And then the Apostle Paul says... Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. - 1 Corinthians 14:39
Forbid not... In otherwords don't disallow it.
1 CORINTHIANS—NOTE ON 14:39 do not forbid . . . tongues. Legitimate
languages were limited in purpose and in duration, but as long as this gift was
still active in the early church, it was not to be hindered. But prophecy was the
most desirable gift to be exercised because of its ability to edify, exhort, and
comfort with the truth (v. 3).
Mac
Order (14:26–40)
Two statements in this section go together: “Let all
things be done unto edifying” (1 Cor. 14:26), and,
“Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Cor.
14:40). When a building is constructed, there must be
a plan, or everything will be in chaos. I know of a
church that had terrible problems building their parsonage, until someone discovered that the lumberyard
had a different set of plans from that of the contractor.
It was no wonder that the materials shipped to the site
did not fit into the building!
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. If you think that
your contribution to the service is more important
than your brother’s contribution, then you will
either be impatient until he finishes, or you will
interrupt him. Add to this problem the difficulties
caused by the “liberated women” in the assembly,
and you can understand why the church experienced
carnal confusion.
First Corinthians 14:26 gives us a cameo picture of
worship in the early church. Each member was invited
to participate as the Lord directed. One would want to
sing a psalm (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). Another would be
led to share a doctrine. Someone might have a revelation that would be given in a tongue and then
interpreted.
Apart from some kind of God-given order,
there could never be edification.
Note that the tongues speakers were the ones causing the most trouble, so Paul addressed himself to them
and gave several instructions for the church to obey in
their public meetings.
First, speaking and interpreting, along with judging
(evaluating the message) must be done in an orderly
manner (1 Cor. 14:27–33). There must not be more
than three speakers at any one meeting, and each message must be interpreted and evaluated in order. If no
interpreter was present, then the tongues speaker must
keep silent. Paul’s admonitions to the Thessalonian
congregation would apply here:
“Quench not the
Spirit. Despise not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold
fast that which is good” (1 Thess. 5:19–21).
Why were the messages evaluated? To determine
whether the speaker had truly communicated the Word
of God through the Holy Spirit. It was possible for a
speaker, under the control of his own emotions, to
imagine that God was speaking to him and through
him. It was even possible for Satan to counterfeit a
prophetic message (see 2 Cor. 11:13–14). The listeners
would test the message, then, by Old Testament
Scriptures, apostolic tradition, and the personal guidance of the Spirit (“discerning of spirits,” 1 Cor.
12:10).
If while a person is speaking, God gives a revelation to another person, the speaker must be silent
while the new revelation is shared. If God is in charge,
there can be no competition or contradiction in the
messages. If, however, the various speakers are “manufacturing” their messages, there will be confusion
and contradiction.
When the Holy Spirit is in charge, the various ministers will have self-control; for self-control is one fruit
of the Spirit (Gal. 5:23). I once shared a Bible conference with a speaker who had “poor terminal facilities.”
He often went fifteen to twenty minutes past his deadline, which meant, of course, that I had to condense
my messages at the last minute. He excused himself to
me by saying, “You know, when the Holy Spirit takes
over, you can’t worry about clocks!” My reply was to
quote 1 Corinthians 14:32: “And the spirits of the
prophets are subject to the prophets.”
Our own self-control is one of the evidences that
the Spirit is indeed at work in the meeting. 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.
How do we apply this instruction to the church
today since we do not have New Testament prophets,
but we do have the completed Scripture? For one
thing, we must use the Word of God to test every message that we hear, asking the Spirit to guide us. There
are false teachers in the world and we must beware (2
Peter 2; 1 John 4:1–6). But even true teachers and
preachers do not know everything and sometimes
make mistakes (1 Cor. 13:9, 12; James 3:1). Each listener must evaluate the message and apply it to his own
heart.
Our public meetings today are more formal than
those of the early church, so it is not likely that we need
to worry about the order of the service. But in our
more informal meetings, we need to consider one
another and maintain order. I recall being in a testimony meeting where a woman took forty minutes
telling a boring experience and, as a result, destroyed
the spirit of the meeting.
Evangelist D. L. Moody was leading a service and
asked a man to pray. Taking advantage of his opportunity, the man prayed on and on. Sensing that the
prayer was killing the meeting instead of blessing it,
Moody spoke up and said, “While our brother finishes
his prayer, let us sing a hymn!” Those who are in charge
1 Corinthians 14
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E.The Resurrection—15
of public meetings need to have discernment—and
courage.
Second, the women in the meeting were not to
speak (1 Cor. 14:34–35). Paul had already permitted
the women to pray and prophesy (1 Cor. 11:5), so this
instruction must apply to the immediate context of
evaluating the prophetic messages. It would appear that
the major responsibility for doctrinal purity in the early
church rested on the shoulders of the men, the elders
in particular (1 Tim. 2:11–12).
Wiersbe
And not a word on any outreach ministry @rockytopva or did that part slip your mind? Matt 25 comes to mind immediately!
I can shout in glossalia all I want but that is not indicative I am a Christian, sealed with the Holy Spirit and neglecting the Imperatives to the poor and needy in my community-yes?
