RECONCILIATION AND FAILURE OF THE LAW 97

The apostle settles the question here. A threefold headship is revealed in the Word; let that, and not local custom

decide for us.

The head of every man is Christ.

The order of creation.

The head of every woman is the man. Exhibited in the church.

The head of Christ is God.

Of the reconciliation.

Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head, namely, Christ. In like

manner, every woman who prays or prophesies with uncovered head, dishonoureth her head, which is man. 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. Man originally was not of the woman, nor for the woman. The order enjoined upon the assembly is the order

implied by creation as given in the book Genesis. This application of the relation of the race with Adam and Christ

comes out again in chapter 15, where the subject is vitally connected with reconciliation. A difficult passage meets

us in 11:10:

`For this cause ought the woman to have power (authority) on her head because of the angels'.

Without occupying space to set forth all the various interpretations that have been put forward, we would give

what we believe to be the true meaning, and pass on. Genesis 6, when read together with Jude 6,7, indicates that the

sons of God are the angels that sinned, and their connection with the daughters of men reveals some of the awful

possibilities of unguarded womanhood. It was for the protection of woman that the apostle refers to this subject,

indicating that while woman remains within the bounds of the law of creation she is safe, but that the tendency to

throw over the divinely appointed bounds must lead to danger and confusion. When one reads the state of things at

the time of the end, and observes the modern trend of thought and teaching in connection with the relationship of the

sexes, one cannot but behold with horror and alarm the undue prominence, and the lack of that womanly virtue of

modesty, which is everywhere abroad.

The apostle now turns to the state of affairs that had developed around the gathering of the church for the Lord's

supper. There is every reason to believe that the early church met in the houses of those who were the bishops, and

possibly the deacons. The salutation to the church in the house suggests this, as also the homely and domestic

qualifications of the elders. At times, however, the church `came together into one place' with the evident intention

of partaking of the Lord's supper. This is suggested by the words of 11:17-22. The apostle could praise them in

11:2, but here (verse 17) he has to say, `I praise you not':

`For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly

believe it' (11:18).

A blessed overruling of the divisions that were among them is indicated in verse 19:

`For there must be also heresies (divisions) among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest'.

There is no justification for the divisions among believers, but they are overruled to make manifest those who are

well pleasing unto the Lord. The apostle repeats his instructions concerning the Lord's supper which he had

previously given to the church, and which are almost entirely parallel with those given in Luke. The observance of

the Lord's supper was to be continued `Till He come'. This would at first sight go to prove that the observance of the

ordinance was binding upon the church of the mystery. We have already considered this point in Dispensational

Truth, and therefore will not repeat ourselves here. The exceedingly serious nature of the Corinthian offences is

indicated in the closing verses (27-34) of the chapter, and are a reference back to the example in the wilderness,

where those who tempted Christ were destroyed of serpents.

Chapters 12 to 14 now take up the great question of the spiritual gifts with which the church was endued. The

first great division of the subject is indicated by a comparison between verses 3 and 4 of chapter 12. Some spiritual

gifts are Satanic, some are Divine, in their origin. Those which are Divine are one in essence, though varied in their

manifestation. Their unity is seen from the fact that all the gifts of the Spirit of God tend to the magnifying of

Christ, while all the enduements of Satan lead to the denial and rejection of Christ. Once again the subject of

idolatry plays a part: