August 26, 2015

"Where there are tongues they will be stilled" I Corinthians 13:8 

This chapter is introduced as "the more excellent way". More excellent than what?

In short, it is more excellent than the church operating in the flesh.

Chapter 12 finds Paul introducing the concept of spiritual gifts and how they fit into the design of the church. Chapter 14 is instruction in the two most coveted gifts, prophecy and tongues. These gifts are desired because they are the most public and bring the most attention and praise to those possessing them.

The key word in spiritual gifts is the word "spiritual". Gifts are designed to operate in the Spirit of God which is the point of Chapter 13. When spiritual gifts operate in the fruit of the Spirit it brings the blessing of health to a church. But when gifts operate in the flesh they can create strife and division within a church.

So, that brings us to our theme of improper foundations for building a church. Preaching/prophecy can be a tricky foundation when the focus shifts from the preaching to the preacher. And without a sustained and intentional focus that will happen. When it happens it doesn't end well.

Likewise, a church built on a foundation speaking in tongues is not a long-term formula for success. Many churches are built around the doctrine of speaking in tongues. 

What is speaking in tongues?

That is the problem. There are differing ideas and attitudes about what this gift is and how it operates. Some say it is an ecstatic language for the purpose of praying and communing with God. They would call this a "prayer language" or "praying in the Spirit". Others say it is a language that promotes worship and some would say it aids in evangelism. Where there are differing opinions there is a high potential for strife and division.

Because of the confusion around the primary purpose of tongues there is high potential for a congregation to have disagreements. A healthy church enjoys unity but unity is hard to find when they are fundamental misunderstandings and disagreements surrounding their primary doctrine.

If you have been around the faith for awhile and have any familiarity with churches you probably have a story about a church that has split because of disagreements over the purpose and use of tongues. 

The doctrine of tongues and speaking in tongues have probably caused more church splits that any other religious doctrine. So, with this being true, why would we choose to build a church on this foundation of the gift of speaking in tongues? That doesn't seem like a formula for long-term success.

Over the years I have heard stories of churches that have been split over the controversy caused by division over tongues. Some of them have been Wesleyan Churches.

It is interesting to note that in comparing and contrasting spiritual gifts Paul ranks preaching/prophecy as a more useful gift to the Church than speaking in tongues. But he also has positive things to say about them both.

A healthy church needs strong biblical preaching and can benefit from those who properly use the gift of tongues. But using either as the foundation to build a church upon is a prescription for failure.

August 25, 2015

"But where there are prophecies they shall cease." I Corinthians 13:8

The word used for "prophecies" is more about forth-telling than it is about foretelling. In other words, it refers to preaching not predicting.

Many things in the church have changed over the generations but thankfully, preaching remains central in churches. The Word is the life-blood of any healthy church. Those who are fortunate enough to be called to preach the Word should devote themselves to prayer and study to assure they do it as well as they can.

It has been my great joy to preach and teach the Word for 44 years now. I would be thrilled to have another 44 years to do it!

I want to establish my high regard for preaching the Word before I move on in this article.

Now, for some context and perspective. The Corinthian church had one of the greatest preachers ever in the Apostle Paul but it was an extremely unhealthy church. They also had another dynamic preacher named Apollos!

So, as important as preaching is, building a church solely on the foundation of preaching is not the best way to build. I know that sounds contradictory so let me explain.

As evidenced in the Corinthian Church, preaching easily becomes intricately identified with the preacher and over time his persona and personality can steal the church's focus.

When that happens, the church begins to become unhealthy.

One church that comes to mind is the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. For forty years this church prospered in the shadow of Hollywood and Disneyland under the preaching and promotion skills of Dr. Robert Schuller. His engaging personality and positive self-help sermons were featured on a weekly television show "The Hour of Power!". Using the world-wide platform of television and a score of best-selling books He leveraged his popularity to build an amazing architectural marvel known as "The Crystal Cathedral".  

But, unfortunately, as age took a toll on his energy, his mental sharpness, and his judgment, he was unable to maintain the level of performance needed to sustain the momentum. For all his success he had failed to raise up a successor. The ministry went bankrupt and the building was purchased by the Catholic Diocese.

This story is a high profile example but by no means an isolated case. It serves as a sad reminder that while it is important to build a church around Biblical preaching the leadership should be very careful not to allow it to be built around the preacher.

Preachers can fail. Preachers come and go. Churches that build primarily around a preacher will ultimately fail. "Love never fails!"

