1 Timothy 2

Okay. Well, good evening, everyone, and welcome to our bi-weekly Bible study here on Wednesday night. And for all of you tuning in on the webcast, nice to have you here. We can't see you, but nice that you tuned in to us. We have our regular audience, and in fact, we have individuals, I think some of whom, have been here almost every single Wednesday night. So thank you for coming and giving us live support while we not only speak to you, but speak to many out on the webcast. So to begin our Bible study this evening, I'll ask Mr. Stiver to ask God's blessing on the study. Well, let's power our heads. Almighty God, we come before you this evening. We thank you for every opportunity to study your Word and to draw strength from that study, learning your ways, your thoughts, your law, your scriptures. We just pray for your inspiration now tonight as we look in the epistle of 1 Timothy written by the Apostle Paul. I mean, you inspired close to 2,000 years ago. We just ask for your inspiration and our understanding now. And just pray that you'll bless the technical aspects of the Bible study as far as everyone being able to receive it, that you would give us encouragement of your spirit and guidance as we, again, seek your Word and seek to learn your truth more perfectly. We ask your blessing also upon our brethren who are in need of healing or other distresses or trials they're facing. Please strengthen them and help them through that, and certainly please be healing the sick. We give you the praise and glory and ask your blessing here this evening, in Jesus Christ's name. Amen.

Well, good evening to you. Last night, I should tell you, I had the opportunity from about 9.30 to about 11.15 to be online with the speakers up at the feast in Bend, for the feast in Bend. For all the elders and speakers, you were going to be sermonettes and sermons, and they went over all the sermonettes and sermon topics. And for those of you who are going to Bend, you'll have a treat in store. There's some really good messages and inspiring messages, at least the outline of which I heard last night, to come your way.

So we're very grateful for that. I'll spend two days up there, the Sunday and the Monday, before a part of Sunday, all of Sunday, part of Monday, before I fly back to San Diego. We'll be in Escondido for the feast. And in fact, Escondido is having their meeting this evening, and I told them I couldn't do it. I sent them my messages, sent them the outline of my messages.

I told them I had a Bible study to do. That makes me feel better. I figured that Bible study's a little more important than planning for the feast. I forgot the speaker's meeting last night for Virginia Beach. They have my outlines, but... So there you go. So we're all set to go. And again, when we go through the book of 1 Timothy, I love the book of 1 Timothy. I like Timothy's writings. I like the writings of the Apostle Paul to Timothy. It's kind of like Mr. Lucer would send a letter to one of the new elders in the church and remind him he needed to do his Bible study, remind him that he needed to do this, that, and the other thing, and that we publish it in a book, and we send it around the world so that everybody gets to see what Mr.

Lucer said to this man. Because this is what the Apostle Paul was writing to Timothy. Now, he did like Timothy. Timothy was like a son to him. And he did spend a lot of time with Timothy. And he said, I have no one else that will naturally care for your state. So there was a lot of closeness. And I kind of liken this to the experience I had in the field ministry with Mr.

Hal Baird, because I came out as a 20-year-old to be an assistant between my junior and senior years at Ambassador College. And he had no wife, or he was divorced and unmarried, and he wanted, they needed somebody to go with him on visits and everything. So they would send some of us out for a year's training in between. And he and I had a really good relationship. And he treated me like a son, and I tried to treat him like a father. And we had a really, I had a very good year.

And it was a good opportunity to be trained by him, to work with him, to see how he cared for the brethren, to see what he did, to give me some sense of training in that regard. So I can relate somewhat to Timothy and what he is doing and what he's receiving and the instruction, the admonition.

So here's the Apostle Paul writing in 1 Timothy chapter 2 and saying, therefore I exhort, I order, I command, I exhort you, he said, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men. But God is not a respecter of persons, so it's for all. That if you stop and take a look at this, first of all, he uses four different terms, four different words here. He says supplications, which other translations put it, requests. He says prayers, we know what that is. He says intercessions, that's petitions.

You're asking God for something. And finally, thanksgiving, because not all prayers should always be about what we want. Please give me this, but rather to be thankful for the things we have. This is, by the way, daily Bible study series on Timothy, Titus, and Philemon.

And Barkley has an interesting section here. He said four words for prayer are grouped together. It is true that they are not to be sharply distinguished. Nevertheless, each has something to tell us about the way of prayer. The first, which is translated in your Bible, in the New King James, as supplications, he translates request.

But the Greek word is diasis. And he said it is not exclusively a religious word. It can be used of a request made either to a fellow man or to God. But the second one that says prayers, the Greek word there is prosuke, which we have translated.

He says prayer. Now, there is a difference between the first one and the second one. The first one may be asked of both God and man. In other words, you could use that word if you're talking about you make a request, you can make a request of another person, you can make a request of God.

But the word for prayer, prosuke, is never used of anything else but an approach to God. Prayer. Only reserved for God. The third one is entuksis, he says, which we've translated petitions. He says of the three words, this is the most interesting, it has a most interesting history. He says this originally meant to simply meet or fall in with a person. It went on to meet, to mean, hold intimate conversation with a person. Then it acquired a special meaning and meant to enter into a king's presence and to submit a petition to him.

So he talks about this Greek word, entering into a king's presence and offering petitions to him. The fourth one is called Eucharistia, which we have translated thanksgiving. Prayer does not mean only asking God for things, it also means thanking God for things. He also says in this same verse that we need to pray for all. I'd like to take you back to the book of Philippians chapter 4 verse 6 to give you some scriptures to add to this verse. Because in these verses that Mr. Stiver, Mr.

Stiver and I are going to go back and forth so I'm finished with verse 1. If he has any comments, he's going to add them. In the same way if we get to chapter 3. In Philippians 4-6 he says, Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving – quite similar – let your requests be made known to God.

So when you come before God, come before Him not only to request, but also come before Him with a thankful, grateful heart and attitude. He also in Colossians 1 verses 9 and 10, the Apostle Paul, says this. Colossians 1 verses 9 and 10, For this reason, in his introduction to the church at Colossae, for this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, that you may have a walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.

So again, he wants us to be ready for prayer and be praying. Mr. Stiver, any comments? No. Well, maybe one. I think it's interesting to note, and this would be a consistent kind of theme as Paul goes through this. He says, And giving of thanks be made for all men. You know, we have wonderful words describing elements of prayer, as Mr. Antion explained, but the tag is that giving of thanks be made for all men.

An awful lot of the grief and trouble the world has gone through is because people aren't thankful for people. We irritate each other or we allow ourselves to be irritated by others, and then you'd put that on a national scale and, you know, right away it leads to war. But if we are just thankful to be here and to be people and have the potential for being in the family of God and all other people the same, and that I think goes a long way in defusing angst, tensions, and even hatred toward others.

So I just find that a fascinating tag that Paul was inspired to render at the end of those different words for prayer. Okay, verses 2 and 3 we'll take together. He says, again, pray for all men, for kings, and for all who were in authority. Now who were in authority when he was writing this? These weren't very nice men. He still said, pray for them. And we'll see why. Pray for all who were in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. I'll come back and talk about that in a moment.

