Let all things be done decently— "Especially remember this great comprehensive rule, to be applied to a thousand varieties which may arise, Let all things be done decently, and according to order; let all be conducted in a regular manner, to prevent such disturbances, disputes, and scandals for the future, as have already arisen in your society, and will proceed to greater evils, if you do not immediately set about reforming them."
Inferences.—How weak and poor a thing is pride and ostentation, and how wise and honourable humility and love! Who that has a right discernment would not rather be the obscurest Christian that now almost unseen joins our assemblies, and, in heart at least, humbly puts his amen to the petitions presented there, than the most fluent talker in Corinth, abusing the special gifts of the Spirit, and trifling away, in an unseasonable display of his then unprofitable endowments, the moments destined to the higher purposes of religious edification? Who must not lament to see pride and vain-glory so early insinuating themselves into Christian societies? Who must not, from so sad an instance, learn to be greatly watchful over their own hearts, on a side where they are subject to such dangerous attacks? 1 Corinthians 14:2-12.
Had the most able and zealous protestant divine endeavoured to expose the absurdity of praying in an unknown tongue, as practised in the church of Rome, it is difficult to imagine what he could have written more full to the purpose than the Apostle has here done: and when it is considered how perversely the papists retain the usage of such prayers, it will seem no wonder that they should keep the scriptures also in an unknown tongue. But they proclaim, at the same time, their superstition and idolatry in so universal a language, that even a barbarian might perceive and learn it in their assemblies. May God give their prejudiced minds a juster and happier turn, and teach us to avoid a blind and unreasonable adherence to custom, merely as such; always directing ourselves by what the reason of the things, and the authority of scripture, concur to dictate, 1 Corinthians 14:13-16.
We should learn of this wise and benevolent Apostle, to estimate the value of gifts by their usefulness, and to seek, above all things, the edification of our brethren, especially if we are providentially called to minister in public, 1 Corinthians 14:18-19. There is, perhaps, a manner of speaking in an unknown tongue, even when the language of our own country is used,—a height of composition, an abstruseness of thought, an obscurity of phrase, which common Christians cannot understand. Let not the ministers of the humble Jesus seek such high things, but, in this important sense of the exhortation, condescend to men of low estate. If the ignorant may be instructed, if the careless may be convinced, if the vicious may be reformed; if the devotion of our Christian brethren may be excited, their love to each other cherished, and their holy resolutions confirmed,—the great ends of divine ordinances are answered; and that plainness of speech which may be most likely to promote them, is rather the glory than the reproach of the Christian orator.
How fondly do men flatter themselves with empty appearances, and often how justly do such deserve the imputation of childish folly, the height of whose temper will least allow them to bear it! Let us dare to examine ourselves impartially; solicitous that we may not be children in understanding; but, forming our minds on the maxims of scripture, and our lives on the example of Christ, may we grow up in him to the measure and stature of a perfect man:—but let us be children in malice, endeavouring to be as free from every gloomy, malignant, selfish passion, as newborn infants are, 1 Corinthians 14:20. In short, it is this happy and amiable character, which we should diligently follow after; remembering that there is a sense in which we must become as little children, or we cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
Those extraordinary gifts, which suited the first planting of Christianity in the world, are now ceased; but we have great reason to bless God that they were given, and that we have such an incontestable evidence of the truth of the gospel as this chapter affords. Such endowments must certainly argue a divine power setting its seal to the gospel; and the reality of such endowments can never be questioned, when we reflect on the manner in which the Apostle here reproves the abuse of them, and that in a society where so many were alienated from him and his ministry, and consequently where such appeals, if not founded on the strictest and most apparent truth, must have exposed him to a contempt never to have been removed. Though these miraculous gifts are now withdrawn, still the Divine Presence is with the church; of which we have this happy proof, that there are those who find the secrets of their hearts made manifest by the faithful and skilful administration of Christian ordinances; adoring the Lord God in their hearts, and acknowledging that he is of a truth with his church. May instances of this kind be more frequent, and may the spirituality and fervour with which divine ordinances shall be administered be such, as may afford more reason to expect them, 1 Corinthians 14:24-25.
We should always regard God as the author, not of confusion, but of peace; making it our concern to behave in his sanctuary in a manner agreeable to this view; with such solemn decorum, and with such a tender regard to the edification and comfort of each other, as he may approve. May the God of peace deliver Christians of every denomination and rank from that spiritual pride which has thrown so many religious societies into disorder: and, to advance in a state so happy as that of humility and love must necessarily be, may what the Apostles have written be acknowledged as the commandments of the Lord, and Christian worship and practice be more regulated by their truly authentic canons; which would render many that have since been devised, relating to indifferent matters, as unnecessary as some others are burdensome, superstitious, and absurd, 1 Corinthians 14:33-40.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, Having recommended charity, or love, in the first place, he proceeds to shew what spiritual gifts were most desirable.
