214 When you come together - Introduction - a podcast by Dr David Petts - Pentecostal preacher, former AoG Bible College Principal

When you come together - Introduction

Three books – an old one, a new one, and a future one  

I know that many of you will be familiar with my book on spiritual gifts, Body Builders – gifts to make God’s people grow. Since it was first published in 2002 it has been translated into several languages, including French, Italian, Finnish, and Amharic. I know it has been regarded by some as something of a Pentecostal classic, and for this I’m very grateful to the Lord. I’m happy to tell you that Body Builders has now been republished in English and is available from my website, www.davidpetts.org price £15.00, (296 pages). (Actually, having a copy of this book would be helpful, but by no means essaential, to refer to in the new series we’re beginning).

 

Now if you enjoyed my last series on how God speaks to us today, you may be interested to know that this has now been published as a book, The Voice of God – how he speaks to us today. This is now available from my website, price £12.00, (228 pages).

Finally, I have already started writing a new book with the provisional title, When you come together based on 1 Corinthians 14:26 and I’m expecting this to be available by Easter, if not sooner. Today I’ll be sharing with you the Introduction I have written and this will make clear why I’m writing this book and give you some idea of its contents. But that brings me to my suggestion about how we might have more interaction with you.

 

Interaction

We have some idea from the number of downloads my podcasts receive that I am now teaching many more people each week than I ever did in pastoral ministry or as Principal of a Bible College. Such are the wonders of modern technology. However, the amount of interaction with one’s audience is considerably less.

 

So I’m suggesting that if you have questions about anything I say in a podcast, or if you have any comments on how you think the book I’m writing might be improved, you contact me by email by writing to info@davidpetts.org You will have a good idea of the contents of the book as in each podcast I’ll be sharing with you what I have written, and, as usual, the text will be available on my website. So, if anything is not clear, or of you think there’s something important that I’ve left out, please let me know.    

 

Now I realise that not everyone will want to do this, and that’s fine, but the offer is there if you’d like to get involved.

 

But now it’s time to turn to the first talk in our series, When you come together – towards a biblical understanding of church – is our worship biblical?

 

Why I am writing this book

Church changed quite a lot during the COVID pandemic. Christians around the world were challenged by the restrictions placed upon them imposed by government, and church leaders have been asking if God is trying to show us a better way of ‘doing church’.

This in itself is a challenge, as many older Christians, like myself, have come to love many of the things we used to do, and the older you get, the harder it is to adapt to change. But it’s always appropriate to take a look at the way we do things and ask ourselves if we could do better – or, more importantly, whether what we do is actually what God would want – whether what we are doing is biblical.

This book I’m writing is based on the understanding that God’s will is revealed in his word, the Bible. It’s based on the assumption that in the Bible God has something to say about how we should worship him, and the kind of things we should expect to happen when we gather together in Jesus’ name.

It's not my intention to tell church leaders how they should do things. But I do believe that God’s word teaches us clear principles about what should happen when Christians come together, and it is those principles that I’m seeking to underline and clarify. How they are worked out in practice in any local situation will be for leaders prayerfully to consider.

INTRODUCTION

1 Corinthians 14:26

Some listeners may be surprised to know that the Bible does give us clear guidelines as to what should happen when Christians come together. In I Corinthians 14:26 the apostle Paul writes:

What then shall we say brothers and sisters? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.

Now from the outset we need to make it clear that when he says, What then shall we say…? Paul is giving them an instruction, not, as some have suggested, a rebuke. This is indicated by his use of the same Greek phrase[1] in verse 15 where he is clearly encouraging the Corinthians to follow his example:

So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.

Indeed, in verse 37 he tells them that the things he is writing to them are the Lord’s command:

If anybody thinks he is a prophet or spiritually gifted, let him acknowledge that what I am writing to you is the Lord's command.

This strong statement must surely alert the attention of every Bible believing Christian to the fact that God cares very much about what we do when we meet together. If God is worth worshipping at all – and he certainly is – shouldn’t we do all we can to be sure that we’re doing it his way?

So, verse 26 deserves our serious attention. It contains several underlying principles which are, I believe, vital for us to understand and apply to the way we do church, whatever the sociological or cultural situation in which we may find ourselves.

But, before we proceed any further, one further point needs clarifying. What does Paul mean when he says, When you come together? He is undoubtedly referring to the occasions when the Corinthians gathered as a church. This is clear from verse 23:

So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?  (cf. in church in verse 19).

