WHEN YOU COME TOGETHER

First Corinthians 11:17

“In the following directives….”

Paul is giving instructions to the church at Corinth. That’s one of the things that happens in working out of the kingdom of heaven. Some people have grace from God in the same way as other people have grace from their experience. They give instructions about things they know. When I was learning to fly, I had an instructor. The instructor had clocked up over ten thousand hours just as an instructor, let alone hours he flew learning and as the pilot of a number of different charter planes. When I went for my first lesson I knew very little about flying an aircraft and he knew a lot. Even though I knew almost nothing, in the first lesson I actually ended up doing a take off all by myself, with him instructing me what to do. The more lessons I took the more I learned how to do. First he would instruct me and then he would watch me and after a period of time I could do some things without being told and then without the instructor even in the plane. Not once did I say to him that I was going to do it the way I thought it should be done. Not even once. At no time did I feel rebellion rising up inside me and the desire to do exactly the opposite. As a result I am alive today and not dead. And I haven’t killed anyone else either. All of that happened because I was willing (and eager at that) to get the information and the insight from my instructor about how to do something until I could do it myself.

Why is it that in life we are so willing to believe that we know enough to make our own judgments and we are an expert on so many things. We wouldn’t say we are experts, we just act that way by refusing to take instruction.

When it comes to things like Christian people coming together, the Corinthians needed instructions. And Paul was the one who could give it to them. He knew what was supposed to happen when Christians came together and he also knew that what was supposed to happen wasn’t happening. The difficulty for the Corinthians was that they didn’t know that what was happening wasn’t supposed to be happening. They had lost sight of what was supposed to be happening and didn’t realize it.

We have this problem in our own experience of Christian meetings. We are often the worse off for the fact that we have all kinds of practices and procedures that have built up around previous things that God has done. We have these litanies that began as a work of the Holy Spirit but have now been taken over by human decision, human comfort, human control and human ego. We call them religious systems and every part of the church has them. While they do not necessarily make the idea of relating with God impossible, they nevertheless enable a religious experience that does not depend on God’s presence at all (cp. Genesis 33) The Bible clearly says on more than one occasion that the only thing that separates Christian people from other people is the fact that they are people in whom the presence of God dwells and is manifest. All too often we have opted for a preferred human model than something that evidences a supernatural relationship.

So Paul was the instructor here, and the Corinthian people were in danger of crashing their plane as far as their meetings were concerned. They needed a refresher course on the subject of “what should happen when Christians come together.” And here in the letter Paul begins to expound the following themes as he points out some of the problems they were having and the things that happened as a result of those problems.




WHAT WAS WRONG
WITH THE CORINTHIANS MEETINGS ?




1. RELATIONSHIPS
Relationships between people were wrong (11:17-34; 13:1-13)
i) Division and discrimination
ii) Lack of genuine love for all


2. MOTIVATION
The motivation for spiritual gift ministry was wrong (12:1-26; 14:1-33)
i) Creating a false hierarchy of spiritual gift ministry
ii) Lack of primary purpose in doing things that would benefit the whole group
iii) Lack of appropriate structure (not necessarily a lack of formal structure)


3. LEADERSHIP
Their way of exercising and relating to leadership was wrong (12:27-31)
i) Lack of acknowledgement of the forms of leadership anointing


4. BEHAVIOUR
The way some women were behaving was wrong (14:34ff)
i) Disruptive behaviour- probably calling out while the meeting was happening
ii) Some were seeking to manipulate on the basis of superior spirituality



WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN
WHEN CHRISTIAN PEOPLE COME TOGETHER ?


1. UNIQUE BENEFIT
Meetings are supposed to provide a value for believers that is not possible in any other way (cp. Hebrews 10:25) (11:17)

2. MULTIPLE CONFIGURATIONS
Coming together is one of a number of ways the church expresses the presence of Jesus (11:18)

3. UNITY
Meeting together is meant to be an expression of total unity. There are to be no divisions (11:18)

4. WORK OF GOD
People should do what will be facilitate a genuine work of God through them so that others can be encouraged by their faith (19)

5. CARE FOR ALL
The atmosphere of the meeting should evidence a strong sense of concern for the well being of all the members, not just one and not just some. (11:20-34)

6. RULE OF JESUS
The meeting should only do that which honours and proclaims the Lordship of Christ (12:1-3)

7. VARIETY
There are many different forms of spiritual ministry that are possible in a meeting (12:4-6)

8. BENEFIT ALL
Spiritual ministry to the whole meeting should be restricted to those things that are of benefit to the whole group (common good) (11:7ff) (14:1-19)

