The Exceptional Woman

Thank you, John.

I would like you to turn your Bibles this morning to Proverbs chapter 31, verse 30.

Proverbs 31:30

! Proverbs chapter 31, verse 30.

Proverbs 31:30

This is Mother's Day, and I know that all of you are aware of it for a number of different reasons.

For one, our culture, I think rightfully, makes a great deal of it.

And if any of you try to go to the restaurant and I hold you over for, let's say, three or four minutes,

you'll probably find that you are on a waiting list.

Isn't that right?

I was talking with one family that actually intend to go have an early,

you could call it either an early supper or a late lunch.

They're going to go at around about 2 o'clock, 2.30.

They're hoping that the restaurants would have cleared out,

and they'll be able to get in and find a table and have dinner together as a family.

This is a day when we celebrate and remind ourselves of the blessing that all of us have received

through the ministry of godly women in our lives.

It is a day that in some churches they are going to ask questions like,

all right, we want the mom who has had the most children to stand up.

How many of you remember doing that at one point or another, being in church?

The most, the youngest, et cetera, et cetera.

And there are a lot of different ways to go about that.

But this morning what we want to do is really focus our attention on the effect

and the impact of a godly woman.

And that's the reason that this morning when you're going out,

there are going to be people at the door handing out flowers to every woman who is 18 years and old

or older, and there will be no carding, okay?

So, you know, if you're kind of on the bubble, nobody's going to say to you,

hey, can I see your driver's license before you get a flower?

We'll just give it to you.

And we trust that it's an encouragement to you.

I want you to look at a passage this morning that we find in the Word of God

that is just a very practical reminder to us of truth that is undeniably critical and essential in our life.

And as I look at this passage, I'm reminded at the very outset of just how beneficial it is

for us to focus on the Word of God and allow the Word of God to affect the way we think.

As we were singing that last song in particular,

one of the things that I was doing is as I was working my way through the song, singing it,

I was also cross-referencing along with the song.

How many of you are working on that now?

A little bit more.

Raise your hand and wave at me so I can feel like I'm making some moderate traction

on getting you to think biblically.

Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Can anybody help me with where that's found?

Colossians chapter 3.

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

When I run the race before me, where does that come from?

1 Corinthians chapter 9 would be one passage.

1 Corinthians 9 · chapter mention

Looking unto Jesus, where would that come from?

Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

We could go on and on and on.

And the reason I do that is I want you to be a people who, when you think, think scripturally.

Do you follow that?

And this morning, we are looking at a passage that is undeniably valuable and precious.

And I trust influences your thought.

Now, come back again and make the point that the Word is our life.

It's valuable to us.

And as we think about that statement that I made here just for a moment ago,

that the Word is our life, I trust one of the things that goes through your mind is,

where did pastor get that idea?

I was talking with another pastor, and he made the statement, which I thought is entirely true.

Pastors are ultimately plagiarists.

You know what we mean by that?

They're borrowing information that came from somewhere else.

And I trust you never think that I'm reciting something that I thought about creatively on my own.

The principal source is the Word of God.

And so when I make the statement that the Word is our life,

I think about a couple different passages in relationship to that.

One is over in Deuteronomy chapter 32.

Deuteronomy 32 · chapter mention

And I want you to follow with me just for a moment.

Deuteronomy chapter 32, verse 46 and 47.

Deuteronomy 32:46

This is Moses preaching to the nation of Israel his concluding sermon.

He knows after this he's dying.

And there towards the very end of the book, he makes this little statement.

He says,

Take to heart all the words which I am warning you today.

And he goes on a little bit and he says,

It is no empty word for you, but your very life.

It is no empty word for you, but your very life.

And so when we handle the Word of God, when we think about the Word of God,

we recognize that it is our life.

We depend upon it for all that we are and all that we do.

I think about another passage in which we see a very similar concept appear.

And if you turn in your Bible to John chapter 6, we're going to look just for a second.

John 6 · chapter mention

We'll come back to Proverbs, but I want you to think with me of John chapter 6.

John 6 · chapter mention

It's a long chapter.

And it begins with Jesus ministering to a group of people.

