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Banner"] Please, Oakmost in Numbers 30. Numbers, chapter number 30. If you do not have a Bible, please raise your hand, and I'm not sure you can bring your Bible. Numbers, chapter number 30. We will read the entire chapter as our custom. Numbers 30, beginning in verse number 1. And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded. If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. If a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth, and her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her, then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand. But if her father disallow her in that in the day that he heareth, not any of her vows, or if her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand, and the Lord shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her. If she had it all in husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, and her husband hear it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it, then her vow shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband disallowed disallowed her on the day that he heard it, then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul of none effect, and Lord shall forgive her. But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her. And if she vowed in her husband's house, or bound in her soul by a bond with an oath, and her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and disallowed her not, then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she had bound her soul shall stand. But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard them, then whatsoever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand. Her husband hath made them void, and the Lord shall forgive her. Every vow and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void. But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day, then he established all her vows, or all her bonds which are upon her. He confirmeth them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them. But if he shall say any ways make them void, after that he hath heard them, then he shall bear her iniquity. These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses between a man and his wife, between the father and his daughter, being yet in her youth, in her father's house. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for this evening. God, I thank you for your word, for our church. I ask you please give us all tender hearts with a message tonight, and as you be with our pastor, please strengthen him and fill him with his spirit. We love you. In Jesus' name, pray. Amen. Amen. All right, we're there in the book of Numbers, Numbers chapter number 30. And of course, we are making our way through the book of Numbers. We've been going through a sermon series now for many months through the book of Numbers. It's obviously a big book of the Bible, and there's lots to learn and say. And tonight, we find ourselves here in Numbers chapter number 30. And of course, we've been wandering with the children of wilderness through the wilderness, the children of Israel through the wilderness, and there's all sorts of stories in the book of Numbers that deal with that. But then from time to time, we have chapters in the book of Numbers that don't have narratives. They don't have stories, but they're more of what we might consider written as an epistle where we can learn something in regards to the word of God. And this chapter deals with two major themes, and we'll deal with both of them tonight. And I think we can get through the entire chapter tonight. But just to kind of give you the heads up, if you'd like to know the two headings that we'll divide this chapter into tonight for your notes. And of course, I always encourage you to take notes on your course of the week. One heading is or one lesson that we'll learn in this chapter is a lesson on personal commitments, a lesson on personal commitments. And we'll just spend a little bit of time on that. And it's a short part of this chapter. And then the main emphasis in this chapter has to do with patriarchal headship and what the Bible teaches about patriarchal headship. So we'll begin with this lesson on personal commitments first in Numbers 30. If you look down at verse number one, the Bible says this, And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded, if a man vow a vow unto the Lord. Now, both of these sections we're going to look at, these headings we're going to look at, they are all connected under this theme of vowing a vow. But I want you to notice that in the first two verses and really just in the second verse, it deals with personal vows and personal commitments. The Bible says, If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. And there's a lot that can be said about vows in the Bible. And we've studied that out in the past and looked at a lot of different things. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on that tonight, because I really would like to spend the majority of our time with the rest of the chapter and what it deals with. But I do want you to notice here that the Bible clearly says that if a man vow a vow unto the Lord, if somebody makes a commitment unto God, if they swear an oath to bind his soul, the idea they are binding your soul is that you've committed yourself to something. Then the Bible says, He shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. And the Bible says, Look, if you commit to do something, if you say you're going to do something, you should not break your word. You should do what you said you were going to do, and you should do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. Now Numbers 30 obviously is our text for tonight, and keep your place there. But go with me if you would just real quickly to the book of Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiastes chapter five. If you open your Bible just right in the center, you'll more than likely fall in the book of Psalms, and after Psalms you have the book of Proverbs, and then the book of Ecclesiastes. Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes. And you know, I feel like this should go without saying, but obviously sometimes what you think should go without saying needs to be said. And so let me just give you the application. It's a novel idea really. It's a crazy idea. Christians should do what they said they're going to do. Christians, if anybody's going to keep their word, shouldn't it be Christians? Shouldn't it be people of the Bible who just keep to their commitments and say, look, if I committed to do something, I know that sounds extreme. I mean, trust me, I understand. You're at Verdi Baptist Church tonight, and this is an extreme statement. But the Bible teaches if you commit to do something, you should do it. It's called personal responsibility, and you shouldn't need somebody to babysit you, and you shouldn't need somebody to micromanage you, and you shouldn't need somebody to just constantly be looking over your shoulder and making sure that you're doing what you said you're going to do. You should live your life in such a way where your word, there's something of value to your word where somebody can say, look, if so-and-so said they're going to do this, they're going to do it. I don't have to worry about it because they are a man of their word, because they are a woman who gives her word and keeps her commitments. Ecclesiastes chapter five, look at verse four. Notice here the Bible speaks of this subject again. Ecclesiastes chapter five and verse four. When thou vowest a vow unto God, notice the words here, defer not to pay it. The word defer means to delay or postpone. He says, look, when you make a vow, when you make a commitment, you ought to defer not to pay it, for he hath no pleasure in fools pay that which thou has vowed. And notice verse five, better it is that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. God said, look, if you're going to commit to do something, if you're going to commit to a certain thing, then you should stick to that commitment. And if not, he says, it's better that you not vow at all. He says, better it is that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth. The word suffer there in our King James Bible is used in an older sense. The word suffer means allow. And he says, allow not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin. When you say you're going to do something, and then you fail to do it. And look, we're not talking about you weren't physically able, you committed to do something, and you know, you're in a car accident or something like that that kept you. We're talking about the fact that you just committed to something and you chose not to do it. You failed to do it. God calls that a sin. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin. Neither say thou before the angel that it was an error. He says, you should not sit there and say, no, that was a mistake. I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have vowed that. God says, look, when you vow something, you ought to commit to keep it. Don't say before the angel that it was an error. Wherefore, should God be angry at thy voice? Look at that. Wherefore, should God be angry at thy voice and destroy the work of thine hands? God says, when you are the type of person who cannot keep your word, who does not keep your vows, who does not keep your commitments, that angers God and it actually moves God against you and it moves God to not want to bless you. So there's lots of ways that this could be applied and we could look at a lot of different things. I'm not going to do that tonight. Let me just give you two real quick applications. You can go back to the book of Numbers if you'd like. Numbers, actually do me a favor. Go to the New Testament book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter five in the New Testament. You've got Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, and then the book of Ephesians. Find the Ephesians in the New Testament and do me a favor, put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there because we're going to leave it and we're going to come back to it and I'd like you to get to it quickly and let's just finish up this idea on personal commitments. If a man vowel unto the Lord or swear north to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeded out of his mouth. When thou vows a vow unto God, Ephesians five, defer not to pay it for he hath no pleasure in fools. Pay that which thou has vowed. Better it is that thou shouldest not vow than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin, neither say thou before the angel that it was an error. And again, we can spend a lot of time on this. Let me give you some quick applications. First application that comes to my head when I read these words is marriage. You know, when you walk down an aisle and you stand before a man of God or an ordained minister and before your friends and your family and before the greatest witness of your marriage, God himself, and you commit and make a vow that says for better or worse in sickness and in health, till death do us part, you should take that vow seriously. That is a vow that should be taken seriously. Now, obviously I understand where you live in 2024 America and we're told that 50 to 60% now of marriages end in divorce. And if you're here tonight in your divorce, I'm not beating up on you, you know, sin is sin and whatever. But I am telling you this, that for those of you that have never been divorced or if you've been divorced and you're married now, when it comes to your current spouse, you need to commit to your vow. You should defer not to pay it. You should, and don't sit there and tell the angel that it was an error. Unless it was some sort of shotgun wedding where there was literally a shotgun to your head, nobody made you walk down that aisle. Nobody made you say I do. Nobody made you do any of that. And when you make a vow, you need to decide that you're gonna be the type of person that keeps your vow. And by the way, you say, well, I don't like that type of preaching. Well, then you, these are the same people that I'm constantly telling them before they get married. Hey, why don't you slow this thing down a little bit? Why don't you get to know this person, get to know the situation? You know, it's interesting to me how I'm always the enemy because I'm always the one that's lining myself up with the Bible. Before people get married, I'm the one saying, why don't we slow this down? Why don't we take our time? This is a big deal. Maybe they're a psycho, you know? And it's like, no, you don't know. We love each other. I'm like, that's what they all say. You don't know what love is. You're an idiot. And then afterwards, I'm the one saying, no, you can't divorce them. No, I know they're a psycho. Remember, I tried to tell you. When you make a vow, keep it. Be the type of person that says, look, when I commit to something, my word is solid. My word is good. I'm not doing this flippantly. I mean what I say. Now vow us a vow until God differ not to pay you. So obviously, look, you oughta take your marriage seriously. You oughta not look at marriage as something that's flippant, something that's no big deal, something that's, oh, it's whatever. If you're gonna make a vow till death do us part, that needs to be a very serious vow. You need to not rush into that, and if you've rushed into it or if you're in it or whatever, you need to keep it and you need to work through it and you need to ask God to help you and you need to listen to my emotional intelligence series or whatever you need to do to figure out how to have a good marriage, but you need to keep that vow. Here's another application that stands out to me, and look, it's Sunday night. So obviously, this isn't a Sunday morning service. I feel like on Sunday night, generally, it's more of a serious crowd that comes to our church like this and more of a core crowd. Obviously, we have guests and we appreciate that, but here's another application that comes to my mind is how about all the volunteers of Verity Baptist Church who make a commitment to do certain things when they take a position of leadership here? Have I gone to any of you and said you need to be in the safety team? Have I gone to any of you and said you need to be an usher? I mean, please tell me, correct me if I'm wrong, have I gone to anybody and said you need to be a song leader, you need to play in the orchestra, you need to... Because I'm pretty sure every position here at Verity Baptist Church, here's how it happens. Somebody raises their hand and says, I'd like to be an usher. Someone raises their hand and says, I'd like to serve on the safety team. Somebody raises their hand and says, I like music, I'd like to be a song leader. And then here's what happens. We say, well, we'd love for you to be an usher. We'd love for you to be on the safety team. We'd love for you to be a song leader. We'd love for you to be a personal worker. We'd love for you to serve in these areas of public view. But here's the thing though, because Verity Baptist Church is a soul winning church. I mean, apparently most of you weren't aware of that based off those amens. But since Verity Baptist Church, I don't know if you ever heard this term before, soul winning? It's something we believe in. We've asked everyone and said, if you're gonna be an usher, you need to be to three to thrive, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, and be a soul winner. That's what we said. Now correct me if I'm wrong. Please stand up and call me a liar right now if that's not the case. If I didn't look every song leader instead, you can be a song leader, but you gotta be to all three services. You gotta be a soul winner. That's the requirement for serving in our ministry in a public position. You wanna be an usher? Great, we'd love for you to be an usher. You need to be a soul winner. You wanna be on the safety team? No problem. You need to be a soul winner. You need to be Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. Anybody wanna stand up and call me a liar? So then why do people, grown adults, want to make it my job to then follow up on them and say, hmm, you haven't been soul winning for 12 weeks. You come to church once every three weeks. Why do I, shouldn't you be someone who is responsible enough and accountable enough to say when I've made a commitment, I keep it? Why do you need a 38-year-old man to babysit you? I've got six children. I've got enough children to babysit. I don't need to babysit you. You should be responsible enough to say, hey, I've made a commitment. I'm gonna keep it. Let me welcome you to biblical Christianity. This is how the Bible works. Well, except I don't like you yelling. Well then, keep your commitments. When thou vows to vow unto God, defer not to pay it. For he had no pleasure and fools. Pay that which thou has vowed. Better it is that thou shouldest not vow than thou