A Woman's Proper Place

Don Shotwell

MOTHER'S DAY • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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Announcements

16 May — New Series on Holy Spirit

Welcome to live audience, first time (FB, YouTube)

Special Thanks to Mothers

First, I would like to say, “happy Mother’s Day,” to all of our ladies here today. You have a life calling that is completely unique and absolutely vital. It is not an easy job being a woman, and certainly much less so being a mother.

I want to take a moment to recognize my own mother; it wasn’t until much later in life that I realized the sacrifices she made alongside my father to give my sisters and I the absolute best home life growing up — one that fostered not only mental and physical, but spiritual growth as well. We were allowed to be kids, allowed to make our own choices, allowed to make mistakes and grow up.

Illustration

I lost my mother on 29 August 2010. I can only imagine her standing next to Jesus watching her only son prophesy to God’s people on this Mother’s Day morning.

There are a few other women who have had a very strong impact upon my life, though.

The first is Robert’s wife, Elva. With a grace and gifting only from God, she and Robert became like second parents to me and helped fill a hole in my heart and my life that was left after my mother’s passing.

The other is my best friend, Courtney Yozze. Also a mother herself, Courtney has what is known as the gift of “mercy,” and she’s also quite the empath.

After my accident in 2016 and my disability resulting thereof, she helped me through a very dark time in my life, and I owe her a debt of gratitude I cannot ever begin to repay.

So, I want to say thank you, not only to all mothers, but to all women who actively fulfill a similar role in someone’s life. It is a very special and unique calling indeed.

Today, I want to speak to you about that calling.

Passage Guide

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to two passages of scripture:

Acts 2 and 1 Timothy 2.

Message Introduction

As I’ve experienced, one need not be a biological mother to be an influence on someone’s life.

So when I originally sat down seven weeks ago and began to do the preparation for this message, I had wanted to speak to what a godly woman looks like and how they can be an influence in the life of people everywhere.

Every man, woman and child has a calling on their lives, and it is their highest calling.

Matthew 22:37 NASB

37 And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’

In Mark 12:30, he adds:

New American Standard Bible Chapter 12

AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.’

Matthew 22:38–40 NASB

38 “This is the great and foremost commandment. 39 “The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

The New Living Translation puts it this way:

Matthew 22:40 NLT

40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

The definition of a godly man is a man who loves the Lord with all of his heart, all of his soul, all of his mind and all of his strength; and loves his neighbor as himself.

The definition of a godly woman is a woman who loves the Lord with all of her heart, all of her soul, all of her mind and all of her strength; and loves her neighbor as herself.

But what I found once I began to dig into this subject was something I didn’t really expect, nor did I understand.

See, every woman also has a unique calling on their lives, and it matters not the age or walk of life.

In regards to men and women, however, the more I studied about this calling that women have, the more I see the church all over the world, “creating a dichotomy of us vs them,” as my best friend Courtney Yozze has said, “lobbying for our perspective[s] to be heard.”

Yet nobody is really listening.

This is not just in the church, either. This is all around us in our culture today.

The title of today’s message is: “A Woman’s Proper Place.”

Now, I’ll admit, the title is a bit deceptive — at first. But once we get into this, you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Whether talking about women as mothers or women in general, the more I studied this subject, the more I realized that you cannot talk about women in the home without talking about women in the church, too.

They are intertwined.

So, today I want to take you on a journey. A journey of exposition, a journey of hermeneutic, a journey of interpretation.

There are some things we need to know about women — especially as it pertains to the church.

We are going to talk about specific roles, about how God intended things, about how things in Scripture are interpreted, and answer some questions.

We are even going to definitively answer two of the most hotly debated questions in all of church history:

Can a woman be a pastor?

Can a woman preach?

So, let’s dive into our main text for today. But before we do let me give you a little back story. So, essentially our story takes place on the first Pentecost, which is fitting since Pentecost is next week. All the disciples were in one place when suddenly the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples appearing as tongues of fire. The disciples began speaking in every tongue, and the crowd around them were astonished as they each heard their own language. Some felt this was a “mighty deed of God” while others thought the disciples to be drunk. Then in

Acts 2: 14-21 NASB20

14) But Peter, taking his stand with the other eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: "Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, know this, and pay attention to my words.

