[Steve Myers] It's like we're ready for another session of 1 Corinthians. We had kind of left off right in the middle of Chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians last time. And we had begun to talk about the end of verse 5. And here, of course, Paul has been discussing the attributes of what agape love is all about. And so he's definitely showing us what that looks like. How does it show itself in our behavior? Agape love is like this. And so we've been looking at those different attributes to really get a fuller definition. Certainly if we think of it as a sacrificial love, and we think of it as the love that certainly Jesus Christ emulated, unconditional love that He sacrificed when we don't deserve it, He showed love unconditionally, and it was a selfless love. He was not selfish in any way. And so this is the kind of love that God has for us. And we're to demonstrate that love to others. If we are God's people, this is what we're to be like. And so He's showing exactly how we should be not only demonstrating this love but be motivated by this kind of love as well. And we concluded last time, and we'll pick it up at the end of verse 5 where we talked about.

1 Corinthians 13:5 "It thinks no evil."

Yeah, we should think the best of others, no doubt. But we had mentioned last time that it ties in with keeping no record of wrongs because it's this accounting type of word that means keeping a ledger. Do we keep a ledger of what people have done? Think of it in those terms. Do we keep a ledger of wrongs that people have offended us or hurt us or done to us? Interesting. Agape does not, does not keep a record of wrongs. Aren't you glad that's the case? I mean, think of going before God the Father and asking for forgiveness. Yeah, there is a record of our wrongs until we repent. What happens when we repent and ask for forgiveness? Well, Psalm 103 says, "God removes those sins as far as east is from west." He gets them totally annihilated, you could say. They're gone. Throw them in the bottom of the sea, getting rid of them and then putting up a no fishing sign. That's kind of the way it is.

Yeah, when you think of that, God doesn't keep a record of wrongs. But who does? I think that's also important to think about. You think Satan keeps a record of wrongs? Yeah, I think so. And sometimes, even though God's forgiven us of things, those things will get thrown up in our face. Because Satan does keep a...Oh, you think you're so forgiven? You think that, you know, you're deserving? And oftentimes those things can come back on us. Of course, that's what we've got to say, get behind me, Satan. No, God has forgiven me. God has put those things away. God keeps no record of wrongs. And so how critical is that? And by setting that example when it comes to our sin and His forgiveness for us, that's what we're supposed to be like. And boy, that's tough.

That's tough because, yeah, did people legitimately do evil, terrible things to Christ? I mean, they did. They did. And that whole scenario just before the crucifixion is just horrendous, what He had to go through for us. And yet, here He is dying as He's being crucified, and what did He say? Yeah, "Father, forgive them. They know not what they do." Talk about not keeping a record of wrongs. He was still willing to sacrifice His life for those who were crucifying Him, those who had beat Him, those who had scourged Him. The things that we deserve, that our sins deserve, Christ took that. And so He's emulating that very fact that He did not keep a record of wrong, doesn't keep records of wrongs. And we've got to strive to do that very thing as well. Not to keep count, not to keep a record, not to put it on, you know, the accounting, you know. Yeah, we've got to let those things go. So we don't want to do that at all. So tear up the ledger book, get rid of the notebook of the bad things people have done to you, and look to God. That's what He's encouraging us to do here. So, agape thinks no evil, doesn't keep a record of wrongs. Going on to verse 6 then.

1 Corinthians 13:6 "Agape does not rejoice in iniquity."

Doesn't rejoice in iniquity. They don't find joy in bad things. And of course, you put yourself in this town of Corinth with its evil influences and all the pagan gods that they worshiped and all this ecstatic worship and all those things that went along with that, just the degradation of what society had become in Corinth. Not too different from what we face today, is it? I'm reminded of what it says all the way back in Romans. If you notice Romans 1, take a look at verse 22. Romans 1:22, here's a description of what Rome had become like, society had become like back in that day. But think about where we're at today. Does this description fit? And think of it in terms of rejoicing in iniquity, iniquity of course being lawlessness, the lack of order, the lack of godliness as well.

Romans 1:22 "Professing to be wise, they became fools."

Does this describe our society today? Is this evidence of these things? There's a whole list of things like verse 28.

