Latest / Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive / January 15, 2023 | 1 Corinthians - Building Up the Church

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January 15, 2023 | 1 Corinthians - Building Up the Church · Topeka Bible Church Audio Archive

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Morning.
• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Good to see everybody.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: Want to welcome you if you're new.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: We are going through a series in 1 Corinthians.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're not new, we've been going through it for a while.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: We started back in the beginning of September, and we have three weeks left before we'll be finishing our series in 1 Corinthians.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: And this morning is going to sound a little bit odd because even though over the last, you know, however many months, I'm sure you've come to feel like you know the Corinthians very well, there are certain situations that are going on back 2,000 years ago in Corinth that don't make a lot of sense to us, that we can't entirely relate to their context.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: But yet, I want to encourage you as we look at one of those today in chapter 14 to try and walk with me as we draw out really there is an eternal truth to what's happening in kind of an odd situation.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Because what is more broadly happening, right, is Paul in this letter, he has had various different arguments that he has given to them for why the church in Corinth hasn't really been building up the church, focusing on the church, or at least acting like a church.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: And the one that he has been on since chapter 12, including 13 and now 14, and he'll finish, is basically this idea that the church at Corinth, everybody is extremely gifted.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody's very talented and skilled in the ways that God has blessed them and the way that he has uh given them gifts that they can use to build up the church.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: But uh instead of really using those things for God's glory, instead they're using them for to develop factions and division and really to debate who which one of us is the best here, right?
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: So they're asking Paul this question, and this is what has sort of framed the argument, which is which one of us is best?
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Paul pick.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: There are some of us who are speaking in tongues, there are some of us who are uh you uh have a prophecy for the church, right?
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: Two spiritual gifts that aren't super common in our Western Christianity today.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: But nevertheless, that was what was going on then.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: And they were at odds with each other, and they wanted Paul to settle the debate.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: That is really where we find ourselves this morning in chapter 14, is Paul has sort of delayed answering that question now for two chapters.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: In chapter 12, he said, Hey, which one of you is best?
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: How about everybody is needed, because we're all individual parts of a body that is united and diversified in Christ.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: We are united over the fact that we know Jesus and we love Jesus, and that's where the beauty and diversity comes in.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody is needed in the church.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then he says, Now I will, you know, desire the greater gifts, is how he finishes chapter 12.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so you think, oh, he's gonna answer the question.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: Then he goes into chapter 13 and he says, one more thing, when you're using all of these great spiritual gifts, if you don't have love, if you're not driven by love, if you're not motivated by love, if you're not tempered by love, he said, then it's worthless.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: But now he's going to finally answer the question.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: There's some anticipation.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so let's go ahead and dive into chapter 14, verse 1, and we're going to see Paul finally answer the great question.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 1, pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: For the person who speaks in a tongue is not speaking to people but to God, since no one understands him.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: He speaks mysteries in the Spirit.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: On the other hand, the person who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Comfort.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: The person who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: I wish all of you spoke in tongues, but even more that you prophesied.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may be built up.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: So, first of all, uh this is kind of almost a summary, but verse one uh sort of encapsulates chapters twelve, chapter thirteen, and now what's going to happen in fourteen, right?
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Desire spiritual uh desire spiritual gifts was basically twelve.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: That's how he finishes it, right?
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Desire the greater gifts, and then pursuing love was chapter 13.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: But now, then you look at the next part, and we get into especially that you may prophesy, and that is going to be the topic of 14.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Only it's not really about prophecy.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: It kind of is.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of about speaking in tongues, but it goes much, much deeper into this sort of foundational component that he talks about, where which he gets into in verses two through four.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: He summarizes it really in verse four when he says, The person who speaks in a tongue builds himself up, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm giving you the answers to the test.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's gonna be very important at the end, okay?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: But this is really gonna be the framework that he's working with.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: It's not, it is prophecy in tongues, but it's not.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's how they were using those in the church to build up the church or to build themselves up, right?
