Epistles of Paul 41

Well, good evening brethren. As mentioned in previous studies, Paul is addressing a number of issues in Corinth in which they were causing various divisions amongst brethren.

In chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians verse 13, it asks the question, is Christ divided?

And this is basically because these divisions should not be so because Christ is not divided.

But regrettably, this has been the history of God's Church throughout ages because we do have an enemy that tries and causes various problems amongst us. And sometimes we are not fully conscientious of that, and we fall prey of his tricks. In fact, it is interesting to reiterate that Christ lost prayer in front of the disciples after changing the symbols of the Passover. That's in John 17. In John 17 verses 20 through 23, he said, but I do not pray for these alone. In other words, those apostles were present here at the Passover ceremony. But also for those who will believe in me through their word, through the teaching of the apostles.

In other words, that we have here in our Bibles. So that they, which is us, may be one as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that I may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And the glory which you gave me I've given to them, that they may be one, just as we are one. So that we ought to be one with God and with Christ, just like the Father and Christ are one.

And this is important for us to understand what it's meant by being one. Because in verse 23 says, I in them and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one. And that is perfect in unity.

So this oneness represents a unity, which clearly is not Christ being divided, it means us being perfect in unity. And that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them as you have loved me. So you always see that love is indeed a bond of perfection, which basically leads to unity. And this is exactly what it's mentioned in Colossians chapter three. In Colossians chapter three, where it's talking about us putting off the old man and putting on the new man.

Colossians chapter three, starting in verse five, therefore put to death your members which are on the earth. That does the worldly members that we have the worldly attitudes and basically the worldly nature, which are on earth, fornication and cleanliness, passion, evil desire, coveredness, which is idolatry. Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience.

Verse seven is an interesting one, which says, in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them, implying that, obviously, that's what it should be, that we don't do that anymore. But now, now it really, verse eight, is even more pertinent. But now you yourselves ought to put off all these. So the other ones are mentioned in verse five, and we have put off in the past, once walked in that, but now that we are in the church, verse eight, we also have to put off these, that's anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.

Do not lie one to another. Interesting that most of these are related to the mouth, to what comes out of our mouth, and indeed, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. So it says, now, verse eight, put off these things that come out of the mouth. In other words, we are in the process, now that we have received God's early Spirit, we are in the process of sanctification, of changing our hearts and our minds.

It was of writing God's laws in our hearts and our minds through the power of God's Holy Spirit. And that's what we got to do since we receive God's Holy Spirit until the time of the end. So symbolically is since Pentecost to trumpets. We have to, during this period of receiving God's early Spirit and becoming therefore the first fruits of the Spirit, as it says in Romans 8.23, we now have to use God's early Spirit.

Now that we are these first fruits of the Spirit, we now have to use God's early Spirit to put on the new man to be changed. And therefore, at the end, at the time of the end, symbolized by trumpets, which represents symbolically Christ's coming and Christ coming obviously at the last trump, then we will then be changed.

We'll be changed from this nature to a new nature. But this is what in this period of our lives, which is symbolically between when we receive God's early Spirit and when Christ comes, you know, we're symbolically between Pentecost and trumpets, in this period of our lives that we got to be overcoming, we got to go through the sanctification of the Spirit.

We got to change. We got to put off that old man, as it says at the end of verse 9, and verse 10, put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him, which is who created him. So according to the image of Christ, which is the image of the Father, but Christ, who created us. So therefore now there's no Jew, no Greek, and therefore, verse 12, as the elect of God, now put on these attributes, which are characteristics of the fruit of God's early Spirit, which is mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, long suffering.

Those are some of the attributes of the fruit of God's early Spirit, bearing with one another and forgiving one another.

And if anyone is a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you must also do.

But look at verse 14. But above all these put on love, outgoing concern, which is the bond of perfection, which ties in to Christ's prayer that we read a moment ago in John 17, that the perfection of being one, and what is the bond of this perfection, is God's love that we got to learn, and apply, and live, and change, and be sanctified, and be modified, and transformed through the power of God's early Spirit, until at the redemption of our body, at the revealing of the Son of Man, which is symbolized by the Day of Trumpets. So God, that's a beautiful instruction, and therefore, as we go on now in 1 Corinthians, so now that we brought in the point how Christ wants us to be one through love, being the bond of perfection in unity, so as Christ wants us to be one, that obviously means Christ is not divided. We need to be one. And then in 1 Corinthians 10, from verse 2 to verse 4, it basically says we baptize into Moses, which in a sense means we follow, the Israelites followed Moses, but actually who was with them, who was accompanying them, in fact who they were following is that rock which was Christ, as we see at the end of verse 4.

