1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:02,920 We're continuing our series called Trustworthy. 2 00:00:03,280 --> 00:00:05,960 The idea, looking at this passage of Scripture, this 3 00:00:05,960 --> 00:00:09,600 letter that Paul wrote to Timothy to find God's design, 4 00:00:09,600 --> 00:00:12,280 and we're going to look at an important one today. 5 00:00:12,280 --> 00:00:15,560 So turn to first Timothy chapter 3. 6 00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:17,360 We're just going to go right into chapter 3. 7 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:21,680 I'm just kidding. We're going to go, we're going 8 00:00:21,680 --> 00:00:23,600 to do the end of chapter 2 where we left off. 9 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:25,920 Some of you like we don't want to cover the, I want to cover 10 00:00:25,920 --> 00:00:27,720 the fun stuff. The end of chapter 2. 11 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:31,840 Yeah, we will not skip over where we left off because we are 12 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:37,200 coming up to these final verses in chapter 2, which happened to 13 00:00:37,200 --> 00:00:39,120 be some of the most contended verses in the Bible. 14 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,000 When we talk about God's design so that we can be a trustworthy 15 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:46,520 church and trustworthy believers, we're we're going to 16 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:48,880 allow it to cover every area of life. 17 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,120 And no matter how that collides with culture and one of the 18 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:56,560 great confusions of our time, divisions of our time, debates 19 00:00:56,560 --> 00:01:02,680 of our time is how men and women fit into the church in the world 20 00:01:02,800 --> 00:01:05,440 with roles designed by God or not. 21 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:08,640 So to get us started, I'll actually share with you a way 22 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,960 that this very topic was viral not many months ago. 23 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,040 If you pay attention to the news or you're part of the just the 24 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:19,960 social uproar when you know whatever the most recent trend 25 00:01:19,960 --> 00:01:22,760 of news is, There was a commencement speech given by an 26 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:27,080 NFL kicker and it gave us a perfect picture to how what 27 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:30,320 we're talking about from this letter from Paul to Timothy is 28 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:33,400 something that is raging in our culture right now. 29 00:01:33,840 --> 00:01:36,800 I'll share with you some of the highlights and some of the the 30 00:01:36,800 --> 00:01:40,880 reaction to what he said to a group of graduating college 31 00:01:40,880 --> 00:01:45,360 students. You women have had the most 32 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:50,240 diabolical lies told to you. How many of you sitting here now 33 00:01:50,840 --> 00:01:53,560 are thinking about all the promotions and titles you one 34 00:01:53,560 --> 00:01:56,720 day have in your career? Some of you may have successful 35 00:01:56,720 --> 00:01:59,640 careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the 36 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:02,920 majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the 37 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:04,640 children you will bring into the world. 38 00:02:05,640 --> 00:02:08,960 My wife embraced one of the most important titles of all time, 39 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:14,760 Homemaker, to which some of the audience erupted in applause. 40 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:18,800 She says she's the primary educator to our children and 41 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:23,080 ensures I don't let football or business become a distraction 42 00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:26,640 from that of a husband and a father. 43 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,600 Her dream of having a career might not have come true, but if 44 00:02:29,600 --> 00:02:33,440 you asked her today if she has any regrets on her decisions, 45 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:37,120 she would laugh out loud and say heck no. 46 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:41,000 Now, as you hear me read this and think about what we're going 47 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:45,000 to talk about today, some of you reacted exactly how half of our 48 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:48,600 culture reacted. The NFL itself distanced itself 49 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,480 from one of their players and said this is not an official 50 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:56,000 statement of the NFL. Of course, the talking heads all 51 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,680 over social media news were outraged in their outcry, 52 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:03,080 debating whether or not he had crossed the line of free speech. 53 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,040 Some of them even saying had he gone into hate speech towards 54 00:03:06,040 --> 00:03:10,160 women And on the other side of the aisle, some of you listen to 55 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:12,040 me say that and we're like more of that. 56 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:13,720 Finish it. Read the whole speech. 57 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:17,880 The conservatives, the religious groups, those who are from a 58 00:03:17,960 --> 00:03:22,120 traditional value that is now all under question. 59 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:24,400 We're applauding his bravery and courage. 60 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:29,440 And I don't share that so that we would just end the topic now. 61 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:33,600 I share that so that we would understand that there is a 62 00:03:33,880 --> 00:03:38,200 fracture in our culture and it stands on the lines that we have 63 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:42,440 to discuss today. What is the role of women in the 64 00:03:42,440 --> 00:03:46,120 church? How are we supposed to represent 65 00:03:46,120 --> 00:03:51,080 God and His incredible love for all people and His design for 66 00:03:51,080 --> 00:03:55,040 men and women alike? So that's the topic today. 67 00:03:55,640 --> 00:03:59,120 If you're interested, then we'll continue in the sermon starting 68 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:04,960 in verse 11, verse 11. This is a continuation of what 69 00:04:04,960 --> 00:04:08,080 we talked about last week. Paul is now in the 2nd chapter 70 00:04:08,080 --> 00:04:12,240 in his letter to Timothy giving some direction to both men and 71 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:15,000 women. Last week he said men pray, stop 72 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,440 fighting and pray. Women don't dress. 73 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:22,520 So with with such high status and, and showing off your 74 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:27,400 wealth, dress modestly and both of you just pray for a peaceful 75 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:30,400 and quiet life and have a peaceable and quiet gathering. 76 00:04:30,600 --> 00:04:34,760 And now the directions continue for women in the gathering. 77 00:04:35,320 --> 00:04:37,560 Last week it was how women should look. 78 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:40,880 And this week we could say it's how women should learn. 79 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,960 And follow along with me as I start in verse 11, we'll read 80 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:47,760 all of the verses left in the chapter and then we'll look at 81 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:51,160 each one of them. Paul says let a woman learn in 82 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:56,080 silence with all submission, and I do not permit a woman to teach 83 00:04:56,080 --> 00:04:59,480 or have authority over a man, but to be in silence. 84 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:05,120 For Adam was first formed, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, 85 00:05:05,280 --> 00:05:09,120 but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. 86 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:14,520 Nevertheless, she will be saved in childbearing if they continue 87 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:18,880 in faith, love and holiness with self-control. 88 00:05:19,320 --> 00:05:23,040 This sermon will be a question answer format of sermon because 89 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:25,880 if you're like me, there's a lot of questions that just come to 90 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:28,520 your mind as we're reading this. I think that's good. 91 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:30,560 I love when the Bible does that because where there are 92 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:34,120 questions, I think the Bible gives some really good cutting 93 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:37,440 answers. And we'll break these this this 94 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:40,960 sermon down into really the way that it's presented to us. 95 00:05:41,200 --> 00:05:44,400 Paul is going to give some rules for the gathering in the 1st 2 96 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:46,560 verses, 11:00 and 12:00. And then he'll give some 97 00:05:46,560 --> 00:05:50,040 reasoning behind the rules. Wherever the Bible gives rules, 98 00:05:50,040 --> 00:05:52,440 it gives you reasons and rewards. 