Our Mind & The Use of Our Gifts

Transcript

GR 1357
Our Mind and the Use of Our Gifts
1 Corinthians 14:13-19
06-17-07
Gil Rugh

We're talking about God's plan for the worship and work of His church on the subject of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12-14. And we're in chapter 14, so if you'd turn there in your Bibles. Paul has been talking about the importance of spiritual gifts in the functioning of the church, which is the body of Christ. It's the spiritual gifts, those special enablements given by the Spirit that enable the church to function together as a cohesive unified unit, each person contributing what is necessary for the health and development of the body.

We're going to come into a section where Paul is going to stress the importance of the mind. He's been talking about this, and it will become even more of an emphasis in the verses before us, that all that God does to build us up as His people takes place in the context of our mind, our understanding, our thought processes. And I want to look at a few verses in other places where Paul has addressed the subject of our mind, using the same word that he uses here before us in 1 Corinthians 14. And you'll note a contrast is drawn between the mind of the unregenerate person and how it thinks and the mind of the person who has believed in Christ and made new and now how it operates.

Just before 1 Corinthians is the book of Romans, and turn to Romans 1. And Paul begins his first major section of the book of Romans with verse 18. This first major section of Romans talks about our sin. Paul is going to unfold the gospel, and the beginning point for understanding the gospel, the good news about Jesus Christ, is understanding the bad news about our sin. And we need a Savior. So he begins in Romans 1:18, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Here is how every person responds to the revelation God has given of Himself—they suppress that truth and are unwilling to acknowledge it. And as a result God brings judgment on His creation. And down in verse 28, just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, note this, God gave them over to a depraved mind. The word literally means a mind that has failed the test. They have been put to the test and failed. They are no longer able to function in their mind, in their rational thought processes in any kind of God-honoring way. So what they do is do the things which are not proper. They are filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, and on goes the list of sinful conduct. But you'll note, it comes from their mind, a mind that has refused to acknowledge God. And so God gives them over to the control of that mind that only wants to do what is evil, what is wicked and what is contrary to the will of God. They have no understanding. They have a depraved mind.

Now come over to Romans 12. And what happens, after demonstrating that every single human being is a sinner and under condemnation, Paul has unfolded how God has provided righteousness for sinners through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ, so that those who believe in Him can experience forgiveness of sins and new life. And he talked about how that new life is lived. You come to Romans 12:1, therefore, I urge you by the mercies of God, God's mercy in providing salvation and the provision for us to be forgiven and made new. That you present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice. Verse 2, do not be conformed to this world, now note this, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. That mind which we saw in Romans 1 which was depraved and worthless to do any good thing has now been made new and as a new man in Christ with a new mind, now we are in a position to prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. So that contrast for both the unregenerate lost person and the person who has come to life in Christ, both are operating under the directions of their mind. But in totally different ways.

Come over to the book of Ephesians and you see the same contrast. Ephesians 4:17, so this I say and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, referring to unbelievers here, in the futility of their mind. You see unregenerate people are walking according to the directions of their mind which are empty, worthless, as far as the service of God would be concerned. They are darkened in their understanding, they are excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them. You see the description; they walk under the control of the mind. That is worthless as far as God would evaluate it, worthless, ineffective, incapable of doing anything that is pleasing to God. But verse 20 says, but you did not learn Christ in this way. Verse 22, that in reference to your former manner of life you lay aside the old self, the old man. And verse 23, you be renewed in the spirit of your mind and put on the new self, the new man. You'll note that you're renewed in the spirit of your mind, and now you conduct yourself according to what you are as a new man in Christ. Put on the new man which in the likeness of God is being created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. So now my decisions are made coming out of a renewed mind. Before a person places their faith in Christ, their decisions come out of a depraved mind, a futile, worthless mind. When we are made new in Christ, now we make decisions from a mind that is new.