And in that context, he feeds a large crowd.

And they love the idea that they had free din-din.

And Jesus did it.

I mean, it had to be the best bread and fish that anybody ever had.

I open cans of sardines periodically in the office,

and I am seldom appreciated by anybody else but me.

I happen to like them, but I can tell you I'd much rather settle for fresh fish

that had been produced by Jesus on the spot than those cans of sardines.

And here was Jesus, did this meal.

Everybody was excited.

And as an outcome of that, he went ahead and took advantage of all this interest

to preach a sermon.

And guess what the outcome of that sermon was?

Everybody left.

They were offended.

They didn't like what he had to say.

And at the heart of it, as everybody's going away, he turns to his disciples,

and he says, are you guys leaving too?

And that brings us to a little statement that Peter made.

He said, Lord, to whom should we go?

You have the words of eternal life.

Where else?

And I want you to think with me just for a moment, because I am stunned.

I am stunned when I find out how often professing believers rely on every other resource for

information other than the Word of God.

Here's Peter.

He says, listen, where can we go?

You've got the words of life.

And so if the Word is so essential, it makes sense, and I want to say this slowly so you don't miss it,

it makes sense that it is our first and most important resource in dealing with the questions

and challenges that life throws at us.

Now, we're at a day today where we celebrate Mother's Day.

And as I said, our focus is not just on mothers, but our focus is on godly womanhood

and the blessing that godly women are in all of our lives.

And that's why we're in the book of Proverbs.

Actually, if you were to ask me the question,

what book in the Bible has the most to say about women,

it would be the book of Proverbs.

Now, you'd have to admit, if you're a student of the book of Proverbs,

that you know a fair number of the texts in Proverbs do not give a smiley, happy face on women.

Would you agree with that?

Now, I'm not going to go overboard on this,

but you remember that Proverbs has a comment to say that living in a house with a nagging, whining wife

is like living in a house where there's dripping, dripping, dripping water, right?

I mean, don't go there, but let's just leave it at that.

It talks about the fact, I saw some people looking around and going,

stop, just listen.

Don't get yourself in trouble, guys, okay?

And it goes on and says this, and there's a lot that Solomon,

I'm wondering about this, why did Solomon not practice the wisdom that he wrote about?

He had a lot to say about ungodly women who would cause heartache in young men's lives.

Proverbs has a lot to say about the danger of ungodly women.

It's interesting as well, and by the way, Proverbs was written to give advice to men,

to young men in particular.

It's very interesting to recognize that the book of Proverbs closes off essentially with one final chapter,

and it is all about women.

Beginning in verse 10 and carrying on to the very end of the chapter,

Proverbs chapter 31 gives us some very careful instruction about women,

Proverbs 31 · chapter mention

and it is given to us in a very interesting fashion.

There are 22 verses, and the first verse, if you were reading in your Hebrew Bible,

does anybody have one here today?

Hebrew Bible, it's back in my office.

But if you're reading in your Hebrew Bible, it would begin with the letter Aleph.

Caleb, you have yours.

Is that what you're saying?

Oh, okay.

It begins with the letter Aleph, and then it goes to the letter Beth,

and then it goes to the letter Gimel, and then it goes to the letter He,

Wow, Zion, Heth, Death, etc.

Do you know why it's done that way?

Any idea?

It was written alphabetically with the first part of every verse starting with the letter.

A is for apple, right?

B is for boy.

See, it was there for alphabetical structure for the sake of memory work.

And the understanding was that little Hebrew boys were going to memorize this passage

so that eventually, when it came around to kicking tires for a girl,

they had an idea of what they were looking for.

Huh.

And it was also memorized by little girls so that they knew what they should be.

Now, in our culture, I was thinking about this, we go out of our way to kind of give to,

am I going to cause a problem, John?

We move this way over here.

Are you?

Okay.

We go out of our way to kind of equip our girls to have an idea of what they should look like when they're adults.

Now, what do I mean by that?

How many of you have ever seen a Barbie doll?

A Barbie doll, you know?

Now, what is it about, I'm not going to ask you to explain out loud,

but have you noticed that a Barbie doll is not the way that most everybody we've ever known looks like?

