(#050) 1 Corinthians 11 - There are God-Ordained Differences Between the SexesUnited in the trinity we have victory in our differences.
Welcome To BARAH MINISTRIES a Christian Church
Rory Clark Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome to Barah Ministries…an intimate, local Christian Church with worldwide impact. My name is Pastor Rory Clark. The Lord loves you! King David contemplates the wonder of His love for us in Psalm 8, Verses 1 to 6…
PSALM 8:1 O Lord (Yahweh)…our Lord…how majestic (how splendid and magnificent) is Your name in all the earth…You who have set Your splendor above the heavens!
PSALM 8:2 From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strengthbecause of Your adversaries…to make the enemy and the revengeful cease.
God uses the weak to humble the strong…I count myself in that weak number!
PSALM 8:3 When I (David) consider Your heavens (as I look up into the sky noticing) the work of Your fingers…the moon and the stars, which You have ordained…
PSALM 8:4 …what is man that You take thought of him…and the son of man that You care for him?
David is wondering why God loves us so much. PSALM 8:5 Yet You have made man a little lower than God, and You crown him with glory and majesty!
PSALM 8:6 You make mankind (your representatives on earth) to rule over the works of Your hands…You have put all things under his feet…
Welcome to this Bible lesson!
At Barah Ministries we know this truth…that Jesus Christ is God. As the Lord He is 100% Deity…He is God the Son, a member of the Triune Godhead. He is also 100% human just like you and me, and His name is Jesus Christ. The Lord…God the Son…became flesh…Jesus Christ...and lived among us. He is the uniquely born One…100% God and 100% man in one Person forever. He is the only-begotten one...an exact duplication of essence with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. He is the Sovereign God of the Universe. He is the Jewish Messiah.
At Barah Ministries, we make a difference by teaching the Word of God from God’s perspective and not from man’s perspective. As those who make Barah Ministries our spiritual home, we are Christians. Being a Christian means we believe in the DEITY of the Lord Jesus Christ, and we have a deep, intimate, and personal relationship with Him.
God has an enemy, Satan, “the ruler of this world.” He is a liar who deceives the whole world, including you. He doesn’t want you to get to know God, and he interferes with your chance to know God. Satan’s strategy against the human race is religion, which is designed to make you indifferent or antagonistic to God. Religion deceives you into thinking you are saved when you might not be. And it works!
The Word of God is truth…and it keeps us aware of Satan's insidious deceptions. As believers in Christ, we are in union with Christ, and we have the victory over Satan through our Lord, who has overcome the world.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON There are God-Ordained Differences Between the Sexes
LESSON INTRODUCTION
The subject of sexuality is always a powder keg waiting to blow up into an emotional mess. The ruler of this world has taken God’s very simple idea… there are men, and there are women, and they complement each other in cooperative roles…and he has distorted it into a series of identities that have abducted the alphabet…LGBTQ… Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer…just to name a few of Satan’s cruel and inhumane distortions.
We are forced to be “tolerant,” which means we are OBLIGATED to agree with everything that is shoved down our throats about alternate sexuality even when we don’t. Tolerance, when you look at it on its face, is just a Satanic distortion of unconditional love. To love unconditionally is much more than tolerant, and it doesn't imply agreement at all. Unconditional love is a respect for the journey of others even when you don’t agree with it. In Satan’s kingdom, tolerance means you can only be vocal when you agree with him and his schemes.
In the next passage of study in First Corinthians, Paul gives gender-specific instructions. If you are prone to react in your soul over these things because you prefer your viewpoint to God’s, get ready for a little fun over the next couple of weeks. The Bible tells the truth. Be ready.
Today’s lesson is also a time for remembering…it’s the second Sunday of the month, a time when we celebrate The Lord’s Supper. We take a solemn and sacred look back at the Cross to remind ourselves of what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished there on our behalf. Today, we look at the true meaning of being an “overcomer.” Perhaps we’ll find out that we’re not!
SONG INTRODUCTION
Let’s hear some music. Psalm 46, Verse 10 says…
PSALM 46:10 “Cease striving and know that I am God…I will be exalted among the nations…I will be exalted in the earth.”
At a point in our Christian experience, we have to know that God wants us to stop flailing…He exists to do everything for us. In human frustration, the group Unspoken discovered s simple truth…JUST GIVE ME JESUS.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
JUST GIVE ME JESUS Unspoken
OPENING PRAYER Let us pray...
We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…
Father, thank you for the chance to know You better through the study of Your Word…thank you for the inspiration You intend to pour into our souls today…let it make us more ambitious in our relationship with You, and more compassionate in our relationship with others…
…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...Amen.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON There are God-Ordained Differences Between the Sexes
Don’t shoot the messenger!
In the next passage under study, as we move into the body of First Corinthians, Chapter 11, there is a message to women about how to conduct themselves in church. There are God-ordained differences between women and men. Imagine that?! So, if you want to argue about anything in this passage, you’ll have to take it up with the Lord. In this passage, also, He has some messages for men that might be hard to swallow as well, so be ready guys! We won’t get to study this passage today, but I’m sure the subject matter will challenge some of your worldly, Satan-inspired thoughts about the sexes. Let’s take a look at the passage we’ll begin studying next week…First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 2 to 16…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:2 Now I (Paul) praise you Corinthian believers because you remember me in everything and hold firmly to the traditions, just as I delivered them to you.
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:3 But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:4 Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying disgraces his head.
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:5 But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved.
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:6 For if a woman does not cover her head, let her also have her hair cut off… but if it is disgraceful for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, let her cover her head.
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:7 For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God…but the woman is the glory of man.
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:8 For man does not originate from woman, but woman originates from man…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:9 …for indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but the woman was created for the man’s sake.
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:10 Therefore, the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:11 However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:12 For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man has his birth through the woman…and all things originate from God.
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:13 Judge for yourselves: is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered?
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:14 And does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him…
JESUS PICTURE SLIDE
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:15 …but if a woman has long hair, it is a glory to her? For her hair is given to her for a covering.
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:16 But if one is inclined to be contentious, we have no other practice, nor have the churches of God.
There are clearly some intriguing ideas to discover in the next passage as the apostle Paul continues to answer some of the questions posed to him by Chloe’s people. The passage, on the surface, brings to mind baseball to me. Every player has a position to play. Never when playing baseball did I ever hear a player arguing about the equality of his position in relation to the other positions on the field of play. Each person simply did his own position’s job. In the “battle of the sexes,” we can’t say the same thing.
As you probably know, Helen Reddy died last week. She was one of my favorite artists growing up, and one of her songs was “I am Woman.” Why is it that men and women can’t just play their positions? Why do we have a battle? Why don’t we just enjoy each other? It’s because Satan, the enemy of God, is always stirring us up to reject God’s instruction on how things work. Be sure to tune in next week for the fireworks. Bring popcorn. When we return from our five-minute break, we’ll take the offering and then we’ll celebrate The Lord’s Supper.
FIVE MINUTE BREAK NOBODY Casting Crowns
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON There are God-Ordained Differences Between the Sexes
At the offering we give, but only as a reflection of the One from whom we learned how to give…the Lord…the ultimate giver…Isaiah, Chapter 64, Verse 6…
ISAIAH 64:6 For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear…nor has the eye seen a God besides You…a God who acts on behalf of the ones who wait for Him.
Give to reflect the way the Lord gives to us. Know that your contributions work on behalf of others as the Lord ordains. Let’s welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with the offering message.
THE OFFERING Deacon Denny Goodall
OFFERING VERSE
PHILIPPIANS 4:8 Finally, believers in Christ…whatsoever things are true…whatsoever things are honorable…whatsoever things are right… whatsoever things are pure… whatsoever things are lovely…whatsoever things are of good repute…if there is any excellence…and of course there is…and if there is anything worthy of praise…and of course there is…let your minds dwell on these things.
OFFERING SONG THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU David Bauer, Instrumental
THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION At the Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ Made Us Overcomers
Welcome to The Lord’s Supper Celebration, the most intimate expression of our deep, intimate, and loving personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord reminds us of His union with us during this celebration by sharing His body and His blood with us. In First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 26, the apostle Paul says, on behalf of the Lord…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:26 …as often as you eat this bread (representing His body)…and as often as you drink this cup (representing His blood)…as part of the Lord’s Supper Celebration…you proclaim as a reality and you announce the significance of the Lord Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross…and His resurrection from the dead…until He comes again at the second coming.
Every month, we celebrate The Lord’s Supper to REMEMBER. We REMEMBER that we are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, dependent on Him for our so great salvation; we REMEMBER that we are in union with Christ; we REMEMBER that God loves unconditionally; we REMEMBER that we are forgiven of every sin we commit…past, present, and future; and we REMEMBER that we have the Lord’s grace to help in times of need, especially when we make mistakes.
The Lord's Supper Celebration is often called communion. It’s our chance to commune with the Lord as we REMEMBER Him…a chance to bring to our consciousness our fellowship with Him. It’s a sacred celebration, so it’s not something we take for granted. It’s not something we do “on the fly.” It’s a time to have bread and wine in front of us, and as we enjoy the elements, we remember our dependence on the Lord Jesus Christ, both for our physical and our spiritual sustenance.
During the Lord’s Supper Celebration, Jesus wants His believers to look back and to look forward. We look back to the Cross to REMEMBER all the Lord did for us there. He wants us to look back to REMEMBER how He rescued us from the kingdom of darkness. He wants us to look back to REMEMBER the sacrifice of shedding His blood to cover our sins. He wants us to look back to REMEMBER the deliverance to the resurrection life He orchestrated, bringing us into His kingdom of light. The Lord also wants His believers to look forward, in ANTICIPATION that He IS coming again.
As we celebrate The Lord’s Supper, we ask ourselves in reflection, “What did the Lord Jesus Christ do for us at the Cross?” This month we acknowledge that at the Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ made us overcomers.
Okay, let’s start The Lord’s Supper Celebration with a quiz. Where is God right now? And in case you’re wondering …YES…there is a correct answer. So, quickly contemplate the answer and write it down. Don’t waste any of your time freaking out, because I already know that you don’t pay attention during Bible lessons! Forget that you have heard the answer a thousand times in verse after verse, which you see but don’t notice. Don’t look ahead for the answer. Just write your answer down. Okay, I’ll give you a hint. Psalm 46, Verse 1…
PSALM 46:1 God is our refuge and strength…a VERY PRESENT help in trouble.
If God is VERY PRESENT, where is He? He’s here! God is omnipresent. He is able to be everywhere at the same time. He transcends time and space. But here where? Colossians, Chapter 1, Verses 25 to 27 tell us…
COLOSSIANS 1:25 Of this church, I (Paul) was made a minister according to the stewardship from God the Father bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the Word of God…
COLOSSIANS 1:26 …that is, the preaching about the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested (being made clearly visible) to His saints (all believers in Christ)…
COLOSSIANS 1:27 …to whom God the Father willed to make known what are the glorious riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is CHRIST INDWELLING YOU, the hope of glory.
The Lord is right here, right now, right inside of you…ever-present inside of you. A song comes to mind…
THEY’LL KNOW WE ARE CHRISTIANS BY OUR LOVE
We are one in the Spirit…we are one in the Lord We are one in the Spirit…we are one in the Lord And we pray that our unity will one day be restored And they’ll know we are Christians by our love…by our love Yeah, they’ll know we are Christians by our love
The song is half right…we are ONE with the Lord. However, nothing has happened to our unity. We are in union with Christ, and we have been since the moment of salvation, and forevermore we will be in union with the Lord.
But do you see the Lord as someone who is far off…up in heaven…someone that you pray to over the miles? Do you see yourself and God as separate beings? The Bible reveals a different reality to believers in Christ. The entire Trinity…God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW, indwelling you…operating from within…as ONE with you. You are housing God! You are a temple for the Almighty God. First Corinthians, Chapter 6, Verse 19…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 6:19 Or DO YOU NOT KNOW that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is indwelling you believers in Christ … whom you have (as a gift) from God the Father? You are not on your own!
From the beginning…from the foundation of the world, it was always God’s intention that He and His creatures would be one entity. Our problem is that as Christians, we often choose to see as the world sees, rather than how divine reality is…we take our focus off of the light of eternity…we get bogged down in the world and in time. When we do, we miss it that God has always been the epicenter of our lives. He sits on the throne of our lives controlling us. But God expects His control to be a cooperative effort…He does not want to control you without your permission.
Because we have asked God to control our lives from the moment of salvation, we are overcomers. John Chapter 16, Verse 33…
JOHN 16:33 “These things I (the Lord Jesus Christ) have spoken to you apostles, so that in union with Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage…I have overcome the world.”
We are not overcomers because of anything we did, nor for any merit that is within ourselves…we have been MADE overcomers through God’s sharing of His victory over the world with us. First John, Chapter 4, Verse 4…
FIRST JOHN 4:4 You are from God the Father, little children (believers in Christ), and you have overcome them (the spirits who do not confess that Jesus Christ is God…and you have overcome them) because greater is He who is indwelling you, than he who is in the world.
By sharing His status as the overcomer with us, it means that God will not allow us to be destroyed. We are beyond the reach of our enemies. No destructive powers, no failure, no defeat, and no deception have power over us. When evil approaches us, it is not only approaching us, it is approaching God. It is afraid of God and has no choice but to snarl at God in us…but it is smart enough to know not to approach. Remember Satan’s complaint about Job in Chapter 1, Verses 8 to 10?
JOB 1:8 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, respecting God and turning away from evil.”
JOB 1:9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing?”
JOB 1:10 “Have You not made a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.”
That’s how the omnipresent God works with you as well. Why? Because in union with Christ we are an extension of His overcoming. Taking advantage of His victory illustrates the head and body analogy…Colossians, Chapter 1, Verses 15 to 20…
COLOSSIANS 1:15 The Lord is the image of the invisible God and Father…the firstborn of all creation.
COLOSSIANS 1:16 For by the Lord all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
COLOSSIANS 1:17 The Lord is before all things, and in Him, all things hold together.
COLOSSIANS 1:18 The Lord is also head of the body, the church…and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything.
The head and the body are not separate. They operate as one.
COLOSSIANS 1:19 For it was God the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness (of Deity) to dwell in the Lord Jesus Christ…
COLOSSIANS 1:20 …and through Jesus to reconcile all things to Himself…having made peace through the blood of Jesus’ Cross…through Him, I (Paul) say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
We fail to realize is our ONENESS WITH HIM. We fail to realize the absolute power in that. We fail to realize that it was His intention all along to unite us with Himself. It was His intention from eternity past, and He has brought this unity to pass, a unity we can never escape.
In ourselves, we could never be overcomers. We don’t have the power. A mothering lioness will engage in the fight of her life against the deadliest prey to feed her cubs. When she makes the kill, she shares the spoils with her cubs. The cubs fill their bellies and then they walk around with their chests poked out, oblivious to the sacrifice and the danger their mom made so they could share in the spoils. So it is with believers in Christ. When we look back at the Cross, we have no idea how hard it was to do what the Lord accomplished there. Like a mothering lioness, the Lord gives, and gives, and gives, until we wake up to the reality of His presence and His power in our lives.
The Lord asks us to pick up our cross and follow Him. He gives us tribulation so we might have a taste of what He did on our behalf. And it’s a pleasure to suffer so that we can see things through His eyes.
Because we are in union with Him, His victory is not several victories. It is a single victory. We share in that single victory. In this context, perhaps we can understand Paul’s prayer in Ephesians, Chapter 3, Verses 14 to 19…
EPHESIANS 3:14 For this reason, I (Paul) bow my knees before God the Father (in prayer)…
EPHESIANS 3:15 …from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name…
EPHESIANS 3:16 …that He would grant you…according to His glorious riches…to be strengthened with divine power through His Holy Spirit indwelling the inner man…
EPHESIANS 3:17 …so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith…and that you, being rooted and grounded in unconditional love…
EPHESIANS 3:18 …may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth (how wide) and the length (how long) and the height (how high) and the depth (how deep)…
EPHESIANS 3:19 …and to know the unconditional love of Christ which surpasses knowledge…that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
To overcome for us, the Lord has a small set of souvenirs for His efforts… bearing a Cross…a broken body…shed blood …physical death…burial… resurrection from the dead…ascension…and seating at the right hand of the Majesty, God the Father, on high.
In light of these insights, keep on doing this in remembrance of Me takes on new meaning. The Lord wants us to REMEMBER for us, not for Him. He wants more for nus than simply knowing of His presence in us as a concept. He wants us to feel His ONENESS with us and to use His presence in us to make every decision. He wants to orchestrate our lives. When we let Him, our lives on earth will match our future life in heaven by being exceeding and abundantly beyond anything we could ask or think.
THE LORD’S SUPPER CELEBRATION Enjoying the Lord’s Supper Elements
Obeying our Lord’s command, we keep on celebrating Christ regularly by eating and drinking. We eat bread to remember who He is as a PERSON... the One and ONLY Sovereign God of the universe. We drink wine to remember His WORK on the Cross…the voluntary sacrifice He made to deliver us from sovereignty to sin. We remember with gratitude what God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ have done to save us. First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 23 to 25…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:23 …the Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed took bread…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:24 …and when He had given thanks, He broke the bread and said, “This is My body, which is broken for you…keep on doing this in remembrance of Me.”
FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:25 In the same way, the Lord Jesus took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood…keep on doing this…and as often as you drink it, keep on drinking it in remembrance of Me.”
We chose to obey our Lord. Let’s keep on eating this bread…let’s keep on drinking this cup…and let’s do both to remember Him. Let this celebration stir our minds and our hearts with awe and with reverence and with gratitude. Let’s keep on being transformed by His life…His death… His burial…His resurrection from the dead…His ascension to the Father…His seating at the Majesty’s right hand…and by the nourishment from His Word, which feeds our souls.
SONG INTRODUCTION
Job, Chapter 19, Verse 25 says…
JOB 19:25 “As for me…I know that my Redeemer lives…and in the end the Lord will take His stand on the earth.”
Let’s go back in time to enjoy Peter, Paul and Mary as the sing about our Redeemer in the song HYMN.
LORD’S SUPPER SONG HYMN Peter, Paul and Mary
GOD WANTS YOU! Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life
The closing message of this study is the most important message of this study. We want you to know that GOD WANTS YOU.
First and foremost, this message is for the benefit of believers in Christ. First Peter, Chapter 3, Verse 15 says…
FIRST PETER 3:15 …believers…sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts…always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that is in you (the absolute confidence provided by your faith in Christ)… and give the defense with gentleness and respect…
Second, this message is for unbelievers, so you can be saved. Whether you know it or not, you were born a sinner. That’s bad news for you. Sinners need a Savior. The good news is that this gospel message offers you the chance to make the most important decision of your life. GOD WANTS YOU!
There is nothing more important for you in this life than a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. John, Chapter 1, Verse 12…
JOHN 1:12 But whosoever received Him, to them the Lord Jesus Christ gave the right to become children of God the Father, even to those who believe in Jesus Christ’s name…
Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31…
ACTS 16:31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”
John, Chapter 3, Verse 36…
JOHN 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life (right at that moment) … but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see the resurrection life…instead the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”
If you want to be saved from the wrath to come, simply have a conversation with God the Father…let Him know that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is the moment of eternal life for you.
SONG INTRODUCTION
Abraham, the father of the Jewish Race, expressed supreme confidence in the God of Israel, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with this thought…
MATTHEW 4:21 …Abraham was fully assured that what God had promised…He was able also to perform.
Yes! June Murphy sings it this way…our God is the great I AM.
CLOSING SONG I AM June Murphy
CLOSING VERSES A Doxology of Praise to Our God
EPHESIANS 1:3 Worthy of praise is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us believers in Christ in eternity past with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms (a place of permanence)…through our union with Christ…
EPHESIANS 1:7-8 In Jesus…we have redemption (deliverance from slavery to sin) through His blood…the forgiveness of our trespasses…according to the glorious wealth provided by His grace…which He lavished on us…including as a gift, wisdom and insight…
EPHESIANS 3:20 Now to God the Father…who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we could ask or imagine (more than is humanly possible) …according to the divine power (omnipotence) that works within us…
EPHESIANS 3:21 …to Him be the glory…through the church age believers in union with Christ Jesus…and to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray...
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