Bible Chats: How does my Stewardship Impact the Body?

[00:00:02] Speaker A: Welcome to the YA podcast. Lean in. As we dive into the practicals of life with Jesus as spirit filled young adults. [00:00:26] Speaker B: Welcome, everyone, to the YA podcast. We've got a Bible chats episode coming up for you. I am sitting with Matthew Clayton. [00:00:37] Speaker A: Hello. It's good to be here. [00:00:39] Speaker B: If you don't know Matthew, he is a young man of God. [00:00:43] Speaker A: I am. [00:00:43] Speaker B: That loves God. [00:00:45] Speaker A: I do. [00:00:46] Speaker B: Currently a Bible college student studying the ways of the Lord in scripture and all the things. Matt's on our youth team, he's on our young adults team, and he does a lot of things. He's a drummer. [00:00:58] Speaker A: I am. [00:00:59] Speaker B: Have I missed anything, Matt, that you want the people to know? [00:01:01] Speaker A: Nah, man. You've pretty much covered everything about me, man. [00:01:05] Speaker B: Great. That's good. But drummer, I do it all. Bro, be careful. Matthew's. One of Matthew's favorite phrase is bro, bro count. [00:01:13] Speaker A: We should have like a bro counter, I think bro counter needle bell thing once they hit like ten. That's. Yeah. [00:01:19] Speaker B: But we're gonna dive into some scripture today and do, I don't know, maybe we'll call it like a bit of a live exegesis. We've obviously done this in our own time, but we're gonna go through the scriptures together and talk about process, talk about how do we apply that line upon line as much as possible that we can do in 30 minutes. Yeah, but something I like to ask every time we talk about Bible chats is what is your relationship with scripture? What was it, what changed? Because obviously you love scripture, you value scripture. What was your kind of experience of that? And how did you end up with the value of scripture that you have today? [00:02:00] Speaker A: 100%. Yeah. I grew up in church, and in about year ten, I had an encounter with God that completely changed my framework. I was like, oh, God is a lot more real than what I thought. And as soon as I had that encounter, you'd watch people at, like, youth camps and stuff, they go have an account, and then the fizzle out just always happens. And I was so determined to be like, nah, I've got to keep this. I want to stay on fire this time, for people came alongside me, started being discipled in the word, and I just began to learn and realize, I just don't know how to follow Jesus outside of his word. [00:02:38] Speaker B: It's a good line. [00:02:39] Speaker A: I was just. I just did not know how to do it. It was just the, here is the step by step, how to keep your heart right, how to follow him. And so it's literally just the instruction manual. For me, that's great. I don't know how to do it outside of the word. [00:02:51] Speaker B: I love that phrase. I don't know how to follow Jesus outside of the word. [00:02:56] Speaker A: It's pretty difficult, too. [00:02:57] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Good luck. I mean, testaments are those that have. That have to do it right. The Christians that actually don't have access to a Bible. Right. Like, we got to value this thing. But where have we been this season? We've been talking about the body of Christ. Have you listened to some episodes, Matt? [00:03:16] Speaker A: I have. That's good. [00:03:19] Speaker B: But we have been talking about the body of Christ, unity of Christ, serving spiritual, covering all of these good things. And in Bible chats, we've covered a couple of different things more about how do we apply scripture in its original intention, which often is not individually very good. A lot of application of scripture has nothing to do with applying it for ourselves, though that is important. Believe it or not, especially in the New Testament, they were more concerned about the church and how to apply it as a group of believers, because most. [00:03:56] Speaker A: Of the letters write. There's only a handful of them that are written to individuals. And even the letters to Timothy and to Titus, they're written to them. But then the church, this just would have read it. [00:04:07] Speaker B: Imagine, like, the church is reading your mail. That's crazy. [00:04:12] Speaker A: I'm just telling you the inside gossip about what they're doing wrong. And then they read it and they're like, that's how he talks about us. [00:04:18] Speaker B: Yeah, but that's exactly right. And even, like, you know, they. Paul would have. Sometimes Paul would have wrote a letter to a church and it would have been passed around the entire region because it was valuable. It was like, hey, this is how we do life now. So we need to learn. So there's a vibe, very much a value for the scriptures or the letters at that point, right? [00:04:36] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:04:38] Speaker B: So today we're going to talk about one corinthians. [00:04:40] Speaker A: It's a good book. [00:04:41] Speaker B: We're going to talk about predominantly, we're going to start a bit through chapter ten and hopefully get to the beginning of chapter 15. There's a lot to cover in 25 minutes. Now, it's a brave task, but the aim for us is not to give you a whole bunch of conclusions. Our goal today is to hopefully shed some light on what we do, to glean wisdom from the scriptures and a bit of process and do that in real time. And hopefully that helps you to then do the same and not just copy our opinions, but you actually go to the scriptures and you wrestle with the Lord because that's the important thing with scripture. Wrestle's okay. [00:05:27] Speaker A: That's a good thing, actually. You learn to yield the word of the Lord 100%. [00:05:33] Speaker B: So let's start with a bit of overview of corinthians. And Sam and I were chatting about this very early on is a lot of what you need to know about the context for, especially the epistles, can be found either in the epistles or in another epistle. So with one corinthians, Matt, what are some things that we know about the context? Let's just start with an easy one. Who wrote first corinthians? [00:05:56] Speaker A: Good question. Good question. One corinthians. One. One. [00:06:00] Speaker B: Paul. Wow. Paul says that question, by the will. [00:06:04] Speaker A: Of God, to be an apostle to. [00:06:07] Speaker B: Our brother Sosthenes, even though we, like, we know that straight away, it's like, okay, Paul. Which then brings a whole host of understanding of who Paul was. But he also says, I'm an apostle. [00:06:17] Speaker A: Yes. [00:06:18] Speaker B: Okay, so now we understand some gifting, some grace that he has, some authority that he has. That's all context on who wrote. Right. It's important context. [00:06:27] Speaker A: It is. [00:06:28] Speaker B: What are some other scriptures that you can pull out of one corinthians that help us to understand maybe, perhaps why Paul was writing to these people to begin with? [00:06:36] Speaker A: Yeah. For why? Yeah, 100%. So a lot of, even within the first chapter gives you a lot of sort of foundational context of going, why am I writing very straight away? You go from, you know, there's the thanksgiving, which is always common in letters, is like, I thank God for you. You're doing really, really well. And then he proceeds to go like. [00:06:55] Speaker B: This is everything you're doing wrong. Sometimes that's a prayer. Right? Like, it's. And that's not just a Christian Paul thing. That's a standard structure of how they wrote these letters back in the day, back then. Yeah. But, yeah. [00:07:10] Speaker A: So 100% for divisions. It's pretty clear. He's like, I appeal to your brothers that there be no divisions among you. So the reason why. Like, why would he even need to say that he didn't just write things? Cause, oh, there's just probably something I should probably, you know, check in on the division for. [00:07:27] Speaker B: It's not just a good idea. Right? [00:07:28] Speaker A: Yeah. It was expensive to write letters. It was a whole operation. You described like, he didn't just say things. Just the first thing that came to mind, it was there was a lot of intentionality in behind what he was saying, why he said it. [00:07:41] Speaker B: Yeah. And even like the way that these epistles, now, I keep saying epistle because it is a very particular structure in greek writing, in particular. And so there is a known structure that pretty much every epistle adheres to with some variation, but almost the same. And the one thing I want to draw your attention to is in the first chapter of almost every epistle, you essentially get the main idea of the entire letter in the first chapter. Yes. Straight away. So you read it, and then you're like, okay, cool. So when I read everything else, I'm reading it in light of that? [00:08:23] Speaker A: Yes. [00:08:24] Speaker B: And like you said, verse ten in chapter one. I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no domisions among you, that you may be united in the same mind and the same judgment. [00:08:37] Speaker A: That's the whole letter literally, almost summarized. It's literally no division. And you'll see when we look at the structure just in a couple of minutes from here. No division, same mind. Then going to talking. Same lord, same giftings. Not same giftings, but different giftings. [00:08:52] Speaker B: Same lord, same holy spirit. [00:08:54] Speaker A: All of it is in there. [00:08:57] Speaker B: So right up front, we're like, okay, so I've got to read everything with the mind that Paul wanted people to be unified. [00:09:05] Speaker A: Yep. [00:09:07] Speaker B: Great. Keep that in mind, everyone, as we read. [00:09:09] Speaker A: That's good. [00:09:10] Speaker B: Anything else? Like, how did he know there was division? [00:09:13] Speaker A: Good. You get a couple of things. Where is it? I think it's just straight in verse eleven, you've got Chloe's household. There's been some people who've brought reports. [00:09:21] Speaker B: Ah, Chloe. [00:09:23] Speaker A: She snitched on the whole church. Nah, Joker joke. Chloe did a good thing. She's helping keep accountable of the people of God, obviously. Probably some sort of, I don't know if I'm allowed to say maybe some sort of leadership. [00:09:35] Speaker B: Yeah, she would have been. [00:09:36] Speaker A: They're like, oh, you guys know Chloe. It's a big church, but you guys know Chloe in the leadership. And so she's probably written a letter to which Paul is going, like, oh, there's a couple of things I need to address here. [00:09:46] Speaker B: Yeah. And I think it's also purposeful to say, like, it wouldn't have been, like, a tattletale. Oh, I don't want to tell Paul everything's happening. It actually would have been Pauldin. This is happening, and we don't know what to do. [00:10:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:10:02] Speaker B: Are you gonna understand? Like, these are early christians. They don't have a Bible. [00:10:05] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:10:06] Speaker B: They don't know how to live in community in light of the gospel. So they're going, Paul, we got some stuff happening and I don't know what to do. What is it like, what does the gospel say about this? Yeah, what does God say about this? Beautiful thing for us is we have a lot more scriptures, so we have a bit more help before we have to be like, help. But I just highlight that as like, it would have been from a genuine place of, hey, there's problems and we need you to help us, Paul, which is really good, and then just jumps straight in, like, starts addressing some of these things that he's heard from Chloe's people. Right. A quick structure thing that can help with one corinthians in particular is this phrase of like, Paul will often write, like, now, concerning this, or on the matters on which you wrote to me, or now on this topic, he's often introducing something that he's about to address, that he has been asked to address by them. [00:11:11] Speaker A: Yes. [00:11:11] Speaker B: And so that's why he's introducing it in that way. Hey, now this, now that, he's like, hey, you told me about this. Now we're going to talk about it. [00:11:18] Speaker A: Which is a great way to structure the breaking up with a letter. [00:11:21] Speaker B: So good. [00:11:21] Speaker A: It's very helpful. [00:11:23] Speaker B: Yeah. And once you learn these things, it's like, wow, Paul knew how to structure things. [00:11:26] Speaker A: And you can't ignore it either. You're like, oh, let's jump to another section. [00:11:30] Speaker B: So, big idea, be unified. And we're going to unpack that a bit more, but let's just go. Okay, so the first, obviously, first chapter, or first early parts of the first chapter is going to be like the introduction and just like our essays today. When you write essays in uni, you do your thesis statement. You give away everything in the introduction, and then you spend the rest of the essay explaining it. That's exactly what Paul's done. He's given it all away in the introduction, and then he's explaining it for the rest of the time. The next few chapters. Matt, could you summarize them, maybe briefly? [00:12:08] Speaker A: I was reading this the other day, and I think Paul's a bit of a savage man. [00:12:12] Speaker B: Yeah, he's savage. [00:12:12] Speaker A: He just lays it out to them. Like chapter two is sort of defending his apostolic authorities. Like, I am able to speak into this, and then he's going like, some of you are saying that you're wise by standards of the world. It's like, I know all these great things and stuff, and then how the gospel of Jesus is folly to the Jews because they expected a christ that would. Militarily. Is that a word? Militarily? Liberate them from the Romans. Yeah. And then Greeks also think that it is folly and stupid, because why would God kill himself? It doesn't make sense. [00:12:50] Speaker B: Why would God die? Full stop. [00:12:52] Speaker A: Exactly. And then divisions in the church and stuff. And he goes and starts, I find this really interesting. People started taking sides on who they were essentially being discipled under. It's like, oh, Paul baptized me or Apollos gave Peter. [00:13:07] Speaker B: Can I jump in on this? We actually, this came up in life group literally a couple of nights ago. And it wasn't that. It wasn't a problem necessarily that they were like, oh, yeah. Like, I was baptized by this person. Oh, yeah. But this person's my leader. Oh, I really like what this person says. Or, I really like listening to the sermons of this person to make it in common day. Right. [00:13:27] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:28] Speaker B: What the issue was is that they began identify. Identifying themselves by it. [00:13:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:13:34] Speaker B: Paul's just like, guys, identify yourself with Jesus and shut up about the rest. And that was the issue. Right. So like I said, like, it's all right to say, yeah, I love this preacher, but don't identify yourself by that preacher. [00:13:49] Speaker A: Yep. [00:13:51] Speaker B: I don't mind if we have denominations and we have differences of opinions on scripture, but don't identify yourself by the differences of your opinions. Identify yourself by the