Read please in Genesis 2:4-9
Genesis 2:15-25.
Genesis 5:1,2.
Let's just pause and look up to God for a moment.
Today we're going to begin a two-part study on the role of women in the assembly. And I have to tell you, before we start, that I've had a very interesting time studying this subject - preparing, in fact - I've got so many notes here, and that's just for this week. But I've really been convinced that much of what I've read about the role of our sisters in the assembly has been either from a negative point of view - almost to put down - or criticisms which I disagree with and I find that Scripture does not hold that view; or it has begun in the wrong place, and it has not gone back to the beginning, and I felt it necessary to take perhaps the whole first message to lay some groundwork. So our first message is going to be of a rather general nature and will not get to real specifics until next Sunday. But I think when we do get there, it will be much easier.
Now first of all just a few very introductory thoughts, and then we'll begin to look at our material. First of all of course we want to point out that the sinful nature of man is marked by hatred and jealousy - and therefore not only women, but also all classes of people, have been treated unjustly and misrepresented and misunderstood at some period in history. Therefore, we cannot appeal to the sinful nature, or what is natural for man, as what is right.
Also we want to remind ourselves of our need to rest our case on the Word of God. We believe in the inerrancy of Scripture. We believe in the inspiration and the authority of the Word of God. Once this base is lost or we cut loose from this, then of course we have no standard. And it's "every man does what is right in his own eyes." And you the listener has to judge and see if I interpret God's Word faithfully and fairly. I've been reading a number of books unfortunately by Christian writers that in my opinion take a very low view of inspiration. One in particular protests that this is not a low view of inspiration, but ... I've just copied down a few quotes of the type of things that are being said about this subject. Of course the attack is always against the apostle Paul in his writings. And here are some of the kinds of things that are said by this one writer - "Paul suddenly remembers and the inconsistencies of his previous statements seem to strike him." It doesn't sound like one being guided by the Spirit of God in every word. "He ends up conscious that his reasoning may not be too convincing." Another statement says, "In 1 Corinthians, Paul does not seem quite sure of himself." And finally she finishes with this one "Paul admits that one or two of his judgments lack the authority of a clear ruling by Jesus." Now I think, as Christians, we can differ - we can have different interpretations on various subjects, but one thing we must not do is to weaken or cut out from under us the authority of the word of' God. And so we have in our study then be very careful to maintain the authority of Scripture.
I find in my studies that the subject of the role of women is very much like the subject of eternal security. That's a particular area where many times students question me. And I find that one of the chief errors in seeking to understand the security of the believer is in what we call proof- - well, I'll show you my verse and you'll show me your verse and we'll keep that up until somebody runs out of verses; and the one who seem to have the most and heaviest verses will win. Now, that's never a way to arrive at a biblical doctrine. And the doctrine of eternal security and like the one we're studying today does not come from gathering proof-texts but, arriving at an understanding of God's overall plan and purpose. Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1:20, no scripture is of any private or isolated interpretation. So all scripture must be consulted to gain an overall picture of God's plan. That's what we hope to do for a little while this morning.
Now just a word to the many singles in our audience, and I'm ever mindful of their presence. Try to discern in our studies here the general principles by which God would have you live. We're not going to try to narrow things down yet, and I do want to be aware of the fact there are many who are not yet married. By the way, I personally believe that if you have a strong desire for a life-partner that would probably be the best indication that that is God's will for you. The Holy Spirit working within you that strong desire. But at present, you are not married, and therefore I would just remind you of the principle in 1 Corinthians 7:32 where the unmarried person is described as one that careth for the things that belong to the Lord. That should be our guiding, our foundation stone in this time of life - caring for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord. We need to be content. We need to trust God that His purposes are going to be worked out in our lives. So, I ask you not to miss the principles that we're trying to discern from scriptures because of your specific situation. All of our situations are very different.
