I'm gonna ask you to turn to 1 Corinthians 14. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. I mentioned your pastor that I was trying to get away from this, because I know that he's preaching in 1 Corinthians. And yet, this has just been a monumental text. And, and I don't know, a message for our church, and just in watching churches develop, because we really don't have another text quite like this in the Bible, where Paul talks about, or any author talks about the details of a service. and the details of a church. So we have principles all through the Bible. And we have things that we can formulate specifics on, but really not any like this, at least not in this particular way, or not many as probably is a more accurate way to say it. And so I want you to look at two particular church services that are referenced here. So, We're gonna read first in verse 23. And so I want you to notice these three verses. This is the only message that I preach to our church every year. Preach the same message every year just to, I don't know, incorporate it into everything that we do and try to get our church members to really buy into what's being said here. And so there's two contrasting church services here. So look at verse 23. If therefore the whole church become together into one place, now before we get very far, that's some local church theology right there. All right, so in Paul's mind, he's not thinking that a church operates universally. It's not just the collection of believers around the world. I'm thankful for believers around the world and what we have in common with them. And I can come from Stillwater, Oklahoma and come to Wilmington, Delaware and find out that there are so many things the same because of our commonness in Christ. And I love that. I think that's great. You can do that in any state, any country just about. in the world. But when you're talking about the church, even the term local church is redundant, all right, because the church is local. And so he's talking here about the whole church come together into one place. So that means it has to be possible, all right. And then he says, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? Now, so notice this, we're talking about a literal church service when the church comes together, and he says there are some that come, and it says that everybody speaks with tongues, and so that's basically would be the members of that church. All right, then he says, and there come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers, those are the guests. All right, that's what he means by unlearned or unbelievers. So you have a church service, and just like you've had here, you have people come in and they're not members, they are guests. And so they come in and he says they're unlearned, which means that they may not know much about the Bible, or he could be just giving two different views of the unsaved. So we know unbeliever means unsaved, but unlearned could imply the same thing, or just that they're immature Christians. And so he says if they come into the church service and everybody's speaking with tongues, he says here's the result. Will they not say that ye are mad? Now he doesn't mean mad as in angry, does he? That's not what he means. The guest is not gonna come in and say, man, those people have an anger problem. No, that's not it at all. He means mad as far as almost crazy-like or hard to make sense of. And so he said, so you have this church service, and I'm gonna talk about the tongues thing here in just a little bit, but he says, you have a church service, everybody comes together for the service, and a bunch of people are speaking with tongues, then the guest comes in and they hear this and they leave saying, whoa. That's crazy. All right, so Paul even realized that's the way that tongues could be handled in some places. That's the way that Corinth was handling tongues, and he's trying to clarify that that's not good. That doesn't make sense. All right, so look at verse 24. Now he's talking about something similar, but yet there's a difference. He says, But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all, and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest. And so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth. So if you think about it, if you read it specifically, then you realize now he's talking about church service number two. So the first one is where everybody speaks in tongues and the guest comes in and they leave saying, man, those people are crazy. The other one is the same thing in that guests come in to the church service But in this case, people are prophesying. It's not talking about prophesying primarily as talking about the future as much as just declaring the truth of God's Word. All right, so, I mean, basically, when you're talking about the truth of God's Word, you are talking about the future because God's Word stands, and it will do what it's supposed to do. But this was a service in which the people were prophesying, those that said something, they were prophesying, and so the one that is unlearned, or the one that believeth not, in verse 24, in this case, he is convinced of all. He is judged of all. All right, now you can take that to mean two different things, and I really believe it means both in studying it, that he is convinced of everything that he hears. That's possible. And it means that when he hears what is being preached, what is being prophesied, that he understands it, or she understands it, the unbeliever or the one unlearned coming in. And so they're convinced because of the way the word of God was handled by those that were handling it. But it's not the only way. It is also convinced of all, and I really believe this is even more the intent, that the guest is convinced of all the people that are there. Meaning that everybody that was there had an impact on this guest being convinced that this was right. making two different kinds of church services, one in which it's tongues, one in which it's prophesying, and you have two different results. And so notice how the guest can respond in verse 25. And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest, meaning that just like has happened here, I'm certain, in seven years, various times, maybe for some of you, you