 are in chapter 14 we're going to be looking at verses 21 through 40 I'll begin by looking at verses 21 and 22 introduce it and then we'll move into our study so we're going to begin at verse 21 we'll continue and conclude the chapter chapter 14 tonight by going from verse 21 to verse 40 so here we are verse 21 1 Corinthians chapter 14 Paul writing writes in the law it is written with men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people and yet for all that they will not hear me says the Lord therefore tongues are for a sign not to those who believe but to unbelievers but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe and so as he begins here in verse 21 he's actually quoting from the Old Testament he's quoting from Isaiah the scripture that he quotes with men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people and yet for all that they will not hear me is found in Isaiah chapter 20 28 verses 11 and 12 now to get some context understand what Paul is saying when he speaks in this manner men with other tongues and other lips with men of other tongues and other lips I'll speak to this people we need to know that Isaiah was a prophet who prophesied around 15 years this particular prophecy around 15 years before Assyria conquered northern Israel when you look at your Bible you look at your Old Testament you discovered that there was an invasion the Assyrians invaded and took the 10 northern tribes of Israel captive and they did so because God allowed that because Israel had and what would we we would call an unrepentant apostasy and so second Kings chapter 17 records how Assyria did that now some 800 years before Isaiah was written God had prophesied judgment to Israel through Moses there's a section in the law in the book of Deuteronomy it's found in chapter 28 verse 49 where God promises chastisement to the nation if they disobey him Deuteronomy 28 49 says the Lord will bring a nation against you from far away from the ends of the earth like an eagle swooping down a nation whose language you will not understand now a hundred years after Isaiah was written God spoke to Jeremiah a prophet who prophesied in Judah and in Jeremiah 515 it says oh house of Israel declares the Lord I am bringing a distant nation against you an ancient and enduring nation of people whose language you do not know whose speech you do not understand when you understand and remember that the twelve tribes of Israel were divided into ten northern tribes and two southern tribes that judgment came upon them in two different ways one is through Assyria and then over a hundred years later through Babylon and then you begin to look back in Deuteronomy you see that God had prophesied or stated that he would bring judgment and it would occur with the nation of people who would come in whose language these people didn't understand you can see that what Paul is speaking about concerning here is a sign it's a sign of judgment and the sign of judgment would be he's saying here a language that they wouldn't understand so on the day of Pentecost there were those who were baptized by the Holy Spirit and as we look at the day of Pentecost and when it came and and what had happened it's found in Acts chapter 2 and you begin to look at the nations that are represented there there are some 16 nations that are represented we discovered that they were given the people who received the hundred the hundred and twenty who had received the the baptism of the Holy Spirit and had poured out and began to speak in unlearned languages you can see that those who were there celebrating at that time said celebrating Pentecost when they heard the the believers speaking in their languages you can see that the unbelieving Jews could have seen judgment that was going to come because of these languages that were spoken because it had been prophesied in the Old Testament now ultimately this final judgment this this huge judgment that is spoken of that would finally come actually came in AD 70 under Titus of Rome and the foreign soldiers who filled the street so Paul's point is the Jews could have recognized that these unknown languages were assigned a sign of judgment to come but by not recognizing Messiah they instead of receiving him crucified him so they placed themselves under judgment and so in that context tongues are assigned to unbelievers again in verse 21 in the law it is written with men of other tongues and other lips I will speak to this people and yet for all that they will not hear me say at the Lord therefore tongues are for a sign not to those who believe but to unbelievers but prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe so when he says prophesying is not for unbelievers but for those who believe remembering back in chapter 14 at verse 3 remembering that he had spoken there and said that prophecy had an edifying ministry to the hear it it was something that brought edification and exhortation and comfort then the primary gift of prophecy is as it occurs within the confines of the body of Christ is for an encouragement it's not a primary sign of judgment to come and so he's speaking of tongues and he's saying you can look into the Old Testament and see that God had stated this would take place and so it is a sign of judgment to come on the day of Pentecost when they spoke with other languages it could have been understood that God was bringing a word to the people that judgment is coming but on the other hand when the church is gathered together and a word of prophecy is spoken when that word is spoken it's not signifying or it's not it's not established as a gift to necessarily bring a judgment but rather when that gift is being exercised it's intended to bring encouragement edification and comfort to those who are hearing and so he continues that thought by saying and this is this is interesting and I'll share how this works he says in verse 23 therefore if the whole church comes together when in one place and I'll speak with tongues and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers will they not say that you are out of your mind yes they will I'll go on but if all prophesy and