All right, if you wish to follow
along I do welcome all those who may be with us on live stream
again Numbers chapter 30 Numbers chapter
30 and lest I forget when I am done I think and I'm very thankful
to the Lord for the food that we are going to partake of here
in just a little bit but let us partake of this food first. Numbers chapter 30, I do want
to read this chapter. Numbers 30, and Moses spake unto
the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel. Now let
me stop and say I gave most of you my title for this morning.
And my title was this, God ordained headship. While the word is only
mentioned one, that is head, we see that headship is first
declared in this chapter. Moses speaking to the heads of
the tribes concerning the children of Israel saying, this is the
thing which the Lord hath commanded. If a man vow a vow unto the Lord
or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not
break his word. He shall do according to all
that proceedeth out of his mouth. So much so that you remember
the vow that was at Jephthah made? that because of the great
victory God had given him, he said, whatever comes out of my
house first, I will offer it unto the Lord. And guess who
it was? His only daughter. And guess
what he did? He offered her to the Lord. That's
how important this was under the legal economy. If a woman
also vow unto the Lord, and bind herself by a bond, being in her
father's house in her youth, and her father hear her vow,
and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father
shall hold his peace at her, that is he says nothing about
it, then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she
hath bound her soul shall stand. but of her father, that is the
head. That is the head. But if the
father disallow her in the day that he heareth, not any of her
vows or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul shall
stand, and the Lord shall forgive her because her father disallowed
her. And if she had at all an husband,
when she vowed or uttered aught out of her lips, Wherewith she bound her soul,
and her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the
day that he heard it, then her vow shall stand, and her bonds
wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband
disallowed her on the day that he heard it, then he shall make
her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her
lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect, and the
Lord shall forgive her." The whole implication here is that
some people would make rash vows. This is not just a father or
a husband being overbearing, but knowing that a vow's been
made that was not a good vow. You can see that even in the
Hebrew words clearer. But, verse nine, but every vow
of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have
bound their souls, shall stand against her. And if she vowed
in her husband's house, Of course, before they were divorced or
she was widowed. And if she vowed in her husband's
house or bound her soul by a bond with an oath and her husband
heard it and held his peace at her and disallowed her not, then
all her vows shall stand and every bond wherewith she hath
bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband hath utterly
made them void on the day he heard them, then whatsoever proceeded
out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning the bond of
her soul shall not stand. Her husband hath made them void,
and the Lord shall forgive her every vow. and every binding
oath to afflict the soul. Her husband may establish it
or her husband may make it void. That is headship. But if her
husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day, that
is he can't change his mind later on. When the vows made and the
day heard it, he had to make the decision then. And if he
didn't make the decision the day he heard it, he had to keep
his mouth shut. But if her husband altogether
hold his peace at her from day to day, then he established all
her vows or all her bonds which are upon her. He confirmeth them
because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard
them. But if he shall any ways make
them void after that he hath heard them, then he shall bear
her iniquity. These are the statutes which
the Lord commanded Moses between a man and his wife, between the
father and his daughter, being yet in her youth in her father's
house. Now if all I gave you was a historical
explanation of this law and its do's and don'ts, I will have
said nothing to you. What I must do this morning,
if I am to be true to your souls, is to speak to you the truth
of God as it is in Christ Jesus, which is typified in these commands. So then, what is a vow or an
oath? It is to promise toward God. It is to swear toward God. It is to pledge or to purpose
in heart and mind and will toward God, whether the vow or the oath
was rash or whether it was honorable. Why the father or the husband
objection or no objection clauses? Because of headship. because
of headship. Someone may say, what is headship? It means one with the chief rank. That's what it means. One with
chief rank. In other words, we've often heard,
especially in military circles, you will hear the ranking officer. That means the head honcho. My title today, as I told you,
is God-ordained headship. And I want to give you six, I
wrote it down, six gospel lessons, but maybe I should change that
and say six lessons from the gospel or from the truth of scripture
as illustrated in our text. But first, let me just say that
according to God's ordained order, headship is clear. I will not and by God's grace
would not ever debate this with anyone. And those who would disagree
with me would not disagree with me, but they disagree with God. God has ordained headship. First Corinthians chapter 11,
be ye followers of me even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise
you, brethren, brethren, that ye remember me in all things
and keep the ordinances as I have delivered them unto 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. I left out one thing, period. Period. Now someone says, but Pastor,
most people dislike headship. No, they don't. No, they don't. We have unit heads, we have head
managers, we have head nurses, and you could go on and on and
on with all kinds of headship that mankind has established
among himself and themselves. No, they hate God's headship. They hate God's ordained order
of headship. Man is perfectly fine with headship
and women are perfectly fine with headship if they get to
be the head. And there are men who would read
the very verses I just read to you and glory in their headship. Headship means you're responsible.
