Hope for Today

From the record, we learn that the church in Corinth had a turbulent history. It began with a riot when the founding apostles were hauled to Gallio’s judgment seat by opposing Jews. But Gallio refused to hear the case, dismissing it with these words: “If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters” (Acts 18:14-15).

We should pay attention to what lay behind this riot. Some people, as we say, couldn’t care less. Nothing matters. Anything goes. But some people believe very deeply what they believe. Both of these probably should modify their positions a bit, and yet I must say to you there are beliefs worth dying for.

My counsel is to believe what you believe. And be ready to modify when new truth is learned. Be sure you heard me right. I said, Be ready to modify when new truth is learned. The caution I leave is, Not everything new is truth.

The message of I Corinthians 14 is controversial and has split many congregations. Properly understood it need not. This time I have called my message THE PRIORITY OF PROPHECY. The text is I Corinthians 14:1-9:

1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.

2 For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.

3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.

5 I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.

6 Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?

7 And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?

8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?

9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.

My desire is to bring from this text several DISTINCTIVES that I find in Paul’s words so we may more clearly understand The Priority of Prophecy.

The first distinctive is we need to seek:

1 Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.

2For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.

3 But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

Most of us consider prophecy as a prediction. There are hundreds of examples in the Bible of predictive prophecy. Let me give you several illustrations:

For example, in Genesis 17:19 God promised Abraham and Sarah a baby boy. They had no children and they were hoping for a son. Genesis 17:19 states:

And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.

Now that is a predictive prophecy.

In Genesis 21:1-2 we see the fulfillment of that prophecy.

And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived, and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time of which God had spoken to him.

So we have predictive prophecy.

Let me give you another example. In I Kings 17:1 God, speaking by the prophet Elijah, gave us these words:

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.

We go now to I Kings 18:41-45 for the fulfillment of this predictive prophecy.

And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain. So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, And said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up, and looked and said, There is nothing. And he said, Go again seven times. And it came to pass at the seventh time, that he said, Behold, there ariseth a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand. And he said, Go up, say unto Ahab, Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not. And it came to pass in the mean while, that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain. And Ahab rode, and went to Jezreel.

So we have predictive prophecies and fulfillments of them.

These two illustrations teach us that predictive prophecy is possible. What the prophets predicted came true.

For other predictions, we still look for their fulfillment. For example, John 14:1-3 is often read at funerals. Perhaps you know this by heart.

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

We are still looking for that fulfillment, but it has been spoken.

Now, here in I Corinthians 14:3 we have another definition:

But he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort.

To prophesy means to speak to edification, which means “the act of one who promotes another’s growth in Christian wisdom, piety, holiness, happiness.”  The Greek word oikodomeo “to edification” is associated with the building trade, construction, and building up. To prophesy means to speak to exhortation. The Greek word paraklesis“to exhortation” is related to the Comforter Jesus spoke about in John 14:16: “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever.” To exhort means to admonish and to encourage. To prophesy means to speak to comfort, which means “any address made for the purpose of persuading or of arousing and stimulating or calming and consoling. . . . To address with soothing and chilling words.” There we have Paul’s definition of prophecy. It has three elements in it: edification, exhortation, and encouragement.

Next, we look at:

4 He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.

5 I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.

6 Now, brethren, if I come untoyou speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?

As we look at the condition for prophecy, right away we notice that Paul is addressing the assembly—the assembled body of Christ, the church in meeting. And he goes on to explain that prophecy or prophesying edifies the church, that is, the building up of the membership. As I said, edification has in it the idea of construction. It was intended for the corporate experience of the body of Christ, not the individual tongue language, we might say.

Paul goes on to say that prophecy is greater than speaking in tongues. Notice verse 5: “I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.” Please notice the words but rather. “But rather that ye prophesy, for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues.” Prophecy comes by intelligible address, by revelation.

Paul goes on to explain, “If I come to you and I spoke with tongues, what would I profit you, except I should speak by . . .” Here he has four different elements: “by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine.” Revelation means new truth unveiling. Knowledge means instruction. Prophecy means building up, as in verse 3. Doctrine means teaching. All of these are building processes, to strengthen the congregation, to build up the believers, and to help them in their Christian walk.

I believe Barnes’s comments will help us again:

The power of speaking in an unknown tongue was certainly a more striking endowment than that of speaking so as simply to be useful, and yet the apostle tells us that the latter is the more valuable. So it is always. A man who is useful, however humble and unknown he may be, really occupies a more elevated and venerable rank than the man of most splendid talents and dazzling eloquence, who accomplishes nothing in saving the souls of men.

Thus the purpose is carefully and clearly laid out. The condition for prophecy, therefore, is in the gathering of the membership for the building up of the congregation.

We now look at:

7 And even things without life giving sound, whether pipe or harp, except they give a distinction in the sounds, how shall it be known what is piped or harped?

8 For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?

9 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.

The apostle uses a very interesting and common experience, we might say, that things without life, like a flute or a harp, must give a melody if anything is to be understood. Without any change in pitch or tone, nothing happens. Without giving a distinction in sound, he said, how shall it be known what is piped or harped. You probably have seen little children sitting at a piano keyboard, pounding away. But what they pound, what they produce, is not particularly pleasing, because they do not have any rhythm or melody.

And, Paul says, the trumpet, if it gives an uncertain sound, does not call anybody to battle. Trumpets in biblical days were used for that. They were rams’ horns; shofars they were called. And they had a certain sound, a certain rhythm for certain reasons. The shofar was blown as the sabbath began and at the new moon. It was blown at festive occasions. The people learned what the sound was and responded accordingly.

Now we will better understand what the trumpet meant if we notice what happened in the days when Gideon was the judge. In Judges 7:19-22, Gideon was asked to rid the country of the Midianites.

So Gideon, and the hundred men that were with him, came unto the outside of the camp in the beginning of the middle watch; and they had but newly set the watch: and they blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers that were in their hands. And the three companies blew the trumpets, and brake the pitchers, and held the lamps in their left hands, and their trumpets in their right hands to blow withal: and they cried, The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon. And they stood every man in his place round about the camp: and all the host ran, and cried, and fled. And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the Lord set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.

The sound of those trumpets was not an uncertain sound.

