You can turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Titus, Titus chapter 2. Our focus will be verses 3 to 5. God willing, we'll get back to our studies in John's Gospel next Sunday morning, but this morning we're going to look at the theological basis for motherhood. And I want to make it clear that what Paul is doing here in Titus chapter 2 is not giving instructions on how to get saved.

Notice in chapter 2 verses 1 to 10, he is basically addressing or telling Titus to address the various people groups in the church on how they ought to live. And again, it's not so that they may be saved, Rather, it's because they have been saved, and we'll see that as we move through the passage this morning. So beginning in Titus 2, I'll read the chapter and then we'll pray. Verse 1,

Scripture Reading: Titus 2

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.

Virtues the Older Woman Must Possess

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

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you that all scripture is given by inspiration of God and that it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. We pray that you would thoroughly furnish us unto every good work, that you would always cause us to reflect upon the order we're justified freely by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And then we seek by grace to live in a manner that is consistent with that.

How we thank you for so great a salvation. How we thank you for the written and inerrant and infallible word of God. Guide us now by the Holy Spirit. Forgive us for all of our sins and unrighteousness.

And we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, just a reminder how Paul gets to where Paul gets here in Titus chapter two. Notice specifically in Titus chapter one, he wants Titus to set in order the things that are lacking. So basically he wants Titus to appoint elders in the various cities in the churches of Crete. So notice in one five, for this reason, I left you in Crete that you should set in order the things that are lacking and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you.

And then he gives a list of qualifications that the elder must be. In other words, there must be a demonstrated capability on the part of the man of God in terms of these virtues. Then notice specifically in terms of his gift or ability in verse 9. He is to hold fast the faithful word as he has been taught, and this for a twofold purpose, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and convict those who contradict.

So in other words, the elder must hold fast that word of truth so that he can be a guard of the sheep that are entrusted to his care. He is supposed to be able, by sound doctrine, to convict those who contradict. But with that sound doctrine, he's also supposed to be able to exhort and encourage the people of God. So then in Titus 1 at verses 10 to 16, he deals with that contradiction or that refutation of those who are mindful of their own ways, those who are opposed to the grace of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And then here in chapter 2, verses 1 to 10, He gives those positive encouragements and exhortations to the people of God on how they are to live. And again, the instruction isn't, be a good mother in order to gain your way to heaven. That's not what's happening in this particular passage. He's saying, you have been justified, you have been redeemed, you have been saved by grace, and as a result of that, you're supposed to live the way that the apostle stipulates with reference to the various people groups that Titus ministers to.

It's very similar in nature to 1 Timothy 5. So Paul there tells Timothy how to instruct various people in the context of the local church on how they're to live in light of the salvation that God has freely given them.

Instructions for Older Women

So I want to look first at the instructions for older women in verse 3. And then secondly, the exhortations to the younger women in verses 4 and 5. But notice with reference to the older women in the first part of verse 3, the particular virtues she is supposed to manifest. The older women likewise.

So this is on the heels after the exhortation to older men. So verse 3, the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, that they not be slanderers, and that they be not given to much wine. So she has to be reverent. That describes her overarching demeanor.

Not perfect, not without blemish, not absolutely without flaw, but the general overarching nature of her life is to be one of reverence. This is true of the older men as well. If you notice in verse two, that the older men may be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith and love and patience. And interestingly, a lot of the virtues that we see commended here to the people of God in general are the sorts of things that the Apostle stipulates have to be true of elders and deacons.

Elders here in Titus chapter 1, but elders and deacons in 1 Timothy chapter 3. In other words, it's not the case that just the officers in the church should pursue these virtues. They should be true of everybody in the professing people of God. In other words, it's not the case that a younger woman can be irreverent.

No, you're to be reverent. You're to have that demeanor. You're to have that overarching disposition of a fear toward God and a love for others. Notice as well, she is to be faithful in her speaking.

So the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not slanderers. This is a good interpretation. It's literally not devils. The devil is an accuser and a slanderer.

This is to be obvious in the deacon's wives, according to 1 Timothy 3, verse 11. And the violation of this is characteristic of those in the last days, according to 2 Timothy 3 and verse 3. So the godly older woman is to be reverent. She is to be righteous in her speech.

She is to be moderate with alcohol. Again, stipulation for elders in 1 Timothy 3, 3, and then again in deacons in 1 Timothy 3, 8. So it's not just the officers of the church, but everybody is to be moderate. Everybody is to guard their tongue.

Everybody is to have that pursuit of a reverence that is commendable before God and to others. So those are the virtues the older women possess, but then notice the conduct that the older women possess. And I'm gonna address something here that I think is necessary to address. Notice in 3B, it says, after not given a much wine, teachers of good things.

So she is to be a teacher of good things, the older women in the context of the local church. What does Paul mean? Does Paul mean that it's from those older women you have waters to fish in order to get elders in the church? You get the professors, you get the teachers, you get the seminary lecturers.

Well, the context is very clear who these older women are teaching. Notice in verses 4 and 5 that they admonish the young women. So particularly in the context, in verse 3, the older woman is a teacher of good things and the audience or her target are the younger women in the context of the local church. So in other words, younger women in the local church ought to be able to have coffee or get around the older women in the local church to be taught good things.

As well, older women, you don't sit, you know, stand in the pulpit and say, you know, you younger women gather around me because I've got nuggets of wisdom. That's not what's in view here. But the rank and file, ebb and flow of the people of God as they bump into each other, the older people pass on wisdom to the younger people. Now, I want to make a few observations with reference to this particular text.

In the first place,

She Is Not to Serve as Elder

she is not to serve as an elder in the church. It's unfortunate that in our treatment, as we go back to the regulative principle of worship tonight, that I'd even have to deal with this. It used to be settled, it used to be a regular assumption of all people everywhere that profess the name of Jesus Christ, that 1 Timothy 2 was still valid for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ and 1 Timothy 3. So I just saw this week a particular clip of a man who I think claims to be a pastor, referring very negatively to men like me who believe that women are not supposed to be elders or pastors in the church.

It was quite unkind what he had to say. I didn't fire off a nasty reply. I'm just simply telling you that it wasn't a kind thing. But again, this is something that used to be commonplace, but now more and more, even good denominations, or what were once good denominations, are starting to dabble with women in office.

This is not an anti-woman tirade. This is not chauvinism. Paul was not the eternal enemy of women, as George Bernard Shaw referred to. But rather, Paul understood that in God's world, God made fish to fly, and he made birds to fly.

I always do that. And fish to swim. We want to correct that or invert that. And we want fish swimming and birds flying.

What do we do? Forget that illustration. You get the point. The Lord God, in the created order, made men to lead in the home, and he made men to lead in the church.

If that's offensive, you've got a problem with God, not me. You can't call me names. You can. I can't stop you.

But the bottom line is, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And he made man first, and then he made Eve to function as his helper. And we see that pattern established in the home from creation, and Paul argues from there in Ephesians 5, when he tells wives to be submissive to their own husbands. Why?

Because God made it this way. When it comes to the local church, same order. 1 Corinthians 11, 1 Corinthians 14, 1 Timothy 2, 1 Timothy 3, Titus chapter 1 envisages male leadership in the context of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. So if we are thinking regulative principle of worship, we do not have the right to violate what is written in God's Word and to evade the very clear teaching of Scripture at this point. So this text is not calling upon a woman to serve as an elder in the church.

Go back to Titus chapter one, verse five. For this reason, I left you in Crete that you should set in order the things that are lacking and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you. If a, notice. That next key word, and again, a word that we don't like today in our generation, but if a man is blameless, who's supposed to function as an elder in the church of the Lord Jesus?

It's supposed to be a man. Notice in 1 Timothy 3, same emphasis. Verse 1, this is a faithful saying. If a man desires the office of a bishop, he desires a good work.

And in both instances, we see the man must be a husband of one wife. He must be a one-woman man. He must be sexually faithful. He must exhibit fidelity in that realm.

So she's not to serve as an elder in the church, but as well,

She Is Not to Preach or Teach

she is not to preach or teach in the gathered church. So if you're in 1 Timothy 3, back up just a little bit to 1 Timothy 2. Notice in verse 1, Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men. What's the church supposed to do according to the apostle in the first place?

Be a prayerful church. We know this refers to the church as she's gathered for worship by what Paul says in 1 Timothy 3.14. Notice there, and then we'll go back to chapter 2. These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly.

But if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. We don't have the right to go into God's house and tell God that we're going to change things around. Just like we don't have the right to enter into each other's homes and tell us how we're supposed to function in our home. I don't like the refrigerator there.

I don't like the couch there. I don't like the kitchen table there. Well, then get out! This is my house, and those things are where I decreed.

The same with reference to the Church of God. Why man thought he could take his filthy hands and drip them all over Scripture and excise from Scripture the very principles that God's installed for the worship of God, I'll never know, other than sin, remaining corruption, and just a lack of earnestness in serving the living and true God. So we go back to chapter 2. So Paul says, pray.

And then specifically in 2.8 he says, I desire therefore that the men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting. And then he gives instructions to women in the public worship of God. In like manner also that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel. This is still as valid for today as it was then.

