Worship Gone Wild | CHURCH IN CHAOS | 1 Corinthians 14:1-40

You're listening to City Church Manchester. We

are a church that invites everyone to enjoy Christ

for the glory of God. If we can serve you in

any way, then visit our website at citychurchmanchester

.org to find out more. Alright, let's open 1

Corinthians, all of chapter 14. Follow the way

of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit,

especially prophecy. For anyone who speaks in

a tongue does not speak to people but to God.

Indeed, no one understands them, but they utter

mysteries by the Spirit. But the one who prophesies

speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging,

and comfort. Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies

themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies

the church. I would like every one of you to

speak in tongues, but even more to prophesy.

The one who prophesies is greater than the one

who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets,

so that the church may be edified. Now, brothers

and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues,

what good will I be to you unless I bring you

some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word

of instruction? Even in the case of lifeless

things that make sounds, such as the pipe or

harp, how will anyone know what tune is being

played unless there is a distinction in the notes?

Again, if the trumpet does not sound a clear

call, who will get ready for battle? So it is

with you. Unless you speak intelligible words

with your tongue, how will anyone know what you

are saying? How will just speaking into the air?

Undoubtedly, there are all sorts of languages

in the world, yet none of them is without meaning.

If then, I do not grasp the meaning of what someone

is saying, I am a foreigner to the speaker. and

the speaker is a foreigner to me. So it is with

you. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit,

try to excel in those that build up the church.

For this reason, the one who speaks in a tongue

should pray that they may interpret what they

say. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays,

but my mind is unproofful. So what shall I do?

I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray

with my understanding. I will sing with my spirit,

but I will also sing with my understanding. Otherwise,

when you are praising God in the spirit, how

can someone else who is now put in the position

of an inquirer say amen to your thanksgiving

since they do not know what you are saying? You

are giving thanks well enough, but no one else

is edified. I thank God that I speak in tongues

more than all of you. But in the church, I would

rather speak five intelligible words to instruct

others than 10 ,000 words in a tongue. Brothers

and sisters, stop thinking like children. In

regard to evil, be infants, but in your thinking,

be adults. In the law, it is written, with other

tongues and through the lips of foreigners, I

will speak to these people, but even then they

will not listen to me. Tongues then are a sign,

not for believers, but for unbelievers. Prophecy,

however, is not for unbelievers, but for believers.

So if the whole church comes together and everyone

speaks in tongues and inquires or unbelievers

come in, will they not say that you are out of

your mind? But if an unbeliever or an inquirer

comes in while everyone is prophesying, they

are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment

by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid

bare. So they will fall down and worship God,

exclaiming, God is really among you. What then,

shall we say, brothers and sisters, when you

come together, each of you has a hymn or a word

of instruction, a revelation, a tongue, or interpretation.

Everything must be done so that the church may

be built up. If anyone speaks in a tongue, two

or at the most three, should speak one at a time,

and someone must interpret. If there is no interpreter,

the speaker should keep quiet in the church and

speak to himself and to God. Two or three prophets

should speak, and the others should weigh carefully

what is said. And if a revelation comes to someone

who is sitting down, the first speaker should

stop. For you can all prophesy in turn so that

everyone may be instructed and encouraged. The

spirits of prophets, are subject to the control

of prophets. For God is not a God of disorder,

but of peace, as in all the congregations of

the Lord's people. Women should remain silent

in the churches. They are not allowed to speak,

but must be in submission, as the law says. If

they want to inquire about something, they should

ask their own husbands at home, for it is disgraceful

for a woman to speak in the church. Or did the

word of God originate with you, or are you only

people it has reached? If anyone thinks they

are a prophet or otherwise gifted by the Spirit,

let them acknowledge that what I am writing to

you is the Lord's command. But if anyone ignores

this, they will themselves be ignored. Therefore,

my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy

and do not forbid speaking in tongues, but everything

should be done in a fitting and orderly way.

Thanks so much and good afternoon everyone. Let

me add my welcome to Ralph. My name is Matt.

