244-FOR MEN ONLY
March 25, 1962
Henry F. Kulp
I Timothy 2: 9 -15 In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, 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 woman 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.
Here, Paul deals with women in the assembly, and first of all, he talks about her dress— how she should dress, and he puts two restrictions upon women in the assembly—first of all she is not to teach the Bible to men. Secondly, she is not to usurp authority over man.
1/ The first reason is given to us in the 13th verse For, Adam was first formed, then Eve.
It is a matter of why God created Adam and Eve—created man and women. Man was created first as the protose, the file leader—the leader of the regiment. Man is to have the head place.
Notice, Genesis 2: 18 And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
God says that it is not good that a man should be alone—I will make him a help-meet— that means an assistant. Woman’s place in life is to make up what is lacking in man, and woman should not be disturbed by this position, because that is the place God has given her, and this is the place where she is happy.
2/ Then notice the second reason why God says the woman is not to teach man the Bible nor usurp authority over him. Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived. Now, on the face of this seems to be contrary to fact. Was not Adam deceived? The Bible says not. He sinned with his eyes open. Satan tempted Eve directly, but he did not tempt Adam directly. As we said, Adam sinned with his eyes wide open. Adam knew what he was doing, but Eve did not. She was deceived. She believed what the devil told her. The devil in the form of a serpent said to Eve, if you eat of the fruit, you will be wise. You will be like God, you will be God. You will know all things, and as you know, she believed the devil. Adam didn’t believe the devil, he knew better. Adam knew it was a lie—she was deceived. She took the fruit and gave the fruit to Adam, and Adam took the fruit from her hand, and he knew what he was doing. He knew he was sinning against God, his eyes were wide open. Of course, Adam was guilty, but he did it to save Eve.
Romans 5: 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
3/ So Adam gave himself that his wife might be saved and because of this, God put woman in the place of subjection.
4/ But remember woman does have a ministry. It is not in the open meeting, the assembly. It is not in teaching the Bible to men, or usurping authority over men, but the woman has a wonderful opportunity in private conversation.
Let us illustrate what I mean by this by looking at Acts 18: 24 - 26 And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.
5/ It is noteworthy to see that Apollos received his advanced theological training, not at a seminary, nor from any of the great leaders of the day, but from two humble tent- makers. One a woman. This is amazing. This shows how God can use women.
6/ Nor, is this the last we hear of this service of this Godly couple for Christ.
I Corinthians 16: 19 The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.
7/ The kind of teacher Paul had in mind in this portion of Scripture is spoken of in Ephesians 4: 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
These positions are to be filled by men, there is a restriction upon women holding these positions. This does not down-grade the women—that does not make her be insignificant, but God has a place for her in His program, and her place is not holding offices.
8/ You will notice it was because Eve deserted her position that women are put in this position. That is the second reason. You say, that is unfair---what happened to Eve should not have any bearing on us, but it does.
For notice, Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man, sin entered into the world.
We are sinners today, and sin has been passed down to us because of Adam, and we die because of Adam’s sin. You say, it’s not fair. God didn’t ask you—this is the way God has worked it out, in Adam all have sinned, and in Adam all die.
First notice, I Corinthians 15: 21 For since by one man came death. And the 22nd verse, In Adam all die.
Man may not like this position, but it is true, and rebellion against it doesn’t make it any better. The same is true of the woman, she may rebel and say, I don’t have to suffer because Eve degraded her position, but she does, and God says it is so—and the only sensible thing to do is to accept God’s position and be the person God wants you to be, and obey His Word, and then He can prosper you.
9/ I Timothy 2: 15 Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.
That has nothing whatsoever to do with a woman who has a child being saved—but, rather, she is saved through the coming of the Seed of the woman. The Seed is the Lord Jesus Christ, who has provided salvation.
10/ Then notice in I Timothy 3: 1 This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.
The word, bishop, is the word overseer. There is no authority in the New Testament for what we know as a bishop in this day...man who holds a high office in the church and wears a specially constructed “robe.” That is simply not in the Bible. The word bishop simple means one who is an overseer—one who is willing to take charge in the affairs of the assembly. To understand, first of all, I think we would have to recognize that the teaching of the clergy today of the hierachy in the church is something that God hates.
