I'm going to preach this morning
out of 1 Corinthians 11, but I want us to turn to Ephesians
chapter 5 for our Scripture reading. Ephesians chapter 5. I want to
pick up the last verse from chapter 4 and read a few verses from
chapter 5. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's sake, hath
forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers of
God, as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath
loved us, and hath given himself for us, and offering a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling savour, But fornication and all uncleanness
and covetousness, let it not be once named among you as becometh
saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting,
that is, inconvenient jokes, which are not convenient, but
rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger,
nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath
any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." Now that's
not saying that these things are not forgivable. What he's
talking about here is men and women who continue in them. This
is the tenor of their life. They just continue on as they
were. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because
of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers
with them, for you were sometimes darkness, but now are you light
in the Lord. Walk as children of the light. I invite you to turn with me
to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Hold your place there and let
me make some comments. In Paul's closing statement in
chapter 10, he says, give no offense, neither to the Jews,
nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God. Give no offense. Even as I please all men in all
things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of many, that
they may be saved. We are, as a church, as a body
of believers, Our Lord said, a light set on a hill. That's what, what's your function
in this world? I'm a light. I'm a light. I'm building a new home. I've
got doors in there. I have a furnace in there. I
have a sink, bathrooms, but I have a light. Every room has to have
a light. Can't function in a house without
light. You have to have light. He said,
that's why we're here. We're a light. You're a light,
he said, set on a hill. Not hid under a basket, not hid
out in a corner somewhere, but on a hill. I made you a light
to be seen. I made you a light to give light. You are the light, he said, of
the world. A world blinded by greed and
covetousness and self-righteousness and pride. A world deceived by
false religion, convinced that they're saved. They don't need
saved. I am saved. I don't know how
many people told me that. A world alienated from the life
of God through the ignorance that's in them. A world walking
in the vanity of their minds. And God has established his church
in this world for the salvation of God's elect. Who are they? His elect are a people that he
chose in Christ out of every nation, every tribe, every tongue,
and every people under heaven. Who are they? I don't know. I
know where they come from. They're a cross-section of all
humanity. All humanity. From the highest
to the lowest. From the wisest to the most ignorant. Look unto me, saith the Lord. Now listen, all ye ends of the
world. All of you. All of you. Nobody exempt from hearing this. Look unto me. Look unto me, all
ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved. Salvation is the result
of looking. You look and live. If you're here today and you believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, you're here as an embassy in this world. That is the headquarters of the
ambassadors of God in a foreign land. where an embassy, the church
is. His church is an embassy in this
present evil world. And his ambassadors are chosen
by him because they're familiar with the customs. Isn't that
why we send a certain ambassador to a certain country? He's familiar
with their customs and he speaks their language. What would you
do this morning if God spoke? Our Lord said that to Nicodemus.
Nicodemus, he was a master theologian recognized by the Jews. And the
Lord's talking to him in simple terms about being born again.
And he said, well, I just know this is a smart aleck. Because
what it is, I've dealt with too many of them. Intellectuals.
And he's standing there. Are you saying I have to crawl
back in my mother's womb and be born again? He said, Nicodemus,
I'm talking to you on earthly terms. What would you do if I talked
to you on Heavenly time? Art thou a master in Israel?
And knowest not these things? He picks his ambassadors
because they're familiar with the customs. I know how men think. I know what men do. I was raised
among them. And I speak their language. I
speak their language. His church is an embassy. And Paul is talking about becoming
all things to all men that by all means he might save some. He might save some. I am here,
he said, for the profit of many that they may be saved. Somebody
is going to be saved. And those that God intends to
save, He's going to save them in spite of themselves, and He's
going to do it through certain means that He's ordained, and
those means are ambassadors. God's church has been given the
high privilege to be fellow laborers with God. We're assisting Him. I hate to even use that word,
but that's exactly what it is. We're assisting him in whatever
way he wills to the calling out of his beloved church. That's
what we're doing. That's what we're doing. And I say it's a privilege because
we're not a necessity to God. Don't you listen to me. The Pharisees gloried in Abraham,
didn't they? If it wasn't for Abraham, there
wouldn't be an Israel. that gloryed in Abraham. And
John the Baptist said to the Pharisees, Think not to yourselves,
we have Abraham thy our father. For I say unto you, that God's
able these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Abraham's
not the necessity. God is the necessity. Christ
is the necessity. Abraham was just the means. He's
just the means. And preaching is a necessity,
not because God needs it or needs our help, but because it pleased
Him to do it that way. And therefore it's a privilege,
not something He has to force us to do. It's something when
He gives you knowledge that you desire to do. Listen to this. In the wisdom
of God, we're talking about God's wisdom now, not ours, not what
seems right to us, but what is right to Him. In the wisdom of
God, the world, by wisdom, knew not God. But it pleased God, through the
foolishness of preaching, to save them that believe. God has left his church in this
world to further glorify his great name in the preaching of
the gospel and the calling out of chosen sinners, giving them
power to become sons of God, even to those that believe on
his name. And to do this work, a certain
standard of behavior is called for. As a pastor, I'll deal with myself
first, as a pastor or evangelist, You cannot be a novice. You just
can't be a novice. Paul said, let a novice take
office as a pastor and he'll be lifted up in pride and fall
in the condemnation of the devil. I've seen this so many times
in my lifetime. He must be a man given to hospitality. God's going to make him hospitable.
