Christian's Womans Role

Well, I want to bring another subject here that's on the list, and I'm going to try to cover all of them. I brought this message, I've changed it some in the last probably two or three years. Some of you might have heard me share on this subject.

But I'd like to, this is not, when is Mother's Day, isn't it May? I'd like to talk today about the role of women in the body of Christ, generally and specifically, and address this subject. It seems like after preaching through a book, this is a subject that comes up. I've preached on it before.

People bring this subject up, and I don't know that we're missing something here. Maybe there's a feeling that maybe the women are not being given liberty or they're being oppressed, and I don't want that to be. I want the sisters here to know where they are in the body of Christ and so have liberty in the body of Christ.

So I'm going to share a few things with you this morning. I told my family that it seems like the last couple of weeks I've touched on subjects that are a little controversial. We touched on a few weeks ago espousal, which brought a little bit of discussion and controversy.

And then last week on authority, whenever you preach on authority, that generally stirs some people up. And so the role of women in the church. So let's look at that subject this morning.

I think some of you men can listen along and maybe use these things to teach others, teach your own family. But I'd like to lay some foundations, and I don't have any opinions here. I'm just going to the Bible, and I look for the role of women in the Bible and what's God saying about the sisters in the church.

And so here we go. Let's look at Galatians chapter 3. We'll start there in this subject on women's place in the body of Christ. And I will start out here in verse number 26 of Galatians 3. If you want to follow along this morning, turn your Bibles to Galatians chapter 3, verse 26.

Here's a good foundation to lay for all the sisters in the body of Christ, starting in verse 26, for you are all, and I'd like you to notice that little word all there. It shows up in a number of the verses that we're looking at. For you are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ.

For as many of you have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond nor free.

There is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. So that's a good starting place for the message this morning is here in Galatians that Paul says that if you're a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ, it doesn't matter today whether you're Jew or Gentile.

It doesn't matter about culture. By the way, anyone who is born again in Russia is on the same plane as anyone who is born again here in America. We sometimes think that our culture is better than your culture and therefore we're kind of a little bit up with regards to the body of Christ than you are, but that's not the case if you're a Jew or a Greek.

By the way, Jews in the minds of the Jewish people were way up. You know, we're the religious people. We're the culture that has God in it and the Greek.

Well, they're not the culture that has God in it. You know, they're the heathen. And so we're always the Jews.

We're always above the Greeks. Well, that's not the case in salvation. As a matter of fact, when you get to heaven and you're a saved child of God, you're going to find that the ground is level.

Jew and Greek. And it doesn't matter about the culture that you're in. He mentions here bond or free.

It doesn't matter the social status. You can be a slave. You can be a rich man who has all the freedoms in this present world, but it doesn't matter in Christ.

The ground is level. And in heaven there's going to be the pauper, Lazarus the beggar, and he's going to be standing beside maybe presidents and kings. They're all the same.

So we ought not to think that I'm in Christ, but I'm kind of a lowly person. You know, I'm not up there with others who are in Christ. No, it doesn't matter.

Bond or free. Whatever your social status is, you are on the same plane in Christ. And then we come here to this next one, and that is whether you're male or female.

It doesn't matter your gender. Nothing to do with gender. Salvation puts everybody on the same plane.

I know some ladies, maybe because they've been taught this throughout their life, they think when we get to heaven we're still going to be kind of under the men. That's simply not true. In salvation, male and female, you are all one.

You're all on the same plane. You are all one in Christ Jesus. So the privileges of salvation, it's uniform, or it's the same place throughout all.

That's why the Bible says, Whosoever will, let him come and drink of the water of life freely. Whosoever will. And so the privileges of salvation are for all.

And so I'm going to put a diagram here on the board as we go through this. I'm going to write salvation for those who are listening on this by tape. And this here includes all the privileges of salvation.

That line represents men and women are free to enjoy all the privileges that salvation brings. We are all one in Christ Jesus. Now, I taught last week on authority, but stop and think about this for a minute.

You know, in this life we have authorities, and you ladies have husbands as your authorities. We men have, and ladies too, have governors and kings, and there's police out there, and there are many different authorities that we have in this life. But authority, that whole structure that God ordained, is for this world down here.

