Priority of Adam in the Creation

Introduction to the Agitated Subject of Gender Roles and Apostolic Authority

0:06 This sermon was preached on Sunday evening, May 3, 1981, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:16 Now may I urge you please to turn in your own Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 2, 1 Timothy chapter 2, and follow as I read verses 8 through 15. 1 Timothy chapter 2, beginning with verse 8. I desire, therefore, that the men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands without wrath and disputing, in like manner that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly raiment, but which becometh women professing godliness through good works. Let a woman learn in quietness, with all subjection.

1:14 But I permit not a woman to preach, nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being utterly beguiled hath fallen into transgression. But she shall be saved through her childbearing, if they continue in faith.

1:38 And she shall be saved through her childbearing, if they continue in faith. And she shall be saved through her childbearing, if they continue in faith. After a digression of two Lord's Day evenings, we return tonight to our consideration of this very crucial portion of God's holy and infallible Word. It should be quite obvious to anyone, even remotely in touch with the present currents of thought and concern in our society, that the whole issue of the relative roles of men and women is a deeply agitated subject.

2:16 Both in society at large, as well as in the church, the questions pertaining to the respective roles of men and women is a question that is confronted on every hand. Now regardless of the degree of pressure brought to bear by a godless society, and by the pace of hatred and mockery towards the people of God, the duty of God's people is plain. In a text such as Romans 12.2, the Apostle says, be not conformed to this age, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God. One has paraphrased the opening words of that text in this way, Don't let the world screw you! Am I finding there any several pauses that I should draw?

3:08 into its mold. And if ever that word was needed, it is needed in this hour of agitation over the respective roles of men and women in the home and in the church. And there are few passages in all of the Word of God in which these matters are more clearly addressed, more pointedly addressed, more clearly addressed than the passage which has been read in your hearing. Now, for the benefit of any who are with us tonight who have not been with us for the five previous expositions, and for the benefit of those who are joining us by means of the radio broadcast, I want to discuss... I want to discuss still, into about eight or ten minutes at the most, the fruit of some five hours of exposition and application.

4:03 I have suggested that in approaching this passage we should regard it under the analogy of a target. And if rightly understanding the passage is hitting the bullseye, we must first of all land an arrow in the outer four circles that surround the bullseye. And those four...

4:23 Those four circles are four fundamental biblical truths and principles. And any effort rightly to understand this passage will generally fail of its goal unless these four principles are kept in mind. The first one is the unique and perpetual authority of this entire letter. When we come to verses 8 through 15, and we read the words, I desire therefore that the men pray, and further on the words, but I permit not a woman to teach, we must remember that we are not reading the words of a mere fellow man, albeit a noble and Christian man, but according to chapter 1 and verse 1, we are reading the words of an apostle of Jesus Christ. The letter begins with the words, Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus, according to the commandment of God, our Savior. And everything that is written in this epistle is written within that unique framework of apostolic authority, which is binding upon the church for all time. And then the second thing we must keep in mind as we think of our analogy of the target

Four Foundational Principles for Interpreting 1 Timothy 2:8-15

5:44 is the general teaching of Scripture concerning the fundamental areas of absolute equality between men and women. The Bible is very clear that in terms of the dignity of creation, male and female are absolutely equal. Genesis 1 tells us that God made them male and female in his own image and after his likeness. Secondly, men and women are absolutely equal in sharing in the tragic results of the fall.

6:21 The Bible says, in Adam, all die. All have sinned, male and female, and come short of the glory of God. And then, thankfully, the word of God makes it abundantly clear that men and women are equal in terms of the privileges of redemptive standing in Christ. In Galatians 3, we are told that in Christ there is neither male nor female.

6:50 So whatever Paul is teaching, he is teaching to men and women. The Bible says that in terms of the dignity of creation, the tragedy of the fall, and the privileges of redemption, men and women are equal in their roles and degrees of worship, and the importance of the spirit of the Spirit is addressed by the inspiration of the Spirit in 1 Timothy 2, 8-15. With respect to these respective roles, the differing functions within the church of male and female, he is in no way contradicting that broader teaching given by the same Spirit throughout the length and breadth of Scripture that adds to the dignity of creation, the tragedy of the fall, and the privileges of redemption, men and women. And in the same way, when we look at the creation of God, we see in the last part of the Bible that the Christ, the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, same spirit throughout the length and breadth of Scripture that adds to the dignity of creation, the tragedy of the fall, and the privileges of redemption, men and women are equal.

