Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / What about Women in the Church │ Msg 610 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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What about Women in the Church │ Msg 610 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Strange, isn't it how we tend to chase extremes. What
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Speaker 1: began as self improvement often becomes self enslavement, and what
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Speaker 1: started as merely a change of pace has led to
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Speaker 1: a marathon of fanaticism. Left to ourselves, we ought for
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Speaker 1: extremes virtually every time, which explains why God's word so
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Speaker 1: often stresses moderation, self control, and that ever elusive ambition balance.
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Speaker 1: If there was ever time the church needed balance, it
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Speaker 1: is today, especially when discussing what the Word of God
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Speaker 1: says about women in the church. Now, let me pause
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Speaker 1: for a moment and ask you a question. When the
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Speaker 1: subject of the role of women in the church comes up,
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Speaker 1: do you get really wyat, or really loud, or perhaps
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Speaker 1: just really confused. God's word points us to none.
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Speaker 2: Of these extremes. Instead, it offers us some balanced instruction
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Speaker 2: for church worship. My Bible right now is open to
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Speaker 2: the second chapter of First Timothy. I'll be reading verses
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Speaker 2: nine through fifteen from the New American Standard version. Once again,
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Speaker 2: that's First Timothy Chapter two. Beginning with verse nine, Paul writes, likewise,
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Speaker 2: I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly
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Speaker 2: and discreetly, not with braided hair, in gold or pearls,
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Speaker 2: or costly garments, but rather by means of good works,
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Speaker 2: as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.
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Speaker 2: A woman must quietly receive instructure and with entire submissiveness.
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Speaker 2: But I do not allow a woman to teach or
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Speaker 2: exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For
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Speaker 2: it was Adam who was first created and then Eve,
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Speaker 2: And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the
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Speaker 2: woman being deceived fell into transgression. But women will be
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Speaker 2: preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in
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Speaker 2: faith and love and sanctity with self restraint.
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Speaker 3: Sometime it helps to look at our world as if
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Speaker 3: we were Rip van Winkle awakening from a very long slumber.
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Speaker 3: What changes would we see? I am sure that if
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Speaker 3: that were our lot, and we were to wake up
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Speaker 3: with a big stretch and a wide yawn and look
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Speaker 3: at the world that has passed us by over the
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Speaker 3: last twenty years or so, one major change we would
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Speaker 3: observe would be in the role of today's woman. From
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Speaker 3: the time we went to sleep until the time we
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Speaker 3: awoke twenty thirty years later, we would scarcely know her.
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Speaker 3: She has changed so much. As I think about today's
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Speaker 3: woman and try to make some meaningful and general observations
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Speaker 3: about the changes, I would think there would be four
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Speaker 3: realms in which the woman's life has gone through drastic change.
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Speaker 3: Whether she wanted it to or not, it has occurred.
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Speaker 3: First is in the realm of the world. She has
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Speaker 3: become liberated more than restrained. Some of you like this,
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Speaker 3: and others of you do not like this at all.
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Speaker 3: Today's woman, we must admit, is not at all like
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Speaker 3: the woman of yesteryear. She finds herself in a broader
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Speaker 3: sphere of life, a much more liberal and as I said,
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Speaker 3: liberated lifestyle. The securities she once enjoyed simply by being
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Speaker 3: a woman are no longer hers to rest in the
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Speaker 3: familiar advertisement of our day, You've come a long way, baby,
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Speaker 3: describes the liberation of today's woman in the eyes of
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Speaker 3: our world. Second, around the home, she has become assaulted
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Speaker 3: more than supported. It's been my observation over the past
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Speaker 3: fifteen or twenty years that the woman who loves her
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Speaker 3: home and family is rather suspect in the eyes of many.
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Speaker 3: One very fine writer says the woman's traditional responsibilities have
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Speaker 3: become matters of disrespect and ridicule. Raising children and maintaining
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Speaker 3: a home hold very little social status in most areas
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Speaker 3: of the world, and women who are cast into that
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Speaker 3: role often look at themselves with unconcealed disenchantment. To understand
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Speaker 3: this process, he continues, let's look at a contrived example.
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Speaker 3: Suppose it suddenly became very unpopular to be a dentist.