Jump over to 1 Timothy 6. Here Paul describes men who do not know Jesus Christ the living Savior, those who reject the sound teaching, the healthy teaching. Those, verse 3, of our Lord Jesus Christ and the doctrine, the teaching, conforming to godliness. Those kind of people are conceited and understand nothing. Look at verse 5, they have nothing but constant friction between men of depraved minds. We have again depraved mind, that's a different word than was translated depraved in Romans 1:28. There it was a mind that failed the test, that was not good for any good purpose of God. Now you have a mind that is corrupt, defiled, it's deprived of the truth. You see that contrast again. And you describe the mind of the unregenerate person, the ungodly person, the person outside of Christ. He is deprived of the truth. He has a depraved mind, and it's demonstrated, he does depraved things which have been described in the context.

In 2 Timothy 3:8, referring to Jannes and Jambres, men who opposed Moses back in the days when Moses was doing his miracles in Egypt. These men, now in Timothy's day, also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith. They oppose the truth. They are men of depraved mind. You see where we focus in scripture. Whether you're talking about unsaved people or saved people, it is in the realm of their mind, where they think, their understanding. That's why you cannot reason or argue or convince an unsaved person of the truthfulness of Christianity. They are blind to the clearest evidence, their depraved mind will not allow them to see and acknowledge truth. Their only hope is to hear the gospel, by the grace of God have the Spirit of God open their blind eyes that they might believe. Depraved, empty, worthless.

Titus 1:15, both their mind and their conscience are defiled.

Come back to 1 Corinthians and come to chapter 1. Paul has talked about the mind already in 1 Corinthians. He's talking about the new mind now that these Corinthian believers comprising the church at Corinth now have. In 1 Corinthians 1:10, now I exhort you brethren by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all agree, that there be no divisions among you. Remember Paul wrote to Timothy that men of a depraved mind are characterized by constant friction. Now I exhort you that you all agree, that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete, in the same mind, having the same judgment. And just like every unregenerate person has the same mind, they think the same way, they have a depraved mind, a futile worthless mind, a corrupt mind. So everyone who has been made a new creature in Christ has had their mind made new. So we have the same mind. That's why it's such a disaster that the church should be marked by friction and conflict. In fact, we have the mind of Christ.

Over in 1 Corinthians 2:16, for who has known the mind of the Lord that He will instruct him. But we have the mind of Christ, we have been made new in Christ, conformed to His image, been made the recipients of His righteousness. We have the mind of Christ and thus every believer has the same mind, a mind that has been made new in Christ. It is the mind of Christ that understands truth, that is now able to obey truth, to honor God and do those things which are pleasing to God.

Now come over to 1 Corinthians 14. What Paul is stressing is the absolute necessity of the functioning of our mind in all of our worship and in all of our service as God's people. He has unfolded this in verse 6. Verse 5 he said, speaking in tongues, which was speaking in a language that a person had not learned. Speaking in French when he hadn't learned French and the people had not learned French. That was not of value, it accomplished nothing unless the language was interpreted. The end of verse 5, speaking in tongues is not of value unless he interprets so that the church may receive edifying. If I speak to you in tongues, how can I profit you? If I speak to you in a language you don't understand, how could I profit you? This is true in musical instruments that are lifeless, they are just instruments. But if they don't play what is known and understood, it is meaningless. That is true of all the languages of the world. Verse 10, many kinds of languages in the world. No kind is without meaning. But if I don't know the meaning of the language the person is speaking, it is of no benefit to me. So verse 12, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church. That's the goal. That's what Paul has written in chapter12, in chapter 13 on love, and what he's been emphasizing in chapter 14. The exercising of all spiritual gifts has one goal—building up the body of Christ.

Therefore, verse 13, in light of the command, the command given in verse 13, seek to abound for the edification of the church. That ought to be your goal, your pursuit. Therefore, let the one who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. The one speaking in a tongue is speaking in a language that would not be understood. Therefore, he should pray that he might be able to interpret it. If I would begin to speak in Greek or read you from the Greek New Testament, you wouldn't understand it, it wouldn't be any benefit. If we would have someone from the country of Greece stand here and preach the most powerful biblical sermon that had ever been preached, but he did it in Greek and nobody here understood Greek, it wouldn't benefit any of us. We wouldn't have any idea what he said. So the person with the gift of speaking in another language in the church at Corinth had to pray that God would give him the ability to interpret it so that it would have benefit, that it would be worthwhile, that it would build up the church.

