"Men
And Women Come To Order"
• 4.24.16 •
Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- When Timothy received this scroll, he must
have been delighted. His mentor and closest confidant had written him from
prison, passing along instructions for the church he was leading.
- Timothy was dealing with a raucous
congregation, some of whom had begun to squabble over meaningless trivia, while
others began to flirt with a return to the law.
- They were losing their focus and Timothy
wasn't quite sure how to bring them back, but Paul had no such problem. Timothy
was to stop giving them a platform and start calling them to prayer.
- As we enter into this section, Paul wants to
begin to convey specific roles within the church, beginning with what is
appropriate for men and women. He begins with the men in verse 8.
Text
• I Timothy
2:8 : "I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy
hands, without wrath and doubting;" : Because
of the great salvation of God and the mediation of Christ, Paul is strongly
minded to call men to pray everywhere, now and always.
- He is not necessarily saying that they should
pray in every place and then make a show of themselves! The context reflects
each of the various churches that Paul oversaw.
- In every place of worship there were to be
men found who led the congregation in prayer.
- This does mean that they were to be the face
within the church leading in corporate prayer, but it also refers to the
character of their leadership.
- They were to be men of supplication,
intercession and thanksgiving. That was and is to be the stamp of their
leadership.
- Before we speak or lead in or show up at the
church, Men, let us learn to be increasingly adept in our prayer lives! Let us
pray, but let us also be careful how we pray!
- The Apostle instructs the men to pray
"lifting up of holy hands." I'm not convinced that Paul is commanding
a certain posture. Rather, the heart of Paul's instruction requires full
engagement.
- Lifting up the hands symbolizes surrender and
even a willingness to be vulnerable before God. Holy hands refers to hands that
are set apart entirely for God's use.
- It's no wonder that he follows this with the
injunction against wrath. The word Paul employs speaks of an overripe fruit
filled to the bursting point.
- The skin of the fruit is about to explode
from the collected juices within it leaving us with a fairly picturesque
illustration of the type of anger that can consume a man.
- This angry response is certainly not their
response toward God, but toward other men! Men are to approach God without an
existing anger toward each other. Consider the context.
- The rift between opposing factions was
beginning to deepen. One side sought to remain faithful to the scripture and
the other side pursued the "deeper things of the faith."
- These circumstances had to provoke profoundly
negative feelings. When you are angry with someone, it becomes a matter of
hypocrisy to pray!
- During the sermon on the mount, Jesus teaches
His disciples that murder begins with hatred in the heart and that resolving
that anger is better than offering a sacrifice.
• Matthew
5:24,25 : "Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there
remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First
be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." : Reconciliation is preferred to sacrifice in the eyes of God so
bring your anger and it's cause to the cross where it belongs.
- Another way that this verse can be applied is
the manner in which we pray publically. Would their prayers have betrayed an
angry heart toward the congregation? Is that what Paul warns of?
- Are we to pray and "preach" in our
prayers against one another? "You know those wicked servants of
yours?"
- Either way, the men are called upon to resolve
their anger as well as any lingering doubt.
- Some were dialoging in their own minds,
seeking to reason with themselves. One of the definitions provided by Strongs
is "a deliberating, questioning
about what is true."
- There is a hesitation and a questioning about
what is true. I've experienced this myself, as I've come to meet with various
people whose joy in life seems to be in questioning biblical reality.
- It's usually the deeper life club who would prognosticate
upon unsolvable minutae, rather than spend time on practical holiness.
- Because they focus on unanswerable dilemma,
frankly, they tend to sound more like the devil than the Holy Spirit, as they
mouth his very words, saying, "Did God really say?"
- Paul is telling them to come to prayer
without explosive anger towards each other and with a confidence in who they
are, in what they are doing and in who they are talking to!
- This often manifests itself in prayers that
seek to absolve God before even asking for His action to take place! "God,
you probably won't heal, but just in case you can, please do!"
- That sort of prayer is out of place in our
midst! Pray one way until something else happens!
- We must learn to pray confidently, not
because of a subjective given outcome, but because of the objective, Sovereign,
omnipotent God that we are addressing!
- Before we move on, understand that another
reason to maintain a proper Biblical practice of consecutive exposition keeps
us from focusing on pet pieces of theology.
- If you find yourself consistently circling
around to such areas, you will be a source of frustration and stumbling to
God's people. Please keep that in mind.
- You do not want to be the one who angers or
causes doubt in one of God's little ones!
• I Timothy
2:9,10 : "in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest
apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls
or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good
works." : Now, on the same token, in like
manner, Paul addresses the Ladies.
- The fact that he says "in like
manner" means that the previous instructions were important for them to
observe as well. The parts that apply to them are also applicable.
- They shouldn't pray with wrath or doubting
either but Paul extends his instruction toward their attire. The women were to
adorn, "arrange," or "to put themselves in order with an eye to
modesty.
- Literally, Paul tells them to arrange
themselves until they are well arranged! Paul doesn't give them a dress code.
He gives them a code to dress by!
- It's not out of the realm of possibility that
many within the church had once been members of the temple prostitution common
with worship of Diana. They needed to know how to dress for church!
- Simplicity and moderation should mark your
church wardrobe and that was to apply to their faces as well!
- "Propriety" is translated by the
KJV as "shamefacedness," and moderation refers to self-control. Nobody
who is coming to church is making a beauty statement.
- Common sense and an increasing sense of
reverence for the presence of God will curb poor fashion choices. Paul is even
so bold as to address their hairstyle!
- They were not to come with braided hair or
costly jewelry. Some have said that Paul is referring here to the weaving in of
gold into the hair.
- That gold and jewelry would provide a sign of
wealth. Essentially, the woman who flaunted her wealth was missing the point. In
all of this, the principle is that of drawing attention to yourself.
- The person in question here is making a show
of their own position in life by advertising their position in this life.
- That isn't what should be on display in the
house of God and is certainly not a proper action for a woman who announces to
all that she belongs to God and does His works!
- The type of woman who seeks to give attention
to the Lord and seeks to be seen only as His servant, is identified by her
service not her clothing. Listen to the NLT's rendering of verse 10.
• I Timothy
2:10 (NLT) : "For
women who claim to be devoted to God should make themselves attractive by the
good things they do."
- The point is that the gathering of believers
is meant to point to things that are encouraging in Christ. Paul isn't remotely
finished! Verse 11.
• I Timothy
2:11,12 : "Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to
teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence." : At first glance this probably sounds incredibly chauvanistic
until you take into account that the society of the ancient near east was, and remains
in the modern state, male dominated.
- Listen again to Paul's words. A woman was
allowed to be in attendance and encouraged to learn! In fact, Paul commands Timothy
using the imperitive voice!
- "You let them be in the habit of
learning." Culturally, that might have been a radical initiative, so Paul
adds something to ease the transition.
- Women in the church were to learn in silence
or quietness with all submission or subordination. The word "silence"
was already translated "peaceable" earlier. Let them be still.
- They, like the men, need to learn and not interrupt.
Some have commented that when the women came into the congregation, they moved
around and were distracting.
- Those same commentators mention that they
would interrupt the speaking and ask their husbands questions out loud! None of
this is fitting or appropriate as the church meets.
- Women are to recognize the protocol of the
situation and submit themselves to it in the same way that we would in any
other place in society.
- When I go to court, I submit myself to the
court's preferences and protocols. I do the same thing when I go to a
restaurant or the grocery store.
- The meeting of the church is a place where
subordination occurs. This brings us to verse 12.
- Paul won't permit a woman to teach or have
authority, to dominate over a man. In the church, she is to remain still and
silent.
- The woman is in the same position as the men
who have been sitting and learning in the church. But it's sure that she will not be given the chance to become
a teacher of the church.
- There is no way for an honest person to avoid
this text. Some will point to the "exceptions" to the rule, which
occur in extreme circumstance.
- For example, what about the remote village
where most of the men have been murdered.
- Except for extreme circumstance or extreme
ignorance, neither of which we are currently enduring, I Timothy 2:12 stands as a clear prohibition and Paul lays out his
case in verse 13.
• I Timothy
2:13,14 : "For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the
woman being deceived, fell into transgression." : Paul doesn't want you to think that he brought this prohibition
out of the air or out of his own cultural context.
- Paul lets them know that his reasoning hearkens
back to the first couple in the Bible and the initial order that God
sovereignly imposed upon them.
- Jesus employs this same argumentation when he
defends marriage in Matthew 19:3-8.
God's first order stands and Adam, the Man of mankind was molded first.
- This refers both to order and priority. Adam
was formed first with an eye to being the head, the leader and then Eve was
formed to help Adam in his work.
- "But culture says different!" I'm
sorry, do you pray to "culture?" Did culture die for you? Culture has
no bearing upon a God that does not change and it will have no bearing in this
church!
- That had been the initial intended order of
the creation. That is how God chose to order it. Paul then moves to the second
part of their story.
- Adam was not deceived, but the woman being
deceived, fell into transgression. Don't misunderstand. Adam sinned, but his
was blatant rebellion against God.
- Eve was deceived because she put herself into
position to follow her impulses apart from her husband's leadership. Please
join me in Genesis 3, as we seek to
comprehend Paul's words.
• Genesis
3:1 : "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field
which the Lord
God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not
eat of every tree of the garden’?'" : There
are several issues that present problems here. First, there is a serpent that
has found it's way into this field that God made.
