(#051) 1 Corinthians 11- In God’s Eyes, Women are Not Inferior to Men

There is no way to undervalue a saint, especially one with honor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.  Welcome to this Bible lesson!  One of the great benefits of being a Christian, and one of the things that distinguish us from unbelievers, in highlighted in Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verses 16…

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 5:16

Therefore, from now on we believers in Christ recognize no one according to the flesh…

 

As Christians we are trained to see others as God sees them, and not as their conduct dictates, nor from external appearances.  We don’t judge a book by its cover.  The Word of God fills us with compassion and an unconditional love for people when they are being unlovable, even when they are members of our own family.  We have to remember that when people are acting out, they are listening to the flesh in themselves.  We must give them a break and honor their journey as they wrestle with this part of themselves.  The apostle Paul reminds us in Ephesians, Chapter 6, Verses 10 and 11…

 

EPHESIANS 6:10

Finally, be strong in union with the Lord and in the strength of His might.

 

EPHESIANS 6:11 

Pick up and put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

 

 

EPHESIANS 6:12 

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood (human beings)…but our battle is against the rulers, against the powers, against the spiritual forces of this dark world…our battle is against the forces of wickedness in the heavenly realms.

 

Let the Lord fight your battles with people.  He plays offense for us…we play defense.

 

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 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, who is “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 the truth…and it informs us about 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

In God’s Eyes, Women are Not Inferior to Men

 

LESSON INTRODUCTION

 

In Galatians, Chapter 3, Verse 28, the apostle Paul writes…

 

GALATIANS 3:28

(In God’s eyes…)  There is neither Jew nor Greek (no racial distinctions)… there is neither slave nor free man (no social distinctions)…there is neither male nor female (no gender distinctions)…for you believers in Christ are all one (placed in unity by God)…in union with Christ Jesus.

 

If God doesn’t see distinctions, why do we?  Why is it that we get our backs up when we hear there is a structure of authority in God’s universe?  What is the problem with being in submission to another’s authority?  What is the problem with rules?  What is the problem with order?  What is the problem with behaving in a way that brings honor to those you love?  In today’s passage from First Corinthians, the apostle Paul addresses the issue. 

 

SONG INTRODUCTION

 

Let's hear some music!  At the end of our lessons, we hear a doxology… words used to praise our God…and one of my favorites is First Peter, Chapter 5, Verses 6 and 7…

 

FIRST PETER 5:6-7

Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may promote you at the proper time…//…slamming all your cares on His back, because He cares for you.

 

As you know, "He cares for you" is a Greek idiom which means "God considers your problems to be His responsibility."  Here's a doxology in a song from the group Finding Favor called CAST MY CARES!

 

MUSIC AND REFLECTION

Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ

Enjoy the Singing of His Praises

 

CAST MY CARES

Finding Favor

 

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 giving us an organized approach to life amidst the confusion of Satan’s kingdom…help us orient our lives to You and Your Word…

 

…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s

name...Amen.

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

In God’s Eyes, Women are Not Inferior to Men

 

Satan the enemy of God deceives the whole world.  Revelation, Chapter 12, Verse 9…

 

REVELATION 12:9a

And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world…

 

You see his handiwork every time you turn on the news these days.  There is an election coming up in the United States and you’re being propagandized by the candidates.  They are promising you what they think you want to hear.  Will they deliver?  Do they have a track record of delivering?  Deception confuses you.  It introduces doubt and gets you to question what is true.  

 

God is not confusing…He is clear.  First Corinthians, Chapter 14, Verse 33…

 

FIRST CORITNHAINS 14:33

…for God is not a God of confusion…He is a God of peace…as it is to be in all the churches of the saints.

 

Everything with God is one…Ephesians, Chapter 4, Verses 4 to 6…

 

EPHESIANS 4:4

There is one body…and there is one God the Holy Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling…

 

EPHESIANS 4:5 

…there is one Lord…there is one faith…there is one baptism…

 

EPHESIANS 4:6

…there is one God and Father of all…who is over all…and who is through all…and who is indwelling all.

 

In a man’s view, the Bible is “subject to interpretation.”  

 

In God’s view, the Bible is subject to translation.  If a translation isn’t exactly what God is saying then it is inaccurate.  The source of inaccuracy is NOT fallible man…it’s deceptive Satan.

 

When we orient to God’s wishes it is called obedience.  

 

When we disorient to God’s wishes it is called rebellion.

 

In God's plan, there is gender distinction.  This distinction does not make you inferior.  It makes you different.  

 

Satan blurs the lines of gender.  He has a host of options he offers to mankind.  Masculine and feminine is obliterated by androgyny.  

