The head of the woman is Christ and all other heads, whether it be in business or in marriage, are subject to that one head. He is not only King of kings, but Head of heads. Often in the woman’s experience she has to submit to unpleasant situations and it is sometimes difficult for her to draw the line when, where, and what to submit to. Every individual should know Jesus Christ as the focal point or reason of any submission. Thus, if the submission is for Christ’s sake, it is sanctified and holy. When one allows oneself to be used by a devil for his own purpose and contrary to the Spirit of God within one’s own being, then the submission is unholy and not ordained of God. In order that you might understand the degree of which I speak, let me tell you a story.
There was a sister whose husband wanted her to go to the bar with him and his friends. They would always spend their time drinking and dancing. She was advised by certain “shepherds” that she should obey her husband and go. I advised her that she should tell him in love that her Lord would not allow her to do so. She obeyed the “shepherds” and went with him. She thought she would preach to them as they drank. She tried to speak to them about the Lord, but soon everybody kept far away from her and she became the laughing stock of the party. As both husband and wife were living in a strained atmosphere after this experience, she came back to me for advice.
I told her to pray until she lost all feelings of animosity for her husband; then to approach him in love and show him her love. After that, she should explain to him the reason why she would never go back with him to any more parties. As she did, he submitted to the Spirit in which she approached him and told her he was sorry for the embarrassment he caused her. He promised never to ask her to go again. However, this was not the end of the story. Some months after, he accepted Jesus as his personal Saviour and the other stage of the battle began, where the woman was more advanced in the things of the Lord than the man, and had to coax him along the path of righteousness, while at the same time be in submission to him.
Let me tell you another story so that you might understand what I am talking about. There was another sister, whose husband was a sinner. He had at one time accepted the Lord, but then he went his own way. She came to the church and complained, “What do I do? My husband is going out at night and coming in at late hours. I suspect that he has another woman.” The church said, “The Bible says that you are supposed to obey him. If he has another woman, you are still supposed to go along with him. No matter what his condition is, you have to go along with him.” This advice was not true. The Bible tells you to submit to Jesus Christ, hear God and let God tell you what to do.
After she talked to the church, she came to me. I sat down with her and told her, “As long as that man is going with another woman, do not go with him! Tell him, ‘NO!’ If you have to move out of the house, then move out! Let him know that he will not have you with the harlots!” I begged her, “Have nothing to do with that man!” God Almighty says that every man that goes to a harlot is a harlot himself. And if he is a harlot and his wife goes with him, then she also is a harlot.
It so happened that after I had ministered to her, she went to her pastor and told him what I said. The pastor got upset, “He is dead wrong! Look at your marriage vows! The Bible says that you must obey your husband!” Sometime later, we went to that church and she and her husband came in. He looked like a dog that was whopped; he just hung his head down. I asked them, “What is the story?” She answered, “Well, we don’t know what the problem is, but he is very sick and I need to take him to the doctor.” She took him to the doctor just to find out that the man had AIDS. He was at the last stage and died shortly after. Then, we were praying for her, “Oh God, save her! Deliver her, my God! Save her!” One day God came to her and said, “Tell the brethren to stop praying for your healing. I am about to take you home.” And she died.
The Bible never said that you must obey the devil. The Bible said, “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” (1 Corinthians 11:3). If the situation in the home is that Christ is not the head of the man, then there are certain times where if the woman obeys the man, she is disobeying Christ. For example, when the man says, “Let us rob the bank,” and she replies, “Well, I have to obey my husband. Give me the gun,” she is as much guilty as he is. You see, God cannot agree with submission unto sin.