We cannot be close to the Lord and be far from
His Word. And so that we might understand more
of His Word, let's turn together to 1 Corinthians
chapter 11 as we think together concerning a
very significant and important theme in the Word
of God. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, verse 2. I'm
going to speak today concerning order in the
church. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember
me in all things and keep the ordinances as I
deliver them to you. But I would have you know
that the head of every man is Christ, and the
head of the woman is the man, and the head of
Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying,
having his head covered, literally it says, having
anything down over his head, dishonoreth his
head, capital H on the final head, referring
to Christ. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth
with her head uncovered, dishonoreth her head,
that is, her husband. For that is even all one
as if she were shaved. For if the woman be not
covered, let her also be shorn. But if it be
a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaved, let
her be covered. For a man indeed ought not to
cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image
and glory of God. But the woman is the glory
of the man. For the man is not of the woman,
but the woman of the man. Neither was the man
created for the woman, but the woman for the
man. For this cause ought the woman to have authority.
on her head, that is the symbol of authority,
a covering, because of the angels. Nevertheless,
neither is the man without the woman, neither
the woman without the man in the Lord. For as
the woman is of the man, and so is, even so is
the man also by the woman, but all things of
God. Judge in yourselves, is it seemly that a
woman pray unto God uncovered? Doth not even
nature itself teach you that if a man have long
hair, it's a shame to him? But if a woman have
long hair, it's a glory to her, for her hair
is given to her for a covering. But if any man
seem to be contentious, we have no other custom,
neither the churches of God. The theme that Paul
is still talking about is that theme of the liberty
that we enjoy in Jesus Christ. There are two
kinds of freedom. There is a false kind where
one is free to do what he wants. And then there
is the true kind of freedom where one is free
to do what he ought. The apostle is pointing
us to the latter kind of freedom. We have liberty
in Jesus Christ not to do our own thing, but
to go to the word of God and find out what God
wants of us and then to submit. to the Lordship
of Christ as it is revealed in this book. But
the problem that Paul is concerned about here
is this. There were, of course, women in the
church in Corinth. They had been saved in a culture
where they had been treated as property and as
slaves, essentially. And so after they were saved
and began to understand the liberty that they
had in Jesus Christ, they began to discard the
customs of modesty that were prevalent in that
culture. And Paul was concerned about that, as
we'll see as we get into the word. As we come
to this passage today, we must be careful in
interpreting it so that we differentiate between
the principles of God and the customs of that
first century culture, for they are somewhat
interwoven here. But we can't throw the whole
chapter out and say, well, that was for a different
culture. That is not legitimate, because there
are important principles that God gives to us
in this text. And the principles apply to our
society today. For in Corinth in that day, there
was a secular, feminist kind of movement, even
as there is in our own culture. The wearing of
the veil in that culture meant that the lady
was modest, that she was a person with integrity
and character. Not to wear the veil indicated
that the woman was careless and was perhaps even
a wicked woman of the street or a prostitute.
But the problem developed in that church into
one of insubordination to God's pattern of authority.
And so that's what Paul is basically approaching
here. It is God's authority, God's order, that
he has established within the church. Paul begins
in verse 2 by commending them. That is something
that he did in the epistle, for we saw in chapter
1 he began by commending them, and then he laid
into their problems. Now once again he brings
a brief word of commendation. As he says, you
remember me in all things and keep the ordinances
or the traditions as I delivered them to you.
He commends them. But then in verse 3, he turns
and begins to speak to the problem that's on
his heart. And that is God's plan of order within
the church. Paul develops his argument very carefully.
In verse 3, he speaks concerning God's plan of
authority. Now folks, our God is a God of order.
