Monday evening, November 6, 1973.
Lord, we have gathered together in Your presence, in worship, in love, and in adoration. Lord, You are the Lamb. You are the One who redeemed us out of every nation, tribe, tongue, and people. You have made us a kingdom and priests unto God.
O Lord, how can we not offer our worship to You tonight? You are so worthy, so worthy. Lord, how can we refrain from praising You? O, we ascribe all glory, all honor, unto You forever and ever.
Lord, there is no end to praising You. You are God. You are the Christ. You are our Lord. You are our Master. O, our hearts just bow before You.
Lord, I do not have anything to say to us tonight. Open our understanding. Deliver us from ourselves, from all the limitations and restrictions upon ourselves.
Your ways are higher than our ways, and Your thoughts are higher than our thoughts. Do not allow us to drag You down, to draw You to our level; but lift us up to Your level. O, this is the prayer of our heart.
O Lord, satisfy Yourself with Your people. May Your glory be manifested. This is the only reason why we are here.
Yes, Lord, breathe upon the whole body. Make it living and operating in our lives. Be with us, Lord. Be present.
Let us read from 1 Corinthians 14.
Follow after love; yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.
For he that speaketh in a tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God; for no man heareth; but in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.
But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men edification, and exhortation, and consolation.
He that speaketh in a tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.
Now I would have you all speak with tongues, but rather that ye should prophesy: and greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.—1 Corinthians 14:1-5
Let us also read from verse 24.
But if all prophesy, and there come in one unbelieving, or unlearned, he is reproved by all, he is judged by all;
the secrets of his heart are made manifest; and so he will fall down on his face and worship God, declaring that God is among you indeed.What is it then, brethren? When ye come together, each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
If any man speaketh in a tongue, let it be by two, or at the most three, and that in turn; and let one interpret: but if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.
And let the prophets speak by two or three, and let the others discern. But if a revelation be made to another sitting by, let the first keep silence. For ye all can prophesy one by one, that all may learn, and all may be exhorted; and the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets; for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace.
—1 Corinthians 14:24-33
As in all the churches of the saints, let the women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but let them be in subjection, as also saith the law. And if they would learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home: for it is shameful for a woman to speak in the church.
What? Was it from you that the word of God went forth? Or came it unto you alone?
If any man thinketh himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him take knowledge of the things which I write unto you, that they are the commandment of the Lord. But if any man is ignorant, let him be ignorant.
Wherefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues. But let all things be done decently and in order.
—1 Corinthians 14:33-40
We mentioned during the past two sessions that, in these chapters, the Apostle Paul is dealing with the matter of spiritual gifts. As we enter into chapter 14, there are certain basic things that we need to know.
First, we need to know the lordship of Christ. We need to see that Jesus is Lord. We need to see the Head. We need to be subject to the authority of Christ in our lives. We need to hold fast the Head. This is the first essential in the spiritual life.
Then, in the second place, we need to see the body. No one is the body. We are just members of the one body of Christ. In one Spirit we have been baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles, bond or free, male or female.
In this world, there is nothing that separates people more than the distance between the Jew and the Gentile. This is not only a racial distinction, not only a national difference; it is even a religious difference. Humanly speaking, the gulf between Jews and Gentiles can never be bridged. Yet, in one Spirit, we have been baptized into one body, whether Jews or Gentiles.
In the time of Paul, under the Roman Empire, there were more bondmen than freemen. Only Roman citizens were free. They enjoyed all the privileges and rights of citizenship, but the majority of the world were slaves. They had no rights; they had no privilege before the law. The distance between a freeman and a bondman was insurmountable.
And yet, in one Spirit, we have all been baptized into one body, whether bond or free. As a matter of fact, when we were baptized in one Spirit into one body, there was no longer Jew nor Gentile, no more freeman nor bondman, but Christ is all and in all.
We have all been made to drink of one Spirit. In other words, we are not only baptized into one body, but we are made to drink of one Spirit. The Spirit of God Himself, dwelling in us, is to be the life of the body.
Because we are a living body under a living Head, because we are a living body joined to a living Head, therefore the Holy Spirit manifests Himself in the members of the body by giving each member a gift.
Now, brothers and sisters, never look at spiritual gifts as things by themselves. It is not that the Holy Spirit gives a person a gift, and then it is up to that person to use that gift and manifest himself. Not so.