9. LEADERSHIP AND MINISTRY
There are leadership gifts for the church and there are ministry gifts for a meeting (12:27ff)

10. LOVE
Love is the only valid motivation and the primary critical success factor for any spiritual ministry (13:1-13)

11. TANGIBLE PRESENCE OF GOD
The ministry of spiritual gifts in a meeting should evidence the presence of God to all (14:20-25)

12. SIMPLICITY
The gifts should simplify the flow of God’s power not complicate or confuse it. (14:26-33)

13. RESPECT
No one should be allowed to disrupt a meeting (14:33-40) There should be a wholehearted reverence for what God is wanting to do in the meeting


Your meetings do more harm than good:

Christian gatherings are part of the rich heritage and essential character of holistic Christianity. As western society rushes headlong into a pit of ego centred individualism, the redemptive work of the Spirit ushers believers into fellowship. Interestingly, one of the features of adversarial governments has been to seek to thwart the opportunity of Christian people to meet together. The aspect of Christian fellowship is unique when you compare it with many of the other major religions around the world. While Buddhists or Hindus may assemble it is not for fellowship. It is to participate in religious ritual. Muslim gatherings are the same. The gathering is around the strict observances of their liturgies. Even Judaism, which involves many “fellowship” style customs does not marry fellowship with the core expressions of worship.

Christianity by contrast was founded on the idea where “two or three gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst.” The gathering was both the cause and the effect of their relationship with Jesus Christ. The New Testament declares this again through the words of the apostle, Paul, “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:19,20)

In this apostolic directive to the Corinthians, he was attacking them for the fact that they had passed up the strategic character of Christian fellowship. Even though they were gathering together, another agenda had surfaced and had supplanted the agenda of heaven. They were offering up their holy calling as a people as the people of God on the altar of self promotion. They were using the pipeline meant to flow water from the heavenly fountain to pump recycled human pride and prejudice.

What we need to understand here is that Paul wasn’t talking to a singular individual who might have carried the leadership responsibility for the church in Corinth. Interestingly there is very little reference in the New Testament to the misdemeanors of leaders. That isn’t to say they don’t have them. Our culture has a very different way of ascribing blame. If our culture was writing this letter to the Corinthians, at this point the name of the leader of these meetings, or the leadership council of the church would be named. As I have said, and need to emphasize, I am not suggesting that leaders in this matter were innocent. I am referring to something far more important that finding out who was to blame and taking comfort from the fact that we found out who did it and going home with the satisfaction that they and not anyone else (especially us) were to blame for what was wrong.

Another way that our society acts at times like these is to blame no one. If no one is responsible then we can all take the view that there is nothing that can be or needs to be done about it. If we continue to take this view then we will find ourselves having to face the increasingly difficult task of rationalizing ongoing failure. This begets all kinds of cultural myths and draws the net of collective captivity more tightly around us.

It is consistent with the culture of the kingdom of God to direct responsibility to the corporate whole when something goes amiss. Jesus rarely blamed an individual. He chastised his disciples on a number of conspicuous occasions, religious groups were gathered together for the same purpose and at other times he nailed the “generation” of the “city of Jerusalem” for culpability serious enough to seal their own destruction. Here Paul is writing to the church. In this part of the letter he is speaking to the church when he says that “they” carry the collective responsibility for what some people may be more guilty of that others, but the comparative guilt is not even close to the issue. The blame is to be carried by all. In this case they are responsible for the fact that when there is a Christian meeting Christian things don’t happen. The characteristic hallmark of a true Christian meeting is that people commonly draw benefit from the fact that Jesus’ presence is tangibly manifest. Instead of Jesus presence blessing, encouraging, challenging and inspiring the whole group, we are served up a diet of division, self interest, pride and confusion. Instead of the word of God we hear only the message of (in the immediate context) human partiality and greed. Instead of a broad expression of spiritual ministries we have to put up with bland repetition. Instead of power from on high we have pride from below. Instead of exalting Jesus we have the exaltation of human personality.

It would be wrong to suggest that a genuine ministry of Jesus is going to create some form of ethereal tranquility. That certainly was not the case if you read the gospels. What is certain is the fact that Jesus was accessible, truth was dominant, love was overflowing and redemptive purpose was paramount, day in and day out.

When Jesus talked about Christian fellowship he referred to the fact that His presence was going to be more available, more manifest and more dynamic when believers were together. If I go up to the Brindabellas and spend a day or a week in prayer, alone with God, that is almost certainly going to be a wonderful experience. But it will always be a far more limiting experience than if I am with five, ten or fifteen other people who are making Jesus available to me through the sensitive but bold unveiling of their faith. The problem is that when we are together we are all too willing to withhold the full and free expression of our faith in Christ. We guard what is in our hearts and carefully measure what rises in our spirits. That is not the way of genuine Christian meetings. The benefit to all is going to be mathematically proportional to the flow of faith coming from the heart of all. That is not to surmise that every person in the meeting will take turns in addressing the meeting. It does assume that they will be fully participating.
Unfortunately we are in danger of producing another generation of vicarious worshippers, vicarious listeners and vicarious ministers. We are all to eager to let someone else take the risk or the responsibility. That is not consistent with the heart of a true servant of the Lord.



NO SCHISMS BUT LOTS OF HERESIES

I hear that…..there are divisions among you….No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. (11:18,19)


Here are the major culprits in Paul’s line of suspects. There are too many divisions and not enough differences. There are two words here that we need to understand in order to get the picture.

The first is the word translated “division.” In the Greek language this is the word “skismata” and refers to a the separation of something that should be together. It has to do with ripping something in half so that it can not be put back together again. This idea has a destructive force about it which is dark and sinister.

In the Bible we examples of these falsely derived divisions:

Tradition: Jewish believers divided from Gentile believers (Acts 15; Galatians)
Language: Aramaic and Hellenistic Jews (Acts 6)
Ethnicity: Jews and Greeks (Galatians 2:28)
Gender: Male and female (Galatians 2:28)
Political/Class: Slave and free (Galatians 2:28)
Ethnic origin: barbarian or Scythian (Colossians 3:11)
Age: Older and younger (1 Timothy 4:12)
Leadership: Different groups built around leadership personalities (I Corinthians 1)
Preference: Divisions based on personal preferences (Ephesians 4:3)
Conscience: Divisions based on matters of conscience (1 Corinthians 8; Romans 14,15)
Status: Division arising from the desire for status (Luke 9:46ff; 3 John 9)
Opinion: Divisions arising from difference opinions (Acts 15:36ff)
Spiritual gifts Divisions based upon exercising different ministry gifts (1 Corinthians 12:21)



From the earlier parts of the Book of 1 Corinthians we can see some of the factors that created ungodly alliances and led to division:

¬ People forming different groups based upon which leaders they were aligned to (1:12) and then fighting with one another about who was the best and who was right (3:3)
¬ People forming into different groups on the basis of secular education (3:18 [cp. 1:20ff.])
¬ People thinking less of others on the basis of the outward show of comfort and prosperity (4:8ff)
¬ People judging others on their competence in public speaking (4:19)
¬ People divided over those who condone and those who condemn an immoral member (5:6)
¬ People taking sides over legal disputes between church members (6:1ff)
¬ People taking sides over whether it was better to be married or single (7:1ff)
¬ People taking sides over whether it was right or wrong to eat meat offered to idols (8:1ff)
¬ People taking sides over whether leaders should be given generous love offerings (9:1ff)


And in this immediate context we know that people were coming to the church and when they shared food together and where part of that meal was the commemoration of the Lord’s Supper. Some people would eat so much that there was nothing left for the people who came later, and some drank so much wine while they were eating that they were drunk when they took the Lord’s Supper. (11:20ff) Think about the words that describe what was happening and look for the underlying issues they expose that make the gathering of Christians in a meeting anything but a unique source of benefit and blessing available to all the members.

¬ Each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else (21)
¬ Someone remains hungry
¬ Another gets drunk
¬ You humiliate those who have nothing


The Bible then gives the reason why this is so bad:

Jesus took bread and said that this was a remembrance of his body which is FOR YOU” (not for me without you or us without them).
Jesus took the cup and said that it represented the shedding of blood representing the NEW COVENANT
The act of eating the bread and drinking the cup is a proclamation of the fact that Jesus life was a life totally given for the sake of everyone else other than himself
When people gather in a Christian meeting and all they do is think of themselves and act on behalf of themselves, or when they think of a certain group of people within the whole and not the whole group they are guilty of misrepresenting the very nature of the Lord’s Supper.

“recognizing the body” The idea is surely that the person who acts as an individual when they are part of the manifest expression of the body of Christ is misrepresenting Christ and abusing the whole idea of being part of the body of Christ. The actual word for “recognizing the body” is a word that means discerning or making an assessment.[1] The issue is that these people have entered a holy place when they have come to join the gathering of the people of God. The nature of their gathering is to BE the body of Christ. The participation in the Lord’s Supper is to celebrate and represent the fact that the Son of God chose to do something that was of untold personal expense an something which was only for the benefit of everyone else except himself. When someone acts in a way that defies the nature of that Jesus did they are representing the opposite of Jesus. They have failed to understand what meeting together as Christians is all about. In doing so they defame the honour and misrepresent both the person and the work of Jesus Christ.

“This is why many among you are weak and sick and a number of you have fallen asleep,”

This is deeply challenging. This has often resulted in a set of conditions that relate to whether a person is permitted by the church to take communion or not. Some churches[2] focus on a liturgical preparation while others require the pastor or priest to affirm the person has been living according to Christian moral values. Whatever merit there may be in these practices, it seems clear to me that they so easily miss the point of Paul’s directive to the Corinthians. What he was describing as a set of attitudes that had already invited the judgment of God had to do with the relationship between members of the church meeting with one another. In point of fact it was their willingness to justify divisions and therefore discrimination. The key to this was the way the all embracing love of Christ that was being celebrated in the Lord’s Supper was accompanied by self interest and sectarian loyalty to put it mildly. This was an offense to the people who were excluded and it was an offense to Jesus’ indiscriminate love.

Just think how pointless it is for a person who accommodates this divisive attitude to think that if they just refrain from eating the bread and drinking the cup they will avoid judgment. The need to examine oneself can only assume that the person takes the reminder of what Jesus has done as a way of testing their own hearts with a view to repentance and a change of attitude and subsequent action.

The further important point must be made about the seriousness of the sin of division in the body. If such divisions result in weakness, sickness and even death one can only assume that it is a form of sin that is up there with the worst. Judgment from God needs to be seen in the same light as we would expect the laws of gravity to judge a person who jumps off a cliff. If we seek to defy gravity we will either be badly injured at best or die at worst. No one would argue with the consequences of such defiance. When we defy the very principles that are intended by God to foster and preserve life is it any surprise that the consequences may be dire for the same reason? The result just declares how horrible the form of sin is – in reality. This is the same for a sin like pedophilia. This sin cuts so deep into the soul of the victim that in some ways they perpetrator would have been less harmful if they had cut off an arm or a leg. Such is the sin of rationalized division of the body of Christ. It is a sin whether or not the church gathers and whether or not they share Communion. It is more heinous and more rampant when the church seeks to provide the blessing and benefit that God intended in Christian fellowship. Jesus wants to make his presence known in and through the gathering. That presence and desire to bless must be available for all or it is not Christian. It is some kind of “mongrel” alternative.

One can only wonder at the divisions that have been defended, fostered and even extolled over the years and its impact on its overall health and the health of its constituents. If Paul is telling the truth (which I am prepared to accept without question), when Corinthians Christians gorged themselves at the expense of others, Alka-Seltzer would not be sufficient to deal with the consequences. They were guilty of a sin that not only brought shame upon the real nature and presence of Jesus, but invited a totally just outcome: weakness, sickness and death. Paul warns them because they obviously have no idea at all what they are playing with. It’s like someone toying with the tail of a tiger snake. Our problem is that it doesn’t seem to us like a tiger snake.





WHY THERE SHOULD BE ‘HERESIES’

“No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.” (19)

If the word previous used to describe a piece of material that was designed to be one complete unit has been ripped and torn to shreds is the word used to describe the destructive divisions that existed in the church in Corinth, then the word used here is similarly descriptive and very intriguing.

There have to be DIFFERENCES. Paul is giving a directive here as with the other things he says. So if we are going to respond to the other point and say, “We must never allow any form of division to occur or remain among us” we need also to say, “We must do all we can to encourage these differences.”[3] The word used here is the word from which we derive the English word “heresy.” If we were to put it literally, the Bible here tells us that we must have “heresies” in the church.


There is no other place in the New Testament where this word is used in this way. We shouldn’t try to force a Greek word to mean the same thing every time it is used any more than we should when we refer to a single word in English.[4] The clue for us to understand what kind of direction Paul is giving here will come from the area covered by the meaning of the word coupled together with the context in which the word is used.

Here are the pieces of evidence we have at our disposal to understand what the apostle is referring to.

“no doubt” this is a matter of certainty for the gathering of believers not for debate. Churches should be characterized by their expression of different levels and forms of anointing
“have to be” It is a normal operation for a church. It is expected that the church will give expression to these different levels of anointing whenever it comes together.
“among you” this is something that happens between people in the church without regard to their position or function or length of experience. If they are part of the church they are the raw material for the display of these differences
“to show” when these differences are encouraged, the result is that people can plainly see the anointing of God (or the lack of it) in operation.
“God’s approval: it is only when a spiritual gift or ministry is exercised in the church that people can see whether this person has anointing or something else. Any spiritual ministry will be known by its fruits. The fruit of genuine ministry is that God does things in the lives of recipients that can be known and testified to. As Paul says in another place using the same word:
For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends[5].


Christian meetings are for the display of different anointings. It is not the display of the person that is the focus. Unfortunately it is often our focus. Very often there can be an anointing upon someone and they hold that anointing to themselves for reasons of fear (reverse pride). Sometimes people talk about this fear as if they are so jealous for the glory of God that they hold an anointing to themselves supposedly to avoid making a mistake and, in their unbiblical judgment, guaranteeing the greater glory of God. I say unbiblical because there is no biblical warrant for a sincere person holding on to an anointing just in case they are wrong. When the Bible says, “Don’t quench the Spirit, don’t despise prophesying but test everything and hold fast that which is good and avoid every appearance of evil,”[6] The presumption is that things will be said that will seem to be worthy of despising but in fact when tested will be proved genuine. The fact that a prophetic word might seem at first to be thrown out either by reason of the person who brings it or the way it is brought means that someone is sitting there with something that has some doubt about it. I defy any person to suggest that there is ever any anointing that is beyond doubt for the person who is thinking about offering it.

On the other side of the coin we have people who are very good at collecting the style and culture of spiritual ministry, but whose pride, or other expressions of their flesh need them to be taking the microphone whenever there is an opportunity. There are people whose insecurity is somehow temporarily suspended when they offer some form of ministry to someone else. There are people who unconsciously manipulate through the proffering of something that sounds as if it is spiritual. In the Old Testament there were various modes that were taken as being prophetic.[7] We have a number of them today. What we also have is the opportunity for people to go to great lengths to reproduce the mode but have nothing from the Lord to say. There are many occasions where it doesn’t matter how many times people say, “Thus says the Lord” or how much King James language they use, the word has no effect.

Either way, the point Paul is making here is not to encourage people to be spurious, but that the church might develop an environment that valued spiritual anointing. So very often we fall foul of another “demon” here, namely the one that says we don’t like people who display greater anointing than ourselves because it might make us feel inferior. There is a huge penchant generated by our culture to be the “same as” everyone else. To have the right clothes, to use the right language, to go the right places. Every season there is a mad scramble to find our these things and fashion designers make sure there is plenty of encouragement to ditch what was “cool” last season in favour of the new thing.

In this part of the New Testament the opposite is the case. We ought to encourage different kinds of anointing so that people might be encouraged to see how they work and what they do. This is turn should provide an incentive for others to learn in a way that is almost uniquely Christian: know about it, see someone else do it, have a go at it ourselves.

The final issue is the fact that the God of heaven wants to give expression to his heart and will when Christian people meet together. The agenda of that meeting should be the agenda God sets and the setting of that agenda will never be possible when it is commandeered by one or two people no matter how anointed they might be. As we will see from the following chapters, no one knows who the Holy Spirit is going to anoint and how he is going to anoint them. Only as they respond to that anointing and offer their ministry will the agenda of God be discovered. Not that God’s agenda will be known by everyone in the meeting regarding everything God wants to do or has done, but the issue is that when people come together there ought to be anointing dynamite waiting for the person holding it to press the switch and set it off. Whenever that happens the work of God will be experienced. People will be blessed, others will see and be encouraged and others will learn.
[1]
Mt 16:3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
Mt 21:21 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.
Mk 11:23 “I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
Ac 10:20 So get up and go downstairs. Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.”
Ac 11:2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him
Ac 11:12 The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man’s house.
Ac 15:9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.
Ro 4:20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God,
Ro 14:23 But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.
1Co 4:7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?
1Co 6:5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers?
1Co 11:29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself.
1Co 11:31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.
1Co 14:29 Two or three prophets should speak, and the others should weigh carefully what is said.
Jas 1:6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
Jas 2:4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
Jude 1:9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
Jude 1:22 Be merciful to those who doubt;
[2] Presbyterians had communion cards issued only to those people who had attended church enough times. Catholic church developed the idea of going to confession and receiving absolution as a preparation for participating in the Mass. Many other churches have liturgical and moral checks to determine whether a person is worthy to participate in the Communion service.
[3] Here are the NT references for the use of this word:
Ac 5:17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.
Ac 15:5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”
Ac 24:5 “We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect
Ac 24:14 However, I admit that I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that agrees with the Law and that is written in the Prophets,
Ac 26:5 They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that according to the strictest sect of our religion, I lived as a Pharisee.
Ac 28:22 But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.”
Gal 5:20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
2Pe 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves
[4] E.g. the word, “sanction” (The king gave his sanction; They imposed sanctions on the warring parties).
[5] 2 Corinthians 10:18
[6] First Thessalonians 5:19-22
[7] 1 Samuel 10:9-11