God's Order for Men and Women—Here's What Scripture Says

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Well, good morning. If you have a Bible, I invite you to turn with me to First Timothy. We are looking this morning at 1 Timothy chapter 2, and we're looking at verses 8 to 15 today. And we're looking this morning at God's design for men and women in the local church. And specifically this answering this big question of how we as men and women worship God and how we are to worship God according to God's eyes. Our passage today really is one of the most controversial passages in the Bible in the eyes of our culture. And uh if your seats had seat belts, I would ask you to buckle up. God's word is good, it's true, his word is alive and active. And so as we walk through this passage today, uh I invite you to stay with me. There are some here who I imagine your worldview may be challenged as we walk through the scriptures today. Stay with me. Stay with me. God's word is good. And if you're in here today and you're a guest, or perhaps you're in here today and you do not know Christ, you don't follow Jesus as your Lord and Savior, I want you to know that we're glad that you're here. You're welcome here every week. And even if you're here today and perhaps you're interested, you're seeking, and maybe you have one foot in and one foot out, we're glad that you're here. And you also are welcome here. And before we dive into this passage, I want you to hear the gospel. The gospel that we stand on, the gospel that we believe, the good news of what God has done to save sinners through his Son Jesus. It's why we gather every day, it's why we celebrate, it's why we sing songs to the Lord with joyful hearts because of the gospel. And before we dive into this passage, we can't understand this passage unless we understand the good news of the gospel. You see, the Bible starts off with this reality that God created everything. That God created you. Fearfully and wonderfully, he created you. And in the beginning, we see God creating Adam and Eve. Um, everything was good. But then we see in Genesis chapter 3 where everything went wrong. That the God who created Adam and Eve in his own image, valuable and precious to him, Adam and Eve rebelled against God. And rather than yielding to his authority over their life, Adam and Eve went their own way. And they rejected the Lord from being their God, from being their king. And they chose disobedience, and that too is what all of us have done. Sin entered into the world in Genesis 3. And if you're wondering why is everything wrong in the world, why does everything seem wrong, we can trace it back to that moment. Where Adam, being our representative, disobeyed God's word and passed on sin to mankind. And the problem with our sin, because you may be wondering, is sin that big of a deal? After all, everybody sins, right? Everybody disobeys God. Well, sin is a huge deal nonetheless. Sin is not just a mistake, but the Bible says that sin is rebellion against the one who created us, the one who rules over the universe as our sovereign ruler. Sin is rebellion. And in our sin, apart from God's redemption in Christ, the Bible says that we're guilty before God. And our sin problem is so severe that you cannot fix your own sin problem by trying to be good. That's a dead end. And so, God, in his love for you and his mercy, God sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, who's the Son of God, fully God and fully man, and he came to this earth born of a virgin. So Jesus didn't inherit our original sin. He's born of a virgin. And Jesus lives a perfect life for us. He fulfills the law in your stead. You and I have broken God's law. We've broken his commands. We have lied, stolen, looked lustfully, not honored God, taken God's name in vain, and much more. And the Bible says the wages of sin is death. That every sin has to be punished. But the good news of the gospel, friend, is that Jesus went to the cross to bear that punishment in your stead, so that you and I wouldn't have to. And he died on the cross. His life wasn't taken from him. The Bible says he willingly gave up his life. And three days later, he rose again and he ascended into heaven. And Jesus at this moment is reigning as King of kings and Lord of Lords. Church, let's be encouraged by that. There is a one who's ruling over everything. We need to look beyond the near. Look above. He's reigning as king, he's over everything. And what he offers to those, anyone who would come to him is forgiveness of sins. Repentance for any, any who repent and believe in the gospel that you would be forgiven, that you would be no longer separated from the God who loves you, who created you, but in a right relationship with God, no longer under the judgment of God, but now free. As a child of God. If you have not turned to Christ, or if you have one foot in, one foot out, surrender to him. You will not regret it. The Bible says, today is the day of salvation. Turn to Christ. Trust in Jesus alone for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will have eternal life. And for God's people, for those who have surrendered to Christ and followed Jesus, our life is a life of worship. Where we worship the Lord with our lives, not just what we do on a Sunday, but every day of our lives we worship him. And our passage today in First Timothy has to do with worship. Specifically, how we as men and women of God can worship him in a way that he desires to be worshipped, to fulfill his unique purpose for us as men and women. Paul writes, I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. How are we to behave, essentially, when believers come together? When we gather together to worship the Lord, what does God want of us? What does he desire of us? That is what we're looking at. Now, if you look at 1 Timothy 2, 8 