gospel. And that's, let's give it away. How do we solve division in the church? Identify yourself and let the gospel permeate your entire life. [00:14:13] Speaker A: Yep. [00:14:14] Speaker B: We just gave it away, Matt. [00:14:15] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:14:16] Speaker B: Anyway, let's keep going then. It kind of. So that's Paul Apollos, everything else we talk about some sexual immorality in the church. Kick that dude out. [00:14:26] Speaker A: Yeah. It's another place. [00:14:27] Speaker B: We can't go there today. [00:14:28] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a lot. It's a lot to do. [00:14:31] Speaker B: 25 minutes, but just. Spoiler alert. Second Corinthians. The dude in one corinthians get kicked out. Second Corinthians, he gets brought back in with brotherly affection. [00:14:40] Speaker A: It's a beautiful story. [00:14:41] Speaker B: Great story. Yeah. Let's just skip through the rest and dive straight into chapter ten, which comes out of a context of talking about idols and freedom. [00:14:54] Speaker A: Do we want to touch on why? Why is the church struggling with idols? Yeah, why, like, what's going on? [00:15:00] Speaker B: Yeah, why give us some historical context, Matt. [00:15:03] Speaker A: Oh, I'll give, mate. I'll go for it, then. Well, Corinth, interesting city. Some people would just say it's greek. It was actually destroyed by the Romans in about 150 bc, because they didn't want to submit to the roman rule, so they got completely destroyed 50 years BC. Romans rebuilt it. Very greek city still. [00:15:24] Speaker B: Okay. [00:15:25] Speaker A: There's still a lot of Greeks going around. [00:15:27] Speaker B: They're in a trading spot, probably, especially in, like, culturally. [00:15:31] Speaker A: Culturally, yeah. There's a lot of cultural things that are greek still with roman appearance, and there's a lot of temples from Rome. They're still trying to appease people from greek. So there's a lot of temples from greek gods and stuff like that. [00:15:43] Speaker B: People. [00:15:43] Speaker A: There are also two made trade ports that are in current, making some money. A lot of people coming in and out and traveling through big trade routes. So lot of different. Oh, there's also as well, I'm pretty sure in acts it mentions that there's a synagogue. So there's jewish people, there's greek people, there is roman people. Like, there's a bunch of different beliefs over there. [00:16:04] Speaker B: It would probably be safe to say that the letter to the corinthian church is predominantly to gentiles. [00:16:10] Speaker A: Predominantly, yes. [00:16:11] Speaker B: There's a few Jews in there, but a lot of the theology that you covered, it's like, you know, it's not a jewish letter, unlike when you read things like from Peter or James and things like that. It's very much predominately to the Gentiles, which, again, Paul was the apostle to the gentiles, which adds to the context of why they were struggling with idols. [00:16:30] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:16:30] Speaker B: Because they would come out of a religion where they sacrificed idols. [00:16:35] Speaker A: And I was reading as well. I'm not going to go down this rabbit hole. But for most people, it wasn't outrageous for them to serve multiple gods. It wasn't like multiple gods. It's. I'm offending one God by having a jewel. No, no. It was just like, oh, that. This isn't working for you. Go to the sun God, mate. [00:16:51] Speaker B: Placing your bets. [00:16:51] Speaker A: Go to another God, mate. [00:16:52] Speaker B: Yes. [00:16:53] Speaker A: Just keep. Just go around until that didn't work. [00:16:55] Speaker B: So let's try another one. [00:16:56] Speaker A: And so everyone's doing that. And so christians like, oh, that's acceptable. Does that mean we can serve God? And. [00:17:01] Speaker B: Mm hmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Then we jump into chapter ten. And I love the. Paul says this a few times. He's like, I do not want you to be unaware, brothers. It's a great one. He says it later on, which we'll get to, and he tells them, don't be idolaters. He talks about Moses, all of that sort of thing, and he starts to have a discussion about eating food in temples or food that has been sacrificed to idols. This is a hard concept for us in the modern day world. So we're not going to apply this directly. [00:17:43] Speaker A: Yes. [00:17:44] Speaker B: So what's our first question we always ask in biblical interpretation, Matt, what did. [00:17:48] Speaker A: It mean to them? [00:17:49] Speaker B: What did it mean to them? Don't care what it means to me yet. So maybe let's jump in at. We might skip down a little bit. [00:18:02] Speaker A: Yep. [00:18:05] Speaker B: Verse 20. [00:18:06] Speaker A: Do you want me to read? Yeah, to where do you want me to read to? [00:18:09] Speaker B: Just keep reading. [00:18:09] Speaker A: Just keep reading. No, I imply that pagan sacrifice. Oh, hang on, I'm just gonna read you that, man. No, I imply that what pagan sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? [00:18:34] Speaker B: Let's pause there. Pause there. Yeah. Partaking of the table. The cup of demons versus the cup of the Lord. Cup of the Lord or the table of the Lord. What's the kind of thing that we're talking about there? [00:18:46] Speaker A: I'm assuming communion. [00:18:47] Speaker B: Yeah, communion. The Lord's supper. This comes from the idea that when you worship a goddess, there is a meal, a covenantal meal, that you have in worship to that God. So for us, it's obviously communion is our covenantal meal. Don't have time to unpack that. I'll be here for hours. [00:19:06] Speaker A: That's a whole nother podcast. [00:19:09] Speaker B: Communion is our covenantal meal that we take in worship and in union to God. So therefore, if you eat a meal in another temple, which the food has been sacrificed to another God, which Paul says is actually behind the idols, is demons. Not gods, but demons, you are worshipping and unifying yourself with whatever the food has been sacrificed to. [00:19:41] Speaker A: That's hefty. Yeah, it's not good. [00:19:44] Speaker B: Yeah, that's why it's like, you know, don't participate. That's the same word that comes out when we talk about communion. Not just, I'm eating, no, I'm participating in something. Right. So he's like, hey, don't do that. You can't participate in the table of the Lord and the table of demons because it's worship. And they were doing this. And I love the phrase, I can't remember who said this to me first, but like, um, the idea that back in the day, temples were like restaurants. [00:20:17] Speaker A: That'S such an interesting. Yeah, that's so cool. [00:20:20] Speaker B: But it's like, you know, for celebrations, they wouldn't. For a birthday, they wouldn't go to the, to the restaurant, they go to the temple. So if you were having a religious celebration or a celebration of sorts and that you were friends with non believers, non Christians, you'd be like, hey, guys, come. Come to my temple to celebrate whatever celebration we're celebrating. And the Christian was like, oh, yeah, I can do that. But Paul's like, yeah, but you're eating food that is in an act of worship to that God. Read the next phrase, the next sentence. [00:20:57] Speaker A: This is the one most of us know, but in context, it makes a big sense. All things are lawful, and he's quoting them there. But not everything is helpful. All things are lawful, but not everything builds up. [00:21:09] Speaker B: Yeah, I love the, I love that you said there. He's quoting them. So he would have heard that the corinthian church had