Whatever he goes through in his life is going to leave him hospitable. You need a place to stay? I have
a bed. You hungry? I'll rustle something
up to you. He's hospitable. He's to have
but one wife, and that's talking about one wife at a time. He must be sober. That don't mean
that he doesn't drink. That sober means he's aware of
what's going on. Must be a man of good behavior,
vigilant, not given to wine, he's not a drunk, not a man ready
to fight. Lord knows that man had the,
he had the gumption to do it, Paul did, but he wasn't a, he
didn't fist fight anybody. He wasn't prone to fight, not
greedy of money or possessions, not covetous, one who rules his
own house well, one having his children in subjection with all
gravity, and a good report of them that are without. They call
and check on him. But behavior is not just required
in pastors and deacons. Behavior is also commanded in
the church. And it's a part of that pastor's
duty as a pastor to preach these things. Listen to this, 1 Timothy
3 verse 15. Paul said, But if thou carry
long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself
in the house of God. There's a way to behave yourself
in God's house. What's God's house? That's His
church. You're not just talking about in this building, though
that's incorporated in it, but as a member of God's church,
a certain behavior is commanded of God. That thou mightest know how to
behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the
living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And the main reason
for this behavior is that we don't shame the name of our God
and the work of his Son. We don't want to bring shame
on that name. And also that we don't hinder
the work. I've had people help me build
houses that was actually a hindrance. They got in the way. They just
got in the way. That can be a novice. A novice. But we don't want to hinder the
work causing undue offense by our bad manners. That's what
he's talking about here. And by leaving a bad taste in
their mouth as they who look on those who are preaching this
gospel and professing this faith not really seeing much difference
in those who say they have faith and those who don't. I don't
see much of a difference. We don't want to do that. We
don't want to do that. Behaviors commanded in all that
believe. Listen to this, 1 Peter 2 verse
11. Dearly beloved, these are not
people that that were just names in a book or names on a roll.
These were people that he had met, had confidence in, who professed
faith in Christ and whom this apostle cared for and loved for
Christ's sake. Dearly beloved, I beseech you
as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts which war
against the soul. Having your conversation, that
is the expression of your faith, your life, your religion, honest,
among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak evil against you as
evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold,
glorify God in the day of visitation." Either when God visits them with
the gospel in sincerity, when He visits them affectually, that
might be a better word than sincerity, when He visits them affectually, or maybe even in that day of
judgment. All things are going to be brought to light then. Submit yourselves to every ordinance
of man for the Lord's sake. If the sign says stop, stop.
Why do I want to stop? Well, stop for the Lord's sake. People looking on. And he's talking
about whether it be for the king, or supreme, or under governors,
or those that are sent by him. for the punishment of evildoers
and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of
God that with well-doing you may put to silence the ignorance
of foolish men. You take away those fiery darts out of
their mouth and they're made to appear foolish by your good
works. Paul's talking about our service
and our behavior in doing it for the salvation of God's elect.
Now, there are three things necessary to know in order to be submissive, submissive to, and in order to
walk before God and before this unbelieving world. Three headaches. Everything else comes under those
three headaches. These are the main things. 1 Corinthians chapter
11, here's my text, verse 3. I would have you know. What you
talking about? Talking about your behavior.
Talking about how you talk, how you walk, how you pay your bills,
how you mow your grass. Talking about how you live in
this present evil world. I would have you to know that
the head of every man is Christ. Let that sink in. That the head of the woman is
man, and that the head of Christ is God. All godly behavior is based on
an experiential knowledge of these three things, these three
heads. So let's look at these three
things and see if the Lord will teach us something about our
conduct in this present evil world. First of all, Paul would
have us all to know that Christ is the head of every man. And
this headship has a two-fold application. First, as he is
the head over all men, without exception, all men. As God's
eternal mediator, all things are trusted into his hands. salvation
and judgment. No man liveth to himself and
no man dieth to himself. Whether we live, we live unto
the Lord. Whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Nobody is going to die. Not a
sparrow is going to fall to the ground without your Father. And the Father has trusted all
things into the hands of His Son. My Father worketh hitherto,
He said, and I worketh. His seat is on the throne. It's not Jesus in the manger.
It's not little boy Jesus riding on the wagon. It's Christ on
the throne. He's Lord. He's Lord. That's His title. He's Lord.
He's the blessed and only potentate. He's King of kings and Lord of
lords. The heart of the king is in the
hand of the Lord. He's king of kings. Lord of lords. That heart's in his hand. He
can turn it this way, or he can turn it that way. Just like he
does the rivers and waters. He's the Lord of the dead and
the living. In him, Paul said, dwelleth all the fullness of
the Godhead bodily, and you're complete in him. Now listen,
who is the head of all principality and power. Nobody but the head
could command a spirit to leave a person. Good day. He's Lord. He's Lord. That's how, when those devils
that possessed those men, when they saw him coming, they said,
what have we got to do with thee, Lord? He's Lord. He's Lord of the devils. He's
Lord of this ungodly world. All power in heaven and earth
been given unto me. Go ye therefore and preach my
gospel. You leave everything else in my hands because that's
where it's at anyway. You go preach. Well, I got no
guaranteed income. What's that got to do with it? Huh? I don't know where my next
paycheck's coming from. I do, if you're in the Lord.
That's where your last one comes from, you just didn't acknowledge
it. All power in heaven and earth
given unto me, go ye therefore and preach the gospel. There's
nothing in this world that's not under his authority and under
his government, under his rule. All government, it said, is upon
his shoulders. He's the head of every man. And
secondly, He's the head of His body, the church. Every chosen
man, every elect soul, every sinner saved by grace is under
their head, represented by Him. Think of the glory and the peace
and rest. Think of the grace and mercy
and love. Think of the power and authority and might of this
man. Your head. Go ahead. The head of every man is Christ. Is that going to affect the way
you walk? You bet it will. Yeah, when you find out you ain't
in charge, oh man, I guarantee you, you start to think differently,
start to act differently. All right, here's the next thing
we need to know. The head of the woman is man. Why? Well, he's the head of the woman
by order of creation. That's what Paul said in his
pastoral epistle to Timothy. He said man was first created. He was first born, then evil. Well, what's that got to do with
his headship? Well, man was created first because
he was purposed to be a federal head. Head of what? Of all humanity. That's a pretty good office,
isn't it? I'll tell you how much responsibility
that office held. God brought all the creatures
from the world and had him name them. Oh, this was a man. He's a feral head. Like a forest is in an acre,
all humanity is in this man. As the grass, herbs, and fruit
trees all had within them a seed to produce after their kind,
so Adam had in him such a seed. Were it not for the headship
of Christ, There'd be no reason for humanity, would there? Think about it. We were chosen
in Him. He's the head. Were it not for the headship
of Christ, there'd be no reason for humanity to be. They were
all created for Him. He was the firstborn of all creation. And Adam, in this role as federal
head, is a type of Christ. Now I don't know if you've ever
picked up on it, but over in Romans chapter 5, verse 14, you
need to read that when you get home and give it some thought.
He's talking about sin having entered into this world by one
man. And that sin passed upon all
men for the vows of sin. And this sin, this death by sin
that came into the world, it was upon men before the law. Long before the law. Now listen
to this, verse 14. Because of Adam's headship, death
reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned
after the similitude of Adam's transgression. Now I don't want
to get into a big long explanation, but that's talking about infant
children. Even infant children died. Even small children died. This death reigns. And he said,
who is the figure of him that was to come? How is he a figure
in his headship? Read about 1 Corinthians 15.
As in Adam, all die. Even so in Christ, they'll all
be made alive. They're both feral heathens. A man is head of a woman. Because of that, his purpose
in creation was to be a federal head. She's to be a picture of
the church, Christ and His church. And man's head over the woman
as she was made from Him and for Him and presented to Him. Read about it back in the book
of Genesis. Believers have their being, their union, their hope
of a blessed family in Christ, and they're taken from Him. They're
taken for Him and they're presented to Him, are they not? And being presented to Him by
His Father, He loves them forever. There's a wonderful scripture
verse concerning man and woman in their place in creation and
in the church here in 1 Corinthians 11. Look down at verse 11. Neither is the man without the
woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. That is, as they were purposed
of the Lord. For as the woman is of the man,
even so is the man also by the woman. But all things of God. You see, there was first Christ
and then creation. First Christ and then his bride. She was taken from him. But when
the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son
made of a woman. He's by her. You see what I'm
saying? So this headship has to do with
type and symbol. Everything created was created
by him and for him. It's to point us to him. It's
to show, it's to teach, it's part of that light coming from
God. And this headship is typical. It's typical. This woman is of the man and
the man is by the woman. The man is head of the woman,
not being deceived in the transgression in the garden. I don't have to
go into a long talk about that. We're the ones guilty of the
transgression, not Christ. Christ has made sin for us. May
God give us some understanding concerning our gender and teach
us to walk accordingly. What it is we're trying to do
is not prove to ourselves who we are. What we're trying to
do is shed light by the way we act and by the way we walk. and
by our attitude in this world. You can't do that until you understand
what it's all about. And then lastly, the head of
Christ is God. Turn with me over to Ephesians
chapter 1. Now this is not talking about
the Son of God as to his divinity. Scripture said he thought it
not robbery to be equal with God. The Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit are one. We believe in a trinity of persons,
yet one God. And here in 1 Corinthians 11,
the Apostle is talking about Christ, the God-man mediator,
Christ come into the flesh, Christ our head, and our representative. I look here in Ephesians 1 through
8. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now
there's no other sense, no other sense in which God the Father
can be called the God of the Son except as mediator. No other way. Because He's equal
with God. He's equal with God. And He thought
it not robbery that He was. He's equal with God. The Spirit's equal with God.
When we talk about the Spirit or the Son or the Father, We
are talking about one God. God the Son is eternal in His
existence. It says, In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The
same was in the beginning with God. God the Son was not begotten
of God the Father. The Christ was begotten of God. As the Christ, as the mediator
between God and men, the Word was made flesh and dwelt among
us. As the promised Redeemer, He
was begotten of God. God the Father is the God and
Father. of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that seed mystically put into the womb of the Virgin was one
of a kind. There's no word in any language
to even express it. So the Spirit says, that which
was conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. Mary said, House of this beast,
saying, I know not a man. And the angel answered and said
unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power
of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also, now listen,
that holy thing, what else are you going to call it? There is
no word for it. That holy thing which shall be
born of thee shall be called the Son of God. His name shall be Immanuel, God
with us. God is man and one glorious person. And as the promised seed in our
federal head, God is his God and his Father. And only in that
respect can he be called our God and our Father. It's through
this arrangement that we're considered sons of God, blessed of God,
heirs of God. Having predestinated us, listen
to this, unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ Himself. No other way you can be a child
of God. See that arrangement? The head of Christ is God. Peter was so far as to say it's
by Him that we believe in God. There's no believing in God apart
from Christ. It's by Him that we believe in
God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, that
our faith and hope might be in God. Into Thy hands I commit
my spirit. Whose hands? His Father's. His Father's. This whole thing of salvation
is of God and through His Son and by His Spirit. And the coming
and appearance of Christ in this world is a manifestation of the
purpose and will of God. He said in the volume of the
book, it's written of me. I come to do thy will, O God. He's God. The whole of the Old Testament
scriptures, including the law, are filled with prophecies and
pictures and types of the coming Redeemer. They were figures for
the time then present. Patterns of things in heaven,
shadows of good things to come. When he came, his coming said
this, I come to do thy will, O God. By the which will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
God is the God and Father of Christ, and as such, his head. And as such, our God and our
Father in Christ, our head. is born understanding these things. These things. Christ is our head
and the head over every man. And the man being the head of
the woman and God being the head of Christ. He came to do His
will. The accomplishing of His will
is what gifts us with gifts from our Father. May the Lord be pleased
to teach this poor sinner his place. What can I do? I know that He's
left me here on purpose. I know that there's nothing I
can do beyond what has been done to make me fit for glory. I'm
as righteous as I'm ever going to get in Christ. I'm as holy
as I'm ever going to get in that salvation by God. So why am I
still here? I'm here to be a light. I'm here
to be a light. What's this light going to show?
It's going to show who's the head. Who's the head? And everything, not just what
Christ did in eternity, not just his appointments and all of these
things, but everything about the salvation of the sinner is
a light to light up and show us who's head, show us who God
is. He's head. Oh, may the Lord teach
this sinner his place.