WEBVTT 00:00:03.850 --> 00:00:05.870 Now would you take your Bible and turn with me, 00:00:05.889 --> 00:00:08.310 please, to the book that we've been studying 00:00:08.310 --> 00:00:10.990 now for several months. That is 1 Corinthians. 00:00:15.509 --> 00:00:19.010 Today we're going to look at the first few verses 00:00:19.010 --> 00:00:23.850 of chapter 14. We are coming to the conclusion 00:00:23.850 --> 00:00:29.769 of the book. We anticipate, though, taking a 00:00:29.769 --> 00:00:32.329 break after chapter 14 so that we can speak about 00:00:32.329 --> 00:00:36.670 some of the... the reasons for the season that 00:00:36.670 --> 00:00:40.570 we are observing together. We will finish Chapter 00:00:40.570 --> 00:00:43.590 14, the Lord willing, today and next week. Today, 00:00:43.710 --> 00:00:47.469 the first 12 verses of this chapter will be our 00:00:47.469 --> 00:00:49.909 text. Will you follow along, please, in your 00:00:49.909 --> 00:00:52.729 copy of God's Word as I read from mine, which 00:00:52.729 --> 00:00:56.450 is the New International Version? Follow the 00:00:56.450 --> 00:01:00.729 way of love and eagerly desire spiritual gifts, 00:01:00.810 --> 00:01:04.680 especially... the gift of prophecy. For anyone 00:01:04.680 --> 00:01:08.599 who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men 00:01:08.599 --> 00:01:12.920 but to God. Indeed, no one understands him. He 00:01:12.920 --> 00:01:16.620 utters mysteries with his spirit. But everyone 00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:20.420 who prophesies speaks to men for their strengthening, 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:24.939 encouragement, and comfort. He who speaks in 00:01:24.939 --> 00:01:28.939 a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies 00:01:28.939 --> 00:01:32.599 edifies the church. I would like every one of 00:01:32.599 --> 00:01:35.680 you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:39.140 you prophesy. He who prophesies is greater than 00:01:39.140 --> 00:01:42.120 he who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, 00:01:42.200 --> 00:01:46.060 so that the church may be edified. Now, brothers, 00:01:46.219 --> 00:01:49.019 if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good 00:01:49.019 --> 00:01:52.340 will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation 00:01:52.340 --> 00:01:55.159 or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction, 00:01:55.420 --> 00:01:59.180 even in the case of lifeless things that make 00:01:59.180 --> 00:02:03.700 sounds? such as a flute or harp, how will anyone 00:02:03.700 --> 00:02:06.819 know what tune is being played unless there is 00:02:06.819 --> 00:02:10.479 a distinction in the notes? Again, if the trumpet 00:02:10.479 --> 00:02:13.759 does not sound a clear call, who will get ready 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:18.080 for battle? So it is with you. Unless you speak 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:21.360 intelligible words with your tongue, how will 00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:24.500 anyone know what you are saying? You will just 00:02:24.500 --> 00:02:27.479 be speaking into the air. Undoubtedly, there 00:02:27.479 --> 00:02:30.719 are all sorts of languages in the world. yet 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:34.840 none of them is without meaning. If then I do 00:02:34.840 --> 00:02:37.699 not grasp the meaning of what someone is saying, 00:02:37.860 --> 00:02:41.580 I am a foreigner to the speaker, and he is a 00:02:41.580 --> 00:02:46.180 foreigner to me. So it is with you. Since you 00:02:46.180 --> 00:02:50.020 are eager to have spiritual gifts, try to excel 00:02:50.020 --> 00:02:56.560 in gifts that build up the church. It is a fact. 00:02:57.770 --> 00:03:01.449 that all of us live according to a set of priorities. 00:03:03.069 --> 00:03:06.310 And so the important thing is that our priorities 00:03:06.310 --> 00:03:12.210 be right ones. Right priorities honor God, and 00:03:12.210 --> 00:03:17.150 God honors right priorities. A number of years 00:03:17.150 --> 00:03:21.030 ago, a man named George Hatch raised a large 00:03:21.030 --> 00:03:23.409 family. You might say he hatched them, I suppose. 00:03:24.360 --> 00:03:27.479 of seven boys and five girls in the sand hills 00:03:27.479 --> 00:03:31.439 of northwestern Nebraska. One Sunday morning, 00:03:31.500 --> 00:03:34.340 a neighbor rushed over to help the Hatches get 00:03:34.340 --> 00:03:38.699 the new mown hay into the barn. There was a storm 00:03:38.699 --> 00:03:42.400 coming in the west. Let's get your hay up before 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:46.300 the storm hits, exclaimed the neighbor. Thank 00:03:46.300 --> 00:03:48.460 you for your kind offer, said Mr. Hatch, but 00:03:48.460 --> 00:03:52.039 this is Sunday, and I am going to take my family 00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:55.270 to church. But you'll lose your hay, pleaded 00:03:55.270 --> 00:04:00.030 the neighbor. Yet, George Hatch went to church 00:04:00.030 --> 00:04:03.530 with his family, and the rainstorm did spoil 00:04:03.530 --> 00:04:07.129 the hay. Later, the neighbor saw him and said, 00:04:07.889 --> 00:04:10.490 You see, I told you that you would lose your 00:04:10.490 --> 00:04:16.370 hay. Yes, replied Mr. Hatch, I lost my hay, but 00:04:16.370 --> 00:04:21.009 I saved my family. As a result of the right priorities 00:04:21.009 --> 00:04:24.370 of George Hatch, Still today, in the third and 00:04:24.370 --> 00:04:28.410 fourth generations, he has grandchildren and 00:04:28.410 --> 00:04:31.110 great -grandchildren who are involved in full 00:04:31.110 --> 00:04:34.089 -time service for the glory of Jesus Christ. 