Hello, this is Brother Denny.
Welcome to Charity Ministries.
Our desire is that your life would be
blessed and changed by this message.
This message is not copyrighted and is not
to be bought or sold.
You are welcome to make copies for your
friends and neighbors.
If you would like additional messages, please go
to our website for a complete listing at
www.charityministries.org.
If you would like a catalog of other
sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or
write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street,
Suite 1, EFRA, PA 17522.
These messages are offered to all without charge
by the freewill offerings of God's people.
A special thank you to all who support
this ministry.
Praise the Lord this evening for another opportunity
to gather together.
I thank the Lord tonight that we have
a God who fills our heart to overflowing.
Why don't we kneel together for prayer as
we begin the service this evening.
Heavenly Father, we come to you in the
name of Jesus tonight.
Lord, we come with joy.
We come with rejoicing and thanksgiving.
Lord, we come with anticipation before you again
this evening.
Knowing you and trusting you to meet our
needs again tonight.
Trusting you, Lord, to illuminate your Word.
Trusting you, O Father, that you'll illuminate each
one of our hearts, O God.
We want to learn the Bible tonight.
We want to study the Word of God.
And Lord, we just ask you to send
the anointing of your Spirit upon us, Lord,
each one of us, Lord.
For we know we cannot learn the Bible
without the Teacher being here to teach us
all the things that we need to learn.
O Father, we ask you, fill us, yes,
Lord, full and running over with your Holy
Spirit tonight.
God, we just ask you to minister to
us.
Father, I just want to bring this subject
up before you tonight.
This subject, this matter of the covering, O
God.
The veiling, Lord, we bring it up before
you tonight.
God, you know how important it is.
We don't know how important it is, Lord,
but you do.
And I just pray, Lord, let Heaven attend
the meeting tonight and teach us, Lord.
Give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation,
O God, tonight.
We may understand the Word of God that
we may see into the heavenlies and see
how important this is.
Lord, we trust the service into your hands
and each heart into your hands.
God, we would ask you also tonight that
you'd bind the devil and every evil spirit
and power that would seek to hinder the
lesson this evening, that would confound the mind.
God, we just bind the devil in the
name of the Lord Jesus tonight because we
know that he has no power over the
people of God.
Hallelujah.
And we thank you for that, Lord.
We rest in your authority concerning all those
things.
We pray in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
All right, this evening we're going to have
a little study this evening on 1 Corinthians
11.
We want to look at some principles on
the veiling, some principles on the scriptural veiling.
We'll be looking at 1 Corinthians 11, verse
1 through 16.
I do not plan this evening to give
an exegesis of 1 Corinthians 11, 1 through
16, although we will zero in on some
of the verses.
But I'd just like to look at several
principles that flow out of the verses this
evening.
And I think that we'll have time when
I get done sharing to open it up
for some discussion.
In fact, I desire that and invite your
input on it.
If you have any thoughts while we are
teaching, I would encourage you just to write
them down so that you don't lose them.
And then you can share them with the
rest of us after we finish here.
Reading 1 Corinthians 11, verse 1 through 16,
Be followers of me, even as I also
am of Christ.
Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember
me in all things, and keep the ordinances
as I delivered them to you.
But I would have you know that the
head of every man is Christ, and the
head of the woman is the man, and
the head of Christ is God.
Every man praying or prophesying, having his head
covered, dishonoreth his head.
But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with
her head uncovered dishonoreth her head, which is
her husband.
For that is even all one, as if
she were shaven.
For if the woman be not covered, let
her also be shorn.
But if it be a shame for a
woman to be shorn or shaven, let her
be covered.
For if a man indeed ought not to
cover his head, forasmuch as he is the
image and glory of God, but the woman
is the glory of the man.
For the man is not of the woman,
but the woman of the man.
Neither was the man created for the woman,
but the woman for the man.
For this cause ought the woman to have
power on her head because of the angels.
Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman,
neither the woman without the man in the
Lord.
For as the woman is of the man,
even so is the man also by the
woman, but all things of God.
Judge in yourselves, is it comely that a
woman pray unto God uncovered?
Doth not even nature itself teach you that
if a man have long hair, it is
a shame unto him?
But if a woman have long hair, it
is a glory to her, for her hair
is given her for a covering.
But if any man seem to be contentious,
we have no such custom, neither the churches
of God.
All right, I have several principles that I'd
like to look at here concerning the principle
of the veiling.
And the first one is the principle of
God's government.
We see this in verse 3, and verse
3 is the principle verse or the key
verse of all of this passage.
If we understand this one, then the rest
of them flow out of it.
If we do not understand this one, things
get confused real fast, and of course we
know that.
We can look around America and see that
it is so.
But the principle of God's government we see
in verse 3.
Paul says, I would have you know, this
is something that I want you Corinthians to
know.
I've taught you many things, I've expound many
things to you, but here is one that
I want you also to know.
And here it is, that the head of
every man is Christ, and the head of
the woman is the man, and the head
of Christ is God.
So here we see the principle of God's
government.
We have God, we have Christ, we have
the man, and we have the woman.
The head of Christ is God, the head
of the woman is the man, and the
head of man is Christ.
This principle of God's government is what makes
the whole principle of covering make sense.
In fact, if you get that one mixed
up, you'll never be able to understand the
principle of covering.
But if you'll see it, if you'll see
that principle, you'll also understand the principle of
covering.
It's basically the principle of authority.
God has government, God has His order of
authority, and we as God's people must fall
in line with God's order of authority.
The western woman has mostly cast off this
order of authority, and I think we can
all safely agree that not only has she
cast off the order of authority, but she's
cast off the symbol of the order of
that authority.
And we'll look at that a little bit
more as we get into one of the
other principles.
But first of all, we want to recognize
that this matter of covering has to do
with authority.
It has to do with God's order.
Now, it has to do with more than
that, but it has to do with God's
order.
It's very interesting to me, as we get
to meet the remnant around this country, that
most of the time you find them being
very open to this principle of covering.
In fact, many times you'll find them, you'll
find these sisters with their heads already covered,
they've already searched it out, and wouldn't you
know it, at the same time that you
find that sister already covered, you also find
her as being one of those sisters who
is willing and desirous to get underneath the
authority of her husband.
Those two things, I've noticed them going together.
Now, I must say, I don't always notice
that among the plain people.
Sometimes the inner working of that thing has
been lost through years of not really having
a relationship with the Lord.
And I'm not sure what all the reasons
are, but many times it is lost.
But it's very interesting when you find it
outside the plain people, maybe in California or
in Georgia or somewhere like that, here you
have this head that's covered, and you begin
to ask them questions about it and spend
a little time with them, and you'll see
the principle or the reality of the covering
being lived out in that sister's life, and
then also it is on the head.
Not always, but many times we find it
that way.
So the first principle that we just want
to clarify here is that of God's governmental
authority.
Second of all, I'd like for us to
look at the principle of covered glory.
Reading again verse seven through ten.
For a man, indeed, ought not to cover
his head.
Why?
For as much as he is the image
and glory of God.
But the woman is the glory of the
man.
For the man is not of the woman,
but the woman of the man.
Neither was the man created for the woman,
but the woman for the man.
For this cause ought the woman to have
power on her head because of the angels.
Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman,
neither the woman without the man in the
Lord.
Okay, the principle of covered glory.
First of all, I'd like us to notice
what glory is.
Glory is that which brings attention.
I mean, the glory of God is that
which brings attention to God.
It's that which emanates out from God, but
it's also that which brings all attention to
God.
God has glory, the angels have glory, and
the glory of an angel is that which
brings the attention to the angel.
We have the principle of glory.
Now, notice the principle of covered glory.
As I understand these scriptures, and I'm open
to your comments on this, I'm not speaking,
you know, real dogmatically on some of these
things.
These are meditations out of 1 Corinthians.
But as I understand this principle, all glory
is covered but man.
Because man, we read here clearly, is the
image and glory of God.
But notice all the others.
If we could turn to a verse, but
I'm not going to because I know that
you all know the verses.
We can read different places where we get
a glimpse into heaven and we see the
cherubims before the throne of God.
And what does the scripture say about the
cherubims?
They come before the throne of God, which
is where the glory of God emanates.
And what do they do?
They cover their glory.
Two of their wings they use to cover
their glory as they come into the presence
of God.
That's what they do.
Now, it also says that the woman covers
her head because she is the glory of
the man.
And also notice that the woman covers her
glory.
And the Bible speaks about three glories here.
We have the glory.
Man is a glory.
The woman is glory.
And the woman's hair is glory.
And all these glories get covered except man
because man is the image and glory of
God.
He doesn't get covered.
Now, this covering of glory is a token
or symbol of submission.
That's exactly what it is.
And we can see this principle by stepping
back into the heavenlies for just a moment
tonight and see the angels again.
They know where their authority is.
They know that they have authority, but they
also know that they are under authority.
