1 Corinthians 14:20-25 Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults. In the Law it is written: “Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me,” says the Lord. Tongues, then, are a sign, not for believers but for unbelievers; prophecy, however, is for believers, not for unbelievers. So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind? But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!”
We who are IN CHRIST are in God's house, members of his family. Jesus Christ has birthed us through his salvation. We were dead in sins, but now are alive IN CHRIST. Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house, but only as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. But Christ, the faithful Son, was in charge of the entire household. And we are God’s household, if we keep up our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ. (Hebrews 3:5-6) We should not be infants in considering evil. We know that everything outside of the spiritual world, that which exists in the wilderness of this life, will not feed us. We are not sustained or built up spiritually by the natural aspects of our lives but by the supernatural movement of God within us. Therefore, we should know as spiritual beings we live by every word that comes from the household of God where the Spirit dwells. As Jesus said when He was tempted by the devil in the desert, Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. (Matthew 4:4) Our lives depend on us hearing the voice of God with our inner ears. Concomitantly, we also live by the activities and words of God expressed through the church. Paul tells us to think as adults as we exercise our faith. God's words through the unctions of the Holy Spirit, whether tongues or prophecy, should be heeded by the members of the church. One is for the edification of the individual and the other for the edification of the community of believers. The carnal man might be impressed by the phenomenon of tongues, but on the whole unless he comes to God, he will probably consider the actions of the Holy Spirit: tongues or prophecy, as nothing more than man's inventions, made up by ignorant people, willing to believe in mysticism. But as members of God's household, we must take the movement of the Spirit in our lives and minds seriously, never discounting the Spirit's power and never attributing the Spirit's work to mere human engineering. We must accept God's presence in our lives as the Children of Israel believed in the cloud and pillar of fire that accompanied them through the desert.
The Children of Israel constantly experienced the presence of the Spirit of God as they journeyed through the wilderness. He never left them: cloud by day, fire by night. Even though He never left them and even though He provided marvelous miracles for them as they traversed the desert, they hardened their hearts. They failed to believe that God was capable of delivering them to the Promised Land. They chose to disbelieve his authority: his omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent power. Their hearts were hardened by unbelief, not fully understanding or recognizing the supernatural environment they lived in as they crossed the wilderness. This unbelief led to the fear that eventually kept God's people from entering into his promised rest in spite of all the miracles God performed for them. Even their sandals did not wear out in their difficult journey to the Promised Land. God was with them in every respect: water, food, clothing. They forgot God provisions were always in the NOW when they needed him, that He would be in the NOW as they conquered Canaan. God is the ageless God. His presence, his voice are today. The church of God lives in this milieu NOW. We are given spiritual ears to hear his voice. As we activate the faith within us, we will know God's voice. Jesus said, He who has ears, let him hear. (Matthew 11:15 As we discussed previously, God desires to minister to us through supernatural gifts of tongues and prophesy, gifts of the NOW. Tongues edify the individual; however, if there is an interpretation of the tongue, the message will edify the church. Those who have spiritual ears will hear God glorified through the message of the unknown tongue. However, if the interpretation is not given, the ears of the church will not receive an intelligible message; consequently, the church as a whole will benefit little. Of course, prophecy under the unction of the Holy Spirit benefits all who hear with a listening ear. Both gifts are given to us by the Spirit for our immediate benefit as we travel through this world of chaos: where outside of Christ, men and women do what is right in their own eyes. In Matthew 3, John says, I baptize with water those who turn from their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is far greater than I am—so much greater that I am not even worthy to be his slave. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. (vs 11) The church has been baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire. God is with us as surely as He was with the children of Israel as they journeyed from slavery to the Promised Land.
Can we say with the sinner who hears prophecy that exposes his innermost being, "God is really among you (US)!” Or have we become so jaded, so familiar with God's presence, that we discount his work in us and among us? Are our hearts hardened against the movement of the Holy Spirit? Do we disbelieve, not affirming that God is speaking to us, using the gifts of tongues and prophecy? Do we have ears to hear the nuances of all the world has to offer, but they are not attuned to God's voice? Do we live our lives thinking the only way to know God is through Christian scholarship, as if understanding the God of the past will help us believe God's presence is with us NOW? We must not forget that we are people of faith who walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7) If we consider God's desire to be with us in the NOW as only a figment of our imaginations, we will die in the desert, never entering God's promised rest. The voice of this world will drown out the reality of a supernatural God who has birthed supernatural children. We must be alive to the Spirit of God or we will lose the passion to follow God. If we lose this passion, there will be no enthusiasm to conquer Canaan, to face the giants in the land. When Moses sent his men to spy out the land, they brought back grapes so large, it took two men to carry a bunch on a pole. Yet in spite of the bounty, most of the men were afraid they could not win the battle against the inhabitants in the land God promised them. But Caleb said, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.” (Numbers 13:30) He saw the land with eyes of faith Without eyes of faith, we will not endure to enter our Promised Land, heaven. Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, as long as it is called “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. But never forget the warning: “TODAY YOU MUST LISTEN TO HIS VOICE. Don’t harden your hearts against him as Israel did when they rebelled.” (Hebrews 3:12-15) We must stop thinking like children and in our thinking be adults because God desires to communicate with each one of us and with the church as a whole. He wants us to seek his voice and to know his love in an intimate way. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. NOW remain in my love. (John 15:9)
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