[0:00] And come and join us as we call on the name of the Lord. 1 Timothy chapter 2 I'm going to read from verses 8 to 15.! 1 Timothy chapter 3.
[1:00] 1 Timothy chapter 3.
[1:30] 1 Timothy chapter 3.
[2:00] Lots of people hate it. There are all sorts of dissent about it. There's chapters written, many chapters in many books. There are many books written on it. And it creates quite a spirit.
[2:11] And one of the reasons that I believe quite passionately in expository preaching, that is preaching through whole books of the Bible, is that you have to discipline yourself to study the next passage.
[2:23] And so what happens as you do that over a number of years is that actually God sets the agenda. The Bible sets the agenda of the church. And the question that Paul is raising here is what should the sexes be up to in church?
[2:39] What should men and women be up to in church? I preached on a bit of this passage last week. So if you weren't here, I really encourage you to get the recording of last week. You kind of set it more in context.
[2:49] And we're going to kind of zone in on it today. So what should the sexes be up to in church? And what I want to try and do is I want to try and reduce it to one-word summaries. That's always dangerous, isn't it?
[3:00] But I want to reduce it to one-word summaries. So what should the sexes be up to in church? Number one, supplication. Can you see that in verse 8? Supplication. I desire that then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without arguing or quarrelling.
[3:19] Prayer. I desire that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarrelling. Prayer.
[3:30] Supplication. Asking God is one of the things that the sexes should be up to in church. And particularly, can you see that in verse 8? The men. Not men generically, which it is in verse 1, but men as in males.
[3:48] Notice at the start of verse 8. I desire that. Or it could be translated, therefore. Paul was telling us, isn't he, at the start of verse 1. Let's recap on that. He's telling us, pray for leaders.
[3:59] Remember that, verse 2. Kings and authorities. And all mankind. Verse 1. I urge that supplications, prayers, and decessions, thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions.
[4:11] That they would govern justly. That there would be order in society. So that God's people could thrive. So that the gospel could run. So pray for your leaders. Pray political prayers.
[4:23] And secondly, pray evangelistic prayers. Verse 3. This is good and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour. Who desires that all people, all kinds of people, be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.
[4:36] And so in verse 8, Paul says, I want the men to pray. I want the men of a congregation. They are to be praying big political and evangelistic prayers.
[4:48] And so on. That is the connection here. And notice, these are the men he is primarily concerned with. They are to pray. Verse 8.
[4:59] I desire then that in every place the men to pray. Lift them holy hands. That was the posture. That is to be adopted in prayer. Now what does that mean?
[5:12] To pray with holy hands. Well in 1 Kings chapter 8 and verse 22 at the dedication of the temple. Well Solomon lifted up his hands. And he spread his hands towards heaven.
[5:26] And the symbolism probably is here. It's like the requests are in our hands, isn't it? We are praying, Lord please take our requests. We are lifting up those hands as petitions to God.
[5:39] We are lifting up holy hands. But Psalm 24 if you know it says, Who may grow up the head of the Lord or stand in the place of holiness? Only the one whose hands are clean. And his heart is pure.
[5:51] So if they are holy hands, That is the kind of physical outward gesture. But it is only a reflection of a cleansed heart. And those kinds of hands should be symbolic of a cleansed and holy heart.
[6:07] They lift their requests to God. So in Psalm 28 it says, When it speaks of, I lift my hands, I cry out to you, O Lord. It's a posture of prayer. Paul speaks then of the condition of this prayer.
[6:22] The condition of the prayer. He says, Lift up holy hands. Can you see it? Verse 8. Without anger or quarrelling. Without anger, without disputing.
[6:32] Without rancor, without broken relationships. This is a very simple point, isn't it? If, as a church family, we are in conflict, And we are at odds with one another, If that is what we are doing on a horizontal level, How can we rightly approach God vertically?
[6:50] It's a same principle. You see, throughout the Bible, You see in 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 7, Where Peter says, The men in the group, The little man live with considerateness towards his wife, And so on.
[7:02] Why should he do that? So that his prayers should not be hindered. What is going on? He is saying to us, If you do not live considerably, If you don't live with understanding and with care, If you act abusively and arrogantly and so on towards your wife, How on earth are you going to pray together?
