Roles of Men and Women

Beginning in verse 1, I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men, the testimony given in its proper time.

And for this reason, I was appointed a herald and an apostle. I am telling the truth. I am not lying and a teacher of the true faith of the Gentiles.

I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer without anger or disputing. I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man. She must be silent.

For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived. It was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing.

If they continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety. Thank you all for your prayers for us, for our family.

I'm glad to say that Mitchell is doing well, and so is Aaron. And they look forward, or at least Aaron does, Mitchell doesn't know yet, to the time when they can join with us here.

And related to that, I want you to imagine with me a scenario. Imagine that tonight, instead of me standing before you, it was the other Aaron.

She had stood up to preach tonight. And I was home with Mitchell, feeding him, diapering him, trying to keep him from crying, which he likes to do occasionally.

And you begin to get the idea that there's been something of a role reversal. Not that there's anything wrong with a man feeding or changing a baby's diaper, which I have done.

Messy one, too. But there would be something wrong with a woman standing before you and preaching, wouldn't there? Amen. We often find in today's society that there's a troubling tendency towards gender confusion.

Women filling the roles that men should occupy, and men pursuing the roles that are uniquely suited to women. There's been a dangerous reversal of roles from the way God designed men and women to relate to one another.

And it's not just reflected in the society, it is reflected in the church. Just the other day when I was at the hospital, I was at the front counter, and a woman walked up to the desk and asked where a particular patient was.

And she said, and I'd never met this woman before, that's not who you might be thinking. And she said, I'm her pastor, and I want to pray with her before surgery.

And I just had to, it's none of your business at this moment in time. And that's not only the case in more liberal, mainline churches where you might expect to see such a thing.

There's at least one Reformed denomination that now ordains women to the ministry. And when you consider men and women, there's much about them that is the same, because they're both made in the image of God.

They're both humans. And so we have certain things in common, physical characteristics that are the same. We all have eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and arms, and legs, and so on. And we share in common the ability to think and reason and speak, and we are of equal value and worth in the eyes of God.

But there are obvious differences as well between men and women. Perhaps when you look, most obviously there are physical differences. Their bodies, which share many things in common, do not share other things in common.

They are shaped and proportioned differently. Their voices are pitched differently. There are emotional differences. You give the exact same set of circumstances to a man and a woman, and they will respond very differently, because they are made different.

It follows then that two such different types of people will have two different roles, and that is the way God designed it. That men and women have different roles. But a problem comes in the fall.

Adam and Eve fell into sin. And there in the garden that day, there was a reversal of roles, and the repercussions have been felt ever since, I think especially in our day. And tonight's passage addresses this role reversal by showing some of the dangers that come with and some of the appropriate responses to men and women switching roles.

Paul also teaches us that the good created differences, those inherent things that are different about men and women, those things are corrupted in the fall. And so men will be prone to certain sins that might not be so troubling to a woman, and women will be prone to certain sins that might not be so troubling to a man.

That's not to say there's no overlap. He talks about men and anger and disputing those things particular to men, but surely women would struggle with those things as well occasionally. But certain things men and women will be more prone to because they are different from one another.

And tonight we want to warn against those sins, those things that we're more prone to, and encourage the fulfillment of the proper roles that God has given men and women in the church.

Remember that Paul has just come through a section about prayer, praying for all sorts of people, even as we've read tonight, so that we might live peaceful, quiet, godly lives. And that launches Paul into a discussion of one of the places those prayers should take place, and that is in the church.

Really, Paul's whole letter to Timothy is about the church. It's for Timothy and the church at Ephesus. And you'll remember chapter 3, verses 14 and 15. Now I'm writing you these instructions so that if I'm delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God.

That's the setting for the letter. He's writing so people will know how to order themselves in the church. Now principles here that apply to individuals and that will apply places outside the church, but this is especially for the church, what has been given to Timothy here.

And what a blessing, I think, for Timothy to have such specific instructions. The church is not a generic place. It's a particular place with particular kinds of people in it. And so Paul doesn't talk in generalities.

He talks about what to do with women, and what to do with men, and what to do with young women, and older women, and young men, and older men. How helpful for a young man in the ministry to know how to deal with different groups of people in his church.

And so tonight we come to a section where he has something to say about men and women. And we'll divide it up that way. First of all, tonight we'll have something for the men. I'm forgoing ladies first tonight.

And we'll have something first for the men, and then something for the ladies as well. And if I'm talking to the men, ladies, don't tune out. Maybe you can help your husbands or sons with some of these things, and maybe some of them will apply to you.

And vice versa when we get to the material for the ladies. So first of all, something for the men. Paul wants, he says in verse 8, I want, and it's not just, I wish it was this way.

It comes with that apostolic authority that he talks about in verse 7. He's an apostle, a herald of the truth, a teacher of the true faith of the Gentiles. I want this. And it's more than just that desire.

It's an authoritative want. I want for men in every place to lift up holy hands in prayer without anger or disputing. And we're going to begin with the anger and disputing. With both the men and the ladies tonight, we're going to talk about sins to avoid and roles to fulfill.

Okay? Sins to avoid and roles to fulfill. So what sins should we men be very careful to avoid? Well, God created men in a particular way.

He made them to be leaders. He made them with testosterone. Higher levels of it than women have. And you add sinful nature and the fall to the mix, and you get men that are prone to certain sorts of sins.

Sins like anger and arguing. Those tendencies will produce those behavior that will hinder the fulfillment of their roles in the church. You put two type A personality men together in the same room with differing viewpoints, and there's likely to be anger and dissension, or disputing is the word here that's given, or arguing, we could say.

So let's start with anger. It's the word for wrath. How many testosterone-charged hotheads do we have here tonight? Any of you men struggle with anger? I do.

You don't have to raise your hand, but thank you. I do. I'll raise my hand. Yeah, we struggle with anger. It's terrible. Did you know that a sweet little one-week-old baby can elicit anger from his father?

I'm talking in broad, general terms here. Or very specific terms. Because he won't stop crying in the middle of the night. He doesn't do this all the time.

And I can make all sorts of excuses. It's the middle of the night, and so I'm not thinking clearly, surely. And I'm somewhat sleep-deprived, because he does get up every night.

And there's no good reason for him to be crying at that moment. He's fed. He is clean. He is dry. He is being held. He is being loved. And still he is crying.

What is the matter with him? And that can elicit... Can you believe it? That can elicit anger. And despite all of those excuses, I'm still sinning in my anger.

I'm prone to sinful anger. If my authority as leader in my home is being challenged, all too often it's a response of sinful anger. And then, am I supposed to go from yelling at my children, or yelling at the dog that I used to have, or chewing out the insurance company on the phone, and what has gone far beyond righteous anger, it may have started there, but it's devolved into sinful anger.

Am I supposed to do that, and go from that right into church, and lead people in prayer? He says, come and pray, but without anger, or without disputing men.

Leave these things at the door. No, that's no way to come and lead God's people in prayer. Remember, in the context of the church here, no, I need to forgive the one who has wronged me. If I have been wronged, I need to seek forgiveness for them from my unrighteous response.

God, forgive me. God, help me to go and make it right before I try to come and lead God's people who are gathered for worship and prayer. Anger has to be checked at the door. Same with arguing or disputing.

Another sin for us men to avoid. Many men like to argue. They like to dispute, to defend their position. They're prone to arguing with other men, their wives, their children, whoever will listen to them.

They like to be right. And even the disciples, Jesus handpicked men. Those that were going to go out and preach and teach and heal people and cast out demons and pray.

Those men prone to arguing. They needed to deal with that sin. Luke 9.46 An argument. That's our word. Same word as here. Disputing. An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest.

And if the disciples were not immune from it, surely men, we are not. And what a hindrance to prayer this is. How hard it is to pray for your brother with whom you've had a sharp disagreement.

How hard it is to pray in a right frame of mind, humbly, before God, when you're full of arrogance at how right you are in a dispute. Men, if you're going to be leaders in the church, leading in prayer in the church, then you must fight this tendency to anger and arguing.

Now, this is obviously not an exhaustive list of sins to avoid. Just a few here. Besetting problems for men that will prevent them from coming to worship with holy hands.

Which brings us, secondly, to the roles that men are to fulfill in the church. And again, this is not an exhaustive list. Just talking about the things that Paul was reminding Timothy of here. And one of the roles for men to fulfill in the church is leading in prayer.