But he says in verse 3, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior. So is he talking about God the Father or Jesus Christ?

He calls him God our Savior. As far as I know, Jesus Christ was the Savior, so he's referring to Jesus Christ as being God as well. But it's interesting, on the bottom of page 59 where he says, pray for all in authority in Barkley's daily Bible study series, he says at the bottom of page 59, he said, one of the fellows put this, we worship God. This is from Justin Martyr wrote this in Apology 1, verses 14 and 17.

He says, we worship God alone, but in all other things, this is what he wrote to the leaders. We worship God alone, but in all other things, we gladly serve you, acknowledging kings and rulers of men and praying that they may be found to have pure reason and kingly power. He also says on page 58 from Barkley's comments, he said, the Christian never even in the times of bitterest persecution, he never ceased to pray for them. So once again praying for leaders that they will make decisions that won't impact us in a negative way that the work may go on.

As far as godliness and reverence is concerned, I want to just share a word study with you on this, and this comes from page 61. He talks about godliness being Eusebia, and it says clearly Eusebia is a tremendous thing.

It never forgets the reverence due to God, and it never forgets the rights due to men, godliness. It never forgets the respect due to yourself. It describes the character of the man who never fails God, man or himself, Eusebia. So he says in all godliness. The second one is called reverence, and the Greek word is semnotes, and he says this word has a person who has on him a grace and a dignity.

A grace and a dignity. Let me share this last part with you. It may be said that for a man who is semnos, which is as reverence, all life is one act of worship. All life is lived in the presence of God.

He moves through the world as if he had been put as it were in the temple of the living God. He never forgets the holiness of God or the dignity of man. So that's how he translates this word semnotes, reverence. He goes through life knowing that he's a representative of God, you might say, knowing that he's like walking with God, for God, and in God. Comments? Well, another aspect that comes to mind here is essentially one of the commands we have for prayer is to pray for the state.

Whatever state we're in, we have to be content. But to pray for the state or the government, for the good, for our own safety, certainly, as was pointed out, for the good of God's work, I will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Part of that prayer is to pray for God's guiding of elections and whatever's happening in the world to bring about the conditions that are ideal for the promotion of the gospel and provision of God's people. And one prayer that I pray right now is God will bless the economy for the good of the gospel because of the dire straits that so much of the world, including America, is in.

In 1 Peter, chapter 3, it gives a comment about the role of government in general. It begins in verse 13. And you would find a very similar dissertation in Romans chapter 13, the first part of that. But 1 Peter 2 and verse 13, Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man, for the Lord's sake, whether to the king or supreme, or to governors, and to provincial leadership, and those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of those who do good. They keep order.

If we had anarchy, we would not be able to function and be able to get God's word out. We wouldn't be able to gather sometimes on the Sabbath to worship. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. It's foolish to think that God's people are anti-government. We're pro-government. We know the failings of government. The emperor that Paul was praying for is the one who had imprisoned him and was soon to execute him, according to tradition, anyway.

And that was the emperor Nero, who was mad as a hatter, at least according to some historians. So we have a need to pray for the government and to ask God's blessing and protection. As it is a tyrannical government, you may end up having a prayer that is somewhat akin to what you remember on the Fiddler of the Roof film or play that you watched, where it's a wedding dance and somebody asks the rabbi, what's a proper blessing for this and for that and for the other thing?

And someone says, what's a proper blessing for the tsar? They were Russian Jews. And he stops. Everything stops quiet for just a few seconds and finally says, God bless and keep the tsar far away from us. Sometimes, you know, that's what we do, but that's certainly a prayer that God would provide for his people and prevent interference in the propagation of the gospel. Okay, verse 4. Verse 4. So he says, let's pick up the thought, the first part of the sentence, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior for us to be praying for all men, for us to lead a quiet and peaceable life, to pray for those in authority, that they'll lead right, that they will not enact rules and laws that will hinder the work of God going forth.

And verse 4, he says, who desires all men to be saved. This is a great scripture to show that God's not willing that any should perish. She wants everybody to be saved. But is this teaching universal salvation? No. I don't think God is one of these threatening parents that says, I've got a lake of fire, you're going to go in it, you're going to get it, you're begging for it now, you know, you're going to get yours, if you don't, you're going to get it.

I think God means business. He has a lake of fire. And he talks about individuals who were liable for the lake of fire, who weren't even baptized yet, who were claiming that he was doing the works of, that he was doing by Satan's power instead of by the power of God. He warned them straightly about that. But he says, who desires that all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. God wants everybody to have a chance, a first chance.

Now, you could couple this with Revelation 12.9, which says what? Satan, the devil who has deceived the whole world. So if the whole world is deceived, how does everybody come to the knowledge of the truth? If that's God's desire. Coming to the knowledge of the truth does not mean they'll be converted to the knowledge of the truth.

It means they have heard the message. It means they have gotten the opportunity. It's up to each one of them, then, to act on that calling, to act on that teaching, to act on that knowledge that they've received. So that's a very good scripture to keep in mind. Another scripture, 2 Peter 3 and verse 9, adds to this, 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 9, where we find Peter writing, the apostle Peter in this general epistle, who says, The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness. Now, God's not slack in fulfilling the time he's going to come back, but is long-suffering toward us.

He gives us a lot of time, gives us a lot of room, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But because he's not willing, it doesn't mean he's not going to allow people the opportunity to come or not come to repentance. We read in Romans 2.4 that it's God's Spirit that leads us to repentance, but you have to follow it.

And if God works it out in somebody's life to where they're starting to see themselves but they resist it, then he can't use them. He can't work with them. So it does take that person's willingness. So God in no way is saying, I'm going to make people be saved. I think it's Methodist who say, you can, how do they put it? Irresistible grace. You can resist it but you can't run away from it or you can't deny it, however. But if God's going to save you, and maybe it's not that, it is them too, but then you also have predestination.

God's going to save you no matter what. That's Calvinism. In fact, he had double predestination. God's going to save you no matter what. That isn't what this is teaching. This is saying everybody is going to have a first chance. He's not going to allow people who've been deceived and that's of course why we have the last great day at the Feast of Tabernacles which says, what about the rest of the dead?

What happens to them? We know it's going to happen in the first resurrection. All those are dead and alive in Christ. But what about the rest of the dead? He says they're going to have a chance. They're going to have a chance to learn the books, practice the books, be judged by the books, and then make a decision about their lives. So he's not willing any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Mr. Stuyver, any comments? Yes, just one added thought. You might turn back to Acts chapter 17 for a related passage. The fact that God's will is for everyone to be saved does not circumvent free moral agency, as Mr. Andean was pointing out. You can break God's will in this instance. In fact, whenever we sin, we break God's will, don't we?

Because it is not His will for us to break His laws. But here, the Apostle Paul in Acts 17, this is the sermon about the unknown God, one of the most fascinating little pieces of Scripture. I love to read it, but it's in verse 30, I think is illustrative for our purpose.

