1 Cor 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of ...



BAPTIST CHURCH POLITY

LECTURE 30

DECENTLY AND IN ORDER

Order defined (Webster’s 1828):

Regular disposition or methodical arrangement of things; a word of extensive application; as the order of troops or parade; the order of books in a library; the order of proceedings in a legislative assembly. Order is the life of business.

Good order is the foundation of all good things.

Proper state; as the muskets are all in good order. When the bodily organs are in order, a person is in health; when they are out of order, he is indisposed.

Regularity; settled mode of operation.

This fact could not occur in the order of nature; it is against the natural order of things.

Rule; regulation; as the rules and orders of a legislative house.

Regular government or discipline. It is necessary for society that good order should be observed. The meeting was turbulent; it was impossible to keep order.

Decently defined (Webster’s 1828): to be fit or becoming; to be good, or fit for. Another defines it as ‘well formed: We may imagine a potter working on a lump of clay, shaping it with his hands as the table rotates.  He has a firm grasp of how to achieve a well formed item of pottery.  He does not make the top too big, or the base.  It is properly balanced.  It is made ‘decently’, or well formed.’

What the Bible has to say about ‘decently and in order’:

1 Cor 14:26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.

This sounds very confusing, disorderly, inappropriate. There needs to be things done decently, in order, by course. It must not be that there are many people participating in a church service (i.e. having things to say). In this chapter it gives ‘by course’ to be up to 3 different people. No-one should be speaking when another is speaking (of course). The goal is edification of the body, not edification of the individual. “Every one of you hath a prayer request, a praise, a interesting tidbit of information, a question, a comment, a joke, a this or that”. Let all things be done unto edifying!

1 Cor 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

In our English translation it may appear that Paul is simply correcting clamour and commotion.  But that is not what he has in mind.  The Greek word translated ‘confusion’ describes a situation in which people act on their own.  It covers uncoordinated individualism (even including anarchy). The Greek word is the negative form of the verb ‘to place down’, or to appoint.  In other words, God is not the author of uninhibited free expression.  He is not the author of anything which is not placed down, arranged, appointed.  He desires an ordered, thoughtful, led approach.  He does not want public worship which is not thought about and ordered.  This verse, therefore, condemns service-leaders who arrange things as they go along.  It also condemns a free-for-all service.

1 Cor 14:40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

It is speaking of the need for a regular arrangement or specified order. The service is not for entertainment, but is to be a balance of intelligent spiritual themes. It must also be appropriate for sacred things, not worldly and profane things.  It must be reverent in character.  It is not appropriate for a minister or other worship leader to project his personality, or behave as a master of ceremonies.  That is not fitting.

Order in worship, means that services are arranged according to the rules and pattern of the Bible.  Everything is conformed to these.  Obviously the word must not be pressed to the point of absurdity, for the apostles did not read manuscripted sermons, or write liturgies.  However, the word order tells us that a congregation gladly embraces and submits to a style of worship given by God.  Innovation is out.  Gimmickry is out.  Exhibitionism is out.  Entertainment is out.

Reverence is in, along with all the components of worship which our Heavenly General has commanded.  ‘Order’ spells obedience to God. To test the contents of a service we should ask – Is it in the Bible?  What would the Lord say?  Can we imaging Paul doing it?

Acts 21:24 Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law.

Thus, being orderly has to do (at least somewhat, if not a lot) with keeping the law, i.e. following the Bible.

James 3:14-18 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.

One key thing that brings confusion, indecentness, disorder, is envying and strife between church members.

2 Thess 3:6-7 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;

Church discipline is in ‘order’ for anyone that isn’t going to follow the prescribed order of their church; they are ‘disorderly’.

1 Cor 11:34 And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.

The Pastor needs to ‘set in order’ things in a church, especially when he ‘takes over as Senior Pastor’ of a new church. It is the Pastor’s responsibility to get things in order; it’s his watch. Pastor, set things in order!

Titus 1:4-5 To Titus, mine own son after the common faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour. For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee:

There are some things that are wanting in churches as far as decentness and orderliness. Remember, orderly doesn’t just mean that you follow some prescribed course to your worship services; it means, in its deepest essence, following the order that the New Testament declares. What is wanting in many Baptist churches today is the order of Baptism, the order of Communion, the order of Music, the order of standards, the order of evangelism, the order of preaching against sin, the order of not fellowshipping with unbelievers, etc.. What is wanting with your church?....

