We could turn with me in your Bibles to Titus chapter two. Titus chapter two, God willing, we'll return to the book of Acts next week, but we're gonna look at Titus chapter two, the duties of Christian women, specifically verses three to five, but we'll have cause to refer to other parts of this particular chapter. So I'll read beginning in Titus chapter two at verse one. But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound doctrine, that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience.
The older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things. that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the Word of God may not be blasphemed. Likewise, exhort the young men to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself to be a pattern of good works, in doctrine showing integrity, reverence, incorruptibility, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you. exhort bondservants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well-pleasing in all things, not answering back, not pilfering, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for himself his own special people, zealous for good works. Speak these things, exhort and rebuke with all authority.
Let no one despise you. Amen. Let us pray. Father, we thank You for the written Word.
We thank You that it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. And as we survey this passage of Scripture, we pray for the ministry of Your Holy Spirit. Give us wisdom, give us grace, give us the ability to apply these things in our own lives, both women and men, and cause us, God, to reflect upon Your goodness. that you have saved us, you've called us to yourself, you've given us forgiveness, you've given us life eternal, and you've given us your wonderful law as a pattern for our sanctification. And we pray now that the Spirit would work in us, and that we would indeed pursue the things that are pleasing in the sight of our gracious Father.
Not because we hope to be saved, but because we are saved. And we want to express gratitude, and thankfulness, and worship, and praise, and glory to our God. Do forgive us now for our sins and our transgressions, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Well,
Introduction
Titus is what's called a pastoral epistle. Along with 1 and 2 Timothy, Paul writes these letters to young pastors in ministry situations, and he gives them particular instructions on how they are to function as gospel ministers. In chapter 1, he sets forth the qualification for elders in verses 5 to 9. He wants Titus to appoint elders in every city on the island of Crete.
That's where Titus was laboring. So he's on the island of Crete. There's cities on Crete that have churches, but they don't have elders yet. And so Paul gives him instruction on that.
And then in verses 10 to 16, he highlights for Titus how he's supposed to expose and refute heretics, those who contradict the word of the living God. And then here in chapter 2 at verses 1 to 10, he instructs various people groups that make up the life and context of the church. Notice in the first place, he says, the older men. Secondly, he highlights the older women, and then the younger women, and then the younger men, Titus himself, and then bond servants.
Now, all of these things are connected intimately to verses 11 to 14. In other words, the theological basis for Christian ethics is the gospel of our salvation. We simply read the passage wrong if we think that by these instructions, Paul is saying, you need to be this, you need to be that, and you need to function in this particular way in order to be saved. No, we've been saved by the grace of God, that grace of God that's appeared to all men, that grace of God that has taught us how to deny certain things, and that grace of God that has promoted in us a desire to do certain things, specifically live in light of the commands given there in chapter 2, verses 1 to 10.
And so I did want to address specifically our ladies this morning with reference to verses 3 to 5. I want to note, first of all, the instructions for older women in verse 3. Secondly, the exhortation to the younger women in verses 4 to 5. And then finally, again, just a brief survey of the basis for these instructions in verses 11 to 14.
Now, I would imagine some are thinking, wow, I got for Mother's Day a pastor yelling at me and telling me how I'm supposed to obey God's law. Well, I'm going to try not to do that too much, but I can't promise you that I won't do it at all. This is an encouragement. This is hopefully an inducement to do what God has called you to do.
We all need these reminders. I'm not beholden to Mother's Day. I want to wish you all a happy Lord's Day because that's what it is. But it is in our minds that we ought to think in terms of our moms once in a while.
And this happens to be the day on the calendar to do that. So I think it's fitting and appropriate to remind ladies of their specific responsibilities, but men do not tune out and do not do this. Oh, great. Pastor Butler is going to deal with some things I've been too cowardly to bring up.
Don't treat your wife that way. Don't think or say, oh, honey, did you hear that? You need to be faithful in the homemaking business. Honey, did you hear that?
You need to make my waffles. Don't do that. You should be able to hear this and sympathize with the plight that your wife goes through. It's no easy task to be a wife and a mother, especially when it's to people like us and to kids like ours.
I mean, it's a high calling. And it's unfortunate that motherhood and wifery, I don't know if that's the way to say it, has fallen on hard times. I don't know why that is, other than a God-hating generation that attacks the very foundation of society. And motherhood and being a wife and being faithful as older women in the context of the church is a very high and noble calling.
And we need to embrace that. So men don't nudge your wives and say, oh, you ought to pay attention. Men, you ought to pray for your wives, that they be the women that are described here. And you need to encourage them.
And you need to be the kind of husband that they want to engage in this sort of activity toward. Now,
Instructions for Older Women
note first the instructions for older women. Excuse me, in verse 3. There are virtues and there is an activity. Notice the
Virtues of the Older Woman
virtues indicated in verse 3a. She is to be reverent in her behavior. She is to be reverent in her behavior. That's not just in public worship, but that's in all of life.
There's a reverence about her. There's a dignity about her. Just like the older men in verse 2. The older men, be sober, reverent.
We ought not to be given to, you know, foolishness and frivolity. No, that doesn't mean she can't be happy, she can't joke, she can't laugh, she can't enjoy play and that sort of thing. But the overall demeanor and characteristic of her heart and life is one of reverence. She is also, secondly, in terms of virtue, to be faithful in her speech.
Notice what Paul says there in verse three. The older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers. Literally, it's not devils. The devil's function is to accuse.
The devil's function is to slander. The devil's job is as the one who is a liar from the beginning. And so the older women are cautioned against devil-like behavior. She's to maintain control over her tongue, and she is not to be a slanderer.