Two possibilities with interpretation. God could give the person who spoke in tongues, another language, also the ability to interpret that language. The gift of tongues was unique. In and of itself it couldn't accomplish anything for the church. It needed an accompanying gift, the gift of interpretation. So God sometimes would give the person who had the gift of tongues, the ability to interpret it. Sometimes He gave that as a separate gift. Up in verse 5, the middle of the verse, greater is the one who prophesies than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets. There referring to the fact that on some occasions a person might begin to speak in a foreign language, and God would give him the ability to interpret that so that the body would benefit from exercising that gift. That's what he is referring to down in verse 13. On other occasions it would be a different person who was given the ability to interpret.

Back in chapter 12, the end of verse 10, talking about various spiritual gifts. To another, kinds of tongues. To another, the interpretation of tongues. There Paul says often the gift of tongues and the gift of interpretation are separate, and one person has the gift of tongues and another person has the gift of interpretation. In chapter 14 verse 27, if anyone speaks in a tongue it should be by two or three at the most. And each in turn. And one must interpret. So there the interpreter is distinct from the speaker, or one or two of the speakers wouldn't be doing the interpreting, because only one person would interpret, even though two or three might speak in tongues. So it could be either the individual who spoke, or it could be a separate person doing the interpretation.

You know one thing we have, we spent some time on this, we determine that the gift of tongues in the New Testament was the ability to speak an earthly foreign language you had not learned. Now this gift has not been present on earth since the days of the apostles, the writing of the New Testament. So we have never had the opportunity to experience this gift and observe it. We only know about it from what is written here. But it is important for us. We say well, if it hasn't been present for two thousand years, why do we spend so much time on it? Well, the principle that applies to this gift is crucial for the operating of the church. Now some people are promoting the gift of tongues as present in the church today, and we have to be careful that we analyze the scripture very carefully, to be sure whether we do have what the Bible says this gift consists of, or we don't. And that's why we have spent so much time on that part.

All right, back to chapter 14 and verse 13. The one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret. And if he can't interpret, or there is nobody present to interpret, then he is not allowed to speak in the church. So it's not that he gets up and speaks and then prays that he could interpret or maybe somebody else will. That has to be determined ahead of time. That will become clear in our later studies as we move through chapter 14.

Paul gives the reason in verse 14 and continuing this development. You'll note he begins with for. For, if I pray in a tongue my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. This brings us to a very important section and we need to grasp this because it has great impact for the church today. Some take my spirit here, to refer to the inner part of a person in contrast to the mind. In other words, my mind is my rational thinking part where understanding occurs and decisions are made. But my spirit is that nonrational part of me, where my emotions are. And the part of me, sometimes you hear a person say, I just know in my spirit it is right. How do you just know in your spirit it is right? I just know. Well, we're going in a circle, you understand. How do you know? I know. And we as believers talk that way. I walked into this church and I sat down and I knew in my spirit it was the right place. Well we hadn't even said “Hi” yet. How did you know? Did you like the building? Did you like the lights? Did you like the seats? You thought the preacher was dashing and handsome when he walked down the aisle. I don't know. How did you know in your spirit? You say, I shouldn't have to explain that rationally. There is no rational explanation. I just knew it. The Bible never, never contrasts the mind and the spirit in that way. That is an unbiblical, antibiblical kind of distinction. That comes more from eastern religions than it does from the Bible. You see people practicing yoga or meditation and they're going to do what? Sit there and empty their minds, think about one thing, think about one word. And pretty soon they're sitting there going, “uunngh, uunngh, uunngh.” Now all of a sudden we have become one with, whatever we're becoming one with. And now we feel peace and tranquility and the stress is gone. And they feel in their spirit that they have peace, no stress. They feel that they got peace from meditation. And I feel in my spirit I got peace from Christ. I guess we get peace from different places. Wait a minute. Our feelings, that kind of thinking is not biblical thinking.

