All right, I encourage you to turn to 1 Timothy 2. We're going to look at verses 9 to 15, but pick up with a couple of other verses. In verse 8, Paul says, I desire, therefore, that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. In like manner, also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but which is proper for women professing godliness with good works. Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. Nevertheless, she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with self-control. Now look at chapter 3, verse 15. But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have given us your word to guide us as to how we are to live, how we are to conduct ourselves, as we gather with other believers. And Lord, I pray that you will help me as I teach your word, help each one as they listen. And may we learn how we should live, how we should do your will in our lives. And we pray and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. In this text of scripture, Paul is teaching how we are to conduct ourselves in the house of God. which is wherever the church gathers for worship. In verse eight, he gave instructions concerning the men of the church. We men should take the lead in intercessory prayer. And when we pray, we should be sure that we are right with God, as well as that we're right with our fellow man. And now in verses nine to 15, he gives instructions concerning the women of the church. And the focus of instruction relates in particular to conduct in the worship service of the church. I think it's important that I give some background explaining one reason why Paul addressed this subject to Timothy. Timothy was ministering at the church in Ephesus. The city was known all over the world as the center of the worship of the fertility goddess Diana, also known as Artemis. Her temple was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. And in that temple, women had a prominent role in the worship. And they were characterized, though, by immodesty and immorality. So Paul wanted to ensure that there would be absolutely no similarity between women at worship in the temple of Diana and women at worship in the house of God. And so let's see what Paul says to the women of the church in this text of scripture. First of all, let's consider together the fact that women should dress properly for worship. I'm not talking about whether a woman should dress nicely or dress casually. Instead, listen to what Paul says in verse nine. In like manner also that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety and moderation. The word translated in like manner shows that Paul is continuing his remark about conduct in connection with public prayer and worship. Men are to pray lifting up holy hands. Women are to pray in worship, mindful that they do so dressed appropriately. When we are worshiping in mixed company, women should not dress in a way that men are distracted from focusing on God as they are. So with that in mind, Paul says in verse nine that women are to wear appropriate clothing. The Greek word for modest actually means well-arranged, orderly. Thus Paul is saying that women should not look odd, awkward, or queer, but dress appropriately and seemly. Then he uses two words to describe what is appropriate for a Christian woman. First, they should dress with propriety. This word probably refers to dressing with modesty, with reverence for God and due respect for others. The other word for proper dress is translated moderation, which actually refers to good sense, soundness of mind, and self-control. In other words, ladies, you should dress sensibly, with good judgment and restraint. Don't put on something that would cause your husband or father to look at you and say, are you out of your mind? You're not going to wear that, are you? Certainly not to worship. You remember in the movie Gone with the Wind, when Mammy said to Scarlet, it ain't fitting. It ain't fitting. It just ain't fitting. She knew what Scarlet was about to do was not fitting. It wasn't seemly. Even so, the kind of dress that you wear should be fitting, seemly, sensible. And so one primary biblical principle that you should follow is this. I believe it is improper for a Christian woman to dress in a sexually attractive way that provokes lust, especially at church. We're supposed to be here for prayer and worship, not lusting. Of course, man has a responsibility to refrain from lust. We may have little control over that first look, but if we continue to look at a woman with lust in her heart, That is wrong and can even be spiritual adultery, according to Jesus. However, the woman has a responsibility as well. The more revealing and or tight your clothing is, the more a man is going to be provoked to lust. So be sensible and think about how you should dress, especially when you come to church. There was a time when men and women were separated during worship as an additional guard against impropriety during worship. Such a practice was quite common until about 100 years ago, including here at Skin Quarter Baptist Church. Women entered and sat on one side of the sanctuary and men entered by a different door and sat on the other side of the sanctuary, and even a short wall separated them. In fact, you can see the remnant of the wall right under the carpet of the middle aisle. This church is that old. Well, I suppose that in such a situation, when you were seated, the wall was high enough to where a boy couldn't look over and wink at his girlfriend. So what should be your goal in how you dress? Paul says in verse 10 that you should dress in a way that is proper for women professing godliness with good works. The word professing has a root meaning that means to convey a message loudly, clearly, thus to proclaim. You proclaim that you're a Christian, you proclaim Hopefully that you're a godly woman. Well, your dress should be proper for such a profession, for such a proclamation. Then Paul says, you should not only wear appropriate clothing, but you should also avoid improper adornment. In the last of verse nine, Paul says that women should adorn themselves not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing. Now the combination of the word braids with gold or pearls or costly clothing should suffice to inform us that the apostle is thinking of the sin of extravagance in outward adornment, a prideful display that calls attention to oneself. Who could afford gold or pearls or costly raiment? It would be well above what the average church member could afford. And so Paul has in mind those Ephesian women. It was a prosperous city. Some of the prosperous women of Ephesus were attracted to the Christian faith, and they may be drawn to worship with God's people, but dress in a way that flaunts their wealth. And this is not just an issue for women. In James chapter three, verses two to three, James mentioned a man coming in and everyone notices that this is a wealthy man and begins to show favoritism toward him. And so whether you're a man or whether you're a woman, church is not the place to flaunt your wealth. I don't believe this is a blanket condemnation in our modern day of ever wearing pearls or ever having gold, certainly not your wedding ring and so forth. But rather, it's your heart's attitude that is addressed here. Are you showing off? Are you flaunting your wealth and how you dress at church? And so I want to make clear that there's several reasons why I believe this. First, in the context, the main point is that Christian women should be known for their godliness and good works, not their flashy appearance. This is similar to what Peter says in 1 Peter 3, verses 3 to 4. Do not let your adornment be merely outward, arranging the hair, wearing gold, putting on fine apparel. Rather, let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. There, it's very clear that Peter's making a contrast between outer artificial beauty and inner beauty, which is what counts the most. Secondly, it may help to understand braids in this cultural context. In that day, wealthy women would spare no expense. exquisitely braiding their hair. And they would use tortoise combs to pin their hair as well as pins made of ivory or silver. And those pins may have little images on the head of their pins. They would sprinkle in the jewels into their hair. They engaged in an elaborate display with their hair. That's what Paul is talking about here. Now I'll concede that this part of verse 9 may be driven more by cultural propriety than as a timeless truth for all generations and cultures. In both Jewish and Greek society, extravagance in dress and adornment by a woman was viewed negatively and Paul did not want Christian women to do anything to hinder the gospel to both Jew and Greek. Let me say something else. I believe, of course, that God made beauty. He made beautiful flowers. And I believe he created women to be the more beautiful sex. And so I certainly hope that what Paul is saying here is that you should not look beautiful, that it's wrong to enhance your beauty as long as you do so in moderation, especially at church. Certainly, as we've said, the main point is that when you gather for worship, it's not the time to dress seductively. It's not the time to dress elaborately, flaunting your will. But secondly, as Paul considers how women should conduct themselves in the worship of believers, the next truth is this. These should manifest a submissive attitude in worship. Again, we would do well to remember what Paul mainly has in mind regarding public worship when the whole church gathers together for prayer and praise and for preaching. In verse 11, Paul writes, let a woman learn in silence with all submission. Now in the English, it may not sound like it, but actually Paul states an imperative there, that women are to learn when you gather for worship. After all, Jesus gave his great commission and said, we are to make disciples of all nations, teaching them. Christianity is a faith where everyone is together to learn and be disciples. If you look in chapter three and verse two, the one functional gift of a pastor is that he be able to teach so that both men and women will learn the word of God and grow in their faith. And so if you come to worship and you are not paying attention, and if you are not learning the word of God, you are not conducting yourself properly in the church of the living God. And the submissiveness mentioned here in association with learning would indicate the fact that submission means that you submit yourself to the Word of God, that you're willing to be taught and directed and to so conduct your life that you live in conformity to the Word of God. Now, what does he mean that a woman should learn in silence with all submission? Well, I believe that must be understood in light of what follows in verse 12. There Paul says, I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. You see how silence is encouraged in verse 11, and then again in verse 12, there must be a connection. It seems evident from this text that God has ordained that men should do the preaching and teaching in the setting of public worship. So when Paul says that women are to be in silence, one thing he is prohibiting here is a woman taking over the preacher's teaching role, the pastor's teaching role. Furthermore, he was prohibiting a woman from trying to take over that role in a self-assertive way. This is indicated by the fact in verse 12, he says, a woman is to not be in authority over a man. And that language is rather strong. It's based on a Greek word that's only used here. And it can mean to assert yourself as an authoritative figure. Those who stood before an entire congregation as a pastor or in the synagogue as a rabbi were viewed as authoritative people. figures. And for a woman to seek to take over such a role is inappropriate according to the Apostle Paul. If you look over in chapter 5 and verse 17, Paul refers to the elders who labor in word and doctrine. The elders who lead and rule the church also had the teaching role