Corporately Worshipping the God of Peace

1 Corinthians 14:26-40 - Riley Boggs

If you have not noticed by now, I bring a full manuscript into the pulpit whenever I preach. I mean really, word for word, it is all here. Occasionally I will go off the manuscript and make a point here or there, but for the most part I am just working through what I wrote earlier this week. For some people, and maybe even some of you, that can feel a bit wrong. I’ve heard people say things like, “If you prepare everything, you’re going to quench the Spirit! You’ll be less creative, less spiritual. You can’t have that much structure!”

I have a lot of responses to that, but I will only give you the one that applies to our text this morning. If you didn’t know, because it’s very hard to tell, John Piper also brings a full manuscript into the pulpit. And when asked why, probably in light of some of the questions I just posed have been asked me and others, here is his reasoning. 

He says, “Let me tell you something, all you young preachers want to be spontaneous. Spontaneous is overrated. It’s overrated because people think that spontaneous equals creative. You know what spontaneous usually equals? Rut. If you start speaking off the cuff, spontaneously, most often, you will, if you haven’t given serious thought to something that should go in this outline or manuscript, you will fall into platitudes. You’ll fall into old tried and true ways of saying things, like the old deacons used to pray when I was a kid, ‘Lord, lead, guide, and direct. Lead, guide, and direct.’ I heard that 10,000 times and I thought, I think spontaneous is overrated. I wish these deacons would give a little thought to what they’re going to say when they pray to God Almighty. Because they think not having a text in front of them makes it more holy. It doesn’t. It’s just a rut.” 

I think he is exactly right, and not just because I choose to write out my entire sermon and bring it to the pulpit. Not every preacher has to do this, and many wonderful preachers don’t and would disagree, but I find myself agreeing with Piper here. But the reason I bring this up is because I think this idea of “Spontaneous and less order being more spiritual” is exactly what Paul addresses here in this section. In the same way some might see the kind of sermon preparation and preaching I do as less spiritual, many might see an ordered worship service as less spiritual. Having a specific time for this and a specific time for that just quenches it all. 

I’m not saying that our gatherings are perfectly designed by any means. However, I do think they reflect the very text we are in this morning well. See as Paul begins to close his argument about the spiritual gifts, he urges them to maintain order. He doesn’t say exercise the gifts with reckless abandon. Everyone should speak in tongues and prophecy, and it should be this big extreme event then every time you gather. No, instead what he does is he reminds them of the reason for which they gather and then sets limitations, or guidelines, on how the Corinthians are to do this. The Corinthians needed guidelines and so do we, so does every church. And then, after he gives them the guidelines, he closes summary and charge. This morning, I want us to see each of these 3 things. So, the first I want us to see from this text is this.

1.) We gather as people who have been gifted for the specific purpose of building one another up (v.26)

I’ve belabored this point week after week, but I think some points ought to be belabored. Especially ones that the text repeats and ones that we are prone to forget or dismiss. Each of you here who have been saved are indwelled by the Spirit of the living God. He lives inside you, and He has gifted you. He has gifted you and He is empowering you to exercise your gifts. And this is exactly where Paul starts in verse 26. In this single verse we can draw 3 things, 3 expectations what takes place when we gather as a body of Christ. Look at them with me. 

First, Paul says, “What then, brothers? When you come together…”. In this we already have an assumption. What is it? It is that brothers and sisters in Christ, those who have trusted Christ for salvation, gather together. There’s an expectation that this is the case, no matter what. Paul doesn’t say in good times gather or in bad times gather. He doesn’t say during the summer months or when your life isn’t too busy. He says, “When you come together”, because it’s simply understood and expected that believers gather together.

The second expectation is that when believers gather together, everyone brings something to the table. Some a hymn, some a lesson, some a revelation, some a tongue, and some an interpretation of a tongue. Again, notice that Paul doesn’t make caveats or exceptions here. It’s not the people with the degrees or who have spent enough time in prayer throughout the week to earn the right. It’s simply that every brother or sister comes together bringing something. It can vary in kind, but it does not vary in presence. Each of you, when we gather, come as a Spirit-Indwelled person who is able to share something with the body. Each and every one.