an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in he's convinced by all he's judged by all thus the secrets of his heart are revealed and so falling down on his face he will worship God and report that God is truly among you that's absolutely true that there's no doubt about that if we have somebody who comes in who's uninformed or somebody who comes in who is an unbeliever and they come into a church service and I'll develop this for you and and it's a time of exercising the gifts of the Holy Spirit and somebody speaks in a tongue and this person's an unbeliever never been around this at all and they walk in and they hear somebody saying whatever they're saying in a language that is unrecognizable to them in perhaps in a cadence and and words that don't seem to make any any sense whatsoever and it won't to them and then they see other people just oh you know and raising their hands that they're they're going to say these guys are nuts this place is bonkers these people are out of their mind they're going to say that there's no doubt in my mind they're going to say that what is going on here this is crazy they will say that and and that's what Paul is saying he's saying that these people who walk in will not understand what's taking place and so he's gonna they're going to say you're out of your mind but on the other hand when he says in verse 24 but if all prophesying an unbeliever and uninformed person comes in he's convinced by all he's judged by all thus the secrets of his heart are revealed and so falling down on his face he'll worship God and report that God is truly among you when when prophecy does take place and and this is where I think sometimes we the church make a mistake it's not necessarily in a group with five or six or eight people in an afterglow sometimes that occurs and that is a natural way for that gift to be exercised where believers are having what we call a believer's meeting or an afterglow meeting where you gather together and there's maturity there and the gifts and spirit are in operation and and somebody may speak a tongue but you have somebody there who interprets and it's done decently it's done in order there's no confusion it's a proper way to exercise that gift or somebody may have a word of exhortation or comfort or edification it's a prophetic word where he's revealing the mind of God or the heart of God to somebody or maybe even speaking concerning some possible future events that we're going to see take place that could take place in Scripture we see that happening more than once well that happens in we'll say an afterglow or a believer's meeting but one of the things to be aware of and this is where sometimes we the church maybe make a mistake is we need to understand that when the Word of God is rightly divided very often a prophetic gifting is occurring but because there's no drumroll and there's no change of cadence and there's no sweating and there's no exaggerated speech pattern and suddenly the individual doesn't go into King James or whatever they feel but there's just simply sharing and it happens a lot in Bible studies it happens a lot in this church what happens is I'll put it like this I don't say oh by the way right now I'm going to exercise the gift of prophecy thus sayeth the Lord my little children I don't do that I just keep sharing but what happens is a person who's not a believer's heart is being revealed it comes through the conviction of the Holy Spirit the Word of God and perhaps through an illustration or something that wasn't in the notes of that preacher that is coming out spontaneously but reaching somebody's heart that happens all the time there have been many times when people have approached me after a service and said you know when you said this that really spoke to my heart and I don't even remember saying it because it was just something that was flowing the Holy Spirit was moving but in reality the gift of prophecies being exercised now there are those who are receiving that and they're being encouraged they're being comforted they're being exhorted and that's taking place in them but the unbeliever who's there and he hears this taking place has his heart revealed and something within him or her responds and that's what brings them to a knowledge that God is truly among you how did you know this who told you that I've had that question asked more than once who told you that who let you know I was doing that and and I don't know what they're talking about I really don't and I'll smile at them and I'll say huh nobody did my mom talk to you did she tell you what I've been doing no should she know how they've been mad they've been angry in the pews before because something's being said and they think they've been ratted out and what it is it's a Holy Spirit now what is interesting about that taking it another step is when the words are said many times believers respond to those words with encouragement God is moving he's doing something but at the same time and I see this quite often there'll be somebody who gets very upset and often those of you who sit in the back of the church will see this quite often almost every time I preach somebody gets up and walks out almost every time sometimes they're very angry when they walk out and that's my staff I mean then there's visitors who get even worse it's really embarrassing but they'll get angry they'll get angry because something hit them when God's word is rightly divided and the Spirit is flowing your heart will be revealed the best thing to do by the way is when the Holy Spirit operates is to if you're on the operating table of the Holy Spirit lie still lie still so the surgeon scalpel will cut straight and remove that which shouldn't be there and bring you to help so many people just roll off the table and crawl out of the you know the out of the room they don't want to hear it the Holy Spirit will bring conviction and so when he's speaking here and he says in verse 24 if all prophesying an unbeliever or an uninformed person comes in he's convinced by all and he's judged by all thus the secrets of his heart are revealed so falling down on his face he breaks his nose no so falling down on his face you I