Well, I did learn some stories last night regarding Pastor Sevastio, but I think I should not tell them this morning. So let me just say this to begin. I say this quite sincerely that I do count it a privilege to be among serious Christian women. I believe that it's always difficult to be a serious Christian, but I believe that in the present state of our society, it is especially difficult to be a serious Christian woman. Because of the general failure of men to act like men and because of the deceptive and confusing influence of feminism it is very difficult to endure the withering perspectives of the world and be a serious Christian woman. So to you who are trying to be serious Christian women I salute you and it has been my prayer that God would use our time together to encourage you in the positive things that God has called you to do in his church. Thank you brother. What I'd like to address this morning and in the next session also is the role of women in the ministry of the church, the role of women in the ministry of the church. And my concern is to deal primarily with the things that women are positively called to do. There's a great deal of emphasis upon what women should not do. And I'd like to just assume that and lay that aside and to deal primarily with that which the Lord calls upon Christian women to do in the ministry of the church, and it's my hope that as this biblical material is set before you, that it will excite you, that will stir you, that you'll be glad that God has called you to be women and that you'll be eager in ways that perhaps you've never been before to aggressively engage in all that the Lord calls upon women to do in his church. And what I'd like to do very briefly is set forth five foundational principles. I'd like to do this briefly. I assume that most of these principles are already well established in your minds, but I would like to note them. And then I would like us to take up eight roles that women may and should fulfill in the ministry of the church. The first general principle, of course, is the Bible alone is a sufficient and authoritative guide for all things in life and especially in the church. Now, we know that, but what's happening in many Christian churches is that women's roles are being governed not by the Bible, but they're being governed by the expectations of the world that are coming into the church. And it's quite encouraging to know that there is a large amount of material in the Bible regarding what women may and should do in the church. But sadly, in many cases, ladies. don't seem to be governed by that material. So it's my hope in these sessions to set out many texts. We're not going to exposit one text. And in truth, we're not going to exposit any text thoroughly or well. But there are lots of passages that I hope you'll note in passing as we go through this material and that you'll come back to them and find them to be both authoritative and sufficient for you in knowing what you should do in the church. The second principle is that the ministry of the church is far greater than her public ministries. The ministry of the church is far larger than the church's public ministries. We put a great deal of stress, of course, rightly upon the public ministries, the corporate prayer meetings, the Lord's Day morning worship, the Lord's Day evening worship, the public meetings. It's essential, though, that we appreciate that the Bible's perspective on church ministry is much larger than what takes place in those public meetings. There are only so many positions of leadership in the church. There are only so many so many elders. There are only so many deacons. There are only so many Sunday school teachers. But the Bible says that all the saints are to be engaged in the quote ministry of the church. You take Ephesians chapter four. All the saints are to be engaged in the ministry of the church, not just the elders, not just the deacons, not just the Sunday school teachers. And if that's true, that means then obviously that there's a great deal of church ministry that takes place outside of the public meetings. And what takes place outside of the public meetings is not nothing. It's not insignificant. So a lot of what we'll be talking about is the ministry of the church outside of the public meetings. The third foundational principle is that we must understand and accept the texts which restrict men. I'm sorry, which restrict women in the ministry of the church. We must understand them and we must accept them. Some of those passages would be these. In First Corinthians, chapter 14, in the context of writing about tongues speaking and the context of speaking prophecies and discerning prophecies, Paul says in that context that the women are not to speak. In First Timothy, chapter two, Paul writes that women are not to teach and have authority over men. In both of those passages, he says that women are to learn in quietness, that they're to learn in submission in the church. From First Timothy chapter three and Titus chapter one, we learn that men and not women are to be appointed as elders and as deacons in the church. Those are texts which put distinct and obvious restrictions upon what women should do in the church. I say we need to understand them and accept them, but we need to understand them and accept them in the Bible's context. And what I mean by that is the Bible presents large, significant things. that women are to do in the church, and these restrictions must be seen in that context. And I'd like all of you ladies to think of the way that Satan was able to bring such destruction into the world in the way that he tempted Eve. There was one tree that God created, and God restricted her and her husband from that one tree. They were not to eat of the fruit of that one tree. There are lots of trees. Lots of bushes, lots of sources of wonderful foods for her and for Adam to enjoy. But what did Satan do? He focused her attention upon the one thing that was restricted, the one thing that was forbidden. And while he was able to focus her mind upon that, all the glory and the luster of the other things lost