Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2. Our focus will be on the ethics of motherhood in verses 3 to 5, but I'll read Titus chapter 2, the whole chapter. So beginning in verse 1, 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.

Opening Prayer

Father, we thank You for this, Your Word. We pray now for the ministry of the Holy Spirit who gave us the Word to guide and direct our minds and hearts. We thank You for the ladies in our church. We pray that You would bless each one, that You would strengthen each one, that You would watch over them.

We thank You as well for the children that You have entrusted to our care. Give us wisdom, Lord God, to bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. We know there is a great competition between the world and the church. And we know there is an Antichrist spirit prevalent out there today.

So God, help us to recognize that. Help us to inoculate these little ones and help us to train them in a manner that is consistent with your written word. We just praise you, God, that you've not left us alone in the world, that you've given us the Holy Spirit as another comforter. And as well, you've given us this word to lighten our paths.

So help us to make much of the scriptures. And we ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, in this particular epistle, the apostle Paul sets Titus in Crete in order to set things in order amongst the churches. And the first order of business is the selection of elders to function in the church. So he gives this list of qualifications in chapter 1, verses 5 to 9. And one of the aspects that elders must be tasked with is specified in verse 9.

Notice, he must hold fast the faithful word as he has been taught, that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convict those who contradict. So he must convict those who contradict, and he mentions those in chapter 1, verses 10 to 16. He will revisit that theme in chapter 3. So that is one aspect of gospel ministry, is to rebuke or convict those who contradict sound teaching.

But there is a positive element as well. Notice that he may be able, by sound doctrine, both to exhort. So he's to exhort the people of God. He's to exhort the believers.

He's to exhort the church on how they are to function as the blood-bought children of God. And that is precisely what he does in chapter 2. He tells Titus that he must edify the church. He must instruct the church.

He must encourage the church and exhort the church on how they are to function in this world. Titus is to address the older men. the older women, the younger women, the young men, Titus, and then bond servants themselves. So there are various people groups that make up the context of the church, and they have particular function, particular responsibilities as they find themselves in the church. But as well, the apostle connects that to the gospel.

He doesn't say, do this and you shall live. He says, do this because by grace you do live. Notice in verse 11, in chapter 2, 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." So Paul there emphasizes justification by faith alone, salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It's because of that that older men are supposed to function the way they are. the way older women and younger women and younger men and Titus himself and the bond servants, they're supposed to function in a particular way because Christ has saved you, because God has brought you out of darkness into marvelous light.

So that's sort of the overview. We're going to look specifically at verses 3 to 5 under two considerations. First, the instructions for older women, and then secondly, the exhortations to the younger women. But before we begin, isn't this a wonderful passage in terms of the stability of the God-wrought created order?

Paul knows nothing of menstruating persons or birthing persons. Paul knows that men are supposed to function the way God made men to function. And women are supposed to function the way that God made women to function. It's becoming counter-cultural for the people of God to simply insist upon two genders.

It's becoming counter-cultural today to insist with the Apostle Paul on God-wrought gender distinctive and on God-wrought gender responsibility. In other words, this is a breath of fresh air. We can actually say, happy Mother's Day and not happy birthing person's day. This is absolutely contrary to the word and will of God.

He is not only the God of redemption, but the God of creation. And he is instituted in the created order that birds fly and fish swim, that men are men and women are women. That is not bad. It is not wretched.

It is not horrible. It is the way God purposed things to be. So let us breathe in the fresh air of Holy Scripture and be countercultural with Paul, with Titus, and with the apostles and prophets.

Instructions for Older Women

Notice in the first place the instructions for older women in verse 3. First, there are a couple of virtues that she must have, and secondly, there is conduct she must imbibe. Notice in verse 3a,

Virtues of the Older Woman

she is to be, first of all, reverent in her behavior. This is an overall demeanor like the older men in verse 2. Notice in verse 2, that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, and patience. The older women, likewise, that they be reverent in behavior.

That doesn't mean they never laugh, that doesn't mean they're never silly, that doesn't mean they don't have fun, but their Christian conduct is marked by a demeanor of reverence. It is marked by a demeanor of sobriety, not just from alcohol, but sobriety or temperance in the entirety of one's life. Notice as well, she is to be faithful in her speech. The older women likewise, that they first be reverent in behavior, secondly, not slanderers.

This is a good interpretation of the word. The word literally means not devils. It is used that way because the devil is an accuser and a slanderer. The prohibition for deacons' wives is the same in 1 Timothy 3, verse 11.

And according to 2 Timothy 3, verse 3, this is a characteristic of those living in the last days. They are slanderers. They are literally devils when it comes to their speech. And so the woman of God, instructed by Titus under the direction of the apostle Paul, must be reverent and she must not be a slanderer.

And if you read the New Testament documents carefully, actually you don't even need to read them carefully. All you have to do is to fall into certain places where Paul deals with this particular sin. He cautions women. Not that men don't have the tendency, not that men don't have the capability to be slanderers and to be gossips, but the Apostle Paul typically highlights this as a sin particularly related to women.

Again, don't say that Butler said that it's only women who have to control their mouths. Men have to control their mouths as well. But as I said, there are certain instances where Paul links this kind of an abuse with women. And so we need, you need to be careful.