00:04:35.370 --> 00:04:39.850 Right priorities honor God, and God honors right 00:04:39.850 --> 00:04:44.110 priorities. The problem with the church at Corinth 00:04:44.110 --> 00:04:47.529 was that they had their priorities. They had 00:04:47.529 --> 00:04:52.029 wrong priorities. For they were emphasizing what 00:04:52.029 --> 00:04:58.550 is the least of the gifts and were de -emphasizing 00:04:58.550 --> 00:05:01.750 the most important of the gifts, as Paul saw 00:05:01.750 --> 00:05:05.050 it. That is what he says in the text that is 00:05:05.050 --> 00:05:08.230 before us today. He wants them to understand 00:05:08.230 --> 00:05:10.990 that as a church, they need to establish right 00:05:10.990 --> 00:05:15.589 priorities in their ministry. Their priorities 00:05:15.589 --> 00:05:20.519 were wrong. Emphasizing tongues, they lost sight 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:24.620 of the importance of the gift of prophecy. They 00:05:24.620 --> 00:05:27.699 made the mistake of seeking after those things 00:05:27.699 --> 00:05:31.839 that were sensational and overtly supernatural 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:37.259 and not emphasizing those things that were not 00:05:37.259 --> 00:05:43.259 that way. The apostle points out three priorities 00:05:43.259 --> 00:05:46.319 that they should have as a church. And may I 00:05:46.319 --> 00:05:48.759 say to you that these are three priorities that 00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:51.199 we must have as a church if we are going to be 00:05:51.199 --> 00:05:54.439 in the will of God. And there are three priorities 00:05:54.439 --> 00:05:57.759 that we need to have individually because we 00:05:57.759 --> 00:06:02.560 are the church. The first priority is the priority 00:06:02.560 --> 00:06:05.939 of love. You see that in the first part of verse 00:06:05.939 --> 00:06:10.860 1. Priority number two, not necessarily in that 00:06:10.860 --> 00:06:12.939 order, but as we're taking them and as they are 00:06:12.939 --> 00:06:18.009 in the text. is the priority of prophecy. He 00:06:18.009 --> 00:06:21.949 says, desire, eagerly desire spiritual gifts, 00:06:22.129 --> 00:06:27.870 especially the gift of prophecy. Now, in a general 00:06:27.870 --> 00:06:32.949 sense, what that means is preaching. The second 00:06:32.949 --> 00:06:35.970 priority he mentions is the priority of the preaching 00:06:35.970 --> 00:06:40.649 of the word of God. And then priority number 00:06:40.649 --> 00:06:43.639 three is found beginning in verse three. and 00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:45.579 on down through the rest of our text, it is the 00:06:45.579 --> 00:06:49.319 priority of the edification of the church, the 00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:52.300 building up of the church. Now let's look at 00:06:52.300 --> 00:06:55.060 those three priorities that God in his word sets 00:06:55.060 --> 00:07:00.279 before us as a local body of people. Priority 00:07:00.279 --> 00:07:04.600 number one is the priority of love. May I remind 00:07:04.600 --> 00:07:08.759 you that this is not mere human affection. This 00:07:08.759 --> 00:07:14.750 is agape. This is God's love. It is the love 00:07:14.750 --> 00:07:18.310 that sacrifices for the object of its compassion, 00:07:18.389 --> 00:07:22.189 even though that object, that person, may not 00:07:22.189 --> 00:07:26.790 respond positively. It is a love that costs something 00:07:26.790 --> 00:07:30.970 to give. It's the kind of love that God showed 00:07:30.970 --> 00:07:34.610 to us in the sending of His Son 2 ,000 years 00:07:34.610 --> 00:07:38.769 ago. When I think of Bethlehem and all of the 00:07:38.769 --> 00:07:42.649 narrative of the Christmas story, I get kind 00:07:42.649 --> 00:07:45.629 of sentimental. Are you that way? I really enjoy 00:07:45.629 --> 00:07:49.209 Christmas. I get a lot out of it. I enjoy thinking 00:07:49.209 --> 00:07:51.629 about the shepherds and the wise men and the 00:07:51.629 --> 00:07:54.370 stable scene and all that's involved with it. 00:07:55.069 --> 00:07:58.910 It's a sentimental thing. Far beyond that is 00:07:58.910 --> 00:08:03.110 something that is inherent in it, and that is 00:08:03.110 --> 00:08:08.180 it is a picture of the love of God. For it is 00:08:08.180 --> 00:08:13.800 God the Son coming into human history, incarnating 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:17.339 himself in perfect human flesh and with a perfect 00:08:17.339 --> 00:08:20.759 human nature so that he could be our sin bearer. 00:08:21.600 --> 00:08:26.399 What a marvelous thing that is. Folks, that is 00:08:26.399 --> 00:08:29.120 the same kind of love that God wants us to express 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:32.100 for others. That night there was no room for 00:08:32.100 --> 00:08:36.649 him in the end. It says he came to his own. things, 00:08:36.669 --> 00:08:39.669 and his own people received him not. They rejected 00:08:39.669 --> 00:08:43.549 him. His love was not received, but it was expressed. 00:08:43.669 --> 00:08:47.210 It was given. The deed of salvation was accomplished 00:08:47.210 --> 00:08:52.070 on the cross for all who receive it. And so it 00:08:52.070 --> 00:08:55.110 is with our love. As we express it to others, 00:08:55.389 --> 00:08:58.169 it makes no difference if they receive it or 00:08:58.169 --> 00:09:01.330 reject it. The important thing is that we express 00:09:01.330 --> 00:09:04.330 the love of God. And that's why he says that 00:09:04.330 --> 00:09:08.529 we are to follow the way of love. This kind of 00:09:08.529 --> 00:09:13.669 love is the love that gives unselfishly. It is 00:09:13.669 --> 00:09:18.169 the kind of love which when rebuked will simply 00:09:18.169 --> 00:09:22.389 give a quiet response and not an angry retort. 00:09:23.289 --> 00:09:27.529 It's the kind of love that suffers long with 00:09:27.529 --> 00:09:30.990 some particular burden. It's the kind of love 00:09:30.990 --> 00:09:34.700 that has no place for the skeptical suspicious 00:09:34.700 --> 00:09:38.940 spirit, or for the critical, gossiping tongue. 00:09:39.740 --> 00:09:43.120 It is the kind of love that rejoices when truth 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:48.980 and right prevail and is grieved when iniquity 00:09:48.980 --> 00:09:54.000 prevails. We are to follow after this kind of 00:09:54.000 --> 00:09:57.320 love. That means to pursue it with persistence. 