I'm one of the leaders here at City Church and

it's my privilege, and I do say that advisedly,

to take us through this passage this afternoon.

Lots in it. Why don't we pray? Heavenly Father,

we come before you knowing that all of your word

is God -breathed. and suitable for encouragement,

correction, exhortation and rebuke. And we do

ask that you would speak to us now. Father, there's

much in this passage for us to consider and to

be challenged by, but we ask above all that you

would show us the Lord Jesus. Amen. Now, when

I was... When I was very small and in primary

school, there was a particular place in my primary

school that I was never, ever allowed to step

into. Now this place in my primary school that

I wasn't allowed to go into, it was how you might

describe, in my imagination, it was a magical

kingdom full of mystery. We believed, as pupils

at the school, that it was filled with all sorts

of treasures and wonders that would make your

eyes bulge if you could only but gaze upon them.

You could walk by this room, but you could never

go in. And perhaps as you walked by, you would

catch snippets of conversations. You would hear

kind of crackles of laughter coming from the

room. But you would never go in. What was this

forbidden place of wonder and mystery? It was

the staff room of the school. It was the staff

room. And so like Indiana Jones, I resolved one

day I would go into this magical kingdom and

see it for myself. I devoted many years of my

life to that quest and eventually, after much

hardship, I achieved a PGCE and I became a trainee

teacher in a school. And I had every expectation

when you finally go into a staff room as a trainee

teacher, and those of you who are teachers, you'll

remember it. You go into the staff room and you

expect it to be, you know, this kind of band

of brothers. Everyone's together, excited about

investing in knowledge and education for the

next generation. And then you actually go in.

And you meet the staff. And sure, there are some

groups within every school staff room who are,

they're idealistic, they're motivated, they get

up each morning wanting to make a difference.

But then there are others, teachers, who are

not like that at all. They really only seem to

be there for themselves. They are there for the

salary, for the pension, for the holidays, for

the convenience of a particular rhythm of life.

Now I share that to you this afternoon because

Paul's concern in our passage is that every church

gathering that should be focused on the Lord

Jesus Christ is in danger of in fact being fractured

into two groups. Those who love themselves and

those who love others. And in this section of

chapters 12 to 14 of 1 Corinthians, Paul is addressing

the fact in these few chapters that the Holy

Spirit has generously given the Church of God

all number of spiritual gifts to believers, but

a little bit like, I don't know, a spiritual

TK Maxx. should we say, that the Corinthian church

were just piling in and seeing what they could

simply grab for themselves and their own ego.

Because what we've seen in these chapters is

that the spiritual gifts are not necessarily

tied to one's maturity. So the church in Corinth

was weaponizing the more attention -grabbing

gifts in order to elevate their own personal

status over others. And Paul's point in these

chapters, and this particular point in chapter

14, is that we are not, as a church, to be participants

in a spiritual Miss World pageant, just kind

of showboating. showing off, but rather we are

to use the gifts and the opportunities of gathering

together in order to encourage others and seek

the growth of others. Look at me at verse 12

of chapter 14. It says this, since you are eager

for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those

that build up the church. I've got two points

for us this afternoon. Point number one is two

attitudes, and point number two is two types

of church service. That's where we're going to

go. So come with me to our first point, two attitudes.

Now, chapter 14, as you will have gathered, is

somewhat controversial. So let me cover a couple

of house rules before we dive into the passage,

because there's a lot to be potentially distracted

by. So here's this one. Paul in chapter 14 is

working on two levels. His big idea, his big

idea overarching is that churches can have two

attitudes at play. One is good and one is bad.

And then on a second level, he's going to make

concrete. these attitudes to the Corinthians

by exploring the Corinthian use of two very specific

gifts that were being used in the church. One

is speaking in tongues and the other is speaking

prophecy. So two levels. So I want you to remember

the two levels, the big picture of the attitudes

and then the second level, the details of the

comparison between these two gifts. Remember

the principles, don't get too distracted by the

details. Now the first of the two attitudes I

summarise as this. Church is about making me

feel good. Church is about making me feel good.

good. I think that's attitude number one. It's

an attitude that Paul's seeing in the church

in Corinth where, to put it in our language,

everything is filtered through the lens of personal

experience. How was the music? Well, I liked

that song. I didn't know that song. I didn't

like this song. I knew that song and I liked

it. How was the sermon? It was okay. It didn't

really engage me. How was the community? So -so.