their attractiveness. And so she went for the one thing that she was required to not have. I think that's happening. I think that I think Satan is succeeding in that very tactic still, that he's able to focus the interest and the desires of some women so much upon what God restricts them from that all the things that he wants them to do lose their luster. And we must be aware of that stratagem and we must be determined to resist that stratagem of the devil. Fourth foundational principle is that we must consciously Evaluate and resist the prevailing influences of radical feminism. And we're not going to go off on a tangent here, but in the light of what Paul says in Romans chapter 12 verses one and two in general, we're all supposed to be consciously determined to not be conformed to the image of the world. We're all supposed to be consciously determined to have our minds renewed. We're all supposed to be consciously determined to prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. And for you who are ladies, certainly for men as well, but especially for you who are ladies, that general requirement in our age requires that you carefully evaluate all the influences and doctrines of feminism and you would find yourself in a place where for the most part they have to be rejected. Well, the joy of being a Christian woman will come in that setting. But I would like to say this also. It is important that we prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. What I mean by that is Paul in Romans 12 is not calling us just reject, reject, reject, be negative, be negative, be negative. To live in the world requires rejecting and being negative about a great deal that is in the world. But the goal is to find out what is the good and perfect will of God, not just be negative. And I do have this fear that in our necessary rejection of feminism. that some are going too far into restricting what women are allowed to do and what women should do in the church. So evaluate feminism. Almost all of it has to be rejected. But don't reject that which is actually from the Bible. Don't go so far away from the awful errors of feminism that you wind up rejecting some of the things that the Bible does in fact call women to do. And the last general principle that I would like to lay before you. is that Christian women must be driven by basic Christian motivations in this matter of fulfilling your calling in the church. Now, what are the most basic of Christian motivations? Think of them and apply them to your role in the church. Surely one of the most basic is stated by Jesus in such passages as John, chapter 14, verse 21, verse 23, that whole section there where he says, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. Well, if you love the Lord Jesus, then you're very eager to find out just what he wants you to do. And then I would love to the Lord Jesus to do that. You remember how Jesus described a disciple's calling in Matthew chapter 16 in Matthew 16, verse 24. He says, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. For whosoever would save his life shall lose it and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it." What is a Christian's perspective? What is a Christian woman's perspective? A Christian woman is eager to die to self, eager to die to whatever natural or worldly inclinations that she might have. She's eager to lose her life. for Jesus' sake, so that she might find it. And so she says, Lord Jesus, I love you and whatever it is you want me to do, because I love you, because I'm eager to lose my life for your sake, I'll do it. So the Christian woman isn't dissuaded by feminism and the Christian woman isn't dissuaded by the world. She simply looks to see what the Lord Jesus wants and out of love to him, she says, I die to self. because I love you and I'll do whatever it is that you call me to do in the Christian church. Now, there are. There are eight things that I'd like to set before you this morning, eight areas, eight rules, eight positive things that Christian women may and or ought to do in the Christian church. And let me just list them. One, she should study and learn Two, she should teach. Three, she should perform ministries of helps and compassion for she should assist deacons. Five, she should pray. Six, she should she should work in her home for the gospel sake. She should work in her home for the church's sake. Seven, she should participate fully in the Great Commission. And finally, she should display Christian feminism in the church. And I'll guarantee you something, if you would seriously and energetically throw yourself selves into these things, you'd be excited, you'd be exhausted and you'd be satisfied. And you would finally hear the words, well done, thou good and faithful servant. So let us begin to look at these at these areas. There will be some measure of overlap between them. And I would like to remind you that it is my purpose really to introduce principles and texts and the nature of our time. The shortness of our time is going to mean that many of these texts will simply be referred to. But the first part of the woman's role in the ministry of the church is to study and learn in the ministry of the church. And I'd like to begin to set this out by asking you to remember the contrast between the ancient world's attitude toward women, on the one hand, and Jesus and the apostles' attitude toward women, on the other hand. Now, I'm going to quote to you some things from Jewish rabbis. They're so outrageous that probably you've heard them quoted before, but they make the point. There are rabbinical comments on the passage in Deuteronomy chapter 31 and verse 12, which very much display the Jewish attitude toward women. Deuteronomy 31, 12 says this, gather the people together, men and women and little ones and the stranger who is within your gates that they may hear and that they may learn to fear the Lord your God and carefully observe all the words of this law. Now, what would you think that means? Gather together the men, the women, the children and the strangers so they may hear and learn. Well, listen to the rabbinical