No Smith in the Land 1-14 1996 Sun PM

1-14 1996 Sun PM

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Turn to 1 Samuel 13. They say it's not the preacher, not the teacher. Well, I may need some prayer after this one tonight, amen. 1 Samuel 13. I'm going to uh try not to get uh too excited tonight because it's one of those messages that you get too excited about, and uh somebody might get hurt, and I don't want anybody to get hurt, that's not the purpose. I'd rather see edification than hurt. 1 Samuel chapter 13. A few months ago, we were having uh staff meetings and devotions. Each staff member was giving a devotion, and there was a uh uh devotion given that brought up a scripture, and I've been thinking about it for a while and pondering it. And uh, the Bible has no copyright, so every message is able to be plagiarized. That doesn't bother me at all. But uh it's it's a little bit different tangent than was brought that day. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 13, and notice, if you would, verse number 16. Verse 16. And Saul and Jonathan, his son, and the people that were present with him abode in Gibeah Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Mikmash. And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company uh turneth into the way that leadeth to Oprah. Yeah. Isn't it amazing the days that we live in? A hundred years ago nobody would have laughed. And under the land of Shul. And another company turned the way to Bethoram, and another company turned to the way of the board that looked toward the valley of Zebam, toward the wilderness. Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel. For the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears. But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen every man his share, his coulters, axes, matok. Yet uh they had a file for the matoks and matdochs, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes to sharpen the goads. So it came to pass in the day of battle that there was neither what? Sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan. Now the reason there was no sword or spear, brethren, was verse 19, there was no smith throughout all the land. And the smith there is, if you would, uh a man that we would refer to as a blacksmith, someone that would, uh, if you would, uh, shape those instruments, maybe uh a sickle type of instrument, uh, into a sword. And uh, if you would, because there was no smith found in the land, the people didn't have any weaponry. And the Philistines knew that if there was no blacksmith, that these people could not rise up, if you would, in rebellion, yet the Israelites were limited because they had no weaponry. Would you agree with that? So it came to pass, verse 31, in the day of battle, they didn't have any weapons. No sword, no spear. Boy, what a sad shape to be in if in the day of battle you don't have any weaponry. Why? Because uh you've got is just uh the the mattocks and the coulters and the forks, the axes, the, and the only you can do is sharpen them up, but you you can't turn them into weapons. Why? Because there was no smith found through all the land of Israel. Now, I want to take this off on a tangent, and I want to talk to you a little bit. Turn to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. And stay with me. No smith, no weaponry. No weaponry, not prepared for the day of battle. No weapons, you can't protect ourselves, and we can't go forth to conquer. Ephesians chapter 5. If I were to ask you who should be the smith in our homes, I hope you'd have an answer. Now, ideologically, and I understand, uh, we have uh situations in our church where there are single parents. There is not a uh a male and a female, there may be a single parent. May I say to you this going into this tonight, in our church, we don't look down upon that. If somebody says wants to know what's the official church position on that, we don't look down upon it. In fact, may I say to you, if you're a child of a parent who's living single and raising you, you ought to have even more character. You ought to support that parent, whether it be male or female, even more than someone, if you would, who has a mother and father living at home. Some of the things that happen, and you ought to find out after 12, 15 years of working in the ministry, there are things that go beyond anybody's control that they just have to live with, and they should not come in hanging their heads because they may just be a single parent. Amen. We ought to support them totally. But would you agree with this, those of you who maybe are single parents or are single, there is an idealistical type of uh equation in the Bible presented where there is a husband and a wife and a children, as a, if you would, as a family unit. And in that ideal situation, would you agree that the man should be the Smith? Yes or no? He ought to be the one to make sure that his family has the weaponry it needs to go out and fight the battle. And by the way, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. I'm not necessarily talking about a gun in every home and a knife under your pillow and a knife under your boy's pillow and a, you know, and a needle under your daughter's pillow. I'm not talking about all that stuff, all right? I mean, uh I'm not even getting into that. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. There are weapons that we should have. Uh, would you agree that this Bible is a weapon? It's a sharp and quick and powerful, two-edged what? Sword. And if you would, we ought to be as in my home, I ought to be the smith that's making sure that I'm forming the sword to put into my wife's hand and to put into my children's hand, and we as a family should be able to protect ourselves against spiritual battles. Would you agree with that? As the smith in my home, as the head of my home, that is my responsibility as the man. Now, again, idealistically, I understand not every home has a husband, if you would, a father, and not everybody has that. But in an idealistic situation, men, we have the responsibility of being the heads of our homes. Say amen, whether you believe it or not. Ephesians chapter 5. Look, if you would, at uh verse number 22. Verse 22. Wives, it says, submit yourself unto your own husbands. Didn't say to submit yourself to anybody else's husband. Amen. Amen. Mark that one down. Amen. Now, if you're working in a ministry where someone else is the leader, then I understand that. But I don't expect any of the wives around here to submit themselves unto me as unto a husband. Amen. Uh, as unto the Lord, verse 23. For the husband is the what? Say it. The head. I didn't write it, I'm just reading it, brethren. The husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church and he is the savior of the body. Now you're going to say, wow, I don't know if I've ever heard the preacher preach much on this. It's not something that I bring up constantly, but it says verse 24. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in what? Everything. The idea here is the husband is to be the head, but the husband has a great responsibility. The father, if you would, has a great responsibility to make sure that as the smith in his land, that he doesn't let the weapons dull. Become ineffective? I've been kind of searching my own heart. If we get too busy. Making sure the weapons are being made and developed and training them how to use them for protection and concrete. Then we're too busy. Every once in a while we gotta pull back and take a look at what's going on in our own home because we're responsible. There's more to uh providing for a home than just bringing home the paycheck. I mean, if I were to ask you tonight, how much time have you spent praying for your family? Last week. We'd probably, some of us hang our heads and say, not much Smith work going on. Like it should be. Because prayer does help, if you would, to take that that word of God, if you would, and and and mold it and shape it like a smith would heat it up and begin to bring that sword into shape in our homes, in our in our daughters, in our sons, in our marriages. Look at Ephesi, uh, I'm sorry, look at uh 1 Timothy chapter 2, and let me show you a couple scriptures. And you say, Well, preacher, I know all this, but you know what? If we're gonna sink our roots downward, we need to talk about the home just a little bit. If we're gonna bear fruit upward because we've we've let our roots grow downward, we have to talk about the family unit, and I'll talk about the church in a minute. And if it's just a general reminder to someone to get them back on course and to help them to reflect again more on that uh responsibility that they have, then it'll be worth it. 1 Timothy chapter 2. We we talk about this quite a bit, but I want you to see it. Look what it says in uh verse number 11. It says, Let the women learn in silence with all subjection, but I suffer not a woman to teach nor to what? Say it. Usurp authority. And you've not heard me teach on this much before in the many years that I've been here. You've usurped authority over the man but uh to be in silence. But Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Now I know we're going to be careful tonight about someone yelling, Amen, too much, because nobody wants to say anything, because, you know, uh in our society in in 1996, we would we wouldn't be real careful because uh women's liberation movement and the the now gang has infiltrated to where saying something like this might offend someone. But you can't take your pen knife and rip it out of the book. I didn't choose to be a man. Ma'am, you didn't choose to be a woman. That's just what God chose. But I've got to find my place and you have to find your place. You know what? Uh my wife and I didn't choose to be in the position we are in other than following the Lord's will. Is that right? Now it says there that she should not usurp authority over me. Authority. Uh mark this down in your mind. Power to command. That's what authority is. The power to command. You know what the dictionary says authority is? One rule. One word, rule. Power to rule. Now, hold your place there and look, if you would, at 1 Timothy chapter 3, just uh across the page or on the same page, and look at verse number 4. Well, look at verse 2. A bishop must then be blameless, the the husband of what? One wife. So that tells me a bishop is a man.

unknown 11:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:54

Is that right? Come on. I'm not that's a simple statement. A bishop is supposed to be a man. I don't believe God would have uh, well, I don't need to say that. If you would, look at verse 4. One that what? Say it, ruleth, that's authority, well, his own house, having in his children in subjection with all gravity. So the husband is supposed to what? Say it. Rule. Is that right? Look, if you would, uh uh, at chapter 5, chapter 5. And notice if you would to verse 14. I will, therefore, that the younger women marry, bear children, and do what? Guide the house. There's a difference between guiding the house and ruling the house. Now, what it says there is the woman is supposed to guide the house in conjunction with what? The rulership that the man has. The man is supposed to rule, he is supposed to set some rules, and the woman is supposed to guide the children off of those rules that are set. Say amen. Come on, don't, don't, don't. Hey, this we're independent fundamental church. Is that right? And this is the Bible. Now, let me make a statement. Men, nowhere in there does it say that we should rule our wives with violence. I just don't have much respect for a man that hits his wife. That's why we we teach at a young age. You see a boy hitting one of the girls, we stop it right away. Right away. If one of our young men in teenage ranks ever hit a girl, they'd be seeing me. And I'd be talking to their parents. We won't have it.

unknown 13:37

Why?

SPEAKER_00 13:38

Because if they start then, they'll continue on later. And it's not Christian. Nowhere does it say that we're supposed to, uh men are supposed to rule by violence, if you would, or by anger with their wives. A man should not walk around constantly angry at his wife until where she fears him, to the place where if she does anything wrong and doesn't dust the fuzzballs that day, she's going to get hammered uh uh verbally. I see in here a servitude role of the man to the wife. Just as Christ served the church, gave himself. There's a servitude. Well, well, you know, hey, hey, listen, guys, uh, if you haven't learned it yet, the Bible doesn't respect this thing as being me, Tarzan, and you, Jane. I'm the caveman and you're the cave woman, and if you don't get everything right, I'm gonna beat you over the head when I come home. Nowhere in there does it say that. We're supposed to give honor to the wife. Guys, I'm gonna say another thing. You know what? Your wife has some good ideas. You ought to listen sometime. My wife has helped me so many times. Nothing wrong with, uh, okay, I'm in the rule, but you know what? I think consensus management works. Honey, what do you think? Well, you know, I'm I'm the wife. I'm just supposed to be in silence and in subjection, and I'm not gonna I'm not gonna say anything. Well, you know what, ma'am? Wife, if you're asked, tell him. Tell him what you think. But may I say this later? There's a time to keep your mouth silent. Come on, lady. I mean, uh, you don't want to be one of those continual drippers of Proverbs. Sooner or later he won't listen. Why? It's just a constant drip. Well, you never listen to me. That's because it's dripping all the time. Don't be offended. Choose when it's time to cloud up and rain, amen. Do you understand what I'm talking about? You guys, I don't care about you guys tonight. I'm just kidding. You better take notes up there, amen? But don't be offended by that, but but you constantly be nagging or something like that, and and and uh, you know, White House brawling woman. I mean, sooner or later it's going to be, you know, it you just get to the place where you say, I wonder if that's a well-thought-out opinion. I wonder if that's a prayed about opinion. But there should be consensus management usurping authority. Now, may I make this statement? Look at verse 12. If I suffer not a woman to usurp uh to teach nor to usurp authority over the man to be in silence. You know what, ladies, that that that doesn't necessarily mean you just sit in the corner all day and don't say a word or just go about your business and you don't say anything. I think you've got to read more about the Bible than just that. Usurp, though, if you want to write it down, it means to neutralize, to render it ineffective. So usurp authority is to say that the woman is capable of rendering ineffective the power to command or