Amen. We come now to the exposition of God's holy word and congregation. Let me ask you please to take your Bibles out again and turn with me please back to Ephesians chapter five. Ephesians chapter 5, as we come to verse 22, we come to a new section in the book of Ephesians, and it is addressing the family, godly homes, and so we are in a series of messages filling out the biblical worldview related to those things which once were commonly understood but have increasingly been slowly going away with our Christless culture. So looking with me, please, let me read in your hearing Ephesians 5, verses 22 through 24. Paul here addresses the first of several members of the family, and it is the wives he addresses with these straightforward, unambiguous words of instruction. He says in verse 22, Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Let's now join together before the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we bow before you now as we open up your word. And Father, as we come to your word, we acknowledge that it is the truth. that it is infallible and inerrant, that it is authoritative and all-sufficient, that it never goes out of date, that it never is replaced with the notions of men, because it is the very mind of God revealed to us through the Spirit and canonized in the Word of God. Father, we come today that we might place ourselves under that word, that we might seek to be those who, with humility and teachableness, receive the word implanted, able to save our souls. Father, we pray that as we look into your word, we would allow it to correct us and admonish us and encourage us and to confront us with the truth. and that he would find in that work of the Spirit in our lives hearts that are not resistant and confrontational to that truth, but hearts that are pliable, moldable, humble, and ready to embrace the Word of God. Father, we pray that you would draw sinners to yourself, those who do not know Jesus Christ, that you would be pleased in accordance with your sovereign purpose and plan to draw them irresistibly, effectually to Christ our Savior, that they might be added to your church and become part of your people. Father, we praise you for that work of grace. We pray that you, O God, would receive all glory and honor as you add to your church and extend your kingdom, and may you receive all the praise and all the glory. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen. As we continue looking here, we are, of course, considering preliminary teaching in scripture in preparation for the text we find in Ephesians 5. If you just open your Bible in our culture today and read Ephesians 5, verse 22 through 24, well, a lot of people say, well, I don't agree with that. Well, the problem is, is that we have been baked in Christless thinking increasingly in our culture for over a hundred years, so that our assumptions, our presuppositions, our worldview is not biblical. And so when we come to these texts of Scripture, and I'm not saying you, but our world in which we live, then there is this immediate reaction of recoiling to the clear statements of the Word of God, because it doesn't jive with the unbiblical assumptions of our day. And so we have been dealing with this as it relates to the differing natures and roles of men and women. Men and women are not the same. Yes, it is true, and we have said this already several times, men and women are equal in worth and dignity before God. They both are the image bearers of God. If they are converted, then they are joint heirs in the grace of God. But that does not mean that they are the same. It does not mean that there are no differences between men and women. Our culture would seek to try to blur the lines, and we obviously have seen this. The transgender movement, women in sports, all of this is a blurring of the lines of what is a man, what is a woman? so that today you ask that question. I'll never forget, there was a Supreme Court justice asked a question like that, and basically they answered the question with, well, I don't know, I'm not an expert to be able to address what is a man or what is a woman. How did we get here in just a very short time? God has designed by his purpose at the very beginning, at creation, differences between men and women. And he has ordained that they have different purposes, pursuits, and plans for their lives. It isn't that one is inferior and one is superior, but that they simply are different by divine design. Men are designed to be providers and protectors and leaders in society, the church, and the home. Women are designed by God to be helpers to the man, to be child bearers, and to be keepers at home. It isn't that women aren't to work. They are to work. And according to the scriptures, that primary purpose, design, ministry, focus is in the home. They are to be keepers in the home. Now, last time we considered male hierarchy and headship as it relates to the church. This really is on the heels of what we already have talked about, how it is that it is God's will for male hierarchy and headship in society in general. Not very popular today, and yet that is what the scriptures reveal. We said last time that this idea of male headship and hierarchy rule and authority is found not only in society at large, but it is to be found in the church as well. And specifically last time, we talked about this is seen clearly in that the office of elder or pastor is for men only. Now the office of pastor or elder is the ruling and the leading office of the church. Amen? It is the place of authority and leadership and rule. And the scriptures are very clear that men only are to serve in that capacity. In fact, if you will, just by way of quick review, turn with me in your Bibles back to 1 Corinthians 14. I just want to read a couple of passages and then we'll consider, because today what we're doing is really just a continuation of last week's sermon, the issue of male headship and hierarchy in the church. And then we'll get to the home in our next expositions. But in 1 Corinthians 14, we have this statement. that is