John Calvin makes the comment that talkativeness is the business of a woman, especially as she gets older. Now, I wasn't going to quote that because it sounds particularly sexist or chauvinistic in this age or in this generation. But I think, at least as I've surveyed the New Testament, more often than not, the prohibition against gossip is directed toward women. Now, that is not to say that men don't gossip.
Men certainly do gossip, and we need to stop. But in terms of her speech, she shouldn't be a slanderer. She shouldn't be a devil. She shouldn't be the sort of person that says, did you hear?
Did you hear? Did you hear? Brethren, that stuff kills churches more often than not. It's not a pastor coming into a pulpit and saying Jesus is a created being that kills churches.
I know that can happen, but in reform context, it doesn't typically happen. But what kills churches is devilish talk. It's slanderous talk. It's gossipy talk.
It's this burning desire to spread things that are none of your business. Paul says to Titus, you need to tell them to be reverent, overarching concern in terms of their demeanor, but you need to tell them to control their tongues. And then she is to be moderate with alcohol. She's not to be given to much wine.
Doesn't mean she can't ever drink wine. The Bible doesn't say that. The Bible condemns drunkenness. It doesn't condemn lawful, moderate use of the gifts that God has given.
This prohibition obtains for the elders, it obtains as well for the deacons, and it's something consistent throughout these pastoral epistles. Now,
The Older Woman's Charge to Teach
note the action she is to engage in according to verse 3. She, or the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine. Now notice, teachers of good things. So older women are to be teachers of good things.
Now, I think it bears repetition, because I'm sure I said this recently. Don't, as a younger woman, sit back and wait for all the older women to email you, to text you, to call you, and to show up at your door to teach you how to do things. You might actually have to go up to them and say, hey, how about if we get together for coffee? and you show me how to do certain things. The onus isn't on the older women to go find all the younger women and teach them, but they need to be able to teach, and we need to appreciate the context in which Paul is speaking.
There was a ruckus this past week over women preaching. There's a woman by the name of Beth Moore who said that she's going to be preaching in a Southern Baptist church on Mother's Day. And rightfully so, she took a lot of flack for that. And she said, well, I've only ever preached about 14 or 15 times in 40 years.
That would be akin to you and I saying, well, I've only ever murdered about 14 or 15 times. The amount of sin isn't the necessary thing. It's the prohibition against something that we need to respect. Now, when Paul says that the older women need to be teachers of good things, the context specifies, vis-Ã -vis verse 4, that she has to be a teacher of younger women.
Now, she can certainly teach children as well, but I want us to remember what the Bible says concerning this particular topic. In the first place, a
Women, Teaching, and Church Order
woman is not to serve as an elder in the church. Again, persons get offended by this, but we shouldn't. Maybe it's because, you know, I was reflecting upon this as a child. I don't think my parents ever told me, you can be whatever you want to be.
I don't know if that was a reflection of bad parenting on them or a realism. Maybe they understood the writing on the wall. This guy ate the brightest bulb in the chandelier. He may not be able to do everything that he wants to do or what he desires.
We almost take it as an offense for somebody to say, look, you're not qualified to do that. That doesn't mean you're a terrible, miserable, horrible person. It just means that you don't have a skill set necessary to engage in a particular activity. Is that offensive?
Does that make us want to cry? Does that, you know, make us raise our fist at God? I wanted to be an astronaut, God, but I can't go up to the top of a ladder, and I don't like this. It's not fair.
No, we don't do that when it comes to stuff like that. We don't complain to God that we're not cowboys because we don't know how to ride horses or we never want to. We just don't do that. But when it comes to these particular things, people lose it.
Oh, you can't tell me what I can or can't do, but Paul can tell you what you can or can't do. And women are not to serve as elders in churches, 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. The qualifications are uniquely male. They are uniquely man.
Secondly, she is not permitted to teach or exercise authority over a man. Again, I'm not making this up. In fact, you can turn there to 1 Timothy 2, just so nobody sides with Beth Moore and says, oh, how bad Pastor Butler is because he's on the opposite side of her. The Apostle Paul is on the opposite side of her, and she needs to take heed to that.
Notice in verse 8 of 1 Timothy 2, And may I just say, the men pray when we gather together for prayer meeting. It's not a pause meeting. It's not a silence meeting. When we gather for prayer, brethren, we're there to pray.
That's the point of prayer meeting. It's to call upon our great God. It's to unburden our souls before the one who says to cast your cares upon me because I care for you. That's what Paul stipulates when men gather for prayer.
I desire that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. Now notice, in like manner also that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but which is proper for women professing godliness with good works. Now note verse 11, let a woman learn in silence with all submission, and I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. Again, that might hit you as a woman and you might say, well, that doesn't seem fair.
You need to regulate your conduct under the word of God. You need to repent if that is your response. God, in his world, made birds to fly, he made fish to swim, and he made men to lead in the context of the church and in the home. That's it.
That's the way it is. That's what's specified. Not simply here in 1 Timothy chapter 2, 1 Corinthians chapter 11. It's very conspicuous. 1 Corinthians chapter 14 as well.
But notice what Paul does here when he argues with reference to this prohibition. Verse 12, I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man but to be in silence. He doesn't say, well, because ethicists has a cultural problem with pushy and obnoxious women. He doesn't argue based on culture.
He doesn't argue based on society. He doesn't argue based on the empire. He argues based on God. Notice in verse 12, or verse 13, for Adam was formed first, then Eve, and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression.
