Scripture Reading: 1 Tim. 2:8-15
In this message we shall consider from 2:8-15 the normal life of the brothers and sisters in the church. After Paul charges Timothy to take the lead to have a prayerful life, he goes on to speak of this matter. In 2:8-15 Paul devotes one verse (v. 8) to the brothers and seven verses to the sisters (vv. 9-15). This indicates that if we are to have a proper church life, the sisters must bear a sevenfold burden, a sevenfold responsibility.
Concerning the brothers, Paul says in verse 8, “I will therefore that men pray in every place, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and reasoning.” In a local church the leading ones must have a prayer life, as they were charged in verses 1 and 2, to set an example of prayer for all the members to follow by praying always in every place. In Ephesians 6 Paul tells us to pray at every time, but here he says to pray in every place. Although it is possible for us to pray at every time, morning, afternoon, evening, and night, it may not be possible for us to pray in every place. The requirement to pray in every place is more demanding than that to pray at every time. If we can pray in every place, we can surely pray at every time. But even if we are able to pray at every time, it still may not be possible for us to pray in every place. For example, it is not possible to pray in certain worldly places. Since you cannot pray in those places, you should not go there. If you can pray in a particular place, it is permissible for you to be there. But if you cannot pray in a certain place, you should not be there. According to verse 8, the brothers must bear the unique burden to pray in every place. Pray at work, at home, and in your car. As men, we should be those who pray.
It is significant that Paul opens verse 8 with the words, “I will.” This expression is stronger than “I wish” or “I exhort.” Paul’s use of the word “therefore” indicates, as we pointed out in the previous message, that the elders, the leading ones, are to take the lead in prayer and pave the way for others to follow them to have a prayerful life. In the first message of this Life-study we covered some very important matters related to God’s dispensation. But no matter how important these matters are, they cannot be carried out without the prayer of the brothers. Knowing this, Paul said, “I will therefore that men pray in every place.”
As I am speaking about this matter of praying in every place, I am deeply burdened. I would beg you all, especially the leading ones, from now on to have another kind of life — a life of praying in every place. If you pray in every place, your living will be transformed, and the church in your locality will be transformed also. Some brothers may not be entirely satisfied with the church in their locality. The only way for the church in your locality to be satisfying to you is for you to pray at every time and in every place. Instead of discussing the situation of the church, pray for the church. The normal life of the brothers in the church is to pray in every place.
When we pray in every place, we should lift up holy hands. Hands are a symbol of our doings. Hence, holy hands signify a holy living, a living sanctified and separated unto God. Such a holy life strengthens our prayer life. When our hands are not holy, our living is not separated unto God. We then have no supporting strength to pray, no holy hands to lift up in prayer.
In prayer, we should not lift up our eyes to observe others, but lift up holy hands. If you are watchful over the elders and the saints in a critical way, your prayer life will be killed. But if you lift up holy hands, your prayer will be strengthened.
In verse 8 Paul also urges the brothers to pray “without wrath and reasoning.” Wrath and reasoning kill our prayer. Wrath is of our emotion, and reasoning is of our mind. To have a prayer life and pray unceasingly, our emotion and mind must be regulated to a normal condition under the control of the Spirit in our spirit.
The Greek word for reasoning means disputatious reasoning. What Paul is speaking of here is not normal or ordinary reasoning, but a reasoning filled with disputation. We must avoid this if we are to pray properly.
Paul’s word about not having disputatious reasonings is related to his admonition to lift up holy hands. If we close our eyes and lift up our hands, we shall be able to pray. But if we open our eyes to consider others and reason about their situation, we shall not be able to pray. Instead of lifting up our hands, we may clasp them behind our back. Who can pray with his hands clasped behind his back? But if we lift up our hands and refrain from disputatious reasoning, we shall be able to pray in a proper way.
From experience I have learned that our prayer life can be affected by our mood. If I do not keep myself in a proper mood, my prayer life is put to death. Anger always destroys our prayer life for a period of time. If a brother loses his temper with his wife, he may find that he cannot pray properly for a few days. If we are to have a prayer life, we must learn not to be moody or angry with others. By the Lord’s grace that is with our spirit, we must exercise a strict control over our emotion.
In verse 9, Paul turns to the sisters. He begins this verse with the word “similarly.” This refers to “I will” in verse 8. It may also indicate that Paul’s word about praying in every place applies to the sisters as well as to the brothers.
Verse 9 says, “Similarly, that women adorn themselves in proper clothing with modesty and sobriety, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly clothing.” Proper clothing denotes what is fitting to the sisters’ nature and position as saints of God. Clothing in Greek implies deportment, demeanor. Clothing is the main sign of a sister’s demeanor, and it must befit her saintly position.
The Greek word rendered modesty literally is shamefastness, that is, bound or made fast by an honorable shame (Vincent), implying not forward or overbold, but moderate, observing the proprieties of a woman.
Sobriety denotes sober-mindedness, self-restraint. It means to restrict oneself soberly and discreetly. The sisters in a local assembly should clothe themselves with these two virtues — shamefastness and self-restraint — as their demeanor.
In verse 10 Paul continues, “But, what befits women professing godly reverence, by good works.” Godly reverence is reverence toward God; it is the revering and honoring of God as those who worship Him should.
In verse 11 Paul says, “Let a woman learn in quietness in all subjection.” Quietness means silence. For a sister to learn in silence and in all subjection is to realize her position as a woman. This safeguards the sisters from the presumption of overstepping their position in the local assembly.
Verse 12 continues, “But I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man, but to be in quietness.” To teach here means to teach with authority, to define and decide the meaning of doctrines concerning divine truth. For a woman to teach in this way or to exercise authority over a man is to leave her position. In God’s creation man was ordained to be the head, and woman was to be in subjection to man (1 Cor. 11:3). This ordination should be kept in the church. The word quietness in verse 12 refers to silence from speaking.
