Church is Gifted. We have just two more Sunday s to finish in our series in 1 Corinthians and todays message is called Church is Gifted!

Transcription

1 Church is Gifted INTRODUCTION (CHURCH IS) We have just two more Sunday s to finish in our series in 1 Corinthians and todays message is called Church is Gifted! CHURCH IS GIFTED We seem to spend a lot of time these days comparing ourselves to others, and social media is a great way to do that. To keep up with the Jones s you no longer have to snoop over the garden wall to see what they are doing now you just check their social media! But seriously, comparison is a real problem - when we look at what other people do and have and then weigh ourselves against that. That s not good. The Bible tells us there is nothing new under the sun, and it seems like the Corinthian Church seemed to fall into every comparison trap there was! When Paul was talking to them about the gifts of the Holy Spirit guess what? They turned that into a competition too! These guys! Which is the best gift? Which is the most powerful gift? Which gift do you have? Oh, you have the gift of prophecy, well, mine is better! On and on they went It was like pre-school all over again! Last week Sino introduced the gifts of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12 he did so well! and we saw that they are for everyone in the church! Church is for everyone. Amen?! 1

2 You don t have to be special to receive them. You just need to be a child of God. And together we are a body. Then a few weeks ago we also looked in the family service at 1 Corinthians 13 were Paul explained to the church that you can have fantastic powerful spiritual gifts, but if you are not operating in love you are just making noise. Too often we get too focused on the gifts and we miss the fruit. And church, we don t want to make that mistake. As much as we cherish the gifts of the Spirit, we also really value the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control. If you are not growing in the fruit of the Spirit you are just making a noise! Spiritual gifts without the love is like a sea without a shore. Like a moon without the sun like a desert without the rain like a burger without the bacon Spiritual gifts without the love is missing something really really important! (I thought about saying spiritual gifts without the love is missing something like a Australian batsman misses the ball but that would have just been mean so that s why I never said that!) But let s get into the passage today And here Paul begins by saying something very interesting thing to the church in Corinth with all their comparing and ranking gifts and he says, actually you are right there are some gifts that are better than others!!!! Wow, were the Corinthian church right about something? Let s look and see: 1 Corinthians 14:1 Paul begins by saying; Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. King of Kings - I want to remind you today that we follow the way of love. When it comes to the gifts we have to operate in love. But this verse also says eagerly desire the gifts of the Spirit! This is what the bible teaches us EAGERLY DESIRE THE GIFTS! (1 Cor 14:1) The Corinthian Church were right the gifts of the Spirit are to be desired they are useful and powerful. But the church were a bit warped in their view because they desired the gifts for their own glory and standing in the church, not for God s glory or for the benefit of the church as we will see just now. Paul then singles out one gift that he considers to be the one they should desire the most prophecy! Paul says eagerly desire the gifts especially prophecy! 2

3 Paul thinks highly of the gift of prophecy and he explains why it is greater than the gift of tongues. Follow along with me in verse 2 1 Corinthians 14:2 For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Question: Who are you talking to when you speak in tongues? To People, or to God? To God. Right. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. 3 But... the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. Question: What is the purpose of the gift of prophecy? Give me three things Strengthening; Encouraging, and comfort! Right. That is one of the tools I use to weigh a prophetic word is this strengthening? is this encouraging? is this comforting? But let s look on in verse 4; 4 Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. Paul is weighing up the differences here between the gift of tongues, and the gift of prophecy. And he is not against of either of them he just says they are different and have a different purpose Verse 5; 5 I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified. Paul here compares two of the possibly most controversial gifts of the Spirit prophesy and tongues. I mean, churches in the past have split over these issues. Which is so sad. Because they are described in scripture, and explained in scripture, and encouraged in scripture! Paul says; I would like every one of you to speak in tongues! And, on top of that I would rather you all could prophesy as well! Why did Paul consider prophecy to be the one more people should seek even more? Well, simply because it benefits more people than just the person who has the gift. Prophecy is a gift that results in a message for the whole church for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. Whereas tongues is only understood by God, unless there is someone there to translate. You see, the greater gift is not the one that is more spectacular or dramatic, or even more mysterious, but rather, the greater gift is the one that brings the most glory to God through changed lives. Paul goes on to elaborate on the differences in verse 6; 3

