Turn again please to 1 Corinthians
chapter 11 where we read from verse 1 the following, Paul says,
Be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise
you brethren that you remember me in all things and keep the
ordinances as I delivered them to you. For I would have you
know that the head of every man is Christ and the head of the
woman is the man and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying
or prophesying having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth
or prophesieth with her head uncovered, dishonoureth her head. For that is even all one as if
she were shaven. 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 or veiled. For a man
indeed ought not to cover his head, for as much as he is the
image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man.
For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither
was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man. For
this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because
of the angels. Nevertheless, neither is the
man without the woman, neither the woman without the man in
the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man
also by the woman, but all things of God. Judging yourselves, is
it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? Doth not even
nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair, it is
a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair,
it is a glory to her, for her hair is given her for a covering.
But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom of contending,
neither do the churches of God. Now in this, that I declare unto
you, I praise you not, that ye come together, not for the better,
but for the worse. For first of all, when you come
together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among
you, and I partly believe it. At Corinth, There was a church,
which though it had heard the gospel from Paul, though it knew
the power of God, though it knew God's mighty saving grace, though
it had known the unity that that gospel brings, sadly, in Paul's
absence, it had become divided It had fallen into groups which
followed one man and groups which followed another man. It had
fallen into groups that followed one view or point of view and
groups that followed another point of view. Everyone was set
against the other. Some set themselves above others.
Some lorded it over others. Some implied that they were more
spiritual than others. Some felt that the teaching of
Paul was greater than the teaching of Apollos. Others felt that
the teaching of Cephas was greater than the teaching of Paul. It
was divided. And as a consequence of this
sort of division, all sorts of other things came in. When the
church takes its sole gaze off Christ and Him crucified, When
the Church ceases to walk with the eyes of faith firmly set
upon Christ and His Gospel. When it begins to glory, not
in the Lord God alone, not in Christ and His salvation alone,
but in man and in men. When the people of God begin
to glory in preachers, in ministries, or in themselves, or in their
own judgment, their own wisdom, their own faith, their own standing. However subtly they get into
such a state, almost imperceptibly, They think
they are serving God, when in reality they have become to serve
their own wisdom and their own glory. However, they get into
such a state when man begins to glory either in himself, in
his own works, or in other men, even if they're preachers, even
if they're poor. When men begin to glory in anything
but Christ and Him crucified. Then not only does division come
into the church, Not only does the horrible sin of pride come
into the church, and all the consequences that it brings of
men lording it over others, of brethren being set against brethren,
but it opens the floodgates for sin of all kinds. And at Corinth,
the gatherings of the saints had begun to take their gaze
away from Christ. the preaching of the pure sound
of the Gospel, had begun to take second place. The ordinances
of God, the remembrance of Christ's death in the Lord's Supper, had
ceased to be that serious occasion where the people's gaze is firmly
set upon the meaning of these things. Upon Christ's death,
his blood shed, his body broken, And it had begun to become simply
a meal of fellowship. A time in which the people could
let their hair down as it were. When everyone could feast. And
the feasting had reached a riotous state. Where in the meeting of
God there were those who were drunk. There were those who had
plenty when others had little and nobody cared. It was no longer
the Lord's Supper. but the feasts of men and women
who were once heathen, who knew what it was to feast and to go
with the heathen in their ways of riot, who knew what it was
to be delivered from such darkness, from such sin, from such selfish
behavior. who knew what it was to be washed
by the blood of Christ and saved with an everlasting salvation.
And yet here they were returning to their roots. And rather than
walking in the spirit and being centered upon the gospel of Christ,
the flesh was coming to the fore. And the meetings themselves had
become disorderly, chaotic. The women were allowed to speak.