15) "For these people are not drunk, as you assume, since it is only the third hour of the day;

16) but this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:

17) 'AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,' God says, 'THAT I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS WILL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN WILL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN WILL HAVE DREAMS;

18) AND EVEN ON MY MALE AND FEMALE SERVANTS I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT IN THOSE DAYS, And they will prophesy.

19) 'AND I WILL DISPLAY WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE.

20) 'THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD COMES.

21) 'AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.'

I. Men and Women Are Equal In God’s Eyes

The first thing we want to look at as far as this dichotomy goes is that in God’s eyes, men and women are equal, and we see that here in Acts 2.

The Holy Spirit fell on both men and women.

You might say, “Wait, I thought man was created first and woman was created second, Eve was deceived first and therefore man is the higher of the two.”

Nowhere do you find in scripture that men are tougher, stronger, smarter or better than women.

Ladies, I want you to understand who you are in Christ:

This is 21 irrefutable

1. You are loved and worth dying on the cross for

Romans 5:8 NASB

8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

2. You are created in God’s image

Genesis 1:27 NASB

27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

3. You are children of God

1 John 3:1 NASB

1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

4. You are forgiven

Acts 13:38 NASB

38 “Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,

5. You have been justified by the blood of the Lamb

Romans 5:9 NASB

9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.

6. You have died to sin

Romans 6:2 NASB

2 May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?

7. You walk in newness of life

Romans 6:4 NASB

4 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

8. You are holy and blameless before God

Ephesians 1:4 NASB

4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love

9. You are adopted as daughters of God and favored in the beloved by the glory of His grace

Ephesians 1:5-6 NASB20

5) “He predestined us to adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,”

6) “to the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He favored us in the Beloved.”

10. You are his workmanship

Ephesians 2:10 NASB

10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

11. You are no longer a slave to sin

Romans 6:6 NASB

6 knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;

12. You can never be separated from the love of God

Romans 8:38–39 NASB

38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

13. You are loved by Jesus

John 15:9 NASB

9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.

14. You are cared for by Jesus

1 Peter 5:7 NASB

7 casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

15. You reign in life through Christ Jesus

Romans 5:17 NASB

17 For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

16. You are blessed by your faith

Romans 5:2 NASB

2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.

17. His love is perfected in You

1 John 2:5 NASB

5 but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:

18. You have received anointing from him

1 John 2:27 NASB

27 As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.

19. You are loved by the Father

John 16:27 NASB

27 for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.

20. Rivers of living water flow from your innermost being

John 7:38 NASB

38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ ”

21. You belong to God

John 17:9 NASB

9 “I ask on their behalf; I do not ask on behalf of the world, but of those whom You have given Me; for they are Yours;

In fact, you will find that over and over again scripture shows that God does not play favorites between men and women.

Romans 2:11 NLT

11 For God does not show favoritism.

Acts 10:34 NKJV

34 Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality.

Ephesians 6:9 NASB

9 And masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him.

Galatians 3:28 NASB

28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Speaking of Christ Jesus, one of the questions you have to ask yourself when looking at this topic is this:

How did Jesus view women? How did Jesus interact with women in culture that was different than people who ministered and rabbis who ministered before him?

A great picture of how God views and thinks specifically of women is the story of Mary and Martha.

Luke 10:38-42 NASB20

38) Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home.

39) And she had a sister called Mary, who was also seated at the Lord's feet, and was listening to His word.

40) But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do the serving by myself? Then tell her to help me."

41a) But the Lord answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha,”

I always thought that verse had a “Brady Bunch” feel to it… “Martha, Martha, Martha!”

Anyway, Jesus said:

41b) "Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things;”

42) “but, only one thing is necessary; for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."

A little back story on Mary and Martha. Martha was in the traditional women’s quarters of that time. Whereas, Mary was considered to be in the traditional men’s quarters. Yet, Jesus states that Mary had chosen to be exactly where she needed to be, learning at the feet of Jesus.

II. The Work of the Holy Spirit

In our main text, specifically in verses seventeen and eighteen of Acts 2 it says:

Acts 2:17–18 NASB

17 ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, And your young men shall see visions, And your old men shall dream dreams; 18 Even on My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those days pour forth of My Spirit And they shall prophesy.

