Order in the Church
Greetings, and may the blessings of almighty God be upon you this wonderful day!
Today we turn our attention to the closing words of Paul in chapter 14 of 1 Corinthians. He has spent a great deal of time laying out the proper use of tongues and the priority of preaching in the worship life of the Church. It is obvious there have been some challenging issues in Corinth. Paul now concludes this section before moving on to a demonstrative declaration of the Gospel in chapter 15.
If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord’s command. If anyone ignores this, he will be ignored. So then, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything is to be done decently and in order. 1 Corinthians 14:37-40
The opening words of this section remind us that there are already those in the church who are opposing the Apostles and their teachings. Many so-called leaders have arisen who are leading the people of God into error and false doctrine. It is almost unimaginable to think of this happening while the apostles were still alive, but it should not surprise us. Satan has worked feverishly since the beginning to silence the Gospel. His tactics are not that original, but they are at times effective. As Paul very well knows, Satan seeks to kill the messengers and pervert the message. Declare what God has revealed to be a lie and proclaim a different truth! The devil has done this since the beginning, from the garden to the cross, and to this very day!
So, if there is someone who is a prophet, a man who has been raised up to shepherd a church, it is his responsibility to protect the flock from all false doctrine. Such a man is to receive the words of Paul and make them known to the people of God! If there is a prophet who ignores the words of Paul, then this man is to be ignored by the people. The reference to someone who is “spiritual” is a reference to respected members of the congregation who are not the pastors.
What is all this telling us about the church Paul is writing too? This, along with all the previous issues addressed, tells us there are false teachers who have come into the church after Paul’s departure who have been leading the people into error. Paul is holding their feet to the fire! Adhere to the truth of God or be cast aside and ignored for the false prophets you are!
When Paul says, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord’s command he is identifying the fact that what he is teaching is in accord with the Old Testament Scriptures, what has been taught since the day of Christ, and what is currently held to be true universally in the Church.
This should be a guiding principle for the Church today. If what is taught and practiced in the church today is different than what the first generations of the church taught and practiced then it begs the question, what changed? When did a change occur and for what purpose? Who promoted the change and why? If Scriptures and history have taught us anything, it is that every generation desires to make a name for itself by adapting what it received and adopting what is new! When this happens in the church the result is error, false doctrine, and heresy.
Apply this to the Church today! The message proclaimed concerning Jesus should be the same today as it was from Peter, Paul, or any of the preachers of that first generation of believers. If we preach a different message, when did it change and why?
The gift of grace we have received from Jesus should be believed, taught, and practiced just as they were when He delivered them to the apostles. Baptism should be believed and practiced just as the church did it for hundreds of years. The changes which came in the 1500’s were initiated by heretical groups who not only denied God’s working in Baptism, but they denied the doctrine of Original Sin. This denial led them to adopt the teaching of an age of accountability which denied the need for baptism prior to a person becoming responsible for his or her own actions. This was the first time a segment of believers broke away from the mainstream of Christendom and embraced a new belief concerning baptism.
It was at this same time that the Lord’s Supper received many challenges. While the understanding of baptism remained steadfast for 1500 years, beliefs concerning the Lord’s Supper morphed into something unrecognizable from the early years of the Church. The apostles received from Jesus a new covenant meal which was simply believed to be the grace of God present in a tangible way for His children. Jesus set the table, provided the meal, and invited the guests. He was present in action to bless His people. Through the years of the Roman Catholic Church beginning in 570AD to the time of the Reformation in 1517, Catholicism changed the teaching concerning the Lord’s Supper. Now Christ was once again suffering as He did on the cross. The bread and wine ceased to be bread and wine, rather changing to become the blood shed and the body which was suffering. Once the Supper was concluded, the elements were to be revered and worshiped as Christ for He was present in the bread and wine. This was a drastic change for what the apostles received and handed on to the Church.
The Reformation opened the way for people to reject the Catholic view of Transubstantiation and embrace a different belief. The challenge was that leaders in different parts of the world ran to many different conclusions concerning the Sacrament. Many chose to use human reason rather than returning to the teachings of the apostles and early Church. We are always given assurance when we set aside what we want and receive what the Lord gives. No where is this more true than when we accept what the Sacraments are as He gave them.
Paul is encouraging the church in Corinth to embrace what was given to them in the beginning and to reject anything which is contrary to what they have received. This principle was true concerning the use of tongues in the church and the priority of preaching the Gospel. All was to be done decently and in order, but this also means it was to be done God’s way.