statements. The men come to learn, the women come to hear. It is better that the law be burned than that it should be given to a woman. If a man gives his daughter the knowledge of the law, it is it is as though he taught her lechery, meaning that if you give a woman the knowledge of the law, she'll somehow twist it. She'll somehow use it for wrong. And of course, there is the prayer of the Talmud where the man is supposed to pray every day. Blessed art thou, and then there's an inscription to God who has not made me as the heathen, who has not made me a woman, who has not made me a brutish man. That was typical attitude of Jewish society toward women. They shouldn't learn. It was OK for them to assemble and to hear, but it was the men who were supposed to learn. And that attitude, to some extent, was also characteristic of Greek and Roman society. There are very few educated women in Greek and Roman society. They were regarded as inferior, and it was either that thought that women could not learn or would not learn. But if they did learn, they'd use it for some kind of wrong. That is absolutely contrary to the disposition which Jesus and the apostles showed toward women in reference to learning, to study and to learning. And let me ask you to trace out some of these texts which display this attitude. The first would be in John, chapter four, this account where Jesus must needs, he says in verse four, he must needs go through Samaria. You remember that the Jews did not go through Samaria when they traveled about because there was a mixed race in Samaria. But this passage says that he must needs go through Samaria. And the reason that Jesus must, in his opinion, go through was he wanted to speak to this woman at the well. And you remember what he did do with this woman at the well. He and she engage in a discourse and a series of questions. She asks him for questions and he makes responses to these questions. And in the context of these questions, he teaches her some of the most profound things about worship. And she and he teaches her one of the most clear and exacting statements about him being the Messiah. Now, we could read that. We won't read that, but you could read it in chapter four, verses 22 through 25. And Jesus speaks to her in such a way that she begins to think that maybe this is the Messiah. And she says this, I know that Messiah is coming, which is called Christ. When he comes, he will teach us all things. And Jesus said, I that speak to you am he. Now, then you have the record of the disciples coming back and here he's engaged in all this serious teaching about most most profound issues of worship and his person. And the disciples come back. And what do you think their response is? It's in verse twenty seven. They marveled that he talked with a woman. Yet no one dared say, why are you talking to her? It would have been considered beneath the ordinary rabbi to engage in a conversation with a woman, but especially upon such profound topics to engage in conversation with a woman. Well, the disciples hadn't quite caught up with Jesus mission. He had come to save men and women. He had come to make disciples of men and women, and that required that both men and women should become students and should learn. You have the account of Jesus in Luke chapter 10. You remember the account there, and perhaps I would like you to turn to Luke chapter 10. This is where Jesus comes to the house of Mary and Martha in Luke chapter 10. I'm going to begin to read in verse 38. This is now it happened as they It happened as they went that he entered a certain village and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. You don't really know who was in this house. There was a day who were traveling, but it's him who enters the house. But then you find later that there are other people there, so you don't really know who it was. It could have been that Jesus was simply traveling with the twelve disciples. It could have been that Jesus was traveling with the disciples and with that large host of women who traveled with him, or it could have been that there were others. It doesn't say, but the point is that Jesus and others come to the house. And it says in verse thirty nine, it says in verse thirty eight that Martha welcomed him into her house and she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus feet and heard his word. But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she approached him and said, Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me. And Jesus answered and said to her, Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things, but one thing is needed. And Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her. And that is what happened there. Mary broke custom. Martha understood that Mary broke the custom. Martha was doing what the custom said the women should do. She was getting the meal ready, but Mary broke the custom and she left that and she went and sat at Jesus feet. Now, again, it's only speculation to know exactly who was there and who else was sitting at Jesus feet. It's very likely that the apostles who had traveled with him were there. And if that's the case, you get the picture of these men listening to Jesus. And Mary then goes in and sits with them and listens to Jesus. So So notice that she broke tradition and Mary then noticed this. Mary, of course, complained, Lord, I'm busy. Mary should be helping me speak to her. But what did Jesus do? Jesus commended Mary. It was commendable from the Lord's perspective that she gave herself to sitting at his feet and listening to her teaching. It was a breach of what was expected. But Jesus endorsed that. Because female disciples need to learn, and he commended her for the choice that she'd made, she had chosen, he says, the better part. I don't use that as a license to neglect the proper calling and the proper requirements that the Lord gives to women in terms of hospitality. Don't use that as a license, but don't miss the point either. Jesus considered that more important in that setting, Jesus commended her for choosing the better part. Well, the lesson is that in some cases, the