First Corinthians chapter 11.
Let's read down through these verses and see what Paul is saying
here. We're going to read the first
16 verses. First Corinthians 11. He says,
Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise
you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the
ordinances as I delivered them to you. But I would have you
know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the
woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying
or prophesying having his head covered dishonoreth his head. But every woman that prayeth
or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head,
For that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman
be not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it be a shame
for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. For a man
indeed ought not to cover his head, for as much as he is the
image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of
the man. For the man is not of the woman,
but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for
the woman, but the woman for the man. For this cause ought
the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. Nevertheless,
neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without
the man in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man,
even so is the man also by the woman, but all things of God. Judge in yourselves, is it comely
that a woman pray unto God uncovered? Doth not even nature itself teach
you that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if
a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair
is given her for a covering. But if any man seem to be contentious,
we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. Now turn with me to John chapter
5. John chapter 5 and let's look
at verse 39. John 5 verse 39 says, Search the scriptures, for in
them you think, and the key word is think, in them you think you
have eternal life. And they are they which testify
of me. Now this is so important. This is so important right here.
Men and women Look at these scriptures. They look, we got these individual
verses and we just read commandments, didn't we? They look at these
scriptures and these commandments and they think, if I will obey
what it's saying, I will inherit eternal life. I'm telling you,
that's what the world thinks. What they don't realize is this.
These scriptures were not written to teach us how to earn heaven. Not since before day one. I'm the Lord, I change not. Well,
I wrote out a how-to to be saved and that didn't work, so plan
B. No. These scriptures were never
written to teach us how to inherit eternal life. I'm telling you
every soul that walks this earth until God reveals the truth to
him believes these were written so that I could obey them to
inherit eternal life. That is not so. It's not so. I'm going to tell you that when
I read just a minute ago that every man that has long hair
is a shame, every man in this room thought, now when was the
last time I got a haircut? I got to have my hair shorter. Every
one of us did. I got to obey this commandment
so I can inherit eternal life. That's not why the scriptures
were written. Every verse was written to testify of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Every single verse. To show us
His finished work and that salvation is only in Him. Every single
verse. Now look back a few pages at
Luke 24. Luke 24, look at verse 27. It says, And beginning at Moses,
Moses wrote Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he, that's the
Lord Jesus Christ, expounded unto them in all the scriptures
The things concerning himself. That's what he did. The things
concerning himself. Every word in this book was written
to reveal Christ to us. Every word to point us to Christ.
Now go with me back to 1 Corinthians 11. Now as we turn back there, let
me ask this question. Is there a physical application
to the Word of God? Is there an actual, can we read
the Word of God? Is that a commandment to us?
Absolutely. Absolutely. Look again at verse
14, doth not even nature itself teach you that if a man have
long hair it's a shame unto him? Let me ask you this, should a
man get a haircut? Sure. Yeah, I think so. I don't believe a man ought to
let his hair grow and mat up and turn into dreadlocks. I believe
verse 14 is saying a man ought to get a haircut. But I will
tell you this, if a man does get a haircut, it will not save
his soul. It will not save his soul. That's
not why the verse was written. In verse 3 we read, 1 Corinthians
11 verse 3, I would have you know that the head of every man
is Christ. And the head of the woman is
the man. Now, our Lord has placed the
man to be the head of the house. He has. He clearly has said that
in a very loving and kind and honoring and scriptural way.
And we ought to strive to be that. We ought to strive to be
what he has commanded us to be. Men, we ought to lead our wives
and our children to the Lord Jesus Christ and to his gospel. Joshua was it. He said, as for
me and my house, we're going to serve the Lord. We should. We ought to be the stability
that they need. We ought to be men. We ought
to be men. We just ought to be men. Look
at chapter 13, verse 11. Paul writes, when I was a child,
I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child. But when I became a man, I put
away childish things. I just put those things away.
We ought to be men. We ought to be men. As I was
writing this out, I was thinking about you younger men in this
congregation. And when I say younger, it's
a higher age than what you're thinking in your mind. In 20
years, you younger men, if God tarries and keeps all of us here,
in 20 years, you younger men are going to be the stability
of this congregation. Over the course of 20 years,
if God is merciful, he'll bring in sinners and he'll bring in
sinners and they'll look into these things. Now, Christ is
our stability. Christ is all our stability,
but he uses men. And I thank God for the men that
he has raised up in these wonderful congregations that have been
established for decades and decades. They've been there, they've been
stable. And we must be men. We just must be men in a kind
and loving and gentle and meek and sober way. For the ministry,
we must be men. Ladies, you should follow your
husband as he follows Christ. You should. Only if he's following
Christ. Don't follow him away from Christ.
But if he's following Christ, he's been called to be the head
of the household, and you should follow his lead. Alright, now
with all that being said let me show you something in Galatians
3. Turn with me over to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians 3, look at verse 27. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew
nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free. Now watch this part right here.
There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ
Jesus. In Christ, men have no authority
over women. In Christ, males do not have
the authority over females. We're all one. Men are not higher
in God's eyes. I've never asked one of you ladies
to come up here and read scripture and pray on behalf of the congregation.
Never. By God's grace, I never will. Men, though, are not higher in
God's eyes than women. They are not more holy. They
are not more spiritual. They are not more important.
All right? Well, then what is our text?
You know, we read this strange text, didn't we? What is our
text saying? Go with me back to 1 Corinthians
11. Verse 1 says, Paul writes, Be ye followers
of me, even as I also am of Christ. Let's get to Christ. Let's see
Christ in this. Verse 2, Now I praise you, brethren,
that you remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances as I
delivered them to you. Now he does give one of the ordinances
in this chapter. This is where he gave them the
Lord's table. And Paul spoke often about baptism, but what
he's talking about right here is all of our worship, all the
order of our worship. He's talking about the preaching,
the singing, the reading, and the praying. And he said, I praise
you, number one, because you're keeping the ordinances, you're
worshiping God. And number two, you're keeping
the ordinances and only the ordinances as I presented them to you. You're
worshiping God according to the Word of God. Verse 3, he said,
But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ,
and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ
is God. Now right there, Right there,
he gives us the key to the whole passage. That unlocks the whole
passage. Verse three, he said, I would have
you know, in everything I'm about to say, I would have you know
that the head of every man is Christ. Now listen to this. As
we go down through these verses, Every time he talks about the
man's head, that's Christ. Here's what I would have you
know. The head of every man is Christ. Alright? That's Christ. Now look at verse 3. I would
have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the
head of the woman is the man. That's us. Both male and female. Mankind. We're all one. Every time he talks about the
woman's head, that's us. And then he goes on to say, and
the head of Christ is God. Christ is the head of everything,
and Christ is God. The head of Christ, if we're
talking about Christ, we're talking about God. Verse four, every
man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth
his head. Now who's the man's head? Christ,
the altogether lovely one. The glory of God, the day star,
wisdom, righteousness, holiness. That's who he's talking about
right there. Don't cover him. Don't cover him. When you walk
into these other houses of false religion, how often do you come
out saying, I saw Christ? He said, do not cover him. Do
not hide him from men. Don't dishonor him by setting
forth anything other than his person and work. Lift him up.
Lift him up. Verse five, but every woman that
prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth her
head for that is even all one as if she were shaven. The woman's
head is man, us, his bride. If we do anything uncovered,
if we do anything uncovered, we dishonor us in an eternal
way and we dishonor Christ. Now what must we be covered with?
Christ. The blood of Christ. We must
be covered. We must cry, hide me. If we are going to pray or prophesy,
if we're going to come before God, we must cry, hide me, cover
me. Would you put me in the cliff
to the rock? We must be covered. We have to be covered. Verse
six says, for if the woman be not covered, let her also be
shorn. But if it be a shame for a woman
to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. If we don't want
to be cut down, then we better be under that blood. We better
be covered. Verse 7 says, For a man indeed
ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image
and glory of God. That's Jesus Christ. That's Christ
alone, no sinful man. You know in Genesis it says that
God made man and he was made in the image of God. But I'm
going to tell you this, when man fell, man died. And our only hope of eternal
life is to be conformed back into the image of Christ. We
lost that image. So no sinful man is the image
and glory of God. That's Christ. Verse 7 says,
it goes on to say, but the woman, and that's us, is the glory,
and that word means desire, of the man, Christ. And that's amazing. That's amazing to me. Here's
what God the Father said. He said it's not good that the
man should be alone. Doesn't that blow your mind?
Did he need us? No. He is the self-sufficient
one. Self-existing one. He doesn't
need anything. But he wanted us. He wanted us. And it's the man's desire. The woman is the desire of the
man. The woman is the glory of the man. He desires his bride, his people. Verse 8 says, For the man is
not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Adam didn't come
from Eve's rib. Eve came from Adam. Verse 9 says,
Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for
the man. Christ was not created for His
bride. Now, false preachers, liars,
will stand up and tell men and women You're the important one. I'm telling you God needs you
and wants you and He wants you to do something for Him and this
is all about you. He lives every day for you and
He does. But I'm going to tell you this,
it's not all about me, it's all about Christ. And if me has any
role in it, it's only because I'm in Christ. He's the elect. I'm electing Him, right? All
of the love of God, God is love, but the only way any of that
love is coming to me is if I'm in Christ. That's the only way.
So Christ was not made for His bride, and men will stand up
and tell people, He's there and waiting for you. Pull Him out
of your back pocket and use Him. That is just not so. Verse 9
says, Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman
for the man. The bride was created for Him. Now, we, we, just, just
listen to this, okay? Don't turn. This is Colossians
1. This says that by Him were all things created
by the Lord Jesus Christ that are in heaven, that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers. All things were created by him
and for him. That's why we exist. Why does man exist? You ever
heard somebody ask that question? I used to work for Home Depot,
and one of the girls that worked there asked the question, what
are we here for? And I didn't know what to say,
and I wish I did, but I didn't say a word. I'd love to find
her and tell her now. Let me tell you what we're here
for. We're here to worship Christ.
The whole reason we breathe air, the whole reason He gave us another
breath of air was to exhale praise to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the whole reason. Don't turn to Ephesians 1, but
it says, to the praise of the glory of
His grace. That's what it's all unto, wherein
He hath made us accepted in the beloved. It's all unto the praise
of His glory. We were created to serve Him
and praise Him, and it's all for His will and purpose. All
right, 1 Corinthians 11, verse 10 says, for this cause ought
the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. Now,
if you have a sinner reference in your Bible, You can see that
from the word power on it translates a covering in sign that she is
under the power of her husband. For this cause ought the woman
to have a covering in sign that she is under the power of her
husband. Whether we come into this place
with a doily on our head or not, We come into this place with
a heart that cries, I need to be covered. I want to be covered. This is my only hope. This is
the only way I come before you. It's under this covering. And Christ is my covering. And I'm gonna, we're, I'm running
behind, but I'm gonna show you this. Turn with me to first Timothy
two. First Timothy chapter 2. Everything, we're looking at
the man and the woman, everything our Lord has recorded about a
man and a woman, a husband and a wife, marriage, all of those
things are recorded to show us the relationship of Christ and
His bride, every bit of it, always. Now look at 1 Timothy 2 verse
12 it says, But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to assert
authority over the man, but to be in silence." Now, is there
a physical application to that? Yes. I just said, by God's grace,
I'm not going to ask any of you ladies to come fill in for me.
I'm going to be gone next Wednesday night. I'm not. Illustration
here. I'm going to be gone, and I need
one of you ladies to fill in, you know, who can volunteer to
preach for us. There is a physical application here. Why was this written? Was it
written so that we men can be male chauvinists? No. This is what the Lord told us
men. He said, we should think so highly of our wives and we
should love our wives to the degree that we, without thinking
about it, in a heartbeat, lay down our lives for them as Christ
did for his wife. We ought to be ready and waiting.
to serve and to think higher of her than I do of myself. And
I do. I do. I mean, she's higher than
me. So why does God make it to be
this way? Look at verse 13. It says, For Adam was first formed,
then Eve. Adam represents Christ. Eve represents
us. Verse 14, And Adam was not deceived. Do you see that? Remember the
first time I saw that. Somebody was preaching to me
the first time I saw that. You talk about a light bulb moment.
Adam was not deceived. Back in that garden, Adam was
not deceived. When he took that fruit, he knew
what he was doing. He knew the minute he laid hold
of that fruit, he knew in his mind and in his heart, I'm going
to die. He knew he was. God said he was.
He believed God. He took it willingly. Verse 14
says, Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived
was in the transgression. She was the one who sinned. Adam
took her sin upon himself willingly. And we, his bride, are the ones
who sinned against God. The Lord Jesus Christ was a sinless
man. He never sinned against God.
Never. We're the ones who sinned against God. And Christ had to
stand on our behalf. So that's why the Lord has ordained
these things to be the way they are. It's to show us Christ.
All right, back to the text. First Corinthians 11. Verse 11 says, nevertheless,
neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without
the man in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man,
even so is the man also by the woman, but all things of God. No woman would be here without
a man. That's what he's saying. But no man would be here without
being carried for nine months by a woman. Paul is saying the
Lord has ordained this role for men and women. Nevertheless,
in Christ, we're all one. We're all one. Christ is the
great one. The one great one. He is the
head of all. We're subject to him. And religious
men who have absolutely missed Christ. I mean absolutely missed
Christ. They're ignorant. They're foolish.
They're lost. They're self-righteous. They're
prideful. They read what we read a minute
ago in verse 3, that the man is the head of the woman. And
they look straight at their wife and say, you better submit to
me. If Christ had said that to us,
do you think we could have? You think we would have had the
ability to? That's what the law says. You better submit to me. Can't do it. Can't do it. So this is in no way, what all
this is saying here is in no way a license for any man to
be a tyrant and in an oppressive way rule his house. Our Lord
rules over us, but he does not oppress us. He set us free. You're free. He said the gates
are never going to be shut again. Come and go as you please. He
has lovingly called us his friend. He has given us all that he has
and all that he is. He made us to be a joint heir
with him and that ought to be the dynamic between a husband
and a wife. That house ought to be a place
of freedom, absolute freedom, not oppression. They ought to
be friends. True friends. They ought to give
all to each other. That's what Christ did for us.
Verse 13 says, Judge in yourselves, is it comely that a woman pray
unto God uncovered? Is it wise? Would we dare come
before God without a covering? Verse 14, Doth not even nature
itself teach you that if a man have long hair, it's a shame
unto him? Again, these are not just instructions for the barbershop. And the proof of that is in this. You'll hear throughout the scriptures
of a Nazirite. A Nazirite was one who took a
vow. Paul took that vow of a Nazirite.
And it was a man who was set apart for absolute worship to
God. Only worship to God. Samson was
a Nazirite. John the Baptist was a Nazirite.
All his days he was a Nazirite. Now part of that vow was you
could not cut your hair. No razor shall come upon his
head. So in worship to God, in true holy worship to God, these
men had long hair. And if all we see in this is
the hair, we've missed Christ. We've missed Christ. And if we've
missed Christ, we've covered over his glory, haven't we? If
we've missed Christ, we've just absolutely covered over His glory.
If we don't declare the glory of Christ in everything He accomplished,
it's a shame. Oh man, it's a shame unto Him,
unto us. Verse 15 says, But if a woman
have long hair, it's a glory to her, for her hair is given
her for a covering throughout all eternity. Do you know what
my glory will be? You know what I will be so thankful
for and what I will be so happy to show God and show men? My
covering. That beautiful robe of blood
and righteousness that I get to put on and wear, which is
Christ Himself, everything He wrought for me. And verse 16
says, But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such
custom, neither the churches of God. Paul is saying if any
man argues with this and says the man must be covered and the
woman must be uncovered. He said you tell them we're not
having that argument here and neither will any of the other
churches of God. If you go to that church and
they say no he's telling it wrong. It's the flip side of that. He
said you tell them we're not having it and neither will any
of the other actual churches of God. throughout all eternity. Let Christ be glorified and let
us be covered. All right, you're dismissed.