A reading from the scriptures this morning is in the Old Testament and it's Genesis. and chapter two, Genesis chapter two. We're going to start at verse 15. And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress him and to keep him. And the Lord commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. And the Lord God said, it is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him and help me for him. And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them. And whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not fowl and held meat for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall claim unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. And as ever we trust that the Lord will add his own particular blessing to the reading of his intolerable words. Amen. Well, those of us who are older, and that's just about me tonight I think, have seen some great changes in this country and other countries during our lifetimes. We have seen The acceptance and promotion of behaviour which at one time was considered not only unacceptable but also illegal. We have seen the murder of unborn children legalised. We have seen homosexual relationships legalised. We have seen divorces being granted for no good reason. And we have seen adultery trivialised. When was the last time that you heard adultery being condemned in the media? And some supposed churches have regarded some of these changes as acceptable and have found ways to accommodate them. But true children of God are grieved at what is happening And how much more is a holy God great, especially when one's sound churches are effective? I'm sure that those of us who love God and want to keep our churches pure will do everything in our power to prevent what might become acceptable in the world from infiltrating the church, that we would ever look to God's Word, to the Holy Scriptures, to determine what is right and moral and what is not. Now we see quite clearly from the scriptures why abortion is against God's law and homosexuality and unwarranted divorce and adultery. But you may be surprised if I tell you that there is a growing problem in society that has made subtle inroads into the church. which isn't always recognised as the problem that it really is. And when I come to tell you what it is, your reaction may even be a confirmation of what a problem it has become. And I'm speaking about what is known as feminism. Feminism, which for our purposes this evening I would define as the belief and aim that women should have the same rights, powers and opportunities. And what we need to understand is that Satan is always trying to convince people that God's ways do not have to be followed, that there are perfectly acceptable alternatives to what the Bible teaches. As I've already mentioned, we have seen society accept legal unions between persons of the same sex in opposition, in direct opposition. Society has accepted and condoned illegal murder of unborn children in direct opposition to the Sixth Commandment. And adultery is so commonplace that it's rarely considered a sin nowadays. In the book of Genesis, we see that Satan said this, Hath God said. Hath God said. And from that time onwards, he has continued to whisper those words in the ears of people. hath God said." You see, Satan wants people to question what God has said. His aim is to encourage people to live their lives as they please, rather than as God has decreed. And thus, wherever there is what we might term a natural order of things, we will see Satan endeavouring to persuade people, men and women, boys and girls, to depart from that natural order. And just as Satan has succeeded to a great extent in changing people's minds on such matters as homosexuality, adultery and divorce, so he has succeeded in convincing many men and women that there should be no difference in their roles in our society. Anything a man can do, a woman can do, and perhaps better. Feminists want to see a world where there is no difference in the roles of men and women. And they will talk about the empowerment of women. They will talk about the advancement of women. But how does this square with the fact that God in his word has decreed that men should be leaders both in the home and in the church? Is it different outside of church? Well, we need to start with what the Bible says, and then we need to progress from there. But before I go any further, I want to assure you of three things. Firstly, I want to assure you that I am no misogynist. I am not a hater of women in any respect whatsoever. Secondly, I want to assure you that I believe exactly what the scripture says about the equality of men and women before God as regards salvation, as it's set out in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 28, which tells us this, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And thirdly, I want to assure you that I believe that when we all get to heaven, there will be no distinction between men and women, because we are taught this in the scripture. In Luke's Gospel, chapter 20, and verses 34 to 36, our Saviour said these words. He said the children of this world will marry and are given in marriage. But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage. Neither can they die any more, for they are equal unto the angels, and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection. No marriage means no distinction. But I do believe that the scriptures teach that in this world God has made a distinction between men and women as to what he expects of them, especially but not exclusively in marriages. And I trust that by examining appropriate portions of scripture this evening we will arrive at the true biblical position. If you are someone who has come to an understanding from the scriptures as to why things such as abortion and homosexuality are definitely sinful in God's sight, I trust that you will be willing to accept what God's word says about every contentious issue, including feminism. The way that you think, you can call it your mindset if you like, should always be in line with the scriptures. Stress saying enough, the way we think, our mindset, must be governed by what the scriptures say and nothing else. Like Luther, we should all be able to say that our consciences are captive to the word of God. Now, I don't know if any of you