You're not supposed to draw attention to yourself, sister, in the public worship of God. Rather, we're supposed to be able to give our minds and our hearts and our thoughts to God most high. 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. 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. So the opponents of this doctrine will argue something like this. Well, you know, Ephesus, there was a lot of problems in Ephesus. Ephesus had some pretty obnoxious and pushy women.

And so Paul says, I want to make sure that those obnoxious and pushy women don't get into the pulpit. I don't permit that in the city of Ephesus. I don't permit that where women have this tendency to be pushy and obnoxious. You see, Paul doesn't argue from culture.

Paul argues from creation. In other words, what is established in Genesis chapters 1 to 3 is foundational for the creature's life on earth. When we are remade in the image of God through redemption in Jesus Christ, guess what ethics are to be operative in the lives of God's people? The stuff that God built into the created order in Genesis chapters 1 to 3.

It's not some brand new list of ethics. In fact, when you read the passages that deal with husbands and wives or men and women in the context of family or church, the arguments always go back to creation. And this is no exception. So note the prohibition again in verse 12.

I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. Here's your argument. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression.

I don't think that Paul is saying that every single woman ever will fall into deception and transgression. I don't think it's a blanket statement on a defect in woman's nature. I don't think that at all. But I think it is an acknowledgment of God's intention in the created order that men lead in the family and men lead in the church.

That's the point that the Apostle is highlighting here. So in Titus chapter 2, when it says that the older woman must be a teacher of good things, not as an elder in the church, not as a teacher in the gathered church, and she is not to exercise authority over men in the gathered church. And again, you can whine and cry and accuse me of chauvinism and all that sort of a thing, but this was the common interpretation for most of the Christian church. It's only the last couple of hundred years where you've got Pastor Susie or Pastor Linda, not just picking names out here, but the various pastor whoever that serves in the church.

This is sort of an unconscionable or unthinkable. And yet today, the bad guys are the ones who actually take Paul at his word in 1 Timothy 2. She and the church is not to disregard the regulative principle of worship at this point. Oh, but she's so gifted.

Well, then let her teach women and children. She's so wonderful. Let her teach women and children. And she can certainly teach children.

Look at 2 Timothy 1, verse 5. 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 mother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. So these godly women pass theological understanding and biblical knowledge down to Timothy. And then notice again in chapter 3 at verse 15. And that from childhood you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Lois and Eunice catechized Timothy. Lois and Eunice took that body of doctrine and passed it on to Timothy. He learned it. God saved him.

It's a wonderful thing. So by all means, ladies, exercise your gifts in the context of your home and instruct your children in the fear of the Lord. And certainly older women are to instruct younger women, as our text specifically says.

Exhortations to Younger Women

Now we'll turn there back to Titus chapter two. Note the exhortations to the younger women in verses four to five. So the older woman is to be a teacher of good things. Well, what good things are those, Paul?

How to make sourdough bread? Sure, daughter's great. It's good for the gut, good gut health. That's what I'm told.

How to, you know, braid one's hair? Yeah, sure, whatever. How to make dress? Oh, that's good.

But note the specific emphases that we find here in Titus chapter two. And I would suggest there's a threefold emphasis. First, her domestic relationships in verse four. Secondly, her particular virtues in 5a.

And then the theological basis for this in verse 5b. But

Her Domestic Relationships

notice her domestic relationships, and they're quite simple in terms of definition, if you look at verse four. So the older woman is to be a teacher of good things. And then in verse four, that they admonish the young women to love their husbands. Pretty simple thing, isn't it?

To love their husbands. It's interesting because this rounds out Paul's instruction to women and men in terms of their specific responsibilities. Usually the accent falls on submission in terms of a wife's role to her husband. Ephesians chapter five, wives, be submissive to your own husbands as to the Lord.

I think it's assumed that she's gonna love him. So she is told those things that are more of a difficulty for her. Man is gonna love his bride, but he's specifically told not to be embittered against her. He's told to lovingly lead her.

He's told those things that probably aren't uppermost. He does love her, but he doesn't always voice that or demonstrate that as he ought. So Paul deals with us where we need to be dealt with. And with reference to a woman, I can only imagine, because I happen to know one that's married to me, it can't be an easy task to be submissive to your husband in all things.

That's got to be a rough go. But with reference to the command of God, Ephesians 5 is clear, Colossians 3 is clear, 1 Peter 2 is clear. Here we are told that she is to love him. Love him.

This is the sort of motivation. This is the impetus behind everything else that follows in terms of her relationship to her husband. Now, that doesn't mean your husband's perfect. It doesn't mean that he's flawless.