All the spiritual gifts given to the members of the body of Christ are manifestations of the Holy Spirit. They are His manifestations, not your manifestation and not my manifestation. By the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, the body of Christ is to be built up.
That is 1 Corinthians 12. But before this living body enters into function, there is a more excellent way that has to be followed. This is 1 Corinthians 13: “Follow after love.”
The life of the body is love, because the life in the body is none other than Christ. God is love. Unless there is love in the body, this body will disintegrate. Unless there is love in the body, the functioning of spiritual gifts will result in confusion rather than beauty.
Love is the way of life for the body.
We often talk of the American way of life. When I first came to this country, I could not understand it. Oftentimes, when I spoke with some brothers and sisters concerning certain things, I received the answer, “This is our American way of life.” I was so frustrated.
What is the American way of life? They could not explain it to me, and yet they knew it. After being in this country for many years, I began to know something of the American way of life.
But, brothers and sisters, in this body of Christ, it is not the American way of life that matters. It is God’s way of life. And God’s way of life for the body is love.
O, that we may be filled with the love of Christ—not only loving the Lord, our Head, but loving one another with that love. Then that body will really grow and be built up.
After that way of love, then in 1 Corinthians 14 Paul goes into the functioning of the body. You have the body, and the life of the body is love. Now the members of the body begin to function and operate so that the body may be built up.
Tonight, we would just like to point out a few principles, a few guidelines, for the operation of the body of Christ.
The body of Christ is living. You cannot try to confine its operation to a fixed formula. Therefore, the Bible gives us only a few guidelines, a few principles. These principles and guidelines are not to be used legalistically, but spiritually.
Spiritual laws have to be applied spiritually. When you try to apply spiritual laws technically, they become dead. So I do hope that, as we enter into this chapter, we will remember that the Spirit of God is showing us some of the principles of the body in action. These principles have to be applied spiritually, not mechanically and not legalistically.
When you open this chapter, you find that the first twenty-five verses seem to be devoted to a contrast between tongues and prophecy. But, of course, we know that this contrast is used merely to illustrate certain points.
Surely, in the body of Christ, there are more gifts than just tongues and prophecy. Even in 1 Corinthians 12, when Paul lists a few gifts of the members of the body of Christ, that is not a complete list. In Romans, you find one list; in 1 Corinthians 12, another list; in Ephesians 4, still another list. None of these lists is complete. They are only examples.
The body of Christ is composed of many members. Therefore, the gifts which the Spirit of God gives to the members of the body are not just nine or twelve; they are numberless.
The problem today is that if we do not see these nine gifts, we say there is no gift. But, brothers and sisters, all that you find in the Bible is there to illustrate a point. In order to illustrate certain points, Paul takes two gifts: the gift of speaking in tongues and the gift of prophesying.
One who speaks in tongues edifies himself. He is speaking, but his understanding is not there. In his spirit he may be speaking mysteries, but nobody understands. Even he himself does not understand, though his spirit is blessed.
But prophesying is not only speaking with the spirit; it is also speaking with understanding. Because it is speaking with spirit and with understanding, the speaker understands and those who hear understand. In other words, it edifies the church.
Can you say that this gift, given by the Holy Spirit, is greater than another gift given by the same Spirit? Can you say that one gift is smaller than another gift when both are given by the same Spirit?
All the gifts come from the one and same Spirit. All the gifts are His manifestations. How can we say that this gift is bigger than the other, or that the other is smaller than this one? So far as the gifts themselves are concerned, they are equally good. They are equally great or equally small.
Yet the Bible says that the gift of prophecy is greater than the gift of speaking in tongues. This is not because of the gift itself. This is because of the effect of that gift upon the body. Now that makes all the difference.
When one speaks in tongues, in his spirit he is speaking mysteries, and he himself is edified; but nobody else is edified. So far as himself is concerned, that is good. But so far as the body is concerned, it does not build up the body.
The manifestation that builds up the body is the greater gift. Greatness and smallness are to be measured by the body.
This is the first point Paul wants to make: when the body operates, it must be guided by this principle—edifying the body. This is the principle that governs the exercising of spiritual gifts.
Paul says that since you are earnestly seeking spiritual gifts, seek to abound unto the edifying of the church. That is to say, seek those gifts that will build up the church.
The word edify is not a very good translation. Literally, it means “to build up.” Spiritual gifts and their exercise are for the purpose of building up the body. This is the object.