7:24 But then there is a third concern as we move in now closer to the bullseye in our target analogy, and that is the pressing apostolic burden in this letter. According to chapter 3 and verses 14 and 15, Paul, anticipating that he would return to the area of Ephesus, is not certain that he will be able to return or how long it will be until he returns. And so his great concern is expressed in verse 15, But if I tarry long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God. He is concerned with behavior in the house of God, which he describes further on in this passage as the church of the living God. And so the passage is not dealing exhaustively with the relative roles and responsibilities of men and women. It is speaking particularly to the issue of the role of men and women in the house of God. That is, in the gathered assembly.

8:34 The assembly of the people of God, the church of the living God. And then finally, and now we are close to the bullseye I trust, is what I have called the immediate contextual concerns, verses 8 through 15 of 1 Timothy, do not hang on a literary sky hook. They come to us deeply embedded in what precedes and what follows. Paul has given instruction.

9:04 Paul has given instruction concerning congregational prayer, the subject matter, the scope, the theological basis for the prayers of God's people in verses 1 to 7 of chapter 2, and then immediately takes up the question, who then should pray after this manner? And his answer is, I desire therefore in the light of my directions concerning congregational prayer, I desire that the men pray. Then in chapter 3 verses 1 to 13, he is going to give specific direction concerning the official office-bearers of the church, elders, overseers, and deacons. And assumed in the requirements given in this passage is that they will be male members of the congregation. The requirements do not give the slightest indication that Paul anticipated the election of female elders or female priests. female deacons. Well, then the question would naturally arise, what is the precise and specific function of women in the church? If, according to verse 8, which draws back to verses 1 to 7 in the

10:18 thought pattern, the men are to take the lead in prayer, and if, according to the following context, the men are to be found in positions of official leadership, pray tell, what is to be the function of women in the house of God? And it is that question which the apostle takes up and treats in some detail in verses 9 through 15. Well, so much, then, for those four broad principles that must be kept in mind if we are rightly to understand this portion of the Word of God. Now, coming to the passage itself, it is evident that there are two very simple, major divisions.

Specific Directives for Men and Women in the Church

11:01 Verse 8, it is a specific word of direction to the men. I desire, therefore, that the men pray in every place. And then verses 9 through 15 contain specific words of direction to the women. Now, it is important to underscore and ever to remember that in this passage Paul does not use the generic term for mankind, anthropos, but he uses aner and gune.

11:32 The specific words for males and for females. Now, his word of direction to the men is very simple and forthright. Men are to take the lead in prayer in the house of God. Men are to take the lead in prayer in every house of God. Men are to take the lead in prayer in a context of spiritual reality, lifting up holy hands without wrath and disputing. Now, equally, clear is the word of direction to the women beginning in verse 9. First of all, Paul speaks of their appearance in the house of God in verses 9 and 10. In like manner, the verb I will understood, in like manner I will that the women adorn themselves. And so he speaks of that external

12:24 bearing of women when they come to the house of God. A bearing and demeanor which is consistent with the profession of God. And so he speaks of that external bearing of women when they come to the house of God. And so he speaks of that external bearing of women when they come to the house of God.

12:33 Then he addresses himself to their specific conduct in verses 11 and 12. And here he does so in a positive and negative pattern. Positively, let a woman learn in quietness with all subjection. Negatively, I permit not a woman to teach nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness.

12:58 Now, I have given you in ten minutes a brief overview of the word of God. And I have given you a brief overview of what took us some five hours to hammer out over the course of some five Lord's Day evenings. Now we pick up tonight with verse 13, in which the apostle, by the inspiration of the Spirit, gives us the rationale, the reasons behind these directives. Why is it that the men are to take the lead in prayer? Why is it that the women are to take the lead in prayer?

13:32 Why is it that the men are to learn in quietness with all subjection? Why is it that women are not permitted to teach or to usurp authority or exercise authority over men in the house of God? And I keep underscoring, it is that concern which is before the apostle's mind. Well, you'll notice that verse 13 begins with the little word, for. There is a reason behind these directives.