come into church and you hear the word of God preached, And then the word of God just does something inside of you, and it's like, man, I didn't even know that I had that need. I didn't even know that's what I was feeling. I didn't even realize that was what I lacked. I didn't realize that's what I was missing. So the secrets of his heart are made manifest. There are things that he did not understand about what was going on in his life that now he does understand because the word of God was preached and it was made clear and he was convinced of all and the secrets of his heart are made manifest and so falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is in you of a truth. And I take that to mean at least a little bit, a little bit like our invitations. in which the guest is so moved by understanding the Word of God that even the unlearned and the unbeliever knows the right posture before God. And that is Daniel. I mean, isn't it interesting that a guest coming in contact with God knows to kneel, but many members just can't bring themselves to kneel when it comes time to hearing the things that God had to say and that they got through the word. And so, really, in some ways, the focal point of this chapter is Paul saying to the church at Corinth, now, Corinth, you can have one of two church services. You can either have church service number one or you can have church service number two. Now I would come in and I would preach this to you and you would say, well clearly we have church service number two because we don't have people speaking in tongues. All right, and you might even say, why are you preaching this? Did you misunderstand that maybe we are a tongue-speaking church? And no, I didn't misunderstand that at all. Your pastor's been clear. Y'all are good on the doctrine and all of that. You got that figured out. But if you take the whole chapter in context, then you begin to realize that this chapter, even though he speaks a lot about tongues, He's not using tongues as the primary problem. He is using tongues as their abuse of another deeper issue in chapter 14. It's just that in their time, tongues was the abuse, but in other times and in other churches and in other eras of church history and church life, then it's not gonna be tongues, but it's going to be something else that could be just as much an abuse of this first church service. Because what he is conveying to them is that, listen, you have an opportunity to conduct yourself in a church service in a way that you affect how convinced people are that come in as guests. And it is an extremely, extremely important point. So let me get into this. I'm not gonna take a lot of time to explain the whole tongues issue. It was an appropriate language back then that they could use for the propagation of the gospel. And if I spent time trying to answer every question sometimes that comes up about tongues in reading this chapter, then we would never get to the point. That could be something that y'all can, I know your pastors probably preached on it before and will later, but I want you to notice what's happening here. So look at verse one of chapter 14. Let's go back and be sure we understand the context here. So follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy. So when he's talking about spiritual gifts, he is already giving an emphasis on the aspect of prophesying. And he's not just talking about that everybody is going to preach. He's just talking about that it is a service that is focused on God's Word being made clear, whether it would be preached or whether it would be taught. So look at verse 2, For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God. For no man understandeth him, howbeit in the Spirit he speaketh mysteries. But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort. So notice verse four, it's critical in the argument. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth who? Himself. But he that prophesieth edifieth what? The church. So his point in this chapter is not tongues, it's edification. And the point is that he wanted them to have church services where unbelievers or the unlearned can come in and they can be challenged, they can understand the word of God, and that the church members, each of them, are equally sold on edifying, being sure that the result of their conduct in the service edifies the guest. That they are built up. that they are taken from this point to this point, that they learn something. And he said, so the person who speaks in tongues, they're primarily concerned about themselves. And the person that prophesies is concerned about the church. So the emphasis here is not gonna be primarily on tongues versus prophesying. The emphasis is on whether one is interested in edifying themself or edifying the body of Christ in this form of the local church. All right, so he makes that clear in those first four verses. So tongues edified the one person, prophesying edified everyone else. So look at verse five. I would that ye all speak with tongues, but don't misunderstand what he's saying there because then he goes on and says, but rather that ye prophesy. For greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret that the church may receive edifying. Now, he doesn't even say here that greater is prophesying than tongues. He says greater is the person who prophesies than the person who speaks with tongues, unless there's gonna be an interpreter so that the whole church could be edified. Do you see he's building a case that he says, Corinth, you need to be sold on the fact that you have to be aware that the unbeliever, the unlearned coming in, if you're not careful, They leave and they don't get it. They don't understand. They come from a culture where this is all foreign to them, and they come in and they sit in your services, but if you have a lot of people that are only concerned about edifying themselves, then the unbeliever doesn't get it. They leave and they're saying, I don't understand. Those people are mad, and in this case, not because of tongues, but just because I didn't get that. Why did they sing those songs, and why did they read that Bible, and why did they do those things? And so the unlearned or unbeliever doesn't know unless the church members are concerned with being