(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Good morning, church family.

Happy Lord's Day, and also happy Mother's Day. We will now begin our service. (soft piano music) - Let's sing Jesus Christ. ♪ Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ I think upon your sacrifice ♪ ♪ You became nothing ♪ ♪ Poured out to death ♪ ♪ Many times ♪ ♪ I wondered at your gift of life ♪ ♪ I'm in that place once again ♪ ♪ I'm in that place once again ♪ ♪ Once again ♪ ♪ Once again I look upon the cross where you died ♪ ♪ Humbled by your mercy and I'm broken inside ♪ ♪ Once again I thank you ♪ ♪ Once again I go out of my way ♪ ♪ Once again I go out my life ♪ ♪ Now you are ♪ ♪ Now you are ♪ ♪ Assaulted to the highest place ♪ ♪ King of the heavens ♪ ♪ One day I'll bow ♪ ♪ But for now ♪ ♪ Marvel at this saving grace ♪ ♪ I'm full of praise once again ♪ ♪ I'm full of praise once again ♪ ♪ Once again ♪ ♪ Once again I look upon the cross where you died ♪ ♪ Humbled by your mercy and I'm broken inside ♪ ♪ Once again I thank you ♪ ♪ Once again I go out my life ♪ Let's do it once again.

♪ Once again I look upon the cross where you died ♪ ♪ Humbled by your mercy and I'm broken inside ♪ ♪ Once again I thank you ♪ ♪ Once again I go out my life ♪ - All right, good morning. Welcome to Byrne Community Church. I wanna begin by thanking all the people who participated in the, what's wrong with me?

Auction, okay? And again, the people who sponsored it and helped through all of that. Again, I wanna thank all of you. I was told that last year they raised 29,000, this year they raised 37,000. And so all of that is going to be going to good use as we are opening more and more doors to do mission work and all of that will be helpful to do all of that.

So again, thank you. And the benefit from all of this obviously is that the whole church is interacting with each other. You're gonna be visiting people's homes, babysitting. There's gonna be some teenagers coming over to my house to do some yard work afterwards. So thank you for participating in all of that.

Next week, Family Ministry Picnic is happening on 11 through 3 p.m. at Bill Barber Park in Irvine. So this is open to anyone who desires to come, part of the family ministry. You'll be able to meet your fellow believers, brothers and sisters, just to kinda grab your own lunch and just show up at the park and you'll be able to meet some new people there and just, they're gonna be there from 11 to 3, okay?

I'm gonna give a little plug on the fourfold disciplines of Christian life that I'll be leading and starting on May 28th, 7 p.m. The reason why I'm doing that is because next Sunday, this is the only class that has a deadline and the reason why is because for the purpose of spiritual disciplines and as practice, we have to put people in small groups.

And so we will need to know that by no later than next Sunday. So if you haven't signed up and you're planning to come, please sign up as soon as possible 'cause we're gonna start putting people into small groups. So this is, again, a great opportunity to use during the summer.

It's a four-week Wednesday night in the cafe area and it's gonna be more on the practice of discipline and not just theory. So if this is something that will benefit you, please sign up for that and next Sunday will be the last time to sign up. All church retreat, that's happening on August 1st through August 3rd.

That weekend, there will be worship here. One service, but the rest of the church will be up at the retreat site. Typically, we have anywhere from 80 to 90% of the church that goes. And the guest speaker is Pastor Ray Cosley. In particular, he's special to us 'cause he was our first speaker.

He's come to our church about five times, but he's probably one of our favorites. And he said that he's going to come. He's gonna be speaking on the subject of God's glory and how it affects everything that we do in the church in our lives. And so please come to that.

It's a great opportunity, not only to be fed by the word of God, but opportunity to meet other believers, other members, and even myself. When I'm at retreats, I get to meet people that I don't normally run into. We have three services, and so there's people who've been at our church for months and sometimes years and have very little interaction with.

So the retreat's an opportunity to speed up the process of rubbing shoulders with each other. So I'm mentioning this because May 31st is the last day to sign up pre-early registration. So after that, the cost is going to go up. So if you are planning to come, please do that.

And it'll help us to organize a small group, the rooms, the various things that we need to prepare for. So please try to register before the 31st. And after that, again, the cost will be going up. And then lastly, Mother's Day. Today, obviously, today is Mother's Day. After service, if you go outside, you'll see a station out there with a Bundt cake, okay?

That's for all the moms. Or maybe you wanna make an announcement today, you can go grab it, and then we'll know why you grabbed it. Okay, and then there's also flowers like this. I brought a sample up here. So again, make sure you grab that before you go. Again, we wanna congratulate all the mothers and hopefully you feel loved and appreciated today.

Okay, so let me pray for the offering. And then after the offering and our praise time, our sister Mary is going to come up and give her testimony and be baptized this morning. All right, let's pray. Father, we praise you and thank you for your goodness. We thank you, Father God, for the many things that we already know.

We thank you for the things that you're orchestrating now. Ultimately, Lord God, for your glory and for our own good. Help us, Lord, to open our eyes, to see who you are, to understand your mind, your heart, that our will may be surrendered to you. I pray that you would help us to use this time to come draw near to your throne.

And I pray, Father God, especially for our mothers, that in the midst of just their hard labor and sacrifice, that they would feel loved and appreciated. Just asking for your grace. We pray, Father God, that the offering that we give would be an act of worship, devotion, an overwhelming gratitude toward who you are, and may it be multiplied 30, 60, 100-fold for the sake of your kingdom.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. (gentle piano music) (gentle piano music continues) (gentle piano music continues) (gentle piano music continues) (gentle piano music continues) (gentle piano music continues) (gentle piano music continues) Let us all rise and spend a few moments to greet the nearest around us before we continue.

