PROPER WORSHIP (PART 1)

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.

1 Corinthians 14:26-28

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

What should proper worship accomplish? How should it be carried out in accordance with the scriptures?

We find answers in today’s scripture passage which forms the foundation for the first of four messages on this matter. Let’s look at the guidance Paul gives the Corinthian church in his first letter as we continue to look at chapter 14:

What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God. 1 Corinthians 14:26-28

A lot of work goes into putting together worship in the church. In mine, we have worship leaders that share the word of God, pray, and use their musical talents to lead the congregation in song. The Pastor delivers a prepared message from the scriptures and seeks to instruct the congregation to better know the Lord and His expectations as to how they’re supposed to live life. All elements of the service are designed to honor and glorify the Lord, and to help make disciples as Jesus commanded.

Back in the early Christian church, we find Paul discussing some elements we’re familiar with and others we aren’t. Specifically in Corinth, we read where there were hymns sung as well as words of instruction presented. Additionally, there could be revelations shared or a message spoken in tongues with an associated interpretation. In regard to the latter, we see God’s word making it clear that there should be a limit to the number of people who speak in tongues, no more than three delivering messages one at a time. Note that these elements of the worship service were only to take place if someone was present who could interpret and if there was no one to do this, the person speaking in tongues was to remain silent and keep his speaking between himself and God.

No matter what elements were used in any one worship service, there was one key goal that had to be met in accordance with the guidance Paul was providing.

Everything, and that means all elements, had to be done in such a way that the church was built up. Other renderings of this verse from other Bible translations substitute the following in place of building the church up:

...everything that is done must strengthen all of you. NLT

Everything must be of help to the church. GNT

...when you meet to worship, you must do everything for the good of everyone there. CEV

Proper worship, worship carried out in a way that God expects, helps and strengthens the congregation as everything is done for the good of everyone present.

That’s the summation of this first message. I hope you’ll come back to read part two tomorrow.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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THE POWER OF PROPHECY

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.

In the Law it is written:

“With other tongues and through the lips of foreigners, I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to Me, says the Lord.”

Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

1 Corinthians 14:20-25

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The Bible speaks about the Lord giving His people gifts and as we have seen in this fourteenth chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul has centered teaching on two specific gifts: prophesy and the speaking of tongues.

The distinction between these two means of speaking messages from God has been made clear. Prophecy is always intelligible for the hearer but anyone speaking in tongues fails to bring any sense of understanding to what they are saying unless they or someone else has been granted the ability to interpret what has been said. This is what has led Paul to assert that prophecy is the preferred message of communicating God’s word and will to others, whether they are believers or unbelievers.

This assertion is central to our message for today drawn from verses 20 through 25. Look again at those words here:

Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.

In the Law it is written:

“With other tongues and through the lips of foreigners, I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to Me, says the Lord.”

Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”

Here, we find Paul continuing to speak to the power of prophecy and why it is preferential over speaking in tongues, especially when it comes to its impact on unbelievers.

If an unbeliever walked into a church and everyone was speaking in tongues, there would be no understanding of what was being said and the unbeliever would walk away thinking that the church congregants were crazy. But if the congregants were speaking words that were comprehensible, words of understanding from a God who is always seeking to show His people the way He wants for them to live, then the unbelievers will get the message loud and clear, feel convicted of their sin, and feel judged as “the secrets of their hearts are laid bare”. The end result will be that the unbelievers will fall down and worship God, repenting because they know that God is really in their presence within the congregation.

No one can possibly know the will of God unless someone clearly communicates it to them in a way that they can comprehend. Anyone speaking prophesy accomplishes this by sharing the power of God’s word in a way that is understandable to anyone who hears it. This is what makes it greater than speaking in tongues.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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BE EAGER AND EXCEL

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church.

1 Corinthians 14:12

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The Lord has imparted gifts on all believers, gifts He intends for them to identify and then use to His glory and to fulfill the work He wants done in His kingdom here on earth.

This is a truth we find the Apostle Paul sharing with the Christians in Corinth and with us reading his letter today.

Now, I don’t know about you but when I know I am going to receive a gift, it’s exciting, even after a lot of years of living. This building excitement before birthdays and Christmases started when I was just a child. My parents always made these days very special and I was lavished with wrapped presents and foods centered on the occasion, especially my favorite kind of cake decorated up birthday-style with the right numbers of candles to blow out. And then there was Christmas morning when I would wander downstairs to see brightly colored wrapping on items I hoped matched what was on my list to Santa.

