Well, good morning, Christ Family Church, and again, happy Mother's Day to our moms in the room.
If you would turn with me to Titus chapter 2.
Titus chapter 2.
And this morning we're going to take a short break from our normal study in Acts.
One week break from the study of the book of Acts.
Nathan asked me if I would share something special this morning since it is Mother's Day.
So we're going to take a brief depart from the book of Acts.
We'll come back together again, I believe, next week.
We're scheduled to do some more in the book of Acts.
So this morning we're going to be talking and focusing on biblical womanhood,
which is exciting for all those guys who are in the room saying,
yes, I'm glad I came here this morning.
I'm so glad that we're talking about biblical womanhood.
Before you go there, in your minds, stay with me, guys.
This is going to be important for you because whether you are a young woman,
whether you're an older woman, whether you have kids, or whether you don't have kids,
this message should apply to you because we all have moms, right?
We all were born to someone, and we all have moms.
And at the very least, men, we can pray toward or for our mothers
and for the people that we know in our lives who are moms,
who are trying and working toward what these biblical truths have to teach us this morning.
My hope this morning is that you're encouraged in at least two ways.
The first, that you, and by you, I mean the mothers in the room this morning,
that you are encouraged by what you're doing well,
because so many of you are doing so many things so well,
and that you would continue down that road of doing those things well,
refining what you've done well and continue to do those things well.
Secondly, I hope that everyone will be spurred on toward godliness in the areas where we neglect.
And we all have areas that we neglect, right?
Every single one of us, every person in this room has areas of neglect.
Until we have achieved perfection, and biblically speaking, I don't think any of us are there yet.
Until we achieve perfection, we have stuff we can work on.
And so I hope that you will keep your mind and your heart open to God changing you through the power of His Word
and the conviction of the Holy Spirit this morning.
Now, Titus 2 has much to say to us this morning.
And in the context of Titus 2, we have instructions to younger men, to older men, to younger women, and to older women.
And we have a section in there also about speaking about servants.
And so I want you to look at me at verse 3 to begin with, Titus 2, verse 3.
And we're going to dive right in because we have a lot to cover this morning.
We have a lot of ground to cover.
We've got to do some groundwork before we dive into this.
And I just want to go ahead and jump in.
And then we're going to jump to the end of the passage because we have to connect some truths within the context of those passages this morning.
So Titus 2, verse 3 says,
Now, skip with me down to Titus 2, verse 11.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people,
training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions,
and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of God and Savior, Jesus Christ,
who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness,
to purify for Himself a people for His own possession,
who are zealous for good works.
Declare these things.
Exhort and rebuke with all authority.
Let no one disregard you.
So what I want to do this morning to start off with in working through this passage,
we're going to start with the end and work backwards
because it's important for us to understand what we have going on here in the context toward the end of this chapter.
And when we talk about biblical context, we have to keep in mind that our context exists both before and after the passage that we were looking at.
So we're going to start by looking at the context afterwards.
And he says at the very end of the chapter,
And listen to the confidence here.
Declare these things.
Verse 15.
Exhort and rebuke with all authority.
And so what I want to do this morning is I want to walk us through a few reminders.
And these reminders are not just for this morning, but for every morning that we gather here as a faith family at Christ Family Church.
These are important things for us to remember.
And the first reminder is this, that the Word is the preacher's only source of authority.
The Word is the preacher's only source of authority.
It says to exhort and rebuke with all authority as you declare these things, as you declare the Word.
Now we live in a day where there are men and women, for that matter, who are standing up probably right now in front of faith families, their own faith families.
And they are standing up before the people of God and speaking nonsense.
They're speaking non-truths.
They're speaking things that are outside of Scripture.
And they will stand up before a gathered people and proclaim things that the Word does not say.
This is one of the things that I'm most burdened about in our church culture today.
That people would stand up and not speak truth to people.
When a mega church leader not far away from us can proclaim before thousands of readers and listeners that expository preaching is lazy.
That all the research that expositors do, researching the Greek and Hebrew and getting down to the minute details of what each individual word means.
And to extrapolate the meaning from the text, that that is somehow lazy.
He further goes on to say that he finds no example of expository preaching in Scripture.
Which is so far from the truth.
We've already seen this in the book of Acts over the last several months that we've been in the book of Acts.
So many examples.
So many great biblical examples of expository preaching.
And really great examples from Peter's life and from others.
So the question that's ringing in my mind is on whose authority are people like this speaking?
From where do they get their truth statements?
What are they basing their statements on?
Because it certainly isn't on the Word of God.
And you might say, well what makes you think that you have any authority?
Well what makes Nathan or Clay or Jonathan or any of our community group leaders who teach the Bible on a regular basis?
What gives anyone authority to teach the Word of God?
And this is what I'll say because this is what the Word of God teaches us.
First and foremost, the preacher's authority is not personal.
The preacher's authority is not personal.
It's not based on who he is.
Some people think, well if the preacher said it, then it's got to be right.
Right?
Not necessarily.
The preacher is a fallen human.
Others go to the opposite end of the spectrum.
They say, well if the preacher said it, then it's got to be wrong.
And I could almost live with that because they are fallen.
They are human.
It's not on their own authority.
It's not personal authority.
If I said it in an imperfect, broken image of God and I'm standing on my own authority, then I could just as easily be wrong, as wrong as the next person.
And this is why.
When preachers go out on a limb and start preaching on their own authority, they fail every time.
And if I stood before you today and I began to preach on my own authority, then I would fail.
The preacher's authority is not personal.
The preacher's authority is also not organizational.
There's a lot of organizations and denominations and cults, and we won't mention anybody specifically this morning,
but there are a lot of denominations and cults out there that teach that their organization somehow has authority.
Or at the very least, that they have authority in addition to Scripture.
And it's not true.
The Word of God is the preacher's only authority.
It's not organizational.
And finally, the preacher's authority is not experiential.
And this is one that seems to be the most dangerous and maybe the most dominant in our culture today,
is this key idea that people believe is prevalent in the church culture,
that someone can only speak to something if they've experienced that thing.
And that's the only way you can speak with authority on that subject.
So we've got this idea that if we've dealt with a particular sin,
the best person to help us through that particular sin is someone who's experienced already,
experienced that sin somehow.
And this is ludicrous.
If this were the case, then Jesus himself would have nothing to offer us in his ministry.
Praise God that Jesus didn't once give in to sin.
He didn't once fall to the same temptations of immorality and lying and cheating and adultery
and all the things that we deal with in our lives as humans.
He didn't once give in.
And that's why he alone is able to help us through these sins and through these things.
It undercuts the whole foundation of the gospel.
And that is why he is able to help us.
He is able to help us because he is free of sin.
The preacher's authority is based on none of these things
because the preacher's authority is only biblical.
And I want us to be reminded of this this morning.
As long as someone speaks the Word of God,
he speaks what is in line with the Word of God,
then he, as Titus 2 says, has all authority.
But the minute he goes beyond the Word into thoughts or desires or psychology or experience,
at that moment he has lost his authority or she has lost her authority.
Everything we do, all teaching, all preaching, all authority is wrapped up in the Word of God.
And so I understand that probably every person in this room by now is thinking,
well, Kyle, this sounds more like a preaching lesson than it is a lesson on biblical womanhood.
So what's the point?
First, it's represented in a text.
So I'm going to teach it.
It's represented in a text, and it's important for us to understand.
We're going to teach it.
And I hope that every believer in this room can understand the context of this
since as believers we should be teaching.
Every person in here, as a believer, we should be teaching Scripture at some level.
Second, I want to remind you that I'm not speaking on these things on my own authority,
but on the authority of Christ.
It isn't based on who I am or my personal opinions or my experience.
If it were, I'd be in a lot of trouble this morning because, quite frankly, I'm not female.
In case you were wondering.
And that would make it really, really hard for me to preach on biblical womanhood
if it was based on who I am.
I'm not claiming to be the wise one that has all the biblical answers to biblical womanhood
or who has all the answers to personal struggles in your marriages
and your relationships with your children or in your relationships with other people.
I realize that there are a plethora of different situations in this room, circumstances,
people with different struggles, with different pasts.
And at times when we're confronted with the Word, we're confronted by the Word.
We all need to be confronted by the Word from time to time, hopefully on a regular basis.
And in those times, the adversary will sometimes begin to whisper into your ear.
He doesn't know what he's talking about.
He doesn't know what you're going through.
This doesn't apply to you.
And then you'll go and try to find someone else who agrees with what you think.
And you can easily find someone who agrees with what you think,
someone who can tell you what you want to hear, as opposed to what the Word of God says.
And I submit to you that those friends or those relatives or those people
who are telling you just what you want to hear and not giving you biblical truth
does not demonstrate biblical love in your life.
I don't know how many times since Amanda and I have been married
that we have had situations where we have spoken truth and love into somebody's life
and they reject it for the lives of someone who told them what they would prefer to hear.
I love a lot of things about my wife,
but one of the things that I love the most is that if you ask her a question,
if you come to her seeking truth, she's going to give it to you.
She's going to tell you, she's going to give you truth from the Word
and she'll do it out of love.
And she's very good at tithes to ministry.
But so often people walk away with unteachable hearts.
Don't let that be you this morning.
Don't let that be you.
I want more than anything to stay as close to this Word as possible.
And if I stray from this Word, you have my permission this morning just to tune me out.
If I begin talking about my own experience,
if I begin talking about my thoughts or anything else,
you have my permission to tune me completely out.
But as long as this Word is being clearly communicated,
then I encourage you and I urge you to listen to what the Word of God says.
I've been praying from the moment that I knew I'd be preaching this morning
that the power of His Spirit would take this Word
and apply it appropriately in each of our lives this morning.
I realize we have all kinds of situations, all kinds of varying situations,
and we have to apply this Word to our personal lives and our personal situations.
So as we jump into biblical womanhood, we must first understand this,
that the foundation of biblical womanhood is the Gospel.
The foundation of biblical womanhood is the Gospel.
And this is true for every aspect of the life of a born-again believer.
The Gospel is foundational.
The Gospel undergirds everything.
It is the foundation for everything we talk about.
And as what He is saying here in Titus 2, 11-14,
you read that the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation for all people,
training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions
and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
waiting for our blessed hope,
the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior,
who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness
and to purify for Himself a people, His own possession,
who are zealous for good works.
