1 Corinthians 14:13-25

Well, let's go back to follow.

That was great. Thanks, guys.

That was really awesome.

Well, good morning, friends. It's going to be with you all.

It's going to be back for vacation. Thanks for all of you who were praying for me and my family while we were away for the holidays.

If you're new with us this morning, this is a part of our service.

We spent some just dedicated time devoting ourselves to reading and learning and hearing from God's words.

We're just together.

Our sermon text is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 14 this morning.

1 Corinthians 14 · chapter mention

I invite you to turn that with me.

That's page 960.

I'm ready for you.

1 Corinthians chapter 14.

1 Corinthians 14 · chapter mention

1 Corinthians chapter 14.

1 Corinthians 14 · chapter mention

Our focus today is going to be on verses 13 through 25 of this chapter.

But let's start reading actually in verse 1.

Just to get the context.

So we'll read from verse 1 to verse 25.

Let me read this verse.

All right.

So this is the church in Corinth and the Bible.

1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1 Corinthians 15 · chapter mention

Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more prophesy.

The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues.

As someone interprets.

So that the church may be built up.

Now brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?

If even lifeless nutrients such as the food or heart do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know it is void?

And if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, how will you get ready for power?

So with yourselves.

So with yourselves.

And with your tongue, if you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what I said?

For you will be speaking into the air.

There are doubtless many different languages in the world and none is without meaning.

But if I do not know the meaning of the language, I will be a foreigner to the speaker.

And the speaker a foreigner to me.

So with yourselves, since you are eager for the manifestation of the Spirit, strive to excel in the building of the church.

Therefore one who speaks in the tongue should pray that he may interpret.

For if I pray in the tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

What am I to do?

I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also.

I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.

Otherwise, if you give thanks with your spirit, how can anyone in the position of an outsider say amen to your thanksgiving,

when he does not know what you are saying?

For you may be giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not being God's God.

I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you.

Nevertheless, in church I would rather speak five words with my mind than rather instruct others.

That ten thousand words in a tongue.

Brothers, do not be children, but be infants and people.

But if you think of being children.

And the law is written,

By people of strange tongues, by the lips of foreigners,

that I speak to this people, and even then they will not listen to this person.

Thus tongues are a sign not for believers, but for unbelievers.

Well, prophecy is a sign not for unbelievers, but for believers.

If, therefore, the whole church comes together,

and all speaking tongues and outsiders and unbelievers enter,

will it not say that you are out of your mind?

But as well prophesy, and an undeliever out of his letter enters,

he is convicted by it.

He is called to encounter it.

The secrets of his heart are disclosed,

and so falling on his face he will worship God.

And pray that God is willing.

Let's pray for God.

Let's pray for God.

And he would help us through this passage to know what it means to

genuinely worship and talk about the church we are going to know about.

Lord, help for our sake, for the sake of others, for the sake of your sake.

Probably we have to say some Jesus.

Well, 1 Corinthians 14.

Here we are.

So this is one of the longest chapters in the New Testament

that deals explicitly with the topic,

not just of spiritual gifts,

but also of the topic of the worship gathering of the church.

Throughout the New Testament,

we get little pieces, little pictures here and there.

This chapter is the longest,

the most sustained treatment of what we might call

a corporate gathering of the church.

The particular needs and problems of the particular church in Corinth at the time.

And it seems, on the surface, as we just read,

it seems to be all about speaking in tongues and prophecy, right?

Now, Pastor Greg dove into the nature of those two spiritual gifts last week.

So we're not going to spend a lot of time kind of rehashing that this morning.

You can grab that sermon from the website online,

or you can come talk to me afterwards if you have particular questions.

I'm happy to talk more about that.

But today, what I want to do is,

I want to look at one of the underlying priorities or principles

that Paul emphasizes here when it comes to our worship together.

What's going on underneath the heart of Paul's discussion

of speaking in tongues and prophecy?

And the big priority that comes out here

is the importance of intelligible worship.

The big problem that Paul has with speaking in tongues

in the gathered church service,

at least if there's no one to interpret that is,

is that it's completely unintelligible to the people who've gathered.

No one understands a word of what's being said.

Now, remember last week,

we said that the gift of speaking in tongues

was the spirit-given ability to speak words of prayer and praise and thanksgiving to God

in a language unknown to the speaker.

And you notice throughout this chapter

that Paul doesn't disparage that gift in and of itself.

But he says when the church gathers together,

he wants them to strive to prophesy all the more instead.

And again, as we said last week,

what does it mean to prophesy?

Well, prophecy was the spirit-given ability

to speak words of encouragement and upbuilding and consolation

with a particularly keen insight into the needs of the moment.

In other words, if the spiritual gift of teaching

is the ability to systematically expound what's true

for all Christians in every place and time,

it would seem that the spiritual gift of prophecy

is the ability to apply that truth

with poignancy to the needs of a particular place and time.

So prophecy in the New Testament

isn't really essentially about predicting the future,

which is what we often think of with that word.

No, it's about applying the truth

with spirit-given insight into our context,

into our needs today.

And so for Paul, you see, it's critical

that what we do and what we say

when we gather on Sundays

is above all intelligible,

understandable to those who gather.

Look again at verses 14 through 15 of our text.

It's not just enough, Paul says,

to have something move us in our spirit.

It has to be something that we understand with our minds.

A powerful emotion, a gripping experience,

they're great to have.

But just those things alone aren't enough,

especially when the church is gathered together.

It has to be something intelligible,

something we can enter into,

not just with our spirit,

but with our minds, with our understanding as well.

So I want us to consider the importance

of intelligible worship this morning.

In verse 20, Paul even goes so far to say

that what it means to be mature in our thinking

about corporate worship

is to understand just this fact.

So let's look at this issue of intelligible worship.

And first, before we dive into all the reasons

Paul gives for it,

it's worth considering how worship

can become unintelligible for us today.

I have never been to a church service at Trinity

where there are so many people speaking in tongues

at one time that the whole service was gobbledygook

and people said, you're out of your minds.

So it doesn't seem like we have the exact same problem

that the church in Corinth had, right?

However, the issue of unintelligibility

is still one that we all actually face.

It's a danger to every church and every time.

And it manifests itself in a lot of different ways.

You know, historically, before the Reformation,

there were long stretches of time

when a typical church service was held in a language

that no one actually spoke.

The medieval Latin mass meant that most Christians

knew nothing of what was being said in worship

for generations.

You know, the fact that we have Bibles in our own language

and hold services in our own language

is a huge blessing and not one to be taken for granted.

But again, today, most of us probably won't have trouble

finding a service in English or in our typical tongue.

Although we should be sort of especially sensitive

to those in our midst who are from different parts

of the world and who struggle to understand English.

And we need to strive to be clear

when we're interacting with them.

But what are some other sort of maybe more dangers

that are closer to home for us

that make our services unintelligible?

Well, I think a bigger danger for us,

if we're not careful,

is that the vocabulary or the words that we use

can make our service feel unintelligible at times.

And you know, this doesn't just apply

to using sort of big, long,

sort of standardized test type words

when we're preaching or praying or sharing

or doing all these things.

Of course, that's one danger.

But you know, there's also the danger

of using what we might call Christian speak

that is actually completely unintelligible

to the people who gather for worship.

I remember my dad growing up,

whenever we would take a car trip,

would get us boys together

and he would pray that we would be surrounded

by a hedge of protection.

I had no idea what a hedge of protection was

until I was like in high school.

What does that even mean?

And there are all sorts of other words

and phrases that we use

that are sort of just insider language of Zion lingo

that no one really understands.

But you know, it's not just big, long,

vocabulary words or Christian lingo

that can make our services unintelligible.

I think there's a way in which

maybe if we're not careful,

the songs that we sing

can make our services unintelligible.

And it doesn't just apply

to the lyrics that we sing.

What if we were to pick songs

where the rhythm was so complicated

and unfamiliar, so syncopated,

that it made it almost impossible

to sing together as a congregation.

And you know, that applies

not just to some really beautiful classic hymns,

but a lot of contemporary songs too.

With the other worship leaders,

we listen to a lot of great music

and sometimes we listen to a song

and we think that will be impossible

for us to sing together

because the rhythm is so unfamiliar

and so foreign and so unpredictable.

Or, you know, there are a lot of songs

where the range, that is how high the notes go,

is so big that we can't possibly

sing it together either.

I think there are even songs

where the style makes a song

practically unintelligible

and maybe I'm going to step

on a couple toes here.

But you know,

it's not that we don't understand the words,

but sometimes the style of a song

is so outdated

that we can't actually sing the words

with the right meaning.