better part is to be a student. The better part is to sit down with your Bibles under the influence of the spirit or to sit down with a tape or to sit down in some setting at the feet of Jesus, as it were. In some cases, that's better. Women are not supposed to think, well, I've got to do this. I've got to do that. I'm not supposed to be a student. Listen to to these passages will not turn there, but note them, please. And I'm just trying to put biblical data before you about women learning. In Acts chapter two, verses 41 and 42, you have the reference to these 3000 souls who are converted in Jerusalem. There were women among those 3000. And it says that they all continued steadfastly in what one of those things they continued in was the apostles teaching in Acts chapter 16 and verse 13, you have that that event in the city of Philippi on a Sabbath day where you have a group of women who are meeting for prayer. Paul goes there and what he doesn't say, well, it's a bunch of women. They can't. No, he goes there and he teaches these women. And the spirit opens the heart of Lydia to receive and to understand and to believe the things that were said by Paul. And she becomes converted. Now, the ordinary rabbi wouldn't have done that. Here's this bunch of women just say hello and good day and move on. But Paul was trying to make disciples, so he teaches the women and Acts chapter 17, verses one through four. You have the record of what happened in Thessalonica. And in that setting, Paul reasoned in the synagogue and many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women succumbed to Paul's reasoning. and became followers of the apostle Paul. And then in chapter 17, verses 11 and 12, you have the events in the next city, in the city of Berea. And it says in verse 11, these were more fair minded than those in Thessalonica in that they received the word with all readiness, searched the scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. Therefore, many of them believed and not a few of the Greeks, prominent women as well as men. Now, that's the picture. The Bereans were more noble than the Thessalonians. How are they more noble? It wasn't simply that they heard the words. They heard the words, they listened with all readiness of mind, then they went home and studied. They went home and searched the scriptures. Now, that's interesting to speculate what that was. They didn't have Bibles like we have. They didn't have concordances at home like we have. What did they have? Some of them might have had scrolls. Some of them would have memorized, but they went home and they searched the scriptures. They studied. And some of them were prominent women. You have this passage in First Timothy, chapter two and verse eleven, where Paul is giving directives to Timothy regarding church life, and he says, let the women learn in quietness with all submission. Now, many people read that and they put all the emphasis upon the last part with quietness and all submission. And, of course, that's part of the word of God. And, of course, that has to have its weight. But the astounding part is that this old that this man who was once a Pharisee of the Pharisees, who is such a strict Pharisee, such a strict rabbi gives instruction. Timothy, the women must learn. It's an imperative. Make sure that the women learn. Now they have to learn in quietness, can't allow the women to be obnoxious. But some people seem to want it to be in order to keep the women from being obnoxious, in order to keep the women from being too brassy, in order to keep the women from being too knowledgeable and too bold and too strong. Keep them ignorant. That wasn't Paul's perspective. Make sure, Timothy, that the women learn. In First Corinthians, chapter 14. In chapter 14, verse 31, Paul gives directions to regulate the prophets. And he gives this direction to regulate the prophets, quote, so that all may learn and all may be encouraged. Now, that's in a context, again, where women are present. That's in a context where women, in fact, are told in the reference to tongue speaking and in reference to prophecies, the women are told to be silent and the women are told even to ask questions of their husbands at home if they would like to learn about the prophecies. But the prophecies are to be regulated so that in the assembly, everyone, including the men and the women. can learn and listen, remind yourselves rather of Ephesians, chapter four, verses eleven and twelve. That's a great passage on the ministry of the church. And it's not passage that Paul says that he he gave these gifted men. He gave some apostles and so forth. He gave pastors and teachers, verse twelve, for the equipping of the saints. Men and women for the equipping of the saints, for the work of ministry. Paul gave Paul says Jesus gave these teachers so that all the saints, including women, would be edified so that all the saints, including women, would engage in the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, that we should be no longer children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. Every one is to be like this. Every woman, every man is to so participate in the teaching ministry and to so participate in the saints ministry to one another that every woman becomes so doctrinally aware that she is not tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. And he goes on to say that the effect of this is that they would speak the truth in love. So women are supposed to study. Women, as well as men, are supposed to know the Bible so well that they're stable, that they don't hear this doctrines. I wonder if that's true. And they don't hear this doctrinal influence. They're supposed to know the Bible so well that when they hear these various winds of doctrines, they're stable because they understand and they know the Bible so well that they can speak it. They can speak the truth to one another and love. The point I'd like to make is that women are to study and learn just as. And I would like to repeat that just as. Women are to study and learn, just as men are to study and to learn in church. Both men and women need to study