The women were raising up above the authority of the men in the
meeting. The Lord's Supper had become chaotic. And wanton sin
was being allowed amongst the people without being reproved
or checked. Some of what Paul has to deal
with in the letter to the Corinthians almost seems astonishing to our
modern eyes. For it's as bad then in the early
days as many churches can become in our day. Things went on that
we sometimes hear of going on in society and indeed even in
many so-called meetings in our day that should never be named
amongst the saints. And Paul writes to the Corinthians
to deal with the division that's come in amongst the people the
departing from the gospel and the gross sin that's been allowed
both in private, in the meetings and in the worship of God. But
he deals at the beginning of his epistle not with the incest
or the fornication or the going to the law of man or the wantonness
in the meeting, He deals not with the chaos that they've brought
in amongst the Lord's supper in the meetings. He deals not
with the lack of order in the meetings or the misuse of the
gifts. But he begins with that which
lies behind it all. And he begins with the greatest
sin that he finds amongst his people. And that is the division. The division. We read from chapter
11, where he refers again to that division. In this that I declare unto you,
I praise you not that you come together, not for the better,
but for the worse. For first of all, when you come
together in the church, I heard that there'd be divisions among
you. And I partly believe it. Because he has heard, as he says
in chapter one, by them of the house of Chloe, that there are
contentions among this people. Some say that they're of Paul,
some of Apollos, some of Cephas, some of Christ. Paul asks, is
Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were
you baptized in my name? I thank God that I baptized none
of you but Crispus and Gaius, lest any should say that I had
baptized in mine own name. I baptized also the household
of Stephanus, but besides this, I know not whether I baptized
any other. For Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the
cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto
us which are saved, it is the power of God. For it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing
the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Have not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For
after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not
God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. By preaching. For the Jews require
a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom but we preach Christ crucified
and to the Jews a standing block and unto the Greeks foolishness.
but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks. He is Christ,
the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness
of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger
than men. Yes, the answer to your division,
Corinthians, the answer to your troubles, It's not for me to
come and baptize. It's not the ordinances, it's
not the structure. But what lies behind it is the
fact that you have taken your gaze away from that which I came
to you preaching. Your disunity lies in the fact
that you're not listening and looking and resting in the preaching
of the gospel. Man's wisdom would say that the
way to lead a people, the way to build up a congregation, the
way to unite them, is to do this, that and the other. The Jews
wanted a sign, the Greeks wanted wisdom. But God's way to save,
to add to his church, to build his church, is to preach Christ
and him crucified. Paul says, I beseech you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the
same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that
you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment. Well, what brings the same mind
and the same judgment? The preaching of Christ and him
crucified. Paul deals later in chapter one
as he goes on with the terrible effects that mitigate against
the unity which is found in this gospel because he says this you
see your calling brethren how that not many wise men after
the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called But God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world, to confound the
wise. And God hath chosen the weak
things of the world, to confound the things which are mighty.
And base things of the world, and things which are despised,
hath God chosen. Yea, and things which are not,
to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory
in his presence. but of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. You see, the division comes when
men begin to glory in other things, in themselves, in man, in his
works, in other men and their works. But Paul reminds these
Corinthians that they're all alike. They are all by nature
nothing. Nothing. None of them is greater
than any other. None of them is wiser than any
other. None of them has any cause to
rise up in pride over their neighbor. None of the preachers whom they
follow are any greater than they or any greater than one another.
They are all base they are all weak they are all foolish they
are all the base things of the world things which are despised
which God have chosen things which are not to bring to naught
things that are they're all nothing All those who were saved at Corinth
are nothing. Paul was nothing, he was a sinner,
a rebel against God. All his glory in lied in the
wonderful grace of God, that plucked him out of oblivion,
that showed him his rebellious heart, his state by nature, his
sin, his black corrupt nature and his need of righteousness. And the gospel that God made
known unto Paul, made known unto him the righteousness of God,
which God made his, when Christ was crucified for him. When Christ
laid down his life for Paul and shed his blood for Paul and took
away Paul's sins in his own body on the tree and destroyed Paul's
sin in his own body on the tree, when his sin was destroyed, when
the blood was shed to wash away his sins, when Christ was crucified
and Paul was crucified with Christ, that delivered him from death. That delivered him from the power
of sin, that delivered him from the wrath of God against his
sins and that took one who was but sin through and through and
made him in Christ the very righteousness of God. That took one who was
dead and made him to live with an eternal life in Christ alone. That took one whose wisdom, his
natural wisdom led him to persecute the church and showed him the
folly of his ways and opened his wisdom and his understanding
to receive, it opened his mind to receive the wisdom of God
and the mind of Christ as the Spirit of God revealed under
him Christ. That took a dead sinner and made
him live. That took one who was nothing
and made him to glory in Him who is all. He that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. I determined not, said Paul,
to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I came unto you in weakness,
in fear, and trembling. And my speech and my preaching
was not with the enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power. that's what you heard, that's
what transformed you, that's what took you people who are
nothings, that's what will take you and me today who are nothings
before God and will take us as base sinners and transform us. Only God's gospel, only the preaching
of Christ and Him crucified, only that demonstration, not
of man's wisdom and of his eloquence, or enticing words but the demonstration
of the spirit and of power as God preaches his gospel and delivers
those who are in darkness to bring them into everlasting light
delivers those who are dead and makes them live Paul says, I
have not seen nor heard neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God have prepared for them that love him.
But God have revealed them unto us by his spirit. We haven't
sought these things out. We didn't come to an understanding
because of our great intellect. We were blind. But God have revealed
them unto us by his spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him?
Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God.
Now we have received, we haven't gone out and taken it, we haven't
claimed it, we haven't earned it. But we have received by grace,
not the spirit of the world. but the Spirit which is of God,
that we might know the things that are freely given to us of
God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's
wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing
spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth
all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who have
known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have
the mind of Christ. It's the things of God are foolishness
to us by nature. The preaching of the gospel is
foolishness to us by nature. our intellect, our wisdom, our
greater knowledge, mocks and scoffs at the very practice of
preaching and the message which is preached. We laugh at it,
we don't receive it. The natural man receive if not
the things of the Spirit of God. They are foolishness under him.
He cannot know them, he cannot discern them, he's blind to them,
he's dark to them, he's dead to them. But when God brings
his gospel in power, He brings the natural man to the cross,
where he finds that he is slain with Christ. And he quickens
a new life in that man, by the Spirit. And it's that new life,
that new Spirit, which is taught of God, which receives the Gospel,
and receives Christ. and is spiritual that it may
judge all things. For what had happened at Corinth
is that their judgment had fallen to one side, and they judged
things in the flesh, and they received fleshly things even
into the worship of God, and they ceased to judge in the spirit
of God, for their gaze had been taken away from that which makes
known the mind of Christ. the gospel. So Paul begins at
Corinth by bringing this divided people back to the majesty of
the preaching of Christ and him crucified. He says that he dealt
with them as those who were children, not spiritual as babes in Christ.
He gave them milk and not meat and today still he can only give
them milk. He moves on in the epistle to
deal with the various issues. He deals with the gross sin.
He deals with their going to law. He deals with their various
questions about earthly matters, marriage, divorce, these things
relating to our course in this world. He deals with their questions
about meat offered to idols, the marriage of virgins, and
so on and so forth. But eventually in the latter
chapters of the epistle he comes to the worship of God. He comes
to that chaos that he finds in the way that they gather. And
he comes back in chapter 11 to the fact that when they come
together in the church he hears, as he mentioned in the beginning,
that there be divisions among them. There's divisions. And there must also be heresies
amongst them. And they're accepting of this
and accepting of that. And because of this their meetings
have become chaotic. Well, what's the answer? Well,
firstly, the answer, as he started, is that the preeminence must
be returned to the preaching of the gospel. But beyond that, he deals with
the various aspects of their worship one by one. He deals
with the Lord's Supper. He shows them its meaning again.
He deals with the way that they are dealing with it. He speaks
about the gifts. He speaks about the body of Christ.
