1 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:07,480 A few weeks ago when talking about God's law, Pastor Jake 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:11,160 used this this illustration of a road trip. 3 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:15,040 And when you're going on a road trip, you have a destination in 4 00:00:15,040 --> 00:00:16,920 mind. And as you travel down the road, 5 00:00:16,920 --> 00:00:20,560 there are many signs that are pointing you to your 6 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:23,480 destination. But he talked about the fact 7 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:27,720 that if we focus too much on those signs and we pay too much 8 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:31,520 attention to those signs, we lose sight of what those signs 9 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:34,280 are there for and the purpose that they are there. 10 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:41,280 The signs if if they accomplish what they intend, guide you 11 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:46,200 safely to your destination and once you get to your 12 00:00:46,200 --> 00:00:49,880 destination, you won't be thinking back to the signs that 13 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:52,960 got you there. You'll be enjoying your vacation 14 00:00:52,960 --> 00:00:56,840 or whatever destination you were seeking to arrive at and 15 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,120 throughout the Bible God has given many signs. 16 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,760 One of the ones that we think of is the rainbow. 17 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:08,000 We think of Noah, we sin came into the world through Adam and 18 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:09,840 Eve. And it didn't take very long for 19 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:13,480 sin to become so bad that God decided he had to destroy 20 00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:15,920 everything. But he found. 21 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:18,360 But Noah found favor in God's sight. 22 00:01:18,520 --> 00:01:22,240 And so God delivered Noah and his family and and the animals 23 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:23,960 and preserved them through an ark. 24 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:26,640 And when they came out the ark on the other side, they offered 25 00:01:26,640 --> 00:01:29,480 a sacrifice to God. And God was so pleased with 26 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:34,800 their sacrifice that he said he made a covenant and he said I 27 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:36,680 will never again flood the earth. 28 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:40,960 And the sign that he gave for that covenant was a rainbow. 29 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:45,480 Now rainbows are incredibly beautiful. 30 00:01:46,840 --> 00:01:50,320 I remember a few months ago I was working at the golf course 31 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:53,440 in the morning and, and I was struggling this particular 32 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,720 morning and, and struggling with things going on in my life and, 33 00:01:57,040 --> 00:01:59,840 and I was listening to music. And also in this song, it said 34 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:06,160 God is faithful to his promise. And I turned around and this is 35 00:02:06,160 --> 00:02:10,000 what I saw. Now it was way better in person, 36 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,640 I'll tell you that. But here's a, a, a full rainbow 37 00:02:13,640 --> 00:02:15,400 over the tree. That's what I turned around and 38 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:17,240 I saw. And, and then that moment I just 39 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,640 was reminded of God's faithfulness to his promise. 40 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:24,840 Here is a visible reminder of God's faithfulness to us in our 41 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:28,560 day. Now, if we focus on that rainbow 42 00:02:28,560 --> 00:02:31,920 and just talk about the rainbow's beauty and its colors 43 00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:35,800 and how vibrant it is and, and how it works scientifically and 44 00:02:35,800 --> 00:02:39,200 all of these things, we lose sight of what the rainbow is 45 00:02:39,200 --> 00:02:44,640 pointing us to, which is God's promise, God's faithfulness. 46 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:48,840 This morning as we continue in our series through First 47 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:52,680 Corinthians, which is we're continuing through our series in 48 00:02:52,680 --> 00:02:55,560 First Corinthians, which is a letter that Paul wrote to the 49 00:02:55,560 --> 00:02:57,200 church that he started in Corinth. 50 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,840 And this morning we're getting to Chapter 11 where Paul talks 51 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:04,800 about head coverings. Now Paul has, has been talking 52 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:07,640 about Christian freedom over the last three chapters. 53 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:10,640 And now he's going to begin a discussion about this is how 54 00:03:10,640 --> 00:03:13,680 worship needs to look in your churches. 55 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,000 And he, he begins the conversation with husbands and 56 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:19,600 wives. Paul is going to tell the women 57 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:24,160 to wear head coverings, but the head coverings point us to God's 58 00:03:24,160 --> 00:03:26,840 design. And the same thing with the 59 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:29,440 rainbow. If we focus too much on the head 60 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:34,360 covering itself, we forget the purpose and the the symbol that 61 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:36,080 that head covering is pointed to. 62 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:41,120 Now it seems that head coverings were a cultural norm in the city 63 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:44,400 of Corinth. This was not just a Christian 64 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:46,320 practice. This was also a practice in 65 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:48,680 Greco Roman society and their culture. 66 00:03:48,920 --> 00:03:51,520 They wore head coverings and the reason they wore them was to 67 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,880 show that they were married and submitted to the authority of 68 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:58,560 their husband. And during the time of Paul's 69 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,080 write what? During the time of Paul's 70 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:05,160 writing there was a new rebellious woman that was 71 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:08,960 emerging in society. Now, during that time it was 72 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:14,360 socially acceptable for a man to be promiscuous, but not women. 73 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,760 And so these women were rebelling against this 74 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:22,120 inconsistency in society. And one way that they would show 75 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:25,560 their rebellion was they would remove their head coverings. 76 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:31,520 And so Paul wrote to the church to remind them of God's design 77 00:04:32,560 --> 00:04:37,000 that they are to honor and obey. And so maybe you've wondered 78 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:40,120 about head coverings. Maybe you wonder where we stand 79 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:42,480 as a church. But it's probably pretty obvious 80 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:45,520 just by looking around that, that we do not feel that this is 81 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:49,520 something that is, that is held, that they're not binding on us 82 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:51,640 in our day and in our cultural context. 83 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:54,960 But that doesn't mean that we just skip over this passage. 84 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:59,160 There's a principle behind the head covering that we must 85 00:04:59,160 --> 00:05:03,080 embrace and live by. Today we're going to see that we 86 00:05:03,080 --> 00:05:08,120 must embrace God's design for authority, embrace God's design 87 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:12,000 for roles, and embrace God's design for gender. 