And when they come before the glory of
God, they cover their glory.
That's what they do.
It's a token and a symbol of submission.
When they come before their glory to cover
their glory.
If we could just picture that a little
bit in light of the sisters.
I mean, here we see an angel coming
before God.
And the angel covers his glory before God.
Now we see the picture of a sister
coming before God.
And the Scripture teaches that the sister should
also cover her glory.
Now, she's got two of them.
She's got two glories.
She in herself is a glory.
She's the glory of the man.
And her hair is also a glory.
It's her glory.
She's the glory of the man.
And her hair is her glory.
So she has two glories.
And she comes before God and she covers
her glory when she comes before God.
Or when she walks with God.
So we have the principle of covered glory.
And if I could just switch it just
for a minute.
So maybe we could understand a little bit
the words that are brought out here about
shame.
If you could just picture how the angels
would see that whole thing.
If for all these thousands of years they've
been coming up before God.
And covering their glory before God.
And then to see a woman come before
God and not cover her glory.
I think we get a little bit of
a glimpse of the shame of coming before
God.
And not being covered in that proper order
of authority and submission before God.
I think we get a little glimpse of
it when we see that.
Let's see.
Let's read verse 13 also in light of
that.
Judge in yourselves, is it comely that a
woman pray unto God uncovered?
Here we've seen this picture.
We understand the glory.
We understand God's order.
We understand the angels coming before God.
They cover their glory.
Is it comely?
Judge in yourselves, is it comely that a
woman pray unto God uncovered?
Okay.
The third principle that I'd like to look
at is the principle of testimony.
We have a principle of testimony here.
The veiling, the covering, is a symbol of
divine order.
It's one of those several outward symbols of
spiritual reality.
Or outward symbols of divine order.
The covering is one of those.
It's an outward symbol of spiritual reality.
It's not just to approach God.
But it also has a testimony in it.
In three areas.
Number one, again, and we've already looked at
it, but I'd like to state it in
light of this principle of testimony.
We have the testimony in the heavenlies.
It is a testimony in the heavenlies.
The Scripture says here, verse 10, For this
cause ought the woman to have power on
her head because of the angels.
Now, I'm not sure what all that means.
There's a lot of ideas about what because
of the angels mean.
But whatever it means, I know that they're
in another realm than where we live.
And thus, there's a testimony of covering in
the heavenlies or in the spiritual realm that
goes forth by a sister who covers her
head.
Second of all, we have the testimony in
the church.
I mean, it's very evident.
It says something to everybody else that is
around you.
It says, I'm in divine order.
It says, I'm under authority.
It says, I'm a woman.
It says, I'm glad to take my place.
It says all of those things.
And I had to think, you know, as
we get around other places, oh, go to
a homeschool seminar, things like that.
It's been amazing to me to see the
different reactions to the outward testimony of covering.
Very interesting to me.
You find some ladies, they'll come up with
just total intrigue, totally intrigued and ask questions
about why you wear this thing.
And then other ladies will come up and
it, you know, I've just stood back in
amazement sometimes as they've asked questions to my
wife and I could tell they were coming
with defensive questions.
And nobody had said anything yet, but they
already had their defenses up and they were
already offended without even a question being answered
yet.
And as the questions were being answered, the
defenses went up even stronger and some of
these different women would even say, well, it's
okay for you to wear it, but I
don't believe I have to.
And nobody even said they had to.
But the testimony of it rings.
It has a spiritual testimony, it has a
physical testimony, and it speaks about God's divine
order.
Sometimes they may not even understand what it's
speaking, but it still speaks about God's divine
order.
That's been very interesting to me to watch
it.
Also, it's been a real blessing to see
how many open doors it has given to
witness.
How many times someone has come up and
said, why do you wear that, usually they
say, that thing on your head?
Why do you wear that thing on your
head?
And of course, it's a beautiful opportunity to
open up and speak about God.
And I think it's right for a sister
to begin right here in this chapter.
And I think it's just beautiful when a
sister can really do that from her heart
and say back to that one who throws
that question, this is a symbol of my
submission to God's authority, both in the heavenlies
and on this earth, which is my husband.
I'm submitted to my husband.
I'm glad to be under his authority.
I'm delighted to be a woman.
God made me to be a woman and
I'm under his authority and this is why
I do it and I love it.
What a beautiful testimony that is.
And then you can go in and preach
salvation.
You can share the gospel with somebody who
asks a question like that.
So we have the principle of testimony here.
