1 Timothy and chapter 2, Paul
writes as follows. I exhort therefore that first
of all supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks
be made for all men, for kings and for all that are in authority,
that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness
and honesty. For this is good and acceptable
in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have all men to be saved
and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one
God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time,
whereunto I am ordained a preacher and an apostle. I speak the truth
in Christ and lie not, a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and
verity. I will therefore that men pray
everywhere, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting. In
like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel,
with shamefacedness and sobriety. not with broided hair or gold
or pearls or costly array, but which becometh women professing
godliness with good works. Let the woman learn in silence
with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach,
nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then
Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but
the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding,
she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and
charity and holiness with sobriety. Let the woman learn in silence
with all subjection. The woman. Who is the woman of whom Paul
speaks in this passage? This passage is not one which
goes down easily with this current age and generation. And it is
not a passage which you will find read and faithfully expounded
upon in many Places which call themselves churches today simply
because it doesn't go down well with the generation and age in
which we live in outside. And many places that call themselves
churches that take Christ's name are desirous of having people
come in and won't say anything that they think is offensive.
This world likes to turn God's order upside down. God made man
male and female. He made the man first and the
woman second as a companion for him. He made them different and
he gave them different roles and different purposes. And in
so doing he presented a view of the gospel to us. A view of
the last Adam and his bride. God has an order in creation.
He made mankind male and female. He ordained that one man should
marry one woman, and in their love for one another they should
bring forth children. For Adam was first formed, then
Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived
was in the transgression. Notwithstanding, she shall be
saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity
and holiness with sobriety. But mankind, fallen mankind,
full of sin and hatred for God, desires to turn God's order upside
down. He tries to make men and women
alike. He tries to overturn the differences between men and women.
He tries to overturn God's order in marriage. He tries to remove
the genders all together, as though all are just people. But
we are born, we are made, either a man or a woman. God intended
it to be. And God made them different.
And God has made them different in his church. And God has sent
forth instructions for his people. and regarding the woman here
he says in like manner also women adorn themselves in modest apparel
with shamefacedness and sobriety not with brided hair or gold
or pearls or costly array but which become if women professing
godliness with good works let the woman learn in silence with
all subjection but I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp
authority over the man, but to be in silence. Christ is the
head of the man, and the man is the head of the woman, as
Paul makes plain in 1 Corinthians 11, where he speaks of headship. But this age would have the women
in the churches teaching the man. and they would take passages
like this and rip them up and remove them from the scriptures.
Or they would malign Paul and say that this was an attitude
of Paul in his current culture and age. And set Christ against
Paul and Paul against Christ and make Paul himself to be something
other than a true ambassador of Christ and a voice piece. a messenger of the gospel. These are not Paul's words. They
are the words of the Spirit of God. These are not the opinions
of a man who lived 2,000 years ago. They are the words of the
living God, reiterating his order as it was set forth when he created
this world. If you say this is just Paul,
you may turn to 1 Peter 3 where you will read the words of another
apostle. By whom God speaks in union,
in unison, as one speaks through all the men whom he has sent
to preach his gospel. Peter writes in 1 Peter 3. Likewise
ye wives be in subjection to your own husbands that if any
obey not the word they also may without the word be won by the
conversation of the wives while they behold your chaste conversation
coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be
that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold
or of putting on of apparel But let it be the hidden man of the
heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the
old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves,
being in subjection unto their own husbands. even as sarah obeyed
abraham calling him lord whose daughters ye are as long as ye
do well and are not afraid with any amazement likewise ye husbands
dwell with them according to knowledge giving honor unto the
wife as unto the weaker vessel and as being heirs together of
the grace of life that your prayers be not hindered. Finally, be
ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren,
be pitiful, be courteous, not rendering evil for evil or railing
for railing, but contrarywise blessing, knowing that ye are
there unto called, that ye should inherit a blessing. Be of one
mind, as Peter and Paul were of one
mind, as the apostles and Jesus Christ were of one mind, as the
disciples and their God were of one mind, as Sarah and Abraham
were of one mind, as the godly women called unto salvation in
the New Testament days were of one mind with their husbands,
Be of one mind if this passage in 1 Timothy 2 and this passage
in 1 Peter 3 causes you in any way to be unsettled, causes you
in any way to have questions or causes the women to contend
against the men or the men to contend against the women. then
you are not of one mind. You're not of one mind with one
another, you're not of one mind with Paul, you're not of one
mind with Peter and you are not of one mind with the Spirit of
God or with Jesus Christ. And if you follow Christ you
claim to be a believer in Jesus and you're not of one mind with
him and the Spirit and his apostles and his gospel and his words
then you are an infidel a liar and a rebel. Be of one mind. Adam was first created then Eve
who was taken out of his sight Sarah obeyed Abraham calling
him Lord. Whose daughters ye are as long
as ye do well and are not afraid of any amazement. After this
manner in the old time the holy women also who trusted in God
adorned themselves being in subjection unto their own husbands. They
did not contend, they did not say it's not fair that my husband
is over me, they did not try to make themselves equal or in
authority over their husbands or other men, they recognized
and loved God's order in creation. They knew it was good. They knew
it was good for them. They knew it was good for their
husbands. They knew it was good for society. They knew it was
good for the church. They knew it was good for the
gospel. They knew it was good for the world. They knew it brought
glory to God. And they praised God for it.
