Mother's Day 2026

all you ladies a very happy Mother's Day. Normally

we find ourselves in a sermon series. I'm in

the book of Matthew chapter 13 looking at the

Matthew 13 · chapter mention

kingdom of God and about every other year we

usually look at Mother's Day. There's not a lot

of passages there, but if I feel really like

this is something the church needs to hear or

something I had to say, then we will usually

stop the series and every other year look at

this. And so I want to look this morning in the

second chapter of Titus. And we're going to look

at verses 1, 3 through 5, and verse 14. That

will serve as our text. Paul is writing to Titus,

a young man that's left. To help regulate a church

that's being formed on the island of Crete. And

we'll get to that in a moment. But he writes,

in the first chapter he's explaining how bad

the culture of Crete was. Second chapter he's

saying, hey, here's what you do in the church.

So verse 1 he says, And verse 2 he talks about

the men. Older men, specifically. But then verse

3 he picks it up in his admonitions to the ladies

in the church. The older women likewise, which

does mean they're not left out here, that they

be reverent in behavior, not slanderers, not

given to much wine, teachers of good things,

that they admonish, and you might have a version

that says that they teach, that they teach, that

they admonish the young women to love their husbands,

to love their children, to be discreet, chaste,

good, obedient to their own husbands, that the

word of God may not be blasphemed. And then verse

14, I think this serves as really the central

text of chapter 2, speaking of Jesus, who gave

himself for us, that he might redeem us from

every lawless deed and purify for himself his

own special people. who are zealous for good

works. Let's pray. Father, would you help me

this morning, Lord? God, I pray that I'd be filled

with your spirit. Lord, what I would say would

be derived from the text. Father, help me not

to impose my own views, but Lord God, I pray

that you, by your spirit, would illumine the

text, show us Jesus and his glory, even in the

second chapter of Titus. We pray this in Christ's

name. Amen. Growing up, I always heard a proverb,

and I just assumed it was just that, a proverb.

And it said this, the hand that rocks the cradle

is the hand that rules the world. This past week,

I was just kind of looking at that. I typed it

into Google, and I realized it's actually a poem

written in the mid -1800s, 1865. And it's entitled,

and it's four stanzas. I'm only going to read

one, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. But I thought

this was really good. All four stanzas are good,

but this is one I chose for time's sake this

morning. Woman, how divine your mission here

upon our natal sod. Keep, oh keep the young heart

open, always to the breath of God. All true trophies

of the ages are from mother love imperiled. For

the hand that rocks a cradle is the hand that

rules the world. So this poem was written in

praise of mothers showing how they possess immense

power and influence. And it's true. In nurturing

and raising children, mothers shape the future

for better or for worse. Being a mother is a

blessing, but not all mothers are blessed. Some

do a horrible job, and they shape their children

for ill. But God's design, if we look at God's

design for human civilization, not in the church,

but for human civilization, we have men and women

getting married, forming a covenant, and rearing

children in the fear of God. That is his design.

So the family, we would say, is the basic building

block, the basic unit of civilization. So what

happens when that design is broken? Well, necessarily,

chaos comes. And sadly, we see this in our own

culture even today. I was looking up some stats.

I was telling my wife this yesterday, and they're

just staggering to me. Today in the U .S., 4

out of 10 children ages 6 through 18, so that's

school -age children, are fatherless, meaning

the father does not, no father, stepfather, no

father lives in the home. Now let that sink in.

40 % of children who are in school live in a

home where no father is present at all. And that's

a tragedy. And you're like, well, why does that

matter? Well, it matters a lot. Children without

a father are four times as likely to be poor,

twice as likely to drop out of school. If you

look at 70 % of the high school dropouts, it's

somehow related to the lack of the father's presence

in the home. It affects girls even worse. Girls

without a father are twice as likely to be obese,

four times as likely to get pregnant in their

teens. And then if we look at the demographic

breakdown, poorer communities are even more greatly

affected. And we'll give you the racial demographic

for fatherlessness in the United States. So 20

% of white kids live in a fatherless home. When

you take the Hispanic community, it rises to

31%. When you go to the African American community,

it's 57%. When you're talking about births outside

of marriage, today in America, 22 % of births

to white women occur outside of marriage. That

rises to 54 % of Hispanic women give birth without

being married. And nearly 70 % of births for

black women occur outside of marriage. These

are just stats. You can take them, manipulate

them, do whatever you want with them. But something

has gone terribly wrong in American society.

It's obvious. So we say, what happened? Now again,

I'm going to suggest to you, before we get into

the text, I want to give you a cultural overview

that I think this is where it started. If you

start looking at stats, you can go back and see

where things started to dip off precipitously.

And that was in the 1960s. Where you're like,

well, what happened in the 1960s? Well, lots

of things happened. But particularly, it was

the advent of the birth control pill. So what

happened? You're like, well, isn't this a stretch?

Give me a second. The birth control pill separated

sexual activity from reproduction. So that naturally

invited promiscuity because one of the deterrents

was their fear of pregnancy. So now the pill

is giving rise to reproductive autonomy and they

are closely linked. So that led in the 70s to

the legalization of abortion. Now you're probably

saying, no, Pastor, you're really making a step.

No. In 1965, there was a Supreme Court case,

Griswold v. Connecticut, over the birth control

pill. Can you believe that? Like, that was saying,

is it legal? And the Supreme Court decided in

1965, yes, that a woman has a constitutional

right to privacy regarding reproductive decisions.

It's a privacy. Well, in 1973, in the Roe v.

Wade case, the Supreme Court, taking up the case,

used that precedent from 1965, the birth control

pill case, As their decision, and they said an

abortion is a private medical decision between

a patient and their doctor. So now what happens,

you have women able to delay childbearing. They're

pursuing higher education. That's not necessarily

bad. It's good. They enter into the workforce.

This now gives them financial means to support

themselves outside of a marriage. But what we

also saw at this time is a rise in what is known

as a no -fault divorce. Usually you had to sue

for divorce. You couldn't just end your marriage.

But a no -fault divorce is where neither spouse

is required to prove wrongdoing, blame, or marital

misconduct to end the marriage. So in other words,

a couple can simply claim what is known as irreconcilable

differences and the marriage is dissolved. Well,

this started leading to a widespread increase

in divorce, which then caused children to grow

up into homes without fathers. which is leading

to the mess we are currently in. Now, we've sown

the wind, and we're reaping the whirlwind. Now,

here's what I want to focus on this morning.

What are Christians supposed to do as we desire

to bear faithful witness to Christ in an ever

-degrading culture? First of all, I'd say don't

panic. God is on his throne. He is still sovereign.

God has providentially placed you here on this

earth at this point in time in history for a

reason. It's not an accident. It's not happenstance.

It is the providential sovereign design of God.

So yes, our culture is bad. That's absolutely

true. But Christians have actually lived in much

worse cultures. If you look at the culture before

the gospel took root in the world. So let's talk

about a pre -Christian culture. The world...

was even worse than ours. But the gospel started

spreading. It took root in the Roman Empire and

changed culture. Ancient Rome was absolutely

a quagmire, perverse, absolutely pagan. Seneca,

the well -known Roman philosopher, here's what

he said. Now this is the time when, again, around

the time of the gospel being spread, he wrote

about, now he's a well -known philosopher in

Rome. Mad dogs we knock on the head. A natural

progeny we destroy. We drown even children at

birth who are weakly and abnormal. And he wasn't

speaking in hyperbole. We know Cicero, the so

-called refined and educated Cicero. He said,

Deformed infants shall be killed. Now that deformity

could simply mean an unwanted child, a child

who is sick, a child born with some deformity,

or a child born with the wrong sex. The couple

was hoping for a girl and they got a boy, so

they killed. Roman law at that time saw nothing

morally wrong with what is known as infanticide,

killing babies that were already born. In fact,

it was legal at that time for a parent, a mother,

to abandon her newborn on the garbage dump in

a city. You know what the early church did? These

women would go through the garbage dumps rescuing

these babies and adopting them. God used his

people to change the world. But the gospel started

taking root, started spreading around the Roman

Empire. Things started to change. And that's

what I want to focus on this morning. So we're

looking at the letter to Titus. So if you look

at 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, and Titus, those are

known as the pastoral epistles. The Apostle Paul

is writing to these young men how to lead and

organize churches that were being formed. Because

churches are always formed because we live in

covenant. We live in community. We're not isolated.

The church is important. So what they were to

do, he said, you need to appoint qualified elders,

leaders. But you're going to have to have some

combat false teaching, and it was rampant. You're

going to promote sound doctrine, which is what

we're going to look at this morning. And I want

you to make sure that there's orderly conduct

within the church. Now, Titus was left on an

island known as Crete. Now, he was there to rightly

order church or churches that had been founded.

And if you look at the island of Crete, it was

absolutely not Christian at all, nor was it friendly

to a Christian worldview. Stephen Davy, in his

commentary, writing about the island of Crete,

this is what we know. Homosexual marriage was

practiced by emperors and statesmen. Bisexuality

was the norm, and heterosexuality, exclusive,

was considered prudish. Older men were known

to be immature, self -centered. The older women...

They were drunkards, gossips, younger men, selfish

younger ladies, abandoned their husbands and

children. And Paul left Titus in that culture

and said, you need to allow the church to thrive

in this hostile environment. Believers were called

to adorn the gospel, the good news of the saving

work of Christ, through their transformed lives.

Chapter 2, verse 14, I already read it. Jesus

Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem

us from every lawless deed and purify himself,

his own special people, his covenant people,

his chosen people, zealous for good works. So

Lord Jesus Christ, he gives himself at Calvary.

Why? He's going to purchase a people. He's going

to buy them, redeem them. That's what it means.

He's buying them from the slave market of sin.

He's going to purify them because we are impure.

