Headship, Lordship, Fellowship

Now, I have mentioned that tonight I'm going to look at a truth from the Scriptures, and I will say one thing. I preach the same thing here that I would preach at home, and preach everywhere. So what I'm going to preach tonight, I preach everywhere.

That's not the first time I've preached this. I hope that I have fresh thoughts and fresh material for it, and the time spent going over it, I'm sure it wasn't in vain. But I want to look at the truth tonight of headship, lordship, and fellowship.

And I want to look at them in one portion of Scripture. I want to look at them in 1 Corinthians 11. Verse 1, Be ye followers of me, even as I also, as one another of my also's, am of Christ.

Now I praise you, brethren. And that is going to characterize the next 15 verses. The next 15.

Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances. It's interesting because we normally refer to two ordinances. One, the act of baptism.

The other, the breaking of bread. He refers to ordinances, and I know it's the word for traditions, but there's no other word for ordinances. So can it possibly be there is more ordinances carried out in a New Testament church using substantial things to display a spiritual reality than the breaking of bread? And I'll just leave that in your minds as I deliver them to you.

But I would have you to know, and that but is there for a reason, that the head of every man is Christ. That the head of the woman is the man. That the head of Christ is God.

Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head. Every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered, dishonoreth her head, or detracts from her head. For that is even all as one as if she were shaven.

For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it be, or since it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, and they are two words of extreme, and we'll look at them, let her be covered. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, for as much as he is image and glory of God.

But the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman or from the woman, but the woman from the man. Neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man.

For this cause ought the woman to have power or authority, or be in subjection on her head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, neither, and this is a balancing statement, neither is the man without the woman. Neither the woman without the man in the Lord.

Now, they're two different statements. One's relevant to creation, the other to congregation. In the Lord, for as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman.

But all things of God. Judge in yourself. Is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? Does not even nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory for her, for her hair is given her for a covering.

But if a man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom. I can hardly wait to deal with that one. Neither the churches of God.

Now in this that I declare unto you, and there's a change. Here's where the chapter changes. From that which is an approval and an acknowledgement to a rebuke.

Here's where it changes. Now in this I declare unto you, I praise you not, or I cannot approve you, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. Verse 20, when ye come together therefore into one place, and he's referring to what they are doing.

This is not to eat the Lord's Supper. I think that's all I'll read. You know, if we take especially the first part of chapter 11 down to verse 16, to simply be talking about hair and head and hat.

We have missed the whole purpose of it. It is the portion in the scriptures which deals with the symbolic truth of headship. And so this evening I want to look at three truths that are linked together to the point that they readily affect and produce one another.

When we look at headship, we automatically think of rank. When we consider the truth of lordship, we are looking at response to rank, or rank that is recognized. And when we look at a common response of believers to the person of Christ, responding in a same required manner, we have the principle of fellowship.

So we could simply put it this way then. Headship, rank. Lordship, response to rank.

And fellowship, results of a common response to the lordship of Christ. You know, when you start looking at this chapter, and I just want to take, I'm not going to take it verse at a time, but I'm going to look at four things when I get to them, when it comes to this chapter. I want to look first of all, dealing with headship, at the truth of a creatorial.

There are school teachers here. I must admit, sometimes I come up with words I think I made them up myself. You can tell me afterwards if I did, but it seems to do the job.

I want to think first of all of the creatorial endowment. There is a creatorial endowment spoken of here. Then I want to look at the truth of a congregational expression, because that is also brought up here.

Then I want to look at the truth of component equality. That may seem a very difficult term, but we're going to find that it simply means that none are more important than the other, and both are equally required. And then I want to look at the truth of continuous excitation, because this is one of the most refuted passages of the scriptures in the religious world around us today.

You know, when you start and you look at this passage, the Apostle Paul isn't simply saying, and I've said it, and I'm sure you have, these followers of me, even as I also am of Christ, simply means if I'm following Christ, follow me, it will be a good example. Now, that's a lot of truth. There's much in the scriptures to really produce, and the common principle of doctrine is based on that truth.

But what he's saying is this. As I have received this from Christ, receive it from me. As I have received this from Christ, receive it from me.

