Well, good morning. Thank you for the joy in your voices as you sing, and even this last song, a song of commitment. And I love that when we say we're not our own, we belong to the Lord, that's when we know freedom for the first time. So I'm so grateful for that truth being put to music. My name is Jim. If you're one of our guests, I'm that other pastor that Michael mentioned, and I hope I get to meet you later, perhaps after the service in the lobby. I'd love to shake your hand and greet you. And as Kerry mentioned during his slot, those of you who are watching online, if you've never visited with us or worshiped with us and you're local, we would sure invite you to come worship with us here, and I'd love to meet you as well. It's always a supreme joy for me to invite you to open your Bibles this morning for the study of God's Word. Join me in First Timothy, Chapter 2. First Timothy, Chapter 2. If you don't have a copy of scripture with you, we have extra copies underneath the chairs in front of you. First Timothy, Chapter 2. I was thinking actually this weekend about a trip I took years ago when I was still living in, yes, Winston-Salem, so way back, way back in my 30s. I was asked to come do some teaching in biblical counseling in the nation of Egypt. And our trip took us to Cairo, where we spent the first couple days seeing Cairo and visiting archaeological sites and museums, the British Museum there in Cairo, which was fascinating. And we had some good Turkish coffee and some good foods. Are you hungry yet? But as we went out, I was part of a team of teachers, there were four of us, and we were told, especially when we were in Cairo, we would eventually go to Alexandria to teach on the Mediterranean, but while we were in Cairo, we were given strict orders when we were allowed to be by ourself in town, and where we were allowed to go, and where we were not allowed to go. And we were always, as a team, and you can't just do what you're told when you're in another country, We were warned back then, and this is early 2000s, that as Americans, and we stood out, there were some places in Cairo that would not be safe for us to go, especially by ourselves or in small numbers. And just a few pockets at that time, and we did what we were told. We just didn't go there if it wasn't safe. And I was thinking about that this weekend as I thought about the text we're returning to this morning. I have had not a few people say, including other Christian leaders and pastors, be careful going to 1 Timothy chapter 2, verses 9 through 15. It's just not a safe place. I've heard that a lot. And honestly, before this series, I've never preached through the entirety of 1 Timothy, let alone 1 Timothy chapter 2. So this is my first deep dive as well. And the sermon that I started last Sunday, I'm going to conclude today on verses 9 through 15. And even though so many have said, oh, don't go there. It's not safe. After several weeks of studying more than 20, easily, sources and research, I have to admit that I couldn't disagree more with that counsel. I have found this passage to be challenging, but I have found it to be beautiful. Because what I find here is absolutely beautiful as a student of God's word. And I trust you, as students of God's word, will find it beautiful as well. There's no need to run from this text. We're going to have to do a lot of work. And good people will differ, not just out there, but even in here. It might differ on nuances of our conclusions. But this text is stunningly beautiful for a couple of reasons, just by way of introduction. As we've just come to the second week where I've just been immersing myself in thinking through this and studying it, this text is profitable. It's beautifully profitable to us as God's people. It's part of scripture. And Scripture's testimony about itself in 2 Timothy chapter 3 is this, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable. Meaning, there's not a passage of Scripture in the Old and New Testament that God has breathed out, that God has given to us through inspiration that's unprofitable for us. It's all profitable, including this paragraph in 1 Timothy 2. It's beautifully profitable. If you want a different word, pragmatic. This passage is so profitable that it should affect men and women of all ages and all walks of life as we exit here today. It's profitable, it's part of God's Word. But secondly, another word that makes it beautiful to me is it reveals a plan. It's not only profitable, but it reveals a plan. This is a plan for the local church. If at any point scripture says, and New Testament especially says, hey, here's fresh and really important news that you need for the plan of the New Testament local church and how it's supposed to function. then we should immediately be excited. This is one of those texts. Chapter 2, let alone this whole epistle, but as we look at chapter 2 here recently and intensely, we're seeing that we are getting important news about what Jesus says he's going to build, and indeed he is building in our day, his church. Whatever this passage is saying, especially the paragraph we're considering right now, is part of a plan. We better do our best to understand it. It's beautiful, this passage, not only because it's profitable, but because of the plan, but thirdly, because of people. Because of the people that we're focusing on in this paragraph, verses 9 through 15. It's talking about a stunningly beautiful, godly woman of strength. And she is truly breathtaking. Paul only takes one verse to talk about the men. He takes six to talk about the beauty of strong disciples of Christ who are female. So I'm