The Rationale: Adam's Priority in Creation and Eve's Priority in the Fall

14:02 And the word for introduces those reasons. Notice the language. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into the transgression. The reasons for these directions in verses 13 and 14 are basically two. Reason number one is that Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into the transgression. The reason number one is the priority of Adam in the creation. Adam was first formed. Secondly, the priority of the woman in the fall. Adam was not deceived, the woman was utterly deceived. Now one thing should be evident at the outset of our study, that the reasons for the directions in this passage concerning the relative roles of men and women are reasons that are taken from the Garden of Eden. In other words, they are above the reach of current cultural standards. They are above and beyond the reach of personal opinion or prejudice.

15:21 They are beyond the reach of changing historical circumstances. The reasons are embedded in the Garden of Eden. Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not beguiled, but the woman being beguiled hath fallen into the transgression.

15:32 He was first formed, and the record of that takes us back to those opening chapters of the book of Genesis. Now all we'll have time to do tonight is to consider this first reason, the priority of Adam in creation, as being the basis for these relative roles. First of all then, let's seek to grapple with the meaning of these words. What do the words mean?

16:02 words as they stand before us in the text of Scripture, Adam was first formed, then Eve. Well, this very language is based upon the language of the Bible that was available to the people there at Ephesus, a Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint, and in that Greek translation, this very word, formed, is the central word used to describe God's creating work in Genesis chapter 2. Will you turn, please, to that portion of the Word of God with me? In Genesis chapter 2, we read, verse 7, And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. And man became living soul. Then we have the record of God planting a garden, placing man in that garden with a specific task. And then we have God's word of commandment to the man in verse 16.

17:13 Then a conclusion is drawn with respect to the creation of man without woman in verse 18. The Lord God said, It is not good that the man...

17:24 should be alone. I will make him help, meet, or answering to him. And then God gave Adam a further task. He was to name all of the animals in the garden.

17:37 Having accomplished that task, it's said that Adam did not find his counterpart among all of those noble creatures that God had made. There was nothing that answered to his need. And so the Word of God tells us at the conclusion of verse 20, There was not found a help, meet, or answering to him. So what did God do?

18:00 Verse 21, The Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept. And he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man made he a woman and brought her unto the man. And the man said, This is now bone of my bones.

18:24 This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Now, when Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 2, Adam was first formed and then Eve, he was giving in a very cryptic summary form a reference to this entire Genesis narrative. Adam was formed first.

18:53 Then after these various events recorded in Genesis chapter 2, God, as it were, anesthetizes Eve, anesthetizes Adam, takes one of his ribs, forms the woman, and brings her to the man. Now, that's a fact, a hard, immovable, concrete fact of divine revelation. When Paul said Adam was first formed, this was not a notion. This was not a revelation that he concocted in his own head.

19:26 This was not something that he conceived of as forming perhaps some kind of a justification for the projection into the church of a male chauvinistic mentality. It is a simple fact of biblical history. Adam was first formed, then Eve. Now, that's the obvious meaning of the words, and we've ascertained their meaning from the scriptures themselves.

Significance of Adam's Priority: Headship and Responsibility

19:54 But now then, having ascertained the meaning of the words, we must ask the question, what is the significance of this fact for the issues at hand? You see, Paul does not introduce this fact without a cause. No, there is a vital connection between all that is preceded. I permit not a woman to teach.

20:16 I do not permit a woman to exercise authority over a man. Let the woman learn. And in silence with all subjection, for Adam was first formed, then Eve. In other words, there is a tremendous significance in this fact of Adam's priority in the details of creation.

20:42 And we can begin to grasp the significance when we recognize in the passage from Genesis that there is clearly attached to Adam's priority. In creation, a position of headship, of leadership, and of responsibility not given to the woman. For instance, it is obvious from Genesis chapter 2 that there was a period of time, albeit it had to be a matter of hours on that sixth day of creation, when Adam, by direct revelation, received information from God. Which is always...

21:23 Only conveyed to Eve through Adam as her teacher and instructor. The text says that God made the man. He put the man into the garden to dress it and to keep it. He commanded the man, saying, of every tree you may eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not eat.

