1 Corinthians 14:27 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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1 Corinthians 14:27

Comments

The apostle sets a limit on how many tongues speakers should participate in a service of worship, and of course never two people speaking same time. This implies that the tongues speakers – two or three at most – occupied a particular part of the service. They didn’t dot about. Somebody didn’t come along and say, ‘O, wouldn’t the service be more interesting and more entertaining if we draw it up like this: we start with the prophet, then we have a tongues speaker, then we have a teacher, then we have another tongues speaker; and we dot them through the service, so there is lots of variety and fun and things going on.’ They didn’t approach worship like that. This was reverent; this was orderly – two or three at most, and, of course, one after the other. Those are the tongues speakers, and they bring a message from God, and a word of exhortation. Then the prophets speak, consecutively. ‘And let one interpret’, the verifier who corroborates the meaning of the tongue by giving the same inspired interpretation for that tongue. But if the tongues speaker cannot get a clear message in his mind, or if there is no corroboration, then he just prays to God and he keeps it to himself.

Application

It was quite plain, the way the apostle gives it. The service wasn’t designed to be full with novelties and surprises. Sometimes people say to us, ‘O, your traditional, nonconformist service, it is so plain, it is so unadorned.’ And it has been called, with some derision, ‘a hymn-prayer sandwich’. Well, that ignores the preaching, which is in there too. I would say, it is possibly one of the best parts of the sandwich, but anyway, there it is. It is plain. But you see, that is how it ought to be. We are not here to tickle the fancy of the congregation. ‘What is going to happen today? What is going to happen next? Is it going to be something else, something different, some novelty?’ No, you know exactly what to expect. You compose your minds and your hearts, and you participate with all your being. There are no novelties here. There is Scripture, and Christ, and worship; the explanation, the doctrine, and the preaching. Yes, it is always in the same order; and that is good. It is about content, and sincerity, and earnestness, and clarity; that is what matters.

Questions

Outline

Purpose

Introduction

1 Corinthians 14:27 Commentary and Bible Study