Biblical Womanhood
*Sermon Preached by Sean Morris 6/6/14*
My name is Sean. I am from the Church of Wells. I am greatly privileged to be here with you all. I am going to speak upon the topic of Biblical womanhood and I ask that you would pray with me now that I would have grace to speak with the translator. It greatly changes the way you think, and that my brother Francis would have grace to translate. Please pray with me:
Introductory Prayer
Father in heaven I come before You now LORD God as a weak vessel, all of us LORD, men that have nothing LORD God apart from Your grace, apart from Your countenance LORD God which gives us favor. Oh LORD God we cannot understand Your WORD. We cannot preach Your WORD. Father we cannot hear. Father we ask of You LORD God that You would come and dwell in our midst that You would be pleased LORD God to perform righteousness in our hearts by the blood of Jesus Christ. Father that You would not mind any of our sins LORD God that You would pay us because we desire to fear You, that You would look upon the intercession of Your Son in the heavens that You would give us ears to hear. Father that You would open up Your WORD to us LORD God, that You would enlarge our hearts that we could run in the way of Your commandments LORD God, that we could drink deeply from the fountain of life this day in Your house, that Your WORD would change us LORD God, that Your WORD would pierce into our hearts LORD God, that we would have a perception of Your holy presence as we hear Your WORD that we could be humiliated before You as Your servants, as dust and ashes before You LORD God. Our lives are as a vapor before You LORD God. We need grace that all of our hearts would be surrendered to Your WORD, that we would not be foolish before You, that we would not do every man according to his own imaginations as if we had no king but we do have a King. Your Son is our King. Help us to understand His will Father, to fear His WORD, to cleave to Him, to walk with Him. Help us to glorify Your name and the name of Your Son. Father we call upon You LORD God. Father be glorified in our lives. Have Your reward for purchasing our souls. Conform us to the image of your Son Father. Send forth Your Spirit and immerse us in His presence. Write Your WORD upon our hearts. Give us grace we pray. We call upon You that Your mercies would shine upon us, for power and obedience and righteousness to reign as a mighty river in Your house for Your glory LORD.
In Jesus Christ’s name we pray Amen.
The Heart of Biblical Authority
If you would open your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 2. The book of 1 Timothy is a pastoral epistle. You can find the context of that in 1 Tim 3:15 where the apostle Paul writes to Timothy and tells him that the purpose of that letter is that we would know how to behave ourselves in the house of God and so for this reason also 1 Tim 2 was written as Timothy was giving himself to pastoral charges in the places where he was at. We are going to look at the entire chapter of 1 Tim 2:
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.”
Well brethren in vs 1-7 he opens up speaking about prayers in the house of God. In vs 8 he addresses men. In vs 9 he addresses women. And in the remainder of the chapter he speaks upon the position of women in the house of God as it regard to teaching and preaching the Scriptures but not just that. There are various instructions given to women concerning modesty and their relationship to the male race and it speaks of it in vs 10 that these characteristics of womanhood and the practice of them are those things that become or are worthy of a woman professing Godliness and you can rephrase that to a woman who professes Christianity and this is why we need to focus on the Scriptures is because today there are many people who speak many things in the name of Christ. Even homosexuality is preached in the name of Christ these days but we know that the Scriptures preach the truth about Christ. And we will find that the way is narrow and few find it and so we will also find that the way and practice of woman and what God sees as a worthy demonstration of womanhood in the sight of God will be something that few find of all the main professors of Christianity today. Vs 10 says this behavior is worthy of those professing Christianity. In vs 9 he speaks of modesty, shamefacedness, sobriety and other various things of modesty. In vs 11-12 he speaks of the authority of the male over the woman in regards to church affairs. And all that I have mentioned so far, vs 9,11, 12, can be preached for many hours and sermons, all the various ways that these attributes apply to women and are important in relationship to God and men but what I am coming to preach to you today is the heart of Biblical womanhood. That there is a reasoning in the heart of the apostle Paul that we need to see sisters that you need to see and men that you need to see so that you can hold your sisters accountable. And the reasoning in the heart of apostle Paul can be seen in vs 13-15. There are two main reasons in the heart of apostle Paul as he makes the statements that he makes. He is not giving these instructions to guide women into a proper Biblical womanhood because of something that was happening in Corinth or Galatia or Ephesus. This instruction about Biblical womanhood cannot be isolated to a certain historical situation. It cannot be said that these statements are being made because the apostle Paul has something in his mind that can be isolated to a certain historical situation. If that were the case we could understand that maybe this was written to them and not to us. But you can see that the apostle Paul had in his mind what happened in the garden of Eden.
Reason #1: The Creative Order
The very purposes of God can be found in creation itself. And so if we turn to the book of Genesis we should be able to find that mystery of what is in his heart. Before we do that turn with me to 1 Cor 11, another chapter devoted to making a distinction between the male and female roles. And it speaks of it in 2 different metaphors and it speaks of it in Spiritual senses using physical things as a demonstration of that. In 1 Cor 11:3 he opens up with a Spiritualization of the word head.
“3 But 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.4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.8 For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man.9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.13 Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.”
Now brethren without getting into a specific address of this entire chapter what I want to focus on again is the heart of the reason behind why Paul says what he says. In vs 3 he says that the head of every man is Christ and the head of a woman is the man and the head of Christ is God. And this word head is used in the Old and New Testament as a word that signifies authority and you can find many passages that affirm that. For example when Elijah was going to be taken up in the chariot of fire and Elisha was following him to his final exit and the prophets were coming up to Elisha and the prophets were coming to Elisha saying do you not know that your lord will be taken from you this day and the way they phrased it was do you not know that you will be taken away from your head this day. And Elisha said “yes I know” and you see that the head signifies Elijah’s authority over Elisha. The Scripture is describing him as Elisha’s head and so besides all the other applications 1 Cor 11 is speaking of the heart of Spiritual authority and why does Paul make the statements that he makes. Read vs. 7-9. (see above) In these vs there are some profound statements. It says that man is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man. In vs 8 he expounds further on why he says that. He says because the man is not of the woman but the woman of the man neither was the man created for the woman but the woman for the man. So again what we find in the heart of apostle Paul is what happened in the book of Genesis in the created order: Adam was first formed and then Eve. Turn to 1 Cor 14.
“34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.”
Again here we see the apostle Paul address the subjection of woman and in vs 34 we see the reason he says what he says is because of the law. He says they are commanded to be in obedience as also says the law. And what he is talking about is what happened in the book of Genesis. Turn to Genesis chapter 2
8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Now what we see here brethren. In vs 8 it says God planted the garden and the scenery and glory of the garden are described. In vs 15 we see the purpose of man in the garden. God says that He put him there to dress it and keep it and this is before the fall, before man ever committed sin, walking in the paradise of God in a place where the presence of God would walk in the cool of the day a place of complete happiness, complete goodness, and complete union between God and man as Adam existed in perfect innocence. In vs 16-17 God speaks to Adam before the creation of Eve and He said of every tree of the garden you may freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you cannot eat warning him that on that day he will die. This is an experience which Adam had with God and from this point onward vs 18-20 the LORD introduces the need that Adam has and He states in vs 18 that it is not good for man to be alone that He will make a help meet for him and we know the purpose of man was to work and dress and keep the garden. And God is thinking in the righteousness and purity of His own mind according to His wisdom before the fall of man that man is incomplete without someone else in the sense of the purpose of God for creating a woman which is subject to God’s sovereign will in all of our individual lives but what is amazing to me emphasizing the thought process of God in creating woman is vs 19-20. You see in vs 18 He says it is not good for man to be alone and in vs 19-20 He describes how man is alone, how God brought to Adam all the animals He created and it must have been a glorious thing as God the Father was taking pleasure in Adam His man, the only man He created on the earth at that time and here he is in the garden to dress and keep it. And there is a sense that He made the world for mankind and that there is no other creature on earth like a man in God’s image. There is no other creature on earth with a relational capacity to have a relationship with God. The created universe existed for what God was going to do with mankind. So man is the central figure in what God is doing for His own glory. But then He is seeking to demonstrate how man is still alone and he needs a helper and you can imagine what it was like as God brought before Adam a giraffe and what happened was the first thing that came out of Adam’s mouth became the name of the animal. And so this tall beast came out and Adam is admiring it and the first thing that came out of his mouth is giraffe and God and him are rejoicing together in sinless happiness. And a bird presents itself and he is admiring it and he calls it bird and it becomes his name. All the animals from turtles to dogs from all the creatures that God has made and you can see just the sense of God being with Adam as Adam is coming to be familiar with his creation. It can be sure that this day was a glorious day. The time period that passed as he was naming all the animals coming before him in some kind of sovereign order. The whole ecosystem was a miraculous display of God’s goodness. You can be certain that Adam had a deep sense of the goodness of God and a familiarity with his creation and after he named all the animals in this day that was better than a thousand elsewhere it says in vs 20 that there was not found a help meet for him. That means that none of the animals can be his partners or his friend or can be what God created a woman to be. There is no other creature in existence that can serve the purpose of what God was about to do.
