Welcome to From the Pulpit and Classic Sermons.
Each week we bring you a different message
from some of history's greatest speakers in the
Christian faith, and powerful sermons for modern preachers
too.
This week, we have Zac Coonan with his
message, 1 Corinthians Chapter 11, verses 1-34.
Let's turn today to 1 Corinthians Chapter 11
and verse 1.
Be imitators of me, just as I also
am of Christ.
It's an amazing thing that Paul's attitude in
this matter was so different from much that
we hear today.
Today very often we hear preachers say, don't
look at me, meaning don't look at my
example, but look at Christ, who is the
perfect example.
That sounds like a very humble thing to
say, but the interesting thing is that not
a single apostle would ever make such a
statement, because if our life as those who
preach the word of God are not worthy
examples for other people to follow, then we
have no right to preach to others.
The only person who has a right to
preach the word of God to another is
one who can say to the other, follow
me as I follow Christ.
Follow my example as I follow Christ.
I may not be perfect, but at least
I'm trying to live up to what I
proclaim.
And it is because people do not live
according to what they preach that they have
to say, do not look at me and
my example.
Paul could say boldly, be imitators of me,
just as I also am of Christ.
And in what context is he saying this?
It is unfortunate that there is a chapter
division between chapters 10 and 11 at this
point, because strictly speaking, this first verse should
be the concluding verse of that whole section
beginning in chapter 10 verse 23.
He's telling the Corinthian Christians how they can
be spiritually minded.
You are carnal, you are babies.
If you want to be spiritually minded, he
says, follow my example.
And that was not boasting.
He was saying that I am practicing what
I'm preaching.
I'm only preaching to you what I've done
first in my own life.
And there's nothing arrogant about that.
In fact, that should be the testimony of
every preacher.
Like it says in Acts 1 verse 1
that Jesus first did and then he taught
what he had already done in the same
way Paul first did and then taught others
what he had already practiced in his life.
He preached what he had practiced.
And this is the meaning of verse 1.
Don't just hear what I say, but you
can do as I do.
You can live as I live.
This is in clear contrast to what Jesus
told the disciples in Matthew 23 about the
Pharisees.
He said the Pharisees are different.
In Matthew 23, he says in verse 3,
whatever they tell you to do, you can
do.
But don't do according to their deeds, for
they say things, but do not do them.
The mark of a Pharisee is that he
preaches something and then he says to people,
don't look at my example, but look at
Christ.
That is the clearest mark of a Pharisee.
But an apostle, a true disciple of Jesus
Christ, would not say that.
He would say, be an imitator of me,
because I'm only telling you to do what
I've already done in my life, otherwise I
wouldn't tell you.
There are a lot of things I can't
tell you yet, a disciple would say, because
I haven't yet done them in my life,
or I'm not even seeking to do them.
That is honesty, the opposite of which is
hypocrisy, which makes a man a Pharisee.
But it is in the context of what
we considered in our last studies, from verse
23 to 33 of chapter 10, Paul sought
what was profitable, 10.23, and he sought
that which would edify other people.
In everything, verse 31 of 10, chapter 10,
Paul sought the glory of God, and in
verse 33, in everything he sought the salvation
of others.
He did not seek to please himself, but
the profit of the others, how it would
help and bless the others, and in this
connection he says, be an imitator of me,
see how I live, seeking the good of
others, seeking the salvation of others, seeking the
glory of God, seeking what is profitable spiritually,
seeking how this will build a church, and
considering all these things, I live my life,
and he says, you can follow my example,
I'm not telling you to do what I
do not do myself, in my own life.
What a wonderful example we have in the
Apostle Paul, that we can be challenged by,
not only to follow his example, but also
to be such examples ourselves, to other younger
believers, who are looking at us, particularly in
this matter of seeking the glory of God
in everything, and the building of the church,
and the salvation of others, in every single
aspect of our life.
There's a great need of self-examination in
all areas, if we are to come to
the place Paul was in, in chapter 11,
verse 1, where we can tell others, be
imitators of me, as I also am of
Christ.
