"Understanding" in Church Worship
The Importance of "the Understanding"
in Church Worship
1Corinthians 14:15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
1Corinthians 14:19-20 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. Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
Paul underscores and emphasizes the importance of comprehension in the context of church worship. These verses serve as just one example of the importance that He assigns to intelligibility and comprehension in church. The idea is that comprehensibility or understanding is the only thing that can result in "edification" within the body of Christ.
1Corinthians 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.
Uninterpreted tongues are not acceptable (1Cor. 14:28), because they provide no understanding to the hearers, and therefore edification is not available to the others present. All things within the context of the church are to be done to facilitate edification or the building up of the people who are present.
Prayers are to be intelligible or understandable. So called praying in tongues without interpretation violates this regulatory principle. It ought never to occur in church. "Praying with the spirit" in 1Cor. 14:15, is never praying with unintelligible mumblings or muttering. Praying with the spirit is always praying with the understanding also (1Cor. 14:14-15), or it is not praying at all. It is only praying with understandable words and phrases that can lead to edification within the souls of others present in the worship service.
1Corinthians 14:12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.
Singing with lyrics that cannot be understood, is likewise forbidden. "I will sing with the understanding", involves the idea that song lyrics must be intelligible. Without recognizable and meaningful words, which actually convey understanding singing cannot result in edification.
Music always serves two purposes in church:
The first is obvious. It serves as a vehicle to worship and praise God.
The second is often missed or ignored. It serves to instruct, to teach and to edify the church by clearly identifiable and understandable doctrinal content. The only music that is authorized under the New Covenant is music which conveys a clear understandable doctrinal content which is suitable to teach truth. Two verses are sufficient to show this.
Ephesians 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Notice: music is supposed to speak to the people. How can it do this without understandable llyrics? or without doctrinal content?
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Notice: Teaching and admonishing is one of the functions of music in the church. This facilitates "letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly". Music therefore must be understandable, instructional and full of doctrinal content.
The most important function in the assemblies of Christ is the preaching of the word. There is a tendency today to remove the centrality of preaching from the worship. Some churches spend 45 minutes in what they term "Praise and Worship", and only 15 or 20 minutes in preaching. The New Covenant knows of no such disproportionate use of music or other worship gadgets. The emphasis of the New Testament is clearly upon preaching not singing and other feel-good activities. These other things have a small place in the church worship, but not a primary or central place. Preaching is the central activity in church. You can pray in your closet. You can sing in your car. But Scriptural preaching can only be received in the context of church. I know that some will dispute this in the age of podcast sermons and MP3 players. But preaching is technically a ministry of the prophetic gift to a specific church, by a specific prophet, with a specific message. Podcast sermons lack eye-contact and lack the presence of the Holy Spirit. Listening to sermons on the go or at home, is not the same as receiving them at your local assembly, because the preacher cannot look at your reactions and adjust the message according to the instantaneous directions of the Holy Spirit. Preaching is a Holy Spirit activity that happens as a living event in an assembly. Canned sermons, dispensed from machines, may have been powerful instruments of the Holy Spirit at the time they were dispensed by Him during a worship event, but they lack the necessary elements to serve as proper instruments of edification, as second hand preaching. This does not mean that listening to sermons on the go has no value. I am not saying that listening to sermons is a useless exercise. It just means that they do not qualify as living acts of preaching. They are partial recordings of the preaching event, but they are not recordings of the Holy Spirit, because He is a person not a message. He conveys a message, but He also conveys Jesus Christ in the message and to the assembly where the message is preached. Christ is in the midst of two or three who are gathered. Christ is not in an MP3 event! Christ is not in a podcast. Christ is not in a video or audio sermon. But He is in the midst of his assembly (Matthew 18:20). The presence of Christ defines true preaching, and that eliminates MP3's, because He is not alive in non-assembly machines and recordings.
Now when it comes to preaching, which is the premier event in a Sunday worship service, the modicum is just the same as in all other church activities...understanding is absolutely critical, and should be the goal in all preaching. Instead, today it seems that obtrusiveness and strained applications seems to be the norm in most evangelical preaching. By obtrusiveness I mean sermons that are rendered basically useless, because they present either obscure and irrelevant doctrines, or they are purely human viewpoints featuring self-improvement and self-enrichment ideas or other non-biblical content. The obtrusive preachers favor either lofty eloquence and multi-syllabalistic words that nobody can understand, or doctrines that are heretical and speculative. Sound Bible preaching can be neither. True preaching aims at comprehension and content that conveys actual truth as revealed in the Scriptures. There is no substitute for understandable preaching. Notice the correct pattern as established by the Apostle Paul.
1Corinthians 2:4-5 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
1Corinthians 2:1-2 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
Notice: it is not "excellency of speech" or "enticing words of human wisdom", that is to be aimed at in preaching. It is "great plainness of speech" that should be the goal of every sermon (2Corinthians 3:12). Good words and fair speeches are more the characteristics of deception rather than sermons of truth and light (Romans 16:18). Speakers who use "enticing words" make great salesmen, but they are poor preachers (Colossians 2:4). Sermons with "alluring speech" or "great swelling words of vanity" (2Peter 2:18), might characterize the popular apostate preachers of our day, but they should never characterize a true man of God. Plainness, clarity, conciseness and comprehension are the goals that every edifying sermon should strive to achieve.
Understanding or comprehension of the truth is the essence of everything that is supposed to happen in church. Praying with understanding, singing with understanding, the exercise of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, preaching with understanding, and receptivity on the part of every participant and attendee...these are the things that result in the edification of the body. There is no substitute for understanding in church. Church is never about a fuzzy warm feeling we get, but is always about being built up spiritually as the body of Christ. Places that put all the emphasis on stained glass, candles, robes, flowers and sweet sounding words, no longer qualify as churches of Jesus Christ. The church of Christ is characterized by the Holy Spirit and truth, both of which create an atmosphere of understanding and spiritual up-building. Groups that have substituted man-made forms, rituals, traditions and architectural components, in place of truth and comprehension, have forsaken Christ and the pattern of simple teaching which he left us. Understanding the truth is the determinate objective of all true churches of Christ. The emphasis is upon the Bible, and what it means for the hearers as the experience Christ's presence in the worship service, and not upon extraneous and superfluous nonsense. Any service where Christ is not actually present, is not a genuine worship service, no matter how many fuzzy feelings you may get. Christ is never present where He is not being honored. And He is not honored when unintelligible speech, music or activities are taking place. Understanding is critical to every church service.
in Church Worship
1Corinthians 14:15 What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
1Corinthians 14:19-20 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. Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.
Paul underscores and emphasizes the importance of comprehension in the context of church worship. These verses serve as just one example of the importance that He assigns to intelligibility and comprehension in church. The idea is that comprehensibility or understanding is the only thing that can result in "edification" within the body of Christ.
1Corinthians 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.
Uninterpreted tongues are not acceptable (1Cor. 14:28), because they provide no understanding to the hearers, and therefore edification is not available to the others present. All things within the context of the church are to be done to facilitate edification or the building up of the people who are present.
Prayers are to be intelligible or understandable. So called praying in tongues without interpretation violates this regulatory principle. It ought never to occur in church. "Praying with the spirit" in 1Cor. 14:15, is never praying with unintelligible mumblings or muttering. Praying with the spirit is always praying with the understanding also (1Cor. 14:14-15), or it is not praying at all. It is only praying with understandable words and phrases that can lead to edification within the souls of others present in the worship service.
1Corinthians 14:12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel to the edifying of the church.
Singing with lyrics that cannot be understood, is likewise forbidden. "I will sing with the understanding", involves the idea that song lyrics must be intelligible. Without recognizable and meaningful words, which actually convey understanding singing cannot result in edification.
Music always serves two purposes in church:
The first is obvious. It serves as a vehicle to worship and praise God.
The second is often missed or ignored. It serves to instruct, to teach and to edify the church by clearly identifiable and understandable doctrinal content. The only music that is authorized under the New Covenant is music which conveys a clear understandable doctrinal content which is suitable to teach truth. Two verses are sufficient to show this.
Ephesians 5:19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Notice: music is supposed to speak to the people. How can it do this without understandable llyrics? or without doctrinal content?
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Notice: Teaching and admonishing is one of the functions of music in the church. This facilitates "letting the word of Christ dwell in you richly". Music therefore must be understandable, instructional and full of doctrinal content.