Read vs 21-25. You can see here that the displeasure of God that something in His creation was lacking in its perfect goodness. God said let there be light and there was light. And He said the light was good. He put a separation between the land and sea and saw that it was good. And He was seeing here that there was a lack of goodness in joining Himself in this paradise with man. In vs 22 it says God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam. There is no evidence that he knew what was happening. He just fell into a deep sleep and God took of his rib and created the woman. And just before this on the same day the animals were coming to Adam and there was a glorious friendship experience between God and man and the created elements and he just spoke and it became their name and now God brings before Adam this perfect creation to come before Adam. And you can think of Adam waking up and there she was presented before him. And he looks upon her and it was unlike anything he has been before and the first thing that came out of this mouth was woman for she was taken from man and so you can see again the creative purpose of God in creating Adam first and then Eve. There was a purpose in the heart of God before the fall, before sin tainted and corrupted creation. Before sin inflamed their minds with evil they were rejoicing together in the purposes for which they were created perfectly enjoying God and you can imagine that Eve was rejoicing as she was brought to Adam as a help meet and God is just presenting her to him and he sees God has made me a helper and she is just thinking “I am for you” and they are just rejoicing together in the paradise of God.
Brethren this is glorious, this display of God in creating man and woman. It is impressive of what the mind of God was for creating man and woman. It leaves you with a feeling that they have different purposes because they do. There are both equally valuable in the sight of God but they are not of the same purpose in the sight of God. They are both of equal standing before God in Christ because in Him there is neither male nor female and at final redemption at the final resurrection there shall be no marriage or giving in marriage. We will be like the angels with a glorified body and so we will not be given in marriage anymore. All the reasoning behind that we cannot understand. 1 John 3 says it doth not yet appear what we shall be but when we see Him we shall be as He is. It does not yet appear all the mysteries of God’s goodness that await us in the time to come for those of you who are saved. And as we look back before the fall and according to the Scriptures as Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost he drew from the created order of man and woman, a distinction of role in the matter of the church between man and woman.
Now brethren if you remember in 1 Tim 3 there was a second purpose in the heart of God and before we turn there I want to say one more thing. Read Gen 3:20 it says Adam called his wife’s name Eve for she was the mother of all living. This is an emphasis of the authority of Adam that by the purpose of his creation before the fall he was the leader and he was born to lead out in the purposes God had for him. And the woman was created to join with him in the purpose God had given him to help him and what emphasis the role of authority is that he gave her the name woman and also gave her name Eve. He called his wife Eve. Now we understand that that is a signification of authority.
Reason # 2: The Order of the Fall
Turn to 1 Tim 2:13-15. (see above). The first reason in the heart of the apostle Paul by which we can understand Biblical womanhood is the creative order but the secondary purpose and reason in the heart of the apostle Paul is the fall of humanity. Turn to Gen 3:
“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
So we see here brethren the fall of humanity and the apostle Paul drew from this circumstance the deceivableness of women. It was that the woman was deceived. Now given the circumstances we have read if Satan was going to deceive someone he would have chosen to deceive the woman. The man had a greater advantage not the be deceived because of the time he spent with God and the glorious things he experienced in communion with Him had to do with his familiarity with all animals because it happened before she as created. Also it had to do with his familiarity with the commandments of God. Remember the fall happened in Gen 2 and this commandment was given to Adam before the creation of Eve. And so we understand that after Eve was created you can imagine that in the heart of Adam he was pointing out the creatures saying “look there is a giraffe. I saw him and he came out. Look there is this bird”, taking her around the river and seas telling her of all he experienced before she was created. He told her how she was made and how God told him to dress and keep the garden and all that had to do with it. Walking with God in the garden was an incomprehensible affair. You can be sure that Adam was taking a great deep experience with God. And Adam would have brought her also to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and told what God says exactly. He said it in Gen 2:16-17 unless he failed to do that.
And what we see in Gen 3, firstly that the serpent was a subtil creature. Secondarily that he tempted the woman to distrust God and eat of the tree but he did this by questioning the communication that God gave to Adam and there is no evidence that it was verbally spoken to Eve. Just as in Eph 5 God commands the husband to wash his wife with the water of the WORD. It is a commandment that husbands would teach their wives the WORD of God and that purpose is unified with the creative purpose. How Spiritual authority and purpose work in the house of God. And you see here in Gen 3:3, Eve says God has said that shall not eat of it either shall ye touch it lest ye die. You see here that Eve misquoted God. God never said ye shall not touch it. He said you shall not eat of it. He did not say if you touch it you shall die. Since she misquoted God it was not a wise position for her to be in if she was to withstand the arguments of Satan without the covering of her husband. What you need to see here according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: the woman was deceived and that was the mark of distinction which means that Adam was not deceived. Eve was allured to sin against God because she was deceived.
And notice how God holds Adam as the primary author and he is the primary one responsible for the fall meaning that it is under his name that this affair will be written in the New Testament. In Gen 3:9 God says “Adam where art thou?” He did not say “Eve where art thou?” Look in 1 Cor 15:22 in Adam all die. Note it does not say in Eve all die. In Rom 5:14 it says death passed upon all men, that it passed from Adam to Moses. Notice it does not say from Eve to Moses. It says it was Adam’s transgression in Rom 5:14. And the entire latter half of Rom 5 it was talking of this one man’s sin and it brought about the fall of all humanity and so Adam takes the responsibility that is also unified with his authority and the responsibility that comes with that authority and what it comes down to the instruction between men and woman from God.
The Manifestation of Subjection
The apostle Paul brings forth the example of the woman and the serpent as an example for women in the house of God to be in silence and to learn. To be in silence is one thing but to learn is another. 1 Tim 2 it states there in vs 11 it says “let the woman learn in silence with all subjection”. Now brethren beloved this emphasizes that a woman needs to learn that she is not sufficient in the purposes of God without the authority of the man that that is the safe place to be. That in of herself in all of the convictions and resolutions she believes as true in the sight of God she certainly will come short of the purposes of God if she is not properly under the authority of the man. And that is what we see in Gen 3. She was alone with the serpent and Adam was not there. And that shows she was outside of Adam’s protective covering. And you can see this principle in 1 Cor 11 as stated before: vs 3 is the order of authority from the Godhead to mankind and man to woman. It speaks of the order of the Godhead that the head of Christ is God. And you find that this is true in 1 Cor 15 that after all God’s enemies are put under His feet and Jesus Christ’s Kingdom is fully established and supremely reigning at that time He takes the Kingdom and gives it back to the Father . 1 Cor 15 states this fulfills all the glory of God. The persons of the Godhead are equal and of the same essence but we also see is that they had a divine order of authority. That the Holy Spirit glorified the name of Christ and that Jesus Christ glorifies the name of the Father and each on works in that order of submission one to another of charity this glorious unity of the Godhead. And so right here we see that God is the Head of Christ.
