Decently and in Order

14, 33b through 40.

And what can happen with a text like this is we can isolate what is said in this passage and do a lot of destruction with it.

Or we can look at this beginning passage and see that this doesn't fit our worldview.

This doesn't fit our modern culture in time.

In fact, you know, we're in 2020, we're kind of past this.

What we have to do when we approach a text like this is that we have to realize that the word of God is for all of his people throughout all of time.

The word of God does not change.

We change, we uh uh evolve in our worldview, in our values and systems, but the word of God does not change us.

So we have to constantly work to align ourselves and submit ourselves with what God has declared.

And before we really dive into this, I want to speak to something.

I can understand is I've worked with a lot of women throughout ministry where this can automatically cause us to put up a defense mechanism, right?

It'll automatically cause us to put up a defense mechanism because we have been uh people who have been affected by the abuse of toxic masculinity.

We've been people who have had our trust broken because when we tried to put that trust into a sinful man, it was uh abused, it was battered, and it caused us to protect ourselves rather than trust.

And so what we tend to do is we tend to project our own experience and the ways that we have uh have been hurt and harmed throughout life onto God.

And it really limits our ability to fully trust him, it really limits our ability to fully have relationship with him and believe in his promises because we're allowing the effects of sinful people and the ways that they've harmed us and hurt us to color that, right?

And so what God is asking all of us to do, no matter our gender, is to submit to his word because he is a good, holy, loving Father who loves his children and in full obedience to his word, will we find life, peace, joy, and freedom.

And so we, as we approach this text, that's one thing that we have to work is not to try and place our own bias or our own ways of which we've been harmed or hurt in our past, to dismiss, to throw out, to compromise what the Bible is clearly saying about his people and how they should live their lives within the church.

So if we approach this text, one thing that we also have to realize is that we could mistakenly pluck out this top statement, right?

As in all the churches of the saints, woman women should keep silent.

We can pluck this out and try to prop it up as some type of isolated reality or or inference, but what we have to understand is that this is a part of a longer segment of instructions that Paul has placed upon the church at Corinth to be able to create order in the church.

To create order, decency, and order in the church in regards to spiritual gifts.

So he's not just all of a sudden coming in and playing uh applying restrictions upon women.

What he's doing is he's continuing his thought of what it means to cultivate decency and order within the church.

This is just an ingredient of it.

And finally, before we walk in, what we have to understand too is that Paul does not do this from a position of archaic uh uh non-progressive thought and worldview.

So Paul is not a person in ancient Jerusalem who or in Rome or wherever he's at writing this letter right.

He's not a person who devalues women, who only sees them as property, who has a who has a short-sighted view of the power and beauty of womanhood.

That's that's not what's happening here.

Paul is old, so it's not this misogynistic restriction.

Paul always points to a greater narrative or purpose for why he applies restrictions to either men or women.

And he'll do that here in this text.

It's gonna be beyond cultural preference, and it's gonna stretch to the created order of man and woman made in the image of God.

Because that's from that theological perspective, is how we have to work to understand ourselves in relationship to God and ourselves in relationship to one another.

So, as we start to dive into this, the first thing that we're gonna see is 33b through 36 is kind of one complete thought.

And I think that this is what it would be trying to summarize to us.

The created order informs the conduct of the church.

The created order informs the conduct of the church.

We're gonna navigate and dive into what that really means.

Now, before we do, it's important to notate that verse 33 is actually split.

So if you have your Bible out and you're looking at a different translation than the ESV, you'll see that 33 is split, either tethering itself to what precedes it, or tethering itself to what procedes it.

What we have to do is understand why this is.

The main objective is to understand if the second half of 33 is connected to what precedes or proceeds it.

If it's connected to what precedes it, then it's speaking about the character of God.

So what Paul left off before he started this passage was for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.

So if we tether 33B, that beginning section, to what precedes it, then it's speaking to the nature and character of God.

However, I would argue and submit that this would be redundant and unnecessary, as God's character is unchanging, uncontextual, and immutable.

So what I mean by that is God is the same throughout all time for all people.

The Bible says that God has no shadow or turning about him.

So to try and say that God is the same here as he is there is redundant and unnecessary according to the God of whom Paul preaches.

He's already established the character of God that is consistent throughout all people, throughout all time.

So it would be redundant and unnecessary to tether 33b to what preceded it.

If it's connected to what procedes it, then Paul's establishing this authoritative order and conduct for the churches in regard to women.

For the churches in regard to women.

I would submit that the second part of 33 is setting up what is to follow it.

Conduct for women in the church.

Now, here's the reality.

Genesis 2, when we talk about the created order, Genesis 2 shows us that God made man in his own image.

Male and female, he created them.

As we start to navigate gender, we have to realize that gender is extremely important.

Extremely important because of this.

Gender alone, or I should say, no gender by itself, fully reflects and represents the image of God of which it is created in.

This is why we believe and have need for the complementary gender to be joined together with the other to fully demonstrate and portray the image of God.

Man by himself cannot fully reflect God.

Woman by herself cannot fully reflect God.

In fact, what we see is that when Eve was pulled out of Adam's chest, made from his rib, it's the first time in the original language that we have male and female, the Ish and the Esha.

Before that, when it was just Adam, we had the Adam, we had the human being.

And it was when he was separated that we have male and female.

This also points to the reality and mystery of Ephesians, where Paul says that when the two flesh come together, they become one again.

So when husband and wife in the consummation of their marriage actually rejoin the Isha and Isha together to reflect the Adam or the fullness of the image of God.

So when we start to look at restrictions placed on women and why are they placed on women, we have to point to the created order.

We have to point to something bigger than itself.

Now we could start with women keep silent, right?

We could just start there.

But I think that that's going to create a lot more confusion and potential harm if we solely start there.

Because what we have to be committed to do is practice what we call good hermeneutics.

Hermeneutics is just a big word for how do you study the Bible.

One of the laws of hermeneutics is that we allow scripture to interpret scripture.

So here's where we get into trouble.

We take a verse like women keep silent.

We pluck that out, out of its context, out of the other verses of the scripture, and we isolate it and we make doctrine or we make teachings about it or we establish legalistic laws within the church.

The Christians have done this for a long time.

The church has been guilty of this for so long.

If we're going to practice faithful hermeneutics, then what we have to do is be committed to allowing Scripture to interpret and inform Scripture so that we seek to understand the whole counsel of God, not just parts and fragments of it in isolation.

So if we were going to do that faithfully, then we can start as we begin to look into this perspective of restriction placed upon women here, it would actually do us well to first look at other places where women are encouraged and given freedom to speak, even prophesy in and outside of the assembly.

So let's look at that.

Acts 2, 16 through 18.

This is Peter standing up at the day of Pentecost, preaching to those who were listening around him as the feast was uh taking place there.

Peter stands up and he quotes the prophet Joel from the Old Testament, and he says, This, but this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel.

And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.

Your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams, even on my male servants and female servants, in those days will I pour out my spirit, and they shall prophesy.

So this is God through the prophet Joel showing and revealing to his people his will.

You see, one of the things that we've done within the church, especially in the Reformed tradition, is that we've so elevated a specific context that we've stripped and robbed the other powerful places of which we should demonstrate the gifts of God.

Here's one of them.

We've elevated the pulpit to a place it was never meant to be.

We've elevated the pulpit and preaching behind it to such a degree that people leave believing they should not be preaching.

That's not in the scriptures, that's nowhere in the New Testament.

Women and men should inside and should outside of the church be preaching, proclaiming, evangelizing, teaching.

All Christians are called to do those things.

But there's restriction upon context.

There's not restriction upon, or it doesn't speak to the action itself.

So women are supposed to prophesy.

We don't see that they should not.

We see restriction on context of how, when.

Acts 21, 9.

Speaking of the four daughters of Philip.

He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

This is important because when we look at the Bible, we have two common ways to understand God's will for our life when we're studying the Bible.

There is prescriptive text and descriptive text.

And we've talked about this a ton of times, but prescriptive text is simply very prescriptive commands of God for his people.

Easiest way to understand that, thou shalt, thou shalt not of the Ten Commandments, right?

Thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not murder.

Those are all extremely, extremely important prescriptive commands of the scripture.

Now, I'll pick up this here.

Just mute that one.

So commands of the scripture.

We have descriptive text also that helps inform us of God's will for our life.

So, part of the descriptive text would be King David having an affair and having a child out of wedlock with Bathsheba.

Now, that's a descriptive text.

However, that doesn't inform us of how God desires us to live our life.

