Message 16
Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:2, 9, 18, 22-24, 30; 2:2-4, 12; 3:16; 5:6-8; 6:5, 17, 19; 7:20, 24, 40; 9:22, 26-27; 10:16-17, 23-24, 31; 11:27-29; 12:3, 4, 11, 18, 24, 27; 13:4-7; 14:26,40; 15:9-10; 16:13
The book of 1 Corinthians shows us a particular kind of church life. Since the church life revealed here has so many aspects, it is difficult for us to summarize this church life in a phrase or a clause or even a sentence. If we are enlightened concerning the meal offering, which describes the life of the Lord Jesus on earth, we will be able to see that the church life described in 1 Corinthians corresponds to the life of the Lord Jesus. This life was the formation of the meal offering, and the church life presented in 1 Corinthians may be called the meal offering church life.
We have seen that the meal offering contains four elements: fine flour, oil, frankincense, and salt. The fine flour signifies Christ’s fine humanity, the oil signifies the Spirit of God, the frankincense signifies the fragrance of Christ’s resurrection, and the salt signifies the cross of Christ, which, in a subjective way, deals with all the negative things in our life.
We have also seen that the meal offering does not have either leaven or honey. Leaven signifies sin and all the negative things. Honey signifies the natural life in its good aspects, including natural affection.
If we read the four Gospels, we will see that the four elements of the meal offering were the components of Christ’s life on earth and caused Him to be the real meal offering. As Christians, we should live the same kind of life the Lord Jesus lived. This means that, strictly speaking, the Christian life should be a meal offering.
In order for our Christian life to be a meal offering, it must be a life with the highest humanity. This is the reason Paul charged the Corinthians, saying, “Be a man” (1 Cor. 16:13). According to the context of 1 Corinthians, to be a man means that we should have a high, uplifted humanity.
If we have such a humanity, we will exercise self-control. This is indicated by Paul’s word in 9:26 and 27. “I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so I box, not as beating the air; but I buffet my body and lead it as a slave.” These verses reveal that Paul had a high humanity and that he had a strong, excellent character. He did not run uncertainly or beat the air but exercised control over himself. He was a real man with a high standard of morality in his human living.
First Corinthians 13:4-7 is a description of love. This description actually shows us a fine humanity. Verse 4 says, “Love suffers long, and is kind; love is not jealous; love does not brag, is not puffed up.” In our weak humanity, we have only limited patience, but love suffers long. Also, it is easy for us to be jealous and covetous, but love is not jealous. Furthermore, love does not behave unbecomingly, does not seek its own things, is not provoked, does not take account of evil, and does not rejoice over unrighteousness (vv. 5-6a). On the contrary, love rejoices with the truth, covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things (vv. 6b-7). Here we have a description of a fine humanity and of a high human character. This indicates that 1 Corinthians is a book concerned with the uplifting of humanity.
In 16:13 Paul does not say, “Be a hero”; he says, “Be a man.” From every angle and from every side, we should be a man. From the angle of ethics, we should be a man. From the angle of self-control, we should be a man. From the angles of wisdom and love, we should be a man. This is to have an uplifted humanity. In the book of 1 Corinthians, we can see the genuine fine flour. This book surely presents the meal offering church life.
In the meal offering church life, the first item is a fine, uplifted humanity. If we would have the proper church life, we all need to have a strong character. This strong character, however, should be balanced, for an unbalanced humanity is a biased humanity. Therefore, we should be strong and also soft. If in the church life we are strong without also being soft, we will offend others. Although we need to be soft as well as strong, we should not be too soft. Those who are too soft are like noodles. There is a proverb which says that we can lift up bamboo but we cannot lift up a noodle. We cannot have a proper church life if the saints are either too strong or too soft. We need to be balanced. For the church life, we need to be a man with a fine, balanced, uplifted humanity.
Chapter one of 1 Corinthians reveals that Christ is the man given to us by God. Verse 2 says that the Lord Jesus Christ is “theirs and ours.” Christ is yours and mine. As John 3:16 tells us, God loved the world — fallen mankind — and gave His only begotten Son to us. Now Christ is ours, and we have been called into the fellowship of God’s Son, Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor. 1:9). We may now enjoy Him, participate in Him, and share Him with one another.
Furthermore, 1:30 says, “Of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” It is of God that we are in Christ Jesus, and Christ has become wisdom to us. Such a Christ has been given to us.
Christ is God’s present, God’s gift, to us. This present is a person; He is the Son of God and also the God-man. God has also called us into the enjoyment of this gift and has made this gift to be wisdom to us, righteousness and sanctification and redemption. This is Christ as a man revealed in 1 Corinthians 1.
