When You Come Together

I Corinthians 14:26-40

Good morning and welcome!  It is a blessing to be together as a body of believers.  God has been gracious to us in so many ways that it is difficult to properly understand and express gratitude for all He’s done for us.

I am thankful to God for you His saints, His holy ones.  I am thankful for the opportunity to gather together.  We have the means to gather.  We have safety when gathered.  We have a place to gather.  We have abundantly more than we can ask or imagine.  Sometimes, I wonder what the saints of the first century church would think if they could see us now.  The chairs you sit on are comfortable.  Just the fact that you have chairs at all is a luxury even today.  Our stomachs are filled.  If there is anyone here who didn’t eat breakfast, it was because you chose not to, not because you didn’t have something to eat.  We have musical instruments and musicians to play them.  We have more Bibles here than there are people.  Everyone here can read.  Everyone can hear and see.  I fail to be properly grateful most of the time.  May we make time to be thankful each day.  Let’s give thanks now as we come together …

Lord, we are thankful for a place to meet.  God, we are grateful for the means to come together and worship You.  Above all, we are thankful for You, our Savior.  Our meeting together would have no meaning apart from You.  I pray that as we look into the passage for today that we would continually rejoice in what a gift it is to have Your Word and to have the chance to hear it and learn it and live it.  Give us understanding and power to carry out Your direction and leading.  We ask in Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

Over the last couple of weeks, we have delved into the topic of spiritual gifts in the first portion of I Corinthians 14.  Today, we are going to look at how these gifts should be exercised in the context of church meetings.  So, let’s go directly to I Corinthians 14:26 and pick up there …

What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.  I Corinthians 14:26

So in light of individual gifts, what should we say?  The New American Standard Version says, “What is the outcome then?”  How does the expression of gifts get carried out?

There is no special descriptor here of the kind or type of meeting.  It says simply whenever you come together.  This could be a meeting like this morning where a larger percentage of the church body is assembled.  It could be a small group meeting.  The principle here could be applied to simply two believers meeting together.

Everyone should be ready to share?  Has that ever been your thought when you came to meet?  “I’m going to see some believers.  I need to be ready to share.”  In the last few years, as I have been a pastor, I’ve thought more and more about readiness.

Would I be ready to stand up and preach at a moment’s notice?  If the strange situation came about where someone said, “Is there a preacher in the house?”  Would I be ready to jump up and start preaching?  To which I would say, “On some days I would be better than others.”

I think one takeaway from this verse is that we as believers should be prepared to share something with one another when we come together.  What is God teaching you?  What is God doing in your life?  What are you excited about in the Lord?  What song is on your heart?

Often, we “simply” pass along that which others share with us.  A friend of mine lost his mom somewhat suddenly two weeks ago.  Friday, he shared that he sang a song at the graveside.  When he told me the song, I wasn’t familiar with it, so he sang a verse.  I didn’t even know he could sing.  The song is “Be Still, My Soul.”  It goes like this …

Be still, my soul; the Lord is on thy side;

 Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain;

 Leave to thy God to order and provide;

 In every change He faithful will remain.

 Be still, my soul; thy best, thy heavenly, Friend

 Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end.

Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake

 To guide the future as He has the past.

 Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake;

 All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

 Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know

 His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.

Later that day, another friend had shared with me that he had to resign from his job due to requests which he could not in good faith carry out.  It was fairly tempting.  They offered him a higher place with more responsibility if he would do something perhaps not unethical, but certainly unloving.  He decided no.  Now, he’s in a place of uncertainty, looking for a job.

In this case, the hymn I shared with this brother was unknown to me at the beginning of the day.  God had given me something to share.

And so, I don’t want you to feel intimidated by this expectation.  I hope you are encouraged that God wants to use each one of us to bind up, strengthen, edify and encourage one another.  In other words, “This ain’t no one man show.”

If anyone speaks in a tongue, two—or at the most three—should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.  I Corinthians 14:27-28

I think Carl has done an admirable job over the last couple of weeks explaining this topic of tongues.  If you want to understand more fully, I encourage you to go to the church website, pull up the message archive, and read the transcripts or listen to the messages.

In short, we saw in last week’s passage that tongues are only suited for public meetings when there is an interpreter.  Otherwise, no one is edified or built up by hearing them.

Also, we see here a glimpse of what tongues can be like.  It appears as if they are like a private language between the speaker and God, hence the need for an interpreter.  This may seem to be different than what happened at Pentecost.  The people hearing the disciples could hear them in their own language, right?  You have at least two possibilities there.  One is that the disciples were speaking in the human languages they didn’t know.  This seems a bit unlikely due to the sheer numbers of languages represented, at least 15 according to Acts 2:7-11.  You don’t get the impression that speakers of different languages had to walk around and find a specific disciple speaking their specific language.  It was as if they could hear the disciples whatever language they were speaking as if they were hearing it in their own language.  It may be more accurate to say that all the hearers had the gift of interpretation.

Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder but of peace.  I Corinthians 14:29-33

The description in these verses is interesting compared to how we “do church” here.  Perhaps this better approximates a sharing time Sunday rather than a traditional service.  Generally, we have one message from one speaker.  Here Paul is giving a recommendation:  two or three should speak.

You all are sitting there listening.  I know from sitting where you sit, sometimes I am weighing carefully.  It is rare that someone would stop a speaker with a “revelation” though it can happen.  Sometimes, the speaker opens the floor a little bit for input and this can happen.  Occasionally, after a message before the announcements the person giving the announcements may speak into the message just given.

I wasn’t really thinking about this passage, but I was talking to Melissa about preparing for this message.  The next verses we’ll come to are challenging.  Carl was at a conference yesterday, so he let me know when he’d be available in case I wanted to go over the passage together.  It got me to thinking.  It’s a pretty amazing thing to think about.  Do you feel as if you are being “jerked” around as we go from speaker to speaker from week to week?  There are differences in style and perspectives, but the truth of God guides the message from week to week.

This is pretty significant, bordering on miraculous.  If you consider our backgrounds and how different they are, the fact that we can week in and week out teach the Scriptures in a contiguous manner is pretty significant.  If you knew how little we compare notes, you’d be flabbergasted.  I can only attribute it to God’s Spirit in His “prophets.”

As in all the congregations of the saints, women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says. If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home; for it is disgraceful for a woman to speak in the church.  I Corinthians 14:33-35

This is a “whammy” verse to our modern sensibilities, isn’t it?  Years ago, John was teaching and he mentioned that we’ve all experienced a moment when we come across something in the Word which we are not a fan of.  Then, we wonder and maybe even question God.  Why did you put that in the Bible?  Why does God allow Paul to write this, and why does it have to be this way?

We need to talk about the concept of submission and what it means, but first I think it is good for us to understand what is being said in context.  We’re talking about what happens when someone is prophesying and the people are in the process of weighing what has been said.  The emphasis here is on order in the congregation:  speak in turn, speak respectfully.

In the first century, the teaching would have been somewhat different for the hearer.  Today, we all have Bibles.  Back then, written copies of Scripture were not nearly so available.  If you disagreed with me, and you had a Biblical basis, today you could stop me and say a particular verse.  Then, we could dialogue on the two different angles believing and knowing that the Word of God cannot contradict itself.  In addition, you are able to look directly at the passage I’m talking about while I’m talking about it.

This was not so easily done two thousand years ago.  It may have been that there was a need to have much more discussion regarding what someone was saying.  If that were the case, Paul’s exhortation to speak in turn becomes all the more important.  Regardless, there is a need to put limits on the meeting such that truth can be communicated effectively.

In fact, the situation has changed today to become more restrictive than less restrictive.  When I am standing up here talking, none of you are likely to speak.  I often go home after giving a message wondering what you all took from it.  Did you weigh it and find it wanting?  I assume that as you keep coming and listening, it can’t be that bad.

As a general rule, it would be rare for anyone to interrupt me with a revelation.  Is that good or bad?  I don’t know, but we can get stressed about what the Bible says even when there is almost no intent to engage in such behavior.  I find that both funny and typical.

Last year, we studied through I Corinthians 11.  In those passages, the subject of head coverings was the topic.  In that passage the question was about women praying and prophesying in public.  The question was not whether or not it was allowed.  The question was whether or not it should be with or without head covering.  Carl shared on this last September, and you can go back and read or listen to that message if you have questions about that passage.

I only bring it up here to say that women praying and even prophesying in public is mentioned in the very same book we are reading now just three chapters earlier.  Therefore, Paul’s emphasis here must be connected to maintaining order rather than women ever being allowed to speak in church.  The focus here seems to be around making inquiry rather than simply sharing.

I realize that I haven’t made this transparent.  Unfortunately, I don’t think I am able to.  We want hard and fast rules, don’t we?  We want to know, is it this way or that way?  Under what conditions then should a woman be allowed to speak?

That I think brings us to the concept of submission.  The Bible promotes submission.  Again, this is a “not fun” topic in our modern age.  Our culture wants everyone to be the same, have the same opportunities, to not be restricted or limited in any way.

Biblically, there are passages which align with this manner of thinking:  Galatians 3:28 says that there neither male nor female with respect to God’s kingdom (all who were baptized into Christ are clothed with Christ and children of God); I Peter 3:7 explains that wives are heirs of God just as their husbands; and I Corinthians 11:11-12 describes the interdependence between man and woman.  Though Eve was formed out of Adam, woman out of man, everyone here was born of a woman. 

At the same time, we see verses like I Corinthians 11:3, “But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God,” as well as Ephesians 5:22, “Wives submit to your husbands.”

I’ve used Adam Ford’s comics as illustrations before.  Here’s another one taken which explores Ephesians 5:22: http://adam4d.com/wives-husbands/.

The attitude of the disrespectful husband is what we’re afraid of, right?  If we submit, then we will be dominated and taken advantage of.  Is that what God intended when Paul wrote these words?  Heaven forbid!

I thought the presentation of a Godly marriage relationship was spot on.  It’s not always easy to have a relationship where submission is practiced.  At the same time, it’s not always easy to love as Christ loved.

Whenever I look at these verses, I want to point also to Ephesians 5:21 which says, “Submit to one another out of reverence to Christ.”  We all have a requirement to submit.

Carl pointed out in an earlier message that when we are faced with this impossible task for both husbands and wives, the verses that come to mind are “Without faith it is impossible to please God” (Hebr. 11:6) and “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26).  We need God’s help day by day to even begin to do these things!

It is also helpful to keep in mind that “Subjection is not inferiority!”  Even Jesus is subject to the Father, and He chooses to honor that.

And, this attitude of submission is not only countercultural.  It is beautiful.  I Peter 3:1-5 talks about how beauty doesn’t come from clothes or hairstyles or jewelry.  Beauty comes from within and it is unfading.  Did you ever notice how many commercials there are for makeup?  There is more space for makeup in an average drugstore than there is space for over the counter medication.  Our culture is constantly trying to disguise the fade of youth, to postpone its appearance as long as possible.

But, there is an unfading beauty.  You’d think the culture would perk up at the opportunity to seize unfading beauty.  What is the unfading beauty?  It is that of a gentle and quiet spirit.  This is the way in which the holy women of the past who put their hope in God adorned themselves.

The real highlight of beauty, dwarfing any external beauty, is a gentle and quiet character and a submissive spirit.  And, there are many examples here among the women of this church.

Let’s go on to our last verses:

Did the word of God originate with you? Or are you the only people it has reached? If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord’s command. If he ignores this, he himself will be ignored.  I Corinthians 14:36-38

Paul is asking some rhetorical questions here.  Obviously, the Word of God did not originate with the Corinthians nor are they the only ones to have heard it.  The things which Paul shares here are not made up by Paul.  They are supported in many Scriptures as we see.  There is a need for order in Christ’s church above our own instant gratification.  The goal of our times together whether in this meeting format or other times together is to edify and build one another up.

The one who ignores the need for this would not be allowed to create disorder.

Therefore, my brothers, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.  I Corinthians 14:39-40

I think I’ve told this story before, but perhaps not from this stage.  A few years ago, we were at Melissa’s parents’ church.  They had a temporary pastor at that time.  It was kind of a two way trial.  He was deciding whether or not to come there, and they were deciding whether or not he was a good fit.  In the midst of this, I was evaluating.  Thinking what I would do or not do.  “Oh that was good.”  “Hmm, I wouldn’t have said it that way.”

Then, out of the blue, he says we’re going to take communion.  It was like, “Boom!”  I’m transported from my place of arrogant presumption to humility before the cross.  Next week, we will move on to chapter 15 and there we will find the good news of the resurrection of Jesus.  That’s what really puts things in perspective.

A friend of mine one time went to a funeral of an atheist friend’s father.  The funeral was held in the atheist’s grandmother’s church in rural Illinois.  My friend who is a believer remarked that he had wished that they were in a more modern venue thinking that this would somehow have been a more attractive presentation of the gospel.  I can appreciate what he meant about making good impressions, but I think that loving community spoke volumes more than a more modern looking building ever could.

You and I may at times look at the Word of God and say that we can’t understand why God wants things to be a certain way.  I think that feeling is not a wrong one.  There are going to be some things that we don’t fully understand as children aren’t able to fully understand things adults ask of them.

I recently heard a poem recited.  It was written by Jeremiah A. Denton near Easter in 1969 while he was a P.O.W. in Vietnam.  The subject of the poem is Mary, the mother of Jesus, reflecting at the foot of the cross.

Her face shows grief but not despair,

Her head, though bowed, has faith to spare,

For even now she could suppose

His thorns might somehow yield a rose.

Her life with Him was full of signs

That God writes straight with crooked lines.

Dark clouds can hide the rising sun,

And all seem lost, when all is won!

I don’t know how God does it, but somehow He is able to write straight with crooked lines.  He takes the weak and foolish things and then He is able to change the world.

As a family, we have been talking about the fruit of the Spirit.  This week, we were talking about gentleness, and Melissa shared these verses.

"Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out. In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his teaching the islands will put their hope." Isaiah 42:1-4

Think how much power it would require to bring justice to the nations?  There is no nation on the earth that can do it, no matter how powerful.  One nation cannot even bring justice to another nation, not fully.  That is great power.  And yet, his power is revealed in quietness and patience.

God’s great power is coupled with great meekness and gentleness.

There’s an old saying that I’m fond of.  It goes like this, “Pretty is as pretty does.”  The idea is that the beauty of something comes from its usefulness.  Something which looks pretty on the outside but can’t do anything doesn’t have any real value.

The Bible talks about Jesus as someone who was not pretty to look upon … 

 … He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces He was despised, and we held Him in low esteem. Isaiah 53:2-3

Paintings of Jesus make him look so perfect, but that’s not what the Bible said of his appearance.  In spite of people rejecting Him …

Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53:2-5

Times of quiet or submission are a small requirement in comparison to the sacrifice which Christ became for us.

“Faith is not the belief that God will do what you want. It is the belief that God will do what is right.”

― Max Lucado, He Still Moves Stones   

Let us submit to one another out of reverence for Christ living lives of peacefulness and quiet in all godliness and holiness. (I Timothy 2:2)

Let’s pray.

Lord Jesus, teach us to submit to one another in gentleness and love.  Help us to remember that you see all things.  Imprint Your Word in us that we are ready to share a word of encouragement and blessing each time we meet.  Make our gatherings places where lives are changed.  Bring those who don’t yet know You to faith.  Bind up the brokenhearted.  Energize us to run the race and not grow weary nor faint.  Fill our times with Your Spirit.  We pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen.