Keyser, Keith: Meetings At Man O War Bahamas-2008-10 ~ Christ's Glories In NT Pattern-5

Ephesians chapter five. I Do appreciate those kind remarks by Brother George, but honestly, we always feel when we come here like we get ministered to in equal measure to what we minister, if not more. You certainly do so much for us by way of encouragement in the Lord's things. And not only have you done that this month, but it's been over a period of years now since I've been coming here singly, and the last two times, counting this as a married man with my family. And we're very grateful for all the love and kindness you've all shown to us in many little ways and in some big ways. So we're very grateful to have been here this time, and we pray that any good that came of our visit and that of our friend Mark, that the Lord would receive the glory for that, and that the word of God would continue to resound in your minds as we go away. Uh, we don't know exactly when we'll get to see you again. It seems like it won't be before about a two-year period. That is not because of anything you've said or done, or anything you've left undone. It is not because, uh, we don't like you anymore or anything like that. Uh, we could say what Paul said to the Philippians in Philippians one seven, we have you in our hearts, and that would certainly be an accurate statement. We think of you and pray for you often, and we even have some mementos from you in our living room. So every time I walk in my living room and see the gift you gave us the last time of the hand-painted map of the Bahamas, we think of you and pray for you often. But it just is that there are certain responsibilities with our home assembly and with my family back home, and other responsibilities as well in the United States that would keep us from traveling in these parts as much as we would. So we're having to contain ourselves to probably only come to the Bahamas about once a year, and as you know, you're not the only island in the Bahamas. Uh, I won't say what my favorite island in the Bahamas is because word travels around here, you know, and I don't want to hurt any of my brothers and sisters' feelings on any other island, but rest assured, I really like this one, and we will come back as soon as the Lord makes it feasible. We do look forward, uh, to getting back home, but we're hitting the ground running with, uh, a good bit of work to be done when we get home in various places. Later in March, we'll be out in the Midwest, in Illinois and Iowa, and, uh, more in the springtime, we'll be up in Massachusetts in the home assembly of Sister Peggy Dougal, and, uh, also in other parts of the US later in the year. So we do appreciate your prayers. We have a very full schedule, and when, when you think of us, please remember us before the throne of grace, as we will for you. Now let's look at the word of God tonight. Ephesians chapter five is where we want to begin. We want to start reading at verse twenty. Ephesians five and verse twenty. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, and 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 hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. For w- 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. The Lord will add his blessing to the reading of his word, and we'll be looking at other passages tonight as well. We've been thinking about different aspects of the Lord Jesus and getting glory through the New Testament pattern. Of course, the New Testament pattern for the church extends beyond when we come together in the meetings. Of course it does that. It has a very big role to play in what we do when we come together in the meeting. But, you know, how we are to be as Christians extends into the very most private moments and private areas of our lives, because when we come to the Word of God, we find it extends not just to within the walls of a particular place where the church may meet, and I remind you that the church is not a building in scripture, unless you're talking about a spiritual building. It's not a building of boards and brick and mortar or anything like that. It's a spiritual building. It's a holy temple. It's a field. It's a body. It's described in all those metaphors, but the church is composed of us, we who have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Regardless of what we look like or where we come from, how much education we may have or not have, how much money we have in the bank or don't have, whatever kind of ways you can think of people making distinctions among themselves, the Lord wipes them all about, all out, rather, and says that if you've received the Lord Jesus Christ, you're part of his body, the church. That being said, when we meet together in the church, God very definitely has a way of how he wants things to be done, and I've been trying to show you this month things you already know, but just to do what Peter did in second Peter, to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, to point out once again the great privilege it is, for example, to meet in the Lord Jesus' name, to have he- him as your authority source and as your identity. That when people ask us, we don't say that we're part of any particular sect of Christendom, uh, much as we might value different brothers and sisters through church history, I am not a brethren, I am a Christian. I belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, and everyone who belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ is my brother or sister in the Lord, biblically speaking. Of course, we thought about the wonderful way that God has designed his church, a way in which no man is to get the glory, but the Lord Jesus is to have all the glory. We saw that in how the