1 Timothy - Lesson 2

• We’re learning from Paul as he instructs a young man on how to teach, lead and defend the growing church in a Greek, pagan city of Ephesus

  • Last week Paul commanded Timothy to contend the false teachers disturbing the church

    • They were teaching the Law in wrong ways 

    • They were taking a law intended to convict and expose the evil of unbelieving hearts, and imposing it on those saved by grace

    • These men had strayed from instruction born out of a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith

    • That is, they had strayed from the instruction Paul have given when he was with them

  • Instead, they turned aside from the apostle’s teaching and into strange myths and empty talk

    • They were the original ear ticklers in the church

    • Filling the gathering with flowery or perhaps fiery speech

    • But it lacked weight or substance because it wasn’t in keeping with the truth God revealed through Paul

    • Like all false teaching, it entertained the flesh but profited the soul nothing

  • So Paul told Timothy to silence these men

    • Because the church simply couldn’t tolerate teaching that distorted or obscured the glorious Gospel of Christ

    • Obviously, we don’t know how exactly Timothy went about obeying Paul’s orders to stop these men

    • And if some of them were elders, as I suspect, then we might imagine Timothy had a fight on his hands

    • Add to the situation the fact that Timothy was a young man, and we can see how Paul’s request could have led to confrontation 

• Nevertheless, Paul obviously felt the confrontation was necessary

  • Moreover, Paul obviously thought Timothy was up to the challenge

    • And in the next part of his letter, we learn Paul’s motivation for his instructions to Timothy

1Tim. 1:18 This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight,
1Tim. 1:19 keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.
1Tim. 1:20 Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.

• Paul says he commanded Timothy “in accordance with previously made prophecies”

  • Paul had heard a prophetic word about this young man some time ago

    • That word was that Timothy would be gifted by the Spirit to serve as a pastor

    • We see indications of this moment elsewhere in the two letters Paul wrote to this young man

    • In 4:14 we find this comment:

1Tim. 4:14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery.

• And in the second letter we hear

2Tim. 1:6 For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

• There was a moment when the Lord moved Paul and the other elders (presbytery) to lay on hands

  • This is the biblical way the Lord confirms His calling for men called into ministry

  • The Spirit gifts all believers in various ways to serve His people

• But certain gifts are given greater priority in the body of Christ because they hold special potential to equip the body in godliness

  • One of those special gifts is the pastoral gift

  • A pastoral gift is like any other spiritual gift in that it comes from the Spirit of God as God appoints

  • But it differs from other gifts in that it must be confirmed by other leaders in the church through laying on of hands

  • We will discuss laying on of hands in greater detail when we come to these other passages

• But the point for us this morning is that true pastoral leadership can’t be gained merely by accepting a position at a church

  • It can’t be gained with a diploma, degree or a certificate

    • It doesn’t come because we desire for it

    • It comes because the Lord appoints it

  • And because it carries responsibility for shepherding the flock, it must be confirmed by other leaders over the flock

    • Men moved by the Spirit see the calling and feel they must confirm it publicly

    • They validate the calling by laying on hands and the Lord is pleased

    • This isn’t a movement or decision of men...this is a work of God through men

  • I experienced one such moment about 15 years ago

    • I was attending a church in San Antonio, and participating in a small group of leaders and teachers from the church 

    • I had only been a Christian for a few years at that point and was still very early in my walk

    • Yet I was feeling stirred to serve as a teacher and perhaps more

  • One night we were sharing and praying in that group, and suddenly following our prayer time, one of the men in the group made an announcement

    • He looked at me and said he felt the Lord telling him that this group of men should lay on hands on me

    • I was stunned and said nothing in response

    • The group quickly gathered around me and they prayed for the Lord to equip me to teach and lead His church

    • I had no idea this moment was coming but I knew in my spirit that it was a movement of God’s Spirit and I had to obey

  • I don’t know if this experience is common to everyone called into pastoral ministry, but it was my experience