It doesn't mean that he's without blemish. But it means that you married him, and there ought to have been a reason for that. And you need to make good on that commitment, not only in terms of submission, functionally, but in terms of love, dispositionally. Don't throw things at him.

Don't throw his clothes out the front door. Don't purposefully burn his food or try to make life miserable for him. If that's your pattern or your way, you need to repent because that's not godly. You need to love your husband, even at times in his unloveliness.

Remember, husbands are told or commanded to love their wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. Well, when Christ gives himself for the church, it's not this lovely, perfect being. It is rather a blemished and sinful lot. So the husband and the wife both have a tough road to hoe in terms of loving their spouse.

But again, I like to think back to the front end. Do your diligence before you get married. Can I love this person the way God commands me to? Can I do what God calls me to in terms of marriage to this person?

I'd like to think more people would ask themselves that before putting a ring on it. before locking it down, as it were. You've got to think through these things. Young people, if you're not married today, you're probably hoping, aspiring, that that'll be the case. Well, don't just willy-nilly run into it, but rather reflect.

Can I love this person the way that God calls me to love? That's not usually the way we do it, is it? Can this person serve me the way God tells them to? No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

No. Can I love this person the way that God commands me to love them? And if you're a woman, that means submitting your own husband. That means fearing him, not fighting, fleeing from him, but respect and honor.

If you're a husband, can you love her as Christ loved the church and gave himself for herself sacrificially? Those are good questions, I think, at the front end to ask before you put a ring on him or her.

Loving and Disciplining Children

Notice, secondly, she is to love her children. And again, this might seem foundational or axiomatic. What woman doesn't love her children? Brethren, we live in the 21st century in North America.

There's a lot of women that don't love their children. That is an unfortunate, grim reality that we're reminded of on a daily basis. The fact is, is that not all mothers love their children. And the fact is, is that God, through the apostle, tells the mothers that they need to love their children.

John Gill 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 Solomon there, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says, He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly. Again, like Gil says, it's not supposed to be an unfettered just love and affection and fondness.

Love is principle. Love desires the best for the object loved. God so loved the world, what? He gave his only begotten Son.

So you see that love demonstrable in terms of the particular application. Well, the same is true of the woman. She loves her children. Not so that they can grow up and to be a blight on the earth.

Not so that they can grow up to be a pain in the neck of a future spouse. But she loves him in such a way that Solomon commands that she brings him up in the training and admonition of the Lord. You see that all through the book of Proverbs. And I hope some of you have these texts already written down and committed to memory.

It's not a brand new list that I bring every time I preach on these things, but training begins early. Turn back to the book of Proverbs, just a few passages. We won't spend a lot of time there, but it's good to have it in front of us in terms of motherhood and what is expected of us. Proverbs chapter 4.

Verse three, 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. So the idea being is that while he's tender, while he's the only one in the sight of his mother, there's already parental instruction going on. And Solomon envisages not only the father instructing the child, but also the mother instructing the child. As well, look at Proverbs 19, specifically at verse 18.

Proverbs 19, verse 18. Chasten your son while there is hope and do not set your heart on his destruction. Note the epic language that is employed by Solomon when it comes to child training, when it comes to child rearing. It's either you lose him or you bless and help him.

Chasing your son while there's hope. That's probably not 18 when all he does is play video games and smoke pot in the basement. You haven't exercised the counsel given you by Solomon when it comes to chastening your son while there's still hope. What age is that, pastor?

Well, you know, the wicked go estranged from the womb, speaking lies as soon as they are born. That's not Augustine who said that. It's not Paul who said that. It's not Jim who said that.

It's David who said that in Psalm 58. We need to understand that rebellion starts early. Bridges makes the observation, Satan begins with the infant in arms. 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. Great counsel.

It's easier to crush a snake egg than to deal with one of these massive pythons you see in people's attics. Much easier to just stomp that egg when it's in there. As well, the neglect of corporal punishment is ungodly. Now, I'm going to qualify all this.

You need to be wise. We need to be cunning as serpents and harmless as doves in this present evil age. People will report people for disciplining their children and you need to be careful and you need to be cautious and you need to exercise wisdom in the pursuit of this. But to do it, the Bible commands.

That we must do it, the Bible commands. So the neglect of corporal punishment is ungodly. Again, 1324, it's a very simple principle. He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

Pagans have the knowledge of this, brethren. People that are non-Christian homes, when their parents indulge them, they know that something's wrong. They understand that something's off. Oh, your dad really loves you.

He let you do that. No, if he loved me, he wouldn't let me do that, right? So this is kind of a built into the creation order thing. that a child needs discipline. He needs instruction.