Just like the Israelites followed Moses as Moses followed Christ, then Paul starts on chapter 11, says, imitate me as I also imitate Christ. So it's not only following Paul as he follows Christ, but it's imitate, which is more than follow, which is live the way, the way of God, the way of life, the way that Christ has taught us. And so then in verse 2 he says, no, no, I praise you, pray for it. In a sense, he's challenging them because there is so many divisions in Corinthians, and he's saying, no, I praise you that you remember me in all these things. So he's challenging them, hey, remember, imitate me in all these things and keep the traditions. In other words, the values, the examples, the Christian examples, the practice of imitating Christ, just as I delivered them to you. So he says, do things like I did. And now, in a sense, he's referring to some of the examples he gave earlier on in the Cepusil. For instance, in chapter 5 of Corinthians, he's talking about that man that had that immoral sin, and he said, deliver such a one to Satan.

And then that's in verse 5, in other words, so that he may repent. And then in verse 12, he says, we need to make decisions, judgmental decisions, in our local issues. We as leaders. So he's saying, hey, follow these traditions that are delivered to you. Another example in 1 Corinthians chapter 8, where he gave instructions concerning idols. And then in verse 12 of 1 Corinthians 8, he says, don't wound their weak consciences. In other words, don't offend them. Don't offend people that have weak conscience. Whatever you do, don't offend people. And then the same thing he brings up in 1 Corinthians chapter 10 verse 23, where he says, all things are lawful to me or for me. Obviously, things that are within the law, it's fine for me to do. But even within that, I've got to be careful, as he says, that under certain conditions or certain situations, certain things are not helpful. You know, certain things do not edify. So even though within God's law, we can do certain things or say certain things, we've got to be careful that we don't offend other people. And so in verse 2, he's saying, listen, I praise you that you're going to follow my instructions. So in a sense, he's challenging them. And then he starts addressing two important issues in this chapter, in chapter 11. Two important issues in this chapter. In verse 3, we read, but I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of a woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. So he's now at this moment describing an order of authority, or a chain of authority, since creation, since the very beginning, because we know that Christ is always subject to the Father. He has been subject to the Father, and you will always be subject to the Father, to the one, obviously, the one being that is now known as the Father. They're both the Father and Christ, they're both uncreated, they're both co-eternal, and one being who was the word and is now Christ, has always submitted to the other, which is the highest, the God, the Father Himself. So Christ, in this creative order from eternity, does not resent being under the authority of the Father. He has no ill feelings about it, in fact loves it, loves it. And YAH is the model in our human role, in our human society, and particularly focusing in the case of a godly marriage, in which there is this godly chain of authority. But again, God is loving towards Christ, and Christ is loving towards the Father. There is this mutual love and respect for one another. And therefore, when we come across specific situations, or specific questions, or specific issues that happen, we need to look at the situation in an individual basis and always go back to the original intent. This is important. We're always going to go back to the original intent. Now, if for instance, you look at Matthew 19 verse 8, Matthew 19 verse 8, let's just look at that, Matthew 19 verse 8, he's talking about the situation of marriage, and then they said, because they were carnal people, they were carnal people, he said, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, because of the carnality, he permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. So we got to look at the original intent from the beginning, and then he says, but the EI is one specific exception that is mentioned at this moment. There are other exceptions, as we know, except for sexual immorality and marriage and addict, it's adultery. That is one exception of divorce, you see, because the individual is breaking the marriage contract. So the basic principle that we are emphasizing at this moment is that we have to go back to the original intent.

The original intent is one man, one woman, and whatever situations or exceptions we come across, we've got to analyze them carefully, case by case, making godly judgments, taking in consideration the situation, and that is the basic principle that he's emphasizing here in verse 3. And then, in verse 4, he gives one specific application of that principle, one specific application of that principle, which he then discusses it from verse 4 through verse 15 or 16. And in this specific application, let's read, every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his head. So he has one specific application. So does it mean that it's wrong for a man to wear a hat or a cap? No, clearly not, because he is talking about the head being covered. In fact, he's talking about air length. He's talking about air length, as we will highlight that very clearly in verse 14 and 15, because it's signed there, talking about a man having long hair. And verse 15, if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given to her for a covering. So it's talking about a covering, it's talking about hair length. And so, but the principle is under this teaching of a chain of authority, a creative order from the beginning, representing, symbolizing a chain of authority. And therefore, we see in verse 4 that if a man appears like a woman, you know, because having his head covered, in other words, he's got long hair that, for instance, from the back, you can't discern, is this a man or a woman? As an example, this is dishonoring God, because it does not make clear that creative order that God has had from the beginning of that chain of authority.

