The foundational principles that should underlie what takes place in church meetings are these. Christians should do everything in a decent and orderly manner, everything should be edifying ( 1 Corinthians 14:26), and a spirit of peace should prevail ( 1 Corinthians 14:33). [source][source][source]
This chapter on speaking in tongues is extremely relevant because of current interest in the charismatic gifts of the Spirit. If believers followed the teaching in this chapter alone, even in charismatic churches, there would be far less confusion in the church over this subject. [source][source][source]
"In these three chapters (xii-xiv.) the Apostle has been contending with the danger of spiritual anarchy, which would be the result if every Christian who believed that he had a charisma were allowed to exercise it without consideration for others." [1][source]
Context Summary
1 Corinthians 14:26-40 - Order Of Church Services
Again the Apostle sums up his directions in two simple rules: 1. Let all things be done unto edifying; that is, to building up individual character, and to fitting each member as a brick or stone into the rising fabric of the Church. Hence the stress laid on prophesying or speaking under the impulse of God's Spirit. All who had that gift should certainly have a chance to use it, because the whole Church would be thereby profited and enriched. 2. Let all things be done decently and in order: decently, so as not to interrupt the dignity and gravity of the services; in order, not by hazard or impulse, but by design and arrangement.
The Apostle's ideal is that of the calm and simple majesty which should mark all solemn assemblies, as distinct from fanatical and frenzied excitement. Hence he discountenances the disuse of the Eastern veil (the badge of modesty), the speaking of women in public, and the interruption of speakers by each other. That the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets is a truth of universal application. It condemns every impulse of a religious character which is not under the intelligent control of those who display it. [source]
Chapter Summary: 1 Corinthians 14
1Prophecy is commended, 2and preferred before speaking in tongues, 6by a comparison drawn from musical instruments 12Both must be referred to edification, 22as to their true and proper end 26The true use of each is taught, 27and the abuse rebuked 34Women in the churches
Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 14:40
Decently and in order [ευσχημονως και κατα ταχιν] That is surely a good rule for all matters of church life and worship. It applies also to the function of women in church service. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 14:40
Romans 13:13Honestly [εὐσχημόνως] Honest is originally honorable, and so here. Compare Wyclif's version of 1 Corinthians 12:23: “And the members that be unhonest have more honesty; for our honest members have need of none.” From εὐ well σχῆμα fashionSee on Matthew 17:2. Hence becomingly. Compare 1 Corinthians 14:40; 1 Thessalonians 4:12. The word refers more particularly to the outward life, and thus accords with walk, and in the day the time of observation. [source]
Romans 13:13Honestly [ευσχημονως] Paul is fond of the metaphor “walk” (περιπατεω peripateō), 33 times though not in the Pastoral Epistles. This old adverb (from ευσχημων euschēmōn graceful) occurs also in 1 Thessalonians 4:12; 1 Corinthians 14:40. The English word “honest” means honourable (Latin honor) and so decent. Wycliffe translates 1 Corinthians 12:23 by “unhonest,” “honesty,” “honest” for “less honourable, honour, honourable.” [source]
1 Thessalonians 4:12Honestly [εὐσχημόνως] PoBetter, seemly. From εὐ welland σχῆμα figureor fashion. The literal sense is suggested by the familiar phrase in good form. The contrast appears in ἀτάκτως disorderly 2 Thessalonians 3:6. Paul has in view the impression to be made by his readers on those outside of the church. See on Romans 13:13, and comp. 1 Corinthians 14:40. [source]
What do the individual words in 1 Corinthians 14:40 mean?
