Individual Accountability

You know, one of the easiest things in life to do is go along with the crowd. Just go along. Go along to get along, as they say, and they sure practice that in politics. That's for sure. But, you know, easy to go along with the crowd. That's something that most others are very aware of. And, you know, it's not surprising. And especially at this time of the year, right? I mean, who wants to be the Grinch that stole Christmas, right?

Who wants to be the one who says, no candy here for you? I don't participate in trick-or-treat. Who wants to be singled out and stand alone? Whether you're the new kid in school or whatever. Well, you know, to have to stand alone as an individual is so be it at any time and place. It's not fun. It never is. Because we all like a little company. Today, I'm going to deal with a very serious reality, a reality that deals with and revolves around the individual.

I moved to Huntsville, Alabama in 1993. And at the time that myself and family were transferred there, there were doctrinal things afoot in the church that deeply disturbed me and Angela. And the children, to the degree that they saw what was going on and understood at that time too. I found a slow and steady squeeze being put on the truth. And I found myself as a pastor who was also a watchman, I found myself having to be more and more selective both.

And what subject I spoke on and also how I spoke on it. Because that's all very dark clouds on the horizon growing bigger and stronger and darker. And in the last few weeks before my resignation, I gave certain subjects which I gave hoping they would hang on antennas that were up. Wherever antennas were up. Where and if people had them up.

And the very last subject that I dealt with in a sermon in Huntsville before I resigned on May the 20th, 1995, is the very same subject that I will address today because it has lost none of its seriousness. And certainly in this life, it never will. And I'm going to lead into it this way. Currently, as of November the 12th, 2022, currently, right up to this very point in time, there is no spirit life or spirit being existing that started out as a human being.

Let me repeat that. Currently, right up to this very point in time, there is no spirit life or spirit being existing that started out as a human being. There is no one with God who started out or originated as a human being. No one who has originated from the human race has yet joined the Father in His family.

No one who has originated from the human race has yet been made eternal. Period. Jesus Christ did not originate from the human race. He simply came for a time among humans as a human to accomplish a very special and necessary purpose. He came from God and He went back to God.

He was God in the flesh. He did not originate. He always existed. He always has been. Let's read a couple of scriptures that address that. John 1. John 1, verses 1 and 2. John 1, verse 1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. And the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. And then verse 14. And the Word, see, which was with God and was God, the Word was made or became flesh. His composition was changed from spirit to flesh and blood, like ours.

The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten, of the Father, full of grace and truth. Now, Hebrews 7, verse 3. Hebrews 7, verse 3. This section is talking about Melchizedek, the high priest of God. It was a role, a priesthood of responsibility, in which the one who would later come as Jesus Christ, functioned as Melchizedek. And as it describes Melchizedek, verse 2, Hebrews 2, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being, by interpretation, king of righteousness. Who do you think that's talking about? And after that, also, king of Salem.

What is the king of Salem, king of peace, as it goes on to say, king of peace? What is the city of peace? There's supposed to be peace. Jerusalem. Jerusalem, city. It stands for city. It means city. Salem, peace. City of peace. King of Salem, king of peace, king of Jerusalem. There's no issue as to who this was referring to. It's referring to the one who was the Logos, the Word, who was known as, by terms of responsibility. He served as a high priest to the father back at that time with Abraham. He wasn't a human being, but he could appear as human. But notice what it says about him in verse 3.

This is a term that does not apply to a human being. Without father, without mother. This is Melchizedek. Without father, without mother. Without dissent or pedigree. Having noticed neither beginning of days nor end of life, eternal. Always. No beginning of life. Always existed. And no end of life. See, no human being, no one who has originated from the human race, has yet been made a spirit being in the family of God.

Not one single one. We're here in Hebrews. We have chapter 11. It's called the faith chapter. It's filled with God's spiritual heroes. And it lays out a number of them. And it says here in this chapter, verse 39, Hebrews 11 and verse 39, it says, these all having obtained a good report. They got a good report. Having obtained a good report through faith. And then it makes this statement. Received, not the promise. Very plain, very clear. Abraham, Samson, Moses. I mean, all of them that are listed. It says, they got a good report. They got an excellent report. But they haven't received the promise. What is that promise? Well, look at 1 John 2, 25.

