Reflections on decency in Divine worship, &c. 301 her hair is given her hair was given her instead of a veil, in the first SECT. for a covering. constitution of her nature, and before the arts xxi. of dress were invented or needed. such custom, neither 1 Cor. 16 But if any man Thus the matter appears to me, when I re- xi. 16 seem to be conten- flect upon the original, and the present state of tious, we have no things, and what seems from that to be the the churches of God. voice of nature. But if any one appears to be contentious, and will dispute this, upon his own different views of what is naturally decent, I shall not controvert it farther; but content myself with saying, that we have here no such custom, for women to appear with their head uncovered; neither do I know of its prevailing in any of the other churches of God,d whether planted by me, or any of my brethren. I think therefore that it ought to be avoided, as a singularity which may appear like affectation, and give offence, even if it be not judged a natural indecorum. And thus I leave the affair to your consideration; and promise myself, you will give me no farther cause of complaint on this head. IMPROVEMENT. LET Christians frequently remember the honourable relation verse in which they stand to Christ as their Head; and as beyond all 3 dispute, he is, under his mediatorial character, most willingly 4 and joyfully subject to God, let us learn to imitate him in that cheerful and entire subjection, out of love and reverence to him, guarding against whatever is unbecoming, lest he be dishonoured thereby. By the passage before us, we see the force of custom, for deter- 14, 16 mining, in many respects, what is decent, and what is otherwise. Let us maintain a proper regard to this: lest even our good should be, through our imprudence, evil spoken of, and all our infirmities magnified into crimes. Let us often recollect the original dignity of our nature, by which we are the image and glory of God: that, so far as by sin and folly this honour is lost, we may endeavour to regain it; and where it is not, may think and act more suitably to so high a relation. When in any act of Divine worship, we have the honour to 10 approach the blessed God, let us reverence his awful presence, Nor any of the other churches.] Mons. but the former clause, we have no such cusAmyraut understands it in this sense, tom, will not admit this. The argument "The churches do not use to contend on the other interpretation is clear and with me, but to submit to my decisions;" strong. 302 The apostle considers their abuse of the Lord's supper ; SECT. and even that of his holy angels, who attend the assemblies of xxi. the saints. We pray, that the will of God may be done upon earth, verse as it is done in heaven: let us be careful to worship God in such a manner, that these celestial spirits,who ever appear before him with sacred awe, may not be offended at the rudeness and folly of sinful mortals; whom they may well wonder to see admitted, in their best estate, to this Divine privilege which they have forfeited by repeated provocations. As for what St. Paul observes of the mutual dependence which 11, 12 the sexes have on each other, let it dispose them to mutual candour and respect; avoiding the cruel tyranny, or the vain affectation, which often arms them, on either side, with ungenerous reflections. And as all things are of God, let it be our concern, that all things be to him; that all things be faithfully employed for his glory; and whatever comforts we receive in relative life, which are indeed many and important, let us adore the wisdom of the Divine constitution in the original formation of our nature, and the secret influence and conduct of his Providence, in the regulation of our respective circumstances and affairs. SECT. xxii. SECT. XXII. The apostle, in order to reform several scandalous abuses of the 1 CORINTHIANS XI. 17. THU 1 COR. XI. 17. OW in this that I declare unto No that you come to worse. 1 Cor. singularly honoured by God, should appear in you, I praise you not, i. 17 your religious assemblies. But while I am giv- gether not for the ing [you] these instructions, I do not, and can- better, but for the not, praise [you,] as I would, on several accounts; and particularly on this, that when you come together in these assemblies, and on the most solemn occasions, there are such irregularities, and sometimes such indecencies among you, that your meeting is not for the better, but for the worse, as you lose more in religion one way than you gain another. For, before I mention any other instance of this, I must ob- when ye come to serve, in the first place, that when ye come 18 For first of all, which they regarded as a common meal ; 303 gether in the church, together in the church, though it is so evident, secT: I hear that there be that nothing but reverence to God, and love to xxii. divisions among you, each other, should reign on such occasions; I and I partly believe it. 1 Cor. hear that there are schisms, or uncharitable and xi. 18 angry divisions and disputes among you, and I do, in some respect, and with regard to some of 19 For there must you, believe it: For in the course of things, it 19 be also heresies a is to be expected, that there must be even herewhich are approved, sies among you :b contentions will arise to such may be made mani- a height, that separations will ensue. fest among you. mong you, that they 20 When ye come Lord's supper. The warmth of some tempers evidently leads to It is particularly grievous to me, to be forc- 20 together therefore ed to complain of your irregular behaviour, into one place, this is not to eat the while celebrating that most excellent and endearing ordinance of the eucharist: but I am compelled to do it; and therefore I tell you plainly, that when you come together in such a manner as you do, into one place, under pretence of attending this grand solemnity, it is not eating the Lord's supper: it does not deserve • Come together in the church.] Some have urged this as an instance in which church signifies a building for public worship; and have urged also the 224 verse in the same view; but both may be interpreted of the assembly, as the paraphrase she ws. There must be even heresies.] It seems evident from hence, that heresy is spoken of as something worse than the schism mentioned above; but whether it be an evil entirely of a different kind, or only of a higher degree, is not so clear from this passage. I think, for reasons not here to be enumerated, that the word as signifies a sect of people separated from others, and forming what we call a distinct de nomination; whereas there may be schism without separation, if people assembling to gether have uncharitable contentions with each other; which was the case of these schismatical Corinthians. It is not eating the Lord's supper] The Corinthians seem to have been guilty of two great