Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church,
located at 905 Yadkin Street in Kingsport, Tennessee, would
like to invite you to listen to a message of sovereign grace
by their pastor, Gabe Stoniker. And now, Pastor Gabe Stoniker. If you would like to be turning
with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 14, that's where I will be speaking
to you today from. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. And I want to begin this message
acknowledging that we are here together right now to preach
and to hear the gospel. It's the purpose of this program. It's the purpose of this moment.
We're here to preach the gospel and hear the gospel and acknowledge
the gospel and read the gospel. And the gospel itself is this,
it can be summed up in one word, Christ. He is the gospel. If we made it two words, it would
be Christ crucified. That's the gospel. The gospel
is completely concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not concerning
us. It's an announcement to us. It's
a declaration to us of the things that he has done concerning us. But the gospel is not a call
to arms for us. It's not something that tells
us what we must do or not do. The gospel is an announcement
of Christ. It's concerning Christ. It's concerning who he is. and where He came from, and why
He came, and what He did, and who He did it for, and why He
did it, and what He accomplished in doing it, and what that means
for us. That's the gospel. It's all about
Him, Him, Him, Him, Him. Christ came into this world to
save sinners. That's why he came. It's because
sinners like you and me, we could not save ourselves. Men stand
up in pulpits and they tell people, you need to do this or not do
that so that you can save yourself. Well, that's an impossibility.
Man cannot save himself. A sinner cannot save himself.
That's why Christ came. He came to save His sinful people,
a chosen people that the Father gave to Him. And that's exactly
what He did. He did not come to try to save
His people. He came and saved His people.
He bore their sins in His own body on the tree, on the cross. He bore their judgment before
God. We talk about the judgment. Every
man's gonna have to stand in the judgment. Well, in the Lord
Jesus Christ, that was the man's judgment. All of God's elect
were judged in him. Now, outside of the Lord Jesus
Christ, yes, there's a judgment still to come. But in him, in
that moment, God poured out his wrath and his judgment on the
sin of God's people in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that judgment is satisfied. God the Father said, I'm satisfied
with the judgment I poured out. The debt is paid. We know that
so because God raised him from the dead. God the Father raised
Christ from the dead. Had the payment not been settled,
he would have never raised Christ from the dead, but he did. So
that proves to us that God is pleased and he's satisfied. And because of that resurrection
and because we were in Christ in all of his accomplishment,
we shall be raised together with him just because of what he did. So that's the gospel message. What I would like for us to look
at today is a subject concerning the preaching of that message. For the last few minutes, I have
been preaching that message. And I'd like for us to look at
something concerning the actual preaching of it. I believe this
will be very interesting to you. This is very interesting to me.
This is a subject that has been very confusing for many people. Very confusing, but the scripture
makes it so, so clear. So I would like for us to see
what God's word has to say about this, this particular subject.
And here it is. Here's the title of the message.
Speaking in tongues. I'm sure you've heard of that.
speaking in tongues. That is a scriptural subject. That subject is in the word of
God. It's a spiritual gift that was given to some. So I'd like for us to see what
God's word has to say about it, speaking in tongues. Now, if
you look with me at 1 Corinthians 14, verse one says, follow after
charity or love and desire spiritual gifts. But rather that you may
prophesy, desire those gifts that you may be able to preach
clearly. Verse two says, for he that speaketh
in an unknown tongue, and that word tongue means language. When you look up that word in
a Bible dictionary, it'll tell you that the word tongue translates,
or that word means language. I am speaking the language right
now. Speaking the language of English right now. So verse two
says, he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto
men, but unto God. Men won't be able to understand
it, only God. For no man understandeth him,
how be it in the spirit, he speaketh mysteries. Now, if you'll look
with me over at Acts chapter two, God performed an amazing
miracle on his apostles. Right here in Acts chapter two,
this is where he gave the gift of tongues, this speaking in
tongues. Acts chapter two, verse one,
it says, and when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they
were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came
a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all
the house where they were sitting, and there appeared unto them
cloven tongues." The word cloven means to partition thoroughly
in distribution. You look up these words and that's
the definition, to partition. It means to divide, to partition
or to divide. And again, the word tongues,
you look up this word also, it still means languages, languages. So particular languages were
given to particular men. They were divided among these
apostles in this case. Verse three says, there appeared
unto them cloven tongues like as of fire. That word fire means
lightning. That's what it translates, like
lightning. It just came down. And it goes on to say, it sat
upon each of them, each of the apostles that were there. Verse
four, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, God's spirit,
and began to speak with other tongues, other languages, as
the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem
Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven." Jews were
there from every country in the known world. Every country at
that time, it would be like if you said, you know, there are
Christians in China and Christians in Russia and Christians in all
of these other countries, they had either traveled or moved
to Jerusalem and they were observing this Jewish feast. They were
all there, they'd come from all over to observe this Jewish feast,
all right? So verse five, they were dwelling
at Jerusalem, Jews, devout men out of every nation under heaven,
Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together and
were confounded, they were, they troubled in mind, that's what
they were, confounded, because that every man heard them speak
in his own language. And the word language right there,
when you look it up, translates tongue, same word, the same word. Verse seven, they were all amazed
and marveled, saying one to another, behold, are not all these which
speak Galileans? Aren't these men from Galilee?
Verse eight, and how here we every man in our own tongue,
our own language, wherein we were born. You have a place where
you were born, I have a place where I was born. I was born
in the United States of America, therefore I naturally speak this
English language. Verse nine, it says Parthians
and Medes and Elamites and the dwellers in Mesopotamia and in
Judea and Cappadocia in Pontus and Asia. All those are real
places and they all have real languages. Verse 10 says Phrygia, Pamphylia
in Egypt. And in the parts of Libya about
Cyrene and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and
Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful
works of God. We clearly speak, to put it in
language we can understand. It'd be like saying, we hear
them, I speak English and I'm hearing them preach to me in
English. And a man from France could say, I speak French and
I'm hearing this gospel in French from the same man. And another
man could be from Germany and say, I'm hearing this in the
German language, the German tongue, the preaching of the gospel,
the preaching of Christ. So these men, here's the point.
These apostles in this moment, they weren't speaking gibberish.
They weren't making things up. They weren't babbling with their
mouths and with their tongues, and it wasn't a confusion. The
scripture says that our God is not the author of confusion.
Not at all. It was ordered and sure. It was on purpose. It was clear. It was a message. All right, now, look with me,
if you would, back in our text at 1 Corinthians 14. Verse two says, for he that speaketh
in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, men can't understand
what he's saying. But unto God, for no man understandeth
him, how be it in the spirit he speaketh mysteries. If a man
preaches in a language that nobody understands, if it's a true language,
God understands him. God is the one who created all
of the languages. So God would understand him.
And he may truly be speaking the mysteries of Christ. But
if no one that he's preaching to knows that language, he's
not doing anybody any good. It may be a true language. In no place here is he talking
about gibberish. He's saying it may be a true
language, but if people don't speak that language, it's not
doing anybody any good. He's not speaking to men. Verse
three says, but he that prophesied the one who's truly preaching,
he goes on to say, speaketh unto men. He's preaching to the heart. He's preaching to the mind. He's
preaching to the soul. He's preaching to the understanding
of men. Verse three says to edification
and exhortation. and comfort. An old writer and
an old preacher named Horatius Bonar, he used to say, preach
for a verdict. Preach for a verdict. What's
the message? Is the message warning? Make
sure they hear and understand the warning. What's the message? Comfort make sure they hear and
understand the comfort. Preach for a verdict. Verse four
says, he that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself. He may personally be getting
such a blessing out of it. He may be preaching in a language
that others don't understand and he may just really be enjoying
it. But that's not God's purpose in calling a man to preach. A
man doesn't preach for himself. He preaches for others. Verse
four says, he that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself,
but he that prophesieth edifieth the church. The man who's truly
preaching will edify God's people in doing so. Now, verse five,
he said, I would that you all spake with tongues. He said,
it'd be wonderful if everybody spoke in many languages. That
would be a wonderful gift. But he said, I'd rather you just
focus on preaching in the language that God has given to you so
people can understand what you have to say to them. Verse five,
he said, I would that you all spake with tongues, but rather
that you prophesied. For greater is he that prophesieth
than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret that the
church may receive edifying. If I spoke 10 different languages,
English, French, German, and just name other languages, if
I spoke 10 different languages, none of them would do you no
good. I could just, if I spoke French, I could start preaching
the gospel in French right now and just be blessed in my heart. But if you don't speak French,
I'm not doing you any good. No good at all. In verse one,
he said, desire spiritual gifts, but only if God gives them to
you to be used in the clear preaching of the gospel. If I'm gonna go
be a missionary somewhere, then I need to speak that language.
If I'm gonna be a missionary to Mexico, I need to speak Spanish.
Can't just go down there speaking English. desire those spiritual
gifts, but only if God's gonna use them for the clear preaching
of the gospel. Verse six, he said, now brethren,
if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit
you except I shall speak to you either by revelation or by knowledge
or by prophesying or by doctrine? He's saying unless there is a
revelation of Christ in the heart, Unless there is a knowledge of
our sin, when we're hearing preaching, if the Spirit of God through
the clear word does not convict of sin, and unless a knowledge
comes of God's mercy that He gives through the blood of His
Son, the only remedy for sin, UNLESS THE DOCTRINE OF THE WORD
OF GOD, WHICH IS JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED, UNLESS THAT IS CLEARLY
SET FORTH, IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT TONGUE A PERSON'S SPEAKING
IN. IT DOESN'T MATTER AT ALL. IT WILL NOT PROFIT SINNERS ONE
BIT. NOT ONE BIT. IF IT IS GIBBERISH
TO A PERSON, It is useless, it's pointless, it does not profit
any sinner at all. And Paul illustrates that by
saying in verse seven, even things without life-giving sound, whether
pipe or harp, you know, a lot of times in churches or wherever
there's a piano. And he said in verse seven, except
things without life giving sound, whether pipe or heart, except
they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known
what is piped or harped? I don't play the piano. So if
I went down and sat down at a piano and I said, I tell you what,
I'm going to bless you all. You get ready for a blessing.
And I sit down at that piano and I take my hands and I just
start mashing on the keys and just banging on the keys in different
places and just running up and down the keys. Do you believe
that would actually be a blessing to your heart? No. But if an accomplished pianist
sat down and started playing the melody to amazing grace,
how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. You could sit
there and hear that melody and know the words that go with that
melody and you could receive such a blessing in your heart. Verse eight, he said, for if
the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself
to the battle when it's time to charge the whole army needs
to charge at the same time. And if the trumpet doesn't sound
the charge, how will the soldiers know it's time to charge? Verse
nine, so likewise you, except you utter by the tongue words
easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? For
you shall speak into the air. There are, it may be, so many
kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification. Therefore, if I know not the
meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian,
and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. I know a
couple of words in Spanish, just a couple. And if I walked up
to a man who spoke Spanish and said my words, my couple of words,
and then he thought, oh, you speak Spanish, and he started
just rattling off a conversation to me, he'd just be speaking
to the air. He'd be a barbarian to me, I'd
be a barbarian to him. Verse 12, even so ye, for as
much as you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that you may excel
to the edifying of the church. Rather than striving for a gift,
strive to be an edifier of God's people, a comforter of God's
people. Strive to use the gift that he
has given you for the clear preaching of the gospel. Verse 13, wherefore
let him that speaketh in an unknown tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in an unknown tongue,
my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful. Again, I may know
and understand in my heart what I'm praying. I may pray in front
of a group of people, and know in my heart what I'm praying.
But if nobody else knows what I'm praying, it's unfruitful.
It's unfruitful. Verse 15 says, what is it then? What should we do then? He said,
I will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the understanding
also. I will sing with the spirit and
I will sing with the understanding also. Else when thou shalt bless
with the spirit, or pray on behalf of the congregation, when you're
praying to those who are listening. How shall he that occupieth the
room of the unlearned say amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing
he understandeth not what thou sayest? Our Lord said in Matthew
chapter six, He said, when you pray, pray our Father. Our, our father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name. He said, pray, give us this day
our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, lead us
not into temptation. When you pray, you're praying
on behalf of all those who are listening. And how are they gonna
say amen? I'm saying the same thing with
you to my Lord. If they don't understand what
you're saying. So verse 16, else when thou shalt bless with the
spirit, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say,
amen, at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what
thou sayest. For thou barely giveth thanks
well, but the other is not edified. So Paul says in verse 18, I thank
my God I speak with tongues more than you all." He said, I'm thankful
for the gifts that God has given unto me. If God gave me the ability
to learn other languages and to go preach the gospel in other
languages, I would be so thankful for that. Men go and they study
languages and they learn languages. And in this case, God just imparted
it to them. In one moment, they knew the Persian language. In one
moment, they could speak to people from Macedonia. And if God gave
me that ability, I would be so thankful. Paul said, I am so
thankful for all the languages that God has given to me. Yet,
he said in verse 19, in the church, I had rather speak five words
with my understanding that by my voice I might teach others
also than 10,000 words in an unknown tongue." He said, I would
rather speak five clear words that men could truly understand
than 10,000 words that nobody has a clue what I'm saying. I
would too. I'm telling you right now, I
would too. I have five words for you. Five
words. Christ's blood is our hope. I have five words for you. The
blood of Christ alone. I have five words for you. CHRIST
CAME TO SAVE SINNERS. SINNERS. SINNERS. I HAVE FIVE
WORDS FOR YOU. BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD. LOOK TO THE LAMB OF GOD. LOOK
TO THE LAMB OF GOD. I HAVE FIVE WORDS FOR YOU. Let Him come. Do you need mercy because of
your sin? Do you need salvation in the
blood of the Lamb? Whosoever will, let Him come. From the heart cry, Lord, I come
to you. I come to you. Our Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ
gave five words to us. He said, I will give you rest. I'll give you rest. I'll give
you rest. May God truly teach us what the
gospel is in a clear understanding. And may God truly cause us to
see that if we do not behold the Lamb of God and see and hear
Christ crucified, everything else that we do is gibberish. It's vain jangling. If we are
not pointing men to Christ and if we are not seeing the only
hope of salvation that there is, it's useless. May God point us to Him. Till
next week, may the Lord bless His word to our hearts. You have
been listening to a message by Gabe Stoniker, pastor of Kingsport
Sovereign Grace Church in Kingsport, Tennessee. If you would like
a copy of this message or to hear other messages of sovereign
grace, log on to our website at ksgctn.org. If you would like to come and
worship with us, our service times are Sunday morning Bible
study at 10 o'clock a.m., worship at 10.45 a.m., and 6 o'clock
p.m., Wednesday evening at 7.30 p.m. Please tune in next week
for another message of God's free and sovereign grace.