the Bible for the same reasons. Both men and women need to study the Bible for personal sanctification. Both men and women need to study the Bible for wisdom in their personal callings. Both fathers and mothers, men and women in the domestic circle, need to study the Bible to teach the children. Both men and women need to study the Bible so that they're competent to minister the truth to the saints. Women, just as men, need to study and to learn the Bible. But we often act as if that's not true. We often act as if it's the men, really, who need to study the Bible. Now, men who are elders have a special responsibility to study the Bible. And men who are placed in teaching capacities, even if they're not elders, they, of course, have a special responsibility to say the Bible. And it certainly is true that husbands who are heads of families for that aspect of their calling, they need to know the Bible. But as we'll see, mothers also are to teach in their homes to teach the children, the point is both men and women need and ought to study the Bible in the same in the same degree. Now it's wonderful to go to the Fascio's home and see their library. And there's no breakdown to my eye of the wife's library and the husband's library. But I've been in lots of homes where you look at the men's books and they're heavy. It would be Dabney and Hodge and Murray and so forth. And you look in the ladies' books and they're light. Why? Why? Do the women not need to know theology as well as the men? Do the women not need to be stable in the in the rush of every wind of doctrine as the men? Do the mothers not need to teach their children? Why? But this happens. It'll happen sometimes in social gatherings, and it's quite appropriate in social gatherings that the men and women will sort of break off into different groups. That's fine. But often it happens this way that the ladies will be talking about their children or their homes or how to make this certain special gourmet item. The men are talking about the Bible. Well, why is that? I mean, men should get together if men are architects, they should get together and talk about how to be architects. If they're in the general business world, they should get together and talk about their callings as Christian men trying to bring the Bible to bear upon their callings. Women should do the same. They should they raise children and the various things that ladies are involved in. That's their calling. So, of course, but why is it that the ladies aren't discussing what Dabney says about this particular bit of doctrine that the men are. Women are to learn in the church. Some years ago, when my wife and I were being interviewed to join the Trinity Baptist Church, this attitude came up in a rather humorous way. And because it was good natured and humorous, I don't mind sharing it. We were interviewed and people often joke before going to the interviews, of course, about how hard it's going to be. And did you memorize the catechism questions and all the rest? And there's something very intimidating about going to the elders for an interview. And we were very intimidated by those elders, to be sure. And one of the men, he meant this as a very good natured, humorous joke, and he meant it that way, and we took it that way. But he turned to my wife with a glint in her eye. I was a seminary student, and I suppose he thought I should know things, but she was a woman. And so he turned to her and asked for her to explain the hypostatic union. And she did. And it was quite delightful to watch that. And you know what the hypostatic union is, don't you? The hypothetic union, that's a phrase that's used to describe the mysterious relationship, the mysterious union of the divine and human natures in the one person of the Lord Jesus. I don't think he expected her to even know what the word meant. Well, that was that was all in good. It was good natured. But we shouldn't adopt this attitude. We shouldn't let that attitude seep in to the church. We shouldn't just expect that women because they're women. are not going to know much about the Bible and theology, and we shouldn't let it be that women allow themselves to accept that position. Disciples, Christian men, Christian women must study and learn the scriptures, and you, in terms of your calling, the church must give serious attention to this because it becomes foundational for everything else that you're called to do by Christ in the context of the church. I may just add this as an addendum to this at this point. There are some people who believe that because normally wives and girls rather grow up to be mothers, wives and mothers, that women should not be educated. And it should be a serious question whether boys or girls should be sent to state colleges. That's a very serious question. In many cases I think they shouldn't. In some cases they may. But it's not a question that should be addressed in terms of the sex of the child. There is one of the most godly families in our church. has an interesting history. Sadly, these two when they were young people were into drugs and very worldly and they live together. And the woman, the young girl was determined she was never going to be poor again. So she went to college and got a CPA degree and got an accounting degree and got her CPA and started making a lot of money. The guy was happy to have her work and he just laid around and goofed around and then they were both converted. He had a lot of catching up to do by the grace of God. He made something of himself. He got a good job. He pursued that job. He rose various ranks in that job. What's this brilliant, well-educated, high income woman supposed to do? She quit immediately. Of course, she quit. She should quit. She was going to raise children. But all that education and all that brilliance made her one of the best mothers in the church. My point is the training wasn't wasted, which we should understand this, that women as well as men are called to study and to learn in the church and anything that's legitimate. And I stress that's legitimate. Anything that's legitimate that will make you a better student of the