1504 - "Paul's Instruction of Order Concerning the Speaking Gifts" I Corinthians 14

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to On the Way with Tony Crisp. Each weekday, Dr. Crisp will be discussing biblical passages, people, places, and prophecies. Tune in daily to start your day right and deepen your understanding of how to better walk the way and enjoy the journey. Here's your host, Dr. Tony Crisp.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

Welcome to On the Way. This is Tony Crisp, and this is Podcast 1504. Today I want to continue what we've been studying over the last four or five podcasts, and that is helping all of us to understand the biblical concept of languages and dialects as the New Testament supernatural gift of tongues, of languages, of being able to speak a regional dialect, a foreign language, foreign to us, one that we've never studied before. And the reason I'm doing this is because as we understand more and more of the scriptures, it becomes readily apparent that much of what we do in our churches, and I'm not talking about one denomination or two, I'm not going after Reform Presbyterians or evangelical and evangelistic Baptist. I'm not talking about Pentecostalism as expressed in Church of God, Church of God of Prophecy, Assembly of God, all of those uh various denominations. I'm not talking about a denomination. I'm not talking about a basic belief system. I'm talking about what the Bible talks about, nothing more or nothing less. And we have been defining the supernatural New Testament gift of languages, of tongues. And when we use the word tongue, we're using Elizabethan English and how the word tongue was used as a language. Today we just use the word language, not gibberish, not ecstatic utterance, not enthusiasm, but we're talking about the language as it was spoken, the dialect as it was spoken in Acts chapter two, Acts chapter ten, Acts chapter nineteen, and in the Word of God when it refers to languages. Now it's interesting that in the book of First Corinthians we have the longest passage on gifts in the Bible. Now the word gift is used and expresses a couple of words. One, that means spirituals in the plural sense, things of the Spirit as such, or charisma or charismat. That is the grace, the graces, the gifts. And those are translated, those two words are translated spiritual gifts or gifts, but those are the words, and so we have our own vocabulary when it comes to spiritual gifts. And so the apostle Paul talks about graces and gifts, pneumoticons, spirituals, to the church at Corinth in chapter 12, 13, and 14. Now remember, there were no original chapter and verse divisions in the original autographs, the text as they were written as letters by the Apostle Paul or Peter, or the Gospels as written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, or the Acts as Luke wrote it. But these were epistles, they were letters. And so they did not have chapter and verse divisions. Those came along only a few hundred years ago. And so when he talks about in chapter 12, now concerning spirituals, the word gifts is not even there, but he's talking about spiritual gifts, so it's warranted as being placed in the text. But notice it is an italics, and that means it was not in the original text. It was placed there to help us understand meaning. And so chapter 12, 13, and 14 were a section when Paul wrote it of a long letter that was 16 chapters as it divides out in our Bibles. And so this was a long letter that Paul wrote. He had a section, an entire section, just on this phenomena that was taking place in Corinth. Now, whatever you come to the conclusion that that was and is manifest today, or whether it's manifest today, is between you and God. I'm not going to condemn you one way or the other. I may disagree with you, but I'm not going to condemn you. And I believe what I believe based upon the grammar, based upon the language, based upon the history, based upon the context, based upon the cultural customs of those days. That's the way we interpret the scriptures. That's called a hermeneutic or a method of discovery. And I've talked to you about that over and over again. So when we come to chapters 12, 13, and 14 of 1 Corinthians, we're talking about the graces, the spirituals, the spiritual gifts. And notice that what we call a chapter division, chapter 13, where it is located, sandwiched in between, where Paul talks about these graces, these gifts in general, and then the speaking gifts in chapter 14. And so in the middle of that he talks about what true love is, agapeo. Remember, there are four words for love in the Greek New Testament. Those four words are eros, that's the noun form, arao, the verb form, and then you have the word storgos, the noun form, storgeo, the verb form, and then phileo and philosoph and then agape and agapeo. But the word agape is the word that is used in chapter thirteen. And it is the word which describes a love