Assembly: Headship — Norman Crawford

The subject is sovereign display, headship in an assembly, and I deeply appreciate the dear Christians coming out so well to these meetings. I know this is a very busy time of the year, and I deeply appreciate the interest and attendance.

If you want to blame anyone for the time of the meetings, you'll have to blame the elders, because they arrange the meetings at this time, and if the Lord will, the meetings are expected to go on next week as well, each night at 7 .30, and I think you've noticed that the meetings close on time.

I hope that will continue, and what we don't cover one night, perhaps we can mention the next night. So remember the meetings and pray that God will bless his word. I'd like to read tonight a very familiar passage, 1 Corinthians 11.

The Scriptural Basis of Headship

The subject really begins at verse 2. 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 2. Verse 1 really belongs to the end of chapter 10. So verse 2 of 1 Corinthians 11. Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and hold the ordinances.

That's the word traditions, and it's traditions in a good sense, although in the gospel's traditions are used in a bad sense. In the writings of Paul, they sometimes are in a bad sense, but on at least three occasions the word traditions is used in a good sense, and it is here.

So it is the traditions as I deliver them to you. But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head.

But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered, dishonoreth her head. For that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn. But if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.

For a man indeed ought not to cover his head for as much as he is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man, neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man.

For this cause ought the woman to have power, and the revised version helps us a great deal in this particular place. It translates, for this cause ought the woman to have a sign of authority on her head because of the angels.

Verse 11 says, Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman, but all things of God.

Judging yourselves, is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? Doth not even nature itself teach you that if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her, for her hair is given her for her covering.

But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. Before we look at tonight's subject, I should point out to you that Monday night of this week we spoke on a scriptural definition of the Church, and on that particular night we took up the laws of interpretation.

Hermeneutics is what it is usually referred to as. We didn't certainly cover all the laws of interpretation, but we took up the laws of interpretation that relate to our subject, gathering unto the name of the Lord Jesus.

And then on Tuesday night we took up a simple description of a local assembly, and on Wednesday night we took up the significant distinctions between the body, which is spiritual, and an assembly, which is local.

And tonight our subject is—or at least last night our subject was the supreme declaration of an assembly, the Lord's Supper. And tonight our subject is sovereign display in an assembly, the truth of Hedgehog.

If the Lord will, next Monday evening we'll be taking up spiritual dependence of an assembly, and we'll see how the Spirit of God acts in an assembly in government, in priesthood, and in gifts. And that's a very important subject.

It'll be a great difficulty to cover that subject on Monday night, but we'll try to touch the most important things about it anyway. And then, if the Lord will, on Tuesday night next week we're taking up, if the Lord will, assembly gospel testimony, and then the next night assembly reception, and then on the Thursday night assembly giving, and next Friday night, if the Lord will, assembly discipline.

So I trust that God will bless these meetings and bless this Word to you. If you would like outlines of the previous nights, there are some copies of those outlines on the table in the back. If they should be all gone, then we can supply some more of those outlines.

So if you want any of them, let some of our brethren at the back know. Now tonight our subject is sovereign display. I would say that 1 Corinthians 11 is not really two great subjects which are disconnected from each other, but rather two subjects which are very closely related.

We took up last night the subject of the Lord's Supper in the latter part of this chapter, and tonight we're taking up the former part of the chapter which deals with headship. But I would say that that great subject of headship is one of the major themes of the Bible.

The Preeminence of Spiritual Worship

It has a great deal to do with our spiritual worship, and I think you'll notice that that's where we begin our outline tonight, the preeminence of spiritual worship. I believe every true believer understands something of the value of worship, something of its importance, something of its holiness, and the reason I believe that is because the Lord in John 4 said, the Father seeketh worshipers, and he spoke those words to a lady, a woman who had just been saved, and he taught her some of the highest truth in the Bible, about worship.

That often has amazed me. To that woman of Samaria, the Lord taught some of the highest principles of spiritual worship that are known to us, and he must have believed that she was capable of appreciating what he was teaching her.

And so spiritual worship, the preeminence of it, the fact that it must have first place, I'm certain you appreciate that fact. That's the reason we seek to give to the breaking of bread meeting a preeminent place in an assembly.