But it communicates to little girls, this is what is really attractive,

and it says to little boys, that's what you're looking for.

Hmm.

We've got a problem, don't we?

The truth of the matter is, is that is not what the Scriptures want us to think about,

and we are looking here, and we have an understanding that as this passage is laid out by the Spirit of God

in the book of Proverbs, chapter 31,

Proverbs 31 · chapter mention

it is given so that God's people will know what to look for in a godly woman,

and so a godly woman knows what to be.

In the larger context,

if you want to recognize the overflow of what we find in the book of Proverbs,

we'd put it this way,

a godly woman is a great help,

and an ungodly woman is a great harm.

So, in that we are looking at the very last words in the book of Proverbs,

and it's a summary.

By the way, chapter 31, 22 verses about women,

but we come towards the very end,

and one of the characteristics of a good teacher is that they give you a summary.

They give you a closing statement, something to remember.

Am I right?

Generally, one of the principles of good teaching is you tell people what you're going to teach them about,

you teach them what you're going to teach them about,

and then you remind them what you're going to teach them about,

and we're dealing with the little summary, the little reminder at the very end,

and here's what it says.

Look at it with me.

It says,

First, I want to recognize the clear cautions that Solomon gives to us.

The Holy Spirit takes the two most commonly valued feminine features and turns them upside down.

It's interesting, isn't it?

Charm is deceitful.

The Hebrew word for charm is actually referring to that external elegance of the feminine form

as well as the charm and the allure of feminine grace.

I do remember that Proverbs was aimed primarily at a son, the male of the species,

and ever since the day that God brought Adam, his wife,

men have been profoundly affected by what they see with their eyes.

Do you know what Adam said when he saw the woman that God had created?

What did he say?

In practical terms, he said,

Wow!

You got it?

And here's the truth.

Every man born of woman is deeply affected by what they see with their eyes.

It's the way it is.

And it's the reason that advertising is the way it is, right?

You don't sell toilet paper without using the beauty of women to do so.

Now, everything associated that goes along with sales, we're always kind of floating the eye.

If you want to get the man to look, guess what we use?

We use the feminine form.

We use the female to draw and allure.

And here is Solomon saying,

Let me tell you something.

Charm is deceitful.

And so here's what we have.

We have the Spirit of God reminding us that what we see on the surface is actually deceitful.

Does that mean that every beautiful woman is a snake and a liar?

And the answer is no.

That's not what it's saying.

But it does mean that what we see on the surface is undeniably deceptive

and trusting in what we can see with the eye is profoundly dangerous.

Often, the more beguiling and attractive the external features are,

the less well-developed the internal features and spirit are.

Do you understand that statement?

Can I say it slowly so you don't miss it?

Often, the more attractive and well-developed the external features are,

the more deficient what is inside is.

It's just the way it is.

Nobody, say this slowly so everybody unfollows me,

nobody gets to be the complete package.

And so if all the attention is put on the exterior, guess what?

You're putting all that attention on the exterior

because you think that's what you have fundamentally.

And at the end of the day, it is not what lasts.

I was thinking about this issue of charm as deceitful.

I was thinking about Judith and I being in a restaurant some time ago,

and the waitress was just, well, she was charming.

And Judith made her choice of the menu first.

And the young lady, sweet, spirit, and so effervescent, bubbly, you know,

and she said, excellent choice.

Wow, Judith, that's a good choice.

And I didn't do it, but I was thinking, you know,

what if I said I would like fried chitlins?

Do you know what chitlins are?

Does anybody know what?

Raise your hand if you know what chitlins are.

What part of the hog are they?

They're the intestines.

Anybody here besides me ever eaten tripe?

Do you know what tripe is?

It's not from the loin of the cow.

Okay.

So if I had said, you know, I'd like fried chitlins,

and I would like pickled pig's feet,

and I would like sardines on the side,

and she says, excellent choice.

Here, charm is deceitful.

Do you follow what I'm saying?

I thought to myself, actually, when this girl went to another table

and we're eating our meal,

and I heard that little saying at the end of,

and I'll have blah, blah, blah,

and I heard her say, and the enthusiasm was just kind of,

excellent choice.

