Alba 3-1-26
EDIFY, EXHORT AND COMFORT
I Corinthians 14:1-19
Two Sunday's ago before the sermon I played the song “This Love is Mine” by the Booth Brothers. Because the sermon was from the thirteenth chapter of I Corinthians, the love chapter, it seemed appropriate. Also I like the song a lot. It is a beautiful tune and well done by the Booth Brothers. But I know that some of the words seemed muffled and difficult to understand. Whether it was because of the recording or the player, I'm not sure.
But so that you can have a better understanding of what the song was saying, I will give the words to you now.
“A living flame forever burning, An endless road that has no turning, The love of God will never die, And it reaches to such as I. I can't explain how God could save me. And I can't explain the love He gave me, But still its real. It lives today, And it never will pass away.
“This love is mine I know it, He gave His son to show it. He lifted me from depths of darkness, To walk in light divine. A love that has no ending, All other love's transcending, Forevermore with joy I'll tell it, This love is mine.”
Good words right? Isn't it so much better to understand what you are hearing? That is the main point of the fourteenth chapter of First Corinthians. Lets look at the first five verses of that chapter. Here is what they say: “Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.”
Here we are given a comparison of two spiritual gifts, tongues and prophecy. And while the apostle Paul says, “I wish you all spoke in tongues”, he immediately says that he would prefer that they prophesied. He states that the reason is that to speak in a tongue, that is to speak in another language, people may hear you speaking but have no understanding of what is being said. God will know, but the congregation will not, unless there is an interpretation given.
In verses seven and eight Paul uses the example of musical instruments to make his point. Without a distinction of the sounds, he says, who can tell what is being played. And if an army is waiting for a signal to go to war, an uncertain bugle blast will cause confusion. Then in verse nine he says, “So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air.”
In verses 18 and 19 Paul brags a little and says, “I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all; yet in the church I would rather speak five words with my understanding, that I may teach others also, than ten thousand words in a tongue.” And in verse 12 he tells them, “Since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.”
In verse five we are told that edification or strengthening, exhortation or encouragement, and comfort are what gives a blessing to the congregation of believers. And prophecy, not tongues, is what does it. This chapter begins reminding us that everything should be done in love. In verse one it says we are to “pursue love”, run after it, make it our goal. If we do that in the things we do and say, we will bless the church.
After saying “pursue love” it says to “desire spiritual gifts”. And why is that? Well a main purpose for spiritual gifts is for the church to be edified, built up, strengthened. Prophecy provides edification for the church. What does it mean to edify? Well this analogy may help: Think of an edifice. It is a structure, a building, especially one of good size built up giving an impressive appearance. It is not just a run-of-the-mill building. There is purpose to it. It stands out among others. As Christians we are to build each other up to bring the best out of each other. In other words, edify.
This is not the only place in scripture that the apostle Paul deals with spiritual gifts and their purpose.
Look at Ephesians 4:11-16. There it says: “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
So we must be careful in what we choose to do or to say because as Paul says in I Corinthians 10:12, “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify.” For the Corinthians, they were still worried about whether they could eat meat from the pagan marketplace for fear that it could be connected to pagan worship. So Paul says he could do it, but first he would consider how it would affect other Christians. If it didn't edify others he would change his behavior.
I wonder if there is anything that any of us are doing that may be lawful in and of itself, but if seen by another Christian could cause them to go down a wrong path. It is certainly something for each of us to consider.
It also should cause us to consider the words that we say. We may tell people, “I am a Christian”, hoping to encourage others to have faith. But if the same mouth that claims to be under the banner of Jesus uses His name, or God's name, indiscriminately to express surprise, or even worse, as a curse, where is the edification? We've lost it. And we loose credibility as Christians. Remember, not all things edify.
The God given gift of prophecy has as its purpose edification by helping people to understand God's message to the world. But there are times that a simple positive message is not enough to edify or build up one another. Sometimes it takes a word of exhortation. Prophecy also provides exhortation. To exhort means to urge strongly. Other words that can be used interchangeably with exhort are the words summon, beseech, entreat, or encourage. It carries the idea of admonishing with some urgency.
So if a child is reaching for something on a hot stove, you quickly say, “Stop, you are going to get hurt.” Or if the child is wandering too close to the street, you say, “Come back, there is danger there.” So using the gift of prophecy in words that can be understood not only builds up, it also warns.
