• Download Video
• Download Audio
• Print
• Email
• Save As PDF

"For the edification of the church..."

Text: 1 Corinthians 14:12

MANY KINDS OF LANGUAGES

Paul was a well-travelled servant of God. He was a pioneering Apostle who reached out to many different countries with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ! In his travels, he would have come across people who spoke in different languages.

“There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world,
and none of them is without significance.
Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language,
I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks,
and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me.
Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts,
let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.”
1 Corinthians 14:10-12

1. Factual observation

a) There are indeed many kinds of languages in the world.

b) All of them have significance.

2. Application

a) But if the meaning of the language is unknown.

b) The speaker and his word would be like a foreign language.

c) There is no significant communication between people who speak in different languages to each other.

3.”Zealous for spiritual gifts”

a) This was a good thing to observe among the Corinthians.

b) The desire for spiritual gifts:

i) Commendable

ii) Natural

4. Word of advice

a) To seek gifts that would result in the edification of the Church.

b) This is something worth-while excelling in.

THE DANGER THAT EXISTED

Paul wrote these words because he saw the danger that lurked:

1. People can be caught up with their gifts.

2. The edification of the Church is not foremost in mind (but the gifts in themselves).

3. The gift of speaking with tongues was one where people could be led astray.

4. The gift of being able to speak in foreign languages must end up in the edifying of the church.