1 Corinthians 14
In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul deals with a question regarding whether certain actions should be permitted in the assembly. Are tongues permitted? What about prophecy?
In answering, Paul does not refer to a list of authorized acts. Rather, he asks whether these acts would fulfill the purposes of the assembly.
(1Co 14:2-5 ESV) 2 For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit. 3 On the other hand, the one who prophesies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself, but the one who prophesies builds up the church. 5 Now I want you all to speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up.
Clearly, the test Paul is applying is whether the proposed action “builds up” the church. He asks: does the proposed conduct provide “upbuilding and encouragement and consolation”?
Ultimately, his conclusions are conditional. Tongues are appropriate if translated. Prophecy is appropriate if limited and the speakers take turns. He could not be further from the “Five Acts” mentality. He asks over and over: does the practice accomplish what the assembly is for? If not, can we condition the practice in a way that would serve the assembly’s purposes? The assembly is for building up, encouraging, and consoling, and whatever acts we do must be done in a way that serves those purposes.
Paul utters not a word about whether these acts are authorized or on a pre-approved list of approved acts. He just asks whether they can be done in a way that works. His analysis is pragmatic, but bounded by a theology of what the assembly is for.
(1Co 14:6 ESV) 6 Now, brothers, if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching?
Notice the test: “How will I benefit you”? The test isn’t whether the action is authorized but whether it benefits the members present within the theology of the assembly.
Paul is also concerned with impact of the assembly on unbelieving visitors —
(1Co 14:24-25 ESV) 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, 25 the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.
Yes, worship can be a result of the assembly, but notice that the worship isn’t in response to a command but to the presence of God evidenced by the Spirit within the members. Even an unbeliever should be so amazed by the obvious presence of God in the assembly that he falls down in worship! You see, the assembly should take us back to the Garden where God walks with man in the cool of the morning.
“Build up”
Let’s ponder for a moment Paul’s use of “build up” or “edify.” The word appears in 1 Corinthians only in chapter 14 and in —
(1Co 3:9-16 ESV) 9 For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. 10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw — 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
The Greek word we often translate “edify” means literally to build a building, but is used metaphorically of building up a person or a congregation. The building Paul has in mind is a temple in which God lives by his Spirit, built on the foundation of Jesus.
The same thought is found in —
(Eph 4:11-14 ESV) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
It’s no surprise that the goal of building us up is to make us like Jesus. The goal is ultimately to be built to the “fullness of Christ.” The assembly is, ultimately, about building up the members to be more and more like Jesus.
“Filled with the Spirit”
(Eph 5:18-21 ESV) 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit? There are plenty of passages inside and outside Ephesians that explain the Spirit, but I think the most important of these passages is –
(Eph 2:21-22 NIV) 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
This passages speaks of the Spirit indwelling the church, rather than the individual (which is also true). The idea is for God to build the church into a unified whole suitable for the Spirit to live in. This is very reminiscent of –
(2Ch 7:1-3 ESV) As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 2 And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’s house. 3 When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
Don’t you see? God’s glory — his presence — filled the temple. Now, we are that temple! And Paul implores us to let God’s glory fill us just as it filled Solomon’s temple! “Be filled with the Spirit” means “be a fully constructed temple in which every room is a holy of holies, where God’s presence dwells in every niche and corner.” To be filled with the Spirit is to have no areas in your heart, your mind, or your congregation not indwelt by the Spirit.
So how does this happen?
(Eph 3:14-19 ESV) 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith–that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
We gain “all the fullness of God” by the power of the Spirit, “through faith,” and by knowing the love of Christ. Also –
(Eph 1:17-19a NIV) 17 I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.
(Eph 4:3 NIV) 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
(Eph 6:16-18a ESV) 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.
Prayer, unity, wisdom, and revelation are all gifts from God that help us be filled with the Spirit. “Revelation” could certainly include prophecy, but the thought in Eph 1:17-19 is that God will reveal in us, through the power of Paul’s prayer, the ability to recognize and appreciate the hope, inheritance, and the power we have from God.
And so, can these things happen in the assembly? Of course. Are they limited to the assembly? No. But the assembly is a particularly apt place for such a filling, as there the congregation is together, the stones of the temple are in one place. It’s in the assembly that we’re most like the Temple, and therefore where the Spirit can dwell with a special intensity. But we can also be filled with the Spirit when we’re together building a house for an impoverished widow or drilling a well in a distant village.
