Godly Women are Fearlessly Submissive, Peacefully Nurturing, and Respectfully Meek.
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· 367 viewsPastor James takes us through Proverbs, 1 Peter, and Titus and shows us what God's word has to say on being a Godly woman.
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As we saw in week one…Manhood and Womanhood…the fact that God created us…as male and female…with specific order and purpose…this beautiful truth is central to the very order and purpose of creation.
This means we as God’s people must trust Him in our manhood and womanhood…we must hold up this truth as important and beautiful and powerful...we must obey Him in His creation order and design for our lives…our families…and our church...
We also saw that God created us humans to have dominion over His creation the earth…to rule over it…
Then right after giving us that dominion commission…we get this...
SLIDE
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
So…if we are to live…in the will of God…to have dominion the way God has called us to…Then our respective maleness and femaleness are not secondary issues to creation…or in our day…the church...
They are primary…to our lives…our marriages…our families…and the church...
God created us male and female…with order and purpose…
That order defines and gives authority, function and identity...to maleness and femaleness...
And as a people...and as a church we must stand firm on this truth as it is being attacked from every angle in the world and in the visible church…day by day…in our day...
Our sex…male or female…man or woman…was given by God to each of us as part of our identity…this is something we should celebrate…and live out beautifully and display boldly…in every part of our lives...
We also…since we are not of the world but are still in it…we must admit…that in a world full of confusion and lies about manhood and womanhood…we need the Lord God to...
Transform us in these areas…conform us to the way He created us to live…He must renew our minds…so that we can see clearly…and even help others to know and see the beauty and power of a people…God’s people truly trusting and obeying God as we push back against the cultural tides…and dive in to the Word of God asking the Spirit of God to help us…the Church of God to show this world…our families…and hopefully many broken…and confused believers and unbelievers…the power of the truth that...
Genesis 1:27 (ESV)
So God created (us) in his own image,
in the image of God he created (us);
male and female he created (us).
We have also seen…and I hope this is helping you see in the world and the visible church...
The devil knows the power of this very truth...
The devil knows that if the people of God would live in the will of God…obeying the commands of God…and truly living and celebrating the fact that God created us male and female...
The devil knows that the more fully we trust God and obey God in the way He ordered our roles and purposes as male and female…the more powerfully we will have dominion in the areas God has called us to have dominion...
It is no accident of history that when a society ignores these truths…downplays the importance of manhood and womanhood and sexual morality and biblical family and church as the center of society…societies that walk away from those truths are also are a societies that turn from God and authority…those societies turn to chaos and disorder...
This is why...this is the truth…that the devil attacked in the garden…and we now see that the devil has infected the modern mind with lies about what God intended when He created us male and female...
So we @ Revival church…your elders have decided that for 7 weeks we will ask the One true God through Word of God and by the Spirit of God to show us what He intended…and how He then intends for us to live out the truth that God created us male and female…in every part of our lives…as His church...
Last week I looked at the order and function and attitudes of Godly men…and how that is to play out in our lives as men...
So we have seen that men are to be the ones that initiate…that we men are...
Man (male) is created to...Lead - Provide - Protect -
If you haven’t listened to the first 2 sermons…you should…much of what we will see is built upon (especially) the truths in sermon 1 of this series...
So man to lead…provide…protect…but not alone in creation…not alone in the call to have dominion…because...
After God created man in the garden (from the ground of the garden)…to lead and work and keep...
God says this...
SLIDE
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
So God is going to make the perfectly fit…beautifully complementary helper for man...
It makes sense then that this helper will complement (help) man in his roles...
SLIDE
The perfectly fit (complementary) helper to man would:
So if man is to lead…then a perfectly fit helper would...
Submit - follow the lead of the man.
If man is to provide…work creation for provision...then a perfectly fit helper would…take that provision…and
2. Nurture - to use it for the good purposes of man and her family and the church…and in a dominion securing way...
If man is to Protect…keep guard over - then a perfectly fit helper would...
3. Respect - to know that the enemy is attacking…that dominion is at stake…she will live under the covering of man…in his protection…and respect man in his role as man…to lovingly lead…provide for…and protect her as woman...
We know these roles just by thinking through…what would the helper perfectly fit for man…what would be the order and purpose and attitude of that God-given helper?
We also so see this in the WAY God created woman...
Man created first from the ground he is to work and keep...
Man before woman created is given the word of God in the first command of God to man…so it is then man who is to teach this word and lead woman in the world and in the Word...
Woman…was created then from man and for man…to be a helper fit for man...
For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.
So woman was created from the side of man…in the words of commentator Matthew Henry...
“The woman was made out of Adam’s side. She was not made out of his head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, (yet) under (him) his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be loved.”
So God in the way He created us male and female and in the commands He has given us in His Word…God has in mind a specific order and purpose for us as male and female…and this order when lived our happily and boldly in every part of our lives is part of what God intends for His people…in our day…the church…
Church...we are to be the very center of society…having dominion over all creation...
So when we lose or deemphasize these truths…or change or ignore these truths…we as God’s people do not become stronger or more influential over society (which we have been deceived into thinking)…but instead by God’s grace and power…when we truly live out God’s intended order and purpose for us as male and female in all of life…we become stronger…and counter-culturally, counter-intuitively more influential…it is then that we are truly as the church able to have dominion…as image bearers of God created puposefully by God as male and female...
Yes it is true when we as the church boldly, unashamedly obey God in these truths...as men and women…we will act and talk and look different from the world…we will be set apart…and it is then we are truly living as God intended us to live…then we can impact our families and neighborhoods cities and workplaces and this world…more fully...
The devil wants us to think we need to be more like the world to influence the world...
But as I have said throughout this series…our God tells us this...
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
For Acts 2 to our day…when revivals happen…it is often the set apartness of God’s people that draws lost and lonely people come and hear the gospel God...
What I am to preach to you today…in this little church in Northern Wisconsin...will sound foolish and weak to worldly ears…but remember this...
1 Corinthians 1:
Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
So in this series Brian and I want you to see that order, and roles, and identifying characteristics, and attitudes, for men and this week for woman are very clearly and distinctly shown to us in the word of God…
My prayer for today is that I would…present this counter-cultural, powerfully-beautiful, world-defying truth - Womanhood as God intended...
The way God has excellently created Women…and intends for y’all women to live as women…
I hope that I present this truth in a way that you not only see it as the true from the Word of God and as the way of God…but that y’all would grab hold of what God has given us…and dive into pure and Holy obedience to God...that this truth would cause your joy in your womanhood to be full and complete…and boldly lived out in all of your life!
My prayer is that the women of Revival Church would be overflowing with joy because of the clarity of God’s word to you women…and that you would be set free from the lies of our world about what a woman is or is not...and see your identity as image bearers of our most Holy God…in exactly the way God has created you to live and be as women…fully trusting the God who has created you as female!
I hope that these words would be to you today as the Word of God is to the Psalmist in Psalm 119 who says...
Psalm 119:111 (ESV)
Your testimonies (God) are my heritage forever,
for they are the joy of my heart.
So this week we will be looking at what God intends for women…and why you should joyfully and fearlessly obey the Word of God in your womanhood…without an ounce of shame!
And how we all should respond to Godly Womanhood as seen in Godly Women!
In order to do this fully…you must see that there is a lie that the devil is using to try to strip you of your identity…as a woman...
I think we need to call it out now before we dig in…ot this lie may cloud your vision of the truth...
This lie is some version of the same deceptive lie that the enemy told Eve in the garden...
While Adam passively blamed Woman and God for what happened in the Garden...
The woman knew what happened...
She was attacked first by the enemy…instead of Going to the one who was to lead provide protect...
The enemy went after the one who was to submit…to follow…to be protected…under the covering of man...
And when confronted by God after the fall...the woman knew it..,she admitted it…she was deceived...
Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”
The devil deceived her…told her she would be like God…happier and more complete…if she would not live…as God intended...
