The Apostle Paul, in writing 1 Corinthians 11-14 is addressing one meeting of the Christian Assembly from the beginning at 11:1 to the end of chapter 14. My mistake last week was in not starting at the beginning of chapter 11. Paul’s talk about “head covering” at the beginning of chapter 11 is directly connected to the rest of these 4 chapters. I believe I need to address this briefly before continuing.
3 But 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.
4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.
5 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.
6 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.
7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.
As is usual in the bible, if you don’t understand something keep on reading! Paul qualifies these statements in the following verses, and these are related to the Gifts of the Spirit Service of Chapter 14.
13 Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?
14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?
15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.
In verse 14 Paul is qualifying what he had said in verse 4; a man with long hair is covering his head like a woman, and it is a shame to him!
In verse 15 he continues with the same thought, that women are given long hair as a covering! So what is he saying when he says in verse 6 “if a woman be not covered, let her also be shorn”? He is being totally consistent, and is essentially saying that if a woman has a man’s haircut she might as well shave her head! So, in this case a cloth hair covering might be appropriate, but apart from this he is not talking about cloth hair coverings or hats anywhere!
In fact the original Greek does not use the word for “hat” or “cloth” or “cap” or any variation of these in the passage! The only noun used for any type of head covering is the Greek “komao”, in verse 15, which means “to let the hair grow, have long hair”. This is the same word used in the previous verse for a man’s long hair, which is a shame to him!
Now what about verse 5 when he says “But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth…”? You can pray silently for sure, but prophesying is always vocal! You always prophesy with your mouth. You can’t prophesy in your head! So why would Paul talk about women prophesying in the context of the assembly, if women are to keep silent in the assembly? No, and the prayer he is speaking about here is public, vocal prayer, not silent prayer!
The truth is that many Christians have missed something here! We need to look at verse 19 again:
19 For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.
As I said last week “Notice that his statement in verse 19 is rather peculiar: his use of the word “must” might be confusing to some. The word is translated from the Greek “dei”: “it is necessary, there is a need of, it behooves, is right and proper”. The word translated as “manifest” is “phaneros”: “1. apparent, manifest, evident, known 2. manifest, i.e. To be plainly recognized or known.”
So, when Christian Assemblies properly practice the meeting as found in 1 Corinthians 11-14 it is expected that people participating in this service will sometimes speak heresies! One of the purposes of this meeting is to discover what heresies are believed by those attending! Are those listening expected to believe the heresies which are exposed? Absolutely not! So are the participants exercising authority over the assembly?
Absolutely not! This meeting is a discussion between equals, and is not a preaching meeting! Participants are expected to speak as the Spirit moves them, and sometimes new believers will mistake their own thoughts for the Holy Spirit! This is acceptable, and expected! It gives the more mature believers the opportunity to help newer believers overcome problems in their understanding!
The participants are given the right to express heresies so that those who know the truth have an opportunity to correct those heresies in the same meeting! The goal is NOT to run-off those expressing heresies but that more mature brethren might correct them, IN LOVE, so that they leave the meeting more mature than when they arrived! The goal is to help them become vibrant members of the Christian family being able to correctly witness for Christ in the community! This goal applies equally to men and to women!
We learn when we make mistakes, and we also learn when others make mistakes, but we won’t learn if people aren’t given the opportunity to make mistakes, and we won’t learn if errors are not corrected, in love!
So in 14:34-35 Paul is not commanding women to keep silent in this meeting, but only in preaching services! As Paul goes on to say;
34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law.
35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
When he says “it is not permitted unto them to speak” he means it is not permitted for women to preach to the Church! It does not prohibit them from prophesying in the open service! Think about it; in our Church when discussing who is preaching this week we say “who is speaking…?” So the word “speak” is a synonym for “preaching” and that is how Paul uses the word here.
Paul told Timothy “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.
But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” II Timothy 2:11-12
So in a meeting that is essentially an open discussion, women are permitted to speak, pray, and even prophesy! They are not, however, permitted to usurp authority over the men, or to preach!
I think this is the best way to understand the apparent contradictions in Paul’s letter!
Many appear to think that he is changing subjects randomly in chapters 12 and 13, but these subjects are connected to his main subject and his switching from subject to subject is according to a Divine plan! He actually starts with the service where the assembly was given the opportunity to exercise their spiritual gifts, in 11:17-19, then proceeds to the Lord’s Supper, then in chapter 12 discusses spiritual gifts, in 13 he discusses how those exercising these gifts need Love, or Charity, from the Assembly, and then in chapter 14 he discusses how these gifts should be practiced in the assembly meeting. This is the same meeting where the Lord’s Supper is to be remembered. It is not a different meeting!
If you have not read the first part of this series I would recommend that you go back and read it first before continuing here…
Paul, having said that “whether there be prophecies, they shall fail…” in 1 Corinthians 13:8 and follows it up in chapter 14 with “Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy.” in 14:1. One would think that if prophecies are expected to fail then why bother, but if they are to continue until He returns then they are still relevant today!
It is apparent that this meeting is intended to be a teaching tool for prophets, evangelists, teachers and preachers, and if used properly should result in increased faith among the congregation and also in those who participate! This is God’s University of the Church of Jesus Christ! He never intended that the Church would allow independent educational institutions to teach our preachers, but that this is a job for every Christian Church! Seminaries, Bible Schools, and Colleges today are breeding grounds for all kinds of heresies, which the Church was intended to resist!
14:5 “I would that ye all spake with tongues, but rather that ye prophesied: for greater is he that prophesieth than he that speaketh with tongues, except he interpret, that the church may receive edifying.”
23 If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?
24 But if all prophesy, and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all:
25 And thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth.
26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
Notice the phrases “ the whole church be come together into one place” (v23) and “when ye come together” (v26) and now go back and compare them to 11:17,18, and 20, and you will see that Paul is using the same language in both passages! This is the same meeting! The Lord’s Supper and the practising of the gifts of the Spirit are to be done in the same meeting! Indeed it appears from 11:17-19 that the Corinthian church was doing this, but they weren’t following up the way it was intended! The result was that heresies went unchecked in the Church!
14:26 How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
Notice that none of these things are wrong, but all are encouraged; the only criteria is that they are to be done with the purpose of edifying the Church. The word “edifying” is related to “edifice” and means to “build-up”. What we say in this service should be to the intent that we build-up the faith of the body! This is not for building up our own self-esteem, or pride! It is to build up each other in our faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ!
29 Let the prophets speak two or three, and let the other judge.
Notice that Paul takes it for granted that there are prophets in the New Testament Church; there are and always have been, but some churches discourage the development of God-given gifts of the Spirit! This is a shame and it ought not to happen, but it does and it will get worse as we approach the Tribulation period!
There is so much more that could be said about this study, but this has been necessarily brief. Everything that Paul says in these 3 1/2 chapters is important and applies to this one Christian Service. I would encourage you to read them yourself and take some time to meditate on them. Go back and see if I was wrong: I may have missed a couple of points, but what I’ve said is biblically correct.
Think about Paul’s final statement:
37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
This is a general statement that could apply to any of Paul’s letters. So why did the Holy Spirit see fit to place it in 1 Corinthians 14? This is the one command, or set of commands, that most Christian Churches have a huge problem obeying! They all want to maintain control of the meeting and most of them see these commands as taking control away from them! In doing so they make it about them and not about the one who died for them!
The commands Paul has included from chapter 11 through 14 are indeed commands of the Lord Jesus Christ! Jesus said “as oft as ye do this do it in remembrance of me” but Paul has expanded this command to include the service of the gifts of the Spirit.
These are commands. These are not suggestions! These are not optional! Well, there are options included in these commands! The option is found in 14:31 “For ye may all prophesy…”! Everyone in attendance may prophesy if they so choose, but they don’t have to if they don’t want!
As king Saul found, partial obedience is disobedience! Churches that remember the Lord’s Supper, but forget the commands of 1 Corinthians 12-14 are as disobedient as king Saul, and should not expect the blessings of the Lord!
Will Christians lose their Salvation if they break these commands? No! If you are truly saved you cannot lose your Salvation, but you can lose rewards! You can lose status in God’s kingdom if you break His commands, and once you enter Heaven you will find there is no chance to earn back what was lost! You can even lose cities!
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:19-20
Churches who neglect the smallest of Jesus’ commands risk being the person in these verses! Don’t be that person. Don’t forget that breaking the commandments of Jesus is still a sin!
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