That is the Gospel.
He just spent ten verses saying,
young men do this,
older men do this,
younger women do this,
older women do this.
And He says,
the reason He says that all these things
is that the Gospel is foundational for all of it.
Everything that we do.
How is the Gospel foundational?
Three reasons this morning.
Real quickly, before we jump into biblical womanhood,
and by the way, this does connect.
We're going to connect these things back to biblical womanhood,
and I hope that you'll see how that works in a little bit.
God's grace covers our past.
We see this in the text this morning.
God's grace covers our past.
We see it in verse 11.
God's grace has appeared.
He has brought us to salvation.
And here's where I'm going to lose some people,
because typically, believers,
oftentimes we fall into this habit
of when we begin to talk about God's grace,
we begin to tune it out,
we begin to tune out things,
because we've heard it before we know about God's grace.
But the reality is
that God has provided incredible grace for us,
and we do not ever need to overcome
the joy of the reality of what Christ has done in our lives.
We were once dead in our sin
and made alive again by Christ.
This is a gift that we should never stop rejoicing in.
This is a gift that was given to us freely.
We've been spared the wrath of God
through the blood of Christ
and made alive again forever.
This is something that we should always rejoice in.
It's something that we should never get over
in our lives.
We should continually rejoice in this truth.
But God not only covers our past by His grace,
God's grace and powers are present.
This is the picture now.
God's grace trains us,
according to verse 11.
God's grace is our teacher.
It trains us and disciples us on a daily basis
to grow into the image of Christ.
It's a process that we call sanctification.
And this is how this works
for application for us this morning.
There's no woman in this room
that can live up to the picture
of Titus 2 on your own.
In fact, for that matter,
there's no man in this room
who can live up to the picture
of biblical manhood on his own.
Grace empowers our present.
It's grounded in the Gospel
and it trains us for these things.
This grace covers our past.
It empowers our present.
And God's grace guarantees our future.
It guarantees our future.
This is verse 13.
Waiting for our blessed hope,
the appearing of the glory
of our great God and Savior,
Jesus Christ.
So we see God's grace,
past, present, and future,
all wonderfully encapsulated
in this passage.
And we see how the Gospel is foundational
for all that we're going to read about
this morning.
But not only is the Gospel foundational,
the foundation of biblical womanhood,
but it's also the purpose
of biblical womanhood.
And this is demonstrated
no less than three times in Titus 2.
We look at three different times.
The first one that we're going to look at
is Titus 2.9.
He's talking about servants here.
Slaves are to be submissive
to their own masters in everything.
They are to be well-pleasing,
not argumentative,
not pilfering,
but showing all good faith.
And here's the purpose clause.
Paul inserts a purpose clause here
as he writes.
So that in everything
they might adorn
the doctrine of God our Savior.
So we have a purpose
for the reason why
we're being told to do these things.
Show your second example.
See it again in verse 7.
If you back up.
This is speaking to younger men.
Show yourselves in all respects
to be a model of good works.
And in your teaching,
show integrity,
dignity,
and sound speech
that cannot be condemned.
And here it is again.
So that an opponent
may be put to shame,
having nothing evil
to say about us.
So there again
we see a purpose.
Thirdly,
trained young women.
This is the passage
that we're talking about
this morning,
one of our focus passages.
Trained young women
to love their husbands
and children,
to be self-controlled,
pure,
working at home,
kind and submissive
to their own husbands.
That is that the Word of God
may not be reviled.
So the picture we get
from Scripture
is that you act in these ways.
People have no grounds
upon which to speak
against the Word.
They have no grounds
upon which to speak
bad about us.
And they will all see
the attractiveness
of God our Savior.
This is where I want us
to all think about
what biblical womanhood
is not.
That it's not
for our cultural convenience.
It's not for our
cultural convenience.
It's not to try to fit
into the mold
of the culture
that exists around us.
And so often
we have done this
even in our Christian circles.
We have adopted
what the world says
should look like
as women.
And you have to understand
that Paul is writing
in a time here
during the birth
of Christianity.
Christianity is brand new.
And they are just discovering
what effects
that Christ has,
what effects
the gospel has
on the family
and on the home.
And for the first time
moms, dads, husbands,
wives, and children
are having to consider
how to show Christ
to the world,
to the first century
pagan world,
what kind of difference
Christ makes
in the family
and on the home.
And it wasn't
an easy task for them.
Everything that they're
being told to do
is counter-cultural.
All across the New Testament,
everything that they
are encountering,
everything they're being
told to do
is counter-cultural.
And though it's not
a direct correlation
to us today,
the first century
back then,
there's no question
that the picture
of a Christ-centered
family in our culture
is under attack.
The enemy wants
to attack this
because it's such
an incredible picture
of the gospel.
We have to make
a decision
whether we're going
to mold our lives
into what the culture
says is right
or whether we're
going to mold our lives
into what God says
is right.
This is not about
cultural convenience
and as a result,
there are some
unpopular things
that we're going
to talk about this morning.
I'll go ahead
and warn you,
there are some
unpopular things
that we're going
to talk about
that are unpopular
in our culture.
So biblical womanhood
is not about
cultural convenience
and it's not about
personal preference.
