Manhood and Womanhood in the Household of God...the Church
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· 111 viewsPastor James takes us through 1st Timothy 2-3.
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As we enter into the last 2 weeks of our 7 week series on manhood and womanhood…and transition to manhood and womanhood in the church...
I think is it important that we clearly see what God has shown us so far through His Word. If you have missed any of the previous messages in the series up to this point…I strongly suggest you spend some time this week catching up…the way this series has been put together is to show that manhood and womanhood is not some secondary issue to God…it is not a take it or leave it theological discussion…it is not a let’s just agree to disagree thing.
Manhood and womanhood is central to creation…creation order…our humanness…purpose…identity…roles...marriage…and the church of the living God!
Because when God created us as humans He gave us purpose and mission…in what I have been calling the dominion commission…on day 6 of creation…right before our triune God made the first people…He said...
SLIDE
Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
Dominion…to rule over…to have authority…God given authority…from the author and creator King of all!
So right before even creating man and woman God shows that central to His purposes in creating humanity is to give us authority to rule over creation...
And then immediately we see this...
SLIDE
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
SO God…created us in His image…as male and female...
In other words…in order for...us humans to have dominion (in our day as the church) in the way our God and King has intended for us to have dominion…we must see that central to having dominion is the creation of us distinctly as male and female....AND then we must also clearly understand WHY He created us male and female!
Before we can possibly understand the how…how then shall we live?
Let us never be a people that knows the how…but nut the glorious why beneath the how...
God created us in His image...
And created us male and female…to see the depths of this truth go to message #1...
And so we have followed this powerful and important truth…to see first what it means for us as people...
In Genesis 2 we see that God created man…Adam…first…the God gave man His purpose and role in this dominion commission...
Adam is given the first command from God…and then told as man he is to work and keep...
Man is created and given His role and purpose from God...
To lead…to provide…and to protect...
And then from man…God beautifully…wonderfully…purposely…creates woman...
From the rib of Adam…from the side of man…the perfectly fit helper for man in the plan of God for us to have dominion…God creates woman...
To help…as man’s helper...and in her helping to...
Submit…nurture…and respect man....
And to spread the glory of God the the ends of the earth…by with man…being fruitful and multiplying...
And all the more the woman is now nurturing…caring…for a family…under the leadership of her husband...
All of this is in the garden…pre-sin…pre-fall…God’s perfect plan for creation...
This is how God intends it to play out…so this truth is central to creation...
And we as we have also seen…the devil knows this to be true...
The devil attacked this theological truth in the Garden…He deceives woman by twisting God’s Word…using God’s Word to get her to disobey God...
She then teaches and leads man…and man…instead of leading…providing…and protecting…He follows woman and sins against God...
But we know as followers of Jesus Christ…that He has come to crush the devil…and all of His works…and to give us the Holy Spirit...
And so we who have repented of our sin…and put our faith in Christ…can also by the Spirit put sin to death…and are empowered by that same Spirit to follow…obey…submit to God...
And so we have seen what that should look like when it comes to manhood and womanhood…in general…
This headship and helper…dominion securing relationship...
Make no mistake…we are in a spiritual warfare in a world where the devil has gained much ground in this specific area...
We must...
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
Over the last 2 weeks Brian beautifully and clearly set before us how this...
Headship and Helper relationship is to be lived out in the marriage relationship...
The husband leading through sacrificial love and the wife helping and following through joyful submission...in marriage.
And as we were shown the importance and power of this relationship in the Garden…we who know Christ also know…as Brian showed us in the Word...
We know that the marriage relationship has a purpose...
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
And why the therefore?
The Word tells us...
This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
And so a man leading through love as Christ loved the church…and a woman joyfully submitting as we the church submit to Christ…is and always has been a powerful picture…a way to show the World the revealed truth about Jesus and His relationship as our head over the church that He loves! And gave His life for!
And now over the next 2 weeks…we will follow this headship-helper....this male female relationship and see that...
This manhood-womanhood powerful dominion-securing truth is (as we would expect at this point) is carried over into the church and plays out in the church in specific and important ways...
So in looking at manhood and womanhood in the church we will ask the same specific questions of the church that we have asked in general and then in marriage...
How does manhood and womanhood play out in the church?
How does this truth that God created us male and female…for dominion…play out in His church? He defines how this is to work...
And why? For what reason…
What is God intending to show through headship and submission in His church in the way we obey Him as men and women?
