Observe here the way in which the apostle grounded his replies with regard
to details on the highest and fundamental principles. This is the manner of
Christianity (compare Titus 2:10-14). He introduces God and charity,
putting man in connection with God Himself. In that which follows we have
also a striking example of this. The subject is a direction for women.
They were not to pray without having their heads covered. To decide this
question, simply of what was decent and becoming, the apostle lays open the
relationship and the order of the relationship subsisting between the
depositories of God's glory and Himself, [see note #10]
and brings in the angels, to whom Christians, as a spectacle set before
them, should present that of order according to the mind of God. The head
of the woman is the man; that of man is Christ; of Christ, God. This is the
order of power, ascending to Him who is supreme. And then, with respect to
their relationship to each other, he adds, the man was not created for the
woman, but the woman for the man. And as to their relations with other
creatures, intelligent and conscious of the order of the ways of God, they
were to be covered because of the angels, who are spectators of the ways of
God in the dispensation of redemption, and of the effect which this
marvellous intervention was to produce. Elsewhere (see note below) it is
added, in reference to the history of that which took place, the man was
not deceived; but the woman, being deceived, transgressed first. Let us
add-from the passage we are considering-that, as to creation, the man was
not taken from the woman, but the woman from the man. Nevertheless the man
is not without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord; but
all things are of God;-and all this to regulate a question of modesty as to
women, when in praying they were before the eyes of others.[see note #11]
The result-in that which concerns the details-is that the man was to have
his head uncovered, because he represented authority, and in this respect
was invested (as to his position) with the glory of God, of whom he was the
image. The woman was to have her head covered, as a token that she was
subject to the man (her covering being a token of the power to which she
was subject). Man however could not do without woman, nor woman without
man. Finally the apostle appeals to the order of creation, according to
which a woman's hair, her glory and ornament, shewed, in contrast with the
hair of man, that she was not made to present herself with the boldness of
man before all. Given as a veil, her hair shewed that modesty, submission-a
covered head that hid itself, as it were, in that submission and in that
modesty-was her true position, her distinctive glory. Moreover, if any one
contested the point, it was a custom which neither the apostle nor the
assemblies allowed.
Observe also here that, however man may have fallen, divine order in
creation never loses its value as the expression of the mind of God. Thus
also in James, man is said to be created in the image of God. As to his
moral condition, he needs (now that he has knowledge of good and of evil)
to be born again, created in righteousness and in true holiness, that he
may be the image of God as now revealed through Christ; but his position in
the world, as the head and centre of all things-which no angel has been-is
the idea of God Himself, as well as the position of the woman, the
companion of his glory but subject to him; an idea which will be gloriously
accomplished in Christ, and with respect to the woman in the assembly; but
which is true in itself, being the constituted order of God, and always
right as such: for the ordinance of God creates order, although, no doubt,
His wisdom and His perfection are displayed in it.
The reader will remark, that this order in creation, as well as that which
is established in the counsels of God in respect of the woman, of the man,
of Christ, and of God Himself, and the fact that men-at least Christians
under redemption-are a spectacle to angels (compare chap. 4:9), subjects
which here I can only indicate, have the highest interest. [see note #12]
The apostle afterwards touches upon the subject of their assemblies. In
verse 2 he had praised them; but on this point he could not do so (v. 17).
Their assemblies manifested a spirit of division. This division concerned
the distinction between the rich and the poor, but, as it seems, gave rise
to others: at least others were necessary to make manifest those who were
really approved of God. Now these divisions had the character of sects;
that is to say, particular opinions divided Christians of the same
assembly, of the assembly of God, into schools; they were hostile to each
other, although they took the Lord's supper together-if indeed it could be
said that they took it together. Jealousies that had arisen between the
rich and the poor tended to foster the sectarian division. If, I observed,
it could be said that they broke bread together; for each one took care to
eat his own supper before the others did so, and some were hungry while
others took their fill. This was not really eating the Lord's supper.
The apostle, guided by the Holy Ghost, seizes the opportunity to declare to
them the nature and the import of this ordinance. We may notice here, that
the Lord had taught it him by an especial revelation-proof of the interest
that belongs to it, [see note #13]
and that it is a part of the Lord's mind in the entire christian walk, to
which He attaches importance in view of our moral condition, and of the
state of our spiritual affections individually, as well as those of the
assembly. In the joy of christian liberty, amid the powerful effects of the
presence of the Holy Ghost-of the gifts by which He manifested Himself in
the assembly, the Lord's death, His broken body, was brought to mind, and,
as it were, made present to faith as the basis and foundation of
everything. This act of love, this simple and solemn deed, weak and empty
in appearance, preserved all its importance. The Lord's body had been
offered for us! to which the Holy Ghost Himself was to bear witness, and
which was to maintain all its importance in the Christian's heart, and to
be the foundation and centre of the edifice of the assembly. Whatever might
be the power that shone forth in the assembly, the heart was brought back
to this. The body of the Lord Himself had been offered,[see note #14]
the lips of Jesus had claimed our remembrance. This moral equilibrium is
very important to saints. Power, and the exercise of gifts do not
necessarily act upon the conscience and the heart of those to whom they are
committed, nor of those always who enjoy their display. And, although God
is present (and when we are in a good state, that is felt), still it is a
man who speaks and who acts upon others; he is prominent. In the Lord's
supper the heart is brought back to a point in which it is entirely
dependent, in which man is nothing, in which Christ and His love are
everything, in which the heart is exercised, and the conscience remembers
that it has needed cleansing, and that it has been cleansed by the work of
Christ-that we depend absolutely on this grace. The affections also are in
the fullest exercise. It is important to remember this. The consequences
that followed forgetfulness of the import of this ordinance confirmed its
importance and the Lord's earnest desire that they should take heed to it.
The apostle is going to speak of the power of the Holy Ghost manifested in
His gifts, and of the regulations necessary to maintain order and provide
for edification where they were exercised in the assembly; but, before
doing so, he places the Lord's supper as the moral centre, the object of
the assembly. Let us remark some of the thoughts of the Spirit in
connection with this ordinance.
First, He links the affections with it in the strongest way. It was the
same night on which Jesus was betrayed that He left this memorial of His
sufferings and of His love. As the paschal lamb brought to mind the
deliverance which the sacrifice offered in Egypt had procured for Israel,
thus the Lord's supper called to mind the sacrifice of Christ. He is in the
glory, the Spirit is given; but they were to remember Him. His offered body
was the object before their hearts in this memorial. Take notice of this
word "Remember." It is not a Christ as He now exists, it is not the
realisation of what He is: that is not a remembrance-His body is now
glorified. It is a remembrance of what He was on the cross. It is a body
slain, and blood shed, not a glorified body. It is remembered, though, by
those who are now united to Him in the glory into which He is entered. As
risen and associated with Him in glory, they look back to that blessed work
of love, and His love in it which gave them a place there. They drink also
of the cup in remembrance of Him. In a word, it is Christ looked at as
dead: there is not such a Christ now.
It is the remembrance of Christ Himself. It is that which attaches to
Himself, it is not only the value of His sacrifice, but attachment to
Himself, the remembrance of Himself. The apostle then shews us, if it is a
dead Christ, who it is that died. Impossible to find two words, the
bringing together of which has so important a meaning, The death of the
Lord. How many things are comprised in that He who is called the Lord had
died! What love! what purposes! what efficacy! what results! The Lord
Himself gave Himself up for us. We celebrate His death. At the same time,
it is the end of God's relations with the world on the ground of man's
responsibility, except the judgment. This death has broken every link-has
proved the impossibility of any. We shew forth this death until the
rejected Lord shall return, to establish new bonds of association by
receiving us to Himself to have part in them. It is this which we proclaim
in the ordinance when we keep it. Besides this, it is in itself a
declaration that the blood on which the new covenant is founded has been
already shed; it was established in this blood. I do not go beyond that
which the passage presents; the object of the Spirit of God here, is to set
before us, not the efficacy of the death of Christ, but that which attaches
the heart to Him in remembering His death, and the meaning of the ordinance
itself. It is a dead, betrayed Christ whom we remember. The offered body
was, as it were, before their eyes at this supper. The shed blood of the
Saviour claimed the affections of their heart for Him. They were guilty of
despising these precious things, if they took part in the supper
unworthily. The Lord Himself fixed our thoughts there in this ordinance,
and in the most affecting way, at the very moment of His betrayal.