Now, certainly, particularly, and there is specifically talking about YAH, every man praying or prophesying. So it's talking about specifically, or in a more specific case, that when one prays, or in his Christian life, by having long hair, by having that example in his Christian life with long hair, in other words, having his head covered by this long hair, that is not God's original intent to make the man, therefore, discernible or from a woman. So when a man has long hair, it becomes undiscernible. You don't know whether he's a man or a woman. And therefore, it says, the son of his head. Who is the head of the man? It's Christ. It's Christ. And basically, what we're talking about, if this is resisted, it quickly can become a spiritual matter, because the principle is about becoming under authority or the sovereignty of God. Sure, it is a subtle point or principle, but that is the eyes, the son of man's head, and the head of every man is Christ, as we read in verse three. Now we continue in verse five, but every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered, in other words, with extremely short hair, right, that she looks like a man, right, with her head uncovered. The son is her head. In this case, the head of the woman is the husband, as we say, the head of the woman is man, the husband. So it's again this creative order of authority. And so we see, this is a general principle. Yes, it is a general principle.

Aren't there exceptions? Yes, there are. For instance, medical conditions.

There might be a medical condition that there is an exception, but it's talking about a principle, a spirit of being under authority. It's not talking about exceptions where there is a medical problem, and therefore we need to use our minds that God has given us because the norm, when we look at from the beginning, what God intends, that men should have short hair and women should have long hair. Men should not have their head covered with long hair because they should have short hair, and women should have their head covered with long hair. Now, obviously, I understand that this in today's world, it's probably not politically correct, but we are just referring to what the Bible says, God's instruction here.

So once again, please understand there are differences, and there are exceptions. Even in the Bible, there is an exception of the Nazarite vow. There is an exception, but the norm is a femininity for the woman versus the masculinity of the man, and the hair length has a lot to do with that. That's just the way God made it. And so continuing here in verse five, it says that if she prays or prophesies with her head uncovered, that means with short hair, she's dishonoring her authority. For that is one and the same as if her head was shaved. So it is just as good, if it's too short, it's just as good as if she had shaved her hair. And therefore in verse six, so if a woman is not covered with appropriate hair for feminine for a woman, might as well just be shorn. But if it is shamed for a woman to be shorn or shaved, which is, therefore, let her be covered, let her be feminine with the feminine longer hair, as it is explained here in a sense by nature, in a sense by nature. And then in verse seven and eight, we read, For a man, indeed, ought not to cover, ought not to have long hair, since he is the image and glory of God, but a woman is the glory of man. For a man is not from woman, but woman from man. And this is what the Bible says. People normally don't like that. But let's move on to verse nine, Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. Now, it is important to understand that spiritually, man and woman are on an equal basis. So the point is, yeah, we're talking about to the genesis, to the beginning, well, how man created woman. God took her from the man, made her a helper suitable for the man. And therefore, it shows that symbol of delegated authority. And so that's where we read in verse 10. For this reason, the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, a symbol of authority. As children of God, we should respect and demonstrate that authority. That is important that we as God's children, in other words, those of us that are baptized, those of us that represent the first fruits of the Spirit, that we are showing that example. And it says, yeah, to the angels. So it is a difficult scripture to understand.

And the way I understand it, and I might be incorrect, is that it is an example to the angels, how God wants that chain of authority in his family. So, and remember, even angels, therefore, are made to serve mankind. Once, particularly once we become Spirit beings, they will be inferior to us, and they look up to us. And so, setting up that correct example of that respect or that symbol of authority is appropriate for angels. And even if not today, clearly, when we are Spirit beings, it shows that we had and have that respect and that respect for authority.

Continuing, verse 11 and 12. Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman, nor woman independent of man in the Lord. That's very important, because now look at it in verse 12. For as woman came from man, in other words, Eve came from Adam, even so man comes through woman. Man are born out of a woman's womb. So, one is connected with the other. One is interrelated. There is not one that is inferior to the other. There's not a question of superiority or inferiority.