So, creation, Adam made first, and fall, the fact that Eve was deceived, that stipulates, with reference to God's order in this world, that men preach and teach the gospel in the church. Now, if you have tuned out, I would invite you to tune back in and stay with me, because I think that this is crucial. We're seeing persons fall by the wayside on very clear teaching like this. I mean, if we miss this, women in the pulpit, if that's what we're ready to allow, what else are we going to allow?
I'm not saying all women are terrible. That's not the argument. It's not to say that all women aren't as smart as all men. That's not the argument.
The argument is that in God's world there is a created order, there is a structure, there is a way about things, and we must observe that, and we must respect that, and we must own that, we must operate according to that. So back to Titus chapter 2, it's delimited, it is specific, it is highlighted who she is to teach at the end of verse 3. She is a teacher of good things, and then in verse 4, that they admonish the young women. The church must not disregard the regulative principle of worship.
God regulates how sinners, redeemed sinners, are supposed to come to Him in the worship of God. We wouldn't allow a lot of things under the banner of the regulative principle of worship. We ought never to allow women preachers. Again, that's not to say that women are terrible, that women are bad. that women don't know theology, that women are always susceptible to deception.
I've preached on 1 Timothy 2 before and have dealt with that whole idea wherein Eve was deceived. I don't have time to rehearse all of that, but that is the purpose for which Paul prohibits women teaching in the context of the church. It's not Ephesus. It's not the Roman Empire.
It's God's Word. It's God's order. It is the structure that he has embedded in creation. Now notice what the women, the older women, are to teach the younger women.
So we've seen the instructions for older women, verse 3. Now we'll move to the
Exhortations to Younger Women
exhortations to the younger women in verses 4 and 5. In the first place,
Love for Husband and Children
she is to engage in faithful domestic relationships. Look at verse four. It's intriguing that they admonish the young women to love their husbands, to love their children. Now, when the apostle Paul deals with husband-wife relationships in, say, Ephesians and in Colossians, he emphasizes that husbands love their wives, and he emphasizes that wives are to submit to their own husbands.
In fact, at the end of verse 5, he tells them again that they need to be submissive to their own husbands. Not every husband. God is protecting you, ladies. It's not a Muslim culture where you're subject to all men.
No, you obey and submit to your own husband. There's one man that God has given you that you carry out these responsibilities to. Now, that doesn't mean you're an irreverent. you know, wine-bibbing wretch around everybody else. But the point is, is that God protects women.
God is pro-women. Paul, the apostle, one has called him a novelist. George Bernard Shaw said he was the eternal enemy of women. Do you realize that in this context, the stuff that Paul is speaking to, in terms of the protection of women, would have been counter-revolutionary with reference to the Roman Empire?
He is out for women's rights. He is out for feminism, as it's properly defined. He is pro-women, seeing that their responsibility is to the man that God has given them. But notice, she is told to love her husband.
She is told to love her children. George Knight says, it is noteworthy that the list of characteristics for young women begins with love for husband and children. This section thereby fills out the instruction to wives in Ephesians, Colossians, and 1 Peter, where the emphasis falls on fulfilling the role of submission and where love on the part of wives is not mentioned. It may seem strange for older women to be called upon to teach younger women to love their husbands and children, but this is put into perspective when we realize that Christians are constantly being taught in the New Testament to love, whether it be God or fellow Christians and neighbors.
And it could possibly kind of flow this way. You need to love your man and you need to love your children so that when you seek to carry out the remainder of the virtues and the duties that I'm going to prescribe, it's not Stoicism, it's not Spartanism, it's not a Grenade Barrett-ism. It's born out of love. In other words, why do women, younger women, function the way they do in obedience to the law of God?
It's because they love their husbands. It's because they love their kids. See, when you get married, it isn't for what you get. When you get married, it's for what you give.
See, it's another thing we lost a long time ago in the Western world. It's all about us. It's all about me. It's all about my needs.
That's not what marriage is supposed to be. Marriage is about giving to the other person. That's why typically I ask the young people or the older people that come to get married, are you prepared to give yourself? And it's not just women giving themselves for men, it's men willing to die for their wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.
The paradigm with reference to marriage in our Bibles is not coming to the altar, so I have this e-ticket to get whatever it is I want. It is rather, I have found the person that my heart loves, that has my affections, that is, I forget, the queen of my empire? I don't remember. The empress of my affections?
I think that's it. I have found her and I want to give to her. And conversely, she has found the king of her affections and wants to give to him. So Paul says, love your husbands, love your wives.
And as you consider this particular list, instead of going, oh, are you kidding me? This is what I need to do? This is legit. This is consistent.
This flows out of the reality that you love this human being, that you love these little human beings. And you might think it odd that a woman needs to be told to love her children. I don't think that's odd at all. As I understand society today, I don't think it's odd at all to be suspicious as to whether or not mothers have a love and affection for their children.
The abortion numbers suggest otherwise. The reality of child abuse suggests otherwise. The crimes committed against little ones with mothers involved in it would argue that this command needs to be preached from the rooftops to this society. Women you are to love your husbands and you're to love your children and I love the way Gil fleshes out this love for children He says not with a fond foolish and ungoverned affection now give Gil some credit I don't think he doesn't I don't think he means you can't roll around on the floor and tickle your kids I don't think he means that.
I mean, a picture of Gil might suggest otherwise. He just looks miserable. I mean, you look at a guy. I mean, they say this is a great picture, the particular Baptist.
Whoever publishes the Gil works, Baptist Standard Press, I think, they have this picture of John Gil. And they say, we're privileged to have this picture. He looks rough. He doesn't look like the sort of guy that would fall on the floor and tickle his kids.
But he was a godly man, so he fell on the floor and tickled his kids. He's not suggesting that you ladies don't do that. What he is suggesting is that it's not only emotive. It's not only emotional.