There's a reason why we don't sing

Shine Jesus Shine anymore.

Or Lord, I lift your name on high.

Because stylistically,

they're just so foreign

and so out of place.

But how else might our corporate worship

become functionally unintelligible today?

What about our order of service?

The sort of way in which

we structure our times together.

I remember visiting

an Anglican church in college

and it was this small,

super welcoming congregation

that preached the gospel.

They loved Jesus.

It was a good church.

But you know,

on my way into the sanctuary

as the service began,

they handed me three books.

It was a book of common prayer

and a hymnal

and a hymnal supplement.

So there I was.

I marched into my pew

and sat down.

And in order to follow the service,

I had to flip through the pages

of these three different books

trying to find what words to say when

and which songs to sing where.

And needless to say,

as a newcomer,

I was completely about

two steps behind everyone else

all the time.

As a newcomer,

I was practically an outsider

and the service was almost

unintelligible to me.

Now, that's not to sort of

just bash on liturgical services

because honestly, friends,

the flip side of the things

can happen even in the most

casual sort of

non-liturgical service.

Things can just sort of

charge through seemingly

without any rhyme or reason.

And if the service leader

and worship leader

don't explain what's going on,

the service can be

quite unintelligible.

Well, I'm sure that we can think of

lots of other ways

that our times of corporate worship

could become unintelligible today.

And I hope you see that

it's not just a first century problem

or a speaking in tongues problem,

but it's something that every church

has to be mindful of.

But coming back now

to 1 Corinthians 14,

the second big point

I want us to consider

is the question of why.

Why should we strive

for intelligibility,

for being understood?

Why does that need to be

a huge value for us

in our worship gatherings?

I mean, think about it.

After all,

the people who spoke in tongues

at Corinth

were probably having

really powerful experiences

of God.

Paul doesn't question

the fact that

that was probably

the Holy Spirit

working in them.

A very powerful experience

of God.

And isn't that enough?

Isn't that what we really want?

After all,

to really get a deep sense

of God's presence

in our midst?

To see Him maybe even

visibly show up

in these particularly

visible manifestations?

In the last section

of Mere Christianity,

C.S. Lewis tells the story

of a hardened Air Force officer

who approaches Lewis

after a talk that he gave.

And this hardened Air Force officer

tells Lewis

of a powerful experience

that he had had of God.

The officer told Lewis,

he said,

I felt Him.

That is God.

I felt Him out alone

in the desert one night.

The tremendous mystery.

And then the officer

goes on to tell Lewis

that because of this

powerful experience,

he didn't believe

and he didn't think

he had a need

for any of the doctrines

or dogmas of the church.

He'd experienced

in his mind

the real thing

and he didn't need

all that intellectual,

intelligible,

mumbo-jumbo.

Now, of course,

there are all sorts

of problems with that, right?

But sometimes

in our worship gatherings

together,

we can functionally

act the same way.

It doesn't matter

what I think.

The content doesn't matter.

What matters

is the experience.

What matters

is that I'm feeling

drawn to God.

But Paul's going to give us

three reasons here

why we need

our gathered worship

to be intelligible.

First reason is this.

Because intelligible worship

engages the whole person.

Look at verses 14 and 15 again.

Paul says,

if I pray

or praise

or give thanks

with my spirit only,

he says,

my mind is unfruitful.

In other words,

a whole aspect

of what it means

to be human

is left out.

But you see,

friends,

that's not

how the worship

of the one true God

is meant to be.

God created you

and I

as whole

integrated

persons

with a body

and a mind

and a heart.

God wants

all of us

engaged

in that worship.

And if our worship

is unintelligible

for whatever reason,

then our minds

can't worship God.

And we can't be renewed

in the image of God

in the way,

in the full way

that God intends.

Now,

of course,

God transcends

our rational capacities,

right?

Greg touched on this

last week.

We could never

with our human minds

fully comprehend

God.

But just because

God exceeds

our understanding

doesn't mean

we can't understand

anything about God

at all.

You know,

there's plenty

that my three children

don't understand

about me and Beth,

right?

Especially Owen

as he sits in his high chair

and just slams

the Cheerios

off of his tray

in sort of

nine-month-old

glorious freedom.

There is so much

that my kids

don't understand

and don't comprehend

about us

as adults,

as parents.

But,

I think what they

do know about us

is true.