Romans 1:28 "They didn't like to retain God in their knowledge. God gave them over to a debased mind to do things which are not fitting."

Talk about iniquity, talk about sin, that's what we're getting at here. And He's got a whole list of things. And as you look at this whole list of things, behaviors that are unacceptable, you get down to verse 32.

Romans 1:32 It says, "Who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death." Yeah, you do those things, this is awful. There's a penalty for that. But it also says this, "Not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them." I think that's an interesting comment that ties in going back to 1 Corinthians 13, "Agape doesn't rejoice in iniquity." And today, our people saying, "Oh, that's wonderful. This is good." This should be appreciated when we talk about same-sex marriage, when we talk about LGBTQ. Choosing those lifestyles, we should put a happy face on that and that's a good thing. Rejoicing in iniquity, no, God says there are things deserving of death. And it's not just sexual sins, he just got done going through this list in Romans, all kinds of different things that are wicked, that are sinful. But certainly our society today approves of many of those things as though they're good, yet they're unacceptable.

Oftentimes, our society today rejoices in iniquity. They try to put a smiley face on it and say how wonderful and how good it is and that we should promote those things. I mean, it's just about love. What kind of love are you talking about? Definitely not about agape, not about a self-sacrificial love, not about an unconditional type of love that God has for us. No, it's not about that at all. It's about what makes you feel good. Don't give me any guilty feelings. No, I don't want any of that. So instead of holding ourselves accountable, society rejoices in iniquity. And they approve of it. Even if they're not doing it themselves, they approve of others that do those things. Totally unacceptable in God's way.

So if we head back to 1 Corinthians 13, we can see we cannot somehow put a smiley face on wrongdoing. Can't say, "Oh, this is wonderful, this is good." Yeah, there's no delighting in unrighteousness. That's what Paul says, agape has nothing to do with that. But on the positive side, okay, here's some positive aspects of agape. Okay, didn't do all these things. Now what? Well, when we get here in verse 7.

1 Corinthians 13:6 It says, "It bears all..." Well, "It rejoices in the truth."

Better finish up verse 6 here. We didn't talk about that. Instead of rejoicing in iniquity, we rejoice in truth. That's what it's all about. So the positive side of the picture is emphasizing godly traits. We celebrate what's good. We celebrate what's honest. We celebrate what's genuine in accordance with the Word of God. That's the foundation. What does God's Word say? Well, it tells us what's best for us. What is good? What is right? What is healthy? That's what God's way is all about. So rejoicing in the truth is the positive side of agape. Then verse 7.

1 Corinthians 13:7 "Love, agape, bears all things."

Bears all things, which is an interesting one. It kind of carries that connotation of putting up with things, a little bit like we talked about the other day, macrothumia, having patience or suffering with people, putting up with people, bearing with people, bearing all things. This is used a number of times. We already saw this word being used in 9:12, talked about bearing things. Carries a little bit of a facet of protecting, protecting things, forbearance, watching out for others would be a part of this. Interesting way that the Greek word is used, sometimes it's used in reference to a roof, like the roof on a house, a roof of a house, that there's a roof that bears all things. Well, what does a roof do? What does a roof do? In the Greek it's stago panta. Stago panta is the word, I don't need to write it on the board, you can look it up in your Greek dictionary. But it carries that connotation of a roof. You bear things, the roof protects the rest of the house, right? You put the shingles on the roof and the rain is not going to come in, it's going to keep all the weather out. Well, bearing all things is that idea of protecting things or enduring things. The roof is going to endure the bad weather and keep the rest of the household safe.

So this idea of us as God's people emulating agape, meaning that very thing, that we're looking out for the best of things, we're bearing things, we're covering things, we're protecting things. We see this aspect of the Word I think portrayed over in 1 Peter 4, if you want to turn there with me. 1 Peter 4 describes this kind of an attitude in the way that we should act. If you look at verse 8, here he's describing agape love and this term for bearing all things like a roof that protects and covers things kind of comes out in what Peter writes here.

1 Peter 4:8 He says, "Above all things have fervent love for one another, for love, for agape, will cover a multitude of sins."