It's not only unprincipled. It's not only rolling around on the floor and tickling them. It is principled. It is obedient to the word of God.
He says, not with a fond, foolish, and ungoverned affection, but so as to seek their real good. and not only their temporal, but spiritual and eternal welfare, to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and to use and keep proper discipline and government over them. For otherwise, amidst all the fondness of natural affection, a parent may be said to hate a child." Proverbs 13, 24, which says, he who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly. You are not doing your children any favor and you are not expressing biblical love to them if you are not seeking to restrain their passions. This world desperately needs mothers loving their children enough to restrain their passions, to bridle their lusts, to be that hedge of protection over the little ones so that they are not left to themselves to do the sorts of things that young sinners unattended will do.
Now
Discretion, Chastity, and Homemaking
notice, he highlights some particular virtues with reference to the ladies, the younger women. She is first to be discreet. Solomon puts it in a very sort of illustrative way. He says, as a ring of gold in a swine's snout, so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion.
I mean, kids, you know what a swine is. It's a pig. Have you ever seen a pig with a ring of gold in its nose? You'd say, that seems odd. don't typically see pigs with gold rings in their nose.
We typically see pigs on our breakfast plate. We typically see pigs in the zoo, or we think of pigs as oinking and doing the sorts of things that they do, and falling in the mud and rolling about. Some may even think of pigs as being very intelligent. I hear that they are quite intelligent in terms of the animal kingdom.
But what you don't typically see is a ring of gold in its snout. That would be unheard of, wouldn't it? Well, listen to what Solomon says, so is a lovely woman who lacks discretion. Now, this particular virtue comes up in this list more than once.
The old men are to be reverent, in verse 2, and the young men are to be sober-minded, in verse 6. Same word, a bit of a semantic range. One popular dictionary defines it this way, pertaining to being in control of oneself, prudent, thoughtful, self-controlled. Pertaining to be in control of oneself, prudent, thoughtful, self-controlled.
It's kind of like what Paul says with reference to the older women. When he says that she's not to be addicted to much wine, yeah, it's not just prohibiting her from getting hammered day in and day out, but it speaks to that larger framework of self-control, self-discipline. When Paul prohibits certain things from elders and deacons, again, the overarching concern is exercise self-control. And if we think biblically, we'll know that self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, so it really ought to promote in a woman to cry out to God for the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit so that she can operate and navigate in her daily duties in a manner consistent with God's Word.
Ladies, you are to be discreet. Notice, secondly, she is to be chaste. Paul says that in verse 4. I'm sorry, verse 5, to be discreet and to be chaste.
Now, again, he doesn't flesh these out or tease these out or give us a million illustrations as to what he means by this. The overarching thought is purity. And certainly purity means, on the one hand, that she dresses appropriately in public worship, 1 Timothy chapter 2. After Paul says, I want the men to pray this way, he then goes on to highlight what he wants from women in public worship.
And what he wants from women in public worship is that they adorn themselves in modesty, that they're not ostentatious, that they're not coming in here saying, you know, everybody look at me. The purpose for gathering on Sabbath day is to look to God, not to look at you. Not to look at me, not to be drawn away with anything else. So Paul doesn't give concrete illustrations, hemlines and hairlines and all that sort of stuff.
But he does say, don't spend a ton of money. Don't decorate yourself in such a gaudy way that everybody looks at you. Don't draw attention to yourself. that we might extrapolate from that in 1 Peter chapter 3. Not a public worship sort of setting, but in terms of a woman's deportment, in terms of the way that she carries herself, what's Peter saying?
It's very much the same. Don't spend a million dollars on your outfit. Don't draw attention to yourself in that way. Now, it doesn't mean you need to be a prairie muffin.
It doesn't mean you need to dress in a gunny sack. I mean, that woman in Proverbs chapter 31 made money. She dressed accordingly. And I think that falls into consideration, too.
I mean, if you're on a Walmart budget, don't shop in Beverly Hills. It's just the way it goes. So these are the things that Paul addresses when it comes to younger women in the context of church, in the context of society, discretion, chastity. Now notice thirdly what he says, she has to be a homemaker.
She has to be a homemaker. Now the definition again, according to BDAG, means to carry out household duties. It means to be busy at home. It means to carry out household duties.
That's repeated twice. So again, I'm not saying that a man comes home, and he sits on his chair, and he just vegetates. Dudes, you can help do things at home. You can be nice.
Just because her primary orientation is to serve in the home doesn't mean you get to just make it a mess so that she has more to do. You know, there's this man in the Bible called Nabal. And Nabal means fool. And in my experience, there's a lot of New Testament men that function as Nabals.
You can do a dish. It's not going to kill you. It's not going to reverse the created order. It's not going to stop progress.
You can fold a shirt. That's okay. You can cook an egg. I mean, there's things you can do that doesn't stop the process.
But the primary orientation for a godly woman is to be a homemaker. She's got a husband. She's got children. What's a means by which she expresses love for that husband and love for those children?
By being a homemaker. Notice in 1 Timothy chapter 5, there's a desirable paradigm and an undesirable one for the Apostle Paul. 1 Timothy chapter 5 at verse 11. Paul is dealing with the support of persons in the church, monetary support. He deals with the support of qualified widows, those widows who have served, those widows who have been faithful, give to them.
But in verse 11, he says, but refuse the younger widows, for when they have begun to grow wanton against Christ, they desire to marry, having condemnation because they have cast off their first faith. And besides, they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house, and not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not. Therefore, I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully. You see, the positive or desirable outcome is verse 14.
The undesirable is verse 13. In other words, this is not the way younger women should function. Verse 13. They learn to be idle.
