Today’s passage: 1 Corinthians 14:26-40
Helpful thoughts:
- If churches followed the guidelines given in this chapter for speaking in tongues, no one would be speaking in tongues in their services.
- Prior to the completion of Scripture, if someone in the church were to share a prophecy or a revelation, what they said was to be weighed right there against what Scripture the church already had. There were limits to how many could speak up and who could speak.
- Accountability to the truth of God’s Word is a great thing.
- What Paul shares in verses 34-35, he teaches again in 1 Timothy 2:12. Women are able to teach and there are times they should do so (Titus 2:3-5). The time for women to teach and preach is not before the gathered/assembled church.
- The end of verse 39 must be understood in context.
- Paul has just given criteria that would stop the church from “speaking in tongues” in their incorrect way.
- Therefore, it would be right for a church today to tell someone to stop.
- The heart of verse 39, our application, is to focus our attention on what we should be doing. Let’s busy ourselves with getting God’s Word into the ears and hearts of people.
- Paul has just given criteria that would stop the church from “speaking in tongues” in their incorrect way.
Questions to consider:
- If God is not a God of confusion, why do people get confused about these issues? What is it in mankind that makes God’s ways confusing or troubling to us?
- What is the answer to the confusion? When we don’t know the answers, to where should we turn? What holds authority over the way we live and “do church?” (Hint: It’s a special book!)
- What must be true of the heart of the believer in order to gain understanding and peace over and against the confusion? What must a Christian be willing to do in order to learn what 1 Corinthians 14 teaches? What must a Christian be willing to do in order to change if they currently practice something different than what the Word of God teaches?