And then thirdly, in terms of her virtue, notice what he says, that they may be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine. That doesn't mean you have to be a teetotaler. The Bible does not condemn the moderate use of alcohol. The Bible condemns the misuse or the immoderate use of alcohol.

Again, this particular prohibition sees itself in the qualifications for elders in 1 Timothy 3, and as well the qualifications for deacons in 1 Timothy 3. Not a prohibition against the use of wine, but a prohibition against the misuse or the immoderate use of wine. That is what Paul says in terms of the virtues that are to be commanded relative to these older women in the church. So the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not given to much wine.

Those are the virtues. Now notice her conduct. What she is supposed to do in terms of verse 3b.

The Older Woman as Teacher

Teachers of good things. Now the context makes clear what Paul has in mind. She is to be a teacher of good things to the younger women. The Bible is clear at this point in terms of a woman's place in ministry.

She is not to serve as an elder or a deacon in the church of Jesus Christ. Now before you take up tomatoes to throw at me, this isn't my idea. This is what God the Lord says. Again, fish swim, and birds fly, and men do one thing, and women do another thing.

It's not a bad thing. We have been trained that those sorts of distinctions are somehow wrong. Those sorts of distinctions are somehow bad. Consider the economy with reference to the Trinity.

Our blessed Lord Jesus Christ takes on our humanity. In terms of being that blessed person with two natures, He willingly submits Himself to the Father in the economy of redemption, not in terms of the ontological or eminent trinity. He is not inferior, He is not subordinate, He is not submissive in terms of theology. But in terms of economy, Christ willingly assumes upon himself the responsibilities as mediator.

And as mediator, it is always his desire to do the will of the Father who sent him. It's not bad to be submissive. It's not bad to be given a particular task. It is what God has orchestrated for both the church and the home.

And when we obliterate those distinctions, or when we say those distinctions aren't important, we end up with a culture that looks very much similar to what we're witnessing today, where the word mother has become offensive, and so we have to use birthing persons because it's more inclusive. That's madness, brethren. That is not Bible. We need to understand that God's Word is given to regulate God's world, and therefore what he says is most excellent and most blessed, and we accept it willingly and happily.

So she is to be a teacher of good things, and then verse 4 stipulates that they admonish the younger women. So the arena of her teaching of good things is to be with young women. Turn back to 1 Timothy chapter 2 for just a moment. 1 Timothy chapter 2. This is the qualification that we need to give.

She is not to serve as an elder in the church or as a deacon. If you look first at verse chapter three, this is a faithful saying, if a man desires the position of a bishop. And then in verse eight, likewise, deacons must be reverent, not double-tongued, not given a much wine, not greedy for money, holding the mystery of the faith with a pure conscience. Verse 11, likewise, their wives must be reverent, Paul assumes that elders and deacons in the context of the church are going to be men.

They are going to serve in that particular capacity. Not every single man, but men who are equipped and fitted by the Spirit, identified by the church using such passages, tested by the church, and then admitted by the church into gospel ministry. This is peculiarly for the men of the church. Again, If that bothers you or you struggle with that, your issue isn't with me.

This is the word of the living and true God. Now, backing up for just a moment into chapter 2, Paul treats the responsibilities of men in public worship, and he treats the responsibilities of women in public worship. Notice in 2.8, I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. Brethren, that's not spiritual holy hands.

If you want to lift holy hands when we pray or sing, the Bible is okay with that. Don't ever feel odd or strange or charismatic or Pentecostal. This isn't a spiritual lifting of the hands. They're actual hands that you can actually raise in praise and worship unto God.

Now, that's not suggesting that you must. It's not suggesting that you have to. It's not suggesting that everybody's going to judge you if you don't. But don't feel judged if you do.

It is a blessed privilege that the people of God have in terms of lifting their hands up in prayer and in praise. to God Almighty. It's amazing that we spiritualize things like lifting up holy hands. No, it's an actual physical, literal lifting up of the holy hands. But then notice, well we got to work on those hands because they're not as holy as they ought to be, but notice in verse 9, 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." Again, that doesn't mean she has to look as ugly as she can possibly look.

It doesn't mean that she shops for clothes for Sunday at the gunny sack store. It doesn't mean that Dowdy is somehow godly. It simply means that in the context of public worship, the brethren ought not to struggle from lusting after you when the primary objective is to worship the God of heaven and earth. So in other words, moderation and propriety is fitting and appropriate in the context of the church of the Lord God.

Now notice 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. That's Paul. I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man.

The novelist George Bernard Shaw identified the apostle Paul as the eternal enemy of women. No, that's not true at all. The apostle is simply reflecting God's created order. In other words, the ethics that you find in Genesis 1 to 3 are the ethics that are renewed under Christ's redemption.

He doesn't start something brand new with us, but rather it's a restoration to what God made us to originally function as. But in this context, notice that Paul doesn't just throw it out there, but he substantiates it. He provides or he furnishes a reason for it. And much to the chagrin of those who say, well, you know, Ephesus had some uppity women.

Ephesus had some bossy women. Ephesus had some real issues amongst their women. So Paul gives this prohibition there in Ephesus. It was a cultural prohibition or a prohibition based on cultural reasons.

That's not so. The apostle argues first from creation and then from the fall. Notice what he says in terms of furnishing the rationale in terms of the prohibition. So verse 12, I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence.

