First Timothy chapter 2 verse 8 is where we will start. We'll read through the rest of
chapter 2 tonight, Lord willing. We've got us a doozy of a text tonight. Yeah. First
Timothy chapter 2 verse 8. Lay it on the street. First Timothy chapter 2 verse 8. Let's
pray and then we'll jump in. Father God we come to you tonight and we thank you
for your word and this is one of those passages dear Lord it's it's kind of
tough to understand and dear Lord even among Christians there are a variety of
different interpretations of this but dear Lord I pray that you would help us
tonight to understand it as best we can that I would preach and teach in a way
that brings glory and honor to you that when we leave dear Lord that there's
some understanding we have of something God and that we need your Holy Spirit to
to help us tonight so I pray God that you be with us your word is good and if
there's anything we don't understand it's not because your word is not good
dear Lord it it's probably because we just may not be understanding or not
reading but God I pray that you give us the right understanding and that you
help us to do right by your word and I ask these things in Jesus name amen
amen so Paul had been given Timothy some instruction on some things that were
going on in Ephesus some things that needed to be addressed now when we first
started this I referred to Timothy as a young pastor but that's that's probably
not a that's not really a good accurate description of what Timothy was the role
that we see of pastor and our churches today is not really a role that we see
necessarily in that same way in Scripture what we see in Scripture is we
see that there are elders of churches it appears as though that there's kind of a
group of these men of these elders that are over these people not so much one
pastor as we see in churches today and and even though part of what Timothy's
role was is very similar perhaps to what we see as a pastor and pastoral ministry
are are teaching these people and presenting this message and trying to
correct them and get them on the right track I don't think it's accurate to say
that that Timothy was a pastor so so when I said that I don't I don't think I
gave the best the best explanation of what exactly Timothy was and so part of
what Timothy did was pastor like but but he was more of a representative of Paul
may be a better way to describe Timothy Paul obviously knew Timothy and he
worked alongside Paul and Paul had sent Timothy for this work pastoral in some
way and evangelistic in some way to deal with these issues and so what we've seen
so far is that there was some bad teaching that was taking place in
Ephesus there were some some things that were being said and done there were some
arguing that was taking place we saw that here at the beginning of chapter 2
people arguing about things that weren't really important and so Paul begins to
tell Timothy okay here are some things you're gonna encounter here are some
things you are going to address now presumably these things that Paul is
telling Timothy about are things that are happening in Ephesus that that is to
say that he's not necessarily giving just general commands here's the
commands of God to God's people but rather he's dealing with some specific
situations that are going on there it's important for us to consider that as we
read this passage and you'll see why here as we get into it first Timothy
chapter 2 verse 8 therefore I want the man in every place to pray lifting up
holy hands without anger or argument now this is a pretty simple instruction the
idea of praying and and and kind of instruction that we've already seen in
first Timothy of how to pray and what our prayer life should look like Paul's
given Timothy this instruction hey there needs to be some order there needs to be
a certain way that things are done people don't need to be arguing with one
another and in church services and in times where they gather together but the
men need to come together and they need to pray and they need to lift up holy
hands they need to be seeking God they need to be working together to try to
draw close to God and understand the truth of God's Word and so this is a
pretty easy instruction for Timothy to give the people it's pretty easy one to
understand hey you need to come together you need to love each other you need to
pray together and you don't need to you don't need to be angry and be arguing
about things so some instruction for the men in every place there verse 9 also
the women are to dress themselves in modest clothing with decency and good
sense not with elaborate hairstyles gold pearls are expensive apparel but with
good works as is proper for women who affirm that they worship God okay it's
pretty simple instruction here nothing nothing crazy here you come together if
you're a man of God or a woman of God as is pointed out here you need to dress
accordingly you don't you don't want to dress in ways that that's
inappropriate you don't want your dress to be so that that that you come so
people can see what you wear and that's the case sometimes we sometimes like to
be seen for what we wear now I don't think we have that problem in this
church but perhaps that's been the case in churches that you've heard of or
known of that people really dress well and they wear a big hat and they sit
up front or they come in late so everybody will see how well they're
dressed and they'll think about man look at them and well look at her she's got a
big hat and then the next one comes and she's got to have a bigger hat well look
at her she's got a bigger hat all of that however though is often just to get
people's attention it's not really for I want to dress up and look my best for
the Lord it's that people are really putting on a show that's simply what it
is it's being a hypocrite the idea of a hypocrite is someone who wears a mask
someone who who disguises themselves that's not really who they are they want
to look apart and so maybe that's what was going on here is that some of these
women were dressing excessively they were drawing attention to themselves
they were putting too much emphasis on worldly things men can be guilty of this
too by the way but here in this particular passage Paul is dealing with
women it's still good instruction for us today we want to dress appropriately and
accordingly we don't want to wear things that are inappropriate that that show
too much skin we don't want to do things that are extravagant to draw attention to
ourselves we want to we want to be mindful when we come together that we're
coming to worship the Lord now it appears as though to me and there's
certainly difference of opinion here but it appears as though that this probably
was something that was going on again not necessarily a general command
however in general this is a good command but perhaps he knew of a
situation that was going on here now we see similar type of language when Paul
writes his letter to the Corinthians and 1st Corinthians chapter 14 he's dealing
and that chapter and the surrounding verses with disorder that's in the
church and he deals with a lot of things that are going on in the church about
people speaking in tongues and and everybody just kind of speaking out it
appears and he says hey there's a certain way that things need to be done
and he addresses some issues one of the same issues that we see here again he's
probably addressing something that was going on in the Corinthian Church what
was the problem the problem was the church service was not being done in an
orderly and peaceful fashion it was chaotic and he says look you're not
gonna be able to reach people for the Lord if there's chaos if people come into
your church and people are jumping around and speaking in tongues and acting
crazy and and doing all this stuff he says you're not gonna be able to reach
people you need to be able to have your church services in an orderly fashion
they need to be conducted and so here are some things Paul said in 1st
Corinthians 14 that you need to address and some things that you need to change
I believe that Paul is giving similar instruction here to the Church of
Ephesus hey Timothy these are some things you're going to encounter this is
your instruction on how to deal with those things and so really no problem up
to this point but then we get to the next verse this is the one that's a
doozy verse 11 a woman should learn in silence with full submission I do not
allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man instead she is to
be silent now Paul gives this same instruction in 1st Corinthians chapter
14 that in church a woman is to be silent what are we to make of that well
there are a variety of opinions on what Christians are to make of that now I
don't know what every denomination holds perhaps there are some denominations
that won't let women speak at all I would not be shocked if that was the
case if they would not allow women to speak in any way perhaps some would hold
to the view that when it's time for a church service that women should not
speak in any way not give an announcement not say a prayer not not do
anything in the church service that it's only men who should speak when the
church service is is in session that women are to be completely silent at all
times now I don't think that Paul is calling for complete silence here it's
often said in this passage or in 1st Corinthians chapter 14 that Paul is
saying that women cannot pray in church however in 1st Corinthians chapter 11
verse 5 Paul says when women pray and prophesy this is how they need to do it
so that would seem to eliminate that Paul is saying that women can't have any
part when they're gathered together he specifically says when they pray and
when they prophesy there needs to be a certain way in which it needs to be
done and so I don't believe that Paul is eliminating women from praying or
having any kind of participation in church I think that women do I think
that this is my interpretation there are many people who would differ from this I
think that what Paul is saying here is he's dealing with a situation perhaps
where women were not being being silent in church or they were causing a problem
let's say maybe they were asking questions in the middle of the service
which is why he gives this specific command that women should ask their
husbands they shouldn't be disturbing the church service if there's a question
that needs to be asked or something that's going on and that's why he gives
this specific instruction however you will find in Christian denominations that
there is much difference of opinion there are there are many churches that
would say women cannot pray in church women cannot serve as deacons however we
see Paul's command in 1st Corinthians chapter 11 about women praying we also
see in the scripture that there are women who are deacons we see that in the
New Testament and so it's hard to say for me at least that women cannot serve
as deacons now we've kind of become accustomed to saying that because we
typically in a Southern Baptist Church do not see women who serve as deacons
however we do see women who serve as deacons in the New Testament and so
women can certainly serve in ministry and do serve in ministry in a variety of
ways however one of the biggest one of the biggest conflicts and this is this
is happening right now this has been big in the Southern Baptist Convention for
the last year is are women allowed to preach now there are certainly lots of
difference of opinion on this some of you may have been familiar with just a
few months ago at the last Southern Baptist Convention that that there's a
church in California Saddleback Church Rick Warren you may have heard of heard
of him he's wrote some books he's pretty pretty popular he's the pastor of that
church and they have they have ordained several women pastors I think three in
the last few years and if I'm not mistaken I wasn't following it too close
but I believe that the Southern Baptist Convention kicked them out of the
Southern Baptist Convention because they ordained women pastors now among churches
there are there is certainly disagreement there now you'll have to
research this on your own time and look at the scriptures and look at the
arguments for both sides there are both sides that use scriptures and use