That Beth and I

are their mother

and father

and that we're

their parents

and that we love

them

and that we intend

good things for them

even if they don't

understand why

or how.

It's the same

with us in God,

you see.

We'll never

plumb the depths

of the infinite

beautiful majesty

that is the God

who made us

and yet

in God's grace

he reveals himself

truthfully to us

so we can understand.

And at this point

it's worth pointing out

that when we talk

about intelligible worship

of this great

supreme God,

that certainly

doesn't mean

it's watered down

or oversimplified.

You know,

if we're going to pray

and praise

and give thanks

and build each other

up with our minds

as well as with our spirits,

we certainly can't

check our minds

at the door

when we come in.

Of course,

there are going to be

things that we don't

quite understand

at first,

whether as new believers

or people exploring

Christianity

or as people

among us

who've been believers

for a long time,

there are still truths

that we're wrestling

to grasp.

But our services

should strive

not to sort of

avoid those things

or water them down

but to make them

as clear as we can.

You know,

that's one of the reasons

why we don't shy away

from using

important theological

words at Trinity.

Words like

justification

or sanctification

or propitiation.

Now,

you might be here

and you have no idea

what those words mean

and that's okay.

Hang around a little bit longer,

we'll explain them

and they'll become

beautiful truths for you.

But you know,

we can't shy away

from these things.

They're worth learning.

The concepts

that are contained

in those words

are worth exploring

and understanding

and we want to do

our best

as they come up

in worship

to explain them

and make them intelligible

so that we can

grasp them not just

with our spirit

but with our minds.

And so the beauty

of verses 14 and 15

here is that real,

mature,

corporate worship

calls for our

whole selves,

you see.

Spirit and mind

and body too,

Paul would say.

Nothing gets left behind

in our worship of God.

The worship of God

is not something

we just partition off

in our quote unquote

spiritual lives over here.

No, it's all of ourselves.

And in fact, friends,

isn't that what stands

at the heart of Christianity?

The fact that nothing

about our humanity

gets left behind.

Jesus Christ,

we profess,

is fully God

and fully human.

In the redemption

that he brings,

there's no part of us

as humans

that gets left behind.

Jesus took on

a full human nature

so that he might

renew and redeem us

as fully humans.

He's taken up

the whole of us,

mind and body

and spirit,

everything,

so that it might

all become renewed.

And isn't this

what Jesus himself

was talking about

in our reading

from John 4 earlier

that Susan and Ivor

read for us?

That true worship

worship,

the worship

of the true God

is worship

in spirit

and in truth.

It involves

our affections

and our understanding,

our spirit

and our mind.

Because God

created both

and he became

incarnate in both

to rescue us

and he intends

for both

through his Holy Spirit

to be involved

in the worship

of him.

So that's the first reason.

Paul quickly moves

to another reason

why intelligible worship

is so vital

for the church.

Not only does it

make us whole

human beings,

but second,

intelligible worship

is vital for us

because

intelligible worship

builds up

fellow believers

instead of

alienating them.

It builds up

the church

rather than

breaking up

the church,

you see.

And you see that

in verses 16

through 19.

When Paul talks

about here

anyone in the position

of an outsider,

most commentators

say that Paul

isn't actually talking

about an unbeliever

who's come in,

but he's talking

about the fact

that there might

be believers,

Christians,

who are made

to feel like

outsiders

in their own church

because they don't

understand what's

being said.

they're being

alienated

from their

church family,

from their own

body by the fact

that worship

is being just

washed over

by unintelligibility.

In many ways,

that was me

fumbling with my

book of common

prayer and hymnal

with my Anglican

friends,

unable to sort of

keep up and

feeling like an

outsider.

But you know,

more to the point,

if we aren't

striving to use

intelligible,

substantive words

in our worship,

the whole point

for Paul is lost.

Do you see what

Paul is saying

here?

This is so critical.

What is it that

builds us up in

the faith?

What is it that

instructs us?

What is it that

causes us to grow?

What is it that

we're meant to be

doing when we get

together?

What is it that

causes us to be

built up?

not mere

experiences,

no matter how

powerful they

might be.

But Paul says

words,

intelligible,

applicable,

gospel-filled,

spirit-filled

words.

And then Paul says

something quite

shocking.

He says,

given the choice

between saying

five intelligible

words and 10,000

words in a tongue,

which would be an

incredible personal

experience of the

spirit,

would it not?