So that bearing, that covering, that, yes, even in difficult situations, yeah, we're going to cover things. Not cover up things, no. No, we want to protect. We want to care for in that way. So it's not a cover up, it's this type of looking over things and that we're helping for the better, that we're going to protect and really show the kind of care that we should. And interesting that it comes not too long after not keeping a record of wrongs, not thinking evil. Oh, well, instead of thinking evil, you should be able to cover. You should be able to protect. There should be a protection there instead of the bad things. That idea of in difficult situation, you're going to support people in their challenges. You're going to support people in their weaknesses. That's really what it's talking about. And there is a sense of enduring. We talked about storms, the roof is going to keep the storms out, it's going to protect and last. Well, we're supposed to do this even when there are difficult things that happen or happen to us. We're going to bear with it and we're going to endure it and protect and support others when they're challenged and face difficulties and their own weaknesses.

So when we go back then to 1 Corinthians, certainly, that positive trait of bearing all things, he talked about in verse 7. He also says then, “believes all things.” Believes all things. Well, that means, well, whatever they say, I'm going to believe it. Now, it doesn't mean that. He's not saying, you know, be gullible. Don't fall for those kinds of things. But that we should have a sense of confidence. The word here for believing is connected to belief or faith. Remember, we talked about that Pistis word, P-I-S-T-I-S word, faith. Yeah, it's the same base word for believing things. So, you know, what would that look like as, you know, through the eyes of Agape? Believing all things would mean having a positive outlook, having a hopeful outlook, you know, giving, well, yeah, sometimes it's pretty tough. You give people the benefit of the doubt? Yeah, sometimes we don't. That's kind of what it's talking about. Give people the benefit of the doubt. Don't always seek just the negative side of things. Have a more positive outlook. So, believes all things. Yeah, don't be gullible. It's not saying that. But you should have a level of confidence in others so that you do have a positive outlook and you give people the benefit of the doubt so you believe all things.

Verse 7 then also says, “hopes all things,” hopes all things. Yeah, and that's kind of like seeing the bright side of things, you know, not just wishing for the best, that's, oh, I'm hoping that'll happen, you know, we're wishing this. This takes it to a different level. Being hopeful here means having more of a confidence that we're hope in all things. When we hope in all things, we see the bigger picture. We know even though we're facing difficulty right now, we trust God that He's going to bring a positive resolution to whatever the situation may be. That's the kind of hope as Christians that we're to have. You know, we recognize that when we go through trials, ultimately, therefore are good. He talked about that very fact that, yes, God's there right in the middle of the storm and He's going to help us to get through those things no matter what. Sometimes take it away.

And so we can hope all things and recognize that we can have a level of confidence that God will do what He says He's going to do. In other words, we're not going to get too anxious over things. You know, we don't have to have a panic attack or despair that, wow, I'm in this horrible situation, which sometimes we will be in difficult situations. But it can help us in our outlook to recognize even though this is really difficult right now that we know, we know that God will bring about a positive resolution in the end. In the end, God's going to work it out. And so that idea of hoping all things kind of speaks a little bit to the idea of persevering, that we can persevere because ultimately we know God's in charge, God's in charge.

And so this idea of not only hoping all things, verse 7 also says, “enduring all things,” enduring all things. The Greek in that particular phrase has a connotation of a soldier, a soldier, and what do soldiers have to do? Well, they have to go through all kinds of difficulties. They march for miles on end at times. They have to go into battle. They have to be prepared. All those kinds of things certainly come to mind. And so this idea of enduring all things like a soldier. And oftentimes our Christian walk is compared to being a Christian soldier. We even sing that song, don't we? "Onward Christian soldiers." Yeah, we got to endure. Whatever the circumstances, whatever the difficulties, we persevere. We carry on and we have that kind of perspective like a good soldier would have as well. Okay, going back then to verse 8.

1 Corinthians 13:8 He tells us, "Agape never fails," never fails.

So this is certainly a different aspect of what you might consider love to be. You know, does love ever fail? Eros ever fail? Yeah, people break up, romance didn't work out, whatever. Yeah, all kinds of difficulties. Yeah, sometimes families disintegrate. Storgay doesn't get there, you know, it doesn't work that way. Brotherly love, yeah, sometimes families don't have that kind of appreciation for each other. But when you talk about godly love, when you talk about sacrificial love, you know, when you talk about selfless love, that survives everything. That kind of love will always be because God the Father and Jesus Christ, they are immortal. And so this kind of love survives. And so it is ongoing. It is ongoing. It will never fail, will never fail. And so interesting that he makes that powerful point in that way that this survives everything. This survives it all.