don't know why I just think that every time falling down on his face out he will worship God and report that God is truly among you because the secrets of his heart were revealed my mom and my dad before I got saved especially mom and my sisters but especially my mom would get angry and hurt and tearful with me you've got to stop this you've got to stop this you're gonna die you're gonna kill yourself you've got to stop this because I was doing one of these tailspins in my life and I was taking more drugs and I was drinking more and I was living more dangerously and my mom started seeing that so she got concerned I wasn't coming home at night and when I came home it'd be two or three in the morning and that was you know any day of the week it wasn't just Friday or Saturday when I partied it was any time I could and so I'd come home at two or three or I'd sleep in my car in some street in some in some some neighborhood because I was too drunk to drive I couldn't drive home and my mom would get upset and you've got to stop this you've got to stop this then she'd say things like I'm praying for you I'm praying for you and I would say this to my mom I would say keep your prayers to yourself prayers are good for those who have a need for that kind of thing frankly I don't need it so if you want to pray pray for yourself pray for my sisters pray for my brother pray for my dad but leave me out of your prayers I don't want it leave me alone and that's what I would tell my mom just leave me alone I'm fine the way I am you don't like it that's your problem adjust to it that's how I was very kind loving son that's how I was absolutely and mama would say these this is going to kill you this is going to hurt you your life is going down the tubes you've got to stop this why you're gonna die everybody dies everybody dies I'll die when I die that was my attitude like I I'd wager if I was a betting man like many of you in this room probably the same as I was so what who cares time's gonna come it's gonna come who cares I was living a dangerous and crazy life so mama was pointing it out but guess what I didn't get saved until somebody brought the word of God and the secrets of my heart were revealed and the awareness of my last condition was made apparent to me through the conviction of the Holy Spirit the words that that minister said were really to be honest with you not much different than what my mom was saying you live in a lousy life you have no joy you're upset nothing's going right for you you need God my mom was saying the same thing but the Holy Spirit was anointing that evangelist Arthur blessed my heart was revealed and that's how I got saved and it was through a prophetic sense of the mind of God being revealed to man and so this person comes in he's convinced by all he's judged by all the secrets of his heart are revealed falling down on his face he worships God and reports that God is truly among you he sees that the conviction of the Holy Spirit causes unbelievers to be converted as the word of God goes forth now in verse 26 how is it then brethren whenever you come together each of you has a psalm has a teaching has a tongue has a revelation has an interpretation let all things be done for edification so what he does here is he been begins to move into what we call proper order in the church and the whole point he's going to make is do not exercise the gifts in a fleshly manner notice how he speaks of this he says each of you has a psalm has a teaching has a tongue a revelation interpretation in other words you come and you want to share a psalm a psalm is a song into the Lord and in the early church there are those who are writing songs and they wanted to come and they wanted to share the songs that they had that they had been given by the Lord by the way in the early days of the Jesus movement that was very common that what you today here it is called contemporary Christian music many of you are too young to remember the Jesus movement and I thank God that many of you are too young because that means Jesus is still moving but the Jesus movement there are guys who would come in and they were leading worship on a Wednesday night and they began to lead worship and they would say God gave me the song today and it would be a new song because the scripture speaks of singing a new song into the Lord and that was very common and so they would come under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and they would share a psalm well that was something that happened when when I got saved it still happens to this day that was something that was common in the Corinthian church he said or you'll come with a teaching you want to bring enlightenment on people's minds concerning the ways of God you want to share with them he's saying you come and you want to speak in a tongue or you come with a revelation you want to give some depth concerning God you want to come with an interpretation but what he's saying is you're all eager to participate in the services but it's carnality in your life that is driving you forward you see as I've been sharing with you as it pertains to the gifts of the Holy Spirit you can exercise the gifts in the flesh it's not that difficult to do and that's what was taking place here the flesh was actually behind what was going on in the Corinthian church services and so he's asking really what is the proper motivation as you are gathered together what really is it and we need to remember that he had already stated let all things be done for edification when the gifts of the Holy Spirit are being exercised it should be with the intent to edify other people notice verse 12 in in chapter 14 how he said even so you since you are zealous for spiritual gifts let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel instead of wanting to be known instead of wanting to be recognized instead of wanting a position of power authority instead of wanting to become somebody special amongst the body of Christ if you desire a gift of the Holy Spirit desire it not so that you might be able to just be known as that guy who prophesies or that woman with that beautiful singing voice desire to excel for the