Paul has been talking to the Athenians. They're all Gentiles. They don't have a heritage of God's Word. They don't understand the promises. They don't really understand the Bible at all to speak of. But he goes to them talking about a Creator God that is supreme over any other God, the one they don't even know about.

That's what he's telling them about. And then he says, is he drawing to his conclusion, truly these times of ignorance. This is verse 30. Truly these times of ignorance, God overlooked. God will forgive where we didn't know any better.

When we ask God's forgiveness, we still have to ask His forgiveness, but He will overlook that. He'll forgive it. But now He commands all men everywhere to repent. There is a general call for repentance to all mankind. God has a way that it's not far from us. Paul talked about that earlier. He's not far from us that we might grope for Him and find Him there in Acts 17. So it is God's will for us all to be in His kingdom. He desires that. But I guess it gets down to the colloquial phrase, you gotta want it.

It really is what it gets down to. You gotta choose to do the right thing. Also, I just want to remind everybody we didn't do this to start with. Remember to send your questions. If you have any questions, please send them to ucgbiblestudyatgmail.com and we'll do our best to answer them tonight. So if you have anything, any questions that we've raised or any questions you'd like to ask us, we don't profess to be walking dictionaries, commentaries or concordances, but we will try to help you and answer them.

Okay, verse 5. For there is one God and one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. So he goes back and talks about it. By this time, Jesus Christ was God, but He was a man. He gave up being everything, equal with God, and became humble, humbled Himself, and came into the world as a servant in a slave people society. Now, you know, God could have had Him born in a king's palace.

Couldn't He have been a prince? Why couldn't He have been born into the world to be a prince? He'd been taken care of lavishly until it was time for Him to die. Then somebody could have slipped Him some poison. He would have died easily. But that wasn't what God had in store, nor was that what Jesus Christ did. He took upon Himself the form of a servant. But you have Jesus Christ's sacrifice available to all of us. In Hebrews 7, verse 25, Hebrews 7 and verse 25 is a good companion.

Scripture, we find that Jesus Christ ever lives to make intercession for us. Hebrews 7, 25, wherefore He is able also, speaking about Jesus Christ, to save them to the uttermost that come to God by Him in the name of Jesus Christ. He's your entrance into the holy of holies. He's your entrance into the holiest. He's the one that's the ticket-taker, you might say. He lets you in by His name, seeing that He ever lives to make intercession for them. Also, Hebrews 4, verses 14 to 16, we read this. Seeing then that we have a great high priest that has passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

What is our profession? To be Christians. For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. So He can understand what we go through. He didn't yield to or give into sin, but He understands what it's like to be pulled in that direction.

He understands what it's like to have the thought come, but He never let it conceive. As James said, God cannot be tempted. Jesus Christ could not be tempted. Yet remember the devil said to Him, well, there's bread, or there's stones, you're hungry. Did that thought come into His head? Yes, but He rejected it. So He heard it and He rejected it.

It did not become lust for Him. He did not conceive evil. He heard what this devil was trying to give to Him, trying to spread to Him, and He rejected it out of hand. So once again, we have not a high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

It never came to the sin stage, either in thought or action. In verse 16, He says, therefore, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, find grace to help in time of need. I want to read to you a couple of comments from pages 62 and 63 in Barkley's daily Bible study series.

One thing is really interesting. He says, there is one mediator. Even the Jews would have said, there are many mediators between God and man. A mediator is one who stands between two parties and acts as a go-between. But he says, neither in Jewish nor in Greek thought had a man direct access to God. But through Jesus Christ, the Christian has direct access with nothing to bar the way between. So I thought that was really interesting, the way it puts it, that Jesus Christ is the one who gives us that access to God the Father.

When the high priest in the Old Testament can only go to the high priest, the Christian who is the one who gives us that access to God the Father, when the high priest in the Old Testament can only go once a year on the Day of Atonement. It was the only time. And remember, at Christ's death, what happened to that curtain, ripped in two to show that he was making available access to God the Father.

Okay, one additional item on this. It says, there is one God and one mediator. The mediator of course is Christ, God's the Father. The mediator is between God and man, and then the parenthetical, it's the clarifying clause, the man Christ Jesus. It's interesting that he has emphasized the man Christ Jesus. We need to understand that Jesus did live as a human being. He was a man. And he was also God, which is the remarkable thing.

He had to be human to be able to take away the sins of humans. He had to be God to be able to take away the sins of all humans by his sacrifice. So he is the man Jesus Christ. So to understand that, it's not sacrilegious by any means when you see a reference to the man Christ Jesus, or the man Jesus Christ. Christ himself referred to himself on numerous occasions as the Son of Man. When the Son of Man does thus and such, speaking of himself in the third person periodically.

So to understand that relationship between Christ as a man and Christ as the divine being, a member of the Godhead, is very clear and very important. You can't take one and emphasize it over the other. He was eternal, God. He became man, emptied himself of his divinity, lived and died a human life cycle, and died for the sins of all mankind, which of course is what it gets into in verse 6. Verse 6 then says, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time.

So one of the key thoughts and key subjects and topics of the disciples after Christ was killed and resurrected was what he did for them. You can read that all up and down in Acts 2, 3, 4, and so on as he goes through and he talks about how Jesus Christ came, how he lived a perfect life, how he was delivered to them by God's allowance to the enemy and let them crucify him so that he might take upon him our infirmities.

But God didn't leave him in the same place as Jesus Christ. He didn't leave him in the grave but raised him up. So you find that often being spoken about. But 1 John 1, verses 7 to 10, it would be testified about what Jesus Christ's sacrifice would and could do for human beings. The Apostle John wrote this in his general epistle, verse 7 of 1 John 1, But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship, one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Notice it cleanses us when we have the desire and the intent to walk in the light. You know who we meet also when we're walking in the light? Other people who are walking in the light. That's why you can have fellowship with one another. I doubt that very many of us would be together. Now maybe Eileen and I would, because we both graduated from the same school system.

She came from Scott Township, which was our enemy until they finally united with Bridgeville and had a separate school system, Charvel. But she graduated from Charvel. I graduated from Bridgeville. So we both went to the same school system I graduated before she did. A few years before. Several years before. Many years before. But we might be able to relate in that way. But how many other people can relate? Many of you come from different walks of life, different areas.

You wouldn't be here. You wouldn't be together with each other. But the fact is you're walking in the light, and they're walking in the light, you meet in the light because you're walking in God.

You're walking in His way. So it goes on to say in verse 8, if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us, He ransoms us, cleans us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. Talking about proclaiming Christ's sacrifice as a ransom for us, notice chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. My little children, a very loving way to express Himself, these things I write to you that you sin not.

And if any man sin, any person sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. So you have somebody there who's willing to stand up for you, somebody there who's willing to be there for you, to take up your case, to support you. Verse 2, and He is the propitiation or the atonement for our sins and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. So Jesus Christ came to be a ransom for all.

