Redeemer Live - December 8th, 2024

Good to have you with us all worshiping our great God and Savior, the

Lord Jesus Christ. As we begin our time of worship, I want to just mention my name is

Doug. I'm one of the brothers here who has the privilege of leading through the service today.

We've got this wonderful time, not only of reading of God's Word, the preaching of it, prayer, and song, but also at the end, and I'll mention it again, we've got a potluck, our monthly fellowship potluck, which you are all invited to attend.

No worries about whether you did or didn't bring anything. We always have more than enough.

You know how it is at church potlucks. I don't think you ever run out of anything, do you? But you're more than welcome to stay, and we'd enjoy getting that extra time to visit with you and get to know you.

So with that in mind, we will begin our time of worship.

God calls us to worship, and it's from His Word that we'll begin that today.

I'll be reading from Psalm 84 verses 1 and 2, and if you have one of the red hardback

Bibles that we give away, it's on page 518. Psalm 84 verses 1 and 2.

For the choir director on the Giddeh, a psalm of the sons of Korah.

How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord of armies. I long and yearn for the courts of the

Lord. My heart and flesh cry out for the living

God. I'm actually going to give you a bonus verse with this too.

One of my favorites in this psalm. It's verse 10, so drop down there with me if you will. Better a day in your courts than a thousand anywhere else.

I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my

God than live in the tents of wicked people. Would you join me now in prayer?

Gracious Creator, Sovereign God, we are grateful and humbled that you are calling us to worship you, the one who deserves all worship.

And we're humbled because while we are creatures and do owe you worship, our hearts are prone to want to worship other things.

And for that, we confess and ask for your forgiveness in that and ask for your strength to guide our hearts this morning as we come together to worship you around your word, in song, the

Lord's table, and in prayer. We can see from your word that being in your courts, being in the fellowship of your people is much better than all of the attractions of this world.

May that be the call of our heart this morning as we come together at your throne.

Thank you, dear God, for this time. We ask your blessing on us in Jesus name.

Amen. Well, if you are able, please stand and we'll continue our time of worship in song.

The King of Kings may be seated in the worship.

Just turn, if you've got your Bible, just turn a little bit to the left. We'll be in Psalm 62, and it's on page 504, those red hardback

Bibles that we give away. Psalm 62.

Just a quick note about the Psalm as I read the introduction, which is part of the inspired scripture.

It mentions a word, jeduthin. That was actually an individual person who was part of the song ministry of the temple during the time of David.

So while the words are attributed to David, whatever music was performed, and they did perform music as part of their worship, as do we, it was led by and possibly even composed by this individual, jeduthin.

So just, you know, a little background. Psalm 62 on page 504.

For the choir director, according to jeduthin, a

Psalm of David. I am at rest in God alone. My salvation comes from him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold. I will never be shaken.

How long will you threaten a man? Will all of you attack as if he were a leaning wall or a tottering fence?

They only plan to bring him down from his high position. They take pleasure in lying.

They bless with their mouths, but they curse inwardly. Selah. Rest in God alone, my soul, for my hope comes from him.

He alone is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold. I will not be shaken.

My salvation and glory depend on God, my strong rock. My refuge is in God.

Trust in him at all times, you people. Pour out your hearts before him. God is our refuge.

Common people are only a vapor. Important people, an illusion.

Together on a scale, they weigh less than a vapor. Place no trust in oppression or false hope in robbery.

If wealth increases, don't set your heart on it. God has spoken once.

I have heard this twice. Strength belongs to God and faithful love belongs to you.

For you repay each according to his words. Would you now join me in a prayer response?

Almighty, sovereign, creator God, we do come before you both encouraged by these words, humbled by these words, warned by these words, and assured by these words.

You alone are our rock. And our salvation. And because you are a rock in our salvation, as we trust you, we will never be shaken as we read in this song.

And Lord, we are warned about placing our trust or hope in either ill -gotten gain or even in common people or even important people because they are both an illusion or a vapor.

Temporary, transient is this life on earth.

And with that, it reminds us by contrast that you are eternal. And all who hope in you have an eternity with you in their presence.

God, thank you that during this sojourning time on this temporary life that we have on earth.

That you are our rock in Christ. And because of that hope and that assurance, our time on this earth can be one where we praise you, trust you in the ups and downs, and look forward to what you have for us in Christ.

Thank you for this time that we can gather again to continue our worship. And we ask it in Jesus name.

Amen. All right, again, if you're able to stand, please join us again as we continue in song.

King of kings who rules and reigns faithfully, but he's also our great shepherd who guides us along the path of peace.

So let's sing about that great shepherd. Well, please go ahead and be seated.

Oh, I add my welcome to that of dogs, especially if you're visiting with us this morning. I am Kofi, have the privilege of serving the

Lord here as the pastor at Redeemer Bible Fellowship. It is a joy to have you with us this morning.

Kids, you are dismissed to our kids. They have a great time as you get to hear God's word there.

A couple of very quick announcements, and we will get straight into the ministry of God's word because I have a lot to cover this morning.

It's quite a big text. As we get started, first things first.

Hopefully on the way in, you saw we have invite cards ready for our Christmas outreach service on December the 21st.

So that's a Saturday evening. The time is, I think, 6 .30. I think that's why

I wrote on the thing. Oh, seven. Okay, seven o 'clock. So seven o 'clock on the 21st, and it will be in this building.

So we will be here. We'll worship on Saturday night and then come together and do it all over again on Sunday morning.

So December the 21st, thank you to the folks who've volunteered to read. We still need a few more folks to do some of the readings in the service.

So if you are interested and available, come see me. I can get you plugged in on that.

I just want to personally, I want to say thank you for your prayers for my week away. Those of you who are visiting,

I spent the last week up in Cannon Beach at Ecola Bible College, teaching a class on hermeneutics.

We had a... They told me they had a fun time, so I'm going to believe them. I had a great time.

It was a really wonderful time of just getting to think about how to better read and understand

God's Word. I brought a couple of pictures just to show you what happened. So that was Wednesday night?

No, Tuesday night, Tuesday night, because we were thinking about applications. So I had them actually, we worked through a passage and then

I had them think about how you properly apply that passage. So that was Tuesday night.

So the way it works is they have two classes per week or two courses,

I guess. So I taught one and then a missionary from Slovenia, Sean Weidenbor, he taught the other one.

And so we just kind of, I get done. Well, he would teach first and then I'd come in and teach the second class.

So he taught on missions. I taught on how to study the Bible. So this was because we had one in the morning and then we'd have another class in the evening.

So both classes went well, which I'm thankful for. So that was

Tuesday night. And then this was Friday morning. You can see me in the back there.

This was Friday morning. They had survived the class. A few of them had to leave early because they had long trips home. But it was a wonderful time up there.

Be praying for those young people. 70, well, some of them had gone home, but there were 70 people that week from all over the place, as far as Alaska and as close as there were some folks from Medford in the class.

So that was kind of fun. And they were a good bunch. I enjoyed the Southern Oregon contingent in the room.

So quite a spread of folks, Alaska, Montana, mostly

Oregon, some Washington, and some folks in Northern California as well. So pray for them.

They're on their Christmas break for the next month. So pray for them as they return home and re -engage with life.

It's a very intensive program that they're doing. And again, great young people.

I just want a personal note. It's easy to get discouraged about the state of the church sometimes, especially when you see ridiculous things happen in the church.

But if these young people are any indication, at least the ones I got to spend time with and chat with, I'm a little more encouraged about the future of the church.

