Side by Side

This past week, I vividly remembered
something, something I learned 50 years ago. It was from my junior high shop
class. And for those of you who are
unaware of what a shop class is, it’s that class where boys
quickly became men when I was growing up. There in shop class, the young
men are introduced to machines and to equipment that could become
a help to them, even a lifelong partner in some industrial endeavor,
shaping metal, carving wood, welding and such. But those tools
could either become helpful friends or they become terrible enemies,
taking a finger, an eye, or even your life. Some guys had dads
who had taught them some things at home. Others didn’t know which
end of a screwdriver to hold. But nobody had used all of the
machinery in shop, and so every kid that I knew entered shop
class with a measure of trepidation, as they should. And the thing
that I remembered the other day occurred on the very first day
of class. The no-nonsense instructor who,
by the way, wore one of those plastic pocket protectors and
a knee-length denim apron. He summed up our training in
one sentence. Never use a tool for any purpose
other than that for which it is intended. That was it. Sage advice. 50 years later,
I remember it like it was yesterday. Don’t use a screwdriver or a
wrench as a hammer. Don’t use a chisel as a screwdriver. Don’t use a bucket as a sawhorse. And on and on and on the list
goes. And I see the guilty look on
your faces that we’ve all done it. never misappropriate a tool. And the potential consequences
of doing so were immediately presented to us. You could break
the tool, you could destroy the project you’re working on, or
you could do yourself serious bodily harm by using a tool for
a purpose other than that for which it was intended. That’s
an important life lesson for a seventh grade kid. The same
principle holds true in the church with regard to God’s gifts. These
gifts are tools in a very real sense. They are implements to
be used for a good purpose in the church. But that’s a tool, a spiritual tool that
should also never be used other than for its intended purpose. Sadly, that’s just what the Corinthian
church was doing. They misunderstood the effects
of some of the spiritual gifts in their midst. They overvalued
some gifts and undervalued others. and they miscalculated the purposes
of some, which ultimately led to their misuse, a use for which
they were not intended. And Paul urgently needed to correct
this practice before someone got really spiritually injured,
or before one of these gifts, these tools, received a bad reputation. or before the great project itself,
Christ Church, suffered some disfiguring damage. Tongues are indeed one of those
gifts intended by the Spirit and given by the Spirit for the
common good of the church. so it cannot be said at any point
of Paul’s treatment of spiritual gifts in chapters 12 through
14 that he is disparaging the gift of tongues. He’s not. It
is a good gift of God. It serves God’s purposes. Paul
himself even possessed that gift But even at the outset of Paul’s
discussion of spiritual gifts in chapter 12, Paul seems to
be reducing the status of the gift of tongues, at least in
the minds of the Corinthians. If you will, he’s putting tongues
in their place. He’s teaching the Corinthians
about the proper use of such a tool. There in the second paragraph
of chapter 12, Paul lists a representative number of spiritual gifts. You
might remember this. And the gift of tongues is the
very last gift that he mentions. Words of wisdom, words of knowledge,
faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, distinguishing of spirits, tongues. It’s almost an afterthought.
And Paul goes on To say that these gifts, Paul tells us near
the end of chapter 12, are all given by God’s sovereign appointment,
but they are not bestowed upon all. People can’t just go take
up a gift according to their whim. God has appointed the various
gifts in the church, but all do not speak with tongues, he
told us. Paul goes on in chapter 13 to
further limit the gift of tongues by explaining that tongues as
a spiritual gift will cease. As we turn the corner into chapter
14, it is not so much that Paul is seeking to ridicule the gift
of tongues. Rather, he’s highlighting the
importance of prophecy. Spiritual instruction, as we’ve
called it. There in the opening verses of
chapter 14, Paul spoke of the advantages, the benefits, the
blessings of spiritual instruction. This, you may recall, was presented
to us by way of a syllogism. And it’s communicated, pardon
me, it communicated that prophecy is greater than tongues because
spiritual instruction is for people, not God. and it glorifies
the hearer, not the speaker. So it’s not surprising that Paul
begins his entire discussion there with this exhortation,
desire especially that you may prophesy. And Paul summarizes
it so simply, greater is he who prophesies. In verses 7 through
12, Paul builds and really elucidates on the strong admonition to prophecy
by urging the Corinthians to maximize their impact in the
exercise of their spiritual gifts. Make the most of it. In contrast
with the exercise of tongues, prophecy enables the user to
have a ministry in the church that is beneficial. It is clear. It is meaningful. Each of those
features are the exact opposite of what speaking in tongues provides.