It is not for the world to come. You see, when you get to heaven, there will not be that authority structure up there. And some beautiful things from that.

When you get to heaven, you're not going to have a husband. Do you know why you're not going to have a husband? Because you're going to be married to Christ. You're going to have Him as your husband, so you'll not need a husband.

When you get to heaven, you'll not need a king, like a president or a king that we have down here in this world, because Christ will be your king. When you get to heaven, you won't need parents, you won't need a father, because He is our eternal Father. When you get to heaven, there will be no need for police, because nothing enters into the city that defiles.

God is going to cast out all the wicked. So when you think of the whole structure of authority down here, that structure will be gone. So some of you ladies think, well, will I still be under the man when I'm in heaven? Well, it won't be the case.

In heaven, they neither marry nor are given in marriage. But are as the angels of God. So that's where we start.

We start with all one in Christ Jesus. Do we all agree with that? Male and female. And so sisters, we can rejoice in the fact that yes, though we are under authority here under our husbands, when we get to heaven, that structure is going to be gone.

It's going to be all on a level playing. So we'll start out with that salvation. Now let's come up just a little bit here.

So let's go back to Acts 2. And we'll read here regarding the church, God's heart. We'll get into this as we get into the book of Acts. And I think here's where some struggle because of their upbringing.

Maybe some of you struggle because of the culture that you were brought up in. But in Acts 2, this is on the day of Pentecost, something here about male and female also, God wants us to know. In verse 14, the Bible says, But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them, Ye men of Judea and all ye that dwell in Jerusalem, Be this known unto you, and hearken to my words, for these are not drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

But this is that which is spoken by the prophet Joel. And it shall come to pass in the last days. Here's what God's going to do with the church, His body.

I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh. Notice that word again, all. And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams.

And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. Now God says, here's what I'm going to do with the body of Christ. I'm going to pour out my Spirit.

And when I pour out my Spirit, I'm not going to pour it out on the men and not do it on the ladies, or I'm not going to pour it out 100% on the men and give the ladies 50%. No, I'm going to pour out of my Spirit, He says, upon all flesh. All believing flesh.

And He breaks it down here and gives us some examples. Verse 17 says, your sons and your daughters. In other words, males and females.

Sons and daughters. By the way, when I first read that I thought, well, that means only young people. Sons and daughters.

But actually what that refers to is, this is a prophecy written about 600 years ago. And Joel prophesied this, and he said to the Jewish people, your sons and daughters, the generations after you, this is what's going to happen to them. On your sons and daughters and generations to come, God is going to pour out of His Spirit upon all flesh.

So, you think here this morning, it's the heart of God that He would pour out His Spirit upon all of us. Sons and daughters. And so we ought not to have this mindset.

You know, oftentimes we struggle in life because we believe lies. And we ought not to believe lies. And one of the lies I'd like to knock down in your mind is this, that somehow men get a greater portion of the Spirit than women.

But the truth is that God is wanting to pour out His Spirit on all flesh, including sons and daughters. This is not a gender issue. He talks about here old and young.

He mentions men, and I'll talk about that here in a minute. But then again in verse 18, and on My servants and on My handmaidens. Those are male and female.

I will pour out in those days of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy. So in the Kingdom of God, not only is salvation equal for all, but also when God pours out the Spirit, everybody gets an equal opportunity. Everybody can have a full measure.

And so when the Bible says, be filled with the Holy Spirit of God, it's not talking just to the men. It's a commandment for all of us, men and women, that each one of us could be filled with the Holy Spirit of God. So there's no distinction.

No distinction in salvation. No distinction in women being filled, men being filled with the Spirit of God. Now look at what happens here in this account here in Acts 2. In verse number 1, it says, And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.

And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. By the way, who is in this upper room? If you go back in verse number 14 of chapter 1, it says, These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication with the women. God wants you to know that.

The women are there too. And Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. Verse 15 says the number of them is about 120.

So there's 120 of them in this upper room. Well, in verse number 3 of chapter 2, let's keep reading. There appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.

So here we have the Spirit of God coming upon the church. There's a room full of 120. We have probably 100, 110 here.

