Pursue Love & Be Zealous for Spiritual Gifts: Pt. 1 - Prophecy (1 Cor 14:1-25)

The Silent Divorce in the Church 

“THERE HAS BEEN A SILENT DIVORCE IN THE CHURCH, SPEAKING generally, between the Word and the Spirit. When there is a divorce, sometimes the children stay with the mother, sometimes with the father. In this divorce you have those on the Word side and those on the Spirit side. What is the difference? 

Those on the Word side stress earnestly contending for the faith once delivered to the saints, expository preaching, sound theology, rediscovering the doctrines of the Reformation—justification by faith, sovereignty of God. Until we get back to the Word, the honor of God’s name will not be restored. What is wrong with this emphasis? Nothing. It is exactly right, in my opinion. 

Those on the Spirit side stress getting back to the Book of Acts, signs, wonders, and miracles, gifts of the Holy Spirit—with places being shaken at prayer meetings, get in Peter’s shadow and you are healed, lie to the Holy Spirit and you are struck dead. Until we recover the power of the Spirit, the honor of God’s name will not be restored. What is wrong with this emphasis? Nothing. It is exactly right, in my opinion. 

The problem is, neither will learn from the other. But if these two would come together, the simultaneous combination would mean spontaneous combustion. And if Smith Wigglesworth’s prophecy got it right, the world will be turned upside down again.”

― R.T. Kendall, Holy Fire: A Balanced, Biblical Look at the Holy Spirit's Work in Our Lives

This is what we want. We want to Biblically, and that’s the key word, Biblically, bring together what man has torn asunder. We want to go wherever the Bible goes. Let us not be wiser than the Bible. If the Bible gives us direction and commands on areas that are uncomfortable to us, we ought to follow it no matter the baggage, trusting God knows what will be healthiest for His Bride and maximize His glory! 

And this morning we are going to be looking at one of his most controversial gifts God has given the church, prophecy. 

And that is what it is a gift from God, for His church. 

I have disobeyed this passage for a long time and the church has missed out greatly because of it. 

And many of you have been disobeying this passage and I am missing out because of it. 

I have been challenged by my prep and excited to see how God can use this passage for our church. 

Scope

We will be in 14:1-25. We won’t cover every piece of it this chapter this morning. 

Sum up all the passages on prophecy and give some more clarifications and lots of applications on each. 

But first, we can’t air drop into chapter 14. We have to understand the context of what’s going on with the church in Corinth as well as all that Paul has been writing to them thus far. This is essential to interpret correctly. 

Corinthian Context

The Apostle Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 14 is part of a larger conversation spanning chapters 12-14 and part of a longer one spanning the whole letter.  

One of the key themes that Paul has been focused on throughout this letter to the church in Corinth is there immaturity in applying the gospel in every day life. One of the great evidences of their misunderstanding of the grace of the gospel is how they are suing one another and violating each other's consciences by insisting on their rights with certain foods.

Their immaturity was demonstrated by many of the Corinthians who prioritized their own rights and desires over the well-being of their brother and sister, and the reputation of Christ in the community.

They gravitated towards large, famous, and fast as cultural values. They loved flashy gifts, speakers, and status. 

And we continue to see these unhealthy roots when it comes to spiritual gifts. 

The Corinthians seemed to be out of control in practicing certain spiritual gifts. Prioritizing flash and experience over unity and building each other up.

So Paul wants to direct them.

And here is a principle I want to highlight. 

Although the gifts were grossly misused, the solution is not prohibition but reorientation.

Literary Context: What Have we learned so far from 12-13. 

• There are a variety of gifts, but one Spirit. 

• The Spirit decides who gets what gifts and empowers each member of Christ’ body for the common good of the church. 

• We need each other, in fact the parts of our church body that seem less important and less public are indispensable. 

• We are so connected to each other, as body parts are, that when one suffers, the whole body suffers, when one rejoices, we all rejoice. 

• God has also appointed different roles in the church with different gifts. 

• Paul makes a big deal to remind everyone that not all people have all gifts, thus, guarding us from shame and jealousy over people’s different roles and gifts. 

Chapter 13 is the main point of this whole section of chapter 12 through 14. It is what everything hangs on. Love is the point. The gifts are just ways to love. 

This chart below shows the whole section is a chiasm. A chiasm is just a way for a writer to organize their work to highlight the main point. So Paul takes 12:31 and 14:1 and sandwiches his main point, chapter 13, in between. 