We know in Philippians 3, Paul said, I
haven't yet attained, Paul wasn't saying that he'd
become like Christ, but he was saying that,
I'm seeking to follow Jesus' example, and you
can follow my example, as I'm seeking to
follow Jesus' example, as I'm walking in his
footsteps, you can walk in my footsteps, and
this is what makes a man an elder
brother in a church.
You can't become an elder by election, or
by appointment.
You become an elder brother, a true elder
brother, by being an example in your life
of following Jesus Christ.
And if a man cannot say, be an
imitator of me, in my family life, my
personal life, my thought life, my business life,
in my financial affairs, in all areas of
my life, in my eating and drinking, in
my sleeping, in my sex life, in everything,
be an imitator of me, if a man
cannot say that, he is not fit to
be an elder or a guide of anyone,
any other Christian, and certainly not fit to
preach the word of God.
And now we come to some other questions
that Paul is answering to these Corinthians who
had written concerning various matters, and this is
concerning the place of men and women in
the church.
And he has some very important things to
say here.
He says, I praise you because you remember
me in everything and hold firmly to the
traditions just as I delivered them to you.
There were certain traditions that the apostles delivered
to the churches which have now become the
word of God.
This is different from the hypocritical traditions of
the Pharisees which Jesus destroyed and spoke against.
Here he is referring to those traditions which
have now become God's word.
In those days there was no written word
of God as we have today in the
New Testament, but the apostles delivered certain teachings
which were called the apostles' traditions and the
apostles' doctrine.
Today it is God's word to us in
the New Testament.
And he says, I praise you, Corinthians, because
you remember me in everything and you hold
firmly to the traditions.
And he says, now I want to tell
you something about the place of men and
women in the Christian church.
I want you to understand that Christ is
the head of every man, and the man
is the head of the woman, and God
is the head of Christ.
Here is a very simple order.
God on top, beneath him, Jesus Christ, his
son, and our elder brother.
Beneath Christ, man in the church, and beneath
man, woman.
Now you may say men and women are
equal.
In one sense they are, just like God
and Christ are equal.
But for the sake of a particular ministry
that Jesus Christ had to fulfill, he voluntarily
took a place beneath God, the Father, as
being the body where the Father was the
head.
And in exactly the same way today, in
the church, men and women are equal.
But for the sake of the ministry in
the church, a God-fearing spiritual woman will
take her place beneath the man in the
church.
The mark of a carnal woman is that
she wants equality with the man in the
ministry in the church.
This is a mark of a carnal Christian,
but a spiritually minded Christian would voluntarily take
that place beneath her husband, or her father,
or the elder brother, whoever is above her
in the church.
And man would have the upper place in
the church.
But of course, man himself being beneath Christ,
who is the head.
It's very important for us to see this.
And thus we see that there's nothing disgraceful
about a woman taking that place of submission
to the man, as some women think, because
it is not an inferior position.
The example for all women is Jesus Christ
himself, who submitted to the authority of his
Father.
And as he submitted to the Father, a
woman is called to submit to the man.
And in this connection of submission to authority,
he speaks about women covering their heads.
So we need to understand this matter of
a woman covering her head with a veil
or a cloth as something that symbolizes her
submission to the authority of man as God
has appointed it in the church.
A man should not cover his head, he
says, because he disgraces his head if he
covers his head when he's praying or prophesying.
Who is his head?
Christ.
And Christ must be uncovered in the church.
This is the symbolism of man's physical head
being uncovered, symbolizing thereby that Christ is to
be revealed and uncovered, unveiled in the church.
But a woman.
And who is the woman's head?
We just saw that in verse 3.
The woman's head is the man.
And since man and man's glory has to
be covered in the church, therefore a woman
has to cover her physical head while she
prays or prophesies in the church.
If she keeps it uncovered, then she disgraces
her head, which is the man.
She is to be in submission to the
man, for that is the same as having
her head shaved.
In other words, if a woman does not
want to put a veil over her head,
it's better that she shaves off all her
hair.
But he says, if it's a disgrace for
a woman to have her head shaved, then
let her cover her head with a veil.