1 Tim 3:15 But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

The Pastor needs to behave himself properly in the house of God; he sets the example for all the others. It is a very important place, indeed. It is the church of the living God!

John 2:13-17 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

Jesus Christ was not at all pleased with the disorder and indecentness that was going on in His Father’s house! Just think how He feels about all that is going on in the House of God in this dispensation?! Would He come into your church service and throw some things out?! Drum sets?! NKJV?! Woman’s pants (throw the woman out whole)?! The fellowship meals that are more important than the preaching?!

Col 2:5 For though I be absent in the flesh, yet am I with you in the spirit, joying and beholding your order, and the stedfastness of your faith in Christ.

It is a joy for the Lord (I believe) to behold your order when you assemble together. He is with us in His Spirit. God is watching you; one key area I believe He carefully observes is our decentness and order.

Charismatic chaos

Charismatic churches (which are any church, including Catholics and Baptists, that allow the manifesting of the so-called sign gifts in its services) are typically very unorthodox, on the cutting edge, pushing the limits, striving for new experiences, and thus are anything but orderly. Oftentimes they will have the ‘afterglow’ where once they ‘main services’ are concluded, folks are invited to stay around and sing praise music, speak in tongues, have healings, manifest miracles, and the like. This is where all the ‘chaos’ comes to life (actually, it is devils coming to life in the church building!).

One leader within the Calvary Chapel movement, Larry Taylor, writes in the booklet What Calvary Chapel Teaches:

Over the years, however, fundamentalism, while it clung to the integrity of God's Word, tended to become rigid, legalistic, and unaccepting of spiritual gifts. Similarly, Pentecostalism became enthusiastic and emotional at the expense of the teaching of God's Word. Calvary Chapel is the balance between the two. At Calvary Chapel we believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Bible, and we encourage their exercise, but always decently and in order, and with the primary emphasis on the Word of God which we look to as our primary rule of faith.

According to Taylor, then, anyone who believes that the gifts of the foundational Apostolic Period are not for today is "rigid and legalistic."

The Apostle Paul warned against the uncontrolled pandemonium that is characteristic of many of the Charismatics (tongues, healings, miracles, the laughing revival, being drunk in the spirit, etc.). The church at Corinth was involved in abuse of spiritual sign gifts and as a result the services were characterized by disorder and confusion. This is precisely what we see in the Charismatics. The Apostle Paul rebuked such things and stated that God does not act this way. He said it is important that everything be done decently and in order, that disorder is not of God and causes the unsaved to think we are crazy. The Holy Spirit does not throw His people to the ground and give them uncontrollable fits of laughter or cause them to be staggering drunk or to be barking like a dog or to be in a state of unconsciousness (slain)!!!

Consider the following description of a meeting conducted by Kenneth Hagin at the Winter Bible Seminar '96 on the RHEMA campus: "Waves of God's glory swept through the sanctuary, and people broke out in Holy Ghost laughter or dancing in the Spirit. Then Brother Hagin began laying hands on various people in the audience, telling them to 'Be blessed!' He was operating under such a strong anointing that entire rows of people would fall under the power of God when Brother Hagin touched the first person in the row--or at times just walked by the row!

"Afterwards, Brother Hagin began to close the service--but the Holy Ghost arrested him, striking him dumb or mute by the power of God! For the next hour, Brother Hagin, unable to speak himself, walked throughout the audience, handing various ministers the microphone so the minister could speak as the Lord led him. But the moment Brother Hagin gave the microphone to someone, that minister was either struck dumb, fell under the power of God, or was overcome by Holy Ghost laughter" (The Word of Faith, RHEMA Bible Church, May 1996, p. 9). Is this decently and in order….?!

Kenneth Hagin, considered to be one of the most prominent preachers in whose meetings the slaying in the spirit occurs, says that sometimes there appears what he calls a 'cloud of glory.' When it appears, he claims he does not have to touch people but as he waves his hands, rows of people fall flat on the floor (Kenneth Hagin, How You Can Be Led by the Spirit of God, 1987, p. 30). Is this decently and in order….?!

