1 Corinthians 14:26

How is it then, brethren? When you come together, every one of you has a psalm, has a doctrine, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edification... Let your women keep silence in the churches... Let all things be done decently and in order. (1 Corinthians 14:26–40)

Paul shows the church at Corinth—and us—how to gather in a way that glorifies God, builds up the body, and reflects His order rather than confusion.

The Context of Corporate Worship

Paul has been instructing the church at Corinth how to behave when they are gathered together corporately. It is very important to remember the context of 1 Corinthians 14: Paul is speaking to the corporate assembly, the gathering of the body of Christ. The Corinthians had highly exalted certain spiritual gifts to a position they should never have held, especially the gift of tongues, giving it a priority place in their fellowship.

Through the previous twenty-five verses, Paul has shown that tongues are actually more of the bottom rung of spiritual experience and should take a much lower position in corporate worship than the gift of prophecy. When we gather as the body of Christ, the supreme focus is the glorification of God, then the edification of the body, and ultimately the evangelization of the lost.

The church at Corinth was in need of order. They were genuine believers and disciples, yet they exhibited far more immaturity than spirituality, even while they boasted of their wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and power. Paul has been seeking to take them out of that place of boasting in themselves—which is really a characteristic of immaturity—and to redirect their focus to the Lord.

"How Is It Then?" — Coming Together to Give

In verse 26, the phrase "how is it then" is the same one Paul used in verse 15. Paul was a champion of anticipating his readers' objections and answering them immediately. In verse 15 he had anticipated the question, "If tongues are unfruitful to the understanding, why use the gift at all?" He answered that he would pray and sing in tongues for personal edification, but also with his understanding.

Now in verse 26 he anticipates another expected question: if believers ought to gather corporately, how should that gathering be ordered? Notice first that he says, "when you come together." Paul taught and assumed that regular gatherings of the people of God were the norm.

Second, when we come together we ought to come prepared to give our participation, not just passively receive. We should endeavor to use the gifts God has given us to benefit the corporate gathering. Paul wanted the Corinthians to mature in their understanding of what church really is—no longer an opportunity to show off their giftedness and receive admiration, but an opportunity to bless those who are there with the aim of edification.

So Paul says, "every one of you has a psalm, has a doctrine, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation." You come together ready to praise God, instruct, or comfort the congregation—focused not on receiving but on giving. His exhortation is, "Let all things be done unto edification." The New Living Translation reads, "So we want to build up the body of Christ."

Two Guidelines: Edification and Order

Not only should the use of our gifts edify the congregation, but Paul goes on to say everything should be done in order. The gathering is not a happenstance free-for-all. So we have two guidelines for corporate worship: first, we should seek to edify; second, we should do things orderly. In 1 Corinthians 12:7 Paul says the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every believer for the profit of all.

Keep in mind that Paul writes this because of the abuses taking place at Corinth. If Paul says God is not the author of confusion but of peace, we can rightly assume there was confusion in the Corinthian gatherings. If he says things must be done decently and in order, it is no stretch to imagine that what was happening was indecent and disorderly. To picture the gatherings at Corinth, simply imagine the opposite of everything Paul says in this passage.

Paul addresses three issues of orderly worship: the place of tongues (verses 27–28), the place of prophecy (verses 29–33), and the place of women (verses 34–35), which I would really like to skip—but I won't.

The Place of Tongues

If any man speaks in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at most by three, and that by course, and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church, and let him speak to himself and to God.

Circle the words "in the church," because we want to keep forcing this issue: Paul is speaking to the church gathering. Notice that the first word of verse 27 is "if." Paul uses the conditional particle on purpose, because the use of tongues in the church gathering is not a must. Some charismatic believers feel the Spirit has been quenched, or was never present, if tongues are not evident in a gathering. The Scriptures do not support that. The charismatic view treats tongues as indispensable, but at Calvary Chapel we see it as dispensable in the corporate gathering, yet not forbidden.

Again, imagine the opposite of verse 27 and you have Corinth—probably more than two or three, all speaking at the same time, in confusion and chaos. I have been in fellowships where at a certain point ten, fifteen, twenty people begin speaking out in tongues simultaneously. Those who took part were seen as the spiritual ones, which put pressure on others who did not genuinely have the gift to pretend they did. Paul says it should be two, at most three, and one at a time.

"Let one interpret" implies that it was known who had the gift of interpretation—a God-given ability whereby an individual receives revelation as to the sense of what the tongue-speaker is saying. So you are not to speak in tongues unless an interpreter is present. This makes tongues a difficult public form of expression. In my years of following the Lord, I have never met anyone who told me they have the gift of interpretation, and it is an important gift to pray for if a church desires the expression of this gift.

