Decently and In Order
Holy Spirit Power, Holy Spirit Purpose • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 55:14
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Text: 1 Corinthians 14:26-40
1 Corinthians 14:26–40 (ESV)
What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret.
But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent.
For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
As in all the churches of the saints, 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.
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.
Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? 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. So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But all things should be done decently and in order.
Paul summarizes, adds a little to, and encapsulates all that we’ve been seeing throughout this series. So today, if you take nothing else home with you, please understand this:
Thesis: The Holy Spirit’s Purpose is to Empower the Church to Draw People to Christ.
Intro: We know this is the Holy Spirit’s purpose - to point us to Christ.
Jesus said:
John 16:14 (ESV)
He will glorify me...
The Holy Spirit drives us and conforms us to Christ, that’s what we’ll see happen in all of us, as His power and purpose drives us to Jesus.
The Spirit is who convicts us of sin, who prompts us to prayer, who makes us better versions of ourselves as He makes us more like Jesus Christ.
From that point, we are then used by Him to draw people to Jesus.
When I wrapped up writing this sermon manuscript, I almost was a little sad. Not that I’m not looking forward to Easter, or getting back to the Gospel of Mark, I am!
But I want to dive more into the Holy Spirit.
I want to see more of the Holy Spirit in the church. I want to see His move in lives - some of the conversations I have had since we started this series has been so encouraging.
I truly believe the Holy Spirit is empowering this church and preparing us to use us for a new season, drawing people to Jesus. I really do.
So today, as we wrap this up we’ll look once more at the Spirit’s Purpose, as well as the Spirit’s Peace, and the Spirit’s process within the church.
We look once again as Paul emphasizes the Spirit’s purpose...
The Spirit’s Purpose
The Spirit’s Purpose
What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.
You may notice what this is, you may not, but what Paul just gave the church is an order of service in a sense.
You sing, there’s a time for teaching and revelation, a time for the Spirit to move.
He mentions hymns, and we see instruction on that elsewhere when he gives the Ephesians a similar instruction:
Ephesians 5:18–21 (ESV)
And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
In our text, Paul also mentions a lesson, because the church is to be dedicated to the apostle’s teachings, similar to how they were in the book of Acts
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
Teaching is core to the church, it’s the one thing people don’t often appreciate enough.
We love the songs, and the performance of music, we want an experience at the altar call, but the teaching in between, we tend to bypass that because we want - if we’re honest - we want to be entertained.
Paul warned Timothy about this very thing:
2 Timothy 4:3–4 (ESV)
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers
to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
We all can easily slip into this, no one is immune. Weak sermons that are high on emotion but low on Scripture, high on passion low on preaching the Gospel - they’re intoxicating.
This is why Paul stresses the fact that teaching is vital to the church. He said to the Romans
But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
Good, sound teaching that is repetitive, that is educating the people, growing them, that’s something the Holy Spirit uses.
It is a harsh judgment of God to have no teaching in the land, but it is even harsher judgment we bring upon ourselves when we reject it.
Hosea 4:6 (ESV)
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
I’ll move on..
Because Paul goes on, here in verse 26 of 1 Corinthians 14, and he mentions “a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation”, and that is allowing time for the Spirit to move, but it has to be done a certain way, he says.
Let all things be done for building up.
“Building up” is only one word in the Greek, the word is “oikodomen” (οἰκοδομὴν), and it means construction or strengthening.
Again, we’ve seen this made clear throughout this series, one of the core purposes of the Spirit, how He accomplishes His task, is how he builds up the church in unity.
The same word, Paul uses in Romans 14:19
So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding.
and again in Romans 15:2
Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.
but he also uses it in 1 Corinthians, back in chapter 3
For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
If they are God’s building, well how is He building them? With His Holy Spirit.
How does the Holy Spirit do this? By energizing the people within the church, empowering them towards love and good works that unify the body, and grows the church.
Paul goes on...
If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret.
When members speak in tongues, Paul gives instruction for how that should take place. They’re not to speak all at once, but in turn.
The Greek word meros (μέρος) is used, meaning “in their part”, in fact that’s how it most often gets translated. In fact, it’s only here that the word is translated “turn”.
The King James translates it “by course”, and the idea seems to be that if the message in tongues is taking place, that one person may be given a message, and there may even be a second message in tongues relating to the first, with one interpretation.
But we rarely ever see such a thing take place. At the most, 3 people give a part, or take a turn, in the message of tongues, then let one interpret.
We know interpretation is a gift of the Spirit as well, listed in the gifts from chapter 12 (v. 10).
What this tells us, clearly, is that not everyone is able to interpret their own tongues.
Now, Paul did say
Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray that he may interpret.
but that doesn’t mean everyone will always interpret their own messages.
It’s not necessarily wrong for the person to interpret their own message in tongues, but Paul is suggesting there should be time given for someone else to operate in their gift of interpretation.
Paul is also, in fact, stressing the diversity related to gift distribution here. He’s distinguishing between members with the gift of tongues and those who have a gift of interpretation.
Similar to how the gift of discernment is distinguished from the gift of prophecy - which again, Paul made clear in his list in chapter 12, but he also does this in 1 Corinthians 12:30
Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret?
Clearly they’re different gifts allotted to different individuals.
But Paul goes on with his instructions on the gift of tongues:
But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.
Does this mean that if someone who has a clear gift of interpretation, if they go on vacation or skip service, and you have the gift of tongues you should just be quiet that Sunday they’re gone?
No.
God may enable someone else to interpret, someone else may discover they have a gift for such a thing that didn’t use or utilize it before. You may interpret your own message.
But if there is no interpretation at all, then we disregard it and don’t try again today. Instead, just pray quietly and privately.
Perhaps such a person was meant to keep their prayer a private prayer, in their own private prayer language.
And we’re not perfect, we’re not always going to get it right.
That’s why we show grace to one another, why we confront one another in love, as Paul makes clear the motivation of the church and the gifts back in verse 1 of this chapter.
First and foremost, he says
1 Corinthians 14:1 (ESV)
Pursue love...
So if someone gives a message in tongues, and there’s no interpretation, we love that person, we move on. They do it again, each week for a couple of weeks, still no interpretation, hey, let’s have a talk about private prayer.
It’s not easy conversation, sure, but loving someone means loving them enough to have the hard conversations, too.
It means being willing to discern what has happened and address it as needed.
That’s why Paul goes on and says
Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said.
Now, when Paul uses the term prophets here, he’s likely just referring to those who operate in that gifting, not those who operate in the office of Prophet like we see with Elijah, Isaiah, or John the Baptist.
In fact, the fact Paul never mentions prophets in his last epistles - the ones written to Timothy and Titus, it’s likely that office had ceased to function even in the apostle’s time.
But, here we see Paul speaking of those who operate in the prophetic as their gifting, and he says, similarly to how he addressed tongues, 2 or 3 should speak, then everyone else weighs what’s said.
The rest, especially those with discernment, are determining the validity of what has been said.
Having more than one person who weighs the prophecy is vital, by the way. Because their words should be tested by more than one person, to safeguard against false prophecies.
Even if their gift is considered higher (Which Paul seems to hint at in verse 1), that doesn’t mean all they say will always be right. We should never take a person’s word for it when it comes to prophecy.
But weigh it.
If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent.
One commentator stated:
The one who first prophesies is to be silent if another one sitting down starts to prophecy. Such conduct avoids the confusing scenario of multiple speakers prophesying at the same time as well as prevents the long-winded prophet from taking up too much time. It also assumes that the prophecy is spontaneous; they are prompted by the Spirit to speak.
We saw last week a scenario Paul gave when he wrote:
If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds?
Then he says “but if all are prophesying, and an unbeliever comes in, he’ll be convicted by what’s said” (v. 24, paraphrased) but the message still has to be heard.
