“Lesson’s on orderly worship!”
1 Corinthians 14 - pt 14
Opening Illustration: The 7 wonders of the world - clip
Thesis: Paul tells the Corinth church to eagerly desire the speaking gift of prophecy for it builds up the church and to not forbid speaking in tongues for it has its place in worship too. Both speaking gifts used properly build the believer up and encourages their relationship with God.
Scripture Text: 1 Cor. 14
1Follow the way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially the gift of prophecy. 2For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God. Indeed, no one understands him; he utters mysteries with his spirit. 3But everyone who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, encouragement and comfort. 4He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 5I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be edified.
6Now, brothers, 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? 7Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the flute or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? 8Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? 9So 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. 10Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. 11If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a foreigner to me. 12So it is with you. Since you are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel in gifts that build up the church.
13For this reason anyone who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret what he says. 14For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. 15So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind. 16If you are praising God with your spirit, how can one who finds himself among those who do not understand say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since he does not know what you are saying? 17You may be giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified.
18I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. 19But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.
20Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. 21In the Law it is written:
“Through men of strange 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.
22Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. 23So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? 24But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, 25and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”
26What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church. 27If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. 28If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.
29Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. 30And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. 31For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. 32The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. 33For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.
As in all the congregations of the saints, 34women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. 35If 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.
36Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? 37If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. 38If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored.
39Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. 40But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.
Introduction:
Define the two gifts from Wagner’s book on gifts:
The Gift of Tongues: definition
The gift of tongues is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ (a) to speak to God in a language they have never learned and/or (b) to receive and communicate an immediate message of God to His people through a divinely anointed utterance in a language they never learned.
Mark 16:17: 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;
Acts 2:1-13: 1When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? 9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11(both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”13Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
Acts 10:44-46: 44While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. 45The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. 46For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God.
Acts 19:1-7: 1While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”
3So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”
“John’s baptism,” they replied.
4Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. 6When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7There were about twelve men in all.
1 Cor. 12: 10, 28: 10to 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… 28And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
1 Cor. 14:13-19: (see above)
The Gift of Prophecy: definition
The gift of prophecy is the special ability that God gives to certain members of the Body of Christ to receive and communicate an immediate message of God to His people through a divinely anointed utterance.
Luke 7:26: 26But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.
Acts 15:32: 32Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers.
Acts 21:9-11: 11Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’”
1 Cor. 12:10, 28: 10to 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… 28And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration, and those speaking in different kinds of tongues.
1 Cor. 14:1-40: (see above)
Romans 12:6: 6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.
Eph. 4:11-14: 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
14Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
The two speaking gifts are defined for us so we know how and why they function in the Body of Christ. They are appropriate for a service but they need to be kept in balance so the church is built up and edified.
I. The proper use of the gifts prophecy and tongues in a worship service.
a. What is the fitting and orderly way to use these two gifts in a worship service?
i. We should eagerly desire the gift of prophecy because it communicates the love, the comfort and the encouragement that the church needs.
1. The gift of prophecy also edifies and builds up the body of Christ.
ii. The Gift of Tongue’s does not build up the church because it only edifies the person speaking in it.
1. It is communication – it is speaking in a spiritual language with God others but the problem in a public service arises when others cannot understand what is being said.
iii. Paul compares the two gifts and tells the church that he would rather see them prophecy than speak in tongues in a public worship service.
1. The insinuation from Paul in this section is that everyone was speaking in tongues in the service. Therefore no one could understand what the other person was saying- this became the problem in the Corinth church.
2. Prophecy on the other hand is better in a worship service because the words or understandable and then they will edify and build up others in the service – WHY because they understand what you are saying.
3. But you can speak in tongues in a public service as long as there is someone there who can interpret what you have said.
a. Azusa Street example – tongues and the interpretations that occurred according to one Jewish reporter.
b. Quote from Justin Martyr 150Ad, "If you want proof that the Spirit of God, who was with your people, and left you to come to us, come into our assemblies, and there you shall see Him cast out devils and heal the sick, and hear Him speak in tongues and prophecy."
b. The gift’s are always in the control of the individual whom possess them– the two gifts are never out of control! We personally can control the gifts God has given us and we are to do so.
i. “For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.”