Because we have prescriptive text that is authoritative that teaches us thou shalt not commit adultery.

And we see descriptive where someone was disobedient to it.

So this is what I'm trying to communicate is that when the descriptive text affirms the prescriptive text, when what we see in the narrative, in the story of the Bible, affirms the clear commands of God, there we can find harmony with what God desires for our lives to look like.

And so when we have the prophet Joel declaring that God's spirit will be poured out on all flesh, and his sons and daughters shall prophesy, and then we see the descriptive reality of Acts 21 9, speaking of the four daughters of Philip, that he had four unmarried daughters who prophesied, we can determine that this is a revelation of God's will for his people.

Also, 1 Corinthians 11 5.

Paul, earlier in this same letter, where he is currently, what we're going through in 1 Corinthians 14, has applied restriction to women in speaking, he gives permission and encouragement to speak earlier in the exact same letter.

1 Corinthians 11 5.

But every wife who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, since it is the same as if her head were shaven.

Now we could get into the weeds of the end of 5, 6, 7, 8 going on head coverings and if your head's shaven or not shaven and what length is appropriate, so forth.

We're not going into that.

That's not what we're here for.

What we're here to see is the beginning, part 11, 5.

But every wife who what praise or prophesies.

This is this encouragement.

This is this permission that Paul's giving to women to in the midst of the church gathered speak.

So these are both prescriptive and descriptive in nature, pointing to a God ordained and willed desire to have women full of the Spirit who speak to proclaim the Word of God.

We cannot approach this text in isolation.

We are obligated to understand it in the midst of the total counsel of the word.

So as we're looking at, as in all the Church of the Saints, women are not to speak.

We have to first look at places in the Scriptures, places by Paul himself where he is both given permission and encouraged women to proclaim truth.

We would do well also to examine the places in Scripture where the command to be silent is given to both women and men.

So as we look at this, we can say, well, look at Paul trying to quiet women up, right?

That's not what's happening at all.

In fact, we see other places in the scripture where the command to be silent is placed upon men also.

If we just go up a few verses to 1 Corinthians 14, 28, we'll see it there.

But if there's no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God.

So in referring to someone using the gift of speaking in tongues, Paul gives instruction, no matter your gender, for decency and order, which is done so by keeping silent at the proper time and in the proper place.

Also in First Corinthians 14 30, speaking of those who would prophesy, if a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent.

So Paul equates, as he's writing to the Church of Ephesus, specifically to Pastor Timothy, Paul equates quietness with godliness and a dignified life.

These passages help us to understand that instruction to remain silent never falls solely on the basis of gender.

But it falls on the basis of context.

Though gender at times plays a significant and necessary role in understanding and applying these instructions, the command to keep silent is never based alone or solely on a person's gender.

So what do I mean by that?

Again, there's never a restriction placed upon an individual or a group of people simply based on their gender.

That gender is always coupled or married to context.

Where are they?

What's going on?

What's happening?

What would decency and order look like in this space and time?

Gender might be a qualifying factor of that.

However, it is never by itself a means for restriction.

So with these two understandings, we're left to work to understand why there is instruction for silence, number one, and why here is it being applied to women, number two.

In the New Testament, there are always contextual limitations on the verb to be silent.

There are always contextual limitations on it.

This word never implies total silence on all speech, but it is restricted by place and time.

The context of the instruction for silence in regard to the let the others weigh what is said is found in verse 29 above.

So what are we talking about?

When Paul's right here saying, as in all the churches of the saints, women are to keep silent.

What is he flowing out of?

He's giving the entire church instruction on what prophecy should look like if it was practiced within the church.

He gave certain instructions as in only let two or three at most prophesy.

He gave instruction as if someone has a revelation, let the others remain silent.

He also gave instruction that once a prophecy is spoken, let the others weigh what is said.

Now he's flowing into who is it that's weighing?

Who has the authority to weigh or judge or discern a prophetic utterance?

And the restriction is applied there.

In the place of authoritative judgment, let the women keep silent.

There is a context of authoritative judgment being administered in the midst of the congregation.

It's being applied to women because women are not to exercise authority over men in the church, since they do not represent the authoritative head.

So let's look at this.

First Timothy 2, 12 through 13.

Do I do not permit a woman to teach?

This is Paul writing.

I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man.

Rather, she is to remain quiet.

Why?

