Congregation, please turn with me in your Bibles to Paul's letter to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and we read the verses 1 to the verse 16. 1 Corinthians 11, we read the verses 1 to 16. Come, let us hear the word of the living God. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now I praise you, brethren, that ye do remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances as I delivered 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, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered, dishonoureth her head. For that is even all, one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head for as much as he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman, but all things of God. Judge in yourselves. Is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? Doth not even nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given her for a covering. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. Amen. Thus far the reading of Holy Scripture. And we look to the Lord himself to bless his own word to our needful hearts here this morning. Congregation, I direct your prayerful attention once again to those words that I read in your hearing just a few moments ago, 1 Corinthians 11, verses 1-16. Before we come to these verses, I remind you of the words of 2 Timothy 3.16, that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all, good works. What we have before us here in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 is indeed the Word of God. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God. These words are received from the Lord Himself. If you just look down at the verse 23, The Apostle Paul says, for I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you. Whatever he has taught in the churches, in any church, whether it was Corinth, whether it was Galatia, whether it was Philippi, whether it was to the Thessalonians, is all given by God. Nothing is spun out of the imagination of the Apostle Paul's mind. This is all the Word of God. This forms part of the canon of Holy Scripture. And we pray that the author of this Word, who is the Holy Spirit, will humble us, will grant us understanding of this Word. The things of God need to be spiritually understood. And that we may receive this Word, this Word today, with meekness in our hearts, but also that we will apply His Word. It's no use receiving the ministry just into our hearts, but we need to apply God's Word. But it's so important that we understand the Word of God. The Apostle Paul says, whatever is not of faith is sin. We have to believe and understand what we read before we practice it, right? We must understand it, we must receive it as God's Word and we must do it by faith. So as we come this morning, I ask Myself, and I ask you what sort of a spirit do we come to God's Word this morning with? What kind of a spirit do we have in our hearts? Do we come with humble submission? Do we come with a humble heart? Do we come with reverence? Do we come with awe for God? Or do we come with pride, thinking we've arrived, thinking we know all things, thinking that we're perfect, far be it Well, the Lord has said in Isaiah 66 too, But to this man will I look, even to him that is of a poor and a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at My word. The one that the Lord looks upon with favor and love is the person that has got a broken heart, the poor in spirit. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Do you have this contrite heart? Do we come with this sort of spirit, Lord? This is Thy Word. I am thy child, and I am ready to do thy will. I am ready to obey thee. Now, as we come to these verses this morning, what I want to do is I want to walk through, what I mean by that is to go through verse by verse, because this is the way the Bible must be studied. We're coming away from our regular studies in the book of Genesis because request has been made to me to give some teaching on this subject in the church. Now, what I want to do this morning is line upon line, verse by verse, precept upon precept, study this passage of Scripture and expound it. Now, we begin first of all with the verse 1, the important commandment. Verse 1, if you notice, is a commandment. Paul says, Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now, there are several things we can say about this statement. Paul would not teach us anything, would he, that is not of Christ. He's saying, follow me because I follow Christ. Even as I follow Christ, follow me. What he's going to teach us here is from the Lord. We've already read the verse 23. And he's going to expound here what the Lord has given him. Here is one of the apostles. And so he says, Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. He would not teach us anything that is not of Christ. This is Paul, the great apostle who the Lord saved. Paul has written, by the Spirit of God, most of the New Testament epistles. Of course, by the Holy Spirit. It is God's Word. And here he is, the Lord's Apostle. The Lord, you know, personally came and revealed himself to the Apostle Paul in Acts chapter 9. There he was on the road to Damascus, about to persecute the churches. Saul of Tarsus was his name, formerly. And the Lord came from the glory. A great light came from heaven, struck him down, and God changed him. And then God personally commissioned this man, the apostle Paul, to be the apostle to the Gentiles. And so Paul here begins by exhorting the Corinthian church, there were a lot of problems in the church at Corinth, and this is namely one of them. And we'll touch on that in a moment, but here Paul is exhorting believers to follow him as he follows Christ and as he teaches the things of Jesus Christ. Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Now, this statement here in the verse 1 mustn't just be taken generally. Now, it must be taken generally. but it ought to especially bear its weight upon the context of what Paul is just about to say to us. The Holy Spirit is giving him words here. In other words, obey my teaching. Yes, all Scripture, but especially about what I am going to say. But here, very succinctly, he wants to impress it upon our minds. So he begins with that statement. Obey all Scripture, but now pay attention especially. And so he begins with that statement. Now something else. Look at the verse 2. Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep the ordinances as I delivered them to you. Now this verse, some say Paul is praising them for the way that they have kept the ordinances. Now that cannot be true because you only have to look a little bit further on in this chapter and you see the diabolical way in which the Corinthian church has not been keeping one of the ordinances and that is the Lord's Table. Because you read the rest of this chapter and there's no praise and we'll look at that in a moment. There are two ordinances which God has given the church baptism and the Lord's Supper, or the Lord's Table. One of the ordinances, as I've already said, if you look down at the verse 20, they weren't observing it in the right manner. And that was the Lord's Supper. Look at the verse 20. When you come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat, the Lord's Supper. For in eating everyone taketh before the other person his own supper. When one is hungry, another is drunken. What, have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? Or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say unto you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise ye not. You see that? In fact, he begins this epistle by saying, I thank the Lord I didn't baptize some of you. That's the other ordinance. Because some of them were saying, now I've been baptized by Apollos or Cephas and so on. And there were these factions in the church. There was this party spirit. And there was an issue here as well with the Lord's Supper. They weren't observing it in the right manner. And he tells us later on here that when you come to take of the bread and the wine, examine your heart, confess your sins, examine your own heart, and so let a man take, let him eat. You come soberly. You don't come drunk to the Lord's table. You don't come having gorged yourself on all of this food and not discerning the Lord's body. They were dishonoring such a solemn thing. Think about the Lord's table. What is the Lord's table? It is that remembrance of the substitutionary death of the atonement of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. and it was being remembered in a most despicable and dishonoring way. Why would you go to the Lord's table in such a way? Like it's some sort of party and there are poor people coming in and they haven't even eaten. The wealthy, the rich were getting drunk and eating all this food and then they were gathering around. What a terrible way. People were doing these thoughtless things and many of them were not examining themselves inwardly, let alone outwardly. or outwardly, let alone inwardly. So we understand why Paul says this. So the crux of the matter is that they keep the ordinances and the commandments as He delivered them. In other words, don't just obey the ordinances. Don't just keep the ordinances. Don't just come to the Lord's table and say, well, I've gone to the Lord's table. But observe the Lord's table in the manner that you should. Observe it in the way that I have taught you. And this is a very important reminder for us, isn't it, brethren? The Lord not only wants observance His two ordinances and I remind you this morning you say you're a Christian. Well, have you been baptized? That's the first thing the Bible says believe and be baptized Mark 16 16 every Christian is a baptized Christian. You're not baptized before you become a Christian. It's believers baptism the Lord not only wants observance of these two ordinances, baptism in the Lord's Supper, but he wants full and complete keeping them in the manner that you should keep them. Observe them, in other words, in the right way. As I, look at the words there, deliver them to you. Now there was another problem in the church, and he wants to deal with this particular problem first before he gets to the Lord's table. Look at the verse 2. I just want to come back to something here. Now I praise you brethren that you remember me in all things. In other words, he's going to talk about something else other than one of the ordinances. Something else remember me in all things. Well, what are the one of the things well We're going to learn what it is here because obviously as you'll see in the verse 16 of this chapter Other churches you could go to other churches and they weren't doing what these Corinthians were wrongly doing And the problem was this, that men were covering their heads in public worship. And that was the Jewish practice, by the way. And the women were coming to the church with uncovered heads. And what the Apostle Paul does here is he corrects He admonishes the church for this and he tells them that the principle by which the church was to practice this was based on the issue of headship and this head covering was observed in all of the churches as we'll see. We'll open up the text today and what we'll see is that in these verses the Apostle Paul gives seven reasons why they should obey this Injunction. Seven reasons. This passage is almost universally ignored in the churches. Do you know that? Go to most churches and they won't preach on 1 Corinthians 11 verses 1 to 16. It's a fact. How many of you have heard teaching on this passage? And as I say, over the last year, some here have asked for teaching on this subject. Now brethren, I know this may be a sensitive subject, particularly for the ladies here, but We can't avoid the Word of God. And maybe because of