Welcome to Bible Believers Fellowship and the ministry of bbfohio.com. I'm Pastor Greg and I welcome you to our study in 1 Timothy 2 verses 9-15 titled, Which Becometh Women? We apologize for the medium quality audio and video, but due to an oversight on the part of yours truly, we didn't have the HD camera on site and had to use the recording of the live stream feed in order to produce this edited version of the night's study. Which becometh women, 1 Timothy 2, 9-15. We're going to close out chapter 2. by picking on the women. Hey, don't blame me. Paul wrote this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Turns his focus toward women as he finishes chapter 2. It's really good stuff, actually. Verses 9 through 15. Let's read the odd. Have you read the odd with me? So join me. Beginning with verse 9. In like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first born, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and wholeness with sobriety. Amen? Amen. So Paul instructs women on, first of all, true adornment in verses 9 and 10. Then he instructs them on male authority, verses 11 through 13. And it's all based on. consequences of the fall. And that's verses 14 and 15. So Paul instructs women to be about inward beauty and not shallow or fleshly beauty. True adornment. So that's what we see there in verse nine. In like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel. That's what people ask us. What's your dress code? Sometimes people, new people, they'll call before they come and view. What's your dress code? Come dress. And we want you to be modest, you know, don't show a bunch of cleavage or tight or, you know, common sense, really. Sadly, not common these days. So you do, I do kind of explain it. We just want you to be, don't be a distraction. You know, you're not there to get attention. You're there supposed to be here for the Lord and for fellowship, not for attention. And so he goes on and says, to adorn themselves in modest apparel with shame facing us. Now that doesn't mean that you walk around all gloomy all the time. It doesn't mean that you don't smile. It just means that your countenance is one that is not full of pride and stuck on yourself thinking you're hot stuff. That's really what it means. It means that when people look at you, they don't see arrogance. Have you ever seen people who, at first, you're thinking, wow, she's pretty. Then you're around her maybe five minutes, and you're like, she's pretty ugly inside. And I just remember, I don't want to name names or anything, but going back to high school, there were some really pretty girls in my school that were just very, very bad people. And then there was guys. I was one of them before I got saved at the age of 19. Me and my girlfriend would win the cutest couple. Believe it or not, I won cutest nose. True story. But I was ugly inside. Yeah, butch. And that was true of a lot of pretty people. Also, it says, in sobriety, it basically is just telling you to be level-headed and not, obviously, given to substance abuse and being out of your head on drugs or alcohol or whatever. Not with braided hair or gold or pearls across the array. Now, some people will say, well, that means braided hair. Well, it doesn't really mean what we mean when we say braided hair. we call braided hair is, I think is not what you do your hair. You take it and you just kind of put it in a braid. When they talk about braided hair, they actually would put all kinds of things in their hair, including very expensive things and then strut around. Braided is not braided. Braided is... It's not, especially the way we use the word. There's an argument to be made that that word braided once meant something else. But today, all braided means is you're taking the hair and you're making like a rope out of it. That's what it all means. But in the biblical times, broidered hair meant that they really fixed their hair. You'll see in movies where they try to give you some sort of ancient context, you'll see how the women have their hair. And they got all this expensive stuff in their hair. And the hair will be tied around gold and silver and things. They even did actually have hairstyles where when they walked, it would clink. What? Draw attention to you. And that's the opposite of what we're talking about here with a godly woman with the spirit of God in her. Paul's saying that skin deep and surface beauty is meaningless compared to inner sanctification. And it's really about focus. Your focus should not be on. There's some Christian women, I mean, I'm not saying they're not saved, but I've known some Christian women, they are obsessed with their appearance. They spend all their time worrying about their hairdo and their makeup and their tanning and having their nails done and buying the most expensive clothes they can find. You or someone else might get your nails done or get your hair done. I'm not saying that's a sin. I'm just saying that when that is your focus, when you're just overwhelmed with that stuff. It's just not a biblical, female, spirit-filled attitude to have. Paul was referring to the high fashions of his day. He's not talking about the simple hairstyles where you just fix your hair. There's nothing wrong with fixing your hair. And there's nothing wrong with wearing nice clothes. But there are people who you know, have made their children go without things that they really needed so they could have a wardrobe and have 50 pairs of shoes, you know, and that kind of thing. And Paul is saying that's what, a Christian woman shouldn't be about that. Verse 10, he goes on to say, but, instead of all that stuff, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. And you should have parentheses there in between. It said, but with good works. And then in parentheses, he stuck in there, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. So take note of one thing real quick. For those of you who are listening and not reading, it says which becometh women, not which becometh women. It's W-H-I-C-H, not W-I-T-C-H. I just had to throw that in there because I thought it was funny when I was reading it, when I was listening to the reading of it. And he said, but which becometh women, and it suddenly popped in my mind. There's a revival of witchcraft among women today. It's called Wicca. And a lot of the Christian stuff, Christian in quotes, But a lot of the Christian stuff for women today is very pagan and Wiccan. And the books are promoting yoga. And that then also is connected with things like nature worship. And they're teaching you to love music that involves mindless chanting and all these things that are connected to witchcraft. On one hand, it's kind of a joke. On the other hand, it actually is serious. Women, men also, I mean, especially men that are kind of a little limp-wristed, just saying, but women especially, you're being drawn to this nature worship Wiccan spirit. And of course, ironically, even though it's supposed to be very feminine, it involves what we're going to talk about in a minute, and that is you then trying to assume male roles. And before feminists started saying it, it was the witches and the Wiccans who were saying, I don't need no man. The feminist movement is nothing but. the Wiccan pagan stuff without a lot of the spiritual or mystical or religious dressing. But they took the attitude of Jezebel and brought it out of Wicca, and a lot of churches brought it into the church. And they did it in a big way through books. The main point is that Christian women should be adorned with works that glorify the Savior. So it's not that difficult. I mean, we've talked about it here for a few minutes, a few ladies, but it's not that difficult because if you have the right spirit and your whole point is to glorify your Savior, you really don't have to worry about these things. They're not going to be a problem for you. Most of the time, it's a problem for women who are not in the Word, not really filled with the Spirit. And by the way, a lot of this you'll find in Spirit-filled churches, but they use the word, I'm putting it in quotes. Spirit-filled, meaning all the speaking in tongues and slapping them on the forehead and knocking them down and rolling around and barking like dogs, puking in buckets and all that kind of stuff they're doing in these charismatic Pentecostal clown shows. And there's a lot of this in that crowd. As a matter of fact, there have been witches who laughingly boast about the fact they can go to any of these Pentecostal churches and do some of the same things they do in their Wiccan religion And everybody thinks they're full of the Spirit. Well, they are, it's just not with a capital S. So a Spirit-filled Christian woman has a biblical attitude and does not rebel against or assume male authority. And that's what he gets right into, verse 11. 11 and 12. First, just read verse 11. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. Now, we're going to expand on this just a little bit. But what I want to start by saying is the women in this church, you're doing it right now. That's what he's talking about. You are learning. You're not in subjection to me. You're in subjection to the Word. So as I'm teaching, you are to be a Berean. And if you see that what you're being taught is true, you're supposed to be made, you're willingly subject to that. Well, that really, I'm not telling you anything new because that's true of the men too. So this part really isn't anything new. Well, before we get into that, verse 12 then says, but I suffer not a woman to teach. nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." Now, go try to tell that to Joyce Meyers. Or Beth Moore. Or I don't even know, there's all kinds, all kinds of women, especially in that charismatic Pentecostal group. All kinds of women, prophetesses and apostles, they call them apostolices. I don't know. Female leadership in the form of teaching, and I'm telling you, having some of that stuff is crazy, the stuff they're teaching, stuff they're saying. And people by the thousands flocking to hear that stuff. And it's just amazing. Women are not to stand in authority, teaching, or the congregation. That's the bottom line of what you're reading there. You're to learn in all subjection, no different from the men. You're not, though, to be the teacher of the church. The pastor, assistant pastor, elders, study school teachers, whatever, are to be met. And that was once not an offensive thing to say or a controversial thing to say, but we are in the last days. And so there you go, Doug. Yeah. In Timothy, in the third chapter, it speaks about what a bishop is. Yeah, we're going to come to that next week. I'm sorry. Yeah. No, that's true. That's what we're going to come to next week. But first, we're going to pick on the women, Doug. No. Look at 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians. Now some of you men are like, well, I'm not coming back next week. 1 Corinthians 14, 34 and 35. Read those verses with me. Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for women to speak in the church. Now, I know that sounds like what some churches do. They have these rules where the women, they won't even speak up to give prayer requests or anything based on that. But you have to miss the context. You have to ignore the context in order to get to that extreme. Point. Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted unto them to speak. Of course, that's not meaning ever. Thank goodness. And if there's a fire, please speak. Women, these churches don't. Start, what do you call that? Miming? Miming. What did he play? Charades. Charades. Now, if there's a fire, say, fire. But the context becomes clear if you take the whole thing. It's not a period at the end. It says, but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. Now, here's the case. And if another pastor has other policies, then that's on him. But I think everyone's clear here. I allow, if you raise your hand, I'll allow, women and men to ask a question or make a comment. But there's times where I, for time's sake, or I don't want to get interrupted because I'm making a point, and I'll ignore the hand. Don't get your feelings hurt. It has nothing to do with your sex or gender. It has nothing to do with anything other than There's times where a teacher's in the middle of a point, and if he stops and then starts talking about something else, you've totally blown the attempt to prove or make the point. There's also times where I'm done. I want to finish up. But otherwise, if you are doing that, then you are under obedience. You're doing what you're supposed to be doing in the church. And it says, if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home. Well, first of all, if that just means you can never ask a question in church, you have to wait till you're home and ask your husband to learn anything at all, that would mean most women would never learn anything. Because a lot of women don't have men who know their Bible. And I don't believe that's what Paul is saying here. But I do believe what he's saying is for them not to try to teach from the pew. Back then they didn't have pews, but you know what I mean. How many of you have been in churches where women will raise their hand to ask a question or make a comment, but actually what they try to do is straighten out the preacher? And that's what he's speaking against. For it is a shame for women to speak in the church in that context. And even the churches that I know who press this to the point where women can't ask questions or anything, they still let the women sing. What's singing? Singing is speaking with the melodic tone. But you're still talking in the church. You're still speaking. I can say, I'm singing. I'm singing. I'm singing. Or you can say, I'm singing. I'm singing. And I'm singing. Either way, you're talking in the church. I hate to tell them that they think they're being real holy by not letting women talk, but then allowing them to sing, and they're actually blowing their whole point. And there's some of these churches where women can't ask questions, but they'll sit back there and say, amen. Preach it. Well, that's speaking. Do you see how inconsistent that is? But I love this from Matthew and Henry. He says, this must be understood of speaking to the congregation for the instructing them. See, that's what the context is. Or speaking in the congregation to minister or any of the people for her own instruction, meaning that she knows something and she's trying to share it with everybody. For the woman might doubtless say amen to the public prayers. and also sing with the congregation to the honor and glory of God. So it's just common sense and consistency cure the extremes when it comes to this whole thing. So we kind of sum it up here. Guidelines for women speaking. You cannot be the pastor or teacher. We'll come back to why in a minute. Number two, when the pastor or teacher invites questions or comments, then you can ask questions Now, for some reason, I stand up here and say, well, only men can ask questions or speak tonight. Well, you should honor that request. I must have some reason why I'm asking that. And then later, you can snip at me about it. But during the church, keep your mouth shut. Amen? You can say amen, or praise the Lord, or glory to God, or pass the salt. And then also singing or testifying. And again, there's churches where women can't ask questions or anything, but they'll let them get up and testify. And so what they end up doing is having whole services where there's nothing but testimonies, because all the women want to talk. I've seen it. I've been there. How many of you have been to churches like that in any of you? OK. So then, verse 13, back in our text, back in 1 Timothy. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. That's not the end of that, but that sets the standard here. This is the standard which has been reinforced repeatedly ever since. God created Adam. Eve was to be a help, meat for his needs. That's not only husband and wife. That's the way it is in the church, too. The men are the leaders of the church, but let me tell you something. If it weren't for that woman down there, I wouldn't be able to do this. And the woman who loves the Lord, is Spirit-filled, and all about Jesus and not herself, she doesn't care whether or not everybody knows that. Because she knows on Judgment Day, the Judgment Seat of Christ, great is her reward. That's just not to the pastor's but we're talking to the women tonight, to all you women who have supported me. Yeah, giving money to the church, yes, but I'm talking about prayer. Praying for me. Helping. Lifting a hand. Doing something. Spreading the gospel. Helping us do our work of spreading the gospel. Helping us. You don't teach, but you sure can help get the teaching out there by giving out the website address and the radio program times and all that or even making, you know, sending out links to people to send them the messages or making copies. It used to be we were big on making copies of CDs. Of course, I remember cassettes. And if you've done any of that through the years, then you are fulfilling your calling and your role in the body of Christ. And if you don't care, I love it. I think it was Reagan who gives credit for saying, in politics, he said, you can get an amazing amount of things done if you don't care who gets credit. Well, our little church is proof of that. I mean, we don't have a huge congregation, and yet I'm aware of the fact that we get the word out to a greater extent than churches ten times our size. It ain't because of this guy. I can't do all that. Somebody's out there doing the work. And you women having a part of it, you got a reward. And I think it's supposed to say, now Paul rests his case. Oh, it's right. It's how. I wrote it wrong. I wrote it right. And how Paul rests his case causes wailing and gnashing of teeth among feminists. So don't wail and gnash your teeth unless you want us to think you're a feminist. It's the consequences of the fall. And this is real hard for people to, Well, you know what, I think a lot of people have trouble swallowing this truth because they don't really believe the Bible. If they really believe the story and what we should call an account of the fall in Genesis, it's easier then to submit to the consequences. All these people out there teaching the inherent goodness of man. Men are inherently good. You know why they teach that? They deny the fall. They deny that Adam sinned and ever since then, all of his children have been born with a sinful nature. They deny that. So when you either deny it or just don't believe it, it makes it hard to then accept the consequences. So verse 14 says, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Now that's just a fact. Adam was not deceived. He was deceived. We're going to run all the references because we're going to look at some of these things later on. But Adam, it's inferred here. But it's clear in Genesis, it doesn't say he was deceived. He basically died to be with his bride. And that's very much like Jesus who died to save his bride. the first Adam and the second Adam. See how that works? Different, but typically, it's a picture. As a type, a shadow, it's a picture. Adam gave himself to be with his bride. Jesus gave himself to save us who are his bride. Isn't that beautiful? So this is what happened and these are the consequences. Let's look at it real quick. Genesis chapter three. Beginning in verse 14, you believe that's literal? You believe there was literally a garden and there was a tree of good knowledge, good and evil, and a tree of life? You really literally, literally, literally believe that? Yes, I literally believe it. I like the old preachers who say, I'm just dumb enough to believe it, amen? And sometimes they say, I'm just simple-minded enough to believe it like it's written. Well, if that's what simple-minded meant, I'd say amen. Verses 14 through 19 and the Lord God said under the serpent there's consequences for Satan Because thou has done this thou art cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field upon thy belly shalt thou go and Thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life now. We don't Understand I don't pretend those days. Maybe you do, but I don't pretend to understand this, but there was a creature called a serpent Wasn't a snake He was upright beautiful and could talk. But because he allowed Satan to possess him and use his person or his being as a tool to deceive Eve, then God said that's the consequences. Since then we've seen serpents. Now what we see today I'm sure wasn't what the original one looked like. I got news for you. I think all the animals coming off the ark look totally different than the ones we have now. I'll guarantee you there was no such thing as a shih tzu. Same thing's true about snakes. But then it says, and I will put in between thee and the woman. Now this, most women hate snakes. Amen? Oh yeah. Am I talking about, anybody here, you women love snakes? No. All right. But this is really talking about you and the devil. And it's really talking about Mary and the devil in prophetic terms. But look what it says, and I will put him between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Jesus said, the reason it says bruise his heel is because he was bruised, he was knocked down, but he got back up. When the time comes, Satan is bruised. It's a deadly final cast in the lake of fire. But it's the seed of the woman. Why do you think there's so many abortions? I mean, yes, there was an attempt to destroy the seed of Messiah up until even after Jesus was born when Herod killed all those innocent babies in Bethlehem. But even beyond that, Satan hates the seed of man. because he sees in the seat of man the one who came with a capital M, the man Christ Jesus. You know, it happens, and we see that among people. There's men who marry a woman who had kids by another man, and they see in those kids that other man, and they mistreat those kids. That's the spirit of the devil, because that's how the devil looks at everyone in this room. And so that's the consequences there in verse 16. Any of the women who've had babies can say amen to this. Under the woman, he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow, thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. We don't have all the time to get into this about husbands and wives, but we're talking, according to the text in 1 Timothy, isn't dealing with marriage, it's dealing with the church. But I'll say this. One of the biggest problems in Christian marriages today are