I saw some of my friends, but most people didn't

really ask me how I was doing. Now, for Paul,

his way of making this attitude concrete within

the church in Corinth is to target their obsession

with their favourite spiritual gift, speaking

in tongues. Well, what is speaking in tongues?

Well, the New Testament actually tells us very,

very little about what this spiritual gift is.

But it does tell us that it is a gift where some

people can speak in a different language, possibly

the language of angels, where the content is

a mystery, but the tone is one of praise and

thanksgiving to God. But most significantly,

this ability, this particular gift, is for the

purpose of encouraging the individual believer.

But, Paul will say, it does not, on its own,

benefit the wider community unless someone has

a gift of interpretation. That's what Paul says

in verse 4. Look with me at verse 4. He repeats

it again in verse 5. In case we missed it, he'll

say it again in verse 12. He'll repeat it in

verse 17. And he'll repeat it again in verse

19. Why is he repeating it so much? Fair question?

It's likely that, let's imagine that we're in

a church service in Corinth. It's likely that

we're in the middle of a church service and one

person starts speaking out loud in this particular

language. And then another person stands up and

they do the same. And by now the whole of the

attention of the congregation is focused on these

people speaking in this strange language. And

such was the... culture in the church in Corinth.

I imagine other people in the church would have

seized their opportunity to show how spiritual

they were by also standing up, speaking joyfully,

happily, full of overflowing thanksgiving in

these languages that no one could recognize.

And what was the result? Massive distraction.

Now, I don't know whether this happened every

week. I don't know whether they were filling

out, I don't know, prayer cards, and then someone

on the balcony stood up and started doing that.

I don't know whether it was when the leader was

going through the notices at the end, people

stood up and started to do it. I don't know.

All we know is Paul's concern is that the exercise

of this particular gift in the gathered congregation

It's as chaotic as feeding time at the zoo. But

I want you to note that Paul isn't suggesting

that the people in the Corinth church were faking

it. He actually says, no, no, the gift of tongues

is good. Look what he notes in verse 18. I thank

God that I speak in tongues more than all of

you. Which is why Paul, I think, is anticipating

the Corinthian response is, well, Paul, if it's

great to do this and there isn't a problem, then

why can't I exercise my freedom to enjoy myself

by using this gift in front of the gathered church?

After all, it's a gift that best fits my spiritual

needs right now. Whereas Paul's point, I think,

in chapter 14 is, It is better to cultivate the

second attitude of building up others at church

more than yourself. That's the second attitude.

And to illustrate this, he focuses on a spiritual

gift called prophecy. What is prophecy? Now,

prophecy is likely to be a spiritual gift that

refers to a direct revelation from God. It's

often spontaneous. It is always consistent with

Scripture. And when it is shared out loud, it

both makes sense and it encourages the wider

church. And Paul holds up the use of prophecy

as another legitimate gift for the church in

Corinth to use. It is a gift from God to his

people. And Paul's point in chapter 14 is that

this gift of prophecy is much better suited to

congregational worship than the gift of tongues.

Look at his explanation of why in verse 9. He

says this. Unless you speak intelligible words

with your tongue, how will anyone know what you

are saying? You will just be speaking into the

air. And that's the heart of Paul's musical illustration

in verses 7 to 8. A different way for us, I think,

to think about it this afternoon here in Manchester

is this. Co -op live. Okay, we all know Co -op

Live. Me and Nod, if you know Co -op Live, what

I'm talking about, I think it's Europe's largest

indoor concert venue. It's just down the road

from here. The BAFTAs were held there a couple

of weeks ago. Huge, huge stadium. I'm pretty

sure that Helen and the team have considered

it as a building alternative for us. Now imagine,

imagine with me, the Co -op Live, you've got

the option of going to two different concerts.