shouldest vow and not pay. And look, I'm not mad at you. You say, well, you seem mad. Sometimes I have to pretend like I am mad just to get your attention. Remember this morning's sermon? Because if I say it nicely, you won't hear. But listen to me. If you are over the age of 12, you should be able to keep your commitments. And look, this applies in every area of life. Kids, if your parents have said, it's your job to take the trash out on this day, it's your job to take the trash out, they shouldn't have to remind you to do that every week. You shouldn't have to be reminded to do the same. If you said, okay, that's my job. I'll take that job. You say, well, I never agreed to it. They told you to do it, you need to do it. When it comes to the volunteers of Mary Baptist Church, I've never walked up to any of you and said, you've got the spirit of hospitality. I mean, let me tell you something. I just need you to be an usher. That's never happened. In fact, there's some of you that I might like not being an usher. I've never said, man, I've seen your sharp shooting skills. Let me tell you something. We need you on the safety team. I'm not convinced I need a safety team. I've never walked up to any of you and said, I need you too. If you volunteered and said, I'll commit to that, then you should be a grown enough man and woman to keep your commitments. And if you need me to babysit, we can do that, but it shouldn't be that. Keep your word. You say, this is a hard sermon. Really, it's a hard sermon? A novel idea. Keep your word. Be a man of your word. When you make a commitment, do it. When you've committed to do something, do it. When you've said, yes, I commit to that. I'll do that, I'll be there, I'll take care of that. You should do it. That's the type of person you should be. This is called Christianity, for some of you that are not familiar with it. Number two, some of you are like, good, let's get off that point, get on the next point. If you didn't like that point, I'm telling you right now, you're not gonna like the next one. In this chapter, we have two, the whole chapter's about vows. But the first two verses deal with personal vows, personal commitments. We've made that clear, correct? When you make a commitment, you should keep it. Look, I'm not saying that if you said, I was gonna be there, I'll meet you there at this time, and you had a flat tire, whatever, I'm not talking about that. You got sick, I'm not talking about those things. Sometimes there's things that are out of our control. I still think you should be responsible. You have an appointment with someone and you're not gonna make it, you should call them or text them and say, hey, I'm not gonna make it, or I'm gonna be late, because whatever, that's responsibility, no problem there. But when you make a commitment and you're just constantly failing to keep your commitment, listen to me, that shows something about your character. That shows that you have a bad character. A person with strong character says, I keep my word, and I don't need to be reminded. And look, we live in a society that has all sorts of technologies. Why don't you use that stinkin' phone for something good every once in a while, and set up a reminder and remind yourself, set up a reminder at Saturday morning and says, oh yeah, I committed to be a soul winner. So, personal commitments. But then there's another heading that we see in this chapter, it all has to do with vows. But it has to do with what I call patriarchal headship. And before we can even get into it, I just need to show you some verses to help you kind of understand this in the Bible. Just stick with me, and hopefully, you know, this doesn't offend you or whatever. But let me just say this. The Bible teaches that there should be male leadership in the different areas of life that God has ordained as institutions. God has ordained three different institutions in the world. One is the home, one is government, and one is church. And in all of those areas, God has ordained for there to be male leadership, for there to be a patriarchy of leadership. Let me give you a definition for that word, patriarchy. It is a social system in which men are the primary authority figures in the areas of political leadership, family, and ecclesiastical church authority. Now, I'm gonna show that to you in Numbers chapter 30. But before I do that, let me just show you a lot of verses on this, just to make the point clear that this is what the Bible teaches. Ephesians 5, verse 22. Ephesians 5, 22. Now, let me just say this. You ladies are gonna be upset at me for a little bit and be like, ah, you're preaching. I'm gonna get on the ice here in a minute, so just be patient. Ephesians 5, 22. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands. I want you to look at it. I understand it's 2024 America. I understand people don't believe this. They don't like it. They don't want to believe it. But this is what the Bible says. If you wanna be a Bible-believing Christian, here's what the Bible says. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. Now, here's what the feminists, you know, they'll respond, well, if I did that, then you're just wanting me to be married, and what if some guy, some tyrannical leader? Well, here's a question I have for you. Why are you marrying a tyrannical leader? Because if you would've listened to me to begin with, you would've slowed down, and we could've found you a good man that believes in servant leadership, that believes in benevolence and being a benevolent leader. So the Bible says, wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. Look, this is what the Bible says. This is what the Bible says. For 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. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let wives be their own husbands in everything. I'm not asking you to agree with me. I don't really care if you agree with me. I'm just telling you, this is what the Bible says. The Bible says that the husband is the head of the home. We see it there in Ephesians. Go to Colossians chapter three. After Ephesians, you have Philippians, then Colossians. Colossians chapter three. Again, I don't believe that husbands should be abusive or mean to their wives or anything like that. I believe in servant leadership. I think we should serve for the benefit of others. I've preached a lot on that, so that should be clear. Colossians three and verse 18. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord. This is what the Bible teaches. Submit yourself unto your own husband. And by the way, ladies, this is why I'm saying to you, if anyone should be slowing down on rushing into marriages, it should be you. Because you're picking the guy that's supposed to be leading you till death do us part. So let's use some wisdom now. Don't marry an idiot. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord. Go to 1 Timothy chapter two. 1 Timothy chapter two. We saw there in Ephesians and Colossians in regards to the home, 1 Timothy chapter two, this applies to the church setting. It could also apply to government. Look at it, 1 Timothy chapter two and verse 11. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. When the Bible's talking about silence, here it's talking about in the church. Because the Bible teaches that women are not supposed to stand up and preach. The Bible says that that's not a role that they should have in the church. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection, verse 12. But I suffer, remember the word suffer means to allow. I suffer not a woman to teach. So what do you think about Joyce Meyers? I think she's wrong. The Bible says I suffer not a woman to teach. Nor to usurp, you see the word usurp here? The word usurp means to illegally or unlawfully take someone's position of power nor to usurp authority over the man but to be in silence. So the Bible is clear. In church, there should be male leadership. In government, there should be male leadership. In the home, there should be male leadership. Titus chapter two, you're there in 1 Timothy. Go past 2 Timothy into Titus, Titus chapter number two. Look at verse five, Titus chapter number two, verse five. To be discreet, chase, keepers at home. Good, look at these words, obedient to their own husband. Obedient to their own husband. And by the way, let me just say this. I don't believe that every woman needs to submit to every man. I do not believe that at all. I know sometimes in fundamental type churches or conservative type churches, men get this idea. Listen to me, young men. The Bible says that wives are to obey their own husbands. The Bible says that daughters are to obey their fathers. I do not believe that every woman has to submit to every man. The Bible does not teach that. And you say, don't go around trying to boss women around or whatever. You find a wife and then you love her and you be her boss and lead for her benefit. That's what the Bible says. Go to 1 Peter chapter three, you're there in Titus. Pasphilemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter three. 