Paul says,

in church,

when we're all

together,

I choose five

words every time.

You see,

friends,

striving for

intelligible worship

is important because

the nature of

corporate worship,

corporate worship

isn't ultimately

about me as

an individual.

Corporate worship

is about glorifying

God and

building up my

brother and

sister in the

faith.

How many times

does Paul say in

this chapter,

let everything be

done for building

up.

It's all about

serving the church

and building the

church.

That's why you're

getting together,

to build one

another up.

And of course,

once we get those

two things straight

in our mind,

that it's about

seeing God for who

he truly is and

building each other

up,

then worship is

also about being

humble enough to

recognize our need

personally to be

built up in the

faith too,

that we need each

other to be built

up.

Of course,

we all come on

Sundays looking to

be refreshed,

to be fed

spiritually.

We're all coming

hungry for a word

from the Lord.

Yes,

that's a good

thing.

But friends,

we're not just

here for ourselves.

This isn't 200

people having a

private experience

of worship.

We're here to

build others up.

And you know,

this is true so

much so that if

given the option

on Sunday morning

between on the

one hand,

having a private,

utterly transcendental

religious experience

where God pins you

to the pew in

rapturous delight of

his infinite

excellency.

And on the other

hand,

speaking five

encouraging words to

the person in the

pew next to you,

Paul says,

I pick that one

every time.

Now friends,

I don't know about

you,

but that's a

challenging word.

I'd love to show

up to church and

be pinned to the

pew in rapturous

delights of infinite

ecstasy about the

God who saved us.

Wouldn't you?

I hope that happens.

But Paul says,

no,

my primary motive

for being here,

yes,

is to delight in

God without a

doubt,

to worship him and

say he's truly

among us,

but I'm here to

build other people

up.

And that's

challenging because

I don't know about

you,

but I don't feel

that way most

Sundays.

And I'm up here

preaching.

Most Sundays,

aren't we thinking

more about our own

selves,

what's in it for me

than I am thinking

about others?

And you know,

if we're honest,

if I'm honest,

there's part of me

that actually kind of

likes unintelligible

worship.

think about it.

I kind of like

unintelligible

worship,

at least if I'm on

the inside,

if I'm the one

who's in the know,

if I'm feeling like

I'm in the inner

circle.

I like hanging on

to the sentimental

feelings that this

old hymn gives me

even though no one

around me understands

it.

I like,

feeling safe in the

traditions and the

ways that we've

always done it

around here.

Even though no one

understands why and

it's completely

unintelligible to

newcomers and it

practically obscures

the gospel.

And above all,

friends,

although we'd never

say it this way,

don't we love the

way that being on

the inside of

something that other

people don't understand,

don't we love the way

that that feeds our

pride?

to think that we've

got something that

someone else doesn't

and it sets us

apart.

We know the lingo,

we can speak in the

tongue,

we can hit the high

note of that crazy

hymn,

and it makes me look

good.

Friends,

how wretched we are.

How broken we are

that we come to

worship with these

kinds of feelings and

motivations.

Christians.

But don't you see

that this is what the

gospel actually rescues

us from?

That there's good news

for us.

Because God has done

something that will

get you to trade your

love of self and love

of praise and to trade

your pride so that you

actually start to think

about others and you

start to think about

coming and caring more

about what's going to

build them up.

What has he done?

Well,

friends,

when we see what

Christ has done for

me,

when you see what

Christ has done for

you,

you see,

God made himself

intelligible to us.

The infinite God that

our minds could never

grasp.

God,

the God that because of

our sin,

we could never

understand.

This God has made

himself utterly known

to us.

And at the most

incredible,

infinite cost.

Long ago,

at many times,

and in many ways,

God spoke to our

fathers by the

prophets,

the writer of

Hebrews says.

But in his last

days,

he's spoken to us

by his son.

Jesus Christ came

and didn't just

reveal who God was

to us,

but died on a

cross for us

so that our sins

could be forgiven,

so that our minds

could be renewed,

so that we could

actually be in a

relationship with God,

so that God wouldn't

be a mystery to us

anymore.

Someone that we feel

like we're groping

and grasping after,

but someone who

could be in our

very midst.

You see,

friends,

when Christ took

on human nature

and lived a perfect

life in your place

and died on a

cross,

the death you

deserve to die,

and rose again on

the third day and

ascended to the

Father and where he

stands now,

interceding for all

who believe,

all this Christ has

done for us,

for those who

trust in him.