1. It is obvious from some within the Body of Christ today that they want to abolish the gift of tongues but doing so has caused division and dissension within the church of Jesus Christ.
2. Many have done this because people used their gifts in a disorderly way and caused problems for church leadership.
ii. Quote from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Glossolalia#Speaking_in_Tongues_in_Christian_Traditions: Christians have been know throughout time to have the gift of “speaking in tongues”. There are certain Christians that do not believe that speaking in tongue is a gift from God. Skepticism amongst Christians have become the result of splitting the church or preventing members, that practice speaking in tongues, from being promoted to certain positions in the church. According to the Washing Times 10/20/06, Southern Baptist International Mission Board says that they will no longer appoint missionaries who use a “private prayer language”. Therefore, if private prayer language is an ongoing part of his or her conviction and practice the candidate has eliminated him or herself from being a representative of the IBM of the SBC. This is one example of skepticism in result of speaking in tongue. Acts 2:1-21 describes the Feast of Weeks; when the Apostles and other followers were gathering in a house in Jerusalem when the Holy Spirit descended upon each of them. The Apostles began to speak with other tongues and other men from other nations were able to understand the Apostles in their birth language. The part of the audience was in amazement, other followers in the audience said that the men were drunk. Even then there were skepticism, a lot of people seem to be most skeptical because not everyone is able to speak in tongue or able to understand the language. The Feast of Weeks is one of the first reporting of men speaking in tongue. According to Tom Brown the Pastor of a church in El Paso, Texas says that speaking in tongues edifies oneself. In speaking in tongues it builds you up or recharges you. He also states that “those who believes in him will speak in tongues”. References: Brown, Tom (2006). Speaking in Tongues. retrieved October 31,2006. from http://www.tbm.org/tongues.htm (2006, October 23). Baptists renounce speaking in tongues. The Washington Times on the web. Retrieved October 30, 2006. from http://www. washingtontimes.com/national/20061019-111226-2628r.htm
iii. The enemy has used the gift of tongues to bring division into the body of Christ and this should not be allowed.
T.S. – There is a proper order to the using these two gifts in a worship service according to God’s Word. These the gifts are still operating today and I know they exist because I too speak in tongues and flow in both gifts.
II. My own experience of speaking in tongues and moving in the gift of prophecy.
a. My Testimony on the gift of tongues:
i. My first impression of the gift of tongues from Outreach Church.
1. “These people are wacked out!”
2. But it still intrigued me and spoke to my heart.
ii. How I received the gift?
1. I receive the gift at my conversion – I accepted Jesus as my savior and then the same ministers prayed for me to be filled with the Holy Spirit and I then began speaking in tongues.
a. No one told me what to say it just flowed out naturally or you could say supernaturally.
iii. How I use the gift?
1. I use the gift in pray time with God and at times during a worship service I will sing in the Spirit to God.
2. I never make a spectacle of myself but it’s a time for just me and god to fellowship together in the Spirit.
iv. I have also on rare occasions interpreted the gift of tongues for others who have used this gift in a service.
1. This has only happened a hand full of times in my ministry.
v. John’s comments to me as a Charismatic Catholic on night.
1. “A sign to the unbeliever”
2. I worked with a man in construction years ago who was Catholic and he went to Charismatic Catholic meeting where there was tongues and he told me that he thought it was the most beautiful language he had ever hear. He also referenced how the group at one point sang n the Spirit –in tongues and he felt the awesome presence of the Lord.
vi. Paul’s statement “I speak in tongues more than you all.”
1. This tells us that Paul had a prayer language which in most cases accompanies the Baptism in the Holy Spirit see chart from the book of Acts:
b. My Testimony on the gift of prophecy.
i. The first time God used me in this gift was at Outreach Church – I heard an inner voice say to me Mike share these thoughts with the people of God. I resisted and it burned inside my belly so much I finally had to say what was flooding into my mind in the service out loud.
1. I knew it was from god and I have learned to listen to this voice and to obey when this feeling comes on me.
ii. I do flow in the gift of prophecy and at times the Lord prompts me to say things to others – I felt that prompting this last summer at a church in Vermont.
1. I do see the gift of prophecy acting and rising up in my preaching as well.
a. Many over the years have come to me and said that what I spoke that day penetrated into their hearts and it was exactly what they needed to hear from God.
b. That is the gift of the prophetic functioning in a service during the preaching of the Word.
iii. How many recall my prophetic word to New Life – let’s re-read it today and discuss it:
The prophetic message to share with New Life Community Church for Nov. 5, 2006:
Illustration: SAVING THE SHIP, REMEMBERING THE PAST
"Their hair is gray, their shoulders are slumped and they walk with the shuffle of the aged. Their ship, a rusty antique, wallowed through the Atlantic, battered by a winter storm. For the elderly crew of LST-325, a creaking World War II troop ship that had been taken out of service in 1946, it was the last chance to recapture their youth--and to preserve their exploits for future generations. Ironically, the U.S. Coast Guard deemed the voyage from Greece to Mobile, Alabama unsafe. The same daring that lead these men to ignore deadly enemy fire lead them to ignore the Coast Guard warnings. The ship, now safe at harbor in Alabama, will be the first memorial to the heroism of the amphibious land craft crews. The crew of WWII battled ancient equipment, 110 degree heat, cockroaches, governmental regulations and the death of a crewmember to secure the old vessel and make it seaworthy. ’They tried to stop us at times, but we knew that we could do it.’ LST-325 will serve as a double-memorial to the men who served bravely under fire during the war, and then fought once again to reclaim her from the scrap heap." SOURCE: Bruce Howell. Citation: Newsweek, January 22, 2001, p. 12. Contributed by: Sermon Central
I read this story and the anointing of the Holy Spirit came over me in my office and revealed the following prophetic word to me. The Lord impressed in to my heart that I must share this with New Life’s community of believers:
* The church crew is being called to restore the rusty old ship – New Life has been called a rusty old ship but God is sending the crew to restore it as memorial to Jesus Christ.
* The ships is going to be put out into the sea to save the one’s drowning from the storms of life.
* The ship will require a lot of hard work to restore it for its mission to this county.
* The crew will be criticized for restoring the ship and putting it out to sea but do it any way.
* Some will die from the churches mission but it is the best way to go.
* But the ship will succeed in its mission and it will become a living memorial to the cause of Jesus Christ.
Here is more of what the Lord burned into my heart for New Life -- Nov. 5th 2006.
Mike the church must remember the past – this means understanding with the importance of Communion and its vital message – You must remember all the battles that were fought for the cause of Christ from the past! The Lord’s Supper performed by Jesus should take us to the past and remind us of the ultimate battle and its victory – (Note to congregation) “We have been reading about all the battles revealed in the book of Acts!” – The Lord reminds us that we must be willing to get into the ship and put it out into the sea so as to rescue those who are drowning from the storms of life. We must at New Life go to war against the enemy of Polk County and its people and see this county ignited for the cause of Jesus Christ.
The Lord is prompting my heart to say the following thoughts today: I believe this is what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to New Life Community Church today: I am going to speak as if the Lord is saying this because I really believe He is – so be prayerful and thoughtful to the messages and open up your hearts!
• I will help you save 1,000 of people from drowning in the flood of sin- if you keep a Spirit of humility and boldly share my Word with them.
• I will see to it that they are delivered from the bondages of drugs and alcohol.
This will be done by my power and by my Spirit.
This will be done not by human wisdom and understanding but by my delivering power.
For this to keep happening my name must be called the “The cure!”
• I will rise up men and women who will be my faithful witnesses in Polk County.
If you submit and resist the lies of the enemy 100’s will be raised up and sent out.
Stand for the truth and resist “The Bait of Satan” the spirit of offense.
• The schools in Polk County will experience the fire of my Holy Spirit.