The Hunters are well known Charismatic leaders and they have learned to be a little more careful in their disorderliness in their healing services, as the following account states: 'More recently [1989] a federal jury has ordered evangelists Charles and Frances Hunter to pay $300,000 in damages to a 67-year-old woman who was hurt when she fell over backward during one of their healing services. Evelyn Kuykendall of Maxville, North California, fractured her back and spent two months in the hospital following the accident. Francis MacNutt then added: 'I learned to be cautious and to ask for catchers to stand by anytime I think that people might fall'.

David Cloud relates: “When we think about the deception and fraud that is so prevalent in the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement and when we think about the many times that women are allegedly overcome by the Spirit and fall in an indecent manner and have to be covered with a blanket by women pre-assigned to that task, it is obvious that all things are not done decently.”

D.Cloud: God delivered the writer from Pentecostalism years ago. One Sunday morning, in a Pentecostal meeting, a red-headed man arose and began to read the 14th chapter of 1 Corinthians. I was listening intently. Soon one woman arose and began waving her arms and "speaking in tongues," and then another, and another, until there were nine on their feet going like windmills. I saw that they did not want to hear the Scripture read. Despite the bedlam they were creating, I managed to hear these words: "God is not the author of confusion, but of peace" and "Let all things be done decently and in order”. The complete contrast between this Scripture and the pandemonium going on around me caused me to begin to see that Pentecostalism is not of God and is therefore of Satan.

Let’s briefly examen the following verses in 1 Corinthians 14: 23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad? 29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge. 30 If any thing be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.

33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. 34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. 40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

**Unbelievers will think that Baptists (or Christians in general) are crazy, weird, spooky, etc., if they see some of these

Charismatica manifestions going on. They are at ease when things are done decently and in order.

**There was to be a limited amount of men allowed to speak (preach, prophesy) in a church service; it wasn’t simply up to

‘as the Spirit leads’, and then one after the other jumps up to say his (or her) shpeeeel. The Gospel Hall is known for this,

as well as Quakers, and many Charismatic churches.

**No-one is to be speaking at the same time another is; but, how does that work when most everybody is speaking tongues?

I suppose it is that they are doing it ‘privately’.

**God does not author ‘confusion’; therefore if there is anything that is in the rhealm of confusion going on in a church

service, it is not of God.

**Women are usually the most involved with tongue speaking, waving of hands, crying out, etc., etc.. This is totally against

the scriptural mandate for them.

Universal disorderliness

People cannot assemble if they are all over the world. Something universal cannot assemble in one place. Second, it must be visible. People cannot assemble and not be seen. To carry out the duties given by God, the church must be visible. Third, it must be organized. People cannot assemble and be in complete disarray. An assembly cannot operate if it is in total confusion and chaos. I don’t have a clue what the other millions of churches are doing around the globe today. We are all doing our own thing; it is very confusing indeed. There is absolutely no order to it (in my perspective). If the assembly is unorganised (without order), the purpose is defeated, for nothing will get done. Local New Testament Churches have organized leadership; God and the Pastor. The Universal, Invisible Church has no leadership at all, therefore it is unorganized. Fourth, it must be constituted. There are qualifications for membership in any assembly. The qualifications for membership in a Local New Testament Church are, Salvation, Baptism, Membership. Not just any Christian may belong to a New Testament Church (as the Universal, Invisible Church believes), they must fit the qualifications (a distinct orderliness, which is very decent indeed).

Legalistic orderliness

Fundamental Baptists are labelled legalists for having a lot of rules and standards governing their church services. We may be called ‘legalists’, but a better term would be ‘Biblicists’…for we are simply trying to follow what God desires for His children and His churches to be doing. The New Testament is full of rules, principles, guidelines, order. We are to be a church that is governed by the New Testament; we are to follow the order of the New Testament; we are decent, proper, appropriate if we follow the New Testament. Don’t stop being a ‘legalist’ my dear friend!

Dead Orthodoxy orderliness

What has happened to a majority of the mainline Protestant churches (and their offspring) is ‘dead orthodoxy’. They are simply following the traditions and rituals of their Mother (the Mother of Harlots, the RCC). They think by following to the ‘T’ some form of order, that God will be impressed with them. Well this is true if the ‘order’ was based on the New Testament, but instead it is based upon paganistic ritualism and following a liturgy. In these churches, no-one is allowed to speak except the one behind the pulpit. There is no room for diverting from the liturgy, the program, from what it says in the bulletin, from the way we’ve always done things.

Orderly excitement

Following order doesn’t mean that you are boring, quiet, stale, cold, distant,….dead. It means that you follow the order that the New Testament gives us. It tells us to praise His name, to sing loudly to Him, to encourage one another, to have joy, to say Amen and Hallelujah, etc.. A Baptist church can have the Spirit moving and bringing people joy, thanksgiving, repentance, commitment, etc., without having a bunch of chaos breaking out. A person can show joy without getting up and running around the auditorium screaming and waving a white hanky! A person can try and get close to God and totally commit himself to Him without falling out in the aisle and rolling around barking like a dog! A person can ‘come forward’ and repent of all his sins at ‘the altar’ without having to have the ‘annointed preacher’ touch him and cause him to fall back and be slain in the spirit for 30 minutes! A person can be overcome with thanksgiving to God without having to jump up and start mumbling in gibberish with their eyes rolled back in their head! We Baptists can be orderly and decent and still get excited for the things of God!!!

Keep the order

It is imperative that the Pastor (or the man behind the pulpit) keep the church services decent and in order. If he is not trying to keep everything ‘in order’, then it may, over time, trend towards disorderliness. Just watch a business meeting that doesn’t have the moderator firmly taking charge and following a certain prescribed order (Robert’s rules of order). Things become very disorderly to where nothing is really accomplished. A Pastor has to maintain order in the House of God.

Warner’s order

The following are some thoughts, ideas, principles, wild-eyed schemes, etc., that Pastor Warner has brought up in order to keep things in order in an independent Baptist church service:

● as soon as possible, remove all infants, whether crying or not (at least have them go to the

nursery as soon as they begin crying).

● no children (nor adults for that matter) should leave to go to the restroom once the church service has started (though, in a

protracted service, deference may be given here).

● no-one should interrupt the preacher with a question, comment, thought, critique, etc., unless the speaker has requested for

this. There is only one preacher, and these ‘neat thoughts’ or ‘burning questions’ should be saved for after the service

where the preacher will be glad to entertain them.

● there should be absolutely no talking going on in the congregation while there

are music specials, testimonies being given, or preaching going on. This

includes whisperings; but doesn not include loud “AAAAAmens” and

“Praaaaaizzzz the Lords”! However, try not to be obnoxious with these (we

have no-one getting even close to this yet, so don’t worry…).

● please limit moving around, taking off jackets, trying to get more

comfortable, looking thru your purse, looking around the auditorium,

scolding your children, scolding somebody else’s children, yawning and

stretching, coughing, sneezing, clearing of the throat, hickuping, biting one’s

fingernails, clipping one’s finger nails or toe nails, wrestling wrappers of

hard candy, etc..

● always raise your hand and wait to be called on before you give a prayer request, or praise, or bit of information, etc..

● when giving a testimony, prayer request, tidbit of information, please be short, concise, to the point, unless it is requested

or expected for a more lengthy address.

● if people come in late, quickly move to make the back rows open for them to sit down in an easy fashion.

● the songleader needs to clearly and loudly declare what hymn to turn to and what verses will be sung of it.

● the preacher needs to clearly and loudly declare what passage he wants the congregation

to turn to.

● the Pastor needs to keep a reasonable amount of formality and seriousness to a church

service; though, humor, smiles, candid remarks, and the like, are allowable (in my

opinion) as long as they are in the minority and don’t appear disruptive

to to those in attendance.

● the preacher needs to be concerned with what time it is; if folks are use to, and therefor

planning, leaving at about 12:15pm on Sunday mornings, then be careful if you decide to keep them there to 2 pm. They

are use to a certain order in time, and if you sometimes break greatly from that, that can cause them to maybe break greatly

from attending.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download