[7:22] It will stop your prayers. Jesus says exactly the same thing, doesn't he? If you don't forgive one another, On a horizontal level, How on earth can you expect your father to forgive your sins?
[7:39] And so notice that. When he mentions this matter of prayer, It is a horizontal level as well. Particularly men are to devote themselves to prayer. So we've seen, haven't we, In this praying, in this supplication, We've seen the posture and the condition, And we also see the location.
[7:56] Do you notice what he says? I desire then, That in every place, In every place, Men should pray. It means that Paul was concerned, That men should pray, You can argue, In every house church in Ephesus.
[8:10] Whenever the house church meets, But it may mean, I think it does mean more than that. So in Malachi chapter 1 and verse 11, When the people of Judah are complaining, And they are sitting on worship, Our worship is so, so boring.
[8:25] We're so boring, Wouldn't it be better if we were kind of like Hillsong, And it was more like kind of, A Jewish gig every Sunday. It's so boring. We're bored. Our worship is not fascinating enough.
[8:36] We're not entertained enough. And the Lord says to the prophet Malachi, Chapter 1 verse 11, For from the rising of the sun, So the setting, My name will be great among the nations. And in every place, Insects will be offered to my name, And a pure offering, For my name will be great among the nations, Says the Lord of hosts.
[8:56] And it may well be, I think it is, That Paul has got that prophecy in mind. But when the Lord is saying to the people through Malachi, Who think that their worship is so boring, The Lord says, The day will come, When my name will be great among the nations, Across the world, And in every place, Everywhere, There will be incense offered to my name, Worship given to me.
[9:17] You may be bored with me Israel, But my name is going to be acknowledged, And honoured in every place across the world. And it may be that Paul has got that in mind. But as you pray in Ephesus, What the Lord said in that prophecy in Malachi 1 verse 11, Is not going to be just true in Jerusalem, But it is going to be true in Ephesus.
[9:39] And my name is going to be praised, And it is sought, And the Redeemer's name, And his conquest, Is staked out, Not in just Jerusalem, Not just in Ephesus, But in healing, And to the ends of the earth.
[9:52] And whenever men pray then, And seek the Lord, And lift up his name, We are showing that Jesus' conquest has reached England. And so in every place, We are to call on his name, And we are to show how expensive his reign has become.
[10:10] This sort of thing happened in Australia. In the 19th century, There's a man, Who was going to a Baptist chapel in, Gilon, Gilon, We've got Australians here this morning, I probably put Gilon's it, In South Australia, And in the evening service he went there.
[10:24] And he went up to greet the preacher, Before he went home, He went to say hello to the preacher. And so he greeted him, And the preacher asked wisely, And how he came to Christ. And the man told the story, He said, I was about in the bush, In the outback, Miles beyond the settlement.
[10:42] He was in the outback, Tending a huge flock of sheep, And so on. And here he comes in that desolate place, A sheet of newspaper, Being blown across the plains. And he comes to rest in his feet, It gets caught up in his feet, And he picks it up.
[10:56] He happens to read it. He happens to read a line or two. And he becomes rather interested, So he wants to find out, How this turns out. And lo and behold, There was a sermon, Published in the newspaper, By C. H. Spurgeon, From Elephant and Castle, The famous Baptist preacher.
[11:12] The man said, If I knew it was a sermon, I'd have thrown it away. But he read a little bit of it. And before he knew it, He wanted to find out, So he read it through to the end. And it began to work on me, The man said, It brought me to conviction.
[11:24] And eventually, It brought me to faith in Jesus. Who would have thought that? A sermon preached in Grotty Elephant and Castle, Would end up in printed form, Blowing across the outback in Australia, And it would come to rest, On a man's feet, Twelve thousand miles away from London.
[11:41] And the Redeemer's praise, Is staked out, In the outback of Australia. It seems to me, That is what Paul has got in mind here. You must remember Malachi's prophecy, That everywhere, Men are to lift up holy hands in prayer, And they are to do it in Jesus' name.