    • The Lord confirmed my spiritual gift to teach through that experience

    • And I also believe He set me on a path to pastor in His Church

    • Every spiritual gift has value to the body

    • Yet the Lord moves in this unique way when bestowing gifts that carry spiritual authority over His people

• Having spiritual authority brings responsibility to engage in confrontations when necessary for the benefit of God’s people

  • A spiritual leader, whether pastor or teacher, can’t hesitate to address dangers that threaten God’s people

    • Confronting danger is their unique responsibility as under-shepherd

    • What would we think about a shepherd watching sheep in the field if he ran away or stood idly by when wolves came to consume the flock?

    • He would be condemned as worthless and unfaithful to his role as shepherd

  • So likewise, Paul tells Timothy that he must act in keeping with the prophetic declaration that he would be a pastor

    • The Lord said Timothy would pastor, so Timothy must pastor

    • And pastors have to fight the wolves from time to time

  • But Paul says it’s a “good fight”

    • The Greek word for good also means beautiful or wise

    • It’s the wise thing to do, and it’s a beautiful thing when godliness battles ungodliness, when truth defeats lies

    • It’s no less a fight because it’s good and wise

    • In fact, it needs to be a fight all the more because it’s wise

    • The enemy doesn’t avoid confrontation and he doesn’t mind hurting feelings

    • And so neither can a shepherd be afraid of these things in pursuit of what’s good and wise for God’s people

• Paul tells Timothy in v.19 that he must hold the line in Ephesus, remaining at his post to confront false teachers as a matter of personal faith and conscience

  • Simply put, Timothy had his own testimony to worry about

    • And if a pastor should worry about the consequences of performing his role, he should remember that the alternative is even more dangerous

    • A man truly called by God to serve in this way can’t throw up his hands and claim he’s not cut out for it

  • If the Spirit has moved and others laid on hands to confirm the Spirit’s choice, then the person knows the Lord is prepared to work through him

    • Like when Moses declared he couldn’t do the job because he didn’t possess sufficient public speaking skills

    • To which the Lord asked, “Who made your mouth?”

    • He whom God calls, He also equips

  • So then without excuse, pastors called by God either obey or disobey their calling

    • Paul tells Timothy you had better stay the course in Ephesus and stop thinking about taking road trips 

    • Timothy’s own conscience and faithfulness to God was on the line

    • To abandon his post or to avoid confronting false teachers was disobedience

    • Which means Timothy’s letter asking Paul if he could join him was essentially Timothy asking Paul if he could disobey the Lord

• Regrettably, many men in pastoral ministry have made this decision from time to time

  • They receiving a calling and step into the role, but when the going gets tough, they look for the nearest exit

    • In their conscience the Spirit is telling them to stay and serve the Lord, but they don’t listen

    • Their faith is shaken and their testimony suffers

    • So they abandon their post

  • Paul mentions a couple of examples of such men in Ephesus to discourage Timothy from following their example

    • He mentions Hymenaeus and Alexander, two men that appear to have been teachers or even pastors in the church

    • They have rejected their conscience and their own faith

    • As a result they have suffered shipwrecked faith

  • Paul’s words are uncharacteristically hard, which tells us how serious Paul felt about leaders who abandoned their post or sound teaching

    • To do so is to reject the conscience

    • Conscience describes our heart’s capacity to direct us into righteousness and to feel conviction over sin

    • To reject the conscience as Paul says means to overrule the leading of our heart 

    • And then to suppress the guilty feelings that result from our sin

    • In short, these men knew better but chose to do wrong anyway

  • And they rejected the faith

    • Obviously, you can’t reject something you don’t first possess

    • These men had faith, but they rejected (or the Greek word could be translated “pushed back against” their faith

    • Rather that do as their faith expected, they acted contrary to faith

    • And as a result they experienced shipwrecked faith Paul says

• In Paul’s analogy, our faith in Christ is the name of a ship sailing the seas

  • We were placed in that ship by God’s grace, and so we say we are “in faith”