not avoiding this passage. And I'm sure I'll come back through the years and press on my conclusions and perhaps have new insights at different points. But I'm running towards this text for the second week in a row with you, because I'm excited about it. And you need to be too. Don't run from these verses. Because as you come to these verses, we're watching Paul. He's working really hard through Timothy to rescue a church that at one point was towering This church had received the instruction that we call the epistle to the Ephesians, with all of its high points of doctrine and practice. They had received such extensive coaching, not only in salvation, not only in the power of the gospel, but also in how a person changes and grows once they are a Christian to become more like Jesus. This church had received extensive training from Paul in that letter to the Ephesian believers that gave a blueprint for the home, a blueprint for all of our relationships. And in the last chapter of that epistle, we have what's called the armor of God given to us and explained to us. If someone's handing out armor, if someone's handing out body armor and tactical gear, that means you have good reason to wonder why. Maybe, just maybe, you're getting ready to get attacked. Put it on. Indeed, Paul would tell the elders in this church, there's wolves that are gonna show up. Some are gonna spring up right from within you. Some are gonna come in from the outside. Yeah, there's a battle. And there's an unseen enemy, Satan. And he will work through men and women. to fight against the truth and the simplicity of the gospel. Well, it appears by the time Paul leaves Timothy in Ephesus to put in order this church that there were a lot of believers that had taken off their armor or never put it on. It's obvious that they had forgotten there's an enemy. left the simplicity and profundity of the gospel message and the sufficiency of Christ, and Paul is digging in. He's not going to lose his church without a fight. That's 1 Timothy. That's Paul leaving Timothy. Can I say Timothy is Paul's bodyguard? He's his armor-bearer, if you were in the Old Testament. He's leaving his best man, one of his best protégés in Ephesus, to fight for this church to come back to order and to come back to the blueprint. Indeed, Timothy found wolves there, false teachers. And in four of the six chapters, the devil himself. And so he's fighting. He's fighting. And sometimes Paul makes suggestions Sometimes he makes recommendations. Sometimes, as Pastor Michael mentioned in his introduction to Philemon, sometimes Paul makes appeals. But there come points in Paul's ministry where no more appeals are being made, no more suggestions. He's playing his apostle card. And he's saying, you must change. You must reorganize. And that's what he's doing in this epistle through Timothy. As a matter of fact, three times already in chapter 2, we see Paul showing his apostle card. After confronting false teachers and false teaching in chapter 1 and bolstering Timothy for the fight that he finds himself in, we come to chapter 2 when the apostle card comes out. He says in verse 1, first of all, I urge that entreaties and prayers Petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men. He says first of all, that's his Apostle card He's saying you're getting exercised about all the wrong things and it's why the church is in a mess He says I'm going to tell you if you want to save this thing Church at Ephesus You got to start where the Apostle is going to tell you to start you got to start praying together again. I You need to come together and not get into shallow praying that's merely a reflection of the pagan worship. No, no, no, no. You are rescued from that. You must come together, and that's the starting point of change. First of all, that's where his apostle card comes out. He's gonna flash it again in verse eight. He's going to flash his apostle card here and start telling him what to do again. And now he's talking to the men. He's singling out the men. Therefore, I want, I want the men in every church, in every place to lead this charge. Apostle card. See, I'm telling you, this has to be. And in the very next verse, verse 9, as we saw last week, he flashes that apostle card again. Look at verse 9. Likewise, there it is. All the authority I was packing in verse one through seven, I'm reminding you that switch is still on. I am telling you as an apostle of Jesus, it has to be this way. Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves in the proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works as is proper for women making a claim to godliness. A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. And here's the apostle card again for the fourth time. I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. For it was Adam who was first created and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity and self-restraint. Paul's laying out the argument and giving us this important point that we want to hold on to last week and this morning right now as we go through this text. Here's the theme. The local church is a haven for women of strength. having not just the men in their God-ordained roles leading in the church, the women have such an important role as well. And this is the plan for bringing any church back to a place of blessing and action. Women play a key part in this. And he's isolating, as we are last Sunday and this Sunday, to his teaching. on the women in verses 9 through 15, because a woman of strength in the local church has that liberating clarity about three realities we see in this paragraph. We saw the first one last