said something along those lines. Hey. [00:21:19] Speaker A: Yep. [00:21:20] Speaker B: But he's like, he's like, yeah, you're right. He's not saying you're wrong. Yet in Christ, everything's up for grabs. [00:21:29] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:21:30] Speaker B: But that doesn't mean everything is helpful, because now the measure is not. Can I do it? Am I allowed to do it? [00:21:39] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:21:39] Speaker B: The measure now is. Is this beneficial? Beneficial to who, Matt? [00:21:46] Speaker A: To yourself, but also the body. [00:21:47] Speaker B: Oh, so that means other people's benefit impinges on my freedom. Mm hmm. [00:21:53] Speaker A: And the way I steward that, it's important. [00:21:56] Speaker B: That sucks. So I can't just be free. It means I have to think about other people as well. [00:22:01] Speaker A: Cause if people see me eating meat, that is, they know has been sacrificed. [00:22:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:07] Speaker A: Does that mean if they're a weaker christian, I'm pretty sure he starts going into this. [00:22:10] Speaker B: What are they? [00:22:11] Speaker A: Would the stumbling block rule? It's like, if they see that, is that gonna, like, prohibit their freedom? [00:22:17] Speaker B: Yeah. Cause he does. We're not gonna read it, but he does go on. And I reckon he's quoting them again where he was like, yeah, like, you might be strong enough, and I'm paraphrasing. Yeah, you might be strong enough to go into the temple and not stumble, but what about those that watch you, that are not strong enough, that are less mature, that have less understanding? They see you doing that and think, oh, I can do that then. But then they go and stumble. Your freedom has led someone else astray. Astray. It's very contrary to the world. [00:22:51] Speaker A: Hey, it's not just about me, me, me. [00:22:54] Speaker B: How does my choices affect you. My freedom. It's my freedom. Shouldn't matter. I can do whatever I want as long as it doesn't impact you. Yeah, but it's like the reality is all of our freedoms impact each other, right? [00:23:06] Speaker A: Well, that's your problem. You gotta worry about that. [00:23:10] Speaker B: I can do what I want. If it makes you stumble, that's a you issue. Yeah, but Paul's saying, no, no, no, no, because my heart's right before God. Yeah, but Paul's like, hold up, hold up. My desire is that we are unified. Go back and listen to the rest of this season. Why does that matter? What does it mean to be part of the body? You don't get a choice in the matter. You are part of the body when you're grafted into Christ. So now I need to do things that benefit the body of Christ. And it's not about us anymore. But the beautiful thing is, when it's not about us, when it's about the body, we ultimately benefit from that anyway. [00:23:50] Speaker A: That's good, man. [00:23:51] Speaker B: We're getting gold out of this, Matt. [00:23:52] Speaker A: Good. There's a lot of good stuff. [00:23:54] Speaker B: So how do we. How are we pulling this out? Well, he's gone on this discussion in chapter eight about food offered to idols. You know, if it's from the meat market, you can eat it because you don't know what idol is offered to. So don't worry about it. Has no power. But he's then going, hey, but if you go into the temple and you eat the table of the demon, essentially you eat the food before the idol, you're now worshipping, you're partaking of it. How do we apply that today? Well, we don't need to worry about food sacrifice to idols. [00:24:21] Speaker A: Thank you, Jesus. [00:24:23] Speaker B: But we did. [00:24:25] Speaker A: I would be concerned. [00:24:26] Speaker B: Yeah, but we then do need to think about, okay. Their issue wasn't just food sacrifice to idols. Their issue was that they weren't considering others and they were only worried about what they got to do in their own freedom. So there's our application. It's not direct. First question, what did it mean to them? Second question, how do I apply that today? And we've done that. Anything to add, Matt, before we move on? [00:24:55] Speaker A: Nothing. That's good. [00:24:56] Speaker B: Cool. I'm going to jump straight out here and say chapter eleven from verses two to verse 16. We're not going to talk about. [00:25:06] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:25:08] Speaker B: Very bluntly. The reason is we. I can. I'll speak for myself, but I know you will agree with this. I do not have enough understanding and enough study at this point in time to give a helpful direction on how to interpret that passage. To some, that's going to sound like a cop out, but I actually think I could do more damage if I gave you a half cooked example and a half cooked explanation. It would probably lead you astray. [00:25:44] Speaker A: It's not good. [00:25:45] Speaker B: So I'm just going to say, hey, I've got some thoughts about it. I have some initial opinions about it, but we're not going to talk about it today. And what, like, if you've got questions about that, let's chat. I'm not saying I don't want to talk about it. I'm just saying I'm not going to put it on a podcast when we can't have that conversation because it's not very well formulated. And to be honest, I read something from a scholar. He was the most honest scholar. I loved it. And he was like, look, there's 40 different interpretations for this passage. So I. And he's like, I'm even confused yet still. And obviously scholars are confused. I was like, oh, thank you. But quick pointer. Some things in epistles, we do not have enough context to understand, and that's just a fact of the matter. So that does not say we will never understand, but we need to be humble enough to say, I don't know enough about this text to give a faithful interpretation. I can give you an interpretation, but it wouldn't be faithful. And so what's the use? Is that good, Matt? [00:26:53] Speaker A: Very good. Wise? [00:26:55] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:26:56] Speaker A: Like, many people would offer their two cent on this. And for people, like, at least for myself, with half a year of Bible culture experience, compared to people who have dedicated their lives to studying corinthians, I just don't feel like it. [00:27:11] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, I. So let's jump in at verse 17. Hey. [00:27:15] Speaker A: Yes, the Lord's supper. [00:27:16] Speaker B: I'll read this out, and then you can give some thoughts, Matt. But in the following instructions, I do not commend you. Get it, Paul? Because when you come together, it is not for the better, but for the worst. Like, hey, guys, when you gather as a church, it's not good. It's actually bad. Like, mate. For in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that you are in you, that there are divisions among you, and I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized. When you come together, it is not the Lord's supper that you eat. Get it, Paul? Translate again. When you gather together, as a church, it is not communion that you are having when you eat the bread and drink the cup. Don't think you're eating communion. And he goes on, for in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. Can you explain that? What, like, for in eating. So obviously in eating the Lord's supper, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. [00:28:26] Speaker A: The answer, I think, is in that verse. You've obviously then got some people in the church who have enough food to go ahead and eat, and then some people to go and get drunk. They're up there feasting. [00:28:38] Speaker B: So