1 John 2 and verse 25. They didn't receive the promise. What promise? John says in 1 John 2, 25, and this is the promise that he has promised us. Even eternal life.

So, what it is saying in Hebrews, they haven't received eternal life. The promise is eternal life. It says they didn't receive the promise. And that's eternal life. They haven't received it yet. Very simple. If you go to the day the church began in Acts 2, Acts 2, and verses 29 and 34, as Peter and the others are preaching to the multitudes there on the death of Pentecost, Peter makes this statement. Verse 29, chapter 2 of Acts.

Men and brethren, let me freely speak to you. Let me be able to just very candidly and openly and accurately speak to you of the patriarch David. He's trying to make sure that he's got a receptive mind to say this to.

That he is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us to this day.

And I guess maybe Peter felt like or got inspired him to feel like that maybe that wasn't staying quite enough even though it was pretty clear. He says in verse 34, verse 34, for David is not ascended into the heavens. David is not ascended into the heavens.

He hasn't been resurrected. He's dead. He's still dead. And so are all of those of the faith chapter.

John, in John 3, when John wrote the gospel of John, the church had been going for about sixty-something years because he wrote it in the 90s A.D. and he himself was in his 90s. And there had been many of God's people by that time who had died and gone to the grave and joined in the grave, David and Moses and the others.

When John wrote the gospel of John sixty-something years after what Peter had said that we just read, John put in what is called a parenthetical phrase.

Parenthetical is when you take and put something in and you put it in parenthesis.

And some of you probably have a red line, red letter I should say, red letter Bible.

And John 3.13 in a red letter Bible will be in red because supposedly those are the words of Christ and those are not the words of Christ. It should be in black. Those are John's words. It's a kind of like this. Oh, by the way, by the way, no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is then heaven. Sixty-something years later, John in search this to make it plain, no man has ascended up to heaven except the Son of man who came down from heaven who now is back in heaven.

That makes sense. For those who want to say Christ said that, that wouldn't make any sense for Christ to say, I'm here but I'm there. But it makes perfect sense for John to simply say, no one has gone to heaven but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is then heaven. That makes perfect sense. But it is recognized by those who look at it accurately and objectively that it's a parenthetical statement where John is emphasizing that in the gospel. You know, billions of human beings have lived and died on the earth and not one single one has yet been born into the family of God. I'm talking about those who originated from the human race. Christ was God, came from God, and He set the pattern. The moment of birth, the moment of addition, the moment of eternal change has not yet arrived. Not one human being, not one person originating from the human race has yet been added. And at this point in time, there is still only God the Father and Jesus Christ and the Spirit-composed family of God. And, of course, shortly that is going to change. We've got the Scriptures about the resurrection. We know that when Christ returns in the moment and twinkling of an eye, the dead will rise and those alive at that time will be changed. We understand that. But here's what maybe sometimes fades from our minds because life isn't easy. Being a Christian isn't easy. And stresses drain and strain us.

And we rise every day and step back onto a battlefield again in more ways than one. We understand that. And it gets tough. A lot of things are going to stay tough. And when storms are building, they usually build and intensify and build and get worse and worse until everything blows, you might say. And then you get the sunshine and the clear skies after that.

Do we realize the magnitude of the honor and the opportunity to be one of the very first humans to literally go into the very family of God? To be among the first group of human beings to become spirit beings? To be a part of that very first addition to the family of God? To be in the forefront of all mankind. I mean literally in the forefront of all mankind.

Like James, the half-brother of Christ said in James 1.18, we're a kind of firstfruits of His. To know that no one is going before You.

No one is going before us. There are others who have gone before us as human beings, living the truth that God gave them even as He has given it to us and made us a part. But they lie in the dust of the earth. And those of us who join them before Christ returns will lie on the dust of the earth. But no one yet has been brought out of the dust. No human being who originated as a human has been brought out of the dust and gone before us. To be in on the ground floor. And if I go back to Hebrews 11, the God we serve has His reasons for doing things the way He does them. And He is a God of tremendous mercy and tremendous fairness. We read verse 39, We read how, and these all having obtained a good report through faith received not the promise. Why? Why didn't God just go ahead and muster them into eternal life? I mean, it wasn't that they weren't ready for it. They were ready. They were ready. They got a good report. They were ready.

