The Lordship of Christ is the central theme, emphasizing that Jesus must be acknowledged not only as Savior but also as Lord in every aspect of life. This is demonstrated through biblical examples like the Apostle Paul's writings, the confession required for salvation in Romans 10:9, and the humility shown by Jesus in washing his disciples' feet. The sermon argues that recognizing Christ's Lordship is fundamental for Christian experience, impacting one's heart, home, and service. It also highlights that true spiritual gifts are evidenced by acknowledging Jesus as Lord, contrasting this with false manifestations that avoid this title.
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Why we're reading the passage to mentally make a note of each time where we get the word Lord. Actually, on the passage it occurs seven times. I'd just like to read it down and I'd like you to make a note mentally of each time where you find it. Verse twenty-three. First Corinthians eleven and verse twenty-three. For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. Now, verse twenty-six. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he comes.
Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord. that we should not be condemned with the world.
Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another, and of any man hunger let him eat at home, that ye come not together unto condemnation, and the rest will I set an order when I come. Now the first paragraph of chapter twelve. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant. You know that ye were Gentiles carried away onto these dumb idols, even as ye were led. Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus a curse, and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.
Now I thought this morning we would like to continue on these talks that we have had on this section of the first epistle of the Corinthians, And the subject we would like to speak about for a little while is the Lordship of Christ. And notice that it's very definitely emphasized in the passage that we have read together, His Lordship. As a matter of fact, in the first epistle of the Corinthians, sixty-eight times the Lordship of Christ is emphasized. Apart from the epistle of the Hebrews, I don't think that there's any letter of the Apostle Paul, where we find the Lordship of Christ insisted on and emphasized from the first epistle of the Corinthians.
Now, I think that the reason for that is that his Lordship was not being recognized. And for that reason, the Apostle again and again emphasizes the Lordship of Christ. In practically every part of the epistle, we find some difficulty. We find a narrative. We find some problem that has drifted in among God's people. And the apostle, he has to bring them back to foundations. And he has to point out the great fundamental truths that he had taught them when he was among them. And among the truths that he teaches and emphasizes, I think more than anything else, is the supremacy. The preeminence of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And I think that that is the reason why, sixty-eight times in the epistle, we find the Lordship of Christ emphasize. I believe that the day in which we live is the day when things are being let go. I don't know what you feel about the day in which we find ourselves, but I can help but feel that we're right at the very end of the dispensation. And we're told in the Word of God what to expect. And I think that when we look at the conditions in the religious world today, and also in the social world, Everywhere we go today, we find that the great fundamental truths of the Bible, of God's Word, are being let slip.
People don't regard them at all as of any importance. There are anybody like myself that has spent the most of my life on isolation. And by the way, the almost forty years that we spend in the middle of Africa, it was on isolation. Many times years would go by. where we had no opportunity of fellowship with God's dear people who spoke our own language. Practically all our life was spent in speaking other languages. And very, very often, in that environment, we couldn't help but feel that all the blessedness, the blessedness of fellowship with God's people, and many a time, I'd have given an awful lot to be in a little meeting like this this morning, and heard one of God's dear servants open up the Word and minister it.
But anybody like ourselves who has spent our life in isolation, each time you come back, you can see a difference. Now, I would be the very last one that would want to criticize God's people, but they can't help but feel that certain things today are deteriorating. And among them is the lordship of Christ. Christ getting is preeminent place. Now, there's some people who are educated and who profess to be sophisticated. And then speaking about the Lord, it's always Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. All the time. Before I left Africa, I was in Salisbury.
And I picked up a couple of commentaries there that were written by two outstanding theologians. Now, there weren't heretics. There were outstanding distinguished men. And there was a commentary on the first epistle to the Corinthians. And the other was a commentary on the epistle of the Hebrews. I bought them and I took them home and I read them carefully. And in both of those commentaries, I searched it through from beginning to end, and never once did the man who wrote the commentary ever call him Lord. It was always Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ all the time. Now, I believe that that is something that we find increasing today.
And men who have a distinguished reputation, men who have an international reputation, sometimes preaching on the radio and sometimes issuing books and so on, there is a tendency today to let the Lordship of Christ, to let it slip. Now, I'm not being critical about this this morning, but all that I want to do is to emphasize what the teaching of the Word of God is concerning the names of our Blessed Lord. Now the first thing I would like to emphasize is the fact that the Lordship of Christ, we find it in the Gospel. You remember that wonderful passage in Romans chapter ten and verse nine? For the Apostle, after giving a magnificent doctrinal outline of the Gospel what it is, in the early part of the Epistle of the Romans.
You remember what he says in chapter ten? If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord. And believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Now the Lordship of Christ here is emphasized in the Gospel. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord. And believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. You know, there's sometimes a very superficial presentation of the Gospel today. And the idea and the exhortation that's given to audiences today is believe in Jesus and decipher Christ on terms of that kind.
Well, now again, I wouldn't want to make a man an offender for a word, but people who preach the gospel in that way certainly have a tremendous lack of intelligence of what the word of God teaches. And the very fundamental fact of the gospel is that we not only accept the Lord Jesus as Savior, but we also bow our necks. to his yoke and we acknowledge him as Lord. It's a commitment to him right at the very commencement of our Christian experience. You remember the Apostle Paul when he was converted on the Damascus Road when he has that wonderful revelation of Christ. And he saw him in his glory. What did he say? He said, Lord, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
One could go on and on giving instances of men who were brought into relationship with God. And always, always, it's the Lord that they emphasize. You think of the dying thief. You remember the two men who were crucified with Christ, one on either side? And at the beginning, after their crucifixion, after they've been nailed to the cross, they both reviled. But as time went on, when the pains of death got a hold of one of those men, he turned round to the one in the middle, and he said, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. He rebuked his fellow. He said, We indeed justly, for we received the due reward of our days, but this man has done nothing amiss.
He condemned himself. And then he used two terms here that shows what was going on in his heart. He said, Lord. Remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. He recognized him both as Lord and King. And the Lord Jesus said today that I shall go with me in paradise. You remember to the Philippian jailer, the Apostle Paul. You remember, and Silas were imprisoned at Philippi. And in the middle of the night there was a great earthquake. And the jailer came running in. And he said, Sirs, what must I do to besiege? And the Apostle Paul, he said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt besiege. Now the first thing that we should emphasize is the fact that the Lordship of Christ is emphasized in the Gospel.
Right at the very commencement of the Christian life, a person who comes to Christ and is born again almost by intuition. They acknowledge that He is Lord. They accept Him, not only as Savior, but they accept Him as Lord. They put their neck in His yoke. And from that time on, they recognize that He is Lord. Now, the Lordship of Christ is recognized in the New Testament in various spheres. You remember the Apostle Peter, First Peter, chapter three. He uses this word. He said, sanctify Christ as Lord in your heart. This is the second lesson that we need to learn. First of all, the lordship of Christ in the gospel, but then the lordship of Christ in my heart.
Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. That means to say that self, instead of being enthroned in the heart of the believer, is dethroned. The crown is taken of self, and the Lord Jesus, the one that we come to at the beginning, and acknowledge that he is Lord and Christ. We put him upon the throne of our hearts. Now, I think that this is fundamental. If Christ is recognized as Lord in our hearts, I think that everything else falls into its proper place. There are very, very many spheres in the Bible where the Lord Jesus is recognized in this supreme way. But the first thing for any believer, the first great lesson that he should learn is that Christ must be enthroned in the heart.
He must be preeminent. He must be president. And as someone has said, not just resident, but president in the heart. If he is recognized as Lord in the heart of the believer, all the other spheres they fall into their proper place. Then he should be Lord in the home. You remember the apostle right here in this epistle and speaking about marriage in chapter seven. You remember at the end of that chapter he's speaking about remarriage. That is a person who has lost their husband or lost their wife. He said that it was a perfectly legitimate thing that they'd be remarried. But he said, in the Lord. Let him be married in the Lord. Now as we think of the conditions all over the world today, marriage in the home, going to pieces, the statistics of the divorce courts, if we only learn the lesson, not only in the heart, but in the home that Christ must be recognized as Lord.