Verse 6.
A woman who does not cover her head
must have her hair cut off.
The reason is, a man should not have
his head covered because he is the image
and glory of God.
But a woman, verse 7, is the glory
of man.
If only a sister could see this, she
would see that in submission to God's word
here, she is manifesting a tremendous truth that
the glory of God is manifested in the
man and the glory of the man is
manifested in the woman and must be covered,
and therefore she covers her head.
Let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and
verse 3.
We were considering in our last study something
about the reason why the Holy Spirit asks
women to veil their heads in the church
meetings when they pray or prophesy, and why
a man should have his head uncovered, without
anything on it, when he prays or prophesies.
And the reason begins with the order in
creation that God has placed man above the
woman in his divine order.
They are equal in one sense, in the
sense of being accepted before God, in the
opportunity to partake of the life of Jesus
and the opportunity to glorify God in every
aspect of their life.
But when it comes to ministry in the
church, the woman is to be subject to
the man.
This is a very important principle which the
devil is seeking to violate in many places
and that brings confusion into the church.
And the greatest example for women here is
described in verse 3 as Jesus Christ himself,
who though equal with the Father, for the
sake of a particular ministry, for the salvation
of humanity, which was that ministry, he humbled
himself and took a place of submission.
And if a woman cannot follow that example
of Jesus Christ in submission to God as
the head, then she is no longer a
spiritual sister.
In verse 3 it says, God is the
head of Christ.
And this is the example for a woman
who accepts man as her head.
And this is why a woman has to
cover her head, because otherwise she is disgracing
her head.
She is saying that she does not accept
the man as her head when she does
not veil her head.
The putting of a veil on top of
a woman's head is therefore a sign of
submission to that divine order that God has
placed in creation of being subject to man,
that man is the head.
And also it symbolizes here the man not
covering her head, covering his head, that he
is the image and glory of God, verse
7.
In other words, in the church, the man
is to the woman as Christ is to
the church.
Just like in the home, the husband-wife
relationship is a picture of the relationship between
Christ and the church.
And this is why the woman is asked
to submit to her husband in exactly the
same way as the church is submissive to
Christ.
That is the meaning of verse 7, that
the man reflects what God is.
He is the, he represents the likeness and
supremacy of God in the church.
And a man not covering his head is
a testimony that God is supreme here.
And a woman covering her head is likewise
submitting to the man and saying, I am
submitting to the person whom God has appointed,
whether it be in the church or in
the home, as above me in order to
glorify God in that way.
So we see that submission glorifies God.
And a woman, if she does not cover
her head, she is disgracing her head because
she is the glory of man.
Verse 8, it says, A man does not
originate from woman, but woman from man.
And this is another reason why Paul says
submission is right, because God made the man
first.
And the first man was not born of
a woman, as we see now, but the
first man was created directly by God.
And then, from that man, a woman was
brought forth in the creation of Eve, recorded
in Genesis 2.
And Paul is saying God didn't make a
mistake.
He knew whom to make first.
And that symbolizes that man is to be
supreme in the man-woman relationship, in the
home and in the church.
And further, another reason he says is that
man, Adam, was not created to be a
helpmeet to Eve.
On the contrary, the woman, Eve, was created
to be a helpmeet for Adam.
In other words, Adam was the one who
had a ministry from God, and the woman
was to be subservient to him in fulfilling
his ministry.
Not the other way around.
Not that the woman has a ministry, and
the man just tags along, trying to fulfill
her ministry.
Now unfortunately, this is happening in some circles
in Christendom, but it's a complete violation of
God's order.
And even though there may be blessing, God
blesses many things that he's not happy with,
yet it is a complete contradiction to the
divine order mentioned in scripture.
And anyone who has the slightest fear of
God will tremble at his word, and will
not do that which God says he should
not do.
And no spiritually-minded sister would ever violate
the order given here in 1 Corinthians 11,
verses 2 to 16.
And further, continuing on this theme of authority,
he says therefore, verse 10, and we have
seen that wherever we find the word therefore,
we need to see the context, and see
what that word is therefore, in relation to
the previous verses.
