Let me read the entire chapter, but I'm just going to focus on verses 11 to 15 for those of you who have been following along. We did verses 8 through 10 last week, and of course we're going to keep going through the Bible, even those difficult passages that might at first appear offensive. This is God's Word. First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people. even for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. Prayer for all, for this is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and man. the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle, I'm not lying, I'm telling the truth, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth, or in the NIV, in the true faith. Therefore I desire that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or quarreling. Likewise, I desire that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness, that is, with good words. And here's our text for today. A woman must learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Rather, let her remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman, being fully deceived, fell into transgression. Yet, she will be saved through childbearing. if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control. Let us pray, and then I'm going to show the importance of getting this text right. I think if we get this text wrong, it opens up the floodgate for getting a lot of texts in the Bible wrong. Let's just pray and then I hope to show you my hermeneutical principles or how I interpret the Bible and hopefully you will believe simply what God says this morning. Father we come to you and we ask that we would not be like King Asa, Lord who trusted in you and yet when times got hard he relied on man and he looked to the strength of his neighbors And Father, I pray that we would learn the lesson from our consecutive Old Testament reading, and I pray that we would learn the lesson from the Apostle Paul this morning as well. Father, I pray that even in this text, the Gospel would be clearly elucidated and propounded upon and appealed to every conscience. Father, I pray that you will fill us with the Holy Spirit, that we might be a submissive people to the authorities, structures that you have set up for the good of your people. We thank you for fences. We thank you that fences are not bad, but they keep evil out. And so Father, we pray that we would not be like so many churches. We would knock the fences down. But Lord, that we would understand that you have placed them there for our safety. And Lord, that you have placed them there around your church. Help us Lord, not to kick against the goads, but to humbly submit. to what You have ordained for us. Father, I pray now for a spirit of humility that I would not come across as arrogant. Help me, Lord, always to submit to what the text says, no matter how offensive it might be. Help us to understand, even as our brother expounded to us, that if we get rid of offensive things for the sake of not offending people, then we must get rid of the offense of the cross. Help us, Lord, to follow the logical progression, the trajectory of getting rid of offensive things that you have clearly demarcated for your church. Father, I pray that in your wisdom you would use this to build your church up. And Lord, that this would liberate women, that it would not oppress them, but it would give them grace to move and to live within the parameters you have ordained for them. And Lord, they would not be quenched But Lord, they would see themselves flourishing under authority, even as men flourish under authority, even as society flourishes under authority. May your church flourish and grow and be a light to the nations under your divine authority. Father, for those who struggle with this subject, I pray, Lord, that they will see it's not just myself. or me quoting guys like Carson or Moo, I help them just to see that this is very simply stated forth in your text. I ask this in Jesus' name, that you might be glorified. Triune God. Amen. In one of my commentaries, and just so you know, I'm not going to give you all that I studied. I was telling Jason yesterday that I can't remember reading as much for any sermon in my life as I have for this one. Like if you were to literally break into my house and go into my office, you would see that my room is strewn It is filled with books that are open, commentaries and articles and various issues. If you looked on my laptop, you would see all kinds of windows open because, as one commentator said, there are very few passages in the New Testament that are being written upon now than this one. Like, this is the most, in my opinion, written about passage in all of the Bible, for sure in the pastoral epistles. And it's not surprising that this is the most discussed passage. in the last 20 years, because in the last 20 years we've seen every form of authority challenged and overthrown. Every type of authority is being challenged. This is an age of unprecedented revolt to God-ordained authority. As I re-church history, I've never seen such revolt. And we see it in every sphere, not just in the church, which we're going to talk about, but we see it in society. Did you know that the government that is set up above us is ordained by God? Did you know that? If you disagree, I would encourage you to go to 1 Peter chapter 2, or more clearly, Romans chapter 13. And we see people calling cops pigs. And we laugh at that, and we should be ashamed. And we see people trash-talking Presidents and Prime Ministers and Premiers and Senators and Judges, rather than submitting to them. You know what most people do? I talked to a Mormon this week, and he clearly transgressed. He got a speeding ticket. He was doing 20 over. And what is he going to do? He's going to appeal it. And we think that's so noble. He was clearly guilty and yet he is not willing to submit to the authority that God has placed over him. We see it not only in society, we see it in the family. Go shopping. Who calls the shops when groceries are being bought? Not the parents, the children. And me and Christina are working through Ted Tripp's book, and we actually have the DVD series, Shepherding a Child's Heart. And Ted Tripp says something amazing in the little interview. He says, children are not usurping authority, the parents are giving it away. So there's this dynamic. God has ordained that a husband and wife rule over their children. And yet today, we have all kinds of people, freedom groups, rising up and saying that Christians are bigots if we dare spank our children. You know what that basically is saying is that we're revolting against God-ordained means of disciplining our children. Why would we discipline our children? Because they are to be submissive. to us. We see it in the workplace. It's more frightening to be a boss now than it is to be an employee. Because if you demand something of your employee, they're going to revolt and maybe sue you, or try to get you fired. We see it in the church, and we see it in this text this morning. That God has ordained, clearly, not just in this text, that the Church be governed, that overseers, that the preachers who declare and expound and keep the limits upon the Gospel and the doctrine derived from, therefore, therefrom, is limited to man. And so I'm not surprised that there are innumerable, like it's almost infinite, I will say ad nauseum, articles written by what we will call evangelical feminists and liberals that kick against the goads of this text, which is so clear. And I want you to understand that I'm not surprised, and you shouldn't, because revolt against authority is the very first sin that happened in the Bible. So, don't be surprised when you revolt against authority, because you're an atom, by nature, and you need to be liberated in Christ. And I want you to understand that we're liberated, not from authority, but we're liberated to freedom under it. I want you to understand that the greatest expression of freedom is submission. And submission is not just for women and children and slaves. It's for