And we can understand also that the heavenly beings which reside in heaven understand something of this order of authority and that mankind was made in His image as a display for God’s glory and we can understand 2 things from what is spoken of in 1 Cor 11:7-10 (see above) It says for this cause also ought a woman to have power on her head because of the angels and why does it say because of the angels? Well from the Scriptures we can draw two reason. 1) for the holy angels 2) for the fallen angels. Firstly it is for the holy angels because they are ministers of the saints. Hebrews says that they help and encamp around those who fear Him to help them, that they are involved in the redemptive purposes of God somehow to help them along the way of life. And we can also understand that they attend the house of the LORD on resurrection Sunday. Matt 18 says there am I in their midst but we can certainly also understand that the angelic beings are also in their midst. As Elisha stands before his servant he says there be more with us than with him and in one moment of time God opens his eyes and he sees chariots of fire and angels standing by Elisha. And we understand that upon the prayers of the saints God’s will is being done around the world, that they are mysteriously unified in the affairs of God in a very real and shocking way; the kingdom of God is within heaven and also within us. And Jesus Christ is called the LORD of armies, the LORD of the army of angels and where He has a host with Him and what He sets his eyes to do He has a force to enforce it and so we understand that God desires that this assembly would be an image of His divine authority. And just as He is subject to His authority as His father is His head so he expects that man and woman represent that divine order of safety and so we can understand that the woman should have a covering and power on her head for a sense of the glory of God for angels long to look into the things done with the saints and somehow mysteriously they long to see the power of God through the preaching of the WORD of God among sinners through the saints and then they learn the wisdom of God the Father and the redemption of man through the saints preaching the mysteries of God. And we can find that in the book of Ephesians and so we understand that there should be a covering of authority for the glory of God for a display of God’s image to the holy angels but we also need to understand that this covering of authority is a surety of the power of God. In that position all the blessings of God are performed and all attributes of redemption are enjoyed. And so we can understand that it is a protection from Satan.
Turn to 2 Cor 11:2-4 “2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one Husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” Now you notice here brethren that he cites how that he was deceived by the arguments and deceptions of Satan and in her deception the apostle Paul is drawing that and applying that to a circumstance he is in as a pastor and as an apostle and he looks at the bride of Christ to be apt to deception without the protective covering of the authorities of the church: of the officers, the pastors, the elders, and that there is a real interaction between God’s salvation as it is done through the local church and appointed elders who are filled with the power and Spirit of God, that there is a mysterious connection between the sovereign methods of salvation and the order of earthly affairs being outlets of those works of salvation so we understand that sinners are saved through the sovereign power of God alone and yet it also is by the preaching of Christians and we understand that the apostle Paul like the prophet Ezekiel citing from Acts 20 Ezek 3 that there was a sense of clearing of judgment whenever the responsibility of preaching was carried out so that he was able to say that he was free from the blood of all men that God would not require the blood of these men from his hand and though God is sovereign and His salvation is sufficient in himself and yet we need to recognize the outlets of His salvation and that it involves the cooperation or obedience of Christians in the sense that He desires to use them to perform that salvation not in the redemptive act itself but in the Spirit of God causing them to preach or the Spirit of God using the apostle Paul to shepherd the people of God and so the apostle Paul was looking at the church desiring to protect her from the beguiling of the serpent feeling that she will certainly be deceived if he is not given to this appointment.
Brethren we see the same thing in the affairs of man to woman in the covering of authority in that man is the covering of woman. Turn to Eph 5:21-28 “21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it;26 That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.” You see here brethren that wives are to submit to their husbands and husbands are to lay down their lives for their wives and it is seen in the comparison that wives are to submit to the husbands as to Christ and as Christ laid down His life to sanctify the church husbands are to lay down their lives. And as Christ laid down His life that He would sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water with theWORD. And you can see this was the role of Adam even before the fall that he was teaching and explaining to her the WORD of God and the commandments of God regarding the tree that that role was implemented before the fall and how much more after the example of Christ’s redemption that this is the purpose and authority of God in the church in the Spirit of God according as it says in vs 23. The husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church and what does the male do with his authority. Now this one purpose is supreme: to guard her and protect her from deception by establishing the truth of the WORD of God in her life and the lives of his family. That is the supreme purpose and so we can understand that in 1 Tim 2 in regards to the formation of the convictions concerning the role if Biblical womanhood as it relates to modesty, to shamefacedness, to sobriety, that the woman needs the male race to lay down their lives to help the formation of the conviction in their hearts in firstly properly declaring what they are. The woman should not think she has the ability to come to the conviction of what these things are without the covering and teaching of the male declaring properly what it is. Concerning these matters if they are not properly declared and explained it leaves room for much confusion especially in the world we live in. What is modesty today is nakedness 100 yrs ago and what you see on the beach could have been pornography 100 yrs ago. What was done on TV could not even be done on TV 100 yrs ago. In today’s society we have lost the distinction of roles between men and women and so also following that we have lost the distinction between manners of clothing that there is no great distinction except if it regards immodesty and the exposing of the flesh in an unrighteous way and because of all the complexities which Satan has deceived this generation we need humility to relearn the ways of God that we would not determine the convictions of modesty based upon the sensitivities of fallen man because they are desensitized to sin. They must not be the litmus test of what modesty is. They must not be the compass of our moral behavior. We must look to holy men of God appointed within God’s holy church who are presenting the truth under the covering of Jesus Christ and that covering also going down to the men of the church and from the men of the church to the women of the church and that is the formula of God’s protection and that is what 1 Tim 2 is emphasizing.
As it regard to the matters which he brought: let the woman learn in silence with all subjection; that is the commandment of God. And he gave the two reasons and now we can have a deep sense of why he is saying what he says. That a women should be opening her mouth wide to receive these things from God through the instrumentality of appointed men of God because she has received the position of Biblical womanhood in her heart and she does not despise it. To her it is not oppression. She does not believe worldly wisdom. She is not measuring herself by fallen humanity. To her where the Spirit of God is there is liberty and whatever the commandments of God are that is liberty. That is freedom. That is happiness. That is wisdom. And that is what God is teaching is that whatever His commandments are that is the perfect prescription of His goodness and kindness to us. It is not oppression or what the feminist movement would scandalize it to be. According to God in the purity of His own mind He wrote to us that the man is the glory of God and the woman is the glory of man. Can you receive that sisters? Can you learn to rejoice like Eve did when she came before Adam? And understand your creative purpose through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ giving you a deep sense of the mind of God that this distinction is not a distinction of different values. They are of equal of value. But this is as a point of distinction as it relates to the purpose of God so there should be a great humility in your heart as you approach to learn about the convictions written for her. And you can say just like Eve said to Adam “I was made for you” If you were made for man then you must learn about the convictions and commandments of God which properly relate you to mankind.
On another aspect brethren about the fallenness of society today as it regards to the chaos of the degeneration of our society is that we do not even have marriage anymore in this society. The role between men and women has been lost. The role of man itself is now being lost. A long time ago we were at the battle between men and women. Now we are at the point of complete moral collapsing. And the president of the US preached at the stage of his inauguration that homosexuals were his brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. We are in a situation of great deception and it is done in the name of Jesus Christ. The antichrist will come he will be heralded in religions which call themselves as the name of Jesus Christ. In 2 Cor 11 it says it is another Jesus another spirit another way so when you look upon all of fallen Christianity and you must understand that there is an antichrist sprit that is behind all of the moral fabric that makes up their convictions. And so we must not compare ourselves by fallen Christianity because we are accelerating into the last generation faster than we think and we are in need to think and seek and ask for the old paths.
The Inner Woman: a Meek and Quiet Spirit
Now brethren as the final chapter that we will look at in this message please turn to 1 Pet 3:1-7 “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life;” Okay brethren we see here in vs 3 the apostle Peter addresses the outward man and the outward clothing and in vs 4 he speaks of the hidden man, the inner man, and he goes on speaking of Spiritual clothing. In this text brethren there is great mystery because when we address the topic of Biblical womanhood there can be a sense of submission that happens in form. There can be a desire within a sister that she desires to be a woman according to Biblical instruction and in her pursuit of what she understands Biblical womanhood to be she fails to obtain the heart of a Biblical woman. This passage is emphasizing the heart of Biblical womanhood just as the teachings thus far that we have expounded. In this chapter it speaks of the heart just as strongly in regards to modesty. The commandment is let it not be the outward adorning, let it not be the outward jewelry. That means there is a reorganization of your entire purpose and we know that the purpose of fallen woman is most often to manipulate man and the form of manipulation comes through beauty and that is the curse of depravity that the woman usurps the authority of the man and rules over them and gains a sense of security in that role through manipulating him through her beauty.