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Speaker 3: Suppose every magazine carried an article or two about the
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Speaker 3: stupidity of teeth and gums and those that work with them,
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Speaker 3: making them look foolish. Suppose television commercials and dramas and
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Speaker 3: comedy programs all poked fun at the same battered target.
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Speaker 3: Suppose the humor associated with dentistry then died, leaving contempt
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Speaker 3: and general disrespect in its place. Suppose the men in
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Speaker 3: white were ignored at social gatherings and their wives were
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Speaker 3: excluded from in groups. Suppose dentists had difficulty hiring assistants
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Speaker 3: and associates because no one wanted his friends to know
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Speaker 3: he was working or a dentist. What would happen if
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Speaker 3: all social status were suddenly drained from the profession of dentistry.
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Speaker 3: I suspect it would soon be very difficult to get
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Speaker 3: a cavity drilled and filled. The illustration is extreme, admittedly,
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Speaker 3: but the pology to women can hardly be missed. Homemakers
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Speaker 3: have been teased and ridiculed and disrespected. They have been
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Speaker 3: the butt of jokes and sordid humor until the subject
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Speaker 3: is no longer funny. Not only is today's woman in
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Speaker 3: today's world liberated more than restrained at home, she is
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Speaker 3: torn down or looked down upon, more than built up.
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Speaker 3: There's a third realm on the job. The woman on
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Speaker 3: the job today has become respected more than exploited. The
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Speaker 3: working woman today has it made much more so than
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Speaker 3: the working woman twenty years ago. There are now laws
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Speaker 3: to protect the working woman that there were not years ago.
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Speaker 3: There are classes in assertiveness. Women not only attend, but
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Speaker 3: are encouraged to attend by their superiors at work, so
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Speaker 3: she can learn how to be even more respected by
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Speaker 3: her peers. Any attempt to discriminate against women in today's
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Speaker 3: working world is landed on with both feet.
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Speaker 4: By our times and by our laws. It's not tolerated.
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Speaker 3: If I were Rip van Winkle awakening in today's world,
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Speaker 3: and I looked at the woman in the church in
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Speaker 3: light of these three massive changes. I would say that
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Speaker 3: she has probably become confused more than informed. I think
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Speaker 3: the woman in today's church doesn't quite know how or
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Speaker 3: where she fits. If I were in her shoes, I'm
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Speaker 3: not sure I would know either. She has become confused
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Speaker 3: more than informed, and maybe I would even add affirmed.
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Speaker 3: Why do I say this, Well, look at the extremes
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Speaker 3: that appear in the magazines of our day, the Christian magazines.
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Speaker 3: Some present the woman today as capable of being, and
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Speaker 3: rightfully so in their mind, capable of being ordained, schooled,
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Speaker 3: so as she is able to preach and teach with
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Speaker 3: equal authority alongside the man of another church, absolutely no
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Speaker 3: distinction and absolutely equal authority. She reads that and wonders
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Speaker 3: if that's right. She picks up another magazine and she
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Speaker 3: sees that another extreme believes she not only is to
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Speaker 3: sit absolutely silently in every church service, but she is
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Speaker 3: to wear a hat, she is to say not a word,
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Speaker 3: is in fact not to pray publicly, and if she
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Speaker 3: has any questions, she's to ask her husband at home.
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Speaker 3: Both magazines are supported by well respected men and women
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Speaker 3: who have put together their research into that article. So
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Speaker 3: she wonders where she stands. Is it right to speak?
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Speaker 3: Is it right to teach? Is it okay for a
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Speaker 3: woman to preach? To be ordained to be an elder
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Speaker 3: or an eldress in a church? I want to say
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Speaker 3: three things before I go any further, okay. First one
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Speaker 3: is this, I have nothing to prove or to protect
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Speaker 3: as I speak.
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Speaker 4: On the subject.
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Speaker 3: Second, I possess no secret documents. I have no source
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Speaker 3: of information that God has given to me. The only
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Speaker 3: source of information that is absolutely reliable is the same
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Speaker 3: book you hold in your lap, and that's.
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Speaker 4: The copy of the Scriptures.
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Speaker 3: Third, I cannot solve all the problems in one talk.