1 Peter chapter three, look at verse one. Likewise ye wives, be in subjection to your, look at it again, own husbands. Be in subjection to your own husbands that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives. Look at verse five, same chapter. For after this manner in the old time, the holy women also who trusted in God adorn themselves, look at the words, being in subjection unto their own husbands. So look, the Bible is clear. The husband is the head of the home. The husband should be, the male should be the one in charge in the church, the leader in the church. Look, one of the qualifications for being a pastor is that you be the husband of one wife. So how is Joyce Meyer the husband of one wife? Answer me that. And even in government, God is ordained for male leadership. So that's the theology. That's the theory that we need to understand in order to understand the rest of Numbers chapter 30. Let's go back to Numbers 30 and actually look at what the passage is saying. Patriarchal headship, male leadership. Numbers chapter 30 and verse three says this. Numbers chapter 30. Because remember verses one and two talked about personal commitment. Personal commitment. Don't vow a vow and not keep it. In Numbers chapter 30 and verse three, the Bible says this. If a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord. So now we're talking about, because in verses one and two, those were being applied to those that are not under anyone's authority, they are their own authority. But then here we're being told that if a woman vow a vow unto the Lord and bind herself, the word bind herself means commit herself by a bond. But notice the position of this specific woman, being in her father's house, in her youth. So this is a young lady who's not married and she's in her father's house. What does that mean? It means she's under her father's authority. So she makes a vow. The Lord has blessed my wife and I with six children. I've got two sons and four daughters. This would apply to my four daughters. Obviously my four daughters are young, but one day when they're older, and they're teenagers, something like that, the Bible teaches that if they make a vow, if they make her bond wherewith she had bound her soul, they bind themselves to a commitment. And while they're living under the authority of their father, they're living in their father's house. By the way, let me say this. The Bible teaches that young people should live with their parents until they get married. The Bible says that you should leave father and mother and cleave unto your wife or cleave unto your husband. So young ladies, young men, they should live at home until the time they get married. And for a young lady, her father walks her down the aisle that is a picture of her father's authority, she being under her father's authority. And then he gives her to, the question is asked, who gives this woman to be married to this man? And her father says her mother and I. He is relinquishing his authority over his daughter and she is now being put under the authority of her husband and she is to now submit to her husband, love her husband, all those things. So look at what the Bible says here. Verse three, if a woman vow a vow unto the Lord and bind herself by a bond being in her father's house in her youth, so this is a young lady, she's living at home, she's not married, she's under her father's authority, verse four, and her father hear her vow. So she makes a vow, right? Some 17-year-old girl or 16-year-old girl or 15-year-old girl makes some vow, I'm gonna give $50,000 to the vision offering, right? That's a good vow. And her father hears her say that, look at verse four, and her father hear her vow and her bond wherewith she hath committed her soul and her father shall hold his peace at her. So if her dad hears it but he doesn't say anything, he just stays quiet, then all her vows shall stand and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand. So if a young lady makes a vow under the authority of her father, the moment her father hears that or becomes aware of that, if he says nothing, if he just stays quiet and says, sure, whatever, that's what you wanna do, then the Bible says her vow stands and God now expects that young lady to keep that vow. But, look at verse five, if her father disallow it, so if her father disallow her, so she says, I'm gonna get $50,000 to the vision offering, right? I mean, man, that'd be a good thing to do. And that's like, where are you gonna get $50,000 from? That's not a good idea. I don't think we should do that. You shouldn't make that vow. Tear up that commitment card. But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth, notice what the Bible says, not any of her vows or her bond wherewith she had bound her soul shall stand and the Lord shall forgive her because her father disallowed her. And this is what the Bible is teaching, that when we are under the authority of another individual, when we submit ourselves to that authority, there's actually protection under that authority. Because a young lady could make a vow and it might even be a foolish vow. But if the person that is her God-given authority, in this case, we're talking about a daughter who's living at home under the authority of her father, her father can say, no, you're not gonna do that. And then as far as God is concerned, she's forgiven, it shall not stand, she doesn't have to do it if he disallows it. But if he allows it, then it shall stand. That's what the Bible teaches here for a woman and specifically a young lady under the authority of her father. Then in verse six, we have another example. Here is a woman that is under the authority of her husband. Look at verse six. And if she had at all an husband, so now we're not talking about a young lady who's under the authority of her father, but a young lady or a lady who's under the authority of her husband. And by the way, the minute that someone gets married, a young lady gets married or a young man gets married, she either becomes now under the authority of her husband or he becomes the head of his own household. And parents need to let them leave and cleave. In-laws should not be meddling into the affairs of their grown children. If they're married, you need to let them be, that is their own household, that is what the Bible teaches. And we see that here because here now, when she's married, when she was a young lady living at home, her dad could disallow it. But now she's married, look at verse six. And if she had at all an husband when she vowed or uttered awe of her lips wherewith she bound her soul, notice, same thing, verse seven, and her husband heard it and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it, then her vow shall stand and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. Verse eight, but if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it, so here's a situation where a lady is married, she's under the authority of her husband, the husband is the head of the house, she makes a vow, the husband hears it, keeps his peace, doesn't say anything, then her vow shall stand, God expects her to commit her vow. But if her husband hears it and disallows it, verse eight, but if her husband disallowed her on the day he heard it, then he shall make her vow which she vowed and that which she uttered with her lips wherewith she bound her soul, look at it, of none effect, the Lord shall forgive her. And again, what are we seeing here? We're seeing that there is protection under the authority that God has given you. There's protection for you spiritually with God under your God-given authority. Now what we've seen is a woman that is under the authority of her father, a young lady, and then a lady that is under the authority of her husband. But notice in verse nine, we find a woman because for those of you that are like, what about a woman that's not under anybody's authority? I'm woman, hear me roar or whatever. Well