Women in the Church

Good evening to all of you. So happy to see all of you, especially after a week of not having encountered. It is good to be back here on Saturday night. Thank you, Danny and Teena, who spoke last time, as we go through our series on First Timothy, Wise Young Servant.

Now, when we go through these books, for those of you who are not part of our small group that we kind of have put together for people that are speaking on Encounter Nights, we have a division of passages that I usually post and allow people to pick. Now, when this was posted a few weeks ago, I intentionally went and picked this passage. And the reason I picked this passage, you will see here in a minute, is not because I’m excited to speak about this passage, nor am I very comfortable to speak on this passage. In fact, I probably, in hindsight, should have maybe had a woman speak tonight. Because I’m coming from this, strictly from God’s Word, of course, but I’m also understanding of the fact that it’s easy for me to accept what this passage says, because I’m a man, and it might be much more difficult if I am a woman to accept what God’s Word is telling me. But I do want you to sit here tonight with an open mind. An open mind not meaning open mind as the world tells you to just take whatever the world gives you, but with a eagerness to understand the perspective of God’s Word. One of the things that we find in God’s Word is that God’s Word is not written to fit your preferences. And some of the hardest things for Christians to do is to accept the things as fact that do not fit our preferences. It’s much more easier to read verses that we agree with. When our natural self does not agree with a particular verse, that is when it takes much more humility and much more trusting in God’s wisdom to say that He knows better than I do on what I should be doing. It’s much easier to read verses of blessing and the things that we agree with. It’s much more difficult verses such as this, and we’ll see in a minute.

We’ll be here in 1 Timothy 2, verses 8 all the way to verse 15 tonight. 1 Timothy 2:8-15. This verse that we’re about to discuss is not just standing as a standalone portion of Scripture. It is very much connected to the previous section of Scripture. For example, verse 8, the first verse we look at starts like this. Therefore, I want the men everywhere to pray. Anytime the Bible uses this phrase, therefore, you have to tie it together with what was said right above. And that’s exactly what we heard last week is that God’s desire is that all men should come to a saving knowledge of Him. And then He told us the great magnificent truth that Christ has become our only and wonderful mediator between God and man. So we have this wonderful salvation that God has providentially and beautifully and sovereignly given to us. But we are not left alone to fetch with our own ways. Jesus Christ has become our mediator, giving us daily, hourly, moment by moment help in our spiritual walk, in our salvation life with Him.

Therefore, in the light of this great salvation and the light of the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is our mediator, is our high priest who is the one who is constantly pleading for us even this very hour that I’m standing before you. Jesus is pleading for me before the Heavenly Father. Otherwise, I would not be able to stand in front of you. Jesus is our eternal and ever-present mediator. What is it that Paul wants men to do? The phrase there, I want, is actually a very strong language that he used in the original Greek. In many of the instances in Timothy, you heard, read the word, I urge, which is more like a plea, a request, please do this. I want is coming from someone who is a founder of this church and who has the apostolic authority basically saying, this is I want how things to be done. It is somewhere between pleading for something and commanding something. That’s where I want comes in. This is something that is very, very important to him.

Men everywhere, men in the church everywhere to pray. How are they supposed to pray? Lifting up holy hands. Now immediately when you see this phrase, holy hands, it’s not just talking about how much soap that he used on your hands. It’s not talking about any kind of a physical cleansing here. Holy hands in God’s word throughout, through and through is indicative of a holy heart. A heart, an inner self that is pure, that is free of hypocrisy, that is free of some kind of deception before the Lord. So when we come to worship, God is saying, I want men everywhere whom I’m calling for leadership within the church and within the family to pray unto me. But I don’t want them to pray like the hypocrites. I don’t want them to pray in a way in which I cannot accept their prayer. If I am to hear their prayer and respond to their prayer, they need to pray by what? Lifting up holy hands. Now it is more than just this act of lifting up, which is very important. It is good to lift up your hands and praise God. This act that is mentioned over here, lifting up holy hands, is an act of submission before the Lord. But it’s also one of reverence and one that comes and says, I have, with the ability of God, with the ability that God gives to me, kept a life that is about reproach. And I’m lifting up holy hands in the presence of God.