I believe that's what is being referred to in verse 8 since we're in the context of the church. And he's talking about women remaining quiet in the church. Men are to lead in prayer in the church.

They're to pray for the things spoken of earlier in this passage. Those in authority and others. They're to lead in publicly bringing these things before the throne of our great God. Seeking His grace.

The God who desires the salvation of all men. The God who has accomplished the salvation of His people through the work of the one mediator. The man, Christ Jesus. Through whom these prayers are offered.

It is the role of men to lead in prayer in the church. And that's why when we gather publicly, we have men lead us in prayer. In our services here on the Lord's Day.

In our all church prayer meetings. That's why we divide the men and the ladies up on Wednesday nights. So the women can have an opportunity to pray together where they're not in a setting leading the men in prayer.

It should also be a challenge to you men. To lift up your voices and to publicly pray. Paul says, I want the men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer without anger or disputing.

I would like the men in this place to lift up their voices in prayer. On those all church Wednesday nights. Sometimes it's difficult to stand at the front and to lead and to ask for men that are willing to lead in prayer.

Have to wait and wait and look and go back to the same faces again and again. The ones that we know will pray. And some are unwilling to lead in prayer. Paul says, Fulfill your role as a man.

Pray. Lead God's people in prayer. It's your role in the church. But he also talks about his posture in prayer. I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer. The lifting up of hands is one of the many appropriate postures for prayer that are laid down for us in the Scripture.

Solomon raised his hands when he prayed at the dedication of the temple. Many other postures listed for us in the Scriptures. And separately, not all together. It would be impossible to do some of these things together.

Some of them appropriate at some times and some at others. There is standing for prayer. There is kneeling for prayer. There is the face down on the ground. Prostrate in prayer. There is the beating of the breast.

There is the head bowed. There is the eyes lifted to heaven in prayer. There is the hands raised or outstretched. Interestingly, to my knowledge, there is no mention of eyes being closed during prayer.

Though it is a helpful practice to prevent distraction. And Paul singles one of these out. The raising of hands. And maybe if you've ever had your eyes open when somebody was praying and you hear them fervently praying, it would not surprise me if you saw them gesturing even with their hands upraised in prayer.

And that is good and fine and appropriate in prayer. I don't think this means that every time a man prays, his hands must be lifted up. His posture should be appropriate. And whatever posture he is in, he must come in holiness.

Those hands lifted in prayer to be holy hands. Which is to say is to come without wrath or dispute or any other hindering sin. This is the God-given role of men in the church.

And to come with hands stained by sin, unrepented of, not forgiven, would be to desecrate God's holy house, to mislead God's holy people. So whatever your posture when you pray, remember Psalm 24.

Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.

So man, our role is to pray and to come with holy hands, to come with hearts that are pure and ready to pray and lead God's people in prayer when we gather for that purpose. Another role of men in the church is teaching and leading, holding positions of authority.

We're told here that a woman should not teach the men, which implies that the role of teaching is for the men. That's why we have men who teach our adult Sunday school classes and preach from the pulpit.

More on ladies teaching in other settings when we get to the role of women in the church. It's why we have men who are elders. We don't ordain women to the ministry. Paul says, I don't permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man.

So that means, men, it is the role of you in the church to teach and to lead. Now many people say, you know what, Paul, this is where I've got to get off your bandwagon.

I can't agree with what you're saying here. Surely this is just archaic and it is limited to the culture and the day in which Paul was writing. This negative attitude towards women in positions of leadership and teaching in the church must be abandoned in today's modern age.

Well, Paul dismantles any such notion by rooting this teaching all the way back in creation. It is universal, not limited to the time in which Paul was writing.

It was the man, Adam, who was created first. This being symbolic, not of his importance or value, but of his role as leader and teacher.

Paul actually had an extremely high view of women and their place in the church higher than the society in which he lived. Now to clarify, not all men are qualified to teach or lead in the church just by virtue of there being men.

That is not the only indicator for leaders in the church. That's why the very next chapter is all about what? Well, it's qualifications for elders and deacons in the church. And so, yes, they must be a man and then they must meet all of these other requirements.

You notice he doesn't give those requirements for leading in prayer in the church. He doesn't say that. It's for elders and deacons. Those who teach and have authority in the church.

But the point is they are to be men. And sadly, since the fall, many men are passive pushovers who would just as soon let ladies do the leading.

Whether it's in their home, their job, in their church. And so women fill the void left by lazy role abdicating men. And that is not how God designed it to be in the church.

It's the role of men to teach and to lead. And so may God make us the kind of men that he's called us to be. Without anger, without arguing.

Willing to fulfill our role to lead in prayer. And for some to lead and teach in the church. So there's something for the men from what Paul has to say. And now secondly tonight, something for you ladies.

And we'll follow the same pattern as we did with the men. Sins you must avoid. Roles you must fulfill. Verse 9 begins, In the same way.

It's not translated here, but there's a word. Likewise, I also want women to dress modestly. Like I want men everywhere to pray. Lift up holy hands and pray. I want women to dress modestly in the church.

To adorn themselves in modest clothing with propriety and good sense. And before we even get into sins to avoid. Notice that Paul talks about ladies adorning themselves.

It's one of those differences between men and women. Give me some clothes. If I look decent and can get out the door without my wife saying, Oh, no, no, no. Then I'm good. I don't feel a big need to adorn myself.

If I'm presentable, okay. But generally speaking, I'm talking in general terms. Ladies like to adorn themselves. To make themselves attractive. It takes them a little bit longer, at least at my house, to get up in the morning.

There's makeup. And there's jewelry. And there's the fixing of the hair. And choosing of the right clothes. That's a difference between men and women. And Paul recognizes that here. And so he addresses this to women.

In particular. And it's fine to adorn yourselves. But Paul says there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. And so the first sin to be avoided for you ladies is immodesty.

There are three words here. And they could all be translated modest. It could be that Paul said he wants women to adorn themselves in modest clothing with modesty and modesty. Now there's different nuances to each of those three words.

And he's saying something like this. A woman's clothing is to be respectable. Appropriate. Proper. Which is to say there is clothing which is not proper.

Decent. Discreet. Not provocative. She is to dress with moderation and self-control. Now there's a greater point to be made here about adorning yourself with good works.

But he does talk about physical clothing here. That is in view. And so we want to mention it tonight. I understand that it's a touchy subject and I want to be careful. But it's also a much neglected subject in our day.

And so I want to be bold at the same time. I had my wife read over this section of my notes to make sure it was appropriate. I'm not abdicating my role. Okay. I just wanted to make sure that it was appropriate.

And she said, Aaron, it's all about your tone of voice. I said, uh-oh. And so I'll try to be gentle. But there are some strong things that need to be said here.

You're to adorn yourself in a way that is appropriate for a woman who professes to worship and fear God. You notice that in verse 10. Adorn themselves not with these things, but with good deeds appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

If you claim to be a Christian, then your good deeds must match that claim and so must your clothing. What you wear is one way you reveal what is in your heart.

And so right off the bat, see that you must think carefully about what you're going to be wearing that day when you get up and decide in the morning. Be discriminating in what you put on your body for all to see.

Your clothing testifies to those around you what is in your heart. And who you are. It is my fear that many Christian women have strayed too far into the world's standards of what is or is not appropriate and modest.

What do people think when they look at you? What do you want them to think when they look at you? Sexy or godly?

Much clothing in the way it is worn is designed to attract the eyes and the lust of men. I think this is a mark of role reversal. Women trying to have a leadership role over men.

Trying to control men with the way they dress sometimes instead of humble submission. But much of it is worn to attract the eyes and the lust of men. And I would ask you ladies, please don't be a party to that by wearing clothing that is too low cut, that is too short, that is too tight.

In other words, that is too revealing. I think some of these sorts of clothing are worn in ignorance. So ladies, you should know that some of what you wear can cause your brothers in Christ to stumble.

You're visually oriented and stimulated brothers in Christ. It's one of those differences between men and women. But much of it, I fear, is done intentionally to attract the wrong sort of attention.

Another word for dads. We're going to cut back to the men here for a minute. Help your wives and your daughters with this. Help them to understand what is too revealing. What that sort of clothing can do to a man.

And then be the man in your house and say that there is no way that a woman in this house is going to leave the house dressed like that. Don't cave into the pressure that to fit in they need to dress in that way.

They do not. Now there is nothing wrong, ladies, with dressing in an attractive and stylish way. I said your clothing should be modest, not prudish.