Why, Paul? For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. Again, this doesn't mean that every woman at every step of the way will always fall into transgression or that she'll always be deceived.

There's women out there that are brighter than a lot of men. There's women out there that are capable and handy theologians and competent with all of that. But in terms of the broad generality, God made fish to swim and birds to fly and men to lead both in the home and in the church. That is simple exegesis that we should have never stumbled on in the beginning.

We should have always maintained this. There should have never been Pastor Susie whoever. It should have always been the case that the men that the church selected were men, not women, because that is an offense in terms of God's Word. So he argues from creation and then he argues from the fall.

She is not to preach or to teach in the gathered church. She is not to exercise authority over men in the gathered church. She and the church is not to disregard a principle that we have looked at in recent weeks called the regulative principle of worship. In other words, who's going to function as elders and deacons?

That is an outflow with reference to our approach to worship. And if we do compromise there, we've compromised the worship of God, and we have put ourselves right on par with Nadab and Abihu in Leviticus chapter 10, when they offered strange fire to the Lord God Most High, and He sent fire out of heaven. not to consume the sacrifice, but to consume them. And he says, by those who come to me, I must be regarded as holy. So when we see a woman in a pulpit, we are seeing strange fire offered up to the Lord Most High.

And so the apostle argues that women are not to teach or exercise authority over men. They can certainly teach and exercise authority over younger women and certainly over children. Look at 2 Timothy 1. 2 Timothy 1, verse 3, I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day. greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also." So obviously, these mothers and grandmothers have the task and the blessed privilege to instruct their children. That is a no-brainer, as is her being able to teach younger women.

But with reference to teaching or exercising authority over a man, Paul prohibits that. He forbids it and he argues from creation and he argues from the fall. So, that's instructions for the older women. So, older women, that means that you ought to be on the lookout for younger women that you can instruct.

Now, I have before exhorted our younger women not to always wait for the older woman. Oh, she never calls, she's never written me a letter, she's never sent me an email. So the younger women can certainly and should do that, but older women can take an active approach in terms of identifying ladies, younger ladies, that they can come alongside of and help and instruct and pass on the virtues that the apostle now tells Titus are to be told to these younger women.

Exhortations to Younger Women

Notice the exhortations to the younger women in verses four to five. First, her domestic relationships, verse 4. Second, particular virtues, verse 5a. And then the gravity of her calling in verse 5b.

So let's look first at her domestic relationships in verse 4.

Domestic Relationships: Husband and Children

Notice, the older women are to admonish the young women to love their husbands and to love their children. Now, you might think, well, every woman loves their husbands and loves their children. I'm not sure that's the case. And so, this isn't an admonition or an exhortation or an instruction that's a no-brainer.

She needs to be admonished to love her husband. It's intriguing because other family codes or other lists of virtue that apply to family typically has the woman submitting to her husband. Verse 5 in our context even does do that. But the first emphasis is that she loves her husband.

George Knight makes the observation in his commentary. It is noteworthy that the list of characteristics for young women begins with love for husband and children. This section thereby fills out the instructions 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. Doesn't Jesus say this in John 13, 36? By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. Certainly if that obtains between the 12 disciples in terms of their relationship, it must obtain amongst the family.

The wife must love her husband. She must be able to look beyond some of his faults and some of his shortcomings. Well, all women, all men, everybody, we have to be able to do that. But love for husband is the first order of business that the younger women must be taught.

Notice, secondly, she is to love her children. Again, this is not a no-brainer. This is not a common thing. The prophet Isaiah, highlighting the great love of God with his people or toward his people, says that a nursing mother may turn her back upon her child, but God would never relinquish his love for his people.

And again, that's an analogy intended to show us the great love of God, but experience teaches us. 100,000 babies aborted in Canada every year teaches us that not every mother loves her child the way that God says in Titus chapter 2. Now, with reference to this love, you do not want to raise unmanageable savages. So you need to understand that this type of love isn't just a feeling. It isn't just an emotion.

It isn't just looking at that beautiful plump baby and saying, oh, how beautiful he or she is. It must be principle. It must be tempered by the word of the living and true God. Love does not rejoice in iniquity.

Love rather seeks, by God's grace, to enact the best for the child. Listen to John Gill. in terms of her loving her children, 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 is clear at this point. He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

Now, these are the kinds of sermons that I think children in our church don't like it when I preach. But with reference to the task involved with motherhood, Again, you do not want to raise unmanageable savages. Kids that cannot be controlled. Kids that when they go out into public, everybody else wants to discipline them.

That's on the father and that's on the mother. And with reference to the book of Proverbs, Solomon addresses the father, but we know that the mother is the vice regent. We know that the mother, in the absence of the father, carries the authority of the father and is queen over those children. And as a result, she has certain imperatives that she must carry out in terms of the discipline and training of her children.

Happy Mother's Day. You can turn back to the book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 13. Those who've been in our church for a while will remember that I mentioned a friend of mine who said, you know, on Father's Day, pastors hammer the fathers.

And on Mother's Day, they coddle the mothers. Well, we take a different tact here. We try to hammer the mothers and we coddle the fathers. No, I don't think we coddle fathers either.