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Speaker 3: And before you get your hopes up, I have no
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Speaker 3: plans for further talks on the subject. I'm going through,
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Speaker 3: Fir Timothy IWO. I'm not going through the subject of women,
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Speaker 3: and I am therefore addressing verses nine through fifteen in
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Speaker 3: Chapter two. And it's that which we will give attention to.
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Speaker 4: Now.
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Speaker 3: The other things need a good deal more kind of dialogue,
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Speaker 3: and the wisdom of time doesn't seem appropriate to try
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Speaker 3: to do it all in one sitting. Now, what does
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Speaker 3: the Bible say about the role of women in the church?
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Speaker 3: Understand I will not answer all the questions, and I
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Speaker 3: will certainly not be able to address all of the
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Speaker 3: battles that the woman faces today. But I hope when
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Speaker 3: we're through you'll understand verses nine to fifteen.
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Speaker 4: To begin with.
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Speaker 3: This is not the only passage you'll need to study
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Speaker 3: if you want to understand the role of women in
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Speaker 3: the church. I want to give you four others without
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Speaker 3: our turning to them, but you'll need to write them
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Speaker 3: down somewhere for you to read on your own. First
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Speaker 3: Corinthians eleven one to sixteen is crucial, the first sixteen
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Speaker 3: verses of First Corinthians eleven. If you want to do
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Speaker 3: a study on women in the church, you'll have to
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Speaker 3: address those sixteen verses. Second, First Corinthians fourteen thirty four
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Speaker 3: to thirty six, only three verses, but very important verses.
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Speaker 3: First Corinthians fourteen thirty four to thirty six. Then you'll
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Speaker 3: need to look at Titus two three to five, followed
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Speaker 3: by One Peter three one to six. It's not an
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Speaker 3: exhaustive list, but these are major passages that will help
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Speaker 3: you fill in the details of your position as you
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Speaker 3: come to discover it from the scriptures. By the way,
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Speaker 3: I would really encourage you to let the scriptures be
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Speaker 3: your major source of information rather than the magazines, because
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Speaker 3: you will find yourself systematically confused if you let a
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Speaker 3: lot of other opinions shape yours unless those are based
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Speaker 3: directly on the scriptures. Now, this paragraph we're looking at
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Speaker 3: as always, the context is very important, and the context
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Speaker 3: of One Timothy II is the public worship service of
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Speaker 3: a church. The subject has been prayer, and Paul has
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Speaker 3: been encouraging that there be prayer first and foremost in
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Speaker 3: the life of the pastor, who happens in this case
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Speaker 3: to be Timothy, and the life of all the men
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Speaker 3: who are to lead the role of praying in the church.
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Speaker 3: Verse eight of chapter two says, therefore, I want the
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Speaker 3: men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands,
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Speaker 3: without wrath and dissension. Now there's a difference you won't
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Speaker 3: see in the English text. This word man is a
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Speaker 3: term that means the male, the males. Before this term
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Speaker 3: appears three other times, Paul has used the word anthroposs
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Speaker 3: from mankind in general, meaning men and women.
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Speaker 4: Verse one.
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Speaker 3: First of all, I urge that there be prayers and petitions,
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Speaker 3: and thanksgiving be made on behalf of all mankind, not
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Speaker 3: just all males, but all humanity.
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Speaker 4: Verse four.
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Speaker 3: Here's the reason, because God desires all mankind again, the
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Speaker 3: word anthropos, all mankind to be saved and to come
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Speaker 3: to a knowledge of the truth. And the reason that's
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Speaker 3: possible in verse five is because there is one God,
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Speaker 3: one mediator between God and mankind again, men and women alike,
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Speaker 3: the man Christ Jesus. Verse eight is different. It's not anthroposts.
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Speaker 3: It's the word on air means the male. The men
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Speaker 3: doesn't mean that men only are to pray, but it
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Speaker 3: means when you gather for worship. I would that men
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Speaker 3: set the pace, that men were the model, that men
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Speaker 3: were in the leadership as the prayer persons of the church,
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Speaker 3: that men take a predominant role. I would love to
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Speaker 3: see that, says the apostle, and he urges that part
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Speaker 3: of the problem was that which was happening in Corinth.
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Speaker 3: The women were taking charge of the worship services. And
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Speaker 3: that's why Paul writes the way he does. In chapter fourteen.