Can you imagine a group of us? And the Spirit of God comes. God is pouring out His Spirit, and this tongue of fire sits upon each of them. So if you're back there, there's one on Chris, there's one on Sandy, there's one on David, there's one on Marlene, there's one on Mike, and there's one on Marielle.

There's a tongue of fire on each one, male, female. Does it matter? Let's keep reading here in verse 4. And they were all... There's that word again. They were all... All of those in the upper room were filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

And so when God showed His purpose and plan for these last days, He didn't make any distinction between males and females with regards to pouring out of His Spirit. So when you think of salvation, we're all on an equal plane. There's neither male nor female.

When you think of God's giving of His Spirit after you're converted, we're all on an equal plane. God wants to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. Jump over to Acts 4. These two examples the Lord gives us in the early church.

In Acts 4, verse 23, it says, And being let go, they went to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. They were being persecuted and threatened. And they go back to their company.

And this company is the same company that you saw in chapter 1 with men and women. Jump down to verse number 31. And when they had prayed, they had a prayer meeting, the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and they spake the Word of God with boldness.

So again, there's no distinction here. God does not say, hey, I'm going to fill the men and the ladies. You just don't have the opportunities here with regards to being filled with the Spirit of God.

So are we all on the same page here? Are we all moving up the ladder? All the same. Now, let's look at something else that's mentioned here, the idea of prophecy. And I think this is something that the sisters here, I think we need to open up our heart a little bit more to these thoughts here.

But it says here in Acts 2, if you want to go back and look at this, verse 17. This is God's heart. This is not my heart.

Verse 17 says, It shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. And then look down at verse 18. And on My servants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My Spirit and they shall prophesy.

Okay, so here we have male and female. The Lord mentions it twice. Sons, daughters, handmaidens, and servants.

And they will prophesy. Now I want to put prophecy up here. We're moving up the ladder.

This is something that's important to the Lord. And we're all on the same page here also. Male and female.

Prophecy. God wants to pour out His Spirit and cause us all to prophesy. Now the word prophesy simply means this, to speak under divine inspiration.

To speak under divine inspiration. So if you'd have been back in the early church, men, women, the Spirit would have poured out upon you. You'd have got a tongue of fire.

And the men and the women all began to prophesy. They began to speak under divine inspiration. Now, here's where I think our cultures maybe and the way we were brought up has an effect upon us and many of us.

But I'd like to challenge all of us here in this one. If someone would ask you this question, what is a woman's place in the New Testament age? How many of you would say prophesy? You know, I could probably ask a hundred people and wouldn't get one answer, prophesy. And that's amazing.

That to me means that our minds, I think our minds are kind of twisted a little bit in this subject. When God says I'm going to pour out my Spirit so that men and women can prophesy, and that's at the very heart, the very basis for what God's will and purpose is for men and women in the last days, why does our mind move to other things? Now, we're going to get to those other things, but at the very basis for our purpose as men and women in the early church, that would have been receiving the Holy Spirit after salvation and allowing that Spirit to use us to prophesy or to speak under divine inspiration or to declare the Word of God. What would you answer if someone asked you what is a woman's place in the New Testament age? I know most of you would say keeper at home or a mother.

I know those are good things. We're going to get to them here in just a little bit. But here at the very beginning of the foundation of the church, God lays His heart out.

And so salvation doesn't matter whether you're male or female. You can have the whole thing. The Spirit of God poured out upon you.

It doesn't matter whether you're male or female. You can have the whole thing. You can be full and prophesy.

It doesn't matter whether you're a male or female, a son or a daughter. This is the heart of God. I think sometimes, it's just me, I think sometimes the ladies are frustrated because they don't see their place in the New Testament.

And we're going to get to this here in a minute, but I think ladies are told to just be quiet. Just be quiet. Just be quiet.

You're to be quiet. And there's something in them that says, I'm just not fulfilling my place. And that's causing people to say, What is our place? What is our place? We're mothers.

Yes, we're mothers. We are meek and quiet. Yes, we're meek and quiet.

But maybe there's a feeling like there's something missing. There's something missing in our place, in the body of Christ. And so, prophecy, men and women, is something that God is very, very concerned about.