church grew in the book of Acts, and we see that in how the church is to be governed by means of overseers, men that are responsible and accountable to the Lord Jesus Christ, because Christ is the head of the church, Ephesians one and Colossians one among other passages, will tell us. But, you know, tonight we come to an area that is even more, perhaps, everyday life. Uh, Paul here talks in Ephesians about husbands and wives, and it reminds us that God has an order of headship even among human beings, and that there are distinctions between the sexes in God's view. God has made men and women different, but we're here to say also tonight that God is eminently fair, that God does not denigrate either one of the sexes. He doesn't put anybody down. In fact, the Bible, I want to tell you first and foremost, the Bible exalts women. The Bible lifts them up. I'm going to prove that to you. But if I may just first make the historical point that wherever biblical Christianity and the gospel of Christ has gone and been rightly understood, it has improved the life and the lot of women. It has improved them. Take, for example, the accounts of the women in the Gospels. You know, the Jews had a prayer in ancient times, dating back probably to about a hundred years before the time of Christ. The prayer that a Jewish male would say was, Lord, I thank you I wasn't born a slave. I thank you I wasn't born a Gentile. And please don't shoot the messenger, I'm just quoting this ancient prayer. Uh, they would say, I thank you I'm not born a woman. You know, in a Jewish court of law in the days of the Lord Jesus Christ, the testimony of a woman was only half as valuable in court as the testimony of a man. It took two women's testimonies to equal the testimony of a man. But you know something, when the Lord Jesus came to have the first witnesses that he had risen again from the dead, do you know who the very first people that carried the message of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ were? They were women. Now, if this were a made-up story, that would certainly be a stupid way to begin it in the ancient world. Because people in the ancient world, again, this isn't me, this is what people said two thousand years ago, and I can furnish you with quotes later if you need me to. But they used to say, you know, well, these women, they could get carried away, they could get all emotional and, and not understand what they're talking about and get all mixed up. No, says the Bible, these women weren't mixed up. They were devoted to the Lord Jesus Christ, devoted with such singular devotion that when the men were cowering and hiding and shell shocked and depressed over what they had seen three days earlier at Golgotha, the women were out there carrying the spices and wondering how they were going to get that heavy stone away from the door so they could anoint the Lord's body. But those women were in for a treat. They didn't get to anoint the Lord's body, as I said on Sunday night, but what they did get to do is to go and tell the disciples that the Lord had risen. Do you know what the disciples did when they heard from the women? They didn't believe them. Typical. Men can be kind of slow sometimes, you see. And eventually, two of them were cajoled to run out to the tomb, and they verified, you know, these women are right, the tomb's empty, but we still don't understand what it means. It took some subsequent appearances of the Lord Jesus to really clue all the disciples in on what had happened in the resurrection of Christ. But I say that to say that whereas in that day and in that time, in many places, women were devalued and considered not as bright or able to get carried away or whatever, God never says that about them. Rather, he makes them the first witnesses of the resurrection. And that tells you a bit of how highly he esteems women. You can go through the Bible, and you can find so many faithful sisters, Old and New Testament, that were very active for the Lord. And I wish I had another month with you just to devote it to what a woman biblically can do for the Lord. My friend Robert Gessner of Allentown, Pennsylvania, some years ago, did a series in Milk and Honey magazine on the contribution of the sisters, and it went on for something like six or eight months, just going on every issue, talking about a different aspect of the service of the sisters. I don't think I really, I'm kind of preaching to the choir here tonight because I know there are so many sisters in this meeting that are very active and concerned about the Lord's things, so I don't need to belabor that point. I only make the point because especially the young people are being told today that the Bible puts women down, that the Bible makes women less than what they really are, and that to follow what the Bible presents and what the world will call the traditional family model is somehow stifling to a woman, that it will hold her back from achieving her potential. I'm here to tell you tonight, biblically, that that is not so, and that there's a very great ministry for women. But we're not just going to talk about women tonight, we're going to talk about women and men, because in this truth of headship, God devotes equal time to both sides, and each has a role to play. Now, we could say, first of all, that when it comes to our position in Christ, having received the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior, our position is equal before God. The sisters are of no less value. Galatians three points that out, that there's neither male nor female, Jew nor Gentile, bond nor free, and so forth. But people pick up on that beautiful truth, and they try to make it apply to situations where it doesn't apply. Because Galatians chapter three is not talking about the functions of men and women in service for God. It's talking about their position in God's sight, in God's salvation. When we come to a passage like this in Ephesians five, it is clear that there is a distinction in order. The wives are told at the beginning to submit theirselves to the husbands in verse twenty two. But I would just point out that first, in verse twenty one, he says, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Now, if you look at the context, and for the context, just look back at verse one of chapter five. chapter five, verse one of Ephesians. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children. So he's talking to believers generally here, and he's going to give them a lot of instruction on how to follow God and what God wants us to do. And in verse twenty one, he says, submitting yourselves one to another. That means believers are to submit one to another. Now, that's not a gender statement, that's a statement about Christians in general. You know, submission is so hard to do because naturally speaking, we as human beings, we have eye trouble. No, not the kind that Doctor Sam McHale of Nassau could help you with. I'm not speaking of ophthalmology. I'm talking about I, the personal pronoun. You know, me, numero uno. As the, uh, great American sage of popular culture, Toby Keith put it, I want to talk about me, want to talk about my, want to talk about number one, oh my, me, my, and so forth and so on. It's all about me. We come into this world focused on our own needs, and as we grow, we continue to pay attention to what matters to us. So it becomes very hard to submit. You know, we start hearing about a brother or sister, and they have a need, and we say, well, that's a shame, but really, if I met that need, that would mean that I would have to change my schedule around. I'd have to give up some of my free time, perhaps, and you know, I work very hard, and I have so little free time as it is to help this brother or sister in their need. Uh, well, that would be very difficult for me. I'd have to change my schedule all round. Well, Paul says, submitting yourself one to another. You know, there was a problem, according to Romans fifteen that some of the believers were having as far as what they could or could not eat in good conscience. And there were certain Christians that had no problem eating certain things, and other Christians that had a conscience about it. And the operating principle of scripture is not to cave into a mindless legalism, but also not to run roughshod on our brothers and sisters' convictions. There are certain things we may feel free to do before the Lord. We, to us, it's not sin. We don't have any problem before the Lord doing a certain thing. I'm not talking about things that the Bible overtly labels as sin. I'm talking about what we'd call liberties. And we say, well, I have the liberty to do this or that, uh, but then there's another brother or sister, and their conscience won't allow them to do the same thing. How are we to address that? Well, the brother or sister whose conscience won't allow them to do that thing, they're not to sit on in judgment on the brother or sister whose conscience gives them no problem about it. And likewise, the brother or sister that doesn't have a conscience about the thing, they aren't to go rub the noses of the believer who has a conscience about it in it. In other words, we're to be sensible to one another, and even if we need to give up some of our freedom, some of our liberties, some things that we enjoy for the benefit and the blessing of our brothers and sisters, Scripture would tell us to do it. Why? Because the great royal command of the Lord Jesus, as enunciated, for example, in James two, in many places, but in James two, we are told to love our neighbor as ourself. We are to love our brethren. That is what we are to do. And so that involves submitting to one another. That involves, as Philippians two describes it, putting others first, looking not only on our own needs, but also on the needs of others, says Philippians two, esteeming others better than ourselves. So this matter of submission is not just a question of women submitting to men, it's a question of believers, male and female, submitting to one another in the first place. But then when we come to talk about the family order, husbands and wives, there very definitely is an order. The wife is to submit to the husband in the fear of God. Why is, or rather, uh, to submit to your husbands as unto the Lord, verse twenty two. Now you say, that's pretty demanding, to submit to my husband just like I was submitting to the Lord. Yes, and that is the very thing that will enable you to do it. You see, if you're merely submitting to your husband because you're afraid that your husband's going to get mad and throw some kind of temper tantrum and shout at you, and you don't like to be shouted at, well, doubtless that'll prove an incentive to do or not do certain things. But if you're submitting to your husband and you're saying, you know, ultimately the reason I'm submitting is because the Lord tells me to. I'm doing this as unto the Lord. That'll enable you to do it without growing bitter, without thinking harsh thoughts toward your husband, even if he's sometimes undeserving or inconsistent, and we'll get to that by and by. But you'll notice why she has to submit, verse twenty three, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. Now that tells us straight off that this isn't a cultural matter, and this isn't something of Paul's personal opinion, because he links this order in the family of the husband being the head, having the authority, in other words, and correspondingly the