The Role Of A Woman

Today I'm going to preach on the role of a woman. The role of a woman. So this is the second of two sermons in a series on gender roles. If you missed the one for the men, men, you can listen to that one online.

I did that one two weeks ago on the role of a man. So today it's going to be the role of a woman, but men, do not check out. It's good for the men to hear about the role of a woman, especially if you're married, because you're supposed to live with your wife in an understanding way, right?

So hopefully this will help you understand, because I have an extensive understanding of women. Jeannie, that's just a smile or laugh at that. You're supposed to say, yeah, of course, of course, of course.

No, but the good thing about the Word of God is that it teaches us these things. And so there's basic truths that we can all learn from. So I'll talk to you basically about what a woman is and how to act like one.

So I'm going to go over seven different things just to give you by way of intro here. A woman is beautifully confident. A woman is the glory and helper of man. A woman is a lover of children.

A woman is a wise teacher. A woman is a worker. A woman is a domestic executive. And a woman is a submitted follower. Okay? And all of these are not just by command, but by creation.

Not just by demand, but by design. That's an important point there. Okay? So we believe that men and women are equal in value, but different in roles everywhere.

Because their roles are hardwired into creation and nature. If gender roles are rooted in creation and the very nature of men and women, then they apply everywhere, and it makes no sense to limit them just to church and home.

Zachary Garris said the attempt to limit gender roles to the home and church is dualistic, and that it pits the religious against the secular. But God designed men to be men in all of life.

And he has designed women to be women in all of life. In the home, church, and society. Women do not get to act like men just because they have stepped outside of the home into broader society.

A woman takes her womanly nature with her wherever she goes. And a man takes his manly nature with him wherever he goes. Okay? So let's jump in.

A woman is, number one, beautifully confident. Beautifully confident. A woman is called to be beautifully confident, strong, and secure with a quiet spirit. Alright?

We'll start with the first. This is the fruit of her whole. 1 Peter 3, 3-6 says, 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.

The new living says, made themselves beautiful, which is the definition of adornment. 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. So there's so much great stuff in this verse when it comes to womanhood.

Alright? Not the least being when it says, which in God's sight is very precious. To know that as a woman you can possess something that is very precious in God's sight.

I would think for any woman that would be a highlight for you to say, wow, what a statement. What a statement that God would say that when there's an imperishable beauty, a beauty that does not fade, of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.

And so he's talking about not letting your adorning be external. Okay? There is an outward or external adorning or beautification, and then there's an internal one.

Some legalists would take this and say, with this verse, you can't do your hair, you can't wear jewelry. But if they neglect to do the last one, that would be that you also couldn't wear clothes. So clearly that's not what they're saying here.

Because you can't just pick and choose a couple of them and then pick the last one and say, but you have to wear clothes. He's not talking here about some kind of legalistic rule structure here.

He's talking about where your adornment comes from. He's saying you can do these things, but don't let those things be the source of your beauty. Don't let the braiding of your hair or the wearing of gold jewelry or the clothes you wear, don't let those things be the source of your adornment, of the way you are made beautiful.

But it should be the imperishable beauty. See, those things will fade. Those things fade. Those are perishable. There's an imperishable beauty, a beauty that doesn't fade, that comes from the inside. It's a gentle and quiet spirit.

Gentle in that it doesn't have to make its own way because it's trusting that God is for them. Okay? And quiet in that it doesn't have to fight for itself because knowing that God is for each and every woman.

And so when you know that, it causes you and gives you a freedom to be gentle and quiet, which in God's side is very precious. And this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves. This is how people used to make themselves beautiful.

This is the ancient way. This is the ancient path. By submitting their own husbands to Sarah B. Abraham, calling him Lord, and your children if you do good. And do not fear anything that is frightening.

A lot of women know that it is frightening oftentimes to submit to a man because he's not God. He's not perfect. He makes mistakes. And so we're not saying that a woman needs to be unafraid because it's not actually frightening.

It's saying, hey, there are legitimate things that are scary. It's scary oftentimes to follow a man. But you don't have to fear that which is frightening because your hope is in God, not in that particular man.

And when your hope is in God and you have protection and safety and security in him, it frees you to lose having to find it in a man, in your circumstances.

And that makes you beautiful. And if you ask any man, there's something about a woman could walk in a room, a man could see that woman from a distance, say, wow, that's a really attractive woman. And then when they get close, if that woman is insecure, immediately it's like a certain level of the beauty fades.

