~4 min read
Ps Paul Cheng
1 Corinthians 14:29-40
“…people who are not willing to listen and obey…”
Dear Bethelites,
From prophets and worship, to women and worship, Paul moved on to speak on submission and worship.
I. Submission and worship (How the disobedient should be treated in the church)
In every church, there will always be people who are not willing to listen and obey. Like in Corinth, many of the Corinthians were proud and disobedient; they felt that they were very spiritual and blessed with many spiritual gifts like prophesying and receiving new revelations from God. So, why would they need the Apostles? Thus, the Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 14:36, What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?
In other words, Paul was saying, “Has the Word of God come from you, or has the Word of God come to you? Are you the source of truth?” If they were not the source of truth, and God was the source of truth, how had He given His truth to the church? Was it not through the Apostles? Was the church at Corinth, the only church to receive the Word of God?
Take a moment and consider all the churches at Thessalonica, Ephesus, Galatia and Philippi. If those churches received the apostles’ teaching, and they responded by submitting to the truth, could the Corinthians say, “Well, we are the special ones. We do not need to obey.” Most certainly not! They were no different from all the other churches. So, they ought not to be proud!
1 Corinthians 14:37, If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. If any man thought of himself as a prophet, preacher or teacher of God, then he ought to recognise that those things (Paul’s exhortation through his letter to the Corinthians) were authoritative commandments of the Lord.
Those were the Word of God, and Paul had already told them how they should behave in the church. 1 Corinthians 14:38, But if any man (chooses to) be ignorant, let him be ignorant (emphasis mine). If a man did not want to acknowledge and obey the truth, that would be ignorance on his part, and he should be treated as one who was ignorant. Ignorant means someone who does not know, understand and is void of the truth.
Dear friend, there will always be people who do not want to listen and obey the truth no matter how many times we tell them? What should we do? Treat them as someone who is ignorant. If they are not willing to listen to God’s Word, do you think they are willing to listen to us?
But when we do that, we may lose friendship and fellowship. However, we must always remember that our friendship and fellowship should be based on the Word of God, and when His Word is rejected, our friendship and fellowship is automatically affected.
1 Corinthians 14:39, Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
In conclusion, brethren (all of you), covet to prophesy (because not everyone would have the gift to prophesy). Here, Paul was speaking about “coveting” in a good sense, as in the priority of preaching. This is how we should esteem preaching in our church; it is of great importance because preaching can best edify the church. God speaks through the preachers and we respond, and this is how the life of the church should go on and on, as long as the Lord would tarry in His return.
What about tongue-speaking? Though it had been greatly abused in the Corinthian church, that did not mean true tongue-speaking was to be totally rejected. They must correct the abuse and mistakes, thus, Paul said, forbid not to speak with tongues.
Likewise, today, there are many things that have been abused in the churches, but that does not mean we do not practice those things anymore. Take for example, the Lord’s Supper has been commonly abused, yet we still practice it. The way instruments are played and songs sung have been abused, yet we still play the piano and organ, and sing the hymns. We address the problem, correct the mistake, and then we continue to do the right thing.
Finally, 1 Corinthians 14:40, Let all things be done decently and in order.
Do you realise that our God is truly a God of order? When He created the world, there was order in His creation. When He created Adam and Eve, there was order in the family; the man must lead, the wife must help, support and submit, and the children must love and obey the parents. When He brought the Israelites into the Promised Land, there was order in the things they must do and not do; e.g. how worship in the temple ought to be conducted, duties ought to be carried out in the priesthood, and the children of Israel ought to live their lives.
What about the New Testament church? There was order too! Soon, the apostles and prophets would pass off the scene, and there would be the pastors and elders to continue the on-going life of the church, to preach and teach the Word of God, and lead the people. God has given to us, qualifications, steps, procedures, church discipline, etc, and He gave us this command, let all things be done decently and in order.
We are not here to do our own will, but the Lord’s will. One day, both the leaders and members would have to give an account to God for the way they have obeyed His commandments. If there is anyone who does not want to follow this order (whether the person is a leader or a member), what should we do? We should treat him or her as ignorant!
In Christ,
Pastor Paul Cheng
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