He speaks about love. He speaks about prophecy being
preferred to the gifts of tongues. In other words, that preaching
is the greatest gift. Preaching and teaching of the
gospel is that which will build the church and bring it in order. He deals with the woman's place
in the meeting, the need for men to preach and for the woman,
as a picture of the bride of Christ, to be quiet and to listen. as the bride listens to Christ's
preaching in its midst. He deals with the wonderful promise
of the resurrection of the dead, which many there have become
to doubt and to question. But before he moves on to any
of these issues, he begins in chapter 11 with something fundamental
from which everything flows. For if the foundational message
of the church is the gospel of Christ. Then the church must
always remember from whence that gospel flows. For it flows down
from heaven above. It flows down from God. It flows
down from Christ as he rules on high and declares his gospel
in power. And it comes from on high by
his spirit to the church below. Christ the husband declares his
gospel to his bride as she gathers in the earth below at his feet
to hear his word. It is not the bride the woman
that preaches unto Christ but Christ who teaches and preaches
under his bride. She was made for him, not he
for them. He laid down his life for her,
that he might save her. It's his message that she must
hear. It's his life that she must receive. She eats of his bread and drinks
of his wine. Christ is preeminent. Paul praises at the beginning
of chapter 11 the fact that the Corinthians in their gatherings
had kept the various ordinances which he had delivered unto them.
He'd instructed them to do various things when they came together
in worship. And many of these things they remembered and they
did. But there's certain things that they seem to have completely
forgotten. And the issue he deals with here
is the fact that they seem to have forgotten both in practice
and in the attitudes of their heart, the headship of Christ
over his church. The order of God. They were allowing
things to be done which showed that they despised God's order.
When the women would stand up and would prophesy to the men
and teach the men, they were despising the order of God, despising
the fact that Christ is the head of his church, despising the
order between Christ and his bride. As Paul said in Ephesians,
for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the
head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. He is the head of his church. the head as paul says here in
chapter 11 verse 3 i would have you know that the head of every
man is christ you're in subjection to him in submission to him he
is in authority in the church and when you gather and when
you approach under him you approach under him mindful of this fact
You are not to stand up and to make yourselves those whose glory
usurps the glory of Christ. You are not to divide and to
glory in this preacher and that preacher, in this man and that
man, for in taking glory, in glorying in these things, you
fight against the fact that Christ is your head. The head of every
man is Christ. And the head of the woman is
the man, and the head of Christ is God. There is an order. The
husband and the wife, the man and the woman, Christ and his
bride, God and Christ. The husband and the wife, as
we said, being that picture of Christ and his church. Eve was
taken out of Adam's side. The man was made first. as Paul
goes on to say later in this chapter. Neither was the man
created for the woman, but the woman for the man. The man was
made first and Eve was taken out of his side at the cross. When Christ was slain and his
blood was shed, when the soldier came and thrust the spear in
his side and the blood flowed out with water from his side,
This is figurative of the woman being taken out of his side,
as Eve was taken out of the side of Adam. The blood flowed forth
from the side of Christ, that blood which washes his bride,
his church, his people. And when that blood flowed forth,
that people were taken from his side as a perfect and a pure,
a holy, a spotless, an unblemished, bride fit for her husband, taken
out of his side as he slept in the death of the cross. As Adam
was in that deep sleep wherein Eve was taken out of his side,
so when Christ gave up the ghost and the blood was shed as he
hung there dead, having taken away his people's sins, so the
blood came forth from his side and so spiritually the people
were taken out of his side and presented to him as his bride. The man is the head of the woman. Yes, there's an order. There's
an order, there's an order in the Godhead that the head of
Christ is God. And there is an order in creation,
and that order in creation is to show the order of the bride
of Christ to her husband. And this order, Paul maintains,
is not only something that you should know, not only something
that you should be constantly mindful of especially when you
gather in the meetings but it is something which knowing you
should be willing to show in how you come into those meetings
this order must be seen and must be shown it's one thing to know
it but if you come into the meetings in such a way that your conduct despises this
order, then the lip service you give to it is of little worth. So Paul teaches them how this
order is to be shown. Every man praying or prophesying,
having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. For every woman that
prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered, dishonoureth
her head. For that is even or one as if
she were shaven. The man's head is to be uncovered.