This is not only for men, it’s for everyone who comes to the church. Is our prayer and worship, is our lifting up our hands, lifting up holy hands? Or if it’s not, God is saying your prayer, your worship doesn’t really have any meaning in my sight. Because then it’s just a gesture and it does not have the heart accompanied it. But it’s not only that you should have holy hands, you also cannot have anger or divisions or dissension in your heart. The word anger over there is not just being angry at someone. It actually has to do with a forgiving heart. That’s exactly what it means. You cannot be praying for somebody that you’re angry at. Nor can you be angry at someone that you just prayed for. So you see how anger and prayer doesn’t go together? God is telling us that when you come to worship you, not only you should have holy hands, but your heart should have a forgiving heart. When you ask God for forgiveness, one of the first things that you should have in your life is what? A heart of forgiveness towards others in your life. It is totally unfair and totally unfit to ask God for forgiveness when we ourselves have not forgiven the people that we need to forgive. And not only that, you cannot come to worship God after quarreling, dissensions, all these things stand in the way of God accepting your worship.

Remember what God Jesus himself told us that when you come to offer a sacrifice, if you find out that your brother or sister have, you have something against them, what are you supposed to do? Leave the sacrificial animal there and go all the way back home and reconcile and come back and offer the sacrifice. When Jesus was commanding this, the journey that Jesus was mentioning to ask them to do was actually a two days journey one way. So basically somebody who comes to worship in Jerusalem, he has just traveled two days. Only when he came to the temple in Jerusalem, he realized I have my brother or sister back home that I have not forgiven. What is Jesus asking them to do? Not unlike us, they cannot get in the car and drive just for 30 minutes and go find the person or text them as you’re sitting in the pew. They actually have to travel another two days by foot and go and find the person, ask them for forgiveness, then come another two days and come and offer the sacrifice. Look at the way in which God is asking them to go to great lengths to forgive a person before a sacrifice is offered before the Lord. Why is that? Because without forgiveness, the sacrifice that is offered is meaningless. You just wasted your time, you just wasted your resources and it is not pleasing in the sight of God. So not only men, when we come to pray, worship, these three things have to be something that we always examine in our heart. I am lifting up my hands, but are my hands holy? My hands are only holy if my heart is holy unto the Lord. It does not mean perfection, but it means a heart that is constantly seeking the forgiveness of God and submitted to a life of holiness. And not only that, is there anyone that I need to forgive before I come to pray? Do I have dissension in my heart? Am I just wasting my time here on a Saturday night? These are things that we need to examine in our life.

Before I go into the next section, verses 9 through 15, I want to make some statements that are very, very important for you to understand. It is only God’s word that early on, and you have heard me preach this at weddings before. Out of all the ancient writings that we have, it is only the Bible that very early on in its pages told us that both men and women were created in the image of God. Even before the modern feminist movement, equality, all these things came into the mind of the modern man, God is the first one who said that both men and women are equal in the sight of God. And he made it very clear in Genesis 1 verse 20 when he said both male and female, he created them in the image of God. In fact, in a way that we don’t fully understand, the image of God in humanity is only completed in the formation of both male and female. In a way in which we don’t fully understand, the triune God’s image is actually only fully realized in humanity after the creation of Eve. All of this to say that both male and female are equal in the sight of God.

You come into the New Testament, not only are they equal in their creation, God’s word tells us they are also equal in their redemption as well. I quoted this a couple of weeks ago during our Sunday morning service. Actually last week, Genesis chapter 3 verse 28, there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. So there is equality between man and woman in creation, in the Lord Jesus Christ there is equality as well. Now, you sitting here in the 21st century, this is not a radical statement. But for the Apostle Paul, writing in 1st century, this is a radical statement. That both male and female are equal in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Greco-Roman world, that was not true. The testimony of a woman held, and Islam will later on adapt to the same rule, half the value as a testimony of a man. But you go to the scriptures and God’s word gives dignity and value and great deal of importance to women in the Bible more than in any other ancient writings. We have prophetesses in the Old Testament. We have women that God would use to change the course of nations. We have women who would stop from great calamities to come upon nations. We have women who are in leadership. All of this can be seen in the Old Testament.