It has to be understandable.
Because the Holy Spirit’s Purpose is to empower the church to draw people to Christ, not scare them away or make it so our faith seems incomprehensible.
and next we see...
The Spirit’s Peace
The Spirit’s Peace
For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.
Now Paul says “you can all prophesy”, but he doesn’t mean “you will all prophesy”, even though he “wants all to have the gift of prophecy”.
Again, verse 1, Paul said...
Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy.
Because prophecy - whether it is as an interpreted tongue, whether it is a word of knowledge or wisdom, or a clear prophetic utterance - it is so that all learn and are encouraged.
And ultimately drawn to Jesus!
Revelation 19:10b (ESV)
For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
And verse 32, a lot of people brush by this verse but it makes something abundantly clear to us:
Not only were the prophets to judge others with discernment, they were also to have control over themselves.
God does not desire out-of-spirit or out-of-mind experiences. Those who received and spoke in the Spirit of truth did so with a clear mind.
There was not to be anything bizarre, ecstatic, trance-like, or crazy about have received a prophetic utterance, or the preaching of God’s word, or the service of the church.
We may see it with demonic experiences, but we are not to see that within the church.
Paul has said as much back in verses 14-15,
For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unfruitful. What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.
The human spirit is the primary conduit for God’s Spirit to communicate the inspired message.
So it makes sense that prophets would need to be able to control themselves, and be silent when another person is speaking by the Spirit, also.
There is an Old Testament principle at work here.
When Ahab, in 1 Kings 22, calls together all the prophets, and King Jehosaphat is with him,
Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.”
But that still doesn’t convince Jehosaphat, he wants another prophet. Something seems off - all these guys are going on and on, and Jehosaphat isn’t okay with it.
So, against his wishes, Ahab calls in this other prophet, a man named Micaiah, who tells him, “Look, the other prophets are lying, they are deceived by another spirit. It’s going to end in your death.”
And what follows? Chaos. Another prophet punches Micaiah in the face, rebukes him.
The only one showing any discernment is Jehosaphat, but Micaiah says, at the end:
And Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, the Lord has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Hear, all you peoples!”
When he says that, “Hear, all you peoples!” He’s saying, “discern which one of us truly heard from the Lord!” and of course, Ahab died from the battle.
The Holy Spirit, when we are called upon to prophecy, will not be defrauded. He won’t be manipulated. But the person might be.
So it is vital that what is said is weighed, discerned, and if the person prophesying is unsure, keep silent. Weigh it out.
If it is a chaotic experience, or - as it sometimes becomes - a competitive experience (like we see with Micaiah and the other 400 prophets in Ahab’s throne room), it’s best to keep quiet.
As Paul goes on...
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
As in all the churches of the saints,
Hear me on this. It is NEVER a good thing for someone to leave a church service asking, “What was that all about?”
Never.
There is not to be confusion, but peace. If the message was presented properly, if the Spirit worked as He does, when we leave the church building, we should rejoice, strengthened in Christ.
Not questioning what just happened.
For God is not a God of confusion.
That word Paul uses for “confusion” is akatastasias (ἀκαταστασίας), and it typically means “instability, commotion, rebellion,” but primarily “Instability and disorder”.
Paul uses it later in 2 Corinthians 12:20
For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.
James uses the same word in his epistle
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
In the Septuagint it appears in Proverbs 26:28 but is often translated “ruin”
A lying tongue hates its victims,
and a flattering mouth works ruin.
This has no place in the church!
There’s no place at all for such a thing. God does not cause confusion within His people, but in His enemies, and when we see confusion in the church, it’s not a place of rejoicing but a time for repenting.
Now, that little tag “as in all the churches of the saints”, most translations have it fitting to begin the next passage concerning women speaking in the church.
But truthfully, it would go better in the sentence structure and context with the preceding statement - when Paul uses similar phrases, he typically does it to conclude a thought, not start a new one.