Of course the devil did not come out and say this directly…he is the great deceiver and the father of lies...
What did the serpent say…to deceive Eve to try to strip her of her identity as an image bearer of God…and as a woman created by God…as woman!
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made.
He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
And this lie continues in our day…in the world…and in the visible church the devil continues to ask…
Does God actually want you to be a Godly woman…and not be able to do this one thing or that other thing?
Look at all the things you “could be doing”…even the things man can do…don’t you want to be like that…”anything he can do you can do better…you be you”? Does God actually want you to submit…to follow that guy? Or those elders? Does God actually have roles for men and women in the home and in the church and in the world that are for our good? Aren’t they old fashioned…isn’t it 2021…we must know better…than God by now?
What about this verse or that verse…God could not have meant that in that way…right?…there must be some other explanation…that verse must have only been for those other people…not us…not you…just go ahead and do what you want…God would want that for you...
What did the serpent say to woman next?
Genesis 3:4–5 (ESV)
But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it (disobey God) your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
God won’t punish you…there will be no consequences…actually once you do that one thing God has not given for you to do…you will be a goddess…in control of your own destiny...then you will really know good and evil…and be more like God...
And yet…in her creation order and identity...God had already...
Genesis 1:27 (ESV)
So God created (her) in his own image,
in the image of God he created (her);
female he created (her).
Women of God...hear me…before I say anything else...hear this...
God loves you…God created you as a woman…and God created womanhood…God is wise and good…He is for you and not against you...
Trust Him…Submit first to God…
He is a good Father…a Perfect shepherd…a Powerful Helper…
Radically start here…by fully trusting and with all your heart mind soul and strength…rely fully on God and His perfect ways…and know and study and believe His Word!
God has spoken to you…through His Word!
God has created you…fit to be...a helper...
If you look closely and see clearly you will see that when the devil lies to women about their identity....it is often that women will believe that they can only have worth…or contribute…if they are like men…doing the things God has called men to do...
That should make you women of the Word angry…righteously angry…why?
Because that is like saying being a woman…as a woman…created in the image of God…that is not enough…or like saying womanhood is not as worthy as manhood...
How much more worthy can it get…that God created both male and female in His image…this is why I am so passionate about this issue…because is is foundational to the way God created us as those to have dominion over all of creation...
As we will see at the end...womanhood is to be praised…and sometimes I think the least likely people to praise womanhood…are women...
With that let us see true Biblical Womanhood and ask…what does it look like for women to live the way God intended as women?
How does a woman live in her God-ordained, God-created order...for her God-given purpose…most especially for you if you are a born again believer in Christ Jesus our Lord?
And I hope to show you that not only are Godly Women Fearlessly Submissive, Peacefully Nurturing, and Reverently Meek.
But also…that those are the qualities of women that are to be praised!
Oh does our culture have this confused…wash clear our minds oh God of any confusion in regards to the praiseworthiness of true womanhood!
And how that is to be lived out by the women of your Church in this world!
There is no need to wonder why so many women are depressed…anxious…lost…confused…and looking for purpose...
They are looking beyond the very purpose God has intended for them...
To the Women of the church...I truly think that the women here in this church…have been gathered together in this Church…purposefully by God...
So I also believe that if you women in unity and truth and love are set on fire by these truths we see over this 7 weeks series…y’all could not only be blessed and filled with with joy and peace together…bound together in love…but also you women could be a massive help for innumerable women beyond the walls of this church building…a ripple effect could happen...
Not to mention the power and peace that these truths will bring to our inner beings…our homes…families…marriages…our church...
So…after creating man and giving Him authority and order and identity in His roles as a a man…
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”
This helper is fit perfectly to complement man…in some way opposite of man…distinct from man…created by God as woman to complement man in his roles…we need to see woman is needed in order for us to have dominion…and in order to do that she is not to be another man…or have the same roles as man....or the same order or authority as man…but as an image bearer of God with the same worth as man...woman is given different order…and roles…
So if we together are to have dominion…to be in the will of God and live the way he has created us…then woman must fulfill her roles...if this beautiful dance of manhood and womanhood is to be to the glory of God…then woman is created to help man in her role she will...
SLIDE
Godly women were created to:
Submit
in God’s creation order...the man is to lead and the woman is to help by following man’s lead as they are fruitful…multiply…fill the earth and subdue it…take dominion...
Nurture
as man is to provide...woman is to take that provision and care for the home and children with that provision to make it work in a way that is fruitful for the family in their quest for dominion over the little kingdom that God has given them…in His Kingdom...
Respect
as the man is to lead, provide, and protect the woman was created from man and for man as his helper…and therefore is to respect his role as man and be reverent towards her Lord and God and in doing so so (as we will see throughout this series)…Woman is showing this world and her family how good and wise God is…and how we the church are to follow our Lord Jesus...more to come on this next week and in the weeks to come...
These are the primary 3 purposes that identify and fulfill what it means to be a woman…the helper fit for man...
But I also believe that the Bible shows us there are to be 3 attitudes…that women are to have in these 3 purposes...
To build on what we have seen I will be using Proverbs 31…
I will then for each point use Proverbs 31 as a launching point to show these 3 truths in the NT for the women of the church...as explained by Paul and Peter...
Quick Disclaimer: I know that in some of the texts the women mentioned are wives…
But as we will see in Prov 31…these truths are really drawing upon the beauty of true womanhood…for all women who fear the Lord...
Whether you are married or not, whether you have children or not, all women should be striving to be a woman who fears the Lord…and then lives as the Lord intends for her to live…trusting that God will bless her for it.
All young women and girls should be seeking the holiness and maturity that is described here. And the older women and wives training up the young woman in these ways...
As I said last week to the women...I will say this week to the men and young boys...
This sermon has a great deal of application for you men.
If you are a boy or a young man, or if you’re a single man of any age who hopes to be married, this is a very clear description of the kind of woman you should be looking for.
For those who are married, this passage shows us how to pray for our wives, and how to encourage them…and why we should praise them!
As husbands, we are called to be the leaders in our homes, and we must lead in such a way that the women in our church (our wives if married) delight and excel in being God-fearing women.
So a little different from usual I am going to read the 3 main texts I will be using to show these truths...
I gave them to you in a handout…on the back...
And I will provide many verses on the screen throughout the sermon…
I want this to be clear…with no room for distraction...because I know the devil does not want you women (or us men) to hear and understand and love these truths…to live them and be able to explain them to others…
The Word of God to Us this Lord’s day!
SLIDE
An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
She is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar.
She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
She dresses herself with strength
and makes her arms strong.
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
She is not afraid of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
She makes bed coverings for herself;
her clothing is fine linen and purple.
Her husband is known in the gates
when he sits among the elders of the land.
She makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
She looks well to the ways of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women have done excellently,
but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
and let her works praise her in the gates.
SLIDE
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
SLIDE
...Focusing on 3-6 for today...
Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.
SLIDE
As perfectly fit helpers:
1. Godly Women are: Fearlessly Submissive
When Godly…Holy…Christian women of faith are described in the Bible…the characteristic most often used to describe them…and even identify them as Holy…is submission...
1 Pet 3 starts with...
1 Peter 3:1 (ESV)
Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands...
Then gives us an example of a Holy Woman of faith!
1 Peter 3:5–6 (ESV)
For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord.
And we say this at the start of Prov 31...
An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
Her husband trusts her. He is never worried about her faithfulness to him or her rebelling against his leading of her...
He trusts her...
And there is a promis that goes with this…he will have no lack of gain! And he is to provide…her submission not only helps in his leading but in his providing...
She is the helper fit for him...
Submission is so central to True Womanhood that it is listed as a primary thing women are to be teaching to one another as they meet together…to submit to their husbands (or future husbands)...
Look in Titus 2...
Titus 2:5 (ESV)
to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
In Proverbs 31 there was a promise associated with her submission…here we have a warning…that women not submitting to their husbands…not only is limiting her husband and family…but in some way reflects poorly on the Gospel and the truth of God’s Word... that the word of God may not be reviled.