In the assembly, we should be filled with the Spirit. That should be a conscious goal of the members and their leaders. We are there for a purpose — to become more like Jesus and God. And the Spirit is our Helper to do just that. We want the Spirit’s most powerful work within us at a time we’ve set aside to grow toward all the fullness of Christ.
(Eph 4:11-13 ESV) 11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
Our leaders are given gifts by God so that they can help us be built up “to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” And what better than the assembly for this to happen? Every service of the church should be like the dedication of Solomon’s Temple — an event where God’s Glory was so present that the leaders were pushed out the way and the people spontaneously bowed in worship.
The only act described as "worship" by 1 Cor 14 is "falling on his face." The traditional churches of Christ seem to have left that one out! Note also, however, that the only person described as worshipping in that way was an unbeliever, and he did so without having been instructed to do it.
It is God who fills…We can want it..But it is He by His Spirit that fills us. It's not something that WE DO. But like a polite guest, He will not intrude where He is not welcome or wanted.
It seems fairly obvious that the purpose of the assembly as Paul discussed it here was for the building up of the individuals. The Spirit does indeed work more powerfully within a group setting. Your analysis certainly supports that claim, but my own personal experience validates it too.
I think it's also noteworthy that Paul mentioned what an outsider might think if witnessing one of their assemblies. They were to tone things down and do them decently and in order so as not to appear insane to someone not initiated yet. What a travesty though, that in many assemblies today that particular instruction has led to suppression of the Spirit.
Unless you have experienced worship in a way described in 1Cor 14 you won't grasp it. We look at it fro a disprted perspective, because we have lost almost everything that is described in this chapter.
And: Unless you are willing to forsake the setting in which we worship today, we will never experience it either.
Alexander
And we will never experience it unless we let go of legalism, traditionalism, and the denial of a fully functioning every-member priesthood.
Alexander…I'm surprised that I agree with your comment…So, I thought I'd better clarify before I got too excited !! LOL… Are you suggesting that we could, should, might or cannot experience the type of worship in which the Holy Spirit might take a lead in it ??
How I would like to experience the Spirit leading in the churches of Christ as its taught the Holy Spirit retired and became the New Testament in print. I think the type face is Times Roman.
Don't know which version.
Only times I have experienced the Spirit in worship is among the worshiping of the Cherokee and their worship is judged as totally in error even though it is praising and thanking God, but not while sitting on a pew. Maybe that is appreciated by God even if it is with a few mistakes.
We could – because we have the indwelling of the spirit and even if there are disagreements about the "special" gift, we are called to be filled with the spirit and to mutually edify one another.
We should – because it is not very consistent to pick and choose from the commands and precedents in the scriptures. The way asemblies work is not a "five-point-structure"; this – in this regard – the churches of Christ did not fully restore "The Ancient Order of Things".
We might – but this means step of self denial, overcoming our own (man made) traditions; this takes courage.
We cannot, as long as we cling to our vision for mega churches and big buildings; as long as we are glued to the pews and stuck on our pulpits; since the New Testament Worship descriptions are based on small assemblies in houses (you can't do that in an assembly of severalö hundreds or thousands). Therefore I fear this whole worship series will remain an academic quest for insightful debates but change nothing at all.
Yet, we did it. We made at least some of the ncessary changes here in Vienna. Therefore I boldly say: I know how it feels 😉
Alexander
@Alabama John, I'm fairly certain it was the KJV – if not then ASV. 😉 I have in my possession 2 different publications essentially asserting the position that the gift of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Acts 2:38 is not a reference to indwelling at all, but is merely referring to the gift of our salvation. o.0 Can you hazard a guess as to either of the authors? One asserts the position you mention, i.e. the NT in print.
Some of us think the Spirit is moving among us these days, for some reason…
Arkie,
I have never agreed the Holy Spirit finished His work when the NT was done. If we believe God created the world in 6 days, what wonders has He done in the days since or had done before?
There is a thinking put forward that you are right on and many believe since there is a God head three, that makes the Holy Spirit God too.
It is found in Romans 6:23 "The gift of God is eternal life" KJV
Also in Ephesians 2:8 "it is the gift of God" KJV.
The scripture used to say the Holy Spirit is done working is: 1Corinthians 13:10.
"But, when that which is perfect is come,then that which is in part will be done away". KJV Paul is considered the author of 1 Corinthians.
There is so much we don't know and must realize we will never know until we die and see it all. Thank God for Him doing the judging!