So we have to be careful here. What does he mean when he says, if I pray in a tongue my spirit prays? Some would say my mind is unfruitful, note the last part of it, because it is not happening in the rational part of me, it's happening in my spirit. So I'm praying in my spirit even though my mind doesn't know what's going on and it makes no sense in the rational realm. But that's all right, this is a spiritual truth. It's happening in the non-rational realm. As I mentioned, that's not a biblical distinction. Can't be true. And it doesn't fit the context of what we are talking about. My spirit here in the context, refers to my spiritual gift. This is not a new interpretation that came up to deal with the charismatic movement of our day. John Calvin, 500 years ago, wrote that my spirit in this verse refers to my spiritual gift. You'll note back in verse 1, earnestly desire spiritual things, spiritual gifts, that's the word, “spiritual things.” In the context it refers to spiritual gifts. Paul uses the word spirit here a number of times through this passage, drawing attention that the foundation for the gifts is in the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the life of the believer. So they could be called charismatic, referring to the fact they come by God's grace, charis, or they can be called pneumaticon, they come from the pneuma, the Spirit.

Verse 2, the one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands, but in spirit he speaks mysteries. Talking about there in the Spirit of God producing this in his life. It is a work of the Spirit that this person is speaking in another language that he has not learned. That's his spiritual gift, a tongue. Down in verse 12, really connected now to where we are, since you are zealous of spiritual gifts. You'll note the word gifts there is in italics. It wasn't in the Greek text. They put it there to try to help with the sense. It's literally the plural of the word spirit. Since you are zealous of spirits, plural. Now there is only one Holy Spirit, but He manifests Himself in each life of a believer differently as He produces the various gifts. We have the multiplicity of the gifts, the multiplied manifestations of the Spirit. So here it's an abbreviated way, I think we call it autonomy. An abbreviated way of saying something. You are zealous of spirits. What do we mean by that? Well, the context makes clear. The translators have understood it. Calvin understood it 500 years ago when there was no modern day Pentecostal or charismatic movement. We're talking about spiritual gifts.

So then you come down, verse 14, if I pray in a tongue my spirit prays. Another word that is the Spirit of God producing the manifestation of my gift. And my speaking in tongues is a result of the Spirit's work in my life. He has produced the gift. So not talking about my spirit in my non-rational part of me in contrast to my mind. I am praying with my spiritual gift when I pray in a tongue, but my mind is unfruitful. There is nothing beneficial happening. The unfruitful here, that would be true of the person speaking if he doesn't know what he is saying, but it says in verse 4, the one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself. Well in the sense he's using his gift, but that's not the purpose of the gift. As I used the analogy, I can preach my sermon in my office at home by myself and say, I was edifying myself by using my gift. The Bible never talks about edifying yourself by exercising your gift of teaching to yourself. You are edified by someone else's teaching, but it just is not even a concept that we don't talk about the other spiritual gifts that way. Oh you have the gift of administration, well why don't you go and sit in your office and administer yourself? You have the gift of serving, well go close yourself in the bedroom and do your serving. We don't talk about spiritual gifts that way, but somehow we get to the gift of tongues and we start bouncing off the wall.

What Paul is talking about here, tongues is a valid, real spiritual gift, produced by the Spirit in a life. But it only has value when it is exercised in the context where it will be understood. If the mind is unfruitful, it is producing nothing, there is nothing of value, it is unfruitful. You can't distinguish, my mind is unfruitful, but my spirit is really . . . Now I really grow by being irrational? I really grow when I don't have any understanding? I really grow when I get something emotional and “spiritual” is happening even though I don't have any idea what it is. All of a sudden we become pagan. That's not a biblical concept, that's a pagan concept.

Okay, so he comes out of verse 12 with spiritual things, which was consistent with the way he started the chapter, the way he started this discussion back in chapter 12 verse 1 about spiritual things, things of the Spirit, and the various manifestations of the Spirit. Look at verse 15. What is the outcome then? What do we make of this? What are we going to say? I will pray with the Spirit, I will pray with the mind also. I will sing with the Spirit. I will sing with the mind also. He's talking about, I will sing with my spiritual gift, I will pray with my spiritual gift. But I'll only do that in the context where the mind operates. Either I can interpret or someone else can interpret. He uses praying and singing, not because tongues is uniquely used for that, but because that was a key part of the worship of God's people. We looked at that when we talked about the gift of prophecy. And prayer was often associated with the ministry of a prophet. And so the exercise of tongues in the worship of the church, often be in the context of prayer, often be in the context of singing. What are we saying? I will sing with my spiritual gift, my spirit, that's the manifestation of my gift using tongues, but I'll do it only when my mind can be operative, too, either because I can interpret or someone who can interpret is present.