21:45 All of these things were things revealed directly to Adam by revelation. From God, Eve becomes pretty to them as Adam instructs her after her creation. Furthermore, there is a period of time when Adam stands directly under the authority of God with no Eve at his side. Now, granted, that condition was not good.

22:15 It is not good for the man to be alone, but he was alone. Under the direct authority of God with no woman at his side. There was never a time when Eve stood thus directly under God. The moment she came into being, Adam was at her side.

22:34 The Lord God brought her to the man, so that all of the fulfillment of her obligations to God have some reference to that relationship that she sustains to Adam. You see the difference? Adam was first formed, then Eve. Furthermore, the passage...

22:55 In Genesis 2 reveals that the time lapse made Adam feel his incompleteness without a help answering to him. And the very reason for God's forming the woman is clear in the passage. I will make a helper for him. I will make a help of his like, one Hebraist translates it.

23:21 But you'll notice that the man was not... He was not made to complement the woman, though he does.

23:29 The woman was made to complement the man in the very act of creation. Now, do you feel that perhaps I'm reading too much into or reading too much out of the Genesis narrative by pointing out those facts? Well, if you do, let me turn you to 1 Corinthians chapter 11. And here you will notice that I have simply underscored the fact that the woman was not made to complement the woman, though he does.

23:55 The woman was made to complement the man in the very act of creation. I have also underscored some of the principles which, by inspiration, are drawn from this very passage. Here in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, Paul is dealing with a similar subject, the relative roles and responsibilities and authority structures obtaining between men and women. Verse 3, I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.

24:31 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoreth his head. But every woman praying or prophesying, with her head unveiled, dishonours her head. For it is one and the same as if she were shaven. For if a woman is not veiled, let her also be shorn.

24:48 But if it is a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be veiled. For a man indeed ought not to have his head veiled. As much as he is the image and glory of God, but the woman is the glory of the man. Now, I'm sure you have a thousand questions about those verses, keep them in reserve.

25:06 I'll not address myself to them, but I want you to notice particularly the teaching of verse 8. Verse 8, For the man is not of the woman, but the woman of the man. A direct reference to Genesis 2. When God took Adam's rib, and of that rib he made a woman.

25:24 Verse 8. The woman was not made of the woman, but the woman was made of the man. For neither was the man created for the woman, but the woman for the man. Again, a reference to Genesis.

25:40 It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make a helper answering to him, the woman was made for the man. For this cause ought the woman to have a sign of authority on her head because of the angels. Nevertheless.

25:54 Neither is the woman without the man, nor the man without the woman in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, in the original creation, so is the man also by the woman. Any man who lives came from a woman's womb, but all things are of God. And you see the apostle in dealing with this question in the Corinthian church goes right back to Genesis chapter 2 and extracts these very principles to show the significance of God.

26:23 Verse 8. The woman was not made of the man, but the man was created for the man. For this cause ought the man to have a sign of authority on her head because of the angels. Again, a reference to Genesis.

26:27 It is not good that the woman was made of the man, but the woman for the man. For this cause ought the man to have a sign of authority on her head because of the angels. And you see the apostle in dealing with this question in the Corinthian church goes right back to Genesis chapter 2 and extracts these very principles to show the significance of the priority of Adam in creation. Now, in summary, then, we may say that the first reason given for the directives regarding a woman's role in the house of God is that which pertains to the priority of Adam in creation.

26:48 God was hereby fixing for all time the relative roles of males and females. Now, this has nothing to do with inherent dignity as creatures made in the image of God. It has nothing to do with intelligence or grace or IQ. It has to do with matters of aner and bune, maleness and femaleness, and whatever Genesis 3.16 means.

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27:57 and abusing their appointed sphere of responsibility. But the fall and the subsequent refusal and abuse of that responsibility cannot go back and negate the reality of the created order. Adam was first formed, then Eve. It stands there, immovable as the rock of Gibraltar, and there is only one way to bring about an irrational for the reversal of the roles, and that is to obliterate the human race, get God in a hammerlock, and tell Him to create it anew in a different order.

28:39 And until Almighty God does that, and He has no intentions of doing it, this shall forever stand. Adam was first formed, then Eve. That's the fact. The implications of the fact, we have seen in the light of the text in Genesis, in the light of the statements of 1 Corinthians 11.

