1 Timothy 2:1-15 | Chaos to Order

Intro

Good Morning y’all. Everybody good this morning? That is good. It is once again cold outside.

But anyways, I’m glad you are all here this morning and that we get to worship together. I am also thankful once again that you let me fill in for Randy. Update on Randy, he is still doing good. His surgery went well and he has been recovering at the house. but he will be back this week.

But I do want you to know how grateful I am to you Church family that you allow me to step in Preach when randy is out. So thank you.

Also, next week will be new era in the life of FBC Gray, Matthew will be here, and we are very much looking forward to him being here. But I also want to recognize that while we were waiting to find Matthew and for him to get here, that the church stepped up and really filled some gaps with music here. So I don’t want you to go unnoticed.

So if you have helped out in any way with Singing, playing, song selection, service planning, filling in in any way with the Music here at FBC Gray will you stand up and church family will you show them some appreciation? They deserve it. Music is hard, all of this was a big learning curve.

I want to say thank you, and your service does not go unnoticed here, so thank you. Thank you for stepping up and being the church.

So here is a question for you. Have you ever been somewhere and it was pure Chaos? How’d you like it? Probably wasn’t fun. It might have even been fun to begin with you, you know anarchy, but that gets pretty old pretty fast. I was trying to think of what might be the most chaotic thing all of us can relate too. I know war is real, and riots have happened and we have seen them. Atlanta after the braves won was pretty chaotic, but I’m thinking of like the most Chaotic thing most of us have experienced first hand or know someone who was there.

I know a lot of thoughts maybe going through your head right now, but I’m thinking Walmart on black Friday, right when they open the door. And not like it is now, post covid people seem to care about thanksgiving and personal well being, no think back like 15 years where black Friday was treated the Hunger Games, where you might get stabbed over a 65% off crock pot by a middle aged white lady. Like i remember watching it news outlets had cameras at the door watching places open and you know the poor workers are in there casting lots to see who has to open the door, we turned shopping in too a blood sport.

To me that’s probably the most chaotic thing we can say we have experienced as a whole. Walmart normally is pretty chaotic, but Walmart on Black Friday is basically Lord of the Flies.

I’m glad we have gotten past that for the most part as a society, and it is because we don’t like chaos. We are hardwired to seek out some sort of order. Every worldview wants order, everyone is looking to put things in order.

We need order, because order brings safety, stability, we have time to think when there is order. We need order, humans thrive in order.

And so that is what i want to be in the backdrop of your mind this morning, this idea of Chaos to order.

This passage that we are going to look at this morning is speaking to this. Paul is telling Timothy that God is not a god of Chaos but a God of order. God has set up a way for the church to be the church, we need to walk in it.

So that is where we are gonna be this morning, looking at that God is a god of order. God turns chaos in to order. God can take the chaos of the world and and turn it in to order. God can take our chaos and create order.

So that is where we are gonna be this morning.

Context

So let’s get to it. We are going to be in 1 Timothy chapter 2, and we are going to look at this whole thing. Whole Chapter, so if you have a bible go ahead and turn to 1 Timothy 2.

If you don’t have a bible, go ahead and grab one that is there for you in the pew. It will really help you to see the text in front of you this morning. If you don’t have a bible at home go ahead and just take that bible with you, we do want you to have the word right there in front of you.

So while you’re turning there, let me give you some context to what is going on. I know that we say it a lot, that context matters, but trust me, context on this passage is seriously important. If you miss the context you will miss what this passage is about, you will miss what this passage is trying to say.

So, 1 Timothy, is a letter written by Paul to timothy who is an elder at the church in Ephesus, same people Paul was writing Ephesians to, Timothy is an elder at the church in Ephesus.

I know Pastor Randy has already told you this, but it’s worth remembering.

Paul was writing this letter to show timothy how the church is to be ordered, that God has a set way to order the church.

But I think a good question worth asking here is, “why?” Why is Paul writing this letter to Timothy to show him how the church is to be ordered? What was going on at the Church in Ephesus that needed to be addressed by Paul?