There's a little term that the apostle uses again and again, particularly on the epistle to the Ephesians. He speaks about being in Christ, in Christ, in Christ. Now when we believe in the Lord Jesus, we're taken out of the kingdom of darkness and we're put into the kingdom of his dear Son, the Son of his love, not as being in Christ, but as something else again to be in the Lord. It's recognizing the Lordship of Christ in the home. We do believe today that the reason for juvenile delinquency, on the crime wave that's spreading over this country today, it stems from the lack of discipline in the home.
Sometimes we go into a home and we see a little play card on a wall. Christ is the head of this house. The on-scene listener to every conversation, we have seen that again and again. It's very often forgotten today. Christ must be recognized as Lord, first of all in the heart and then in the home. The particular emphasis that we want to look at this morning is the Lordship of Christ in the heart of God. We get that in this chapter, and here it's emphasized particularly in connection with the Lord's Supper. Seven times we get him here as Lord, while we sit at the table and remember him. We recognize that he is supreme, that he's preeminent, that he's predominant, that he's president, as we sit at the Lord's table.
And then we get him also as the Lord of the harvest. John chapter four, you remember there? At the end of that chapter, the Lord Jesus, he speaks of himself as the Lord of the harvest. I'm awfully thankful that we've spent some little time on the harvest field. And what a wonderful privilege that all of us have here this morning of serving the Lord of the Harvest, the heavenly boss. And when he comes back again, those that have served him as the Lord of the Harvest and recognizing his complete control over their heart and life and testimony and service, they're going to be rewarded in the coming day. But our dear brother this morning, he quoted that lovely passage.
in Philippians chapter two, where we get him as the Lord of the universe. The seven steps down. Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, made in the likeness of man, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient on the day, even the death of the cross. That's the one side of the beat. Those seven steps. That ladder from the throne of God right on to the death of the cross. But there are seven steps up. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him. And given him a name which is above every name.
That in the name of Jesus. Now notice that term. In the name of Jesus. That is the human name. In the name of Jesus that every knee shall bow. And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is. Lord. But Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. The final term here is His Lordship. He is the Lord of the universe. Now these are various spheres where we find the Lordship of Christ emphasized in the New Testament scriptures. Many years ago, Sir Robert Anderson, an outstanding evangelical believer of a generation past, he wrote a little book on the Lordship of Christ.
I do wish today that every young believer, an older one too, would get a copy of that book. It's about the Son of God, about the Lord, about the Lordship of Christ. Now, Sir Robert Anderson was the head of the Criminal Investigation Department in Scotland Yard in London for many years, a very intelligent man. And he was very much disturbed about the condition of things in his day and the position that our Lord occupied among Christian people. And he wrote that book. He pointed out that in the four Gospels the name Jesus is used six hundred times in a narrative form. The evangelist there in the life of the Lord Jesus here below and giving the account of his life six hundred times in the Gospels we get that lovely name, the human name.
The name of the Savior, it occurs six hundred times. But he pointed out this too, that never, never once that anyone who was speaking to him, anyone who was addressing him, ever call him Jesus. They didn't do that. They called him Lord in speaking to him. As a narrative, we get his name, but in addressing him, those that addressed him, even those that were unconverted, even the ungodly, in addressing him, they addressed him respectfully and they called him Lord. Now, there were two individuals that never, never called him Lord. Maybe I shouldn't call the demons individuals. But in any case, you'll never find the demons ever calling them Lord.
They certainly did use certain terms of respect. They had to it. On one occasion, they called them the Holy One of God. They had to acknowledge that. And then secondly, you remember they called them the Son of God. But never once did they call them Lord. And the other person who never addressed them as Lord was Judas. Now he used a different term. In our version, it's translated master. J.N. Darby in his translation, he always renders the word master that Judas uses. He calls him rabbi. But he seemed to deliberately avoid using the term Lord. But all the other apostles did. Now, I want to refer to the lesson that the Lord Jesus taught the disciples in the upper room, because I think that it's infinitely important today to get a real grasp of the foundation of the teaching concerning the Lordship of Christ.
