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Okay, so keep a finger in 1st Corinthians 16 and turn to 1st Peter 3, please. So if you keep a finger there in 1st Corinthians 16, we're going to turn to 1st Peter chapter 3. 1st Peter 3, where we also have our verse of the week, we're going to read from the beginning of the chapter though. So 1st Peter 3 and from verse 1. 1st Peter 3, 1 reads, Likewise, ye wives, 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, while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement. Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. And the title of my sermon this morning is The Stronger Vessel, The Stronger Vessel. I'd like to pray before we continue. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for the clear teachings of the Bible, Lord, the clear teachings about the differences between men and women, Lord, about the responsibilities that we as men have, how you expect us to behave, how you expect us to treat our wives, to treat our children, Lord, to treat those around us. Please help me to preach this message that you've laid on my heart, Lord, just clearly and accurately and boldly, and in a way that people just really take in what your word's saying, Lord, and just help everyone to have attentive ears. Please fill in with your spirit, Lord, in Jesus' name, for all of this. Amen. Okay, so it's Father's Day today, and I've got a slightly different message. It's not going to be quite so much sort of back-patting for being a dad. I thought you dads could probably do with a bit of hard preaching, eh? That's what you're here for, aren't you? So, hear where you are in 1 Peter 3. We've just read this great passage of instruction for married women. A passage which, well, it flies in the face of our modern Western society, doesn't it? Interestingly, a society with record-high divorce rates and record-low marriage rates, adulteries, discontent, dysfunctional kids raised by the state and mainstream media, pretty much. That's what we see out there, don't we? And you know what? I know who I trust, yeah? I'll go with the Word of God. And the Word of God says, Wives, drop the pride and be in subjection. That passage you've just read, yeah? Adorn yourselves with a meek and quiet spirit, okay? Behave like the women of old, obey your husbands. Basically, call them the boss, yeah? Okay, calling them Lord, and Sarah did that in her heart, okay? Then the focus turns to the husbands in verse 7, and it says, Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. So he basically said, get to know your wives. He said, to live with them according to that knowledge. Basically, all women aren't the same, are they? Okay, if anyone thought that all women are a carbon copy, they're not. They are all individual. Give honour or respect to your wife, he said here. And yes, she should be in subjection, shouldn't she? Okay, your wife should be in subjection. But that doesn't work if you're some fragile ego loser who has to belittle her. To make yourself feel strong, okay? Then the whole thing, the balance is a bit upset then, okay? He said to give her honour as unto the weaker vessel, which by implication, what does that make the husband? The stronger vessel, doesn't it? If she's the weaker vessel, you're the stronger vessel. And like I said, this isn't necessarily going to be a back patter, so before any of the men's chests start to pump up too much here, before the femi-Nazis out there start to daydream about, you know, re-learning Kung Fu or something and being able to finally get their own back, like the movies claim is possible. Let's have a quick reality check about vessels, okay? So what is a vessel? It's a container and can be anything from a small cup to a big barrel. Okay, so a vessel is just something that holds something inside, it contains something. And we're going to take cups for an example. And I'll have to kind of use this analogy, I think, before, but the stronger cup or stronger vessel, okay? So for example, the chunky mug of tea, yeah? Can be useful when you're doing, for example, DIY. It'd be good to have a strong chunky mug that when you're kind of putting it, resting it on awkward things and it's likely to fall over, get knocked about, maybe get hit by flying bits of debris and other things like that, it'd be handy to have that chunky mug. It could be handy that you could just shove it in a dishwasher, can't you? You don't have to worry, you just shove it in. You can shove it in amongst other stuff, squeeze it in between other things if your dishwasher is overloaded, you're not so fast. You're not so worried when your helpful little toddlers insist on taking your tea mug and lobbing it into the sink, you know, for much lower down. It's not so much of a problem. These big mugs can hold a lot of tea as well, which is quite nice sometimes for those of you that don't just want to have a quick sip of tea and that's your lot. But is it more valuable than the fine bone china tea cup? Is it more valuable than that? Why not? Because there's a difference, isn't there? There's a difference between the two. It doesn't mean just because it can do all that stuff it's better. The fine bone china tea mug is more fragile, but it does improve that cup of tea, doesn't it? Let's be honest, when you drink it out of a fine little thin china cup, it does taste good, doesn't it? There's something different. It's nicer to hold, isn't it? Nicer to look at. It has a saucer, so it's tidier, none of those tea rings on your furniture because you can never find that coaster when you want it, yeah? And that fine tea set does need looking after as well, doesn't it, though? So it's got all those benefits it needs looking after. It needs protecting from clumsy people, including toddlers. It needs careful handling. It needs a lot of bubble wrap when you move house. And maybe that chunky mug doesn't. But it's of much value as a chunky mug, isn't it? That fine bone china cup is of as much value as a chunky mug. And that's how it is with men and women. We're different. We have different roles. We have different uses, but we're of equal importance, aren't we? And today being Father's Day, we're going to focus on chunky mugs. So you guys out there, you're the chunky mugs and you're getting focused on today. And being the stronger vessel, what's expected of us is protecting the weaker vessel, isn't it? If you're the stronger vessel, you should be able to protect the weaker vessel. And let me tell you something. This sort of sermon, and I know I've preached messages like this probably a couple of times over the last couple of years, you couldn't preach your stuff enough. In this day and age, this needs preaching more than ever. This nation is full of chunky mugs of basically cheap, easily shattered materials. That's what I see out there as men. A bunch of useless mugs. And on top of that, a load of knock-off oversized teacups masquerading as mugs. See, on one hand, you've got these useless men out there and then you've got all these women trying to be men. And the whole thing's a mess, isn't it? It's an absolute mess. And before we blame the women for this, because I know a lot of people like to do that, and look, I've probably been guilty of that many times over the years as well. Oh, they just yell, they brainwash at these women, these feminists and everything else. I'll tell you who's to blame, really. It's the men. The buck stops at leadership, doesn't it? The buck stops at leadership. It's the men to blame. It's the fathers who are to blame for raising little feminazi daughters. It's the husbands to blame for allowing their wives to be brainwashed to the point of feminazism, if that's even a word. I quite like it. I'm going with it. Look, that stuff, it always does stop at leadership, doesn't it? You don't go to a company and the boss goes, well, I just can't do anything about the people in the company. No, you're the boss, you're in charge, you're the problem. And that's basically where it ends. And too many failed husbands and failed fathers have allowed that brainwash to get to the weaker vessel, haven't they? They have. And what they failed in, one of their primary jobs is to protect them, is to protect the weaker vessel. The Bible's clear. Look, you don't have to read the Bible to just understand this point, do you? That's an obvious point that's always been obvious