1 CORINTHIANS 10 AND 11
1 CORINTHIANS 10 AND 11
1 Corinthians 10:23-33; 1 Corinthians 11:1-16
CAC I suppose the thought in the closing part of the chapter is that Christian liberty must not be used in a way that may be damaging to others. Paul had in mind seeking the profit of others.
Ques What is the link between this and the previous part of the chapter? Is it liberty?
CAC This section tends to preserve liberty in the minds of the saints. So they were not to ask questions if meat was for sale publicly, whether it was offered to a heathen god in sacrifice before it came there.
Ques How would this principle apply today?
CAC Well, one might have liberty in one’s own conscience that might tend to be damaging to another; if so we surrender our liberty for the good of the one who might be injuriously affected by it.
Divine principles are established and they may come in in a way we might not think of. It is a case here of the beautiful Christian grace of caring for the good of others so that they may be edified or saved. It is not having my own gain in view, but the spiritual gain of others. For instance, if I knew that drink was a temptation to a man I would not have it on the table, though personally I should be free to do so. The apostle brings in the [p. 32] principle of christian liberty, but alongside that the principle of surrendering liberty if it would be good for another.
Rem There seem to be three classes in verse 32: “Give no occasion to stumbling, whether to Jews, or Greeks, or the assembly of God”.
CAC There are three distinct bodies of people now, and all are to be carefully considered.
Ques What of the invitation by an unbeliever in verse 27?
CAC Well, what do you make of that?
Ques What about the Lord being invited into a Pharisee’s house?
CAC “If ... ye are minded to go”, it says. I suppose it makes for christian liberty. You can go if you want to; he does not commend them for going. Of course in the second epistle when they were further advanced he called them to come out and be separate and touch not the unclean thing. And he says distinctly that there is nothing in common between an unbeliever and a believer. Perhaps they were hardly prepared for that before. It is a great exercise to be invited into an unbeliever’s house because if you cannot go there to represent Christ you had better not go. It is a definite exercise.
Rem Why you were invited is a question.
CAC It is. There are no hard and fast rules laid down. None of us would like to be under a rigid rule. It might be that the Lord was in it.
Ques Would the fact of the Lord’s going into the Pharisee’s house bear on it?
CAC Yes. He seems to have gone where He was invited, but He went on His own terms; He never went anywhere on mere social grounds. If the desire that men should be saved is governing us, we can safely go into an unbeliever’s house. Of course it supposes that you give [p. 33] thanks for your food; no christian would think of eating without that, so the christian goes in on his own terms. The model is Christ. That is what it all leads to. “Be my imitators, even as I also am of Christ”. Christ is the model. That applies to going in to an unbeliever’s house; you cannot go in to be on a level with them.
Ques I suppose all this has in view the preservation from outside conditions on the part of those that form the assembly of God. Is that not the principle?
CAC Verse 31 would adjust every detail, so that we are not to cause offence. The Lord said, “Lest we should offend them”, Matthew 17: 27. They had no claim; He was the King’s Son and yet He worked a miracle that those Jews might not be offended. J.N.D. said once, ‘Persons do not take offence if you approach them with a moderate degree of consideration and kindness’. That is, it is well to leave the sledge-hammer behind when you go to an unbeliever’s house.
Ques What would the ordinances be that he refers to in chapter 11?
CAC I think he had communicated to them the truths of christianity and certain instructions how to behave, and they had in measure carried them out, so that he could praise them accordingly. We need instruction and chapter 11 is very important for us, as bringing before us the order that is suitable to God. They evidently had not understood before that Christ is Head of every man. Elsewhere he says, “Know ye not ...”, but here he says, “I wish you to know ...”, showing that they did not know. And does it not lie at the very root of assembly order? “Christ is the head of every man”. That does not include women. The whole point of the early part of chapter 11 is the difference between the man and the woman, and this is to be publicly recognised. It is a matter of public order in the assembly, and, of course,
[p. 34] privately too.
Rem The headship of Christ in Romans 5 is rather different; He is Head of the race.
CAC Yes, that takes in the whole human family. God has brought in a new Head for man, and that should be preached in the gospel more than it is.
Rem There are three heads in this chapter, Christ and man and God.
CAC It is sometimes thought that this chapter bears particularly on the woman, but I think it bears very much on the man. He begins, “I wish you to know that the Christ is the head of every man”. It is for every man to take note of, particularly men who are in the assembly of God.
Ques. Is it always true?
CAC The difference between the man and the woman is always true, and the relative position between the man and the woman is always true; it has to be recognised especially where praying and prophesying are in question.
Ques How would a woman prophesy?
CAC This scripture clearly supposes that she will. There are prophetesses in Scripture and it is possible to prophesy without being a prophetess. It means speaking for God; sisters ought perhaps to be more exercised as to doing that, speaking definitely for God. It is clearly not in the assembly because the same epistle says that women are to keep silent in the assembly.
A woman must be covered, so a sister would not think of going to see a sick person or anyone to whom she was going to speak of God without having her head covered. It is part of the divine order. And the man has to keep his head uncovered. No man on earth is entitled to move or to speak without reference to Christ. We can see in the Lord what it means; He was a perfect Man who had a Head. He said, “I have set Jehovah continually before me” (Psalm 16: 8); that is, He always lived in reference to God as His Head. No man is right on the earth until he lives in reference to Christ. He is Head of every man by divine appointment, even if men know nothing about it.
It is good to get a very comprehensive view of Christ. What an immense field He covers! He is Head of every man and He is willing to occupy the position in a real and practical way. If Christ is not Head for us as in Romans 5 there is no hope for us. Adam brought in sin and gave no way of escape, but then God has brought in a new Head. Adam is not the head of all men, Christ is; He has met the pressure of sin and death which every man in this world is under, for however jovial he may be he sees no way out of it.
The recognition of Christ as Head is how we get wisdom to move in relation to God, and it would bear especially on the service of the assembly. No man is entitled to take any part in the assembly except in so far as he recognises Christ as his Head. And if this is so it will be a very suitable thing for the women to recognise the headship of the man. It is only as the men recognise the headship of Christ that they will be able to appear in the image and glory of God. The woman is not that; she is the glory of the man. It is a fixed position, not a changeable or optional matter at all. It is a fixed position appointed by God. Christ looked to God for everything; His ear was wakened morning by morning so that He might speak a word to him that was weary.
Ques Would you say that we see it objectively in Christ?
CAC Yes, that is helpful. We see the real character of it in Christ. Every believing man is to look up to Christ as Head, just as Christ did to God. If I do I get the gain of Christ as my Head. I should act nicely and suitably and [p. 36] in a comely way in the assembly or in service. There is no other way. It is an individual matter; it is not a collective thing.
We cannot doubt that there was a very great lack of what the apostle wished at Corinth, or these disorders would never have existed. The public order of the assembly would be beautiful if this came about. Some would be astonished that a meeting for worship could be carried on without a chairman. A meeting for worship can only be carried on on the principle that every man is holding Christ as Head and is directed by that. If not, it has no spiritual value. If it were so, we should not have any jolts. What dignity it puts on the men, that the brothers have a relation to Christ which the sisters have not!
Rem There is “holding fast the head” in Colossians.
CAC That is the spiritual and universal side, but this is the side of assembly order, what we can see and hear, the public side — the wilderness side of the position, as we often say.