WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.080 If you're following the Black Church Bibles. 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:13.599 For quite a long time around the development sites down at West Ealing Station, all you could 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:19.760 ! see were hoardings. You might not come to the building up that way, but it's actually 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:23.719 ! the same really across the city. You see it in all kinds of different places and development 00:00:23.719 --> 00:00:29.280 sites where builders move in and they put up hoardings with pictures on them of what 00:00:30.000 --> 00:00:36.320 it's going to look like when the job is done. But for a long time, all you could see are 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:45.840 the hoardings. And then a day comes when you notice what's being built and eventually the 00:00:45.840 --> 00:00:52.640 hoardings come down and you realise there's something there. It hasn't just been pictures, 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:58.560 there's been work going on behind the scenes and now there's something to see. For months 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:03.520 and years the builders have been turning up and pouring concrete and laying bricks and 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:10.879 making a noise. And for a time there's really not been anything to see. But then there's 00:01:10.879 --> 00:01:18.879 a big old flurry, a big old fuss, the road is passable again and there it is, the construction. 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:24.719 They are finished, they move on, the builders, but there is a building there now. And the goal 00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:32.159 of all that they were doing remains. So they go somewhere else, their job is finished, but 00:01:33.119 --> 00:01:39.199 what they came to do has been left in their place. The Apostle Paul tells us this evening in 1 00:01:39.200 --> 00:01:45.280 Corinthians chapter 14 that that is what love looks like in the life of the church. 00:01:47.600 --> 00:01:57.040 Turning up, using your gifts, using your abilities, often in invisible ways, in ways that other people 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:04.560 never see, in ways that if a photograph was taken in that moment it would look like there was nothing 00:02:04.560 --> 00:02:11.840 going on. You can't always see what you're doing. Other people can't always see what's going on. But in 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:22.159 the end, you've built something. Paul started this section by talking about what it means to be 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:29.360 spiritual. Do you remember? Concerning spiritual gifts. Brothers 12 verse 1, it's actually concerning 00:02:29.360 --> 00:02:35.520 the spiritual or concerning spiritual ones. Here, we're going to turn to the topic now of what it 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:41.680 means to be spiritual, you Corinthians. Think that you are so spiritual. And he talked to them about all 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:47.760 the gifts that the Corinthian church possessed, but despite the huge gifting that they had received from 00:02:47.760 --> 00:02:54.240 the hand of God, they were off the mark. Because they didn't understand the vital importance of love. 00:02:54.240 --> 00:03:00.800 They really cared about what the gifts meant for them. They really cared about what the gifts meant 00:03:00.800 --> 00:03:05.360 for their status and what that meant about creating a group of people like them that could look down on 00:03:05.360 --> 00:03:11.280 others and that kind of thing. But we saw last time, if you were here last Sunday morning when we looked 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:20.320 at 1 Corinthians chapter 13, that apart from love, apart from those gifts being expressed and clothed in 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:27.199 love, they're just ending. The gifts of the Spirit without the foundational fruit of the Spirit, 00:03:28.639 --> 00:03:34.959 Paul says, are nothing. But this evening in 1 Corinthians 14, Paul tells us what it means to 00:03:34.959 --> 00:03:43.199 bring those two together. To exercise the gifts of the Spirit in the context of love. Look at verse 1, 00:03:43.199 --> 00:03:51.519 chapter 14, verse 1, pursue love and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts. And the pursuit of love 00:03:51.519 --> 00:03:57.439 demands that the gift that they should desire, he says, is prophecy. Do you see that? Especially that you 00:03:57.439 --> 00:04:04.959 may prophesy. Just as the fruit