Well, then we need to spend a moment and define what we mean by the word 'role' - we're talking about the role of women. Well a 'role', as I see it, is a God-given function which reflects a design or a nature and moves towards a goal or a purpose. The role that one plays in society or in the local church or whatever, certainly in the assemblies, should be a God-given function which reflects a design or a nature and that moves towards a purpose. I would want to remind us all that God would never require anyone to fill a role, or to fulfill a role, that would violate their nature the way that He has made them. Unlike a clown whose outward appearance doesn't relate to what's going on in his heart, what the man is really like inside, on the outside he has a big smile but it may be very different in his life. God is calling us to take roles, and to play roles, and to be people that reflect the nature that He had given us. So since then the role of a person is determined by his nature and by God's overall plan, we need to spend some time and consider these two things.
So, first of all, a little bit about the nature of the man and the woman from creation. Our Lord Jesus Christ in Mark 10, and the apostle Paul in Ephesians 5, refer to creation account as the basis of God's original design. In other words, it was necessary for the Lord Jesus and Paul to go back to creation to find a touchstone on which to work from, and therefore I think we're justified in doing the same thing.
We've read together in Genesis 2, and I might just call your attention to some very brief things there. In chapter 1, we find the early creation of the earth in seven days and the account is given there in a very general way.
And then in chapter 2, beginning at verse 4, the writer (quite likely Moses) goes back and emphasizes in a special way that clarifies one particular point of creation - i.e. the formation of the man and the woman. And we read that together. And we found very interestingly that God put the man into the garden that He had made, and in verse 16, He commanded the man saying, and then He gave him those instructions about that forbidden tree. Now I think that it's unquestionable here that the plan of God here was that the man should communicate and teach these things to the woman. And in the following verses we find that it was God who said, (verse 18), it is not good that the man should be alone. And I don't think God wants any of His creation to be alone. He may not have a wife or a husband for us, but neither does He want us to cut ourselves off from people and live a hermit-life in isolation. The will of God involves people. And so God then brings the various creatures that He's made before Adam and we remember that not one was found that was suitable or complementary to Adam, and so then God performs the first surgical operation in history. He gives him the divine anesthesia there, sends him to sleep. And He takes a rib out of his side and He makes a woman (the word is literally 'builds' a woman) and He presents her to the man. And I think all of this to the thoughtful reader is very symbolic, it's very important. It actually happened, but there are volumes in the way God brought the man and the woman into being.
In verse 18, He says, "I will make an help fit for him"; and the word there, I understand, literally means 'corresponding' to him. She was to be a help and she was to correspond to the man, i.e. to fill out his personality and to be his other half, so that together they would make the one whole person. We saw this in chapter 5, and the couple was created and brought together. We read there that He called their name Adam. He didn't call them the Adamses; He called their name Adam. And this was God's creation - the man and the woman made in the image of God, given dominion over all creation, called to subdue it, to be fruitful and to multiply. My, they had a big responsibility. How'd you like to be the only two people on earth and told to subdue it? I have trouble with my own little garden - 20 foot square. And the whole world - that's a big assignment. Then, I don't live in the garden of Eden either.
Well, I want to draw some lessons that we read here in Genesis. I want to say a word about the man and about the woman and what I think is taught throughout scripture as their overall position before God.