here this evening have ever heard of what can be referred to as the law of the first mention. The law of the first mention. And basically this states that the first mention of anything in the Bible, usually, but not always, in the book of Genesis, holds the key to our understanding that subject's biblical concept. Bearing this in mind, I'd like us to look again at verses 20-23 of Genesis chapter 2, which was part of our Old Testament reading earlier. Those words are as follows, And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not fount and help meet for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept. And he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Amongst all the creatures created by God there was not found and helped me for Adam. Someone to assist him, someone suitable as a companion for him. Eve was made by God from one of Adam's ribs to be a help me for him, a help me. And I believe that this holds the key to our understanding of the primary role that God intends women to take in this world. to hold in this world. Now some of you might take umbrage at this, but as I've already stressed, our understanding of the role of men and women must be based upon what the Bible teaches, rather than any prevailing view of society. Now some of us are appalled when we hear of proposals to teach young children about things such as transgenderism and alternative relationships with no parental right of withdrawal. But how many of us give serious thought as to what young people are being taught regarding the role of men and women? Is the promotion of feminism on a par with the promotion of other ungodly things? As I've already stressed, if we are believers then our mindsets will be moulded by what the scriptures teach. And so I'd like us to turn to Genesis chapter 3 which records the fall of man, the occasion on which mankind became mortal because of sin, subject to both physical death and spiritual death. Genesis 3 and verse 6 reads as follows. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and the tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and heeding him. And then look at the specific penalty imposed on Eve by the Lord because of her sin, as we find it recorded in verse 6 of Genesis 3. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over them. Now, what do you think that the Lord meant when he said those words, he shall rule over them? The original Hebrew word translated as rule is the word mashar. And this word is most commonly translated in the Bible as rule. But it can also be translated as to have dominion over. To have dominion over. It's the same word that is used to describe how a land or a people are ruled over. Now, I thought it would be rather interesting to see how that same word is translated in other bible versions. And much to my surprise, there is quite a consistency. And some examples are as follows. You need to listen carefully to these. He will be your master. You will be subject to him. He shall have dominion over you. He shall be lord of thee. He will dominate you. He'll lord it over you. Now, that last translation is from a modern Bible called the Message. And it just shows how bad a translation that Bible is, since no one person should ever lord it over another. Now, I haven't got a copy of any of those so-called gender-neutral versions of the Bible, but I did wonder how they would translate the words, he shall rule over thee. Would it be one shall rule over one? Something that the Queen might say. Now, although we can see how ridiculous it can be, to try to make something gender inclusive, and that's something largely driven by feminists. We must never accept or support any version of the Bible that is not an accurate translation of the original languages, no matter what reason may be given for an alternative rendering. But getting back to the thrust of Genesis 3 and verse 16, what do we think this verse teaches as to the relationship between the husband and his wife? Is marriage between one man and one woman not an equal partnership, with shared responsibilities? Is it not now perfectly acceptable for a bride-to-be to insist that, when she makes her marriage vows, she no longer has to include that promise to obey her soon-to-be husband? Have we any biblical reason, I should say, to think that there has been a change since God first passed sentence, as it were, on Eve in the Garden of Eden. Some people argue that there are things in the Old Testament that are no longer in force in the New Testament, and of course this is true of some things. The Bible itself tells us so. However, it can be seen very clearly from the New Testament that the sentence passed on Eve holds good for every generation, It's 1 Peter chapter 3 and the very first words of that chapter read thus, likewise ye wives be in subjection to your own husbands. Likewise ye wives be in subjection to your own husbands. Now we can see from the remainder of that verse that Peter issued that directive for a specific purpose. He was envisaging a situation where a Christian wife could be a witness to an unbelieving husband by being obedient to him. It's likely that Peter is addressing wives who became Christians after their marriage, but whose husbands were as yet unconverted. It would be a great witness for such wives to be obedient to their husbands when perhaps otherwise were not. It would show the unbelieving husbands that the good behaviour or conversation, as it's here described, of their believing wives was evidence of their willingness to be subject to their husbands, to be obedient to them, and more importantly, obedient to God. Notice that wives are commanded to be obedient to their own husbands, showing us that they are not required to be subject to other people's husbands. Some men have mistakenly taken the view that all of womankind should be subject to them in some sense, but this is plainly wrong. Further on in 1 Peter 3 and verse 5 we see this principle repeated. That verse reads thus, For after this manner, in the old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection The following shows us how Christian wives can be considered spiritual daughters of Abraham if they obey their own husbands. That verse reads thus, even as Sarah, as she then was, obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughter she are, as