99 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:55,240 That's why we we study it holistically. 100 00:05:55,400 --> 00:05:59,200 And he starts first with again, the context of the gathering. 101 00:05:59,200 --> 00:06:02,600 He says, I'm going to give some direction to men last week and 102 00:06:02,600 --> 00:06:05,920 now some direction rules, guidelines for how this is all 103 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:08,720 supposed to look for the women of the gathering. 104 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:12,120 And so as I said, we'll start with questions. 105 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:16,160 My very first question as we look at verse 11, let a woman 106 00:06:16,160 --> 00:06:21,000 learn in silence with all submission is what is Paul 107 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:24,200 really getting at When you study the Bible and it sparks 108 00:06:24,360 --> 00:06:26,600 questions or maybe makes you feel uncomfortable, which I hope 109 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:30,280 it does at times, you should say to yourself, what's what's the 110 00:06:30,280 --> 00:06:32,080 main point that he's trying to get at? 111 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:37,200 Because there's a lot of things words that can be packed into 112 00:06:37,200 --> 00:06:40,400 this one single verse that we could emphasize as the word to 113 00:06:40,400 --> 00:06:42,640 pick apart. But the main thing that Paul is 114 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:47,440 getting AT, and you find this with a very literal translation 115 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:51,200 of the Greek of this statement is this. 116 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:53,360 Listen to it word for word translated. 117 00:06:53,360 --> 00:06:56,600 It says literally a woman in quietness should learn in all 118 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,800 submission. A woman in quietness should 119 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:03,600 learn in all submission. The main emphasis that Paul is 120 00:07:03,600 --> 00:07:06,520 giving to the woman of this gathering and to women of our 121 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:09,600 gathering and all the gatherings of churches that would study 122 00:07:09,600 --> 00:07:12,400 this letter is that women come in and learn. 123 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:15,600 That's the main point. He says to the men, you guys 124 00:07:15,600 --> 00:07:18,160 pray and this is how you ought to pray. 125 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:22,040 Don't fight with holy hands. Pray with direction. 126 00:07:22,040 --> 00:07:25,880 And now he says women learn and here's how you are to learn. 127 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:29,600 So before we get into weeds, which we're going there because 128 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:31,360 I know there's some fun stuff down in the weeds. 129 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:33,960 Sometimes you find coins and Legos and stuff in the weeds. 130 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:38,280 Before we get into the weeds, I want, I, I do not want to lose 131 00:07:38,280 --> 00:07:44,200 the glorious, amazing truth that wherever the gospel goes, women 132 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:47,160 are elevated. The, the, the good news this 133 00:07:47,160 --> 00:07:50,920 morning is that Paul is saying yes to women come in and learn 134 00:07:51,120 --> 00:07:54,160 and he is going against the culture of his day. 135 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:59,680 And in the most of the ancient world where the schools and the 136 00:07:59,680 --> 00:08:03,240 institutions in the world of academia was mostly reserved for 137 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:05,360 men, not so with the early church. 138 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:09,880 And we see that Paul really in the shadow of Jesus as he 139 00:08:10,160 --> 00:08:14,680 brought to himself female disciples, disciples, and some 140 00:08:14,680 --> 00:08:19,880 very famous moments where he is giving women the honor of a 141 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:24,520 rabbi, student relationship. Famously, we see in the Gospel 142 00:08:24,520 --> 00:08:27,560 of Luke where Mary and Martha are going to host a big dinner 143 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:30,960 and and Martha's getting ready and Mary is at his feet like a 144 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:34,640 student at the feet of a rabbi. And this is beautiful good news 145 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:38,200 that has set into motion the Western world that women have a 146 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:40,679 place at the table of this whole gathering. 147 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:44,240 God bless it. So that's the good news. 148 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:51,040 He's setting some incredible good news, ground rules, and 149 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:56,960 this is what would happen as groundbreaking new invitations 150 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:59,720 would come, as people are welcomed in, they're going to be 151 00:08:59,720 --> 00:09:02,200 welcomed in and say, and by the way, this is how it should work. 152 00:09:02,720 --> 00:09:06,280 If you want to find a parallel for this, In fact, it's a recent 153 00:09:06,280 --> 00:09:10,360 parallel you could look at if Paul was writing, let's say Paul 154 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:12,800 was writing a letter to the church in Saudi Arabia in the 155 00:09:12,800 --> 00:09:16,160 year 2018. This is recent news, but in the 156 00:09:16,160 --> 00:09:20,760 year 2018, Saudi Arabia allowed women to drive. 157 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:23,280 So if you were in Saudi Arabia, that would be the big 158 00:09:23,280 --> 00:09:26,920 controversy in 2018. Men use like, should I allow my 159 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:28,320 wife to drive? It's legal now. 160 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:31,520 And, and Paul would say, let them drive. 161 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:34,080 It's OK, let them behind the wheel. 162 00:09:34,240 --> 00:09:39,280 But here's some ground rules. You don't want to just start 163 00:09:39,280 --> 00:09:41,600 ramming people and, you know, yelling at people and you don't 164 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:44,960 want to just take over the road. And as we continue the analogy, 165 00:09:44,960 --> 00:09:47,520 maybe they don't drive the family car, but we'll get to 166 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:52,160 that later in the passage. So he says let the women learn, 167 00:09:52,160 --> 00:09:56,720 bring them in. And now here's some direction as 168 00:09:56,720 --> 00:09:59,720 they come into the gathering. He's going to give 2 directives 169 00:09:59,920 --> 00:10:03,520 that will now give us, let's say a little bit more spice to the 170 00:10:03,520 --> 00:10:05,360 sermon. This Is Us putting a little bit 171 00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:08,400 of, you know, sometimes you get the hot sauce and I think these 172 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:11,080 things get a little spicier. This is why right here, this 173 00:10:11,080 --> 00:10:14,280 sermon gets a little spicy. It's not because women are now 174 00:10:14,280 --> 00:10:16,920 included. It's because as they're welcomed 175 00:10:16,920 --> 00:10:21,560 in, he says once again, verse 11, let a woman learn in silence 176 00:10:21,560 --> 00:10:23,920 with all submissions. So we have more questions. 177 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:31,880 Is Paul directing the church for it to be all set up where men do 178 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:34,440 all the speaking and women are in total silence? 179 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,400 Have we violated even this morning some of Pauls directions 180 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:40,520 and commands for what a church gathering should look at? 181 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:43,400 Because we've had women singers and I heard all of the 182 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:47,280 murmurings in both directions, male and female in our meet and 183 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:49,800 greet. Well, because there's churches. 184 00:10:49,840 --> 00:10:52,880 There's churches that will say yes to anything under the sun. 185 00:10:53,080 --> 00:10:56,200 Of course you will find some churches, I am sure of it. 186 00:10:56,440 --> 00:10:59,200 And practically speaking, maybe some of you experienced it. 187 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:05,040 They would say, OK, this means no women choir, worship band, no 188 00:11:05,040 --> 00:11:06,720 women. When you, you know, get greeted. 189 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:08,960 They could take this so literally that they would say, 190 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:13,200 OK, women, when you come, keep it, mom, and then leave. 191 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:17,280 No doing announcements. Now, practically speaking, this 192 00:11:17,280 --> 00:11:19,640 sermon is not going to be corrective in any measure for 193 00:11:19,640 --> 00:11:21,760 our church. Because if you've been coming to 194 00:11:21,760 --> 00:11:25,280 our church, I guess if this is your first time, this is a 195 00:11:25,280 --> 00:11:28,920 normal gathering of our church. Women, you have beautiful voices 196 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:31,480 for singing. We have times where women give 197 00:11:31,480 --> 00:11:35,880 announcements and we're in all sorts of ways, women are very 198 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:38,920 welcome to engage vocally with our church. 199 00:11:39,240 --> 00:11:42,320 So what is he saying? And by the way, I hope that 200 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:45,320 women are included because tonight we're doing a panel, how 201 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:48,840 cool is that, that the men decided to put this day on the 202 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:52,240 calendar where we all get together and have a big meatloaf 203 00:11:52,240 --> 00:11:54,040 dinner and say, why don't we bring the women and ask them 204 00:11:54,040 --> 00:11:56,120 questions? And it just so happens to land 205 00:11:56,120 --> 00:11:59,440 perfectly on the passage of Scripture about women being 206 00:11:59,440 --> 00:12:02,000 silenced. So as I went into, as I said, 207 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:06,200 Lord, I hope I get this right and I think so far I'm confident 208 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,760 that our women's panel tonight is going to be done in the 209 00:12:09,760 --> 00:12:13,040 honouring of God's design for how men and women have distinct 210 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:15,120 roles and freedoms in the church. 211 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,960 So we we big picture this. If you look at the New Testament 212 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:21,760 and you look at all the ways that Paul is trying to help 213 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:25,760 churches be organized, 1 theme you will not find is Paul 214 00:12:25,760 --> 00:12:28,400 telling women in every church. Remember, Remember when I told 215 00:12:28,400 --> 00:12:32,160 Ephesus, be quiet, women. Actually, what you find is that 216 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:35,480 Paul honors women in the gatherings, the women that host 217 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:37,520 house churches. And he says to the church in 218 00:12:37,520 --> 00:12:40,800 Corinth, women when you pray and prophecy, and he gives them 219 00:12:40,800 --> 00:12:43,640 direction. So the Bible never contradicts 220 00:12:43,640 --> 00:12:45,680 the Bible. And the grand view of the New 221 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:50,040 Testament is that women have a role vocally and verbally in the 222 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:51,760 church. And Paul would encourage them 223 00:12:51,920 --> 00:12:56,040 with directions for what that should look like the very zoomed 224 00:12:56,040 --> 00:12:57,840 in. So with just in the letter of 225 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:02,680 first Timothy, we actually find even more reason to just take 226 00:13:02,680 --> 00:13:05,840 the edge right off this verse because I love the new King 227 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:08,400 James Version of the Bible. I've I learned it, I've 228 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:11,360 memorized my memory verses in it and I preach from it. 229 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:13,600 But it's not perfect. And I think this is one of the 230 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,760 areas where the new King James Version does not do us any 231 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:20,280 favors in its translation. And This is why, if you've 232 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:23,800 listened to me preach before, I tried to avoid all appeals to 233 00:13:23,800 --> 00:13:26,080 the Greek because I think most translations are great and I 234 00:13:26,080 --> 00:13:29,360 don't speak Greek. But this is a moment where it 235 00:13:29,400 --> 00:13:32,920 pays off to know the root word, and I'll share it with you now. 236 00:13:33,360 --> 00:13:37,120 So when he says learn in silence, he's using a root word 237 00:13:37,560 --> 00:13:43,800 called hey, so Kia in Greek. And where else is that used? 238 00:13:44,240 --> 00:13:46,520 Well, it's used in a couple places in the New Testament, 239 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:51,640 namely in verse two of the exact same chapter. 240 00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:56,840 So Paul uses the same word in Greek for quietness, quiet and 241 00:13:56,840 --> 00:14:01,600 peaceable life. In verse 2 and silence, Paul's 242 00:14:01,600 --> 00:14:06,920 getting at the same idea when he said pray for our pray for kings 243 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:10,880 and those and authorities that we may lead a quiet and 244 00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:13,640 peaceable life. Choosing the same word that 245 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:17,160 wrongfully in my opinion gets translated silent for the women. 246 00:14:17,280 --> 00:14:21,240 I think it's much better to to view this as Paul saying to the 247 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:26,440 women, come in and be quiet. Don't be disruptive. 248 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:30,160 In fact, all of you are practicing that right now. 249 00:14:30,880 --> 00:14:33,880 What what Paul is trying to create is an environment for the 250 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:38,080 church to worship and pray and not be distracted by everyone 251 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:41,400 coming in and murmuring and talking and having side 252 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:43,800 conversations. And he's speaking to to the 253 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:47,280 women specifically for that. Not that men can't do that, but 254 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:49,680 he might be giving some corrective measures to that 255 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:52,520 specific church. There's another moment happening 256 00:14:52,520 --> 00:14:55,840 on the church calendar right now that gives us a great teaching 257 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:58,600 view of why this is sometimes necessary. 258 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:04,080 So another church calendar event that's happening as we speak is 259 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,360 the high school winter camp. And if you've ever been to the 260 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,800 high school winter camp, you know that Parker needs this 261 00:15:10,800 --> 00:15:14,080 Greek word in his heart and his direction because here's what's 262 00:15:14,080 --> 00:15:16,680 going to happen. It probably has already 263 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:18,440 happened. They go to breakfast, lunch and 264 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:21,520 dinner, and then they leave the mess hall and they come in and 265 00:15:21,520 --> 00:15:24,160 they actually look more like the New Testament church than we do 266 00:15:24,160 --> 00:15:27,440 because typically girls congregate, boys congregate. 267 00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:31,240 It just happens. And what will happen is that 268 00:15:31,240 --> 00:15:33,480 there will be some that are new to the camp or some that are so 269 00:15:33,480 --> 00:15:36,120 excited, some that are just amped up on cookie, cookies and 270 00:15:36,120 --> 00:15:39,080 carbs that as the the service starts, Parker is going to be 271 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:40,080 like, alright, let's get in the word. 272 00:15:40,240 --> 00:15:41,560 And there's going to be a bunch of chattering. 273 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:45,080 And then he's going to say to them, be quiet. 274 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:49,080 You must be quiet. He and he might even say ladies, 275 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:54,200 ladies, be quiet. Now he is not saying silence. 276 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:55,960 All of the youth girls of our church. 277 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:59,360 He's saying we have a gathering and it's not cabin time anymore 278 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:00,680 and it's not the mess hall anymore. 279 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:04,560 In the gathering we need to be respectful and quiet. 280 00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:08,360 And with that in mind, we can now look at the second spicy 281 00:16:08,360 --> 00:16:14,280 word of the passage, which is be be silent or quiet in 282 00:16:14,280 --> 00:16:17,560 submission. Let a woman learn in silence 283 00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:20,720 with all submission. So let's think about that word. 284 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,040 I'll give you a couple of official definitions and then a 285 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:26,080 definition that I find helpful as I just meditate on this. 286 00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:29,800 Submission is to be arranged under a person in charge. 287 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:35,920 Right now, you guys and you girls are all being submissive. 288 00:16:36,120 --> 00:16:38,240 Great job. You've tested out of the class. 