This is a theme that runs through the NT...
In 2 weeks from now Brian will be preaching on Eph 5…for wives...
SLIDE
Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.
Also...
Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Final sermon of this 7 week series will include this text...
But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God.
Man as the leader…the head...
What is headship…the head is where the authority and decisions come from...
The head of a woman is man…He goes on...
For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man.
So we have this truth that Man was formed first…given rule first…and then from man and for man was created woman...
And we see the woman in proverbs lives in a way that her husband trusts her…because as the helper fit perfectly for the man who is to lead…she will submit to his leadership!
He can therefore trust her...
The Greek word translated...
SLIDE
“Submit,” hypotasso
- to be subject to someone else’s rule
- to be arranged under
- to obey
And when used it is in the form of a continuing present form of the verb.
Submission is not simply an act...It is a continual attitude…
Submission is not something a godly woman decides to do sometimes....but an attitude or pattern of behavior…be always submitting...
Let me show you this in 1 Peter...
For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands,
He goes on…to give an example...
1 Peter 3:6a (ESV)
as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord.
Lord here is the lower case lord…master…guardian…head…leader...
Do anyone know where in the Bible Sarah called Abraham lord?
Sarah is held up in the Book of Hebrews...mentioned as a pillar of faith...
She obeyed Abraham in many things…even trusting him to the point of saying she was his sister to keep himself (and ultimately her...from being killed…so out of all those times…when does she call him lord?
The Lord tells Abraham Sarah will have a child even though they are old…Sarah hears this...
SLIDE
So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”
She almost in passing calls Abraham…my lord...
And here in 1 pet 3:6...Holy Women who put there hope in God are told they are…adorned in beauty…precious in the eyes of God when they submit…like when Sarah called Abraham lord...
This is significant because of how insignificantly she calls him lord…this was her attitude…her way of living…her identity as a woman was as a helper…she followed the lead of Abraham...
First, of course, we are responsible to submit to God, which is the only way we can truly obey Him (James 1:21; 4:7).
Submit is not a bad word or a weak quality…submission is not a reflection of inferiority or lesser worth.
Christ fully submitted Himself to the will of the Father…saying not my will but yours be done...
Jesus worth and glory is seen beautifully as submits and goes to the cross...
Godly women are submissive…more on this in a couple weeks from Brian...
But I want to show you that Godly Women are Fearlessly Submissive!
A Holy, Set apart, Biblical woman is fearless in her submission…even when the thing she is called to do is frightening!
SLIDE
as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.
This is a direct reference to her submission…Sarah obeyed Abraham…even calling him Lord…through many scary situations…she could done this...
Hey Abraham…I have a better, smarter, and much more logical idea than…this whole sister thing...
Instead...she was fearlessly submissive...
Peter here says to women…especially to wives...
Be like Sarah...submit…fearlessly…even if what he has called you to do is frightening...
Submission is not truely submission if it is doing what you wanted to do in the first place…that is agreement which is great when it happens…but…to submit…is to fearlessly follow...
Back to Proverbs…this excellent wife whose husband trusts that we will follow his lead...
She also…is strong and dignified…and fearless...
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
Come what may…she will fearlessly laugh in the face of it!
Where does this fearlessness come from?
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
She fears the Lord…reveres the Lord…and obeys the Lord who calls her as woman…a helper…to fearlessly submit...
God is good and has created her as woman…with purpose and order...
So she is...Fearlessly submissive...
2. Godly Women are: Peacefully Nurturing
Man provides…woman nurtures...
What does it mean to nurture?
To nurture is to take resources and use them in caring for and encouraging the growth or development of someone or something.
Watch this happen in Proverbs 31…man provides a garden…a little kingdom…to have dominion over…and woman...
Takes the situation and resources and uses them to care for the home…and encourage the growth and development of the family...
She seeks wool and flax,
and works with willing hands.
She is like the ships of the merchant;
she brings her food from afar.