It says here that He gave them cloven tongues, and each of them had a cloven tongue that sat upon them. In Acts chapter 4, when they prayed, they all spake the word of God with boldness. Now that's something that I think needs clarification here.

So let's look at it again just to make sure we see this. In Acts chapter 4, verse 31, it says, When they had prayed, the place was shaken, where they were assembled together, and they were all, notice that, they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. Two things had happened.

They spake the word of God, that's the prophesying, and they spake it boldly. Now most of you, I know how you think. You think, well, boldness, that's for the men.

Because they all, they all, they all spake the word of God with boldness. Now, what is boldness? I think some of us have definitions, maybe they're a little distorted. Boldness is not screaming and yelling.

You know, we think of boldness as someone that's outgoing, and, you know, someone on the street corner, or someone up here behind a pulpit, and so when I talk about boldness, the ladies just kind of check out. Well, it says here that they all spake the word of God with boldness. And there were men and women there.

Well, if you look up the word boldness, it simply means this, confidently, with assurance, without fear, with frankness, openly. Those are the definitions in your concordance for boldness. How many of you think that women should be bold? Amen.

They should be. They should know what they believe. They should be.

They should have a confidence in what they're saying. They should have a frankness in their speech. They should be speaking without fear.

Now, again, I don't teach these things, you know, come up with them and concoct them myself, but at the very foundation of what Christianity is, it starts at the day of Pentecost, and God says this is what I'm going to do in the last days. We're living in that period of time. I'm going to pour out My Spirit upon men and women, and they're all going to prophesy.

And so if we don't get that far or believe that much, I think we're always going to be frustrated and feel a lack in what we're doing. Now, let's do a little study here. I want to go back and look at this idea of being a quiet spirit and what that actually means.

You don't have to turn there. You all know this verse by heart. 1 Peter 3. Let me read it to you.

Some of you can probably quote it along with me. Likewise ye wise 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, while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of the plating of the hair, or of the wearing of gold, or of the putting on of apparel, 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 a great price.

Now what do you think of? Ladies and men, what do you think of when you hear that? A meek and quiet spirit. I think that the ladies have been led astray in this regard. Because does the Bible contradict itself? Does God say that my sons and daughters will prophesy and then turn around and say you've got to be quiet? It seems like a contradiction.

I know some of you probably have a struggle in your own heart. Where am I supposed to fit in all of these things? So the Bible says a woman is to have a meek and quiet spirit. Now what does it mean to be quiet? And this is just coming out of the Divine's Dictionary or the Concordance.

Quiet means to be settled, to keep one's seat, to be undisturbed, to be peaceable, not one who is ruffled, agitated, disturbed, or anxious. Notice it says a quiet spirit. Your disposition is to be quiet, not a quiet mouth.

To have a quiet spirit, a meek and quiet spirit about you. The word meek is something that is, by the way, meek and quiet. I'll show you here in the Bible that men are supposed to be meek and quiet too.

Yeah, we men. We men are supposed to be meek. We men are supposed to be quiet.

As a matter of fact, Jesus was meek and lowly of heart. So this idea of being a meek and quiet person is something that is both male and female, not just something that ladies are supposed to have. Moses was the meekest man on the face of the earth.

It's a good thing to have meekness. The word meek means to be mild, humble, not easily stirred up, to be gentle. Christ was meek and lowly of heart.

Remember it says a bruised reed he would not break, a smoking flax he would not quench. He was a gentle, meek individual. And we're called to be the same as men and as women.

Yet Jesus, though he was meek, he spoke and he preached and he prophesied on a regular basis. Notice it's a meek and quiet spirit. It has to do with your disposition, your attitude, your spirit.

And I think many settings today use that meek and quiet statement and say, you can't talk, you just be quiet. And then I stand up and say, you need to be prophesying. You say, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, they're telling me to be quiet.

And then the Bible says I'm to be filled with a spirit and I'm supposed to be prophesying. Now this is confusing. So a meek and quiet spirit.

Now men are encouraged to be quiet also. Let me read a couple of verses to you about us men. 1 Thessalonians 4.11 says, And that you study to be quiet.

