Order in the Church!

Order in the Church!

“Order in the Church!”
(1 Corinthians 14:26-40)
Series: Chaos & Correction (1 Corinthians)

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

•Please open your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 14 (page 775; YouVersion).

We thank our volunteers praying for us this morning in the prayer room, grateful to have folks praying in our morning worship services.

We’ve been preaching our way verse-by-verse through the Book of 1 Corinthians and this morning we conclude a major section of material in Paul’s letter. Chapters 12-14 are largely about the church gathering together for worship and how each Christian has been given a spiritual gift or gifts to be used in the body of Christ to edify or strengthen the membership.

And we’ve noted in recent weeks that Paul has been teaching specifically about the proper use of two of the speaking gifts—speaking in tongues and the gift of prophecy. We have defined speaking in tongues as, “Prayer or praise spoken in words generally not understood by the speaker” and we have defined prophecy as, “proclaiming what one believes God has brought to mind suddenly or spontaneously.”

So we’re in chapter 14 at the very end of the chapter, the last unit of thought or paragraph in the section where Paul applies his instructions to the gathered church body. When the Corinthian Christians came together for worship Paul says they should go about that worship in a certain way.

So beginning at verse 26 to the end of the chapter Paul lays down some ground rules and gives specific instructions about how to go about speaking in tongues and the gift of prophecy in the church. Note this as I read the passage and invite you to hear the Word.

•Please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word.

26 How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.
27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret.
28 But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.
29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.
30 But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent.
31 For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged.
32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.
33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.
34 Let your [NU omits “your”] women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.
35 And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.
36 Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached?
37 If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.
38 But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant [NU, “if anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized”].
39 Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.
40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

•Pray.

Introduction:

In this passage the Apostle Paul provides basic rules for worship. In spite of our natural inclination to resist rules and regulations most of us see the benefit of having rules insofar as they provide order and structure, and safety.

Recently I came across some rules that were given in tongue-in-cheek fashion. They are rules about driving in New Jersey. And I suppose if you’re from New Jersey you can relate to these rules, though as I read them I thought they applied equally to driving in Atlanta. And I suppose you could insert your “city of choice” and the rules would apply universally. But here they are, 10 basic rules for driving in New Jersey:

1. Crossing two or more lanes in a single lane-change is considered going with the flow.

2. The faster you drive through a red light, the smaller your chances of getting hit.

3. Turn signals will give away your next move. A real New Jersey driver never uses them.

4. Under no circumstances should you leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you. If you do, the space will be filled immediately by somebody else putting you in an even more dangerous situation.

5. Never, ever come to a complete stop at a stop sign. No one expects it and it will inevitably result in your being rear ended. On the other hand if you want your insurance company to pay for a new rear bumper, come to a complete stop at all stop signs.

6. Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right. It’s a good way to scare people entering the highway.

7. Never get in the way of an older car that needs extensive bodywork. New Jersey is a no-fault insurance state and the other guy doesn’t have anything to lose.

8. Just because you’re in the left lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn’t mean that a New Jersey driver flashing his high beams behind you doesn’t think he can go faster in your spot.

9. It is traditional in New Jersey to honk your horn at cars that don’t move the instant the light changes.

10. Remember that the goal of every New Jersey driver is to get there first, by whatever means necessary.

Rules for driving in New Jersey. Well, of course, the reason we smile at these so-called rules is because we probably see ourselves in many of them. And we know that they illustrate the need for “real rules” about driving in a large city. Without clear rules and instruction, the result is perilous.

We recognize the need for structure and order. Paul provides some clear teaching here about how the church should behave when gathered together. And what he teaches I have outlined in my notes under three headings. Maybe these will help you if you’re a note-taker you can arrange your notes this way. First, let’s consider together some helpful teaching about worship in general:

I. Helpful teaching about Worship (26-33)

Look down in your Bibles again at verse 26:

26 How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.

And there’s that word again, “edification.” We have seen this word on numerous occasions and noted that it means, “to build up,” or “to strengthen.” We gather together to worship our Lord and as we gather together we each of us contribute in some way or other that strengthens one another.

So corporate worship is not about individual experiences—precisely the problem in many American churches this morning—thousands of individual experiences rather than a coming together as one with a focus upon God and others, edifying others, strengthening others.