00:09:57.940 --> 00:10:02.549 And it means to never stop pursuing it. to continually 00:10:02.549 --> 00:10:09.009 follow after this kind of love. Last week, at 00:10:09.009 --> 00:10:11.769 the conclusion of the message, I encouraged you 00:10:11.769 --> 00:10:17.470 to think of at least one person whom God could 00:10:17.470 --> 00:10:21.909 love through you these last seven days. It would 00:10:21.909 --> 00:10:24.129 sure be interesting this morning to take the 00:10:24.129 --> 00:10:27.950 time to have some of you share how God answered 00:10:27.950 --> 00:10:31.919 that prayer. and some of the ways in which God's 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:36.519 love is expressed to others. I also know something 00:10:36.519 --> 00:10:40.740 else about some of us this last week, and that 00:10:40.740 --> 00:10:44.340 is that we fail to express the love of God all 00:10:44.340 --> 00:10:48.059 the time. Now, how do I know that? Well, I wasn't 00:10:48.059 --> 00:10:51.860 following you around. I don't have spies, angel 00:10:51.860 --> 00:10:55.120 spies, that tell me what you're doing. I know 00:10:55.120 --> 00:11:00.730 you failed because I failed. and I failed and 00:11:00.730 --> 00:11:04.830 you failed for the same reason, we still have 00:11:04.830 --> 00:11:09.090 sin that affects us. There are times when you 00:11:09.090 --> 00:11:12.370 and I fall completely short of expressing God's 00:11:12.370 --> 00:11:15.330 kind of love. There are times when we are impatient 00:11:15.330 --> 00:11:17.690 and we do not suffer long. There are times when 00:11:17.690 --> 00:11:21.309 we are critical, when we should have been quiet. 00:11:23.090 --> 00:11:26.610 We have not perfectly followed after love, but 00:11:26.610 --> 00:11:29.440 let me share something with you. That is not 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:32.259 as important as the fact that you nonetheless 00:11:32.259 --> 00:11:37.460 continue to pursue love. When he says follow 00:11:37.460 --> 00:11:40.679 after love, the thought in mind is to set love 00:11:40.679 --> 00:11:45.399 out there as your goal. Like an athlete who gets 00:11:45.399 --> 00:11:47.779 onto the course and he sees the goal line down 00:11:47.779 --> 00:11:51.279 there. Despite any pain or obstacles, he makes 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:54.919 for that goal line. He expends his energy to 00:11:54.919 --> 00:11:59.440 get there. What the apostle is saying, in essence 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:01.500 here, is to set love out there as your goal. 00:12:01.580 --> 00:12:07.840 Perfect, God -like, agape. And even though you 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:11.179 may fall as you head toward that goal, that is, 00:12:11.220 --> 00:12:15.240 you may sin. Confess your sin, claim God's forgiveness, 00:12:15.419 --> 00:12:19.139 get up and go on. Never stop pursuing love as 00:12:19.139 --> 00:12:22.440 your goal. Though you fail once or you fail a 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:25.000 hundred times, it makes no difference. Get up 00:12:25.000 --> 00:12:28.259 and go on. There are some of us that like to 00:12:28.259 --> 00:12:31.600 grovel just a little bit in our defeats. It might 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:34.879 even be a little bit of self -pity, and we tend 00:12:34.879 --> 00:12:37.399 to roll around in that and feel sorry for ourselves, 00:12:37.740 --> 00:12:41.700 shameful. We ought, when we know we've failed, 00:12:41.799 --> 00:12:45.539 to immediately confess the sin involved, to make 00:12:45.539 --> 00:12:47.720 it right with others if that's necessary, and 00:12:47.720 --> 00:12:55.580 then go on and pursue love. Never give up. Following 00:12:55.580 --> 00:12:59.240 after love. Even if that other person at the 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:02.860 office resists your kindness, be kind anyway. 00:13:04.220 --> 00:13:08.899 Even if your roommate will not respond to your 00:13:08.899 --> 00:13:12.799 patience by being patient back to you, nonetheless, 00:13:13.019 --> 00:13:19.340 be patient. Love doesn't give up. It goes on 00:13:19.340 --> 00:13:24.470 and pursues at every church. And every Christian 00:13:24.470 --> 00:13:27.429 needs this kind of love. You see, in every church, 00:13:27.509 --> 00:13:33.129 there are 110 ,000 reasons why we might be hurt 00:13:33.129 --> 00:13:36.929 or why we might criticize or why we might be 00:13:36.929 --> 00:13:40.110 offended. Do you know why that is? Because we're 00:13:40.110 --> 00:13:44.669 all still sinners. Redeemed sinners. Hopefully, 00:13:44.789 --> 00:13:47.970 if we've trusted Jesus Christ, we are. But we 00:13:47.970 --> 00:13:51.350 still have sin, and we still make mistakes, and 00:13:51.350 --> 00:13:55.279 we do stupid things. That's why it's so important 00:13:55.279 --> 00:14:01.879 that every church set as its priority love. It's 00:14:01.879 --> 00:14:05.340 true in your small church that you attend. It's 00:14:05.340 --> 00:14:08.960 true in your growth group. You need to set love 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:13.240 as a goal for each of you and pursue it with 00:14:13.240 --> 00:14:16.960 diligence and not give up. You need to set love 00:14:16.960 --> 00:14:21.700 as a goal in your family. Even though your husband 00:14:21.700 --> 00:14:27.639 may be cantankerous and mean and bitter toward 00:14:27.639 --> 00:14:33.279 you, love him back. Even though your wife may 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:37.240 reject your faith and turn her back on you, love 00:14:37.240 --> 00:14:42.379 her. Love does not excuse sin. Now, don't misunderstand 00:14:42.379 --> 00:14:47.240 that. Love does not gloss over sin and say, well, 00:14:47.360 --> 00:14:52.440 I'll just ignore that. God doesn't do that. What 00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:56.980 does love do? Love deals with sin. It's honest 00:14:56.980 --> 00:15:02.320 with it. It faces it head on. And it does it 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:10.480 with kindness, patience, and persistence. Who 00:15:10.480 --> 00:15:14.980 can you love today? It may be that there are 00:15:14.980 --> 00:15:16.600 some husbands and wives here who need to kiss 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:21.090 and make up after church. There may be some kids 00:15:21.090 --> 