As we prepare to consider this
passage of Scripture, let's ask the Lord to give us hearing ears
and receptive hearts, and that He would be pleased to drive
away anything that would hinder us in hearing. I've entitled
this message, The Meaning of Words. Verse 11 of 1 Corinthians chapter
14, 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." The meaning
of words. The word meaning in verse 11,
therefore, if I know not the meaning of the voice, is the
Greek word that is usually translated power. If I do not know the meaning
of the word, it has no power with me. It doesn't do me any
good at all. I must know the meaning before
it will have any power with me. Now this scripture in 1 Corinthians
chapter 14 is used as the proof text for the charismatic movement
and I want to say some things regarding that in a proper spirit. I don't want to be mean spirited. I don't want to be harsh. I hope
I'm speaking with a broken heart when I talk about this movement
that is so rampant in our day. As a matter of fact, I have read
where it's the fastest growing segment of, quote, Christianity,
the charismatic movement and the Pentecostal movement. The baptism of the Holy Spirit,
which is evidenced by speaking in tongues, speaking in other
languages. You've seen them do it on TV
where the preacher's preaching and all of a sudden he just breaks
out into speaking in tongues. Perhaps you've even been in a
service where they started speaking in tongues. Praying in tongues. And it's
looked upon as a heavenly language. I've been in services where this
has taken place. It's looked upon as a heavenly
language. A prayer language where your
spirit is blessed even if your understanding is bypassed. You
come in touch with the supernatural. You feel God. You feel joy. You feel something, maybe even
ecstasy. And the key to more power and
victory in your life is the baptism of the Holy Spirit. which is
evidenced by speaking in tongues. Now you can be a believer without
it, but you cannot be a victorious believer without it. You're going
to be stuck in a rut. You're going to not experience
all the blessings you could experience if you had this baptism of the
Holy Spirit, which is evidenced by speaking in tongues. Now,
I'm not going to spend much time on this, but all of these gifts,
the gift to speak in tongues, which was real in the early church,
it's all ceased. It's ceased with the death of
the apostles. I brought this out several times
in the last few weeks, but let's look once again at Acts chapter
8. Now this is where Philip has
gone into Samaria preaching the gospel and many people were converted. But for some reason, Philip could
not put his hands on these people and transfer this gift. Only
the apostles could do this. Look at Acts chapter 8 beginning
in verse 9. Verse 12, I'm sorry, but when
they had believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom
of God in the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men
and women. Then Simon himself believed also. And when he was
baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, beholding the miracles
and signs which were done. You see, Philip had the ability
to do these miracles. He could speak in other languages.
He could heal the sick. He could drink poison. He could do all these things
that were given supernaturally to the early church. And Simon
was impressed. Simon himself believed also,
when he was baptized, he continued with Philip and wondered, beholding
the miracles and signs which were done. Now, when the apostles,
which were Jerusalem, heard that Samaria had received the word
of God, they sent unto them Peter and John, who, when they were
come down, prayed for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost.
Now, why couldn't Philip do this? Because Philip couldn't lay his
hands on somebody and transfer the gifts. Now, let's go on reading.
For as yet he was fallen upon none of them, only they which
were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then laid they
their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost. Peter
and John, they laid their hands on them and they received the
Holy Ghost. And when Simon saw that through the laying on of
the apostles hands, the Holy Ghost was given. He offered him
money wanting to have this ability to lay his hands on people and
transfer these gifts. But this only happens through
the laying on of the Apostles' hands. And this died out after
the death of the Apostles. Nobody else had the ability to
do this. And I want to say this in the
right spirit. I don't want to say it mean-spirited
and just making fun of them and so on. I don't want to do that.