So it is going far more than just the thought of following the example of an individual's behavior, but the Apostle is saying, what I have received and what I am going to speak on, contrary to what the religious world says, that this is Paul's own particular views, and he was a chauvinist man, and even worse criticisms are aimed at him than that, but he's simply saying, I have received this from the Lord. Therefore, receive it from me. And then he starts by saying this, and this is a lovely principle.

Now, I praise you, brethren. And he's obviously just not talking to the man. He's talking to the combined company of the Lord's people at Corinth.

You know what he's really saying? Before I start to tell you anything, I want to commend you on something you're doing right. Now, I praise you, brethren, in this. And he says this, that you remember me in all things, and you keep the ordinances as I deliver them to you.

Can I suggest something to you that possibly, even amongst us, is contested somewhat today? Corinth wasn't a place where women were blatantly appearing in wanton or harlot appearance with shaved heads. But in all likelihood, he is going to first praise them for the fact that they are doing something, and they don't even know why they're doing it. I praise you.

He comes and he starts by saying, there is something that you are doing, and since you have first heard it from me, you have commenced to do it, and you are continuing to do it. And I praise you in this, that you keep the ordinances, and that in all likelihood, the truths that he is going to speak to this assembly on, and to these sisters who form a part of this assembly on, that these individuals weren't blatantly disregarding it, and that's why he chose Corinth. But they possibly and probably were upholding it, and practicing it, and yet they didn't know why.

Well, that's a great truth. That tells me this. That obedience doesn't necessarily have answers.

That we are not told to obey because we've figured it out and we understand it. The principle of obedience is this. Whether I understand it or not, if I'm told to do it, I do it.

That's what he's saying. And there are things that brethren and sisters in the assembly have done, and are continuing to do, simply because the Scriptures tell them they should do it, and they don't understand why. But they do it.

I've heard people told that don't get baptized until you understand it completely. Well, if that were the case, brethren, I'd still be waiting for baptism. All I understood the day that I asked the brethren that they would baptize me was this.

That God had a pattern for believers, and a pattern for my life. And as a believer, I was to bow to the Word of God and go into the waters of baptism. And the only reason I really had for doing it, all I know, I said, that I know it's a type of the death of Christ.

And I thought I understood all that. You'd be amazed what you think you understand. But finally, I just did it because the Bible told me to do it, and I didn't really know why.

You know something? I have baptized many. I'm not the Apostle Paul, so I baptize none of you. I could say that about this particular place here.

But I've had the joy of baptizing many individuals. And I enjoy it. I really do.

And every time I've been at a baptism, I've appreciated more and understood more about my own baptism. You know there's a divine principle, do you know what it is? That God honors obedience with understanding. That individuals that turn around and say this, when I understand it all, I'll do it, in all likelihood will never commence to do it.

But the Bible teaches if any man will to do the will of God, he shall know the doctrine. So that when a person says, the Scripture says to do it, I don't know what it means. But I'm going to do it because the Bible tells me to do it.

That individual is a candidate for what follows. He says, I praise you that you keep the ordinances, but I would have you to know. I want you to understand why you're doing what you're doing.

I want you to know the significance of the sister's hair, of the brother's short hair, of the sister's covered head in congregation. I want you to understand the symbolic meaning behind that which you are doing. And until you're willing to obey, you will never understand what it means.

Obedience is a prerequisite for understanding. And I would have you to know. I pretty worked up over that one.

Anyway, then he goes down in verse 3, and he gives us... You ever put one of these things together with a grandson? You're doing it all the time. They give you the little kit, and it comes with these... It's supposed to be simple assembly. I put together this little thing, and it took me all afternoon.

It's true. You know what? I'm not much of a builder like some are. But they sent this little metal wrench thing, and they sent me all the tools, and they sent me the pictures where 1 equals this, 2 equals this.

Well, Mrs. Orzuck, little boy, was just too knowledgeable to go with that, so I simply sat down and thought, I'm going to put this whole thing together now. I didn't realize that that little package that I had off to one side that I thought somehow fit into the table from things afterwards were the very building blocks of the very thing he used to put it all together and make it work. So before he gives us the truth, you know what he's going to give us? He's going to give us the tools to understand it with.

