Not a God of Disorder But of Peace
First Letter to Corinthians • Sermon • Submitted
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HOOK
HOOK
DISORDER
Vietnam War vet Costner must deal with a war of a different sort between his son and their friends, and a rival group of children. He also must deal with his own personal and employment problems that have resulted from his Vietnam experiences.
Stephen [Kevin Costner— The War— 1994—Universal Studios] tells his son that ever since coming back from the war, he is struggling with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Let’s give a moment of silence and pray for our veterans
Disorder is present where God is not!— Disorder in the Government (corruption), at work (corporate politics), in schools (critical race theory), in families (feud) and even in the Lord’s church sometimes there is “disorder”
Even in us— we sometimes have disorderly behaviors, eating disorder, sleeping disorder (anxiety)
But the God that we worship is not the God of disorder— He is the God peace and order
The church in Corinth is one of the most disorderly church of that generation— from division over teachers, sexual immorality, lawsuit among them, mis-guidance about marriage and singleness, abuse of their freedom, beliefs on food sacrificed to idols, wearing of head coverings, abuse of the Lord’s supper.
Paul addressed these issues in his first letter to them— spiritual gifts and love are mainly his offered solutions to attain unity in the Body of Christ
In the midst of Paul’s teaching about spiritual gifts, it is very striking that he paused on the subject matter to insert the definition of love— he dealt with yet another cause of disunity and disorder— and this time, it is about one of the spiritual gifts that caused disorder— the gift of tongues [heavenly language, angelic language— a prayer language between a believer and God]
Gift of tongues is the act speaking in a language that is either incomprehensible— it may suggest that neither the speaker nor anyone else may understand it
Paul takes up another problem that was causing confusion in the church, the misuse of one of the gifts— the gift of tongues
Speaking in tongues caused disorder in the church in Corinth— The presence of the false use of tongues is a problem in our churches today as it was when Paul addressed it in this chapter. To correct these abuses, he attempts to focus this section on the importance of the gift of prophecy
Spiritual gifts are beneficial only when they are properly used to help everyone in the church— We should not exercise them only to make ourselves feel good
Paul makes several points about speaking in tongues
1. It is a spiritual gift from God
2. it is a desirable gift even though it isn’t a requirement of faith
3. it is less important than prophecy
let’s see how Paul dealt with this
BOOK | LOOK
BOOK | LOOK
Look at how Paul wrote his opener on this subject matter
1 Corinthians 14:1 (NIV)
1 Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy.
FOLLOW THE WAY OF LOVE AND EAGERLY DESIRE GIFTS
Love and spiritual gifts is what keeps the church unified and orderly
1 Corinthians 14:4 (NIV)
4 Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church.
Edification refers to the spiritual development of the individual and the congregation— Paul promotes prophecy over tongues
Prophecy may involve predicting future events but it’s main purpose is communicate gods message to people providing
1. Insight
2. Warning
3. correction
4. encouragement
1 Corinthians 14:9 (NIV)
9 So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air.
YOU WILL JUST BE SPEAKING INTO THE AIR
No gift was of any value if it could not be understood by those listening
It is useless in the church service. If nobody can understand what is being said, the church is not being edified
Worse, it might scare off unbelievers, driving them more deeply into unbelief
If musical instruments must play each note in order for the music to be clear so Paul says words preach in the heroes language are more clear and helpful. There are many languages in the world and people who speak different languages can really understand each other. It is the same as speaking in tongues.
Paul said, try your best to excel in those spiritual gifts that build up the church
Paul thanked God that he can speak in tongues more than all of them— but he’d rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue
And them Paul quoted
Isaiah 28:11–12 (NIV)
11 Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people, 12 to whom he said, “This is the resting place, let the weary rest”; and, “This is the place of repose”— but they would not listen.
Tongues, then are a sign for unbelievers, and prophecy is for believers
If the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues— will the unbelievers not say that we are out of our mind?