But the entire charismatic movement is a farce. That's all it is. There's no
truth to it. None at all. It's phony. I feel
sorry for the people that are in it. I don't want to be hard-hearted
and harsh-spirited, but it is a farce. It is not of God. It is a spirit, all right. It's
another spirit. Now, if these gifts have ceased,
what is the relevance of this chapter? What is the relevance
of 1 Corinthians chapter 14? If these gifts have ceased, what
is the relevance of this chapter for today? Well, in the church
at Corinth, when Paul wrote this epistle, many in the Corinthian
church had these gifts of the Holy Spirit. They had people
who could speak in other languages. They had people who could lay
their hands on the sick and heal them and even raise the dead.
They had people who could drink poison. They had people who had
discernment. They had people who could understand
the different languages that were preached. They had these
people that were practicing these gifts. And those who had this
gift were abusing it. Even in a worship service, people
were standing up and preaching in another language that nobody
could understand. Showing that they indeed had the gift and
they had the gift. And they would speak in these
languages and people would say, well, what are they saying? And
then people would pray in another language. They would start praying
in tongues, if that's what you would call it, or other languages.
And Paul is rebuking them for abusing this gift. Now, I try
to put myself in their place. If I did have this gift, it would
be a great temptation to show you that I've got it. I can understand
this. It'd be a great temptation. I'd
want to show you how spiritual I am and what power God had given
me and what he had enabled me to do. I understand them doing
this. So Paul is rebuking them for
this in this passage of scripture. Look what he says in verse 6
of 1 Corinthians 14. He says, now, brethren, if I
come unto you speaking with tongues in other languages, what shall
I profit you? What shall I benefit you? What
good will it do? Except I speak either by revelation
or by knowledge or by prophesying or by doctrine. Look in verse
13. Wherefore, let him that speaketh
in an unknown tongue, in another language, pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in an unknown tongue,
my spirit prayeth, if I understand what I'm saying, but my understanding
is unfruitful. What is it then? I'll pray with
the spirit and I'll pray with the understanding also. I'll
sing with the spirit and I'll sing with the understanding also. Look at verse 18. I thank my
God that I speak with tongues more than you all, yet in the
church I'd rather speak five words with my understanding,
that by my voice I might teach others also than ten thousand
words in an unknown tongue. Now brethren, be not children
in understanding, howbeit in malice be ye children, but in
understanding be ye men. Verse 23, if therefore the whole
church be come together into one place and all speak with
tongues and there come in those that are unlearned or unbelievers,
will they not say, you're crazy, you're mad, you've flipped your
lid, what are you doing? Then none of this makes sense.
Look in verse 32 of the same chapter. The spirits of the prophets are
subject to the prophets, for God is not the author of confusion,
like what's going on here, but of peace, as in all the churches
of the saints. So we see that the tone of 1
Corinthians chapter 14 is a rebuke to the Corinthians who did indeed
have these gifts, but they were abusing them. Now look at verse
1 of 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Follow, pursue after charity. and desire spiritual gifts. But if you're going to desire
one, here's the one that you need to desire, but rather that
you may prophesy. And all that's said in verse
6 is what is included in this gift of prophecy, this ability
to speak with a thus saith the Lord and to give God's truth
out infallibly. But here's what's involved in
it. Look in verse 6. Now brethren, if I come unto you speaking with
tongues, what shall I profit or benefit you except I shall
speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying,
or by doctrine or teaching. Now that's what's going on in
true prophesying, these four things. Now Paul says in verse
two, in 1 Corinthians 14, for he that speaketh in an unknown
tongue speaks not to men, but unto God, for no man understands
him. How be it in the spirit? He speaketh
mysteries. Now Paul is using a gentle sarcasm
here. to instruct. Now, quite often
Paul uses sarcasm and sometimes he uses strong sarcasm. Let me show you a couple of examples
where he uses strong sarcasm. Look at Acts chapter 13. Sarcasm obviously can be offensive
from time to time, but sometimes it can be a great blessing and
it can be used effectively. Look in verse 45. of Acts chapter 13. But when the Jews saw the multitudes,
