Bible

In the Bible room today, we continue reading the book of I Corinthians with Session 6, the summaries of chapters 13 and 14.

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I Corinthians

Session 6

Chapter 13. Love

Even if I can speak the tongues of men and angels,

• Without love in my heart, I have become as just a mere piece
• Of noisy, banging metal; And even if I have the ability to
• Prophesy, understand miracles, know everything, and have
• Faith that will move mountains, but do not have love, I have
• Nothing; Even if I were to sell everything I own and give the
• Money to feed the poor, and even if I were to give my body to
• Be burned as a martyr, but do not have love, I gain nothing;
• Love is forever patient, always kind, never jealous, or boasting,
• Or arrogant; It never exhibits rude behavior, never reacts to  
• Personal insults, and never harbors ill will toward anyone;
• It finds no pleasure in sinful thoughts, but has pleasure in the
• Truth; It is able to bear suffering, is a strong believer, hopes for
• The best in everything, triumphs through hardships;
• Love will never end, though prophecies will end, and so will
• Tongues, along with all the knowledge we possess; Now, we
• Can understand just a small part of all these things, but the day
• Is coming when we will be able to fully understand everything;
• As a child, my capabilities in speaking and learning were very
• Limited, but as I grew older that all changed;
• Right now, our ability to understand is only partial, like
• Looking through a darkened glass; Then, when that day comes,
• We will understand perfectly, like learning in person, face to
• Face; Now, I know a few things, but then I will understand
• Everything, just as He understands me now;
• We continue to live with faith, hope, and love, but the most
• Important of these is love.     

Chapter 14. Tongues

Keep loving, and keep looking for abilities to be of service in the church,  

• Especially the ability to preach the gospel; Speaking in a
• Tongue that is not spoken by anyone in the church is only 
• Heard by God, but preaching the gospel builds up the faith and
• Confidence among the people; Speaking a tongue may be useful
• For the one speaking it, but preaching the gospel is helpful for
• The entire church; I wish you could all speak tongues, but
• Preaching the gospel is much more important, unless the one
• Speaking a tongue interprets it for the entire church;
• If I were to visit with you and spoke in a tongue you do not
• Understand, how could I be of benefit to you? My purpose in
• Coming would be to bring knowledge either by preaching or
• Teaching; Even things in nature are distinguished by their
• Sounds so they can be understood; For the soldier, the call to
• Battle is made only by the clear sound of the trumpet; So it is
• In the church that the words which are said must be easily
• Understood by everyone, or they will simply be spoken into
• The air; There are so many languages in the world now, and
• They all are important, but if I do not know a language being
• Spoken to me, that person is a foreigner to me, and I am a
• Foreigner to him; For that reason, if you are looking to find a
• Skill that will enable you to be of service in the church, choose
• An endeavor that will build up everyone and you will be
• Successful;
• Anyone who speaks in church in a foreign tongue should also
• Interpret what he is saying; For if I am praying in a tongue I am
• Not able to interpret then my prayer is useless; So then, what
• Should I do? I will pray what I can understand, and I will sing
• What I can understand; If you give thanks in a tongue that the
• Listener does not know, he will not know when to say ‘Amen;’
• Your prayer may be well spoken, but it will not encourage
• Others; Thankfully, I have the ability to speak many tongues,
• But in the church, I would rather speak five words that I can
• Understand and preach for the benefit of everyone, than to
• Speak ten thousand words in a tongue I do not know;
• My fellow believers, please act like adults who are mature in
• Your ability to understand, but be simple like children with
• Those who are new in their knowledge; Remember what the
• Scripture says: ‘I will speak to people of other tongues, but they
• Will not understand Me, says the Lord;’ Speaking in tongues is
• To be used to convince unbelievers, not to benefit believers, as
• Preaching the gospel is more directed to believers; So, if the
• Church is gathered together, and everyone is speaking in
• Different tongues, and then someone unknown comes into the
• Gathering, they would probably say you are a deranged crowd;
• On the other hand, if those in the church are sharing the
• Gospel, and building up one another, it is more likely that the
• Stranger, or unbeliever, would be convicted to confess his sins,
• Become a believer in God, and then go tell everyone that you
• Are a people of God; Now, when you gather as the church,
• Some of you want to sing a song, some are wanting to teach,
• Some will speak with a tongue giving a revelation, and
• Someone will interpret it, but let everything be done in a
• Manner to encourage everyone; If someone wants to speak in a
• Tongue set a limit of two, at the most three, and then let one of
• Them provide the interpretation; However, if there is no
• Interpreter, there should be no speaking in tongues aloud in the
• Church, except as someone may wish to speak silently to
• Himself and to God;
• The number of preachers should be limited to two or three,
• And let the others say affirmations; But if another person is
• There who has a special revelation let him speak, and another
• Preacher can wait until a later time; Let all the preaching be
• Done to teach and to encourage one another; All the preachers
• Should discipline themselves so that every speaker remains
• Orderly, as God does not condone confusion, as He wants every
• Church to be peaceful;
• Women are not permitted to speak in the churches, and they
• Are to agree to this requirement as it is also written in the
• Scriptures; If they have any questions, let them ask their own
• Husbands at home as it would bring shame on them to ask
• Questions in church; Now, do you really believe that you were
• The first to receive God’s law, and that you are the only people
• Who know Him? If you have anyone among you who says he
• Is a prophet of God, or filled with the Spirit, let him confirm
• That what I am telling you is from God; But if he will not know
• That fact, then let him remain in his ignorance;
• So, my fellow believers, you should prioritize the preaching of
• The gospel, and do not prohibit the speaking in tongues, but
• Everything must be done respectfully, and in the proper order.         

End of Session 6 of the book of I Corinthians.