You come into the New Testament, and as we’ve been going through the book of Acts, you’ve already seen tremendous number of women that God has been using time and time again. The first convert in Europe is a woman, a woman by the name of Lydia, who was wealthy. She opened her home, door of her home to make room for the first church in all of Europe. That church would give money for the Apostle Paul so that he can continue ministering in other parts of Europe and beyond and even back in Jerusalem. Lydia was an important person in God’s word. When the Bible mentions the famous couple of the New Testament, Priscilla and Aquila, Priscilla is always mentioned first in God’s word. And the thinking here is that Priscilla was more knowledgeable in scriptures than Aquila was. So that when an itinerant preacher needed to be taught properly God’s word, it was probably Priscilla that took him home and along with her husband taught him God’s word. They planted churches, not only in Ephesus, they were the first pioneers of the church in Ephesus. They were the ones who planted the church in Corinth. They did phenomenal work along with the Apostle Paul. So God used tremendously a woman by the name of Priscilla. In fact, there are some people that make the argument that Priscilla actually wrote the book of Hebrews. If that is true, she would be the only female author of God’s word. I don’t know if that’s true or not. In my own study, I believe it’s Luke who wrote the book of Hebrews because of the similarity in language between the book of Acts and the gospel of Luke and the book of Hebrews. But whatever the case might be, we can see the importance of Priscilla in the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul in his final greetings in Romans chapter 16 mentions eight women in his final greetings. You know how amazing that is? No writings of that time would give that much importance to the role of women other than the inspired writings that we find in God’s word. And of course, we know from Romans chapter 16, the name of one of the deaconesses who served in the church in Rome, Phoebe. So all of these are illustrations of God’s word of the importance that God would give to women. You know who were the last people to leave the cross? Women. You know who were the first to come to the tomb? Women. You know the ones who actually saw Jesus really taking his last breath along with John the disciple when other disciples ran away? A bunch of women. You know who were the first to go and see the empty tomb? At least the tomb being opened? It was the women. And you know how controversial that is? If God really wanted to really make people believe that he had risen from the dead, a bunch of women would be the last group of people that you wanted to select to make that happen. But in the mind of God, it didn’t matter. God was about to make sure that both men and women played equal roles in the propagation and the spreading of the gospel.

So now that I’ve told you all these wonderful things about the women in the Bible, don’t be mad at me as I go into verse 9 onwards. Remember all these things that I just told you. I made all the women sitting here, made you feel really really good. So in light of that, let’s go to verse 9.

I also want, again that word want over there. This is not a suggestion. This is actually almost a commandment coming from the writing of the apostle Paul. This is something that’s non-negotiable. I also want, and this is not Paul, the kind of middle-aged man, maybe not married, hater of women writing this. This is the Holy Spirit writing through the pen of the apostle Paul. So keep that in mind as well. I also want women to what? Dress modestly. What does it mean by dress modestly? The word modestly literally means to wear something that is decent and orderly. Decent and orderly. So you can make a judgment on whether something is decent and orderly. Wearing Indian clothes is not necessarily modest. You can wear Indian clothes in such a way that it’s not modest. Wearing American clothes is not immodesty. You can wear any kind of clothes modestly and in an immodest way. But God’s word is very, very clear. God wants all women to dress modestly. And I will add to this, God wants all men to dress modestly as well. Because I have seen some men not dress modestly either. So that’s also very, very important.

Why is this important to dress modestly? I love this quote. I don’t know who said this. But I think it’s very important. If you don’t dress modestly, you may attract attention, but you will not win lasting affection. So remember this. Young women, listen to me tonight. Remember this. Not dressing modestly may attract attention, but will not win lasting affection. So you should ask your question. What am I trying to do? What am I trying to attract? What am I trying to achieve before I leave home like this? Now, dressing modestly is not something that is not just for the church, by the way. Or just in front of your pastor. Dressing modestly is when you go to college. When you go to schools. Dressing modestly is when you go to the mall. Dressing modestly is when you go to a party. Dressing modestly is something that you should do at all times because you are a child of God. This is not something that the restoration church has written into effect. It’s something that the eternal word of God is included in scriptures. Again, it is not a suggestion. It is coming from the Holy Spirit that is telling you, I want all women to dress modestly.

If you go back to that verse again, verse 9. Not only that, with decency, propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes. Now, many have taken passages of this to make entire theology out of it. You should not wear jewelry. You should not wear hair like that. That’s not what the Bible is saying. What the Bible is saying here is that the things that you should focus on in your life are not external in nature. Any kind of an extravagant wearing of jewelry or expensive clothing where you are spending your money and resources on the things that are perishing away is not really ideal for a child of God. So you should ask a question. What I’m wearing, whether it be jewelry, clothing, is it really modest, appropriate, without really causing undue attention? Or am I spending a lot of money on my clothes and jewelry where it’s taking away from my ability to be using it more for the kingdom of God? So these are questions to ask. By the way, one thing I want to say when it comes to these kind of things, this is not just about jewelry and clothing. This also applies to expensive cars and expensive homes and all these things can apply as well. You need to make sure that whatever we do, whatever we spend money on, whatever we are wearing is what? Appropriate, modest, and fit for a child of God.