of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit are not equal, so the gifts 00:04:04.960 --> 00:04:13.120 themselves that God gives are not equal. Prophecy is held up as more useful because, and Paul refers to 00:04:13.120 --> 00:04:17.199 this six or seven times in the chapter, you'll have noticed as it was read, it keeps coming up, 00:04:17.199 --> 00:04:23.600 building up the church so that they are built up, so that the church is built up. He said that again 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:28.160 and again and again all the way through the chapter. We could say that that is the goal of what he's saying 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:33.840 here. What I'm going to talk to you about spiritual gifts actually has a construction, has something to be 00:04:33.839 --> 00:04:40.000 built up and created as a result of those gifts being exercised. It's not that one gift is good and 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:45.599 another is sinful. Do you see that? Paul endorses both. Look at verse 18, I thank God that I speak in 00:04:45.599 --> 00:04:52.399 tongues more than all of you. Verse 39 he's saying don't give up on your gift of tongues. But he's talking 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:59.039 about the church corporately. And the goal of the exercise of the spiritual gifts when the church gathers 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:06.080 is that something is built. That's what we're about when we gather Lord's Day by Lord's Day. 00:05:06.080 --> 00:05:11.439 It's like the developments at West Ealing Station. There is a building in the end. And in this case 00:05:11.439 --> 00:05:18.320 the building is not those huge towers that have appeared, but a healthy growing church. A church 00:05:18.320 --> 00:05:24.960 that is flourishing as God is at work among the many members with the many different gifts and all 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:31.919 coming together. Now I suspect the church in Corinth, people would have agreed with that goal. They 00:05:31.919 --> 00:05:37.120 would have said yeah we can see that. I want people to be encouraged and built up. But there was evidently 00:05:37.120 --> 00:05:42.399 confusion about how they were going to achieve that. And it seems they were fixated on the exercise of the 00:05:42.399 --> 00:05:48.159 gift of tongues. It's not that different today. In some circles I can introduce you to plenty of 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:54.560 Christians who think that unless someone speaks in tongues, they're usually spiritually deficient 00:05:54.560 --> 00:06:01.440 in some way. Tongues you see is a mark of authenticity. And if you have it you're in. If not, well you should 00:06:01.440 --> 00:06:06.080 desire it because it's really, really important. It is the thing that marks you out as being really under 00:06:06.080 --> 00:06:13.200 the favour and gifting of God. But Paul's point here is that there is something far better. He says that 00:06:13.199 --> 00:06:19.439 if you want to build something, if you want to build a church that is strong and healthy, and I hope that's 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:24.719 true of all of us. I hope that's what we want. I hope that is what we think we're coming to bring our 00:06:24.719 --> 00:06:30.079 gifts and abilities to do in the end. To build a church that is strong and healthy. Paul says love 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:37.279 demands. In the context of church life you prioritize prophecy over tongues. So what's going on there? 00:06:38.879 --> 00:06:42.639 Well before we get to the reasons for this we need to understand what he means by these two 00:06:42.639 --> 00:06:48.000 things. Verse 1, pursue love and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:52.879 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands him, but he utters 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:58.560 mysteries in the spirit. On the other hand the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding 00:06:58.560 --> 00:07:06.639 and encouragement and consolation. For one who speaks in a tongue. What are these tongues? Well it seems to me 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:13.839 amidst all of the confusion there are three broadly held views. The first is that these tongues are some 00:07:13.839 --> 00:07:18.959 kind of angelic speech. Now that would then assume that chapter 13 verse 1 if I speak with the tongues 00:07:18.959 --> 00:07:24.159 of angels he's talking about literal angelic speech. It's a kind of heavenly language that people on earth 00:07:24.159 --> 00:07:31.039 don't understand. That's one view. Another view is it's some kind of ecstatic speech. An expression of 00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:36.480 unintelligible words that give the speaker a sense of connection to God. Something that they do privately 00:07:36.480 --> 00:07:43.200 it's their way of communicating with God in this kind of ecstatic way. Second view. The third one is 00:07:43.200 --> 00:07:49.840 that tongues was other languages. This is what happened in Acts chapter 2 on the day of Pentecost where 00:07:49.840 --> 00:07:55.120 lots of people heard the gospel being spoken in their own language. It's the same root word here, 00:07:55.120 --> 00:08:00.320 the glossa word. These people were given the ability to speak in a language that they hadn't learned. 