And if Christ has

done that for me,

if I have fellowship

with God through

Jesus by grace,

if he's come,

and made himself

known to me,

and I'm in a

relationship with

him,

then why in the

world do I need

to have my pride

inflated or my

traditions preserved?

Why do I need to

be on the inside of

something that other

people can't get?

Who cares about

that stuff?

We know God and

he's made himself

known.

And I can lay down

my life for others

because I have a

life in Jesus that

nothing can take

away.

I actually care more

about speaking five

words to others

than having the

most amazing

spiritual experience.

I've got every

blessing in the

heavenly places in

Christ, Paul says.

Why do I need more?

They're good to have.

Don't get me wrong.

But you've already

got the most

precious thing.

Because Christ has

gone out for me,

I can go out for

others.

You see, this is the

very logic and nature

of the gospel that

works itself out in our

corporate worship.

So friends, let me

encourage you, let me

challenge you that when

you come on Sundays,

pray for two things.

Pray that our services

are on, that they are

intelligible to those

who gather.

Pray that they will be

intelligible to you and

intelligible to the people

next to you.

And also pray that God

will give you intelligible

words, upbuilding,

encouraging, consoling

words to speak to one

another.

Let's wrap up by looking

at the third and last

reason why intelligible

worship is so important.

We'll do this briefly.

In verses 20 through 25,

here it is, this third

reason.

We see that intelligible

worship is critical to our

gathered worship because a

because ultimately that is

what changes unbelievers

hearts instead of hardening

their hearts.

In other words, Paul has

just shown us the value of

intelligible worship for our

fellow believers.

Now he wants to say and

point us to the fact that

there's value in it,

inestimable value in it for

unbelievers and outsiders who

attend our worship gathering.

Verses 23 through 25 are

pretty clear.

If an unbeliever shows up and

he or she can't understand a

word of what's being said,

they're going to say,

you're out of your minds and

their hearts are actually going

to be hardened to the gospel.

As a side note, when Paul says

in verse 22 that tongues are a

sign for unbelievers, this is

probably what he means.

In other words, Paul seems to be

saying here that uninterpreted

tongues can actually function not

as a positive sign meant to lead

to unbelievers conversion, but as a

negative sign.

As a negative sign, just like the

quote in verse 21 from Isaiah 28,

a negative sign that they're

alienated from God in their

refusal to believe in him.

Unintelligible worship actually

can function as a means of

communicating to unbelievers that

they're separated from God and to

just confirm them in that

unbelief.

But on the other hand, Paul says,

if an unbeliever attends the

service and he or she can

understand what's being said, then

the Holy Spirit can bring genuine

conviction of sin and genuine

conversion to the worship of the

true God and they'll declare that

God is really among you.

What a difference.

Instead of declaring that Christians

are out of their minds, people will

come and declare that God is really

among you.

That the God that we hunger and thirst

for is found, not in some experience,

but right here in the gathered church.

Again, this is probably what Paul means

in that confusing verse in verse 22

by saying that prophecy is a sign for

believers.

Unlike tongues, prophecy on the other

hand serves as a positive sign that

God has restored believers from their

exile and sin and again dwells in

their midst.

A blessing that even unbelievers come

to recognize and declare.

And so if we were to sum it up, we

need to say that intelligible worship

is critical for our mission as a

church.

If we want unbelievers to come to know

God and worship him, then our worship

has to be a message that people can

understand.

After all, friends, isn't it true that

it's the message of Christianity that

sets it apart from everything else?

You know, it's interesting that in

verse 23, this expression, out of your

minds, which could mean just that these

people are crazy, could also be used as

an expression describing ecstatic pagan

worship in the first century.

When the cults gathered together, they

would sort of have these experiences and

they would be out of their minds as the

sort of whatever, the gods descended

amongst them and they started to do

their thing.

In other words, Paul could be saying,

look, if unbelievers show up and you're

all speaking in unknown tongues in

ecstatic, disorderly ways, unbelievers

are just going to think that Christianity

is just one more religious option on

offer in the pluralistic market just like

all the rest.

They're not going to see anything

different.

And friends, that can be true of us today

too.

If we downplay the content of Christianity

and in our worship make it seem like just one

more option to make you feel good and live life in a

more balanced way and find more inner peace.