your church background, maybe because of where you've come from, you've not received clear teaching on this. And it's my duty and my responsibility to give clear teaching on the Word of God. It is upon me to preach the whole counsel of God. The trouble is today with churches, they pick and choose. what they want to preach on. And so, brethren, this is the Word of God. We can't pick and choose. We can't say this is not the Word of God. If we say, well, this is culture here, because that's what a lot of churches say, this was a cultural thing, and this now doesn't apply, where are you going to stop with that? It's a very slippery slope. Now this passage, as we have said already, Paul is going to give seven reasons for this particular practice. Now before we get to them, we're going to deal with the underlying principle of the seven reasons, and it's called headship. In fact, you'll see this principle of headship running right through this passage. Firstly, Paul begins his reasoning on the grounds of God-ordained headship, and you'll see it in the verse 3. Have a look with me. Paul says, but I would have you know. In other words, I want you to know something. And some people say, you know, when we come to a passage like this, some people say, you know, we'll never understand what this is all about. That's ridiculous. And Paul says, I would have you know. You can't say, we'll never truly understand the meaning of this passage. Paul wants to tell us something. I would have you know. I want you to know. You should know. Now it seems by this initial statement that the Corinthians either need teaching or they need reminding about a principle first. And what is it? Have a look. That the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. You see a three-tiered headship there. The head of every man is Christ, the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. So immediately, what Paul does is he brings to our attention the fact of God-ordained headship. God ordained headship. And by the way, headship is not a culture. The Trinity is not a culture, is it? We can't say this is culture. It's not culture that the head of Christ is God, and the head of every man is Christ, and that the head of the woman is the man. That's not culture. This is biblical. This is what the Bible has to teach. And this whole principle of headship underscores all the reasons that I'm going to give you from the text, seven reasons this morning, as to why men should not cover their heads. There were two problems. and why women should cover their heads in worship and in prayer. So firstly, look, the head of the man is Christ, the head of the woman is the man, the head of Christ is God, or God the Father if you like. There's nothing cultural here about this at all. So let's briefly consider the first head. Have a look with me. And I want to deal with it in this order. He says the head of Christ is God. That is, I submit to you, God the Father. We know that God is one. The scriptures tell us God is one. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Genesis 1, 27, God said, let us make man in our image. Jesus Christ said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father, and so on. Although Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, is God, He is the eternal logos, the eternal Word. John 1, verse 1, in the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And then we're told, all things were made by Him, and for Him, and so on. And then the Word became flesh. The Word was God and the Word became flesh. Jesus Christ is very God, begotten, not created. He is the Great I Am. That's why the Jews wanted to stone Him and put Him to death. He is God. He is the Alpha and the Omega. Read Revelation 1. He is the First and the Last, the Almighty. When we come to Isaiah 9, verse 6, He is Almighty God. Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He is God certainly. And being God, He is equal with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. God is one. Philippians 2.6, "...who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God." Isos. Think of an isosceles triangle. He is equal with God. He is no less God. He is very God in nature and equal in the Godhead. However, in His office, He came to be the mediator of the new covenant. In His mediatorial work, and now in his office as prophet, priest, and king. That's who the Lord Jesus Christ is. He is our prophet. He is our priest. He is our king. He is the mediator of a better covenant, of that new covenant, the covenant which is in his blood. What did he do? He subjected himself. Literally, he hupotasso, he put himself under subjection to God. He subordinated himself unto God the Father. The Father commissioned him, the Father sent him. In the flesh he came, he was made under the law, he subjected himself under the law of God as a man. So in the days of his flesh he could say, my Father is greater than I. He was not less superior. This is not about superiority. This is about authority. There's a difference. Christ is no less superior. He is God. But in the days of His flesh, and even now as our mediator, there is a difference in authority. And have a look, and the head of Christ is God. So that's the first headship. The second is, we're not taking it in exact order here, and the head of every man is Christ. Now each man, not merely Husband and I think it's important we notice this because in the original in the Greek it is man Here is talking about the male and if you put husband there it really limits the text and the head of every man is Christ so the man is not a law unto himself. He's not like a little monarch in his own home He's not a little dictator. He is under Christ He belongs to Christ He answers to Christ. He shall have to stand at the judgment seat of Christ. He is not this, again, this little dictator in his own home, barking like a dog. Wife, get me my tea, get me my slippers, get me my robe, and so on. Such a man is unworthy and unfit to be called a man. But rather, he is Christ-like. He's loving. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. That's the commandment. not a dictator. Thirdly, the head of the woman, have a look, is the man. Now just as the Lord Jesus Christ is subject to the Father, but not less God, remember that, Christ is not less God in essence or in nature, He's not less in superiority But there's a difference in authority. It's about office. That's the key. It's about office. And in the same way, a woman is no less dignified, she is no less in the image of God than man. That's ridiculous to think that somehow men are more superior than women. That's unbiblical. Men are not more superior. There's a difference in authority. We're all made equal. Genesis 1, verse 27, So God created man in His own image. In the image of God created He Him. Male and female created He them. The woman is created no less in the image of God as man is created in the image of God. So husbands, remember that. When you speak to your wife, you're not speaking to some less of a creature. It's not about superiority. but it's about authority. And so here we have it, the head of the woman is the man. Now according to God's purposes, there is a difference in the roles. And that's really what this is chiefly about. There's a difference in their functions. And this is the Word of God speaking here, not me. a difference in their abilities. We're going to consider that this morning. There is a need, is there not? We see it in the world. There's a need for leadership. And this is the husband's duty and role and responsibility to lead, to govern because of his makeup. The man is generally fitted to lead the house. Now people joke about these things today, and they say, well, she wears the trousers. I'm sure you've heard that expression. She wears the trousers in the family. But, you know, it's not a joking matter. It's quite a serious matter. The man ought to lead, but he ought to lead aright. Now in the Word of God we are given many reasons why God has Ordained male headship and the first is because of God's order of creation if you please turn to first timothy chapter 2 first timothy chapter 2 in the verse 12 Please keep your Bibles open there for a moment. We're going to be looking again at a further verse. 1 Timothy 2.12, But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp the authority over the man, but to be in silence. And I take that in the church. He's not saying here, woman, please don't ever speak. The context here is the church. but to be in silence, for Adam was first formed, then Eve. And this is Paul's argument. Why in the context of the church that the woman should not teach nor usurp the authority over the man. It is because the man was created first. You know the account, don't you, of Genesis chapter 2. The woman was taken out of Adam and therefore he has more responsibility. He has a charge over her. Why was Eve given? Eve was given to be a helpmate for Adam. In Genesis 2, 22 we read, And the rib which the Lord God hath taken from man made he woman, and brought her unto the man. Remember God said, And I shall make him and help me. And this is why, again, Paul says here, on the basis of creation, it is essential that the man lead and that the woman should not teach in the church or usurp the husband's Authority and this is why in 1st Corinthians 14 verse 35. You don't have to turn it there But ladies if you want to make a note of this, please do so Paul says regarding the woman and if they will learn anything let them ask their husbands at home For it's a shame for woman to speak in the church. Think about that for a moment If you're in a church setting and you've got a question, Paul is saying, ask your husband at home. Don't jump over your husband's head. God has given him a real authority and charge. Don't jump over his head. If your husband doesn't know then, yes, he must come and ask the pastor. But don't jump over your husband's head. There is a real authority. Now, he may be no theologian, and you may say he knows very little. But that gives you no excuse. You have to obey scripture. Go home, ask your husband if you've got any questions. If your husband doesn't know, he'll come and ask the pastor. So in the church setting, God says women must seek their husbands if she doesn't understand, and so on. The principle is Don't go above the husband's head. And so Paul argues firstly on account of creation. Do you see that there? Because Adam was made first. And indeed, if you look at our passage, you don't have to turn there. I have asked you to stay here in 1 Timothy 2. It says, for the man is not of the woman, but the woman of man. What he means there is that man was made first, and then the woman. The second reason for headship, and we're going to spend a bit of time on this headship, is transgression. Who was first in transgression? Here in 1 Timothy 2.12, Then Eve and now notice this he puts the other word here and in other words Here's another reason Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression now you and I Last year we spent considerable amount of time in Genesis chapter 2 and Genesis chapter 3 We know that Eve was deceived Satan deceived her Adam took of his own volition Adam was not deceived. He simply followed his wife's lead. He wasn't deceived. Go back and read the account. But the devil came to Eve because he knew that she would succumb to these temptations. And what were the temptations? Pride. She saw of the tree that it was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise. And she thought, well, Satan's right. The devil is right. And God is trying to withhold me from becoming... this woman that I could be. God is keeping me from reaching that potential. And she succumbed to that. Eve disobeyed the commandment that was directly