[11:59] Because there, The Redeemer has staked out, His reign and His kingdom. And His worship is happening, In another place, Far beyond the realms, Of tiny little Judah. It is interesting, By the way, That Paul directs men to pray.
[12:14] He is not saying, That Christian women shouldn't pray, You don't think that. But he especially mentions, Christian men. That Christian men, Are to make supplication, Are to make prayer, Their keynote, And their concern.
[12:33] That isn't the way we think, Is it? In church life actually. So we talk about football, We talk about DIY, Let's go for the stereotypes, We talk about motorbikes, We talk about cars, We talk about all sorts of things.
[12:47] But notice, Paul, What is it that characterizes men in church? Is that they lift, Your requests to God, In Jesus' name. That is the mark, Of a Christian man, He says, Real men, Pray.
[13:02] He said, Real men, With hairs on their chest, Pray. And that ought to characterize us, And brothers, That ought to admonish us, And that ought to rebuke us.
[13:19] Real men, Pray. You want to be a man? Pray. Secondly, Simplicity. That ought to be, What the sexes are up to in church.
[13:31] Second verses 9 and 10. He speaks to the women there, He says, Likewise also, The woman, That woman, Should adorn themselves, In respectable apparel, With modesty and self-control, Not with braided hair, And gold or pearls, Or costly attire.
[13:44] But with what is proper, For women who profess godliness, With good works. Look at that, What do you want about that? Do you mean there's supposed to be, Some kind of dress culture?
[13:56] Well, He's saying that the clothing part is there, But there's a deeper matter. Can you see it? Not how you're clothed, But the essential item, The essential item, That women should be clothed with, Is at the end of verse 10.
[14:09] Can you see it? With good works. And so that is his real concern. However, This is manifested, In the way they clothed themselves, And their fashion and so on, And he does address that.
[14:22] Now notice how he does it. Look at verse 9, It is positive. Likewise also, That women should adorn themselves, In respectable apparel, With modesty, And with self-control.
[14:33] That is the positive. Then the second half, Of verse 9, Is in the negative, Isn't it? Not with braided hair, And gold or pearls, Or costly attire. Now what is going on here? Paul is dealing with, Fashion of the day, And these women in Ephesus, They knew what fashion was.
[14:51] The empress in Rome, And so on, The trendsetters, And so on, Of the day, And this is photovolved back, Now people will always eat fashion, That's always been the case, And it always will be.
[15:02] And Paul is concerned, That he talks about, Platic or woven hairstyles, There were ways of creating, These hairstyles, That would keep the hair, On the top of the head, If you look at it if you want, They would weave strands, Of gold or pearls in it, It would be very time consuming, And very expensive.
[15:20] Paul says, You don't need to go there. Don't mess about with extravagance. And not only is that true, Of the high class ladies, If you read about Ephesus, It's true of the high class prostitute as well.
[15:33] That might circulate in various, Civil or religious, Or political courts. That sort of thing, Kind of extravagance, In the way that you look, And in your dress, Don't go there. Paul is saying, Don't buy internet.
[15:45] Don't get your identity, From that. Don't go there. Let there be a simplicity, About your style, And your fashion. That's what he's arguing for. That is his concern. Now you've got to understand, That Paul is not trying to, Damn attractiveness in women.
[15:59] Alright? He's not arguing, Against beauty. Thank God. He's trying to argue, For modesty. Or against immodesty.
[16:10] This argument, For simplicity. And notice, He lays it down, In terms of principle. He is not against, Women being in style. Or taking care of themselves.
[16:22] He's not against women, Making themselves attractive, And so on. But he is arguing, Isn't he? If you can look at it, For simplicity. In the sense of a lack of extravagance. And for simplicity, In the sense of modesty.
[16:34] You might pat him on the head, And say, Well that's very nice, False, Quite sexist, And then we need to talk in this way. But I think we do need to keep this in mind. I was speaking in a youth group, It was about ten years ago.
[16:46] And I can't remember the girl's name. But I was about to speak to you, And they said, Now I can't remember her name, Joanne is going to, There's not a Joanne here, Is there a name? Now Joanne is going to come up and read for us. Now, I can't even remember the passage, What I was speaking of.