very straightforward and explicit concerning the will of God. 1 Corinthians 14, verses 33 through 35, and we read this last week, so this is review. The scripture says, for God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. Let your women keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but are to be submissive, as the law always says. And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home, for it is shameful for women to speak in church. So this tells us two things about the will of God related to the church. First of all, we said last time that the New Testament explicitly declares that women must be silent in the church. That's a straightforward statement here, and it's found other places. Women are to remain silent in the church. Secondly, it says, not only are they to remain silent in the church, but they are to be in submission in the church. So obviously this affirms male headship and male hierarchy because women are to be silent and they are to be in submission in the church. Another passage that we turned to last time and we want to look at again, turn with me please over in 1st Timothy chapter 2. 1st Timothy chapter 2 verses 11 through 14. Now, of course, Timothy is in Ephesus, so it's not the same church. It's not in Corinth. It's an entirely different place. And we see here that Paul gives to Timothy these words, 1 Timothy 2 and verse 11. He says, let a woman learn in silence with all submission. So there's that same two things that are repeated here in an entirely different context, showing that this is universal to all the churches. Women are to learn in silence with all submission, verse 12. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence." There's that idea of silence again. And then notice, if you will, verses 13 and 14. What are the reasons for this instruction? It is nothing cultural. It has nothing to do with the first century. It all goes back to the original creation. Verse 13, for Adam was formed first, then Eve, that speaks of male hierarchy and headship. And, verse 14, Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. And so you see, Both of the reasons that Paul had, they were nothing to do with what the first century world was like or what the culture was in Paul's day. It all went back to the Bible and specifically the book of Genesis, that this all goes back to creation. So there's nothing cultural about these things. What Paul says here is true in 2025. just as it was true in the first century, and it will be true until the consummation. So this is what we noted last week. The office of elder is for men only. Women are to remain silent and be in submission, and they are not to have authority over men. And so obviously that's male hierarchy and headship, authority and rule in the church. And of course there are many other things we said last week. You can go back and review the message if you didn't hear it. Today what I want to do is I want to really just finish that sermon that I started last week. And it has to do with what our present situation is today. And it is what I am calling the feminizing of the church. The church has increasingly, in recent decades, become very feminized, feminine in nature, which is not the will of God. This is seen both obviously and overtly, where you have denominations just flat out embracing feminism full bore, but it is also seen more subtly and less overtly. where there is this gradual feminizing of churches. So first of all, when we talk about the obvious overt feminizing of churches, the first thing I'd like to say here is that this is found in many of your so-called mainline Protestant denominations. You see this very, very often. Whether it's the Episcopal Church, or whether it's the Methodists, or whether it's the liberal Presbyterians, this is very, very common. They just embraced feminism full bore. In these mainline Protestant churches, they have become essentially a reflection of liberal culture. Rather than speaking the truth of God to the culture, they find their messaging from the culture. so that their sermons are about promoting cultural Marxism and feminism and liberation ideology. They preach about the values of BLM and CRT and DEI programs. That is their theology. And they're just waiting for the Christless, satanically controlled culture to tell us what the next thing is, and that that will become their sermons, whatever that next thing is. This is the mainline denomination, sadly. In terms of feminism, we see this acceptance, obviously, of female ordination. And this goes all the way back until the 1950s. This trend has continued. For example, in 1956, the United Methodist Church started ordaining women, and the Presbyterian Church USA started ordaining women. Now, the Presbyterian USA is the liberal denomination. Not all Presbyterians hold to that, obviously. In the 1970s, the Evangelical Lutheran Church started ordaining women. Also during the 70s, the Episcopal Church, or the Anglican Church, it's called the Episcopal Church in America, the Anglican Church in England, they also started ordaining women to the ministry. And what began in the 1950s and 70s, has, over the decades, led to the point where, in many of these denominations, most of their, quote, pastors are females. Most of their priests are females. I mean, they are marked by what someone called purple-haired lesbitarians. And they are basically, you know, lesbian in outlook. And that's become their clergy in this mainline denominationalism. You may remember in 2016, Hillary Clinton declared the future is female. How many of you remember that? Well, of course, it's a very feminist statement. Well, in these mainline denominations, it's not just the future that's female. For them, actually, for decades, it's already become female. And they're just continuing in that thread. Southern Baptist Convention has struggled with this issue. Now, the Southern Baptist Convention is a conservative denomination, relatively speaking. They're not in the same category of those other denominations. In fact, in the Baptist Faith and Message, they have a