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Speaker 3: He says, there's confusion here. The roles have been reversed,
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Speaker 3: and that's wrong. Things are to be done decently and
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Speaker 3: in order, and the order that I suggest given by
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Speaker 3: God through my pen to the church, is that the
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Speaker 3: male leadership be the predominant role of leadership in the
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Speaker 3: local assembly. So naturally he would say that men in
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Speaker 3: every place pray. And now that he's mentioned the men,
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Speaker 3: he turns naturally to the role of the women. While
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Speaker 3: on the subject of the men, it seems only appropriate
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Speaker 3: he add words regarding the women. So much for the
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Speaker 3: context see the contextual tie in and the word likewise
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Speaker 3: likewise the women verse nine. Now, the first thing he
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Speaker 3: addresses on the subject of women is what is expected
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Speaker 3: of them? And then he closes with why that is
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Speaker 3: expected of them?
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Speaker 4: What is expected?
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Speaker 3: First of all, he says some things about her appearance,
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Speaker 3: and he says three things about it. Let verse nine
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Speaker 3: speak for itself. I want women to adorn themselves with
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Speaker 3: proper clothing, modestly and discreetly.
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Speaker 4: Let's pause there.
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Speaker 3: Three words will help you, ladies know how to get
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Speaker 3: dressed for church. The first is the word proper, the
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Speaker 3: second is the word modest, and the third is the
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Speaker 3: word discreet. Sounds matrox. Unless you understand what the text
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Speaker 3: is saying. Some people have taken this to say that
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Speaker 3: women are to look like they are from another era.
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Speaker 3: Or another custom or another generation. None of that can
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Speaker 3: be supported from the terms that appear in verse nine.
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Speaker 3: The word proper means orderly or well arranged, that which
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Speaker 3: fits together nicely. It leaves the woman free to dress
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Speaker 3: according to her times, according to the style of the day,
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Speaker 3: according to the custom of the place where she lives.
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Speaker 3: If you live in one part of the world, you
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Speaker 3: are to dress a certain way. If you live in
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Speaker 3: another part of the world, it isn't proper that you
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Speaker 3: dress there like you did in the other place. So
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Speaker 3: proper means that you fit in to that which is appropriate,
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Speaker 3: and that it be well arranged on your person. Second, modest.
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Speaker 3: This is not an easy word to translate, but as
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Speaker 3: best we can get it, it's the idea of respectful timidity.
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Speaker 3: In other words, don't attempt to be a fashion plate
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Speaker 3: when you come to the place of worship. Don't look
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Speaker 3: for the most extreme of styles and try it on
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Speaker 3: for church. That breaks the attention of worshippers. That directs
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Speaker 3: attention to yourself and your attire rather than the purpose
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Speaker 3: of the gathering. I smiled last week when I talked
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Speaker 3: to a man from another country. He said that they
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Speaker 3: happen to be in a very heavily populated district where
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Speaker 3: their church is, and he said, we see amazing things
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Speaker 3: that happen in our church. People from off the street
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Speaker 3: come in in the most unbelievable attire. He said, There's
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Speaker 3: a man who wears several layers of clothing regardless of
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Speaker 3: what the weather is. He also wears a stocking cap
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Speaker 3: regardless of what the weather is. He also wears a
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Speaker 3: gas mask every Sunday because he believes that the air
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Speaker 3: is polluted and for him to breathe pure air, he
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Speaker 3: should wear.
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Speaker 4: The gas mask.
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Speaker 3: I can't imagine preaching to a man wearing a gas mask.
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Speaker 3: I just can't bring myself to keeping a straight face
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Speaker 3: when I imagine that that is not modest peril. Wearing that,
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Speaker 3: which is all the rage, is not wise. Now discreet.
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Speaker 3: This gets into more of an attitude than a tire.
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Speaker 3: But it's at the base of it all. It's the
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Speaker 3: idea of using discretion. It requires that you think, and
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Speaker 3: that you think ahead, pay close attention to how you
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Speaker 3: will appear. Now, maybe God doesn't look on the outward appearance,
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Speaker 3: but men and women look on the outward appearance, and
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Speaker 3: that's all we can see. Don't distract us, be discreet,
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Speaker 3: plan ahead, think ahead. In the base of the word
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Speaker 3: is the idea of self control, control yourself when you
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Speaker 3: adorn yourself for church. A paraphrase of these words could
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Speaker 3: read women are to adorn themselves with clothing that is
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Speaker 3: well arranged, becoming, and appropriate for the occasion, clothing that
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Speaker 3: doesn't draw attention to themselves, but reveals good sense, forethought,
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Speaker 3: and self control in the selection. That's a paraphrase of
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Speaker 3: the early part of verse nine. And then to make
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Speaker 3: it even clearer, he adds a negative or two verse nine.