Men, this is to you, this is about provision. Study to be quiet. And to do your own business, and to work with your own hands as we commanded you, that you may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that you may have lack of nothing.

It's talking about men providing for their families, that they're to study to be quiet. In other words, just focus on your own business. Focus on your own work.

Don't be a busybody. Quietness. Let me ask you to turn to 2 Thessalonians.

He goes on here in 2 Thessalonians to talk about this quietness again. 2 Thessalonians 3, if you'd look there. Verse number 10.

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Same idea here.

Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ that with quietness they work and eat their own bread. Now these are to the men. You men are supposed to be providing, and you're not even working.

And then Paul says you ought to do your work with quietness. Not be a busybody. Not be agitating.

Not be all around. But mind your own business. And so I'd like to correct something maybe in our thoughts here that this idea of meekness and quietness is only for the ladies.

It's a concept that both men and women should embrace. My spirit, my disposition ought to be quiet. I ought to be settled, calm, not easily agitated, have a quiet spirit.

I think if you had met Jesus, he was never agitated, never frustrated, just always calm, quiet. But he's also meek. So both men and women are encouraged to have a quietness about them.

I did a little study on this word this morning as I was preparing this. What does it mean to be quiet? Listen as I read a passage in the book of Acts. This word quietness is used here also.

Acts 24, verse 1, it says, And after five days Ananias the high priest descended with the elders and with a certain orator named Tertullius, who informed the governor against Paul. And when he was called forth, Tertullius began to accuse him, saying, Seeing that by thee we enjoy great quietness and that very worthy deeds are done unto this nation by thy providence, we accept it always and in all places, most noble Felix, with all thankfulness. Now they are buttering up Felix here because, Felix, listen, we're grateful that we enjoy great quietness.

The land is at rest. There's no striving, there's no war, there's no tumult, there's no uprising. It's because of you, Felix, that we have a quiet throughout the land.

You know what it means to be quiet, to have a rest in your spirit. Not to be agitated, not to be stirred, not to be fearful. So when God says a woman is to have a meek and quiet spirit, that doesn't remove her responsibility to be a prophet, to speak the Word of the Lord.

And so we have salvation here is for everybody, male or female. The pouring out of the Spirit is for male and female. Your sons and daughters are going to prophesy.

And so we can come to that level and we're all on the same plane. You know, I've preached for years and I try to encourage people to open their mouth and share the Word of God. And in their minds, that's just for the men.

But that's just for the gifted. That's just for this small segment. And yet, to get people to accept the fact that God has given me His Spirit to prophesy, maybe one of the reasons why we don't see a manifestation of His Spirit in a great way is because we aren't willing to prophesy.

And the very, very reason for which the Spirit was given is being quenched and put down. Now, I know some of you ladies, and we're going to get to this here in a minute, some of you ladies might say, well, what about prophesying to men? You know, the Bible says we're not to teach men. Well, let me just encourage you with this.

There's at least three and a half billion women on the face of the planet, not to mention the billion or so children who would love to hear the Word of God too or could hear the Word of God. And so, prophecy. Just share the Word of God.

Let God use you to share His Word everywhere you go. I like this. Sisters, win souls.

Bring converts to church. Teach all who will listen to the Word of God. Prophesying doesn't mean standing behind a pulpit or on a street corner, but simply allowing God's Spirit to use you to speak forth His Word.

So, this is one of the places that women have in the church. And there is no distinction. I'm going to start making some distinctions here as we move up this ladder.

But as far as salvation goes, God says men and women don't matter. As far as my pouring out of the Spirit upon men and women, they're all on the same page. And as far as prophecy, again, sons and daughters, they're going to prophesy.

Now we're going to start squeezing in a little bit. Let me ask you to turn to 1 Timothy. 1 Timothy 2. Now, because of the authority structure that God has established, by the way, this here has nothing to do with the authority structure.

It's salvation, the Spirit, and prophecy. But because of the authority structure God has established, there are some limitations on the ladies in this next area. 1 Timothy 2, and these are very familiar verses to all of us.

