SAVED IN CHILDBEARING

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: I TIMOTHY 2:9-15




INTRODUCTION:


  1. Since this is Mother’s Day, I would like to preach about the importance of godly mothers and the importance of childbearing, and what the Bible has to say about it.
  2. Mother’s Day is a wonderful day for most mothers, but not for all.
  3. Some mothers are sad because they miss their children.
  4. Some mothers are sad because they miss their husbands, the father of their children.
  5. Some mothers are sad because the father of their children is an adulterer or a drunkard or a lazy bum, etc.
  6. Malachi 2:14 says, “Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously…” (2:14).
  7. Some men in Israel had “dealt treacherously” with their wives.  They violated their marriage covenant by divorcing their wives.  God said He “hateth putting away” (Malachi 2:16).
  8. Malachi 2:15 reinforces the Biblical teaching that in the beginning, God made “one” couple, (i.e. one pair – one male and one female, one time).
  9. In the marriage relationship God had made two into one (cf. Gen. 2:24; Matt. 19:3-6).
  10. God could have made Adam a number of wives, but He only made “one” (Malachi 2:15).
  11. After God made Adam and Eve, the Bible says, “Behold, it was very good” (Gen. 1:31).
  12. Malachi 2:15 says, “Yet had he the residue of the spirit.” “The residue of the Spirit” refers to God’s creative power.  God made just one pair from whom all the rest might proceed, that He might have a holy offspring.
  13. “And wherefore one?” (2:15).  He made one couple from whom all the members of the human race might proceed in order “that He might seek a godly seed” (2:15).
  14. In other words, God wants godly couples to produce godly children, who in turn will go out and marry godly husbands and wives and produce godly children, etc.  In this manner, God’s program is passed on from one generation to the next.
  15. When we preachers perform a wedding ceremony, we usually say something along these lines: “If done properly, marriage is the highest and happiest of human relationships.  It was given to us by our wise and heavenly Father to repress irregular affections, to support social order, and to produce children, who are to be taught the Word of God so that God’s truth and holiness can be transmitted from one generation to another.”
  16. Adultery, polygamy, divorce, and broken families are not conducive to bringing children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
  17. Here in New York City, over half of all births are illegitimate, and in some neighborhoods the proportion reaches 80 percent.
  18. This is the main reason so many young people get mixed up with drugs and gangs, etc.   But it is not “politically correct” to criticize illegitimacy, homosexuality, adultery, etc,
  19. You can talk about education and poverty, but when you mention immorality people do not want to hear it.
  20. I read recently that the New York State attorney general Andrew Cuomo (who wants to be our next governor) is living with his girlfriend.  But no one would dare say anything about that.
  21. If one of his political opponents were to bring it up, he would be roundly criticized.  In fact, most politicians today wouldn’t say anything because they have similar problems.
  22. A man named Carl Paladino is running for the governor of New York State, and he had been very critical of Governor Paterson’s adulteries.
  23. However, it soon came out that ten years ago Mr. Paladino had a daughter out of wedlock so now he has stopped criticizing the governor!
  24. Getting back to our text in I Timothy, I Timothy 2:15 says, women “shall be saved in childbearing.”

 

I. WOMEN ARE NOT SAVED FROM HELL THROUGH CHILDBEARING (I TIM. 2:15).

  1. This is undoubtedly one of the most difficult verses in the Bible.
  2. An important principle of Bible interpretation: obscure passages must always be interpreted in the light of clear passages.
  3. This means that a correct interpretation cannot conflict with clear teachings found elsewhere in Scripture. The Bible never contradicts itself.
  4. Therefore, this passage cannot teach women go to heaven by bearing children (cf. Mark 16:15, 16; John 3:16; Romans 10:9;  Eph. 2:8, 9).
  5. If child bearing were a requisite for women to be saved, then single ladies, along with those who are unable to bear children, would not be able to get into heaven.
  6. Furthermore, this passage does not teach that the Christian woman will always be kept safe during the act of bearing children. Unfortunately, many godly women have died while giving birth.
  7. So what does I Timothy 2:15 mean?
  8. Most New Testament passages that use the word “save” refer to being “saved” from hell.
  9. For example, the apostle Paul told the Philippian jailer to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in order to be “saved” (Acts 16:31).
  10. In the New Testament, the Greek verb sozo, translated “save,” usually means simply to rescue.
  11. However, the word “saved” is used in different ways in the Bible.
  12. For instance, the disciples were “saved” from shipwreck out on the sea (Matt. 8:25).
  13. The word is used this way in Acts 27, when Paul and his shipmates ran into a fierce storm, and “Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved” (Acts 27:31; cf. vs. 20).
  14. If I Timothy 2:15 is not talking about being saved from hell, then we have to determine what the women are being saved from.

 

II. WOMEN CAN BE SAVED FROM DECEPTION.

  1. In First Timothy, chapter 1, the apostle Paul warns young Timothy of false teachers and their abilities to shipwreck a Christian’s faith (1:19, 20).
  2. Paul’s wanted to protect Timothy and his flock (and us as well) from these dangerous false teachers.
  3. Chapter 2 begins with “therefore,” which indicates that Paul is continuing along the same lines.
  4. Later on in I Timothy 4:1-3, Paul warns about “doctrines of devils.”  One of these devilish doctrines is “forbidding to marry.”
  5. Both I & II Timothy deal with the problem of false doctrine, and the importance of sound doctrine.
  6. False teachers were having a negative effect on the women in Timothy’s church (cf. II Tim. 3:6-9).
  7. Paul instructed the women to adorn themselves with good works rather than immodest clothing and costly jewelry (I Tim. 2:9, 10).
  8. The Bible teaches that women should dress in “modest apparel” (2:9).  This means godly women should avoid most of the modern styles – tight outfits, hip-hugger jeans, mini skirts, shorts, bikini bathing suits, etc.
  9. False teachings have resulted in women usurping authority in the church.   Joyce Meyers and other lady preachers are acting in defiance of the clear teachings of Scripture (I Tim. 2:11, 12; cf. I Cor. 14:34, 35).
  10. The Bible teaches that women are to learn quietly and submit to the authority of the God-ordained leadership (2:11, 12).
  11. In I Timothy 2:13 and 14, Paul gives two reasons for this – the order of creation and the order of transgression. Adam was formed first, then Eve (I Tim. 3:13).
  12. “And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression” (3:14).
  13. The Bible says that women should learn quietly and submit to the God-ordained church leadership, because God designed men for church leadership (cf. I Tim. 3).
  14. Furthermore, there is the possibility that women could fall into deception and sin as did Eve if they usurp that leadership.
  15. Paul then concludes by saying, “Notwithstanding she will be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety” (2:15).
  16. This Scripture teaches that a woman will be saved from the danger of deception and sin by busying herself with the activities for which God created her: caring for her home and children, and nurturing her faith, charity (love), and holiness with sobriety.
  17. Women are to submit to the recognized authorities in the church and not to usurp authority for themselves (2:12).  Churches that allow women to preach are disobeying God’s Word.
  18. Secondly, women are to submit themselves to God’s plan in child bearing as they bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. (2:15).
  19. This teaching is contrary to today’s worldly, humanistic philosophy, which says that in order to find happiness and fulfillment, women must compete in the business world with men.
  20. That is a lie from the devil.  Many women have bought into it, and then realized as they got older they missed out on the blessings of family life (cf. Titus 2:3-5).
  21. So what does “saved in childbearing” (I Tim. 2:15) mean?
  22. By accepting their God-given functions, women can be saved the trouble that results from violating the clear teachings of Scripture.
  23. God has established different roles for men and women.  And if these roles are bypassed, there will be tension, turmoil and trouble.
  24. Paul’s instruction to women here in I Timothy 2 is similar to what he tells Timothy later on in chapter 4 – “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee” (I Tim. 4:16).
  25. By fulfilling his God-given duties as a pastor, and by continuing in sound doctrine and faithfulness, Timothy would save himself and his listeners from a shipwrecked devilish delusions and deception.

 

III. WOMEN ARE TO CONTINUE IN THE FAITH.

  1. Notice their deliverance from deception is conditional – “if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety” (I Tim. 2:15b).
  2. In other words, if they do not continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety, they could fall into sin and deception.
  3. A woman I know just walked out on her husband after 28 years of marriage.  She told me the Lord is leading her. 
  4. She is deceived because God would never lead someone contrary to Scripture.
  5. Another friend of mine’s wife is living together with another man, and my friend told me they attend church together!
  6. These women started out well, but they have not “continued” in the faith.

 

CONCLUSION:


  1. Susanna Wesley was the 25th of 25 children. 
  2. Her father was Samuel Annesley, a prominent Puritan and nonconformist pastor.
  3. She was married to Samuel Wesley, a pastor, in 1688 at the age of 19.
  4. Susanna and Samuel Wesley had 19 children.
  5. Nine of her children died as infants. Four of the children that died were twins. A maid accidentally smothered one child. At her death only eight of her children were still alive.
  6. She prayed one hour every day for her children.  Two of them grew up to be famous: John Wesley the great preacher, and Charles Wesley, the great hymn-writer.
  7. One of her biographers said she was an example of “prayerfulness, patience, and piety” (cf. I Tim. 2:15).
  8. Today in the USA, the worldly crowd belittles child bearing and motherhood, but God’s Word magnifies it.


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