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Speaker 3: Not with braided hair, or gold or pearls or costly garments.
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Speaker 3: Now what does that mean? Because some women braid their hair,
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Speaker 3: They wonder as they read this, should I quickly get
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Speaker 3: a comb out and get back into obedience? Having read
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Speaker 3: what I've read in First Timothy II, let me read
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Speaker 3: the words of a man far more competent in the
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Speaker 3: text than I. What about these braids, which were popular
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Speaker 3: in the world.
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Speaker 4: Of Paul's day.
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Speaker 3: No expense was spared to make them dazzling. They usually sparkled.
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Speaker 3: The braids were fastened by jeweled tortoise shell combs or
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Speaker 3: by pins of ivory or solid silver or The pins
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Speaker 3: were a bronze with jeweled heads. The more varied, the
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Speaker 3: more expensive, the better. The pin heads were often consisted
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Speaker 3: of miniature images an animal, a human hand, an idle,
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Speaker 3: a female figure. Braids in those days represented fortunes. They
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Speaker 3: were articles of luxury and extravagance. The Christian woman is
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Speaker 3: warned not to indulge in such extravagance. Similarly, a woman
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Speaker 3: who is a believer must not try to make herself
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Speaker 3: conspicuous by a vain display of ornaments of gold. She
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Speaker 3: will not yearn for pearls obtained at that time from
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Speaker 3: the Persian Gulf or from the Indian Ocean. These were
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Speaker 3: often fabulously priced and thus wave beyond the purchasing power
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Speaker 3: of the average church member. In order to obtain a
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Speaker 3: pearl of great value, a merchant might have to sell
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Speaker 3: all of his possessions, and a woman of faith will
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Speaker 3: not crave costly garments, for example, a most expensive and
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Speaker 3: showy robe. It was often the product of finer workmanship,
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Speaker 3: and was characterized by richer ornamentation and greater color variation
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Speaker 3: that would be considered vain display. If you're with it
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Speaker 3: in today's world, and so many of you most of
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Speaker 3: you women are You know ahead of time what is
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Speaker 3: appropriate for the place of worship. You don't put on
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Speaker 3: display your wealth. You don't exaggerate in this kind of
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Speaker 3: extravagant display your you're a wealth, you keep that under control.
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Speaker 3: You wear what is appropriate. Now, if you want to
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Speaker 3: know what to put your attention into Verse ten, put
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Speaker 3: it into.
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Speaker 4: Good works.
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Speaker 3: Rather by means of good works. Place the emphasis there,
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Speaker 3: which benefits women making a claim to godliness. If you
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Speaker 3: want to make an announcement, make an announcement regarding godliness.
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Speaker 3: I don't think there's any reason to harangue at this point.
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Speaker 3: I believe you display most of you display a great
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Speaker 3: control here in our church, in this area, and I
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Speaker 3: commend you for it. We're not in a one upmanship
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Speaker 3: around here regarding clothing, and I'm glad you're not caught
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Speaker 3: up in it. If you are, let this passage speak
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Speaker 3: to you. This is not the place to display your wealth.
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Speaker 4: That's the point.
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Speaker 3: Now he changes from adornment now to behavior, and he
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Speaker 3: still talks about what is expected of the woman. Don't
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Speaker 3: get your cues from the world, by the way, don't
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Speaker 3: let the world's system and the world's media tell you
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Speaker 3: how to interpret this passage. Let the passage speak for itself.
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Speaker 3: You've nothing to be afraid of. It'll stand the test
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Speaker 3: of time. It has, and it will in the.
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Speaker 4: Years to come.
