Twentieth Century New Testament - 28 - I Corinthians, Chapters 12-16

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
The First Letter to the Corinthians, chapters twelve through sixteen,
from the twentieth century New Testament. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by J. A. Carter www dot authentic light dot org.

(00:27):
The twentieth Century New Testament by a company of about
twenty scholars, The First Letter to the Corinthians, chapters twelve
through sixteen, Chapter twelve in the next place, Brothers, I
do not want you to be ignorant about spiritual gifts.
You know that there was a time when you were gentiles,
going astray after idols that could not speak, just as

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you happen to be led. Therefore, I tell you plainly
that no one who speaks under the influence of the
Spirit of God says Jesus is accursed, and that no
one can say Jesus Lord except under the influence of
the Holy Spirit. Gifts differ, but the Spirit is the same.
Ways of serving differ, yet the Master is the same.

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Results differ, Yet the God who brings about every result
is in every case the same. To each man there
is given spiritual illumination for the general good. To one
is given. The power to speak with wisdom through the
spirit to another. The power to speak with knowledge due
to the same spirit to another, faith by the same
spirit to another, power to cure diseases by the one

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spirit to another, supernatural powers to another. The gift of
preaching to another, the gift of distinguishing between true and
false inspiration to another, varieties of the gift of tongues
to another, the power to interpret tongues. All these result
from one and the same Spirit, who distributes his gifts
to each individually as he wills. For just as the

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human body is one whole and yet has many parts,
and all its parts many, though they are formed, but
one body, so it is with the Christ. For it
was by one spirit that we were all baptized to
form one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slaves or freemen,
and were all imbued with one spirit. The human body,
I repeat, consists not of one part, but of many.

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If the foot says, since I am not a hand,
I do not belong to the body, it does not,
on that account, cease to belong to the body. Where
if the ear says, since I am not an eye,
I do not belong to the body. It does not,
on that account, cease to belong to the body. If
all the body were an eye, where would the hearing be?
If it were all hearing, where would the sense of
smell be? But in fact God has placed each individual

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part just where he thought fit in the body. If, however,
they all made up only one part, where would the
body be. But in fact, although it has many parts,
there is only one body. The eye cannot say to
the hand, I do not need you. Nor again the
head to the feet do not need you. No, those
parts of the body that seem naturally the weaker are indispensable,

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And those parts which we deem less honorable we surround
with special honor, and our ungraceful parts receive a special
grace which our graceful parts do not require. Yes, God
has so constructed the body by giving a special honor
to the part that lacks it, as to secure that
there should be no disunion in the body, but that
the parts should show the same care for one another.

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If one part suffers, all the others suffer with it.
And if one part has honor done it, all the
others share its joy. Together. You are the body of
Christ and individually its parts. In the church. God has
appointed first apostles, secondly preachers, thirdly teachers. Then He has
given supernatural powers. Then power to cure diseases, aptness for

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helping others, capacity to govern, varieties of the gift of tongues.
Can everyone be an apostle? Can everyone be a preacher?
Can everyone be a teacher? Can everyone have supernatural powers?
Can everyone have power to cure diseases? Can everyone speak
in tongues? Can everyone interpret them? Strive for the greater gifts?

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Yet I can still show you a way beyond all
comparison the Best Chapter thirteen. Though I speak in the
tongues of men, or even of angels, yet have not love.
I have become mere echoing brass, or a clang symbol.
Even though I have the gift of preaching and fathom

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all hidden truths in all the depths of knowledge. Even
though I have such faith as might move mountains, yet
have not love. I am nothing. Even though I dole
my substance to the poor. Even though I sacrifice my
body that I may boast, yet have not love. It
avails me nothing. Love is long suffering, and kind love

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is never envious, never boastful, never conceited, never behaves unbecomingly.
Love is never self seeking, never provoked, never reckons up
her wrongs. Love never rejoices at evil, but rejoices in
the triumph of truth. Love bears with all things, ever trustful,

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ever hopeful, ever patient. Love never fails. But whether it
be the gift of preaching, it will be done with.
Whether it be the gift of tongues, it will cease.
Whether it be knowledge, it too will be done with.
For our knowledge is incomplete, and our preaching is incomplete.
But when the perfect has come, that which is incomplete

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will be done with. When I was a child, I
talked as a child, I felt as a child, I
reasoned as a child. Now that I am a man,
I have done with childish ways. As yet we see
in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. As
yet my knowledge is incomplete. But then I shall know

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in full as I have been fully known. Meanwhile, faith, hope,
and love endure these three. But the greatest of these
is love. Chapter fourteen. Seek this love earnestly, and strive
for spiritual gifts above all, for the gift of preaching.