It will burn through them like a wild fire! It will jump and cross over to all the schools saving many young people and delivering them from sexual immorality, suicide, drugs, alcohol, depression, sin filled lives and hopelessness.
As my young people share about me this will happen - if you remain silent then the fire will go out.
• Places of work will experience the consuming fire of the Holy Spirit as you my people share the power and the truth of my Word with your fellow workers.
You are to share the testimonies that will be birthed over the next year through this outpouring with your co-workers and it will melt their hard hearts.
My Word will flow from your mouths as you surrender it to me and speak for me.
My Spirit will empower you to start new Bible Studies and Prayer groups in these places of work.
• I will speak through my Word to their hearts and minds.
• I will answer their prayers as a testimony to my power.
You will say that as a testimony to all who ask - “The Lord Jesus has brought this renewal of lives to Polk County.” Yes, your places of work will be transformed and they will be revived for my cause and for my Kingdom.
If you refuse to share about what I am doing then my fire will go out!
• I will save 1,000 through this church and it will explode with new converts and with new people seeking and wanting more of my Spirit.
New Life will be filled with the power of my Holy Spirit.
• Services will be awe inspiring – my presence will be tangible!
People will come from far and wide and from other countries to have power encounters with me in these services – I the great “I AM!” will be touching – filling and empowering them as they come.
If this church becomes prideful or arrogant then my Spirit will depart this place because “I Am” the one doing the power encounters not you!
• I am to be the focus not individuals!
• I will open the door to the professionals in your community.
They too will be touched and set free.
• Their intellectual mindset will be infused with my truth and my love and my grace.
They will have heart transforming encounters with me and my holy fire will be set ablaze with in them.
They will be purified and empowered to serve for my Kingdom.
They will serve me and give from there abundance to finance this mighty move of my Spirit.
• All who give will be blessed in abundance and I will open up the flood gates of Heaven in their lives as they give sacrificially.
If this church fails to share the truth of my message with the professional community then the finances will dry up and the revival will burn out.
• Get ready New Life Community Church for I am going to unleash my Spirit through all of you today – it is coming as a mighty wind and as a fire from the Heavens – Open your hearts and receive it. Close your hearts and you will miss it!
• Today is the beginning of the NW Wisconsin Revival prophesied for this region for years at IHOP and at other places of worship and prayer --- this is the Day!
You are my witnesses!
You are the Acts New Testament Church!
Receive the Fire and the Wind of the Spirit!
The Lord told me to pause here and say “Prepare your hearts for His outpouring it will happen during communion – get ready!”
o Some need to repent of their sins.
o Some need to confess their unbelief.
o Some need to crucify the flesh.
o Some need to repent of the “Spirit of offense.”
o Some need to die to their pride.
o Some need to forgive others.
o Some need to go to others to clear the offense away and embrace the way of forgiveness.
Now when you are ignited you must go and boldly tell others that I love them and I have died for their sins. They must repent from there wicked ways and ask for forgiveness and I will heal them and this land of Polk County. Tell the officials, the newspapers, the media that I will do the following as a sign of my power:
Marriages will be healed and restored.
Men will return to their families to serve as Godly leaders to their families.
Divorce will be driven back in this county.
Suicide will be driven back in this county.
Families will be baptized and transformed together in the 100’s.
Those with criminal records and with a heart toward crime will be delivered and turned into model citizens of the Kingdom of God and of this society.
I am coming today as a flood into this county and I am rushing in like a mighty flood over the young, the middle aged and the old.
Churches will be planted trough this ministry and many planted throughout this county.
Godly leaders will be raised up in this county from this chosen ministry and sent to all regions of the world.
This will come to pass starting today and over the next year so get ready now – guard your hearts with my Word and with humility and surrender your life and your way to me this day.
Today I am pouring out my Spirit on you and I will give you the promised land of Polk County.
If you want more -- open your hearts and invite me to take root and to take control!
• You must invite me into your life and into your family for me to come in this new way. I am only coming in if I am invited!
• So ask me now to come to restore to heal and to deliver!