You can only choose one. One concert would be

a toddler on a xylophone. You know, it's only

a couple of hours, toddler on a xylophone. The

other option is listening to a great world -famous

pianist. Now let me ask you this. Which performer's

work is most valuable? Well, both. Both, both

in very different ways. Well, let me ask you

this. Which performer performs with most passion,

most joy, most thanksgiving for their opportunity

to make music? Both, both. Different ways, but

both. But which performer would you rather invite

your friends to listen to, some of whom love

music? and some of whom have never been to a

concert before? Well, the answer is, for most

of us, probably be the pianist. Which is why

in verses 23 to 25, Paul is thinking of an average

church service where there are believers and

non -believers together, and he notes that prophecy

is more likely going to serve the outsider and

the visitor. Now look, Some of you who might

be regulars here are thinking, oh, why did I

invite my friend to church today? Of all passages,

why did they have to come to this one? You might

be a non -Christian thinking, why on earth have

I come today? What is this place? What are these

things that these people are talking about? No,

no, no, no, wait, wait, wait. Before you leave,

this is a really great Sunday for you to be here.

This is a brilliant passage for you. Yes, this

passage is weird. I concede. But it is great

for you to see it. Why? Because you need to know

if you are a non -believer or you are a visitor

here, that although you may be an outsider to

this particular community, the people of this

church are deliberately making choices to put

their preferences aside in order to, A, make

you feel really welcome. And B, they're putting

their preferences aside to make sure that it

is as clear as possible to communicate to you

what we believe about the good news of Jesus.

We will have made choices in terms of the lyrics

of the songs of the speaker who will be on stage.

Even taking the time to explain everything as

thoroughly as we can do so you understand it.

Even though most of us could probably recite

the three notices at the end of the service in

our sleep. We do it for you. So let me apply

this to all of us. The evidence of your spiritual

maturity. is whether or not you ask yourself

this question before you come to church on Sunday.

I wonder who I can step out of my comfort zone

to serve today. That really is the mark of spiritual

maturity among us. And it's also marked by perhaps

a prayer at the end of a Sunday when you go home

and you're preparing for Monday morning, whatever

that might bring, and you say this prayer, Thank

you, Lord, that you use the gifts that you have

given me to make a difference to someone at church

today. I think that is the mark of spiritual

maturity according to the principles. of chapter

14. I wonder how you're getting on with those

types of questions in your own heart. Well, come

with me to our second and final point, two types

of church service. Now, we're midway through

chapter 14. It kind of carves up quite nicely

for us. And the simple summary of the challenge

that Paul is addressing in the church in Corinth

is this. To what extent should a church look

like the surrounding culture and to what extent

should it look very different? To what extent

should it look very similar to the culture and

to what extent should it look different? Let's

make this more personal, more concrete to us

here at City Church. How should City Church look

in the middle of a global international city?