they were filled with envy and spake against those things which
were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and
Barnabas waxed bold and said it was necessary that the Word
of God should have first been spoken to you. But seeing you
put it away from you and judge yourselves to be unworthy of
everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles." Now, can you
see the sarcasm he's using here? Seeing you judge yourself unworthy
of eternal life, we'll leave you alone. Look in 2 Corinthians
12. Verse 13, For what is it wherein you were
inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome
to you? I didn't try to garner support
from you. Forgive me this wrong. Now can
you see the sarcasm he uses here? Forgive me this wrong. So Paul
quite often in his teaching and his preaching, not quite often,
but sometimes he used sarcasm, and the sarcasm here is more
general, but it's sarcasm nonetheless. He's saying if any man gets up
and speaks other languages, only God knows what he's saying. Men
can't understand it, even if he's speaking the great mysteries
of gospel in another language. Still, God's the only one who
knows what he's talking about if he is saying the truth. Verse
3, 1 Corinthians 14, verse 3, But he that prophesieth speaketh
unto men to edification and exhortation and comfort Unlike the man speaking
in tongues, what he says edifies and encourages and comforts the
church of God with the words of the gospel. Verse four, he
that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifies himself. And that is
providing he understands what he's saying and has the gift
to discern what he's saying. But he that prophesieth edifieth
the church, they all benefit from his preaching. Verse 5,
I would that you all spake with tongues, but rather that you
prophesied, preached, where people could be instructed and edified
and understand what you're saying. For greater is he that prophesieth
than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret that the
church may receive edifying. Now, brethren, If I come unto
you speaking in tongues and other languages, and they did indeed
have this gift, yet he says, what shall I profit you? What
shall I benefit you? Except I shall speak to you either
by revelation or by knowledge or by prophesying or by doctrine.
And that's what's going on in true prophesying and true preaching.
Those four things. He says, if those four things
are not going on, no benefit comes out of it. Verse seven.
and even things without life-giving sound, whether pipe or harp,
except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be
known what is piped or harped?" And what he's talking about is
we just heard that beautiful piano playing while we were singing
those hymns. I love to hear beautiful piano playing, but what if I
get on there and just start banging? That's the way I play. I can't
do anything else. I just start banging, hitting notes. You've
heard kids do that. They get on the piano, they start hitting
notes. Is it a song? Does it have any meaning? None
at all. There's got to be a distinction
in the sound. The proper notes have to be hit
or nobody can understand what is being played in the first
place. What a difference. He says in verse 8, For if the
trumpet give an uncertain sound, an unclear sound, an undistinct
sound, one that you can't really tell what's being said, who shall
prepare himself to battle? No one will. and the results
will be catastrophic. The sound must be clear and unmistakable. Verse 9, so likewise you, except
ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood. Words
distinct. Words conspicuous so it is known
what you are saying. They're not ambiguous. They can't
be taken this way or that way. They're very clear. You know
exactly what's being said. Now he said, 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. What you're saying has absolutely no benefit. There are, verse
10, it may be so many kinds of voices in the world, and none
of them is without significance. Therefore, if I know not the
meaning of the voice, if I don't know the definition of the term,
if I don't know what is actually being said, if I know not the
meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian.
as someone who couldn't understand the language. In those days,
if someone couldn't understand the Greek language, they were
considered to be barbarians. They just can't understand. And
he says, if I don't know what's being spoken, that person who's
speaking is a barbarian unto me. If they can't understand
me, I'm a barbarian unto them. Now, when I was Oh, 28, 29 years
old, 30 years old. We used to play a game with Aubrey,
and she was only two years old. Do you remember us doing this?
We'd get you in the car, and at the time I was on chemotherapy,
and they have some of the most hideous names for the drugs you
take. I can't even pronounce them.