statement which explicitly says that only men can serve as pastors. And yet, as they meet again, and they're going to be meeting, they meet every summer for their annual meeting, and they'll be meeting in Dallas June the 10th and 11th, the issue of women pastors is very likely to come up again. Both in 2023 and 2024, there was an amendment that was brought to the floor which would have required local churches to employ men in the role of pastor or elder. And both in 2023 and 2024, that requirement of men as pastor or elder failed. in their annual meetings, and it's likely going to come up again. Currently, it is estimated in the Southern Baptist Convention that there is around 1,800 to 2,000 women pastors serving in churches. So, I mean, the Southern Baptist Convention is a huge denomination. But it is amazing that their very Baptist faith and message excludes that practice, and yet you have thousands of churches that have women pastors serving. So those are some of the more obvious and overt forms of what I'm calling the feminizing of the church, clearly just rejecting the Bible. We know better than the scriptures. We're wiser than the Holy Spirit. We are better than God at coming up with what his will for his church is. That's essentially the posture of these denominations, following the Christless culture. But what about a more subtle and less obvious form of feminizing that's come into what I would call evangelical churches? Now, the word evangelical, when I use that word, that can be used in a lot of different ways. Whenever I say an evangelical church, I'm talking about a church that claims to believe in the inerrancy and in the infallibility of the scriptures. An evangelical church is a church that claims that the Bible is their final authority. So those other denominations, certainly that's not what they are, but the evangelical churches are committed to the scriptures. And what we see in many evangelical churches is a slow, subtle, less obvious, but very real feminizing into the churches. Mary Cassian wrote a book entitled The Feminist Mistake. The Radical Impact of Feminism on Church and Culture, and this was published by Crossway in 2005. And she said this about the feminist movement. She said, quote, feminism is the watershed issue. It is to the evangelical church of the new millennium what liberalism was to the church in decades past. You say, Pastor, why are you making such a big deal about feminism? Because whether you know it or not, this is the issue confronting Bible-believing churches. This is not some side issue. This is not some minor thing. This is the main issue in many churches today. This could have been predicted. In fact, Robert L. Dabney predicted the reality of this destructive force of feminism all the way back in 1871. He said that feminism, quote, will destroy Christianity and civilization in America. And we have seen it basically come to that point where we now, we have, we don't know what bathroom to use and whether it's a boy or a girl. All of this that's going on, well the seedbed of this is the movement known as feminism. So, what are some examples of the feminizing of evangelical churches? Not those liberal mainline denominations, but evangelical churches. Well, I have a list of three or four things that I'd like to share. First of all, you see feminizing in these churches by their feminine music in their worship. Their worship music is very feminine, effeminate in its orientation. Once all reformed churches were committed to exclusive somnity. And then gradually over the years, we became disenchanted with the words of God as singing truth to God. And so as we have seen increasingly in our age, these deviations from even traditional hymns into all of these praise choruses that are often very feminine in their outlook. They are, to give the description of one writer, these praise songs are very emotionally driven. People get together and they want to sway and they want to have the emotions flowing. That's what goes on in these kinds of churches. They often refer to Jesus as the Christian's lover or the Christian's boyfriend. They don't use that terminology, but that's the kind of language being communicated. Jesus is my boyfriend kind of music. It's very sentimental. It's very sensual. It's very romantic. in the words that are sung in these churches. Let me give you just a couple of examples, and I don't want to give you too many because it's not edifying. But there is one writer of these praise songs called Phil Wickham. Evidently, this is someone that's well-known. I've never heard of him before. But this man named Phil Wickham, he wrote a song called, You're Beautiful, sung to God. And this is supposedly singing to God these words, I see your face, you're beautiful, you're beautiful, you're beautiful. I see your face in every sunrise. The colors of the morning are inside your eyes. We will enter into the wedding bells. You're beautiful, you're beautiful. Congregation, if that's not effeminate, I don't know what is. It is this emotional, sensual, God is my boyfriend, oh, you just make me feel, oh, so warm and fuzzy. That's effeminate music. Or there's another writer of songs called Hillsong or Hillsongs. This is evidently a popular thing. I've never heard of any of their music, but I've read some of the lyrics of some of their songs. And one of their songs is entitled Young and Free. Again, I've never heard this performed, but listen to the words of this song. It's supposedly sung in worship. Come close, come close. Come close, let me feel your breath come close. Well, that is very feminine music. That is effeminate singing. This is romantic music, not reverent music. There is no, thus saith the Lord. There is no fear of God. There is no God is our judge. You find that in the hymns that God composed for his church. Instead, what you find is this, ooh, come close and breathe on me. Oh, you're my boyfriend, God. It's not only bad music, it's blasphemous music. congregation it is sad that these things go on and quite frankly where these kind of songs are sung the building is filled