Gary Gleans

                                                                        1 Corinthians 14:26-33 What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has   a hymn,   a lesson,   a revelation,   a tongue, or   an interpretation.   Let all things be done for building up.    If any speak in   a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret.    But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.    Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others   weigh what is said.    If a revelation is made to another sitting there,   let the first be silent.  For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged,   and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.    For God is not a God of   confusion but of peace.   When believers gather in a public service, it is a special time that should special for everyone who is in attendance.  It is a time for encouragement, g

                                                                   1 Corinthians 14:13-25 Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret.  For if I pray in a 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 built up.    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 in order to instruct others, than ten thousand words in a tongue.    Brothers,   do not be children in your thinking.   Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be   mature.    In the Law it is written,   “By p

                                                                                  1 Corinthians 14:6-12 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 instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone know what is played?    And   if the bugle gives an indistinct sound, who will get ready for battle?    So with yourselves, if with your tongue you utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is 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 manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church.   Paul continues to argue about the

                                                                             1 Corinthians 14:1-5 Pursue love, and   earnestly desire the   spiritual gifts, especially that you may   prophesy.    For   one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.    On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation.    The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.  Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but   even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.   All that God gives us through His Spirit is good.  However, because of our sinfulness, as we receive blessings from the Spirit, we can become proud or use those blessing in selfish ways.  Certain gifts from God are more impressive, and therefore, mo

                                                                             1 Corinthians 13:8-13 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.    For   we know in part and we prophesy in part,   but   when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.    When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.    For   now we see in a mirror dimly, but   then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as   I have been fully known.   So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. The presence of the Holy Spirit in our life produces the character of Christ in us.  His holiness, His joy, and His love overflow into our lives in a way that complete and fulfill us.  The Spirit also provides capabilities in us that we have the privilege of using for the glory of God and the

                                                                             1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient and   kind; love   does not envy or boast; it   is not arrogant   or rude. It   does not insist on its own way; it   is not irritable or resentful; it   does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but   rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,   endures all things.   Paul gives us an accurate definition of what love is and a complete description of what love does and doesn’t do.  Perhaps the simplest way to summarize love is simply that it focuses on others.  This is a significant passage because Jesus summarizes the basic responsibility of believers as loving one another.  This passage explains what that looks like.   LOVE SERVES OTHERS: Selfishness is the natural condition of every man woman and child on the face of the earth.  We all look after our own interests and seek our own advantages.  We can see this from a child with toys or an

                                                                                       1 Corinthians 13:1-3 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 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.   If I give away all I have, and   if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.   The Spirit of God indwells every believer.  As part of His indwelling, He produces qualities in our lives known as the fruit of the Spirit.  He also equips believers with what we call spiritual gifts.  Both of these are vital to our Christian lives as they must both be used in cooperation with one another.  The gifts of the Spirit without the fruit of the Spirit is ineffective.   LOVE IS NECESSARY TO ELOQUENCE: The speaking gifts of teaching, prophecy, and even the gift of tongues are simply an annoyi

                                                                   1 Corinthians 12:21-31 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.  If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.  Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.  And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of t

                                                                        1 Corinthians 12:12-20 For just as   the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body,   so it is with Christ.    For   in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and   all were made to drink of one Spirit.    For the body does not consist of one member but of many.   If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.   And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body.   If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell?   But as it is,   God arranged the members in the body, each one of them,   as he chose.   If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many

                                                                                  1 Corinthians 12:4-11 Now   there are varieties of gifts, but   the same Spirit;   and   there are varieties of service, but   the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is   the same God who empowers them all in everyone.    To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.    For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of   wisdom, and to another the utterance of   knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another   faith by the same Spirit, to another   gifts of healing by the one Spirit,   to another   the working of miracles, to another   prophecy, to another   the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another   various kinds of tongues, to another   the interpretation of tongues.    All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit,   who apportions to each one individually   as he wills.   Believers have a common purpose and have a common source

                                                                        1 Corinthians 12:1-3 Now   concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.   You know that   when you were pagans   you were led astray to   mute idols, however you were led.   Therefore I want you to understand that   no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is   accursed!” and   no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit.   There are many big changes that happens in salvation.  Our sins are forgiven.  We have hope.  Our eternal destiny is secure.  However, one of the most significant changes is the receiving of the Holy Spirit.  His presence in our lives equips us for the work of the ministry but transforms us from within our hearts.   THE WORK OF IDOLS:  Prior to salvation, all men are idolaters.  We don’t tend to think of ourselves in that light, but that is a very accurate description of our identity prior to coming to Christ.  Since we are created as worshi

                                                                        1 Corinthians 11:23-30 For   I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that   the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread,   and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said,   “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. ” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying,   “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”  For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death   until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord   in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning   the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.   For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.   That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some