Therefore, since all that is mentioned earlier, that
the woman is to be under the headship
of the man, verse 3, and since the
woman is the glory of man, therefore, the
woman, verse 10, ought to have a symbol
of authority on her head, a sign that
she's under the man's authority.
It's a woman's duty to have a sign
of authority on her head, an outward sign
of man's authority.
And what is that outward sign?
That is the veil that he's been speaking
of.
And there again, he says that this veil,
the absence of it, would indicate that a
woman is rebelling against that God-appointed authority.
And in this connection, he refers to the
angels.
He says, remember, there are angels.
There are angels for every person in the
church.
There are angels, evil spirits that are watching.
Why does he speak about angels here?
Because rebellion was first manifested in the midst
of the angels.
When Lucifer rebelled against authority, and he says
the angels have seen rebellion, they've seen it
in heaven, and those angels of heaven do
not want to see that again in the
church, with a woman having that same spirit
by refusing to cover her head in the
meetings.
So he says, for the sake of the
angels, because of the angels, cover your head,
be submissive to man.
And also, we could say, that a woman
who does not submit to that God-appointed
authority, which is the man in the church,
is thereby exposing herself to these evil spirits,
to the spirit of rebellion, to possess her,
and that can bring ruin in her life,
her family, and wherever she is given freedom
to exercise her independent authority.
However, he says, this is not to discourage
sisters, as they have no place at all.
Remember, Jesus Christ is the great example of
submission for all sisters to follow.
But he says, in the Lord, in the
church, in the ministry, we cannot say that
a man can do everything apart from the
woman.
No, a woman is also needed.
For in the Lord, neither is woman independent
of man, nor is man independent of woman.
And he uses an example, he says, just
as the first woman originated from the man,
so also today all men are born through
women, and all things, of course, originate from
God.
And so he says, there is a balance,
which means the woman is also needed, her
ministry is needed in the church.
It's not that she has nothing to do.
For example, it's only a sister who could
reach many unconverted women and give the gospel
to them.
What an important ministry.
But she must always do it in submission
to the man who is the leader in
the church.
This is the important principle.
Both are needed in the Lord.
No one is independent of the other.
No man can say, I can do it
all.
He needs the sisters.
And no sister can think that she doesn't
need the men.
Then he goes on in verse 13 to
say, judge for yourselves.
He says, just think of it from a
merely human standpoint, quite apart from God's word.
Is it proper for a woman to pray
to God with her head uncovered, without a
veil on top of her head?
He says, doesn't even nature teach you that
if a man has long hair, it's a
dishonor to him?
There is a natural principle here, he says,
that makes us feel so clearly that long
hair is disgraceful for a man.
But that same natural principle in nature teaches
us that if a woman has long hair,
that is an added grace to her.
That is her pride.
That is her glory.
Her hair is given to her as a
covering for her head.
And there is a glory in that long
hair for a woman, but no glory in
long hair for a man.
That is disgraceful.
And these verses teach us further that it's
wrong for a man to have long hair.
Even nature teaches it.
The meaning is, how much more?
The Holy Spirit.
Likewise, it's wrong for a woman to cut
her hair short, because her long hair is
given for her by God as a covering
and her pride.
And now there are people who say that
this means that there is no need for
a veil.
But that is not the point.
This which is her glory must be covered,
just like the glory of man which is
the woman must be covered, as we saw
earlier.
In the same way, this long hair which
is the glory of the woman needs to
be covered.
And this veil covers what is the woman's
glory, that is her hair.
Therefore a woman is not to show off
her hair in the church, it is to
be covered.
Now concerning this matter, many people can have
many arguments about long hair and about covering.
And so he gives a final word in
verse 16.
If anyone is inclined to be argumentative or
contentious, he says, we're not going to argue
about this, but we just want to tell
you this is a spiritual thing to do
and this is what we practice and what
all the churches of God practice.
He who has ears to hear, let him
hear.
Let's turn today to 1 Corinthians chapter 11
and verse 16.