And what should our new church plan in Worsley

look like? What should it look like? You see,

some churches around the world meet in cathedrals

and other churches, well, they meet under the

branches of very large trees. Which one is right

and which one is wrong? Well, actually, there

is a wondrous, wondrous diversity amongst true

churches of God right across the world. Wondrous

diversity. That's great. But the church in Corinth

had imported into their gatherings the whole

of Greco -Roman culture like sugar injected right

into the brain. Factions had been built in this

church around their favorite leaders. Preferential

treatment was given to the rich over the poor

when they gathered for the Lord's Supper. And

the church in Corinth wielded spiritual gifts

like a fashion catwalk, all for compliments and

self -promotion. These were the behaviors more

widely going on in the culture. So in verses

26 to 40, Paul pulls together, I think, the first

14 chapters of the letter of 1 Corinthians by

painting a picture of what an authentic church

experience should feel like. Rules of engagement

before we dive in. Rules of engagement before

we dive in on this one, because again, we all

have opinions. Paul is describing... Specific

things in a particular church, in a particular

culture, in a particular moment of history. And

therefore, church, note the details, but pay

more attention to the principles. Now look with

me at verse 40. Right at the very end of the

chapter. It is Paul's conclusion, but I think

it's a useful guiding summary for us. You see,

there's option one, which is a church service

that feels like a, I don't know, a circus. And

then there's option two, which is Paul's description

in verse 40. Everything should be done in a fitting

and orderly way. He then outlines a number of

ingredients on the service plan for the Corinthian

church in verse 26. Look at verse 26. We're told

that the church in Corinth, they sang, there's

preaching, and there's also revelation. I think

that's likely to mean prophecy going on. And

his point is there is a running order of distinct

sections within this church service. It is not

a TK Maxx church. There is order. In verses 27

to 29, Paul even goes as far as to say how many

participants should be involved in this particular

section in the church in Corinth. Now, look,

is he concerned, like a typical city church,

that the service might run too long? Perhaps.

Is he concerned that if the preacher doesn't

keep to time, that the children will go kind

of, I don't know, all Lord of the Flies out there

because they need food or something like that?

Perhaps. But actually what I think Paul is really

concerned about is the Corinthian habit. Of this

free for all, showboating, spiritual peacocking,

it's my turn to get my preference met. And for

Paul, again, the message is no. No, no, no, no,

church services are not about, it's not about

you. It's about serving others. It's about serving

the believers. It's about serving the non -believers.

And that is best done through order and structure.

Look at verse 26. Everything must be done so

that the church may be built up. And order is

a key ingredient in building up others in the

church. Now, look with me at verses 30 to 33.

Verses 30 to 33 are fascinating. When Paul describes,

when he's making sure that in prophecy section,

no one should hog the mic, he's basically saying

the principle that it is better to be succinct

and not say everything if it maintains order

and structure of the service. Preacher, take

note. But why is he so focused on order in a

church's weekly gathering? Why does it matter

so much? It's because order is the fragrance

of Eden. What do I mean by that? When God created

the world in Genesis 1, he was moving from chaos

of an uncreated world to order. Everything of

its kind, everything in its particular section,

everything in its right place in the right way

so it thrives. It was chaotic and God's creation

makes it beautiful, ordered, structured. That's

not sucking the life out of it. It is nurturing

it to make it fruitful and wonderful. And it

kind of makes sense. You see, you and I live

in a very chaotic city. We have very busy lives.

Many of us feel very overwhelmed by our circumstances

where, if we're honest, isn't there just too

much to do? When was the last time you got to

the end of your to -do list? Don't most of us

feel either on the verge at best of failure and

at worst of burnout? Is that not the boundary

line that we live in? Where the danger of more

mess is not simply that we will be uncomfortable.

The danger is more mess is that it may be the

final straw that breaks the camel's back. If

you're like me, do you not just long for rest?

For green pastures and still quiet waters. Where

should we go for this rest? In this city, Paul's

instruction is come to church. Because there

is the fragrance of Eden. Because there is order

that allows us, undistracted, to see Christ.

Now look. Let's be frank, you may be tired here

at City Church of the predictability of this

many songs and then stand up and then sit down

and then this many songs. You might be tired

of the type of liturgy that we use or the predictability

of the slightly awkward greeting section that

we have or the sermon that always climaxes with

Jesus or always having to fill in the prayer

cards and then the three notices at the end.

Every week, really? But the order. The lack of

chaos that comes with structure is subtly teaching

your restless soul that for a short while on

a Sunday afternoon, this is a safe and good and

nourishing place for you to be. Sure. Sure, it

does not have all of the endless distracting

variety of doom -scrolling your particular algorithms

till 1am in the morning, but that's kind of the

point. Paul says it well in verse 33, for God

is not a God of disorder but of peace, as in

all congregations of the Lord's people. Now,

I was thinking about... kind of quietly tiptoeing

past verses 34 to 35. But I figured you might

want to talk about it. Now, okay. 34, 35. Remember

the context is a chaotic service where lots of

people were likely to be speaking over the top

of each other in... in trying to use their gifts,

including the gifts of prophecy. And Paul is

teaching them that the drama of a church service

mustn't be in the behavior of the people, but

actually the drama should all be in the words

of God. See, I think we can understand what's

going on here in a particular way. Let me briefly

go through. The word women in our passage can

also be interpreted as wives, and that is likely

to be the case with the reference in verse 35.

