THE KING’S BUSINESS
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teaching about woman’s position. But Paul settles the whole question in a word, “We have no such custom (i.e., as that of put ting the woman forward out of her due position of subordination and womanly reserve), neither (have) the churches of God.” If any churches do have such a custom, they are departing from the cus tom that God approves and to that extent are not “churches of God.” Wednesday, Nov. 21 . 1 Cor. 11 : 17 - 19 . Paul now takes up the second abuse in the church at Corinth. In vs. 2, as we have already seen, he has praised the believers for remembering him in all things and hold ing fast the directions that he had given them, but now he comes to the practice so foreign to the spirit of Christian love as to demand a stern rebuke, and in preparing for this rebuke he says: “In giving you this charge (i.e., the charge that follows) I praise you not.” The coming together of believers should be for mutual profit and progress, “for the better”; but Paul tells them that selfishness and pride and greed has so come into their assemblies that their coming together whs not for profit,-“for the better,” but for deterioration, for “the worse.” Is that never true of Christian assemblies today? Is it not often the fact that the coming together of believers does not result in profit and progress, but in deterioration? But note that Paul does not hint for a moment that anyone should with draw himself from the assembly on that account and set up one of his own. What he does say is that instead of withdrawing from the assembly on account of these abuses, these abuses, which were very grave, should be corrected. The first reason why their coming together was not “for better” but “for worse,” was that there were “divisions (schisms)” among them. Paul had heard this and “partly” believed it. This is putting it very gently. He trusted the case was not so bad as had been reported, and he did not wish to lay undue blame upon them; but he was forced to believe it was in part true. Alas! it is
altogether too true in many of our churches. “Heresies,” that is, divisions that have become settled and permanent, must be among believers. Thé reason they must be is because of the selfishness and carnal ity of even believers (1 Cor. 3:3, 4; Matt. 18:7). But God brings good even out of this evil of “heresies,” in this way: by the coming of heresies in the self-will of men, those who are really “approved” of God and of settled convictions and character are “made manifest.” It is painful to think that there “must be heresies,” settled divis ions and sects, among believers.' O, that we might all be one in the true sense (John 17:20, 21). But it is comforting to think that even out of the heresies and separa tions good comes by the testing by these divisions of what is in man. 'When I have seen some unstable Christians swept off into some of the narrow and unscriptural little sects that are constantly arising, my heart has been overwhelmed with grief, and then this passage has come with great relief, “That they which are approved, may be made manifest.” Thursday, Nov. 22 . 1 Cor. 11 : 20 - 22 . At their assembling together in Corinth it was impossible “to eat the Lord’s supper.” There was such a division into cliques, and such greed to eat one’s own supper and fill one’s own belly, that a real eating of "the Lord’s supper” was out of the question. They might call it “the Lord’s supper” but it was really "his own supper.” The one whom the partaker worshipped was not the Lord but his own belly (Phil. 3:19). It was the custom in the early churches to have a “love feast” preliminary to the Lord’s supper. To this they each brought food, and from this food “wine and bread” were taken for “the Lord’s supper” that followed. In Corinth, instead of sharing one with another each was greedy to eat “his own supper,” and that before others . (vs. 21, 22, 33, 34). There seems to have been a real scramble at this gathering in Corinth, and the rich believers seem to have even gloried over the poor and their
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