That wasn't why God couldn't or wouldn't do it at that time. He gives the answer, certainly one of the answers in verse 40. God having provided some better thing for us that they, without us, should not be made perfect. It's going to do it all together at one time.

And the only lag on it, the only lag time on it, and it's going to be just a matter of a split second or a second or whatever seconds at the most. The dead in Christ that are dead in the grave will rise first, and those who are alive at that time, right after those are resurrected from the grave itself, they'll be changed to spirit to follow them into the air to meet the return in Christ.

It's interesting. God having provided some better thing for us that they, without us, should not be made perfect. You know, to be in the company of the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles, and all the saints, to know that as long as we live in faith in Christ and die in faith in Christ, that the kingdom of God will not begin without us. That's a pretty heavy honor.

All of that begins when you really think it through and you weigh and consider.

All of that begins to give us a measure of the magnitude of our calling and our opportunity.

That begins to show us how much we have been given, how much we have been offered. And that begins to help us grasp more seriously Scripture such as Hebrews 2 and verse 3.

It's deadly not to grasp the measure of it. Hebrews 2 and verse 3. How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?

In verse 1, Paul writes, therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed, we ought to give the more earnest, serious heed to the things which we have heard, to the things which we have learned, the things we know.

Less than any time we should let them slip or slip away.

For if the word spoken by angels was steadfast and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward, how? Paul says, how?

How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?

Because to whom much is given will much be required.

I do not have to have anybody tell me or show me or explain to me how much I have been given.

I don't mean by that. I can't realize even more deeply and broadly what I have been given. But what I'm saying is, I know that I have been given much.

I have been given much to the point that I know that I am fully accountable, held fully accountable. Luke 12 and verse 48. Luke 12 and verse 48.

In the midst of that verse, right in the very midst of that verse is this statement, For unto whomsoever much is given of him shall be much required.

If you entrusted somebody with a five dollar bill, you would hold them accountable for five dollars. But if you entrusted them with a hundred dollar bill, I think the effect of holding them accountable would be greater if they lost the hundred dollar bill. Oh, you lost a dollar? You lost five dollars? Don't worry about it. Those things happen.

What? You lost a hundred dollar bill I gave you? The idea. I mean, we understand that just on the human level. And Christ is saying, to whomsoever much is given of him shall much be required. Because it comes down to a matter of accountability. Look at verse 47, And that servant which knew his Lord's will, Is there anyone in this room that can say, I don't know God's will? Is there anyone in this room that can say accurately, I don't know any of God's will? I don't think there's any of us in here that can say, I don't know any of God's will.

Or, I don't know God's will. And that servant which knew his Lord's will, And prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, Didn't follow God's will, shall be beaten notice with many stripes. But he that knew not, that was unaware or ignorant of it, just didn't realize, And did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. See, with knowledge and understanding come accountability and judgment. It's a very simple, it's a very straightforward and understandable formula or equation, To the degree that one knows and understands to that degree one is held accountable and judged.

I knew, I didn't have to have anybody tell me, I knew, when I resigned May the 20th, 1995, I knew that if I was willing to make the choice To continue to stand in the pulpit at that time with the former organization And preach what they wanted me to, I was kissing the resurrection goodbye.

And I was watching the flames of hell fire rise in front of me down the road. I knew that, nobody had to tell me. And that day when I walked out and going out in a way to try to warn everybody, Big blue skies, little white puffy clouds drifting about, nobody had to tell me that I'd done the right thing and I was still on track with God.

I knew that with knowledge and understanding come accountability and judgment And to the degree that one knows and understands to that degree one is held accountable and judged. I remember a young lady years ago in the church, and this young lady was dating someone Who was not of the belief, not of the faith and all. And she was telling him about the doctrines and the truth of the Bible.