kingdom of God die to yourself so that Jesus may be seen don't die to this desire to be known by men die to the desire to become looked at as some excellent specimen of Christian humanity learn what it means to to take the lower seat with joy and and and begin to understand what it means when Jesus said the greatest in the kingdom is the servant of all unfortunately in a day when we reward reward Christian celebrities that mentality is really not held by all who have positions of authority unfortunately the church is in need of heroes and so we have a tendency of elevating people to superstar them and unfortunately any human being that is elevated to a position of celebrity status is bound to have feet of clay and ultimately they will fail and then the hopes are dashed in the hearts of those who raised them to that position and that by the way is one of the reasons why I let you know that I'm a man like everybody else because I don't want anybody to run around acting weird around me like I'm special I know that I am but no I don't like it I don't like it I've had people approach me asking for my autograph it's usually bill collectors you know and I don't like it it's not of the Lord it's not good it isn't good I've had people trembling next to me and I'll ask them what's wrong are you okay I'm just really nervous around you why you know I brushed my teeth I promise you I have gum in my pocket why I I say that to you because you don't feel that but maybe one or two people here could so I say it you know all we are all we pastors are are all we are people that's all we are nothing greater nothing better nothing more important just people just like you struggling just like you yes I'm perfect but beyond that no it's just I know I don't have to say that but sometimes I feel that I must because bottom line is I'll have people walk up and say I don't like to take your time I don't like taking time from you and I smile at them and I say you're not taking any time I'm giving you time you're not taking a thing I'm giving it to you it's a gift if you think it's important it's yours it's yours I've had people walk up in in restaurants and say to me excuse me I don't want to bother you and I'll say you're not bothering me at all here's my check go pay it no I'll say I you're not bothering me at all you know I'm saying that to you because you may run across me some time in a restaurant I live around here and if you do too we are going to run across one another and I want you to feel free never feel that you can't say hi to me never feel that you're not bothering me you never are I don't like the idea of people thinking they're better than other people my dad taught me that my dad said my dad was one of these men who would not stand in line for anybody he just wouldn't he said he'd say this he say they put on their pants one leg at a time just like I do and my dad brought that into my life there is nobody that is so important and by the way I'll go one step further and say this I used to think that there was one person that was more important and that was my own pastor Chuck so I do understand some of that because with Chuck I actually with just before I talked to him I'd say okay think good thoughts because he can read your mind Jesus Jesus Jesus hi Chuck how are you and the Lord taught me a long time I'm just sharing with you what I've had to learn myself that's all and Chuck is just a guy just like I am and the Lord taught me that and that's what we are so there's nobody that important the only one who is is who Jesus he's the only one he's the only one that matters he's the only one that matters keep that in mind and so sometimes when people are exercising gifts or sometimes they have authority or sometimes they they come off in in a way that causes other people to have a sense of intimidation and all sometimes they want that when in reality what the Lord is saying to us listen all things need to be done for the edification of other people in verse 27 if anyone speaks in a tongue let there be two or at the most three each in turn let one interpret but if there is no interpreter let him keep silent in church and let him speak to himself and to God and so he makes it very clear that if anyone is speaking in a tongue that there needs to be an order that's intended to allow the gifts of the Spirit to operate in a fashion that is orderly one person will speak at a time so somebody may speak a tongue and speak with tongues and they wait and then there would be someone who is given the opportunity for interpretation and as they're exercising the gift of tongues remember and he had already stated it in verses 15 and 16 that there there's a time to thank God and bless him it says in verse 15 what's the result I'll pray with the Spirit I'll pray with the understanding I'll sing with the Spirit sing with the understanding otherwise if you bless with the Spirit how will he who occupies the place of an uninformed say amen at your giving of thanks since he doesn't understand what you're saying so tongues are used as a praised language to God but he goes in verse 28 if there's no interpreter then let him keep silent in church or just speak to himself so we exercise control over our own facility of speech and it gives direction the direction that believers meetings have an orderly orderly of fashion now in verse 29 he says let two or three prophets speak and let the others judge but if anything's revealed to another who sits by let the first keep silent for you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged so prophecy when these people are speaking forth a word that really requires spiritual discernment to be exercised there needs to be the word discrimination which in its literal meaning means to make rightful judgment you need to have a discriminating attitude when somebody is purporting to speak in the name of God if somebody's saying the Lord has placed us on my heart just because they're saying that doesn't mean I'm going to believe that because it may be they ate too much salsa that afternoon and it's not the Lord at all it may just be a reaction and that does happen because there are those who'll say that you know that especially this generation seems to be more prone to that the church today the generation in the church today seems to be more prone to emotionalism and and then people I've had so many discussions over the years where people say well who are you to judge them if the Lord lay that on their heart who are you to judge them well the word of God says that I'm supposed to discern the word of God says I'm supposed to listen with an attitude of hearing as to whether or not that lines up with scripture because if it doesn't I'm not to receive it if they're saying something that does not line up with the word of God as I've shared with you I believe I already shared it one time where the lady approached me and said this is my first time here and I enjoyed my time and I said well that's wonderful she said the word has laid the Lord has laid a word on my heart for you and I said okay and what would that be and then she got quiet for a moment and then she went into that theatrical kind of mode where that lets me know God is moving right now and and then she says the Lord is saying this is a good work but if you were to have church services on Saturday he would do a greater work and I said that isn't the Lord that's you that's you you're a seventh day observer and you want me to become a seven day observer that's you that is not the Lord so I'm not going to say oh sister that is from God because the word of God does not teach me that in order for God to show up I have to call him by a certain name or I have to meet on a certain day and so there are those who will just say what's on their mind but it's not necessarily the mind of the Lord and so in your in a meeting and somebody says thus say at the Lord and then they say something or speak forth something then you need to listen carefully every teacher myself included should have a group of people they're instructing who are discerning discriminating taking what's being said and checking it according to scripture there's nothing wrong with that there's everything right with that the bible teaches that we ought to do that in 1 Thessalonians 5 19 through 21 Paul said do not quench the spirit do not despise prophecies but he goes on to say test all things hold fast what is good how do you test all things and hold fast to what is good does it line up with scripture is it what God's word teaches so false prophets can enter into a church and they can by saying their prophesying spread error through the guides of the gift of prophecy false teachings can be disseminated so it's the responsibility of the believers to establish safeguards to prevent this from happening now a mature believer will listen to what's being said and determine the authenticity they discern if it's in line with scripture they listen if it does exalt Jesus they listen but if it's not lining up with scripture and Jesus is not being exalted that prophet needs to be told you need to be silent you need to stop and that's what you do and you can do that in a very gentle loving way you just say shut up no you you you just say in that snuff hold your peace have i ever had to do that when somebody's done something like that somebody asks i hear you the answer is yes yes i have yes i have i've had to silence people before in the past and and you can do it in a gentle way you can say that's enough you need to stop and and they normally do they normally will and if they don't i might as well say this if they want to carry on then what we do is we have ushers who will walk up and say could you please be silent because this is running along scriptures lines and if they will not be silent then we will walk them out the door raw tells me the story of how at his fellowship these two young men were in the front seat raw gave an invitation and one of these young men stood up during the invitation and turned and looked at the congregation and started yelling this young man who did not come forward at the invitation he was just in the front row and when these others came forward and you know how exciting it is to see people getting saved well this guy stood up and turned around and looked at the whole congregation that was present that day and started yelling out about raw this man is a false prophet this man is a false prophet and they had to walk him out that's what happens you know he's had people climb on the stage and start dancing with the band as the band is leading worship so if you want to dance i know a good place and so there needs to be a decency and order in every church service wouldn't you agree well obviously of course and that's what he's laying out here he's saying we need to understand these things when he says in verse 30 if anything is revealed to another who sits by let the first keep silent that would encourage others to exercise their gifts it keeps someone from being placed in a in a position of spiritual superiority over people and it also undermines pride in the person exercise in the gift when they yield with humility to somebody else he says in verse 31 4 you can all prophesy one by one that all may learn and all may be encouraged so every person with the gift is free to exercise the gift in a believers meeting not just three at a time now he goes on and says in verse 32 and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophet god doesn't force you to speak god does not cause you to shout out he doesn't make you sweat he doesn't make you cry whenever you're sharing it is usually done with a reasonableness and it's done with a maturity again i'm saying this to those who know but sometimes if you watch the theatrical church services that you can find on christian tv you might get the idea that when the spirit of the lord is moving there's some entertainment value to that and that's simply not true when the holy spirit is moving it's not to cause the the congregation to become an audience it's intended to edify the body of christ one of the things that's very problematic today in the exercise and misuse of the gifts is that we begin again to to look at it as being an opportunity to have god prove to us that he really exists through the authentic authentication of his presence