Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

Today, we are going to be jumping right into the passage.

It’s a difficult one and one that has been stated to be one of the 5 most difficult passages in the New Testament simply because their is alot going on in this text.

Many have interpreted it in different ways and the application of this text to our time has been wide ranging.

I also will need to get right into the passage due to needing to leave quickly after the service in order to get down to Lafayette Indiana.

My wife and I are taking a week long training course to become certified as Biblical Counselors, part of the ACBC.

This is just one of the necessary steps towards doing so and the first class starts tonight around 6.

So lets jump right into our passage and start with pulling out some main thoughts before we dive deeper into the text.

Read 1 Corinthians 11:2-16

What we first see in this text is the word, “Now.”

We have spent much time in the topic of Christian liberty.

This word “Now” indicates to us a change in subject.

Perhaps this “now” is yet again a reference to questions the Corinthian church wrote to Paul on.

Paul had already addressed concerns they had about marriage, virgins, meat offered to idols, etc. so it is likely that Paul is getting to the next listed question.

Either way, Paul by the inspiration of the Spirit felt lead to write about it.

Before Paul goes too headlong into the topic at hand, notice that Paul commends the Corinthians.

Though they had alot of things wrong in their church, there were things that they were doing right.

I believe this is a mark of maturity in Paul.

An immature person will only take note and dwell on the negative things without ever applauding the just and righteous things.

Philippians 4:4-8 tells us to rejoice in the Lord always, be thankful, and to

(put verse on screen but keep reading notes)

think on whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, and anything worthy of praise.

A difficult task when much is going bad and it’s simply hard to find good in situations, but if Paul can see light in this wicked church and chose to praise them for it, then so can we in our situations and the people we deal with.

Paul commends the believers in Corinth for their remembrance of Paul in everything.

It would appear that they did have Paul name in mind often.

Though at times and going back to chapter one, they argued about who was the greatest teacher and the one that they should follow.

Nevertheless, Paul was one they kept in mind.

It is clear this is so because they quoted what I believe might have been Paul’s own words “all things are lawful for me” (again misunderstood and misapplied this phrase but used it often).

We can also see that they thought of Paul when questions needed to be answered.

So in this sense, we can see that their was desire to know truth.

Paul also commends them for maintaining the traditions.

The word traditions usually doesn’t come with commendation when referred to in other New Testament scriptures.

Places like the Gospel where manmade traditions got in the way of actually following God and His word.

But here, in the context, it would appear that these were Biblical traditions or divinely revealed teaching.

Paul shares that the Corinthian believer did hold firmly to his doctrinal teachings.

But as we will see in this text, their problem here wasn’t so much on the doctrinal beliefs but on the practice of their beliefs.

Not so much on their theology but life-style.

We’ve said before theology determines practice, but it is possible to have good theology and still have bad practice.

You can have knowledge and not show love but you cannot show godly love and godly living without godly theology.

With that being stated, what do we have here in this text.

Upon first glance and first read, you see a whole lot of talk on head coverings, hair length, and gender related stuff.

And you read this if you’re not too familiar with the text and wonder, wait why aren’t we practicing this in our church.

Why don’t we have the ladies in our church where bonnets or veils or the like in our services like the ladies in different denominations like the Mennonites or others.

Are we living wrong?

Well before, we get too far into discussing those issues (which are talked about in this text), we need to see what Paul’s main issue was here that he was addressing.

Look at 1 Corinthians 11:3

Paul’s main concern here wasn’t about head coverings or hair length.

His main concern was about how they were handling the Principle of submission and the God-given order to mankind especially in their marriages.

The rest of the text is written to support and strength the main topic.

It all falls under that category.

With that in mind let’s first look at...

I.

The Principle of Submission (v.3)

What is God’s order.

We need to understand that the word “head” here refers to the ruling and sovereign part of the body.

Some have interpreted head to mean “origin” but that cannot be since that would imply that God the Father originated the Son (created the Son).

No this principle of headship is command of designed order.

In stating this principle of headship, Paul gives three ways in which we see headship manifested.

I(A).

Christ is the head of every man

We know that Christ is the head of the church Eph.

1:22-23 and Col. 1:18

But He is also the head of all mankind, saved or unsaved.

Nothing that mankind can do can change that fact.

Though He might allow unsaved man to rebel against His authority for a time, in the end all will be brought under His divine rule and judgment.

I(B).

Man is the head of a woman

This one isn’t taken very well by some because the role of women has become a battleground in our society especially during the last several decades.

The struggle for women’s rights has escalated to a place of imbalance in society that threatens the future.

Passages like these are looked down upon and viewed as bigoted by feminists and the unsaved world but the thoughts of the world have invaded and corrupted the church.

Worldly Christians continually try to find ways to justify their worldliness and erase passages they don’t like or don’t understand.

They then will often misquote passages like Galatians 3:28

or 1 Peter 3:7

to disprove the idea that husbands have authority over their wives and wives should be submissive to husbands.

Doing so though, and believing this kind of feministic rubbish would be absolutely disregarding the clear teachings on this matter.

God established the principle of male authority and female subordination for the purpose of order and complementation, not on the basis of any innate superiority of males.

An employee may be more intelligent and more skilled than his boss, but a company cannot be run without submission to proper authority, even if some of those in authority are not as capable as they ought to be.

Elders and deacons are to be chosen from among the most spiritual men of the congregation, but there may be other men in the church who are even more spiritual.

Yet, for the very reason that they are spiritual, those who are not in positions of leadership will submit to those who are.

A church may have some women who are better Bible students, better theologians, and better speakers than any of the men, including the pastor.

But if those women are obedient to God’s order they will submit to male leadership and will not try to usurp it-simply because that is God’s design.

A wife may be better educated, better taught in Scripture, and more spiritually mature than her husband.

But because she is spiritual, she will willingly submit to him as head of the family.

That proper relationship is specifically described in Ephesians 5:22–33

I have personally seen the utter chaos in a family and home where this order was not in check.

Men not leading the home and/or ladies forcefully dictating and rebelling against the man.

Going back to the curse in the garden, we knew this would be an issue that we would have to deal with.

Genesis 3:16

Before then, this was not the case in God’s perfect garden.

Today, we deal with this issue because ever since the fall, mankind has been rebelling against God’s will and God’s order and we can see the judgment, the pain, the heartache, and the difficulty that results.

Now I am not saying that the man should be lording his authority over the woman.

In fact, the scripture is quite clear how a man should handle his authority.

If this is still an issue that is hard to grapple with.

Look then at how Paul describes Christ.

I(C).

God is the head of Christ

Jesus made nothing clearer than the fact that He submitted Himself to His Father’s will (John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38; cf. 1 Cor.

3:23; 15:24–28; etc.).

Christ has never been—before, during, or after His incarnation-in any way inferior in essence to the Father.

But in His incarnation He willingly subordinated Himself to the Father in His role as Savior and Redeemer.