August 24, 2015

"Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they shall be stilled; where there is knowledge it will pass away." I Corinthians 13:8

As I come to the end of this Summer sermon series on I Corinthians 13:8, I was given an unexpected but very valuable and practical insight into church health.

Remember that this letter was written to a church! The Church in Corinth was a very gifted church but also quite a carnal body of believers. As a result, we see a struggling strife-filled church. So, all of the advice and counsel offered by the Apostle Paul was in the context of bringing spiritual health to an unhealthy church.

For our purposes at FredWes I want to offer a justification for our ministry vision of "loving people to life".

I want you to notice four points of emphasis active in this church: love, preaching, speaking in tongues, and knowledge. As I noticed it and thought about it I came to the realization that many modern churches pick these same emphases to build their churches upon. Let me give you an example.

There are preaching (prophecy) based churches. 

Preaching the Word of God is a central priority and sacred responsibility of any church. It is one way we justify our existence. No church can be healthy unless it has solid Bible-based preaching presented with practical life applications.

BUT there are churches who build their vision around the preaching ministry of a certain preacher. The talent, the personality, and giftedness of that preacher become the driving force of that congregation. People invite their friends primarily to see and hear that preacher. Much of the church budget is directed around the purpose of promoting his preaching skills on TV or radio or building bigger buildings to accommodate more "fans" of their celebrity preacher. In this environment it is easy for the preacher to begin believing his own celebrity status. While this model has worked to create some large and influential churches, they often don't endure past the end of that pastor's tenure.

Speaking in unknown or ecstatic languages (tongues) is a central emphasis for some churches. Some Christians believe that speaking in these mystical languages is the evidence of having been filled with the Holy Spirit.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is the will of God for every believer but there is debate about whether the evidence of being Spirit-filled is manifested primarily through this gift of tongues or by the manifestation of spiritual fruit. (See Galatians 5:16-26).

Churches have been and are being built around the teaching of speaking in tongues. The manifestation of this gift becomes the central focus of their worship, their teaching, their preaching, their doctrines and their ministry emphasis. In many cases, these churches do not have happy endings just as, what happened in the Corinthians Church, this practice becomes a source of spiritual pride that becomes divisive. There are large churches that have been built around this emphasis but not many healthy ones.

Also, there are many churches built around "knowledge". What do I mean by that? What am I talking about? I am referring to churches that build around a big idea or a strategy borrowed from another successful church. They believe that imitating a successful model will guarantee such for their church. While some large and significant churches have been built  by essentially becoming "clones" of another church, it is very tempting to become so enamored or committed to implementing and sustaining the strategy they lose site of Biblical mandates for the Church.

While there can be no denying that growing and influential churches exist using each of these three visions, it is clear that the central truth of I Corinthians 13 is there's a better foundation upon which to build a church.

Do you  know what that is?

Is your church built on one of these three models?

August 23, 2015

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." Hebrews 11:1-3

To believe in creation requires faith. Accepting the evolutionary theory of origin also takes faith. Because faith is defined as "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see". Neither creationists or evolutionists have seen their "first cause" each is certain of its existence. Creationists put their faith in Scripture while evolutionists put their trust in science. Which do you think forms the best foundation?

Frank Crick is a Nobel-prize winning biologist who helped with the discovery of DNA. He is a man who has devoted his life to science and has invested great faith in it. Here is a quote from him relating to the origin of the universe, "An honest man, armed with all the knowledge available to us now, could only state that in some sense, the origin of life appears at the moment to almost be a miracle, so many are the conditions which would have to have been satisfied to get it going."

Science journalist and author, Charles Siefe observed, "It seems like a tremendous coincidence that the universe is suitable for life."

Coincidence? Miracle? Random chance occurance? What is the origin of our universe?

One thing is sure, the tolerance for error in the beginning of the universe was extremely slight. Astro-physicist, Lawrence Krause, for instance, wrote that if the force of gravity were changed by 0.0000000000000000000000000000000001%, both the planet Earth and the sun would be nonexistent.

Honest examination of the facts and the evidence and the mathematical probabilities strongly favor supernatural creation as the origin of our universe. But your final answer will come down to where you place your faith. And faith is based on what you hope to be true.

Evolutionists hope that God does not exist and that the universe spontaneously exploded into existence. Why would they not want God to be the Creator of the universe?

Again, I hearken by to my two main reasons offered previously:

1) They want to be in control of their own lives.

2) They want to sin without having any consequences.

If, as Scripture records, God is the Creator, then He is in control and we are accountable to Him. But, if the scientific theory of the "Big Bang" and evolution are correct, then their is no God and we are in charge.