Congregational Prayer and reflection time: This is the time to confess, repent, ask for forgiveness, invite God to have free reign in your lives, and it’s the time to yield to God.
Then we will take communion together in reverence to the Lord as the Body of Christ once our hearts are in the right place.
Scripture text to read about the Lord’s Supper and the importance of remembrance -- I Corinthians 11:17-29:
The Holy Bible, New International Version.
The Lord’s Supper
I Cor. 11:23-29:
1Co 11:23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread,
1Co 11:24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
1Co 11:25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
1Co 11:26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
1Co 11:27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord.
1Co 11:28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.
1Co 11:29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
The Lord implanted into me and said that, “His Spirit is going to rush in like it did in Acts 2:1-13 on the Day of Pentecost”: Let’s be reminded of what this text says:
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Acts 2
Ac 2:1 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
Ac 2:2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
Ac 2:3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
Ac 2:4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Ac 2:5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.
Ac 2:6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
Ac 2:7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?
Ac 2:8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?
Ac 2:9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
Ac 2:10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome
Ac 2:11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!”
Ac 2:12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
Ac 2:13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine. ’”
The Lord told me to tell this congregation that we are to do what He said in Acts 1:8:
The Holy Bible, New International Version. Acts 1:8.
Ac 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
We have His power and we must use if for His glory and for the advancement of the Kingdom of God. We have been praying to be the Acts New Testament Church and we are so let’s go out this week and bring in the Harvest for Jesus! Let’s add to the church daily those who are being saved.
T.S. – My own life and testimony affirm the fact that these gifts are operational in the Body of Christ today and Paul makes it clear in this chapter that the gift of tongues is not to be hindered in a service.
III. Paul’s warning to not forbid speaking in tongues and to keeping order in the service (33-40).
a. The historical background on this section of Scripture
i. Women sat on the opposite side of the church as the men and would call out in the service to their spouses what the speaker meant by what he had just said.
ii. This off course caused a disruption in the service.
iii. Paul say women need to wait to ask their questions until they get home.
b. Why you should not forbid speaking in tongues?
i. See 1 Thess. 5:19
1. “Do not put out the Spirit’s fire!”
a. The most obvious reason.
ii. We are not to regulate the Holy Spirit and the gifts but use them for the building up of the church and for growth in our spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
1. Paul tells us to grow and to mature in Christ in 1Cor. 13 and in many other passages of the Bible. These gifts are designed to help us mature in our walk and our relationship with God.
c. Speaking in tongues has continued on through the history of the church and reveals why it is not to be forbid even today:
i. Early Church history reveals this gift as legitimate and being practiced (Following information quoted from website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossolalia#Church_History_.28A.D._100_to_500.29) :
1. For the prophetical gifts remain with us, even to this present time. (Justin Martyr, c.150)
a. Now, it is possible to see amongst us women and men who possess gifts of the Spirit of God. (Justin Martyr, c.150)
2. The early church Fathers also recount the lists of gifts of the Spirit recorded in the New Testament.
a. This is He who places prophets in the Church, instructs teachers, directs tongues, gives powers and healings, does wonderful works, often discrimination of spirits, affords powers of government, suggests counsels, and orders and arranges whatever other gifts there are of charismata; and thus make the Lord’s Church everywhere, and in all, perfected and completed. (Novatian, c.200-c.258)
b. For God hath set same in the Church, first apostles…secondly prophets…thirdly teachers…next mighty works, among which are the healing of diseases… and gifts of either speaking or interpreting divers kinds of tongues. Clearly these are the Church’s agents of ministry and work of whom the body of Christ consists; and God has ordained them. (Hilary of Poitiers, 360)[49]
c. Let Marcion then exhibit, as gifts of his god, some prophets, such as have not spoken by human sense, but with the Spirit of God, such as have both predicted things to come, and have made manifest the secrets of the heart; let him produce a psalm, a vision, a prayer -- only let it be by the Spirit, in an ecstasy, that is, in a rapture, whenever an interpretation of tongues has occurred to him; let him show to me also, that any woman of boastful tongue in his community has ever prophesied from amongst those specially holy sisters of his. Now all these signs (of spiritual gifts) are forthcoming from my side without any difficulty, and they agree, too, with the rules, and the dispensations, and the instructions of the Creator; therefore without doubt the Christ, and the Spirit, and the apostle, belong severally to my God. Here, then, is my frank avowal for anyone who cares to require it. (Tertullian, c.207)[51]
d. There were unorthodox movements that may have engaged in glossolalia. For example, Montanus was accused (by his opponents) of ecstatic speech that some have equated to glossolalia: He became possessed of a spirit, and suddenly began to rave in a kind of ecstatic trance, and to babble in a jargon, prophesying in a manner contrary to the custom of the Church which had been handed down by tradition from the earliest times. (Eusebius, d.c.339)[52]
3. 1265 - Thomas Aquinas wrote about the gift of tongues in the New Testament, which he understood to be an ability to speak every language, given for the purposes of missionary work. He explained that Christ did not have this gift because his mission was to the Jews, "nor does each one of the faithful now speak save in one tongue"; for "no one speaks in the tongues of all nations, because the Church herself already speaks the languages of all nations".[59]
ii. Throughout church history the gift has been spoken of and encouraged also from above website.
1. 1300s - The Moravians are referred to by detractors as having spoken in tongues. John Roche, a contemporary critic, claimed that the Moravians "commonly broke into some disconnected Jargon, which they often passed upon the vulgar, ’as the exuberant and resistless Evacuations of the Spirit’" [60].
2. 1500s - St. Francis Xavier, the co-founder of the Jesuit order.
3. 1600s - The French Prophets: The Camisards also spoke sometimes in languages that were unknown: "Several persons of both Sexes," James Du Bois of Montpellier recalled, "I have heard in their Extasies pronounce certain words, which seem’d to the Standers-by, to be some Foreign Language." These utterances were sometimes accompanied by the gift of interpretation exercised, in Du Bois’ experience, by the same person who had spoken in tongues. [61]
4. 1600s - Early Quakers, such as Edward Burrough, make mention of tongues speaking in their meetings: "We spoke with new tongues, as the Lord gave us utterance, and His Spirit led us" [62].
5. 1817 - In Germany, Gustav von Below, an aristocratic officer of the Prussian Guard, and his brothers, founded a charismatic movement based on their estates in Pomerania, which may have included speaking in tongues.
6. 1800s - Edward Irving and the Catholic Apostolic Church. Edward Irving, a minister in the Church of Scotland, writes of a woman who would "speak at great length, and with superhuman strength, in an unknown tongue, to the great astonishment of all who heard, and to her own great edification and enjoyment in God" [63]. Irving further stated that "tongues are a great instrument for personal edification, however mysterious it may seem to us."
iii. The latest outpouring of the gift surfaced in the early 1900’s – the following from the website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossolalia#Church_History_.28A.D._100_to_500.29).
1. The modern Christian practice of glossolalia is often said to have originated around the beginning of the twentieth century in the United States. The city of Topeka, Kansas is often cited as the center of the Pentecostal movement and the resurgence of glossolalia in the Church. Charles Fox Parham, a holiness preacher and founder of Bethel Bible College in 1900, is given the credit to being the one who influenced modern Pentecostalism. During what has been called a sermon by Parham, a bold student named Agnes Ozman asked him for prayer and the laying on of hands to specifically ask God to fill her with the Holy Spirit. This was the night of New Year’s Eve, 1900. She became the first of many students to experience glossolalia, coincidentally in the first hours of the twentieth century. Parham followed within the next few days, and before the end of January 1901, glossolalia was being discussed in newspapers as a sign of the second advent of Pentecost.