The most important function in the assemblies of Christ is the preaching of the word. There is a tendency today to remove the centrality of preaching from the worship. Some churches spend 45 minutes in what they term "Praise and Worship", and only 15 or 20 minutes in preaching. The New Covenant knows of no such disproportionate use of music or other worship gadgets. The emphasis of the New Testament is clearly upon preaching not singing and other feel-good activities. These other things have a small place in the church worship, but not a primary or central place. Preaching is the central activity in church. You can pray in your closet. You can sing in your car. But Scriptural preaching can only be received in the context of church. I know that some will dispute this in the age of podcast sermons and MP3 players. But preaching is technically a ministry of the prophetic gift to a specific church, by a specific prophet, with a specific message. Podcast sermons lack eye-contact and lack the presence of the Holy Spirit. Listening to sermons on the go or at home, is not the same as receiving them at your local assembly, because the preacher cannot look at your reactions and adjust the message according to the instantaneous directions of the Holy Spirit. Preaching is a Holy Spirit activity that happens as a living event in an assembly. Canned sermons, dispensed from machines, may have been powerful instruments of the Holy Spirit at the time they were dispensed by Him during a worship event, but they lack the necessary elements to serve as proper instruments of edification, as second hand preaching. This does not mean that listening to sermons on the go has no value. I am not saying that listening to sermons is a useless exercise. It just means that they do not qualify as living acts of preaching. They are partial recordings of the preaching event, but they are not recordings of the Holy Spirit, because He is a person not a message. He conveys a message, but He also conveys Jesus Christ in the message and to the assembly where the message is preached. Christ is in the midst of two or three who are gathered. Christ is not in an MP3 event! Christ is not in a podcast. Christ is not in a video or audio sermon. But He is in the midst of his assembly (Matthew 18:20). The presence of Christ defines true preaching, and that eliminates MP3's, because He is not alive in non-assembly machines and recordings.
Now when it comes to preaching, which is the premier event in a Sunday worship service, the modicum is just the same as in all other church activities...understanding is absolutely critical, and should be the goal in all preaching. Instead, today it seems that obtrusiveness and strained applications seems to be the norm in most evangelical preaching. By obtrusiveness I mean sermons that are rendered basically useless, because they present either obscure and irrelevant doctrines, or they are purely human viewpoints featuring self-improvement and self-enrichment ideas or other non-biblical content. The obtrusive preachers favor either lofty eloquence and multi-syllabalistic words that nobody can understand, or doctrines that are heretical and speculative. Sound Bible preaching can be neither. True preaching aims at comprehension and content that conveys actual truth as revealed in the Scriptures. There is no substitute for understandable preaching. Notice the correct pattern as established by the Apostle Paul.
1Corinthians 2:4-5 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
1Corinthians 2:1-2 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
Notice: it is not "excellency of speech" or "enticing words of human wisdom", that is to be aimed at in preaching. It is "great plainness of speech" that should be the goal of every sermon (2Corinthians 3:12). Good words and fair speeches are more the characteristics of deception rather than sermons of truth and light (Romans 16:18). Speakers who use "enticing words" make great salesmen, but they are poor preachers (Colossians 2:4). Sermons with "alluring speech" or "great swelling words of vanity" (2Peter 2:18), might characterize the popular apostate preachers of our day, but they should never characterize a true man of God. Plainness, clarity, conciseness and comprehension are the goals that every edifying sermon should strive to achieve.
Understanding or comprehension of the truth is the essence of everything that is supposed to happen in church. Praying with understanding, singing with understanding, the exercise of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, preaching with understanding, and receptivity on the part of every participant and attendee...these are the things that result in the edification of the body. There is no substitute for understanding in church. Church is never about a fuzzy warm feeling we get, but is always about being built up spiritually as the body of Christ. Places that put all the emphasis on stained glass, candles, robes, flowers and sweet sounding words, no longer qualify as churches of Jesus Christ. The church of Christ is characterized by the Holy Spirit and truth, both of which create an atmosphere of understanding and spiritual up-building. Groups that have substituted man-made forms, rituals, traditions and architectural components, in place of truth and comprehension, have forsaken Christ and the pattern of simple teaching which he left us. Understanding the truth is the determinate objective of all true churches of Christ. The emphasis is upon the Bible, and what it means for the hearers as the experience Christ's presence in the worship service, and not upon extraneous and superfluous nonsense. Any service where Christ is not actually present, is not a genuine worship service, no matter how many fuzzy feelings you may get. Christ is never present where He is not being honored. And He is not honored when unintelligible speech, music or activities are taking place. Understanding is critical to every church service.
© 2012 Rev Earl Jackson www.RevEarlJackson.com
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This article may be reproduced on any website or blog in its entirety without alteration or change, provided that this copyright notice and a link back to this website is made. Please inform us if you use this article. And please send us the link to where you have placed it. Use this CONTACT PAGE. You may not reproduce this article in any other form, such as hard copy, and it is not permitted to sell it or otherwise use it for money making purposes.