289 00:16:38,440 --> 00:16:41,280 There will be other areas of execution for this where you 290 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:44,920 need to practice it again, but you're just being arranged under 291 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:47,760 the authority of the Word as I preach it, and you're doing 292 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:50,720 great. It's a military term that just 293 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:53,240 means ranked under. And so here's how one 294 00:16:53,240 --> 00:16:57,440 commentator gives us a picture of why this is not something to 295 00:16:57,440 --> 00:16:59,640 run from. This is something that helps us 296 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:04,119 bring order and structure and a blessing so that we can do these 297 00:17:04,119 --> 00:17:06,880 kind of things without it being an annoying distraction. 298 00:17:06,880 --> 00:17:09,599 Here's Warren Worsby. Anyone who has served in the 299 00:17:09,599 --> 00:17:14,280 armed forces knows that rank has to do with order and authority, 300 00:17:14,560 --> 00:17:18,359 not with value or ability. Just as an army would be in 301 00:17:18,359 --> 00:17:22,240 confusion if there were no levels of authority, so society 302 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:24,880 would be in chaos without submission. 303 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:29,000 And so it is with what we're doing right now and other 304 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:32,840 executions of it, like in home groups or in the kids ministry 305 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:35,720 or in youth group or in ways that we do small gatherings. 306 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:39,120 There needs to be an honoring of that moment where people are not 307 00:17:39,120 --> 00:17:42,360 loud, they're being quiet, and they're not being argumentative 308 00:17:42,360 --> 00:17:44,160 or disruptive. They're being submissive to the 309 00:17:44,160 --> 00:17:46,360 moment. So here's my my simple 310 00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:50,120 definition of submission because as a pastor, I think it's our 311 00:17:50,120 --> 00:17:53,440 life work to to unpack certain words and submissions, just one 312 00:17:53,440 --> 00:17:55,360 of them. So here's my most recent 313 00:17:55,360 --> 00:17:59,120 definition with just two words because I think the simpler the 314 00:17:59,120 --> 00:18:00,440 better. And these kind of instances, 315 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:02,440 submission is to be teachable and agreeable. 316 00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:06,480 When you open the word, are you someone who's here to learn it? 317 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:10,120 You're teachable. And are you someone who's there 318 00:18:10,120 --> 00:18:13,120 to have an open heart for what it might be saying to you and 319 00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:14,400 how it gives direction to your life? 320 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:17,240 So here are two Tucker mail definitions. 321 00:18:17,240 --> 00:18:19,400 You can throw them out. They're not official, but here 322 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:22,680 they are. Teachable a gentle spirit ready 323 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:26,040 to intently listen and learn from those who are leading and 324 00:18:26,040 --> 00:18:29,440 teaching. Are you here ears to hear? 325 00:18:29,760 --> 00:18:32,440 Are you here to listen? What is the word saying? 326 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:34,840 Not what? I'm already angry because he's 327 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:38,120 he's covering this topic in ways that I wouldn't or that I don't 328 00:18:38,120 --> 00:18:41,400 agree with. Agreeable. 329 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:44,120 Here's my definition. A willingness to come under 330 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:48,280 those in a leadership role with a supportive and cooperative 331 00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:52,040 spirit. So rather than every leadership 332 00:18:52,040 --> 00:18:54,800 decision, every leadership teaching, every leadership 333 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:57,400 moment, you're like, not how I would have done it. 334 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:00,640 It's like, hey, I'm going to do my best to be supportive. 335 00:19:01,080 --> 00:19:04,640 And in the way that this unfolds for the church, there are 336 00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:07,720 certain roles that are going to be called into leadership. 337 00:19:07,960 --> 00:19:11,320 And then for everyone else, be teachable and agreeable. 338 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:16,280 So very simply, what I would share on behalf of Paul from 339 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:19,960 first Timothy to the women, and I would say men, just like when 340 00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:23,000 we shared on prayer, we said praying is just lift your holy 341 00:19:23,000 --> 00:19:25,680 hands and surrender supplication, submission to God. 342 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:27,520 And you know women, you can pray that way too. 343 00:19:27,520 --> 00:19:31,880 Men, this is a great way for you to have a heart posture for this 344 00:19:31,880 --> 00:19:33,640 gathering as well. There are three things that I 345 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:37,520 think we clearly see in Paul's direction to women in the 346 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:41,080 gathering. Be peaceable, be teachable and 347 00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:44,680 be agreeable. You find that for the gathering 348 00:19:44,680 --> 00:19:48,160 for time in the word and you can take that in other areas that 349 00:19:48,160 --> 00:19:51,800 the word calls you to submission and it's no longer a spicy word. 350 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:57,040 It is a healthy, joyful God honoring act that you can offer 351 00:19:57,040 --> 00:20:01,000 to your spouse that you can train your children in all we're 352 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,480 saying when we say we're going to Commission you parents to 353 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:04,880 train a child in the way should go. 354 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:07,120 Teach them to be peaceable children. 355 00:20:07,200 --> 00:20:10,200 Teach them to be teachable children and teach them to be 356 00:20:10,200 --> 00:20:12,560 agreeable, to follow your lead and where. 357 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:16,240 Whatever the Bible calls you to submit, which we said it last 358 00:20:16,240 --> 00:20:19,360 week, I'll say it again, all of us are being called to submit in 359 00:20:19,360 --> 00:20:21,160 a certain office or area of our life. 360 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:24,120 Could be your work, could be under the elders of this church, 361 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:26,240 could be the word of God, It could be the God in prayer. 362 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:29,880 Be peaceable, be teachable and be agreeable. 363 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:32,360 So that is what that is the do's. 364 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:37,160 That's what you should do as we think through the gathering and 365 00:20:37,360 --> 00:20:40,560 Paul is now going to give us the do nots, verse 12. 366 00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:45,920 And I do not permit a woman to a woman to teach or have authority 367 00:20:45,920 --> 00:20:51,160 over a man, but to be in silence, to be once again quiet, 368 00:20:51,880 --> 00:20:56,240 to be peaceable. Two things that Paul is saying 369 00:20:56,720 --> 00:21:04,480 for this particular structure of God's design for government in 370 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:08,880 the church. He doesn't want the women to 371 00:21:09,040 --> 00:21:12,560 teach and he doesn't want them to have authority. 372 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:15,000 So once again, we can ask our questions. 373 00:21:15,000 --> 00:21:17,880 We can be stirred with questions and let them drive our our 374 00:21:17,880 --> 00:21:20,960 desire to to really know what what the design is, what it's 375 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:23,680 really going after. Is this saying that women are 376 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:27,160 never allowed to preach or teach or share or open the word? 377 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:33,280 No, there there again, the the the whole view of Paul's 378 00:21:33,520 --> 00:21:36,760 direction to the New Testament church gives us other areas 379 00:21:36,760 --> 00:21:41,200 where women are encouraged to share Titus chapter 2 and 380 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:45,080 encouragement. Older women teach the younger 381 00:21:45,080 --> 00:21:48,360 women share with them, give them your wisdom. 382 00:21:48,960 --> 00:21:52,760 And I don't think this is trying to set up a system by which 383 00:21:53,080 --> 00:21:58,200 every extension of the church core has to be led by a man. 384 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:02,760 For example, I don't think this means that women cannot in good 385 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:06,240 faith to honor God, share with the children of our Sunday 386 00:22:06,240 --> 00:22:07,800 school. And somehow they're now 387 00:22:07,800 --> 00:22:09,760 exercising authority of our church. 388 00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:13,520 They're serving the children of our church under the authority 389 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:17,920 of the leadership of our church. I know this doesn't mean that 390 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:21,720 mothers shouldn't teach and share the Word and preach the 391 00:22:21,720 --> 00:22:24,840 gospel to their children. I'm so grateful for the ways 392 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:28,040 that the Word of God was implanted into my heart by the 393 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:30,960 person holding the office of mother in my life. 394 00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:34,560 There's a great role for that, and I don't think that this 395 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:39,320 extends into the world at large. I think that Paul is giving 396 00:22:39,840 --> 00:22:44,400 Timothy very specific governmental structure for the 397 00:22:44,400 --> 00:22:49,000 gathering and the leadership of God's design for church. 398 00:22:49,560 --> 00:22:53,480 And the other office that is closely resembled in that is the 399 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:56,280 home church, the household of God. 400 00:22:56,600 --> 00:23:00,160 God calls a man to lead and a woman to partner and submit. 401 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:04,000 And in the same way we see a healthy version of God's design. 402 00:23:04,160 --> 00:23:07,800 When you see this plane out in the home, when men step up to 403 00:23:07,800 --> 00:23:11,600 the plate and they they hear their call of God to not be 404 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,440 lazy, but to work hard, provide for their family and lay down 405 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:17,480 their life in leadership for their family. 406 00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:20,160 Those are the two offices that are being addressed. 407 00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:24,000 And when we do those well, we give honor to God in his design. 408 00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:28,920 All through this, Paul has been saying, I want you to sound up. 409 00:23:28,920 --> 00:23:30,400 I want you to shore up the doctrine. 410 00:23:31,160 --> 00:23:35,200 Doctrine is authoritative and to teach doctrine is to have 411 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:38,960 authority of the church. So as we will continue to see 412 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:42,080 this unfold today with the reasons that Paul is about to 413 00:23:42,080 --> 00:23:44,480 give and as we continue in the letter, Paul is going to give 414 00:23:44,480 --> 00:23:48,160 clear direction for leadership in elders to be men. 415 00:23:49,160 --> 00:23:52,360 And it's the authority of the word to keep the church 416 00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:55,960 according to the design of God. And and before we get into the 417 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:58,800 the reasons, so we look at 1st 2 verses of the rules and we're 418 00:23:58,800 --> 00:24:01,640 going to look at the reasons. Before we look at the reasons, I 419 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:06,840 want to share some guidelines to, I hope now cut against the 420 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:11,400 grain of why sometimes these passages seem so divisive. 421 00:24:12,080 --> 00:24:15,560 These passages, like all portions of Scripture, are for 422 00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:19,560 the benefit of our soul and our gathering and our unity. 423 00:24:19,680 --> 00:24:22,320 God's design is good and perfect, and if we can find it 424 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:24,320 in a more perfect way, we'll be blessed. 425 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:27,960 But there's things that are in all ways can get Co opted. 426 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:30,120 So let me give some guidelines to this. 427 00:24:32,360 --> 00:24:38,400 There is no general rule in this church or in the New Testament 428 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:41,880 prescriptions and descriptions of a church where all women 429 00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:47,040 should submit to all men. There is a a a submission to 430 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:50,960 church leadership that God has designed to be the role of man 431 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:55,160 and your own husband's women and that's it. 432 00:24:55,160 --> 00:24:59,040 So men of the church get no false ideas that we're creating 433 00:24:59,040 --> 00:25:02,560 a hierarchy that is simply men are in charge and all women 434 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:03,800 submit. That is not true. 435 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:06,760 And if a man tries that to one of the women, reject them and 436 00:25:06,840 --> 00:25:13,000 report them to security, please. Again, there's there's no 437 00:25:13,040 --> 00:25:17,880 outlawing of any office outside of the family in the church. 438 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:21,320 Now you could extrapolate the design and you could say, you 439 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:23,400 know, if I'm I'm setting up my business, I kind of wanted to 440 00:25:23,400 --> 00:25:26,880 mirror a family in a church. But we just don't see guidelines 441 00:25:26,880 --> 00:25:30,280 for the New Testament that prohibits amazing women to go 442 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:33,960 start businesses and lead organizations and coach teams 443 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:38,920 and lead a classroom that is out in the the the big world of 444 00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:42,960 influence and power. You are are not prohibited women 445 00:25:43,200 --> 00:25:47,360 from stepping out in faith and whatever you feel God is calling 446 00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:53,720 you and gifting you to do. And I also will say that simply 447 00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:57,240 being a man is not qualification for church leadership. 448 00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:03,080 Once again, this is not a simpleton message to say men are 449 00:26:03,080 --> 00:26:05,280 leaders of the church and that's that. 450 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:08,400 That will get into qualifications and it is a 451 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:13,000 narrow gate. In fact, I'll remind all men and 452 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:16,720 anyone who is in God's gifting and calling, stepping out to 453 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:19,000 share His Word, what it says in James. 454 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:22,480 My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we 455 00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:26,280 shall receive a stricter judgment when we look at chapter 456 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:27,600 3. Starting next week, we'll see 457 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:30,200 all of the qualities, characteristics, and 458 00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:33,720 qualifications of what it means to fit through the narrow gate 459 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:37,840 of being called into church leadership and being qualified. 460 00:26:38,120 --> 00:26:41,920 And it is a select few of men that need to lay down their life 461 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:46,080 to serve the church, and everyone else is called to 462 00:26:46,080 --> 00:26:49,920 follow their lead. And that leads me to the final 463 00:26:49,920 --> 00:26:51,600 guideline that I think is so important to share. 464 00:26:51,600 --> 00:26:55,760 The greatest threat to God's authority and order and design 465 00:26:55,760 --> 00:26:59,120 is not when women don't submit properly. 466 00:26:59,120 --> 00:27:00,920 It's when men don't lead properly. 467 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:06,440 That is the real threat. It is not a simple fix to say if 468 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:10,320 only women would submit. I think that is a gross 469 00:27:10,320 --> 00:27:13,320 misunderstanding of what is actually happening in this 470 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:15,000 church and the church age we live in. 471 00:27:15,120 --> 00:27:19,880 The problem is men look at leadership as something they can 472 00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:24,160 Lord over people and they can stand on stage and be served 473 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:28,680 rather than serve people. And if we restore and renew and 474 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:32,640 have a revival of what Jesus Christ gave us in the picture of 475 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:40,080 leadership, the church would be cleansed from all of the ways 476 00:27:40,080 --> 00:27:42,040 that we have lost the trust of the culture. 477 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,640 So I'll remind us once again, Matthew chapter 20. 478 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:47,840 Jesus called them to himself and said, You know that the rulers 479 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:52,560 of the Gentiles lorded over them, and those who are great 480 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:55,840 exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among 481 00:27:55,840 --> 00:27:57,960 you. But whoever's desires to be 482 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:02,160 great among you, let him be your servant, And whoever desires to 483 00:28:02,160 --> 00:28:04,640 be first among you, let him be your slave. 484 00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:08,920 Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve 485 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:14,600 and gave his life a ransom for many, leadership is to be the 486 00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:19,240 first one to die. Leadership is in the household 487 00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:22,240 for a man to be the first one to lay down your life. 488 00:28:23,360 --> 00:28:28,400 Leadership is to be the one that is called to mirror the service 489 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:31,560 and the washing of feet and the selflessness of Christ. 490 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:36,480 It is not to mirror the outside world lording over selfish 491 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:40,880 positions. And so those are the principles 492 00:28:40,880 --> 00:28:44,880 that we, I, I hope, can honor God in a way that He gives us 493 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:50,360 grace to do. And now we go to the final part 494 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:51,840 of this, when we'll have to move quickly. 495 00:28:52,120 --> 00:28:54,680 And I assure you, I've thought a lot more about this than I'm 496 00:28:54,680 --> 00:28:58,200 going to say about it because we're limited on time. 497 00:28:58,200 --> 00:29:02,480 But I think that we have in principle, some solid reason 498 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:06,520 from Scripture to look at this and say, God, we want to submit 499 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:09,040 to you. Now as a church, it might not be 500 00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,080 culturally trendy. It might not win US any points 501 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:14,920 with the outside world who's looking for a relevant church 502 00:29:14,920 --> 00:29:18,560 that's figured out all the ways to, to to mirror the culture. 503 00:29:18,800 --> 00:29:22,760 But if we submit to God's design and we know what we're standing 504 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:24,680 on, then he'll, I believe he will honor us. 505 00:29:24,680 --> 00:29:27,360 And here's how we can do that with reason. 506 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:31,120 We can reasonably do this. So first Timothy chapter 2 507 00:29:31,120 --> 00:29:38,480 verses 13 and 14 for this is Paul giving his defense for Adam 508 00:29:38,480 --> 00:29:42,640 was formed first, then Eve and Adam was not deceived, but the 509 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:46,400 woman being deceived fell into transgression. 510 00:29:47,920 --> 00:29:53,600 So more questions why is Paul bringing up Adam and Eve and I 511 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:57,000 will share with you there's this is such a contended passage of 512 00:29:57,000 --> 00:29:59,200 Scripture. There are more theories on this 513 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:02,760 that can be shared probably even at a time Velasco midweek on one 514 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:05,160 verse. But I will I will share with you 515 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:07,800 at least some people's understanding of this. 516 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:12,440 Some are going to point out that there was a popular Gnostic 517 00:30:12,680 --> 00:30:17,160 secret knowledge teaching at the time that Paul was having to 518 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:20,000 fight against. They might also put that in the 519 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:25,720 shadow of the cult of Diana, who was the, the, the, the goddess 520 00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:27,280 that the town of Ephesus worshipped. 521 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:31,320 And they will say, you know, there was actually a myth that 522 00:30:31,440 --> 00:30:36,240 Eve was born first and that myth gave rise to women who were 523 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:39,320 power hungry and they were priestesses and they had 524 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:41,320 religious power in their old ways. 525 00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:43,400 And now they're coming into the church and they're trying to 526 00:30:43,400 --> 00:30:46,720 bring that false unsound teaching chapter 1 into the 527 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:48,560 church. And you can even say, well, 528 00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:51,280 remember when Paul was talking about endless disputes on 529 00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:53,920 genealogy, maybe you could go all all the way back to the 530 00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:56,000 first genealogy and said it was actually even an Adam. 531 00:30:56,600 --> 00:31:01,000 Now, I don't know enough about Artemis and the cult of Diana 532 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:04,320 and Artemis to to give you all of the footnotes as to why they 533 00:31:04,320 --> 00:31:06,520 come to that. And I say maybe that's true, but 534 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:10,080 what I can tell you it's not true just to make this whole 535 00:31:10,080 --> 00:31:13,560 argument cultural. So if you're making the Artemis 536 00:31:13,600 --> 00:31:16,400 the Artemis argument, saying you know he's all he's doing is 537 00:31:16,400 --> 00:31:18,000 pushing against a cultural argument. 538 00:31:18,320 --> 00:31:23,480 You can say that as long as you realize that to use creation as 539 00:31:23,480 --> 00:31:28,400 one of your reasons means you're transcultural, that this is 540 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:31,600 stand on this truth because you live in a culture that is going 541 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:34,240 to push against not just this one, but in the future 542 00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:37,240 unpredictable things that culture will push against. 543 00:31:37,560 --> 00:31:39,920 Creation is always used transculturally. 544 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:44,120 When you talk about Genesis, you're talking about how God 545 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:49,120 founded the world. Creation informs reality. 546 00:31:50,560 --> 00:31:53,000 And so when he says let's go all the way back to the beginning, 547 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:57,560 he's saying let's go to something that is free from 548 00:31:57,560 --> 00:32:02,800 cultural influence. And we see this technique or 549 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:06,960 this defense using creation in other areas of the New 550 00:32:06,960 --> 00:32:09,160 Testament, Jesus defending marriage. 551 00:32:09,360 --> 00:32:11,760 For this reason, a man should leave his father and mother, 552 00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:16,280 cling to his wife. They should become one and what 553 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:17,920 God brings together let no man separate. 554 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:20,960 He was going all the way back to the beginning of the story of 555 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:25,880 man and woman in the garden to defend monogamy against divorce. 556 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:30,400 And then we have Paul prohibiting homosexuality. 557 00:32:32,280 --> 00:32:34,320 Romans chapter 1. He says you're going against 558 00:32:34,320 --> 00:32:38,640 nature when you when woman lays with woman, she's doing 559 00:32:38,640 --> 00:32:41,080 something unnatural. Go all the way back to getting 560 00:32:41,080 --> 00:32:43,880 and it's man and woman. So he appeals to the beginning 561 00:32:44,240 --> 00:32:48,280 to give information on reality that was being confused by 562 00:32:48,280 --> 00:32:51,440 culture. And now Paul is looking at 563 00:32:51,440 --> 00:32:56,040 creation once again to give us his reasoning. 564 00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:00,680 Man was created first. Or what does that have to do 565 00:33:00,680 --> 00:33:04,600 with authority? Well, we see that man being 566 00:33:04,600 --> 00:33:08,920 created first was actually a special detail of the creation 567 00:33:08,920 --> 00:33:10,600 account that we don't find in the animals. 568 00:33:11,440 --> 00:33:14,560 We don't see that there was a male tiger and then a female 569 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:17,920 tiger and that is supposed to give us some story of how they 570 00:33:17,920 --> 00:33:20,160 interact with each other. It was God created everything 571 00:33:20,160 --> 00:33:22,440 and where he gives descriptions, they matter. 572 00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:27,200 And he says Adam was created 1st and the woman was taken from 573 00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:32,600 Adam a step further. The command, the only command, 574 00:33:33,920 --> 00:33:37,880 the authority that God gave to Adam to know the rules of the 575 00:33:37,880 --> 00:33:44,440 garden was given to Adam before Eve, which means you could by 576 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:47,160 reason say that Adam then had to give it to Eve. 577 00:33:48,120 --> 00:33:51,360 God gave Adam authority, and Adam shared that authority with 578 00:33:51,360 --> 00:33:54,200 Eve. He's appealing to creation, to 579 00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:58,240 inform reality. And I will say it here and in 580 00:33:58,240 --> 00:34:01,520 other areas, the creation account matters. 581 00:34:01,520 --> 00:34:04,560 By wisdom, God founded the world. 582 00:34:04,720 --> 00:34:08,960 As culture goes back and forth, up and down with tides and 583 00:34:08,960 --> 00:34:12,199 currents, we can always say there is a reality that was 584 00:34:12,199 --> 00:34:18,159 before all of it. And we see it here that man was 585 00:34:18,159 --> 00:34:22,400 created before a woman. And so now we have another 586 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:25,719 question because he says in verse 14, Adam was not deceived, 587 00:34:25,719 --> 00:34:28,600 but the woman was deceived and fell into into transgression. 588 00:34:29,199 --> 00:34:33,239 So why does Paul, after already making a sound reason for order 589 00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:36,080 of creation, there is order in creation. 