He is not a God of disorder and chaos. He is
a God of careful planning and order, and that
is evidenced not only in ethics, but it's evidenced
in the physical creation as well. Now God's plan
of order involves society. God has established
human government so that men are checked in their
sinful tendencies and so that the populace as
a whole can be protected from others. God has
established human government. Anarchy is not
the will of God. God has also established authority
within the church. We have elders in the church
who are our overseers, our bishops, our pastors,
as it were. And we elect them and then submit
to their authority that God has given them. We
are commanded in the word to submit ourselves
to those who have the rule over us in God's church,
and that refers to the elders of the church.
who are our servants and yet who, by their godly
example, lead us forward and have authority in
God's plan. And then God has also established
authority within the home, and that seems to
be, at least in verse 2, and by way of application
in the later verses, the main thought here. Now
let's notice what verse 3 says concerning God's
plan of authority. There are three essential
statements here. One of them is that Christ is
subordinate to the Father. Do you see that? The
last sentence. The head of Christ is God, God
the Father. And we must not misunderstand this
as to think that Christ is less God than the
Father. That is not what Paul is saying. For
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, for
that matter, are equal. in their deity and in
character, but they have distinct offices or
functions which they fulfill. For the purpose
of redemption, God the Son has subordinated himself
to God the Father. They are one in essence, and
they are equal in essence. Jesus said, I and
my Father are one. Now there are those today
who try to make that statement say less than
it does. But to understand what it means, all
we have to look at is the context in John chapter
10. The Jews clearly understood that Jesus was
claiming full equality with God, for they picked
up stones to stone him for blasphemy. And yet
the same Jesus who said that also said, My Father
is greater than I. In the carrying out of the...
plan of redemption. The Father was in charge,
and the Son subordinated himself to the Father.
That's what Paul is saying here. Even the Lord
Jesus Christ is subordinate to the authority
of God the Father. Christ was dependent upon
the Father and delighted in doing not his own
will, but the will of his Father. And then the
second essential statement in verse 3 is that
man is subordinate to Christ. Adam was created
that way, though he was in the image and the
likeness of God. He shared the very life of God
and was given great authority by God, but sin
ruined all of that. Nonetheless, redeemed man
is being renewed in the image of God. And redeemed
man is no longer in rebellion against God's authority,
but is in submission to the authority of God.
And that's why Paul says man, the assumption
is redeemed man, is subordinate to Christ. Every
one of us of the male gender looks to Jesus Christ,
if we're saved, as our head. We get our orders
from him. And then the third essential statement
is that the woman is subordinate. to the man.
And again, the main thought here is that of marriage.
In God's plan, the wife is to be in submission
to her husband. It does not imply inequality,
but it does mean in the government of the home
and the administration of the home, God's plan
is for the husband to be the head of the home
and for the wife to be the willing co -worker.
in subordination to her husband. That's an important
principle in God's Word, and there is some resistance
to that today, even within the sphere of Christianity.
But it seems to me that those who resist this
resist not the teaching of man, but the teaching
of the Word of God, where it says that the woman
is in subordination to her husband. In relationship,
they are equal. But in government, in the administration
of the home, they are not equal. Just as in the
Godhead that is true. Each member of the Godhead
is equal in deity and in essence, but they differ
in their function. God the Son has subordinated
himself to God the Father. God the Father and
God the Son sent forth the Holy Spirit into the
world. And so there's a difference of function
in the carrying out of their purposes. And so
within the home, there is a difference of function,
though there is equality in the sight of God.
There is neither male nor female in the sight
of God, and that is true. There is no difference,
no distinction in relationship. But in function,
there is a distinction which is ordained of God.
Now let's think concerning the Corinthian problem
for a moment and understand again the custom
of that day that's involved. It was the prostitutes
that shaved their heads or cut their hair very,
very short and which went about the city with
unveiled faces. This was particularly true, evidently,
of the priestesses who were the religious prostitutes
in the pagan temples. The Corinthian women who
had been saved seemed to understand their new
identity in Jesus Christ, that there was neither
male nor female. They got a hold of Paul's teaching,
all things are lawful, and therefore they began
to disregard their veil, which was an important
custom in that culture. And so the result was
that because they were disregarding that custom,
They were giving the church a bad reputation.