That word “prophesy” is the Greek word “prophēteuō.”

It means...

Lexham Theological Wordbook προφητεύω

The act of revealing something that is hidden, disclosing the will of God, or foretelling the future.

So, let’s answer the first question:

“Can women preach?”

The Bible says:

“I,” God speaking, “I will pour forth of My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy.”

When viewed in the proper context, yes.

women will be given the ability through the Holy Spirit to disclose the will of God or reveal what is hidden. To reveal what is hidden is what we as preacher’s consider expository preaching.

III. Objections Answered

One of the most common objections to women being able to preach is 1 Timothy 2 : 11-15

1 Timothy 2:11–15 NASB

11 A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. 12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. 13 For it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve. 14 And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. 15 But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.

1 Timothy 2:11–15 TLV

11 Let a woman receive training in a quiet demeanor with complete respect for order. 12 But I do not allow a woman to train or dictate to a man, but to be in a quiet demeanor. 13 For Adam was formed first, then Eve. 14 Also Adam was not deceived but the woman—being deceived, she fell into transgression. 15 Nevertheless, she will be sustained through childbearing—if they continue in faithfulness and love and holiness, with sound judgment.

Cultural Context of the Time:

This is Paul writing a letter to Timothy who was the pastor of the church of Ephesus. Ephesus was a city in Greece that was located in ...

In Ephesus, there was a temple dedicated to the Goddess of Artemis, and it took 200 years to build. One of the things Artemis was known for was that anytime a woman lost a child, it was said that Artemis speared the child in the womb. It was a temple dedicated to a woman. As the Gospel message spread throughout Greece more and more people were coming over from the temple of Artemis to the church of Ephesus. This also included many women who were at one point temple prostitutes.

As they integrated with the church they were attempting to seduce authority away from men because there was no manual at that point as the Bible had not yet been completed at this point. There was no manual for how to do church.

If you look at the word teach in 1 Timothy 2: 12

You have to ask yourself a question. Is anything else like this said anywhere else in scripture? The answer is no. The Greek word for teach in scripture is “didaskō” which means to indoctrinate or teach in a n authoritative way.

authenteō which is only used once in the Bible and only 5 times in all of Ancient Greek Literature means to dictate.

So, what Paul is stating is that women are not to teach in ultimate authoritative manner order dictate authority over men. There is also the question of if this was meant for all time or within the historical context. A review of the entire text of Paul’s letter gives a strong indication that he was offering advice to Timothy on how to confront the heretical teaching and misconduct occurring among a number of women within the church. But does this mean that women are unable to preach at all or during our current time? No, it does not.

At this point, you may be asking yourself why am I telling you all of this? Well, for many generations we as a church have had a distorted perception of women. We have taken the scripture I just gave along with others out of context, and have potentially oppressed women from possibly reaching their fullest potential and God given calling in their lives.

So how do we fix these unhealthy mindsets that we have grown accustomed to?

We first must recognize that we see the world through our own bias, and we must unlearn our unhealthy mindsets.

Ephesians 4:18 ESV

18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart.

We must put on the mindset of Christ.

Ephesians 4:22–24 ESV

22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Remember, it was Christ that allowed Mary to sit in the men’s quarters and sit and learn at his feet.

The family is the model for the church, and it is in this way that we should live with one another.

Ephesians 5:22–30 NASB

22 Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. 24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, 26 so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. 28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, 30 because we are members of His body.

So, what does this mean? This means that a Godly women should practice honor as she submits to her husband. But this also means that the husband loves his wife cherishing her as he does his own body. Both equally loving one another. Love is a verb, an action.

Application:

Women, find out what your gifting is. There are many websites you can go to that will ask you questions and you rate 1-5 and they will tell you what your gifts are.

Find out what your spiritual gifts are and use them. Find a place to serve. We need deacons. Maybe what we really need is a deaconess. They are not elders, they aren’t pastors with governing authority.

Know what your place is, and don’t ever let any man tell you that you are not worthy of God’s love or that you haven’t been given gifts or that you are not equal to men in every way because you are, and God said so. This is how GOd sees you