I will give one caveat: the interpreter may be revealed by the orderly use of the gift itself. In a home fellowship, if someone speaks forth in tongues, there should be a time of waiting for an interpretation; if none is given and no interpreter is revealed, there should be no more expression of tongues.

What then is the genuine tongue-speaker to do if no interpreter is present? Paul says, keep silent in the church and speak to yourself and to God. But the tongue-speaker may say, "You don't understand—I can't contain it, it comes over me." No. Paul makes clear you have power over this gift; it does not have power over you. Generally, those who cannot restrain themselves are immature children. So if you say you cannot contain yourself, you only prove your immaturity, not your spirituality. The tongue-speaker can pray quietly in tongues and, according to 1 Corinthians 14:4, be edified—and can also pray that God would give the gift of interpretation.

The Place of Prophecy

Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. If anything be revealed to another that sits by, let the first hold his peace. For you may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be comforted. The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace.

Some commentators replace "prophet" with "preacher," but it does not really fit. Biblical preaching should incorporate prophecy, but not all preaching equals the New Testament gift of prophecy. According to 1 Corinthians 14:3, prophecy is the Spirit-given ability to speak God's word for edification, exhortation, and comfort. This is not the Old Testament office with its "thus saith the Lord," but the gift exercised among gathered believers.

By now you have recognized that the gatherings Paul describes look different from a traditional Sunday morning at Calvary Chapel of Escondido. They mirror more our home fellowship setting. When I lived in Germany I visited brethren churches that had no staff pastors—just a group of mature elders given opportunity to share God's word. In Corinth there were multiple home meetings of believers, because they could not gather corporately as we do. That does not mean the early church never gathered corporately; in Acts they met on the first day of the week wherever they could—at the temple in Jerusalem, at the river in Philippi, in the synagogue until they were kicked out.

When these people gathered, certain individuals were identified as having the gift of prophecy, and Paul says let two or three speak, and let the others judge—weigh whether what is said lines up with God's word. We need to be Bereans. I trust you are prudent people; many of you have far more education than I do. If I teach something on a Sunday morning, take it home and work it out in the Scriptures, especially if you are challenged by it. You have the same Bible I have—probably in five colors and twelve translations. Look it up.

If something is revealed to another sitting by, the first should hold his peace, and the speaker should defer. "You may all prophesy one by one." If Paul tells them to do it one at a time, imagine what they were actually doing—probably something like the news commentary panels on cable television, where five or six people shout over one another to show how smart they are, and at the end you have heard nothing while every one of them feels like the winner. At Corinth a personality cult had formed—"I am of Paul," "I am of Apollos"—and people were cutting each other off to prove who knew more.

The point is in verse 31: "that all may learn, and all may be comforted." If people leave a gathering unedified, at the very least we should recognize we could do better. And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets—just like the tongue-speaker, the one with prophecy can restrain himself; lack of restraint is evidence of immaturity, not spirituality.

God Is a God of Peace

Why this order? "God is not the author of confusion, but of peace." You are a representative of God. Since He is not a God of disorder but of order, the way you function under the Holy Spirit speaks of Him. What do people learn about God by watching you? That challenges us twenty-four hours a day—at church where we can put on a good show, but also at home, at work, on the basketball court. We are the image-bearers of Christ, created to manifest His glory on earth. Am I doing that? Lord, help me.

Romans 15:33 calls God the God of peace; 2 Thessalonians 3:16 calls Jesus the Lord of peace; Hebrews 13:20 calls God the God of peace. Peace is fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), and the wisdom from above is peaceable (James 3:17). The same word for "confusion" appears in James 3:16: "For where envying and strife is, there is confusion in every evil work." James correlates confusion with the work of the evil one. Our adversary seeks to disrupt by confusion, and you can identify a genuine work of God by how the enemy combats it with confusing disruptions—something we have been seeing here at Calvary Chapel Escondido recently. We could get flustered, or we could recognize that God is doing a work and the enemy is seeking to combat it.

The Place of Women

Let your women keep silence in the churches. For it is not permitted unto them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also says the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home; for it is a shame for a woman to speak in church.

The culture of our day counts these verses as anathema—perhaps the most politically incorrect passage in all the Bible for twenty-first century America. Some have thrown out the whole book of 1 Corinthians, calling Paul a chauvinist who hated women. Alistair Begg says these are the most challenging verses in 1 Corinthians—challenging for men who must expound them, for women who must listen, and for husbands who must discuss them with their wives at home.

First, consider the context. Paul is speaking about the corporate gatherings, indicated by his use of the word "church" (Greek ekklesia) nine times in this chapter. Second, he has established that the gathering ought to be conducted decently and in order. Third, what he says about women in verses 34–35 flows directly out of what he just said about weighing and judging prophecy in verses 29–33.