They were of one mind. Here in the scriptures God sends
us two witnesses here Peter and Paul under God's order here. And unto the beauty of the bride
and the wife and the honour of the bride and the wife and of
the wonderful adornment she has in her heart. as one in whose heart the grace
of God has entered in and brought forth a meek and a quiet spirit
which in the sight of God is of great price. Paul and Peter here are two witnesses,
two witnesses sent of God, let every matter be settled by two
or three witnesses. If not, The attitude shown, the
words presented in 1 Timothy 2 are not a view of Paul alone. But Peter shares the same sentiment
and they speak as the Spirit of God leads them. The woman
here, the wife, is described in her state as a believer in
Jesus Christ. In 1 Timothy 2 she is described
both as a believer, as the wife of Adam and as her role as a
mother. She's seen both as herself a
believer, an individual, as a wife and as a mother. And Paul exhorts that she is
arrayed, she is adorned in modesty. In like manner also that women
adorn themselves in modest apparel with shamefacedness and sobriety,
not with broided hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but
which become if women professing godliness with good works. Let
the woman learn in silence with all subjection. She's arrayed
modestly. Why? Why? Why does Paul exhort such
and why does Peter exhort the same? Well we know in nature
that the woman has much glory in her outward beauty and her
outward adornment. We know that Eve given to Adam
as his wife was beautiful to him and he beheld her and he
loved her and we know that her beauty was for her husband and society from that day on
has seen the beauty in the woman and women have dressed to bring
forth that beauty to adorn their faces and their hair and their
clothes, to bring forth their glory, to be attractive, to be
attractive to men when a single woman seeks a spouse, to be attractive
to their husband, to be attractive for their own self-esteem and
their own confidence. but here Paul and Peter are exhorting
that the women should dress modestly they shouldn't follow the trend
of the world to make themselves look as beautiful as they possibly
can be to dress as gloriously as they possibly could to wear
the jewelry, the makeup, the adornment that their peers in
the world might wear but he exhorts that they bring forth another
beauty an inward beauty. Show forth that which is in your
heart. Let it not be the outward adorning
of plaiting the hair and of wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel. Any woman can do that. But you believer, let that beauty
within be seen. Let it be the hidden man of the
heart, in that which is not corrupt, to believe in the ornament of
a meek and a quiet spirit, which is in sight of God of great price. Paul says, like manner also that
women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shamefacedness and
sobriety, not with brided hair or gold or pearls or costly array,
but which become, if women professing godliness, with good works. Let the woman learn in silence
with all subjection. Let the grace of your heart within
be seen. Why is the believing woman arrayed
in such a way? Why is she exhorted to? Well
firstly because as an individual she glories in Christ and her
Saviour and she is faithful if she's married to her one husband. She is not seeking to win the
attraction of other suitors. We live in an adulterous age.
An age which treats marriage as a light thing. An age in which
few marriages last a lifetime. An age in which divorce is commonplace. An age in which an increasing
majority never even enter into marriage. An age in which men
and women go from one partner to another. An age in which happiness
is seen to be found in self-fulfillment whatever you gain will make you
happy so a husband and wife is seen just as some possession
where you go from one husband and wife or one partner to another
when you're bored of that one you move to this one when you're
bored of that one you move to that one you spend a few years
with this partner living with them and then when they cause
you grief off you go and you find someone else the world treats
marriage and the marriage union with lightness and contempt because
of its self-centeredness because of its glorification of self
Because it doesn't see marriage as being that in which you give
for the other one, but as that in which you gain for yourself.
the world enters into marriage or into unions with others for
what they gain from the other one and if they don't gain everything
they want from the other one they consider the marriage to
be a failure and they move on to someone else they don't enter
into marriage giving up everything that they are and everything
that they want for the glory and for the good of the other
But true marriage is to give yourself wholly in love for your
husband or your wife and having entered into marriage with a
husband or wife your all is given for them and you have no desire
for anyone else. Then the believing man and woman
have no desire to win the gaze or the attraction or the love
of another. If the woman loves her husband,
she has all she needs. If a woman has married her husband,
he is her husband. She gives herself for him. She
does not need to dress as the world does in order to earn the
gaze and the admiration of others. The world dresses in such a manner
because it's constantly looking to gain the attraction of others. in its godless, evil, lustful
desires. Believers give themselves to
their husband or their wife as they give themselves unto their
Saviour Jesus Christ. The godly man and the godly woman
are wed unto Christ. and they give themselves unto
Christ. And all that they are reflects
that union. And the godly woman loving Christ
lives in this world with that uppermost. For as the woman,
as the wife, as the bride, She is herself a living and a walking
picture of the Bride of Christ. Properly seen and understood
this passage in 1 Timothy 2 and Peter's passage in 1 Timothy
3 and other references to the woman and the bride and the wife
in the scriptures have far more to do with the Bride of Christ
as a whole with the Church as a whole and simply with the role
of the woman in this world. The exhortations which Paul and
Peter make to the woman or the wife do indeed apply but through
those exhortations they appoint in the Church the people of God
as a whole to what they are before Christ their husband. Why does
Paul exhort that the woman learn in silence with all subjection? Because the church, God's people,
are to listen to the voice of the Saviour. Are we sent to teach Jesus Christ
his gospel. Are we sent to tell God what
he should do? Are students in school there
to teach their teachers or are they there to learn of their
teachers? Are citizens there to tell the
lawmakers how to rule or are they there to abide by the law? Are children to teach their parents
or are they to learn of their parents? Is the Bride of Christ
to teach the Saviour or is she to hear his word in the gospel. The church is brought to life
through the speech of Jesus Christ. The hour is coming and now is
when the dead, when those in the grave shall hear the voice
of the Son of God and live. It's his voice speaking in the
darkness of this world that brings dead sinners unto life. It's
his voice which brought forth life under his church. It's his voice that quickened
the dead unto life. It's his voice that called out
those captives Out of the darkness into the light. First Adam was formed, then Eve. God made Adam and God said it
is not good that the man should dwell alone. And he put Adam
into a deep sleep and as he slept he took a rib from the side of
Adam and from that rib he formed the woman. and brought her unto
him. And Adam saw the woman and loved
her. When the last Adam, Jesus Christ,
was crucified, when he slept, when he went into the darkness
at the cross and gave up the ghost and was laid in the grave,
out of his side was taken as it were a rib from which God
made the woman and brought her unto him united with his people
in death united with his bride in death he took her sins into
the grave He took her sins to the place of judgment. He took
her sins into judgment. He bore the wrath of God against
those sins. He took them all away. And he
brought her through the darkness of death, through his sleep,
unto the other side. And when he rose, she rose with
him. and when he looked and beheld
he beheld his bride without spot, without blemish pure and perfect
and he loved her and each member of his body every one for whom
he died every soul for whom he suffered in time is brought to
hear his voice is brought to hear his gospel is brought to
hear his speech crying unto them through the darkness live thy
sins be forgiven thee there is peace rise up my loved one and
follow me they're brought to here. When God, through His Gospel,
sends a preacher with this word and a sinner hears and a sinner
hears the voice of Christ by the Spirit of God speaking their
name and declaring forgiveness unto their souls and leading
them unto the Saviour they hear Christ's voice and they listen
and they don't speak, they listen. They learn in silence. They bow down in worship. They see a saviour who suffered
for them, who endured the judgment of God for them because of what
they had done. because of the sin which they
had committed, because of the fall that they brought in, because
of the evil and the iniquity of their own hearts, they see
the One who loved them and gave Himself for them. They see the
One who suffered in their place. They see the One who has the
wounds of the nails in His hands and His feet and His side. They
see their Saviour. who loved them and they hear
his voice and they follow. Let the woman learn in silence