that is based in the character and the choice of the one doing the loving rather than in the attitudes or the actions of the one being loved. I'll say it again. Agapa I love or agape, the noun form, what is it? It is a love, a concept of treatment of people and affection for people that is based upon the one doing the loving, that is the subject of love, the one doing the loving, and their choice, their volition, and their character. That concept is based in the character and the choice of the one doing the loving rather than the object, that is, the person being loved, and their actions and attitudes. This is what is described in the book of Romans, chapter five and verse eight, as clearly as anywhere is defined in Scripture by verse. For God commendeth, that's what the King James says. But God demonstrated. While we were yet sinners, Jesus died for us. Not when we got cleaned up, not when we got better, not when we did this or that, but while we were yet sinners, missing the mark, in rebellion, Jesus died for us. That is a love that's based in the character and the choice of the one doing the loving God rather than in the attitudes or the actions of the one being loved us. So God didn't love us because we loved him. God loved us because of who he is, because of his nature, because of his character, because of his choice. And so agape love is a love that's not based in feelings. It's not based in affection. No, there's other words for that that I just mentioned. But this has to do with the choice. And we are told to love others in the same way Jesus loved us, and the word is agape. So we are, by the Spirit of God, able to choose to love people when they are unlovable, when they are unlovely, when they're not loving and affectionate toward us. Men, may I speak to all of us? This is what Paul said is the way that we are to love our wives, not because we get something from them. We don't treat them well because of what we can get out of them or manipulate. We don't treat them the way they treat us. No, we treat them the way Jesus treated us. He treated us with affection and effect, even though we're not worthy of it. We're not earning it. And that's the way He wants us to love our wives. No matter what they say or what they do, we are to love them. We are to go after them, we are to pursue them, we are the pursuer, they are the pursued. Now getting back to spiritual gifts, love is to permeate the church that is the wealthiest, like Corinth, the most gifted, like Corinth, the one that has more than anyone else in earthly things, that is to be the church that's not high and mighty and high flooding, but it is to be bathed and soaked in agape. It ought to be the friendliest church on the planet. It ought to be the church that's the warmest of any anywhere. It ought to be the church that is reaching out more than any other. Why, to whom much is given, much shall be required. And so in chapter fourteen, he talks about pursuing love. Look at chapter 14 and verse 1. 1 Corinthians, the first command is to pursue love. Yes, desiring spirituals and graces, we need to desire graces. But we are to do that pursuing love, not so that we can build ourselves up. The Bible says the one that speaks in a language that no one can understand edifies themselves. The goal of the Christian life is not to edify ourselves, but to edify the church of Jesus. The reason the gifts were given is not for self-edification, but for body edification. That's what 1 Corinthians 14 talks about. But because everybody was so selfish at Corinth, Paul had to lay down the law. He had to give some orders. He had to give cosmos. He had to give order to chaos. And if we don't follow what the word of God says, then we don't have cosmos. God is a God of order, not a God of confusion and chaos. And so when unbelievers are there, languages, the gift of languages was given as a sign, as a validation that what's being said is indeed the Word of God. And so he says, whenever you come together, and then he lays out a bunch of directions. Now I, because I can't go over everything in this podcast, I'm just going to go to verse 34 because I'm asked about it on a regular basis, because this is a big deal today. And here's what Paul says in verse 34. I didn't say this, so every woman that's listening, I'm not talking about 1 Timothy. I'm not talking about you teaching. I'm not talking about anything like that. I'm not talking about ordination of women or who needs to be ordained or who doesn't. I'm not talking about that. That's not the context here. The context is the spiritual gifts of tongues, of prophecy. These two gifts are the only gifts that are in purview here in chapter 14. And so he said, Let your women keep silent. You say, well, what does that mean? Sega in the Greek language, in the original language, meant be quiet. It meant stay close. It meant silence. As a matter of fact, it's usually rendered silence. And so in this context, let your