(gentle piano music) (upbeat music) ♪ Your glorious cause ♪ ♪ Your glorious cause, O God ♪ ♪ Engages our hearts ♪ ♪ May Jesus Christ be known ♪ ♪ Wherever we are ♪ ♪ We ask not for ourselves ♪ ♪ But for your renown ♪ ♪ The cross has saved us ♪ ♪ So we praise ♪ ♪ Your kingdom come ♪ ♪ Let your kingdom come ♪ ♪ Let your will be done ♪ ♪ So that everyone might know your name ♪ ♪ Let your songs be heard ♪ ♪ Everywhere on earth ♪ ♪ 'Til your sovereign work on earth is done ♪ ♪ Let your kingdom come ♪ ♪ Give us your strength ♪ ♪ Give us your strength, O God ♪ ♪ Courage to speak ♪ ♪ Perform your wondrous deeds ♪ ♪ To those who are weak ♪ ♪ Lord, use us as you would ♪ ♪ Whenever the test ♪ ♪ But grace will preach your gospel ♪ ♪ 'Til our dying breath ♪ ♪ 'Til our dying breath ♪ ♪ Let your kingdom come ♪ ♪ Let your will be done ♪ ♪ So that everyone might know your name ♪ ♪ Let your song be heard ♪ ♪ Everywhere on earth ♪ ♪ 'Til your sovereign work on earth is done ♪ ♪ Let your kingdom ♪ ♪ Let your kingdom come ♪ ♪ Let your will be done ♪ ♪ So that everyone might know your name ♪ ♪ Let your song be heard ♪ ♪ Everywhere on earth ♪ ♪ 'Til your sovereign work on earth is done ♪ ♪ Let your kingdom come ♪ ♪ Let your kingdom come ♪ (inspirational music) (inspirational music) (inspirational music) (inspirational music) ♪ God is faithful to his word ♪ ♪ Even when there seems no way ♪ ♪ Though time may pass ♪ ♪ His memory will not fade ♪ ♪ His promises will never fail ♪ ♪ Faithful he has been ♪ ♪ Faithful he will be ♪ ♪ Time and time again ♪ ♪ His word returns complete ♪ ♪ To his truth I cling ♪ ♪ When the night is deep ♪ ♪ Faithful he has been ♪ ♪ Faithful he will be ♪ ♪ God is gracious when I doubt ♪ ♪ He draws near though I retreat ♪ ♪ Though I may wander through the wilderness ♪ ♪ He goes with me and gives me peace ♪ ♪ Gracious he has been ♪ ♪ Gracious he will be ♪ ♪ What I don't deserve ♪ ♪ The Father gives to me ♪ ♪ Where he leads my feet ♪ ♪ I shall not want or need ♪ ♪ Gracious he has been ♪ ♪ Gracious he will be ♪ ♪ You're gracious ♪ ♪ God is worthy of my song ♪ ♪ Countless are his awesome deeds ♪ ♪ His mighty hand has parted raging seas ♪ ♪ For those he loves he has redeemed ♪ ♪ Worthy he has been ♪ ♪ Worthy he will be ♪ ♪ Grounded in endless praise ♪ ♪ All earth and heaven sing ♪ ♪ Holy is the Lord ♪ ♪ Who reigns in majesty ♪ ♪ Worthy he has been ♪ ♪ Worthy he will be ♪ ♪ He is my provider ♪ ♪ Covenant protector ♪ ♪ All my hope is in the Lord my God ♪ ♪ Oh he is my sustainer ♪ ♪ Merciful redeemer ♪ ♪ All my hope is in the Lord my God ♪ ♪ Oh he is my provider ♪ ♪ Covenant protector ♪ ♪ All my hope is in the Lord my God ♪ ♪ Oh he is my sustainer ♪ ♪ Merciful redeemer ♪ ♪ All my hope is in the Lord my God ♪ ♪ Worthy he has been ♪ ♪ Worthy he will be ♪ ♪ Grounded in endless praise ♪ ♪ All earth and heaven sing ♪ ♪ Holy is the Lord ♪ ♪ Who reigns in majesty ♪ ♪ Worthy he has been ♪ ♪ Oh worthy he will be ♪ ♪ Worthy ♪ ♪ Worthy he has been ♪ ♪ Worthy he will be ♪ ♪ Grounded in endless praise ♪ ♪ All earth and heaven sing ♪ ♪ Holy is the Lord ♪ ♪ Who reigns in majesty ♪ ♪ Oh worthy he has been ♪ ♪ Worthy he will be ♪ ♪ Oh worthy he has been ♪ ♪ Worthy he will be ♪ ♪ Oh worthy he has been ♪ ♪ Worthy he will be ♪ - Amen, you may be seated.

(bell ringing) - Before coming to know Christ, I was a really headstrong person who focused on getting good grades, getting a decent job, and getting recognition from those around me. As the child of a single mom who immigrated when I was nine years old from China, I focused on a lot of material success in order to help out my family, while not really knowing the need to depend on this all-powerful and all-knowing God.

My mind was always bogged down by worldly frustrations, and I felt like a lonely misfit at times, not quite American like my friends who were born here, but a little whitewashed compared to classmates who were born and raised in China. Things began to change suddenly when my family got an invitation card in the mail and we started going out to church.

God's teachings first touched my heart when I was paralyzed by anxiety during this family conflict. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart "and lean not on your own understanding. "In all your ways acknowledge him "and he will make your path straight." With this verse in mind, I tackled the challenges of my adolescence with more confidence and ease.