And in the same way, maybe a woman walks in a room and the man doesn't notice her, but then all of a sudden he starts talking to her, realizes she's very secure, very confident. And there's something about her that starts to sparkle or something that just is magnified.

There's a glory about it. It's a beauty that comes from not being afraid. It's a beauty that comes from putting your hope in the Lord. It's an adornment. Okay. First Timothy 2, 9 to 15 says, Women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness, with good works.

Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. So again, it's speaking of not having to draw attention and get my security from outward. When the security is inward, it emanates a beauty outward.

Do you see that? Internal beauty versus external beauty. These are important things. And we're a culture that's obsessed with feminine appearance. Okay. But feminine adorning is rooted in feminine constitution.

It's rooted in what makes up a woman. And I want you ladies to just know, don't for a second, let feminism objectify or commodify your body.

Not in real life, not on Instagram, Be Real or any other social platform. I don't know if you realize this, but these social networks are commodifying you. They're commodifying the woman's body.

Commercials are commodifying the woman's body. They are making money by pictures of you. This is, this is what's happening. And you can't let your worth, your sense of security be defined by the eyeballs and the likes that you get when other people are looking at you.

You get that from the Lord. That's where that comes from. And it's not empowering to use your body in that way. That's not being more feminine or being more a woman. That's a distortion, a perversion of where your true beauty comes from.

Don't for one second, let feminism objectify or commodify your body. That is not the way God has created you. You've been adorned. You're supposed to adorn yourself without, so you're supposed to adorn yourself with not being fearful.

There's nothing more beautiful than a woman who's unafraid. This is Mary, right? When Mary's told that she's going to have the Messiah, that was basically a death sentence. You could be stoned for that.

And what does she say? Let it be to me. According to your word, behold, I am a servant of the Lord. This is a woman who doesn't get into that, which is frightening. In Luke 1 45, it says, Blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.

She's clothed with a quiet spirit, right? It actually says in Proverbs 9 13, that the woman folly is loud. She is seductive and knows nothing. There's a, there's a certain quietness about a woman who's secure and trust in her Lord.

And there's a loudness that is unbecoming of a respectable woman. A woman, the woman folly is loud. She clothes herself with modesty and self-control. Proverbs 11 22 says like a gold ring and a pig snout is a woman who shows no discretion.

She clothes herself with strength. Proverbs 31 17 says she dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. Women are beautifully confident, beautifully strong.

There's a masculine strength and there's a feminine strength. There's a feminine strength of constitution that says, I will not be afraid of what is to come. And I am trusting in my God.

My hope, my strong, my strength and hope gives me strength anywhere else. Proverbs 31 25 says strength and dignity are her clothing. And she laughs at the time to come.

There is an, there is an unbelieving laugh that Sarah had when she heard that she was going to have a baby at a hundred years old. And then there's a laugh that laughs at the days to come saying, my God is for me.

I am a strong woman. I can handle things. I can handle tough times because I know my God is with me. Women are meant to be beautifully strong, clothed with dignity. First Timothy 3 11 talks about either, depending how you read it, either the wives of a deacon or women deacons, that their wives likewise must be dignified, not slanders with sober minded, faithful in all things.

Definition of dignified is worthy of honor or respect. Does older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanders or slaves to much wine. Women should be clothed with good works and submission.

We'll look at those a little bit later here. Women want to know that they're beautiful. When you think of kids, girls say, daddy, look, boys say, daddy, watch. Girls say, look at who I am.

And a boy says, look at what I do. This is part of what's wired into them. Okay. Men do are defining themselves what they do. Women are defining themselves by how they look a lot of times.

A woman who's not beautifully confident is usually a woman who's not been fought for by men. This makes a woman prone to fear, control, manipulation, comparison, and envy.

I think there's a great verse for this in Psalm 131, 1 to 3. Oh Lord, my heart is not lifted up. My eyes are not raised too high. I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me, but I have calmed and quieted my soul.

Like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. Oh Israel, hope in the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. She's beautifully confident.

This is the fruit of her hope. And this is why true femininity resides fully and most manifestly in the gospel. When you are able to trust and hope in the Lord, it says, holy women who put their hope in God, holy women who trusted God.

Ladies, are you beautifully confident? Are you beautifully confident? Number two, a woman is the glory and helper of man. Okay, a woman is called to be the glory and helper of man, the fruit of her stewardship.

Genesis 2, starting verse 18, says, the Lord God said, it's not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper fit for him. Verse 21, so the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept, took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.

And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man, he made into a woman and brought her to the man. So, she was made from the man, for the man. This is described in 1 Corinthians 11, 79.