To use Paul’s description, speaking in tongues without interpretation
is unprofitable, indistinct, and barbaric. But still, There
may be some in the church, especially tongue speakers, that want to
contend with Paul about his assessment that prophecy is greater than
tongues. And so in verses 13 through 25,
Paul presents three powerful arguments to provide the differences
between these two gifts, differences that position prophecy far above
the gift of tongues. If we could, I’d like to read
from the beginning to put it in context all the way down to
verse 25. Chapter 14, verse 1. Pursue love,
yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you
may prophesy. For one who speaks in a tongue
does not speak to men, but to God. For no one understands,
but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. but one who prophesies speaks
to men for edification, for exhortation, for consolation. One who speaks
in a tongue edifies himself, but one who prophesies edifies
the church. Now, I wish that you all spoke
in tongues, but even more that you would prophesy, and greater
is one who prophesies than one who speaks in tongues, unless
he interprets, so that the church may receive edifying, But now,
brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues, what will I profit
you unless I speak to you either by way of revelation or of knowledge
or of prophecy or of teaching? Yet even lifeless things, either
flute or harp, in producing a sound, if they do not produce a distinction
in the tones, how will it be known what is played on the flute
or the harp? For if the bugle produces an
indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? So also you,
unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will
it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into
the air. There are, perhaps, a great many kinds of languages
in the world, and no kind is without meaning. If then I do
not know the meaning of the language, I will be to the one who speaks
a barbarian, and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to
me. So also you, since you are zealous
of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the church. Therefore, let one who speaks
in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a
tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. What is
the outcome then? I will pray with the spirit and
I will pray with the mind also. I will sing with the spirit and
I will sing with the mind also. Otherwise, if you bless in the
spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted
say the amen at your giving of thanks? Since he does not know
what you were saying. For you are giving thanks well
enough, but the other person is not edified. I thank God I
speak in tongues more than you all. However, in the church,
I desire to speak five words with my mind so that I may instruct
others also rather than 10,000 words in a tongue. Brethren, do not be children
in your thinking. yet in evil be infants, but in
your thinking be mature. In the law it is written, by
men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will
speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to me,
says the Lord. So then tongues are for a sign,
not to those who believe, but to unbelievers. But prophecy is assigned not
to unbelievers, but to those who believe. Therefore, if the
whole church assembles together, and all speak in tongues, and
ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say, you are mad? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever
or an ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called
to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and
so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God
is certainly among you. What a powerful, powerful passage
of scripture. What Paul does here is he lays
tongues and prophecy side by side, and he gives us a definitive
comparison of the two prominent gifts. These are the two that
he’s been discussing throughout this entire chapter, tongues
and prophecy. And what Paul wants to do is
give us differences, present these differences to us that
will position one gift far above the other. It will position prophecy
far above that of tongues so that the church, the people in
the church, can take and utilize the correct tool for the job. Let’s begin this morning. Let’s
go back to verse 13. We have a lengthy passage of
scripture to consider from verse 13 all the way down through verse
25, somewhat uncharacteristic of my effort, but I think these
three elements stand together and I wanted to deliver them
as such. The first difference that positions prophecy over
tongues is what Paul points out in verses 13 through 19. There
he shows that the differing values between tongues and prophecy,
the differing values of them. Look back at verse 13 just briefly. Therefore let one who speaks