590 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:38,400 Why does he bring up Eve's deception? 591 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:41,840 So I can give you a few vague answers, one bad answer and 592 00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:44,760 maybe my best guess at an answer. 593 00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:47,320 And then we'll we'll do the same thing with the most confusing 594 00:34:47,320 --> 00:34:51,199 verse in the Bible in verse 15, a vague answer. 595 00:34:51,639 --> 00:34:55,880 Some will say, you see the reason Eve was deceived is 596 00:34:55,880 --> 00:34:57,520 because she wasn't being educated. 597 00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:01,200 So Paul is just making a defense to bring her into the classroom. 598 00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:04,880 And you will find that argument for people who think this is 599 00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:07,480 more cultural and has more things to do with just that 600 00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:10,720 specific church bringing women in, I think that's vague. 601 00:35:10,840 --> 00:35:13,040 We don't really see that anywhere in the text. 602 00:35:14,080 --> 00:35:17,320 I also think there is a bad answer and this may be an answer 603 00:35:17,320 --> 00:35:19,320 you have heard or you have been taught. 604 00:35:20,360 --> 00:35:22,560 I remember hearing this answer and thinking that might make 605 00:35:22,560 --> 00:35:25,360 sense, but it kind of goes to why it's a bad answer. 606 00:35:26,040 --> 00:35:30,520 One of the answers is he's saying it because women are more 607 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:34,520 easily deceived than men. So the reason that women should 608 00:35:34,520 --> 00:35:36,840 not be in leadership and shouldn't be in places of 609 00:35:37,160 --> 00:35:39,600 overseeing the church is because remember what happened when 610 00:35:39,600 --> 00:35:44,080 you've got deceived. Let me just say, as we've looked 611 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:46,240 for different ways to try to understand what Paul is saying, 612 00:35:46,240 --> 00:35:48,480 one of the tools we've used this theme of Scripture. 613 00:35:48,600 --> 00:35:51,280 We don't see a theme of Scripture where women are 614 00:35:51,280 --> 00:35:54,320 continually just deceived and men are always there to be like, 615 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:59,400 shoot, let me explain this to you so men don't cling on to 616 00:35:59,400 --> 00:36:04,160 this one. We actually see a theme of 617 00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:07,240 Scripture, other instances where the women kind of save the day. 618 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:11,720 I think of probably the most important moment for the church 619 00:36:11,720 --> 00:36:16,160 to get right is the resurrection and the events leading up to it. 620 00:36:16,360 --> 00:36:19,840 And thank goodness for the women who did not have their blinders 621 00:36:19,840 --> 00:36:22,160 on. There was a woman when everyone 622 00:36:22,160 --> 00:36:23,720 was wondering what Jesus was doing. 623 00:36:23,720 --> 00:36:27,040 There was a woman who said, I'm going to anoint him for what's 624 00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:28,960 about to happen. She anointed him as Christ in 625 00:36:28,960 --> 00:36:31,520 preparation for the triumph. That was a woman. 626 00:36:32,240 --> 00:36:34,880 And then of course, we can talk more about this on Easter. 627 00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:39,680 But the empty tomb, there were a bunch of men who are not in the 628 00:36:39,680 --> 00:36:43,440 Easter empty tomb story. They're actually hiding afraid 629 00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:46,240 in the upper room, locked doors, not sure what's happening. 630 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:49,000 And there were some really brave women, women who are like, let's 631 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:51,480 figure this thing out. And then they report to everyone 632 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:54,400 what actually happened. And then the men didn't believe 633 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:56,560 them and they're kind of shamed for not believing the account of 634 00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:59,640 the women. So in those two instances and 635 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:01,640 others, men, you have your own versions of this. 636 00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:06,080 I just want to set the story straight that men are equally as 637 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:09,560 gullible and deceived as women. And for my own story, when I 638 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:11,960 first heard that women are easily deceived, I thought that 639 00:37:12,400 --> 00:37:14,080 makes sense, I'm going to go with that. 640 00:37:15,040 --> 00:37:16,560 And I was like, all right, didn't even think about it. 641 00:37:16,560 --> 00:37:18,120 Nope, Nope. I was deceived. 642 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:19,880 I totally got deceived on that teaching. 643 00:37:20,920 --> 00:37:25,840 So I would say that is not the take away from this moment of 644 00:37:25,840 --> 00:37:31,120 the creation account. We go on to point out that Paul 645 00:37:31,200 --> 00:37:35,400 is not just wholesale saying Eve should not be trusted, Adam 646 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:37,760 should be. Romans chapter 5 verse 14. 647 00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:41,200 Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses even over those 648 00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:44,120 who did not sin according to the likeness of the transgression of 649 00:37:44,560 --> 00:37:46,800 Adam. Adam is the federal head. 650 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:48,640 He was given the authority of the commandment and the 651 00:37:48,640 --> 00:37:54,760 responsibility of the fall. So what could he be saying? 652 00:37:54,920 --> 00:38:02,040 Well, I, I hope that it's clear that he's not saying that women 653 00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:08,240 are worse than men, but I also hope that it's clear that he's 654 00:38:08,720 --> 00:38:13,560 trying to point out that women are also not inherently better 655 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:17,440 than men either. There is for our cultural 656 00:38:17,440 --> 00:38:20,880 pushback moment, the idea that's what's really wrong with the 657 00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:23,080 world is this thing called the patriarchy. 658 00:38:23,240 --> 00:38:26,040 And once we dismantle it, put women in charge, the future is 659 00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:29,360 female feminism will win and the world will be at peace and we'll 660 00:38:29,360 --> 00:38:31,560 all be rich and no one will fight anymore. 661 00:38:32,840 --> 00:38:37,920 And to that I would say to any of the raging feminists, I would 662 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:39,600 say, you know, Eve was deceived too. 663 00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:44,920 It's not as though that in the very beginning of human history, 664 00:38:45,280 --> 00:38:50,160 man and woman didn't have a fair shot at showing us their 665 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:56,480 susceptibility to folly. The answer is not we just need 666 00:38:56,480 --> 00:38:58,880 to replace this whole system with females. 667 00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:03,560 The answer once again is that God has a created order and we 668 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:07,560 need to restore and renew it to His glory and do it in His 669 00:39:07,560 --> 00:39:12,680 design, where men are serving in washing feet and laying down 670 00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:17,040 their lives and women are being honored and honoring those who 671 00:39:17,040 --> 00:39:19,720 they are called to partner and submit unto. 672 00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:27,800 So finally we come to what many consider the most confusing 673 00:39:27,800 --> 00:39:30,640 verse in the Bible. And so if I don't get it right, 674 00:39:30,640 --> 00:39:32,120 I actually feel pretty good about that. 675 00:39:34,240 --> 00:39:37,200 Read along with me. Nevertheless, she will be saved 676 00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:42,520 in childbearing if they continue in faith, love and holiness with 677 00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:47,440 self-control. What does that mean? 678 00:39:48,200 --> 00:39:49,920 I have questions for everyone of these verses. 679 00:39:49,920 --> 00:39:51,760 This question was really just what? 680 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:56,840 What is he saying? Again, there are more theories 681 00:39:56,840 --> 00:40:00,560 than we have time to get into. There are so many different ways 682 00:40:00,560 --> 00:40:03,520 that that people try to look at that and say, OK, here's one 683 00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:06,320 idea. If you are faithful, if it says 684 00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:09,040 if you can, if they continue in faith, love and holiness with 685 00:40:09,040 --> 00:40:13,720 self and control, good news, you'll be safe and sound. 686 00:40:13,720 --> 00:40:16,200 No harm will befall you in childbirth. 687 00:40:16,200 --> 00:40:18,440 You'll be saved literally in that moment. 688 00:40:18,840 --> 00:40:21,960 And that's encouraging, and God bless all of the mothers who 689 00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:25,920 have have gone through that amazing act in safety. 