There is a heavenly father above who knows me from inside out even better than myself, and he wants me to do well in life, and he will grant me the riches of his kingdom according to his timing. So my faith journey hasn't really been without difficulties though, and I was constantly falling out of my relationship with Christ when I saw church as this glorified extracurricular and God as this genie in a bottle who would just grant me all of my wishes.

I was opportunistic in my engagement with the church, fervently worshiping, but coming back to this lukewarm state after I got what I wanted. After graduating from college though, I was repeatedly struck with the repercussion of sin, and I realized how much my nominal Christianity clashed with God's intention to fill my heart with the Holy Spirit.

The most humbling instance was actually this time last year when I was desperately trying to change jobs. Even though I attended church and seemed like a Christian on the surface level, my heart was void of any conviction, and when I'm home by myself, I was still doomscroll on my phone watching one episode after another of my favorite TV shows.

The minutes would roll into hours, and that led me into a lot of anxiety, eye strain, headaches, and eventually panic attacks. In the depths of physical and mental struggle, I repented to God, and I cried out, admitting that I was wrong. I was building my life on shaky foundations all along, and I sought forgiveness.

Gradually, I opened up my heart to God, not grabbing and taking what I needed from him, but letting him reorder my life. First Peter 5:7-8 says, "Humble yourself, therefore, under God's almighty name, "that he may lift you up in due time. "Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you." I was eventually able to cast my anxiety on him when I meditated on his word, truly letting him speak to me in silence, rather than just opening, reading, and closing the Bible.

And I attended volunteering activities at church, not with the goal of getting credit for myself, but just giving thanks for the opportunity to build his kingdom on this earth. Out of the many transformations that God has done in me, the most profound one has really just been the heartfelt joy of knowing God himself.

And eventually, in his due timing, God planted me here in Orange County with a new job that offered a brand new learning opportunity, but moreover, he planted me at Berean, a loving, Christ-centered community that really is allowing me to become a better Christian. Although I'm still a sinner at heart who is always drawn to making mistakes, I'm also compelled to constantly seek forgiveness from him, to turn away from sin and towards Christ.

Harking back to Pastor Peter's message from last Sunday, I don't want to be a pig who happens to have lipstick on. I want to really live my Christian life from the inside out and have God take over control of all aspects of my life. Because there is a heavenly father above who cares about me, who loves me, and everything, everything that I am here is because of him, so I'm nothing without him.

And I live today very reassured by that. Thank you. (audience applauding) (man speaking indistinctly) (man speaking indistinctly) (audience applauding) - All right, thank you, Mary, for that encouraging testimony. If you can turn your Bibles with me to 1 Timothy 2, and I'm gonna be reading just from 12 down to 15, okay.

1 Timothy 2, verses 12 through 15, and I know some of you guys are nervous. Why did he choose this text for Mother's Day? Okay, hopefully you'll know at the end of the message, okay? 1 Timothy chapter two, 12 through 15. But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet, for it was Adam who was first created, and then Eve.

And it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this morning. Thank you for the privilege that we have to be able to come to the throne of grace with confidence.

Lord, we are in need of your help. We're in need, Father God, of your Holy Spirit to soften our hearts, that we may be the good soil that receives your word, and by perseverance, that we may bear fruit 30, 60, 100 fold. So we pray, Father God, that your power, your Holy Spirit, that your word would speak to us and would not return until it has accomplished your purpose.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. The definition of feminism, according to Oxford Dictionary, says the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of equality of the sexes. So by definition, it's for the purpose of equality for women. But in the name of equality in our generation, feminism was used as an excuse to fight for abortion rights for women.

Feminism was used as an excuse to fight for transgenderism, that if a man says he's a woman, that we need to respect that in the name of feminism. In the name of feminism and equality, traditional family structure is looked at as oppressive, that we need to do away with that and we need to restructure it so that women can have equality.

In the name of feminism, masculinity has become toxic. Men are not allowed to be men. But I think of all the things, the damage that feminism has done in the name of equality has made motherhood something to be tolerated rather than to be honored and to be pursued. And that's the reason why I want to take this text.

And I know that reading this text, just by reading it, some of you are nervous. Somebody told me after the first service, they said they got nervous as soon as they saw the text. What is he going to say? I would say that in the years that I've been at this church, the single subject that I get the most pushback is this subject, right?

Not politics, not homosexuality, not liberal teaching, not when I preach against seeker-friendly movement, but it's this subject more than any other subject. I've had people, as soon as I mentioned men's role, that we don't have male elders in this church, just get up and leave. You guys didn't see it 'cause you guys are sitting up front.

They're usually sitting in the back and they would leave. And then people in the back would tell me, did you see that person leave? I've had people walk out of Bible studies as a result of teaching this text. The text that we're looking at is actually written to combat feminism, to combat feminism.

You have to understand the context where this is being written. In the early church, in the first century, women had no rights. Men could divorce their wives just because they felt like it, just by, so why are you giving your wife a certificate of a divorce? They said, well, she burned the rice and I don't wanna eat burned rice.

That's how flippant it was. Women had no rights. Women could not testify in court by law. They said women's testimony is not credible. You should be offended by that. Women were not counted in the Roman census. So when you look at the early church and then they have numbers, that's why when they say 5,000 people were fed, there was a tradition of that time.

Women and children were not numbered, legally. And the only way that they were numbered is when they say this man has this many wives and this many children. That's the only way that they were able to count if the woman, so imagine if a woman were not married. They didn't have any connection to a man.

They don't exist. That's why many of the women, when they were divorced, were forced to sell their bodies just to feed themselves. That's the culture that they existed in. Daily morning prayer of a Jewish man. This is the daily morning prayer of a Jewish man said this. Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has not made me a Gentile, who has not made me a slave, who has not made me a woman.