2. Parham now found himself as the leader of the movement and traveled to church meetings around the country to preach [in the terminology of that era] about holiness, divine healing, healing by faith, the laying on of hands and prayer, sanctification by faith, and the signs of baptism of the Holy Ghost and Fire, the most prominent being speaking in tongues. [64] [65] [66]
3. Word of the outpouring of the Spirit spread to other Holiness congregations. Parham wrote, studied, traveled, preached, and taught about glossolalia for the next few years. Parham and others who believed in or manifested tongues were persecuted from both inside and outside of the church. In 1905, he opened a Bible school in Houston. It was there that William J. Seymour became indoctrinated. It is notable that Seymour was black, and Parham was white. It is further notable that Seymour did not speak in tongues while in Houston.
4. When Seymour was invited to speak in Los Angeles about the baptism of the Holy Spirit in February 1906, he accepted. His first speaking engagement was met with dispute, primarily because he preached about "tongues" being a primary indication of the baptism of the Spirit, yet he did not himself speak in tongues. It was not until April that his preaching and teaching about glossolalia paid dividends, first to a man named Edward Lee, and later to Seymour. Similar to the experience of Parham in 1901, Seymour’s students received the ability to speak in tongues a few days before he did.
a. Headline about the "Weird babel of tongues" and other behavior at Azusa Street, from a 1906 Los Angeles Times newspaper (see picture below).
b. By May 1906, indeed only one month after the Great San Francisco Earthquake which was seen as an "act of God", Seymour was leading a major movement of the Spirit known as the Azusa Street Revival in Los Angeles. It has been characterized as an inter-denominational, inter-racial, inter-sex Pentecostal revival during a time in the United States in which women and non-whites were not afforded the same civil rights as white men. People from many denominations and races gathered daily to see and hear, to preach and pray, to sing and shout, and to speak in new tongues. Newspapers, clearly biased against the movement, reported the happenings as a wild and weird group of mostly "colored" people acting as if they were pretty disturbed, exhibiting behavior unheard of in most Protestant churches of the time: intense shouting, vigorous jerking, dancing, passing out, crying, howling, emotional outbursts, and speaking gibberish. Many religious leaders in Los Angeles and other places were quick to disparage the goings on at Azusa Street, informing their flocks that the new Pentecostal movement was (at worst) sensational, Satanic, Spiritualism, and (at best) too overly focused on the Holy Spirit instead of Jesus Christ. The matter of glossolalia was then (as it is now) hotly debated within the Church as being either heresy or exemplary and necessary for a spiritual rebirth in Jesus Christ.
c. Witnesses at the Azusa Street Revival wrote of seeing fire resting on the heads of participants, miraculous healings in the meetings, and incidents of speaking in tongues being understood by native speakers of the language. According to the first issue of William Seymore’s newsletter, "The Apostolic Faith," from 1906:
i. A Mohammedan, a Soudanese by birth, a [m]an who is an interpreter and speaks six[t]een languages, came into the meetings at Azusa Street and the Lord gave him messages which none but himself could understand. He identified, interpreted and wrote [a] number of the languages.[67]
d. Why some do forbid speaking in tongues -- their explanation – revealed and why I have refuted there explanation.
i. I Cor. 13:10
1. “But when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.”
2. There are those who use this verse to say that when the Bible became available in written form to all that the gifts of the Spirit passed away.
a. The equate perfect with God’s Written Word.
b. But the problem with this explanation then is that all the gifts should have passed away not just speaking in tongues!
i. We still see the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, prophecy and the like occurring within the Body of Christ today.
ii. We even see miracles happening in people’s lives and some are even documented by physicians.
iii. So the gifts are still operational in the Body of Christ today.
c. There is also the premise from this argument that we would be living in the perfect state of love – but I do not see that occurring in our world today.
i. I see a fallen depraved world which needs all the gifts and the love of Jesus Christ.
Conclusion:
God does have guidelines for the proper order of a service and we as the Body of Christ need to stay within the boundaries spelled out for us in God’s Word.
1. God uses the gifts in an orderly and proper order in His services.
2. Each of us needs to desire the spiritual gifts which are available to us today.
3. No one in the Body of Christ has the right to forbid the exercise of the gifts in a worship service if they follow the guidelines spelled out in God’s word.