88 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:17,520 Let's bow for a word of prayer. Father, we thank you for your 89 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:21,960 word to us this morning, and we recognize that it is your word. 90 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:26,240 It is not my word. It is not our word, it is not 91 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:29,800 ours to use, to manipulate, to say whatever we want it to say, 92 00:05:29,800 --> 00:05:33,520 Lord, but we are bound to the meaning that You have given to 93 00:05:33,520 --> 00:05:36,920 Your word. We are bound to how You instruct 94 00:05:36,920 --> 00:05:39,920 us and have instructed us faithfully through Paul. 95 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,600 And we pray, Lord, that You would give us eyes to see what 96 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:46,680 Your Word has to say to us this morning, the principles that are 97 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,360 to lead and guide us in our worship and how we live our 98 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:52,680 lives. And that that will be a sign to 99 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:55,840 the world around us, to our culture, of the fact that we 100 00:05:55,840 --> 00:05:59,960 follow God and His authority and not just at the whims of the 101 00:05:59,960 --> 00:06:02,720 day. We pray for wisdom through your 102 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:06,760 Spirit to open our eyes to see your Word and to have the faith 103 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:09,960 to obey it so that we may bring glory and honor to You. 104 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:13,720 We ask this in the precious name of Jesus, Amen. 105 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:20,080 Turn with me in your Bibles to 1st Corinthians Chapter 11 and I 106 00:06:20,080 --> 00:06:24,280 will read verses 2 through 16. First Corinthians Chapter 11, 107 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:30,160 verses 2 through 16. Now I commend you because you 108 00:06:30,160 --> 00:06:34,360 Remember Me in everything and maintain the traditions even as 109 00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,960 I delivered them to you. But I want you to understand 110 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,720 that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is 111 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:45,120 her husband, and the head of Christ is God. 112 00:06:46,280 --> 00:06:49,400 Every man who prays or prophecies with his head covered 113 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:52,440 dishonors his head. But every wife who prays or 114 00:06:52,440 --> 00:06:55,800 prophesied with her head uncovered dishonors her head, 115 00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:59,360 since it is the same as if her head were shaved. 116 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:02,720 For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her 117 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,320 hair short. But since it is disgraceful for 118 00:07:05,320 --> 00:07:08,600 a wife to cut her hair or shave her head, let her cover her 119 00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:11,400 head. For a man ought not to cover his 120 00:07:11,400 --> 00:07:13,960 head, since he is the image and glory of God. 121 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:19,200 But woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, 122 00:07:19,360 --> 00:07:22,720 but woman from man. Neither was man created for 123 00:07:22,720 --> 00:07:27,120 woman, but woman for man. That is why a wife ought to have 124 00:07:27,120 --> 00:07:30,680 a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels. 125 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:36,240 Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor 126 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:39,240 man of woman. For as woman was made from man, 127 00:07:39,360 --> 00:07:43,480 so man is now born of woman, and all things are from God. 128 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:48,000 Judge for yourselves. Is it proper for a wife to pray 129 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:52,320 to God with her head uncovered? Does not nature itself teach you 130 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:55,280 that if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him? 131 00:07:55,600 --> 00:08:00,040 But if a woman has long hair, it is her glory, for her hair is 132 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:03,720 given to her for a covering. If anyone is inclined to be 133 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:07,560 contentious. We have no such practice, nor do 134 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:11,720 the churches of God. So the first thing we see this 135 00:08:11,720 --> 00:08:15,120 morning is that you need to embrace God's design for 136 00:08:15,120 --> 00:08:17,760 authority. Now, authority and submission 137 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:21,280 get a really bad name in our day and in our culture. 138 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,400 And it's just not because the authority and the submission is 139 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:27,120 a bad thing. It's because our world looks at 140 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:31,720 sinful, poor models and they think that you just throw out 141 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:34,720 this idea because there's been people who don't exemplify it. 142 00:08:34,720 --> 00:08:39,240 Well, sin is not sin is the problem, not God's design. 143 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:43,559 And besides that, we, we accept authority in every area of our 144 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:45,760 lives. So these people who say, well, 145 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:48,880 authority and submission are wrong or evil are not good. 146 00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:52,000 Well, we do it all the time. We, we embrace the authority of 147 00:08:52,000 --> 00:08:53,800 our government when we pay taxes. 148 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:57,640 We embrace the authority of a police officer when he pulls us 149 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:00,320 over. We embrace the authority of our 150 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:03,400 boss because he has the authority to tell us what to do. 151 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:06,920 There's authority all around us, and we deal with it all the 152 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,080 time. And so why would we throw out 153 00:09:09,080 --> 00:09:11,840 authority in the church and in marriage? 154 00:09:13,160 --> 00:09:16,960 This is part of God's design, and so we need to embrace it. 155 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:20,560 First, let's look at authority that honors God. 156 00:09:20,960 --> 00:09:23,320 Look at verse 3. Paul says, I want you to 157 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:26,840 understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of 158 00:09:26,840 --> 00:09:30,760 a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. 159 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:35,680 Here we see God's authority, God's design for authority. 160 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:39,000 First, we have Christ as the head of man. 161 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:45,160 He is authoritative over every man, and men are to submit to 162 00:09:45,160 --> 00:09:47,360 the lordship of Christ in their lives. 163 00:09:47,960 --> 00:09:51,640 And we willingly do this, because Christ himself willingly 164 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:54,040 gave Himself as a sacrifice for us. 165 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:58,480 And so we joyfully give our lives to Him as our head, as our 166 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:04,680 Lord. 2nd, we see that the husband is the head of the wife. 167 00:10:05,400 --> 00:10:10,760 He has authority over her, and wives are to submit to their 168 00:10:10,760 --> 00:10:14,720 husband's authority. The man is is to model that same 169 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:19,960 Christ like sacrificial love for his wife, and she submits to 170 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:23,400 that authority. Now you may bristle at that 171 00:10:23,400 --> 00:10:27,480 idea, but I want to submit to you that it's because of culture 172 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:31,200 that you bristle at that idea. Because look at what? 173 00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:36,000 Look at what Paul says next. The head of Christ is God. 174 00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:40,280 Now the amazing thing that we see with authority and 175 00:10:40,280 --> 00:10:46,840 submission is that Jesus Christ, God the Son, willingly submitted 176 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:49,840 himself to the will of his Father. 