throughout history. And our job, one of the jobs as men, and especially we're talking here to dads specifically today, is to protect the weaker vessel, isn't it? And it's not just your wives, your children are weaker vessels as well. Okay? And one of our jobs is to protect them. He said in verse 7, Likewise ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. So we all benefit from that as well, obviously. And look, men, you're the stronger vessel. Okay? That's clear as day. She's a weaker vessel, you're the stronger vessel. So we're going to go back to 1 Corinthians 16, where Paul is signing off this first letter to the Corinthian church. He gives them some instructions about an offering, he tells them about his travel plans, and then in verse 10 he tells them to be nice to Timothy if he comes to them. He says this in verse 10, Now if Timotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear, for he worketh the work of the Lord, as I also do. Let no man therefore despise him, but conduct him forth in peace, that he may come unto me, for I look for him with the brethren. As touching our brother Apollos, I greatly desired him to come unto you with the brethren, but his will was not at all to come at this time, but it will come when he shall have convenient time. So he said that Apollos, who's a great teacher, he was described yet of Turner in Acts 18, 24 as an eloquent man and mighty in the scriptures, basically isn't making it over to them. Which is probably a big disappointment for them, I would imagine, okay? Apollos was a big part of their initial growth in the faith, he said, you know, I've planted, Apollos has watered. Then on the back of that, in verse 16, he then says this, he's just said, look, he's not coming, this guy's, you know, Apollos is a great guy, he isn't coming out to you yet, then he says, Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. And Paul, if you know the book of 1 Corinthians, the letter to the Corinthian church, he's talking to a church that's got big problems, okay? They had a lot of big problems. In this letter he's had to rebuke them constantly, he's commanded church discipline, he's warned them about false prophets, among them denying the resurrection in the chapter before, and he then says, I won't be with you for a while, neither will Apollos, so now it's time to man up, basically, okay? You guys need to man up, you need to act like men here. He's saying to the men there, it's time to start behaving like the stronger vessel. That's what he's saying. He's going, you need to start behaving like the stronger vessels that you are. But what does it mean to be stronger? So am I just talking about physical strength here? Now, that should be obvious, shouldn't it, okay? There's obviously, you know, men are physically stronger than women, and I mean, it never ceases to amaze me how many people out in the world are trying to almost somehow reverse this. I don't even know how. They say, well, you know, women are just as able. No, no, we're both capable of different things, aren't we? Okay? And I remember this, I remember looking into this for sport, because, you know, if you've noticed recently, a lot of women like to do a lot more aggressive and physical and violent sports than they ever did, okay? And there's all these people that are trying to push and promote that stuff. I remember looking into it for fight sports. Statistically, they're much, much higher to get concussions and brain damage as well, right? I mean, it's through the roof compared with men. Through the small amounts of fight sports that they've been getting introduced to recently and we've been seeing more and more, I mean, the concussions and stuff in training are through the roof as well, okay? They're just not designed for it, like it or not. Like it or not with it. If you've been convinced by the world that somehow you're more, you're somehow a better person if you act like a man, like it or not, you're not really built for it. You're not suited to it, okay? Big injuries, well, it's not just the concussions. Like big knee tears, you know, ligament tears and strange stuff, they're just much more likely to get them. That's just life, okay? Because you're not made for that. Same as we're not made for certain things, same as we tried having a baby, it's not really going to work, you know? We're just built for different things, aren't we? We're suited for different things. However, our society has tried to blur that, okay? And tried to make out like somehow you're less of a woman, you're less of a human being if you're not manly. And then at the same time tried to kind of make these men think that they're less of a human being if they're not a bit more effeminate. It's bizarre, isn't it? But again, people are just so easily convinced by this stuff, conditioned to the least by it. But look, physical strength is obvious, but you know there should be an emotional strength that comes with being the stronger vessel. I'm going to say it as it is, you know? Men should be emotionally stronger. They should be less likely to break down in tears. Now look, now and again men might have to cry, okay? But if you're crying as much as the average woman is, you've got issues, man, okay? Haven't you, yeah? No one's going to sit there and go, no, yet those crazy green-haired liberals out there, they'd be spitting feathers listening to this, wouldn't they? But isn't that the truth? It's the truth. We are emotionally stronger. We are, okay, there's a bit of back-patting in this sermon, okay? But enjoy it while you can, all right? Okay, but what about mental strength as well? Do you know, look, there's a lot of men that have gone through some horrific, horrific wars over the centuries in this world and haven't cracked up. Now there are some that have, you know, and there's a lot of post-traumatic stress and sort of things like that, but some of the stuff people go through, men are just more suited to that stuff, okay? They're able to do that. They generally have a strong, when it comes to that sort of mental strength, and also a spiritual strength as well, okay? There is a spiritual strength that comes with being a man. One of the reasons, by the way, that, for example, we're taught, Timothy was taught, what was he taught by Paul? That Adam was not deceived, but the woman which was deceived was in a transgression. Look, that's one of the reasons why women are to be in silence in the church, why women aren't to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in subjection, okay? Because they're spiritually not strong. That's the general rule. Now there are exceptions to that rule. There's some great strong, and look, we have a church full of spiritually strong women that are spiritually stronger than most men out there in any other church in this nation. However, when compared with the men in the church, it should be the case that the men are generally spiritually stronger. Discipline in the things of God should be a bit stronger, okay? Strength in the spiritual battle should be stronger. If you're a man, you should be the stronger vessel. You're expected by God to be the stronger vessel, okay? He makes that clear throughout the Bible for me. But with that strength comes great responsibility, doesn't it? Okay? It's not just to pat ourselves on the back like I said. We need to protect the weaker vessels, don't we? And the women, the children, they need protection by the stronger vessel. And there are a few areas of strength that this passage in 1 Corinthians highlights. The title is the stronger vessel today, as you know, and point number one is the stronger vessel needs to be strong in awareness, okay? The stronger vessel needs to be strong in awareness. The first command in that verse was watch ye, watch ye. That means have your eyes open, okay? That means be aware of what's going on. Be aware of where the attacks are coming from, of the angles, of the methods of attack, okay? Because look, the enemy attacks in various ways, doesn't he? It's not just the most obvious. And when it comes to protecting your family, it's so important that you see the attacks coming, okay? It really is. And turn a first speed of five. You're the stronger vessel. That means you're less likely to be targeted, but it means that you need to be even more aware as well because the attack usually comes where the line is weaker, doesn't