Gifts of the Spirit 10: “Out of your mind?”
1 Cor 14:13-17. WBC 31/10/04pm
INTRO
Could have entitled this:
- how to make it last. How to make it bear fruit. How to make it count
Ever wondered how the same move of God, same Spirit… same touch in a service (etc) can produce such different fruit?
- Illustr: the church that has a genuine touch from God- but they just end up somewhat eccentric, closing even
o Or (eg) HTB: blasted- but 1000’s finding faith, growth, 125 staff
- Individual touched by the Spirit- but end up losing faith, leaving husband
o Or (eg) the many we know SO changed
Could give you many examples
Was it not the Spirit? Not the same Spirit?
- yes it was.
- BUT to make this stuff last.. produce the fruit it was sent for it takes more than just the Spirit
o (how radical is that!)
EXPERIENCE?
These guys were into experience. And NOTE- Paul does not knock it!
- he wants them to have them!
Their background was Greek mystery religions
- lots of ecstatic experience. Noise. Phenomena. Excitement etc
- to the detriment of the mind. It was the experience that counted. Had to have it
Actually: it’s not unlike today
- (hear me! I’m not knocking any of this. I want this AND MORE)
- v experiential Christianity
o “you must feel & experience God”
but don’t note the inconsistency of
• stacks who DON’T feel, as predicted
• later statements ‘don’t trust your feelings’
- the spirit of our age tells you- feelings are fact. Foundational
- so: ‘worship’ becomes ‘singing’ (rather than living, praying, obedience etc).
o you have worshipped God if YOU felt good
o (now- ‘corporate’ worship should be an experience! An encouraging one! But surely it should make God feel good?!)
- and think about it- how many new versions of the Bible are there now? Do people know it? Does it appear in our songs?
o Do people know foundational beliefs.. creed… basic bible stories?
1 hr Street Bible = excellent! Will be foundational for some!
Our question in life, corporate worship and Bible reading is ‘ what can I get out of it? How will it make me feel?’
Again- let me state- Paul’s and my intent (not putting myself on a par with Paul!) is not t diminish the excitement and experience
- rather to produce fruit and balance
- AND it is true to say we are not about to go off the deep end, here! We need MORE encounters, now less
- An encounter with God will make you feel!
Dr Martin Lloyd Jones “let us realise the profound character of the experience. This is not light and superficial and ordinary; it is not something of which you can say ‘don’t worry about your feelings’. ‘Worry about your feelings?!’ You will have such a depth of feeling that for a moment you may well imagine that you have never ‘felt’ anything in your life before. It is the profoundest experience that a man can ever know”
But encounter, experience, feelings is not the end… whole of it
- Paul says, here, (v 14) – if I only connect spiritually through the experience of tongues: I haven’t received the whole package
Oh! If only we could grasp this! You want the fullness of God, power, don’t you?
- Well- you have to know how to take it beyond spiritual encounter and experience
o How to make it count. Bear fruit. Thousand fold
EDIFICATION
You see- the aim… end…. here is not experience- but experience leading to edification
- to people ( the more the merrier) being built up
And that involves using the mind
You see- so many of our spiritual encounters can be impoverished because they are one dimensional
- something happens in our spirits. We connect
- but fails to lead to – obedience in the body, or transformation of the mind
Of course –it can be the other way around. A BIG failing in some circles is – faith becomes an academic exercise
- = ‘form of religion but denying it’s power’
- = Greek dualism
- = pretty puny as we pretty soon reach the limits of our puny minds in relating to God!
o Realise that ‘to go further I’m going to have to realise I can’t figure EVERYTHING out’
19 For it is written:
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."
1CO 1:20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
1CO 3:18 Do not deceive yourselves. If any one of you thinks he is wise by the standards of this age, he should become a "fool" so that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written:
But true worship, fruitfulness and Judaism involves the whole being
- body, mind, spirit
Are you aware that Judaism/Christianity are the only religions to value you as a WHOLE?
And the summary of the law of the OT is
DT 6:4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
- = your whole being. And just in case you hadn’t got the full picture, the NT brings out the full sense of it
MT 22:37 Jesus replied: " `Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
Doesn’t Jesus Himself say that true worship is in Spirit AND truth (Jn 4)
- this involves the mind
And look at the example of scripture and what bears fruit. Learn the ways of the Lord
- Moses goes up the mountain and has a dramatic, almost unequal, encounter with God. Face to face
o He comes down with 10 commandments
- Elijah and Elisha have dramatic encounters with God
o They start the ‘school of the prophets’ and start teaching them
- The Spirit comes at Pentecost, gives huge experience and publicity
o Peter stands up, explains what’s going on.. preaches
3000 saved
- the Spirit comes in ’94 and the Toronto blessing hits
o many churches are just left with chairs everywhere
some are still only doing that. Some became unhinged
o but HTB pushed the Alpha course and
end 93/ start 94- 200 courses, 4,500 attenders
end 94/95- 2,500 courses, 100,100 attenders
last year 27,340 courses 6M+ attenders
So- the most significant thing to come out of the Toronto blessing (for all it’s blessings and foibles) was Alpha… salvation, teaching, edification
- not the experience
- Do you see the principle?
o Spiritual experiences must be ‘grounded’ to bear fruit
So- the aim is.. the fruit is produced… when WE engage mind and Spirit
- a partnership. Balance
- isn’t this radical?! We have a part to play in determining the blessing of God
o I tell you- when the penny drops over this one, that’s a real intellectual experience!
o (let’s have intellectual experiences)
SPIRIT AND TRUTH
So- how can we apply this? How does Paul apply this?
Let me tell you what works for me! (makes me FEEL good. Tee hee!)
- when I’m singing songs- I consciously try to think about the words and engage my mind with the truths and object of my singing
o I sing the words to Him. Jesus!
That’s what Paul says, isn’t it? Sing with Spirit and mind
When I pray in tongues I sometimes ask God to give me a gist of what I’m praying
- it works! (anyone else do this?)
o try it. (try it, now)
In church we always ask God for this- so the maximum number are built up
- and (v23) we are very careful that people don’t think we’re off our trolleys
o that’s the key thing
o so- we could all sing in tongues, but then it is made sense of and it’s done in order
I read the Bible every day (with only the rare exception)- and I read it in and out of season. When I feel it. When I don’t.
- I read it because it is the word of God
- I read it and I try to understand it
o And I accept those bits I don’t (Like Revelation- even though I know the differing opinions. It will become clear!)
I read spiritual books, as well. Educational books
- I am SO enjoying my masters. Stimulated!
How else might we apply this?
- when the Spirit comes-look for ways to turn experience into edification (of self, and others)
o when the water is flowing- put down roots. Habits. Disciplines. Witnessing
ask God for character change. Salvation
o You know why the Pentecostal 1906 revival was so influential? Before any denominations, while on the floor- people went on the mission field!
- also- realise that no experience of God nullifies the mind
o might be beyond it
o but we are never to switch it off! Nor common sense
think about it: doesn’t this passage say that?
If you are uneasy about something- don’t suppress that! (remain open… but thinking!)
How else might we respond, tonight?
- we might say sorry to God for seeking emotional, spiritual, experiences- rather than emotional AND intellectual ones
- we might say sorry for not reading our bibles (or like a talisman)
o resolve to change that. Get some notes.
- we might own up to something intellectual the Lord has been saying for some time, but we thought it ‘unspiritual’
- we might change our attitude to worship
o to see it as ‘spirit and TRUTH’
Let’s see what the Holy Spirit has to say!
Response in words, ministry, song:
May the words of my mouth
Jesus, hope for the nations
I will worship
