Beloved, I am glad to share with you today the above theme from 1 Tim 2.1 and following. Indeed, before all “those things” of which he will speak to Timothy (1Tim 3:14-16; 1 Tim4:6-11), the apostle names prayer in its various forms. This is where all Christian service begins. God’s will for salvation, Christ’s work, and our prayer embrace all men. Our duty is to pray for all without restriction because God wants all to be saved and because Christ Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all. If not all are saved, then it is not due to God or Christ, but to the hardness of man’s heart. And it is our privilege to pray for the multitudes who do not know how to do it. It depends on “those in high positions” that we can lead a peaceful and quiet life. Let us ask God to assure us of this by their means, not to waste it according to our lusts, but to be freer to take care of the salvation of sinners (Esd 6:8-11).
Brothers, including the youngest, are called to pray everywhere, publicly in the congregation. The sisters, on the other hand, remain silent. But by their attitude and modest dress, they can give a more powerful testimony than by words. The consequences of the fall remain for women (Gen 3:16-19), but faith, love, holiness, and modesty are, even for the earth, pledges of deliverance and blessing.
Prayer is an attitude and the expression of a state of mind before God, which can be exercised in the presence of all, but only on the part of men. These words: “in every place” indicate that these are indeed prayers in public, and (as the subject of this epistle is the divine order of the house of God when it was still, as in the time of the apostles, in its original fullness) that they are prayers in all the places where this house gathers. It goes without saying that there is no question here of the home, home and shelter of the family, because the prayers of the man as well as those of the woman have complete freedom to exercise, the woman keeping moreover in this, as in all things, the position of dependence that God has assigned to her vis-à-vis her husband. God’s holiness could not admit such prayers, for everything that is in contradiction with purity, peace and faith in the heart, renders one unfit for prayer and cannot find access before God.
The apostle now comes to the role of women in the house of God. Modesty and modesty must be represented at home by a decent suit and not by the luxurious ornaments that the women of the world are looking for. Thus the dress of the Christian woman makes her recognize immediately and this witness is much more important than words. To this attitude, so to speak, negative, is added the active testimony of “good works”. Let us confine ourselves to repeating that good work can be done towards Christ, towards the saints, or towards all men and that good works are done exclusively by the new man, the members of God’s family. Any work done by the unconverted man can only be a “dead work” or a “bad work”.
For the holding and good works are therefore suitable “for women who profess to serve God.” It is here that one can grasp one of the sides of the great subject of this epistle. This is the Christian profession; only in the first epistle to Timothy is it in no way separated, as in the second epistle, from the reality of divine life in the soul. The reality of this profession must be shown in women in their dress and in their activity. We find in 1 Peter 3:1-6, a similar picture and exhortations. Here we find other recommendations addressed to the Christian woman; she is called to make progress in the knowledge of the Word: “May the woman learn in silence, in all submission.” Many Christian women today fail in this injunction, preferring a more or less agitated external activity to the silent attitude of a Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus to listen to him. Martha spoke and was taken back, Mary learned in all submission. Ah! how little these things are realized as the evil that will result in the final apostasy wins and spreads like leprosy in the house of God! Christian women “speak everywhere,” pride themselves on teaching instead of humiliating themselves as a guilty usurpation and positive disobedience to the Lord’s command. For those who are subject to the word of God, this is the woman’s boldest violation of the order prescribed for the house of God. We are talking here only about the Christian woman or at least the woman professing Christianity and, therefore, responsible for submitting to the Word.
As for the woman of the world, how can we think of binding her to a divine rule that she ignores and cannot follow? The woman “must remain silent”; it is his duty and his obligation. The apostle gives two peremptory reasons for this. The first is Adam’s pre-eminence over Eve. He was “trained first”. Then came the woman, drawn from him, and formed as a helper who corresponds to him, for, says Jehovah God, “it is not good for man to be alone.” Thus the woman became bone of bones and flesh of the flesh of Adam. The second reason is that it was not Adam who was deceived, but Eve, and that the latter fell into transgression. Instead of being a helper to man, it has been Satan’s instrument to deceive him and cause him to disobey.
The following verses have been compiled for your edification and grouped together for your better understanding.
Pray for all:
- Intercession, examples
Moses on behalf of Israel Ex 32:32 Now forgive their sin! If not, delete me from your book you wrote.
Moses on behalf of Miriam Nb 12:13 Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, O God, I beg you, heal her!