in a tongue pray that he may interpret. We’ll come back to
that in a moment, but I want you to come down and see how
Paul values both tongues and prophecy. Look at verse 19. In the church I desire to speak
five words with my mind, so that I may instruct others also, rather
than ten thousand with a tongue. That’s quite a different evaluation. The first qualitative difference
between tongues and prophecy is that Paul highlights this
relative value of these gifts. And this is built on everything
that he said so far in chapter 14. Paul has already declared
that prophecy is greater than tongues because it edifies, builds
up the hearers. He resumes a thought here in
verse 13, something that he mentioned in passing back in verse 5. There, just glance at verse 5
briefly, there he said, greater is one who prophesies than one
who speaks in tongues unless he interprets. We’ll come back
to that as well. Now, most often, even most of
the time, the Lord provides a separate interpreter alongside someone
with the gift of tongues. Usually, when these gifts are
mentioned, they are separate. That was the case in chapter
12 verse 10, chapter 12 verse 30. Most of the time, tongues and
the interpretation of tongues are seen as two completely different
gifts, but it was possible. It was possible to possess both
gifts. Paul seems to allude to that.
The gift of tongues and the gift of interpretation at least were
theoretically possible. as gifts to both, to one individual. That’s what Paul seems to hint
at in verse five. But here he just says, ask God
for such a gift. If you have the gift of tongues
and there is no interpreter present, seek God, ask God for this gift. The interpretation of tongues,
as we’ve seen, makes such an utterance understandable and
profitable. We can understand why Paul would
urge them to seek such a gift. And so Paul urges here in verse
13, glance down at that verse, let one who speaks in a tongue
pray that he may interpret. What was needed at the uttering
of a message in a foreign language was someone who could decipher
and explain that God-given message. This is what transformed that
message in a foreign language from a mere garbled message to
prophecy into some meaningful edifying lesson. As he said back in verse five
of this chapter, greater is one who prophesies than one who speaks
in tongues unless he interprets. Interpretation was key. And so
Paul says, pray, ask the Lord, so that the Lord might provide
a tongue speaker to be gifted as well with interpretation. Now, In the following verses,
verses 14 through 17, Paul illustrates this, and he explains why interpretation
is so needful. Paul’s entire argument for prophecy,
and rather for prophecy and against tongues, is that prophecy edifies,
tongues does not. And his argument in these verses,
14 through 17, is really just another way of presenting this
argument. In order to edify another, your brothers and sisters in
Christ, the mind must be engaged. The person must be brought to
a measure of understanding. Spiritual instruction, prophecy,
does that. Speaking in tongues does not. That’s his argument thus far,
and that’s his argument in these verses. Would you glance at verse
14? What Paul pictures here is a
worship service during which someone rises and prays in a
foreign tongue. It’s interesting the way that
Paul describes it. Look at verse 14. He says, my
spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful. I think that is an
academically honest way of describing the exercise of the gift of tongues.
He’s not being harsh. In other words, prompted by God’s
own spirit, the individual is moved, and in his spirit, that
is emotionally and in a deeply spiritual way, he prays, but
mentally he’s disengaged. The individual is fully conscious. He or she is aware that they
are communing with God on some deep spiritual level, But the
person doesn’t even know what he’s uttering. His mind is unfruitful. It’s unfruitful because it’s
unedifying, not even for the one who’s speaking. Because he
or she does not speak the language that is being generated in and
through him by the Holy Spirit. He has no idea what he’s saying.
No one who hears the message, not even the one uttering it,
can take it, engage the mind with it, and present it to others
in a manner that will benefit them spiritually. That’s a problem.
Suddenly, in verse 15, he queries, what is the outcome? We can understand
Paul as suggesting here the best case scenario. How can he go
about engaging his mind? Emotionalism alone is inadequate. He must also engage the mind
and his desire is to pray with both the spirit and the mind
and to sing in like manner. What he means by this, by implication,
is that either he or someone else has the gift of interpretation
so that he and anyone who hears him is able to engage the mind
as well, to understand the language, to understand what is being spoken.
