Study Desk

For now there are faith, hope, and love. But of these three, the greatest is love.

But when you prophesy, you will be understood, and others will be helped. They will be encouraged and made to feel better.

By speaking languages that others don't know, you help only yourself. But by prophesying you help everyone in the church.

But if I don't understand the language that someone is using, we will be like foreigners to each other.

For example, if I use an unknown language in my prayers, my spirit prays but my mind is useless.

You may be worshiping God in a wonderful way, but no one else will be helped.

But words that make sense can help the church. That's why in church I had rather speak five words that make sense than to speak ten thousand words in a language that others don't know.

In the Scriptures the Lord says, "I will use strangers who speak unknown languages to talk to my people. They will speak to them in foreign languages, but still my people won't listen to me."

Languages that others don't know may mean something to unbelievers, but not to the Lord's followers. Prophecy, on the other hand, is for followers, not for unbelievers.

But suppose all of you are prophesying when those unbelievers and outsiders come in. They will realize that they are sinners, and they will want to change their ways because of what you are saying.

But do everything properly and in order.

You will be saved by this message, if you hold firmly to it. But if you don't, your faith was all for nothing.

After this, he appeared to more than five hundred other followers. Most of them are still alive, but some have died.

But God was kind! He made me what I am, and his wonderful kindness wasn't wasted. I worked much harder than any of the other apostles, although it was really God's kindness at work and not me.

But it doesn't matter if I preached or if they preached. All of you believed the message just the same.

But Christ has been raised to life! And he makes us certain that others will also be raised to life.

But we must each wait our turn. Christ was the first to be raised to life, and his people will be raised to life when he returns.

People, animals, birds, and fish are each made of flesh, but none of them are alike.

Everything in the heavens has a body, and so does everything on earth. But each one is very different from all the others.

That's how it will be when our bodies are raised to life. These bodies will die, but the bodies that are raised will live forever.