to 15, our passage today, he's going to answer that question specifically in regards to men and women in the local church. The Bible makes very clear that men and women are equal, equally made in God's image, equal in value, equal in worth, equal in dignity, and yet at the same time we're very different. And not only are we different, but God, according to his word, he has a different role for us. The Bible says that we essentially compliment each other. Now I don't mean compliment as in like uh give your wife a compliment today, guys, though you should. But compliment as in we complete each other. Think about in the game of volleyball. I love volleyball growing up. But what's more valuable, what's more important? Is the setter more important? Or is the one who spikes more important? And the answer is you need both. If you don't have both, then you're useless and it's gonna be chaos and it's not gonna go well. Well, likewise, men and women were made differently, but not only made differently according to God's word, we fulfill both an essential role, and yet our roles are different as we think of that as Christians. And we see this very clearly both in the home. God has a unique role for men and women in the home, but how he also has a unique role for men and women in the life of the church. And my challenge for you today, my encouragement for you today is that you would embrace God's good design for you as a man of God. And ladies, for you, as a woman of God. That you would embrace his good design because God has given us his design. And as we look at this passage, really what we see is two charges to men, both of which we see in verse 8. And then we see another two charges specifically to women, which is what we see in verses 9 to 15. And so the charge to men in this passage is brief, and the charge to women is a lot longer, and so we're gonna spend more time having to explain and walk through his charge to women. But the first thing that we see is this you, as a child of God, what does God have for you, as a man specifically? The first calling that I want you to see is that God is calling men to prayer. He's calling men to prayer. Look at verse 8 of your Bible. In verse 8, Paul says, I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling. Paul here, he's building off of last week's passage. If you remember, if you were with us last week, the whole charge that Paul was giving to the church was that they would pray for all people. And why should they pray for all people? Because God has a heart for all people. And not only does God have a heart for all people, but through Christ Jesus, God has provided a way for them. And so here, building off that, he says, I desire then, I want, I will, that in every place the men should pray. He's calling the men to be men of prayer. He's calling them to be man of prayer, men of prayer. You know, here's what we see: a man of God is a man of prayer. Prayer, men, should characterize you as a man of God. It should describe you, both in your home, but also in the church. When the church gathers, prayer should characterize you. I want my children, my wife, Lord willing, grandchildren one day to remember me as a man of prayer. You know, just early this morning before I came to preach at the 8 a.m., uh I bumped into Pastor Eric. And Pastor Eric asked me if he could pray for me. And that encouraged my soul. You and I, all of us, we should be men of prayer. And of course, this is not saying that only men are to pray, right? All of God's people are to devote themselves to prayer, men and women alike, and yet here he is specifically charging the men to pray. He goes on in the same verse and he talks about how we are to pray. So, number one, he's calling men to prayer, but now number two, he's also calling them to holiness. Calling men to holiness. Verse 8, again, I desire then that in every place the men should pray, but how? Lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling. Really, this is the same charge. It's not merely that men should pray, but men should lift hands in prayer that are holy hands. Now, that's not this legalistic charge that every time we pray, you must lift your hands, though we certainly can lift our hands before the Lord in prayer. The key word here is lifting up holy hands. You know, there is a connection with your holiness and the power of your prayers. There's a connection to that. Peter writes and talks about how uh men should live with their wives in an understanding way so that your prayers may not be hindered. Think about that. That passage has brought conviction to my heart and so many times, so that your prayers may not be hindered. James chapter 5, verse 16 says, the prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. And so this is not merely a call to prayer, man. This is a call to holiness. To be holy, which, if you're wondering, this is God's purpose for every Christian. To be holy is to be distinct, it's to be set apart, it's to be different. God says, I am holy, God saying he's holy, therefore you too should be holy. For I, the Lord your God, am holy. He's called us to holiness, literally to be different. We think about the word holiday. Well, what is the word holiday? It's holy day. A holy day. And what are we saying? We're saying it's a day that's unique, it's a day that's different. By definition, it's not common. Does that describe you? Uncommon. Does that describe you, men, in your workplaces? He is different. He talks differently than the rest. He jokes differently than the rest. He treats his wife differently than the rest. Does that describe you? Because this is the holy life. It's a set-apart life. It's different. And this is what God is calling us to as men of God to lift our holy hands without, look what he says, without anger or quarreling. Now we know that uh women can have anger and