That is a common desire of a lost woman so fallen mankind often submits to that for the desire of her beauty just as the woman is given to the lusts of flagrant shows of her beauty so also man is given to willfully deny what he knows is true or the sake of his idolatrous love of a woman and that is what happened in the Garden of Eden. Adam was not deceived. When Eve walked up to Adam with that fruit in her hands and she says look it is good to the eyes and she spoke to him about the lusts of the eyes and flesh and pride of life and she said look it is good to make one wise and she said look eat I have eaten and am still alive. Adam was not deceived the woman was. She sinned but she believed she was doing what was right. When Adam sinned he did it for love of his wife, an idolatrous love. He knew what she said was wrong but he did it anyways and this is the master-plan of Satan. On the same course that man is fallen Satan is trying to keep man in that fallen estate through the same method. And the woman needs to understand that she can manipulate the man through beauty, that the man is not properly inclined to see at all times that beauty is vain and that the woman who fears the LORD she shall be praised. And that the woman is like a ring the nose of a swine when she is beautiful woman that does not fear God. For the sake of God’s glory for the sake of keeping men from sin from keeping women from sin there needs to be an understanding of this master-plan of Satan and our order of our redemption according to the instruction of God meaning practically relating to obedience.
What does it mean that the woman is deceived? Sisters when I was young when I was lost a little boy I used to buy my mother cubic zirconium rings, fake diamonds. I bought her these rings because I thought she would like it. I grew up in a wealthy family and my allowance was not great and I would spend it on this. And my mother would not wear them. She would wear diamonds. That is what her depraved nature guided her to do and so it is with all women. There is something of great deception happening in the heart of women where they attribute life itself to be consistent with her beauty. I have seen women weeping and having a terrible day only because they feel ugly. If you ask them why they are weeping it is only because they feel ugly because their depraved nature guides them to love what God hates and it is a life that is consumed with vanity a life that is peaceful only as it regards to the prosperity of sin only as it regards to how your outward man looks but that is not the charge of this passage. Just as a woman would wake up in the morning in her lost estate and would seek to array herself with the most costly garments and would array herself with the most costly jewelry God is saying here it a reversal of that entire heart, that there is another clothing that He is pointing to and there is another jewelry that He is pointing to. And He says in vs 4 it is the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price. That means that when a woman wakes up in the morning in her lost estate and she puts on cubic zirconium and worthless jewelry and vile garments how she would despair of life, how she would weep for sorrow, how she would be grieved with everything that she experiences in that day. She would fear as though she was with so much shame that she was naked herself. But God is saying this is how you should feel if you do not have meekness and a quiet spirit. This is how you should feel if you are not related to God through authority of subjection to the male race. It means you have forgotten your adorning. These are the true ornaments of jewelry. These are the things God looks at and says it is of great price. These are the things if you wear and dress yourselves in you will have the eyes of God’s enjoyment, you will have the pleasure of God. Read vs 5 (See above). They clothed themselves with subjection. They put on the jewelry of a meek and quiet spirit. They were absolutely obsessed with the beauty of the hidden man and the pleasure of God with that beauty. They mortified the lusts that guided them to make a flagrant show of outward beauty knowing the manipulation and sin both in man and woman when she does that. This is the instruction of God not the outward adorning, but the hidden man of the heart, not the garment that wax old and perish not the jewelry which is corruptible, but the clothing of God’s righteousness, of the jewelry that shall never perish; that is what the LORD is teaching you.
Subjection as her Holiness and thus Her Worthiness
As the close of this message, sisters, you need to see this last point. Everything you have heard before is for the purpose of instructing you, of opening up your mind to understand Biblical womanhood and when you understand this God will open your eyes to give you understanding about modesty, etc, but if you harden your hearts and say I can figure this out on your own or you say I do not feel that this is true and your heart moves out of that place of being a learner and you exalt yourself over the male race in regards to these things it is pride. It is pride. And the Bible says God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble. That resistance by God will withhold from you the revelation of Biblical womanhood to where you will try to understand modesty and all these things but you won’t have eyes to see but if you humble yourselves and come into alignment of Biblical womanhood God will not resist you but give you grace and reveal things things to your heart so you may obey with sincerity and joy to God as worship to Him. So brethren sisters in the light of all these things may you see the gravity of this teaching. It is easy to hear a teaching like this and say within yourselves there was a lot of good things in that message, a lot of things that I would do well to think about to meditate upon. Sisters this is a message that you cannot live your Christian life without.
In regards to your understanding of Biblical womanhood this is how God defines your holiness. Heb 12:14 says without holiness no man shall see the LORD and 1 Pet 3:5 says this is how the holy women of God behaved themselves. This is the definition of holiness for a woman just as I was describing to you the definition of a woman’s depravity, that it was obsessed with the outward man, that it ruled over men by manipulating them through beauty. It is certain that a true Christian at their first conversion, there can be only one conversion, but I meant that at the instance they were converted they were being taught to forsake the vanity of beauty and to care about what God’s eyes see and that alone and to live for the glory of God and to relate to God in the hidden man in the heart and the eyes of the LORD go to and fro throughout the whole earth. You will be able to look upon a woman and say she is unholy that she is vile on the basis that she does not live in this state of heart and you will be able to look upon a woman and say she is holy because she relates to God this way. This is not something you can do without. In 1 Pet 3:6 it says Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him lord and it says whose daughters ye are as long as ye do well.
The first temptation to a woman when she hears a teaching like this and having never heard it before is fear and amazement, fear and amazement. When I teach things from the book of Genesis speaking of the created order there can be fear and amazement a sense of insecurity gripping the heart, a sense of amazement. Maybe that is how you feel some of you sisters when you read that Sarah called Abraham LORD. Maybe you feel like I wish that was not written. But brethren you can be sure that you are being deceived and that all Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for reproof and instruction and that this was written because Sarah understood Biblical womanhood, that her subjection to her husband directly represented how much she was subjected to Jesus Christ. Sarah was so immersed in this Spiritual reality that she called Abraham lord, not in an idolatrous sense but she just recognized that the authority that he had over her was given by God and she rejoiced in it. The Spirit of God had pleasure in it thus it was written for your instruction.
Sisters it says whose daughter ye are. What does that mean? In John 8 Jesus was arguing with unconverted Jews, Jews who He said were slaves to sin and they go on saying that we are sons of Abraham. And though Jesus Christ acknowledged that they were the physical seed of Abraham He goes on to denounce them as the spiritual seed of Abraham and the reason He says that is because they do not the works of Abraham and He goes on to say that they are not the children of God and they do not His works but rather the devil is their father and his works they do and so brethren we can understand here that as saved men are called sons of Abraham saved women are called daughters of Sarah and the fact that those men did not do the works of Abraham and so it was sure that you could determine they were not the children of God so also those women who do not the works of Sarah are not the daughters of Sarah or God. This is your holiness sisters. When God looks at you he wants to see a difference between you and fallen women. This is what makes you different, why women mock you and scorn you it is your holiness in this very thing. Their lack of subjection is evident in this very matter. And your subjection to God is manifest in this very matter. This is your holiness. This is your separateness. This is the manifestation of the glory of God in a woman. And a woman who displays a meek and quiet spirit is a louder sermon than many things men can preach. It edifies it changes the spiritual atmosphere. It is the image of the glory of God. So sisters though you are tempted with fear and amazement be jealous, be zealous, and lay hold upon the calling of your womanhood and you will be a daughter of Sarah, a daughter of God and do what she did. It shall be well with you. You will never be ashamed. The LORD help you brethren.