    • As we go out into the world in faith, we must steer clear of temptations and schemes of the enemy

    • We must guard against our flesh and a world that wants to pull us down

    • These dangers are like reefs, some visible and some hidden

  • If we act carelessly or recklessly with regard to our faith, we may experience shipwreck

    • We may run aground against these threats

    • Our progress stops

    • And if the wreck is serious enough, it may prevent the ship from ever becoming sea worthy again

  • But notice that the ship is still there, faith hasn’t departed

    • But that faith isn’t moving forward, it’s halted in progress

    • More than that, a ship run aground on rocks stands as a testimony to other passing ships to avoid these dangers 

    • These men become examples to other believers not to follow in their footsteps

  • And that’s exactly Paul’s comment to Timothy

    • These men hit the rocks

    • And then because of their bad influence on the church, Paul says he “handed them over to Satan”

    • By this act of discipline, Paul desired they learn not to blaspheme

• As we try to understand what Paul is saying, let’s start with their offense

  • These men were blaspheming

    • We know from earlier in the chapter that false teachers in the church were misusing the Law of Moses

    • They were likely teaching other error as well

    • And collectively it was blasphemy

  • Blasphemy is any speaking of sacred thing in contempt or absent the reverence they deserve

    • It covers a wide spectrum from false representations of the Godhead or His word or His actions

    • Somehow, these men had crossed a line in their teaching and had moved into blasphemy

    • We don’t use this word often enough, I think

    • Many times people in the church, including pastors, open their mouths and speak irreverently about sacred things, which is blasphemy

• When these men did these things, Paul says he handed them over to Satan

  • This is one of two occasions in the New Testament when Paul describes this punishment

    • The other case is found in 1Corinthians 5 of a man who was involved in an incestuous relationship in the church

1Cor. 5:5 I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.

• Notice that Paul described the outcome differently in one situation compared to the other

• In the case of Hymenaeus and Alexander, the goal was to teach them not to blaspheme

  • In the case of the man in Corinth, Satan was permitted to end the man’s physical life to the benefit of his soul on judgment day 

  • Presumably, dying sooner reduced the man’s opportunity to sin longer, and thus preserved him from even greater loss

• In both cases, God’s instrument for discipline was Satan and his army

  • This is proof that God may use everything in His creation – including the enemy – to discipline His children

  • In extreme cases the Lord may turn a child of God over to Satan for harsh treatment which ultimately came to some good

  • Such treatment will either teach a rebellious believer to repent and return to a faithful walk

  • Or it may cut a rebellious life short to stop the spiritual bleeding

  • Either way the person’s life serves as a warning sign to other believers

• With that sober reminder, Paul moves on in his letter to give Timothy specific instructions for how to continue the fight and serve the people of Ephesus

1Tim. 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,
1Tim. 2:2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.
1Tim. 2:3 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
1Tim. 2:4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
1Tim. 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
1Tim. 2:6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.

• This chapter finds Paul moving away from his exhortation to Timothy to stay the course in Ephesus and into specific counsel on how Timothy must serve the flock

  • Paul’s instructions run from chapter 2 into the beginning of chapter 4

    • Together with his words to Titus and in his second letter to Timothy, Paul’s teaching is a manual for church life

    • Every church should attend to these words carefully

    • Because not only can they correct poor church teaching and practice

    • But it will also protect a church from such influence ever coming into the body

  • And Paul’s first priority for the church was reaching the world with the Gospel

    • And successful evangelism begins with prayer

    • Because prayer is the most important service the body of Christ can offer to the Lord

    • It’s the only spiritual discipline we can practice under all circumstances and at all times

    • And it’s the necessary predecessor to any other work of the body

• As it relates to evangelism, Paul commands that Timothy teach prayers to be made on behalf of all men

  • Paul uses four synonyms to describe prayer, but they do convey subtly different shades of meaning