- It is marked by cunning, which refers to
being shrewd or crafty. The second issue is that the serpent spoke, notably to
the woman. He did not address Adam.
- When he does speak to Eve, his message casts
doubt upon God's instructions. Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every
tree of the garden?"
- Of course, you will recall that before Eve
was formed, God spelled out his desire explicitly to Adam in chapter 2.
• Genesis
2:16,17 : "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden you
may freely eat; but
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day
that you eat of it you shall surely die.'"
- Note the gracious bounty of the Lord! Every
tree of the garden was there for them to freely, abundantly partake of. There
were no limits to their consumption or the variety.
- The sole prohibition was the consuming from
this singular, central tree.
- The shade is that God is not being entirely
consistent with His favored children. Aside from the enemy's ability to speak
through a serpent, history tells us that Eve replied!
• Genesis
3:2,3 : "And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat the fruit of the
trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the
garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you
die.’" : Herein lies the clue as to why the
enemy chose to speak to Eve rather than Adam and why Adam failed in his
ministry to his wife. The enemy loves to pick off those who don't know God's
Word!
- Oh, they know enough of the actual words,
sentence structure and even the neighborhoods that their favorite verses can be
found in, but they don't know the spirit of the command!
- Did you notice the human tendency here? When
you don't know the Word, you reveal a lack of love for it. When you don't love
the Word, you'll become guilty of adding to it to compensate!
- When did God ever say "don't touch
it?" That word isn't even in the Bible before this!
- Protect yourself from the enemy's first
tactic and make sure you educate yourself. Know your Bible! For Eve, there was
one command, highlighting Adam's failure.
- By her response, it seems abundantly clear
that Adam did not communicate God's Word to his wife. Her failure to even
properly name the tree speaks of a true lack of respect.
- Perhaps she received that disregard of the
Lord's command from her husband as well! The fact is they had one command
expressed through this tree: Love God more than their own desires!
- Satan wasn't finished with Eve. Take a look
at verse 4.
• Genesis
3:4,5 : "Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you
eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and
evil.'" : The serpent began by casting doubt
on God's character. He moves now to contradicting His decree!
- "You will not surely die!"
Understand that this is what he has whispered ever since! You see a sinful
choice and he whispers telling you that the consequence will not occur!
- And then he maligns God again, playing off of
what has certainly become the mindset of Eve and perhaps that of Adam as well.
- "Why would He keep us from this
pleasure? What must that fruit taste like?" Ultimately, they are the ones
who were thinking that God kept this from them to keep them at a distance.
- This moment presents Eve with the proverbial
straw that broke the camel's back. Verse 6.
• Genesis
3:6,7 : "So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it
was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of
its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were
opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together
and made themselves coverings." : What
were her choices? Certainly, she could have said, "Why should I trust your
word?"
- She might also have consulted her husband,
who as you can see, was accompanying her. He was there and she could have asked
for direction.
- I personally would have said, "I think
God will be here in a few hours. I'll wait to talk with Him!"
- Sadly, she believed what she heard and fell
for what she saw, thinking that she couldn't lose. Their eyes and our eyes have
been opened ever since. Here is where Paul left us.
- Returning to I Timothy 1:14, Paul asserts that the woman was deceived and fell
into transgression. Adam was not deceived. He sinned blatantly. So why does
Paul bring this up?
- Because she failed to honor the order that
God set up, Eve welcomed sin into the world and brought Adam willingly along
with her! Thankfully, Paul isn't done!
• I Timothy
2:15 : "Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue
in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control." : Let's begin first with what this cannot mean. This cannot mean
that women are saved by having children.
- Let's consider a few options and see which
one most complements the meaning of the passage before us.
- Eve's action brought disaster upon the human
race. Nevertheless, she will be rescued through childbearing. In the past, I
have considered this to be God's sanctifying work in motherhood.
- A woman would practice her salvation, not by
leading a church, but by leading her children. Her children's apprehension of
the faith and continuance in it would be her lasting legacy.
- I find this to be lacking, at least in part,
as I consider it again! She, Eve, will be saved in the childbearing which would
lead to Christ.
- That salvation is evident in them as they
continue in faith, love and holiness with self-control, not in their attempting
to jump out in front of their husbands and assume a role that isn't theirs.
- I lean a bit more toward this final view
today as I consider the passage as a whole.
Conclusion
- One point
stands out painfully clear: The church belongs to God and we are all allowed to
function properly together within it!
- He has raised
this institution to serve Man's need to worship and adore Christ. Anything,
anyone and anyway that gets in the way of that, is out of order.
- God's
program, the church, isn't a place where we deny His order, but where we
embrace His order for the glory of His Son and the hope that His people will begin
to look and act like Him!