Samuel in favor of Israel 1 Sam 7:5 Samuel said, Assemble all Israel in Mitzpa, and I will pray to the Lord for you. And they assembled in Mitspa.
-A man of God in favor of Jeroboam 1 Kings 13:6 Then the king spoke, and said to the man of God: Implore Jehovah, your God, and pray for me, that I may withdraw my hand. The man of God implored Jehovah, and the king was able to withdraw his hand, which was as before.
David in favor of Israel 1 Ch 21:17 And David said to God, “Was it not I who ordered the enumeration of the people?” It is I who have sinned and done evil; but these sheep, what did they do? Eternal, my God, may your hand be upon me and on my father’s house, and let it not make a wound among your people!
Hezekiah on behalf of the people 2 Ch 30:20 Jehovah answered Hezekiah, and he forgave the people.
-Other examples Jb 42:10 Jehovah restored Job to his first state, when Job had prayed for his friends; and Jehovah granted him double all that he had possessed. Ps 106:23 And he spoke of exterminating them; But Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to deflect his fury and prevent him from destroying them. Eph 1:16 I never cease to give thanks for you, mentioning you in my prayers,
- The universality of the divine call
Isaiah 55:1 All of you who are thirsty, come to the waters, even he who has no money! Come, buy and eat, Come, buy wine and milk, without money, without paying anything! Mt 22:9 Go to the crossroads, then, and call for the wedding all those you find. John 7:37 On the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus, standing up, cried out: If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me, and drink. Rev 22:17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him who hears say: Come. And let him who thirst come; that he who wills, take water from life, free of charge.
- One God
Dt 4:35 You have witnessed these things, that you may recognize that Jehovah is God, that there is no other. Ps 83:19 Let them know that you alone, whose name is the Lord, are the Most High on all the earth! Mk 12:29 Jesus answered: Behold, behold, Behold, Israel, the Lord, our God, is the one Lord; Eph 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and among all, and in all.
- Jesus, the only Savior
-the gift of love Jn 3:16 For God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him would not perish, but have eternal life.
-he is the only one who holds the message of salvation John 6:68 Simon Peter replied to him: Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.
Rejecting it leads to death Jn 8:24 That is why I told you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe what I am, you will die in your sins.
-his name is the only name that can save us Acts 4:12 There is no salvation in any other; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we were to be saved.
-his death and sacrifice are the central theme of preaching 1 Cor 2:2 For I have not had the thought of knowing among you anything other than Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ crucified.
All hope of eternal life is based on him 1 Cor 3:11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one that has been laid, namely Jesus Christ.
From all of the above, we note that the woman (not believing women) will be saved by giving birth. There is salvation for her, although she bears, in the work and pains of childbirth, a perpetual consequence of her fault. But the pains of childbirth are not a pronounced judgment on the life of the woman. Because en bringing a child into the world, this life, far from being condemned, is rather preserved. But there are positive promises for Christian women (hence this word: “if they persevere”), a life of perseverance in the faith that avails itself of God’s promises; in the love that is the very character of God shown in our practical life; finally in holiness, which is the separation for God from any mixture with the character of the world; a life with the precious characters of modesty depicted in this passage is a guarantee given by God himself that the Christian woman will be preserved in the midst of the dangers of childbirth. However, let us not forget that if Christian women do not persevere in these things, there may be a discipline towards them that deprives them of the advantages that God grants them in view of the dangers of childbirth. Our prayers support you all in your efforts to persevere.
PRAYER OF ACCEPTANCE OF JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND PERSONAL SAVIOR
I now invite every person who wants to become a new creation by walking in the truth, to pray with me the following prayer:
Lord Jesus, I have long walked in the lusts of the world ignoring your love for humans. I admit to having sinned against you and ask your forgiveness for all my sins, because today I have decided to give you my life by taking you as Lord and personal Savior. I recognize that you died on the cross of Calvary and rose from the dead for me.
I am now saved and born again by the power of the Holy Spirit. Lead me every day to the eternal life that you give to all who obey your Word. Reveal yourself to me and strengthen my heart and faith, so that your light may shine in my life right now.
Thank you, Lord Jesus for accepting me into your divine family, so that I may also contemplate the wonders of your kingdom.
I will now choose a nearby waterhole to baptize myself by immersion, in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
All adoration, power and glory are yours, now and forever and ever. Amen!
I would be happy to respond to any questions and comments you may have, before sharing with you tomorrow “the duties of bishops and deacons.”
May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you abundantly.
David Feze, Servant of the Almighty God.