Let me read you what one person has written on this. He has written a massive commentary on the Greek text, like fifteen hundred pages of 1 Corinthians. But he wouldn't be where I am in much of this discussion. But what he says here is very much to the point. To assume that Paul thinks that the Spirit evicts the mind is to fall into the very trap to which the Corinthians and many today fall prey. Namely of associating the operation of the Holy Spirit more closely with non-cognitive spontaneous phenomena than with the self-critical reflection upon the Word of God as that which addresses the understanding and therefore transforms the heart.

This is a serious matter. And this whole idea that something happens apart from my understanding and in our church services we think we divide the worship part of it from the teaching part of it. In earlier years of my ministry people would say, we need more worship and less teaching. I scratched my head and said, what in the world are we talking about? Well you know the music time is the worship time. Why? Well you know that's where it gets to my feelings, gets to my heart, where I feel like I've worshiped. It's not just something going on in my mind. You know the Bible knows nothing of that kind of division. We can be teaching one another in songs, hymns and spiritual songs, or we can be teaching one another with the spoken word. One of the things I've appreciated, our music committee works so hard on is to try to be careful in sorting through the words of the songs that are sung. We have all found ourselves singing something because we like the melody and the tune, but if we stopped and though about the words we'd say, that is really stupid. That's true with some of our “Christian” songs. I just like it. Bad theology, if there is any theology, but I like it. People going around, they're searching for a church, a church that feels right for me, or my kids like that church, or we like the music.

When we left a denominational church, I appreciated my parents going with the decision. I voted no. We were Methodists and my parents found out about a church that was teaching the Bible so we started going on Sunday night to pick it up. Soon my dad said we were going to be changing churches. But all my friends are in this church, I like it here, I don't want to go. That was before the days parents knew they could warp their poor children's psyche by telling them no, and who knows what awful things were in my future because my parents tore me away from my friends and my security and took me to another church. In our family I didn't get to vote, and if I were careful I could express myself carefully. But my mother and my dad talked about it and we moved. I remember they said, we're going there because they teach the Bible. Well I wanted to go to a church where I had my friends. I don’t know what’s happened. I meet people and they are in the goofiest church. I’m not talking about another Bible-believing church. I’m talking about they’re in the church. Well my kids had friends there and they wanted to go there. I don't know what to say. We're going to come to a word here in a moment, idiotace. You know what English word we get from that, don't you? If it didn't sound so much like the word I would say it and they might think I was giving them a Greek greeting because they didn't understand the language. I mean, that's idiotic, it is absolute stupidity. I went to that church, and I just “felt” right there. What does it mean to “feel right” there? And what happened to God saying we use our mind, we have a mind that has been renewed?

So Paul is telling the Corinthians, you don't do anything without your mind. And you even have a spiritual gift that enables you to speak in a language that you haven't learned and others there haven't learned. And I can give the ability to interpret, but let me tell you, you keep your mouth shut if there is no one there to interpret, because no one benefits from something they don't understand. No growth takes place. Well, I don't mean for the growth of the church, but I mean for my own personal growth. No growth takes place. You don't really grow and mature by putting your mind on the shelf and now I have some kind of spiritual whatever. That's just opening the door to the devil and his work. My mind is unfruitful, so it produces nothing. So, whether I'm praying, whether I'm singing, I can use my spiritual gift of tongues, but only when the mind can operate, someone can interpret. Then it will be a blessing to those who hear.