Application 1: The Vitality of the Detailed Creation Account

29:01 Now, having ascertained the meaning of the words, Adam was first formed, then Eve, the significance of those words for the issues at hand, now, finally, I want to set before you four lines of application as these things pertain to our current situation. And the first one is this. Behold, how vital is the Biblical account of creation in all of its details. Behold, how vital is the Biblical account of creation in all of its details.

29:43 You see, there are some who even name themselves evangelicals who say, well, the only thing that is really important is that we believe in the beginning, God. As long as we believe that God created, as long as we believe that God did it, how He did it is of little consequence.

30:02 Is that true? Not according to the Word of God. You see, the Word of God not only tells us who created, but it gives us a broad outline of how He created in Genesis 1, and in Genesis 2, it gives us specific details, particularly with respect to the creation of the man and the woman. And the entire rationale for the present relative roles of men and women rests down upon the account of creation in its details.

30:40 If all we had was the statement of Genesis 1, we would not know that Adam was first formed, for Genesis 1 simply states, and I read now from Genesis 1, verse 26, And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the heaven, and over the cattle. And God created man in His own image. In the image of God created He him, male and female created He them. Now, you might be able to say, well, in the text, male is mentioned first, and therefore there is an inference that perhaps, but that's all you could say.

31:22 You see, it is the specific details of chapter 2, which demonstrate that God formed man of the dust and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, directly revealed to him his task, directly revealed to him the whole matter of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, gave him a job to perform in dressing the garden and keeping it, gave him an additional task in naming the animals, and as Adam began to fulfill those responsibilities, he was brought to the consciousness that, that it was not good for him to be alone. Adam was first formed. There is this priority in creation, and all that surrounds it, as we have seen, then and only then, does the Lord God cause a deep sleep to fall upon him, and form the woman and bring her unto the man. Now, you see in the light of that, how vital is the biblical account of creation in all of its details? We find our blessed Lord, using that original account in precisely the same way, when dealing with the thorny question of marriage and divorce. In the 19th chapter of Matthew, the leaders of the Jewish nation come to him, the religious leaders, and ask him a question with respect to the permanence of the marriage bond.

32:45 And you remember how he responded to them. He said, Have you not read? Have you not read that he who made them in the beginning made them male and female? And he alludes to Genesis 1.

32:56 Then he jumps right over to the end of Genesis 2, and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife, and they too shall be one flesh, what therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. You see, our Lord himself builds on these opening chapters the basic structure for his teaching on the sanctity, the permanence of the marriage bond. And when, for whatever reason, it begins to be fashionable to relinquish the biblical account of creation in its entirety, in all of its details, we are undermining the very foundation of ethical conduct. You see, if man is nothing but the highest, or at least, according to some, others say no, he's a mutant, he's not the highest. But if man is the highest, or somewhere up near the top of the ladder of the ultimate expression of primeval ooze, then how can there be any fixed sexual roles? How can there be any categories of I permit not and I suffer not? How can there be any distinctive maleness or femaleness, if sexuality is just an accident in the evolutionary process?

34:15 But if human sexuality and all that surrounds it, constituting maleness and femaleness, are an expression of the wisdom and love, and I hope I'm not irreverent by saying it, the creative genius of God, then there is significance in what he did and how he did it. Adam was first formed, and God did it that way on purpose to teach us something, that in that priority Adam stands directly under God. Eve never thus stood directly under God, in that same sense. And that's the key to the meaning of those words in 1 Corinthians 11 with respect to Adam being the glory of God and Eve being the glory of man. Behold how vital is the Biblical account of creation in all of its details. But secondly, behold the tragic results of the fall of man. If sin had not entered the human race, man would have assumed their kind, sensitive, thoughtful, and assertive headship over women.

Application 2: The Tragic Results of the Fall

35:34 Women would have assumed a grateful, trusting, intelligent, and supported submissiveness. And Eden would have been extended, as it were, to the ends of the earth. But sin has entered, and the work of sin upon the human heart is described graphically by Paul in Romans 8-7, when he says, The carnal mind is enmity against God. It is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can it be.

36:07 The carnal mind is enmity itself against God. And how does that enmity express itself? In resistance of the law of God. And what is the law of God?