Then, easily understood language is a part of the competition. The apostle says it like this: “So likewise ye, except that ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.” Keep it short and simple. Speak understandable language. If no one understands, then the speaking is of no value. The speech is worthless. It’s like speaking into the air. Go out into the woods and shout to your heart’s content. What difference does it make? Nobody is there to hear you. So prophecy, unless it connects with the hearer, is useless. Any speech that does not connect with the hearer is useless.

Now prophecy so understood is less spectacular, because it is simply simple speaking. But it builds up the church. And therefore it is more desirable. We need to seek for a balance. I have been in some churches that got pretty noisy. I have been in some churches that were very staid, and you understood their priority.

In summary, to understand the Priority of Prophecy, we need to seek

Which is to speak to

edification, exhortation, and comfort.

Then we need to understand

Which is to build up the congregation.

And lastly we need to appreciate

Which is to keep a balance so all may profit

in the assembly.

There is a second answer to the question, What does love do? It is:

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

We have two affirmative descriptions here. Then we have eight negative attributes and five positive attributes.

Love is patient. Love suffers long and is kind. Patience means to endure hardship. Patience means not easily aroused, being steadfast under burdens.

Love is kind. Kind has a meaning of gentleness, not easily aroused, not easily perturbed. Patient and kind.

Now there are eight negative attributes. We peel away the negatives to see the core of love.

Love envieth not. Love is without jealousy. So tempting, isn’t it? To look at neighbor so and so, or friend or relative so and so, who has more than we do and wish that we had more. That is rank jealousy.

Vaunteth not itself. Love does not brag, does not talk all the time. We all know people who seem to run off at the mouth all the time. Love does not brag and knows when to keep quiet.

Is not puffed up. Love is not arrogant, or proud. It does not say, “I am number one.”

Does not behave indecently. The Scripture here says “unseemly.” It means indecently. We are all impacted by the world in which we live. Some of the indecency we see around us is quite distressing, to be sure.

Seeketh not her own. That means love is not selfish. We have been told, “Toot your own horn. If you don’t toot it, nobody else will toot it for you.” Of course, love doesn’t do that. Love is not selfish.

Is not easily provoked. That means love is not easily agitated or irritated. Some people wear their feelings on their elbows and are getting hurt all the time. Love is not easily provoked.

Thinketh no evil. I understand that means keeps no records. Some people are like elephants; they never forget. In some places feuds have carried on for generations. The people never forgot. There was record keeping. Love doesn’t do that.

Rejoiceth not in iniquity. Iniquity means crookedness. We have our ideas. Love takes notice of iniquity but does not gloat over it. It rejoiceth not in iniquity. There we have the eight negative attributes peeled away.

Now let’s look at the five positive attributes.

Rejoiceth in the truth. That’s a wonderful statement. Love and truth are joined in God and should be joined in His people. We ought to have love and truth joined in our hearts and lives.

Love beareth all things. Love does not chafe under conditions that are difficult. It faces conditions that are difficult and hard to bear and bears all things.

Believeth all things. Now that does not mean being gullible or not discerning. Love sees the truth as it is in God. And that’s how and why love believes all things because the vision is directed through the Word of God.

Hopeth all things. You know hope is more than just wishful thinking. “Oh, I hope so.” The hope Paul is speaking of is grounded in God. Our hope in God is not instable or unstable. Our hope in God is securely grounded.

And then endureth all things. Love bears up under trial. There we have the second answer to our question, What does love do? Love sympathizes.

We have these eight negatives that we peeled off and we have these five positives we have focused on. This is the more excellent way.

The third answer to our question, What does love do? is:

8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Love endures. It has an abiding character. Of the three faith, hope, and love, only love is an attribute of God. To Him, faith is unnecessary because of His sovereign will. For Him hope is unnecessary because of His full knowledge. With Him, love is a basic attribute. United with holiness, His love is undefiled. Because God never fails, His love never fails. It is never diminished. Oh, praise God! It is just as true today as it was when it happened that God so loved the world that He was moved to give His only Son. Amen!

Prophecies fail. Some prophecies fail because they are not true. True prophecies fail or are set aside because they are fulfilled. Here prophecies means foretellings. There are scores of prophecies that have been fulfilled. For example, Galatians 4:4-5: “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” Pay close attention to when the fulness of time was come. In other words, the prophecy was in God’s hand. And when it was right, it came to pass. Prophecy, therefore, was fulfilled and passed off, so to speak.

I am very interested in the phrase “and it came to pass.” I didn’t take time to count them all in the Old Testament, but I found there were 110 of them in Genesis and Exodus. And there are 36 in Isaiah. Well, after it came to pass, of course, then it was no longer of any great value. It passed away.

Tongues shall cease. We are not sure exactly what that means. It is difficult to clarify. Does this mean that once again there will be one language? That sometime in God’s economy will we go back to the pre-Babel time, when everyone spoke the same language? I believe certainly in eternity we won’t have any difficulty understanding one another.

Knowledge shall vanish away. Full knowledge will overshadow what we know now. Our knowledge now is partial, as the apostle goes on to describe for us. We only know in part. And we prophesy in part because we are not God. Only God has full knowledge, and only God will be able to tell us everything. And He has chosen not to do so at this time.

Perfection is anticipated. “When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.” Perfection will come because God embodies all perfection.

Now pay close attention to verse 11. The apostle describes himself. Maturation is illustrated. Love is scrutinizing. “When I was a child,” he said, “I spoke like a child, I understood like a child, I thought like a child,” which is different from adulthood. He said, “When I became a man, I put away childish things.” An adult should shed childishness.

Yet even in adulthood growth is possible. Don’t ever think you can’t grow in your perception and understanding, because you can. But certainly, we ought to emerge out of childish thinking and childish actions. Love does that. Love scrutinizes that.

And then there is partial vision. Now we see in a mirror, darkly. Partial vision and partial knowledge will be replaced with clear vision and perfect knowledge. We will know as we are known.

Paul says these three abide: faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love. Faith becomes sight, hope becomes reality, and love never changes. Love continues. Therefore love is the greatest and is The More Excellent Way because

It brings true values into focus.

It bears up under trial.

It moves beyond childishness.

That is the love God has expressed toward us. We express faith and hope toward Him, and love, I trust. But love is the greatest because that is what God expresses toward us. He loved us before we could possibly love Him.

In the language Paul spoke, there were three words for love. Eros, used by the secular Greeks, is the lowest word for love. We get our word “erotic” from that word, and it means “sensual” or “sexual.”

