Sermon Tone Analysis

*1 Corinthians 14:29-30…* And let two or three prophets speak, and let the others pass judgment.

30 But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, let the first keep silent.

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*Commentary*

            In the same way that tongues-speakers were to speak one at a time, using their gift to proclaim God’s mighty deeds (v.

27), so too were the prophets who proclaimed God’s Word through new revelations.

There were two ways in which the NT prophets prophesied.

First, some were able to receive new revelation from God.

Second, others were simply reiterating what the apostles had taught (this is the function of pastors~/teachers today).

In v. 29 there were to be no more than three prophets who had the floor, as it were, and they were to speak in turn (v.

30).

Not only this, but the words they spoke were to be evaluated (“judged”) by those they spoke to.

Now those that “judged” might have been the congregation as a whole (since all of them prophesied in v. 24), but they were likely those who had the spiritual gift of discernment – that special gift that grants the ability to distinguish between true and false spirits.

The “others” in this context then, would be anyone who understood the prior teaching of the apostles who saw the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.

If a prophecy uttered by a prophet in the congregation did not line up with apostolic teaching then it was to be discarded.

This was what the Apostle John taught in 1 John 4:1… “test the spirits to see if they are from God.”

Now since v. 24 supposes that /all/ are prophesying in the church, this passage cannot actually be limiting the prophetic utterances to only two or three prophets.

Rather, the issue concerns the judgment of those hearing the prophecy.

In other words, all who were gathered could prophesy in the corporate gathering of believers; they just had to do so in turn.

But v. 29 seems to limit the prophetic speaking to “two or three” so as to keep order and to maintain the ability of those listening to evaluate the prophecies accordingly.

What he was protecting against was a disorderly worship service where pagan and godless prophecies might enter in and go unnoticed amongst all the mayhem.

Paul went to great lengths to make sure that all prophecies were orthodox and edifying.

The tongues-speaking, without an interpreter, that no one understood was worthless in the worship gathering, and the prophecies spoken were potentially detrimental unless they were “judged” by the others present.

Verse 30 says that if, while one man is speaking God’s Word, another man receives a new revelation from God, the first man must cease from speaking.

Possibly while one prophet was speaking God would reveal more of Himself to another prophet in that company.

The new revelation took precedence over the old.

It must not be overlooked here that this was an apostolic time period when God was revealing His Word to the apostles and prophets, and these two offices ceased following the completion of the NT.

Any new revelations today violate the biblical mandate not to add or subtract from God’s Word (cf.

Rev. 22:18-19).

*Food for Thought*

A scary trend in churches today is biblical illiteracy – when a large number of people don’t know enough about what the Bible teaches to evaluate the preacher’s words to determine if those words are orthodox.

Hence, our churches are full of watered-down nothingness and heresy.

One of the ways heresy is introduced is through “new revelations” in the modern day.

Anything that would be added to the Bible through the so-called “new revelations” that many believe they receive would in fact add to or subtract from God’s written and completed work as found in the Bible.

Jesus forbids that in Rev. 22:18-19.

His words to John in Revelation were God’s final word of revelation to mankind.

The Bible is sufficient for all preaching without new revelations.

*1 Corinthians 14:31-33a… *For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted; 32 and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; 33a for God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

*Commentary*

            All Christians were able and were commissioned to tell about God’s mighty works through prophecy in the first century church, but they were to do so “one at a time.”

The gift of prophecy was exclusive to a few, but the /commission/ of a prophet was given to all – to declare God’s glory.

The reason for this is in v. 31: “So that all may learn and all may be exhorted.”

The word for “learn” means “to direct one’s mind to something so as to gain an external effect.”

That’s what prophecy is for – to learn so as to edify the body of Christ.

The second reason is for “exhortation.”

This word can also be translated as “encourage,” but not in the sense of “to comfort” in this context.

It rather refers to a “push to obey.”

So when one man prophesies about God’s mighty works and what He has commanded for His children to do, one learns from hearing the message of the prophet, then he is pushed to obey God’s Word.

It’s the twofold nature of teaching.

First, we share the knowledge of what God has said; second, we exhort them  to obey.

Obedience without knowledge only brings skepticism as to why we do anything.

But knowledge without action condemns us for knowing the truth but rejecting our responsibility.

When God is truly present and being worshipped in spirit and truth in any church there will be no competition or contradiction among those who preach His Word.