with thousands of people because people want to come to a place where they can emote and they can feel good about Jesus as their boyfriend that's very effeminate in its worship orientation. Another way in which you see this subtle feminizing of evangelical churches is with what I would call effeminate pastors, effeminate pastors. Turn with me in your Bibles over back, we were in 1 Corinthians. Turn again to 1 Corinthians chapter six, 1 Corinthians chapter six. In 1 Corinthians chapter six and verse nine, Here the apostle Paul speaks about those believers in Corinth and how they, what they once were, and then they've been delivered from all of these sins by the grace of almighty God and brought into the kingdom of God. And there's this list of these various traits, which was the mark of their unredeemed humanity. Notice in verse nine, he says, do you not know? that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived." And then he gives this long list that runs through these verses of these various things. Do not be deceived. And then he makes the list. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves. And he goes through this list of these things that will not inherit the kingdom of God. But for our purposes, I want you to look, now if you have a New King James translation, they translate that word, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites. And this is one of those places where I believe the King James gets it right. Because the word there is translated in the King James and in some other translations with the word effeminate, because that's the meaning of the word. The word is the word malakos, and it has to do specifically with soft, effeminate men. Now, a lot of your translators will look at that word and they will say, well, this is referring to the passive partner of a homosexual relationship. But that understanding is a bit redundant in the text because the next word is the word sodomites, which obviously includes both the active and the passive partners in homosexual relationships. The word there, malakos, it is soft effeminate men. Now, obviously, the most extreme or ultimate expression of effeminate men would be a passive partner in a homosexual relationship. But this word here is not exclusively referring to a passive partner in a homosexual relationship. There are degrees of feminine or effeminacy among men. We all know very well, we've all seen this, men that, you know, the way they talk and their mannerisms, they may not claim to be a homosexual, but you would never know it by listening to them talk and the way they act and their mannerisms, and their degrees of this softness and effeminate way. And this is what Paul is dealing with here, effeminates. It is not a work of grace. It is contrary to the masculinity that God has created in men. So when we think about this, what are the characteristics of effeminate pastors. Because in many so-called conservative congregations, they would never, ever, ever hire a woman to be their pastor. But many of them would be perfectly fine and even eager to have a soft, effeminate man as their minister. And yet, this is against the will of God. The characteristics of effeminate men is that, number one, they are very soft-spoken, very soft-spoken. They are very apologetic in their teaching. They are never confrontational in what they say. They never address controversial subjects because they don't want anyone to get unhappy or mad at them. They are often silly and cutesy. They desire to be winsome and nice as their top priority. Someone said this, I think it's kind of humorous. Some of them have this constant smile on their face. Think Joel Olsteen. Have you ever seen him not smiling? It's like he's, it's almost like he has, it's like the Joker. It's a permanent smile on his face. Well, that's the way these effeminate ministers are. They're soft. They don't want to run anybody the wrong way. They want to be popular all the time. They don't want to say anything that might offend. And that's not the mark of the ministry. That disqualifies a man for the ministry. In fact, Pastor Garris in his book, Masculine Christianity, and that title should give you something of a hint there, he talks about this and he compares effeminate or winsome pastors with what he calls warrior pastors. And the imagery of the New Testament is that a pastor is a warrior for the truth of God. Let's look at some verses. Turn with me, please, in your Bibles to 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 18. Again, we see over and over again the language of a pastor. Now, pastors are to be caring and they are to be loving. That is without a doubt. But that does not mean that they are to be soft or effeminate. Pastors are called to be bold, they are called to be courageous, they are called to be authoritative, and they are called to be direct. That's the mark of a faithful minister. And listen to the language of being a warrior in the New Testament pastoral epistles. 1 Timothy chapter 1, look at verse 18. He says to Timothy, he says, this charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare. The minister is called not to run a popularity contest where he's running around kissing babies and visiting at homes trying to make everybody like him, No, the minister is called to be waging a good warfare. It's the language of a warrior. He's in a war, and he is ministering the truth in the midst of warfare. That's the biblical imagery. Notice, if you will, 1 Timothy, turn over to chapter 6. 1 Timothy chapter 6, verses 11 and 12. Again, it's the same kind of idea. Paul writes and he says, 1 Timothy 6 verse 11, but you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. So we see there in verse 12, the very first line, again, this idea of the pastor warrior imagery. What is the pastor to do? He is to fight the good fight of the faith. This is not a minister going around trying to be winsome and nice and not offend anybody and never be controversial or confrontational or bold or authoritative. This is a minister who's in a warfare, and he's fighting a fight, and he's declaring the truth in the midst of error and falsehood. Look with me, please, over in 2 Timothy 2. 2 Timothy 2. We see here again this picture of the pastor as a warrior. 2 Timothy 2, verses 1 through 4, Again, to Timothy, Paul writes, you therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus and the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses. Commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as, what? A good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one, verse four, engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. So here again, you have repeatedly this imagery. The minister is a warrior. He is a soldier. He is fighting in a war. He is fighting this good fight. He is called here to be faithful and, verse 3, to endure hardship as a good soldier. Because ministers who are engaged in this warfare, ministers who are preaching the truth, not everybody's going to like them. In fact, a lot of people in our feminized culture are going to hate them. They don't want to hear anything authoritative. They wanna show up and have kind of a psychologized sermon of self-help preached to them. And ministers who are dealing with error and preaching the truth with courage and boldness and authority, that puts people off in our feminized culture. And so he tells Timothy, you're gonna need to endure hardship because you're gonna be rubbing people wrong. People are not going to like it But be faithful. Don't step back one millimeter. Be faithful and courageous and bold and authoritative and preach the truth because you're in a warfare. This is the warrior pastor imagery. Notice in 2 Timothy chapter 4, verses 1 through 5, again, the language, the tone, the tenor of the minister's preaching. Does Paul describe here a minister never addressing controversial issues, always being soft? Does he address the minister and say, you never need to be confrontational or controversial. You need to apologize if anything ever comes across your lips that might rub someone maybe slightly wrong. Is that how he talks? Verse 1 of chapter 4 of 2 Timothy, I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ who will judge the living and the dead and at his appearing and his kingdom. Verse 1, he basically says you need to remember who you're ministering for. You're not ministering for the smiles of the people. You're ministering for almighty God. And it is his smile and his alone that actually matters for your ministry. In what does he say, verse two, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Basically, that means all the time. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires. Because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. He says, remember who you're serving, you're serving God. And you're accountable to God, verse one, and you will answer before him, verse two, preach the word. And notice the imperatives that are given. There are three commands, convince, rebuke, and exhort. The first word is the word convince. It means to reprove. It's the idea of exposing and correcting things. The second word is the word rebuke. It means to confront and call people to renounce their errors. And the third word is exhort, which means to call people to obedience. Preaching is not simply listen to what I'm saying and then sit back and think about it. Preaching is, do this, obey, believe. It is imperative in its orientation. And it is reproving, rebuking, and calling people to obedience. That's what preaching looks like. Notice, if you will, over in Titus chapter 1. Again, this language of, are you going to have a winsome pastor or a warrior pastor? And what is the tone and tenor of the ministry? In Titus chapter 1, verses 5 through 9, you have here the qualities, the qualifications of the ministry. And notice in verse 9, it come to the end of the list. And he says, the minister is to be holding fast the fateful word. That is, he's not compromising. He's not backing up one iota. He's holding fast the fateful word that he has been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convict those who contradict. Here we see him preaching is to be that activity of exhorting and convicting those who contradict. The word there, convict, is the word rebuke. It's a negative term. People who disagree, people who contradict sound doctrine, you're to be rebuking them, not saying, well, that's OK. Believe whatever you want to. No, you're to be rebuking them. Again, this is not my words. This is what the Bible says. This is what the pastoral epistles say a minister is to be. This is the Word of God. Look with me, please, over in Titus chapter 2 and verse 15. Titus 2 and verse 15. Here we see again this confrontational nature of the ministry. He tells Titus, speak these things, that is things related to the life of grace that God's called us to live and truth. He says, speak these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you. Here he says that we are to be, if we are ministers, exhorting and rebuking. And notice the tone and the tenor of that rebuking. Is it nice and winsome and non-confrontational? It is described by Paul by the Holy Spirit to be done with all authority. That's often the problem we have in our day. We live in a culture that hates authority. We don't want to be under any authority. Don't tell me what to do. I am my own pope, an arbiter of truth, and I'll do whatever I want to do. And we're repelled by ministers who speak with authority, who speak courageously and boldly and authoritatively the words of Almighty God, who reprove and rebuke and convict and exhort. Now, ministers aren't to be bullies. And ministers aren't to be these kind of carnal, macho men that sometimes you think about in our culture. They're not to be mean people. But ministers must be men, amen? Not just in terms of their gender, but in terms of their demeanor. They are to be men. The pastorate is a call to arms. It's not a call to a tea party. It is a call to warfare. It is a call to fight the good fight. And they are to minister with all authority. What is shameful is not that there are all of these effeminate