week, so I'll just remind you of the ground we covered. First of all, the first reality is this, the presentation of godly strength. And last week, you can go back and listen to that sermon. We talked about the culture there in Ephesus that these women were saved out of. We talked about the pagan culture there as well, where there was teaching that, in some ways, the women of the culture were reacting against, and in other cases, were actually presenting as part of truth. It was a strange mix. There was pagan oppression, there was liberation, and there was prostitution at Ephesus. And the way ladies presented themselves was sometimes an issue of indulgence on their part, worship, pagan worship on their part, or just trying to be accepted and revered. And respect is the best word in that culture. Some of these ladies were bringing us back into the church. Paul says, oh, no, no, no, no. If you dress to call attention, to promote yourself merely as someone to be desired, that's not a sign of strength. It's a sign of weakness. And the gospel has freed you from that. And we made three observations here. We said, first of all, they wear clothes that are safely modest. They adorn themselves. In a modest way, the word adorn is from where we get our word cosmos. There's order. It's thought out how you dress, and we saw that in chapter two, verse nine, that word adorn. And there's two descriptors there. They are to dress modestly, and they are to reflect self-control. This idea of self-control. is the idea of self-government, it's this. It's not letting yourself be out of control. This is an important Greek word, and you see it in chapter two, verse nine, it says discreetly, modestly and discreetly, and I need you to remember that word discreetly, because you're gonna see it again at the end of this paragraph, and it will actually form what we can call bookends of a main point. So they wear clothes that are safely modest, they wear clothes that reflect self-control, and thirdly, we saw that they wear clothes that reveal a passion for God. Again, he says in verse nine, or verse 10, rather, by means of good works as is proper for women making a claim to godliness. They not only claim to be in Christ, but the life that was coming out of their heart showed the truthfulness of their conversion. That's their priority. Their presentation is one of godly strength, not godly weakness that merely follows or reflects the culture. I appreciate what Dr. Kent Hughes wrote in his book Set Apart. He says, modesty is the entire church's responsibility. We together must create a culture in which modesty flourishes. And certainly while that is a heavy emphasis of verses nine through 10, don't miss the fact that we're talking about the local church in chapter two. We're talking about coming and gathering with other believers and knowing that I am accepted by this group of believers, even as a woman. There's honor here, not just for men, but for women. And I don't have to dress to impress. I don't have to choose my clothes to make me desirable to other people merely with the externals. He's saying, no, it's much deeper than that. It's the beauty of your faith working its way out. It's so refreshing that the local church is designed to be a place where your true worth, your true beauty can be treasured without placing your body on display. This is the presentation of strength. But then we saw this. Not only is this first reality a liberating clarity, but there's a second reality as well. And we just got into this one, number two. The reality that a local church woman of strength understands is the protection by godly men. The protection by godly men. The local church, as I said last week, is a circle of protection for our women. Not just married women. not just childbearing women, all women. This is a haven of safety for you. And we just want to point out two things here. First of all, the principle, and this is as far as we got last time, the principle is in verses 11 and 12, chapter two. A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. This is the principle that we saw. It says that you, as a woman, must quietly receive instruction or quietly learn. And we saw last week that that's not a word that's only focused to the women in the New Testament. It's not merely a female function exclusively. This is something for men and women. It's something that is expected across the pages of the New Testament for both sexes. We are all to be learning. That's growing as a disciple. Not just the women, but the men. Not just the men, but the women. You see what Paul's doing here, right out of the gate in verse 11, is he is elevating women, no matter what the Jewish culture had done in pressing them down. The gospel says, no, no, you come in and learn, too. You be discipled, too. No matter what the pagan practice was, the gospel says, no, no, you're not squashed. We need you here with the rest of the church being discipled. It's a beautiful thing what Paul is doing here, and he's so strong about this. And he's getting ready to pull out his apostolic card again, as we said. This is the principle. And here is where the card comes out. He says, I do not allow, verse 12, a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. And he says this is in every place, every local church, not just back then, but today. Not just there, but here. And then he puts these two words together we looked at. He says, I do not allow a woman in the context of a local church to teach or exercise authority. And some people want to break those two things up, but I believe the grammar is pushing them together. These are two functions of one office. This