A man is the image and glory of God, but woman is the glory of man. Why? Verse 8, for man was not made from woman, but woman from man.

Neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. Woman was created for man. That flies in the face of feminist society, but it's the truth.

It's the truth from creation. And it speaks to a woman's role. Nevertheless, 1 Corinthians 11, 11 says, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man, nor man of woman.

Okay, you can't take some chauvinistic view then and says, okay, we don't need women because it just only exists for man to whatever degree he wants, but it says that they're not independent of another. And you can't take a feminist view that says, hey, I don't need men.

Men are optional. Men are important. It says, woman is not independent of man. The feminist movement is built on the premise that woman is independent of man. And the Bible shouts from the rooftops, woman is not independent of man.

Woman was created for man to be his helper. Great quote here by Elizabeth Elliot. She says, femininity receives. It says, may it be to me as you have said, like Luke 1 38.

It takes what God gives a special place, a special honor, a special function and glory different from that of masculinity meant to be a help. In other words, it is for us women to receive the given as Mary did, not to insist on the not given as Eve did.

A woman is the glory of man as a distinguished quality or asset that makes things better. She helps by glorifying what is given to her.

She makes things glorious. That's what women do. Jim Gaffigan, you might be one, I'm quoting Jim Gaffigan right after Elizabeth Elliot. Jim Gaffigan says, women are amazing.

A woman can grow a baby inside their body, and then somehow a woman can deliver the baby through their body. And then by some miracle, a woman can feed a baby with her body.

And then when you think of the male contribution to life, it's kind of embarrassing. But I think it's a great example of how male contributes, not a whole lot in this instance.

And look at what a woman does. She glorifies it. She makes it better. She takes the body that God has given, and she produces this baby. She feeds this baby. She nurtures this baby.

It's an amazing miracle. But this is what a woman does. She glorifies what's given to her. Proverbs 31, 10 to 12 says, 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. So she's looking to do her husband good. Proverbs 12, 4 says, an excellent wife is the crown of her husband.

It's another way of saying the glory, right? The crown of her husband. She who brings shame is like rottenness in his bones. Proverbs 31, 23 says, her husband, this is the Proverbs 31 woman, her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land.

Well, what is that husband known for? You look later on in verse 31, it says, let her works praise her in the gates. So the husband is known in the gates. Why? What's being praised in the gates?

The woman's works. She's known, and he's known in the gates because of this woman, this helper, this one who's glorified. You might say, helper just seems like such a lesser thing.

If you ever think that, I just want you to ask, is the Holy Spirit any less God? What is his title? The helper. Okay? That's a distortion to think that way. Being a helper doesn't make you any less of value.

That comes from defining yourself by what you do. And we don't do that. That's what the world does. A wife should take what a husband gives and glorify it. So wives, taking things off your husband's plate is a good thing to do.

You say, hey, how can I help him? How can I help him do more? How can I help him just crush it in what he's called to? So I'm going to look to try and take things off of his plate. I am going to, I'm not just going to wait for him to come home and have him do everything.

I'm going to look and say, how can I help him and help make him be able to run faster and better? And by the way, this is not just for married people, the concept of being a helper. Single ladies.

Mark 15, 40 to 41, there was also a woman looking on from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, the younger and of Josie's, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him.

And there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. Jesus had women who followed him and then ministered to him. Luke 8, 1 to 3 says, the 12 were with him and also some women who provided for them out of their means.

Romans 16, 1 to 2 says, I commend you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Century. She has been a patron of many and of myself as well. There you have single women helping, providing funds for, ministering to.

This is important roles here. Philippians 4, 2 to 3 says, I entreat Judea, I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women who have labored side by side with me in the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.

Paul did amazing things for the gospel. Paul did amazing things through the establishing of churches. And he had women who labored side by side with him, helping him. Helping him.

Isn't that an awesome thing to think of? Ladies, are you the glory and helper of men? Number three, woman is a lover of children.

Lover of children. Called to love, bear, and nurture children. She's called to be a mother. Definitely, there's a natural mother if possible, but for sure, even if not a natural mother, a spiritual mother, a motherly heart, a heart to mother, the fruit of her womb.

Creation teaches this even. If you look at a woman's body, a woman has ovaries, a uterus, and lactating mammary glands. Okay? No man has that. So men and women, they're the same. Are you kidding me?

Are you kidding me? There's no way. God created distinction with a purpose. Women have a totally different body and it speaks to their role. To say that a woman has no role with children is absurdity when you just look at how God created a woman's body different from a man.