The man is to take LEADERSHIP. Now it was his responsibility to teach the woman, and to instruct her as to what God had said. And it was his responsibility to name the animals, and whatever they were named that was their name, scripture says. We find when Adam and Eve had sinned against God, that God came looking for them. And you remember He said, "Adam, where art thou?" He was calling Adam to accountability because He had given Adam the instruction. He didn't say, "Adam and Eve where art thou?" He didn't say, "Eve where art thou?" because she sinned first. He said, "Adam, you are accountable, where are you?" And Adam had to answer. We know in Romans 5:12, speaking on doctrinal matters - the matter of what we call, original sin - Paul very correctly there says, "For as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, ..." And those who criticize Paul, I've never yet heard them refer to that statement. Paul there is speaking about accountability and headship and leadership, and therefore we read that as by one man sin entered into the world. So the man then is to take a place of leadership, and there is something that he needs to learn. He needs to suppress the urge to be self-centered. In other words, to use that position, or to use that place that God had given him in that nature to serve himself and to bless himself. He needs to learn how to deny himself, and to give leadership to his wife and others around him. And that should certainly speak to us. As Christian men, we need to remember that God did not save us, and give us a position of leadership in His creation in order that we could just spend all our time on ourselves - on our hobbies and on our sports, and well you know, our wife and whoever there is in our lives they could just fend for themselves, and we'll please ourselves. So then a man has a definite work to do, such as to suppress the urge to be self-centered.
Now we also read about the woman - she is to be a HELP. And throughout scripture we see that this means being willing to submit to the leadership that God had given to the man. In Gen. 2:18 she is called "an help" for the man. And Paul takes this up, and in 1 Cor. 11:8,9, he says, the man was not created for the woman, but the woman was created for the man. And those are the inspired statements of God through Paul. Now the woman has to suppress the urge to lead. She will, perhaps by her old nature or her selfish nature, have a tendency to take over leadership, and usurp the authority, and get ahead of the man, and take the lead.
And so we could see then that when we summarize all of this, both the man and the woman has something that God has given them to do or primary responsibility, but also that both of them has something to suppress - an urge that they might turn toward. The man, to be self-centered, to please himself, spend his time for himself; and the woman to suppress the urge to move into leadership and take over.
We may say then that for a man leadership is hard-work in harmony with his God-given nature. For a woman, submission is hard work in harmony with her God-given nature. So the man and woman then have work to do.
I might remind you that the whole of scripture once again substantiates this. God could have created Adam and Eve at once. He could have filled the Bible with women in prominent leadership, chosen six female disciples, and permitted lady elders. BUT HE DID NOT CHOOSE TO D0 THAT. He was working for a purpose. And so then, I would say that it requires just as much effort, self-denial, creativity, and practice, for a woman to submit as for a man to lead. And we can change those around and read it the same way. So much for a little look at the nature of man and woman from creation.
Secondly, let's think about what God's plan is. Now we obviously don't have time to spend a lot of time on a subject like this. This is the whole world and the whole Bible. So perhaps just a brief summary. I think we can narrow down to what God's plan and program really is to just three little statements.
First of all, God's creation was for His fellowship. God wanted to have a creation that He could enjoy, and that could enjoy Him. So God intended then that there be fellowship. All through the scriptures we find these three statements - beginning from Genesis and running all the way to Revelation "I will be your God, and ye shall be My people, and I shall dwell among you." Trace those, it's an interesting study. SO, there was a desire for fellowship.
And then secondly we know that a rebellion occurred. It was the casting off of God's authority as the Creator and the Savior. And I don't need to talk to you this morning about the rebellion - we're all part of it, we're all born that way, and Satan was the original rebel, and men and women have rebelled ever since. I think of the second psalm - where the powerful ones of the world say, Let us break their bands asunder. Now that's always the cry of men; in uncivilized countries it takes one form, and in our own supposedly civilized country the rebellion just takes other forms, but there it is as ever.
And the third part of God's plan then is restoration. God desires to see the creation restored into the fellowship for which He designed it. And He's moving towards that goal. He's working on that great project - the restoration of His creation. Here's an interesting passage in 1 Cor. 15 where Paul speaks about the order and the way in which God is going to bring about that restoration about. And he speaks about a coming day when everything will be back in submission to God. Now that day is not here yet. We look forward to that day. Now may I say that one of the most exciting things in life, probably the most exciting thing, is to realize that you and I were created to have part in that restoration. We're hearing this morning about the ministry of angels. You know, you'll never find a place in scripture where God says to an angel, "Well no man will do this, therefore I'll have to pick an angel." God works. His angels are ministers and servants. But God uses us - men and women. And so then the third part - we need then to be regenerated. To generate is to create; to regenerate is to re-create. So then when we talk about being born again or being recreated or renewed or reborn or however you say it, we understand then that that is getting back in harmony with God's original intention; getting back not only into the family of God but in submission to God as the Creator and the Supreme Authority, but also beginning to take up now His cause. Well, sometimes people have the funny idea that Christians are those who bow the knee to God, and others do not. Well one of the problems with Job's three friends was that they thought that everything had to be settled here and now - they didn't remember that there's a coming day. They didn't realize it. And Job spoke about that coming day. And one of the lessons in Job is that everything is not necessarily settled in this life. It is not true that Christians are the only ones that bow the knee. We choose now by our free will to bow the knee, but scripture tells us that in a coming day every knee shall bow. So it's not just that Christians bow the knee, and unbelievers do not - all will bow the knee. We choose to bow now in love and acceptance by our own free will. Others will bow because it is right and God will cause it to be.
So then for us salvation, regeneration becomes the door or the gateway into God's plan. And how many times we've heard young believers begin to explain as they go through their new Christian life and read the scriptures - "All of a sudden I'm living for a purpose." Before it was just piling up some money or serve some company and .... for what? Once I retire or die or move away, the company says, "Who? Sorry, never heard of him." "Well he worked for you for forty or fifty years." "Oh, he did? Well, that's great. But he's not here now so that doesn't make any difference." And young people say, "Well I'm glad I'm not just living for that anymore, now I found out that God has a very great work in this world and I can become part of that - the restoration of creation, back under His allegiance." So then we have spoken briefly about the nature of the couple from creation - the man and the woman And we've spoken about God's program and purpose.
Thirdly I'd like to just consider some general roles in God's plan. We're not being specific yet, and talking about roles in the assembly. But I think it's well to remind ourselves of some of the general roles that we have in the world. I would limit these to three. There may be others. But for our purposes this morning let's talk about three of them. First of all our personal character development. Secondly our vocation. And thirdly our priesthood as believers. We can say that we're concerned with ourselves and with the world around us and with our relationship to God.
Now of course we have things that we have to do when it comes to developing as Christians. Here are many instructions in the scripture that are addressed equally to men and to women. In fact, by far, most of the instructions given in the New Testament would be equally to men and to women. I think of Col. 3:1-17, where Paul says such things like "lie not, forbear one another, forgive one another, be ye thankful." These are not addressed to men only or to women only, but to all God's children. However there are cases when a distinction is made, and in those cases our nature is respected - the way we're made is respected - and the fact that we have different roles to play is taken into view. There we might think of 1 Pet. 3 where Peter in vv.1-6 speaks specifically to the wives, and to them he says, I could summarize, "Emphasize the development of inner character as beauty, don't be preoccupied with just the externals." Now that's a great Christian truth, and we need to remember that. But to the men in verse 7, Paul says, "It's your responsibility before God to dwell with your wife according to knowledge and to give honor to them." And so there the men have to read that and ask themselves the question, "Do I really honor my wife? Well God has commanded me to do that and if I'm not doing that, then He says, that your prayers will not be answered, your prayers will be hindered." So all of us then has a character development that goes on in the Christian life.
Now here we have to speak very very generally. This is just a general thing that we need to see from the scriptures that there's an overall plan for the man and the woman. And I think as I've considered this, not just this week, but in years gone by, that God has given a kind of a emphasis or a place where the man or the woman would be most prominent one. The man I think is most prominent in business and in the assembly. The woman is most prominent in the home and with children. I think that's a very wise design because God gives to each a sphere of labor - to the man the business i.e. earning the daily bread by the sweat of his brow whatever that might be; and to the woman the home. So each has a sphere of labor. But each also has a ministry with people. The man is prominent in the assembly giving leadership. And the woman is prominent in the home raising or rearing the children. So then we might also say that the man's secondary sphere would be the home and with the children and the woman's secondary sphere would be with business and with the assembly. So each of us rules and lives in each of these four areas.
