The Ideal Church

One person supposedly made this statement why he was not a member of a church. He said, “I have never found a perfect church; therefore I am not a Christian.” To which his friend replied, “When you find that perfect church, don’t join it.”

Do you see the point? If he did join, it would no longer be perfect. He would spoil it.

Probably every congregation has its good points and bad points, and likely the membership would be able to list them. Which side would be longer? I don’t know. We hope the good points outweigh the bad points. The reason there is this difference is very simple. The members are all human beings. And all human beings have some good points and some bad points. Even people who are Christians still have a few bad points. In every human organization, there is a need for ideals that challenge for improvement. That is true in the church.

In I Corinthians 14:34-40 Paul sets forth THE IDEAL CHURCH:

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.

35 And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

36 What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?

37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.

39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.

40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

The Ideal Church, according to Paul, has several distinguishing MARKS. These marks make it recognizable.

The first distinguishing mark is:

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.

35 And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

The apostle makes a sharp statement when he says that the women are to “keep silence in the churches.” Their presence is there, but they are to have a low profile. In I Corinthians 11:2-16, the apostle Paul taught how women may pray or prophesy. That was not limited to the home. It seemed also to be applicable to the church. They ought not to pray or prophesy with unveiled heads. Under the circumstances he is addressing in I Corinthians 14, they are to keep silent.

A little reflection may help us to understand why he said that. It may be that their more emotional and psychological constitution formed the basic reason. Women are more emotional than men and often go to extremes. In the midst of the condition described in verse 26, they might be inclined to extremes: “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.” Under those circumstances, they might have been inclined to be quite emotional and quite vocal. So the apostle Paul instructs them to have their personal relationship with their husbands. This assumes of course that the husband is the head of the home.

Some years ago I was listening to a man who was promoting Vacation Bible School material. He said, “When you go to the home to find out whether the children will come to Vacation Bible School, talk to the mother.” He said, “This is a matriarchal society.” Well, it is not supposed to be.

During my revival/evangelistic services years ago, I often preached a sermon on rearing the family. I based my message on Deuteronomy 6:4-25. Here are Moses’ words in verses 4-6 to the children of Israel before they entered the Promised Land.

Love the Lord Thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

I went on to the rest of the chapter, and as I concluded my message I asked fathers to commit themselves to conduct family worship daily, and to create and maintain the family altar. As I remember there was only one congregation where I had 100 percent participation.

When the Bible was taken out of the school in 1963, supporters argued that this is the responsibility of the home. But that is sorely lacking today.

Matthew Henry’s commentary has these comments:

As it is the woman’s duty to learn in subjection, it is the man’s duty to keep up his superiority, by being able to instruct her; if it is her duty to ask her husband at home, it is his concern and duty to endeavor at least to be able to answer her inquiries; if it is a shame for her to speak in the church, where she should be silent, it is a shame for him to be silent when he should speak, and not be able to give an answer, when she asks him at home. We have here the reason for this injunction: It is God’s law and commandment that they should be under obedience (v.34); they are placed in subordination to the man, and it is a shame for them to do anything that looks like an affectation of changing ranks, which speaking in public seemed to imply, at least in that age, and among that people, as would public teaching much more: so that the apostle concludes it was a shame for women to speak in the church, in the assembly. Shame is a mind’s uneasy reflection on having done an indecent thing. And what more indecent than for a woman to quit her rank, renounce the subordination of her sex, or do what in common account had such aspect and appearance? Our spirit and conduct should be suitable to our rank. The natural distinctions God has made, we should observe.

Now, friend, don’t argue with me. I am only explaining what the apostle Paul said. The first distinguishing mark of The Ideal Church is The Place of Women in the Church.

The second distinguishing mark is:

36 What? came the word of God out from you? or came it unto you only?

37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.

38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.

Assess where the message of truth has come from. The apostle Paul made a rather striking statement when he asked them, “Did the message come from you, or did it come out from you?” So remember, the message did not come from the congregation. It came from God. We have the revelation from God. Every congregation must recognize that we have the Book from God!

And then the leader must have a certain amount of discipline. You see, the apostle Paul was raising that question. He said, “If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord” (verse 37).

Affirm the writings of the apostle as the commandments of the Lord. I want you to know, my friend, that inspiration, that is, the work of the Holy Spirit in the writing of the Scripture, ceased when John the apostle wrote the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. The statement “Thus saith the Lord” occurs well over 3,500 times in the Bible. Therefore, we have the word from God.

Paul claimed special authority for his writings. He said he wrote the commandments of the Lord. Therefore, no one has the authority to modify what he wrote.

Some years ago a friend asked me, “Don’t you think if Paul were living today, he would write differently than he did in the first century?”

I said, “No. No, I don’t believe so.” You see the whole point is this. If that is true, then we don’t have a Bible. We don’t have a word from God. We don’t have an eternal, universal word from God. So I take it that what the apostle wrote are the commandments of the Lord. Therefore no one has any right to modify what has been written.

I would like to quote again from Barnes’s commentary on I Corinthians:

I do not speak by my own authority, or in my own name, says Paul. I speak in the name of the Lord, and to obey the commands of the Lord is a proof of being influenced by his Spirit. True religion everywhere, and the most ardent and enthusiastic zeal that is prompted by true religion, will show their genuineness and purity by a sacred and constant regard for the commands of the Lord. And that zeal which disregards those commands, and which tramples down the authority of the Scriptures and the peace and order of the church, gives demonstration that it is not genuine. It is false zeal, and, however ardent, will not ultimately do good to the cause.

I say, “Amen. Thank you very much Dr. Barnes.”

The second distinguishing mark then is The Grace of the Leaders in the Church.

The third distinguishing mark is:

39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.

40 Let all things be done decently and in order.

The apostle says to cultivate balance. Covet to prophesy. Be zealous; desire earnestly to prophesy. The word covet really means “to be very zealous.” So Paul is saying, “Be in earnest to prophesy.” Prophesying edifies the church. It is desirable because people are instructed, encouraged, discipled, and helped to walk in the ways of divine truth.

Then the apostle says, “Covet to prophesy, but do not forbid to speak in tongues.” Of course, this has to be qualified by the directions the apostle gave with respect to speaking in tongues. In other words, if no translator is there, then there should be no expression in public. Let that person who speaks in tongues speak to himself.

Paul concludes this chapter by urging his readers to maintain propriety: “Let all things be done decently and in order” To be in the presence of God, the God of the universe and eternity, demands decency and orderliness. I sometimes am greatly discouraged in spirit when I see how some people come into the presence of God. Some people come to worship looking like a slouch. We ought to have more regard for the awesome than that. We ought to realize we are coming into the presence of the Holy God. Oh, yes, He accepts us as we are. But He wants to make us as we ought to be.

Again I quote from Barnes’s commentary:

Ministers of the Gospel should not aim to be admired. They should seek to be useful. Their aim should not be to excite admiration of their acute and profound talent for reasoning; or their clear and striking observation; of their graceful manners; of their glowing and fervid eloquence; of the beauty of their words, or the eloquence of their well-turned periods. They should seek to build up the people of God in holy faith, and so to present truth as that it shall make a deep impression on mankind. No work is so important, and so serious in its nature and results, as the ministry of the gospel; and in no work on earth should there be more seriousness, simplicity, exactness, and correctness of statement and invincible and unvarying adherence to simple and unvarnished truth. Of all places, the pulpit is the last, in which to seek to excite admiration, or where to display profound learning, or the powers of abstract and subtle argumentation, for the sake of securing a reputation.

So the third distinguishing mark of The Ideal Church is The Base of Order in the Church.

Let me review these distinguishing marks of The Ideal Church.

You will recognize it by

You will recognize it by

You will recognize it by