Titus 2 verse 4 says, Train the young women to love their husbands and children. Train them to love children. 1 Timothy 5, 9-10 and verse 14 says, Let a widow be enrolled.

Tell me what. Who are the widows who should be taken care of? Let her be enrolled if she has brought up children. I would have younger widows marry, bear children. You see this?

This pushing towards women to bear children, to bring up children. 1 Timothy 2, 14-15 says, Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. Yet, she will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control.

Saved through childbearing. Is that like, saved like, you know, gospel saved? No, because that would mean you could only be saved if you had a kid. That's obviously not what this is talking about.

What kind of saved is being talked about here? There are multiple forms of the word salvation. This word here is talking about being saved from deception. If you look at the context of the rest of that book and how saved is being used, it's talking about being saved from deception.

A woman is saved from the deception that Eve fell into when she stays in her God-given role to love children. One of the reasons that Eve sinned is because she got outside of her role and decided to be the leader instead of the follower.

She decided to usurp her husband's role and one of those damning verses is that her husband was with her. One of the things to save a woman from deception is that she functions in her God-given role.

One of those is childbearing, raising children, loving children. Romans 16, 13 says, this is Paul at the end of his amazing letter to Romans, he closes it by saying, Greek Rufus, chosen in the Lord, also his mother, who has been a mother to me as well.

What is the reward of the spiritual mother of Paul? Have you ever thought about that? That Paul had someone who was like a mother to him. What role did that play in his life?

How important was that? Enough where he called her out here and said, Rufus and her mother, and his mother, who has been a mother to me as well. What a role that we could be mothers to people who aren't, that a woman could be a mother to someone who's not their actual blood son, but a powerful role.

Powerful role. What did Jesus curse after the fall? What he cursed speaks to the role. He cursed a man's work, which speaks to the fact that he was called to be a worker, right?

And what did he curse on the woman? He cursed her childbearing. I will surely multiply your pain and childbearing and pain you shall bring for our children. He cursed that particular thing because that's her role. Psalm 127, verse 3, in the NASB, says, Behold, children are a gift of the Lord.

The fruit of the womb is a reward. Do you see children as a blessing? Ladies, are you a lover of children? Proverbs 30, 15 to 16, says, The barren womb is never satisfied.

Why is the barren womb never satisfied? Because women naturally long for children. It's their natural disposition. There's something very broken in a woman when she doesn't like children or she doesn't want children.

It's a very broken woman who doesn't want them. Ladies, are you a lover of children? You're a lover of children. Number four, a woman is a wise teacher. A woman is called to be a wise teacher and trainer.

This is the fruit of her lips. Proverbs 8, 9, both speak of wisdom and folly as women. They're personified as ladies. Lady wisdom, lady folly.

Okay? The fact that wisdom is personified as a lady should speak to us that a woman should be a good picture of what it is to be wise.

And if she doesn't do that, she could fall into the other picture would be the lady folly. But I think it's, God has called women to speak with wisdom. 10, 2, 3 to 5 says, Older women, 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.

Proverbs 1, verse 8 and 6, verse 20 says, Forsake not your mother's teaching. Mothers are to teach their children.

Proverbs 31, 1, the words of King Lemuel, so this is a king speaking, and he says it's an oracle that who taught him? That his mother taught him. Think of the thought of a mother teaching things that would be useful for a king.

Proverbs 31, 26 says, she opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. What a great verse, right? Acts 18, 24 to 26, we have the picture of Priscilla, okay?

A Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. I think there's good reason to believe he was an apostle. So here you have Apollos, an apostle, came to Ephesus, and this guy's an eloquent man.

He's competent in scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.

So he's got a lot of things right, but he's missing some things. He's missing some information here. In other words, he needs to be taught. Okay? He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

Now, it doesn't just say Aquila spoke to him. It said Priscilla and Aquila. There was a way that they both taught as a married couple. There was a way that it wasn't just the man, but the woman taught as well.

There's an appropriate way for a woman to be able to teach a man in the context of reverence, in the context of marriage like this, in the context, even outside of marriage, there's a way that a woman can bring instruction in a godly way where she's not taking authority over the man.

Okay? Women should be full of wisdom. They should be educated. They should be theologically astute. They should be skillful. They should have skills. They should know how to do things. They should know how to get things done.

They should know the Word of God. John Piper says, Wimpy theology makes wimpy women. Wimpy theology simply does not give a woman a God that is big enough, strong enough, wise enough, and good enough to handle the realities of life in a way that magnifies the infinite worth of Jesus.

Ladies, do you have wimpy theology? Do you have strong, robust theology? Are you a student of the Word? Are you someone who studies God and seeks out God? Are you a woman who knows how to do things?

You know how to get things done. You're not just farming it out to other people, hurrying it out to people. You are someone who knows things so that other women can come to you and say, How do I do this?

And you have answers. You have wisdom. Wisdom's on your tongue. You're able to instruct. You're able to tell other people, Hey, this is how you do this with kids. This is how you make this. This is how this works.

This is, and you can teach. You can teach and train. Some of you would say, I'm not there. I wasn't parented well. I wasn't taught myself or I was taught poorly.

Okay? If that's the case, what are you going to do about it? It doesn't have to stay that way. Seek out godly women who can teach you, who can train you. Seek out the Word of God.

Seek out the myriad of resources that are available now more than ever before to grow in theological astuteness. There's more available than ever before. There's no excuse for women not being theologically astute.

There's so much resources. And if you're married, go to your husband. Say, Teach me. Teach me. You're my spiritual leader. I want to learn from you. I want to become a woman who knows.

And you can, and there's so many other ways to learn how to do so many other things and be a Renaissance woman who knows how to do things. Ladies, are you a wise teacher and a trainer?

You train other young ladies. Number five. A woman is a worker. A woman is a worker. A woman is called to be a hard worker. It's the fruit of her hands.

Okay? 1 Timothy 2, 9-10 says, Women should adorn themselves with what is proper for women who profess godliness with good works. There's multiple verses that talk about this.

1 Timothy 5, 9-10 says, Let a widow be enrolled. Again, the role for widowhood. Who are the ones who are going to be supported by the church? Let a widow be enrolled, having a reputation for good works and has devoted herself to every good work.

Godly women should be known for doing work, doing hard work, doing good work, doing good works. And Titus 2, 3-5 says, Older women working at home.

There should be a direction of that work that is aimed towards the home. The Proverbs 31 woman is the quintessential example of this. Right? It says, She seeks wool and flax and works with willing hands.

She's 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. So she's getting up even in the night to do things.

She's such a hard worker that she's limiting her sleep for these things. to provide food for her household. Verse 16, She considers a field and buys it. With the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard.

She's even doing business. She's buying fields. She's planting vineyards. This is a serious woman here. She's a hard worker. 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's working day and night. She's working hard. She's selling things. She's saying, I have goods that are profitable.

I'm able to help my home by selling the goods that I'm producing. 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.

So she's not even just taking care of her home. She's taking care of the poor. She's taking care of the needy. She's producing so much that she has extra to be able to help other people. She's not just consumed with herself.

She's not just consumed with her own family. She is so productive, such a hard worker that she is able to bless other people. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet.

She has that beautiful confidence, right? She's not fearing snow. 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.

Well, of course the husband's known. Look at what she's doing. This woman is a significant, substantial woman. She's a hardworking woman.

Of course the man is known in the gates, right? Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. And she makes linen garments and sells them. She delivers sashes to the merchant. She looks, this is my favorite of the verses in here.

Verse 27 in Proverbs 31. This is such a great verse. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. What a verse, huh?

She looks well. Ladies, do you look well to the ways of your household? What other people say, what your husbands say, what other ladies look to you and say, I want to look to the ways of my house the way that woman does.

She looks well to the ways of her household and she does not eat the bread of idleness. She's not lazy. She's not lazy. Verse 31. Give her of the fruit of her hands and let her works praise are in the gates.

And they do. They do. This is an esteemed woman. This is a woman who is worthy of praise. Okay? She's not lazy. She's busy with work. She makes plans and then she executes those plans.

And her work enhances her care for her household. It doesn't take away or distract from it. People like to ask the question, are you saying that women can't work outside of the home? I'm not saying that women can't work outside of the home.

I'm saying a woman is not limited in any way that she works. Except in this, that her work needs to be directed towards the home. And if her work ever distracts from the home, it's a work that is unbecoming of her.

That work is supposed to enhance her home life. She looks well to the ways of her home. So sometimes that takes her outside of the home for the home. Okay? Sometimes even to help her husband she's doing that.

But never to supplant her home. Never to replace her home. And never to distract from her home. That is not godly femininity. Zachary Garris says, Feminism is the twisted idea that a woman is free when serving an employer but is slave when serving her family.

And this has all been to a woman's detriment. It's just not true. You might say, Well, I wasn't parented this way. I wasn't taught how to work. I don't know how to work.