And we get it in John chapter thirteen. I have come to feel that the middle section of John's Gospel is one of the most important in the whole of the Word of God. That upper room ministry of the Lord. You remember the early part of John's Gospel, the first twelve chapters. We get Christ there as a prophet. And then in chapter thirteen, he separates himself from the world. His public ministry is ended, and with that little company that he calls his own, he takes them up to the upper room. On sitting in the upper room with his disciples, he gives them the seven great fundamental doctrines of Christianity. There was a man called Bernard.
You remember that he wrote that book, The Progress of Teaching, The Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament. It's one of the finest books along theological lines that ever was written. And again, if I had an audience of young people here this morning, I would say, by all means, get a hold of Kenan Bernard's book, The Progress of Doctrine in the New Testament. It's a wonderful exposition of the word. It's not so well known that he wrote a second book. And that second book is called The Central Teaching of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Now that second book is an exposition of John, And he points out that in these chapters the upper room ministry of the Lord, he gives us the seven great fundamental doctrines of Christianity that are opened up in the epistles of the Apostle Paul.
Everything we find in the ministry of God's dear servant, the Apostle, we find in Germ in the seed plot there in that section of John's Gospel. You remember the way that it starts? Before the teaching is given at all, the Lord teaches them a little parabolic lesson. Now the first lesson he taught them was that lesson of his incarnation. We read that knowing that he came from God and went to God, we read that he laid aside his garments. I believe that when he did that, he was giving them a parabolic lesson of the incarnation. There are four terms there that speak of his majesty, his glory, speaks of his deity, his dignity and his destiny.
He laid aside his garments and he took a towel and he girded himself. And he sat down at the feet of the disciples and he washed their feet. I think of the first parabolic action in laying aside his garments and girding himself with a towel. It's a beautiful picture of what he did when he came down here below, that mighty soup that he took to Bethlehem. But the second action he did is an illustration of his priestly work. He takes the towel on the basin on the cleansing water. and he sits down at their feet and he washes their feet. It's a beautiful picture of the priesthood, the priestly work of the Lord Jesus at God's right hand today as the advocate. He washes their feet. Now after he had finished, he said, I have taught you a lesson that as I have done to you, so you should do to one another.
And then he uses a statement. He said, you call me Master and Lord. And you say, well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. Notice how he reverses the terms. Ye call me Master and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am. If I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another's feet. By the way, there's a lovely lesson here that many a time has spoke to my heart in connection with the relations one to the other. You remember in John chapter fifteen, a little further on in this upper room ministry, the Lord Jesus, you remember he speaks about the husband man and he speaks about the pruning of the vine.
Now he says, my father is the husband man. And I want you to notice that the husband man, he keeps the pruning knife in his own hands. That's something that he has never committed to you or to me. But there is something that he has committed to you and to me, and that is the cleansing water and the basin and the towel. He has committed that to you and to me, but the knife, the husband man. He said, my father is the husband man. He keeps the knife in his own hand, but he has committed the basin and the water and the towel to us. Oh, what a lovely, lovely comparison we get here. Wherever you see anyone using the knife or the X is completely out of its place. You know, there have been some people who talk about cutting off assemblies on that kind of talk.
People who use expressions of that kind, they simply do not know the teaching of the Bible. You know, every assembly is autonomous. It's on its own base directly responsible to the one who walks in the midst of the golden lamp stands. And we have to be very, very careful that we never, never under any circumstance, assume to ourselves the prerogative of doing what is in the hand of God himself. My father is the husband man. He keeps the pruning knife. He keeps the knife in his own hand. But he has committed the cleansing water and the basin and the towel to us. But here's the lesson that the Lord Jesus teaches the disciples, his Lordship. You call me Master and Lord.
You say, well, for so I am. If I then, you're Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. Now to show how well these disciples had learned the lesson. In chapter fourteen, four questions are asked. The first question is asked by Peter. The second question is asked by Thomas. The third question is asked by Philip. And the fourth question is asked by Jude. They want some enlightenment on the teaching that the Lord has been giving. And these four men each ask a question on each one of them. In asking the question, it says, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord. They had learned the lesson. Judas didn't.
