1 Corinthians chapter 14. We're going to look at the first 19 verses of this chapter tonight. Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, that especially that you may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. For no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation. One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself. But one who prophesies edifies the church. Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy. And greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edifying. But now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I profit you unless I speak to you either by way of revelation or of knowledge? or prophecy or of teaching, yet even lifeless things, either flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not produce a distinction in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute or on the harp? For if the bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. There are perhaps a great many kinds of languages in the world, and no kind is without meaning, if then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me. So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church. Therefore, let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What's the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the mind also. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the mind also. Otherwise, if you bless or praise in the spirit only, How will the one who fills the place of the ungifted or unlearned say amen at your giving of thanks, since he doesn't know what you are saying? For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not edifying. I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all. However, in the church, I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct others also, rather than 10,000 words in a tongue. Lord, we come before you in awe of you, in awe of the divine truth you have revealed to us. And Lord, we ask in the name of your son that you would give us understanding of this, your word. We pray, Lord, that you would speak to us directly, that you would speak by your spirit and power in Christ's name. Amen. Converts in the church at Corinth founded around 51 AD. Now he's writing around 55, 56 AD. They'd received miraculous sign gifts of the Holy Spirit. These included a gift of faith through which to heal sicknesses and work miracles, a gift of prophecy, an ability to speak in languages they'd never learned or to interpret such language. Now Corinth was the only first century church which the New Testament explicitly states had received these gifts. But even those gifts had become a source of disharmony and disunity. Now, for the last two or three weeks, we've been looking at chapter 13. And there, Paul wrote explicitly of the superiority of love over the gifts of prophecy and the gift of tongues or languages. And he showed us love is the remedy for the divisions, for the jealousy, and for the strife that existed in Corinth. He said in verses 1 and 2 of chapter 13, that love will endure through all eternity. Gifts of prophecy and tongues will cease. Even knowledge will be done away. But love is eternal. Paul told the Corinthians that love is the one gift they should be seeking and valuing above all the others. And as we come into this discussion of prophecy and tongues tonight, I don't want us to lose sight of that. Now, in chapter 14, Paul shows the superiority of prophecy over tongues. He's already shown the superiority of love over both prophecy and tongues, but now he says prophecy is superior to tongues. And again, it's important that we define our terms. Prophecy in both the Old Testament and the New Testament is new revelation from God given to a person to deliver to the people or to a person. It's a gift which was intended to serve the people of God for a finite period of time. It's not eternal like love is. Christ the Messiah came in fulfillment of prophecy. And while he was on earth, he gave additional prophecies. So what remains now is the return of Christ and the final fulfillment of the kingdom of God and of the new covenant, which has been prophesied and is now set down in scripture. The prophecies All of the prophecies that we have been given are in Scripture. They're in the New Testament now. And some of the Old Testament prophecies still have a fulfillment that awaits. But when He returns and the consummation comes, all prophecy will be overtaken by fulfillment. Tongues was another gift given during the apostolic period, which enabled the recipient of the gift to speak a language or languages he'd never learned. This gift is mentioned only in Acts 2, which we read earlier, Acts 10 at Cornelius' house, Acts 19 in Ephesus. And it was given as a sign of the coming of God the Holy Spirit into the world. And it's also mentioned here in 1 Corinthians chapters 12, 13, and 14. It's mentioned nowhere else in Scripture. Now Paul, when he wrote chapter 13, was not seeking to diminish the value of prophecy or of tongues. Both of them served an important purpose of God for His people before the completion of the canon of Scripture. Paul's purpose was to show, now, the superiority of prophecy over tongues, and the superiority of love over both prophecy and tongues. These gifts, and all of God's gifts, are given by God to help believers in our earthly pilgrimage. Now, we're not given these gifts, but we are given many other gifts. So the length of Paul's treatment of the relative value of these two gifts here in chapter 14 shows that this was a very important subject to his readers. It had become a critical issue. From the way that Paul writes, it's not unreasonable to deduce that there were some in Corinth that held that this gift of tongues was more important than all the others. And there were some who felt perhaps even that those who spoke in tongues were superior Christians. And I trust we all know there are some in the world who make this same foolish claim today, that those who speak in tongues are a superior level or rank of Christian. Well, that's ridiculous, and it's entirely unbiblical. So Paul sought to correct the error in Corinth that overvalued tongues by showing that prophecy was the more fruitful gift for the church. Now we've been talking for 12 weeks now about these gifts. And the one thing that keeps coming up over and over and over again is the fact that the purpose of these gifts was the edification, the building up of the body of Christ. That's their purpose. 