rule that the man has. Amen? We gave you an example. Let's say that uh I gave my children uh a rule, and my wife said to them privately after I left, and I let's say I leave town uh and I go out for a couple days to preach or something like that, and my wife says to the children, Well, listen, uh, you don't have to obey that rule, Daddy's not here. Now careful. She should discuss that with me, and better better that we change the rule than behind my back, she says, Well, Daddy's not here, so we don't have to obey that rule. Amen. You know what that does? That begins to neutralize my effectiveness with those children to command. We ought to be a team. We're not two individuals going down two different trails. We're we're one. We're a team. We've got to talk and we've got to communicate. That's why it's so important if someone's thinking about marriage, you've got to bring up all kinds of different things. That's why premarital counseling is so important. You've got to find out what you believe about what and hash it out. You're gonna have enough to hash out later, amen? Come on. When I say hash out, I'm not I'm not talking about, you know, uh uh arguing to the place where you yell in the your voice. And you know what? Listen, I grew up in a home. Six and seven and eight years old. And I watched my mom and dad argue with each other. And I watched them throw things at each other. And I heard my dad cuss my mom out. I heard my mom cuss my dad out. That doesn't do any good to the children. It brings chaos and disorder. I mean, I remember times as a young boy, eight years old, my dad would come in drunk and say something to my mom, and uh, I I watched him put her up against the wall before. I tell you what, as an eight-year-old boy, I wanted to go defend my mom. I wanted to go grab a hold of that guy and do whatever I could to get him off of her. I watched it. You say, Well, we don't have anything like that going on. You'd be amazed at what arguing does to children growing up in a home. Where the husband and wife are arguing in front of them constantly. Where the wife is cutting down the husband and the husband's cutting down the wife. You'd be a surprise what that does to the children growing up. It's usurping of authority, it's distracting from their character building. And don't think it won't have an impact when they're teenagers and young people. Now I want to say this: a man can usurp his own authority. You say, what do you mean? A man can render himself enabled to command respect. Sure. A man becomes a big enough hypocrite and says uh and promises things long enough and doesn't come through, or goes out and and uh uh has a great deal of sin in his life in some way, shape, or form, or sits at home and watches some of those uh R-rated videos and says to the children, get on out of here. And uh and they never see the man in church or or something like that. A man can usurp his own authority. What do you mean? He can render himself the inability to command like what he should, and if he would, he's rendered useless as a smith and be able to shape their weaponry. Hey, by the way, let me say this. That's why we're gonna have some fatherhood sessions this year. We've got fatherhood, uh four fatherhood sessions planned on Saturday nights on your calendar. What's the purpose of that? We're going to go to the Spanish Auditorium on Saturday night, and we're gonna just uh be taught from six to eight, two hours, and no food, no fellowship, no nothing, just the Bible and notes and preaching. And we men need that. Whether you're a father or not, you can come. Why? Because the backbone of the whole thing, men. Don't take this wrong, lady. Ma'am. The backbone of the whole thing is should be the men. And you ladies should say amen to that. Why? Because the the man is supposed to be the head over the woman, and he's supposed to set the rules, and and then he's supposed to follow his own rules. That's what gets me sometimes. I look at some of the things that I'm supposed to be doing, and I see myself faltering a little bit from time to time, and I say, well, you gotta do one or two things, Doug. You gotta change the rules and you gotta obey them. Amen. I hope that uh you won't run from a situation or a message like this. I hope you'll face it and not worry about whether you feel well, I'm just feeling terrible about myself. I'd feel rather feel terrible myself and look and say, we've got to change some things. We've got to get some things back in line. I've got to get my proper order. You've got to get your proper place. We've got to put this thing back in order for our children, for our church. Now, I want to say something. And I want you to listen. Ladies, please listen. And I hope you understand. Somebody might be visiting in here tonight. You say, Man, I can't believe this guy is so chauvinistic. I am not chauvinistic as far as uh what the Now gang called chauvinistic in any way, shape, or form. Do I believe there is a set order? Yes, I do. Do I believe that the man ought to uh be given unfair advantages in the workplace? Uh absolutely not. A woman does the same job, gets the same pay. I don't have a problem with any of that. Over the 12, 13 years now that I've pastored, I've I've noticed things not only in this church, but other churches that I've been at. You hear a lot and you see a lot. And ladies, let me say something to you. Cut down that man and cut down that man and cut down that man and cut him down. Be stubborn, rebel. Nip at him a little bit along the way. Talk to him poorly in front of those children. Cut him down in front of those children. And sooner or later you'll have just what you want. He'll keep his mouth shut. He'll stop exercising authority. He'll want to avoid the conflict. You want to have more rule? You'll get it. And I'm not talking about meekness. I'm talking about he'll just start shutting his mouth up. And he'll let you take charge. And I'm talking about years and years. A man can be neutralized over a long period of time. To where he doesn't feel like he's an authority. Now I understand if it's his own fault and he's not in the Bible and he's not in church and he's got sinful habits, and I understand all that. But I'm saying I counseled with a man and his wife in another church a few years back and I filed away and I always remembered it. And I talked to the man privately and I said, You I said to the man, I said, You seem to have lost your your your your command. You seem to have lost your authority. And he said, What's the use? She's going to change it anyway. I said, What do you mean? But she argues in front of the children, and he says, I'm not perfect or anything like that, but she cuts me down and she brings things up that maybe I've made a judgment call on and it didn't work. I thought we were doing something by faith. And there's a lot of things that have worked well in the judgments I've made, but there's a few judgment calls I've made, the business, and a few things that just didn't work out. And she keeps bringing them up in front of the children, and now the children mock me just a little bit and kind of make fun of me. And it used to be where it was just kind of fun to make fun of dad, but now they do it all the time and they don't know it, but it hurts me. Why should I try? She's in charge. Oh, she tells other people that I'm in charge, but she's really in charge. Now, what am I supposed to do with