it? If we look at warfare, where are you going to attack? Where the line is weaker, okay? And the Bible says that the woman's a weaker vessel. And by the way, so are the kids as well. And that means wives and children are often the target in the spiritual battle. That's just the truth of it, okay? And one of the first things that our pastor said to me about this job is that they will go for your wife and they will go for your children. You go, why did you take this job, brother? Because, look, at the end of the day, it is a great job as well, and this isn't to get the violin out, but this is just the truth of it. And you know, obviously, God's going to help you and protect you and strengthen you guys through it. But he did say, he said particularly for the wives. Particularly. Why? He said to me, they always go for the wives because one, they're not as strong as us, and two, if they get the wife to quit, then guess what? You have to quit as well. So they always go for the wives. That's what they do. That's how this spiritual battle works. And over the last two and a half years in ministry, we've experienced this in various ways with varying tactics. Okay? Constant. Just constant little ways. Some are subtle, some aren't. Some were high profile that many people are aware of and experience when they're here. Okay? And various ways that they'll go for the wife. But it's not just those in ministry, okay? So this isn't really about me. This is a sermon for the church. The devil wants to destroy all families, okay? He wants to destroy every single one of your families out there. But do you know what he wants to destroy more than anything? His godly families. The devil wants to destroy godly families, which means that the head of the family, the general, he'd better be aware of not sleeping on the job, okay? You'd better be aware of the attack. Look, you're in a battle here. What's our verse of the one? Not verse a week. Our first verse of our six verse Bible memory challenges again. All, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. You're going to suffer it, okay? You're going to have to deal with it. You need to be aware of how it's coming. And if you have a family, it's going to be coming for the weak of vessels more than it will for you, okay? He said in 1 Peter 5 here, he said in verse 8, be sober, be vigilant. Again, he's saying watch out, yeah? Because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Not whom he may, you know, give a little annoyance to, who he may give a little nick to. No, who he may devour, okay? That's basically just eat and not really spare anything, not even the bones, yeah? Devour, okay? And here Peter's comparing the devil to a lion, which is an apex predator, isn't it? What do predators look for when they're stalking their prey? What does a lion look for when it's stalking prey? The young, the injured, the strays, the weaker targets, the smaller, out of a group, yeah? Always looking for the weaker ones. And therefore you need to be sober it says here, okay? Aware and obviously sober as we know it today, that should go without saying, okay? How are you going to protect your family if you're not sober? Sober and vigilant, vigilant to the attacks, to the probing, to the predators. Look, men, you need to protect the weaker vessels, okay? You have to protect your wives, you have to protect your children. Do you know who or what is influencing your wives, men? Do you know what they're being influenced by on a day-to-day basis? Your children? Is it easier just to leave your kids in front of the TV? In front of video games? Just a little bit easier, isn't it? You know, don't have to do so much. Man, they could stare at that thing for hours, couldn't they? Yeah, it's the easy option, isn't it? It's the easy option out there in the world, but we shouldn't be following what the world does, should we? Because what on earth are they being influenced by with that stuff? I mean, it's unbelievable, isn't it, out there? I mean, ever watch kids' TV? Ever watch the presenters on kids' TV? I think every single one has been a flaming sodomite for years now, haven't they? Wasn't that Phillip Schofield, a kids' presenter, wasn't he? And the rest of those guys. And if they're not, they're as effeminate as, I mean, who knows what, anyway. It's just constant conditioning, constant influencing, constant weirdos just in front of your kids to make that seem normal, to make that seem okay. Your kids spends every single day looking at sodomites on TV as if they're like some safe, funny, happy guys reading them stories. Are they going to be wary of them out in public? No. The exact opposite. And it's not just the sodomites. I mean, the amount of influence and brainwash and conditioning through kids' TV alone is unbelievable. But same with the video games. I mean, video games, it's crazy stuff, isn't it? Don't get me wrong, some of that stuff, look, I used to like playing a video game when I was younger, but when you're just like shooting and killing people all day long, I mean, that's got to affect you a little bit, hasn't it? I remember when that game Grand Theft Auto came out. Anyone remember that old game Grand Theft Auto? And it was all about getting a kill count, wasn't it? And you kind of give up the missions and just try and kill as many people and get as many police after you while running people over and then get a paint job, wasn't it? And then you could restart again and kill more people. And that's fun, isn't it? And then, is that really that good for you? And nowadays, I can imagine the graphics and the detail and everything else must be pretty clear, right? And really, it should be disturbing, shouldn't it? It should be. And at the same time, all those series and things which, a lot of the time are aimed at kids, oh, yeah, we give it an 18, but most of the parents don't watch it anyway, so much of that stuff is as gory and as disturbing as they possibly can. It's filth. Do people really know what they're watching? And one of the reasons, by the way, to be able to protect them, to be able to know where these angers are attacked, because that's all stuff coming from the devil ultimately, isn't it? All different attacks on your kids to desensitise them, to promote fornication, to promote violence, to promote just kind of turning the other cheek to all sorts of weirdness and everything else, that's all coming from him in the end, isn't it? And then at the same time, then people are just sending their kids off to school, and what are they getting? Just more conditioning, more brainwash, more filth, more smut. And if it's not the teacher, it's the kids in the playground. You can't protect them from it. And that's why, again, some people just, you know, look, there are many situations in life, we'll have people with different situations in our church who just cannot, for one reason or another, actually homeschool their kids, but I would say if at all possible, it's got to be the way, isn't it? But for those that can't, you've just got to do the best you can in those circumstances, right? How vigilant can you be, basically, when your child's miles away from you in the lion's den? I mean, that's how I see it. You're basically sending them to miles away into the actual lion's den, and then, oh, I just don't know what happened to them, you know? And people do that, and Christians do that, still to this day. Well, who do have the choice? Who do have the ability to be able to homeschool a nation like this? You can, can't you? Now, here's one as well. The influence of sexualisation of children is nuts right now, isn't it? I mean, you can't make this stuff up. And we've recently moved to Essex, and I know it's a bit of a cliché, okay? However, it's bad. I mean, me and my wife talk about it a bit because there's a couple of schools near us. I've never seen anything like it. Unbelievable, little children, just like, who knows what? It's unreal. And you know, that stuff as well, because it's not just, I mean, bowling yesterday. I mean, they're just all over, just pretty much any female in there is basically dressed like a harlot dressed a decade ago, okay? It's absolutely crazy, isn't it? Absolutely crazy. And again, where does that come from? It's all influence. It's all pushing them. All through the, what is it, the pop stars and everything else. Like, somehow that's okay, that's