Filos speaks of filial love, meaning the love of the family. The name of the city Philadelphia means “brotherly love.” It is a combination of the word filos and the word adelfos, “brother.”

Agape is the highest form of love. It is the kind of love God expressed in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Agape seems to be spontaneous, unrequited love, which means it is not necessarily paid back. It is the kind of love that flows out without expecting return, in a sense.

The apostle John writing his epistle puts it well when he said, “We love Him because He first loved us” (I John 4:19). The apostle Paul picks this up in Romans 5:7-8: “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

We come now in our study of I Corinthians to chapter 13, Paul’s discourse on love. About this chapter one writer says:

This chapter has been in all ages the object of the special admiration of the Church. Would it had been received in all ages the loftier and more valuable admiration which would have been expressed by the acceptance of its lessons!  It is a glorious hymn . . . in honor of Christian love, in which St. Paul rises on the wings of inspiration to the most sunlit heights of Christian eloquence.

Now let us consider I Corinthians 13:1-13 for my message THE MORE EXCELLENT WAY.

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,

5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;

6  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

8 Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.

10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

This holy hymn quiets our hearts and makes us feel like Moses at the burning bush, when the Lord told him, “Take off your shoes, because you are standing on holy ground” (see Exodus 3:5).

I have spent hours in meditation on this chapter. My desire is to share with you some of my thoughts. I ask one question: What does love do? To this question, I have three ANSWERS.

My first answer is:

1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.

2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.

3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

Now contemplate that a moment. There are no top men, no top women, no bottom men, and no bottom women. Love equalizes. I think Paul uses the word tongues as languages. Look at verse 1: “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” Languages are a human uniqueness. Of all God’s creation, as far as we know, the human race is the only one that can communicate by language.

There are thousands of languages in the world. In fact, some countries have thousands of languages right within their borders. Language was first dispersed according to the Bible record in Genesis 11, when the human family decided to make a tower to look in on God, and God said He was going to disperse the language. So He did. That was at Babel in the plains of Shinar, after Noah’s flood.

Paul raises the possibility of being able to speak with the languages of men and angels. We know that men have languages. Do angels have languages? Real languages? We know that when angels visited people in Bible times, they apparently spoke the languages of the people where they went. For example, when Joshua met the captain of the Lord’s host outside Jericho, he spoke a language Joshua understood, so he must have spoken in the Hebrew language (Joshua 5:13-15).

When the angel came to Mary to tell her she would give birth to the Messiah, he spoke to her in her language, which no doubt was Hebrew (Luke 1). So the angels must speak the languages of people. Whether they have their own distinct language, like real people, we do not know. But the apostle says, “The mastery of languages was reduced to a gong or a cymbal, without love.” The gong and the cymbal are not tune-carrying instruments. Thus languages without love are brought down to nothing.

Now look at verse 2: “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.” Having the understanding of all mysteries likely refers to philosophical mysteries, philosophical knowledge. We call such knowledge metaphysical, that is, beyond the physical. They are ideas men explore and exploit.

There is one thing we must remember when we think of all knowledge. The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know. When I was a young student, one of my teachers drew two circles on the board. He drew first a small circle and said, “If you don’t know much, you’re not touching much.” Then he drew a large circle on the board and said, “Now the more you know, the more you are touching the unknown.” What you know touches the perimeter of the unknown.

We have been told over the years that all knowledge grows. That is, we double our knowledge every ten years. I heard that many years ago. Research explores the unknown, we know that, and the progress that has been made in knowledge is amazing.

Then the apostle adds, “And if I had all faith so that I could remove mountains.” Certainly “all faith” means more than the grain of mustard seed Jesus spoke about. He said that if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain be removed and be cast into the sea (Matthew 17:20). The apostle Paul says, “If I had all faith so that I could remove mountains.” Add all that up, and what do you come up with? What’s the sum? Zero. Nothing. “I am nothing,” he said.

Now look at verse 3. “Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,” feed the hungry. We are well aware that there is great need around the world. People have been uprooted. Millions are refugees. Thousands have little to eat. Now I submit, my friend, the hungry are not hungry because of lack of food. We have sufficient food on planet Earth to feed everybody, sufficiently. That’s not the problem. The problem is poor distribution.

I remember when I first went to Nigeria in 1975, the country was exporting foodstuffs. The last time I was there they were importing. And it wasn’t necessarily because their population had increased that much. It was simply because their production did not keep up with their population. They told me that when the price of food went up, the farmers didn’t get the benefit, so they didn’t raise any more food than they had before.

Feed the hungry. Jesus told the young ruler to go, sell his things, and give the money to the poor. But without love, Paul says, that won’t accomplish much.

You can even choose to die. “Though I give my body to be burned,” he said. Choose martyrdom. It may be very noble to choose martyrdom, not deliberately, but perhaps forced to. Some years ago we received a letter from a young man in Ethiopia, fourteen years old. He said he was captured and put in jail by the Communist authorities. The guard told him if he’d recant his faith in Jesus, he’d let him out.

But this young man said, “No, I can’t do that.” So he stayed in jail. Now to seek martyrdom may be commendable, but altogether the results do nothing but fail you. Love equalizes all that society considers of high value feeding the hungry and suffering martyrdom.

The next logical step in understanding is:

29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?

30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?

The apostle Paul raises some questions. How he does is most striking, for every one of them is so framed as to expect a negative answer. If properly translated they would say,

All are not apostles, are they? And the answer is obviously no, not all are apostles.

All are not prophets, are they? No, not all are prophets.

All are not teachers, are they? No, all are not teachers.

All are not miracle workers, are they? No, not all are miracle workers.

All are not charismatic healers, are they? No, all are not charismatic healers.

All are not speakers of many languages, are they? No, not all are speakers of many languages.

All are not interpreters of languages, are they? No, not all are interpreters of languages.

When each gift functions where it is placed, there is harmony in the body. When anyone of these is overemphasized, there is disharmony. It is clearly stated by Paul that he was not expecting everybody or anybody to function in all of these areas. I believe necessity determines function, and function helps to classify ministries.

The concluding step of understanding is:

31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

The word justified is used deliberately because you need to understand that the apostle says the best gifts are to be sought after. He said, “But covet earnestly [or desire passionately] the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.” It seems that these ministries are on a descending scale; apostles, prophets, teachers, and on to the bottom. So the best would be at the top.