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He who when speaking uses the gift of tongues is
speaking not to men but to God, for no one
understands him. Yet in spirit he is speaking of hidden truths.
But he who preaches is speaking to his fellow men
words that will build up faith and give them comfort
and encouragement. He who, when speaking, uses the gift of tongues,
builds up his own faith, while he who preaches builds

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up the faith of the church. Now I want you
all to speak in tongues, but much more I wish
that you should preach. A preacher is of more account
than he who speaks in tongues unless he interprets his
words so that the faith of the church may be
built up. This being so, brothers, what good shall I
do you if I come to you and speak in
tongues unless my words convey some revelation or knowledge, or

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take the form of preaching or teaching. Even with inanimate
things such as the flute or a harp, though they
produce sounds, yet unless the notes are quite distinct, how
can the tune played on the flute or the harp
be recognized? If the bugle sounds a doubtful call, who
will prepare for battle? So with you. Unless, in using

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the gift of tongues you utter intelligible words, how can
what you say be understood? You will be speaking to
the winds. There is, for instance, a certain number of
different languages in the world, and not one of them
fails to convey meaning. If, however, I do not happen
to know the language, I shall be a foreigner to
those who speak it, and they shall be foreigners to me.

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And so with you. Since you are striving for spiritual gifts,
be eager to excel in such as will build up
the faith of the church. Therefore, let him who, when speaking,
uses the gift of tongues, pray for ability to enter
herpet them. If when praying I use the gift of tongues,
my spirit indeed prays, but my mind is a blank.
What then is my conclusion? Simply this, I will pray

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with my spirit, but with my mind as well. I
will sing with my spirit, but with my mind as well.
If you bless God with your spirit only, how can
the man in the congregation who is without your gift
say amen to your thanksgiving? He does not know what
you are saying. Your thanksgiving may be excellent, but the
other is not. Helped by it. Thank God. I use

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the gift of tongues more than any of you. But
at a meeting of the church, I should rather speak
five words with my mind, and so teach others than
ten thousand words when using the gift of tongues. Brothers,
do not show yourselves children in understanding, in wickedness, be infants.
But in understanding, show yourselves men. It is said in
the Law, in strange tongues and by the lips of strangers,

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while I speak to this people, but even then they
will not listen to me, says the Lord. Therefore, or
the gift of the tongues is intended as a sign
not for those who believe in Christ, but for those
who do not. While the gift of preaching is intended
as a sign not for those who do not believe
in Christ, but for those who do. So. When the
whole church meets, if all present use the gift of tongues,

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and some men who are without that gift, or who
are unbelievers, come in, will not they say that you
are mad. While if all those present use the gift
of preaching, and an unbeliever or a man without the
gift comes in, he is convinced of his sinfulness by
them all, he is called to account. By them all
the secrets of his heart are revealed. And then, throwing
himself on his face, he will worship God and declare,

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God is indeed among you. What do I suggest, then, brothers,
whenever you meet for worship, each of you comes either
with a hymn or a lesson, or a revelation, or
the gift of tongues, or the interpretation of them. Let
everything be directed to the building up of faith. If
any of you use the gift of tongues, not more
than two or at the most three should do so,

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each speaking in his turn, and some one should interpret them.
If there is no one able to interpret what is said,
they should remain silent at the meeting of the church
and speak to themselves and to God. Of preachers, two
or three should speak, and the rest should weigh well
what is said. But if some revelation is made to
another person as he sits there, the first speaker should stop.