The second element in the meal offering is the oil, which signifies the Spirit of God. First Corinthians has a great deal to say about the Spirit. Paul speaks of the Spirit of God in chapters two and three. In 2:4 he says that his speech and preaching were “in demonstration of the Spirit,” and in verse 12 he tells us that we have received “the Spirit which is from God, that we may know the things which have been freely given to us by God.” Then in 3:16 he goes on to say, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” Many Christians do not realize that they are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in them. Do you know that in your daily life there is One who indwells you? Do you realize that the Spirit of God takes you as His dwelling place? The Spirit has been given to us, and now He dwells in us.
In 6:17 Paul says, “He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” This indicates the mingling of the Lord as the Spirit with our spirit. Since we are one spirit with the Lord, we are part of Him. This does not mean that we are part of God as an object of worship; it means that we are a part of the Lord in our life experience. In our spirit we are one with the divine Spirit. We have been oiled with the Spirit, and we have even been joined to the Spirit. Not only have we received the Holy Spirit — we are one with Him.
If we were not one with the Spirit, we could not have the church life. The church life is a life of humanity oiled by the Holy Spirit and with the Holy Spirit. We are one with the Holy Spirit, and we need to remain in this oneness.
In 1 Corinthians we also have the frankincense, that is, Christ in resurrection. In fact, one entire chapter, chapter fifteen, is devoted to the matter of resurrection. Therefore, in this book we surely have the fragrance of the resurrected Christ.
Some of the Corinthians had been deceived by the Devil to say that there would be no resurrection of the dead. Paul argued with them, saying, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, neither has Christ been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then is our preaching vain; your faith also is vain; and we are found also false witnesses of God, because we witnessed concerning God that He raised Christ, whom He did not raise if indeed the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised” (15:13-16).
In 15:9 and 10 Paul speaks concerning his experience of the resurrected Christ. First, in verse 9 he refers to himself as “the least of the apostles.” Then in verse 10 he says, “But by the grace of God I am what I am; and His grace unto me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” In this verse the grace of God equals resurrection; it equals the resurrected Christ. The grace of God which we are enjoying today is Christ in resurrection. With Paul we can say that it is not I but the grace of God, not I but Christ in resurrection.
In verse 58 Paul gives us a word of encouragement. “Wherefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.” Our labor is not in vain because we are laboring not in our natural life but in the resurrection of Christ. Our labor for the Lord in His resurrection life will never be in vain.
In chapter seven Paul charges the believers to remain in the state in which they were called. “Each one, brothers, in what state he was called, in this let him remain with God” (v. 24). He uses the slaves as an example. “Were you a slave when called? Let it not concern you; but, if even you are able to become free, use it rather. For he who was called in the Lord when a slave is the Lord’s freedman” (vv. 21-22a). Instead of doing a work of emancipation, Paul encouraged the believers who were slaves to remain in slavery, the state in which they were called, and live a life that can endure slavery and overcome it. The slaves have a particular opportunity to demonstrate the reality of resurrection and to glorify Christ by living a life that overcomes slavery. What a testimony such a living would be!
The principle is the same with married life. Paul says, “A wife should not be separated from her husband” (v. 10). In verses 12 and 13 he goes on to say, “If any brother has an unbelieving wife and she consents to dwell with him, let him not leave her; and a wife who has an unbelieving husband and he consents to dwell with her, let her not leave her husband.” This requires a high humanity. The reason there are so many divorces today is that people’s humanity is too weak. To stay with a husband or wife who is difficult to live with and whom we may not like requires that we “be a man” and have an uplifted humanity.
I knew a married couple who, before they were saved, decided to get a divorce. They did not love each other, and they were determined to be divorced. However, they heard the gospel, received the Lord Jesus, and were saved. From that time on, they had Christ as another person living in them, and He uplifted their humanity and changed their character. They dropped the idea of divorce and began to live together in sweetness, in the fragrance of Christ’s resurrection. Those who contacted them could sense the fragrance of the resurrection life of Christ.
Paul’s way in 1 Corinthians 7 is very unusual and also very wise. He did not force a brother to stay with his wife. Rather, he charged the saints to remain with God in the state in which they were called. Those who are married should not leave their wife or husband, for to leave one’s spouse is actually to leave God. Married believers are to remain with their spouse in the presence of God.
The point here is that the saints should not expect to have a change in their status. Concerning this, we may take Paul as an example. He, a Jew, was born under Roman imperialism. However, he never encouraged the Jews to emancipate themselves from the Romans. On the contrary, in Romans 13 he charged the saints to be subject to the authorities of the Roman empire. This indicates that he encouraged them not to change their status but to remain in the state in which they were called.