There were those who would even pray and prophesy
within the church, and by the way, you'll notice
that Paul, at least here, does not say that they
should not do that. When they did it, he condemns
them if they did it with unveiled heads. He is
saying it's just as bad for the women to do that
in that day as though they had shaved their heads,
and cut their hair short, as did the women of
the streets. He says for you to be in public
and to expose yourself in an immodest way is
to dishonor your husband. It is to violate God's
order and to dishonor the Lord. And it is to
dishonor your own character, because apparently
some of the people in the city took this as an
invitation to sin with these women who... carried
on in such a way. And so that was the problem
that was being created in the culture. The women
had a hold of a truth, but they weren't applying
it in the proper way. And so Paul's answer to
them in that day and that culture was that the
women should evidence their modesty and their
submission by covering their heads and retaining
their veils. Now that specific order is given
to that culture. that the women should cover
their heads, their faces with their veils, as
an evidence of submission to God and to his authority
within the home as well as within the church.
And Paul seems to give six reasons why they should
do this. Let's look at them very quickly, and
then we want to get to some principles that apply
to us. Why should the women of that day cover
their head, verses 5 and 6, for reason of propriety?
He says every woman that prayeth or prophesieth
with her head uncovered dishonoreth her head,
her husband. He says it's just the same as though
she were shaved. If a woman is not covered, let
her also cut her hair then. But he says if it's
a shame for a woman to cut her hair and to be
shaved, and it was, then he said let her also
be covered. He said for reason of propriety,
the woman should cover her head for the sake
of her reputation. In the Corinthian community,
she should be careful to maintain that particular
custom. Reason number two is that of creation,
verses 7 through 9. You see, the taking away
of the veil evidenced, at least within some of
the women, rebellion against God's order. And
he says now, the woman, excuse me, for a man,
verse 7, indeed ought not to cover his head.
For as much as he's the image and the glory of
God. In other words, man was created as the representative
of the authority of God. But the woman is the
glory of the man. She represents the authority
of her husband. He says the woman is not, rather
the man is not of the woman, but the woman of
the man. Talking about how Eve was created in
the garden. Adam was not born by natural birth.
He was created out of dust, but it was out of
his side that the woman was then created. So
that's why he says what he does in verse 8. And
then he says, also concerning that creation story,
neither was the man created for the woman, but
the woman for the man. Man was created first,
and God said it's not good that Adam should be
alone. Therefore, I will make a helper for him.
And that was the occasion for the creation of
the woman, of Eve. And so that's why Paul says
what he does in verse 9. The man was not created
for the woman, but the woman for the man. And
so because of the whole story of creation, showing
the priority of the man in that story, he says
the woman should maintain the veil and evidence
her submission to her husband, the man. Again
in verse 10, he gives a third reason. And this
is the reason of example. He says, for this cause
ought the woman to have authority or a veil,
a symbol of authority on her head because of
the angels. An interesting statement, and I'm
not sure I understand all that it's saying here,
but it at least implies that the spirit world
watches us for instruction. I believe that we
can tie this together with Ephesians chapter
3, where Paul says that it's through the church
that God is instructing the angels concerning
his wisdom. Paul is suggesting here that for
the angels to look upon the assembly of believers
and to see women who were not in submission to
their husbands, as evidenced by the lack of a
veil, the lack of a covering of the head, was
to confuse the angels. It was to evidence something
to them that was wrong. It was to offend them.
Might be a better way to say it. And so he says,
because of the presence of the angels, women
ought to be careful to maintain the role that
God has given to them. And then in verses 11
and 12, there's a fourth reason, the reason of
theology. Notice what he says. Nevertheless,
lest some men should begin to lord it over their
wives, he says this. Neither is the man independent
of the woman. That's the real thought there.
Neither is the woman independent of the man in
the Lord. In other words, they are mutually dependent
on one another. God intends for it to be that
way. For the woman, as the woman is of the man,
so is the man also by the woman. But all things
are of God. And again in verse 12, he talks about
creation. The woman is of the man. In other words,
Eve and the descendants of the female gender
after her were of the man in the sense they came
out of Adam's side. But men must not forget that
since Adam, they have come into the world by
the woman. I mean, that's how you and I got here.