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For you can all preach in turn, so that all
may learn some lesson and all receive encouragement. The spirit
that moves the preachers is within the preacher's control. For
God is not a god of disorder, but of peace.
This custom prevails in all the churches of Christ's people.
At the meetings of the church, married women should remain silent,

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for they are not allowed to speak in public. They
should take a subordinate place, as the law itself directs.
If they want information on any point, they should ask
their husbands about it at home, for it is unbecoming
for a married woman to speak at a meeting of
the church. What did God's message to the world originate
with you? Or did it find its way to none
but you? If anyone thinks he has the gift of

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preaching or any other spiritual gift, let him recognize that
what I am now saying to you is a command
from the Lord. Anyone who ignores it may be ignored. Therefore,
my brothers, strive for the gift of preaching, and yet
do not forbid speaking in tongues. Let everything be done
in a proper and orderly manner. Chapter fifteen. Next, brothers,

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I would remind you of the good news which I
told you and which you received, the good news on
which you have taken your stand, and by means of
which you are being saved. I would remind you of
the very words that I used in telling it to you,
since you are still holding fast to it, and since
it was not in vain that you became believers in Christ.
For at the very beginning of my teaching, I gave

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you the account which I had myself received, that Christ
died for our sins, as the scriptures had foretold, that
he was buried, that on the third day he was raised,
as the scriptures had foretold. That he appeared to Kiphus,
and then to the twelve. After that he appeared to
more than five hundred of our brothers at one time,

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most of whom are still alive, though some have gone
to their rest. After that, he appeared to James, then
to all the apostles. Last of all, he appeared even
to me, who am as it were the abortion. For
I am the meanest of the apostles, I who am
unworthy of the name of apostle, because I persecuted the
Church of God. But it is through the love of

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God that I am what I am, And the love
that He showed me has not been wasted. No, I
have toiled harder than any of them. And yet it
was not I but the love of God working with me,
whether then it was I or whether it was they,
This we proclaim, and this you believed. Now, if it
is proclaimed of Christ that he has been raised from

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the dead, how is it that some of you say
that there is no such thing as a resurrection of
the dead. But if there is no such thing as
a resurrection from the dead, then even Christ has not
been raised raised. And if Christ has not been raised,
then our proclamation is without meaning, and our faith is
without meaning. Also, yes, and we are being proved to
have borne false testimony about God, for we testified of

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God that he raised the Christ whom he did not raise.
If indeed the dead do not rise, For if the
dead do not rise, then even Christ himself has not
been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your
faith is folly. Your sins are on you still. Yes,
and they who have passed to their rest in union
with Christ perished. If all that we have done has

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been to place our hope in Christ for this life,
then we of all men are the most to be pitied.
But in truth, Christ has been raised from the dead,
the first fruits of those who are at rest. For
since through a man there is death, so too through
a man there is a resurrection of the dead. For
as through union with Adam all men die, so through

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union with Christ all will be made to live, but
each in its proper order. Christ the first fruits. Afterwards,
that is coming those who belong to the Christ. Then
will come the end when he surrenders the kingdom to
his God and Father, having overthrown all other rule and
all other authority and power. For he must reign until
God has put all his enemies under his feet. The

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last enemy to be overthrown is death. For God has
placed all things under Christ's feet. But when it is
said that all things have been placed under Christ, it
is plain that God is accepted, who placed everything under him.
And when everything has been placed under him, the son
will place himself under God, who placed everything under him,
that God may be all in all. Again, what good

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will they be doing who are baptized on behalf of
the dead. If it is true that the dead do
not rise, Why are people baptized on their behalf? Why too,
do we risk our lives every hour daily I face death.
I swear it, Brothers, by the pride in you that
I feel through my union with Christ, Jesus our Lord.
If with only human hopes. I had fought in the

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arena at Ephesus, What should I have gained by it?
If the dead do not rise, then let us eat
and drink, for tomorrow we shall die. Do not be deceived.
Good character is marred by evil company. Awake to a
righteous life and cease to sin. There are some who
have no true knowledge of God. I speak in this
way to shame you. Someone, however, may ask, how do