We were considering in our last study the
reason why women are asked to cover their
heads in the church.
As a symbol of submission to authority, as
a means of covering their own pride and
glory which is their long hair and as
a testimony that the glory of man must
be covered in the church because woman is
the glory of man as we read in
verse 7.
So there are a number of reasons and
it is good for sisters to know why
they cover their heads, not to do it
meaninglessly.
But also concerning this matter we find particularly
in the 20th century there has arisen a
lot of contention and that is why we
read in verse 16 that if anyone is
inclined to be contentious or argumentative about it,
Paul says, I'm not going to enter into
an argument, I just want to say this
is our practice among the apostles and in
the churches of God and it's good for
us to follow the practice of the apostles
even if we do not understand the meaning.
For it is far better to obey God
even without understanding than to reason and argue
and to say I will not obey until
I understand the reason.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not to your own understanding.
There are many matters in the word of
God which we are called simply to obey.
Understanding may sometimes come later but we are
still to obey and certainly not to be
argumentative.
It's very easy to get into an argument
concerning many of these things and thus lose
out on the spiritual principle that is exemplified
through certain actions that the word of God
calls us to do.
It's the same in the Lord's table.
There are people who feel that the Lord's
table is just a meaningless ritual and they
have done away with it.
This is wrong.
When God has commanded us to do something,
it's right for us to obey and that
is a mark of our humble submission.
In giving this instruction, he goes on to
say in verse 17, I do not praise
you.
Now he's moving on to another subject because
he says you come together when you come
together for your meetings.
It should be for the better but it's
not for the better, it is for the
worse.
In the sense that instead of becoming more
united through your coming together, you're becoming more
divided.
I do not praise you in this, he
says.
When you come together as a church, verse
18, I hear that divisions exist among you.
In other words, there were certain people who
had reported to Paul that there were divisions
in the church and he says in part
I believe it.
There are divisions.
Now he says in verse 19 that there
must be dissensions and differences of opinion among
you because it is thus that those who
are approved, those who are true are distinguished
from the rest.
Just like when gold is put into the
fire and the dross is melted away, the
gold shines forth.
In the same way, he says, the existence
of differences of opinion is a means by
which God sifts out the gold from that
which is not gold.
And this is a very important verse for
us to understand and this gives us the
reason why there are so many doctrines in
scripture concerning which there are so many differences
of opinion among Christians.
One would wish that God had written some
of these things a little more plainly so
that there would be no difference of opinion
whatsoever.
But in the great wisdom of God, he
has written them vaguely and the clever and
the intelligent will be confused, as Jesus said
in Matthew 11, 25, for these things are
hidden from the clever and the intelligent.
But those who come as little babes, not
using their own reason, but in humility seeking
the revelation of the Holy Spirit, will not
be confused.
And thus God is able, through those vague
instructions, to sift out those who have the
spirit of a babe from those who are
clever and intelligent.
And this is the reason for the differences
of opinion.
Those who have the fear of God and
a humble spirit will understand the truth revealed
by the Holy Spirit.
But those who use their cleverness and their
intelligence, lean upon their own understanding in spite
of the clear command in Proverbs 3, 5,
not to lean on our own understanding, will
be led astray.
And thus there will be a difference of
opinion and thus, as it says in verse
19, those who are approved by God will
become evident.
Those who are genuine will become recognized.
Those who are true metal, true gold, will
be distinguished from the dross.
The genuine, wholehearted disciples of Jesus Christ will
be recognized in such a situation.
And this is why God has allowed differences
of opinion to exist, even among many who
call themselves Christians on matters such as baptism,
the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the covering
of women's head, the Lord's table, and many,
many matters, church, order and government and so
many things.
But in the final day, it will be
seen very clearly that those who feared God
and had a humble spirit were right.
And those who were just leaning on their
own intelligence and understanding went astray.
Further, in verse 20, he says concerning the
eating of the Lord's supper, he says, when
you come together, in your eating, each one
takes his own supper first.
Now, this was a common practice among the
Christians of those days, that when they came
together to break bread, they also had what
they would call a love meal or a
love feast together, where they ate lunch together
or a dinner together, along with the breaking
of bread.