This is the qualifier, right?

When we read this passage, this last statement is the qualifier for why Paul says this.

For Adam was formed first, then Eve.

Women do not represent the authoritative head, and therefore must not usurp it in their conduct.

Jesus is the head of the church.

Male elders represent the headship of Christ in the church.

Husbands represent the headship of Christ in the home.

So this is what Paul's referring to.

He is speaking to the created.

Order.

He's not trying to misogynistically create restriction around women alone.

He's trying to point to a greater truth in reality, looking at how God has made us.

And God has made men designed specifically to function as the head and representatives of the head Jesus over his church.

We see this even in the story of Adam and Eve.

So as Eve was being tempted by the serpent to eat the fruit, the Bible says that, and she turned to her husband who was with her, and he ate also.

Then God comes into the garden with some rhetorical questions.

What's going on?

Who did this?

And who does he go to first?

He goes to Adam.

Why does he go to Adam?

Adam was the head of Eve.

Adam had authority and responsibility over the woman.

Adam quickly says, Oh, it was that woman you gave me, right?

And then Eve says, Well, no, it was the snake.

He tempted me.

And then God begins to lay curses upon man and woman.

And one of the curses that God places upon woman is not simply that you'll have pain in childbirth, but he gives this curse.

He says, You will desire your husband, but sh but he will rule over you.

What God is putting upon woman as a curse in Genesis 3 is that that headship, that authority, that responsibility, women will desire to have for themselves.

And there will be constant tension and struggle as women reach up to usurp that headship in improper and sinful ways.

You see, women aren't designed to bear not just the authority, but they're not designed to bear the responsibility that comes with headship.

Men should be the ones with strong knees and strong backs to bear the weight of responsibility for the flourishing of the women in our lives.

And that's something that we have damaged and destroyed.

That's something that we as men have abused and not taken seriously.

Not only have we in toxic masculinity harmed women by this enslaving, oppressive authority, but we have also harmed women in the pushing off of responsibility and acting as if they should carry the load instead of ourselves.

So we have actually harmed women in both ways, both in toxic masculinity and in effeminate masculinity.

One who abuses their authority and the other who displaces and pushes it off onto those who should not bear it.

So women do not represent the authoritative head and therefore must not usurp it in their conduct.

Women are to prophesy, to preach, to evangelize, to teach, but always in proper conduct and context.

You will never find anywhere in the scriptures where women should wholeheartedly just keep silent.

It's not there.

Even in the passages of passages of 1 Timothy, of which we spoke of, women are encouraged to teach other women.

We see where women disciples actually discipled Paul and corrected him in certain ways in privacy and in the gospel of Jesus.

We see where women prophesy, where they proclaimed and evangelized the gospel of Jesus.

We do wrong when we isolate preaching and proclamation to this context.

The Bible doesn't do that, and we need to liberate the church to be those who preach, prophesy, proclaim, teach, evangelize in all of life.

God does not hear this church.

God does not rob women of their voice.

He establishes order so that the power of their voice would be best felt.

God does not rob women of their voice.

He doesn't do it just for women, he does it for all of his church.

In the instructions that precede this command, the reason he says that a prophet should only speak if there are no others, or they should give turn to one another, a preference to one another, so that a single voice can be heard.

Why does he do that?

He's not creating restriction on silence to oppress the voices of the other prophets.

He's creating an orderly space so that the voice of the prophet might be heard, felt, and for the beneficial good of the church who's supposed to receive it.

And in the same way, he is creating a space for women, not to rob them of their voice, but so that the power of their voice will be best felt.

It says also that women are also to inquire about what was said in the assembly at home and be taught by their husbands.

So if a woman desires to know or understand what was said, or would like someone to educate them on what is said, the Paul gives command for them to go home and ask their husbands to be taught.

This is where husbands need to man up.

We've talked about the restrictions on the wife, but let's talk about men for a little bit here.

Men need to man up.

You, man, represent the headship of Christ in your home.

You are called to pastor, protect, and provide for your family.

When it talks about pastoring your wife, it's about shepherding her affections, not just her behavior, but her affections and heart to love Jesus all the more.

It's sinful for man to try and foster the affections of his wife's heart solely to love him.

If our work and labor isn't to foster the affections of her heart to love Christ greater, we are creating an idol of ourselves rather than pointing them to their Savior.