1231, Paul wrote that they should desire the greater gifts, but he didn't there specifically identify what were the greater gifts. But now, in chapter 14, in verse 1, Paul writes this, Pursue love, yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. especially that you may prophesy." Now, to pursue love, the word that's used here, diakēte, denotes something that must be done with intensity, persistence, perseverance, determination. That is, he's saying, pursue love with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Again, remember, these gifts were given by the Holy Spirit for the common good. And because prophecy, as we're going to see, edifies, builds up the church, it's better than tongues. And here's what he says in verse 2. For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men, but to God. So tongue speaking is directed to God. For no one understands. Someone speaks in some other language, nobody here is going to understand. Unless God has given somebody here the gift of interpretation. So no one understands, but in his spirit he's speaking mysteries, things we can't grasp. So Paul implies here that one who speaks in a language which is unknown to the speaker, speaks to God. He's not speaking to men as a prophet would, as a teacher would, as a pastor would, as a preacher would. And so this would mean that at least in Corinth, this gift of tongues was not among the teaching gifts. That's a big deal. That's important. Acts chapter 2, verse 4, the apostles spoke in unknown languages as the Spirit was giving them utterance. The Spirit of God is at work when someone is speaking in a tongue, in a different language. Acts 2, 8, people from many places who spoke all different languages were all hearing the apostles in their own tongue. apostles were speaking in many languages, languages they didn't know. Acts 2.11, they were speaking of the mighty deeds of God. So this is what we know about the speaking of the apostles in tongues in Acts on Pentecost. And the reaction of the people was this. It doesn't say they were edified. Acts 2.12, the people were amazed and perplexed. Amazed and perplexed. Now at the same time, remember, God is using all of these gifts for the common good. But there's nothing in 1 Corinthians chapters 12, 13, and 14 that would warrant a conclusion that the gift of tongues in Corinth was any different than what we find here in Acts. What's significant about what Paul writes here is that the one who is speaking in a tongue, an unknown language, is speaking to God. He's not speaking to man. If one speaking in a tongue does not speak to men, then the question becomes, what edification is therefore attached to the gift of tongues? Richard Lenski says, very little. And he's right, especially in comparison with prophecy. This gift didn't carry with it anywhere near the edifying value that prophecy did. And yet, it seems that in Corinth, There were many who held this gift of tongues in great regard. Apparently. Why? Well, it had a lot more of a show attached to it. I mean, this was something spectacular. He says, no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. He's speaking to God. No one understands what he's doing or what he's saying. He's speaking in the spirit. That means by a spiritual gift, most likely. And he's speaking mysteries, hidden things. Things, therefore, that do not and could not edify the church. He speaks what no one understands. Now that's what tongues was. That doesn't mean it had no value, because it did. And Paul will speak to that as we work through this. And again, in Corinth, as in Acts, it was the Holy Spirit who gave utterance to these things that were being said that were incomprehensible through this gift of tongues. Here's what Paul is getting at here in this passage. When one is speaking with tongues, there's no thinking that takes place. There's no thinking that enters into it. Normal mental powers weren't operating and governing the speech of those who were speaking in tongues. The human spirit was directly influenced by the Holy Spirit, we just read that in Acts 2, and was moved to speak these things in a different language. And the speaker, I don't know if you've thought about this or not, but if the speaker is speaking in an unknown language, and there's nobody there to interpret, he doesn't understand the words which he's uttering. And neither did anybody else, unless they happened to speak that language. So nobody else could understand him. So, some say, well then what value is this gift? Well some say this is apparently some sort of private prayer language. Some sort of private form of worship directed to God. But brothers and sisters, there's really no warrant at all in Paul's words for coming to that conclusion. He's not saying that. He says you're speaking to God and you're not edifying the church. That doesn't lead to a conclusion that says, okay, well, I guess this is some private. He's saying it isn't a very great value. Some say that speaking to God in a tongue was comparable to personal prayer. But what's the problem with that? What's the problem with that? That view ignores the fact that the person speaking in the tongue probably did not know what he was saying. You can't have