elders as well. Ultimately, as 1 Corinthians 11 says, we submit to our Head, Christ. And Paul says something amazing in 1 Corinthians. He says, even Christ submits to His Head, the Father. And so I don't want you to think that submission is a potty word. It's not a bad word. You shouldn't be ashamed to use the word submit. Me and Christina are teaching Alicia that she needs to submit to us, because Paul teaches that very clearly in the book of Ephesians. And as we're going to see in the next chapter, 1 Timothy. Submission is not a bad word. Submission is a good word. The problem is that we rebel. transgressed. That's what sin really is. It's overstepping a clearly defined boundary. Do not do this. Adam transgressed. Eve, submit to your husband. And our text says this morning, she became, perfect tense, as strong as you can say, and still suffers from the effect of becoming a transgressor. She transgressed. A clearly demarcated command. And the church is doing the exact same thing in our age when they try to, quote unquote, liberate women and ordain them into ministry. You're going to think I'm a bigot, perhaps. Most of you, I praise God, would agree, but I know for some of you, for me, I came out of a Pentecostal background, and often you'll see on the little board or whatever, pastors, such and such case or whatever, right? And it's a pastoral team. And I would challenge you and say, where do you ever see a pastoral team leading a church? Yes, I know there's Aquila and Priscilla, but they're not leading a church. Like Eve, the church is transgressing a clearly given command. I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. And here's a good website. I'm not going to get into every exegetical decision I've made. Thomas Schreiner says literally every word is controversial in this passage. Verses 11 through 15. And I mean it. Every word the liberals are challenging. Not scripturally, but every single word. Like you'd think four would be very simple. Because. And they challenge that. And when Paul says, I am not permitting, they challenge everything. And that's exactly what is happening. Shriner says every word is being challenged. And a website you should check is www.cbmw.org. Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. And there's something that we're going, we don't, that our church doesn't overtly ascribe to, though we do. And we're going to force, I think, everybody to ascribe to. It's called the Danvers Statement. I don't know if anybody is familiar with it, I would encourage you to read it. It's ten statements about how we interpret the role of men and women. And point seven, eight, and nine are the ones I would encourage you to read. Namely that we ascribe that the Bible is written clearly. That when Elisha reads this, when she's four and five, she doesn't need a PhD. to understand what this says. And this is what men like Grudem and Schreiner are saying, that all these liberal scholars are saying, the text is not clear enough. We need to now look to cultural implications. We need to redefine things. The text is not enough. And Albert Moeller is correct when he says, if we give in to this kind of thinking, you know what's next? ordaining homosexuals. And guess what is the number one issue in evangelical Christianity? Don't be surprised. When you relegate the scriptural text and you make it inferior to cultural or historical interpretations, of course this is going to happen. A man named William Webb is correct in his trajectory. He's written a book called Slaves, Women and Homosexuals. And he's saying that culture is the ultimate definitive interpreter, and not what Paul wrote. And you're thinking, get to the text! I just want to show you that how you treat a text will define how you treat very important issues. Wayne Grudem has written a book, I borrowed it from Chris, and it's called Evangelical Feminism. the new path to liberalism? And in the book, and it's not just a little article, it's in a book, and he is arguing that evangelical feminists are the new liberal movement. And you know what liberals do? Here's my definition of a liberal. Someone who seeks to please man by changing the Word of God. this might be very offensive to you. I'm just saying, like, I just read this to you. I should be able to just read this to you, and we should submit. I shouldn't need people to say, oh no, there was a rank feminist movement going on, or there was a new movement. Like, trust me, I've read it, and it's just, it's horrible what some people in the name of evangelicalism do with the text. The text is fraught with exegetical decisions, and I'm not going to show you every one I made. I'm going to show you, I think, the most clear interpretation from the Bible. I'm not going to say what the liberals say. You can find all of that stuff on cbmw.org. They have books online, and articles that I think should convince you. What is the problem? What is law breaking rooted in? Pride. And what is my definition of pride? Unsubmission. That's all pride is. You say this God, I do this. And so when you have people who are women ministers, I'm not saying they're not Christians, but clearly, like, you do not need to know the Greek. You do not need to go to seminary for seven years. Paul did not say, here it is and come and talk to me after. He writes it for the congregation, which includes children. It's very simple. Some liberals will flat out call Paul a chauvinist. Everyone know what a chauvinist is? Somebody who thinks one's sex is dominant or better than. Therefore, he's not even to be considered. What did one commentator, one liberal said? Paul is the eternal enemy of women. But let me say this, that the liberals at least are being consistent, and evangelical feminists are not. They're saying, Paul is clearly saying this, but I don't agree with Paul. You know what evangelical feminists are doing? They're saying, Paul's not saying that! The liberals are saying, yes he's saying this, I just disagree with them. And so I'm going to say this this morning, you're either going to agree with the text, or you're going to change the text. You can agree with the text and submit to it or refuse it. That's what the liberals do. Or you can do what a lot of churches are doing and they will disagree with the text. This is not what Paul clearly wrote. This is not a universal principle. This is written to a specific congregation. And then I say, what do you do with the book of Romans? He's writing to the church in Rome. Isn't that a specific situation where he wants to go to Spain and so he's writing under a specific occasion to the church? What do you do with Galatians? Of course this is specific! But the Bible, 2 Timothy 3.15 says, all scripture is God breathed. And yes, they say, okay, that's the Old Testament. Well, Peter says that Paul was inspired. And so do we actually believe that 1 Timothy is God's breathed out word for the church? That it will teach us right doctrine, and how we might live rightly. And that's what I challenge you this morning. As I'm preaching, if you disagree with me, I pray to God that you will at least say, okay, well this is what Paul is saying, and I'm not submitting to it. Okay? When I see women in ministry, I'll make it very clear, and I'm going to make some enemies here, they're not submitting to the clear teaching of Scripture. Am I saying they're not a Christian? No, I struggle with not submitting as well. But it's very clear here, and so is 1 Corinthians 11. My first point, it's very simple. You see how much, you know, as I was looking at the top, I just jumped over a whole bunch of points. But I think I've established how important our interpretation is. Let's just get simple. Verse 11, a woman must learn quietly with all submissiveness. Literally, it says, in quietness a woman let her learn with full submissiveness. That's the one command in this whole text, I think. Okay? And we understand that in the very previous verse, Paul says that a woman is to be one who is characterized with good works, which are characterized by dignity and self-control. And I think, logically, this is one of the ways Paul wants the women to conduct themselves. Remember, Paul's great purpose in writing this is to show Timothy how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household. And there's rules in a household, right? You come to my house, just so you know, I didn't give birth to Elisha. They're just natural rules within a family. I don't give birth to the children. Okay? And within God's household, there are rules. And so Paul is sending Timothy, with this authoritative letter, saying, you need to clean up God's household. And part of cleaning up the household is cleaning up the rules. getting people back under the ordained, the divinely commanded roles which God is ruling over His Church. And this deals with the roles of men and women. So, chapter 1, it's all about the Gospel. And you're thinking, what is a woman subjecting herself to the authoritative teaching of the Word have to do with the Gospel? It's everything to do with the Gospel. I'm going to show you after. The Gospel requires submission. Philippians 2, Paul defines what the Gospel is, that Christ, though being God, or in the form of God, in essence God, existing as God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped. But what? He emptied Himself of His divine prerogatives. So, the God-man, as God, submits Himself for the Gospel. No submission, no gospel. Paul is concerned that unbelievers are going to come in, they're going to see the, as we saw last week, the Jerry Springer church. Paul cares very much about the gospel, and so don't think that this is an addendum. This is very integral to how a church manages itself. This is very integral to how a church grows, to how a church witnesses the gospel of Jesus Christ to the world. The Gospel does not circumvent or destroy role distinctions. Rather, it liberates us to enjoy them and work within them to the ability God has designed for us. So, the first thing that Paul says for us this morning is that in God's household, a woman is to learn in quietness in all submission. Now, let me just define the context for you. This is when the church has gathered. Okay, this is God's household. So, when we gather, this is what Paul is saying the women are to do. The men, you are to pray with holy hands, not to be arguing. You're to be praying for the Gospel that it would advance, that God would save people, all kinds of people, even for pagan kings. And women, you are not to come in and draw attention to yourself, rather you to draw attention to Christ. And some of the women are disrupting the church with their immodest dress. And some of the women are disrupting the church by their unsubmissive hearts, their rejection of authority. And so Paul says in verse 11, a woman must. That's a good translation. When the ESV says, let a woman, it's an imperative or a command. Sometimes we think let's is almost a request. It's not in the Greek. It's a command. A woman must. Some even say a woman should. I like the New English translation, a woman must. This is a command and not a suggestion. And the major principle of interpretation here is in verse 11 and verse 12 we have what is called an inclusio. It begins with the word and it ends with the same word. And it's in quietness. That's what Paul wants the woman to understand, that when you gather publicly, you're to have a quiet spirit, or literally, you're to gather in quietness. With this statement, Paul shattered the conventional stereotypes of that time. Did you know that the Romans actually believed women were inferior intellectually and academically to men, and therefore they weren't even supposed to learn? I want you to understand that Paul is saying a woman must learn. It's not saying a woman can't learn or can't... Paul is saying something very positive here. And I was thinking about this and it was confirmed to me this morning in Sunday school. As I'm preaching I notice a lot of people take notes. You know who the majority of people who take notes in churches are? That I've seen anyways? It's women. Guess who were taking notes this morning in Sunday school? None of the guys are too cocky for that. Dini, and Mary, and Elizabeth, and Krista. They got the notebooks out and they're writing notes. And Paul says a woman must learn. And so he's going against the culture. Rather than the evangelical feminists saying, let's appeal to culture, the funny thing is, Paul isn't! At that time, the Romans, they treated the women as though they really were infant. No, they're not! God has made them in His image, and they have a brain, and they can think and reason. And Jews were even worse. Some of the Jews, you read in some of their, I don't want, it's not Targum, what do they call it? Mishnah? No, what is it? Talmud! They would say, God, thank you for not making me a woman. Or in one of them, the Jerusalem Talmud says, It would be better for the words of Torah to be burned than that they should be entrusted to a woman." And I think to that movie that the Youngerdens lent me, Barbra Streisand. Don't watch it, unless you know where to fast forward. There's a guy's butt in it, and it just turned me off. But it's that whole idea that a woman doesn't have the intellectual capacity. Notice I didn't say what the movie is. So if you watch it, that means you've Googled it. and you've done all the work to go find it." But the Jews are saying, no, it's bad for a woman, she obviously can't handle the... and Paul's not saying that. This is not an issue of how smart... it's an issue of God-ordained roles. And so Paul is actually going against the conventional stereotypes and is liberating women. I want you to understand that Christianity It is not meant to suppress women. It is meant to free them. And a lot of feminists are going to say that's double talk. If you really wanted to free them, they would be in the pulpit, etc. I'm sorry, I just disagree with that. I remember reading a book Ryan lent me. It's called Young, Restless, and Reformed. And who's the guy who wrote it, Ryan? for some reason it eludes me, he writes for Christianity Today, he's one of the editors, and he was going around all of these churches that are growing, these Calvinistic churches, and he visited John Piper's church, and he was talking to two girls, and they were bright, and they were going to university, or you would say in the States, college. and they had come to a complementarian view of scripture. Complementarian basically says that men and women are equal in God's sight, and yet they have different roles that complement each other. And this guy was actually marveling that these intelligent women who were getting degrees were actually submitting themselves to their husbands now. And they said that actually this is the most liberating thing, because our desire is to be free to work in the severe to which God has enabled us. It is not liberating when a woman who is not called to be a pastor exercises her freedom. A woman is free when she is working within the God-ordained, the divine mandates, the divine rules God has given her. And you are not lesser than. I want you to understand that. An obedient woman is something that brings great glory to God, rather than these women who kick against the goats, and these pansy men who let them do so. So the first thing Paul says is that they are to be quiet. And you're thinking it's either total silence, or quiet demeanor. And I would say, if you're looking in the Greek and the English, the best way to is to look, how does Paul use this word? And actually he uses the exact same word in verse 2. And it actually has to do with submission to authority. So we're to pray for all people. Why? So that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life. Godly and dignified in every way, and I think that's how I... So when you're wondering, when I say we need to... This is just how I always interpret context. Context is king. Okay? Word studies are good, but context. A five-year-old should be able to understand what the passage is saying, and what does quiet mean in context. It doesn't mean that, Dina, you can't sing, or you