I didn't say you should dress like they did in Little House on the Prairie. Okay? On the contrary, Christians are to pursue excellence in everything that they do, including their appearance and their dress.

And maybe we men should take note of that more often. And to draw negative attention to yourself by dressing in a manner that is out of style and out of date is not what God wants.

Notice, you are to adorn yourselves. The Scriptures speak favorably of being adorned. That's the bride adorning herself for her bridegroom. The church being adorned for her bridegroom.

Christ. It is a good thing. So go and adorn yourselves, but do it modestly. And Paul gives us some guidance here. He says your adornment shouldn't be with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes.

Anybody have braids tonight? It's okay. Anybody? No braids tonight. No braids tonight. Wow. He's going to pull out a pair of scissors and we're going to come around and trim the braids off.

No, that's not it at all. That's not what Paul is saying. Back in that day, very elaborate hairdos that involved braiding and interweaving gold and jewels and all sorts of things in their hair were a way of drawing attention to oneself.

It was an ostentatious display. It was also the manner of dress of harlots. You can read Revelation 17 and 18.

Read the description of Lady Babylon. And you'll see almost the same thing as what Paul talks about here. Paul is not forbidding the use of gold and pearls or braids to adorn yourself. He is forbidding the use of those things which are made to draw undue attention to yourself.

One of my seminary professors summed it up this way. Today, in our language today, it is the equivalent of warning Christians away from imitation of styles set by promiscuous pop singers or actresses.

Let me just read for you what one commentator says. He says it better than I could, I think. The reason for Paul's prohibition of elaborate hairstyles, ornate jewelry, extremely expensive clothing, becomes clear when one reads in contemporary literature, that's literature in Paul's day, of the inordinate time, expense, and effort that elaborately braided hair and jewels demanded.

Not just as an ostentatious display. It was that. But also as the mode of dress of courtesans and harlots. It is the excess and sensuality that the items connote that Paul forbids, not braids, gold, pearls, or even costly garments, in and of themselves.

So whatever you use to adorn yourself, make certain that it is not for the purpose of drawing attention to you or of appearing sensual and seductive. I think that's what Paul is after there.

And so, ladies, when you're deciding what to wear in the morning, or better yet, when you're deciding what to buy in the store, picking out what to wear to school, to work, to church on Friday night, to the beach, ask yourself a few questions first.

Why am I wearing this? Why am I wearing it? Is it designed to draw attention to me and my body? Does it make me feel more sensual when I wear it?

Is this something that is fitting for a Christian woman to wear? Be practical. What will be seen in the front or the back if I bend over to pick something up or lean forward in my chair?

Will what I'm wearing be a stumbling block to my brothers in Christ? I know that what I wear is a reflection of what is in my heart. What will this article of clothing say about what is in my heart?

It will be a challenge, ladies, but you must avoid the sin of immodesty. I've heard it said that it is impossible to find stylish, modest clothing for young ladies, for women.

I'm not prepared to speak definitively on that subject. Obviously. I think it not impossible. Difficult, yes. But not impossible.

And I would encourage you to make the effort. If you want further help in this whole area of modesty or even clothing, I can point you to several helpful resources. This little booklet, we've gone through some of these by Dr. Robert Spinney.

This one is called Dressed to Kill, Thinking Biblically About Modest and Modest Clothing. Very helpful. And some other resources as well that I can point you to. Alright, so there's one sin to avoid immodesty.

Secondly, and this is very closely related, a greater concern for outward appearance than for inward beauty. Obviously, very closely related women give a lot of time with concern how they appear outwardly, what they put on their bodies.

But what Paul says here is, you should adorn yourself with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. When we're consumed with the outward and what we look on the outside, the inward begins to suffer.

We begin to not give the time and attention and focus that is needed to that. That, Peter says it this way, your beauty, and that's our word, your adornment, should not come from outward ornaments such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.

Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth and God's sight. And in Peter, it's even clearer that he can't be forbidding absolutely the use of braided hair, gold jewelry and fine clothes, because what he says is your outward adornment should not be clothing.

Well, if we take that literally, then ladies shouldn't wear anything, and that certainly is not modest, okay? So that's why we understand what Paul and Peter are saying are not absolute prohibitions of clothing or jewelry.