I knew what they were back then. I can't remember what any of
them are now. But I remember with Aubrey, we'd be back in
the car and we'd be looking for fun. So we'd get her to pronounce
these hideous sounding words. And she'd do it, you know, uh,
uh, Vin Christen and whatever they were. And she would be so
pleased and she could pronounce them and articulate them properly
and perfectly. We could get a big kick out of it. She could say
them, but she didn't know the meaning. You had no idea what
you were saying. And we'd just come up with all
kinds of big words to let her say and she'd say them and we'd
all laugh. She had no idea as to what was being said. Now Paul is saying, if I don't
know the meaning of the words, the definition of the terms,
they are without power. They are useless. The meaning of words. Now we've all heard We've even
said, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never
hurt me. Have you ever said that when
someone said something hurtful to you? When you were a kid, sticks and
stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Well,
you know, that's a lie. You know it. And I know it, how
we've been hurt by words. What power there is in words. You know, words are the index
of the heart. Out of the abundance of the heart,
the mouth speaketh. If you want to know what's in
somebody's heart, it's going to come out in their speech.
Words convey ideas. Words convey concepts. Words
convey emotions. And you think of what all happens
over words. You know, people get divorced over what? Words. What's been said. Countries go
to war over what? Words. Men hate because of words. Men love because of words that
are said. What power there is in words. if I know the meaning. Now if
I don't know the meaning, there's no power in them at all. Look
at the emphasis that Almighty God puts on His words. He calls
Himself the Word of the Lord. Genesis chapter 15, when the
Word of the Lord appeared unto Abram in a vision by night, saying,
Abram, fear not, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.
Even in the Old Testament, he's called the Word of the Lord.
Remember when Adam and Eve heard the voice of God walking in the
cool of the evening. Now, how does a voice walk? Well,
that voice is the Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. That voice
walks in the cool of the evening. Think about what our Lord is
called in John chapter 1, verse 1. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. Psalm 138.2 says, Thou hast magnified
thy Word above all thy name. The Bible is what? The Word of
God. Knowing this first, Peter said,
knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scriptures of any private
interpretation for the prophecy came not in old time by the will
of man, but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost. The word of God is quick and
it's powerful and it's sharper than any two edged sword. We
just read that, Brother Don read in 1 Peter 1, 25, where he talked
about being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible
by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. Paul said to Timothy, preach
the Word. Now the Word of God is made up
of the words of God. And if I leave out any of those
words of God, I no longer have the Word of God. And His Word always means something
definite, something particular. There's a meaning to the Word. Now, if I don't understand the
meaning, it's not going to have any power with me. I'm not going
to have any saving benefit in it. It's not going to do me any
good. It's not going to do you any good. I must know the meaning
of the Word. And that's where the power of
the Word comes from, the meaning of the Word. Now, Satan's main
objective is to use the words of God, but to change the meaning. He uses all the same words that
we find in the Bible. He uses words like God and Christ,
the Holy Spirit. He uses justification. He uses
sanctification. He talks about faith and blood. He uses all the words that we
find in the scripture. But what his great attempt in
doing is this. to change the meaning. Because if the true meaning is
not given, the power is taken away. This is how He operated
in the Garden of Eden. When He said, you shall not surely
die, He was not saying, God didn't say you'll die. He was saying,
He didn't mean that. It could be taken other ways.
He didn't mean you're surely going to die. You don't have
to take what He said literally. You shall not surely die. He changed the meaning of what
God said, and that has always been his grand objective to change
the meaning of the Word. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
11. Verse 13. For such are false apostles,
2 Corinthians 11, 13, for such are false apostles. They claim
to be apostles. They claim to come from God.
They're deceitful workers, transforming themselves into who? The apostles
of Christ. And it's no marvel, for Satan
himself is transformed into an angel of light. Where is Satan's
main sphere of operation? in religion. That's his main,
you know, he'd leave the fellas in the bars and selling drugs
and so on, he just leaves them alone. That's not where he's
working, that's just leaving people alone, letting them go
their own way. His main sphere of operation is in religion.