[16:59] What I do remember, Is that Joanne was wearing, A cat seat. So I looked along the row, At the boys in my row, With their Bibles up before them. None of them had their eyes on the Bible.
[17:11] It was one of those great ones, I can't even remember the first ten minutes of my talk. All I can think of was this girl in the cat seat. Now there is a place for modesty, Isn't there? And I do want to say, I want to really encourage the women of our church family.
[17:23] As I've thought and studied about this, I've really been encouraged by how our church family, And how the women in our church take that seriously. And so, I do want to say to the men, There was a rebuke and admonishment.
[17:36] I do, I think, Want to say on this modesty front, I want to encourage the women in our church. Thirdly, What should the sexist be up to in the church? And this is where there's so much controversy. In verses 11 to 14, And I want to try and walk you through it.
[17:50] In verse 11, He begins with a direction. He says, Let a woman Learn Let a woman Learn Quietly In all submissiveness.
[18:03] Now what you might not notice With that verb Is that there's an imperative there, Okay? It's imperative, But we often miss it. When we hear, Let a woman Let her learn We think, Well this is something Paul is recommending Let her Doesn't matter if she doesn't If she wants to, No No, It's an imperative Let her learn It is a command.
[18:24] So the point we've got Behind me saying that Is this This is not This is not an option Right? For the Christian woman. This is an obligation. Let her learn It is a command.
[18:37] And just notice for a moment, Paul does not disdain The intelligence of Christian women. They have to learn the faith. Christian women are to study, They have to learn, And that, In Paul's It's quite revolutionary.
[18:49] It is a contrast To the general tone Of Judaism. Now I know that there are Sections in first century Judaism, But by and large, They were not too concerned About teaching women in the law.
[19:02] That if they picked up some, That was okay, But they weren't too concerned About pressing the point. Paul does not follow That. A Christian woman Must learn. So that is the direction. There's a departure From first century Judaism.
[19:17] There's a distinction. That is true Of the Christian body. And then he mentions In verse 11 A restriction. Can you see it? I do not permit A woman to teach Or to exercise authority Over a man.
[19:33] Rather she is To remain quiet. What does he mean? What is that restriction? Notice he says, If I don't allow her to teach The power of the teaching A place or a setting By which she would By her teaching Show authority Over a man.
[19:57] The word there is Male again, But to be in quietness. What is Paul restricting there? Let's talk about What he's not restricting. He's not restricting Women from teaching Other women.
[20:10] He's not restricting A woman from teaching A family. He's not restricting A woman from having Discussions On matters About the faith About Bible study About correcting The Bible study leader.
[20:23] He's not talking about Praying in a mixed group. He's not prohibiting Giving feedback And correction To the preacher Like Priscilla And Aquila did With a place.
[20:35] Paul is not Prohibiting her singing. Because in our singing We teach and admonish One another in songs Don't we? So what is Paul Prohibiting?
[20:48] In Paul's setting It is the public Worship assembly. It is the gathering Together of the church. He is saying I do not allow a woman To teach and exercise Authority over a man In a public setting Of the church Where that is authoritative.
[21:04] A church assembly A church gathering Of men and women And boys and girls And there is Authoritative teaching And preaching Taking place. He said I do not Permit a woman To do that. That is the restriction. Now what is she to do?
[21:19] That is where The submission comes in. She is to learn In quietness With all submission. And that is where The hackles get up, Isn't it? And what is important When you think of This word submission That Paul is Underscoring here.
[21:34] Let me just say A little bit About the word Quietness. That sounds so Offensive, doesn't it? A little woman Learning quietness. To be seen And not heard.
[21:46] No, that is not What it is saying. Alright? There are two passages In the Bible In the New Testament Where it talks About quietness. So you can go To 2 Thessalonians Chapter 3 And verses 11 and 12 Where Paul uses That word for quietness.
[22:03] So he says Just over the page He says For we hear That some of you Walk in idle And that's not Busy at work But busy bodies. Now such persons We command and encourage In the Lord Jesus Christ To do their work Quietly And to earn their own living.
[22:17] The meaning there Is that Christians Are to live in such a way That does not Draw attention To themselves Without also Drawing attention To God. That's the point Of quietness.