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Speaker 3: I see three things about the behavior of the woman
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Speaker 3: in the public worship gathering. All three are mentioned in
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Speaker 3: verse eleven, amplified on the opposite side in verse twelve,
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Speaker 3: and then explain why in thirteen fourteen fifteen. Let me
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Speaker 3: read eleven and twelve. Let a woman quietly receive instruction
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Speaker 3: with entire submissiveness. But I do not allow a woman
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Speaker 3: to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to
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Speaker 3: remain quiet three points. Number one, she is to remain
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Speaker 3: quiet rather than vocal. Number two she is she is
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Speaker 3: to receive instruction rather than do the instructing. Number three
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Speaker 3: she is to refrain from the act of exercising authority
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Speaker 3: rather than taking charge. Now, let me take each one
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Speaker 3: one by one. First verse ten, verse eleven. She is
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Speaker 3: to quietly receive instruction. It's the idea of a calmness
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Speaker 3: of mind. It's not as though there's a gag rule
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Speaker 3: on the woman. Extremists in our day will tell the
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Speaker 3: woman that it's not in the Scriptures. Paul is talking
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Speaker 3: about the public gathering of the local service of the
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Speaker 3: local church, the preaching service we might call it in
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Speaker 3: our day. She is to give herself to the learning
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Speaker 3: of instruction in quietness. In those days, there was neither
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Speaker 3: Sunday school, nor choir, nor midweek meetings, nor through the
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Speaker 3: week what we would call like our day of fellowship
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Speaker 3: gatherings or Bible studies. There were such, but it wasn't
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Speaker 3: considered a preaching service. And I suggest to you that
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Speaker 3: the woman is nowhere told not to sing, or not
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Speaker 3: to have a part in teaching in classes, or to
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Speaker 3: be involved in such. But I see this as in
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Speaker 3: a direct address to the woman in the public gathering.
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Speaker 3: She's not to preach. She's not to be ordained as
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Speaker 3: an authority in a place of a thought. She's to
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Speaker 3: receive instruction. According to verse eleven, she is to quietly
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Speaker 3: receive it. She's not removed from the public place of worship.
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Speaker 3: She's not treated as a second class citizen. She has every
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Speaker 3: right to hear what everyone else hears, and she is
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Speaker 3: to receive it in the sense of welcoming it with
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Speaker 3: an attitude of submission. Willingness is in the mind of
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Speaker 3: the apostle. It's the opposite of resistance. She isn't to chafe,
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Speaker 3: she isn't to feel overlooked or bypassed. She is to
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Speaker 3: see herself as a person in the family of God
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Speaker 3: who has every right to hear what anyone else hears.
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Speaker 3: The third factor, which is extremely important, is that she
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Speaker 3: is not to exercise authority over a man. As you
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Speaker 3: read that in light of its statement in verse eleven,
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Speaker 3: she is to receive instruction with submissiveness, and she's not
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Speaker 3: to exercise authority over a man. It seems very clear
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Speaker 3: obvious that any role of authority would include a proclamation
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Speaker 3: of doctrine, a declaration of truth addressed to men, so
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Speaker 3: that she places herself in authority over them. That is
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Speaker 3: not allowed by the apostle. In this passage, it's helpful
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Speaker 3: to remember that while there is no distinction between male
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Speaker 3: or female, between bond or free, there is a distinction
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Speaker 3: when it comes to the role of authority in the
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Speaker 3: local church. It rests with the men. Why why is
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Speaker 3: that true? The next three verses explain it, and Paul
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Speaker 3: tells it straight first, because of the order at creation,
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Speaker 3: that's the number that's Verse thirteen it was Adam who
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Speaker 3: was first created, then it was Eve. I think it's interesting,
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Speaker 3: men and women, that the worship's service is a panelmime,
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Speaker 3: if you please. It is a public display of God's order,
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Speaker 3: God's established order, God's program in creation, and the high
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Speaker 3: profile of the male image is a reminder of God's
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Speaker 3: order in the creating of humanity. First there came the man,
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Speaker 3: and then there came the woman. You see, this is
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Speaker 3: not based on some culture, on some lifestyle, or some
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Speaker 3: local Jewish or Greek tradition. He goes all the way
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Speaker 3: back to creation. That helped me when I saw in
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Speaker 3: verse thirteen that distinction. He doesn't say because it is
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Speaker 3: like our times to have women in this position. But
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Speaker 3: it is clear that it was Adam who was first created,
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Speaker 3: and then even and there's a second reason.