Now we have a right to question whether several of these function today. Do we have apostles in the sense the word is used here or in the sense Jesus used it?

Do we have prophets today in the sense it is spoken of in either of the Testaments? Prophets were those who lived close enough to God that He could speak to them and they could tell things to come. I believe that divine revelation finished with the last word of the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation. I do not think we have today any revelation comparable to the Bible. So we are not talking about prophets in that sense. We may talk about prophets in terms of exhortation but not in terms of foretelling the future independent of the Bible.

We can draw a valuable lesson from verse 31: “covet earnestly,” desire deeply, “the best gifts.” Seek what edifies the body. Yet he said, “I show you a more excellent way.” Chapter 13 is that marvelous love chapter from the pen of the apostle Paul.

So the ministries in the body when properly used create a harmony and well-being in the body. I do not presume to tell you which ministry you may be called to do; I only say work this out between you and the Lord. There most likely is a relationship between the gift and the ministry.

There are three steps to understanding the ministries in the body:

I trust God will help you find the place where you are to serve in the body of Christ. Amen.

The church is a functioning body. Like the human body, every member is important. In the church, each member comes into the body the same way, and each has a distinct place or function, just like the members of our physical bodies. This is clearly taught in I Corinthians 12. There are in the church certain offices or responsibilities the apostle Paul found necessary to define.

Paul wrote to help the members of the church recognize order and leadership in the body. Not all members are the same, as we can easily see when we look at our own bodies.

As he had warned them about a schismatic spirit, claiming to be of Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or Christ, so now Paul taught them how to recognize the MINISTRIES IN THE BODY. That was important for them and it is for us.

In I Corinthians 12:27-31 Paul analyzed these ministries:

27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

29 Are all apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles?

30 Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret?

31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

In this part of his Corinthian letter, Paul analyzed the ministries of the body in several well-defined STEPS.

The foundational step to understanding the ministries in the body is:

27 Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

Paul told us what the gifts are and what their purposes are, in a measure. First, there are “apostles.” They were a special group. The word is used first in the New Testament in connection with Jesus when He sent forth the twelve in Matthew 10:2-4. He called unto Him the twelve apostles, who are named: Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas; Matthew the publican; James the son Alphaeus; and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; Simon the Canaanite; and Judas Iscariot. According to Matthew 10:5, “These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go.” That gives meaning to the word apostle. It means “a sent one, one sent with a mission.”

The word apostle is used 81 times in the New Testament. It is used in different occasions and under different circumstances. The word is not used in the Old Testament at all. There is even no equivalent to the word.

There can be false apostles, persons who claim to be apostles and are not. Paul told of them in II Corinthians 11:13: “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ,” which by implication they were not.

Second, there are “prophets.” This office in the Old Testament differs from apostles. The New Testament recognizes several Old Testament prophets: Elijah, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Jonah, Joel, Samuel, and Daniel. The first use of the word prophet in the New Testament is found in Matthew 1:22. After the angel told Joseph to take Mary as his wife and to name her first-born son Jesus, the Scripture reports, “Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet.” It was the prophet Isaiah talking about the virgin birth seven hundred years before Christ. So the word prophet is an Old Testament concept used in the New Testament.

The prophet was one who foretold events. Scholars talk about the prophet being a fore-teller and forth-teller. But in the Old Testament, the prophet is referred to as a seer. That means he could “see” down the corridor of time and see what the ordinary person could not see. The New Testament Greek word means one who foretells. The word is used 161 times in the New Testament.

Third, “teachers” are listed. This also is a significant word. The noun didaskalos is used 57 times. The verb form didasko means “teaching.” It is used 91 times.

When Nicodemus came to Jesus by night, he addressed Him: “Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God, because no man can do the miracles that thou doest except God be with him” (John 3:2). So a teacher is expected to explain the truth. A teacher may be classified as one who says to the people around him, “Here, let me show you.” A teacher does more than tell, he shows.

After that is the gift of “miracles.” The same word is used in Acts 1:8: “Ye shall receive power,” or enabling.

Next are gifts of “healings.” Charismatic healing is the possibility of laying hands on people who are healed.

Sixth on the list is “helps.” An assistant is one who helps carry the load. One may have “A Helping Ministry” to help people in need.

Then comes “governments,” the ability to control, administrate. People with that gift are able to see quickly the situation and give guidance. Actually, in the Greek language, this word is used for a helmsman, a shipmaster, one who steers the ship and is able to guide it to its destination (used in Acts 27:11; Revelation 18:17).

Finally, we have “diversities of tongues.” Our word species is from the Greek word translated “diversities.” And “tongues” has in it more the idea of languages and does not necessarily refer to ecstatic languages but the gift of mastering various languages.

So there are eight categories of ministries identified: apostles, prophets, teachers, miracle workers, gifts of healings, helps, governments, and diversity of tongues.

No one can travel in two directions at the same time. Choices become important when we face directions. Choosing calls for counsel. Where can we find trusted counsel? To whom can we turn?

In the church there is an opportunity for counsel. Actually, the Greek word for church, ekklesia, means a “called-out people.” Within the body of Christ, there is a bonding not experienced in any other relationship and unmatched in society.

Not everyone who joins the church, however, understands this uniqueness. As a result, the church has suffered divisions such as Paul aimed to correct in this letter to the Corinthians. Paul deplored the way members showed their loyalty to human personalities instead of Christ.

Now in the body of Christ, there is a special unity the apostle helps us to understand. From I Corinthians 12:12-26 Paul teaches THE UNITY OF THE BODY OF CHRIST.

12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

14 For the body is not one member, but many.

15 If the foot shall say, Because l am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

16 And if the ear shall say, Because l am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?

18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?

20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.

21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:

23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.

24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked:

25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.

Now let me show you the ACTIONS taken to bring unity in the body of Christ as Paul presents them to us.

The first action is:

12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.

13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

14 For the body is not one member, but many.

That the body is unified in one Spirit is very important to understand. Paul uses the illustration of the physical body to show that the body is one yet made up of many members.

How the body functions is fascinating. According to medical science one tiny cell, hardly visible at conception, when developed to maturity grows to several hundred trillion cells. Science tells us that billions of these cells die every minute and are replaced with others. Marvelous! The normal union of all these cells makes one body. Obviously, in Paul’s day, they did not have such intricate understanding, yet his observation told him how the body functions as one, be it the human body or the church.