Isaiah 53, verses 11 and 12 say He came to take upon Him our sins, our infirmities. He came to take the world's infirmities upon Him, our sins, our iniquities, it says, not infirmities, iniquities. He came to take those upon Him. His soul was poured up to death on our behalf. Mr. Stiver, any thoughts? The term a ransom, He gave Himself a ransom for all. Maybe we just had just a little bit about that word itself. Typically, it was used in the culture of the time as a ransom that was paid for a slave.

It had a prefix in the Greek that reinforced the idea of a substitution. The Christ's life substitutes for our own life to take the penalty for our sins. So it's just an added concept to help us appreciate and understand the sacrifice that Jesus made for us and how He stepped into the spot that we would have been in on our behalf. He did it for each one of us and He did it for all of us as it says there, ransom for us all. So I think that's important to understand.

He substituted Himself to take the penalty for what we have done and something to be profoundly thankful for. In Hebrews 10 and verse 12, one more scripture on this particular verse, we read, But this man, speaking about... Well, verse 10 says, By which we are all sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And then in verse 12, Hebrews 10, 10 and Hebrews 10, 12, But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for the sins forever sat down on the right hand of God. So Jesus Christ came to be a ransom for all of us. His sacrifice is available to those who will avail themselves to it after they've been called.

Verse 7, For which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle. So He says, I've been appointed a preacher and an apostle. I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and in truth. So He says, I'm speaking the truth in Christ and not lying. I'm a witness to it, the teacher of the Gentiles in faith and in truth.

Now, Barclay sees in this section that the Apostle Paul is declaring he's four things. He's declaring he's a herald. That's a preacher, one who's out there telling. A someone who says yes, who confirms the facts. He's an envoy, one who's going out to be spread the knowledge. And finally, a teacher, one who explains and expounds and gives meaning to what he's been saying. Bages 63 and 64 and Barclay have a section on that. In Acts 9 and verse 15, he says, I was appointed this. In Acts 9 and verse 15, he was appointed.

Remember what happened to him in our study of the book of Acts, Acts 9 and verse 15? The Lord said to him after he had struck him down, after he had blinded him and he was leading him away and he was telling what was going to happen to him. He was telling Ananias. But the Lord said to him, Go your way, for he, Paul, is a chosen vessel to me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. I have called him, Paul said, Hey, I was appointed a preacher and an apostle. I was made that by God, a messenger, one to carry the message forth. I was made that by God, to be able to do the job that God had called me to do. So I thought it's really significant. It's interesting what you find in each verse. Mr. Stiver? I think it's interesting here. Paul did this fairly often. He would make these profound statements reinforcing why he was here or why he was there at that particular moment and why he was doing what he was doing and who sent him. He just seemed inspired, of course, but it was also inspired partly just from Paul's thinking to emphasize that he was appointed to be a preacher and an apostle. Then he profoundly states, I am speaking the truth in Christ and not lying. Timothy's not going to question that. Obviously, some of this is meant to go beyond Timothy. He's making a forceful statement. He sometimes said that in the book of Acts when he was on trial. He says, my conscience is clear before God and man. He was profoundly explaining his position. I see him doing that here as well, reinforcing and explaining his position beyond what he needed to, to Timothy. But you see some of the feeling and the passion and the energy and the drive that just carries Paul, frankly, beyond his life because it wasn't to last all that much longer at this point. It's carried on down and here we are reading what he wrote to Timothy, being stirred and strengthened by it. Verse 8, we shift to a new area here. We begin to talk about the men and women in the church, according to my section here in my New King James. He says, therefore I desire that the men pray everywhere. You don't have to just pray in your closet. You pray everywhere.

Bible says, pray without ceasing. It says, be instant in prayer. So we should be able to offer up a prayer immediately, if need be. You know, while we're sitting there, sometimes you do. Thank you, God. I really understand that better. I mean, I love studying today. I spent several hours just trying to go over the Scriptures, so I had it clearly in mind and checking with commentary and checking my inspired notes and my margin, just to make sure I understood. But I think, therefore, he said, I desire that the men pray everywhere.

So again, he's telling us how to pray, not what to pray. He says, how should you pray?

Lifting up holy hands without wrath and without doubting. So, if your hands are holy, what does that mean? They're clean. They're pure. They're without sin. It doesn't necessarily mean you hold your hands up all the time, as some people try to do. You can, if you want to. You can hold your hands up to God when you're praying. But the idea here is your hands are not dirty. They're not defiled. Holy hands have to do with no anger. They're clean. They're pure. And there are no doubts. That's what he's saying. It's interesting that he says, without wrath and without doubting. So, if you're going to pray to God, you can't go to God and feel angry and irritated with someone. And in fact, didn't he tell us in the Gospels that what we ought to do is take our, if we come before God and we realize someone has something against us, that we should go get that resolved before we try to take, come and pray to God. So he says, therefore I've desired that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and without doubting. Now, there are several ways that you can, and he's telling you here how to pray and what attitude you need to be in. Matthew tells you what to pray, but he doesn't tell you pray these words. He gives you a model outline. What's normally called the Lord's Prayer is really the Lord's outline for prayer. It's not the Lord's Prayer. You can do it in 30 seconds or less if you say it fast enough. And what meaning is there if you just go like that? And that's what they many times do at church. Our Father starts in heaven, heaven, and then the name is like heaven, heaven, heaven, give us their daily bread, forgive us our debts, forgive our debtors, lead us not in temptation, deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, power, glory, forever and ever, amen. Is that it? Boy, that's my prayer life, is just doing the Lord's Prayer, but an outline. But he tells us here that when we pray, we need to make sure our hands are clean. Now, there are several other things that when you pray, if you want answers to prayer, there are several things you need to do. First of all, you need to pray with all your heart. You need to pray to God with all your heart, all your might, that your heart is in it that's totally sincere. God says, I'll hear them several times in Isaiah, Jeremiah. I'll hear them when they turn to me with the whole heart. Second, we need to pray in faith. Remember James 1? He says, if you pray to God, you need to pray in faith. Not that man who does thinks he'll receive anything. Thirdly, you need to pray doing good. Holy hands. But 1 John 3, 22 says, whatsoever we ask, we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. So your hands are clean. You're doing good. Fourthly, we need to do it according to God's will. You can't ask in faith what is not clearly okay in the Scriptures. God, please make it be okay for me to work every other Sabbath. Sorry, contrary to Scripture, against the will of God. Please let me steal a little bit. Please don't hold me guilty for stealing because I need some bread. You stole. He's not going to answer that. You could pray for more bread. That might be a better prayer, but not pray that God will not hold you guilty for stealing. And then finally, pray in Jesus' name. In Jesus' name. Jesus Christ said, whatever you ask, ask in my Father's name and I'll do it. I'll give it to you. As long as it is, in faith, as long as it is, with a right heart, as long as it is, doing good, as long as it is according to God's will, then you have pretty good assurances that you'll receive. No doubts and no anger.

Any thoughts? Yes. It brings to mind a couple of things. One, the term for wrath here. Anger is a problem that our age has. And frankly, mankind's had an anger problem, anger issues, since the Garden of Eden in many respects. Look at Cain. Wrath is described as really the slow boiling type of anger. It's that steaming, hot sort of anger. Not the explosive anger kind of wrath, but the kind that's always boiling and you're just barely keeping a lid on it.