sure that everybody is edified, not just themselves. So you see in verse 6, now brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you? Except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine. And he says if it doesn't make sense, that I can come and I can speak with tongues, but it does you no good. And he's concerned about that. That is a problem. And may I remind you, 1 Corinthians is not written to the pastor of the church of Corinth. It includes him. It's written to the members. And so he is saying to them about being concerned about this. So how important was this to Paul? Well, notice this. Look at verse 19. And let's go back one verse. So in verse 18, he says, I think my God, I speak with tongues more than y'all, but notice verse 19, yet in the church, I had rather speak five words with my understanding that by my voice, I might teach others also than 10,000 words in an unknown tongue. Now, you gotta realize that's a preacher saying that. That's an accomplishment. That a preacher would say, all right, if you give me a choice between five words or 10,000 words, I mean, all of us know that a real preacher's gonna take 10,000 words anytime. You know, it's like the two doors, all right, behind this door is five words, behind this door is 10,000 words. Paul, which one do you want? And everybody would say, well, Paul, he's a preacher of the word. He would rather have 10,000 words. And Paul says, nope. If nobody can get it, than it's pointless. I'd rather have five words that people can understand than 10,000 words that they can't. So that's how important this was to Paul. And then notice in verse 26, where he explains how this extends beyond tongue. So in verse 26 he says, How is it then, brethren, when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation? Let all things be done unto edifying. So he starts getting a little more personal here, and he says, Corinth, here's the deal. Some of you are caught up on the tongues and you want to speak tongues. But primarily those that do that are only concerned about themselves. And they're not thinking about edifying everyone else. And then he expands it out and he says, so how is it that when you come together as a church, Some of you are saying, well, I wanna sing this psalm. And somebody else says, well, I wanna teach on this. And somebody else says, well, I wanna speak in this tongue. And somebody else says, I wanna reveal this. I wanna have this revelation. Or I wanna interpret this way. And so it begins to be clear what Paul is talking about. He's not talking about tongues versus prophesying. He's talking about the spirit and the attitude of the members of that church. who are going to become passionate about being sure that everything they do is for the edification of the guest. That the unlearned that comes in, comes in and is able to know, oh, now I get it. And what's interesting is he's clarifying that it's all these various parts of the church, the various activities in the church that this involves. So let's just take some things from this, just so we can get some truths that can be helpful, because it can have a lot to do with the effectiveness of First State Baptist Church in the next seven years, or the next 10 years, and I know that because of Paul being so passionate about this. So notice again in verse 24 when it says, But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all. You realize what this is saying is that it is not the pastor alone that makes the biggest impact on the church. Not in the kind of church that Paul was getting across because he says, listen, any guest coming in probably expects to be affected by the pastor, by the one that stands in the pulpit and preaches the word, because I mean that's preaching the word after all, and that's getting it across, and he's the one that's up front, and in front of everybody, and he has the most that he gets to say, and he says, yeah, that's true, but he says, actually, the guest that has the strongest response, in verse 25, and falling down on his face, he didn't get that way because he was convinced by one. he was convinced of all. Meaning that the pastor in the pulpit took his responsibility seriously to preach the word, but the people in the pews, the people out in the church itself, the church members, took their responsibility just as serious as he took his. And when that happened, the effectiveness of that church service grew. Because now you don't just have one primary person who is mindful of, well, how's this impacting the guest? How's this coming across? Am I able to say this in a right way? It's not just a pastor that spends hours trying to prepare and be ready to preach and to do it well. It is the actions of the church member from the time the unlearned or the unbeliever comes in to the time they leave. And you have an opportunity to be convinced that they are convinced of all. Could it be that sometimes we don't see verse 25 as a response because it's not really seen as a shared responsibility? Meaning that maybe the guest is even more convinced when the guest says, you know what? The person singing beside me was just as convincing as that pastor. And you say, well, but the pastor gets to say so many more words. But Paul's already clarified, listen, I'll take five over 10,000 if it is clear and it is edifying. It's not the volume of words that are said. It is the way that somebody has a passion for there to be an edification. Listen, everything you do as a member, should be measured in part, yes, in worshiping God, and yes, having your needs met. But if you want to have an effective church service here, you have the opportunity to say, when I come in this place, I'm going to try to be just as committed to the guest being affected as I expect my pastor to be. and that I'm gonna conduct myself the whole time I'm in the pew, the whole time that I'm standing at the door. When the guest comes in, I wanna be sure that I am equally passionate about that guest being affected, and it has a way of spreading the load. I mean, once we begin to realize, okay, the guest comes in, And I know that you sometimes can get the idea, we all can, that they're just looking up here, but they're not. They're looking here, and here, and here, and back here. And they have an opportunity before the preaching ever begins. they have a chance through the spirit of hospitality of members from the moment that they come onto the property to the time they walk in that door and the life that's in the room and the people going up and meeting them and learning their names and then maybe showing them to a seat or I'd be glad to sit with you. or explaining anything that if they have this bewildered look, maybe they've never been in a church like this before, which is quite possible because there's not many churches like this around, and they're not used to that. And so they come in, and then the singing starts. And man, they're waiting for the lead guitar and the drums and the strobe lights and the smoke. They're waiting for all of that stuff, and then it don't happen. At least not today. I don't know if you just took that out because I was here today, you know, or something. I don't know which one it might be. But then they hear a piano. Well, some of them haven't heard a piano in a long time. And then people start singing. And they're thinking, man, I don't necessarily understand all those words. Surely these people aren't getting anything out of this. But then they hear them singing with a passion. And they look around and they think, man, these people mean this. This isn't just routine to them. This isn't just dry religion. And I'm telling you, that guest is watching. They're wanting to know, okay, you're gonna have to convince me that this is good, because when I go to the other places, they wow me with their keyboards and all the stuff that they have. And I mean, they have all the latest, they wow me with that, you're gonna have to convince me that this is real, and it is not just this man that does that. It's everybody in this room has a chance to convince them. so many of them are convinced, in fact most churches are convinced, that you really can't get a whole lot out of maybe hymns. And I realize that's a big argument in a lot of places. And yet I thought it was interesting, if you look back at Elijah when he's on Mount Carmel and he's burning, they're trying to figure out who's God. And the people the people and Elijah are like, okay, let's figure out once and for all, let's solve this. And so they get the prophets of Baal and they say to the prophets of Baal, okay, you do what you do and see if you can convince the people that He's God by calling down fire from heaven and Baal will be God. And if not, then Elijah can try, and if he can call down fire from heaven, then Jehovah is God. And so, as you know, the prophets of Baalt, man, they get up on the altar, and they're jumping up and down, and cutting themselves, and hollering all this stuff. And it makes you think, in some ways, of a modern-day worship service. And I use the term worship lightly. All these things that go on for the sake of trying to make something happen, just like all the prophets of Baalt were doing. And then Elijah comes. and he pours water on the wood. It's like, man, what is up with that? That's strange. And he pours water on the wood, and then he prays, repairs the altar, and prays, and fire comes down from heaven, and the people are like, oh, the Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. They're making it pretty clear. And you know, it's just fascinating to me that even as he's putting water on the wood, those people are probably thinking, wet wood don't burn. And there's no way that's gonna work. But then they come into a church like this and they, y'all are singing the hymns. That's like pouring water on your wood. That'll never burn. Nothing will happen with that. Well, you can convince them otherwise. Because it's not about whether we have the particular instruments that makes everything sound better or greater. It's about are we convinced about what we're singing? Do we realize when we just sang this phrase what that meant? And then the next phrase, and then the next phrase. It is a great thought to realize that the way God designed the church to operate is that every one of you can have a part in convincing the guests that come in. Now let me just give you several things from this before we wrap. Let me wrap this up. So look at verse 19 again. So when he says, yet in the church I'd rather speak five words with my understanding that by my voice I might teach others also than 10,000 words in an unknown tongue. So basically, one has to be willing to limit their own expression rather than violate this truth. In other words, if somebody comes in and they say, well, this is a church I came from and this is what we did and so this is what I'm more comfortable doing. And you realize that Paul is saying, no, he says, let me try to be an example to you that you ought to be willing to limit your own self-expression if it means that doing something different is more edifying to the congregation, to the people around. That somebody says, well, I really want to do, I want to do this, I want to do it this way, but Paul himself said, I will cut back what I do 95% if it means that I can be more effective. And that becomes an issue in a church a lot of times when you have people coming from different churches and different backgrounds. How on earth do you make this many people go in the same direction when you're not on staff? You will only come to this church and you come to the services. And how do you get that many people going in the same direction if you don't have the leverage of salary over them? Or if you don't have like the, you know, those kinds of churches that it's based on a work salvation. You know, it'd be nice if your pastor could threaten you with losing your salvation. You know, if you don't come to church Sunday night, you're gonna lose your salvation. That's really convenient, you know. It's just not biblical in that sense. Paul had to say, listen, I'm just gonna have to try to be an example to you that I'm willing to limit all the things that I would like to do if I am able to determine they're not really edifying to the congregation. And that does become a challenge. By the way, there is not a ministry at a church that this doesn't apply to. it applies to everything. I mean when you look at verse 15 he says, what is it? Then I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the