Please open in your scriptures to 1st Timothy chapter 2. We've been looking in detail at this letter written to a young pastor by the name of Timothy. Paul, of course, is the author. He wrote two letters. The second letter to Timothy is notably his last letter to the Church of Christ. Here the Apostle Paul is writing to Timothy as to what are the standards for conduct in the Church of Christ if indeed you want to build up the Church of Christ. If you want to see the Church of Christ being built up into mature Christians, What should be done? And as we come to chapter 2, there are various things we've talked about already, namely prayer. And last week we were looking at verses 8, 9, and 10. We saw how important it is that men bear righteous, holy hands as they come before the Lord in worship. And then there were some details as well for women in terms of how they are to come, how they are to approach God in worship and in prayer. And the instruction continues for women this morning in verses 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15. Before I even read the text, let me just note to you that what we have here in 1 Timothy chapter 2 is not an issue of culture. It is not an issue of gender superiority, although distinctions are made. In fact, there's nothing negative in these verses whatsoever. Unfortunately, many people read this passage in a rather negative way. It is not negative. In fact, it is very positive. It is a continuation of what holiness looks like when we come together to worship God. We now today live in what I believe is a very intentional state of confusion. We don't know what it means to be a man. and we don't know what it means to be a woman. And it's no wonder people now determine their gender not based on anatomy, not based on DNA, but rather based on feelings. People determine who they are or what they are, male, female, or whatever it may be, based on feelings. Not even the birth certificate has any say any longer. And the reason why, one of the reasons why, is because we no longer understand gender roles. We no longer understand what a man is supposed to be like and do and what a woman is supposed to be like and what she's supposed to do. What I want you to see here is that God does have a design. He does have a purpose. When we do not understand God's design or God's purpose, we are left with nothing really more than just feelings. Nothing more than feelings. It was a sappy song. And you become rather broken when feelings are how you determine who you are. As you all know, feelings fluctuate. Feelings fluctuate with hormones. Feelings fluctuate with cultural practices. Social media tends to change our feelings rather quickly and often. Fear and experiences change our feelings. And we all know that our feelings can be very deceiving. If we do not consider what God's word says about gender and gender roles, gender definitions, we are going to be left with our deceptive, ever-changing feelings. And what will happen is that culture is going to pour into our way of thinking. Culture is going to pour into our church and it will go unnoticed. Before you know it we will be thinking just like the rest of the world and dismissing without even acknowledging it what the Word of God says. Naturally and historically men then will be feminized and women will be become more like men. It will happen. It is happening. Well, our text today is not about who is in charge. Please understand that. It's not about who's in charge. Rather, it's about the basic gospel order. What is God's order? for man and woman. What is God's design? But before I even touch the text, let me just talk to you about an invasion. I call it an androgyny invasion. There's quite a bit of talk these last few weeks about alien invasion. Have you caught that? I do find it interesting, though. Whatever you may think of it, I don't know. Obviously, I don't know. But I do find it interesting that with all the technology we have, all the videos we have of these spacecrafts are these little blurry, gray, black and white. I don't get it, but that's the way it is. We'll see what comes of it. there's quite a bit of talk about alien invasions. But I think there's a more insidious invasion happening. Certainly a more dangerous invasion when it comes to our standing before God. More dangerous than little green men in fast spaceships, that's for sure. And that's the androgyny invasion. Androgyny means that a person is in a state of being either specifically male or female. Neither specifically feminine or masculine. Not necessarily in behavior, but rather in appearance. And many of you will recall back in 1972 it was David Bowie, the late David Bowie, who capitalized on this idea and he was quite the sensation. And pop culture ran with it, sparking then the proliferation of gender confusion. There's nothing new. This has been going on for a while. And today's sexual revolution has diversified androgyny beyond just appearance. And now we have, when we talk about LGBTQ+, that plus represents about 102 other genders. So in our culture today, we have 107 genders. We went from male and female to 107. I can't fathom it. There's nothing new under the sun. And back in the days of Christ, back in the days when the New Testament was being written, there was a philosophy, a religion called Gnosticism. And with Gnosticism, among other things, there was the belief of people becoming genderless, no gender, no gender, or gender confusion. There's nothing new under the sun. The idea, one of the ideas of Gnosticism was to eliminate gender, eliminate any certainty as to what gender you are. And so gender, the gender issue was beginning to plague the church even back then. The Apostle John writes in his epistles up and against Gnosticism. And what the Gnostics believed was that what was physical was not important, what really mattered was only the spiritual. And so the physical aspect of you, your gender, was non-essential. And of course they would say that in order for you to maximize yourself, you need to know a couple, a few spiritual secrets that nobody else knows, but we could fill you in. Follow me and you will be maximized. That was Gnosticism. Let me give you a sample of one of their writings. It's called the Gospel of Thomas, which was no gospel at all. And I find it interesting that every so many years, somebody comes up with the Gospel of Thomas and says, look at what I found. And it hits the papers. It hits the airwaves. And they start asking, should this really not be a part of the Bible, of the Gospels of the New Testament? And the answer is no. Well, how do I know? Well, let me read to you just one little portion just to give you a sample. The supposed gospel of Thomas. Thomas didn't write this, by the way. One sample. Jesus said, in reference to Mary, quote, look, I will guide her to make her male so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of heaven. Gnosticism. Some of you were here when Peter Jones, Dr. Peter Jones, rather eccentric Bible scholar from Westminster out in Escondido, California. This dates back a good 20 years ago. You'll remember him. He was the fellow who grew up in Liverpool with John Lennon. They were all buddies. And according to Dr. Jones, he told me that he has reason to believe that John Lennon actually gave his life to Christ just prior to being shot in the head in New York City. Imagine that. We'll know one day. We'll know. Well, Dr. Peter Jones, back 20-something years ago, he's still around, he's still writing. We have some of his books in the library. Dr. Peter Jones was explaining back then about how Gnosticism was being revived in our culture and how it was becoming more and more a part of who we are. And I remember that during the seminar, this woman came up to me and said, Yeah, back in the 50s, it was the communism and the nuclear threat. And now today, it's Gnosticism. And she walked away pretty angry. Like, this is nonsense. I wonder what she's saying today. Dr. Jones was very much on target. And he continues to blow that whistle. More need to listen. Well, I said before I read the text, but let me do one more before I read the text. Let me remind you of what the Church has done for womanhood in society. What the Church, because of the scriptures, has done for women in society and for society in general over these centuries. Let me explain to you the benefits to womanhood from Christianity, lest you think otherwise after we read the text. On the issue of equality, Aristotle, the philosopher, the famed philosopher, did not believe that men and women were equal. And Plato would say, well, women can become equal if you train them. But equality in the minds of either one of these philosophers was a good idea that nobody really had any reason to believe in. It was the scriptures. that brought to mankind a sense of equality. Equality between the ethnic groups and equality between age groups, young or old, and an equality between the genders, male and female. And that equality came to us through the church because of the scriptures. At the very beginning of the scriptures we see that equality stated and then it's built on as you read through. Genesis chapter one verse 27 says this, so God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him, male and female he created them. The equality comes in the fact that both male and female are created in the image of God. equality. On the issue of rights, the Bible continuously teaches us to pursue justice, to care for the widows, to care for immigrants too. Thank you. To care for orphans, to care for and respect women. In Micah 6a, the famous verse, he has told you, oh man, what is good? And what does the Lord require of you but to do justice? To love kindness and to walk humbly with your God. Now, this concept was essentially a foreign idea outside of the word of God. In Roman law, a wife was under absolute ownership of her husband. and he had ownership over all her possessions as well. He could divorce her for doing anything he thought was wrong. She could walk out of the house without a veil on and he could divorce her. In Roman culture, law, the husband had power of life and death over his wife just like he did with the children. Women's rights were as foreign as they could possibly be in that culture. It was the Christianization of that culture that actually gave women rights. And what we see today in places where there is no biblical influence, women remain possessions of men. In Ephesians chapter five, verse 25, look at what the Apostle Paul writes. He says, Love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. You note here that it is the Christian writer, the Apostle Paul, who elevates women to a position of honor previously unknown in the world. The church was a place we see in 1 Corinthians 11 for women to pray and prophesy and to utilize their spiritual gifts. And Jesus Christ treated women oh so different than the rest of the world. He spoke to them in public, which is something that was unheard of. It was considered wrong and sinful. He spoke to them in public. Women were a part of Christ's daily ministry. Jesus taught women spiritual truths which violated rabbinic law. But he did it because he honored women. He valued women. In fact, what I always find so interesting is something that we often just gloss over. It was the testimony of women who testified to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In that culture, women would never have been listened to. Certainly it would have not been recorded as evidence. Words from a woman? No. But in the scriptures, it is a testimony of women who explain that Christ had resurrected. Well, having considered these points, let's turn then finally to the text. And I want to look at verses 11 through 15, but for the sake of context, let's begin reading at verse 8. I desire that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling. Likewise, also 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 with good works. And if you have any question there, just go back to last week's sermon and refresh your mind. Verse 11. Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first and then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control. And I must say, Preliminary verses are rather difficult to comprehend, but that last one is especially difficult when we casually read that text. What I want to do this morning as we move on through these verses is divide these sections into three sections, and the first one is this. the role of women, as we see here at verse 11 and then 12, the role of women. And right there at the get-go of this verse, you see once again the contra-cultural principles of the Bible. In this little simple phrase, let a woman learn, you see in that culture women were not expected to learn, women were to listen, that's it. Women, you don't learn. You listen. Listen well, but you don't learn. Once again, here the scriptures are affirming the value of women. But here it reads, women are to learn quietly with all submissiveness. And many women especially, but not just women, will say, yes, I like the idea women should learn, but I'm not too crazy about this quietly and with all submissiveness. Well, please understand that what Paul is saying here is not intended to be in any way demeaning or punitive. He is not punishing women, but rather he's speaking here of a tranquil and quiet life. As we see, if you go back to chapter two, verse two, you see a tranquil and quiet life is the goal of the Christian character. tranquil, quiet life. Quietness is the rule for life and it certainly is for worship as well. All of you men and women right now are doing just that. You are learning quietly with all submissiveness. I'm the only one speaking. I'm the only one who's not quiet. And this is the order for worship. You'll recall that the Apostle Paul was very serious and very opposed to confusion in a worship service. In 1 Corinthians 14.33 he says, for God is not a God of confusion but of peace in regards to the worship service on a Sunday morning. Here, my friends, we see that the Bible is teaching a complementary relationship between a man and a woman. God gives to us two genders, male and female. and they complete each other. That is to say, by himself, man is incomplete. By herself, women are incomplete. Men are not women. Women are not men, even if you feel like you are. According to the scriptures, you're not. They complement each other. That means that they are equal, but not the same. That means that they harmonize, but they are not the same notes. It means that they correspond, but they are not alike. They are similar, but distinct. They complement each other. And here it says that they are to quietly learn with all submissiveness. And again, that phrase there is just not a popular phrase, not just for women, but for anybody in our culture today. Submit? You kidding me? What the apostle Paul is telling The church, in regards to the role of women, is that she is to be compliant and obedient to the church structure and regulations. Be compliant to the order of the church. It's similar to the roles and obligations that a wife has to her husband, recorded for us in Titus 2, verse 5, Ephesians 5, Colossians 3. quietness within the worship gathering or the gathering of God's people, the church, for worship. Now, when Paul says she is to be quiet, he is not saying you are to surrender your mind or your conscience. No, not at all. He is not saying that you are to not make any moral judgments or decisions. No. What he is saying, what he is doing is warning against usurping authority. Do not usurp authority. Just as it was predicted would happen way back in the beginning in the Garden of Eden in Genesis chapter 3. It was predicted that this would happen between Adam and Eve and it did. That she would usurp him and he would abuse his leadership. Genesis 3.16. And so Paul explains what he's saying in the next