But all things are from God. In other words, this is how God set it to be, but we all will have the same opportunity in the kingdom of God. We'll all have the same opportunity. You remember the example in Matthew 22, verse 23 through 30. And now we see the sadducees that had this question about the resurrection. And then he gave the example of this man that died, and then the woman was given the second brother, the second son, and then he died, and the third, and so on. The story about these seven brothers. And then he says, then they say in verse 28 of Matthew 22, therefore in the resurrection, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had her. So, they're trying to kind of catch Christ off his feet, type of thing. And Christ says to them, you are mistaken. You don't know the scriptures. You don't understand what you're talking about.

And you don't know the power of God. For in the resurrection, in other words, in the first resurrection, when we are spirit beings, they are not married, nor are given in marriage, but are like angels of God in heaven. In other words, angels don't have sex. There's no male or female angel. When we are in the resurrection as spirit beings, there's no male or female. So, there will be no difference. Once we become spirit beings, there will be no sexual difference. So, that is the importance that, spiritually speaking, women are not inferior to men, nor are men superior to women. We all have an equal opportunity in the kingdom of God. Look at Galatians chapter 3 verse 28. Galatians chapter 3 verse 28. Galatians chapter 3 verse 28. For you, pardon me, verse 28, for there is another Jew, no Greek, there's another slave, no free, there is neither male nor female.

For you all are one in Christ Jesus. We all are to be united, but we're all one in that spiritual body of Christ. And we'll be given some responsibility. So, maybe one will be an elbow, another will be a shoulder, another one will be a knee. We will be given certain responsibilities, which will be eternal. Sure, they'll grow and will get bigger over time, and maybe they'll encapsulate additional functions, but we all will be given a specific area of accountability as spirit beings that God wants us to fulfill. So, that is very important. So, there's no difference between man and woman in when we become spirit beings. In other words, we're not flesh and blood anymore. So, let's continue, therefore, with Corinthians. And so, we were in chapter 11, and we just finished reading verse 12. And now we move on to verse 13 through 15. Judge amongst yourselves, is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered, in other words, with short hair? Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, you can see that this principle of having covering and not covering, is talking about hair length. If a man has long hair, doesn't even nature, therefore, teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor for him. But if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her. For her hair, her hair is given to her as a covering. It's very clear. The hair, the length of the hair, is the covering that he's talking about. And then in verse 16, he concludes that subsection of this principle of respect to God's chain of authority. And he says, if anyone seems to be contentious, if this becomes contentious, now if this becomes a spiritual issue, we have no such customs nor do the churches of God. This is it. This is it. And so Paul is in authority.

He shows what, by he being an apostle and being called by God, as we discussed in previous Bible studies, he's showing us some Godly decisions. And so he's saying, basically, we need to go back to basics, go back to the original intent. And obviously, there are life situations where there's no specific biblical instruction. We have to then consider all the scriptures on the subject that could be applied to that specific issue. And then the way of the scriptures, the balance, where there are gray areas, then a decision is made for the unity of the body. For the unity of the body. And then we move on to verse 17 through verse 34. And this is probably the most serious issue in the soul epistle, because they were defiling the Passover. They were defiling the Passover. And let's read that. Now, in giving you these instructions, I do not praise you. I don't praise you, since you come together not for the better, but for the worse.

In other words, you are worse off by taking the Passover this way than if we had not taken the Passover. Because this is wrong. For first of all, when you come together as a congregation, as a group of people in the church, I hear there are divisions among you. And we know by those of the house of Chloe and others, and in part I believe it. I believe it. And that's why I asked, is Christ divided? And then verse 19, he says, for there must be factions among you. Do you get that? Wow! There must be factions among you. That is an amazing statement. Why?

That those that are approved, those that are genuine, may be recognized among you. Wow! That is very significant. That is very significant. And then he goes on. In verse 20, therefore when you come together in one place, obviously Yizia is talking about the Passover, the Passover ceremony, is not to eat the Lord's supper, is not to eat the Lord's supper.

How many churches today, Christians churches, they say and they ask and say, well, do you partake of the Lord's supper? Oh, Yizia tells us, we are not to eat the Lord's supper. That's what he says.

We are to partake of the new covenant Passover, or as sometimes we call it, New Testament Passover. For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others, and one is angry, and another is drunk. You see, so when we come together for the Passover to partake of the new covenant symbols, which represented by the food washing, the bread and wine, we are not there to have a meal.