Lastly, we come together, with all of these unique things that we have been given by God, for the specific purpose of building one another up. That is the reason for the hymn, the lesson, the revelation, the tongue, and the interpretation. Whatever it is, it is intended to build up the body. If you have been given something to share, but when you think about sharing it, you know that it will not build up, but instead will tear down, that is your sign to not share it. The Lord is gifting and enabling us so that we might edify and encourage one another. Paul simply expects this to be the case, there would be no other reason. We wouldn’t be given these things to tear one another down or boast.

Now as I’ve said all of that, you might be thinking, “But, when does that happen? I mean I’ve been here most Sunday mornings, and I haven’t seen many people sharing these things. And, if you are telling me that the Lord is giving me things to bring to the body, when am I to share them?” Well, notice that I have said “when we gather” and not “during Sunday morning worship services.” If you’ve been to any of our Wednesday night meetings, you will see that this very thing is taking place. We all share with one another and bring something to build one another up. And, as you know, we will be starting small groups soon to take the place of the Wednesday night meeting.

One of the main reasons for doing this is so that we might better obey this text. Soon we will be gathering in one another homes and the expectation is that this verse will be played out. The expectation is that when you all gather together, each of you come together with the specific purpose of edifying and encouraging one another, being led and empowered by the Spirit to use your gifts accordingly. And once those begin, we will only start our monthly prayer meeting where we gather as a whole body, in this room, again, with the specific purpose in mind. This is the expectation for the body of Christ. It’s the way of a Christian. A believer who never finds themselves in situations where they are able to be built up, or where they are able to use their gifts to build others up, will struggle. We are designed and called to this kind of life.

Now, imagine this hypothetical situation. Let’s say we have a prayer meeting one night and everyone shows up eager and ready to share. We all sit down and then I say, “let’s begin” And it’s quiet for a moment, then one person starts to share a passage of Scripture. About halfway through them reading, another person blurts out, “Yes! I love that Scripture, that Scripture was encouragement to me during a hard time in my life.” And they start telling the story of that time. And as that person is telling the story, that reminds another person of a story they want to share and so they start sharing as well. Except now they are both sharing at the same time and it’s hard to discern who is speaking. And now the person who was originally sharing the Scripture is a bit frustrated and decides “You know what? God led me to share this, and I have to share it right now!” And so they start reading and again. So now 3 people are talking, and someone believes they have been led to start singing, and so they do. All of sudden chaos has ensued. Sensory overload. It’s impossible to discern what is going on. It’s like the sound of the vent for a stove. Some of you get that, and some of you aren’t as weird as me and the other people who get it.

The reason I wanted you to imagine that is because Paul gives clear instructions on how we can prevent this from being the case. He gives instructions and roots them in the very character of God. So, let’s look at the second point this morning.

2.) Our gathering should be orderly so that we can accomplish the purpose for which we gathered (vv.27-35)

As I mentioned at the beginning, there is a temptation to think that order quenches the spirit, or that spontaneous is more spiritual than order, but Paul in these verses seems to think otherwise. In fact, his instructions here for orderly worship gives guidelines on many different things so that the reason that they are gathering, which is to build one another up, might be accomplished. I think there are 4 clear guidelines he lays out here. Look at them with me. 

First, in verses 27-28, Paul writes, “27 If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. 28 But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.” So the first guideline is what? It’s a limit on how many people should speak and then when or if they should speak. He says 2 or 3 ought to speak in tongues, but not everyone should. And, whenever they do, they need to do by taking turns. They don’t need to speak over one another. And, like we saw in the first half of 14, if there is no one to interpret the tongues, then they should keep silent, and speak to themselves and God. 