faults in the matter here referred to, which St. Paul, in the following discourse, labours to reform; The one, that they confounded the Lord's supper with the common meals they made to gether; (from whence the love feasts were afterwards derived ;) thinking it sufficient, (as the Quakers now do,) if they mingled some thoughts of Christ's death, with this common use of bread and wine; The other, that they used such a rapacious behaviour at these feasts, and treated one another so rudely and unkindly, as on their own principles would have been very in decent. This latter circumstance is finely illustrated in a passage from Xenophon, Memor. lib. 3, cap. iv. (i.) in which he observes, that Socrates was much offended with the Athenians for their conduct at their common suppers, as some prepared delicately for themselves, while others were but slenderly provided for. That worthy man endeavoured to shame them out of this low taste, by offering his provisions to all the company. Mr. Grove hath with great propriety mentioned a passage from Socrates, the ecclesiastical historian, (lib. v. cap. 22,) in which he speaks of some Egyptians living near Alexandria, who partook of the sacrament in a very peculiar manner, (as it seems much after the Corinthian fashion,) introducing it with a jovial feast, in which they regaled themselves with all kinds of food. Grove on the Sacrament, p. 108. See 304 1 Cor. xi. 21 : And ate and drank to excess. fore other his own supper; and one is SECT. to be called by that name. Instead of regard- 21 For in eating, xxii. ing it in a holy and religious view, you con- every one taketh befound it with a common meal; and do not indeed behave in the manner that decency hungry, and another would require if it were no more than a com- is drunken. mon meal for though you sit down at what, even in that case, ought to be a social and friendly table, yet each has his particular mess, and without offering a share of it, in an obliging manner to the rest, every one in eating, greedily taketh before [the other] his own supper, both the food and liquor which he hath provided; and so while one poor brother, for want of suitable provisions, is hungry, another eats and drinks to excess, which would in all circumstances be a scandal to a Christian, and especially to a religious assembly, as this certainly ought to be. 22 23 What a reproach is this to your common pro- 22 What, have ye fession! Give me leave to ask you, have you not houses to eat not houses to eat and to drink in on common and to drink in ? or despise ye the occasions, that you must come to the place of church of God, and public worship, thus to entertain yourselves shame them there, which is certainly in all views very ill have not? what shall judged? Or do you despise the church of God, I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I which you must greatly offend by such a con- praise you not. duct as this; and at the same time shame those that have not provisions and accommodations of their own, and might hope at your common meals to be relieved? What shall I say to you on this occasion? Shall I praise you in this [respect ?] I wish I could fairly and honourably do it; but at present, I praise [you] not; I must rather blame you, and exhort you to amend what is so grossly amiss. And that my admonitions and exhortations may come with the greater weight, let me lead back your thoughts to the original institution of this profaned and affronted ordinance; which if His own supper.] This monstrous, and to us unaccountable circumstance, is cleared up by what is said above of the social suppers used among the Greeks to which each brought his own provisions, which were not always made so common to the whole company as decency and friendship might have required. 23 For I have re e Drinks to excess.] The word uedever, has this signification in a great latitude; but one would hope, that though the Jews and heathens were often intoxicated in their religious festivals, these Christians, imprudent and irregular as they were, did not carry their excesses so far; and therefore I chose to soften the version. Compare Vol. I. p. 119, note . To reform this, he reminds them of the original institution; 805 1 Cor. ceived of the Lord, you reflect upon, I am sure you must be heartily SECT. that which also I de- grieved at the indignities you have offered it, xxii. livered unto you, That the Lord Jesus, and will be engaged to resolve will never you the same night in repeat them. Now I am able to speak of this xi. 23 which he was betray- matter with great certainty and exactness: for ed, took bread: my knowledge of it did not depend upon any human tradition whatsoever; but I received by special revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ himself, that which I also delivered to you, in my former preaching on this subject, in which, as in all things else, I have been careful most exactly to adhere to my original instructions. And you know the substance of it was this, That the Lord Jesus Christ, the very [same] night in which he was betrayed, and amidst all those serious thoughts which his own nearly approaching sufferings might suggest, after he had finished the paschal supper, took bread, some of the remainder of those unleavened cakes with which that solemn feast is cele24 And when he brated; And having, in a most reverent man- 24 had given thanks, ner, given thanks to God, the great Author of he brake it, and said, all temporal and spiritual blessings, and looked my body, which is up to him for his blessing upon it, for the purbroken for you: this poses to which it was going to be appropriated, do in remembrance he brake [it] into several pieces, and distribut Take, eat; this is of me. ing it to his disciples who were present, said, revelation to St. Paul, than have adminis I received by special revelation, &c.] This epistle seems to have been written before any of the Gospels; and it seems to be intimated, Gal. i. 17, &c. that when he wrote it, he had seen none of the apostles. It is very remarkable, that the institution 8 This do, &c.] Because the word our of this ordinance should make a part of signifies, in some few instances, to sacrithat immediate revelation with which fice, Dr. Bret would render it, sacrifice Christ honoured him; and it affords a this: whence he infers, that the eucharist strong argument for the perpetuity of it in is a sacrifice. And a learned prelate in the the church. For had other of the apos- council of Trent, pleaded, with much the tles, (as Barclay presumes to insinuate,) like judgment, that when Christ uttered mistaken what passed at the last passover, and founded the observation of the eucharist on that mistake, surely Christ would rather have corrected this error in his new VOL. 4. 40 these words before the cup, he ordained them priests; whereas he gave them the bread as laicks. See Father Paul's Hist. of the Council of Trent, p. 519. |