women who aren't willing to be subject to men. But that is only when the man is serving the Lord and he's telling his wife to do things that he ought to be telling her to do. But when a husband tells a woman to do something that goes against God's word, guess who her first master is? So what you got a problem is, is too few men serving the Lord, which put their women in a case where they can't follow them. And then you have the men who are serving the Lord, too many of their wives are in rebellion against their authority. Then you have the rare thing where a man and a woman are in right order, in right with each other with God, and it works wonderful. It's a wonderful thing when it's done right. He goes on to then say, verse 17, and unto Adam, he said, oh, wait, before I move on, it says, and he shall rule over thee. That's the model that also is in the church, male authority. But again, some women have fallen into error because they thought it was the male they were subject to. It's not the male. It's his authority, which is the scripture. See? And that's true about your husband. It's true about your pastor. It's the scripture that is the authority. He's simply providing the leadership based on scripture. And when he gets off, he's off, and it's a whole different story. But anyway, it goes on to say about the men, and Adam, he said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, see? when the female headship is wrong and God will never honor it. And it says, thou hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life, and so forth. And it's basically saying that a man has to work hard for his bread and to take care of his family and so forth. And we'll probably come back to that in the next few weeks. If I were a woman, I would submit to these truths. I would be under my husband. I would be under his stature. But guess what? I'm not a woman. And that sounds funny, but I've had to tell women that. So you aren't willing to accept your role. I'm in this position, and I didn't put myself here. I didn't make up the rules. But we're going by God's rules, and that's why I'm doing what I'm doing. And if you won't assume your role and do what God's told you to do, you're just asking for trouble. And folks, we've got trouble. We've got trouble in the home. We've got trouble in churches. Our whole country is a mess. We got some airhead running for president right now. He has no business doing it. Not only female headship, but she hasn't got any sense, and she's evil. Taboo. So as I said, I'm a man, so I'll continue teaching and leading. I don't think God's going to change it. His word is not going to change. So it is what it is. So closing our text. Verse 15 says, notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing. And I had to stop that there because I'm going to concede to the words of Matthew and Henry who explained this. It's not an easy text to understand because it sounds like having babies will save your soul. But remember, the word saved isn't always about your soul. And there's a number, we ran the references in a study I think in Second Thessalonians where we showed that all these references where it's talking about being saved and it's not about eternal salvation. James is an example of that by the way. I just want to quote Matthew Henry for the sake of time here. Quote, but there is a word of comfort that those who continue in sobriety shall be saved in childbearing or with childbearing by the Messiah who was born of a woman. In other words, he's saying, you have that role of bringing forth children, well that's how you got saved. A woman brought forth a child. And that child grew up to die for your sins. And that's all it's saying there. And then verse 15 closes, if, that big word again, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. Now, those are the traits that reveal a regenerate heart in a truly saved woman. In other words, people ask me, do you think so-and-so is saved? I hope they are, but I don't see any evidence. So I'm not going to tell them they're saved. Well, I said a prayer with a preacher when I was 10. I don't care what you did. You look like the devil right now. Amen? That's what you tell people if you love them. If I see a woman who claims to be a Christian and she's got that humble spirit, Christ-like spirit, obedient and submissive to the word of God, then I'm going to, I'm freely going to say, you know, I really believe that's a saved woman, you know. That's really what he's saying here in this text. Those are the traits that reveal a regenerate heart in a truly saved woman and the key to all of the above is in the word humility. Humility. Thank you. And listen, it's true about men and women. So I have to say that. We're kind of focused on the women tonight. But I don't want to leave you men totally out. There's not supposed to be an arrogance among us. It's all about humility. And folks, this feminist movement today is nothing but arrogance. It's selfism. And as a Christian, you're to be selfless. Not selfish. And again, I have to say it. You better be very careful about your Christian women friends and your Christian books and your Christian everything today. Because there's so much of this feminist spirit infused in it. Because we're in the last days. Submit to God. according to His Word. Amen? Father, we thank You, Lord, for this time in Your Word. We thank You for everything we've learned. May we have recall and may it be lodged in our hearts and minds and guide us, our thoughts, words, and deeds, all for Your glory. He must increase, but I must decrease, said John the Baptist. Let that be our attitude and prayer as well. In Jesus' name, amen.