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: That is truly the conflict here.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_00: There were some who were using the church at Corinth to make themselves feel superior, to increase their status, kind of for self-congratulation.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: How great am I that I have this thing that I can offer, right?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul says, Well, you're building yourself up.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Really, the reason that prophecy is better is because it's building up the church.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so this, I mean, you might have missed it.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 5 here is where Paul finally does answer his question.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: I wish all of you spoke in tongues, but even more that you prophesied.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: The person who prophesies is greater than the person who speaks in tongues.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Why?
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: We learned in 12, it's not because one gift is really greater than the other, but it is how they use it.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: Are they building up the church, right?
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: This is the question.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: How the church may be built up.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: What does do that, what doesn't do that?
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: And as we walk through 14, that's kind of what you have to keep at the front of your mind, right?
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: As he's going to go into how people should be speaking in tongues, and you're like, here in America, not very often, right?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: Especially here at TBC, unless somebody wants to surprise me this morning.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: Hasn't happened.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to sort of substitute in our own answers there, right?
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: He's talking about a specific situation, but he's applying a general truth that connects to us.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: But then we also have to ask, what does he mean when he says that we're supposed to build up the church?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like, the church is built.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: We've got stones on foundations, on plaster, and lights, and I mean, all these things, like we don't need to build anymore.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: The church in Corinth, it's meeting in people's homes, right?
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's not uh needing to do some capital campaign for a building project.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: What does he mean that they are supposed to build upon the church?
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: Well, if we can rewind a bit, back in chapter three, Paul talked about this.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: According to God's grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder, and another builds on it.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: But each one is to be careful how he builds on it, for no one can lay any foundation other than what has been laid down.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: That foundation is Jesus Christ.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or straw, each one's work will become obvious, for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: The fire will test the quality of each one's work.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: If anyone's work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: If anyone's work is burned up, he will experience loss, but he himself will be saved only as through fire.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: So it's clearly not a physical building up in the sense of laying a stone upon another.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_00: It is a spiritual building up.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: And the foundation for the church is, as he says, right, the foundation is Jesus Christ.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: So the question then becomes how are you building upon the foundation of Jesus Christ?
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: Back in chapter three, when we talked about this, we basically just said, hey, we recognize that we should be building on the church, that we should have this vision for the church that is bigger and more expansive and more missionally driven than just this thing that we attend, and that ultimately at the end that there is going to be a judgment, that there is sort of scrutiny given to how well we have built up the church.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: But now Paul is giving some specifics, right?
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: And in particular, he's applying this idea of building up the church to these spiritual gifts.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: How have you, Corinthians, built upon the foundation of Jesus Christ using your gifts?
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_00: Some of you have done it well, some of you have not.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: And if you have not heard me mention this phrase enough, Paul in chapter 14 is so focused on building up the church.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 3, for their strengthening, encouragement, and consolation, right?
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: The more deeper meaning behind building things up.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 4, building up the church.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: Five, so that the church may be built up, but the other person is not being built up, that'd be a negative example, but still shows what should be done.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Seek to excel in building up the church.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: 26, this great culminating statement, everything is to be done for building up.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so we look at this and we say, why was Paul so focused on building up the church?
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Is it just because God told him to?
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, if we understand church the way Paul did, the way that God wants us to, we see that church, like I mentioned, is more than just a building that we walk into and walk out of.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: It is the mechanism, the vehicle that God has chosen to deliver the Great Commission, right?
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: Which is Matthew 28, the final message that Jesus gave his disciples, to go forth into all the nations, make disciples, right?