responsibility. If we talk about someone being the head of state in your system, that would be the Prime Minister, wouldn't it? It's the top elected official. In the United States, where I come from, that would be President George W. Bush for the next so many months, at least. Who knows who will be in after that? I'm kind of getting sick of hearing about it, to be honest with you, but we pray for our leaders, whoever they may be. In any case, a head is an authority, but the reason we know this isn't just something that's cultural or quaint old history that was fine for two thousand years ago but doesn't work in the twenty first century is because he links this with Christ and the church. The husband is the head of the wife, says he, just as Christ is the head of the church. Now, that hasn't changed, has it? In two thousand years almost, Christ is still the head of the church. What did we sing tonight? Yesterday, today, forever, Jesus is the same. That's quoted from Hebrews chapter thirteen, and it's a glorious truth. Christ is the head of the church. But notice what kind of head of the church he is. He is the savior of the body, says verse twenty three. In other words, he's not just one who exercises authority and power, but toward this body, he has played a very important role of saving it. How does he do that? Well, we'll see in a moment. Verse twenty four says, therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Now, lest the sisters start to think, boy, he's coming down hard on us, telling us to submit to those husbands, and Paul didn't know my husband anyway, they say, and how we can get into his moods and whatnot. Now Paul turns, you know, the Spirit of God through Paul, really, turns to the husbands in verse twenty five, and he says, husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. Now notice that standard of love. He doesn't say, husbands, love your wives as long as they're attractive to you. A lot of husbands today in our world think that that is the standard, you know, as long as they feel good when they're with their wife, as long as they think that that person's good looking, as as long as they fulfill them and give them the warm fuzzies inside, then they'll love them. But if her looks start to fail, or if, God forbid, that part of the wedding vows in sickness comes to pass, or if she starts to get difficult for some reason, they say, I'm out of here. I'll trade in on the new model. Do you have any upgrades? Thank you very much. The Lord says, oh no, that is not the way husbands are to love their wives. How are they to love their wives? He says, like Christ, loving the church. How did Christ love the church? Well, he gave himself for it, says verse twenty five. That's very simple English. We can understand every word, can't we? But think about what that meant for the Lord Jesus. In loving the church, that meant the Lord Jesus came down to this world of woe. He left heaven's glory with all of the security he had there and all of the worship of the angels, and then at his beck and call, he came and became a man. And being a man, he became a bond slave, and he went to the cross of Calvary, and he gave himself for this wife. He first bought her out of the slave market of sin, purchased her with his own blood, gave up his life that he might win this wife to himself. And then what does he do? Well, that's what he did in the past, but look at what he does in the present, verse twenty six: That he might sanctify and cleanse it, or cleanse her more properly, with the washing of water by the word. You see, having bought that wife, like Hosea of old, going and finding his wife Gomer, who had played the harlot, buying her out of the slave market of sin, and bringing her and washing her, and setting her apart to himself, and doing that by means of the word. He's doing that tonight. He's working in our hearts, if we allow him to. He's applying his truth to us. He's cleansing our minds as we sit under the sound of the word of God. He's doing that slow but inexorable work of making us like the Lord Jesus Christ, corporately, of being able to present it in the future. Notice verse twenty seven, 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. Oh, God's plan for the church, not to have us up in heaven marred by our sins, no, to present us without spot or blemish or any such thing. He's better than spiritual oil of Olay. You know, there's no cosmetic this world knows that can wipe away the ravages of sin from a soul. But the Lord Jesus takes sinners, and he washes away their sins completely, and corporately as the church, he's going to present us to himself as his bride. I wish we had time to read it in Revelation nineteen. You can look at it for yourself, how the Lamb's wife comes down from heaven, adorned with beautiful white garments, which Revelation says are the righteous deeds or righteous acts of the saints. Yes, we're working on our wedding garment today. I don't know if it'll be an androzia or what it will be, but it's composed of righteous acts. We're fashioning that garment, we're getting ourselves ready by doing good works for him even now. So there's a past, present, and future toward the love of Christ, toward his church. He gave himself for her in the past. He's sanctifying and cleansing her in the present, and he's going to present her to himself without spot or blemish or any such thing in the future. I wonder if we as men, especially those of us who are married, do we have that kind of concern for our wives? Are we giving ourselves for them? You know, many men have the idea, well, I give myself for my wife and my family. I go to work, and I work very hard to earn a living and provide for them. Good. That's commendable. That's biblical. I wouldn't criticize