 

ANDROGYNY

Neutralizing gender differences…not clearly male or clearly female…doing things according to the custom of the other sex.

 

Satan wants us to think there is no God-ordained difference…you can be whatever you want to be.

 

In God's plan, there is no racial distinction.  Yet as I have grown up, I have been colored, Negro, black, African-America, an "at-risk" youth, a person of color, and a minority.  Which of those titles is designed to make me feel important or included?

 

In the next passage of study, First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 2 to 16, 

Paul begins to address a new subject of concern to Chloe’s people.  We are finished with idol meat!  Let’s remind ourselves what the letter to the believers in the Corinthian church is about…First Corinthians, Chapter 1, Verse 11…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:11 

For I (Paul) have been informed concerning you, my brethren (in the church at Corinth) by Chloe’s people…that there are rivalries among you.

 

Yes…the Corinthians are a set of divisive, goofy, and immature, new believers of the first-century church…former pagans living in the Las Vegas of the ancient world, Corinth…near the seat of philosophical wisdom, Greece…yet say what you must about them, Paul begins this passage by letting them know that he is proud of them for pressing on in the faith…First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verse 2…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:2

Now I (Paul) praise you Corinthians believers because you remember me in everything and you hold firmly to the traditions…just as I delivered them to you.

 

Paul begins with a compliment before he begins to teach.  In this passage, Paul is addressing the issue of women praying and prophesying during a church service without a covering on their heads.  His first lesson in the passage is that there is ALWAYS a structure of authority.

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:3 

But I want you believers in Corinth to know that Christ is the head of every man…and the man is the head of a woman…and God the Father is the head of Christ.

 

Even the Lord is subject to the authority of God the Father.  

 

Because God operates with a system of authority, there is always ONE person that is responsible for the conduct of others.  It was that way in angelic history; Satan was the head of the angelic race.  It was that way in human history; Adam was the federal head of the human race and he was the head of his wife, Isha (Eve).  It was that way in the Jewish race; Abraham is the father of the Jewish race.  In a family, parents are the heads of children.  In a nation, the government is at the head of citizens.  The Lord is the head of individuals (whether they acknowledge it or not).  

 

When we have a head, what we do reflects on the head.  For example, what a child does reflects on the parents.  The idea Paul is introducing to support his argument is the idea that the physical head reflects on our metaphorical head.  He is introducing the idea of honor.

 

Now Paul turns to the subject of the passage…the worship practices of the Corinthian Church, especially women.

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:4 

Every man who has something on his (physical) head while praying or prophesying disgraces his (metaphorical) head.

 

The Bible must be interpreted in the time it was written.  For a man to have something on his head while praying and prophesying was shameful.  It was the equivalent of wearing a hoodie, which sometimes makes a kid look like a hoodlum, thus shaming his parents.  The practice of wearing a toga on the head in first-century Corinth was a pagan practice, and Paul points out that it is not a Christian practice.  It disgraces the head…Christ.

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:5 

But every woman who has her (physical) head uncovered while praying or prophesying disgraces her (metaphorical) head, for she is one and the same as the woman whose head is shaved.

 

In the time the Bile was written, it was considered a disgrace for women to be in public without a head covering.  If a woman was an adulteress, she was often publicly disgraced by having her head shaved to communicate her error to the community.  A woman’s uncovered head had sexual connotations as well…she was considered available or loose…thus it was a disgrace to a woman’s metaphorical head to have an uncovered head.

 

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.

 

A covered head for a woman indicated that she is chaste, modest, respectful, and pure, honoring the men in her life.  Women were not to be objects of sexual thought during worship.  A head covering discouraged such thoughts.  This verse is one of the two commands in the passage…women must cover their heads in church, even when the church service is held in her own home.

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:7 

For a man ought not (ouk…not no way…not no how) to have his head covered (when praying), since he is the image and glory of God…but the woman (ought to have her head covered because she) is the glory of man.

 

A man is a reflection of his God…a woman is a reflection of her 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 woman was created for the man’s sake.

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:10 

Therefore, the woman ought to have authority on her (physical) head, because of the angels (who witness the activity of humans).

 

A woman who covered her head indicated that she was in control of her life…she was not loose…she was honorable.  She is eliminating the chance that she will be looked at as an object of sexual desire during a worship service.  She is being modest, as all women ought to be. 

 

When we return from our five-minute break, we’ll take your offering, and then we’ll hear the rest of the story.