And I'll say more on Wednesday. I'll tell some specific stories of conversations I had and things I saw. But overall, wonderful time, but also glad to be back here.

Well, doing really what I was teaching them, which is digging into God's word. And so with that in mind, let's come back to the sermon series that we've been in.

We are working our way through the book of 1 Timothy. That's our habit here at Redeemer. We work our way book by book through sections of God's word.

Well, passage by passage, I say through books in God's word. And this morning we come to 1

Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy in chapter number 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2. And we're going to be in verses 8 through to 15.

1 Timothy chapter 2 verses 8 to 15. 1

Timothy chapter 2 verses 8 through 15. If you grabbed one of the red hardbacks that we give away, that's on page 1051.

Page 1051, 1 Timothy chapter 2 verses 8 through to 15.

If you're able to do so, can I invite you to stand with me as we read this portion of God's word? We like to stand at this moment to symbolize our full submission to the word of God that we stand under its authority, not over it.

And so 1 Timothy chapter 2, beginning in verse 8. Brothers and sisters, these are

God's words to us this morning. Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument.

Also, the women are to dress themselves in modest clothing with decency and good sense, not with elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls or expensive apparel, but with good works.

As is proper for women who profess to worship God. A woman is to learn quietly with full submission.

I do not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man. Instead, she is to remain quiet.

But Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was deceived, was not deceived, excuse me, but the woman was deceived and transgressed.

But she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith, love and holiness.

With good sense. These are God's words to us. Pray that he would bless the reading of them to us and grant us understanding as we read them.

And I invite you to pray with me and ask for the Lord's help as we come to his word this morning. Well, Heavenly Father, we thank you for the gift of the

Lord's day, another opportunity to come together as your people to worship and to fellowship around your word.

And I pray that as we come to this section of your word, it's not a straightforward one in some ways.

It's quite challenging, both in what it says and also what it means. I pray,

Heavenly Father, that you would help us that as we read your word and as we seek to understand its message for us today, you would give us hearts that are open to hear and to receive all that you have for us.

Father, I'll take a moment to pray for the students I got to minister to this week at the Bible College up there in Cannon Beach.

Thank you for the work that's happening there as they're taking a year out of their lives to immerse themselves in the word of God and in fellowship with one another and in service to you.

I pray for each and every one of the 70 students I met this week. I pray for those

I met who are thinking about missions in other countries, those who are engaged in children's ministry and want to see young people come to know

God's word. I pray for those who are still figuring out what God's desire for them in their life is.

Father, that age of 17, 18, 19 is such a difficult age, especially in a culture like ours.

And so, Father, I pray two things. I pray that you would watch over them and keep them, especially as they've all gone to their separate homes for the next month to spend time with family before they go back to study.

Father, I also pray that you would protect them. And I don't mean protect them physically.

I pray that you would protect the zeal that they have. What a passionate group. What a fired up group. And Father, I know that where there is zeal, there is always an adversary who would do anything to quench that zeal.

So, Father, I pray that you would protect them. Keep the fire burning that is so clearly evident in them. Or bring people around them who will not squelch that fire, who won't say things to make them feel out of place and feel as though they're in the wrong for caring.

Father, bring people around them who will encourage them in the faith. May iron sharpen iron as they engage in fellowship with people who are like -minded and are pursuing the same goal.

Pray for the staff there at E. Cola as they take a break after what's been a very busy term of 11 weeks.

Pray that they are able to rest and recharge and prepare for another term of pouring into these precious young people.

Be with them wherever they are. Pray that you'd be with us now as we come to your word. And I ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake.

Amen. Please be seated. Our God is a

God of order. Our God is a God of order.

You see it in the design and the form of the created world around us. There are cycles of time, even terrain is not, it may look random, but even terrain is not random.

The very fact that our solar system is arranged the way it is, I don't know if you've ever thought about this, that if we were off by even a few kilometers one way or another, our temperatures would not be able to sustain life.

We'd either be too hot or too cold. The world is exactly ordered the way that it needs to be.

You see order in the human body. So you see that in the uniqueness of the sexes.

Yes, we live in a culture that wants to delete that uniqueness. But the reality is, even in the uniqueness of the sexes, male and female, you see order.

When you look at the body and you see an interconnected set of systems and processes all working simultaneously to keep you alive at this very moment, you see order.

God doesn't just create things. He creates orderly things.

And yes, sin introduced chaos and disorder into our world, into our homes, into our relationships.

That much is true. So we live in a world where you don't always see order where you should. Sin introduced chaos and disorder into our world.

But God, the God who never changes. Have you ever thought about this?

That He is not just one who creates order. He is the very vision of order.

He is the vision of order and He creates order. And if that's the case, nowhere should that God of order, that God of structure, nowhere should

He be better visible than in the body of Christ, than in the church that He has created.

That's really the issue at the heart of the passage that we're studying this morning. We're asking the question, what is God's order for the church?

As you can see up on screen there, this is part one of this because Paul's going to have a lot to say about the order that exists in God's house.

We're in 1 Timothy this morning and you'll recall that I've said when you come to 1 Timothy, 1

Timothy is a book really that's on a mission. It's a letter that's on a mission. Paul up to this point has been speaking to Timothy about some problems in the church of Ephesus that need to be put right.

So again, look back at chapter one with me for just a moment. So 1 Timothy chapter one and verse three, as I urged you when

I went to Macedonia, remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach false doctrine or to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies.

These promote empty speculations rather than God's plan which operates by faith.

And so far in our study of the letter, we've seen two really big sections. We spent a number of weeks in chapter one and in really chapter one, the theme there is, well, how do we respond to false teachers?

There are people who had crept into the church who were teaching things they shouldn't and Paul essentially expects

Timothy to identify these false teachers, but not just to identify them, but also to deal with them.

But the next section in the letter, which we started last week, deals not just with responding to false teachers, but it deals with what

I've called restoring the church's mission. Because these false teachers had come in and they had gained a hearing, part of what had happened was there was now a confusion about what the church's mission was.

What was the church to be and what was the church to do? And Paul is dealing with that in this section that we're in.

That starts in chapter two and it's going to work all the way through to verse 13 of chapter three. That will finish in a few weeks,

Lord willing. Now, in our last message, we were in chapter two, verses one through seven, where we thought about God's house for all nations.

And in our last message, essentially you could boil it down to saying that we thought about the church as a witnessing people.

The church as a witnessing people. As the church, as the praying and the proclaiming vehicle of God's salvation for all people.

That was what we thought about last time in verses one through seven. Well, this morning, we're transitioning on from our thinking about the church, not just to think about the church as God's witnessing people, but also as his worshipping people.

And not just God's worshipping people in the general sense, but his worshipping people in keeping with the order that he has ordained in the church.

Because the God who created the world around us with order and who creates our physical bodies with order is the same

God who creates order in the house that he has built and is building.

He designed it. He built it. And he gave his only son for us to establish that house.

And if he is concerned about how his house runs, and let's be clear, God is infinitely concerned about how his house runs.

If God is concerned about how his house runs, then might I suggest that maybe we should be just a little bit, not a whole lot, but just a little bit concerned about how his church runs.

That's our thought this morning. Because if the big idea we've set for this letter is true, that this letter is teaching us this central truth that God's church conducts itself according to God's word when it proclaims

God and for our purposes, especially this morning, lives out the truth. Part of that living out the truth includes how the church is ordered, how the church is structured.

And let me be clear, Paul is going to say some things in this text. Paul is going to say some things in this passage that, let's just be honest, as moderns, they don't sit well with us.

