We have some questions, I'd like to go
over at the outset.
How would you answer this one?
Since Christ as the Lamb of God taken
away the sin of the world and Christ
died for our sins, why does the believer
die physically?
Good question.
Why do believers die physically?
Well, I think there are a lot of
aspects to the answer to this.
First of all, sin has penalty and sin
has consequences.
And we have to distinguish between the consequences
of sin and the penalty of sin.
When a person is saved, the penalty of
sin is forgiven once for all.
The consequences sometimes remain, don't they?
For instance, if a person has lived a
dissolute life before he was saved, maybe he's
been on very strong drugs and his mind
is really affected by it, well, he can
still be saved by the grace of God.
But the consequences oftentimes remain.
That's one aspect of the question.
The other aspect is this.
Another aspect is this.
What would it be like not to die?
Have you ever visited in a retirement home,
in one of our homes for aged Christians?
You see people a hundred years old.
Would you like to live to be a
hundred and fifty?
I wouldn't.
When you see the ravages of age in
a person's life, really, death is a mercy
for the child of God, isn't it?
Death is the messenger of God that brings
the soul to heaven.
Really something to think about.
I think about it all the time, because
I visit in those homes a great deal.
I wouldn't want to live here.
Frankly, to be very honest with you, I
don't want to live to be a hundred.
It's all in the Lord's hands, but I
don't particularly want to live to be a
hundred.
I just hope the Lord takes me with
my boots on.
Another aspect of the question is this.
Supposing Christians didn't die and everybody else did.
That would create quite a situation, wouldn't it?
Everybody would flock to the banner of Christ,
not because of conviction of sin, not because
of eternal life, but just because they would
profess faith in Christ just in order to
avoid dying.
If we didn't die, you might just as
well ask, why does a Christian have to
get sick?
It's really the same question.
Why, after we're saved, don't we enjoy perfect
health?
The answer is, why shouldn't we share the
woes and ills of humanity?
Why should we be exempt from them down
here?
I think it's a good question, and I
think it has many facets to the answer,
and I'm sure that you will be thinking
about many of them and discussing them one
with another.
Number two, is it important to seek to
know what one's spiritual gift is, or is
it not better to walk in the spirit,
and then one's gift will become obvious?
My answer is, it's important to know what
one's spiritual gift is, and I don't think
it does necessarily become obvious just by walking
in the spirit.
As I said this morning, a lot of
people don't know what their spiritual gift is,
because they've never exposed themselves to different aspects
of Christian service.
When we were at Emmaus many years ago,
we had fellows who knew they didn't want
to do street corner preaching.
They knew that.
And we had to get a team of
mules and drag them out there on the
street corner.
And then, after they got going, we couldn't
shut them up.
And many fellows in full-time Christian work
today got their start at 64th and Halstead
in Chicago, because they exposed themselves to it,
and they found out what a wonderful experience
it was, and it was with tremendous training.
I mean, if you're not on top of
it out there in the street corner, you
have the humiliating experience of seeing the crowd
drift away.
Somebody ahead of you preaches and draws a
big crowd, and then you get up and
take 10 minutes, and they all filter away
in droves.
So I think it's very important to be
willing, and that's what we try to do
in the Discipleship Intern Training Program.
So we don't expect every one of you
to be evangelists.
We don't expect every one of you to
be teachers.
But just be willing for nine months to
expose yourself to these different types of service.
Let us tell you at the end of
the year what we think your spiritual gift
is.
And it works.
It really works, and I think it helps
the fellows as they plan and prepare for
the future.
1 Corinthians 12 31, if, for instance, the
local assembly is lacking the gift of administration
among the current men, is it possible that
the Spirit would give that gift to one
of the current men rather than sending someone
in with that particular gift?
Is that clear?
Let me read it again.
Well, let's read 1 Corinthians 12 31.
That might help.
1 Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 31, which
we've been over.
We mentioned today.
1 Corinthians 12 31, but desire earnestly the
greater gifts, and I mentioned that's the local
assembly.
Desire earnestly the greater gifts.
Still more excellent ways show, I ask you.
If, for instance, the local assembly is lacking
the gift of administration among the current men,
is it possible that the Spirit would give
that gift to one of the current men
rather than sending someone in with that particular
gift?
My answer is no.
It's possible that there's a man in the
assembly with the gift who has never stirred
it up.
That's possible, but I don't think it's possible
that God would give it because I think
the man got his gift when he got
saved.
I think the gifts were given out when
the man got saved.
But it is possible there's a man in
that assembly who might have that gift and
yet has never really been exercised about it
or holds himself back.