Greek Commentary for 1 Corinthians 14:40
That is surely a good rule for all matters of church life and worship. It applies also to the function of women in church service. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for 1 Corinthians 14:40
Honest is originally honorable, and so here. Compare Wyclif's version of 1 Corinthians 12:23: “And the members that be unhonest have more honesty; for our honest members have need of none.” From εὐ well σχῆμα fashionSee on Matthew 17:2. Hence becomingly. Compare 1 Corinthians 14:40; 1 Thessalonians 4:12. The word refers more particularly to the outward life, and thus accords with walk, and in the day the time of observation. [source]
Paul is fond of the metaphor “walk” (περιπατεω peripateō), 33 times though not in the Pastoral Epistles. This old adverb (from ευσχημων euschēmōn graceful) occurs also in 1 Thessalonians 4:12; 1 Corinthians 14:40. The English word “honest” means honourable (Latin honor) and so decent. Wycliffe translates 1 Corinthians 12:23 by “unhonest,” “honesty,” “honest” for “less honourable, honour, honourable.” [source]
I. Passages Relating to the Gift of Tongues. Mark 16:17; Acts href="/desk/?q=ac+10:46&sr=1">Acts 10:46; Acts 19:6; 1 Corinthians 12:10, 1 Corinthians 12:28; 1 Corinthians 13:1; 14. Possibly Ephesians 5:18; 1 Peter 4:11. II. Terms Employed. New tongues (Mark 16:17): other or different tongues ( ἕτεραι , Acts 2:4): kinds ( γένη ) of tongues (1 Corinthians 12:10): simply tongues or tongue ( γλῶσσαι γλῶσσα , Acts href="/desk/?q=ac+2:4&sr=1">Acts 2:4; Acts 10:46; Acts 19:6; 1 Corinthians 14:2, 1 Corinthians 14:4, 1 Corinthians 14:13, 1 Corinthians 14:14, 1 Corinthians 14:19, 1 Corinthians 14:27): to pray in a tongue ( προσεύχεσθαι γλώσσῃ , 1 Corinthians 14:14, 1 Corinthians 14:15), equivalent to praying in the spirit as distinguished from praying with the understanding: tongues of men and angels (1 Corinthians 13:1). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- III. Recorded Facts in the New Testament. (1.) The first recorded bestowment of the gift was at Pentecost (Acts href="/desk/?q=ac+10:44-46&sr=1">Acts 10:44-46. (3.) Certain disciples at Ephesus, who received the Holy Spirit in the laying on of Paul's hands, spake with tongues and prophesied, Acts 19:6. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- IV. Meaning of the Term “Tongue.” The various explanations are: the tongue alone, inarticulately: rare, provincial, poetic, or archaic words: language or dialect. The last is the correct definition. It does not necessarily mean any of the known languages of men, but may mean the speaker's own tongue, shaped in a peculiar manner by the Spirit's influence; or an entirely new spiritual language. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- V. Nature of the Gift in the Corinthian Church. (1.) The gift itself was identical with that at Pentecost, at Caesarea, and at Ephesus, but differed in its manifestations, in that it required an interpreter. 1 Corinthians 12:10, 1 Corinthians 12:30; 1 Corinthians 14:5, 1 Corinthians 14:13, 1 Corinthians 14:26, 1 Corinthians 14:27. (2.) It was closely connected with prophesying: 1 Corinthians 14:1-6, 1 Corinthians 14:22, 1 Corinthians 14:25; Acts 2:16-18; Acts 19:6. Compare 1 Thessalonians 5:19, 1 Thessalonians 5:20. It was distinguished from prophesying as an inferior gift, 1 Corinthians 14:4, 1 Corinthians 14:5; and as consisting in expressions of praise or devotion rather than of exhortation, warning, or prediction, 1 Corinthians 14:14-16. (3.) It was an ecstatic utterance, unintelligible to the hearers, and requiring interpretation, or a corresponding ecstatic condition on the part of the hearer in order to understand it. It was not for the edification of the hearer but of the speaker, and even the speaker did not always understand it, 1 Corinthians 14:2, 1 Corinthians 14:19. It therefore impressed unchristian bystanders as a barbarous utterance, the effect of madness or drunkenness, Acts 2:13, Acts 2:15; 1 Corinthians 14:11, 1 Corinthians 14:23. Hence it is distinguished from the utterance of the understanding, 1 Corinthians 14:4, 1 Corinthians 14:14-16, 1 Corinthians 14:19, 1 Corinthians 14:27. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- VI. Paul's Estimate of the Gift. He himself was a master of the gift (1 Corinthians 14:18), but he assigned it an inferior position (1 Corinthians 14:4, 1 Corinthians 14:5), and distinctly gave prophesying and speaking with the understanding the preference (1 Corinthians 14:2, 1 Corinthians 14:3, 1 Corinthians 14:5, 1 Corinthians 14:19, 1 Corinthians 14:22). -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- VII. Results and Permanence. Being recognized distinctly as a gift of the Spirit, it must be inferred that it contributed in some way to the edification of the Church; but it led to occasional disorderly outbreaks (1 Corinthians 14:9, 1 Corinthians 14:11, 1 Corinthians 14:17, 1 Corinthians 14:20-23, 1 Corinthians 14:26-28, 1 Corinthians 14:33, 1 Corinthians 14:40). As a fact it soon passed away from the Church. It is not mentioned in the Catholic or Pastoral Epistles. A few allusions to it occur in the writings of the fathers of the second century. Ecstatic conditions and manifestations marked the Montanists at the close of the second century, and an account of such a case, in which a woman was the subject, is given by Tertullian. Similar phenomena have emerged at intervals in various sects, at times of great religious excitement, as among the Camisards in France, the early Quakers and Methodists, and especially the Irvingites. -DIVIDER- -DIVIDER- [source]
PoBetter, seemly. From εὐ welland σχῆμα figureor fashion. The literal sense is suggested by the familiar phrase in good form. The contrast appears in ἀτάκτως disorderly 2 Thessalonians 3:6. Paul has in view the impression to be made by his readers on those outside of the church. See on Romans 13:13, and comp. 1 Corinthians 14:40. [source]