So Paul provides in verse 26 a sampling of some of the ways the church may contribute one to another in the context of corporate worship. He does not describe everything the New Testament church does when gathering together, but some of the things, especially at Corinth. Some would read a psalm, or teaching a passage of Scripture, speak in a tongue, share a revelation of truth, and so forth.

“Let all things be done for edification,” or strengthening others, building them up. Each of us plays an important part in the church body. We are all important and are all to use our gifts. These gifts may be exercised in a larger worship service such as what we are doing now in this room or in smaller groups where the opportunity may be greater to use our gifts. And still other ways and times that the body gathers together we have opportunity to use our gifts of giving, teaching, encouraging, warning, helps, tongues, mercy, administration, prophecy, and so on.

Now Paul writes specifically about speaking in tongues. He has some ground rules here in verse 27:

27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret.
28 But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.

Some of us came from backgrounds where verses 27 and 28 were largely ignored. Some churches have a time of corporate tongue-speaking where many people are speaking in tongues at once. But Paul says in verse 27, “If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret.”

Structure and order are important. Furthermore as we’ve noted in our study of the preceding verses, we should be concerned for outsiders, those Paul refers to as the “uninformed or unbelievers” back in verse 23. Without interpretation such an outsider hears only tongue-speaking in a language he does not understand and concludes that everyone is out of their mind. Tongue-speaking should be interpreted.

Paul adds in verse 28, “But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.”

And again, this rule is violated in many charismatic churches. There should never be a person speaking in tongues with unbelievers present and no one there to interpret—this includes broadcasting tongue-speaking on the radio or television or internet as there will obviously be “outsiders” and unbelievers listening, tuning-in, or watching.

We must always be sensitive to the presence of unbelievers. We have been given a great commission from our Lord Jesus. We are to go to all the nations, from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth—from our community to the continents—sharing the saving message of the Gospel. We must continue to cultivate a love for the “uninformed” and “unbelievers” within our sphere of influence and without our sphere of influence, lost people in our community and lost people throughout the nations.

Verse 28 also addresses another problem and that is the erroneous notion that the person speaking in tongues cannot somehow control himself or herself. Tongue-speaking is not some frenzied ecstatic speaking that takes over a person’s body. Paul is very clear here in verse 28 that a person speaking in tongues has control over what he is doing. He is aware of the presence or absence of an interpreter and thus is able to “keep silent in church,” speaking “to himself and to God,” speaking under his or her breath so as not to disturb or distract others.

Well, enough about tongues for the moment. Paul now writes with regard to prophecy. Verse 29:

29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.

Note again the concern for structure and order. Just as those who speak in tongues were not to speak over one another, so those who prophesy are not to speak over one another. “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.”

The word “judge” is probably better translated as, “weighing carefully what is said (So ESV and NIV).” The idea was when someone shared a prophecy, perhaps saying something like, “I feel led to share this right now” or, “It seems the Lord wants me to speak about this,” then Paul says, “let the others judge” or weigh what has been spoken.

The “others” judging or weighing the prophecy for truth are likely the other church members present when the prophecy is spoken. And they would be comparing what was spoken with God’s revealed truth in the Scriptures. They would “weigh” the prophecy, placing if you like, the prophecy on one side of the scales and the Scriptures in the other side of the scales and making sure that what was spoken balanced out with the truth.

It’s much as Paul instructed the church at Thessalonica in 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21:

19 Do not quench the Spirit.
20 Do not despise prophecies.
21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.

Or as John instructs in 1 John 4:1, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

If a person says, “I believe the Lord would have me share this,” and then the person speaks, he will be humble enough to admit that he may be wrong about what he is sharing and so, given that a speaker may be mistaken, Paul instructs others to judge or weigh for truth the words spoken.

Now note again Paul’s concern for structure and order, verse 30:

30 But if anything is revealed to another who sits by, let the first keep silent.
31 For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged.