can't talk. It's ridiculous. Paul's saying you'd have a quiet demeanor about yourself, just like in verse 2. We're to pray that we might live a quiet life. What does that mean? We're not kicking against authority. We're not idiots. It's a gentle and a respectful demeanor in relation to authority. That's how I define quiet in context. You can read about it in Paul, I think it's Acts 20 or 21. He starts speaking to the crowd. And when he starts speaking, I think in Aramaic, they became quiet. And they were all rowdy before, and he starts, it's because now they're understanding that there's an authority speaking. And it's a gentle, a respectful demeanor in relation to authority. That's what Paul is saying. So you can talk, you know, you can elbow nudge, wake up Matt, you know, that's fine. It's, what is your heart? It's a quiet heart, a quiet demeanor, a quiet, gentle, and respectful spirit in relation to authority. So it literally says, in quietness a woman, let her learn in submission. And so what does it mean here, in quietness? In submission, I think, is what in quiet is predicated upon. You're thinking, why do I use big words like that? I'm sorry, I just, I read a lot of commentaries. In submission defines in quietness. So let me say it this way. Paul's main point in verse 11 and 12, we have the inclusio in quietness, he should say, How do I cultivate this quiet, respectful demeanor? And I would say, having all submission. So, before you're going to be quiet, you need to have a submissive heart. Not just a partial or a begrudging submissiveness. Notice how he says, she must learn in, the ESV translates it, all submissiveness. And Paul's been playing on the word all, all throughout this chapter. It's used all over the place. And so they're to have all submissiveness. Not just parts. You know, I only said, no, it completes submissiveness. Not begrudging, because then I can argue. You're to have the submissiveness that Mary had when she sat at Christ's feet. She's not like, whoa, I'm a woman! She sat at His feet, quietly, and listened to what the teacher had to say. He was clued to the authority, she sat at His feet. And that honors God, when men and women do that. The problem in Ephesus is that the women were getting out of line, and Paul is addressing a specific issue to teach us a general principle. And women, God says when you gather together, men are too, but Paul's addressing women here. There's other scriptures that said men have to do the same thing, but women in this text Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, unless you want to deny that, is saying that you must learn quietly. And how do you learn quietly? You do have all submissiveness within your hearts. And I'm not surprised that Paul writes about how we are to attain a submissive heart. Guess which letter it's found in? The letter written to the Ephesians. Turn to chapter 5 quickly. Paul's writing to Timothy, and where is Timothy implementing these structural changes for the church? It's for the church in Ephesus. And so when you read the book of Ephesus, I'm not surprised that Paul's talking lots about unity, and that we're one in Christ. And it's not surprising that Paul has roles for wives and husbands, and slaves and masters, and how people are to worship together. So look at Ephesians chapter 5. And verse 18 is the most important verse. Because verses 21 and 22 begin with a participle. That's fancy language for saying they're dependent upon the imperative of verse 18. Okay, so verse 18 is the answer to how we are to have a submissive spirit. Men and women, by the way. Verse 18. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery. but be filled with the Spirit." So that's a command, present tense, be being filled with the Spirit. And then verse 19 he has how we, what happens when we're filled with the Spirit as we gather publicly? Well we start singing, we start giving praise to Jesus, we start teaching, we start giving thanks. And then look at verse 21, the ESV is good. It begins, it translates the power of the Spirit correctly. Power of the Spirit is I-N-G. So be filled with the Spirit, dot dot dot, submitting to one another. out of reverence for Christ. So Paul's command in 1 Timothy is women, in quietness, learn with all subjection, all submission. How do you cultivate a submissive heart? Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Verse 22, wives to your own husbands. And there's no verb in 22, so really it says, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ, not a new sentence in the Greek, wives to your own husbands as to the Lord. So submission, whether a man or a woman, the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And so if you're struggling with submitting in any sphere, right, this is my advice. For women, you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. For people who kick against the goats, who trash talk cops and don't, they think it's a laughing matter to speed, you know what the problem is? You're not filled with the Holy Spirit. I'm not saying you're not saved, I'm just saying you're not submitting to authority. When the wife is not submitting to the husband, it's because she's not filled with the Spirit. Why do kids not submit to parents? Firstly, because they're probably not saved, and if they are, it's because they need to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And the word for submission can also be translated subordination. That's even a nastier word. That's just in the lexicon that I use, the standard Bday. What does subordination mean? MacArthur translates the word to come under rank, hupotage, to come under somebody, to be subordinate, to submit. And notice how all these commands in Ephesians are in Christ, or to the Lord. And so, what you need to understand women, when you're sitting there quietly and submitting, and men should be by the way as well, but Paul's just writing to women here because it's a problem, ultimately you're not submitting to me. And you're not even submitting so much to my office as elder or Marvin's office. You know who you're truly submitting to? Submitting to Christ. Submitting to God Almighty. And I want you to see that. That it's not a bad thing. It's a very good thing. You know what is to characterize all of God's people and not just women? Submission. That's why we call Jesus Christ, not just Savior, we call Him Lord. And the problem in Ephesus is a heart issue that is just like what happened in the garden, and I'm going to get there. But Eve's heart did not submit to her head, and she fell into transgression, and it's happening in many churches. By God's grace, I thank the Lord that our church doesn't struggle with this. I praise God that I come into a church filled with good traditions, a good Reformed tradition. But you know what? This church is not the norm in many places in North America. Lot of churches, they define God's clearly cut command. And they fall into transgression. And they really struggle with how they can ever expect God's blessing, when they will not, as a church, submit to what God clearly demarcates for them. So, they are to learn in quietness, which is rooted in a submissive spirit. Submission might be a threatening word, and perhaps some of you have been burned by people in authority. I'm sorry, I'm just saying this is what the Bible says. You may have been burned before and you don't want to submit. That's why a lot of people don't come to church anymore, they've been burned. I'm sorry, the Bible says, when you gather, not if you choose to gather by the way, when you gather, right? Why would God have overseers, like they're to oversee people? And so I was thinking about it this way. This is just a little extra thing. If you know people who refuse to come to church, you know why it is? It's because they, like the Ephesian women, have a problem with submission. They do not want to submit themselves to eldership. But they're sinning hypocrites! So was Paul. And so was Timothy. And so am I, and so is Marvin. Marvin a little more than me, maybe. I had to lighten it up. This is a