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:07.600 And they were given that gift in order to communicate the gospel across language barriers. 00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:13.840 Paul says that speaking in tongues here verse 2 is an exercise in mystery. And I think what's going 00:08:13.840 --> 00:08:18.480 on in Corinth is that the mystery is that the speaker is speaking a language that he doesn't know 00:08:19.200 --> 00:08:25.200 and neither do anybody else around him. In Jerusalem at Pentecost the speakers may not have known the 00:08:25.200 --> 00:08:30.640 language that they spoke but the hearers heard the language, understood it and believed the gospel. 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:34.960 I think in Corinth what he's talking about here is something where neither speaker nor hearer 00:08:34.960 --> 00:08:40.720 understands. Only God knows what is being said. And this is why verse 5 they need an interpreter. 00:08:40.720 --> 00:08:46.879 That's why he keeps talking about the need for interpretation. And this is why Paul would prefer 00:08:47.439 --> 00:08:54.240 prophecy. Now what's that? Prophecy in the Old Testament was a gift given to an individual who spoke on 00:08:54.240 --> 00:09:01.680 behalf of God. He brought God's word to bear in whatever setting. He was called to do that. And this is why 00:09:01.680 --> 00:09:09.039 the prophets in the Old Testament, their words were appreciated or followed by a thus says the Lord. God spoke 00:09:10.000 --> 00:09:17.440 through that person to the people. You get to the New Testament, Revelation 19, we're told that the spirit of 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:23.840 prophecy is the spirit of prophecy. So one of the angelic hosts says to John in Revelation 19, 00:09:23.840 --> 00:09:32.240 worship God for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Therefore, we want to get a 00:09:32.240 --> 00:09:37.360 definition of what prophecy is. It is speaking the word of God faithfully in order to point people to 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:43.120 Jesus. And then the goal of that is spelled out here in verse 4. Do you see? On the other hand, 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:50.560 the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 00:09:52.159 --> 00:09:57.840 So what is prophecy? It is speaking the word of God faithfully in order to point people to Jesus 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:02.080 so that the church is built up, encouraged and consoled. 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:11.120 How does that happen? It's all the work of the Holy Spirit. He can empower a man directly as he did 00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:17.039 with the prophets of old or he can gift a man to speak with authority from the Bible as he does today. 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:24.399 There is lots of debate about prophecy. Books have been written, disagreed with, 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:32.000 counter disagreed with and so on and so on. But most of the problems, I think, come because we have 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:39.440 flattened the road from Corinth to today. God communicated with first century Corinth in a 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:45.280 different way to how he communicates to us. Back in Corinth, they would have had the Old Testament. 00:10:45.840 --> 00:10:50.960 They would have had some of the gospels and they would have had an oral tradition. That is why they 00:10:50.960 --> 00:10:58.880 needed prophets. We are in a different time and at a different position, a better position. 00:10:58.879 --> 00:11:07.039 Because, do you remember what was said in chapter 13 about the perfect coming? Well, we live the other 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:13.120 side of that. We have the fullness of God's revelation in the Bible. We are able to know what God says simply 00:11:13.120 --> 00:11:21.039 by opening the scriptures and understanding them. There is no fresh revelation today. There are no prophets 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:24.639 today in the sense that there were in first century Corinth. 