This is a letter to Timothy, which probably means Timothy had written Paul a letter saying, “hey help! You put me here, now what?” Sos this is the letter Paul writes Timothy.

If we read this letter with out knowing the context, it will be like watching documentary about everything that happened in the last two years, but them not explaining that there is a global pandemic going on. Like showing pictures of events in summer 2020 to people in just maybe 2015 would absolutely blow there mind.

So what was going, what was Ephesus like? Ephesus was a Roman town, controlled by Rome. It was kind of a center for trade and commerce in that region, it was a pretty big city. It had pretty much everything you could want. If you wanted something or were looking for something, Ephesus had it. Ephesus was kind of like Atlanta, a growing place, one of the more important cities in the region. Lots of different people there.

And in the middle of it, was a church, a little church plant right there in Ephesus. Big ol’ city, one little church. An Embassy for the kingdom of God right there in one of Rome’s major cities.

And so what was going on in the church at Ephesus, what needed attention from Paul?

The Church at Ephesus had lost their way a bit. They were facing an identity crisis, they were basically accepting any and all belief in to the church. They would listen to anyone. If it seemed like it made sense, they brought it in to their beliefs, they brought it in to the church.

There were people teaching that there was multiple ways to heaven, basically Christ was one of many paths.

One of the major religions in that area was the Roman system, which is basically the old Greek gods. and the major temple of Ephesus in that day was the Temple of Artemus.

Artemus worship was probably the predominate faith there. But for the most part, everyone just kinda accepted everything as a form of truth. and this was seeping in to the church.

If this sounds familiar, it should, this seems pretty post modern for a people that lived there 1600 years before the enlightenment.

So that is what is going on in the Ephesus, and in the church in Ephesus, that is the backdrop for this passage, and for this letter.

Chaos was trying seep in to the church, Paul is writing to Timothy to give him the plan for order.

So I know that was a good bit of context, and i’m going to keep giving you more context as we get in to the passage, but I want you to see that it is vitally important to see the full picture.

I had to be reminded of that just while preparing for this sermon, we can’t get lost in the weeds or read this in a vacuum, we need to see the full context of what is going on so that we can faithfully pull out the meaning of the text instead of reading in to it what we want.

So, 1 Timothy 2:1-15, the whole chapter, and then we will break this up in to chunks and look at what the word is trying to say to us. but before we read this, let’s pray for our time in the word this morning.

pray

1 Timothy 2:1–15 ESV

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

The Church must pray for order amidst Chaos

Okay so what is going on here? There is a lot things going on in this whole passage. But the first thing we need to see here is a very important word, Paul starts by saying, first of all then, then is a transition word. It links ideas, it is like if you see a therefore, you have to ask, what is the therefore there for?

So, then what? To start this letter off Paul tells Timothy two things, he tells him to Steward the Gospel well, don’t let the Gospel be corrupted, don’t allow false teaching in. The next thing he tells Timothy is how the church plays in to the mission of the Gospel, in to the mission of Christ. That Christ came to save sinners, and this is how the church functions in that goal in mind.

And now he is going to start telling how the church needs to be set up to best carry out that goal. What is the church to do first?

Paul says right here in verse 1 the first step is to pray. Pray for all people, every single person. We are to pray for them. then Paul makes a special provision for kings and those in high places. We are to pray for those in power.

Kings, Government, Presidents, people who control things. Those who are authorities. Say what you want about President Biden, this text calls us to pray for him. To pray for the government. Who ever the next president is, we are to pray for him as well, be that President Trump, or who ever wins it, cause it’s kinda open right now.

For timothy Paul was telling him to pray for Caesar. Pray for the one who is persecuting the church in some cases.

But why? Why is Paul telling Timothy to pray for those in power?

Look at the rest of verse 2, 1 Tim. 2:2 “that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.”

He is saying so that we can live in a peaceful world. Remember Ephesus, and most of the new testament is written under roman rule.