177 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:53,560 In John chapter 6 verse 38, he said I have come down from 178 00:10:53,560 --> 00:10:58,640 heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 179 00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:01,800 And the Holy Spirit actually does the same thing where Jesus 180 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:05,600 says the Holy Spirit only says what the Father tells him to 181 00:11:05,600 --> 00:11:08,960 say. And so even in the Godhead, God 182 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:13,800 the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, we see submission 183 00:11:14,840 --> 00:11:17,320 to one another. The Son submits to the Father, 184 00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,840 and the Holy Spirit submits to the Son and to the Father. 185 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,720 And so if you bristle at the idea of of having a head over 186 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:28,800 you, you're in good company that that Jesus himself submitted 187 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:32,320 himself as well. This is God's design for 188 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:34,360 authority. And authority is not a bad 189 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:37,240 thing. It's a good thing, and we must 190 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:40,320 embrace it. Next we see authority that 191 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:43,440 dishonors God. Look at verses 4 through 6. 192 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:47,720 Paul says every man who prays or prophecies with his head covered 193 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:51,080 dishonours his head. But every wife who prays or 194 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:55,000 prophecies with her head uncovered dishonours her head, 195 00:11:55,120 --> 00:11:57,440 since it is the same as if her head were shaved. 196 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:01,400 For if a wife will not cover her head, then she should cut her 197 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:04,120 hair short. But since it is disgraceful for 198 00:12:04,120 --> 00:12:07,720 a wife to cut off her hair or shave her head, let her cover 199 00:12:07,800 --> 00:12:11,000 her head. And so again, in that society, 200 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:14,840 in that culture, it was custom for wives to have that covering 201 00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:18,360 on their head. This signified that submission 202 00:12:18,520 --> 00:12:21,920 to their husbands. And so in that culture, when a 203 00:12:21,920 --> 00:12:26,560 woman wore a head covering and a man did not, they showed their 204 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:30,680 submission that they were embracing God's design for 205 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:34,840 culture. If man wore a head covering and 206 00:12:34,840 --> 00:12:39,240 a woman did not, it showed that they were rejecting God's 207 00:12:39,240 --> 00:12:41,640 design. They were rebelling against it. 208 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:45,800 Even worse, it was a disgrace. Now, in that day, Paul talks 209 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:48,120 about shaving your head. And that day it was only 210 00:12:48,320 --> 00:12:51,080 prostitutes and feminists who shaved their head. 211 00:12:51,280 --> 00:12:54,400 And it was incredibly disgraceful in that culture. 212 00:12:54,640 --> 00:12:56,680 And Paul's saying, you know, for a woman not to wear a HUD 213 00:12:56,680 --> 00:13:01,240 covering, it brings that same sort of shame to the woman. 214 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:04,560 And so he tells them to wear a head covering. 215 00:13:06,040 --> 00:13:09,400 And so now the question for us today is, does does this command 216 00:13:09,400 --> 00:13:13,200 from Paul to the Corinthian church apply to us today? 217 00:13:14,240 --> 00:13:18,080 Now again, in that day, it was very culturally obvious when a 218 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:21,800 woman would wear a head covering or not, what she was saying. 219 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,600 Now in our culture that that same idea doesn't exist, that 220 00:13:25,600 --> 00:13:29,000 doesn't carry that same weight, it doesn't carry that same 221 00:13:29,000 --> 00:13:32,520 meaning. There's not a cultural shame 222 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:35,640 when women don't wear head coverings and most people don't 223 00:13:35,640 --> 00:13:38,360 even understand the meaning of the head covering. 224 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:43,160 John MacArthur in his commentary says the apostle is not laying 225 00:13:43,160 --> 00:13:46,800 down an absolute law for women to wear veils or coverings in 226 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:51,240 all churches for all time, but is declaring that the symbols of 227 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:54,960 the divinely established male and female roles are to be 228 00:13:54,960 --> 00:13:57,560 genuinely honored in every culture. 229 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:01,680 This is what the the sign, the symbol of the head covering is 230 00:14:01,680 --> 00:14:04,440 pointing to. And what God is wanting to 231 00:14:04,440 --> 00:14:06,240 remind you. And what is wanting you to 232 00:14:06,240 --> 00:14:09,920 understand is that He has designed a structure for 233 00:14:09,920 --> 00:14:13,000 authority that you need to embrace. 234 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:15,200 Husbands are to lead their wives. 235 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:18,400 Wives are to submit to that authority and leadership of 236 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:21,720 their husbands as the husband submits to Christ. 237 00:14:23,440 --> 00:14:26,200 And right from the beginning of the Bible we see the breakdown 238 00:14:26,400 --> 00:14:29,600 of this authority, don't we? Adam and Eve are placed in the 239 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:31,800 garden. They have everything they could 240 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:34,440 ever want or need. They can eat from any tree of 241 00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:38,240 the garden except for the tree of knowledge and good and evil. 242 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:42,760 And we know the story. The serpent comes and, and goes 243 00:14:42,760 --> 00:14:46,760 to Eve and begins to tempt her and, and to question God's 244 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:51,400 goodness. And she takes of the fruit and 245 00:14:51,400 --> 00:14:55,240 she eats and she gives to her husband who is with her and he 246 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:58,240 eats. And we have so many questions, 247 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:00,400 so many questions from this passage. 248 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:03,280 Why did did she not defer to her husband? 249 00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:06,840 Why does she not turn and ask him where is Adam? 250 00:15:07,200 --> 00:15:09,560 Why? Why is Adam not taking control 251 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:13,480 of the situation? Why didn't he step in and remind 252 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:18,160 Eve of God's command? Why didn't Adam protect his 253 00:15:18,160 --> 00:15:23,920 wife? Adam failed to fulfill his role 254 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:27,560 of authority over Eve, and so they suffered the consequences 255 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:30,840 of their actions. And it is interesting that 256 00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:34,480 though Eve was technically the first one to sin, she's the 257 00:15:34,480 --> 00:15:36,880 first one who takes of the fruit and eat. 258 00:15:37,080 --> 00:15:41,880 It is Adam who is held responsible for plunging mankind 259 00:15:42,040 --> 00:15:44,800 into sin. Look at what Paul says in Romans 260 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:47,840 5 verse 12. Therefore, just as sin came into 261 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:52,880 the world through one man and death through sin, and so death 262 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:55,480 spread to all men because all sinned. 263 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:59,480 Adam had been given the responsibility to lead and 264 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:08,480 protect his wife, and he failed. Husbands, God has called you to 265 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:12,240 lead and protect your wife and your family. 266 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:17,440 And it's easy for us to to go to work and to provide for our 267 00:16:17,440 --> 00:16:20,120 family and feel like, OK, now my job is done. 268 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,320 I have done the job and the work of providing for my family. 269 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:27,680 No, you must also lead your family spiritually. 270 00:16:28,400 --> 00:16:34,720 That is a part of your role. Husbands, God has made you the 271 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:38,640 head of your wife. It is your responsible 272 00:16:38,680 --> 00:16:42,520 responsibility to lead and disciple your wife and your 273 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:46,880 children to grow them in Christ. It is your responsibility to 274 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:51,600 call out sin and to protect your family from the consequences of 275 00:16:51,600 --> 00:16:53,880 sin. It is your responsibility to 276 00:16:53,880 --> 00:16:57,360 protect your wife and your family from the enemy. 277 00:16:58,280 --> 00:17:02,840 You have been given that authority not to use and abuse 278 00:17:02,840 --> 00:17:07,880 your wife and your children for your pleasure, but to sacrifice 279 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:11,200 your life for their health for their benefit. 280 00:17:13,079 --> 00:17:19,680 When you lead well, you honor Christ your head and you will be 281 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:24,240 held responsibility responsible. Don't pass off this 282 00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:28,640 responsibility to your wife. Step up and lead your family as 283 00:17:28,640 --> 00:17:32,600 a godly man. And I'm not standing here in 284 00:17:32,600 --> 00:17:36,880 judgement of you as pastors. We were talking about it this 285 00:17:36,880 --> 00:17:40,920 weekend and how we see the areas where we fall short and the 286 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:44,080 areas where where we have neglected to step up and, and 287 00:17:44,080 --> 00:17:46,760 lead our families. Well, we're all in this 288 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:48,920 together, but we need to be diligent. 289 00:17:48,920 --> 00:17:52,520 We need to be faithful. We need to step up and lead. 290 00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:54,480 And maybe you're wondering where to start. 291 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:56,960 And I just want to give you a resource. 292 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:58,840 We have a free resource for you this morning. 293 00:17:58,840 --> 00:18:02,200 We, we purchased these books called Family Worship by Donald 294 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:04,800 Whitney and we brought them for our men's conference last week 295 00:18:05,200 --> 00:18:08,000 and we got, I don't know, maybe 60 to 80 of them left on the 296 00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:10,200 table out there. Maybe you, it's a short little 297 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:12,000 book, maybe you don't know where to start. 298 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:14,640 And that book would be a really great resource for you, a way 299 00:18:14,640 --> 00:18:18,200 for you to be encouraged at how you can begin family worship and 300 00:18:18,200 --> 00:18:21,440 leading your family. Another wonderful thing that 301 00:18:21,440 --> 00:18:24,040 we're already doing for you is Pastor Jonah has has this 302 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:26,200 curriculum that we're using on Sunday mornings. 303 00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:29,120 And if your children go to Sunday school, you receive an 304 00:18:29,120 --> 00:18:33,480 e-mail on Sunday morning that says, here, parents, walk with 305 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,520 your children through the lesson that we went through on Sunday. 306 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:39,240 All of it, all of it's done and it's there for you. 307 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:43,280 Take that resource and lead your family with what is there. 308 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:46,880 And maybe you just start small by picking a day of the week and 309 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:49,240 saying, on this day, we're going to sit down and we're going to 310 00:18:49,240 --> 00:18:51,040 read God's Word together and we're going to pray. 311 00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:53,680 It doesn't need to be long. It doesn't need to be a sermon. 312 00:18:53,680 --> 00:18:56,760 It just needs to be you faithfully leading your family 313 00:18:56,920 --> 00:19:02,640 for Christ and wives, God has called you to submit to the 314 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:06,760 authority of your husband. He is there to lead you, to 315 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:11,560 guide you, to protect you and to sacrifice himself for your 316 00:19:11,560 --> 00:19:14,520 benefit. Don't try to control and take 317 00:19:14,520 --> 00:19:17,880 over, but invite him to lead your family. 318 00:19:18,200 --> 00:19:20,880 Encourage him where he steps out in faith. 319 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:25,080 Honour the ways that He does lead and protect you. 320 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:29,040 And when you submit to Him as your head, you honour Christ. 321 00:19:31,920 --> 00:19:36,280 Next, you need to embrace God's design for roles. 322 00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:40,400 Once again, this is something that we sense that culture is 323 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:46,680 pushing back on very strongly. Now, churches generally take two 324 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:48,920 approaches when it comes to gender and roles. 325 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:50,400 You may you may have heard the terms. 326 00:19:50,400 --> 00:19:53,800 There's complementarianism and egalitarianism. 327 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:57,720 Now complementarianism teaches that that men and women have 328 00:19:57,720 --> 00:20:01,000 been created by God to complement one another. 329 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:04,880 This view argues that that differing roles between men and 330 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:06,920 women are a part of God's design. 331 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:11,960 Egalitarianism teaches that in Christ there are no longer 332 00:20:11,960 --> 00:20:14,440 distinctions between male and female. 333 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:17,480 This view argues that these differing roles have been done 334 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:21,360 away with in Christ. Well, here at LEMC we believe 335 00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:23,880 that the most consistent view with the Bible is 336 00:20:23,880 --> 00:20:27,800 complementarianism, and that is exactly what Paul teaches in 337 00:20:27,800 --> 00:20:31,040 this passage. First, he says men and women are 338 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:34,120 distinct. Look at verses 7 through 10. 339 00:20:34,360 --> 00:20:37,720 For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and 340 00:20:37,720 --> 00:20:41,200 glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. 341 00:20:41,560 --> 00:20:44,360 For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. 342 00:20:44,760 --> 00:20:48,400 Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 343 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:52,040 That is why a wife ought to have a symbol of authority on her 344 00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:57,240 head because of the angels. Here Paul clearly shows the 345 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:01,160 authority of a man over a woman, and he links it back to 346 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:05,040 creation, indicating that this was a part of God's design. 347 00:21:05,640 --> 00:21:08,880 Men and women are distinct from one another, and that 348 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:12,280 distinction was placed in the garden before the fall. 349 00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:16,320 It wasn't a result of the fall. It was before the fall. 350 00:21:17,080 --> 00:21:22,760 Woman came from man and was made for man to be his helper, not 351 00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:26,880 the other way around. God created man and then created 352 00:21:26,880 --> 00:21:30,000 woman from that man. And since this was God's 353 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:34,280 intended design, Paul wants the Corinthians to maintain this 354 00:21:34,280 --> 00:21:36,440 order. And he says because of the 355 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:40,880 angels now that word angels is messengers and and it can mean 356 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:44,240 angels or it can mean messengers from other churches. 357 00:21:44,240 --> 00:21:47,320 And so at whatever Paul is meaning is, he's meaning to say 358 00:21:47,320 --> 00:21:49,960 whether the angels are watching or whether someone comes from a 359 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:53,240 different church and comes here. They should be able to see your 360 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:56,920 good order and that you are following God's design. 361 00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:00,680 Now, now Paul recognizes what the Corinthians might be 362 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:03,720 thinking at this point. And so he goes on to to make the 363 00:22:03,720 --> 00:22:05,480 point that men and women are equal. 364 00:22:06,320 --> 00:22:09,960 He says nevertheless in verse 11 in the Lord, woman is not 365 00:22:09,960 --> 00:22:12,240 independent of man nor man of woman. 366 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:16,600 For as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman and 367 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:20,120 all things are from God. Now Paul is very clear. 368 00:22:20,120 --> 00:22:21,960 He's he's very quick to say, look, hey, be careful. 369 00:22:21,960 --> 00:22:26,080 This is what I'm not saying is that men are superior to women. 370 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:29,920 That's not what I'm saying. They are equal before God. 371 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:32,560 They need each other. And in the same way that that 372 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:37,760 Eve came from Adam, now men come from women. 373 00:22:38,520 --> 00:22:41,120 And so in this beautiful creation that God has set 374 00:22:41,120 --> 00:22:44,200 forward, he shows the equality of men and women. 375 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:48,960 And yet they are distinct. They are both equal in God's 376 00:22:48,960 --> 00:22:52,880 eyes, having been created in his image, and yet created 377 00:22:52,880 --> 00:22:56,800 specifically with distinct roles to serve and build God's 378 00:22:56,800 --> 00:22:59,600 Kingdom. And when we embrace those God 379 00:22:59,600 --> 00:23:02,440 ordained roles, we bring glory to God. 380 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:07,880 Now, I don't know if there's anybody out there like me, but I 381 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:10,080 don't really enjoy taking out the trash. 382 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:13,880 And it's usually because I remember once I lay down and 383 00:23:13,880 --> 00:23:16,280 then I have to get back up because I don't want to get up 384 00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:17,800 at 5:00. That's when the garbage truck 385 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:19,600 runs by our house. And that's too early. 386 00:23:20,120 --> 00:23:22,000 So now I have to get out of bed and I have to go. 387 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:24,000 And, and it gets worse when it's winter time, right? 388 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:26,120 Because you get out there and you're like, well, I really 389 00:23:26,120 --> 00:23:29,640 don't want to throw on winter boots and a coat and everything 390 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:32,120 to just walk to the edge of the driveway and come back. 391 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,760 So I'll usually just if I'm in shorts and AT shirt, I'll throw 392 00:23:35,760 --> 00:23:37,800 on, you know, my slides and I'll run out. 393 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:40,600 I don't know if there anybody out there about me, but this 394 00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:42,480 usually ends up being a bad idea, right? 395 00:23:42,480 --> 00:23:44,080 Especially when there's snow on the ground. 396 00:23:44,200 --> 00:23:47,360 But you're like, you know what, if I lift my foot and I step 397 00:23:47,360 --> 00:23:49,920 just right, I'm not going to get any snow in my sandals, right? 398 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:53,560 Has anybody anybody been there? You're like, I can make it. 399 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:56,640 I can do it. You know, that is it always 400 00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:58,040 fails. It ends badly. 401 00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:00,720 But that's because you're wearing shoes that are not 402 00:24:00,720 --> 00:24:03,640 designed to walk in snow. You're wearing sandals. 403 00:24:04,280 --> 00:24:06,160 They're, they're designed for summertime. 404 00:24:07,040 --> 00:24:10,560 They're not designed to to trek through the snow and bring the, 405 00:24:10,560 --> 00:24:14,640 the trash to the road. And in the same way, when you're 406 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:17,240 about to sit down on the couch and lounge and and maybe pop 407 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:19,600 some popcorn and watch a movie, you don't go throw your winter 408 00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:22,000 boots on and kick your feet up on the coffee table, right? 409 00:24:22,160 --> 00:24:24,720 That's not what those winter boots were designed for. 410 00:24:25,680 --> 00:24:29,640 Both the sandals and your snow boots are, are equally types of 411 00:24:29,640 --> 00:24:33,920 footwear, and yet they're designed with specific functions 412 00:24:33,920 --> 00:24:36,200 in mind. And if you try to use them 413 00:24:36,200 --> 00:24:39,560 against what their design is, then then you're going against 414 00:24:39,560 --> 00:24:41,280 the purpose for which they were created. 415 00:24:42,120 --> 00:24:44,200 And this is true of men and women as well. 416 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:48,920 We're all equal in God and yet in his beautiful, magnificent 417 00:24:48,920 --> 00:24:52,160 creation, he's created us with distinct roles and abilities. 418 00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:55,160 And we see this, you know, before we get to like the church 419 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:58,320 and the family, just look at the natural abilities of men and 420 00:24:58,320 --> 00:25:01,080 women, right? Women have this natural ability 421 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:04,200 to to multitask. I couldn't do two things at the 422 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:07,760 same time to save my life. OK, But women can think of 100 423 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,760 things at the same time and do 15 things at the same time. 424 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:13,600 And I don't understand it. I was my wife is always doing 425 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:14,840 something. I'm like, you're not even 426 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:16,240 listening to me. She's like, yeah, you said this, 427 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:19,360 this, this and this. And I'm like, all right, I do. 428 00:25:19,400 --> 00:25:21,560 I don't know how you do that, but you do it. 429 00:25:22,320 --> 00:25:25,120 Women are good at communication, expressing their thoughts, 430 00:25:25,120 --> 00:25:28,320 expressing their feelings. They have a good intuition, 431 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:30,280 right, Man, you know your, if you know your wife, they're 432 00:25:30,280 --> 00:25:32,160 like, man, I just, I have this feeling. 433 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:34,320 And I don't mean nine times out of 10, they're right. 434 00:25:34,320 --> 00:25:36,880 It's, it's amazing that ability they have. 435 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:39,480 Now, this isn't always true. It doesn't mean there's not men 436 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:42,520 who are good at those things, but generally speaking, women 437 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:44,880 are good at those things. And so men, when we try to do 438 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:47,360 things that are that women are good at or that our wives are 439 00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:49,840 good at, we feel like we're wearing sandals in the snow. 440 00:25:49,840 --> 00:25:52,280 You know, it doesn't feel right. We're not good at it. 441 00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:56,120 Men also have natural abilities. They have natural abilities for 442 00:25:56,120 --> 00:25:58,320 strength. And so they have jobs that this 443 00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:00,680 gives them jobs and roles inside the workplace, right? 444 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:03,800 Manual labor. They have a spatial awareness, 445 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:07,520 awareness of their surroundings, a sense of direction, which most 446 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:11,120 women don't have. I, I, I, Jessica always tells me 447 00:26:11,120 --> 00:26:13,080 to tell her when I'm going to mention her in the service and I 448 00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:15,400 didn't, I didn't tell her this one, but sometimes I'll let her 449 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:17,400 walk out first. If we're coming out of Walmart, 450 00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:19,640 I'll let her go out first because I'm always so interested 451 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:20,840 to see which way she's going to go. 452 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:23,680 She has no idea where we parked the car. 453 00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:26,520 And I just find it so funny. But men are better have a 454 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:29,280 spatial awareness. Men have a natural ability to 455 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:31,920 leadership, right? They, if there's a, if there's a 456 00:26:31,920 --> 00:26:35,440 void of leadership, they'll naturally step in and fill in 457 00:26:35,440 --> 00:26:38,280 that void. Again, it's not 100% true, but 458 00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:41,160 generally speaking, men, men do that better than women. 459 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:42,760 And so these are natural abilities. 460 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:45,720 And so women, when you try to do things that men were designed to 461 00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,360 do you, you feel like you're wearing snow boots in the house. 462 00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:49,880 You know, it just doesn't feel right. 463 00:26:50,800 --> 00:26:54,760 And when it comes to God's Kingdom, both men and women are 464 00:26:54,760 --> 00:26:58,320 tasked to work together for the building of God's Kingdom. 465 00:26:58,320 --> 00:27:00,280 I think that's the first thing that we need to say because 466 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:03,160 sometimes we can be tempted to say it's like the men do the 467 00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:06,600 work of ministry and the women just sit by the wayside and do, 468 00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:10,040 and they just, you know, cook and clean and, and pray They 469 00:27:10,120 --> 00:27:13,840 they do all of those things. But women are actually together 470 00:27:13,920 --> 00:27:17,200 when God gives his order to say, have dominion in the book of 471 00:27:17,200 --> 00:27:19,760 Genesis, that command is to the man and the woman. 472 00:27:20,800 --> 00:27:24,040 So we work together for the building of God's Kingdom, and 473 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:27,760 yet we have distinct roles. We've already seen that in the 474 00:27:27,760 --> 00:27:31,000 home the man is to lead while the woman submits. 475 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:35,800 And in the church we have the same sort of idea where God says 476 00:27:35,800 --> 00:27:38,000 that men are the ones to lead the church. 477 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:41,000 They're the ones to have authority to shepherd, to pastor 478 00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:44,080 the church. Women come alongside to help in 479 00:27:44,080 --> 00:27:47,320 any sort of role that that doesn't involve teaching and 480 00:27:47,320 --> 00:27:51,440 having authority over men. And so we work together for the 481 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:54,680 building of God's Kingdom, but each with our own distinct roles 482 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:57,840 and abilities. This is God's design for the 483 00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:00,840 roles of men and women, and you must embrace them. 484 00:28:01,040 --> 00:28:05,080 And when you do, you bring glory and honor to Christ your head. 485 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,680 So, so far we've seen that you should embrace God's design for 486 00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:11,640 authority, embrace God's design for roles. 487 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:15,000 And next, you should embrace God's design for gender. 488 00:28:16,080 --> 00:28:19,840 Now, I don't have to tell you how our culture is pushing back 489 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:22,600 on this idea of gender in our day, right? 490 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:26,000 We see the effects of it, of it everywhere. 491 00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:30,160 Our world doesn't doesn't even know how to define a woman. 492 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:34,920 Our world doesn't know what the role of a man should be. 493 00:28:36,760 --> 00:28:40,000 Our world doesn't know how to raise the next generation, and 494 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,960 so they're letting the next generation raise themself. 495 00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:48,800 Here Paul shows simply and clearly what God's design for 496 00:28:48,800 --> 00:28:52,920 gender is. First, God created 2 genders, 497 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,160 male and female. Look at verses 13 and 15. 498 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,360 Judge for yourselves. Is it proper for a wife to pray 499 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:03,080 to God with her head uncovered? Does not nature teach you that 500 00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:05,840 if a man wears long hair it is a disgrace for him? 501 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:10,280 But if a woman has long hair, it is her glory, for her hair is 502 00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:14,800 given to her for a covering. Now I'm not saying that this is 503 00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:17,040 the point Paul is making in this section. 504 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,160 I'm I'm simply noticing what Paul is doing here. 505 00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:22,360 And I'm doing that because of our culture and our day. 506 00:29:22,360 --> 00:29:26,280 I feel like it needs to be said that Paul here mentions male and 507 00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:27,640 female. That's it. 508 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:30,440 There's not a whole bunch of other genders. 509 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,560 This isn't Paul's main point, but this is the two genders that 510 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:39,720 there are our world following Satan and their flesh is 511 00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:44,920 rejecting God's good design. They're living in rebellion to 512 00:29:44,920 --> 00:29:46,320 God. They're they're attempting to 513 00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:50,920 distort God's creation, to distort God's design through 514 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:55,200 surgery. They themselves are deceived and 515 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:58,440 they're deceiving other people, even children. 516 00:30:00,520 --> 00:30:05,320 We must embrace God's design for gender and faithfully teach our 517 00:30:05,320 --> 00:30:09,360 families, faithfully teach our children, and correct others 518 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:12,880 gently, lovingly, patiently. We must correct them and teach 519 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:16,280 the truth. Next, Paul argues that men 520 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:19,280 should look like men and women should look like women. 521 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:24,200 He again says in verse 14, does not nature itself teach you that 522 00:30:24,200 --> 00:30:27,960 if a man wears long hair, it is a disgrace for him, but if a 523 00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:32,240 woman has long hair, it is her glory, for her hair is given to 524 00:30:32,240 --> 00:30:35,840 her for a covering. Again, men and women have been 525 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:38,360 created and they're distinct from one another. 526 00:30:39,000 --> 00:30:43,000 And even though we're removed from that culture in Corinth, we 527 00:30:43,000 --> 00:30:45,400 see that this principle applies today as well. 528 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:49,080 When a man has long hair like a woman does, it doesn't look 529 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:51,400 natural. But when a woman has that long 530 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:53,920 hairdresser glory, it is, it does look natural. 531 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:56,560 It does look beautiful. And the same goes for a woman. 532 00:30:56,560 --> 00:31:00,480 If a woman's going to shave her head, that looks unnatural, but 533 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:02,520 a man who shaves his head looks totally fine. 534 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:06,480 We don't see any problem here. And it's interesting actually, 535 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:10,080 that when we when we look at this idea of hair, a man's hair 536 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:13,160 just naturally doesn't grow the same way a woman does, right? 537 00:31:13,160 --> 00:31:15,560 That's why we call it male pattern baldness. 538 00:31:15,840 --> 00:31:18,280 You know, as men, as we get older, it's not uncommon for men 539 00:31:18,280 --> 00:31:20,400 to go bald, but that doesn't happen nearly as often with 540 00:31:20,400 --> 00:31:23,040 women, right? And so there's a natural way 541 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:28,000 that God has designed us and men should look like men, women 542 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:30,880 should look like women. That's a an order and a design 543 00:31:30,880 --> 00:31:33,840 that we ought to be faithful to in God's word. 544 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:37,280 Now, Paul isn't getting into a debate about hair length. 545 00:31:37,520 --> 00:31:39,400 He's just simply making that point. 546 00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:42,080 Men should look like men, women should look like women. 547 00:31:43,040 --> 00:31:46,440 So God created only two genders. They are each unique and 548 00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:49,480 distinct. So don't resist how God created 549 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:50,840 you. Embrace it. 550 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:56,560 This week I was listening to Doctor Linda Siler and her 551 00:31:56,560 --> 00:31:59,280 testimony and, and maybe you've heard it, Focused on the family 552 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:03,560 aired a talk that she gave and she shared her story of being 553 00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:06,560 freed from Jesus, from gender dysphoria. 554 00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:09,360 She was confused about her genders and, and as she was 555 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:12,960 growing up as a boy or she was growing up, she longed to be a 556 00:32:12,960 --> 00:32:15,080 boy. She struggled with with 557 00:32:15,080 --> 00:32:18,080 attraction to girls, but she always kept this a secret. 558 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:21,080 She kept it to herself because in that day nobody was talking 559 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:23,240 about it. And so she kept it to herself. 560 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:26,840 And when she went off to college, she she joined this 561 00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:30,400 campus ministry and she became a genuine believer in Christ. 562 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:36,280 And so she still kept her her desires, her flesh. 563 00:32:36,360 --> 00:32:39,440 She kept it a secret because now you take while the world isn't 564 00:32:39,440 --> 00:32:41,640 talking about it and you're definitely not talking about it 565 00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:43,680 in church, right? We're definitely not talking 566 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:45,640 about this stuff. This was like the early 90s. 567 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:48,720 And so she kept this a secret and it wasn't something that 568 00:32:48,800 --> 00:32:51,040 that they talked about. And she thought, man, as I grow 569 00:32:51,040 --> 00:32:53,360 in Christ, this struggle is just going to eventually go away. 570 00:32:54,280 --> 00:32:58,480 But it didn't. It only intensified and she came 571 00:32:58,480 --> 00:33:01,280 to a breaking point in her young Christian life where she 572 00:33:01,280 --> 00:33:03,680 wrestled through the thought of, you know, at some point I'm 573 00:33:03,680 --> 00:33:06,720 either going to have to live sold out for Jesus Christ, or 574 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:09,840 I'm going to have to give in to my desires and just live and 575 00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:13,920 satisfy my flesh. And at a conference, she heard a 576 00:33:13,920 --> 00:33:17,960 speaker say, if you're stuck and you're caught in habitual sin, 577 00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:23,480 the answer is James 5, verse 16. Therefore, confess your sins to 578 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:27,080 one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. 579 00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:32,720 In her testimony, Linda said, I didn't hear anything else the 580 00:33:32,720 --> 00:33:36,840 speaker said that day. I just knew that unless I took 581 00:33:36,840 --> 00:33:40,600 what was in the dark and exposed it into the light of Christ with 582 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:43,800 a trusted leader, I would never get free. 583 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:47,760 And I did discover the truth that when you take what's in the 584 00:33:47,760 --> 00:33:52,160 dark and you bring it into the light, it breaks the power of 585 00:33:52,160 --> 00:33:55,240 the enemy to energize that sin in your life. 586 00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:00,760 But when we keep sin quiet and hidden and silent, it actually 587 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:03,560 energizes the enemy. And we are naturally going to be 588 00:34:03,560 --> 00:34:07,920 opposed by God because God opposes the proud. 589 00:34:08,760 --> 00:34:11,480 When we're too proud to get our sin into the light because we're 590 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:14,320 afraid of what other people would think of us and we wear a 591 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:17,760 mask and we pretend like everything's OK, you will stay 592 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:20,679 in bondage to those areas. But you know what Scripture 593 00:34:20,679 --> 00:34:23,760 says? He opposes the proud, but he 594 00:34:23,760 --> 00:34:30,920 gives grace to the humble. Linda decided to open up to her 595 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:34,280 pastor about her sin and she was terrified at how he was going to 596 00:34:34,280 --> 00:34:37,440 respond. But he showed her grace, he 597 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:39,320 said. Linda, thank you for sharing 598 00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:42,600 that with me. It took so much courage and I 599 00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:44,880 want you to know that doesn't change our opinion of you. 600 00:34:45,440 --> 00:34:48,880 We love you. We see the hand of God in your 601 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:51,440 life and we're going to get you the help that you need. 602 00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:57,000 Through counselling and through being involved in discipleship 603 00:34:57,080 --> 00:35:01,080 in her church, Linda was able to overcome the lies of the enemy 604 00:35:01,240 --> 00:35:05,560 and embrace God's design for her gender and the female that He 605 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:10,480 made her to be. Maybe you're struggling with 606 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:12,160 those feelings of gender dysphoria. 607 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:14,800 Maybe you think that you are the wrong gender. 608 00:35:15,480 --> 00:35:17,800 You need to know this is a lie from the enemy. 609 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:24,160 Satan came to steal, kill, and destroy you, and he does that 610 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:26,960 through deception. But Jesus came that you could 611 00:35:26,960 --> 00:35:30,880 have life and have it abundantly, and you can have 612 00:35:30,880 --> 00:35:34,720 that abundant life through His truth, through embracing God's 613 00:35:34,720 --> 00:35:37,160 design for who He made you to be. 614 00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:40,200 Maybe you've never shared that with anyone and you're 615 00:35:40,200 --> 00:35:42,600 terrified. You're terrified because you 616 00:35:42,600 --> 00:35:46,320 think that you'll be judged, but you're only going to break the 617 00:35:46,320 --> 00:35:49,720 power of that sin in your life or any sin in your life. 618 00:35:49,720 --> 00:35:52,440 This, this, I am talking about gender dysphoria, but this goes 619 00:35:52,440 --> 00:35:55,400 for any sin in our lives. If you want to break the power 620 00:35:55,400 --> 00:35:59,280 of sin in your life, you need to confess it to someone, bring it 621 00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:03,440 to the light. Find someone that you trust and 622 00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:05,800 share your struggle with them and begin the journey to 623 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:08,840 embracing who God made you to be. 624 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:15,080 Now maybe you don't struggle with gender dysphoria, but I 625 00:36:15,080 --> 00:36:18,320 want to ask you the question how would you respond if someone 626 00:36:18,320 --> 00:36:20,160 came and shared that struggle with you? 627 00:36:21,800 --> 00:36:25,080 Would you have the same grace and compassion as Linda's 628 00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:28,760 pastor, or would you judge and condemn? 629 00:36:32,680 --> 00:36:35,120 Would anyone even share their sin with you? 630 00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:39,320 Or are you such a hypocritical, judgmental person that that you 631 00:36:39,320 --> 00:36:42,360 are not a safe place to go? You are not a person that 632 00:36:42,360 --> 00:36:45,360 anybody would even come to to share their sin? 633 00:36:47,040 --> 00:36:51,240 We all struggle with sin. We don't all struggle with the 634 00:36:51,240 --> 00:36:54,520 same sin, but we all struggle with sin nonetheless. 635 00:36:54,920 --> 00:36:58,280 And so pray for the Lord to give you a compassionate heart for 636 00:36:58,280 --> 00:37:02,040 others in their sin. Commit to having a gracious 637 00:37:02,040 --> 00:37:05,640 response if someone were to share a sin struggle with you. 638 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:10,400 We all need grace as we seek to embrace God's will for our 639 00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:13,880 lives. Now, as we close this morning, 640 00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:17,600 Paul wrote this letter to the Corinthians so that they would 641 00:37:17,600 --> 00:37:19,480 wear coverings. That's what he was telling them 642 00:37:19,480 --> 00:37:22,400 to do. But if we focus too much on the 643 00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:26,080 head coverings themselves, then we've missed the point of why 644 00:37:26,080 --> 00:37:30,600 they were there. And so here at this church, we 645 00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:34,840 we have Christian freedom. If you feel convicted to wear a 646 00:37:34,840 --> 00:37:37,120 head covering, then we would encourage you to do that. 647 00:37:37,720 --> 00:37:41,160 But don't forget the purpose for why you wear it. 648 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:45,200 Embrace God's design for the symbol. 649 00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:49,320 And if you do not feel convicted to wear a head covering, we 650 00:37:49,320 --> 00:37:51,320 encourage you to embrace that freedom. 651 00:37:52,080 --> 00:37:56,400 But don't forget God's design. You are obligated to be obedient 652 00:37:56,400 --> 00:38:01,680 to God's design for your life. And so we've seen that God has 653 00:38:01,680 --> 00:38:04,960 given us his design for authority, for roles, and for 654 00:38:04,960 --> 00:38:07,880 gender, and we should embrace those designs. 655 00:38:08,440 --> 00:38:13,880 But the problem is that in our flesh we resist God's design for 656 00:38:13,880 --> 00:38:17,200 our life. We reject it in our flesh. 657 00:38:17,960 --> 00:38:21,160 The world, the flesh and the devil are all fighting against 658 00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:25,000 us, trying to lure us into the things of the world, and they're 659 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:27,280 fighting against God's design for our life. 660 00:38:27,800 --> 00:38:31,320 And we've all sinned and fallen short of God's glory. 661 00:38:32,200 --> 00:38:35,120 And look at at earlier in the book, Paul gives his judgement 662 00:38:35,120 --> 00:38:38,200 of those who are caught in sin. He says, do you not know that 663 00:38:38,240 --> 00:38:41,200 the unrighteous will not inherit the Kingdom of God? 664 00:38:42,160 --> 00:38:45,000 Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, 665 00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:48,000 nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice 666 00:38:48,000 --> 00:38:51,400 homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor 667 00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:55,080 revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the Kingdom of God. 668 00:38:56,360 --> 00:39:02,720 Our sin, our rejection of God in our lives leads us to not 669 00:39:02,720 --> 00:39:05,120 getting to experience His Kingdom. 670 00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:09,120 But look at the hope that Paul gives in the next verse. 671 00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:15,240 And such were some of you, but you were washed, you were 672 00:39:15,240 --> 00:39:18,200 sanctified. You were justified in the name 673 00:39:18,200 --> 00:39:21,760 of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 674 00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:26,360 For those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ 675 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:29,880 and the sacrifice that He made on your behalf, you have been 676 00:39:29,880 --> 00:39:34,520 washed and you will inherit God's Kingdom, not because of 677 00:39:34,520 --> 00:39:37,160 anything good in you, not because of anything good that 678 00:39:37,160 --> 00:39:40,320 you will do, but because you have trusted in the goodness of 679 00:39:40,320 --> 00:39:42,560 Christ and what He has done for you. 680 00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:47,640 Have you been cleansed and forgiven through faith in the 681 00:39:47,640 --> 00:39:52,360 sacrifice of Jesus? Maybe you think you're too far 682 00:39:52,360 --> 00:39:55,240 gone, maybe you think you're too sinful. 683 00:39:55,640 --> 00:40:00,040 No, your sin is what qualifies you to come to the Saviour. 684 00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:04,600 Jesus said come to me, all who are heavy are labour and are 685 00:40:04,600 --> 00:40:07,240 heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 686 00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:13,000 Don't wait to find the rest that you're looking for trusting in 687 00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:14,600 Jesus. It doesn't mean everything's 688 00:40:14,600 --> 00:40:16,080 going to go perfect in your life. 689 00:40:16,240 --> 00:40:17,640 It doesn't mean that everything's going to be great 690 00:40:17,640 --> 00:40:19,840 from here on out. But it does mean that you can 691 00:40:19,840 --> 00:40:25,080 live with joy and peace and hope knowing that all your sins are 692 00:40:25,080 --> 00:40:28,720 forgiven in Christ and you will be with him forever in eternity. 693 00:40:29,160 --> 00:40:30,840 And if you would like to talk with us about that, we would 694 00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:32,440 love to have a conversation with you. 695 00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:34,760 We welcome you to come up afterwards. 696 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:36,960 I'll I'll be around and feel free to find me. 697 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:39,800 We'd love to chat with you and then talk about what it means to 698 00:40:39,800 --> 00:40:42,600 give your life to Christ. Let's bow our heads in prayer 699 00:40:42,600 --> 00:40:47,320 this morning. Father, we thank you for your 700 00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:50,520 design for us. You are the Creator. 701 00:40:50,840 --> 00:40:54,480 You are the designer. We see your creation at the 702 00:40:54,480 --> 00:40:57,120 beginning of your Word, which says that you breathed all 703 00:40:57,120 --> 00:41:01,440 things into existence. And we see your grand design. 704 00:41:01,440 --> 00:41:05,840 We see the order in your creation, and Lord, we confess 705 00:41:05,840 --> 00:41:08,560 that that in our sin we have rejected Your design. 706 00:41:08,560 --> 00:41:11,640 We reject the ways that which You have made us. 707 00:41:12,400 --> 00:41:14,360 And our world seeks to lead us astray. 708 00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:18,120 Satan seeks to lead us astray through our world, through our 709 00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:21,080 flesh. But Lord, we pray that You would 710 00:41:21,080 --> 00:41:23,440 lead and guide us by Your Spirit, that we would be a 711 00:41:23,440 --> 00:41:27,480 people of Your Word, that we would embrace Your design, 712 00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:30,840 embrace Your authority over our lives, that we would seek to 713 00:41:30,840 --> 00:41:33,760 live for your glory and honor. And we pray that Your Spirit 714 00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:36,680 would strengthen us to be faithful examples so that when 715 00:41:36,680 --> 00:41:39,720 the world looks at us, they can see the beauty and the wonder of 716 00:41:39,720 --> 00:41:42,960 their design and give glory to You as their Creator. 717 00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:45,360 We ask this in Jesus name, Amen.