Women In The Church Meeting
The
Lord has a Divine order in the Church, and it is important that we obey Him in
everything, and that means even in the things we do not understand! I believe that one of the most often abused
commands of God is this. 1 Corinthians
14:34 - 37 Let your women keep silence
in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but [they are
commanded] to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them
ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.
What? Came the word of God out from you? Or came it unto you only? If any man
think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the
things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. Take notice that this is not anything less
than a command of the Lord. I have
probably heard all of the arguments, they try with different reasoning to annul
this command of the Lord. Fifty years
ago I would not have received much of an argument about what I have said
regarding a woman's place in the Church.
Two hundred years ago no argument at all, but today, well that's another
thing. Watch, approximately 1900 years
have passed, and no problem with this subject; just about everyone was in
agreement. But in the last fifty years
the subject has completely changed! Now
follow me here please; God doesn't change!
We have changed in our thinking.
We have embraced the will of man and forsaken the will of God! For shame.
I remember some time back; I was at a home meeting. As I quoted this scripture one of the women
interrupted me and said, "That's
your interpretation, and I don't believe it" . . . I returned, "That was not my interpretation, it was
a direct quote from God's word",
(she didn't know that I was quoting the Bible, she thought that I was
giving my own opinion) So I asked her
to follow along with me in 1 Corinthians 14:34. After having her read this
scripture aloud, I asked if she still thought that this was my
interpretation. Her response was not
new to me; I had heard it before. She
said, "the apostle Paul was a male chauvinist, and that is why he tried to
lower the place of women in the church!"
I asked her how she had arrived at a conclusion like that? She said that she had read it
somewhere. I know where she read it,
"1Satan 3:14". You see Satan
also has his word, and you can tell it quickly. It will always contradict the Word and will of God. He doesn't sign his name as author, he
allows his people to sign their name on his work. Just like God used many people to write down His commandments and
instructions in the book we call the Bible.
Now watch this, with one simple explanation "The apostle Paul was a male chauvinist" she tore out
of her Bible this important command of God!
She allowed the Word of God to be interpreted by the word of man (really
the word of Satan). How
convenient! Anything we don't like in
the Bible, we simply look to man's writings, until we find someone else with
our dislike of that particular command.
Then we take his or her explanation to disavow the Word of God! My friends, that is how we ended up with so
many different denominations. Don't do
this! But instead, allow yourselves,
your books, and all that your friends have to say, to be judged by God's Word,
never the other way around. This is very important, please allow me to repeat
it, "Allow yourselves, your books,
and all that your friends have to say, to be judged by God's Word, never the
other way around". If you would
like an explanation of why God doesn't allow women to speak during a church
meeting, read again 1Timothy 2:11 - 14 Let the woman learn in silence with all
subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the
man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was
not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. God
doesn't permit women to teach or usurp authority over a man, (And please don't
forget this is God's commandment, not Paul's).
Here we have God's reason for this command. Someone might say,
"Is God being fair to subject all women this way, for something
that Eve had done?" When we ask a
question like this, just exactly what are we doing? First off, we are not trusting God. And we are thinking that our powers of reason are as great as
God's! What foolishness, what
Gaul! That is exactly what the children
of Israel did to the Lord during the forty years of wandering in the desert! I might be accused of being a "male
chauvinist", that's O.K., what I am, is a man that believes and obeys all
of God's word, not just the parts I like!
I am not afraid or intimidated to preach all the Word of God! The homosexual, the drunkard, the adulterer,
all take exception with God's Word, the very instrument that God has sent to us
to bring conviction of sin! To bring us to salvation! I have preached for many years now, that every one agrees with
God's commandments! I wish to repeat
this. Every one agrees with God's
commandments! Now you might say, Mr.
Wright, you are crazy, I know that EVERYONE doesn't agree with God's
commandments! Please allow me to
explain. I knew a man out west, who was, a thief. He stole radios out of airplanes. A lot of people knew about him.
One day I was alone with him and said to him "It is wrong to
steal". He exploded, "The insurance companies are rich, they
deserve what happens, they cheat people, and they can afford it". All that I said landed on deaf ears. He had justified his sin! Then it happened; early in the morning a few
months later, I had a student, and we had just landed our plane, after having a
practice flight. Looking down the ramp
I saw a large man jumping up and down obviously very angry. I went to him to see what had happened. It was this very man, (the one who hated
insurance companies) someone had stolen the radios out of HIS plane! Now he perfectly agreed with what God had
said about stealing! You see, it is all
in your point of view. Does the
adulterer want someone to commit adultery with his wife? No!
Does the thief want someone to steal his radio equipment out of his
airplane, NO! Do the backbiters want
someone to talk bad about them behind their backs? NO! You see everyone agrees with God's
commandments, it all depends on the point of view!
What
about the Prophetess? I believe that
all doctrines must pass the test of "All Scripture". If our doctrines fight any scripture we have
a doctrine that is wrong! We must look
further into God's word for understanding.
The Bible speaks of prophetesses in Acts 21:9 - 11 And the same man had
four daughters, virgins, which did prophesy. And as we tarried [there] many
days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus. And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's
girdle, and bound his o
wn
hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at
Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver [him] into
the hands of the Gentiles. God will
use the Prophetess, but not against his own rules! Prophetesses can prophesy but according to 1Timothy 2:11 - 14 not
during a meeting of the church!
To
Sum Up The Lord wants men and women
everywhere to be in His service, but it is His service, and we should serve Him
as He has directed. If after reading
the Scriptures listed above you still think it right for women to speak during
a meeting of the Church, or teach and exercise authority over men; then you
will be able to understand how the adulterer, the thief, the backbiter, and the
murderer justify their defiance of Almighty God!