Introduction

Good morning. Today, we will examine 1 Corinthians, chapter 11. We have read the passage multiple times together, and all of you have pinpointed the theme very well. The theme of this chapter is: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

I. Imitation and Succession

Humans are characterised by learning. From childhood, much of what we do is learned. Take writing, for example. Each character is learned from others; otherwise, it would be a misspelling. In examinations, if one were to use self-invented characters, the results would be poor. A child I knew consistently failed his essay assignments. I concluded that despite his hard work, he used solely his own words. In reality, all human knowledge is acquired. Mathematics is learned from textbooks; essay writing is merely a reorganisation of learned material. That is why many write quickly and efficiently—because all writing is essentially borrowing, rearranging words to express your meaning.

In Chinese Mingding Destiny, pivotal concepts are imitation and succession, which we teach in our ministry. Avoid inventing your own system, as such inventions are generally ineffective. Humans are particularly fond of invention. In today's most popular Christian beliefs, we see a variety of inventions, more creative than the Corinthians in Paul's time. If you were to ask how to know if one's faith is correct, my answer is that it's correct so long as you are becoming more like Jesus. Being like Jesus is crucial; Jesus never lived based on his gut feeling. He never gave remarks about having great peace from buying a particular property or investing in a certain business. Nor did anyone come before Jesus to ask which of two jobs to choose, or ask Jesus to arbitrate in a dispute over inheritance with their brother. Jesus would say, Get out of here. Of course, someone might argue that you won't find Get out of here in the Bible; that's my creative addition. The reason people do not dare to approach Jesus is that they are afraid to hear Jesus telling them to Get out of here.

Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. (1 Corinthians 11:1)

Therefore, being like Jesus is paramount. In Chinese Mingding Destiny, imitation and succession are key—we must observe whether what we do aligns with what Jesus did. Nowadays, churches that consider themselves orthodox often conduct themselves in ways that are entirely unlike Jesus. Jesus healing the sick and casting out demons is labeled as Charismatic, even though such actions were a significant part of Jesus' ministry, which causes great confusion. My answer to you now is straightforward: see if what you do is alike to what Jesus did. If Jesus would not do something, then let's not do it. If uncertain about how to proceed, do as Jesus would.

Before his crucifixion, Jesus was in profound agony, subjected to judgment and flogging, and then nailed to the cross until his last breath. Jesus disdained death, so we follow his example. If Jesus were afraid of death, then so would we all be, for we are to imitate and succeed him. People like me have understood imitation and succession from a young age. Had I studied under Guiguzi, I might have been Sun Bin. Had I studied under Siddhartha Gautama, I might have mastered Mahayana and Hinayana Buddhism. I place great emphasis on imitation and succession. Since we believe in Jesus, we should diligently emulate him. If you believe in Siddhartha Gautama, then diligently emulate him. If you study mathematics, learn diligently from the math textbook; avoid inventing your own concepts. If the textbook says, Pythagorean theorem, it would be unfortunate if you changed it to Theorem Pythagorean.

Not only mathematics, but also chemistry and physics are learned from books. Many subjects have knowledge systems and should not be self-invented. Yet, Christianity is highly creative, with today's Christianity straying further and further away from Jesus. Recently, I conducted a series of special events called New Era Christian Transformation. Whether you agree with my message or not, imitation and succession are the most important concepts in the Bible. If you learned about the Lord Jesus from Paul, remain faithful to Paul. Most of the books in our New Testament are Pauline epistles.

Someone asked me why I criticise the Book of James. From this book, it is evident that although James was Jesus' biological brother, he did not imitate or succeed Jesus. I will elaborate on this if given the opportunity. We have a Bible study of the Book of James on our website. After reading it carefully, I discovered that he did neither imitate nor succeed. Actually, Jesus did not kneel in the temple for long periods of prayer every day, but Jesus' brother James did. Whether this imitates Jesus or Jesus' brother is a matter of personal interpretation. You might believe in the teachings of James, while I believe in Jesus Christ. I imitate the Apostle Paul and Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ did it, let us do it diligently; if Jesus Christ did not do it, then forget about it.