1. Follow after love, pursue it with the greatest eagerness, and desire spiritual gifts for the glory of God and the good of the church; but rather, or chiefly, that ye may prophesy, so as by divine illumination to be enabled most profitably to open and apply the Scriptures to the consciences of men for their comfort and edification.
2. He assigns this reason for his exhortation, He that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, who cannot understand him, but unto God; for no man understandeth him, howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries, and advances the most glorious and important truths: but he that prophesieth, explaining and opening the Scriptures to the understanding and capacity of the hearers, speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort, and his ministry and gifts are made useful to their souls. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue, edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth, edifieth the church, and communicates an extensive benefit to others as well as to his own heart. I would that ye all spake with tongues, and were furnished with this great gift; but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth, than he that speaketh with tongues, he is a more useful and therefore a more excellent man, and to be more highly esteemed by the hearers; except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying. Note; Our discourses should be adapted to the capacity of our hearers: high flights of eloquence, or affectation of learning, are absurd where the audience is illiterate. Our ambition must be to stoop; and we should ever be more solicitous to be understood than to be admired.
2nd, The Apostle goes on to shew the absurdity of making an ostentatious show of gifts, and speaks in his own person to insinuate the reproof which they deserved for their vanity in this respect. Now brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you, interpreting what is made known unto me in an intelligible manner, either by revelation, if it be a new truth; or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? Opening the Scriptures, and enforcing them on the conscience. He illustrates this,
1. By a pipe or harp. Unless these instruments give a distinction of sounds to excite the different passions which music raises, they will be useless and inharmonious: and just so must speaking in an unknown tongue be absurd to one who is a stranger to the language.
2. By a trumpet; which, if it give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle? And as the soldier in such a case must be utterly at a loss, so must the congregation be where the discourse is in an unknown tongue, or above their capacities; and such preaching is to them no better than the whistling of the wind.
3. A person speaking in such an unknown tongue appears as a barbarian to the hearers. Various as the languages are in the world, each serves to convey the ideas of the mind to those who are acquainted with it, but to no others: therefore, if I know not the meaning of the language, it will appear mere gibberish; the speaker will appear a barbarian to me, and I to him.
Now this being evidently the case, the Apostle exhorts them, since they so eagerly coveted spiritual gifts, to desire those that were of the most useful tendency; and if they spoke with tongues, to pray that they might be able to interpret them for the edifying of the church. For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prayeth, and my own soul may be engaged in devotion; but my understanding is unfruitful, and my prayers of no use to the hearer.
3rdly, The Apostle sums up what he had been saying. What is it then that is proper to be done? I will pray with the Spirit, and on proper occasions with any of the tongues which he has given; and I will pray with the understanding also, in such manner as that others may be edified: I will sing with the Spirit, in whatever language he is pleased to enable me to utter his praises; and I will, in public, sing with the understanding also, that the church may join in my ascriptions of praise to God. Else, when thou shalt bless with the Spirit, though under his immediate inspiration, if it be in an unknown tongue, how shall he that occupieth the room of the unlearned say Amen at thy giving of thanks, seeing he understandeth not what thou sayest, and therefore cannot join in the service? For thou verily givest thanks well; but the other, who knows not the meaning of the words, is not edified. I thank my God (and happy is it when we can call him mine), I speak with tongues more than you all; he did not depreciate the gift, therefore, because he possessed it not, but because they made so evil a use of it: yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue, from which none of the hearers could receive the least benefit. Therefore, brethren, be not children in understanding, and foolishly boast yourselves on the showy gift of tongues: howbeit in malice be ye children, free from the malignant passions of envy, malice, and pride; but in understanding be men, and prove yourselves to be Christians grown to riper years, by knowing how to value things according to their intrinsic worth, and to prefer godlike love to the most astonishing gifts. Note; (1.) That church must be erroneous, where ignorance is regarded as the mother of devotion, and the prayers are offered in an unknown tongue. (2.) The least good done to the meanest soul is an unspeakably greater acquisition than the highest applause gained to ourselves. (3.) A malicious envious spirit is directly contrary to true Christianity. Among the first lessons of that school, we must learn to become as little children.
4thly, The Apostle further enforces what he had advanced, by observing,
1. That it had been threatened to the Jews, as the punishment of their infidelity, that with men of other tongues, and other lips, will I speak unto this people; and yet for all that they will not hear me, saith the Lord: which was primarily fulfilled when they were sent into captivity to Babylon, where they heard the strange language of their conquerors; and secondarily, when, on the day of Pentecost, they heard the Apostles speak with tongues, yet rejected the evidence which the Holy Ghost bore thereby to the doctrine which they preached; deaf to the warnings of Providence and the calls of grace. The Corinthians should not therefore be so inordinately fond of what God had before used in a way of judgment upon Israel, or what the Jews in general, by their wilful obstinacy, had abused to their eternal condemnation.
2. Tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not, to carry the Gospel into the lands of infidelity, and bear a testimony to the truth of it, which those who believe do not so much need; but prophesying serveth not for them that believe not merely, but is also for them which believe, that they may be built up on the true foundation. So that to speak with tongues in a Christian assembly, where none could be profited thereby, was useless.
3. The credit of their profession should restrain them from an ostentation of their gift of tongues. If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, it will appear a second Babel: and if there come in those that are unlearned, either private Christians or other common people, and unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad, and, instead of being converted, ridicule you as a parcel of frantic enthusiasts? But if all prophesy, in their turn preaching, praying, or praising, in an intelligible manner, and there come in one that believeth not, out of curiosity or by accident; or one unlearned, or ignorant; he is convinced of all, he is judged of all; his conscience is affected under the word, his sins are brought to his remembrance, and the just wrath of God due thereunto is set before him: and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest, as if the preacher had known his very soul, and described his case particularly; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God, convinced, by what he hears, that this is his work; and report that God is in you of a truth, since none could so discover the inmost soul; and speak with such power and energy, unless God's Spirit instructed them and accompanied their ministrations. Note; The word of truth, when rightly dispensed, is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart: and many who have heard it, have felt by experience, that God's ministers often describe their case as particularly as if they knew the secrets of their souls; and sometimes they wonder who has told them.
5thly, The Apostle reproves their ill behaviour, and gives them rules for their conduct.
1. He blames their irregularities in the church. How is it then, brethren, that you behave so unseemly in the house of God? For, when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation; and, whilst every one is forward to exercise his own gift, the whole is a scene of disorder and confusion. Let all things be done unto edifying, and no such unseasonable and unprofitable exercise of these divinely communicated gifts be permitted.
2. He orders how they should proceed in the congregation. (1.) If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three; no more than these should at one meeting speak in foreign languages, and that by course, in their proper turn; and let one interpret, that the audience may receive instruction: but, if there be no interpreter, let him that speaks in an unknown tongue keep silence in the church, and not interrupt what is to the use of edifying; and let him speak to himself and to God in private prayer. (2.) Let the prophets speak two or three, at one assembly, and after each other, and let the other judge whether those who profess to be prophets really are so, and examine what they say by the word of truth. (3.) If any thing of peculiar importance be revealed to another prophet that sitteth by, let the first who was speaking hasten to conclude his discourse, and hold his peace: for ye may all prophesy one by one, at proper opportunities, that all may learn and all may be comforted; this being the great end for which the gift of prophesy is bestowed. (See the Annotations.) And the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets; these who are truly inspired, are not like those under diabolical possession; but have the due government of themselves, and need not be hurried into any indecency or impropriety, as to the matter, time, or manner of their speaking.
3. He enforces his discourse with this argument, For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace; such disorderly proceedings as these here remarked cannot arise from him; but as in all the other churches of the saints, so among you, it is his pleasure, and for his glory, that due order should be observed.
6thly, We have silence imposed on women in the church: for it is not permitted unto them to speak as public teachers; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law, and to shew it by such a modest silence. And if they will learn any thing, and desire that what they have heard may be farther explained, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church, and thereby renounce that due subordination which God has enjoined. Note; (1.) If it be the woman's duty to learn in subjection, it is the husband's duty equally to maintain his superiority by shewing himself able to inform her. (2.) Modesty is a woman's greatest ornament; and in that sex especially all boldness is peculiarly shocking.
7thly, The Apostle closes his discourse with holy warmth on the preceding points. What mean you by your irregular behaviour? Came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only? Are you the mother church? ought you to set up yourselves as oracles? and are you to pay no respect to the usages of other churches; as if your own was infallible? How intolerably assuming is such behaviour? If any man think himself a prophet, or spiritual, let him prove the truth of the inspiration which he challenges by subscribing to these truths, and acknowledge that the things that I write unto you, are the commandments of the Lord, since no man, truly under the influence of the Spirit, can possibly contradict what that Spirit, speaking in his Apostles, dictates: but if any man be ignorant, and obstinately refuse to submit to these commands, let him be ignorant, treated with deserved contempt, and left to follow the wilful blindness and perverseness of his own heart. Wherefore, brethren, on the whole, covet to prophesy, as the most excellent gift; and forbid not to speak with tongues, which are useful when managed according to the manner above prescribed. And for a general rule in all things pertaining to the public worship, let all things be done decently and in order; and let every indecency and irregularity be banished from the house of God. Note; (1.) They who continue wilfully ignorant of, or obstinately reject the commandments of the Lord, evidently shew by whose spirit they are led. (2.) When a man hates the light, he is justly abandoned to the darkness that he has chosen. (3.) In the public worship of God, all the service should be rational, orderly, and edifying.