    • Entreaties are earnest, heartfelt appeals for personal needs

    • Prayers are the general word for communicating with God

    • Petitions are requests on made on behalf of overs

    • Thanksgivings are just as the word suggests

  • Paul wants Timothy to train his congregation to engage in all manner of prayer for all men

    • Obviously, it’s literally impossible to pray for every human being on earth

    • And that’s not what Paul meant as we can see by what he says next in v.2

  • He clarifies in v.2 that by “all men” Paul meant “all kinds of men”

    • The church naturally prayed for members of the congregation and for family and friends and possibly neighbors

    • But Paul says he wants the congregation looking past their immediate world

    • He wants the church to pray for kings and all those in authority

  • He wants the church body to seek for a worldwide movement of God up and down society, even reaching into the palace halls 

    • This meant praying for the Caesar, for the procurator of Judea

    • Praying for even their enemies who sought to silence them and persecute the church

  • For many in the body, such a request probably seemed repugnant

    • How could they pray for the Lord to save those who treated the church so poorly or stood in the way of the Gospel?

    • Certainly, this was not the world’s way of prayer

    • Jews never prayed for God to extend mercy to their Gentile oppressors

    • Neither did Gentile pagans pray to their false gods for mercy for their enemies

• Yet here was Paul asking the church to pray in all ways for the good of all men, including men in authority over the church

  • But in reality, this practice could only serve to benefit the church as Paul explains in the later part of v.2

    • He says such prayer might allow the church to live a tranquil and quiet life

    • He probably means it in both practical and spiritual ways

  • First, practically speaking, this was a smart strategy for the church

    • If the church gained a reputation of offering up prayers of support for those in leadership, then the governing authorities might be less likely to persecute the church

    • Or at the very least, the government would conclude the church is not a threat to their power

  • Remember, the Caesar at this time was Nero, a man prone to rash thinking and persecution

    • He ultimately did much harm to the church

    • Which is why Paul tells the church to be smart and to pray for all men, not just the personal friends they knew

• But more importantly, there is a spiritual purpose in praying this way

  • Since we know God is the One Who moves hearts to faith in Christ, then we also know He has the potential to bring salvation to anyone

    • Therefore, we have sound theological reason to pray for everyone that comes to mind

    • We need not “filter” who God is likely to save or who might be persuadable to the Gospel

    • We pray indiscriminately, for every type of man or woman, in every walk of life and in every place for they are all potentially saveable

  • And should men in authority come to faith under the leading of the Holy Spirit, then how much better will life be for the church?

    • I wonder if anyone in the early church was praying for Saul of Tarsus in this way?

    • As Saul was breathing threats against the church and persecuting believers even until death, were believers praying for his salvation?

    • Hopefully so, because we see how Saul’s conversion to the Apostle Paul became a way to tranquility and dignity and godliness

• And so it can be in every generation, and according to God’s Word, the Lord desires to work through our prayers to make these things happen

  • Paul says this is good and acceptable in the sight of our Lord, our Savior

    • It pleases the Lord when we pray in this way

    • It would seem it brings Him more glory to have his intentions concerning a ruler announced beforehand in our prayers

  • Paul says that God is our Savior, which is a not-too-subtle reminder that we too were saved by an act of God, 

    • So why not suppose He will do the same thing for another?

    • Why exclude anyone from the prospect of Heaven?

    • Did we deserve God’s grace more than they do? Does anyone “deserve” grace?

  • Which is why Paul reminds us in v.4 that God has proven His desire to save all men by bringing them to a knowledge of the truth

    • As you read Paul’s words in v.4 remember that the phrase “all men” in v.4 is the same as that of v.1

    • Just as the Lord asks the church to pray for rich and poor, kings and peasants, so too does the Lord intend to bring salvation to all men

    • He will save rich at times, poor at times, He will save kings at times just as He saves peasants at times

• In light of this context, it’s clear that this verse does not teach that God has a desire for all humanity to receive salvation

  • First, the context of the verse doesn’t lead us to that conclusion as I already explained

    • Paul is talking about all kinds of men, not all humanity 

    • Secondly, scripture elsewhere teaches that God saves some but not all humanity 

    • Paul himself says in Romans 9 that God created some humanity for dishonorable use

  • Finally, the Bible says that if God truly desires something, then it will always come to pass

Job 23:13    “But He is unique and who can turn Him? 
And what His soul desires, that He does.

Psa. 115:3   But our God is in the heavens; 
He does whatever He pleases.

Psa. 135:6   Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, 
In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.

• Scripture says that if God desires something, it will always come to pass, and yet we know that not all human beings are saved

• Therefore, we must conclude that God does not desire that all human beings would receive salvation

• Rather, as the context indicates, Paul is saying that God desires for all kinds of men to receive salvation 

• It’s important to remember that Paul’s asking for the church to pray concerning salvation for these leaders

  • While we are certainly free to pray for our leaders in other ways too, that is not a command in scripture

  • Scripture does however command us to submit to our leaders

• But when we pray for leaders, our prayer is specifically for their salvation, because nothing matters more anyway

  • Also, if we neglect to notice this detail, we risk turning prayer for our leaders into politically-motivated lobbying

  • We stop caring about the leaders because we’re just praying for ourselves in asking God to direct certain political outcomes

• Then Paul offers up a final proof for his command, one that suggests even more what the false teachers in Ephesus were preaching

1Tim. 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,
1Tim. 2:6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.
1Tim. 2:7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

• Paul says there is one God the Father, and He has appointed One Mediator between God and Man, that is Jesus Christ

  • One God implies one plan of salvation and One Mediator means one way to the Father

    • Christ came as man to bring salvation which is the plan of the Father for all humanity

    • And then He returned to God to make possible conversation, as He intercedes for us

  • Christ as the one and only mediator to the Father has been a stumbling block for many unsaved

    • The Jews prayed for Moses or angels to intercede

    • Which explains the opening chapters of the letter of Hebrews showing Christ to be greater than Moses or angels

    • Roman Catholics seek intercession by praying to Mary or to dead Catholics they call “saints”

    • Buddhists and Taoist pray to ancestors to intercede

    • Pagans pray to various intermediators 

  • But the word of God says there is only One who invites us into conversation with the Father, and that One is Christ

    • But by the same token, anyone who is praying through Jesus to the Father will be heard

    • No person is excluded from this opportunity merely because of their walk of life, their past or their position

• Moreover, at the proper time in history, Jesus gave Himself up as a ransom payment on the cross for the sins of all men (again, all kinds of men)

  • Jesus’ death payment came at a certain proper time in history, but it was intended to suffice for all time

    • Therefore, Paul is saying that Jesus is the One Savior for all mankind for all time

    • There is not a Plan “A” for Jews and a Plan “B” for Gentiles

  • That’s why God appointed an eminent Jew to serve as an apostle to the Gentiles, so that in the preaching of the one Gospel both groups would be united

    • Paul’s mention of his mission to Gentiles indicates that the false teachers in Ephesus were attempting to drive a wedge between Jew and Gentile

    • They taught the Law wrongly by suggesting, we assume, that Gentiles had to practice Jewish tradition and Law before they could be saved

    • Those who taught this heresy were called Judaizers 

• In fact, reading between the lines regarding the false teachers in Ephesus is important as we continue through Paul’s teaching in this chapter and beyond

  • Because it appears their false teaching went much farther than merely  general teaching on Jewish law

    • It appears these men were teaching improper roles for men and women, stirring up dissension and confusion

    • So Paul spends time correcting the record and re-establishing proper order within the body

    • Beginning with the men

1Tim. 2:8  Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.