Notice our Bulletins— it says, “Order of Service”— Everything done in the worship services must be beneficial to the worshipers— This principle touches every aspect — singing, preaching
Contributing to the service must have love as their chief motivation— speaking useful words or participating in a way that will strengthen the faith of other believers
And worship everything must be done in harmony and with order— Even when the gifts of the Holy Spirit are being exercised there is no excuse for disorder — When there is chaos the church is not allowing God to work among believers as he would like
What then is the Good Order of Worship?
1 Corinthians 14:26 (NIV)
26 What then shall we say, brothers and sisters? When you come together, each of you has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. Everything must be done so that the church may be built up.
Coming together [Koinonia— Home Church]
Hymn
Word of Instruction [Sermon]
Revelation [disclosure of divine secrets, heavenly information]
A tongue [if there is interpreter]
1 Corinthians 14:28 (NIV)
28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.
IF THERE IS NOT INTERPRETER, THE SPEAKER SHOULD KEEP QUIET
Paul was so clear and straightforward when he said that if there’s no one to interpret— those who speaks in tongue should keep quiet during the worship service— and speak to him or herself and to God
Why Do We Regulate Speaking in Tongues During Worship?
It is for personal edification, not for the whole church [v.4]
It is for personal edification, not for the whole church [v. 4 & 12]
It confuses unbelievers in the service [v. 23]
Ideally, it is not meant to be used in the worship service [v. 19-20]
But on the same token Paul said..
1 Corinthians 14:39 (NIV)
39 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues.
DO NOT FORBID SPEAKING IN TONGUES
There is a proper place for the intellect and Christianity
In worship everything must be done in harmony and with order
There is one other thing that is doctrinally important— pay attention to what Paul said about women in the church
1 Corinthians 14:34 (NIV)
34 Women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the law says.
Does this mean that women should not speak in church services today?
It is clear from 11:5 that women prayed and prophesied in public worship.
1 Corinthians 11:5 (NIV)
5 But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved.
It’s also clear in chapters 12 through 14 that women are given spiritual gifts and our courage to exercise him in the body of Christ— Women have much to contribute and can participate and worship services.
In this case, Paul’s prohibition may apply specifically to women who were speaking in tongues or uttering prophesies in an inappropriate manner— [if you remember, Southern Baptist’s doctrine not allowing female preachers is what kept us independent/non denominational]
Here he may be addressing women who were disrupting worship services with questions and thereby challenging the authority of their husbands.
Ultimately, Paul’s goal in the passage is to reestablish order in worship, not to demean the honor of women or devalue their worship of God.
1 Corinthians 14:40 (NIV)
40 But everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.
EVERYTHING SHOULD BE DONE IN A FITTING AND ORDERLY WAY
Why?— Because…
1 Corinthians 14:33 (NIV)
33 For God is not a God of disorder but of peace—as in all the congregations of the Lord’s people.
Because our God is not a God of disorder but of peace
When Paul told the church in Rome of his plan to visit them, he said…
Romans 15:33 (NIV)
33 The God of peace be with you all. Amen.
HOW?
TOOK
TOOK
FOLLOW THE WAY OF LOVE AND EAGERLY DESIRE GIFTS
1 Corinthians 16:14 (NIV)
14 Do everything in love.
Question: What are your motivations in using your spiritual gifts?
TRY TO EXCEL ON SPIRITUAL GIFTS THAT BUILD UP THE CHURCH
Romans 14:19 (NIV)
19 Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
Question: What are your spiritual gifts? How are you using them to help build up the Church? Does your exercise of your spiritual gifts leads you to peace?
SPEAK IN TONGUES IN WORSHIP SERVICES IF THERE’S AN INTERPRETER
1 Corinthians 14:28 (NIV)
28 If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and to God.
Question: Do you have the gift of tongues? When you speak in tongues, do people get scared, specially unbelievers?