[22:29] The other place Is in chapter 2 Verse 2 Do you remember it? That we may lead A peaceful And quiet life. What's the meaning Of quietness In the New Testament? It is living In such a way That does not Cause a disturbance.
[22:43] That does not Make life difficult For those In authority over you. So the quiet Christian Seeks to draw Attention to God By how they live And they're not Rebellious.
[22:54] They're not The kind of people That cause headaches For their leaders. For those who Are in responsibility Over them. And I suspect Paul has got in mind Those from 1 Timothy Chapter 5 Verse 13 Who are becoming Gossips and busybodies.
[23:09] Now this matter Of submission In the New Testament Is something That equals to Submission is not A sign of inferiority.
[23:21] When Paul spoke Of the wife Submitting to the Husband in Christian Marriage in Ephesians 5 There's no sign That the wife Is inferior To the husband. No.
[23:32] An equal Decides submitting A relationship For the purposes Of that relationship. Now we can Illustrate on this. I wanted to get Another illustration.
[23:43] Forgive this illustration. It's not the best Illustration. Alright. And it's a football Illustration. I know that doesn't You know. But you have a Football manager And a star striker The guy who Kicks in the goals. Now if you think Of the football manager And the football striker Those two people Just on their own Neither one is Superior to the other Are they?
[24:04] Neither one is Superior to the other In God's eyes. The football manager And the football striker They are both Made in God's image. They are equally God's creatures Whether one is a manager Or whether one is a striker.
[24:19] However when it comes To the football team In the context Of the football team The striker Though in one way He is far more Valuable than the manager He willingly submits To the authority And the oversight Of the manager For the purposes Of playing on the team.
[24:37] It doesn't mean That he is inferior It doesn't mean That he is less No he is an equal But for the purposes Of that relationship He submits To the authority Of the manager Because that is What submission demands.
[24:54] And here is This kind of submission On the part Of the Christian Woman That in this matter Of authoritative Teaching in the church In a worship Gathering That if she were Teaching It would involve Having authority Over men.
[25:12] And it's an expression Of the teaching Of the word of God Amongst God's people. That is the way Authority Is exercised. And that is Restricted From the Christian Woman here.
[25:28] Now we have Direction verse 11 We have a restriction Verse 12 And in verse 13 You've got the reason. Paul is substantiating. Now whether you like His reasons or not I want you to see One thing.
[25:42] I want you to see Where he is arguing from. And he's giving The reasons To support this position. So can you see Verse 13 For Adam was First Forward first Then Eve So where does Paul go?
[25:57] Paul goes back To the creation The camp doesn't he? Paul goes back To how we were made To where we were made To be. Paul goes back To Genesis chapter 2 Why do we have This kind of Priority On menial Leadership In the teaching Of the church?
[26:10] Well He says Because Adam Was formed first And then Eve Listen to what He's doing He's saying That there was A deliberate Intent In creation In the creation Account of Genesis 2 The fact that Adam was formed Before Eve Was not just A matter of timing It wasn't just An accident No there was A deliberate Intention by God There To indicate A certain Priority Or leadership Element That man was The house Now notice here For the man Was formed first Then Eve He's arguing About priority Notice again He is not saying That priority Means superiority He is not arguing That men are Better than women He's not saying That He is saying That priority Indicates authority Not superiority That he has been Designated to have A certain leadership Or responsibility In that relationship Now notice what
[27:11] He does also In verse 14 He's still giving The reason Isn't he And Adam Was not deceived But the woman Was deceived And became A transgressor Is he blaming Eve On one reading It looks like it But I don't think He is I think Disgress Is the word On deceive And that Adam Was not deceived But Adam Said With open eyes Adam knew Exactly what He was doing Adam had no Alleviating Circumstances Eve's deception Does not excuse her But Adam Was not deceived Adam has no excuse Eve was deceived But Adam Was not deceived And he allowed The leadership That leadership Pattern That was established In Genesis 2 To be ruined Now this heavy stuff Is left We've got a little bit To go So take a break
