Sermon Text:

This week we continue our series, “Growing in Grace”, working our way through 1 Corinthians, asking God to help us grow in grace. Having been united to Jesus through faith, we now want to grow in holiness. Not holiness through the performance of outward duties as if we can gain righteousness by our works, but through the transformation of our affections so that our obedience proceeds not from duty, but from love.

Last week, we saw that love compels us to be clear in our speaking. This week we will see that love compels us not only to being clear, but also to be organized in our worship gatherings. Paul’s main point in this passage is our worship should be orderly. That is the key point for the message this morning, our worship should be orderly.

Paul is going to address disruptions taking place in Corinth and give insight as to how worship should be organized. He is going to show that although we worship in the Spirit, it is not a free-for-all.

Often our instinct is to see any kind of restriction on worship as a negative thing. We tend to be cautious about restricting people’s expression of worship as if they are all equally good. We don’t want anyone telling us what to do so we hesitate to tell others what they should do. But this impulse to do it our way does not come from God; it comes from our sinful nature. God doesn’t leave us to our own imaginations regarding worship. In fact, God is very particular about how he should be worshipped. Before we dig into our passage, let’s think a bit about freedom in worship.

Humans were created in the image of God to live in a state of perfect worshipful fellowship with him. Then God told them to be fruitful and multiply. The world was to be filled with worshippers of God who experienced his continued presence with them.

But this perfect fellowship did not last. The first man and women rejected and disobeyed God. They did not have to struggle against sin to worship, they only had one regulation, they were not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You know the story, rather than obey, they tried to become their own god and disobeyed. Their pursuit of freedom brought slavery to sin, divine judgment, and death.

The relationship had changed. Sin separated humanity from God, and he could no longer be approached as a friend. That sin fundamentally changes how we approach God is a framework for understanding the entire scripture. In the garden, there was only one way to disrupt our relationship with God, but after the fall, there would only be one way to have one. That way is faith in Jesus.

Faithlessness destroyed the freedom of worship and faith alone can restore it. The first sin of humanity was to try and become wise and godlike in our own way. The result was that God will not be found and true wisdom is hidden unless we humble ourselves and give up our ways.

If we seek him through effort or wisdom, we will never find him. We must seek him through faith and weakness. We must come on his terms and is otherwise beyond our reach.

We see that with Cain and Abel. Abel was faithful and offered an acceptable sacrifice, but Cain’s didn’t. Therefore, Cain’s worship is not accepted. Rather than repent, Cain murders his brother and is cursed. We see it when God brings the Hebrews out of Egypt. Moses goes up the mountain and rather than wait, the people decide to worship God their way and make a golden calf.

Aaron, who carved the idol tries to hedge his bets, Exodus 32:5 says,

⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.”

That word translated LORD is the holy covenant name of God. Aaron tries to combine the worship of false Gods with that of the true God. This leads to judgment upon the people.

When Moses finally does come down, the first command he has received, “You shall have no other gods before me”, is a command to worship. The second,

⁸ You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. ⁹ You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me…[1]

Regulates how worship is to be done. It involves more than just avoiding idols. It requires that nothing from the imagination of sinful man pollute worship. We must come on God’s terms.

 We see many other examples. In Numbers 16 a man named Korah gathers a crowd saying all the people of God are holy and may do things their own way, rejecting the authority of Moses. God causes the ground to open and swallow them up. The entire system of the temple, the sacrifices, and the Levitical priesthood contained countless rules regulating how sinful people approached God in worship. The consequences for ignoring them could be severe.

In Leviticus 10 we read about two priests named Nadab and Abihu who decided to approach God their own way.

10 Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. ² And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.

We are sinful people and the only way for us to approach a Holy God is he makes away. We must come on God’s terms. It should never be a casual thing to worship. It must be done with reverence. One of the big problems in our churches today is we do not understand holiness and therefore we have no reverence. God has become too familiar in our thinking.

Think of it like this, much of our lives are powered by electricity. It is all around us and we use it regularly, but you would not walk casually up to a downed power line. People who work on high voltage lines must appropriately respect that power. Those who know its power are never casual about it. Friends, God is far more powerful than what is running through those lines.

The old covenant was marked by constant reminders of the separation of sinners from God. It was filled with reminders of the unbridgeable gap between God and us. Then, in the fullness of time, God does something remarkable. The all-powerful God came in the likeness of our sinful flesh. He humbled himself to make a way for sinners to be brought back into fellowship with God.

Jesus came and lived a perfect life. He is the only human in all of history who was truly righteous. He came from God, to bring us to God. We had wandered, but he alone knew the way. Every one of us has followed in the footsteps of Adam and Eve. Our hearts are jealous like Cain, idolatrous like Aaron, rebellious like Korah, and disobedient like Nadab and Abihu.

We are all guilty and each of us will be called to give an account before God. What will we say? None of us will be able to point to anything in us worth saving. But in an amazing act of love and mercy, God made a way. He invites us to come by grace through faith.