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Speaker 4: Look at verse fourteen.
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Speaker 3: It was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman,
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Speaker 3: being quite deceived, fell into transgression. As a result, the
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Speaker 3: woman lives under that judicial sentence. Remember those two words.
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Speaker 3: I want to come back to him. In a moment,
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Speaker 3: the apostle is developing his rationale for making these statements
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Speaker 3: about women in a church service, and he's saying it's
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Speaker 3: to be in that order because first the man was
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Speaker 3: created and then the woman. And secondly because in the fall,
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Speaker 3: the man wilfully fell, but the woman was deceived, and
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Speaker 3: with that fall, with that sin, comes a judicial sentence.
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Speaker 3: The issue of deception cannot be ignored, It cannot be forgotten.
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Speaker 3: This is a reminder that the woman has when we
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Speaker 3: gather for worship of that original curse or that original
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Speaker 3: transgression judicial sentence. Now, all of this makes verse fifteen
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Speaker 3: very important. If you have endured me so far in
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Speaker 3: this passage, verse fifteen will give an answer that might
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Speaker 3: calm you a bit.
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Speaker 4: If you're ruffled over what you've heard.
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Speaker 3: But he adds, but because the woman is going to say,
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Speaker 3: you mean this judicial sentences mind forever, there's no way
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Speaker 3: to be out from under it.
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Speaker 4: There is no sense of.
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Speaker 3: Dignity or order out of the chaos that Eve got
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Speaker 3: me into. But he says she shall be preserved through
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Speaker 3: the bearing of children. The women continue in faith and
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Speaker 3: love and sanctity with self restraint.
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Speaker 4: What does that mean.
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Speaker 3: It's admittedly a very difficult verse to interpret. I think
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Speaker 3: there are three possible interpretations, and all of them revolve
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Speaker 3: around the meaning of the word preserved. Which is translated
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Speaker 3: saved in most Bibles. It is the Greek word for saved.
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Speaker 3: The first possible meaning is that physically she will be
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Speaker 3: brought safely through childbirth. The fact that she doesn't die
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Speaker 3: at childbirth is a proof that that judicial sentence has
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Speaker 3: been handled in g She shall be saved as she
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Speaker 3: bears children. The second possibility is a spiritual one. She
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Speaker 3: will be saved through the birth of the Christ Child,
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Speaker 3: Jesus the Savior. It's an interesting interpretation. I'm surprised how
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Speaker 3: many people embrace that she will be spiritually saved through
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Speaker 3: the birth of the Christ Child. That seems to be
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Speaker 3: a little forced because nothing has been addressing that whole
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Speaker 3: subject all along. I rather suspect the third is the better,
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Speaker 3: is the best of the three. She will be saved
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Speaker 3: in the sense of delivered from the judicial sentence. Here's
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Speaker 3: what I mean. I'll read my words so that I
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Speaker 3: don't garble them. A woman's greatest achievement is found in
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Speaker 3: the bearing of children and in her devotion to her
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Speaker 3: divinely or role to help her husband to bear their children,
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Speaker 3: to follow the life of a faithful and godly wife
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Speaker 3: by carrying out those acts which specifically is called the
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Speaker 3: bearing of children.
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Speaker 4: She is preserved.
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Speaker 3: Her greatest hour of achievement, her greatest mark on our times,
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Speaker 3: will not occur in the public worship service. It will
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Speaker 3: occur in the realm of the home. Now, let me
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Speaker 3: make a few clarifying remarks. You can hear a pen
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Speaker 3: drop in this place right now. So let me let
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Speaker 3: me say two or three things. First of all, I
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Speaker 3: want to say something to the men. Men, these limitations
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Speaker 3: are to be gently respected, not exaggerated, expanded, or exploited.
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Speaker 3: They are to be gently respected. I find some men
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Speaker 3: making great issues out of things for which there is
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Speaker 3: little need. If I were in a woman's role, I
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Speaker 3: would on occasion feel harassed by some men who find
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Speaker 3: it necessary to hammer away and address this, and land
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Speaker 3: on it with both feet and drive it down their
37:32
Speaker 3: throat and make it a point of about every other
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Speaker 3: or every third sermon. I frankly don't see the need
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Speaker 3: for that. The subject is the public worship service. The
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Speaker 3: concern has to do with taking an authoritative place in
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Speaker 3: the church. If that is not happening, there's no battle
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Speaker 3: to fight. To the men, I would warn that there'd
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Speaker 3: be a gentle respect for this and don't.