And he says, but here, for this love
feast, each of you brought your own supper,
that's all right.
But he says, you're disgracing the Lord's name
in the way you're going about that love
feast, because you don't care to share the
excess you have with some other poor brother
in the church who lacks, then what is
the meaning of breaking a bread?
That's the point.
In your eating, each one takes his own
supper first.
In other words, you are just thinking of
your own food and you rush in to
eat your own supper and one has not
enough to eat and another has so much
and gets drunk at the Lord's table.
He says, what?
Are you going to disgrace the church of
God like this?
Don't you have houses in which to eat
and drink, verse 22?
Are you going to show your contempt for
the church of God by coming there and
showing off the grand food you can eat
and the drink you can afford and humiliate
those poor believers who do not have enough?
That's a very searching question.
To humiliate those who do not have as
much as you.
There are various ways in which a believer
can come to the church and show off
that he is superior to others.
It can be by expensive clothes and saris
and fancy things that we can wear and
come to church in, to the meeting, in
order to despise and show forth that we
are superior and better off than others.
And this is a very searching word for
many Christians today, verse 22.
Do you despise, verse 22 middle, do you
despise the church of God and shame those
who have nothing or those who don't earn
as much as you do?
What shall I say to you?
Shall I praise you in this?
I will not praise you.
No.
He says, you are dishonoring the Lord by
coming to the church in order to show
off, whether it is food or clothing.
We are not to do anything or to
dress in a particular way or do anything
in the church that makes another brother who
is in poorer circumstances feel small and humiliated.
Not even use grandness of speech in the
church in order to humiliate others who when
they share their testimony are not so grand
in their speech.
In the church we give honor to those
who fear God and who are humble, not
to the rich and the great and the
well-dressed and the eloquent.
In this he says I will not praise
you.
These are the marks of a carnal Christian
that he glories in those things which have
no eternal value, no spiritual value, in earthly
things, in his wealth.
And then he goes on to speak about
the Lord's table and he says do you
realize what it is we testify to when
we break bread?
I received from the Lord that which I
delivered to you that the Lord Jesus in
the night which he was betrayed took bread,
verse 23.
When he had given thanks, he broke it,
saying this is my body which is for
you.
Do this in remembrance of me.
We saw earlier in 1 Corinthians 10 that
that was a testimony concerning the one body.
In the same way the cup also after
supper, saying this cup is the new covenant
in my blood.
Do this as often as you drink it
in remembrance of me.
For as often as you eat this bread,
verse 26, and drink the cup, you proclaim
the Lord's death until he comes.
So here is a testimony that must continue
in the church right up till the coming
of Christ.
There is never a time when we can
stop breaking bread.
It is only after Jesus comes that this
testimony will be ended.
So until the Lord comes, this testimony must
continue in the church, but it must continue
meaningfully.
It must be a proclamation of the Lord's
death.
And he says in that context, verse 27,
if anyone eats the bread or drinks the
cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner,
he will be guilty of the body and
the blood of the Lord.
And what is the context?
The context is of humiliating others who don't
have as much as you.
In other words, you don't consider them as
members of the same body.
Let a man examine himself, he says in
verse 28, and so let him eat the
bread and drink the cup.
Let him judge himself to see what his
attitude is towards his brother.
For he who eats and drinks, eats and
drinks judgment to himself if he does not
judge the body rightly.
And that is the body of Christ, in
which there is no distinction between the rich
and the poor, the great and the small,
the clever and the stupid.
All are equal, unless we come to that
place of recognizing every brother and sister as
equally accepted before God, and we don't want
to humiliate them in any way.
We eat and drink damnation to ourselves, for
we're not eating and drinking in a proper
way.
And the word of God here to each
of us is, let every man examine himself.
Let's turn today to 1 Corinthians chapter 11
and verse 23.
In this passage, as we were considering in
our last study, Paul was speaking about the
testimony at the Lord's table, the breaking of
bread and the drinking of the cup.