And as you also might expect at this point...
If the devil has been attacking manhood and womanhood since the garden…and if marriage is and long has been under attack...
Then how much more does the devil want us…the church…to ignore and disobey God when it comes to manhood and womanhood in His church?
So today we will be looking at where does the NT show us the distinctions in the church for men and women...
We have briefly referenced some of these verses throughout the series...
As Brian and I have gone through this series we have made effort to be clear and biblical…to truly preach what is in the Word for all believers to know and trust and obey…to correct some false doctrine as we who preach are commanded to do...
And to have God show us this truth and how important it is to Him…by His Spirit in His Church through His Word!
As this truth runs from day 6 of creation through our day and into…saturates...the NT church…as God intends…for His glory!
And as I told you in the beginning of the series I will lay before you again here before we look at these truths for the Church...
My prayer for you and for our church is that we would put aside our preconceived notions...our idea of what the church should look like…or things we have been told but are nowhere to be found in the Word...
But instead to let God’s Word speak to us...
Because in a way, what Brian and I have done is to present to you a systematic theology...
This idea that as themes run throughout the Bible…the way to truly understand a text is to see it in the Biblical context of where it is in the paragraph it is in…the chapter it is in…the letter it is in…where it is in the whole of the Bible...
Which is what we have done and what I hope to do for us again today...
Let me re-introduce you to a concept that I believe is important here...
SLIDE
Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with all eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
There is a powerful truth to be seen here…and that is...
We use the Bible to interpret the Bible…I think we too often jump first or maybe primarily to…to extra-biblical context…or other pastors we follow...before we have used the Bible as our source of interpretation for what something means in the Bible...
Either we go to commentaries or our study Bibles or youtube videos...
And those things are very good...
Or…we go to our past experiences or what our current cultural church does…then we say...well this text must mean this because of this external reason…or it cannot possibly mean this because this commentator says this…or because our culture does this...
And yet…the problem with those approaches is that we are going first to the ideas of man before listening to God speak and searching out the truth of God for us as revealed to us in His Word...
One of the texts for today and the entire last sermon in this series will be shining examples of that truth…and when that truth is ignored or manipulated...
We must see…and take a step back…and know…that...
In some ways when it comes to manhood and womanhood in the Bible...the contemporary church has been radically changed since about 1950…and since that covers our entire lives for us in this day…it is hard for us to see outside of this era…
So the way many interpret manhood and womanhood in the Bible it is as though Acts 17:11 instead says...
Acts 17:11 (ESV)
Now these Jews were more noble than those in Thessalonica; they received the word with their own personal ideas of what the Word should say…so they searched outside the Bible to look for a context or person to reassure their own desires...
And unfortunately the breakdown of family…the radical feminist movement…massive cultural shifts when it comes to the workplace and the way our lives have become so fragmented…all of this has caused us to see the church much differently and often in a way outside of the lens of God’s created order…plan…and purposes…which are clearly stated in the Word...when using the Word to interpret the Word...
So what does the Word say to us about the distinctions of and reasons for manhood and womanhood as God intends for His church?
Well…they fall right in line with what we have seen so far...
Manhood and womanhood as God intended in creation…is still central in the battle for dominion against the demons…
And that battle now is focused upon the church…
Every evil ideology in the world is ultimately an attack on God’s church!
As a way to dive right in…to todays topic...look at how Paul refers to the church in writing to Timothy...
SLIDE
I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.
So as we see…Paul is saying…I may not be there for a while…so in the meantime…these thing that I am writing are enough for you to know how to behave in the household of God...
First we can say…whatever these things are…they are important and central to what it means to be a church and how a church ought to behave...
We also see here that...Pauls letter’s are written not just to Timothy or Ephesus…or Corinth…but so that we…the church of the living God…know how we…and all churches of God...ought to behave…act…live out the function of the church…the pillar of truth in this world…as notice Paul refers to the church as the household of God...
And so what are the these things Paul is referring to…that the church must need to know and must do in order to rightly behave as the household of God and be a church of the living God…the pillar and buttress of truth…well if you look back at what Paul had just written…the “these things” are these things about the Role of leading and teaching headship and authority in the church...
The things Paul had just written that the church must do to remain a pillar and buttress of the truth…are the distinctions of manhood and womanhood in the church…and it should be no surprise to us then…that if the church is to ignore these things…the church will no longer be the pillar of truth in this world...
So let’s look at these things...go back to...
I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 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, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
So Paul gives these exhortations the the men…and how they are to pray and interact with one another...
Then the women again not using their physical looks to be immodest but instead to use it to show self control…modesty…godliness…as they do good works...
And then a distinction…when it comes to teaching and learning…and roles...
Women are to learn quietly with submissiveness...
Men are to lead and be in authority…and teach...
And this should not surprise us…we have seen this pre-fall in the garden...
We have seen this is marriage...
And now we see it in these roles of teaching and leading...
The context here is very general...
v. 8 every place men...
extending into v. 9…likewise in every place women...
v 15 talks about women and childbearing...
So we see that men are to primarily lead and take authority...
Women are to submit and learn quietly...
And we ask why? What is the reason given for this?
Note it is not culture or that the women in Timothy’s church were uneducated…or any such unbiblical thing...
The reason for these roles to extend into men leading and teaching…and women submitting and quietly learning...
SLIDE
For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
So when it comes to headship…authority…leading…the reason given is…man was formed first…then woman…authority as seen in creation…then...
When it comes to teaching…the reason given for women to not teach men...the fall and the deception of eve is given as the reason...
And so we do not take this off track…it does not say that women are not smart…or that women could not teach or will not have the talent or gift or Holy Spirit ability to read and interpret the Word...
No…the reason Paul grounds all of this in creation and the fall is to remind us that this is how and why God created us male and female...
And we should not make the same mistake that Adam and Eve made in the fall...
Eve (not Adam) was deceived…because the devil attacked manhood and womanhood in the garden…
So if we do not obey God in this…it is sin…and we must expect that this is the devil will again and continually attack the church...
The role of man to lead and teach is not about worth or talent…it is about God and creation and order and purpose…and the original fall into sin...
So to not obey this Word from God grounded on creation and the fall…is not a matter of personal opinion…or theological viewpoint...it is a matter of trust…obedience to God…and sin...
And yes these verses here are in the general context…but why do I say they refer also to the role of leading and teaching in the church?
Look at what Paul writes next...
The qualifications for Pastors…and then for deacons...
And then right after that is where he says…SLIDE...
I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.
So these are the things the church must obey to be a pillar of truth in this fallen world…to be a church of the living God…a household of God...
And oh do we need the church…God’s church…the church of the living God…need to and desire to stand as a pillar of truth right now in our day!
We stand firm in the truth…but doing what God’s church ought to do...
And notice church...in this text Paul calls the church a household…a family...
He returns to this picture in chapter 5…when he says...
SLIDE
Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity.
The design of the home is seen to correlate with...and used as the example for...the design of the church…
In the home where there is to be an order of roles…we have seen this clearly presented to us...
So when the Word of God tells us a central act of obedience to God that will allow the church to stand as a pillar of truth…God’s Word tells us…of the importance of Biblical leadership…in the form of multiple male elders or pastors…leading each church of God...
Elders…Pastors…Overseers…this is all one office…one title…sometimes describes as shepherds…the role of an elder in the church is to exercise authority and to lovingly lead…and to be able to teach sound Biblical principals…and correct false ones...
So as I said…after 1 Tim 2 telling us a general truth about authority and teaching…
Then we immediately get the qualifications of elders...
I want you to see the big picture here…how leading providing and protecting as the roles of manhood…carry over into the household of God…the church...
I have done a more detailed sermon on Biblical eldership…a few years ago…but for today...
God’s Word tells us…men are to have authority and teach…and then…have these characteristics...
SLIDE
The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.
We saw a similar truth in Titus…Paul to Titus...
SLIDE
This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you— if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination. For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
Elders (Pastors…Overseers) all the same office in the church…these are to be men…with these qualifications...
And why…why is this so important? Paul says to Titus...
SLIDE
This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—
Paul for the spread of God’s gospel and the building of God’s church…says here is why you are here…to put the church in order…Give order to the church…and how…appoint Biblically qualified men to lead the church as Elders...
In planting churches during his missionary journeys Paul made the selection of multiple male elders a primary foundational component of his calling to preach the gospel where it had not been preached…in fulfilling his calling to preach the gospel to the Gentiles to the ends of the earth…Paul was given this mission by Jesus to make the selection of qualified male elders/pastors/overseers as the primary foundational step in the planting of a church in each region as fundamental to his mission for Christ…to make disciples of all nations meant also to build churches that the gates of hell will not stand against…which started with the church having multiple qualified elders...
This is central to church planting…to missions…and quite frankly…to being the true church…
And also I believe central to why the church in America is faltering…weak…and in disarray…full of false doctrine…and in need of a revival...
I think when we think of what the church is…or missions are or church planting looks like…we must start with the central truth of Biblical leadership and teaching in the church…by qualified male elders...
One more text to underline the importance of this…a text that should be read by anyone looking to plant or be an elder in a biblical church...
Paul and Barnabas are going around Antioch and Iconium and Lystra preaching the gospel…teaching sound doctrine and planting churches…it seems very exciting and the zeal of Paul and Barnabas is evident...
So in Acts 14...
Paul and Barnabas and some followers go from Antioch to Iconium…preaching the good news of Christ and many are being saved…how cool…but the good news also gets them many enemies…many people do not want to be told they are sinners…needing to be saved from eternal damnation…and in great need of a Savior and unable to save themself...
So those who were not born again when Paul preached…began to hate him for what he was preaching and teaching...
Next Paul and Barnabas go to Lystra…But they are followed by their enemies from Antioch and Iconium...
SLIDE
But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.
Can you imagine what Paul looked like…how would we have advised Paul in these situations...
But what I want you to see most clearly…is the final piece of the puzzle here…people are converted…the gospel has been preached…a church is forming…what do these disciples need in Lystra and Antioch and Iconium...
And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
Elders (plural) in every church…the final piece has been secured...
In every church…multiple elders…this is the missionary plan and church planting plan of the NT church...
Peter refers to elders and refers to himself as one.
So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
There is much in these verses but for now at the very least we can say this...
In the NT church…the biblical church…and as fundamental component of the great commission…if we are to be obedient as a church in our day…it is clear that...
Multiple elders were appointed in every church as part of God’s plan for the spread of the gospel and for the leading, providing, and protecting of the church…God’s people…the body of Christ.
The NT makes a big deal about church leadership…the choosing of and the character of and the qualifications of and responsibilities of multiple male elders as a identifying characteristic of the body of Christ…the household of God…the true church of the living God...
Again Paul to Timothy...
I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth.
So again…Paul does not say...I am writing these thing to you so you should behave in Ephesus…or behave in your cultural context…no…God directed Paul to write this so we would know how to behave…how to be the church…the household of God…the church of the living God...
God calls some men of each local body to lead, provide, and protect the church as servants of Christ.
And like in marriage where the headship…the man leading…does not imply greater worth or value...
Likewise, even though there is equality before God when it comes to worth and value…each of us as children and heirs and priests and ministers, some men are called and qualified by God to serve as elders.
And the function of the elders is to Lead, Provide, and Protect.
SLIDE
LEAD
He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?
And they are the governing overseers or leaders.
1 Timothy 5:17 says, "Let the elders who rule well [or govern or oversee or manage well] be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching."
Here it is also clear that there is a diversity of function among the elders.
All elders must be able to handle the Word of God and be able to recognize false doctrine and correct error; but some "labor especially in preaching and teaching."
Which is the primary way elders...
SLIDE
PROVIDE
The Word of God…as food for the people of God...
He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.
Also refers to the next one...
PROTECT
As protectors of those in their flock…against false teachings and exhorting those falling back into sin.
The elders are the protectors of the truth in the life of the church…boldly stopping contradictions to sound doctrine.
And protecting aginst division and any other sin that might enter the church and cause issues...
Especially false teachings by false teachers...
Paul to the elders in Ephesus...
SLIDE
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.
To fight the battle against false doctrine…
So men…manhood as started in the garden...
All men given the dominion commission to lead…provide…protect…in their lives...
And in marriage this holds true…and as the Bride of Christ is also the household of God...
Some men as biblically qualified elders/pastors/overseers…are called to lead provide for and protect the bride of Christ…the church...
I want to say something personal to the elders of this church…and to the church abut your elders...
There are no men I would rather lead a church with…I say that sincerely…I love these men…these men love you…and give of their own lives…time…effort…they pray for you…and are here to lead you...
Go to them church...pray for them church…and honor them...
With that...
Let us ask..
Where in the Word do we see other distinctions between men and women…to specifically tell us of the roles women can and should play in the church....and the ways women specifically are called to care for the church...
To show this for women....
I will start in 1 Timothy…then show all but one of the other Biblical rexts that clearly speak to the distinction between men and women in the Church of God...
But let me forst try to help the women out by clearing up something that often clouds our view of this subject...