It says in the heavenlies, it says to
the church, it says to the world, I
am in divine order.
I am under authority.
I am a woman and I'm glad to
take my place in God's order.
That's what it says.
Number four, we want to say a little
bit about the principle of inward reality.
I do believe that it's the heart of
God that you have the inward reality of
the outward symbol that you wear on your
head.
That is God's heart.
It must be more than just a symbol
if it's going to be the full blessing
that God meant it to be for a
sister.
It must be down inside the heart.
If you can just picture the whole thing,
picturing a sister just coming before her God
or walking before her God, if she has
the whole thing in her heart, she recognizes
God's authority.
She recognizes His sovereignty.
She recognizes His order of authority.
She recognizes that her husband is the order
of authority for her life.
And with all of that, with the reality
of all that, with a submission to God
and also to her husband, she comes before
the Lord with the inward reality.
She is going to receive blessings from God
for following this principle in the Word of
God.
It can be, if you have the inward
reality, it can be a glorious crown upon
your head.
Now, I'd like to say this too, just
to balance it on the other side.
I do believe that it should be obeyed
whether you have the inward reality of it
or not.
I've heard sometimes people say, well, they don't
even have any of the inward reality.
Well, the Bible says this is God's order.
And that if you're going to come before
the Lord, you should come before the Lord
covered.
If you're going to speak forth the mind
and will of God under God's anointing, you
must come covered.
And I believe that it's supposed to be
obeyed.
I don't think it's right for women to
take it off if they're having a fuss
with their husband and not put it on
until they get right with their husband.
I believe what they need to do is
get right with their husband.
Should it be obeyed?
Anyway, the Bible commands it.
Should I obey it if I just see
it a little?
I think I need to wait until I
really understand it, until I really see the
depths of it.
I don't believe you have to do that.
It is a symbol of divine order.
And we need to follow that symbol of
divine order.
I guess I would see it just like
a lot of other things.
We wouldn't...
Well, I guess I couldn't use that illustration,
but I could use the one about hair.
I mean, we know that it's a shame
for a man to have long hair.
And there are many deep principles behind that.
God made him a certain way.
God made him different than the woman.
God made him the head and the woman
is to follow him.
And those are all the principles why a
man should have short hair.
And we'll look at that in a little
while.
But I think that a man ought to
cut his hair short simply because the Bible
says so.
And I think that a woman ought to
cover her head simply because the Bible says
so also.
But, the inward reality is what God wants
for each one of the sisters in this
matter of covering the head.
Alright, the next one I'd like to look
at is the principle of ministry.
It says here, if we can go back
and read some of the Scriptures, verse 5
is where we're reading, but every woman that
prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoreth
her head for that is even all one
as if she were shaven.
And let's see, we want to read another
verse.
Verse 13 where we read already, Judge in
yourselves, is it comely that a woman pray
unto God uncovered?
Now from these verses, we just want to
recognize the principle of ministry.
God does allow women to also be ministers
of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Not in the same way that He gives
to man.
God doesn't give women a place to teach,
nor usurp authority over a man, but God
has given ministry to women.
That is a great honor.
And if we could just separate it from
men for just a little bit this evening
and just help you sisters to see the
honor or the privilege that God gives to
you for ministry aside from the fact that
men might have more ministry or more public
ministry than you do.
Just looking at the principle of ministry here
just a little bit this evening.
You have the honor, the privilege of walking
before God.
You have the honor and privilege of pouring
your heart out unto Him.
You have the honor and privilege of praying
for the needs of others around you.
You have the honor and privilege of speaking
the words, the mind and will of God
under the anointing of the Holy Spirit within
its proper realms.
God has given you that privilege.
It's a privilege for us men also to
have ministry.
But for the ministry that God has given
you sisters, it is an honor and it's
a privilege.
And because it is, it ought to be
done God's way.
It ought to be done in God's order
because God has honored you with that opportunity
to minister.
So just the simple matter of the honor
of the ministry dictates that divine order be
followed.
Again, if we could just, we can see
that the angels have the honor of ministry
and how they respond before God.
That same principle of covering that when we
are before our God, and I don't just
mean when we get down on our knees
to pray, because if we walk before God,
we are before our God all the day
long.
But this principle of covering and ministry, they
coincide.
Number six, we'd like to look at the
principle of creation.
And we'll read some of these verses again
here.
The principle of creation strengthens the principle of
covering.
Let's see.
Let's read from verse eight.
For the man is not of the woman,
but the woman of the man.
Neither was the man created for the woman,
but the woman for the man.
For this caused not the woman to have
power on her head because of the angels.
Now we go back into creation again.
Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman,
neither the woman without the man in the
Lord.
For as the woman is of the man,
even so is the man also by the
woman, but all things of God.
Judge in yourselves.
Is it comely that a woman pray unto
God uncovered?
Now, I'd like us to notice here how
these verses flow.
We're looking at the principle of creation.
Then we talk about this covering.
Then we go back and speak about the
principle of creation again.
Then we break right back in and speak
about this covering two times.
Creation, verse eight and nine, verse ten, the
principle of covering.
Creation, verse eleven and twelve, verse thirteen, the
principle of covering.
Then it goes on to say, Does not
even nature itself teach you that if a
man have long hair, it is a shame
unto him?
But if a woman have long hair, it
is a glory to her, for her hair
is given her for a covering.
Okay, here we see the principle of creation.
The man has short hair, the woman has
long hair.
Now, I realize I'm speculating here a little
bit, but I don't believe I am.
When God looked on Adam and Eve, I
believe that Adam had shorter hair and Eve
had long hair, simply because God made everything
the way that He wanted it.
That's the way that He did it.
And that same principle of God's design has
followed man and woman all the way through
the ages.
To this day, you see a man walking
down the street with long hair, it's a
shame.
It's a shame, even a lot of heathen
people have that witness in their heart.
Now, those that are following the same rebellion,
they don't have that.
But even the heathen people, when the hippie
movement started and all the men started growing
their hair long as a sign of their
rebellion, even the heathen people said, there is
something not right with that.
Turn it around on the other side, it's
the same with long hair.
Now, I realize that the philosophies of the
world are changing this consciousness in America.
But still, I'm amazed how many times you
ask a man, what do you prefer?
And the man will say, I prefer my
wife have long hair.
But the women are cutting their hair off
short.
And it follows them.
They do not realize it, but the principle
of God's design follows them and that hair
cut off is a shame to them.
Okay, now this principle of God's creation adds
strength to the principle of covering.
Same thing.
The man was made in the image of
God.
The woman was made for man.
The man was made in the image of
God and he was made with short hair.
His head, his natural head is not covered
with long hair.
On the other hand, the woman, she was
made from man and she was made to
be the glory of man and she has
long hair and her natural head is covered.
Aside from the spiritual principle of coming before
the Lord, of walking with God, of ministry
and all those things, just in the natural.
She came out of man, she is under
man and God made her with long hair.
I mean the first time Adam laid his
eyes on Eve, she was covered.
If I can say it that way.
She was covered with her natural covering and
he was uncovered.
He had short hair, she had long.
Now, some of that might be Kenistonology and
I'll be glad for any of your input
after we're done here.
Okay, the next principle that I'd like to
look at this evening is the principle of
modesty.
Now, it's not mentioned here in 1 Corinthians
11, but I believe that the covering has
a twofold principle.
One is what we've been speaking about here
already in the matter of God's authority, but
another principle is that of modesty.
The Bible says that the woman's hair is
her glory or it is that which draws
attention to her.
If I can just use that simple way
of explaining glory.
Her long hair is her glory or it
is that which draws attention to her.
It is something that God gave her that
enhances her beauty.
If I can use it that way.
Let's turn to Isaiah 47 just a minute
here.
In Bible days, the women covered their heads.
They did it for two reasons, not just
one.
They did it for two.
They did it, number one, because they were
taught to cover their heads.
They did it, number two, because of the
principle of modesty.
This is a little bit of historical evidence,
but an uncovered head was shame in public
in Bible days.
Or in the days that the Bible was
written, both Old Testament and New, a woman
with her hair flowing, it was a shame.
They wouldn't do it.
They absolutely wouldn't do it.
And the only ones who would pull something
like that would be the ones who were
trying to draw the attention their way.
Trying to get attention drawn their way and
get the eyes of men looking at them.
Let's read in Isaiah 47, verse 2, and
we can see a little bit of this,
or verse 1 and 2.
Come down and sit in the dust, O
virgin daughter of Babylon.
Sit on the ground.
There is no throne, O daughter of the
Chaldeans, for thou shalt no more be called
tender and delicate.
Take the milestone and grind meal.
Uncover thy locks, make bare the leg, uncover
the thigh, and pass over the river.
Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame
shall be seen.
I will take vengeance, and I will not
meet thee as a man.
Now here God is speaking about Babylon, but
God uses the illustration.
He's calling Babylon a woman, but He uses
the illustration of the shame that would come
upon a woman if her locks were uncovered,
and she made bare her legs and uncovered
her thighs, and had to pass through a
river.
The shame of that.
That would be a shame.
It was considered a shame in Bible days
for something like that to happen.
And I'm sure that most of you sisters
would understand what I'm talking about.
You wouldn't think of jumping in the car
with your hair flowing and running off to
the grocery store.
You wouldn't even think of it, because your
conscience says, you know, there's something inside your
conscience that says, I don't know if it
says I'm naked, but it's something just like
that.
I'm not all here.
I'm not the way I'm supposed to be.
Something is showing that's not supposed to be
showing, and you wouldn't think of doing it.
You couldn't do it.
I believe I'm right on that.
You might let your hair flow out in
the backyard for a couple of hours and
mow the lawn or something like that, but
if you were going out into the public,
you couldn't do it.
You couldn't do it.
The principle of covering was a principle of
modesty.
Okay, number eight.
I'd like us just to note a little
bit historically about the covering, and I'm not
going to read any of it here this
evening, but I would be glad to document
any of this if it would need to
be.
The principle of the covering was clearly taught
in the writings of the early church fathers.
The principle of covering is clearly seen in
some of the Christian art that was carved
in the walls of the catacombs which are
underneath Rome, which is where a lot of
the Roman Christians hid during the persecutions in
the days of the Roman Empire.
They went down there to hide from their
persecutors, and they lived down there, and while
they lived down there, they drew pictures on
the walls of the catacombs.
And if you look at those pictures, you
will see, and this is I think about
200 AD, 180, 200 AD, something like that.
You'll see that the women had their heads
veiled.
In those pictures under the catacombs.
Also, if you go back and read some
of the early writings of the Anabaptists, you'll
see that they taught the principle of covering
to their sisters.
If you went back and studied early Christian
America and Christian England history, you would also
find out that they believed in the covering.
I don't know if any of you ever
saw a picture of a Salvation Army lassie,
but they wore a bonnet on their head
which was a symbol of them being under
divine authority while they were out on the
streets singing and testifying and playing their music
or whatever they did out there, witnessing to
people.
They went out there, they had a Salvation
Army bonnet on their heads.
The early Methodists also covered their heads.
We recently were studying about John Wesley, and
more specifically about John Wesley's mother Susanna, and
the pictures that we looked at of Susanna
Wesley, she has a covering on her head.
That would have been about 1700 in England.
Even most of the old Protestant denominations, the
women cover their heads up until the last
100 years.
If you go to Bob Jones University today
and decide you want to go to school
there, one of the rules in the rule
book at Bob Jones University, even to this
day, is you sisters have to wear a
hat to church on Sunday.
Now they have no idea what it's for
anymore, but Bob Jones University was an old
Methodist university when it started.
And the old Methodists had the principle of
covering, and those women had to cover their
heads.
And it's changed and it's watered down and
watered down to where now you have to
wear a hat when you go to church
on Sunday if you're a woman at Bob
Jones University.
Nobody knows why, but it's still there.
You can see a little bit of the
trappings of it even at Bob Jones University,
and that's a very liberal university these days.
What about the testimony out around the world?
You go to Russia, you meet the Russian
Christians.
I won't say that all of them do,
but many, many, many of the Russian Christian
women cover their heads, even to this day.
You can see, we've seen pictures of baptisms
over in Russia, secret baptisms that took place.
And you look around there and you'll see
coverings on the heads of the sisters.
You can go to Romania and find the
same thing there.
Maybe not completely, but yet you can see
that the principle, maybe some of them are
moving away from it, but there's enough of
it still there that you can see that
they believed in the principle of covering there.
To our surprise, when we went to Africa,
I guess it's five years ago now that
we went to Africa, I mean, we just
shot in the dark, so to speak, you
know, and went by a letter from Ghana,
a call for help, and went over there
and met these people over there, and here
are all these African women with their heads
covered.
And the first time we were there, when
Brother Luke Zimmerman and I were there, we
asked, what do you cover your head for?
First Corinthians 11 came out of their mouth.
Immediately it came out of their mouth.
If you go to China, again, these things
are beginning to break down, but if you
go to China, you will find that the
Chinese Christians, many of them, the women, they
cover their heads.
Even to this day.
The famous Chinese preacher, Watchman Nee, who God
used to, I don't know, establish three or
four hundred churches in his lifetime, he taught
the principle of covering to the sisters in
all of those churches.
He taught that principle to them, that if
they're going to be clear before the Lord,
and in their prayers, and their walk with
God, in their ministry, they must have their
heads covered.
He taught that.
So, here we have it.
We have the testimony that we find written
here in the Word of God.
We have the testimony of the early church
writings, which you can go there and look
yourself, the latest book that David Brousseau put
out about Tertullian.
He brings out the principle there very clearly
and strongly, preaches that the sisters should be
veiled.
Here we have it on the walls of
the catacombs.
We have the Anabaptists teaching it.
We see that the early Christians taught it
in early America and in England.
All of these testimonies, we see that the
Russians have it, the Romanians have it some,
the Africans have it some, the Chinese have
it some, but for some reason, the American
Christians, they took it away.
I have some thoughts about all that.
You know, I believe for number one, Satan
had his hand in it, for sure.
And I'd like to just mention, as we're
moving along here, a little bit about satanic
opposition.
The principle of covering, it also displays some
of the glorious victory that Christ Jesus wrought
in the heavenlies.
It displays some of that victory.
Because Christ's government has been established through the
cross, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, His
order of government has been established.
And in that order of government is the
principle of covering for the sisters.
Satan opposes the covering.
In fact, I guess we could say it's
a visible sign of his defeat, or one
of the visible reminders of his defeat at
Calvary.
As we've been working with different people, working
in the prayer room with people who have
needs, these testimonies have come to us.
Testimonies of demons, lashing out at coverings.
Testimonies of men of God who are trying
to work with a sister in deliverance, and
trying to put a covering on her head,
and the demons just lashing out and grabbing
that covering and throwing it as far away
as they can, working through the individual, just
being angry and pitching a fit, and it
stirs them up and they don't like it.
I don't know if you read the book
or not.
I'm not in total agreement with it.
But there's a book that was written, I
think it was a Pentecostal man, called The
Sunset of the Western Church.
And he brings out some very interesting meditations
which I do believe there would be some
merit in what he says.
He thinks one of the destructive forces on
the Western Church, or the church in the
West, England, America, etc., has been these three
things.
Number one, women got out from underneath the
authority of their husbands.
Number two, those women uncovered their heads.
Number three, the church allowed those women to
rise up, take places of authority, begin to
teach, begin to preach, and these women have
just been opened up to satanic deception because
of their disobedience.
Number one, getting out from underneath their husbands'
authority.
Number two, throwing away the covering because it
did happen.
I mean, if you look at the church
in America, there was a time when that
covering was thrown away, that women just decided,
no more.
And there was also a time in America
when the women rose up and said, we
can preach and teach also.
Worthy of some meditation, I believe.
And I think that's one reason why Satan
opposes it so much because, I mean, here
we see this whole thing from a heavenly
perspective.
If we can see it from Satan's point
of view, he wants to stop anything that
has to do with divine order, with divine
authority.
If there is protection, and I believe there's
some indication in the Scripture that there is
protection for the sisters who cover their heads
first, who get underneath their husbands' authority and
cover their heads.
I believe there's some indication that there's protection
for them.
If there is, that's the last thing that
Satan wants is for the women in America,
the Christian women, to begin to face this
principle again.
Get back under their husbands' authority.
Get back into God's order.
Cover their heads.
Get back in their places.
Stop their preaching, their teaching, their assuming authority
over men.
And let all of these things be brought
back into God's order.
Satan does not want that.
Absolutely does not want it.
And then I have this thought in closing,
and then we'll open it up for just
some discussion here.
I had to think as I was meditating,
especially in America where we live, but it's
happening more and more this way all over
the world because of Western influence.
Women are uncovering their heads all over the
world.
But I had to think, what's going to
happen when persecution comes?
I mean, what will happen?
I don't know if you sisters have thought
that through very much in light of the
country that you live in, but your veiling
will make you a sitting duck.
It will make you a sitting duck.
And I think that it behooves us that
we do more than just put a veiling
on our head because that's what mom did
or that's what grandma did or that's what
the church says we should do.
But I believe with all my heart that
you need to meditate upon the principles behind
it so that you can see how important
the principles are in God's divine order so
that it is truly a conviction that goes
deep down inside your heart.
Because I believe in days of persecution it
would be wrong for you to throw it
off and go out into public.
Just something for us to meditate upon.
Maybe in the future, worthy of some discussion.
Alright, so we'll open it up at this
time.
Like I said, I'm not speaking dogmatic on
all this.
There's a lot of rich meditations in this
first half of 1 Corinthians chapter 11.
So, we'll open it up at this time
for some other thoughts, discussion, whatever.
Even some challenges.
I'm open for those too.
Yes, Brother Luke.
You mean the Jewish
men?
Yes, that is true.
You ask them, that's what they'll say.
I cover my head till Messiah comes.
And that's why Paul was also dealing with
men in 1 Corinthians 11.
He wasn't just dealing with women because there
were converted Jews in that congregation and the
men had their heads covered.
And Paul said, uncover your head.
Christ has come.
Good thought.
Other thoughts?
Yes, good point.
Thank you.
Any other thoughts?
Yes.
How do you know that the passage is
speaking about a married woman there?
Yeah, there would be some.
If you would read commentaries on it, there
would be some question about that.
In fact, I think, if I remember right,
Tertullian even would have faced that controversy, some
in his writings in the book that David
Rousseau brought out, that there was some controversy
there.
And thus, the problem was that some of
the virgins were going out uncovered.
But it doesn't specifically say wife there.
It says woman.
Yes, we are supposed to pray without ceasing.
That's true.
I was afraid I might misrepresent that a
little because I wanted to picture a woman
coming before God.
But I do believe that a woman should
pray without ceasing and thus be covered before
the Lord.
But I wanted us to see what it
would look like for a woman to come
before God, if you could see her coming
up to the throne of God and be
uncovered.
I wanted us to get that picture.
That's why I used that illustration.
Yes, Brother Myron.
That's interesting.
Yes, thank you for that.
Yes.
Yeah, you do.
I mean, you still have the principle of
authority.
And I know, Alex, that you agree with
that.
You understand that.
You still have the principle of authority there
that a daughter is under her father.
Well, that's the way I would understand it.
That the head of the woman is the
man.
We know that to be in a general
sense.
Yeah, a universal sense.
The head of the woman is the man.
Other thoughts?
She's still under the authority of men in
the church.
Yes.
Thank you for that.
Yes, Alex.
Yes.
Yes, and wouldn't we agree that the whole
principle of authority, the divine creation principle was
more than just husband and wife.
But it was man-woman.
That's right, Brother.
And that testimony being that there's something that
stops a man when he starts having thoughts
about going after a virgin, a Christian virgin
woman.
There's something that stops him.
That's especially so if she has the honor
she doesn't have.
Yeah.
I guess we'd have to say that there
may be some power in the covering, but
there's real power in the covering with the
spirit of the covering.
There's real power in that.
That's a great protection for all of you
sisters.
Yes, Brother Harold.
Did you
hear that over here on this side what
Brother Harold shared?
He was saying that as he went to
hear Dean Hostetler who shares the tapes on
demonology, he brought out in there that his
wife had lost the principle of the covering.
And then as he got into this work
of dealing with people with witchcraft and demonology,
that they learned that there's power in that
covering and she gained the covering principle back
again.
Is that correct, Brother Harold?
And her head is covered now.
They learned it through dealing in the spiritual
realm that there is power in that covering.
Brother John?
Yes, Alex.
Well, just a couple...
I'd like your input a little bit on
the principle of the covered glory.
That's something I've just been meditating upon some
and I was hoping you'd screen it a
little bit.
What are your thoughts on that?
Amen, that's what it's there for.
You mean...
I couldn't say that.
I mean, that's a thought, you know.
But I don't know that.
Yes, Alex.
Yes.
Certainly, it's more than just an act.
But there's a spirit behind it.
You know, and there you have the principle
of the hidden woman also.
You know.
She has many attributes and many gifts and
things that God has given her.
But those things come in behind a man
to support a man.
I guess the thought that I was pondering
on it is this often comes to us.
You know, as we visit with different people
who saw the covering and now they're trying
to get their friend to see it or
whatever.
You know, it's looked at as such a
terrible thing.
And I just think somehow the beauty and
the glory of this principle needs to be
lifted up to where these sisters would just
say, Oh, give me one.
You know, I want it.
And I just believe if they could see
the principle of an angel coming up before
God and covering His glory and then a
woman not doing that.
I mean, it would be like Ben Marston's
wife.
She woke up in the middle of the
night and called a Mennonite lady and said,
give me a covering.
She put a sheet over her head until
the lady brought a covering over there.
She began to see an urgency there.
There's a big principle here.
It's not just some little thing you put
on your head.
And I believe that we need to see
some of the depth of that principle.
And all of a sudden, maybe it'll mean
more to us.
Not just something that they do at our
church.
Other thoughts?