That is the essence of sin. St. Paul expressed it this way:

"The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened." Romans 1:19-21

I would caution you against hoping God away from the creation process. If there is no God and if all that we see in our world and universe is an incredible coincidence, then where is our security? If it all came together via a random occurrence of matter and energy, what is to keep it from all coming apart? How can you have hope in the midst of that uncertainty? If we can only be certain of the moment in which we live then what is the purpose of living? If we are gods, what has our deity gained us?

If you are trusting in science, has science ever been wrong? Are you sure that you want to pin your hopes on something as inexact as science?

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for...." Be careful what you hope for.

August 22, 2015

"Love never fails....." I Corinthians 13:8

Nearly 30 years ago counselor Gary Chapman wrote a very insightful book entitled "The Five Languages of Love". I highly recommend this book!

The big idea expressed in the book is that not every one gives or receives love in the same way and identifies the five most common ways love is expressed or received. In order to feel loved by your significant other you must understand your love language and theirs.

I share that because if you are going to understand and experience God's unfailing love you must know His primary love language.

Do you know what it is?

His love language is obedience. In order to fully involve yourself in His unfailing love you must obey His command to be filled with His Holy Spirit.

“16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.  24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” Galatians 5:16-26

The only way to know His unfailing love and to show His unfailing love is to be filled with His Holy Spirit!

The only way to love with unfailing love is to be filled with the spiritual fruit of His love so He can love through you!

Love never fails!

God's love works every time it is tried!

Are you loving with unfailing love?

Have you learned God's love language?

Will you be filled with His Spirit?

August 21, 2015

"Love never fails." I Corinthians 13:8

Love never fails but life fails big time when you fail to avail yourself of His love!

You've probably discovered that by now.

To paraphrase Paul's words here I would say, "Love works every time it is tried." But you must know how it works!

Avail yourself of God's love when everything else seems to be failing. When someone you love fails in their love for you, remember His love never fails and believe it!

When something you have always trusted proves unworthy of your trust, don't forget that His love never fails and avail yourself of it.

Even when you fail in your love for God or for someone who trusted in you, still His love for you will never fail. Avail yourself of it!

God IS love so how could His love ever fail? Love is His nature! He would have to cease existing in order for His love to cease!

Love never fails unless you fail to avail yourself of it.

His love never fails when you choose to give grace when you get grief!

His love never fails when you choose to complete rather than compete!

His love never fails when you choose to behave like you believe!

His love never fails when you keep you love centered in the Savior!

His love never fails when you are confident His affection is your protection!

His love will never fail when you are confident in His character!

His love will never fail when you are led by your devotion not by your emotion.

Love never fails.

If  it seems that love has failed you it is because you have failed to avail yourself of it. But it doesn't fail so it's still available to you!

Love works every time it is tried!

Try it!

Then keeping trying!

August 20, 2015

"Love never fails" I Corinthians 13:8

What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?

Perhaps you have failed to think like that so that question hits you cold.

Think about it!

In this concluding verse of our Summer Bible Study the Apostle Paul is saying, "Love works every time it is tried!"

Doesn't that sound good?

But you may be thinking, "Brad, I have done loving things and they failed to get the results I expected."

Haven't we all done that? We reached out with a loving deed or gesture and received a rebuke or a rejection or perhaps were ignored. Love rebuffed is very hurtful.

So, how can it be true that love never fails?

For Pete's sake, God did the most loving thing ever when He sent His only Son into the world and His Son was murdered viciously on a cross.    

How can we reconcile that with the Scriptural claim that love never fails?    

The word used for "fails" in the original language was a word used in the theater and referred to a performance that did not get booed off the stage. Apparently in the ancient Greek plays you were a success if your acting didn't get boos from the audience. If you drew boos with your acting then you were judged a failure.

Talk about tough crowds!

If a professional actor gives the best performance he is capable of giving but someone didn't like it, does that mean he has failed?

How many times have you read the critical reviews of a movie or a play and found that several critics rate the performance highly while others didn't like it?

Remember, Paul is writing here to describe God's perfect "agape" (supernatural) love. How many times has His perfect love been rejected or rebuffed?

When God's love gets rejected does that make Him a failure? Does it mean His love has failed?

Hardly!

So, in the context of this Scripture it says this, "Love never gets booed off the stage". 

God is the final critic! He knows when your expression of love is sincere even if others do not.

For example, when you choose patience and kindness over envy, boastfulness or arrogance you have not failed to choose righteousness! Your love has not failed regardless of how it is received.

Loving is about righteousness not about results. 

Therefore, "Love never fails!"