If one speaks in tongues, he builds up himself. If there is no interpretation, he should speak to himself and to God. But if there is interpretation, then it is as valuable as prophecy, because it builds up the body.
Why does Paul make such a point concerning the functioning of the members of the body of Christ? It is because the church in Corinth was very rich in gifts, particularly in speaking in tongues. There did not seem to be much prophecy, but there was much speaking in tongues.
The result was that they began to display their gifts, to make a show of themselves, instead of really building up the body. Therefore Paul says it is better to speak five words with understanding, words that will build up.
A mentality has to be developed—the mentality of a child. On the one hand, when you see a child, everybody loves a child. A child is so innocent, so open, and so guileless.
Yet, on the other hand, the mentality of a child is self-centered. A child can only think of himself. A child does not care about anybody else. In the middle of the night, if a child is hungry, he cries. He gets his mother up. He is the most important person in the world.
Watch a child when there is company. That child wants to be the center of affection. A child wants everybody to be focused upon him, and then he is satisfied.
Brothers and sisters, in the body of Christ our mentality needs to be developed. How many of God’s children never outgrow babyhood?
Even in the exercise of spiritual gifts, here in the church at Corinth, all they wanted was to draw attention to themselves. They wanted to display their gifts. They did not care whether it would build up other brothers and sisters. They only cared that everybody would look to them and say, “How wonderful!”
That is a childish mentality, thinking only of oneself and not in terms of building up other people. Therefore, Paul says that your mentality has to change. Instead of the mentality of a child, you should have the mentality of the grown-up.
Instead of seeking the gift that will display yourself, seek the gift that will build up the body. When you are exercising your gift, do not try to draw people to yourself. Let people be built up in Christ. That is the kind of mentality that has to be developed.
If all God’s people come together with a childish mentality, you know what will happen. But if all God’s people come together with the mentality of the grown-up, O, how the church would be richly helped.
This is the first guiding principle of the body in operation. The problem with the church in Corinth was not gifts. The problem was the childish mentality. That was the problem.
There is nothing wrong with the gifts given by God, the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, given for the purpose of building up the body. But with a childish mentality, there is trouble.
May we grow in the Lord. May we seek to build up. May we be delivered from self-centeredness, from drawing people unto ourselves; but may people be directed to God in Christ.
Second, as God’s people come together, there is one objective: that the glory of the Lord may be manifested.
What is the temple for? The temple is to be filled with the glory of the Lord. I remember Brother F. B. Meyer once said, “What is glory?” His definition was this: when God is satisfied, that is glory.
Not that you are satisfied, not that I am satisfied, but that God is satisfied.
In Matthew 18:20, the Lord says:
For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.
What is the temple? What is the house of God? It is the place where God dwells. And because God’s name is there, the glory of the Lord is there.
Wherever two or three are gathered together unto His name, there He is in the midst of them. Now this is the principle. Therefore, when God’s people come together, when the body operates, the one thing that we are measuring is whether we see the Lord.
If all speak in tongues, Paul says, the unlearned person or the unbeliever comes in and cannot understand. But if all prophesy, then the unlearned person and the unbeliever come in, are convicted, and have to bow down and say that God is indeed among you.
Brothers and sisters, what matters is the presence of the Lord. Oftentimes, when we come together, what are we looking for?
Many people have talked to me and said, “Oh, brother, this meeting is no good. That meeting is no good.” What are you looking for? What are you looking for?
When God’s people assemble together, there is only one measurement, and that is the presence of the Lord. Is the presence of the Lord there? Is it real? Is it manifested?
That is to say, when God’s people come together, do they meet the Lord? Will they bow down and say, “The Lord is indeed here”? Do they get the reality?
If a lot of people come together and go away without seeing the Lord, where is the reality of the body? This is the one thing that you should look to.
It is not how many gifts are manifested. It is not what kind of gift is manifested. It is not the liveliness. It is not the knowledge. It is not this, and it is not that.
When God’s people come together, you should look for only one thing: the presence of the Lord. Is the presence of the Lord here? If the presence of the Lord is not here, nothing really matters.
I believe this is a very important principle governing the body in action. When the Lord’s people come together, this is the time that, through the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, the Head is exalted. The Lord is seen indeed.
Third, when the church assembles, “each one hath a psalm, hath a teaching, hath a revelation, hath a tongue, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.”