That's what it means. Headship means you, you know,
the buck stops here. That's what it means. So I ask
you, do you recall it, God's ordained headship? That is the question. Now here's
my first lesson, here's number one. Those absent headship stand on
their own. If you don't have a head, you
stand before God on your own. Verse nine is quite clear. But
every vow of a widow or of her that is divorced, what is that?
That is a woman, two different kinds of women who have no head,
right? That's what it's talking about.
And every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith
they shall have bound their souls, shall stand against her. I'm glad for what Paul said in
Philippians three and verse nine. Let me read that to you, because
I know I will misquote it. Philippians chapter three and
verse nine, he speaks these words, and be found in Christ. not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ. Not even faith in Christ, though
that is connected with the faith of Christ. But this says, not
having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that,
that is that righteousness, which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God, by faith. I will say this,
I am glad to have a head. I am glad to have someone stand
in the gap for me. I am glad to have someone make
the ultimate decisions because if God Almighty holds me to my
word, I will perish forever. Colossians chapter two and verse
10, the Apostle Paul puts it this way, and ye are complete
in him which is the head of all principality and power. Now I say to every man, woman,
boy or girl on the face of this earth that Jesus Christ is your
head whether you like it or not. Whether you know it or not, Jesus
Christ reigns over you and he makes the decisions. All of your
choices that you make are but dust and ashes in God's sight. And when God gives us our way, Now what do you think I'm going
to say next? Calamity's going to fall. Maybe not. You remember what Bruce Crabtree
said here one time in a meeting we had in one of our conferences?
All God's got to do to let a man or woman go to hell is just give
them a good job. Give them a nice spouse. Give
them clothes on their back and food in their belly and shelter
over their head. Give them a nice job and a nice
car and a nice boat and just keep that going on in smooth
sailing and they'll die without Jesus Christ and perish in hell. Men think that God is up in heaven,
immediately executed judgment against all unrighteousness,
therefore if nothing bad happens, it must be okay. And that just
is not so. You don't really want to be without
a head. Yet most prefer to be without
a head. Here's the second lesson. The
father or the husband, that's the head. had no possibility
of objection. Their vow stood. They had no
head. Do you see what's by this law?
They had no head. If a father or a husband made
a vow, God held them to it. Hmm, you see it in verse two? If a man vow a vow unto the Lord
or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not
break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of
his mouth. And the book of God says it's
better not to even make a vow than after you've made the vow
to break that vow. And yet religion is trying to
force upon men and women constant vows and oaths toward God. You
come forward and tell God all that you're gonna do for Him.
You best be careful. And you walk these aisles and
you pray these prayers and you make all these pledges and promises
to God, and God Almighty might well hold you to those things.
Someone says, well, preacher, I want to be saved, but I'm not
going to bow to headship. You will bow to headship or you
will perish. You know, A person might say,
well, I'm not gonna be baptized. You'll be baptized or you'll
perish if you make that an issue. Baptism doesn't justify you,
but you don't rebel against God. You don't tell God what you will
and what you will not do. Could Jordan actually, could
the waters of Jordan actually cure leprosy? If they could,
all the lepers would be going to the River Jordan. But what's
the one thing God told Naaman, that old Gentile leper, to do?
Go wash in that dirty River Jordan. And he said, I will not do that.