arguments to defend why some think that women should be pastors and why others
think that women should not be pastors now I certainly believe that women are
are gifted are called to minister should serve in church should pray in church can
even be deacons I think we see that all throughout scripture but I am not
convinced by scripture that it is clear that women can be pastors now I know
that there are some in this church that might disagree with me and there are
certainly many Christians around the world that would disagree with that
statement but it seems clear that the office of pastor our overseer if we
should call it that that's the better term for in scripture our elder is one
that's reserved for men and Paul is making that point here when he talks
about women being silent in the church he gives a he gives a reason why he
gives a reason in this instance okay they should be silent they should ask
their husband I think probably maybe because there were some problems being
had but he gives he gives a qualification here he says look there's a certain
order in which which God has instituted things and which God has put things into
place and he calls that order into question in the next verse he says in
verse 13 for Adam was created first then Eve and Adam was not deceived but the
woman was deceived and transgress but she will be saved through childbearing
if she continues in faith love and holiness with good judgment now to sum
that up it's a lot to think about there more than we'll talk about tonight but
what we see a couple of times and Paul's writing is he is he says look
there's a certain order in which God has established things there is God he is at
the top and then there is Jesus and then there's the church we see that
relationship when we see the relationship between Jesus and the
church we see this idea that Jesus is what he's the head of the church we are
to be submissive to him when we see that idea of marriage as unpopular as it is
in our culture it is established that God has said that the man is to be the
head of the household he created Adam first and then Eve that's what we see
Paul talking about here that God has created an order of authority that there
are some positions that God has says look men are to be the authority in this
position in the household and I believe that God has stated that men are to be
in those authority positions in the church and that's what we see here in
this past verse that we read because he says a woman is not to teach or have
authority over a man okay so if someone is an elder and overseer or a pastor
term we would use today they're in a position of leadership they're in a
position of authority over the people and here Paul says look women can't hold
to this now one objection to that would be yeah but but Paul was dealing with
cultural problems at that time and at that time women couldn't serve as
overseers elders because they weren't educated but that's not the reason why
Paul gives here he doesn't say women can't have authority over men because
they're not as accepted in this society and they're not as educated as men in
this society that's not the reason he gives he says I don't give women the
the permission to preach or teach or have authority over a man and why does
he say he said because there's a certain order that Adam came first and then Eve
that God has made an order and God's order is the way that things should work
in marriage and in the church and I believe that structure is what we must
go by as Christians again I realize that there's disagreement there we live by
our own convictions we read God's Word and we do what we feel is right but I
believe that that the structure that I think we see in scripture that God has
established things in this certain order from our relationship with Christ to our
relationships as husbands and wives that this is the way that it is to be
established that this is the way that we receive blessing and I believe that our
culture is hurting because our culture has said God's way is insufficient our
culture has said no men don't need to be the head of the household men are
this patriarchal society it's it's it's men are taking advantage of women and
holding women back and and women you need you are just as good as men and you
can do things as good as men and you don't need men in your life you can have
a career and you can make lots of money and you don't need to worry about a
family you go out and worry about yourself you don't need me and that's
what our culture says but I believe that that leads to lots of difficulties in
our in our culture because I believe and I'm just you correct me if I'm wrong
but I think deep down inside that women probably long and have this desire for
children to have a family and to raise those children and to nurture those
children I think those things are are built into women I think women have
those feelings and have those desires and when you're younger you may not
realize it but I think women begin to realize it as they get older but too
many times our society has has put women in such a position that they have denied
the structure that God has said and they get to a point where they miss that
opportunity to have children they miss that opportunity to have a husband and
then realize that it's too late and women too many times live in a culture
in which they get the degree and they get the job and they get the money only
to find that wait a minute what the world has promised us and told us is
going to be such a good thing is not such a good thing and why is that well
I believe it's because that we've gone from what God has told us to do I
believe that a marriage that is built on the man being at the head of the
household and taking care of the wife and the wife heaven forbid a wife has to
raise a family and raise the children and see that those children are taken
care of our world would say that that's foolish but I believe that that's
beautiful in God's Word I believe that women who probably raise children and
see their children grow and are able to take care of their children and to be
