Well, for many and varied reasons, it's been three months since we last opened the book of 1 Timothy together. It's a long time. I'm going to have you turn there this morning to 1 Timothy chapter 2. You'll find that near the end of your Bible after Thessalonians on page 1263 in that Black Pew Bible. Now we're going to read the entirety of chapter 2, but we're going to give our attention only to the second half. And as we do, we want to remember that Paul wrote to Timothy in Ephesus to encourage Timothy in his ministry there, but also to put the church there on notice. There were false teachers there who were rejecting Paul and his authority, rejecting the gospel that he preached. And he wants to put that on notice that doctrine matters. What they believe matters because what they believe is going to show itself in what they do in their practice. And the practice there has become so destructive and so divided. That Paul in this letter spends very little time dealing with the substance of the doctrine that has gone wrong. And he's focused almost entirely on what practices need to be shored up to establish his church at least in the right direction as Timothy continues to teach and to preach and to instruct them in the doctrine. So he offers corrective action, good practices to put in place. That's his stated purpose in chapter 3 verse 15. he says I'm writing these things to you so that you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God it's chaos there you need to know how to live as a church and in chapters two and three Paul proceeds to direct the church and some fundamentals for how to behave with regard to their worship and their leadership he began chapter two as we did last time addressing the worship of the church, which a particular focus on the prayers of the church, that they'd be gospel oriented, they'd be mindful of the need for people beyond their own walls, that they're to pray for all men in high places and low, because the gospel's for everybody. And when he gets to chapter 3, he's going to give considerable attention to the details about leadership in the church, identifying those men who are to be considered equipped to serve as overseers and deacons and between these two in our text today moving from the topic of worship to the topic of leadership paul addresses the women in the church this is a pretty unique address in any of the letters he calls to the women specifically because of what's happening in ephesus they've forgotten these two fundamentals and they need to be reminded as we look at them today so as we hear god's word now please give attention to it it's inspired it's inerrant it's infallible it's given through the apostle paul for the church there and for the church of all ages and in these verses in our text paul will call on all the saints to worship together to worship together adorned in holiness as complementary creatures here's the word of god chapter 2 1st Timothy. First of all then I urge that supplications prayers intercessions and thanksgivings be made for all people for kings and all who are in high positions that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life godly and dignified in every way. 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 men 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 telling the truth I'm not lying a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth and now our text I desire then 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 or gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for a woman who professes godliness, with good works. 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's to remain quiet for adam was formed first then eve and adam was not deceived but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor yet she shall be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control so far the reading of god's word this morning But when Paul picks up in verse 8, he picks up his thought. In verse 8 he says, I desire them that in every place. He has to view the church in every place. In Ephesus for sure, and perhaps multiple house churches in Ephesus. But the church in every place where it gathers together as a worshiping body. He had in mind, in principle, us this morning. Gathered together here in this place. As the people of God for worship. And it's in this gathering as we come together on Sunday mornings and Sunday evenings in our public worship that our worship together is most explicit and it's most focused. It's clearly obvious to anybody that would walk into the room that this is what we're doing. And Paul speaks to us in this context this morning to help us better understand God's will for us in our worship together and in the church in this place as we worship together, even as we leave this church and go our way through the week. Paul's concern in verses 8 through 10 is that we answer God's call to worship when he calls us to worship. That when he calls us to worship together, that we come as those adorned in holiness. That our first concern in coming is that we would come as holy people, as saints. God called you to worship this morning with these words, Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness. Perhaps you didn't know or you don't know that he's speaking about your holiness. Worship the Lord in holy attire is what you'll find in the footnote. Worship the Lord adorned in holiness. Come as his holy people when you come. We're called together as saints who've been set apart as holy through faith in Jesus Christ. It's a status that we have been given because Christ earned it for us by his life and his death and his resurrection. But he's done more than that. He's secured for us the holy life that is befitting of that status. And in his ascension, he poured out his spirit that through the word he can work that life in us, that we can become holy as he is holy, that our holiness can advance and can grow, and we can become the people that he's said that we are. and Paul urges all the saints regardless of their role in the church to pursue holiness to pursue godliness throughout this letter it's found in almost every chapter a concern for the godliness of God's people and he brings it to particular focus here and particular attention here to the men in the church verse 80 says please bring he brings us his current concern he says I desire then that in every place that men should pray lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling now we need to understand here that Paul is not limiting all prayer to men only that's not what this says and he's not dictating one particular posture for all prayers that I should have prayed this morning with my hands up it would have been okay it's an okay posture it's one of the approved ones so is bowing your head so is prostrate on the floor so is sitting down he's just reminding them when they pray and they do raise their hands because that's what they did in that day that the hands you raise are holy. The problem that is concerned in the church is that some men ordained to lead in prayer, in worship, were assuming that role, were fulfilling that office while at the same time not at peace with their neighbor and therefore presuming that they were at peace with God. Forgetting what the pictures in the Old Testament taught that the priests had to come into the sanctuary with washed hands and washed feet. To signify that they'd been cleaned, not only on their hands, but in their hearts. They were in right standing with God, and therefore able to serve as his servants. Forgetting that the Lord will not hear the prayers of those with blood on their hands. Whether that's actual blood from a murder, or that's the blood on your hands from the murder in your heart. And given the problems in Ephesus, which was a congregation full of strife, full of arguments, full of fights, full of divisions, these men were coming in the midst of all that and pretending that they were functioning well as leaders in the church. And so he makes a specific application to these men of holiness, which applies to all manner of life, but he applies something very specific to these men. And he calls on these leaders to pray without anger or quarreling. That when they came together for worship, to fulfill their office in leading and prayer, that they would come as men who are striving to uproot anger from their hearts. For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. As men who are striving to put off bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander and malice. And instead to be kind. tender-hearted, forgiving as the Lord had forgiven them in Jesus Christ. To be men who were quick to go to anyone who had anything against them in order to be reconciled before they came to worship. That's Paul's concern. It's a concern that these men would come adorned with holiness when they came to fulfill their office in the church. Then Paul continues in verse 9. Likewise, he says, when you worship together, I desire also that women be adorned in holiness. Again, Paul's concerned with some women coming to worship, dressing and acting as if they were walking the red carpet to the Oscars. Now, if you've seen it once, you've seen it all. That's the picture. Extravagant, self-exalting, mindless of others, looking for the limelight. Wittingly or not, they were preoccupied with the fading beauty that this world calls significant. And they were neglecting the imperishable beauty of a gentle and a quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. Again, of all the things he could address in the church, and there were many, He applies his concern for the holiness of these women to this particular thing because it's so prominent in the church that no one would miss his meaning. He calls them to worship adorned in holiness. That is, that they would come with what is proper for women who profess godliness. They would come adorned primarily with good works. Good works that are done out of true faith, good works that conform to God's will, good works that are done for his glory, not your own. That they would come as those who have established a reputation for good works. Because as he writes later, good works are conspicuous. They will be seen. Even if they're not seen at first, they will be known. And when they're seen, they adorn the doctrine of the gospel, not you. Given the problems in Ephesus, and there were very particular things going on, Paul makes a specific application to women, calling them to worship, as those who are striving to put off self-indulgent attire and behavior. That manifests the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, the pride of life. It's from the world. And to be those who are putting on humility and gentleness with patience. For God opposes the proud and he exalts the humble. Now, the circumstance that was happening there, it's interesting to read in the history, is that the women of means, those who seem to have a lot of time and a lot of disposable income that they felt free to spend on themselves, were known to copy the extravagant styles of the rich and powerful in Rome. They did that without magazines, without the internet, without social media. They were doing it because that's what the heart does. And Pliny the Elder, a contemporary, a first century Roman writer, wrote this about one who was likely a role model for the behavior that was happening in Ephesus. He writes, I once saw the emperor's wife at an ordinary wedding. This wasn't a state dinner at the White House. It wasn't some shindig at the country club. This was just a wedding, a small wedding. And she was covered with emeralds and pearls, which shone in alternate layers upon her head, in her hair, in her wreaths, on her ears, on her neck, in her bracelet, on her fingers. And the value of which amounted to 40 millions of sesterce. Had to do some math. The lowest number I could find that equated to was somewhere in the neighborhood of $7 million. and it went up from there. Not only was she wearing this to draw attention to herself, if you didn't think it was worth that much, she had the receipts in her pocket to show you. That's the behavior, that's the demeanor that was being copied by some of the women in the church in Ephesus. And it's with this kind of extravagance in mind that Paul says in verses 9 and 10 that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel. with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold and pearls or costly attire. He's thinking specifically there of the up-dos that women like the empress would wear. They'd stand tall, they'd be bright, and it was something that would take hours, if not days, to prepare. Like all of you have time to do, right? That's the point. That women would adorn themselves with modesty, With an awareness that there is a line too far, that if you cross it that you'll either feel ashamed or perhaps should feel ashamed. With self-control or with moderation that regulates your choices from the middle of a broad spectrum of respectable rather than living at the margins to see how far you can go. It's very wise and appropriate counsel, and it's in no way restrictive. And it's just an example of the need for self-control in the body of Christ by everyone. It's not limited to women. Therefore, Paul writes in Titus chapter 2 that older men and older women, younger women and older men, all need to be self-controlled. It is the summary of the Christian life. God's will for you is your sanctification. And your sanctification is learning self-control according to God's will. That's what your life is about. That's what this is about. And so Paul, again, moving from worship, he speaks to the women in particular. He spends time with the men too, but the women in particular, because he's going to move into another area now that they're really struggling. He's called both men and women to worship together, adorned in holiness. But before he gets to the specifics of leadership in chapter 3, Paul continues by reminding the saints in verses 11 to 15 that as we worship together, we do so as complementary creatures. Now, I need you to look at your bulletin for just a minute and look at that word, complementary. It's spelled right. There's an E in the middle. It's important that you understand when you hear me say the word complementary, it's with E in the middle. Which means, it's talking about what we are. Is that complementary has to do with two things that are equal, but not the same, not identical. Made for each other, of equal value and importance, but fulfilling a different function or a different role. Complimentary. We're complimentary. I'm not talking about how we behave when we give people a good word. Compliment. So listen, when you hear compliment today, understand I'm talking about this mutuality of equals that are different. Because it's key to this passage. With apostolic authority, Paul proceeds to draw, proceeds with two parallel statements in verses 11 and 12. The message of the 11 and 12 is one message. Let a woman learn, quietly and in all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet. Now, before you plug your ears and get your dander up, because those verses are known to do that, listen to what Paul's main concern here is. His opening words are, let a woman learn. That doesn't affect us much because we live in a culture that prizes learning. We send our children to school young, boys and girls, no matter what. They all go, they all get taught. They're going to learn whether they like to or not. That's our attitude. That wasn't the attitude in Ephesus. In Roman culture, they would teach girls enough to run a home. Some basic math and some basic writing. And after that, you know, it took special privilege to get more education. In fact, there was such a thing as too much education for a girl. She might seem pretentious and she would be cast out as being kind of snobby. So learning wasn't encouraged in the culture. And in the synagogue, women were not expected to learn. They could if they wanted to, but they weren't expected to learn. In fact, sometimes they weren't allowed to learn. So Paul says, let a woman learn. Now, we come here today and we listen to the Bible and we hear the preacher, but it's not because we're ignorant of this, unless we just don't open it. Let a woman learn what she's supposed to learn. She's supposed to learn what we already have and was still being laid down and was still being proclaimed by the apostles and was still being circulated in letters. And where would she learn that? In the church. Not at home. There were no Bibles. So what was she to learn exactly? Well, a good place to start would be chapter 1 of this letter, to learn the law. The law of God and how it's used lawfully in a matter that's in accord with the gospel. The good news of Jesus Christ, the glory of the blessed God, which Paul had been preaching to them. And beyond that, according to chapter 6, to learn doctrine that agrees with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness. Again, this was all being laid down when this letter was written. It wasn't there yet. Let a woman learn. And as she learns, let her learn quietly. She needs to remain quiet. This is not an absolute silence. None of these commands are absolute, put a woman in her place. If you got that expectation, you're wrong. Let her learn quietly. Not in absolute silence, but in a particular quietness. A quietness that respects those who are teaching her. That respects the authority of those who are ordained and called to teach. As we'll see in chapter 3, the overseer must be able to teach. For this is his role in the church. Women, and men, by the way, who are not serving as overseers, are to remain quiet and listen to learn. And a woman is to learn in all submissiveness. Again, this is not an absolute submissiveness of all women to all men in every circumstance. But a particular submissiveness. As Paul will explain in chapter 3 and in Titus chapter 1, An overseer is to care for God's church as God's steward. A steward is someone who is placed over a household with the authority to run it and the responsibility to run it. And the overseer's job is that of a steward. And what Paul is saying here is that women and men who are not at present overseers are to submit to them. Hebrews chapter 13 verse 17 says it plainly. Obey your leaders and submit to them. Why? For they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account as stewards. And when Paul says and goes on to say, I do not permit a woman to teach, he's not prohibiting all women from all teaching. Timothy was evidently taught the faith by his mother and his grandmother. Paul tells Titus in chapter 2 of Titus to have the older women teach the younger women. And in the record of Acts, Priscilla and her husband Aquila both explained the way of God more accurately to Apollos, a preacher who needed a little help, but they didn't do it in worship. They took him aside and they helped him. So this is not an absolute prohibition. And when he says, I do not permit a woman to exercise authority over a man, he's not prohibiting all women from exercising any authority. Many women exercise authority over men in this world. As mothers, as employers, as managers, as politicians. Women are certainly smart and capable. Perhaps smarter and more capable than the men around them. It happens. Often. But authority in the church is expressed through the teaching role of the overseers. This is where worship and leadership come together. Teaching and ruling are related functions in the body of Christ, in the church. So Paul says in 1 Timothy chapter 5, Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. They're tied together. Therefore, the office of overseer, whether minister or elder, and he goes on in chapter 3 to say also the office of deacon, these offices are to be guarded. They're to be restricted to men who demonstrate the godly character and appropriate aptitudes that God will spell out in chapter 3. And a woman is not to exercise authority over a man, or another woman for that matter, by assuming this teaching and ruling role. That's Paul's point. Now, okay, you're with me. You may not agree. Your next question may be, well, who made that rule? A lot of people have been blamed for this rule, let me tell you. Books have been written against them, and they've been called not to nasty names. But this is not the first time this question has been asked, nor will it be the last. And you need to know that Paul knew you were going to ask it before he asked it. He's already given us the answer in verses 13 to 15. He answers the question by calling to mind the scripture. Scripture that in his day was already in place. Scripture that in our day is still in place, and that's the book of Genesis. He has us call to mind the story of creation that's recorded in Genesis chapter 2 and chapter 3. And so even though he quotes just a few lines from there, from the Old Testament, He'd have us remember the whole story. So in verse 13, Paul shows us that it is God who established the rule. He established the rule in creation. According to Genesis 2, Adam was formed first, then Eve. When God created man, he created man male and female. Fully equal image bearers of God with complementary functions and roles. God formed man first with delegated authority and responsibility for the creation. He was formed first to lead and then he formed the woman as the helper fit for man. That does not diminish her worth, her value, her image, her anything. It's a different role. And she was created to serve the man. I don't know if this illustration will help you or not about this compliment, the idea of complimenting one another. But I ran across a quote from the Song of Hiawatha, which most of you are not old enough to know was ever written. I remember it in my youth because my grandpa had it. But in that Song of Hiawatha, which is based on American Indian, non-Christian, general revelation understanding of how things were made speaks about the relationship between a man and a woman in the image of an archer's bow with the wood bent and the cord between and this is how it comes out in this poem as unto the bow the cord is so unto man the woman though she bends him she obeys him useless each without the other I find it a helpful picture so verse 13 Paul makes the case that God established the rule that answers the question God set the rule verse 14 then proceeds to show how God's rule, his complementary order was transgressed in the fall things got messed up according to Genesis 3 Adam was not deceived but the woman was deceived now this is not to slam Eve the key here is that she was deceived the woman was deceived by Satan the original false teacher and she became a transgressor what did she transgress? she transgressed this order and in like manner the women in Ephesus were being deceived by false teachers and some of them were being led astray after Satan and they were transgressing this order Adam was not deceived no excuse Adam he was fully guilty eyes wide open 100% willing and conscious he sinned he willingly chose to follow the woman in her deception rather than lead her away from temptation. He was accountable to God. He was appointed to lead. And when he fell, in Adam's fall, sinned we all. The blame still falls at Adam's feet even though Eve was deceived. Her transgression was against this order. Adam likewise sinned against his calling. And in Genesis chapter 3 we're told that God judged the fallen with the curse. A curse that will continue to frustrate this complementary relationship between men and women all of our days. It will not be resolved until Christ comes again. Man's satisfaction with his labors are fleeting and frustrated. And he's prone to abuse or to give up his rightful responsibilities and authority. And he rules over his wife rather than lead his wife. And the woman's joy in birthing children is interrupted and upset by pain. And she's prone to resist and sometimes try to usurp the man's authority. This is what we call life as usual. This is what we know because we're sinners, even though we're saints. But Paul is telling us here we need to understand that this is not normal. This is not how God created it. This is not how God intended it. This is not how he intends it to be for his people. But God did not leave the man and the woman there under judgment. Having no hope and without God in the world, he gave them a promise. He gave them the first promise of the gospel that the seed of the woman would one