A Woman's Proper Place — v2
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Announcements
Announcements
16 May — New Series on Holy Spirit
Welcome to live audience, first time (FB, YouTube)
Special Thanks to Mothers
Special Thanks to Mothers
First, I would like to say, “happy Mother’s Day,” to all of our ladies here today.
I want to ask all of our mothers and grandmothers here today to stand and be recognized.
Let’s give them a hand, shall we?
You have a life calling that is completely unique and absolutely vital. It is not an easy job being a woman, and certainly much less so being a mother.
Passage Guide
Passage Guide
If you have your Bibles, turn with me to two passages of scripture:
Acts 2 and 1 Timothy 2.
Message Introduction
Message Introduction
I want to take a moment to recognize my own mother; it wasn’t until much later in life that I realized the sacrifices she made alongside my father to give my sisters and I the absolute best home life growing up — one that fostered not only mental and physical, but spiritual growth as well.
We were allowed to be kids, allowed to make our own choices, allowed to make mistakes and grow up.
Being a pastor’s kid, sometimes it felt like we were living in a fish bowl — everybody watching you, just waiting for you to mess up. My mother protected us from a lot of that.
Illustration
Illustration
I lost my mother on 29 August 2010. Right now, I can just imagine her standing next to Jesus, watching her only son prophesy to God’s people on this Mother’s Day morning.
There are a few other women who have had a very strong impact upon my life, though.
The first is Robert’s wife, Elva. With a grace and gifting only from God, she and Robert became like second parents to me and helped fill a hole in my heart and my life that was left after my mother’s passing.
The other is my best friend, Courtney Yozze. Also a mother herself, Courtney has what is known as the gift of “mercy,” and she’s also quite the empath.
After my accident in 2016 and my disability resulting thereof, she helped me through a very dark time in my life, and I owe her a debt of gratitude I cannot ever begin to repay.
So, I want to say thank you, not only to all mothers, but to all women who actively fulfill a similar role in someone’s life. It is a very special and unique calling indeed.
Today, I want to speak to you about that calling.
As I’ve experienced, one need not be a biological mother to be an influence on someone’s life.
It can be a best friend, or a best friend’s mother, a best friend’s wife, or a mentor’s wife or a spiritual mother.
I understand that this title may seem a bit offensive — until you understand what I really mean by it.
As I said earlier, you don’t have to be a biological mother to be an influence in somebody’s life.
So, this message isn’t just for mothers. While, yes, this message is God’s word for all people, this message is especially for all women.
I. Know Your Identity
I. Know Your Identity
So, how does a godly woman have an influence in someone’s life?
It begins by understanding who you are in Christ.
You need to understand your identity in Christ, and so I have something I want to share with you.
Last week, we had “21 Irrefutable Facts About The Second Coming.”
This week, ladies, I want to share with you:
“21 Irrefutable Facts About Your Identity in Christ.”
Now these are true for all people, but I want you to know and God wants you to know that they are especially true for women, too.
1. You are loved and worth dying on the cross for
1. You are loved and worth dying on the cross for
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
2. You are created in God’s image
2. You are created in God’s image
27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
3. You are children of God
3. You are children of God
1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
4. You are forgiven
4. You are forgiven
38 “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,
5. You have been justified by the blood of the Lamb
5. You have been justified by the blood of the Lamb
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.
6. You have died to sin
6. You have died to sin
2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?
7. You walk in newness of life
7. You walk in newness of life
4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
8. You are holy and blameless before God
8. You are holy and blameless before God
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
9. You are adopted as daughters of God and favored in the beloved by the glory of His grace
9. You are adopted as daughters of God and favored in the beloved by the glory of His grace
Ephesians 1:5-6 NASB20
5) “He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,”
6) “to the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He favored us in the Beloved.”
10. You are his workmanship
10. You are his workmanship
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
11. You are no longer a slave to sin
11. You are no longer a slave to sin
6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;
12. You can never be separated from the love of God
12. You can never be separated from the love of God
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
13. You are loved by Jesus
13. You are loved by Jesus
9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.
14. You are cared for by Jesus
14. You are cared for by Jesus
7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
15. You reign in life through Christ Jesus
15. You reign in life through Christ Jesus
17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.
16. You are blessed by your faith
16. You are blessed by your faith
2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.
17. His love is perfected in You
17. His love is perfected in You
5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:
18. You have received anointing from him
18. You have received anointing from him
27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.
19. You are loved by the Father
19. You are loved by the Father
27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.
20. Rivers of living water flow from your innermost being
20. Rivers of living water flow from your innermost being
38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ”
21. You belong to God
21. You belong to God
9 “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;
II. Know How God Sees You
II. Know How God Sees You
Illustration
Illustration
For many years, I didn’t know how God saw me. I spent many years drifting, not knowing who I was, not having confidence, always apologizing for existing, and it became a habit.
It wasn’t until the woman who is my best friend, Courtney Yozze — as we spoke on the phone some years ago — told me that I need to see myself how God sees me and not how the world does. It made a major difference in my life. For the first time, I dove into the scriptures. For the first time, I couldn’t get enough of God’s word. I began taking a course here and there at Southwestern Seminary.
I am who I am today because a godly woman influenced me to see myself how God sees me.
Just a few moments ago, Pastor Lopez read Acts 2:1-13, which is the record of Pentecost.
Our main text today comes right after that; right after the Holy Spirit fell at Pentecost.
There was a sound like a violent rushing wind, and the tongues like fire fell, baptizing these people in the Holy Spirit, and those people began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them the ability to speak them.
There are two definitions for tongues, which I won’t get into too much today, but the first definition pf tongues is a heavenly prayer language that we find in 1 Corinthians 14:2:
2 For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries.
The second definition of tongues is the type that was spoken here. They are known languages that are unknown to the speaker at the time of utterance.
And we know it was that type of tongues because, as Pastor Lopez read, every person "was hearing them speak in his own language.”
Now, we get to read what happens next — Acts 2, beginning in v14 — notice what it says:
WOW!
He begins here by saying that these men aren’t drunk because it’s only 9am. Jewish days start at 6am.
He sounds a bit like a pastor saying to a crowd gathered outside the church, “Our deacons aren’t drunk yet — it’s too early for that.”
Then, Peter goes into his discourse and as he does, he quotes the prophet Joel 2:28–32.
Here we also see the definition of the last days. They begin with the pouring out of the Spirit at Pentecost and will end with the final judgment, which we talked about last week, we talked about the Judgment Seat of Christ and the Great White Throne Judgment.
Not everything mentioned in Joel 2:28–32 was occurring that particular morning.
Because the last days include all the days between Christ’s first and second comings, this is just another way of saying, “from now on.”
Now, I intend to explain this verse by verse, but also, I know there may be some objections to this, which we will also answer by going through the scriptures verse by verse.
But what is especially interesting about this passage is this:
Notice vv17, 18:
17 ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams;
18 Even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit And they shall prophesy.
Now, what’s interesting is that word, “prophesy.”
The New Testament was written in Greek, so this is is the Greek word “prophēteuō.”
It means:
Lexham Theological Wordbook προφητεύω
The act of revealing something that is hidden, disclosing the will of God, or foretelling the future.
I want to talk about two of those definitions in just a moment, but Strong’s (4395) defines this as to...
speak under inspiration
Women In Ministry Acts 2:16-21 (NLT)
set forth matter of divine teaching by special faculty.
Can I let you in on a little secret?
That’s what I am doing right now.
Every weekend all over the world, pastors and preachers prophesy God’s word.
“The act of revealing something that is hidden.”
How many of you know what “expository preaching” is?
When a preacher opens the word of God and verse by verse, as we are about to do in just a moment, he exposes the word of God, he exegetes the scriptures, making known what was once hidden, that is what we call “expository preaching.”
The next definition is “disclosing the will of God.”
Every week, when a preacher opens the word, God speaks to him, and God says, “This is what I want you to say to My church.”
But what’s really interesting is this:
it says, “your sons and your daughters will prophesy!”
It’s so important that he says it again in v18!
18 Even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit And they shall prophesy.
Why is this important?
The family model is what God has ordained for the church.
23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body.
Notice the parallel the Apostle Paul draws here — why would God put this in here if it wasn’t important that we understand the similarities between the two.
He is comparing the two because he is saying, “look, just as the husband is the head of the household, it’s the same way with the church, with Christ as the head.”
Christ is also the head of our marriages, too. Do you not put him first? Allow Him control? But he has placed the husband as his “shepherd,” the same way he did the Senior Pastor.