Look out there, and I don't mean the back patio of our church building. It's a mess, brethren. When the word mother has become offensive to someone somewhere, we are in a bad state of affairs. And one of the things that we can do as God's people is obey God at this point and seek by grace to have families that mirror or reflect rather what God's intention is for the family.

It's a most blessed and wonderful thing. It's not a bad thing. It's not a horrible thing. It's not a wretched thing.

You'll know, statistics tell us, a lot of guys that end up in prison come from fatherless families. A lot of people that end up in a lot of hurt, a lot of trouble in their lives, don't have a good family structure. As Napoleon was once asked, what would restore the prestige of France? You know what that wretch said?

Give us better mothers! We need to institute in our homes this fidelity to biblical religion at the level of husband and wife, father and mother, child to parent. The scriptures are replete. It's not just one place.

We have Ephesians, we have Colossians, we have 1 Peter. We have Titus. We have all of these emphases by the Apostle. Again, a counter-cultural man in a society where they had jettisoned the God-wrought distinctives built into the created order.

So the Apostle here is seeking to vindicate, to liberate, and to bring blessing upon the people of God. He's not the eternal enemy of women, but the eternal friend of women, because it's in doing what God calls us to do that there is blessing, there is happiness, and there is joy. The way of the transgressor is hard, but the way of the faithful by the grace of God is facilitated by the grace of God.

Discipline and Training of Children

So back in Proverbs, I wanna bring out a few thoughts in terms of the discipline of children. Proverbs chapter four, the training should begin early. The training should begin early. Proverbs chapter four, verse three.

Solomon is rehearsing his tutelage under David. When I was my father's son, tender and the only one in the sight of my mother. He also taught me and said to me, let your heart retain my words, keep my commands and live. You must begin early.

The devil begins early. The world begins early. Your own flesh will begin early. So, therefore, you must function in a manner that is consistent with God's Word.

Charles Bridges, in his commentary on Proverbs, says Satan begins with the infant in arms. The cry of passion is his first stir of the native corruption. For those of you who are parents, I guarantee it. Well, I can't guarantee it because I'm not omniscient.

But I would submit that most of us never had to teach our children the word, mine. The word, mine, seemed to be inherent and native within that. It's almost that first thing that blurts out, mine. This idea that what is important is everything respecting the kid.

Well, we need to teach them that that's not necessarily the case. The cry of passion is his first stir of the native corruption. Do we begin as early? Every vice commences in the nursery.

The great secret is to establish authority in the dawn of life. To bend the tender twig before the knotty oak is beyond our power. That's good horse sense. That's good counsel.

Turn over to Proverbs 19. Proverbs 19, verse 18. Proverbs 19, verse 18, chasing your son while there is hope and do not set your heart on his destruction. You remember the case of the incorrigible son in Deuteronomy 21, that son who would resist parental influence, that son who would resist parental pressure. that son who was disciplined by the parents, but who nevertheless got to that point where capital punishment was in view.

We know he wasn't a two-year-old, we know he wasn't a six-year-old, because his besetting sins, symptomatic of his rejection of Yahweh and of his parents, was that he was a glutton and a drunkard. So it came to the point in time where there was no remedial efforts to be beneficial to that young man. So he's handed over to the elders and then he's executed by the state outside the city gates. So Solomon's instruction in verse 18 is chasing your son while there is hope.

Proverbs chapter 20 and verse 11, even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right. And then of course, Proverbs 22 and verse 6, train up a child in the way he should go. And when he is old, he will not depart from it. So this idea that, well, I'll wait till they're in school before I start teaching them scripture.

I'll wait till they're in school before I start teaching them catechism. That's wrong, sisters. You need to understand that you have a very influential place in the lives of your little ones, and you need to begin the training early. Secondly, the neglect of corporal punishment is ungodly.

Now, the Proverbs are very balanced. We have this speech and we have act. We have chasten, we have rebuke, we have correct, we have the exhortation for us to correct children with our voices, with our words. But in the event that they continue in a path of rebellion and rejection, corporal punishment is necessary.

And with reference to that, Proverbs 13, I've already cited it in verse 24. Again, this isn't a spiritual rod. This isn't a spiritual application. He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

Gil points out that the sin of old Eli in 1 Samuel 2 and 3, and both he and his sons suffered for it." Remember that first revelation by God to Samuel concerned Eli and his insubordination for not having restrained his sons. According to 1 Samuel 2.12, the sons of Eli did not know the Lord. Now, Eli himself couldn't regenerate them. Eli himself couldn't make them born again.

But the particular manifestation of their sin was in stealing sacrifices as worshipers came to the tabernacle or temple. And as well, they lay with the women who populated that precinct. So Eli is condemned for not having restrained his children in terms of their passions and in terms of their corruptions. Thirdly, the usefulness of corporal punishment is highlighted throughout the book of Proverbs.

Now, as I say always, be very discreet and be very guarded and be very careful in your application of this because your neighbors will turn you over to the civil authority if they think you're obeying God at this particular point. You need to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves in the implementation of God's Word. I don't think I need to remind you, there is a great animosity on the part of the unbelieving world with reference to the Church of Christ. And those things we maintain, and those things we insist upon, and those things most surely believed among us, are oftentimes found as something foul and evil and wicked to unbelievers.

So they'll employ the use of the civil state to try and sit them on their enemies or their perceived enemies relative to our commitment to biblical truth. But in terms of the usefulness of corporal punishment, notice in Proverbs 22, 15. Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child. The rod of correction will drive it far from him.

Again, Bridges says, it is not the sheet of pure white paper, nor the innocent or even the tractable creature, easily guided by proper means that we have before us, but a little heart full of sin, containing all the seeds of future evil, multiplying to a fruitful harvest. Now, my most recently born grandson is here today. And when I look at him, I don't look at him that way. I don't see every seed of evil in his heart.

I don't ponder that when I see his big fat cheeks and I want to kiss him and pinch him and all that sort of thing. But theologically, Bridges is right. We need to understand that in Adam all die. We need to understand they're not neutral.

They're not a blank sheet of paper. They're not a tabula rasa. That means simply that they are not neutral in terms of God and His word and will. So Bridges is spot on.

Notice in Proverbs 23 at 13 and 14. Do not withhold correction from a child, for if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. You will beat him with a rod and deliver his soul from hell. And Bridges asks the question here, is it not better that the flesh should smart than that the soul should die?

I mean, the language that he uses here is quite epic. We don't have the power to deliver somebody from hell itself in terms of regeneration, the new birth, justification, by faith alone. But Solomon sees the necessity of fathers and mothers implementing corrective discipline upon their children in such a way as to say it will deliver them from hell itself. That is a powerful endorsement of the means that God has given to us.

And then in terms of a necessary qualification concerning corporal discipline, I've shared with the brethren in our church. I have an early memory of my mother chasing me and my siblings around the house with a yardstick. Well, if you know the yardstick, it was made out of balsa wood, so it wasn't You know, it would have cracked on any of us if she hit us, but it was more of a joke. Well, I think she was frantic and upset, and that was the way she would respond.

That's not biblical discipline, brethren. Chasing your kid around the house, swinging a yardstick and screaming like a banshee, that is not biblical discipline. Neither is pain in a way that is lasting. It is not the case that the Bible authorizes the kind of punishment that some parents inflict on their children.

And if you fall into that, repent and forsake that sin. Bruce Waltke commenting on the Proverbs at this point. He says, the cleansing rod must be applied with warmth, affection, and respect for the youth. Respect for the youth, brethren.

Never forget that. Your task isn't to humiliate them. Your task isn't to show them up. Your task is to conduct yourself as with an image bearer of the living and true God.

In Deuteronomy chapter 25, when it deals with punitive damages inflicted on criminal offenders in the Commonwealth of Israel, one of the aspects involved is dignity even afforded to the criminal offender. We don't strip them of their humanity when we punish them. It's my argument against prison as a life sentence. It is to strip a man of his humanity and his dignity.

He'd be better off falling into the hands of the living and true God and the penalties that he gives in terms of his word. You are not to dehumanize your children. You're not to abuse your children. He says, warmth and affection, not steely discipline, characterize the father's lectures.

Parents who brutalize their children cannot hide behind the rod doctrine of Proverbs. It is not a license for you to be able to do whatever it is you want with your child. No, it must be carried out in a manner that is consistent with the entirety of God's holy word. So those are the domestic relationships.

She is to love her husband, she is to love her children.

Particular Virtues of the Younger Woman

Going back to Titus 2, at verse 5a, there are virtues that the older women are to admonish the younger women that they're supposed to imbibe. In the first place, she is to be discreet. Notice in verse 5a. To be discreet.

The old men are to be reverent, according to verse 2. It's the same word. The young men are to be sober-minded, according to verse 6. It's the same word.

A famous dictionary defines the word this way. pertaining to being in control of oneself. Prudent, thoughtful, self-control. That's what the younger women are supposed to be admonished by the older women. Thus, the older women must manifest and characterize those self-same virtues in order to pass them on to the younger women.

Some things are better caught than taught, and all the words in the world will be to no avail if there's no concrete application or a living example of those things. So she is to be discreet. Notice, secondly, she is to be chaste. Verse five, to be discreet, to be chaste.

The idea is purity in the moral sense. The necessity for modesty in public worship, 1 Timothy 2, verses eight to 10, and then not just public worship, but in all of life, according to Peter, in 1 Peter 3, verses three to four. Proverbs, the end of Proverbs, when it gives us that description of a virtuous woman, tells us that the heart of her husband safely trusts her. And part of that has to do with her chasteness.

She gives him no thought whatsoever that her heart is wayward or that she is going to wander. The heart of the godly man's husband safely trusts the virtuous wife of Proverbs 31. Why? Because she's discreet.

She possesses self-control. But as well, she's chaste. She's not looking to gain the eye of other men. She's looking to gain and have the eye of her man to be sure.

Again, what is envisaged does not be as ugly as you can possibly be, ladies. Be as unsavory and as unlovely as you can work on. No, the idea is, is have your husband's eyes, have his heart, have his devotion. Thirdly, she is to be a homemaker.

Again, this is where everybody flips out. I saw something recently that says, feminism is the idea that a woman can submit to every man in the workforce, just not her man at home. That's how crazy things have been. Be a submissive woman out in the workforce to your male employer.

But at home, no. No way. You throw that off. Those are the shackles of a barbaric, antiquated system.