[28:12] Stretch a little bit You could get some air In here It's probably just me But it feels very very hot Doesn't it It is probably me Now Remember What's the order What's the order In Genesis 2 Okay What's the order It's very very simple God Created Adam Adam was formed first And then Eve And then creation God Man Woman Creation That's the order God Man Woman Creation Adam was formed first But then he lives And he works together With Eve Over creation What happens in Genesis 3 Remember the order In Genesis 2 God Man Woman Creation What happens in Genesis 3 It is flipped That's exactly what happens Isn't it There is a reversal So creation The serpent Speaks to the woman And he distorts God's word
[29:12] And the woman Leads the man So that together Before God The man And the woman They are trying to take The place of God The entire order Is reversed Instead of it being God Man Woman Creation It becomes Creation Woman Man God The entire order Is reversed But in Genesis 3 When God comes To speak to humanity Eve took of the fruit And she ate Who does God Come to speak to Who God comes to speak To Adam Adam is held Responsible In Genesis 3 Do you see that It was Adam To whom the Lord Came And whom he addressed Have you taken Of the fruit Of the tree From which I Told you not to eat He didn't go to Eve He did speak To Eve afterwards But he went To Adam first Why
[30:12] Because he held Adam Scrutically Responsible Because he had A position In which he was Primarily accountable There Which was reflected In Genesis 2 And so Paul is saying Now that kind of Precedence It doesn't mean Any inferiority At all But there is Precedence In which the man Has the position Of responsibility And accountability And authority And that is Built in Verse 13 To the Creator Order That is Built into Humanity And so that Must be reflected When we gather To worship That is what Paul is arguing Here Now you might Say I don't like It I don't like Paul's reasoning But just notice What he's doing Here Verse 13 For Adam was born First and then Eve And notice that When he supports His position In verse 12 He goes and gives Reasons based On the Bible In verses 13 And 14 He goes back
[31:13] To Genesis 2 And 3 He is arguing Biblically Now why is that Significant Why am I Labour on this point Because there are People that are Good friends of mine And they would say But it's just A matter of taste It's up to Whatever congregation Whatever context You're in No that is not What Paul says There are some People There are some Scholars Some friends of mine Who would say Well what Paul Really wanted to do He really wanted to Have complete equality In ministry In the church That's the trajectory That the New Testament Is on Complete equality In ministry But he realised He didn't think That a culture In Ephesus Was ready for it So he backs away From Galatians 3 28 position He didn't want Things to get on hand At Ephesus So he didn't allow Them to take it As far as he Normally would He just didn't Think that with The stress of The kind of New Roman woman
[32:13] Who was emerging In the Roman Empire At the time He just didn't Think it was right At that time For Christian Fellowships to have This complete Total across the board Equality in their Teaching ministries Because Paul thought That that would give Christianity A bad name Socially The point is this The Apostle Could have said that In verse 13 As he does In chapter 6 In verse 1 He uses exactly That kind of argument Why not just say Well let's restrict Things here If we don't It will bring Into disrepute The Christian fellowship He could have said that But he doesn't Argue like that You might not like it But Paul argues With biblical Theological Precision And this is As difficult as it is To say This is something That Paul is arguing Biblically Not culturally He's arguing Theologically
[33:13] And that is why You might say Why there is a Distinction between Verse 8 and 9 Because when it talks About braided hair And when it talks About elaborate goals There's no reference To creation Can you see that The reason Why hands being Lifted And how Shouldn't we Braided That we don't Apply that today In the same way Is because there's No reference there To the creation Principle Well when he talks About authoritative Teaching in the church He grounds that Submission In the creation Order In verse 11 To 14 Submission is the Keynote of The Christian Women In the worship Assembly But let me just Step back a little Bit From there That is the Keynote Of the whole Christian fellowship As well Let's get Submission That ought to be True to the whole Christian church Men and women It was the reason