We see him do this, for example, in 1 Corinthians 4:17
That is why I sent you Timothy, my beloved and faithful child in the Lord, to remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach them everywhere in every church.
Or in 1 Corinthians 7:17
Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.
But it wouldn’t be a good sermon series without a little controversy, right? So let’s dive in to the next thing...
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. 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.
This is not, and I want to be clear as crystal here, this is not talking about woman preachers.
Paul is not addressing woman pastors here, he’s talking about the order of the service.
What’s interesting, and what fewer people seem to get hung up on, is the fact that Paul had made a caveat for women to prophesy back in chapter 11. He wrote
but every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven.
So wives can pray or prophesy, but they can’t be permitted to speak? That doesn’t seem to make sense. Let’s hash that out a little.
There are various arguments to be made here, but as I always say, context is key.
When a woman prays or prophesies, she’s likely doing it with her husband’s permission, or at a time when it is acceptable to pray and prophesy during the service.
What Paul is referring to here, and I believe a common sense approach to verse 35 makes clear, is that the women were speaking out of turn.
The word Paul chooses to use here for “speak” is lalein (λαλεῖν), which means to talk or chat.
So Paul follows it with verse 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.
So here’s what’s happening - what we can gather from the context - is that in the Corinthian churches, when they would gather to worship, the women desired to learn.
What does one do when they want to know something? They ask questions!
illustration - women in the early church, embarrassing husbands
So the women were likely asking questions during the sermon, during the teaching, when they should be silent and listening.
Their husbands, who - in this society and time would have been more educated - would be better fitted to explain things to their wives when they were home.
If the husband didn’t have answers, then he’d go back and talk to the pastor, or a deacon, or leader in the church and try to get an answer for his wife and, by that time, for himself as well.
Some scholars think that it may have been so bad, to the point during a sermon the speaker was almost being cross-examined by the women of the church while he was trying to teach.
So Paul is forbidding women from speaking uninspired things while others are preaching, teaching, prophesying, etc.
If their speech is inspired, like a prophesy, or tongue, and at the right time, then it shouldn’t be hindered or stopped.
In other words, the gifts don’t discriminate by gender, but everything should be done so as not to cause confusion. Otherwise, it’s not the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit brings peace, as He empowers the church and draws us closer to Christ.
(now, if you still me to talk about “what about woman pastors” the Assemblies of God has a position paper on the topic, and I’d suggest reading that, or wait a few years for that sermon)
But the Spirit has a process as He works within the church… so we will conclude by observing it...
The Spirit’s Process
The Spirit’s Process
Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached?
Again we see Paul asking a rhetorical question. Obviously the Corinthians were not the only ones the word of God had reached or been spoken to.
This was meant to target the members of the church who had become arrogant in their Spiritual Gifts, and had disregarded Paul’s commands.
We know Paul’s apostleship was often under attack - and this letter didn’t even settle it enough for the Corinthians, nor did his in-person visit to them.
Later, in 2 Corinthians, he will lay it out for them, going through all he’d suffered for Christ (chapter 11).
It seems he often had to defend his apostleship, as he did with the Galatian churches, even ending his letter to them with
From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.
Of course, from the Corinthian epistles we know people did keep causing Paul trouble, in spite of his suffering.
So Paul is a little fed up with it here, he almost gets a little snarky, a little sarcastic. “Are you the only ones who have the word of God? Did it come from you?”
No. This response from Paul should have had a humbling effect on these Christians.
And to clarify that point, he goes on...
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.
Basically, what Paul is saying is, “If you think you have the Holy Spirit, confirm it by agreeing with the Holy Spirit here.”
There are a lot of people even today within the church who think they know better than Scripture itself, that they know better than the apostle Paul.
He warns the church of such people - he does it here, he’s done it earlier
If anyone imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know. But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.