It's okay to say that. We are people of our time. I said this to the kids this week.

All of us have a context. Just like texts have context, people have context. And part of the context that we live in makes words like what we just read from Paul sometimes a little hard to stomach.

But the reality is, if it's in God's word, we don't really get to argue. We may have to grapple with these truths and bring our hearts into line of what they say.

But if God's word says it, and we can prove that it says it, then we have to just learn to accept it.

Here's my big idea for this message. Every message, as you know, I try to give you a simple statement that summarizes what is the beating heart of the passage.

Here's the big idea. If I can get to it, that would be great. God's house has a definite order.

And the house flourishes when we embrace that order. Real simple.

God's house has a definite order. I mean, that should make sense. If creation has an order, and if the human body has an order,

I'd argue even the home has an order. If everything that God creates has order and form and structure to it, well,

God's house is no different. God's house has a definite order. And the house flourishes when we embrace that order.

That's the big idea I want us to see from this passage. That God's house has a definite order.

Excuse me. And the house flourishes when we, the people of God, when we embrace that order.

It's not enough to just know it. That's the point I'm going to make a few times in this message. That it's not enough for us to just know what God's order is.

We also have to learn to embrace that order. For the rest of our time,

I want to consider two ways that God's definite order works itself out in the church.

In this passage, I'm going to argue that Paul gives us two ways that God's definite order works itself out in the church.

And the reason we want to know this is so that the church can flourish. If we want the church to be healthy, if we want the church to thrive, if we want the church to function as the church ought to function, that requires knowing how

God's definite order works itself out. And it's only when we understand that, that the church can truly flourish.

So two ways that God's definite order works itself out in the church so the church can flourish. So how can the people of God flourish under the order of God?

Well, they flourish when point number one, in God's house, godly men lead. In God's house, godly men lead.

This passage starts with a therefore, which means it's connected to what he said previously. So what did he talk about in verses one through seven?

Well, he talks about the fact the church is, like I said, a witnessing people. That the church exists to pray for the lost and then to proclaim the gospel to the lost.

Well, if that is true, if the church is designed, as I said last week, and if you want to catch that, if you go to our website, you can catch all of our sermons on there.

If the church is designed to be God's witness to the world, bringing men and women, boys and girls into God's worshiping house, if that's the case, well, look at verse eight.

So verse eight, he says, therefore, in light of that reality, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument.

The church's gospel call, the church's gospel witness can't be disconnected from the worship of the church.

A really excellent book on missions that was published a few years ago, Let the Nations Be Glad by John Piper has a classic one -liner that opens the book from Piper.

Piper says that missions exists because worship doesn't. That missions exists because worship doesn't.

That God desires people from every nation to worship him. And since that doesn't happen, we go to the nations, proclaiming the gospel message.

I think Piper is simply just channeling what Paul says here, that there is a connection between the witness of God's people and the worship of God's people.

The call to be God's witness to the nations, catch this, leads to worship that is orderly and is led well.

And Paul is very specific in this passage about who leads. So again, look at the text. He says, therefore,

I want the men in every place to pray. At the risk of pointing out the obvious, the word for man here or men here, excuse me, isn't the generic word.

There's two words really in the New Testament that are used for men. One carries sort of general sense, like we would say in English, mankind.

So as opposed to an animal, as opposed to a tree, as opposed to some other living thing. So there is mankind, but that's not the word here.

The word here is the specific word for a male or males.

It's in the plural here. Paul's very clear about who should be leading in prayer.

He says, therefore, I want the men in every place and every place is referring is to every place that the church gathers.

Paul wants the men in every place to pray. Now, of course, it's very clear that Paul is not saying that women don't pray at all.

No, men and women pray. That's part of being a Christian. So clearly

Paul is talking about, I think the context of the letter bears this out, that the context in which Paul is talking about is the church when it gathers.

Paul's point is not, okay, only men can pray privately and women, well, you're just kind of out of luck.

You've got to figure out some way to get your request to God, I suppose. That's not Paul's point.

I think Paul is primarily talking about the gathered worship of God's people. Paul wants the corporate worship of the church, beginning with its prayer, to be led by men.

Now, of course, women can and should pray when the church gathers in worship. When we gather before the

Lord, of course, women should pray. It's not just sit there in stone -faced silence while the men do everything. But again,

Paul is talking about leadership here. The church's gathered worship is to be led by men.

You've got to be honest and say that. Male leadership is a very unpopular concept in our culture.

I mean, think about it. Even in the church, the very idea that part, not the whole, but at least part of biblical manhood is leadership.

That idea, whether we're talking about in the home and especially in the church, that can be a tough pill to swallow, especially in an age like ours, that there really is no such thing as leadership.

Have you ever thought about that? Our society doesn't really believe in leadership. It just believes in someone to blame when things go wrong. And when you've grown up in a society, again, it's the age -old question, does a fish know it's wet?

Think about that for a second. Does a fish know it's wet? No, you need to know what dry is to know what wet is, right?

And the point when we ask that question is to say that you don't know what you're not used to. And in a society like ours, where we have been raised on a sort of radical equality, where there is no such thing as leadership, there's no such thing as headship, there's no such thing as somebody who actually has to take the lead and take charge, this can be a tough pill to swallow.

An example of this happened in 1987, thinking about the church. In 1987, a group of, as they said, take them at their word, evangelical

Christians here in the US decided to start a ministry. They called that ministry Christians for Biblical Equality, CBE.

And when they started that ministry, this is the mission statement that they coined for it. They started this ministry devoted to, and this is their words, go on their website, they still have them, to quote, promote the biblical message that God calls women and men, please note the order they put that in, by the way, that God calls women and men of all cultures, races, and classes to share authority equally in service and leadership in the home, the church, and the world.

CBE's mission is to eliminate the power imbalance between men and women, resulting from,

I thought this phrase was interesting, theological patriarchy. They go on, same website, same page.

Part of their mission statement, they believe is that Christ, catch this, Christ's redemptive work frees all people from patriarchy, calling women and men to share authority equally in service and leadership.

I have a problem with our modern culture. If you know me, you probably know what I'm about to say. One of my biggest problems,

I have a lot of problems in modern culture, but one of my biggest is that we think words don't mean things, that words just mean what we feel they mean.

And if there is any word that has come to have such a negative connotation, even among Christians, it's the word patriarchy.

I can get controversial for a moment. Every Christian believes in patriarchy if words mean things. Why? Because what is patriarchy?

Not the secular definition, which only actually came around in the 60s and 70s. That's a whole other conversation.

No, biblical patriarchy. The word patriarchy is a Greek term. It comes from two Greek words. Pater, father.

Achi, head. That's what the headship of fathers. Well, does the

Bible say anything about men, fathers being the heads of their homes? Ephesians 5, Colossians 3, 1 Peter 3.

There's a lot of places you can go. Is there a way to abuse patriarchy?

Of course there is. Just as there is to abuse anything in the Bible. But note the language that they use.

That Christ's redemptive work frees all people from patriarchy. Well, hold on.

Words mean things. Christ's redemptive work, the work that Christ does on the cross. So in other words, you're saying that patriarchy is a sin that we need to be liberated from.

I don't know if they intended this or not, but you've just now made that issue a gospel issue. Because if it's part of Christ's redemptive work, that's a gospel issue.

Now they'll say, no, we don't mean that. Well, words mean things. Let me carry on.

This organization, the CBE, they're still around to this day. They started a journal. In my

Bible software, I pay a little extra every month and I get access to every theological journal that's out there. I'm a seminary student, so I need access to it.

You can still read their journal. It's called the Priscilla Papers. Taking their name from Priscilla in the

Book of Acts. Yeah, Priscilla and Aquila, yes. So I got curious.

I said, this was actually Friday. I was in the airport. And I said, let me read the first volume of the

Priscilla Papers. I didn't have to go far. Page one. One of their writers,

Carrie Malcolm, wrote this. Quote, being real or set free. She's talking about the fact that Christian women need to be real.

Being real or set free means looking beyond ourselves and our homes, first to the conservative women in our churches who are not real.

Oh, way to take shots at your brothers and sisters in Christ, but okay. Our task is to provide, this is, she's all about the task of the ministry.

Our task is to provide friendship, forums for discussion on women's status, information and Bible studies on women written from a conservative perspective.

They abandoned that very quickly, actually. But anyway, written from a conservative perspective about the freedom

Christ has given us in the gospel. After penetrating evangelical churches with the liberating good news, we have to go beyond the church and beyond our shores to women of other cultures who continue to live in some sort of patriarchal bondage that makes them less than real human beings.

The author says this to conclude, as a missionary and as a biblical feminist, I'm just going to keep reading.

We haven't got time. As a missionary and as a biblical feminist, I have to agree with my friend

Rosemary from Sweden. I am not free until every woman on earth is free. And she makes it very clear, freedom in that context is freedom from male headship.

No, no, no, we can say, we can hear that. And honestly, here's my first thought when I read that. I said, doing too much, just you're doing the most right now.

You're doing too much. Then I had to think about this for a second, because she might be, well, granted, she identifies as a biblical feminist, whatever that means.

We might think she's doing too much, but I've been around the church long enough to know that while words like that may be a little bit on the dramatic side, there are also lots of people who might be tempted to think that she has a point.

The fact that I just said that leadership in worship is restricted to men, I told you, it's a hard sell in our culture.

Let's be clear, men don't always help in that case. Men have not always proven themselves to be safe.

Let me be clear, I'm not going to downplay that at all. No, that's a reality. And so what happens even in the mind of women who would say that they're conservative,

Bible -believing Christians, the thinking starts to go like this. Okay, well, okay, fine.

The Bible says that men should lead, all right. But you can't give actual authority to men to lead.

But we can't edit this out because it's in the Bible. And it's interesting, I yesterday decided as I was prepping this message,

I started reading more and more journal articles from this group, the Christians for Biblical Equality. Here's a fascinating thing.

Very quickly, they started getting rid of the language of authority altogether. They just realized what Paul's saying doesn't make sense.

And what they ended up doing was saying, well, Paul said that, but Paul was on a trajectory that was getting away from that to full equality.

Because after a while, Paul's words kind of haunt you if you take the view that he doesn't really mean what he says essentially.

And what ended up happening was that, and I think this happens a lot among Christian circles sometimes. They started giving the nod, at least in the early years, to male headship, but they started to view it as more of a rubber stamp than anything else.

You know, when I say a rubber stamp, in politics, they talk about someone who has rubber stamp authority.

It's a kind of authority where they have the title of leader, but in actuality, they're just there to affirm somebody else's leadership.

Coming from the UK, I understand how this works. We have a monarch. For decades, it was a queen. Most recently, it became a king.

Every year, I trained to be a journalist, so every year, the king would give a speech in parliament where he would lay out policy for the year.

And I'm not gonna lie, when I first learned how that speech comes about, I said, this is a farce. Why are they doing this? You know how the king's speech works?

The king doesn't actually write that speech. You know who writes that speech for him? The one he gives to parliament? No, prime minister writes it.

He just sits in parliament and reads what the prime minister wrote. England has what we refer to as a constitutional monarchy.

Yes, there's a monarch, but really, the monarch, in terms of actual power to run things, has been stripped of most of that power.

Most of that power goes to parliament. He has a position, but really, he doesn't have any actual authority.

He's just the rubber stamp. Laws get brought to him, and he doesn't really argue. He just kind of says, yeah, this is what we're gonna do.

Kofi, you're really laboring this point. Yeah, I am. I'm laboring it because I'm convinced that even in churches like ours, there is a danger that we can give the nod to male headship in worship and in the life of the church while actually being distrustful of it.

And let me be clear. I don't think that's just women who feel that way. I think men can feel that way too. Men can be distrustful of it because why would

I want somebody else to be in charge? Or leadership is not something

I want. So guess what? I'm never going to aspire to it. We'll talk more about that in chapter three. And of course, women are distrustful of it in a culture where men are viewed as dangerous unless they are subservient.

Now, let me be clear. Paul will have plenty to say about what qualifies a man for leadership next week when we start chapter three.

Let's be clear. Just because you have an XY chromosome set doesn't mean you get to lead. Certain men get to lead.

But before we let the sort of radical skepticism of our culture where any sense of leadership and headship is called oppression, before we let that get to us, we have to acknowledge that Paul says he wants men to lead in prayer in every place where the people of God gathers.

But also pay attention to the fact that Paul defines that leadership. So follow me here.

First of all, Paul says that godly men lead lives of holiness. So he knows that he says that he wants the men to every place to pray, lifting holy hands.

What's interesting, Paul doesn't use the regular word for holiness here. He uses a different word. It carries this idea of devoutness or being pious.

I mean, I remember I was reading, I was like, no, that's kind of weird. How are hands pious?

People are pious. People are devout, very serious about their faith.

But your hands don't have personality. How can they be pious?

But then I started to dig a little deeper and realized that Paul is actually doing a bit of a callback to the Old Testament. A few verses really quickly.

Psalm 18, verse 20, the psalmist is praying to the Lord and he says, the Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness.

He repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands. Psalm 24, the psalmist starts that psalm by asking, who can ascend to the mountain of the

Lord? Who can dwell on this holy hill? He says, the one who has clean hands and a pure heart.

God is condemning his people in Isaiah chapter one. And he says to his people, when you spread out your hands in prayer.

Oh, interesting. There's a connection between your hands and prayer again. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will refuse to look at you.

Even if you offer countless prayers, I will not listen. For your hands are covered with blood.

The word picture is the same. That instead of hands that are clean, hands that are pure.

He says, no, the nation of Israel, when you pray, I'm not listening to you. When you stretch out your hands before me, listen, I don't see those hands.

What I see is the blood on those hands. The book of James, which is,

I would argue one of the first letters written in the New Testament. And very, very, very drawn from the

Old Testament. James 4, 8, James says, draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double -minded.

And Paul talks about this idea of holy hands. He doesn't just mean your physical hands. He's talking about your way of life. That godly men are holy men.

And they're not holy because they're rule -following, law -keeping, tidy men. That's the fruit of holiness.

That doesn't make you holy. No, they are holy because they have experienced the work of God's grace, making them holy in God's sight, and then are able to live out of that reality of what

God does. If I can pause for a moment. That's the secret of true Christian holiness. You don't make yourself holy.

God is the one making you holy. And as you submit to his word and you allow his spirit to work in your life, that is how you become holy.

I don't feel very holy. I just give God time. He will take care of that. Godly men are holy men.

They might not be perfect. We might sometimes confuse holiness and perfection. But let's be clear. There's only one being in the entirety of creation.

In fact, he's above creation. So you can't even say he's in creation. God alone is perfect. And God does not expect humans to be perfect.

But he does expect men to be holy because Jesus has made them holy and is making them holy.

It is men who have seen their sin in the light of the gospel, who have come to faith in Christ by his spirit, seek to live in ways that reflect the

God who saved them. Those are the kinds of men who should lead the church's worship.

So godly men lead lives of holiness, but they also lead lives of peace. They also lead lives of peace.

So again, look at what I'm saying. Therefore, I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument.

Anger is where I want to focus for a second. In fact, Paul's going to expand on this in the next chapter. So chapter 3, verse 3, he says that an elder, an overseer, or a pastor should not be a bully, but gentle.

When Paul uses the word for anger here, he uses the word in chapter 3 of not being a bully. It's the idea, not that he doesn't get angry.

Coming from the UK especially, there's in British literature, I did English language and literature in my secondary school years.

Whenever a village minister was presented, he was always this very milquetoast character. One of my favorite shows is the

TV show Father Brown on the BBC. It's hilarious. I love it. It's what I watch when I just want to relax and not think about things.

But the portrayal of Father Brown, he's actually really smart, but they also portray him as kind of bumbling, and he really doesn't do too much.

You know, he's very milquetoast. He's very inoffensive. Neutral. That's a good word, actually.

He's neutral. He doesn't really... He doesn't do anything one way or another. I don't think that's necessarily what

Paul's getting at when he says it, which means he doesn't get angry at anything. You can just keep doing stuff to him. He's just like, okay, no.

I don't think that's quite what Paul's getting at. The word for anger here carries this idea of outbursts of anger.

And it's a pattern of this, that the way in which you deal with people, especially when you don't get what you want, is that Paul says you should not be characterized by outbursts of anger.

Yes, they're not pushovers just doing what people want. I would argue that's not leadership at all. But they don't use anger and intimidation to get their way.

And isn't it a sad thing when you come to church and you encounter leaders who use anger and intimidation to get their way?

Spiritual abuse. You've heard that phrase? It's a phrase that has become prominent in recent years.

It's a sad reality. And honestly, it's a reality that shouldn't be. It shouldn't be the case that those who are in leadership are characterized by anger and intimidation and manipulation, making people basically bend to their whim.

Not by the fruits of the Spirit. So remember, what does Paul say? Galatians 5, fruit of the Spirit? He says that fruit includes peace and gentleness.

Godly men lead lives of holiness. They lead lives of peace. They also lead lives of goodwill. They lead lives of goodwill, not the stores that we see around.

Goodwill here, though it's the end of verse 8. All the men are in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument.

The word for argument here is an interesting one. It's where we get our word dialogue from. Now, we can be clear, not all dialogue is bad.

It's one of a few words in the New Testament where the context tells you whether it's good or bad. It's like the word desire in the

Bible. Desire when it's good is just desire. When it's bad, it's loss. Same with this word here for dialogue.

Dialogue can be good, but clearly not all dialogue is good.

And given the way that Paul says that we should be without this, the context here is clearly negative.

Now, a couple of weeks ago, we were in chapter 1. Remember what Paul said there? He commands Timothy to fight the good fight.

Well, is Paul contradicting himself here? Is he saying that, yes, you should fight, but don't argue?

Well, no, sometimes fighting means you have to argue with someone. Here's what I think Paul is saying. I think

Paul is basically saying, yes, contend for the faith, fight for the faith, but don't be contentious while you do.

You know that difference? There's a difference between... I can't remember who it was years ago who said this, but someone who said like,

I know how to fight, I just don't like it. That's the kind of mindset Paul's referring to here.

That there's a difference between someone who likes fighting and someone who can fight.

I think it's interesting that Paul says this in the context of men, because men are not the only ones to get sinfully mad.

That's a human trait. But can we be honest and say that men can be a little more prone to that sometimes?

Men can be a little more prone to the kind of sinful arguing and debating that Paul has in mind here.

And when they do... I don't have too much time, so I'll just give you the reference. 2 Timothy chapter 2, 24 to 26.

Paul says that the Lord's servant must be one who doesn't quarrel. But he must be, again, here's that word, gentle to everyone.

And he should instruct his opponents with gentleness. Sometimes you need to raise a little heaven and fight.

Most of the time though, it's just not that deep. One time I heard someone say, leaders should be known as men of peace who know how to fight, not fighters who don't know peace.

Leaders should be known as men of peace who know how to fight, not fighters who are known to hate peace.

Godly men should be known for their goodwill, for their desire not to engage everybody in an argumentative, difficult, confrontational way.

Gospel order in a gospel church looks like men taking their place in qualified leadership in God's house.

So in God's house, godly men lead. But that's only one part of the equation. In fact, Paul doesn't spend so much time here because when we get to chapter 3, he's going to have plenty to say about that.

Don't you worry. But that's only one part of the equation. In God's house, godly men lead.

And point number two this morning, in God's house, godly women submit. In God's house, godly women submit.

If the first part of our text is hard to swallow, might I suggest that the remainder of this text is a downright choking hazard?

Let me read it again. Verse 9 through verse 15. Also the women are to dress themselves in modest clothing, with decency and good sense, not with elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, or expensive apparel, but with good works as is proper for women who profess to worship

God. A woman is to learn quietly with full submission. I do not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man.

Instead, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then

Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed. But she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with good sense.

Nice easy text. Got some rather culturally and politically incorrect prohibitions here.

What can seem like women getting the short end of the stick. Oh, let's not forget verse 15, this whole business of women being saved through childbearing.

You can imagine what a fun few weeks I've had trying to get my head around all of this. Well, let's see if we can make some sense of this.

First of all, I think we can get a clue on the main point of this section by seeing how it starts and seeing how it ends.

It's one of the things I taught the kids this week in learning how to interpret the Bible. That one thing tool you can use is the idea of a text top and its tail, how it starts and how it ends.

Usually within that, you can get a sense of what the big idea is. So how does

Paul start this session? Look at verse nine. Also, the women are to dress themselves in modest clothing with decency and good sense.

Jump down to verse 15. How does he end it? But she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith, love and holiness with good sense.

Oh, he starts this section talking about good sense. He ends it talking about good sense.

That gives us a clue. Paul in this section, whatever he's about to say, he is more concerned, catch this, with the attitude of women than he is necessarily the acts of women.

Yes, he has some prohibitions about what women cannot do, but those prohibitions are tied to a positive attitude.

Godly women, according to Paul, are called to live lives of godliness and good sense.

And what does that look like? In one word, they're called to lead lives of submission.

That's the big picture. Let's hone in on some details. In verses nine through 15,

Paul lays out some features of godly womanhood. First of all, let's consider the portrait of godly womanhood in verses nine and 10.

As you read verse nine, it's easy to get hung up on those individual items that Paul mentions.

So he says, women are to dress themselves in modest clothing, with decency and good sense, not with elaborate hairstyles, gold pearls, or expensive apparel.

Is Paul saying that women should basically look like, I'm trying to be politically correct myself now.

Like, let's go with that. Yeah, like, yo, just kind of grab, uh, just, you know, wear all black, everywhere, and not in a appealing sense, just like, look so nondescript.

I don't think that's what Paul's point is. I don't think those individual items are the issue. Can I put it to you that the issue here is what those things communicate?

Actually, I think I can make a case for this because there are two key words in this one verse. The first word is this word, modest.

Some people tend to say modest. Some will say proper, respectable, suitable.

One of the main dictionaries that we use to define Bible words has it as pertinent for, to being appropriate for winning approval.

Well, who's approval? God's approval. I think another clue comes from the word for clothing. Paul doesn't use the standard word for just clothes that you wear.

In the world of Paul, the word that he uses here spoke to the demeanor that came with the clothes, the attitude that the clothing communicated.

Well, look at that list of things again. Elaborate hairstyles, gold, pearls, and expensive apparel.

What do all of those things have in common? Think about it with me for a moment. What do all those things have in common?

What they have in common is that they draw attention to a person for all the wrong reasons.

Paul's point is very simple. That what should be most visible in the life of a Christian woman is not their clothing or their jewelry or their hair.

Not that you should not take care of your hair. And he's not saying you shouldn't wear jewelry. And he's not saying you shouldn't wear nice clothes.

That's not his point. His point is that the beauty, the glory, the honor of a

Christian woman is not catch this skin deep. Peter says the same thing.

1 Peter 3, 3 and 4. He tells Christian women, don't let your beauty consist of outward things.

And note the list he says, like elaborate hairstyles or wearing gold jewelry or fine clothes.

Oh, same things Paul said. But rather what is inside the heart?

The imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

It's interesting that you've got Peter writing to a very different context. And you've got

Paul writing to a very different context. And yet these two men are saying exactly the same thing. I think it's interesting that the teachings of the apostles didn't shy away from this, especially in an age where in the ancient world, women who had money, oh, they dressed like they had money.

You can go Google it. Like just Google rich women in the ancient world. When Paul mentions golden pearls, they were literally braiding the stuff into their hair.

I mean, I suppose from a human perspective, you've got it flaunted, I guess. But Paul says that's not how

Christian women operate. And what's interesting is when you read the history of God's people, church history, those who were disciples of the apostles said the same thing.

So there's a preacher in the ancient church. His name was John Chrysostom, the golden mouth. That's what that name means. He was known as one of the most powerful preachers of the early church.

You have a bunch of his sermons that are still available to read today. And when he got to this section,

I'm going to read what he says because he's just very blunt with it. He says this, and what then is modest apparel?

Such as covers them completely and decently and not with superfluous ornaments, for one is decent and the other is not.

What? Do you approach God with broided hair and ornaments of gold? I love what he says, it's hilarious.

Are you come to a ball? To a marriage feast? To a carnival? There such costly things might be seasonable.

Here, referring to the church, the people of God, among the people of God, not one of them is wanted. You are come to pray, to ask pardon for your sins, to plead for your offenses, beseeching the

Lord and hoping to render him propitious. In other words, that he would be favorable to you.

Christopher continues, away with such hypocrisy. God is not mocked. That is the attire of actors and dancers who live upon the stage.

Nothing of this kind becomes, is fitting for a modest woman who should be adorned with sobriety.

And this is the word they use, at least in the English translation of Psosthum's sermon, shamefacedness.

In fact, the King James Version actually translates that word modestly, shamefacedness. And if St.

Paul, he continues, would remove those things which are merely the marks of wealth, such as gold, pearls and costly array, how much more of those things which implies studied adornment, he gets kind of controversial here, as painting, coloring the eyes, a mincing walk, an affected voice, a languishing look.

For he glances at all these things in speaking about modest apparel.

Now we may have a little room to debate with Father Chrysostom on that one. They're strong words, but I think he's in keeping with the apostolic point.

And again, Paul is not saying it's a sin to wear makeup. That's not what he's getting at. I don't think that's what Chrysostom is getting at. I think

Chrysostom, and more importantly, the Apostle Paul, are getting at the reality that any approach to life that is more about looking at me attracting attention to me is not the kind of attitude that godly women are to be known for.

They should be known for godliness and awareness of what is good. That's the idea of good sense and awareness of what is good and the practice of that good.

Paul paints a simple but effective portrait of godly womanhood. But he doesn't just end there. He also goes on and he notes the posture of godly womanhood.

The posture of godly womanhood. If the portrait of godly womanhood is godliness and awareness of what is good and the practice of that good, what should the posture, what should be the practical outworking of that be?

Verse 11. A woman is to learn quietly with full submission.

Now, we want to be clear what both those words learn and quietly mean. Learn actually is an interesting one.

It's the verb form of the Greek word for being a disciple. You could translate it.

A woman is to be discipled. Well, quietly. What does it mean by quietly?

Quietly is not I don't talk. It's carrying the idea of a teachable spirit. That when you are being taught, you are quiet to receive what is being said.

You're not argumentative. As one commentator puts it,

Paul's commands encourage the women to give attention to God's message in order to learn the essentials for Christian growth and development.

In the world around us at times, in our doctrinal tribe, our little part of the Christian neighborhood that our church would be part of,

I fear that there can be a belief, an unspoken one to be fair, but a belief nonetheless. A belief that basically says that theology and deep, non -devotional knowledge of the

Bible, that's for men. Ladies, you don't need all that. And sometimes, if I can put it like this, the market basically gets women to say, we don't want that.

As a pastor, I get emails from ministries all the time trying to hawk their wares to me. I don't really mind it.

It is what it is. But every so often, usually the beginning, well, we're entering into the winter, so already the emails have started coming.

The church is offering curriculum for women. I'm not opposed to curriculum for women. But you know the problem

I have, I'll just be honest as a pastor, a lot of curriculum for women is straight garbage.

You can quote me as saying that. It just is. I wouldn't give it to my worst enemy's wife to study.

It's fluff. It's light. It's not encouraging deep engagement with the Bible. And these are ministries that say that, well, we're putting, it gets me mad.

I'm going to try not to get too mad. But it gets me mad when I read these ministries who will send me these emails by our curriculum.

And then they basically say, we want to encourage discipleship for women. And then you read it, it's like, there's not enough Bible to fill a thimble in this thing.

And I'm not the only one who thinks this. A seasoned women's ministry leader called Marcy Morris, in a blog post she wrote for a website called

Honest Youth Pastor. She said this, quote, based on what I have seen in churches,

I have attended and from direct messages I received from through my ministry for women all over the country. I can easily argue that the biggest challenge we see in women's ministry today is a lack of sound

Bible study. We see this in a combination of Bible, of weekly Bible studies that rarely look at the

Bible or when they do, contain shallow teaching that doesn't require deep thinking or any contextual knowledge of passages being studied.

Women's gatherings can easily become nothing more. Again, this is a lady writing it, so you all can't blame me. So women's gatherings can easily become nothing more than table talk sessions where women spend time talking about their week or trading recipes or DIY ideas and close out the meeting with borderline gossiping disguised as prayer requests.

I know she's right because I've been in home groups, mixed home groups where let's be honest, men and women do that. I don't think she's targeting women.

I think it's just what happens in home groups sometimes. We often justify, and she goes on, if she hasn't been harsh enough, we often justify these types of weekly meetings by giving them the name fellowship.

I'm not saying these types of discussions are bad. Some can be good, but they are not Bible study.

I love what she says to end. She says, women need theology just as much as men and our gatherings must reflect this need.

Now I didn't write it, but I do approve that message. I reject the idea that, you know, to have effective discipleship for women, it has to be fluffy and shallow and it can't get too deep because that's not what women need.

I reject that entirely. Now I agree that the application of God's word is going to look different for women than it does for men.

Of course it should. Men are men and women are women.

I know that that's a controversial statement to say in 2024, but it's true. Men are men and women are women.

They do not think the same way. They do not approach the world the same way. But we have to reject the kind of ministry approach where maybe you've heard this language, where essentially there is a pink

Bible and a blue Bible. You know what I mean when I say that? That there's a pink Bible with all the stuff that ladies need to know and there's a blue Bible with all the stuff that men need to know.

Last I checked, this Bible is neither pink nor blue. It's black on white. Of course applications are going to differ, but the content remains the same.

Rigorous engagement with God's word for the purpose of seeing Jesus and becoming more like him.

