1 Corinthians 14:5 (KJV) A Note of Sarcasm

1 Corinthians 14:5 (KJV)

I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.

Given the context and the Apostle Paul’s plain teaching that speaking in an unknown tongue is of no benefit to the believer or the local church. It tends to lift up self, and it is questionable whether it honors the Lord.[1] I think that we create our own trouble with this verse by misinterpreting it. I do not believe we should read it, “I prefer that ye all spake with tongues but prophesied too.” We should instead read it, “I prefer that you all prophesied rather than speak with tongues.”

Paul often speaks “as a man” and, in many cases, with a note of sarcasm. We should not take this passage to mean that he desires all to speak in tongues and choose to prophesy but the opposite. He wants Christians to put away those childish things and strive instead to edify the church, win unbelievers, and thereby glorify the Lord.

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[1] 1 Corinthians 12:1-3 (KJV)
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant.
Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.
Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5600 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

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1 Corinthians 14:5 (KJV) A Note of Sarcasm

1 Corinthians 13:8-11 (KJV) Childish? There Is Something Better

1 Corinthians 13:8-11 (KJV)

Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

In preparation for this piece, I searched through free photos under the topic childish. It was interesting how many of them were of a man pretending to be a boy, doing something childlike, foolish, or even foolhardy. Children do things adults are supposed to know better than doing. Children often get away with them.[1] When adults do them, they get away with it far less frequently.

Paul became a man.

There came a point in his life when he, and others, recognized that he was no longer a child. He was responsible for putting away childish things and picking up adulthood’s responsibilities. This, of course, is true physically. It is equally true spiritually.

The context is clear. Those childish things in the realms of the spiritual are:

• Prophecies
• Tongues and
• Knowledge[2]

These “childish things” are to fail, cease, and vanish away.
In their place, we have something better, something perfect, something a mature believer will choose instead. It is charity. It is the outpouring of self in the local church.[3]

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[1] Sometimes they don’t- children die almost every day somewhere in the world because they did something they shouldn’t have.

[2] Knowledge is like prophecies in that those claiming it say they have something from God and outside the Bible.

[3] ISBE says that the word charity is derived from a Greek word not seen previous to the writing of 1 Corinthians and is apparently coined to describe the unique love a Christian has for his church.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5600 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi provides a means for those who appreciate my content to leave me a “tip.” I would be thankful for it.

1 Corinthians 13:8-11 (KJV) Childish? There Is Something Better

1 Corinthians 12:24 (KJV) Members Welded Together Are Stronger Together

1 Corinthians 12:24 (KJV)
For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked:

The idea of tempered together is much the same as being welded together. It is a process by which two members are made to be one. As a certified welder, I have some experience in this area. I know, for instance, that when a weld is done correctly, the weld is stronger than either member alone.

God tempers, strengthens, and forges the members of the church together. Each member contributes to the overall strength of the church. The whole is much stronger in faith, purpose, and spiritual function than any one member would be alone.

As a welder, I know it is possible to separate members previously welded together. In the days when I worked construction, we called it “scarfing.” We used an air arc device to melt the weld and blow it off with compressed air. The process is tedious, slow, messy, and very loud. We also had scarfing bits for oxy-acetylene tanks. It’s scorching, much slower, and just as dirty as air arc. Neither one is ideal.

Even so, the perfect will of God is not that the members of a church be severed from it. Our culture values independence above unity and individuality above community. It has done much damage to the local church and the cause of Christ in the world.

Every member of the church is necessary. We can’t afford any member to scarf off and join themselves to a body God never intended for them.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5600 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi provides a means for those who appreciate my content to leave me a “tip.” I would be thankful for it.

1 Corinthians 12:24 (KJV) Members Welded Together Are Stronger Together

1 Corinthians 11:1 (KJV) We Are To Be Followers, Not Leaders

1 Corinthians 11:1 (KJV)

Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.

We must not forget that the context of this verse reaches back into the previous chapter where Paul says, among other things, 1 Corinthians 10:33 (KJV)
Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

The ministry is one of followship. In my understanding of the Bible, we are not to consider ourselves as leaders but as followers of Christ. Then, as we follow Christ, we call others to follow with us.

Paul had those who didn’t want to follow Christ the same way he did. They wanted to follow Christ. They just didn’t want to follow Paul while doing it. I think every pastor experiences the burden of those who, at some point, decide they are not willing to follow the Lord the way we do.

I’ve been adamant that I am not changing how I follow the Lord.

• I’m not changing the standards
• I’m not changing the doctrines
• I’m not changing the Bible
• I’m not changing the Baptist name

I’m not changing these things. Over time, I’ve discovered that some people, even in our church, disagree.