In 1 Peter 3, verse 3, verse 5, Peter writes almost the exact same thing as well. He says this, Your adornment must not be merely external braiding of the hair. Now, in two passages in Timothy and again in Peter, braiding of the hair is mentioned. So you’re like, what’s up with this braiding of the hair? Why is that such a bad thing? So here’s the reason why. In first century Roman culture, women used to customarily braid or twist their hair high into their heads. And they would decorate this hair with jewels, gold adornments, more to garner attention. So you could actually have a woman sitting over here in church with hair that is about a feet high up in the air. Now imagine you sitting behind her trying to look at the slides. That’s not going to work, right? But these women did this because they would not only braid the hair, they would put all kinds of jewelry on top of the hair so that all their wealth would be shown and seen by the people all around. The honor displays indeed drew a public response. And here, God’s word is saying, basically, that was a sign where people were not humbling themselves, exalting themselves. And because it did not show humility and proper mannerisms, that’s why the apostles keep on writing about this act of braiding the hair.

So it’s not technically like how you braid the hair today or anything like that. It’s the way they were doing it in the first century. Wearing gold jewelry or putting on dresses. He’s not obviously asking you not to put on dresses. He’s obviously not telling you not to put on gold jewelry. But what is he saying? That is not really the focus of your life. Your adornment truly should not be what? Not external. What makes you beautiful is what’s on the inside. Look at the next verse. But let it be the hidden person of the heart. He’s saying, don’t try to make yourself beautiful by all these external things and then not take care of the hidden person of the heart. Because you can do everything for the outside, but if the inner man is not properly adorned by the Holy Spirit and by his work in your life, you might look really attractive on the outside, but look very, very unattractive on the inside. And when people encounter you, you might look really beautiful because of all the adornment, but it won’t take very long for them to see the real person living inside. All those jewelry and all those makeup and that’s not a good thing. He says the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit. All the makeup, all the jewelry, all the external beauty that you do only lasts for a period of time. It gets to a point all of our lives when nothing that we can do can make us to be attractive because age kind of does its work. But Peter is saying there is some imperishable things that you can do to your own life where even when you’re 80 and 90, you can be absolutely attractive to others because of the imperishable qualities inside of you. What is that? A gentle and quiet spirit which is precious in the sight of God. For in this way, former times, the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves. So Paul says the same thing in Timothy and says, let it not be all this outward stuff that you’re doing. Rather, you should do this. Verse 10. Adorn yourself with good deeds appropriate for women who profess to worship God. He’s saying, we have all these women in the church who are claiming that they’re believers of God. How do we know that they are? By their good works. It is not by you looking beautiful on the outside that we know that you are a child of God. It is by your inner beauty and your good works that we are able to say, you shall know them by their fruits, that this is a person who is following after God.

I think I should just read verse 11 through 15 and sit down, but I won’t do that. Verse 11. A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. This word here, quietness, does not mean that you should keep quiet. It literally means what Peter said in 1 Peter. Gentle, quiet spirit, inner calmness by which she is seeking the face of God. It’s talking about the calmness the spirit of God is able to bring into the life of a woman in that gentle nature of hers that nobody else can. And in full submission under the leadership in the church, but also submission to the Lord Jesus Christ as well. I know this word submission is so difficult. That’s why we read Philippians chapter 2 this evening. Because I wanted to remind you again about the submission of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who being God, what did he do? He humbled himself all the way and died the death of a criminal on a cross. The greatest act of submission and humility the world has ever seen is that of the Lord Jesus Christ. We often talk about this. Is one thing for me to be humble before you or for you to be humble before me? It’s something entirely different for the God of the ages to humble himself. Because in our humility we are only coming to the realization of who we truly are in the sense of like I don’t need to be proud because I am just a human being. I could be here today and gone tomorrow. I need humility in my life. But who is God? God does not have a beginning. He does not have an end. He is a creator of the ends of the universe. For him to humble yourself, that’s amazing. It is beyond what we can even comprehend. And the Bible says he gave up his divine attributes so that he can die the death of a criminal on a cross to bring us near to God. And that same Lord is telling you women should learn in quietness and full submission.