Don't forget that with regard to the matter
of elders, there's a divine side, but there's
also a human side.
The divine side is found in Acts chapter
20, over which the Holy Ghost has made
you overseers.
Only the Holy Spirit can make a man
an overseer.
But the other side of it is in
1 Timothy 3.1. If any man desires
the work of overseership, you have to have
both.
You have to have both.
I think there are men today that under
God could be elders in an assembly, but
they don't desire it.
Maybe their life is gobbled up by business
affairs, by the cares of this life, and
they're not willing to give themselves to that
service for the Lord.
So my answer is no, I don't think
that God will give the gift to somebody
already in the meeting.
He could reveal the gift to someone already
in the meeting, or he could send someone
in with that particular gift.
And the fourth question is, thank you very
much for the questions.
I really like them.
What is the tongue of angels which we
could speak?
1 Corinthians chapter 13.1. Though I speak
with the tongues of men and of angels.
Well, actually the Bible doesn't explain anywhere what
the tongues of angels are.
All I can say is that any time
angels spoke with human beings in the Bible,
they always spoke in an intelligible language.
It's amazing, isn't it?
Angels coming down sometimes in the form of
men, and they speak with men.
It's just perfect conversation.
It wasn't a foreign language at all.
They just spoke in the language that the
people understood.
But I think here tongues of angels in
1 Corinthians 13.1 is a figurative expression
for the most exalted utterance.
You know, we speak of a silver-tongued
orator, something like that, you know.
Think of a man like Charles Haddon Spurgeon,
the prince of preachers.
When I read the expression, the tongues of
angels, I think of that.
I think that Paul is using a figurative
expression to describe the most exalted language.
He's saying, even if I could speak like
that, the most exalted language that the human
mind can conceive of and don't have love,
it's all just a clanging noise, which is
truth.
Okay, we're going to go on with our
little study, and first of all, we're going
to review the material that we went over.
The Gifts of the Spirit.
What is a gift?
We reminded ourselves this morning that a gift
is a supernatural enablement from God.
It has nothing to do with natural talent
at all.
In fact, I would think that more often
than not, God gives this supernatural ability to
a man who doesn't have it naturally.
It's more glory to God if he does
that, isn't it?
I often think back to the times when
we were at Emmaus, and there were a
couple of Dutchmen who used to come and
help us, Henry Van Ryn and Charles Van
Ryn.
Well, there was another one, Lou Van Ryn
too.
And those men were brought up under kind
of difficult circumstances, and when something needed to
be done, they would go down to the
basement to where the scrap lumber was, and
they would take some of that scrap lumber
and make some of the nicest things with
it.
Some of our students were good carpenters too.
When they wanted to make something, they'd go
down to the lumber yard and get some
nice new lumber.
It was more glory to the Van Ryns
to be able to use scrap lumber and
do something good.
And that's true with God too.
God likes to use scrap lumber.
And as I said this morning, God likes
to use people who don't have that ability,
and he gives them that ability, and people
stand by them.
It sure wasn't him.
Had to be the Lord.
That's the way it should be.
That's really the way it should be.
The gifts are named in these passages of
scripture that are listed here, and the list
is fairly complete.
Notice the gifts were given for the common
good.
They were given not for selfish aims, not
for personal good, but they were given for
the good of all.
They were given to help other people.
We saw in 1 Corinthians 12-11 that
the Spirit distributes gifts individually, just as he
will.
This is a sovereign operation of the Spirit
of God, and he passes them out the
way he wants to pass them out.
And your praying for a gift has nothing
to do with it.
You can pray from now until the millennium
for a gift, and you won't get it
if you don't already have it.
Because the Spirit of God does that, and
he does it the way he wants.
As members of the human body are not
all the same, so the members of Christ
do not all have the same gift.
And Paul labors that illustration, the illustration of
the human body.
And so that's the way it is in
the body of Christ.
That means that nobody should feel worthless, and
no one should feel independent of others.
No one should say, well, I'm just a
cipher in the body of Christ.
There's nothing I can do.
And nobody should say, here I am, I'm
the king of the mountain, and I don't
need anybody else.
It's wrong to suggest that all believers should
have any one gift.
This is not a biblical statement.
But a local assembly can desire the greater
gift.
Not an individual, but a local assembly.
It's plural in chapter 12, verse 31.
We saw in chapter 13 that unless a
gift is exercised in love, it's absolutely useless.
That's interesting.
You know what that says?
That says grace is greater than gift.
They were emphasizing gifts.
I was in England seven years ago, and
I said to a brother in Christ, what
church do you attend?