And so he says there's a mutual... dependence
upon one another. The man and the woman are not
independent of each other. They must not walk
in separate directions. They must each recognize
the place that God has given them in the order
of creation. A theological reason here. All of
this is of God. The mutual dependence as well
as the difference, the distinction in the role
to fulfill in God's plan. And then in verses
13 through 15, there is the reason of nature
itself. Paul says, judge in yourselves, discern
this. Is it seemly that a woman pray unto God
uncovered? Is that fitting? Doth not even nature
itself teach you that if a man have long hair,
it's a shame to him? But if a woman have long
hair, it's a glory to her, for her hair is given
to her for a covering. He says it's in nature
itself that the woman has longer hair for her
covering. It's her glory, the longer hair. Now
some of you guys may snicker at that a little
bit. But you wait until you get married and your
wife goes to get her hair cut. And the beautician
blows it. And she comes back home. You have a
two -week period ahead of you of mourning and
depression. Why is that? Because a woman, by
her very nature, is concerned about her hair
and her appearance. Her hair is very important
to her. And Paul is saying here that even nature
itself teaches that by the longer hair, the woman
is honored. That's her glory. And on the other
side, he says that a man, by nature, has shorter
hair. Now, it doesn't say how short. But it does
say that man by nature has shorter hair. To have
longer hair, it's a shame to him, it says. The
real point here is that there should be a distinction
in the appearance of men and women. For a time
in this country, in our society, that distinction
seemed to be lost. But no longer does that seem
to be a problem because styles have changed.
But by reason of nature, he says, even the hair
covering indicates that the woman should have
her hair covered. Her longer hair is her head
covered. Her longer hair is her glory. And then
in verse 16, he gives a sixth and final reason
as to why the women should cover their faces,
their heads, and be an evidenced submission to
their husbands. It is because of the reason of
uniformity. He says if anyone wants to argue
about this, let him know that there's no other
custom. neither in any of the churches. He said,
I don't teach anything else, and all the churches
practice the same thing. It's a uniform custom
within the churches that this is so. And so those
are the reasons that Paul gives as to why the
women in that day should wear their veils, cover
their heads, and be in evidenced submission to
their appointed authority. Now the application
to us is not that women should wear veils or
hats. to church. I'm not opposed to that. If
there are those that are convicted that way,
that's fine with me. I am convicted that hats
ought not to be so big that people behind can't
see the front of the church, and I've seen hats
that way. But I'm not convicted that women should
not wear hats, or that they should. That's not
the point in this passage. The point is the attitude.
It's not a rule that Paul is pointing to here,
it's the principle. And so I'd like for us, as
we conclude this morning, to think about the
principles here that apply to us today. This
chapter is not teaching that women have to wear
hats. It's not teaching us that women have no
place of ministry in the local church. That's
obvious. Nor is it teaching us that burr haircuts
are the only acceptable style for men. It's not
what he's saying here at all. This chapter is
not a chapter of rules, it's a chapter of principles.
It was applied in that culture in one way, but
it's applied today perhaps in other ways. There's
a difference between rules and principles, and
it's important to grasp that distinction. Rules
apply for a given period of time, and then they
pass away because circumstances, situations change.
But principles... apply in any culture, in any
circumstance. They abide. Rules are temporal.
The principles are eternal. They last. Now, what
are the principles that we see to guide our conduct
in 20th century America? I see at least five
of them. There may be more, but I want to mention
at least five of them from our text today. The
first is the principle of modesty, the modesty
principle. Modesty is always proper in any culture
for the Christian, both men and women. Modesty
of dress is a reflection of the heart. We are
to avoid allowing our culture to dictate to us
as to what we wear. and in some cases what we
don't wear. The point is, the principle is, in
God's word, that it is always proper to be modest
in the way that we are dressed. We are not to
bring attention to our bodies by our clothing
or lack thereof. And we can tie in with this
that thought that we mentioned, that there is
to be a difference between men and women. There
was for a time a concerted pressure within our
culture for unisex. Unisex is certainly anti
-biblical. For there is to be a distinction between
men and women, the way they dress and the way
that they appear, and their actions too. And
then there's a second principle here. It's the
testimony principle. The testimony of my local
church should be a prime concern to me. That's
what Paul was getting to here. They were damaging
the testimony of their local church, and he says
that they should all be concerned about that
and live accordingly. The testimony principle.