Verse 8, I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting, in like manner also that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel. By the way, it's this time of the year where ladies start taking off their clothes just a reminder, with shamefacedness and sobriety, not with broided hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. Let the women learn in silence with all subjection, but I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.

For Adam was first formed, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. And then this chapter division is put in there by man.

This is a true saying, if a man desires the office of a bishop, he desires the good work. And it talks about here a man desiring the office of a bishop, one who is a teacher. Now, another word study today, very important word study, silence.

Quietness, silence. Here in verse 11 it says, let the women learn in silence. Do you know that that word silence is the same word as quiet or quietness that we just read a little earlier? It's the same word, it's just translated a little differently.

Let me give you Vine's definition of this same word. It's number 2272 in your concordance. Tranquility arising from within causing no disturbance to others and is to characterize the spirit or disposition of a person.

It's quiet, silent. So here's some limitations. Verse 11, let the women learn in silence.

Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. This is the authority structure here. But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority.

Usurp authority over the man but to be in silence. So this idea of having a quiet spirit, having a reserved spirit, is in reference to not teaching or usurping authority over the man. As we all know that Christian women should not take the place of leadership or teaching over the man.

And he goes on to say why Adam and Eve and Adam was not deceived but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. So in this world, although men and women are equal all the way to this point, because of the authority structure God has established, the woman should not usurp authority over the man. How did I do that here? But to be in subjection.

I'm going to put here teaching. But she's limited. She's limited.

And a man is not limited. A man can teach anyone. But the woman is limited here to not teach or to usurp authority over the man.

So there's a little difference now. As we're moving up this ladder, we're starting to confine a woman's place, a woman's responsibility. And this is only because of the authority structure.

She is not to usurp authority. So being under authority, she is limited in how she can teach, how she can present herself in a church setting. That's why we don't encourage the ladies to stand up here and teach.

So they're limited. I encourage the men to stand up and teach. So there's a limitation.

1 Corinthians 11 says the head of the woman is the man. So we all understand that. So with regards to having authority or leading out, the woman is limited because of God's ordained authority structure.

I remember when I was a young man, a young preacher, I preached at my grandmother's church. And they invited me to come every once in a while. I was probably 30 years old.

And they had a husband and wife pastor team there. And the lady, she was pretty bold. And she usurped authority.

And I asked her one time about this passage. I said, you know, not to have the women teaching and leading out in the church. And she then reverted me back to this, which I think is an error.

Many people do. She reverted me back and said, well, the Bible says that there is no difference between male and female. We are all one in Christ Jesus.

So I have as much liberty to teach the men as the men do. Well, she didn't rightly divide the Word of Truth. And she took a passage that was in the context of salvation and tried to use it for her opportunity to lead out and to minister the Word in the church.

Now I'm going to throw this out here. I found this in life in trying to teach and lead in the church that there's always two ditches. You know how it is.

There's always two ditches. People are always full in one ditch or the other. It's not just one ditch.

All the time we think there's just one ditch. But I feel like there's two ditches in this thing. And one of the ditches that we've tried to avoid, if this is the road and this over here is a ditch and this over here is a ditch, one of the ditches we've tried to avoid is not to have women leading out and speaking in the church.

And I think in an attempt to avoid that, we've pushed ourselves over close to this ditch, that the women are just to be basically silent and to say nothing. And so keeping ourselves in a proper place in the middle of the road. So the context here is about a man being a bishop or an elder.

Jesus chose 12 men as disciples. And He chose men because they were going to be leading. You know? There is a difference between a man and a woman in this regard.

When God chose leadership, He put 12 men in responsibility for leading out in the church. These 12 apostles, they were all men. So He says there is a difference in leadership.

Now I want the sisters to prophesy, but there's a difference in leadership. When I set up leadership, they're limited. And I don't want the sisters to usurp authority over that male leadership.

Here's something that's interesting in Acts chapter 2. When the Lord said I'm going to pour out my spirit upon all flesh, He said your sons and daughters will prophesy. He said your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams. Then He goes back and talks about servants at hand, and then He begins to prophesy.

I've told this story before, but that young men and old men seeing dreams and visions was something I didn't understand. So I went to the book of Acts and I looked at every example where someone saw a vision or had a dream. And this was after I had a vision one time and a dream at night.