And you could see why they would pray that considering how the women were treated in the ancient culture. So it is in that context that Paul says in Galatians 3.28, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

We read this today and say, of course, why is that even in there? Of course we're all equal. Of course God loves all of us. Of course we're God's children. But you have to understand this in the culture of that time. For Paul to say this, how offensive this must have been for Jews to say, to hear, there's no difference.

You're no more righteous than a Gentile. For a slave owner to say, you have no more value than the slave that you own. And for every male to say, you are no better in the kingdom of God than the females. We are all one in Christ. So it's something that we just don't even think twice about.

You have to understand in the first century, what was controversial is not the text that we're looking at. What was controversial is Galatians 3.28. So why is 1 Timothy 2, 9 through 15 in here? Because in the name of equality, because Christ came and he was trying to fix what went wrong because of sin.

Sin came in and ruined relationships, ruined God's creation order, his purpose. And so God, in the restoration of the gospel in his new kingdom, he's trying to teach people that they have all equal value. They're all children of God, men and women. But in the context of restoring what went wrong, the concern was that they would take this too far, just like feminism.

In the name of equality, they were fighting for all these things that were actually going to ruin society. And so Paul is writing, 1 Timothy, in the role of man and woman, that this was God's intent. And so when we read, I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, the first reaction that we get is what?

Especially on Mother's Day, you know what I mean? Preach about motherhood and how great mothers are and how sacrificial you are, which I have in the past. And I haven't given a special Mother's Day sermon in years, and part of the reason why I didn't is because it's the Lord's Day, it's not the Mother's Day.

It's the Lord's Day first. We don't put aside Jesus for one day so that we can honor you and worship you. Which we're not doing today, right? Mothers deserve more than one day, and I think we all agree on that. They sacrifice all year, and we have one day, we cook them one meal, and then we say, get back to work.

So one day is not enough. We all agree on that, right? But this knee-jerk reaction, I understand. If you're sitting here and you read this text, and it's like, I can't believe he's preaching on this on Mother's Day, I understand. Because this was the first thing that I stumbled with after I became a Christian.

And I was at Biola studying, and they gave us, and you could choose any subject, anything that you're wrestling with, you can devote your time studying and come up with a paper, and I chose this subject. And the reason why I chose this subject is because it didn't make any sense to me.

'Cause I had a female pastor that I really loved. And when she would preach in the valley, I would drive all the way down to the valley just to hear her. If you asked me when I was 19 years old who my favorite pastor was, it was her. And then I'd come and read it and say, well, we don't have female pastors.

It's like, what? And so I did a paper. I spent the whole semester just doing a paper on this particular subject, and my conclusion that I came to was it bothered me, but clearly this is what the Bible teaches. And since then, not only have I been convinced that the Word of God says this, I have been convinced over and over again the wisdom behind why this is here.

Why this is so necessary. Why it is detrimental, not only to the church, but to the family when this is not being practiced. In 1 Corinthians 12, 31, Paul says to the Corinthians church, it was divided over who's better. Is Apollos better? Is Peter better? Is Paul better? So they're all competing with one another, just like everybody else in society.

So everything that we do, we work out, we eat healthy, we run, we get jobs, and we go to school, all so that we can have a better life, so we can elevate ourselves. And we do that even spiritually, even spiritually. Like, who has a better theology? Who has a larger church?

Who has more influence? Who is smarter? And so that creeps into the church, and that's what happened to the Corinthians church. They're all competing with one another, and as a result of competing, the church went into chaos. So he spends 12 chapters basically dissecting what went wrong, and then at the end of chapter 12, he says, "Earnestly desire the greater gift." Your desire to one-up one another, to be better than the other person, is not from God.

Did you forget that very few of you had any honor, very few of you were educated, very few of you had anything to brag about. He said, "God chose you because you were nothing. "You were base in society." So that the person who's gonna be preaching the gospel, the first generation Christians, would magnify him and not themselves.

So in 12 chapters of dissecting, like a surgeon going in to find out where it went wrong, and it was their desire to one-up each other. And he says, "Desire the greater gift." And the greater gift, obviously he's referring to, is love. And he spends a whole chapter in chapter 13 describing about what this love looks like.

If you're gonna pursue anything, if you're gonna outdo anybody of anything, he said, "Do it for love." The greatest of the gift is love. This knee-jerk reaction that we have toward this text, is it coming from a desire to be holy or righteous because God has called me for this, and I have this, and I don't wanna disobey God?

How much of the knee-jerk reaction is because our sense of fairness is coming from a broken world? That if you're in the front, you're better than the person who's not in the front. If you're teaching, somehow you have more value than somebody who's not teaching. When we know that Jesus says, "The greatest in the kingdom of God is the one who serves." Not the one who has a position of honor, but the one who serves.

The reason why we value what we value, and why there's a knee-jerk reaction toward this subject, is because the whole world system functions under this system. That if you work hard, you make more money, you read more books, you have better influence, you have better positions, you have better jobs, you went to a better school, you walk around with a little bit of pride and your neck gets a little bit stiff, that's the value of the whole world system.

Jesus comes in and he throws a wrench in all of that, flips the table upside down. He has tax collectors who are leading. Former prostitutes. The very first apostle were just mere fishermen. He didn't just tweak something, he flipped the whole world order upside down. Satan's reason why he fell was because he saw what God had and he coveted it.

That's a temptation that he placed on Adam and Eve. In fact, this restriction about teaching is not just for women. It tells us in 1 Timothy 3.4, it said, "Don't let a new convert teach." Because he's gonna fall into the same temptation because he's vulnerable. As soon as he begins to teach, he's gonna get ruined, just like Satan.