He says, I received from the Lord.
In other words, Paul got this as a
revelation directly from the Lord, what he had
taught the Corinthians to practice.
And that was a practice instituted by the
Lord Jesus.
In the night in which he was betrayed,
he took bread.
And that bread symbolized his body, which was
broken for us.
And when we realize that Jesus took that
bread on that night and said, this is
my body which is broken for you, we
see that he was not referring merely to
that body which was going to be broken
on Calvary's cross, pierced.
But there was a brokenness in that body
which was already existing.
He did not say, this is my body
which will be broken for you tomorrow morning
at nine o'clock.
No.
He said, this is my body which is
broken for you.
There was something in that body which was
broken already.
And that was his own will.
Jesus came from heaven to earth, John 6,
38, not to do his own will, but
the will of him who had sent him
the Father.
What was broken in Jesus' body, it was
his own will that was constantly broken right
through his earthly life.
And when he took that bread and gave
it to his disciples and said, this is
my body which is broken for you.
He was referring to that broken will, a
body in which he never did his own
will, a body in which he did not
use his eyes as he wished, his tongue,
his feet, or his hands, or anything as
he wished, but only to do the will
of the Father.
This is my body, broken for you.
And finally, there was a culmination to that
on Calvary's cross, where his body was pierced
for us.
And he said, do this in remembrance of
me.
He never told us how often we were
to do it.
There's no command in scripture which tells us
whether we are to break bread once a
day or once a week or once a
month or once in six months.
There God gives us freedom.
And we are to give freedom to one
another lest we become Pharisees.
Where God has given freedom, we must give
freedom to one another.
But he did say that whenever we do
it, that's up to us to decide how
often we do it, according to our own
situation and circumstances, we are to do it
in remembrance of him, the way he lived,
and how he gave himself.
And when I partake of that bread, I'm
testifying, Lord, I want my will to be
broken in my body too.
I'm giving my body also, in the same
way as you gave your body to the
Father.
In the same way, the cup, verse 25,
after supper, saying this cup is the new
covenant in my blood.
The new covenant was different from the old
covenant in the sense that in the old
covenant they could have forgiveness of sins only.
Psalm 103 says, Bless the Lord, O my
soul, who forgives all your iniquities.
That was old covenant.
But in the new covenant, there is not
only forgiveness through the blood of Jesus, but
a deliverance from sin, a cleansing, a clean
heart, a heart in which sin does not
have power, because we drink the new covenant
in the blood.
Sin shall not have dominion over you, for
you are not under law, but under grace.
You're not under the old covenant, but under
the new covenant.
And this is what it means to share
in the fellowship in the blood of Christ,
to share His dying, that I enter into
the meaning of Jesus shedding His blood, for
that blood which Jesus shed symbolized something.
In Hebrews 12, 4, we read about Jesus
striving against sin to the point of shedding
blood.
In other words, He was willing to shed
His blood rather than sin.
And when we put that into 1 Corinthians
11, 25, we understand something of the new
covenant that when I drink that cup, I'm
testifying thereby, saying, Lord, I want to have
the same attitude as You had towards sin,
to be willing to strive unto sin, unto
blood, in my fighting against sin, to the
shedding of blood, I'm willing to strive against
sin.
This is to drink the cup of the
Lord meaningfully, and we do it in remembrance
of Him who strove against sin unto the
shedding of His blood, the blood of the
new covenant.
For as often as you eat this bread
and drink this cup, and that's up to
us how often we do it, we proclaim
that death of the Lord to sin, in
that He died to sin, He died once,
and we are testifying through the breaking of
bread, our desire also to die to sin
and to live unto God, to die to
the world, to live for God.
And then we understand what it says in
verse 27 about eating the bread and drinking
the cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner, just like the cross has two arms,
a vertical and a horizontal one, in the
same way, there is a vertical and a
horizontal fellowship that we testify to in the
breaking of bread, a fellowship with God and
with His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in
our personal walk that we deny ourselves and
our own will to do His will, and
a horizontal fellowship with our fellow believers with
whom we have a right relationship where we
recognize each person as a valuable member of
the body of Christ.