serious message. But the issue with every sin, the way I see it, goes back to the Garden of Eden. God's Word is not submitted to wholeheartedly. Paul says the women need to be filled with the Spirit and you need to submit to them even if you've been burned in the past. But I want to qualify this. Who are you to submit to? I would agree with Douglas Moo. I'm just throwing that name out here because he's like right up there with Carson. If you want to read the book, it's called Rediscovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. It's edited by Piper and Grudem, and it's for free on cbmw.org, which I said. And let me just draw up some names. Like, when guys like Carson, and Schreiner, and Moo, and Kostenberger, and Gruder, and Piper, like these guys are not just pastors, these are amazing, amazing theologians. And I would encourage you, if you're kicking against the goats, to seriously read them. And Douglas Moo says, that we are to now qualify who they are to submit to. Like in 1 Peter 3, it says, women, wives, submit to your own husbands. So, you know, outside the church, Julie, I don't expect you really, you need to submit to your own husband. And when the church gathers, I agree with Moo and Shriner and all the boys, that chapter 2 is right before chapter 3. And so there's to submit in learning. In chapter 3, who are the only ones qualified to teach? Who are the only ones to whom women are to submit to when it comes to learning? Qualified elders. So next week, this is like the hard sermon, you should really be scrutinizing in a good way. Do Marvin and myself, do we meet these criterion? It's not just, okay, now submit to me. I'm making myself an overseer, which is why I believe in ordination, by the way. You know what the danger is with a lot of church plants? Some guy appoints himself to be the leader, who's not qualified, who's not been recognized by other leaders, and he demands that people, including women, submit to him, and he's not qualified. Let me say it this way. If I am not a qualified overseer, elder, pastor, preacher, shepherd, however you want to define those terms, you have no right to submit to me when we gather together. But, if God has called me and I am a qualified, or Marvin is a qualified, you submit to the office and the office is qualified and we're going to look at it next week. So I want you to understand, it's not just a blanket statement, right? It's not like someone's talking and an unbelieving man starts talking. No! The women, like the men, but especially here the women, they are to submit to the one who is teaching. And the only one who is qualified, called to teach, biblically I believe, is a man called an elder, overseer, pastor, shepherd, teacher, however you want to translate that. Men who are gentle servant leaders and not domineering tyrants. We're going to look at the qualifications next week, and it's not how smart he is or how good of a speaker he is. It really baffles me when a lot of pastors, when all they care about is being a good preacher. He is to be an apt teacher. But even, I don't want to say above that, but alongside that, Paul emphasizes his character. A lot of teachers are good, but they're not called. They're not, what's the word I'm thinking, qualified. There's a lot of clowns in the pulpit who are disqualified, who are excellent teachers, who should not be submitted to. A lot of unbelievers are good teachers. And so I think it's very clear Paul is saying, we need to submit to the male authority that God has given to the church. And I praise God that I've not seen any kicking against the goat. So don't think this is a spank sermon. This is what happens when I work through a text. You know, we get to them. I'm not doing my little, you know, leapfrog. This is a hard text, and I want you to understand why I believe, why I interpret Scripture this way, that men only should be leading a church. Not serving in a church, and ministering within a church, overseeing a church, and teaching authoritatively. Okay? And I just pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal that to you, and that you, by the Holy Spirit, will submit to the authority that God has placed over you. And the Bible's submission is a liberating word, insisting that it is a wonderful thing to submit to God-given authority. This is seen in Christ's submission, but it's seen all throughout the Bible. People find their freedom when they submit to God's authority. To submit is to be like Christ. Nevertheless not, my will be done, but thy will be done. So don't think it's like denigrating. It is liberating. It is God-glorifying when all people, and in this text women, submit to the leadership God has given. Notice that submission is made possible when both parties work together for a common goal. Why would Christ submit to the Father? Because He knew the Father and they had the same goal. Right? They were not different in essence. Right? Is the Son any less God than the Father? But 1 Corinthians makes it very clear that Christ, read it in 1 Corinthians 15, Chris read the end of it. Go to around, I think, verse 20. Christ subjects Himself, and He doesn't empty Himself of His Godness. He actually shows His Godness. The Trinity subjects Himself. He's poured forth, and He ministers, and He glorifies Christ. Okay, and so women are not less than men, but we work together within our roles, just the way the Trinity does. The Father does not die for the elect. Right? Christ does not quicken the elect. The Spirit does, but they work harmoniously within their roles, and they complement each other, just like women do with men. And I want you to see that when we're working towards the goal. And what is the goal? Why are women to submit to the leadership? Because our goal is what? Magnifying Christ. Getting the gospel out there. And I thought it was really funny. One of the commentators, his name is Philip Towner, and he's an egalitarian. And he thought this text is going to inhibit the advance of the gospel. And I thought how foolish that is. This is not going to retard the Gospel, it's going to free it! Though it doesn't make sense. God's ways are not our ways. We think, oh if we open it up and let women come in here, maybe let a homosexual come and preach, then it'll let other homosexuals come in. You know what? You've completely emptied the Gospel when you do that. God never blesses disobedience. He blesses obedience, and it doesn't make sense. You know what? The God, man, dying on a cross for my sin doesn't make sense to me, that that would somehow be my objective basis for believing for salvation. That doesn't make sense, and neither does this. If you came to me, even 8 years ago as a Christian, or even as an unbeliever, I would say the Bible is, this is bigotry, chauvinism. This cannot be God's Word. And yet the Holy Spirit causes me to submit to what God writes. And when we as a church submit within our roles, we complement. Right? We elevate each other. When women are working with... It's like a football team or anything. The army. Not everyone can be a sniper. Right? There has to be someone who's a playmaker on a hockey team. Not everybody can be the quarterback. But when everybody works together with the same goal, we complement each other. And that's all I want you to see. Paul's not trying to trash women, he's trying to free them. God has created man and women to glorify Him. He's created us within the church to magnify Christ, and these are the offices in which we magnify Him. I hope you see that. Please leave here liberated. And if you don't understand how that liberates you, please come and see me afterwards. Submission is made possible when both parties work together for a common goal. I'm working for the Gospel. I hope that by God's grace, you will subject yourself to the office God has given me. Not so much me, but the office. I hope if your goal and my goal are together, you're like, okay, I'm going to submit. And if you don't want to submit, I just would encourage you to repent. I'd ask you to check your heart and ask if you're more like Eve in the garden