You be you, lady. Feminism, and I don't know if you've noticed this, is killing women. Feminism is killing women. That's what feminism is yielding to us today.

It is obliterating motherhood. It is obliterating all the things that the Bible sets forth as good and honorable and wonderful things. But back to Paul instructing Titus, instructing the older women on how to instruct the younger women. To be discreet, chaste homemakers.

Here's the definition of the word pertaining to carrying out Now get this, household duties, busy at home, carrying out household duties. That shouldn't shock people. That shouldn't cause people to lose their minds. That shouldn't cause people to say, Oh, that Bible's horrible.

Paul's an enemy of women. No, this is the way God made life. This is the created order. Be busy in the duties at home.

Turn back to 1 Timothy 5 for an illustration, both positive and negative, of homemaker-ness. 1 Timothy chapter 5. Verse 11, 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. Now notice in a negative way, 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. You see, when you leave your home in the sphere of your responsibility that God himself has entrusted to you, good things don't usually happen.

In other words, when we look at the lady in Proverbs chapter 7, I think I've explained, wasn't a prostitute, but was a married woman. One of the identifying marks of that woman is that her feet did not remain at home. What's the implication? Her feet should have remained at home such that she hadn't lured that young man to his destruction.

Now, notice the positive application in verse 13. And besides that, verse 14. Therefore, I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully. For some have already turned aside after Satan.

So you see the importance by the apostle in terms of sphere sovereignty, in terms of gender distinction, in terms of what is supposed to obtain in a household, in a marriage. I'm not suggesting a woman can never work. I'm not suggesting she can never go outside the house to work. That's a whole nother ball of wax.

But right here in Titus chapter 2, the emphasis from the older women upon the younger women is that they be homemakers. In terms of the practical benefits, you see it in Proverbs 31, verses 14 to 27. It is a manifestation and an expression and a demonstration of her love for husband and her love for children, which she's already been admonished to have. And it is, in fact, the legitimate sphere of her activity, as Poole says, not spending their time in gadding about, but in looking to the affairs of their own families.

Many of the problems we get ourselves into arrive because we weren't doing what we should have been doing in the first place. In other words, if we do what we're supposed to do in the first place, we're not going to absolutely avoid all sin, but we're going to hopefully mitigate against the effects of sin and realize that being busy and industrious in those things sanctioned by God is a better way to occupy our time than searching out those things that are not sanctioned by God. And then notice in terms of personal virtue after homemaker, she is to be good. She is to be good, to be discreet, chaste.

Homemaker's good. The idea or the emphasis is likely on being kind. 1 Peter 2, verse 18 is a parallel here. It's probably kindness. She doesn't run through the house screaming like a banshee, swinging the yardstick.

Now, I say that my mother was a wonderful human. I love her immensely. She passed away several years ago. I don't want you to think that was her typical default status.

She was fantastic, a wonderful human being, and I love and esteem her greatly. But that illustration always suggests itself when she was running around with a yardstick or meter stick as we would say here in Canada. But the bottom line is that is not kind. If that was symptomatic or typical of her life, then she would not have been a kind woman.

Kindness is enjoined upon. Notice the younger women. Now, Paul's already admonished the older women, and the older women are admonished what to admonish the younger women with. I suspect young mothers with lots of kids or even one kid or, you know, a husband, feel like they're already stretched with all of the responsibility they can stomach.

God will accept if I just sort of eke it out. God will accept if I just do it. I don't have to actually love them. I don't have to actually be kind.

Yes, you do. See, the duties that God gives us in the orbit of Christianity are in the orbit of Christianity. In other words, when we're called to be loving, we do that in a happy sort of way. When we're called to persevere, we do that in a joyful way.

When we're called to serve our husbands or our children, we're to do so in a happy and in a kind way. We don't want to make them feel guilty because they need dinner. We don't want to make them feel like they've abused us because they need their socks cleaned. And I know this sounds pretty trivial and pretty low and all that, but homemakers is what Paul says here.

It's a horrible thing what's happened in society where these sorts of things are seen as bad. And then

Submission to Her Own Husband

notice fifthly and finally, in terms of her responsibility, she is to be submissive to her husband. Verse 5, obedient to their own husbands. Now here's how I know that Paul is not the eternal enemy of women. Obedient to their own husbands, not to every husband.

Submit to your husband in the Lord. This isn't Islam, where every woman is subjugated to every man. This is Christianity, where God made birds to fly, fish to swim, men to lead, and women to submit, in this context of household and in church. Again, it's not bad, it's not evil.

If it were bad or evil, then it would reflect poorly upon Jesus in the economic trinity, who willingly submitted himself to his father in terms of the mediatorship given to him. So submission to her husband, the word means subject oneself, be subjected or subordinated, obey. There are several other texts that emphasize this, Ephesians 5.21, Ephesians 2.22-24, Colossians 3.18, 1 Peter 3.1 and 1 Peter 5.6. Now, husbands and wives share redemptive solidarity.

In other words, it's not that the husband is more redeemed than the wife. We have solidarity at the level of creature, of image-bearer, that has been bought with a price. Galatians 3 emphasizes that. Neither Jew nor Greek nor, you know, barbarian or Scythian, but what we are, man or woman, we have equal solidarity under Christ in terms of redemptive benefit. 1 Peter chapter 3.

Husbands are cautioned or husbands are told that if their prayers are not making it up to God or if they feel like their prayer life is hindered, one of the causal reasons may be that he's not loving his wife as he ought. And then it goes on to describe the wife as a joint heir or co-heir of the redemption wrought out by Christ. But the redemption that we enjoy under Christ does not obliterate distinction. This is the problem of an evangelical feminism.

This is the problem of obliterating these distinctions. The idea that solidarity in Jesus means that nobody at the house has to make a sandwich anymore is not what Paul teaches. The bottom line is, is that redemptive solidarity does not obliterate the actual ethnic differences between a Jew and a Greek. One's still a Jew and one is still a Greek.

But together under Jesus, they enjoy the same benefit. And so with reference to the household and with reference to the church, God has marching orders on how persons are to conduct themselves in this. Now, before we move on and close soon, I want to give an encouragement to the brothers. It's not an easy job, as I've witnessed, to be submissive to me.

I can tell you that. I try, want to be a better guy that can be submitted to, but husbands don't use this as some license or some authority to be a despot, to be a tyrant, to sit in your easy chair and command your wife and then reprimand her because she's not being obedient or submissive. The Bible has a word for that. It's called fool.

Remember that man Nabal who was married to Abigail? He was looked at as a fool. Why? Because he didn't treasure and value the bride of his youth.

So men, understand that we all have difficult tasks in life, and your wife has been granted one among the many. and that is to submit to you. Don't make it difficult, don't make it an obstacle course, don't make it a constant challenge, and certainly don't be Pol Pot or Adolf Hitler or Mao or one of the premiers in Canada dictating the terms on which your wife has to function in order to please you. In other words, husbands and wives should function in a complementary fashion. I'm not necessarily giving credence to what is called complementarianism, because it's at this level that they compromise the doctrine of the Trinity.

But the idea of complimenting is good. A husband loves his wife as Christ loves the church. That makes her want to submit to him. When she submits, it makes him want to love her in the proper way.

It's a beautiful and a wonderful circle that we ought to imbibe in our homes. As Luther said, the husband ought to make the wife want him to come home after a long day of work. And the wife ought to make it such that it's hard for the husband to leave the house, to go to work, not because he's lazy, but because he treasures and he values her. We're in this together, to use a well-worn statement, in terms of helping one another on to heaven.

Let's not throw obstacles in the front of each of our partners. but let's help facilitate it by being the man or the woman that God calls us to be.

The Gravity of Her Calling

And then finally, in terms of exposition, notice the gravity of her calling. As Paul does, he furnishes a rationale or a reason here. Verse 5, to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that, here's a purpose clause, that the Word of God may not be blasphemed. Notice he doesn't say, do this in order to have a happy and a positive life.

Do this in order that everybody will be just a singing unity of symphonic voices in your home. That happens, God's gracious and God's good, but the rationale is theological in nature. The rationale touches on the very word of God himself and blasphemy. The reason given by the apostle is theological.

The people of God are to, notice in verse 10, adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in all things. The failure of young women to successfully execute their calling brings reproach upon the Word of God Himself. So when it comes to the franticness of having a bunch of children and having a stubborn or hard-headed husband and all the various things that are at play, remember the theology behind what you are called to do. This brings honor to God, and this is such that His word and His name may not be blasphemed among His enemies.

Again, Knight says, 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 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. We don't want that to happen. We would rather, by God's grace, adorn the doctrine by our conduct and with reference to older women and younger women, the rules, the directives, the mandate, the commands are very specific and I think very easy to understand.

Application and Encouragement

So, in conclusion, I would suggest there is, in the first place, the necessity for such women. First, it benefits husbands. Now, ladies, you might be having a particularly bad day and say, well, what good is it for him anyway? I don't want him to be benefited.

Marriage is a covenant of companionship. Marriage in the first place is about what do I give. I know the world and the flesh and the devil turns that and inverts it and says marriage is all about what I get. But that's not the way it's supposed to be.

Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and did what? He gave himself for her. It's a covenant of companionship wherein the two partners are seeking to benefit the other. If you're not married and you're finding or wanting to find a woman or a man to marry, find someone you want to give to.

Find someone you want to treasure. Find someone that you want to benefit and you want to help and you want to aid. Don't first and foremost find one, well, I think she'll fit the bill, I think she'll do this, I think she'll do that, I think she'll do that. No, it's a covenant of companionship wherein the two partners give to one another.

As well, it benefits children, as already mentioned. fatherless homes, motherless homes. That's not a good recipe for success in life. God's grace is great. And he takes people from broken families and he redeems them through the precious blood of Jesus.

He puts them on the right path. He puts the fear of God in their hearts. He gives them Bibles. He gives them all that stuff.

And he corrects what bad parenting messed up. But brethren, on this end, why don't we seek by God's grace to engage in good parenting and to see the benefits accruing from that? As well, it's the benefit of the church. A church is only as strong as the individuals and the families that make up the church.

And if we're dysfunctional or deficient in the home or in the family or in our lives personally, it's not going to add to the benefit of God's church. Secondly, I want to encourage you ladies, I know it's been a pretty negative sort of approach at this point, but I want to encourage you in terms of perseverance. The first thing I would say, and I've said this before, you must recognize the high calling and dignity of motherhood. I just, you know, oh, she's just a housewife.