a prayer where your mind is not engaged, and Paul will say that to us before we're done here. Everybody with me? What is true is that speaking in a tongue unknown to both the speaker and those who heard without interpretation, what did it communicate? Nothing. Didn't communicate anything. And what's Paul been talking about for three chapters here? Gifts of the Spirit of God exercised when the church came together for the edification of the body. And here's somebody speaking, nobody understanding, including the speaker. Now we're boxed in. What did speaking in these unlearned foreign languages contribute to the building up of the assembly of new converts in Corinth? Well, there's one thing they could do, and that's what it did in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. It could confirm the presence of the Spirit of God among them. a sign. These are sign gifts. It could confirm the truth of the gospel message that was being preached and taught. And as speaking in other tongues was a sign of the Spirit coming upon Cornelius at his house, and the God-fears who were with him, and as it was a sign of the Spirit coming upon the new believers in Ephesus, all Gentiles, the gift of tongues accomplished that same purpose in Corinth. Everything doesn't change in Scripture. Once something is identified and explained and defined, we don't just get to change it to suit our circumstances. So the gift of tongues accomplished the same things it accomplished on Pentecost. It confirmed the coming of the Spirit of God into the world. And it attested to the truth of the message they were going to preach. Now, the gift of prophecy, though, that was of greater value. And look at verse 3, Paul says, one who prophesies speaks to men for edification. A prophecy is spoken to men. Tongues are spoken to God. Anybody who prophesied in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, he proclaimed God's revelation. That's a prophecy. Prophecy in both Testaments often involved predictions of future events. And I know we can all think of many examples of that. But prophecy also served other purposes. When the Assyrians were coming and God was telling Isaiah to warn the people, repent of your unbelief and your disobedience. We had both some prediction, but we also had some other things. We had warnings. And here, Paul was stressing the non-predictive aspects of prophecy. And he's not talking about warning so much here. Here he's showing that prophecy edifies, exhorts. It was to admonish and console or comfort believers. It says it right out. The person prophesying spoke to men in their own language so they could easily understand The one who prophesied was fully conscious of what he spoke. He was using his mental faculties. And he was being given utterance by the Spirit. And the purpose of what he spoke was not to praise God or give him thanks, but to edify, admonish, and console the church. Edification. In Scripture, this refers to the growth and strengthening of the church and of the faith of the individual believers. How is this accomplished now? How do we grow? How does a church grow? The Word of God. The study, the reading of the Word of God, and the preaching of the Word of God. That's why we do these things. And we also edify one another through the worship of God, song, and through the fellowship with one another. It's so important. Encourage one another daily while it is still today. Don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together, but encourage one another daily. God often exhorted the Jews to turn from their idolatry and their unbelief and disobedience. And He admonished them. How? Through the prophets. Pick up any prophet and start reading. It won't be long before you see God admonishing the Jews, warning them of the consequences of their unbelief, correcting their faults. In the first century, He admonished Christians in the same way, through prophets like Paul, who received revelation from God. And now, again, our Lord accomplishes those same purposes through the reading and preaching of His Word. consolation or comfort. Paramathea. This deals with that which consoles every believer in our trials, in the midst of a hostile world, where we are assured in Paul's writings and in Jesus speaking that we're going to endure persecution and hardship and affliction in this life. This isn't paradise anymore. Adam got thrown out of paradise here. Paradise awaits. This isn't paradise. We're going to have these things. But God gives us His Word to comfort us, to console us. And at that time, before the Word was done, He gave them prophets to console them and to comfort them. So the role that was once filled by prophecy, which included not only revelation from God, but was itself edifying, admonishing, and comforting, is now filled by the preaching and teaching of the Word of God and by evangelism. Now verse 4, one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself. Is that the purpose of these gifts? One who speaks in a tongue edifies himself. One who prophesies edifies the church. Now I've been wondering for three days, how does a person who speaks in a tongue edify himself? I don't have a good answer. I'm not sure how that's even possible. Some suppose that Paul was resorting to sarcasm here. How can one edify himself by saying something he doesn't know what he's saying? Paul taught that the gifts of the Spirit were for the common good, not for the edification of self. These gifts should never serve the purpose of self-centered ambition or gratification. And so, if one knew not what he was saying, how could one edify himself? It would seem this could only be possible And then even remotely so, if he could also interpret. Can't understand what you're saying or what someone else is saying. You're not going to be edified. You're not going to be built up, encouraged by