24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything.
See, in bigger churches, the structure is a bit different, and this is what allows this.
A healthy church government is Senior Pastor led, Elder governed, staff and volunteer run, and congregation owned.
Now, we’ll look at scripture in just a moment that will explain this, but as the church government goes, The Senior Pastor and the Elders ought to be men, because they have governing authority.
The Senior Pastor and the Elders ought to be who governs the church, because they are who God has ordained to do it.
That may not be the way we’ve always done it, but that’s what God says we are to do. You’ll find it in Exodus 18:13-26, which I myself have personally spoken on that passage, and you’ll find it in Acts 6:1-6.
So, while the Senior Pastor and the Elders are to be men, because they have governing authority and represent the head of the household in the church according to Ephesians 4, staff pastors that run departments and speak from time to time can be women.
What you find here in Acts 2 is the Holy Spirit falling on EVERYBODY — men and women alike!
The reasons this is still being debated today is because people don’t see themselves, or each other, as God sees them
God doesn’t play favorites.
God doesn’t play favorites because he shows favor to all.
Women and men are equal in the eyes of God!
11 For God does not show favoritism.
34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.
9 And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.
Although Christians may be at different levels in earthly society, we are all equal before God. He does not have favorites and no one is more important than anyone else.
God said he would pour out his Spirit on ALL mankind, not just the men!
Ladies, you have been filled with the Spirit, too!
So can women prophesy, which means to preach? Yes you can.
III. Know How To Answer Your Objectors
III. Know How To Answer Your Objectors
Some of the smartest people in the world are women.
Illustration
Illustration
Take by sister, Amanda, for example. She is college graduate from the University of Texas in Arlington (UTA). She holds a Master’s degree in finance. I’m not good with numbers and I can’t imagine how she does it. She got that from our father. He can rattle off numbers in his head.
Another example is, as I’ve told you, my best friend, who I speak very highly of if you can tell — mostly because of the influence she’s had on me, and the rest is because she’s just really cool. But she has a Master’s degree in Education. This is her first year teaching 7th grade English Writing in Arlington ISD, a job which never ends, even when she goes home, and yet she still finds time for her family when they need her.
Mrs. Elva owns her own hair salon — which she’s about to franchise to her children, who she taught the business as well — and she went from cutting hair at what used to be called “Hair Flair” right down the road here to owning her own shop and making over $200,000 a year in just 10 years.
My mother ran our house, kept it clean, cooked, washed clothes and dishes, took us places, worked a full time job caring for children, and still managed to have time for us when we needed her. How she did it, I’ll never know.
“Wait, I thought women weren’t allowed to teach or assume authority over a man?”
Well, let’s look at that.
Hopefully you still have your place in 1 Timothy 2, because we are going to look at this word by word and exegete this passage, and I will show you what Paul is actually saying here.
And I am actually going to read this from the King James Version and the New International Version because of the word choice they use.
NASB:
12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.
KJV:
12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
There is a big difference between “exercise” or “have,” as some put it, and “usurp,” or “assume.”
This word choice is very important because it alters the hermeneutic one uses to interpret this verse.
When we exegete a scripture like this, there are some basic interpretive questions we have to ask, so we have to go back to the first chapter, which is generally where you’ll find the author, the audience, the culture, the city, things like that.
Author: Paul
Audience: Timothy
City/Region: Ephesus (3rd largest city in the Roman Empire)
Culture: Ephesus was a melting pot, much like America is today.
How did Jesus address this while on earth?
How did Jesus interact with women in culture that was different than those who ministered before him?
What did Jesus do to open the door for women in ministry and open the door for women culturally.
Look at the story of Mary and Martha in Luke 10.
One of the unique facets of that experience is that Martha is in the kitchen preparing and working in the house and in the ancient times, that is what is considered the women's quarters.
However, Mary is at the feet of Jesus learning, understanding, and valuing him and in the ancient times, she’s is what is considered the men's quarters.
This is huge!
For Jesus to actually empower women and encourage the movement of women from the women's quarters to the men's quarters is a really big deal in that time.
What else is really cool is this:
Do you remember who Jesus first appeared to when he rose from the grave?
Mary Magdalene. It was through Mary Magdalene that the Gospel of Jesus was spread.