that, Pastor? And I mean, I just sit there kind of dumbfounded. That was years and years and years. This is this is not a young man now. He's a little bit, he's a little bit older now. I filed that away. Are you listening tonight? I'm not trying to put anybody in here down. But if we're going to take roots downward and bear fruit upward, we've got to keep some things in order. I hope nobody goes away offended and says, uh, you know, I don't know if the preacher should have preached that way. I'm trying to be kind. Don't you see the tears in my eye? I'm not trying to hurt anybody. People sometimes forget that they gotta stand before the judgment seat of Christ and give account for what they've done in their bodies, whether it be good or bad. You know what? If you look long enough, you can find fault with everybody. Husband, if you look long enough, you can find fault with that wife. Wife, if you look long enough, you'll find fault with that husband. But why magnify it? Why bring it up all the time? You know, I I wouldn't tell my children, if you keep doing that, you're going to jail. If you keep doing that, you're going to jail. If you keep doing that, you're going to jail. I wouldn't bring them up that way. Why? By the time they're 18, they'd probably just say, well, I'm going to jail anyways, what makes a difference? Why? Because my daddy told me, and I just never couldn't do anything right, and he just kept telling me if I was going to do that, he's going to go to jail. And by the time I'm 18, I'm resolved that sooner or later I'm going to end up in jail. Usurping authority ought to be underlined and highlighted. And listen, brother, we all have a tendency to treat each other wrongfully from time to time, but there's a difference, and once in a while, and we we feel bad about it, and we go and we get it right. There's a difference between that and constantly doing it. And it becomes a way of life, and it's a good day when daddy and mommy are getting along. And it's an exceptionally good day. Hey, hey, let's go do something. Daddy and mommy are getting along today. Man, that ought to be the exception, is when mom and dad are a little bit put out at each other. And it ought to not last very long. Ought to get that thing right and not let the sun go down upon the wrath. Within the last month, I had a situation with my wife, and I don't mind saying, where I was a little bit wrong. I didn't let it go too long. I wanted to go back and get it right with her. She shouldn't have to live under that. I'm not trying to train her, manipulate her and cause her. Well, that'll teach her. You gotta be careful with that. Are we okay? I just wanted to smile. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 11. We okay tonight? You say, man, I and if you were here tonight, you say, is this what always goes on here? I don't know if I've ever talked about this in a while. But I believe I got the right message tonight. Starting a new year, setting some roots downward. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. And would you also pick up 2 Chronicles 15? I'm watching the time. 2 Chronicles 15 and 1 Corinthians chapter 11. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Notice the verse of scripture. Verse 3. But I would have you to know that the head of every man is who? Christ. And the head of the woman is who? The man. And the head of the Christ is God. Now, it's a simple little statement, but would you agree with this statement? In the church, the men should be the leaders. Come on, yes or no? In the church, the men should be the leaders. Does that mean we can't have leaders, ladies that are in leadership? Absolutely not. We have ladies that are in leadership in our church in many different ways, but the men should go ahead and take the responsibility of leadership, even in the church, obviously also in the home. If you would, the Smiths of the church, certainly the ladies who teach in classes and work those nurseries and all different things, they are shaping children that two and three and four and five-year-old. As those uh young boys get a little bit older, and by the time they get into that nine, ten, eleven, twelve-year-old, uh, you know what, we we want, and don't take this wrong, we want male teachers in our Sunday schools. They get a little older, and and we want those, we don't i I I I I would have a problem, please look at me. I would have a problem if our 13, 14, 15-year-old boys in Sunday school had a woman as a teacher. You say, well, that's just that's just, you're just not 90-ish. I'm just Bible-ish. And I'm not trying to be unkind about that. They need male role models. Now you say, well, can't a woman teach a little bit or something like that? Hey, we have ladies who give testimonies and different things like that, but the the supposedly the head of the woman is supposed to be the man. Now, the problem that can ensue sometimes, well, look uh look at 2 Chronicles. And then would you pick up Judges chapter 4? 2 Chronicles. And let's go, uh let's let's do Judges 4 first. Because there's always the thoughts, well, what about? Well, let me give you a what about. Judges 4, 2 Chronicles chapter 15. And I don't think I have to be too hard on this. You know, as a pastor, I uh you know what, I don't feel like I have to jerk the reins around and uh pull the bit out of people's mouths. I think just a little neck rain will bring us back if there needs to be any order. You say, preacher, do you know something going on? I don't know anything that's going on. I just know that without a doubt, this is what the Lord wants us to speak, wants me to speak about tonight. Look at Judges chapter 4, but I don't see a need to do it harshly. Judges chapter 4. You know the story of Deborah, but I want you to see it here real quick. Judges 4. Deborah, verse 4, is a prophetess, though, and she's uh judging Israel at that time. You say, well, there, see, there's a woman judging Israel. But you've got to read the story. Look at verse 6, and she sent and called Barak. Now Barak comes and she says uh in verse 6, go and draw towards Mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men. In verse 7, I will draw unto thee to the river Kishon Sisera, the captain of Jaban's army, with his chariots and his multitude, and I will deliver him into thine hair. And Barak said unto her, If thou wilt go with me, then I will go. There's a problem with that. If you don't go, I don't go. Man, where's the male leadership here? But if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go. Where's the man being the head of the woman? Where's the male leadership here? And she said, I will surely go with thee. Notwithstanding, the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honor. For the Lord shall set Caesarea into the hand of a who? Woman. She says, You know what? Okay. I'm going to go with you, but I just want you to know something. Uh as a man, you're not going to be able to conquer that leader. I'm going to, uh God's going to let that leader, Cisera, fall into the hand of a woman. Why? Because he wouldn't take Barak wouldn't take the lead. Is that right? Come on now. You see, uh, somebody says, well, you know, uh the man sometimes says uh in his own heart, well, you know, I don't know if I can be the leader. You can be a leader. You don't have to be uh the dynamic go-getter. You could be the quiet leader. But you can still be leader. But I would, guys, don't