Turn in God's word to 1 Corinthians chapter 11, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, and I'll take time to read this chapter. 1 Corinthians chapter 11, the word of God says, be ye followers of me, even as I am also of Christ. Now I praise you brethren, that ye 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, dishonorth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered, dishonorth her head, for that is even all one, as if she were shaven. And 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, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not made 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 commonly for woman 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 covering But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. Amen. We know the Lord will add his blessing to the reading of his word. Let us unite together in prayer, with still our hearts at the throne of grace, and we'll commit away to God just now. Our Heavenly Father and Eternal God, we pray now as we come to thy word we thank before the reading of it and now Lord as we come to the meditation upon it we pray Lord that will bless us that will give help and that will even instruct us even from thy word we pray you God that will build us up in our most holy faith and help us Lord even to stand fast in the things of God bless us undertake for us in Jesus name Amen. Now hopefully you have the notes before you if you want, as I said, to follow them on whether you print them out or use them on your tablet or phone or you read them after then that'll help you as we follow along. We come to number two in our study of biblical head covering and we're going to look at the main first point tonight of the five but as we consider the biblical teaching of head covering and the scriptural practice or application of it in public worship, we learn from 1 Corinthians chapter 11 that women are to have an extra covering on their heads, whereas men are not to have an extra covering on their heads. If head covering is the natural hair, then every man must be bold when they come to worship God in public services. We looked at that last week, verse 4. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. The original reading of these words in the Greek language read as this, every man praying or prophesying, having anything on his head, put to shame his head. Those are the literal translations. Furthermore, In verse 2, while the word ordinances is also translated as traditions, meaning teaching handed down, we must view the context of how the word is used to find out is this man's teaching based on his own teaching or teaching come from the Lord. And as you look at the context that will make it clear. For instance, times this word ordinances or traditions teaching handed down is used in reference to man's teaching that is handed down, that which is based on his own religious legalistic teaching as found in Galatians chapter 1 verse 14 where Paul refers to his unsaved days when he as a religious Jew said he was exceeding zealous of the traditions of my father. And what that meant was the traditions, the legalistic views of the Pharisees, the different laws that they added on, systems of works and all those things. So Paul was zealous that people would know the way of his religion. He was zealous that people would live like a Jew. So that's one way to look at that word. But as we come to 1 Corinthians chapter 11, I believe this word ordinances or traditions meaning handed down is teaching that is handed down from the Lord himself and he's given it to be handed down to the next generation and the next generation. And so this is teaching handed down, it's the same in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 15, 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 6 and also here in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. The teaching, the instruction is given by the Lord himself and once he gives it then that is what is to be passed down not passing man's tradition but passing what the Lord has given and I believe that's what you have here in 1 Corinthians chapter 11 The teaching for Christ's church on head covering is a word from the Lord. It comes by inspiration of God. And that makes all the difference. For it means this ordinance is not new, it's not man's tradition. Rather, it's teaching given by the Lord's authority. And it should then be honored and practiced that women wear an extra, a literal, a material covering on their heads. where men do not wear that extra covering, that material covering on their heads in public worship services. Regarding head covering, the apostles taught the word of God as they received it from the Lord. That's what Paul's making clear in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. What he's giving them is what he has received of the Lord. And that message that was then handed down through the next generations up until the 20th century when head covering was still upheld. What I want now just briefly and not maybe go through them all but just to give you a brief historical overview from early from church history. I show this not to show that we depend upon what men say or we're doing head covering because what men have done, rather to show that the head covering or the teaching of it was passed down by these men as they believed it to be according to the Word of God, according to church history. we learn from the writings of a man called Tertullian who lived around 200 A.D. that the Corinth church was still practicing head covering even 150 years after Paul wrote his letter. Tertullian said this, so too did the Corinthians themselves understand, that is, understand Paul's teaching. In fact, at this day, the Corinthians so failed their virgins. what the apostles taught their disciples approve. Also a man called Irenaeus and he was the bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul which is today obviously modern day Lyon in France. He was a disciple of Polycarp who was a disciple of the apostle John and so there again you can see how things were transferred down this teaching, handed down one from the other. Well, Irenaeus is one of the earliest church fathers to comment on head covering. And he uses the word phial, that is a material head covering. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 1 he says, a woman ought to have a phial upon her head. because of the angels and so he understood that there was this cloth, this material covering, this extra covering that a woman wore on her head. So there you have two and there's many more we could mention but there you have two men go to the early days and even they recognised that from Corinth or those churches at that time, the women wore a head covering. Then we come down to William Tyndale now, maybe that name maybe a bit more familiar with us. And William Tyndale said, I answer that Paul taught by mouth such things as he wrote in his epistles. And his traditions were that a woman obey her husband have her head covered. Then you think of Martin Luther, John Knox, right through to Charles Spurgeon. All of them believed from 1st Corinthians chapter 11 that women covered their head. They had this extra covering on their head whereas men didn't. We learned last week about that quote from Spurgeon when he said in Metropolitan Tabernacle in his day that the women, the sisters as he referred to them, they covered their head because of the angels and that's one reference that we will look at, God willing, on another occasion. But the question is, we've just looked there, reading some different statements of how head covering was viewed by these men who lived close to the time of the Corinth Church, and that teaching was continually handed down. So the question is this, what has happened from that time? Or let me say, what has happened from the days of Spurgeon to now? Our day, where head covering has now been abandoned it's been challenged, it's rejected by many churches and many believers. Well, there's many things, but two main things I would probably say, such as missionaries coming to Britain from different parts of the world, and of course they teach head covering is only cultural, and so you take it or you leave it. Also, we have seen from these verses this week and last week, that head covering is not cultural, but it is biblical. Also, women's rights and feminist movements which attack the roles of male and female as given by God. The claim is this, that head covering is old-fashioned. It's dictatorship. It's disgrace. It's degrading to the woman. It's controlling the woman. And that's the views that people claim to have when it comes to head covering or reasons why they say it should not be practiced, but that's not what Paul taught, nor is that the teaching the Lord gave to be handed down. However, churches take the times and the agendas in which they live and use these things to please people, remove the teaching on head covering, pass it off as something cultural to get people into public worship services. You will see, and you will know this to be true, that churches which are filled or appear to have big gatherings are mostly churches that do not hold to head covering. And I think that's a fair point and you will see that yourself as you no doubt see pictures of churches and things like that. In fact, you will often see in those churches men with their heads covered. And I'm both referring to churches that preach the gospel and churches that don't preach the gospel. Many respond and say that churches who uphold the Lord's teaching on head covering are legalistic. And those are the comments that one woman put to me on one occasion. Many have taken the view that if head covering is going to be an issue, an offence, something that makes a lady feel uncomfortable, or the reason why a couple or a woman won't attend the services, then why do it? If it's going to keep women or a woman away, then just do away with it. That's the claim. A bit better just to remove the issue and let women come freely. And my answer to that is this. Instead of removing, Rather there just needs to be the teaching of it. They need to be taught why and how head covering teaches the gospel and glorifies God. And so head covering as taught from 1 Corinthians chapter 11 is biblical and it's still upheld today. There are five principles as we named last week that Paul gives, he lays out in this chapter for biblical head covering. And we'll go through those but tonight I just want to give the first principle. And the first principle is this. Paul's teaching on head covering is based on the principle of submission. the principle of submission. We read in verse 3, Paul starts by speaking of the different roles or functions that men and women have in the church. But the main lesson is this, submission, that which is in union, Not less important, not inferior, but the distinction is in role. It is to do with submission. Notice this teaching on submission. Notice the submission of men in the church to Christ. The head of every man is Christ. Notice the submission of the woman in the church to man. The head of the woman is man. Notice the submission of Christ to God the Father. The head of Christ is God. Now again, those who will oppose head covering will say it means inferiority, it's degrading, it means women are less. But that's not what Paul is teaching, that's not what the Lord gives, rather the Lord is simply showing that in his church there is this role, this distinction. Paul refers to the order, the head of the body and then all the other parts are in subject submission in union to its direction and government. For example, Paul taught Christ is the head of his church and his people are his body. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 22 and 23. And hath put all things under his feet, and give him to be the head over all things, to the church which is the body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all. So it's clear, the basis of Paul's teaching on head covering, this first point, this opening verse, verse 3 is the principle of submission. Paul is putting Christ in view as the greatest example of submission to the will, the word and worship of God. Therefore, in the practice of men worshipping with their heads uncovered and women worshipping with their heads covered, it means both men and women submit to Christ, who is their sovereign head. the Canaan head of the church. The man submits to Christ as his head and the woman is in submission to the man. And while she does so, she is submitting to Christ that God will receive all glory. Both come together to submit to Christ, to worship God. Therefore Paul brings to the church's attention to look at Jesus Christ as the one who was submissive in his role as the mediator between God and men because that's how you answer this when it comes to head covering. You get to Jesus Christ and his role as the mediator, his role as humbling himself. Paul brings the churches to look at Jesus Christ. Remember Philippians chapter 2 verses 