It is given priority, it is given first place on the first day of the week. There are assemblies that have another meeting on Lord's Day morning prior to the breaking of bread. I would have to say that that is their own responsibility for their order, and it doesn't necessarily mean that they are not giving priority to the breaking of bread meeting.

So far as I'm concerned, I would very much rather see the breaking of bread meeting have the first place, not only in priority, but also in time. So there is a great preeminence to spiritual worship. It is a tremendous privilege to be a worshiper, because that is going to be our eternal occupation.

Our place of worship is not in this building. If you meet here with the believers, this is truly not your place of worship. Sometimes that's a question asked by religious people, where do you worship, or what is your place of worship?

And they want you to tell them about some particular building where you gather for worship. Well, certainly the believers gather here, and the Lord has promised His presence in the midst. He deigns to take His place in the midst of His gathered people.

But when we worship, we do not worship in this building. If I understand the teaching of the Lord Jesus in John 4 correctly, and the great teaching of Hebrews chapter 9 and 10 and 13, then our place of worship is within the veil.

We enter within the holiest of all, cleansed by His precious blood, and in the presence of our Lord within the veil. And that veil is the veil of the heavenly sanctuary, and within that veil is our place of worship.

The Heavenly Sanctuary and the Fulfillment of the Shadows

I have to stop here just for a moment. If you look at your outline, you'll see, unlike Israel, you have a little paragraph that begins like that, unlike Israel, our sanctuary of worship is heavenly and spiritual.

Now that's a vast subject in itself. Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 1 speaks of a worldly sanctuary. A worldly sanctuary does not mean that it is according to the system of the world. It means it's according to the material of the world.

In other words, Hebrews 9 and 1 is saying that the tabernacle was made out of material that came out of this world, and it was glorious material. The gold and the silver and the gems and the brass, or the wondrous hangings of linen and purple and scarlet, and the animal sacrifices, and the sweet incense, and the ram's horns, and the silver trumpets, and the high priest dressed in his garments of glory and beauty.

All those things were visible things, physical things. They came from this world. The tabernacle itself, with its glorious curtains, was physical. It was visible. It was that which could be seen. We do not have a worldly sanctuary.

That's a most important truth. We do not have a worldly sanctuary. In the Bible there are five worldly sanctuaries described. Every one of those worldly sanctuaries is related to a people on earth, God's people in this world.

But we are a people with a heavenly calling, and we do not have a worldly sanctuary. So when people take you into a religious building and say, this is the sanctuary, they're mistaken. They have gone back to Judaism.

They've gone back to shadows, for all those things related to the worldly sanctuary were only a parable for the time and present. And I'm quoting the exact words of Hebrews 9 and 11 when I say that. That was a parable.

It was an earthly story of a heavenly reality. In other words, the true tabernacle was in heaven itself. That's where the true holy of holies was. And what was on earth was only a little shadow. But when Christ came, as Hebrews 9 and 12 says, when Christ came, the shadows all withdrew.

He appeared on the scene as the fulfillment of every shadow. And Christ is the great reality. And the worldly sanctuary was only a shadow of what was coming. Now, because we do not have a worldly sanctuary, we do not have aids to worship.

You know, I have talked to sincere Catholic people, and I'm not picking them out to discriminate against them, but I have talked to sincere Catholic people who, when the subject has come up about, for instance, doing a basins to an image of Mary or any other such thing in the Catholic Church, they have usually said, oh, well, that is just an aid to worship God.

We are not really worshiping any of those things. It is just an aid. It is to help us to see something visible, to help us to worship God who is Spirit. Now, I know that many a sincere Catholic believes that.

But you see, what the Lord taught in John 4 is that we have no such visible physical aids to worship. What he taught was that they would neither worship the Father at Mount Gerizim or in Jerusalem. For the Father seeketh worshipers, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

I hope we all understand that, that we come within the veil where the Lord Jesus himself is, the real veil, into heaven itself, and we are able to worship in spirit. In other words, in spirit, we literally enter within the heavenly sanctuary and worship there.

So anything of earth does not belong there. Anything of the great wonders of the tabernacle or temple of the Old Testament has no place there. They were only shadows, and the shadows have been fulfilled and have now withdrawn.