It blows over all over the place. Imagine having boiling water splatter all over you. That brings to mind what it says, how Satan works among us and among mankind in general always has, in which we once walked, this is Ephesians 2.2, this is the Prince of the Power of the Air scripture, we once walked according to the course of this world, according to the Prince of the Power of the Air, the Spirit who now works in the Sons of Disobedience. Satan broadcasts that angry mood, anything he can do to create more seething anger in people he will, and thus circumvent their prayers.

He now works in the Sons of Disobedience, among whom we also once conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as others. God's called us to a different way of life. We have to lose that anger. Some have a deeper problem sometimes, there were reasons, childhood traumas, things like that, but an awful lot of it is just thwarted selfishness that we chose to be angry about and became habitual, and we can choose to stop it, too.

So we must shed the wrath and the doubting. Doubting, the term for doubting literally means to think backwards and forward. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways, said James. And when we're praying, we just ask God for what it is we need to ask Him for, to seek His guidance for, and not vacillate back and forth. We live this way of life. We have chosen that. And for those at the verge of choosing that, this is what you look forward to.

You make that final decision and you stay with that decision and ask in an honest, open way. That's the way friendships are built. You don't build a friendship with somebody that likes you one minute and hates you the next minute. You can put up with that for five minutes. Well, six. You get three cycles. Then you're going to find out, you know, I'm not sure this person really is reliable to be around. Well, think about God. We need to be faithful in our dedication to Him and thus faithful in our prayers in that regard. Very good. Thank you for that further explanation. I appreciate it. Let's look at verses 9 and 10. They didn't leave the women out, but He goes after the women in this way.

He says, In like manner also that the women adorn themselves. So in like manner, well, He's talking about the men should be praying and should watch their wrath and watch doubting it. But in like manner also that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel.

Again, modesty is the key in everything. Modest apparel with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but which is proper for women professing godliness with good works. Now, does this mean that you should be a plain Jane, that for you to dress in a modern style, for you to look dice, for you to be up to date, that you are a sinner?

No. On the other hand, should you be a walking jewelry store? And all you hear from that person is bangles, bobbles and beads. Well, they walk by. And they are the fashion show of the church. So once again, there's a balance in between in here that He's saying women need to be careful.

Now, I thought it's really rather interesting, a great section that Barkley has on this section about women. It is rather interesting. He says, it was written against a Jewish background. No nation ever gave a bigger place to women in home and in family things than the Jews did. But officially, the position of a woman was very low.

In Jewish law, she was not a person, but a thing. She was entirely at the disposal of her father or of her husband. She was forbidden to learn the law, to instruct a woman in the law, was to cast pearls before swine. Women had no part in the synagogue service. They were shut apart in a section of the synagogue or in the gallery where they could not be seen. A man came to the synagogue to learn, but at most the woman came to hear. In the synagogue, the lesson from Scripture was read by members of the congregation, but not women.

For that would have been to lessen the, quote, honor of the congregation. It was absolutely forbidden for a woman to teach in a school. She might not even teach the youngest children. A woman was exempt from the stated demands of the law. It was not obligatory on her to attend the feasts and festivals. Women, slaves, and children were classed together. In Jewish morning prayer, a man thanked God. This is page 67, Barkley. In the Jewish morning prayer, man thanked God that God had not made him a Gentile or a slave or a woman.

Thank you for not making me a woman. That comes in the sayings of the fathers. Rabbi Jose Ben Johanen is quoted as saying, Let your house be open wide, let the poor be your household, and talk not much with a woman. Strict rabbi would never greet a woman on the street, not even his own wife or daughter or mother or sister in public. Should have bought a burka, I guess that would have been helpful. And that was good in society at that time. That was much higher than in most of the Gentiles. It was said of a woman, her work is to send her children to the synagogue to attend to domestic concerns, to leave her husband free to study in the schools, to keep house for him until he returns.

But in the Greek world, was even worse than that. Worse than that, the respectable Greek woman led a very confined life. She lived in her own quarters into which no one but her husband came. She did not even appear at meals.

I guess she had to eat in a room, I don't know. She never at any time appeared on the street alone. She never went to any public assembly. The fact is that in a Greek town, Christian women had taken an active and speaking part in its work. The church, if they had done that, the church would inevitably have gained the reputation of being the resort of loose women. Now, Barkley goes on, which I totally disagree with, to say, well, you know, that's what God said for back then, and of course now we understand more. Now, God didn't say any of those things, but God did say one thing.

He said the women should keep silence in the churches, and that has to do with teaching or having authority over men. That part, he was very clear here, and also in 1 Corinthians. The Apostle Paul did not hate women, but the Apostle, because he was married to one, apparently before, and died. She died or whatever, because he did not have a wife during his ministry. But apparently, to be on the Sanhedrin, you had to. But he says in verse 11, of course, let a woman learn in silence with all submission.

But he talks about that which is proper for women professing godliness with good works. So, here's the final statement. Further, in Greek society, there were women whose whole life consisted in elaborate dressing and braiding their hair. After all, that's all they had time to do. They were confined in this room. They modeled big dresses. Pliny tells of a bride named Lolia Polina, whose bridal dress cost the equivalent of £432,000. Even the Greeks and Romans were shocked at the love of dress and of adornment which characterized some of the women.

The great Greek religions were called the mystery religions and they had precisely the same regulations about dress as Paul has here. Then he goes on to say, oh, you know, this is old time stuff and this doesn't matter. I have a different take on that. Women should be honored and respected. God does not expect them to be confined. But God nowhere tells us that they should be ordained preachers.

Nowhere tells us that they should be ministers. Now, why doesn't he do that? Titus didn't do it to Timothy, didn't do it to the only two areas that tell us about recognizing women as ministers. We don't do that. Our ministers are women servants, you bet. Can women serve? You bet. Should women preach? No. Why? Women aren't very good speakers. Women are very good speakers. Women have heart as well, much more easily get into their emotions, can really move an audience. I know, because I had, my wife and I were directors of a women's club for many years in Pasadena.

And frankly, I would have stacked the girls in my women's club against any of the spokesman clubs or the ambassador club speakers. They were that good. I don't know why God says don't, but he says don't, and that's good enough for me. It's not that their intellect is worse.

It's not that they don't have good speaking voices. It's not that they aren't intelligent. It's not that they can't prepare a speech. God says don't. And that's good enough for me. And I'm not about to say, well, you know, this was for that people back then. Well, then pray tell what part of the Bible is for us today. If I'm going to say that part was for people back then. So again, Ezekiel 16, though, talks about how God would dress his bride.

So it's not wrong to have jewelry. It's just that if that's the only thing you look to, that's the only thing people notice about you is what you wear. The only thing people notice about you is how well your hair's been done.