long as ye do well, and are not deframed with any amazement. This is a reference to Genesis 18 and verse 12 where Abraham's wife Sarah expresses incredulity on hearing that she would at long last become a mother. And we see from that verse that she laughed within herself. Within herself. And then said, after I am next old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also. And we see that she said that to herself, not in a way to impress her husband or other people, it's how she honestly thought and felt inwardly. Now, I've heard Christian wives call their husbands many names, and they've not all been complimentary, but I don't think I've ever heard anyone call their husband anything close to Lord. And I'm not suggesting that wives should necessarily change the way that they address their husbands, but I do think that they ought to follow Sarah's lead as to how they should perceive their own husbands in their hearts and minds. And so, if what we find written in 1 Peter 3 and verse 16 is a directive for Christian wives, how do we think that this should manifest itself in practice? Another New Testament portion of scripture that enhances our understanding of what God expects from Christian wives and their husbands is Ephesians chapter 5 and verses 22-33. That's Ephesians 5 verses 22-33, which read as follows. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the law. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hateth his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery. but I speak concerning Christ and the Church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence her husband. Now we see very clearly here, do we not, that the relationship between a husband and a wife is intended to reflect the relationship between Christ and his Church. Now the well-known commentator, whose name was John Hill, and he had this to say about that reflected relationship, and I quote thus. The leaving of father and mother prefigured Christ coming forth from the Father and coming into this world in human nature. And his disregard to his earthly parents in comparison with his people and his service for them, the man, cleaving to the wife, very aptly expresses the strong affection of Christ to his church. and the near communion there is between them. And there being one flesh denotes the union of them. And indeed, the marriage of Adam and Eve was a type of Christ and his church. For in this the first Adam was a figure of him that was to come, as well as in being a federal head to his posterity. Adam was before Eve, so Christ was before his church. God thought it not proper that man should be alone, so neither Christ, but that he should have some fellows and companions with him. The formation of Eve from Adam was typical of the church's production from Christ. She was made of him while he was asleep, which sleep was from the Lord. And it was not an ordinary one, which may resemble the sufferings and death of Christ, which were from the Lord and were not common, and which are the redemption of his church and people, and which secure their comfort and happiness and well-being. She was taken out of his side and built up a woman upon of his ribs. Both the justification and sanctification of the Church are from Christ, from the water and the blood which issued out of his side, when on the cross the bringing and presentation of him to Adam has its mystery. It was God that brought her to him. And she was made the same that was made out of him. And to the same Adam was she brought, of whose rib she was made, and that not against her will. So it is God that draws souls to Christ and espouses them to him, even the same that he has chosen in him, and Christ has redeemed by his blood. And to the same are they brought who was wounded for their transgressions and bruised for their sins. And they are made willing in the day of his power upon them, to come and give themselves to him. Adam's consent and acknowledgement of Eve to be his wife, shadow forth Christ's hearty reception and acknowledgement of the saints as being of him and his, when they are brought unto him under the influences of his grace and spirit. And that's the end of the quote from John. Would he be going too far to say that if we accept that the relationship between the husband and his wife is intended to reflect the relationship between Christ and the Church, we would deny the headship of Christ over the Church if we deny the headship of the husband in marriage? I don't think so, but you may disagree. Now, as I said at the beginning of this message, feminism has made inroads into the church, and one obvious example has been the appointment of women to positions in churches that the scriptures teach should only be occupied by men. Now, this is clearly seen from two portions of scripture. Firstly we have 1 Timothy chapter 2 verses 11 and 12 which read as follows. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not for woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. And then we have 1 Corinthians chapter 14 and verses 34 and 35 which we just followed. Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted under them to speak. But they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the Lord. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. I'd like to clarify that it's not absolutely forbidden for a woman to speak in church. Women can pray audibly in church prayer meetings, they can teach children in Sunday schools, they can speak at ladies' meetings where only other ladies are present, and, as an example, lady missionaries can speak about their work to both men and women, but not teaching. That's what's forbidden. What's forbidden in the scriptures is the teaching of men by women. And so this precludes any women being appointed to any position in the church which necessarily involves the teaching of men. Now those of us who hold this view might well be vilified by feminists, but rather than that, rather than act in opposition to the clear teaching of the Word of God. Now at this point I'd like to briefly summarise what I trust we have seen from the scriptures thus far before we consider how these principles should be reflected in our lives and in particular in Christian marriage. Firstly, we have seen Eve was made, designed to be a helpmaker and a companion for Adam and that following