 

FIVE MINUTE BREAK

NOBODY

Casting Crowns

 

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

In God’s Eyes, Women are Not Inferior to Men

 

In His time on earth, the Lord talked about money and possessions quite a bit.  He ate good food, He drank expensive wine, and He wore beautiful clothes.  He was criticized for it by the Pharisees, a group of “pretend ascetics” who preached self-denial but when no one was looking were quite self-indulgent.  They were inspired by the enemy of God who has convinced them and us believers in Christ to be misers with our possessions. 

 

As you think about giving, don’t be misers…be generous…and watch God give it all back to you, only in abundance.  Your cup will run over!  Let’s welcome up Deacon Denny Goodall with today’s offering message.

 

THE OFFERING

Deacon Denny Goodall

 

OFFERING VERSE

 

ROMANS 12:4 

For just as we have many members in one body and all the members do not have the same function (the same office)...

 

OFFERING VERSE

 

ROMANS 12:5 

...so we believers in Christ, who are many, are one body in union with Christ...and individually we are members one of another.

 

OFFERING VERSE

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:10 

Now I (Paul) exhort you fellow believers in Christ, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree…and that there be no rivalries among you…instead that you be made complete…in the same mind and in the same purpose.

 

OFFERING SONG

THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU

Don Moen

TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON

In God’s Eyes, Women are Not Inferior to Men

 

In God’s plan, each of us is expected to conduct ourselves in honorable ways.  We are to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which we have been called.  Yet in Satan’s world, when the suggestion of roles surfaces, there is always controversy.  In God’s plan, men are presidents, and women are vice-presidents.  That DOES NOT connote inferiority…it connotes position.  First Corinthians, Chapter 11, Verses 11 to 16…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 11:11 

However, in union with the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.

 

The people that drive me a little bit crazy in this life are the ones who don’t understand when it is time to be dependent, when it is time to be independent, and when it is time to be interdependent.  Overdevelopment in any of these areas is to be avoided.

 

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 

Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a dishonor to him…

 

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 another practice.

 

In other words, be honorable!  Behave in such a way that you bring honor to the head.  When someone has authority over you, are you inferior, or are they your guide and protector?  What is your attitude toward authority?  When we are sub-ordinate…we are under someone but we are not inferior to them.  So why do we always choose to feel inferior?

 

Satan encourages us to feel that way.  Paul’s instruction to women should not be taken as a lack of instruction to men.  It should be seen as instruction about what works in life.  Whenever there are rules, people want to break them.  So it was with the Corinthians believers.  Being in first place does not indicate superiority…it indicates roles.  Do your job!  Don’t seek to do the job of another.  God always provides authority to set us straight.  Let’s listen to him.  Let’s do what is honorable.  Let’s do what brings credit to the head.

 

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, the one outlined in Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31…

 

ACTS 16:31 

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

We want you to know that God wants you!

 

There is one inescapable truth that is at the very root of Christianity.  Jesus Christ.  He is the truth.  Jesus Christ is God…and there is only ONE WAY to get to heaven…by placing your faith in Him and in what He has done at the Cross on your behalf.  The bad news is that you were born a sinner.  The good news is that Jesus Christ paid a price with His blood so that you can be a one of His saints…so you can be saved.  This is your chance to have a personal relationship with the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

 

How often do you think about eternal things?  

 

It’s easy for human beings to be concerned only with the here and now…a concern with the things that busy us in our time on earth…a concern with the things that are temporary.  Yet we know that nobody gets out of this life alive, so there are questions about what people call “the afterlife” … the things that happen when we die…the things eternal.

 

How often do you think about eternal things?  

 

The bible tells us that God's enemy, Satan, is the one who deceives us into being short-sighted. Satan wants to keep our focus on temporary things so we don't prepare ourselves for eternal things.  First Peter, Chapter 5, Verse 8 warns us to…

 

FIRST PETER 5:8

Be of sober spirit…be on the alert. The adversary…the devil (Satan) … prowls around like a roaring lion…seeking someone to devour.

 

Satan busies us with things that distract us from eternal matters.  He diverts our attention to meaningless things.  For example, the Bible tells us how easy it is to be deceived by material wealth, a problem that pervaded the church at Laodicea.  Revelation, Chapter 3, Verses 15 to 18…

 

REVELATION 3:15

“I (the Lord Jesus Christ) know your deeds…that you (like the water in your homes) are neither cold nor hot…I (the Lord Jesus Christ) wish that you were cold or hot.”

REVELATION 3:16 

“So, because you are lukewarm (like the water in your homes) … and neither hot nor cold…I will vomit you out of My mouth.”

 

The Lord is not fond of indecisiveness.  He doesn’t want us to be oblivious.

 

REVELATION 3:17 

“Because you Laodicean believers say, ‘I am rich…and have become (materially) wealthy…I have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are (spiritually) wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked…”

 

REVELATION 3:18 

“…I (the Lord Jesus Christ) advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become (spiritually) rich…and white garments so that you may clothe yourself (unlike the black wool that gave you material wealth)… so that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed…and I advise you to buy from Me eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see.”

 

Material wealth often blinds us to our spiritual poverty.  We think only about now and not about eternity.  What is it that the Lord wants us to see?  Matthew, Chapter 6, Verse 24…

 

MATTHEW 6:24

“No one can serve two masters…for either he will hate the one master and he will love the other master…or he will be devoted to one master and he will despise the other master. You cannot serve God and wealth.”

 

The Lord wants us to see the two ways to get to heaven.  The first way to get to heaven is to be perfect like God is perfect, because God demands perfection from us.  Material wealth can’t buy perfection, nor does it buy a relationship with God.  Are you perfect enough to get into heaven?  

 

Once we sin, we are no longer perfect according to James, Chapter 2, Verse 10…

 

JAMES 2:10

For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point (when he breaks one law) … he has become guilty of breaking the whole law.

 

Once you realize you’re not perfect enough to get into heaven, the only other way to get to heaven is by means of God’s grace, which is free of charge.  In John, Chapter 14, Verse 6, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself said… 

 

JOHN 14:6

…to the doubting apostle, Thomas, “I am the way (to salvation), and I am the truth (through the Word of God…the gospel message), and I am the resurrection life (eternal life)…and no one comes to God the Father (in heaven) but through believing in Me.”

 

Once you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, God makes you perfect.  At the moment of your salvation, the Lord imputes His absolute righteousness…His perfection…to you.  Accepting the Lord Jesus Christ’s grace gift of eternal life saves you.  As a result of the Lord’s work at the Cross…the work that paid for the sins of all mankind, including yours…sin was eliminated as a barrier between you and God.  Second Corinthians, Chapter 5, Verse 21 says…

 

SECOND CORINTHIANS 5:21

God the Father made Jesus Christ who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in union with Him.

 

So, if you are imperfect, and you are if you don’t have a relationship with Christ, you can be made perfect by God by asking God the Father to credit your account with real wealth… spiritual wealth…His own righteousness… His own perfection...your admission ticket to heaven.  Having God’s righteousness makes you spiritually wealthy.  God will honor your request when you ask for His righteousness, and you will be saved.  Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31…

 

ACTS 16:31 

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”

 

John, Chapter 3, Verse 36 warns…

 

JOHN 3:36

“He who believes in the Son has the resurrection 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.”

 

John, Chapter 3, Verse 17…

 

JOHN 3:17

For God the Father did not send God the Son into the world to judge the world…but God the Father sent God the Son into the world that the world might be saved through Him.

 

Who is this God who saves you?  The apostle Paul describes the Lord Jesus Christ…in First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verses 3 and 4… 

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:3

For I (Paul) delivered to you as of first importance the gospel message I also received … that it was Jesus Christ who died for our sins according to the Scriptures…

 

FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:4 

…and that He was buried…and that He was raised from the dead on the third day…according to the Scriptures…

 

Take the free gift of eternal life right now!  There’s no time to waste!  Just tell God the Father that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is the moment of perfection…that is the moment of eternal life…for you.  NOW is the time to think about eternal things.  God wants you.  Real wealth happens when you decide to have a relationship with Him. 

 

SONG INTRODUCTION

 

Let’s close with music!  June Murphy is a plagiarist!  She has stolen all of her song lyrics from the Bible!  Like this one…James, Chapter 1, Verses 2 to 4…

 

JAMES 1:2

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials…

 

JAMES 1:3 

…knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.

JAMES 1:4 

And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

 

Here’s one of June’s thefts…COUNT IT ALL JOY!

 

CLOSING SONG

COUNT IT ALL JOY

June Murphy

 

CLOSING VERSES

 

         A Doxology of Praise to Our God

 

PHILIPPIANS 4:6

Stop worrying about anything…instead, in everything by prayer and petition with an attitude of thanksgiving…let your requests be made known to God the Father. 

 

PHILIPPIANS 4:7 

And the peace of God the Father, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds (flooding your souls with peace)…you who are in union with Christ Jesus.

 

JUDE 1:24

Now to Jesus Christ…the One who is able to keep you from stumbling…and the One who is able to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy…

 

JUDE 1:25 

…to the only God…our Savior…through our union with Jesus Christ our Lord…be glory…majesty…dominion…and authority…before all time…and now…and forever. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLOSING PRAYER

Let us pray...

 

Thanks for coming!

Thanks for watching!

Thanks for listening!

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