She's just a housewife. How degrading. If that's what feminism has yield, then may feminism die a million miserable deaths. There's no higher calling than motherhood.

No higher calling than raising or first growing a human, seeing the human, and then rearing that human unto God. That is the highest calling on earth. and the idea that I'm just a housewife or they're just a housewife. What an affront to the God of heaven and earth. Listen to Spurgeon.

He says, fathers and mothers. This is in his early years. This is the autobiography of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. He says, fathers and mothers are the most natural agents for God to use in the salvation of their children.

I am sure that in my early youth no teaching ever made such an impression upon my mind as the instruction of my mother. Neither can I conceive that to any child there can be one who will have such influence over the young heart as the mother who is so tenderly cared for her offspring. A man with a soul so dead as not to be moved by the sacred name of mother is creation's blot. Never could it be possible for any man to estimate what he owes to a godly mother.

How can I ever forget her tearful eye when she warned me to escape from the wrath to come? I thought her lip eloquent. Others might not think so, but they certainly were eloquent to me. How can I ever forget when she bowed her knee and with her arms about my neck prayed, oh, that my son might live before thee?

That's what motherhood ought to be about. We appreciate it. We see it as a blessing. We see it as I call it.

We see it as a dignified position and not just a housewife. Secondly, you must realize that your task is difficult, oftentimes thankless, and often unappreciated by many. I mean, thankfully, there's one day out of the year that your kids are going to say Happy Mother's Day. But you know what?

You do a lot more. And I want to encourage you. faithfully persevere. The reality is, is that Jesus was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. He was the Messiah of God.

He came into this world, he came to his own and his own did not receive him. He wasn't thanked, he wasn't esteemed, he wasn't revered, he wasn't praised, he wasn't all of that, but he never shrunk back from doing the task that the Father had given to him. Thirdly, you must persevere in your calling and realize that the calling you have under God is full-time, multifaceted, that is of the utmost importance. You are not created to be on Facebook.

You were created to fix and deal with those kids. I'm not suggesting you can never get on Facebook. Legalism is one of the worst things ever that affected the church. But I do want to encourage caution in terms of time management.

To do what Paul actually says takes effort, takes time, takes concentration, and takes energy. And so don't squander away the time that could be better spent in rearing your children in the fear of God Most High. Proverbs 31, 27, the godly or virtuous woman there, she watches over the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. And then thirdly and finally, I want to bring to bear the blessing upon such women.

In other words, at the end of Proverbs, you have this from her husband. Her husband also, and he praises her. Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all. Brothers, encourage your wives. that they are a blessing from God.

Don't say, well, you know, that's her job, that's her responsibility, that's her duty. Yeah, it is. But again, Nabal, maybe a word of encouragement from time to time would help to put a little wind in her sails. Many daughters have done well.

Many daughters have done nobly, honey, but you excel them all. As well, her children will rise up and call her blessed. Proverbs 31, 28a. They'll never be able to say, Mom, you're perfect.

Mom, you're spotless. Mom, you're holy, harmless, and undefiled. But they'll be able to call you blessed. And then the community itself, at least a community not governed by godlessness, and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Proverbs 31 verse 31. So there is great encouragement for you sisters to continue the good work that God has entrusted to you. And I'll end with this final reminder. You're not saved by the virtues of your motherhood.

You're not saved by the virtues of your love to husband. You're saved by grace, through faith, in Christ Jesus our Lord. And as you will realize, you come up short. Whenever we look at passages dealing with men and husbands, I think we all realize we come up short.

There's still a lot of remaining corruption. There's still a lot of sin. Well, you're not going to enter into heaven because you were the best mother of the year. You're not going to enter into heaven because you were the best father of the year.

We enter heaven by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. When we sin, we confess and forsake and find forgiveness, and then God, by the Spirit, enables us to persevere. So that when we sin again, we go back to the Advocate, even Jesus Christ the righteous, fetch out fresh forgiveness and move forward. So be encouraged.

It's not motherhood that's going to save you. Rather, it is God's grace in and through our Lord Jesus Christ that saves sinners from their sins. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you so very much for these things that you give us in terms of instruction for the home, in terms of instruction for the church. You've not left us to try and figure it out or go it on our own, but God, you've given us a comprehensive guide, and we give praise to you for that. But help us to understand the law will not save us. The law never can bring a soul into heaven. and to always remember, when we look at law passages like these, to remember the grace of the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Bless the ladies in our local church, encourage and strengthen each one, and cause all of us, God in heaven, to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior. Go with us now, we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.

Scripture References

• Leviticus 10
• Deuteronomy 21; 25
• 1 Samuel 2-3; 2:12
• Proverbs 4:3; 13:24; 19:18; 20:11; 22:6; 22:15; 23:13-14; 31:14-27; 31:27; 31:28; 31:31
• Isaiah 49
• John 13:35
• Galatians 3
• Ephesians 5:21; 5:22-24
• Colossians 3:18
• 1 Timothy 2:8-10; 2:11; 2:12; 2:13; 3:1; 3:8; 3:11; 5:11; 5:14
• 2 Timothy 1:3; 3:3
• Titus 1:9; 1:10-16; 2; 2:11; 3
• 1 Peter 2:18; 3:1; 3:3-4; 5:6