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A biblical church does.

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And in chapter 1 we saw that a biblical church stays on course with its message.

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It does not waver.

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It does not allow itself to lose its way.

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It stays on course with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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In chapter 2 and on into chapter 3 actually we also see now that an authentic biblical

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church arranges for its order, arranges for order in its ministry.

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We saw in verses 1 through 4 that its order includes the priority of prayer in its life

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as a congregation.

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First of all, prayer is to be offered.

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And then in verses 5 through 7 we saw that an authentic church stays its order by establishing

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a priority of its mission.

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That we are here to declare the gospel of Jesus Christ to a world that needs to hear

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it.

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There is no other mediator, there is no other Savior but the Lord Jesus.

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And our mission is to tell the world.

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That was Paul's mission and we are an extension of that mission to tell.

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Now we are going to see in the last part of this chapter that God's order in the church

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as in the home follows the principle of male leadership.

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Now I recognize in saying this that what I am going to say today is not going to please

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everyone who is here.

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In fact, it is not going to please people on the two extremes of positions that can

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be taken regarding this.

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Nonetheless, I want to share with you what I believe is a valid interpretation of scripture

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and an application for us as a church seeking to follow the scriptures.

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God's order in the church as in the home follows the principle of male leadership.

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Now this does not mean that salvation is unequal in men and women.

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This does not mean that salvation is unequal for men and women.

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Galatians 3 28 is a key verse in the New Testament that tells us that in Jesus Christ as far

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as our relationship is concerned with God, there is absolutely equality.

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There is neither male nor female.

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There is not preeminence about the one above the other.

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That there is absolute equality in salvation.

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So when we talk about following the principle of male leadership, we are not saying that

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salvation is unequal.

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Nor are we saying that men may dominate women.

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That is not what this principle of the scripture teaches.

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In fact, not even husbands may domineer their wives.

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Male husbands are said to be the head of the home.

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Headship is viewed in the context of sacrificial love.

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Husbands are to lead as servants.

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They are to lead by persuasion, not by coercion.

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And the scriptures emphasize that husbands and wives reign together in the grace of life.

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So when we talk about the principle of male leadership, we are not talking about men dominating

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women.

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Third, we are not saying that only men may lead in every situation.

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Even in the home, the husband and the wife can divide the responsibilities of the home

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while respecting the principle of the husband's leadership.

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In the home, there are many duties that must be carried out.

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Any number of them could be viewed as a leadership role.

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In every home, a husband and wife divide those responsibilities according to their own gifts,

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their own desires.

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There is nothing wrong with that.

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So when we talk about the principle of male leadership, we are not saying that only men

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may lead in every situation.

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Then what are we saying?

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Well, let's take a look at the text.

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In verse 8, we have the role of men in ministry.

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Therefore, I want the men, and that word is of the male gender.

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It is not the generic word for mankind.

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He says, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without wrath

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and dissension.

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The word therefore relates what he is saying now to what he has said before, obviously.

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Before he has told us that in the church we are to place a priority on prayer, and what

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he says now is that men are to take the lead in offering prayer.

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I do not understand this to rule out the possibility of women praying.

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In 1 Corinthians 11, in fact, women did pray in that assembly, and Paul does not say that

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that was wrong.

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But he is emphasizing here that it is the role of the man especially to lead in prayer.

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If you are a man, a believing man in Jesus Christ, and you find it difficult to pray

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out loud, I have something to say to you, get over it.

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Get over it.

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That is your role.

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You are to pray out loud.

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You are to take the lead in praying in our church.

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You are to take the lead in praying in your home.

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He says that this is to be carried out in every place, which means in every assembly

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of the saints, where they gather for worship and teaching.

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He is talking, however, in the context of this whole chapter about the public service

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of the church, not every possible setting where Christians gather together.

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A Sunday school class, a cell group, etc.

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The primary focus in this whole text is on the public assembly of the church when it

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is gathered for its worship and its teaching from the word of God.

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It is in that context especially where men are to take the leadership and do so by lifting

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up, he says, holy hands.

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This of course is quite radical for Paul to say that men should lift their hands in a

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service.

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How out of touch, how charismatic can he get to say that men are to lift their hands?

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And yet that is exactly what he says.

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Now I say that a bit with tongue in cheek because there are some who react so strenuously

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to anyone lifting the hands.

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Let's be clear about it.

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There is nothing wrong with that.

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In fact, it is absolutely biblical to do it.

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It doesn't mean that one has to do it, but it is absolutely biblical to lift the hands

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in prayer or in worship.

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That is seen throughout the Psalms.

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It is seen here in the context of 1 Timothy 2.

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The lifting up of holy hands is a reference to the common Hebrew posture for prayer.

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The emphasis really though is not on lifting up of the hands, but on the fact that those

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hands are to be holy, which is a way of saying that men are to pray being spiritually and

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morally pure.

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Our children come to the table after washing their hands.

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At least that is the ideal, isn't it?

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We want them to come with clean hands.

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The point is here that we are to come to service and to offer up our prayers having cleansed

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ourselves, our hands being washed.

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Our hands are not to be contaminated with wrath or dissension.

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The word wrath here means anger.

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It means resentment.

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It means personal ill towards someone else.

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Men especially have a struggle with anger.

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That anger is absolutely destructive to relationships, it is destructive to our health, it is destructive

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to our relationship with God.

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As Zoe says, when we come together for worship, we are to be sure that anger has no place

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in our lives.

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If we are in sin, it is to be confessed so that we come offering up prayers without wrath

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and then without dissension.

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The word dissension here is the root of our English word dialogue.

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It means to think or to speak back and forth.

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It means to doubt or to dispute or to be quarrelsome, which really seems to fit the context here.

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He is saying that when we come together and offer up prayer, we are to offer up prayer

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without being in dispute, without quarreling with others.

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Zoe points out in the beginning that public prayer is the responsibility especially of

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the men of the church.

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And he has already pointed out to us that prayer is a priority in the ministry of the

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church.

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And now we come to the longer part of our text today, dealing with the role of women.

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In summary, the role of women in the public ministry of the church is to be in support

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of God's order by using their gifts with a God-honoring attitude.

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Now doing this is certainly going to be counterculture, especially in a day like ours.

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Nonetheless, women are to do this in a way that honors God.

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What does it mean?

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Well, it means in the first place in verses 9 and 10 that women are to emphasize or to

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exemplify godliness.

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Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly,

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not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good

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works as befits women making a claim to godliness.

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So women in coming to church are to exemplify godliness.

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Their adornment rather than emphasizing the outward is to emphasize the inward.

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But outwardly women are to dress modestly and they are to have a testimony of good works

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before God.

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The values of Christian womanhood, he says, are to be distinct from those in the pagan

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world.

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For the kinds of things that he mentions here were the kinds of things, especially in those

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days, that the pagan women emphasized.

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And he says as you come to the public assembly of the church, let not those things be emphasized.

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Emphasize godliness, being modest in the apparel that you wear, having a heart that reflects

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godliness and which is proven by good works.

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In verse 11 he says that women are to subject themselves to teaching.

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Let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.

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The word instruction means discipling.

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And so he's saying let a woman quietly receive her discipling with entire submissiveness.

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The word submissiveness means to be placed under or to be in rank under.

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He's talking here about the attitude of a woman as she comes to worship.

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The quietness or the silence, as some translations put it, is not absolute stillness.

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It again is an attitude.

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He is talking about coming without resisting or squirming under authority.

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It does not mean that women are to come to church without talking, but women are to come

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with a settled, undisturbed, subdued manner and attitude.

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The same word that is translated quietly in verse 11 is translated quiet in verse 12.

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The context in verse 12 helps us to further understand that he's not talking about women

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coming and saying nothing, but he is saying that women are to come quietly, to remain

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in quiet, he says, as opposed to exercising authority over a man.

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So the quietness is the opposite of exercising authority over a man.

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It is talking about the attitude.

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It is talking about having an attitude of submission, an attitude of nonresistance to

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God's appointed authority.

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Dr. John Piper, who pastors in Minneapolis at Bethlehem Baptist Church, in a printed

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message several years ago, has this very fine comment about this idea of quietness.

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So what sort of quietness does Paul have in mind, he writes?

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It's the kind of quietness that respects and honors the leadership of the men God has

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called to oversee the church.

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Verse 11 says that the quietness is in all submissiveness, and verse 12 says the quietness

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is the opposite of authority over men.

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And so the point is not whether a woman says nothing, but whether she is submissive and

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whether she supports the authority of men God has called to oversee the church.

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Quietness means not speaking in a way that compromises that authority.

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And so the role of women in the public ministry, the public service of the church, begins by

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exemplifying godliness, emphasizing godliness rather than the external, as did the pagan

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women.

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Secondly, it means that women are to subject themselves to the teaching of the church.

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And third, women are to recognize a divine restriction.

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In verse 12 he says, let no one, let me get to the right chapter, chapter 2 verse 12,

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but I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.

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For it was Adam who was first created and then Eve, and it was not Adam who was deceived,

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but the woman being quite deceived fell into transgression.

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But women shall be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and

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love and sanctity with self-restraint.

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And so the apostle lays down a divine restriction.

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And that restriction is that women are not to teach or exercise authority over a man.

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Of course, this is the most controversial text in 1 Timothy.

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What is meant by what the apostle Paul says here?

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What does he mean when he says that women are not to teach?

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Well keep in mind that he is talking in the context here about the saints gathering for

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their public assembly, for their public worship, their public teaching time.

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When he says that women are not to teach, he is not ruling out every kind of teaching.

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For example, Timothy himself was taught the Word of God by his mother and his grandmother,

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2 Timothy 1.5, 2 Timothy 3.15.

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Priscilla joined with Aquila in discipling Apollos, Acts 18, verses 24 to 28.

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You may recall in that text that Apollos was a man who had not yet learned the full revelation

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of God in Jesus Christ.

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And so this husband and wife took him aside and over a period of time instructed him in

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the things of God, the both of them instructing him in the things of God.

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Priscilla assisted Aquila, joined with him in teaching doctrine to Apollos.

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And then in Titus 2, verses 3 and 4, it says that the older women are to teach the younger

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women.

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But to be honest to the context, it doesn't say there that they are to teach doctrine,

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though that may not be precluded, but the emphasis in Titus 2 is that they are to teach

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the younger women how to be wives and mothers.

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So when Paul makes the prohibition that he does in 1 Timothy 2.12, he is referring to

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a specific role, a specific teaching role, which I believe is further explained in the

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last part of this clause, where he says they are not to exercise authority over a man.

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In other words, I don't understand this verse to be two items that women are prohibited

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of, but he is talking about one restriction.

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It is that women are not to teach so as to exercise authority over a man.

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To exercise authority over means to dominate, to have mastery over.

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Once again, I don't understand Paul to say that he is forbidding every kind of authority

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in all situations to women.

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He is forbidding that teaching that relates to authority over men.

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The teaching and the exercise of authority here go together, they are not separated.

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So what is it that Paul is saying in this verse?

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He is using this expression, in my opinion, to describe the function of an elder in the

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local church.

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Now let me show you why I believe that.

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In chapter 3 verse 2, he says that one of the qualifications of an elder is that he

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must be able to teach.

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So you see that teaching is part of the responsibility of an elder.

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Now that is not news to anybody, I think.

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Then in verse 4 he says, he must be one who manages his own household.

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The word manage means to stand before his household well, keeping his children under

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control with all dignity.

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And then he inserts this parenthesis, but if a man does not know how to manage his own

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household, how will he take care of the church of God?

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The word take care of here means to care for by forethought or by provision.

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It is the same word used of the Good Samaritan in Luke chapter 10, in that he made provision

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for the man who was wounded.

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Now as I am talking, this sounds more and more tinny all the time.

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Is that just my ear or do you hear it as well?

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Is it near a ring?

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Could we adjust that some way please?

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And so he is saying that the responsibility of an elder is to manage or to lead, to take

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care of the church of God.

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So you see the two roles.

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Elders are responsible to teach.

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They must be able to do that.

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Elders are responsible for managing their own households because they have to oversee

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and manage and take care of the church of God.