But the more important thing should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. That is of great worth in God's sight. Good deeds, Paul says, that are befitting a Christian woman who professes to worship and fear God.

Good works, that is to be your adornment. Do you think about that as much in the morning when you get up as what you're going to put on your body? Do you think about how can I live a life of good deeds before God today?

Do you think about how you will behave that day? How you will react to others? How you will speak? How you will show kindness to your friends and your enemies? How you will do your chores around the house?

How you will carry yourself at work? How you will do your homework? How you will treat your husband? And the sort of attitude you will have when your parents tell you to do something that you don't really want to do. And when your dad tells you not to wear something that you wanted to wear.

Do you think about the right response of that when you get up in the morning? Thinking on the exhortation that you read in the scriptures that morning. Do you think about the good deeds that you're going to put on that day?

That's what you should adorn yourself with. Think on those things. Be careful to not be more consumed with the outward appearance than with the inward heart. Alright, so two sins for ladies to avoid immodesty and a greater concern for the outward appearance over the inward beauty.

And now roles for women to fulfill in the church. And the first is to be what Paul calls a quiet learner. Part of the good works that a godly woman will adorn herself with is quiet learning with all submission.

A woman is not to teach a man in the church or to have authority over them. And so it means she is to submit to the teaching of the God-ordained leaders in the church. Again, he roots it all the way back in creation.

Not the cultural norms from his day. Even notes that it was Eve who is deceived and not Adam back in the garden. Adam's got plenty of problems of his own.

And Paul takes him to Dehask in Romans 5. Through the one man, Adam, sin came to all men. But Eve had her role in it well. And I don't even think it's necessarily an indictment of the gullibility of women as opposed to men.

There may be something of that there. But it's saying that women were designed to follow the leadership of men. That is the role ordained for them by God in creation. And the serpent circumvented that order.

He bypassed that order. Instead of going to the man, he went straight to the woman. And she was led astray by him. She was deceived by him. Instead of going to her husband and saying, listen to what this serpent is saying, She took that role of leadership for herself and made her own decision to eat of that fruit.

And she was deceived by him. Usurping her husband's authority. Going along with the serpent. Again, Adam is not without blame here. He abdicated his headship and leadership.

He allowed the woman to lead him where he should not have gone. He didn't stop and say, whoa, this is not how it's supposed to be. But Paul says, this can't be the case in the church.

We can't have this role reversal in the church. Where women take the authority from men and men let it go. And so a woman's role then is to learn quietly from men's teaching.

And so when you come to church, ladies, don't come with a, what's that man going to stand up there and say this week? Sort of mentality. It's not quiet or submissive. Come with a heart of gratitude.

A heart ready to listen and learn and receive the truth that comes from God's word. Praise God that he's given men to lead the church and to teach. That's why we don't have women in positions of leadership or teaching adults in the church.

Oh, but that quashes all the opportunities for a woman to minister. You're taking away all her gifts and taking away the chance to use those gifts and those opportunities. Please, not at all.

Read the rest of Paul. Read the rest of the scriptures. And you find that that's not the case at all. And so another role for women is teaching in other settings. Even within the context of the church, older women are to teach younger women and children.

And so we have women teaching our children's Sunday school classes. Even outside the church altogether, you go to Acts and you see that Aquila and Priscilla, both of them, the husband and the wife, taught Apollos in their home.

He didn't fully understand the way. And so a man and a woman helped him understand it. A woman instructed a man. And there was nothing inappropriate about it. But remember, in the church, it is to be the man who teach the other men and the women.

Women are an integral part of the ministry of the church. Just read Paul's letters and see how many times he mentions women who helped him in the ministry. And so, ladies, don't let your position of learning and submission to God's appointed overseers prevent you from entering into the ministries of the church with all your heart.

We've got a whole sheet of ministry opportunities for women. Places where you can fulfill your God-given role in the church. And so we would encourage you to do that.

To press on in those things. And we thank you for your faithful labors in those things. And then lastly, for the role of women, and really this applies to both, the last part of verse 15.

If they continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety. That's one of the words for modesty that was used earlier. It is also for you ladies he's speaking to especially.

This is for everyone to continue in faith and love and sanctification. We know that salvation comes from Christ the mediator.

And so we must have faith in Him. That is what you are to do. To have faith in Christ for your salvation. We heard of the grace of God this morning and it's received by faith. No good works can earn your salvation.