by people exercising spiritual gifts and so what we do is we make the church service into something almost like a theater so somebody sweats or somebody cries or somebody rolls around or somebody does something outlandish and people say man the lord was all over that guy do you see that and paul would disagree with that hundred percent now he says in verse 33 god is not the author of confusion but of peace as in all the churches of the saints now he gets into a portion of scripture that that i just love let your women keep silent oh thank you Jesus no let your women keep silent in the churches for they are not permitted to speak but they are to be submissive oh lord you're so good as the law also says and if they want to learn something let them ask their own husbands at home for it is shameful for women to speak in church or did the word of god come originally from you or was it you only that it reached if anyone thinks themselves to be a prophet or spiritual let them acknowledge that the things which i write to you are the commandments of the lord but if anyone's ignorant let them be ignorant therefore brethren desire earnestly to prophesy and do not forbid to speak with tongues that all things be done decently and in order so paul what are you saying in verse 34 i don't know let's go to verse 35 no what let your women keep silent in the churches for they are not permitted to speak but they are to be submissive as the law also says what does that mean once again remember the context of this portion of scripture we're speaking of order in the church there are still to this day church services that are held where women are on one side of the church and men are on the other in the uh Jewish Jewish synagogue they would divide the women from the men so the women would be on one side the men on another church very often services that were formal when there was instruction taking place they often were the same way as a matter of fact there are churches to this day that separate the women from the men i i was in india and i went to a house church there and you ladies will really appreciate this one the men were all in the front of the house church all in the front rows and it was a small house so all the men would were seated in the front and the fans because we were in about 100 degree in that house it was 100 degrees in the house and humidity if you've ever been to india it is oppressive heat it isn't just heat it's very oppressive it's very hot and so you're in crowded with all these people in a small home so they had fans and the fans were turned on the men in the front there were no fans that were on the ladies who were seated in the back and the men and the women were separated in that way and in some churches in india to this day there is a separation between the women and the men and the men were getting the perks while the women were not and that isn't right i think that's terrible to be honest with you but that's what they were doing they didn't ask my opinion concerning that had they idle let them know are you kidding me but they didn't i just happened to be at the church service and i saw that so there are churches to this day that are still in existence that have the women separate from the men so if we were looking at this auditorium right now and we were to structure it in that fashion not with the men in the front and the women in the back but as would have been normal men on one side women on the other then this is what paul would be speaking about in its context again ensuring order in church so i'm sharing something and we'll say my wife marie is you know that wouldn't be wouldn't work with her one of the ladies would be out there and she would say i'd say you know the lord says this and during the service the wife would yell across to the husband you know at paffer at ides what's he talking about and and the husband would shout back oh he said and paul is speaking concerning the rule that a woman should not be interrupting the teaching that's taking place those things ought not to take place in church services where people interrupt now in its context he's speaking of women interrupting and the point he's making is if you have a question now this is very practical by the way ladies if you have a question who should be answering your spiritual question paul would say your husband which puts the responsibility on the husband's shoulders to be a teacher in the home what do we have today unfortunately not in all homes but in some as a matter of fact in many we have women who are hungrier for the things of the lord than their own husbands and unfortunately what happens in churches just like this is the wife will come for instruction from one of the men in the church or one of the women because they can't ask their husband because a husband's not in the word of god and so the woman is hungry and wants to have answers but the man unfortunately is not exercising his responsibility the real answer is for for me as a husband to take my spiritual responsibility seriously to have my devotion to spend time with the lord so if my wife were to approach me and say you know today i heard pastor chuck say this and i really didn't get it can you help me with that if i don't understand then what i'm supposed to be doing is saying to my marie saying you know that's a great question and you want to know something i don't understand either but i'm going to find out and then i'll go and i'll research it if i have to speak to somebody like chuck or whomever that can help me that's what my responsibility is now how does that work in a regular church like ours i encourage husbands to be in the word of god i've had ladies who have been upset at me in the past who have wanted to make appointments for counseling with me and i will speak to women of course but i will not have private counseling with them i don't why because your husband has the responsibility to do that with you now if i have any time with any of the women in the church it isn't because i'm so afraid of them and and they're all seductresses and you know it's not that at all not all of them it's not that way at all it's because biblically the scripture