The third principle is the mutual respect principle.
One way to glorify God is for us to show mutual
respect for each other in the fellowship of the
church, both men and women. This applies, too.
God has given us different gifts. He has given
us differing functions within the body, and yet
we are all equal. There should be a mutual respect
because one person is in front more than another
does not mean that he's better than another.
It does mean he has more accountability to God.
He teaches, especially. But there should be a
mutual respect. a mutual admiration and upholding
of one another. It's also true in our marriages,
that there needs to be a mutual respect. We are
not independent, but we are interdependent. And
then there's a fourth principle, and it is the
object lesson principle. We touched on this,
but let me mention it again. We are the objects
of intense interest in the spirit world. God
is using you and me and our church as examples
of his grace and his wisdom. He is instructing
the angels by their observation of your life
and of mine. Now, if we get a hold of that and
begin to understand what it means, it will have
a dramatic effect on the way that we live. The
object lesson principle. You are an object lesson
of God himself. And then the fifth principle
is the authority principle. It is that God has
established proper lines of authority and we
are to submit to his plan and to serve him within
those lines. Just as the Godhead is a perfect
unity and yet each person has a different administration.
So it is in the marriage and so it is in the
church. God is a God of order and peace, and
the worship and conduct of our church should
be the same kind of orderly peace and worship.
God establishes authority, folks, not to hinder
us, but to protect us. God does not intend for
the authority over each of us to be a prison,
but it's to be a garden where we commune with
him and accomplish his purpose in life. God wants
your marriage to be a garden, a garden of joy
and happiness and contentedness. God wants your
school situation to be the same way. He's placed
authority over you. He wants that not to be a
prison to you. Not a burden to bear, but he wants
you to enjoy the liberty within the garden where
he's placed you. It's true within our church.
On every level where there's authority over us,
that's God's plan, and our responsibility is
to submit to his authority. Now what it all boils
down to is this. It's the lordship of Jesus Christ.
We can resist and argue against the principles
of God that are given in this book, and thus
resist the lordship of Jesus Christ, or we can
study, understand, and apply the principles of
this book and submit to the lordship of Jesus
Christ. That's what it boils down to. And so
the obvious way to conclude this message is to
have each of us ask the question, am I in submission
insofar as I know to what God has told me in
this book? Or are there areas of life where I
am fighting against God? God, help us to answer
that question and to respond with surrender and
submission to his authority in our lives. Let's
pray. Now, Father, we've had to move quickly
through some important matters. And I pray that
you will help each of us to understand the context
of our passage. and the way that it applies by
way of principle to us. If there are those of
us today who are in conflict with your authority
and your plan, then I pray that that area of
our lives will become a source of conviction
and irritation until we finally settle the issue
and surrender to your rightful lordship. In Jesus'
name, amen. May we conclude, please, by singing
together, a verse or two of 451, which expresses
the kind of yieldedness that we've talked about.
If today there is a need in your life for a public
declaration of surrender to the Lordship of Christ,
if you have been wandering so far out of God's
will that you need to come publicly today and
confess before the Lord and for others that Jesus
Christ is now not only your Savior, But your
Lord, we encourage you to do that. That is an
important step in our walk with God. Will you
surrender all to your Lord today? And it may
be that you're not saved at all. You need to
give yourself to Christ and invite him into your
life. If we can talk with you and pray with you
about that important step, eternally making the
difference of your destiny, then please come
as we sing a verse or two, 451. Let's stand as
we sing. Let's bow together in prayer. And now,
Father, we have sung a hymn that expresses the
deepest desire of our hearts, that in every area
of our lives, Jesus Christ be Lord. Be Lord of
all the kingdoms of our lives, and through your
word have rule. instruct us in the way that we
should go, and then give us grace and courage
to walk with you. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.