Because currently you go in there and you go there and have a big meal, and some take supper ahead, and one is angry, and another is drunk. Drunk! A deposit! Can you imagine what was happening in Corinth? Drunk during the Passover ceremony. Verse 22, what? Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the Church of God and shame those who have nothing? For this is nothing to eat. Shall I praise you in this? I don't praise you. Man is strong. He is very strong.

Now, continuing in verse 23. And then he says, For I received from the Lord that which I delivered to you. You see, what I taught you, the tradition I taught you, the principles of keeping the Passover that I taught you, is that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took the bread.

On the night that He was betrayed took the bread. In other words, that is clearly the new covenant, the New Testament Passover is to be kept at the beginning, in other words, after sunset, at the beginning of the 14th. You can go through Exodus 12, verse 6 through 12, where it explains that they are to take the Passover at twilight, that's the beginning of the 14th, and then they are to kill the lamb, and then they are to roast it, and then they are to wait for the Passover, that the death angel, let's call it that, or the executioner, in other words, in fact, is the Lord's Passover for the Lord to Passover, but He delegated that to the executioner from what we read. And what do we have in these three events? These three events, in the Old Testament example of Exodus 12, is taking the lamb and killing it, is roasting it and eating it, and waiting for the Lord's Passover at midnight. So the eating and the killing of the lamb are to be at the beginning of the Passover, and this is supported very clearly by what we read here, that on the same night in which it was betrayed, it took the Passover bread.

So when it was betrayed, there was before He suffered and died during that night, and then He was crucified the next day, all on the 14th. So clearly, He ate, or rather, He gave us the instructions for the New Covenant Passover symbols, the bread and wine, and of course the foot washing, on the night that it was betrayed, which was before His death.

Now, if you have additional detailed questions about the understanding of this, we have the Church of God as a very detailed New Testament Passover doctrinal study paper, which is on the Church's website under Resources and Study Papers, called the New Testament Passover.

That study paper covers in great detail, in extensive detail, this principle.

So let's move on. The other point that is important is we no longer eat, or partake, of the Old Covenant Passover, because we know that Christ, yes, He did take it, but then, after supper being finished, He introduced the New Covenant symbols, the foot washing, the bread and the wine. And that is what Paul is instructing us here in 1 Corinthians 11, where he says, we are not to eat the Lord's Passover in verse 20, and in verse 23 he says, like what he did on the night, that he was betrayed, verse 24, and when he had given thanks, he took the bread and said, take it, this is my body. That's this physical body which was broken, which was chastised for you, this too in remembrance of me. So this represents Christ's suffering.

Now, for us to be saved, Christ said to give His blood, and the giving of the blood is what redeems us. So technically speaking, if that was all, then all He would have needed is just to die in a very painless way. But no, He had to suffer an excruciating pain.

He had to go through suffering. And this is an evidence of how horrible sin is, because a lot of suffering, a lot of pain is caused by sin. And the Father and Christ, they decided to do it that way. They knew it in advance. They decided to do it that way, and that shows their love for us, so that we may be healed, not just physically, but emotionally and mentally when we go through a lot of suffering in this life because of sin.

Then verse 25, in the same manner, He also took the cup of the supper. So in the same manner, He took the cup. In the same manner, He was also off the supper. So the bread was off the supper, and the cup was off the supper. And He said, saying, This cup is the new covenant of my blood. This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. So this blood, representing the new covenant, the new agreement, the new pact between you and obviously I and us, individually and God, the new agreement, the new contract that we make at baptism, which is reenacted or quote-unquote, like, resigned every year or reminded every year at the Passover ceremony, that we've made this contract with God, that we will change ourselves, that we will, with the help of God's Holy Spirit, work on overcoming and changing from the old man to the new man, that we will do our part and God will do the rest. And we do this in remembrance of what Christ did. And verse 26, For as often as you eat the spread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death.

So how often do we do it? Annually at the Passover ceremony. That's our offer. So how often we do it, we do it till he comes and he hasn't come yet, till the second coming of Christ. Verse 27, Therefore whoever eats the spread and drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, in an unworthy manner, will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

You see, they were eating this bread and taking off this in an unworthy manner. The way they were eating it and we saw that we're they were even getting drunk, right, will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. In other words, not having their sins forgiven. Therefore, but let a man examine himself. We need to look at God's Word and analyze, examine ourselves. And you and I know we do it every year before Passover. And in fact, it's good for us to do it regularly. And in fact, before festivals is good to do that, before trumpets is good to do that as well, before atonement as well. And so, it says, for you eat in verse 28, but let a man examine himself and so let him eat the bread and drink the wine. Now, it does not say, examine yourself and therefore because you say, oh well, I'm not worthy, therefore I am not going to partake of the apostle. It doesn't say that.

It doesn't say, don't eat. It says, eat, take the symbols of the bread and drink the cup.

And therefore, then he says, and again, there is a way of doing it, of examining ourselves, of doing it in a sober way, but also in a joyful way because of what Christ has done for us.

But it's not a silly joy. We do it in quiet and respectful, meditating the meaning of this sacrifice and death for us, examining therefore ourselves. And then we now read in verse 29, for he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner.

Now, what is an unworthy manner? Some people think, oh well, I'm not worthy. No, it's not talking about whether you or I are worthy. It's talking about the manner that we take it. It's important to understand because it says we have to eat it. This is you must eat because if we don't come and eat or take the part of the passeover because you say, well, I'm a sinner, then let me ask you, which one of us is an orison? Then nobody will take the passeover.

You see, because we all go through the Christian struggle with our human nature, as we read in Romans 7, right towards the end of Romans 7, we all go through the struggle with our human nature. And also, as you read in John 6, verse 53, Jesus said to them, Most surely I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, in other words, you partake of the passeover bread and drink his blood, in other words, partake of this cup of wine, of red wine. You have no life in you.

And so the baptized person must partake of the passeover.

Now, if a person is very ill, if a person is in some condition that he can't partake it, we read in Numbers 9, verse 9 through 11, of the second passeover. A person wasn't clean, or whatever was the reason, and then there's a second passeover 30 days later.

And the manner in which we partake of the passeover is not in an unworthy manner. The way, the approach is not casual, is not cavalier, is not unprepared, is not without due respect, but it is a repentant, humble spirit and attitude.

And then he says, we're reading still in verse 29, because if we do that, we drink judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body. Now, there is a dual meaning in this point of not discerning the Lord's body. One is physical, because we are not really comprehending the depth of the suffering and the sacrifice of giving his life for us, that Christ is done physically speaking. And therefore, we need to do that in a proper respectful manner. Again, it's not that you and I are worthy, but it's the manner in which we ought to do it. And secondly, so that is the first, the sermon in the Lord's body on a physical level, let's call it that.

The second dimension is discerning the Lord's body in a spiritual dimension, and the body of Christ is the Church of God.

And in a worthy manner, when we examine ourselves, we're gonna meditate how we treat one another in the Church of God. Are we critical? How do we talk to people when maybe some people not understanding the whole truth, do things or act in ways that you feel it's not proper? How kindly and lovingly and careingly do you talk to them about that? You gotta be careful. We gotta discern the Lord's body, the spiritual organism, which is the overall physical body of us physical human beings, which we are the Church of God. That spiritual organism which we need to be united, and again, there should be no division. Verse 30. Now this is a stunning statement. For this reason many are weak and seek among you, and many are asleep. Or asleep. Let me ask you, does this apply to us?

For this reason, many are sick. And weak. And many have died.

Could it be that some healings, I'm just asking a question, I'm not saying it is, but could it be that some healings are a function of how we keep the possible? What are we, the sermon, the Lord's body? And then it continues in verse 31.

But if we judge or discern ourselves, we would not be judged. If we are self-examining ourselves, and therefore we realize we've got to repent, and we change, then God does not have to put extra pressure on us.

But when we're judged, we are chastened by the Lord.

And Paul, in a sense, is now chastening the Corinthian brethren.

He's correcting them. So why? So for what purpose? So that they will not be condemned with the world.

So that, in other words, they may have eternal life. In other words, they're not condemned, and therefore they will not have eternal death.

Ultimately, of course. Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, in other words, the partake of the Passover, the Passover symbols, when you come together to partake of the Passover symbols, in other words, to eat the bread and to drink the wine, right? When you come to partake, to eat the symbols, wait for one another. And that's what we do when we take the Passover.

We wait for that tray or that cup to come to us. We're not all kind of jumping out, oh, let me take a grab of bread, like it appears that we're doing it in Corinth.

So wait respectfully. We do, we take the Passover carefully in a worthy manner. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat along. You know, have a meal first around before you come, and lest you come together for judgment, you know, because you're doing things in this unworthy manner that he's reflected. And the rest I'll set in order when I come.

Wonder what else rest they was. Well, brethren, that's the end of today's study. Next week, we'll move on to spiritual gifts, in other words, chapter 12.