we have. While Paul has in mind, tongues and prophecy, his major focus is on using those gifts for the good of the church!

So bring it to how you are serving the church today.

If I am here preaching because I like to be on the platform, and I am not preaching because I love you all, then my preaching will be like free jazz.... it’ll obnoxious!

If the youth staff are serving, because they think that somehow them serving gives them a greater authority over others instead of it being done in love, then their serving misses the heart behind serving the church.

If you all serve, by cleaning, serving in kids, serving in the sound booth, or by playing music, or any other activity, but it is done without love, then you are entirely missing the point of your gifts! Your gifts were given to you so that you might use them to bless others! God has made you in a unique way… you are different from every other person in the room. His has given you distinct gifts that he hasn’t given to others. And he has given them to you so that you might give them to others. Gifts were are made to be given.

But the Corinthians have missed this point. They think that their gifts were given to them to make themselves stand out among all the rest in the church. Their gifts caused them to be puffed with pride. So Paul continues,

1 Corinthians 14:6–9 ESV

6 Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 7 If even lifeless instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played? 8 And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle? 9 So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air.

If the tongues cannot be understood, then who is it benefiting?

Paul says, it is no like a lifeless instrument… He talks about a flue and harp, but it can be any instrument…

Speaking in tongues is like having a drum set on the stage without any drummer… a drum set without a drummer, adds nothing to the rest of the team

Or consider having a bass player on Sunday play the entire service while he was muted… If no one can hear him, then what purpose does he serve on the team?

So too, if no one can understand the person who speaks in tongues, they offer nothing to love and build up the church.

Paul continues,

1 Corinthians 14:10–11 ESV

10 There are doubtless many different languages in the world, and none is without meaning, 11 but if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker and the speaker a foreigner to me.

Every language has a meaning Paul says. But if the language can’t be understood, the language fails to serve its purpose!

A few years ago, I had to go the the doctor because a spider bit my leg… it was pretty bad, my leg was turning red all around the bite, and my muscle was so sore that I could barely walk on that leg. My wife Sarah went with me to the doctor, and as soon as the doctor found out that Sarah was a nurse, the doctor stopped talking to me about my leg, and instead Sarah and the doctor proceeded to talk medical talk. I felt like a child, because I couldn’t understand a word that they were saying.

You know how parents talk around young kids? Today Johny asked me for some C. A. N. D. Y.... they do this so the kid can’t understand

So too, I couldn’t understand a word that the doctor was saying. While her words had meaning, they were meaningless to me.

So it is with the one who speaks in tongues. If the words cannot be understood, then what good is it to the church? With this in mind Paul says;

1 Corinthians 14:12 ESV

12 So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.

And how will the gift of tongues build up the church if no one can understand them?

1 Corinthians 14:13–19 ESV

13 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. 15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also. 16 Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say “Amen” to your thanksgiving when he does not know what you are saying? 17 For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being built up. 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.

What is Paul saying?

2. Edification comes through understanding.

While Paul is specifically talking about speaking in tongues, there is far more that we could apply to this point.

Take reading the Bible for example.

In case you didn’t know, the Bible was not written in English… The OT was written in Hebrew, and the NT was primarily written in Greek. God’s infallible and perfect Word was written in a language that none of us can even understand. So does this mean we should spend time reading the Greek NT instead of the ESV, or the NIV? No… If we did that, none of us would be able to understand anything that we were reading!

This is why we have such wonderful Bible translations! The reason we read the Bible in english, is because edification comes through understanding!

Or consider any sermon that I preach.

There are multiple goals that I have when I preach a sermon. The first goal I have, is to be faithful to the text. Trust me, none of you want to know what my ideas are. I’m quite uncreative best, and even at my worst, my wisdom is plain foolishness. But God’s word is perfect! So this is why we spend so much time in the Word. We are people of the Word, because faith comes from hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ.

So my first goal is faithfulness to the Word. But that’s not my only goal when I preach. My second goal is to preach with clarity so what I can can be understood! I could preach out of the KJV instead, and I could use words that none of you know, but how would that benefit you?

The purpose of preaching is not to impress the congregation with the preachers vast knowledge. Rather, the purpose of preaching is to help God’s people understand his Word, because edification comes through understanding.

But what does it mean if someone does not understand God’s Word?

Paul continues,

1 Corinthians 14:20–22 ESV

20 Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. 21 In the Law it is written, “By people of strange tongues and by the lips of foreigners will I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord.” 22 Thus tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers but for believers.

Paul’s point here is that unintelligible speech is in fact a sign of God’s judgment. If we hear God’s Word, and are unable to understand what is said, either the preacher did a poor job, or God has hidden himself from the wise. And if God has hidden himself, and has stopped the ears of unbelievers from hearing and believing, then they will not be saved. This would be God’s judgment, but this is not the preacher’s goal.

So Paul continues and corrects the Corinthians foolish thinking.

1 Corinthians 14:23–25 ESV

23 If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25 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.

We want people to hear the gospel through the Word of God, so that they would be convicted of their sins, so that they can repent and be saved. We aim for understanding so that we can lovingly call sinners to repentance so that all who believe might be built up in Christ!

Edification comes through understanding… and so the worship gathering should be structured in a way that can be understood.

Our goal is not to sound like free jazz! Rather, we the worship gathering is to sound like a jazz band that is playing a unified song that can be enjoyed by all who hear it.

With this in mind, Paul gives us the kind of order that we should strive for in our gatherings.

1 Corinthians 14:26–32 ESV

26 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 27 If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 30 If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.

What Paul is describing is the very opposite of what was happening in the Corinthian church. Paul is describing order, and peace, rather than the Corinthians practice of disorder and chaos.

And what is the reason for our worship services having order?

1 Corinthians 14:33 ESV

33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints,

Here’s the deal. The gospel is God’s revelation of himself to the world who was lost and in utter chaos without him. Apart from God, the good order of creation comes undone. Apart from God, there is not peace, rather there is war. Apart from God, there is death and destruction. Apart from God, nothing is as it should be.

But God sent his Son into the world so that we would have peace!

Jesus came to die so that all of creation would be made perfect!

This is the gospel that we preach, and the our God of peace should be reflected in the way we worship him.

3. Our worship to God is to be done with order, because our God is a God of order.

This is what peace is… peace the state of order of all that has been undone. So your bedroom is peaceful, when it isn’t a mess with all your clothes thrown across the floor, rather it is peaceful when everything is put in order.

Our God is a God of peace, and order, and our worship should reflect this.

Paul continues with this peace in mind,

1 Corinthians 14:33–35 ESV

33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. 35 If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

It’s difficult to know why Paul brings this up at this point… he was just talking about speaking in tongues and prophecy and then gets to talking about women speaking. Likely what was happening was the women were interrupting the teachings of their husbands in the church and disrupting the peace and order that was supposed to exist in the church gatherings.

1 Corinthians 14:36–39 ESV

36 Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? 37 If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. 38 If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. 39 So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.

Paul’s point is this. Order comes from God’s word. And as such we ought to listen to Paul who has the authority as an Apostle to tell us what God has said. And so we ought to earnestly desire the gifts that God has given to the church so that we might use them for the building up of the church.

Let’s pray.