Bible, anything that's legitimate that will enable you to learn more and to know more broadly how the Bible fits into the world. Anything that's legitimate helps you to be a better woman in the church. and a better woman in the family. All right. We spend a little bit more time on that heading because it's so fundamental. The second area is that women are to teach in the ministry of the church. Women are to teach in the ministry of the church. I'd like to repeat what was said earlier. Women are forbidden to teach and have authority over a man. Both men and women are excluded from the teaching authority of an elder unless you are an elder. Women are not allowed to be elders, but most men also are not allowed to be elders. My point is that there's a restriction there, but it's not a restriction that is just on women. Most Christians are not allowed to have the authority of the teaching office in the church. So that's a given. That's not within the scope of your aspirations. But there are no restraints upon women teaching other women and teaching children or even in some ways communicating appropriately with men. And I'd like to ask you to consider six lines of biblical material and we'll try to summarize them. And these six lines are certainly not all of the same weight, but they're just parts of the biblical data. And if we're really to be governed by the Bible, we have to have all the parts of the biblical data. So, number one of the biblical data is that women did prophesy in the New Testament. Now, what's a prophet? A prophet is someone who stands for God. and speaks for God to human beings. He speaks. The prophet speaks for God to human beings. He speaks to men and women. And the simple point that we need to note is that God placed women in that role. You have some illustrations. If you take your Bibles, turn to to Luke, chapter two, in reference to this aged woman, Anna. In Luke, chapter two, In Luke chapter two. Beginning in verse. Thirty six. Now, there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Samuel of the tribe of Asher. She was of great age and had lived with her husband seven years from her virginity. And this woman was a widow of about eighty four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings. and prayers night and day and coming in that instant, she gave thanks to the Lord and spoke of him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Here's this aged woman described as a prophetess, and she was at a place in her life where she could legitimately give herself night and day to fasting and to prayer. But she's a prophetess. That is, she speaks to people for God. And here's this situation. She has been waiting for the coming of the Messiah and Jesus as is brought in and with his parents. And when they come in, what happens? She speaks, according to verse 38. She spoke of him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem. She was a prophetess. And when it became clear that it was actually physically true now that here is the Messiah, the young child, she speaks about that. You have in Acts, chapter two, The fulfillment of Joel's prophecy, and it says in Acts, chapter two and verse sixteen, Peter said, This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel and what was spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last day, says God, that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh. Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. In Acts, chapter twenty one, verse nine, you have a reference to Philip, who had four daughters who were all who all prophesied in First Corinthians chapter eleven verses three through six. You have directions given for women. They were required to cover their heads when they prayed or when they prophesied. I don't push this biblical material farther than you should. To be a prophet is not the same as being a teacher in the sense that your elders are teachers. Your elders, when they teach, what do they do? They take the Bible and they study it carefully and they pray for Wisdom, they pray for the spirit to lead them into truth. They check their opinions about what a text says with what commentators say and what historical theology teaches them. And they they they they study and they comprehend what the word of God says. And then they decide they they carefully try to think how to present it to you. Then they gather you into some kind of a setting, a worship service or a class, and they present to you the product of their thought. And if they're elders in the church, you're supposed to receive that in a way that is appropriate to their authority. That's not what a prophet did. A prophet was sort of like just a mouthpiece. The prophet was the prophetess that the burden of the Lord would come and they would simply speak it out. It wasn't something that they premeditated. They studied that they pondered. That's what that's what these women did. But my simple point is. God did take women and appoint them to that place where they spoke. And where the people of God, the men and the women received that. So that's just one bit of the biblical material. Secondly, consider Priscilla. A turn to Acts, chapter 18, in reference to Priscilla, Priscilla and her husband Aquila came to know the apostle Paul. You have the beginning of that record in chapter 18, verse one. She and her husband were with Paul in Corinth for one and a half years and in That setting, they became close to him. They went with him to Ephesus and according to chapter 18, verses 18 and 19, Paul left them in Ephesus and Paul went away. But now notice the language in chapter 18, verse 24. They've been with Paul for a year and a half in Corinth. They've been with him for some time in Ephesus. Now, Paul's left them alone in Ephesus. And it says in verse twenty four, now a certain Jew named Apollos, born of Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord being fervent in spirit. He spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue when Aquila and Priscilla heard him. They took him aside and explained it to him. The way of God more accurately. Now, this is really a stunning situation. Apollos was no