given to Adam. But Adam, as I said, was not actually deceived, but rather Adam took of his own volition. And what we could say what Adam did was wrong too, was equally sinful. He followed her lead and that's where it all went wrong. Do you see that? We've got to come back to that principle. You see, the order was reversed. Now, Adam was meant to be her guardian and her protector, but he failed. He utterly failed. And husbands, this is our responsibility. to lovingly be the guardian and the protector of our wives, to nurture them in the Word of God as Paul says in Ephesians 5, washing them with the water of God's Word and thus being the protector and the guardian of their souls. Now we know ultimately Christ is. So he argues this need, this biblical principle of headship on the base of not only creation but also transgression. Who fell in the transgression? The third reason you and I find for headship is the difference of the types of vessels or persons. If you turn with me to 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3 and the verse 7. Peter says to husbands, in the middle of that verse, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel. 1 Peter 3. 7. Now, ladies, please, Peter is not putting you down. when he says that wives are the weaker vessel. He's not reducing you. Don't think that somehow Peter is a macho chauvinist, but he's actually stating fact. What he's doing is he's pointing to a true distinction between male and female that you and I all see every day and that we recognize. Have a look at the words here. He speaks of a vessel. He employs the imagery of pottery. Now, you've all seen clay jars, haven't you? You go to a pottery, perhaps you've got some in the home, perhaps you've got some outside. The ones outside, what are they? They're thicker, you drop them, they're probably not going to break as easily, as quickly, as the lovely, beautiful, delicate ones in the home. the weaker vessel. And this is generally what he's saying. The ones, I'm afraid gentlemen, the ones that are weaker, the ones that are these fragile vessels, the women are generally prettier than us men, right? Men are quite different. We're a bit more robust, but you see there's a different function. There's a different function. Peter is simply pointing out the fact that women are different. They are dainty. They are what we would say feminine. He says you're feminine. Don't think ladies are putting you down. He's simply stating facts. And it's true also in terms of the character. Men generally tend to be what we would say thicker-skinned. Sometimes men can be even, or very often, insensitive. We're not as sensitive. Women tend to be more delicate, both physically and more fragile in heart and in person. That's true. They are more easily upset at times. Men tend to be thicker skinned. Men tend to be more dominant, more forceful in character. And this is a fact that we all know, don't we, in society, in the world. But you also see it in the animal kingdom, don't you? Look at a male lion and so on. Now we are the vice regents over creation. God said to Adam that he was to have dominion over these things. So we see it in the world. We even see it in nature. But even the heathen, brethren, even the unbelieving recognize this fact of the difference of the sexes. But you see, as society has got worse, as wickedness has spread, In the godless society that we live, people want to eradicate the distinction between the sexes. Really, it's against God, it's against nature, it's not normal. And this is one of the reasons for the feminist movements. Now, I'm not saying that everything feminist movements have done are wrong. They've clearly fought for women who've been abused, and so on. We recognize that. We're not talking about that. But again here, we're not talking about equality, are we? We're talking about a different role. We're talking about authority, different functions for each. This is not about equality. So it follows, as Peter says here, that women are the weaker vessels. And it was only natural, therefore, for God to give Adam the charge to take leadership and to take responsibility in life and for males to take responsibility in the home and in the church. And I think, again, coming back to this subject, even the world sees this principle, even the unsaved man. will lead and direct his family. By and large that's the case, but it is slowly eroding, isn't it? That principle is slowly eroding as we see the world becoming increasingly ungodly. The world shirks the light of conscience regarding God and this principle in particular of male leadership. And there is a steady eroding, brethren, increasing animosity for God's design as man over the head of the woman. Now there's another reason, fourthly, for headship. And that is God says this is fitting. In Colossians chapter 3, in the verse 18, Paul says, wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as is fit in the Lord. Now if fallen men see this, and they do, As I've just pointed out, even the world practices this to some degree. How much more should it be evident in the Christian home? As is fit in the Lord. I'll give you another verse. Titus 2.5. Paul is speaking about woman. He says, Obedient to their own husbands. Why? That the word of God be not blasphemed. In other words, when the world looks at a Christian home and sees that there is not male leadership, the Word of God is blasphemed. The world knows in its conscience, in its psyche, that that is wrong. There's another reason. The Word of God be not blasphemed. The Word of God be not evil spoken of. Paul says in Ephesians 5, 22, wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. Now, that does not mean that the wife must submit to the husband if he asks her to sin. Never. If he says to her, stay at home today, don't go to church, He's asking her to sin, and she must not submit to him in that way. Now again, the