women stay silent. Where? In the churches. Now that doesn't mean they can't talk, they can't speak to anybody, they can't say hello. Don't get ridiculous. That's not what this says. What is the context? It's in the context of the spiritual gifts, of tongues, languages, glossolalia, speaking in a foreign language, like they did in the book of Acts, chapter two, that's what he says. That's the context of 1 Corinthians 14. Now there it may or may not have been that, but if it was going to be the spiritual gift of speaking in languages for a sign for unbelievers, because prophecy was for believers to build up the body of Christ. But this was for a sign for unbelievers like it was on the day of Pentecost. And so he says, Women, you keep silent in the churches, you're not permitted to speak. Now what is he talking about? He's talking about the gift of tongues. And it's all talking about when we come together. Now, ladies, if we're going to just follow what it says, you need to keep silent in relationship to the New Testament gift of tongues when we come together as a body. You say, Well now I don't care what you say, I'm not saying it. You can't get around verse 34. I don't care what other verse you use, you can't get around that. Women are not to be speaking in tongues in the assembly. That's what it says. You're not to be speaking in languages in the assembly. You are not to speak, and it's not talking about saying hello. It's not talking about having fellowship. It's not talking about talking when you're around the table. It's talking about in the church and it's talking about the public ministry. You are not to be speaking in glossolate in the foreign language. You say, Well, God led me. God will never lead you to do something that He strictly forbids. Now you say, Well, I know the godliest women I know. It doesn't matter who you know or what you know. I'm just telling you what the Word of God says. And it's going to be your choice as to whether you conform to that or not. Now I know whole denominations don't believe like what I'm saying. That's of no concern of mine. I am not responsible for what other people believe. I am responsible for what I teach and what I believe based upon the word of God that is consistent and confluent from Genesis to Revelation. And I know what this book says in this regard. And I know the context in which it's spoken. And I don't have all the reasons and whys. I don't have to. What I have to do is speak the truth as it is written, and that's what it says. And I'm going to continue to say that. And if you say, Well, I, you know, I can't be a part of your church. You can't be a part of the church where I'm preaching because you disagree on the availability of speaking in tongues, and who's going to speak in tongues and who's not, and you're going to base your entire church fellowship on that, then I think you're off balance. And truth out of balance is heresy. You see, the word heretic or heresy doesn't mean false doctrine, it means deviation. That's the root word is to deviate. And truth out of balance is heresy. It's deviation from the truth because it's truth out of balance. And if you go to seed on any doctrine, you're going to get out of balance. If any denomination goes to seed on anything, you get out of balance. And so be careful what you're saying. I am very well aware of what I'm saying and what I'm teaching. And I do it based upon the thorough study of the Word of God. And if I'm wrong, then it's going to be what I'll stand before the Lord and He will show me different. But as what I have before me is the truth of God, not my experience, not what I want to do or don't want to do, not what Mama did, or Aunt Lucy did, or Uncle Tom did, but what does God say? Because what was one of the basic tenets of hermeneutics always interpret an unclear verse, one that can be interpreted more than one way, linguistically, syntactically, grammatically, always interpret an unclear passage with a clear one. I interpret the gift of tongues by the only clear passage as to what it is out of Acts chapter two and Acts chapter ten. And that is the basis for me interpreting the gift of tongues where it says the clearest this is what it is. And so I do not base that upon 1 Corinthians, because the church at Corinth, everything they were doing that they asked Paul questions about, they were engaged in wrong behavior. They were not doing it correctly. I believe the same thing is true for tongues. I love you. May God bless you and keep you. For on the way, this is Tony Crisp.

SPEAKER_00 18:35

Thanks for listening to On the Way with Tony Crisp. Tune in every weekday for information on biblical passages, people, places, and prophecies. Fridays are for your questions. Email your questions to questions at TonyCrisp.org. Then just listen for your question to be answered on Friday's podcast. That's Questions at Tony C R I S P dot org. Thanks for listening and have a blessed day on the way.