look, there's a place for that. Cause in verse nine, there's actually a woman that's not under any man's authority. Look at it. Numbers 30, verse nine. But every vow, look at these words, of a widow. So what's a widow? She was married. She was under, scripturally, under the authority of her husband, but her husband died. So now she's not living at home with mom and dad. Generally speaking, not obviously there are young widows, but generally speaking, a widow is older. So it's not like they can go back home or live at home. So who is this lady under the authority of? Look at verse nine. But every vow of a widow, and, but it's not just widows, look at it, and of her that is divorced. So obviously we're against divorce. You should keep your vows. We've already talked about that. You know the Bible says that God hateth putting away. God hates divorce, but it happens. So maybe you're divorced. Then where does this leave you? But every vow of a widow and of her that is divorced. So this is a woman that is not under male authority. She's not under anybody's authority. What does the Bible say? Don't tell me the Bible is not fair or sexist or whatever, because look what the Bible says. Wherewith they have bound their souls shall stand against her. So for the woman that's a widow, or for the woman that's divorced, there is no protection over her that says, well, if your husband hears it, he can disavow it, or if your father hears it. She is treated in the same way that just a man would be treated that's living outside of his home, that has his own family. If she vows a vow, she better keep it. There's no one to undo that vow. That's what it says. You say, what do you call it? That's fair, isn't that fair? I mean, if a man who's not living at home makes a vow and has to keep it, then a woman who's not under the authority of a man should also, when she makes a vow, have to keep it. But every vow of a widow and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her. So when there's a lady that is not under the authority of a man, then she needs to just be smart about her vows. There's no one to come over her and say, no, we're not gonna do that. No, that's not right. Look at verse 10. And if she, so just because she is a widow or is divorced doesn't mean that she may have always been a widow or always been divorced. So here we have an example of what if she made a vow while under the authority of her father? And if she vowed, excuse me, of her husband, in her husband's house, so what this is saying is, if she made a vow while her husband was alive or under the authority of her husband, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath, and her husband heard it and held his peace at her and disallowed her not, then all her vows shall stand and every bond wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. Look at verse 12. But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard them, then whatsoever proceedeth out of her lips concerning her vows or considering the bond of her soul shall not stand. Her husband hath made them void and the Lord shall forgive her every vow and every binding oath to afflict the soul. Her husband may establish it or her husband may make it void. So here, what he's saying is, what the Bible is saying is that even if they made the vow while they were married, then the rules apply while they were married. The husband could allow it or the husband could disallow it. Now, what do we learn? Obviously, this is basic to understand. I think it's pretty simple. But what we learn is this, that God believes in authority and the authority has the power, listen to me, the authority has the power in this chapter. And this is what the Bible teaches throughout the whole chapter, throughout the whole Bible, but specifically in this chapter. What does the authority have the power to do? The authority is the way, and you don't have to answer me. I know half of you aren't listening anyway, so it's fine. But what is it that God is saying? Does the authority have the power to enact something positive, to say like, you're gonna make this vow? That's not what it says. What does the authority have the power to do? The authority has the power to disallow. The power of the authority lies in the negative. Please understand something. Leadership, true biblical authority and leadership is not the ability to say yes. Anyone can say yes. It is the ability to say no. Do you understand what I'm saying to you? Leadership, true biblical leadership is the ability to say no. Anyone can say yes, but it takes a leader to say no. Now when it comes to biblical authority, because the Bible teaches a lot about this concept, that wives are supposed to be under the headship of their husbands and children are to be under the headship of their father and also their mother while they're young children and they are not adults. That is this all throughout the Bible. Employees are to submit themselves to their boss and church members are to submit themselves to their pastor within the realm of the church, not outside of church. But what is it that makes us leaders? Like what is real authority? And real authority is the power to say no. And here's what I'm trying to say to you. Because people, I've been doing this for so long. People like to play what I call the submissive game. And the submissive game goes like this. The wife pretends like she submits to her husband. The husband pretends like he's the head of the home. But when the husband does something the wife doesn't like, she throws a fit, he caves in. But they've got a Christian home. That's not a Christian home. Listen to me. You say, how do I know if I'm a submissive wife? How do I know if I have a submissive wife? Well, here's how you know. There's a very simple test. Here it goes. It's not whether she agrees with you when you're saying something she likes. Of course she's gonna agree with you. Wife, how do you know you're being submissive, you're actually submissive? When you come to the place where there's a disagreement and your husband is saying no to something that you think he should say yes, at that moment, at that moment, that's when we're gonna find out, are you submissive? Because at that moment, you're either going to say, all right, honey, you're the boss, you're in charge. And you're going to lovingly submit yourself to your husband, or you're going to do what the modern American woman does and just make his life a living nightmare. And then come to church and pretend like we're submissive family, we're Christian, Baptist, Christian, just don't yell at us too much faster. Okay, how about work, men? You're gonna get on the ladies, let's get on the men. How about work? Oh, I'm a good employee. As long as the boss is doing everything you like. But the moment the boss makes a decision you don't like, you start whining, you start complaining, you start gossiping, you start criticizing, you're not submissive, you're not a good employee. How do we know when you're a good employee? How do we know? The moment the leader makes a decision you don't like, at that moment is when we find out what kind of follower are you? And look, people like to preach about women, but I've seen grown men cry more than women. Blubbering, snot, crying, whining about everything. There is a liability to leadership. Let's answer the questions. Let's just answer the questions. Because here's what inevitably says, but he's making the wrong decision. Wives say this about their husbands, men say this about their boss, he's making the wrong decision. Numbers chapter 30, look at verse 14. But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from the day then she established all her vows, or all her bonds which are upon her, he confirmed them because he had held his peace at her in the day that he heard them. We've already talked about that, look at verse 15. But, if he shall anyways make them void. Now here's where you have to pay attention because it kinda seems like he's gonna say the same thing he's already said, right? Because what does he set up to this point? He says when a husband hears it, if he makes it void, it's void. If he hears it and he keeps his mouth quiet about it, then it stands. But here in verse 15 we find a different situation. Here's the situation. But if he shall anyways make them void, so he's making a void, he's saying, you're not gonna do that. But he does that, look at it, after that he have heard them. So she made a vow, he heard it, he didn't immediately say no, he waited