As they would date, she would inform him of what she believed and show him things in the Bible. And one day he stopped her. He said, wait a minute. Is it true that if I know these things, I'm supposed to do them? She said, well, yes. He said, don't tell me anything else. Seriously, he did not want to hear any more because He realized there's a certain accountability for knowing and you have to do. No, don't tell me.

Don't tell me any more. You know, this is why full judgment has begun on the house of God, the church, as Peter expressed in 1 Peter 4, 17. Simply because the church, the first-roots, they know and they understand. And they must do with that knowledge and understanding. They're accountable for that knowledge and understanding. They're accountable for using the opportunity that comes through that knowledge and understanding. They're given much. They're held accountable for it. And it's designed to lead us to life. It's not designed for our failure. It's designed to lead us to life. But denial and neglect of it leads ultimately to death.

That's the seriousness of the accountability of it. See, God does not see it as unfair to take the matter that seriously because He has honored us more than we can fully grasp in this life. Oh, we can grasp it enough to realize we need that it's something to really be thankful for. Yes. But He has honored us probably more than we can fully grasp in this life by giving us opportunity that He has. And if I go back to John 1, and this time verse 12.

John 1 and verse 12.

But as many as received Him, to them He gave power. And the Greek word there for power also means the right or the privilege.

To them, He gave power. He gave the right. He gave the privilege to become the sons of God, His children, even to them that believe on His name. And that opportunity is designed for life. There is no such thing as God calling and hoping you'll fail. Every time He calls someone and gives them opportunity, He's hoping that they will be successful. And He will bless them in the efforts that lead toward that if they will exercise those efforts. That opportunity is designed for recommendation, not condemnation. But that opportunity automatically involves accountability because what are we each doing with it? It is our individual responsibility. It is individual accountability. And I've gotten way into the heart of this sermon before I'm hanging the title on it. But the title is the same as the subject and it's what I've been leading into and I'm now dealing with that. Individual accountability. Individual accountability. Not group accountability. The group would only be as big as the number of individuals. If there's five individuals, it's a group of five. If there's ten individuals, it's a group of ten. If there's a thousand individuals, it's a group of a thousand. But it's ten individuals. Individual accountability. And I emphasize individual because this is the kind it is with God. We stand sanely before God. Now, humanly, that's not the way we always feel in human affairs. Because we can be in groups and crowds and certain anonymity. But with God and before God, we stand sanely before Him. There is no hiding behind another. It cannot be done. There's no losing yourself in the crowd. There's no getting by in the shuffle of the group. I mean, humans think in terms of safety in numbers. I mean, if you're on the interstate, and somebody would say, well, you've got to go 80 because you get run over if you don't. But if you're wanting to travel faster on the interstate, you know what you have to do. First of all, you don't have a red car. Because it is true, the troopers spot those faster than any. But you wait until a group of cars that's coming along that's going at the speed that you want to go. And you try to get in the middle of them, and you stay in them. And you feel kind of safe. Especially if you're not in a red car. But you feel kind of safe. And people do that all the time.

IRS filing income taxes. There are people who will wait until the last minute to get their taxes, put their taxes in, because they want their taxes... I know a lot of people wait until the last minute anyway. But they want their taxes to go in, in this big crowd grouping of papers, you know.

So that maybe their forms won't get extra scrutinized or whatever.

And they feel like, well, if I send it in early, or at the first, those agents, they have more time to look the forms over, including mine. And they just feel safer if they send it in later, when they know that there's going to be more to process.

It's interesting how we think of certain things and function as a human being in human affairs. But then we kind of try to transpose that on the way maybe God works with us.

And, excuse me, it ain't so.

We're single before God.

There's no writing a coat-tail.

God's eyes meet your eyes, meet our eyes.

God stands face to face with us.

He singles us out. It's focused attention.

Everyone stands alone before God.

I mean, this is the being, the Father, for instance. This is the being who initiated the opportunity with each of us individually. Notice John 644.

John 644.

It's the Father who's faintly does it individually.

Here in John 644, no group can come to me except the Father who just sent me.

He misread it.

It doesn't say no group.

It says, no man, or woman for that matter.

No individual can come to me, for I said.

And notice, he uses it in the singular.

No one, no individual, can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him.

Now, God initiates the opportunity with us each individually, and He will judge each of us individually.