*Sermon Preached by Sean Morris 6/6/14*
My name is Sean. I am from the Church of Wells. I am greatly privileged to be here with you all. I am going to speak upon the topic of Biblical womanhood and I ask that you would pray with me now that I would have grace to speak with the translator. It greatly changes the way you think, and that my brother Francis would have grace to translate. Please pray with me:
Introductory Prayer
Father in heaven I come before You now LORD God as a weak vessel, all of us LORD, men that have nothing LORD God apart from Your grace, apart from Your countenance LORD God which gives us favor. Oh LORD God we cannot understand Your WORD. We cannot preach Your WORD. Father we cannot hear. Father we ask of You LORD God that You would come and dwell in our midst that You would be pleased LORD God to perform righteousness in our hearts by the blood of Jesus Christ. Father that You would not mind any of our sins LORD God that You would pay us because we desire to fear You, that You would look upon the intercession of Your Son in the heavens that You would give us ears to hear. Father that You would open up Your WORD to us LORD God, that You would enlarge our hearts that we could run in the way of Your commandments LORD God, that we could drink deeply from the fountain of life this day in Your house, that Your WORD would change us LORD God, that Your WORD would pierce into our hearts LORD God, that we would have a perception of Your holy presence as we hear Your WORD that we could be humiliated before You as Your servants, as dust and ashes before You LORD God. Our lives are as a vapor before You LORD God. We need grace that all of our hearts would be surrendered to Your WORD, that we would not be foolish before You, that we would not do every man according to his own imaginations as if we had no king but we do have a King. Your Son is our King. Help us to understand His will Father, to fear His WORD, to cleave to Him, to walk with Him. Help us to glorify Your name and the name of Your Son. Father we call upon You LORD God. Father be glorified in our lives. Have Your reward for purchasing our souls. Conform us to the image of your Son Father. Send forth Your Spirit and immerse us in His presence. Write Your WORD upon our hearts. Give us grace we pray. We call upon You that Your mercies would shine upon us, for power and obedience and righteousness to reign as a mighty river in Your house for Your glory LORD.
In Jesus Christ’s name we pray Amen.
The Heart of Biblical Authority
If you would open your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 2. The book of 1 Timothy is a pastoral epistle. You can find the context of that in 1 Tim 3:15 where the apostle Paul writes to Timothy and tells him that the purpose of that letter is that we would know how to behave ourselves in the house of God and so for this reason also 1 Tim 2 was written as Timothy was giving himself to pastoral charges in the places where he was at. We are going to look at the entire chapter of 1 Tim 2:
“I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men;2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.7 Whereunto I am ordained a preacher, and an apostle, (I speak the truth in Christ, and lie not;) a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and verity.8 I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.9 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefacedness and sobriety; not with broided hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array;10 But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works.11 Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.12 But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.13 For Adam was first formed, then Eve.14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.”
Well brethren in vs 1-7 he opens up speaking about prayers in the house of God. In vs 8 he addresses men. In vs 9 he addresses women. And in the remainder of the chapter he speaks upon the position of women in the house of God as it regard to teaching and preaching the Scriptures but not just that. There are various instructions given to women concerning modesty and their relationship to the male race and it speaks of it in vs 10 that these characteristics of womanhood and the practice of them are those things that become or are worthy of a woman professing Godliness and you can rephrase that to a woman who professes Christianity and this is why we need to focus on the Scriptures is because today there are many people who speak many things in the name of Christ. Even homosexuality is preached in the name of Christ these days but we know that the Scriptures preach the truth about Christ. And we will find that the way is narrow and few find it and so we will also find that the way and practice of woman and what God sees as a worthy demonstration of womanhood in the sight of God will be something that few find of all the main professors of Christianity today. Vs 10 says this behavior is worthy of those professing Christianity. In vs 9 he speaks of modesty, shamefacedness, sobriety and other various things of modesty. In vs 11-12 he speaks of the authority of the male over the woman in regards to church affairs. And all that I have mentioned so far, vs 9,11, 12, can be preached for many hours and sermons, all the various ways that these attributes apply to women and are important in relationship to God and men but what I am coming to preach to you today is the heart of Biblical womanhood. That there is a reasoning in the heart of the apostle Paul that we need to see sisters that you need to see and men that you need to see so that you can hold your sisters accountable. And the reasoning in the heart of apostle Paul can be seen in vs 13-15. There are two main reasons in the heart of apostle Paul as he makes the statements that he makes. He is not giving these instructions to guide women into a proper Biblical womanhood because of something that was happening in Corinth or Galatia or Ephesus. This instruction about Biblical womanhood cannot be isolated to a certain historical situation. It cannot be said that these statements are being made because the apostle Paul has something in his mind that can be isolated to a certain historical situation. If that were the case we could understand that maybe this was written to them and not to us. But you can see that the apostle Paul had in his mind what happened in the garden of Eden.
Reason #1: The Creative Order
The very purposes of God can be found in creation itself. And so if we turn to the book of Genesis we should be able to find that mystery of what is in his heart. Before we do that turn with me to 1 Cor 11, another chapter devoted to making a distinction between the male and female roles. And it speaks of it in 2 different metaphors and it speaks of it in Spiritual senses using physical things as a demonstration of that. In 1 Cor 11:3 he opens up with a Spiritualization of the word head.
“3 But 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.4 Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.5 But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.6 For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered.7 For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man.8 For the man is not of the woman: but the woman of the man.9 Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.10 For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.11 Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.12 For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.13 Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered?14 Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?15 But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.16 But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.”
Now brethren without getting into a specific address of this entire chapter what I want to focus on again is the heart of the reason behind why Paul says what he says. In vs 3 he says that the head of every man is Christ and the head of a woman is the man and the head of Christ is God. And this word head is used in the Old and New Testament as a word that signifies authority and you can find many passages that affirm that. For example when Elijah was going to be taken up in the chariot of fire and Elisha was following him to his final exit and the prophets were coming up to Elisha and the prophets were coming to Elisha saying do you not know that your lord will be taken from you this day and the way they phrased it was do you not know that you will be taken away from your head this day. And Elisha said “yes I know” and you see that the head signifies Elijah’s authority over Elisha. The Scripture is describing him as Elisha’s head and so besides all the other applications 1 Cor 11 is speaking of the heart of Spiritual authority and why does Paul make the statements that he makes. Read vs. 7-9. (see above) In these vs there are some profound statements. It says that man is the image and glory of God. But the woman is the glory of the man. In vs 8 he expounds further on why he says that. He says because the man is not of the woman but the woman of the man neither was the man created for the woman but the woman for the man. So again what we find in the heart of apostle Paul is what happened in the book of Genesis in the created order: Adam was first formed and then Eve. Turn to 1 Cor 14.
“34 Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law.35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.”
Again here we see the apostle Paul address the subjection of woman and in vs 34 we see the reason he says what he says is because of the law. He says they are commanded to be in obedience as also says the law. And what he is talking about is what happened in the book of Genesis. Turn to Genesis chapter 2
8 And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.9 And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.10 And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.11 The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;12 And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.19 And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.20 And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.21 And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;22 And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Now what we see here brethren. In vs 8 it says God planted the garden and the scenery and glory of the garden are described. In vs 15 we see the purpose of man in the garden. God says that He put him there to dress it and keep it and this is before the fall, before man ever committed sin, walking in the paradise of God in a place where the presence of God would walk in the cool of the day a place of complete happiness, complete goodness, and complete union between God and man as Adam existed in perfect innocence. In vs 16-17 God speaks to Adam before the creation of Eve and He said of every tree of the garden you may freely eat but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you cannot eat warning him that on that day he will die. This is an experience which Adam had with God and from this point onward vs 18-20 the LORD introduces the need that Adam has and He states in vs 18 that it is not good for man to be alone that He will make a help meet for him and we know the purpose of man was to work and dress and keep the garden. And God is thinking in the righteousness and purity of His own mind according to His wisdom before the fall of man that man is incomplete without someone else in the sense of the purpose of God for creating a woman which is subject to God’s sovereign will in all of our individual lives but what is amazing to me emphasizing the thought process of God in creating woman is vs 19-20. You see in vs 18 He says it is not good for man to be alone and in vs 19-20 He describes how man is alone, how God brought to Adam all the animals He created and it must have been a glorious thing as God the Father was taking pleasure in Adam His man, the only man He created on the earth at that time and here he is in the garden to dress and keep it. And there is a sense that He made the world for mankind and that there is no other creature on earth like a man in God’s image. There is no other creature on earth with a relational capacity to have a relationship with God. The created universe existed for what God was going to do with mankind. So man is the central figure in what God is doing for His own glory. But then He is seeking to demonstrate how man is still alone and he needs a helper and you can imagine what it was like as God brought before Adam a giraffe and what happened was the first thing that came out of Adam’s mouth became the name of the animal. And so this tall beast came out and Adam is admiring it and the first thing that came out of his mouth is giraffe and God and him are rejoicing together in sinless happiness. And a bird presents itself and he is admiring it and he calls it bird and it becomes his name. All the animals from turtles to dogs from all the creatures that God has made and you can see just the sense of God being with Adam as Adam is coming to be familiar with his creation. It can be sure that this day was a glorious day. The time period that passed as he was naming all the animals coming before him in some kind of sovereign order. The whole ecosystem was a miraculous display of God’s goodness. You can be certain that Adam had a deep sense of the goodness of God and a familiarity with his creation and after he named all the animals in this day that was better than a thousand elsewhere it says in vs 20 that there was not found a help meet for him. That means that none of the animals can be his partners or his friend or can be what God created a woman to be. There is no other creature in existence that can serve the purpose of what God was about to do.
Read vs 21-25. You can see here that the displeasure of God that something in His creation was lacking in its perfect goodness. God said let there be light and there was light. And He said the light was good. He put a separation between the land and sea and saw that it was good. And He was seeing here that there was a lack of goodness in joining Himself in this paradise with man. In vs 22 it says God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam. There is no evidence that he knew what was happening. He just fell into a deep sleep and God took of his rib and created the woman. And just before this on the same day the animals were coming to Adam and there was a glorious friendship experience between God and man and the created elements and he just spoke and it became their name and now God brings before Adam this perfect creation to come before Adam. And you can think of Adam waking up and there she was presented before him. And he looks upon her and it was unlike anything he has been before and the first thing that came out of this mouth was woman for she was taken from man and so you can see again the creative purpose of God in creating Adam first and then Eve. There was a purpose in the heart of God before the fall, before sin tainted and corrupted creation. Before sin inflamed their minds with evil they were rejoicing together in the purposes for which they were created perfectly enjoying God and you can imagine that Eve was rejoicing as she was brought to Adam as a help meet and God is just presenting her to him and he sees God has made me a helper and she is just thinking “I am for you” and they are just rejoicing together in the paradise of God.
Brethren this is glorious, this display of God in creating man and woman. It is impressive of what the mind of God was for creating man and woman. It leaves you with a feeling that they have different purposes because they do. There are both equally valuable in the sight of God but they are not of the same purpose in the sight of God. They are both of equal standing before God in Christ because in Him there is neither male nor female and at final redemption at the final resurrection there shall be no marriage or giving in marriage. We will be like the angels with a glorified body and so we will not be given in marriage anymore. All the reasoning behind that we cannot understand. 1 John 3 says it doth not yet appear what we shall be but when we see Him we shall be as He is. It does not yet appear all the mysteries of God’s goodness that await us in the time to come for those of you who are saved. And as we look back before the fall and according to the Scriptures as Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost he drew from the created order of man and woman, a distinction of role in the matter of the church between man and woman.
Now brethren if you remember in 1 Tim 3 there was a second purpose in the heart of God and before we turn there I want to say one more thing. Read Gen 3:20 it says Adam called his wife’s name Eve for she was the mother of all living. This is an emphasis of the authority of Adam that by the purpose of his creation before the fall he was the leader and he was born to lead out in the purposes God had for him. And the woman was created to join with him in the purpose God had given him to help him and what emphasis the role of authority is that he gave her the name woman and also gave her name Eve. He called his wife Eve. Now we understand that that is a signification of authority.
Reason # 2: The Order of the Fall
Turn to 1 Tim 2:13-15. (see above). The first reason in the heart of the apostle Paul by which we can understand Biblical womanhood is the creative order but the secondary purpose and reason in the heart of the apostle Paul is the fall of humanity. Turn to Gen 3:
“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?2 And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:3 But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.6 And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.11 And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?12 And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.13 And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.14 And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.16 Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.20 And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.21 Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.22 And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:23 Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
So we see here brethren the fall of humanity and the apostle Paul drew from this circumstance the deceivableness of women. It was that the woman was deceived. Now given the circumstances we have read if Satan was going to deceive someone he would have chosen to deceive the woman. The man had a greater advantage not the be deceived because of the time he spent with God and the glorious things he experienced in communion with Him had to do with his familiarity with all animals because it happened before she as created. Also it had to do with his familiarity with the commandments of God. Remember the fall happened in Gen 2 and this commandment was given to Adam before the creation of Eve. And so we understand that after Eve was created you can imagine that in the heart of Adam he was pointing out the creatures saying “look there is a giraffe. I saw him and he came out. Look there is this bird”, taking her around the river and seas telling her of all he experienced before she was created. He told her how she was made and how God told him to dress and keep the garden and all that had to do with it. Walking with God in the garden was an incomprehensible affair. You can be sure that Adam was taking a great deep experience with God. And Adam would have brought her also to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and told what God says exactly. He said it in Gen 2:16-17 unless he failed to do that.
And what we see in Gen 3, firstly that the serpent was a subtil creature. Secondarily that he tempted the woman to distrust God and eat of the tree but he did this by questioning the communication that God gave to Adam and there is no evidence that it was verbally spoken to Eve. Just as in Eph 5 God commands the husband to wash his wife with the water of the WORD. It is a commandment that husbands would teach their wives the WORD of God and that purpose is unified with the creative purpose. How Spiritual authority and purpose work in the house of God. And you see here in Gen 3:3, Eve says God has said that shall not eat of it either shall ye touch it lest ye die. You see here that Eve misquoted God. God never said ye shall not touch it. He said you shall not eat of it. He did not say if you touch it you shall die. Since she misquoted God it was not a wise position for her to be in if she was to withstand the arguments of Satan without the covering of her husband. What you need to see here according to the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: the woman was deceived and that was the mark of distinction which means that Adam was not deceived. Eve was allured to sin against God because she was deceived.
And notice how God holds Adam as the primary author and he is the primary one responsible for the fall meaning that it is under his name that this affair will be written in the New Testament. In Gen 3:9 God says “Adam where art thou?” He did not say “Eve where art thou?” Look in 1 Cor 15:22 in Adam all die. Note it does not say in Eve all die. In Rom 5:14 it says death passed upon all men, that it passed from Adam to Moses. Notice it does not say from Eve to Moses. It says it was Adam’s transgression in Rom 5:14. And the entire latter half of Rom 5 it was talking of this one man’s sin and it brought about the fall of all humanity and so Adam takes the responsibility that is also unified with his authority and the responsibility that comes with that authority and what it comes down to the instruction between men and woman from God.
The Manifestation of Subjection
The apostle Paul brings forth the example of the woman and the serpent as an example for women in the house of God to be in silence and to learn. To be in silence is one thing but to learn is another. 1 Tim 2 it states there in vs 11 it says “let the woman learn in silence with all subjection”. Now brethren beloved this emphasizes that a woman needs to learn that she is not sufficient in the purposes of God without the authority of the man that that is the safe place to be. That in of herself in all of the convictions and resolutions she believes as true in the sight of God she certainly will come short of the purposes of God if she is not properly under the authority of the man. And that is what we see in Gen 3. She was alone with the serpent and Adam was not there. And that shows she was outside of Adam’s protective covering. And you can see this principle in 1 Cor 11 as stated before: vs 3 is the order of authority from the Godhead to mankind and man to woman. It speaks of the order of the Godhead that the head of Christ is God. And you find that this is true in 1 Cor 15 that after all God’s enemies are put under His feet and Jesus Christ’s Kingdom is fully established and supremely reigning at that time He takes the Kingdom and gives it back to the Father . 1 Cor 15 states this fulfills all the glory of God. The persons of the Godhead are equal and of the same essence but we also see is that they had a divine order of authority. That the Holy Spirit glorified the name of Christ and that Jesus Christ glorifies the name of the Father and each on works in that order of submission one to another of charity this glorious unity of the Godhead. And so right here we see that God is the Head of Christ.