a few days or a few weeks or a few months and then later on he said, you know what, I changed my mind, I don't think you should do that. Then what, is that right for him to do? The answer's no, we've read the rules, they're pretty clear, he was supposed to do it when he heard it. But what is the follower to do at this point? Look at verse 15. But if she, if he shall anyways make them void, after that he have heard them, then he shall, look at it, bear her iniquity. Do you know what the Bible says? The Bible says that if the leader is telling the wife or the daughter after the fact, you know, now that I've thought about it, I don't want you to do that. And the wife says, or the daughter says, but you were supposed to make that void the day you heard it, not three weeks later. And he says, I don't care. What does the Bible say? You say, but he's making the wrong decision, that's the wrong thing to do. Here's what the Bible says, but if he shall anyways make them void after that he have heard them, then he shall bear her iniquity. That's the protection of leadership. That even when the leader's making a wrong decision, and you know, I'm saying making a wrong decision, but usually this is how it works. You just think they're making a wrong decision. In this specific situation, they are making a wrong decision. That happens from time to time. God says, you know what? Even if your boss is making the wrong choice, even if your husband's making the wrong choice, even if your parents are making the wrong choice, you just do what they told you to do, and he shall bear her iniquity. That is the liability of leadership. The liability of leadership is this, that God will hold us, who hold positions of leadership accountable. These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses between a man and his wife, between the father and his daughter, being yet in her youth, in her father's house. I need to deal with something, because I know some of you are thinking, well, wait a minute. Here's the liability of leadership. Listen to me carefully. The liability of leadership is this, that even if the leader is making the wrong choice, and disclaimer, usually it's the follower just thinking the leader's making the wrong choice, but even if he is making the wrong choice, you should just follow what the leader says, and God will hold that leader accountable. That is the liability of leadership. But let me just make something clear. There is also, biblically, a limit of leadership. Now look, what I'm saying to you, I preach this a lot. This should not be new to any of you. But let's just cover it, because it's good to cover it. Go back to Ephesians chapter five. There are limits to leadership. All leadership. God puts biblical limits. What are they? Well, let's look at it for the example of a husband. Ephesians 5, 24. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let wise be to their own husbands Look at these three words. In everything. In everything. So wives, what are you supposed to submit to your husband to? In everything. What if he's making the wrong decision? He shall bear her iniquity. God will deal with him. God will bless you as the follower for just listening to what your God-given authority says. Obey him in everything. But then here's the question. Well, what if he asked me to do something that's wrong? Not wrong in the sense like I think it's the wrong choice. Wrong in the sense like it's a sin. Let me put it that way. What if he's asking me to sin? Go to Colossians chapter three. Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. Colossians chapter three. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands. Now look at this. We saw in Ephesians 5, 24, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Here in Colossians 3, 18, we're told wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord. So we have to put these concepts together. You say, what is the area that a wife has to submit to her husband? In everything within the bounds of as it is fit in the Lord. So as long as it doesn't go against something that God tells you to do, then you should do everything your husband tells you to do. You say, what if it's dumb? Then you should have married somebody smarter. What if he's wrong? Then let him bear the iniquity. But as long as it's within the bounds of not sinful, you are to obey your husbands and submit to your husbands and everything as it is fit in the Lord. But here's the thing though. The minute your husband asks you to step out of the bounds of as it is fit in the Lord, the minute your husband asks you to do something that is sinful, then the Bible says, we ought to obey God rather than men. So that is the limit to leadership. The limit to leadership is this. You submit in every area unless they're asking you to sin, even if they're wrong, even if you think they're wrong. The only time you're biblically allowed to disobey leadership, look, I understand we live in 2024 America and people don't like this. I don't care what you like. This is the Bible. This is what the word of God teaches. The only time you're biblically allowed to not submit to your God-given authority is if your authority is asking you to sin. We just saw that with the wives. Let's look at it with the children. Colossians 3, you're there in Colossians 3, look at verse 20. Children, obey your parents, look at this, in all things. So children, you're supposed to obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. That's what the Bible says. Go back to Ephesians chapter six, look at verse one. Ephesians 6, one, children, obey your parents. Now Colossians 3, 20 says in all things. Ephesians 6, one says children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. So what does this mean? It means that children are to obey their parents in all things that is in the Lord. Everything your parents tell you to do, you should do. Kids. But the minute they ask you to do something that sins against God, then you ought to submit yourself to the higher authority because there's a higher authority than your parents as God. And you ought to obey God rather than men. So your parents ask you to clean the closet, your parents ask you to take the trust out, your parents ask you, whatever your parents ask you to do, whatever rules they have, you should submit to your parents. And by the way, the Bible says that there is a blessing to your life when you honor your parents. It's a first, a promise with blessing. Honor your parents. And God says he's gonna bless you, he's gonna give you long life, he's gonna bless your life. Look, you will have a blessed life if you children obey your parents. Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. Honor your father and mother. This is the first commandment with promise. And the promise is that God says he's gonna give you a long life and he's gonna give you a healthy life and he's gonna give you a blessed life. That's what the Bible says. So children should obey their parents in what areas? All areas. In the Lord though. So look, your dad asks you to do, whatever your dad asks you to do, you should do it. But look, you young people, if your dad asks you to get on the phone and lie to his boss and tell him that he's sick, that he's really gonna go fishing, you shouldn't do that. Are you listening to what I'm saying to you? Dad goes to a teenager and says, tell my boss I'm sick. But you got your fishing pole. Look, at that point you should say, I'm not gonna lie for you, dad. You want me to take the trash out? Take the trash out. You want me to clean my room? I'll clean my room. You want me to pick up dog poop? Whatever you want me to do. I'm gonna obey in all things as it is fit in the Lord. That's what the Bible teaches. Didn't you say what I'm saying to you? So there is a liability of leadership. The liability of leadership is this, that we obey in everything, even if we don't agree, even if we don't think it's right, even if we think they're making the wrong decision, you obey and you let God deal with the leader. But the limit to leadership is the moment they ask you to sin, then you say, we ought to obey God rather than man. I mean, is that, first of all, is that new to any, I mean, I've preached that like a hundred times. It should not be new to those of you that are part of our church. Acts 5, 29, then Peter, and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. Did you keep your place in 1 Peter? I meant to ask you to keep your place in 1 Peter. I'm not sure if you did. But go