The Values of Roles

Introduction:

As we continue with our worship of the Lord this morning, I want to invite you to turn with me to 1 Timothy 2:1-15 again this week.

Last week we walked through the first half of this passage looking at verses 1-7… where Paul is beginning his direction for the church. Chapter 1 dealt with the church understanding the Gospel... that is what a Healthy Church needs first.... a Church to be a church needs to have a good understanding of the message of Gospel… that is the driving force in Chapter 1.... and the overflow of understanding of the Gospel shapes the rest of the letter.

Or to put it in the words of Warren Wiersbe....

Chapter 1 Is About the Church and Its Message.

Chapters 2-3 Is About the Church and Its Members.

That is what we are looking at here in chapters 2-3. In A Healthy Church, what is it that the members need to be doing? How are they to act? What should be characteristic of their lives?

Those are the types of questions that we want to answer as we seek to understand the Word of God. If you remember, the most basic and general question we want to answer is this...

What Is a Healthy Church?

We are trying to see and understand how God’s word directs us as His people so that we can live lives that are dedicated to Him and not to some human idea or philosophy. Like, is what we are doing and how we are doing things the way that they are supposed to be done? What makes a church healthy in the sight of God? That is what we want to know.

Let’s seek God’s face together this morning. Hear the Word of the Lord for you. ‌2 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. 8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control (1 Ti 2:1–15).

As we come to the Word of the Lord this morning, let's pause for a moment and pray together as we seek to understand this difficult text.

Let’s pray together.

Body: This very well could be my last message here.... when you start talking about the roles of men & women in the church… this becomes a very hot-button issue in our day and age. People do not like to hear these words from Paul.... because more often than not, they are not heard in the right way. We live in a culture where everything has to be the same to be of equal value… and to be honest, that simply is not true. That is a lie. And we are going to see how that is a lie as we work through this text.

So, I want to say this to you upfront, if you hear these words of Paul and they make you perk up a little bit and you are ready to fight… or you think that Paul or the Bible is some male chauvinistic book, please table that idea for right now so that you can hear what is really being said. Too often we take our ideas, thoughts, and opinions and read them back onto the text instead of seeking to understand what is actually being said. Let’s all come to this text with our eyes fixed on God because we are all dependent on Him to help us understand what is being said.

Last week when we looked at verses 1-7, we said that the major part of this chapter was about devotion to prayer… and not just any kind of prayer for all kinds of people....but especially praying for people and their salvation.

Main Point: A Healthy Church Has Members Who Are Committed to Prayer.

That idea is still prevalent in at least verses 8-10. In verses 11-15, Paul does start talking about the roles of women in a little more detail, but even then, I do not think that they are completely and totally unrelated. What we are looking at here in the chapter is a small description of Church Members' Understanding and Valuing Their God’s Given Roles.

Main Point: A Healthy Church Has Members Who Respect and Honor Their Roles in the Local Church. Remember, context always determines meaning. Keep in mind, Paul is writing to Timothy so that even if he is delayed in coming to him, Timothy will have some guidance on telling the church members how they are to behave since there is this false group of teachers in their midst that are preaching a false Gospel. This letter is directional in nature. It is instructional in its makeup…and because it is instructional… there are timeless truths that we need to hear.

So, what are the roles that we should take note of?

The Role of Men. Look at verse 8 with me. 8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 1 Ti 2:8

Paul is picking back up on the topic of prayer that began in verse 1 of chapter 2. Remember, the overflow of understanding the Gospel rightly means that the church should become a place where prayer is taking place regularly on behalf of ALL MEN.... Even the Kings and those in authority for it is benefits us and it is pleasing to God… as we are praying for their salvation.

But what we need to see here in Paul’s words is the fact that Paul is calling the Men To Lead In Prayer.

(Men Are to Lead in Prayer)

I know this may not seem like a big deal but trust me it is… and I would say especially for our day and age. When you look at statistics on the topic of prayer, Women are more likely than men to pray daily. The numbers are 59% of women pray daily while only 41% of men pray daily. Compare this to the 64% of men who seldom or never pray to 36% of women who fall into that same category.

Men, listen to me, if we are going to be a healthy church, then we need to take the lead in praying. We need to model it for our wives, our families, the children in the church, in the community, in our prayer meetings. We need to make prayer a priority in our lives. And listen to me, I am talking to myself with this too. I am probably the worst when it comes to praying. I know that I do not pray as much as I would like. I am a fixer by nature. I am a problem solver.... but that is to my detriment. God does not call us to be the fixers.... but rather, in every place…and that could be a reference to every house church that was meeting in Ephesus at that time.... or it could mean in every place where people are gathering together for prayer.... then men should take the lead in that endeavor.

Now, that does not mean that women cannot pray in a public setting. That is not what Paul is saying here. Paul gives instructions for that in other places, and in fact, we will look at a few of them in a moment when we talk about the role of women, but I do think that Paul is saying to us men… GUYS.... listen to me...... take the lead in this good work.... make sure prayer is being done when the church is gathered together. Don’t let this be an afterthought. This is serious business.

And look, he even gives directions for how prayer is to be done.... lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;

This was the common posture of prayer. The people would lift their hands to the sky and pray to God… but notice the describing words here… HOLY HAND… WITHOUT ANGER or QUARRELING.

We have to ask ourselves, “why is this the case?” “Why does Paul want me to come before God this way? Like, why is Paul saying this to us?”

I think that we have to get this into our minds: God cares more about our hearts before Him than He does our actions.

Let me put it this way, as we are thinking about the role of Men in the church and leading in prayer....  Men Are to Pray with a Clean Heart.

‌Guys, listen to me, did you know that we can hinder our prayers to God?

7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered (1 Pe 3:7).

18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. 19 But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer (Ps 66:18–19)

This is why it is crucial for us! This is why we are called to pray lifting holy hand without anger or quarreling.... because those things are a hindrance in our prayer lives. When we gather together in Jesus' name’ and we are holding onto sin, or are angry with a brother or sister, or we are fighting over something stupid.... that hinders our walk with the Lord. Our hearts are not right before Him. We need to come before the Cross, lay those things down, get our hearts right with the Lord, and then seek to be the men that God has called us to be. God has called us to lead well. God has called men to be the leaders in both the church and in the home. We cannot do that role if we are holding onto sin. It is a call to holiness.

Men Are to Pursue Holiness. ‌That is what we are seeing there in that one verse. This is what God wants from us Men. You are to lead in these things.

And now, Paul turns his attention to the women of the church.

The Role Of Women. Paul is going to spend the rest of this chapter talking about women and their role in the local church because from what we can tell in this letter, there seems to be some confusion about what Women were allowed to do and what they were forbidden to do. Now, before we read this text, again, I want to remind you, that what we see here is actually one of the most liberating things we find from the 1st century for women. Women were treated as second-class citizens at times. They were not allowed to even gather with the men at worship. So, some of what we see here in these verses deal with the women trying to understand their newfound freedom in Christ.

Let’s look at verses 9-10 together. ‌9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 1 Ti 2:9–10.

When Paul says the word, “Likewise” we have to see what he means. Likewise, what Paul? Keep it in context. Paul has just told the men how they are to pray together… what kind of attitude they are to have together when they are together for prayer.... and now, likewise, Paul is going to give instructions to the women on how they are to act.

Women Are to Pursue Holiness. This is the same thing that we saw with the men. Men are to pursue holiness when they gather together; not doing certain things but instead by having holy hands. And to the Women Paul is saying to them… LOOK, the prayer meeting is not about you. You are not to be the focus of the gathering together. When you walk into the room, what you should be sure that you have adorn yourself with is with good works, because that is what is proper for women who profess godliness. Women, listen to me, God is more concerned with your heart than He is your attire. God is not impressed with the things that the world may get impressed with. God does not care how expensive your outfit is.... or how cheap… that is not His concern. God is looking at your heart in this matter. That is the question that you need to ask ourselves.... What is my heart in this matter?

Now, does Paul give some directions for dress here? He does. He says that Women are to wear respectable apparel, with modest and self-control. We get that we see that in the text. But notice the clarification here… I don’t think it is what we would expect. We hear words like modesty and respectable apparel, and we think in terms of people who might be showing too much… and don’t get me wrong… God does care about that kind of dress too, but that is not what we see in this text. What he describes next is... with braided hair and gold, which apparently was style back then, or pearls or costly attire. And then Paul describes heart issues.

It is like he is saying, Adorn yourself with respectable attire… let it be decent and in order, for that is the literal meaning of modest here in the text, don’t worry about being overly dressy or drawing too much attention to yourself, in fact, instead of worrying about how you look for the gathering together.... worry about what your heart looks like before God. Let that be the focus. That is what is proper for women who walk with God.

We see a very similar idea in 1 Peter 3. Listen to these words. ‌3 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 4 but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. 5 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, 6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening (1 Pe 3:3–6).

Now, I know what some of you are thinking, like are we not allowed to wear expensive clothing or anything nice? Are we to dress drab when we come to church? Are we not allowed to braid our hair or wear pearls?

That is not what we are seeing here. And to be honest, a lot of this had to deal with how the women who worshipped at the Pagan temple dressed. But we have to see the theological principles underneath. This has more to deal with your heart than it does anything else. What is your main focus when you get ready? What are you spending the most time on? What is your greatest concern? How do you treat people who come in with nice clothing and appear rich? Do they get special treatment if they “look” the part? Be aware of that. James chapter 2 gives strict warnings about that. Don’t do it.

That is not to be the focus. Yes, dress in such a way that you are not distracting. Model godliness.... but remember, that is more a matter of the heart than it is what you are wearing for the Bible tells us in the Old Testament that Men judge by what they can see, but God judges by the heart. That is what God wants from you ladies. God wants your heart.

This is why I say that one of the things that we see from this passage when it comes to your role in the local church is that you are to pursue holiness.

But, Paul is not finished yet. Look at verses 11-14 with me.

‌11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor (1 Ti 2:11–14).

These are fighting words in our day and age, are they not? Paul has been stoned already a few times, and if he keeps this kind of talk up, he probably will get it again. Like, what is he thinking?

In all honesty, though, Paul is thinking Biblically. This is God’s good design of the created order. So, we can say two things about the Role of Women from these verses.

Women Are to Be Submissive

Women Are NOT To Have Authority Over a Man

Again, I know that these are controversial words in our culture. But we have to table those things right now and seek to see what Paul means by these words. We know this much; we know that Paul is not against women in ministry roles in the church or in the home. Women played a huge part in Paul’s own ministry. He thanks God for them. In Philip. 4 Paul talks about the two women who are fighting and calls them partners in ministry.

We also know that Paul did not forbid women from speaking all together in church. In 1 Cor. 11 Paul gives instructions for how women are to pray and Prophecy in the church. So, we cannot take these words to mean that women are to come, sit down, and shut up. This is not, “Know your place, woman” kind of language here. God does not think that women should be treated as a doormat. So, if you are here today and when you hear these words from Scripture, it rubs you the wrong way because of your culture background and upbringing… know that is not what God is saying to you. You are more valuable than that to God.

Now, with that being said, there are some things in this text that we need to hear… and what is so interesting about this is how Paul defends his stance on this topic.

Let’s talk about the first role… Women are to be submissive. This is what we see all throughout Scripture. Women were created, which is where Paul turns to for his defense, to be a helpmate for Man. This does not mean that women are less than men for God is often called our helpmate. That is God’s role too, but Women are to gladly follow the lead of the males around them. I would say when they are unmarried, they follow the lead of their Father. When they get Married, they are to follow the lead of their husband. And thinking in the church context, both men and women are called to follow the lead of their Pastors, that is what we read in Hebrews 13:17.

You see, submissiveness is not about being less than someone else. Being submissive is about being willing to follow someone else.

We see this even with God the Father and God the Son. Both being completely and totally equal with each other, right? Both God, for God is one. Yet, at the same time, we see that the Son submitted to the Father willingly. Does that mean that the Son was not as important? No. Does that mean that the Son has less value? No. What does that mean then? It means that the Son followed the Father’s plan. The Son fulfilled His Role.

It is the same with husbands and wives. Look really quick at Eph. 5:22-25 with me. 22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. 25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ( Eph 5:22–25).