Here is the body, and there are many, many members. The Holy Spirit, according to His pleasure, gives gifts to each one, and all these gifts are different. So, when the church assembles and comes into action, you find that each one has something.
Perhaps this needs a little explanation. There are two different kinds of meetings. One is what we may call a ministry meeting; the other is what we may call a church meeting.
There is one kind of meeting which is actually a work. One who is called by God, and who is given certain gifts by God, ministers to the church. That is his work.
God gives to the church some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints. In other words, God sends these men as gifts to the church, and they work upon the body. They minister to the body.
Let us call this a ministry meeting. By outward appearance, this is one-way traffic. One ministers to the others.
Of course, if ministry is effective, those who are being ministered to also minister to the minister, enabling him to fulfill his ministry. They draw something out from him. But by outward form, it is one-way traffic.
When people come to this kind of meeting, everybody in the audience tends to become passive, and all the responsibility rests upon the speaker. No wonder very little is done.
But there is another kind of meeting which we call a church meeting. Why call it a church meeting? The principle of that meeting is not one-way traffic; it is two-way. There is mutual activity.
It is not one person ministering, exercising his gift to minister to the whole church. Rather, every member of the body ministers one to another. This is body ministry.
Sometimes people are a little confused. They think that if one person ministers to many groups, that is body ministry. No. Body ministry is when the members of the body minister to one another.
Body ministry is based on the principle of mutuality. There is no one in the body who is just on the receiving end. There is no one who will always be on the giving end. You find mutuality.
The Spirit leads. You minister to me, and I minister to you. You give, and you receive. This is the principle of a church meeting. This is the body in operation.
In the history of Christianity, we know many so-called ministry meetings, but we know very little of the so-called church meeting.
If I remember correctly, Campbell Morgan once said that in the New Testament there is only one place that tells us how to meet, and yet we do not have such a meeting. He tried to initiate that kind of meeting in his congregation, but it did not work.
We are so used to the ministry type of meeting. We have someone on the platform ministering to us, and we are just sitting there and enjoying—not even cooperating.
How terrible for one to minister to a congregation and find the people sitting there as his judges. We are used to that kind of meeting. There is a place for such meetings; in the New Testament you find that. But, brothers and sisters, there is a far greater place for mutual ministry.
For the building up of the body, the members of the body must minister to one another. If there is only the ministry type of meeting without the church type of meeting, the body cannot be built up quickly and healthily.
Thank God, it seems that God is moving His people in that direction. More and more people are beginning to realize that when we come together, we need to minister to one another.
Underline this: each one. Every member—not just a few gifted members, not just a few who appear to have greater gifts—every member has a part.
You may have a psalm. What is a psalm? You may not be a musician. You may not be a poet. But you may have a psalm.
If you read the Psalms, you find that a psalm is the expression of an experience with God. Out of an experience with God, out of an experience of Christ, there is music; there is poetry coming forth. It may not be in rhyme and meter, but it touches the heart.
Can any believer say that he never has a psalm, that he never has an experience of Christ in his life? No.
You may have a psalm, a teaching, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. The work is unlimited. It is all there. Do not say that you must be like that brother or that sister before you have something to bring. Not at all.
Each of you has something—not according to what you do not have, but according to what you do have.
Brothers and sisters, some people have what I would call a kind of genius mentality. They never prepare themselves. They never study before the Lord. They never seek the Lord’s face. But when they come to a meeting, they wait to be so moved by the Spirit of God at the spur of the moment that they may do something to contribute.
The Bible says, “Each one hath.” When the children of Israel came to Jerusalem to worship the Lord, they did not come empty-handed.
Through the year they had labored in their fields. Out of the labor of their hands, they brought the basket, the produce, and that with which the Lord had prospered them. They brought it to the temple to worship the Lord.
They did not come empty-handed and suddenly find something falling into their hands. I do not say that it cannot happen, but it rarely happens.
That is the problem: people are not diligent in their daily lives. Therefore, when they come together, nobody brings anything. They all come empty-handed, expecting to be fed because they have not brought anything. No wonder you find poverty there.
That is not the way. The way is that every brother and every sister, in daily life, diligently seeks the Lord, learns of the Lord, learns His Word, and learns His ways.
Because everyone is diligent, some may have a psalm, some may have a teaching, some may have a revelation. Brothers and sisters, each one has something and comes together to contribute, ministering with that which he has received from the Lord.