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Now look again in chapter 5 and verse 17.

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The apostle says, let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor,

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especially those who work hard at preaching and teaching.

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And so do you see again that in the context of 1 Timothy, Paul is describing the role

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of the elder as that of teaching and ruling, teaching and having authority over the church.

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And so going back now to 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 12, when the apostle Paul uses that

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same language to teach or to exercise authority over a man, it seems to me a proper conclusion,

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a proper interpretation to say that what Paul is here forbidding is that a woman fill the

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office of an elder or function as an elder in the local church.

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Now that interpretation does not please those who believe that a woman should never teach

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a man.

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That interpretation does not please those on the other hand who believe that women ought

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to be able to be elders in a church.

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But I believe that it is not only a possible, but I think it's the best interpretation

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of 1 Timothy 2.

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Now I don't have time this morning to compare this to 1 Corinthians 11, 1 Corinthians 14,

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which are other texts that bear upon this whole idea of the role of women in the church.

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But I believe putting them all together that this interpretation is the one that strikes

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home.

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So Paul here is not forbidding women from all teaching or all positions of leading.

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He is talking here specifically about women not serving in the office of an elder, women

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doing that kind of work.

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He is not forbidding women teaching men in all circumstances, because there are circumstances

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where that is appropriate and acceptable as long as the principle of male eldership is

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respected.

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Third, he is not saying that women are forbidden from all positions of leadership where they

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may have men serving under them.

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For example, within the church, in a Sunday school where a woman may be a coordinator

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of a Sunday school department and a man may be a teacher in one of the classes.

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Or in a parachurch ministry, or for that matter in a seminary.

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Neither a parachurch ministry nor a seminary is a local church, by the way.

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And we get in trouble when we try to place restrictions that Paul puts over the church

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into that kind of a context that is not a church.

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So he is not forbidding women from all positions of leadership where they may have men serving

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under them.

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This is the interpretation that the elders followed nearly two years ago now in establishing

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the policy called roles in ministry for women and men.

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I think it is important for me to read part of that, maybe the whole thing.

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This policy is based on biblical principles primarily from 1 Timothy 2, but also from

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Genesis 2 and 3, 1 Corinthians 11 and 14, Galatians 3, and Ephesians 5.

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Scripture emphasizes the need for men to provide leadership in the local church.

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Scripture and the history of the church testify to the blessings which flow to the body when

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all its members, men and women, minister together in the unity of the Spirit.

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Number one, women and men are viewed as enjoying equal privileges in their relationships to

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God through Christ.

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Generally, a mutual submission reflects the Spirit-filled life as we serve Christ together

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in the local church.

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Number two, God's order establishes that the role of spiritual leadership in the family

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be filled by the husband.

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Similarly, the office of elder in the local church is the responsibility of qualified

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and appointed men.

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Three, both women and men are encouraged to freely exercise their spiritual gifts and

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to function in any ministry role in the local church under the authority of the board of

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elders.

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Fourth, this policy is to be applied with sensitivity and regard for the edification

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and unity of the body.

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So it is this interpretation that I have shared with you this morning that is the one that

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provides the basis for the elders' understanding and policy adopted a couple of years ago.

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Some ask the question in Ephesus as well as today, why did Paul make this restriction?

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Well let's go back to our text and notice verses 13 and 14.

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This restriction is placed upon women for two reasons.

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First of all, the priority of creation.

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He says it was Adam who was created first and then Eve.

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Adam after being created was given his responsibility to cultivate and to till the garden.

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And then Eve was created as a helper for him.

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It is important to notice that this order in Genesis precedes the fall.

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It has nothing to do with sin.

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It is God's order from the beginning.

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And so God's order in the home as well as in the church follows this principle of male

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leadership.

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And it is both for the good of men and women as well as for the glory of God that we follow

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His order in the local church.

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There is a second reason that He gives us and that is the record of the fall.

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He reminds us that Eve was deceived and then that Adam followed her.

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The point here really is not that women are more easily deceived than men.

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The fact is that in given areas men or women may be more easily deceived.

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That isn't the point.