There are many warnings in scripture. There is danger if we take the wrong action. That is why the call to repentance is front and center when a decision is made to come to Jesus. It is the first step of faith. To miss that step is to stumble. We often pray for revival, but it will not come without a deep desire to turn from sin to God. That is when revival happens.
In Acts chapter two when the people heard that Jesus whom they had crucified had risen from the dead and is our Lord and Messiah, the words pierced their hearts, and they asked what should they do. The first thing they were exhorted to do was to repent of their sins. Then, after that, they were to be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of their sins. That day 3,000 people were baptized into Christ and the church began.
By the way, that was the day that the gift of tongues was given. In Acts 2:6-8 it says that the people “were bewildered to hear their own languages being spoken by the believers. They were completely amazed. 'How can this be?' they exclaimed. 'These people are all from Galilee, and yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages!'” (NLT)
After listing 14 different countries represented among the people gathered there they exclaimed in verse 11, “And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!” Tongues were used that day to bring the prophetic message of hope and love that comes because of Jesus who died on that cross and rose again. And it was a message that they understood. That is why 3,000 people responded that day.
But not everybody is pleased to hear exhortation. Because it is a call to come away from the danger of sin. John the Baptist called people to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. And he was very specific in what he told them they could and should do. He even pointed out the sexual sin of Herod the tetrarch who had taken his brother's wife to himself as well as other evils Herod had done. Eventually Herod had John imprisoned and beheaded because this.
Does that mean that we should avoid exhortation? No. The words of scripture make it clear that those who want to go to heaven need to leave sin behind. We do no one any good to say otherwise. Listen to how Paul is exhorting the Corinthian people in II Corinthians 5:20, “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.” And in Ephesians 4:1 is another exhortation. Paul says, “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.”
If someone gives you a call to walk in closer harmony with the Lord, do not be angry. Instead, if it is well-meaning and given in love, pay attention. It could keep you from harm.
Words in another language, or words that are not understood, will not edify or exhort, but prophecy can do it. Also prophecy provides comfort. The message of the gospel when understood is a message of comfort and hope. First Thessalonians 5:9-11 tells us “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.”
And 1 Thessalonians 4:17-18 says when the Lord comes again, “Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” When the message of salvation is clear and understood, it brings comfort.
Jeff Strite tells this story about his Dad: My Dad was what was known as “a rounder.” A man’s man. Hard worker, hard fighter, and a hard player of baseball and basketball. He was attractive to women and he loved to go out and dance. Now, its not that dad was a stranger to church (when he first met mom, he kissed her behind the furnace in a church basement). He wasn’t unfriendly to church, it’s just that God held little interest for him. He didn’t need God to run his life.
After he married mom, they settled down as married couples did. Mom, a deeply religious woman, never failed to go to church, but Dad always had work to do. And - well, church wasn’t all that important anyway. But after awhile, mom’s church going got to bothering him. He accepted the idea that he might go to hell, but the idea of being there without the woman he loved troubled him.
Jeff said: Dad finally decided to force mom to avoid church. He asked her if she would feel comfortable in heaven if he were in hell. Now, Mom was the quiet type of Christian who didn’t try to force her faith down dad’s throat, but now she had the opportunity to address his need. How would she respond?
She thought for a couple of moments and then asked him: “Lowell, would you really feel comfortable if I were in hell with you?” The simplicity of her response led Dad to change his way of thinking, and he turned his life over to Jesus. Why? Because hell wasn’t a comfortable concept to him especially when it came to someone he loved.
Jeff's mother used simple words that reached the heart of her husband and it changed him. Prophetic words, God's words, clearly spoken can build and strengthen faith. They can turn people from evil and wicked ways. And when taken into the heart, bring a comfort that this world cannot give. So Paul says, speak in tongues if you will, but it will be better if you speak plain words that edify, exhort and comfort. That is what will bring blessing to the church.
CLOSE:
A woman went to court and told the judge she wanted a divorce. “Do you have any grounds?” the judge asked.
“Just two acres,” she replied.
“That's not it, lady. I mean, do you have a grudge?”
“No, we park the car in the front of the house.”
Frustrated, the judge continued: “Does your husband beat you up?” She replied, “No, I get up before he does.”
“Then why do you want a divorce?” the judge asked. “Because,” she confessed, “we just don't seem to be able to communicate.”
If you are not talking the same language, there will be misunderstandings. That is why God has preserved scripture down through the ages so that we can hear and understand His message of love and mercy.
And in His Word He calls us to Himself.