Now if either of these, the vertical or
the horizontal are not in order in our
lives, then we are eating the bread and
drinking the cup in an unworthy manner, and
then we are guilty of the body and
blood of the Lord, that's a very strong
word, it means that I'm just as guilty
as those Jews who demanded the crucifixion of
Christ.
Just as guilty as them, guilty of crucifying
Christ, if I don't eat and drink meaningfully.
And therefore we are exhorted in verse 28
to examine ourselves before we eat and drink.
Every time we eat that bread and drink
that cup, we are to examine ourselves and
see that we are in a right relationship
with God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and in
a right relationship with our fellow believers, otherwise
that cup and that bread, instead of bringing
blessing to us, verse 29 will bring judgment,
because we haven't judged the body rightly, we
haven't judged the body which Jesus gave to
the Father without spot, rightly as to how
He lived in that body, and we haven't
judged the church today, the body of Christ,
rightly, recognizing each person with us as a
member of that body.
And it is because we do not examine
ourselves aright, He says in verse 30, that
many, not just some, but many among you
are weak and sick, and a number even
die.
In other words, a believer can die before
his time, because he has taken sin lightly,
he has lived in a wrong relationship with
his fellow believers, and then he dies before
God's appointed time.
It begins with just weakness in the body,
and then sickness, and if he still doesn't
wake up spiritually, finally God may judge him
even with death.
And this happened in Corinth, not just to
a few here and there, but according to
verse 30, many, many believers in Corinth were
sick and died before their time, because they
took this matter lightly.
Then isn't it possible that even today that
many believers are sick, because they haven't judged
themselves in this matter of their relationship with
God and their fellow men?
Certainly.
And that's why James says in James chapter
5, confess your sins one to another and
pray for one another that you may be
healed.
Because, 1 Corinthians 11, 31, if we judge
ourselves rightly, we will not be judged.
If we live in the habit of judging
ourselves instead of judging other people, the Word
of God has told us very clearly, Jesus'
words in Matthew 7, 1, do not judge
others.
If we would only stop judging others and
judge ourselves, then God would not judge us
with weakness, sickness, or death.
But when God allows weakness or sickness or
death to come to us, verse 32, when
we are judged, it is a means by
which God is seeking to discipline us, so
that we may not be condemned along with
the world.
It's very easy, even for a believer, according
to verse 32, to be condemned along with
the world.
Otherwise, verse 32 would be meaningless, if it
is impossible for us to be condemned along
with the world.
Yes, we can be condemned along with the
world.
In order to save us from that judgment
and damnation, the Lord disciplines us through weakness
and sickness, through financial hardships, perhaps, and other
means.
And if when those chastenings come our way,
those disciplines of the Lord come our way,
if we do not judge ourselves in that
situation, if we become full of self-pity
and bitterness against the Lord, and judge other
people who cause us suffering, then we will
not realize that it is the Lord who
is judging us.
Then we do not judge ourselves rightly, then
we are fit to be judged by the
Lord and condemned along with the world.
So every discipline of the Lord is meant
to make us alert and awake spiritually, so
that we are not condemned with the world.
So then, my brethren, when you come together
to eat, be considerate.
Wait for one another means show consideration for
one another.
Don't just think of yourselves, but consider the
other.
If anyone is hungry, let him eat at
home, verse 34.
Don't come here to show off your good
food or anything else which would humiliate another
brother, so that you may not come together
for judgment.
And the remaining matters I shall arrange when
I come.
It's a very serious warning here in this
passage, and we need never fear that warning
if we live in a constant self-judgment.
This is a verse that we need to
put before our minds at all times, verse
31.
If we judge ourselves rightly, we will never
be judged.
He who has ears to hear, let him
hear.
You've been listening to the From the Pulpit
and Classic Sermon series.
This week, you heard Zach Poonen with his
message, 1 Corinthians 11, verses 1-34.
Tune in next week to hear Parris Reedhead
speak about So Great a Salvation Abiding in
Christ on From the Pulpit and Classic Sermons.