Here's what they are. Here's the tools, the instrumentation to understand the principle and the teaching of Hitchup, and he gives them in verse 3 when he says this, I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ. It's not very hard to understand.

The head of the man is Christ. And that the head of the woman is the man. And that the head of Christ is God.

And that is vital for us to grasp the truth of the vital, paralleled significance of a sister's part in the statement of Hitchup to a part of her brethren. The head of Christ is God. As a matter of fact, did you ever wonder why it puts it this way we would normally have said? I would have started at the bottom and said the head of the woman is the man.

The head of the man is Christ. The head of Christ is God. Or it would have gone the other way.

The head of Christ is God. The head of the man is Christ. The head of the woman is the man.

It would have worked at least following flowing one way or the other. But why does he first of all put it all under Christ and then put it under God? Notice the principle of Colossians. That he had put all things under him and he had brought them to God.

So first of all, he establishes a statement to the principle of Hitchup that is going to bring all under the canopy of the head of Christ as God. He brings all this to God. Whenever we look at the term head, let's just simply say I know there are others that look at this differently but they're not ministering this tonight.

I am. And they would think that the head refers to this particular thing and it's her own head and that head represents the head of the church. I think the terms are very simple.

Let's look at it this way. Whenever we think of the head of the man, automatically we're going to think Christ. That's what we're told.

Head of the man, Christ. Whenever we think of the head, and I'm talking about the literal head because it's symbolic here. It's ordinal.

We're going to think of the head of the woman, literal head, the man. It's very simple. So whenever we think of the woman's head, the man.

When we think of the man's head, Christ. So there's our building blocks. There's the tools we're going to use to look at this.

When it talks about the truth of congregational expression, that's a difficult word, but what I want to simply, or endowment, I simply want to bring this. It is linked to the truth of creation. It's not the thought of a sister, or a wife.

It's a man and a woman. And you know what it simply is? That a woman, by nature, is given a covering. Her head, by nature, is to be covered.

The man, by nature, has a sensitivity to a head that is not to have long hair and is to be uncovered. That's by nature. And so when you see this couple walking down the street who are going to obey the word of God, somebody at this point might be running to themselves, what do you mean by long hair? I might, you know, there's an old saying, you might as well be, if you're going to be hung, you might as well be hung for a herd of a heifer.

I might as well tell you exactly what I believe. I know that some aren't going to agree with it, but I believe it, and I can tell you why I believe it, and I believe I can support it, or I wouldn't believe it. That a woman's hair should not be cut.

Now, if you're going to say, well, yeah, but it's nourished. It's the thought of wholesome or healthy hair. Well, is the contrast to that unhealthy, unwholesome hair? No, because the man's perhaps the opposite.

It's interesting the word for nourished is the same word for nurtured, or brought to its fullest development. To let it come to its fullest point or its fullest development. Interestingly enough, it gives us two ends of a spectrum.

It says, if she is not going to respond to the truth of headship when it comes to the congregation, then she might as well not respond to it when it comes to the truth of headship in creation. And let her be shaved, all of it, shorn, any of it. The word shorn, you're right, simply means cut across.

The word shaved is the word it simply means to take off. It's a word more linked with removal. So it's the thought of whether she takes off her hair or cuts across her hair.

It's linked together. Let her be one or the other, as if they're one. Let me tell you something else, and then I'll just tell you why I believe this.

I was spoken to one time after a meeting, and I wasn't hard of hearing. Hey, listen, I don't want to be hard on anybody. I want to help the Lord's people.

I am not berating anybody. There are Christians here that are older and wiser than I have, and I have much to learn. But I don't think this is one thing.

I went to this company, and after the meeting, they asked me this question. They said, Peter, we want to know how long is long? I was tempted to tell them what a brother told me one time when he was asked that question. You know what he said? How tall should your mother be? I said, what do you mean, how tall should your mother be? As tall as she grows.

Okay. Anyway, they asked me how long is long. There were five of them, in fact.

One of them turned around with a lovely, wholesome hair. How long and shiny it looks has nothing to do with the veil or the covering. It's good to be wholesome.

It's good for it to look clean. That's nice. That's nice.

That's a personal testimony. But that's not a symbolic figure. It's the hair itself, the covering.

And she said, well, I believe that long is this long. And she had hair down to about here. Another sister, because her hair was of the type that wouldn't grow very long.

It tended to be very coily hair. She said, well, I believe long hair is over your ears. And another sister said to me, she said, well, I believe long hair should go beyond the shoulders.

And the other one said, I don't know. That's why I'm asking you. Now, hold it a minute, brethren.

Let's just stop for a minute. Let's think about what we're saying here. Do you realize every one of those sisters were saying the same thing? We will give the standard for long hair.

Long hair will be this long. Anybody that has hair shorter than that, set of the mind of God. Long hair will be this long.

Anybody that has longer hair than that is going further than the scriptures teach. Long hair will be this long. And if you couldn't happen to grow your hair that long, if it wouldn't naturally grow that long, it's too bad for you because that's what long hair is.

You see what happens right away? You've got three different standards. But if we simply let the standard be this, as long as it grows, that is long hair. Now, let me just look at having said that, here is the woman with her hair.

Now, her hair is given to her. It's looked at two things. It's looked at as a covering.

And you'll see, I'll tell you why it's inappropriate for a covering in a congregation. It's also given unto her as a glory. Now, it's... There are brethren who say, a sister got a haircut, she left her glory on the barber floor.

That's very inappropriate because the word for a glory simply means it is given unto her as an honor or a distinction. So, it's something that has been given to her that is unique to her. And God has given her a privilege in having that particular aspect of testimony.

He has given her a distinct uniqueness in testimony, a distinct feature. So, it is not only a covering, it is a distinct feature or an honor that God has given her to bear it. It's an amazing thing to know that in the creation itself, generally speaking, I say generally because there are exceptions, like the black widow spider and the piranha, where generally speaking, the male is a far more handsome, distinct, beautiful creature than the female.

Well, take a look, for example, when you look at guppies. If you ever saw a guppy, look at a male guppy, look at the female. She's ugly.

And he's got that lovely long veil in color. Look at the peacock. Who can remember seeing a female peacock? I can.

But I can remember seeing the male. Yeah, you know why? Well, he's got that, same as the male pheasant. He's got that great display of beauty.

He has got a unique beauty in creation. Look at the male lion. Whenever you think of a lion, you don't think of something like an Elsa that's there, the female lion, although she does do all the hunting, all the stalking, all the killing, feeds the cubs.

He's really quite a lazy critter. But you think of the male lion with his beautiful big mane. You see, he's been given a distinct feature of glory.

Now, if you look through creation, you'll see it in salmon. You'll see it in trout. You'll see it in every creature, prudner, except for some of the, like I said, the black widow spider.

The female is more attractive than the male. She's got a red hourglass. And she kills the male and eats him.

That's how she gets the name of the black widow. So I'm not going to use her tonight. But you see what I'm saying? How that, generally speaking, in creation, God gave the male a distinction, apart from the female.

You know what it says in the scriptures? He has given her a glory. He's reversed that when it comes to man. She not only has a covering by nature that is used in connection with nature, but she also has a glory or a distinction or a uniqueness that is given to her that the male is not to have.

And so can I see this couple walking down the street, her with her long hair, him with his short hair, which is the figure of an uncovered head. Her long hair is a covering. His short hair is an uncovered head in figure.

You know what you realize? Her head is covered. The head of the woman is the man's. The woman's head is covered.

The man is not on display in creation. The man's head is uncovered. He doesn't have the glory, the covering that is given to the woman.

And so that couple, as they walk down, the uncovered head of the man tells us that the head of the man... Who's the head of the man? Christ is on display. So you see what it's really saying, the two of them together? The woman is saying with her long hair, her covering, that no man is on display. The man is saying, my head is uncovered.

Christ is on display. And the two of them together make this statement in creation that Christ is the head of the creation. See, that's the statement of headship.

And it's to do with the man's short hair and the woman's long hair. It's symbolic. It's more than just how it looks or the color of it or the luster of it.

It's the figure, the symbol of it. It is as symbolic as bread and wine. In all likelihood, it is one of the ordinances.

But let me go further. Then we have that woman because no flesh shall glory in His sight. When they come into congregation, she covers the distinction of glory that God has given her with a covering.

That's where you get the other covering. She puts on a hat or a covering on her head. I've heard some people say, well, it should be a hat.

It's supposed to have a big brim because when you look down, you shouldn't be able to see any hair because the angels are looking on. How do you know it doesn't all come from the side? You see, it's not that at all. I do say it should be something that obviously gives the manifestation of a covering.

Let me say to the sisters, I do appreciate a nice hat. I do. And they look very attractive and they look very nice.

But never lose the sight of the fact when you come into that congregation, when you put that covering on your head, that covering that God has given you by nature, a glory, is not on display. Your head is still covered by another covering, the covering that you wear, and your head is covered. So when you sit in that congregation, as you're sitting here right now, you are saying, my head is covered.

Who is the head of the woman? The man. There's no man on display in this congregation tonight. No man that has the prominence of the preeminence.

The woman's head is covered. The man. But the men sit here with uncovered heads.

Their heads are uncovered. Their heads are on display. Who is the head of the man? Christ.

So their head is uncovered. Christ is uncovered. Christ is on display in the congregation.

See how you need them both. For example, if the woman comes with an uncovered head, then she's saying, my head is uncovered and man is on display. Even though the man might have an uncovered head saying Christ is on display.

But there's a competition. Or if the woman comes and her head is covered, that no man is on display, and a man wore a head covering into a meeting, he was saying that my head is not on display and there is no display of anything or anybody. But when this scriptural pattern is followed, when the individual scripturally, the woman covers her head in the congregation, the man with his head uncovered, they are together making this statement.

Christ is the head of the congregation. Christ is on display. That's headship.

And so it is vital. I want to only look at the truth of a congregational expression. That does sound like a word.

But anyway, I want to look at the truth of a component equality. You know what it really goes down to? For example, it says that the woman was made for the man and the woman was made from the man. And a man could almost get a little proud about that and say, you just remember this dear, that you were not only taken from the man, you were made for the man.

Okay? So you know what that means. It's wonderful how the scripture balances. You know it says, but neither the man without the woman nor the woman without the man.

For the man came from the woman. It's simply saying this. Okay.

Every man could say the truth that woman had her commencement from a man. But every man here tonight had his commencement from a woman. We came from a woman.

More than that, sometimes we live under a little bit of a Victorian shadow. That kind of thinks that the sisters in our assemblies are not significant. Or are not as significant as the brethren.

Can I tell you something? That if you didn't have sisters to make the statement of headship in a congregation, you couldn't have a congregation. You couldn't have an assembly. You couldn't have an assembly without sisters.

More than that, the statement of headship couldn't be made without sisters. You need the two of them together to make it. And when God simply turns around and He says, neither the one man without the woman nor the woman without the man, He's saying this.

They are both vital. One is needed as much as the other. Brother, let's not lose sight of that.

I'll tell you sometimes there's a thing, and like I said, it's like the Victorian or Elizabethan age where it's almost the thought that women are inferior. The Bible doesn't teach that. That is nothing short of chauvinism.

And it reeks. The Bible doesn't teach inferiority of women or superiority of men. The Bible teaches uniqueness of the sexes.

And the Bible teaches the uniqueness of a sister's place and part in the testimony. And a vital uniqueness. Without it, there'd be no testimony.

And so when it comes to that, and someone says, yes, but it says the man is the head of the woman. So that means we're at the top of the scale and she's beneath us. Is that what it means? Okay.

Well, then Christ is the head of God. Does that mean that Christ is inferior to God? No, it doesn't. It's nothing to do with superiority or inferiority.

It's to do with order. Order. And so that's the truth of the component equality that both are vital in making this statement.

Sister, it does matter that you have long hair. Sister, it does matter that you are part of an assembly. An assembly couldn't exist without you.

Sister, it does matter. That covering of your head is so vital in making that statement as to the headship and uniqueness of Christ in the congregation. It's vital.

And the final thing I want to look at is continuous exhortation. You know what I heard a fellow say one time? I think it was a fellow. I don't know if that's a good word.

It was a chap. He said that, that that passage where it said, you have man, I'll read it. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom.

What he basically said was, but if anybody doesn't agree with it, we don't like to cause problems. So it's okay. Now that is absolutely, sometimes I'm almost provoked to say baloney, but it's absolutely ridiculous.

You know why? I'll tell you why. Because why would God in a book, and we were told that if the books were written concerning Him, that the libraries in this world couldn't hold them. And God has given us one book, and He spends half a chapter in the New Testament telling us about this truth.

And at the end of it He says, but if you don't want to go along with it, that's okay. That's absolutely ridiculous. You know what this is? This isn't a matter of your own personal convictions.

This is a matter of Apostles doctrine. It's the Apostles doctrine. It's the teaching of a New Testament church.

Now sisters, when it comes to the truth of things I have mentioned as far as the hair and the head covering, my hair never looked very good. I just was one of those, I got more parts of my hair, I'm not sure where they go. But I have seen my wife go through what I call miserable concursions, try to get a head of hair under control.

And I know, and I know it's not easy. But I want to tell you this. I would encourage every sister here to bow to that truth and go in for it.

That's what the Bible teaches. That is one of the great statements, one of the great figures that is used symbolically in headship. That's the Apostles doctrine.

And when it comes to me saying that if any man seems to be contentious, we have no such custom, it simply means this. If anybody doesn't agree with this, there is nothing else taught. No, neither all the churches of God.

He didn't just teach this at Corinth, he taught it everywhere. Everywhere. It isn't something uniquely for Corinthians who are blatantly abusing it, I don't believe they were.

It was a truth that was brought out there and put in there that individuals might recognize that this truth is relevant to not every church during the time of the scriptures, but every church today. Every scriptural gathering of a New Testament church. Every congregation.

He taught it everywhere. I know there are times when it would be easier because of people you care a lot about. I certainly hope I haven't preached this in such a way to hurt anybody's feelings or make them feel that I am jumping on you because I'm not.

I don't know any other way to preach it than just take it from the scriptures. But I don't have any time for individuals that would preach this truth some places and not preach it every place. If it can be preached somewhere, it should be preached everywhere.

Because there is nothing else. This is the word of God. That's headship.

So headship is basically in this statement. Christ is the head. Man is not on display.

Christ is the head. So, you know, it's kind of like when I was just a young fellow, my dad was in the Navy. I used to be kind of proud of him really because he was always a little bit of a scruffy naval officer, but he was an officer.

He was actually the commander of a ship, the Terra Nova, which is a Canadian warship. He was the captain of it. And every once in a while, we used to get to go on board with my dad.

And I don't know how many stripes are those or how many braids they got on their arms. Is it three for a lieutenant commander and four for a full-fledged captain? But anyway, my dad would go along and we'd get to go with him and my mom would go into the boardroom and eat on the ship. Boy, as we were walking by, you felt kind of, to be then walking by, they'd be talking, they'd see my father just standing there.

You know what they were doing? They weren't contesting his rank. They were acknowledging his rank. They were acknowledging it.

They were responding to it. That's the whole principle behind lordship. The lordship is more than just verbally stating that Jesus Christ is the head.

He's the head of the creation. He's the head of the congregation. It's living.

It's dressing. It's moving in such a way that your response tells me this. That I recognize Him as this and for that reason I respond to it.

That's lordship. You know, I've heard individuals when they turn around, they say this. They go to 1 Samuel.

A lot of people like using 1 Samuel. Is it verse 16? I'm glad when they do. I love it.

And they say, God looketh on the heart. A man looketh on the outward. And for that reason, it really doesn't matter how you look or what you do or how you appear because God is occupied with the heart.

There's a lot of truth to that. But I just ask them two questions. Two very simple questions.

And the questions are this. Who are we a testimony for? We're a testimony for God. Who are we a testimony to? To men.

And man looketh on the outward. Men only recognize by what they see. In other words, we could turn around and say, I love the Lord and I'm bowing and I'm going to honor the Lordship of Christ.

But if my life is moving in such a way that it's inconsistent with the Word of God, then anybody has the right to turn around and say this. Well, if you love Him, why don't you keep His commandments? If you recognize Him to be who He is, why don't you bow to Him? Do you know what a New Testament church is? No. It's not just a place where the believers can socialize in an anti-God world.

Thank God we can. No, it's not just a place where happy fellowship is to be had in a world that wants nothing to do with us. Thank God we can.