it. But there's a larger point here. Speaking with tongues offered no admonition to the brethren, no consolation to the brethren. And the fact that one speaking in tongues, now hear this, spoke to God, seems to pretty clearly take this gift out of the category of the teaching gifts. Paul gives us a couple of verses that seem to almost bring some confusion into the issue, but here, if it was a teaching gift, it could edify the church. But he says it doesn't. So, if the edifying value of tongues was limited, and it was, and there was no interpreter, there was no edifying value at all. So, it seems that there is some merit in the idea that Paul was speaking sarcastically here when he says, the one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself. Well, now in verse 5, And Paul seems to make a turn because he's going to speak a little more positively here about tongues. Now, I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy. Now, is there still a hint of sarcasm here? There may be. It's not clear. But why would Paul wish that all spoke in tongues, given their limited value to edify the church? Well, he might have been thinking back to that glorious day of Pentecost. Or what had occurred at Cornelius' house. Or what had occurred among those twelve believers, Gentile believers in Ephesus. Paul's own experience there in Ephesus. When the Holy Spirit fell and all were speaking in tongues as a sign of the Spirit's presence among them. God had shown Paul that all these gifts were given for the purpose that we keep repeating. But even more, Paul says, look at verse 5 again. Even more, he wished it all would prophesy. Why? Because prophecy brought new revelation from God. Prophecy brought the words of God to the people. When God speaks, we can rejoice. He's bringing us new revelation. And he speaks only truth. When a true prophet spoke, he spoke and brought divine truth. Now we have it in the Word. More prophecy would have meant greater knowledge of God, more intimate knowledge of God, more knowledge of the things of God, greater knowledge of the eternal purpose and plan of God. That's why he could say, I wish that you would all prophesy. Oh, the things we would learn, he was saying. So Paul said, and the simple truth is that prophecy was more edifying to the church because the people could understand what was being said. We probably could have said that at the beginning and just left it at that. Except that our purpose here is to hear the whole Word of God. But this is the point that Paul emphasizes now by illustrations in verses 6 through 9. He says, but brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I profit you? Unless I speak to you either by way of revelation or of knowledge or prophecy or of teaching. Now you could read this to say that when one speaks in a tongue, he is or could be bringing revelation from God or knowledge from God or he could be bringing prophecy in a tongue or he could be teaching through a tongue. But I don't think that's what he's saying. Speaking in an unknown language, Paul is saying, would only have been edifying if it had brought new revelation from God to the people, or if it had taught them by imparting divine truth to the people. But you see, this was not the function of the gift of tongue. Nowhere is that said. Lenski again, no revelation, knowledge, prophecy, or teaching were ever couched in the strange idiom of tongues. Those who spoke in tongues spoke to God, not to men, but they didn't edify. That's the key thing. So tongues were used only for prayers or blessings or praise, and they always called for interpretation. Paul was saying, if what I say cannot be made understandable to you, what am I doing? I'm just making a display of my having this gift. Chrisostom, 1600 years ago. I merely make a display of having the gift of tongues, tongues which ye do not understand, and ye will go away with no sort of profit. For how could you profit by a voice which ye understand not?" And Paul illustrates the truth of verse 6 here in verse 7 and following. Yet even lifeless things, either flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they don't make a distinction in the tones, how's it going to be known what they're playing on the flute or the harp? Imagine if we're just banging on the keys without playing some different notes that make a melody. If the bugle produces an indistinct sound, how will one prepare himself for battle? They'd blow the bugle. They had a battle sound. So also, he says, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken? You'll be speaking into the air. So in these verses, Paul is really zeroing in on the necessity of understanding what is spoken and of the gift of interpretation of tongues. Let me say it again. Remember, we're talking about gifts given for the edification of the church when it gathered together. That's what he's talking about. So what good was it for somebody to speak supernaturally in a language he didn't know and that those who heard him did not know unless there was somebody to translate? And that's the point he makes again here in this illustration of the musical instruments. Verses 10, 11, and 12, Paul makes it clear that the gift of tongues in Corinth was the very same gift that is described in the book of Acts. 1410, there are perhaps a great many kinds of languages in the world. No kind is without meaning. If then I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks a barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me. When I wrote my first notes on that, I thought, well, maybe he's talking about these kind of grunts that we see the barbarians and the Huns making when they're charging toward Rome. But no, that's not what he's saying. The Greeks classified all men in one of two categories. You're either Greek or you are a barbarian. Barbaros. Barbarian. That's any person