run from it. Don't run from our leadership responsibility. And may I say this: we have every right as a man, if you would, to delegate to the lady if she'll receive that. But men, we don't need to dump on them. And there's a difference between delegating and dumping. A dump situation is where you just let her take care of everything, and if it's not done right, you come back and you yell at her. That's dumping. A delegation is uh a discussion where you decide who's gonna take care of what responsibility, and you decide how it's gonna be done, and then you say, Do you need any help? And it's delegated, and she's taught, and she's trained, and she's schooled, and she's she's uh encouraged on into it. It's just not dumped. Well, I gotta go make money, you'll take care of everything, and if it's not taken care of by the time I get back, you're gonna be in trouble. I've never said that to my wife. That thought is repulsive. The man here didn't want to take the responsibility, so God said, Okay, you won't get the honor. And notice what happens here. Look over in uh chapter uh 17, I'm sorry, chapter 4, verse 17. Howbeit, Sisera, there's that leader, that enemy leader, fled away on his feet to the tenth of tent of Jael, the wife of Hebrew the Canaanite, or Kent Kenite. For there was peace, watch it, between Jabon, the king of Hazar, and the house of Hebrew the Kenite. And Jael, here's the woman, went out to meet Sisera and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me, fear not. And when he had turned into her tent, she covered him with a with a mantle. And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink, for I am thirsty. She opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be when any man doth come and inquire of thee, and say, Is there in any man here that thou shalt say no? Then Jael, Hebrew's wife, here's the one that's going to get the honor, took a nail. And by the way, brother, I don't think this was a small nail. Took a nail of the tent. You ever see a tent nail? More like a stake, amen. And took a hammer in her hand and went softly unto him and smote the nail into his temples and fastened it into the ground. There's the woman who knows how to get the job done, amen. For he was fast asleep. Underline fast, amen. And weary. So he died. And behold, as Barak pursued, here's that man who said, If you'll go, then I'll go, but if you won't, I won't. Barak pursued Sesira. Jail came out to meet him and said unto him, Come, and I will show thee the man whom thou seekest. I got something to show you. Come here. That guy you're after. And when he came into her tent, behold, sira lay dead. And the man was in his temples. You know, I was uh, and this is you ever you ever read these magazines and they got that little thing where the person has that milk mustache? Says, got milk? Hey, Saira, got any milk? The idea here though is Jay L, who is the woman, got the job done. Why? Because Barak was not going to be honored. And Jael did the work and got honored. But would you agree with this? I believe that you would agree that God's order is that he wants the man to take the lead. And he would like the woman to allow that man to support that man in taking the lead. But they work together as a team. And the reason God didn't honor Barak here is because to say it in the right way was a little wimpy. The head of the man is Christ, and the head of every woman is the man. Now, I know probably there's something sidey that says, maybe, I don't know. But if you get it in the right order, it brings you peace and there's no problems. Hey, you know what? The Bible says that I'm supposed to subject and submit myself to my wife if I'm full of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5. Be not drunk with wine, we're in his excess. Hey, you read that down, submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of God. There are areas I submit myself to my wife, and I don't have a problem with that at all. She's more wise than me than some areas. There's other areas that I'm more wise than her, and we work together as a team. But it's not a struggle where we're struggling with each other as far as, well, whoa, well, that's my territory. No, that's my possession, no, that's mine, that no, that's mine, and we're pulling each other and tuggling with. I don't want to, that's not what God put us together for. And in the church. There's no doubt that the men should take the leadership. Look, if you would, at 1 Corinthians. Look at uh where you're at 2 Chronicles 15. And also, would you, brethren, please stay with me? Pick up 1 Corinthians 15. 2 Chronicles 15 and 1 Corinthians 15. We're taking roots downwards. Now, this could cause some controversy, and I'm not meaning it to. I guess it could stir up some discussion at home. I want you to be careful, ladies. Uh 2 Chronicles 15 and 1 Corinthians 15. I want you to be careful not to not to take this too overboard at the start, maybe, or if you're going to re-emphasize it or something like that, and and uh be careful about you know going home tonight and kind of folding your arms and kind of look at him and say, okay, lead. What are we supposed to do next? I'm just gonna be in silence. Just tell me what to do, okay? Can I go to bed now? Mind if I wash my hair. Bad spirit. Wrong attitude. And by the way, if you do something like that, God's listening. Every idle word. So so don't get a kind of a oh, go ahead. And men, don't, don't dare go home and say, what are you doing? Did I say you could do that? You heard the preacher. You heard it. You saw the scriptures right there. Did I give you permission to do that? What do you mean you got something scheduled tomorrow? Did you ask me? Careful. That's where the benefit of doubt comes in. I asked my wife, she said, where'd you got scheduled today? She says, Well, I got this and this. I said, okay, great. Do you need help? Now sometimes she'll clear a schedule with me and we'll check on what's going on with each other and make sure and everything like that. But she doesn't have to ask my permission. I don't smother her. A mother, uh, a man that smothers his wife is a fool. What do you mean, smother? Where are you gonna go? What you gonna do? How long are you gonna be? Why were you late? You said you're gonna be back at 5, it's 5.05. What's going on? Don't get on a power trip. Are we okay? I'm trying to balance this thing out the best I can. Remember where they say it's me, it's me, not the preacher, not the teacher. I think it's a preacher. And they need a prayer tonight. Look at 2 Chronicles 15, and you're holding your place in 1 Corinthians 15. 