is talking about the office of an elder. An elder is one that is in a place where there must be submission, but also where there is the preaching of the word of God and the teaching of the word of God. An elder, as we'll see in chapter three, handles God's word, God's truth, and it's only in that that he has authority that has come to him from being a teacher of God's word, and by the congregation putting him in that place prayerfully. And he's saying here, that's not the office for a woman. Those two words go together. Now, it says twice, one more reality here. He says, verse 11, a woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness, and at the end of verse 12, remaining quiet. And we pointed out last week, it's the same Greek word in both cases. This is not a call to complete silence. This is not a call to bring your teeth and lips together whenever you're in the context of a local church. That's not the point. This idea of this particular word is a concept of settledness. versus restlessness, being settled in the position of honor that the gospel has placed you in in a local church, a place where you are being protected from wolves, but also learning and growing as a disciple. And there's no pressure on you to put on a sham or a show. There's a settledness to you. And before we run too much farther into this, remember that the Bible also calls for men to submit to qualified godly male leadership in the local church as well. I shared with you four or five of those texts last week, but I just want to remind you of one of them, Hebrews 13. Verse 17, obey your leaders, this is men and women, obey your leaders and submit to them, for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account, let them do this with joy and not with grief, for this would be unprofitable for you. The men received that as well. There must be a structure in the local church, and a point where men and women have to submit to the God-ordained leadership. Now, We know from the New Testament that the women didn't keep their teeth and lips together. They were very active in a God-blessed way. They are part of the singing that is prescribed in Ephesians 5.19, singing, making melody, teaching one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. The ladies were part of that. The ladies, according to chapter 5, verse 16, and also in Titus 2, were part of discipling other women. They were, in Paul's life, very helpful in engaging unbelievers in Philippians 4. And even, as we know from the book of Acts, it was Aquila and Priscilla who helped fine-tune Apollos' theology outside of the context of a local church. Women are huge in the ministry of the gospel. But something's going on in Ephesus. Something's off the rails. As Paul will work his way through 1 Timothy in chapter four, and in chapter five, and in 2 Timothy chapter three, we're gonna be able to deduce that there were women that were becoming disruptive and debating. And they were teaching bad doctrine. They were reactionary. And they were vocally against marriage and against childbearing. And Paul's having to address that. But what is this principle? What is this principle that we see in verses 11 and 12? It's this, women, be a voracious disciple. Learning in the context of the local church under the God-ordained leadership of qualified male leadership. That's the principle. But what's the basis for that principle? I want to know why is he flashing around the apostle card on this one? Is he just having a bad day? Is he a little grumpy, not enough coffee? What's the basis for this? His back is arched. If you see him being pretty forceful here, you're perceptive. But why? What's the basis? And the basis is verses 13 and 14. For it was Adam, the word for there is pretty important, The for is, he's saying, I'm gonna give you the basis now. For it was Adam who was first created and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. This is the basis. Okay, so whatever comes after this word for is pretty important. Because what he just had to say in verse 11, 12 is pretty heavy. It's interesting what doesn't come after the word for, what doesn't come after. This is not a unique problem in Ephesus. Because Paul just says, this is what I want in every place, in every local church, not just Ephesus. So it's not some quirky thing going on at Ephesus. It's not some quirky thing being taught by Jewish rabbis that Paul's getting ready to fight here. And we know that there was some Jewish mixture of Jewish teaching with other false doctrines at Ephesus. He's not saying that's the problem. He's not saying this. He's not saying, for men are better. He's not talking about the worthiness of men. Truth be told, we can't keep up spiritually with the women in any setting. So it's got to be more than that. What comes after the four? What comes after the four is a cross-reference to the very creation of the world. This is not what he's prescribing for local churches like ours is not coming out of even the Jewish law initially. This predates the Ten Commandments. This predates the writing of Moses. It goes all the way to the very beginning where we have to go right now. So leave a finger here. And I'm just going to read three portions from the beginning. Go with me to Genesis chapter 1. Genesis chapter 1. Genesis chapter 1. Let me read some verses you're very familiar with. But Paul's saying it's because of the beginning. that I'm being so strong with how things must be in the local church. Genesis 1, remember verses 26 to 28, where on the seventh day of creation, then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness. And let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. And God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. male and female. He created them. And God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth. That's the creation moment for Adam. We come to chapter two and we get day seven played back in slow motion. And we see how this thing came to be. Look at chapter 2, verse 15. It's just Adam at this point. Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. The Lord God commanded the man, saying, from any tree of the garden you may eat freely, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it, you will surely die. It's just Adam at that point. It's pretty important. Verse 18, then the Lord God said, it's not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him. And out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the sky and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all the cattle and to the birds of the sky and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and he slept. Then he, God, took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place, and the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which he had taken from the man and brought her to the man. And the man said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called, this is man naming, she shall be called woman because she was taken out of the man. So we see the sequence and the responsibilities at creation. And then we have the dark chapter, chapter three, that we must visit. Chapter three, verse one. Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made And he said to the woman indeed has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden notice he's coming to the woman and The woman said to the serpent from the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden God has said you shall not eat from it or touch it or you will die and And the serpent said to the woman, you surely will not die. For God knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be open, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate. And she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were open. Of course, the Lord comes for them. Join me in verse 8. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called to the man and said to him, where are you? He said, I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid myself. He said, who told you you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree which I commanded you not to eat? And the man said, the woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate. And the Lord God said to the woman, what is this you have done? And the woman said, the serpent deceived me, and I ate. Then look at verse 15. God talking to Eve. Or, I'm sorry, this is God talking to the serpent, to Satan. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. The first promise of the gospel. And to the woman, he said, I will greatly multiply your pain and childbirth. In pain, you will bring forth children. Yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you. And then Adam, he said, because you have listened to the voice of your wife. And as a result, you have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, you shall not eat from it. Cursed is the ground because of you. In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life, both thorns and thistles. It shall grow for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face, you will eat bread till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Go back to 1 Timothy. I wanted you to hear and see those words one more time, because this is the basis for what Paul is saying in 1 Timothy chapter two. He says, it was Adam who was first created and then Eve. And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. Paul's saying, you want to know why I'm waving my apostolic card around here? Saying it's got to change if this church is going to survive. Because if you get away from and out from the mind of the creator, it will kill the church. This is the mind of the Creator from eternity past to the very breaking forth of creation. This is the order of the Creator at the beginning of time. I so appreciate theologians like Wayne Grudem and Andy Nasselli who say there's every reason in the world, you can't even miss it, that the man is supposed to take his stand and lead. He's supposed to take the initiative and protect Just look at what happened in creation. He was created first. Man was created first. Man is the representative of the man and the woman. Man is the one who named the woman. Man's the one, as you read in Genesis, who saw the human race named Adam. It's Adam that bore the responsibility at the fall, according to Romans chapter 5. The purpose of the woman is to be a helper to Adam. And the whole picture of marriage, by the way, in Ephesians 5, verses 22 to 30, which we read earlier in our service, draws on the picture of marriage and how a beautiful marriage is making a statement of the headship of the Redeemer and his redeemed and the sweetness of that relationship. Paul would write in 1 Corinthians 11, 8, and 9, man does not originate from woman, but woman from man. For indeed, man was not created for the woman's sake, but the woman for the man's sake. Man was supposed to be the lead. He was supposed to be the protector in the garden. I mean, when it comes right down to it, here's the basis for what Paul's saying in verses 11 and 12. It's twofold. Number one, The role order at creation is the basis. The order of the roles and the responsibility of the roles, they were assigned by God. Man leading and protecting and providing for woman. If you reverse that order, your church fails. But the second part of this basis, basis number one is the rule order at creation. But basis number two is when Paul says, it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. It's the reversal of roles at the fall. When it comes to the rule order of creation, God assigned that. When it comes to the reversal of roles at the fall, man abdicated. And now, instead of men leading the women and protecting them, it's women leading the men and the men responding passively. And by the way, make no mistake about it. You say, well, Eve ate the fruit first. Well, man was held responsible on both points for this dumpster fire in the garden. You see, Adam wasn't deceived. His sin was high-handed. He's the one that received the command. And he failed, secondly, to protect the one that was given to him. He should have had his hands on the throat of that serpent. And he led human race, according to Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15, for example, into death. You know, this reality that we're looking at, the protection of godly men, it can be stated this way. Role confusion in the local church destroys, but role clarification in the local church rescues. And guess who has to be the first one up to the plate? Men. I have a wonderful relationship with Long's Automotive down the road here. I know him too well. I know his two sons. Not because we're related or anything, I just have had a lot of vehicles there in these nine years. And Lori and I can be driving any of our vehicles together, and then we hear something that's just not right. It happened again recently. It's just not right. It didn't usually sound like that. Even if no light's going on, we reach the same conclusion. We look at each other and say, when can we drop it off at Long's Automotive? If something's wrong, it's gotta go to Long's. We know it will get fixed. And it's the same if a local church is starting to make noise of role confusion and a lack of protection. There's abdication on these roles that God put in place in the creative order You got to go back to the garage. Something has to change. We don't just merely point at the problem. We don't just wait for the panel light to come on and then get brighter. It's got to be fixed. That's why Paul's saying it starts here. We're praying. Men, you're leading. And women, you'll thrive. These women are strong, truly. You see, in addition to what they look like, and in addition to who they look to, these are realities that liberate godly women, Paul gives one more reality they have clarity with. And it's number three, we'll call it the promise of a godly legacy. The promise of a godly legacy. If you've heard me straining up here last week and this week, you've been perceptive. because I want to communicate what the text is saying here about women and the local church and men and the local church. But in particular for women, in this paragraph, the gospel impact on women does not cheapen them. It elevates them. It does not reduce them to a simplistic, narrow role. That's a lie. It doesn't cheapen them. It heightens them to an overflowing impact that I will say will outlive them. Look at verse 15. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint. Now you can't read that verse by itself. You can't read that verse outside of the context of this local church, because that's what we're talking about in chapter two. And even though Eve's name isn't showing up in verse 15, remember there's no verse numbers in the Greek, and so there's a very good chance that Eve is still being considered in this verse as an example. He has an argument going here. He has momentum. And so there needs to be two clarifying questions if we are going to say what this means. The first clarifying question is simply this. What does it mean in verse 15 where it says that women will be preserved through childbearing? Some of your translations say even the word saved. Some of your footnotes say vindicated. What does that mean that we have this word that is often used of eternal life brought together with these words through the bearing of children? There are so many views on this. There are so many views. Some of the main views, I'll give you just a couple of them. Some people look at that phrase, being saved through childbearing, as meaning mothers will be safely brought through childbearing, meaning they'll survive the ordeal that was part of the curse, so to speak, in Genesis chapter three. They'll survive if they get saved. If these women in Ephesus will get saved and have kids, then they'll get saved. Well, that can't be the right interpretation. That goes against the gospel of grace. It makes childbearing a work. Another common view here is that Eve, from verse 14, will be saved through the birth eventually of baby Jesus, generations later. Some fine people choose that position. Some of my friends in my library do, notably one. But is that what this is saying? Because that is kind of going to break the verse in half and it focuses on the first part. What about the rest of that verse? There's a third common position and this is that Christian mothers will be saved by having babies and therefore stay saved by having babies. They won't lose their salvation. And this thing's going all over the place. So let's land on that verse, saved. Women will be preserved or saved. This is a word that we saw often in the book of Luke when we did our exposition in there. It's the word sozo, and it means salvation or rescued. That's what it means. And the context is what will bring it It's clear meaning to the table. So you have to ask, where are they being saved from? Is this a statement of eternal life or is this being