God's way is the way of individual accountability.

And that was that illustrated at the very beginning. Let's go back to Genesis 3. The individual accountability, that was established and illustrated at the very beginning of the human race.

Chapter 3, Genesis 3 and verse 9.

And the Lord God called to Adam, and He said to him, where are you?

Now, it wasn't that God didn't know where He was, but you know, God gives opportunity for response many times too, doesn't He?

And Adam said, well, I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. And, of course, the one who would later come is Jesus Christ said, Who told you that you were naked?

Have you eaten of the tree whereof I commanded you that you should not eat?

And the man said, you know, the blame game.

The blame game is about as old as... it's as old as mankind. And the man said, well, the woman... you know, God, her name means, whoa, man, the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

It's her fault. She's responsible. She's the one you should hold accountable.

And the Lord God said to the woman, what is this that you've done?

And the woman said, well, you know, again, the blame game continues.

The serpent, well, he deceived me. He beguiled me.

I did eat that. That's why I did. He... it's his fault.

And the Lord said to the serpent, now he's going right down the track, this individual, this individual, and then this individual being. And the Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, you're cursed above all cattle, above every beast of the field, upon your belly shall you go, and thus shall you eat all the days of your life. And I will put enmity between you. Verse 15 is the very first prophecy of the Messiah.

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between her seed and your seed, it shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. So, blame game, I'm not responsible, Adam says, Eve is. Okay, go to Eve.

Eve does the blame game, I'm not responsible, the serpent, it's his fault. God goes to the serpent. Now while he's at the serpent, he deals with the serpent, accountability upon the serpent. But then he starts going back up the line, so to speak. He backs up to the woman, and he backs up to the man. And he said... so the woman, verse 16, I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception, and sorrow you shall bring forth children, and your desires shall be to your husband, and he shall rule over you.

And there's a lot that we could take out of that, but that's for another time. And then he's back up to Adam again. And then to Adam he said, Because you harkened to the voice of your wife, you had eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for your sake, in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life.

It's interesting, he addressed each one of the three beings that were there, the two human beings, and this fallen spirit being using a snake. He dealt with each one of them individually.

And he showed that there was accountability and judgment upon each.

And that's just the whole thing. Accountability and judgment is an individual matter with God, and He will deal with each one of us individually. Each one of us will answer for ourselves and our own doings. Go with me to Romans 2.6. I want to go through all half a dozen scriptures just to point this out because, again, it's one of those issues that's very replete in the Scripture. It's not ambiguous. And the first Scripture to go to is Romans 2 in verse 6.

A very simple little statement that Paul writes. Romans 2 verse 6, Who will render to every man, you could say again, every person, every individual, according to his deeds? He's held responsible. I will flip back to Jeremiah 17 in verse 10.

Jeremiah 17 in verse 10.

I, the Lord, search the heart. I try the reins even to give every man, again, you're singling it down in Scripture to each individual, every man, according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings. Now, back to the New Testament, Galatians 6 in verse 7.

He warns the Galatians, he says, Don't be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. What a man sows he's going to harvest it. What a man sows that he will reap.

And then if you look at verse 5, again, showing individual accountability. Verse 5, For every man, or again, every person, shall bear his own burden. Romans 14. Romans 14 in verse 12 says this, Paul writes, So then, every one of us, each of us, every one of us, one, one individually, singly, breaks it down to the individual, every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Verse 10, Why do you judge your brother? Or why do you set it not your brother?

For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.

And then, of course, verse 12 again, so then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

Back in Ezekiel 18. Ezekiel chapter 18.

I'll pick it up in verses 1 through 4.

The Word of the Lord came to me saying, What do you mean that you use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, but it's the children's teeth that are set on edge.

As I live, says the Lord God, you shall not have occasion anymore to use this proverb in Israel Say, Behold, all souls are mine, as the soul of the Father, so also the soul of the Son is mine. And notice, the soul, the individual, singular, that sins, it shall die.

Verse 20, basically says the same thing.

The soul that sins, it shall die. Verse 20, The Son shall not bear the iniquity of the Father, neither shall the Father bear the iniquity of the Son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon Him.