The difference between good and poor learning lies in imitation and succession. Those who struggle with learning listen to the teacher but are preoccupied with their own inventions, thinking they are Edison. They study hard every day but still fail the exams, which is truly genius. Edison founded GE (General Electric). Those who think they are Edison create Electric General, using a refrigerator as an air conditioner, causing utter chaos.

II. The Concept of Authority

Now I want you to realise that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. (1 Corinthians 11: 3)

The concept of authority is important. The head mentioned here is the authority above you. Disobedience to higher authority leads to much confusion, causing trouble and being perilous. The Bible states that God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of every man, and here it states that the man is the head of the woman. Authority is a chain. If one link is askew, such as when a husband does not believe, he is not on that chain.

It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels. (1 Corinthians 11: 10)

Speaking of men, women, and authority, frankly, when I used to work, I particularly disliked hiring female employees as my subordinates. An office full of brothers was much better because brothers caused me fewer problems. It is not that sisters are not lovely, but the problems they bring are challenging. Upon reflection, I realised this was incorrect, and I overcompensated by bringing many sisters when establishing the church. These sisters created many challenges for me. Paul must have empathised with me in this regard. It is much easier with brothers, who discuss the work directly. However, sisters cause more issues. Their hair grows long, but my head also grows bigger.

The concept of authority is from Paul in the Bible, and I suspect he must have had many experiences, just like me, where his head grew larger. Paul specifically mentioned that sisters should cover their heads. Actually, whether to cover the head is not the point. Covering the head makes one feel like something is about to fall, reminding them that there is an authority above, and they should quickly support it. Because without something on their heads, they forget about authority. Our sisters do not cover their heads, so they often forget that I am their authority.

Later, I realised that women need authority. Do our pastoral zone leaders find that sisters often forget who their authority is? One sister once asked her pastoral zone leader to apologise to someone, forgetting that she had been delivered from depression through our ministry just recently. What qualification did she have to ask her pastoral zone leader to apologise? We do not have such rules. I took the call and scolded her, even though she was not convinced. According to my temperament, such people should go wherever they want. However, I arranged for her to be sent to the best female pastoral zone leader for correction. She needed to be corrected.

Understand that it is not that we need to be your authority, but that without authority above, people will run wild. Those who do not honour their authority are often swindled out of tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is a problem for women, and men have their own problems. Sometimes my language is rough, and I call these sisters old women. Do not say I am discriminating; there are male old women too. What I mean is that disobedience to authority is extremely dangerous. If you observe carefully, you will find that the concept of authority is very important. I mentioned earlier that God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of man, and man is the head of woman. If the man does not believe, then he does not count.

It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels. (1 Corinthians 11: 10)

Over the past few years, I have noticed that whether male or female, those who do not submit to authority suffer losses, especially women, who are inherently weaker. Weakness is not to fear, but disobedience to authority is. Weakness may lead to suffering, but those who exploit orphans and widows are cursed; God will support you. The point is to remember that if you are weak in the church, God will surely support you; do not worry, God can certainly manage this matter.

However, if one does not submit to authority, even the angels cannot help. Moreover, angels has multiple meanings. One type is good angels from God, who protect you, called guardian angels. Others are angels who come to corrupt people, called fallen angels. So, from birth, people have a pair of angels with them. When you submit to authority, the guardian angels from God become very powerful and can protect you. If you do not submit to authority, the angels who come to corrupt you from the devil become exceptionally powerful, and the guardian angels cannot defeat them. This theory may sound novel because it is Liu's conjecture.

Authority is very important for people, regardless of gender. People must have authority above them to emulate, and they should avoid inventing things themselves. But if a person is not suitable to be your authority, you can change and find a suitable authority. But on the question of whether to cover the head, do not go through the motions. Covering the head is a sign of authority. There are people who only emphasizes on covering the head, but going through the motions is meaningless. Do not think that just covering the head gives you the concept of authority. Many people cover their heads and remain the same; the core of the issue needs to be changed, which everyone needs to ponder deeply.