We've got to realize
this, that marriage,
family, kids,
mothering, fathering,
none of this
is for our
individual fulfillment.
I'm not saying
that these things
aren't fulfilling
because they are
indeed fulfilling
when we do them
well and we do
them according to
God and according
to the way that
God tells us to do
them.
They can be
incredibly fulfilling.
We must realize
that God's glory
is the end game
in all of these
things.
We've got to be
seeking God's glory
in all of this.
The purpose of
marriage and
parenting is to
put the glory of
God on display
for the world to
see.
And we sacrifice
our preferences
and our comfort
toward that end.
So if biblical
womanhood is not
for cultural
convenience and
it's not for
personal preference,
then what exactly
is the purpose
of biblical
womanhood?
The purpose of
biblical womanhood
is number one,
to show the
beauty of Christ.
To show the
beauty of Christ.
To make the
teaching about
God, our Savior,
attractive to the
world and
attractive to
believers.
And this is where
we're getting into
the main course
this morning.
We've had the
appetizers, we've
gone through the
salad course, we've
gone through the
soup course, and
now we're getting
into the core of
what we're talking
about this morning.
How can we live
today, women, how
can you live in a
way that puts the
gospel of Christ on
display?
That is a
consuming question.
And unfortunately,
it's not the
consuming question
that most of us
ponder when we're
thinking about our
day-to-day activities.
It's more likely,
the question that we
ask is more likely,
what can I do on a
day-to-day basis to
make my life easiest?
Because things are
difficult, right?
It's difficult day-to-day.
Moms, dads,
everyone.
But as long as we're
focused on that, we
will not be able to
engage Scripture on a
meaningful level.
It's at this point we
must realize that our
purpose is to show the
beauty of Christ that
we are truly engaging
the Word.
So the question for
your life, woman of
God, is how can you
live in a way that
puts the gospel of
Jesus Christ on
display in your life?
So the first purpose
of biblical womanhood
is to show the beauty
of Christ.
Secondly, to advance
the mission of Christ.
To advance the mission
of Christ.
So that no one will
align the Word.
so that no one can
say bad things about
us.
So that people in a
pagan culture, both
1st century and 21st
century, can see the
gospel effect on our
families.
Do we realize how huge
of a need this is today
in our culture?
It's huge.
And I want to be
careful here because I
know that there are
individuals in this room,
situations where the
glory of Christ may not
have been put on display.
At some point in your
past, at some point
along the way, whether
through parenting or
failed marriages or
guilt from past
situations, maybe very
public situations where
you did not display the
glory of Christ, whether
it be in any of these
areas of your life.
And I just want to
remind you, this is part
of the connection going
back to what we started
off with, what I've
already said, that God's
grace covers our past.
It's important for us
moving forward to
understand that just
because we did not do
things well in the past
does it mean that we
have to live in that
way in the future that
we can still put the
glory of God on display
in our lives.
At the same time, I
know that there are
men and women who may
be struggling through
marriages in this room.
There may be men and
women who are struggling
to hold on to
parenting.
Let's face it, moms.
I'm just going to go
ahead and say it.
Your job isn't easy.
It's not easy.
And any person that
says that has never
been a mom before.
And I want to urge you
whether you're struggling
as a spouse or as a
struggling parent, both
men and women in the
room, I want to urge you
to hold fast by the grace
of Christ in your life.
Hold fast by His grace.
Women, whether young or
old, it's time for us to
raise the bar in the
church.
It's time for us to raise
the bar in our culture as
believers in our culture.
And as women say, this is
what the gospel of Christ
looks like in action
played out in the woman's
life.
The world needs to see
this.
And the world needs to see
this in you.
The world needs to see
biblical womanhood and
biblical manhood on
display boldly in the
lives of the body of
Christ.
And they need to see it
in this faith family.
We all need to be on
our knees praying toward
this end on a regular
basis.
All of us, young, old,
men, women, all of us
in the room need to be
praying that God will
show the power of His
gospel and bringing
healing and joy back to
our families.
We need to pray that God
will boldly display His
gospel in us this morning.
And that's the purpose of
biblical womanhood.
So what we have in Titus 2
is biblical womanhood
split into two groups.
Okay?
Two different groups.
Younger women, older
women.
Some have said of this
passage that older women
would be those who are
past the years of having
children in the home,
child rearing years,
while younger women
would be those who still
have children or younger
in their homes.
I don't want to disqualify
any young women in here
from this passage just
because you don't have
children.
That's not necessarily the
case.
But there's no definite
lines, and I'm not going
to say give any ages.
I'm going to tell you
whether you're an older
woman or a younger woman
this morning.
I just don't want to go
there for obvious reasons.
But just know that there's
no defining age point
here.
Okay?
Just as a side note,
this may be one of the
most misunderstood and
maligned passages in all
the New Testament.
One of the most
misunderstood.
Radical feminism has
crept into our church
culture.
And it's claimed that
passages like Titus 2
are chauvinistic and
sexist and outdated.
And since it's outdated,
it's optional for our
lives.
Well, it's not optional.
It's still the Word of
God.
And I believe as we gain
an understanding for this
passage, we'll no longer
believe that it's chauvinistic
and we'll no longer
believe that it's sexist.
