If you would, please stand as we say together our memory Scripture for this quarter:
Matthew 6:31-33
“Do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
And our memory refresher Scripture is …
Matthew 22:37-40
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
“And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Please open your Bibles to Acts 18:18-28
Have you ever thought about the amazing changes that took place when Jesus the Messiah came to bring salvation and the kingdom of God?
Huge changes in society and huge changes in the way we worship and huge changes in how we come to God. We will be taking a look at a few of those changes today leading to why we believe that it is Biblically sound for women to be pastors and teachers in the church today.
Now, please join me as we take a look at Acts 18:18-28
I don’t know if you noticed something unusual in that passage, did you? Well, there is something unusual in there and if you did not see it right away we’ll get to it in a few minutes.
Just what are some of the huge changes that Jesus introduced?
Changes in marriage and husband/wife relationships and in the value of women in society
Changes in the relationship between Jews and gentiles
Changes from temple worship to church worship
In marriage it was much like it is now. Someone just gets tired of the marriage and there is an easy out; it’s called no-fault divorce.
It’s a little more complicated today than it was in Jesus’ day. All they had to do was write a note to their wife and it was over, you’re out, hit the road lady!
Why was that even possible?
Because it was a totally male dominated, patriarchal society and because, as Jesus said, they were hard hearted.
All property passed down through the male lineage.
Rarely do you find any mention of daughters in any lineage.
Women were disposable! Want proof?
Two angels come to Sodom in the form of men to rescue Lot from the city before it was destroyed by the Lord. At night time the men of the city gather at Lot’s house and demand that he throw out the two men so they can be sexually assaulted by the mob. What does Lot do? He offers to send out his two virgin daughters to be abused!
Visitors were honored. Daughters were expendable.
Now, not all men in Israel were like that but it was certainly acceptable in that society.
Here comes Jesus and the apostles in the New Testament into the picture redefining marriage as one man and one woman for life and giving value to women!
Husband, LOVE YOUR WIFE!
Wife, RESPECT YOUR HUSBAND.
And … get this … SUBMIT TO ONE ANOTHER OUT OF REVERENCE FOR CHRIST!
Talk about a change! That’s HUGE!
Some people say that Christianity is a sexist religion. The teachings of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament tell a different story when you compare them to the culture that was in place in Jesus’ time and in the centuries prior to His arrival.
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What about the change between Jews and gentiles?
Jews considered gentiles, non-Hebrews, to be dogs, even lower than women!
If a Jew entered the home of a gentile or touched a gentile they would have to go through a ceremonial cleansing ritual before they could enter the temple or participate in a holy feast day.
As an example, why do you think Jesus’ trial before Pilate was held in an outer court instead of in some room of the palace?
John 18:28 says,
“Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover.”
How else do we know about the way Jews felt about gentiles?
Jews did not talk to Samaritans; they considered them to be half-breeds.
Then here comes Jesus. He talks to a Samaritan woman.
Do you get that? She’s not only a Samaritan but a woman as well!
Jesus heals the daughter of a Canaanite woman and He heals the servant of a Roman Centurion!
And then in Acts 10:9-48 we see Peter up on the roof of the house where he is staying and the Holy Spirit gives him a vision of a sheet coming down from heaven with ceremonial clean and unclean animals and telling him that he can kill and eat any of them.
As this vision works out it is the Lord preparing Peter to go to the home of a gentile to share the gospel with him and his family and his close friends and they would also receive the Holy Spirit as a gift from the Lord! Do you see that? Peter actually goes INTO the gentile’s home and shares the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Wow! I don’t think we can fully understand the disgust the Jews had for the gentiles but here is Jesus talking to them, healing them and the giving the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ to them!
So far we’ve got …
Changes in the status of women, in marriage and in husband/wife relationships
Changes in the relationship between Jews and gentiles
But what about changes from temple worship to church worship?
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First of all the whole sacrificial system is changed. Instead of bringing an imperfect sacrifice for certain sins and annual and an imperfect sacrifices for the sins of the nation Jesus the perfect sacrifice is given once and for all for the sins of the world!
Thank you Jesus!
Secondly, in the Jewish way of worship there were Levite priests, Chief Priests from the line of Aaron, one High Priest, scribes, Pharisees and Sadducees and teachers of the Law.
But today, Jesus is the one and only Priest, He is the High Priest on the order of Melchizedek. Then as far as humans go, there are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. The position of priests in the church does not even exist as it is totally absent from the New Testament texts. No more priests other than Christ Himself and the priesthood of believers.
The Law given to Moses is not replaced but was fulfilled by the over-arching two great commandments as defined by Jesus Himself in Matthew 22:37-40.
And, the Holy Spirit no longer rests upon people from time to time but He now comes to indwell believers; He takes residence in our hearts to strengthen, guide and encourage us. Praise The Lord!!!
So, three of the major changes that Jesus and the writers of the New Testament introduce are …
1) Changes in marriage and husband/wife relationships and the status of women in society
2) Changes in the relationship between Jews and gentiles
3) And changes from temple worship to church worship
So, where does that leave us and why did we read Acts 18:18-28 earlier?
In all of the Old Testament and in all of the Judaism as we see it in the New Testament there is not one woman who is a priest, a rabbi, a Pharisee, a scribe, an expert in the Law, a Sadducee or even a teacher. But here in Acts chapter 18 we see Priscilla being the lead teacher in a husband and wife team teaching a notable evangelist!
If women are prohibited from teaching men we need to know how can that be?
Now here is something we need to think about in this discussion with those who disagree with our stance on this subject …
Even though we try to know and understand the Holy Scriptures and even though others try to know and understand the Holy Scriptures there are still areas of sincere disagreement.
In this we need to show grace when confronted, as always.
One of the areas of disagreement is whether women should be pastors in the church.
In the past Pastor Karenlee and I have attended seminars put on by the International Association of Biblical Counselors and the teaching in Biblical counseling was excellent.
However, when it came to the subject of women in the pulpit, women pastors or women teaching or instructing men in spiritual matters it was a great, big, resounding, “NO!!!!!”
For example, one time I chose to attend a session with Pastor Karenlee that was being taught by a woman who had at least one master’s degree in counseling. It seemed to frighten her to think that she might be teaching a man without having a supervising male pastor sitting on the platform to give her the authority to do so.
Her knowledge in that area of expertise exceeded mine by at least a thousand to one, so, why shouldn’t she teach me? Because, 1 Corinthians 14:34 says, “Women should remain silent in the church.” And 1 Timothy 2:12 says, “I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet.”
And that is interpreted as women cannot teach, preach, pray for or otherwise instruct a man in church.
So, if that is true, why does The Church of The Nazarene ordain women pastors and elders? Why does The Church of The Nazarene allow women to teach groups where men are present?
Let’s just take a brief look at these two Scriptures …..
The first thing we need to know about these is that in both cases Paul is writing about problems that are in specific churches and these passages are written to correct those problems.
In 1 Corinthians 14:15 you have wives who are asking questions in the worship service and disrupting the worship service. So Paul advises these women to ask the questions to their own husbands when they get home. What Paul is saying is, “Don’t turn the service into a question and answer session.”
This is evidenced in verse 15 where Paul instructs these women that, “If they want to inquire about something, they should ask their own husbands at home.”
This is a correction of a problem that was already in existence in the church of Corinth.
It is not a banning of women from speaking in worship in general.
Nor is it a command that they should always be silent in worship.
If you look at 1 Corinthians 11 you can see that there was an issue going on about whether a man or a woman should have their head covered or uncovered when praying or prophesying during worship.
Paul says, “Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head - it is the same as having her head shaved.” - 1 Corinthians 11:5
Here Paul is speaking that women can very well pray and prophesy in church but it must be done in the proper way!
Simply put, what is prayer and prophesy?
Prayer is speaking to God and prophesy is speaking for God.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11 that women can do both when properly attired and with the gifting of the Holy Spirit.
In 1 Timothy 2 we see a different set of problems. 1 Timothy is one of the “Pastoral Letters” and it is being written to Timothy to help him with problems he is facing in the church in Ephesus.
The culture in Ephesus was very different from the culture in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem women were forbidden to be educated. In the Greco Roman culture of Ephesus many of the wealthy women were well educated. And, many of these wealthy women had come out of pagan temple worship where they had been able to speak and be heard. So, when they came to be in the church of Christ they expected to be able to do the same.
In that culture, wealth brought along with it the right to be noticed and to be heard.
So, in 1 Timothy 2:8-15 we see these problems being addressed:
1) Men are praying but they are doing so with angry, complaining, disputing hearts
2) Women are flaunting their wealth; they are seeking glory for themselves instead of seeking to glorify the Lord
3) Women are trying to speak before learning what Christianity is all about, and,
4) Women are trying to usurp authority of a male elder who is already in place in the church
So, how do we know that Paul is addressing problems in these churches and NOT making overarching statements against women in ministry?
Let’s look at one final passage.
In Acts 2 Peter is quoting a prophecy from the Prophet Joel made hundreds of years before the arrival of the Holy Spirit to dwell in the hearts of men and women.
Acts 2:17-18 states,
“In the last days, God says, I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Your sons and DAUGHTERS will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on My servants, both men and WOMEN, I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they will PROPHESY.”
(capitals added for emphasis as I would usually use italics and not to “shout”)
Are these passages in conflict? Is there a contradiction in the Scriptures? No way!
Peter, quoting Joel, is making an over arching statement about how things will be in the last days and Paul is addressing specific problems in certain churches.
We ARE in the last days. The last days began when the Lord poured out His Spirit on ALL people.
It is clear in Acts 2 and elsewhere that women will prophecy.
There is absolutely no mention that the women will prophecy only to other women or only to children.
There is much more to say about this subject but that will need to wait until next week when we will look from cover to cover to find evidence of the Lord using who He wants, when He wants, to fulfill His purposes whether they are men or women.
Final comments and prayer.