that one bit, but that's not where it stops, you know. What about our wives' spiritual growth? What about their progress in the holy things of God? The Lord Jesus is concerned with the present spiritual progress of his brides. He's working on the church by the word. Do we as men take the word in our homes and present it before our families? No, not everybody has the gift of the Bible teacher. Not everybody is a gifted public speaker. I understand that. But you read the word for yourself. Do you read it for your family? Do you bring it to bear on the situations that your family confronts? It's a searching question we have to ask, don't we? Because I'll tell you, it's easy to stand up here and preach to people that I see every year and a half or two years. It's another thing to preach to people or talk to people from God's word who see me every day of the week and know all my failings and my faults and what a jerk I can be, quite frankly. That's difficult, but it's what the Lord would have us to do, to bring the word to bear in our families. And then, are we concerned about the future of our family? The Lord's going to present his bride to himself without spot or blemish one day. Well, we don't have control over hearts, and we don't have the control over lives that he has. But are we striving to present our family before Christ when he comes as intact, as best we know how to set before our children the gospel of Christ that they might get saved. I mean, it's reaching epidemic proportions today, even children growing up in Christian homes today. I see so many of them as I travel around the world that don't know Christ. They don't have the faith of their fathers. You can't guarantee it. You can't make them believe. I know what it's like, even in my own family, to have close relatives that have been presented with the gospel and not believed, so I'm not trying to be critical of anyone, but I stay in a lot of people's homes too, and I see in a lot of people's homes that the word of God no longer is given any kind of time in the family. You can't rely on once or twice a week at the meeting, it's just not going to work. Husbands have a big responsibility spiritually. This is what love would have us do. So ought men, says verse twenty eight, to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself, for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. For we are members of his body and of his flesh and of his bones, and so forth. So this is a great truth, one that the Lord models for us, that his love and concern for us is the same as his love and concern for himself, and he is devoted to doing whatever is necessary for us. Now, time is going so quickly, but someone might say, well, here I am a woman, and I'm trying to submit to my husband as unto the Lord, but my husband's not following the Lord. He's been disobedient to scripture. Now, it could be that the husband is not saved, or it could be that the husband's saved, but being disobedient. How is the woman to act in that kind of a situation? Let's go over to First Peter three a moment and just see very quickly what the word of God says. First Peter three, verse one. First Peter three one. Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the manner of life of the wives, while they behold your chaste way of living, coupled with fear, whose adorning, let it not be that of the outward adorning of plating of hair and of wearing of gold or putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart and that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and a 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 subjection unto their own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well and are not afraid with amazement. Likewise, ye husbands dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. Now, the world would tell a woman that her most powerful tool in influencing a man is how she looks and how she can use her body to motivate a man to do something. How do I know that? Watch any commercial you care to today advertising I don't care what, and they don't pick people like me to hawk their wares, generally speaking. No, they pick some young, very attractive woman, all dolled up, nicely, uh, combed hair and, and well made up with cosmetics and jewelry and all kinds of things. Now, a lot of people come to First Peter three and they think the Lord here is merely slamming jewelry and slamming makeup and that kind of thing, and that couldn't be farther from the context of what God said. The Lord says here, and doubtless that jewelry and stuff can be overdone. I'm not saying everything out there in the world we need to emulate, but on the other hand, I don't see the word of God totally prohibiting it. In any case, what Peter is saying here is that to motivate the man who is not obeying the Lord, you don't try and use your body to motivate him, nor do you nag him and cajole him and fight with him all the time, taking your frying pan and taking a good swipe at his head, even though he may deserve it. No, what you do is by a meek and a quiet spirit, you submit to him, even though he doesn't deserve it. I tell you, the love of a faithful woman for an undeserving man can melt a heart of stone, God using it. As they behold your chaste manner of living, they'll be motivated to change, to turn to the Lord. What it's emphasizing is not the outward appearance, but the inward attitude of the woman, that she's going to submit herself to God and do what is right and submit to her husband, even though her husband is acting inconsistent with it. And they can be, without a word, won by the manner of life of the woman. What power that is. How you look at the great men of God in scripture and how so often there was a godly woman right there with him. Manoah and his wife, the mother and father of Samson back in the book of Judges, Sarah and Abraham, quoted here in First Peter three. Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob, he had two pretty good women, generally speaking, Leah and Rachel, and then later throughout the Bible, Priscilla and Aquila, and so forth. Now there's a tremendous impact women can have in a quiet way on their men for godliness and good. But then the husbands, they don't get off in Peter's hands either. Peter tells the husbands to dwell with the wives according to knowledge. And how are you to treat the wife? Like a weaker vessel. Now, some women read that phrase, and that's all they hear. They tune out the rest of the verse. Let me tell you, weaker vessel is a compliment. It's not saying that a woman can't bench press as much as a man. Uh, there's probably women out there that can bench- I'm sure there are women out there that can bench press more than I can. I don't want to meet them in a dark alley, but that's not what it's talking about. When it talks about a weaker vessel, we're talking about, in the vernacular of that time, fine china. You know, some of you have some plates and cups in your homes, and with all due respect, I've been to some of your homes for dinner, and you don't get those kind of plates out when I come to dinner. Now, I don't have the kind of table manners that deserves getting those kind of plates out. But the fine china, it's very delicate, isn't it? You're not just going to throw it in the dishwasher to wash it with all the clunky cups and pots and pans and things, are you? Because it'll get chipped and scratched and maybe outright broken and damaged, and it's something, yes, it's weaker, but it's for an exalted purpose. It's something beautiful that is a special occasion item. Well, that's how God describes the women. Yes, delicate in a certain sense, but before God, beautiful and most useful. Well, the Lord is very good in all of this teaching about men's and women's roles. I'm out of time, but if you go through the scriptures and you study them, you find that God gives equal responsibility to the men and to the women, and that if each does their part, something beautiful results. For if the women submit in godliness to the men, they're honored by the Lord for it, and that has an impact on the man. And the man loving his wife as Christ loves the church, that has an impact as well. And when they come together in assembly, for the women to be silent, and the other truth that we sometimes don't emphasize as much, but we should, for the men to be vocal. If the women are going to be silent, the Bible is just as clear that the men should be vocal in their priesthood. I know it's hard. Believe me, I tremble every time I get up here and preach. James says in James three one, Brethren, become not many teachers, knowing we'll receive the stricter judgment. I keep that in mind. The Lord's going to hold me accountable for what I say. I get to my feet in some places and sometimes reluctantly, and I always do it with a sense of weakness and a bit of inward trembling. But, you know, that doesn't mean that we don't do it. That's what God calls men to do, to get to their feet and to lead the company of believers in praise, to lead in worship, to lead in prayer, if such is your gift, to lead in teaching the word of God or in proclaiming the gospel. To get up, man, and whereas the sisters are to be silent and honoring of the Lord, to be vocal for the Lord. Likewise, the sisters are to cover, according to First Corinthians eleven. But you know, it's just as important that the men are uncovered because the sisters are covering their own glory and covering the glory of the man, and they're displaying the glory of Christ even to angels. And the men, by being uncovered, and believe me, that's as much as an issue in some parts of the world as the women covering is in this part of the world. I used to fellowship in the little assembly in Jerusalem when I was over there, and we had a brother come in who was saved out of Judaism, and he still wore the little yarmulke, the kippah, as they call it, the little beanie type thing on his head. He came into the breaking of bread like that. Someone had to go say to him, brother, please uncover your head. You're marring the truth of what God wants to say, that Christ is the head, and we aren't going to cover his glory. Well, there are many aspects to this truth, and we're out of time, but I trust you'll dig into the word and look at it for yourselves. It's always balanced for the men and women. God doesn't get it off kilter or out of proportion. So look for the balance in scripture. Father, tonight we thank thee for the simplicity and yet the beauty of thy word. The world doesn't see this, and yet, Father, the world is wrecking the home. The world is wrecking the family. The world is wrecking marriages. The world has no concept of biblical manhood or biblical womanhood. Father, when we come to thy word, we see it spelled out for us, and spelled out in ways that testify to us of thy love for us. Father, we pray we'd submit one to another, and we pray that the sisters would submit to their men. We pray the children would submit to their parents, and we pray the husbands would love their wives, and Father, that they would not make their children's lives hard, that they'd be bitter against them, but that they'd be examples and even present the word of God to them. We just pray this. Give us help, Lord. We all fail in these things at some level. It's so hard. There's so much pressure being put on the family today, and yet, Father, thou canst sustain by thy spirit. We just pray, Father, give us help. In the Lord Jesus Christ's name we ask. Amen.