She rises while it is yet night
and provides food for her household
and portions for her maidens.
She considers a field and buys it;
with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.
She dresses herself with strength
and makes her arms strong.
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable.
Her lamp does not go out at night.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her hands hold the spindle.
She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
.
She makes linen garments and sells them;
she delivers sashes to the merchant.
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
She also teaches others to do the same…with kindness...
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
Put this together with...
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.
So a godly woman will help her husband by nurturing the family and household…according to Titus 2 working this for the home…1 Tim 5 uses a word that makes the woman the manager…the keeper and director of the home and kids...
The man leads…the woman manages the under his leadership…making the plans and directions work for the development of the home and family...
And the same in the church…which we will get to in a few weeks...
So woman nurture and care for the home…wives mothers and daughter...
Even at times doing things outside the home to help in the development of the home...
Not in a leading sort of way…in a strategic sort of way…for the nurturing of the home...
This godly woman works hard and efficiently in managing her household.
She is so dedicated to the godly development of her family (husband and children if married) that she works and plans and buys and sells and gathers and prepares food and provides clothes...all of this with the same purpose…to do what is best for the home…for the husband…submitting to him and using what they have for the good of their household...
Man and woman here are very much in this way partners…he leads and provides…she takes the position they are in…submits to his plans…does so for the good of the household...
And with what attitude does she do this?
but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.
What does it mean to have a quiet Spirit…this word used for quietness…is a quietness that starts internally…
A godly woman has an internal quietness about her…she trusts God will provide so she can also trust that her husband will provide…and then peacefully use that provision and their situation to nurture…develop…the family...
She is not anxious about what the Lord has given her...she works hard to use it for the nurturing of her household…she is quiet in spirit…calm on the inside...
Working for and caring for the home...
She is not afraid of snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed in scarlet.
She also peacefully nurtures by helping those in need.
She opens her hand to the poor
and reaches out her hands to the needy.
A Godly woman looks to the needs of her family, but she also looks to other needs around her.
She is generous and hospitable and helpful…because the is peacefully quiet in Spirit.
So Godly Women are: Fearlessly Submissive...Peacefully Nurturing…and...
3. Godly Women are: Respectfully Meek
As the man is called to protect.…the woman is called to respect…you may not necessarily see how a man’s call to protect…how is a woman helping in this by respecting man?
That word respect…for example in Ephesians 5 is the Word…phobeo…where we get the prefix phobia…fear...
To respect is to have a fear for...a reverence for...
Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good,
The best way to show this is to return for the garden...
If Eve would have seen the attack of the devil as an attack…and she would have trusted God in her role knowing that God had made man to be her protector...
If you are under attack…you have a reverence...a good kind of fear…a respect for the one who can protect you...
She would have respected Adam…by falling under his covering…in his protection...
The heart of her husband trusts in her,
and he will have no lack of gain.
She does him good, and not harm,
all the days of her life.
She does Him good and not harm…all the days of her life…she does nothing to tear down or disrespect or harm her husband...
Quiet the opposite…she respect him…builds him up...
And for woman to respect man in this way…she will also need to be meek...
but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.
What is a gentle Spirit?
That is the quality or attitude of meekness...
What is meekness...
Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth.
We tend to think of meekness as weak and silent.
Matthew Henry’d Discourse on Meekness describes meekness as a kind of self-control.
True, biblical meekness is a humble self-control of personal strength and prideful desires…putting the will of God and doing good to others above our own...
Like Moses...meekness compels us to give our lives to obey God for the good of others...
We decrease Christ increases…and his priorities become ours...
Meekness is a type of humility that puts others above self in a gentle way…so for Christians meekness is primarily humble submission to the will of God...
Jesus is said to be meek…Matt 21...as He rides in on a donkey to Jerusalem...
Emptied himself for us…came to serve not be served…gave His life for us...
He is about to give His life submitting to the will of God for the good of others…in an act of perfect meekness...
And what does He do before that as He enters Jerusalem...
Jesus goes to the temple a turns over the tables...
Why? His fathers house was being dishonored...
Emptied himself for us…came to serve not be served…gave His life for us...
Meekness is not weakness...
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
The meek shall have dominion...
Jesus tells us this of Himself...
Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
So a godly woman is one who is meek…humbly submitted to the will of God…and in her meekness…is gentle and humble and gives of herself for the good of others...
And she respects man in his roles…
So #3 a Godly woman is a woman who is respectfully meek in her role as woman...
To meekly live for the glory of another is a meekness that will show this world the goodness of the glory of God as seen in the face of Jesus Christ…
That is why peter says this of a woman even if she has an unbelieving husband...
Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.
So we see with this woman in Prov 31…her respectful meekness towards her husband…and the subsequent glory that comes...
Verse 12, “She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.”
Verse 23, “Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.”
It seems odd that right in the middle of this passage about the woman who fears the Lord there’s a verse about the husband being known among the elders...
The point being made here is that a woman who is respectfully meek towards man.
Her work and nurturing of her at home and service to her husband is to the benefit of her family because it benefits her husband...
He is a better man because he is married to her.
And he knows it...
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
Women of Revival church...
God has given you a very powerful and specific order and purpose and calling...
Women you were created because it was not good for us men to be alone…created specifically and complementary as our helpers...
And just like last week we saw the strength for men to act like man comes from God...
Where does the woman get the power to live this way?
What is it that drives her in her fearless submission, Peaceful nurturing, and respectful meekness?
Because she is fearless…Godly women are fearless..
1 Peter 3:6 (ESV)
do not fear anything that is frightening.
Why?
Because she fears the Lord...
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
And women…when you fear the Lord…you can say with the Psalmist...
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
And like Sarah…fear nothing that is frightening...
When you trust the Lord, when you fear Him, when you run to Him and delight in Him, turn from your sin and put your faith in Him...
You won’t care what the world thinks of submission or nurturing or respect or meekness...
The fear of the Lord will drive out every other fear.
Fear God, and you will fear Him alone.
You will have nothing else to fear because God is for you and He is working all things together for your good.
Finally to all of us...
A Woman Who Fears the Lord Is To Be Praised
Men…children…other women…the world does not praise women who are fearlessly submissive...Peacefully Nurturing…and Reverently Meek...
Yet we have seen today that women who fear the Lord…are women who trust the Lord and find their identity in the Lord and the way the Lord has called His women to live...
And the Lord also tells us…those are the women that are to be praised!
We should find great joy in living as God has called, ordered, and created us to live...
And we should praise those who do!
Knowing it is the Lord's doing...
When we see evidences of grace…these attitudes and characteristics in the women of our church…and in our homes…and in the world…we ought to praise them!
Children…to your moms...
Husbands to your wives...
Brothers to your sisters…in our homes and our sisters in Christ in the church...
Praise them!
Let me start!
I want to say before all of you that I am so thankful and blessed by God for Him giving me a wife who fears the Lord.
She is such a blessing to me and our family and this church...
She is the helper perfectly fit for me...
She day by day grows in these characteristics and attitudes…because she fears the Lord!
She loves meekness! So I praise her!
To the women of Revival Church...
I am honored to be your pastor...
I truly believe that if you women grab hold of this picture of Biblical womanhood…you will help this church be adominion-securing church…for many...
As you live your lives as women who fearlessly submit...peacefully nurture, and are reverently meek together, as women, encouraging one another to be women.
You are the kind of women that are to be praised.
And great help to us men!
This is God’s design that we see from the very beginning when God created Adam and Eve.
He made the man to be the leader provider protector...
Woman to submit…nurture…and respect...
And this is a beautiful truth that this world desperately needs to see from us…God’s people!
This is to be on display in our personal lives…in our homes…in our marriages…in our church…and as we powerfully live as the church in this world!
And as I am certain Brian will show you…for us men and women to take hold of these truths and live them boldly in our marriages...
Greatly glorifies God because it is a living portrait of Christ’s relationship to the church, as Paul writes in Ephesians 5.
Which is where we are headed next!
Amen!