with all subjection. All she wants to do from that
day forth is to hear the voice of Christ her Saviour. all she wants to do is to hear
his words of forgiveness his words of grace his words of salvation
I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the
man but to be in silence well she would be because he saved
her and he's made that salvation known through his gospel You see this passage is not singling
out women as such. But it's presenting unto us what
the woman is a picture of. The bride of Christ. Adam was
first formed then Eve and Adam was not deceived but the woman
being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding she should be
saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and charity
and holiness with sobriety. When Eve was deceived by the
subtlety of Satan, when that serpent came alongside
and said unto her, half God said and put doubt into the ears of
the woman and caused her to doubt what God had spoken and doubt
what had been spoken to her husband Sin took hold and caused her
to stumble. She was deceived by the deceptive
words of Satan. But Adam, loving his wife, ate
when she said to eat because he would take responsibility
for all that she had done. He loved her. He could have resisted,
he could have stood, but she having been deceived he would
take her sin, he would take her failing, he would take her fall
and he would fall with her. She was his wife. Whatever she
did, he would do. Whatever she was responsible
for, he was responsible for. If she were deceived, he would
take that deception and own it as though it was his. He would
stand responsible for her. And so Adam, because of his great
love for his wife, fell and sin entered and death by sin. It's
because he loved her and it's because the last man Adam loved
his bride of which Eve was but a figure that he took responsibility
for all that the church had done. for all that his people had done,
for all that his Eve had done. He took responsibility for all
that the woman did in her sin and iniquity and he took it upon
himself. That's why Christ died, because
he loved his people and he would do just as Adam did for Eve in
the beginning. Adam fell because Eve was deceived. Christ fell in death because
his bride had sinned. It's a picture of what we all
are here as believers, subject to our husband Christ. Which is why we listen. Which
is why the woman listens. When the woman spoke to the man
in the beginning, The fall followed. Satan spake unto the woman and
said, half God said, and cast doubt on what God had truly said. Just as this generation, who
repeat the subtle words of Satan, say of the scriptures when they
come to passages like this, and they say, well, half God said.
Does he really mean that? When God said of the fruit of
the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that if you eat
of it in that day ye shall surely die did he really mean that? When Paul said when God said
here in this passage let the woman learn in silence with all
subjection I suffer not a woman to teach did God really say that? Did he really mean that? Does
he really mean it today? half God said so he came in at
the beginning and he comes in today with his doubting of what
God says and because he planted that seed of doubt in the woman's
heart the woman spake to the man and instructed the man and
the man followed eat of this fruit it's good to the taste
Adam knew she should not have eaten it but because he loved
her he took responsibility for what she had done but that's
where the speech of woman of the woman to the man got us and God won't have that repeated
Christ has been sent forth with his gospel and he will speak
under his bride and she will listen he will send forth his
gospel in power and speak by those whom he sends of it. And
he doesn't send women to preach his gospel, he sends men as a
reminder that it is he who speaks unto his church, not the other
way around. And as a reminder that life comes
through his speech to his people. whereas death came in the beginning
when the woman was first deceived by one who said, have God said. Christ won't have this pattern
repeated. He will speak, he will preach,
and sinners, his bride, will live and will listen. Have you
heard? Have you listened? Do you listen? Have you lived? Christ never sinned. He never
fell. He was never deceived. But his bride, his people, never
ceased to sin. which is why he laid down his
life. Notwithstanding, the woman shall
be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and charity
and holiness with sobriety. Notwithstanding, the woman shall
be saved in childbearing. When Eve was deceived and Adam
fell, God's judgment upon them was not to destroy the woman. In fact, he highly favored the
woman in that she was that means by which children are brought
forth into this world. Not only was God gracious unto
individual women, but he made them that means by which children
should be brought forth and ultimately a generation and a seed be brought
forth which ultimately led to Eve being the mother of our Lord
Jesus Christ by natural descent but this salvation in childbearing
is particularly a picture of the bride, the church and how
the church brings forth children, how it brings forth believers,
how by its declaration of the gospel, how by being silent and
allowing Christ's gospel to go forth in power, how by broadcasting
His speech, sinners are brought to heel.