Jesus was crucified on a cross, paying the price for the sin of all those who put their faith in him. He died as the substitute for all who believe. He paid it all. We must come on God’s terms and God’s terms are that we stop trying to earn what we can never deserve and instead glorify him by trusting him to provide righteousness for us in Jesus. He is sufficient.

Matthew 27:51 tells us that when Jesus died the curtain that separated the most holy place of God’s presence from the people was torn from top to bottom. The way to God has been opened to all sinners who will believe and repent.

Jesus says in John 14:6,

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

The Old Testament prophets longed to see the glory of God but didn’t but Hebrews 1 tells us that Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God. John 1:14 says,

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. …

And verse 18 says,

¹⁸ No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.

Through Jesus, we come to know God and see his glory. In Him, we receive the Holy Spirit which lives in us and works to make us more like him so we can bear the image of God, knowing one day we will be raised with him, no longer falling short, but bearing the image in glory. In Jesus, we are no longer under the Law and free to worship in the Spirit.

That brings us back to Corinth. They were eager to use their freedom and their spiritual gifts. Paul, however, wants them to understand that worship is still regulated. It is no longer regulated by the Law, but by truth and love.

Our gathered worship should reflect the gospel. That means that everything should be done for the building up of others. The result is that instruction and encouragement are more important than individual expressions. Whether it is Sunday morning or a community group, or a prayer group, we should seek to instruct and encourage each other with truth and love.

Paul addresses three specific sources of disorder in Corinth and establishes principals to guide all Christian worship.

If you have your Bible, please turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 14 beginning at verse 26. If you are using the blue Bible we provide, it is on page 1198. If you do not own a Bible or have need of one, please take that one as our gift to you.

First, its easy to see what Paul’s main point is because the beginning, middle, and end of the passage are bracketed by parallel statements. In verse 26 he says “let all things be done for building up.” In verse 31 he says his instruction is so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and then he finishes in verse 40 saying “all things should be done decently and in order”.

Clearly, Paul’s concern is that when we worship, we do not think only about our own relationship with God, but how we can bless our brothers and sisters and help them grow as well. He begins in verse 26,

²⁶ 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.

The first thing you think of when you hear the phrase, “when you come together” is probably Sunday morning, but our church also comes together in community groups, prayer meetings, Bible studies, and other fellowship events.

We are not called to be spectators, but participants in the life of the church. There should be opportunities for everyone to be involved but what was happening in Corinth is that everyone was just doing their own thing when they were together. They were talking over each other, chattering away in unknown languages, debating, interrupting, singing, and praying all at the same time. It must have sounded more like a marketplace than a worship service.

The problem wasn’t with what people were doing, it was that there was no organization. Because it was completely disorganized, people were not able to benefit from each other. Disorder makes the gathering unproductive. Paul, therefore, says, Let all things be done for building up.

He then addresses three big sources of disorder and tells them what they need to do. First, he deals with tongues, then with prophecy, and then with disruptive women. Verse 27,

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.

We have already seen that questions around tongues were an issue in Corinth. So, it isn’t any surprise that Paul’s first regulation is that tongue speaking should not be a significant emphasis in the service. He says if it is done it should be limited. Only those that are interpreted should be shared and only two or three. When the tongues are interpreted, they function the same as prophecy. Paul gives them freedom so long as it is intelligible and not overemphasized.

If there is nobody to interpret, Paul says, let each of them keep silent. Interpreted tongues may add something to others but contrary to several modern day practices, uninterpreted tongues should not be happening in church.

Earlier in the chapter, Paul told the Corinthians to desire the gift of prophecy, but he expects that also to be done in an orderly way. He says,

 ²⁹ Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 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,

Like tongues, he limits this to only two or three. Notice also that the rest of the congregation is not passive, they are to weigh what is said. People are to be evaluating what it taught. Also, one prophet is not to monopolize the entire time.

A healthy congregation should provide opportunities for everyone to participate in some way. We have several ways to serve here and it is our desire to see folks sharing in community groups, prayer groups, fellowship, the institute, and Sunday worship. There are opportunities for everyone and we want even more.

For example, I will be thrilled when we get to a point that we have rotation of people to both lead and serve in our various ministries. A couple others and I may lead in multiple areas now because we are still a small church, but I pray we soon reach a point where there are many groups, studies, and ministries that can rotate people so everyone can serve.

I know that some push back on an organized approach to ministry. Some have professionalized the ministry so that only the pastor or a small few can do anything. That isn’t what we see in the New Testament. My job is to equip you for your ministry.

Others push back in the other direction. They say we should just rely on the Spirit and not structure anything. They believe that planning and structure is unspiritual. Again, that isn’t what we see in the New Testament. Paul’s purpose in this chapter is to show why believers benefit from some organization. The Holy Spirit is not anti-order. Listen to what Paul says next because it is an important truth.

 ³² and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. ³³ For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

Empty rituals are of no use but our spirit’s being actively engaged does not mean that we must have chaos. The Spirit doesn’t work at some mystical level above our mind, but with it and the fruit of the Spirit is not confusion but peace. That is why Paul can say even to a prophet who is receiving revelation, if it is someone else’s time to speak, be quiet.

