“Authority & Submission” 1 Timothy 2:8-15

“Authority & Submission” 1 Timothy 2:8-15

An Expositional Sermon
1 Timothy 2:8-15
“Authority & Submission”

Theme/Big Idea: God has established different roles of authority and submission in His churches and we should labor for faithfulness and obedience because our hope is in Christ.
Aim/Appropriation/Application: Pray that God would preserve our overseers, and that He might give us more overseers.

Outline:
(1) Submit to God in Unified Prayer (1 Timothy 2:8)
(2) Submit to God In How You Dress (1 Timothy 2:9-10)
(3) Submit to God’s Authority Established in the Local Church (1 Timothy 2:11-12)
(4) The Power to Submit Comes from Our Hope of Salvation (1 Timothy 2:13-15)

Questions for Further Reflection
(1)
 How should we think about authority and submission in regard to the church?
(2) David Powlison has defined anger as coming from the thought, “I’m against that.” How does this thought lead to anger in your heart and life?
(3) Why should we cultivate hearts that aren’t angry? Where is the hinge in your heart where not sinning in your anger turns and becomes sinful anger? If you can’t tell don’t nurse even what might start out as anger without sin.
(4) What does your anger reveal about which kingdom you belong to? The kingdom of God or the kingdom of men?
(5) How does the way that you dress reflect your submission to God’s authority?
(6) In the sermon Noah said, “This doesn’t mean our church needs a ‘church dress code.'” Is this true? Why or why not? If we don’t need a dress code what are some ways that we can be deliberate in how we think about what we wear?
(7) What does Paul mean in verse 11 to have a woman learn quietly? Does his not permitting a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man, mean that women are not to make a sound in church…(A) say amen at the end of a prayer, (B) not sing with the congregation, etc. How might the non-silent “quiet” in 1 Timothy 2:2 help us understand what Paul means by the same word as he applies it to women in the gathering of the church?
(8) Question 1: Are women inferior, of less value, or less able to teach or exercise authority? Answer: No! Question 2: If women are able, of equal value, and possibly even in some circumstances equally or even more competent than the men to teach and exercise authority in the church, why does Paul exhort that they shouldn’t? Answer: Because of creation order, and because of the fall in sin. As the teaching and authority office in a church is only for men it reminds us of who we are in submission to – God. It is a constant reminder of how God created us. It’s also a constant reminder of our sin in the fall. Knowing that God made the church like this how do you respond? How should we respond?
(9) How can we submit to God in things that might not make sense to us at first? How can we trust in His goodness and unchangeable wisdom? How does the gospel of Jesus Christ encourage us to submit to God’s design for men and women in various roles in the local church?
(10) What does it mean that “she will be saved through childbearing” in verse 15? How can we cultivate content hearts in the goodness of God in the various roles he has called us to, even if those roles are outside of our control to choose?