her sin God decreed that women should always be in subjection to their own husbands. And we have seen the clarification in the New Testament that this does mean to be in subjection to their own husbands, not other people's husbands. Secondly, we have seen that Sarah is held forth as an example for her spiritual daughters to follow, since inwardly she referred to her husband as her Lord. Thirdly, have we not seen that the relationship between a man and his wife reflects the relationship between the Lord Jesus Christ and his church? And fourthly and last, we have not seen that in the church there are some positions that only men can help. Now hopefully we would have been convinced of these things not because they are someone's point of view, but because this is what the word of God teaches. And so, how should these principles affect both our private lives and our church lives, and in particular Christian marriage? Starting with our church lives, would we all agree that teaching in church where men are present should only ever be conducted by men? And would we also agree that the corollary of this is only men? should be appointed to certain positions in the church. We do not insist on these things because we are traditionalists, as some would label us, but because this is what is clearly taught in God's word and is not open to negotiation, notwithstanding that we do know that there are some within churches who would argue for change. Are we convinced of these things? Moving on to our private lives and how they should be influenced by what the scriptures teach, do we all agree that the wife should strive to be a helpmate to her husband, and that this should be her main aim in marriage? What about marriages where a woman is far more spiritually awake than her husband, or much or have more common sense than her husband. Now, I recall discussing this point with a pastor some time ago, and he had come across this situation too. And what he had come to notice was that the godly women he knew would never seek to undermine their believing husbands, even where they were more knowledgeable or more spiritual or had more common sense. Instead, they would act both discreetly and wisely, and they would find ways of helping their husbands, but without making their husbands feel inadequate in any way. Any wife who did this would be honouring both the Lord and her husband, and that such behaviour should be highly commended. But what about wives reverencing their husbands? Did all Old Testament women always follow Sarah's example? I don't think so, since in chapter 2 of the book of Proverbs we have two verses that provide us with an answer to the book of Proverbs. Now, it's chapter 21 of the book of Proverbs and verse 9 of that chapter It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop than with a brawling woman in a wide house. And in verse 19 the writer says this, it is better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and angry woman. So when in the New Testament in Mark chapter 3 and verse 4 we read about the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God the great Christ. We cannot assume that all Christian wives today will adopt themselves in that way, since many may believe it to have become unfashionable, out of step with the times. But those who are true daughters of Abraham will want to emulate Abraham's wife, even when other women might accuse them of letting the side down. I need to make it very clear that this doesn't mean in any way that wives are to be skivvies, grovellingly subservient, but that they will only know true fulfilment in marriage if they are willing to undertake the role that God intended for them. You see, God wants wives to support their husbands and not to supply them. Now the last thing I would want to happen after this marriage is for any husbands and their wives to fall out over what we have seen to be taught in God's Word. And in particular I would point out that just as we have seen that a wife's primary role is to be a helpmate for her own husband, so a husband's calling is to love his wife as much as he loves himself. We see this clearly coming up from Ephesians chapter 5, verse 25 of that chapter. Ephesians 5 reads thus, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. And verse 28 reads thus, Sow men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. And in 1 Peter chapter 3, where we have that directive for wives to be in subjection to their own husbands, we also have the directive that husbands are to dwell with their wives, and I quote, according to knowledge, giving honour, giving honour unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life. If a husband expects his wife to be subject to him, then he should make sure that he loves her and treats her with respect. Now, I've got a book of daily readings by an American man called Don Faulkner, and I know that this man isn't everyone's cup of tea, but something he wrote about husbands and wives has remained with me ever since I read it, and it's this. He said, it's easy for a woman to reverence a man who loves her, and it's easy for a man to love a woman who reverences him. Of course, he was only speaking about believers, to whom the word of God holds the key to how they live their lives. And that's perhaps a suitable note on which to conclude. If we claim to be people of the book, If we say that our churches and our marriages are to be subject to the teaching of the Word of God, then this is what we have to seek to do. We may be criticised by those people in the world who have different mindsets and different agendas to true believers, and even possibly by some within our churches who have been influenced by what we would call prevailing worldly attitudes. But let us resolved to be obedient to God's word, come what may, whatever the cost. Amen. Teach me thy way, O Lord, teach me thy way, thy gracious way, Help me to go forth, for my faith was my strength. Lead me with every life, teach me thy words. Oh say can you see, by the dawn's early light, ♪ Teach me thy way ♪ ♪ Shine through the cloud and day ♪ ♪ With sorrow, toil, and pain ♪ ♪ Make thou my pathway way ♪ ♪ Teach me thy way ♪ ♪ Long as my life's short ♪ ♪ Teach me my way ♪ ♪ Where'er my lofty goals ♪ ♪ Teach me my way ♪ ♪ Until the break is done ♪ until the ground is calm. Teach me thy way.