whose native tongue is different than Greek. So we've got a picture of barbarians as these hordes of people coming from wherever. But he's just simply talking about somebody who speaks a language other than Greek. And Paul reemphasizes his point here though. No words in any language help build up the church unless they are understood. Again, I keep saying this over and over again because Paul keeps saying it over and over again. And this is what we must understand about tongues. We don't need to adopt a foolish, unbiblical understanding of this gift just because others do. So verse 12, "...so also, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts..." Now this is what he told them back at the beginning. Be zealous for these gifts. Desire spiritual gifts back in 1231. "...since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for..." What does it say, Ron? edification of the church. Paul is hammering home this point, and praise God that he is. At the beginning of this chapter, he urged the readers to strive eagerly for spiritual gifts. He did the same thing in 1231. Now, since you are striving eagerly for spiritual gifts, seek to use them for the purpose for which they were given, not for your own gratification. So though those miraculous sign gifts have passed away, what Paul wrote then is still applicable to us today. Whatever our abilities in this life, we must use them for the benefit of Christ's church, for the building up of His church, for the spread of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's why He equipped all of us with whatever gifts, whatever abilities He equipped us with, whatever talents He's given us. Paul's not done with this same point. He reemphasizes it again and expanded upon it here in verses 13 through 17. Where he gave instruction applicable to the use of all of the gifts of God, spiritual, natural, and otherwise. Therefore, he says, and this is a conclusion of all that's gone before, let one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. So it's useful, so it's edifying. For if I pray in a tongue, My spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. This is why you keep hearing me say, the one who's speaking this prayer, or whatever it might be, in a tongue, doesn't know what he's saying. And Paul says it here. If I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What's the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the mind also. I will sing with the spirit. And I will sing with a mind also. And that's why every word of every song we sing has to be gone over with a fine-tooth comb. Is this biblical truth that we're singing. Speaking or prayer or singing are all unfruitful unless there is understanding. In other words, the mind, though, must also be engaged. And that's what is the limitation on this gift of tongues. Calvin, if he's without the ability to interpret it as words, then let him pray for that gift. If it's not given, let him abstain in the meantime from ostentatious conduct. So Paul has indicated here that speaking with tongues was restricted to four things. Prayer to God, and we might break this down into two things, but prayer to God, singing to God, praising God, and giving thanks to God. Now we may give thanks in any of those other three. Prayer to God, singing to God, praising God, and giving thanks to God. Remember what the apostles were doing in Acts 2. They were speaking of the mighty deeds of God. giving praise to Him. One speaking in tongues does not speak of teaching, admonition, exhortation, or consolation. Paul never says that. Luke never says that in Acts. Understanding the things of God is the objective in the edification of the church. And that's true whether it's delivered through preaching, or teaching, or as it was then, by prophecy. The gift of languages was a gift of God, but remember why that gift was given in the first place. To confirm the presence of God the Holy Spirit and the truth of the gospel to the Jews gathered in Jerusalem. That's why it was given. To confirm the good news of forgiveness for the God-fearers as well and for the Samaritans. and for the Gentile believers in Ephesus. That's why it was given. It was given for the building up of the church. Until verse 14, Paul has concentrated largely on the value of the gifts to the whole church. But you notice in verse 14, he looks to the value of the gift, to the one exercising the gift. It doesn't really have any. unless there's interpretation. Paul sees it as a great fault if the mind is not occupied in prayer or in singing to God, whether in tongues or otherwise. Our mind must be engaged, folks, when we pray, when we worship, when we hear the Word of God preached, when we read the Word of God. Our minds must be engaged as well as our spirits. for his spirit to pray rightly, a man must use his mind. And Paul says when his spirit wants to sing joyful praises to God, he must do so with a full understanding of what he's singing. As the spirit and the mind must work together in praying, it ought to also be in tandem when we sing. We don't sing just to sing some songs. This is an act which we should reverently approach, full of awe of God, full of love in our hearts for what He's done for us, and sing out from our hearts to Him. Verse 16, Otherwise if you bless, and he's talking about praising God here, in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted or the unlearned, how is he going to say amen at your giving of thanks since he doesn't know what you're saying? This is the limitation, I should say, of tongues. You're giving a prayer and nobody understands what you're saying. How is he going to say amen? You're giving thanks well enough that the other person is not edified. You're giving thanks in your spirit. You don't know what you're saying, and the other person doesn't know. And not only might the speaker