He made it a point. He made it a point of rebellion.
He made it a point of resisting the headship of God Almighty.
And he eventually, by God's grace, what happened to him? That old
proud rebel found himself down there dipping in that River Jordan,
did he not? Like one old preacher, old L.R.
Shelton, one time he was, I heard the story, I didn't hear it,
of course. The story, the guy wanted to be baptized, and of
course, Shelton talked to him a little bit, and he said, all
right, well, let's go be baptized. Well, they went to the water, and the fellow
pulled his billfold out and laid it up on a table that was there
by the water. Shelton grabbed it, stuck it
back in his pocket, and said, well, I'm gonna baptize all of you,
or I ain't baptizing none of it. Because your pocketbook's going
under the water with the rest of you. Why? Because the man's
billfold had to be baptized? No, he was making a point to
this fellow. You submitted all to Christ or you submit nothing
to Christ. And that's just the way it is. Too many people have
walked into this place and made professions and I'm ashamed some
of them are baptized. But you have to take people at
their word. You have to take people at their word. So you
do it. So you do it. So you do it. But then they turn their back
on God. Because they make something, an issue with God Almighty's
headship. God will rule over you or you
will perish. You will perish. Listen to Hebrews
chapter six. Now remember what I said, the
father and the husband, the head, they were bound by their oaths.
There was no possibility of disallowance, right? Well who is the father
and the husband? but God Almighty in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we read in Hebrews chapter
six these words, verse 13, for when God made promise, see it? Made promise to Abraham because
he could swear, do you see it? That's the oath. A vow, because
he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself, saying,
surely, blessing, I will bless thee. And multiplying, I will
multiply thee. And so after that he had patiently
endured, that is Abraham, did, he obtained the promise. For
men verily swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation
is to them an end of all strife, wherein God, willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability." Do you see
that? That means it cannot change. It don't just mean it's really
strong and probably won't change, it means it cannot change. that
by two immutable things in which it was, wherein God willing more
abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of
his counsel, what did he do? He confirmed it by a oath, by
a vow, by a pledge, by a promise, do you see it? Heart, mind, and
will. And God swore it by himself,
that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for
God to lie, we might have strong consolation if we're one of the
elect. Is that what it says? No, it
does not. Though that is true. Though that
is true. But election itself is not it. Look! And I tell you, don't conform
the book to your Calvinism. Conform your Calvinism to the
book. That by two immutable things
in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong
consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope
set before us. It's a hope that's steadfast
and sure and it's a person, Jesus Christ the Lord. So if you flee
to Christ, that means you're fleeing from something else.
Right? You know what that something
else is? Self. Ego. Me, me, me. God's not gonna take you into
heaven with Jesus. He gonna take you into heaven
underneath Jesus Christ. Subservient to him. Bowing down
to his headship and all things. Turn to Isaiah chapter 45 though. I like this one Isaiah chapter
45 we talk about God's oath now God vowing something Isaiah 45
listen to what God says Isaiah 45 verse 23 I have sworn by myself. You see that? This
is God speaking. I have sworn by myself the word
is gone out of my mouth in righteousness and he is the father and the
husband. It's gone out of my mouth in
righteousness and shall not return that unto me every knee shall
bow, every tongue shall swear. Surely shall one say, in the
Lord have I righteousness and strength. And somebody says,
well, that's the believer. No, it's not. This is the head. Look what it says. Surely shall
one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Even to him shall
men come. There's true strength. There's
true righteousness. And even Christ as a man His
righteousness was what? Of God. It's of God. Look at it. Surely shall one
say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. One shall say it,
even to him shall men come, and all that are incensed against
him shall be ashamed. In the Lord shall all the seed
of Israel be justified and shall glory. I want to be one of those
folks. Don't you? Don't you? Here's the third lesson. The
husband bore the iniquity of the wife if he did not object
at first knowledge and make void a rash vow. Right? Now listen to me. The husband
bore the iniquity of the wife if he did not object at first
knowledge and void a rash vow. Did God stop our daddy Adam from
eating of the fruit in the garden? Has God stopped you on your mad
course of rebellion and self? No. Not until he by grace conquers
your heart, mind, and soul and brings you out of yourself and
puts something else in you, his spirit, and you bow to his son. And his son bore your iniquity. Remember verse 13, what does
it say? Every vow and every binding oath
to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband
may avoid it. And I'm here to tell you, I know
people don't like this, but God was not trying to warn Adam not
to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He was telling
him he was going to, and the day that he ate it, he would
surely die. That's what God said. He said,
in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. He let man make his own vow and
his own oath, and Adam plunged the whole human race into corruption
and darkness. But that was God showing us the
commandment of the oath even before the commandment of the
oath ever came around through Moses. Mm. God did not void Adam's fall
nor our corruption. Our husband suffered our rash
vow or our rash vows. Our vow is our corrupt state.