Where there is confusion, it is not from God. God speaks clearly to all the ultimate questions. He speaks clearly about what is true, what is real, what is right, who he is and who we are. Confusion about these things comes from sin. Listen to what James says in James 3:16,

¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.

Confusion does not come from God. I find no biblical support whatsoever for holy laughter, people acting like animals, being slain in the Spirit, or many other so-called spiritual experiences people claim are evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Holy Spirit is to transform believers as whole people rather than taking possession of their body in a way that makes the mind inactive or unproductive.

Paul gave very similar commands about both tongues and prophecy and he will now address the issue of disruptive women causing confusion and chaos. I suspect this passage will raise more questions for some of you than the other two. He says,

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.

Paul has already addressed two other situations where he has commanded people to hold their tongues because their speech was disruptive. Here he is dealing with a third situation that was similar. There is a lot of debate about what these women were doing, but what is clear is it was disrupting the worship gatherings. Paul uses similar language in other places related to women exercising authority inappropriately. It is likely in Corinth these women were giving instruction or maybe engaging in debate that raised issues related to authority and submission.

We know that Paul’s command that women should remain silent is not absolute because back in chapter 11 Paul says that women can pray, sing, and prophesy in church so long as they do it appropriately and respectfully in how they present themselves. Women were also called to teach, and disciple other women in various ways. This command to keep silent then appears to be related certain types of speech when in church.

Paul commanded those speaking tongues and prophecy to remain silent out of a concern for order and this is a similar situation. Some have argued that Paul’s instruction only applies to the local situation but that is not convincing as all three commands are binding instructions rooted in general truths. His reference to the Law is a reference to the order of creation, which is not a situational concern. It has to do with God’s distinct purposes for men and women. Therefore, he 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.

Paul’s intention here is not to diminish the role of women. He is not preventing women from learning. We know Paul worked closely and respected many women, such as Priscilla and Phoebe. Jesus complements Mary when she sits down to learn from him despite her sisters’ concerns.

He isn’t addressing all speech, he is dealing with an issue where some women were being disruptive, interrupting in a way that was dishonoring and rejected godly authority. Imagine if my wife Beth started to shout out questions and debating with me as I was preaching? Even in our culture that would be disruptive to the service and dishonoring to me as her husband. If several women were doing this, you can imagine how disruptive it could be.

For those of you men who are married, this is a reminder that you have responsibility as the spiritual head of your household. You will give an account for your wife and children as one of the shepherds God has appointed for them. And for you married women, encourage your husbands to be growing in the word and respect his efforts in this as it will benefit not only him, but your whole family. Let everything be done for the building up of each other.

The believers in Corinth had received the Spirit and that congregation had every gift. Remember also, this was all new. They didn’t have the completed New Testament. They didn’t have the benefit of 2,000 years of church teaching and reflection.

The issue of what getting together as a born-again community looked like was a very open question. Many in Corinth apparently believed that to be free in Christ meant no order was necessary at all. They would just be led by the Spirit.

Paul, however, pointed out that to discard order was inconsistent with what the Bible teaches about who God is. It would put a wedge between the work of the Spirit in this new age to the God who reveals himself through order in both creation and revelation. Paul also warns them about innovating in their approach to worship. He says,

³⁶ Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? ³⁷ 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. ³⁸ If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized.

These are not just Paul’s opinions. They are not just issues of local importance to Corinth where they can do whatever they want. These are commands from the Lord. No spiritual person will reject commands from the Lord. They are free in many details, but their worship must still be regulated by a love for each other and a desire to see each other growing in Christ. He says,

 ³⁹ So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. ⁴⁰ But all things should be done decently and in order.

Paul finishes his discussion essentially where he started. We have freedom to organize worship and use our gifts in all sorts of ways so long as we are motivated by a desire to see God glorified and others grow.

I would like to finish this morning by just observing that there is a growing number of people, and I am sure you know some, who claim to be believers in Jesus but who are not interested in being part of a congregation. They say they love Jesus but aren’t into “organized” religion. We need to pray for these folks because the God of the Bible is not a God of disorganized religion.

The people of God are a gift and a tool that God uses to form and fashion us to be more like Jesus. We cannot grow properly without coming together to learn and be encouraged. A mark of true faith is a growing desire for the word and the fellowship of other believers. A growing recognition that we need other Christians is part of maturing as a believer in Jesus.

Over the next several weeks, I would like each of us to pray for opportunities to reach out to people we know who claim to love Jesus but who are not part of church family where they can grow.

The Bible has a lot to say about this but I want to help you think through how it fits together and so we have a resource for you on the back table and at the table downstairs as you leave. It is a book called Rediscover Church: Why the Body of Christ is Essential. If you know a professed believer who claims to love Jesus but doesn’t love the church take one of these, read it, and then give it to them. You have to read it first so you can offer to discuss it with them and then invite them to come, learn, and be encouraged.

[1] Deuteronomy 5:8–9 (ESV)