So again just as in regular conversation, it is common courtesy not to talk over another person, so Paul says don’t prophesy over one another, let each speak “one by one.” And if in the course of prophesying, another senses the Lord would have him or her say something then the first speaker yields and the other shares. And Paul adds in verse 32:

32 And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets.

Here again the notion that a person having the gift of prophecy is somehow “carried away by the Spirit” and simply cannot control himself is simply wrong. The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. In other words, a person has control over his or her faculties—whether speaking in tongues or speaking words of prophecy.

And Paul then gives theological support for these orderly instructions in verse 33:

33 For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

The reason there is to be order in the church is because there is order in our God. His character is one of orderliness. We reflect our Creator’s orderly nature when we ourselves behave in orderly fashion in the church.

Michael Green has a wonderful little commentary on 1 Corinthians entitled, To Corinth With Love. In his commentary he provides helpful criteria for the evaluating of prophecy. He suggests asking seven questions to ask when “weighing what is spoken.”

Does it glorify God rather than the speaker, church, or denomination?
Does it accord with Scripture?
Does it build up the church?
Is it spoken in love?
Does the speaker submit him- or herself to the judgment and consensus of others in spiritual humility?
Is the speaker in control of him- or herself?
Is there a reasonable amount of instruction, or does the message seem excessive in detail?—[Michael Green, To Corinth with Love (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1982), 77-78.]

Well, Paul turns now from helpful teaching about worship, to helpful teaching about women. And of course he is still writing about worship, but taking a moment to address a particular problem in the church. Let’s look at this in verses 34 and following.

II. Helpful teaching about Women (34-35)

34 Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.

Well, if all we had in the entire New Testament were verse 34 then women would never once be permitted to speak at all in any church. But of course, we know that is not true.

It is always essential to Bible study that we take care to compare Scripture with Scripture. In other words we continually ask, “What does the Bible say elsewhere about this matter?” And we read what it says elsewhere allowing the two or more passages to bring harmony to one another, knowing that there are no contradictions in the Bible.

So we recall that as recently as back in chapter 11—just three chapters ago—that Paul writes about women both praying and prophesying in public worship (1 Corinthians 11:5; cf. Acts 2:17).

And we noted there that with the coming of Christ and the dawning of the New Testament age, women were liberated to enjoy a more active role in public worship than that to which they had been previously accustomed.

Yes, the office of the pastorate and the teaching of men is limited by the Scripture to that of a man. The Bible teaches in 1 Timothy 2:8-15 that a man is to be a pastor and that a man is to be in the position of teaching when other men are present—and that would include gatherings such as Bible studies where both men and women are present.

Without going back to chapter 11 and 1 Timothy 2 we recall that the reason why the preaching and teaching where men are present is limited to a man is theological, because of headship, his role as leader. In both of those passages, Paul does not defend the man’s role as leader by appealing to tradition or culture, but rather by appealing to creation, God’s created order.

He says that a woman is not to teach or have authority over a man because, he says, “Adam was formed first, then Eve.” There is an order of relational roles. The man is to lead, to be a godly leader, and the woman encourages him and supports his role to rise up and lead, the very idea behind the word “submission.”

The Bible teaches that while women are not to take the role of pastor or the role of teaching over men, they are free to teach other women, free to teach children, free even to preach to other women and children. They are free to pray and prophesy in public worship, as well.

And we noted back in chapter 11 that while that while the culture may change over time—like whether a woman should wear a head covering—the differences of role relationship and function do not change. And they do not change because they are woven into the very fabric of God’s created order, an order provided in Genesis 2.

35 And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.

Well again, Paul is not forbidding women to speak in every situation, so what is the specific situation that he has in mind? Context is always king! So we note in the immediate context that Paul has been talking about the judging of prophesy or the weighing of prophesy for truth. Recall back in verse 29: “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.”

It’s not that a woman was not able to judge or weigh a prophecy for truth. We noted earlier that the whole church is involved in doing so if even silently. The church thinks about what someone has spoken, weighing it for truth.

But where a person then stands up to proclaim those instances where such a prophetic utterance may be questionable or may indeed be opposed to Scripture, then this is to be done by a man as he has been entrusted with the spiritual leadership of both home and church—especially insofar as teaching biblical truth.

Were a woman to stand up in the presence of men and speak in an authoritative way, speaking in such a way as to assume the role of a teacher over men, then she would at that point be abandoning her God-given role of submission and subverting the role of male headship, a leadership role reserved for men exclusively as rooted not in culture or tradition, but in the fabric of creation.