to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. If you kept your place in 1 Peter, if you go backwards from 1 Peter, you have 1 Peter, James, and then Hebrews. Hebrews chapter 13. So look, the Bible teaches that you should obey in everything. Actually, go to Hebrews 13. We're gonna look at that in a second. But before we do that, go to Colossians. Go back to Colossians chapter three. Let's take it out of the realm of the home. How about you men at work? Colossians chapter three, look at verse 22. Colossians 3, 22. Servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh. So look, at work. Are you supposed to obey your boss only when you agree with him? No. Obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eye service as men pleasers, but in singleness of heart, fearing God. And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord and not unto men. That's what the Bible teaches. Knowing that the Lord, that of the Lord, ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ. You know what the Bible says? If you go to work and you listen to your boss, you say, but my boss is an idiot, he makes wrong decisions, it doesn't matter. If you just submit yourself to your boss, then knowing that of the Lord, ye shall receive the reward. God will reward you for being a good employee and submitting yourself to the authority of your boss. That's what the Bible says. Again, your boss asks you to help him bury dead bodies. You don't do that. You don't do that. Because we also obey God rather than men. We don't sin. That should be simple. It should be easy to understand. Okay, let's go to Hebrews 13. Let's take it out of the realm of the home, out of the realm of work, and let's bring it into the realm of church. Hebrews 13, 17. The Bible says this, Hebrews 13, 17. Obey them, let's just start there, obey. What does that mean? It means you're given a direction, do it. Obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves, for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account that they may do it with joy and not with grief, for that is unprofitable for you. What is this talking about? This is talking about church leadership. Because in church, there's one guy who's in charge, his name is the pastor. He's the ruler. Now let's be clear about some things. The Bible teaches that we as pastors should not lord over God's heritage. My authority as a pastor lies within the ministry of Verity Baptist Church. I have never and I will never enter into your home or your workplace and tell you what to do. That is not my place of authority. Now if you wanna ask me advice, I'll give you advice. If you wanna say, what do you think I should do at work in this situation, I've got some employees, what do you think about this? Or what do you think I should do at home with my wife or children? You wanna ask me advice, I'm happy to give you advice. But I'm never as a pastor gonna tell you what to do in your home. That is not my place of authority. You understand what I'm saying to you? That's called lording over God's heritage. Because I've literally known churches where people, they don't buy a car without asking the pastor permission. Please don't call me and waste my time with that garbage. I'm not interested in micromanaging your life. I don't care. I don't care what car you drive. If you wanna ask me, I think it's stupid to buy a $50,000 car when you're in your 50s because you're having a midlife crisis. I mean, if you just wanna know what I think, I think it's dumb. But I'm not gonna be mad at you if you do it. I mean, do whatever you want. Look, and if you have a $50,000 car, I don't know it. That was the Holy Spirit. I honestly don't know that. I gotta be careful. I get here early, I don't even see what anybody drives. So my job is not to go outside of the realm of church but within the ministry of Verity Baptist Church, within the ministry of Verity Baptist Church, who rules in the church? They're looking at them. Amen. You understand what I'm saying to you? So within the ministry of church, how is this supposed to work? I've been explaining it to you for the last 50 minutes. It shouldn't be that complicated. You submit to the authority of the pastor within church and if you think I'm making a bad choice, the liability of leadership is that I will give an account for the choices I make, not you. Now the limits to leadership is the minute that I ask you to sin, you don't have to obey. The minute I ask you to sin, you don't have to listen to me. The minute I ask you to sin, you can be done. But if I'm not asking you to sin, if I'm not asking you to do anything that is sinful or wrong, I'm just making a decision in the church. You know what your proper response to that biblically is? Yes sir. I'm preaching the Bible to you. I think I've proven everything I've said from the Bible. So you know, let me give you an example. We have these sound panels back there. Most of you are probably not seeing them. Everybody turn around and look at those sound panels. Look at that. Have you seen those? Have you noticed those, those sound panels? Brother David put those up, he did a good job. They're all straight and they're nice, you know? I, when we were gonna purchase, those sound panels are there, they're not decoration. Just, I mean, you know, they're there to absorb echo because this room echoes a lot. And when we were thinking about purchasing sound panels, getting them installed, I took a picture to my wife and I said, hey, what do you think about these sound panels? And my wife said, well, if you're asking me, I don't like them. She said, I don't like them. I said, yeah, you know, we need them for whatever, the echo or whatever. And here's what she said. She said, it's your call, but if you're asking me, and I was asking her, she said, I don't like them. I said, okay, well, and we ordered them. Put them up. After the first service, they were up, right? After the service, I went to my wife, said, what do you think about those sound panels? And she said, well, if you're asking me, and I was asking her, she didn't come to me and say, let me tell you something about these sound panels. I said, hey, what do you think about those sound panels? Here's what she said. She said, if you're asking me, I think they're nicer than I thought they were going to be. And I can definitely hear that they've improved the echo, but I still don't like them. No offense, brother David. She said, I don't like them. She said, but it's your call. You're the pastor, do what you want. That's how mature Christians can communicate. Do you understand what I'm saying to you? So what, what if past three men has decided, what if I just decided that next week, you know, I'm tired of these burgundy coats on these ushers. From now on, I want the ushers to wear blue coats. Apparently somebody wants blue coats. What if I said beige? And I just said, blue coats. What if I had this just look, the ushers just revolt. They just all quit and go get a job at a theater. I mean, is it a sin if I say blue coats, not burgundy coats? Is there a verse in the Bible that says thou shall not wear blue coats if you're ushering? Isn't that just my decision to make? Now, what if I said, starting next week, we're done with the King James, we're gonna use the ESV. Should you complain about that? Yes, you should, because that's a sin. Do you understand what I'm saying to you? What if I said, hey, starting next week, we're done with soul-winding, no more soul-winding. Should you complain about that? Yes, you should. That's a sin. What if I said I wanna put sound panels in the back wall? Should you complain about that? Well, you can say it. I don't like them, but it's your call. You're the pastor. What if you showed up next week and this green wall was pink? I mean, when we announced that we were doing a green wall, people didn't like it. It's still green. Because I'm the pastor. Is it a sin to have a green wall? What if I make it red? What if I said, no guitars in the orchestra? Oh, I did say that. What if I said, no violins in the orchestra? Obviously, I would never say that, but what if I said that? I don't want no violins in the orchestra. Is that a sin? Can you show me a verse in the Bible that says, thou shall have violins in the orchestra? What if I said, no keyboard or mouse in the safety room? Is that a sin? Is there a verse you can show me that says, thou shall have a keyboard and a mouse in the safety room so the guys can scroll around on the computer and not pay attention to the sermon? Can