And the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon Him. And again, that first part, the soul that sins, it shall die.

I don't want to explore the fullness of these next Scriptures, but I do want to go to them, and they're in chapter 14. They're in chapter 14 of Ezekiel, and they really do bear out personal, individual accountability.

And what I will read is mentioned in four places.

The first one beginning in verse 12. The word of the Lord came again to me saying, Son of man, when the land stands against me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out my hand upon it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it. Now, verse 14, Though these three men, three of the most righteous men ever, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls, their own being by their righteousness, says the Lord God.

Verse 15, If I cause noisome beasts to pass through the land, and they spoil it so that it be desolate, that no man may pass through because of the beast. Though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters.

They only shall be delivered, but the land shall be desolate.

The second time, he's mentioning it. The third time, beginning in verse 17, Or if I bring a sword upon that land and say, Sword, go through the land, so that I cut off man and beast from it. Though these three men were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they shall deliver neither sons nor daughters, but they only shall be delivered themselves. Or if I send in the fourth time.

Now, in the Bible, when something is mentioned twice, it's mentioned for emphasis. That's synthesizing it.

So if you've got something mentioned four times, that's double emphasis.

God really wants to really make the point.

Or if I send a pestilence, verse 19, into that land, and pour out my theory upon it in blood to cut off from it man and beast. Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in it, as I live, says the Lord God, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter, they shall but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

There is no fair way to do it than individual accountability.

And it is individual accountability all across the board.

All across the board.

Individual accountability. Look at Galatians 3.28.

Galatians 3.

And verse 28.

There is neither Jew, nor Greek, and the word Greek also could be translated Gentile, that's what they mean.

There is neither Jew, nor Greek.

There is neither Bund, prisoner, nor free.

There is neither male, nor female.

For you are all one in Christ Jesus.

For those who are in Christ, it doesn't matter if they're black, white, if they're white Israelite or white Gentile.

It doesn't matter if they're red, yellow.

It doesn't matter if they are male or female.

It doesn't matter if they're free or locked up.

As far as them as a spiritual creation in Jesus Christ, to God it's one in the same equal value, fairness toward them, individual judging, the whole works.

It's just interesting the way that Paul made sure he put this in there. Neither Jew, nor Greek.

As far as value before God, as far as worth before God, as far as responsibility before God, as far as tending to the spiritual things, and being a spiritual creation and growing and developing spiritually, no difference.

Neither Jew, nor Greek, Bund or free, male nor female.

You're all one in Christ.

Now, obviously, he's applying that to the spiritual realm and the spiritual issues. He's not talking about marriage because it is male and female when it comes to marriage, because otherwise God wouldn't condemn homosexuality.

But this brings me to an area that I need to focus on, upon, and address very, very specifically.

And this is the area of women and individual accountability.

Again, Paul was inspired to say, neither male nor female.

In other words, each, whether you're male or you're female, each stands on his own or her own spiritually before God.

There's no such thing as God saying, oh, there's a couple in the church, they're in Christ.

I can give salvation. I can give eternal life. I can resurrect Him because He's really doing as He knows He should be. But She's not. But because She's married to Him, I can put them both in the Kingdom. It doesn't work that way.

The reverse wouldn't work either. Well, She's doing what She should.

She's really tending to spiritual business. She's doing what She should. She's growing. She's developing.

He's not. But they're both in the church.

So open them both in the Kingdom because of her. It doesn't work that way.

Each stands on his or her own spiritually before God.

And there's not one wit, less accountability upon the woman than upon the man. Period. And if one thinks so, then that reasoning could lead to eternal death.

See, in the wake of making a statement like that, I would say, prayer.

Prayer is not a male activity. Where do you find in the Bible that women are excused from prayer? Because, well, that's a male activity.

You don't.

Where do you find that, well, I don't need to study the Bible because that's a man's book.

It is.

I thought it was for mankind. I thought it was for human beings.

Where is obeying and relating to God only a male responsibility?

Notice with me 1 Peter 3, 7. 1 Peter 3 and verse 7.

We, many times, will obviously use this verse in, let's say, a sermon on marriage.

Let's just read it. 1 Peter 3, 7. 1 Peter 3, 7.

Likewise, you husbands dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor to the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together.

You're co-heirs together. He's not the heir. The husband is not the heir and the woman's not.

They're both heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers be not hindered. You're heirs together.

Let's go to Acts 5.29 and let's read a Scripture that, oh, we've read it so many times.

And you probably know exactly what it says before I get there, because it's one of those that many of us committed to memory years ago.

Acts 5.29.

Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, they were being told, you know, you can't do what you're doing. You can't preach what you're preaching.

They knew that they were being told, you can't obey God.

Whether that was what was in the minds of those who were telling them, you can't do this, you can't do that. They knew that they were being told whether the ones telling them knew it or not, that they couldn't obey God, because they knew what they were supposed to do and they were going to do it.

But, as why Peter responded, he said, we ought to obey God rather than men.

Very simple. We ought to obey God rather than men.

So the question is, are there times when a woman has to say no to her husband?

Are there times?

Yes. There can be, maybe, sometimes are.

Are there times when a woman can be spending by not saying no?

Yes. There are times when a woman can be spending by not saying no.

When a woman...I'm going to go to Colossians 3.18.

Because, again, I'm talking about individual accountability and that nobody rides anybody else's coattails. Angela doesn't ride my coattails. I can't ride hers and she can't ride mine. And I can tell you something about her. If I hadn't been willing to walk away from apostasy and stay with the truth back in 95, she wouldn't have walked with me. She would have stayed in the truth. That's how strong a lady she is for God and doing what is right. Colossians 3, verse 18, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord. Now, first of all, on the first level, it's fitting and proper for wives to submit to their husbands. We understand that. That should be clear enough. But when you take it down to an additional level, wives, commit yourself unto your own husbands as it fits in the Lord, as it is fitting in the Lord, as is proper. There are many cases where God calls the wife and doesn't call the husband. This automatically puts the woman in a position to realize her individual responsibility and accountability before God and to exercise it. You can't go to church today.

You have to go to the football game with me Friday night. You have to do this, you have to do that.

And the woman has to make the decision, do I obey God and keep His Sabbath?

Do I obey God or do I cave to my husband, telling me I've got to do something that I know is sin on my part? Because what he is telling me to do or asking me to do doesn't fit in the Lord.

It's not in God's will, it's not in God's way, it's not part of God's truth.

She is automatically faced with having to say no at certain times and to certain things, simply because she will be told or asked at times to do something that is wrong and she cannot. And folks, my heart and my respect has always gone out to those ladies, my sisters in Christ, who are in those situations because they have a harder time of it in this way.

And let there be no misunderstanding. They are expected to be committed and obedient in every way they can. And when they can't because of a conflict between their husband's desires and God's will, they still have to maintain a respectful attitude. You know, back there in Peter, 1 Peter, 1 Peter 3, verses 1 through 5, likewise you 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 conduct of the wives. While they behold your chase, conduct, coupled with fear or respect, there's a dooring, let it not be that outward a dooring of a plating of the hair and wearing of gold or putting on a peril, but let it be the hidden man of the heart. It's talking about the inner being, the person, the attitudes, all of that, and that which is not corruptible. I've seen women who trusted in what they put on, and the insides were pretty ugly. But on the other hand, I've seen women who were very beautiful in the spiritual things inside, and they glowed with God's beauty. But a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is a great price. After this manner, in the old time, the holy women also who trusted in God, adorned themselves being in subjection to their own husbands. When the woman who is called of God, whose husband has not been called, and he asks or requires or demands that she do something that she know is sin, and that she's going to be putting him before God by doing it, and she has to say no. Because of, again, the conflict between his desires and God's will, she still maintains respectful attitude. And I would put it this way, she stays firm in faith and truth. She doesn't compromise on her faith and truth, and she is respectful in manner and attitude. And you think about that, firm in faith and truth, respectful in manner and attitude. And then, obviously, where the wife can compensate by doing extra for the times when she cannot do, you know, obviously she should. But again, these women face a situation and a realization and a way right at the beginning. I counsel with women who have said, Mr. Beame, I see what God is calling me to, and I want that, but that's going to cause me problems in my marriage. My husband is not going to go along with this. This has been, here's our pattern of what we've done, and it's going to really affect, it's going to affect our lifestyle and everything. And I'm willing to step out and do, but I'm going to have trouble.