2 Chronicles 15, here's a sad thing. Verse 1. And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah, the son of Oded, and he went out to meet Asa and said unto him, Hear you meet Asa. He goes to say, The Lord is with you while you be with him. Look at verse 3. Now, for a long season Israel had been without the true God. And without a what? A teaching priest. And without law. Brother, no, somebody needs to make sure that things are still being taught in the church, in the home. Teaching, would you agree with this? Teaching is a constant, never-to-be-stopped, never-ending type of thing. To me, I remember when I got out of college. I thought, wow, I'm done with school. And then I went to the basic school in the Marine Corps and I thought, okay, when that's done, I'm done with school. And then I got saved. You know what life is? A long school. It just never stops. You're always taught something by someone somewhere. Every day in the Bible, being taught something. And that's what the whole idea of church is. I don't see church as being something where we control people. I see it be something where we influence people. We teach people. Let the Holy Spirit control them. I don't see my job as a pastor is to control. I see my job is to influence. There's a big difference. I'm not controlling you. This is not Waco. We're not sewing Kool-Aid later. You know what I mean? Hey Mike, got milk? Go for it. I'm not a controller. I've got my home and I'm supposed to be in control of that. And we say, well, you're supposed to rule the church. Yeah, my job in ruling the church is to serve it. Well, do you think if you ever had to, you would in control? Yeah, if we had a hireling come in or a wolf come in, then it's my job to control. But I don't need that all the time. In fact, I'd rather see you uh control your own life under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Much better that way. Can I advise? Can I influence? Sure. But there needs to be teaching, a teaching priest going on. If you would, one of the jobs, if you would, of a smith is to teach, I think, and the idea of teaching that weaponry and how to use it. Now, this is an interesting little thing in the church. Look at 1 Corinthians 15. Stay with me. We okay tonight still? I hope we'll be friends later. I'm sorry, did I say 15? 1 Corinthians 14. Had it written wrong in my notes. 1 Corinthians 14. 1 Corinthians 14. Notice the context here so we know where we're going. 1 Corinthians 14. I guess I'm asked about this from time to time, maybe two or three times a year at the most. 1 Corinthians 14. Notice what verse 1, follow after charity and desire spiritual gifts. But rather that you may what? Say it. Prophesy. Say it again. You may what? Prophesy. Now prophesy can be telling forth the future or forth telling, if you would. Telling forth or forth telling. He says this verse 3. But he that what? Say it, prophesieth. Like prophesying is another word for preaching. Telling forth or forth telling. Speaking unto men, he that prophesieth speaketh unto men to what? Edification. Look at verse 4. He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself, but he that prophesieth, tells forth, edifies who? The church. If you look here, they're being rebuked for what they're doing. And you follow the scriptures down, verse 5, the whole concept is the last line of verse 5 is that the church may be received edifying. And there's a statement in here that the whole concept is prophesying and putting forth truth in an edifying and an understanding fashion. Would you agree with that? Why does he even bring this all up? Verse 40 is the reason that all things be done decently in order. Where? Well, in the church. So the idea is in the church he wants things done decently and in order. And that's why he goes on, look at verse 19. Verse 19, and I'm skipping around purposely a little bit. You read it sometimes. And by the way, this is where the charismatics try to take tongues, but they're being rebuked here. Verse 19. They're rebuked in every chapter in the book of 1 Corinthians. Why? They're carnal, babes. Verse 19. Yet in the church, I'd rather speak five words with my what? Understanding. So the idea is putting forth truth in the church in the assembly. And it says this, verse 34. Let your women keep silence in the churches. Now, does that mean that a woman's not allowed to talk when they come in the church house? Absolutely not. That's ridiculous. Do we have ladies stand up and give testimonies and promote things that they have going on? Sure. The context here is prophesy, preaching. I mean, uh, don't hold your breath for this preacher to schedule in a woman preacher to preach up here. It's just not going to happen. Why? A lot of people would walk out. And I would too. It's just, I just, it's, I just can't. There's something inside of me, it's called the Holy Spirit, that says, don't take this wrong. He's got good English, but he says this ain't right. Now, ladies, don't be offended by that. Well, you say, Well, I I know some other church and they have a ministry where husband and wife co-pastor. And the wife, the husband preaches sometimes and the wife preaches sometimes. Patty's not preaching up here. Patty teaches ladies in her adult Sunday school class. I have no problem with that. And I don't have a problem with a lady giving a testimony. When they say, Well, doesn't what are you you just you just one of those people who believe woman ought to keep silence? Yeah, in context, she's not supposed to stand up and feel like she's got to edify the whole church with a message. Amen? For it is not permitted for them to speak, but they are commanded to be in obedience, uh, stay at the law, and if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it's a shame to a woman to speak in the church. Again, is it wrong for a woman to say something or sing or give a testimony and all that? No, the context, look at it, is prophesy. Now, brethren, I have to say this. Here in Southern California, uh somebody forgot to read that. But I've run into people before, or yeah, we we we but but you know, you just got the wrong interpretation of that. I got the wrong interpretation. And by the way, I'm not trying to condemn anybody per se. Uh man, if the gospel and preached, I there and do rejoice. And if a woman's speaking and someone gets saved, and a man gets saved, I'm going to rejoice in that. But the whole idea, why should I even bring it up? Verse 40. Let all things be done what? Decently and in what? Order. Why not do it the best way we possibly can? And nobody should be offended by that. I've never had a woman yet come up to me and say, Hey preacher, can I preach? I'd probably say, sure, Thursday night soul winning. Have at it. Go knock on a door and let them have it at the door. Amen? No problem with me. And we're not trying to stifle our ladies. If anybody in here, if any lady in here feels stifled, you missed it. We have ladies' meetings, we have ladies' banquets, we have ladies' uh uh special events, we have ladies' fellowships, the lady beacons, uh, uh the and on and on and on, the military wives, and there's ladies' classes, and there's opportunities for ladies to serve. I mean, come on. We've worked hard to make sure we have a lot of things available for the ladies. And ladies, if you feel like, well, there's nothing for me, man, look in your bulletin, shop around. Get involved. There's plenty of opportunities and everything like that. But don't sit back there and go, I can't wait to have that pulpit. Got milk? And I'm not trying to be unkind with that. And by the way, if I were a lady and God chose for me to be a lady and I read that, I'd submit to it. And I wouldn't have a problem. I don't think. Now, men, if the men don't do it, then it's still got to get done. I mean, you know what, guys, look at me. It's a shame if the men don't do what they're supposed to be doing. It's a shame to the men. And you know what? If the men don't do it, then the ladies are gonna have to do it. I'm sure there are churches out there where the men are, I'll use the word comfortable, and the ladies kind of run things. And you know what? That's a shame. That's a shame. That's a shame to the men. It's embarrassing. Just