and children are brought forth. Every time the Gospels preached
and the Spirit of God quickens a dead sinner unto life, every
time one is born again, a child of God is brought forth. And
the church, the bride is saved through childbearing. If they
continue in faith and charity, love and holiness with sobriety,
Oh what a picture of the gospel, this description is faith and
love and holiness. That's where the gospel's founded,
in faith and love, not works. The works of man brought in the
fall. The works of man ever since have
been nothing but unrighteousness. The works of man in religion
question the word of God and set it up not. The works of man
in religion overturn God's order and the beauty of the husband
and the wife and the union between them and the glory in the picture
which they present unto us of Christ and his bride and the
gospel. The works of man have done nothing in all time but
war against the gospel. But the gospel comes forth as
the grace of God which brings salvation, which brings faith,
which puts love in the heart and makes the love of God for
dead sinners known, which makes God's people holy, which sets
the bride apart in holiness for the Savior. The church the bride
is in this world because she begets children because she preaches
the gospel from the midst of the church God raises up those
men through whom he speaks and by so doing he begets children. In 1 Peter chapter 3 as we read
see one or two other things likewise ye wives be in subjection to
your own husbands that if any obey not the word they also may
without the word be won by the conversation of the wives while
they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear whose adorning
let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of
wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel, but let it be
the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible,
even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the
sight of God of great price. If any obey not the word they
also may without the word be won by the conversation of the
wives. Conversation not meaning the
words of the wives but the behavior, the conduct. You see the conduct
of the woman here matters. and not just the conduct of the
woman but the conduct of whom the woman represents the church. The conduct of believers here
matters. If any obey not the word if they
won't hear what we say regarding Christ. They also may without
the word be won by the conversation of the bride of Christ. Faith without works is dead,
James says. You can say many things but if
your life doesn't match what you say, anybody can see that
those are empty words. The gospel brings forth effects. It changes the heart. The grace
of God changes us. and it's always accompanied by
a change of heart it's accompanied by a hatred of sin it's accompanied
by a walk and a conduct becoming of that message and the women
here by their outward conduct by their inward heart being made
seen outwardly have a huge impact upon those that saw them. We can speak of Christ, we can
speak of his gospel, but if our lives show that our hearts are
as set on this world as anybody else's, we make ourselves to
be liars. But when it's evident that God
has wrought a work within, And we're not as we once were. And
we're not as others. There is a love for God. There
is a love for our neighbour. There is a desire after heavenly
things. There is a hatred of the sin
of this world. When these things are seen, the
world sees it. This woman doesn't just speak
the gospel, she lives the gospel. it's evident and this isn't self-righteousness
this isn't her attempting to look like something she isn't
this isn't pretending to be something she isn't this is that which
is within coming forth to the surface let it be the hidden
man of the heart let it be seen let what's inside you come forth
The grace of God has an effect and it will be seen. It's a light
which cannot be hid under a bushel. You can both hear a sermon and
you can see a sermon. You can hear the words of the
gospel and you can see the fruit of the gospel. You can hear of
the work of Christ and you can see the work of Christ in his
people. And the woman, the bride, the
church, shows forth His work. Shows forth Christ. Shows forth
the second man, the last Adam. For that's who Adam is. He's
a picture of Christ. Adam was first formed, then Eve. Adam came first. The last Adam
came first. He's from all eternity. He's
the beginning and the end. He ever was and He ever shall
be. And His people were chosen in
Him before ever they were brought forth on this world in the flesh. Before ever they were born, they
were in Him. Before ever they were born, they
were known of Him. He came first. And He came into
this world from glory. He came from God his Father to
seek them out, to find them, to speak unto them, to preach
unto them, to mediate between God and men. For this, ultimately,
is the context we see in 1 Timothy 2. For there is one God and one
mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave
himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time. Whereunto I am ordained a preacher
and an apostle, I speak the truth in Christ and lie not, a teacher
of the Gentiles in faith and verity. Paul declares a mediator,
Christ the Saviour, The one who loved his bride before ever she
was born. The one who took her sin and
her deception upon his own back. The one who entered into the
grave, into death for her. He gave himself a ransom. He suffered in her place. As it says later on in 1 Peter
3, For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for
the unjust, that he might bring us to God, and being put to death
in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit, by which also he
went and preached unto the spirits in prison. He suffered He suffered
for her. He suffered for the one he loved. That he might bring her unto
God as the mediator between God and men. That he might bring
her unto his father as his bride. That he might say unto his father,
this is my bride. whom I love, that he might give
unto her all that is his, that she might be an heir together
with him of the grace of life. Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling
him Lord, whose daughters ye are as long as ye do well, and
are not afraid of any amazement. Likewise ye husbands, dwell with
them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife as
unto the weaker vessel. and has been heirs together of
the grace of life. Let your prayers be not hindered.
They are heirs together. What is Christ is hers. They're one. They're not separate,
they're not individuals, they're not separate to go from one to
another and to go off after another husband or another bride. They're
one, they're heirs together. As Adam and Eve were one, they're
one flesh, they love one another. And all that Christ did for her,
he did to bring her under his father. He gave himself for her. because he loved her. Oh believer,
oh woman, have you heard? Have you heard his voice in the
gospel? Have you learned in silence?
Is he your all in all? Do you glory in yourself? Do you glory in your works? Do you glory in that which is
outward? Or do you glory in Christ, in
him alone, in his grace, in that which he has made known unto
you inwardly by his Spirit? Is he your all in all? Let the woman learn in silence. Let Christ be her all. Amen.