We bear the responsibility for the spiritual development of our wives and children in our home.

That's our responsibility.

I love Paul Washer.

If you've ever listened to Paul Washer, I highly encourage you to.

If you just want to feel bad about yourself for like a week, listen to Paul Washer, right?

But he has this ability to just make these statements that are so gut-punching.

And I heard him once say this.

He said, when we think about the spiritual responsibility of our home, when we think about the spiritual development and responsibility of our wife, it should sicken us as men so greatly that the thought of handing her off to another man for spiritual development is as if we were handing her off for physical pleasure.

That's what it should feel like for us to hand over that responsibility to someone else.

Oh, ask Pastor Justin.

Oh, ask your mission group leader.

Oh, ask this other person.

Not that we shouldn't be humble in our pursuit of knowing God and his word better, that we might educate and be able to educate, but when we push off our own responsibility onto other men, it should sicken us to the measure as if we handed them over for physical pleasure.

Paul was letting them know, men, you must be able to educate and teach your wife and family in regards to the word of God.

That's my responsibility, not some other man's.

I represent the headship of Christ.

I'm called the pastor and shepherd the heart of my wife and children.

I bear the responsibility.

And as I am called to, like Christ loved the church, that he gave himself up for her and laid down his life for her.

That's the way that the headship that I hold should look to my family.

Not that they serve me, but I lay down my life to serve them.

Paul concludes this section with a rhetorical question for the Corinthians.

He asks at the end here, Was it from you that the Word of God came, or are you the only ones of which it has reached?

They were not the ones from which the Word of God came, nor the only ones that the Word of God had reached.

Paul was letting them know two things.

Hey, Corinthians, you're not that special.

And two, God is not different in your church.

You see, what he was trying to show is the unchangeableness of God, that he's not unique in this church versus this church, or you're not that special to where you can do things differently than what God has clearly instructed for all of his church to be obedient toward.

Verse 37 through 40, I would summarize like this.

These are Jesus' gifts given to us for his glory in our good.

These are Jesus' gifts given to us for his glory in our good.

At the end of this section on spiritual gifts, Paul bookends it with what he wrote at the beginning.

So in the beginning of verse chapter 12, he shows us that the epitome of spirituality is that Jesus is Lord.

Jesus is Lord is ultimate spirituality and the litmus test to our spiritual lives and conduct.

If we truly want to boast that we are spiritual, if we truly want to believe that the way that we live our lives is spiritual, then what will be the anthem of both our proclamation and the way in which we conduct ourselves?

It will be that Jesus is Lord.

That is the epitome of spirituality.

Why is it so important to know and understand what Jesus has commanded about these gifts?

Because these are his gifts, not ours.

We're simply stewards of them.

They're given to effectually accomplish a specific purpose, to build up Jesus' church.

And they demonstrate in practice of these gifts should proclaim that Jesus is Lord.

And so we as a church have to labor to submit ourselves in obedience to how God has declared these gifts should operate within his church.

Not just prophecy in tongues, but all the gifts where we have clear instruction, we have obligation to submit to it.

Because these aren't our gifts.

They're not here to make much of ourselves.

They are his gifts to build up and mature his church.

In his final refrain, we're encouraged imperatively.

We're encouraged imperatively, one final time to earnestly desire to prophesy and not to forbid speaking in tongues.

If Paul has not made it clear yet, he will attempt to do so one final time.

Desire the gifts and do not forbid any of them.

Desire the gifts and do not forbid.

The gifts of the Spirit, all of them are good and beneficial.

Yet they must be practiced with word-informed discipline so that the whole church may benefit.

This is what Paul is encouraging us about the character and nature of God.

God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.

Therefore, because we are to imitate and reflect the image of the God whom we call his own, we should be doing all things decently and in order.

This really speaks to the totality of the church's conduct.

We are not to dictate what is right.

We are to submit to what has been declared for us in our worship, in our polity, our faith practice.

We have an obligation to submit.

We try to become our own gods, though, when we try to dictate what is right in our own minds, instead of submit to what has already been revealed as true.

In the end, we are showing our true belief of the word of God.

It is either his word for us or it isn't.

If it is, then we have an obligation to inform ourselves with it and submit to it.

This is what I mean.

We have to ask ourselves as Christians, is God's word sufficient?

Is God's word authoritative?

Is God's word for us?