teaches that the older women instruct the younger women tidus made that clear in chapter two when it comes to answering questions the husband if they're married has the responsibility of instructing the wife he has that responsibility you might find this interesting you can go to israel today and go to an orthodox go past an orthodox synagogue which we've done many times on shabbat and you will walk by the orthodox synagogue and out in the courtyard will be the women and the children and the women are visiting with their friends while the children are playing and you look into the synagogue and all the men are in there because the orthodox at least the ones that we have seen in israel the orthodox jews take the responsibility of leading the home very seriously to the degree that the women aren't even required to be in synagogue because that husband is supposed to be teaching her the ways of god so these these men who are simply just regular guys they're not rabbis they're members of the synagogue are being instructed and they will take what they've learned and like scripture teaches impart it to their families you see so in the church paul is simply making it very clear there have been interruptions during church services where something has been said and somebody from one side of the room says what's going on and then it's interrupting he says listen if you have a question let that question be asked at home and let your husband be equipped to be able to answer that question for you so it brings order in the church and it isn't filled with people who are constantly interrupting it by asking questions that don't need don't need to be asked at that time now finally in verse 36 in closing did the word of god come originally from you or was it you only that it reached if anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual let him acknowledge that the things which i write to you are the commandments of the lord but if anyone is ignorant that word ignorant means without knowledge or uninstructed but if anyone is ignorant let them be ignorant therefore brethren desire earnestly to prophesy do not forbid to speak with tongues let all things be done decently and in order so when he asks in verse 36 did the word of god come originally from you it's a rebuke that's a rebuke to the argumentative members of the church it would seem that some have contended with him or the pastor over this issue and it may be that they were determined to follow their own ideas about it so paul's word is very clear did the word of god originally come from you are you putting yourself above god's word in this matter if you do not write scripture as paul did then why don't you obey it all christians are subject to the word of god and none can overrule it now in verse 37 when he says if anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual then he needs to acknowledge that what's being said is right if you're spiritually mature and this is really a key by the way if you're spiritually mature and you know the word is being rightly divided your maturity will be revealed by your obedience to what you're learning that's a fact isn't it if i'm spiritually mature it's going to be demonstrated by my obedience to what the word of god is rightly saying to me which means i'm going to submit to god's word and also respect the one who's teaching me in hebrus 13 17 it says there obey your leaders submit to their authority they keep watch over you as men who must give an account obey them so that their work will be a joy not a burden for that would be of no advantage to you ultimately pastor teacher stands before the lord to give an account of the sheep friend of mine gail erwin shares how that on one occasion while he was at a pastors conference because he teaches and has taught in pastors conferences for many years he was at a pastors conference when somebody approached him and said to him you know gail i'm discouraged and gail said that he responded by saying really why the guy said well because he goes i i only have a hundred people in my church and gail says he looked at the guy and he said to him you're kidding me a hundred people will come and listen to you which puts things in perspective doesn't it one person is enough to feel accountable for i have to give an account as a pastor i have to give an account for my wife i give an account for those whom i have influence and authority over and you might find this interesting that this is your home fellowship i have to give an account for you and so that's what he was 13 17 says so when i give account may it be done with joy and not with a burden and that's how it works so when people hear the word of god and they grow then that gives to the the pastor teacher great joy because they're growing in the things of the lord now when he says in verse 38 if anyone is ignorant let them be ignorant if anyone is without knowledge and unwilling to obey god's word then you're going to have to just disregard his opinion regard him as he is he's opinionated but he's ignorant of the word of god and as such don't take his counsel he doesn't know god's word and he doesn't obey god's word there are those unfortunately and sometimes i've seen this with young believers who who believe that because they're saved they suddenly have an incredible knowledge of scripture and they want to give all kinds of advice and they want to give direction and if they're teachable they can grow if they're not then i'll allow them to say to me what they want but i don't regard them as being my instructors and finally in verse 39 brethren desire earnestly to prophesy do not forbid to speak with tongue but here's the the the conclusion let all things be done decently and in order make thing make sure that the things that are done are orderly and make sure that they're intended to bring glory to god when you exercise the gifts of the holy spirit always exercise the gifts of the spirit with the love of god and a care for people let things be done in order to edify others and god will bless you as you exercise those gifts very basic isn't it but very practical love the people you minister to and watch god move as you do so