In the first century Corinthian church Paul commanded this among the prophets.

When he says in v. 32, “And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets” what he is saying is this: “Now the prophets are responsible for their behavior and to be led by the Spirit.”

In other words, because “God is not a God of confusion but of peace” prophets and their spiritual gifts are NEVER to be controlled by their gifts but to control those gifts.

Paul wanted to put an end to the out-of-mind slain-in-the-spirit mentality of the prophets.

When the Spirit leads the way His prophets are in control of themselves.

After all, one of the fruits of the Spirit is in fact “self-control” (Gal.

5:23).

*Food for Thought*

Those preachers who say things like, “When the Holy Spirit takes over, you can’t worry about clocks!” so as to justify their long-windedness, they are prophets who are not in control of themselves.

The self-control, or lack thereof, by God’s messengers is one of the tell-tale signs on whether or not the Holy Spirit is at work in the worship gathering of believers.

The Holy Spirit has always brought order to chaos, even as far back as Genesis 1:2.

It is the devil himself who is the author of confusion and disorderly conduct.

As one man has commented, “Chaos and discord in a church meeting is certain proof that the Spirit of God is not in control.”

Now since the 21st century church does not receive new revelation from God, the messages of all prophets must be pitted against the teachings of the NT – the Word of God.

Every message from the pulpit that is preached must be in line with what the apostles and prophets of the first century taught.

Beware!

For there are many false prophets today that are sent by the devil to deceive Christians.

The Spirit is to be sought for guidance, and the spirits behind all prophets are to be tested (2 Peter 2; 1 John 4:1–6).

Even true prophets make mistakes in their interpretations through their own biases, and it is the task of every believer to judge them carefully.

Of course this means that God’s children must know the message of the apostles and prophets as found in the Bible.

Far too many preachers today get away with heterodoxy because their parishioners can’t tell the difference between orthodox Bible teaching and rank heresy.

*Introduction to Women and the Bible…*

            The issue of women and the Bible is a controversial topic of discussion among Christians.

The NT was written during a time when women were little more than third-class citizens.

In the U.S., thankfully, this is no longer the case, but equal rights for women and equality in general are still very pertinent issues among women today when compared to their male counterparts.

So when the Bible, God’s timeless and inspired Word to mankind, espouses a view that strikes a nerve among His children, teaches a doctrine contrary to the accepted norm of the day, Christians are forced to deal with the problem.

How should they handle teachings that seem to reflect a first-century culture that held women in very low regard?

The issue seems hopeless to many who have their minds closed to the clear teachings of the Bible and open only to progressive theology where God is supposed to change with the times.

But the issue isn’t nearly as volatile as it may seem.

First, women are never once in the Bible labeled as lower than men.

They are a compliment to men, for the woman was originally created to be the man’s “helpmate” in Gen. 2. God made woman for man.

Clearly man was (and is) not complete without the woman by his side (who was taken out of his side).

The problem came about when the woman fell to the temptation of the serpent in Genesis 3.

She succumbed to his logic to disobey God, and then she led her husband into the sin.

That changed everything, for it brought about the fall of every human being who would ever live.

Following that terrible event a curse fell upon the earth and its inhabitants.

God placed a curse upon the woman that not only gave all authority to her husband (a mandate that already existed), but gave her the desire to have his authority.

So, though the man was given authority over the woman in everything, the woman’s curse was that she would want his authority.

Throughout the OT the women did traditionally submit to their husbands – certainly those of the godly line (Sarah, Leah, Ruth, Hannah, etc.).

The fact that there was actually a woman who was a judge in Israel (Deborah) can only be viewed in a negative light, for she ruled over God’s people during the most wicked of times – the times when “Everyone did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 18:1; 21:25).

Far too often Deborah is used as an example for women ruling over men.

She ruled because the men were spineless as jellyfish, and she is an example of what happens to a society when women are given authority over men.

Isaiah prophesied: “O My people!

Their oppressors are children, and women rule over them.

O My people!

Those who guide you lead you astray, and confuse the direction of your paths.”

In the NT the Gospel writer Luke depicts Jesus as showing the utmost compassion and respect for women.

And why wouldn’t he? Jesus created women, and he loves them as much as he loves men.

They are different from men, not inferior to them.

Now they have differing roles within the sexes, but their roles compliment each other, not contradict each other.