And there’s a quite humorous little proof that is offered
in verse 16. Glance down there, please. There
he presents the alternative, that someone is blessing or praying
in the spirit only, that is, in tongues, in a foreign language. But he says that if this is so,
how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted say the
amen? Let me explain that. Saying amen
at the end of a prayer was originally a Jewish practice, but it quickly
passed across to the Christian church. Amen basically, the word
means firm, and it was a way to confirm or affirm what was
being said or spoken or prayed. Saying amen at the end of a corporate
prayer is like the church’s stamp of approval on what’s being said.
Early church father Jerome said that the response of amen in
his church was much like thunder. And so, there they are all gathered
in prayer, and someone is praying in tongues in a foreign language,
And it’s a deep, powerful, passionate prayer. The problem is no one
understands what he’s saying. The tongues are a hindrance to
their worship, not a help. And someone speaking in tongues
without an interpreter becomes a complete roadblock to understanding,
so much so that the hearers don’t even know when to say amen. Or
whether they can affirm what was said at all. And so here
is this tongue speaker passionately communing with his God, and suddenly
he stops. And everyone around him is just
looking around, not knowing quite what to do, feeling foolish,
not knowing whether or not his prayer is even ended. Now we
had something like this in our midst a few years ago, a young
person. began to time the amen at the
end of my prayers. Some of you might remember that.
And this person got really good at it, aligning his own amen
with mine with great precision. And this went on for some time,
until one day, I changed my standard wording as I drew to a close,
and I altered my cadence just a bit, and sure enough, the individual
jumped the gun on his amen, and it didn’t align with mine. That’s
the same basic idea here. People hearing this guy pray
in a foreign language will have no idea when he’s finished or
if he’s finished. Paul makes it clear. There is
nothing theologically wrong with this man’s prayer. It’s a good
prayer. He’s giving thanks. There’s nothing
wrong with the intention of his prayer. So far as we know, the
individual is just thanking God. Thankfulness is a good thing.
As I said, for all we know, this is one of the most wonderful
prayers ever prayed. But those around him are completely
unmoved, not edified, because the prayer is in a foreign language.
And once again, Paul clarifies his position on tongues. Would
you look at verse 18? It’s a good gift of God. One
that even he possessed. I thank God, Paul says, I speak
in tongues more than you all. That doesn’t sound like someone
who’s disparaging the gift of tongues, does it? He has the
gift of tongues. He’s thankful to God for it.
And Paul clearly claims here to have had the gift of tongues.
We don’t know when or how often he used them. Paul had, if you
know Paul, he had some really fantastic spiritual experiences,
visions and trances and revelations. And though we know he possessed
the gift of tongues, there’s not a single occasion where he’s
ever recorded as employing it, not through the entire book of
Acts. And here in 1 Corinthians, it’s the only place in all of
his letters where he makes mention of having this gift. Paul has
never recorded speaking in tongues. The closest thing we have to
anything like that is his admission here. An expression of gratitude
for the possession of this gift. I thank God, I speak in tongues
more than you all. Now, we would think that Paul
possessed this, if he possessed this gift, he would want to exercise
it plentifully. But, or as Paul says in verse
19, however, Even the gift of tongues has its limits. And because
of that, Paul says, in the church, while engaged in the worship
of God and the edification of the saints, I desire to speak
five words with my mind rather than 10,000 with a tongue. It’s
as if he places both of these verbal utterances on a scale. On the one side, he puts 10,000
words in a tongue, a foreign language. On the other side,
he puts a measly five words. And those paltry five words are
still greater. He places a greater value on
those five words than he does on the 10,000 in a foreign tongue. In other words, Teaching that
is in the language of the hearers is paramount to Paul. He says
as much in this verse, so that I may instruct others. And I
want you to get this, pause for a moment. This is so special. Paul so wanted to impart spiritual
instruction to others that he uses a very special word here
for that practice. Only he and his dear friend Luke,
his traveling companion, only he and Luke employ this word.
