 Now, here in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, beginning at verse 2, I'll begin reading and I'll read to verse, let's see, see, I'm going to take you to verse 16. I don't know if I want to read all of those verses at one time though. I'll read verse 2. We'll start there. That's as much as I feel like reading right now. Now, I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the traditions as I delivered them to you. As we look at verse 2 here in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, this is actually what would be referred to as a new section. And Paul begins at this point to actually deal with a very difficult issue. The issue that he's actually going to begin to deal with is the issue related to authority and submission to proper authority. And so what he's writing is, he's writing concerning the issue of women and biblical submission. Now, obviously, as I begin this, this is a very difficult subject because women are just so sinful. Now, this is a, you're here, okay. Part of the reason that it's a difficult subject is because women in general have legitimate concerns, obviously. And the concerns have contributed to an imbalance in the church. Because there are injustices. There have been times when women have tried to solve those injustices, but often what occurs is the church begins to adopt the spirit of the age. And what we do is we begin to accommodate the standards of contemporary thinking. And when we do that, we slowly but surely begin to abandon scriptural authority. By giving over to the spirit of the age, we neglect what God's word has to say. Somebody said, here is the great evangelical disaster. The failure of the evangelical world to stand for truth as truth. There is only one word for this, namely accommodation. The evangelical church has accommodated to the world spirit of the age. First, there has been accommodation on scripture so that many who call themselves evangelicals hold a weakened view of the Bible and no longer affirm the truth of all that the Bible teaches. This accommodation has been costly. First in destroying the power of the scriptures to confront the spirit of the age. And second, in allowing the further slide of our culture. You see, we can become guilty of redefining scripture in an attempt to force upon scripture new interpretations. What we do is we interpret scripture through the lens of contemporary opinion and contemporary culture. And the result is that we speak to scripture rather than allowing the scripture to speak to us. So that puts us in the position of authority. And at that point, scripture no longer wields the authority. So we are not in the final place of authority. We need to remember that scripture is. Our responsibility is to either accept what the word of God says or to reject it. But we cannot reinterpret it to suit our own personal needs and tastes. See believers understand that the scripture judges us. It's not we who judge the scripture. We are actually judged by God's word. Jesus in John 12 48 said there is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words. That very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. And so we are actually to be conformed to the spirit of scripture, not the spirit of the age. And so as we look at this subject here, we're going to be looking at women and men in church. Paul begins to deal with that very difficult situation and he begins in verse two by saying. You know, I praise you, brethren, that you remember me and all things and keep the traditions as I delivered them to you. So as we look at this, I'll start out by looking at the obvious. I want you to notice that he uses the word traditions, that you keep the traditions that I have delivered to you. At this point, the New Testament was in the process of being written. And so the church normally was using the Old Testament. And so what they had in the Old Testament is in terms of the teachings they had received is they had received what were called traditions. The word tradition simply speaks of something that has been handed down from one person to another. And so they had received traditions. But one of the things about traditions is that they're only as valid as their source. And there are traditions that have no spiritual benefit. There are traditions that actually undermine what scriptures authority has to say. A good example is found in Matthew chapter 15 verses one through six. It says there are some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat. Jesus replied, shut up. No, he didn't. Jesus replied, why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, honor your father and mother and anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death. But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God, he's not to honor his father with it. Thus, you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. So there were traditional interpretations and practices that had been handed down through rabbinic teaching that Jesus confronted, because he said when scripture plainly states one thing, man's tradition is not to overthrow that. Now the traditions that Paul is speaking of here in verse two when he says, you remember me in all things and keep the traditions, these traditions are God given and therefore are to be received. There are traditions that the church practiced and still does that are actually God given. In 2 Thessalonians 2.15 Paul says, therefore brethren stand fast and hold the traditions which you have been taught, whether by word or our epistle. Second Thessalonians 3.6 continues to say, but we command you brethren in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly and not according to the tradition which you receive from us. And so there are proper traditions and then there are traditions of men. Those traditions that you find in scripture that are practiced by the first church, the early church and continue on through the history of the traditions that we hold fast to. And so he's praising them here in verse two. He's praising them for openness to teaching and he's praising them for having a willingness to obey what the word of God says. And as he's beginning to praise them for that, I want you to notice he begins to deal now with the issue of women and submission. Verse three, I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ. The head of woman is man. The head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head. For that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. For man indeed ought not to cover his head since he's the image and the glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man is not from woman, but woman from man. Nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man. For this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels. Nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman nor woman independent of man in the Lord, for as the woman was from the man, even so the man also is through the woman. But all things are from God. Judge among yourselves, is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it's a dishonor to him? But if a woman has long hair, it's the glory to her, for her hair is given to her for a covering. But if anyone seems to be contentious, we have no such custom nor do the churches of God. Here we go. I want to go home. He's detailing authority and submission. I want you to see this as we begin, verse 3, he speaks of the head, the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, the head of Christ is God. When he says the head of every man, that word head speaks of the ruling authority. It speaks of anything that is supreme, chief, or prominent. That's what the word means. So when he says the head of every man is Christ, he's saying that Jesus is the head. Jesus is the preeminent authority. He has authority over all things. Jesus said that in Matthew 28, verse 18, where he said, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. So Jesus has preeminence. That's what he's pointing to. Jesus is the preeminent one. He has all authority. That's why when Paul was writing to the Philippians in chapter 2, verses 10 and 11, he said, at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Jesus has all authority, and that's how he's beginning when he speaks concerning proper submission and authority. And when it's the head over everything, Jesus obviously is the head over the body of Christ called the church. And that's what it says in Colossians 118. He is the head of the body, the church. He's the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. That's what he says in Ephesians 122. God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. So Jesus Christ is the first and is mentioned when it says here, the head of every man is Christ. Simply another way of saying Jesus is preeminent over all things. He's speaking in terms of authority. But then he goes on to say, and man is head of the woman. What he's saying is man has authority. God given authority that has been given to him by virtue of the priority of creation. Man is created first and then the woman. He alludes to that later on. Now, the fact that man has been given by God authority does not make man superior. I think that's where a lot of people have problems with that concept. The distinction is not based on value and it's not based on abilities. It's not based on intellect and it's not based on spirituality. What this is based on is what would be called complementary roles. It speaks concerning how to have an orderly society. Everybody knows that a two-headed body is a monster. And so there needs to be a system of authority. And so in God given authority, Christ is the head over everything. But man being created first has been given authority and the woman has a responsibility in the order of creation. Again, not because of inferiority, but because of complementary roles. And because of an orderliness in society, man has been given the responsibility of what is called headship. And so for proper order to be established, husbands assume leadership. And they maintain the respectability of their life. Because if a man assumes his proper position of leadership, he's also going to do it through love and by earning and maintaining the respect of his wife. And we're speaking of husband and wife at the moment. And so in that order, if I as a husband live in a way that is honoring to God and loving to my wife, it gives to me a greater opportunity and ability to lead my home. But if I don't live with love for God and love for my family, then my wife is not going to respect me and it's going to be an awful lot more difficult for me to maintain any kind of order in the home. And so as a man, my responsibility is to remember that I have someone over me. And the one who has authority over me is Jesus Christ. And because I'm a man under Jesus Christ, I'm to have a relationship with him that is of such quality that it transforms my life. And as my relationship with Jesus is transforming me, my relationship with my wife is also being transformed because as a man, I normally have a role of initiation, but my wife has a role of accommodation. What she does in other words is as I initiate my responsibilities as being the man of authority and the man who's under Christ, Marie is going to respond to my leadership and she does that. Because the way change really occurs isn't for me to say to my wife, you need to do this because after all there's a Bible verse somewhere in there that says women are to submit to men. I know it's there, you know it's there, you read the Bible more than me but you know I'm right. And therefore you need to submit because it's in there somewhere. That's one of those verses most men have memorized, they've never even read the Bible but they heard that somewhere and they know it's there. And so we can say that. Well it says women submit into the husband and you're supposed to do that. But how is that made possible? It's made possible when I love her. When I love her like Christ loved the church. And how did Christ love the church? He loved her and gave himself for her. He sacrificed, he yielded his life. So there was an act of love that was continuing because he still loves the church and that transforms relationships. And so if I as a husband understand my role is to be submitted to God through Jesus, that Jesus is over me then I as a husband have a greater potential to be able to lead my wife in the way that the home ought to be led. The Bible makes it very clear that women are to submit to Godly leadership. Even as I mentioned a moment ago Ephesians 5, 22 and 23, now all the men are starting to write this down, watch. Wives submit yourselves into your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church. And he, speaking of Jesus, is the savior of the body. So husbands love the wife like Jesus loved the church. How did Jesus love the church? He loved the church and gave himself for it. And so husbands have a responsibility under Christ to be leaders in the home. How I'm, you know, this is a part of my notes and I have to be careful because I can start veering off and start talking and I want to. It's been said when the women's liberation movement came out, women do need liberation. But the liberation they need is liberation from poor leadership on the part of their husbands. And I think there's a degree of truth in that. Those kinds of statements that was made by a very solid Christian preacher at statement that rang true in my life. I wanted to become a man who knew how to lead my home. And I wanted to learn how to lead not by force or by anger or pressure. I wanted to lead it in a godly way. Because later on Paul is going to say the woman is the glory of the man. The woman reflects the ministry of the man. The woman brings glory to him. And part of the way that the woman brings glory to the man is just the kind of woman that she is under his influence. And because I want my wife to have a blessed life, I had to begin to learn and I've been trying for a long time to love her the way Christ loves the church. I had to learn what it means to sacrifice really and what it means to speak with gentleness and to treat it with kindness and respect. I had to learn all of those things like we all have to learn those lessons. But I wanted to learn that because it was best for her and best to reflect the love that God really has for her. And so leadership for a man doesn't have to be the puffing out of the chest and the raising of the voice and the anger that we can show sometimes when we basically are trying to say I'm the man and you're the woman. And it doesn't work. That doesn't work. All that creates is anger, hurt, and resentment. It's different when you actually have a firmness, a strength, but that that strength is covered with the tenderness. I just the other day was speaking to guys and I said this. I said what God wants us to be is velvet and steel. That's what he wants. He wants us to have a softness but a firmness at the same time. It's been said tough and tender. That's what we're supposed to be. We know what God wants us to do, therefore we're going to do it. But gentle as we lead our wives in the path that God has led us on. And my wife, if I'm loving her and if I'm living in a respectful fashion towards her and she sees me loving Jesus and she loves Jesus, has a tendency of following my lead because she trusts me because she knows I'm listening to him in my prayers and in my studies. And that helps and enhances the possibility for us to get along. And so it's simply taking Paul's admonition to heart. Christ is the head of man, but man has authority over women. And that's so that homes can function properly. When he goes on to say the head of Christ is God, that's an interesting phrase because this is speaking of his incarnation and in his incarnation for the purpose of salvation, we know that through reading our scriptures, Jesus fully submitted to his father's will. In John 4.34, Jesus said to them, my meat is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. In John 5.30, he said, I can of my own self do nothing. As I hear I judge, my judgment is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father who has sent me. Hebrews 10.7, then said I lo, I come in the volume of the book. It is written of me to do thy will, oh God. And so Jesus Christ submitted to the will of the Father and that's God's chain of authority. It's all built on proper submission. And so as he's speaking concerning this, he moves on to some things that are practical, at least during that time. He said in verse 4, every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered dishonored his head. That every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved. For if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. Well, obviously we've seen ladies who have decided to shave their heads and in our society that really isn't anything other than really cool or whatever. If she's got a nice round head, if she's got a lumpy head, it's not cool at all. But what is Paul talking about here? We really want to get to that. He utilizes a local custom and he's utilizing a local practice in order to make an illustration. You see, in Corinth, and we're looking at a Greek city, in the city of Corinth, men didn't wear head coverings. They didn't wear veils. They didn't wear hats while praying and they didn't wear hats or veils while prophesying. Now, in your mind as a contemporary American in the 21st century, if you think for a moment, think of the nation of Israel and you go to the western wall and if you went on a tour with us and we take you to the western wall there in Jerusalem, you go through a little gate and as you go through the gate, if you don't have a hat on as a man, they will hand you a hat. So they have these little paper hats that you'll put on top of your head if you don't have a baseball cap or some form of covering. So when you look at the pictures, you will always see people who are in there by the western wall, the wailing wall it's called. You will see men with hats. Their hats are, their heads are always covered with a hat. You see the little hats that they wear, Yarmulka, that they wear over their heads even to this day, observant Jews will wear hats. And when they pray, their heads are covered. So you may assume that that has always been the case but the answer is no, it's not. That did not begin, head coverings in prayer didn't begin until the fourth century. So that's a relatively, well that's late after the church and after the writing of Corinthians. The Greeks themselves, the Greek men did not pray with their heads covered because that would have been something that was not part of their practice. So men wearing a veil while praying was actually regarded as a disgrace. And Paul is speaking of that because he's saying if it's a disgrace, then it's really an insult. It's an insult even to Jesus. But on the other hand, women wore head coverings. Now, some of you maybe remember or saw pictures of this in ancient history books but in my generation as I grew up and I went to church, women wore hats, they wore veils. They would wear veils in church. It was very common. My mom had a veil, she would wear women in general wore veils when we went to church. I was raised in the Catholic church. And so you would have a head covering. It was normal, as a matter of fact, I can remember that in our community. If it was Sunday, a lot of times you see the women as they're walking through the community, they would have their veils on. That was very common. Marie Zant was going to church one day and she reached into the drawer to put on her hat to go to church and as she went to church she was seated when one of the ushers tapped her on the shoulder during the service and she kind of brushed him off and said, leave me alone. And he reached over and tapped her again and she looks at him, she says, leave me alone, what do you want? He says, ma'am, I'm sorry. You've got your underwear on your head. What's your true story? What she had done is she had reached in to the drawer and put her drawers on her head. She was really embarrassed because it said Thursday. That was even worse. But they used to wear veils. They used to wear veils. It was very common. And even in our generation today there's still places that you can go where women are wearing veils. They wear what are called head coverings. Now, part of the reason that they would wear the veils and all, and sometimes they would cover, and you see some today from the Middle East who will wear veils and things like that, they still do in some cultures. Part of the reason why a woman would wear a veil in public was because, and I found this interesting, it was rather an open demonstration that their beauty was reserved for one man, which was their husband. That's why they wore the veils because they were saying my beauty is reserved for him. And they didn't want to even attract other men's attention because she was wearing a veil symbolizing that she loved her husband with all of her heart and wanted to honor him. And so if you understand that, you'd understand that when the Christians began to remove their veils, that it was creating a real problem in the Corinthian society. Because in Corinthian society, there were women who didn't wear veils when they were out. And the women who did not wear veils were the prostitutes, the slaves, or the adulteresses. They didn't wear veils. So the Christian church, women saying were liberated from the culture's demands, began to cease wearing veils in times of prayer and things of that nature. And what happened is it became a shame to the husband, whose wife was uncovered. And only the prostitutes and slaves and adulteresses in that society were uncovered. And so even though she would argue, in Christ I'm free, I have the freedom in Christ to be as I am, it still brought shame on the husband. And that's what Paul is speaking about here in this passage when he says again, every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered dishonors his head, but every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head, speaking of her husband, for that is one and the same as if her head were shaved, for if a woman is not covered, let her also be shorned. But if it is shameful for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let her be covered. The point he's simply making is, if the man is praying in a certain way, he can dishonor his head with Jesus, but if the woman is not wearing her veil, she can bring dishonor to her head that was just referred to as her husband. And so Paul is saying, you don't want to be involved in this negative association. In essence, and this would be something interesting, what he was basically saying, he's saying, you are appearing like the Corinthian women's liberation movement. That's what he's saying to the women in the church. You see, there was a women's liberation movement in Corinth. And in that movement, women began to try to look like men. They removed their veils, they left their husbands in their homes, they refused to care for their children, they lived with other men, they demanded jobs traditionally held by men, they wore men's clothing, men's hairstyles, and they began to discard all signs of femininity. And that's what was taking place then. It's, you know, there's nothing new under the sun. That was taking place 2,000 years ago in Corinth, it's happening today. So Paul is saying, if you're associating with this movement and the style of life, you're gonna bring dishonor to your husband. Now he says in verse seven, for a man indeed ought not to cover his head since he's the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. So Paul defends the principle by appealing to created order. Man is created in the moral and the intellectual image of God. And as such, we are intended to bring glory to him. But the woman in her style of life, her manner of life will bring honor and glory to the men. A man's, and I'll say this very briefly, but, a man's ministry. A man's ministry, if he's a married man, is very often gonna be revealed not by the things that he may be accomplishing, whether he, as a pastor will say, has a good-sized church or many ministries or writes a lot of books or appears on television programs or has a lot of radio stations that carry his messages, all of that is well and good. But the man's real ministry is gonna be his wife. That's my ministry. When you look at a man's relationship with his wife, you're seeing the deepest relationship that he has on earth. And when the woman that he's married to is a godly woman, then the chances are that the man she's married to has had a tremendous influence in her life that has helped her to become the woman that she is. Many years ago, my father said something to me. My father spoke to me sparingly over the years. He was not one of these guys who would sit down and say, Dave, you got a couple of hours, I just feel like talking. My dad wasn't that way at all. My dad was just kind of a nod at your head, kind of, that was my dad. We didn't have any conversations as I grew up, except during commercials. I mean, if he was watching TV, then he'd watch TV. And then commercials would start and I had a minute to two minutes to talk to him. And then he'd turn his attention back to the TV and that was just my dad. I was used to it. I didn't have a problem with it. That was dad. But he said things to me that he didn't realize were having an influence on me. And one of the things my dad said to me that I've never forgotten was when my dad said to me, you know, David, these men who complain about their wives, because I guess a lot of men do. He said, these men that complain about their wives, my dad said, don't they realize how bad that makes them look? And I believe my dad said that to me before he was saved. And what he was saying to me is a woman is the glory of the man. That's what he was saying. And that's a biblical principle. I've got a wonderful wife. I've told her you could be married to Tilla the Hun and you'd be a great woman. There's no doubt about that. She's just a good woman. Bottom line, reality. But Marie would tell you, my influence in her life has made her what she is. She would tell you that. And that's truth. Because she has a husband and had a boyfriend but has a husband who wants to serve the Lord. And that has influenced her life. So my encouragement to her to do her devotions or to do her ministry or whatever it may be, to be loving, gentle, whatever, all of those things, she would tell you that comes from our relationship because she's my ministry. She's whom God has placed in my life that I'm to influence the most. There have been times when in the history of this church, somebody has had a desire to be on staff and to serve this congregation. And I normally will look at what he's doing, see what fruit he has, but I'll be honest with you, one of the other things I want to see is what his marriage is like. I want to meet his wife. I want to see what kind of woman he's married to because he's influencing her. And I can see in that woman qualities that will tell me what kind of leader he is because the woman is the glory of the man. And that's how that works. Now he goes on in verse eight and says, "'For man is not from woman, woman from man, "'nor was man created for the woman, but woman for the man.'" In other words, God's original design was such that women were created to complete man. And we know the story of creation. God created Adam. Adam was there with his responsibility of naming animals. There was nothing like him there and all these animals that he was naming. God allowed him or put him to sleep and brought to him the woman. And so out of man came woman. So he's referring to that. Man is not from woman, woman from man, nor was man created for the woman, but woman for man. So that's creation. For this reason, the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels. Now what are you talking about? I don't know, let's keep going. What is he talking about? When you look at angels, angels, if they fell, are forever fallen. There's no redemption for fallen angels. The angels that kept their first estate, the angels who never fell, never fell because they were fully submitted to God. And therefore they didn't rebel against him. And in not rebelling against him, as Satan did and as he influenced, as Revelation seems to indicate, a third of the angelic host, the angels that remained faithful know that God is powerful, that he is majestic, he's holy. They see and know things that we only read about, but they live those things. So they know that God is sovereign over the universe and as the sovereign Lord, the sovereign over all mankind, that man owes God total submission. They know that because they are fully submitted to him. And so because angels are fully submitted to God, they look at God's creation, his sons and his daughters. And as they look at sons and daughters to them, it only makes sense if God is Lord that the sons and daughters obey their Lord. So when one has a rebellious spirit, the angel looks and wonders over that because angels are fully submitted to God. Why are God's children not? And so he's speaking concerning that for this reason, the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels. In other words, it's demonstrating full submission, which is what angels understand because that's what has kept them in what is called their first estate, the unfallen ones. So submission has that kind of power. Now he goes on in verses 11 and 12 to say, nevertheless, neither is man independent of woman nor woman independent of man. The woman in verse 12, the woman was from the man. Even so, the man also is through the woman. All things are from God. Just very simply put, we need each other because we function together in a spiritual teamwork. I know how that works in some very practical ways. I'll give you a simple illustration how this works in my marriage. There's so many things that Marie brings into my marriage with me and then I brought into it for her. But one of the things that I discovered early on in our ministry together is that there have been times when somebody has come to speak to me and Marie happens to be standing there. I'll give you an illustration of a woman one time and came to speak to me. And as she came to speak to me, she was going through some very painful moment in her life, very terrible. So I as a pastor and as one who tries to appeal to scripture for wisdom, I listened carefully to her as she's speaking. And so if you were to come to me and speak to me, some of you have it, and if you had a real serious situation, you're going to discover something about me. I listened very carefully because I want to hear what you're saying and not only do I want to hear your words, but I'm watching you. I'm watching how you're acting. I'm watching your eyes to see whether they're welling with tears. I'm watching the way that your body language is. I watched that and I've been doing this for a long time and so I'm picking up visual cues and so you're speaking to me and I'm watching you. Now Marie on the other hand is standing next to me as this lady is speaking. And as the lady is speaking, the lady is sharing some pain in her life. Now me, I'm thinking Lord, what would you have me to say to be able to help her? What scripture would you give to me right now that's going to bring healing in at least the right direction? That's what I'm doing. I'm listening, but I'm praying. And then I look at Marie and Marie's crying and it hits me what a team we can be that she has the heart and this woman notices Marie's response so she begins to direct more of her attention towards Marie who's responding to what she's saying. And I'm there sharing in the ministry as Marie is caring for her and showing the empathy and compassion that is necessary at that moment. And then I can add to it and I can say, you know the word of the Lord says this and so we need each other. It works that way. Many years ago when Marie and I were first dating I brought her to my parents' house and she and I were seated in the kitchen when a knock on the door came and it was two of my cousins who live in the Culver City area. One of my cousins and this was 38 years or so it goes a little while ago. One of my cousins at that time was about 20 years older than me at that time. So she was in her late 40s and the other one was a year younger than me or two years younger than me, women. And the older one had a husband at that time who was still in gangs and she had the look of a woman who grew up on the rough side of town. She's my cousin. I'm used to that. My other cousin, well, she's kind of rough too. So we're sitting at the table and these are my cousins and I love them and they love me and they're talking to me and one of my cousins is saying, you know, my husband's in jail. He's in prison. My husband's in prison, David. He didn't really kill that guy. They say he killed him. She's telling me this, he didn't kill that guy. No, he killed the guy. I knew he killed the guy, but she's in denial. He didn't really kill that guy and he's doing some time right now. And I'm thinking to Marie, I'm thinking welcome to the family. This is my family, welcome. We have a tattoo machine in the back. We'll be putting a little cross on your hand in just a moment. Couple teardrops. I really was, I was thinking, well, you know, this is your baptism of fire, baby. I mean, this is, this is my family. And so, you know, they're kind of uneasy because I love them. They're my cousins. I can minister to them. They respect me. We've got that going, but Marie has never met them. So, from the corner of my eye, I kind of looked to my left to this young girl who seated next to me and I look at her and I'll never forget seeing those tears that were just dripping down her face as she was listening. And the Lord spoke to my heart and he said, this is the kind of woman that you need to be married to. This is what I want for you. I saw that. That was one of those confirmations because she has a heart. She has a heart and you need to have one too. So the Lord brings somebody into your life that compliments you, you know, that fills in the gaps of your life. So rather than trying to change them to become your image as a husband, well, I want you this way and I want you to do that. No, she's been brought in the way she is to fill your gaps because there are lackings in you that you don't even see yourself. But she needs the things that you bring to a relationship because she needs those things in her. So together you become what is called a composite unity. The two become the one and that's how it works. And Paul is speaking concerning that and he's saying this is how it works in the kingdom of God. Obviously, and I'll roll to a conclusion, women are not inferior to men. I shouldn't have to say that and I know to this church I don't. Women are not inferior to men. Women have the spiritual hunger. You see that in the story of Martha and Mary and how that Jesus speaks concerning Mary and says that she has chosen the better part. Mary had this heart of spiritual hunger for the Lord. They women have supported the work of the Lord. You see that in Luke chapter eight where it says the women supported God's work. Women like Phoebe in Romans chapter 16 verses one and two or refer to in scripture as selfless servants because Paul speaks of her and says that she's been a helper of many, myself included. Women obviously have ministry that they do or they train and develop the children. They support their husbands. They nurture children in ministry. They are always nurturing and caring for those young ones that God has entrusted to them. And so he is not saying in any way that women are inferior to men and we don't think that at all. He says in verse 13, judge among yourselves. Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it is a dishonor to him but if a woman has long hair it is a glory to her for her hair is given to her for a covering but if anyone seems to be contentious we have no such custom nor do the churches of God. Now I'll say this very briefly. When I first got saved it was during the hippie movement and man had long hair and she would find, I went to Biola and you would find scriptures like this placed on message boards. Just the scripture here where it says in verse 14, does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it's a dishonor to him and that was like proof positive that men who have shoulder length hair well there's just something wrong with them. And for me I thought there's gotta be something deeper than that. I mean, I don't know maybe the artist's conceptions of the times of Christ are wrong but Jesus had some long hair you know so I thought I've never seen a picture of Jesus with you know a flat top or a buzz you know he's. So there must be something deeper than this that's being spoken of and there is. When you speak so and let me address this quickly does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair it's a dishonor. Well we know now that men's hair grows in three stages and grows differently than women because men have testosterone. We have what is called a time of growth and then our hair goes into a time of rest and then our hair will fall out. That's the three stages you know but sometimes the hair grows back and we say hallelujah. I mean that's how that works. But it's three stages growth rest and then it falls out but it grows back right. Women have estrogen and so women stay in cycle one the growth cycle longer. They rarely reach the third stage where the hair can fall out. So we speak of nature and the reality of estrogen and testosterone. That's what he's speaking about. And he's simply saying and using as an illustration the natural fact that women have longer hair. Now women's hair is their glory. What would you mean by that? Well women can use their hair in a variety of ways including as a way to from modesty if need be and that's been from ancient times because the long hair can actually be something that is worn in a way that is helping them to maintain their modesty. So what is he talking about? Is he saying you know prophetically 2000 years from now they're gonna be some Jesus freaks with long hair don't they know this is wrong? I don't think so. What he's speaking about and this is the simple thing here is this. Men need to understand that men are men and women are women. It's just that simple. Don't confuse men's roles with women's roles. Men have been created by God with certain basic things that we do and women were created by God for certain basic things that they do and I'm not gonna get into a long story about that. I would have prepared a better study if I wanted to develop that with you but I will say that there are certain elements that are generalities that are true in terms of nurturing and a variety of other things that women have just a different way of doing things. They just do and we know that. So don't confuse the roles of the sexes. That's the point he's making. Don't confuse the roles. Men aren't supposed to act like women. Women aren't supposed to act like men. Women should embrace what women are and have always been and men ought to embrace what men have always been and the images that men have. And I could talk about that for a little while because we have a tremendous confusion of roles today where there's a lot of gender confusion. And I have seen some pretty aggressive women and some pretty wimpy guys. That's the truth. Am I lying? I'm not lying. That's the truth. Because the guys don't know how to be men. A lot of times because, well, I'll say this briefly, because with the breakup of the home the sad fact is that a mama does a better job of raising a woman because she is a woman herself. And so she can identify in the raising of a little girl just much easier because it's natural for her. But the sad thing is when a mama has to raise a son because mama isn't a man. And so she's gonna do the best that she can under the conditions that she finds herself in but she can't be a man because she's a woman. And part of that I've seen as affected young men who have come from broken homes because I'll give you one thing that I've observed. Young men who have come from homes that have either been broken through divorce or a father has died when he's young. The man being raised by a woman has a tendency to yield to women's opinions a lot quicker and not to stand up and say, I differ. And the reason would be because mama raised him and because mama raised him he respects women in that way. So he didn't have a male role model in the house to see how men respond and how men make decisions. So his model is a feminine model. And so what happens, and I've seen this to be true, is they begin to act out the way they were taught but they never had a man in the house who says, no, that's not how men do that. This is what we'll do. And because of that, the only model they had was a woman and the woman as he's been yielded to woman's authority becomes a greater figure. So he doesn't know how to relate to other guys who've been raised by a father, a father who taught a boy how to do boy things. So I'll give you one example. When our boys were young, we had a daughter first and then two boys and then a daughter last. My boys are outside. And what do boys do when they're outside? They play in the mud and they get dirty. And the older one has a tendency of hitting the younger one. And Marie sees them out there and sees them getting dirty. And the first thing mama wants to do is say, no, don't get dirty. You shouldn't get dirty. Go sit under that tree and play. I'm a man and I say boys play in mud and they throw rocks. And if they find a stick, they will beat each other with it. That's what boys do. And I had to explain to Marie that boys are different. You see, you get boys, little six-year-old boys, right, and you put them under a tree and you just let them play. Get three or four of them. Let them play before you know it. Even though you are nonviolent, they are picking up sticks, pow, pow, pow, chasing each other, hitting them, you know? And that's what boys do. You get four little girls under a tree and they're sitting there nicely. One girl gets up and walks away and the other three talk about her. That's what girls do. Am I wrong? Oh, she thinks she's got a nice dress. Her dress isn't so nice. Her hair isn't so nice. That ribbon doesn't go with those shoes. Now, if you've got a little boy doing that, you've got a problem. So let men be men and let women be women. And that's the illustration. What's he talking about? The roles of men and women. They are different.