4 1 Corinthians 14:6 Now, brothers and sisters, Who are these brothers and sisters? They are the local church in Corinth! Applicable to us also - as the local church in Sun Valley! Now brothers and sisters if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? 7 Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? 8 Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9 So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 10 Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11 If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. 12 So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, Are any of you here today eager for the gifts of the Spirit? Good! Then Paul says try to excel in those that build up the church. Aim to excel in the gifts that build up the church! Aim to excel in the spiritual gifts that will strengthen the church community here at King of Kings, aim to excel in the gifts that will build us up that will grow us, mature us, develop us. Verse 13; 13 For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. 14 For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 15 So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding. 16 Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say Amen to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? 17 You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified. 18 I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19 But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. 4

5 Okay, so what do we learn about the spiritual gifts from this passage? Besides the fact that Paul says he speaks in tongues more than the whole lot of them put together! The context here is the impact of the spiritual gifts on the church, and on non-believers. So let s quickly talk about the gift of tongues. ABOUT THE GIFT OF TONGUES I seems appropriate to say a few things here. Seeing as we are teaching through the bible, and today, tongues is on the menu! I would not normally decide to preach on a subject like this, but this is the value of preaching through the books of the bible, and today we are led by the Lord to speak about the spiritual gift of tongues. So, you might be thinking to yourself what on earth is the gift of tongues! Well, there seem to be two types of gifts of tongues described in the bible; - One, like at Pentecost, in the book of Acts, when the Holy Spirit first came on the disciples, and they were able to speak in the geographical languages of all the people in Jerusalem. It s like we have the Spanish soccer side visiting our church, and I suddenly start preaching in Spanish! Never learnt it before, but suddenly I start telling them about Jesus in Spanish. That happened in the bible! I mean, all I know of Spanish is Hola Amigos! Then - The second is what Paul is describing here another kind of tongue, that is a way of someone s spirit speaking directly to God - that people around do not understand. This is a worship and communication gift between a person and God Which is why Paul adds: no one else is edified. It does not diminish the gift, but rather, it is not meant for the public worship space unless! there is someone with the gift of interpretation! So, tongues is not a bad gift it is rather a private gift, unless everyone there can benefit from an interpretation. So, how does this work here. Let s get practical! If you are praying in the spirit, softly to yourself, during worship, and you gently start praying or singing in tongues, that s awesome! I have no issue with that, but, if it s a little louder, and we all start to hear you, it goes from something that is private, to something that is public, and in that case, we would expect someone to interpret it for the church, because otherwise it s just awkward! No one knows what is going on, because no one knows what it means, plus, if we have a visitor with us they might think we are really really weird and not come back! Right!?! Now, there are some who question the validity of the gift of tongues in the church today. They claim a cessation, or a ceasing of some of the gifts today tongues being one of them. That is not my position. For me, it seems pretty clear in scripture that the gifts are still in operation in the church until Jesus comes again, plus I also speak in tongues myself. Something that I experience so to me, it s no big deal! But you know what, it is certainly not something that I think we should allow to divide us. If you have a different view God bless you. I think there are many more important theological issues for us to be united on. It would however be my firm conviction that we should never make someone who does have this gift feel rejected, 5

6 or repressed, or criticised. Church is for everyone, and if you have this gift, Church is for you! Amen? Paul continues in verse 20; 1 Corinthians 14:20 Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. 21 In the Law it is written: With other tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord. 22 Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24 But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, 25 as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, God is really among you! The point of it all is that we want to see God glorified, the church built up, and people s lives changed! When the gifts are operating as they should, according to these verses, people should be coming into church, becoming convicted of their sin, with the Holy Spirit laying the secrets of their hearts bare, resulting in people falling down and worshipping God exclaiming God is really among you! Might I suggest, that without the gifts of the spirit in the church, no one gets convicted of sin, no one falls down in worship, and no one recognizes the presence of God in church. Lot to think about there. Let s talk now a bit about prophecy. ABOUT THE GIFT OF PROPHECY Prophecy is the gift that Paul would love everyone in the church to seek it seems that in the Corinthian league table of gifts, Tongues was on top. But, Paul says to them that prophecy is a gift that the whole church can benefit from, and even nonbelievers coming in. Michael Green describes prophecy as a word from the Lord through a member of His body, inspired by His Spirit and given to build up the rest of the body. Prophecy needs to be a normal part of church life. I would argue that the prophetic is expected in the New Testament Church. It is expected. Acts 2:

7 17 In the last days I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams. 18 I will pour out My Spirit 20 Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. Amen. I want to emphasise God is saying through Peter here; I will pour out my spirit and they will prophesy. Prophecy is not dead! It is for all who are filled with the Spirit of God! The gift of prophecy, just like the other gifts of the spirit, is still completely valid in the church today. Amen?! In fact, not just valid. But it is expected. So King of Kings, do we believe that God speaks to us today? One of the ways He does this is through the gift of prophecy using His people to draw attention to issues, to strengthen, to encourage, to comfort. Chris Vallaton says; The primary purpose of the gift of prophecy is not to direct or correct the body of Christ, but rather to encourage the church. We should never allow people who are ministering in the gift of prophecy to speak negatively into the lives of others. The goal of the gift of prophecy is to bring out the best in people! We are to mine the gold that is among the dirt and to find hidden treasures in the lives of people. If we see negative things in the person's life we are ministering to, we are to ask the Holy Spirit to give us the answer to the problem we discern. Then we prophesy the answer - not the problem. This will result in the person we are prophesying to receiving grace to solve the problem that they are stuck in. For example, if we are ministering to someone and discern that they are struggling with pornography, the Holy Spirit will often give us a prophetic word for them something like this: "God is calling you to a new level of purity and holiness. In this way, we have prophesied the answer without speaking about the problem and have released grace to break the bondage of pornography. But let me share some stories from my own life which may be helpful to you. Early days Seminary days Immerse Friends: King of Kings, Connect, Melkbos My prophetic gift Paul now continues on the deal with some issues surrounding using the spiritual gifts in public worship. PUBLIC WORSHIP SHOULD BUILD UP THE CHURCH 1 Corinthians 14:26 What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. 27 7

8 If anyone speaks in a tongue, two or at the most three should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God. 29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30 And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31 For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32 The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace as in all the congregations of the Lord s people. GUIDELINES FOR TONGUES The way that I view this is if someone is just gently praying to God in tongues quietly during worship or even as a part of worship or they are singing in the spirit that does not require interpretation, but if it is loud, and public, and projected for the whole congregation to hear then it is not private it s public and it needs interpretation. So I simply ask myself two questions; 1 Is it private? 2 - Is it public? And that can just be someone saying; I have a sense that this is what that means for us Nothing crazy! It also seems from these verses that Paul expected a whole lot of tongues and interpretations in the early church so he says let s take turns, and let s keep it to two or three max! It seems like there was a misconception amongst the Corinthians that when you were empowered by the Holy Spirit you were you were out of control of yourself Paul says this is nonsense. There was no need for chaos and people butting in when others were speaking. They were empowered by the Holy Spirit not a bunch of disorderly crazy people! Paul then also talks about some guidelines for prophecy GUIDELINES FOR PROPHECY First up, let me say this. I think most people are more convinced of the devil s ability to deceive us through the prophetic, than they are confident of Jesus s ability and desire to bless and guide us through the prophetic. Can I read that again. Although I hate the expression; You don t throw the baby out with the bathwater I think it s so pertinent to the prophetic. The prophetic is a gift to the church, an incredible thing that we need to nurture and protect, and grow. Don t throw it out because of some unfortunate dirty, fleshly, manipulative experiences, bad bathwater that you experienced. But here are some practical hand rails which I think might help. 8

9 1 - The first rule of prophetic ministry is that it must always honor the written Word of God. We are people of the book, but also the spirit. The bible says of the Bereans that when Paul came to town, they Examined the scriptures to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11). Jack Deere says; The bible is the first test through which our subjective experience must pass. If my impression contradicts the bible, then I disregard it. 2 - Honour authority. 3 - Record it if possible. 4 - Ask permission to share. 5 - Be humble. Go easy with the Thus sayeth the Lord! 6 Practice. Try it out! Small group. The OT ground rules for prophets was 100% accuracy and was required upon the penalty of death (Deut. 18:20). The NT requires the prophets to judge each other s words (1 Cor. 14:29, 1 Thes. 5:19-21). 7 - Was any of that accurate or meaningful to you? Did it resonate? Hope that is helpful But in amongst this passage on gifts and how to behave in public worship Paul drops these three verses that have caused so much controversy and hurt in the church not that I believe that was ever what Paul intended. 1 Corinthians 14:34 Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says. 35 If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church. 36 Or did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? What is Paul saying here? That women should not take part in public worship? That they can t pray out loud or lead worship, or preach, or prophecy in the church? That contradicts what Paul says earlier to the church in 1 Corinthians 11 when instructs men and women what to do in the church when they are praying or prophesying. There are no limitations put on the lists of Spiritual gifts about gender (also no limitations on age I might add!) Rather, the context of this silence, in this passage we just read where silence appears here a few times - I believe it all has to do with order in the church. Good order. And I get what Paul is on about, because I like order! I like everything to be in 9

10 its place. Working properly! And I think this passage is less about women, and more about order. The talking of the women in this passage was not teaching in the church or leading, but rather speaking out and asking questions when it was not appropriate to do so - some even say that the tone of the talking in the Greek implies chattering or even heckling! I think the Hellanists were also notorious for this. And so, just like a person speaking tongues in public worship, without as interpreter is told to be quiet and the person prophesying when someone else receives a revelation is told to be quiet so are the questioning women Paul says, there is a time and place for learning if you want to learn the middle of a public meeting is not that place! If we ran a church service like we run our parliament in this country where anybody can just jump up and distract us, and side-track us, and cause major disorder that brings no glory to God. So Paul says it is all about what is beneficial for public worship what builds people up? What is good for the growth of the church? and also what would be the impact on an unbeliever witnessing the service? Remember, Paul has already rebuked them for their meetings in chapter 11; he said; 1 Corinthians 11:17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. Imagine if God said to us; King of Kings, I have no praise for you, your meetings do more harm than good! So, let me summarise and say this to all the ladies in the house As women, we value you, we appreciate you, we respect you, we recognize your spiritual gifts, and we need you. Your voices will not be silenced in our church, but we like our meetings to be orderly. Let s try finish this passage! Paul then goes back to prophecy and tongues 1 Corinthians 14:37 If anyone thinks they are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit, let them acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord s command. 38 But if anyone ignores this, they will themselves be ignored. 39 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40 But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way. According to these verses Let me ask you some questions 10

11 Question: Should we be eager to prophesy? Answer? Yes! Question: Should we forbit speaking in tongues? Answer? No! Question: Should everything be done in a fitting and orderly way? Answer? Yes! So let s try and wrap up this message. CONCLUSION The Holy Spirit gives gifts they are useful for building up the church but they need to be used in a way that is best for the church. Last week Sino introduced some of the spiritual gifts in 1 Cor 12 Let me read those to you to refresh your memory 1 Corinthians 12:6-11 There are different kinds of working but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. The Holy Spirit is a gift giver He is the one who decides which gift to give you. The purposes of the gifts are all the same to build up the church and God s Kingdom. They are to be a normal everyday part of church life nothing weird or out of order. Today our focus has been on some of the controversial ones - Prophecy, tongues and interpretation of tongues. But there are many other gifts: The Gift of Wisdom - this is the ability to apply God s wisdom to people s lives. The Gift of Knowledge this is the ability to know something through the spirit, and to help apply God s word to people s lives. The Gift of Faith Not salvation faith, but faith that allows some to live boldly and with confidence in God. The Gift of healing The Gift of miraculous powers The Gift of distinguishing between spirits the ability to discern between godly and evil spirits 11

12 This list of gifts is not exhaustive but I would exhaust you by going through them all this morning! There are many more gifts that you will find described elsewhere in scripture. What I want you to take away from today is that the Holy Spirit give gifts these are different from natural talents. But these gifts are given not to make you a super-dooper Christian, but rather for the building up for of the church. FINAL THOUGHTS ABOUT GIFTS; 1 - Remember to follow the way of LOVE 2 - EAGERLY desire the gifts 3 - Don t just seek the gifts, seek the Holy Spirit the gift giver. Henry Blackaby says; Many Christians are seeking the gifts of the Holy Spirit and not the Holy Spirit Himself. They want power but not a relationship with the one whose presence gives power. They want to do great things for God, but haven t understood that greatness in the Kingdom of God comes out of a relationship with Christ and the filling of the Holy Spirit. They re so enamored with self that they have no idea what is on the heart of God. If we seek the gifts of the Spirit and not the Holy Spirit himself, we ll always focus on self. We must learn that there are no gifts apart from an intimate relationship with the Spirit. 4 - A Spiritual GIFT is NOT a sign of Christian maturity - the FRUIT of the spirit is. Gifts are NEVER for selfish use but are ALWAYS for use in building up the BODY of Christ. A Christian CAN, however, exercise a gift from (of) the Spirit even in a backslidden state. (Gifts given are not often removed by God) I want to urge you to explore the gifts that the Holy Spirit has given to you you are a necessary and needed part of God s plan for this church. If you don t know what your gifts are a good starting point can be to do a spiritual gift assessment we can give me more information about that at the connect counter. Let s pray together. Ministry time for those who are seeking God s place for them in the church. Please note: I am a firm believer in not having to reinvent the wheel. When I put together a sermon I often borrow from many different sources; other sermons I have heard, commentaries, books, sermon notes from the Internet, podcasts etc. I try my best to mention whenever the ideas are not my own. Truth be told, there is probably absolutely nothing in this sermon that has not been preached before. If I have used your work, it was probably because I thought you had a super sermon! Feel free to use mine, I trust that it will be a real blessing. 12