If you've got any pointers or guidance on how I can cut down on the troubles, I'm all ears.

These women face a situation and a realization in a way right up at the beginning of their calling.

That many of our women who are called with their husbands may not have to. And they realize very much that it's a one-on-one situation with God as to their spiritual accountability and individuality, their responsibility. And again, that's very respect worthy with them and with any woman who recognizes and exercises that where it's necessary. There can be. Sometimes there are, certainly can be, times when a woman in the church with her husband also in the church will have to say no. And if such time ever rises, and the wife just goes along because, well, he is my husband and he is my head, well, your first and foremost head is Jesus Christ, for one thing.

I've just got to go along with it. Then she would be neglecting or ignoring her responsibility and accountability before God. See, God isn't just interested in knowing if wives who do not have husbands in the church will put him first. He also wants to know if those who have husbands in the church will also put him first. And like with Angela, if I'd walked away from the truth in 1995, she wouldn't have walked with me.

How many husbands walked away from the truth in those years? And their wives walked away with them.

And also, conversely, there were wives who walked away and whose husbands walked away with them.

You don't understand, it's easy for a woman with a husband in the church to go along and not face this issue. That is the issue of individual accountability. And again, then one day, if the husband starts fading away and blowing the coop, as we say, blowing the faith, she blows with him. And instead, frankly, if you're a man, if you're a woman, it takes and it's going to take courage to stand before God daily and do what is right and certainly realizing that baseline of individual accountability. A wife with a husband in the church should be able to submit to him in everything. But again, there could be occasions when she would respectfully refuse.

You know, I've known men who weren't called and they like their bacon with their eggs.

We're not talking about turkey bacon. Wifey, fry me up some bacon for my eggs.

Okay, she fries me the bacon. Nothing wrong with that. There's nothing wrong with that. She fries the bacon for him. Now, honey, sit down here with me. I'm going to divide this bacon and you're going to eat half of it. No, sir, I can't do that. I'll fry it for you. I'll fry it for you. I'm not sinning by frying it. You eat it, but I don't. But I will be sinning if I eat it. So, no, I won't eat it. I can't do that. I'll fry it for you, but I can't eat it. That's a simple illustration, but just having the wisdom to know where the lines are drawn. Anyhow, I've often thought, what a beautiful Scripture it is in Ephesians 5.21, especially for the couples that are in the church. Submitting yourself one to another. Submitting yourself to the needs.

That is such a beautiful Scripture and a preface. A preface. In fact, I'll turn there. I'll take just a few extra minutes, but I'll turn there. Ephesians 5.21.

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. He's talking to couples who are in the church. It's a wonderful thing where both can be in the church. You can submit yourself to each other, that is, to the needs. Where there is a submission to each other, to the needs, that is, in the fear of God, respect of God, it makes it a lot easier for wives, as it goes on to say immediately, wives, commit yourself to your own husbands, as to the Lord. That certainly makes it easier for the wife. But whether this is or is not the case, a woman is never without full accountability before God. And that's something that all of God's women, each and every one, just like the men, must realize, I stand singly before God. That is God's way across the board.

If you look again back, not that we have to go back there, but if you look again back at Adam and Eve and Genesis. Genesis 2.17 about not taking of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, applied to both of them. And in chapter 3, when the serpent approached her, there's acknowledgement there. It applied to both of them. And so when God addressed them, He individually singled out each one of them and addressed each one of them singly, individually, because there was individual accountability. When and I will close where I started in Hebrews 2 and verse 3, when Paul says, and especially in light of neither Jew nor Gentile, under free, male or female, that we read back in Galatians. When he says, How shall we, Hebrews 2.3, how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation? The we there is men and women. How do we men? How do we women? How do we ones of God escape if we neglect so great salvation? Folks, God has given us, each one of us, such great opportunity.

And with it goes great accountability. And that accountability is personal, individual accountability, whether you're man or woman in Christ.