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: That is our mission.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: Our mission is Christ.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Our mission is delivering Christ.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul says what is critical to that mission, what is a literally a mission critical objective, is that then the church grows.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't just mean numerically, but that everybody sees themselves as a part of this great commission, and all of our efforts are going towards this great whole.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so that is why he is so focused on this.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because some of the ways that the Corinthians are living, he says you're more focused on yourself than this missional purpose of the church, which should involve all of us.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: So this is what Paul is getting at in his first five verses.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: He's taken their question, which one of us is best, and he's technically answered it, but he's given some qualifications.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: And those things reign true throughout the rest of chapter 14, which is long.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: So some summaries.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: What is the greatest?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: This is verses 1 through 5, whatever builds the church.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: We've already talked about that.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: But then he's going to, like I said, get into some specifics.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: Verses 6 through 12.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: He then goes into this gift of tongues that is so common in Corinth.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, okay, let's talk about that one.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Some of you are speaking in tongues, but tongues for those, right, if we can attach a definition to it, it would be people speaking in a language that they are not innately familiar with, they don't know, and that what they are speaking in that foreign language is some sort of word from God, some kind of prophecy or something like that, but it is specifically through a different language.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: We saw this at Pentecost, right?
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: Where everybody receives the Holy Spirit, it lands on them, there's flames above their head, and everybody begins speaking in a different language, which is this great image of how the gospel is supposed to then go into all the nations.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: So speaking in tongues, the problem though is if you don't have somebody interpreting it, you don't know what they're saying.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's in a different language.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: And so Paul says, well, when we consider the big question, what builds the church, is tongues harmful?
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: And the answer that he gives is yes, unless there's an interpreter.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_00: Unless there is somebody there to take that wonderful gift, which, as Paul says, actually in chat in verse 18, he says, I speak in tongues more than all of you, right?
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, you think you speak in tongues.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: I speak in tongues.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: Paul speaks in tongues more than all of them.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: He says, basically, he's like, There's nothing wrong with that gift, but we view it through the filter of what is best for the church.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so if I'm speaking in tongues and nobody can understand me, what good is that?
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: He ends up having this really kind of startling uh phrase in 18 and 19.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: He says, I would rather speak five words with my understanding in order to teach others also than 10,000 words in a tongue.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: So, Paul, if you can see here, is so focused on the mission of the church being lifted up.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: So then he asks sort of one more kind of question, right?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: What about the unbelievers?
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: What about those who don't know Christ?
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: What is their experience, which is kind of interesting.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of a mo we feel like this is a modern question in the sense of how people who don't know Christ are experiencing church.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: But Paul here is like, what about the person who comes in off the street, who maybe they met one of you, maybe they were invited by one of you, but they don't know Jesus.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: What's their experience going to be?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's a bit of humor where he's like, Imagine everybody's speaking in tongues.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, wouldn't they think you are crazy?
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: They walk in, they see everybody speaking in a different language.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: But his concern here, right, is hey, this person who doesn't know Christ, they're being turned off by what's happening.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so then his solution to that is order.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: And he'll give that, we'll look at that in just a moment.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: But he is saying, so there's basically chaos that is reigning in the worship service.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of things going on.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: And he says, so in that regard, speaking in tongues, unless it serves this very specific purpose, it's not building up the church, in which case it's not as great as prophecy, which is more clearly for teaching and for edifying and all the things he said in the beginning, consolation and comfort.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: So now we're going to, though, to pick up in verse 26, okay, if you want to skip ahead there.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: And we're going to see how Paul now begins to give some rules to the church at Corinth.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, and these rules are still flowing through the same filter.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: What's best for the church?
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: They are going to be specifically applied, okay, though there is an element to them that he says should connect to all the churches.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: Why can you eat a sandwich from your favorite fast food restaurant in Topeka and four states away and they taste the same, right?
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's because there's some standards being presented.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: So Paul is going to here present some structure to the worship service.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: And the reason why that needs to happen is because at the current moment it's a little crazy.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 26.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: What then, brothers and sisters, which is kind of how he started each new section with that phrase, whenever you come together, each one has a hymn, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: Everything is to be done for building up.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: So we're familiar with the end there.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: Everything is to be done for building up.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: But what he's saying here is everybody's coming, right?
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_00: They're coming from the four corners, and each person is bringing something that they want to sort of get on stage and show.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: They're like, I need to stand up and tell you my hymn or my prophecy, or I need to speak in a tongue, and it's chaotic, right?
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Without order, it is Lord of the Flies.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: And so what is happening is all of these people are using their spiritual gifts, but because they don't have the right framework, right, or they don't have the right mindset, they're seeing the church worship experience as a place for them to be magnified.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, I'm gonna come, I'm gonna show up, and everybody's gonna be impressed by the fact that I can do this.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: We can see how that kind of cuts at Paul's main point here.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: So it is chaotic.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Now we're going to get into a section here, and it's the text is gonna be kind of small because I wanted to include all of it.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: But Paul is going to list out three separate ways that the churches can be more orderly so that they aren't as chaotic, so that it might benefit the church, it might help unbelievers who walk into their midst.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I'm gonna read it, and then we'll talk about it.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, there are to be only two, or at most three, each in turn, and let someone interpret.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: But if there is no interpreter, that person is to keep silent in the church and speak to himself and God.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, the first prophet should be silent.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: For if you all prophesy one by one, so that every one may learn, and every one may be encouraged.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: And the prophet's spirits are subject to the prophets, since God is not a God of disorder, but of peace.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: As in all the churches of the saints, the women should be silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but are to submit themselves, as the law also says.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_00: If they want to learn something, then them let them ask their own husbands at home, since it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: Spicy, right?
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: Aren't you glad you came to church today?
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I know you want me to talk about the third one.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna talk about the first two first.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I included all this because one of the problems with verses 34 and 35 is that they're often taken out of context and viewed in a vacuum.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's never good when we do that with any part of Scripture, but it's particularly harmful here because we miss what is very relevant context, and that is that it is third in a list of three things that are to be done in, as he says, in all the churches, but specifically for addressing this problem of chaos, disorder, and uh sort of general calamity that is happening in the churches.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: So in the first one, and I'll kind of separate these out, in verse 27, we Paul has spent most of chapter 14 talking about why tongues are not building up the church and the way they're currently being used.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: And he has said they need an interpreter, but now he gives very specific instructions, right?
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: There are to be only two people speaking, or at most three, which does give the impression that like a lot of people were wanting to do this and let someone interpret.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: But if there's no interpreter, he's like, then hush.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: You don't need to get up and share these things.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: You should be able to keep silent, right?
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: The a lot of um, this is random, but you know, in some denominations that really do value speaking in tongues, one of the dangerous things about those churches is that they often value the spontaneity of it, the fact that you are sort of brought upon by an urge and that you share what this urge is.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul is clearly showing, as he is one who speaks in tongues and then giving instruction here.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, if it's not the proper time, if it's not the right setting, if it's not profitable and for building up the church, he's like, you should be able to stay silent so that order may proceed.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: So that goes until verse 29.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's sort of our first one.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_00: Then verse 29 is where we start a new section.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_00: And this is going to be, or a new topic, maybe is a better way to say it.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: And this is really important for us then getting into our third command.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: So two or three prophets should speak and the others should evaluate.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: So prophecy is not the same as teaching.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Prophecy is sort of giving a word, you could say that it comes from God, but it was something that was used for the edification of the church, again, the building up of the church.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: But he said it in the very beginning, right, that it is for strengthening, encouragement, and consolation, right?
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: So it serves a specific purpose.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, now when we get to it, we also understand that another element of prophecy is that it should be tested, right?
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's not coming directly from God.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so we say, this message here, what is it?
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: Uh 1 John talks about this, Thessalonians, other places in the Bible, that part of prophecy in the church at the time was that you would then have people get up and you would discern if what was being said was good or if it was bad, right?