not know what he's saying or praying, but those who heard this language would not be able to, at the conclusion of the prayer, say amen. That's what they did at the conclusion of a prayer in the synagogue. And that carried over into the church. For the audience to utter a response of amen at the end of a prayer. A Hebrew term that's now in almost every language. Amen, amen. And it doesn't get changed. It's a Hebrew term that means, so let it be. It's a sign of wholehearted consent and agreement and approval of what has been said or prayed. We see it in Paul's epistles. Amen. But if they hadn't understood a prayer expressed in a language that was unknown to them, they couldn't say this. They couldn't join in the prayer. So his speaking in this unknown language was unfruitful. Because his mind wasn't engaged. Both for him, for the whole congregation. Because neither the speaker nor the listener is edified by unintelligible speech. Tongue speaking and the interpretation of tongues, I think we can see, were necessarily linked. For they were gifts of the Holy Spirit by which men spoke to God. And yet, they were meant and designed to edify the church. given so that men might speak to God, but that the church might be edified." He finishes here, I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all. And I think we saw last week, Paul seems to have received every one of these gifts. And there's evidence of that throughout the New Testament. He says he spoke in tongues. We see many of his prophecies. God gave him revelation. Jesus spoke to him several times. He healed some. He worked other miracles. He distinguished the spirit of the false prophets. So if the Corinthians had become proud of having received this gift, Paul says here, I speak in tongues more than any of you. But then look what he says. He says, however, in the church, I desire to speak five words with my mind, five words, so that I may instruct others rather than 10,000 words in a tongue. Now this is kind of an idiom, like we would say six of one, half a dozen of the other. We don't necessarily mean six and six. We're saying that two things are roughly the same. So this five is kind of an idiom, but he's saying, I'd rather just say a few words and be understood than speak all night and have no one understand what I'm saying. He again makes the point. It's far more important that the speaking gifts lead to understanding by the church and the building up of the body of Christ. And not merely be exercised, but be of no benefit to the body. Well some claim tongues and prophecy are still operating today. I think we all know there are those. And they're legion. But most of them say these gifts are different than they were in the New Testament. Why? Because obviously they're not the same as what we read in the New Testament. But the thing is this, folks, we're not free to invent our own versions of biblically ordained things. We're just not free to do that. We're not free to invent our own versions, new versions, different versions of biblically ordained and given gifts. or of the biblically taught worship of God. We're not free to just make up our own way to please God and serve Him. He tells us in Scripture how He is to be worshipped, how He is to be served. The regular principle of worship teaches us that God is to be worshipped only in the manner He has commanded. And if you have any doubt that that's what God wants from us, remember Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus 10. These are two sons of Aaron, two nephews of Moses, two of the first priests in the nation of Israel. And they decided they would invent and offer their own recipe for the incense to offer to God, not the one that God had commanded. And what did God do when they brought it to Him? He struck them on the spot and killed them. God wants to be worshipped the way He has told us He wants to be worshipped. And these gifts were never given so that people 2,000 years later could try to imitate them and then claim they were more spiritual than other believers. Or that they'd receive some second blessing. A blessing that made them Christians of a higher rank than other Christians. God gave those gifts through His own Spirit to aid in building His church in its infancy. That's why He gave them. And until the canon of Scripture was complete, those gifts served God's intended purpose. And the church spread all over the world. But now we have His very Word, infallibly given in its original languages, and now translated into virtually every language spoken on the earth. Why? So that we may know God in the way of forgiveness and the way of eternal life. That's why. He's given it all to us right here in Scripture. And one more thing. It's a mistake to cling to the gifts of God rather than God himself. We should be clinging to God Himself, manifested in the incarnate Son, not these gifts. And so let us immerse ourselves in the Word that He Himself has given us, spoken into our hearts, and caused to be printed on the printed page, and let us grow in the grace and the knowledge of Him and of the life that He has given. Lord, your plan of redemption just strikes us with amazement and astonishment as we read your establishment of your church on this earth and the way you worked through fallen men, men whom you gave new spiritual life and then equipped with supernatural gifts to establish and build the foundation of the church that we have been blessed to be called into. And Lord, we thank you that you've revealed all these things to us in the word that has now filled all of those purposes in your plan of redemption. Lord, I pray we all hear you. I pray that you bypass me in the delivery of this word into the hearts of your people. And I pray, Lord, you will stir in us a joy as we receive all of these blessings and all of this truth. In Christ's name, amen.