than you are like Christ in the garden. What does it also mean to learn in quietness? We get verses, sorry back to 1 Timothy if you're still in Ephesians. I know this might be going long. I don't know where my watch is. I obviously can't see a clock back there. I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. She is to remain quiet. Why? For Adam was formed first. Okay, so Paul is saying, in quietness, learning quietly means not teaching. Okay? I'm skipping over a whole bunch of notes. Paul's reason. Okay, so Paul's command. Learn, and we'll say from the elder, in quietness, which involves having a submissive heart, which shows itself in not teaching or exercising authority. And let me just say this quickly. Exercising authority is a broad principle, teaching is a specific principle. Okay, so what is my greatest means of authority within the church? The pulpit. I thought someone said pope, but I'm pretty sure that said pulpit. And that's how I exercise authority, is through teaching. And Paul is saying, how does a woman learn quietly? Well, obviously not by teaching bombastically. Okay, so it's just, they're just opposites. I just jumped over 25 minutes preaching there. It's very clear here. To learn in submission means, in the next verse, not to teach or exercise authority over a man who, I think, is obviously an elder who's qualified. Why? Well, here's Paul's reason. And notice that he's not appealing to culture. Liberals and evangelical feminists appeal to culture. Some say there was this new women liberation movement going on. Some people say Ephesus was ranked with liberalism and ranked with feminism. You know what? Ephesus was no different from Corinth or Philippi. They're pagan, of course. Right? He fell into transgression. The perfect tense shows that women who are in Adam, who are by nature sinners, they refuse to subject themselves to authority, just like men. Okay, and then Paul is going to appeal not to culture, but to creation. He does the exact same thing in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, which says women are to remain quiet. I'm not going to look there, you can read it yourselves, but notice how he appeals to creation. Notice how he appeals to Genesis 2, which is before Genesis 3. What happens in Genesis 3? The Fall. So Paul is appealing to the state of man and woman before sin enters. And basically what's happening in Ephesus is a lot of people are saying that since Christ has come, he has liberated us. He's removed all those things that separate us, which include role distinction. And Paul says, no, sin didn't bring role distinction. Creation did. Right? Because Christ redeems us from sin and its effects. And they think, hmm, one of the effects of sin is that men and women are different. And Paul says, no, God made them different before sin. So he appeals to the beginning, just like Jesus does with marriage. Right? I remember talking with Marvin, with another guy. He kept appealing to culture. And I'm like, dude, where's your authority? Is it in the scripture? Right? Christians have a higher authority. And it's not reading and finding archaeological findings, though they can help. But ultimately, we go back and say, how did God create it? Paul appeals to Genesis chapter 2, by which Moses writes, and God looked on his creation on the sixth day, and behold it was very good. Right? Everything is good. And then he sees his creation of man and woman, and he says it's very good. And Paul's saying, it's very good that God made men men and women women. Who cares if 2010 is filled with all kinds of feminists? I really don't care, even if I'm like, you know, a meanie. and I'm ignorant, and I'm a bigot, and I'm narrow-minded and exclusive. My higher authority that I submit to is Scripture. And I would encourage men and women to do the same. And so he appeals to creation, and it destroys the notion that Paul's command was situational. A lot of liberals say this was only for that time and that location. always commanded only certain women in Ephesus?" And I would say, yes, but this is a scriptural principle that is still carried forth today. Because where do you draw the line? If culture interprets things, right, if we do this text, who determines which text we do that with? If it's based upon culture. But if we go back to creation, it's not based upon culture, it's based upon God's purpose for men and women. Doug Mu says this, Paul is seeking to suggest the need to restore the pre-false situation in which a man bears responsibility for teaching. This is what's happening in Ephesus. They did not realize that God had given authority to the man who was made first, and in Jewish thinking, when you're the firstborn, you have authority. You have the role and responsibility, not just authority, but your responsibility, which includes teaching. And this is what I think Paul is saying is happening in Ephesus. Man is given authority. Women is usurping that authority. Things don't go good when that happens, just like in Genesis chapter 3. Do you guys follow that at all or no? I know it's really quiet and there's some lulling heads that are obviously sleepy. But did you catch that? Mu is saying here, the problem is that there's no submission. And he's saying, we need to go back, not to Genesis 3, but to Genesis 2. And if we want things to go well within the church, we need to submit to the headship which God ordained. And in Genesis 2, it's very clear that God gave the headship to Adam. Adam was to be the one who exercised, dominionism is too strong a word, leadership over Eve. And in chapter 3, Those rules were reversed and it brought all kinds of chaos into the world. And I think that's exactly what Paul is saying has happened in Ephesus and in every church that reverses God's divinely pre-fall mandated rules. And so when you see women who are preaching, plead with them to humble themselves. They can serve in a church, I'm not saying that, and they can pray. according to 1 Corinthians 11 and prophesy. And we're going to see in chapter 5 there's all kinds of things that women can do within the church. Right? We're not sending you a bunch of jug heads that just can't think and you just sit here and look. No. But because this is the way... I don't know why God did it. I'm sorry. If you're like, why did God do that? I don't know. Paul doesn't explain. He just says, for Adam was created or formed first and then Eve. He has authority. Why do men have authority? Why only are men called to preach? Because God created Adam first and then Eve. And you're like, that's not enough! Well, maybe I'll become a liberal, get my PhD, and then write a whole bunch of articles that have nothing to do with the text and are all what Paul would call speculations in chapter 1. Or I can actually believe that God's Word is definitive and authoritative and say, this is sufficient. 4 actually means because. Why should women submit? Because God made man first. He didn't make man more or woman less, but He made man first. I'm glad most of you dig that. God intended male authority from the beginning. That's why women should submit. The second reason, and, right, so first reason, Adam was formed first. The second, Adam was not deceived, and a better translation, but the woman, participle, being fully deceived, it's a stronger word, became a transgressor. And you're thinking, what does that mean? Does that mean woman is more gullible? That she's not as intent, that's not what Paul is saying. He's not making what you would call an ontological statement about a woman's nature here. He's not saying Eve was deceived because she was a woman. He's just saying Eve was deceived. Why? Because she did not submit to God's divinely mandated rule distinction. And I'll say it this way. This is going to be hard. I wish I was like Matt Chandler and people actually emailed me, because that means people are listening. But if I was as popular as Matt Chandler, I would get an email for this. Women preachers are deceived. And why are they deceived? Because they're rejecting God's rule for them. I think that's all Paul's