We'll look at this and
we'll say this has been
God's plan from the very
beginning in chapter 2 of
Genesis when He created
woman, that this from the
very beginning was God's
plan.
And we want to experience
all that He has for us in
our families and in
biblical womanhood.
So we'll start with older
women because Scripture
starts with older women.
Older women, likewise,
are to be reverent in
behavior, not slanderers
or slaves to much wine.
They are to teach what is
good.
So older women, command
number one, be holy.
Be holy.
Live your lives reverently
before God.
Older women, set a godly
example for younger women.
Show younger women what life
looks like when lived before
a holy God.
These are important things
older women to teach to
younger women.
Be holy.
Secondly, build up the body
of Christ.
He says this in two ways.
First, he says, do not be
slanderers.
Build up the body with your
tongue.
Speak well of other people.
Older women, speak in a way
that builds up the character
of Christ in others.
Speak in a way that builds up
the body of Christ in the
church.
Do not slander.
And yes, this includes gossip.
Do not do anything that is not
useful, Ephesians 4, for
building up others according
to their need in Christ Jesus.
So the word is saying, do not
be slanderers.
Do not speak in a way that will
not bring glory to Christ.
And not just control your tongue,
but do not be addicted to much
wine.
This is a picture here of
self-control.
Being in control.
Being sober-minded.
This is a picture of guarding
your body as a temple of the
Holy Spirit.
So be holy.
Build up the body of Christ.
And thirdly, make disciples.
Older women still are speaking
to you.
Make disciples.
And this is where it gets
really, really good.
Listen to what it says.
They are to teach what is
good.
Remember this in the context
of Scripture.
Be holy.
Build up the body of Christ.
Why?
Why do we need to be holy?
Why do we need to build up the
body of Christ?
So that you can teach and train
younger women.
Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit,
tells older women,
make disciples with younger women.
Show younger women what life looks
like in Christ.
Christ.
And this is something that God has
entrusted to older women.
And I don't know how much this is
going on in our faith family.
I hope that it's going on.
And I hope that if it's not,
that we will continue to do this
process in our lives.
That older women would train and
teach younger women and mentor.
And I would submit that every
believer needs someone older in
their life to disciple them and to
train them as a mentor.
And every person needs a younger
person in their life that they are
currently training.
This is what Titus 2 ministry looks
like.
So this is the picture.
Make disciples.
That's the three effects of the
gospel on older women in Titus 2.
There are more for younger women.
Seven effects of the gospel that we
see on younger women.
Number one, love your husband.
So train the young women to love
their husbands.
This is typically where we get kind
of a nudge from the husband to
their wife.
See?
It's in the Bible, honey.
It's right here.
But men, we're not going to be
self-serving about this.
We're not going to take this and
shove it down anybody's face this
morning.
But this is how important this is,
ladies, in the room.
The command here, the commands are
really bookended for young women in
this regard.
At the beginning, it's love your
husbands.
And at the end, it's submit to your
husbands.
This is a bookended thing.
It's all encapsulated by loving her
husband.
And Scripture is consistent in this
regard.
In Genesis 2.18, in 1 Corinthians 11,
8, and 9, in Colossians, and all
these places that talks about biblical
womanhood and the command to love the
husband.
It always comes before the command to
love the children.
The command of Genesis 2.18 and 1
Corinthians 11, that women are first
and foremost their husband's helper, not
their children's helper.
And the biblical picture is that the
biblical woman who is a wife and a
mother, her love for her children
flows out of the spring of her love
for her husband.
Does that mean that you should
disregard your children?
No way.
That's not what we're saying here at
all.
That aside from God, I just want to be
clear here, aside from your
relationship with God, the number one
relationship in your life is your
husband for married women.
It's the number one responsibility
aside from your relationship with God.
Now, what I love about Titus 2 is that
it's very quick to say that older women should
train younger women to love their husbands,
which implies, at least in my mind, it implies
that it's not something that just happens
automatically, right?
Let's just be honest here.
There are a couple of men in this room who are
difficult to love.
Not me, of course.
Those guys, again, not me.
Those guys have something to work on in their
lives.
I just want to be clear of being facetious,
obviously.
Let's just be very honest, man.
Who in here, by a show of hands, is easy to love?
And I'm not hands down, by the way.
If you even started to raise your hand, you're
going to get that elbow and the gut there.
But biblical love is not always easy.
It's not always easy.
This love, women, it requires great determination
on your part.
It requires great determination.
I've counseled through enough couples struggling
with love and respect issues.
Again, I'm speaking on experience, so if you want
to tune this part out, that's fine.
Whatever.
But I've spoken with enough couples who are
dealing with these issues to know that there are
probably women in this room who will say,
well, Kyle, you just don't know my husband.
It's difficult.
And I know that there are difficult situations
represented in the room this morning.
There's difficult times.
We go through seasons of life that are difficult,
with difficult circumstances.
And this is where I want to remind you that your
love for your husband is not dependent upon his
worthiness to be loved.
Let me say that again.
Your love for your husband is not dependent on his
worthiness to be loved.
And this is big.
Because this is not what the world says about love.
The world says that if he's not being loving to you,
then why are you even trying?
If they don't do something right,
then they don't deserve your love.
That's not the picture in Scripture.