And so in order to put that into proper perspective, in verse 8, he says, "Whether there are prophecies, they will fail." And that seems to be talking about the foretelling kind of prophecies, probably referred to there a little bit more specifically. And it doesn't mean that things that God has predicted will not come to pass. It's not inferring that at all. It kind of carries a connotation that they're going to be fulfilled. They're not going to be in operation anymore because they'll pass. They'll be fulfilled. So we already know there's many, many, many prophecies that have already failed in that sense. They've already been fulfilled. They're already passed. And so in that regard, yeah, it's going to come to an end. Prophecy will fail. Now it could also be referring to the gift of prophecy. Remember in chapter 12 in the context might seem to fit good in that sense that the gift of prophecy, the gift of inspired speaking, will that fail? Well, yeah, eventually, humanly speaking, well, sure, those kinds of gifts, you know, when you're a spirit being, is that a gift that you'll need to be given? Well, things will be totally different in that realm, be totally different. And so that seems to be part of what he could be referring to here as well, these things will fail.

He also says, "Whether there are tongues, they will cease." Yeah, God's going to bring a whole new language. That's coming. So what about that spiritual gift, that ability? Yeah, it's going to come to an end. It's going to cease. It's not going to be necessary in that regard. He says, "Whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away." Yeah, from a human perspective, where does human knowledge, where does human understanding and intelligence compare to godly intelligence, to God's perspective? Well, I can't even measure it. There's such an unbelievable difference between those things. And so when you look at it in that way, yeah, when it comes to knowledge, it will vanish away. Human knowledge and understanding is nothing compared to God's understanding and His knowledge. Yeah, that's all going to come to an end. Yeah, no doubt about that. It's going to vanish. It'll be gone.

1 Corinthians 13:9 "We know in part and we prophesy in part."

Yeah, as opposed to the whole, do we get, as human beings, do we understand every aspect about God and His nature and even His plan and His purpose? We got part of it. Yeah, we've got important parts of it, absolutely, but it falls short of the entire picture. Yeah, we don't get the whole thing. And so Paul's trying to make that point. Of course, one of the reasons. How do you think some of the Corinthians felt about themselves? Well, they were puffed up, they were prideful. Well, we've got all understand...yeah, we've got the market, we've cornered the market on spirituality, is the way some of them felt. He said, don't ever feel that way because you've got just a teeny little part. We don't see the whole picture most times. And you know, humanly speaking, we don't, we just don't. And so he puts that into perspective.

1 Corinthians 13:10 He says, "But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away."

Yeah, then you're going to get it. You know, when you are born into the family of God and you are a spirit being, that's a whole different perspective than just a human perspective. And so he says, that's going to be entirely different, entirely different. And so he tries to help us to understand that point as he uses this metaphor of being a child in verse 11.

1 Corinthians 13:11 He says, "When I was a child, and this is like a baby."

The word can literally mean an infant, you know, just a little tiny one. Probably in perspective, it can mean somebody that's just not of age, somebody that's a minor. Yeah, it can mean that, which maybe in this connotation is a little bit more valuable from that perspective. He says, "When I was a child, I spoke as a child. I understood as a child." And literally in the Greek, and some of the translations bring this out, it says, "I used to talk like a child. I used to understand as a child." Yeah, I thought that way. I used to have that kind of a perspective on things.

But verse 11 in the middle, it says, "When I became a man, I put away childish things." I've become a man now. Now I'm grown up. I am grown up and I remain as a man. I've matured. And as a mature adult, I put away childish things. And the implication is this is for good. It's gone for good. I don't need those things anymore. If you think of little babies, they grow up, you don't have to change their diapers anymore, right? I don't need that. Okay, well, as you think about that in the spiritual sense here, I think this is where it becomes important that I become a man, I've grown up, spiritually speaking. I understand that the more excellent way is love. It's not fighting over who's got the best gift. The ultimate gift, the one I need to be showing and demonstrating in my life is agape, selfless love, sacrificial love, godly love to everyone. That's what's most important. I have become a man and that should be who I am. I want to be Christ-like. Here's the attributes that I need to strive to live up to. And I got rid of that old perspective.