The body of Christ is unified by the Spirit. Verse 13 states that all members come the same way. That is so important. There is only one way, not many. Those people who say there are many ways to God are flatly wrong. There is only one Spirit, and by that one Spirit, we are brought into the body. Regardless of background or orientation, Paul states that Jews and Greeks are one in Christ. The bond and the free are one in Christ. It does not make any difference what our background is or what our standing might be in the community, we are one in the body of Christ.

In the church, we become members of the body of Christ. We are baptized by one Spirit into one body. Paul further explains that the body is not one member but many members.

Mrs. Yoder and I have traveled to different parts of the world. We have had the blessing of worshiping with Christian believers in many places. When we worshiped with them, we knew that we were members one of another. Members of the body relate to one another. I have often said, “When you meet a Christian, you know it!” There is something of an immediate bonding, unified by one Spirit. God has been gracious! We who are believers understand this. The body of Christ is unified by one Spirit.

The second action is:

15 If the foot shall say, Because l am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

16 And if the ear shall say, Because l am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?

18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?

20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.

Attitudes do not sever the membership or the members from the body. Paul says that the foot cannot say because I am not the hand, I am not of the body. That does not sever it from the body. That does not make the difference. To want to be what it is not, does not change its function or its position. And the ear cannot say because I am not the eye I am not of the body. These two illustrations are Paul’s way to help us understand how God has classified the body: the foot, the hand, the ear, and the eye. The desire to be different does not alter the member.

Paul is getting at a very basic concept in the body of Christ. Certain members at times look at other members in the body of Christ and wish they were different. With a spirit of jealousy, a spirit of envy, they wish they were something else or someone else. That is the point exactly.

Then the apostle brings up another monstrous possibility. Well, it is really an impossibility. He says, what if the whole body was an eye? Can you contemplate what that might mean? The whole body an eye? Then he says where would the hearing be? And if the whole body were hearing, where would the smelling be?

Members are in the body where it has pleased God to place them. Think of your own body. Your hand can do so many different functions. Your eyes are placed in the front of your head. Your ears are placed on the sides of your head. Marvelous, isn’t it? Where would the smelling be if everything were the hearing?

But members are in the body as it pleased God. He speaks about the physical body, and we can make the analogy and carry it across to the body of Christ. The action of God is as it pleased Him.

The evolutionists are puzzled. They cannot answer why we are made like we are? We have two hands, two feet, two ears, two eyes, and one mouth, one nose. Why are we like that? Because God has chosen to place in the body the members where He wants them, where He knows they function best. We are like we are because it pleased God to make us like this.

As the several hundred trillion cells make up one body, so the world’s true believers in Christ make up one body of Christ. This is a marvelous, wonderful analogy that the apostle Paul brings to us. The body is classified by one God. Yes.

The third action is:

21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:

23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.

24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having 4

given more abundant honor to that part which lacked:

25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it.

No member can disown another. The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you. No. The head cannot say to the feet, I have no need of you. In other words, there has to be harmony. Each is needed in its place.

Even the less visible are important. In fact, some of the most important members of your body you cannot see; your heart, lungs, or stomach. These are important members functioning the way God placed them, but you cannot see them. Each is needed in its place, even the less visible. Our internal organs, which we cannot see, are very important in our lives.

Let us bring that analogy across to the body of Christ. Some people are hardly visible. You hardly know they are there. But they are important because they are prayer warriors. They are people who call on God and can enter, what we call, the throne room of God and meet Him. They are not very visible but very important people.

God has tempered the body together as He has chosen. Think of the Christian people you know and how they relate to one another. In the congregation that is truly a part of the body of Christ, people care for one another. No two members do the same service. Everyone cares for the others in harmony. When one member suffers, all the members suffer with him. When one member rejoices, all the members rejoice with him or her.

When I got my right thumb in a table saw, I almost cut off the end. While I was trying to staunch the flow of blood in my thumb, the end of my index finger hurt almost as much as my thumb. I learned afterward that the nerve from the thumb goes right around and up the index finger to the end. It is still that way. I don’t have feeling in the end of my thumb nor in the end of my finger. So when one member suffers, all the members suffer with it. As in our bodies, so in the body of Christ. All share and all care.

With one purpose God has rectified the members in the body. You have your place in the body of Christ. There is only one way to get there and that is to believe in Jesus Christ and receive Him as your personal Saviour. Believe that God raised Him from the dead. Confess Him as Lord and Saviour. Then you will be a part of the body of Christ around the world.

To bring about that unity, God has taken actions.

No matter what our background is!

For He has placed us in the body where it has pleased Him.

To serve God where we are,

To care and share with each other

no matter where or how.

 Every human proposition can be carried to an extreme. For example, freedom can be carried so far that it becomes self-interest. And no one else is considered.

In the field of Christian doctrine, extremes emerge, too. Some have little tolerance for any modified understanding of biblical teaching. On the opposite side, we do not condone false teaching.

Some controversial teachings lie in the exercise of the spiritual gifts. From I Corinthians 12:1-11, I now explain how I understand Paul’s teaching on THE MINISTRY OF THE SPIRIT

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant

2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.

3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

5And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:

11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

As we study the several important CONSIDERATIONS regarding the Spirit and His ministry, I want to stay as close to the Bible as possible.

First, I want to consider:

1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have you ignorant

2 Ye know that ye were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.

3 Wherefore I give you to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

Paul’s desire was that the Corinthian believers should know the Spirit’s work. He wanted no question in their minds about this wonderful teaching. We learn that the Spirit is essential. We grow only when we know. Our minds and spirits reach for knowledge. We are made to learn. We are made to retain in our minds, our memories.

Paul reminded the Corinthians of their past. They were, he said, “Gentiles according to the flesh.” They were carried away by dumb idols. We need to understand what he means by the term Gentiles. In the Old Testament there were two classifications of the human race. There were what the Hebrew words ammim and goyim identify. The ammim were considered to be the family of God, the children of Israel, and the Jews. And the goyim were all the rest. The goyim were classified as pagans, heathens. Paul described them here: “You know that you were Gentiles, carried away unto these dumb idols, even as ye were led.” Gentiles, pagans, and idol worshipers are the way Paul described them.