I saw a picture of a church group out witnessing. I’m thankful people witness, but this group was dressed in clothes I would only wear in the privacy of my home. Pastors I have admired for years congratulated the pastor for having such a group as witnesses. Twenty-five years ago, I was recognized and commended for standing opposed to such worldliness. Today, should I make the same stand, I would be condemned by the same men who praised me then.

A pastor follows the Lord. As he does so, he’s calling to those who wish to follow the Lord with him.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5600 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi provides a means for those who appreciate my content to leave me a “tip.” I would be thankful for it.

1 Corinthians 11:1 (KJV) We Are To Be Followers, Not Leaders

1 Corinthians 9:1 (KJV) Take That To The World

1 Corinthians 9:1 (KJV)

Am I not an apostle? am I not free? have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? are not ye my work in the Lord?

A distinctive of the Lord’s Apostles is that they had seen Jesus Christ after His resurrection. Paul may have seen Him before His cross, but multitudes, including Pontius Pilate and Herod and seen Him then. Jesus was seen, after His resurrection, of more than 400 people at once, so it wasn’t the only distinctive, but it was one that Paul could claim and most could not. Paul saw the glorified Christ:

• At his conversion along the Damascus road
• While in a trance at Jerusalem
• At Corinth, when God assured him He had “much people in this city.”
• In the castle where the chief captain put him
• Onboard ship in the storm
• When he was caught up to the third heaven

The Apostles were all chosen of God to be eyewitnesses of what they had seen. Their witness has been published in the Word of God. 

Our place, our calling, is to take that message, as it is recorded in the Bible, to the world.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5600 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi provides a means for those who appreciate my content to leave me a “tip.” I would be thankful for it.

1 Corinthians 9:1 (KJV) Take That To The World

1 Corinthians 8:9 (KJV) What If What We Have Learned Is Harmful to Others?

1 Corinthians 8:9 (KJV)

But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them that are weak.

Verse eleven speaks of the weak brother perishing because of our “knowledge” or liberty concerning meat offered to idols. We know they are nothing, and we know we may eat the meat without consequences. Our liberty could never cause a weaker brother to lose his salvation. That is secure in Christ.

What we can do through our “knowledge” is demonstrate arrogance, haughtiness, and pride. We can discourage the brother. We can cause them to become disillusioned with Christianity and God’s people. We might cause them to lose heart and fail in a further walk with the Lord.

The New Testament is filled with passages teaching us to be humble, loving, and merciful. It is a terrible sin to be so proud of our Christian growth and so lifted up with our understanding of spiritual things that we become a hindrance to those who haven’t gained this understanding.

Have we really learned what the Lord has for us if what we have learned is harmful to those around us?

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5600 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi provides a means for those who appreciate my content to leave me a “tip.” I would be thankful for it.

1 Corinthians 8:9 (KJV) What If What We Have Learned Is Harmful to Others?

1 Corinthians 7:4 (KJV) The Way To Be Free

1 Corinthians 7:4 (KJV)

The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.

This chapter is intended to be taken in the context of 1 Corinthians 6:12 (KJV)
All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any. and the issue of addictions, especially sexual sin.

Marriage, the main subject of 1 Corinthians 7, is a gift from God meant to bring the sexual passion of corrupted man into submission. We may marry to prevent our person from being brought under the power of this passion.

Marriage is an agreement to bring passion under the power of another, so we are not under the power of passion. None of this will work unless we are first under the power of the Lord.

The way to be free from those that would dominate us is to be dominated by the Lord.

The way to have liberty in the spirit is to be surrendered to the Holy Spirit.

To my readers:
Thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word. I would love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave comments.

Donate to Bible Baptist Church every time you make an Amazon purchase through this link, https://smile.amazon.com/ch/91-1265824

Donate to our cause of “Reaching a world of souls with the Word of God.”

For this and, more than 5600 earlier Daily Visits with God, visit https://mckenzie-visit-with-god.blogspot.com. There you will find daily visits going back to 2005.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others.

For more resources from Pastor Marvin McKenzie visit http://puyallupbaptistchurch.com.

My books, and other resources, are available at:
https://marvinmckenzie.org

Merch at my Teespring store https://macz.creator-spring.com/
Be a witness with hats, mugs, t-shirts, sweat shirts, and more

Let’s have coffee?
The link to Ko-fi provides a means for those who appreciate my content to leave me a “tip.” I would be thankful for it.

1 Corinthians 7:4 (KJV) The Way To Be Free