In quote, Christianity. Let's go on reading. Verse 13,
for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into the apostles of Christ. And this is no marvel,
for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore,
it's no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers
of what? Righteousness. There's not a
more important word in the Word of God than this. Righteousness. And Satan uses this word. He
comes as the minister of righteousness. He'll talk about righteousness,
but he changes the meaning of the word. Whose end? Therefore, it's no
great thing if his ministers, Satan's ministers, also be transformed
as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according
to their works." Now, when Satan operates, he uses the words. But there's no distinction in
the sound. The piano is banged. Same notes
used as in the proper playing of it. but there is no distinction
in the sound. There's an uncertain sound, not
easy to be understood. Now, I obviously could preach
for years on this subject, simply giving the Bible meaning of words,
but how does one fail to give the meaning of words? How does
one fail? Well, let me give you three ways
that one fails to give the meaning of words. First, in giving the
wrong meaning. That's to fail to give the meaning
of the words, to give a wrong meaning. Secondly, in simply
not giving the meaning. Using the words and saying them
over and over again, and using them perhaps very often, but
failing to give the meaning. You just say it and that's it.
And thirdly, by making the meaning meaningless. Now what do I mean
by that? Well, you do that when you say,
well this is true, this is what the Scripture teaches. Here's
what this word means according to the scriptures, but it's of
no eternal consequence if you don't believe it. It's okay to
not believe it. And when I do that, I say it
doesn't matter what you believe. Some people hold this position,
some people hold that position. It doesn't really matter as long
as you're sincere, as long as your heart's right. It doesn't
matter what you believe. When I do that, I've made it
meaningless. I've taken away any meaning to
it. I've taken away its importance.
Now what I'd like to do is give you some Bible words. that are
used in every church in Lexington, Kentucky today. But many, I fear, fail to give
the meaning in one of these three ways that I've just spoken. In
giving the wrong meaning, simply not giving the meaning at all,
or by making the meaning meaningless. Now, the first word that comes
to my mind is God. God. Everybody uses that word. That's the name of the one who's
upstairs, they would say, or the man upstairs, or kind of
a grandfatherly figure up in the clouds who wants to bless
us and waiting to bless us and so on. God is the God of the Bible.
God is the holy God, the God who hates sin. God is the just
God who will not let sin go unpunished. God is the sovereign God who
controls all things. Why, even your thoughts are being
controlled by Him. Somebody says, I don't believe
that. He controls that. He controls it. You are in His hands. He is the sovereign God. The
best definition of sovereignty is God. God is sovereign. He controls. He reigns. God is
merciful. God is great. When we use this
name, God, we're to give the Bible meaning of the word Christ. Jesus Christ. What's the Bible
mean by that? Well, this is, He's God. He's
the God-man. He's the only Savior of sinners.
He's in control. You're in His hands. It's up
to Him as to whether or not you're going to be saved. Now I want
you to think about that. Right now you're in His hands
and it's totally up to Him as to whether or not you'll be saved
or whether or not you won't. You don't have any control in
this. This is who He is. Now there's only one response
to that if you really believe it. You start crying for mercy.
Or you can get mad if you want. What good will that do you? Cry
for mercy. Your eternal well-being is in
His hands. That's who Jesus Christ is. He's
the God of glory. He's the God of the Bible, the
Holy Spirit. People talk about the Holy Spirit
all the time. Well, the Holy Spirit, He enables us to live
better. He enables us to believe. He's
a great enabler. He enables us to do all these
different things. Now, wait a minute. God the Holy
Spirit doesn't enable us. God the Holy Spirit puts something
there that wasn't there before. He gives a new heart. He gives
a new nature. He doesn't enable that old man
to do anything. He put something there that was
not there before. He's the sovereign Savior. The
Holy Spirit is God. He's just as much God as God
the Father and God the Son. He's not an influence. He's God,
doing God's will, working God's purpose. What about blood? The blood of Christ. In most
churches in Lexington, Kentucky, here's what you hear, Jesus Christ
shed His blood for everybody, made salvation possible for everybody,
made salvation available for everybody, but it's up to you
to take it and do whatever it is you're going to do with it
to make it work for you. You've got to do something in order
to make His blood effective to you. But that's not what the
Scripture teaches. The blood of Jesus Christ, His saving blood,
it's effectual blood. Everybody He died for must be
saved. And somebody that preaches a
message of His blood making salvation available, they've never heard
the gospel. They've never really believed.