Scripture says, ladies, love your husbands.
And this is why.
This is why we need to see the picture and this connection
between the gospel and our families,
between the gospel and our marriages.
How can women who live with an unlovable husband
love their husbands?
And the only answer is the gospel.
It's this picture that we see in the gospel.
The whole picture of the gospel is a God who not only loves the unlovable,
but who chooses to love the unlovable.
A God who not only chooses to love the lovable,
but chooses to love the unlovable.
It's the picture of the gospel.
A God who gives his life for us when we were the most undeserving.
So how in the world can you love your husband?
By the love that God has in you.
It's 1 John 4, 19.
We love why?
Because he first loved us.
Ladies, when you love your husband,
because let's face it, guys,
we're difficult to get along with sometimes.
We're unlovable at times.
You're a living, breathing picture of Christ to the world,
ladies, when you love your husbands.
And what may be even more compelling
is that you are being a living picture of Christ to your children
when you love your husbands.
In a culture that says when things get difficult in marriage,
things aren't going the way you would prefer,
that you just move on.
The gospel says when things are inconvenient,
when things are not working out the way that you would hope they were,
or according to your preference,
you buckle down and you show your spouse love.
This is priority.
It requires great determination,
but at the same time,
I believe that as you practice,
as you put this into practice,
this love can bring about great delight in your life.
Because this is the way God designed it to be.
This is God's design for our lives.
So, love your husbands.
Secondly, love your children.
Love your children.
And while this might seem like this is something that comes very naturally,
we live in a culture that simply does not love children at every turn,
it seems like.
The things that we say,
the things that we do,
we limit our children because of finances.
They're a burden to us,
is what we say when we talk about children in that way.
That is so far from the truth,
but at the same time,
we realize that we have to be trained to love our children,
and that's what gospel grace does for us.
It's not always easy.
I've already said it once,
but I'll say it again.
Husbands,
this is your moment to say amen after this,
because this is going to earn you brownie points,
but there's the statement,
and don't miss this,
there is no profession in this world
that requires more work or greater sacrifice
than motherhood on a day-to-day basis.
That was really weak, guys.
Like,
you probably woke up this morning,
and you got here,
and you just realized it was Mother's Day
as the tulips were being handed out,
but I'm trying to help you out here, okay?
I want to say this again and see where we can get.
There's no profession that requires more work
or greater sacrifice on a day-to-day basis
than biblical motherhood.
That's what I want to hear.
That's better.
All right,
although I'm a little bit concerned about your initiative there.
Love involves deep demands.
This love for children involves deep demands.
There's no question for a mom to take a son or a daughter
and to care for them spiritually, physically, and emotionally in every way,
to lead them through the ups and downs and ebbs and flows of their life.
The reality is that Titus 2 is saying,
no woman,
and please hear this,
no woman is up to the task of mothering.
You can't do it by yourself.
It's the grace of God in you that enables you to mother,
to be the mother that God has designed you to be.
It's all based on His grace
and His provision in your life.
And everything about parenting,
by the way,
should drive us to our knees
in prayer to God saying,
God, I need you.
Christ, work in me.
Give me the wisdom that I need as a parent.
Give me the wisdom I need to discipline my child.
Give me the wisdom and the strength
to be able to accomplish your will in my child's life.
And also,
we pray for our children's salvation on a daily basis.
And again,
this love done properly brings about deep delight
and lasting joy.
God will work through you,
yes, you moms,
to accomplish His purpose in your life.
This is how Spurgeon says it.
It's in your bulletin.
Wes has already read it,
but for the purposes of the sermon,
I want to read it again
just so we kind of wrap our minds
around the importance of motherhood
from the mind of Spurgeon.
And there's somehow a wonderful power
about a mother's voice
when she talks to her children
about Jesus and His love,
which stamps itself on the heart.
And the heart is a far better place
for the custody of truth
than ever the brain can become.
Share the Gospel with your children every day.
That's one of the most loving things
you can do for your child
is to share the Gospel with them every day.
Train your children.
Share the Gospel with your children.
And next, discipline yourself.
Discipline yourself.
The Word says,
Train the young women
to love their husbands and children
to be self-controlled.
This is something that is mentioned
with each of the groups in Titus 2, by the way.
This idea of self-control
is all throughout Scripture.
We don't talk about it enough in our churches,
but this idea of self-control
is really important in Scripture.
And in this case,
it comes right on the hills of Titus 2, 5,
talking about children.
And that should make sense to us.
How can we ever expect to discipline our children
if we're not disciplined ourselves?
And this is the connection here
between here and verse 12,
that God's grace disciplines us.
It trains us.
So that when you come home
from an outing that day, moms,
and your kids have been screaming
in the vehicle all day,
they didn't clean the rooms up
before they left,
so they got science projects
growing in their rooms,
the dog got into the trash,
it's after 6 o'clock,
you haven't started dinner yet,
and your mother-in-law
will be there in five minutes.
What gets you through a situation like that?
What keeps you from trying to crawl
into a hole somewhere
to a quiet place
like you really want to do?
It can only be God's grace.
It can only be the grace of God
working on our lives.
You're saying,
God, I need your grace today.
Every single moment of today
to enable me, to train me,
to be the kind of woman
and the kind of mother
and the kind of wife
that I need to be.
You must discipline yourself,
guard your heart,
guard your mind,
guard your body,
and guard your will
for the glory of Christ.
Discipline yourself.
The next,
be faithful to God
and to your husband.
Be faithful to God
and to your husband.
Be, this is how the word puts it,
be self-controlled and pure.
This is a picture
of marital faithfulness
in heart, mind, and body.
I want to say that again
because it's important.
A lot of times we think
of that whole marital faithfulness
as being just with the body.
In the heart,
in the mind,
in the body.
This is purity,
innocence,
uncontaminated purity.
This is radical faithfulness
to God
and to your husband.
And in this context,
the word pure
is really focused
on sexual purity.
We all know
that the adversary
wants to attack this area
in women's lives
and men's lives
and in our marriages today.
There's not one person,
not one person
who can withstand
this temptation.
And if you think
that you can,
if you think that you can
withstand this temptation
on your own,
this is key,
on your own,
then you're saying
that you are stronger
than the strongest man,
Samson,
that you are wiser
than the wisest man,
Solomon,
that you are more godly
than the man
after God's own heart,
David.
All three
fell to sexual temptation.
We can't do this
on our own.
What does Scripture say?
Flee immorality.
I can't stress
the seriousness of this.
Do not think
you can withstand it
on your own.
You have to take
extreme measures
against this sin.
Do not put yourself
in a position
where someone can even
call your purity
into question.
This is about being
above reproach.
Not putting yourself
in a position
where even your integrity
can be questioned.
If you find yourself
in a position
where you are alone
with someone
of the opposite gender,
literally take flight.
Flee from the temptation.
Get out of there.
Be awkward
if you have to.
It's better to be awkward
than it is
to succumb
to the temptation.
But here's the deal.
Don't just run away
from immorality.
You're running,
so you're running
toward something.
And so the thing
you should be running
toward is purity,
toward holiness.
You've got to embrace
this idea of purity
in your life.
We need to guard
this area of our lives
and in our marriages.
It will not only
honor God,
it will teach
our children well
as they see you
doing these things.
As they see you
running after purity
in your marriages
and in your lives.
It will also be a picture
of the faithfulness
of Christ to the world.
Faithfulness of Christ
to the church.
Next,
care for your home.
Care for your home.
We have three more things
to go.
We're about to wrap it up.
Care for your home.
And we'll go through
these mostly quickly,
but this one we're
going to camp out on
for a second.
Be self-controlled,
pure,
working at home.
Working at home.
This is an important one,
women.
Managing the day-to-day
operations of the home
is your God-given
responsibility.
It's your God-given
responsibility,
women.
For us,
and my family,
I'll just go ahead
and tell you for us
what that looks like
is that Amanda
stays at home
to be able to train
our children,
to be able to teach
our children,
to be able to raise
our children
in the admonition
of the Lord.
We believe that God
has entrusted us
to that task.
And that's our
personal conviction,
and we sacrifice
a lot along that way,
especially financially.
We make a lot of
sacrifices to make
this happen.
And I also recognize
that there are situations
and some seasons
of lives for other people
that simply do not
allow this to happen.
Single moms,
you're going to have
a hard time
working from home
at least at first.
It's very,
very difficult,
and we all recognize
that.
If you have a desire
to work from home,
in that case,
I know that there are
ways to get there,
but it might take
some baby steps
in getting there.
And this is,
again,
speaking of experience,
my wife is very good
at finding ways
to do this.
So if you're a single mom
or if you're just somebody
who's wanting to look
for ways to work
from home,
then Amanda has
some ridiculously
incredible ideas
about how to do that.
That's just on a side note.
But we all recognize
that there are difficulties
in doing this,
that obviously
different situations,
you have to apply
this word.
There's grace
for these things.
There's grace
that God gives us
for different
and various situations
that we look at.
Now,
this can be carried out
in many ways.
You look at the
Proverbs 31.
It's a great example
of this.
You have a picture
of this woman
who's doing a lot of things,
like so many things.
It's unbelievable
that she's involved
in doing so much.
But it's all
for the sake
of the responsibility
that she has
to care for the home.
But the picture
in Scripture
is that homemaking
is mentioned a lot.
It's mentioned
a lot in Scripture
and it's viewed
as a noble
and high calling.
This idea of homemaking.
So the picture
is that
it is godly,
it is right
to care for your home.
And here's the key
and don't miss this part
because anybody
can care for the home,
right?
Anybody can stay at home
and care for the home.
But it's for the purpose
of creating
a God-centered home.
And don't miss that
this morning.
Anybody can care
for the home.
There's unbelievers
who make this choice
apart from Scripture
to stay in the home.
And you can stay at home
and watch soap operas
all day
and blog
and be on the internet
and watch Netflix
and you are nowhere
near Titus 2.
nowhere near it.
The key here
is that you care
for the home
with the purpose
of creating
a God-centered home.
The picture
that we've gotten
Titus 2
is a responsibility
for what God
has entrusted you.
So I encourage you here
to take a look
at your situation
and apply these truths
to your life.
If you're capable
of doing these things
then you should do this.
This is a noble
and high calling
for women.
Single moms
and working moms
there's grace
for how this looks
in your life.
I'm not going to be
legalistic about this
this morning.
This is your God-entrusted
responsibility
women of God
to care for your home.
God-entrusted responsibility
to take it
and own it
and make this
something that you do.
You work hard
in this area
and it will honor God
and it will honor
your husband
and it will honor
your family.
Which leads us
to the next picture.
Serve with kindness.
The last two
we're going to go by quickly.
Serve with kindness.
To be busy at home
to be kind
amidst all she does.
To be kind
amidst,
let's be honest,
ungrateful kids
and at times
ungrateful husbands.
What does this mean
to serve with kindness?
It means,
number one,
to desire the good
of others.
To desire the good
of her husband.
To desire the good
of her children.
And to desire the good
of those who are
guests within the home.
Those who are visitors
in the home.
Secondly,
to work for the good
of others.
You might want to study
1 Timothy
to dive further into this.
We don't have time
to turn there right now,
but 1 Timothy 2.9
and 1 Timothy 5.9
both talk about
a woman who is marked
or adorned
with good works.
Her reputation
is for kindness.
And instead of
showing outward beauty
like the world
talks about
and the world
values so much,
it's an incredible
picture of this inward
beauty being adorned
for good works.
There are so many
of you in this room
that do this so well.
You're so accommodated
and you're very loving
toward your guests
in your home
and you're very loving
toward those who are
in your home
and you care about them
and I know sometimes
that might seem
to go unnoticed,
but just remember
that your reward
does not exist
in the finite realm
of this world.
Your reward exists
in eternity.
Work for the good
of others
and finally submit
to your husband.
Submit to your husband.
I know we're running
short on time
this morning,
but this is the last
picture of what God
said with the gospel
and how the gospel
affects younger women.
We've already spoken
about loving your husbands
for the sake of time.
We're going to shorten this.
This is not really fair
though to talk about
the role of women
in the church
without talking about
the role of men,
of biblical manhood.
So it's not fair
to talk about
biblical submission
without talking about
the husband's
biblical sacrifice.
And this is where
we have to come
to the understanding
that the feminist
movement has sold us
in the church
a bill of goods.
Because what the
feminist movement
has said to us
is that the role
that women play
as suitable helpers
to their husbands
is necessarily lesser
than the role of leadership.
And this is simply
not true.
Men and women,
I want you to hear me
carefully this morning,
men and women
are equal
in their value.
I'm not teaching
egalitarianism here.
They're equal
in their value.
What separates them
is in their roles.
The roles that they play.
It's very important
for us to understand
this.
Men,
we are not
to lord over
our wives.
We're not to lord
over our wives.
In fact,
we are to sacrifice
our lives.
Ephesians 6
says Christ
sacrificed himself
for the church.
It is the picture
of the gospel men
when we sacrifice
our lives
for our
wives.
It's very important
that we get this,
we understand this.
We are equal
in our value.
God has given us
equally important roles
and in fact,
I would say
in my own life,
a lot of times
I have to come
to the recognition
that my whole family
would fall apart
without a suitable helper.
I'm just going to be
honest with you.
If it were up to me
raising two kids
as it stands right now,
two children
and to be able
to do all that I do
and to be able
to do all this,
it would all fall apart.
Number one,
because men are not
typically designed
to be nourishing
and all these things
like women are.
God has designed
women perfectly
for raising children
and it's just
equally important
in the role.
It's different
in the role.
The fact that I'm
a spiritual leader
in my family
doesn't mean
that I say,
me man,
you woman,
me say,
you do.
It's not the picture
that we get
in Scripture.
It's not biblical
leadership,
men.
We lead in sacrifice.
We lead in love,
which means
that you love your wives
as Christ loved the church
and gave himself up
for her.
We are different
in our roles.
A husband sacrifices,
a wife submits.
That's the summary
of it.
A husband sacrifices,
a wife submits.
And there's so much
more time
that we could spend here
really on all
of these topics.
We could flesh them out.
Each one of these
could really be a sermon
in and of themselves.
We're not going to
keep you here that long,
though.
But let me just say this.
I want to encourage you women,
just in closing,
I want to encourage you.
You have so much
on your plate,
yet you handle it
with such grace.
And it's so wonderful
to see the work
and the grace of Christ
working in your lives
in these regards.
And all these things,
the things that you know well
and the things that you
know you need to work on,
remember that God's grace
enables us to will
and to act
according to His purpose.
And I know
that we don't have
any perfect moms
in the room today.
But we have some
really, really good ones.
We do.
Wonderful moms,
not perfect.
And we have to remember
that by God's grace,
we accomplish these things.
We better ourselves
one day at a time.
And it's all about
better today than yesterday
and better tomorrow
than today.
We're all a work in progress.
We all are striving
for holiness,
to seek God's will
in our lives.
And women,
just know that
one day at a time.
Better today than yesterday,
better tomorrow than today.
And when you do this,
you're going to see fruit
come through your ministry,
both in your home,
in your community,
and across the nations
for the glory of Christ.
Now, we're going to
pray together.
I want to take an opportunity
to pray for our moms
this morning.
And then after that,
we're going to
fellowship together
in the Lord's Supper.
So let's pray together.
Specifically pray
for our moms this morning.
Let's pray together.