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:34.879 But there is prophecy in the sense that the Spirit gifts and guides someone through the Bible text. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:40.000 Context of the first century, the Spirit would have given the prophet, like say Agabus, 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:46.240 new words. In our context, the Spirit keeps the believer close to his words in the Bible. 00:11:46.240 --> 00:11:51.360 In both cases, those words have the Spirit's anointing. They have the Spirit's authority, 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:58.399 but they come by a different route. We can get ourselves all twisted up and fuss and fret over 00:11:58.399 --> 00:12:03.440 all that is going on and feeling, particularly in a pastoral way, feeling like we are somehow deficient 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:09.519 because we don't have what we think is going on here in Corinth, in 1 Corinthians 14, when in actual 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:15.120 fact, we have something far better. We have the scriptures. We have the words of God 00:12:15.120 --> 00:12:18.240 God with the Spirit's anointing and his authority. 00:12:20.159 --> 00:12:24.799 It is also worth saying that that is especially the case when it comes to what we're doing now, 00:12:24.799 --> 00:12:29.919 what I'm doing now in preaching. The Puritans were very strong on the connection between preaching 00:12:29.919 --> 00:12:36.240 and prophecy. William Perkins wrote a book on preaching that he called The Art of Prophesying. 00:12:37.519 --> 00:12:42.720 And when you think about how Paul describes the consequences of prophecy, back to that verse, 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:48.160 upbuilding, encouragement, and consolation, those are the same consequences of good preaching 00:12:48.160 --> 00:12:49.519 any time you hear it. 00:12:52.560 --> 00:12:59.200 So, I take it that tongues here are an unknown language and prophecy is speaking God's words 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:06.720 intelligibly. But to fixate on what those are, as so many people do when they get to chapter 14 here, 00:13:06.720 --> 00:13:14.639 is to miss the bigger pastoral point of the chapter, which is that love prioritizes prophecy over tongues 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:21.120 because prophecy, speaking God's words, pointing people to Jesus for their upbuilding, is what builds 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:28.480 the church. And it does that for two reasons. Here's the first one. It's because it's intelligible. 00:13:28.480 --> 00:13:33.440 That's what Paul is saying here. When someone speaks in tongues, unless it is interpreted, 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:40.080 no one knows what's said. Verse 2, for one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men, but to God, 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:47.759 for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the spirit. Paul, verse 6 says, this is of no benefit 00:13:48.480 --> 00:13:54.080 because like musical instruments that are just played or strummed or blown, if I was to go down 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:59.840 here and take one of these instruments and just bang away on the keys or pull one of those bows 00:13:59.840 --> 00:14:05.520 across the stream, whoever owns this, don't worry, I'll not do it. I can see you just panicking, 00:14:05.520 --> 00:14:11.920 like, don't, please don't do it. It would make a noise, but that would be all it was. It would be 00:14:11.920 --> 00:14:19.440 just a noise. There'd be no clarity. There'd be no tune. The bugle here that he speaks about, 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:24.160 that would have been the battle call. It wouldn't have been able to be discerned. What is the battle 00:14:24.160 --> 00:14:27.200 call? Somebody doesn't know what they're doing. They just blow into this thing. 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:36.160 If with your tongue you utter speech, verse 9, that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what's 00:14:36.160 --> 00:14:42.400 said? For you will be speaking into the air. There are doubtless many different languages in the world, 00:14:42.400 --> 00:14:46.080 and none is without meaning. But if I do not know the meaning of the language, 00:14:46.080 --> 00:14:51.600 I will be a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker a foreigner to me. 00:14:54.480 --> 00:14:58.400 Some of you will have personal experience of what Paul is describing here. 00:15:00.800 --> 00:15:06.960 You're trying to learn English, but you're finding it hard, and it's much easier to speak in your own 00:15:06.960 --> 00:15:10.800 language. But when you speak in your own language to people, they don't understand what you're saying. 