can quarrel as well, right? So why is he specifically addressing men in this regard? I think it's because that men perhaps, maybe, just might a little bit have more of a proneness to anger and quarreling. And so, in this regard, this is his charge to us, men. Don't be full of anger. Don't be full of quarreling about everything. Put that off. Pray to the Lord with holy hands. Let anger be put away from you. If you're filled with anger, don't leave here today without surrendering that to the Lord and repenting of that and walking in freedom. Lift your hands with holy hands. He's calling men to prayer. He's calling men to holiness. And then we get here to now what he's charging women with. So, number three, we see that he is calling women to modesty. He is calling women to modesty. Look at verse nine. He writes likewise also that the women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness with good works. He is talking about how the women should adorn themselves, he says, literally, what that means is clothe, how we decorate ourselves, how you adorn yourselves. How do you clothe yourselves? In that culture in their day, women were entering into the church with adorning themselves, clothing themselves with attire that was flaunting their wealth, flaunting their status, even potentially flaunting their bodies in a sensual way. And really, what was happening? It was distracting from worship. It was taking away from the main thing. He says, let the women adorn themselves in respectable apparel. And he describes what he means by that with modesty and with self-control, not with braided hair, gold, pearls, costly attire. What does he mean? Is he saying that braiding hair is wrong? Well, no. That's not his point. In fact, each of those things he's not saying in and of themselves are wrong. He's getting at the heart, he's getting at the motive. And we get clarity from 1 Peter chapter 3. Peter writes about this same subject, and in 1 Peter chapter 3, Peter says, Do not let your adorning be external. And then he describes the braiding of hair, the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear. He's not saying don't wear clothes. What he's saying is your focus should be the heart. Look what he says, he goes on. But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart. With the listen to these words, sisters. With the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious. The Bible says in Samuel, the Lord doesn't see as the man sees. Man looks at the outside, but the Lord looks at the heart. He sees the heart. And that's what he's getting at in this passage. He's not saying don't dress beautifully. He's not saying dress like a nun. No. The concern is the heart. The concern is the motive behind how you dress. That's his concern. You see, our behavior, what we do, and our heart are always connected. In fact, the things that we do, even whether we're speaking words or how we dress ourselves or how we talk, these things are a window into our heart. The Bible says that the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. If you want to know what somebody's heart is, where their heart is at, just listen to their words. The mouth speaks what the heart is full of. So our behavior in our heart is connected. What his charge is is that women would commit to modesty in the heart. And the natural fruit of that is it's going to look in modesty on the outside. How do you dress yourself? Is the question. What is your main focus? Is your main focus dressing yourself with godliness? What he's warning of is about women who are dressing for the reason of showing off their wealth, showing off their status, or dressing to show off their bodies and sensuality. Well, both of those reveal a heart that is not focused on Christ. And so he's saying, dress yourself with good works. Dress yourself with gentleness and kindness. Don't live for attention. To the sisters in here who are not married, I would encourage you, don't try to get a man's attention by showing your body. You will not attract a godly man. And if there's anything I can tell you, and I'm sure every married woman in this room would agree, what you want is a godly man. That is what you want. Dress yourself with godliness. He's calling women to modesty. And now, number four, he is calling women to learn submissively. To learn submissively. Look at verse 11. He says, 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. Now, before we unpack this, I want us all to remember something and understand something. In Genesis chapter 1, we see God created man and woman in his own image. We said that earlier, but I want to read it to you. In Genesis chapter 1, 27, it says, So God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female and He created them. Listen, if you're in this room, to the men in this room, you are an image bearer of God. To the women in this room, you are an image bearer of God. We both alike bear God's image. We both alike, men and women, are equal in his sight, precious in his sight, equal in value, in worth, and dignity. Some of you love your pet dogs so much, you are more valuable than the most loving dog you've ever had. I love driving down country roads and I love looking at the scenery and beautiful trees, and I'm amazed by the beauty of God's creation. But understand this, you as people, image bearers of God, you're more valuable than the trees. That sounds insane that we have to clarify that. You're more valuable. You're made in his image. That's why all people are valuable and precious in his sight. And while at the same time he made them male and female, the Bible also says that God, equal as we are, he gave us distinct roles. He gave us distinct roles. And we see this in Ephesians chapter 5. Turn to the left in your Bible. Go to Ephesians chapter 5, looking at verses 22 to 24. Ephesians 5, 22 to 24. Here