You don't open the fridge for your four-year-old and say, just take out what you want for dinner, or take him to the pantry and say, just grab whatever. Is he going to grab a big, thick steak that's fatty and good for him? Is he going to grab whatever veggie he needs to help him in certain other areas? No, he's going to grab the snacks.

He's going to grab the cookies. Well, no parent would do that. And if you do, you need to stop. We do what's good for them, brethren, and discipline and instruction and guardrails is good for them.

Gil says, the sin of old Eli, 1 Samuel 2 and 3, and both he and his sons suffered for it. Read that sometime. Eli's sons were wretches. They didn't know the Lord.

Now, when I say they were wretches, They also happen to be priests. It's bad when you get a wretch in the priesthood and that priest, when you bring your sacrifice to offer it before Yahweh, the priest rather throws his fork in there and takes it home and eats it. Or when the priest lay with temple prostitutes. That's what Eli's sons were doing.

And it caused vexation among the children of Israel. The worst thing about it is that Eli knew it and did not restrain them. He didn't restrain them. He didn't stop them.

They were running off a cliff, and he just let them go. That's not the way we're supposed to parent. We'll just let the kid find himself. He's two.

What do you mean, find himself? He can hardly find the bathroom. And I'm going to allow life-altering decisions to be made by him? We live in a backwards, crazy world presently, that a child has the wherewithal to make life-altering decisions that affect them at the most basic level.

It's unfortunate, but we can't ape the wisdom of the world. We've got to resist it and refuse it. Thirdly, the usefulness of corporal punishment is highlighted. Look at Proverbs 22.

Proverbs 22, specifically at verse 15. 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.

It is not the sheet of pure white paper, not 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. Do you ever look at adults in our generation and kind of conclude that they weren't disciplined as children? Am I the only one here that sees that? It's like, your parents should have spanked you.

Because whatever you're doing now reflects bad parenting on their part. Brethren, we have the word of God when it comes to raising children. It's a wonderful benefit. He's given us the wisdom of Christ through the vehicle of Solomon in the book of Proverbs.

And as I mentioned earlier, there is this necessary qualification concerning corporal discipline. Be very careful. And do not justify abuse under the biblical doctrine of corporal punishment. The commitment to biblical child-rearing is not abuse, nor should it be carried out as if it is abuse and then hide behind biblical text.

Well, I'm just doing what God said. No, you're beating your child in a godless way, and you need to repent. Bruce Waltke says, the cleaning rod must be applied with warmth, affection, and respect for the youth. Warmth and affection, not steely discipline, characterized the father's lectures in chapter 4, verses 1 to 9.

Parents who brutalize their children cannot hide behind the rod doctrine of Proverbs. So, back to Titus chapter 2. Basically, with reference to her domestic sphere, she is to love her husband, a husband-lover, and to love her children, a child-lover. That's it.

That's the job. Now,

Her Particular Virtues

in terms of her particular virtues, according to chapter 2, verse 5a, it says she is to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands. So, let's just look at that. First, she is to be discreet, similar to the old man being reverent, Verse two, the same word, and the young men are to be sober-minded in verse six, same word. She is to be discreet.

So again, you see the semantic range, reverent or sober-minded. One definition in the dictionary is pertaining to being in control of oneself, prudent, thoughtful, self-control. Not to be out of control. That means you can't flip out in your task.

You can't just give up and walk off the job, right? Again, we treat marriage and child-rearing today very disposably, but if we understand God's word as the people of God, we need to take it very seriously relative to our responsibilities. As well, she is to be chaste. The idea is purity in the moral sense.

The necessity for modesty and public worship we saw in 1 Timothy 2, 8-10. And not just public worship, 1 Peter 3 envisages or enjoins that upon a woman professing godliness. And in Proverbs 31, we read that the heart of her husband safely trusts her. He's not suspect of her.

He's not suspicious of her. Why? Because she's discreet and as well, she's chaste. Notice thirdly, she's to be a homemaker.

Again, I could preach this in other churches or in the world and people would be losing their minds right now. If you're losing your mind, thank you for keeping it in your mind and not yelling and shouting and, whoa, what do you mean a homemaker? What do you mean buying your wife a vacuum for Mother's Day or an iron? You beast.

Is that beastly conduct? Is it bad? I'm encouraged to some degree when I see these videos on Twitter of women saying they were lied to by feminism. lied to, just run roughshod right over. It is a complete usurpation of God's established order.

It's a bad bill of goods. And so some out there are waking up to this reality, and thankfully so. But the definition of the word that Paul uses here, homemakers, in the Greek, it means homemakers. pertaining to carrying out household duties, busy at home, carrying out household duties. I've never understood why this is bad.

