"Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not [love] I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." - I Cor. 15:1
Believers at Corinth, as is the case with certain in our own day, were much impressed with what we call "spiritual gifts," especially with the 'gift of tongues.' Through the apostle Paul the Holy Spirit distinguishes two categories of this gift: natural tongues, "of men," and supernatural tongues, "of angels." We are instructed in scripture only regarding the former.
On the day of Pentecost, the disciples were enabled to articulate the gospel in the various native languages of the multitudes present in Jerusalem on that remarkable day. Filled with the Holy Spirit, they "began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance," and those present "out of every nation under heaven… heard them speak in his own language… the wonderful works of God [Acts 2:4-11]" It was a highly practical gift which facilitated the communication of the gospel on the "birthday of the church." Every man hears and understands best in his own tongue, in which he was born (cf. Acts 2:8).
At Corinth the functional value of this gift had been replaced by an emphasis on the gift itself and the impression it made of some sort of spiritual superiority. Initially the gift served to glorify God and edify the hearers. Now it served to attract attention to the speaker. Scripture addresses the matter more fully in the following chapter, but here the issue is addressed in Paul's terse statement that the exercise of this gift (representative of all "spectacular" gifts) in the absence of love—the love that God is— leaves the spokesperson of no greater significance than "sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal." That is to say, mere noise. Speaking with other tongues is something men may do; love is not. Love is not something God "does;" love is what God is, and He loves because of what He is. We love (in this way) when, and only when we are occupied with Him, so that His love can be imparted to us as "partakers of the divine nature," and revealed through us, in the neighborhood and the marketplace as well as in the "sanctuary."
Every spiritual gift can be exercised in a self interested way, except love. And there is even a pretended love which suffers the same fate. The right kind of love, this side of heaven, will never be native to us. It will always be a "borrowed glow" born of our communion with the God Who is love. The love of God, both our love for Him and our love for "one another," is "shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us [Rom. 5:5]." The man who knows little or nothing of the Holy Spirit, not in theological, but in practical terms, will not be able to manifest that love. "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass (mirror) the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord [II Cor. 3:17-18]."
Adam was created to be a mirror, reflecting the glory of his Creator to all over which he had been given dominion, and you and I are redeemed with the same objective in view. In that relationship the believer is as glorious as his Lord, no more, no less. But when he is persuaded (as Adam was) to become preoccupied with his own glory ("ye shall be as gods",) he loses the "glory that excelleth," and corrupts everything that God has given him. He sinks into spiritual oblivion, becoming no more than a discordant noise in this vast creation. Shallow Christians may be impressed with such, but God is not!
A neighbor has a wind chime hanging on his porch. When the wind blows, it makes a pretty noise, but it is not music; it conveys no message, other than the wind is blowing. So it is, if we exercise God's gifts without His love. The trumpet gives an uncertain sound, and no one is moved to prepare for the battle (Cf. I Cor. 14:8).
Oswald Chambers is quoted as saying, "On the basis of… redemption, God expects us to erect characters worthy of the sons of God. He does not expect us to carry on "evangelical capers," but to manifest the life of the Son of God in our mortal flesh." That Life is evident only when we love one another (cf. John 13:35).
For HIS glory,
"Pastor" Frasier
Believers at Corinth, as is the case with certain in our own day, were much impressed with what we call "spiritual gifts," especially with the 'gift of tongues.' Through the apostle Paul the Holy Spirit distinguishes two categories of this gift: natural tongues, "of men," and supernatural tongues, "of angels." We are instructed in scripture only regarding the former.
On the day of Pentecost, the disciples were enabled to articulate the gospel in the various native languages of the multitudes present in Jerusalem on that remarkable day. Filled with the Holy Spirit, they "began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance," and those present "out of every nation under heaven… heard them speak in his own language… the wonderful works of God [Acts 2:4-11]" It was a highly practical gift which facilitated the communication of the gospel on the "birthday of the church." Every man hears and understands best in his own tongue, in which he was born (cf. Acts 2:8).
At Corinth the functional value of this gift had been replaced by an emphasis on the gift itself and the impression it made of some sort of spiritual superiority. Initially the gift served to glorify God and edify the hearers. Now it served to attract attention to the speaker. Scripture addresses the matter more fully in the following chapter, but here the issue is addressed in Paul's terse statement that the exercise of this gift (representative of all "spectacular" gifts) in the absence of love—the love that God is— leaves the spokesperson of no greater significance than "sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal." That is to say, mere noise. Speaking with other tongues is something men may do; love is not. Love is not something God "does;" love is what God is, and He loves because of what He is. We love (in this way) when, and only when we are occupied with Him, so that His love can be imparted to us as "partakers of the divine nature," and revealed through us, in the neighborhood and the marketplace as well as in the "sanctuary."
Every spiritual gift can be exercised in a self interested way, except love. And there is even a pretended love which suffers the same fate. The right kind of love, this side of heaven, will never be native to us. It will always be a "borrowed glow" born of our communion with the God Who is love. The love of God, both our love for Him and our love for "one another," is "shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us [Rom. 5:5]." The man who knows little or nothing of the Holy Spirit, not in theological, but in practical terms, will not be able to manifest that love. "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass (mirror) the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord [II Cor. 3:17-18]."
Adam was created to be a mirror, reflecting the glory of his Creator to all over which he had been given dominion, and you and I are redeemed with the same objective in view. In that relationship the believer is as glorious as his Lord, no more, no less. But when he is persuaded (as Adam was) to become preoccupied with his own glory ("ye shall be as gods",) he loses the "glory that excelleth," and corrupts everything that God has given him. He sinks into spiritual oblivion, becoming no more than a discordant noise in this vast creation. Shallow Christians may be impressed with such, but God is not!
A neighbor has a wind chime hanging on his porch. When the wind blows, it makes a pretty noise, but it is not music; it conveys no message, other than the wind is blowing. So it is, if we exercise God's gifts without His love. The trumpet gives an uncertain sound, and no one is moved to prepare for the battle (Cf. I Cor. 14:8).
Oswald Chambers is quoted as saying, "On the basis of… redemption, God expects us to erect characters worthy of the sons of God. He does not expect us to carry on "evangelical capers," but to manifest the life of the Son of God in our mortal flesh." That Life is evident only when we love one another (cf. John 13:35).
For HIS glory,
"Pastor" Frasier
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