1 Corinthians Chapter 14:5-8

Well, I tell you what, especially in ministry, God digs down deep and says, oh, look at this, you need to get rid of this. And it's a journey of God pointing out these things, and we become individually, spiritually stronger, and we also become corporately, or as a fellowship, spiritually stronger. Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the senior pastor of the bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina.

No matter where we are in our walk with Christ, we all need to grow up more in our faith. David McGee helps us do just that as he continues in 1 Corinthians 14. Before we join Pastor David, we want to let you know about an outreach opportunity that could bring hope to countless prisoners. This month, Cross the Bridge is teaming with men and women like yourself in order to provide Pastor David's devotional book, Cross the Bridge Every Day to Inmates. When you call today and help support the ministry with a gift of $25 or more, we'll send you a book and also provide one to a prisoner in need. To take part in this important outreach, call 877-458-5508.

That's 877-458-5508, or go online to crossthebridge.com. Now here's David McGee with part two of his teaching, Bodybuilding. Come with me to 1 Corinthians 14, verse five. For some of you that really struggle with this unknown tongue stuff, you're really going to have a hard time with this verse. Paul, verse five, I wish you all spoke with tongues.

Oh, man. That's kind of vague, isn't it? Now, does Paul mean he wishes that we all spoke more foreign languages?

No. Don't twist the Scriptures to make them mean what you want them to mean. Just read them and understand what they're talking about.

But let's understand. In the Corinthian church, what were they doing? They were focused on self. They were focused too much on this gift of tongues.

And that can happen. It happens in some churches today. They're way too focused on the gift of tongues.

The service is this big parade of people standing up and speaking in tongues and interrupting a pastor and doing all this. I don't believe that's Scriptural. As a matter of fact, in this chapter, Paul's trying to give us the balance of what's supposed to be going on. And let's read on in verse five. I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied. For he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets that the church may receive edification. Now we encourage the small groups if somebody feels like they got a verse to share or word from God or maybe even this gift of tongues. And then somebody else has the interpretation, that's valid.

But outside of that, this unknown tongue is used for personal prayer language and really is not appropriate for public display, if you will. And in verse five, it says prophecy is greater. Now again, what is prophecy? Prophecy is speaking to people on behalf of God. And when somebody is speaking on behalf of God, you always wanna look at what they're saying, compare it back to Scripture, that's important. To discern, the Bible talks about discerning whether somebody is speaking on behalf of God, what they're saying is valid. And I'm always encouraging you guys to dig in the Scripture, make sure what I'm saying is solid.

And of course, one of the blessings of going verse by verse is it's impossible to drift very far. And I'm not saying that I'm the only one here that can prophesy. We're all supposed to speak to others on behalf of God.

Anytime that you share the good news, guess what you're doing? You're speaking to somebody else on behalf of God. Now does it mean that you begin to quiver or shake or have some kind of strange experience? It means we are all supposed to be speaking to other people on behalf of God. And that's prophecy. And again, when it speaks in tongues, I know some people can get really uncomfortable with the subject, don't. When you begin to get anxious about something, that's not God usually. I mean, God may, if you're going into a dangerous situation, may trigger that warning light. But the Bible talks about this in many places. In 1 Corinthians 13, verse 8, it went through it. It's talking about how more important love is, more important than tongues and prophecy.

Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail. Whether there are tongues, they will cease. Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. Now again, as we went through that chapter, we talked about the fact that doesn't mean that prophecies or tongues or knowledge is not for the church today.

It just means love is more important. And then when we're in heaven, these other things that are kind of in part will be done away with. Jumping down in 1 Corinthians 14, chapter 14, verse 12, it does say this, and the same is true for you since you're so eager to have the special abilities the Spirit gives.

Seek those that will strengthen the whole church. Well, I'm gonna spend more time on that when we get to that. But the obvious thing is you don't want the gifts just for, you know, to say, oh, I got this gift and that gift. I've talked to people that it's, you know, I've done this and I've got this gift and I got that gift and da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da. It's like, well, it's not for you. It's for the church. It's not for the blowing. It's for the growing. It's not for you to blow on about how you got all the gifts.

It's for the body to grow. These supernatural gifts, that's what they're for. And you know, here's an interesting thing. Occasionally I'll run into somebody that talks about, you know, the church. Well, I don't feel like I need to go to the church. I feel like I can spiritually grow better without the church. You've, you know, you've heard this. Maybe you've been one of those people. I just, I can worship God better sitting in the middle of a field.

You know, home. Here's the problem with that. The Bible's indicating that we're supposed to build up the body. We're supposed to build up the church. How do you do that if you're not in it?

How do you build up the church? If you're not part of it, you can't. So guess what you're supposed to do. You're supposed to be part of it.