And we can understand also that the heavenly beings which reside in heaven understand something of this order of authority and that mankind was made in His image as a display for God’s glory and we can understand 2 things from what is spoken of in 1 Cor 11:7-10 (see above) It says for this cause also ought a woman to have power on her head because of the angels and why does it say because of the angels? Well from the Scriptures we can draw two reason. 1) for the holy angels 2) for the fallen angels. Firstly it is for the holy angels because they are ministers of the saints. Hebrews says that they help and encamp around those who fear Him to help them, that they are involved in the redemptive purposes of God somehow to help them along the way of life. And we can also understand that they attend the house of the LORD on resurrection Sunday. Matt 18 says there am I in their midst but we can certainly also understand that the angelic beings are also in their midst. As Elisha stands before his servant he says there be more with us than with him and in one moment of time God opens his eyes and he sees chariots of fire and angels standing by Elisha. And we understand that upon the prayers of the saints God’s will is being done around the world, that they are mysteriously unified in the affairs of God in a very real and shocking way; the kingdom of God is within heaven and also within us. And Jesus Christ is called the LORD of armies, the LORD of the army of angels and where He has a host with Him and what He sets his eyes to do He has a force to enforce it and so we understand that God desires that this assembly would be an image of His divine authority. And just as He is subject to His authority as His father is His head so he expects that man and woman represent that divine order of safety and so we can understand that the woman should have a covering and power on her head for a sense of the glory of God for angels long to look into the things done with the saints and somehow mysteriously they long to see the power of God through the preaching of the WORD of God among sinners through the saints and then they learn the wisdom of God the Father and the redemption of man through the saints preaching the mysteries of God. And we can find that in the book of Ephesians and so we understand that there should be a covering of authority for the glory of God for a display of God’s image to the holy angels but we also need to understand that this covering of authority is a surety of the power of God. In that position all the blessings of God are performed and all attributes of redemption are enjoyed. And so we can understand that it is a protection from Satan.
Turn to 2 Cor 11:2-4 “2 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one Husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” Now you notice here brethren that he cites how that he was deceived by the arguments and deceptions of Satan and in her deception the apostle Paul is drawing that and applying that to a circumstance he is in as a pastor and as an apostle and he looks at the bride of Christ to be apt to deception without the protective covering of the authorities of the church: of the officers, the pastors, the elders, and that there is a real interaction between God’s salvation as it is done through the local church and appointed elders who are filled with the power and Spirit of God, that there is a mysterious connection between the sovereign methods of salvation and the order of earthly affairs being outlets of those works of salvation so we understand that sinners are saved through the sovereign power of God alone and yet it also is by the preaching of Christians and we understand that the apostle Paul like the prophet Ezekiel citing from Acts 20 Ezek 3 that there was a sense of clearing of judgment whenever the responsibility of preaching was carried out so that he was able to say that he was free from the blood of all men that God would not require the blood of these men from his hand and though God is sovereign and His salvation is sufficient in himself and yet we need to recognize the outlets of His salvation and that it involves the cooperation or obedience of Christians in the sense that He desires to use them to perform that salvation not in the redemptive act itself but in the Spirit of God causing them to preach or the Spirit of God using the apostle Paul to shepherd the people of God and so the apostle Paul was looking at the church desiring to protect her from the beguiling of the serpent feeling that she will certainly be deceived if he is not given to this appointment.
Brethren we see the same thing in the affairs of man to woman in the covering of authority in that man is the covering of woman. Turn to Eph 5:21-28 “21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it;26 That He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.” You see here brethren that wives are to submit to their husbands and husbands are to lay down their lives for their wives and it is seen in the comparison that wives are to submit to the husbands as to Christ and as Christ laid down His life to sanctify the church husbands are to lay down their lives. And as Christ laid down His life that He would sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water with theWORD. And you can see this was the role of Adam even before the fall that he was teaching and explaining to her the WORD of God and the commandments of God regarding the tree that that role was implemented before the fall and how much more after the example of Christ’s redemption that this is the purpose and authority of God in the church in the Spirit of God according as it says in vs 23. The husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church and what does the male do with his authority. Now this one purpose is supreme: to guard her and protect her from deception by establishing the truth of the WORD of God in her life and the lives of his family. That is the supreme purpose and so we can understand that in 1 Tim 2 in regards to the formation of the convictions concerning the role if Biblical womanhood as it relates to modesty, to shamefacedness, to sobriety, that the woman needs the male race to lay down their lives to help the formation of the conviction in their hearts in firstly properly declaring what they are. The woman should not think she has the ability to come to the conviction of what these things are without the covering and teaching of the male declaring properly what it is. Concerning these matters if they are not properly declared and explained it leaves room for much confusion especially in the world we live in. What is modesty today is nakedness 100 yrs ago and what you see on the beach could have been pornography 100 yrs ago. What was done on TV could not even be done on TV 100 yrs ago. In today’s society we have lost the distinction of roles between men and women and so also following that we have lost the distinction between manners of clothing that there is no great distinction except if it regards immodesty and the exposing of the flesh in an unrighteous way and because of all the complexities which Satan has deceived this generation we need humility to relearn the ways of God that we would not determine the convictions of modesty based upon the sensitivities of fallen man because they are desensitized to sin. They must not be the litmus test of what modesty is. They must not be the compass of our moral behavior. We must look to holy men of God appointed within God’s holy church who are presenting the truth under the covering of Jesus Christ and that covering also going down to the men of the church and from the men of the church to the women of the church and that is the formula of God’s protection and that is what 1 Tim 2 is emphasizing.
As it regard to the matters which he brought: let the woman learn in silence with all subjection; that is the commandment of God. And he gave the two reasons and now we can have a deep sense of why he is saying what he says. That a women should be opening her mouth wide to receive these things from God through the instrumentality of appointed men of God because she has received the position of Biblical womanhood in her heart and she does not despise it. To her it is not oppression. She does not believe worldly wisdom. She is not measuring herself by fallen humanity. To her where the Spirit of God is there is liberty and whatever the commandments of God are that is liberty. That is freedom. That is happiness. That is wisdom. And that is what God is teaching is that whatever His commandments are that is the perfect prescription of His goodness and kindness to us. It is not oppression or what the feminist movement would scandalize it to be. According to God in the purity of His own mind He wrote to us that the man is the glory of God and the woman is the glory of man. Can you receive that sisters? Can you learn to rejoice like Eve did when she came before Adam? And understand your creative purpose through the power of the Spirit of Jesus Christ giving you a deep sense of the mind of God that this distinction is not a distinction of different values. They are of equal of value. But this is as a point of distinction as it relates to the purpose of God so there should be a great humility in your heart as you approach to learn about the convictions written for her. And you can say just like Eve said to Adam “I was made for you” If you were made for man then you must learn about the convictions and commandments of God which properly relate you to mankind.
On another aspect brethren about the fallenness of society today as it regards to the chaos of the degeneration of our society is that we do not even have marriage anymore in this society. The role between men and women has been lost. The role of man itself is now being lost. A long time ago we were at the battle between men and women. Now we are at the point of complete moral collapsing. And the president of the US preached at the stage of his inauguration that homosexuals were his brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. We are in a situation of great deception and it is done in the name of Jesus Christ. The antichrist will come he will be heralded in religions which call themselves as the name of Jesus Christ. In 2 Cor 11 it says it is another Jesus another spirit another way so when you look upon all of fallen Christianity and you must understand that there is an antichrist sprit that is behind all of the moral fabric that makes up their convictions. And so we must not compare ourselves by fallen Christianity because we are accelerating into the last generation faster than we think and we are in need to think and seek and ask for the old paths.
The Inner Woman: a Meek and Quiet Spirit
Now brethren as the final chapter that we will look at in this message please turn to 1 Pet 3:1-7 “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;2 While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear.3 Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel;4 But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.5 For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands:6 Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.7 Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life;” Okay brethren we see here in vs 3 the apostle Peter addresses the outward man and the outward clothing and in vs 4 he speaks of the hidden man, the inner man, and he goes on speaking of Spiritual clothing. In this text brethren there is great mystery because when we address the topic of Biblical womanhood there can be a sense of submission that happens in form. There can be a desire within a sister that she desires to be a woman according to Biblical instruction and in her pursuit of what she understands Biblical womanhood to be she fails to obtain the heart of a Biblical woman. This passage is emphasizing the heart of Biblical womanhood just as the teachings thus far that we have expounded. In this chapter it speaks of the heart just as strongly in regards to modesty. The commandment is let it not be the outward adorning, let it not be the outward jewelry. That means there is a reorganization of your entire purpose and we know that the purpose of fallen woman is most often to manipulate man and the form of manipulation comes through beauty and that is the curse of depravity that the woman usurps the authority of the man and rules over them and gains a sense of security in that role through manipulating him through her beauty.