Then something's wrong. The character of an individual ought to be seen. The character. So again, Ezekiel 16, verses 10 to 13, you can see how God dressed his bride. And it was pretty pretty lavish. She was a bequeen. Okay. Well, one added point. You know, the Apostle Paul in verse 11 said, let a woman learn. See, Paul knew the truth, and this is what I think we need to understand here. He expresses the truth. Women learn. In the culture then, women were thought to be below learning.

They couldn't learn. I don't know what they thought. You talk about them as supposed to be great thinkers, some of the men and great philosophers and completely out of touch with certain aspects of how God created things. But not so in the Church of God. The Apostle Paul was guided by Christ. Let a woman learn. Absolutely. They can and they do. And men can't learn any better than women can. But they do have different duties and different responsibilities, but they complement each other. You know, we live in a politically correct oriented society.

I have done for most of what, 40, 50 years, which, you know, people bristle at something like this, but it shouldn't be bristling at all. God made us to do different things. And even some of those who started what was called, what originally they called it the Women's Liberation Movement and that kind of thing, even some of them came to recant their philosophies as they got older.

Of course, that didn't help all the young women whose minds they had filled with a wrong sense of values, and that's a pity of the way of mankind. So I think it's important to note, Paul absolutely believed that the men and the women could learn and should learn. Yeah, Galatians talks about there's neither male nor female in Christ.

They're all equal when it comes to the kingdom of God. They're all equal when it comes to being in the church. But as far as responsibilities and position, God is the one who decides that I don't, you don't, we don't, and no amount of reasoning. This goes way back when I was still in Toronto. We had this lady stand up and she was talking about it was a combined spokesman's club and talking about, well, now, you know, that's the way it was back then.

And that's not the way it was back. You know, it's not just the way it was back then. It's the way it is now, too. But we don't put women down. And women have been put down. And that is true. You know, in the United States, women were only considered smart enough to vote, what, since 1920? Didn't let them vote in the United States. And after all, a woman's only had her own cigarette since Virginia Slim's was made. So, I mean, she didn't, they didn't even have a cigarette for a woman. They had Virginia Slim's. Now she has her own cigarette.

Now she can get a cancer her way with her own cigarette. But the point being, the point being, God loves women and he loves men. He made both, male and female. And he said it's very good. God would not be the author of all the heinous things that were done to women over the years. Keep them barefoot and pregnant. All she's supposed to do is have children stay at home and keep quiet. That's terrible. That's demeaning. Absolutely demeaning. And Peter certainly gave them honor in 1 Peter 3, where he talked about how he needed to protect them and keep them in good standing.

So yes, God is for the women. I just had a note in verse 10 where he says, but which is proper for women professing godliness with good works. And I just said, are godly women out of date today? And tell me something, ladies. Do you have to go out and dig a ditch to prove that you're a human being? You know, I'm equal with men.

I'll go out and dig ditches. I'll go out and drive semi-trucks and I'll go out and do all these... Why? Why do you want to do that? If you want to be strong, sure you can be strong. I'll go build up my muscles and get rid of all my fat and I'll just build up all my muscles and I'll be a weightlifter. I'll walk around like Arnold Schwarzenegger used to, you know, before he got kicked out of power. But anyway, he was a strong, powerful man. But muscle bound.

That way God wants a woman to be... I'm not sure. I am sure. He doesn't. He doesn't. He doesn't want a woman to be muscle bound. He doesn't want a woman to think, I've got to prove that I'm a woman by becoming like a man? How do you prove that? I want to prove I'm equal by doing the same thing men do. I'll get out and I'll be a carpenter. I've had nothing wrong with some of those things, maybe, in necessity. I know some ladies who can do plumbing better than their husbands. He said, what did you do today? I put in this pipe in our basement. You did? Yes, I did. My husband wasn't around to do it. So I did it. Good for her. She was industrious. There's nothing wrong with that. But to do it because you want to prove that you're somehow equal, you don't have to do that. You don't have to do that. You're equal in the sight of God toward eternal life. And some women may be even over their husbands in the kingdom of God. Now, if they're faithful and diligent, they may be over their husbands. I surely think if both Abigail and Nabile were converted, that God would give a better position to Abigail in the Old Testament. She just was a sterling lady and he was called a fool. Now, if he were to be in the kingdom, I think God would say, you know, Abigail, I think I could trust you a little more. I mean, he squeaked by, but you're here definitely in the kingdom. All right, let's go to verses 11 and 12.

Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. Hebrews 1 Corinthians 14, verses 34 and 35, talks about God is not the author of confusion. He says, let your women learn silence in the churches. And verse 12, he says, I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man but to be in silence. So, he was reflecting the signs of the time, yes. And many times, it's good to ask your husband's lady rather than asking someone else if you have a question. Ask your husband first. Give them a shot to explain something to you. And that's what Paul said. But if they can't explain it to you, there's nothing wrong with calling in the minister and asking him for help. Or both of you can. I remember one Sabbath morning we were getting ready to go to church and get this frantic call from one of the church members. And this guy said, my wife is in tears. We're having a big fight. What's it about? Well, she wants to wear decorator gloves to church and I won't let her. And I told her that your wife never wears gloves to church. Well, my wife does have decorator gloves. She doesn't often wear them. She has had them sometimes when they were more popular to wear. And so his wife got on the phone, she was crying. I said, because he couldn't answer her question. So I said, there's nothing wrong. If you wanted to wear gloves, it's okay. It's not against the law. It's not against the rules. So his answer was not satisfying. So she was able to finally get some relief from him. I've never seen Mrs. Antion wearing gloves to church. So after that, I told my wife, wear gloves every so often. I don't care, dear, if it's summertime. Wear gloves! She could see. He could see. But that's not right. His attitude was, I want to do what's right, but it was very strict. And they were having a big argument over it until they brought it. So she asked him for the answer. His answer wasn't really right on. So she did go beyond that. But 1 Corinthians 14, I think it's 34 and 35. It might be 33 and 34. May have given you the wrong, I don't want to give you the wrong scripture, let me. I know it's 34. Let's make sure I'm giving you the right one. 1 Corinthians 14, yeah, 33 says about the other, and 34 says, let the women learn in silence, keep silence in the churches, for it is not permitted for them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also says the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for women to speak at church. Can you say, would you please pass the songbook? Are you allowed? Yes, you are. You're talking about officially, you start putting the scriptures together, taking responsibility, delivering a message, as opposed to just talking. Otherwise, you have to write notes to each other, or use sign language. And God doesn't say that's not what he's about. Comments, Mr. Stiver, anything you want to say? Yes, I'm reminded, first of all, the story, and then I have another comment. The story I heard of one of our ministers many, many years ago. It was in another different country, I won't even tell where. But he was a little man, and he found out that husband was supposed to be the head of the household. And he heard this in the sermon on the Sabbath. He heard that, so he went home. His wife wasn't in the church. And he announced to her that from now on, I'm the head of the household.

And she picked him up and threw him out the door.

She was a lot bigger than he was.

Statistically, women are about 25 or 27 percent smaller than men, statistically. This was not one of those statistics. So he then realized that one should take a different tact. And maybe tact would be a good operative word there. Now, notice, though, in verse 12, Paul said, I do not permit a woman to teach. Now, the word to teach is of note. The Greek word that is used there indicates the type of teaching that was found in the Jewish communities and the Jewish synagogues at the time.

Now, that teaching would be more than just giving information to students. You know, where you're teaching information so they can report it back on a test. It included the call by the rabbi to listen. And don't forget, this is in Deuteronomy chapter 6, it's a passage called the Shema.

Here, O Israel, and the word for here in Hebrew is Shema. So he calls you to listen. And in a sense, the ministry today in the church does that.

Then, beyond being called to listen, you also are to believe and to practice what is being taught. Now, that kind of teaching, built on the revelation of God, it assumed that there would be a certain kind of oversight.

Just like the term bishop comes from Episcopus in the next chapter, which means overseer, that kind of teaching is not your ordinary run-of-the-mill teaching. This is teaching from an authoritative overseer, someone who has a responsibility of leadership within the church community. So this is different than, you know, teaching your children or other kinds of teaching. This focuses especially on the worship service, on the Sabbath day.

Okay, thank you. I also wanted to make a comment about an individual who had, he and his wife were in the church, and of course he realized he was supposed to be in charge. He's the head of the home. So up until this time, she kept the books and paid the bills and handled the budget and all this. And he's the head of the home, so he's going to take back the budgeting. He's going to all do all this. And their family went down, down, down, down, down. He wasn't good at that.

She was good at that. It's a wise man who says, you know, my wife's good at this.

So he appoints her to be treasurer, and he stays out of her business.

And she, when he, I think he finally afterwards got the message, and she was able to help steer the course a little bit, steer the family back on somewhat, of course. But it really went down financially, because he did not know how to manage the money. But he assumed he's going to take and be in charge. One of the men I was talking to, one of the fellows that I had worked with, when he was first married, he was in the world. And the first night, he took off his pants with his wife, and he hung them on the door post, on the bedpost. He said, do you think those will fit you? And she said, no. He said, well, don't try to put them on.

Not a great way to begin your marriage.

Not a great way to be. You know, if you have to try to pull rank that way, you must not be comfortable in your own skin and in your own responsibility.

I suggest you get some help, if you have to do it that way.

All right, let's finish up. Verses 13 and 14. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. That's obvious. God says he made man, then he made Eve out of the rib of a man, because he wants every man to realize that every man and every woman have come from a woman, except for the first woman who came from the first man, and the first man who came from God. So he wants that overall responsibility. But, however, notice what happened. And Adam was not deceived. That's to his shame. But the woman being deceived fell into transgression. Well, Adam fell into even greater transgression. Because if he understood what was going on and still took of that fruit, forbidden fruit, for his wife's sake, is one little tape I have that is a play on this act. It was kind of trying to theorize how it was back then. And she says, oh, Adam, this apple tastes so good. And Eve, what have you done? God told us not to take of that. Oh, but it tastes so good. And this wonderful creature told me to try it. And I said, Eve, you've been deceived. What's going to happen? You're going to die. Oh, I can't stand to have you die and me not to. Give me that apple. I'll eat it too. That's how they play-acted it. That she was deceived, but he wasn't. And that's not good for a man, because if you know better and you follow anybody, wife or children, anyone else into sin, that's not a good thing to do. But he fell into transgression, it says. And in verse 15, nevertheless, she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, holiness, with self-control. What does it mean that she'll be saved in childbearing? Barkley points out two things.

One, for a woman being a woman, doing the things that are being a woman. The other was interesting, she'll be saved in the childbearing, which was Jesus Christ. The fact that a woman did bear Jesus Christ is a thought that Barkley points out. He doesn't say it's necessarily the way it should be answered. But the other one is, she'll be saved for being a woman, doing the things that are a woman can do. And as far as I know, men haven't been bearing any children lately, so I think that's all right. But Acts 16 tells us we must endure. We must endure to the end. Acts 16, 13. Acts 16, verse 13, we read this. This is about a woman, all right? This is about a woman who is faithful. That's why I put it down. And on the Sabbath, we went out of the city by the riverside, where prayer, this is Lydia, where prayer was being made. And we sat down and spoke to the women which resorted there, and a certain woman named Lydia, seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened, and she attended to the things of Paul. And when she was baptized, she constrained us. So there are women who can do the right things, who are doing the right things, but we also need to endure to the end. Let's see if I want that over here. Okay, let's go to Matthew 24 and verse 12.

Matthew 24 and verse 12. He that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved.

So again, it takes endurance. It takes doing the things that are proper for a woman to do.

Hebrews says, we can't escape if we neglect so great salvation. Hebrews 2 verses 1 to 3. Comments, Mr. Steinwert? Yes, just a couple of items here. Adam was formed first and then Eve. There's a rationale that God has inspired Paul to put down as to why the man is in charge of serving in the ministry and providing leadership even in the home, as he's supposed to do. And that has to do with the privileges of the firstborn. Adam, in a sense, was the firstborn of human beings, being as how God created him. And then Eve was created from his rib, and men have needed a good ribbing from time to time ever since. But that was a choice by God. He could have made Eve first, but he didn't. He made the man first, thus the man has a primary responsibility of leadership. That's the rationale that Paul is using here, and a logical one because God inspired him to use it. Now, the fact that Adam was not deceived. That's worth thinking about. Adam is actually credited in Romans chapter 5 and verse 12. It says, therefore, just... Romans 5 verse 12, you'll want to note that. Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin. I'm referring to Adam. It doesn't say one woman. When it says that she was not deceived, Adam, he was right there. He knew, snakes, don't talk. He had only finished naming the thing, not very long before, before his nap. And then, and then he knew that the snakes didn't talk. None of the animals talked to him.

His name is Adam, not Doolittle. So, Adam knew they didn't talk, and yet here it was a talking snake. And when you read back in Genesis 3, she ate of the fruit. Eve swallowed, pardon the use of that verb, swallowed the whole line that the serpent was giving her.

And Adam was... and she ate of the fruit and gave some to her husband with her. He was right there.

He knew snakes didn't talk, and he didn't stop what was going on. He was in serious violation of his God-given responsibility, not to mention violation of the law. So, I think it's important to see the role of Adam in that regard. And then, and it says, the woman being deceived, the Greek verb used there carries the meaning of was completely deceived. Horn swoggled.

Now, does this show a reflection on the way men think versus the way women think? Statistically, because there are some that are outside the statistics, I think it does give us an inkling of, you know, female human nature versus male human nature a little bit. We know that the brains of men and women are very different, despite what some tried to say a few years ago. Their brain maps started brain mapping in the late 80s and have done extensive work on that. Women have about twice as many neural connectors between the hemispheres of their brain as men do.

Twice as many. They speak twice as many words on average as men do. 30,000 versus 15,000. I don't know if that's American words or probably American words. I can get some more in most cultures.

But the extra neural connectors give what we call more global thinking and global awareness of women, which in the childbearing is very important. Looking after children, bringing them up, looking after all the many things of the house. When it comes to budgeting, I might toss this in. I think whichever one is smarter should do the budget. That's why my wife does the budget.