saying. The problem is, the woman fails to submit, and because she fails to submit, she's deceived. You guys catch that logical progression? If you have an unsubmissive heart, women, and you can see in scripture men as well, you are more open towards being deceived. And I think when you read the account in Genesis, you see it very clear. That Satan goes to her, and it's not because she's less intelligent or more gullible. He goes to her and he goes behind Adam's back. By the way, Adam is just standing there like a pansy. Right? Most churches are not just filled with thieves, they're filled with Adams who are pansies too. They're letting this happen. Like Adam's a sinner, he's like, well, let's see what happens. You know, maybe God will just make another wife if she gets killed. But this is what happens. There's deception when we fail to submit to authority. I know I'm repeating myself, but I just want to make it crystal clear for us. Because so many people get this wrong. I don't know how they do, but I think it's because they're unsubmissive. Simply put, Paul makes a statement about what happens when roles are interchanged and women take leadership. All of Adam and Eve shows the massive effects that can happen when God's very good created order is reversed. Those who do this, like Eve, have become transgressors, and they need to repent. The solution. Verse 15, and we'll close with this. Okay, so we have the problem, what it's rooted in, namely the unsubmissiveness, and the solution is yet. She, singular, will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control. This is a confusing verse. Like, if you're called to singlehood, you're like, oh no, I can't get saved unless I have, you know, a relationship without... No, you're not saved by having kids. That's... I don't think what Paul is saying. Remember how context sort of interprets everything? As we're going to progress through Timothy, these false teachers... they're forbidding marriage, and they're saying that it's very unspiritual for a woman to get married and have children. It's very unliberating, or it's very confining that a woman would get married and have children. That almost sounds like the prevalent garbage I hear today, right? You're a luster then! Deanie, you get married and have kids? That's not, God created you to be the CEO of your own company and to exercise authority over men. Go to New York City, go to any big city. We lived in Toronto for three years. It's funny, I've always had to encourage Christina with this. You know, like when kids, you write in the yearbook what you want to do when you grow up? She wanted to be a housewife. She's almost fought with embarrassment over that. And I've had to encourage her and say, there is nothing more noble for a woman to long for and to aspire to than that. You know why she does that? Or why she was insecure about that? Because culture is preaching to her that if a woman is not out there working alongside men, but she's at home with the kids, that somehow she's inferior. And Paul is saying that is not it. I think the false teacher is saying, you want the highest degree of salvation? Is to be a single woman, or if you're married, to get out of that sort of, not divorce, but to get out of that authoritative submission, not to worry about kids, but it's to be the woman you were created to be, and Paul says precisely. It's funny, I got this from Philip Towner, the egalitarian, and I put a little smiley face. It's like I'm saying the exact opposite thing he's saying from the same thing. He's saying that Paul wants to liberate the women. And I'm saying yes, I agree, Paul does want to liberate the women by submitting. So how is a woman, which I'm going to quickly say, work out her salvation, right? She will be saved. This is not talking about how is she converted, right? Remember the umbrella for Paul was soteriology, was salvation, sozo? It's conversion and sanctification and glorification. I think he's working here with sanctification. How does a woman work? How does she grow in grace? Not by kicking to the ground being a mother or a wife and submitting. How does a woman grow in grace? How does she work out her salvation very clearly? Through childbirth, which is a fancy word. It's synecdoche. It's a part for the whole. It's the whole role God has given you, which is characterized by being a godly mother. If you can't have children, this does not exclude you. Paul's just writing a general statement here. Right? All that giving birth or childbearing entails, including raising children up, looking after the family, being a good housewife. This is the means of sanctification. And if you're a single woman, Paul's just writing generally here. Okay? You want to read 1 Corinthians 7 if you're a single woman. Okay? I'm just preaching here though, and this is what Paul is addressing. Married women, you're not lesser than. Don't think that somehow you're inferior if you're a homemaker. No, Paul says this is how you express. This is your means of grace. This is how you work out your salvation with fear and trembling. That is my loud, loud, loud daughter. Like men, a woman's salvation is predicated upon perseverance, which is why Paul says, if they continue in... Right, so Julie, what is the one undergirding principle which is going to enable you to actually press on if God has called you, right, as Chris' wife, to be a homemaker, to be saved through faith? to actually believe a promise that goes contrary to everything else the culture preaches to you. The culture says, Julie, you want freedom? Right? Don't have kids. Chris should stay home with the kids. You know, you're smarter than Chris. You can make more money than Chris. And Paul says, inspired, your freedom is found in submitting and in accepting the role God has given you. And you do so by faith. And you do so in love. And you do so with holiness. And again, the word is self-control. The same word he used last week in the sermon I preached. Right? So, the key thing is, women learn in silence. Which requires submission. Which obviously negates being an authoritative preacher and exercising authority over leadership. Why? Because this is just the way God did it. Before sin. Christ has come and He's dealt with sin, and yet there are still rules. There's still authorities. I'm still a father to my children. I'm still a husband to my wife. I'm still an overseer to this church. Christ's redemption does not destroy rules. It purges them, or it sanctifies them, or it sets them apart for the way it should have been. So we are in Genesis 1-2, with the wife submitting to the authority and the head, namely Adam, submitting to His authority, who is God. I hope this hasn't confused you too much. But Christ has freed women, of course, and men, so that they might submit to their defined roles. I have to submit too. Let me give you some applications. I'd like 15, but let me just give you some practical applications. If you disagree with my exegesis, please come and see me. Like, I wish I could preach for five hours to make it more clear. You have no idea how complex this argument is. And so all I'm arguing for, women are not called to be overseers in the church. Rather, they're called to submit to the authority God has placed over them. And Paul has explained applications. In other places, men are also called to submit to authority. So if the men are like, better listen to the preacher, huh? That's just this passage, but elsewhere Paul says that in Hebrews 13 also, right, all people are to submit to the leadership God has given. So men need to submit to the authority God has commanded as well. By the way, with responsibility and authority comes a lot more oasis on us. Like you're thinking, oh man, you know what happens when I submit myself? Ephesians 5.25. The woman submits to me. When I'm filled with the Spirit and I submit to Christ, I empty myself for my wife the way Christ did for His church. That's no easy task. Second, women are only to submit to proper authority. So just understand that. Thirdly, this only forbids women from authoritative