That's why, if we just get specific for just a second, at Redeemer, our women's ministry centers on, surprise, surprise, the

Bible. I know what the women are studying because I helped them pick it.

Well, they gave me a bunch of options and then I looked at them and said, you know what I like? Here are some options. Let's work with these. Why?

Because all of God's people need all of God's book, not just bits and pieces that, you know, basically like I talked to the kids this week about the pill bottle approach to the

Bible. You know what I mean when I say that? You know, the Bible is just a connected, disconnected set of pills. When I have a problem, I pop my pill and then the bottle goes back in my pocket until the next time

I need it. No, there needs to be a radical engagement with the word of God. Paul says, come back to our text, verse 11, that a woman is to learn quietly she's to have a teachable spirit as she grows in her discipleship.

And she does this with the attitude of, see in the text, full submission. That implies that there is somebody who is doing the teaching.

And that's why, again, I believe Paul is talking about the gathered worship of the church. I don't think he's addressing, excuse me, I don't think he's addressing stuff like small groups and other settings where I would argue women can and should teach other women.

I think he's talking about the gathered worship of the church. And he's saying that when the church gathers for worship, women are to hear the word of God and to grow under the word of God with full submission to those men who

God has put in place to teach that word. Again, more on that in chapter three. There's the portrait of godly womanhood, the posture of godly womanhood, discipleship that submits to God and the leadership he places over both men and women to teach them

God's word. There's also the position of godly womanhood. The position of godly womanhood.

So yes, Christian women are called to be disciples every bit as much as men are. But they're also called not to be certain things.

Look at verse 12. I do not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man.

Instead, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed.

Allow me, this is a complex passage. I want to try and deal with this as simply as I can. So allow me to make a few observations and to help you hear them, they're all going to start with the letter

C. Today's lesson is brought to you by the letter C. So a few observations.

Number one, Paul's words have a context. That's my first C. Paul's words have a context.

I've made that point a number of times in this message, but let me make it once again. Paul is talking about the gathered worship of God's people here.

If you miss that, you'll miss the point of what he's saying. So Paul's words, number one, have a context.

But number two, Paul's words here are commands. So there's context. Secondly, commands. Paul's words here are commands.

So when Paul says in verse 12, I do not allow, some of your translations will say, I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man.

This isn't an opinion from Paul. This is an order. It's a prohibition. Now you can ignore

Paul and you can say, Paul didn't mean what he said, but Paul said what he said. Oh, and elsewhere,

Paul tells us 1 Corinthians 14, verse 37 through to 40, I believe. He says that if you ignore anything that he says, you should be ignored.

Paul's words here have a context. Paul's words here are a command. Thirdly, Paul's words here are comprehensive.

That's my third C. Paul's words here are comprehensive. Paul is very clear.

Yeah, you can probably trade out that word for comprehensive for clear if you want. Paul's very clear about what a woman is not permitted to do.

So she is to grow and to learn in her discipleship. She is to be the model of good works. Yes, but what is she not to do?

Well, verse 12. I do not allow a woman to, number one, teach, communicate

God's word in a public setting for the purpose of understanding or to exercise authority, to lead the church in terms of doctrine, in terms of direction, or in terms of its demeanor.

Two things, and Paul says, women, there is so much you can do in God's house. You can't do those.

So, Paul's words have a context. They're commanding. They're comprehensive. My fourth C.

They're consistent. Paul's words are consistent. And they're consistent with a few things.

First of all, it's consistent with the context. So verse 11. Remember what he said in verse 11? That a woman is to learn quietly.

Same word that he uses here in verse 12. She is to remain quiet. That she is to keep that same, what's the modern phrase we use?

Keep that same energy? Yeah, that. It's consistent with the context where Paul is calling.

Again, quietness is not, I don't say anything. Quietness is not, I don't ask questions. Quietness carries the idea of teachability.

It's also consistent with what he said elsewhere. Again, we are so out of time. If you're taking notes, 1

Corinthians 14, 33 to 35. That's the other text where Paul addresses this issue. And in that text, he's even more pointed.

He says the woman should keep silent in the churches. The word for keep silent in there or be silent is more harsh than the word he uses here.

You might not agree with Paul, but you can't say he isn't clear and you can't say he isn't consistent with himself. In a totally different context where there were way more issues in Ephesus, Paul says exactly the same thing.

And we know he's talking about discipleship because in that same section, he says, if the women have questions, they should ask their husbands at home.

The idea seems to be that in the church of Corinth, which is a very messed up church in lots of ways, one of the things that was happening was women were interrupting the worship services of the church by demanding their questions be answered there and then.

And Paul says, no, no, no, no, no. Church services should be orderly when you gather. This is chaos.

If they've got questions, let them ask at home. Don't interrupt the worship of God. Paul's not saying that women should never have any questions.

He's even saying there's a time and a place. So Paul's consistent with the context.

He's consistent with what he said elsewhere. But Paul is, thirdly, he's consistent with the pattern of creation.

Look at verse 13 and 14. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed.

I told the kids in Cannon Beach that I was going to be teaching this passage, and I told them that I might disappear for a couple of afternoons before your class because I need to go study for my assignment.

And of course, they were all curious. Where did you land with that? Again, I've read this passage before.

I have an opinion on it, but I like to firm up my opinions by actual study. And one of the things

I noted to them, I showed them the little markup page I do. I mark up my passage. And I said, the reason

I take the view I do is because of what Paul says, not in verse 12, but verse 13 and 14. So verse 13, no, but Paul says,

Adam was created first with Eve as his helper. He goes all the way back to creation. He says, for Adam was formed first, then

Eve. This is 2 .18. It's God who said to Adam, God who said that it's not good for man to be alone.

I will make a helper corresponding to him. Adam was created first with Eve to be his helper.

That's his point in verse 13. But he also knows his second reason he gives that it was a breakdown of that creation order with Adam leading and Eve joyfully submitting to the leadership of her husband.

It was a breakdown of that created order that led to major problems. That's why he can say verse 14.

And it was not, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and transgressed. And if you read

Genesis 3, you know that's exactly what happens. The serpent comes to the woman. The woman heeds the word of the serpent.

And when she heeds the word of the serpent, she transgresses. And the test is clear that she took of the fruit and gave to her husband

Adam. She takes the lead where she really, in that moment, should not have taken the lead. And Paul says for those two reasons, grounded in the order of creation, women should not be given positions of authoritative leadership in the gathered church.

God's order for his house is qualified male leadership, which godly women are not to challenge or to subvert wrongly.

There may be a time where there needs to be a challenge to leadership when leadership is sinning. But that's an exception, if I can put it that way.

The norm is not challenged male leadership because they're male. It's challenged male leadership because it's sinning.

Now, before I go on, please do not hear what neither I nor Paul are not saying. Paul is not saying or not giving a complete prohibition on women speaking at all in church.

Again, the focus is the gathered worship and who is doing the work of teaching and exercising authority. Secondly, Paul is not saying that women are inferior in nature or in worth or in spiritual value to men.

Galatians 3 .28 is clear that as relates to union with Christ, there is no male or female.

There's not a different salvation for men and a different salvation for women. There is one savior who saves men and women equally by faith in him.

Paul is also not saying that women can't serve the Lord. There are a variety of ways that women can serve.

Titus 2 is a good example, where older women are to teach younger women what is good. By the way, some people read that as, well, they don't need to learn the

Bible. They just need to learn all the stuff for homemaking. That's not what Paul says. Paul says, teach them what is good so that they can love their husbands.