I thought, gag.

You know?

Yeah, perfect example.

Excellent choice.

So here's the deal.

If as a man,

you think the value and the sum of a woman

is what you see on the surface,

or if as a woman,

you are consumed with your outward appearance,

you are deceived,

and you're a deceiver.

There's a second thing that we find in the passage in Proverbs,

and look at it here.

It says, charm is deceitful,

and it says, beauty is vain.

The Hebrew word for beauty here

refers more to the physical beauty,

while charm has to do with the,

with more of that abstract business

that goes with being feminine and alluring.

It's just talking about that physical beauty

that when Adam was brought his wife,

he says, wow.

And I've got to tell you something.

If you kind of work your way

through the various days of creation

at the end of every day,

what does God say about what he'd made?

Good.

Good.

Good.

Good.

We're getting to five, I think.

Good.

And then he comes to the last day,

and he makes woman,

and what does he say?

He says, here's the go,

very good.

Solomon says, let me tell you something, guys.

That beauty is vain.

The word vain is a word

that is really talking about something

that is not lasting.

And you have to understand,

I have to understand that what Solomon is saying

is that that physical beauty

of the 21-year-old that is marked

by beautiful shining hair

and smooth skin

and no wrinkles,

and there's that wonderful feminine features

that are just undeniably attractive to a man.

I want you to know

that surgery and Botox

can kind of keep it there temporarily,

but at the end of the day,

it all runs downhill.

Still.

I think I can tell this story

and not get in trouble.

Not too long ago,

we were in a small group,

and we were talking about things

you have to give up for Jesus' sake.

And I was asking questions,

and one of these little girls says,

we have to give up bikinis for Jesus' sake.

And I thought that was interesting.

I'll say it loud

so some of you in the back can hear me.

We have to give up bikinis for Jesus' sake.

And I decided that I would

step into the pool a little bit

and kind of add to that statement.

And I said,

honey, let me tell you something

about using bikinis

to draw attention to yourself.

When you're 80,

I don't have to say anything else, do I?

I did ask the little girl.

I said, honey,

have you ever seen an 80-year-old woman

that is gorgeous on the outside?

And she shook her head no.

That's true.

You see,

what Solomon's saying

is that outward beauty fades.

If you are uncertain about that,

here's what I want you to do.

The next time you go to the grocery store,

don't open the covers or anything,

but just look on the outward side

of People magazine

or all the tabloids.

How many of you see,

just, I mean,

can't look at it long,

but I mean, there it is.

There are 80-year-old women,

just one picture after another

of elderly people, you know?

At the beach,

you know,

exercised.

And by the way,

if you're 80

and you've been sunbathing too long,

do you know what your skin looks like?

Huh?

What's it look like?

It looks like some kind of extrusion.

Worse than leather.

So here's the point.

Let's just go to the end of the story.

Outward beauty will not last.

And it's well worth remembering.

Outward beauty will not last.

And those who rely on it,

those who are seduced by it,

those who buy things

because of the packaging

rather than the product,

are not wise.

So what really counts?

Look at the passage.

A woman who fears the Lord

is to be praised.

Proverbs compares charm and beauty

with a distinctly different mindset.

And so before we actually go on to that,

here's a question I have.

I raised two daughters.

I've been here long enough

to have watched many of you raising daughters.

And I got to tell you,

you don't have to work hard

at teaching them

how to put on makeup

when they're little girls.

Do you realize that?

They begin to experiment

without you coaching them.

They understand

that's part of what's important.

And they usually come out

their first couple tries,

you know what they look like?

Lipstick all over the face,

rouge and big blotches.

And you have to tell them,

if you're going to be beguiling,

you need to do

a little better job.

Unfortunately,

we seldom put as much energy

into teaching young ladies

how to have beautiful hearts.

Look at what Solomon says.

He says,

a woman who fears the Lord.

So what does fearing the Lord mean?

Let me have you work through this with me

by helping you understand.

First of all,

fearing the Lord is the fruit of His grace.

I want to say that carefully.

Fearing the Lord is the fruit of His grace.

I'm not going to have you look at the passage

this morning,

but let me make a reference

to what it says in Jeremiah 32,

Jeremiah 32:39

verse 39 and 40.

It makes the statement

that really it is the work of God

to help us fear Him.

Now,

it's interesting that

the unbeliever

is terrified of God

at the end.

But for most of their life,

guess what they're thinking?

Where's God?

I don't care.

He's not going to mess with me.

I'm on my own.

One of the things it says

over and over again in Psalms

and also appears,

I believe,

in Proverbs

is that one of the characteristics

of the unbeliever

is they have no fear of God.

That's the way they are.

And so if you're sitting here this morning

and in your heart

there is a wholesome,

honorable fear of God,

that fear is there

because the Spirit of God

has worked to give it to you.

And so when we think about

the fear of God,

we need to recognize,

first of all,

that it's something

He has to do in us.

Secondly,

fearing the Lord

means getting the first things right.

Turn in your Bible,

if you're there

in Proverbs chapter 31,

Proverbs 31 · chapter mention

I want you to turn in your Bible

back to Proverbs chapter 1,

Proverbs 1:7

verse 7.

The book of Proverbs

actually has a lot to say

about the fear of the Lord.

In Proverbs chapter 1,

Proverbs 1:7

verse 7,

at the very beginning

of this book,

it says this,

the fear of the Lord

is the beginning of knowledge

fools despise wisdom

and instruction.

You will not fear

what you do not know.

I want you to recognize that.

You will not fear

what you do not know,

but if you know God

and you seek His face,

you will grow in your fear of Him

and at the same time,

very interestingly,

you grow in your love of Him.

You'll grow in your fear of God

and you'll grow in your love of God.

And if you're sitting here

this morning

and the truth of the matter is

is that you have no fear,

the fact of the matter is

you also have no love.

The two are linked

and cannot be pulled apart.

Curiously,

but that's the way it is.

And so we find here

that the fear of the Lord

is getting the first things right.

The fear of the Lord

also means being profoundly affected

by His person.

I want you to look at

Matthew chapter 10, verse 28.

Matthew 10:28

Matthew chapter 10, verse 28.

Matthew 10:28

There has been some effort

by some to kind of water down

the theology underlying this issue

of the fear of God.

And there's some people that say,

well, this business of fearing God,

it's overplayed

and it really isn't to be taken

the way that some have taken it.

The word fear of God

is just talking about

having a reverential trust.

Now, I wouldn't diminish the fact

that having a reverential trust

of God is important,

but that is not the first

and primary thought

behind the concept

of fearing God,

scripturally at least.

Matthew chapter 10, verse 28.

Matthew 10:28

Jesus makes this statement,

do not fear those who kill the body,

but cannot kill the soul.

It says,

rather fear Him who can destroy

both soul and body in hell.

Now, what we have in this passage

is a perfect comparison.

How many of you have been terrified

on certain occasions

at the prospect of something bad

happening to you physically?

Yeah, you probably have.

I remember some time ago

actually being on top of a ladder

that was stretched out

about 25 feet in the air

and having been a paint contractor,

having an inordinate amount of confidence

in my ladder placement,

I scampered right up there

and didn't anchor it off.

Painters are always moving the ladders.

And even at 60-something,

I thought,

I've got this down.

And I got up there

way up high in the air.

And after I got up there,

guess what happened to my ladder?

It shifted.

And in that little shift,

it must not have been more than

probably six inches up there,

about 24 feet.

I've got to tell you

that for a moment,

I thought my life was passing

in front of me.

And I got that,

you know,

what is known as the death grip

on the ladder.

You ever been there?

It's like...

Okay.

Here's Jesus.

He's saying,

hey,

don't be afraid of those

who can kill the body.

Don't be afraid of that.

You need to be afraid

of the one who can do you in

in this life

and deal with you

in the one to come.

Now,

what we see in that passage

is that this business

of fearing God

means fearing Him,

being afraid of Him,

being terrified

at the reality

and the prospect

of who God is.