beginner. Apollos was no Sunday school first grader who knew almost nothing. Apollos was an accomplished preacher who spoke accurately the things of God with one exception. He wasn't clear about the matter of baptism. But now think of this, this is an eloquent man, a man proven a man who's a preacher, Priscilla and Aquila hear him preach. And they realize there's something significantly deficient. So what happens? They take him aside and they correct him. Now, whatever Priscilla did, we cannot assume it was inconsistent with the restrictions that the Bible places upon ladies teaching men. But somehow, in connection with her husband, they it says it doesn't say he it's they. Took the guy home and corrected him. Look in chapter 16 of Romans. In chapter 16 of Romans, you have reference to Aquila and Priscilla again, verse three, Greek Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who raised their who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Well, it isn't just Aquila, the husband that is commended. It wasn't just Aquila who took Apollos in and taught him. It was husband and wife who took him in and taught him. And when the commendations are given, Aquila and Priscilla are both regarded as fellow laborers who exhausted themselves in the ministries of the church and how many churches are indebted to the labors of this man and of this woman. The biblical data, the fact that women were prophets in the New Testament, this unusual illustration, the singular illustration of Priscilla, which must not be pressed beyond its beyond reason. The third bit of biblical data would have to do with women teaching children. In Proverbs, chapter one, verse eight and Proverbs, chapter six, verse 20, Solomon says to forsake not the law of your mother. Well, it's not that. It's not that mothers are supposed to come up with some peculiar specialized laws, which are the laws of your mother. It's a reference to your mother teaching the law of God. We should do nothing to deemphasize the Bible's pressure upon men to raise their children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. We should do nothing to deemphasize the place of men stepping up and being primary teachers of their children, the things of God. But in doing that, we cannot diminish the place of women. Children ought to remember the teaching of their mother, you have the emphasis that Paul places on Eunice and Lois in Second Timothy, chapter one and in chapter three, perhaps it would be good to turn their place to Second Timothy, chapter one and chapter three. Second, Timothy. Chapter one. Paul expresses how eager he is to see Timothy, and then in verse five, he says, When I call to remember the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother, Lois, and your mother, Eunice, and I am persuaded as in you also. And look at chapter three, chapter three, verse 14. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you learn them. Now, who are the whom from whom you learned them? It's a plural. It's not knowing from who you learned them or whom in the singular. It's a plural. Well, according to verse 10 and following, Timothy learned things from the apostle Paul and Paul is telling him, remember from whom you learned these things. And the point is that Paul was a faithful, consistent minister of the gospel and his life commended his teaching to Timothy. But look at verse 15 from whom you learned them. that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. From childhood, Timothy had known the Holy Scriptures. Now, where did Timothy learn the Holy Scriptures? And to answer that question immediately takes you into some level of speculation. You have to be careful about speculation. But the implication is that he had this godly grandmother and this godly mother who were in the faith. And Paul is saying that same faith that they had is now in Timothy, and Timothy's learned these things from his childhood. The implication would be that this godly grandmother and his godly mother took Timothy as a child and taught him the scriptures. And if they did, they were doing just that, which the Proverbs say they should do. He, Timothy, learned the law of his mother. She taught him. Women are teach. Number one, they were prophets in the New Testament. Number two, the singular illustration of Priscilla. Number three, the references in the Bible to women teaching children. The fourth bit of biblical material would be that text in Titus, chapter two, verses three through five. And you might like to turn there. Perhaps, you know, the passage very well. In Titus, chapter two, Paul is giving directives for various groups of people in the church in Crete. And he says, in reference to the older women in verse three, The older women, likewise, that they may be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to watch much wine, teachers of what is good or teachers of good things. And in verse four says that they admonish the new King James says that they admonish, perhaps a better translation would be that they train the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste homemakers, obedient to their own husbands. that the word of God not be blasphemed. Well, according to verse three, there to be teachers of what is good there to be teachers of what is morally good. It would be incorrect, I think, to go to this passage and say there to teach the catechism to the men that you go to this passage, say there to teach the confession to the adult Sunday school class. That's not the point of this passage, but they are to be teachers. There to be teachers of what is good. And then specifically there to teach or to train or to admonish the young women in those items that follow. I'd like to come back to this passage later, but just take it as one of those direct statements that women in the church are to be teachers of what is good, especially in reference to young women. And then the fifth bit of biblical material is from Ephesians four, verses twelve and fourteen that we've already referred to. And I'm just remind you of that passage. That's where all the saints. are to receive the ministry, the teaching ministry of