Verse 16, otherwise if you bless in the spirit. Here this is taking place in the realm of the Spirit, what He is doing in the life. How will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the amen at your giving of thanks, since he doesn't know what you are saying? There is no concept here that you are doing this along at home by yourself. You are blessing in the Spirit, but the person in the place of the ungifted. And there is our word, idiotace. Doesn't have just the totally negative connotation, but basically meant the unlearned, the unknowing, the person who is out of “the know.” Ungifted here gives you what he's talking about. Here is a person who doesn't have the gift of interpretation. There is no benefit to him. He can't say amen. That's a Hebrew word, was carried over into Greek, just transliterated over. The Hebrew word is amen. It expressed agreement, validation, confirmation, assent. How can they give that voice of agreement? How can they join in, having benefitted from what you say and saying, yes I agree? That doesn't mean everything we hear has to be new. Sometimes we hear again and again the old truth that the Spirit is bringing to us, and we simply say, yes, I agree wholeheartedly. But if you don't know what they say . . . When I've been in foreign countries and sat and listened, I may have been hearing the best sermon I ever heard, but I didn't want to say amen because I'm not sure what he said. How can I agree with him? How can I say yes? I don't know what's going on. My mind has to be operating for any beneficial to occur. There'll be more about this down in verses 23-24, but we'll wait until we get there to talk about those things.

Verse 17, for you are giving thanks well enough, you are giving thanks with your tongue. You see there are a variety of things you can say—you can be praying, you can be singing, you can be blessing, you can be giving thanks, depending on the context of what the Spirit of God is moving you to do in the using of your gift and how you are using it. Just like with teaching you can give an encouraging sermon, you can give a condemning sermon, there can be a variety of things. So you are giving thanks well enough, Paul is not condemning the gift. There is nothing wrong with the gift of tongues, the true gift of tongues as it was given to the church at Corinth, where a person stood up and in French or whatever gave thanks. They were doing that well enough. Good, great. The only person who understood it was God, verse 2, no one else did. So they were giving thanks well enough, down in verse 17, but the other person is not edified. And that's the sole purpose of the gifts. How many times does God have to say until we get it? I mean, it's been repeated in chapter 12, chapter 13 was about the love that focuses on the other person, chapter 14 on the necessity of edification. And somehow somebody reads into this, well tongues is for your own private edification. One of the major denominations is having a battle over this now, they should allow tongues as a private means of praying to God in spiritual development for the individual. Where do you get that out of the Bible? Well, we should let people make their own decision. Bad theology is never a private decision. This is not all about me. It’s about us. We have been saved and been placed into the body of Christ, the church, to function in context with one another and to contribute to one another's growth. It's not all about me, and I can do what I think is best for me. No, you can't, God says you can't, God says you have to do what is best for others. That's how we function. My hand just can't decide what it is going to do. Sometimes I have to do some things just for me. Well forget it.

That's what Paul is saying. You are giving thanks well enough but the other person is not edified. In other words, it's not a valid use of the gift. Period. I mean, we are to see, verse 12, to abound to the edification of the church. We are to operate, at the end of verse 5, so that the church may receive edification. We've looked at this before, the emphasis on edification through all of this discussion. Anything else fails.

Then Paul says in verse 18, I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all. See, he wants everybody to speak in tongues, and I do it more than all of you. And all of you speak in tongues; I just do it more so. I mean that's not interpreting the Bible, that's just reading something you want to be here. We've already discussed this. And back in chapter 12 verse 28, we're told that not everybody, verses 29-30, not everyone has the gift of tongues. Well they say not everyone has the gift of tongues for the edification of the church, but everyone has the gift of tongues for self-edification. That's not interpreting the Bible, that's reading into the Bible something you've come up. Paul speaks in tongues more than anyone. Well, doesn't that mean we all ought to be looking to speak in tongues? No, because the apostles had all the gifts and I'm not an apostle and neither are you. 2 Corinthians 12:12, Paul says the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all signs, wonders, miracles. He did them all. What he's saying here, lest anyone at Corinth may accuse Paul of jealousy or trying to minimize the gift of tongues because he didn't have it, let's get this straight—I have the gift of tongues to a greater degree than any of you have. But remember in verse 1 of chapter 13 on love—if I speak with the tongue of men and of angels and don't have love, I'm just noise. Everything I do has to be done for the good of someone else. So if I'm using the tongues for myself, even if I have the greatest gift of tongues ever given, but it's not used for our benefit, it's just noise. Now how do we get over here and find out some self-focused use of tongues?