It's very interesting

as you read the Scriptures,

you find a very consistent picture

that those who became

intimately aware

of God's presence

and glory

were always in every case

marked by an abject fear

and trembling.

They're just overwhelmed by it.

This idea of floating around

through Christianity

that God's some kind of

good old dude in the sky

that we can kind of be flippant with

has no scriptural structure to it.

The fear of God

means to be terrified

at the reality of who He is,

awed, inspired, but afraid.

It means being more afraid of Him

as you look at this passage here

than you would be of a thug

or a tyrant

who wants to kill you.

Fearing the Lord

means also caring a great deal

about what He thinks.

What He thinks.

Proverbs 16, verse 6,

Proverbs 16:6

and I'll have you

just track this passage with me.

It says,

By the fear of the Lord

one turns away from evil.

Fearing the Lord

means caring a great deal

about what He thinks.

And the one who fears the Lord

turns away from evil.

How many of you realize

that evil oftentimes

ends up being something

we begin to think about

and we move from

kind of thinking about it

to eventually doing it?

Isn't that a shame?

One of the things

that always kind of,

you know,

I think,

Man,

I can't believe I did that.

I have to tell you,

when I think back over my life,

I recognize that in every case,

the things that I did

that were wrong,

I move from thinking

that that might not be

a good idea

to thinking that it would be

a good idea.

But it says this,

The one who fears the Lord

turns away from evil.

That's not right.

I know what God thinks.

I don't want to go there.

I don't want to be involved in that.

I want to avoid that

because I fear God.

You know,

one of the things that

I have to tell you

goes with years of ministry

is I've lived long enough

and I've watched enough

people's lives

that I've watched

a lot of people

over the years

eventually

kind of drift away

from the Lord

and drift away

from the church

and drift away

into their own little

experience and whatever.

And here's one of the things

I've said over and over again

to them.

One point or another,

I'll have a conversation

with them

and I'll say,

I don't know

if you're a believer or not.

Now, why is that true?

Yeah, I can't read

anybody's birth certificate.

Do you follow that?

Tim Kenoyer's not

in birth certificate business.

I'm in the business

of sharing the truth.

But what I will tell you this

is if you're a child of God,

you will not get away with sin.

You can't

because the Father loves you.

And those who are his children

grow in appreciating the fact

that they can't get away with it.

You ever compare yourself

with other people

in your neighborhood

or other people

that you work with

and you're thinking,

why are they getting away with that?

Don't do that.

The fear of the Lord

gives to you

a sensibility

to the seriousness of sin

and a desire in your heart

to get away from those things

that would harm you

and cause you pain.

I want you to come

to one other thought with me

in relationship to this.

Fearing the Lord

means being dominated

by his supremacy

and his glory.

Dominated

by his supremacy

and his glory.

Fearing the Lord

means being dominated

by his supremacy

and his glory.

We live in a day

and age

where

a disproportionate

percentage

of our population

is absolutely

consumed

with self.

Would you agree with that?

Here's the sad thing.

I see people

who are professing believers

that are only about

a half step

behind the unbelieving world

in their same affections

and interests.

Doing the same things.

Buying into the same logic.

Taking the same medicines.

Listening to the same

theoretical propositions

on how to deal with life

and having no connection

whatever

with the word of God

and the sufficiency

of his grace.

I want to tell you something.

Fearing the Lord

means being dominated.

The thing I want

is the glory of God.

The thing I care about

is that he would be first.

Fearing God

means being dominated

by his supremacy

and his glory.

It's very interesting

actually

that the Bible

gives to us

two great responses

that we owe to God.

One is to fear him

and the other

is to love him.

And remember I said

earlier

the two go together?

They're linked.

You fear God.

You grow to understand

who he is

and you have this

respect

and terror

of his awe

and majesty

his glory

and his power

and at the same time

you are

drawn towards

that power

and as you grow

in knowing

that power

you grow in loving

who he is.

Do you follow that?

You can't love someone

you don't know

and when you know him

you will be terrified

at the reality

of who he is

and yet we grow

to love him.

So let me come back

to the passage

in Proverbs

and have you think

with me.