• A: Be zealous for the gifts (12:31)

• B: There is a superior way 

• Center: This is true love (13)

• B: Pursue Love  (14:1) 

• A: Be zealous for the gifts 

Pastor Scott’s sermon was excellent, please listen to it if you missed it. 

And if you listened to it and are just rushing in your heart to get to the gifts, you missed the whole point. 

If you miss love, you miss the purpose behind the gifts. Love is the point!

› Ok, to chapter 14,

Pursue Love And….

1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV

1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

What are the commands here? 

• Pursue love 

• and earnestly desire the gifts, esp. prophesy. 

Oftentimes, people take this verse to say, 

Pursue spiritual gifts. But it doesn’t. 

Why am I making that distinction?

What can be lost if we make gifts that which we pursue?

The call is for us to earnestly desire these gifts. But that desire has to be in the service of love. And that is the whole point. Love is the point. If the Corinthians pursue gifts apart from love, they miss everything.

So the command first of all is to pursue love not pursue gifts.

Before you even think about what does prophecy look like in the church, and tongues, and all kinds of hot topic questions, you have to ask yourself,
“Am I pursuing love as my primary motivator?”

PAUSE 

But here's the other end that people can miss.

If you truly pursue love, you will eagerly or zealously desire spiritual gifts.  Because spiritual gifts help us love people more. 

this word , “zeleo” what the ESV translates, “Earnestly desire.” 

  What does Zeleo sound like? 

Zeal!

Zealot!

It is not passive acceptance, if God sovereignly wants to give it you. Its an intense desire that will lead to actions.

So to the extent, we love one another, is the extent we should desire spiritual gifts.

For some of us, we love other people, but we don't desire spiritual gifts because we have been misinformed about their value in loving others. 

Some of you have been taught that these gifts do the opposite of love. People have abused them or you have been abused by them. 

Or you were taught they ceased.

Others have forgot how valuable gifts are. That would be me. 

So for us, I call us to obey this command in the Bible for us to desire spiritual gifts because they will help us love others more. 

PAUSE

And there are some of us  who are seeking spiritual gifts    but it's not because you want to love. There are self seeking motivations. Spiritual gifts can make people puffed up and feel special and powerful. Unique. 

In a world where we all want to be found as special, spiritual gifts can be abused in certain circles as a way to identify the Lord's anointed ones. 

 
And for those whom that resonates with, allow this passage to expose your self seeking, mixed bag of a heart. 

Repent from your self-seeking, pursue love and THEN zealously desire spiritual gifts!

PAUSE 

› Now that we have a commitment to obey the Word here and pursue love and desire spiritual gifts, 

› let’s define prophecy because Paul says we should especially desire it. 

Defining Terms

A simple definition would be that prophecy is “the human report of a divine revelation.” Prophecy is the speaking forth in merely human words of something God has spontaneously brought to mind. - Sam Storms

Starting from v. 3 we are going to look at a few of the purposes of prophecy because it can be broad in the bible. 

› Now Paul is going to give us reasons why he prefers prophecy in most cases versus tongues. 

The Purposes of Prophecy

Primarily: Strengthen, Encourage and Comfort

1 Corinthians 14:3 ESV

3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.

Paul contrasts two specific gifts: tongues and prophecy.  

Tongues, when uninterpreted, edify only the speaker. It does not serve the body directly. 

Another translation, 

1 Corinthians 14:3 NLT

3 But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them.

• Upbuilding and strengthening

• Encouragement

• Consolation and Comfort

 Don’t you want that for our church?

Do you need that today?

Prophetic words are often used by God to remind believers that their Heavenly Father sees them, even when no one else does. 

Conviction

1 Corinthians 14:24–25 ESV

24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

I want more that too! That’s a powerful way to speed up the whole evangelism process!

Direction 

Foretelling what we primarily think of with the word. 

Acts 11:27–29 ESV

27 Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea.

Acts 13:2 ESV

2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Calling for Ministry

1 Timothy 1:18 ESV

18 This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare,

Reasons why prophecy is preferred in public gatherings over tongues (vv. 4-25)

1 Corinthians 14:4–6 NLT

4 A person who speaks in tongues is strengthened personally, but one who speaks a word of prophecy strengthens the entire church. 5 I wish you could all speak in tongues, but even more I wish you could all prophesy. For prophecy is greater than speaking in tongues, unless someone interprets what you are saying so that the whole church will be strengthened. 6 Dear brothers and sisters, if I should come to you speaking in an unknown language, how would that help you? But if I bring you a revelation or some special knowledge or prophecy or teaching, that will be helpful.