some people have a lot, they've. [00:28:40] Speaker A: Got a lot of food. But then there's some people, obviously, that Paul needs to address it, that there's people who don't have food. People, they've like, I've got no food to eat. And you're feasting and stuff. And so at the same time, I've got, I'm going hungry. Like she says in the next verse, some of you go hungry, and then, and then some of you, like, go and feast. He's like, what on earth are you doing? [00:28:58] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:28:58] Speaker A: So there's no sense of. It's not like family dinner. [00:29:03] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:29:03] Speaker A: People aren't like. And not that it's just about that, but also in partaking communion, people aren't eating. Unified. [00:29:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Even that line, like, each one goes ahead with his own meal. [00:29:14] Speaker A: It's like, oh, I'm fine. [00:29:16] Speaker B: Or even I rocked up early, so I'm going to eat, and I'm not going to wait for everyone else in my own meal when I'm pretty sure, like, you know, the twelve disciples first, you know, the last supper, the, you know, the, the pattern that they're, they're working off. They ate of the same loaf of bread. [00:29:36] Speaker A: Yes. [00:29:37] Speaker B: And they drank from the same cup. [00:29:40] Speaker A: Yep. [00:29:40] Speaker B: And here we have people eating their own meal and drinking their own cup. [00:29:46] Speaker A: It's interesting. [00:29:47] Speaker B: Yeah. So it's that individualistic mindset again, right? Yeah. So there's, he's already starting to say, hey, it's not the Lord's supper. Why? Because you do it individually. He goes on verse 22, what, do you not have houses to eat and drink in? See, he's reinforcing. When you're coming together in this way, it's not the Lord's supper. So just do it at home. Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. For I receive from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night that he was parted, took bread. When he gave thanks, he broke it. See, it's that breaking of the same bread, and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also, he took the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he has come. You proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. [00:30:51] Speaker A: What does that mean, Thomas? [00:30:53] Speaker B: It's saying, you proclaim the gospel until he comes back. And what do I like? Why is that? Because the distinctive of the gospel is the resurrection of Christ. So thankful for the cross. Thankful Jesus died means nothing if he didn't raise to life. [00:31:10] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, and he goes and talks about that, doesn't he, at the end of the book, which we'll get into. [00:31:14] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. So he's bringing it back to that. Hey, it's not the Lord's supper because you forget what I, what I brought to you, which I was given by Christ. Which was the gospel. Yeah, that's what he's saying. You're forgetting the gospel. So how is it, Matt, that they're forgetting the gospel? So, you know, they, they're eating alone, they're starting early that some of them are getting drunk because they have too much, others don't have any. And Paul's saying you're doing this because you forget the gospel. What's the connection there? [00:31:46] Speaker A: So there has to be then some connection between the impact of the gospel and the way that I'm living in the community that I'm living in. [00:31:54] Speaker B: Yep. [00:31:55] Speaker A: So if the gospel, like, we were just chatting about this before, but if the gospel only is about me and not about what I'm saved into, what I mean by that, saved into the family of God. [00:32:06] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:32:07] Speaker A: Yes. We're saved into heaven, into the reconciliation to the Father, God the father, we're sons and daughters. But that means if we're all sons and daughters are gods of one father, we're saved into a family. [00:32:17] Speaker B: Yeah. If you're a son of God and I'm a son of God, that means we're brothers. [00:32:20] Speaker A: Exactly. [00:32:21] Speaker B: By extension. Right. It's not even, and this is covenantal language. [00:32:25] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:32:26] Speaker B: It's the idea that you have entered into relationship with one and therefore you are in relationship with all that are in that relationship. Ephesians two says he has broken the dividing wall down, the dividing wall of hostility. So it's like Jesus has broken down any division in the church. So if you are building divisions back up in the church, I've said this on this, on this season so many times, if you are putting division back into the church, you are undoing the work of Christ in his body. [00:32:57] Speaker A: Yep. [00:32:57] Speaker B: So what Paul is saying, by eating individually rather than eating the Lord's supper, which is meant to, again, covenantal meal, unify the body, we should be more unified after we take communion. [00:33:11] Speaker A: Yep. [00:33:12] Speaker B: That's the purpose. [00:33:13] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:33:14] Speaker B: It's to unify. [00:33:16] Speaker A: And I mean, like, even I was thinking about this earlier, if the way we approach the gospel in our lives and apply it to our own lives is just about making me right with Goddesse and doesn't permeate through my life, we haven't let it done its full work yet. [00:33:32] Speaker B: It hasn't made us right. [00:33:33] Speaker A: There's more to do in us. [00:33:34] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Reconciliation. The father means reconciliation to each other. [00:33:39] Speaker A: It's horizontal and vertical. [00:33:41] Speaker B: Yeah. I love it. I love it. Let's maybe pick out a couple of scriptures just in the back end of chapter eleven. Cause, man, we're talking a lot. I love it. But we got a lot to cover. What's this in verse 27, if they eats the bread, drinks the cup in an unworthy manner, they will be guilty. What's that unworthy manner? [00:34:07] Speaker A: I think we've been taught that it's just if you've got sin in your life. [00:34:10] Speaker B: Yep. [00:34:11] Speaker A: But I think it's not just that. [00:34:12] Speaker B: So, yeah, I just, so I make sure this is clear. It is that. It is that, but not just go on and. [00:34:19] Speaker A: But when you read it in context, Paul's talking more about the disunity being the problem. So, yes, it's my unworthy manner. If I've got sin in my life and there's things that I need to bring to God. Yeah. Repent and just get good with God and then partake. But also, if you're not living in like, unity as a family of God, then that also. It's implied that that is also a not right manner. [00:34:45] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:34:46] Speaker A: Eat and drink the Lord's supper in. [00:34:48] Speaker B: Yeah. Elsewhere, I mean, I should have found this scripture reference, but elsewhere it says that if you come to the Lord's supper and you have an offense with another go away reconcile, then come back. [00:35:01] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:35:02] Speaker B: And we spoke about that in another, in another podcast of this season. So I won't go into too much more detail on that. Anything else you want to just pick out, like, a sentence that we might need to explain? [00:35:12] Speaker A: What does it mean? This could be a rabbit hole. [00:35:15] Speaker B: Here we go. [00:35:16] Speaker A: Verse 30. Paul says, that's why. Because you guys