I thank God, I speak in tongues more than you all. But he's not done with that sentence. However, in the church I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I can instruct others, rather than ten thousand words in a tongue. I mean that helps balance and further explain what he said in chapter 13 verse 1. The expression five, would be like we'd say half a dozen, a few. And ten thousand, that was the highest number the Greek referred to. So it would be like us saying there were half a dozen, and then there were millions. We're not saying that's exactly 6, and that's exactly how many million was that. We know that went from just a handful to countless numbers. Paul is saying here, I'd rather speak the briefest statement than speak an endless amount of words that weren't understood. You see the importance of the mind here. The church in its development and its health, you have to understand. And so I have the gift of tongues to a greater degree than anyone else in the church at Corinth. But let me tell you, I'd rather say just five words in an understandable way than talk endlessly in tongues that no one understood. Clear. Some say, well, you said tongues could be there. What about if they're interpreted today? That's why I spent some time reading to you and showing the biblical gift of tongues was the ability to speak in an earthly foreign language you had not learned, not some kind of gibberish that bypasses the mind so it can be irrational and have no structure, no recognizable structure and order like language does. So this just comes something out of my spirit that's irrational. Well what does that mean? No, we're talking about biblical tongues or a language. And I read you from even those who are more scholarly side of the charismatic movement that acknowledge there is no evidence that anyone anywhere is speaking in earthly languages they have not learned. Then tongues is not present today. That doesn't mean tongues in the church at Corinth did not have a valid place if they were used properly.

So we get out of this, tongues aren't present today, but the point Paul is making is absolutely essential. God's intention is always that our minds be engaged so that we can grow and mature as His children. There is not a place in the worship of God where feelings and emotions are divorced from the functioning of our minds. I'm not saying there is not a place for emotions. There is not a place for feelings. But they do not stand in conflict with our minds. Doesn't matter whether I woke up this morning and felt like I loved my wife. I am responsible to make a decision in light of 1 Corinthians 13 to love her. Our feelings come as a result of our actions, and in the church this artificial distinction is destroying the church. We have less and less Bible teaching going on in the church and we fill it with other things. We are visiting churches considering staff. One of the observations Greg has made as he's had opportunity to be in a half dozen different churches in the last couple of months is, you know, it seems like they're trying so hard to create a mood and get a feeling and have you feel a certain way. I mean what are we doing? Our songs are to proclaim the truth so that the Spirit of God can take the truth as it is sung and bring it into our minds so that we can function and make the decisions that are to come of a renewed mind. And we are to be taught the Word of God so that our minds can assimilate it, think it through and act upon it.

Peter wrote this in 1 Peter 2:2, as newborn babies, long for the pure milk of God's Word that you might grow in your salvation. How do you grow in your salvation? Taking in the pure milk of God's Word, not on the basis of having some kind of emotion, some kind of feeling. Taking in God's Word, feeding on it, thinking on it. Paul's parting words to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:32, and now I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace which is able to build you up. Same word, basically, we have translated to edify in 1 Corinthians 14. Which is able to edify you, build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. How do we grow? We take in the Word of God. Our minds receive it, think upon it, think through it, strive to understand it, and then obey it. Out of that our emotions are shaped, our feelings come into play. But all takes place with the decision of the mind and the understanding, and rational. God forbid that our worship ever move away from that which is rational, mind-focused, that we can understand and thus implement God's truth.

Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, that we who are of depraved minds, minds characterized by futility, corruption, those who were destitute of the truth, who rejected the truth, who pursued sin, your marvelous grace, the gospel of grace was brought to our minds. And by your grace we understood that we were sinners and Christ died for us, that we were privileged to place our faith in Him as our Savior, in Him alone the miraculous transformation of making us new in Christ occurs. And we were given new minds. Lord, our desire is to be a church that is focused upon you, the revelation you have given of yourself, that we might know you, grow to be more like you as we take in the truth that you have spoken, assimilate it in our minds, strive to understand it, to examine our lives in light of it and commit ourselves to obey it. Lord, may that be true of the Word as we have heard it today. We pray in Christ's name, amen.