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: If it comes from the Lord or if it doesn't come from the Lord.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have prophecy, the others should evaluate it.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_00: But if something has been revealed to another person sitting there, first prophet should be silent.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: So let's keep track of this.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: In the first one, if they couldn't do what was being done, they were to keep silent.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: And the second one, if they couldn't find that situation, in order to preserve order and to not be disgraceful, they should be silent.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and there should be, right, prophesy one by one.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: So now we get to our third command.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about this.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: So third command sort of begins halfway through verse 30 uh 33, when it says, as in all the churches of the saints.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: So this isn't just a command for Corinth.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it is that, but it is also elsewhere.
• 21:34
  SPEAKER_00: Keep in mind what we've talked about, right?
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: We are talking about something that addresses order and disgrace.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: So what it is precisely not is that all women are supposed to be silent all the time, which is how some people take this passage, and that is a poor interpretation.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: The reason why that's a poor interpretation is for the things we just mentioned about how it is kind of included in this list, and none of them are blanket statements.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Right, in the sense that they aren't to be specifically applied.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: But there's a much better reason that we shouldn't take this to be all women all the time.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: In uh the book of Joel, which was an Old Testament prophet, chapter two, he said, After this I will pour out my spirit on all humanity, then your sons and your daughters will prophesy.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: And Joel is speaking about a time when people will have spiritual gifts.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: And one of those spiritual gifts is the gift of prophecy, which is not distinguished by gender.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_00: No spiritual gifts are distinguished by gender.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: And Paul picks up this theme in 1 Corinthians 11, when he says, Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: Now, we talked about the head covering.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: That was a fun Sunday that we had a couple weeks ago.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_00: So we're not getting into that.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: But this is next to a statement where it's talking about men who pray and prophesy in the church service.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: So it would not make sense, if you're tracking with me, for Paul in chapter 11 to be like, men and women, they're praying and prophesying in the service, both genders actively involved and what's happening there.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then for three chapters later, him to be like, actually, no, that's not what's happening.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: Silence.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: So if it's not all women all the time, what is it then?
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: What's the situation?
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to give you my summary of what I think this is about.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I will talk about it more in the podcast because it is kind of nuanced.
• 23:28
  SPEAKER_00: Here's what I think is happening.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: I think that what Paul is directly addressing is how uh when it comes to the discernment, the judging of prophecy, there was something happening where women, specifically those who were married, it seems to be, were acting in such a manner in the discernment of this prophecy that they were bringing disgrace upon themselves and their families.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: Okay?
• 23:55
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's a specific application for the judgment of prophecy.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think this is just some random included statement because here they're to be silent, just like the other two.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: And also when you get to verse 37, the idea of prophecy continues.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: So it makes sense that Paul would talk about the two main topics, tongues and prophecy.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: Tongues for 29 verses, and then he switches gears and now talks about prophecy until verse 40.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's included in that segment.
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not I'm not setting aside that this isn't, you might say, a volatile verse, controversial, but I don't think it's as scandalous as we've sometimes made it out to be when it's taken out of context and kind of weaponized.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: I think it has a specific application in the churches.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: But if I can for a second, draw your attention to something greater, though.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: As much as this, verses 34 and 35 are well known in chapter 14, they are not the main idea.
• 24:57
  SPEAKER_00: The main idea is what Paul has been talking about this entire time, which is building up the church.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: That is what he is talking about.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: Though 34 and 35 get the most sort of screen time in terms of what people talk about from this chapter, that's not the main idea.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: The main idea is Paul saying, whatever you're bringing into the church service, however you're engaging with it, it must go through this framework of what is best for carrying out the mission of the church and examining ourselves to see whether or not we're doing that, or conversely, we are using the church as the Corinthians were to build ourselves up.
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: Are we building up the church?
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: We're building up ourselves.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_00: That is the main point.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it just so happens that one of the things that is influenced by it is how to interpret prophecy in tongues.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: So this is where I think that we take kind of, if you will, an eternal truth, which is even though we can't directly relate to prophecy and tongues in Corinth, we can directly relate to examining ourselves and saying, are we building up the church or are we building up ourselves and using the church to do it?
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: So with that, there are there are three things that I would like to kind of share with you that I think that we can do today that applies to us, Topeka 2023, and the ways that we can be building up the church, but have the potential to be a way that we use the church to build up ourselves.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_00: If that made no sense, let me go on.
• 26:30
  SPEAKER_00: So here's what I think builds up the church.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've been at TBC for a while, you would recognize these words.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: Our model of ministry is discovering, connecting, and serving.
• 26:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think all three of these things are necessary and beneficial for being a part of the church and building up said church.
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: Build upon the foundation of Jesus Christ.
• 26:53
  SPEAKER_00: But each one of these three things has a way in which we can steal from it and make it about us.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_00: So first, when it comes to discovering, what is discovering?
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_00: Well, when we trust in Jesus Christ, it's not that we begin a new story, but we start a new chapter.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that relationship that we now have with Christ, the fact that we are calling him our Lord, that he is our Savior, and that we want to follow after him, means that we recognize the way that we were living our lives previously didn't cut it.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_00: And now our goal is to become more and more like Jesus.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: And the way we do that is by discovering his word and discovering what he says about living our lives in a way that is carrying out his mission and is honoring him and glorifying him and makes us look a lot more like our Savior to the world around us.
• 27:45
  SPEAKER_00: When we discover as Christians it requires humility that we say, hey, I want to be more like Jesus every single day, and I recognize that there are some things I might need to do that are hard.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_00: The way in which this can become twisted, though, is instead of coming to the church and saying, I want to take on the mission of Christ, I want to take on his agenda, is we bring our own agenda to church.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_00: Sorry, I have to deal with my handwriting.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: We bring our own agenda to church.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: Right?
• 28:16
  SPEAKER_00: Church becomes less about the mission of Christ, and church instead becomes an opportunity for us to use, whether it's the people, the location, the influence, whatever you have, sometimes the financial resources of the church, to direct them in a way that satisfies our goals and our agenda.
• 28:36
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not that we are supposed to be these like robots that come in and have no desired diversity.
• 28:42
  SPEAKER_00: Paul's talked about diversity.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: Diversity is beautiful in all regards.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_00: But when those things that separate us, or particularly divisive opinions, come above our unity in Christ, and we begin seeing the cross as something that we wield to smash our enemies instead of something that we lead our enemies towards with love so that they can discover it, when we begin using our own agenda instead of looking for the agenda of Christ, this can become twisted.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to be careful that we are building up the church by discovering what it means through sanctification to be more like Christ, to spread that to other people, and not try and spread our own ideologies that are separate from the church or using the church to accomplish our own aims.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: The second thing is connecting.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_00: Connecting, you can probably guess what this is about, finding fellowship, finding community.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: But it is also critically understanding and being connected to the local church body and its purpose so that when I go somewhere else, I understand that that church in, you know, whatever, Bucktusle, Texas, okay, is trying to accomplish the same mission that I am, or that Christ is here at TBC, right?
• 30:05
  SPEAKER_00: We are not exclusively the ones who are connected into the mission of Christ, but it is something that we do and we find fellowship when we carry that out.
• 30:14
  SPEAKER_00: So briefly, let me tell you one of the saddest emails I ever got when I was doing student ministry here was from a parent who uh their kid had gone off to college and they were freshmen, they had been there for about six months in a new town, and they'd emailed me saying, My kid, you know, we've talked with them about going to church, but they're not going to church.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: They don't understand why that's important, and as much as we're telling them to go, it's just not happening.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: And basically the question is, you know, what do I do?
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_00: And the hard part, there's two things to that.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: The hard part is that the answer I can give is, well, encouragement.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know, they're they're quite a quite a ways away.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so, you know, we're relying upon the things that we taught them while they were in the home, relying upon the discipleship that was present there.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_00: But the second thing, though, and the one that I did not express in the email, is that their child, for all the times that they were in, you know, children, middle school, and high school, because of the schedule that their parents had set for them, they never had church emphasized as something of importance.
