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Hold Your Tongue (Pt 2)
1 Corinthians 14:33b-40
February 24, 2019
Lord’s Day Worship
Sean Higgins
Download the bulletin.
Download the Kid’s Korner.
The sermon starts at 16:05 in the audio file.
Or, Ways That Worship Gets Out of Order
Who knew that being quiet in a church worship service could be so upbuilding to the body? Or at least it doesn’t get in the way of edification. This kind of quiet isn’t about keeping kids from making any noise, and it definitely isn’t an argument for some sort of monastic, silence-only Sunday meeting where no noise is allowed. This is about keeping the attention and focus where it belongs.
The Corinthians had a lot of problems; that’s well known. What was their worst problem? We could spend an all-day seminar attempting to answer that question. But we could probably say that all of their particular problems were rooted in the same general problem: lack of love. From chapter 12 through chapter 14—about being members of the body of Christ and about each member being spiritually gifted for the building up of the body and about some of the showy speaking gifts making church about personality and performance—this whole section of the letter centers on love, which the Corinthians were missing.
Likewise, when they divided over their favorite preacher (chapters 1-4), when they refused to deal with overt sexual immorality (chapter 5), when they were taking each other into the public court system (chapter 6), when they were puffed up with knowledge rather than concerned for the weaker brother (chapter 8), when they ate communion before others (chapter 11), these weeds grow from a loveless soil.
The lack of love also showed itself in a lack of order in their corporate worship. Some wanted to talk in tongues even though others couldn’t understand and therefore wouldn’t be edified (11:1-25). Paul said that’s crazy, and that others would think it was crazy. Paul also required that if tongues-talking was going to occur then there must be an interpreter and it must follow certain other rules (14:26-28). There were similar but more affirming instructions given for prophecy (14:29-32). God is not a God of confusion (14:33a), so the worship of God should not be a chaotic mess.
Tongues (with interpretation) and prophecy had a place in the worship of the Corinthian church, yet in verses 26-33a Paul instructed them that there was also a time for not talking, that holding one’s tongue could be an important application for the church. In the last paragraphs of chapter 14 Paul deals with two more ways that worship could get out of order, and these are things that never belong in worship.
What Never Belongs in Worship (verses 33b-40)
There are a couple issues left to cover related to orderly worship.
Order for Women (verses 33b-35)
The next couple verses are probably more inflammatory, in our modern church context for sure, than the verses about tongues, which is impressive, if you’re looking to start a fife. Verses 33b-35 are considered so inappropriate by some professing Christians that they’re sure that these verses must have been added by someone other than Paul. Some say there’s no way that these verses are inspired. These verses do not belong in this letter nor should they be considered as God’s Word. If they are part of God’s Word then it would be proof that God’s Word is an out of date and defunct book.
But when it comes to the Greek manuscripts, to the external evidence, there is no good textual argument that these verses weren’t original. Honest commentators reluctantly agree:
“We are bound to accept the unanimous testimony of the manuscripts, however deeply we may regret that Paul expressed this opinion.” (Ross, quoted in Thiselton)
When examining the internal evidence, that is, what’s in the passage itself, there are only good reasons to see these verses as closely connected to Paul’s instructions about corporate w[...]
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By Trinity Evangel Church1 Corinthians 14:33b-40
February 24, 2019
Lord’s Day Worship
Sean Higgins
Download the bulletin.
Download the Kid’s Korner.
The sermon starts at 16:05 in the audio file.
Or, Ways That Worship Gets Out of Order
Who knew that being quiet in a church worship service could be so upbuilding to the body? Or at least it doesn’t get in the way of edification. This kind of quiet isn’t about keeping kids from making any noise, and it definitely isn’t an argument for some sort of monastic, silence-only Sunday meeting where no noise is allowed. This is about keeping the attention and focus where it belongs.
The Corinthians had a lot of problems; that’s well known. What was their worst problem? We could spend an all-day seminar attempting to answer that question. But we could probably say that all of their particular problems were rooted in the same general problem: lack of love. From chapter 12 through chapter 14—about being members of the body of Christ and about each member being spiritually gifted for the building up of the body and about some of the showy speaking gifts making church about personality and performance—this whole section of the letter centers on love, which the Corinthians were missing.
Likewise, when they divided over their favorite preacher (chapters 1-4), when they refused to deal with overt sexual immorality (chapter 5), when they were taking each other into the public court system (chapter 6), when they were puffed up with knowledge rather than concerned for the weaker brother (chapter 8), when they ate communion before others (chapter 11), these weeds grow from a loveless soil.
The lack of love also showed itself in a lack of order in their corporate worship. Some wanted to talk in tongues even though others couldn’t understand and therefore wouldn’t be edified (11:1-25). Paul said that’s crazy, and that others would think it was crazy. Paul also required that if tongues-talking was going to occur then there must be an interpreter and it must follow certain other rules (14:26-28). There were similar but more affirming instructions given for prophecy (14:29-32). God is not a God of confusion (14:33a), so the worship of God should not be a chaotic mess.
Tongues (with interpretation) and prophecy had a place in the worship of the Corinthian church, yet in verses 26-33a Paul instructed them that there was also a time for not talking, that holding one’s tongue could be an important application for the church. In the last paragraphs of chapter 14 Paul deals with two more ways that worship could get out of order, and these are things that never belong in worship.
What Never Belongs in Worship (verses 33b-40)
There are a couple issues left to cover related to orderly worship.
Order for Women (verses 33b-35)
The next couple verses are probably more inflammatory, in our modern church context for sure, than the verses about tongues, which is impressive, if you’re looking to start a fife. Verses 33b-35 are considered so inappropriate by some professing Christians that they’re sure that these verses must have been added by someone other than Paul. Some say there’s no way that these verses are inspired. These verses do not belong in this letter nor should they be considered as God’s Word. If they are part of God’s Word then it would be proof that God’s Word is an out of date and defunct book.
But when it comes to the Greek manuscripts, to the external evidence, there is no good textual argument that these verses weren’t original. Honest commentators reluctantly agree:
“We are bound to accept the unanimous testimony of the manuscripts, however deeply we may regret that Paul expressed this opinion.” (Ross, quoted in Thiselton)
When examining the internal evidence, that is, what’s in the passage itself, there are only good reasons to see these verses as closely connected to Paul’s instructions about corporate w[...]