In 1 Corinthians chapter 11,
while you're turning there, I want to let you know Rich Bird's father
passed away last week. So let's remember them in this
time. The funeral, I think, is going
to be this Tuesday. And once again, Eric and Lydia
are moving here and are going to be here in Georgetown. If
anyone can help, they'd appreciate it. Wednesday, 10 o'clock in
the morning. And Dawn has directions on how
to get there. First Corinthians chapter 11,
we're going to begin reading in verse 3 and read down through
verse 16. 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 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
are of God." Judging yourselves, is it comely that a woman pray
unto God uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach
you that if a man had long hair, it is a shame unto But if a woman
had long hair, it's a glory to her and her hair is given her
for a covering. But if any man seemed to be contentious,
we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. Now, this
is certainly not an easy passage of scripture to preach from.
I guess you could probably figure that out just by listening to
what is being said, but it's part of the Bible. Therefore,
it's of great importance. And something we need to hear
and understand. You and I need this. Now, what
is the one word that stands out in this passage of Scripture
that I just read? Did you notice the word head? That word is repeated
nine different times in this passage of Scripture. The head
is the authority. The one who calls the shots. the one whom others are subordinate
unto. In Ephesians 1, verse 22, we
read where Christ is the head of all things. All things are
subordinate to Him. We read in Colossians 2, verse
10, that Christ is the head of all principality and power, all
rule, all Power and all authority is subordinate to Him. Whatever
authority it is, whatever rule it is, whatever government it
is, I don't care what it is, all rule, all power, all authority,
wherever it is, is subordinate unto Him. He controls everything. He's the one who has authority
over authority. The Scripture says he is the
blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and the Lord of
lords. He is said in Ephesians chapter
4 verse 15, Ephesians chapter 5 verse 23, and Colossians chapter
1 verse 18, he is said to be the head of the church, and the
church is called his body. And I could say without any fear
of being wrong about this, No believer has any problem subordinating
themselves to him. You know, it's a shame that there's
in human nature of rebellion towards authority because we
only hurt ourselves when we're like that. But no believer has
any problem subordinating themselves and vowing themselves to the
authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. He truly is superior. And we
truly are his inferior. And we know that. We believe
that. And we don't have any problem
with that. We willingly bow to his absolute authority. And it's
false religion that refuses his headship. In Colossians, Chapter
2, verse 19. Let's turn there and look at
this. Colossians, Chapter 2. His headship is his rule. It's
his authority. Verse 18. Let no man beguile
you of your reward in a voluntary humility. If I volunteer to be
humble, it's not very humble, is it? It's an act. A voluntary
humility is not humility. That's phony. But he talks about
those who have a voluntary, I think I'm going to be humble here.
I think I'm going to take the load. That's so. You either,
you are humble, you don't act humble, you are humble or you're
proud, one of the two. But this voluntary humility that
he speaks of is offensive. Let no man beguile you with reward
in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels and pruning into those
things which he's not seen. He talks about things he's seen
that he hadn't seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind and not
holding the head. Not holding. The head. Now back to our text. In verse
two, we considered this last week. Let's read it once again.
First Corinthians 11 verse two, but I would have you know that
the head no first two. I'm sorry now praise your brethren
that you remember me in all things. And keep the ordinances as I
delivered them to you and He is speaking of public worship. Now, remember, the word ordinances
means a handing down. There's the handing down of men,
and we don't want to have anything to do with that. And then there's
the handing down of God, what he brings down. And what he's
talking about in the context of this passage of Scripture
is public worship. Let me show you that. As a matter
of fact, the next four chapters, he talks about Public worship,
look at verse four, five, four and five of this text, every
man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonors his
head. Now, this praying and prophesying
is something that's done publicly. Verse five, but every woman that
prayeth or prophesies with her head uncovered, dishonors her
head, for that's even all that she was shown. He's talking about
something that's done publicly. Look in verse 17 of this chapter.
Now, in this that I declare unto you, I praise you not that you
come together. He's talking about the gathering together of God's
people. You don't come together for the better, but for the worse.
And that's a solid thing to think about. He says when you gather
together, it's no benefit. It's for the worse. And he talks
about the abuses of the Lord's table. And we're going to consider
that, Lord willing, next week. And then in Chapter 12, he's
talking about the gifts of ministry. He's talking about public worship
and the gifts of the ministry. Now, look how he ends up this
spot in verse 40 of chapter 14. He's been talking about public
worship all this time, and he ends up by saying, let all things
be done decently and in order. God is a God of order and in
bowing to his order, we demonstrate respect for his authority. We demonstrate a true, willing
submission and humility and proper propriety and protocol in our
attitude toward him. Now, what do I mean by that?