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The point He is making here seems to me again goes back to Genesis 3 where Satan purposely

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attacked God's order by approaching Eve, not Adam.

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The text seems to indicate that Adam was present because her husband was with her, it says.

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And that Satan chose to attack God's order by talking to Eve and presenting the temptation

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to her.

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Adam did not intervene.

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He failed God by not exercising His headship and then by following His wife.

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God's reprimand, again in Genesis 3, was not only because they ate the fruit but also

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because Adam abdicated his responsibility as the leader and the guardian of Eve.

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You can read that in Genesis 3, 17.

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So what God is doing is this.

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He is establishing in the new creation, the church, what had failed in the old creation.

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Now verse 15 is one of the most difficult verses in all the New Testament to interpret.

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Because of that there are at least a dozen different interpretations.

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Most of them are possible.

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Some are awfully far-fetched, but most of them are possible.

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The one that I think fits best, at least from my understanding this morning, is the one

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that says, a woman will find her greatest satisfaction and meaning in life not in seeking

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the male role but in fulfilling God's design for her as wife and mother with all faith,

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love, and holiness with propriety.

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I am quoting there from the Bible knowledge commentary.

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Now the point that is being made in this whole text is this.

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Jesus Christ is the Lord of the new creation, the church.

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And as Lord, He has the right to establish the order in it.

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A church, the church as part of the new creation must follow the order that He establishes.

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To be an authentic church in a biblical sense, we must follow God's order.

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Now another bottom line is this, that whether male or female, all believers are gifted by

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the Holy Spirit and given roles for service in Christ's body, the church.

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We are to exercise our gifts, all of us.

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And women have the gift of teaching.

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There is nowhere that I can find in the New Testament that that gift is limited only to

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men.

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There are ways for women to exercise that role.

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There are ways for women as well as men to exercise authority, to lead.

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But the one restriction that is made, I've already stated.

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It seems to me the bottom line question in this text is this.

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Am I willing as a child of God to follow God's order, the lordship of Jesus Christ in the

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church as well as in my life?

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That's the bottom line question, not theoretical arguments, but whether I am willing to obey

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the lordship of Jesus Christ.

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There was a young woman who was greatly troubled by a question she had and she went to her

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Scottish preacher.

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She asked how she could resolve the question of her own desires when what she wanted seemed

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to contradict the will of God.

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So the minister took out a slip of paper and just wrote down two words on it, folded it

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and handed it to her.

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He asked her to sit down for ten minutes to think about the words and to cross out one

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of them, then to bring the slip back to him.

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She agreed to do so.

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She found a chair, opened the paper, and on it were two words.

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One word was no and the other word was lord.

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And as she pondered that, she realized what her pastor was saying was, you cannot say

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both no and lord.

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When it comes to a conflict between what we think and what we want and God's will, there

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is only one answer if we are walking with God.

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And that answer is yes, Lord.

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Yes, Lord.

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To make that choice.

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Now whether it be the issue that we have touched on this morning in this one message or if

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it be some other issue in our lives today, that is the crucial question.

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Will Jesus Christ be the Lord of this life that He has redeemed by His precious blood?

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Can I say to Him, yes, Lord, whatever you say, yes, Lord.

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Let's pray.

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Father, I thank you that in your Word we have directions for us personally as well as us

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together as a body of people.

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Thank you for telling us how we need to order our lives and our church.

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We acknowledge officially, publicly, that you are the Lord.

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We pray that you will bring our understanding of Scripture, our personal preferences, our

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choices, all under your Lordship, that there we may abide and there we may serve you with

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the gifts that you have given to us as men and as women.

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We pray the result of that will be the building up of the body of Christ and its unity.

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We pray that as a result of our working together in those roles that you have given us as a

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body of people, that the church may grow and become all that you desire it to be.

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For you are our head and our Lord.

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Amen.

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Would you stand together with me please?

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I'd like for us to sing just a verse of 97 that says, All hail the power of Jesus' name.

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Let angels prostrate fall.

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Bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him Lord of all.

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Let's sing it together, just the first verse of 97.

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All hail the power of Jesus' name.

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Let angels prostrate fall.

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Bring forth the royal diadem and crown Him.