A soldier is known by his discipline, his armor, and his weapons so the Christian soldier must be disciplined, have his armor on and know how to use his weapons, EPH 6:10-17.
God’s strategy is found in the divine power and the divine assets which He has prepared for us in eternity past.
There are many believers who will sit through the Bible course but will not metabolize the lesson, or if they do, they will fail to apply it at the appropriate time.
2TI 2:4 No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him.
There is a difference between “involvement in world affairs” and “entanglement in the world.”
There is nothing wrong with the affairs of the world -- as long as they do not “entangle” us -- and once they do that – they must be cast aside…
We need to have this “discipline” because there is a Kingdom of Darkness and the only objective the devil and his demons have - is to stop us from going forward in the PPOG.
PMA of BD [Perception, Metabolization & Application of Bible Doctrine] and MYOB of KOD
EPH 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.
EPH 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
EPH 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
EPH 6:13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
EPH 6:14 Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
EPH 6:15 and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace;
EPH 6:16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.
EPH 6:17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
EPH 6:18 With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints,
The Most Powerful Weapon In All Of The Universe Is Effective Prayer!
The key to serving “effectively” - in this battle - is “discipline”.
Throughout the bible we are commanded to rise above the attacks - and execute God’s plan.
BD gives us the ability to concentrate under pressure.…
The spiritual Christian soldier does not simply do the minimum but he serves the Lord with everything he has.
The importance of things can be measured by how much time you’re willing to invest in those things....
The soldier must discipline to train – to do the same thing over and over again…
For the Christian soldier the difference between fear and courage is the ability to think and concentrate under pressure.
The Christian soldier must have discipline and humility to know where their place is in the body of Christ.
HOS 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…
Lack of knowledge will lead to our destruction. (HOS 4:6)
Discipline - leads to capacity for success in life.
- The principle of objective = plan.
- The principle of offensive = victory.
- The principle of mass = power.
4.The principle of economy of force = execution.
- The principle of movement = momentum.
- The principle of surprise = attack.
- The principle of security = support.
- The principle of simplicity = accuracy.
- The principle of cooperation = teamwork.
Allow His Spirit to guide us, we will share in His victory because failure is NOT an option!
The Doctrine of the Christian Soldier.
We begin with a Description and Definition of the Christian Soldier.
The first book dedicated to the early Church and the new dispensation called the Church-age begins in ACT 1:1 The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach,
ACT 1:2 until the day when He was taken up, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen.
ACT 1:3 To these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over {a period of} forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.
ACT 1:4 And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," {He said,} "you heard of from Me;
ACT 1:5 for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. "
ACT 1:6 And so when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?"
ACT 1:7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;
Next we have *** The first challenge given to all Church-age believers; ACT 1:8 but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth. "
ACT 1:9 And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
ACT 1:10 And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them;
They should have recalled HEB 12:1 the great a cloud of witnesses surrounding them in HEB 11, God’s hall of fame recorded for them in their Torah.
So in ACT 1:11 and they also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."
As 1TH 4:16 says For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
TH 4:17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.
Now, back In verses 12-14, we have the name of certain believers, both men and women and we read beginning in verse 14 that they had one mind and devotion.
ACT 1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away.
ACT 1:13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying; that is (and then we have the names of the 11 disciples who will become Apostles), Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James {the son} of Alphaeus, and Simon the Zealot, and Judas {the son} of James.
In ACT 1:14 These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with {the} women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
ACT 1:15 And at this time Peter stood up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty persons was there together), and said,
ACT 1:16 "Brethren, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus.
ACT 1:17 "For he was counted among us, and received his portion or his place in this ministry."
ACT 1:18 (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness [Thst is the 30 pieces of silver]; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.
By the way, Zechariah the prophet prophesied about this passage when he wrote in ZEC 11:12 they weighed out thirty shekels of silver as their wages against the Lord.
ACT 1:19 And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
ACT 1:20 "For it is written in the book of Psalms, “His office let another man take.”
