I Corinthians 14:23  If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?
24  But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:
25  And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.
26  How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
27  If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and that by course; and let one interpret.
28  But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.

These devotionals are designed to help the readers to see what God’s Word actually says. I realize there will be those who have read them who will decide that they are just the opinion of one man who is in a minority. They will look around and see how popular the views of “main stream Christianity” is and conclude that this writer is off base. Some will tolerate my writings for a time, and others will dismiss them and ignore them.
God has given us all the ability to think. He has also allowed us the opportunity to develop the way we think through things. When God created Adam, He gave him the ability to think and also to determine how he would draw his conclusions. There was a key difference in Adam’s beginning. He was created free from sin. He was not a god. He was a man who had a clear mind and heart. God did not want Adam to be a robot. Robots are programmed by those who make them. They are limited in what they can do. If their is a malfunction in there computer, they can malfunction and cause problems.
Adam’s sin was not due to a faulty design. God made him perfect. God placed one tree in the midst of the Garden of Eden that He told Adam not to eat the fruit of. Adam had work to do. He had many other trees in that Garden as well. There were herbs created, etc. We are not told how the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was different from the other trees. We know that Adam could identify that tree from all the other trees. We also know that God is a good God and He does not try to trick or trap man.
Adam did not have any negative influences in his life prior to the fall. We are told that on a particular day, Adam was confronted with the choice of eating of the fruit of this particular tree. We are not told how long he contemplated what he should do with that choice before him on that particular day. We are told that his wife came to him with the offer to eat of this fruit. Adam knew very well what God had commanded. He chose to reject that clear command, and chose to take the offer his wife gave him. He chose to sin against God. He died spiritually that very day. He could not go back and try that again. He was now a sinner. He demonstrated that fact by trying to hide from God rather than welcoming Him into that day. He then accused God of His failure in creating Eve. He also accused Eve of causing him to eat of that forbidden fruit. God did not allow Adam to get away with his sin. He was accountable for his action. That one act of disobedience was all that was necessary to change Adam’s relationship with God for all eternity. The result of that one action plunged all of Adam’s descendants into sin. No child born through the normal process of procreation has been born without sin. Jesus Christ was born without sin, because the normal process of procreation was not used to bring conception into Mary’s womb.
Let us fast forward this to our studies. We all have access to the same book — the Bible. God has preserved His Word for every generation. The devil has been busy distorting God’s Word since he was first introduced in Genesis 3. Sadly, most people do not believe that fact. They readily accept the corruption of God’s Word. The devil knows he has to work incrementally. The perversions on the market today are a continuation of the corruption we read of in Genesis 3. Most people have no problem with that corruption. They do not believe we can have absolute truth, unless of course it is their truth.
God warns us of the sin of pride. He tells us that was the devil’s downfall. Satan did not bring sin into the world. He is an angel. Angels are different than people. People do not become angels. Some people believe they do but there is no Biblical evidence to suggest that. Jesus stated that the saints are “as the angels of God in heaven” (Matthew 22:30).
Pride interferes with the ability to accept the truth. No one can claim they are not affected by pride. When a person suggests they are the epitome of humility, they have a problem. We do not really know ourselves. We must submit to the Word of God and allow God to show us who we truly are.
God directed the apostle Paul to write the letter known as I Corinthians. God told Paul to address the sin of pride, which manifested itself in various ways among the saints in Corinth. That letter was written to that local church, but it was also written for all saints to read and study from that time forward.
The Word of God is like a mirror. It shows us who we truly are. It shows us the necessity of changing and it also shows us how to change. The key to the Christian life is summarized in Acts 20:21

Acts 20:21  Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

That is what Saul did in Acts 9. God changed his heart and He also changed his name. The other apostles had been changed earlier. All the saints mentioned in the New Testament were changed by God, from the heart outward. The same holds true for Old Testament saints. They all came to put their trust in the true God. God gave us the names of many saints in the Bible and He also showed us the frailty of many of them. However, He also showed us we can trust those men who wrote His Word. He called them “holy men of God”. (II Peter 1:21).
As you read these devotionals, you need to examine what is said in the light of the Word of God. I know that will take work on your part. Some have told me they do not have the time to read what I write. Some have stated they do not agree with what I write. Some have thanked me for what I write. That is a choice each person must make. I am one of over 8 billion people living on this earth. I am of little significance in this world. These devotionals are not intended to be about me. My goal is to exalt the God of Creation who is also the Saviour of mankind.
The confusion that existed in the church in Corinth was because the saints were not taking the time to listen to the Word of God. They were listening to false teachers and their flesh liked what the false teachers were saying. Paul mentioned four names early on in this letter. All four of those names were godly individuals. One of them, Jesus Christ, is the eternal Son of God.
For the span of this letter, the saints had not accepted the superior nature of God’s Word. They were fighting over which of the four men they would follow. The duty of every born again Christian is to follow Christ. The apostle Paul reminded us of this in I Corinthians 11:1. If the saints in Corinth would get away from their carnal attitude, they would accept what Paul was writing and they would no longer be known for the many corruptions they were involved in. According to what Paul was directed to write in II Corinthians, we see that they did heed God’s Word. They did change their minds and hearts in many ways.
This life is short. In the few years we have, we need to choose what we will believe. It is essential to know who you will listen to. As much as possible, you need to examine what that person or those persons believe. Sometimes it is quite easy to find that out. Sometimes it will take some time to find that out.
I know some have dismissed what I say because they think they know who I follow. The very first church I pastored had some people who did not like what I taught. They dismissed it by suggesting that what I believed was due to my Mennonite background. It is true, that I was raised in a Mennonite home. As I have stated in the opening of this devotional, I have chosen to take God’s Word as my authority. My Mennonite background or some other men that I have read, does not make me who I am today. God has been gracious to me and helped me to get beyond people and personalities, for the most part. Like others, I am still learning. I am still learning from different men. God has shown me the necessity of being like the Bereans. I cannot say I always do that, but that is my goal. God’s Word is my base, my foundation, my authority. I cannot defend myself from secular history. I will not even attempt to do that.
As we look at the abuse of the gifts in I Corinthians, we must come to the place of accepting God’s Word as our authority. History will show us how people have approached certain Biblical gifts. God shows us how the saints in Corinth approached those gifts. History repeats itself. There is nothing new under the sun. Today there are vast numbers of professing Christians who are still following the abuses common in the church in Corinth. God shows us that was not acceptable then, and He has not changed. Thus we can know that the rejection or distortion of His sure Word is not acceptable today either. The wise person submits to God’s authority on a daily basis. No one on this earth can say “I have arrived”. The wise person welcomes a good, healthy study of God’s Word. That proposition will scare most professing Christians away because they have already determined they know what is best for them. Their lives will demonstrate they do not know, but since the Word of God is not their authority, they will be stuck there until and unless they submit to God’s authority. This life is so short. Eternity is a long time. Don’t approach this short life with blinders on that will negatively affect you for all of eternity.
Pastor Bartel