ministers that are floating around. What is truly shameful is that churches desire these effeminate men in their pulpits. That's what is truly shameful. So this is another example of the feminizing of the church. Feminine music. effeminate pastors who are trying to be nice and light rather than speak the truth. Number three, as we make our list of these various things that mark the feminizing of the evangelical church. Number three, female-focused blurring of the lines within church leadership and ministry. There is, in many of these evangelical churches, another trend of feminizing, where their ministries are feminine-focused, and there is this increasingly blurring of the line of who are the leaders in the church. How is this done? Well, it is done by separating the task and the duties of the office of elder with the office itself. It is women taking on the duties of pastors just without the label and the title as pastor. In other words, there are a lot of churches that claim to believe the Bible that have a lot of women in ministry that are essentially de facto pastors. Women teaching men in the Sunday school. You think about folks like Beth Moore. That's how she kind of gradually got her start. Now she's a female preacher. You have women teaching men in Sunday school. You have women reading scripture and praying in public worship. I mean, we just read women who remain silent and be in all submission in the public assembly. You have women participating in the administration of the Lord's Supper. One individual that is notable because of his influence is the name Tim Keller. How many of you are familiar with the name Tim Keller? Many of you are. He is deceased and he no longer lives, but he had a mighty influence in the PCA, that is the Presbyterian Church of America. He is very influential and his influence continues. He was a social justice promoter. That was a big part of his ministry. He was a promoter of cultural Marxism in his teaching. He was a big promoter of the blurring of the lines of leadership in the church, and essentially his posture was, we're going to get women in as many places of leadership in the church as possible, without technically ordaining them to the office of elder. That essentially is what he did. There were deaconesses in his church, women in all kinds of ministries, acting like elders, and yet not elders by title. He said, quote, that women can do anything that a non-ordained man can do. That's a pretty remarkable statement. Women can do anything that a non-ordained man can do. Is that true? Is that true in light of 1 Corinthians chapter 14? Is that true in light of 1 Timothy chapter 2? Can an unordained man teach a Sunday school class to men? What's the answer? Yes, he can. So according to Tim Keller, then that's okay for women too because a woman can do anything an unordained man can do. Many churches have women in positions of leadership and oversight, which is the office of elder without the title of elder. Now, this is not to say that women don't have spiritual gifts. They can't serve in the church. Please, don't mishear me today. I'm not saying that women are of no value in the ministry of the church. They are of profound value in the ministry of the church. Amen? We are very thankful for our women and their ministry in the life of the church. And they have spiritual gifts and graces. And we are enriched greatly by the presence of women and their ministry. But they are not called to serve in the church in the capacities that are analogous to oversight and rule. God doesn't call women to ministry contrary to their nature and their function. It all goes back to the original creation. Yes, they minister. I mean, we have women in our nursery serving. We have women, we think about Sunday school, teaching children. Those are appropriate ways. There's all kinds of ministries that women should be engaged in, and we're thankful for that. Visiting and whatnot. But increasingly in evangelical churches, you see this blurring of the lines. where they may not have the title pastor, but you click on their website, and they've got 38 different ministers, and about 28 of them are women, and they are in places of oversight over large portions of the life of the church. That is a de facto pastor. That is operating with oversight and ruling in that capacity. Again, this is a feminizing of the church. So as we make our list here, and we're getting close to the full list I want to share, we've talked about the subtle feminizing in the evangelical church by feminine music, kind of romantic music that is emoting to our boyfriend Jesus, and effeminate pastors rather than warrior pastors, we have winsome pastors. And then the females in church leadership blurring the lines of oversight and rule. And then finally, in number four, we have what I would call a feminized culture and climate that prevails in many churches. A feminized culture and climate that prevails in many churches. You say, Pastor, what do you mean by that? Well, this is going to take a little bit of explaining. And I would first of all point you to an article that came out in February the 16th of 2023 in First Things Magazine. It is an online publication. You can look it up. You can Google this. It is entitled, What is the Longhouse? And it was written by someone whose internet name is Lopez, but his actual name is Jonathan Kieperman. The author describes the increasing feminizing of our institutions and the norms of women in them by this imagery or illustration of a longhouse. You say, Pastor, what in the world are you talking about? Well, this imagery of a longhouse literally comes from Native American groups. Native American people groups in their past, in their history, would build these long houses. That's why they're called a longhouse. They literally were longhouses or long huts. And you wanted to be inside the longhouse because that meant you were a part of the community. and you could interact and you were a part of what was going on in the community. To be cast out of the Longhouse meant that you no longer had the