And he said, well, I attend such and
such a church where we have all the
gifts of the Spirit.
Well, I didn't say anything for once.
But my mind went immediately to Corinth.
Corinth had all the gifts of the Spirit,
but it wasn't a spiritual assembly, was it?
The fact that you have all the gifts
of the Spirit doesn't mean you're a spiritual
assembly.
They were carnal.
They had people in Corinth that didn't even
believe in the resurrection.
They didn't believe in the resurrection of the
Lord, and they tolerated them in the assembly.
And you know, they were going to law
against one another.
They had immorality, and it wasn't being judged.
They had all the gifts of the Spirit.
So that's what leads me to say that
grace is greater than gift.
And if you had to choose, choose the
godly rather than the gift.
Unless a gift is exercised in love, it's
useless.
Love thinks of others, not of self.
This is a very important key to chapters
12, 13, and 14.
Exercise the gift in love.
Love thinks of others.
In your exercise, try to be helping other
people in their most holy faith.
Now, we go on to the next transparency,
which has to do with the control of
the use of the tongues.
Control of the use of the tongues.
And first of all, we see that Paul
never says anything against the use of tongues.
It's the abuse of tongues that is the
subject here.
Now, why do I emphasize that?
Well, in their reaction to some of the
things that go on in the evangelical world
today, I hear Christians saying tongues are of
the devil.
I don't think we should say that.
Paul never said that.
It was the abuse of tongues that Paul
is speaking of.
And as I told you before, men were
getting up in the assembly in Corinth, and
they were using tongues for self-display.
They were using tongues for self-edification.
They were using tongues as a child uses
a toy.
And Paul says, look, we've got to exercise
some control in this matter.
And he sets down seven controls for the
use of tongues in the assembly.
Seven controls.
The first is, do not forbid to speak
in tongues.
First Corinthians chapter 14, verse 39.
Do not forbid to speak in tongues.
It says, wherefore, my brethren, covet earnestly to
prophesy and forbid not to speak with tongues.
But, but, he adds other controls.
The second control is this.
Not more than three may speak in tongues
in any one meeting.
Verse 27a, verse 27a.
It says, if any one man speak in
a tongue, let it be by two or
at the most by three.
Now that rules out a meeting in which
there's just general speaking in tongues.
Couldn't be.
Paul says three in any one meeting.
You with me?
And then it says they must speak one
at a time.
Not all speaking together.
It says in the King James, and that
by course, in other versions, it might say,
and that in turn.
That means no general filling of the room
with a lot of babble in tongues.
No, no.
One at a time.
Three at the most, one at a time.
Four, there must be an interpreter.
The same verse.
And let one interpret verse 28.
But if there be no interpreter, let him
keep silence in the church and let him
speak to himself and to God.
Verse 34.
The women must keep silence.
The women must be taught.
Let the women keep silence in the churches
for it is not permitted unto them to
speak, but let them be in subjection as
also set the law.
And these are the commandments of the Lord.
Paul says that at the end of the
chapter, he says, these are the commandments of
the Lord.
The women must keep silence.
Verse 26 being number six, what is said
must be edifying.
In other words, they're to judge what is
said and it must have the effect of
building up the saints in their most holy
faith.
And then finally, number seven, verse 40, everything
must be done decently and in order.
The meeting must be orderly at all times.
So these are the seven controls that the
spirit of God lays down with regard to
this whole Paul correcting the abuse of tongues
in the assembly.
Now, that probably raises hundreds of questions in
your mind, write them out, send them in.
I have some additional points on the next
transparency, and I think these are very important.
Why don't you just take the other one
off?
There you go.
First point is this signs, wonders, miracles, and
gifts of the Holy Spirit were given to
confirm the gospel message when it was first
preached by the apostles.
Turn to Hebrews chapter two.
I think this verse is very, very important.
Hebrews chapter two and verse four.
But I have to go back.
Verse two, I'm going to begin at verse
two.
It says, if the word spoken by angels
was steadfast, what was the word spoken by
angels?
That was the law that God gave on
Mount Sinai.
That's what it was.
The word spoken by angels was the law,
the Ten Commandments, which God gave on Mount
Sinai.
Okay, what does it say about the law?
It says, if the word spoken through angels
proved steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received
a just recompense of reward, there was a
penalty connected with disobeying the law, with breaking
the law.
How shall we escape if we neglect so
great salvation?
We have a greater revelation than the revelation
of the law.
That's the revelation of grace through the Lord
Jesus Christ.
If we neglect so great salvation.