submission does not mean that a woman is under a tyrant, but under a loving husband who is Christ-like, who protects her, who nurtures her in the Word of God, but she recognizes his charge. Do you see that? She recognizes God has put responsibility, God has vested power and responsibility in this man to direct, to govern, the husband is thus to love as Christ loved the church and Men before we get to the woman here. I want to ask the question. Is that what you're doing? I have a good read of the Ephesians 5 and see the responsibilities that are encumbered upon the husband to daily wash the wife and himself with the Word of God Now something else this headship is While it is a union, and while it is a partnership, it is a partnership, the wife recognizes that the husband is the senior partner in that sense. She's not less again, she's not unequal to him, but there is clearly a responsibility and authority being vested in him. And that is the issue with which Paul takes up here. and the symbol we are to see in this head covering. There is a real submission. Now, there is to be this acknowledgment that there is headship. That's true. And ladies, you might say, yes, I accept that. I accept what the Bible is saying. But you see, it must be practiced in the life. It's no use saying, yes, I accept it, but it's not practiced in the life. Listen to Peter when he speaks of Sarah, Abraham's wife, in 1 Peter 3, 4. Even the ornament, here he's speaking of a wife, of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time, the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves being in a subjection unto their own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters you are, as long as you do well, and are not afraid with any amazement." Sarah not only called Abraham Lord, but she obeyed him. She submitted to him. This is important. Not only do we accept this responsibility, ladies, but there must be reverence. Paul says in Ephesians 5.33, the wives see that she reverence her husband. What is it to reverence? To respect. Now Paul didn't say, ladies, I recognize that there are some of you who don't and I just don't know what to do with you lot. He doesn't say that. He said, The wife see that she reverence her husband. In other words, there were no exceptions to this commandment. Wives, whether your husband is a good man or not, you need to respect him. You need to honor him. Let the wife see that she reverence her husband. See to it, ladies, that you do it. Woman, you're under divine obligation, as far as God is concerned, to reverence, to respect your husband. Oh, he may not be the best man in the church. Yes, irrespective of that, your husband's shortcomings. But God says, you're under his authority. And you do what is right, you obey God. Now, we've seen the four reasons for headship. The head of the woman is the man. Now, let's come to the problem. There was an outward problem. In fact, there were two problems. And the first you see in the verse 4. Look, every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head. Why is this? Because of verse 3. The head of every man is Christ. And you see, the man is Christ's representative here. On earth, the head of every man is Christ, and the head of every woman is the man. So if a man wears a covering on his head, it's a dishonor to Christ. Because if a man covers his head, he dishonors Christ, who he is meant to reflect. men were covering their heads, every man praying or prophesying. Now what is this prophesying? Is it speaking prophetical words? Is it? Not every time we read the word prophesying does it mean predicting the future. That word, a number of times in the Bible, can mean praising. I'll give you two examples. David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph and of Heman, and of Judathon, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals. I'll give you another example. Proverbs chapter 31. It says the words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. Now, anybody who reads Proverbs 31 can see that Proverbs 31 is not a prophecy, but it's the praise of the godly woman. But it says the prophecy that his mother taught him. In other words, the praise. Proverbs 31 is full of praise of the godly woman. And so here when he speaks about praying and prophesying, this is in the context of worship. Now, in these verses, the Apostle Paul gives seven reasons why women should cover their heads in worship. And the first is this. We're looking at the text here in 1 Corinthians 11. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head. The first reason is that if he covers his head rather than her, and we could say this is logical reverse reasoning if you like, Now, it is a fact that Jewish men covered their heads in the temple, just like the priest. The priest had a mitre upon his head, the men had a veil, later days they had, you've seen the Jews, they wear a yarmulke, or they call it a skull cap, still do today. Now, when men and women met, In the temple, they were not in the same room. There was the court for the woman, there was the court for the men, there was the court for the Gentiles and so on. They didn't meet in the same room. But now Christ the head has come. And here there was a problem. Paul is saying things have changed. Christ has come. Christ is the head. Now men, you better take those hats off. And men, if you don't, you are dishonoring your head. See, Paul is actually reversing the Jewish practice. That is what he is doing because Christ has come. This is not a mere cultural or traditional thing. In fact, what he is doing is he is reversing things. He is going against the culture. So now if a man covers his head, he now dishonors Christ by covering his head. Because the man is now showing submission to some other visible person present. You see that? But he is not under the submission of his wife. The man is under the authority of