letting that sink in. I'm gonna pause just a moment for a fact. Every once in a while I take a state step back at my home and say, okay, what is my wife being forced to do because I'm not doing it? That's convicted. What is my wife having to do because I'm not doing it? Or I'm not causing it to be done. If I'm not careful, what I can do is get so busy with other things that because it hasn't got done and she has to do it, I kind of dump it on her. I have to be careful of that. Uh guys in the church, ladies shouldn't have to move chairs around and move stuff around and heavy lifting and all that kind of stuff. They just shouldn't have to do that. No, if they want to, fine, but there's certain things that the men should just be just be taken charge of. And may I say this, I'm not scolding you, but I think it's important our next generation hear this. Our young men growing up, they need to, they need to, they're gonna have to pick up the baton to be their turn. Our young ladies growing up. If you got the idea that you're gonna find a man that you can dominate, be careful. You might get what you want. And you won't be happy. Well, I'll just get a man that I can just completely dominate and I'll tell him what to do and everything like that. But I tell you what, sooner or later the Holy Spirit inside of you will go, something's wrong. Something's wrong. On the other side, ma'am, you don't want an abusive husband. You don't you don't want someone that comes in and is so spiritually immature that he doesn't know how to rule properly. And he thinks the way he's supposed to do it is by you know angry and grab and by force and by threatening. That won't work. Threatening doesn't build camaraderie. May I make a statement to you? I don't threaten my staff, the associate pastors around here. I don't threaten them. They're allowed to say things to me, and I'm allowed to say things to them, but I don't threaten them. I know a situation where a pastor kind of rules with with a little bit more different style than myself, and he was kind of telling me one day, and a couple years ago, and he said, Yeah, I had my staff in there the other day, and he was kind of talking to me, and and uh he says, I'm just kind of keeping honest, and uh had their paychecks. And I called them up one at a time, and everybody was there. And the first guy came up and stood in front of my desk, and uh I looked up and I said, uh, did you earn that this week? And uh the man said, Well, I I I I worked I worked pretty hard, I think. And he said, Well, you know, uh, how many did you have down the aisle? Well, you know, and and and what happened last week, and what were your converts last week? And and and just really started and he was telling me this, kind of thinking that I would think well of him, be impressed. He didn't know it, but I wasn't impressed at all. I just wasn't impressed. I thought if that's the kind of relationship he has, if I was a staff member, I'd be praying. Unless that was the kind of stuff I needed, I guess, but I mean I wouldn't want my paycheck waved in front of me every week saying, Did you earn this? Sooner or later I'd I'd I'd feel uncomfortable. Why? Because then it would be performance. Now, if I don't perform right, there's a threat that I won't even be here. Because he'll he'll you understand what I'm saying? I don't do that with our staff. That's not dignity, that's not honor, that's not respect. Hey, God chose them to do their job. They ought to have enough character to earn their check. And if they don't, God will convict them. I won't have to. I'll just, I uh what I try to do is find out what they need. And and yeah, we we we have some guidelines and we have some things that we're doing, and we're working as a team, but I'm never gonna threaten them. And by the way, I don't wanna I don't want to leave my wife that way. As your children get older, you can't rule by threatening. When they're younger? Oh, that's a whole different story. No, I'm just kidding. But as they get a little older, you gotta you gotta be their friend. You say, why are you saying this? Because maybe there's a thought that'll play out in your head and you'll say, you know what? Why are we threatening each other? Why are we playing this little mind game with each other? Let's let's sit down and talk and get this thing right. It could be a leadership role in the church, it could be a husband and wife, it could be two leaders working together, it could be any kind of thing. We don't have to do it that way. Would you agree? Brethren, tonight my my point and my purpose probably comes down to this. Look at Judges 17, and we'll get ready to dismiss. Judges 17. Say, why didn't you yell tonight? Didn't feel like yelling. Why didn't you why weren't you harder on this tonight? If you would have been harder, raise your voice and let them have it. Yeah, then somebody would have shut off. Just shut their mind off and says, I don't want to listen to this tonight. I've got a headache. Judges 17. Loudness does not mean that it's great preaching. Somebody thinks the louder the greater. I've heard some pretty loud preachers before, and I'm still trying to figure out what they said, amen? Look at Judges 17. There needs to be some order. There needs to be some leadership and fellowship and servitude. Look at Judges 17 and notice if you would, verse 6. It says it a couple times, but I just want you to see it in context. In those days, there was no king in Israel. But every man did that which was what? Right? In his own eyes. And that's dangerous. Start out, there was no smith in the land. Nobody had any weaponry. They didn't have any means of fighting, protecting, and defending, and being what they were supposed to be. And there's no doubt that the weapons that we're supposed to place into our homes, whether the head of the home a man or a woman, in the way of a single parent or married, put those weapons into those children's hands and in a church, keep those weapons sharp and in those children's hands and in our ministry's hands. But brethren, there has to be leadership. We have the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, but please look up here. He's appointed the church and the home to have a governmental order. And we've got to abide by that order, but somebody has to be the leader. Somebody said to me the other day, and it was a family I was working with, a new family to our church. I'm sure they're not here tonight. And they said, Well, you know, we just believe marriage is 50-50. And I said, I don't mean to be unkind, but may I just throw a thought out to you? Marriage isn't 50-50, it's 100-100. That's more biblical than 50-50. 