the pastors and the teachers. All the Saints would receive that all the Saints are to administer one another. All the Saints are to speak the truth to one another. Now, that is certainly not referring to some kind of a stand behind the lectern teaching situation is certainly not referring to that. But it is assuming that all the people, including the women. So well imbibed, the teaching are so sound that they're not driven about by every wind of doctrine that they know the Bible so well they can speak it to one another. They can teach one another in that sense. The conclusion of these passages or some of the conclusions that we should draw from these passages would be these. Number one, all women who are mothers. And then, of course, not everyone's called to be another, but all women who are mothers are to teach their children and their grandchildren. Another deduction from this is that all women are to study and to learn so that they can speak the truth to the saints. And that's simply the point that I was trying to make. Don't diminish that. It doesn't help much to speak to the saints, if all you have is general platitudes to give them. It's the truth that we're supposed to be giving to one another. It's that truth that stands up against the pressure of the currents of false doctrine. That's that's what you're That's what women are supposed to give to one another and even to men. The third would be that women who have the gift of teaching should be asked to teach in all the situations where two things are true. Women who have the gift of teaching should be asked to teach in situations, number one, where the Bible does not prohibit them, and number two, where the elders desire them. But women are supposed to learn. They're supposed to be competent to communicate. Some would have the gift of teaching and they should be used in the places where the Bible does not prohibit them and in the places where the elders deem it would be helpful to the church. And the fourth conclusion is that the older women have a responsibility to be teachers of what is good, and especially they have a responsibility to teach the younger women. Now, this is a responsibility. This is not just an option. This is not something that they just might do if it suits them. This is something that they're directed to do. The older women are supposed to teach the younger women. The word that is translated to train or to teach is more literally the idea to teach someone to be sober. It's not so much the idea of standing up and communicating propositions. It might involve communicating propositions. But that's really not the idea here, the idea of that word in verse four. In verse three, it's to teach, to teach what is good. But in verse four, it's more this idea of helping them to be sober. Take the young women and so coach them, so train them that you bring them to places of sobriety, that you bring them to places of self-control, that you bring them to places of practical wisdom. She used to be a teacher of good things and she used to take young women under her influence and bring them to places where they're sober, where they're wise. And she used to do that primarily in the domestic areas. I'd just like to stress this again. I think this passage is so misused in both directions. It's used in ways that prohibit women from doing what they should do falsely, and it's used in ways to encourage women to do what they shouldn't do falsely. So stay with what it does say. It doesn't say that women are to take a lectern and lecture women. It doesn't say that it doesn't say that it doesn't say that at all. It says that women are to take young women and do something that's more like hands on discipling with them. Not so much about systematic theology but to take them in influence them with words and with examples and with various coaching techniques. So these young women. learn how to love their husbands, learn how to love their children, learn how to be chaste and all the rest that's in that passage. Now, think about this. This is written to Titus, who's supposed to minister in Crete. You know what the Cretans were characterized as? Liars, evil beasts and slow bellies. Liars, evil beasts and lazy gluttons. That's how they're described. Paul says a poet of your own has used this description and Paul says it's true. Well, here you have women And men, of course, were converted from that society. How do women who are raised by fathers who are liars and evil beasts and lazy gluttons? How did those girls learn to love their husbands? How do they learn to love their children? In many instances, they would not have learned that in their homes. Our society is full of worthless men. How do girls raised in our society ever learn to be holy women? How do they ever learn to be what they should be in the domestic circle? Well, by the grace of God, they do learn it in various ways. But this is one of the means that the Lord has ordained that they learn it, that the older women would teach them, not from a lectern, but would take them and communicate to them everything that's necessary to make these women godly in the domestic circle. I think that we should quit there. It's eleven thirty five. We've been at it for just about an hour and I'd like us to come back then afterwards and take up the rest of these duties. There are some of them that are to come that are rather exciting to me that I hope will be exciting to you. Let us pray now and will be dismissed. Our Father, we give thanks to you for the love that you have shown to us in Christ Jesus. And we thank you for the forgiveness of our sins. We thank you for the life that you've given us in your Son. And Father, we thank you. for the ways that your spirit works with us and transforms us and changes us. And we desire with everything within us to show love for you and to be in every way conformed to your word. And I pray for these ladies that you would help them, that you would help them in every way to understand your word and that you would give them a deep, profound joy in being all the things that you call them to be as women. We pray together in Jesus' name. Amen.