One of the remarkable women of the modern era who has shown tremendous strength in the midst of tragedies that she went through is Elizabeth Elliot. As many of you know, she is the widow of Jim Elliot, one of the five missionaries who were speared to death. She would lose her young husband when she had one child at a very young age. Later on she would remarry and her second husband would die of cancer. So this woman has gone through tremendous difficulties in her life. But at the same time God has used her tremendously to her writings and her speaking to bring many people to the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what she says about submission. It is in willing submission rather than grudging capitulation that the women in the church, whether married or single, and the wife in the home find their fulfillment. Now this goes against everything the world is telling you. I understand that. But God’s word is telling you submit. Understand the authority that God has created in the church and in the home. And in doing that you actually find your fulfillment. So the opposite is also true. When you are not willing to submit and you say, who is God to tell me to submit? Oh this is an outdated book, this is only for the first century. How do you know it is really saying what it is saying? What are you doing is you are trying to live your life against what God says is the way you should live your life. I am not standing here and saying this is easy. As I told you even at the onset, as a man preaching this scripture, this is much easier for me to accept this. But even as a man I find it very uncomfortable to even say this. But this is God’s word. And no matter how much you twist the language back and forth, and I can tell you the original Greek, the word is submission. I wish there was a different word that somehow would fit our palates of our modern era. But God’s word clearly says, if you really want to have the full potential of who God created you as a woman, you need to understand also submission.

Verse 12, I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man. She must be quiet. There are about 100 times in the New Testament where the word teach is used. In 97 out of 100 times the context is church gathering. Only three times is it like one-on-one or a small group setting of Bible study. This is talking about church gathering. And it’s clearly saying, I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man. She must be quiet. Let me go to the next slide, and I will try to explain what this is really talking about. This is a balance that all of us should keep in our mind. While it would be wrong to emphasize hierarchy and neglect equality, it would also be wrong to emphasize equality and neglect hierarchy. Remember what I said in the onset. Both men and women are equal in the sight of God. In creation, in redemption, in the ultimate plan of God for your life, you’re all equal before God. But having said that, if you don’t recognize that God has created an order by which he wants the church to be conducted and home to be conducted, you’ll be missing God’s plan for your life. So both are taught by scripture. Equality and hierarchy.

Go back to the previous verse. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man. I think the second part is kind of easy for us to maybe grasp at. When you study the, we will talk about this coming up, the qualifications of elders in God’s word. It’s very clear that elders are supposed to be men. So the authority figure in the church are supposed to be men. Now, if you have, if you know a woman pastor, if you know a church that has a woman pastor, I’m not going to say that they are practicing heresy. I’m not going to say that they are not Christian. I’m not going to go to such lengths. If they are not convinced by verses that talk clearly about elders having to be men and they believe that elders can be women as well, I don’t think it’s a matter of salvation. I don’t think it’s a matter of where we cannot have any kind of fellowship with them. None of those things. And if you happen to one day end up in a church where there are women pastors and you’re okay with it, I’m okay with it as well. But I do believe that God’s word is teaching that authority within the church has to be in the hands of men. But it only goes to a certain point because we have to see the examples in God’s word. Phoebe is a deaconess, which means that she held a leadership position within the church. But she was not an elder. There’s a difference between elders and deacons.

Go back to the first part. I do not permit a woman to teach. Here at our church, you know that on Saturday nights, we have women teach and preach quite frequently. And we have very gifted women in our church who are given the gift of teaching and preaching. I know Teena did a phenomenal job two weeks ago as she spoke. So we are permitting a woman to teach. But remember what I said in the onset. The teaching and preaching that is mentioned here is in front of an entire church gathering. Our Saturday night meeting is not an entire church gathering. It is more of a setting where our young people usually come together to learn God’s word. So you may disagree with me, but this is the compromise I have made in light of verse 12 is that we allow women to teach and preach on Saturday nights, but not on Sunday morning when the whole church comes together. Now, if there is a woman who is tremendously gifted in teaching and preaching and she can do a job that is much better than any of the elders or teaching pastors that you have in the church, and the church recognizes that, I think as long as the elders of the church are okay in agreement with it, I think it’s perfectly fine for a woman to preach on Sunday mornings as well. But those are few and far between over the course of church history even. You all know the man, William Booth, who was the founder of Salvation Army. His wife, Catherine Booth, was actually a more gifted preacher than William Booth was. For many, many years, they would not allow Catherine to preach because of verses like this. Finally, she got so restless, she wanted to preach. And the church actually gave her a chance to preach one Sunday. Guess what happened after that? The church only wanted to hear Catherine Booth preach because she was so much better preacher than her husband. So, if the church ever gets to a point where they recognize God’s unique gifting and calling in the life of a person, I think it’s perfectly fine because we have to recognize that when God gave that gifting for someone, God also wanted it to be used in the life of the church as well. But that’s a decision that the leaders of the church has to make.

But, as a woman, I think you will be going against this verse if you come to the elders and say, demand to preach. If you come and say, I have the gift of preaching, just because I’m a lady, how come I cannot preach? I think that’s a wrong attitude to have in light of 1 Timothy 2, verse 12. But if those men who are put in charge of leadership within the church recognize your gifting and they call and ask you to preach, you should definitely step up. I know there are at least one person in here who because of this passage have told me at least, I feel guilty preaching because the passage says this. And my answer to her has been this. If the pastor of the church has seen the gifting and calling in your life and asked you to preach, then you are not being what? Resistant to the authority in the church. The problem here is what? Women who are not willing to submit to the authority in the church. But if the authority in the church is telling you, I want you to preach, then you are actually being obedient and submissive when you are preaching. Not just the opposite. So understand the difference between the two. She must be quiet.

Now let me play the devil’s advocate. Those people, churches that don’t adhere to this, this is their argument against it. And there’s no biblical proof for this. They argue that 1st Timothy was written by the apostle Paul to address a specific problem that was happening in the church at Ephesus. That they had problem with women who were not submissive, who were causing problems in the church. And in fact when you read through 1st Timothy, sometimes you see how women were given to false teachings more than men. And they were actually getting, joining together with some of the false teachings and causing problems in the church. So Paul wrote to them and said, you must remain quiet under the authority of men in the church. That’s the argument that they make. Now, is that true? We don’t know. There is no indication in God’s word that that way of looking at the scripture is wrong. So we err on the side of caution and try to at least find some balance within this.

Verse 13 and 14. Here he gives us two reasons why men should have authority in the church and only men should be the primary teachers within the church. This is the reason why I say that I don’t think it was a situation that was unique to just the church at Ephesus. Otherwise, there is no reason for verse 13 and 14. He could have just ended that in verse 12. Here he gives a reason that actually applies to all of us. What is that? Adam was formed first, then Eve. So what is he saying here? In the order of creation, God had a hierarchy. Now, does that make Adam more important than Eve? No. But he is just saying, Adam was created first, then Eve. Just like that in the church, men are given authority over women when it comes to teaching. And Adam was not the one deceived. It was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

Let me focus on that. That second part is more important. The Bible is not saying that women are more prone or gullible to listen to the enemy. The Bible is also not saying that Eve is more guilty for us falling into sin than Adam. Actually, the Bible almost puts the entire blame on Adam. If you read through scriptures, whatever is said, the Bible makes it very clear that it’s the sin of Adam that is passed on from generation to generation. That’s why our Lord was born of a woman and not by a man. Because the idea here is that sin is being passed on by men from generation to generation to generation. That’s why Jesus had to be born of a woman but not by a man so that he would not be tainted by original sin. So the Bible is not putting more blame on Eve. But I want you to look back to what happened in the Garden of Eden. What was happening to Eve at that very point? The serpent came. She was all alone. Whatever you think of that, the idea there is that she was somewhere where she was not supposed to be. Not under the control. Not to say that she always had to stick by Adam. But somehow, this verse makes it very clear, the serpent took advantage of Eve wandering away from the protective eye of her husband. And she was deceived and became a sinner. And then Adam willfully, knowing what Eve had done was wrong, also committed the same sin before God. Somehow, the order that God had created in the Garden of Eden was broken by Adam and Eve. Even before they listened to the serpent, Eve broke a rule of God that she was always supposed to be under the leadership and the protective eye of Adam. And that caused them to fall into sin. Using that example, Paul is saying, you need to be careful. It’s not saying that women cannot teach. But sometimes, allowing women to teach, not that they are more gullible to false teachings or they can be more proactive. I have seen many women preach beautifully and I have read many books by women that are amazing theological books. It’s not saying any of that. But somehow, by what happened, Paul is saying, the order in God’s Word should be men teach and men have the authority in the church.

