First Corinthians 12-14 were written because the church in Corinth was out of order.  Not in that these gifts were manifesting themselves, but that they were manifesting themselves in a disorderly manner.  They were manifesting themselves, Chapter 13, right there in the middle of 12 and 14.  They were manifesting themselves in a spirit of vaunting self.  They were being manifested in selfishness.  They were being manifested through people who somehow felt that these gifts were badges of spirituality instead of being vehicles of humility to lift others up; amen?  So, he said, “I want these gifts to operate, but I want it decently and I want it orderly.  I don’t want people coming into your church and everybody in the church praying at the top of their voices in tongues for 30 minutes.  We have a visitor that comes in here and their conclusion is, ‘These people are crazy.’”  This is what Paul is saying.  He said “You have to understand what these gifts are for and how they operate.  I want to put some guidelines forth.”  Because some of the people felt that when the Holy Spirit came on them, they could not control it, so therefore, it necessitated them praying in tongues any time they sensed the presence of the Holy Spirit.  Paul says “That’s not so.  The Spirit is subject to the prophets,” amen?

That’s what he tells us here in this fourteenth chapter.  This Corinthian church also felt that because there’s a liberty in the Spirit, “As I sense the presence of the Holy Spirit.”  We feeling that, somehow, it’s funny how this works, even in the “spirit versus understanding” realm.  Some of us think in the understanding realm that unless we say it, it hasn’t been said yet.  I can stand up here and teach for 30 minutes and somebody else comes up and says, “What he really meant to say was,” because unless they say it, it hasn’t been said.  Well, people sense that in the Spirit.  “Unless I’ve prayed in the Spirit, unless I was speaking this great gift, then the edification, the ministry, will not have gone forth.”  So, what he said is, “Wait a minute.  First of all, all of us should expect God to use us in these gifts (Amen?), severally as the Spirit wills.  But I’m going to put restrictions on tongues and prophecy, two, and at the most, three.”  Decency and order are what he’s setting here.  “Because there are other avenues for the body of Christ to be edified, also.  I want to leave room for the most important thing of all, and that’s the bringing forth of the Word of God.”

It was said so often in Pentecostal circles when I was younger, growing up, and it’s like, “Man, we had a great service today, there wasn’t even any preaching.”  You can’t get more supernatural than just standing up here and reading this Word.  This Word is alive and it’s powerful; amen?  It’s inspired of God, it is God‑breathed. Many carnal minds give more credibility to an utterance than to the written Word.  Even to the place where in charismatic circles, and we see it even more so in this particular hour today, that people will go around prophesying over one another and take that as inspired as the Word of God.  Beloved, this (holding up his Bible) is the “more sure word of prophecy,” amen?  So, anything we sense in our spirit or anything that somebody else might articulate is always judged by the Word of God.  In fact, he says in that fourteenth chapter: “If you believe that you’re a prophet (and I don’t mean the office of prophet), but you’re being used in prophecy and you’re going to prophesy, then the one thing you ought to know is this.  Every prophecy must be judged.”

Well, they didn’t believe that in the Corinthian church.  These guys, they’re all just firing off these prophecies.  “What do you mean?  That’s the Spirit of God.”  “No, it’s not.  That’s carnal, man, that wasn’t even close to being the Word of God.”  That’s a little extreme, but you get the point I’m trying to make.  He’s telling the prophets.  Listen, that’s what people have learned over the years.  A lot of people who have been familiar with the ministry, here, and people have come in.  If you’re going to say something in here, just know you’re going to be judged.  If you’re going to come in here and open your mouth as an oracle of God, you will be judged for what you speak.  This Word is truth; amen?  We talked about a young person recently that, not here in our fellowship, with another ministry, had made the comment, “Well, these are things that are just special revelation that’s beyond the Word.”  Yeah, then, your revelation is too special.  It was, in fact, to do with today’s political situation, the social order of the hour that we’re living in.  God’s prophets do not speak toward that today, in the New Testament realm of prophet.  Those that prophecy in our midst, “prophecy to edification, exhortation and comfort,” amen?