You're supposed to be part of it. And the awesome thing is that's not just the self sacrificing that, you know, I encourage people, but you know what? You guys so often and so much encourage me, man, to have so many people say, Hey pastor, we're with you.

We love you. And we're going places, man. It's encouraging. Amen.

So, and that's what's supposed to happen in the body. I encourage you. You encourage me. We encourage each other because God is going to use us to grow each other.

You understand that? That's part of being in a fellowship in a community of faith is because in that community, some people you'll really get along with. And some people will really irritate you. There's going to be folks in this body that, you know, you're walking down the hall. There's but here's what's interesting. That person that's irritating you is doing more for your spiritual growth and perhaps anybody else in here.

Yeah, I was kind of weak. Some of you didn't like that. They're helping you die to that selfish nature by just irritating it out of you. I mean, that's it, but that's part of why we need each other's the next life lesson. We each need to grow up in our faith. We each need to grow up in our faith. None of us has arrived. I haven't arrived. I'm still growing. But I tell you what, you know, especially in ministry, God digs down deep and says, Oh, look at this.

You need to get rid of this. And it's a, it's a journey of God pointing out these things and we become individually spiritual, stronger, individually, spiritually stronger. And we also become corporately or as a fellowship, spiritually stronger. I think back on, on some people that showed up that didn't know Jesus as their savior and they got saved and they sat under the teachings and they were here every time the doors are open now to turn around and watch those people teach others and disciple others.

Man, that is so encouraging because God wants, he wants to use all of us. And it's, man, let's understand while Paul is speaking here about building up the church, there's going to be people that want to tear it down. That, that's just, that's life. There's going to be folks that want to tear down what we're doing, what I'm doing, what you're doing.

Why? Because God's doing something. I mean, do you really think that, you know, if there's a church down the road, no offense to anybody, but if there's a church down the road that, you know, has 50 people that they baptized somebody seven years ago was their last baptism. You know, the enemy's not going to spend a lot of time on that fellowship. But if, let's just say there's another church where, you know, over 200 people a year are getting baptized and people all over the world are getting saved through that ministry, don't you think the enemy is going to point his attack towards that fellowship?

And what's that going to look like? Well, if he can get inside and get people within that fellowship trying to tear it down, that's going to be the most successful attack, isn't it? So recognize that. When somebody you know or care about starts to tear it down, you say, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, we're supposed to be building this place up. And recognize an attack for what it is. You know, 1 Peter chapter two verse 17 says, honor all people.

That's kind of interesting. It says all people. Love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. It's a great verse.

Let me point out something. Some of you are not going to like this. Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Honor all people means people of other faiths. Honor them. Don't demean them.

Have conversations and yes, and love. Say, you know what? I don't believe that's right.

I think you guys are wrong on this, man. But treat them with honor. But then look what it says. Love the brotherhood. Love the people that you're spiritually related to. We talked about that last week and, you know, verse, the first verse talked about, you know, pursue love. And we talked about the great quest to love. We looked at John 3 16, for God so loved the world.

And now that's our quest to love the world, to love the people in it. You're listening to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. We'll be back to the teaching in just a moment. This month, we're focusing on prison ministry, and I have the chance to sit down with Pastor David. Pastor, what is Cross the Bridge prison ministry all about?

Cross the Bridge prison ministry is consistent with Cross the Bridge itself. We believe that we need to share an effective presentation of the gospel, to invite people to have a relationship with the Lord, and then for those who do have a relationship with the Lord, that we would teach them the Word of God, to equip them to walk in that life, that abundant life that Jesus talks about. Pastor, we know that sharing the Word of God is always important to you. And why is it so important to get God's Word into the prisons as well? Their prison system is built around trying to change the lives of people who've made bad decisions. And yet, you can't change a life without changing the heart. And that's where God's Word and God's Spirit are so powerful. They can change a life.

They can change your heart. We can share the Word of God with somebody. You can help send us into the prisons to share the plan of salvation, see that prisoner get saved, and then begin to disciple him and teach him the Word of God, so that when he gets out, he is different than when he came in.

Thank you for sharing, Pastor. If you're listening and agree with David about our need to help those in prison, we would love to hear from you. You can call 877-458-5508. That's 877-458-5508. And when you give $25 or more, we'll send you a copy of Cross the Bridge every day. Not only that, but we'll match your gift by sending another copy of David's devotional to an inmate in need. Also, your gift of $200 or more will provide a case of 10 books that will be used to help change lives for eternity. Again, that number is 877-458-5508.

Or go online to crossthebridge.com. Now let's return to Pastor David's teaching. Verse 6 says, But now, brethren, if I come to you, speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, unless I speak to you, either by revelation, by knowledge, by prophesying, or by teaching? See, and again, it's interesting, because in this chapter, Paul is saying, look, you guys have put too much emphasis on this unknown language thing.

