Amen. Let us turn to First Timothy. the end of chapter two into chapter three, page 1,263 in the blue ESV Bibles. And especially as we move into chapter three, and we'll see this again, Lord willing, when we get into chapter five, which speaks about elders again, It says in 5 verse 22, do not be hasty in the laying on of hands. What is that? That's a, that's a special anointing. So when we think about singing lines like, um, such love is like anointing oil that consecrates for holy toil. It's not a familiar image to us, but it, uh, it relates to the offices. It relates to being set apart in special ways for a particular labor. And, uh, it's, Even though we don't usually use oil, we usually use, 5 verse 22, the laying on of hands now. It is the same purpose, the same type of thing going on. And so with that brief word, anticipating chapter three, we begin our reading in chapter two, verse 11. Chapter two, verse 11, and we'll read through chapter three, verse seven. 1 Timothy 2, beginning our reading at verse 11. We'll begin our focus at verse 13. Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet, she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control. The sane is trustworthy. If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach. husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity, keeping his children submissive. For if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God's He must not be a recent convert or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil. So far the reading, the grass withers, the flower fades. The word of our Lord endures forever. Congregation. of our Lord Jesus Christ. A Segway, S-E-G-W-A-Y, is the trademarked name of a little two-wheeled vehicle and it's often used for things such as a tour through a city. It's a little vehicle that gets you from one place to another. A Segway S-E-G-U-E, because the English language has a number of very strangely spelled words, is a way of making a transition from one place to another, but it's not a little two-wheeled vehicle. It's a transition such as in music or in writing. It's a seamless transition from one part to another part. There are no small two-wheeled vehicles in 1 Timothy, but 1 Timothy 2, verses 13 to 15 are a segue, S-E-G-U-E, as these verses seamlessly move us from the topic of women's call to silent submission in the public worship services, to verses 11 and 12, into the topic of the office of authority which some men are called to in chapter 3 verses 1 to 7. 2 verses 13 to 15 are the connecting link, the literary segue that makes the seamless transition between these two groups of verses and so as I said last week for those who were here this is one of those places where I wish the chapter division would have been in a different place that big number three does not help us nor is it part of the original text. All of this is part of the description of especially directions for within the local church And so all of this with the verses before and after leads to chapter three, verse 15. If I delay, I write these things so that you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God. So we're speaking about authority, we're speaking about distinct roles, we're speaking especially about the local church, the household of God. And so brothers and sisters, for anyone who is here, we have the same theme as last Sunday morning, that God calls men and women to specific roles within the church. He calls men and women to godliness with specific roles within the church. And we're looking at different particulars of this truth, but we're continuing to work through this truth from God's word. And so we're going to look, we're going to have two points this morning if you're following along, taking notes. First, the apostles' neglected segue. Chapter two, 13 to 15, and then men's call to the office of overseer. So after saying that a woman is not to teach or to exercise authority over a man, the apostle Paul does not say in verse 13, each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. Now the Apostle Paul says that in another place. He says that in Romans chapter 14, when he's talking about a subject upon which the church should agree to disagree. He's talking about something, he's saying, you are making way too big a deal of this. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind. That's the language of Romans 14. That's the language of, sometimes there are gonna be subjects where we disagree, and that is okay. The Apostle Paul does not say that here. This is not a place where we should disagree. This is a place where we should hear the clear command of scripture and where we should see that it is rooted not in one local place or one local time, but it is something which goes back to the very first church which was the mountain temple at the Garden of Eden, where we have the very first family, as Eve is brought to Adam, and where we have the very first household of God, as Adam is the first priest in that first temple, in that first church in the Garden of Eden. This is not a matter of local practice, this is not a matter of local opinion, This is something which brings us all the way back to our first parents and into the first patterns that God gave to the first man and the first woman. This is not a matter where each person should be convinced in their own mind. This is, as has been called, a cause for division. And so, having spoken about women's role to submission in the household of faith. The Apostle Paul gives the reason, the ground in verse 13. We see that word, for. This is the reason for what he has just said in verses 11 and 12, and it is this, for Adam was formed first, then Eve. So this is true for the roles of authority within the household. This is true for the roles of authority within the household of faith. This is our creational pattern that God has given to us. And then the apostle gives us a negative example of what happens when women take wrongful authority of themselves in the wrong sphere. He gives that example in verse 14. And then he gives some positive examples of how women can and are called to serve the Lord in verse 15. So let's look first at that negative example. The apostle remains in that context of the first chapters of Genesis. For though Adam and Eve were made very good, the perfect creation of God did not last long. Eve took the lead in conversing with the devil, that serpent of old. Eve took the lead in allowing the devil to question God. Did God really say And Eve, being deceived, took the lead in taking the fruit of the forbidden tree of the knowledge of good and evil and giving it to Adam. Now Adam is in no way innocent. Adam is giving up his role of leadership where he should have stepped in and he should have vanquished that serpent and been a true husband and a true priest of that first temple, but Adam does none of these things. So we know finally the devil is at fault, Eve is at fault, Adam is at fault. And finally, because Adam is the head of the first family, and because Adam is the head of the whole human race, it's in Adam that we have fallen. So Romans 5 describes at length how we are dead, not in Eve, we are dead in Adam. Following Adam, we are dead in sin. Following the first Adam, we are sinners who need the only perfect human being, the only perfect head, the only perfect man, the second Adam, Jesus Christ. So Romans 5 speaks clearly about our being dead in Adam and our being made alive in Christ through faith in him. So Adam is in no way innocent, but that is the first example and a awful example wherein our whole human race and our whole earth was thrown into the fall, into the groaning of sin, and into the curse, and it was the time when woman first took a wrongful place of authority to herself. While we are all dead in sin, God mercifully speaks a word of life before Adam and Eve are ever removed from the garden. Eve, you will be the mother of all living. That's how Adam hears the words of the curse. And so Adam and Eve know that though they have disobeyed God, though they deserve death right there, they have already received the promise that there will be life. It's going to be painful. Childbearing is now going to be painful. There's now going to be all kinds of pain and sin and death and disease upon this world, but there will be life because God is full of mercy. And Eve has a special place and a special role in that. Carrying children and giving birth something that only a woman can do. So from that very first word of mercy that God gives, Adam rejoices. Eve, I call you Eve, you are the mother of all living and indeed that leads to all life, all those who are born throughout the centuries, throughout the millennia that follow, it leads finally to one specific daughter of Eve, many generations later, named Mary, giving birth as a virgin to one specific seed who crushes the head of the serpent. And so when we read, yet, verse 15, she will be saved through childbearing, Does it not keep us in that context of Genesis? Does it not make us think of that one special child, that one special seed, that one root of Jesse, that one child of David, that one son of Mary, that one Jesus Christ in whom we are saved? And so the verse continues, if they continue in faith. You see, we've moved from the negative example in verse 14 to the positive example in verse 15. And one of the positive examples of what women are called to do is childbearing, with a special focus upon the birth of that one son, Jesus Christ. but also generally to the blessing of childbearing. This is something that only women can do and there is a nurturing role in the training of one generation to the next where women have a special place. It's not something that every woman is called to or blessed with, but it is a sacrificial calling and it is a special role given only to women. Now, women may have other special callings as well. Those may not necessarily be distinct. There are many things that men and women are both called to do. And so we might think of the word self-control at the end of verse 15, even as we see that self-control is one of the qualities which men must have as overseers. And we see that in the middle of verse 2 of chapter 3. But there's also all kinds of good works. That takes us back to the end of verse 10. And there's also the general call to continue in faith and love and holiness. And so women are called to serve God in all kinds of ways. God's kingdom will call for the use of the gifts of sisters in Christ in many different ways. Now, we will say that some coming to this text, to the end of chapter two to the beginning of chapter three, they attempt to say, we looked at some of these ways last week, but they attempt to say in all different ways that Paul can't really mean this, this couldn't really apply to us today in the 21st century, et cetera, et cetera. One of the ways that people do that is they go to, they appeal to the examples of a handful of women in the biblical text. And they say, see, so and so woman is doing this. Therefore, Paul can't really mean that women are not called to positions of authority in the home or in the church. Well, let's look at just one of those examples. Let's take just one of those names. Let's take the name Priscilla. Priscilla is first mentioned in the book of Acts in Acts 18 verse 26. And we read this, that he, Apollos, began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Well, brothers and sisters, let us simply notice Priscilla is While her name being mentioned first may imply that she's even taking some of the lead in this correction of Apollos, she is not publicly preaching. She does not go up to Apollos and say, you really have to learn a lot more about this new Christian faith before you're preaching to God's people and to the new Christian church. I'm gonna preach next week. No, it's a semi-private discussion. And her husband is there and present and involved as well. It's a semi-private discussion between three people. And so once again, we remember that verse 11 and 12 are not a universal rule. They are speaking about specific roles within the household of faith, and even as special reference to the public gathering and the assembly of the firstborn, as it's called in Hebrews chapter 12, as we hear the word preached and proclaimed and all of those things. Women may teach in all kinds of ways. They may be authors of excellent Christian books. They may discuss. They even have a responsibility to discuss biblical truths in the semi-private settings after the public assembly is over. But that does not mean that we have any example in the Bible of a woman who is ordained into an office and who then preaches to a publicly gathered body of believers. There is no example of that because that is not how God has established the household of faith and the home to be. The home and household of faith are places where God has given men specific calls to authority. Now Priscilla is mentioned a number of more times in the New Testament. One of those times is in Romans 16 verse three. We have there the shortened form of her name. And there it's mentioned that Prisca and Aquila both risked their lives to save the life of the Apostle Paul. In other words, Men as well as women can be called to serve God's kingdom in all kinds of ways, including in dangerous ways. They can risk their lives for the service of God's kingdom. Now we hope and we pray that the church will be blessed with a peaceful and quiet life, to take the language from the prayer back in chapter 2, verse 4. But if we are one of those generations which is not living in the time of a peaceful and quiet life, if we're one of those generations which is put in a time and place of persecution, then the call to women is not only general calls to good works, end of verse 10, it's not only the special call of motherhood that some women may have, beginning of 14, end of verse 15, it's not only the call to continue in faith and love with holiness and self-control, it may include dangerous tasks for the King of God. There is much that God calls the women of His church to do. There is much. And praise the Lord that there have been women who have given their lives, who have risked their lives, even doing dangerous things in the service of God. And praise the Lord for the special day-to-day acts of mercy that many women have done, including acts of mercy. We'll speak about this, Lord willing, when we get to 1 Timothy 5, including acts of mercy, which are really only appropriate for women to do. There's some things that are more appropriate, that are really only appropriate for a woman to do. We're getting ahead of ourselves a little bit on that, but the point is this. Sisters in Christ, your calling to godliness is huge and challenging. And it may include many things. It may include the blessing, which requires sacrificial love, of the calling of motherhood. It may include all kinds of various good works. It may even, though we pray not, include the calling to do dangerous things in service for God's kingdom. Just in recent days I learned, and many women have served God in amazing ways. Just recently I learned of the lives of the identical twin sisters, Agnes and Margaret Smith. Sometimes they're called the Westminster sisters because of all the things that they did in England. Sometimes they're called the Sinai sisters because of all the things that they did in their travels for God's kingdom. They were born in Scotland in 1843. Their lives, by God's grace, were full of loving service for God. They both did less dangerous acts of love and mercy, using their wealth to serve the poor in special ways. And in more dangerous ways, they had ventured into the Middle East together, learning 12 languages between the two of them at a time when women were barred from higher institutions of learning, so they had to self-teach. And they used their combination of wealth and language skills and dangerous pursuit through adventure to defend the authority of God's word. They didn't just go adventure seeking. They were seeking old manuscripts of the Bible to defend the word of God at a time when it was under attack. This is just two women in the long line of women that have served God's kingdom in all kinds of day by day. and also more dangerous ways. Whatever work God has for you, be ready for the godliness that God calls you to be ready to give thankful service to our maker and our savior. Now with this, let's come to chapter three, men's call to the office of overseer. The apostle continues to consider the distinct roles of men and women. And, uh, he uses the title of office that emphasizes authority because that's what he's talking about. That's what he was talking about at the two verse 11 and 12. That's what he gave the ground for in chapter two, verse 13. And so usually, This office is called the Office of Elder throughout the New Testament, but there's a few times where it's called the Office of Overseer. And here, the Apostle Paul, speaking specifically about authority and submission, he uses that title, overseer, which emphasizes authority, which emphasizes the authority of the office. Once again, the ground is the same. It's that transition versus in between. It's the fact that Adam was formed first, then Eve. So let's simply put it this way. As we read the list of qualities here, the reason why men are called to this office is not because men are always better at all of these qualities. That is not the case. It's simply because this is how God has established the home and the household of faith to be. Adam was formed first and then Eve. And so with this focus on authority, with the title of overseer, the apostle speaks about this office of the New Testament church, the office which all of the New Testament churches had. There were times when there was no apostle present. There were many times there was no apostle present. There were times when there was no minister present. It's even implied that sometimes there are not deacons yet, but there are always elders, there are always overseers. And so, for example, in Acts 14, verse 23, after Paul and Barnabas went through Antioch and Iconium and Derbe and one of their mission travels, we read this, Acts 14, verse 23. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. And then we see the description of elders throughout the scriptures. And it's always a plurality of elders. Every time there's reference to elders, it's always in the plural. The church is not where one man is to take over and rule everything and run everything. No, there's only one head, there's only one chief shepherd, Jesus Christ. And he wants the church to be ruled by a plurality of elders. And the one who would aspire to this office aspires to a noble task. The end of verse one. It is not an easy calling. It is a noble calling. There is then some overlap, not the most direct, but there's some overlap We can see similarities between this and the calling to motherhood in that they're both a noble thing, they're both a sacrificial thing, and they're both something that, for the case of women, not every woman is blessed with that sacrificial calling. For the sake of men, not every man in the church will be called to this noble office, this sacrificial office. But it is a special and noble calling. And as such, it should involve careful examination. An overseer must be above reproach. There must be evident outward fruits of the faith in the lives of these men. It is the common situation that they would be married, because it was the common situation of life back then. And so there's words that relate especially to their marriage and to their household. Apostle Paul may have also used this language as an implicit rebuke to the false teachers who were forbidding marriage, chapter four, verse three. In other words, just as the seventh commandment, you shall not commit adultery, does not speak just about the married relationship, but about sexual immorality in general. So also when the apostle here speaks about husband being the husband of one wife and then later about language of the household, it's not universal in the sense of these words only apply to that. It's another way of speaking about sexual purity in general. But by focusing on the household serves a number of purposes including a rebuke of this false teaching in verse four, verse three, that marriage should not be the way to go. And we should just abstain from marriage, and exactly the shape that false teaching took is another question, but you see in verse four, verse three, they forbid marriage. And many of these attributes are communicated in less specific terms, communicated more generally, It's such that these qualities should be seen such that even an outsider would have a respectful view of those who serve in the church. Moreover, verse 7, he must be well thought of by outsiders. Outside of what? Outside of the household of faith. 3 verse 15, anyone who's outside the church. They have the law of God written on their hearts. They have at least a basic understanding of what these men should be called to. And if not, if the man called to authority in God's church, if he is one whose outward fruits show all kinds of evil, well then, that would be one of the snares of the devil. The end of verse 7. What does that mean? How does that work out? Well, it works out something like this. God calls Men and they're put into the position of authority, and then there is a stumbling in their life they do not live up to the qualifications that they're called to and they Support sin in one way or another well is that a snare of the devil does the devil say well look the the church is The church is is an imperfect place and even the leaders do those terrible things that is a snare of the devil It is one of the ways that the devil seeks to destroy the church. And so even though the church will not be able to guard against this perfectly, we should seek to be very guarded against this. We should seek to put dignified and respectable and those who give outward demonstration of the fruits of the faith into these offices of overseer. Now, looking back at verse two, Let's just consider a few of these qualities. They should be sober-minded, beginning in verse 2. Leaders of the church should be level-headed men, having a firm grasp upon biblical truth. They can be sober. They can be able to face times of trial soberly, without panicking. They can be able to go through times of blessing and prosperity by keeping their eyes upon Christ. who gives any increase, who gives any blessing, won't be caught up in sensations or drown in difficulties. They should be hospitable. This does not only apply to elders and overseers. We know from Romans 12, 13, that all of the people in the church should seek to show hospitality, but it is a blessing when the leaders of the church would take the lead in such things. Now the end of verse two is one thing which is more specific to the office of overseers. And so some of these things we'll talk about more next week because there's overlap with qualifications for deacons. But one thing which is distinct to the office of overseers is at the end of verse two that they would be able to teach. This is one quality which is related in a special way to the ruling, to the teaching office. And we also see at the start of verse three that they should be not violent, but gentle. See, those who are put in positions of overseers in the church, they may be called to give all kinds of corrections and admonitions. They may also have to deal with dangerous false teachers. They must be gentle. Please just turn ahead a couple of pages with me to 2 Timothy 2 verses 23 to 25. The false teachers described in some length in 1 Timothy chapter 1 are still an issue. And so this further instructions include these words in 2 Timothy 2 verses 23 to 25. Having nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies, you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome, but kind to everyone, able to teach patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth. All of us is in this context of these false teachers who are causing all kinds of trouble or even doing things like denying the resurrection, teaching a different gospel. And even when dealing with these dangerous false teachers, there must be gentleness. There must be a goal of gentle rebuke leading them to repentance. Now, let's work from that more difficult case and let's move over to a case like this where there's, how does Isaiah describe some of God's people? Bruised reeds. And so now an overseer not only has to deal with dangerous false teachers, but what happens when an overseer, when an elder is seeking to work with a bruised reed, someone who suffered, someone who struggled? There needs to be gentle correction. There needs to be gentle encouragement. These are difficult callings. There's not easy work here. Once again, it's a calling for each and every one of us. Each and every one of us, when we give correction one to another, must do so. Galatians chapter six, in the spirit of gentleness. but it has special application to those who would serve in this office. And with that, Lord willing, we'll look at some more of these qualities as we get to the qualifications for deacons next week. But with that, let's step back again and think about godliness in general and let us know that the godliness that women are called to, the godliness that men are called to, women are going to fall short men are going to fall short. We are not going to put on good works and self-control and our specific roles. We are not going to do this in a perfect way. Even as we seek to do it, even as we seek to serve God in gratitude, even as we Seek to be careful with those who would be put into the positions of overseer and all of these things. Brothers and sisters, it must always come back to that one son, to that one seed, to that one savior, to the one chief shepherd of the sheep. Because only Christ shows perfect godliness. Only Christ is God. And whenever we read a list of qualifications like this, may it remind each and every one of us of our one Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Even as we should see it as our direction to seek to live as his faithful servants with our distinct roles in the church. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, our Lord, your word is good. So Lord, may we receive this word.