5 through 7. It teaches that Jesus Christ is God, co-equal, co-eternal. The Lord said himself in John chapter 10 verse 30, I and my Father are one. However, in considering redemption, In thinking about the death of the cross, deity cannot die, God cannot suffer, therefore it was necessary that the second person of the Godhead, the eternal Word, the eternal Son of God, submitted himself and took our human nature onto himself without sin, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, in order to pay the debt of sin, to die on the tree and honour God. Though Christ is a true man, he never ceased to be God. He is the God-man, two distinct natures in one person forever. while in his nature or his essence the father and son are equal, yet when it comes to the role, the office or the function between the Father and the Son. Christ is the mediator of his people, the only Redeemer of God's elect. Christ humbled himself. Christ submitted himself to the will of God, to the will of the Father. Therefore, if believers are to have the mind of Christ, then the man will submit to Christ and not cover his head in public worship services and therefore glorify God, but also the women, whether they're married or not, will submit to man or their husband, at the same time submitting to Christ and thereby glorifying God. Christ is the anointed of God. He is the prophet, the priest, and the king of his people. He said in Hebrews chapter 10, verse 7, Then said Ilo, I come in the volume of the book, it is written of me, to do thy will, O God." His delight was to do the will of God. Again, Philippians chapter 2, verse 7 through 8 make it clear that Christ submitted to his Father. in his role as the mediator to save sinners. He made himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. The Lord Jesus prayed in Luke chapter 22, verse 42, nevertheless not my will but thine be done. So it's vital as born again believers we are to always look on to Jesus the author and the finisher of the faith and by looking to Christ Paul when it comes to worship services and how men and women are to to glorify God, he presents the greatest, the ultimate example of submission, of surrender that could ever be given. And that is the Lord Jesus Christ as he submitted to the will of God in becoming man, taking our human nature and fulfilling his office as the mediator, the prophet, priest and king. Just as Christ submitted himself to the Father in order to save men and women from their sins and glorify God, then both male and female should gladly submit to the roles the Lord has appointed them within his church to glorify him. That is, women worship him with heads covered and men worship with not with their heads covered. May I also mention the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity. Remember the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. These are equal in power and glory. They have their distinct roles. We've seen that the Father, he sends the Son. The Son, he comes into this world. He submits, he surrenders, he takes our humanity. But the Holy Spirit is also submissive because in his role as the intercessor and the comforter, he had a distinct role, a distinct ministry. John chapter 16, verse 13 and 14, Howbeit, when he the Spirit of truth is come, he will guide you into all truth. For he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, He shall speak and He will show you things to come. He shall glorify me. And so the Holy Spirit's ministry, His role is to glorify Christ. It is to speak of Christ. It is to apply to sinners the redemption purchased by Christ and guide believers to be conformed to the image of Christ. So having said all that, Paul is dealing with the role of submission. Paul writes, the head of the woman is man. He does not mean the woman is less important or the woman is worthless or the woman is to be put aside, treated wrongly, devalued, disgraced. Not at all. Rather, Galatians teach that both men and women are equal in the eyes of God. God created male and female with different roles that support one another to glorify God. But those different roles do not mean a lower value or defalue. Again, you can read the words of Ephesians chapter 5, verses 22 through 25. 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 saviour of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. Matthew Henry, he said these words that are often quoted at weddings, that the woman was made of a rib, out of the side of Adam, not made of his head to rule over him, or out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be beloved. In fact, God made man and woman equal in value and worth. We read 1 Corinthians 11, verse 11. Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman neither the woman without the man in the Lord she is not less than the man again there's more examples there Romans chapter 13 God has given positions of authority and government to make decisions therefore we submit to their authority, but that does not mean those are in authority, or more worth than us, or better than anyone. It just means they've been given a specific responsibility of office. Again, in Christ's church, he has placed elders, including the minister, for the spiritual oversight of the church. Hebrews 13, verse 17, Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls, that they must give an account. So as you can see, the whole point of these verses is to show the area of submission. That's the key. Because naturally, all we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. Can I say, we are what we are by natural creation. Male and female. Because God made us that way. Dear meal, dear man, you're born a meal because God created you that way. You have a specific role on earth given by the Lord, a function in his church given by him. If married, you are the prophet in your home to teach your family the word of God. You are the priest in your family to offer prayer to God for them. You are the king in your home to protect and defend from danger. Dear female, you're born a female because God created you a female. You have a special role on earth given by God. There is no confusion with God. When it comes to the area of submission, it is to honour God. When a woman, a female, wears a head covering, an extra covering on her head, It is an honor that she submits to her authority. She submits to Christ overall to glorify God. These God-given honours are challenged today because people want to swap their identities, swap their roles. It's all against submission