The worse this state is, the more opportunity one has to live Christ. Those in slavery can live Christ in resurrection while they are in slavery. This is to be a man. We all can be men oiled with the Spirit and joined to the Spirit to be one spirit, and we can be fully in resurrection, manifesting the fragrance of the resurrected Christ.
The salt — the fourth element of the meal offering — can also be found in 1 Corinthians. In writing to the Corinthians, Paul spoke regarding the cross of Christ and the crucified Christ. “Jews indeed ask for signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified” (1:22-23a). Paul did not say that he preached Christ glorified; he said that he preached Christ crucified. Paul did not preach miracles or wisdom — he preached Christ crucified.
The crucified Christ is a Christ who does nothing to save Himself. When the Lord Jesus was on the cross, “the chief priests with the scribes, mocking with one another, said, He saved others; himself he cannot save! Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe!” (Mark 15:31-32a). No matter how much He was challenged, the Lord Jesus remained on the cross, doing nothing to save Himself.
To the Corinthians Paul preached such a crucified Christ. To the Greeks, who were proud of their culture and wisdom, this was foolishness. The situation is the same today. People are still proud of their culture and wisdom, and we need to preach the crucified Christ to them.
First Corinthians 1:18 says, “The word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” Through the preaching of the gospel, the word of the cross can save people. If we would have power in preaching the gospel, we need to live a crucified life. We must learn to live a crucified life, being crossed out every day. We may experience this in our married life, for every wife is a cross to her husband and every husband is a cross to his wife. This arrangement, which is for our salting, is of the Lord’s sovereignty.
We are salted not only in our married life but also in the church life. There is such a thing as being salted in the church life. On the one hand, in the church life we have happiness. On the other hand, we also have the unpleasantness that comes from being salted. Deep within, the brothers may feel that they are being salted, crossed out, by the sisters. The sisters may have the same feeling about the brothers. In the church life a great deal of salting takes place.
In 1 Corinthians Paul does not teach us to be glorified. He teaches us to be crucified. Without the cross, there is no church life. If there is no salt, there is no meal offering. The meal offering must be salted.
We have pointed out that in the meal offering there is neither leaven nor honey. In 1 Corinthians both leaven — the sinful and negative things — and honey — the natural life — are dealt with.
In 5:6b-8 we have the dealing with leaven. “Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For indeed our Passover, Christ, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with leaven of malice and evil, but with unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” Here we see that leaven is not tolerated in the church life.
First Corinthians 15:10 indicates that in Paul’s experience the honey, the natural life, was dealt with. Recall that in this verse he says, “I labored more abundantly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God.” Paul’s labor was not by the I, not by the natural life, not by honey.
Paul certainly was not a person with a weak character. Before he was saved he was very strong in character, taking the lead to persecute the saints. But after he was saved, he was made an apostle and he labored more than the other apostles. However, his labor was not in the natural life.
In the church life the natural life and the natural affection should be dealt with. This means that there should be no honey in the church life. We all like to be natural and live a natural life, but in the church life the natural life is not permitted. It must be put to death. The honey of the natural life must be killed by the salt, by the cross of Christ.
We should not put any leaven or honey in the meal offering. This means that in the church life we should not have the negative things or the natural life.
The church life is a corporate meal offering signified by the one bread in 10:17. “Seeing that we who are many are one bread, one Body; for we all partake of the one bread.” This bread, or cake, signifies the corporate life.
We enjoy this corporate life when we partake of the Lord’s table. Do you take the bread and the cup by yourself? Of course not! You partake of the bread and the cup with the saints. This is a matter of fellowship. This is the reason 10:16 says, “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a fellowship of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a fellowship of the body of Christ?” Because this is a matter of fellowship, we partake of the bread and of the cup in a corporate way. This corporate partaking is a sign of the church life; it is also a testimony of the church life.
All the points covered in 1 Corinthians are related to the church life, to the corporate life. According to this book, for this corporate life we need to be a man who is oiled with the Holy Spirit, who lives a life under the cross with the resurrection of Christ as the frankincense, and who does not have leaven or honey. This is the church life as a meal offering.
The whole church life is a meal offering. In this meal offering the top portion is for God’s enjoyment, and the remainder is for us to take as our daily food in our service to God. We, therefore, are a meal offering as food for God’s satisfaction and for the nourishment of others.
God wants to have a meal offering in every locality. He desires that every local church be a meal offering that satisfies Him and that fully supplies the saints day by day.
Our hunger is satisfied not only by Christ but also by the church life. The church life satisfies us because the church life is a corporate meal offering, with the top portion for God and the remainder for us. Therefore, we are fed by and with the church life. The church life is the meal offering to be our daily supply. Hallelujah for the meal offering church life!