No, it's not just a place where believers will be happy and it should be like a hospital where they'll be cared for and a university where they'll be taught. Thank God it should be all of those things as God gives gift and ability. But why are we here? Well, someone says we're left here to enjoy our Christian experience.

If we were left to enjoy it, if God wanted us just to be happy, He would have taken us to Heaven the moment after we got saved. And we never would have had another problem, not a tear, not a heartache. It would have been joy.

So why has He left us here? Why has He brought us together to gather together in companies that acknowledge the truth of the headship of Christ and bow to it? Because a New Testament church is a statement in a Christ-rejecting world that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God. That's what it is. It is a statement in this world to the glory of God as to the Lordship of Christ.

And that statement isn't made by names we put on buildings. And by the things we say by our lips, it is said by the continuous character of our lives in bowing the knee to the Word of God. I hardly know anything about it.

But brethren, that's Lordship. Lordship is the response of the believer to the rank of Christ. And it's simply saying this.

He's the head. He is a captain over us. His will, His Word, we will do.

That's Lordship. Fellowship? Oh, someone says, that's fellows in a ship. That's kind of neat.

Fellows in a ship. I don't really know if that will do it. I don't think it will.

I remember two fellows one time. They weren't in a ship. They were in a boat.

And they were rowing. And they weren't tied to the dock. I've seen that happen too.

The young fellows get paddled and the boat's tied to the dock. Trying to lay the list for God before they got the root of the matter settled. But these two boys were out there and they were industriously working trying to row this rowboat to a place called Rainbow Valley where he took the kids.

Prince Edward Island. Remember that, Steve? Rainbow Valley, sure you do. And there they were and the water's not very deep.

And these two little critters, they were just going to it in their little rowboat. They were rowing. They were putting everything into it.

You know what that boat was doing? It was just going like this. You know what was happening? They were both rowing like little Indians. One was kneeling this way and rowing.

The other fellow was kneeling this way and rowing. And that little boat was just going. It was making, it was going nowhere.

They were in the same boat. But they were pulling in different directions. They were in the same boat but they were pulling in different directions.

You know what fellowship is? Fellowship affects every aspect of a believer's life and assembly testimony. I've heard people even turn around and they'll say, well, how much Scripture do you have to read at a get-together for it to be fellowship and not a social time? I would encourage you to always read a little bit of Scripture if you're together. But that's not vital for it to be a time of fellowship.

Fellowship is the ground on which we meet together, on which we're comfortable in one another's presence. We have moved in the same direction. We have the same desire and ambition.

We have the same purpose for our life. And so when we get together, that's the unspoken statement of our feeling comfortable together. You know what it's like when someone perhaps they're really saved and they come from some organization.

And yes, they're saved. You have a relationship to them by virtue of the blood of Christ. They're saved in your state and there is a relationship.

But there's always that kind of uneasiness that we'll finally get onto something in a conversation where it's just not going to go well because we are not moving together. And so the principle of fellowship is this. It's so simple.

If I am looking at the rank of Christ and bowing to what His Word is and other believers are doing the same and bowing to what His Word is, we will be doing the same thing. We will have the same exercise. It's not just the enjoyment of assembly testimony where you have a good time.

What a sweet time of fellowship. It's the thought of moving in the light, having a common grounds of enjoyment, a common purpose and goal. It's individuals not only being in the ship together, but paddling in the same direction.

You know what happens when you get a brother or a sister and they start to pull against it? It thwarts the movement of the whole thing. It affects it. That's how the fellowship is affected.

Tonight wasn't very much of a devotional meeting. I hope more to take that up tomorrow. But I just want to simply say again as the meeting comes to a close.

My son is going to finish on time and I am. Headship is the truth that is displayed in a congregation every time that congregation comes together with heads that are covered, the heads of sisters, heads that are uncovered, the heads of brothers, thereby acknowledging together as a statement uncontestedly Christ is the head of the congregation. Jesus is head.

Fellowship is my response to who He is and what He says. Fellowship is the common result or the result of a common response of believers to truth, thereby moving them together with one accord. And the word accord is the word for fellowship, a oneness, a union, moving in the same direction.

God bless us, we pray.