The second guideline can be seen in verse 29. Paul writes, “Let two or three prophets speak, and let others weigh what is said.” Again, we have a limit on how many people should prophecy. Not everyone, but 2 or 3. But the latter half of this verse is what I really want to draw your attention to, because it is going to help us understand another section of this text in a minute. The kind of prophecy being talked about here is not the same as the prophets in the Old Testament who spoke on behalf of God Himself, and his words were sure. They didn’t need to be tested or tried. That is not the kind of prophecy being mentioned here. If you’ll remember, I used Wayne Grudem’s definition for prophecy which was, “Telling something that God has spontaneously brought to mind.” This could be a word of wisdom, a Scripture, an interpretation of Scripture, a prayer, or something of that kind. That is what Paul means here.

But what is important to see is that this kind of prophecy isn’t infallible. It isn’t perfect, and it can be mistaken. And because of this, it needs to be weighed. Here’s an example of what I think is being meant here. Imagine we are gathered on a Wednesday night and someone says, “this week the Lord prompted me to share with you all a verse.” So they get out their Bible and they read some verse in the Bible and then follow it by giving a totally wrong interpretation. In that situation, we aren’t supposed to say, “Well the Lord told them that, so I guess it must be true.” No, we know it isn’t true. The verse that they shared shouldn’t be interpreted in the way that they have done so. And so, what needs to happen is someone needs to speak up and say, “hey brother, I appreciate your willingness to share, but I don’t think that verse means what you just said. Can I show you why?” 

This is what it looks like to weigh the prophecies being shared, and it’s an important guideline that Paul gives. Now keep this in mind and in just a minute we are going to circle back to it.

Alright, the third guideline can be seen in verses 30 to the first half of verse 33. Paul says, “30 If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. 33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.” Again, we have a limit on when to speak. If someone is sharing something with someone, they should simply listen, not speak over them. Prophecy should take place one by one so that people can hear what it being said and learn and be encouraged.

Then, in verses 32 Paul makes a statement that sort of answers an anticipated response. Imagine someone hears these guidelines, that they are to prophecy one by one and listen quietly while others speak. And respond and say, “But Paul, you don’t understand. Sometimes the Lord prompts me to say something, and I just have to say it immediately. I can’t wait; I have to speak! I don’t mean to interrupt, but I have to say it in that exact moment. It’s like something outside of me takes over!” And to that, Paul says, that is no excuse. The spirit of the prophet, whatever it is the Lord has shared with you to share with others, is subject to you. You don’t have to blurt out, you can wait your turn. There is nothing outside of you that is compelling you to cause disorder.

And then, he roots this in the character of God Himself. God is the God of peace, not confusion. He is the one prompting you to share so that others might be built up, and He will never do so in a way that brings about confusion and chaos. Rather He does it so that there might be building up and encouragement, because He is the God of peace.

Now we find ourselves in the last guideline starting in the second half of verse 33 to verse 35. Some of you might have been wondering how I will approach this and how we should rightly understand what is being said here. The way I want to do this is first warn us of an error we might fall into before even seeking to understand the text. Look at these verses with me. We read, “As in all the churches of the saints, 34 the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. 35 If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.” 

There is a gut reaction you might have when you hear that, one that I think is wrong. If you hear these verses and immediately think, “How do I get out this meaning what it seems like means? I don’t think women should keep silent in the church, that seems wrong. This verse can’t mean that.” Now, I’ll show you my cards here and tell you that this verse does not mean that women ought to be silent in the church in the way that this text might read. However, I just want to push us to be careful to not bring too many things to the Bible. Let the Word be the Word and come ready to trust and believe whatever it says. Come to the text saying, “If the plain reading is true, I will take it. If the plain reading is not true, I will take whatever the true meaning is. I come to the text seeking the truth of God’s Word, whatever it may be.”

With that being said, let me show you how to work through this text. Rather than just telling you what I think, I want to show you how you can understand difficult texts like this when you are in the word. The first thing when we read this is ask the question, “Contextually, has Paul said anything else in this letter that would inform how I understand this?” The answer to this question is yes. Look back with me at chapter 11 verse 5. We read, “…but every wife who prays or prophecies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head was shaven.” I won’t reexplain all of what that means again, but what can we draw from this? We can draw that women are praying and prophesying out loud in the church. And so, the text we are in today cannot mean that women are to be entirely silent in the church, because then Paul would be directly contradicting Himself. We are using Scripture to interpret Scripture here.

So then, if the seemingly straightforward meaning isn’t the true meaning, what is? Well, let’s look at what Paul has just said before these verses. In verse 29 he mentions the need for “others” to weigh what the prophets have said. I think that’s the key to understand this section here. I think Paul is continuing his argument from verse 29 after interrupting himself to speak of the need for order and peace when prophesying.

In other words, I think Paul is saying that the women in the church should not be the ones publicly weighing what is said and then speaking to correct in the church. And the reason for this is because that role is a kind of authoritative role that Paul says is explicitly for men elsewhere in Scripture. You don’t have to turn there, but hear what Paul writes in 1 Timothy 2:11-15, “11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.” I think Paul is making the same argument here. And in 1 Timothy he roots in creation and in our text this morning, he roots in in the Law, which I think is also reference to creation. 

It's not that women are not to be speaking, praying, or prophesying in the church. Paul says that there is an expectation that they would. So for the women here today, heed that. You have been gifted and empowered to share with the whole body so that we might be built up. And at the same time, women shouldn’t be the ones exercising an authoritative pastoral role during gatherings, where they are the ones rebuking and teaching the congregation. 

Now there is one other thing I want you to see in this passage before we move on. Is the reason that women shouldn’t do this because of a lack of ability to discern and weigh? Absolutely not. In fact, Paul builds that in. He expects that women will hear things, even things that those who are supposed to be weighing miss, and they need to do something about it. They should talk to their husband at home so that they can discern what should be done about it. For the unmarried woman, in this context, they wouldn’t likely shared this with their father, or maybe their pastor. And then, if something needs to be addressed, the husband should address it appropriately. There are all kinds of guidelines being laid out here by Paul, and this is simply one that reflects how men and women are different. And how they each have something to contribute, and each have a role they are to fulfill. 

Okay, so we have seen the need for order here. And all of it so that the purpose for which believers are gathering might be fulfilled. Now let's look at the final thing he says.

3.) We must pursue the spiritual gifts, and submit ourselves, and the gifts we have been given, entirely to Christ (vv.36-40)

I won’t spend as long working through these final 5 verses, but I do want you to see Paul’s final words concerning the spiritual gifts. He starts off by asking sarcastic questions in verse 36. He asks, “Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached?” The answer to these is of course not. The Word did not originate with the Corinthians, and it did not stop at the Corinthians. And since this is the case, he continues. He says, “If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.” 

In other words, the Word of the Lord is to inform all that you do and all that you say. If someone doesn’t heed the words Paul is writing, they shouldn’t be recognized as those who are prophesying or are spiritual. Because the one who truly prophecies or is truly spiritual, acts in accordance with the Word of God.

Then finally, in verse 39, he says, “So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophecy, and do not forbid the speaking in tongues. But all things should be done decently and in order." And church, that is my call for us, for each of you. Don’t stop with the gifts. Earnestly desire them, be careful to not try and stamp them out. Pray for them, ask for them, encourage one another in them, and use them.

And as we do this, let’s do it in the way the Lord has asked us to, in order. Let’s submit our entire selves, gifts included, to Christ. Let’s use them for the building up of the bride of Christ, so that we might walk faithfully, and bring glory and honor to our King. Isn’t that the purpose for which we were saved? We were saved from our sin and death, and we were saved to walk in the newness of Christ. That means we walk in the manner to which we have been called. And that manner is one that earnestly desires the gifts, exercises them, and submits it all to Christ. Let’s be found faithful in this. Let’s be obedient, and in doing so, I have no doubt that the Lord will bless us through it.