In other words, if we emphasize the experience over the

message, then friends, what we're doing on Sunday mornings is just

going to seem like any other spiritual option among all the

rest that people can find.

After all, every religion, every spirituality promises peace,

doesn't it?

Every spirituality offers a more well-adjusted approach to life.

And some of them, if you devote yourselves to it, might actually

give you a little bit of that.

But friends, that's not the center of what Christianity is all

about.

First and foremost, Christianity is not a method for making your

life more calm and giving you inner peace.

It'll get you there.

But before any of those things, Christianity is not a method.

It's a message.

It's news.

It's an intelligible message with content and concrete shape about

what God has done for us.

It's something utterly and completely objective.

The reason we're all looking for inner peace and calm is because we

know that something isn't quite right.

We don't feel comfortable in our own skin, do we?

Exactly.

We feel out of control, don't we?

If we sit still long enough to actually listen to our life, we feel like

we're almost going off the rails.

Why?

Why do we feel so out of joint in this beautiful world?

Friends, the reality is, the secret of your heart is that you're alienated from

the God who made you.

That there's a fundamental spiritual problem in your life.

That the vertical axis that you were created to have with God has been broken and now all

of the horizontal things have gone to smash.

We're in exile from God because of our sin.

That's what's wrong.

But the content, the message of Christianity is that God himself has gone into that dark exile

and that mess and he's paid for our sins and he's brought us home.

And that, friends, gives us a peace with God that is lasting and real and true.

And no matter how crazy your life is on the outside, it's firm and secure because Christ did it.

In a minute, we're going to take the Lord's Supper.

And the Lord's Supper is a sign, it's an act, it's a practice that Jesus himself instituted in the church

in order to make that message of what he's done all the more intelligible to us.

Jesus was a very good teacher and he knew that sometimes we needed things we could hold and see and smell to drive the point home.

This is broken bread and a poured out cup signifying the broken body of Christ for our sins

and his spilled blood poured out for our forgiveness.

But at the same time, at the same time as this meal speaks of Christ's death, it's also just that, a fellowship meal.

To tell us that because of what Jesus has done, we're now welcome at God's table and we're welcoming God's kingdom.

Not as strangers or foreigners or outsiders.

But through Jesus, God welcomes us as friends.

And even more than that, God makes us his daughters and his sons.

We become his family around this table.

That's what we're saying.

That's what we're signifying.

So in a moment, we're going to ask some folks to come up and we're going to help pass this out, the bread and the cup.

And it's actually a moment for all of us this morning to respond to the message of the gospel.

If you're already a Christian, if you've admitted that your sins deserve death, if you've believed that Christ died in your place and rose again,

and if you've committed your life to him as Savior and Lord, then you can take this bread and this cup in humility and joy for what he's done for you.

And you can remember that your sins are forgiven and you're a part of God's family now.

Let me say as well that if you're trusting in Christ and you've not been baptized, maybe that's you and you're already taking communion because you can say, yeah, I put my trust in Jesus.

If you've not actually been baptized, let me exhort you today to decide to pursue baptism.

Talk to me after the service and we can talk about next steps to becoming a public follower of Jesus through the ordinance of baptism.

Lastly, let me just say as we come to the table that if you're not a Christian, then this is the moment for you to decide what you're going to do with this intelligible message of Christianity.

If you're here and you're not a Christian, instead of taking the bread and the cup, use this time to pray and ask God what next steps look like for you.

Maybe you're still not exactly sure what it is Christians believe.

You need some more content because it's still really new to you and you have some holes you want to get filled in.

Or maybe you actually have some questions and doubts about what it is Christians actually believe and you want to get some clarifying sort of conversations going on.

Friend, if that's you, let me encourage you to talk to the friend that you came with.

Come grab me after the service.

I'd love to talk to you more about that.

And we can point you in the direction of some good resources to help you on your spiritual journey and figure out where you stand with Christianity.

But perhaps this morning you're ready to not just explore Christianity but to place your trust in Christ.

To actually open up your heart before God like this text says.

And place your trust in Jesus Christ as the one true God who rescued you from your sins.

If that's you, then let me encourage you with these words of Jesus.

Jesus said, behold, I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears my voice and opens a door, I will come into him and eat with him and he with me.

Friends, you can take hold of that promise this morning.

Let's pray together.

Let's pray together.

Let's pray together.