Paul then defined the essentiality of the Spirit. The Spirit is closely related to Jesus. When Jesus promised the disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit, He said the Spirit would come and take His things and show them to them. The Holy Spirit is very close to Jesus, even one with Him. Paul said that nobody can call Jesus accursed and claim to do it by the Spirit because the Spirit would not do that. Rather, he said, “Nobody can call Jesus Lord except by the Spirit of God.” Did you notice that sharp distinction? He said that when we confess Jesus as Lord, the Spirit of God does that. This does not appear to require a second experience; rather, upon confession of Jesus, a person receives the Holy Spirit.

Peter, on the Day of Pentecost, clearly answered the question when they asked, “What shall we do?” “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:38-39). “Jesus is Lord” implies that the confession has been made. It can only be made by the direction of the Holy Spirit. Without the Spirit, no one can truthfully say, “Jesus is Lord.” Implied is “Jesus is my Lord.” Verses 1-3 show us the essentiality of the Spirit.

Next, we consider:

4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

The apostle here emphasized how the same Spirit managed diversity. He said, “There are differences of gifts.” The word is “spiritual gifts.” We get our word charismatic from that. Now I have often asked the question, Is the gift a natural endowment, received at birth? Or is it a special endowment? Some have naturally what others cannot develop.

There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit enables the various gifts to be exercised. I believe these spiritual gifts are spiritual endowments that the Holy Spirit brings. He is the Actor in this endowment.

“There are differences of administration but the same Lord.” “Administration” is a different word from “gifts.” It is a word of service, diakonos, from which our word “deacon” comes. According to the instructions in the pastoral epistle that the apostle wrote, deacons are service-oriented. Not lordships! They are not CEOs! They are persons who serve carefully. Administrations need to be understood.

Paul continued the teaching when he said, “But the same Lord.” The word Lord is important because it is the Greek word kurios, meaning “director.” Years ago I heard a speaker say, “Either Jesus Christ is Lord of all or He’s not Lord at all.” So every service is under the Lord. Every operation and every administration is under the Lord. He oversees and superintends the service. There are many different services but the same Lord! Do you see the centrality of the Spirit?

Then Paul said there are differences or diversities of operations, but it is the same God who works all in all. Operations, workings, energizing we get our word energy from the Greek word energeo. The same God is energizing every operation. There is diversity in purpose or meaning, but the same God is working.

The central purpose is clearly defined: “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given every man to profit.” By the centrality of the Spirit, He is there working whether it be differences of gifts, differences of services, differences of energies or workings. The same God is working. The central purpose is the mutual profit for the community of believers.

Here we have the three persons of the Trinity working together. They are given in this order: the Spirit, the Lord, and God. Very clearly there is no division in their operations. They all work together for the profit of the believing community.

As I examine the Mosaic Law in the Old Testament, I find frequent feasts or festivals. Many were outlined. At those times all work ceased. The Israelites were to do no “servile work.” These festivals were to remind them of their very significant relationship to God, their Redeemer.

The New Testament holds fewer festivals. In fact, we ordinarily consider only one, which we call the Lord’s Supper. In a real sense, this is not a festival but an observance. In chapter 27 I taught on I Corinthians 10:16-22 to help us understand the meaning of the Lord’s Table, that it is a family table. Christians repeat the observance of the Lord’s Supper on occasion. Some congregations observe it every Sunday. Some observe it on the first Sunday of the month. Some less frequently.

I affirm that the frequency is not as important as how the observance is conducted. To me personally, the Lord’s Supper is a sacred and solemn experience. In a very real sense, we enter the agony, as it were, of Jesus on the cross.

In I Corinthians 11:17-34, Paul instructs us about THE PROPER OBSERVANCE OF THE LORD’S SUPPER:

17 Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.

18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.

19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.

21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthy, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.

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.

As I examine these verses, I find that Paul set forth several definite GUIDELINES we should follow for The Proper Observance of the Lord’s Supper.

The first guideline is:

17 Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse.

18 For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it.

19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.

20 When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper.

21 For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

22 What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

Apparently, the church in Corinth had some deep problems. Their gatherings, Paul said, were not for the better but for the worse. They had divisions, cliques. Yet the divisions revealed who was genuine. They had what you might call “carry-in dinners.” They were not the Lord’s Supper! Somehow they got confused. Their conduct was improper. The apostle had to instruct them that the Lord’s Supper is not to be an ordinary meal! I think that is so important. The assembly of the church is not for rowdiness. When the church gets together for the Lord’s Supper, it is a solemn occasion. It is to be a sacred moment. The psalmist said that it is in order to “be still and know that I am God!” (Psalm 46:10). There should be a quiet reverence in the assembly, particularly when we come to the Lord’s Supper.

Hear Barnes’s comments:

They had not only erred, therefore, by misunderstanding altogether the nature of the Lord’s supper, and by supposing that it was a common festival like those which they had been accustomed to celebrating, but they had also entirely departed from the idea that it was a festival to be partaken of in common, and at a common table. It had become a scene where every man ate by himself; and where the very idea that there was anything like a common celebration, or a celebration together, was abandoned. So then our first guideline deals with the unruly. Reprimand them. Set them in order.

The second guideline is:

23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:

24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.

25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.

26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthy, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord:

Here we come to the heart of the matter. Paul says his understanding came from Jesus, that he received this directly from the Lord. Here are Paul’s exact words, “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus in the same night in which he was betrayed took bread.” Now I understand this to mean that the apostle Paul had communicated with Jesus. It was not hearsay with him. He did not receive it from any of the apostles.

On the other hand, Paul’s only recorded meeting with Jesus was on the road to Damascus. Yet he said he spent three years away from Damascus in Arabia. I wonder could that be where Jesus met him? He said at another place about his apostleship that he didn’t receive it from men. He received it from the Lord (Galatians 1:1). He claimed direct revelation. His understanding of the Lord’s Supper came from Jesus.

Then Paul gives the order and meaning of the Lord’s Supper. The time of its institution is clearly identified. He said, “The same night in which he was betrayed.” He makes it very clear that this was before Jesus’ crucifixion and in anticipation of it. So He took unleavened bread, the Passover bread, and broke it and said, “This is my body which was broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.” The crucifixion of Jesus Christ was a horrible situation. It was the breaking of His body, so to speak. Now we may remember that when the centurion came to break His legs, he found Jesus already dead. So instead he pierced His side with a spear.

But Jesus said, “This bread symbolizes my broken body which was broken for you.” And then He said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”

The apostle goes on to say, “After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me” (verse 25). The cup is a symbol of the blood Jesus shed for us. He said, “It is the New Testament.” The Greek word is often translated “covenant.” This is the New Covenant.