As soon as people see the Sabbath, they form an Sabbath-observing assembly, but remember that going through the motions is useless. Focusing solely on form can kill you. Our brothers and sisters should carefully consider this concept. Many brothers and sisters have also been harmed by the concept of authority. One sister's husband did not believe and did not allow her to believe, so she could not submit. The submission to authority mentioned here must align with the line of God is the head of Christ, Christ is the head of man, and man is the head of woman. Paul's statement that men should not cover their heads and women should cover their heads is merely a formality.

Gradually grasp the essence from the form, which is essentially a matter of authority. One of our brothers summarised the pressing down principle, saying that if you cannot press someone down, you cannot bless them. As a result, the more he tried to press down, the less successful he was. The pressing down principle can only be thought of in the heart, not spoken aloud. The key is not whether you can press someone down, but that people must have the concept of authority. Without the concept of authority, you will certainly suffer losses because the angels cannot help you. Moreover, not only can the angels not help you, they will also come to discipline you.

III. Avoid Arguing

If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God. (1 Corinthians 11: 16)

Some people feel that Paul is quite autocratic when they read this. Upon reflection, this so-called autocracy actually began in the time of Moses. In the time of Moses, there was no opportunity to question why there should be the Ten Commandments. People could only obey because they were decreed by God and are beyond dispute. Arguing back and forth yields nothing but corruption. Therefore, do not argue about these things, like a mathematics student asking why there should be the Pythagorean theorem, why a squared plus b squared equals c squared, or why it is not a cubed plus b cubed equals c cubed. Discussing these things is pointless; this is not imitation and succession.

To imitate and succeed, do not argue, because you have not reached the level to argue. When you learn to submit to authority, many problems become easier to solve. If you have children at home, the most important thing is to teach them to obey the rules. The two children who lived next door to our house took different paths in life. One went into the army, and when he returned, he had grown into a man, a stark contrast to the one who stayed at home. Both brothers are good, but the one at home did not follow the rules as well, while the one in the army was accustomed to obeying orders. In the army, you cannot argue with your superiors. Therefore, many people have a wrong concept in training children, which is to encourage children to dispute, thinking they can argue create a creative idea. In fact, arguing does not produce creativity; the prerequisite for creativity is following the rules. Without following the rules, where does creativity come from?

First, there must be imitation and succession. Even the way other people write characters is the way you should write them. Do not argue. Debates should not be held in church. Regarding the authority I have just spoken about, certainly some people will ask this or that about whether to obey with various opinions emerging. Paul said, Avoid Arguing, learn to submit, because God is still in control. There is a line in a hymn that says, Though the sea may surge, and the waves may rage, our God still sits enthroned as King, His word still prevails. People should not learn to argue, otherwise, after speaking back and forth, they will be confused by the set of arguments they have concocted themselves.

If anyone wants to argue, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God. But in giving you this charge, I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. (1 Corinthians 11:16-17)

Arguing in the church is not edifying. Some say that without argument, the Word of God cannot be clarified. But when has arguing ever clarified anything? The Bible says to listen to the Word of God and then act on it, not to listen and then argue. Others feel that they cannot blindly believe without understanding. But from the first character learned in the first grade, there is no room for argument. The teacher says it is written that way, without reason; otherwise, one becomes a contrarian. For example, when a child learns calligraphy, they must learn how ancient people held the brush and how to apply it. Some people have liked to argue since they were young, and as a result, they become foolish. At such times, one cannot argue but must first inherit and emulate, and only then can one gradually grasp the mysteries. As the saying goes, the character is like the person. Some people write crookedly and roundly, and one understands at a glance.

IV. Factions and Cliques Are Neither Emulation Nor Inheritance

The reason why factions and cliques are said to be neither emulation nor inheritance is that Jesus never invented this. Jesus did not divide the twelve disciples into two sides and then have them hold debates. Therefore, factions and cliques are not emulation.

For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine may be recognized. (1 Corinthians 11:18-19)

I once had tea and chatted with a renowned pastor from Singapore, and he mentioned that the church he built had many disputes. Three pastors each formed their own faction. The renowned pastor's clever solution to resolve the infighting was to separate them and have each build a church. But the problem of factions and cliques still exists because behind it is a spirit of disunity, a spirit that causes people to gossip, which is very powerful. I fought the spirit of disunity for many years. The spirit of disunity makes people very tired, and factions and cliques in the church emerge endlessly. When I knelt down to pray, I saw a snake with one body and three heads, each head sticking out its tongue, looking very fierce. I prayed until my voice changed, thinking that shouting louder would be more powerful. But at best, it only emboldened myself, and in the end, it ran away.

After winning the battle, the church became united, and the pastor's job became easier. When starting a church, one must overcome factions, cliques, and the spirit of disunity. Before overcoming this spirit, one must overcome the spirit of gossip. These are unavoidable; otherwise, one will be defeated by the evil spirit behind the gossip or by the spirit of disunity. A series of battles are full of swords and shadows and are very fierce.

Returning to the renowned pastor who had his three pastors each build a church, the spirit of disunity still worked in the church. Before building the church, this renowned pastor went everywhere to preach, preaching very well, and everyone liked to listen. Later, as soon as he said he wanted to build a church, everyone came, and troubles followed. Because some approved of speaking in tongues, and others opposed it. As a result, the aisle was divided into two sides, the left side approving and the right side opposing. It would probably take two heads and four arms to preach the sermon. There was also a church where the morning service opposed speaking in tongues, and the evening service approved of it. This method seemed good on the surface but was not emulating and inheriting Jesus. It is painful for a pastor to manage such a church, being attacked by evil spirits every day.

I am not stupid, and everyone should learn from my cleverness which is to learn emulation and inheritance. When many people heard Jesus say that people should eat his flesh and drink his blood, they thought it was a cult and ran away in fright. Jesus asked them if they also wanted to leave, and if so, they should get out quickly. I like to add my personal style to Jesus's words, but the content remains unchanged. When I initially wanted to build a church, I also visited and learned from other churches. When I discovered that Jesus did not do this, I struggled in my heart about whom to learn from. After learning all sorts of heretical things, I finally decided to come back and learn from Jesus. Reading Paul's epistles and the four Gospels of Jesus Christ, I discovered that no church's Bible study was more authentic than ours.

Originally, building a church was about picking out treasures from the world and bringing them before God, and one must never bring garbage into the body of Jesus Christ. Thank God for giving me such wisdom and intelligence. So today, the church that is built has power, and the blessings are all because of unity, emulating Jesus, and building according to the Word of God. The goal pursued is that every brother and sister among us should be like Jesus and must walk on the path of being like Jesus. When everyone first enters the church, they have two faces, half like Jesus and half like the devil. After a while, they become 60% like Jesus and 40% like the devil. When you walk on the road of being like Jesus, you will become more and more like Jesus. Factions and cliques are all corrupting people. Our church is very unique, like the saying goes, If we are not family, do not enter the same door; otherwise, it will become a family feud.

V. The Intent of Holy Communion

If anyone wants to argue, we have no such custom, nor do the churches of God. But in giving you this charge, I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part, for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine may be recognized. (1 Corinthians 11:16-19)

Paul wrote such a long passage on the concept of authority, which is to emulate Jesus, who was very obedient to authority. Arguing is not emulating Jesus, and factions and cliques are also not emulating Jesus. The intent of Holy Communion is to let us emulate Jesus and remember the Lord's death, not to eat a big meal. Speaking of treating Holy Communion as a big meal, Peter must be mentioned again. Paul did not personally attend the Last Supper, but Peter was there. However, when he arrived in Corinth, he vigorously promoted that the Lord's Last Supper was eaten in the Upper Room of Mark, how rich the delicious dishes cooked by those private chefs were, and how everyone ate until their stomachs were full. However, he only remembered the first half and forgot that the second half was to emulate Jesus.