able to take a stay at home with their children I believe that makes happier
women I believe men who are able to work and provide for their wives and
provide for their children and know that they're doing what God calls them to do
I believe that makes for happier men and I believe that makes for happier
families and that's the structure of authority that God has set for us that
there is an authority figure that there is a head of household it's not saying
that women are less than men it's not saying that men are better than women
it's not saying that women can't preach because they're not as good as men there
are probably some women who could preach better than some men who are preaching
but the bottom line is is I do not believe that that's what God's Word
calls us to bottom line it's not about who can do it better it's about this is
the way in which God has set this up for us and the way that we are to live as
brothers and sisters in Christ as husbands and wives as people who are in
the church that there is a certain structure that there is certain roles
that God has called us to in a marriage there is a certain role that God has
called a man to in marriage there's a certain role that God has called the
woman to but too many times we want to just kind of mesh those roles together
and you cannot do it there are things that women can do that men cannot do and
things that men can do that women cannot do and it is the responsibility of the
man to be the leader and to be the head of the household and I believe it's a
blessing to him it's the responsibility of the woman to be there to support her
husband to take care of those things that God has put into her path and we
see that here we see this idea of childbearing I would suspect for a mother
I'm just guessing y'all and correct me when I'm wrong but I would suspect for a
mother that gives birth to a child there's a lot of joy that comes from
that but our world would tell you just the opposite but the things that God
says are beautiful that are that are a blessing for a woman that women are
saved by these things I'm not sure exactly what he means there when he says
saved by these things I don't think he's talking about salvation there but but
there's some goodness that comes from this idea that there's a man who is the
head of the household who is the authority and that there is a woman who
is submissive to that authority there's something beautiful about that and we see
it I think we see it and our marriages and I think we see that in our churches
as well I think God says look here are the roles in the church there are
certain things that I have called men to do women serve in a variety of ways in
the New Testament and in the Old Testament in great ways God uses women
and women are capable and women are smart enough and women are able to do a
lot of things however I don't believe that women are called to be elders and
overseers and pastors of churches I don't think that that's the role that
God has established for women and for men I believe that God has established
roles some for men and some for women and I believe that we need to strive to
do our best to follow the Word of God now this is a it's a big scripture so
it's a heavy scripture for a Wednesday night nonetheless we got to it so we
got to talk about it so we want to pray to God we want to seek these words we
want to try to understand them as best we can so that we can be obedient to God
and we have to realize too that whatever our determination is and where we fall
on this topic of women pastors or women's role in the church that we are
going to encounter other brothers and sisters in Christ that are probably
going to have a different opinion for us but we can only live by the Word of God
and we can only be obedient to the Word of God and that's what we strive to do
and we strive to follow our authority the head of our life who is Jesus Christ
who gave all for us and we as the bride of Christ should submit to Jesus Christ
to live for him and to follow his authority because that is what God is
instituted for us that is the way that God has laid this out for us and for us
to do anything other than than what God has called us to I think leads to
disappointment but when we follow the structures that God has established for
us I believe it leads to great joy in our life let's pray Father God we come
to you we thank you for this passage even though it's kind of heavy and I
pray that you help us to make heads or tails of it to understand what's right
dear Lord I pray for I pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ that
we struggle with this dear Lord there are lots of churches and lots of lots
of things going on in our in our culture that that are cultural driven dear Lord
not just this this topic but plenty of other topics God that are causing splits
and churches and all these things dear Lord but we want to understand your word
as best we can I pray that you would help us to do that and to be blessed by
it dear Lord I pray that we would look to Jesus Christ the head of this church
dear Lord the head of us as the bride of Christ that we would be obedient to him
I pray that we would we would do our best to seek the roles that you call us to
serve in as men and women I pray God that as men we would be better husbands
that we would be better fathers dear Lord that we would be better providers to
do all we can for our wives dear Lord I pray for the women that they would be
better wives and better mothers that they would do all they can to support
their husbands dear Lord that that we would just step into the roles that
you've called us to and the responsibilities that you've called us to
dear Lord to embrace those things God you you call us to different things
because there are different things that we need to do and God is men and women
only we can do the things that we can do so dear Lord I pray that you just would
bless us and help us to seek you and to be blessed by you and not to be swayed
by the culture and the ways of the world never to compromise your word based on
what our culture says but do the best to understand your word and live by your
word and I ask these things in Jesus name amen