aren't doing this in unity. That's why some of you have fallen ill and died. [00:35:23] Speaker B: Yeah, there's a lot to talk about with that. [00:35:27] Speaker A: That's one that we unfortunately may just not understand. [00:35:30] Speaker B: Yeah. That is. Yeah. We might need some more context, because there's a lot of assumption there. Because Paul's saying something that they would have experienced, that we have not necessarily experienced. An example could simply be that, you know, I'll give a practical example. This is one part I'm not saying. This is the interpretation. This is like, 10% of the interpretation. Simply could be that those that were poor and didn't have food, the Lord's supper, would have been a way for them to actually have sustenance. And the family of God should have been sharing everything together, like in acts. And so if they're eating the Lord's supper in a way that the poorest of their community do not have access to food and drink, falling ill and dying from lack of food. So that's a very practical interpretation. It's, again, something we won't know because we haven't experienced what they're saying. And we could be here for an hour if we went any further than that. [00:36:30] Speaker A: Matt, they're not confused about why he said that. [00:36:33] Speaker B: Yeah, they aren't confused. So one day, maybe we'll figure it out. [00:36:37] Speaker A: Yep. [00:36:38] Speaker B: Okay, let's delve into the last topic, which is not a small topic. We'll see if we can go. 10, 10, 15 minutes, Matt, we'll go from here. [00:36:47] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:36:48] Speaker B: Again, changing topic. Right. Twelve, chapter twelve, verse one. Now, concerning spiritual gifts. Brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. Now, concerning. So he's going, hey, I'm addressing something that I've heard about changing tax here. Before we go on that spiritual gifts. You've done some greek, Matt. [00:37:09] Speaker A: I have done some spiritual gifts and Greek. [00:37:12] Speaker B: You can. [00:37:12] Speaker A: Sorry, my brain just. [00:37:14] Speaker B: You can correct me if I'm wrong. But that word, it's a noun that can be directly translated as. Now, concerning the spirituals. [00:37:26] Speaker A: That is correct. [00:37:26] Speaker B: So some people translate it. Now, concerning spiritual people, because, again, it's a noun. We don't have a noun like that in the english language. And so they've provided a noun with the adjective of spiritual. So the direct translation is probably more now concerning the spirituals, what that means. We'll go through that, but, yeah. So our translations will say gifts or people in order to provide the noun where our language can't directly translate challenges. Cool. I don't want you to be uninformed. You were pagans. You were led astray to mute idols. However you were led. Therefore, I want you to understand, no one speaking in the spirit of God ever says Jesus is accursed. And no one can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit. No one can say Jesus is Lord except in the Holy Spirit. Just like straight away. Romans, chapter ten, believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord. Confess with your mouth that he was raised from the dead and you will be saved. Paul just exemplifies the theology then, that the only way you are saved is by the Holy Spirit. So when we say saved by grace, grace is not enacted after you have believed in Jesus. [00:38:55] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:38:57] Speaker B: Paul's saying, hey, the grace of God is the only way that you even believed. [00:39:02] Speaker A: Yep. And is what was pursuing you before you even came to the decision. [00:39:07] Speaker B: That's good. [00:39:10] Speaker A: It is ongoing. That's why he says. That's why he says, because it's the gospel of grace. He says at the start of this letter, he said, the gospel is the power of God to those who believe. [00:39:20] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:39:20] Speaker A: Not just to those who haven't believed yet. [00:39:22] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. It's. Yeah, that's awesome. [00:39:24] Speaker A: But for me, who believes, it is still the power of God and was. It's cool. [00:39:30] Speaker B: Yeah. Do you think that maybe he's starting the discussion about spiritual gifts with that, of going, hey, there's only one spirit. No one can say Jesus the Lord, essentially. No one can enter into relationship with God except by the Holy Spirit. Do you think he might be starting the discussion about spiritual gifts so that they are at that place of essentially the gospel. [00:39:51] Speaker A: Yep. [00:39:52] Speaker B: So that they have the right framework. [00:39:54] Speaker A: Yep. And. Cause how's the Holy Spirit referenced, as. He's referenced as a gift, so he's almost triggering the mind. [00:40:04] Speaker B: And I've never even made that connection. He's starting the conversation about spiritual gifting by talking about the gift. [00:40:12] Speaker A: And before we even. Even get into that chapter, back in chapter four, he highlighted this before when I was reading because there's almost this type of attitude that they've got, like, oh, like, they're almost boasting, like, oh, you know, I'm operating in spiritual gifts. [00:40:25] Speaker B: I've got it all together. [00:40:26] Speaker A: And he says this in chapter four, verse seven, he says, what do you have that you didn't receive. You received it. It was a gift. If you then received it, why do you boast like you didn't receive it? It's not like, oh, yeah, I've got this together. I prophesy over people, speak in tongues, work in miracles. It's like, no, no, you got it as a gift just the same way you receive the Holy Spirit. [00:40:50] Speaker B: And the only reason you are in relationship right now is because of the gift of the Holy Spirit. [00:40:57] Speaker A: That's it. [00:40:58] Speaker B: I've never made that connection. Matt, that's awesome. [00:41:01] Speaker A: And even in Galatians, he says that, like, did you receive the spirit by works of the law or by just hearing by faith? [00:41:09] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:41:10] Speaker A: Implying the answer is, I just heard, and I received it from God for free. [00:41:16] Speaker B: Man, I could sit on that for hours. [00:41:17] Speaker A: Good. [00:41:18] Speaker B: I love this. Reading the Bible. Now, there are variety. Everyone's probably like, okay, Tom, move on. I'm sorry. I'm just like, this is awesome. Anyway, verse four. Now, there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit. And I like that connection. Then it's like the gift Holy Spirit enables the variety of. I think maybe a better translation would be a variety of manifestations of that one gift. Yes, maybe. Perhaps it's only one gift, but there's a variety of manifestations of him. [00:41:48] Speaker A: That's it. [00:41:50] Speaker B: And there are varieties of service, but the same lord. And there are varieties of activities, but it's the same God who empowers them all in everyone. Essentially, it's just all holy spirit. It's all gone to each is given the manifestation of that spirit. Why everybody say it out loud? For the common good. [00:42:09] Speaker A: For the common good. [00:42:11] Speaker B: So why can I prophesy, Matt, it's. [00:42:14] Speaker A: For the common good. [00:42:15] Speaker B: Why do I speak in tongues? [00:42:16] Speaker A: It's for the common good. [00:42:17] Speaker B: Why do I cast out demons? [00:42:21] Speaker A: It's all because of me. Nah, I'm joking. It's all for the common good. [00:42:24] Speaker