This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

This is day three together of our look at 1 Corinthians chapter 14. We're going
to look at verses 20 to 25 today. First 19 verses of this chapter we've looked
at what I call the Edification Principle, that one of the questions I have to
ask in worship is, "How is it building others up?

" And we look through these four questions that Paul asked at the beginning of
this chapter, "Who am I speaking to? What good is it doing for others? Is it
about just my spirit?

Is it about my spirit, my mind? " These questions that all have to do in the end
with who's being built up? Is it just me or is it also others?

Now there's a second principle that Paul begins to talk about in verse 20 and I
want to call it the Maturity Principle. Now I know we're talking about tongues
and prophecy and which gifts should be used and when, so I realize that maturity
is a loaded term when we're talking about which gifts should be used. Am I
saying that for instance those who would want to use the gift of tongues in a
worship service are immature people?

No, that's not what I'm talking about here at all. The maturity that I'm talking
about here is not in the gift but in the use of the gift and in Corinth they
were showing their immaturity in their worship in the use of the gift of tongues
and also in the use of the gift of prophecy we're going to find out later and
also in just the way they spoke to one another in the worship service. So there
is a maturity principle in what happens in a worship service.

Paul talks about that in verse 20. He says, "Brothers, stop thinking like
children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.

" Now this is one of the great scriptures in all the Bible about good and evil.
In evil be infants and your thinking be adults. Maturity is in evil I'm an
infant in my thinking I'm an adult.

Maturity is not understanding evil. Maturity is actually refusing evil. Some
people think that being mature, being adult is understanding evil.

I can understand all the evil in the world. I understand all those awful things
that people do. I understand what all those words mean.

I've studied this. I understand what all those actions are. I understand evil
and so there's this idea that if you don't understand all the evil in the world
somehow you're innocent, somehow you're immature, somehow you're like a babe.

But the Bible says in evil be infants. That actually is maturity. It takes more
maturity to say I don't need to learn about that than to feel some kind of
insecurity about yourself that says I've got to learn about that so that if the
guys or if the ladies talk about it I understand all that evil that's in the
world.

Get rid of the idea that in order to be mature you have to sow your wild oats or
to be a man of the world you got to be somebody who's really been around.
Maturity, Christian maturity has nothing to do with understanding evil. Now you
may have made mistakes in life and you may understand some things about evil
that you wish you didn't but the truth is that has nothing to do with your
maturity and God can take and he can forgive not only forgive but also he can
bring purity into your life.

This idea that knowing more about evil is going to make us like something
better. We've struggled with this idea from the very beginning. The serpent told
Eve in the garden you can have knowledge of good and evil that's why you should
bite into that apple whatever that fruit was and Eve bit and Adam bit into it.

This curiosity about evil we tell ourselves we're just going to look we're just
going to have one taste and then like Adam and Eve our world comes crashing in.
So in evil be infants but Paul says in your thinking be adults. You show
maturity by saying no to evil of whore what is evil you cling to what is good
the scripture tells us but then you think like an adult.

Being innocent about some evil things refusing evil things doesn't mean you have
to think like a child about everything Paul is saying here and he's saying
you're thinking selfishly that's how children tend to think what's good for me
what do I want. In worship Paul is saying you have to be concerned about
maturity you have to be concerned about the maturity of those speaking and you
also have to be concerned about the level of maturity of those who are being
spoken to in the worship service. So let's look at both of those and what Paul
says about that.

First he says he's already told us you have to be concerned about the maturity
of the speaker he says don't be thinking like children. So when you use your
gifts don't use them in an immature way and all the spiritual gifts that the
spiritual gifts that we looked at in chapter 12 this last week whether it's
speaking in tongues or its prophecy or its teaching or its helps or its
administration whatever the gift is there are some ways that you can see
immaturity in the use of those gifts. Two main ways we see immaturity in the use
of spiritual gifts are what some have called gift transference and what I would
call gift insistence.

Gift transference is the immature feeling that everybody else must have your
gift. So if you have the gift of evangelism gift transference is the feeling if
you don't feel as passionate about it as I do if you don't have the same kind of
giftedness and do the same things that I do there's something wrong with you.
Well maybe they have the gift of helps and not the gift of evangelism and with
maturity you see all the gifts are needed but many times as a new believer or if
you're immature as a believer you begin to feel like unless everybody has
exactly the same gift that I do and sees things exactly the same way that I do
there's something wrong with them.

You're not mature enough to see that all the parts of the body are needed. So
with that immaturity a lot of times people will leave a church because they
can't find a church where everybody's just like them or they'll look all their
lives for a church where everybody's just like them and be frustrated that
something's wrong with the church and the truth of the matter is it's gift
transference or something wrong there's something immature about their thinking.
Another immaturity with gifts is what I call gift insistence and that is the
feeling the insisting that if you have a gift you have the right to use it in
any circumstance so if you for instance feel like you have the gift of teaching
it would be calling the pastor of your church week after week after week saying
I insist that I preach this next weekend God's giving me this gift I have to use
it.

Now you probably wouldn't do that but what people do tend to do is like in a
Sunday school class you'll try to take over from the teacher and try to start
teaching for this teacher you're insisting yourself into the situation and maybe
it is because you have that gift but if you truly have that gift you're going to
be submissive to the other person who has that gift you're going to be humble
enough to wait for the moment when you should use that gift and it's immature to
insist in some way no I have to use that gift because I have it. Those are two
ways that people are immature and they're thinking about gifts and both of them
were happening in Corinth. There were those who felt like everybody should have
the gift that I have and there were those who were insisting that they use their
gift in any circumstance and Paul is writing to say you're being like a child
and you're thinking you need to think about others so that's the maturity of the
speaker also in these verses he talks about you need to be concerned in worship
about the maturity of those who are listening listen to what he says about this
in verses 21 to 25.

In the law it is written through men of strange tongues and through the lips of
foreigners I will speak to this people but even then they will not listen to me
says the Lord tongues then are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers
prophecy however is for believers not for unbelievers so if the whole church
comes together and everyone speaks in the tongue and some who do not understand
or some unbelievers come in will they not say that you're out of your mind but
if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is
prophesying he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and we will be
judged by all and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare so he will fall
down and worship God exclaiming God is really among you.