690 00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:29,320 But it could could turn into some awkward moments when 691 00:40:29,520 --> 00:40:34,480 faithful, loving believers in Jesus fall prey to the sad 692 00:40:34,480 --> 00:40:37,360 statistics of what's happened over the course of human history 693 00:40:37,360 --> 00:40:40,840 with childbirth. It's not the magic bullet to say 694 00:40:41,000 --> 00:40:43,400 if they died, they weren't following Jesus, and if they 695 00:40:43,400 --> 00:40:46,520 lived, they were. So I'm not sure that is a very 696 00:40:46,520 --> 00:40:51,640 helpful reading of it. Another reading is that women 697 00:40:51,640 --> 00:40:55,120 are saved in the sense that they're set apart not for 698 00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:59,120 literal birthing of the child, but for raising and child 699 00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:02,600 bearing in the same idea that, you know, men, you have a role 700 00:41:03,320 --> 00:41:06,880 to lead the household to work hard and provide women. 701 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:10,560 You have a role and it's an awesome role and you're set 702 00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:16,040 apart for that role. And there are some versus even 703 00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:19,640 in Timothy where we could see Paul hinting that he's 704 00:41:19,680 --> 00:41:24,000 encouraging the women to maybe fight against a cultural moment 705 00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:26,800 where because of the cult of Artemis and because of the 706 00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:31,840 movement of women in in places of power, Maybe there was a, a, 707 00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:35,840 a preview of to modern fantasy where feminism where these women 708 00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:38,760 were encouraged to just go out, create their own life, abandoned 709 00:41:38,760 --> 00:41:42,640 families and not have kids. And so Paul says in first 710 00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:45,360 Timothy chapter 4, verse three, he says some are teaching 711 00:41:45,360 --> 00:41:47,640 doctrines of demons, forbidding some to marry. 712 00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:51,960 He didn't like that idea. First Timothy chapter 5, he says 713 00:41:52,200 --> 00:41:54,120 that, you know, there's a problem with the widow. 714 00:41:54,120 --> 00:41:56,880 Some of you are real widows. Some of you are just delaying 715 00:41:56,880 --> 00:41:59,400 getting married so that you can qualify for the widow program. 716 00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:01,080 If you're wrong, get married and have kids. 717 00:42:02,920 --> 00:42:05,880 And then he says it again, I therefore desire younger widows 718 00:42:05,880 --> 00:42:08,360 marry bear children. Chapter 5, verse 14. 719 00:42:08,520 --> 00:42:12,400 So again, for this specific church, he's trying to give them 720 00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:14,600 direction. And one of the directions is it 721 00:42:14,600 --> 00:42:18,520 is a blessing for women to take part in that role. 722 00:42:19,120 --> 00:42:22,360 Now the problem I have with leaving it there is of course, 723 00:42:23,720 --> 00:42:25,280 Paul. Also another area says it's good 724 00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:27,840 to be single too. You don't have to have kids if 725 00:42:27,840 --> 00:42:31,080 God doesn't call you to it. And it's certainly is not Paul's 726 00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:34,400 teaching to attach any work, let alone childbearing, to your 727 00:42:34,400 --> 00:42:37,160 salvation. So lest we think that your 728 00:42:37,160 --> 00:42:42,040 salvation as a woman is attached in any way to how fruitful you 729 00:42:42,040 --> 00:42:44,280 multiply children, I think we reject that. 730 00:42:44,280 --> 00:42:47,360 But we do say Paul's pointing out a role here. 731 00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:51,800 Paul's saying your role may not be to lead the church on the 732 00:42:51,800 --> 00:42:56,240 elder team, but your role may be something to do with 733 00:42:56,240 --> 00:42:59,240 childbearing. Here's how I put it in my 734 00:42:59,240 --> 00:43:01,200 museum. The gospel is a double edged 735 00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:04,200 sword. On one side, it elevates the 736 00:43:04,200 --> 00:43:07,200 status of all people. Women are not second class 737 00:43:07,200 --> 00:43:09,520 citizens. They belong in the gathered 738 00:43:09,520 --> 00:43:13,160 church to learn. Praise God, the gospel is all 739 00:43:13,160 --> 00:43:15,920 inclusive. On the other side, the gospel 740 00:43:15,920 --> 00:43:18,800 humbles the positions of all women of wealth and status in 741 00:43:18,800 --> 00:43:22,200 the world and are called to live with a quiet and peaceable 742 00:43:22,200 --> 00:43:23,760 spirit in the Kingdom. Praise God. 743 00:43:23,880 --> 00:43:27,480 The gospel humbles all to a culture of misogyny. 744 00:43:28,400 --> 00:43:31,960 The gospel lifts women's up to a culture of feminism. 745 00:43:32,440 --> 00:43:34,200 The gospel calls women to humility. 746 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:38,360 And the gospel should be A2 edged sword for every single one 747 00:43:38,360 --> 00:43:40,800 of us. You struggle with forgiveness, 748 00:43:41,280 --> 00:43:45,280 Turn the other cheek. You struggle with the idea that 749 00:43:45,480 --> 00:43:49,040 God is going to punish the wrath. 750 00:43:49,080 --> 00:43:50,840 He's going to pour out his wrath on ungodliness. 751 00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:52,920 Sin is real and it's destroying our world. 752 00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:57,040 The gospel will always come to offend one part of the culture 753 00:43:57,040 --> 00:44:00,080 and lift another part up, and it will do it in a way that honors 754 00:44:00,080 --> 00:44:03,680 God. We should expect to be offended, 755 00:44:04,720 --> 00:44:06,960 living, breathing this cultural air. 756 00:44:06,960 --> 00:44:10,880 We should expect the gospel to cut against some of the ways 757 00:44:10,880 --> 00:44:13,280 that we are products of the world that we've been placed in. 758 00:44:13,520 --> 00:44:17,440 And we should also be a light to the darkness of the culture that 759 00:44:17,440 --> 00:44:22,120 needs to know the actual design that women would not be bankrupt 760 00:44:22,120 --> 00:44:25,160 looking for what it is they're actually supposed to be doing in 761 00:44:25,160 --> 00:44:28,920 the world, in the church. The final reading. 762 00:44:28,920 --> 00:44:32,040 And it will set us up for a time to put everything in its proper 763 00:44:32,040 --> 00:44:35,400 place. The final reading or the final 764 00:44:35,440 --> 00:44:40,160 explanation of this is it says that she will be saved in 765 00:44:40,160 --> 00:44:43,000 childbearing. It very well might be pointing 766 00:44:43,000 --> 00:44:46,560 to a continuation of the creation account started with 767 00:44:46,560 --> 00:44:49,840 Adam before Eve. That's creation Eve with 768 00:44:49,840 --> 00:44:52,680 deceived transgression. Hey, she's going to give birth 769 00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:56,800 and it'll lead to salvation. And that is redemption. 770 00:44:56,920 --> 00:45:02,960 That is the gospel. Eve will be saved when a the 771 00:45:02,960 --> 00:45:06,960 chain of women give birth upon birth and raise children and 772 00:45:06,960 --> 00:45:09,920 maintain families. And thousands of years later 773 00:45:10,120 --> 00:45:15,120 there will be a coming one who will save the world from all of 774 00:45:15,120 --> 00:45:17,440 this confusion and all of this chaos. 775 00:45:17,760 --> 00:45:22,400 And women, you will not be saved from the hierarchy of a church. 776 00:45:23,520 --> 00:45:26,880 Men, we are not saved by becoming leaders of churches. 777 00:45:27,880 --> 00:45:35,120 The salvation comes when Jesus is visibly seen as the only 778 00:45:35,120 --> 00:45:39,320 hope, just as we sang. The only hope that we have for 779 00:45:39,320 --> 00:45:42,440 the cultural debates and the divides and the questions and 780 00:45:42,440 --> 00:45:47,360 the confusion is that there is one Savior. 781 00:45:48,160 --> 00:45:53,160 Of governments, of elder boards, of churches, of pastors who are 782 00:45:53,160 --> 00:45:57,680 amiss, of churches that go off the rails, of households that 783 00:45:57,680 --> 00:46:01,360 are divided and aren't run well. There is one Savior, and it came 784 00:46:01,360 --> 00:46:05,320 through birth. What a beautiful gospel role 785 00:46:06,240 --> 00:46:11,400 that the woman had to bring forth the Savior of the world, 786 00:46:12,320 --> 00:46:16,920 born in a Manger to redeem us from all of the confusion. 787 00:46:16,920 --> 00:46:19,760 There's coming a day when government will be very simple. 788 00:46:20,040 --> 00:46:23,240 There will be a king sitting on his throne and we will all 789 00:46:23,240 --> 00:46:25,360 worship him, and we will shout to the Lord. 790 00:46:26,240 --> 00:46:30,400 And the Bible says when we take communion, we're actually 791 00:46:30,800 --> 00:46:32,760 proclaiming his death until he comes. 792 00:46:33,520 --> 00:46:37,280 I hope that you don't hear this message and think, man, well, we 793 00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:38,880 got to get organized in our hierarchy. 794 00:46:38,880 --> 00:46:41,120 Otherwise we're going to go off the road now that we want to. 795 00:46:41,960 --> 00:46:45,920 But we never emphasize minor things as the thing. 796 00:46:46,080 --> 00:46:48,200 This is how we're going to design it because God told us 797 00:46:48,200 --> 00:46:52,280 to. But the gospel is that Jesus 798 00:46:52,280 --> 00:46:57,360 Christ came into the world to save sinners like us, and we 799 00:46:57,360 --> 00:47:00,480 give him our life. We submit to him by submitting 800 00:47:00,480 --> 00:47:01,280 to everything else.