Well, let me try to illustrate this. I just read that passage
of scripture where the Lord said, I'll be sanctified by all of
them that come nigh unto me. Now, what is this proper attitude
all about? Well, what I was thinking about
was, let's say, if I'm going to have an audience with the
President of the United States. I'm going to come with the proper
protocol. I'm not going to come wearing a t-shirt and shorts
and sandals. That's not the way I'm going
to come into the presence of the President of the United States. I'm going to come with fear.
I'm going to come with respect for his authority. I'm going
to come appropriately in that sense. You know, how you dress
is important. It demonstrates an attitude and
a respect for that authority. Here's another illustration,
and I'm not making a political statement about this, because
that's anathema from the pulpit. I'm not to give my political
views. But I did like Ronald Reagan.
I did. And one of the things I liked
about him, do you know that when he went into the Oval Office, he wouldn't
go in without a jacket on? And it was because of the respect
he had for that office. And I admire that. I respect
that attitude. There is a propriety, a decorum,
in coming into God's presence in worship. That's why I despise
this attitude of just come as you are. You know, in these contemporary
worship and contemporary churches, people actually come still wearing
their pajamas on Sunday morning. You know, you don't need to make
any effort about this. Just come as you are. It doesn't make any
difference. I despise that attitude. That's just not right. This is not playing games. We're
coming into the presence of Christ. And that's not a flippant thing,
is it? There is a decorum. There is
an attitude that we bring. When we come in, you know, if
you if you don't get ready physically, not putting any effort into it,
you're not getting ready spiritually either. Now, in this passage
of scripture, appearance is obviously an issue. He's talking about
the wearing of veils and not the wearing of veils and so on.
So let's let's see what he says here. Let's look in verse back
to first Corinthians 11. Verse three, 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 this is talking about God's
order. The head of every man is Christ. And the head of the woman is
the man. And this is talking about the husband and the wife.
I'm not the head of any other woman but my wife. The man is
to be the leader of the home. God has made it that way, and
if he's not being the leader, he's sinning against God. And
I dare say this, every woman wants her husband to be the leader
of the home. They want their husband to lead
in a way that's responsible and loving and gracious, and yet
being the decision maker. Every woman wants that, and for
a man to not live up to that responsibility is to sin against
God. Men, you are called upon to lead
your homes and to be the spiritual leader of your homes. A home's
in trouble when the woman's the spiritual leader. The man is
to be the spiritual leader. Now, he says the head of Christ
is God the Father. The head of Christ is God. Jesus
Christ is equal to God in me. Scripture says in Philippians
chapter 2, he thought it not robbery. He thought it not wrong. He thought it not a thing to
be grasped for and reached for, to be equal with God. Is Jesus Christ inferior to God
the Father? Absolutely not. They're equal.
He said, I and my Father are one. But he is subordinate to his
Father in function, and position. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
15, verse 24. This is talking about the Lord
Jesus. Then come at the end when he shall have delivered up the
kingdom to God, even the Father. When he shall have put down all
rule and all authority and power, for he must reign till he has
put all enemies under his feet, the last enemy that shall be
destroyed is death, for he hath put all things under his feet.
But when he sayeth all things are put under his feet, it is
manifest that he is accepted, which did put all things under
him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall
the Son, who is equal to the Father, also himself be subject
unto him that put all things under him. that God may be all
in all. Now, Christ Jesus is equal to
his father, and yet he is subordinate to his father, and he subordinates
himself to his father. And that gives us some idea of
the relationship between men and women, the husband and the
wife. Men and women are equal in person. Now, they are certainly
different. And I haven't figured out the
differences yet. I mean, there's so much stuff that I just don't
understand, but that's all right. You've heard of that book, Women
are from Venus and Men are from Mars. Anybody ever heard of that
book? It's interesting, and there's a lot of truth to the differences
between the sexes. I like what Bruce Daly, my dear
friend down in Crossville, Tennessee, he said, he said, women aren't
like other people. I can see that. I know you men
can see it. But at any rate, that's enough
of that, I guess. The point I want to make is men
are not more intelligent. They're not more spiritual. They're
not better. They're not more important in
the kingdom of God. As a matter of fact, I can say
this with full conviction. I can look at my wife and I can
esteem her as better than myself. And the reason I esteem her as
better than myself is because she is better than me. That's
why I don't have any problem with that. So when we're talking
about a man being the head of the woman, it's not him being
some kind of monster over her or some kind of slave driver.