They wander about from house to house, not only idle, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things which they ought not. So what's Paul's point with reference to the younger widows? He's not saying, I don't want the church to give them any money. He says, I want them to get married.
That's the best thing for a young widow is to get married. I read somewhere once that at Puritan funerals, the wife would be proposed to at the gravesite. I don't know if I'm into that at this particular point, but the idea was is that 1 Timothy chapter 5 was a reality. And in a society where there wasn't a whole lot of earning potential for a young widow, it was an act of mercy and kindness for somebody at the gravesite to propose to her.
And we hear these things, we're horrified, but there's great reasons behind it. You see, Paul says, 1 Timothy 5.13, don't do this. This is bad. 1 Timothy 5.14, do this. This is good.
And this is what you ought to be seeking after as young married women that love their husbands and love their children. Younger widows marry, bear children, manage house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully. So back to Titus. The benefits of this aspect of being a homemaker or being, you know, busy in the home is certainly an expression of love for husband and children.
It's certainly highlighted in Proverbs chapter 13. Who can find a virtuous woman? It's a serious question. He's not just, you know, throwing it out there.
Who can find that woman described in Proverbs chapter 31? She's a gold mine. She's a unicorn. You find her, you put a ring on her finger right away.
You take her to the altar. You say, I do. And you provide for her and you love her and you treasure her. Because that's the kind of woman that God intended for women to be.
Now, as well, Matthew Poole makes this observation. He says, not spending their time in gadding abroad, but in looking to the affairs of their own families. That's that 1 Timothy 5.14 model, isn't it? 1 Timothy 5.13, they're idle, they go about from house to house, they're busybodies, they're gossips, they're saying things they ought not. And then if you really think in terms of, you know, what Solomon says in the book of Proverbs, what's an identifying characteristic of the harlot?
What's an identifying characteristic? Actually, it's not the harlot. It's not a harlot. I'm sorry.
I apologize. It's an adulterous woman. There is a difference between a harlot and an adulterous woman. The one is harder to say.
But what Solomon says or characterizes her as in Proverbs 7, he says, she was loud and rebellious. Her feet would what? They wouldn't stay at home. What's the point?
What's the implication? What's the legitimate inference? Where they should have been. Her husband is away on business.
It's not her job to go out and entice a simple, young, lust-filled man and entice him to come to her bed. Her feet should have remained at home. She should have been busy doing the tasks associated with her sphere instead of being this loud and rebellious wretch whose feet wouldn't stay at home. Now, I spend a little time here because, as I said earlier, for whatever reason, we think it's bad to be a homemaker.
Not we, not me. I don't. I think it's the hardest job on the face of the earth. I've seen a woman do it with five kids, and I marveled while she did it.
I'm thankful to God Almighty that she did it. But the world has taught you ladies that there's something inferior about being a stay-at-home mom. There's dignity. You're raising human beings.
What's bigger than that? And then maybe it's your own discontentedness in your own heart. Well, you know, I'm just doing this, that, and the other. Your husband's not out foiling crimes.
He's not out writing steeds. He's not out gunfighting. He's not out engaged in these romantic pursuits. He has a normal humdrum job, just like every other guy in the world.
It's not like there's, oh, my husband gets all this excitement and all the headaches associated with what you think is excitement. J. Adams in his little book, I use this book for Christian premarital counseling. I hope the kids read it or the young people read it.
But J. Adams makes a point in there, and I think it would be offensive, not just to the world, but to probably some of you. He says something like this. He says, if I was a woman and I was a wife and I knew that for the next 50 years I was going to have to cook food, I would learn the science behind it.
I would learn why water boils at a particular temperature. I would learn how spices and fats and oils and all these things work together to produce the best flavors. What's bad about that? What's wrong about that?
Something in us or something perhaps in women say, well, it's just not that elegant of a role. There's nothing more elegant. There's nothing more glorious. There's nothing more worthwhile.
When Napoleon was asked what was wrong with France, he said, we need better mothers. When you see a society in decay and declension, it goes back to the family. When you see a society, it looks like ours. It's mothers who don't control their kids at Walmart.
It's fathers who don't love their wives the way Jesus Christ loves his church. It's persons that live as if there is no king in Israel and everyone does what's right in his own eyes. And if you are in your mind or heart to say, oh, yeah, it just doesn't seem as glamorous as a job as I'd like, again, ask your husband what he has to put up with Monday through Saturday. Ask your husband, is your job glamorous?
It's not. I mean, there's a few glamorous jobs out there. I mean, if you're president, yeah, he's moving, he's shucking, he's jiving. There's a lot going on there.
I mean, we couldn't say, oh, no, that's glamorous. But most of us are never going to be the president. It's simply not the case you can be whatever you want to be. That's just not reality.
And we need to own that. So ladies, I don't think you should ever be embarrassed by the reality that you love your man, and you love your kids, and you serve in the home. That's what God's called you to. That's the Lord's Word.
I'm not, you see this. I have you open to Titus 2. I'm not making this up. It's all right there.
Paul said it. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, all scripture given by inspiration of God. It is profitable for doctrine. It's profitable for reproof.
It's profitable for correction and for instruction in righteousness that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto every good work. And this is something that has dignity. It is something that is blessed. It is something that God smiles upon.
And then notice, she is to be good. Again, it's an overarching term. It describes her character. Probably kind is in view here.
We see a parallel of the word, the word used at least conceptually in another context where it means kind. We see that with that Proverbs 31 woman, the law of hesed or kindness or covenant love or mercy or grace is upon her. upon her lips, the kindness about her. You know, there's not, yeah, I'm making you waffles because I have to. No, you do it because you love them and you want to.
Can we ever want to do what we have to do? Yes, we can want to do what we have to do. In God's world, that's perfectly acceptable. You can find joy in it, happiness.
Blessing, privilege. And then notice,
Submission to Husbands
she is to be submissive to her husband. This is how Paul ends verse 5, or towards the end in terms of the virtues. Verse 5, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands. Obedient to their own husbands.
That means subject oneself, be subjected or subordinated, obey. We see it in Ephesians 5. Verse 21, there's the general principle that all of us need to submit to one another in godly fear, but it's teased out specifically for the family with reference to husbands and wives in chapter 5, verses 22 to 24. Women are to be subject to their own husbands.
We see that principle as well in the book of Colossians 3, verse 18. You see it in 1 Peter 3. In fact, turn to 1 Peter 3. Perhaps we're not as well-versed in that particular passage.
I tend to stick more with Paul than Peter. I think it's good for us to see Peter's emphasis here. Notice in 1 Peter 3, 1, wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they without a word may be won by the conduct of their wives. When they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear, do not let your adornment be merely outward.
Now I think the New King James accurately supplies words here. Do not let your adornment be merely outward. Merely is right. There is a sense, sisters, where it's okay to look good for your man, That's what your man wants, so look good for him.
That's okay. But it shouldn't be merely. It shouldn't just be external. It shouldn't just be that.
It's not just that the barn is painted beautifully and inside there's a bunch of dead animals. That's not what's good. A good paint job and a barn full of healthy, live, vibrant animals is to be desired. And then notice he says, do not let your adornment be merely outward, arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on, notice again, fine apparel.
He doesn't mean or putting on apparel. Of course Peter wants you to put on apparel. The emphasis is on fine apparel, spending all your husband's resources on your fine apparel. Don't do that.
That's not an expression of love. Now note the comparative here. arranging the hair, wearing gold, putting on fine apparel. Rather, here's the emphasis, here's the onus, here's the focus. Rather, let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.
For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror. You see, she is to be submissive to her own husband. Now, husbands and wives share or have redemptive solidarity. That means that husbands and wives are both saved by the same blood, they're both saved by the same grace, they're both saved by the same Savior.
And Peter highlights that in 1 Peter 3, 7. Notice, husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding. You're gonna need a lot of it, young man. Giving honor to the wife as to the weaker vessel and as, note what he says, being heirs together of the grace of life.
So husbands aren't more saved than their wives. Husbands aren't higher up on the rung of dignity and prestige than their wives. Paul says the same thing in Galatians 3. You can turn there.
Galatians chapter 3. Verse 26, for you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for you're all one in Christ Jesus. Paul's point is this, you have redemptive solidarity, but that redemptive solidarity doesn't destroy functional distinctiveness.
Just because you got converted and you were a slave in the Roman Empire, you couldn't go to your master and say, I'm a free man now. He'd have cause to disagree. Just because you were converted in the first century didn't mean you could now identify as a female, because this idea of maleness and femaleness is obliterate. No!
Redemptive solidarity does not mitigate against the reality that there are functional distinctions between husbands and wives, functional distinctions between men and women. And in God's world, He made men to lead in the home and in the church, and He made women to submit in the home. In terms of the church, there's specific rules, but it's not the same sort of submission that you find in the home. Brethren, this is God's world, and we need to play by God's rules, and we need to seek, by God's grace, to be obedient.
Now look finally with me at the end of verse five, to underscore the gravity of her calling, the seriousness of her calling. After giving the particulars, After highlighting the specifics, verse 5, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands. Notice that the
Why Obedience Matters: God's Word Not Blasphemed
word of God may not be blasphemed. Notice what Paul does not say. If you live this way, your kids will give you really good gifts on Mother's Day. If you live this way, your husband will take you out for good dinner.
If you live this way, life is going to be peachy key. He doesn't argue that way. He's not arguing in a utilitarian manner. He's not saying, do this and then you'll get this.
He says, do this because if you don't, the Word of God is blasphemed. What does that mean? It means there is a theological undergirding. There is a theological foundation.
There is a theological reason for why men are supposed to do what they're supposed to do and for why women are supposed to do what women are supposed to do. When women do not do what they're supposed to do and at the same time profess faith in Jesus Christ, they cause reproach upon the name of God. It's like David. Remember when David sinned and Nathan reproved him?
What does Nathan say to David? He says, by this deed you have given cause to the enemies of God to blaspheme. Because when the nations around Israel heard of David's escapades, they would say, well, what kind of representative of the God of Israel is he? He's supposed to be sitting on Yahweh's throne on earth, and yet he functions the way that the thugs around him do?
He engages in adultery, he engages in murder, he engages in these sorts of operations to cover up his sin. That's disgusting. Well, it's the same thing, ladies, when you do not live consistently with your profession of faith. It's the same thing, men, when you and I do not live consistently with our profession of faith.
Persons are inclined to say, well, what's so good about Christianity? They look like the rest of us. They look like everyone else. They're similar with the pagans and with the heathens.
Again, George Knight makes the observation, Paul thus encourages godly conduct by saying that it keeps God's message from being evil spoken of. Therefore, for a wife to fail to be submissive to her husband or to be unloving or impure, etc., would allow non-Christians to say that Christianity makes people worse rather than better, and therefore that its message is not only useless but bad. There's that grand principle in Ephesians chapter 5 as well, in terms of husbands loving and wives submitting. What is that supposed to exemplify or display?
Christ and His Church. So when a man treats his wife like garbage, the next door neighbor says, Christ must treat his church like garbage. Or when a woman doesn't submit to her own husband as unto the Lord, the next-door neighbor is going to say, well, that's the way the church functions with Christ. Unfortunately, they're right on that one most of the time, but it's unfortunate, but reality.
You see, what we do, brethren, sends a message. In fact, look at our passage. Look at 2.10. Well, 2.9.
Exhort bond servants to be obedient to their own masters, to be well-pleasing in all things, not answering back. Look at Paul. I mean, come on. We just don't do this, do we?
Not answering back? It's in our DNA to answer back. That's why Paul tells us not to do it. Bond servants, the very thing they will be inclined not to do, be obedient to their own masters, be well-pleasing in all things, be the best slave, be the best bond servant, be the best guy in that man's employ.
Not answering back, not pilfering, he's not paying you to steal from him, but showing all good fidelity. Now notice the purpose clause, that they may adorn, what? The doctrine of God our Savior in all things. So when a bondservant shows up to work, when a bondservant doesn't answer back, when a bondservant does everything that pleases the master, when the bondservant keeps his greedy little mitts to himself and not pilfers from his employer, he's adorning the doctrine of God our Savior.
See, that's where I think we've missed it. We think that the only way to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior is to be a missionary to China. No, bondservants can do this. Wives can do this.
The church corporately, when they participate in the supper, do what? They proclaim the Lord's death until He comes. There's other ways to adorn the doctrine than being a missionary in China or a pastor or preacher in a pulpit. in a bond servant situation, which I don't want to offend anybody with slavery, that's what they were able to do. Now,
The Gospel Basis for These Instructions
real quick, by way of just a glance, verses 11 to 14. This is the basis for the instructions. Live consistently the way Paul instructs you as old men, as old women, as younger women, as younger men, as Titus himself, and as bondservants because of verse 11. Here's the explanation.
Here's the reason. Here's the rationale. Here's the why. Why are we supposed to do this, Paul?
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. Now, there's many ways that could be understood, but suffice to say at this particular juncture, it probably means all kinds of men. Older men, younger men, older women, younger women, kings, those who are in authority, all types of people, the grace of God has appeared to them. And what does that grace of God appear to them to do?
First of all, it brings salvation. That grace that God makes appear to His elect brings salvation. Once we are in this state of salvation, once we have been called out of darkness into marvelous light, once we have by grace confessed faith in Jesus, what does grace teach us? It teaches us to deny ungodliness.
It teaches us to deny worldly lusts. It teaches us that we should live soberly, we should live righteously, we should live godly in the present age. In other words, all the instructions given there in chapter 2, verses 1 to 10, appropriate for the particular persons in the church that make up the church. This is how you're supposed to function.
This is the general framework with specific direction in verses 1 to 10 for appropriate groups. This is how you apply. This is how you shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation. This is how you hold forth the word of truth.
It's not just preaching on Sunday morning. It's living Monday through Saturday. It's the way that you function in the home. It's the way that you function in the workplace.
It's the way that you function as an older man or as a younger man or as an older woman or a younger woman. All of this adorns the gospel, the doctrine of our God and Savior. And while we do this, we do it with this expectation. We do it with this orientation, Paul says.
Notice in verse 13, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Something to ponder when you're making those waffles. It's something to ponder when you're pleasing your master in all things. It's something to ponder in your unglamorous work life when you're bored out of your mind, looking forward to the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
And yes, it's a description of Jesus Christ as our great God and Savior. And the reason why these things are possible, the reason why these things are in our potential, is because of verse 14. zealous for good works, zealous to obey what verses 1 to 10 says. So if there's no zeal in our hearts to comply with the written Word of God, if we look at the law of God and say, oh, what a burden, what a hardship, what a grief, what a bummer, then it's questionable whether He gave Himself for us. Those who have received the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ, those who have been saved by grace, I mean, we might bristle a little bit against being told, you know, this is your lot in life, but we come to it, and we embrace it, and we recognize it, and we thank God Almighty that Christ did give Himself for us, and we are to be His own special people, and we are to be zealous for good works.
We're to be the kinds of people that do what God calls us to do. So ladies, be encouraged, be hopeful, be helped, and persevere. And men, please pray for your wives.
Application
I want to end with a couple of thoughts. First, the need for such women for the benefit of husbands. Say, well, my husband doesn't deserve that. Well, you married the wrong guy, but you need to fix it or stick with it.
Actually, you didn't marry the wrong guy. God is sovereign. And in providence, you got who you got. You got who you got.
You need to make the best of it. You know what's one of the difficulties in Scripture is that we need to obey God because God tells us to obey? You say, well, Butler, that's just obvious. Well, we oftentimes condition our obedience on the performance of others.
Well, I would love her the way that Jesus loved the church if she made me waffles. I would love her the way that Jesus loved the church if she ironed my clothes. I would love her the way that Jesus loved the church if she changed the oil in my car. I'd really love her that.
We are not to condition our obedience to God on what other people do. You need to swallow that pill. Same with the ladies. You know, I'd submit to my husband if I'd submit to my husband when?
I'd submit to my... No, you need to submit to your own husbands as unto the Lord. You need to love your wives as Jesus Christ loved the church, not conditioned upon their obedience to the law of God. Again, I think that's in our minds.
Well, if they this, then all that. No, you have to this because God has called you to it. So the need for such women, the benefit of husbands, the benefit of children, they're your kids. They're not the state's kids.
Hopefully they never will be. They're not the church's kids. They're your kids. And your orientation is to be toward them.
Kids demand a lot of attention. Kids demand a lot of work. And when you had those kids, you signed up for that. You can't get three years in and say, well, I'm not quite happy with this arrangement.
I want to send it back. No, you can't do that. You need to be this kind of woman because your husband needs that kind of woman, and your kids need that kind of woman. Secondly, I want to encourage the ladies in our congregation.
You may think this has been short on encouragement. First of all, you must realize that your task is difficult, oftentimes thankless, and mostly underappreciated by just about everyone. It's a tough job, and you're not probably getting accolades. I mean, you think of Mother's Day, for instance.
Again, it's the Lord's Day, mothers. On Father's Day, it's going to be the Lord's Day, fathers. Every Sunday is His day. Do you think about that?
One day out of the year, you're going to do something nice for your parent, your mother? Shame on you. Every day should be Mother's Day. Every day, you should esteem that one who actually has kept you alive, that one upon whom you depend, that one who feeds you, that one who cares for you, that one who loves you.
If it's one day out of the year that you say, well, thanks, Mom. Oh, man, shame on you. Be thankful for your mother. For the ladies, you must persevere in your calling and realize that the calling you have under God is a full-time multifaceted calling that is of the utmost importance.
It is of the utmost importance. Think of the most important thing that a person can do. Again, president, prime minister. I mean, you could feasibly ruin an entire country.
That's bad. But mothers can ruin human beings. in a way that not everybody can. Fathers can do that as well. Have we rightly embraced the reality of what is involved in bearing children?
It's a huge responsibility. There's no greater thing. What do you do for a living? I raise humans.
Wow. I make those little things that go on the end of shoelaces. I was thinking about it. Somebody makes those.
I had to put tape on mine. The plastic fell off. I'm sure it's a machine now. But at some point, somebody made those things.
Raising humans is far more important than that. Raising humans is as important as anything. So ladies, embrace it. As well, you must guard against laziness.
I say this as a brother in Christ. I say this as one susceptible to laziness. I say this as one that realizes that laziness will not produce Titus 2 type women. Proverbs 31.27, she watches over the ways of her household and does not eat what? the bread of idleness.
Your children need your instruction, your example, your discipline, and your love. And then finally, the blessing upon such women. This is from the sermon recently on the book of Proverbs from her husband. Her husband also, and he praises her, many daughters have done well, but you excel them all.
Brethren, if you are not doing this occasionally with your wives, you need to do this with your wives. You need to encourage them You know what it's like all week to work, and it's unglamorous, and perhaps you feel a bit unthankful in your life, and you haven't gotten a raise. It would be nice if your boss said, you know, I really appreciate what you're doing. Don't say, well, I don't get that, so why should she?
Again, nabal, don't live that way. Encourage her. Many daughters have done well, and you excel them all. Praise Almighty God when you think about it, that He actually gave you somebody who cares for you in the way that they do.
It really is an amazing thing, isn't it? That one person saddles up with another person and they ride off together in this world and seek by the grace of God to bring glory to Him. It is a beautiful and a wonderful thing. As well, her children rise up and call her blessed.
Proverbs 31, 28a. And from her community and let her own works praise her in the gates. Well, if you had been here yesterday morning, you would have heard that there's a distinction between law and gospel. I preached law this morning.
This was a lot of law. Ladies, you are not saved by being this. You are saved in order to be this. You're not going to be this perfectly.
That's just my observation. And that, nevertheless, will not disqualify you from heaven. I want to show you one more thing in 1 Timothy chapter 2, a passage that I think is misunderstood at times. I'm not sure this is absolutely positively correct, but I think this is Paul's point.
After dealing with men praying in the church, with women adorning themselves modestly in the church, with the prohibition against women teaching or exercising authority in the church, notice in verse 15, nevertheless, She will be saved and childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with self-control. Almost sounds like a works righteousness, doesn't it? Almost sounds like, ladies, have babies and be faithful, and you'll make it to heaven. There's a difference between the she and the they.
Look at verse 15. Nevertheless, she will be saved in the childbearing, if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with self-control. I think Eve is the woman of verse 15, she. I think Eve is the she will be saved in the childbearing. the seed of the woman, Genesis 3.15, the conquering, skull-crushing seed of the woman that would do damage to the devil, that would bring destruction to the devil.
She, Eve, will be saved in that childbearing if they, Christian women, who have participated in that childbearing, not actually having the baby, but believing in the baby that was had, they then continue in faith, love, and holiness with self-control. In other words, you're saved by grace through faith, not by the way that you function in the home. Doesn't mean you aren't to function in the home in a particular way, but remember the gospel. After a heavy dose of law, we always ought to be encouraged with the balm of Gilead.
Your salvation is reliant upon God Almighty, who sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, who lived, who died, and who was raised again the third day, so that we could have forgiveness. so that we could receive a righteousness, so that we could go to heaven. So ladies, the greatest encouragement I can give to you is the reality that Christ was crucified, Christ is risen, and that Christ has saved you. Now, you by grace are to continue in faith, love, and holiness with self-control. And if there are some here who haven't believed on Christ, believe on Christ.
Eve was promised to be the mother of all living. The woman would bear a seed, and that seed would crush the devil himself. And that seed is the Lord Jesus Christ, and whoever believes on Him will have everlasting life. Well, let us close in a word of prayer.
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for Your Word. Thank You for Your graciousness. Thank You for the fact that You save us and that You equip us by the Spirit and with the Word to live in a way that brings glory to You. We all confess that we all fall short in so many ways, and we all confess our need, our dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
So again, please wash us in that precious blood, refresh us with a view of Christ and the gospel, and cause us to reflect upon these things and to live in a manner that is consistent with the gospel. And we ask that you would go with us now, bless families here, bless individuals, bless us, and help us to sanctify the day and to come tonight to be encouraged at the worship of the living God. And we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.