A covenant is what God makes. A testament is a document that people draw up, sign, and seal. But a covenant is what God sets up. This is the New Covenant. Remember, the Sinai Covenant in the Old Testament was sealed with blood. So then the New Covenant is sealed also with blood. The Sinai Covenant was sealed with the blood of an animal. The New Covenant is sealed with the blood of Jesus. And as often as you drink this cup, you commemorate the blood of Jesus, the sacrifice of Jesus.

Then Paul identifies its frequency: “As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup you do show the Lord’s death till He comes” (verse 26). Every time it is observed, the participant looks two ways back to Jesus’ death and forward to His coming. The Lord’s words “in remembrance of me” keep before us the real meaning of His death. “This do in remembrance of me.”

Now once again let us hear from Barnes:

This expresses the whole design of the ordinance. It is a simple memorial, or remembrance; designed to recall in a striking and impressive manner the memory of the Redeemer. It does this by a tender appeal to the senses through the exhibition of the broken bread, and by the wine. The Saviour knew how prone men would be to forget him; and he, therefore, appointed this ordinance as a means by which his memory should be kept up in the world. The ordinance is rightly observed when it recalls the memory of the Saviour; and when its observance is the means of producing a deep, lively, and vivid impression on the mind, of his death for sin.

Our second guideline is Remember the Lord’s Death.

Our third guideline is:

28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.

31 For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged.

32 But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.

33 Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another.

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.

Now the apostle Paul gets right home. Let it be a self-examination before you present yourself to take the Lord’s Supper. Oh, how we need it! “Let a man examine himself.” Not somebody else, himself. This is an internal review, not a self-esteem, but an internal review. We are all unworthy before the Lord, as far as that goes. We must do as the publican did in the temple that Jesus told us about. He smote himself on the breast and said, “God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13). Yes, there is unworthiness in all of us. So self-examination is important.

Self-condemnation can come if one eats the Lord’s Supper unworthily. It desecrates the Lord’s body. Not discerning, Paul says, the Lord’s body. In other words, there is a defiling of the Lord’s body. The uniqueness of the Lord’s Supper requires us to think very seriously and internally when we approach that Supper.

Self-judgment avoids divine judgment. If we judge ourselves, then we should not be judged, the apostle says. The Lord’s chastening is an escape route from condemnation. Every Christian has the chastening of the Lord. The apostle says in another place that if we do not have a chastening of the Lord, then we are not true children of God. We are illegitimate children (see Hebrews 12).

Then the apostle speaks about self-control. We come to the Lord’s Supper with self-control. We do not come with a rowdy spirit. We must provide a proper situation for the Lord’s Supper. No one in himself is worthy. Our worthiness comes from the shed blood of Jesus! Yes. Amen! So we stand before Him, at the Lord’s Table, washed in the precious blood of Christ, as the Scripture teaches us.

Again let me share with you Barnes’s comments:

The practical lesson taught by this is, that Christians should serve God with purity; that they should avoid sin in every form; and that the commission of sin will expose them, as well as others, to the divine displeasure. The reason why this judgment was inflicted on the Corinthians was, that there might be a suitable impression made of the holy nature of that ordinance and that Christians might be led to observe in a proper manner.

Our third guideline is Rebuke the Unworthy.

Therefore, friend, to observe the Lord’s Supper properly we must follow Paul’s guidelines.

Come with propriety.

Ponder its truth.

Make a self-examination and then come.

Come to the Lord’s Supper properly examined and experience the spiritual grace and joy it brings.

It is a symbol of authority.

10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.

The word power contains as its basic meaning “authority.” The woman ought to have authority on her head. This authority may look in two directions. It may look to her own, that is, that it gives her the right to come into the presence of God. It may look to the authority that the veil recognizes in the order God has set up, in which man is her head. Thus the veil not only applies to the women but also applies to the men of the congregation in that it urges them to assume the place that is theirs in the divine order. By the very fact that we men urge the observance of this teaching, we are saying that we accept the responsibility that is set forth. Therefore we ought willingly to take the place in the divine order that the veil symbolizes, whether man or woman.

With regard to “angels” in this verse, one can learn the attitude of angels by reading Isaiah 6. In the experience of Isaiah in the temple, he saw the cherubim covering themselves in the presence of God. Since the angels cover themselves in the presence of God, Paul taught, that women should follow the example of the angels.

The veil and insubordination cannot go together. The significance of the veil may be summarized in this way: It symbolizes sanctification; it symbolizes a proper submission; it symbolizes authority. These constitute the second reason the veil should be worn.

Third, there are:

It is more than a Corinthian custom.

16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

The veil is not a generalization. It is not an idea that one can take or leave. Verse 16 would clearly indicate that it is a teaching of universal intention. The custom here referred to must be the custom of unveiled women. Paul, being led by the Holy Spirit, would not have been so foolish as to have set forth the teaching of the veiling and then with one stroke have brushed it all aside. Indeed, if one takes it simply from the historical and cultural situation in which the apostle Paul lived, then he would understand that women with the hair cut advertised themselves as being harlots of the town. Certainly, the apostle would not argue that if you want to dispute the question with me, we will forget the whole thing.

If you will note again the verses cited in the introduction 1:2; 4:17; and 7:17 it will be reasonably clear that Paul was consciously writing for a larger audience than the church in Corinth. One learns from the history of the early believers that they believed the veil was to be worn. In the catacombs of Rome, one scholar reports the women are pictured with a close-fitting head-dress and the men have short hair.

Many present-day denominations in times past practiced a covering for women. And this covering was not a protective covering. There are only a few who still preserve the veiling of Christian women with a specific and particular veil as taught in I Corinthians 11.

It is more than a public observance.

4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.

5 But every woman that prayeth and prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.

Here we differ among ourselves. Some teach that the veil is only for public worship. The passage, however, speaks of praying or prophesying. The discussion itself focuses on the exercise of prayer. Is prayer to be engaged in one’s home life, or in one’s private life, or only in the public assembly? We must not attempt to make the Bible contradict itself. Paul on another occasion urged believers to “pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17), which would hardly limit the veil to the public assembly.