1 Corinthians 13:12 And so he says, "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face."

You know, there's coming a time that we'll be in the presence of God. Jesus Christ is going to return. We'll be ultimately converted to spirit beings. We'll see face to face. Right now it's like we're looking in a mirror, New King James says, dimly. I think the King James says darkly. Now, this is interesting because Corinth was actually famous for their mirrors. And so they were well known throughout the empire for that particular product. Now, of course, it's not a mirror like we think of a mirror today. In the 1st century, the kind of mirror that they would have had would be a metal mirror, polished metal. And of course, how well will you see yourself from this kind of a polished metal perspective? Yeah, not as good as in the mirror as we have today, for sure.

But interesting that this idea literally of seeing in a mirror dimly or darkly, you know what the Greek word there is? Enigma. Enigma is the base word that's used there. So that does kind of have, I don't know, a little sense of mystery to it, an enigma, hard to explain, like a riddle kind of thing. Yeah, we don't quite get it. It doesn't mean we don't have any understanding because we do. We've been given much so that we can have spiritual understanding. Absolutely, we have. But it's like looking in this metal mirror back in the day that you really can't make out the details to ultimately seeing face to face, standing right there in front of each other. That's what it's going to be like. So that should help put things into perspective. Don't think we're so great. Don't think you've got all great spiritual understanding. Yeah, he says, "Now I know in part. But then I shall know just as I am known." I am known. So that's implying here it's all going to become clear. It's all going to become clear.

And so right now, yes, we have a certain level of understanding, but ultimately, how much does God know about me? Everything. He knows all of us better than we know ourselves. He knows everything about us. He knows why we do the things that we do. He knows what's happened in the past. He knows these things better than we remember them. He knows fully. So when he says, okay, I know certain things in parts, but boy, when you compare that to God, He knows everything about me and ultimately it's going to come to that later on. When we're converted in the kingdom, wow, is that going to be different? Yeah, that's going to be totally different. So he begins to put that into perspective. And so as he kind of concludes his guidance here to show exactly what this kind of sacrificial love looks like, notice verse 13.

1 Corinthians 13:13 He says, "And now abide faith, hope, love, these three." But the greatest of these is love.”

The greatest of these is love. And so interesting that these are abiding. The abiding word has kind of a numeric kind of a sense to it, like one, two, three, they're agreeing in that regard. But when you compare them, you compare them, there's one superlative, there's one best, there's one greatest. That phrase is used a number of times throughout the New Testament, the greatest things, who is the greatest in the kingdom, remember the disciples asked Christ about that, similar kind of a thing in that regard.

The ultimate, the best, the top of the heap, that's what this is talking about. These things certainly will continue, they'll abide. But ultimate, superlative, the greatest is agape, that is the greatest. Because why? Well, that is God. That's the best attribute that God has and God is. He exemplifies that selfless, sacrificial kind of a love. And so we see that these other gifts, they're going to pass away. But interesting also as he concludes the chapter here that agape is necessary to have hope. Agape is necessary to have faith. And that kind of love is going to keep on. And yeah, in a sense, it's going to keep growing because this kind of agape is the attribute of God Himself. All right, well, that concludes Chapter 13.

And we'll go ahead and push right on into Chapter 14 as we continue in 1 Corinthians because not only does he describe that kind of love, he's still continuing this thought as he gets into Chapter 14.

1 Corinthians 14:1 And he says, "Pursue love."

Which of course is a little bit of a command for us, that is this just going to automatically happen on its own that we're going to have this kind of a love? Now, I think the implication is this isn't automatic. This just doesn't happen. It's not just happenstance. That you've got to work at this and you've got to go after it, that pursuing kind of brings us back to the games again, doesn't it? You got to go after it. It doesn't happen on its own. You've got to pursue it.

