Rev. David Holwick E 1 Timothy - Clean Up the Church, #5
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
January 31, 2010
1 Timothy 2:9-15
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I. A catchy sermon title.
A. Reactions from the worship team.
JoAnn Aller - "I wish you would have saved this one for
when I would have been here to hear it."
Pam Freund - "I can't wait to hear where my place is... be
careful!!!"
None of the men offered any comments.
B. There has been a major shift in the last century.
1) For that matter, there has been a big shift in my lifetime.
2) How many women here work, or have worked, outside their
home?
a) How many have held a job that they would not have let
you have 50 years ago?
b) Some statistics for married women:
1> One out of five women earn more than their husbands.
2> One out of three is more educated than their husband.
C. Many believe Christianity stands against this trend.
1) Churches, especially conservative ones like ours, proclaim
a message with a lot of heavy baggage for feminists.
a) Themes like the place of a woman, or her obedience to a
husband, or making children a priority.
2) Yet churches have changed as well as the culture.
a) We have females on the deacon board with full voting
rights.
1> That wouldn't have been true 100 years ago.
b) The women in this church probably come close to the
attitudes women outside the church have.
D. What is God's view of the place of women?
1) Some think the Bible's view is close to the Taliban's view.
a) Women should be hidden away.
b) They must be covered head-to-foot so no one will be
enticed to lust.
c) They should not be educated or they won't be good
submissive wives.
2) Liberalism's answer is to erase sexual distinctions.
a) A large percentage of mainline pastors are female.
b) De-sexed Bibles and liturgies.
3) The issue is important and deserves close study.
a) The modern view of society should not have the final say.
b) If God lays out a clear perspective, we should follow it.
c) Today's passage is one of the critical ones.
II. Modesty in dress and demeanor. 2:9-10
A. Ancient people were very concerned about appearances.
1) Both Romans and Jews equated extravagant clothes on women
as a sign they were wanton and looking for adultery.
a) (Hold up hair braid box I found in bathroom)
2) Even if this is not the intent of the women, outsiders
would view them this way.
3) And according to 2 Timothy 3:6, some of the women actually
did have this intent.
B. An outgrowth of Christian freedom?
1) Some scholars think this became an issue because Christian
women felt their faith overturned cultural restrictions.
2) The old rules no longer applied.
a) This comes out even more clearly in 1 Corinthians.
b) Paul says we shouldn't use our freedom in Christ to
make a bad impression.
C. Inner clothes matter more than outer ones.
1) Good deeds and godliness make you more beautiful than
designer clothes.
2) Christians should ask themselves: what do my clothes say
about my image of myself? About my faith?
III. Learning with the right attitude. 2:11-12
A. Quietness and submission may allude to the actual problem.
1) In 1 Corinthians 14:33-35, similar language is used.
a) Perhaps women were being disruptive in church services,
shouting out questions.
b) The word translated "silent" in this passage is closer
in meaning to "quiet."
2) Paul wants them to pay attention and learn with a humble
spirit.
a) Note that Paul wanted women to be educated in the
truths of the gospel.
b) Christianity has never promoted ignorance for either
sex.
B. The issue of teaching and authority.
1) Paul seems to be forbidding these for women.
a) The word for authority is a special one, used only here.
1> It has the meaning of being domineering.
b) Perhaps it is because they were being unduly influenced
by the false teachers.
c) This would explain the reference to the emphasis on
deception in verse 14.
1> 2 Timothy 3:6 shows how the false teachers targeted
women.
2) Is it a universal prohibition for all time?
a) An important principle in interpreting the Bible is
distinguishing between universal truths and local
practices.
1> Paul says "I do not permit" rather than "the Lord
(or the Law) does not permit".
A> This would suggest a local practice.
B> 1 Cor. 11:16 has been taken in a similar way.
2> Also, it is clear that women did speak in church
services in a valid way.
A> The deacon Philip had daughters who prophesied,
which would have been done in church.
B> And the woman Priscilla taught Christian truth
to the man Apollos in Acts 18:26.
b) On the other hand, in verse 13 Paul then alludes to
the foundational truths found in Genesis.
1> When he makes a point from Genesis, usually it is
a universal truth rather than just a local
application.
2> His main point seems to be the danger of deception.
3> Paul also sees this happening to some women in
his churches. 5:15
IV. The role of childbearing. 2:15
A. This verse has bothered people for a long time.
1) Paul seems to contradict his own theology about salvation.
2) It seems insulting to women, too.
B. Possible interpretations of an obscure phrase.
1) Women receive forgiveness and salvation through motherhood.
a) This would contradict Paul's clear teaching elsewhere.
b) We can only be saved by God's grace, not our works.
2) Women receive salvation through birth of Jesus.
a) "Women" in verse 15 is literally "the woman" which some
take to mean the Virgin Mary.
b) But this would be a very bizarre way to refer to the
birth of Jesus.
3) Women will be kept safe in childbirth, if they have faith.
a) This takes "saved" in a medical sense.
b) But it is obvious, then and now, that even good
Christian women have died in childbirth.
c) And in these letters, "saved" always means eternal
salvation, not medical health.
4) Women will be saved by showing they are truly godly.
a) Among the good deeds that flow from a godly life are
being a model mother.
1> He gives a concrete example of this in 5:10.
b) To guard against the idea of salvation by works,
he adds the second part of the verse.
1> She should be a truly Christian woman.
2> It is assumed she has faith, and it is showing
itself in her love and holiness.
V. What does this passage have to do with a Baptist church?
A. Pam and JoAnn have reasons to be concerned.
1) Both are leaders in our church.
a) One leads the Sunday School, the other leads early
worship.
2) They have a lot of good company in the New Testament.
a) Paul calls many women in his letters "my co-workers
in Christ."
B. A humble and teachable spirit is still valued.
1) Women are well-represented in our weekly Bible studies.
2) Actually, they put the men to shame.
a) At our Thursday afternoon study, I am usually the
only male.
C. Modesty and proper behavior never go out of style.
1) Paul was concerned about women who focused on the illicit
attention of males.
2) Our own culture has a real weakness here.
A few years ago a pastor named Dale Kuehne took some college
students to work in a farming village in Costa Rica.
It was a poor village that lacked electricity and running
water.
The locals did have an electric generator, however.
Once a week, they fired it up to watch a raunchy American
television program - "Beverly Hills 90210."
Kuehne was shocked to see village teenagers mimicking the
behavior of the characters in the show.
And he was floored when village men asked him what was
wrong with the women who'd come on the trip.
"Why don't they want to have sex?" they asked.
"We thought all American women want to have sex."
#36120
Have enough pride in yourself to put Christ first in your
relationships.
D. The touchy area of authority.
1) This passage has traditionally be taken to mean pastors
should be male, not female.
2) As I have said, you have to decide if Paul is speaking to
a specific situation or making a universal principle.
3) There is one universal principle he states very clearly.
In Galatians 3:28 he says:
"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor
female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus."
a) There are differences between the sexes.
1> God made us that way for a reason.
b) But we have more in common that we have in differences.
1> We are all sinners.
2> We can all be saved by God's grace.
3> We must choose to follow Christ.
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SOURCE FOR ILLUSTRATION USED IN THIS SERMON:
#36120 "Sex And The iWorld: Recovering Healthy Relationships," by Charles
Colson, BreakPoint Commentary, October 5, 2009.
This and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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Sermon Notes
Gordon Fee
I. Tie-in with theme of letter.
A. Women were prime targets of the false teachers.
1) Men were also influenced by them (vv. 1-7) but women
receive more attention than them.
2) 1 Tim. 5:3-16
a) Younger widows "life for pleasure".
3) 2 Tim 3:5-9.
a) "Weak-willed women" were manipulated by false teachers.
II. Women should dress modestly. Dress and demeanor.
A. Fee.
1) Probably related to their becoming wanton against Christ. 5:11
2) Ancient Romans and Jews equated dressing up with sexual
wantonness and insubordination.
3) For a married woman to dress this way in public was a
statement of unfaithfulness.
B. Decency and propriety.
1) Propriety means dressing with good judgment.
2) Believing women should be clothed with better things -
good deeds.
a) Bringing up children is included in this. 5:10
b)
C. No braided hair or jewelry or expensive clothes.
D. Instead, they should be clothed with good deeds.
III. They should learn in quietness and submission.
A. They are not permitted to teach.
B. No authority over men.
C. They must be silent.
IV. Creation principle.
A. Eve formed second.
B. She was deceived and became a sinner.
V. Saved through childbearing.
A. Interpretations of obscure phrase.
1) Women receive forgiveness and salvation through motherhood.
2) Women receive salvation through birth of Jesus.
3) Women will be kept safe in childbirth, if they have faith.
B. Must continue in faith, love, holiness with propriety.
Copyright © 2024 by Rev. David Holwick
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