Because even in chapter thirteen here in this chapter we find master, master, master. He refused to take the term on his lips. He refused to call him Lord. Now that shows that the man wasn't a Christian at all. He never had the root of the matter in his heart. It was a test, even among the disciples, whether a man really knows the person, on the authority, on the lordship of the one with whom he was dealing. Now when we turn over to the epistles, You will never, never find that the term Jesus used except along doctrinal lines. Now, again, I know that in the Epistle of the Hebrews where the Lordship of Christ is emphasized, eight times we get the human name mentioned.
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. But, you know, if you look at the context, you'll find that every time it's this humanity, it's this compassion that's mentioned there, and the human name is used. But in every other case, it's always the Lord, the Lord, the Lord, the Lord. I do wish that every believer today could get a hold of Sir Robert Anderson's book. I would love to go through the different points that he makes there. I'm not going to do it this morning for the sake of our time. But I do want to emphasize what he emphasized in his day, either in speaking to him in prayer. or in speaking about him, either in ministry or in the proclamation of the gospel, I do want to appeal to each one of us here this morning, do call him Lord.
Give him his title. It's the title of the one that's preeminent, predominant, president among his gathered people. He is the Lord. On people that continually use the word Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ all the time, there's something wrong with their intelligent grasp of what the word of God has to say about God's beloved Son. His Lordship is emphasized in every sphere, and that every doctrine in the New Testament is put in the center, is preeminent in every doctrine that the Apostles use in the New Testament. Now, just a word or two about the passage that we have read this morning. Notice that seven times the Lordship of Christ is mentioned in connection with the Lord's Supper.
Do you think there's any reason for that? Oh, I believe there is. Now, yesterday we were talking about the errors of Christendom as far as the Lord's Supper and the Lord's table is concerned. The dogma of the mass and Martin Luther's idea of consubstantiation. Someone has said this. transubstantiation and consubstantiation is tweedled e and tweedled up. That practically means the same thing. But you know, even among evangelical believers, there are certain things that anyone who's intelligent in the Word of God, you can't help but feel sorry when you see it. If I were to go to any place today where the Lord's Supper is being observed, and any man would presume to preside at the table of the Lord, I would feel most unhappy.
And I'll tell you why. I believe that while we're gathered together on the Lord's day and seated at the Lord's table, I believe that the Lordship of Christ should be recognized. And I think that the second great truth that should be recognized while we're sitting at the Lord's table is the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit. I think that pre-eminently. While we're gathered together, the Holy Spirit should be free to move and free to exercise the hearts of those that are in touch with God, either to minister or to pray or to worship. And these are two great truths that are sadly, sadly neglected today. The priesthood of all believers, the sovereignty of the Holy Spirit, and the fact that we're gathered in his name and we make him Lord while we're seated up at him.
I don't want to go into this in any detail this morning in case anyone might think that I'm trying to criticize those that I respect very highly. There are many, many of my dear friends around the world today that don't feel the same as I do about this and that don't seem to have any conscience at all. about the way, the procedure that should be observed at the Lord's table. But as far as I'm concerned, I can just say by way of testimony, I would be most unhappy in any place where anyone would presume to take the Lord's place and to direct the worship while we're sitting at the Lord's table. You know, I think we should observe table manners. It's a matter of ordinary common courtesy. When I go to a person's home, I'm invited there as a guest, and I sit down at the table.
And you know there are certain rules of etiquette, anyone at all who is of any upbringing at all, they know that from the sit at another person's table they should recognize that there's a head there of the house. And there's the lady who's the horse. And if I were to criticize her cooking, or maybe step up and go out to the kitchen and say, now I can't eat this kind of food, I'm going to go out and I'm going to cook something for myself. And walk out into the kitchen, I know how the lady of the house would feel. That is her domain in the kitchen. And as far as the host is concerned, the man who's the head of the house, if I were to criticize him while I'm sitting at the table and take the place of being the host instead of the guest, that man would look at me and say, where does that man come from?
Has he never learned table manners? Doesn't he know his place? You know the Lord Jesus while we're sitting at the table is the host. And we are the guest. You remember what's said to Leo to see you? In Laodicea, it's speaking of the very end of the age. We're living in Laodicea in conditions today, but you remember the promise to the overcomer at the end of that epistle. This is what it said. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and stop with him. That's fellowship. I will come in and stop with him. That's fellowship. And he with me. That's Lordship.
If we open the door and let him come in, he'll sit under the table, but there's only one place that he will occupy while he's at the table, and that is the horse. He promises that he will stop with us, that he will have fellowship with us. And we will have fellowship with him. But he said, and he with me, he takes his place automatically at the head of the table as the horse. Now these are simple truths, and as far as I'm concerned, I hope I have learned them. To give Christ his place, his position as Lord, while we sit at the table, it's in his name, and it's to his name that we gather, and we give him the preeminent place of the one who walks in the midst of the golden lampstand.
So seven times, notice the context, we're not going to look at the various words that are used here, although there's a wealth, a wealth of teaching in the different occurrences of the term Lord that we get here in the passage. But the Lordship of Christ is emphasized seven times while we sit at the table. Now, the second occurrence, in chapter twelve, we find an entirely different connection. Here we're introduced to a different subject, and I just want to introduce in a word or two what I want to speak about tomorrow morning. The Apostle here is speaking of something entirely different. It's not worship here, but what we get is ministry on the membership of the body of Christ. And the Apostle is the introduction to this section of the epistle.
He says this, You know that you were Gentiles carried away onto these dumb idols even as he were led. Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God call of Jesus a curse. And that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord. except by the Holy Spirit, except by the Holy Ghost. You know, we were pointing out at the commencement of these talks that one of the principal difficulties at Corinth was the fact that Pentecostal gift was being manifested at Corinth. Now, among the churches that were founded by the Apostle Paul, as far as we know, the only place where we find the gift of tongues mentioned after those early Pentecostal days was at Corinth.
And here it's linked with these various errors that we find already mentioned. Now the Apostle has to deal with this. And there's one thing that I have noticed in connection with those that make these claims today, and one thing that I always prick up my ears, when they ever mention the Lord's name, I always prick up my ears to notice just how they use it. Now those who profess today to have the gift of tongues, And to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, almost invariably, the term they use is Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, dear Jesus, and precious Jesus, and loving Jesus, on terms of that kind.
Now, there's something wrong there. Something wrong. You will never find these exaggerated adjectives ever used in connection with the name. Never once will you find anything of the kind. He's never called precious Jesus or loving Jesus or dear Jesus. This is the honey. that should be excluded from the meal offering is called the Lord Jesus. On anyone who professes to have this superior brand of Christianity, the superior brand of spirituality that never mentions the name Lord, there's something seriously wrong. Now the Apostle in introducing the subject, he reminds them of their old life, their occurrence where they formerly were associated with the pagan worship.
And he said, formally he said, you were carried away onto these dumb idols even as you were led, even as you were carried away. Do you know that the only time in my life that I've ever heard anyone publicly speak in tongues, it wasn't done by a professed believer, but it was done by a pagan. Many years ago, over in the middle of Africa, on the banks of the Congo River, the Congo is one of the tributaries of the Congo. and I was in the long itinerating journey, and one night I went into a little village to have a meeting. There were a group of Africans sitting around on stools in a little palaver house in the middle of the village, and sitting around the fire, I preached from John three and sixteen, in the Chokwe language.
And in case you want to know what it sounds like, I'm going to repeat John three and sixteen in Chokwe. It's Momose Cho-Zambi-Wazangili-Wahashi. Ten one any one week or one way, Chely. I read my text, and oh, what a joy. What a joy it is to take the simple gospel of God's grace to people who had never heard it. And those people were like that. Never heard the gospel in their life. And I sat beside the fire that night and had the indescribable joy of preaching the gospel from John three and sixteen. After the little meeting was over, there was a man sitting on the other side of the fire, an elderly man.
And I could see he wasn't paying attention to what had been said. There was a glassy look in his eye. And suddenly he started to speak. His lower jaw dropped down and started to go from side to side. I could feel the whole air charged with satanic power. I could feel that the underworld was there, the devil was there. And while the old man was speaking, he was speaking a language that we didn't know. And I sat and I listened to him and I could feel just everything in me revolt against what he was saying. I could feel that the devil's satanic power was there. When I could stand it no longer, I put out my hand and I touched him on the shoulder.
And I said, Friend, what are you doing? I can't remember the exact words that I used. But after a little while, he snapped out of it. And I said, Friend, I said, What are you doing? Oh, I said, that's my familiar spirit. And he said, it comes at the most unexpected times. And he said, it takes possession of me. And I said, it speaks a language that I don't know. I turned around to the people that were sitting there. Many of these old men are good linguists. Some of them speak three and four and five languages. I said, do you understand what he was saying? Oh, I said, no. It was perfectly evident that it was a real language. It wasn't just mere gibberish. It was a real language that the man was speaking, but he was speaking by the power of the demon. He had completely lost the self-control. He didn't know what he was doing.
He didn't know what he was saying. And while he was speaking, the perspiration was dripping down his face and dripping off his chin. Now, I think that this is what the Apostle is speaking about here. Carried away onto these dumb idols, even as he were led. He's speaking about their old life. And now he's giving a test. He's giving the test. Anyone who speaks. in an assembly among the people of God. The first great test is, how does he mention the name? He says that no one speaking by the Spirit of God can say that Jesus is anathema. And no man can say that he is Lord, except by the Holy Ghost. Now, the one thing that we have noticed today about people who profess to have this gift, we're not going to take time to go into a tour in detail this morning, but the one thing that I have noticed and that disturbs me is the fact that people who profess to be able to speak in tongues today, hardly ever.
It's always Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, and dear Jesus and sweet Jesus. Now the Holy Spirit will never, never lead a person that's being led by the Holy Ghost to use terms of that kind. They will always use the term Lord. It is the test, the great test of any public ministry. And I don't care who the person is. If I'm sitting in an audience and a man is ministering the word, I'm continually He never uses the word Lord. There's something seriously wrong. It's either a lack of intelligence of what the word of God has to say or else it's deliberately done. Now, sophisticated people are doing this today and it's becoming increasingly common in every part of the Christian world to deliberately avoid using the term Lord.
And again, oh, I do want to appeal to each one of my beloved brethren and sisters here this morning, either in thinking about him or in praying. or in the ministry of the word or in the proclamation of the gospel, all please do, use the title. It's the great test of the public ministry of the word. Now in chapter fourteen, there are other tests here given in connection with this gift. Now one of the first that he gives is everything that's said in the assembly, it must be for edification. That is the first thing. He's given four or five tests. Anyone who professes to have these gifts today, well, we can use them and find out whether it's according to the word of God or not.
The first one is edification. You know, over in Africa, we love these African languages. Our Umbundal language is one of the most beautiful, lovely, lovely soft language. And our Sambra language is the same. Beautiful language. And you know, I could edify myself here this morning. I could get up and speak umbundu and I think that my mind would work freer. I've used it for forty years and I think that my mind would be more active in speaking umbundu here this morning and I would thoroughly enjoy myself having a little sermon in umbundu. But you know I can think I can see some of those friends looting around and if I started to speak either in Chokwe or Sangu or umbundu and started to speak these languages, they'll say, why that man's mad?
It's not for edification. I could edify myself. And I would thoroughly enjoy it. And there's nothing I would enjoy more this morning to be transported over to the middle of Africa and get an audience of Wovi Mbundo and sit down and talk their language to them. I would thoroughly enjoy it. But over here, I just keep quiet. I would never think of using Mbundo to an audience over here. And why? It's not for edification. It wouldn't edify anybody. It would edify me. But it wouldn't edify you. And for that reason, the first great test of all ministry, it must be for edification. Do you know that ministry is different from worship? You know, we're all free to worship. But ministry must be limited to edification.
Whatever is for edification, for the building up of God's people, well, it can be allowed in the public assembly of God's people. Now, the second thing that the Apostle uses in chapter fourteen is an interpreter. If anyone wants to speak in tongues, there must be an interpreter. over to Chittutu, where we lived for sixteen years. We had three languages going all the time. Sometimes Mbundu, sometimes Chokwe, sometimes Sangho. There were people that spoke all these three languages in the assembly. But you know, sometimes a friend would come along that wouldn't understand any of them, maybe from another part of Africa. And therefore we had to have an interpreter. You know, interpretation, it's a lengthy drawn-out business.