Now, if there are ladies present and this teaching is still not clearly solidified in your thinking, verse 35 says you can ask your husbands about it later when you are home!

Men, are you fulfilling your God-given role to love your wives as Christ loved the church? Loving her sacrificially, loving her unconditionally? Are you faithful? Will you remain with her and not walk out on her? Christ does not walk out on us.

Ladies, are you encouraging your husbands by telling them that you are praying for them, submitting to them by entrusting them with the leadership and oversight of your home and family?

We have read Paul’s helpful teaching about worship, teaching about women, and finally:

III. Helpful teaching about the Word (36-40)

In verse 36 Paul anticipates objections to his teaching. Having founded the church at Corinth he is aware of the congregation’s tendency toward pride. So in biting sarcasm he asks rather facetiously:

36 Or did the word of God come originally from you? Or was it you only that it reached?

The Phillips translation has, “Do I see you questioning my instructions? Are you beginning to imagine that the Word of God originated in your church, or that you have a monopoly of God’s truth?”

37 If anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.

Here is a very strong claim to the Apostle Paul’s authority as a prophet of the Lord Jesus Christ, authority to write what he has written as one who speaks the very words of God.

The New Living Translation (NLT) is helpful here: “If you claim to be a prophet or think you are spiritual, you should recognize that what I am saying is a command from the Lord himself.”

In other words, Paul’s words are God’s words.

Paul is aware of the fact that his own words were equal in authority to the Scriptures. You will remember that Peter agrees in 2 Peter 3 where he writes about untaught and unstable people twisting Paul’s writings “to their own destruction,” and he adds, “just as they also do to the rest of the Scriptures (2 Peter 3:15-16).”

Paul’s words are God’s words. This is vitally important to interpreting the New Testament. We must never place Paul’s words in opposition to the words of our Lord. This is done unfortunately when a person calls attention to the words of Christ—an unfortunate and unintended weakness of the “red letter editions” of the Bible—as though they were more important than the words of the apostles, whether Paul, Peter, or John. All Scripture is equally authoritative.

Paul states emphatically as only an apostle can who has been called by the Lord to write Scripture. He says, “the things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.”

38 But if anyone is ignorant, let him be ignorant.

Other translations have, “If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.” That may be best. So verse 38 means that if a person does not recognize Paul’s authoritative instructions here, the Lord will go ahead and get His work done without them.

That humbles us, doesn’t it?! The Lord works through us, but He does not need us. As Paul warns elsewhere, “If anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself (Galatians 6:3).”

So Paul brings the entire section to a close in verses 39 and 40:

39 Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.
40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

How should things be done in the church? Decently and in order. And remember the theological motivation for being orderly—back up in verse 33, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace.” Orderliness is part of God’s character and His character should be reflected in His children.

So Paul concludes that desiring prophesy is to desire a good thing and, at the same time, he says do not prohibit folks from speaking in tongues.

Let me share this with you and we’ll close. Paul has spent a great deal of time treating the matters of tongues and prophecy. What do you suppose he might say to us today given that the church now has all of the Scriptures together in one place, all 66 books of the Bible in one book.

Listen to one theologian who notes the significance of Scripture in our lives:

If the gift of prophecy begins to be used in a church, the church should place even more emphasis on the vastly superior value of Scripture as the source to which Christians can always go to hear the voice of the living God. Prophecy is a valuable gift, as are many other gifts, but it is in Scripture that God and only God speaks to us his very words, even today, and throughout our lives. Rather than hoping at every worship service that the highlight would be some word of prophecy, those who use the gift of prophecy need to be reminded that we should find our focus of joy, our expectation, and our delight in God himself as he speaks to us through the Bible. There we have a treasure of infinite worth: the actual words of our Creator speaking to us in language we can understand. And rather than seeking frequent guidance through prophecy, we should emphasize that it is in Scripture that we are to find guidance for our lives. In Scripture is our source of direction, our focus when seeking God’s will, our sufficient and completely reliable standard. It is of God’s words in Scripture that we can with confidence say, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps. 119:105)—Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 1061.

•Stand for prayer.

 

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