Before we look at chapter 14, it is important to briefly consider chapters 12 and 13. These chapters are tied together like fine linen. Chapter 12 lets us know that we need each other. There are no Lone Rangers in the kingdom of God, in the sense that we all need the help of the other members of the body. “The eye can not say to the hand, I have no need of thee." God isn’t going to gift one man to have everything the church needs. The Holy Spirit distributes the gifts as He sees fit. God has chosen to edify the body of Christ in this way. This is His system. The Apostle Paul applies this to everyone, which includes himself. Even the Apostle Paul didn’t have everything the body of Christ needed. (Notice that Sosthenes helped write this Epistle.) Are we more spiritual than Paul?
The application is that we need to receive from others. Our pride has a hard time receiving reproof, for example, from others. But we need humility, so that we will take the help God offers us through others.
Chapter 13 helps us out with our attitude. It’s an interjection in the midst of talking about the gifts, to bring out the proper focus on love. All the gifts are worthless (as far as our own personal profit) if we don’t have love. If we aren’t seeking the best for others, than we need to stop and get our attitude right. The gifts are given to help others; not to show off.
Chapter 14 starts off making a distinction between tongues and prophesy. Prophesy literally means to “speak forth". It may or may not refer to future events. While the Prophets did sometimes speak of future events, much more of what they said dealt with the condition of men’s hearts. In this context, prophesy is speaking truth that can be understood by others. Verse 3 tells us it is speaking “edification, and exhortation, and comfort."
We believe this word is chosen as a contrast to tongues, because tongues can’t be understood (unless they are interpreted). How can you edify another unless you speak in a way that they can understand? God wants us to speak forth “edification, and exhortation, and comfort." When we come together, God wants us to be edified.
Verses 23 through 25 tell us that if someone comes into the service who is unlearned or an unbeliever, he can best be ministered unto when everyone “speaks forth" (prophesies).
Paul takes the foundational information he has already given, and now he lays out the application so we can be a doer of the principles talked about. In our vernacular Paul is saying “okay here’s the bottom line of how this all ought to look when you gather together."
Right after saying the best way to edify another is by everyone “speaking forth", as the Spirit leads, verse 26 says “How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying." This describes what we call an open service. God is gifting and using the different members as He sees fit. This does not describe a typical church service where men decide beforehand who will speak and when they will speak. The typical service quenches the Spirit by not allowing the Spirit to operate the way He told us He wants too.
In verses 27-31, notice the contrast between tongues and prophesy. Tongues may be spoken by 2, or at the most by 3; and that only with interpretation. Prophesy, plural, is commanded to be spoken. The Greek further brings out what we see in the English: it is imperative, that is, it is commanded that 2 or 3 prophesy. If this is not happening in our service, than we are not obeying a clear command. God does not tell us to do something that he does not enable us to do. He equips us for what he calls us to do.
Tongues has limitations placed on it, yet it can be profitable if the understanding is given. Prophesy (speaking forth clearly as the Holy Spirit leads) must happen by at least a few people, and is encouraged for everyone (26, 31).
Notice that there is no indication of just one man speaking the sermon here. Besides saying that people (plural) must speak, it even encourages interruptions / interjections (as the Spirit leads). When something is revealed to another, the person who was speaking should yield to them. As we judge what is being said, we have seen God use this interruption / interjection in a number of way. Often God wants to reinforce and strengthen what was being shared. Someone may share an example from their life which helps bring the passage alive. Someone may ask a question, or they may help give balance, and when necessary, even correct the person sharing.
It is important that truth is established during the service. We are told to let the others judge what is being said, and that people can get involved in the conversation. When error is spoken in a typical church service, the people are not helped out to see the error. It is not good enough to go talk to the pastor afterwards, because that doesn’t help all the other people who just walked away being taught error. Plus sometimes it takes everyone working together to correct error, and to give the most balanced doctrine. God doesn’t want people coming together to be built up, and then walk away with error. God gifts people with insights and our traditions make His gift of none effect. That’s not loving people. No man in the Body of Christ should be placed on a pedestal where his words are above discussion.