So I love history, my undergrad is in history, and I also like podcasts, and my favorite podcast is called Hardcore History, if you like history and good story telling, check this podcast out. It is one guy telling history like a story, like it should be told, for like 5 or 6 hours an episode. He really brings the drama and color in to history that some historians miss.

Anyways, he did a whole series on the end of the Roman Republic, and the time that it takes place was about 100ish years before the birth of Christ, Julius Caesar, roman civil war, all that he tells that whole story. It is also the story of how Rome conquered pretty much most of the classical world. And so this letter to timothy is written in the world that whole sage created, the Roman Republic had fallen, there was a couple Roman Civil wars, war and death was a common thing.

and now this ear of roman history is called the Pox Romana, which means Roman Peace. but on the Podcast, the host keeps quoting a historian who has this quote about roman peace, he says, Romans create a wasteland and call it peace.

So this letter might have been written in the Pox Romana, but they know that Roman Wars are still going on, it just the roman civil war that is over. Paul knows this as a roman citizen and timothy would be aware of this as well. So what Paul is saying here at the end of verse 2 is, so that we do not get pulled in to their wars. Pray that the Governments and Kings, and Caesar would not decide to pull this world in to a war. He is asking to pray that the world would not devolve in to chaos. Pray for order.

So the first thing we need to see here is, and what Paul is telling Timothy is, The Church must pray for order amidst chaos. so if you are writing things down write that down, the Church must pray for order amidst chaos.

This world wants to be in chaos, pray for kings and those in high position.

Like we said last week, we are not fighting against this world but fighting for the gospel, to keep the gospel pure. Our mission is to point this world to Christ.

The first step in doing this is to pray for the world we live in. Pray that order wold be made from Chaos.

Look at verse 3 this is good and pleasing to God. and verse 4, God desires that all would know Him and be saved by the truth. And what is the truth?

Here again Paul his Timothy with the gospel.

Let me read verse 5 and 6 again, 1 Tim. 2:5-6

1 Timothy 2:5–6 ESV

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

These two verses sound like Timothy would have heard this before, that this might be something Followers of Christ said a lot at this time. Some of the commentaries I used preparing for this sermon, said this could be one of the earliest church creeds. This was one of the early church confessions.

They had these to keep the message of the Gospel pure. This kept the gospel consistent, the early church didn’t have the bible as we have it, they had the old testament, and some of the letters in the New Testament, so how did they pass the message along? Through creeds, something all Believers at that time would know.

Short and sweet. There is one God, and only one way to Him, through Christ. He died on the cross for us, he came at the proper ordered time, do take our place. This is the gospel.

and verse 7 is Just Paul saying, if there is any doubt as to what I believe this is the message I have been tasked with spreading. This is the Gospel, this is what i proclaim and this is what you should also proclaim. Christ is Lord, Christ is the only way to God, only means of salvation.

Pray for order in this world.

The Church must not let in the World’s Chaos

So let’s keep going, this is where is context really starts to play in to this passage. So stick with me.

Look at verses 8 through 12 with me, let me read them again 1 Tim 2:8-12

1 Timothy 2:8–12 ESV

8 I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.

There is some stuff in this part.

So this is where we need to see the context of this passage, because if we don’t understand the context we can really miss what Paul is saying.

We see right off the bat, Paul addresses Men and Women.

For the men, he tells them to pray, and when they pray, do not do it from a posture of anger or a posture of quarreling. He tells men to pray with holy hands, not angry.

Women, he gives a little more instruction to, he says, first don’t dress in a provocative manner, do not dress in a manner where you are trying to distract from worship. Then he gives the admonition that women are to be quietly learn in submissiveness, nor should they teach or exercise authority over men, and to be quiet.

So What do we do with this? How should we see this?

See what I mean about context? If we miss the context, we can have the best intentions and still miss what the scripture is speaking to us about.