Many translations and commentators link verse 33b with verse 34: "As in all the churches of the saints, let your women keep silence in the churches." There is a question whether verse 33 should end with a period or a comma; the King James has a comma, but the ESV, NIV, NLT, and others place a period. This matters because if it reads "as in all the churches of the saints," then Paul is not merely addressing Corinthian culture but giving instruction for all the churches.

The word translated "permitted" literally means to turn over to or to commit unto. Paul is saying it is not committed unto women to hold the position he is here speaking of. And the context (verses 29–33) is the weighing, discerning, and judging of prophecy in the corporate gathering. Is this merely a cultural issue? Paul does not point to culture. He says they are "commanded to be under obedience, as also says the law"—a reference back to Genesis 3:16, where the woman's desire shall be to her husband and he shall rule over her. Paul appeals to God's command and to His creative order.

We see the same in 1 Timothy 2:11–14: "Let the women learn in silence with all subjection... For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in transgression." Again Paul goes back to the creative order, not to Ephesian or Corinthian culture.

Equality, Not Inferiority

Paul is not a chauvinist who hates women. Wherever the gospel and the Spirit of God go, women receive rights they never had in their culture or previous religion, because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Consider the difference: American culture, even with its extremes, is built on the Judeo-Christian principle that all are created equal. Then consider Saudi Arabia. Which affords more rights to women—a worldview that says all are created equal, or Allah? I will let you think about that.

Every instruction Paul gives is in response to what was happening at Corinth. If the women are told to keep silence regarding the weighing and judging of prophecy, then we know women had taken a central place in objecting and judging. Paul is not declaring them unequal; he is upholding a creative order. In 1 Corinthians 11:1–16 Paul makes clear that women have the equal ability to prophesy, but in line with what God has ordained—"every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head." They must be under proper authority when they speak forth prophetically.

We must interpret chapter 14 in line with chapter 11, because Paul does not contradict himself. The best conclusion I can come to is that it is not committed unto women in the church to weigh and judge the interpretation of prophecy given in the gathering; that is restricted to male leadership. This has nothing to do with the inferiority of women. The Christian worldview grants more rights to women, and more equality between genders, than any other.

What about verse 35—that women should ask their husbands at home? Paul is saying that if a woman desires to inquire about something said in the gathering, she should ask her husband at home because she is in subjection to her own husband. Our culture rejects that, and so today the primary spiritual leaders in many homes are women. If we followed God's word here, it would force men to step up and be more godly. You want your husband to be a spiritual leader? Then submit to him as a spiritual leader instead of taking the reins. I am sure this is God's word, and I am sure women in Corinth were freaking out over it too.

These Are the Commandments of the Lord

What? Came the word of God out from you, or came it only to you? If any man think himself to be a prophet or a spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

This is not something Paul made up; it is the commandment of God. Weigh it out as spiritual, intelligent people. But if anyone wants to disagree, "let him be ignorant"—he disregards God's word, not Paul's. J.B. Phillips translates: "Do I see you questioning my instructions? Are you beginning to imagine that the word of God originated in your church, or that you have a monopoly on God's truth?" David Guzik writes that some think if they are really spiritual, they need not obey God's word on these matters—but if they are really spiritual, they will stick to God's word and not go beyond it.

Many in our Western culture say Paul's words to women were only for the first century. To that, Paul might reply with Job's words to his friends: "No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you" (Job 12:2). I also think of Jesus' proverb in Luke 7:35: "Wisdom is justified of her children." The wisdom of a teaching is proven right or wrong by the fruit it brings. Step back, look at Western culture, and weigh the fruit. It is something to chew on.

Closing Exhortation

Wherefore, brethren, desire to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. Let all things be done decently and in order.

God is not the author of disorder; therefore we ought to conform our gatherings to His character. We should desire spiritual gifts—especially those that bring edification to the whole—and we should not forbid speaking in tongues, as long as it conforms to what is decent and in order. You can almost hear Paul say, if you do these things, you do well. And I guarantee you will see great fruit in your life, your marriage, and your family if you accord your life to the rule of God. If you do not agree, check it out, try it out—you are prudent people who can figure these things out.

Closing Prayer

Father, sometimes Your word is hard to grapple with. But Lord, I ask that You would help us, aid us by Your Spirit, to take these things. If anything has been said today that is purely of me, cause it to shrivel up and die. But Lord, we want Your word to stand true and strong in our lives. We want Your word to direct our lives. So help us to submit ourselves to Your word, Your will, and Your Spirit as we follow You this week. In Jesus' name, amen.