we see explicitly, though it's all throughout the Old Testament, we see this idea of headship. And I want to go here. It's looking at the idea of male headship specifically in the home. And the reason why I want to go here is because if we don't understand male headship, and if we don't understand what that means and what it looks like in the home, then we're not going to understand what Paul is getting at in 1 Timothy. And so in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22 to 24, look what he says. He says, Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its savior. Now, as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands. I want you to, in your Bible, I want you to circle that word head. We see it twice. In verse 23, he says, For the husband is the head of the wife, even as he likens it to Christ's relationship with his church, us, even as Christ is the head of the church. And so in the same way that Jesus is all of our head, he says that the husband is uniquely the head of the wife. Now, what does that mean? Headship entails leadership. Headship entails responsibility. Think about a head coach of a team. The one who is the head coach of a team is the one who is responsible for leading and the one who has to answer. When things aren't going well, literally think about this, men. One day we as husbands are going to stand before God in a unique way, in a way that your wife will not. You will stand before God and give an account for how you led your wife, for how you loved your wife, for how you served your wife, how you discipled your wife and your family. We'll give an account for that. And so this idea of headship, men, is not something that we should be dancing, walking out of the room about. It's something that should really make us tremble. Responsibility and leadership. This is what he has given to men. And so my question to you men in the room who are married: are you the leader of your home? Are you leading your family spiritually? Are you just like what we read in verse 8? Are you gathering your wife and children together to pray to the Lord? To open up God's word with your family to the Lord? You know, some of you in this room may be sitting here, like, well, look, you don't know my past, you don't know, like I have failed over and over as a leader. Like, I just can't do that. I can't get there. God's grace is sufficient. I don't care how many times you have failed, we have all failed. There's only one perfect man, Jesus Christ. We have all failed. And so if you have failed to lead as a husbandman, I would encourage you, go before the Lord today and forgive and ask the Lord to forgive you, repent of that, but rest in his forgiveness. He takes the burden. Walk freely and joyfully in him. Confess that to your wife. Ask for her forgiveness and move on. Move forward in this regard. And to the ladies in the room, I would encourage you to give him the space to lead, even though you could do it better. Even though when he takes initiative, it's at the worst moment. Give him space. Encourage him. Support him in his leadership. Sisters in Christ, don't knock him down. Build him up. Build him up. He says the husband's the head of the wife. But then he says 22, wives submit to your own husbands. I want to unpack this. What does he mean when he says wives to submit to their own husbands? To submit literally means to yield. Yield. To submit literally means to follow. It's to come under the authority of another. Now, just so we're very clear, he is not saying that all women are to submit to all men. Amen. That's not what he's saying. Wives, submit to your own husbands. I remember years ago, years ago, my wife and I, I was wondering if the Lord was leading me to take an internship at a church up in DC. And I remember one of the things I wanted to do before I pursued that was I wanted to bring my wife and have her check it out and see what she thought of it. And I remember sitting in the service there, and then after the service, very eager, what does she think? What does she think about it? And I remember afterwards I asked her, and she looked at me and she said, Blake, I did not like it. But I'll follow you here. I'm with you, I'm on your team. And you know, for me as a man, and guys and ladies, understand that I have failed more times than I've gotten it right. But for me as a man, in that moment, it was very clear. Because when we think about what headship is, this leadership responsibility, I'm the leader of my home. But this leadership is always done in light of what is best for my wife, and not only that, what is best for my children, and then you and I, men, come last. That's the nature of our leadership, that's the nature of our responsibility. And so that was very clear to me. This is not where the Lord has us. And we went home. I'm the leader of my home. My wife has a voice. Her voice is valued, her voice is treasured. And so, to the ladies in this room, I would encourage you to follow him, even as imperfect as he is. None of us are perfect, only Christ. And I would encourage you, ladies and men, to teach this to your children. Help your children see the goodness of God's design before they buy the lie from the world that God's design is evil. Just after 8 a.m., I had a lady come up to me and she said, I wish I knew this when I was 17. If this is God's design for marriage, how important is it? How important is it then, the one that our daughters choose to marry? Teach them this. Why do I bring up male headship in the home? Because male headship in the home now gives us clarity and understanding for what we see in 1 Timothy chapter 2. Go back to 1 Timothy chapter 2. In 1 Timothy chapter 2, really what he's expounding on is what male headship is to look like in the local church. How does this look in the local church? Verse 11, he says, Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. Now, first of all, look and notice, he says, Let a woman learn. Even that, in that day and age, that was very counter-cultural. It was very counter-cultural. Think about what Jesus did when Jesus is there in Mary and Martha's home. Martha is serving, but where is Mary at? Sitting at his feet, learning. That was novel. That's not something the Jews practice in that day. They're called to learn. We all learn by God's word. We all, men and women, we need theology. The truth about God, the truth about what God has spoken to us in his word. He says, Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. And then verse 12, he says, I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man. Well, remember, Paul is writing with the authority as an apostle. He's writing with the authority of an apostle behind them. He laid that out in verse 1 and 2 of this letter. And so what does he not mean? When we're looking at verse 12, I want to be clear about what he does not mean. First of all, he is not saying that women are to be absolutely silent when the church comes together. We know in other parts of Scripture that we're all called to sing, and we're all called to lift our voices to the Lord in prayer. So that's not what he is saying. He's not saying either that women don't play an essential role in ministry. To the women in this room, you play an essential role in the advancement of the gospel. Absolutely essential. Titus chapter 2 makes that clear, where he's exhorting the older women to train the younger women. Not only that, we see women teaching children in 2 Timothy. Timothy's life was changed because of his mother and his grandmother. Many of us in this room, you in this room, your life has been absolutely changed because of your faithful, loving mother. My mother started reading the scriptures to me on a very, very consistent basis. I remember when I was in high school, and I point to that as what God used to completely transform my life. They're teaching and mentoring other women, teaching children. Women can and should provide counsel and even at times correction to men in a one-on-one way. In Acts chapter 18, we see Priscilla and Akilah, husband and wife, and they have Apollos there who's been preaching the word, and they bring him into their home and they correct him, they sharpen him. I am very thankful for the sisters in this church who have met with me at times to correct me, to sharpen me. Very thankful and very useful. Women should go to the mission field. Women, just like men, are called to spread the gospel, to share the gospel with your friends, with your family, with your neighbors and coworkers. Spread the gospel. So what does it mean then? What does it mean? I don't want to beat around the bush and hit all the other things that it doesn't mean. What does it mean? I want us to be so clear about what it does mean. What it does mean is that in the church, number one, women cannot hold the office of pastor, elder, or overseer. That according to the scriptures, that is an office that is reserved for men as qualified by scripture. That's what the Bible teaches. We see that here when he's talking about this leadership. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Remember, context is in the church, in the local church. Number two, it means that women cannot teach and preach to mixed-gendered audiences when the church gathers together. Now you may be hearing that, you may be wondering to yourself, why is that? Why is that? Paul answers that question in the next verse. If you're wondering, well, why is that? Look at verse 13 in your Bible, and we get insight, we get clarity into why that is. In verse 13, he says, For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Now, if you notice, he doesn't mention a specific situation in the church in Ephesus here. He doesn't mention that. Also, notice very importantly, he doesn't mention that this has anything to do with giftedness. That is not true. It doesn't have anything to do with intellect or knowledge. That also is not true at all. It doesn't have anything to do with men being superior or inferior at all. Or equal in God's sight. Where does he anchor the command? Where does he root the reason for this? He roots it in creation. He roots it in God's order of creation. He says, for Adam was formed first. Now, some of you may be hearing this and you may be wondering to yourself, but what about the context? What about the context? What about the context, right? So many people in our day will look at this passage of scripture and immediately that's the thing is, well, what about the context? What about the context? Well, let's let's look at that. Let's talk about that. Because I've heard many people say, that was just for the church then, that's not for today. The problem with that is God or Paul roots it in creation. He roots it in creation. Therefore, it's applying for all time, it's applying to the church. It's an ongoing application even for today. Well, some may say, but yes, wasn't it written for a specific time in a specific context? Yes, but the whole Bible was. Think about it. We don't throw away the book of Galatians. We don't throw away this idea that uh salvation is by grace through faith, not of works at all, because that was just the context for Galatia. No, it applies to us. The whole Bible was written to a specific time and a specific people. And so it is for us today. But some people else will say, you may be wondering, well, isn't this just so unclear? Like there's so many disagreements about this today, right? One person sees it this way, another person sees it this way. Can we really know? Isn't it very unclear? Listen, it is true. You can go home today, and you can Google, and you can find somebody to write about this subject matter that agrees with you, that agrees