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the dead rise? And in what body will they come? You,
foolish man. The seed you yourself so does not come
to life unless it dies. And when you sow, you
sow not the body that will be, but a mere grain,
perhaps of wheat or something else. God gives it the
body that he pleases to each seed its special body.
All forms of life are not the same. There is

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one for men, another for beasts, another for birds, and
another for fishes. There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies.
But the beauty of the heavenly bodies is not the
beauty of the earthly. There is a beauty of the sun,
and a beauty of the moon, and a beauty of
the stars. For even star differs from star in beauty.
It is the same with the resurrection of the dead

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son a mortal body, it rises immortal son, disfigured, it
rises beautiful, sown, weak, it rises strong son. A human body,
it rises a spiritual body. As surely as there is
a human body, there is also a spiritual body. This
is what is meant by the words Adam. The first

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man became a human being, the last atom became a
life giving spirit. That which comes first is not the spiritual,
but the human. Afterwards comes the spiritual. The first man
was from the dust of the earth, the second man
from heaven. Those who are of the dust are like
him who came from the dust, And those who are
of heaven are like him who came from heaven. And

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as we have borne the likeness of him who came
from the dust, so let us bear the likeness of
him who came from heaven. This I say, brothers, Flesh
and blood can have no share in the Kingdom of God,
nor can the perishable share the imperishable. Listen, I will
tell you God's hidden purpose. We shall not all have
passed to our rest, but we shall all be transformed

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in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. At
the last trumpet call, for the trumpet will sound, and
the dead will rise immortal, and we also shall be transformed.
For this perishable body of ours must put on an
imperishable form, and this dying body a deathless form. For
when this dying body has put on its deathless form,

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then indeed will the words of scripture come true. Death
has been swallowed up in victory. Where O death is
thy victory, where O death is thy sting. It is
sin that gives death its sting, and it is the
law that gives sin its power. But thanks me to
God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Therefore,

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my dear brothers stand firm, unshaken, always diligent in the
life Lord's work, for you know that in union with Him,
your toil is not in vain. Chapter sixteen, With reference
to the collection for Christ's people, I want you to
follow the instructions that I gave to the churches in Galatia.
On the first day of every week, each of you

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should put by what he can afford, so that no
collections need be made. After I have come on my arrival,
I will send any persons whom you may authorize by
letter to carry your gift to Jerusalem, and if it
appears to be worth while for me to go also,
they shall go with me. I will come to you
as soon as I have been through Macedonia, for I
am going through Macedonia, and I shall probably make some

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stay with you, or perhaps remain for the winter, so
that you may yourselves send me on my way wherever
I may be going. I do not propose to pay
you a visit in passing now, for I hope to
stay with you for some time if the Lord permits.
I intend, however, staying at Ephesus till the festival at
the close of the harvest. For a great opening for
active work has presented itself, and there are many opponents.

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If Timothy comes, take care that he has no cause
for feeling anxious while he is with you. He is
doing the Master's work no less than I am. No
one therefore should slight him, see him safely on his
way to me, for I am expecting him with some
of our brothers. As for our brother Apollos, I have
often urged him to go to you with the others.
He has, however, been very unwilling to do so as yet.

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But he will go as soon as he finds a
good opportunity. Be watchful, stand firm in your faith. Show
yourselves men, be strong. Let everything you do be done
in a loving spirit. I have another request to make
of you, brothers. You remember Stephanus and his household, that
they were the first fruits gathered in from Greece and
set themselves to serve Christ's people. I want you, on

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your part, to show deference to such men as these,
as well as to every fellow laborer and earnest worker.
I am glad Stephanus and Fortunatus and Archaicus have come,
for they have made up for your absence. They have
cheered my heart and your hearts also recognize the worth
of such men as these. The churches in Roman Asia

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send you their greetings. Aquila and Prisca, and the church
that meets at their house send you many Christian greetings.
All our brothers send you greetings. Read one another with
a sacred kiss. I Paul add this greeting in my
own handwriting. Accursed be any one who has no love
for the Lord. The Lord is coming. May the blessing

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of the Lord Jesus be with you. My love to
all of you who are in union with Christ Jesus.
End of Chapters twelve through sixteen. End of the First
Letter to the Corinthians,