I've never understood. I guess maybe at some point in my life and, you know, back in before Christ times, I might've thought, but I just don't get it. I just don't see why it's a bad thing for a man to be out at work and his wife to be at work in the home. Is that evil?

Is that wicked? Is that horrible? Well, today it's being proffered as such. What do you mean your wife stays home with the kids?

That's a full-time job. If a woman is a mother, there's no amount of compensation that would be just. And that's not just saying it because I don't want to pay my wife. It's true.

Constantly. You know, brothers, your wives have done things for your children. Then you're like, man, you say with Solomon in Proverbs 31 or Anger, many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all. This is a good thing, brethren.

So in terms of an illustration, turn back to 1 Timothy 5, where again, Paul is addressing various people groups in the context of the local church. And notice in verse 11, 5-11. Now there's a bit of an odd sort of an interpretation that we might glean from this, but I'll try and explain it as we go. 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." So on the one hand, verse 11, he's condemning the younger women that are pining after marriage. And then on the other hand, in verse 14, he commends that these younger widows get married. What gives, Paul?

Well, obviously in verses 11 to 13, you've got a class of young women that are not yearning to be remarried in the proper way. They may have that desire, but it's wanton. They may have that desire, but it's not regulated. They may have that desire, but it issues forth in the kinds of content and the kinds of sins that are condemned here.

Notice in verse 13, 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. So what's the ultimate corrective for a young woman who's lost her husband? Just get married. Don't go out and be an idle gossip, bouncing around from house to house, trafficking in lies and things that you have no business speaking about.

But notice in verse 14, therefore, I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully. And you might say, well, brother, that's just you. You're a man. You don't have to do all that.

I try to help my beloved and try to, you know, cook and clean a little bit. It's not murder. I'm not trying to diminish, ladies, what you're going through, but it's not like, oh, I can't believe I have to keep the house. Praise God, you get to keep a house.

Might just be a bit of a perspective shift. So Paul says, with reference to the virtues borne by this woman, she is to be discreet, she is to be chaste, she is to be a homemaker, she is to be good, in a general overarching sense, in light of 1 Peter 2.18, probably the emphasis is upon kind. So she is to be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good or kind, and then obedient to their own husbands. You know how I know Paul's not the eternal enemy of women, the way George Bernard Shaw says, to their own husbands.

Not to every husband. It's not subjugation on the part of the woman to every man that's out there vis-a-vis Islam, but to your own husbands. Husbands, love your wives. Wives, be submissive to your own husbands.

That's protection. That's not bad. That's a good thing. And so Paul ends this particular list with that emphasis that he speaks of elsewhere, as I said in Ephesians 5 and as well in Colossians chapter 3.

So the husbands and wives, they share redemptive solidarity. It's not that men are intrinsically better. We are joint heirs together of salvation by Christ Jesus, our Lord. But there is a functional distinction.

As I mentioned, in the home, in the church, God wants men or God decrees that men lead in that capacity. And then

The Theological Basis

that brings us to the theological basis. Two ways that we see this in verse 5b and then in verses 11 to 14. As I mentioned, ladies, if you're not a believer here this morning, the instruction isn't Go home and be a better mom, and then you'll be saved. That's not what I'm saying.

If you're hearing me say that, please don't hear me say that. The instruction for you, if you're an unbelieving woman, is not, go be a better mom, and then God will accept you into His heavenly kingdom. No, that's not the instruction. The instruction is to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who provides ransom, the one who provides redemption through his blood, the one who justifies us freely by his grace so that we are forgiven of our sins and we receive his righteousness by which we now can enter into the presence of God.

So Paul is not teaching salvation by good mothering. He's not teaching salvation by being a good older woman. He's not teaching salvation by being a good older man or a good younger man. He's teaching salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

And that salvation comes blessed of God, not only with Christ's work for us, but the Spirit's work in us. So that once we are saved, we start to see that Man, I've made a mess of my life. I actually want to do what God calls me to do. I want to live in a manner that is consistent with my high calling in the gospel of our salvation.

And so Paul grounds these ethical imperatives on the glory of God in the gospel. So notice first at the end of verse 5. So the younger woman is to love her husband, she's to love her child, she's to be discreet, she's to be chaste, she's to be a homemaker, she's to be good or kind, she's to be obedient to her own husband, then notice that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Notice that Paul doesn't say, if she does this and she has these virtues, that'll be a happy home.

If she does this and has these virtues, then she'll be a happy camper. That's not his argument. He's not arguing based on utility. He's not arguing based on pragmatism.

He's arguing theologically. A woman who professes saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and doesn't love her husband and doesn't love her children and doesn't manifest these virtues brings reproach upon the very word of God that commands her to do that. Remember that scene in 2 Samuel chapter 12, after Nathan rebukes David for his sin. What does Nathan say?

By this you've given cause to the enemies of Yahweh to blaspheme. In other words, the enemies look at it and they say, well, there's nothing significantly different about that Christian religion. There's no difference between her and my wife, who's a pagan. Listen to George Knight.

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. You see, sisters, when you live the way God calls you to live, again, it's not first and foremost that you'll be the self-fulfilled woman or that your home will be the nicest home on the block. Those might be corollaries, those might be benefits and blessings, but the primary emphasis is that you don't blaspheme God's word.

And then the second line of theological argument or the foundation for the imperatives that precede is in verses 11 to 14. Four, the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. The all men I take to be all kinds of men. Older men, younger men.

Older women, younger women. Kings and those who are in authority, 1 Timothy chapter 2. All kinds of different people from every tongue and people and tribe and nation. The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.

And what does that grace teach us? Well, once we're saved by grace, once we come to the Lord Jesus, it teaches us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age. We should be looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, but then notice 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. We're zealous to be what Paul commands in Titus 2, 1 to 10 because of what Christ has done in saving us through his own precious blood.

Get the theology correct. It's not a list of morality wherein you do this and you'll be saved. but it is rather what it looks like in the life of sanctification for those who by God's grace have believed the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

Application

Well, in conclusion, the necessity for such women. Why do we need such women? As Paul tells us we need here. I would say first for the benefit for husbands.

Again, you say, well, you know, my husband doesn't deserve all that. Yeah, that might be the case, but you're not in marriage first and foremost to get. You're in marriage first and foremost to give. Again, an emphasis that for whatever reason we forgot all about.

When you're looking for that bride or you're looking for that bridegroom, what can he give me? What can he do for me? What can you bring to the table? What can you produce?

What good are you gonna convey in this bargain, right? So for the husband, it's a benefit when his wife does what Jesus says. The benefit of the children. Why is that?

Because if the mother is concerned about her children to the point where she's prayerfully instructing the child, disciplining the child, seeking to restrain his godlessness, that's a benefit. You can't convert your child. You can't make your child be born again. But by the grace of God, you can restrain some of those passions.

You can hopefully produce in them at least something that is not a threat to society around them. And as I said in the earlier hour, Jesus likens the Holy Spirit to the wind. You don't know where it comes from and you don't know where it's going. What's he saying?

You don't control the sovereign spirit. Spurgeon says, yeah, we don't know, but we can open the window to let the wind in. We can use the means to facilitate the wind coming. And when it comes to the whole issue of bringing up our children, no, we're not sovereign.

We can't make them be born again. We can hopefully plant or instill in them a lot of Bible knowledge and theological knowledge such that when God does save them, they've got a vast amount of resources that they can draw from. As well, the benefit for the church. Strong churches ultimately depend upon strong individuals and strong families.

I'd argue society's the same way. When you see the decadence and the degradation of society around us, you can trace that back through churches and families to individuals. If people are messed up and families are messed up and churches are messed up, it's going to be obvious that societies are messed up as well. It's not rocket science, brethren.

And for the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the kinds of people that Paul calls us to be, it's only gonna be a benefit. And then, of course, the commendation of the word of God. I would suggest, secondly, the perseverance of such women. Again, it's probably not easy being submissive to your husband.

Probably not easy to do everything that God calls you to do. Now, I want to make sure you know, I'm not preaching perfection. You got to be this lady or you're done. No, no, sanctification is a process for each and every one of us, and it's an ebb and a flow.

We got good days and we got not so good days. So I'm not trying to preach you out of the kingdom of God, sisters. I'm trying to encourage you with reference to perseverance. I would suggest you must recognize, again, something that is contrary to the spirit of the age, the high calling and dignity of motherhood.

The high calling and dignity of motherhood. Again, why did we lose that? Why is that bad? I stay home, and I look after the home, and I look after my husband, and I look after my children.

That's it? This culture is terrible with that. It's horrible. It's beastly.

It's vile. It's reprehensible. It's another indication that the family is under attack. The devil doesn't want strong families.

The devil doesn't want strong individuals. The devil doesn't want strong churches or strong societies. He wants a bunch of people that are all messed up. Listen to Spurgeon, fathers and mothers are the most natural agents for God to use in the salvation of their children.

I am sure, now he's not saying you can sovereignly change their hearts, he's saying agents, instruments, there is an instrumentality, faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. He says, 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 has 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? Now, brethren, I'm not saying every mother is perfect. Some of us, you know, in the backgrounds that we come from, this is an idealized version that we know nothing of experientially. Well, let's seek by God's grace to make it known through our own conduct and in our own families in the way that we imbibe the truth of God's Word and live in light of our high calling in the gospel.

Again, the negative examples that we have had to promote in us, man, if that's what mom was supposed to look like, or that's what dad was supposed to look like, let's try to be that in our own context and not replicate the errors and the sins of our forefathers. It just seems to be the way we ought to proceed. As well, you must realize that your task is difficult, oftentimes thankless, and often unappreciated by many. It's just the way it is.

You're not gonna have your kids lined up every day, oh, mommy, thank you for such good service. That's not, at least it wasn't my experience with five children, oh, thank you, daddy, thank you, mom. It wasn't that way. It can be thankless.

It can be tedious. It can be tiresome to answer the same question for the millionth time, and it's only 9 a.m. That stuff is hard. 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.

Usually in this sermon, I quote Napoleon Bonaparte when he was asked, what's the matter with France? He says, give us better mothers. You get messed up moms, you get messed up world. It seems to go that way, and dads too, I'm not leaving them out.

And you must guard against laziness. Sorry, ladies, I think I've shared with you before, my brother says, you know, oh, on Mother's Day, women get all kinds of encouragement, and on Father's Day, the guys get hammered. Here's a bit of hammering. Don't get lazy.

Too many things out there to get distracted with that we didn't have in a previous generation. Facebook and phones in our pockets and all that sort of thing. Proverbs 31, 27. She watches over the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

It's a tough job, but you gotta work it. And then finally, the blessing upon such women. This comes from the end of Proverbs 31, from her husband. You know what the husband says to his wife?

Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all. That's the praise that is consistent with a woman who lives the way that God has called her to live. Many daughters have done nobly, but she would sell them all from her husband, but as well from her children. Verse 28a says, her children rise up and call her blessed.

Again, probably not when they're five, probably not on a regular basis, probably not every single day, but at some point and at some time, these children are gonna rise up and call you blessed. as well from her community. In Proverbs 31, 31, it says, and let her own works praise her in the gates. The gates was the place in the community where stuff happened. The gates was the place in the community where things were known.

And sister so-and-so is quite the blessing to her husband. What a wonderful gift by God to him and to the community. And then from the Lord, verse 30, charm is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. What a glorious promise to the women who, by God's grace, are saved through justification, by faith in Jesus, and who are living a life of sanctification, albeit imperfectly, albeit failing at times, albeit ebbing and flowing, and sometimes, you know, kind of doing this, and then, by the grace of God, pulling it out at the last moment.

But there's a blessing pronounced upon you ladies, that's most glorious. So God is pro-woman. God is pro-wife. God is pro-mother.

God is pro-everything this culture tells us to be against. So let us side with the Most High when it comes to family, when it comes to husbands, when it comes to wives, when it comes to fathers and mothers, when it comes to the relationship of parents to their children and children to their parents. The word of God is sufficient, brethren. Again, we're not saved by obeying.

We're saved by grace through faith because Jesus obeyed, and in him we have everlasting life. Well, let us pray.

Closing Prayer

Our Father in heaven, we thank you for your word and its clarity at this point of motherhood. We pray for your blessing upon all the ladies here in our local church, that you would encourage them, that you would strengthen them, help them to be persevering in the midst of the challenges associated with childbearing. As well, we pray for the ladies that are pregnant. We thank you so much that there's so many children here.

It is a joy and a blessing to come to the house of the Lord and to see so many little ones and to know of many more in the womb. We just bless you and we praise you for your kind provision. And we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Well, you may stand with me and we'll close by singing the doxology of Praise to God, page 570. 570, we'll stand as we sing together. Oh, alleluia The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.

Father, thank you for this glad hour. Thank you for the public worship of our blessed God. I pray that you would go with us now that we would know your nearness as our good. And we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen. Well, please be seated for a brief time of meditation.

Scripture References

• Genesis 1-3
• 1 Samuel 2-3
• Psalm 58
• Proverbs 4:1-9; 13:24; 19:18; 22:15; 31:27; 31:28; 31:30; 31:31
• 2 Samuel 12
• Ephesians 5:22
• Colossians 3
• 1 Timothy 2:1; 2:8-10; 2:12; 3:1; 3:3; 3:8; 3:11; 3:14; 5:11; 5:14
• 2 Timothy 1:5; 3:3; 3:15
• Titus 1:5; 1:9; 1:10-16; 2:1-10; 2:3-5; 2:6; 2:11-14
• 1 Corinthians 11; 14
• 1 Peter 2:18; 3
• 2 Timothy 1:5; 3:3; 3:15