All the faith. And then you must be growing in grace and holiness. Loving God and loving your brothers and sisters in Christ. And growing in that sanctification and that modesty that we've already talked about.

And fulfilling your proper roles in the church. But then a word for all of us tonight. You've no doubt noticed that I've skipped over a phrase in verse 15.

And part of me would like to end here. But the beginning of verse 15 says, But women will be saved through childbearing. Writers are wont to say that much ink has been spilt over that little phrase.

And trying to figure out what in the world it means. And everybody has their theories and their ideas of what it means. And some are better than others. And we're not going to review them all tonight.

I'm going to give you what I think is the best understanding of that phrase. And it starts with a better translation than what we have in the NIV.

We have women will be saved through childbearing. But there's no subject given. They've supplied the word women there. There's no subject.

And the verb that's given is singular. And so the plural women doesn't actually even fit there. And so you have to go back to verse 14 to figure out who the subject is.

And so look at that with me. And Adam was not the one deceived. It was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. And a better translation then would be, And she will be saved through childbearing.

A reference back to Eve. A reference back to the woman. Referred to in verse 14. And Adam was not the one deceived. It was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.

But she will be saved through childbearing. It talks about how she fell into sin. She became a sinner. And now it talks about how she will be saved. Paul's taken us all the way back to Genesis 2 and 3 in these verses.

Where we see the creation of man and woman. Man before woman. And then the fall into sin. And what comes next in Genesis 3.15? The promise of the woman's seed. That would crush the serpent's head.

Genesis 3.15. The promise Savior is described in terms of the woman's offspring. And I will put enmity between you and the woman. And between your offspring and hers.

He will crush your head. And you will strike his heel. Eve would be saved by her offspring. The promised Messiah. By giving birth to the line that would bring the Messiah.

And the childbearing will be painful for her and all women now. I can testify to that. Not personally. I have no idea. You know that.

But I just witnessed it recently. And it was painful. And so childbirth is going to be painful for women. But it's through that very childbearing that the Savior would come.

And then the verb switches back to the plural. If they, women, if they, all people, continue in faith, love, and holiness with propriety. Will they enjoy salvation?

And so I think it's a reference to Eve's childbearing. To her offspring. The Savior that would come. That is the way that we are saved through Christ.

The one mediator between God and men. It's possible Paul had a double meaning in mind since he's talked about this great danger of role reversal. Women saved by continuing in the role that was established for them by God in creation.

Part of that role is childbearing. And if a woman is trusting in the seed of the woman. She's trusting in Christ. Then she will want to fulfill that role. Part of that role is childbearing.

If there's one thing we know it doesn't mean that a woman has to give birth to a child to be saved. That would be work salvation. So of course it can't mean that. But speaking maybe of a woman who is continuing faithfully in her role in love and sanctification.

Her deeds can't save her. But if she's trusting in Christ, her faith will show forth in her deeds. But regardless, it is the role of all men and women and boys and girls to put their faith and their hope and their trust in this Jesus.

This offspring of Eve. This child that was born. Only in him can we be saved. Only in him can we properly fulfill our roles in the church.

Only in him can we live a life that is free from anger and arguing and immodesty and a greater concern with what is on the outside than what is on the inside.

Only in him can we be forgiven for all the times we have committed these sins. And so may our hope and trust tonight as we seek to avoid particular sins and fulfill certain roles in the church.

May our hope then be in Christ and in him alone. Let's pray together. Our Father, we give you thanks this night that you have given us your word, that you have made your truth plain to us.

And we thank you that you have given us your son, that you brought him into the world to be born of a woman, to bear the sins of your people on the cross, to be our substitute so that we might have forgiveness.

And we pray that you would forgive us for the times when we have abdicated the roles that you have given to us. Forgive us for the times that we've fallen into these sins that we are so prone to.

We thank you that we can come again and again and find forgiveness in our Savior Christ, who is our hope, who is our confidence. We thank you and we pray that you would give us grace to be faithful men and women, avoiding these sins, fulfilling the roles that you have set before us.

Help us to go from here hearts ready to honor and worship you by the way that we live, the things that we say, the things that we do, the things that we think. Give us grace to honor you in every part of our lives as men and women, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen.