EXPECTATIONS IN GOD'S FAMILY.

                   1 Tim 2:1-3:16.

a.    Believers who accept their responsibility to pray; 2:1-7

1. Because they are priests 1 Pet 2:5 you also as living stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore also it is contained in the Scripture: "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner Stone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him shall never be ashamed." 7 Therefore to you who believe is the honour. But to those who are disobedient, He is the Stone which the builders rejected; this One came to be the Head of the corner, 8 and a Stone-of-stumbling and a Rock-of-offense to those disobeying, who stumble at the Word, to which they also were appointed. 9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for possession, so that you might speak of the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.

-           To worship with spiritual sacrifices

-           To serve in witness and teaching

-           To intercede for others.

2. Because they are the "friend “in the middle - Luke 11:5 And He said to them, which of you shall have a friend and shall go to him at midnight and say to him, Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has come from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him? 7 And he answering from inside may say, do not trouble me. The door is now shut and my children are in bed with me. I cannot rise and give to you. 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will arise and give him as many as he needs. 9 And I say to you, Ask and it shall be given you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives. And he who seeks finds. And to him who knocks it shall be opened.

3. Because they understand God's purpose - 2:2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour, 4 who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For God is one, and there is one Mediator of God and of men, the Man Christ Jesus,

•           That believers should live securely for God.

•           With freedom to serve God- so they pray for all men, rulers and all in authority.

•           That God desires all men be saved.

Romans 10:13 for everyone, "whoever shall call on the name of the Lord will be saved." 14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without preaching? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things!" 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, "Lord, who has believed our report?" 17 Then faith is of hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. 18 But I say, have they not heard? Yes indeed, their voice went out into all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

b.         Believers who submit to God’s order 1 Timothy 2:8-11

Note Romans 5:19.  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Adam's sin was disobedience - Christ's victory was in obedience.

•           By natural birth, all men are "children of disobedience" Eph 2:1-3.

•           By spiritual birth, believers show the "obedience of faith" Rom 1:5

The Gospel is for ALL; there is no difference.

-           All have sinned

-           All may call and believe

-           All may be saved

In Christ, ALL are equal.  Gal 3:25-28. ALL are loved, blessed and kept.

BUT - GOD HAS DECLARED HIS WILL AND ORDER

- WITHIN THE CHURCH 1 Tim 2:18-15

- WITHIN THE FAMILY Eph. 5:21-31; 1 Pet 3:1-7

Sin didn’t create manhood and womanhood. God did. And sin did not bring diversified, complementary roles into existence. God did. Before sin ever entered the world, God ordained and fitted Adam to be a loving, caring, strong leader for his wife Eve. And before sin entered the world, God ordained and fitted Eve to be a partner who supports and honours that leadership and helps carry it through. Both in the image of God. Both equal in their God-like personhood. But also different in their manhood and womanhood. The pattern was beautiful. They respected each other and served each other and complemented each other and enjoyed each other.

•           Headship is the divine calling of a husband to take primary responsibility for Christ-like servant leadership, protection, and provision in the home.

•           Submission is the divine calling of a wife to honour and affirm her husband’s leadership and help carry it through according to her gifts.

•           What sin did was ruin this harmony. Sin made men abandon servant-leadership and become passive or harsh and insensitive and uncaring, or some other distortion of biblical headship. And sin distorted the woman’s support and honour into manipulation or defiance or helplessness or some other distortion of true biblical submission.

•           When a husband leads like Christ and a wife responds like the bride of Christ, there is a harmony and mutuality that is more beautiful and more satisfying and more fruitful than any pattern of marriage created by man.

•           God loves his people and he loves his glory. And therefore when we follow his idea of marriage, we are most satisfied and he is most glorified.

•           The silence Paul uses here is for a woman to respect the man’s authority. The point is not whether a woman says nothing, but whether she is submissive and whether she supports the authority of the men God has called to oversee the church. Quietness means not speaking in a way that compromises that authority.

•           There is an example in 2 Timothy 3:14 where Paul tells Timothy to remember from whom he learned the Scriptures. And the persons he has in mind (we can tell from 2 Timothy 1:5) are Eunice and Lois, Timothy’s mother and grandmother. (His father was not a believer or even a Jew (Acts 16:1-3).

•           One other example is Priscilla. It says in Acts 18:24-26, “When Priscilla and Aquila heard Apollos, they took him and expounded to him the way of God more accurately.”

“Authority” refers to the divine calling of spiritual, gifted men to take primary responsibility as elders for Christ-like servant-leadership and teaching in the church.

“Submission” refers to the divine calling of the rest of the church, both men and women, to honour and affirm the leadership of the elders and to be equipped by it for the hundreds and hundreds of various ministries available to men and women in the service of Christ.

And that last point is very important. For men and women who have a heart to minister — to save souls and heal broken lives and resist evil and meet needs — there are fields of opportunity that are simply endless. God intends for the entire church to be mobilized in ministry, male and female. Nobody is to be at home watching soaps and reruns while the world burns. And God intends to equip and mobilize the saints through a company of spiritual men and women who take primary responsibility for leadership and teaching in the church.

Does God expect the man to do it all – What God expects man to do is to take his place of authority – and this is not one of control but one of lifting the people up to be equipped and prepared for a life of ministry – and that is something we will look at later in the year.