Then learn. Learn. Find a hardworking woman and go and help her. Learn from her. Work with her. Ask her questions. Be trained.

But don't make excuses. Don't make excuses. A woman, a godly woman, a hardworking woman, she doesn't make excuses. Even if she's not skilled or she doesn't say, I'm not skilled enough or I have low capacity.

I wasn't brought up that way. I'm pregnant. I have little kids. Those aren't excuses. Those are challenges. Those are obstacles. Those are obstacles that a strong woman can come over.

She's not a comer under. She's an overcomer. She overcomes not having skills. She overcomes low capacity, not being brought up that way. Pregnancy, little kids, being tired, or being single, not being married, not having certain giftings, or not having a certain personality.

She overcomes her hormones. Her hormones are never an excuse. Are her hormones a difficulty? Yes. And ladies, if you would want to argue with me on this, careful what game you want to play.

Because then a man can just say, well, my hormones, I'm really, have a propensity to lust, and I just can't control it. You can't use an excuse for either. A man doesn't have any excuse to be given to lust and come underneath lust, and a woman has no excuse to come under her hormones either.

Neither of us, men or women, are underneath our hormones. God has given us power to have self-control, and a woman should be adorned with self-control. She'll be adorned with self-control as well in her hormones.

I mean, I shouldn't compare you there and say, well, I'm not like so-and-so. Don't let the differences between you and other people make you disobedient. Okay? That's not a license to be disobedient. Another good test is to say it out loud to your great-grandmother test.

Okay? Say your excuse out loud to your real or figurative great-grandmother and see how much sense it makes. Okay? Okay? If you say that and you think, oh boy, then maybe we need to change some things.

And that's a good perspective. You might say, well, that's kind of a funny thing. But no, that's a real thing because we've forgotten the ancient paths and we've moved the ancient boundaries. And Jesus said it wasn't that way from the beginning when he was rebuking the people in his day and we're far beyond that day.

And so say it out loud to your great-grandmother test is a good test to say because we've lost some things. And there's things that have been lost that need to be recovered. There's no better place for them to be recovered than among godly women in the church.

Ladies, are you a hard worker? Are you a hard worker? Number six, a woman is a domestic executive. Domestic executive. A woman is called to be a domestic executive, a household manager, the fruit of her home.

Genesis 1, 26 to 28, the dominion mandate, right? Is that just for men? No, it's not just for men. God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness and let them, them, have dominion over the fish of the seed, over the birds of the heavens, over the livestock, and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

Eve had authority over creeping things, including creeping, talking snakes who are trying to overthrow God's government. But she didn't use that authority and neither did her husband. So God created man in his own image and the image of God he created him.

Male and female he created them and God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

Both men and women were given dominion. Women, are you fulfilling your dominion mandate? To subdue, to rule, over these things in the earth.

Women, rule your household and make it fruitful. In other words, be domestic. Be domestic. Be unapologetically domestic. One of the reasons that a woman is domestic is that a woman is a home.

She was created to house babies in her body. That's why the whole my body, my choice is a goofy statement. It's not your body. It's someone else's body living inside your home.

And the safest place for a baby should be the womb of a mother. And there's a certain motherly, hospitable aspect that says, hey, I will make this place a safe place for my child.

A woman, not only is she supposed to be domestic and driven towards her home and to manage her home, she is a home. She's a home for babies. Psalm 139.13 says, you formed my inward parts.

You knitted me together in my mother's womb. Titus 2.3-5 says, older women train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home.

Working at home. That's what it says. 1 Timothy 5.11-14 Younger widows learn to be idlers, going about from house to house and not only idlers but also gossips and busybodies saying what they should not.

So one of the problems with these younger widows is that instead of managing their own household, they're going from house to house. They're not bound to their house in a way that is godly and right.

They're going from house to house and it's getting them in trouble. So what is the result? What is the antidote? What is the solution to this in verse 14 in 1 Timothy 5? He says, I would have younger widows marry, bear children and manage their households.

They're not going about from house to house. They're managing their own households and they give the adversary no occasion for slander. It was said of the adulterous woman in Proverbs 7.11. This is interesting.

The adulterous woman says her feet do not stay at home. Her feet do not stay at home. That's what it said of the adulterous woman.

Okay? There's a, again, a saving you from deception and sin when a woman is unapologetically domestic. Galatians 4.15 says, Give my greetings to Nympha and the church and her house.

Nympha used her house for the church to meet. What a great use of a home. Proverbs 31.15. The Proverbs 31 woman again says, She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maiden.

It says, She's not afraid of snow for her household. For all her household are clothed in scarlet. And then Proverbs 31.27, what we read before, She looks well to the ways of her household.

Okay? She's a domestic executive. Proverbs 9.1 says, Wisdom has built her house. She has hewn her seven pillars. How does a woman build her house?

How does she make her home? She does it with wisdom. She's a wise teacher who builds her house with wisdom. It takes, there's a feminine wisdom that is required and that is given to a woman to build a house in a unique way that a man doesn't have.

A man is called to build his home in a different way. There's a feminine aspect of home making, right? That is wise and comes from God. Wisdom has built her house. It says in Proverbs 14.1, The wisest of women builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down.

Okay? So the wisest of women builds her house. The wisdom of a woman should be driven to build a home, to make a home. Proverbs 24.3 says, By wisdom a house is built and by understanding it is established.

In the book of Ruth, verse 4.11, it says, All the people who were at the gate and the elders said, We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your house like Rachel and Leah who together built up the house of Israel.

It was known of these women of old, these esteemed women, that the blessing that was given to Ruth was that you would be like the women of old. And what did the women of old do and what are we blessing you to do as well?

We're blessing you to be one who builds up her house. Who builds up her house. Okay? A woman is given a house and she glorifies it.

She makes a house a home. She's a homemaker. Let's make homemaking great again. Right? It's like, I've heard women who are sheepish when they say that they're a homemaker or they'll put the word just in front of it.

Don't do that. Say I'm just a homemaker. Do you understand the importance of being a homemaker? This is a godly, noble, dignified occupation. Okay? We should make this great again because it is a great thing.

It's an important thing. It's a godly thing. It's a feminine thing. A woman is given a house and she glorifies it. She makes a house a home. A woman takes a disorderly home and brings it into order. She's a household executive.

A woman rules her household. She's decisive. She's an authoritative home manager. Not taking authority over men but taking decisive authority over her household, both her home and her children if she has them.

If she's single, she helps other women rule their households, not taking authority over children where authority has not been given. If she's single and lives with other women, she rules and subdues her household with those women.

If she's single and owns her own house, she makes it a home. She rules and subdues it. If she's married, she takes the house her husband has rented or bought and makes it a home. She rules her household.

Women should be unapologetically domestic in their focus and their aim. unapologetically. C.S. Lewis said, the homemaker has the ultimate career. All their careers exist for one purpose only and that is to support the ultimate career.

You might say, well, I have bad parenting. I came from a broken family. I don't know how to be a household executive. I don't know how to manage a house. I don't know how to rule a house. Have someone teach you.

Find someone you know who does manage your household well. Ask how you can serve her. Come and help her in her household. See how she does things. See how she manages. See the tricks and the traits of speed.

The things that you wouldn't notice maybe. Why did you do that? Why don't you do this? What did you do that for? Ask good questions. Learn. Grow.

Ladies, are you a domestic executive? You don't have to wait until you're older too if you're younger. Start at a young age. And parents, start your young girls, daughters, at a young age.

Don't wait. Teach them how to manage a home so when they get to be older that they could totally run a home. That is a godly gift that you can give to your daughters. Number seven, a woman is a submitted follower.

A woman is called to be a respectful submitted follower, the fruit of her submission. Genesis 3.13 says, The Lord God said to the woman, What is this that you have done? The woman said, And the woman said, The serpent deceived me and I ate.

2 Corinthians 11.3 says, The serpent deceived Eve by his cunning. 1 Timothy 2.11-15 says, Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness.

Then it says, I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet. You might say, Well, why? Well, it was because of in Ephesus there was this goddess there, or it was because of the culture there.

It's different than the culture now. But listen, you don't have to insert a reason into the text when a reason is already in the text. We don't need to pontificate or come up with these reasons when there's a clear reason that's already given.

He says, I do not permit to let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man. Rather, she is to remain quiet. And then it gives the reason.

This is really important. If you take this verse out of context and say it's cultural, well, you're misusing the scriptures. You've got to look at what it says. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.

And Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgression. Yet she will be saved through childbearing that they continue in faith and love and holiness with self-control.

So he makes this distinction between the role of a man and a woman based on creation, based on created order, who was created first, based on what happened in the garden. That's the basis.

It has nothing to do with what was going on in Ephesus. It has nothing to do with some imagined conjecture that you're putting into the text. It's not there. Just take the text for what it says. It gives us the reason. A woman was created to follow.

And in the absence of male leadership, she's still going to follow because that's what she was created for. So she's susceptible to following the wrong entity. And in this case, she ended up following the devil.

She was supposed to be leading, but because the man abdicated his role, she still kept following. But instead of following her husband, she followed the devil into this coup that was happening in the garden.

All right? This is why a woman should look to the leadership of her husband if she's married. And if she's single, she should be in submission to other men, not the same way as a husband.

That's weird. Okay? But looking to have men speaking into her life. All right? And a woman should be doing the things that are the role of a woman so as to save her from further deception where she would end up following the wrong entity, in this case, the devil.

One of the results of the curse in Genesis 3.16 said to the woman, Your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you. That word desire is the same one that's in the next chapter in Genesis 4.7 when it said to Cain, Hey, sin is crouching at your door and its desire is to have you.

Okay? It's the same word. So essentially, this curse that was on there is that there's this desire inside of a woman to control her husband, to take leadership, to be afraid that she is not being fought for, cared for, and loved and so she has to take matters into her own hands instead of putting her hope in God like the holy woman of the past did.

That's the propensity. You have to watch out for that. 1 Corinthians 14.33-35 says this, In all the churches of the saints, women should keep silent in the churches for they are not permitted to speak but should be in submission as the law says.

If there is anything they desire to learn that the master or husband is at home but it's shameful for a woman to speak in church. This is in the context of weighing prophecies. And they were talking about how they should weigh the prophecies and say in these cases, I think what it's pointing to is let the men decide these things and the women should be quiet in these particular areas.

Women can prophesy and should prophesy. They are prophesying. Right? But in this case of judging them, they should be silent and they should be in submission. Ephesians 5 says, Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord.

As to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

Let the wife see that she respects her husband. She's supposed to respect her husband. She's supposed to submit to her husband. Colossians 3 says, Wives, submit to your husbands as it's fitting in the Lord.

1 Peter 3 says, 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.

This is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves by submitting to their own husbands. It says in verse 5, Sarah obeyed Abraham calling the Lord and you are our children if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

A lot of women will say, you say, do you expect or think that you should have unconditional love, especially from a spouse? And most women would say, yes, absolutely.

You flip that over and say, do you believe you should give unconditional respect to your husband? Oh no. Only if he's respectable. It's not, you can't handle it both ways. Okay? A woman is supposed to give unconditional respect to her husband and a man should give unconditional love to the wife.

Again, this is Ephesians 5. To Romans 21, verse 19, it's better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and fretful woman. Okay? This is an unsubmissive woman.

This is a woman who's afraid. Notice he puts the two together, quarrelsome and fretful. Fretfulness and fear leads to quarrelsomeness. Fretfulness and a lack of trust or hope in the Lord leads to arguing and trying to get your own way.

A woman who fights is fighting for herself. That's a blinking red dash light to say, hey, this woman is not feeling fought for. You could fight with her, but that's not the problem.

Fight for her, not with her. Okay? Titus 2, verse 5, talks about being submissive to their own husbands that the word of God may not be reviled.

The late John MacArthur said, no matter what their station in life, Christian men and women who are not what they ought to be will give people reason to blaspheme God's word.

The world doesn't judge us by our theology, it judges us by our behavior. The validity of Scripture in the world's view is determined by how it affects us. If unbelievers see that our lives are truly transformed, separate and distinct from the world, they might conclude that Scripture is true, powerful, and life-changing.

1 Corinthians 11, 3 says, 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. And wives should avoid both ditches. The ditch of being unsubmissive, but also the ditch of saying, I can't do anything unless my husband says.

Like, I have no volition or agency on my own. I have to run every single thing through my husband. That's just as ridiculous as being unsubmissive. And a husband should be able to believe in the wife enough to be able to give her her own agency and not have to run every single thing through him.

And for single women as well, Matthew 27, there are also many women that are looking from a distance who had followed Jesus from Galilee and ministering to him. Mark 15 says when he was in Galilee, there's women, Mary Magdalene married the mother of James, they followed him and ministered to him.

Okay, so there's a submission that is required not just of married women, but all women. A woman is strong, but she's not strong to the point of independence. Feminine strength does not avoid submission.

Ladies, are you a submitted follower? In conclusion, saying that a woman can do whatever a man can do is degrading a woman because it sets manhood as the goal for women, which is a gross distortion.

It's a gross distortion, and we will not give in to that. We believe men and women are created differently by God, and they have different roles. God created women for distinct purpose and roles, and ladies, you should embrace the distinctly feminine.

Amen? Amen. Amen.