It’s not the normal word for teaching. The word is katakau. Some of you may have heard it
there. We get our word to katakai from this word. It’s not book
learning. It’s word of mouth instruction.
It is to instruct by the voice. And in using this method, as
you know, it has the pupil echo back the answer to the teacher. That’s what it means to catechize.
This was Paul’s great desire to instruct others in spiritual
things The problem is no student can do such a thing if they do
not even know what the teacher is saying to begin with. Paul
says, give me five words. I’d rather have five words in
the student’s language than 10,000 in a foreign tongue. And so the
first difference that Paul presents between tongues and prophecy
is the value of these two gifts. One is infinitely greater than
the other. 10,000 to five. There’s a second difference
that he notes, and we find it in verses 20 through 22. The
second difference that positions prophecy over tongues, not only
differing values, but differing purposes. Differing purposes
of tongues and prophecy. Look at verse 20. Brethren, do
not be children in your thinking, yet in evil be infants, but in
your thinking be mature. In the law it is written, by
men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers, I will
speak to this people. And even so, they will not listen
to me, says the Lord. So then tongues are for a sign,
not to those who believe, but to unbelievers. But prophecy
is for a sign, not to unbelievers, but to those who believe. Not only are there differing
values between the two gifts, Paul says there are differing
purposes for the gifts. This goes back to the right tool
for the job motif, and I will tell you that his argument here
is a little difficult to grasp initially. Bear with me. Let’s
start in verse 20. Brethren, do not be children
in your thinking. And the problem is that’s exactly what was happening
in Corinth. They had so elevated some of
the sign gifts, especially speaking in tongues, they had elevated
among all the other gifts so that Paul characterizes their
behavior here as childish. And just like children learn
for good or ill by emulating what they see and hear, many
in Corinth were merely imitating the real gift of tongues. This
was brought about especially because tongues were such a spectacular
display. That’s just how children operate,
right? They were children in their thinking,
Paul says. Childlikeness is one thing. Childlikeness is a good thing.
Christians are called to have a childlike faith. Paul says
here we should be childlike with regard to evil. As Jesus said,
we should be as innocent as doves. But in our thinking, Paul says,
we’re called to maturity. And again, Paul is reasoning,
urging this really, because they had an inverted value of these
gifts. Children tend to be attracted
to what is bright and showy, and tongues to the Corinthians
were paramount precisely because they were ostentatious, showy,
spectacular. were being childish in their
treatment of this gift. They were esteeming tongues for
the wrong reasons, and they were not only childish with regard
to the value that they placed on this gift, but the way that
they used them. And so Paul wants to remind these
believers of the purpose of tongues. Would you look at verse 21? In the law it is written by men
of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak
to this people and even so they will not listen to me. This will take some effort to
unpack and understand. Paul here is very loosely quoting
Isaiah 28 11. And the significance there in
Isaiah was that God’s people had stubbornly refused to listen
to God. Even though he had spoken to
them plainly in their own language, the priests flat out scoffed
at the prophet Isaiah. And in their drunkenness, they
ridiculed Isaiah’s admonitions to them as baby talk. And so
God tells them, that he is going to send men of strange tongues,
the Assyrians of all people, lips of strangers to speak. This was punishment by God, not
a blessing. It was a rebuke of their unbelief
and a final call to repentance. The garbled message to them in
a foreign tongue was a confirmation of their unbelief. Not a blessing
for their faith, but even this speech in a foreign
tongue wouldn’t do any good. Because of their stubborn waywardness,
they ignored it all. And we back away and say, why
does Paul drop this citation in here? Just because tongues
are mentioned? Verse 22, Paul applies this lesson
Just as with the people to whom Isaiah spoke, tongues are for
a sign. But they are assigned to unbelievers,
not to believers. Originally, they were a testimony
assigned to unbelieving Judah. God’s sending of a foreign army