within the church. And again, Paul is saying the woman should not assert herself in taking over such an authoritative position. Among Southern Baptists, we have made this decision that the lead pastor, that really any ordained pastor within the church should be a man and not a woman. Now Paul gives some reasons for his instruction here. His reasons are not based on cultural or historical considerations, but is based on Genesis and therefore is timeless in its truth. And what are those truths that he points to? First of all, that the man's leadership role is affirmed by creation. In verse 13, Paul said what we all know, for Adam was formed first, then Eve. Paul is saying, do you want to be the pastor and teacher of the church and to be equal with the man in every respect? Well, creation itself shows that God intended for men to lead. Again, verse 13 says, Adam was formed first, then Eve. Eve was made as a helper, not to take over his leadership. This argument from the order of creation is similar to the leadership role of the firstborn. In the Bible, Deuteronomy chapter 21, other examples, we see the leadership of the firstborn. Now I'm the third born in my family. My brother is the first born and he has the leadership role even in our relationship because he was born first. Adam came first. Another reason women should not serve as a lead teaching pastor is because of the deception and sin of Eve. In verse 14, Paul said, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and fell into transgression. Now Eve's fall occurred when she ignored her divinely ordained position. What would have happened if she had talked it over with Adam before eating of that fruit? Evidently, he wasn't even given the opportunity to remind Eve of God's command. So instead of following her husband, she chose to lead by eating first. She asserted her independence and went ahead and ate of that forbidden fruit. And then she instructed her husband, he listened to her and followed her example, and look what happened. So in addition to taking the lead and acting independently of her husband, the other problem was the way she was deceived. For the word deceived in the last of verse 14 is intensive. Eve was thoroughly deceived. Paul was concerned, as is clear from the context, about deceptive false teachers in the church in Ephesus. And he does warn in chapter four in verse one, that in the latter time, some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits. He had previously warned the same Ephesian church about being carried away by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting. So what Paul, says here seems to suggest that one reason men should be pastors is that they may be less prone to being deceived by Satan than women, especially if women do not equally participate in learning the scriptures, as verse 11 says. We also say that men are more likely to fail when a woman takes a leadership role in his life. That's what happened to Adam. And so what Paul is saying here could be for the protection of both men and women. In spite of this teaching in Scripture, a number of churches have decided to follow the world and ordain women to serve as teaching pastors. But I believe we should remain faithful to follow Scripture. Though there are legitimate adjustments we should make to contemporary culture, we must not violate any principles of God's Word that are timeless and not just given to address a cultural situation. I want to make it clear that Paul is not saying that women cannot speak or teach in other capacities or settings. The early church was amazingly progressive in teaching that men and women are one in Christ with equal standing before God. We have seen that we have equal responsibilities to be educated in the scriptures. Furthermore, we have a number of examples of women who had active roles in the early church. The unmarried daughters of Philip the evangelist were prophetesses in some sense of the word. In 1 Corinthians 11 5, Paul referred to women praying or prophesying, evidently in public worship, for they did so with their heads covered, symbolizing their submission to authority. The remarkable woman Priscilla even had some part in the instruction of Apollos, a preacher, but evidently only within the home and with her husband. Timothy was taught the word of God by his mother and grandmother. Titus 2 verses 3 to 5 says that older women are to teach the younger women. In the epistles, Paul acknowledges women were fellow workers of his. And then in church history, women such as Susanna Wesley and Lottie Moon have had great impact in advancing the gospel But even though women had a vital role in the early church, they were to remain submissive to proper authority. This is the complementarian view of the role of women, especially in the church and home. So I believe that under the direction of a pastor, a woman can share a testimony or sing in worship. I believe women can teach in other settings, especially to women and children. On the other hand, in this church, Only men teach our co-ed adult classes. Only men serve as deacons. Some may not agree with that, but look what happens when a church has women assume key leadership roles in the church. Men tend to back off. I believe that a male-led church will do better at attracting other men to the church And ladies, don't you want the men in your life to attend church with you? Of course you do. Now some will object that this teaching diminishes the significance of women in church and society. So based on how Paul concludes this text, I want to encourage, especially the young women, to embrace one of the most significant roles of women. Paul says in verse 15, nevertheless, she will be saved in childbearing. Pain in childbirth was a curse placed upon the woman after the fall. But Paul shows here that childbirth is intended to turn out to be a great blessing. What kind of salvation or deliverance did Paul have in mind here? Well, based on the clear teaching of other scriptures, Paul would not have had in mind salvation