Sunday Service 9-19-21 - 1 Timothy 2 - Roles Of Men And Women In The Church Part 1

Roles of Men And Women in the Church/Ministry: 1. Intro: Church Organization and Officers. We're going to be responsible for our leaders before our leaders are responsible for us (A people will often get the leaders they deserve, the leadership is often a reflection/symptom of the society as a whole.) So, with that responsibility in mind, we are going to the Word to prepare ourselves for that task. And, that is the key - to build the house according to God's Word. Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. We want to dig deep and build (our lives, our families, our church) on a solid foundation so that when storms come we will not be washed away: Luke 6:46-49 "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you? 47 Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: 48 he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. 49 But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great." Don's decision to preach on Sola Scriptura 2 weeks ago was a Godsend. The Word is our authority, not our own passions, desires, feelings, logic (all fallen and biased and fallible), and not that of the culture at large. 2. We began by taking the 7000-ft view, where we journeyed through all of Scripture from beginning to end to see that there is a theme running from Genesis to Revelation about people in general, and the People of God in particular - that it is not good for man to be alone, that from the core of our being there is a need for community, a need for plurality, that the theme of leadership of God's people/community comes under the big category of Shepherding/Serving that the Officers of the Church are Shepherds/Servants in fulfillment of prophecies and proto-types that came before through Christ the great fulfillment/archtype, the Great Shepherd/Servant of the people (Prophet/Priest/King). 3. With that big picture in mind, we hope to now be ready to move to looking at finer details. Who should be the shepherds (elders/deacons)? We are not left without significant guidance to that question in Scripture. The first detail is a big one. It's big because it's a hot-button at this moment in history in the society and the church. And, it's a big one because right off the bat it may narrow down the possibilities by half. The first detail is that the roles of shepherds of God's people is limited to men ... Let's pray and dismiss 😊. Gasp, murmur, etc. (Say: I do not feel myself a first-rate expert in this subject, nor even if I were, would this sermon be able to thoroughly exhaust the subject in its full treatment. If you have desire to study this in more detail, I can commend and provide for you three different resources of various levels of thoroughness - a pamphlet that would be easy to read, a commentary on the technical details of 1 Timothy, and greatest of all an incredible book that is in my view a treasure to the Church of our day that was put together by a great group of pastors/scholars akin to the Westminster Assembly: Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Danvers Statement (Manhood/Womanhood), Nashville Statement (Marriage) - Recovering Biblical Manhood And Womanhood, 50 Crucial Questions, Biblical Foundations for Manhood and Womanhood.) If anyone wants these, I have them for free, please don't hesitate to mention it to me or text me, I can print it out for you or email you an electronic copy. 4. AT THE HEART OF MATURE MASCULINITY IS A SENSE OF BENEVOLENT ESPONSIBILITY TO LEAD, PROVIDE FOR AND PROTECT WOMEN IN WAYS APPROPRIATE TO A MAN'S DIFFERING RELATIONSHIPS. AT THE HEART OF MATURE FEMININITY IS A FREEING DISPOSITION TO AFFIRM, RECEIVE AND NURTURE STRENGTH AND LEADERSHIP FROM WORTHY MEN IN WAYS APPROPRIATE TO A WOMAN'S DIFFERING RELATIONSHIPS. 5. Men are to step up and fulfill their God-given task of leadership both in the home/family and in God's household/family of faith. They are to love their individual family unit and the Spiritual family (very much linked) through the service of self-sacrificial headship/leadership. 6. We say this why? We say this because it is the clear and robust teaching of Scripture. We say this because God says this. a. And, we say this humbly - it is God's idea, not ours. Who are we (Paul)? Where were we (Job)? b. But, we also say it boldly - God's Word/ideas become ours. We exist for His glory alone (Soli Deo Gloria). c. And, we say it joyfully - we see the goodness of God, the wisdom of God, the love of God. And, it is my hope that we will see the goodness, wisdom, and beauty of God's plan of redemption as it pertains to the roles of men and women both bearing His image and glorifying Him together in ways they could not do individually. 7. OK, let's jump in. This issue also begins at the beginning in Genesis, but we will get there by letting Paul take us there in the most specific, relevant passage about this subject (BTW, it's no small matter that this immediately precedes the qualifications for Elders/Deacons in 1 Tim 3 that we will be getting into next week): d. Letter to Timothy about the Church, how to lead and organize the Church: Sound Doctrine (as opposed to false teachers): This saying is trustworthy: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" ... There is one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ ... 2:1 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 ... 2:8-15 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling (aggression ; 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. e. Quietness: For the whole Church, worship calls for prayerfulness (vv. 1-2) based on solid understanding of God and Christ's mission (vv. 3-7), Things that can harm the worship and learning that is to take place in the people of God: (1) Gov't interference, Societal unrest. (2) the bane of male combativeness and aggression (v. 8) (3) the distraction of women's preoccupation with appearance (v. 9). Solutions: (1) Men should pray, humbling themselves rather than quarreling/competing. (2) a woman is encouraged to focus/embrace her call as a disciple to learn. So, quietness is a positive trait for the task of worship and learning: freedom from hot-headed male clamor/competition of physical/intellectual dominance (v. 8), as well as from the buzz of female clamor/competition over appearance(v. 9), or preoccupation with female/male competition of power/authority. 1 Tim 2:2 - that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way 2 Thessalonians 3:12 - Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. The Greek words convey not muteness but peaceful, undistracted, orderly, industrious, and self-responsible labor in accordance with dominical and apostolic teaching. Sometimes, service and desire to be doing something desire to have a purpose/role can also be a distraction from learning which can then better lead you to your purpose, role, and service. (See Martha and Mary) Luke 10:38-42 - Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." 41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her." f. Women do good works!! That is actually the bigger purpose of the text! And, we see this throughout Scripture, women have played a priceless role in the story of Redemption and the Kingdom. This is brought forward with much more balance in Christianity than in pagan religions. Quote from Christiana: GAIUS also proceeded, and said, "I will now speak on the behalf of women, to take away their reproach. For as death and the curse came into the world by a woman, so also did life and health: 'God sent forth his Son made of a woman'. Yea, to show how much those that came after did abhor the act of their mother, this sex, in the Old Testament, coveted children, if happily this or that woman might be the mother of the Saviour of the world. I will say again, that when the Saviour was come, Women rejoiced in him before either Man or Angel. I read not, that ever any Man did give unto Christ so much as one Groat, but the Women followed him and ministered to him of their Substance. 'Twas a Woman that washed his Feet with Tears, and a Woman that anointed his Body to the Burial. They were Women that wept when he was going to the Cross, and Women that followed him from the Cross, and that sat by his Sepulchre when he was buried. They were Women that was first with him at his Resurrection-morn, and Women that brought tiding first to his Disciples that he was risen from the Dead. Women therefore are highly favoured, and shew by these things that they are sharers with us in the Grace of Life. Quietness and Teaching/Authority are not absolute - Encouraged/Commanded to teach other women and children - 75% of the population. There is plenty to do! Equip the saints for the work of ministry! Aquilla and Priscilla pulled Apollos aside to teach/correct him. Prophecy 1 Cor 11, Anna the prophetess. Something different than teaching exercising authority over a man as a Church Officer. Deborah - more in a minute. g. Male Leadership: 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. Back to Genesis. Paul here is the clear Biblical basis, but he gives a Biblical basis for his Biblical basis. God made man and woman as distinct creatures. Man was not sufficient in himself to bear the image and to do the work of glorifying God. (Alone is not good) So he made a helper suitable for him. He could've made an identical helper, but he didn't. There is no logical necessity that constrained God to create these beings different physically and personally (look at different reactions to being created and to each other and to interaction with serpent and to confrontation with God). There are things that unify and things that distinguish these beings. Man created before woman ... but also woman was deceived. (although in Rom 5 he lays the responsibility entirely on Adam) Man was made first, so he was going to be the head anyway. So, why does it also connect with the sin/fall/curse? Headship, Submission, Sacrificial Love/Service through these roles would be a good, a joy, a further joyful, fulfilling display of the Triune God and His glorious nature. There would be no negativity from that, no condescension, no envy, no oppression, no competition, no strife or quarrelling or grumbling ... there would be gratitude for one another and for our own fitting role and ability to glorify God and love our neighbor/spouse in a special and unique way. The fall is what led to the curse ... The curse: "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you." Genesis is the foundation! This is where it all is in seed form. This is where we go first to understand our problem, our pain, and our salvation! Multiplied Pain in Childbearing (see Piper) ... Saved through childbearing if she continues in faith... Genesis 3:8-21 (ESV) 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, "Where are you?" 10 And he said, "I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself." 11 He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" 12 The man said, "The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate." 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." 14 The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. 15 I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." 16 To the woman he said, "I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be contrary to your husband, but he shall rule over you." 17 And to Adam he said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; 18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return." 20 The man called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living. 21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them. Observations: Man hid from God (this is our reaction to sin and it is telling, we run from what we should do). Both confess. And both receive mercy/forgiveness/cleansing. It is a true confession. Woman's curse: Childbearing - would she have been the sole bearer of children, would it not have been a joyful, pleasant process by which she would obey God and participate in the mission to which she and the man were called to be fruitful and multiply spreading his image to all the earth, subduing the earth, reigning as God's vice-regents on earth, shepherding/guarding the earth, ruling over the other creatures? Interesting that it is not until here, after the curse that Adam calls her "Eve" - she became the mother of all the living! Before her name was "woman" a sign of unity with man, and now her name distinguishes her from man, and that distinction would now be connected with PAIN!!! Before the distinction was pleasant and joyful, fulfilling her desire, and now it is painful and frustrating and contrary to her desire. She shall be ruled over by her husband, contrary to her desire - so it is now a broken image of the Godhead. He would've been the head anyway, but now it's a broken headship/submission, it will go against our sinful nature and we will run from those roles in one way or another. It will not come natural, but will take self-denial to find fulfillment. And, thus, we are saved by faith in the second Adam, the one who doesn't fall, who is not taken down (into death) by his sinful bride but rather (enters into death to) raises her up, the sacrificed one who clothes us with his righteousness to cover our shame, the seed of the woman who is dealt a death blow by the serpent but who rises up to crush the serpent's head forever. For a redeemed people who are in union with Christ by faith/trust, possessing His Spirit within them and thus being sanctified, conformed to His image, the roles of man/woman, husband/wife can be a joy once again when we embrace God's Word, God's definitions of us, God's love for us, God's mission for us. Childbearing also becomes the primary means by which a woman serves the Lord and redeems her life/time. h. What about Deborah? The story of Deborah actually supports and serves as an example to this whole concept. Deborah did not seek public, official office/authority, hers was a quiet, private ministry under a tree. If a couple comes to you, can you give them counsel/judgment, yes you can. Her "leadership" in battle was an indictment against the male who should have been the leader but abdicated his role, and Deborah herself recognizes and professes this, condemning Barak for this. She is a great example of obedience and blessing, being strong and submissive at the same time with her mission of her life directed toward God's glory and the good of others not to her own fame. i. Women in leadership is a sign of a society under judgement that has already gone away from God ... just as homosexuality is also a sign of God giving people over to their depravity in their idolatrous rebellion against him. Once the authority of God and His Word are thrown down, all manner of absurdity follow, the first of these to go are questions of identity as regards our being created by the Creator - we are creature, not Creator - denying that, and this then connects with how we were created, male/female - denying that, and the order of creation male then female - denying that. ii. In our modern culture, the battle is on multiple fronts. Willing abdication by men and willing usurpation by women. iii. See the trajectory of Scripture Vs See the trajectory of Culture: Now there is no such thing as gender/sex: (But, if it is a social construct, then why take hormones - a physical treatment, and other physical treatments and changes - just clearly demonstrates inconsistency, absurdity, contradiction - why act like one or the other, why play one role or the other in LGBTQ relationships - shows there is no neutral). i. What about deaconesses? I respect this argument. This argument is much different than the argument for elderesses. It is more of an intersquad debate between Biblical Christians. i. The argument is basically this: (1) The office of deacon is not pertaining to teaching or having authority but is rather about service. Why couldn't a woman hold that office? (2) There is a place in Scripture where the word servant/deacon refers to a woman, Phoebe, in Romans. (3) In 2 Tim 3, with the qualifications for deacons are also given qualifications referring to women. ii. Answers: (1) The office of deacon is linked to Shepherding as we have previously shown, which has an implicit level of some authority in physical service (The Deacons are "in charge" of the Physical Shepherding of the People of God under the direction of and in cooperation with the elders), which flows from Prophet, Priest, King which are all male. (2) In Romans the government is also referred to as a servant/deacon. The word is used generally in places and technically in others. (3) This refers to those women who would also serve the church, assisting the elders and deacons, especially as regards the qualified widows in 1 Tim 5 (See also historical evidence for such widow assistants). (4) See the original appointments of the original 7 deacons (and apostles). j. What about Gal 3:28 "In Christ there is neither Jew/Greek, slave/free, male/female"? In one sense, that applies, but not in another - in the context of Gal, roles are not being addressed, rather superiority/inferiority in the Kingdom and salvation is. k. See Trinity. Christ's instruction: Luke 22:26, "Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves"? ... and Christ's example of doing this as the one who was submissive to the Father and the Head of the Church and in either case gave Himself in love of both. Paul's quote about weakness: Peter's quote about the weaker vessel: Sola Scriptura, Taking God at His Word, What is the point of our lives? Are we going to be directed by the changing winds of culture or by the Word of God that stands forever? Who do we want to please? Do we believe that in the Christian home the husband is the head, the one who loves through self-sacrificing leadership and that the woman is the one who loves through self-sacrificial submission. If that is the case in the Christian family, why would/should it not be the case in the Church family also? We also know both intuitively, experientially, and scientifically/empirically/statistically that the outcomes are better with this design being fulfilled. Anecdotally, the biggest variable in a child's success is not the school choice (public, private, home), not their race or socio-economic level, but the active presence of the father as spiritual leader. That gives me great fear and great encouragement and freedom. Curse and Salvation both in childbirth/seed. 1 Tim 3 reference about how people are to conduct themselves in the Church - broad applicability.