Go back

if you've turned away

from it

to Proverbs chapter 31

Proverbs 31 · chapter mention

and as we look

at this passage

let me remind you

again that

what this passage

was written for

is so that

little girls

would know

what they should

grow up

and look like.

You got that?

Not Barbies.

And little boys

would when they

eventually reach

the age

that their dad

would look to them

and say

well I think

you're at the age

you probably

can begin thinking

about maybe

who you might

ought to marry

someday.

Do you know

what you're looking

for?

Yes I do.

I have 22 verses

beginning with Aleph

going to Beth

and carrying on

that tell me

what I'm looking

for.

And dad

by the way

the end of this

string says this

charm

is deceitful

and beauty

won't last

but a woman

who fears

the Lord

she's a keeper.

That's what it says.

So let me put it

this way.

The most valuable

thing

to look for

in a woman

is the depth

and heart

that she has

for the Lord.

The most valuable

thing to look

for in a woman

is the depth

and the heart

that she has

for the Lord.

Is the Bible

practical?

What's the answer?

Oh yes.

Is the Bible

life?

Oh yes.

And this morning

as we think

about this

small segment

of God's

wisdom for us

where it relates

to the matter

of what a

godly woman

is.

I want to

broaden the scope

just for a moment

and ask you

if you're here

today

and you don't

know Christ

let me tell you

the Bible

has more

to say

that's valuable

than just

what kind

of woman

to be.

Here's what

the Bible

tells us.

The Bible

which is our

life

tells us

that all

have sinned

and come

short

of the glory

of God.

Do you know

what that means?

It means that

every one of us

apart from

the grace

of Christ

will stand

condemned

before God

and spend

all of eternity

in hell.

Last week

as I was walking

my dog

I bumped

into a

neighbor

and in the

course of

conversation

we were

kind of

sharing

information

and eventually

came out

where they

were going

to church

and then I

said where

I was going

and they

said well

that's one

of those

fundamentalist

churches

and we

got beyond

that just

for a moment

and I

began to

share well

you know

fundamentalism

is really

I wouldn't

call myself

a fundamentalist

but I said

you know

a fundamental

believes in

the fundamentals

of the faith

and at the

heart of our

faith

is a belief

that Jesus

is real

and that

hell's real

she immediately

stopped me

and said

I don't

believe in

that

really

you will

someday

the scripture

says

there's none

righteous

no not

one

and we

all stand

condemned

before a

holy God

but here's

the sweet

truth

knowing

our

inability

to save

ourselves

God sent

his son

to die

in my

place

and to die

in your

place

that what

the scriptures

say might

be true

whosoever

believes in

him

do you know

what it

says

shall not

perish

but have

everlasting

life

I gotta tell

you something

you can't

figure out

how to

fear the

Lord

if you

haven't

come to

faith

and believed

in Christ

and so

if you

want to

grow

to be

a godly

woman

and you're

sitting here

today

and you

don't know

Christ

my appeal

to you

my plea

would be

that you

confess your

sins

and believe

on the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

who came

to pay

the penalty

for you

in your

place

and he

offers you

everlasting

life

if you'll

trust him

and if

you're here

this morning

and you're

a young

man who

who does

not know

Christ

or you're

a father

or a man

who needs

Christ

and the burden

is on you

this morning

let me

encourage you

to know

this

here's what

it says

in the

scriptures

whosoever

calls upon

the name

of the

Lord

that person

will be

saved

it is

profoundly

simple

but it is

profoundly

humbling

because what

a person

has to do

is say

I know

I stand

condemned

before God

and I

need

Jesus

to forgive

me

and save

me

and so

what I'm

going to ask

what we do

is we just

bow our heads

right now

just quietly

where we are

I want you to

think for a moment

to yourself

do I know

Christ as my

savior

and if you're

here today

and you know

Christ as your

savior

but you recognize

that your heart

has grown cold

and you're here

today

and there is

not an interest

in the things

of God

whether you're

a man or a woman

or a boy or a girl

I would ask

that you would

quietly

respond

if the spirit

of God

is prompting

you

and you just

raise your

hands

and you're

asking for

those

any

any

any

any

any

!