(Don’t *touch* me, not “cling”)
17 Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’ ”
The first eye witness to the resurrection was a woman, and it was through this woman — Jesus said, “go to My brethren and say to them...” — it was through this woman that the Gospel was delivered.
That is HUGE.
What is the textual context / cultural significance?
What does 1 Timothy say?
3 As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines,
Paul is warning Timothy not to let strange doctrines work their way into the church, or to let anything quench the Spirit and cause disruptions.
You wouldn’t believe some of the “strange” doctrines that people have come up with.
So, he says, I want you to set some things in order:
8 Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.
“Places” is the Greek word “topos” and it means regions, areas, spheres of influence, etc.
Wrath and dissension is the opposite of holy hands.
That tells me that there is something in the context where Timothy has reported certain behavior in the local churches or something Paul knows is going on in churches.
This is the last thing he says about men until chapter 3.
He then says, “I want the women to dress modestly.” Why? Because I want a distraction free worship environment.
Some denominations take that way too far. What is “expensive?” Where is the line drawn? There is a larger picture that he is getting at than just what women can wear.
Then he says,
11 A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.
12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.
Remember what we read in the KJV?
12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.
12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.
That is really the best way to translate this.
So what does the text actually say?
Women are in the learning environment here in this verse, and that’s very new to this culture.
Now, the church at Ephesus is very young, and there is no instruction manual for churches on who can and can’t lead or speak because the Bible wasn’t completed yet. All they had was the book of the law and the prophets.
This is why you will find that every church in those days used a pastor-led, elder-governed polity because of Exodus 18 in the book of the law.
The Greek word for “teach” is the word “didaskein.” It means “to dictate or to indoctrinate.” Many scholars believe that this level of instruction is reserved only for men.
Then he says, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume” or “usurp authority over a man.”
This is the Greek word “authenteō.” This word means to “take authority by force, or to domineer” and it is only used once in the entire Bible and only 5 times in all of ancient Greek literature.
Near this church in Ephesus, there was this temple called the temple of Artemis, dedicated to the “fertility goddess” Artemis who was the daughter of Zeus.
There were many women who were coming to the church at Ephesus who were temple prostitutes. They were seducing these men of the church to get their way.
So when we look at the text in this light, we see what is actually meant:
I don’t want women dictating terms to men or usurping their authority by means of seduction, or talking behind their back, or any other way.
IV. Know Your History
IV. Know Your History
After Pentecost, some of the first people sent with the message of Christ and the resurrection and the hope of the gospel are women, because the Spirit fell on all that day, men and women alike.
In Acts 12, they are in Mary’s house — a female leader of the congregation.
In Acts 16, Paul meets Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth and a leader in the city of Philippi in the area of Macedonia and the church that is there meets in her home.
In Acts 18, 19 you meet Priscilla and Aquilla, and so you begin to see this pattern emerge.
Out of all of the churches that are mentioned in scripture the ones that are mentioned are meeting in Marys house, Lydia's house, Nympha’s house, Chloe's house Priscilla's house and Junia’s house.
There is an extraordinarily high attention to female leaders and female influencers of the faith in scripture.
Two in particular I want to mention just very quickly are Junia and Phoebe.
1. Phoebe (Deaconess)
1. Phoebe (Deaconess)
1 I commend to you our sister Phoebe, who is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea;
2 that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you; for she herself has also been a helper of many, and of myself as well.
Lexham Theological Wordbook διάκονος
diakonos
Lexham Theological Wordbook διάκονος
διάκονος (diakonos). n. masc. and fem. servant, deacon, deaconess. A leader in the church who is committed to serve God through meeting the needs of the Church, characterized by a disposition of humility and self-sacrifice.
2. Junia (Apostle)
2. Junia (Apostle)
7 Greet Andronicus and Junias, my kinsmen and my fellow prisoners, who are outstanding among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me.
Deborah
Mary
Lydia
Nympha
Chloe
Priscilla
V. Application
V. Application
Women, find out what your gifting is. There are many websites you can go to that will ask you questions and you rate 1-5 and they will tell you what your gifts are.
Find out what your spiritual gifts are and use them. Find a place to serve. We need deacons. Maybe what we really need is a deaconess. They are not elders, they aren’t pastors with governing authority.
Know what your place is, and don’t ever let any man tell you that you are not worthy of God’s love or that you haven’t been given gifts or that you are not equal to men in every way because you are, and God said so.