That is a common desire of a lost woman so fallen mankind often submits to that for the desire of her beauty just as the woman is given to the lusts of flagrant shows of her beauty so also man is given to willfully deny what he knows is true or the sake of his idolatrous love of a woman and that is what happened in the Garden of Eden. Adam was not deceived. When Eve walked up to Adam with that fruit in her hands and she says look it is good to the eyes and she spoke to him about the lusts of the eyes and flesh and pride of life and she said look it is good to make one wise and she said look eat I have eaten and am still alive. Adam was not deceived the woman was. She sinned but she believed she was doing what was right. When Adam sinned he did it for love of his wife, an idolatrous love. He knew what she said was wrong but he did it anyways and this is the master-plan of Satan. On the same course that man is fallen Satan is trying to keep man in that fallen estate through the same method. And the woman needs to understand that she can manipulate the man through beauty, that the man is not properly inclined to see at all times that beauty is vain and that the woman who fears the LORD she shall be praised. And that the woman is like a ring the nose of a swine when she is beautiful woman that does not fear God. For the sake of God’s glory for the sake of keeping men from sin from keeping women from sin there needs to be an understanding of this master-plan of Satan and our order of our redemption according to the instruction of God meaning practically relating to obedience.
What does it mean that the woman is deceived? Sisters when I was young when I was lost a little boy I used to buy my mother cubic zirconium rings, fake diamonds. I bought her these rings because I thought she would like it. I grew up in a wealthy family and my allowance was not great and I would spend it on this. And my mother would not wear them. She would wear diamonds. That is what her depraved nature guided her to do and so it is with all women. There is something of great deception happening in the heart of women where they attribute life itself to be consistent with her beauty. I have seen women weeping and having a terrible day only because they feel ugly. If you ask them why they are weeping it is only because they feel ugly because their depraved nature guides them to love what God hates and it is a life that is consumed with vanity a life that is peaceful only as it regards to the prosperity of sin only as it regards to how your outward man looks but that is not the charge of this passage. Just as a woman would wake up in the morning in her lost estate and would seek to array herself with the most costly garments and would array herself with the most costly jewelry God is saying here it a reversal of that entire heart, that there is another clothing that He is pointing to and there is another jewelry that He is pointing to. And He says in vs 4 it is the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price. That means that when a woman wakes up in the morning in her lost estate and she puts on cubic zirconium and worthless jewelry and vile garments how she would despair of life, how she would weep for sorrow, how she would be grieved with everything that she experiences in that day. She would fear as though she was with so much shame that she was naked herself. But God is saying this is how you should feel if you do not have meekness and a quiet spirit. This is how you should feel if you are not related to God through authority of subjection to the male race. It means you have forgotten your adorning. These are the true ornaments of jewelry. These are the things God looks at and says it is of great price. These are the things if you wear and dress yourselves in you will have the eyes of God’s enjoyment, you will have the pleasure of God. Read vs 5 (See above). They clothed themselves with subjection. They put on the jewelry of a meek and quiet spirit. They were absolutely obsessed with the beauty of the hidden man and the pleasure of God with that beauty. They mortified the lusts that guided them to make a flagrant show of outward beauty knowing the manipulation and sin both in man and woman when she does that. This is the instruction of God not the outward adorning, but the hidden man of the heart, not the garment that wax old and perish not the jewelry which is corruptible, but the clothing of God’s righteousness, of the jewelry that shall never perish; that is what the LORD is teaching you.
Subjection as her Holiness and thus Her Worthiness
As the close of this message, sisters, you need to see this last point. Everything you have heard before is for the purpose of instructing you, of opening up your mind to understand Biblical womanhood and when you understand this God will open your eyes to give you understanding about modesty, etc, but if you harden your hearts and say I can figure this out on your own or you say I do not feel that this is true and your heart moves out of that place of being a learner and you exalt yourself over the male race in regards to these things it is pride. It is pride. And the Bible says God resisteth the proud but giveth grace to the humble. That resistance by God will withhold from you the revelation of Biblical womanhood to where you will try to understand modesty and all these things but you won’t have eyes to see but if you humble yourselves and come into alignment of Biblical womanhood God will not resist you but give you grace and reveal things things to your heart so you may obey with sincerity and joy to God as worship to Him. So brethren sisters in the light of all these things may you see the gravity of this teaching. It is easy to hear a teaching like this and say within yourselves there was a lot of good things in that message, a lot of things that I would do well to think about to meditate upon. Sisters this is a message that you cannot live your Christian life without.
In regards to your understanding of Biblical womanhood this is how God defines your holiness. Heb 12:14 says without holiness no man shall see the LORD and 1 Pet 3:5 says this is how the holy women of God behaved themselves. This is the definition of holiness for a woman just as I was describing to you the definition of a woman’s depravity, that it was obsessed with the outward man, that it ruled over men by manipulating them through beauty. It is certain that a true Christian at their first conversion, there can be only one conversion, but I meant that at the instance they were converted they were being taught to forsake the vanity of beauty and to care about what God’s eyes see and that alone and to live for the glory of God and to relate to God in the hidden man in the heart and the eyes of the LORD go to and fro throughout the whole earth. You will be able to look upon a woman and say she is unholy that she is vile on the basis that she does not live in this state of heart and you will be able to look upon a woman and say she is holy because she relates to God this way. This is not something you can do without. In 1 Pet 3:6 it says Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him lord and it says whose daughters ye are as long as ye do well.
The first temptation to a woman when she hears a teaching like this and having never heard it before is fear and amazement, fear and amazement. When I teach things from the book of Genesis speaking of the created order there can be fear and amazement a sense of insecurity gripping the heart, a sense of amazement. Maybe that is how you feel some of you sisters when you read that Sarah called Abraham LORD. Maybe you feel like I wish that was not written. But brethren you can be sure that you are being deceived and that all Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for reproof and instruction and that this was written because Sarah understood Biblical womanhood, that her subjection to her husband directly represented how much she was subjected to Jesus Christ. Sarah was so immersed in this Spiritual reality that she called Abraham lord, not in an idolatrous sense but she just recognized that the authority that he had over her was given by God and she rejoiced in it. The Spirit of God had pleasure in it thus it was written for your instruction.
Sisters it says whose daughter ye are. What does that mean? In John 8 Jesus was arguing with unconverted Jews, Jews who He said were slaves to sin and they go on saying that we are sons of Abraham. And though Jesus Christ acknowledged that they were the physical seed of Abraham He goes on to denounce them as the spiritual seed of Abraham and the reason He says that is because they do not the works of Abraham and He goes on to say that they are not the children of God and they do not His works but rather the devil is their father and his works they do and so brethren we can understand here that as saved men are called sons of Abraham saved women are called daughters of Sarah and the fact that those men did not do the works of Abraham and so it was sure that you could determine they were not the children of God so also those women who do not the works of Sarah are not the daughters of Sarah or God. This is your holiness sisters. When God looks at you he wants to see a difference between you and fallen women. This is what makes you different, why women mock you and scorn you it is your holiness in this very thing. Their lack of subjection is evident in this very matter. And your subjection to God is manifest in this very matter. This is your holiness. This is your separateness. This is the manifestation of the glory of God in a woman. And a woman who displays a meek and quiet spirit is a louder sermon than many things men can preach. It edifies it changes the spiritual atmosphere. It is the image of the glory of God. So sisters though you are tempted with fear and amazement be jealous, be zealous, and lay hold upon the calling of your womanhood and you will be a daughter of Sarah, a daughter of God and do what she did. It shall be well with you. You will never be ashamed. The LORD help you brethren.