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so when it comes to our schedules, we have to be very, very careful that our stated priorities align with the way that we are orienting our lives.
• 31:37
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes those two things do not match each other.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not saying that this can't be done well, that you can't have a busy schedule and also be involved in the church, but what I am saying is uh, A, that's hard.
• 31:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but B, that there is a difference between constantly telling your kids, church is important, you should value the Bible, you should read it, you should study it, you need to be praying, and then going off and setting their calendar in such a way that they can't get connected to church.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so then it becomes very difficult when they go off to college and you say, Why is this not a priority for them?
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_00: And the answer is, because you never made it a priority for them.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_00: And that's a that's a very hard thing to wrestle with.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_00: But it's not just parents either.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's adults, it's adults, it's grandparents, it's a whole selection of people where we say, are my stated priorities aligned with the way that I'm living my life?
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_00: And so this comes to chapter 14 because we say, Does my schedule allow me to build up the church?
• 32:41
  SPEAKER_00: Or am I using the church, sort of checking it off my list of things that I should generally be doing as a good person, and then I'm satisfied?
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_00: Meaning, do you just see church as something that you occasionally do, you occasionally attend, because you feel like that's something you should do, and therefore you're just using church really to build yourself up?
• 33:06
  SPEAKER_00: Or are you trying to get connected and making space in your life so you can get connected to the mission of the church and so you can build up the church?
• 33:16
  SPEAKER_00: A final thing with that, in which case I will draw two very bad stick figures.
• 33:25
  SPEAKER_00: The last thing that I want to say about connecting is that there is oftentimes a view regarding this that if you don't get connected, it's just you who suffers.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: But that's not true.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_00: When you connect with other people, you benefit them, and they benefit you.
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_00: There's a relationship that happens here.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_00: And when you choose to not get connected or live your life in such a way that it becomes very hard, not only are you suffering, but you're actually bringing suffering to other people because they have been um haven't had the opportunity to get to know you into a deep relationship as a body of Christ.
• 34:06
  SPEAKER_00: Third, serving.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_00: Serving is very simple at the top level and quite a bit complicated when you dig beneath the surface.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_00: From a base level, service is something that we all understand, right?
• 34:21
  SPEAKER_00: And it's probably the most clear application of how to build the church, right?
• 34:26
  SPEAKER_00: When you serve here in the church, when you take your time and your efforts and you do all of those things, you're building up the church in a very, very tangible way.
• 34:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so that is a great way that you can uh carry out this mission.
• 34:42
  SPEAKER_00: But the way in which this twists, and the final thing I want to talk with you about, though, is when we instead decide that church should be serving us, and so with I'm gonna say with comfort, we decide that the church doesn't need us, they've got enough people, it's doing fine on its own, and I am going to engage with church in a way where I am the only beneficiary.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of me serving church, church serves me.
• 35:11
  SPEAKER_00: What does this look like?
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'll be honest with you, I'm gonna kind of hot topic.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think unless you are sick, unless you are, you know, unable to attend because of mobility, unless you are, I'd say, on vacation, this kind of thing, I think that you should be in church.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: I really do.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that the reason for that is because when you attend church and when you become a part of this missional thing that we're all working on, right?
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_00: When you get invested in it, then you realize that it's way more than just about you.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: But there are still quite a few people who just enjoy the comfort of sitting on their couch and watching me for a sermon or watching somebody else, and that is the extent of their relationship with the local church.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_00: And not only is that limiting, and they're limiting themselves in the joy that they can experience, but that's not what God has called us to.
• 36:14
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, we've got a big purpose here.
• 36:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's called the Great Commission.
• 36:18
  SPEAKER_00: And if the only thing that we think church does for us is finding the right worship that we like most of the time, and a pastor that we like most of the time, and a congregation where we feel like we know people most of the time, then that's all we're looking for, and we can leave and go to Schlotsky's for lunch or wherever.