• At first, Paul’s comment about prayer in v.8 sounds like merely a repetition of his comments earlier in the chapter

  • But look closely and you see Paul is talking about something different

    • Earlier the concern was the content of the prayers

    • That the church would pray on behalf of all kinds of men not just Jews or not just those they knew

  • Now Paul is speaking about the demeanor of the men in prayer

    • They must pray in every place

    • They must pray lifting up holy hands

    • And they must pray without wrath or dissension

• If we can logically assume these instructions were intended to counter bad behavior to the contrary, then we can learn more about the false teaching in Ephesus

  • First, it appears that the men in the church were being discouraged from praying

    • Perhaps they were being discouraged from public prayer out of fear of persecution

    • Perhaps they were being taught they could only pray in synagogues or under supervision of rabbis

  • Whatever the teaching, Paul counters with a call for the men in the church to lead the entire body in public prayer in every place

    • The church was intended to be visible in its worship and in its prayer life

    • No one lights a lamp and places it under a blanket, and the Lord had lit the lamp of the church in Ephesus 

    • So He expected it to be put on display

• Secondly, Paul wanted the men who prayed to be exuberant and yet holy, which seems to be a subtle dig on the unholy false teachers

  • We must imagine that the false teachers in Paul’s day were much like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day

    • Such men love to receive the praises of men

    • So they often planned their religious activities so as to be seen by many people

    • They sought the praises of men rather than of God

    • And they often suppressed independent religious expressions apart from those they sanctioned (e.g., John the Baptist)

  • Perhaps these men were doing similar things, praying in public displays of piety, raising their unholy hands, while suppressing others

    • They were reintroducing pharisaical hypocrisy into the church

    • And Paul wanted it stopped

  • The key to the power of any false leader is in the way they place themselves between the people and God

    • Those under their spell come to believe they must come to the false teacher to get what they want from God

    • This is the essence of the prosperity heresy common today

  • The secret to neutralizing this effect is to remind the people they may go directly to God

    • So Paul neutralizes these false teachers by telling the men to gather together, anytime and anywhere

    • Then raise their holy hands in prayer

    • No rabbi needed

  • In doing so, there should be no wrath and no dissension

    • The church needed to act in one mind as they conduct themselves

    • Silence the false teachers and unite in the truth

• This was a command to men, since men are the spiritual leaders of the church as God appoints

  • Paul isn’t specifically excluding women from public prayer 

    • He’s simply emphasizing that the men bear this burden for the sake of the body overall

    • The men needed to act in this way to lead the rest of the congregation to follow suit

  • And that’s an important concept as we move forward in Paul’s letter

    • Men lead the congregation but the church should follow

    • Conversely, when men aren’t engaged to lead, it’s almost impossible to move the rest of the body

• Then Paul turns to correcting distorted teaching on women’s behavior in the church

1Tim. 2:9 Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments,
1Tim. 2:10 but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness.

• Paul starts with “likewise” (literally “similarly” in Greek), which means the situations were related in some way

  • The logical assumption is that false teachers had been stirring up women to assume improper roles within the body

    • This is a favorite tactic of the enemy...to distort and pervert the roles God has assigned to men and women

    • The enemy seeks to distort the roles of husband and wife, the sexual functions of men and women 

    • And the roles of men and women in the church

  • So Paul’s instructions concerning women are specifically directed at countering this false teaching 

    • He ended speaking of demeanor of men and so he starts in the same place with women, instructing them on proper godly demeanor

    • Paul says women in the church must adorn themselves modestly, discreetly 

  • The words modestly and discreetly are words that emphasize our effect on others

    • When you are modest, you are diminishing others’ attention upon yourself

    • And when you are discreet, you are concealing something of yourself from public inspection

    • Both words imply an attitude focused on the needs of others

• Once again, based on Paul’s instructions we can assume something about the false instruction taking place in the church

  • It seems the women were taking opportunity to display their wealth or personal beauty within the body

    • Apparently women were coming to the church gathering dressed like young ladies ready for a night on the town

    • As if the more elaborate the display, the more important or honored they felt

  • Even worse it seemed as though their reputation and standing within the body turned on these superficial things

    • Paul says rather than making a claim to godliness on the basis of wealth or beauty, women should make their claim based on godliness

    • This seems obvious, doesn’t it? 

    • Why would any Christian imagine that their standing in the body is on the basis of money or image?

  • Well, have you ever encountered members of the church who expect special favors or privileges because they donate a lot of money?

    • Or maybe a woman who expects praise for her beautiful singing voice or fashion sense?

    • Or teenagers who wear revealing clothing with plunging necklines or tight jeans to church expecting to get noticed

  • On the other hand, who should we hold up as examples in the body? Who should get the attention?

    • Shouldn’t it be the most godly among us?

    • Those who love the most, pray the most, understand the most

    • Those who seek only glory for Christ

  • This is Paul’s point to the church...he’s simply asking women to restrain themselves from seeking approval and attention in worldly ways

    • Men do the same thing, but they typically do it using piety like the Pharisee

    • Men want credit for being godly on the outside while still being ugly on the inside

    • While women want credit for being beautiful on the outside, instead of being godly on the inside

• This brings us to the final and most controversial part of Paul’s advice

1Tim. 2:11 A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.
1Tim. 2:12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.
1Tim. 2:13 For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve.
1Tim. 2:14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression.
1Tim. 2:15 But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.

• Once again, we’re watching Paul counter false teaching by commanding the opposite

  • He says women must receive instruction quietly and with entire submissiveness 

    • The Greek words translated entire submissiveness might also be translated “whole obedience”

    • I believe this is a better sense because it relates to the apparent problems in the church 

  • It seems women were being encouraged to challenge and even ignore the teaching of men, probably men like Timothy

    • It makes sense to assume that the false teachers wanted to maintain their power

    • So they worked to deflect criticism from others

    • They told women they had freedom to ignore the instructions of their husbands or elders

    • Later in the letter we’ll see that women were being led astray by these false teachers into gossip, idleness and ultimately self-destruction

  • So Paul commands that the women cease challenging the men who taught

    • They were to receive teaching quietly

    • It’s hard to believe but it seems women had become bold enough to interrupt or challenge male teachers

• This is shocking but probably not for the reasons you might assume today

  • Today we’re shocked to read someone telling a woman to be quiet 

    • But in Paul’s day it was shocking in two other ways

    • First, it was shocking to hear a male authority advocating for women to be included in the classroom

  • In Paul’s day, the Jews rarely permitted women to attend Torah instruction

    • Learning the Law was exclusively the role of the men

    • So women were never present to challenge the male teachers in the first place

    • But instead of kicking women out of the meeting, Paul simply asks them to remain respectfully quiet without challenging the teacher

  • Secondly, it was shocking to hear that a woman in Paul’s day even dared to challenge men in this way

    • It’s a sign of just how far the false teachers had disrupted the church culture that women thought to take this step

    • So Paul steps in to correct it as he should for the sake of good order in the church

    • The congregational meeting is not the time nor place for a woman to express concern over a man’s teaching

• And Paul’s not done...next he says he does not allow a woman to teach nor exercise authority over a man but remain quiet

  • It’s important to understand this context as we seek to interpret this passage

    • The context is still speaking of a classroom or other setting where teaching is taking place and the teacher is a male

    • In the audience are men and women (or perhaps only women)

    • And in that setting, you find a woman speaking up to challenge the teacher’s authority

  • To teach would clearly refer to woman seeking to teach from her place in the audience

    • It was customary for those attending to ask questions of the teacher or raise new points from the teaching

    • But a woman was not permitted to do this in keeping with Paul’s earlier point that women remain silent

  • Finally, Paul asks that women not exercise authority over men

    • But here again this is in the context of a classroom moment where women are in the audience

    • The Greek word translated authority is not the common word for  authority

    • It carries the connotation of usurping or misappropriating authority as in to domineer

    • Paul is saying that a classroom with a male teacher is not the time or place for a woman to take charge or try to teach the men

• All of this does raise the question of how far we should take Paul’s instructions today? 

  • But before we can address that question, we need to look at Paul’s proof which he takes from Genesis...which we will do next time