There is, in addition, the question of prophesying. Paul explains the exercise of prophesying in chapter 14 of this book: “he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort” (v.3). It is hoped that Christian women would speak to edification, exhortation, and comfort in other places than in the assembly, though they may properly engage in it there. It is more than a public worship observance. The way it is retained in certain religious orders of women would amplify this point. Some time ago there appeared on the platform of a Baptist institution a German Baptist deaconess wearing a veil of large design.

It is more than the hair.

15 But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

The relationship between covering in verse 15 and the covering in the earlier part of the chapter has caused problems in the minds of some. A little thought will show that the covering of this verse is of a different aspect, for her hair is given to her for a “casting around” (a literal rendering of the Greek word periballo, translated “covering”) and is to be her glory. Without being uncouth, a woman’s long hair is given to her as a part of her modesty. How can the cut hair, the hair that has been shorn, be the “casting around” of which the apostle speaks?

Furthermore, the logic of the whole passage is against considering the hair as the veil. If the hair were the veil, then verses 5 and 6 cannot be explained. If the hair is the veil and she is not veiled, then she has already cut off her hair. But Paul says if she be not veiled, let her cut off her hair. How can she cut off that which is not there! On the contrary, verse 15 would teach us that the hair and the veil are to answer to each other. The second preposition “for” in its basic meaning of the New Testament language contains something of a comparison, that “one answers to the other.” Thus the hair and the veil should answer to each other. Nature should teach us the extent of the veil, for if the hair and the veil are to answer to each other, then the hairline should set a pattern of the veil.

The application of the veil deals with more than a Corinthian custom; it deals with more than a public worship observance; it deals with more than the hair. There is to be a particular veil as an expression of a spiritual significance that indicates for the woman, and all who see her, that she has set herself apart. She has sanctified herself to Christ.

Conclusion

We accept the Bible as the final authority. We have seen that this letter is more than a letter to believers at Corinth in the first century.

We understand that there are

The veiling for Christian women is based on the divine foundation of order, social relation, and the distinction of the sexes.

We understand that there are

The veil signifies sanctification, submission, and authority.

We understand that there are

The applications go beyond the custom of the cultural practice in Corinth, the public worship experience, and the hair as a covering.

Having then understood the teaching of the Word of God, we are now face to face with our response to it. Let us with conviction and purpose arise and do.

Taking a careful look at chapter 11, we see that it is in the middle of the section of the discussion on how Jesus is made unto us sanctification (see Preface). Chapter 11 has to do with sanctification and divine order. It is touched upon in two areas. The first has to do with THE VEILING FOR CHRISTIAN WOMEN and the second with the Lord’s Table. We focus our attention on 11:2-16:

2 Now I praise you brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.

3 But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of every woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.

5 But every woman that prayeth and prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.

6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.

7 For a man indeed ought not cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.

8 For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.

9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.

10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.

11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.

12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.

13 Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?

14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair it is a shame unto him?

15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.

There are several basic REASONS in these verses why the veiling for Christian woman should be worn today.

First, there are:

There is divine order.

2 Now I praise you brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.

3 ButI would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of every woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.

The divine order the apostle sets before us is God is all in all. Christ follows, and He is the Mediator between God and man. We learn from the Genesis record that man is the crown of God’s creation.

Woman is the help suitable to man. The apostle points out that this is God’s order for human beings. There is God. There is Christ. There is man. There is woman. The veil is based on this divine order. Whether the order establishes rank may not be clear, for we would hardly say there is real rank between God and Christ.

On the other hand, there is relationship. While God is, all in all, Christ is the Mediator between God and man, and in a sense has taken a lesser role. This is not to say that He is any less God. When the question of man and woman is considered, a relationship is seen as well. It is the relationship between headship and subordination. The veil is based on this divine order.

There is a social relation.

8 For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man.

9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.

One can easily find by going back to the Genesis account that the man was first in creation and the head. He received his responsibility from his Creator. The woman was created second and brought to man as a help suitable to him. She is to fill this role in creation. The social relationship God has set up cannot be ignored except for our hurt. The veil is based on this social relation God established in creation.

There is a natural distinction.

14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair it is a shame unto him?

15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

“Does not even nature itself teach you?” We ought to sit at the feet of nature and listen and learn. There is a natural distinction between the sexes. Man’s hair is to be short; long hair is a disgrace to him. A woman’s hair is to be uncut; it is her glory. In fact, her long hair is a part of her modesty. The veil is based on this natural distinction.

The abiding bases of the veil the divine order, the social relation, and the natural distinction make up the first reason why the veil should be worn.

Second, there are:

It is a symbol of the woman’s sanctification.

4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.

5 But every woman that prayeth and prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.

6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.

To return to the basic structure of the epistle, we underscore that Christ is made unto us sanctification. The veil signifies that a woman is dedicated to Christ. From history, we learn that in the days of the Apostle Paul a woman convicted of adultery had her hair shorn, which showed her infidelity. The modern cutting of the hair was not introduced by deeply spiritually minded women. Rather, it came from the immoral houses of Paris and was brought to this country following World War I.

Let it be understood what the apostle is saying, “But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.” If she dares to come into the presence of God with unveiled head, then it is indeed as though she was a harlot of the street. “For if a woman be not covered, let her also be shorn.” It is as much to say if it is not observed, then it is the same as to be shorn. In fact, it would be just as well for her to cut her hair very short. But Paul argues that it is a shame for a woman to cut her hair.

Please be informed that Paul is not raising a question as to whether or not it is a shame for a woman to cut her hair; he is affirming that it is a shame. Sometimes it has been argued that today it is no longer a shame for a woman to cut her hair. Therefore, it is right to do so. This is not the teaching of the Bible! The apostle is giving us to understand that it is a shame for a Christian woman to cut her hair; therefore, she is to be veiled when she comes into the presence of God. It is a symbol of her sanctification. By this veil, she sets herself apart as having nothing to do with the surrounding immoral culture in which she lives but has sanctified herself unto Jesus Christ. The veil should speak to the woman in her daily life.

It is a symbol of submission.

7 For a man indeed ought not cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.

Man reflects the glory of God, being first in creation. Woman reflects the glory of man, coming second in creation, and having been brought to his side to be that help suitable for him. Now let us think seriously and carefully about the modern movement for the freedom of women. They have problems because there seems to be a continual spiraling of woman’s place until there is the possibility of a woman as president. This is not to say a woman could not do the job, but she is out of her natural sphere in such a role. There is a similar spiraling in the church. The veil is the symbol of woman’s God-given role.