And when we answer that question, that dictates an obligation to submit to this word in every aspect.

We don't have the freedom to dictate what is truth.

We don't have the freedom to dictate what we desire.

We have an obligation, rather, to submit.

But many of us fall short.

And some of us, we believe that the word of God originates from us.

We believe the word of God originates from us.

We establish the order by our own terms and understanding.

We try to dictate how God will be worshipped, have relationship with us, what his character is.

We act as though we're able to tell God who he should be.

And let's break this down.

We do this constantly within culture and within the church.

When we look at how God should be worshipped, with inside of the church, we always have these worship wars.

And here, as somebody who has led worship for about two decades, spoke at a bunch of worship conferences and trained worship leaders and all these other things, here's a part of the conversation that is almost never there.

How has God revealed that he would be worshiped?

That's almost never a part of the conversation.

Here's what it boils down to personal preference.

I like music this way.

I like prayer this way.

I like this this way.

And that's what we do.

Then we function and form inside of personal preference rather than seek to submit to the way of which God has declared and revealed to us how He will be worshipped.

He is God.

We are not.

When He says, This is how you will worship me, we need to open our ears and hearts to listen and obey.

We also do this about how we'll have relationship with Him, right?

I don't know how many times in ministry you hear, oh, you know, me and Jesus have our own personal relationship.

No, you don't.

You are not that special, right?

I don't know if that breeds into some kind of culture where we just think we're so unique and so special that God Himself, the creator of all things, looked through space and time of all the people of which he breathed the breath of life into, stopped with you, and said, You, you are the climax of my creation.

You surpass all people of which I have made before and will ever make after.

And therefore, I will have a personal, unique relationship with you, unlike which I will have a relationship with anyone else.

We act that way.

That's a belief in the church and in culture that I can love Jesus in my own way and by my own terms.

I hate to tell you this, but God establishes the terms for how you will have a relationship with him.

You cannot have a relationship with him unless you have placed your faith and trust in the finished work of his son Jesus in his death, burial, and resurrection.

And I will add this to it.

You cannot have a relationship with Jesus and uh and not have uh you can't have a relationship with Jesus and not have one with his church.

You can't say you love Jesus and turn around and call his mother names.

He ain't gonna stand for it.

It is dictated by his revelation to us that an aspect necessary for relationship with him is that you also have a relationship with his bride, the church.

We don't get to dictate these things.

We have an obligation to submit to him.

Lastly, his character.

When we look at how we like to have the word of God originate from us, we like to dictate and establish what his character should look like.

And so when we grab onto one aspect of the personhood of God, specifically that God is love, first off, we're creating an oversimplified God when one who reveals himself in eternal complexity, to dwindle him down to simply God is love.

God is many things.

God is wrath, God is just, God is merciful, God is gracious, God is vengeful.

So, but not only do we simplify and extract one aspect of his character, then we think we have the audacity to define what that love should look like.

And we set the terms of what love is: how inclusive, how accepting, how whatever it should be.

And when it doesn't match up with what we think love should look like, we reject God at best, or at worst, worship a God of our own imagination.

Rather than worshiping the God of whose image we were made in, we worship a God of our own imagination.

But we also pride ourselves on and lust after novelty.

We also pride ourselves on and lust after novelty.

We embrace new teachings and movements without much discernment, either because we are unequipped to discern or because our appetites have been satisfied by the newness.

And this is happening rampantly within the church.

And I and without going to grave detail, if we just simply look at what we call the social justice gospel, we have jumped on the train without much discernment at all and understanding its implications and its negative effects of the gospel of Jesus itself.

Because here's what we are actually confessing when we are placing ourselves within the social justice gospel.

We are stating that sin and wickedness will be eradicated by the revolution and transformation of systemic processes and powers instead of the sin in man's heart must be eradicated by the faithful repentance and trusting of the gospel of Jesus in his death, burial, and resurrection.

We actually strip the gospel completely of its purpose and power, and we put our hope and trust in institution to create widespread eradication of sin rather than in repentance and faith through the preaching of the gospel to conquer the sin in the man's heart.

And so with little discernment, because we are either unequipped to or we are satisfying our appetites by its newness, we jump on these trends and we put shame to the gospel.

This breeds a culture where we displace and push away value for the historical Orthodox teachings of the church and see them as binding and enslaving with the false notion that the new thing will bring us freedom.