was a judgment and a rebuke to them. Not a blessing. And that’s why Paul says messengers
speaking in a foreign language are a rebuke. Likewise, God’s
renewed provision of this gift of tongues. In first century
Christianity tongues, messengers speaking in foreign languages
were a sign to unbelievers. Those who do not know the Lord
Jesus Christ. just like they were to the hearers
at Pentecost. The message that day in Pentecost
was ultimately a call of repentance and faith. But those who heard,
they heard Christians speaking in tongues, and they accused
them of drunkenness, ignoring the significance of the gift
entirely. And so Peter began, remember, to defend this gift
And his defense that day was, to begin with, these men are
not drunk, as you suppose. And he concluded his address
to them by declaring, repent and be baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. The tongues were a sign to unbelievers. That message was not for believers. So Paul implies, what is the
sense of exercising the gift of tongues before your fellow
Christians when they are assigned for unbelievers? In their exercise
of this gift, the Corinthians were behaving immaturely, like
children. And so he adds, prophecy, on
the other hand, is a sign for those who believe. Prophecy,
spiritual instruction, is for believers. So Paul has cited
two qualitative differences between tongues and prophecy. They have
differing values, they have different purposes, and thirdly, they have
different effects. Would you look at verses 23 through
25? Different values, different purposes,
and different effects. Look at verse 23, therefore,
if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues,
and ungifted men or unbelievers enter, will they not say, you
are mad? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever
or ungifted man enters, he is convicted by all, he is called
into account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and
so he will fall on his face and worship God, declaring that God
is certainly among you. You basically have two choices
here. What kind of church service do you want to have? Paul takes
everyone back to church. And he wants them to imagine
a worship service. And I’ve been in one of these
worship services, by the way. Not just any worship service,
this is a very lively worship service here where the whole
church is assembled together, all speak in tongues. I mean, can you even begin to
imagine such a scene? And just like in Acts 2, I take
this to mean that they were not all speaking the same foreign
language. They were speaking multiple,
many different kinds of language. And there they all are, everyone
chattering away in their own particular language, when suddenly,
look at verse 23, some visitor walks into the service. or visitors,
plural. And these visitors are of two
types, ungifted or unbelievers. When Paul says ungifted men,
I believe that he’s referring there to believers who do not
possess the gift of interpretation. To them, it’s just foreign language
and nothing more. To them, All they hear are people
talking in foreign languages, and we met this kind of fellow
earlier. He’s the one who didn’t even
know when to say amen. The second kind of visitor are
those who aren’t even saved. They’re unbelievers. Now a Christian
person, even if ungifted in this regard, is likely going to be
much more generous when he hears this going on. He knows about
the gifts. He sees it taking place. He knows
that something fantastic is taking place, but he just doesn’t understand
it. He doesn’t understand what’s
being said. He’s going to be very gracious. But the unbeliever
who has walked in, they hear all of this going on, and their
conclusion is that these people are insane. Paul says, will they
not say that you are mad? They don’t get it. They don’t
understand it. To them, it is sheer madness.
Either way, even the most glorious message, if it is not attended
with interpretation, is a gross abuse of the gift of tongues. The utterance may have secured
a great deal of attention. Everybody’s watching them. It’s
a fantastic display, but if it occurred unregulated by biblical
principles, Biblical guidelines in the worship service. If it
didn’t occur properly, it was out of place. It’s an abuse. It’s a misuse
of one of God’s good gifts. Not only would it not be a sign,
even for unbelievers, it would be a cause for mockery. How completely
upside down the Corinthian church had things. And now Paul takes
us to a different church service. Glance, if you would, at verse
24. This time, all the Christians
are again engaged, but this time they all prophesy. Not all at once, necessarily.