36:19 It's the revealed will of God. And what is the revealed will of God? Let a woman learn, in subjection in all silence. I permit not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over a man, but to be in quietness.

36:36 That's the law of God, embedded in the very act of creation. How does sin manifest itself? When women rear back, as it were, on their hind legs and say, I will not be subject to Almighty God and His so-called law. I'm a woman with as much gray matter as any man.

36:58 And if I have as much gray matter and as much initiative and as much savvy and drive, there is nothing any man can do or be that I cannot do or be. And anyone who stands in my way is a male chauvinist pig. My friend, you'd better be careful what you call God. He was first formed chauvinist pig.

37:24 But by my ever-blessed, thrice holy, glorious God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, you watch what you call my God. Behold the tragic results of the fall. Women refusing to embrace their God-given place. Men refusing to embrace their God-given place of kind, sensitive, thoughtful, and assertive headship.

37:56 They either relinquish their headship or they assert it in a manner that is cruel and insensitive and thoughtless. It is causing a woman to feel that she is not a helper answering to the man's need, but she's either his plaything or his rug to walk upon. What a tragic thing sin has brought into the human race. And all of this present disruption over male and female roles and this sense of bitter competition and this warfare that has entered even into the church of Christ is a living, sad monument of the fact that we are a fallen race.

Application 3: The Gracious Purpose of God in Redemption

38:40 For the matter would never have even come up for discussion. But then behold in the third place, not only how vital is the entire account of creation in all of its details, not only the tragic results of the fall, but behold, and hear me carefully, behold the gracious purpose of God in redemption. This letter of Paul to Timothy is filled, not filled, but certainly suffused with statements of God's wonderful saving purpose in Christ. Verse 15 of chapter 1 is one of the greatest gospel texts in all of the Bible.

39:22 Faithful is the same, worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. He came to liberate sinners from their bondage to sin. Chapter 2, when he's giving the reason why we should pray for kings and rulers, he says in verse 3, this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who would have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. But now listen.

39:53 From those glorious statements of God's saving purpose in Christ, Paul moves very quickly into these words. Let a woman learn in quietness with all subjection. I permit not a woman to teach nor to have dominion over a man, but to be in quietness, for Adam was first formed. Do you see what the purpose of God is in redemption?

40:18 It is not to overthrow the categories of distinctive maleness and femaleness and the particular roles and responsibilities growing out of that identity. It is to bring us back to the hearty embrace of those roles, and then to fulfill them with grace and in the power of the Spirit. When Paul said Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, did he mean to teach? That means he has come to save us from the viciousness of any concept of maleness and femaleness and bring us to an androgynous concept where we are neither male nor female but simply human persons. You won't find that in the Bible, my friend. That's heresy that attacks not only the foundations of the doctrine of creation but the doctrine of redemption. When God constitutes us one new man in Christ Jesus in terms of redemptive privilege, that does not mean that He then neutralizes what we are as men and women.

41:28 We carry into our privileges of redemption all that we are distinctively as men and women, and the purpose of God in redemption is not to negate those things. That's why Paul is so concerned that in the house of God, the community of the redeemed, people reflect the purpose of redemption. You see it? He said, I'm concerned about behavior in God's house.

41:55 When people come amongst you, they say, who are you? What are you here for? What binds you together? You say, we're His redeemed ones.

42:02 We've partaken of a common salvation in Christ. And looking in upon us, they should see that that salvation does not negate or cancel the original purpose of God in creation. When Adam was first formed, then Eve. No, no.

42:18 What it does is it brings women to the place where from the heart they joyfully embrace their God-given identity. And men embrace from the heart their God-given identity. And people need to see in the heart the house of God, male leadership in a context in which women are regarded with dignity and love and honor and respect. One in which they behold women who do not grudgingly and with great reluctance, but with joy, submitting to the wisdom and purpose of God, follow that leadership which God raises up in their midst. Behold the gracious purpose of God in redemption. It is not a purpose to cancel the realities embedded in our humanity in creation. It is in that sense to return us to those original categories and to enhance them with all of the glories of redemptive activity in Christ as God brings to pass the new creation.