00:15:23.730 who need to be talked to on the way home from 00:15:23.730 --> 00:15:26.529 church, and mom and dad may need to say, kids, 00:15:26.730 --> 00:15:29.350 we lost our cool before we got to church today, 00:15:29.470 --> 00:15:33.549 and mom and I are sorry. We want you to forgive 00:15:33.549 --> 00:15:35.870 us. We weren't loving you the way we ought to 00:15:35.870 --> 00:15:37.929 love you. There may be some kids who need to 00:15:37.929 --> 00:15:43.149 say, folks, I was primping too long in the bathroom, 00:15:43.309 --> 00:15:46.269 and I'm sorry I made us late today. I want you 00:15:46.269 --> 00:15:48.169 to forgive me for doing that. You know what that 00:15:48.169 --> 00:15:51.860 is? That's love in action. And that's setting 00:15:51.860 --> 00:15:55.440 love as a priority. Brothers, let us not love 00:15:55.440 --> 00:16:00.740 in word only, but in deed and in truth. Speaking 00:16:00.740 --> 00:16:05.740 the truth one to another in love. I remind you 00:16:05.740 --> 00:16:08.000 that Jesus said, By this shall all men know you 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:13.399 are my disciples, if you have, what? Love one 00:16:13.399 --> 00:16:18.179 for another. Not if you tithe. Not if you go 00:16:18.179 --> 00:16:23.419 to church on Wednesday night. Not if you're a 00:16:23.419 --> 00:16:30.799 good guy. Not if you excel in your work. But 00:16:30.799 --> 00:16:33.440 if you have love one for another. That is the 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:36.080 mark of Christlikeness. I'm not against those 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:40.460 other things. But the point is, the mark of being 00:16:40.460 --> 00:16:45.129 like Jesus is loving. Priority number one. And 00:16:45.129 --> 00:16:47.769 then priority number two, as Paul expresses in 00:16:47.769 --> 00:16:52.250 our text, is the priority of prophecy. He says 00:16:52.250 --> 00:16:55.429 you'd eagerly desire spiritual gifts. Now he 00:16:55.429 --> 00:16:58.529 says especially desire the gift of prophecy. 00:16:59.169 --> 00:17:01.490 Now the gift of prophecy in that early church 00:17:01.490 --> 00:17:05.130 was the uttering of words received directly from 00:17:05.130 --> 00:17:09.650 God. They had no New Testament to go to for direction 00:17:09.650 --> 00:17:12.559 and instruction, and therefore... until the New 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:15.019 Testament was completed, there were prophets 00:17:15.019 --> 00:17:18.279 in the church, those who had that office. And 00:17:18.279 --> 00:17:21.759 their responsibility was to speak a word from 00:17:21.759 --> 00:17:24.759 God directly to the point of whatever the issue 00:17:24.759 --> 00:17:28.400 was. That was inspired preaching in the literal 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:32.279 sense. It was a word directly received from God. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:37.440 There's no preaching like that today, quite like 00:17:37.440 --> 00:17:41.009 that. Because the prophets and the apostles were 00:17:41.009 --> 00:17:43.970 part of the foundation of the church. And we're 00:17:43.970 --> 00:17:46.170 far beyond the foundation now. We're up on a 00:17:46.170 --> 00:17:49.190 steeple somewhere, I think. They were part of 00:17:49.190 --> 00:17:51.569 the foundation of the church. We have the New 00:17:51.569 --> 00:17:54.390 Testament now before us. It gives us instruction 00:17:54.390 --> 00:17:58.210 and direction. And so prophecy, the gift of prophecy 00:17:58.210 --> 00:18:02.349 today, in a more general sense, is the ability 00:18:02.349 --> 00:18:08.109 to see a situation or an issue. to be burdened 00:18:08.109 --> 00:18:10.809 about it, and then to go to God's Word and find 00:18:10.809 --> 00:18:12.950 out what God's Word says and deliver the message 00:18:12.950 --> 00:18:20.329 with power and with force and to the point. I 00:18:20.329 --> 00:18:23.190 think we can legitimately say in a general sense 00:18:23.190 --> 00:18:26.630 that prophecy is the preaching of God's Word 00:18:26.630 --> 00:18:29.730 today. And what the apostle is really saying 00:18:29.730 --> 00:18:33.130 here is give priority in your church to the preaching 00:18:33.130 --> 00:18:39.720 of God's Word. That's a priority, frankly, that 00:18:39.720 --> 00:18:43.059 we have here at Grace Church, the preaching of 00:18:43.059 --> 00:18:46.599 God's Word. Not just here in our worship services, 00:18:46.759 --> 00:18:51.299 but in our small churches and in our growth groups. 00:18:51.539 --> 00:18:54.140 It is the preaching of the Word of God that we 00:18:54.140 --> 00:18:58.880 want to emphasize. That is so important. I know 00:18:58.880 --> 00:19:03.079 many of you share that priority with us. Let 00:19:03.079 --> 00:19:05.599 me explain something else. The preaching of God's 00:19:05.599 --> 00:19:08.160 word is not always done by me standing here like 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:11.539 this talking to you. Sometimes the preaching 00:19:11.539 --> 00:19:13.980 of God's word is done through a soloist who gets 00:19:13.980 --> 00:19:19.339 up to sing. Sometimes the proclamation of God's 00:19:19.339 --> 00:19:23.079 word comes through the choir back here as they 00:19:23.079 --> 00:19:31.380 sing the word of God. It's not so much the emphasis 00:19:31.380 --> 00:19:33.660 upon the person who's doing it that's in view 00:19:33.660 --> 00:19:37.140 here as it is what is being done. The proclamation, 00:19:37.420 --> 00:19:42.140 the preaching of the Word of God. And especially 00:19:42.140 --> 00:19:44.240 there's an emphasis on the last part of that, 00:19:44.339 --> 00:19:47.740 the preaching of the Bible. That's what people 00:19:47.740 --> 00:19:50.420 are hungry for, I'm convinced. That's what I'm 00:19:50.420 --> 00:19:53.400 hungry for when I go to hear preaching. I want 00:19:53.400 --> 00:19:56.319 to hear the Word of God. When I hear singing, 00:19:56.829 --> 00:19:59.250 I want to hear singing that honors the Word of 00:19:59.250 --> 00:20:02.269 God, that is consistent with what the Word of 00:20:02.269 --> 00:20:06.069 God says. It edifies, it builds me up, and we'll 00:20:06.069 --> 00:20:08.509 talk about that in a moment. That's our third 00:20:08.509 --> 00:20:12.609 priority. The priority of preaching the Word 00:20:12.609 --> 00:20:16.390 of God. I know a preacher who literally preached 00:20:16.390 --> 00:20:21.250 a series of messages on the cartoon character 00:20:21.250 --> 00:20:25.859 of Peanuts and Charlie Brown. I suppose that's 00:20:25.859 --> 00:20:27.599 what he spent his time studying. I don't know. 00:20:28.759 --> 00:20:31.920 But I do know this. When you preach peanuts, 00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:36.599 that's what you produce, is peanuts. When you 00:20:36.599 --> 00:20:39.420 preach the Word of God, you produce Christians. 