{"id":17150,"date":"2021-08-26T22:00:41","date_gmt":"2021-08-27T05:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1corinthians-14_13-25-copy\/"},"modified":"2021-08-20T23:23:09","modified_gmt":"2021-08-21T06:23:09","slug":"1corinthians-14_26-40","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/1corinthians-14_26-40\/","title":{"rendered":"A God of Order, Not Chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"

1 Corinthians 14:26-40 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a01 Corinthians 14:26-40. Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 14:26 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n26\u00a0<\/sup>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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 26:\u00a0 The church of Corinth was full of creative and spiritually gifted people.\u00a0 Everyone was eager to share what they felt God had placed on their heart, be it a song, a message, a vision, a tongue or an interpretation of a tongue.\u00a0 \u00a0Paul reminds the Christians in Corinth:\u00a0check your motives before you share anything \u2013 always do it to build up the church, not to feed your own ego<\/strong>.\u00a0 In the same way, whenever you\u2019re sitting in any church gathering large or small, check your motives whenever you share with others.\u00a0\u00a0 Let it always be \u201cfor the strengthening of the church\u201d, to exalt God\u2019s name, not your own.<\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 14:27-28 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
\n27\u00a0<\/sup>If anyone speaks in a tongue, two–or at the most three–should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.
\n28\u00a0<\/sup>If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 27-28:\u00a0 This shows that Paul\u2019s concern with tongues was mainly in regard to addressing the congregation publicly.\u00a0 He says if there\u2019s no one to interpret, go ahead and speak in tongues but keep it between you and God.<\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 14:29 (NIV)\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>
\n29\u00a0<\/sup>Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 29: The risk with speaking prophecy is always this: how do you know if the person speaking is truly inspired by the Spirit of God, or is just communicating their own ideas and feelings?\u00a0 That\u2019s why Paul says that \u201cothers should weigh carefully what is said\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0How do you weigh a prophecy?\u00a0 Ask yourself: Does this word strengthen, encourage and comfort the church (verse 3)?\u00a0 Is what is being said consistent with Scripture?\u00a0 Is it consistent with other things that God has already been saying to the church during this season?\u00a0 Does it encourage the church to grow more like Christ in character?\u00a0 What is the track record and reputation of the person doing the speaking?<\/strong>\u00a0 By asking these questions, you\u2019ll be better able to discern whether a word is truly prophetic or not.<\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 14:30-33 (NIV)<\/em><\/strong>
\n30\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>And if a revelation comes to someone who is sitting down, the first speaker should stop.
\n31\u00a0<\/sup>For you can all prophesy in turn so that everyone may be instructed and encouraged.
\n32\u00a0<\/sup>The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.
\n33\u00a0<\/sup>For God is not a God of disorder but of peace\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 30-33:\u00a0 Some of the Corinthian Christians thought \u201cwhen God wants me to prophesy or to speak in a tongue, I can\u2019t control it.\u00a0 I have no choice but to speak it all out because it\u2019s the Spirit of God working in me.\u201d\u00a0 Paul says, \u201cThat\u2019s not entirely true.\u00a0\u00a0The spirits of prophets are subject to the control of prophets.<\/em>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>In other words, spiritual gifts are always under the control of the person exercising the gift.\u00a0 You may be inspired by the Holy Spirit to exercise that gift in that moment, but if you want to stop it, you can.\u00a0 It\u2019s not out of your control.\u00a0 That\u2019s why church services don\u2019t need to run for hours and hours without any order, planning or control.\u00a0 In fact, I would submit that, since God is a God not of disorder but of peace, God is more pleased when church leaders thoughtfully organize and lead their meetings, doing so with a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, a sensitivity to where the people are at, especially those who are unbelievers, and always with the goal of encouraging the people and leading them to Jesus.\u00a0 As Paul says in verse 40, \u201ceverything should be done in a fitting and orderly way.\u201d<\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 (NIV)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>
\n34\u00a0<\/sup>women should remain silent in the churches. They are not allowed to speak, but must be in submission, as the Law says.
\n35\u00a0<\/sup>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.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 34-35:\u00a0 This is one of the more controversial verses in the Bible, but understand the context.\u00a0 Paul is not saying that women should not speak at all in the church.\u00a0 Women in the church of Corinth were already prophesying on stage (see Corinthians 11:5) and Paul had no problem with that. His only issue with women prophesying on stage was that he thought they should keep their head coverings on \u2013 see my earlier GAME sharing on 1 Corinthians 11).\u00a0 So Paul is not advocating that women should not speak on stage at church.\u00a0 Rather, much more likely Paul was addressing another problem:\u00a0 certain women would sit in the congregation and while listening to the message they would begin to call out and question the message publicly, or they would start chatting with their neighbours.\u00a0 All of this was disruptive and distracting for the rest of the congregation.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Paul says, \u201cwomen should remain silent in the churches\u2026If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home\u201d (v34-35).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0When you\u2019re in a church gathering, don\u2019t be a distraction to the rest of the people.\u00a0 Don\u2019t get in the way of people\u2019s worship.\u00a0<\/strong>\u00a0Remember that how you conduct yourself in a service affects the people around you, either negatively or positively.\u00a0 So, just as we\u2019ve heard Paul say so many times in 1 Corinthians already, conduct yourself in a way that builds others up.\u00a0 That\u2019s what love is all about.<\/p>\n

Heavenly Father, thank You that You are a God of order, not chaos, a God of thoughtful excellence, not thoughtless mediocrity.\u00a0\u00a0May we worship You accordingly.\u00a0\u00a0In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is\u00a01 Corinthians 14:26-40. Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 14:26 (NIV)\u00a0
\n26\u00a0What 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.<\/p>\n

On verse 26:\u00a0 The church of Corinth was full of creative and spiritually gifted people.\u00a0 Everyone was eager to share what they felt God had placed on their heart, be it a song, a message, a vision, a tongue or an interpretation of a tongue.\u00a0 \u00a0Paul reminds the Christians in Corinth:\u00a0check your motives before you share anything \u2013 always do it to build up the church, not to feed your own ego.\u00a0 In the same way, whenever you\u2019re sitting in any church gathering large or small, check your motives whenever you share with others.\u00a0\u00a0 Let it always be \u201cfor the strengthening of the church\u201d, to exalt God\u2019s name, not your own.<\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 14:27-28 (NIV)\u00a0
\n27\u00a0If anyone speaks in a tongue, two–or at the most three–should speak, one at a time, and someone must interpret.
\n28\u00a0If there is no interpreter, the speaker should keep quiet in the church and speak to himself and God.<\/p>\n

On verses 27-28:\u00a0 This shows that Paul\u2019s concern with tongues was mainly in regard to addressing the congregation publicly.\u00a0 He says if there\u2019s no one to interpret, go ahead and speak in tongues but keep it between you and God.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17152,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17150"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17150\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17151,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17150\/revisions\/17151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}