Now, that great principle is most important to us. It's very precious to me, and I have a number of times taken up a whole meeting speaking on that subject. And it is a vast subject, and I only touched a very few things about it tonight.

It's one of the reasons, by the way, that we do not use mechanical music in spiritual worship, because mechanical music was a part of the shadows. And in whatever degree we go back to those shadows, we are turning away from the reality, from the substance, Christ himself.

The Five Physical Elements of Assembly Testimony

Now, remarkably, although we do not have aids to worship, although we worship in spirit, and we do not have a worldly sanctuary, the Lord himself chose five physical elements which are related closely to assembly testimony.

He chose the five, and I would say that as the Sovereign Lord, he has the right to make the choice. He made the choice, and therefore every one of these physical elements has great spiritual significance.

Now, that's what immediately follows on your outline, and there's a reason for the outline. I'm certain you know this. The reason is that when you listen in a meeting like this, it's very difficult to retain what is being said, and an outline helps you to go home afterward, or at some later time even, and recall much that was said.

So that's the advantage of the outline. And if I don't touch on everything in the outline, it is not because I'm not willing to, it's because there's a clock on the wall and it doesn't allow me to. But these five physical elements are well known to us, and they're listed for you on your outline.

The water of baptism, the one loaf of the remembrance, and by the way, 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 17 definitely tells us that it's one loaf, and the word is not bread, but it is loaf. And that particular statement seems to me to have great spiritual significance, one loaf.

Loaf of bread, of course, it means, and it is a word that is often used for bread, but the thought of it is it's single, it's one. The cup of wine at the remembrance, the covered head of the sister, and the long hair of the sister.

Those are five physical elements that the Lord himself has left to us. I usually have not been so emphatic as perhaps I'm being right now, but I would say that none of us have the right to say that one of these physical elements is less important than the other.

I would question very much if I have the right or the authority to pick and choose between the five, and therefore to me all of them have great importance, all of them have great significance. I think the usual objection would be something like this, you're not trying to tell us that a sister's long hair and her hat are as important to the Lord as the bread and the cup on the table when we come to remember him in the breaking of bread.

Yes, yes, that's exactly what I'm saying, and I hope before I'm finished tonight you'll agree with me, even though you don't agree at this moment, because headship is one of the greatest principles in all the Bible.

It is one of the outstanding truths that runs from Genesis chapter 1 to the close of the book of the Revelation. In fact, I could hardly trace a truth through the Bible that seems to be fuller and more completely developed throughout the scriptures than the great principle of headship.

Worship Through the Spirit and Glorying in Christ

Now, just before we look at these five physical elements, we have a great privilege to come as worshipers before the Lord. We worship God, the Spirit, through our Lord Jesus Christ. That does not mean that we do not direct worship toward the Lord Jesus.

Although, let me say something very simply. When he was here on earth, he was worshiped in his person. In a coming day, when he comes in glory and power, he is going to be worshiped personally. It seems that in this time, this age of the Holy Spirit, this age of the Church, as far as I can understand, the order in scripture for worship seems to be, we worship God by the power of the Spirit and rejoice, glory in Christ Jesus.

Now, that's a literal rendering of Philippians 3 and 3, as you likely know. We are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. The word rejoice there is the word to glory.

So in our worship, it's addressed to God. It is by the Spirit that our spirits are moved to worship. And I couldn't give you a definition for worship if I tried. And I wouldn't try, because it is such a high and holy truth that it is very difficult to express it in some kind of a simple definition.

And I'm afraid of simple definitions, lest I think I understand the great truth when all I have is a few words that maybe make some kind of sense. So spiritual worship is very high. It's a great privilege.

We worship God. We glory in Christ Jesus. The Spirit of God moves upon our spirits to produce that worship. But because it is so important, Satan does his best to rob God of the worship that should be directed to him.

Hindrances to Spiritual Worship

And I've thought of some of the things that hinder us in our worship, and this is very practical now. One of the difficulties in dealing with subjects so large as this, it is very difficult sometimes to even get the time to apply the truth properly.

So I'm taking the time at this point in the meeting tonight instead of waiting until the end when there may not be time. There are problems that relate to our worship. Perhaps one of the greatest problems is we come empty before the Lord.