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

But when the Corinthians heard this, they felt fortunate that Peter had told them about the grand occasion at that time; otherwise, they would not have known and would have been fooled by Paul, who only allowed them to eat such a small piece of bread and a small cup of grape juice for Holy Communion. So the Corinthians felt that they first had to change the Holy Communion because Peter's experience was definitely right. Of course, I have no actual proof here, but there is a sentence here that everyone can look at together.

For there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine may be recognized. (1 Corinthians 11:19)

Whose experience here can compare to Peter's? However, in order to eat Holy Communion, some people even did not eat the day before, turning Holy Communion into a big meal.

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another— if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home—so that when you come together it will not be for judgment. About the other things I will give directions when I come. (1 Corinthians 11:27-34)

For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. (1 Corinthians 11:21-22)

Looking at this, it is just attracting a group of gluttons to gather together. When I first started building the church, I contributed money and effort, and served them with roast chicken, roast duck, and braised beef. Many people came with just a mouth, and after eating, they wanted to pack it up and take it away. Later, I discovered that these things were very corrupting. Now we must know that the intent of Holy Communion is to remember the Lord's death. This is the body of Jesus Christ given for you. You should do this to remember Jesus Christ. The you should do this mentioned here is not to compare who has the bigger bread, yours is worth 5 cents, and mine is worth 50 cents. It is not about comparing the bread; it is about offering one's own body and giving it up. If it is just to get that piece of bread, then it all goes wrong.

How many of our brothers and sisters are emulating Jesus and how many are offering themselves as a living sacrifice, or know that eating Holy Communion means giving up themselves? Jesus gave up his body and obtained glory in eternity, achieving exceedingly great and eternal glory. We must remember that if we emulate Jesus Christ and are willing to give up our lives to God, we will surely see God's glory and become vessels for God's glory to be manifested. This is the key.

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:25)

The do this here is to give up life, to shed blood, sweat, and tears. In fact, this is also a lifestyle I am pursuing. I don't even care about death, so why would I care about putting in some effort or shedding some blood? Since brothers and sisters have come among us, follow me in emulating Jesus, emulating his death, and perhaps we can obtain resurrection. The intent of Holy Communion is to let us have the appearance of Jesus Christ. How much of the appearance of Jesus Christ do you have? As soon as you are offended, your face darkens, or you discern good and evil, and even when shepherding others, you cannot forget to discern good and evil. Then you are not emulating the Lord Jesus, but emulating Cain. Even keeping Holy Communion involves competition and unwillingness to be humble, and even queuing up you are afraid that others will cut in line.

Examine yourselves. Everyone should know that we should emulate the concept of authority of the Lord Jesus, emulate the Lord Jesus not arguing for himself, being perfectly united with God, and offering ourselves as a living sacrifice. Such people are those whom the world is not worthy of, and they simply do not take their own lives seriously, and our face is simply not important.

VI. Actively Examine Yourself

Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. (1 Corinthians 11:28-29)

Receiving Holy Communion is a very dangerous thing. It says here that eating and drinking judgment on oneself means that it is easy to become formalistic. Therefore, one should examine oneself at all times, and one should examine oneself even more when eating Holy Communion. See which part of yourself is not like Jesus, and ask the precious blood of the Lord Jesus to wash over us. We begin to be like the Lord Jesus, and actively examine ourselves to see where else we are wrong. In fact, how many illnesses a person has, that is how many sins they have.

That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. (1 Corinthians 11:30)

When people are sick, they should examine themselves even more. Usually we do not examine ourselves. If we are sick and still do not examine ourselves, then we are rushing madly on the road to death.

But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. (1 Corinthians 11:31-32)

How much time do we spend examining ourselves? We argue for ourselves more, but examine ourselves less. If we examine ourselves more, think about where we have not done right and where we are not like the Lord Jesus, then we would have grown long ago. Do not wait until you lose your job, get sick, or even almost die before you think of God, then you are basically like a stick pulled out of the fire.

Those who have not yet emulated the Lord Jesus should emulate him again, and those who have emulated him should continue until we grow to the full stature of Jesus Christ. Now everyone should start adjusting themselves; otherwise, you will suffer, and God will not lose anything.