And then Peter makes an asinine statement when he says in ACT 1:21 "It is therefore necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us—
ACT 1:22 beginning with the baptism of John, until the day that He was taken up from us‑‑ one of these should become a witness with us of His resurrection. "
Now, here is where that statement you have probably heard from this pulpit many times before and that is that “Peter was sincere but he was sincerely wrong.”
So in ACT 1:23 And they [all of them probably agreeing with Peter who has emerged as their leader] put forward two men, Joseph called Sabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias.
The problem here is that *** These apostles did not know the function of the Trinity and the purpose of the spiritual gifts.
They had not yet been taught about them because the one apostle that God would replace Judas with, the apostle Paul, had not yet been revealed to them.
They should have waited upon the timing of God and not try to force the issue.
Just like we do many times as well.
We all need to learn to wait upon the timing of God.
In fact, let me show you what they would have learned about the spiritual gift of Apostleship.
First of all, in EPH 4:1, the Apostle Paul writes I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,
EPH 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love,
EPH 4:3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
EPH 4:4 {There is} one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;
EPH 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
EPH 4:6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
EPH 4:7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift.
EPH 4:8 Therefore it says, When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men.
EPH 4:9 "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth?
This means that…..
The Lord appeared to three different geographical locations:
- Planet earth.
- He descended under the earth when He went to Hades
- He ascended as a member of the human race above the earth when He ascended into Heaven.
In EPH 4:10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
EPH 4:11 And He gave some {as} apostles, and some {as} prophets, and some {as} evangelists, and some {as} pastors and teachers,
And then the reason our Lord did this in EPH 4:12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
EPH 4:13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ.
Notice that *** The Lord is the one who appoints the apostles not the other eleven apostles.
Now, When EPH 4:11 says that “He gave,” it is an aorist active indicative of the verb didomi meaning to give which is a culminative aorist tense which views the giving of spiritual gifts for the purpose of leading the believer to spiritual maturity in its entirety, but it emphasises the existing results.
Culminative means to reach a climax or point of time of the highest development.
It views the results of why our Lord left behind communicators of His Word which is so that believers could reach the different stage of spiritual adulthood.
In other words, *** The aorist tense means that the Lord provided the first generation of the communicational gifts such as the Apostles and Prophets.
The Apostles, who are no longer needed because they are the foundation of the Church and that is why we believe that the apostle Paul replaced Judas Iscariot not the choice of the other eleven who chose Matthias.
How do we know that?
Because of two passages that the Bible says; 1Co 15:7-10; cf with Rev 21:14.
For example, in *** 1CO 15:9-10a, For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am,
Then we are told in Rev 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them {were} the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
So, you choose.
Do you think that the twelve includes Matthias or Paul?
So, The first temporary gift is apostleship and there are only 12 men who have ever had this spiritual gift in the Church-age.
Remember *** Some of the qualifications of the apostles is that they had to personally see the resurrected Lord so the apostle Paul wrote in 1CO 9:1 Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord?
The apostles also had to have at least one of the miraculous gifts; 2CO 12:12 The signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance, by signs and wonders and miracles.
And so the 11 disciples all got together under the leadership of Peter and the first thing they did was one of the dumbest things they could ever do!
They tried to elect a 12th apostle.
And The Church-age had not yet even begun and in EPH 4:7-9, when the Church-age began, the Lord Jesus Christ would appoint the apostle.
One thing you can count on, *** There is no such thing as electing a spiritual gift.
Matthias was not an apostle and Peter’s idea was ridiculous to try to vote a man into apostleship.
And this is why you never hear from Matthias again even in the Gospels when that names of the twelve apostles are given.
Now, the question emerges: *** Were there any other apostles or men called apostles besides Paul and the 11?
The answer is yes!
But *** They were others who had delegated authority from the apostles or who were sent on apostolic missions and exercised apostolic authority [apostolic means “sent out ones.”
There were others who had delegated authority or who were sent on apostolic missions or who exercised apostolic authority but they did not have the spiritual gift of apostleship but were sent out by one.
*** Like Barnabas in Act 14:14, But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out.
*** Like James, the Lord’s 12 brother from Joseph in Gal 1:9; But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord's brother.
*** Like Apollos in 1CO 3:22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you,
*** Like Silvanus and Timothy in 1Th 1:1, 1TH 2:6.
1Th 1:1 Paul and Silvanus and Timothy to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace.
Then Paul writes in *** 1TH 2:6 nor did we [Paul, Silvanus, Timothy] seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ [note the plural] we might have asserted our authority.
Now, You can elect a lot of things in the local assembly but never a spiritual gift.
The second group mentioned are the prophets who taught the Word of God and discerned whether the individual who was speaking was speaking the Word of God.
These two gifts are no longer needed because we now have the written word or the completed canon of Scripture and we now go to the Word of God and don’t need a prophet to tell us what is right and what is wrong.
So that *** We now have need for the next two communicational gifts;
- The evangelist who is given for the unbeliever.
- The Pastor-teachers who have been provided for the believer.
Do not get confused between the office of the evangelist and the work of an evangelist.
First we have 1. The Spiritual gift of the Evangelist which means literally " a messenger of God. "
An evangelist is one who announces good news not bad news.
He proclaims the death, burial and resurrection of Christ as in 1Co 15:1-4.
1Co 15:1 Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand,
1CO 15:2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain.
1CO 15:3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
1CO 15:4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures
He tells of God's grace to sinners in ACT 20:24.
EPH 4:11 indicates that those with this gift should also train others to evangelize.
Now, All believers are commanded to do the work of an evangelist in 2Ti 4:5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
This particular gift serves as God's gift to the unbelievers.
In fact, Act 21:8 identifies Philip as an evangelist Act 21:8 And on the next day we departed and came to Caesarea; and entering the house of Philip the evangelist, who was one of the seven, we stayed with him.
The evangelist teaches 2Co 5:14-6:2 and teaches others from that passage.
And although you are familiar with it, let’s eye gate and ear gate it again which means to see it and hear it.
2Co 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;
2CO 5:15 and He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
2CO 5:16 Therefore from now on we recognize no man according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know {Him} {thus} no longer.
2CO 5:17 Therefore if any man is in Christ, {he is} a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
2CO 5:18 Now all {these} things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation,
2CO 5:19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
2CO 5:20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
2CO 5:21 He made Him who knew no sin {to be} sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
And then remember there are no chapter breaks in the original language and so the subject continues in 2CO 6:1 And working together {with Him,} we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain‑‑
2CO 6:2 for He says, At the acceptable time I listened to you, And on the day of salvation I helped you; behold, now is "the acceptable time," behold, now is" the day of salvation "‑‑
Now finally there are the Pastor-teachers who are the gift to the believer.
The Evangelist is the gift for the unbeliever, the pastor-teacher is for the believer.
Pastor-teachers are to communicate doctrine so that as you respond and receive that doctrine you can reach spiritual adulthood; SSE – SA – SM.
Spiritual self-esteem is found in GAL 4:19 My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you‑‑
Spiritual Autonomy or Independence is found in EPH 3:14-19, For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father,
EPH 3:15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
EPH 3:16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man;
EPH 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
EPH 3:18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth,
EPH 3:19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God.
Spiritual maturity is found in PHI 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
The ultimate objective for the believer is to glorify the Lord by reaching the super-grace life or spiritual maturity.
The active voice of the verb didomi, which means to give, is that Jesus Christ initially gave a certain number of communication gifts which are to be produced today and continue right down to the present time.
The indicative mood is declarative representing the verbal idea from the viewpoint of reality which means that there are those who have the communication gift, that on which you depend for reaching super-grace.
No one has ever reached spiritual adulthood or super-grace on his own.
You cannot read the Bible and grow up on your own!
It has to be taught to you says Eph 4:12.
And When it says that He gave “some,” it is in the masculine not the feminine or neuter which would means no females no males and females but males only.
In fact, look at 1TI 2:5 For there is one God, {and} one mediator also between God and men, {the} man Christ Jesus,
1TI 2:6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony {borne} at the proper time.
1TI 2:7 And for this I [Paul] was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
1TI 2:8 Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.
1Ti 2:9 Likewise, {I want} women to adorn themselves [make-up themselves] with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments;
1TI 2:10 but rather by means of good works, as befits women making a claim to godliness.
1TI 2:11 Let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.
1TI 2:12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.
Make sure you understand that *** This refers to the authority of the office of the pastor or teacher not to a woman teaching others.
1TI 2:13 For it was Adam who was first created, {and} then Eve.
1TI 2:14 And {it was} not Adam {who} was deceived, but the woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression.
1TI 2:15 But {women} shall be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self‑restraint.
Now, notice some important principles concerning this passage……
Since a lot of believers like to quote it to condemn women teaching but do not understand that the passage forbids them not to hold the office and authority of a pastor-teacher not that we cannot learn from them through their teaching for they are also created in the image of God.
Let me illustrate this principle with an eye gate and ear gate passage in ACT 18:24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures.
ACT 18:25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John [the transitional period];
ACT 18:26 and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
For example, hold your place here and look at 1CO 11:3 But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and the man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.
That is the divine order *** God the Father has authority over the Lord Jesus Christ, who has authority over the man, who has authority over the woman.
Down to 1CO 11:7 For a man ought not to have his head covered, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man.
1CO 11:8 For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man;
Then look at the shocker for some, 1CO 11:9 for indeed man was not created for the woman's sake, but woman for the man's sake.
1CO 11:10 Therefore the woman ought to have {a symbol of} authority on her head, because of the angels - the angelic conflict to both the elect and fallen angels.
Remember *** EPH 3:10 that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through or by the church to the rulers and the authorities [both elect and fallen angels] in the heavenly places.
Then the balance is given in 1CO 11:11 However, in the Lord, neither is woman independent of man, nor is man independent of woman.
1CO 11:12 For as the woman originates from the man, so also the man {has his birth} through the woman; and all things originate from God.
So back in 1Ti 2:9 Likewise, {I want} women to adorn themselves [make-up themselves] with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments;
This verse brings out the principle of feminine attractiveness when it says that “women adorn themselves” which is the present active infinitive of the verb kosmeo which means to decorate, to adorn, to make beautiful, to make attractive.
The present tense is a customary present to denote what should habitually occur with female members of the royal family of God.
This is also a tendencial present used for an action which is commanded but not taking place.
In other words, these women who were bullying Timothy were actually poorly dressed and looked like men rather than women.
The active voice: Christian women at Ephesus are to produce the action of the verb and, of course, it refers to all Christian women.
The infinitive is the imperative infinitive used to denote a command and the passage should say “Likewise I have made a command decision, that women should make themselves beautiful.”
1Ti 2:9 Likewise, {I want} women to adorn themselves [make themselves beautiful] with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments;
1TI 2:10 but rather [adorn themselves] by means of good works, as befits women making a claim to godliness or by living the spiritual life.
1TI 2:11 Let a woman quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness.
1TI 2:12 But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.
1TI 2:13 For it was Adam who was first created, {and} then Eve.
1TI 2:14 And {it was} not Adam {who} was deceived, but the woman being quite deceived, fell into transgression.
1TI 2:15 But {women} shall be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self‑restraint.
Now, notice some important principles concerning this passage……
Summary:
- The first attack upon the woman in the garden dramatised the importance of the woman’s soul not her body.
It is not the appearance of the woman that counts but the condition of her soul.
- The man is never commanded to be beautiful, only the woman is commanded by the verb kosmeo. It has to do with exterior beauty and it means to make the most with what you have.
All Christian women can be beautiful which is what this passage reveals.
- Because of reversionism and the influence of evil the modern emphasis is placed on overt beauty gimmicks like diamonds, gold, earrings, clothes and so-called sex appeal.
However, these things do not make the woman, the woman with inner beauty makes the soul filled with beauty from Bible doctrine.
- This verse anticipates the true emphasis of feminine attractiveness because of the beauty of the woman’s soul.
And when a woman has a beautiful soul with maximum doctrine she knows how to clothe herself.
- If a woman is commanded to make herself beautiful it immediately discounts the fact that women are born beautiful, they have to make themselves beautiful which means that all women can do that through doctrine in the soul.
- While some women have better features and better symmetry than others these human standards are rejected by the Word of God as the true standards of beauty, they are merely the accouterments of beauty.
- A woman’s face and body are not her beauty or lack of beauty. The issue in feminine beauty is the soul. The body merely manifests what is in the soul.
For example, *** If you have grace orientation of soul you will have poise, and whatever you lack in symmetry of body poise of soul and a little ingenuity in dress will take care of the whole thing.
- This verse emphasizes the fact that what women wear on the body do not constitute their real beauty, it is what a woman possesses in her soul.
These things are legitimate accouterments, that is why there is a command decision here for the women to stop neglecting the way they dress.
- In other words, what women wear on the outside is not as important as what they wear on the inside, but when what they wear on the inside is good what they wear on the outside will also be good because it matches.
There is a parallel passage in 1Pe 3:1-7.
Let’s just read it with no principles involved.
1Pe 3:1 In the same way [as the Lord in chapter two just stated], you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any {of them} are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives,
1PE 3:2 as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior.
1PE 3:3 And let not your adornment be {merely} external‑‑ braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses;
1PE 3:4 but {let it be} the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.
1PE 3:5 For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands.
1PE 3:6 Thus Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, and you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear.
1PE 3:7 You husbands likewise, live with {your wives} in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
- When you take 1Ti 2:9-15 and put these together one thing emerges with regard to the woman’s overt appearance. She is to be as well-dressed as possible. There is no excuse for a woman being sloppy.
- These passages of scripture are not opposed to wearing nice clothes or are not opposed to good styles or elegance, gold or jewelry or good taste.
What both of these passages say is that overt charm is meaningless without inner beauty.
- Overt charm becomes false and empty without inner beauty. It is the inner beauty of the royal priesthood, the soul clothed with maximum doctrine, that makes the woman’s elegance, good taste, grooming, poise, etc. so attractive.
- Without the inner beauty of super-grace the best of exteriors become useless. The passage does not oppose exteriors but merely says they are useless without the inner beauty of doctrine.
- Therefore, the female member of the royal family of God cannot afford to be dressed in the filthy rags of reversionism, she cannot afford to have her soul influenced by evil.
- While some women have better features and better symmetry than others these human standards are rejected by the Word of God as not the true standards of beauty, they are merely the accouterments of beauty.
- Since the woman is a responder her capacity for love is related to her respect for the object of her love. A woman should dress to please the man, that is what the phrase “adorn yourselves” really means.
No woman can truly love a man she does not respect.
A woman must not confuse feeling sorry for a man with love.
Sympathy is not love.
- Somewhere in the garden the original woman began her ego trip when she lost respect for Adam and his authority over her.
This started her with social unfaithfulness.
It started her social intercourse and unfaithfulness with Satan.
he began by talking with Satan who approached her in the body of the serpent.
- The woman’s social unfaithfulness was disregarding the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ her Bible teacher, and disregarding the authority and respect of her husband, which both had tremendous repercussions — the fall.
Her social unfaithfulness disregarding the authority of Jesus Christ disregarding the Word.
Therefore she did not understand certain things when Satan began to talk with her.
Her social unfaithfulness also disregarded the authority of Adam, her right man.
Her recovery is the way she left. She must develop respect for the Word in the spiritual realm and respect for her right man.
- Subordination to her right pastor protects the woman’s soul from evil just as love and respect for her right man protects her body from sinfulness and infidelity.
Therefore discipline and authority are necessary for learning, for clothing the soul with the garments of super-grace blessings.
- It is to the advantage of every lady to refrain herself from ever usurping authority over a man.
Now, the one verse that needs to be understood is the last verse, verse 15.
1TI 2:15 But {women} shall be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self‑restraint.
“Through childbearing” means she shall be saved through the bearing of a child, a reference to the virgin birth.
The Jewish prophecy of the virgin birth is Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a supernatural sign; Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and thou shalt call his name Immanuel.”