In verse 13 Paul offers a word of explanation, “For Adam was formed first, then Eve.” This brings us to the beginning. God always wants to bring us back to His beginning (Matt. 19:8).
In verse 14 Paul goes on, “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being quite deceived was in transgression.” Verse 13 gives the first reason that a woman should subject herself to man. Here is the second. Eve was deceived by the serpent (Gen. 3:1-6) because she did not remain in subjection under the headship of Adam, but overstepped her position to contact the evil tempter directly without her head being covered. This is the strong ground for the apostle not to permit the sisters in a local assembly to teach with authority or to exercise authority over men, but to learn in silence and remain in all subjection. Man’s headship is woman’s protection.
In verse 15 Paul concludes, “But she shall be saved through childbearing, if they remain in faith and love and holiness with sobriety.” Childbearing is a suffering. Suffering restricts and protects the fallen one from transgression.
The grammar in verse 15 is rather unusual. At the beginning of the verse Paul says, “She shall be saved”; then he goes on to say, “if they remain in faith and love and holiness with sobriety.” The pronoun “she” refers to Eve in verse 13. The reason Paul changes from a singular to a plural pronoun was that in referring to Eve he was including all women. Not all women are included in the pronoun “she,” but none can deny that they are included in the pronoun “they.” Paul’s use of pronouns in this verse makes it clear that in speaking of Eve he is speaking of all women.
In verse 15 Paul mentions faith, love, and holiness. Faith is to receive the Lord (John 1:12), love is to enjoy Him (John 14:21, 23), and holiness is to express Him through sanctification. By faith we please God (Heb. 11:6), by love we keep the Lord’s word (John 14:23), and by holiness we see Him. (Heb. 12:14).
In this message I am especially burdened concerning modesty, the leading female virtue. In some families there is not adequate stress on modesty. Rather, both boys and girls are brought up and instructed in the same way. Modesty is a virtue which emphasizes the difference between male and female. As we have pointed out, the Greek word rendered “modesty” in 2:9 is literally shamefastness, that is, bound and made fast by an honorable shame.
A word related to the virtue of modesty is shamefacedness. To be shamefaced is to be modest and have a sense of shame and know how to show shame. When a sister speaks in a church meeting, she should do so with modesty, with a certain amount of shamefacedness.
Modesty is a great safeguard and protection to a female. It is a mistake to teach girls in the same way as boys. Boys may expose themselves in certain situations; girls, however, should not. Otherwise, they will be without protection. This lack of protection can open the way for fornication. If the women working in an office have the virtue of modesty, they will be free from any improper involvement with the men who work there. A woman working in an office may easily become involved with a man if she does not have the proper covering, the necessary modesty, shamefacedness, which causes her to keep a proper distance.
All the sisters in the church life should have the virtue of modesty. The sisters should dress according to the principle of modesty. This principle does not allow the exposure of one’s body. For a woman to expose her body is to go against the principle of modesty. A sister needs to have a head covering, not only physically, but also psychologically, ethically, morally, and spiritually. This is the modesty spoken of in the Bible. To be modest simply means that a female is fully covered in every way.
In the church life the brothers and sisters have quite a lot of contact with one another in fellowship. In such fellowship it is necessary for the sisters to wear a moral, ethical, and spiritual covering known as modesty. In all their contact with the brothers, the sisters should be covered with an “overcoat” of modesty. This is a great safeguard and protection.
The sisters should never forget that they are females. This must be true especially of young unmarried sisters. They should be careful not to allow any evil thing to defile their holy body, which has been separated unto God and which is the temple of the Holy Spirit. For a young woman to preserve her body in this way requires modesty. I advise all the young sisters to wear a heavenly cloak to cover themselves from the influence of this evil age. Then they will be preserved for God’s purpose. At the time appointed by God, He will arrange for the right brother to marry a young sister as a virgin. Again and again I would remind the sisters to wear a cloak of modesty. The sisters must always remember that they are females. As females it is necessary for them to be covered. This is modesty.
Along with modesty, the sisters need sobriety (2:9). As a sister is practicing modesty, she needs to be sober. Far from being foolish, she should be sober-minded and discreet. She should be clear about things and have a keen discernment. A sister should be quiet, but she should not be without sobriety and discernment. A sister should be quiet soberly, not foolishly. As a sister exercises herself to be quiet and not to overstep her position, she needs a keen discernment within. Her spiritual sky should be clear, without clouds or smog. Then she will be clear, careful, and discreet.
The two virtues of modesty and sobriety are of great importance in the church life. The sisters should attend the church meetings in order to gain the full knowledge of the truth. This knowledge will cause them to be sober in their understanding. Then, along with their modesty, they will have what Paul calls “holiness with sobriety” (2:15). They will not be holy in a foolish way, in a way devoid of knowledge. On the contrary, they will be holy in a way that is full of knowledge, understanding, and discernment.
In the first two chapters of 1 Timothy Paul gives practical instructions to have a proper local church: (1) terminate the distraction of differing teachings (1:3-11); (2) emphasize God’s dispensation, making it the central line and goal of the Christian life (1:4-6); (3) preach Christ to save sinners (1:12-17); (4) war a good warfare for God’s New Testament economy by holding faith and a good conscience (1:18-19); (5) deal with the heretical teachers and the opposers of the apostle (1:20); (6) let the leading ones take the lead to have a prayer life, interceding for all men that Christ’s redemption may be testified in due time (2:1-7); (7) let the brothers follow the pattern of prayer, praying all the time (2:8); and (8) let the sisters adorn themselves in proper deportment and subject themselves to the brothers, remaining in quietness, faith, love, and holiness with sobriety.