preaching from the pulpit. It says, I do not permit women to exercise or to teach and exercise authority. The two are linked. The authority is the preaching of the gospel. I didn't say this, but whenever Paul uses the word to teach in the pastorals, every time, every time he says teaching, it has to do with the gospel and the doctrine derived therefrom. And it is always linked to an authoritative messenger, whether it's Paul or a pastor. Okay, so women, you can teach. You can teach as we gather. You can teach Sunday school. You can teach other women. I think of Aquila and Priscilla. She taught Apollos. Right? Like, I'm not saying God hasn't given you a brain. Quietness does not mean not saying anything. It's the demeanor. And basically Paul is saying that when someone stands up when the church is gathered to authoritatively preach the gospel and expound and make commandments from it, it's for a man. That's all I'm saying. But it doesn't mean you can't teach. You can teach your children. I mean, you should be the leaders in the home, but the wife, you know, you can teach too. And I've learned a lot of things from Christina, by the way. Okay, so don't think for a moment that you're not to teach. You're just not to teach from the pulpit. Another point, this door of heresy, The door to heresy is what I call evangelical outreach. You're like, what does that mean? Mark Dever says it this way. How does heresy get into the church? He says, heresy gets into the church through the open doors of evangelism. Catch that? We open up our doors because we want to see feminists saved, and we want to see homosexuals saved, and we want to see sinners saved. But this is the danger, and there's often good intentions. but they start to minimize the offense of the cross, or the offense of God's Word. They start to say things like, God cannot elect people. God cannot harden Pharaoh. Which I thought was interesting. Most Calvinists are complimentarian. It's because we submit to the hard things of Scripture. And when we start to sort of compromise, we open up the doors to all kinds of heresy. And I think, I think Rudim is right. The Evangelical Feminism Movement is the stepping stone to Liberal Theology. So let us be very careful. Like we preach the Gospel and we want to see people saved, but we keep the Gospel and God's Word pure. We don't tamper with it. If it offends people, so be it. I'm going to stand before God one day. I don't care. Some of you might be offended that I would have the audacity to say this. Here's news to you. I'm not going to stand before you on Judgment Day. I'm going to stand before the Lord Jesus Christ, and I'm going to give an account according to 2 Timothy chapter 4. So, my goal is to be submissive to God, even if that offends you. Our goal is to be submissive to God, even if that offends people outside the church. The secret to submission, as I said, and this is my fifth point, to be filled with the Spirit, men and women alike. Sixthly, when women submit to male eldership, they ultimately are submitting to the same head, namely Christ, who submits to the Father. 1 Corinthians 11 3. Sixthly, Paul's teaching does not denigrate women or make them inferior. The Arminian proof texts like 1 Timothy 2.4, 2 Peter 3.9. The one for feminists is Galatians 3.26 or 28 where it says, in Christ there is no distinction. There is neither slave or free or male nor female. I agree with that wholeheartedly. And the distinction of roles in no way makes woman lesser than. Right? Paul goes back to Genesis 2. In the beginning God made them in His image. In His image made He them. plural. Man and woman are both made in God's image. That is where our worth is found. Our worth is found not in our role but in our Savior. Okay? I want you to understand that. And lastly, in God's household, men and women with their different roles are nevertheless interdependent. Women, we need you to be working within your roles just like women need men to be working within their roles. If we want to see this church grow, men Like men, and I'm saying this to myself as well, we've got to pull our pants up and quit being like Adam in the garden. Women need that from us. And women, we need from you submission. I know that can be taken the wrong way. Okay, so we're working together for the same goal and we're interdependent, right? The Spirit comes, and men and women prophecy, the Spirit comes with gifts and they're all for the sake of the body, 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Which, not surprisingly, is right after 1 Corinthians chapter 11, where Paul talks about roles in the church. What time is it? Okay, I was going to have a question and answer session. If you guys really want, we can have that, but I'm thinking we'll just close. Was it just clear this morning? Did I bring more confusion? That's all I care about is getting the text right and making it clear for you guys, and that by grace we would submit to it and obey it. If you're not a Christian, let me say it this way, the reason you're not a Christian is because you've refused to submit to God's lordship over your life. You will go to hell for that. The woman, it says here, will be saved through the childbirth, and a lot of good Reformed expositors think this is pointing to Genesis 3.15, and I agree. I think that she works out her salvation within her role, but I also think Paul is alluding to the birth of the Messiah. And whether a woman refuses or a man, the seed came into the world, and its seed's name is Jesus Christ, and He came to save us from our rebellion, from our transgressions. Everyone here, man or woman, old, young, smart, whatever your race, you're a sinner. You've transgressed God's holy law and you have broken the commands He has given you for your good. You have kicked over the fence and as you're walking over the fence you've spat on it and urinated on it. God gave us these things for our good and yet we thought we were better and smarter. And Christ came in to redeem us from the curse that was brought upon because of Adam and Eve's sin, but ultimately Adam. The reason why you're not a Christian if you sit here this morning is because you're a rebel. And my prayer is that God will break your rebellious heart, and you will bend your knee to the One who submitted Himself perfectly to the Father. I just want to let you know, your living in rebellion will not go on ad infinitum. It will not go on forever. You will submit your knee to Jesus Christ. You will bend it. You will confess that He is Lord, and it will be to the glory to the praise of God the Father. And so I encourage you now, submit to the Lordship of Christ. Women, submit ultimately to the Lordship of Christ. Men, submit to the Lordship of Christ. May we as a church, may we advance the Gospel through submission to the rules we've been given. Come if you're a sinner. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your Word. I think it's clear, I pray that if I have muddied the waters. I ask that they will settle in the minds of everyone here and they will see very clearly that they did not need a 65-minute exposition on this passage. They could have just read it in 30 seconds and understood what you are clearly saying. I ask, Lord, that you will help me, Lord, in this authoritative role as teacher, elder, Lord, to open up the Word and not to make it more confusing. I ask now, Holy Spirit, that we would be filled by your guiding presence by your powerful working, that you would teach all of us, men, women, children, slave, free, Jew, Gentile, all of us to submit to Christ. Help us to see that your commands are not grievous, but liberating and freeing. And it is through them and by them that we grow in grace and show this world that you are real. Father, I pray for your blessing upon your household. I pray for your blessing upon this local church. Lord, make this our heart's desire to have your smiling countenance upon us. Nothing else matters. I don't care how full or empty this church is, Father. I want your blessing on this church, so make us obedient, I pray. In Jesus' name, Amen.