We have seen that women are not to teach over or have authority over men…clearly a firmly grounded Biblical command…from God…based on creation and the fall...
And like the one tree in the garden that she could not eat from…the enemy is going to use that one restriction…to not lead or teach men...
And then decieve women and make them feel like this...
like in Genesis 3:1 (ESV)
He says to some women, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not do anything in the church?”
He goes on...
Like in...
Genesis 3:5 (ESV)
For God knows that when you teach and have authority over men your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
And I think this lie…which has been around in the church for some time…but has spread like a wildfire over the last 75-100 years…since the uprising of radical evangelical feminism...
Needs to be put to rest...
Here is what I want you all to hear...
First of all…most MEN are not elders and that is ok…in our one man show senior pastor/celebrity pastor model…it is as though to be a pastor is the only way to serve the church...
Listen to this...
To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.
For the body does not consist of one member but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body.
The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.
How good and glorious is that?
All the members are needed…all the members are important…and the members that are less visible…God tells us are indispensible…and to be given great honor...
And I think the idea that only to be a teacher…preacher…elder…is the ultimate way to serve the church…
We must remember the warning of James...
Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.
So I want to first say to the women of this church…you are honorable…to be honored by us men…and indispensable...
To the men of this church who are not elders...you are honorable…to be honored by us men who lead the church and the women of the church…and you are indispensable...
If each is bestowed a gift…and we are all wanting and focused on the same gift…we are greatly missing something!
But...when you are living out your life commited as a member of the body of Christ…you are given a gift…the Spirit is in you…you are to serve the church with that gift....in whatever biblical way God would have you...
In speaking of the roles of women specifically...in the church and home…women who some times feel limited because of the cultural pressures or supposed limitations put on ministry...
Elisabeth Elliot wrote in her book, Let Me Be a Woman.
“To accept limitation requires maturity. The child has not yet learned that it can't have everything. What it sees it wants. What it does not get it screams for. It has to grow up to realize that saying Yes to happiness often means saying No to yourself.”
Limitations are not God restricting our happiness or our ability to live for His glory…often the opposite is true…as we have been seeing in Psalm 119 on Wed nights…God’s laws…rules…commands…ways…are not truly limitations…but pathways to joy and love and life in God!
I hope that removes some of the cloudiness over what non-elders…men and women…mean to this church! Or any true Church of God...
So to the Women..what specific verses speak to the roles of women in the church?
I said I would start with 1 Timothy…after speaking of women not leading or teaching men…the Word says...
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Yet she will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith and love and holiness, with self-control.
So this is not saved as in earning her salvation…but saved as in sanctification...
Women who live their lives in the God given roles…will grow unto maturity in Christ…as they bear and care for children...
Let’s look at Titus 2…
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Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
So…this guides us to how women who have a gift of teaching…and desire to teach,…are to teach in the church...
Here women are guided to train and teach other women...
Women teaching in the church…teaching other women…and teaching them what…specifically....what is good…and what is that?
To Nurture…to love theoir husbands and children…working and managing their home…
Respect - pure kind...
Submit - to own husbands…be self controlled...
So again we get this women teaching women to be powerful and obdeint in the roles that God has given to women...
And as Brian showed us…this quiet beauty…like Sarah…is a powerful…Spirit filled…devil defying beauty…for the holy women of God...
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Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— 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. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.
So we see this carry through to the household of God…as the women in the church teach and train the other women in the church in this way...
Creation order also plays a role (manhood-and womanhood) in the ordering of the gathered church…when we gather together...
Speaking of order in the gathered church...
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What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three, and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets.
So there is this order in the church to stop chaos and disorder and disunity in the church...
Notice this is not quenching the Spirit…to keep order in even these very visible Spiritual gifts…because Gos is a God of order...
And so..only 2 at most 3 speak in tongues…and ONLY if there is someone to interpret…otherwise don’t do it…keep silent…only speaking to self and God...
and when prophecy is spoken…2 or 3 and again others weigh in…and others be silent…speaking in turn one by one...
Why? and what does this have to do with manhood and womanhood?
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For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.
As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.
God is not a God of confusion…and to do things in the gathered church that disordered…chaotic…without interpreter…without order and authority…opens the door for the devil to cause confusion…
Since creation order is to be displayed by the church…in these situations of gathering together with the body...
Women are to be silent in the churches…plural…all churches…be is submission…and if there is a debatable situation…or clarification is needed...
Later their husbands...
As said in 1 Tim.
Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.
In the context of the gathered local church…when there is any confusion or lack of order or clarity needed…especially in those cases the women are to be silent...
So we have seen…that women are not to have authority or teach over men...
But are to teach other women…and train them up to be Godly Women…
With gentleness and respect…women are called to...
Help...
Submit
Nurture
Respect
But a question remains…a question that is natural at this point...
What can women do when gathered with others as the Body?
And often the answer is…that these texts don’t apply to us...they just cultural...
But I want you to see something this week…and then as we will see next week the Lord has made a way for women to contribute powerfully and properly and beautifully and verbally…
Not in the form of teaching…or preaching…but through prayer and prophecy...
With the gathered body…which was extremely countercultural in NT times…for the church of God to have this open way for women to minister to others in the church…as we will see next week...
But first are the texts that are at times said to be only cultural? Only for that time?
Or because women back then were not educated…forgetting that the disciples we not educated...
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
So I am going to re-read the texts from today and I want you to ask a simple question...are these culturally grounded texts…is the NT culture the reason given....or are the reasons deep…Biblical…foundational…and based on creation order all the way back to the garden?
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Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve; and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.
Based on culture? Education? Or creation order and the fall of humans into sin?
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Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
As fitting in your culture? No in the Lord!
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Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 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. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
How? As the church submits to christ…which is not cultural…wives submit in everything to their husbands…
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For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.
Not based on our cultural definition of beauty…but like Sarah…like the Holy women of God…with no fear!
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the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says.
NT truth based on foundational OT truth...
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For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man.
Creation given as the reason...
The reason for each of these texts as given by the text itself is not culture…not local issues…not even issues in the church...
The reasons given are Creation…the Lord…Jesus…Eternal divine God-ordained beauty and order and truth!
As I said 3 weeks ago…I think the biggest lie the enemy has told women in the church…is that their identity comes from being like man...
The church has fallen for this in many ways…the church has become trangenderiszed...
Women of Revival Church…you are beautiful in God’s eyes…indispensible to the church of God…to your families...
You are glorious images of God...
You get to show the church…your children…the world…how much the church loves Jesus and obeys Jesus...
You in your quiet and gentle Spirit display to the world…that thinks beauty is to exploit women's bodies and in their physical appearance…you show the world true beauty…womanly beauty…a quiet and gently spirit which is very precious to God!
Don’t beleive the lies…you are very worthy…necessary if the church it to take dominion in a fallen world…
And there are many things women can do to serve the church...
Serve the handicapped
Serve the sick in the church...
Writing ministries to other women
Children's Ministry
Help with Church Finances
Woman’s teaching and discipleing.
Women’s DNA groups
Taking in homeless or abused or poor women
Ministry to female prisoners
Witnessing to where your hope comes from when anyone asks...
Welcome newcomers
Manage and coordinate for needs within the church
Manage and coordinate for needs within the community
Care for the elderly in the church or community
Caring for and beautifying the church building…the community...
Abortion ministry…care for women who have had abortions...
Adoption
Foster care
Love and serve…widows and orphans and foster children...
Love and serve…families who have adopted and have foster children...
Real world opportunity…step up and sign up to be a respite family for the Browns…I hope a few families (some women who love children) do this today!
There are many more...
And last but certainly not in any way least…managing nurturing caring for a home a husband…your parents...and family
A quote from Piper...
“Well, what are you saying we can do?” my answer is, “Seventy-five percent of the seven billion people in the world are women or under the age of fifteen.” They have limitless needs of every kind, right? Physical needs and education needs and spiritual needs and relational needs and parenting needs and needs for rescue and endless needs. And my response is, “Do anything you want. Care about them. Care about them physically and especially eternally and minister to them in whatever way you can.”
Some are still wondering…but can women only be silent in the gathering of the church…or does the Word of God speak of and give opportunity for women to contribute to the gathering verbally…by speaking...
What about as the church is gathered…is there any way in which women can verbally contribute…is there any exception to the silent quietness called for?
Yes!
There is one text in NT that clearly says that there are 2 things that women can (and maybe should if we are following the Spirit) do in the gathered church to minister to the body...
Also that happens to be the text that gloriously summarizes what we have seen in the Word about manhood and womanhood…and shows how we the church are to practice the glory of manhood and womanhood in the church as a physical display when we gather as a church…a display to the church…our families…to the angles…and before God...
And that will be out text for next week!
Amen