verse. Look at verse 12. He says, I do not permit a woman to teach. And in what way is she to be quiet? Well, she is not to teach. And if you look at the context and you look throughout the New Testament, you see that she is not to teach in a mixed audience of men and women. In a mixed audience of men and women. Now, once again, keep in mind that this is God's design. This is not a matter of patriarchal abuse. This is not a matter of the male is superior. I know many women who could teach far better than men, including myself. Somebody was just telling me that my wife teaches better than I. I ended that conversation quickly. No, I'm just kidding. It's true. She does. Ask my children. She raised all three homeschool. And they all have done well. This is the intended means for God's greatest creation to function. To complement each other. To complement means that you are completed. It means to bring to perfection. That is to say that when we violate this principle, we are de-perfecting something, not improving it. And so Paul writes here, and he does so in the present verb, indicating that this is a continuous action. This is not something temporal, it's not something cultural, but rather this is ongoingly, he writes in verse 12, or exercise authority over men. She is not to teach, or exercise authority over men. And the context here tells us that he is speaking of spiritual authority. Teaching, or just authority in general, spiritual authority, is forbidden. Again, here it is in the context of the church. She is not to exercise spiritual authority. Teaching is a form of spiritual authority. And I must say, spiritual authority is a rather sobering reality. I stand here, and I want to remind you once again, I don't eat breakfast on Sundays, you know why? My stomach is churning every Sunday. Because I realize I have to answer for your souls before God. I do not take that lightly. Anybody who jumps behind a pulpit should be ashamed of himself. Certainly he is foolish. I read in Hebrews 13, 17, the following. Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will give and account. And the young preacher will read Hebrews 13, 17, and he'll say, oh, that's really neat. Obey your leaders. They have to obey me. And then he reads the next phrase. For they are keeping watch over your souls. He says, oh, that's my job. That's a little hard to do. I don't know how I'm going to do that. And then he reads a third phrase, as those who will give an account to God. And he says, well, that's crazy. I have to answer to God for you? That's right. That's right. James 3 verse 1 says, not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. Spiritual authority is a sobering reality. It is a reality that should never be taken lightly. It's a reality that requires a sound self-controlled mind and that you consider it many times. I'll tell you the truth as well in regards to my own son who is just starting this week, an internship at a church in Ohio. And when he asked me what I thought about him going into ministry, you would think I was jumping for joy, right? No. Because of this. It's a sobering reality. You have to answer to God for the people who are under your care. Spiritual authority can be dangerous. And here we see that it's assigned to the male gender, and he best not abdicate his post. And neither should that post be misappropriated. Women, we're told here, are not to exercise spiritual authority over men in the gathering of believers, the church. Now, let me add this to it. And some people debate this with me, but nonetheless, I'll say it. Notice here, the text is talking about worshiping God. What are the principles for worshiping God, for the church of God, when we come together to learn the word of God? The text here is not saying that women cannot be prime minister. Go Margaret Thatcher. The text is not saying that women cannot be president, queen, CEO, supervisor, or a manager over you at work. It's saying women cannot exercise spiritual authority. They cannot teach the scriptures in a mixed audience of men and women. By God's design, it's not punitive. And let me say this, neither is the text saying that women cannot pray, or read the scriptures, or serve, or teach one another, teach other women. or administrate or, in my opinion, be a deaconess or a trustee. No, it's saying that women cannot teach or exercise spiritual authority. Verse 12 is not teaching that women cannot do these other things. She is not to be teaching men in the assembly of believers or function as one who has spiritual authority over men. They are to be male pastors. Sometimes we refer to them as overseers or elders. We see later on in 1 Timothy 3, and we'll get to it soon enough, that elders, pastors are to be men. Men are to carry out this duty. And we begin to understand why as we move on in these verses. Look at verses 13 and 14. Notice here a very important point. Leadership and submission is not a matter of reward and punishment. Again, it is a matter of complementing one another. It's a complementary design. And here's the design of women, verses 13 and 14. What you're going to see in these verses is that the basis for this principle that I just laid out for you comes from two historical events. Creation and the fall. Two actual episodes in history. The creation of this world and the fall into sin. Let's begin with creation. Notice here that Paul does not refer to cultural practices as a basis for this principle. Neither does he say, as some would argue, that the reason why women weren't allowed to teach is because women didn't have much education, and so, well, now things are different. That's not what Paul is saying. Neither is he suggesting that there was an overall patriarchal practice in this civilization, but those days are gone, and so this is no longer a valid truth. No, what he does is he roots this principle in the creation order. It's not in culture. It's not rooted in time. It's rooted in the creation order. That is to say that the principle is inherent in creation. Genesis chapter two, beginning of verse 21. And there we see the creation order. Adam first, Eve second. Paul repeats it here, verse 13. He says, for Adam was formed first, then Eve. Now, the order of creation is very telling. What we see is that God existed, God created Adam, and from Adam came Eve. God in charge of Adam, Adam to lead Eve. I appreciate what Matthew Henry said. Matthew Henry. hundreds of years ago, wrote a commentary on the entirety of the scriptures. I enjoy reading him. And he made this very good illustrative comment. He says, the woman was not formed from Adam's head to rule him. Neither was she made from Adam's foot to trample upon him, but from his side to be equal to him and close to his heart. I like the way he phrased it. The order of creation is very telling as to who is to lead who. God led Adam, Adam was to lead his wife. Notice also the order of naming. It adds to us an understanding of the structure in terms of leadership and authority. God named Adam, and Adam named Eve. And I imagine together they named their children. I'm sure her opinion was more valuable than his. A woman's submission, my friends, is not the result of a fall. It is not a punishment to women. but rather it is God's creation, order, design. She was to be from him and for him. She was created to be his helpmate and in that sense be a complement to him. Why? Because he could not go at it alone. He needed her. So we have creation in terms of the woman's design, but consider also the fall. Here's the second historical event. Again, the fall was not the reason for her subordination, but the fall does underscore God's design. Let me show you what I mean. Look at what happened to Eve, the mother of mankind, when she ignored her husband's leadership. It's recorded for us in Genesis 3, beginning of verse 1. You can go home and read it for yourself. Here at verse 14, 2 Timothy 2.14, Paul writes, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. By God's creation design, she was to be under the protective leadership of her husband. And when she moved out from under that protective leadership, what happened to her? She was deceived. Sin entered into her world. She became a transgressor. God's order was twisted and disaster ensued because she came out from under his leadership. And then she willingly and knowingly was able to somehow convince her husband to disobey God as well. And the world was plunged into sin. He abdicated his role as a leader and chaos resulted. As the head of their relationship, Adam was the one who would carry the responsibility for both of their actions. He tried to blame her and God. He said, the woman you gave me, she made me do it. And God said, no, no, no. Adam, this is all on you. Her actions and your actions. And that's why when God seeks him out in the garden, he doesn't say, Eve, Eve, where are you? He says, Adam. Where are you? He doesn't even say Adam and Eve. He says Adam, because Adam is responsible for both of them as the federal head. And that's why in 1 Corinthians 15, we're told that Jesus Christ is the second Adam, not the second Eve. Christ comes to us clothed in a human male body. By God's design, my friends, leadership in the family, and the church is ascribed to the man. And she is to follow, she is to help. And this is not a punishment. It is the basic gospel order of what God has said is good by his design. In fact, what we see is that this order reflects the relationship between Christ and the church. There's the beauty of marriage. Marriage is to be a reflection of the relationship between Christ, the groom, and the church, the bride. The church follows the Christ. The bride follows the groom. Now historically, I understand, many a man have abused their leadership. And many a woman have usurped authority. just as it was described would be in Genesis chapter 3. Well, let's take a look at one last verse, verse 15. And maybe it's the most complicated of all the verses here in this series. Let me try to simplify it for you. I want you to see here the contribution of women. We saw women's design. Let's take a look then. at the contribution of women. And verse 15 begins this way. Are you still with me? You look like you are. It reads this way. She will be saved through childbearing. Now remember, verse 14 said that she became a transgressor. And here, verse 15, it says that salvation is coming to her. But this is not a reference to salvation of her soul. Verse 15 is not saying that she's going to be granted forgiveness and eternal life if she gives birth to children. That's not what it's saying. It is not saying that the