normal. And I'll tell you what's not normal, is dads walking out with their kids, or even letting, I mean, forget the letting them go out. You see dads walking along with their daughters and daughters who aren't even double digits, dressed like basically what we know of as a whore. Do you know what, doesn't it just make you want to beat them up? It really does. I mean, the dads, this is, you know. It does, doesn't it? It's outrageous. It really, I have to constantly bite my tongue. I feel like, you know, sometimes with the family, you feel like just winding down the window and going, what are you doing? What are you doing, mate? What's wrong with you? Why would you encourage that? Why would you, you're the dad, you're the boss, aren't you? Why would you do that? But again, where does it all come from? It comes from the influences from school, from the TV, from all this stuff, to the point where these moronic fathers even think, hey, great, she looks cool, she looks fashionable. How moronic do you have to be to allow your little girls to dress like that? And we're not going to get onto how the boys dress as well, because it's sadly often as bad. Does your influence, and here's another one, how about with your wives, does your influence and relationship with your wife consist of watching each other scroll through social media? Because that can often happen in a relationship, can't it? Where it's so addictive, the phone, suddenly, you don't even really know what your wife's looking at. You just kind of sit there now and again, you look up and talk to each other, and the rest of the time, it's just like this. But are you protecting the weaker vessel then? Because I tell you what, whether it's YouTube algorithms or Facebook or whatever, I mean, TikTok, let's not get started on that, or any of this stuff, the truth is, that's some, a lot of the time, satanic influence there, isn't it? Pushing, promoting, brainwashing, conditioning, do you really know what they're looking at? Do you know what they're doing? And I'm not saying you have to have blocks on their phones, but you know what's probably a good idea is to try and cut a lot of that stuff out, so it's not the influence in your life, right? And find a way to be able to control that. But, look, the brainwash comes from all angles, doesn't it? The feminism is everywhere, the worldly parenting brainwash is everywhere, the demoralisation as well, okay? And, again, do you know the influences your wife's having, your children are having away, for example, when you're at work? Who's whispering? Who's doing this? Who's saying that? Which family members are on their case about how weird it is that you believe the Bible? How bizarre it is that you believe the word of God or any of the rest of it? And all of that stuff, it's just every angle's coming, isn't it? And we need to find a way to protect them. Paul said, watch ye. Okay, so why should the stronger vessel be able to deal with that more? Well, the stronger vessel should be less likely to be emotionally manipulated. Like we said, we are emotionally stronger, okay? We should be less likely to be emotionally manipulated by, for example, the underdog, you know, the poor victim of homophobia type idea that's put out there. Because a lot of women are pulled into that, aren't they? You go and look at half of these protests outside, you know, Bible believing churches, and I'll tell you what, the majority will be women. The majority will be like dyed haired women, you know, who are standing there with placards going on about, you know, whatever it is, usually sodomy, because they're just so easily brainwashed by this stuff. By the will and grace, you know, next door best friend, fag hag type queer, you know? And this is the stuff that they're just constantly being influenced by. They need protection from it, don't they? If your daughters are being influenced by that stuff, and your sons, you're failing, aren't you? If your wives are being influenced by that stuff, you're failing as the stronger vessel. I mean, what is it? You know, what that is, that just gave me a picture of that, of basically that limping wolf. Oh, I'm just a poor wolf, you know? That's the idea, isn't it? And then eventually, when the guard's down, that's when they pounce. And that's what the idea is. The devil's just constantly trying to basically con people into just thinking that they're just harmless. They're just harmless people. But the Bible says they're predators. The stronger vessel should be less likely to be manipulated to think that cross-dressing is somehow empowering. Who in the world is cross-dressing? As a general rule, women. Women all over. All over the place. How many men are cross-dressing? Still very few, isn't it? Still very few. Why? Because they were so much easier to manipulate with it. Because what's the difference? I've said this many times. What is the difference? What would be the difference if the men just started walking around in... Well, they come to church in trousers, because that's expected at church. But when they go home, well, you know, just put on a dress, put on a skirt. It's cooler in this weather. You know? I'll tell you what's quite hot in those trousers. I'm more comfortable in a dress. I mean, that would be... Most people would go, what the hell? What is wrong with you, you sick, twisted weirdo? And everything else, wouldn't they? But what's the difference when the women do it? I'll tell you what the difference is. They've just been manipulating brainwash for a lot longer. And they knew that they were the easier target with it. Because they were told that somehow they were being beaten down and put down by the man. You know, for daring to wear what they've always worn, pretty much, throughout history. The stronger vessels should be less likely to start worshipping dumb animals just because they're so cute. Because there's a lot of women out there that just worship animals, don't they? And we're usually a bit more immune to that stuff. Yeah, yeah, the puppy dog's cute, but it's not going to become my whole life and whole world. You know? But, again, it's just targeted on the women, this whole, like, you know, and then you've got all these crazy... I can't believe that guy, you know, he smacked his dog on the bum. Off the dog, like, ate all his food, I say, so what's wrong with you? But these people, they're militant with it, aren't they? And a lot of the time, again, it's women. Now, again, I'm not knocking the women. Do you know who I'm knocking? It's the male leadership. I'm knocking the men. The male leadership in their lives that haven't protected them from the clearly targeted attacks. I mean, it's clear as day, isn't it? Women have been attacked with this stuff, left, right and centre, and the men are failing. The men are sleeping on the job, the men are failing to protect their wives and protect their children. OK, that's what's going on out there. And sometimes just recognising it and being able to support them through it. Sometimes just being able to give the counter-arguments to see where that's coming and just be ready to show them, no, look, that's wrong, OK, you understand why that info is wrong. You need to be constantly reminding your family about the angles coming in because they are weaker to it. OK, they are, that's why they're being targeted. You need to be aware of that stuff. And sometimes, like I said, it's just recognising it. Keep your finger in 1 Peter 5 and turn back to 1 Corinthians 16, where Paul said, Watch ye, in verse 13, watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. The title is the stronger vessel. Number one, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in awareness. Number two, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in faith. The stronger vessel needs to be strong in faith. Paul said, stand fast in the faith. That means to stand strong, unmovable, doesn't it? OK, and it means to stand firm on what? On this book. It means to stand firm on your King James Bible, OK? You need to stand strong on that, to be unmovable, to know what it says and to be able to apply it to life. OK, it's no good going, yeah, yeah, well, I believe the King James Bible is the word of God, but I don't really know what it says. I never apply it to my life. Oh, but I believe it, though. I just don't really have anything to do with it. You should be an example