to them speaking to their husbands. We also know

that Paul doesn't actually have a problem with

women publicly participating in church services,

because in chapter 11, verse 5, he notes that

women can pray and prophesy. So bringing these

things together, what exactly is going on? Well,

I think the likelihood is this. In chapter 11

of 1 Corinthians, there is a concern that women

should not follow the trend in the culture and

publicly dishonor their marriages. And so again

in chapter 14, I think Paul is saying that women

should not negatively cross -examine their own

husbands when their own husbands are prophesying.

I think there was an issue of heckling going

on in the crowd. Now, I don't know exactly what

was going on in the church of Corinth, but Paul

is clearly concerned that marital conflict was

being played out like a soap opera in front of

everyone during the Sunday gatherings. And Paul's

point is clear to say, this is not the best time

to do it. Now, again, the word submission in

our passage was a term used also in chapter 11.

It's in a very specific context of Christian

marriage. If you want to dig in more, why don't...

not listen to that sermon on chapter 11 that

you can find online. So to conclude, I guess

we understand that the attitude should be one

of being loving and that actually we understand

that order should be a key part of the church

experience. But the nagging question is, if we're

to be honest, I think is this. What if the Sunday

gathering isn't what you want it to be? After

all, I know that some of you don't get to sing

the traditional hymns that you want to sing,

and I know that others of you would love for

prophecy to be less rare in this church. What

do we say to that? Jesus, on the evening of his

final Passover, he gathered his friends to be

close to him. We call it the last supper, typically.

Can you imagine the intensity of that gathering?

Jesus, in this final time with his friends, he

prepares everything for the gathering. I imagine

he just wanted it to be just so. Food, drink,

atmosphere. With his friends, he had things to

share with them, things to reveal to them in

these final glorious moments. You could imagine

of all of the moments, no one would want to make

this moment gathered around Jesus. About themselves.

Yet Judas, his friend, would close his ears.

to Jesus and betray him for money and his friend

Peter would claim loyalty to Jesus like singing

a hymn with his loudest voice and yet would betray

him to keep his reputation. And then the other

disciples just after this meal at the moment

that Jesus needed them to focus their attention

on him would betray him by choosing to sleep.

Now, if you and I had been there, we would have

done the same. As you gather around Jesus each

Sunday, you and I do exactly what the disciples

did. And we do it all the time. We take our focus

off Christ and we make it about ourselves. You

do it and I do it. But this is good news. This

is exactly why Jesus chose to die on a cross

for us. So that your wrong attitudes and my chaotic,

self -obsessed preferences will never be a barrier

to you and me being called friends by Jesus and

called to be with him. That's why he died on

the cross. Because Jesus chose to lay down his

rights and his preferences on the cross, because

he sacrificed his life to serve us and not to

make this a place where he was served, we are

now invited to gather in his presence, both in

this service this afternoon, but now at the Lord's

Supper at the table. And because of the cross,

Jesus' forgiven friends will be invited to come.

And they will make a queue right down this aisle

just here. And there will be the self -obsessed.

The person behind them will be the, it's all

about me. then there'll be the showboaters and

then behind them there will be the I want more

drama -ers and then behind them there'll be I

don't like the music -ers and then behind them

there I want more charismatic gifters and behind

them towards the back will be the grumblers and

the moaners and then behind those those who are

distracted and spiritually dry and then behind

them queued up will be those who are resentfully

unseen, and then behind them at the back will

be those who only come once a month. And because

of the cross, every single one of them will be

welcome at this table. So in the light of looking

at the Lord Jesus, in the light of remembering

his death, And his resurrection. Will you join

the line? In a few minutes time. Will you join

the line?