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Speaker 4: Make it the favorite verse of your life.
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Speaker 3: Second to the women. To the women, I say with
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Speaker 3: equal passion, your positive response to this instruction helps the
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Speaker 3: church maintain its distinctives.
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Speaker 4: I want to say it again.
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Speaker 3: Your positive response to this instruction helps the church maintain
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Speaker 3: its distinctives. This place is not a display of the
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Speaker 3: world's standard. The church is not a place that gets
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Speaker 3: its cues from the street. We do not rush to
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Speaker 3: the newspaper to learn what we are to do and
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Speaker 3: then come back to church and do it. That's not
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Speaker 3: our place of primary reference. The church has its distinctives
38:51
Speaker 3: that make it by the very fact that it's so
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Speaker 3: different a point of converse in the world. The fact
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Speaker 3: that we are not more in contrast is a bit
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Speaker 3: of an indictment. I think vance Havner is the one
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Speaker 3: that said the church has become so worly the world
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Speaker 3: has become so churchy. You can't tell the difference between
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Speaker 3: the two of them. There ought to be a massive
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Speaker 3: amount of difference between the two. We are not to
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Speaker 3: resemble the world in its style and its philosophy, in
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Speaker 3: its government, or in its beliefs. We are distinctive. Shouldn't
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Speaker 3: bother us, should make us rather delighted.
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Speaker 4: Women.
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Speaker 3: You can help make that happen. When you willingly fit
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Speaker 3: into this position, no one will be confused at the
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Speaker 3: church is unique. And then to all I would say this,
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Speaker 3: Those who take their cues from the world will never
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Speaker 3: accept or appreciate this teaching. Those who take their cues
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Speaker 3: from the world will find this absolutely unacceptable. Yeah, the
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Speaker 3: woman today has come a long ways, maybe too far
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Speaker 3: for her own spiritual good, maybe to a threatening place.
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Speaker 3: So that because you have listened more to the media
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Speaker 3: than to God's truth, you have lost something of your distinctives.
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Speaker 3: You are now finding yourself competing for a place that
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Speaker 3: was never yours to claim to begin with. Thereby you
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Speaker 3: cause the message of the church to become fuzzy, whether
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Speaker 3: you realize it or not.
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Speaker 4: I hope this helps. I want it to.
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Speaker 3: Be a declaration of what God has has said, and
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Speaker 3: not an overstatement or an undersell. Neither is good. The
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Speaker 3: line will form on the left and will I'll stay
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Speaker 3: after church as long as you like. Just give me
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Speaker 3: time to get my helmet on.
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Speaker 4: Will you.
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Speaker 3: Thank you Father for the truth that always sets us free? Never, never,
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Speaker 3: never depreciates the dignity of human worth. Never assaults us,
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Speaker 3: save in those areas where we are living in disobedience.
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Speaker 3: Thank you for what this passage is saying to men
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Speaker 3: and women today, how it helps us to get a
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Speaker 3: clear message from your word. We are in tough times.
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Speaker 3: There is every reason in the world for today's woman
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Speaker 3: to find herself confused if the cues are taken from
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Speaker 3: the system in which we live. I pray that there
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Speaker 3: might be a calm and quiet understanding of what you
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Speaker 3: have said and why you have said it. Deliver us
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Speaker 3: from all of the interpretive acts of verbal semantics that
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Speaker 3: get us away from the clear and simple teaching of
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Speaker 3: the scriptures. We have nothing to uphold but your character,
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Speaker 3: nothing to prove, only to declare the truth. And now, Father,
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Speaker 3: I pray that you will be honored as you, through
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Speaker 3: your spirit give us the ability to make it real
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Speaker 3: and apply it in the name of Jesus Amen.
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Speaker 1: The preceding message, What About Women in the Church, was
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Speaker 1: copyrighted in nineteen eighty four, and the sound recording was
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Speaker 1: copyrighted in two thousand fifteen by Charles R.
43:11
Speaker 3: Swindall, Inc.
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Speaker 1: All rights are reserved worldwide.