11/ Let us show you something about what is known as the clergy, or the hierarchy of the church. In Revelations, chapters 2 and 3 we have seven churches mentioned—the third one is the church of Pergamos—and notice Revelations 2: 15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate.
In this church there are two outstanding doctrines. The doctrine of Baalim, and the doctrine of Nicolaitanes. The doctrine of Baalim is the doctrine of tolerance. Baalim encouraged Israel to mingle with the Gentiles nations about them thereby causing this nation to lose their separated position. Nicolaitism, means ruler over the people. So we have here the clergy, and they set themselves aside from the laity. And I want you to notice, God hates this thing. God hates this thought.
If you go over to Revelations 2: 6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.
12/ Now let us notice the kind of man a bishop or an overseer in the assembly ought to be. Verse 2 A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach;
This description means that this man is a man of high moral life, and it is a description that is hard to fill.
13/ First of all you will notice it is something to be desired. This word does not mean just a passive waiting for, but an act of reaching for—an eager coveting. First of all, this man is to be blameless. That means without reproach. The bishop, or the overseer, must be of such spotless character that no one can point an accusing finger at him. Of course, people will always accuse the overseer, but when they make the accusation, it means that they will not be able to make it stick. People will accuse you of a thousand and one things. Any man who makes a stand for God will have people make accusations against him. But these accusations, if they are true, are proven true—he is not fit to be an overseer. But, of course, you just can’t listen to gossip—they must be substantiated facts.
14/ The husband of one wife. And now we come to something that has caused much confusion and much hardship in the church. What does it mean? The husband of one wife? Some say, it means he must not have more than one wife at a time. Others say, if his wife dies, he must not marry again, he must stay unmarried. Then others say, it means that someone who is unmarried cannot, possibly, be an overseer of the assembly, and of course, this is not true. The literal translation is this—A MAN OF ONE WOMAN and we could translate it this way—A ONE-WIFE SORT OF HUSBAND.
We speak of the German Sheppard dog, as a one-man dog. I have a dog, we call his name Apache. He is a German Sheppard—some call him a police dog, and we have folks say, he is a one-man dog—you better watch him, and we have folks say you better take care of him—he only takes to one person in the family—he picks one person out and makes that one person his sole master. That is exactly what is meant here—it is a man who has just one woman as his wife. What does all this mean? First of all, it doesn’t mean one who is unmarried cannot be a bishop or an overseer. What we must remember is back in the days when Paul was writing, these people came right out of paganism, sexual sin ran rampant. All one has to do is read the New Testament, and know at that time sexuality, evil sexuality was everywhere. It is a prohibition against polygamy. If they had a man come into the church, he was saved, and while he lived in heathenism, he had more than one wife, he was not permitted to be a bishop or overseer. And also, I believe it means that if a man was not strictly faithful to his wife, he was to be disbarred from being an overseer, being a bishop.
15/ He was to be vigilant—that means, discreet. He is to be sober, meaning, serious, or in earnest. Then he was to be of good behavior, a bishop, or overseer must not only talk well, but he must walk well. A bishop is one who practices what he preaches. Given to hospitality. The word, hospitality means, being kind to strangers. It means to welcome strangers into your home. A home that is open where folks are welcome.
16/ Apt to teach. This overseer must be a teacher—apt to teach means, not merely given to teaching, but one that is able and skilled at teaching. Then he is not to be given to wine—that means not sitting over wine, not becoming quarrelsome over
it. He is not to be a striker. The idea is here of a violent man—one who is pugnacious either with hand or tongue. Some people’s tongue can be a deadly weapon—it can be devastating. How many people can be real vicious with their tongues. An overseer must be one who is careful how he uses his tongue.
Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.
Money is not evil in itself. Many men who had money have been godly men. Abraham of the Old Testament was a rich man who was a godly man.
There is a problem when men preach just to make a living—just for the money. Then it becomes filthy lucre. It is a ministry that the Lord can no longer bless.
Motives are so important. Make sure your motives are pure in all that you do, especially in the pulpit.
AMEN
Ref: 03/25/1962 / 244 - FOR MEN ONLY / 05/13/2021
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