Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20070610.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
1 Corinthians: Discipling Believers With Very Sinful Backgrounds
VII. Overcoming Sinful Dishonor And Disorder
A. Aligning With God's Chain-Of-Command For Edifying Order
(1 Corinthians 11:1-16)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

In today's world, even our most basic human institutions are becoming increasingly disordered, producing unrest in many lives:

(1) Anne Roche Muggeridge's article, "A Parade of Broken Homes" in the January 21, 1997 issue of The Wall Street Journal referred to the emotional and mental trauma divorce has had on many children. Citing Barbara Dafoe Whitehead's book, The Divorce Culture: How Divorce Became An Entitlement and How It Is Blighting the Lives of Our Children, Muggeridge illustrated her point, noting how a nine-year-old junior-hockey star in Ontario whose parents were divorced had found himself in a legal battle between his father and his stepfather. Both men ardently followed the boy's hockey games, but every Saturday they stood in different corners of the rink to cheer him. At one point, to avoid being in contempt of court, the boy had his hockey jersey stuffed into his pants to conceal his stepfather's name that was printed on its back. His real father then filed a lawsuit to force the boy to identify himself on the ice with his original last name. "Poor little kid" summarized Anne Muggeridge, "He has become a weapon in the hands of two angry men." So, as the father and stepfather each focused on their own interests instead of that of the boy, the child was being emotionally wrenched between his father's and his mothers' sides of his former family on the stage of the civil court system. One can only image the long-term emotional upheaval the boy will know over all of this!

(2) The November 15, 1996 The Hartford Courant ran a story, "Survey on state's teens shows disturbing trends" by Valerie Finholm where she reported that, opposite the usual view, in Connecticut, "Teens in the state's poorest cities . . . were found to be less likely to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol and use marijuana regularly than those living in more affluent suburban towns."

Finholm claimed a lack of adequate institutional structure led to this as many teens lacked "at least one caring adult", a "strong sense of connection to schools" and "a sense of spirituality"!



So, we ask, "WHY does such unedifying disorder exist, and WHAT would GOD would have us do to sponsor edifying STABILITY in RELATIONSHIPS and in our needy WORLD?"

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "As many experience a lack of edifying order in their most basic of human institutions, WHY is this so, WHAT can be done?!"
  1. Disorder exists in our institutions due significantly to Calvinism:
    1. Calvinism has led its typical disciple to see himself as "chosen in the counsels of eternity . . . [so that] he possessed something which dissipated the feeling of personal homage for men . . . The Reformed Faith has . . . [taught] the individual his rights," Loraine Boettner, The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination, 1972, p. 394f (brackets ours).
    2. Historian E. M. Burns confirmed this, writing: " . . . the Calvinist's belief that as the chosen instrument of God he must play a part in the drama of the universe worthy of his exalted status" led to his view that " . . . with the Lord on his side he was not easily frightened by whatever lions lurked in his path." (West. Civ., 6th ed., 1963, p. 461)
    3. Consequently, early New England Puritan Calvinists bred voluntarism that held "the individual will -- the sovereignty of the believer -- is supreme, unguided by institutional authority. And out of voluntarism came expressive divorce' . . . of the Me Generation," Ibid., Muggeridge in alluding to Barbara Dafoe Whitehead's book, Op. cit.
    4. Thus, Calvinism fostered a virulent kind of individualism that has lessened personal commitment to the human institutions of marriage, family, church, business and government for the sake of individual interests, and that has led to culture wide instability and insecurity.
  2. Opposite this error, God has a "chain-of-command" we must heed for edifying stability in our human institutions, 1 Cor. 11:1-3 et al.:
    1. 1 Corinthians 11:1-3 has God's "chain-of-command" for human institutions to be followed by all individuals for edifying order:
      1. Paul claimed Christ was his Head, and implied he as an apostle was head over other believers who were to follow him, 1 Cor. 11:1.
      2. He added that Christ is the spiritual Head of every man, 11:3a.
      3. Also, Paul noted that the man was over the woman, 1 Cor. 11:3b.
      4. Finally, Paul declared God the Father is over Christ, 1 Cor. 11:3c.
    2. Other Scriptures fill out the "chain-of-command" order for believers:
      1. Local church leaders are to be obeyed in the Church, Heb. 13:17.
      2. Christian children are to be subject to their parents, Ephesians 6:1.
    3. We have the following "chain-of-command" summary for believers:
      1. God the Father is organizationally over all entities, 1 Cor. 11:3c.
      2. Under the Father is Christ our Savior, 1 Cor. 11:3c: this subjection does not mean Christ is any less God than is God the Father (John 10:30), but that Christ organizationally submitted to the Father to qualify to be our Mediator and Savior (Gal. 4:4-6; Phil. 2:5-8).
      3. Under Christ are the apostles, 1 Cor. 11:1 with 1 Cor. 12:28.
      4. Under the apostles are local church leaders, Hebrews 13:17.
      5. Under the church leaders are the other men, 1 Corinthians 11:3a.
      6. Under the man is the woman, 1 Corinthians 11:3b.
      7. Under the man and the woman is the child, Ephesians 6:1.
  3. Alignment to this "chain-of-command" gives believers ORDERLY STABILITY, PARTICULARLY in Church worship, 1 Cor. 11:4-16:
    1. Paul's reference to the customs of the other "churches of God" in 1 Cor. 11:16 implies that, in this chapter, he addressed a matter that affected formal church services, Bible Know. Com., N. T., p. 528.
    2. Thus, he addressed the practice of a woman's removing her customary veil in a church service to express her Christian liberty, Ibid., p. 528.
    3. Since this practice was not honorable in that culture, Paul critiqued it, appealing to God's "chain-of-command" for the basis of his stand:
      1. Paul noted that as a man in his era was disgraceful if he had his head covered in church, a woman was disgraceful in not wearing a veil, 1 Cor. 11:4-6; the man as the image and glory of God was not to cover his head while the woman as the image and glory of man by creation was to cover her head, 1 Cor. 11:7 with Gen. 2:20-23.
      2. [We know this woman's head covering was culturally mandated, for God created the woman without any covering, Gen. 2:21-25.]
      3. Indeed, as God's angels were made to serve Him, so women were made for men, and thus were not to cease wearing their veils in the church to signify their proper submission to men, 1 Cor. 11:9-10.
      4. Paul's 1 Corinthians 11:12-15 teaching that women were to wear longer hair than men reflects the instinctive way humans have historically distinguished between the genders, Ibid., p. 530.
      5. Thus, the cultural norms signifying God's "chain-of-command" are not to be violated so that God's order can be upheld in the church!
Application: (1) May we trust in Christ as Savior from sin to become part of God's spiritual household, John 3:16; Eph. 2:19. (2) Then, may we ADHERE to God's "chain-of-command" for EDIFYING ORDER in our OWN lives, and so exemplify before a needy world the order that EDIFIES in human institutions!

Lesson: Aligning with God's "chain-of-command" gives edifying order in our lives in general as well as edifying order in the church in particular!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

God worked "overtime" applying this message in my own life!

(1) As you know, when we schedule missionary speakers in our morning services as we did last Sunday, June 3rd, I prepare my usual Adult Sunday School lesson and sermon notes in case they can not come! Thus, the basic content of this message was set by last Sunday!

However, on June 1st, the Friday before last Sunday, I began to doubt if I should include the section "I" content on Calvinism's impact via voluntarism that disrupts institutional order. I later realized that after that, I experienced great inner unrest until last Sunday afternoon!

Finally, being driven by that unrest to discern its solution, I eventually reviewed my sermon notes for this message. In doing so, I realized that, in light of the Revelation 3:14-22 passage that predicts the needs of our era of Church History as they rise out of problematic Calvinism and Arminianism (see our lesson notes on this!), God wanted me to include that information on Calvinism in this sermon! Instantly, I had great inner peace, a fact I then mentioned in the closing illustration in last Sunday night's message, "Trusting Christ's Supreme, All-Sufficient Discipling Work To Mature Us All Fully" out of Colossians 1:24-29! I saw my need to align with the rule of my Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, to find His blessing in my ministry !

(2) Then, as I was typing up "point (1)" in this closing illustration on Wednesday, June 6th, a Church member called to ask what color mulch I wanted for the Church gardens! He wanted to buy some for us! This event fulfilled 2 Timothy 2:6 where God promises to give tangible blessings to a pastor to signal he is doing his job well!

(3) On Thursday, June 7th, I considered subduing the section "I" content about Calvinism, but, again experienced great unrest until I came to the office and reread this testimony above. I realized I best not lessen its content, but rather bolster it, and the great peace returned!

(4) In fact, as I added to section "I" in this sermon, I became so engrossed in my research that I did not eat my lunch until 2:00 p.m.!



So, may we trust in Christ as Savior to be a part of God's spiritual household. Then, may we heed His "chain-of-command" that we might enjoy STABILIZING ORDER in how we LIVE and FUNCTION in relationships, let alone in how we EXAMPLE GOD'S order to a needy WORLD for the blessing of STABILITY!