That is how the body is enriched and built up. Not by genius, but by diligence. Even an idea is ninety-five percent perspiration and only five percent inspiration.
It is true that, as we come together, we need to be led by the Lord. But still, the Lord must have something to lead you with.
If everyone has something to bring, it creates another problem—a problem very different from our problem. Our problem is that there is too little. But if we are really diligent before the Lord, and each one has something, then there is another problem.
Because the Lord has given you something during the week, does that mean you have to force it into the meeting? Otherwise, you may think that you have wasted it. Not so. Not so.
The beauty is that each one has something, and everyone comes together with an open heart, to give as well as to receive. Then there is the leading of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit may touch one person and say, “Give.” He may pass over another person and touch a third one. Even if you have something and it is not used at that moment, it is not lost.
This is the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We often misunderstand guidance. Everybody thinks that guidance means passively waiting for God, like the people at the pool of Bethesda waiting for the water to move. The Holy Spirit does not lead that way.
If you are sitting there passively, if you do not bring anything with you, the Spirit of God has nothing to use. That is not guidance in a meeting.
Guidance in a meeting means that everyone comes prepared, as it were, before God. Everyone comes bringing something. O, how thrilling it is to see the Spirit of God begin to move.
When the Spirit of God moves, sometimes He links everything together. There may be a psalm, a teaching, a tongue, an interpretation, and a prophecy; yet you find there is unity, harmony, and direction. It is not disorder. It is harmony.
That is the leading of the Lord. Some brothers and sisters do not know how the Holy Spirit leads in the meeting, and so they put their hands in and interfere with His work.
O, how much we need the Spirit! We need understanding. If it is only yourself, perhaps the spirit is enough. But if it is the body, you need the spirit and you need understanding.
How we need to be open and alert, saying, “Lord, what is the Holy Spirit doing?” How we need to see the direction in which the Spirit is moving in the meeting.
Brothers and sisters, when this happens, it is more than beautiful—it is glorious. You see the Lord. You see the Lord. This is how God speaks to me.
Even if the Holy Spirit does not use you at this moment, do not be discouraged. It does not mean that you do not have anything. It does not mean that you are inferior. It is simply the sovereignty of the Spirit of God.
At another time, what has been deposited in you may be touched by the Holy Spirit and brought into life at the right moment for the right need. Nothing is lost.
This is the way God’s people should meet. It is not disorder, but there is an order—the order of the Spirit of God in the body, not an order arranged or programmed by men.
No, it is the order of the Spirit in the body. As the Spirit moves, He gives a certainty, and you find that all things work together beautifully. There is no jarring note, there is no distraction, but everything is flowing and building up.
Of course, 1 Corinthians 14 gives us a picture of a church meeting in which all the members exercise and function as the Spirit directs. The principle is there, but it does not mean that there is only one kind of meeting.
There can be variations. It may be prayer; it may be ministry of the Word; it may be Bible study; it may be open fellowship. But the principle is there.
Now we come to the most difficult part. Here you find Paul saying, “Let the women keep silence.”
I am not trying to avoid it. Let us go back a little.
Paul worked in Corinth for a year and a half. During that year and a half, he said that he knew nothing among them but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I believe him, because he did not tell these believers how to meet.
He said nothing else but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Many people were saved. Those who were saved assembled together as an expression of the body of Christ. But Paul never instructed them, from the beginning, how to meet.
Was that neglect on the part of Paul? Suppose I go to a certain place, and by the grace of God a number of people are saved. I gather them together and say, “Now we are to build a New Testament church. You are going to meet in this way.”
Then I lay down ten or a hundred rules and regulations: “This is what you should do. This is what you should not do.” Suppose I do that. You know what will happen.
These rules and regulations will replace the life in the beginning. Instead of letting life grow and express itself, people will look to rules and regulations. You do not have a New Testament church; you have an Old Testament congregation.
So Paul went there, and a number of people were saved. He said, “Meet together. Minister to one another.” These people came together, and they were rich in gifts.
You find all these gifts being displayed and all the members functioning very lively. But they began to fight against one another. There was disorder; there was confusion; it was not very beautiful.
God allowed them to grow without trying to circumscribe them. Let life grow. Let the life grow.
Then, when life grows to a certain degree, God gives some directions and some instructions to channel that life. Brothers and sisters, I believe that is what Paul is doing in 1 Corinthians.
The first letter to the Corinthians is corrective in nature, not directive in nature. Do you hear that? There are very few directive things in 1 Corinthians, but much correction, because something was already being done but was not quite right. Therefore, it needed to be corrected.
So, when Paul says, “Let the women keep silence,” remember that he did not tell the women to be silent from the very beginning. If he had, they would have been silent already. Do you see my point?
Very often, out of our good intention to keep the Word, from the very beginning we lay down the law. Usually, when an assembly is first beginning, there are more women than men, and usually women are more spiritual than men.
If you start with such legality and just say, “This is the Bible; I believe in the Bible,” then you find that more than half the body is paralyzed, and the other half can hardly keep things going.
Thank God, as life begins to grow to a certain degree, the Spirit of God says, “Now there needs to be regulation.”
I do not know whether you go along with me, but this is how I feel. We should not neglect the Word of God, and yet the Word of God is not to be applied mechanically. It has to be applied in life.
If life grows to a certain degree, then there is a certain regulation which is most natural and most beautiful. You know it. You know it.
The church always begins as a family. In a family, the father, the mother, the brothers, the sisters, the younger ones, and the older ones can all speak. They can all put in their contribution. It is a family.
But when the church begins to grow, and the Lord begins to raise up some brothers with the Word, then a divine order is to be established.
Brothers and sisters, it is not that Paul is a woman-hater. Not at all. It is divine order. There is an order.
In that divine order, the men, the brothers, represent Christ. The women, the sisters, in the church represent the church, the body.
Because the men represent Christ, therefore they should take a more leading part. The women represent the body; therefore, they should take the supporting part. If the brothers lead and the sisters do not support, you go nowhere.
There is cooperation according to order. With that order, it will be most effective. Order is for effectiveness, just as in a family the father or husband is the head and the wife is the body. With the head leading and the body supporting, you find the function of the family.
It is not a matter of equality or inequality. It is for the effectiveness of function. For the effective functioning of the body of Christ, when life has grown to a certain degree, there needs to be correction and regulation.
At that point, because the women in the church at Corinth had taken such a leading and prominent part, Paul said, “Let the women keep silence.”
Does it mean that a woman cannot even pray or cannot even sing? In some places, people take it that way. They say that because the Bible says, “Let the women keep silence,” they cannot speak and they cannot sing. But I wonder why they allow them to sing.
If you read the context, you find that immediately it is followed by these words: “What? Was it from you that the word of God went forth? Or came it unto you alone?”
It does not mean that the Word of God does not come to women. The Word of God does come. It does not mean that sisters never have the Word of God. Not at all.
But it does mean that, because you have the Word, you do not necessarily have to take the leading place, if God has given the Word to the brothers also. Do you see the point?
Because the Word of God has come to the men as well as to the women in the church, let there be this order.
It has nothing to do with prayer, because prayer is toward God, not toward men. It has nothing to do with a sister relating an experience or giving a testimony. It concerns the matter of the Word.
So, brothers and sisters, this is mainly a matter of order. It is not something technical, mechanical, or merely a matter of letters. No.
It is something brought into being when life has grown. Then you find an order coming forth. And, brothers and sisters, when that order comes forth, you find the body strengthened, just as in a family.
If everyone wants to argue and talk, we do not have this order. If you consider yourself spiritual, this is the commandment of the Lord. If you want to be ignorant, then be ignorant.
This is not something to argue about. If you take it from the Lord in the Spirit, thank God. If you cannot take it, all right, read about it.
Let all things be done decently and in order—beautifully, with order.
Brothers and sisters, these are a few guidelines, a few principles, that the Spirit gives concerning the body in operation. I hope that these may help us so that the body may function beautifully and gloriously.
The whole purpose is that the body may be built up and the glory of the Lord may be manifested.
Dear Lord, You are the Head of Your people, of Your body. You have given Your Spirit to the body, that the body may be led and that the body may be built up.
O, we do pray that there may be an expression of such a body in function, that people may bow down and say, “The Lord is indeed here.”
O Lord, deliver us from a childish mentality. Grant that we may grow in understanding, that we may build up our brothers and sisters.
Make us diligent in seeking You. Give us something that we may contribute to the body.
Enable us to be led by You, not pushing ourselves, but allowing You to lead.
O Lord, establish Your order in the church. We want to see Your body built up and the Head exalted.
May You be so blessed. Use these words. We commit everything into Your hands. Unto You be all the praise, the glory, and the honor, forever and ever.