Our vows are our corrupt actions. And thus he bore our crimes before
God. And Paul read it this morning.
Here's our state, 1 Corinthians chapter five. We were in rebellion
against God. And God the Father made God the
Son, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. That was our state. He made Him
to be sin, not sins, but sin. That's the state. but he also
bore our sins, 1 Peter 2, 24. Sins, that's the actions that
flow from the state or the condition. He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree. And I've got to read to you what
I have wrote down in 2 Corinthians chapter five. I'm not gonna read
the passage. Well, I will read the passage,
but listen to this. For he hath made him to be sin for us who
knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him. If you wanna see this spelled
out in Christ's own words, you can read later Psalm 22, Psalm
40, and Psalm 69. But listen to me. Christ experienced
our shame, our reproach, our grief, our guilt, our sins as
his own without the sinfulness that was associated with them. Because he died the just for
the unjust. So this book declares him to
be both things at the same time when he suffered on that tree.
I don't have to explain that. God calls on me to believe that.
And that's what I believe. And I must tell you, folks, I
would rather use the words given in scripture and men dislike
what I have to say than try to find another word to make it
maybe a little more palatable. I am telling you that our husband,
our father, our head suffered our rash vow and our rash vows
and he bore our crimes before God. He became the guilty party. Guilt has been satisfied. I like
that. That's the kind of head I need.
Here's the fourth lesson. The head determines all vows.
I won't even read it, verse 13, right? The head determines all
vows. For Israel, this was faulty because
the male heads were faulty. You understand? Did you hear
what I said? For Israel, that is Israel back
then, Joe, this was faulty because the male heads were faulty. Even
believing heads today, once you get under Christ, they're faulty. Now when you've got God is the
head of Christ, there is no fault there. But when you go the next
step down to the man being the head of the woman, the man is
a faulty head. But our Lord God Almighty Jesus
Christ was not faulty. Listen to what I'm getting at.
Let me just read you some passages. And you don't have to turn to
them. Proverbs chapter 16, and you'll
know these, they'll be familiar. Proverbs 16 verse nine, a man's
heart deviseth his way. But, and we ought to thank God
for that three letter word. How often has your heart devised
your way? But the Lord directeth his steps. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? Well, I want my way. No, you
really don't. I wish to God I could make you
believe that and see that. You don't. I will forget that
and tomorrow I will demand my way somewhere or another. But
thank God, a man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth
his steps. Let me give you another one.
Chapter 19, verse 21. There are many devices in a man's
heart. Oh, isn't that so true? We get
our skivvies all twisted up over one thing, and before we even
get them untwisted, we're already twisted about a second thing,
and a third thing, and a fourth thing, and we forget about the
first thing, and it becomes the fifth thing again. This is what
we're like. There are many devices in a man's
heart, nevertheless, oh, I like that. Nevertheless, the counsel
of the Lord, that shall stand. Aren't you glad that your father
and your husband can negate your vow? Can negate your oath? Can negate your devices? He did
that legally at Calvary. But he can also do that practically
in your life. Your everyday walk is a believer. I like that. Chapter 16 again.
Verse 33, the lot is cast into the lap. And you understand what
it's talking about now, what they would do, the lot for them
was like rocks or whatever it was, and if it come up a certain
way, it was like our dice, something similar to our dice. Cast into
the lap means this, a man would sit down and fold his clothes
out and then would throw them things down in his lap. But what
it says, the lot is cast into the lap, but the whole disposing
thereof, is of the Lord. I like that. I need that. I need my father and my husband
to disavow all of my rash vows. I need him to disavow all my
rash oaths because I make them all too often. And so do you. So do you. So again, the head
determines all vows. Here's one more, Hebrews 16.
Now think about this one. Well read it, then I want you
to just mull on it as Tim James says. Verse seven of Hebrews,
of Proverbs, I'm sorry. 16, when a man's ways, and it's
ways. When a man's ways please the
Lord, He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. So I
ask you, how good have your ways seemed to be? How at peace are your enemies
with you? Come on now. About the only time
I really think my enemies are at peace with me is when I keep
my mouth shut and don't tell people what I really think or
what I really believe. Mm-hmm, and you know that's true,
too Because the first thing will happen to you at work if you
run your mouth you will find yourself in the head's office
Mm-hmm mm-hmm so my so I just I just speak what I think well
you were a fool You are really a fool because any oaths you
make you're not making them before me and you're making them before
God before God number five the head secured forgiveness for
wrong choices. Did he not? Verse five, verse
eight, and verse 12. I'm not gonna read them again.
Do I need a head? I need a head. Do you need a
head? You need a head. One who has
Chief Frank over me. One who has Chief Frank over
you. And he can disavow my vows. Again, I say, I know religion
is forcing men and women, boys and girls, to make rash vows
every Sunday, every Sunday night, every Wednesday or Thursday,
and I guess, Mason, seven days a week since it's on the internet
and TV all the time. And they are pressing upon men
to make vows before God. You best beware. Bow down to
the head. Seek his headship. The head secured
the forgiveness for wrong choices. Number six, we're already to
the end. Those who rebel against headship,
their only hope is that God in free reigning mercy and compassion,
he was their head in spite of their opposition to him. You
hear what I just said? Those who rebel against headship,
If you do this morning, your only hope is that God in free
reigning mercy and compassion, that he has ordained you a head
in spite of your opposition to that head. And you see that in
the widow and in the divorcee. But here's where it's really
at. Turn to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. I know there's
a lot of people like Romans 10 because of verse 13, rightfully
so, but many distort verse 13. Of course, verse 13, you're aware,
for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. And that don't just mean just to say Jesus saved me and
everything's fine. You gotta first hear who Jesus
Christ really is. But look at what this says. Verse
20, you don't hear too many people talking or preaching from this
one. But Esaias, or that is Isaiah, is very bold. So Joe, this ain't
a new truth. No, this is a truth as old as
God himself. And I don't even know, Mason,
if that's the way to say it or not. But Esaias is very bold and saith,
I was found of them that sought me not. I was made manifest unto
them that asked not after me. Because, folks, none of us do
by nature. We are all satisfied to make
our own vows and to hope for the best. Now are we not? By nature, we're satisfied to
make our own vows and hope for the best. Aren't you glad God
Almighty's sovereign in his mercy? Because if it was of him that
willeth and of him that runneth, none would ever be saved. None
would ever be saved. I need a head. I need a head. I need a head. What about you? Do you rejoice that you got one?
Or does it still stick in your craw? Huh? Does it still stick
in your craw? You know what irritated Pharaoh
so much? Moses kept coming back and forcing
the truth under his snots. Wasn't it? Now, Mason, Moses
could have went in one time, and God could have moved him
out of there, and God still could have brought all that he brought
upon Egypt. But he kept sending Moses back to stick the truth
right under Pharaoh's nose every time. Every time. Every time. And that was God hardening Pharaoh's
heart, and it caused Pharaoh to harden his own heart. And justly so. I don't want to be a Pharaoh.
Do you? Let me tell you something, the
more you rebel against God's truth, the harder you are becoming. Mason, would you close us in
prayer and thank God for the food, please?