Now a word of caution, I don't mean to imply here that a man should neglect his family or spend little or no time with his family. He's to be a leader at home as well as the assembly and elsewhere. But as far as the primary sheer number of hours, most of the time, it's mum - it's the wife who is visible and prominent. You know scripture has some very forceful things to say about the woman's place in the home. 1 Tim. 5:14 Paul instructs her to rule the house; and the word 'rule' there is a very strong word. And so the husband then, as we read about the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31, is free to go away and take the place of leadership or be involved in business and can trust his wife to administrate the home. Titus 2:5 Paul tells Titus to instruct the younger women to be workers or keepers at home. Of course there are cases and specific families where this order cannot be followed for a while. The reasons - some women have to work and others, there are problems and needs. God certainly understands this and blesses those women in those cases. The point here is that we have a general overall picture. By the way, I was telling my wife this week that I've never really done a study of the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31. I guess what most of what I've heard about her, I've got second hand from other writers. And I was a little tired of hearing her described as a brawny matron (that's what one book I read this week called her) or a matronly lady or so forth. And I decided to do a study in that chapter and really see what it had to say - and if you haven't studied Proverbs 31 you ought to. The lady described there is delightful - she really is a delightful person - one who is called the virtuous woman. I find 4 times that she's mentioned in connection with her household, and if you notice those 4 times there are things mentioned with them - food, clothing, shelter, and the training of her family - very interesting. I find that it says that from her husband there is trust; from her family there is honor; and from the leadership of the city there is praise. So she's anything then but a person that we should look down on - she's truly the virtuous woman. She's a homemaker, and she's not just the passive person who sits by and lets things happen, she's really involved. So, the second thing we've spoken about is our vocation.
Now just quickly because we've studied the priesthood of the believer, there are things that are equally the responsibility of ALL believers - men and women. Let me just mention a few of them - prayer and inter- cession, (my, how thankful we should be for godly older women, grandmothers that we've had had who've prayed for us; God only knows what has happened and what is the result sitting in this very assembly due to the prayers of mothers and grandmothers who have prayed and prayed and prayed); worship; fellowship; witness; service and ministry.
Now while the worth or the value or the access to God that men and women have is equal, their particular role by which these things are expressed may be different. Now let's get a grasp on that. Herb brought us a very helpful message the other Sunday night - if you weren't there you've missed it - because he gave a very good illustration from the FBI files, from police records. It is very helpful to understand the point he was making - that a person's role is not equal to their worth. We do not set the worth of people by the role that he has. We need to remember that. So that while the worth or the value for the access to God that a lady has and a man has is equal, the way in which these things is worked out in their roles in the assembly or in the home may be different, and that's where we need to study.
In other words, in connection with the work of God in our area in the assembly. And I have found, and you probably could add to this list, that there are at least ten areas - 10 broad areas, where Christian women have been involved - in scripture and down through history. And I believe these are opportunities and privileges which are before them that they may exercise. ... We'll probably not finish with them this morning, but we'll look at them next week. Let me go through this list of ten areas and make a few suggestions. Remember that these are all POSITIVE areas, that these are all areas that emphasize the positive side. So often, there are one or two things selected out and thrown as negatives. Personally 1 believe that that is very unfortunate. In one particular case, and we shall see it next week, God NEVER intended it to be negative at all. And secondly if a woman perceives her place in the plan of God, and is involved in these things I don't see how she has a spare second. She'll be a very very busy person. And a very fruitful person. Let me go through the list.
1 Cor. 12:11 makes it clear that everyone is spiritually gifted. And I have found in my studies that teaching, pastoral care, evangelistic work, prophecy, showing of mercy, and ministry are all spiritual gifts said to be exercised by women in the New Testament. So first of all women possess and are to exercise spiritual gifts.
