When we study the gifts of the Holy Spirit, it is important that we keep in mind the real danger we face from the supernatural world. Not everything that is supernatural is good, and not everything that appears to be good is actually good. Satan is able to masquerade as an "angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14).
Why does Paul devote 118 verses to worship, 84 of which deal with the gifts of the Spirit to a congregation that did not lack any gift of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 1:7)?
Why does he begin the section on worship by dealing with the role of women and ending it with the same topic?
Is there a connection between Genesis 6:1-6 and 1 Corinthians 11:10? While this message attempts to answer that question briefly, the issue is dealt with more thoroughly in a three part teaching found here on Sermon Audio: "The Sons of God: Are These Fallen Angels?" (http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=8305222842)
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Hair and Covering Dear YoungMan,
Would you care to prove from Scripture itself why you are dismissive of what I regard as a very straight-forward command that women wear their hair longer than men and why they should cover it in worship?
Thanks so much.
Cordially in Christ,
Bob (OldMan)
YoungMan (2/9/2021)
from US
Spiritual battle Key, here, is to stay focused on where the real danger is: in the spiritual realm. It's not just about some length of hair or material covering. It's about having the state of mind which is honorable to worship God. Paul says that the head of every woman is man. So how then can the mark of authority be referring to her own, material head? No, it is spiritual. Is the uncovered head of man referring to the material? Not that either. The meaning is that a woman keeps silent for the sake of her husband - although this is contrary to her fallen nature - and a man speaks words for Christ - against his fallen natural inclination. If a man is in his heart afraid to witness for Christ, how can he please God? And if a woman is rebelling against her husband, how can she please God? You say that a woman may speak in church as long as having the proper outer attire. I say that a woman with the proper inner attire will simply not speak in church and instead confer with her husband at home, even if it is to her discomfort. Again, a man would often be tempted to defer to the council of other people. But scripture here commands that he bravely bare the Word of Christ, even if it hurts or is uncomfortable. This is the corrective paradigm that would have spared Adam and Eve their folly in Eden.
Kristen (2/3/2016)
from West Virginia
Great Sermon! My children and I are reading the New Testament together every morning. In that process it has been refreshing to hear the things they question and interesting to discuss those things in depth with them. They are ages 10 and 8. A couple weeks ago, my daughter read about women covering their heads in 1 Corith. and asked me about it. I told her that I didn't have a good answer, we talked to our pastor, he also said he didn't have a good answer. While I wasn't seeking out a sermon on this topic, God lead me to it anyway. What you preached is fascinating and I am so thankful you shared it! I am excited to research, pray, and study this topic further on my own and with my daughter. Although I do not look forward to wearing a hat - I do look forward to more fully understanding God's will for me and how that is related to wearing a hat during church, etc. Thank you for preaching outside of the box!
Bob Vincent (10/22/2012)
from Alexandria, Louisiana
Why I changed my mind Most people's understanding of Genesis 6 is summed up by John Calvin: "That ancient figment, concerning the intercourse of angels with women, is abundantly refuted by its own absurdity." His understanding and his rationale governed how I read Genesis 6 for decades. However, some years ago, I began to question some things in Biblical texts, self-consciously holding my world view in suspension. In other words, as a late twentieth century man (when I began to attempt to read the Bible without Modern glasses), I began to question many anti-supernatural interpretations. Of course, reason is an important tool in Biblical interpretation, as traditional interpretations can be, but finally Scripture compared with Scripture trumps our dismissing an interpretation because it appears to be refuted "by its own absurdity." Below are some of the questions that caused me to entertain a different understanding of Genesis 6 than the view adopted by Calvin's dismissal "by its own absurdity."
Bob Vincent (10/22/2012)
from Alexandria, Louisiana
Why I changed my mind 1. The Hebrew phrase, B'nai Elohim, which is found in Genesis 6, always refers to angels in the rest of the Hebrew Bible.
2. The peculiar offspring of Genesis 6 points to something more than simply "Christian" boys marrying worldly girls.
3. The calling down of divine judgment that destroyed the entire human race except for eight souls points to a breaking of divine order unprecedented in history.
4. Why are some evil spirits confined in the abyss and others are not?
5. Why does Peter use a form of the Greek word Tartarus, a _hapax legomenon_, to describe the place of these spirits' confinement when that word refers to the special place of confinement of supernatural non-humans in Classical Greek?
6. Why does Jude cite the Pseudepigraphal book of Enoch, especially in light of the extensive description of angel-human coitus and its effects found in that book?
7. Why does Jude compare the sin of the angels with that of the Cities of the Plain?
8. Though it is contrary to their estate to marry, the Bible does not indicate that angels are genderless. Why is it that the two angels who ate with Abraham were objects of lust to the male population of Sodom?
Marek (10/13/2012)
from Czech republic
Strange Sermon! David Silversides, here on sermonaudio
[and John Calvin, for that matter] give a much more sensible exegesis of Genesis 6
David Bumgarner (4/11/2012)
Great Sermon! These things are being revealed to many but we are still few compared to those lost. Praise God for this sermon and praise God that He can put me back together He can put our country back together if it be His will.... In all things Christ and Christ in all things.
Bob Vincent (3/25/2011)
from Alexandria, Louisiana
Please Don't Give up on the Church Dear Jana,
Please don't give up on the Church. There is no perfect congregation on earth and there are no perfect pastors -- I certainly come short of being the pastor I ought to be and so desperately want to be. You and I need to be accountable to a local fellowship of believers if we are to grow and be what God wants us to be.
Find a local congregation where the main teacher/pastor/preacher believes the Bible is God's Word and bases what he says on it, who proclaims the good news summed up in John 3:16: that we are right with God by grace alone, received through faith alone, in Christ alone -- is a man who loves the Lord Jesus and loves people, and who is a man of prayer.
God bless you,
Bob Vincent
Jana Brown (3/23/2011)
from Houston Texas
Great Sermon! I'm 29yrs old & believe while heartedly that the church is extremely deformed. I believe and agree with all that was said! So much so that I have quit attending church & now do church at home....me and Jesus! My prayer is that God will fix the body soon & that I find a pastor like u!
Doug Mahady (3/10/2011)
from Lewisberry, PA
Great Sermon! Amen!
Alice DelaRosa (2/26/2011)
from Grand Rapids, Michigan
Great Sermon! I was born in the mid-fifties, and I remember my second grade teacher reading the Bible to us before quiet time, after lunch. I remember praying up to fifth grade. I truly see your point about women in authority over men nothing but insanity rules any position of authority where men are not over seeing, and women accountable to them. We are so easily deceived. One thing that I wish you would have brought out is that women are very beguiled, and led astray by wanting to know everything, and by spoken words against someone, or some thing. Doesn't it appear that our adversary only used words to beguile Eve? Leaving me the thought that wanting to know more than man, and GOD is a natural thing for women.
Kay-too (2/22/2011)
from Minneapolis area
Utterly fascinating! I will be mailing this link to MANY of my lady friends (in real love). This was truly edifying. Thank you and bless you. Will be listening to it again very soon. Kay
After serving Grace Presbyterian Church in Alexandria, Louisiana, Bob was honorably retired on Sunday, September 27, 2015, and given the title "Pastor Emeritus." This was forty years to the day after he became their pastor.
He now works for the Presbytery of the Gulf South as...