May 26, 2024
1 Corinthians 14:26-33
“Order in the Court Church”
Service Overview: God is a god of order, and it makes sense that a god of order would want his worship to be orderly. As things in Corinth were in chaos, Paul’s prescription for getting them back on track was to encourage them to get their worship in order.
Memory Verse for the Week:
“For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” 1 Corinthians 14:33a (NIV)
Background Insights:
- Paul’s comment tells us something of the way the early church worshiped. In the first-century church, worship appears to have been spontaneous, but orderly. They didn’t have a completed Bible, but they had competent and gifted preachers and teachers, apostles and prophets. As the Spirit swept through the church, He gifted each person to contribute something for the common good: psalms, lessons, revelations, interpreted tongues—a variety of gifts given for the good of the whole body. (Charles R. Swindoll, Insights on 1 & 2 Corinthians, 211)
- (vv. 27-28) Paul does not mean that the prayer in tongues is spoken in a natural language (such as Aramaic) that someone else in the assembly can translate; these tongues are, after all, “the tongues of angels” (13:1). Rather, the “interpretation” is also a supernatural gift of the Spirit. If there is no one present who has this gift, the tongues-speakers are to be silent. (Richard B. Hays, First Corinthians, 241)
- The Corinthian church was having special problems with disorder in their public meetings (1 Cor. 11:17–23). The reason is not difficult to determine: They were using their spiritual gifts to please themselves and not to help their brethren. The key word was not edification, but exhibition. (Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Wise, 155)
- Tongues can be edifying to everyone, if a few simple rules are followed. First, if anyone in the congregation has the gift and can speak in a tongue, then only two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time. In other words, not everyone with the gift of tongues should speak at every service—only two or three should speak. That Paul should have to say that they should speak “one at a time” seems to be a corrective—apparently they were not doing so. Not only were the Corinthians overemphasizing this gift, but they were allowing it to dominate their church gatherings. (Grant R. Osborne, 1 & 2 Corinthians, 207)
- The prideful Corinthian enthusiasts are acting as though they alone have received revelations so powerful as to override standards of community discipline in worship. With withering sarcasm, Paul replies in effect, “Oh really? That’s funny: in all the other churches of the saints, it seems that God is a God of order and peace. Or perhaps you are the only ones who really have heard the word of God?” (Richard B. Hays, First Corinthians, 244)
Why is Paul so “obsessed” with order when it comes to the church?
- Because order reflects God’s character.
(v.33 | Gen. 1-2; Prov. 16:9; 20:24; Isaiah 45:18; Jer. 29:11; 1 Cor. 14:40; Romans 13:1)
To contradict God’s own character in worship does not honor him. When everyone in the Christian assembly is truly in tune with the Holy Spirit, there will not be disorder, but harmony and “peace” that pleases God and encourages his people. (Grant R. Osborne, 1 & 2 Corinthians, 209)
Unlike any other gift listed in any other New Testament book, these two gifts, tongues and prophecy, are to be highly regulated. Why? Verse 33 says it all: “since God is not a God of disorder but of peace.” There was confusion in the Corinthian church. The worship services were chaotic. Praise had been replaced by pandemonium. (Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in 1 Corinthians, 271)
- Because God’s intent for the church is to reflect His character and bring order to that which is chaotic.
(v.33 | Gen. 1; Acts 2:42; Rom. 12:4-5; Eph. 4:11-13; Col. 2:5; 1 Tim. 3:14-15; Titus 1:5)
The character of one’s deity is reflected in the character of one’s worship. (Gordon Fee, First Corinthians, 697)
In Paul’s vision for Christian worship there is neither stiff formality nor undisciplined frenzy: the community’s worship is more like a complex but graceful dance, or a beautiful anthem sung in counterpoint. If some at Corinth were claiming that spiritual inspiration moved them to uncontrollable displays of pneumatic enthusiasm, Paul flatly contests the claim, for “the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets” (v. 32). (Richard B. Hays, First Corinthians, 243)
One of the ministries of the Spirit is to bring order out of chaos (Gen. 1). Confusion comes from Satan, not from God (James 3:13–18). When the Spirit is leading, the participants are able to minister “one by one” so that the total impact of God’s message may be received by the church. (Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Wise, 157)
- Because without order there is neither unity or edification.
(v. 26 | Rom. 14:19; 1 Cor. 12:12-14; Eph. 4:1-3; Phil. 2:2-4; 1 Thessalonians 5:11-13)
Spiritual gifts were intended by God to bring harmony not disharmony, to bring unity not disunity, to be a rallying point not a dividing line. So what was Paul’s solution? There Must Be Control of the Gift (14:28,33-40) (Daniel L. Akin, Exalting Jesus in 1 Corinthians, 271)
Paul’s concern here, as elsewhere throughout chapter 14, is that all things in this Spirit-led assembly should be done for building up the community (v. 26). (Richard B. Hays, First Corinthians, 241)
Conclusion… How can Jesus’ followers apply the principles of this text to their lives today?
A. By striving to reflect God’s character in both our personal and collective lives.
(Mat. 5:14-16; John 13:34-35; Romans 14:19; Galatians 6:10; 1 Peter 2:9; 1 Peter 4:10-11)
The law orders; grace supplies the power of acting. (Augustine)
We are to order our lives by the light of His law, not our guesses about His plan. (J.I. Packer, Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God, 96)
We must not allow our emotions to hold sway over our minds. Rather, we must seek to let the truth of God rule our minds. Our emotions must become subservient to the truth. (Jerry Bridges, Trusting God, 140)
Revelation comes from God for the purpose of helping man to live in harmony with God’s will, whereas religion is man’s attempt to order his path and to explain the world around him. The godly in every age live in accordance with revelation (William VanGemeren, Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Psalms, 54)
There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we can be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship, and a gentle receptiveness to divine breathings. (Thomas Kelly, Testament of Devotion, 35)
B. By seeking to be people who bring godly order in a world of chaos.
(Mat. 5:14-16; 28:19-20; Eph. 2:10; 2:19-22; Col. 3:23-24; James 3:17-18; 1 Peter 2:12)
Though God created the world, like us it has suffered the destructive causes of the Fall. As He cares about the restoration of mankind, so He is glorified when His orderliness, beauty and symmetry are restored to the world. (John Hannah, To God be the Glory, 44)
Scripture, because of its absolute clarity, brings understanding where there is ignorance, order where there is confusion, and light where there is spiritual and moral darkness. It stands in stark contrast to the muddled musings of unredeemed men, who themselves are blind and unable to discern truth or live righteously. God’s Word clearly reveals the blessed, hopeful truth they can never see. (John MacArthur, Our Sufficiency in Christ, 84)
I believe that one major reason that the church of Jesus Christ in the United States is very close to being in sheer chaos today is because so many people think themselves as individuals rather than as part of the body of Christ. Christianity is not “every man for himself;” it’s every man together for Christ. (Wayne Mack, To Be or Not To Be a Church Member, 58)
Gospel Connection…
Jesus came to restore order to that which was broken, by saving us from that which destroys and disorders our lives.
(Is. 53:5; Luke 19:10; John 3:16-17; 10:10; Rom. 5:8-10; 8:20-21; 2 Cor. 5:17-19; Eph. 2:14-16; Col. 1:19-20; 1 John 3:8)
[Discipleship] is not merely another commitment which we add to the long list of our other commitments, but it is the commitment – demanding a reordering of our lives from the bottom up (Robert C. Tannehill, The Sword of His Mouth, 159)
Christ died not in order to make God love us, but because He did love His people. Calvary is the supreme demonstration of Divine love. Whenever you are tempted to doubt the love of God, Christian reader, go back to Calvary. (A.W. Pink, The Attributes of God, 81)
Spiritual Challenge Questions…
Reflect on these questions in your time with the Lord this week, or discuss with a Christian family member or Life Group.
- How does Paul define speaking in tongues and prophecy? What is their purpose? Why is prophecy the more desirable gift?
- What is the relationship between God’s Word and spiritual gifts? What will happen when you use spiritual gifts without any relationship to God’s Word?
- What are the consequences of someone failing to use their spiritual gifts in the church?
- In what ways do you see God’s order in the world? How about in the church?
- In what tangible ways can God’s people today bring godly order to the world around us?
Quotes to note…
Repentance is a costly call to fundamentally say no to who you are (in your sin) in order to find an entirely new identity in who He is. (David Platt, Counter Culture, 177)
There is observable order or design in the world that cannot be attributed to the object itself; this observable order argues for an intelligent being who established this order; this being is God (The Teleological Argument, proponents- Aquinas).
Worship is not just an emotional exercise but a response of the heart built on truth about God. “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth” (Psm. 145:18). Worship that is not based on God’s Word is but an emotional encounter with oneself. (Erwin Lutzer, Pastor to Pastor, 81)
The principle “that every effect must have a cause is a self-evident truth, not only for those who have been trained in logic, but for thinking people everywhere.” Cause and effect, “which is universally accepted and followed in every field of science, relates every phenomenon as an effect to a cause. No effect is ever quantitatively ‘great’ nor qualitatively ‘superior’ to its cause. An effect can be lower than its cause but never higher.” In stark contrast, the competing theory of evolution attempts to make effects such as organized complexity, life, and personality greater than their causes-disorder, nonlife, and impersonal forces. As has been well said, “design requires a designer, and that is precisely what is lacking in non-theistic [materialistic] evolution.” (Hank Hanegraaff, Resurrection, 105)
There is a difference between going to a service “for the worship” and going to a service “to worship the Lord.” The distinction appears to be a minor one, but it may imply the difference between the worship of God and the worship of music! (Sinclair Ferguson, A Heart for God, 110)
To some measure even unbelievers benefit from God’s grace. Theologians call that “common grace” because it is common to all mankind. Common grace is God’s continual care for all creation, providing for His creatures’ needs. Through common grace God restrains humanity from utter debauchery and maintains order and some sense of beauty, morality, and goodness in society’s consciousness. (John MacArthur, Our Sufficiency in Christ, 243)
Divine beauty is absolute, unqualified, and independent. All created reality, precisely because it is derivative of the Creator, is beautiful in a secondary sense and only to the degree that it reflects the excellencies of God and fulfills the purpose for which He has made it. Perfect order, harmony, magnitude, integrity, proportion, symmetry, and brilliance are found in God alone. There is in the personality and activity of God neither clash of color nor offensive sound. He is in every conceivable respect morally exquisite, spiritually sublime, and aesthetically elegant. (Sam Storms, One Thing, 53)