Remember Priscilla and Aquila there in Acts 18, when things weren't right in the teachings of Apollos, they took him home and TOGETHER they explained to him the way of God more perfectly. They certainly exercised a very valuable counseling function in the life of that young man, because he went on and became a mighty servant of God.
2 Tim. 3:15 and Titus 2:4 - the older women are to train the younger women. And I wonder why this shouldn't happen to the degree it should. I guess possibly no one wants to be known as an older woman. And yet you've got to be careful - this doesn't say 'the old women', it says 'the older women'. And if you're here this morning and you're 30 years old, and you've known the Lord for 20 years, and there are young Christian sisters around you, you might begin to think seriously and pray seriously about the fact that you might be an older woman in the Lord. To them, you certainly are. What a sad thing it is that there are young Christian girls in our midst, perhaps every week - no one has ever sat down and explained to them things about home-making, about having children, about relating to their new husbands if they're married, about all the many things that they have questions. How sad it is, that so often the impression seems to be, "Well, no one helped me and I struggled, so you can struggle too." Now I know that there are many godly women in this assembly who take younger women under their wings and do help them. And we praise God for that. We wouldn't want to in any way pretend as if that wasn't happening. We know that that's happening and we're very, very thankful. But I think for those who are students or young ones who are just coming into the assembly, it would be nice if we could see this made into a little bit more of a known program where anyone who had questions or needs would have a channel where they could ask. And answers would be forthcoming - provided in a loving, helpful way ... The training of the younger ones. Of course this needn't even be mentioned - the Sunday School, the Vacation Bible School, the Christian School, and a whole host of other responsibilities - training the younger ones.
I found that in 1 Tim. 5:10, we read about those who minister to the poor, help the poor, and one of the things about the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 is that she stretches forth her hand to the poor. This is another area where we need in this assembly to do some real studies and some real work. i.e. need to develop a ministry to the poor. This is something that our sisters can be mightily and vitally involved in.
1 Tim. 5:10 - entertaining strangers.
Remember Martha serving in the Lord's presence. Now some would detract from that lovely service that she gave, but we should not do that. The Lord was very grateful for that service. He simply used it as an occasion to teach that it is not first and foremost; service for none of us should be first and foremost. Relationship with the Lord comes before service, but service has a very important place.
Acts 1:14 - in the upper room on the day of Pentecost; and
Acts 16 - by the riverside, the women assembling together for prayer.
We think again of Mary there in the home in Bethany pouring out the ointment in worship to our Lord, and her heart over-flowing. Many ways in which we express our hearts - our hearts go up in worship before the Lord - all during the week, not just here on Sunday morning.
It's very important to realize that what the child learns in the very early years of its life is going to have a lot to say about the rest of its life - as far as setting those little feet on a pathway, and shaping that child in its earliest years - impressionable years.
Now I put this down as a privilege - a very weighty privilege. We don't read anywhere in scripture where God allows the man to be used of God to train angels anything. It is simply reserved for Christian sisters - and it out ought to be listed under a privilege, in any such list. 1 Cor. 11:10 - the covering of the head as a lesson to angels. And were going to look in detail next week as to what that lesson exactly is and why it's necessary.
There is one single prohibition given to sisters that we know about - we've heard about it recently. 1 Cor. 14:34,35 - that the woman should be silent in the church meeting. And again we'll have to take that up at greater length later.
Suffice it to say that none of the above ten in my list are limited to the church meeting. They can all be exercised in informal gatherings of the church and in the home and in society. So God through Paul gives one command, and that command is not a put down, a criticism, or a complexion of inferiority in any way. That command is just to preserve the God-given role of leadership and submission. It makes the assembly then the place in which submission to God's order from creation stands out.
We are not those who raise our fists in rebellion to God against His creation or against His God-given order. We are those redeemed by the blood of Christ to want to participate in restoring all things to Himself.
We'll take part two next week.
Lets close in prayer.