So this restriction is not just for women, it's for new converts. So if you're gonna be offended, new converts should be offended. It also says in James chapter 3.1, "Not many of you should presume to be teachers "because you're gonna be under stricter judgment." How many of us desiring to teach consider the high calling of that position when it says you must be above reproach?

How much of this coveting is we're coveting the position of leadership, position of teaching, rather than realizing that if you get into that position, you're gonna be scrutinized. The way you spend your money, the way you spend your time, your pride, your wife, your children, how you act under pressure, how you act when you're leisure, all of that's gonna be tested.

He said, "Therefore, don't let just anybody teach "'cause you're gonna be coming under stricter judgment." How much of this desire to teach is just simply because we consider being up in front better than not being up in front? So right off the bat, Jesus is, Paul is challenging. Our way of thinking, our knee-jerk reaction could be is because so much of the world value system has seeped into us.

And why this is so important in order, as we celebrate Mother's Day, why what God had intended in creation for mothers and husbands and church that we need to recognize what it is. He gives three reasons on this prohibition. The role of men and women, in the family and in the home.

You have to understand that this is not a call for every woman to every man, okay? This is what, Timothy is a pastoral epistle, meaning Paul's giving instructions to Timothy of how to order the church. And the family is a reflection of the church, but this is not a commandment for all women to all men.

Just put that out there, okay? So the three reasons why he gives, why this needs to be practiced. Number one, he says, "For it was Adam "who was first created, and then Eve." He goes back to the creation order. You know, oftentimes people negate this passage and say, "Oh, it's cultural." But the reasoning behind it goes all the way from creation, God's intent.

If you look at Genesis chapter two, 15 to 23, it says, "Then the Lord God took the man," okay, listen carefully, because we have a lot of people who want to change the word man into mankind, right, because they're afraid to offend the feminists, but the wording is clear, and this is not mankind, this is man, and I'll give you the reason why as we look at the text.

"The Lord God took the man and put him into the garden "of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. "The Lord God commanded the man, saying, "'From any tree of the garden you may eat freely, "'but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil "'you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it, "'you will surely die.'" The reason why we say that, I say that this is not mankind, but man, because in the next text, he says, "It is the Lord God, it is not good for the man to be alone." So after giving this command, why is it not good for him to be alone?

In fact, previously, when God created man, he said he ended all the creation by saying, "It is good." So when he said it's not good for man to be alone, it's because of the creation mandate that he gave. And so, "Therefore, I will make him a helper "suitable for him," a helper.

He's been given the mandate, and the woman was created to help him. "Out of the ground, the Lord God formed "every beast of the field and every bird of the sky "and brought them to the man to see what he would call them, "and whatever the man called the living creature, "that was its name," the man.

"The man gave names to all the cattle "and the birds of the sky and every beast of the field, "but for Adam, there was not found "a helper suitable for him." So, all of this was happening without Eve. And he looks at that and he says, "It's not good." He creates a helper.

"So the Lord God caused a deep sleep "to fall upon the man, and he slept. "Then he took one of his ribs "and closed up the flesh at the place "the Lord God fashioned into a woman, "the rib which he had taken from the man "and brought her to the man, and the man said, "'This is now bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh.

"'She shall be called woman "'because she was taken out of man.'" So again, I hope you're following me up to this point. The creation mandate was given to the man. And over and over again, repeated, the man was given the, the man was commanded, the man was calling them.

And he said, "It's not good for him to be alone, "so he created a suitable helper from her, "and the name that he gives this woman is Isha." The Hebrew word for man is ish. And so Isha basically means out of woman. So even the title that he gives the woman is to come alongside, to support, and to help the woman.

So the reason why he says that there is order and God has placed this order in the family and in the church is because this was God's intent from creation, from creation. When we pray the Lord's Prayer, we say, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your name.

"Thy kingdom come, your will be done "on earth as it is in heaven." And we all know that, right? If you've been a Christian for any number of years, you know that that is the Lord's Prayer. He taught us how to pray, "Lord, your will be done." But the very first commandment that he gave was in creation right after he created Adam and Eve, that you are to be fruitful and to multiply, and the woman was created for the helper, to help him.

So you can't pray that prayer. If the very first thing that God has done and placed into mankind, we rebel against that. You can't go and say, "I wanna obey all these other things "that I think are important to me, "but the very order of creation, I refuse to obey." So he gives the creation as the first place.

Now, I know if you've been raised in this culture, including myself, this is, yeah, that's what it says. You know what I mean? That's what it says. And it's like, but you don't feel comfortable. You know what I mean? Is that right? There must be another way. I heard other people interpret it another way.

I'm pretty sure the scripture's pretty clear. There's a reason why the scripture says, "Do not be conformed to this world, "but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Why does our mind need to be renewed? Because our mind has been filled with the values of our culture that has gone wrong.

Even our sense of what is right and what is wrong, what is good, what is bad, has been tainted because of sin. Our desire to be better, our desire to be taller, prettier, stronger, smarter, it perverts the way we look at what is good and what is bad. So even the way we look at the role of a man and the role of a woman has been tainted because of sin, of the desire to be somebody.

But he says, first and foremost, this was God's intent in creation. That's number one. Number two, he says, it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. In Genesis three, one through nine, it describes this fall, and I want you to pay attention to what this says.

Now the serpent was more crafted than any beast of the field which the Lord God made, and he said to the woman, "Indeed, as God said, "you shall not eat from any tree of the garden." Let me stop right there. If you look at creation and creation mandate, who is God speaking to?

To the man. If you get to chapter three, where the fall happens, who is the serpent speaking to? The woman, right? And this is not a small issue. I want you to pay attention to that. God gives the command to the man. Serpent targets the woman, okay? Serpent said to the woman, "Indeed, as God said, "you shall not eat from any tree of the garden." The woman said to the serpent, she shouldn't have been engaging him to begin with, "From the fruit of the trees of garden we may eat, "but from the fruit of the tree, "which is in the middle of the garden, "God has said you shall not eat from it, "or touch it, or you will die." The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die." Okay, this is a straight up lie.

"For God knows that in the day you eat from it, "your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, "knowing good and evil." In other words, the temptation was to covet what God has. You shouldn't be okay. He's just gonna be a helper. The temptation was maybe, it's like, "Why can't I?

"Why can't I have what he has? "And if I'm like God, "maybe I'll be elevated above Adam." No, I'm putting words in her mouth, but maybe that was the temptation. But the coveting was, she wanted to elevate herself. "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, "and that it was a delight to the eyes, "and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, "she took from its fruit and ate, "and gave also to her husband with her, and he ate." So one, in the creation order, God creates man, gives him the mandate to subdue, to take care of the land, and he says it's not good for him to be alone, creates a wife out of a man to be a suitable helper.

Satan comes and tempts her, and then she gives in. But the part that I want you to notice is at the end it says, "Where was Adam "when this was happening?" Where was Adam? Don't look at me, the answer's not here. Answer's up there, where's Adam? She gave also to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

Adam didn't take a trip. He didn't take a trip, and they come back, he's like, "What did you do? "God told us not to touch that, what are you doing?" Text tells us he was with her the whole time. And you know what's interesting is after the fall, when God confronts their sin, who does God talk to?

Adam, says, "Adam, what did you do?" And Adam doesn't take any responsibility. The responsibility was on his shoulder. She was a suitable helper, you were the leader, and then you hear what he says? "The woman, the woman you put here, that's why I fell." Adam was not able to shirk his responsibility.

In fact, in Romans chapter five, verse 12 and on, it tells us through the one man, doesn't say through the one woman, through that one man, sin had entered the world. So God placed that burden on his shoulder because he was given the creation mandate. He was given the creation mandate, she came to help, and then she falls into sin, and he stood there and watched it, and then he blamed her for it.

Scripture goes even further than that. First Peter 3.7, it says, "Your husband, in the same way, "live with your wives as understanding way, "as with someone weaker," right? I mean, first text is hard, but this one, weaker. This goes against everything that feminists teach. Weaker, are you kidding? Especially in our culture.

When you say men are stronger, it's like, what? Well, how can you say that? Common sense, yeah, common sense, yeah. 'Cause I got eyes, I got eyes. It's so ridiculous what has happened in our culture, right? Weaker in what sense? Weaker, first of all, physically. If that offends you, something has seriously gone wrong.

You are physically weaker. Does that make you any less? Are the guys in this room who are stronger, more valuable in the kingdom of God, right? Because they wear larger-sized shirts. It's so ridiculous, right? So it's not offensive to say you're weaker, God created you that way, but you're also weaker because God has made you more delicate.

I brought the flowers in here because when we say to a guy, you're a pansy, right? Obviously, it's not a compliment. It means you're delicate, you fold easily, you wither too quick, that's what we mean when we say, oh, you're a snowflake, right? Man up, right, suck it up, right?

That's what we mean when we say be a man. But to a woman, to say she's a pansy is not an offense 'cause God has made you delicate. And I remember the first time learning about that after I got married, 'cause Esther was my first real girlfriend, I grew up with boys, you know what I mean?

We say whatever's on our mind, and if we don't like it, we punch each other, get on the floor, right, and we fight, and the next morning, we wake up, have breakfast, and then we go out, that's it, that's how we grew up. So I remember the first time being married, like all our fights started with me saying, it's just a joke.

(audience laughing) I was just kidding, why is that such a big deal? It took me years, years to figure out, right? 'Cause initially, it was unacceptable. My brothers are okay with it. Philip never responds this way. (audience laughing) God made you more delicate, but that's a good thing. That's a good thing.

God made you like flowers. So when we say pansy, yeah, it requires more nurturing because God made you a nurturer. God made us men like hammers, you know what I mean? We get things done, so even the way we communicate, we just get it done. You say, what's the problem?

It's like, well, here's the problem, let's hammer it and fix it. That's usually the way we communicate. Women will tell us about the color of the flower and the sun and the beauty and the smell. It's like, no, but how do you fix it? 'Cause God created us for the purpose of leading.

God created women for the purpose of supporting, and when they accept and embrace the creation mandate, not only does it bring joy to you, it glorifies God. And so when the scripture tells us the reason why, it says you need to hold on to these roles, it's because when these roles are reversed and when the women leads, this is what has happened.

You are not safe. Men have been called to lead and to care and to shoulder the burden of leadership. And when we shirk our responsibility and place that upon the women, our families fall apart, our church falls apart. Adam should have been there to protect her. Adam should have been there to tell Satan to get out.

Instead, he stood by there and then followed her and then blamed her. God made women delicate. Can you imagine what this world would be like without women? I can. Go to the gym, walk into the locker room. That's what your house is gonna smell like without women. (congregation laughing) It's nasty, right?

Some of you guys live in all houses with just men. Don't invite us. (congregation laughing) I know what it smells like. I know what it's like. I'm not saying all of it is like that, but that's what the world would. Can you imagine the whole world smelling like a locker room?

God has created men to be men and women to be women. When men act like men and women act like women, God's creation order is restored and God is glorified. When you ask a man when he's frustrated with his wife, you know what typically they say? I don't feel respected.

If you ask a woman when she's frustrated with her marriage, you know what she says? I don't feel loved. They weren't taught that. You didn't have years of training that when you say you're frustrated, say it this way. Why do you say that? Because at the core of who you are, that's how God created you.

So you feel happy and at peace when you feel loved because God has created you as a weaker vessel. Not weak as in value, but weak in the sense that God has created beauty in you for the purpose of supporting the man to do his work. In Jude 6, it describes the fall of the satanic world and this is how it's described.

And angels who did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper abode, he has kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day. There's a debate as to what this fall looked like. What was their abode that they came out of? But the point of what he's trying to say is they didn't follow what they were created for.

And as a result of that, they're in rebellion and under the judgment of God. So if we're going to be a church or a family that's going to restore what has gone wrong, first and foremost, we need to revisit what God intended man to be. There's a reason why Satan in our generation is erasing the line between male and female because that was the very first mandate.

So Satan is going back to the very beginning. 'Cause if you want to taint something, taint the beginning. The beginning of God's creation was male and female and what God had intended for men to be and women to be. If we're going to be a church that allows the gospel to restore us, we need to take this command seriously.

Third one, if you're squirming at your seat now, this one's going to be just as hard, okay? The third reason, but a woman will be saved through bearing children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint. Now, is he saying that men are saved by grace but women are saved by childbearing?

Right, how many of you believe that? We want to know the heretics in this room, right? Of course, of course that's not what it's saying, right? The word saved here in the NASB, it says to preserve. The literal word is the same word as save, but obviously if I said, I saved my cat, doesn't mean that when they die, they're going to have eternal life, right?

If the chair was broken and we took it and then we hammered it back in, we say, hey, that chair, we saved it. Doesn't mean it has eternal life. So we use the term save to restore, to preserve in all kinds of ways. So it's not just talking about justification.

Clearly, that's not what he's talking about here. Then what does he mean then? In order to understand what he means by that, in Genesis 3:16, we need to understand the curse of the fall because this is related to the restoration of what was lost. In Genesis 3:16, it said, "To the woman," he said, "I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth, "in pain you will bring forth children, "yet your desire will be for your husband "and he will rule over you." The woman was created for this.

The woman was created so that the union with man would create children and together, they will be able to multiply. But he said, you're going to bear children, but it's going to be done with pain. In fact, the word pain is highlighted twice because the two words, your pain in childbirth, in pain you will bring forth, are two separate Hebrew words.

The first word for pain, isabon, is in reference to anxiety, hardship. The second word for pain, heseb, is referring to physical pain. So when the curse comes in, every aspect of what God intended in creation because of sin and this desire to one-up each other, this pride to elevate yourself, has taken what God has ordained and he said it's going to be very painful.

And when it says your desire is going to be for your husband the word for desire is to challenge and to usurp. Meaning that this sin of wanting to be better than somebody else, and in particular, your own husband, is the cause of tremendous pain, anxiety, and even physical pain, it says.

And as a result of that, he says, instead of him nurturing you, caring for you, he said he's going to rule over you. He's going to use his muscles to dominate you. That's how he describes the fall. For the man, his creation mandate was to be fruitful and multiply, to subdue the land.

The Bible says that he's going to be laboring all his life and at the end of it, all he's going to produce is thorns and thistles. And then at the end of it, instead of producing life, he's going to go back to dust. He's going to die. So his creation mandate remains, but it's going to produce pain and suffering.

Her creation mandate remains, but it's going to produce pain and suffering. So what he's saying here in this text is to restore what was lost at creation. In what way is she saved through childbearing? Obviously, it's not justification, but I think to better understand it, if you look at 1 Corinthians 3.15, I think understanding that text will help us understand this text.

That text in 1 Corinthians 3.15, Paul is addressing people who are saying, "Well, Paul is better. "Is Peter better? "Is Apollos better?" And he's saying all of them have value in the kingdom, but at the end, they're going to be tested with fire. And only the things that remain after they are tested will they be rewarded.

Okay, do you understand that? So this is what it says. "If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, "but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." So is that passage saying that fire is going to save him? Okay, don't look at me 'cause the answer's not here.

It's over there, right? Is that text saying fire is going to save that man? Because the language is the same. Of course not, that's not what it's saying. He's going to be tested through the fire. And whatever is preserved through the fire, he says it will remain, right? So the text that we're looking at, he's not saying bearing children is going to save him.

What he is saying is that the pain and suffering that came in, that is producing pain, that God is going to preserve her through the difficulty that comes. In the value, when we restore what God had intended. Let me summarize this, okay? The reason why I chose this sermon is because our churches and our families are being attacked.

And our young men and women are so confused because of what's happening in our society. Like, what is a man? What is a woman? What is our role? And even the churches are beginning to cave in in order to appease what's happening in our society. But this is at the beginning of God's creation.

If this goes wrong, everything else is going to unravel with it. If we're going to be a light, we have to be a light of what God has intended. If we're going to pray, let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, this is the first and foremost thing that we need to wrestle with.

The problem with our generation is we have young women who dream about one day they're going to become this profession or that profession, and I'm going to do this, and I'm going to become somebody big. But if that woman says, I'm going to grow up, and I'm going to be the best mother I can be, all of a sudden the reaction is, what's wrong with you?

Have some ambition. Why are you oppressed? Why do you think that way? Who taught you? What kind of church do you go to? Something has seriously gone wrong when the greatest, greatest assignment, the creation order, is repeated, and even in the church the response is, that's it? On this Mother's Day.

On this Mother's Day we need to realize that we are in battle. We are in battle. Men tend to wake up when there's an emergency. We tend to become boys in times of peace. Let's just admit it, right? When we're bored we start playing games. We get involved with trivial things.

When war comes men become men. So you see men who've gone through war, went to the military, they come back different men, they grow up, they snap out of it, right? We're in war. We're in war. We can't ask the women to be women until the men become men.

That's our responsibility. That mandate's been given to us. Adam should have stood before the gap. And said this is not God's command. Instead of standing there watching. Let me get really personal, okay? If you're struggling with your girlfriend physically, stop blaming her. That's your fault. Because God has placed the responsibility on you.

Does she have a responsibility before God? Of course. But you're the leader. You're the leader. You take the responsibility. This is me. And you say me and my household, we will serve the Lord. We are the leaders. And the best thing that a man could do is to create an environment where my wife can be the best mother that she can be.

So men need to be men so that the women can be women. I'm gonna give you three practical advice. One, evangelism has to first start at home. Don't send your kids to church hoping that the church will do the evangelism. That responsibility is on the mother. And then the father to create an environment where the mother can do that.

Two, do not make your child the center of your world. You are ruining them. Because once they leave your protection, nobody but you is gonna make them the center of their world. So when you create a child walking around to look for their mom and dad who treated them as the center of the world, you're ruining them.

It's gonna ruin their marriage. It's gonna ruin their friendship. It's gonna ruin their future. Love them, care for them, but don't make them your priority. Third and finally, do not inoculate your children. When we get vaccines, there's a little bit of that disease in that vaccine in order for your body to build up an immune system.

And so when the disease comes, that your body can fight against it. That's what I mean by inoculation. Many parents in a Christian home inoculate their children with the gospel so that when they get to the next stage of life, they build up a tolerance against the gospel. And they're much harder to reach because they heard everything.

And so everything that they know about Christ is theory, but they haven't lived it because the parents didn't live it. If you're not careful, you're gonna end up inoculating your children and you're gonna one day wake up and say, I brought them to church. They were at Sunday school.

They were at VBS. We serve. What happened? I'm not saying that everybody who does that is gonna have godly children when they grow up, but if we're not careful, if we are nominal, our children are gonna be even harder to reach in the next generation. So I wanna end today's service with this.

We live in a generation where every fundamental value that we have as Judeo-Christian is being attacked. And if the men do not wake up, and if we live childish lives, then our wives cannot play the role that God has called them to play. And if men are not being men and women are not being women, it doesn't matter how many verses you've memorized.

It doesn't matter how many theology or books that you've read. We've lost the battle. So on this Mother's Day, let's honor our mothers. And the best way that you men, whether you're married or not, the best way that you can honor your mother and father, be the man that God called you to be.

Getting them flowers is great. Hopefully you're gonna get them some candy and make some good dinner and all of that. But none of that is gonna help if on a day-to-day basis you don't live like a man. So psych, you thought this was gonna be for women. It's for men.

(congregation laughing) Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your grace. We thank you for your patience. Lord, all of us, we are guilty in some sense that we fall short. So we thank you, Father God, that you are patient with us, that you're merciful, that you forgive us. But help us, Lord God.

Help us, Lord God, to fight, to struggle, to wrestle. As Paul said, that we would buffet our bodies, make it our slaves. Yet after we have preached to others that we may not be disqualified. Help us to honor you. Help us to honor our mothers as they labor all year sacrificing.

May they receive the reward for their sacrifices. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. (gentle piano music) ♪ The grace of God ♪ ♪ The grace of God has reached for me ♪ ♪ And pulled me from the raging sea ♪ ♪ And I am set on the solid ground ♪ ♪ The Lord is my salvation ♪ ♪ Now when I fear darkness falls ♪ ♪ His strength will help me scale these walls ♪ ♪ I see the dawn of the rising sun ♪ ♪ The Lord is my salvation ♪ ♪ Who is like the Lord our God ♪ ♪ Strong to save, faithful with love ♪ ♪ My debt is paid and the victory won ♪ ♪ The Lord is my salvation ♪ ♪ My hope is hidden in the Lord ♪ ♪ He flowers each promise of His word ♪ ♪ When winter fades, I know spring will come ♪ ♪ The Lord is my salvation ♪ ♪ In times of rain, times of heat ♪ ♪ When I am lost, when I am weak ♪ ♪ I know His grace will relieve these tears ♪ ♪ The Lord is my salvation ♪ ♪ Who is like the Lord our God ♪ ♪ Strong to save, faithful with love ♪ ♪ My debt is paid and the victory won ♪ ♪ The Lord is my salvation ♪ ♪ And when I reach the final day ♪ ♪ He will not leave me in the grave ♪ ♪ But I will rise, He will call me home ♪ ♪ The Lord is my salvation ♪ ♪ Who is like the Lord our God ♪ ♪ Strong to save, faithful with love ♪ ♪ My debt is paid and the victory won ♪ ♪ The Lord is my salvation ♪ ♪ Glory be to God, the Father ♪ ♪ Glory be to God, the Son ♪ ♪ Glory be to God, the Spirit ♪ ♪ The Lord is our salvation ♪ ♪ Glory be to God, the Father ♪ ♪ Glory be to God, the Son ♪ ♪ Glory be to God, the Spirit ♪ ♪ The Lord is our salvation ♪ ♪ The Lord is our salvation ♪ ♪ The Lord is our salvation ♪ - Amen, let's pray.

Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, the eternal love of God the Father, continue to guide us and lead us and challenge us that we may be molded by the word of God, the power of God, the cross of Christ, that wherever you send us, that we may be the salt and light that you've called us to be.

Amen. (gentle music) ♪ God sent his Son ♪ ♪ They called him Jesus ♪ ♪ He came to love ♪ ♪ He left for good ♪ ♪ He lived in time ♪ ♪ To buy my poorness ♪ ♪ An empty grave is there too ♪ ♪ I say no less ♪ ♪ Because he lives ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because he lives ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ Because I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because he lives ♪ ♪ You rise for my sleep at night ♪ ♪ I depend on you ♪ ♪ Yes, I depend on you ♪ (harmonizing)