understanding also. I will sing with the spirit, I will sing with the understanding also. Else when thou shalt bless with the Spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks? He understandeth not what thou sayest." So he's talking about prayer. He's talking about singing. He's talking about saying Amen. He's saying all of those things are part of a church having the responsibility of saying as an individual member, I'm going to be very conscious about when I come here that I am doing what I can to be convincing and edifying and not just expressing myself. Every church has probably dealt at some point in time with various singers come and they're like, well, I want to sing this way. And somebody says, well, I want to sing this way. And somebody else says, well, I want to sing this song. And somebody else says, well, I want to sing this particular song, and I want to sing this song this way. or somebody says, oh, I know a better way to take the offering, or I know how to do all of these particular things, and then you just gotta keep coming back to the fact that in order for a church to be effective, every member has to decide, let's do what is most edifying to the guests that come in, and let's be sure that we apply it to everything. It can be the nursery, it can be the singing, it can be the invitation, it can be the offering, that every part of it is made to be where a member says, I wanna be effective in this. Now, here's a hard part that I think sometimes it's hard for church members to recognize. how strong Paul was about this. Notice verse 27. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course, and let one interpret. So at this point in time, in this age, he's able to say, okay, if somebody's gonna speak in tongues, here's the rules. We're gonna do this, and then this, and then this, and that way there is edification that takes place. But notice verse 28. but if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church and let him speak to himself and to God. Now remember this isn't just about tongues. So get the idea of what Paul is saying here. He's saying now church, in order to be sure that we are edifying, we have some guidelines, we're gonna do it this way and this way and this way and this is the way we're gonna do it to be edifying. And he says but if somebody decides I don't wanna do it that way. Meaning that if there's no interpreter, if we can't go and decide, okay, we're gonna go step one, step two, step three, whatever the rule may be, he says, let them keep silence. That's pretty tough for churches to hear these days. Because he's actually, here's what he's actually saying. All right, if you don't abide by this particular way that everybody's edified, then I might have to say, okay, don't do your particular ministry. That's a challenging, isn't it? Because in a lot of churches today it's like, you know, well bless God, I brought my ability and I brought my gift and I brought my skill and I'm going to use it and I know that y'all need it and so I'm here to save the day. And sometimes people come in with that spirit and that attitude and yet he's making it pretty clear, Paul says, no. We're going to do this towards edifying. And if you're not going to abide by the edifying, he says, you know, Mr. Jones or Brother Jones, I'm going to have to ask you not to express your particular ministry. That's hard. That's hard stuff these days, isn't it? Well, it is in the secular world and other kinds of churches, but not in a church that says, boy, we want everybody to understand when they come in here. We want them to be edified. We want people, we want the guests to come in and know, listen, this is exactly, we meant this and this is meaningful to us. We sing it with our understanding and we're giving. And every part of the service has a deliberateness to it that we're going to think through so that it can be edified. And if that's not gonna happen, then we're gonna be willing to pull back our own expression and do it in the way that is best for the church. And now I wanna end with verse 12. With verse 12. Even so ye, for as much as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church. He says, I know, he says, Corinth, I know that you're excited about spiritual gifts and you're zealous and you love the gifts. And he's just talked about some of those gifts in the previous chapter. And obviously tongues is one of those, but he has all these other ones that he talks about. And he says, even though I know that you're zealous about those gifts, here's every church member's goal. Seek that you may excel at edifying, at edifying the church. I like that because he says excellence is meant to be a part of a church. A lot of times people think, what are we talking about excellence in a church for? That's for, you know, that's for Chick-fil-A or that's somebody else that, you know, they're gonna excellent at their processes and they're gonna try to be sure that the food's consistent and it tastes good and that it gets served in a reasonable amount of time and that you get your order right. And those are the companies that are after excellence or they make cars or they make boats or they make this and they want them to be excellent. No, Paul says, Members of a local New Testament church like this need to be just as passionate about excellence as those that make a chicken sandwich, or build a car, or do engineering. That every member of the church will come in and say, you know what? I want this church service to be effective. And I'm gonna take responsibility for doing my part. I'm not just gonna put it on him. Because I'm telling you, church, the day comes when if you decide, whatever part of ministry I have, I'm gonna try to excel, that you begin to have guests come in and they become more convinced. And they leave and they weren't just convinced by him. They leave and say, man, that whole church bought into this. But the way that they sang, the way that they gave, it was just clear. They believed this and it was meaningful. And it might just be that God would bless you over the next many, many years until He comes. He might just bless you immensely with the guests that come because you have chosen to convince them yourself and not just trust that a pastor would convince them. Let's pray.