The next few verses tell us to expect the gifts to be used in control. I can hold my seat when you stop me. God’s way will not lead to confusion. His way is the best way to be edified. People twist this verse so badly, that they say doing the service this way (according to God’s commandments in this passage) will lead to confusion. The verse is saying we can do it God’s way without confusion.
Verses 34 and 35 are very controversial. What is hard to understand, though, is why they are so controversial. Hardly can we find more clear teaching than this. God doesn’t want women speaking during the service.
Women are so very important to God. He really values them. In this world we think that it’s more important to have a leadership role. That’s what Jesus is referring to in Mark 10: 43-45, where He says: “Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."
All of us have to be servants unto God. Serving is big stuff in God’s kingdom. A lot of godly women will have huge rewards in heaven because they joyfully performed their role. In God’s kingdom, it doesn’t matter what our role is. All that matters is that we obey God. Whether we speak for God or whether we listen and receive, we receive the same reward (Mt 10:41,42).
Often times men would rather let their wife do most of the talking. How many so called Christian homes are there where the woman is the spiritual head? A lot. Probably most so called Christian homes are that way. But God says men need to step out and take the lead. In the church service, this means they are the ones who should speak. And women need to let them do that. They need to be silent. Both sexes need to trust God that He knows best, and fulfill their individual roles. A 1 Cor. 14 type of service will not allow a man to sit like a bump on a log (pew).
People give all kinds of excuses to not follow these verses. “It was just for them back then." That excuse is nothing more than picking and choosing what you want to obey from God’s word. We might as well say that the whole idea of the blood sacrifice of Jesus was just for people back then that believed in blood sacrifices: not so!
1 Timothy starts off telling us not to give heed to fables. One popular fable is that women sat on one side and men on the other; and that the women were disorderly. This is purely speculation. There is nothing to indicate the NT church split up families so that men were isolated from women. They didn’t meet in a big church building with pews, where people were separated by sexes. They typically met in homes.
If Paul was saying that this was the exception just for Corinth, he did a lousy job. And God is not a lousy communicator. When He talked about not eating foods offered to idols, he said very clearly that it was because of special circumstances. But here it's just the opposite. He doesn’t limit it to culture, or to a special problem with the Corinthian women. He says for women to keep silence in the churches (plural), because it is a shame for a woman to speak in church. Why do we need to add to this? Why can’t we just obey this clear command? If God wanted to say this didn’t apply to us, he would have said it.
If someone’s house was being broken into, it would be a shame for the man to place the woman in front of him and hide behind her. God made man to be the loving leader in the church as well as the home.
I sometimes ask people what God would have to say for them to know these verses in 1 Cor. 14 (about how a church service should be run) are absolutes? How could we know that we can’t ignore or change the way we do the service? People always tell me “God would have to say these verses are commandments."
Then I turn and read Verses 36 and 37 to drive the point even further. Are we somehow above the word of God? No! If we claim to be spiritual we must acknowledge that these are the commandments of the Lord. The bottom line of Romans 8 is that if we are not spiritual, we are lost. We are commanded to acknowledge that these are the commandments of the Lord.
People sometimes say that we don’t have any right to stop a woman from speaking in the service when the Holy Spirit is telling her to speak. But the Holy Spirit will never contradict his word. Let God be true and every man a liar. We are commanded to judge righteously what is spoken in the service. Who’s side will we be on: God’s or man’s? Who is wiser? Who cares about everyone’s best with sure knowledge?
Verse 39 tells us not to forbid tongues. None of us speak in tongues (although we firmly believe we have the Holy Spirit). We don’t know for sure what tongues are. But we aren’t going to forbid them, as long as they are done decently and in order as prescribed earlier in the chapter.
But God specifically says to covet prophecy in verse 39. By God’s grace we covet prophecy. Typically all of the men have something to share, as the Spirit leads. As we give financially to support God’s Kingdom work being done, we also believe in giving something spiritual to edify the service. This requires diligence during the week to have something valuable to offer. It may be a teaching. It may be a song, a burden, or a prayer. It might even be a confession. I’m thankful to participate in a biblical church service, and in seeing the Lord bless us through it.
Christians should come together who had walked with the Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ, and want to share what He has done for them and taught them that week, in order to encourage everyone present to continue to follow Him. Is this not what the NT church service pictured?