to Christ, the headship of Christ. When it comes to man and woman's particular roles, their functions in life and home, dealing with public service, both are to submit to Christ. And that's why head covering was used as that symbol. We've said last week that there are different symbols in the Bible that they mean something. Again, the Lord's table, the bread and the cup symbolizes his body, his blood. The bow in the sky represents a lesson and all these other things. And so here you come to head covering. It represents, it symbolizes the glory of God all glory given to God. It shows that Christ's church submit to him as their head. So that must mean then if a woman refuses to wear head covering in public services then she's showing that she's not surrendered to the Lord. She's saying I will not submit or surrender to my King and my Lord's will. She will not submit to the role that he has given her. Likewise, if a man wears head covering in public worship services, he reveals, he shows he's not surrendered to God. There's no respect for the Lord in the role that he has been given. As the church, then, is saying that she will not submit to the head of the church. In closing, and by way of application, you may or may not know the dress code for the public appearances at royal events. It's very interesting actually to study in itself, though not as maybe a biblical one, but certainly in a sense just to go through the different dress codes for different royal events and also throughout the different times of the day, the morning, the afternoon, the evening, when you're outside, inside, when you're in the presence of the royal or not, all these different things. It's wonderful actually to read it. different dress codes. But during the wedding of Prince William and Princess Catherine of William and Kate as they were known, on the 29th of April 2011, the BBC reported for the dress regarding the morning and the night. The dress code's really throughout the whole day for the wedding and then after the wedding and then at night time and all the rest. In preparation for this, on the 30th of March, 2011, the BBC reported, in the morning, this is the morning time, men were expected, when they go to the dos and the weddings in this year, men were expected to wear a grey or black morning coat with grey trousers and so on. There were other things that they had to wear, so it was very, very precise what they had to wear. But when it came to hats, add to this a grey top hat to be worn outside or carried under the arm when indoors and removed from all official photographs. ladies they were to wear a dress with a jacket, hat and gloves. So that was the dress code to be in the royal presence. Another news article reported, according to the invitation, men are advised to wear uniform, morning coat or lounge suit attire, while female guests should wear a day dress with a hat. I make that point because the monarch had given, here is what to wear when you are invited to this celebration. Here's what to wear in my presence when you come before me. On the day of the wedding, The Daily Mail reported. Remember, the Prime Minister at this time was David Cameron and then his wife, Samantha Cameron. Well, on the day of the wedding, everybody had got all this news and they knew what to wear and all the rest. On the day of the wedding, the Daily Mail reported this slogan. MP's wife is the only fee IP not to wear a hat. for the wedding. Samantha Cameron said, seems who broke from tradition by refusing to wear a headpiece to the royal wedding today. It was noticed by all. Kate, William and Kate's wedding. In fact, all the other royalties, the females, they put the hat on. And also as well, other celebrities, they even put the, they wore the hat as given by the monarch, as given by the directions of royalty. The point I'm making is this, that is just an illustration to show, we come into the presence of a greater monarch, We come in to the Lord's house. We come in to the presence of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the head of the church. We come to worship Him. How do we present ourselves? What attire do we come? Is there that love? Is there that reverence to Him? Is there that surrender? where the lady will come and realise, I'm coming before my Lord, my King, and to show my submission to him, to teach the gospel, that Christ was submissive, and Christ surrendered, and Christ became man. to die for me, to show Christ was submissive, to show the gospel and to show that God will receive all glory, I will wear a head covering as a symbol of that, as a token of that. A sign that will stand out, a sign that will show, a sign that when people come and say, why do you wear a head covering? You can answer, to show my submission to my Lord, my King, my Saviour, One who submitted Himself to me and the likewise men who will not wear a head covering. I said this before, I said last week actually, and we'll cover this in more detail, God willing, next week or the week after, but I said this before that before you come in, even for a testimony, even before you come into the very house of God, before you actually come in to church itself. It would be nice for ladies to have the head covering on. Why? Because people can see that symbol of the gospel. They wonder, what does it mean? What's that all about? Also as well, when men, before they come in, ought to have their hats taken off. It shouldn't be the case where women come into church and they sit inside church and then they begin to get themselves ready and begin to put their head covering on. The same with men walking into church and then beginning to take their head covering off. Those things should all be done well before. Oh, I trust today that our lives will be impacted, that when you look at the first point, why of head covering, Paul dealt with submission and he dealt with those free words to teach. The head of every man is Christ. The head of every woman is man. The head of Christ is God. Christ is God. Jesus is God, co-equal, co-eternal. Yet in his role as the mediator, he submitted himself, giving all glory to God. And that's what head covering is about, to show our submission and glorify God. Next time, God willing, we will look at the principle relating to public worship found in verses 4 and 6 and in the principle of creation in verses 8 and 9. So we'll look at those two points next week and again, answer any more questions in the message and other questions will be answered as well. So thank you for your time.