Book of 1 Corinthians - Ch. 14, Vs. 1-40 (03/04/2001) | NOTE: Poor audio quality

Park Meadows Church

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March 4, 2001

Bro. Otis Fisher

00:00: Alright, it's time to start. I don't know where everyone is, but it's time to begin.
00:09: Chapter 14, 1 Corinthians. Follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy.
00:31: David, what is prophecy? Prophesying. Alright. Prophecy, prophets, reception, and declaration of a word from the
01:57: Lord through a direct prompting of the Holy Spirit and the human instrument thereof.
02:10: Prophecy, prophets, reception, and declaration of a word from the
02:16: Lord through a direct prompting of the Holy Spirit and the human instrument thereof.
02:30: That's right. Hence for interpretation, prophets intended to evoke faith by proclamation and not merely to predict the future.
02:44: The interpreter must remember the limited perspective of the prophet. And prophets were not all -knowing, but all -telling.
02:57: That is, they told what God had told them. Caution must be exercised when reading predictive prophecies because prophecy often has more than one fulfillment.
03:12: You cannot receive something for someone else.
03:20: You cannot, and you must not, receive something and tell someone else that God told them to tell you.
03:40: That never happens. The New Testament authors believe Old Testament events, persons, or things foreshadowed the later
03:49: Christian story. The word prophet means to speak before or to speak for.
03:57: Thus it refers to one who speaks for God or Christ. Verse 2, 1
04:07: Corinthians 14. For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto
04:14: God. For no man understand him, albeit in the Spirit he speaketh mysteries unto
04:22: God, who alone understands all languages.
04:28: But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification and exaltation and comfort.
04:37: He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edify himself, but he that prophesieth edifies the church.
04:46: We are to edify the church. He that prophesieth.
04:53: To prophesy means more than to foretell. It is to declare the will of God under divine impulse.
05:03: When Peter spoke on Pentecost, he did the work of the New Testament prophet. In this formative period of the church, before the
05:14: New Testament was written, it was needful that there be these inspired guides to the church.
05:22: Now, we don't have that today. The church is formed and has been for years and years.
05:33: 5 I would that ye all speak with tongues, but little that ye prophesy.
05:40: For greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret what the church may receive edification.
05:54: For he is the greatest in the church who is most edifying. And he that prophesieth edifyeth more than he that speaketh all languages, uninterpreted.
06:43: That's right. God has said all he's going to say will work for us.
06:58: Now, brethren, I come to you, speaking with tongues. What shall
07:06: I prophet you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation or by knowledge or by prophesying or by doctrine?
07:15: Unless he declares to them truths which they could understand and apply to practice, he would do them no good.
07:24: Yes. Now, speaking in tongues, speaking in languages, the word means language.
07:57: It does not mean an unknown language.
08:02: All right. That's right.
10:27: Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall
10:33: I prophet you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation or by knowledge or by prophesying or by doctrine?
10:41: Unless he declares to them the truths which they could understand and apply to practice, he would do them no good.
10:51: And even things without life give us sound. Do you ever think about that? Whether a pipe or a harp, except they give a distinct distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?
11:10: If the piano played the voice of all of the instruments, it would be difficult to understand.
11:19: For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to battle? So, if persons in the church do not speak intelligently, they will edify nothing.
11:35: It is like beating the air, all is vain and to no avail. So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood.
11:51: How shall it be known what is spoken? For you shall speak into the air.
11:58: Did you ever hear a preacher use such long words and his vocabulary was so distinctive that you didn't know what he was talking about?
12:21: There are, it may be, so many kinds of voices in the world and none of them is without signification.
12:29: Therefore, if I know not the meaning of the word, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.
12:41: In other words, if we had someone come and speak in German this morning, it wouldn't mean anything to us.
12:49: Speak Scandinavian or Eskimo, whatever, it wouldn't mean anything.
12:59: All the papists and the popists in all their sermons, if they ambitiously poured out some
13:07: Hebrew or Greek words in the pulpit before the unlearned people, by this to give themselves a name or a fame to listen to.
13:21: I often wondered how the congregation understood Latin. They don't use
13:51: Latin in this country. Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.
14:12: There are many languages in the world. However, there cannot be communication between people who do not speak the same language.
14:23: How can you edify the people if you speak a language that no one understands? Does it build up the believers?
14:33: Of course the answer is no. You cannot speak. Wherefore, let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret.
14:51: Yes. There must be someone there that speaks the language, or he does not.
16:17: For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful.
16:25: That is the answer to those who say that they speak in tongues for their private devotions.
16:33: If the understanding is unfruitful, you don't get a spiritual gift out of it. That is, the
16:39: Holy Spirit is not ministering to you. If you get a lift, it is merely psychological.
16:48: Paul says your understanding is unfruitful. What is it then?
16:56: I pray with spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also.
17:03: I will sing with spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also. Else when thou shalt bless with the spirit, how shall he that occupies the room of the unlearned say amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he will understand not what thou sayest?
17:35: He simply states the example that when you pray in a language not known to somebody, how is anybody going to say amen or agree with that?
17:50: For thou verily givest thanks well, but the others know it not.
17:59: I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all. You speak more languages than they do.
18:08: Yet in the church I would rather speak by words than by my voice.
18:23: Brethren, be not children in understanding. Howbeit in malice be you children, but in understanding be you men.
18:33: You have grown way beyond the baby stage. In the law it is written, with men of other tongues and other lips will
18:46: I speak unto this people, and yet for all that will they not hear me, saith the
18:52: Lord. Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not, for prophesying serveth not to them that believe not, but to them that believe.
19:10: He's saying that when I went out to the mission people, they were speaking in a different language.
19:20: So I spoke to them in their own tongue. And when
19:25: I presented the gospel to them in their own tongue, they believed. Now, when
19:32: I meet with these folk in the land of Israel, I speak the language. And they know and understand.
19:42: Therefore I am prophesying. That is, I am teaching the word of God to them.
19:51: If therefore the whole church come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers, will they not say they are all men?
20:09: Certainly they would. They were babbling away each one in a different tongue.
20:17: We do not want a stranger to step into the church and think he's limited to a group of people. If there is one thing we need today, it is a logical, meaningful presentation of the word of God.
20:36: People in this world are intelligent, they're scientific, they're sophisticated. They want a logical message which can be understood.
20:46: The word of God needs to be presented so it can be understood. But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believe it not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all, and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest.
21:13: So failing, falling down on his face, he will worship God and report that God is in him.
21:21: And you are the truth. In other words, if you are preaching the word of God, and an unbeliever comes in, you will come under conviction and you will be converted.
21:36: Now you want to say something? All right.
21:59: Prophecy, or prophets. Reception and declaration of a word from the
22:06: Lord through a direct prompting of the Holy Spirit and the human history.
22:55: That's right. All right, that's true today, but at Paul's time it was not.
23:34: We could, in lieu of the fact that we have no prophets today, we could take the word to mean that his brother
23:44: David is standing here and speaks to us, and he is doing the part of a prophet in explaining the word.
23:54: He speaks no new words from God. That's right.
24:50: Well, we can foretell the future, but we've already read it.
24:57: God's told us. We can expound that to someone else. That's not a true prophet. Yeah.
25:13: Absolutely. And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest, and so falling down on his face, he will worship
25:25: God and report that God is in you of a truth. How is it then, brethren, when you come together, every one of you have the song, have the doctrine, have the tongue, have the revelation, have the interpretation, let all things be done unto the head of thine own church.
25:55: Let all things be done to the head of thine own church. That is, let all your public officers be so performed in such a manner as they may best conduct to the end for which they were designed, and that's to edify the church.
26:15: If it is not, then you're wasting your time. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most three, of that by course, and let one interpret.
26:36: If we had a multilingual congregation, someone could speak
26:43: Chinese, and those that were there would understand, but the rest wouldn't.
26:52: So it must be interpreted so all will understand. That's right.
27:43: Our apostles' next advice for the church, the church's interpretation, is this. That such as have the gift of tongue should not speak all together, but two or three sentences one after the other, and let one interpret what was spoken to the benefit of edifying the church.
28:04: It just makes sense. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silent in the church, and let him speak to himself and to God.
28:48: That's right. Yes. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silent and speak to God.
28:59: Let the prophet speak two or three, and let there be a judge, someone to interpret.
29:06: If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.
29:14: We don't have the gifts anymore. We don't have the gift of tongues. I don't think anybody has, even the weatherman doesn't get prophecy very much.
29:30: For ye may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted.
29:39: The spirit of prophets is subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.
29:48: As in all churches with the saints, God is peace.
29:55: He's not confusion. Church service is to be very orderly.
30:04: If I like my type, I can speak to the desire, but it must be to the subject.
30:16: Thirty -four, let your women keep silent in church, for it is not permitted unto them to speak.
30:23: They are commanded to be under obedience, and also say of the law.
30:31: Now, what's he talking about? Yes. Really?
31:52: Paul is speaking directly to tongues. Yes. Now, yes.
37:58: Absolutely. Absolutely, that's right.
39:36: All right.
39:49: What Paul was speaking about directly is, if you take all of the women out of tongue movement, you're going to be nice to this woman.
40:41: Yes. Yes. Now, well, a further rule is here given by the apostle for maintaining decency and order in the public assemblies, namely, that women should never presume to speak or utter anything as public teachers in a congregation.
42:13: That is not in women speaking in public assemblies when they join the congregation and sing their songs, but they're speaking by way of teaching prophesying, that is, unless it's to women.
43:14: That's right. Yes. Now, that's an awful indictment on us people.