And you know the picture from Israel is that no man was to appear before the Lord empty. It was absolutely forbidden. I wonder, if we were to examine our own hearts here today, have we ever appeared before the Lord empty?

Has there ever been a time when we came with an empty basket, and nothing to give? Perhaps far more often than we are willing to confess. Because, you see, last night we mentioned that we offer the fruit of our lips.

And the idea of fruit is not seeds, but it is something that has been cultivated. And the best has been culled from that fruit. The gathering of the best to present to the Lord. And through the week, through every day of the week, I should be gathering precious things to put into the basket.

So that when I come on the first day of the week, I have an offering that is fresh, that is in the power of the Spirit. And perhaps that's one of the greatest hindrances to our worship. Empty hands. Unjudged lives is likely something that all of us have been guilty of.

Appearing before the Lord, as we read last night from 1 Corinthians chapter 11, where we're reading now, with unconfessed sin, unjudged sin in our lives. And such a person eats or drinks unworthily, not discerning the Lord's body.

There must always be confession. There must also be a right attitude of heart when we come before the Lord. When we actually do gather together, I'm sure we've all had this experience, that a dear brother will arise to his feet and go through a long dissertation, and perhaps cover the events of the life of Christ from his birth to his resurrection, but not have much feeling in it.

And perhaps the reason we don't feel it is because maybe it's a course that that dear brother has taken many times. Somehow or other, there's no freshness in it. There's no spirit in it. How we should guard against that.

Any of us could be guilty of it. And thank God, I was going to say, and I will, we have very little of that here in Jackson. I hope you appreciate that fact, because I'm sure you know that I am in many more assemblies than any of you are.

And I hear many, many brethren arising to give God thanks for his son. And perhaps in a large company, very large, and in a little company, very small, one of the great dangers is that brethren go through a rote.

They go through a memorization lesson and say the same words again and again and again, with no feeling, with no power in them, with no grip, with nothing that would really draw out your heart. I remember years ago, a dear man in our assembly, he came to the door after the meeting one Lord's Day morning, and he said, you know, I thought I was in the presence of God this morning, but I was dragged out by my feet, because someone arose out of the spirit, and obviously it hindered worship.

Now, there is a great danger of failing to discern a time in the meeting when the bread should be broken. Brethren, it's not watching the clock, it's having spiritual discernment to know when the point has come in the meeting to give thanks for the loaf upon the table.

And it's intelligent worship that a brother arises at the right time in the meeting and gives thanks for the bread. I think that perhaps we don't have as much a problem with that here as they do in some places, but we have had a problem with that at times.

Levitical and Priestly Service in the Assembly

When should a young man take part in worship? When should he audibly take part? Let me suggest something to you. Levitical service is what we do toward others for God. Levitical service is a Sunday school class.

Levitical service is a testimony meeting, or a gospel meeting, or a meeting at Cedar Knoll. That's Levitical service. Or whatever I might do for others in the work of the Lord, even if it be a matter of passing out the hymn books at the door, or greeting people as they come to the meeting.

That is Levitical service. And it is important. And I could not say that it is less important or less valuable to God than priestly service. But I do know that priestly service and Levitical service always went together in the Old Testament.

You do not have Levites functioning without priests. And vice versa is also true. So now, when should a young man take part in worship? Well, he should take part in worship, but a meeting should rise.

In other words, when a meeting begins, it should not have the highest point at the beginning. But as we come into the presence of God, we should rise higher in our appreciation of the Lord Jesus. And therefore, it's most valuable that if you're exercised, take part in the beginning of a meeting.

And then as the meeting goes on, perhaps those who have had longer experience in public expression of worship, praise on their lips, that they take part a little later in the meeting. We sometimes, brethren, we sometimes rise a little higher than thanking God for what we have received, rather than giving God thanks for his Son.

You see, God delights in the Lord Jesus. And I know I'm saved and forgiven and I have eternal life. I'm a child of God and an heir of the kingdom which is to be revealed. But that's what I've received.

How much better it is to tell the Father of the glories of our heavenly Joseph and be able to relate in his hearing the maxillus worth of his own lovely Son. That is truly the highest form of worship.

Now, there needs to be preparation for the great privilege of worship. I'm certain we all know that. And we need to guard against anything that is merely mechanical or anything that is merely form, because all of us can get into a form.

The Spiritual Meaning of Baptism and the Lord's Supper

It's a great danger with any of us. Now, it's remarkable that after such high truth regarding spiritual worship, that the Lord chose, for instance, the water of baptism as a symbol of his death and of our death and burial with him.

None would deny the value of the water of baptism. It is only water. And on Lord's Day evening, there is to be a baptism here, and the water is in the tank right behind me at this moment. And it is just water.

It is not holy water. It is Jackson water, and that's not even very good. But it's in that tank and it's just water. And it will remain water, even when the person is baptized and afterward. But although it is merely water, it has tremendous spiritual meaning.

Would any deny that? I don't think so. Well, now, the loaf that we use in the remembrance of the Lord is only bread. We said that last night. It's just a loaf of bread. I'm not so sure, brethren, that there's great significance to the idea that many of us think of, about the grain falling into the ground and dying and all that in connection with the loaf.

But certainly those have been precious thoughts to many at times, and about it being ground in the mill and baked in the oven and all that sort of thing. But nevertheless, it is just a loaf of bread. We make a great mistake if we try to make rules about what kind of bread it must be.

Because the significance isn't the kind of bread, but just that it is a loaf of bread. But although it's only bread, it has great meaning. The same is true of the cup of wine. You know, it's a lovely thing to remember that to the Lord Jesus, he drank a bitter cup given to him by the Father, and we drink a cup of blessing.

1 Corinthians 10 and 16 tells us the cup of blessing which we bless. Is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? So what was for him most bitter is for us most sweet. And there could not have been a more apt emblem of that than the wine, because wine is bitter and wine is sweet.

When you take it upon your tongue, it is both bitter and sweet. I always think of the verse of that hymn, See from his head, his hands, his feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e 'er such love and sorrow meet, for thorns compose so rich a crown.

And so in the cross you have the bitterness, yet you have the sweetness, and the wine is a fitting emblem. Now are these other emblems just as important? Yes, I think they are. I would be very unwilling to say they are less important.

It's true that in the breaking of the bread and the drinking of the cup, we proclaim his death until he comes. Well, dear sister, sometimes sisters say I can't do much. In an assembly we have sisters preaching and even praying audibly.

They do pray, but not audibly. Maybe they pray a whole lot more than the men do. But sisters sometimes say there's not much I can do. But you know, in what you are doing, you are giving perhaps one of the greatest emblems of the glory of the Lord Jesus that is found on the face of the earth.

Because you see, while that bread and cup are emblems of his body bruised and his blood poured out, your long hair and your covered head are emblems of the eternal headship which God has deposited in a man.

Headship From Creation to Christ's Universal Dominion

Because in the beginning it was God's purpose that headship should be in a man. And that's why we've given you the little outline in your outline here, the principle of headship in a man. It goes back to Genesis 1.

Headship in principle is there. In a picture, Adam was given head at the place of head over creation. He was given dominion over the work of God's hands. And every creature that walked upon the earth or flew in the air above it or swam in the sea, Adam was given headship over it all.

But he sinned and he lost it. And we see not yet all things but under a man. But Hebrews chapter 2 tells us that there is in prospect headship under a man. And the entire universe of God to the farthest reaches of every intelligent creature will bow and give to the Lord Jesus the place of headship.

That's what you're expressing in a practical way in an assembly. And Ephesians chapter 1 tells us that the Lord Jesus is head over all things. But his headship is not acknowledged by rebel sinners. In our world, his headship is not acknowledged, not at all.

But in an assembly, his headship is acknowledged. And that is of the greatest importance. Now, you'll notice that on the outline you have, there are three kinds of why in the spiritual realm. I'll tell you why this is important.

There are a lot of people who know what Christians practice. And they say, this is what we ought to do. And they would be like I was as a young Christian. They would say, if you said to them, well, why should we do it?

They would say, because the Bible says so. And that's a true enough answer, but it's not good enough. You see, much of the New Testament explains to us the spiritual meaning of our practice. A great part of the New Testament, and by far the greatest part of it, is an explanation of why.