She likes numbers. I know numbers. I've met them several occasions, but she likes them.

Eve was deceived. She just took it. She was swayed emotionally by his arguments, using all the religious sounding stuff and all this sort of vaunting up of your ego thing. She swallowed it. Adam saw right through it. He stood there. He saw through it. He didn't do anything about it. He's just lucky God didn't dropkick him into the next county.

Well, actually, he did, didn't he? When they were taken out of the garden. So again, I think it's important. Man wasn't deceived. You know, and you ask, why? What's that got to do with the brain? Well, he doesn't have as many neural connectors. And that means that the male brain tends to focus on a thing. And it doesn't notice all the details. And men get in trouble for that. But it's a good thing, because that also helps them to focus on the task at hand, getting work, providing for their family, working hard, lifting heavy loads, you know, jumping tall buildings in a single bound for the good of their family. That's what men can do because they can focus because their brain's wired that way. God is the one who installed the wiring. And it's a wonderful thing that we complement each other in that sense. Okay, thank you. There's a question here about Deaconess. Do you want to go into Chapter 3? Or do we want to stop? It's 10 minutes.

Do you have the other question there? I have a question here. Let me answer the question. Do you want to start Chapter 3? Will we have time to answer the questions? No, I don't think so. Let's answer these. Let's answer the questions. Okay, we'll answer the questions. I've got this one. It says, 1 Timothy 2.12, nor to exercise authority over a man but in being quietness. How does this apply to a Deaconess? Most Deaconesses do not exercise authority over men.

They may ask a man to do something. They may ask a man to lift this out. Or they may ask this man to do this. Asking is different than exercising authority over them. So I do not see Deaconesses exercising authority over a man, even though they have authority over the kitchen. When they have authority and responsibilities in the church, it does not exercise that over a man. And we have also appointed them to do a job, not that they have taken it to themselves to do it. They have not decided, I'm going to be doing this. And frankly, it's how you do it. It's the manner in which you do it. Same way with a wife at home. The Bible talks about submitting one to another in the fear of the Lord. If I walk in and my wife just done the floor and I start to come in with dirty shoes. Honey, take those off! I don't say, you didn't ask me in a proper way. I'm stomping all over this floor. You help. And sure, it's nice if a woman does. You see the example of Esther, if it pleases, and if you will, and if you... She had a heart that, of course, her life was at stake too. She went to a broachib. But the principle being, it's better to request than it is to order.

And a woman who's a deaconess, has authority, has responsibility, is not necessarily over a man.

And she's not using that or holding that over a man. That's my comment on it, Mr. Stuyver. Any thoughts on your part? Well, I try to levitate when I get that dirty, the clean floor command, but I can't figure out how to do it. So, not to add to that, but I do have another question. It's actually a little bit different. It's something that was spawned early. It's a question is asked, and we're going to go to Ephesians chapter one. Predestination was mentioned tonight. This is early in the Bible study. In Ephesians 1 and verse 4, we are told that we were chosen by God in Christ before the foundation of the world.

Does this mean that God had already had called us before we were born?

We'll read that passage. Ephesians 1.

We'll begin in verse 3 to get the sentence. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. Having, in verse 5, I don't know if they notice this one, but it carries on with it, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Christ Jesus to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will and to the praise and glory of His grace and so on.

Now, does this mean that God called us before we were born? It means that God had a plan to call people long before we were born. And as it turns out, at this time in history, we are them, or we are among them. It is not identifying a specific person, but it is the plan that He planned before the foundation of the world that we, and we is going to expand for a long time, you know, right out to the Great White Throne Judgment, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. And He made that plan to call us. And He predestined us to be adopted, or to become sons of God through Christ. That's all a part of God's great plan. It was not, does not say a specific individual is predestined to be called. There are a few instances where God chose somebody in the womb like David, but He was in the womb. You know, that wasn't very long before He was born, you know, at the most, nine months. And Paul, I don't know, He chose Paul ahead of time, but I don't know that it's offhand. I can't tell you if Paul was chosen in the womb. I think he was chosen after that, and possibly after he had been such a nasty rotter that God saw the perfect irony of calling Paul to amend his ways and be a champion of the truth he tried to trump. You know, and so he ended up being it. But basically what we're talking about in Ephesians 1 is God's plan of salvation, that He would systematically call people to Himself through Christ. That was His plan. He predestined it to work like that, and we all ultimately get to be a part of that if we choose to. Some people want to believe that God made them especially called them now. He knew them way before they were ever born, way before the foundation of the world. And you know, God could do anything He wants. Okay, are you going to stop Him? I'm not going to stop Him. Are you going to say, you can't do this, God? God can do anything He wants. But our traditional teaching has not been that it's been an individual, as Mr. Stiver was explaining, talking about us. God knew He was going to call a group of people. God knew He was going to use a group of people to be examples to the rest of the world, because when He made human beings, He let Satan be around. He allowed Satan to be there.

And these vulnerable human beings, even though they had perfect heads, perfect bodies, perfect minds, but not perfect character, He let them be swayed by one who did not have perfect character, either. And they fell, and probably most of us in our current state would have fallen quicker, but they fell, quote-unquote, fell from God, not fell from fall, man's fall. They didn't fall, they fell into sin, because that's what they accepted. They didn't fall from, you know, having immortal life to now being out of that. No, I don't mean that. But they fell away from what God's teaching was, fell away from God and followed Satan. But you and I would probably fall in too. So are we predestined from the beginning of time that God said, okay, I'm going to take this person, as opposed to they're going to be a people, that once they did not follow God's way, then God chose a nation to be an example. That nation didn't do it. So then God said, you know what? They need a little help. So let's forgive them. Let's send somebody to be their forgiveness, and let's give them the Holy Spirit to give them the help they need, the strength, the power, the will to do what's right. Yeah, God did plan to have people who would be an example to the rest of the world, that His way works now. The word predestined comes from the Greek word pro-rizo, and it has a sense of setting out ahead of time. It's like you're in the first heat of the hundred-meter dash.

You're in the first heat. You're in the first race. That's what it has to do with. It's when you you're set out ahead of time, but it doesn't mean you're better than anybody else. It doesn't mean you're going to make it the end of the race. It just puts you on the starting blocks ahead of time.

That's basically what predestination has to do with.

Anything else? 9 o'clock. Thank you so much for coming. And next time, I don't know what the schedule says. Who's on? In fact, I think we probably have to have a new schedule. Maybe we have one more time. The 20... It'll be the 28th, won't it? The 14th? So two weeks. I'm not... I don't know if it's scheduled. Nothing scheduled for then, right? Okay. So I'd... Check the website.

Mr. Myers is busily making up the new schedule for the next quarter of the year, so I'll leave it up to him to determine when and how. But we will continue the series, I'm sure, in Timothy to try to finish it up. And thank you for your attention. Thanks, Mr. Stiver, for being here. The two of us being able to share. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope you did. Good night. Good night.