You see how these words are used, but different meanings given.
What about grace? Most folks look at grace. Oh,
what a wonderful word. Grace is God's willingness to
save you if you'll just come to Him. God's willing to save
anybody, no matter how bad they are, as long as they'll do this
or as long as they'll do that. That's not what grace is. God's
grace is saving grace. By grace ye are saved. Not salvation made available
to you if you do your part. God's grace saves. When you talk about grace, you
talk about electing grace. You talk about justifying grace. You talk about redeeming grace. You talk about sanctifying grace.
You talk about preserving grace. You talk about glorifying grace.
You talk about grace that actually saves. And if I give a meaning
to grace that isn't just like that, The Word's lost its power. There's no saving efficacy in
that kind of Word. Faith. Most folks look at faith
as a decision you make. You decide to believe. Now, I
can decide to believe whenever I want to. I can just up and
decide to believe. You can't decide to believe. As a matter
of fact, that's an absurdity. You only really believe something
when you believe it's the truth. You don't make a decision to
believe it. You don't decide to believe it. You believe it
because it's so. Now, if you decide to believe
something, the only thing you decide to believe is error. You
reject the truth and decide to believe something else. But faith
is not a decision. You believe because you've got
no choice. You look to Christ because there's nowhere else
to look. You rest in His righteousness because you really believe His
righteousness is the only one there is. Repentance. There's a word that's
used so often, repentance. You need to repent of your sins.
You need to be sorry. You need to promise to never
do it again. Well, my question is, is how sorry? How sorry? When are you sorry enough? And
here's an even bigger question. You name me one sin that you've
ever stopped in your heart. Oh, you might have stopped some
outwardly and you should. I'm not in any way taking away from
the importance of that. But what sin in your heart? Have you ever
stopped being proud? Have you ever stopped worrying?
I could just go on and on. If repentance is being sorry
and stopping, when have you done enough? Repentance, my dear friends,
the Scripture means it's a change of mind. A change of mind. You used to believe one way,
you don't believe that anymore. You've changed your mind. I used
to believe salvation by works. I don't believe that way anymore.
I've changed my mind. God changed my mind, therefore
my mind's been changed. Repentance is the gift of God.
And what a change it is. The Gospel. There's a word, the
Gospel. Everybody uses that word, the
Gospel. Well, what's the Gospel? Well, the Gospel is that Christ
died for our sins. Now, wait a minute. According to 1 Corinthians
15, verse 3, the Gospel is how that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures. All the difference in the world.
It's not just that Christ died for... I can say Christ died
for our sins. If I'm looking at a mixed audience
and say that, I haven't preached the Gospel. I'm preaching how
that He died for our sins according to the Old Testament Scriptures,
what they set forth. So, you see, these words can
be used, but what is the meaning of the words? Now, the fact of
the matter is, if I give an uncertain sound, if I give an indistinct sound,
nobody will be saved that hears me preach. You know what else? I won't be either. There's no
salvation in that. God's not in it. If the trumpet
give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to battle?
Now would you turn with me to Ephesians chapter 6. Verse 18. And this is part of the Christian
armor. He talked about the shield of
faith, your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of
peace, your loins girt with truth, the breastplate of righteousness,
taking the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which
is the Word of God. And look what he says in verse 18. Praying
always with all prayer and supplications in the Spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints, And Paul says,
pray for me that utterance may be given unto me, that I may
open my mouth boldly. to speak without ambiguity, to
speak with clearness and plainness and openness. Pray for me that
I might open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of
the gospel for which I am an ambassador in bonds that therein
I may speak boldly as I ought to speak." The meaning of words. Now understand this, if I don't
know the meaning of the word, I don't know the power of the
word. And if I use the words in my preaching and don't give
what the Bible means, I've not told the truth. Period. I remember what we ended up with
this morning. He that is of God, what? Heareth God's words. You therefore hear them not,
because you are not of God. May the Lord enable each one
of us to be of God. Let's pray.