repercussions of her personal sin are going to be taken away if she has one, two, three, maybe five children. The more, the better. The more secure her soul will be. No, it's not saying that at all. Now, notice here that it speaks in the future tense. It says, she will be saved. She will be delivered. And note also the plural sense. If they continue in faith, who is they? They is womanhood. This text here is also not referring, as some people would say, to the birth of Jesus Christ. Some people try to interpret this, verse 15, and say it's a reference, a prophecy, or rather a reference to the birth of Jesus Christ. I don't see that at all. Some would say that it's a reference to Mary giving birth to the Christ. I don't see that at all. Some people say it's a reference to the Proto-Evangelium, the first mention of the Gospel back in Genesis 3.15. I don't see that either. It reads this way. She will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control. So what is Paul saying? Keep in mind that it's only complex to us as we live in our day and age, as we take the original Greek and put it into English. Understand this, when Timothy wrote it, he knew what Paul was saying. We struggle with it. Timothy was saying, okay, I get it. What is Paul saying? He's saying that womanhood will be delivered from the disgrace and shame of the fall that she began. By doing what God uniquely designed women to do, bear children, the shame, the stigma of the fall is removed from womanhood. It is not saying that the woman's soul is going to be redeemed by childbearing, but rather the stigma brought about by Eve is redeemed, her reputation as a person who was insubordinate, a person who was foolish. All that can be undone, how? By burying children. But there's a little more to it. It's not saying here that if she suffers enough pain, Through childbirth, she's going to do penance, and now the bad is going to be outweighed by the good. And it's not talking about penance here. It's not talking about her suffering. Rather, notice here what it says. It says, through childbearing, if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control, womanhood is redeemed through motherhood. if through motherhood the woman seeks to raise a godly seed, if she seeks to raise children who seek after God. My friends, that is the call of every woman who can bear children. If you can, that is the call, to bear children who will seek after God. with her husband, if she can't give birth, she is to raise her children in the knowledge and fear of God. And there, womanhood will begin to be redeemed. Notice there it says if they continue in faith, love, holiness, and self-control. Faith, of course, is believing in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. Love is the outward expression of a person who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior. Holiness, meaning that she is being separate from this world, even though she's living in this world. And self-control, as we saw last week, is being of sound mind about how she lives and how she interacts with people around her. My friends, mothers have the greatest impact on children. I know it's bemoaned today. We would rather be a female CEO than to be a mother. I know throughout the years, every time my wife had to explain that she's a stay-at-home mom, people would sort of look at Kaukai, really? You have so much talent, that's what you're doing? Exactly. I'll tell you something, my three sons never regretted that. And I'm not saying that you need to do likewise. I'm saying that's what we did. And it worked to our great benefit to our children's benefit. Because this is how we decided would be best to raise children in and under the rule of God. Mothers have the greatest impact on children. Mothers contribute most to the godliness of the next generation, far more than men. Mothers can reverse the stigma as John Piper notes. A woman led the dash into sin and women can lead the run out of sin for the next generation. What Paul is saying here is that women Accept your God-given, godly role. It is good. Our world doesn't think so, but it is good God says so, and your children will know so. This is not only the ideal for women. My friends, this is the highest ideal. That you would be able to impact your children. for the cause of Christ. We don't know what our children are gonna say and do, but it is our role, your women especially, to incite in them a passion for Christ, his truth. To impact generations for Christ through intimate, lasting, up-close, nurturing care that fathers have no idea how to do. Ask your dad. You wouldn't know how to answer. John Piper writes, preaching is useless without the influence of godly women. How true that is. Well, my friends, I hope I added some clarity to these passages, these verses for you. Here we have God's design for the genders. Not every woman is going to be a mother. And not every man is going to lead a family, much less a church. But where women are mothers, and where men are in a position of leadership, look, she is to be free of any sense of inferiority by influencing the next generation with godliness. And men are to lead with holy hands. And for the church to ignore this divine order would be the same as repeating what Adam and Eve did in the garden. Never let that be our case.