Application 4: The Impiety and Cruelty of Disregarding God's Teaching

43:32 And then my final word of application is this. Behold the impiety and cruelty of disregarding the plain teaching of this passage. Behold the impiety and the cruelty of disregarding the plain teaching of this passage. Impiety has reference to God.

43:54 It means the absence of reverence for God. Can you imagine yourself being a woman preacher, preaching through 1 Timothy chapter 2 and coming to this passage? and coming to this passage? Now I don't mean to be cheeky, but I want to throw out the challenge.

44:12 Can you imagine standing in a congregation of God's people? Now we're talking about the house of God. We're not talking about those situations where the Bible clearly reveals it is not only right and proper, but at times incumbent upon a woman to teach. We're talking about her being an official teacher in the house of God and thereby exercising an office of authority in the assembly of God's people.

44:37 Can you imagine being a woman and preaching verse by verse through 1 Timothy and coming to this passage? I'd love to see the kind of jig that one would have to dance around this passage. One certainly could not lay it open in its plain and obvious sense. Let a woman learn in quietness.

44:58 I permit not a woman to teach. Well, she can teach, but it's all right for her to preach. There's a tract sitting on my dresser. It's sitting on my dresser at home.

45:08 And that's the whole thesis. Oh, Paul obviously forbids teaching, but he says nothing about preaching. And the title is, Woman's Right to Preach. Now isn't that a very clever semantic jig around the text?

45:24 Well, you see, it's impiety to treat God and His Word in such a cavalier manner. We dare not do so and insult the Almighty. But it is not only an act of impiety. It's an act of cruelty.

45:39 We go back to our little bird and our little fish again. You do the bird no favor when you come to him and tell him you want to liberate him from his bondage of having only winged flight. You want him to discover the treasures of the deep parts of the sea. You do him no service when you plunge him fifty feet beneath the water of the ocean on a tether and hold him down for three hours.

46:10 You have nothing but the carcass of a little bird at the end of your marvelous experiment in bird liberation. It would be an act of cruelty. And it is an act of cruelty to force women or for women to force themselves into positions for which Almighty God never made them. When Paul said, Let a woman learn, he was not expressing some of the arrogance of his early rabbinic training.

46:40 He spoke it as a true lover of womanhood. He is the Paul who in his epistles again and again speaks of noble women, his helpers in the Lord, those fellow servants in the work of the gospel. And he knew women well. And he knew well that it is only in their appointed sphere that they can be truly blessed and truly useful.

47:06 It is cruelty to disregard the clear teaching of these words. This is why we insist in this assembly and this is why I challenge anyone within the sound of my voice tonight to take seriously this first bedrock reason for these directions. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And in that priority of creation, God has bound up the whole matter of His will with respect to male leadership and that will expressed in Genesis 2 is carried right on over into the house of God. And that will will never be altered or rescinded by the living God who has expressed it. Why is it that women should learn in subjection and in quietness? Why are they not permitted to teach nor exercise authority over men in the house of God?

48:14 Reason number one, Adam was first formed. May God grant that the truth of that text will be written upon our hearts. And if you find yourself in rebellion against it, my friend, your controversy is not with this preacher nor with the Apostle Paul but with the God of the Bible. And there is but one way to have that controversy resolved and that's to flee in repentance and faith to the Lord Jesus who came, lived the life we should have lived but did not, died the death we should have died on behalf of sinners.

48:54 And I bid you flee to Him. Confess to Him the arrogance, the impiety of daring to play God in assigning to yourself your own roles and your own functions. Bow to the God who made you and bow to the God who loves sinners enough to send His Son to die in their womb and in their stead. Let us pray.

49:24 Our Father, we are so thankful that we have the Scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments to be a lamp unto our feet and a light to our pathway. We thank You that in this greatly agitated issue to which we've addressed ourselves tonight, we are not left at the mercy of our own whims or current sociological problems. Nor sociological fads and ecclesiastical pronouncements and opinions. But that we have Your truth and eternal Word.

49:56 Oh, be pleased to write it upon our hearts. Be pleased to give us both understanding in its truth and grace to run in the way of its precepts. Holy Father, write then Your Word upon our hearts for the sake of Your dear Son, for the good of Your people. Hear us in this our prayer and receive our praise for Your presence with us through Jesus Christ our Lord.

50:27 Amen.