Greater in the sense of edification 

He is not ranking all of the spiritual gifts, placing prophecy at the top and tongues at the bottom. He is comparing two spiritual gifts in the context of church meetings and showing why prophecy is more edifying than uninterpreted tongues - Naselli 

Vv. 7-11 continues showing how important it is to understand what is being communicated in a public gathering and then restates his main point in v. 12. 

1 Corinthians 14:12 ESV

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

The problem is that they were passionate about building up through tongues. 

The goal of gifts, especially within the gathered church, is mutual understanding and edification. 

› Skip Verses 13-25 for next week focus on tongues

8 Nuts and Bolts on Prophecy

Resources to go deeper.   

All prophecy is subordinate to Scripture

Prophecy is the OT sometimes were turned into Scripture, unless they were a false prophet, it was always from the Lord. But now that we have the Word revealed and sealed, all NT prophecy is subject to the Word. 

We see Paul getting at this,

1 Corinthians 14:37–38 ESV

37 If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. 38 If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

If a prophecy is not in line with the Bible its not from the Lord. 

This is also why its important to avoid prophesies that create ethical rules for the church or ones that can’t be checked by the Word,

“God told me that we can’t take vaccines or God told me that you will be my wife.”

1 Thessalonians 5:19–21 ESV

19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good.

We must test EVERYTHING with the Word.
We don’t just take everything as it is and check our brains at the door. 

But I want to highlight vv. 19-20. 

Paul makes despising prophecies as how we quench the Holy Spirit. 

The Spirit’s activity of imparting revelatory insight into the will and ways of God is compared with a fire that we must not douse with the water of skepticism, religiosity or fear. Don’t miss the force of what Paul was saying. Simply put, it doesn’t matter how badly people may have abused this gift. It is a sin to despise prophecy. This is a divine command. Don’t treat prophecy with contempt; don’t treat it as if it were unimportant; don’t trivialize it. 

In other words, there is a real, live baby in that murky, distasteful bath water. So be careful that when you throw out the latter you don’t dispense with the former! This exhortation also means that if you do despise prophecy, if you seek to exclude it from your church life, if you flippantly disregard it, you have “quenched the Holy Spirit”; you have put out His fire! That in itself is incredibly revealing about how the Holy Spirit ministers through us. He will rarely, if ever, force Himself in a manifestation or display of a gift or any other supernatural or natural expression- Sam Storms

NT   Prophecies can be Wrong(Ish)

How can divine revelation be wrong?

I have taken this Bible and misinterpret it and I've had to repent. 

There other times were interpreted correctly, but did not know how to apply it.

We see an example of this in Acts,

Acts 21:10–12 ESV

10 While we were staying for many days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’ ” 12 When we heard this, we and the people there urged him not to go up to Jerusalem.

See Paul’s response, 

Acts 21:13 ESV

13 Then Paul answered, “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

The prophetic word that was from God, interpreted it correctly but applied it to believe that Paul shouldn’t go. 

PAUSE

Alos, 

There is a vast difference between prophesying falsely and being a false prophet. 

False prophets are indeed spoken of in the New Testament, but they were not Christians who made errors in prophetic words. False prophets were non-Christian enemies of the gospel (see Matt. 7:15–23; 24:10–11, 24; 2 Pet. 2:1–3; 1 John 4:1–6). 

› Because we are fallible. 

 Avoid “thus Saith”

If you think God has revealed something to you for the edification of another, first share it in confidence with trusted and mature Christian friends who can help you process what has happened. There is wisdom in the counsel of community. And be willing to risk being wrong. 

Step out in faith and humility and deliver what is on your heart in words similar to these: “I may have entirely missed this, but I think God may have put something on my heart for you. If this doesn’t make any sense, you won’t hurt my feelings by telling me so.” Resist the temptation to say: “Thus saith the Lord,” or “This is the will of God for your life.” - Sam Storms Practicing the Power

Don’t assume that every random thought that passes through your brain is from God. Simply because God may have genuinely revealed something to you in the past does not mean he is always speaking. Exercise discernment and restraint.

Some of us have the gift of discernment, we are extremely observant and the danger is that we can regularly read people accurately and we can throw divine authority on it. You are just super observant and that’s another gift.  