You do what I... I tried that a lot when I was
It's amazing the kind of stuff I tried when we first got married.
I can remember getting in the living space, woman, submit. You don't have any choice. I'd
really try to show her my authority and so on, and boy, it doesn't
work, let me tell you. But that's just foolish to say
that. Maybe some of you men have tried
that before. You only submit because you want
to, don't you? You can't force somebody, if it's for submission,
it's not submission. The only way you can submit is
if you actually want to do it. So when we talk about the relationship
between a husband and wife, or husband being the head, the husband
being the authority, this thing of headship is a thing of responsibility,
of love, of graciousness, of thoughtfulness, of kindness,
That's the kind of headship the scripture's talking about, that
the man is to be the leader. That doesn't mean he's smarter
than the woman. It doesn't mean he's more important than the
woman. He's not. He's not. You know, in Christ, there is
neither male nor female. Let me show you this in scripture.
Turn to Galatians chapter three. You know the roles of male and
female will be abolished in glory. There won't be males and females.
The Lord tells us that all will be at the angels of God. This
whole role of male and female, husband and wife. Christ is the
husband. The bride is the wife. And there
won't be these roles that we see now. But look what Galatians
chapter 3 verse 27 says. 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. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ
Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are
ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Christ
is all. In function and rule, Men and
women are not equal. That's God's order. The man is the head of the woman. And let me repeat this. I dare
say, I don't have any doubt about it, that every woman wants their
husband to lead. Now, they may kick against it.
The flesh may rebel against authority, but every woman truly wants her
husband to lead them. I mean in the right way. in the
right way, and if the husband is not doing this, the woman
is going to lose respect for him. Now, the woman is to submit
to her husband, and she wants her husband to rule and to lead
in a Christ-like, God-honoring way, and know the problems that
occur when men fail to live up to their responsibilities. So
understand, men, your responsibility is to be the head. And that's
that doesn't mean to be a tyrant. That doesn't mean to give orders.
That doesn't mean to be a slave driver. But you are to be the
head of your home. Verse four, back to our text.
First Corinthians 11. Verse three, I've had you know
that the head of every man is Christ, the head of the woman
is a man and the head of Christ is God. Verse four, every man
praying or prophesying Having his head covered dishonors his
head. He dishonors himself and he brings
dishonor to Christ, his head, if he does this. Now, why is
that? Because of union with Christ,
I don't need a covering in my relationship with the Father.
Does Christ need a veil over him? Does Christ need a covering?
No, Christ comes into the presence of his Father in complete acceptance. You think of the relationship
between Christ and his father. Now, this picture of the relationship
between a husband and wife, if the husband, if the man covers
his head, he's dishonoring his head because he's made in the
image of God. And that certainly doesn't need
to be covered, does it? That's why it would be wrong. We come
boldly into his presence and expect to be heard and accepted
in the beloved. There's nothing to be covered
and covering on a man would destroy this picture. Verse five, but
every woman that prayeth or prophesied with her head uncovered dishonors
her head. She dishonors her husband, for
that is even all one as if she were shaven. And it's different
with a woman. She represents the relationship
between Christ and his church, doesn't she? It's a completely
different picture when we're talking about the woman And you
know, in my relationship with Christ, I am aware of my sin. And I need a covering at all
times. Now, when I think of union with
Christ, me coming into the presence of God as I'm united to Christ,
when I think of Christ coming into the presence of God and
being completely accepted, and me being in Him, I don't see
a covering. I'm in the Lord Jesus Christ.
But when I think of my relationship, what I am, with Christ, very
aware of my sinfulness. And I need a covering. And it
would be very disrespectful and wrong for me to think I can come
into His presence without a covering. And that's what this represents.
She represents the relationship between Christ and His church.
Now, if the woman refuses this veil in this, let her be shaven
to her shame. Now, somebody's thinking, what
is all this about women praying and prophesying publicly? Or
women preaching? Well, I guess they were doing
the same thing Philip's virgin daughters were doing. They said
they all prophesied. What's all that mean? I don't know. But
is a woman to be a public preacher? Well, look in 1 Corinthians chapter
14. Paul deals with this issue. He says in verse 34, let your
women keep silence in the churches. For it is not permitted unto
them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also
sayeth the law. And if they will learn anything,
let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for a
woman to speak in the church. That is what the word of God
says. No woman is called to preach the gospel. I just know that. It's throughout the scriptures.
When I see a woman get up and preach the gospel, I think, do
you have no respect for the Word of God to get up and speak in
the name of God when God's Word expressly forbids you to preach?
Now, is that because women are less able than men? Of course
not. I've already brought that out. They're equal. They're equal. There's no doubt about that.
But God has a certain decorum. He's got a certain protocol.
He's got a certain order. And the woman is to be in obedience,
as also saith the law, like that scripture says. No, women are
not to be public preachers. Now back to our text. Verse six. For if the woman be
not covered, let her also be shorn or shaved. But if it be
a shame for a woman to be Shorn or shaven, let her be covered. If a woman refuses, let her be
shorn. She's a rebel. But if it be a
shame to her, then let her be veiled. Verse 7. For a man indeed
ought not to cover his head for as much as he is the image and
glory of God. Now, you don't want to cover
the image and glory of God, do you? Man is created in the image of
God. You don't cover that. But the woman is the glory of
the man. Verse 8, For the man is not of
the woman, but the woman of the man. And this is talking about
what took place in the Garden of Eden. Eve came from Adam. Adam didn't come from Eve. She
was taken out of his side. So, the man is not of the woman,
but the woman of the man. Verse 9, Neither was the man
created for the woman, but for the woman for the man. And this
is something I've tried to remind Lynn of from time to time. You're created for me, not me
for you. Us men like that part, don't we? But it's true, it's
what the scripture says. The woman was created for the
man and not the man for the woman. Verse 10, for this cause ought
the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. This is a symbol of respect for
God's order and respect for God's authority. The angels certainly
respect it. Verse 11 and 12, 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 are of God. Now,
Paul is saying, I'm not saying that men are more important than
women. Let's see where any of us would
be without a woman. I mean, we wouldn't be around. And we're
just as dependent upon women as they are on us in that sense.
You know, one of the things that's glorious about the scripture
is it honors and respects and glorifies women. You know, other
religions, they put women down so terribly. They abuse them. They bring them down to second,
like they're inferior to men. But the Word of God doesn't do
that in any way. He talks about the glory. He's the one who made women.
And they're wonderful in that sense. He's saying the man's
dependent upon the woman. And I like what he says, all
things are of God, just like everything else. All things are
of God. He's in control. He's the one
who's established all this order. Verse 13, he says, judging yourselves,
is it comely? Is it appropriate that a woman
pray unto God uncovered? You know, believers know intuitively
that something is wrong with that, and I'm going to show why
he says that in just a moment. But he says, judging yourselves,
is it comely, is it appropriate that a woman pray unto God uncovered
without a covering? Does not even nature itself teach
you that if a man have long hair, it's a shame to him? Now, this
is a scripture that many fundamentalists have used to to prove y'all have short hair
and so on and well, it's talking about a distinction between the
sexes is what that's talking about. Somebody says, how long?
I don't know. You know, I've seen guys that have had their
hair twirled all over their head in order to cover where, I mean,
if it came down, man, it's down past their shoulders. Is that
wrong? I mean, is that what that's talking about? What he's talking
about is a distinction between the sexes. Let the man look like
a man and let the woman look like a woman. Let the man dress
like a man. Let the woman dress like a woman.
He's talking about a distinction between the sexes. And it is
shameful for a man to act like and look like a woman. That's
what he's saying. It's wrong. And nature itself teaches you
that. You know it's wrong if a man
have long hair. It's a shame unto him. But if a woman have
long hair, It's a glory to her, for her hair is given to her
for a covering. Now, you know the reason, if it wasn't for that verse of
scripture, I think every woman in here ought to be wearing a
veil. That's what we do, because it's
what the Word of God says. But it says her hair is given to
her for a covering. This feminine haircut is the
covering spoken of. Now, the veil they're talking
about is a veil that It's not these little patsy things women
wear in some of these Baptist churches. It's something that
goes all the way down. And Paul tells us plainly that
a woman's feminine haircut, her long hair, is given to her for
a covering. Verse 16, or verse 15, but if
a woman had long hair, it's a glory to her, for her hair is given
to her for a covering. But if any man seemed to be contentious,
We have no such custom, neither the churches of God. If somebody
wants to argue against this, is what he's saying. Well, he's
saying this is the way we do it. In the church, we have no
customs of the women being unveiled. What Paul is saying is, is this
is the way it is. Authority speaks, God's word
teaches this, and that's enough. Now, if God's word teaches something,
is that enough for you to bow to it? You don't really need
any other reason, do you? Well, what are we going to get
out of this? Like I said, this was not an easy passage of scripture
to preach from. I mean, as a matter of fact, I've been kind of stressing
over it the last few weeks saying, what am I going to say about
that? Because it's a difficult passage of scripture to preach
from. Maybe it shouldn't be, but it is. Well, here's the conclusions
I want to draw from this. First, men, take your position
of headship very seriously. You are to be the leader in that
home. And that doesn't mean a slave
driver, but it does mean the spiritual leader. And leadership
is a big responsibility. You are responsible before God
for your home, for your wife, for your children. You be the
leader that God calls you to be. That's so very important. And here's another thing I thought
about. Aren't you glad Christ is our head? I'm so thankful for my head.
He's the head. I'm the body. He's the authority. And it's so easy to submit to
his authority because he's so vastly superior. I mean, you
can't even describe how superior he is. It's easy to bow to his
authority. He's God. And if I don't understand
what he says, that's OK. I'm still going to believe everything
he says. And I'm going to battle what he says, whether I can completely
grasp it or not. You know, there's so many things
now that I understand so much more clearly than I did 20 years
ago. You know, when I was baptized,
I really didn't understand baptism. I just knew I was supposed to
do it. That's it. I knew the Lord did it. I knew
I was supposed to do it. And I did it. I didn't understand
what all it meant, what all it represented. And I don't know
how many times I've fought since then. You reckon I ought to be
baptized again? I mean, did I even understand?
Well, I believe this. So no, no. Now, I've grown in
knowledge a lot. I've grown in understanding a
lot. But this is just a thing where I bow to what he says,
whether I understand it or not. Now, it's a blessing when we
come to understand something more clearly, isn't it? But his
word is the authority, and we bow to what he says. And what about the area of submission? Well. You can only submit because you
want to. Wives, the only way you're going to submit to your
husband is because you want to do it, not because they make
you, not because they scare you, not because they try to force
it. That's not submission anyway. The only way you can truly submit
to your husband is because you want to. You know it's the right
thing to do, and you're doing it for Christ's sake. Even if
you feel like they're not being the leader they ought to be.
No doubt. I guarantee you there's been times when I haven't provided
the leadership I should. But that still doesn't mean that
my wife has a reason to not submit to my authority, does it? You
do it for Christ's sake, because He calls upon you to do it. And
we submit. We submit to the Lord. I submit
to Christ. I want to. That's what I want
to do. I bow to His authority. Whatever He says is right, I
believe whatever He says. And what a head. My head's in
heaven right now. I love the headship of Christ.
He's the head. What's the head to the body?
I mean, when you take a picture of somebody, what do you take
a picture of? You take a picture of their face. You don't take a picture
of their body. If you take a picture of their
body, you've got a bad reason for doing it. You take a picture
of their face. Their head, that's who they are.
Christ is my identity before God. Christ, that's who I am
before God. He is my head. I'm his body. And respect authority. This is
about authority. Remember, the powers that be
are ordained of God. God is the absolute authority
and all authority comes from him. And to disrespect any authority
is to disrespect Him. Now, if I don't respect the authority
of the word, if I don't respect the authority of the pastor,
if I don't respect the authority of the teacher, of the employer,
of the government, I don't respect God. You see, in this society
that we live in, I really believe the greatest problem in this
society is no respect for authority. And you know where that comes
from? It comes from the pulpit. There has been a God preached
who really doesn't have any authority. A God who wants things, but he
can't make sure his will is done. He really doesn't have any authority.
He's got to wait and see what you're going to do. And that
God that's been preached for all these generations has weakened
everybody's respect for authority. Now, I have no doubt that there
was a time when there was more respect for authority than there
is now. And I think that is the biggest problem of our society,
is no respect for authority. Respect authority. Teach your
kids to respect authority. That's the most important thing
you can do for your kids. I really believe this. The most
important thing you can do for your kids is to teach them to
respect authority. You know, they're going to be
a lot more successful in life if they respect authority. If they
have problems with authority. They're going to have problems
in school. They're going to have problems on the job. They're going to have
problems in their homes. There's always going to be problems.
But a respect for authority, they're going to succeed more.
They're going to do better in school. They're going to do better
in relationships. They're going to do better on
the jobs with this respect for authority. May God give us grace
to truly respect authority. And I want to say this, too,
how you dress, I've already pointed to this, how you dress in worship
matters. Now, I'm against formalism, but
I'm not against formality. There's nothing casual about
public worship. It's not come as you are. Men dress respectfully like men. Women dress respectfully like
women. And don't stand, don't stick
out. Don't wear a tuxedo. Don't wear some evening gown
where you're overdressed. Don't underdress. Don't dress
in a slovenly manner. Remember what we're doing. We're
coming into the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And because
of that, we come respectfully. So yes, it is important how you
carry yourself, how you bring yourself into the house of God. But let me Close on this note, isn't it wonderful to have Christ
as our Head? Let's pray together.