Christ. Now all the new evangelicals today will say that this was the culture. in those days. It was the practice. If you read the whole passage here, there is nothing about culture, there is nothing about practice, but it's about headship. Read this whole passage, it is all about headship, and that is the premise found in the verse 3. I want you to notice, first of all, that the apostle Paul here first took issue with the men. That's where he begins. He says, I'm not talking about culture. This is a command for all the churches, verse 16, not just the Greeks in Corinth. And by the way, these were Greeks. But it's a practice in all the churches. We have no such custom in all the churches. We read in verse 16. Now, if any of you men here today were to walk into Buckingham Palace, or you were to go to St. Peter's or some other church, you would be asked to take off your hat, wouldn't you? If you were wearing a hat, they'd say, stop please, take off your hat. But the Queen always wears a hat, doesn't she? She wears a hat. especially at church. say, when they come to this passage, well, they say, well, society today doesn't have a symbol. Well, really? Stop and think about the remarks that I just made. And I would say, I could more or less be sure that if a man walked into one of those churches of those men who accept this as culture, if they walked, those same ministers would be offended. And some of those ministers might even ask the deacons in that church to ask that man to please kindly take off his hat. And yet, you know what? The same men will say, well, certainly when it comes to other matters of the Bible, and they say things like this, well, you know, the Bible never changes. The same men will say, the Bible never changes. The Bible doesn't move with the times. Well, my friends, let's be consistent, shall we? If the Bible doesn't move with the times, why are we trying to shift the Bible to suit the times? And if God did have a symbol for the church, then why did He take it away? The fact is, friends, God hasn't taken it away. This is the Word of God. And my friends, this is a very clear statement that God wants to make in the church and to those who are outsiders. How much more do we need this symbol today than ever? Now notice, again, with the same token, look at the verse 5, Paul now turns to the woman and he says, But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head. He's saying she needs to cover the head now. So the second reason why women must cover their heads and not men is that they dishonour their husbands if they do not. Here's another thing. It says woman here. That applies to all women, whether you're married or not. It doesn't say wife. Again, the ESV and the NIV limit the text. But I challenge you, look at the original. But every woman. You see, what happens is this. That symbol is a token of the fact that there is one, that she is subordinate to the male, in terms of authority. And when she does not have a head covering, she rises above that and overlooks the man's authority. the outward symbol which represents the man's authority. Now this is the Bible, friends. It's very clear. And notice what he says. If she were to do that, have your head uncovered, look, for that is even all one that is if she were shaven. He says, ladies, uncover your head, you might as well get a crew cut and look like a man. You may as well become the man, right? She may as well come out and say, she's wearing the trousers. She's the man of the house, not him. Now what do we say when we see a woman with short hair, friends? What do we say? We say masculine, don't we? A woman's hair is her glory. Now I know some women have hair growth problems, so do I. But look, let's be frank, what he's saying is generally and ordinarily. And this outward token is a symbol of what you are. And if God did have a symbol for the church, He's not taking it away, friends. The fact is here, this is not about culture, but it's a very clear command. Paul is talking about the fact of headship. And ladies, you take that off. What you're saying is I am head of this home. And this also applies, I think, to young ladies who are not even married because the word here is not wife. And this is very clear. Command from God's Word. Now, Paul takes it to the brunt. Look at the verse 6. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn. Let's have her hair all cut off. But if it be a shame for the woman to be shorn or shaven, and it is, let her be covered. Okay? So very clear. Now I know, maybe some of you ladies are maybe feeling, well I've never heard this before. But now you have. Maybe you've never received teaching on this because of the church background and so on. Friends, I'm just opening up the Word of God. I had no idea who would be here this morning. This is God's Word. The third reason that she ought to have the head covering, and if she doesn't, have a look, she takes the image of the glory of the man away. Verse 7, for a man indeed ought not to cover his head. Why? As he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of man. Now what does Paul mean? He says the man, in effect, is to reflect the glory of God. As God is my head, I am to reflect that. There's not one over me, but I am given charge by God to be a loving leader in the home. God is the one who directs, is he not? And who gives order and governance. And man is his vice-regent here on earth. Adam was the head and he was to reflect God. He was made in the image of God and he was meant to reflect God. And that is what the husband is meant to be, to be a good leader, to be like God. And so, if the man uncovers his head, he takes away that image of the glory of God. But the woman is the glory of man. She is to reflect in that relationship. Her function is to help him in what he is to be. The woman is to help reflect the glory of God in man. And here's the reason. Look at verse 8. Woman of man. What is he doing? He's taking us back to Genesis 2 saying God took out of one of the ribs of Adam and made woman Genesis 2 23 She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man verse 9 here Neither was the man created for the woman and there this again is not putting woman down friends, but the woman for the man Why was she made? She was made to be a help meet Genesis 2 18. I will make him and help meet for him So you see that? That's the third reason. Now the fourth reason, Paul comes back to another reason why a woman should have a head covering. Look at the verse 10. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head. That's the head covering. The power on her head is the authority of the husband. That's a symbol of that. Why? He says, because of the angels. You say, what's he talking about? Well, it's very clear from Scripture that when we come to worship, the angels see us. They behold us. Let me give you a verse. The angel of the Lord campeth around about them that fear him. Psalm 34, verse 7. The angels see it, and woman, when they see you claiming to be the head of the house, Without the head covering, you offend the holy angels of God. Now I ask the question, are angels interested in culture? No. Angels stand out of culture, they stand out of time. Out of time. We're not talking here about culture or tradition. Why would the angels be offended? Well, because the will of God is not being done. That's the problem. If the angels should be bothered, we should too. The fifth reason is not superiority, but the will of God. Look, Paul, after having said what he did about why women were made as the helpmate of Adam, he assures you, woman, of your indispensable worth. Of course you are of value. You're not insignificant. Again, this is not about superiority. It's about authority. Look at the verse 11. Nevertheless is the man without the woman. The man's nothing without the woman. I wouldn't be here if my mother didn't give me birth. Right? We owe much to woman. Neither the woman without the man in the Lord. Now here it is. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman. And then he says, but all things of God. In other words, God is behind all of this. Whatever we are is because of God's design. Because of His will. Because of His purpose. He has designed you. He has created you. Not me. He didn't make me a man because He saw something good in me before the creation of the world. No. Sixthly Paul argues for head covering based on uncomeliness of a woman praying or praising God Without being covered in public worship. Look at the verse 13 judge in yourselves. Is it comely? That a woman pray unto God uncovered. He says ladies ask yourselves a solemn question Is it comely You know what the word comely means? Is it attractive? Is it right? Is it befitting? Is it ugly? Yes, it is ugly in God's sight. It was ugly that day that Eve sought to usurp Adam's authority. That was ugly. He asks you, ladies, is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? I think you know the answer to that, brethren. Now it struck me as I prepared. Men, dear friends, have many, many great sins and shortcomings. But the main problem here, if you read the chapter, yes, there was a problem with some men failing to see this. But the bulk of the time spent Upon those some ladies perhaps there were obviously some that were obeying this but some who failed to to submit and It's all pride, isn't it? Pride says I'll do my own thing Paul asked you is it comely? Seventhly, lastly, Paul argues from nature. Doth not even nature itself teach you, verse 14, that if a man having long hair, it is a shame unto him? Now he's reversing it. He's saying, you men, stop and think about it. If a man's got long, flowy hair, what do we say? Feminine. He's not right. Oh, sends shivers down your spine. At least it does mine. Is it not a shame to a man to have long hair? We say he's effeminate. It's a shame to him. But have a look, verse 15, But if a woman have long hair, it's a glory to her, for her hair is given her for a covering. Now, I find it very interesting, don't you? Why is it most men go bald? and not woman. God's worked it that way. Has he not? Now we know some women lose their hair. We know that. But he's saying here, doesn't nature tell you something? It does. Her hair is given for her as a covering. This is a natural covering. So he's arguing from nature. He says, look, if nature tells you that, what about your own covering? You see? He's saying, woman, you accept what nature is saying to you. Now, I believe that I've responsibly given you seven reasons from the text as to why women should cover their heads and men should never cover their heads in public worship. And I want to close with Paul's words in the verse 16. He says this, But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. What does Paul mean? Well, firstly, let me say he's argued biblically. He's given us seven reasons, friends. But he says this, but if any man seem to be contentious, that is, if any man oppose what I am saying, let him be assured of this one thing, we have no such custom. He says, we. Who is he talking about? He's talking about the apostles. He's talking about God's apostles. He says, we. If you come to us as apostles, we don't have any such teaching. You won't find their teaching contrary to mine. And then he adds something, neither the churches of God. In other words, he says, go to any of the churches, go to Galatia, go to Rome, go to Thessalonica, go to Colossae. He said, you won't see it, but I see it here. Go to any of those churches that I've mentioned, you won't find it. Brothers and sisters, this is the word of God. And I hope that I faithfully preached it here this morning. But you know, my Bible says, blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it. May God lay these things upon our hearts. For Christ's sake. Amen.