But if Christ attracted the heart thus to fix its attention there,
discipline was also solemnly exercised in connection with this ordinance.
If they despised the broken body and the blood of the Lord by taking part
in it lightly, chastisement was inflicted. Many had become sick and weak,
and many had fallen asleep, that is, had died. It is not the being worthy
to partake that is spoken of, but the partaking in an unworthy manner.
Every Christian, unless some sin had excluded him, was worthy to partake
because he was a Christian. But a Christian might come to it without
judging himself, or appreciating as he ought that which the supper brought
to his mind, and which Christ had connected with it. He did not discern the
Lord's body; and he did not discern, did not judge, the evil in himself.
God cannot leave us thus careless. If the believer judges himself, the Lord
will not judge him; if we do not judge ourselves, the Lord judges; but when
the Christian is judged, he is chastened of the Lord that he may not be
condemned with the world. It is the government of God in the hands of the
Lord who judges His own house: an important and too much forgotten truth.
No doubt the result of all is according to the counsels of God, who
displays in it all His wisdom, His patience, and the righteousness of His
ways; but this government is real. He desires the good of His people in the
end; but He will have holiness, a heart whose condition answers to that
which He has revealed (and He has revealed Himself), a walk which is its
expression. The normal state of a Christian is communion, according to the
power of that which has been revealed. Is there failure in this-communion
is lost, and with it the power to glorify God, a power found nowhere else.
But if one judges oneself, there is restoration: the heart being cleansed
from the evil by judging it, communion is restored. If one does not judge
oneself, God must interpose and correct and cleanse us by
discipline-discipline which may even be unto death (see Job 33, 36; 1 John
5:16; James 5:14, 15).
There are yet one or two remarks to be made. To "judge" oneself, is not the
same word as to be "judged" of the Lord. It is the same that is used in
chapter 11:29, "discerning the Lord's body." Thus, what we have to do is
not only to judge an evil committed, it is to discern one's condition, as
it is manifested in the light-even as God Himself is in the light-by
walking in it. This prevents our falling into evil either in act or
thought. But if we have fallen, it is not enough to judge the action; it is
ourselves we must judge, and the state of heart, the tendency, the neglect,
which occasioned our falling into the evil-in a word, that which is not
communion with God or that which hinders it. It was thus theLord dealt
with Peter. He did not reproach him for his fault, He judged its root.
Moreover the assembly ought to have power to discern these things. God acts
in this way, as we have seen in Job; but the saints have the mind of Christ
by the Spirit of Christ, and ought to discern their own condition.
The foundation and centre of all this, is the position in which we stand
towards Christ in the Lord's supper, as the visible centre of communion and
the expression of His death; in which sin, all sin, is judged. Now we are
in connection with this holy judgment of sin as our portion. We cannot
mingle the death of Christ with sin. It is, as to its nature and efficacy,
of which the full result will in the end be manifested, the total putting
away of sin. It is the divine negation of sin. He died to sin, and that in
love to us. It is the absolute holiness of God made sensible and expressed
to us in that which took place with regard to sin. It is absolute
devotedness to God for His glory in this respect. To bring sin or
carelessness into it, is to profane the death of Christ, who died rather
than allow sin to subsist before God. We cannot be condemned with the
world, because He has died and has put away sin for us; but to bring sin to
that which represents this very death in which He suffered for sin is a
thing which cannot be borne. God vindicates that which is due to the
holiness and the love of a Christ who gave up His life to put away sin. One
cannot say, I will not go to the table; that is, I will accept the sin and
give up the confession of the value of that death. We examine ourselves,
and we go; we re-establish the rights of His death in our conscience-for
all is pardoned and expiated as to guilt, and we go to acknowledge these
rights as the proof of infinite grace.
The world is condemned. Sin in the Christian is judged, it escapes neither
the eye nor the judgment of God. He never permits it; He cleanses the
believer from it by chastening him, although He does not condemn, because
Christ has borne his sins, and been made sin for him. The death of Christ
forms then the centre of communion in the assembly, and the touchstone of
conscience, and that, with respect to the assembly, in the Lord's supper.