If someone doesn’t acknowledge all the extra commands, they should have at least grasped the command to show love towards one another. If they don’t recognize that, then they’re not recognized by God.
Love is the key motivator for all we do - love for God and love for our neighbor.
If we love our neighbor to give them a sandwich when they’re hungry, but don’t love them enough to give them the Gospel, do we really love them?
They’re going to get hungry tomorrow, did you give them the Bread of Life? Did you give them the Good News of Jesus’ death and what it mean?
Paul would say that if you contradict that command, there’s something wrong with your Christianity.
But if a so called prophet’s words contradict an apostle’s writings, (let alone church history, Biblical tradition) shouldn’t that be enough to let us know that’s not a prophet from God?
Jesus makes this clear
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
They’ll say “Lord, Lord” because they think they’re close to Him, but their hearts are far from Him.
but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
If their message denies those whom Jesus sent, who wrote the Scriptures, then they are denying His apostles, His agents, and therefore denying Him.
But Paul goes on...
So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.
This is key. This is central to some of our core, doctrinal beliefs.
Desire to prophesy, do not forbid speaking in tongues.
Paul is emphasizing something he has said throughout this chapter. We should be active in the gifts of the Spirit, not forbidding them.
Prophecy is preferred, but but tongues are also permitted. Private praying in tongues should not be discouraged, either.
For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.
and
The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church.
and he repeats himself, to an extent, as he had previously said
Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.
Paul wants the church to build up the church, powered by the Holy Spirit.
But - and I want to be clear - the gifts are not to be forbidden. Our cessationist friends are wrong for that. They should not be forbidden, they should happen, as Paul concludes:
But all things should be done decently and in order.
The reason so many people do not believe in the gifts is because they’ve seen the gifts abused, faked, used improperly, inappropriately, or for completely inexcusable purposes.
Spiritual Abuse is a very real thing, where people will try to use Scripture, or the gifts of the Spirit to manipulate other people.
This has happened throughout church history - from the Catholics to the Charismatics - and church, that can not happen.
As long as I am your pastor, I will do all I can to keep it from happening.
But we do not forbid the gifts, we want the gifts! We want them to equip us for outreach, to build up the church, empowering us to be that beacon of light, of hope for the world around us.
But if we abuse them, we do not deserve them.
All things - Paul said. All things should be done decently and in order.
This solidifies the church, unites us under a common banner, as we advance in the Spirit.
“For God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.”
This is how the Spirit’s process works, as He empowers us to reach outside our walls, grow together, and grow in Christ.
Conclusion:
I’m going to move to close this morning...
There really is so much more we could unpack from the text, we’ve likely just barely scratched the surface, but I hope it is a starting point for us.
Many of you have heard me say this for over 3 years - I want a move of the Holy Spirit, but I want the real. I want the truth.
I want the word of God preached, confirmed, and speaking to us today as the Spirit still speaks through it to us.
Anything less, any other move of God that does not fill us, speak to us, grow us in Christ, grow us together as a body - it’s not the Holy Spirit.
Someone told me, about this series, that they sat through a whole teaching on the gifts for some time, but listened to one sermon in this series and learned more in an hour than they had in that class.
As a preacher, that’s flattering. As a Pentecostal Pastor that is heartbreaking.
People are leaving the Pentecostal church in a flood. As I understand it we’ve lost Pastors, recently, to the Reformed Baptist movement who doesn’t believe in the gifts of the Spirit.
Why? Because they’ve not seen the gifts used correctly, and they’ve not had solid teaching or preaching on it.
We can’t have that. We just can’t. If you’re chasing a Holy Spirit experience without understanding it’s purpose - you’re more apt to take any spiritual experience.
I don’t want to settle for a spiritual thing, I want a Holy Spirit empowerment that will make me a better husband, a better father, a better man, a better witness for Christ, a better pastor…
Because as the Holy Spirit conforms us to Christ, that’s what we’ll see happen in all of us, as His power and purpose drives us to Jesus.
PRAY