How is it then,
brethren?
Whenever you come
together,
each of you has a
Psalm, has a teaching,
has a tongue, has a
revelation,
has interpretation.
Let all things be
done for edification.
If anyone speaks in a
tongue,
let there be to or at the most three,
each in turn, and let one interpret.
But if there is no
interpreter,
let him keep silent
in church,
and let him speak to
himself
and to God.
1 Corinthians 14: 26
-- 28
The apostle
Paul is reproving the Corinthians for the confusion in their assemblies. That reproving by the apostle Paul needs
told to those churches that are creating confusion. Not only confusion within their own congregation, but also,
confusion by those who are looking in to the church and seeing what Paul is
reproving: confusion. One of the
problems is that the Corinthians were coming to the church all excited for they
felt that they were in given a gift, and possibly they were, and with these gifts they
were eager to seize the opportunity to exercise them. I have seen this confusion with my own eyes and in attendance in
those churches whereby many people are speaking some sort of unknown language,
if it can be called a language, and some were falling over as though they were
"slain in the spirit." Others
were dancing around and shouting, and at one time I even saw a pastor who was
acting drunk on the stage telling everyone he was drunk with the spirit. All this confusion overshadows the reason
why they came together in the first place.
They would overlook this reason so that they can participate in euphoric
religious feelings. The rules set forth
by the apostle Paul in regards to those who had a language, "tongue,"
and desired to speak is being ignored, and the one thing that you will see more
often than not is that the rule that only two or three were to speak and then
only with an interpreter is ignored. Why else
should this kind of demonstration of the Holy Spirit come upon a person? So that the other person would be by this gift instructing what God intended
for that which he is speaking in an unlearned or unknown language is for the
unbeliever. Not for oneself, nor for
the congregation as a whole, the Holy Spirit equipped to church with another
gift to edify the church and that gift was prophecy, a speaking the word of
God, and not some supposed special revelation that is from a man whose ideology
and worldview that has formed their theology. To not follow this rule is only to be ostentatious, that is
pretentious, or to have a conspicuous display intended to impress others. This being ostentatious is when one attempts
to interpret that which he says has been given to him by the Holy Spirit for
this is nothing less than ignoring what God inspired Paul to set forth as the
rule for one to be able to speak in an unknown or unlearned language. Now if that person felt as though he had
this gift and there was no one there to speak to in this language, nor whether
anyone there to interpret, then he was to exercise his gift between God and
himself. In otherwise, that person was to remain quiet. Even solitary devotions are out of place and out of the time for which the church met for public and social worship. Public worship is not the time for solitary
devotions to God, even though we are there to worship God and we do so in our
private thinking and worship, that should extend to openly in such a way to
edify the other congregants. What is
meant here is simply this: many people do not have daily devotions and only
offer such devotions when they can do so in a public display making
themselves seeming to look godly. We
come to church to learn from what God has revealed about himself and how that
revelation should be applied in our lives.
We come to church to care for our brothers and sisters: "Beloved, let us love one another, for
love is of God; and every one who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for
God is love" (1 John 4:7 -- 8).
Is this not what the apostle Paul instructed us to pursue? Yes!
We are to pursue love even though we may desire that the Holy Spirit imbue
us with some special gift, and that desire is so that we can edify our brothers
and sisters. Let us not forget the most
important part of our gathering together as a body of believers to worship the
Lord on the day set aside for such a worship and from the beginning of Christianity
that time is the first day of the week: Sunday. And that time, that most important time of this meeting, is
when the holy Scriptures are read to us and as we follow along in our Bibles,
for there is where the truth of God is to be found, and there is where we can
see whether or not that which is being taught is scriptural. It is not the open display of some sort of
supernatural gifts, no, it is to read and study God's Word so that we can apply
that in our lives. All the signs and
wonders that can ever be performed will not by some necessity cause people to
believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ. It
is simply the gospel that is presented in Scripture that touches upon the heart
of those who have been given that special gift of grace. And that gift is the faith to believe so
that when they hear God's Word they change their ways from the inside/out, and
convert in the way of life God desires us to live.
Don't be
caught up in some euphoric feeling that is only a personal euphoric exclamation
that makes a person feel so godly, so religious, so acceptable to God, when in
fact that is not true. To live for God,
can I put this simply? If the Bible
says do it: do it. If the Bible says
don't do it, don't do it! Get up in the
morning, get dressed, go about your business, and do so following God's
commands, principles, and precepts. BE
AN AUTHENTIC CHRISTIAN!
Deliver me, O my God,
out of the
hand of the wicked,
out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
For You are
my hope, O Lord God;
You are my trust from my youth....
I have
become as a wonder to many,
but You are my strong refuge.
Psalm 71:4 -- 5, 7
Praise God, you are not alone!
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