• 36:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I find that to be hard to understand because church should be so much more.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: But the only way, and this is the last thing I'll say regarding it, the only way that I think you really discover and get to feel, and not just hear, but feel the way that church should feel what being in a community and a fellowship and a body of Christ is truly like, is if you put forth some effort to do it.
• 37:07
  SPEAKER_00: It is difficult at times for it to just happen natively, for you to just walk in the doors and think that you are going to understand what it means to be an invested member of the body of Christ when you are here for about an hour a week.
• 37:23
  SPEAKER_00: So, why do I say all these things?
• 37:26
  SPEAKER_00: Because I want you to build the church.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to carry out God's mission for the church.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't say that in any way to try and break people down, but instead try and lift you up and say, hey, you have a high calling.
• 37:40
  SPEAKER_00: You have a great purpose.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_00: Every single one of you has something to bring to the church.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I promise you, I am not doing this because we need volunteers for some certain thing.
• 37:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm doing it genuinely because you will find the most satisfaction when you become invested in the church.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_00: You really will.
• 37:58
  SPEAKER_00: You will begin to understand what this crazy guy is talking about when he says that the church is mission-minded and it's for other people and not for us, even though we still benefit.
• 38:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's a happy, symbiotic relationship of knowing Jesus Christ as we benefit and we benefit other people.
• 38:15
  SPEAKER_00: So it might not be speaking in tongues and prophecy, but it's something for us.
• 38:22
  SPEAKER_00: And it's something that we have to consider and evaluate ourselves on.
• 38:26
  SPEAKER_00: And this really, this is the last chapter where Paul is kind of hitting the Corinthians with some hard truth.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_00: As we go into chapter 15, it's gonna be a lot of fun.
• 38:34
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna talk about the resurrection of Christ and kind of the implications that has for us, including heaven.
• 38:40
  SPEAKER_00: Really looking forward to that.
• 38:42
  SPEAKER_00: But here as he closes chapter 14, he sort of leaves them with this note, this great summarizing note of saying, if you want to take everything that I have said in 1 Corinthians and distill it down to this great question, it is, what builds the church?
• 39:00
  SPEAKER_00: And what builds us up?
• 39:03
  SPEAKER_00: And if it is building us up, then we have the opportunity to change it.
• 39:09
  SPEAKER_00: But it takes effort and it takes intention.
• 39:12
  SPEAKER_00: So with that, um let's go ahead and pray.
• 39:15
  SPEAKER_00: And as we do, just pray with me that God would help us to realize what it looks like to do this in a healthy way.
• 39:25
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, we come before you and we thank you.
• 39:29
  SPEAKER_00: God, I thank you so much for all the people at TBC, Lord, and and and in Topeka and across the world who are dedicated to building up your church.
• 39:41
  SPEAKER_00: Father, I I could spend all day naming off those who have made it a mission to be missionally minded for you and to care for your agenda and not their own.
• 39:53
  SPEAKER_00: Lord, I am thankful for these people.
• 39:55
  SPEAKER_00: I'm thankful for those who discover and connect and serve.
• 39:58
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, I think they are thankful for it as well.
• 40:02
  SPEAKER_00: God, I pray that you would help us to realize the greater purpose of church is not to serve us, but to serve others and to serve you, Lord.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_00: And God, that through that we might be convicted by your spirit into these areas that we might not have even realized beforehand.
• 40:21
  SPEAKER_00: But God, that you would help us.
• 40:22
  SPEAKER_00: And Lord, as we make the decision to change our lives so that it looks more like you, God, give us the courage and the strength to be able to make some of those hard decisions that perhaps we haven't made until now.
• 40:36
  SPEAKER_00: God, we desire to build your church so that your word would be proclaimed and to all the nations, and disciples would be made, and people would be baptized.
• 40:47
  SPEAKER_00: God, we love you and we thank you.
• 40:49
  SPEAKER_00: It's in Jesus' name we pray.
• 40:50
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 40:52
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks, everybody.
• 40:53
  SPEAKER_00: Have a great week.