00:15:10.799 --> 00:15:22.159 I find that often. What happens is both sides feel the difference. I'm told I'm speaking English, 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:28.159 but they don't seem to understand it. What ends up happening is that there's confusion. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:33.279 They don't know what I'm saying, what you're saying. You don't know what they're saying. 00:15:34.479 --> 00:15:39.759 Paul says it's like this with tongues. Unless those tongues are interpreted, in which case they become 00:15:39.759 --> 00:15:47.439 like prophecy. But prophecy builds up the church because it is intelligible. You can hear God's voice. 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:52.879 You can respond to what he says. You can easily know what it is that he's telling you to do. 00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:59.279 And since the church is not a forum, as we've seen again and again and again in this section, 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:05.200 the church is not a forum for people to show off their gifts, but rather a context to be built up in God's word. 00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:13.840 Prophecy should be desired above tongues. Or tongues used in order to prophesy with their interpretation. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:21.120 It's like Chris Kitchen learning Farsi in order to share the gospel and be understood among our Persian friends. 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:28.400 Point is that what happens in worship should be intelligible to as many people as possible. 00:16:28.399 --> 00:16:35.120 We can, of course, apply this beyond our worship services. When you think about your spiritual growth, 00:16:36.000 --> 00:16:40.799 when you ask God to mature you and to grow you up, do you pray for the ability to understand 00:16:41.120 --> 00:16:44.639 and explain God's word to others in an intelligible and edifying way? 00:16:47.439 --> 00:16:52.159 How will you be built up personally? Understanding God's word and it being 00:16:52.159 --> 00:16:59.279 applied to your life and taking root and bearing fruit there. How will you be a blessing and a 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:04.399 cause of upbuilding to others in the life of the church as you share God's word with them in an 00:17:04.399 --> 00:17:10.399 edifying way? This is what will build the church. This will leave something tangible when your time here 00:17:10.399 --> 00:17:18.319 is done and you move on. All of us are here at IPC Ealing for a time. Some of us will stay for a long time. 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:24.000 I hope lots of you will. For others among us, this is a season. I hope you're planning to invest your 00:17:24.000 --> 00:17:30.639 family and your life here for as long as you can. The more people who leave this group because their 00:17:30.639 --> 00:17:36.480 race is run, they leave, as it were, in a coffin, the better. Actually, for all of us. The more we stay, 00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:41.359 the more we serve, the better it is. But when your time has come to move on, whenever that might be, 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:49.039 you will want to have built something. You will want to leave behind men and women, boys and girls, 00:17:49.039 --> 00:17:56.319 standing for Christ because you spoke to them of Christ. Verse 2, for their upbuilding and their 00:17:56.319 --> 00:18:01.199 encouragement and consolation. Verse 19, for their instruction. 00:18:03.599 --> 00:18:07.679 So can you see as we go about this building project, prophecy is superior to tongues because 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:13.680 it is intelligible. But then secondly, it is also better because, point number two, it is accessible. 00:18:14.400 --> 00:18:18.799 It is accessible. When the church gathers, although we gather to worship God, that's the main thing 00:18:18.799 --> 00:18:24.000 that we do when we gather like this and we do what we do on God's terms, what is said needs to be 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:29.279 accessible to those who don't believe. Look at verse 20. Brothers, do not be children in your thinking. 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:34.480 Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. In the law it is written by people of strange 00:18:34.480 --> 00:18:38.400 tongues and by the lips of foreigners. Will I speak to this people? And even then they will not 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:43.360 listen to me, says the Lord. Thus tongues are a sign not for believers, but for unbelievers. 00:18:43.360 --> 00:18:48.319 While prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers, but for believers. If therefore the whole church comes 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:54.640 together and all speak in tongues and outsiders or unbelievers enter, they will not say that you're out of 00:18:54.640 --> 00:19:01.120 your mind. Will they, sorry, will they not say that you're out of your minds? But if all prophesy and an 00:19:01.120 --> 00:19:06.720 unbeliever or outsider enters, he's convicted by all. He is called to account by all. The secrets of his 00:19:06.720 --> 00:19:12.720 heart are disclosed and so falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:19.120 you. What's going on here? Well, the church thinks that it is tongue speaking that is a sign of 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:25.519 spiritual maturity. And Paul says it's the opposite. In fact, Paul quotes there from Isaiah chapter 28, 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:31.519 where God's people hearing languages they didn't know was a sign of God's judgment. God was judging 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:37.519 them by having the message come by language that they didn't understand because they weren't able to 00:19:37.519 --> 00:19:44.239 respond. It wasn't accessible to them. That was the way that God judged them. They were being overrun by other 00:19:44.240 --> 00:19:49.759 nations. They weren't able to understand and turn back to the Lord. And Paul says that tongue speaking 00:19:49.759 --> 00:19:56.079 in the church is like this. It is a sign of pending judgment on those who can't understand. 00:19:56.880 --> 00:20:03.400 And so think like some did at Pentecost that we're like drunk people. Prophecy, on the other hand, is 00:20:03.400 --> 00:20:08.559 accessible so people can hear. They can be convicted of their sin and so they can believe. 00:20:08.559 --> 00:20:14.639 If tongue speaking goes on in the worship service, what does that tell the unbeliever about the 00:20:14.639 --> 00:20:19.440 Christian faith? It tells them, first of all, that it doesn't make sense. But more than that, 00:20:19.440 --> 00:20:26.639 it tells them that they're excluded. That there's nothing here for them. It is, not to put too fine 00:20:26.639 --> 00:20:34.559 a point on it, a way of telling them to go to hell. But that's not what we want. It's definitely not 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:41.200 what we want. And it's not necessary. We want them to hear that there is no condemnation for those who 00:20:41.200 --> 00:20:46.480 bring the dark secrets of their heart to Christ. We want them to understand that God is merciful to 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:52.799 all and any who will put their faith in Him. We want them to know that God has grace in abundance 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:56.240 for any and all who turn from their sin to worship Him. 00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:07.039 Can you hear my voice this evening? If you understand what I'm saying, God is calling you. 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:17.440 Turn to Him. Receive the forgiveness that He is holding out to you and be reconciled to the God who made you for Himself. 00:21:17.440 --> 00:21:28.000 The God who made you longs for a relationship with you. You have broken relationship with Him in your sin. 00:21:28.000 --> 00:21:32.799 You've decided that it's better to live in God's world on your terms. That's the definition of sin. 00:21:32.799 --> 00:21:38.559 That's what we all do by nature. We take all of God's good gifts and we say, you stay out of the picture. 00:21:38.559 --> 00:21:43.519 I'm going to live my life in your world my way. And He didn't leave us to it. 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:50.400 He didn't let us head off and destroy ourselves. Instead, in His great love, He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, 00:21:51.599 --> 00:21:57.839 who came and He lived the life that we should have lived but didn't. He died the death that we deserved in our place, 00:21:58.240 --> 00:22:04.960 on the cross, and three days later, He rose again to defeat sin for our justification. 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:13.200 You can be reconciled to God right now in your seat if you will put your faith in that Lord Jesus. 00:22:13.519 --> 00:22:21.599 He is the one who has taken every sin on Himself. You can take your sin and you can put it on Him. It was paid for at the cross. 00:22:21.599 --> 00:22:25.680 We'll see that depicted beautifully as we come to the Lord's table in a few moments time. 00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:34.400 And if you put your faith in Him, He will forgive you completely and He will reconcile you to God. 00:22:34.400 --> 00:22:44.880 If you can hear my voice, I want you to know that there is hope for you in a world that desperately hungers for hope and His name is Jesus. 00:22:47.280 --> 00:22:53.200 I mentioned Isaiah a moment ago in the context of Isaiah. It was God's people who had turned their back on Him and were being judged. 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:56.960 In the gospel there is hope for those who have wandered away. 00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:05.279 Wherever you come from, whatever you've done in your life, this hope is for you. 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:13.340 And we speak plainly from the Bible because if that is you, we want you to be able to hear this and to come back. 00:23:14.160 --> 00:23:14.940 Come to Jesus. 00:23:16.000 --> 00:23:16.960 Come back to Jesus. 00:23:16.960 --> 00:23:21.519 If you can hear that invitation, He is the one who is calling you. 00:23:21.579 --> 00:23:23.160 It's not just me. He is calling you. 00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:24.759 So come now. 00:23:28.360 --> 00:23:29.160 What is said? 00:23:29.720 --> 00:23:31.799 When the church gathers, something will be built. 00:23:31.940 --> 00:23:33.799 It needs to be intelligible to the whole church. 00:23:33.880 --> 00:23:35.660 It needs to be accessible to the unbeliever. 00:23:36.420 --> 00:23:37.799 And it's prophecy that does that. 00:23:38.340 --> 00:23:42.500 Speaking the truth of God's Word, pointing people to Jesus in order that they might be built up. 00:23:43.779 --> 00:23:45.680 And Paul then concludes by getting practical. 00:23:45.799 --> 00:23:46.740 Look at verse 26. 00:23:47.960 --> 00:23:48.980 What then, brothers? 00:23:50.100 --> 00:23:51.980 Saying, well, what will this look like in practice? 00:23:53.460 --> 00:23:57.440 Well, it means then that these church gatherings will, thirdly, be ordered. 00:23:58.840 --> 00:24:02.000 Prophecy is better than tongues because it is intelligible and it's accessible. 00:24:02.799 --> 00:24:05.980 And when this is applied, it will mean that our gatherings are ordered. 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:10.059 Paul describes how the different gifts in the body will work. 00:24:10.579 --> 00:24:13.700 But that doesn't mean that everybody gets to play, so to speak. 00:24:13.700 --> 00:24:17.620 He outlines what will enable the church to be built up, verse 27. 00:24:18.319 --> 00:24:22.920 He says that this will happen through peace, verse 33, which comes, verse 40, through order. 00:24:23.600 --> 00:24:28.299 But all things should be done decently and in order. 00:24:28.299 --> 00:24:34.879 So in the context of Corinth, verse 27, when someone brings a tongue, they do so one at a time. 00:24:35.059 --> 00:24:38.740 With interpretation, verse 29, when a prophet speaks, again, it's one at a time. 00:24:39.220 --> 00:24:40.279 Tongues must be interpreted. 00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:41.740 Prophecy must be weighed. 00:24:41.740 --> 00:24:42.880 It's not a free-for-all. 00:24:44.059 --> 00:24:44.819 That's his point. 00:24:45.779 --> 00:24:47.420 Make sure whatever way this is working. 00:24:47.519 --> 00:24:51.259 And remember, this is a context that we're taking a principle from. 00:24:51.339 --> 00:24:53.359 We're not trying to replicate that. 00:24:53.500 --> 00:24:54.460 We move on from there. 00:24:54.519 --> 00:24:55.599 We've got the scriptures now. 00:24:56.200 --> 00:25:01.620 But it is interesting because Charles Taylor, the Canadian philosopher, has described our time as, quote, 00:25:01.680 --> 00:25:02.799 the age of authenticity. 00:25:03.620 --> 00:25:07.579 He's saying in our day and age, we prize about many things being authentic. 00:25:07.579 --> 00:25:11.720 And for us, to be authentic, we put a high value on spontaneity. 00:25:12.119 --> 00:25:17.139 We think if we're spontaneous, that's the real us, the truly authentic version of who we are. 00:25:17.679 --> 00:25:22.779 And we see this in the church when people don't just, well, they don't typically prepare. 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:26.799 They come and they say, I'm going to wait on the Spirit and see where he leads me. 00:25:28.099 --> 00:25:29.379 We call that laziness. 00:25:31.019 --> 00:25:34.099 But they say things like, I'm going to speak to you from the heart this evening. 00:25:34.099 --> 00:25:35.639 Or, you know, I haven't prepared anything. 