Now notice, which at the first began to
be spoken by the Lord, he was the
one that introduced it, was confirmed to us
by them that heard him.
How was it confirmed to us?
Verse four tells you, God also bearing them
witness both with signs and wonders and with
divers miracles and gifts of the Holy Ghost
according to his own will.
Okay, when the Lord first delivered the message,
there was no New Testament in written form.
Hmm.
The apostles go forth with this message and
people would say, how do I know that
what you're preaching is of God?
How do I know that what you're preaching
is true?
God said, okay, I'll confirm that message by
giving these men, these apostles, the ability to
perform signs and wonders and miracles, the gifts
of the Holy Ghost.
Those miracles had a confirming effect in a
day when they didn't have the word of
God in complete written form.
That's what the verse says.
Hey, passing on the need for signs may
have passed when the New Testament was completed
in written form.
Many people believe that, that the need for
the signs may have passed when the New
Testament was completed in written form.
And some believe that that's the meaning of
first Corinthians 13, 10, and it's the next
two lines.
Brother Lance said, when that which is perfect
has come, then that which is in part
shall be done away.
Now, I really think we should turn to
first Corinthians chapter 13 and look at the
last part of it.
I like to be fair.
The easiest thing in the world is just
to adopt one interpretation of scripture and stick
with it.
But in this passage of scripture, there are
two main interpretations, and I'd like to give
both of them.
Beginning in verse 8 of first Corinthians 13,
it says, Love never faileth, whether there be
prophecies, they shall be done away.
Whether there be tongues, they shall cease.
Whether there be knowledge, it shall be done
away.
For we know in part and we prophesy
in part.
But when that which is perfect has come,
then that which is in part shall be
done away.
When I was a child, I spake as
a child.
I understood as a child.
I thought as a child.
But when I became a man, I put
away childish things.
For now we see through a glass darkly,
but then face to face.
Now I know in part, but then shall
I know even as also I am known.
Now abide of faith, hope, love.
These three, but the greatest of these is
love.
Now, let me give you two main interpretations
of that passage.
The traditional interpretation down through the history of
the church is that that which is perfect
refers to the heavenly state, to the glorified
state, to the time when we're with the
Lord and like him forever.
That's the tradition.
That's what the church traditionally has believed down
through the years.
The other interpretation is that which is perfect
refers to the coming of the New Testament
in written form.
Let me go over the verses and think
of them in that regard.
Whether there be prophecy, they shall fail.
That is when the New Testament is given.
Whether there be tongues, they shall cease when
the New Testament was given.
Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
And remember when I said this morning, that
means knowledge supernaturally imparted.
It doesn't mean knowledge, basic knowledge, because that's
never going to pass away, is it?
We're always going to know.
In fact, you're bound to say we shall
know as we are known.
But what it means is that the giving
of divine knowledge is the time when that
would cease.
And according to this interpretation, that ceased when
the New Testament was given.
And in a sense, of course, that's true,
because as I said this morning, if somebody
gets up in our meeting and says, dear
friends, I have a revelation from the Lord,
and it's something you won't find in the
New Testament, it's in addition to the New
Testament, we say, sit down, brother, we don't
want to hear it.
Because Jude tells us that the faith was
once for all delivered unto the saints.
And we believe that we have in the
covers of this book, the complete Word of
God.
But I think it's important to know that
when you come to knowledge, it doesn't mean
knowledge in general.
It means knowledge, special knowledge, supernaturally imparted, the
giving of the Christian faith.
Whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
We know in part and we prophesy in
part.
Paul speaking in his day, knowledge was given
out piecemeal.
Peter was given some, you get that first
and second Peter.
John was given some, John the Gospel, first
and second, third John, revelation.
And so the writers of the New Testament,
they knew in part, the revelation was handed
out to them partially.
And of course, it went to make up
the full revelation.
And we prophesy in part.
And I mentioned that prophesy in the original
sense, in the primary sense of the New
Testament means being a spokesman for God, speaking
the Word of God.
And we don't have prophets today in that
sense because we have the Word of God.
When that which is perfect is come, then
that which is in part shall be done
away.
According to this interpretation, when that which is
perfect has come, that's the New Testament.
That which is part shall be done away.
That is these piecemeal doling out of divine
truth to different men.
That has stopped.
It isn't anymore.
Paul says, when I was a child, I
spake as a child.
I understood as a child.
I thought as a child.
When I became a man, I put away
childish things.
And he's speaking about the abuses that were
going on in connection with these gifts in
Corinth and how men were using them as
toys for personal pleasure.
Now we see through a glass darkly.