Like we said earlier. Ephesus is a Roman city, the Roman way of warfare, the Roman way of life was the norm. in that city Artemus worship is the major faith tradition. Part of Artemus worship involved temple prostitution. i’m not going to get in to what that means, but you can figure it out. But Artemus worship was female lead, they were who ran the temple, lead the worship. They were the directors of doctrine in Artemus worship.

These things were spilling in to the church. The men were too worried about who they were going to fight next, they had taken up this hyper masculine Roman way of looking at life like Rambo. They wanted war, war was good for business. They prayed angry, they quarreled with one another.

The Women of the church are being lead astray by the Women of the Temple. They were trying to keep their dress on par with theirs.

Paul is telling Timothy to not let this seep in to the church. Do not let this anger, these distractions, this worship of self in to the church.

Paul is saying to not let this Chaos slip in to the Church.

The Church must not let in the world’s chaos. if you are writing things down, write that down, The Church must not let in the World’s chaos.

These things can ruin us, and keep us form being the church.

When I was in New Orleans I had to watch out for Pot holes, if you have ever been to New Orleans or really Louisiana, the roads are not exactly great, and it really starts in Mississippi, once you get out of Alabama and hit Mississippi you really notice that the roads are rough, you need a new suspension when you get home. But in New Orleans, they took already bad roads and built it on a swamp. All of New Orleans is built on a swamp, I’ll never understand it, the French got to the swamp 300 years ago and said this is a great place for Spanish architecture. anyways, this means the roads are really bad, and there was a pot hole near where I worked that we could kinda watch, and it started not very big, but day by day this thing would grow. slowly, you barely noticed it, but everyday, just a little bit bigger. Me and my coworkers would stand by the window and watch cars hit it. And when it got big it would take bumpers of cars, start actually causing damage to cars, and every so often New Orleans DOT would try to fix it by pouring gravel in it, it kinda worked, but every day, it would just start to get bigger.

The Church must submit to God’s order

Okay, so, we are almost done, let’s keep going.

Look with me at verse 13-15, let’s read these again, because Paul says something that we need to look at. 1 Tim. 2:13-15

1 Timothy 2:13–15 ESV

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.

Alright, if the last couple verse weren’t fun enough Paul keeps going.

So at first read, this seems strange to say the least. And we know the context of this letter, i think I may have almost over whelmed you with context, but what is Paul saying here?

Well I’m going to be completely honest with you, I’m 100% sure exactly what he means. And I’m not alone, a lot of the scholars are also kind of scratching their head at what this could exactly mean. But we do know one thing, scripture was given to us to learn and know God deeper.

So here are a couple things we do know, Salvation is through Christ alone. That is the only way to we find salvation, in Christ alone.

And I don’t think Paul meant this straight up, women are saved through child birth, or child birthing. I think this is an allusion to something else. In the previous section Paul lays out specific instructions for both men and women. This is a call back to created order, her references Genesis 3 in this, Paul is saying that God has created this order. Man was created first, woman was created out of man, that is what Women means, out of man. Paul references the fall, eve was deceived first, but Adam was also deceived, just like in Ephesus, where female lead Artemus worship was seeping in, deceiving the women and then deceiving the men. Just like in the garden. Even took the first bite, but Adam followed suit.

So what is Paul saying? Paul is giving different roles for men and women. He is not making a judgment on the value and worth but is making a distinction between genders. Women give birth, Men do not. There are no birthing people, they’re called women. As much as this world is confused about sex and gender, Paul makes it clear right here, men are men, women are women, you know how you can tell? Women give birth.

This is a call back to Biblical Womanhood and biblical manhood.

This is a call back to created order.

Paul is calling the church to submit to the order God has already set up for us.

So as the church, We must Submit to to God’s created Order, if you are writing things down right that down, we must submit to God’s created order.

God has had this in place from the beginning. God has already created what was good, because he is good.

Our sanctification comes through operating in the roles God has laid out for us in his word.

Point to Christ

So, what do we do with this? What is the point of all of this? Why am I up here talking to you about this this morning?