Sermon 011898
1Co. 14:1-12 Spiritual Gifts Exercised in Love Edify the Church 1/18/98
Series 23.28 ABCC
I. Review 606
q Chapters 12-14 give instructions on using sp. gifts in the church (11:18; 12:28; 14:4,5,12)
q Chapter 12 basically describes what & who is & is not spiritual – gifts & people (v. 1)
q Chapter 13 describes HOW (the way) the Christian is to use spiritual gifts = in love
II. Edification of the Church Must be our Goal When Using Our Gifts (v. 4,5,12)
Paul is not addressing all the spiritual gifts in this chapter – only contrasting tongues to prophesy. Every church probably has a dominant gift or ministry that people seem to gravitate toward & cause that local church to be out of balance. Therefore, all churches need to work hard at maintaining balance in ministry. Are we as a church out of balance? Are you as an individual believer out of balance?
A. The Christian needs the proper motive, zeal, priority (v. 1)
B. Public ministry must give high priority to the congregation’s ability to understand (v. 2-4)
1. Tongues = direct inspiration of an unknown language of mysteries between a speaker & God (v. 2)
The use of gifts in private devotion may be different than in public worship. Self-edification is necessary, but should be restricted primarily to private devotion & not public worship (v. 4a, Jude 20-21).
2. Prophecy = direct inspiration of a known language from God through a speaker to the congregation (v. 3)
¨ To build up, encourage & comfort Christians in Christ & with the truth (Heb. 10:24-25)
3. Tongues edify the speaker only unless interpreted; prophecy edifies the church (v. 4)
A speaker in the congregation (particularly a teacher or preacher) must not only strive to be intelligible (understandable language), but must also consider the age, education & background of the congregation in order to communicate & edify – word choices, sentence structure, analogies & examples.
Spiritual Gifts Exercised in Love Edify the Church, pg. 2
C. The church can profit only when we use our spiritual gifts biblically (v. 5-12; 1Co. 10:23)
1. Exercising the gifts of tongues & prophecy is good, but not equally profitable (v. 5-6)
2. We profit only when content is clear, distinctive, intelligible (v. 7-11) = heard, identified & understood
¨ The person playing the instrument or speaking understands, but the hearers do not!
3. Our zeal in using spiritual gifts must be directed toward abundant edifying of the church (v. 12)
The Christian must consider the good of the entire congregation – we certainly should not be satisfied with building up ourselves only. We must maintain balance – “Are we as a church out of balance?” – in my assessment, I would say YES! We are not out of balance regarding tongues & prophecy, teaching, sincerity in our worship. But I believe we as a church are out of balance with regard to ministry in love – and before you begin to vindicate yourself, remember that it is not sufficient to only be concerned with yourself; you must have concern for the health of the entire congregation. Do you come to worship service ready to worship & contribute? Do you see things in this congregation that need attention & correction? Do you personally know about members’ needs where you can be of assistance? On the other hand, are you satisfied with public ministry without any personal involvement in members’ lives? Are you satisfied to have yourself built up during times of worship & not others? Have you considered the person who had very little or no sleep, under extreme pressure…? Can we as a church say that in our ministry we are patient, kind, not jealous, do not brag & not arrogant…? I THINK NOT! My second question was “Are you out of balance?” This is most certainly an indictment against me. My life certainly is out of balance – therefore, many are not profiting; beginning with my wife…