from sin. That would be a very odd form of justification by words. Nor is he saying that godly women have a special promise of salvation from death during childbirth, which was all too common in that day. Instead, based on the context, it is best to take this to mean salvation from insignificance and uselessness by becoming a mother and raising children. Later in this same epistle, Paul said that young widows, instead of being idle, should marry, bear children, manage the house, and give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully. Women have the sole privilege of giving birth to human life made in the image of God. What could be more significant than that? Think about what women do to bring a life into this world compared to what men do. There's no comparison, is there? You see, one major source of depression in women is low self-esteem. And there are two major sources of low self-esteem. One is a lack of feeling love. And secondly, a lack of significance. But for women who are married and able to have children, both needs can be met through Christian motherhood. Her husband, and her children should shower her with love. The husband should love his wife for all the sacrifices she makes to give birth and to bring his children into this world and to nurture and raise those children. The children should express their love for their mom likewise for the same reason. Lasting significance is derived from being a mother and raising children to grow up and to live productive lives. No career, no career is as significant as that of being a wife and mother. Yet, what I'm saying has great bearing in our day. According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, 64% of women ages 18 to 49 who don't have children say they don't want children. That's the current attitude in our modern day. My mother graduated from high school and went to business school and then advanced in her career with the Georgia Highway Department. Then she met my dad. It wasn't long before they got married and it wasn't long after that that she began to have the first of three children. She became a dedicated full-time mother and homemaker. She did not stay long enough to accomplish anything in the business world. She did not do much in the civic world. She was a dedicated Sunday school teacher and member of the church choir. But her greatest and most significant work in life, in my opinion, was raising three children. All three of her children became believers in Jesus Christ. All three of her children graduated from college. All three married and had children of their own. My brother is a leader in his church and community and was a leader in the banking business. He and his wife have three fine sons, one of whom became a missionary in Southeast Asia. My sister raised two fine children and worked part-time in the school system. I'm the youngest, and to everyone's surprise, I became a preacher of the gospel who has touched many lives for Christ. Cheryl, my wife, dedicated herself to raising two sons, one of whom became the top math student the year he graduated from Liberty University. And my dear mother had a vital role in all that her children and grandchildren have accomplished. And when she died, I believe she was able to look back on her life with deep satisfaction. So Paul is pointing out that a woman significant is not to be achieved by holding the office of pastor teacher, but by bearing and raising children. This corresponds with his warning in chapter four of false teachers who would even forbid marriage, among other things. It is God's will that women should influence mankind from the bottom up, that is, by way of the child, and not from the top down. We have heard it said the hand that rocks the cradle is the hand that rules the world. She must choose to do that for which God's creation ordinance has best equipped her for. both physically and spiritually. You know, a man, even one who identifies as a woman, can never bear a child. Men are not equipped to nourish babies with the best nutrition that only mothers can give. Generally speaking, we are not as good at nurturing and caregiving. By the way, who is it that's going to first hear the cry of a baby. Women are just better equipped by God's design. So Paul's words are a good reminder that the deepest satisfaction for women is to be found in the life of a Christian home. I know it has to be tough to be a wife and mother. It's not just a full-time job. It's being on call 24 seven. At times you don't feel appreciated. At times you just want to quit and bail out. So Paul adds the condition of such salvation from insignificance in the last of verse 15. If they continue in faith, love, holiness with self-control. All the joys, significance, and blessings of Christian motherhood will be granted only if she continues in faith. Faith is what comes first. She must continue and not give up and quit her important assignment if she's going to be blessed in the way I have described. I wonder how many wives and mothers will outshine their husbands in eternity when God grants us our rewards. I suspect no small number. So as you prepare to come to church, dress appropriately, come prepared to learn God's Word so you can grow in your faith and serve the Lord and your family effectively. Will you renew your commitment to these objectives? For some here today, the beginning point of establishing a Christian home is to trust Christ as your Savior and make a commitment to Mary only within the Christian faith. Will you do that? Instead of following the world, I encourage you this very morning to embrace these values. Will you join me in prayer? Heavenly Father, I thank you that you have shown a better way than what the world does and what the world says and how they practice their lives and their religion. Lord, help us to submit ourselves to the truth of your word and find blessing in living according to your will and your word. Help us to do what you would have us to do as we respond to this message, we pray in Jesus name. Amen.