to your family, shouldn't you? If you're standing fast in the faith, if you're unmovable, you need to be an example. How do you expect your family to be strong in their faith if you're blown about with every wind of doctrine? Yeah, oh, but I just can't believe that, you know, my kids started believing this weird doctrine or my wife, you know, started getting her head turned by this when I'm blown about with every wind of doctrine. How do you expect your family to serve God if you're a part-time churchgoer? Oh, they just don't want to go to church, but I only go every other week. Or a part-time soul winner. Or you don't read your Bible. Oh, you know, kids, you've got to read your Bible every day, but they never see Dad reading their Bible. You're the leader. You should be leading from the front. You should be the one who's standing fast in the faith. You should be the fastest stander in the faith. You should be that strongest one there. In fact, how will you even be aware of the attacks if you don't read the book on the attacks? This book, it just shines a light on all that stuff, doesn't it? Because every time you read it, it's like, that doesn't make sense compared to what the world's teaching. That doesn't add up with what that news, you know, media icon said or whoever else it is. No, actually, that doesn't make sense. But how do you know that if you're not reading your Bible? You're not going to know it. Do you ever come across those people who say things like, I'm very open-minded when you're out soul winning? They go, oh, yeah, well, I'm very open-minded. They go, I have respect for all religions. You have those ones, yeah? I respect them all. I like to make my own mind up. You know, it's kind of like, I'm on the fence. Oh, see, I'll read a bit of this and a bit of that and everything else. They always think that they sound strong-minded, don't they? Like, somehow they're beyond kind of influence, you know? Oh, no, no, no, I decide for myself. But you know what they really are? To me, they're just weak. They're weak. They're too weak to make a decision and stand on it. That's what they are. They're too weak to have some conviction. Do you know what's easy is just to sit on the fence about anything. They're too weak to say, no, this is what I believe. This is what I'm convicted by. To say, I believe in the God of the Bible. Yeah, to stand on something. That takes strength, doesn't it? That takes strength in this day and age. It takes strength to stand on the word of God, doesn't it? To say, I don't care what the latest liberal filth is being pushed by the mainstream, I believe the word of God. I don't care how much you attack the word of God, every different angle going, I still believe the word of God. That takes strength, doesn't it, nowadays? I stand on what God says. I stand on the King James Bible. That takes strength. No matter what they throw at it, no matter what they throw at us, that's real strength. It's not real strength to just be another just worldly moron doing everything that everyone else does, following the sad latest fashions of the world, whether it's fashion in clothing or fashion in everything. It just keeps changing, keeps shifting, and all of it is usually just the opposite to what God wants. That doesn't take strength, does it? But standing on the Bible, it's more than just skim reading and listening to your favourite preacher, isn't it? That's not standing on the word of God. When your wife or your children ask a question, need a truth, need some teaching, are you just reaching for the sermon library? Oh, well, I better go to, you know, what did pastor whoever say about this? You know, what did, oh, it's a women's question, what did pastor's wife say about this? It's like, no, no, what does the word of God say? What does the Bible say? That's standing on the word of God. Now, don't get me wrong, yeah, there's some great preachers and some of them will say some great stuff, but what does the Bible say? That's standing on the word of God. Not saying, thus saith the pastor, thus saith the Lord. What does the Bible say? Okay, then your family are going to take heed and they're going to go, okay, I'm not just going to, well, grab, well, yeah, but what about this favourite YouTube personality who's not even at a church? They said this, they said that, who cares? What does the Bible say? They say what the Bible says, great. But if they don't, what does the Bible say? And look, go back to 1 Peter 5 because Peter tells us how to resist the devil, okay? Because it's about standing on the word, it's about being steadfast in the faith. The faith, it all comes from the word of God. That's how we know everything we do, that's why we believe everything we do because it's all in the word of God, it's standing on that word. And in 1 Peter 5, verse 8, he said, be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil, is a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Anyone think that Peter was lying there? Anyone think that was a lie? No? Everyone believe the Bible, right? Yeah? So you believe the Bible, and the Bible says be sober, be vigilant. He said because the devil is a roaring lion, walks about seeking whom he may devour. That's pretty sobering when you think about it, isn't it? That should make us take heed, that should make us want to be sober, be vigilant. Then he says, whom resist steadfast in the faith. That's how you resist him. He said resist steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. He said stand fast in the faith. You resist the brainwash by standing on what the word says. You resist the whispering attempts to pull you out of church by standing on what verses like Hebrews 10.25 say. You resist the false doctrine by standing on the true doctrines of the Bible. You resist all that stuff by knowing what the word of God says, by standing hard on what the word of God says. It all comes from the book. And the stronger vessel better be strong in this book. You're the stronger vessel. You're the stronger vessel. You have a responsibility, men. Fathers, especially out here, you have a massive responsibility. You better be strong in this book. And if you're not strong in this book, you better get strong in this book. Get strong in the book. Read it, study it, memorize it, and hear it preached. Okay? The whole lot. And if you're not doing that, you're failing in your responsibility to be that stronger vessel to protect your family. It's not your wife's fault. It's not your daughter's fault. It's not your son's fault. It's you. You failed, but you can still get right. Get right. From this day, go, right, no, I need to take this responsibility seriously. I need to read it. I need to study it. I need to memorize it. I need to put those words of God in my heart. I need to make sure that I can protect my family, that I can protect those weaker vessels. He said, stand fast in the faith. Keep your finger here and go back to 1 Corinthians 16, where verse 13, 1 Corinthians 16 and verse 13 says, Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. The title is The Stronger Vessel. The Stronger Vessel needs to be strong in awareness. The Stronger Vessel needs to be strong in faith. The Stronger Vessel needs to be strong in battle. Okay? The Stronger Vessel needs to be strong in battle. Paul said, quit you like men, be strong. Now turn to 1 Samuel 4, which is only, basically the only other place in the Bible where we see this phrase used, okay? There's only one other place where we see that, quit you like men, it's in 1 Samuel 4. And Paul, you know, he's quoting what was a command in warfare, which funnily enough was to the Philistine army, okay? So it wasn't any of God's people here. This was the Philistine army talking to each other. Now in 1 Samuel 4, Israel is battling the Philistines and they've just lost 4,000 men in a battle, so they get the Ark of the Covenant, thinking that it will then help them win, you know, as this battle continues, like sort of the next phase of battle. Verse 6 says, when the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, this is verse 6 in 1 Samuel 4, they said, what meaneth the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the Ark of the Lord was come into the camp, and the Philistines were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, woe unto us, for they have not been such a thing heretofore. Woe unto us, who shall deliver us out of the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods that smote the Egyptians with all the plagues in the wilderness. Now look at verse 9, they then said, be strong and quit yourselves like men, O you Philistines, that you be not servants unto the Hebrews, as they have been to you. Quit yourselves like men and fight. So what's the result of quitting yourselves like men? Fighting, yeah? Quit yourselves like men and fight. Fight, yeah? Quit yourselves. Give an acquittal of yourself as men and fight, yeah? Fighting sometimes, by the way, against the odds and still winning. Look at verse 10. And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent, and there was a very great slaughter, for they fell of Israel, thirty thousand footmen, and the ark of God was taken, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinahas, were slain. So perhaps Paul used this phrase to remind us that just being saved, being God's children, isn't enough. Maybe that's why. Maybe that's why. Maybe he wanted to invoke sort of, you know, thoughts of this story, to say, look, you know, having the ark here, having the word of God isn't enough, is it? If you're going to win the battles in life, you have to fight, and you have to fight like men. Oh, well, I'm saved. What could go wrong? Well, a lot could still go wrong. Oh, well, I've got the word of God. You know, I read it. I read the word of God. Solved. Job done. I read it every day. There we go. No, you've still got to fight. And you know what? You're not just going to fight. You've got to fight like men. You've got to quit you like men and fight. Fight like the stronger vessel should. What does that mean? Well, who's more suited to warfare, the stronger vessel? OK, you are more suited to warfare. Who did God command to join in the war when, or all the wars, when Israel was fighting wars? Did he get the women involved? No, it was the men. It was men 20 years upwards. OK? They're who were commanded to fight because they were more suited to warfare. Now, don't get me wrong. We all have to fight. In the New Testament, women have to fight as well. However, you should be taking the brunt of that fight, men. OK? You should be protecting your families. You should be in that battle. And as the stronger vessel, you need to lead from the front. You need to be willing to take on the battle, right? The wicked family members, you should be willing to deal with that. OK? Not leave it to your wife because, oh, it's a bit of an awkward conversation. She can deal with it. No, you deal with the wicked family members that are trying to pull your family out of church, that are trying to influence your kids, trying to get your children on their own so they can start whispering to them a lot of worldly brainwash and everything else. You should be taking on the false brethren when you need to. You should be willing to say, no, actually, look, you know, no, we're busy right now. Yeah? No, we can't do this. No, we can't, you know, yoke up and come to whatever it is or anything else. You need to be willing to deal with that sort of stuff. You need to be willing to deal with the predators stalking your children. And they are everywhere. Predators go for children. OK? And they're not just men either. There's a lot of female predators out there as well. OK? They go for your kids. You need to watch out for that stuff. OK? You need to be on that. You're the men. You're the stronger vessel. You should be the ones taking the fight. You should be the ones looking out for that stuff, not just leaving it to your wife because I'm busy at work. Yeah? Yeah, you need to work, but you need to have your eyes open. You need to be aware. You need to be ready to deal with those sorts of situations. Be ready to put your foot down and go, no, they're not going in that club, that sport thing, whatever it is, because those people are wicked. I'm not just going to risk it. No, they're not looking after my kid. No, I'm not leaving my kid where I don't even know what and where they're doing because, you know, well, my wife said that was OK. No, you need to be taking on that battle, men. OK? You're the stronger vessel. And you need to endure the battle as well. OK? Endurance is key, isn't it? Because the battle, it's not just about, well, I've taken on a battle. Sometimes that battle goes on for a long time. You know what it's kind of like? It's kind of like bowling. OK? You've got to keep going into that second game. Yeah? Sometimes you've got to keep getting those strikes in the game too. OK? I'm kidding, all right? If only I'd won. Right? Then this point would have gone on for another 20 minutes at least. OK, but, no, you've got to have endurance, OK? It's not about quitting, is it? OK? You can't be quitting. You've got to not let the battle affect your home life as well. Because that's another way that it works. You're under pressure or your wife's under pressure, your kids are, you're in that spiritual battle and then it starts to affect your home life. And then suddenly, yeah, now the Christian life's not so enjoyable because I'm bringing this stuff home with me. Because now we've got a problem at home, now that's an issue at home. It's ploughing through and keeping your home a happy place, isn't it? OK? And, men, you need to be responsible for that. Ploughing through that spiritual battle, keep your home a happy place, comforting your wife, your kids, motivating them as well. That's all part of leadership. Go back to 1 Peter 5. The spiritual battle is often a war of attrition, OK? The enemy wants to wear you down. And verse 10 says in 1 Peter 5 and verse 10 says, But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while. It's a while, right? Make you perfect, establish strength and settle you. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. So God will come through for you, but sometimes you have to suffer a while first, don't you? And you should be strong enough to deal with that, men. You should be able to go, No, we're going to get through this. Just keep going, keep serving God, keep doing the things you're doing, keep strong and you will get through this latest spiritual battle. OK? And you have that endurance and with that is to be able to prop up and support and comfort and basically help the weaker vessels through that as well. Go back to 1 Corinthians 16 and when you do that, he will make you perfect, establish strength and settle you. 1 Corinthians 16 and verse 13 says, Watch ye, stand fast in faith, quit ye like men, be strong. Then it says in verse 14, Let all your things be done with charity. The title is The Stronger Vessel. Number one, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in awareness. Number two, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in faith. Number three, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in battle. And number four, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in love. The stronger vessel needs to be strong in love. It's always interested me, this passage, how verse 14 follows verse 13. So he said, he's like giving this rousing, Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit ye like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity. And it kind of, you almost look at it and think, that doesn't really fit. It's kind of like there should have been a new chapter, right? Or something else. Well, no, because charity, being selfless, giving real love. And the reason it follows straight after verse 13, is because it does take strength. It really does. It takes strength to be selfless. It takes strength to give to others. It takes strength to give real love. Often it's easier not to love others, isn't it? That's the easy option. The easy option is to hate on everyone else. Just to find irritation and annoyance and hatred for everyone and then just be able to discard them as well. Yeah, you know, they're probably wrong in any way, you know? That's the easy option, isn't it? But it's weak. A lot of the time it's just weak. You know, a lot of the time people find excuses just to not like someone. So they don't have to love them because that's the harder bit. Doing things for people, being nice to people. It takes strength to put others first, to sacrifice. And more than anywhere else, that should be evident at home, shouldn't it? Okay, so the love you have for others, the first place you should see that is at home, shouldn't you? Turn to Colossians chapter 3. Because as men, we can have a tendency to be a bit self-driven sometimes, can't we? To neglect the needs of our wives and children, okay? That's something that you cannot easily slip into as a husband, as a father. But being... Well, part of being a stronger vessel is to be strong in love, right? And if there's one way, by the way, to encourage your wife and kids, it's to love them. When you're in a hard battle, when you're going through some hard stuff, when you're feeling the attacks of the enemy, the sniping, the clever little ways he's trying to just defeat you, trying to destroy your family, etc. If you're just loving them through that, believe me, it helps people get through it, you know? It helps your family, it helps your wives, it helps your kids. Look at Colossians 3, he says in verse 18, wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord. Yeah, wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands. However, verse 19, husbands, love your wives and be not bitter against them. Is that a suggestion or a command? It's a command, isn't it? Is it dependent on them submitting? It's not, is it? It's a command. Husbands, love your wives and be not bitter against them. And look, that's something that you have to remember sometimes, okay? Because sometimes you're going to have problems, you're going to have rows, you're going to have times where you don't get on. You're going to have times where you feel justified in being bitter, but you're told to love them and be not bitter. That's the command of God, okay? If you're standing there going, why aren't you submitting, you know, something else? Well, why aren't you loving them? Why are you bitter? Okay, they go hand in hand, but they're not dependent on each other. And in the same way, if a husband is not loving their wife and he is bitter, their wife should still be submitting, okay? However, you don't have to turn to Ephesians 6, 4. Paul says, and your fathers provoke not your children of wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Okay, so that's loving your children, that's loving your wives, yeah? Being not bitter against them. And when you're showing them that love, whether it's your wives, your children, they're more likely to endure through the latest spiritual battle, like I said. And look, it's not just so at home, is it? So showing that love and having that loving home and having a place that's secure and a place that, you know, you want to come home to and be like, look, it doesn't matter what we're going through, whether it's a battle out, you know, with the family members, at church, in the workplace for you or whatever else it is, if you can come home to a loving place, that really helps, isn't it? Okay, it really helps with everyone. And of course we should be showing love to others too, okay? Our brothers and sisters in Christ, for one, okay? That should go without saying. We should be showing love and that's a giving love, a selfless love, a love where you just want to love each other, right? Want to do nice things. Yeah, you're not going to be best friends with everyone, but you still want what's best for each other. But also to the world. After saying be strong, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 16, 14, let all your things be done with charity. And here's the thing, could you really claim to be doing all things with charity if you're not showing the lost salvation? Is that doing all things with charity if you're not preaching the gospel? It's not, is it? Because how on earth can you just be knowing that people you know, family, friends, people that there are literally probably 60, 70, whatever million it is in this nation that are on their way to hell and not even trying to show them anything different? Is that doing all your things with charity? Is there anything more loving than showing someone how to spend eternity in heaven? That's what we should be doing, shouldn't we? So all these so-called churches with their soup kitchens, their hobo freebies for people that refuse to work and want to jack up and smoke crack every day in a tent on the streets that they probably got for free from some sort of charity or homeless lot, the we love queer signs on the front of their church saying, you know, Christianity is about inclusion and all that other stuff, diversity and bring them in and we love everyone and everything else. Are they really that loving if they can't even preach the gospel to anyone? Is that really love? Do you know what it is really? It's hate. Because what they really do, they preach them a false gospel. All those churches, all those liberal wicked churches are all preaching their work salvation straight down to the pit of hell. But we're told to let all our things be done with charity. And you know what, the best way you can do that is going out and preaching the gospel as well. But that doesn't mean then we neglect our family. Oh, well, I do all my things with charity, so I go and preach the gospel and then I, you know, I don't show any love to my wife and kids. Yeah, I'm not doing all my things with charity, am I? It should be the whole lot. Okay, you said in verse 13, Watch ye stand fast in their faith, quick ye like men be strong. Let all your things be done with charity. I beseech you, brethren, ye know the house of Stephanus, that it is the first fruits of Achaea, that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints, that ye submit yourselves unto such and to every one that helpeth with us and laboureth. The title is The Stronger Vessel. Number one, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in awareness. Number two, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in faith. Number three, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in battle. Number four, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in love. And last point, number five, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in humility. Okay, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in humility. Paul said watch, he said stand strong, battle hard, be loving, and then he said I beseech you, I'm pleading with you. Okay, this is a strong guy, isn't it, Paul? That's a strong man of God, isn't it? And he's beseeching, he's pleading basically with these people, with this church, this church that he planted, this church that he's teaching, this church that he's just been rebuking, and he's pleading with them to submit to those that are working hard for the Lord, that are helping out, that are trying to make a difference for the kingdom. Basically he's saying be strong and be humble, submit to those in the ministry. That's what he's saying. And it sounds obvious, but many confuse strength with pride, don't they? In our world, how many people confuse the two? They think they go hand in hand. They think a strong man is a prideful man. They think a strong man is someone that just stares in the mirror all day every day. They think a strong man is someone that, you know, cannot submit to anyone. But it's the opposite. Okay, it's the opposite. He's just said be strong, then he said submit yourselves to these people working in the ministry. And like I said, it sounds obvious, but it is the opposite, okay? So many cannot, just can't submit. And I'm not just talking about to the ministry and obviously, you know, in church life you see this stuff a lot, but throughout life. And do you know what it is? It's not, it's the complete opposite. It's weakness. That's really what it is. It's effeminacy. It is. It's basically like a rebellious sort of, a rebellious woman that won't submit. It's insecure rebellion. And I'm not, like I said, I'm not just talking about around the church, but I do see it in the church sometimes. And I've seen it over the couple of years that I've been in the ministry. This sort of pride filled insecure stuff, okay? And it is everywhere. These weird attempts, for example, one that we had and we'll still get, is people that just refuse to address you by the name, by your church leader name, Brother Ian. It's just bizarre. And the thing is, this is a funny thing about it, because I think some people think, oh, this will get him. Syrian, quick, you know, run off, you know, or something else, you know. I used to get it for that Ben. He'd like, all right, mate, you know, as he comes