Why we do this. Why we behave as we do. Why we are separated from this world. Why we do not go in for its pleasures and sports and all the things that it holds dear. Why? And if you don't know the spiritual meaning of it, you're only carrying out a legal order.

And that's always dangerous. The man in Romans 7 tried to be set apart for God by a legal system. It fails. It always fails. The legal system is not the way to God. God doesn't want mere automats, mere robots, mere programmed machines.

God wants intelligent subjects who bow in submission to his word, understanding the meaning of behavior that is commanded. And if any place that this is important, it's in this subject. So I usually try to tell younger Christians that it isn't enough to know the why of scriptural mandate.

That's the first why on the outline. Why? Because the Bible says so. That's good, but that's not enough. There has also to be the why of spiritual meaning. What does it mean? And if God didn't want us to know that, he wouldn't have told us.

And then, of course, you have the why of sincere motive. Because knowing what I should do doesn't mean I'll do it. In many parts of the land, the truth that we are looking at right now is being spurned.

It's tragic to go to some places and see the disorder. I would have to say that it's very grieving. Years ago, Mr. McBain and I were preaching in, I believe it was Niagara Falls, Ontario. And you'll forgive me for not being exactly sure, because it's many years ago.

But I'm quite sure it was Niagara Falls. We had gospel meetings there. And a woman who was a Christian, and a godly woman as far as we knew from contact we had with her and her husband in their home, this woman came to sit back on the Lord's Day morning.

She wasn't in an assembly. She had never actually seen an assembly meeting. And so she came on the Lord's Day morning and sat back and looked on for the Christians, to see the Christians carrying out the Word of God.

We went to see her after her visit to the assembly, and she was deeply impressed with the order of the meeting. And she said, this is exactly what I have been reading in the Bible myself for many years.

And she said, I could see the order there was very good this morning. But, she said, I saw two sisters and they had short hair. And she said, I couldn't believe that you people who are trying to carry out the Word of God so closely, could just ignore the teaching of 1st Corinthians 11, about the sisters two coverings.

You know what Mr. McBean and I did? We went to see the two sisters, and we told them what the woman said. Now, we didn't get on too well, but nevertheless, Mr. McBean was very faithful, as you know, and he did it graciously in a fatherly way.

And he said to them, you see, here's a woman who came to see the Word of God carried out. And what they saw was the Word of God being disobeyed. Oh, it's tragic when that happens. Only two in a whole company, but you see the woman in the backseat saw the two.

The farmers in Iowa always say that if they are selling pigs, and there happens to be a couple of bad ones in the lot, they never put them in. They always take them out, and put them off away somewhere where the buyer won't even see them.

Because they said, as sure as you put a runt in with the pigs you're selling, the buyer will get his eye on that little one, and judge all of them by that little one. I know that's kind of crude, you'll forgive me for the crudeness of it, but I'm afraid the world does that too.

Judges an assembly by the poorest of us, the weakest. And tragically, Satan gets the advantage. So we must understand what we are doing, and why we are doing it. And it must be done out of devotion to Christ.

You see, I'm always afraid on a subject like this of making my own regulations. It's easy to do that, you know. It's easy for us to make our own rules, and I find that to be one of the biggest problems among those who desire to be obedient to the Lord.

Because I have heard men get up and give their own regulations, so they could tell you how long a man's sideburns should be, or the color of shoes he should wear, or the color of shirt he should have on, and almost anything else they can think of.

And they couldn't show you a line in the Bible to support it. Now what's wrong with that? I'll tell you what's wrong with it. It weakens the truth. It actually does damage to the truth of God. I've even known people who said that a Christian man shouldn't have a mustache.

Now I know you'll smile at that, but you see the problem is, that's a human regulation. That is not the Word of God. There's not a line in Scripture to support such a thought. And when we do that, we're making our own rules.

And when we make our own rules, people will not believe us, even when we're telling them the truth. That's what's so damaging about it. We had a man come to this country from the north of Ireland, and I assure you, in the north of Ireland, he wouldn't get away with what he tried to teach here.

I know that for a fact. But when he came to this country, he told people that they had to sit in a meeting with both their feet on the floor, and couldn't cross one knee over the other. That's a human regulation.