In other words, no one of those men
in the New Testament period had the full
grasp of the truth.
It was being given to different ones.
We see through a glass darkly.
But then face to face in the New
Testament, we have the completion of the revelation
of God, the completion of the canon of
scripture.
Now I know in part, but then shall
I know as also I am known.
That is when the full revelation was given.
But in the meantime, although those signed gifts
might pass away, faith, hope, and love continue.
And the greatest of these is love.
And love thinks of others and not of
self.
So that's what I mean when I say
the need for signs may have passed when
the New Testament was completed in written form.
Some believe that's the meaning of 1 Corinthians
13, 10.
And I certainly lean in that direction.
When that which is perfect is come, then
that which is in part shall not be
done away.
A final additional point on this line is
this.
The Lord is not pleased by the kind
of faith that requires a sign.
John chapter 20 and verse 29, John 20
and 29.
I'm going back to verse 26.
And after eight days again, his disciples were
within and Thomas with them.
Then came Jesus, the doors being shut and
stood in the midst and said to you,
then said he to Thomas, reach hither thy
finger and behold my hands and reach hither
thy hand and thrust it into my side
and be not faithless, but believing.
And Thomas answered and said unto him, my
Lord and my God.
Jesus said unto him, Thomas, because thou hast
seen me, thou hast believed.
Blessed are they that have not seen and
yet have believed.
I say again, God is not pleased by
the kind of faith that requires a sign.
You know, he was here among the Jewish
people in his incarnation.
He was performing miracles such as no man
ever did.
And he was speaking words that no man
ever spoke.
And they say to him, show us a
sign from heaven.
What did he say?
He said, there'll be no sign given you,
but the sign of the prophet Jonah referring
to his own resurrection.
He was looking forward to his death, burial
and resurrection.
That would be, that would be the sign.
The Jews require a sign.
The Greeks seek activism, but we preach Christ
crucified.
God wants us to believe without seeing.
Hmm.
To believe just because he says it.
And I believe that's true today.
You can buy this wonderful book in almost
any local drugstore, you know, widely available in
this country.
And God's holding people responsible for that book.
Even if one rose from the dead today,
men wouldn't believe.
God wants them to go to the word
of God, see what's written in the word
of God and believe it because it is
there in the word of God.
So let's remember these additional points, signs, wonders,
miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit were
given to confirm the gospel message when it
was first preached by the apostle.
It distinctly says that in Hebrews chapter two,
verse four, the need for signs may have
passed.
You say, why, why do you say may
have passed?
Because for this reason, I'll say why I
say it.
If God wanted to use tongues in outer
Mongolia for some purpose, I don't think I'm
in a position to say he couldn't do
it.
I'm not sure he is doing it in
outer Mongolia, but if he wants to do
it, he's sovereign.
He can do what he wants to do.
But I lean in the direction that this
need for these signs ceased when the new
Testament was given in God's favor.
And as you believe it, my word, you
know, God loves to be believed.
And do you blame him when you say
something to someone and he says, I don't
believe it.
What's he saying?
He's saying you're a liar.
And that's what we say to God.
When we don't believe his word, we say
you're a liar.
God doesn't like that.
I don't blame him.
You know, that was the original sin, wasn't
it?
God said to Adam and Eve, there it
is.
There's your lovely garden.
Just don't eat of the fruit of the
tree.
And Satan came and said, be my guest,
have some fruit.
And they said, no, no, don't do that.
Don't eat of the fruit of that tree.
Who told you that?
God told us that.
But God is just withholding from you something
that's good.
And Eve had to decide whether God was
lying or whether Satan was lying.
And she decided God was lying.
That's sin, isn't it?
She decided God was lying and Satan was
telling the truth.
And listen, all the ambulances and hearses and
hospitals and cemeteries in the world today are
the result of calling God a liar.
All the sickness and suffering and sorrow are
the result of saying that God was lying
and Satan was telling the truth.
God wants to be believed and he wants
to believe.
He wants to be believed because it's here
in his precious word, not because of signs
and wonders and all the rest.
He wants to believe without seeing the belief,
just because he said it.
Okay, shall we pray?
Father, we thank you for your precious word.
We thank you that your word is the
surest thing in all the universe.
We thank you there's no risk in believing
you.
But there's nothing more reasonable than that a
creature should believe his creator.
And so we come to you tonight.
We pray that you will take us back
to the word of God and give us
hearts to believe all that you have said.
Deliver us from being sign seekers, Lord.
Lord, let us men and women of faith,
who base their faith completely on the word
of God.
We ask it in Jesus name.
Amen.