The Exceptional Woman

[0:00] Thank you, John. I would like you to turn your Bibles this morning to Proverbs chapter 31, verse 30.

[0:11] ! Proverbs chapter 31, verse 30. This is Mother's Day, and I know that all of you are aware of it for a number of different reasons.

[0:22] For one, our culture, I think rightfully, makes a great deal of it. And if any of you try to go to the restaurant and I hold you over for, let's say, three or four minutes, you'll probably find that you are on a waiting list.

[0:34] Isn't that right? I was talking with one family that actually intend to go have an early, you could call it either an early supper or a late lunch. They're going to go at around about 2 o'clock, 2.30.

[0:46] They're hoping that the restaurants would have cleared out, and they'll be able to get in and find a table and have dinner together as a family. This is a day when we celebrate and remind ourselves of the blessing that all of us have received through the ministry of godly women in our lives.

[1:03] It is a day that in some churches they are going to ask questions like, all right, we want the mom who has had the most children to stand up. How many of you remember doing that at one point or another, being in church?

[1:15] The most, the youngest, et cetera, et cetera. And there are a lot of different ways to go about that. But this morning what we want to do is really focus our attention on the effect and the impact of a godly woman.

[1:27] And that's the reason that this morning when you're going out, there are going to be people at the door handing out flowers to every woman who is 18 years and old or older, and there will be no carding, okay?

[1:41] So, you know, if you're kind of on the bubble, nobody's going to say to you, hey, can I see your driver's license before you get a flower? We'll just give it to you. And we trust that it's an encouragement to you.

[1:53] I want you to look at a passage this morning that we find in the Word of God that is just a very practical reminder to us of truth that is undeniably critical and essential in our life.

[2:05] And as I look at this passage, I'm reminded at the very outset of just how beneficial it is for us to focus on the Word of God and allow the Word of God to affect the way we think.

[2:16] As we were singing that last song in particular, one of the things that I was doing is as I was working my way through the song, singing it, I was also cross-referencing along with the song.

[2:27] How many of you are working on that now? A little bit more. Raise your hand and wave at me so I can feel like I'm making some moderate traction on getting you to think biblically. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.

[2:41] Can anybody help me with where that's found? Colossians chapter 3. When I run the race before me, where does that come from? 1 Corinthians chapter 9 would be one passage.

[2:53] Looking unto Jesus, where would that come from? Hebrews chapter 12. We could go on and on and on. And the reason I do that is I want you to be a people who, when you think, think scripturally.

[3:06] Do you follow that? And this morning, we are looking at a passage that is undeniably valuable and precious. And I trust influences your thought.

[3:18] Now, come back again and make the point that the Word is our life. It's valuable to us. And as we think about that statement that I made here just for a moment ago, that the Word is our life, I trust one of the things that goes through your mind is, where did pastor get that idea?

[3:34] I was talking with another pastor, and he made the statement, which I thought is entirely true. Pastors are ultimately plagiarists. You know what we mean by that? They're borrowing information that came from somewhere else.

[3:46] And I trust you never think that I'm reciting something that I thought about creatively on my own. The principal source is the Word of God. And so when I make the statement that the Word is our life, I think about a couple different passages in relationship to that.

[3:59] One is over in Deuteronomy chapter 32. And I want you to follow with me just for a moment. Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 46 and 47. This is Moses preaching to the nation of Israel his concluding sermon.

[4:14] He knows after this he's dying. And there towards the very end of the book, he makes this little statement. He says, Take to heart all the words which I am warning you today.

[4:28] And he goes on a little bit and he says, It is no empty word for you, but your very life. It is no empty word for you, but your very life.

[4:39] And so when we handle the Word of God, when we think about the Word of God, we recognize that it is our life. We depend upon it for all that we are and all that we do.

[4:51] I think about another passage in which we see a very similar concept appear. And if you turn in your Bible to John chapter 6, we're going to look just for a second. We'll come back to Proverbs, but I want you to think with me of John chapter 6.

[5:03] It's a long chapter. And it begins with Jesus ministering to a group of people. And in that context, he feeds a large crowd.

[5:16] And they love the idea that they had free din-din. And Jesus did it. I mean, it had to be the best bread and fish that anybody ever had. I open cans of sardines periodically in the office, and I am seldom appreciated by anybody else but me.

[5:31] I happen to like them, but I can tell you I'd much rather settle for fresh fish that had been produced by Jesus on the spot than those cans of sardines.

[5:42] And here was Jesus, did this meal. Everybody was excited. And as an outcome of that, he went ahead and took advantage of all this interest to preach a sermon. And guess what the outcome of that sermon was?

[5:54] Everybody left. They were offended. They didn't like what he had to say. And at the heart of it, as everybody's going away, he turns to his disciples, and he says, are you guys leaving too?

[6:08] And that brings us to a little statement that Peter made. He said, Lord, to whom should we go? You have the words of eternal life. Where else?

[6:19] And I want you to think with me just for a moment, because I am stunned. I am stunned when I find out how often professing believers rely on every other resource for information other than the Word of God.

[6:36] Here's Peter. He says, listen, where can we go? You've got the words of life. And so if the Word is so essential, it makes sense, and I want to say this slowly so you don't miss it, it makes sense that it is our first and most important resource in dealing with the questions and challenges that life throws at us.

[7:02] Now, we're at a day today where we celebrate Mother's Day. And as I said, our focus is not just on mothers, but our focus is on godly womanhood and the blessing that godly women are in all of our lives.

[7:17] And that's why we're in the book of Proverbs. Actually, if you were to ask me the question, what book in the Bible has the most to say about women, it would be the book of Proverbs.

[7:29] Now, you'd have to admit, if you're a student of the book of Proverbs, that you know a fair number of the texts in Proverbs do not give a smiley, happy face on women.

[7:41] Would you agree with that? Now, I'm not going to go overboard on this, but you remember that Proverbs has a comment to say that living in a house with a nagging, whining wife is like living in a house where there's dripping, dripping, dripping water, right?

[7:57] I mean, don't go there, but let's just leave it at that. It talks about the fact, I saw some people looking around and going, stop, just listen. Don't get yourself in trouble, guys, okay?

[8:08] And it goes on and says this, and there's a lot that Solomon, I'm wondering about this, why did Solomon not practice the wisdom that he wrote about? He had a lot to say about ungodly women who would cause heartache in young men's lives.

[8:28] Proverbs has a lot to say about the danger of ungodly women. It's interesting as well, and by the way, Proverbs was written to give advice to men, to young men in particular.

[8:41] It's very interesting to recognize that the book of Proverbs closes off essentially with one final chapter, and it is all about women.

[8:54] Beginning in verse 10 and carrying on to the very end of the chapter, Proverbs chapter 31 gives us some very careful instruction about women, and it is given to us in a very interesting fashion.

[9:10] There are 22 verses, and the first verse, if you were reading in your Hebrew Bible, does anybody have one here today? Hebrew Bible, it's back in my office. But if you're reading in your Hebrew Bible, it would begin with the letter Aleph.

[9:24] Caleb, you have yours. Is that what you're saying? Oh, okay. It begins with the letter Aleph, and then it goes to the letter Beth, and then it goes to the letter Gimel, and then it goes to the letter He, Wow, Zion, Heth, Death, etc.

[9:35] Do you know why it's done that way? Any idea? It was written alphabetically with the first part of every verse starting with the letter.

[9:49] A is for apple, right? B is for boy. See, it was there for alphabetical structure for the sake of memory work.

[10:01] And the understanding was that little Hebrew boys were going to memorize this passage so that eventually, when it came around to kicking tires for a girl, they had an idea of what they were looking for.

[10:19] Huh. And it was also memorized by little girls so that they knew what they should be.

[10:29] Now, in our culture, I was thinking about this, we go out of our way to kind of give to, am I going to cause a problem, John?

[10:40] We move this way over here. Are you? Okay. We go out of our way to kind of equip our girls to have an idea of what they should look like when they're adults. Now, what do I mean by that?

[10:51] How many of you have ever seen a Barbie doll? A Barbie doll, you know? Now, what is it about, I'm not going to ask you to explain out loud, but have you noticed that a Barbie doll is not the way that most everybody we've ever known looks like?

[11:05] But it communicates to little girls, this is what is really attractive, and it says to little boys, that's what you're looking for. Hmm. We've got a problem, don't we?

[11:17] The truth of the matter is, is that is not what the Scriptures want us to think about, and we are looking here, and we have an understanding that as this passage is laid out by the Spirit of God in the book of Proverbs, chapter 31, it is given so that God's people will know what to look for in a godly woman, and so a godly woman knows what to be.

[11:46] In the larger context, if you want to recognize the overflow of what we find in the book of Proverbs, we'd put it this way, a godly woman is a great help, and an ungodly woman is a great harm.

[12:01] So, in that we are looking at the very last words in the book of Proverbs, and it's a summary. By the way, chapter 31, 22 verses about women, but we come towards the very end, and one of the characteristics of a good teacher is that they give you a summary.

[12:16] They give you a closing statement, something to remember. Am I right? Generally, one of the principles of good teaching is you tell people what you're going to teach them about, you teach them what you're going to teach them about, and then you remind them what you're going to teach them about, and we're dealing with the little summary, the little reminder at the very end, and here's what it says.

[12:36] Look at it with me. It says, First, I want to recognize the clear cautions that Solomon gives to us.

[12:50] The Holy Spirit takes the two most commonly valued feminine features and turns them upside down. It's interesting, isn't it? Charm is deceitful.

[13:02] The Hebrew word for charm is actually referring to that external elegance of the feminine form as well as the charm and the allure of feminine grace.

[13:16] I do remember that Proverbs was aimed primarily at a son, the male of the species, and ever since the day that God brought Adam, his wife, men have been profoundly affected by what they see with their eyes.

[13:32] Do you know what Adam said when he saw the woman that God had created? What did he say? In practical terms, he said, Wow! You got it? And here's the truth.

[13:44] Every man born of woman is deeply affected by what they see with their eyes. It's the way it is. And it's the reason that advertising is the way it is, right?

[13:55] You don't sell toilet paper without using the beauty of women to do so. Now, everything associated that goes along with sales, we're always kind of floating the eye.

[14:05] If you want to get the man to look, guess what we use? We use the feminine form. We use the female to draw and allure. And here is Solomon saying, Let me tell you something.

[14:17] Charm is deceitful. And so here's what we have. We have the Spirit of God reminding us that what we see on the surface is actually deceitful. Does that mean that every beautiful woman is a snake and a liar?

[14:31] And the answer is no. That's not what it's saying. But it does mean that what we see on the surface is undeniably deceptive and trusting in what we can see with the eye is profoundly dangerous.

[14:43] Often, the more beguiling and attractive the external features are, the less well-developed the internal features and spirit are.

[14:54] Do you understand that statement? Can I say it slowly so you don't miss it? Often, the more attractive and well-developed the external features are, the more deficient what is inside is.

[15:08] It's just the way it is. Nobody, say this slowly so everybody unfollows me, nobody gets to be the complete package. And so if all the attention is put on the exterior, guess what?

[15:20] You're putting all that attention on the exterior because you think that's what you have fundamentally. And at the end of the day, it is not what lasts. I was thinking about this issue of charm as deceitful.

[15:37] I was thinking about Judith and I being in a restaurant some time ago, and the waitress was just, well, she was charming. And Judith made her choice of the menu first.

[15:51] And the young lady, sweet, spirit, and so effervescent, bubbly, you know, and she said, excellent choice. Wow, Judith, that's a good choice.

[16:06] And I didn't do it, but I was thinking, you know, what if I said I would like fried chitlins? Do you know what chitlins are?

[16:17] Does anybody know what? Raise your hand if you know what chitlins are. What part of the hog are they? They're the intestines. Anybody here besides me ever eaten tripe?

[16:31] Do you know what tripe is? It's not from the loin of the cow. Okay. So if I had said, you know, I'd like fried chitlins, and I would like pickled pig's feet, and I would like sardines on the side, and she says, excellent choice.

[16:56] Here, charm is deceitful. Do you follow what I'm saying? I thought to myself, actually, when this girl went to another table and we're eating our meal, and I heard that little saying at the end of, and I'll have blah, blah, blah, and I heard her say, and the enthusiasm was just kind of, excellent choice.

[17:12] I thought, gag. You know? Yeah, perfect example. Excellent choice. So here's the deal. If as a man, you think the value and the sum of a woman is what you see on the surface, or if as a woman, you are consumed with your outward appearance, you are deceived, and you're a deceiver.

[17:40] There's a second thing that we find in the passage in Proverbs, and look at it here. It says, charm is deceitful, and it says, beauty is vain. The Hebrew word for beauty here refers more to the physical beauty, while charm has to do with the, with more of that abstract business that goes with being feminine and alluring.

[18:00] It's just talking about that physical beauty that when Adam was brought his wife, he says, wow. And I've got to tell you something. If you kind of work your way through the various days of creation at the end of every day, what does God say about what he'd made?

[18:18] Good. Good. Good. Good. We're getting to five, I think. Good. And then he comes to the last day, and he makes woman, and what does he say? He says, here's the go, very good.

[18:34] Solomon says, let me tell you something, guys. That beauty is vain. The word vain is a word that is really talking about something that is not lasting.

[18:48] And you have to understand, I have to understand that what Solomon is saying is that that physical beauty of the 21-year-old that is marked by beautiful shining hair and smooth skin and no wrinkles, and there's that wonderful feminine features that are just undeniably attractive to a man.

[19:07] I want you to know that surgery and Botox can kind of keep it there temporarily, but at the end of the day, it all runs downhill. Still. I think I can tell this story and not get in trouble.

[19:25] Not too long ago, we were in a small group, and we were talking about things you have to give up for Jesus' sake. And I was asking questions, and one of these little girls says, we have to give up bikinis for Jesus' sake.

[19:38] And I thought that was interesting. I'll say it loud so some of you in the back can hear me. We have to give up bikinis for Jesus' sake. And I decided that I would step into the pool a little bit and kind of add to that statement.

[19:54] And I said, honey, let me tell you something about using bikinis to draw attention to yourself. When you're 80, I don't have to say anything else, do I?

[20:09] I did ask the little girl. I said, honey, have you ever seen an 80-year-old woman that is gorgeous on the outside? And she shook her head no.

[20:22] That's true. You see, what Solomon's saying is that outward beauty fades. If you are uncertain about that, here's what I want you to do.

[20:36] The next time you go to the grocery store, don't open the covers or anything, but just look on the outward side of People magazine or all the tabloids. How many of you see, just, I mean, can't look at it long, but I mean, there it is.

[20:49] There are 80-year-old women, just one picture after another of elderly people, you know? At the beach, you know, exercised. And by the way, if you're 80 and you've been sunbathing too long, do you know what your skin looks like?

[21:04] Huh? What's it look like? It looks like some kind of extrusion. Worse than leather. So here's the point. Let's just go to the end of the story.

[21:16] Outward beauty will not last. And it's well worth remembering. Outward beauty will not last. And those who rely on it, those who are seduced by it, those who buy things because of the packaging rather than the product, are not wise.

[21:35] So what really counts? Look at the passage. A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Proverbs compares charm and beauty with a distinctly different mindset.

[21:52] And so before we actually go on to that, here's a question I have. I raised two daughters. I've been here long enough to have watched many of you raising daughters. And I got to tell you, you don't have to work hard at teaching them how to put on makeup when they're little girls.

[22:07] Do you realize that? They begin to experiment without you coaching them. They understand that's part of what's important. And they usually come out their first couple tries, you know what they look like?

[22:21] Lipstick all over the face, rouge and big blotches. And you have to tell them, if you're going to be beguiling, you need to do a little better job. Unfortunately, we seldom put as much energy into teaching young ladies how to have beautiful hearts.

[22:42] Look at what Solomon says. He says, a woman who fears the Lord. So what does fearing the Lord mean? Let me have you work through this with me by helping you understand.

[22:55] First of all, fearing the Lord is the fruit of His grace. I want to say that carefully. Fearing the Lord is the fruit of His grace. I'm not going to have you look at the passage this morning, but let me make a reference to what it says in Jeremiah 32, verse 39 and 40.

[23:12] It makes the statement that really it is the work of God to help us fear Him. Now, it's interesting that the unbeliever is terrified of God at the end.

[23:27] But for most of their life, guess what they're thinking? Where's God? I don't care. He's not going to mess with me. I'm on my own. One of the things it says over and over again in Psalms and also appears, I believe, in Proverbs is that one of the characteristics of the unbeliever is they have no fear of God.

[23:45] That's the way they are. And so if you're sitting here this morning and in your heart there is a wholesome, honorable fear of God, that fear is there because the Spirit of God has worked to give it to you.

[24:02] And so when we think about the fear of God, we need to recognize, first of all, that it's something He has to do in us. Secondly, fearing the Lord means getting the first things right.

[24:14] Turn in your Bible, if you're there in Proverbs chapter 31, I want you to turn in your Bible back to Proverbs chapter 1, verse 7. The book of Proverbs actually has a lot to say about the fear of the Lord.

[24:28] In Proverbs chapter 1, verse 7, at the very beginning of this book, it says this, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge fools despise wisdom and instruction.

[24:40] You will not fear what you do not know. I want you to recognize that. You will not fear what you do not know, but if you know God and you seek His face, you will grow in your fear of Him and at the same time, very interestingly, you grow in your love of Him.

[24:58] You'll grow in your fear of God and you'll grow in your love of God. And if you're sitting here this morning and the truth of the matter is is that you have no fear, the fact of the matter is you also have no love. The two are linked and cannot be pulled apart.

[25:13] Curiously, but that's the way it is. And so we find here that the fear of the Lord is getting the first things right. The fear of the Lord also means being profoundly affected by His person.

[25:26] I want you to look at Matthew chapter 10, verse 28. Matthew chapter 10, verse 28. There has been some effort by some to kind of water down the theology underlying this issue of the fear of God.

[25:47] And there's some people that say, well, this business of fearing God, it's overplayed and it really isn't to be taken the way that some have taken it. The word fear of God is just talking about having a reverential trust.

[26:01] Now, I wouldn't diminish the fact that having a reverential trust of God is important, but that is not the first and primary thought behind the concept of fearing God, scripturally at least.

[26:15] Matthew chapter 10, verse 28. Jesus makes this statement, do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the soul.

[26:25] It says, rather fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Now, what we have in this passage is a perfect comparison.

[26:37] How many of you have been terrified on certain occasions at the prospect of something bad happening to you physically? Yeah, you probably have.

[26:48] I remember some time ago actually being on top of a ladder that was stretched out about 25 feet in the air and having been a paint contractor, having an inordinate amount of confidence in my ladder placement, I scampered right up there and didn't anchor it off.

[27:10] Painters are always moving the ladders. And even at 60-something, I thought, I've got this down. And I got up there way up high in the air. And after I got up there, guess what happened to my ladder? It shifted.

[27:23] And in that little shift, it must not have been more than probably six inches up there, about 24 feet. I've got to tell you that for a moment, I thought my life was passing in front of me.

[27:34] And I got that, you know, what is known as the death grip on the ladder. You ever been there? It's like... Okay. Here's Jesus.

[27:48] He's saying, hey, don't be afraid of those who can kill the body. Don't be afraid of that. You need to be afraid of the one who can do you in in this life and deal with you in the one to come.

[28:01] Now, what we see in that passage is that this business of fearing God means fearing Him, being afraid of Him, being terrified at the reality and the prospect of who God is. It's very interesting as you read the Scriptures, you find a very consistent picture that those who became intimately aware of God's presence and glory were always in every case marked by an abject fear and trembling.

[28:25] They're just overwhelmed by it. This idea of floating around through Christianity that God's some kind of good old dude in the sky that we can kind of be flippant with has no scriptural structure to it.

[28:41] The fear of God means to be terrified at the reality of who He is, awed, inspired, but afraid. It means being more afraid of Him as you look at this passage here than you would be of a thug or a tyrant who wants to kill you.

[29:01] Fearing the Lord means also caring a great deal about what He thinks. What He thinks. Proverbs 16, verse 6, and I'll have you just track this passage with me.

[29:17] It says, By the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil. Fearing the Lord means caring a great deal about what He thinks.

[29:29] And the one who fears the Lord turns away from evil. How many of you realize that evil oftentimes ends up being something we begin to think about and we move from kind of thinking about it to eventually doing it?

[29:41] Isn't that a shame? One of the things that always kind of, you know, I think, Man, I can't believe I did that. I have to tell you, when I think back over my life, I recognize that in every case, the things that I did that were wrong, I move from thinking that that might not be a good idea to thinking that it would be a good idea.

[30:01] But it says this, The one who fears the Lord turns away from evil. That's not right. I know what God thinks.

[30:14] I don't want to go there. I don't want to be involved in that. I want to avoid that because I fear God.

[30:24] You know, one of the things that I have to tell you goes with years of ministry is I've lived long enough and I've watched enough people's lives that I've watched a lot of people over the years eventually kind of drift away from the Lord and drift away from the church and drift away into their own little experience and whatever.

[30:47] And here's one of the things I've said over and over again to them. One point or another, I'll have a conversation with them and I'll say, I don't know if you're a believer or not. Now, why is that true? Yeah, I can't read anybody's birth certificate.

[31:00] Do you follow that? Tim Kenoyer's not in birth certificate business. I'm in the business of sharing the truth. But what I will tell you this is if you're a child of God, you will not get away with sin.

[31:14] You can't because the Father loves you. And those who are his children grow in appreciating the fact that they can't get away with it.

[31:27] You ever compare yourself with other people in your neighborhood or other people that you work with and you're thinking, why are they getting away with that? Don't do that. The fear of the Lord gives to you a sensibility to the seriousness of sin and a desire in your heart to get away from those things that would harm you and cause you pain.

[31:54] I want you to come to one other thought with me in relationship to this. Fearing the Lord means being dominated by his supremacy and his glory. Dominated by his supremacy and his glory.

[32:09] Fearing the Lord means being dominated by his supremacy and his glory. We live in a day and age where a disproportionate percentage of our population is absolutely consumed with self.

[32:29] Would you agree with that? Here's the sad thing. I see people who are professing believers that are only about a half step behind the unbelieving world in their same affections and interests.

[32:47] Doing the same things. Buying into the same logic. Taking the same medicines. Listening to the same theoretical propositions on how to deal with life and having no connection whatever with the word of God and the sufficiency of his grace.

[33:04] I want to tell you something. Fearing the Lord means being dominated. The thing I want is the glory of God.

[33:16] The thing I care about is that he would be first. Fearing God means being dominated by his supremacy and his glory. It's very interesting actually that the Bible gives to us two great responses that we owe to God.

[33:32] One is to fear him and the other is to love him. And remember I said earlier the two go together? They're linked. You fear God.

[33:44] You grow to understand who he is and you have this respect and terror of his awe and majesty his glory and his power and at the same time you are drawn towards that power and as you grow in knowing that power you grow in loving who he is.

[34:04] Do you follow that? You can't love someone you don't know and when you know him you will be terrified at the reality of who he is and yet we grow to love him.

[34:18] So let me come back to the passage in Proverbs and have you think with me. Go back if you've turned away from it to Proverbs chapter 31 and as we look at this passage let me remind you again that what this passage was written for is so that little girls would know what they should grow up and look like.

[34:38] You got that? Not Barbies. And little boys would when they eventually reach the age that their dad would look to them and say well I think you're at the age you probably can begin thinking about maybe who you might ought to marry someday.

[35:01] Do you know what you're looking for? Yes I do. I have 22 verses beginning with Aleph going to Beth and carrying on that tell me what I'm looking for. And dad by the way the end of this string says this charm is deceitful and beauty won't last but a woman who fears the Lord she's a keeper.

[35:28] That's what it says. So let me put it this way.

[35:41] The most valuable thing to look for in a woman is the depth and heart that she has for the Lord.

[35:54] The most valuable thing to look for in a woman is the depth and the heart that she has for the Lord. Is the Bible practical?

[36:07] What's the answer? Oh yes. Is the Bible life? Oh yes. And this morning as we think about this small segment of God's wisdom for us where it relates to the matter of what a godly woman is.

[36:33] I want to broaden the scope just for a moment and ask you if you're here today and you don't know Christ let me tell you the Bible has more to say that's valuable than just what kind of woman to be.

[36:45] Here's what the Bible tells us. The Bible which is our life tells us that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

[36:59] Do you know what that means? It means that every one of us apart from the grace of Christ will stand condemned before God and spend all of eternity in hell.

[37:12] Last week as I was walking my dog I bumped into a neighbor and in the course of conversation we were kind of sharing information and eventually came out where they were going to church and then I said where I was going and they said well that's one of those fundamentalist churches and we got beyond that just for a moment and I began to share well you know fundamentalism is really I wouldn't call myself a fundamentalist but I said you know a fundamental believes in the fundamentals of the faith and at the heart of our faith is a belief that Jesus is real and that hell's real she immediately stopped me and said I don't believe in that really you will someday the scripture says there's none righteous no not one and we all stand condemned before a holy God but here's the sweet truth knowing our inability to save ourselves

[38:18] God sent his son to die in my place and to die in your place that what the scriptures say might be true whosoever believes in him do you know what it says shall not perish but have everlasting life I gotta tell you something you can't figure out how to fear the Lord if you haven't come to faith and believed in Christ and so if you want to grow to be a godly woman and you're sitting here today and you don't know Christ my appeal to you my plea would be that you confess your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ who came to pay the penalty for you in your place and he offers you everlasting life if you'll trust him and if you're here this morning and you're a young man who who does not know Christ or you're a father or a man who needs Christ and the burden is on you this morning let me encourage you to know this here's what it says in the scriptures whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord that person will be saved it is profoundly simple but it is profoundly humbling because what a person has to do is say

[39:22] I know I stand condemned before God and I need Jesus to forgive me and save me and so what I'm going to ask what we do is we just bow our heads right now just quietly where we are I want you to think for a moment to yourself do I know Christ as my savior and if you're here today and you know Christ as your savior but you recognize that your heart has grown cold and you're here today and there is not an interest in the things of God whether you're a man or a woman or a boy or a girl I would ask that you would quietly respond if the spirit of God is prompting you and you just raise your hands and you're asking for those any any any any any!

[40:14]