privileges of that society and community. And it was very matriarchal in terms of the rule that went on in the Longhouse. This imagery has become a way of describing how feminist ideals are enforced and maintained in the corporate world, in government agencies, and yes, in the churches. To remain in the Longhouse, one must submit to the enforced feminist rules of those institutions. Pastor Eric Kahn gave a helpful talk on this, and you can Google that name and find that on YouTube if you care to explore this subject more. But this idea of the longhouse, how does it operate in the corporate world? Well, in the corporate world, it is the HR department and the compliance officers who enforce the feminized norms of the company. so that everyone must operate within those enforced norms, and if it goes outside the bounds of them, they lose their job because they did not conform to the rules of the longhouse. In the church, there is this female functional rule. It is very subtle, but it is very real. It is weak men ruled by, as one writer said, the emotional state of their reviling wives. That's one way to put it. The church is ruled by weak men who are controlled by their reviling wives. So there are these spaces, these churches, where they are dominated by the forms of organization and social control that mirror how women control their social spaces. The church is a longhouse. This imagery is where they are ruled by feminine sensibilities. The church is ruled by feminine coding in how they operate. They are the longhouse by their feminine behavior norms that are upheld. You operate outside those feminine behavior norms, well, you're kicked out of the longhouse. The church is a longhouse is this idea of direct feminine rule, and their norms for operating become the prevailing culture of a church. Weak men must run everything by their wives for their approval and their acceptance. You even see this in many so-called churches where you'll have a pastor and then you'll have a group of deacons. And often the deacons are kind of like the quasi-unofficial elder board, although they're not actually elders. And the deacons are actually run by their reviling wives. And they show up, and their wives tell their husbands what to say, and their husbands tell the pastor what he is to do. Well, that's female rule in the church. It's subtle. It doesn't quite look like the women running the church, but that's actually what's going on in those situations. Weak men ran by their wives, getting their wills pushed through. I used to be a Southern Baptist pastor, and I'll tell you what, you better not ever cross the WMU director, or you'll be in big trouble quick. You better not cross the chairman of the deacon's wife, or you are setting yourself up for a lot of trouble. Because those women have great power. It's subtle, it's indirect, but it's very present in those feminized churches. Well, what are the rules of the longhouse? This again comes from Pastor Eric Kahn. First of all, and just three things I'll share. First of all, conflict is dealt with indirectly rather than directly. It's not that when women rule there is the absence of conflict, it's just that conflict is dealt with in a different way. So the emphasis in the longhouse as it relates to conflict is that what someone said is what's important because someone may hurt someone's feelings and that's really the issue at hand. The emphasis is on not only what someone said, but it's on responding to offenses by excluding or ostracizing the offender. We sometimes call this cancel culture. There is this emphasis on indirect attacks against the offender. Rather than open debate and direct confrontation, like men are to do, the offender is punished by female-coded tactics, attacking someone's reputation, putting questions on their motives or their character, gossiping and backbiting so as to bring that person down, ostracizing them within the longhouse, again, cancel culture, It's like some of you remember the junior high mean girls who would be very mean to other girls who didn't conform, ostracizing and shunning them. Creation, do you realize that can happen in churches? It does, a lot more than you may realize. And so there is this issue of conflict when it comes up. Instead of addressing things directly and openly and honestly, There's these little campaigns where there's gossip going on, and there's backbiting, and things are being said, and motives are being impugned, and a person's character is being cut down, and what they say is being framed in a certain way behind their back, and they may not even know this is going on. This happens all the time. That's a feminine approach to conflict. Public discourse, secondly, another thing about the rules of the Longhouse is that public discourse is ordered around not offending someone rather than speaking the truth. That becomes the priority. Well, we can't offend someone. Well, congregation, whenever you're talking about the truth and the Bible and preaching God's word, it will inevitably offend people, amen? Because the truth is offensive to people in error. And yet, in the Longhouse, the rule is, when it comes to public discourse, policing the speech. It has to be policed. There are those code enforcers going around making sure that no one steps out of line with something that is said that may be interpreted as this, that, or the other. And there are people that are like this. You see this. They're constantly cringing. When anything that may be deemed controversial is spoken, they're immediately clutching their pearls. Oh no, did he say that? I can't believe he said that. And this is the kind of thing that's the culture of these churches. They're not committed to speaking the truth unvarnished, faithful, authoritative, and bold. They're concerned with not offending people. They're concerned with not rubbing someone the wrong way. Thirdly, not only is the conflict dealt with by gossip, backbiting, and ostracizing, and public discourse is through the basic priority of not offending, but then number three, the goal of safety is the highest moral