with any position you hold. You can find somebody to agree with you. But I want to warn you, the Bible tells us that in latter days, people will not endure, they won't put up with sound teaching, and instead, they will look for teachers to suit their own passions, to suit what they already think and feel. And if that doesn't persuade you, just this idea of it's not clear, it's not clear, just consider this that the church, God's people, for 1900 years, this was not a confusing subject. For men and women, it wasn't confusing. I heard a story about Elizabeth Elliot. She was the wife of Jim Elliott, who was martyred while being a missionary in Ecuador. And Elizabeth Elliot, there continuing the work of ministry even after her husband's death. It's said about her that she would take a Christian man from the Alca tribe, and for the sake of her conviction to God's design, she would study God's word, meet with him, give him this outline to preach the word, even though she could do it better. Because of her commitment to God's design. This this subject, this subject of women pastors is such a significant subject today. It's really a linchpin debate today. And the reason for that is because the authority of scripture hangs in the balance with this subject. Here's the thing when you when churches cower to the culture over this issue, more compromises always follow. And when you compromise, you have lost complete authority of scriptures. And really, Christ is no longer the head of the church in that scenario. Because here's the problem. If you can take the word, which says, I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, and you can somehow manipulate that to mean God does permit this, you can do anything you want with the Bible. The Bible becomes your playground. This is why this subject is so important. And my encouragement to us is to embrace God's good design. His plan is good, his purposes are good, they are life-giving. Remember what the devil whispered to Eve's mind. Did God really say? Sowing doubt, God's trying to limit you. That is what the devil whispered to Eve. Oh, he really knows that you'll be like him. He's trying to limit you. This is what he is doing for us today. God's design is good. We finish in verse 15, and we see here a rather what looks like a very confusing statement. Look at verse 15 of your Bible. As he concludes, he says, For Adam was formed first and Eve, Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor, verse 15. Yet she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control. What does he mean by that? She will be saved through childbearing. Is he saying that by giving birth a woman is safe from her sins? Well, no. Not at all. We're saved by grace through faith, not of works. Childbearing doesn't save anybody. That's not what his point is. And he's also not saying that a woman who has born children is more valuable or more special than a woman who has not. Not what he's saying at all. What is he getting at then? Well, you can imagine that a stigma, the potential stigma around Eve being the one, according to what it says here, who was deceived and became a transgressor, that she was tricked. What he's saying is, don't be discouraged. Don't fall into the stigma. In fact, on a general level, women through childbearing have a unique privilege that is special to a woman that is different, something that a man can't even understand. That women have the capacity, the ability by being the, generally speaking, the primary caregivers of children, a unique blessing. Something special, something unique. A blessing that they have to raise children in the way of Christ, a unique way for a mom to influence her children. Abraham Lincoln said, All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel mother. John Wesley said, I learned more about Christianity from my mother than from all the theologians in England. Billy Graham said, It was my mother's example as much as her words that led me to Christ. To the sisters in Christ, if you are tempted today to be discouraged, don't be. Be encouraged. Whatever season of life you're in, whatever role God has you in in this moment, God's purpose for you is good and important and essential. As we close, I want to ask you, what are you anchored to? As you think about what you believe and as you think about how you live your life, what are you anchored to? Where do you drop your anchor? Do you drop your anchor in the ever-changing weather of the culture? Do you drop your anchor in what just seems right to you? What seems right to me in my eyes? This is my challenge for us, my encouragement, as that all of us, individually, but also corporately, us, would we drop our anchor on God's word and commit ourselves to God's good design for our life? And more importantly, would we drop our anchor on Christ Jesus Himself, the one who loves you, the one who died for you, the one who rose to life for you, the one who now is our King, our Savior, our shepherd, and the one who is coming again to bring us fully to himself. Would you trust in him today and every day? Let's pray. Father, we bow before you. We want your will for our lives. We want to worship you, Lord, in the ways that are pleasing to you. Help us. Help us to embrace your word in all things. Help us to take you at your word, to trust in your word, and to obey you. Lord, I pray that we would all lift up our voices now with joyful hearts to the one who is worthy of all praise and all honor. Would we conform our lives to your will for us, your unique will for each of us in this room. We give you this time. It's in Christ's name I pray. Amen. Hey, we are glad you could join us this morning. We pray that this message speaks life into your walk with Jesus. If you don't have a home church, we'd love to see you in person. And don't forget to subscribe for all of our content.