I said what is the meaning of visions and dreams? And so I went back and studied all the visions and dreams in the Bible, in the New Testament book of Acts, and I found that every time God gave a vision or dream, He gave it to a man, every time He did that, it was to give direction. Here's where I want you to go. Peter on the housetop, here's where I want you to go.

Paul, when he was praying, had a dream about go to Macedonia. All the visions and dreams had to do with direction, and so He gives them to the men. Young men, old men, not young women, old women.

It's not a man and woman thing because the visions were to be leading out. Here's the direction we're going. And God doesn't want a woman out front and leading in those things.

And so when it comes to teaching, especially in a church setting, the women's role is confining. Make sure she does not usurp authority. God has an authority structure in line.

And so I think if the ladies here would rejoice in salvation to the fullest, be filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesy, then come to the teaching aspect and have some limitations. Those limitations being not to teach or usurp authority over the man. Now let's look at some more limitations God gives.

Go back to 1 Corinthians. Well, before we go on to this, let's go to 1 Corinthians 14. I'm going to read another familiar verse.

Most of these verses are familiar. 1 Corinthians 14.34 Let your women keep silence in the churches. Now, I like word studies, but this is a different word.

This is not the same word for a quiet spirit or silence that we just looked at. This here actually means not to talk. Be hush, do not speak.

Let your women keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted on them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience as also saith the law. So silence, holding your peace, being hush with regards to the use of spiritual gifts. If you go back here to 1 Corinthians 14, it's talking about spiritual gifts.

By the way, again, this is not just for the ladies. If you look back at verse 27 of chapter 14, it says, If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two or at the most by three, and that by course, and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence.

That's a man. Let him keep silence in the church and let him speak to himself and to God. So this idea of staying silent, alright, you've got prophets in the church, I'll let you speak.

Another speak. A third speak. Do it by order.

If someone out there, another prophet, has something to say, let the first hold his peace. Let him be silent and give place to another prophet. Maybe we should do that right now.

Does anybody have any prophesying to do? I'll keep silent. So if you go down through this passage, those who prophesy, sometimes they need to be silent. Those who speak in tongues, sometimes they need to be silent.

You ladies, be silent in the church. So the women are not to speak in the church and the context here is in the use of their gifts and the public assembly. I don't think God intended for you not to sing as sisters or not to communicate in the church.

By the way, in the church doesn't just mean in our service here. In the church means when we gather together. That's the church.

We go to the fellowship hall. That's the church. The fellowship of the saints.

So things are being limited. And here's something that a sister and a brother are different in. In the church, there's some limitations.

Well, let's take a look at something else that there's a limitation in. 1 Corinthians 7. Jump back to 1 Corinthians 7, verse 25. Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment of the Lord, yet I give my judgment as one that hath obtained mercy of the Lord to be faithful.

I suppose, therefore, that it is good for the present distress. I say that it is good for a man so to be. Art thou bound unto a wife? That's talking about a betrothal.

Seek not to be loosed. Art thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife. He's talking to virgins here.

But if thou marry, thou hast not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she hath not sinned. Nevertheless, such shall have trouble in the flesh, but I spare you.

Now jump down to verse 32. We're talking about marriage and virginity. At verse 32 it says, But I would have you without carefulness.

He that is unmarried careth for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But he that is married careth for the things that are of the world, how he may please his wife. Boy, that's an interesting statement there, especially when many people are promoting everybody get married.

But the Bible is promoting here, and Paul is promoting singleness, because singleness allows you to care for the things that belong to the Lord. Now I know that some of us don't have that gift. If you don't have that gift to be single, then you need to get married.

But I want to elevate being single. The Bible does. It goes on to the ladies.

Here's where I want to bring out another limitation. Verse 34, There is a difference also between a wife and a virgin, a married person and a single lady. The unmarried woman careth for the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit.

But she that is married careth for the things of the world. Boy, that's a hard statement for some to accept. Careth for the things of the world, how she may please her husband.

And this I speak for your own profit, not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that you may attend upon the Lord without distraction. Now, there's another limitation that the ladies have here, and that is marriage brings in extra care. You know, there's some limitations.