good over against boldness, risk, danger, and being courageous. Again, that's the difference between men and women. Men are bold. Men take risks. Men are willing to jump into danger. Women desire and value safetyism. In fact, that's a term that's been used. Safetyism, it replaces boldness and authority. You remember not too long ago, there was these so-called safe spaces in university and campuses. Well, that's basically what you find in many churches. Church has become a safe space. And you can't talk about that because someone might get offended. And you can't say that because that might make someone unhappy. And it's not safe speech. And so what happens in these situations is everyone is forced to cater to the sensibilities to those who may be on the fringe of the church. because the squeaky wheel controls everything. So that rather than speaking the truth is our priority, it's all dumbed down to whoever is the weakest and might be the most offended, well, we can't make them unhappy, so we better not talk about that. This kind of atmosphere, you say, Pastor, this all seems rather odd, but when you think about it, It's not that odd after all, is it? Because it is this kind of atmosphere that is often present in churches, and it may not be immediately seen. But it is unspoken and very real. It is a feminizing of the culture and the climate of the church. Well, obviously, warrior pastors are not going to do well in those kind of situations where the church is basically a safe space for those who may have varying fringe beliefs. So as we think about this issue of hierarchy and headship as it relates to God's creation. We as God's people affirm that the Bible declares male hierarchy, headship, rule, and authority in society, in the church, and in the family, which we'll get to next time. This feminizing of the church, it may be very overt and obvious where they just embrace the feminist movement as their official doctrine. Or the feminizing of the church can be very subtle and less overt. Feminine music, effeminate pastors. female leadership, feminized culture, rather than being committed to the truth, all of these things, you may not believe it, is really a big issue in many evangelical churches today. So what is the answer to all of this feminizing in the church? Number one, it is not a time to remain silent, amen? That's staying in the long house, the safe space of feminism. It is not a time to saying, well, we better not say anything, someone might get offended. No, it is a time where we are bold and courageous and we speak the truth to this increasingly feminized culture that is coming into the church. Remaining silent is how we got where we are in evangelical churches. It is not a time to remain silent. It is a time to go back to the Bible. Amen? All of the Bible, not just certain portions that we agree with. Yes, we reject any kind of a worldly carnal machoism. That's not biblical masculinity. The kind of machoism that is ungodly, that denigrates or disparages women, that is not of the Word of God. That is sinful. We are to love, affirm, and cherish our women, but men are not to become increasingly like women in their outlook. We affirm also, with equal commitment, biblical masculinity. that biblical, courageous, bold men are to be the leaders in the church. They're not to be winsome and nice and unoffensive and soft. They're to be bold and authoritative and courageous. And they're to be in a war. They're to be fighting the good fight. And they're to be reproving and rebuking and exhorting with all authority. Because that's what the Bible says. Biblical masculinity is this call of God for men to provide and protect and preside in leadership. We are to renounce feminism and its influence, which is so pervasive in our culture today. We see it in our homes, we see it in our churches, and we see it in society. We are to follow what God has expressed his will to be on this subject. And in the church, just like in society and in the home, God is called male rule, headship, authority, and hierarchy. This is the will of God. Women are to remain silent, they are to be in all submission, and they are not to have authority over men in the church. This is the revealed will of God in Holy Scripture. My friend, if these things are difficult for you, you perhaps very much need to turn to Christ as your Savior. If the word of God is offensive to you, If the sensibilities of what God has revealed somehow is an affront to you, then it may well be that this is revealing your spiritual condition. And that's what the Word of God does. The Word of God exposes us for what we are. It shows us where we need to be. And where we need to be is a people trusting in Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. My friend, if you have not trusted in Jesus Christ, the call of the gospel is to submit to Him, and then you'll find in Him all the answers for living to the glory of God. Let's bow together in prayer. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we do thank you for your word today as we think about these challenging times in which we minister. And Lord, we recognize that these things are not always easy to talk about because we live in a climate that is so averse to everything about it. And it is so easy for us to just take the easy path and say we're going to play it safe and hold our own and we're not going to deal with these issues. But Lord, you've not called us to do that. You've called us to be bold. You've called us to be courageous. You've called your ministers to be men and to serve the truth and declare it in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation. O Lord, may your will and your word prevail in your church, and may you receive all the honor, glory, and praise. Father, we pray all of this in the precious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and for his sake we pray, amen. Amen. Let's all stand together now as we prepare to be dismissed. Again, with the words of Holy Scripture, the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And all of God's people said, amen, amen.