However, this is almost never the true story.

The script always flips, and the new thing is what ends up enslaving us.

Freedom is known and sustained in orthodoxy.

Freedom is known and sustained in orthodoxy.

Some of us, though, we believe that the word of God terminates on us.

We believe the word of God terminates on us.

We do not look to the other churches of Jesus to find truth and beauty.

We believe that we have it all right and have no space in our lens to see the beauty and truth in diversity.

Since we got it right long ago, we can then target anyone who disagrees with us as an enemy.

This cuts the legs off the beautiful diversity of the church and restricts freedom where it's granted.

We need to open our gaze broader to realize that we can learn more about God through diversity than we can through homogeny.

While we must be relentless protectors of sound doctrine, we must also recognize that we have forcefully shoved some things into a closed hand that were never intended to be there.

We've done this in the church throughout time.

We've put things in this closed hand.

Hand, whether it be what you can wear, what music you can listen to, whether it be how you should act in certain spaces, what you can or cannot do, we shove these things in these closed hands, or even not just in legalistic terms, even though it turns itself into legalism, we put certain doctrinal positions in this closed hand where there's freedom, where there's freedom to navigate that in this kind of more open water to try and understand God better through his diversity.

But we shoved it in a closed hand unnecessarily, that actually brought more damage to the church than benefit.

What if the differing views of the church in places where there's freedom actually helps us to see a more majestic and grandor portrait of the God we serve?

Think about that.

If we had a more open lens, if we set our gaze broader to the diversity and beauty of the church, and we didn't put everything that we believe in such a tight, closed fist, maybe we'd actually be able to see God bigger and better.

The beauty of the gospel for us is this that Jesus is the head of the church establishing decency and order for her good.

Jesus is the head of the church establishing decency and order for her good.

Jesus is the head, the chief pastor, the senior, or the chief shepherd, the senior pastor.

Jesus is Lord.

This is his church.

These are his gifts.

It is his worship.

We are his people.

There is nothing under heaven and earth which is not declared mine by him.

And he has revealed his character and will for us through his word.

And it's through this word that decency and order is established and communicated.

You see, Jesus is the good and perfect head.

Many of us have issues submitting, trusting, honoring people in authority over us, whether it be our spouses, our employers, people of power and position in our systems and structures.

We have this.

Why?

Because we have felt the effects of sinful people.

And it's caused that trust to break.

It's caused that ability to submit where we now protect and buck back and rebel.

But Jesus is the good and perfect head of which, when we submit ourselves under him, he has already demonstrated, not just empty promises.

He has demonstrated that he would lay his life down for your ultimate flourishing.

You want to have purpose, meaning, peace, hope, joy in your life.

Here's how you find it: place yourself in joy-filled submission under the true and better head, Jesus our Lord.

We pursue submissive obedience to the word for three reasons.

Number one, obedience brings him glory.

Obedience brings him glory.

When we obey his word, he is glorified in our lives.

And so if we desire to bring God glory, then we should desire to obey his word.

Obedience brings us joy.

Obedience brings us joy.

This is what's wild.

This is what's wild.

Freedom is not found in hedonism.

Freedom is not found in the pursuit of all things and all things being lawful.

Freedom is found in restriction.

And that doesn't make sense in our brain when we really think about it, but it's true.

If Christ did not apply order to our lives and how we would submit to him and how we would live, we would destroy ourselves.

In fact, that's all we discover.

When we find ourselves outside of Christ, we tend to destroy ourselves and destroy others in the pursuit of the very things of which he says, if you'll just come unto me, I will give you rest.

My yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Why?

Because when we come under his restrictions, we actually find freedom.

But when we try to find freedom in freedom, chaos, confusion, we destroy ourselves and destroy others.

Obedience brings us joy.

Lastly, obedience brings them in.

What I mean by that is our obedience, our conduct as the church is a witness to those who are yet not apart.

When they gaze in upon us and they see us not living in obedience to the word of God, we are fueling their inability or resentment to submit to them.

And we are creating only space for accusation.

Look at the world around us.

The church is full of hypocrites.

They don't even live the way they preach.

I'm not going to go be a part of that.

Look at all the men.

Is the church full of hypocrites?

Absolutely.

Is that why we need grace?

Yeah.

Because we are a bunch of hypocrites.

And that's what we need grace.

That's the beauty of the gospel.

At the same time, let us never use that grace as a license for further rebellion.

But let us adore and cherish such costly grace that was given to us that in joy we submit in obedience to the commands of God.

And so if we want to bring them in, then we will live life of obedience.

We must be a church that lives in active response to the reality of Jesus as our head.

What would this look like if we lived this out?

I got three things, and I'll try to cut this out.

Number one, we would desire the gifts.

I love it when a passage just sets it up for you, like on a T, and you can hopefully I can do something good with it.

But nonetheless, this is straight from the text.

Desire the gifts.

Let me ask you guys, when was the last time you consciously desired the gifts of the Spirit?

Like genuinely consciously desired them.

What would that look like?

What would that look like to consciously desire the gifts of the Spirit?

I think one simple way is that it would become a routine normalcy of your prayer life.

If you actually prayed, right?

We'll start there.

So prayer life one, two, incorporate into prayer life a desire for the gifts, where we recognize and acknowledge the person of the Holy Spirit, equally God in glory and majesty, but distinct in role and function in his personhood.

If we didn't act like we were one-third atheists all the time and we actually said, Hey, Holy Spirit, thank you for the way that you revitalized my heart, regenerated my heart, gave me new life.

Thank you for the way that you fill me.

Thank you for the way that you have sealed me for Christ.

Thank you for the way that you gift your church, that you are sovereign.

I want to desire the gifts.

Holy Spirit, whatever you have for me, I want and I want it all.

What if that was a natural part of your prayer life?

Where you earnestly and consciously desired the gifts?

Number two, forbid none of the gifts.

Forbid none of the gifts.

Listen up, church.

This is an explicit imperative command.

This is as explicit imperative of a command as thou shalt not steal or murder.

Paul is explicitly and imperatively telling the church, do not forbid the gifts.

Specifically, he refers to speaking of tongues.

We should not forbid any of the gifts to be exercised within the church.

We should create a space for them.

We talked about this.

If we don't create a space where people can fail, we're not going to have a space where people step out in faith to try and practice it.

It's not going to be there.

But what if we do?

What if we do have a person one Sunday pop up and start speaking in tongues in the back?

Here's what we do.

Hopefully, we have the we have been informed enough by the Word of God.

We have the boldness of the Holy Spirit and the love for His church that we gently go and correct them, bringing them back to the text of where they're not being obedient to the revealed word of God, encouraging them in their way that they stepped out in faith, and then coming alongside them to see that gift actually demonstrated and represented well within the church properly.

Or we can get hurt and angry and walk out and say, I'm never coming back to that church again.

Which one demonstrates the mind and heart and personhood of Christ a little bit more?

I think the first one.

That's what I'm going to submit.

I think it's the first one.

So we should forbid none of the gifts.

But in grace, in mercy, in tenderness, and love for his church, we should still bring correction, decency, order, but a bearing of the burdens of one another to see that gift mature to a place where it actually benefits the body the way it's supposed to.

Lastly, let our conduct declare Jesus is Lord.

Let our conduct declare Jesus is Lord.

Look, in every aspect of your life, I don't care if it's in your marriage, if it's in your finances, if it's in the way that you are an employer or employee, I don't care if it's in the way that you do recreational sports with your children.

If our conduct does not declare Jesus is Lord, in every aspect of our life, we are spiritually immature children who cannot get off of milk.

If we think we are spiritual, if we think that we are spiritual people, then in our very conduct, our lives would declare Jesus is Lord.

There would not be one aspect of your life that would not seek to declare Jesus is Lord through it.

Not one.

So my heart, my prayer for us as Sacred Mission Church is that we would be a place that desires the gifts to flourish and be practiced and demonstrated among the body.

Not just prophecy and tongues, but hospitality and administration and signs and miracles and healings and whatever God has for us.

I want to desire the gifts as if He's actually giving them out free, right?

Like a college kid signing up for a credit card to get a t-shirt.

I'm gonna wait in line to make sure.

Nobody?

Oh, sorry.

I tried.

But right, I want to desire the gifts.

I want to be there saying, Holy Spirit, whatever you got for me, I want it.

And then I want to be a place where we don't forbid the gifts, but we work to see them flourish for the good of the church and we conduct ourselves, sacred mission, in a way that declares Jesus is Lord.

Let's pray.