I Cor. 14:1-25 - Ministering to the Mind
- This morning we're going to be turning to the book of I
Corinthians and studying the first half of chapter 14
together
- remember that chapters 12, 13, and 14 of this book form an
extended passage of Scripture on the subject of the
spiritual gifts
- "divine enablements given to each person in the body of
Christ for ministry and service"
- chapter 12 told us that the many/diverse spiritual gifts
were to be used in a way that brought unity to the body.
- if the church isn't unified, and the church isn't
edified with the way a person is using his/her
spiritual gifts, then there's something wrong with the
way that person is viewing/using his/her gift
- chapter 13 told us that the gifts of the Spirit must be
controlled and characterized by the fruit of the Spirit
- Paul said in that chapter that the fruit of the Spirit
that ought to especially characterize our gifts is
the spiritual love
- without love, we are nothing, we're becoming
nothing, and we'll accomplish nothing.
- now in chapter 14, Paul is going to push this subject one
step further, and in so doing--will be instructing us on
"Ministering To The Mind"
- now the way that I'd like to study these verses today is to
begin by walking through verses 1-6 in what we might want
to look at as an extended introduction.
- in each verse-we'll talk briefly about any questions that
might come up, but we're especially looking for the main
point Paul is making -- or what he's trying to "argue"
- it's going to be kind of like driving from here to
Indianapolis
- we'll look off at some of the exit ramps from time
to time and we might make a brief stop--but our
goal is to get to Indy.
- in this case we'll quickly answer some of the
questions that come up, but our goal is to
understand Paul's main thrust, or his main argument
- we've given you a handout in your bulletin to help you and
so that we can move through the verses as quickly as
possible.
- as we go through these next couple of minutes--you might
wonder
- how exactly does this affect my life? - What should
this mean to me?
- all I can say at this point is - "trust me"
- trust me that I have given careful and
prayerful consideration to that question and
we'll try to answer it in a few minutes.
"Extended Introduction"
1) verse 1 - (READ) - You could look at this verse as the
topic sentence. Paul is tying in chapters 12 and 13 and
telling us what's coming in the next verses.
- Paul says to pursue love. Of course that ties it back
to chap. 13.
- pursue it - "hunt it, chase it with intensity"
- the gifts of the Spirit must be controlled and
characterized by the fruit of the Spirit.
- but then - desire the gifts. There's nothing wrong with
spiritual ambition. If it's motivated by love for God
and love for others--go after those gifts.
- Find out how the Lord has gifted you and desire
to use those gifts in a way that pleases our Lord
and builds up his church.
- the "zinger" comes at the end of the verse.
- Paul says - "desire especially that you prophesy"
- that's the first question:
A. Question - What did Paul mean - "desire to prophesy?"
- it's critical to know that in the Bible, there have
always been two kinds of prophecy.
1) foretelling - receiving a revelation from God
whereby that person could accurately predict the
future.
- now we learned a couple of Sunday nights ago
that all new revelation ceased after the Bible
was completed.
- but before the completion of the Scriptures,
God had prophets who could "foretell" the
future.
- you may want to jot down Isaiah 53 as a
beautiful example of how God allowed Isaiah to
predict exact details about the death of
Christ 700 years before they happened.
- that's one of literally hundreds of examples
of foretelling, or predictive prophecy.
- but the primary kind of prophecy in the Bible was:
2) forth-telling - Communicating God's already revealed
Word to man in a way that results in understanding
and repentance.
- now we saw two weeks ago that while the first
aspect of prophecy, the "foretelling," died out
after the Scripture was completed, the second
aspect--the "forth-telling" is still an important
part of life in the church.
- Some people in the church are especially
gifted in this area
- BUT all of us have to be growing in our
ability to communicate truth to others if
we're going to be effective in carrying out
the great commission of making disciples
B. Main Argument (of verse 1) - Desire especially to
prophesy.
2) verse 2 - (READ)
- there's a couple of questions we need to touch on there
A. Questions
1. What did Paul mean by "a tongue" (or if you have a
KJV - an unknown tongue)
- there are three ideas that are interwoven in
these verses.
a. (the idea of ) prophecy - we've already talked
about that
b. the right use of tongues - we've talked about
that in other messages and we've had a
detailed discussion of that in SS
(some of the classes will be having that
lesson in the next week or so)
- the right use of tongues involved a known
language that the Speaker had not studied
before
- but God allowed him to speak so that those present could
hear God's Word in their native language (even though the
Speaker had never studied it)
- a very important interpretive key to these verses is
this--every time Paul is talking about the right use of
tongues--he speaks of it in the plural
- the third idea is:
c) wrong use of tongues
- this was the counterfeit gift--this was the gibberish
- this was people trying to fake the real gift of
tongues
- every time Paul is talking about that--he speaks of
it in the singular
- that’s why the translators of the KJV translated
it as "an unknown tongue"
- the only exception to that is verse 27--but there
Paul uses the singular because he's talking about
a single man exercising the gift.