Then he also says, desire spiritual gifts. "Desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy." Yeah, speaking those inspired words is so important. Being inspired by God, you know, speaking forth, encouraging others, admonishing others, comforting others, all of that ties in with this idea of prophesying. Yes, really desire that, go after that. Yeah, be able to help and serve others in that way by teaching them sometimes. Sometimes it's refuting wrong thinking. Yeah, that could be part of it as well. But he says, so desire that, desire that. And you could see why that would be so important because that's going to help get rid of division and contribute to unity, especially, I mean, it's hard not to be unified if you demonstrate the kind of love that he just got done describing. Now, he contrasts that with what he says next.

1 Corinthians 14:2 "For he who speaks in a tongue doesn't speak to men, but to God."

So interesting, if you're going to encourage others, if you're going to prophesy, if you're going to speak in inspired ways, got to come out of your mouth, right? Yeah, your tongue's got to be at work. Of course, here he's saying, he who speaks in a tongue, speaks in a tongue. And that kind of brings us to the theme of Chapter 14. I mean, even though he's continuing to talk about spiritual gifts that he started...in which chapter did he start talking about spiritual gifts? Oh yeah, Chapter 12. So Chapter 12, he started talking about those gifts, continued to talk about the gift of love, right, of agape. Here, he's going to continue talking about spiritual gifts, but he's going to focus on tongues.

So sometimes, well, many times, more often than not, Chapter 14 is referred to the tongues chapter or the languages chapter. This word for tongues here, of course, we talked about this before, is the word glossa, G-L-O-S-S-A, glossa, glossa. And so, as we look at this particular word, yeah, he who speaks in a glossa, a language, that's a language that would be understood. He's not talking about a Pentecostal gibberish type of thing where nobody understands what you're talking about or you're claiming just to have some type of spiritual language that you don't even understand yourself. No, he's not talking about that. So oftentimes, people confuse that fact, and they don't understand a glossa is a language.

So imagine you're in Corinth, and okay, you're part of the empire, you speak Greek because this is the area of the world you come from, and you know Latin because you're in the Roman Empire. So somebody comes and they speak Aramaic. Well, I don't know Aramaic. I don't understand Aramaic. Well, who are you talking to? I don't get it. I don't understand. Does God understand languages? Yeah, of course he does. Okay, so if you're talking in a language that nobody else gets, does God get it? Does he understand? Yeah, no doubt about it. So if you're going to speak in a language that people don't understand, okay, yeah, in a sense you're talking to God, God understands it, that's why he says you're speaking to God. He said, but no one understands Him. “And in the Spirit, He speaks mysteries.” Yeah, I don't understand this. I don't get it. God understands different languages, no doubt about that. But what about the rest of the people? Well, if they don't know that language, they're not going to understand it.

Well, is it important that you speak a language or is it important that that language is beneficial to others? He certainly made that point in Chapter 12. Okay, it's good to have spiritual gifts, but if you don't use them properly, what's the point? It's no good. It's no good. And so here he's pointing that fact out that you're going to speak a language, people better be able to understand it.

1 Corinthians 14:3 He says, "He who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men."

Okay, remember he just got done saying, this would be a good gift to go after, desire spiritual gifts. One of the good ones is prophecy, that's especially helpful because it helps in so many different ways. You're edifying, you're exhorting others, you're encouraging others, right? You're edifying, you're building up, we've talked about that word in the past, we're building others up. Yeah, we're encouraging, we're comforting others. Yeah, those things are great. That's wonderful. Those who prophesy speak in inspired ways, yeah, they build up the Church. Well, what about somebody that just speaks a language? Well, that can be a great spiritual gift, no doubt about that. But if you're doing it for the wrong reasons, you're doing it when nobody else gets it or understands, if the only one that's understanding this language is God, what's the problem?

1 Corinthians 14:4 He says, "He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself."

It's all about you. But he who prophesies edifies the Church. And so imagine the differences between the way some were using these gifts.

1 Corinthians 14:5 He says, "I wish you all spoke with tongues."

Okay, there's nothing wrong with the spiritual gift of languages. Yeah, that's not a problem, the gift itself. But he says, "Even more that you prophesied, that you really encourage each other. For he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues unless..."Okay, wait, we don't want to compare ourselves among ourselves. Is this gift better than that gift? Well, they all can be really beneficial, no doubt about it. So he's not putting down the fact that there were those that could speak languages. But if you're not speaking with a language that is edifying, prophesying is much better. Prophesying builds up the body of Christ. So he says, "He who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues unless indeed he interprets that the Church may receive edification."