They’re all engaged in spiritual instruction, as we’ve called
it. Some are teaching. Some are preaching, some others
skillfully quote God’s word. Others engage in the pure reading
of scripture, one of my favorite parts of the worship service.
Still others offer biblical counsel to those, their new friends. If the visitors are not Christians,
the evangelist among them proclaim Christ from the Bible. What a
powerful service this is. And all of this is not a well-executed
plot by these people lying in wait for an unbeliever to walk
in. It’s all due to the sovereign
providence of God that this person has come to a church at all and
that he’s heard these things. Just an amazing mark of God’s
providence. And what’s the result? Would
you look at the middle of verse 24? He is convicted by all. He is called into account by
all. The secrets of his heart are disclosed. This man suddenly realizes that
God is holy, that he is a sinner in desperate need of a Savior,
and that Jesus Christ is that Savior. He sees himself for the
first time and really, as he really is, and it is a horrifying
sight. Well, isn’t this just the purpose
of the Word of God when employed by the Holy Spirit? Hebrews 4.12
tells us that the word of God is living and active and sharper
than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division
of soul and spirit of both joints and marrow and able to judge
the thoughts and intentions of the heart. What a powerful weapon. But worse yet for the sinner,
what if this weapon is wielded by the Holy Spirit of God himself? As Jesus said in John 16, when
the Holy Spirit comes, He will convict the world concerning
sin and righteousness and judgment. That’s the work of God. When
a sinner hears the Word of God spoken, read, shared, cited,
taught, preached, the Holy Spirit adds a supernatural influence
to it which no human heart impervious to. He just thought he was indulging
his friend in going to church with him that day. But there
he is. And he hears the scriptures read.
He hears the spiritual truths sung by the congregation. He
hears the words. He’s able to read the words of
the songs himself. He hears the word taught. He
hears the spiritual conversation between believers in passing. He hears the word preached. And
it’s all an overwhelming testimony against him. And one word after the other
begins to burn into his soul, read, preached, even sung. And he suddenly has no place
to hide. It’s as if the eyes of heaven
itself are glaring at him. I love how it says it in verse
25, the secrets of his hearts are disclosed, not to others,
not that everybody else sees. Sometimes we’ll have people in
the service and they’re weeping. We have no idea why. God knows. They know. His conscience is
berated and assaulted by the Holy Spirit utilizing the Word
of God. He knows that he stands guilty
before a holy God. But would you notice this, please?
This is not only for the purpose of conviction alone, that these
things are happening to him, this man is soon converted to
Christ. And he should be. Look at verse
25. He will fall on his face and
worship God, declaring that God is certainly among you. The individual sees their sin
for what it is. He’s brought to repentance. And
please know that it isn’t the teacher’s excellent notes. It
isn’t the preacher’s excellent outline. It’s not that someone
artfully selected a well-aimed verse and threw it in the direction
of this individual. It’s the Spirit of God employing
the Word of God in the conviction of a sinner. And so I’d ask you, what service
would you rather attend? Service of madness? or a service
of edification where you see unbelievers come to know the
Lord Jesus Christ. Paul just says that prophecy
is so far superior. Five words to 10,000, so far
superior to the gift of tongues. He says that the purpose, the
very purpose of prophecy is so far greater. the edification
of the hearer. And he says that the effects,
if you’ve never been part of watching someone come to Christ,
there is nothing more powerful than that. Proclaim Christ, share
God’s word, and let the Holy Spirit do what the Holy Spirit
does. And so to prepare yourself for
that, immerse yourself in the word of God. Immerse yourself
by reading it. Immerse yourself in it by studying
it. Immerse yourself in it by meditating
on its phrases and thoughts. Immerse yourself in it for memorization
so that you will have something intelligent to say when an unbeliever
comes into your midst. Speak the word of God. in citations, quoting scripture,
in admonitions as you correct someone, in counseling, in teaching,
if God calls and equips and allows even in preaching. Would you humble yourself before
our holy God?