- so Paul has a lot to say in this chapter about the wrong
use of tongues.
- the Corinthians, with their Pagan backgrounds loved the
ecstatic
- the pagans would often dance and drink themselves
into frenzies until they went into semi-consciousness
- they viewed that as the highest communion with their
gods, where their spirits left their bodies--
bypassed their minds, and communed directly with
the gods
- the Corinthians had tried to bring those same ideas
right into the church -- and they were using
gibberish/ the counterfeit of the spiritual gifts of
tongues/ as a means of bringing that sensuous,
feeling oriented worship right into the church.
- one other thing about this verse:
2) What did Paul mean by "speaks...unto God?"
- you may want to jot down in your Bibles that
that phrase is probably best understood as
"unto a god" (with a small "g")
- there's never an example in Scripture of a
person communicating with God in anything other
than clear discernable languages
- there's no such thing in the Bible as a prayer
tongue or some sort of heavenly language.
- even when our Lord was speaking to the father in the
high priestly prayer in John 17, He spoke words that
were clear and discernable.
- no special heavenly language - even in that
blessed heavenly scene.
- now the most important thing to notice about this verse is
"What is Paul trying to tell us - what is he arguing?"
B. Main argument
Gibberish is not effective because no one understands
it. (it doesn't minister to the mind) 3) verse 3-4 -
(READ)
- Now we can start seeing where Paul's going here.
A. What impact will prophecy (forth-telling) have on
others?
1) edifies - gives truth to the mind to build others up
2) exhorts - gives truth to the mind that encourages
3) consoles - gives truth to the mind to comfort and
build hope.
- what is Paul arguing?
B. Main argument - ministry that's effective sees the
importance of the mind.
4) verse 5 (READ)
- there's a couple of questions that come up there
A. Question - Why did Paul say; "I wish you all spoke in
tongues?"
- before we answer that question--is Paul
speaking about the right use of tongues or the
wrong use?
- "the right use" - it's in plural
- the answer to the question can't be - because he
really wanted every person in the Corinthian church
to have the spiritual gift of tongues
- we know that from chapter 12:30 - he asked "Do all
speak with tongues?" - the obvious expected answer is
"NO"
- Paul's purposely exaggerating for two reasons:
1) to show that he wasn't against the right use of
the spiritual gift of languages (before the
Scripture was completed) - we'll talk tonight how
that was to be regulated in the church.
2) Paul knew that when tongues ceased, that meant his
nation Israel was set aside. Verse 21 of this
chapter says that tongues were a sign of
judgement on the Jews because they had rejected
our Lord-when tongues ceased, Paul knew that
Israel was completely set aside.
- now its important for us to know those things, but what's
most important is the main point Paul is making, that is:
- Prophecy (the way we've defined it - communicating
God's revealed truth to others in a way that causes
them to understand, repent, and change)...
- prophecy is far more superior than tongues
because it ministers to the mind--it may not be
as showy as tongues, but it's far more superior
because people can understand it.
B. Main argument - God wants us to minister with our minds to
the minds of others.
- now, we're not going to take time to read through the rest
of the verses in this section and study them as
specifically as we did verses 1-5
- but I would invite you to do that another time.
- what you'll find is that Paul is emphasizing and
reemphasizing the same ideas we've just studied - God
wants us to use our minds to minister to the minds of
others--he just keeps hammering away at it
- in fact - I think hammering is a good way to say it--have
you ever seen a skilled carpenter nailing a nail?
- he drives that thing into the wood--bang, bang, bang
- and then he takes that last lick, and sets the nail
- so its not just up to the surface of the wood
- the head has even gone into the wood some
- there's no getting that nail out of there
- that’s what these verses are like
- now let me just show you one more that illustrates what I'm
saying, and could very well serve a s a theme verse for
the rest of our time together
- read verse 20 (develop - in understanding, be men/mature)
- so we're talking about "ministry to the mind"
- tongues, especially the way the Corinthians were
misusing them, were inferior compared to prophecy,
because no one could understand them.
- now, a key question is - what does this have to do with us?
- I said earlier that we'd get to this.
- I certainly don't think the average person here is tempted
to go out and speak in tongues, especially after everything
we've studied in SS and in this book about that subject.
- so the application today isn't - "Don't speak in
tongues--instead prophesy--we're dismissed"
- no, that's not it - but there are at least two great values
of these verses:
1) To understand why the charismatic movement is wrong in
their placement of experience over truth. We'll have a
lot more to say about that tonight. (but even the
explanations we've already given reveal some real
weaknesses in those who want to speak in tongues
today.)
- but the main point I'd like us to focus the rest of our
time on is -
2) The "root sins" that led the Corinthians into a misuse
of tongues can be alive and well in us. Those "root
sins" may develop into sinful habits other than
tongues, but whatever sinful habits are developed--it
will certainly limit our own growth in Christ along
with our effectiveness in ministering to others.
- we're talking about a "ministry to the mind"
- Paul says - If we don't understand what the Bible says
about this issue, we won't be effective in our ministry
for others.
- I hope every person here would say--"Oh, I wouldn't
want that to happen"
- I want to be effective in ministering for the Lord
- I want to learn ways to be a more effective
discipler with my family members.
- I want to be a more effective discipler in the church.
- I want my life to count.
- I want to have a positive spiritual impact on those
the Lord has placed around me.
- Paul is saying--if that's true--then we have to grow in our
ability to use our minds to minister to others.
See, 1) Are you growing in your ability to minister to the
mind of others?
2) Are you developing your own mind in a way that
makes this ministry possible?
- In the time we have left, I'd like us to think about four
steps every believer in Christ needs to take (or to be
taking) in order to have the kind of mind that can
minister to the minds of others.
I. Be Convinced That Your Mind Is A Unique Gift From God
- you'll notice that the first three steps have to do
with your mind.
- the reason for that is - many Christians are falling
short of the ministry God wants them to have to the
minds of others because they haven't been good
caretakers of their own minds and therefore they're not
prepared to minister to the minds of others.
- so all of this starts by being convinced that our minds
are a unique gift from God.
- we know that because:
A. You are made in the image of God
- let me invite you to turn back to Gen. 1:26 (READ)
- what sets man apart from the animals is that we are
made in God's image.
- now there's a lot involved in that
- but one of the primary benefits of being made in
the image of God is that we have a mind
- we have the ability to think rationally
- we have the ability to think about meaning and
purpose
- we can understand ethics and values
- we can make plans and goals
- we can relate to others and even to God
- so, yes a animal can think in some senses
- but nothing like the mental capacities of a person
- I'm saying that our minds are a tremendous gift from God
- but that truth is a two edged sword
B. Therefore, we're accountable for how we use it
- see, what Paul is picturing in I Cor. 9 is a
believer who is a good steward of the mind God gave
- that kind of person is:
1) learning biblical answers for how to grow - so
he/she can apply them to his/her own life and
then share them winsomely and intelligently with
others
2) learning biblical truth about eternity, and
about the gospel--so he/she can minister the
Scriptures to those around who don't know Christ
in a way that applies the Bible to their minds.
- see, some believers will never have that can of ministry
to the minds of others because they haven't been good
stewards of the minds God gave them.
- that will only happen if I have a burning conviction
that this mind is a gift from God for which some day I
will have to give an account.
- when I was about 11 years old, I had a fried named Brian
Stone.
- Brian and I were messing around by a creek by our house one
day when we found a little fish - so we caught it and
took it home.
- we decided that Brian would keep them at his house
because he had the fishbowl and he had fish before.
- that worked out fine until Brian had to go one vacation.
- we decided the best thing to do was to bring them over
to my house and I would "fish-sit"
- when that day came, Brian almost drove me crazy with all
the instructions.
- feed them so many times a day--keep the tank clean.
- Change the water after so many days...and on and on.
- I did what I was supposed to do the first couple of days,
but then it got kind of boring.
- I didn't mind feeding them, but that cleaning the tank
business just didn't interest me.
- I kept telling myself, BRIAN'S GOING TO BE GONE TWO
WEEKS--I'll get around to it in the next couple of
days
- To make a long story short, I never got around to it
- a couple of days before Brian was supposed to come
back--I looked at the tank and it was just filthy
- In fact, the water was so dirty, you have to look
hard to find the fish.
- I told myself, I'm going to clean that thing
tomorrow, and then it will be fine when Brian
comes home in a couple of days.
- the next morning I'm getting dressed and I hear my mom
talking to somebody and it was Brian
- I heard her say something like - "Just go on back--he'll
be glad to see you"
- do you know who it was--It was Brian (develop on back and
apply)
II. Be Aware That Your Mind Is In A Great Battle Today And
Everyday
- If a believer is going to have the kind of ministry
Paul is talking about in these verses, he/she is going
to have to recognize the great battle that exists today
for the mind.
- that battle has at least "two fronts."
- part of that battle is:
A. With our enemy, the devil
- now we don't look for Satan under every rock around
here
- but we do believe in the personal existence of
a real enemy called Satan
- the Bible makes it clear that, while Satan cannot
take your salvation away from you if you're a believer in
Christ, he would love to see your Christian life sidetracked
or your ministry ruined by believing his lies.
- Satan has always been a great liar
- he lied to Eve by casting doubt on God's Word and God's
Person
- He said - "you won't surely die" (and Genesis 5 is filled
with genealogies that read like this---so and lived a
certain number of years...and he died..so and lived a
certain number of years...and he died...
- Satan's a liar
- that's why some of the greatest news in the Bible is found
in Rev. 20:10 where John said - "And the devil THAT
DECEIVED THEM was cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and
shall be tormented day and night forever and ever"
- see, Satan's a liar
- he's also called "the spirit that works in the sons of
disobedience"
- Satan has always been in competition with the truth of
God
- and he would love it if you or I would fail to be
good stewards of our minds.
- see, some believers are not having the kind of ministry
Paul talks about in I Cor. 9 - because they're not
guarding their minds against the lies of the evil one.
- another part of this battle for the minds is:
B. With the lingering effects of our own depravity
- after we're saved, we have new abilities to
understand God's truth
- there's great hope because we can now, for the
first time--begin changing and growing in our
minds
- that’s why Paul said in Romans 12:2 - Be not
conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by
the renewing of your minds."
- so salvation makes it possible to change in this critical
area
- but its surely not automatic
- we've still got those habits of thinking we developed
as unsaved men and women
- we still have all the temptations out there to buy
into ideas and ways of thinking that are contrary to
the Scriptures.
- but the problem is - some believers are so lackadaisical with
their minds.
- they're "loose" mentally
- they're not going to have the kind of ministry Paul is
advocating because they act as if they aren't aware
of the mental battle that is raging with the evil
one, and with our own creaturely weakness.
- a couple of years back, Kris and I had a neighbor who
planted a garden
- I'm not sure if this person hadn't gardened before, or
if got extra busy that summer or what
- But his garden was just filled with weeds
- In fact after a while, the weeds just took over the
garden
- if you looked real close, you could see a little tomato
plant in there, or a little pepper plant
- but the poor thing couldn't grow (Develop on back)
- now, I recognize that there are many, many people here
today who would say
- that’s not the kind of person I want to be
- I want to live in recognition of the truth that my
mind is a gift from God
- I want to live in recognition of the truth that
there's a mental battle raging
- I want to have the kind of mind that is prepared to
minister to the minds of others the way Paul is
describing.
- if that's true, then here's what needs to be done next:
III. Be Willing To Take Clear Definable Steps To Develop
Your Mind In A Way That Pleases The Lord
- that has a positive component and a negative component
A. (negatively) I must close off input to my mind that is
wrong.
- let me ask you to think about this question this
morning:
- what sources of mental input do you currently
have in your life that make it most difficult
to obey what God's Word is saying this morning?
- the Psalmist said - "I will set no wicked thing
before my eyes" (101:3
- Job said - "I have made a covenant with my eyes"
- Paul told the Philippians - "Whatever things true,
whatever things are honest, whatever things are
just, whatever things are pure, whatever things
are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if
there be any virtue, if there be any praise, THINK
ON THESE THINGS. (4:8)"
- point is - our Lord wants us to control the kinds of
things we allow into our minds.
- let's think of some possible sources of wrong input
a. wrong kinds of friends
- Paul's going to say in the next chapter - I Cor.
15:33
- "be not deceived-Evil company corrupts good
morals."
- now, sure, we ought to be kind and friendly to
every person we come in contact with
- but we ought not to let every person automatically
influence the way we think about life
- some believers are like sponges (so and so said
it--it must be true, so and so said it - it
must be true)
- then when it comes to facing a problem in life
- the person knows more about what the guys in the office
would say
- or more about what the girls down the block would say
- then what God's Word would say - how did that happen?
***by not guarding the input that comes into our minds.
- now what does that have to do with I Cor. 9 and ministering
with our minds to the minds of others?
- the answer is that some believers are totally
unprepared to minister to the minds of others because
they haven't carefully GUARDED THEIR OWN MINDS
- see, we would look at what was happening in the
Corinthian church
- with people whipping themselves into some
charismatic frenzy -- trying to bypass their
minds -- and experientially commune with the gods
and say...
- that’s a terrible way to minister and use your gifts
- that kind of thing is not going to edify
- its not going to exhort--console
- That kind of ministry is not going to work
- it's not going to have a lasting impact for God
- BECAUSE IT’S NOT MINISTERING TO THEIR MINDS
- and I think the apostle would say "That's right"
- but how much different are we?
- see, God wants us to minister to the minds of others
but that assumes that we are taking clear definable
steps to develop our minds in a way that pleases the
Lord.
- that surely includes cautiously limiting any
negative input to the mind God gave us.
- one of the questions this morning is - Do you do that?
- I wonder if there aren't folks here today who would say
- PV - there's some things that are going to have to
change at our house if we're going to have the kind
of ministry Paul is advocating here.
- now I've mentioned one possible source of bad input - the
wrong kinds of friends
- but we could talk about more, couldn't we?
- How about the music you listen to?
- Does your music make you more in love with God?
- more in love with your spouse and kids?
- does it nurture your faith and stimulate you to love or
good works?
- or is it sensuous, feeling oriented, or laden
with ideas that are contrary to God and His Word
- you know, it was great the other night when Ron Hamilton
was here
- folks from our church bought every adult music tape
that he had.
- I believe that says that there are folks--probably
many folks who have real convictions in this area.
- that’s what the Lord wants--he wants us to carefully guard
against any negative influences that come into our minds.
- How about what you watch on Television?
- do you have some standards?
- have you set up some biblical criteria to govern what
you watch?
- now I realize some folks might say, boy PV, you sound like
you're against any relaxation.
- no there's nothing wrong with relaxation
- but there's something wrong with unguarded relaxation
- there's something wrong with relaxation which allows
ideas and attitudes into my mind that don't please God
- you're familiar with the word "amusement"
- have you ever thought about what that word means?
- "muze" - Latin for mind or think
- "a" - no, not
- amuse literally means - to not think, to not use
our minds
- I believe the authors right when he says some have
amused themselves to death
- so we're saying that in order to have the kind of ministry
Paul is advocating here, we've got to be willing to take
clear definable steps to develop a mind that pleases the
Lord
- that includes stopping some input that’s wrong
- are you willing to do that this morning if that's
what God would want you to do?
- growing in Christ isn't sitting around waiting for
some mystical zap
- growing is responding to God's Word with the
appropriate changes
- of course the other side of what we're saying in this point
is:
B. By opening up input to your mind that is right
- see, are you developing the kind of mind that can
minister to the minds of others because you're
regularly exposing yourself to God's truth.
- Kris and I saw a great example of a person not
doing this not to long ago at another church.
- We were sitting in an adult SS class--and Kris said
"Steve" (I know something is up)
- I'm sure I responded with something like "Yes
darling, how can I help you?"
- "look over there"
- folks - there was a guy sitting in SS class reading the
Sunday Morning paper
- not on his lap--he had it all spread out just reading
away
- now I hope everyone here would say - I would never do that
- You would say that, wouldn't you (my luck, everyone will
come to church tonight with newspapers!)
- but surely everyone here would say - I would never have
such audacity, and such disrespect for the things of
God.
- but wait a minute - we can do that same thing without the
newspaper, can't we?
- where we're in church in the body, but our minds are
hundreds of miles away
- there's probably folks here today who during this
service, have cooked dinner, planned out the
afternoon, decided who they're going to vote for
for President, and laid out plans for a Caribbean
vacation!
- see, are you opening up your mind to God's truth?
- do you attend the services regularly? (could develop
Allchin's challenge?)
- when you come, do you concentrate and think hard about
what God's Word is saying, and what steps you'll need
to take to obey?
- Do you study the Word on your own?
- are you getting some other good Christian literature
in your home?
- Russ/Jean illus. (point - able to minister to neighbors,
insurance people, emergency people)
IV. Learn To Minister To The Minds of Others