Because the man is a figure of Christ. And because the head
of the man is Christ. And there is to be no covering
between the man and Christ who is his head. But the woman's
head is not Christ. The woman has a layer of authority
above her in the natural order of creation. As individual souls
before God, every man and woman is equal in terms of their salvation. But whilst we live in this world,
the fact of whether we are a man or a woman has a bearing on how
we conduct ourselves in this world. There is an order. And
the woman's head is not Christ directly, but the woman's head
is the man. So when she comes in a meeting
and prays or prophesies, There is a difference in how she should
adorn herself, for her head, Paul says, should be covered,
where the man should be uncovered. Because if it's not covered,
she'd dishonor her head. For that's as if she was shaven.
That's as if she came into the meeting bald. For if the woman
be not covered, let her also be shorn. Let her be shaven.
It's the same thing. She's a shame. and she brings
shame in the meeting. But if it be a shame for a woman
to be shorn or shaven as it is, then let her be covered or veiled.
Let a cover be brought down upon her head. It would be shameful
to shave off your hair, for we know by nature that the long
hair is a woman's glory. Then if so, come into the meeting
and cover the hair. put a veil down upon it, cover
it, put a hat upon it, a scarf upon it, a covering, a veil. For a man indeed ought not to
cover his head for as much as he is the image and glory of
God. But the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not
of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither was the man
created for the woman, but the woman for the man. For this cause
ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
Now Paul lays down an ordinance here. an ordinance which in our
day and generation has largely been forgotten by many meetings,
many churches which take the name Christian. There was a day
and an age where you went to any Christian congregation for
hundreds of years and you would universally see this ordinance
followed. You went into a meeting in the
1800s, the 1600s, the 1900s, even the early 20th century,
and you would universally see the men take the hats off their
heads as they entered, and the women have their heads covered,
absolutely without fail, for hundreds of years. yet today
congregation after congregation you see the women's heads uncovered
in complete contradistinction to what Paul has to say here,
as if this chapter simply didn't exist or had no meaning or relevance
to the gathered church in our day and age. Why is this and
why has the change come about? Well it's come about spiritually
essentially because of the same root cause that happened at Corinth. There were women that met at
Corinth who were meeting there with their heads uncovered. Even
though Paul had taught this, even though in all the other
churches where Christ's people met throughout the world at that
time, throughout all the congregations, whether they be at Jerusalem,
Galatia, Corinth, wherever it was, throughout all the known
world at that time, wherever the gospel had gone, wherever
congregations had been gathered, all the churches practiced the
covering of the woman's head and the uncovering of the man's
head as a picture of the headship of Christ over his church. It was universally done. And
yet at Corinth, they neglected it. Why? Because they began to
take their gaze off the gospel. They began to act as though God,
as though Christ was not their head, though they claimed it
in lip service. Because they began to be influenced
by the fashions and influence of the world around and the thinking
of human wisdom. And because they began to glory
not only in the Lord, but in themselves and in their own wisdom.
And when the woman's head is uncovered in the meeting, her
long hair being her glory, she parades her glory in the presence
of the man, which is a wonderful picture of a people who parade
their own glory in the presence of Christ, who should have all
the glory. Why is it so important as an
ordinance, as a figure, as a picture to be observed in the church?
Because it's a picture of the fact that we do not glory in
the presence of Christ, but we glory only in Him. And we cover
our glory as the bride of Christ, that He may have all the glory.
So the woman as the picture of the bride, and the man as the
picture of Christ, when they come in the meeting, the man
is not to be covered, for his glory is to be seen. And there's
nothing between him and Christ. And the woman's head is to be
veiled, is to be covered, to show that her glory is to be
covered in the presence of Christ. And she will bring all glory
unto him and him alone. This ordinance is not cultural,
nor is it limited to the time in which it was written. A common
way that people like to dismiss this chapter is to say that this
is something unique to the culture of Corinth. This is absolute
nonsense. This was practiced in the churches
universally and Paul makes that clear in verse 16. If any man
seems to be contentious, if anyone contends against what I'm telling
you here, then I say that we have no such custom of contending. We don't practice contention.
We don't contend against this. Neither do the churches of God.
All the churches, all the churches where I minister, Paul says,
all the churches throughout all the world where we gather, we
don't contend against this. We own that Christ is our head.
And we show it forth freely and gladly in the meetings. We don't
contend against it. We never have. and if you're
going to contend against it i tell you plainly we don't believers
don't take your contention elsewhere The wording in the AV there,
sometimes confuses where he says, we have no such custom. Some
people take the custom, the word custom, to refer to the custom
of head covering, but that's nonsense. That is not what Paul
is referring to here. And you only need to consult
either the original Greek or just about every other translation
to find wording which makes it absolutely clear that he's referring
to the practice of contention. We don't contend against this. The churches of God practice
this universally. So this was not local to Corinth.
And it is not restricted to the time at which he wrote, because
if all the churches, despite where they were, despite the
varying cultures of the lands where they were, if all the churches
did it then, and if they all did it then to show forth the
headship of Christ, then they will do it to the end of the
age. Because Christ was not the head of his church in Corinth
only, nor was he the head of his church at the time at which
the apostles wrote only. But he is the head of his church
from the beginning until the end throughout all the world.
He is the head of all his people. Then this is a universal instruction
to all the church throughout all time, never to be set aside. and it's set aside in our day
and generation simply because the professing church, the worldly
church that's turned its gaze away from the gospel, has been
influenced and pulled aside by the feminist movement of our
time, where men and women will not bow down to authority, will
not bow down to the authority of God, and where women will
not respect the order of God in society. They've contended
against it now for many years since the middle of the 20th
century. They've affected society in a
radical way. And the effects of this have
simply come into the church. The women are no longer subject
to the man in society. Marriages are no longer marriages
where the man is the head of the house, but they're just a
team. And the woman rules the man in
so many ways. And what is done in society has
come into the church. And though they pretend that
they have put this aside for other reasons, oh, it's cultural,
it's for a time pass, it's because they do not want to pull under
its instruction. They will not be told. We will
not cover our heads. We will not be seen to be different.
We don't want society outside seeing us as different. We don't
want people seeing us going into the meeting with our heads covered
and saying, well, why are you dressed like that? Oh, we want
to look just like everyone else does. Oh, the fear of man, what
a snare. What folly. So by their traditions and by
their following of the world around them they've made the
word of God of none effect. But this is universal to the
end of the age. If we believe that Christ is
our head then we will willingly show that forth in the gathering
of the saints. We will willingly follow Paul's
instruction. Be ye followers of me, he says,
as I also am of Christ. This is of Christ, he is our
head. Then let not your men dishonor
that by covering their heads. Take off your caps, come in uncovered,
show that you are a picture of Christ. show that you are under
direct authority underneath Christ that he is your direct head and
women cover your heads veil them, veil them. Having declared the
importance of this Paul argues for it in variety of ways and
again it's some of this arguing for it this illustration of it
from nature and from the from the creation that confuses others. For Paul says that the woman
should cover her head when she prays or prophesies. The context
here being the gathering of the church, the assembly of the church,
as is shown in the, as the chapter goes on, when he says that in
verse 18, first of all, when you come together in the church,
I heard that there'd be divisions among you. He's talking about
the gathered church, and he's talking about how we are when
we gather. Now the prayer here or prophecy
here, It's not that which is done outwardly. There's no sanction
for the woman to stand up and preach in the meeting. This is
quiet prayer, this is quiet worship. But when we come in worship,
the man is to be uncovered, the woman covered. Why? Because if her head was uncovered,
it's as if she was shaven. It's as if there was nothing
on her head. It's shameful. It's shameful. And if to not
be shamed, then let her be covered. Now some people say that the
covering which Paul is speaking of is the woman's hair but this
simply cannot be because if he was speaking of the woman's hair
then he would not have to say that having her head uncovered
is even or one as if she were shaven for she would either have
her hair on and not be uncovered Or if she was uncovered it would
mean that she was shaven, she had no hair, she was bald, she
came in shaven and that is as if she was uncovered. But that
isn't as if she was uncovered, that would literally be that
she was shaven. So when Paul says that being
uncovered is even as if she was shaven, as shameful as if she
was shaven, he must mean that this covering is an additional
covering, it cannot be the hair. Now Paul goes on to speak of
the woman's hair, her long hair, in contrast to the man's shorter
hair in nature, as an illustration of the fact that we see the distinction
between the man and the woman, not simply in the things of God,
not simply in the creation and in the fact that the man was
created first and the woman taken out of his side, but in nature,
simply in the natural realm. Most societies, most of the world,
It's generally accepted, generally seen that the woman has longer
hair than the man. And we know, we see there's a
distinction, we see there's a difference. And you know that the woman naturally
should have longer hair and the man should have shorter hair.
Then if you can see that in nature, then is it not right? Judge yourselves,
he says, is it comely then? If you can see these things in
nature, does not even nature itself teach you this? If you
can see that, then isn't it just right that when we gather in
the church, the woman's hair should be covered? Very well,
we say. Okay, I see that Paul says that,
if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him, and if a woman
have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given
her for a covering. But what does Paul mean there
when he says that her hair is given her for a covering? Is
that not the covering that Paul speaks of in verse six? Well, it clearly isn't, as I
said, because if it was the covering in verse 6, then to remove that
covering would be to remove her hair. And it makes a nonsense
of what Paul instructs in verse 5 and 6. It cannot be the same
covering. This can be further shown by
the fact that it is a different word used for covering in verse
15 from verse 6. The cover that Paul speaks of
in verse 6 is a veil, is that which is brought down upon the
head, brought down upon the hair. A hat, a scarf, a veil. In those
times it would have been a complete veil to cover the whole hair.
is brought down upon it. Whereas the cover spoken of in
verse 15 uses a different Greek word which speaks of that which
is wrapped around. Not that which is brought down
upon but that which is wrapped around. The woman's hair is given
her as that which is wrapped around her head, a natural covering. And he's saying that in nature
naturally he has long hair as a covering. So therefore don't
you see that in the meetings It is only right that her hair
should be covered with a further cover, a veil, something brought
down upon, to cover that which is her natural glory. Because
he says, in verse 15, that if a woman have long hair, it is
a glory to her. And as we said earlier, the whole
point here in Corinthians is that the people were glorying,
not in Christ alone, but in themselves. They, the Church, the Bride of
Christ, were glorying in Christ's presence. Then the glory of the
church should be covered, that the glory which is seen might
not be their glory in their natural state in themselves, anything
that they might glory in naturally, but that the glory of the church
might be seen to be Christ. The church should be covered,
concealed, that we should see nothing of man in it, but only
Christ and his gospel. Then in nature the woman is covered,
with a natural covering and when she comes into the meeting as
a figure of the Bride of Christ, her natural glory should be covered
as a perfect example of the fact that we are not glorying in the
presence of Christ. The world, the world's churches,
the wisdom of man says this is foolishness. Why does it matter? Isn't it simply an outward thing?
Do outward things matter? Well there are very few outward
ordinances in the church of God. But what there is sets forth
the gospel in power, the Lord's supper, the bread and the wine,
the baptism, the burial of a believer with Christ and his rising again
with him. And here the headship of Christ
over his bride. Yes, it's but an outward ordinance,
an outward thing that the people do when they gather, but it has
a powerful message. And while we may say, well, doesn't
the heart matter? Doesn't God look upon our hearts?
I know that Christ is my head. Isn't that enough? If we know
that Christ is our head, and we love him, and we love his
word, and we love his authority, if we worship him as our head,
then we will follow that which he teaches us in scripture. And
on such an important matter, we will not contend against it.
We have no custom, no practice of contending against it. We
receive it gladly as we receive his gospel. For in receiving
this and showing it forth, we show forth Christ and his glory. we take away and we show that
we take away in the meetings midst in the presence of christ
in the meetings we take away all that that all that is of
man all that in which we might glory and we show by our meek
obedience to this that we do not fight against God's order.
We don't fight against it in nature. We don't fight against
the authority that the husband has over his wife. We don't fight
against the authority that God has over his church. But in loving
his grace, in loving his gospel, in loving his salvation, in loving
his rule over all things in the church, we bow down to it. And in so doing, we seek not
our glory, but his glory alone. For we own that we are nothing.
We are base, we are weak, we are the despised, the nothing
of this world. But we, by grace, are in Christ
Jesus, made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, that according as it is written, He that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. Amen.