00:20:40.640 --> 00:20:44.680 And that's why we emphasize priority number two, 00:20:44.779 --> 00:20:47.519 the preaching of the Word of God. There's no 00:20:47.519 --> 00:20:52.549 substitute for it. None at all. And then there's 00:20:52.549 --> 00:20:54.589 a third priority that we see in our text. It 00:20:54.589 --> 00:20:58.289 is the priority of edification. I don't want 00:20:58.289 --> 00:21:03.430 the word edification to scare you. The word means 00:21:03.430 --> 00:21:08.029 to build a house. It's where we get our word 00:21:08.029 --> 00:21:16.049 edifice. To edify means to build up another person, 00:21:16.170 --> 00:21:22.450 to strengthen another person. The third priority 00:21:22.450 --> 00:21:25.529 in the ministry of a church should be the building 00:21:25.529 --> 00:21:30.329 up of its members, the strengthening of its members. 00:21:31.130 --> 00:21:33.809 It is a sad thing that there are some churches 00:21:33.809 --> 00:21:37.490 that one can go to and one goes away feeling 00:21:37.490 --> 00:21:40.470 worse than when he went to church. There's been 00:21:40.470 --> 00:21:43.690 no strengthening, no encouragement, no comfort. 00:21:44.390 --> 00:21:46.950 And I want you to notice that that's why he says, 00:21:47.470 --> 00:21:50.130 that we ought to emphasize the preaching of God's 00:21:50.130 --> 00:21:52.809 Word so that there might be strengthening, notice 00:21:52.809 --> 00:21:57.130 that in verse 3, and encouragement and comfort. 00:21:58.029 --> 00:22:01.130 The word strengthening, as it is in the NIV, 00:22:01.210 --> 00:22:04.150 or edification, as it is in the King James Version, 00:22:04.250 --> 00:22:08.109 is this word we're talking about. Through the 00:22:08.109 --> 00:22:11.809 ministry of God's Word, people are built up spiritually. 00:22:16.460 --> 00:22:18.420 I believe that we see that illustrated in what 00:22:18.420 --> 00:22:20.279 happened in the early church in Acts chapter 00:22:20.279 --> 00:22:24.420 6. After that explosion of the church, after 00:22:24.420 --> 00:22:29.099 the day of Pentecost, the administration of some 00:22:29.099 --> 00:22:31.640 of the ministries got to be a burden to the apostles. 00:22:32.579 --> 00:22:37.299 And therefore, by God's direction, they selected 00:22:37.299 --> 00:22:40.940 some men who would serve to care for those kinds 00:22:40.940 --> 00:22:44.539 of tasks. The administration of the ministry. 00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:47.880 So that they, the apostle, could give themselves 00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:52.539 to what? The word of God and prayer. Remember 00:22:52.539 --> 00:22:55.759 that? It wasn't that they were above doing the 00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:57.819 other things, but it was that in their ministry, 00:22:57.880 --> 00:23:00.279 their priority was the preaching of God's word 00:23:00.279 --> 00:23:04.460 and prayer. I look upon prayer and the word of 00:23:04.460 --> 00:23:07.000 God as the brick and the mortar of the building 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:13.440 up of a church. You do not build a church through 00:23:13.440 --> 00:23:19.039 hamburgers, and balloons and buses. You don't 00:23:19.039 --> 00:23:22.319 build a church by inviting in sensational superstars 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:27.859 in the Christian world and featuring them. It's 00:23:27.859 --> 00:23:30.079 possible to build a crowd that way, but to build 00:23:30.079 --> 00:23:33.400 a church is something entirely different. The 00:23:33.400 --> 00:23:37.660 building up of the church comes through the ministry 00:23:37.660 --> 00:23:41.099 of the Word of God and prayer. The Word of God 00:23:41.099 --> 00:23:44.170 being the brick. Prayer being the mortar that 00:23:44.170 --> 00:23:47.230 sets the brick in place, and brick after brick, 00:23:47.750 --> 00:23:51.589 tier after tier, the church goes on and is built 00:23:51.589 --> 00:23:58.109 that way. The body is edified that way. Now the 00:23:58.109 --> 00:24:00.569 specific problem in Corinth was that they were 00:24:00.569 --> 00:24:03.450 emphasizing tongues, one of the sensational gifts. 00:24:04.029 --> 00:24:06.630 Paul makes it clear in our text that tongues 00:24:06.630 --> 00:24:11.470 do not edify. Now, I would like to say this about 00:24:11.470 --> 00:24:13.710 the gift of tongues, and that day it was a legitimate 00:24:13.710 --> 00:24:18.369 gift for them. And it seems clear from the New 00:24:18.369 --> 00:24:22.589 Testament record that the gift of tongues was 00:24:22.589 --> 00:24:26.250 the ability to speak a foreign language that 00:24:26.250 --> 00:24:30.190 had not been previously studied. You would go 00:24:30.190 --> 00:24:32.529 to church, a person would stand up and speak 00:24:32.529 --> 00:24:36.269 in some dialect or some language, and then another 00:24:36.269 --> 00:24:38.190 would stand up and interpret what that individual 00:24:38.190 --> 00:24:41.509 said. Now there was a reason that gift was given 00:24:41.509 --> 00:24:43.430 when it was. We'll talk about that next week. 00:24:43.609 --> 00:24:45.630 But that's what the gift of tongues was in the 00:24:45.630 --> 00:24:51.970 early church. It was not the speaking of monosyllabic 00:24:51.970 --> 00:24:55.670 words or, if I may use the word in a kind sense, 00:24:55.910 --> 00:25:00.710 gibberish. But it was the speaking of a language 00:25:00.710 --> 00:25:03.970 that had not been studied. And it was important 00:25:03.970 --> 00:25:08.380 for the church that that be... interpreted so 00:25:08.380 --> 00:25:11.359 that the whole church could be edified. The individual 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:14.500 who spoke would be edified because he would sense 00:25:14.500 --> 00:25:17.819 himself being used by God, but unless what he 00:25:17.819 --> 00:25:21.500 said was translated or interpreted, the whole 00:25:21.500 --> 00:25:24.180 church couldn't be edified. Imagine going to 00:25:24.180 --> 00:25:26.119 church as someone getting up in a language that 00:25:26.119 --> 00:25:29.059 you did not know and speaking. You might marvel 00:25:29.059 --> 00:25:31.920 at the gift that was being expressed, but as 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:33.619 far as being edified, there would be none of 00:25:33.619 --> 00:25:36.180 that for you. unless it was interpreted, and 00:25:36.180 --> 00:25:39.319 that's what Paul says. He says, in essence, tongues 00:25:39.319 --> 00:25:44.160 do not edify you. In fact, he says in verse 11 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:47.160 that tongues made the members of the body foreigners 00:25:47.160 --> 00:25:52.660 to one another if they weren't interpreted. The 00:25:52.660 --> 00:25:54.319 word foreigner is kind of interesting. It means 00:25:54.319 --> 00:25:57.920 barbarian. Strangers, I think it is, in the King 00:25:57.920 --> 00:26:01.240 James, is barbarians. You become barbarians one 00:26:01.240 --> 00:26:05.329 to another. The etymology of that word is interesting. 00:26:06.029 --> 00:26:10.210 There was a time in Greece when if you went to 00:26:10.210 --> 00:26:12.950 Athens, you did not speak any language but the 00:26:12.950 --> 00:26:16.750 Greek language. If you spoke another language, 00:26:16.829 --> 00:26:24.009 you were outcast in the city. It made you a barbarian. 00:26:24.109 --> 00:26:26.490 They originated that word at that time. They 00:26:26.490 --> 00:26:29.190 mocked the people who spoke something else besides 00:26:29.190 --> 00:26:32.319 Greek. by saying, oh, they just talk like bar, 00:26:32.440 --> 00:26:36.799 bar, bar, bar, bar. And that word became barbarian, 00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:40.259 and that's the word Paul uses here. He said, 00:26:40.279 --> 00:26:42.200 when you come together, and there are those who 00:26:42.200 --> 00:26:46.299 speak in tongues, and the gift is abused like 00:26:46.299 --> 00:26:48.839 you're doing it, you are strangers to one another. 00:26:49.000 --> 00:26:51.940 The church isn't edified, it's not united, it's 00:26:51.940 --> 00:26:56.220 divided. And so he says, emphasize the preaching 00:26:56.220 --> 00:27:00.099 of the word. because it results in edification 00:27:00.099 --> 00:27:04.319 of the body. I want you to notice a couple of 00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:06.480 other words he uses that are important. In verse 00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:10.420 3, everyone who prophesies speaks to men for 00:27:10.420 --> 00:27:12.839 their strengthening, that's our word, edification, 00:27:13.259 --> 00:27:19.339 encouragement, and comfort. The preaching of 00:27:19.339 --> 00:27:24.059 the word does all three things. It strengthens 00:27:24.059 --> 00:27:27.720 individuals. It builds them up. We've talked 00:27:27.720 --> 00:27:33.480 about that. And then it encourages people. The 00:27:33.480 --> 00:27:37.059 word here is parakaleo. It comes from paraclete. 00:27:37.079 --> 00:27:39.880 Remember Jesus said after he would go away, he 00:27:39.880 --> 00:27:42.680 would send the comforter to be with him. That's 00:27:42.680 --> 00:27:44.700 the word paraclete. It means one who is called 00:27:44.700 --> 00:27:49.039 alongside to be a helper. He said, I will send 00:27:49.039 --> 00:27:51.380 the Holy Spirit and he will come alongside you 00:27:51.380 --> 00:27:56.789 and be your assistant, your enabler. Paul says 00:27:56.789 --> 00:27:59.769 that when the Word of God is preached, the result 00:27:59.769 --> 00:28:02.970 is that it enables us in the Christian life. 00:28:04.509 --> 00:28:09.529 It helps us go on. It helps us carry our burdens. 00:28:11.710 --> 00:28:14.430 Let's face it. There's not a person here today 00:28:14.430 --> 00:28:18.230 who's not bearing some kind of a burden. Every 00:28:18.230 --> 00:28:22.190 person you meet every day of the year is bearing 00:28:22.190 --> 00:28:26.410 some kind of a burden. If we were to take time 00:28:26.410 --> 00:28:28.329 this morning and allow some of the people right 00:28:28.329 --> 00:28:31.109 here in this congregation at this moment to express 00:28:31.109 --> 00:28:35.089 the burdens on their hearts, there would be a 00:28:35.089 --> 00:28:38.289 lot of us in tears with some of the problems 00:28:38.289 --> 00:28:41.390 and the heartaches that people right in this 00:28:41.390 --> 00:28:47.670 room at this moment are experiencing. One of 00:28:47.670 --> 00:28:50.710 the great things about preaching the Bible is 00:28:50.710 --> 00:28:56.240 that it results in us being encouraged. We get 00:28:56.240 --> 00:29:03.299 strength through it. It is an unhappy thing when 00:29:03.299 --> 00:29:06.279 one goes to a church where the Word of God is 00:29:06.279 --> 00:29:10.059 not preached and goes away feeling drained and 00:29:10.059 --> 00:29:14.640 empty as though he received nothing. I hope in 00:29:14.640 --> 00:29:16.619 coming to Grace Church that never happens to 00:29:16.619 --> 00:29:19.519 you. If it does, something's wrong somewhere. 00:29:21.039 --> 00:29:23.119 Because through the preaching of the Word of 00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:27.589 God, we are to receive. help. We are to be enabled 00:29:27.589 --> 00:29:31.349 to go on for God. And then he uses another word, 00:29:31.410 --> 00:29:34.670 the word comfort, as it's translated here. It's 00:29:34.670 --> 00:29:38.910 the word consolation in the King James. This 00:29:38.910 --> 00:29:41.269 is the only time in the New Testament when this 00:29:41.269 --> 00:29:44.650 word is used in a noun form. But it is used as 00:29:44.650 --> 00:29:47.509 a verb back in John chapter 11. Some of you remember 00:29:47.509 --> 00:29:51.190 what John chapter 11 is all about. It records 00:29:51.190 --> 00:29:54.509 there the death of Lazarus, Jesus' dear friend. 00:29:55.289 --> 00:29:58.309 Jesus came on the scene four days after Lazarus 00:29:58.309 --> 00:30:01.890 had died and been buried. And in the course of 00:30:01.890 --> 00:30:06.529 the narrative there, twice this verb is used. 00:30:06.990 --> 00:30:10.849 And what it means is, to comfort in distress. 00:30:13.930 --> 00:30:16.190 There are some of you today who are beyond the 00:30:16.190 --> 00:30:18.930 point of being troubled or burdened. you are 00:30:18.930 --> 00:30:24.089 deeply in distress. And it may be through the 00:30:24.089 --> 00:30:27.529 loss of a loved one. It may be through the separation 00:30:27.529 --> 00:30:31.109 of yourself from your marriage partner. It may 00:30:31.109 --> 00:30:35.190 be that you have a child that is away, a prodigal, 00:30:35.250 --> 00:30:40.309 and you are deeply distressed. One of the things 00:30:40.309 --> 00:30:42.730 that happens is the Word of God is emphasized. 00:30:44.299 --> 00:30:47.400 In a church and in our lives is that we receive 00:30:47.400 --> 00:30:52.200 comfort for our distress. It may be unexplainable, 00:30:52.220 --> 00:30:55.680 but it happens. There is within us, through the 00:30:55.680 --> 00:30:59.480 preaching of the Word of God, a comfort that 00:30:59.480 --> 00:31:05.059 comes to the distress that we feel. That's why 00:31:05.059 --> 00:31:08.259 the preaching of the Word is so important. Preaching 00:31:08.259 --> 00:31:13.029 brings blessing to the whole church. Again, the 00:31:13.029 --> 00:31:16.809 apostle says, if one speaks in tongues among 00:31:16.809 --> 00:31:21.029 you and it is not interpreted, it's as though 00:31:21.029 --> 00:31:25.809 you went to a symphony concert and all the symphony 00:31:25.809 --> 00:31:31.009 did was to warm up. It never got around to playing 00:31:31.009 --> 00:31:34.529 the music. Notice he says that, verse 7, even 00:31:34.529 --> 00:31:36.809 in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, 00:31:36.970 --> 00:31:41.150 such as the flute or harp. How will anyone know 00:31:41.150 --> 00:31:43.630 what tune's being played unless there's a distinction 00:31:43.630 --> 00:31:48.430 in the notes? Same thing was true when the gift 00:31:48.430 --> 00:31:50.509 of tongues was exercised in the church there 00:31:50.509 --> 00:31:56.250 improperly. There was a lot of noise, but it 00:31:56.250 --> 00:32:00.230 didn't amount to anything. He says, furthermore, 00:32:00.230 --> 00:32:03.410 if the trumpet doesn't sound a clear call, what 00:32:03.410 --> 00:32:07.029 soldier is going to get ready to fight? Now in 00:32:07.029 --> 00:32:12.190 this day of... We don't talk about buglers. But 00:32:12.190 --> 00:32:14.170 there was a time when the bugler was the most 00:32:14.170 --> 00:32:16.049 important man in the whole company, at least 00:32:16.049 --> 00:32:20.549 to the commanding officer. The bugler was the 00:32:20.549 --> 00:32:23.269 one who sounded the cry to all the troops and 00:32:23.269 --> 00:32:27.150 told them what to do. They depended upon the 00:32:27.150 --> 00:32:29.829 tune that he played to know whether to advance 00:32:29.829 --> 00:32:34.710 or fall back or to whatever. Now, suppose the 00:32:34.710 --> 00:32:37.329 bugler got up and just played whatever he wanted 00:32:37.329 --> 00:32:42.430 to. Played some Dixieland jazz. Well, can you 00:32:42.430 --> 00:32:47.029 imagine what the soldiers are going to do? They 00:32:47.029 --> 00:32:49.369 would be lost. He says, that's what it's like 00:32:49.369 --> 00:32:50.970 when you come together and there's a gift of 00:32:50.970 --> 00:32:55.730 tongues abused. He said, what profit is there 00:32:55.730 --> 00:33:00.410 in that? And so he tells them that they need 00:33:00.410 --> 00:33:03.890 to come together and emphasize three things. 00:33:05.309 --> 00:33:13.000 Love. preaching of the word, and the building 00:33:13.000 --> 00:33:16.559 up of the body. If you look down through the 00:33:16.559 --> 00:33:18.599 text, beginning in verse 3 through verse 12, 00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:21.160 you will notice four or five times the word edify 00:33:21.160 --> 00:33:27.559 used, or some form of it. Is that a concern to 00:33:27.559 --> 00:33:31.299 you? I hope it is to every member of our church, 00:33:31.460 --> 00:33:35.279 that we're all concerned about our church being 00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:40.170 built up. I want to be careful that there's nothing 00:33:40.170 --> 00:33:45.650 in my lifestyle that would cause my church to 00:33:45.650 --> 00:33:53.109 be harmed in its ministry. That's why we're concerned 00:33:53.109 --> 00:33:55.069 about the way that we live. We want to bring 00:33:55.069 --> 00:33:59.329 glory to God and build up our church, to live 00:33:59.329 --> 00:34:03.630 the kind of lives that bring a good testimony 00:34:03.630 --> 00:34:07.390 to our church rather than detract from its witness. 00:34:08.039 --> 00:34:12.760 in the community. All of us have heard people 00:34:12.760 --> 00:34:17.780 say, if that's what a Christian's like, I don't 00:34:17.780 --> 00:34:23.340 want to be one. I hope that I live so that no 00:34:23.340 --> 00:34:27.400 one can ever say that about me. It may be today 00:34:27.400 --> 00:34:29.159 that as we think about this matter of building 00:34:29.159 --> 00:34:31.320 up the church, that you need to consider some 00:34:31.320 --> 00:34:33.139 things. You may need to consider your lifestyle. 00:34:35.760 --> 00:34:37.659 The way that you're living, the things that you 00:34:37.659 --> 00:34:42.059 do, the way that you talk, the attitudes that 00:34:42.059 --> 00:34:50.440 you project, are they critical attitudes, degrading 00:34:50.440 --> 00:34:55.559 other people, cutting them down? Or the attitudes 00:34:55.559 --> 00:34:58.380 you project, are the attitudes that you project 00:34:58.380 --> 00:35:00.460 the kind that are positive and which build up? 00:35:00.840 --> 00:35:03.619 Not dishonest, but they build up, they encourage. 00:35:07.820 --> 00:35:11.900 Where are you involved in a church? Are you involved 00:35:11.900 --> 00:35:14.119 in a Bible teaching, Christ -honoring church? 00:35:14.559 --> 00:35:17.460 That's where God would have you to be, where 00:35:17.460 --> 00:35:22.880 the Word of God is preached. Do you belong to 00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:24.559 that kind of a church? What are you doing in 00:35:24.559 --> 00:35:29.059 the church? Are you contributing so that the 00:35:29.059 --> 00:35:34.500 church is built up, so that it grows? Anything 00:35:34.500 --> 00:35:37.380 that God mentions a lot. We better take note 00:35:37.380 --> 00:35:40.940 of. And not only in this text is the Lord concerned 00:35:40.940 --> 00:35:43.159 about that, but back in chapter 3, he talked 00:35:43.159 --> 00:35:45.159 about the building up of the church. Paul says, 00:35:45.219 --> 00:35:47.280 I've laid the foundation. Now others are building 00:35:47.280 --> 00:35:49.699 on it, but let them take heed how they build. 00:35:51.619 --> 00:35:54.920 In chapter 8, he says, oh, you all have knowledge, 00:35:55.079 --> 00:35:58.960 and knowledge makes you proud. And he says, if 00:35:58.960 --> 00:36:02.719 you had love, it would cause you to be built 00:36:02.719 --> 00:36:06.179 up as a church. He goes on to explain as to how 00:36:06.179 --> 00:36:08.860 they ought to build up one another. So at least 00:36:08.860 --> 00:36:11.599 three times on separate occasions in this book, 00:36:11.739 --> 00:36:15.019 the building up of the church is on the mind 00:36:15.019 --> 00:36:19.579 of God. It ought to be on my mind, too, and yours. 00:36:22.239 --> 00:36:24.800 Priority of love, the priority of the preaching 00:36:24.800 --> 00:36:26.940 of the Word of God, the priority of building 00:36:26.940 --> 00:36:29.760 up and strengthening and encouraging other people. 00:36:31.179 --> 00:36:33.239 But there's only been one person in the history 00:36:33.239 --> 00:36:34.900 of the world that's ever lived perfectly that 00:36:34.900 --> 00:36:38.539 way with those priorities. And that's Jesus Christ. 00:36:39.880 --> 00:36:45.639 And that's really the point. Because just as 00:36:45.639 --> 00:36:51.099 Jesus Christ was born into the world 2 ,000 years 00:36:51.099 --> 00:36:54.960 ago, he desires to be born through us today. 00:36:55.739 --> 00:36:59.260 Paul said to the Galatians, my children, I labor 00:36:59.260 --> 00:37:02.360 for you, desiring that Jesus Christ be formed 00:37:02.360 --> 00:37:07.079 in you. You see, he wants your life and mine 00:37:07.079 --> 00:37:11.039 to reflect his likeness, that others may see 00:37:11.039 --> 00:37:14.739 Jesus in us. May that be true this week as we 00:37:14.739 --> 00:37:17.940 follow the priorities that God gives us in his 00:37:17.940 --> 00:37:22.940 word. Let's pray together. Now, as we bow our 00:37:22.940 --> 00:37:27.119 heads and we think and meditate. and allow the 00:37:27.119 --> 00:37:31.019 Spirit of God to search our hearts. Is there 00:37:31.019 --> 00:37:33.119 some decision that you need to make this morning? 00:37:35.139 --> 00:37:37.480 Maybe you need to plan to make some apologies 00:37:37.480 --> 00:37:41.199 to family members after church, or maybe you 00:37:41.199 --> 00:37:45.059 need to decide today that you're going to change 00:37:45.059 --> 00:37:48.239 your lifestyle, some of the places that you've 00:37:48.239 --> 00:37:50.840 gone, some of the things that you've done, because 00:37:50.840 --> 00:37:53.679 you want the body to be built up, not destroyed. 00:37:55.150 --> 00:37:57.590 You want God to be glorified and not disgraced. 00:37:59.750 --> 00:38:02.650 It may be that you've never trusted Christ as 00:38:02.650 --> 00:38:06.130 your Savior. Your first priority today must be 00:38:06.130 --> 00:38:11.090 the welfare of your soul. You see, my friend, 00:38:11.150 --> 00:38:17.730 we are all here today bound for eternity. Some 00:38:17.730 --> 00:38:19.550 of us are going to spend eternity in heaven. 00:38:19.869 --> 00:38:24.929 I hope all of us. It may be that your eternal 00:38:24.929 --> 00:38:28.670 destination as of this moment is not heaven, 00:38:28.710 --> 00:38:33.869 but it's hell. And your priority today must be 00:38:33.869 --> 00:38:37.449 to receive Jesus Christ as your Savior. We'd 00:38:37.449 --> 00:38:40.250 love to talk with you about that and show you 00:38:40.250 --> 00:38:45.849 how simple it is to trust Him. God, I pray that 00:38:45.849 --> 00:38:49.010 as we have our invitation and moment, that if 00:38:49.010 --> 00:38:50.869 there are decisions that need to be indicated 00:38:50.869 --> 00:38:55.429 publicly, that you'll give us the courage and 00:38:55.429 --> 00:39:02.409 the faith to do that today. Forgive us for establishing 00:39:02.409 --> 00:39:08.489 wrong priorities so many times. Help us to have 00:39:08.489 --> 00:39:16.389 right priorities. I pray for that one here today 00:39:16.389 --> 00:39:21.739 who is lost. headed for separation from God for 00:39:21.739 --> 00:39:28.179 all of eternity. As we close this service, that 00:39:28.179 --> 00:39:32.739 one or those two or those several would open 00:39:32.739 --> 00:39:36.579 their heart and trust Christ as their own Lord 00:39:36.579 --> 00:39:41.619 and Savior. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:39:44.539 --> 00:39:48.099 We're going to close by singing. Together, a 00:39:48.099 --> 00:39:49.920 verse or two of the hymn that Mark is playing 00:39:49.920 --> 00:39:57.780 is number 445, Have Thine Own Way. That's really 00:39:57.780 --> 00:40:00.980 what priorities are all about, isn't it? It's 00:40:00.980 --> 00:40:04.940 letting the Lord have His way. And as we sing 00:40:04.940 --> 00:40:06.900 this invitation hymn, if there is a need for 00:40:06.900 --> 00:40:10.320 you to come today, if the Spirit of God is within 00:40:10.320 --> 00:40:12.860 you, compelling you to come, we encourage you 00:40:12.860 --> 00:40:16.469 to do so. It may be in a step of rededication 00:40:16.469 --> 00:40:19.650 of life, or it may be to come to profess your 00:40:19.650 --> 00:40:23.989 faith in the Lord for the first time, to publicly 00:40:23.989 --> 00:40:28.329 say, I am trusting Christ today. As the Spirit 00:40:28.329 --> 00:40:30.690 of God directs you, respond. Let's stand together 00:40:30.690 --> 00:40:31.150 and sing.