“God is telling me your marriage is struggling.” 

That may be true, and it may be just obvious to many others and you don’t have to throw divine authority to try to care for them. 

Also stick to what you hear or sense. Don’t feel the need to interpret and apply unless the Lord gives you that. Let others do that. 

When you believe God has given you a word. 

Ask God: What do I do with this? 

Sometimes God just want you to keep it to yourself. 

Sometimes he wants you to sit on it and then after some time you realize it was just your thoughts. 

Should this be said?
By me? Right now? 

 If someone gives you a word and it doesn’t resonate with you, thank the person and put it on the shelf by writing it down. You would be surprised sometimes bazar words can be right on. 

All can prophesy: Men & Women, kids, and non-leaders

Acts 2:16–18 ESV

16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

NT Changes everything with the giving of the Holy Spirit. The last days is not the end times but the era we are in after Jesus sends his Spirit. 

Acts 21:8–9 ESV

8 On the next day we departed and came to Caesarea, and we entered the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, and stayed with him. 9 He had four unmarried daughters, who prophesied.

› All of us have the potential to prophesy because we have the Holy Spirit. But we can have degrees of strength in a gift. 

You can grow in any gift

Prophecy, tongues, hospitality, and teaching all belong to the same category of Spirit-empowered gifts. The distinction between “ordinary” and “extraordinary” gifts is often artificial. 

If we can grow in teaching or hospitality, why not in prophecy? 

Romans 12:6 ESV

6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith;

I believe those who regularly operate in a gift will often be identified that way. 

So while I occasionally prophesy, I don’t enough to where people can consider me a prophet. 

You can be an unbeliever and Prophesy

Matthew 7:21–23 ESV

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

God can temporarily empower people even though they are not following Jesus. 

Satan can empower people too. 

Don’t worry about trying to get the name perfectly 

Was it a word of knowledge?
Was it discernment?
Prophecy?
Teaching?   

Just be faithful to love others and don’t worry about the right title.  

Practice it in smaller gatherings

Remember the church was almost all smaller gatherings

Leaders of MCs and DNAs

A few guidelines from Sam Storms,

Leaders of the gathering explicitly and frequently emphasize that this is a "safe" environment where everyone can take risks. Participants are encouraged to step out in faith and express what they believe God has revealed to them. Even if they don’t get everything perfect, there’s no need to fear judgment or rejection. No one will be categorized as less spiritual or barred from exercising their gifts due to potential errors.

During gatherings, it can be helpful to pause, whether in the middle of singing or prayer or at the end, and invite everyone to remain silent, praying quietly and asking the Spirit if He wishes to reveal something beneficial for building others up. Leaders might ask, “Did anyone have a dream recently or feel burdened or impressed in some way?” 

Silence during these moments should not be feared or seen as a failure; perhaps God isn’t speaking at that time. 

However, if someone shares a revelation, allow time for others to reflect, pray, and even consult Scripture to discern its truth.

Pastor Ross will get into this public gathering more. 

Application: Pray for Spiritual Gifts

What gift should you pray for? 

When we our gathered, we ought to pray for prophecy. 

But in general, pray for different gifts that would ultimately serve the body best. 

So in certain situations, the gift of service may be best. 

You hear of a need in our church, and you think, “No no way, I am too tired. I just can’t.”
And maybe you should rest. 

But maybe you need the gift of service and the Spirit will fill you up for that task. 

Pray earnestly and persistently. 

But do it with humility and submission. 

1 Corinthians 12:11 ESV

11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

We

The times in my life where I have received a word have been so sweet. 

They have strengthened, encouraged, and comforted me. 

Sadly I have not kept good record over the years when I have received one or given one. I tired to go back in one of my journals and finally found one.

‌

It was at an Elders and wives gathering meeting 9/21/2019‌

I felt like God shared with me that  one of the leaders were burying his gift so I spoke that to them. They texted me the next day, 

“I laid awake last night feeling like God’s call on my life into pastoral ministry was so confirmed. Especially when you said that you felt like I was “burying my talents”. It felt like the Lord spoke through you to me directly. My biggest prayer and fear has been that I would do exactly that and so your words cut through by the grace of God and reawakened me to his call on my life. I’m very grateful.”

Imagine what our church would be like if we grew in the prophetic?

How encouraging and helpful to have others share with us. 

Conclusion

1 Corinthians 13:2 ESV

2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

1 Corinthians 14:1 ESV

1 Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.

Pray!