And you can't do all the things that a single person can do because of these limitations. And Paul brings that out. If you're going to get married, you're going to have some limitations.

You're going to have a husband to take care of. You're going to have children to take care of. You're going to have, you know, sewing, cleaning, canning, the whole nine yards.

You're going to have limitations. Those who are single, it says, can attend upon the Lord without distraction. So when you think of the sisters here, you think of family, and that also has its limitations.

That you're limited. For example, a single brother, when I was single, I could attend upon the Lord without distraction. Some single sisters can attend upon the Lord without distraction.

The choice of marriage limits what you can do. And I'm not saying that what you're doing with your husband and children is not a good thing. It is a good thing.

But it limits you with regards to your ability to prophesy, your ability to win souls, your ability to, because you have so many other things. And I think that's what he's trying to communicate here. Let me read again verse 35.

And this I speak for your own profit, not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that you may attend upon the Lord without distraction. Now what does it mean to attend upon the Lord? To attend upon the Lord. That's the heart of God here, or Paul's writing, to attend upon the Lord.

Well, very simple. And I've shared this with you before. This here is the body of Christ.

The church here, these individuals who are converted, is the body of Christ. And so when you attend upon the Lord, you are attending upon His people. You're attending upon His body.

So a single individual can attend upon the Lord without distraction. It's a beautiful thing to see single people serving God's people, serving the body of Christ. Jesus said, insomuch as you have done it unto the least of these, you have done it unto Me.

And we ought to have this mindset. I think it would be an encouragement for all of us that if we do something for our brother and sister, we do something for a family, we reach out and help someone, we are actually attending upon the Lord. We're actually doing it to Him.

You know, He's in heaven at the right hand of God. How can I attend upon the Lord? Well, His body is here. And the church is here.

So we're the body of Christ. So as we attend upon each other and serve each other, we attend upon the Lord. So there is distractions and limitations in marriage.

So you have salvation. Everyone, male and female, you're all in the same place. You have the pouring out of the Spirit of God.

We're all in the same place, men and women. You have prophecy. We're all free to prophesy and to share the Word of God.

And I would encourage, if you feel like you're out of place or you're just not satisfied in the body of Christ, I would encourage you to go and begin to teach the Word of God to people. You'll find a satisfaction and a fulfillment in it that God's heart is for you to share the Word. Find sisters.

Find lost souls. Share the Word of God with them. You've got the Spirit of God just the same way as a man.

But then when it comes to teaching in certain settings like wives and husbands or even in the church setting, you're limited to only certain areas where you can function and teach. And if you're married, you're also limited with responsibilities of a home. And so this is where sisters fall in the church.

And I don't know any other Bible verses or any other passage in the Scriptures that can give us any more light in what is our place in the church and the body of Christ. So if you're married and you're a sister here, you're in the same place with regards to salvation as a man. If you're married and you're a sister here, you're in the same place with regards to being filled with the Holy Spirit of God.

You're in the same place with regards to the responsibility of prophesying. But you have limitations in teaching, in the church, and what you can do because you've taken upon yourself the responsibility of a husband and of children. And all this is a balancing act.

It's all... You have to balance it out. The Bible says a single person can attend upon the Lord without distraction. They can give themselves wholly to these things and not have a distraction.

But as a married person, there are things that we need to be limited to. So we can preach here prophecy. Prophecy.

You can also say to the married woman, you have some limitations. You can also say to the sisters, you have limitations here in the church of what you can do. You cannot rise up and take authority.

You cannot teach the men. But I think if we would focus down here and rejoice and participate in where men and women have equal liberty and experience all the things that God has, the fruits of the Spirit, the fullness of the Spirit, prophecy, I think we'd find a greater satisfaction in our spiritual life. One thing I do want to convey this morning is that when God says to have a meek and quiet spirit, it does not say to be a silent, just a dormant individual that can't basically say anything.

It's not what He has intended. So let's allow the Spirit of God to fill us and that we can share and prophesy His Word. Women's place in the church.

Well, that will cause some conversations here today, but I trust that that was helpful to each one of you. Let's close this morning, and we'll open it up.