00:25:35.640 --> 00:25:37.620 I just want to come to you from the heart. 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:41.020 But careful consideration about what to say. 00:25:41.580 --> 00:25:42.880 Order in worship gatherings. 00:25:43.259 --> 00:25:46.280 That's as authentic, that's more authentic than anything spontaneous. 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:52.140 And God speaks clearly, perhaps even more clearly, with carefully ordered and prepared sermons. 00:25:52.980 --> 00:25:57.640 With carefully ordered prophecy than something apparently spontaneous. 00:25:58.580 --> 00:26:00.820 And that is why, verse 33, look at verse 33. 00:26:00.920 --> 00:26:03.740 The spirit of the prophets is subject to the control of the prophets. 00:26:03.740 --> 00:26:07.599 Even when in the first century, the spirit of God spoke directly to someone. 00:26:08.799 --> 00:26:10.099 They control what is said. 00:26:11.500 --> 00:26:15.599 And this explains the charge in 34 to 35 about women keeping quiet. 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:24.880 So taking this wider section together, it seems that Corinth, there were some of the women were interrupting the speakers during the worship services. 00:26:25.079 --> 00:26:26.339 And Paul's saying that's a problem. 00:26:26.339 --> 00:26:32.579 Remember back in chapter 11 what he said about men and women and the created order that our gender reflects. 00:26:32.679 --> 00:26:34.139 This is the development of that point. 00:26:36.500 --> 00:26:41.179 So if you imagine I'm preaching here and my wife were to stand up and say, no, Reuben, that's wrong. 00:26:41.779 --> 00:26:43.139 Let me tell you what's right. 00:26:43.819 --> 00:26:46.359 It would be very awkward for a start. 00:26:46.359 --> 00:26:51.319 But more than that, it would not reflect the order of authority either in marriage or in the church. 00:26:51.979 --> 00:26:53.659 That's the point that Paul's making here. 00:26:54.639 --> 00:26:56.119 And that's what Paul wants to prevent. 00:26:57.500 --> 00:27:01.619 It seems to me that what was going on in the worship services in Corinth was a bit like the Wild West. 00:27:01.619 --> 00:27:06.919 And he's saying, don't do that. 00:27:07.039 --> 00:27:08.359 She can speak to you about it at home. 00:27:09.259 --> 00:27:11.839 Not in a way that disrupts the order of the worship service. 00:27:13.699 --> 00:27:19.899 Order provides the context for intelligibility and accessibility so that the church may be built up. 00:27:21.899 --> 00:27:24.859 But also because that order speaks of the one who stands behind it. 00:27:24.859 --> 00:27:25.779 The creator. 00:27:26.500 --> 00:27:27.239 The Lord of glory. 00:27:27.879 --> 00:27:30.039 The God of peace and order. 00:27:31.619 --> 00:27:35.079 So we can pull this together a bit. 00:27:35.899 --> 00:27:37.299 If you're still awake, well done. 00:27:38.819 --> 00:27:43.659 As you think about your involvement in church life, do you want to build something spiritual? 00:27:45.139 --> 00:27:46.719 Something that will outlast you? 00:27:48.059 --> 00:27:51.259 Well then, give yourself to edifying others. 00:27:52.639 --> 00:27:57.139 And join in worship that is intelligible and accessible and ordered. 00:27:57.599 --> 00:27:59.500 And play your part to the full. 00:27:59.500 --> 00:28:04.180 It might not sound or look outwardly impressive. 00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:06.319 But it is gatherings like these. 00:28:07.319 --> 00:28:09.380 Gatherings like what we are doing this evening. 00:28:10.180 --> 00:28:14.539 That down the centuries in the purposes of God have transformed lives. 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:19.099 Because it is in this context that the spirit works to bring people to declare. 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:20.519 God is really among you. 00:28:20.779 --> 00:28:23.599 And to bring them under his rule and care. 00:28:23.599 --> 00:28:29.219 And as Christ builds his church in this way, it isn't just lives that are transformed. 00:28:29.219 --> 00:28:32.779 But communities and even nations as well. 00:28:33.359 --> 00:28:34.559 It all ripples out. 00:28:35.599 --> 00:28:37.579 God brings us together each Lord's Day. 00:28:37.959 --> 00:28:40.319 And he works among us for our upbuilding. 00:28:40.599 --> 00:28:46.399 That we might go out and bring his word and the hope of his gospel into the world. 00:28:46.400 --> 00:28:52.400 And as individuals are changed and families are changed and communities are changed and nations are changed. 00:28:53.500 --> 00:28:57.480 This is all part of what we are doing when we worship in this way. 00:29:00.120 --> 00:29:04.800 Let's give ourselves to this and trust that God will do his work. 00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:05.940 Let's pray together.