And perhaps they thought it was such a cool gift or whatever. And let's understand, too, that Paul, in writing this book of Corinthians, we call it an epistle, he's responding. They wrote to him asking certain questions. What about this and what about that? So some of these, he may have personally experienced, but some of them, he's answering this question.

That's why, in 1 Corinthians chapter 7, verse 1, he said, Now regarding the questions you ask in your letter, yes, it is good to live a celibate life. So he's, they wrote these questions. We don't have that. It'd be great if we did, but you can figure out what the questions were, by what the answers were. So obviously, there are some questions about what happens in a church service and these sorts of things. And in this verse, the New Living Translation says, Dear brothers and sisters, if I should come to you speaking in an unknown language, how would that help you?

But if I bring you a revelation or some special knowledge or prophecy or teaching, that will be helpful. Again, look where the emphasis is. It's on building the body, building the body. And again, that's not just something myself or elders or deacons or shifting past, and that's something we're all supposed to be doing.

Because think of it, if we all took this seriously, of building the body up, what kind of place would this be? Anybody that walked in here would be encouraged, would be built up. And now what's stopping you from God using you to build up this place?

Nothing. Your will. Some of you may be, I don't feel like it. I didn't want to. Oh, my goodness, don't worry about it. It doesn't apply to you.

No. And of course, right now, the enemy's going, oh, don't do it, don't do it. It's so hard, it's not worth the hassle. Do you know how easy it is to build somebody up to encourage somebody? Just coming in here on Sundays or Thursday and looking at somebody and say, hey, man, it's good to see you.

You have no idea. That person may have lost their job this week. They may have lost a loved one. And just coming in here and having you look at them and go, hey, it's good to see you.

Thanks, man. Now, they're not going to tell you all that because we don't always share all the battles we're going through, do we? But everybody's going through some sort of battle, friend.

And everybody needs this building up and this encouragement. And again, there's this spiritually selfish thing that's grabbing a hold of the church in Corinth. And they're all about, you know, I can speak with tongues and you can't and da, da, da, da, da.

And Paul's saying, guys, you are getting off the mark. And what a timely word for this church. Because as we pour in, as we teach the Bible, you know what's so important is that you pour out. Verse seven says, even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played? Or in the New Living Translation, I love bouncing between those two translations, but the New Living Translation in this one says, even lifeless instruments like the flute or the harps must play the notes clearly or no one will recognize the melody. People need to understand what you're saying. And when we talk about building up the body and this passage talks about building up the body, let's understand we're all called, we're all supposed to be building up the body.

Again, it's really easy to do. And sometimes when you're not in the mood to do it is especially when you should. How many times, don't answer this out loud, but how many times have you really not felt like coming here? You're just bummed out, you're anxious, you heard this or felt this and yeah, I'm just not going.

But then you're in, no, I'm going to go. And then you came and that was the service where God just spoke to you. Do you think that's by accident? No, the enemy wanted you so bummed out that you wouldn't hear from God. That's a tool that he uses, not just on you.

He'll use it on all of us. I was so confused as a new believer, because going to the church and with my family and young kids at the time, man, it was like, oh, we would just have these big arguments, man, and these big thunderous clouds. And we lived five minutes from the church, man.

It broke out quickly. And I thought, man, that is so weird. And I felt, oh, I'm such a weak Christian and I don't know. And then one day I happened to share with a leader in that church and I said, man, I don't get this. Every Sunday I have like this big family fight on the way to church. And he just chuckled and he goes, yeah, that's the enemy.

I went, what? He goes, no, when you get here, he wants you thinking about something else. He wants you thinking about the discussion on the way to church. He wants you to be thinking about what's wrong with your life. He wants you to think about what's wrong with your family or your marriage or your kids while you're sitting in here and you're supposed to be receiving from God himself.

Some of you had an argument on the way to church and you're just gone. The enemy wants to put you in a place where you're not able. And then you press through and the more you press through, the more you're encouraged and the more likely, friend, next time you'll press through again. And then God begins to use you and one of these people is building up the body. Because keep in mind, gang, you're either doing one or the other. Next life lesson here is we're either building up the body or tearing it down with our words and actions. We are either building up the body or tearing it down with our words and actions. Paul is here using this music analogy and I did that.

That's cool. He's saying, you know what? Music has to make sense for people to understand it, for it to mean something. And so what you're saying needs to make sense to the listener. We're going to kind of open that up a little bit more with verse eight here.

Verse eight says, for if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle? Now maybe you're listening to this and you're going, well, I'm not a musician. I'm not sure how this applies for me. Well, hold on just one second.