This is God’s good design for us. Wives are to follow their husbands… and Husbands.... you are to love your wives and lead them.

Our culture wants to take this and flip it all around and say that this is a bad thing, but it is not. It is good. The fighting for position and who is to lead is only a result of the fall… it is a result of Sin. Read Gen 3, that is what you find there.

Ladies, I want to encourage you this morning, it is ok to live a life of submissiveness and ask to be led. That is a good thing. But, guys, listen to me.... that means that we have to take the responsibility to led seriously, and I know that the context is in the local church… but this applies to both inside the church and in the home.

The next thing that I want us to see from the text is that it is not a woman's role to teach or to have authority over a man. Paul is talking about the role of a Pastor in a local church. Again, Paul is not saying that there is no place for women to teach. We see this in the book of Acts with Priscilla and Aquila. We see this in Titus 2. We even see women teaching in 2 Timothy. However, these teaching roles are not in the authoritative position of Pastor or Elder in the local church. That is what is in mind here, and it makes sense because that is where Paul turns next in Chapter 3.

A woman is not to have the teaching role of Pastor. She is not to lead in that way. Rather, she is encouraged to sit under the teaching so that she can learn… which was revolutionary for the 1st century.

And the reason for this has to deal with Creation Order. This is what Paul says. Adam was formed first and then Eve. God made Adam and then Eve. Order of events. But also, Adam was not decided by Satan, the woman was and became a transgressor.

Now, Paul is not blaming Eve. He is simply stating what happened. In Romans 5, Paul clearly puts the blame for the fall of humanity on Adam. In Gen 3, God comes to Adam first. Adam was the leader. He was the one responsible… but as a matter of fact, Eve was the one who bought into Satan’s lie… and because of because of her sin, she longs for the place of authority. Woman would no longer gladly submit.

This is what Sin has done to our world. It has corrupted God’s good design where nothing works the way that it is supposed to.

Yet, there is a solution to this problem. There is a way in which all things are made right.

Conclusion: Look at verse 15 with me. 15 Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control (1 Ti 2:15).

This is probably one of the hardest Bible verses for us to wrap our minds around. There are men who are far smarter than me who debate exactly what Paul means here.

But, when taking everything into consideration what Paul has been saying, I think that John Stott explains this best. I want to use his words to explain this. It seems to me that the third understanding is the most likely, namely that women ‘will be saved through the Birth of the Child’ (neb mg.), referring to Christ. By this rendering, ‘saved’ has a spiritual connotation, ‘through’ is the means by which salvation comes, and the definite article before ‘childbearing’ in the Greek sentence is explained. Above all, this interpretation commends itself by ‘its extreme appropriateness’. Earlier in the chapter the ‘one mediator between God and men’ has been identified as ‘the man Christ Jesus’ (5), who of course became a human being by being ‘born of a woman’. Further, in the context of Paul’s references to the creation and fall, recalling Genesis 2 and 3, a further reference to the coming redemption through the woman’s seed, recalling Genesis 3:15, would be most apt. The serpent had deceived her; her posterity would defeat him. So then, even if certain roles are not open to women, and even if they are tempted to resent their position, they and we must never forget what we owe to a woman. If Mary had not given birth to the Christ-child, there would have been no salvation for anybody. No greater honour has ever been given to woman than in the calling of Mary to be the mother of the Saviour of the world.

And I know that John Stott leaves this in a very particular manner with the birth of the Savior, but I think that we have to see the beauty in what is said here. Sin entered the world and corrupted everything. That includes the roles of both men and women. What we see in this text is a result of sin. The men arguing and fighting… the women trying to take the lead.... results from living in a sin cursed world. There is only one way to be made right.... We need a Savior to make everything right. That Savior was born of a Women. Came 2000 years ago to defeat Satan and remove the curse from us. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again so that we can have new life with God and pursue His good design… and that good design includes not only our homes… but the church as well.

I want to call our attention back to the Main Point of the text.

Main Point: A Healthy Church Has Members Who Respect and Honor Their Roles in the Local Church.

Application Are You Going TO Respect and Honor Your Role?

How Might You Live Out Your Role in the Next Week?

Let’s Pray together.