Of course, he is not referring to a church building. At the time of writing the epistle (AD 53-54) there were no church buildings, and the Corinthians were almost certainly meeting in the home of one of the members. This means that the numbers in the gathering would inevitably be smaller than those in some churches today. Paul’s teaching can be made to work well in a relatively small church or in a home group, but not so easily in a larger church.

But does this mean that larger churches have nothing to learn from Paul’s teaching in this verse? By no means. The basic principles underlying Paul’s teaching are relevant to all churches, and even larger churches can and should organise smaller gatherings where that teaching can be followed more easily. But we will return to this subject later in the book, after we have considered the implications of the verse in more detail.

The first principle we find in the verse is participation. Everybody is needed. Paul says, every one of you has… Perhaps we need to ask ourselves how many people are really involved in our meetings – or is their involvement limited to joining in the singing or saying Amen to the prayers? This is clearly not what Paul had in mind.

The second principle is variety. In 1 Corinthians 12:13-30 Paul teaches that every member of the body is different from the others, but every member is important. Here in 14:26 that variety is expressed as the members meet together. One may bring a hymn, another a word of instruction, another a revelation, another a tongue, and another an interpretation.

Although these are presumably representative of the many different ways that Christians may contribute to the worship of the church, we see at least three important ingredients that Paul expects in our meetings:

• the musical – a hymn
• the doctrinal – a word of instruction
• the supernatural – a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.

In my experience of Christian worship in over 40 different countries around the world there is no lack of the musical. In many, though by no means all, there is usually adequate scope for the doctrinal. But sadly, in many there is little manifestation of the supernatural. Even some churches that profess to believe in these things make little room for the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit in their meetings.

But it’s clear that Paul expects to see the supernatural in the church. In 1 Corinthians 3:16 he teaches that the gathered church is the temple of the Holy Spirit. In Ephesians 2:21-22 it’s a holy temple in the Lord… a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. And it’s the presence of God’s Spirit among us that makes the miraculous possible every time we meet.

The third key principle is edification. Paul says all these must be done for the strengthening of the church. In chapter 13 he has taught the Corinthians that, whatever gifts we may have, if they are not motivated by love, they are of no value at all. And if we love people we will want to bless them. We want to edify them. That is, to see them built up in their faith. Whatever takes place must be for the strengthening of the church.

So the kind of meeting Paul is envisaging is one where every member has opportunity to contribute something as they are led and empowered by the Holy Spirit. That contribution may come in a rich variety of ways, but whatever it may be, it must be motivated by love and the desire to be a blessing to others.

The three principles we have outlined from 1 Corinthians 14:26, participation, variety, and edification, in many ways summarise Paul’s overall teaching on public worship contained in chapters 12-14.  We see the principle of participation in his teaching on the right use of spiritual gifts in chapters 12 and 14.

The principle of variety is vividly illustrated in 12:13-30 where Paul’s theme is unity and diversity, and where he demonstrates our dependence on each other as members of the body of Christ.

And his wonderful teaching on love in chapter 13 leads us into the understanding in chapter 14 that the best way to show love is to put others first by seeking their edification, rather than just seeking a blessing for ourselves.

But underlying these principles is one that is even more important – the leading and power of the Holy Spirit.  It’s the Spirit who must enable our participation. It’s the Spirit who brings variety to our meetings. And it’s the Spirit who inspires us with words that will bring edification to the church. In I Corinthians 12:13 Paul refers to the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and we’ll devote a chapter to discussing what it is and its relationship the supernatural gifts of the Spirit.

To consider these themes in more detail, we’ll be exploring chapters 12-14 to gain a fuller understanding of what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians 14:26.

As we do so, we’ll discover, among other things, that:

• There’s supernatural dimension to the worship of the church expressed in the manifestation of supernatural gifts given by the Holy Spirit (12:1-11).
• These all spring from our being baptised in the Spirit (12:13).
• The church is the body of Christ, and every member of the body is different and everybody is needed (12:12-30).
• Everything we do must be motivated by love (13:1-13).
• As an expression of that love, we must always seek to put other people first (14:1-25).
• This will mean using correctly the spiritual gifts God has given us by taking responsibility for our actions (14:26-40).
• In everything we must submit to the authority of scripture (14:37).

And when we’ve completed our study of these chapters we’ll conclude with a chapter on the role of church leaders in seeking to implement Paul’s teaching in the church today.

Finally, please remember that If there’s anything you’d like me to cover in these talks (and in the book) you can contact me by emailing info@davidpetts.org

Further episodes of Great Bible Truths with Dr David Petts

Further podcasts by Dr David Petts - Pentecostal preacher, former AoG Bible College Principal

Website of Dr David Petts - Pentecostal preacher, former AoG Bible College Principal