Verse 15. But women will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety. I think we can wrap up over there. Theologians say, this is the hardest verse in the entire Bible to interpret. And I agree. I have read so much, so many different arguments and all that stuff. And I’ll tell you all of them in a nutshell. The first one, and I think this is completely wrong, they say that women, you can go back to the previous slide, women are somehow, by giving birth to children, somehow they are saved. Now that doesn’t make any sense, right? Because childbearing has nothing to do with your eternal life. By the way, the word saved over here is talking about spiritual salvation. That is the same word that is used for spiritual salvation throughout the book of Timothy. So it’s not talking about something else. So how is it that childbearing has to do with spiritual salvation?

One very prominent thinking throughout the ages, which is not really true, I don’t think, is, remember what God said to Eve in the Garden of Eden. I will put enmity between your seed to the serpent, and the serpent’s seed. But the seed of the woman will one day what? Crush the head of the serpent. And you know how that happened? Jesus will be born of a woman, and he will crush the head of the serpent. That was a promise, greatest promise in Genesis 3 verse 15. Some people argue that this childbearing by the woman is actually talking about Jesus being born to Mary by which we are all saved. And that’s what it’s talking about. If Paul was really trying to say that, why didn’t he just say that? Why didn’t he have to make this statement that does not make much sense?

But I think this is what it really means. Don’t focus much on childbearing part. What is childbearing really mean? Childbearing really mean a woman doing what God is calling her to do. That does not mean that she is to just sit at home, get married, bear children, work in the kitchen, and not do anything else. That’s not what it’s saying. But this word childbearing is thought to mean everything that God is calling a woman to do and her recognizing that and submitting to it. So it’s not just the physical act of giving birth to a child. It’s talking about the submission within the home, submission within the church that God is calling a woman to do. And if she does that, she will be saved. So does that mean that she is saved like that? No. We are only saved by faith in God, by grace and grace alone through Christ’s death on the cross. This saving is talking about our continuous sanctification. You are saved in the past, you are continuously saved, and you will be saved in the future as well when our salvation is complete. This saving is talking about the continuous saving that God does in the life of the believer, the idea of sanctification. But Paul is, I wish almost the Holy Spirit chose a different way, and who am I to question the mind of God? But it’s so difficult to understand this passage. But the thinking here is that if the woman submits to God’s authority and does what God has called her to do, she will continuously save herself when she continues in faith, love, and holiness with propriety.

So, what does it mean? A life of submission unto the Lord is not a wasted life. It is a life that brings continuous sanctification in your life. So, when God is asking women to submit to authority, it’s not because God wants to put you down. It’s because God wants you to be the best that He created you to be. In submission, you will see the glory of God revealed through you. In submission, you fulfill God’s plan and purpose for you. I know that it goes completely against everything the world is telling you today. The world tells you, grab at the highest ladder if you want to become the greatest in this world. But remember what Jesus said, whoever of you wants to become first, let him become last. Whoever of you wants to become the leader, let him become the servant of all. I think God is calling by the grace given to you women to become something that only God can make of you. And that is not by grabbing things or showing or subserving authority. It is actually in submission that you become the woman that God has created you to be.

But isn’t that truth just beautiful in a way? Think about it. Because in our world tells you, it’s your way. Tell your husband, he doesn’t have the control over you and all these things. But God’s word says, submit to your husband. Submit to the pastors in the church. But maybe it isn’t doing that. It doesn’t mean that you become, you know, like do whatever my husband… That’s not what it’s talking about here. I mean, there’s an entire different sermon on what biblical submission is and what biblical submission is not. But true biblical submission is when you really reach the full potential of who God created you to be. I hope I haven’t confused the heck out of you. I hope this is the best way I can try to explain this verse 15.

Let me leave you with three things. The Bible, it gives dignity to women and proclaims equality to the men from beginning to end. Beginning to end, meaning Genesis, Revelation, but also the beginning of your life to the end of your life. In creation, you’re equal with men. In your redemption, you’re equal with men. Guess what? In glory, you are one with him. There is no separation between men and women before the throne of God. The Bible says we are one and the same. Do you know how unique that is? In all the other religions of the world, the women don’t have any chance at paradise. In Islam, no, there’s not. A Jew would often pray two prayers all the time. Thank God that God, you did not make me a Gentile, nor did you make me a woman. That’s the way every male Jewish man prayed. And some still continue to pray like that. But in God’s word, women are given same dignity and equality.

Secondly, even while it seem outdated, based on the ever-changing landscape, our ultimate authority on all matters is God’s word. You need to understand this because the world will tell you something totally different 50 years from now, and it’s only going to change. But our standard is always God’s word.

Finally, women are called by God to a life that honors God and submission to His plan allows them to achieve their full potential and purpose. I think there is such beauty in recognizing God’s word and submitting to it. If God has given you tremendous gifting to teach and preach, I encourage you to do that. I encourage you to do that in every circle that God gives you an opportunity. In your small groups, in your home Bible studies, in your Sunday schools, in your encounter gatherings. Use the giftings that God has called you to do. And then, if your gifting shines so much that the people that are in authority in the church recognize your tremendous gifting, and they ask you to preach in front of the whole church, be willing to do so. Because you are still submission to authority there. God has used tremendous women throughout the ages. I always think about someone like Monica, who was the mother of Augustine, who prayed for him relentlessly. Her husband was a pagan. Through her prayer, he came to know the Lord. Monica would pray for young Augustine. For many years, he would walk away from the Lord. It was three years before her death that Augustine finally came to the Lord, became one of the most prominent theologians in Christendom. All because of the prayer of his mom, Monica.

I think of Fanny Crosby, blinded at the age of one, writer of more than 8,000 hymns, many that we still sing today. A woman that God used powerfully with the giftings that God has given to her. Her gifting earned her audience with the presidents of the United States. She was friends with many of the most important people in the world because of the gifting that God gave to her. Biblical submission did not take anything away from the life of Fanny Crosby.

I mentioned Catherine Booth, who served alongside her husband, William Booth, and founded Salvation Army. I think of a woman by the name of Charlotte Moon. In fact, if you get a chance, go and read on Lottie Moon or Charlotte Moon. She grew up in the South by affluent Southern Baptist parents. Yet, at the age of 32 years old, she went to China as a young woman, all alone. Changed entire villages and almost half of China was evangelized by the work of this one woman, Lottie Moon. God used her, even if maybe a Sunday pulpit was not available for her. Somebody like Amy Carmichael, tremendous woman, born in Ireland to devout Scottish Presbyterian parents. Amy converted to Christianity when she was just 14 years old. Amy joined the Church Missionary Society and served in Japan for 15 months before heading to Bangalore, India in 1895, where she lived for the rest of her life. You know what UK, United Kingdom wanted to do one time? Bring her back to UK so they can honor her. Give her the title. Deny her. She refused and said, no, my work is in India. Did not even take one vacation and come back home to see her loved ones in years of ministering in India. She ministered in India for 56 long years. Even today, you can go to Bangalore and Tamil Nadu and see orphanages that were founded by Amy Carmichael and missionary societies and churches that were formed by the work of a woman that came from Ireland. Gladys Aylward. She had, she was very short. In a school filled with blonde haired women and blue eyes, for some reason, even though her parents had all those features, she was born with dark hair, dark eyes, and she only grew up to be five foot tall. Growing up, she always asked the question, God, why did you just make me different from all the other girls in my school? Everybody is tall. They all have blonde hair, blue eyes. I am short. I have dark eyes and dark brown hair. She only realized why God made her like that when she finally landed in the place where God had called her to be a missionary, China. She said, when I landed in China and I looked around, I realized why God made me to be five foot tall with brown hair and brown eyes. Everybody looked just like me. I was made to be a missionary to China. You all know the story of Corrie Ten Boom, who, with her life, still continues to inspire us.

So, rather than focusing on limitations that God has placed, maybe in your giftings, I put it in quotation, limitations. They’re not really limitations. When you submit to God’s plan for your life, God will use you. God will use you to transform others. God has made you for such a time as this, just like he did with Esther as he used her to save an entire nation. So, do not shy away from these passages. Our God’s ways are higher than our ways. He is a God of tremendous wisdom. We don’t always understand why he asks us to do certain things and why he says no to certain things. But there’s always order in his economy. There’s always hierarchy in his way of doing things. There’s always a sense of beauty in the way God arranges things. Rather than rebelling against God or questioning his wisdom, if you submit to his plan for your life, God will use you. I’m really looking forward to see how God will use all the women who will listen to me tonight and all the men. Remember, tonight’s message was not only for women but also for men. You are to lift up holy hands and pray with a heart that is not given to unforgiveness or dissension in your heart.

One last thing before we end with worship. All the men who will be listening to me tonight, don’t take passages as this to treat women as if they are somehow second-class citizens. You should learn to treat women with dignity and respect that they deserve at a very young age. Remember the mandate that we have. Love your wife just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. Learn to do that at a very young age. Respect women. They are co-heirs with you in the plan of God’s salvation for your life.

The worship team will come forward. We’ll sing unto the Lord and continue to worship him. Praise God.