Blessings,
Pastor Russ
Today we turn our attention to the closing words of Paul in chapter 14 of 1 Corinthians. He has spent a great deal of time laying out the proper use of tongues and the priority of preaching in the worship life of the Church. It is obvious there have been some challenging issues in Corinth. Paul now concludes this section before moving on to a demonstrative declaration of the Gospel in chapter 15.
If anyone thinks he is a prophet or spiritual, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord’s command. If anyone ignores this, he will be ignored. So then, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But everything is to be done decently and in order. 1 Corinthians 14:37-40
The opening words of this section remind us that there are already those in the church who are opposing the Apostles and their teachings. Many so-called leaders have arisen who are leading the people of God into error and false doctrine. It is almost unimaginable to think of this happening while the apostles were still alive, but it should not surprise us. Satan has worked feverishly since the beginning to silence the Gospel. His tactics are not that original, but they are at times effective. As Paul very well knows, Satan seeks to kill the messengers and pervert the message. Declare what God has revealed to be a lie and proclaim a different truth! The devil has done this since the beginning, from the garden to the cross, and to this very day!
So, if there is someone who is a prophet, a man who has been raised up to shepherd a church, it is his responsibility to protect the flock from all false doctrine. Such a man is to receive the words of Paul and make them known to the people of God! If there is a prophet who ignores the words of Paul, then this man is to be ignored by the people. The reference to someone who is “spiritual” is a reference to respected members of the congregation who are not the pastors.
What is all this telling us about the church Paul is writing too? This, along with all the previous issues addressed, tells us there are false teachers who have come into the church after Paul’s departure who have been leading the people into error. Paul is holding their feet to the fire! Adhere to the truth of God or be cast aside and ignored for the false prophets you are!
When Paul says, he should recognize that what I write to you is the Lord’s command he is identifying the fact that what he is teaching is in accord with the Old Testament Scriptures, what has been taught since the day of Christ, and what is currently held to be true universally in the Church.
This should be a guiding principle for the Church today. If what is taught and practiced in the church today is different than what the first generations of the church taught and practiced then it begs the question, what changed? When did a change occur and for what purpose? Who promoted the change and why? If Scriptures and history have taught us anything, it is that every generation desires to make a name for itself by adapting what it received and adopting what is new! When this happens in the church the result is error, false doctrine, and heresy.
Apply this to the Church today! The message proclaimed concerning Jesus should be the same today as it was from Peter, Paul, or any of the preachers of that first generation of believers. If we preach a different message, when did it change and why?
The gift of grace we have received from Jesus should be believed, taught, and practiced just as they were when He delivered them to the apostles. Baptism should be believed and practiced just as the church did it for hundreds of years. The changes which came in the 1500’s were initiated by heretical groups who not only denied God’s working in Baptism, but they denied the doctrine of Original Sin. This denial led them to adopt the teaching of an age of accountability which denied the need for baptism prior to a person becoming responsible for his or her own actions. This was the first time a segment of believers broke away from the mainstream of Christendom and embraced a new belief concerning baptism.
It was at this same time that the Lord’s Supper received many challenges. While the understanding of baptism remained steadfast for 1500 years, beliefs concerning the Lord’s Supper morphed into something unrecognizable from the early years of the Church. The apostles received from Jesus a new covenant meal which was simply believed to be the grace of God present in a tangible way for His children. Jesus set the table, provided the meal, and invited the guests. He was present in action to bless His people. Through the years of the Roman Catholic Church beginning in 570AD to the time of the Reformation in 1517, Catholicism changed the teaching concerning the Lord’s Supper. Now Christ was once again suffering as He did on the cross. The bread and wine ceased to be bread and wine, rather changing to become the blood shed and the body which was suffering. Once the Supper was concluded, the elements were to be revered and worshiped as Christ for He was present in the bread and wine. This was a drastic change for what the apostles received and handed on to the Church.
The Reformation opened the way for people to reject the Catholic view of Transubstantiation and embrace a different belief. The challenge was that leaders in different parts of the world ran to many different conclusions concerning the Sacrament. Many chose to use human reason rather than returning to the teachings of the apostles and early Church. We are always given assurance when we set aside what we want and receive what the Lord gives. No where is this more true than when we accept what the Sacraments are as He gave them.
Paul is encouraging the church in Corinth to embrace what was given to them in the beginning and to reject anything which is contrary to what they have received. This principle was true concerning the use of tongues in the church and the priority of preaching the Gospel. All was to be done decently and in order, but this also means it was to be done God’s way.
Blessings,
Pastor Russ
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