day crush the head of the seed of the serpent. and that promise is what Paul picks up in verse 15 it's hard to see but it's there now all the books I read this is one of the most difficult verses in the Bible and that's been my experience and perhaps you struggle with it as well I'm just going to give you my best shot verse 15 Paul writes yet even though she transgressed yet she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control. Now I want you to notice here that he begins with she, singular, and he finishes with they, plural. He begins with will be saved, future, and he ends with continuing in faith, etc., present. There's a huge disconnect between these two halves, and yet at the same time they are tied together. Paul is connecting in a way that we find clumsy. It's just not a way we would do things. Connecting the gospel hope announced to Eve in the garden. To every woman believer here and now in Ephesus and beyond. She, that is Eve, standing in Genesis chapter 3. She will be saved through childbirth. In fact, when the promise was given, she had not a name yet. She was the woman. but no sooner did God give the promise than Adam named his wife, he named her Eve, the mother of all the living. He saw hope, he saw a future, and he was looking forward to the Savior yet to be born that would come through her. Not Cain, not Abel, not even grandson Enosh, but the son to come in the fullness of time when God sent forth his son born of woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law. Eve will be saved through childbearing. They, women, present, women of faith in the church, will also be saved by this same Savior if they continue in faith and holiness and self-control. Now we've got to hear this right. Again, Paul is teaching primarily practice. He's not giving a lot of time to doctrine, but he's written to these people before in the book, the letter to the Ephesians. One of our favorite chapters in the scriptures, Ephesians chapter 2, that's just to be in our ears like it was in theirs, that it's by grace you've been saved, through faith, and this is not your own doing, it's the gift of God, the result not of works. Therefore, when Paul says this, that they'll be saved if they continue, It's not that they have to continue in order to be saved. It's that they'll be saved if they show themselves to be those who have been saved by how they live. It's very much the point that Paul makes in his letter to the Philippians that when he tells the saints there that just as they've always obeyed, to continue to obey because they need to work out their salvation. Not figure it out, not solve it, not claim it, but demonstrate it, show it, exercise it, manifest it. Work out your salvation with fear and trembling. In this context, continuing in faith and holiness with self-control. For it's God who's at work in you to will and to work for his good pleasure. And that which he's begun, he's going to bring to completion. And those who've been saved will walk in this way and they'll be saved. They'll be shown to be saved. And it's an olive branch, these women who've been following false teachers, looking for another way to be saved. And transgressing God's design for them in their lives and in the church. And he's saying, Eve was saved through the Savior Jesus Christ, the gospel you've heard. You'll be saved by the same Savior if you will continue to walk as he would have you walk. Come back to what he's called you to. Come back to the life that's worthy of the calling he's given you. That's the promise. That's the hope. Now, that call applied to women here applies to us all. All of us who have been called to be holy through faith in Jesus Christ are called to live a life that continues in that holiness. And we do so knowing that the complementary order that God established in creation continues. It abides. It applies. And it will so until the last day, not only to men and women who are joined in marriage, just as it applied to Adam and Eve, the first marriage, but also to men and women in the church, worshiping together in every place, just as it applied to Adam and Eve, the people of God, first gathered before him in Eden. Paul's point here is this as order stands. It's frustrated to be sure because we're sinners. But that doesn't make it anything less than what it is. The worship of the church, the leadership of the church is informed and directed by that reality. Now, if you're not convinced this is true, your argument's not with me. Your argument's not even with Paul. Your argument's with God. And that's exactly where Paul wants to point you if you struggle with this text. So as we go forward here, gathered together for worship in this place, as we go together, forward, men and women alike, we're called to come together each Lord's Day, demonstrating that we are people who are pursuing and concerned about holiness and become adorned in holiness. That's our main concern. And we come together remembering that God has ordered our life and our worship as a congregation in this place, under the oversight of men, sinful men, Not all men, overseer men, who are equipped and called and ordained to rule and to teach for the benefit of us all, both men and women, who are here to learn quietly and in full submission. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word today. Hard for us to apprehend on the surface. And Lord, I pray that it has been made clear for the minds and hearts of your people. Help us, Father, to understand that you care for us in this way, that you've established an order in creation that's for our good and will one day be fully realized and unfrustrated and so beautiful in glory that we will wonder that we ever struggled with it. Help us, Father, as a body of Christ in this place as we worship together to have our first priority pursuing the holiness of living that you call us to. That when we come week by week, that that's who we show ourselves to be. And that we come eager to listen, to learn, to be quiet and to submit as you call us to do so for our own good and our building up in the faith. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.