Maybe these memories still hold true for you as well.

Well, just because we grow older, we can still find thrill in receiving things that we enjoy and can use, and what better gifts could we ever receive than one’s given to us by the Lord Himself? I can’t think of any but here’s the question.

Do we hold the same enthusiasm and anticipation as we wait for the Lord’s gifts as we do for the gifts the world offer?

It’s a question that challenges us and rightfully so because as we look at today’s verse from 1 Corinthians 14, we find the scriptures telling us the mindset we should have for the Lord’s gifts, granted to us by His Holy Spirit, and then how we are to use those gifts we are to highly expect. Look again at these words here:

So it is with you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. 1 Corinthians 14:12

Note that we are to first be eager for the gifts of the Spirit, like the Corinthian Christians Paul is writing to. When we look up the definition of the word “eager” and apply it to this verse, we find that we should display a waiting that is marked by enthusiastic or impatient desire or interest. In other words, we desire the Lord’s gifts so much that it’s hard to wait with patience, just like waiting to open those gifts on Christmas morning. This is the level of zeal we are to exhibit as we long for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to come upon us.

Okay, so what are we to do once that eagerly awaited moment comes, the moment when the Holy Spirit grants us gifts from our Lord?

God’s word tells us that we are to excel in using them to “build up the church”. In other words, we aren’t to just do the bare minimum when it comes to applying our gifts to the Lord’s work. Rather, we are to seek to use them to their utmost benefit, to use what the Lord has granted in superior fashion to accomplish and achieve great things in His name as we benefit the church and its ministry work, the ministry work the Lord wants carried out.

Be eager for the Lord’s gifts and then excel in using them once He gives them.

This is the message from the Word of God for us today. Now it’s up to us, the members of the church, to put them into practice.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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SPEAKING FOR UNDERSTANDING

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In Christ, Mark

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** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified.

Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the pipe or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes? Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet none of them is without meaning. If then I do not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker, and the speaker is a foreigner to me. 

For this reason the one who speaks in a tongue should pray that they may interpret what they say. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding.

Otherwise when you are praising God in the Spirit, how can someone else, who is now put in the position of an inquirer, say “Amen” to your thanksgiving, since they do not know what you are saying? You are giving thanks well enough, but no one else is edified.

I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue.

1 Corinthians 14:1-11, 13-19

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

God wants to instruct His people. It’s a truth that has existed since mankind was created.

Sometimes He did the speaking Himself but in other circumstances, He spoke through people that He selected and empowered. Some of these people were special leaders like Moses, for example. You’ll remember that Moses climbed Mount Sinai and there, isolated from the Israelites, God gave Him the commandments He wanted His people to follow and Moses then descended from the mountain and shared that message.

Later in the Old Testament, we find God speaking through a multitude of prophets, again imparting messages on His specially selected spokesmen to share with the Israelite people. These prophets dominate the latter part of the Old Testament, showing us that God had a lot to say to His people over time and did it through the prophecies of His prophets.

When these prophets spoke, the language was clear to the audience. God made sure the people knew what He wanted them to know. He desired the church and His people to be strengthened, encouraged, edified, and comforted. He also corrected them through His words shared through the prophets, all done with the intent of ensuring the church was honoring and glorifying Him with their actions.

Now, at the same time that prophets were being used as messengers by God, there were believers who were given the gift of speaking in tongues, uttering mysteries by the Spirit. The hearer of these Spirit-driven utterings would be left confused and befuddled because the language was unintelligible to them. If there was no one present who had been granted the gift to intepret tongues, the speaker would sound like a foreigner to anyone hearing them. And therefore, there would be no benefit to the speaking of tongues. The message being shared would not be understood.

This is what the Apostle Paul is getting at when he says that prophecy is preferred over the speaking of tongues. With prophecy, nothing gets lost in translation. God speaks clearly through His prophetic messengers and his people clearly hear what is being said. This leaves them with no excuse when it comes to doing what He commands them to do.

Today, God continues to speak understanding into His people through those He chooses to use for that purpose.

Pastors preach from His Word inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Teachers teach from His Word inspired by the Holy Spirit.

Writers like me write from His Word inspired by His Holy Spirit.

The end result is that God’s people are strengthened, encouraged, edified, and comforted, all because God uses people who speak for understanding.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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