In other words, teach them what is good. Wouldn't we all agree this Bible is a good thing? Teach them what is good so that they can then function in the sphere that God has given them.

Or Acts 18, so we mentioned Priscilla. Well, Priscilla and Aquila go to this young man, Apollos, who's really passionate but a little misguided, and they help him out.

And the text says they taught him the word of God, not Aquila did and Priscilla just sat by. Timothy knew this by his own experience.

In the next chapter, in the next book, excuse me, Paul will say about Timothy's mom and grandma, you learn the faith from them.

So Paul is not saying that women can't serve the Lord. What he is saying is that the order of God's house, when

God's house gathers as the house of God, when the church gathers as the church, is men leading and women responding to that leadership in light of the gospel.

Now you may think, oh, that sounds like a bit of a raw deal. Well, finally, can you consider with me the potential of godly womanhood?

The potential of godly womanhood? Verse 15 is a tough text.

I mean, it is. I literally read seven different plausible views this week as to where this could go.

I'm just gonna cut straight through all that. Normally I'd lay them all out, but this sermon's already getting really long. Let me get to what

I think Paul is getting at. Eve's sin brought a stigma upon womanhood as well as condemnation and sin on all mankind.

Even in this passage, what does Paul say? It's the woman who was deceived and transgressed.

Some may say, well, that's blame -shifting and minimizing, because didn't Adams? No, he did, but who sinned first? The reality is that Eve's sin brought a stigma upon all of womanhood.

Now it might be too late for Eve, but here's what I think Paul's point is. And you know how

I know he might be shifting gears here? Did you notice that he goes from the singular to the plural? Look at verse 15.

But she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness. It might be a little late for Eve, but Eve's stigma can be delivered.

And I think our translations all say saved. I don't think that's the best way to translate that word. I think the word here is better translated delivered.

And notice he doesn't say that they are saved by childbearing. He says they are saved or delivered through childbearing.

I put it to you that Paul's point is very simple, actually. That women as a whole, who because of our mother

Eve, bear the stigma that came with the fall. He says that stigma can be removed when, catch this, they don't act like Eve did.

That when they embrace God's design for womanhood, that stigma no longer applies to them.

That they are delivered from that stigma through, well, what's the sphere that God has given them?

Yes, they don't have leadership in the church, but where did they have leadership? In the home. And again,

Paul's speaking generally here. Paul is very clear that some men do not marry for the kingdom's sake.

And that's fine. And of course, we read in the Bible that there are some who don't have children. And again, this is not to say that there is a lesser womanhood if you don't have children.

Far from it. I think Paul is speaking in general terms here. And I think that's why he brings up childbearing because part of Eve's curse, if you go back to Genesis chapter three,

God says, I will multiply your pain in childbearing. In addition to the stigma that she carries because of her being deceived.

But Paul's point, I think, is very simple. That's why he says, if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with good sense, as they live out godliness in the context of the sphere that God is giving them, the raising of godly children, that stigma is no longer theirs.

John MacArthur notes in his commentary on this verse, it's the very appearance, demeanor, and behavior demanded of believing women in the church that becomes their deliverance from any inferior status as they live godly and raise godly children.

Again, there's so much more I'd like to say about this passage. Come join us on Wednesday night. We can get into a little more detail and chop it up. Let me get to my big point because I'm done.

God's house is an orderly house. There is a structure to God's house.

Men lead, women submit to that leadership. And it's when, remember what our big point is in this message?

God's house has a definite order and the house flourishes when it embraces that order.

It's when the people of God embrace that order, that's when the church truly flourishes. And yes, there's lots more details to be fleshed out about this.

We don't want to create a culture where women become second -class citizens in the church by any stretch. And I don't think that's what Paul means by this.

But in our pursuit of that, we can't dull the force of what Paul says, that there is an order.

Men are called to lead and women are called to follow that leadership. And as we do so, the house flourishes.

Let me pray and we'll come to the Lord's table. Our Father, these are weighty words.

They're deep words. They require more time than we've even had this morning. And Father, I ask that as we have taken the time to sit before your words, to sit before this text that is difficult and that asks a lot of us,

I pray that you will till the soil of our hearts, both as men and as women. For the tendency for men is sometimes to shirk their responsibility to lead, to run from that leadership.

But Father, I ask that you'd help us that we would not shirk our God -given responsibility to lead, that we would aspire to be the kinds of men who can lead, who are qualified to lead.

And Father, I pray for my sisters where the challenge may be to buck that leadership, to question that leadership unduly.

Because that's the tendency of all of our hearts. We hate law. We hate order. We hate structure. And so Father, I ask that you help us that we would not fall prey to the tendency of the world around us to view authority and leadership as an inherent negative.

But that we would live lives of faith that trust you and trust the order that you have ordained for our flourishing as your people.

Father, we thank you for the Lord's table that you've also given us for our flourishing as your people. As we come to this table, be with us now. And we ask it in Jesus' name and for his sake, amen.

We come to the Lord's table as we conclude our worship gathering together.

And if you're here with us and you're a believer, you're trusting in the Lord Jesus, we invite you to partake with us.

As we're fond of saying here at Redeemer that this is the Lord's table, not Redeemer's table. And so if you're Christian, we invite you to partake.

If you're not, let it pass you by. But please come talk to us. We'd love to share more with you about this good news. As the brothers are passing out the elements, allow me to lead us in a word of prayer.

Let's pray together. Lord, as we come before this table that you set before us, we thank you that we are reminded in this table that we have been made members of a family and that when we come for this family meal, you nourish us with what we need for our growth in you.

As you partake of this cup and we eat this bread, we are reminded of the fact that you are the

God who has called us to be yours. You've claimed us out of the world and made us your own.

And yet, Father, we recognize that we do not always live like your people. We don't always live in light of your design for us.

Father, help us in those moments. Help us that we would be a people who are characterized by constant faith in you, constant trust in you, that we would rest in and receive and rely on all that you've given us, including this table, this wonderful means of grace that builds us up in our faith.

Be with us as we partake now. And I ask you all in Jesus' name and for his sake.

Amen. I'll give the brothers a moment to finish handing out and then we will partake together.

So hold on to that. And in just a moment, we'll partake together. In 1

Corinthians chapter 11, we read these words. For I received from the

Lord what I also passed on to you. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread.

And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. Can anybody just take a piece of bread and let's eat together as we remember the body that was broken for us.

Paul goes on, in the same way also, he took the cup after supper and said, this cup is a new covenant in my blood.

Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. Let's drink together.

And so Paul concludes, for as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the

Lord's death until he comes. And even as you proclaim that death through this visible sign and seal,

I invite you to receive the blessing of the Lord, this assurance of pardon that comes from him. Psalm 34 and eight says, taste and see that the

Lord is good. How happy is the person who takes refuge in him.

That just as we have tasted of his bread and have tasted of the cup, if we have truly believed in the

Lord Jesus, we have tasted of the goodness of God. And we can say that our souls have found refuge in him.

Well, can I invite you to stand and let's conclude our service with a song of response. I wish you today at worship of this

Sunday, again, a wonderful fellowship, looking forward to sitting down and just desire to.

And with that, let's close our time with a benediction from second

Thessalonians chapter three, verse 18, straight to the point, the grace of our

Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. And all God's people said, amen.

You're dismissed, except you're not really because we're having lunch. So what we'd like to do now is make, and some of you already know the drill, pick up the chairs, put them back in the back there for temporarily, we get some folding tables, let's make sure we get enough tables out here.

We've got a nice crew today. So let's make sure we've got enough tables out here with chairs around, thanks.