[34:15] Why we had that Reading From Luke chapter 10 The kind of Submission That Mary Models It's that Submission For all of us That she sat At Jesus feet And she listened To his teaching And isn't that To be the picture Of where to be His church Whether we're Male or female As Christians Believe We sit at Jesus feet And we listen To his teaching Now I know That what I've Said this morning In our culture Is totally Unacceptable And it is At this point That we have A very Very clear Choice to make In our Generation That will We submit To God To the Lord Jesus Christ In the running Of Christ's Church Or will we Think actually We are better That is the Choice That is the
[35:15] Choice Submission Fourthly There's not only Suffocation Prayer And simplicity And submission But what the Sexes must be Up to in church Is salvation Look at verse 15 Verse 15 Yes you will be Saved through Childbearing If they continue In faith And love And holiness With self Control And you might Say aha I knew it I knew it This was where Paul is going He just wants Women to be Barefoot Long haired Pregnant In the kitchen This is where He's going She should be Saved Through childbearing I knew that Was the Hidden agenda All along Bigots But let's look At it If you look At all the Commentators I've looked At I think About 25 Commentaries On this And every Single one Of them Has said This is one Of the most Difficult verses For interpret In the book Tell you something You don't know What does he Mean here Let's look at Several things Can you see What it says She should be Saved What does that Mean Well the Usual way
[36:16] Paul uses The words Is not just A physical Preservation It's a Deliverance From eternal Death and Judgment It is a Final salvation That God Gives us In Jesus Christ He saves Doesn't he Wonderfully From eternal Death and Judgment That's the way He's using It Did you notice In verse 14 He's just Finished speaking About Eve Eve becoming A transgressor It refers you Back to Genesis 3 So Paul's Mind is Back in Genesis 3 And then he Says But the Christian woman Will be saved Literally Through the Childbearing Now I think There is a Deliberateness In the way That Paul Writes this So that Indefinite Article What I mean By that Is he Speaks of The Childbearing Not just Childbearing She should Be saved Through the Childbearing But it's More than That She should Be saved Through The Childbearing What's The Childbearing Well where Has he Just been Where has he Just been In his Mind
[37:16] Genesis Chapter 3 Do you Remember There is That first Announcement Of the Gospel Genesis Chapter 3 Verse 15 That the Lord Announces The curse On the Temptor On the Serpent God says I will put Enmity I will put War Between you And the Woman Between your Seed And his Seed He will Bruise Your Head That is Fatally He will Crush Your Head And you Will Bruise Him Heal Wise Not Fatally Not Destructively What is God saying In Genesis 3 He is Saying The Time Will Come When There Will Be A Seed Of The Woman There Will Be A Descendant Of The Woman Who Will Destroy You Will Destroy The Temptor And The Serpent It Is A Prophecy Isn't It Genesis 3 15 Of The Victorious Man It Is A Prophecy Which Gives Hope In A Dark Situation In Genesis 3 In Which The Lord Says
[38:16] To Satan You Have Used The Woman To Bring Ruin And I Will Use The Woman To Bring Ruin To You You Have Used The Woman To Bring Ruin I Will Use The Woman To Bring Ruin To You Because One Of Her Descendants Will Trample And Destroy You Here Genesis 4 Verse 1 And Eve Says All The Way Through The New Testament Who Is Going To Be The Serpent Crusher And It Was The Seed Of The Woman Through The Child Bearing Of The Virgin Mary Through Whom The Saviour Was Born Everything Rested On A Woman Who Conceived Everything Rested Salvation Rested On A Woman Who Conceived That Mary Although We Don't Worship Her She Is Such!
[39:11] A Precious Place In Our Theology Because It Is Through The Woman The Virgin Mary Who The Saviour Has Been For Everything Rested On The Woman Who Conceived And Gave Birth In The Child Bearing Par Excellence John Pemberton Mahaffey In The 1870s Was In Dublin He Was An Ancient History Scholar And He Was Having A Debate In The 1870s With The Woman Rights Advocate!
[39:42] What And He Says She Will Be Saved By Their Child Bearing And Not Only The Woman But The Man As Well And The Girls And The Boys So That Both Men And Women And Boys And Girls Have Their Hope In That Child Bearing And We Are Both Back Aren't We We Are Back In 1 Timothy 2 Verse 15 We Are Back In 1 Timothy 1 15 Because We Are Told That That Christ Jesus Came Into The World To Save Sinners
[40:42] Because No Male And No Female Has Any Hope Unless They Belong To Him Let's Pray