you show me a verse? Is that a sin? Have I sinned against the Lord? By saying, no keyboard and no, then why do grown men like to whine and complain about decisions the pastor makes when they're within the authority of the pastor to do whatever he wants? Because if it's not a sin, if it's not a sin against the Lord, if it's not a sin against God, then he can do whatever he wants. And wife, if he's not asking you to sin, you ought to submit. And children, if your parents aren't asking you to sin, you ought to submit. And if your boss is not asking you to sell drugs or bury dead bodies, you ought to submit. And at church, if the pastor's not asking you to sin, you should just say, yes, sir. That's the biblical response. That's the correct response. That's the Bible. Welcome to Verity Baptist Church where we actually believe the Bible. Look, I'm just telling you, I feel like people get this idea like, oh, pastor moved into this big building, now he's gotta build a crowd so let's just try to pick on him and bully him. Listen to me. It is not my job to build this church. We had eight guests this morning, 12 guests last week. We're not even trying. Don't come to me with this like, well, you do what we want or we're gonna leave the church. The door's right there. I pastor before I knew you and I'll pastor afterwards. And I can find someone to replace you. I'll find someone where I found you in the gutter. I'm not trying to be mean to you. I'm trying to help you understand something. I'll take one of these visitors and teach them how to be a soul winner and teach them some standards and teach them to read the Bible and teach them to pray. I love you and I'm not trying to get rid of you, but I'm also not gonna pastor a church where every decision I make is questioned. If you have a verse that says thou shall have burgundy coat, thou shall have green walls and you're gonna have a mouse in the safety room, then show me the verse. But if you don't, then shut your mouth. That's what the Bible teaches. Let me introduce you to the King James Bible. It is the word of God. We all give lip service to it, but then we don't actually want to apply it. You say pastor, are you mad? No. I just have to pretend this way to get your attention. And someone will probably have to tell the guy in the safety team in the safety room because they play Monopoly in there and don't pay attention just like the ladies in the Mother Baby rooms. Look, I love you and I'm trying to be kind to you, but I'm not playing this game. I'm the pastor of this church and I'll make whatever decisions I want and if you don't like it, go find somewhere else. And I don't find my value in how many people I preach to. I find my value in following the word of God and being someone that loves the Lord. And if God wants our church to grow, then God can make our church grow and if God doesn't want our church to grow, that's none of my business. The Bible says that God will build the church. Jesus said I will build the church. And the gates of hell should not prevail against us. So let me help you understand how the Bible works and let me help you understand how church works. This is not a church that is run by women. This is not a church that is run by a deacon board. This is not a church that is run by a committee. This is not a church that is run, this is a church that is, this is a pastor-led church. And if you think I'm making a mistake, then let me make the mistake, but let's be honest, I know what I'm doing. You've never, you haven't built, you've not built anything. You've never ran a hot dog stand and you want to tell me how to pastor 200 and some odd people. Look, I'm not trying to be mean to you. I'm just, people get to run their mouths about me everywhere and anywhere and then I'm supposed to just sit back and I'm telling you this is how a church runs. You don't like those sound panels? I don't care. I love my wife, I care what she thinks. I ask her, I didn't ask you. Notice I didn't ask you? I don't think we should have these chairs, I think we should have pews. Me too. But we decided to not get pews. I don't like these chandeliers. Well, I decided I want chandeliers. I don't like that green. I didn't ask you. When I sin and when I do something that is not biblical, then you call me on it. Everything else, it's yes sir. And you can say, you can come up to me, the Bible says rebuke not an older but an treatment. The Bible says, hey pastor, just wanted to let you know, I don't really like the staff. I'm like, neither do I. But they're my staff. I don't like these columns. It's the building we bought. Look, this is how Christianity is supposed to work. And if you just figure out how to do this at home, at work, at church, and in every other area of life, it'll solve problems. It'll solve problems. So what is the biblical mandate on authority? You submit even if you think they're wrong. And if they're sinning, then you obey God rather than them. And if they're not sinning, then the response is, yes sir, yes sir. You know, I actually, I don't recommend being in the military. I actually lived, was in the military. And let me just explain to you how authority works. The guy in charge says something you don't like. And you don't sit there and whine and complain and get mad about it. You say, yes sir, yes sir. That's how authority works. It'd be best if we figured it out. Let's bow our heads in that word of prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we love you. We thank you. And Lord, I pray you'd help us to actually begin to read the Bible and study the Bible and follow the Bible and do what the Bible actually tells us to do. And Lord, I pray you'd help us. Help us to figure it out. That we are here to emphasize the Bible. To follow the Bible. And it's not what the Bible says when I feel like it. It's what the Bible says period, end of story. And I pray, Lord, you'd help us to submit ourselves to biblical authority in all areas and in every area we find ourselves in. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. All right, well God bless you. We're gonna have Brother RJ come up and lead us in a final song. Just a couple reminders. Of course, if you'd like to help volunteer with the Ladies' Tea, we've got Ladies' Tea sign-up sheets back there and you're welcome to help with that. And if you could help us, if your kids have made a mess in your row or whatever, if you could help us clean that up, we would appreciate your help with that. And of course, if there's anything we can do for you, please let us know. We encourage you to be back on Wednesday night, Hebrews 11. It's about faith, all right? You're gonna like it. It's gonna be no hard preaching or whatever. Hebrews 11, we'd love for you to join us. If there's anything we can do for you, of course, please let us know. Brother RJ, come up and lead us in a final song. Amen. Let's grab a song. We're gonna turn to page number 41. ["In the Sweet"] Song number 41. And we'll end the service with, In the Sweet, by and by, song number 41 on the first. There's a land that is fairer than day, And by faith we can see it afar, For the Father waits over the way, To prepare us a dwelling place here. In the sweet, by and by, We shall meet on that beautiful shore. In the sweet, by and by, We shall meet on that beautiful shore. One second. We shall sing on that beautiful shore, Our melody of songs of the past, And our spirits shall sorrow the Lord, Not a sigh full of blessings of rest. In the sweet, by and by, We shall meet on that beautiful shore. In the sweet, by and by, We shall meet on that beautiful shore. You guys are singing well. Let's finish y'all on the last. To our bountiful Father above, We will offer our tribute of praise, For the glorious gift of His love, And the blessings that follow our gates. In the sweet, by and by, We shall meet on that beautiful shore. In the sweet, by and by, We shall meet on that beautiful shore. Amen. Great singing. If anyone here has questions about salvation, baptism, or church membership, pastor will be at the door. He would love to talk to you with the racket of someone who's trained to do that as well. I'm gonna have brother Matt dismiss us with the word of prayer. Here are my brothers and sisters. Blessed be the Holy Spirit, Lord of all His works. And to you, people of God, and to you, all of our people, and to you, our brothers and sisters, may you take us into your heart and let it all take on your faith. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you for watching!