B: And why do I see healings? [00:42:25] Speaker A: All for the common good. [00:42:27] Speaker B: Great. I'm glad we got that straight. For to one is given through the spirit, the utterance of wisdom to another, the utterance of knowledge according to the same spirit to another, faith by the same spirit to another, gifts of healing by this, one spirit to another, the working of miracles to another, prophecy to another, the ability to distinguish between spirits or discernment to another. Various kinds of tongues. Yeah, there's types of tongues to another, the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same spirit who apportions to each one individually as he wills. Great. So why, again, it's all for the common good. Great. We're getting that straight. That's good. Why did he have to keep saying, like, why is this a big deal for the corinthian church? [00:43:16] Speaker A: Well, it's like, as a parent, if you keep repeating something to a kid, it's probably because you want them to get it. They probably, yeah, they probably didn't get that it was for the common good. [00:43:24] Speaker B: So do we have any maybe context to know? I mean, you chatted about a little bit to know that they weren't using their gifts for the common good. [00:43:32] Speaker A: Yeah, I think it's probably a little bit further down where he talks. I can't remember exactly where he talks. He says, like, if I am, if, like, if, you know, one is speaking in a tongue and this happens and they're not interpreting, they're not getting built up. He's describing situations that they're obviously doing, like speech, like prophesying and like, you know, there's not unity. There's not like, order in the, in the church service. But, but ultimately people aren't being built up. [00:44:01] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:44:01] Speaker A: They're not being encouraged. [00:44:02] Speaker B: So the, so there's, there's two, you know, chapter four you were talking about before where they were using their gifts as a sign of elitism. Yeah, I'm better than you because I speak in tongues, or I'm better than you because I can do this. And he's like, no, it's all the same spirit. So how can you say that you are better? Because you prophesy when it's the same spirit that prophesies as the one that speaks in tongues. So it can't be better because it's the same. So that's one context. They're using it as elitism and the other one that you just raised there, the way I'd maybe summarize, they are doing it to prove themselves in the gathering rather than to build up each other and glorify God in the gathering. Cool. Let's keep moving on. For the body. For just as the body is one, as many members, all of the members of the body, though many are one, so it is with Christ. For in one spirit, we are all baptized into one body. Jews or Greeks, slaves or free, and all have been made to drink of one spirit. For the body does not consist of one member, but many. If the foot should say, because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, that would not make it any less part of the body. Notice no matter how you misidentify yourself or you misunderstand yourself. You don't get a choice. If you're a part of the body, that's good. If you're in Christ, you're a part of the body. No choices. If the ear should say the same thing, that would not make it any less part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where's the sense of hearing? If the whole body were in here, where's the sense of smell? As it is, God arranged the members of the body, each one as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. Don't think we need to go into too much detail about this. It's good to read it, though. [00:45:56] Speaker A: It preaches itself. [00:45:57] Speaker B: Yeah. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. Nor, again, the head to the feet. On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem weaker are indispensable. And on those parts of the body that we think less honourable, we bestow the greater honor. And our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty. Which are more presentable. Parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body. Gods arranged the body so that there's no division. [00:46:29] Speaker A: Yep. [00:46:31] Speaker B: So stop trying to be another part of the body, because by trying to be something you're not, you're probably causing division. [00:46:39] Speaker A: It's good if you have the repetitive language as well. He's like, all of it comes back to that. There may be no division. That's like, just a grabbing mark there. [00:46:49] Speaker B: Yeah. I'm think, like, you know, oh, I want to. I want to be the one that prophesies from platform. Because I think it'd be great for everyone to see me do it. And God's like, but by trying to do that, you're not doing what I've called you to and therefore you're causing division. [00:47:06] Speaker A: Yeah, it's good. [00:47:07] Speaker B: Hey, that's good. [00:47:10] Speaker A: I also love, like, I had this highlighted verse 22. He says, on the contrary, like, contrary to the way that we even think about things. [00:47:18] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:19] Speaker A: The parts of the body that are weak, that seem to be weak. It's not even that. Are weaker. They. It says that seem to be weaker. [00:47:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:27] Speaker A: Are indispensable. And I always think of, like, the pinky toe and the toes. [00:47:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:31] Speaker A: If you didn't have toes, man. I actually. I've heard people say that if you don't have toes. It is so difficult to stand. [00:47:38] Speaker B: Well, I mean, I'll use an example. So I've broken my big toe before. Like, a fracture straight, like, down from the joint through. Yeah. I was in a moon boot. I fractured my toe and your whole. And I had to wear an entire moon boot. And I will say that was one of the most painful injuries I've had. It was my toe. [00:48:02] Speaker A: Mm hmm. [00:48:04] Speaker B: It's like, the smallest part, and, like, I had to rehab it, like, the different things I had to do just for my toe so I could actually run properly again. I didn't think a big toe was that big of a deal, but there we go. [00:48:16] Speaker A: It's like, we think we're all good until, like, one part of your body's not. [00:48:21] Speaker B: Say, I'm gonna jump ahead, which is. [00:48:24] Speaker A: Literally the next part that it talks about. If one of them is hurting, then the whole. [00:48:27] Speaker B: Exactly. So I'm gonna jump a bit ahead. Just before chapter 13, I will show you still a more excellent way. Hold up. So, verse 31, but earnestly desire the higher gifts. So he's saying, hey, desire the gifts, but I'm still gonna show you a better way. So there's a better way than just desiring the gifts. If I phrase it that way, if I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. Here's the better way. Desire the gifts, but the better way is do it in love. [00:49:05] Speaker A: Do you want me to read this part? [00:49:06] Speaker B: Yeah, read it. [00:49:07] Speaker A: Yeah. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, it's too different. But I've not love. [00:49:15] Speaker B: Good. [00:49:16] Speaker A: Yeah. There's two different. So tongues of men. It's like preaching in tongues in an earthly language or heavenly language. There seems to be a distinction there. [00:49:26] Speaker B: Yep. [00:49:26] Speaker A: But I don't have love. I'm a noise gone clang symbol. If I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries, if I have all knowledge, if I have all faith, so much that I could remove mountains, but I do not have love. It's nothing. If I give away all I have and I'm so generous, and I'd even deliver my body up to be burned. Some translations say that I may, you know, deliver my body up to death, that I may be burnt or whatever that I might boast, maybe. But I don't have love. I gain nothing. I am struck by how I do not think by that marker. Yet I still. Every time I read this, I'm like, yeah, but I can prophesy and, you know, there's moments where I've got so much faith in the Lord's, like, you can have all of that, not have love. [00:50:14] Speaker B: But even it's like if you're. I'll just use prophecy as an example. If you're prophesying over someone but you don't love that person, your prophecy is probably going to be inadequate and going to be missing the greater intention of goddess because God loves that person, and it's his words over that person. So if you don't deliver his words, which are dripping in love with love, we've done a disservice to God and. [00:50:42] Speaker A: To the person who's hearing it. [00:50:44] Speaker B: Yeah, jumping ahead. Just verse eight, love never ends. [00:50:48] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:50:49] Speaker B: As for the prophecies, they will pass away. Now, we're not talking about. They've already passed away. They will pass away. It's talking about when Jesus comes back. It's very hard to prophesy in eternity. As for tongues, they will cease. Why? Again, we'll be with God. As for knowledge, it'll pass away because we'll know all things. Because we'll be with the one that is knowledge. [00:51:10] Speaker A: Yep. [00:51:12] Speaker B: For we will. We know in part now, and we prophesy in part. But when the perfect comes, the perfect, that's talking about eternity, the partial will pass. It's talking about the fact that God, Jesus, has done everything and it is finished, but it is only a partial fulfillment currently in the natural. Yeah, I just wanted to explain some of that stuff. [00:51:35] Speaker A: It's good. [00:51:36] Speaker B: I think we can jump into chapter 14. [00:51:38] Speaker A: Can I just. Before we say that. [00:51:40] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:51:40] Speaker A: It's like we've seen two pendulum swings. It's like we've seen one side of. This is a correction in how you. [00:51:47] Speaker B: Should use your gifts for common good. [00:51:50] Speaker A: Common good as part of the body swinging one way and then the other side is like, okay, but just use it in love. And it's swing on the other side. [00:51:56] Speaker B: Yeah. It's almost like, but hey, the gifts don't matter. It's just love. [00:51:59] Speaker A: Yeah. And some people there are these days who people will, I think the challenge is to forget to. They're like, nah, like, just live in love and you don't need the gifts. I'm not going to worry about that. Or people who live in the gifts, but they still need to learn the love side. And then you jump into verse, chapter 14, verse one. And he says this, and it summarizes both of them. The pendulum comes to the middle. He says, pursue love and desire the spiritual gifts. So somehow there is a place in maturity in God where we are living fully in love and with the expression of the Holy Spirit being used in love. So it's really good. At the same time, really, really good. [00:52:36] Speaker B: We're going to start to wrap up. This is going to be our last chapter we go through with 14 because it brings it all together. Just as you're saying. For one speaks in a tongue. This is verse two, speaks not to men, but to God, for one, for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the spirit. On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. The one who speaks, and this is a key scripture that we need to understand. The one who speaks in a tongue builds himself up. Paul is not saying that that is inferior. Paul is not saying that that is a problem. And he's currently talking about praying in tongues. If I'm praying in tongues, it stirs my faith. It makes me become more bold. It's doing something for me if I pray in tongues. But the one who prophesied builds up the church because I'm speaking God's word to someone, I'm encouraging them. I'm calling out destiny in theme that is going to build the church up. Praying in tongues builds me up, builds my faith. Prophecy builds the entire body's faith. That's the distinction there. He's not saying one's inferior. I want to reemphasize that. Now. I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. Why? Verse twelve? For the common good. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues. Again, it's because they saw tongues as something that they were. It's I speak in tongues. It's the best. [00:54:10] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:54:11] Speaker B: So he's over correcting here because he comes back and he kind of starts to contradict it anyway, unless someone interprets so that the church may be built up. Again. He's talking now like that line, unless someone interprets very clear, there's praying in tongues, and then there's prophesying in tongues. And prophesying in tongues requires interpretation because how can anyone be built up by something they don't understand? Praying in tongues does not require interpretation. So the distinction here is, okay, is the person on platform speaking to me, or are they speaking to God? If they are speaking to goddess, uttering mysteries by the spirit, they do not need an interpretation because it's to God. [00:55:05] Speaker A: Yeah. They're leading us in praying in tongues. [00:55:08] Speaker B: Yeah. Or they're just trying to build themselves up so that they can then launch into a ministry moment or something like that. So I'm speaking to God. Okay. It's like if I'm in my secret place and I speak in tongues, I don't need someone to interpret my tongues. I'm the only one in the room, but I'm speaking to goddesse. Okay. But if I'm going to then speak to someone in tongues, that needs interpretation. Yeah, that's very, very simple. [00:55:32] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:55:33] Speaker B: Um, I think we do need to start to wrap up that this is a. [00:55:38] Speaker A: There's a lot of stuff in this. [00:55:40] Speaker B: Yeah, I feel like we've covered some. Some helpful things to keep reading. Um, so I pray that you guys can keep reading, ask them some questions. We've got a Q and a episode coming up in two weeks, so they can ask us a bunch of questions around this sort of stuff. But ultimately, where we wanted to get to with some of this is Paul is teaching them to steward things for the common good and for the glory of God, which is the building up of his body. And he first talks about stewarding freedom, then talks about stewarding the Lord's table, the supper stewarding resource, how much food you have, how much wine you have. He then starts to talk about stewarding gifts and stewarding the gift of the Holy Spirit. That's a good time. [00:56:31] Speaker A: We've had some good fun. [00:56:33] Speaker B: Any last thoughts, Matt, before we wrap up? [00:56:34] Speaker A: Nah, just. Thanks for having me. [00:56:36] Speaker B: It's been. [00:56:37] Speaker A: It's been fun to jump on. [00:56:38] Speaker B: It's been a pleasure, mate. I've learned things, so it's been a good time. And I felt Holy Spirit speaking. So I pray that anyone listening that you have felt built up, that this has felt like it's been for your good and not just for our good. So, yeah, we'll chat soon in the next episodes. And please do ask questions. Send us those questions because we will do a Q and A on any of the topics of season two. Chat soon.