And not only then, but sometimes... by the interpreter is not able to get the exact sense of what the person says. But unless there's an interpreter who interprets what is being spoken at the Manichaean. Silence is not allowed to speak unless there's an interpreter. Now, a third test is self-control. The Apostle says, let the spirit of the prophet be subject to the prophet. What does that mean? that the man who gets up on the platform and ministers, he must have his mind in complete self-control. You know, sometimes we who have the responsibility of ministering the word, and if there are anything like me, well, some men, they're able to use notes, and they get maybe three or four pages of notes, and they go laboriously right down one page after the other.
I have no criticism of that. The man who does that has his subject in complete control. I can't do that. And one thing that I find very, very difficult is to control my mind and not allow myself to say something that later I would be sorry for. The man who ministers the word, he must have his own spirit. He must have it in complete control. Self-control here in the ministry of the Word. Would you think of people that profess to speak in tongues? And I understand, although I have never seen it personally, but I understand that some people who profess to have this gift will lie on the floor and foam at the mouth and scream at the top of their lungs.
Do you mean to say that that is according to the Word of God? I don't think it is. God is not the author of confusion. God is a God of order. And to say that this is the work of the Holy Spirit out of the greatest difficulty in accepting anything of the kind. God is a God of control, a God of order. And two or three speaking at the same time is utter confusion. And to say that that is the work of the Holy Ghost out of the greatest difficulty in accepting anything of the kind. Now, the final thing that the Apostle mentions here at the end of the chapter, chapter fourteen, the final test is, let your women keep silence in the church. Oh, I know all the arguments against this.
They talk about chattering, that it means gossip and chattering. It doesn't mean anything of the kind. It means exactly what it says. Twenty-three times in the context we get the word to speak, to speak, to speak. On the word here, let your women keep silence. The word here is exactly the same as it is in the context. It just simply means exactly what it says. Do you know that People who profess to have these Pentecostal gifts, these spectacular gifts, at least seventy-five percent or more, maybe eighty percent of those that profess to have the gift are women. And they do it publicly. Now the Holy Spirit of God will never, never be contrary to the Word of God.
Never. You will never find the Holy Ghost operating contrary to the revealed mind and will of God. The two go together. And for you find a woman up publicly ministering. or speaking in tongues in a public gathering, it's completely contrary to the teaching of the word. Let your women keep silent in the church. And then the apostle, to clinch it, at the end he says this, Now if any man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I say unto thee are the commandments of the Lord. Now I think of that final. On anyone who wishes to be subject to the word of God, And what it teaches, I think, will accept it without quibbling or without any argument at all.
Now here is the Lordship of Christ in the public ministry of the Word. There are many things here that one would like to go into in some detail, but we just leave it there. But this is why I believe that there's so much around today in Christendom, sometimes going to one extreme and sometimes going to the other extreme, it's a difficult and a dangerous day in which we live. But I just want to say in closing, beloved brethren, do let's make Christ supreme in our hearts. First of all, let him be Lord in our hearts. And then in our home, let him be Lord. And as far as the harvest field is concerned, in the service of God, let him be supreme there too. And then in the house of God, while we're gathered together, oh, let's put him in the center.
That's where he belongs. He's absolutely supreme. He's preeminent. He is president. Now let's give him that place for his name's sake. Shall we pray? Our God and Father, we again lift our hearts to thee with thankfulness for that blessed one who is the center of our gathering. We do thank thee for his teaching in the upper room of that gracious ministry among his disciples. And our Father, we thank thee for the way that they learned the lesson. And forever afterwards, they put him in that position of lordship. Our Father, we pray that thou will help us in our life and testimony down here.
Not only to read thy words, but to be intelligent in it. And not only intelligent, our Father, we pray that we may not only learn these things in our minds, but that it may sink into our hearts. And that our hearts may be warm. towards thyself. And we pray that affection and love that has been spread abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost that it may reach up to the person of our blessed Lord and then to each one of thy dear children here below. Remember each one here this morning and our Father we pray that thou will give the blessing that thou dost see the need. We ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.