So you got to know what you're talking about. That's the real issue here. And of course, this puts down the whole Pentecostal movement that's out there in Christianity. That whole movement says, oh, you should speak in different languages that are spiritual language that no one understands because this is a good thing and it's evidence of your Christianity. They oftentimes say that. But here, you see very clearly, unless those languages are known and interpreted, there's no value. There's no value. And it's an amazing thing. I've never seen...you know, I've seen a couple of these examples. And in fact, maybe next time I'll play an example for you, as long as I can get copyright permission to do so. Play an example of one of these Pentecostal services and you'll see there's never an interpretation. People are just going on and gibberish.

And of course, also remember this whole background in Corinth. Remember this worship of Dionysus, this Bacchus worship. Were they yelling and screaming and shouting and, yeah, I'm sure various languages, and was that really building up the Church? Well, no, it's all useless as far as this pagan worship goes. And so here he emphasizes the fact if you're going to speak in a language, you've got to have an interpreter. I mean, what good would it do to go to Mexico for the feast and you don't speak Spanish and all the sermons are in Spanish? That's no help at all, right? Yeah, but you have an interpreter, that's wonderful. Yeah, then we're going to be built up. The Church will benefit. And so verse 6, he builds on that.

1 Corinthians 14:6 He says, "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?"

And so here he's showing out the benefits of teaching and speaking and revealing things, right? Yeah, those are the kinds of things that we hear in sermons every week. Don't we have the opportunity to understand things at a deeper level? Things could be revealed to us that we didn't understand before. We're taught these different things. Sure, that's all involved in this aspect. But if I'm not speaking with that intent, if I'm just talking a language to show off and nobody understands it, what good is that? What good is that?

And it's interesting, you think the Apostle Paul was gifted in this way? Not sure if it was necessarily a spiritual gift or just a learned thing for him, but he spoke multiple languages. I'm sure he spoke Latin going through the empire. Certainly he would have spoke Greek as well, writing in Greek, would have spoke Aramaic being from that area of the world. Hebrew certainly would have been another one of his languages. So he was multilingual. And so it's interesting that, you know, Corinth would have recognized that. In fact, he's going to talk about that a little later as well. And here he is showing the value. You know, what good would it do to come to Corinth and speak in Aramaic when they don't understand that? No value, no value. And so he says in verse 7 then.

1 Corinthians 14:7 "Even things without life reflect this principle. You don't get it talking about language. He says, "Oh, let's talk about music for a minute." He says, "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?"

Yeah, we've all heard music that's not very musical, okay. Sometimes we call it special music. I think it's not special or music. Well, I don't want to necessarily go there. That's not fair. I know that's not fair, just trying to be humorous here. I don't know if you've seen some of these things on YouTube. My daughter played some for me the other day. There's some guy out there that plays a recorder. And in the background, he's playing some orchestrated thing. I think this one was playing the theme from "Pirates of the Caribbean." And he plays this recorder horribly over it, all out of tune. And there's a dog there that is going crazy because of this weird sound that's just awful. And I'm reminded, yeah, talking about making a distinction, oh, it's just awful. We've all heard things kind of like that. Now you're going to be googling recorder music on YouTube because it just grates you, no doubt. It's kind of like the fingernails on the chalkboard kind of thing. It's just terrible. And in a sense, that's what he's saying here. Yeah, if you don't make a distinctive sound, if you don't do it well, it's just going to grate on your nerves.

1 Corinthians 14:8-9 He says, "If a trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?" Yeah, that's referring to the shofar, right? Yeah, there won't be any preparation. And so he says, "Likewise, you, unless you utter by tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what's spoken? For you will be speaking into the air."

And that's the challenge. Are we really doing things to benefit others? This is another representation of what godly love, what agape is all about. Yeah, you want to hear things that are recognizable, are known, are helpful, are wonderful. And so, are you just talking into the air? Are you just all puffed up? Or are you really doing things to benefit others? Is it about you or is it about serving God and serving His people? That's what becomes most important. So we'll stop there for now and we'll pick it up with that thought next time in verse 10.