in and everyone, oh, Brother Doreen, you know. All right, mate. You know, and the thing is, yeah, it didn't wind me up. It just made me chuckle. And it still does to this day. It just makes me laugh, because I think, like, you really are pathetic. You know, like, you've got issues, man. Like, I don't care. It doesn't affect my ego. It's like, that's the right, like, the name for an evangelist is, I could either call myself Brother Ian or Brother Tavanah. You've got two choices. There you go. I'm giving you a choice, yeah? You call me Brother Ian Tavanah if you want a third, okay? There you go. But if you refuse to do that, it doesn't affect me. It just makes me think, you've got issues. You're insecure. You weirdo. Why are you even coming here? You can't respect the leadership. Soon you're going to have to call me pastor. And, you know, the same people will be like, all right, Ian, oh, sorry, I forgot. You know, it's like, we're just like, look at you and figure, you've got issues, man. Okay, that's the truth. Because, look, that stuff, yeah, that stuff, it is important. And it's not just for me, because the same people, you see it online a lot. You see it with our pastor. When our pastor came in, I remember the first time, and I remember telling you about this guy. He was like a call on the name of the Lord heretic, this guy, who just came along. And it was like, you know, hi, Sherry, to his wife. And, you know, oh, and at one point he's calling him Aaron, I think. Like, it's just, you idiot. Do you know what I mean? And you hear people refer to, and I hear it sometimes in conversation. You've got to watch this as well. It would be like, oh, yeah, like when Anderson did this, or when Mihir did that. And it's like, how about Pastor Anderson and Pastor Mihir? These guys have done more for the kingdom of God than probably anyone you'll ever meet in your life, yeah. How about you give them some respect? How about you address them by what their name is, and that's Pastor Anderson or Pastor Mihir or Pastor Thompson or Pastor whatever. Is that too hard? And it just shows a heart a lot of the time with people. It's like, just look. Yeah, look, they're not better than me. They kind of are. Sorry, man. They kind of are, okay. They've studied the Word a lot more than you. They've been in the things that have gone a lot more. They've done a lot more for the kingdom than you. Sorry. Give them the name that they've earned, yeah. And you know what? The more you're in the ministry, you see how hard it is to earn that. It is a hard job. Give them the name because you know what it does as well is it will help you. It will help you to actually have some humility in life. It will help you to not think, well, I'm not going to call anyone by a title. It's like, sort yourself out. You're not too big for that. Yeah, just sort yourself out, and it will help. Then also it will help others as well just to understand that there is leadership in life. And those same people, I tell you, those same people will turn up at the workplace and find it really hard to respect their boss. I've seen these people even in the service industry. They can't even respect the customer. They'll be like, oh, yeah, wait there. What on earth? I'm a paying customer. What the hell is wrong with you? I am the boss. The customer's the boss, aren't they? But it's the same. And this is everywhere, right? Again, it comes from the world. And obviously the worst types of people are just bright-filled anyway. But a lot of it's just worldly people who just cannot submit to authority in any area of their life. But here's a question. If you can't do it where you should be submitting to authority, whether it's in the church, whether it's to your boss, whether it's to whoever it is, whether it's when referring to men of God that you should be submitting to as authorities in churches, how do you expect your family to do it with you? Is your family going to submit to you if you can't do the same? You've got to teach them humility. We have to show them humility. Because if we ain't, who else is going to? The world's not going to. Oh, your wife's going to be humble to you, going to show humility and submit to you, but you can't do it to anyone else that you're meant to. It's bizarre, isn't it? Because how do we lead? We lead by example, don't we? We lead by example. So go to Proverbs 29, just last point on this. Proverbs 29, we're going to look at verse 23. Because often I think these same people then wonder why they don't receive it. They are incapable of submitting to anyone else in life, have to find a way of somehow being above them, have to find a way of getting them to do something for them, have to find a way of somehow just showing that you're the boss. And then it's like, well, what's going to happen with you? Well, Proverbs 29 and verse 23 says this, A man's pride shall bring him low, but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit. Your pride will bring you low, but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit. Humility brings us honour, did you know that? Showing humility in life will bring you honour, eventually, but your pride will bring you low. 1 Corinthians 16, we're going to finish off. Go back to 1 Corinthians 16 and verse 13 says, Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit ye like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity. I beseech you, brethren, you know the house of Stephanas, that it is the first fruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints, that ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one, helpeth with us, and laboureth. And by the way, you could add with that, you could add soul-winning captains, okay? A lot of that's hard work, do you know that? Setting out routes, like maps, being there come rain or shine at the times, etc. When you turn up to a soul-winning time, submit to the soul-winning captain, yeah? When you go out on a Sunday, submit to the soul-winning captain, yeah? And as this church grows, there'll be other positions of authority that people need to just understand. Look, that's just normal, you just submit to that, don't you? A lot of people have issues. Okay, the title is Stronger Vessel, like I said. Number 1, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in awareness. Number 2, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in faith. Number 3, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in battle. Number 4, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in love. And number 5, the stronger vessel needs to be strong in humility. The stronger vessel needs to be strong in humility. OK, and that's all real strength and that's something that we as men should be striving for, shouldn't we? And dads out there, that's something you need to strive for. You want to be a successful father, you want to have a successful family. You need to be strong in all of these areas. You need to be the stronger vessel. OK, on that we're going to pray. Father, thank you for your word, thank you for the clear distinctions you give between the genders and something which the world is just going crazy on right now. I mean, more bizarre than I've even touched on in this sermon. However, Lord, help us to just know what you say, know what the word of God says. Help us to, you know, as men here, to really step up to that responsibility you give us as a stronger vessel, to not think that it's something that we, you know, kind of beat down the women with, that we somehow lord over them. No, it's to basically to be able to help them, to be able to protect them, to protect our families, Lord, to be just, you know, those stronger vessels and behave like those stronger vessels, Lord, but to also give honour unto our wife as unto the weaker vessel, Lord. Help us to respect them, to love them, to, you know, the only way to make things work properly is to just do things your way, Lord. Help us to love them, not be bitter against them. Help us to bring our children up in the nurture and admonition of you. Help us to just be good fathers, Lord. Help us to be good husbands. Help those single men here to work towards being those men that will be there, and just help us all, Lord, to just be more like you. Help us to get out this afternoon and get many people saved, Lord, and help us to return safely for the evening service. In Jesus' name I pray all this. Amen.