50-50 is some man-made term. 100-100 is a God-made term. And you know what? That's the way leadership and fellowship is. It's a commitment. Would you understand if I said that God's chosen me as a leader in this church, one of the leaders, we have many. And there's a commitment. It's a two-way commitment. I'm here to serve you, and that's my job, and that's my position. Will I do it with some rulership at times? Sure. Will I command authority at times? Sure. But just like this morning, my purpose this morning, as we brought out some things, and you'll get the tape next Sunday night if you weren't here, was not so much to command authority as much as it was to influence people to a stronger walk with God. And when there's nobody that wants to take the leadership, then everybody does that which is right in their own eyes. And this morning, you'll listen to the tape last week. We talked about immorality, I'll use that term. And we talked about some of the things that are manifest in the flesh. And someone's got to stand up and say something about it. And you know who that someone is? That's me as a pastor. That's whoever the preacher is that's here for that day or if our staff members are preaching. But there has to be leadership, and it can't be that everybody does that which is right in their own eyes, please look up here. That's why he's giving us his guidelines. Where the churches are that everybody does that which is right in their own eyes, please look up here. The Bible is taken as a token, something that needs to be at church. That once the little psalm or something is read, then they just go off into their own opinions and their own thoughts. But brethren, the Bible is more to us than that. It's that which teaches us and guides us so we don't do that which is right in our own eyes. And you know, isn't it amazing how many of us have the same beliefs in many areas? Isn't it amazing how many of us have the same uh convictions in many areas? And as we read the Bible stronger and stronger, I can go to a church, uh, I'll be at a church uh uh uh next week for a couple of days, and you know what? It's amazing. The Holy Spirit there is the same as here. Oh, a few different variations, but we believe much the same thing. And I'll be at another church the following week for a couple of days, and there'll be pastors coming in, and it'll be in Georgia, and many of those pastors, it's amazing. We've never talked that much as far as uh but the same Holy Spirit in the same book. And it's not like everybody's doing that which is right in their own eyes. We're working as a team. Huh. I go down there and preach on something, and somebody comes up and says, Wow, you know what? I've always believed that. I just didn't know there was somebody else that believed that. I say, isn't amazing. The Holy Spirit is wonderful. We've still got the Holy Spirit in California because they think we're all spiritually deficient out here. It's all right. We have the same Holy Spirit, we have the same book. And by the way, we can have the same standards as far as old fashioned. You know what I like about this theme with the sweetheart banquet, 1896? That's what we needed to do. Go back to some old fashioned type of ideas. By the way, I don't know what's old about them. Other than we don't do them much anymore. Husband and wife, sit down, have a discussion, and just say, hey, uh honey, I guess is the term. Uh what are some areas that uh that I could improve upon? What are you harboring right now that you don't want to say something to me about? Let's say, let's get it out. Let's start afresh and anew. Let's get our roots down deep so we can bear some fruit up. What are some areas that I can improve upon? And and and and don't sit there and say, Oh, you're gonna bring that up again, huh? That man that I talked to. I said, Well, let me ask you something, uh, the husband and wife, the husband's neutralized almost. I said, Do you make any decisions anymore? And he said, Well, not many. I said, Why? Well, and I understand this is one side of the story, and I did talk with her, and I got her side too. And I was at the I was at the approval of the pastor. He said, Well, you know, I've made some decisions and they weren't the right ones, and she keeps bringing it up and keeps bringing it up, and keeps bringing it up. And so the place where I just feel like maybe I'm destroying my credibility with her when I make a decision, it doesn't go right. Ladies, you have a difficult role. You have to sometimes let men make decisions, and sometimes those decisions are wrong, and then you just have to suffer it to be so and kind of grin and bear. That's difficult. I understand as a church member, sometime uh along the trail, if you be here for a few years, you won't agree with every decision made here at the leadership of the church, and there are some times that you just kind of have to grin and bear it. And that's not easy. And I'm not saying it is. But what we have to be careful about is throwing it up in each other's faces to the place we're afraid to take a step of faith. I've made some decisions, I'm sure, that weren't all agreed with. In fact, I've had I've had my staff in the staff meeting, and I hope you don't, my staff, the church staff, say to me, Well, you know, Pastor, I I don't always agree with you on everything, but but I'm willing to go along with it. And I'm thinking, what don't you agree with? Just kidding. And I don't expect them to agree with everything. If we have a consensus management, but you know what? None of them, not a one of them, has ever thrown it up in my face. They've never come in and thrown it up in my face. If I've learned from it, then we go on. Why? There's mutual respect. There's mutual trust. And we're down here trying to serve together, and that's where our family should be, and that's where our church would be. Hey, brethren, we need to keep things in order. Whose order? God's order. And it ought not be every man does that which is right in his own eyes. And by the way, I'm not standing up here telling you how you should run your family or run your marriage. Everyone's a little bit different. Everyone's got to do it their own way, in the way of, if you would, massaging who does what. And somebody says, Well, do you think so and so? How do you think this should be handled? And and how do you think that? I say, well, you know what? Let's talk about the personalities of the individuals involved. Because each everything is a little bit different. You have to, some couple may do it different than another. Stay up with me. Brother, and there should be some guidelines. Why? We got an ex generation watching. They ought to not see chaos and disorder. Not in the homes, not in the church. Last night I was up about four hours, somewhere between midnight and five. And God just started to show me some things that I need to work on. I've already told my family that after the service tonight I want to have a little family meeting. Now they're kind of, what is it going to be, Dad? What are you going to talk about? And they, you know, our family's, you know, a little diversified now. Uh 18 years old down to one year old, and they all got different things to do and everything. So we have to schedule family meetings, times together. I mean, uh, as they get a little bit older and they get diversified, one's here, one's going there, and everything like that. I got a little family meeting scheduled after church. I'm just going to kind of bear my heart to them. Why? As the head, I need to do that. I got a couple apologies I want to make. I want them to know that their daddy's got a soft heart towards God. I don't want them to think ever that I'm unwilling to look at my weaknesses. Somebody says, don't show your weaknesses, they'll think you're not strong. You know what? At times, not all the time, show your weaknesses and they'll know you're strong. The one that never wants to admit that they're weak in anything and puts on this big facade, sooner or later, you know what you think? Hypocrite. I'd rather let them know that I know that I'm a hypocrite, but I'm working on it. Got milk? That's all I'll say.