saved from something that has gone sideways at Ephesus? Saved from false teachers, saved from false teaching, saved from Satan himself who is in four of the six chapters of this epistle. Scholar Andreas Kostenberger has written an essay on this that I highly commend to you. And I'll give you a couple of recommendations at the end of this sermon. But Ben Cantrell shared this article with me just this past week. So I brought it in from the side of research I was already doing. And I found it very compelling. He's going to argue that the saving here, part of that, or a major component of that, is being saved from the deception by Satan. And he's going to demonstrate that from the other parts of the book of Timothy. Here's the question I have, though, because we must hurry to a conclusion. When it comes to women will be preserved through the bearing of children, is the real question here something about product, the production of babies? Is that the main issue? Or is the main issue dealing with the process? Not the product of babies, but the process of making babies. I find both of those to be unconvincing. But there's a third option. Is the main focus here in this phrase not one of product, not one of process, but one of position? In other words, it falls immediately in the context of the garden and the fall and that catastrophe. It's going all the way back to the beginning of the blueprint. Could it be that whatever it means is going to be consistent with getting back to the blueprint? And it will show up most clearly in the local church, or should. Because if it's in the position, if the focus is on the position rather than product and process, if it's on the role that the creator had for Eve, then suddenly this verse is applicable, listen, to all women, married or single. Married and without children. Every decade, widows and youth. If it's about a position, then this is profitable for all. And then there's one more question, and it's this. Is 15a, the first part of the verse, is it separate from the second half of verse 15? Or, listen, does the second half of verse 15 complete and settle the first part? I really appreciate the commentator Guthrie and Kastenberger and others who say you can't understand the first part of verse 15 in isolation from the rest of the verse. The rest of the verse says, let's read the whole thing, that women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint. What does this mean? This is my second question. What's this continuing with these Christ-like virtues, these four virtues that are listed? And my best understanding of this after my research is that the women, if they are content and settled in the creative order of the creator, to be, and what was the first thing that Eve was identified with? Bearing children. But that's not the only thing Eve and women are identified with. But there's a settledness with their role of being, men can't bear children. There's a settledness about them being under authority, just as there needs to be a settledness with men being under God-ordained authorities. When the picture is right for women, he's saying that this is the beginning of life and fresh air returning to the local church. I see here one of two bookends. I told you to remember a word up there at the end of verse 10, not the end of verse 10. Discreetly in verse nine, modestly and discreetly. We have that same form showing up again with the last word in verse 15. So between these bookends, there's one main thought being presented that I believe he's ending on with an exclamation point. I see another set of bookends located in the same areas here. The first bookends is verse 10, having a claim to godliness. Those who are professing a faith that should be making a difference in their life. And I see the same, not the same word, but the same concept down at the end of verse 15 with these Christ-like virtues of faith, love, sanctity, and self-restraint as a life that is producing these virtues because of their profession in godliness. In other words, the woman in verse 10 and the woman in verse 15 are claiming to be a Christian. If it's true, these virtues are going to come out. And so what I see here then is I see Paul saying, let's go back to the blueprint, not just of the church, but of society, of creation. And if men will lead and protect And the women understand that, and they accept their role from the Creator as being able to have babies and focus on the home. Even if a lady's not married, they're still female, and they still have that capacity in God's kindness by His will, and they have so much more to them than just that. But that's the defining part at the beginning at creation. So he's calling them back to this blueprint, consistent with their profession of being godly, of being in Christ. And then he gives this list of four virtues, faith. What is that? That's where it all starts. You come to faith. By the way, that's how chapter two started, verses three through seven, is the importance of salvation by God's grace. But where there's faith, there's going to be fruit, and that's the second characteristic we see there. Faith produces love, love of God and love of others, the first and second great command. And as you love God and love others and grow in that, there's a sanctification that's happening in your life. You're becoming more like Christ over time in your walk with God and in your walk with others. What about your walk with yourself? Well, there's that last virtue that you see at the end of verse 15, self-restraint. It's a repeat word in this context, a bookend. That if there's faith in your life that you're growing in, you're in Christ, you're gonna be growing in loving others, you're gonna be growing in reflecting Christ in your Christlikeness, and there's going to be a settledness, a restraint to you. that doesn't protest the creative order. I'll state it this way, this final reality before we close. Embracing the creator's design for women who are uniquely childbearers and all other helpers with strength. Embracing the creator's design for women in the church and in the home paves a unique and beautiful journey for them and their growth in Christlikeness. As they take their place of elevation. It's in the very fabric of the creator's creation. And from that standpoint, embrace their role and flourish as growing disciples. I have this to say, what a legacy that is. What a legacy. And the weight of Proverbs 31, 29 to 31 just gets even heavier in a wonderful way. Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all. Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her the product of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates. That is strength that no man can display. Well, the local church is a haven for women of strength, because it's here that they have a liberating clarity about three realities, the presentation of godly strength, the protection by godly men, and the promise of a godly legacy. I put in your notes a quote this week from John Piper, who captures this so beautifully. She is a woman who is assured of her feminine identity in such a deep and powerful way that she knows she is a man's equal in the kingdom of God. She knows she is a man's equal in the sight of God. She knows she is a man's equal in the inheritance of joy. She is poised and free to affirm the manhood of the men around her and come alongside them and help them in every way they can in their unique calling. In this way, the dance and the rhythm and the choreography of male and female become a beautiful partnership. Yeah, that. You see, in the local church, men lead and women thrive. Now you probably understand why I said what I said at the end of verse 8, when I preached my sermon on chapter 2, verse 8, to you men. I said, men, listen up. Women, listen in. Well, verses 9 through 15 should have hit the men here this morning harder than the women. It should have hit the men harder in Ephesus than the women. You say, why? Because I firmly believe that between verse 8 of chapter 2 and chapter 3, verse 1, Paul never breaks eye contact with the men. Because when we get to chapter 3, verse 1, we're talking about how heavy and how serious is the God-ordained leadership in the local church. They will set the pace for the men and the women of the church. And that's what we'll see in our next sermon together. Some of you want to take a deeper dive on this, and I commend you. As you can tell, I was rushing at the end to get through mine after two weeks. I was going to recommend two resources to you this morning, and they'll be recorded on the sermon audio so you don't have to worry about capturing it now and writing it down. But after reading the article Ben gave me last week, I'm adding a third resource. It was that good. The first two resources I want to give to you, recommend to you, are near and dear to us here at Calvary. First of all, our 2024 Constitution and Bylaw. It's on that bylaw, and it's also on our website now, too. We connect you to a statement. It's called the Danvers Statement on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. It's on our church website. And you can click on it, and it'll take you right there. I highly recommend the Danvers Statement. A second resource I recommend to you is available on Sermon Audio, and it is the four messages from Dr. Andy Nasselli that he delivered here at Calvary at our men's conference this past fall. And those are available on Sermon Audio. And the study is called God's Good Design for Men and Women. Now, he and I had some fun sparring a little bit on a point or two over Chipotle's, but overall, I highly recommend that entire document and that series. And then the third article, if you want to go down deeper in your devotions, is the article by Dr. Kastenberger. He's a Southern Baptist scholar. He's also an adjunct professor at Bob Jones Seminary, too. And he wrote an essay called Saved Through Childbearing, A Fresh Look at 1 Timothy 2.15 Points to Protection from Satan's Deception. I wholeheartedly recommend that to you. If you want to go down deeper, get your Bible open, get your highlighter out, and get access to these documents. You can email the church office if you want to copy that document. I'll get it to you. At the end of the day, though, we made it to the end of chapter two, and hopefully we remember at least four words. You ready? Men lead. Women thrive. Let's pray. Father, thank you for bringing us through this text. And Lord, as we listen to what you are saying to this church at Ephesus that have received such good training, and had been a thriving church for so long doctrinally and impacting their region, suddenly they are in need of first aid, lest they die. And you told us in chapter two, the way back, pray, men lead and women thrive. I pray as we press through this day and through this week that you'll bring our mind back to this often. The parts that were hard to hear, may we push on and listen to your words answer. Where we've gotten lazy in our roles that the creator, you Lord, have put into place, help us to repent and come running back to a place of safety in your plan. At 85 years old, this church has so much to lose if we stray. from your blueprint. Work in our hearts, Lord, for your glory. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.