Now first of all, let's understand that we're kind of playing into the discussion that James really opens up a faith versus works because some people say, well, no, no, no, I'm very spiritual. Really? Well, show me. No, I mean I'm a spiritual person.

That's great. Tell me, what do you do? Oh, I don't really do anything. Well, I thought you were spiritual.

Well, I am. I mean inwardly. No, inwardly spiritual is selfish. If you're spiritual, you can point, well, I have, I'm doing this. I'm doing that. I'm serving a church. I'm giving the church. I'm doing this.

I'm doing that. That's works. You're not saved by works, but you're saved for works. Once you get saved, you naturally, supernaturally start doing stuff. Now, speaking about the horn and the trumpet, which, you know, you wake up in the morning soldiers, they blow the horn, they blow the horn taps on somebody gives the ultimate sacrifice. They sound the trumpet to charge.

They signed it to retreat. So, the horn was very important. Of course, the modern military horn really is an adaptation, if you think about it, on the ancient horn, the shofar. The Israelites respond to the shofar. It was blown a certain way to attack. It was blown a certain way to retreat.

It was blown a certain way to gather people together to worship. The shofar is a long, a long horn. And maybe you're going, well, I'm not musical. What?

No, no, no. Paul is saying here, when you do something, and he's using the analogy of when you play music, but obviously it's back to this unknown tongue. And maybe you're saying, well, I don't have the gift of unknown tongue, so this really doesn't apply to me.

Yes, it does. Because at the heart of it, what is Paul saying? Paul is saying, when you communicate, people got to understand what you're saying. Now, how does that apply to us as Christians? Gang, we begin to speak our own language. And I love theological terms. And you know, I could probably impress you with using multiple syllabic, lots of syllables, words, theological term. You go, wow, that's impressive. I mean, I don't know what it means, but that's a big word. I don't do that. Well, I want you to understand what I'm talking about. And sometimes without knowing it, we slip into what I call Christianese.

We've got our own little language and nobody else knows what it means. Hey, brother, have you been redeemed by the blood of the lamb? Redeem.

Redeem brings up green stamp memories. And you know, I don't know what. And the blood of the lamb, what is it y'all are doing over there? Instead of just saying, hey man, have you ever asked God to forgive you? That's easy to understand, isn't it?

So let's be careful when we're sharing with somebody that we're using terms that they understand. And even some terms that we think are simple, they don't have the same definition, grace. If you ask an unbeliever, what is grace? What's something y'all say before you eat or something?

No, no, no. Grace to me, to a follower of Jesus is the unmerited favor of God. Unearned, but God is willing to bless me in spite of me. Most people don't understand that.

They haven't taught that. So even using these words like grace, we need to explain them. The world needs to hear a clear cut, solid presentation of the good news, the gospel. Friend, do you know for sure that your sins have been forgiven?

You can know right now. I want to lead you in a short, simple prayer, simply telling God you're sorry and asking Him to help you to live for Him. Now, God wants you to pray this prayer so much that He died to give you the opportunity and the ability to ask Him to forgive you.

Please pray this prayer with me out loud right now. Dear Jesus, I believe you died for me, that I could be forgiven. And I believe you were raised from the dead, that I could have a new life. And I've done wrong things. I have sinned.

And I'm sorry. Please forgive me of all those things. Please give me the power to live for you all of my days. In Jesus' name, amen. Friend, if you prayed that prayer according to the Bible, you've been forgiven. You've been born again. So congratulations, friend.

You just made the greatest decision that you will ever make. God bless you. If you prayed that prayer with David for the first time, we would love to hear from you. You can call us toll free at 877-458-5508 to receive our First Steps package with helpful resources to help you begin your walk with Christ. God is using Cross the Bridge to impact lives across our country, including the lives of those currently serving time in our nation's prisons. While materials provided by Muslim organizations continue to increase within our prisons, our distribution of Pastor David's book Cross the Bridge Every Day has been making a significant impact for Jesus with prisoners. And you can help continue that outreach by calling today. When you call today with a gift of $25 or more, we will send you David McGee's devotional book and then match your gift by sending a copy to a prisoner in need. And if you're able to give a gift of $200 or more, we will send a case of 10 books to inmates who are without hope. Help us reach those in prison. Call today at 877-458-5508.

That's 877-458-5508. Or go online to crossthebridge.com. Also, if you're not able to make it to your home church this Sunday, why not join us for our live stream at 9 and 1130 Eastern. Just visit crossthebridge.com and click on our live stream link. There you can watch Pastor David teach from his home church, The Bridge, in Kernersville, North Carolina. Again, that website is crossthebridge.com. Thanks again for listening. We hope you'll join us next time as we continue to Cross the Bridge.