And then he's going to put his spirit in us and

make us zealous to perform good works. Now what

are the good works that Christians are to be

zealous for? In context of chapter 2, part of

this would be for Christian men and Christian

women to fulfill their unique role. They're unique,

exclusive. Christian men have one role, Christian

ladies have another. So believers' lives should

be marked by a stark difference from a pagan

culture in which we live. You and I live in a

postmodern culture. Let's call it pagan or it's

quasi -pagan. Now this contrast, where is it

going to be most readily seen? In the home. Now

today, because it's Mother's Day, you lucky ladies.

I'm going to focus on verses 3 through 5. You're

like, well, what about the men? Well, that's

Father's Day, all right? So we're at Mother's

Day today. And here we see older women are to

show younger women how they are to be Christian

wives and mothers. Now, they're already Christians.

Now, for some, I will say, if you're here today

as a guest, you may see Paul's instruction as

archaic. Perhaps you would say misogynistic.

And yet I would say it's the wisdom of God. Look

at verse 1. But as for you, speak the things

which are proper for sound doctrine. Okay, here's

the sound doctrine. This is what I want you to

teach, Titus. When the church is being formed,

here's what you're going to do. He talks to the

men, verse 2, then verse 3. The older women likewise.

Now here's what I want you to tell them. That

they be reverent in behavior, not slanders, not

given to much wine, teachers of good things.

So Paul begins by talking to older women. And

he specifically wants them to guide and teach

the younger women. Now he says older women. He

does not say older mothers. That's a different

word. Now in context, most of them would have

been mothers, but that was not the requirement.

Now the question I ask is who are the older women?

And the question I was afraid to answer on Mother's

Day is talk about who older women are because

that's not a safe thing to do. But this is the

thing. They may be younger than you imagine.

How would I say it? Let me just say this. Older

women are women who've lived long enough to know

what matters most. They've got some wisdom. It

basically, now this is an oversimplification,

refers to any woman who would have raised her

children who are now out from the home under

her care. So that means an older woman could

potentially be in her 40s. Potentially. And there

is no maximum age. Now what Paul is saying to

Titus is, Find women who've already experienced

the pitfalls and challenges of being a Christian

wife and a mother and help them help the younger.

They're to pass on to the younger generation

what they have gleaned. And let's be honest,

experience is a pretty good teacher. So the very

first thing he's talking to the older women,

he says, but not just any older woman. He said

the ones that they be reverent in behavior. Now,

the King James says, as becometh holiness. It

just means to be godly. These lives, these women's

lives represent the living God whom they serve.

They're good representatives. See, it's not enough

that a woman has simply raised children and are

now out of the home. Lots of women have done

that, and they're terrible examples, by the way.

But if this woman is going to help, she's got

to set a godly example. Just because a woman

has age does not mean she has wisdom. And I would

say to young women in here, listen carefully.

If someone is going to help guide you, make sure

their lives are worth imitating. Be very discerning

who you allow to speak into your life. Because

there are many, many voices seeking to influence

young women today. We even hear about influencers

online. People whose whole job is to influence

people. But most of them are young and inexperienced.

So Paul, through Titus, through Pastor Ryan this

morning, would say, Be careful what voices you

listen to. The older women that Paul is speaking

of in the text, he said they're going to be an

example of a Christian woman that you should

aspire to become. These women know what life

is about. And holiness is their objective. And

he moves on and he says, but they're not slanders,

not gossips. What the church needs are women

who honor other ladies. instead of tearing them

down. We don't need what's typically, stereotypically

called catty women and trying to make one up

the other. That's not the church. We need women

who are going to build each other up. Again,

Dave in his commentary, he said, the word that

Paul uses can literally be translated she -devil.

He is effectively saying the older women shouldn't

talk like the devil. And how does Satan talk?

His primary verbal role is accusing. He accuses

the saints and running down the believers, Revelation

12 .10. So when we're talking about not a slander,

this is a woman who has a faithful spirit. She

can be trusted. Why is this important? Because

if a younger lady is going to open herself up

about her struggles in her life, she needs to

be sure that that information is not going to

be shared with everyone. Why open yourself up?

It can be used against you. We need women who

are locked vaults. Nothing gets out. Keep going

and we'll go through some of these more quickly

than others. Not given to much wine. They're

sober. They have control over what comes out

of their mouth. No gossip. They also have control

over what goes into their mouth. Not a lot of

wine. What he's saying is they're not a slave

of alcohol. These are not the ladies that are

dependent. I just need a drink to get me through

the day. Or what time is it? It's wine time.

No. The island of Crete, and again, this is important,

this was known in the ancient world for its wine

production. So drunkenness was very common in

Crete, both men and women. Even today, right

now, Crete is the second largest wine producing

region in Greece. So these older Christian ladies

were living counter -culturally. They were not

filled with wine, rather they were filled with

the Holy Spirit of God. And we need them. And

Paul said, make sure you look for these ladies.

Titus, this is how you set the church in order.

And he says they need to be teachers of good

things. When he says teachers, this is not a

position. It's more of a pattern. Because they

have lived as faithful examples, they've earned

the right to mentor. They've earned the right

to disciple. And I think that as a pastor, this

is so helpful to me. Because women have different

problems, different temptations, different struggles

than men. You can say, well, yes, husbands, Peter

tells husbands, we are required to live with

our wives in an understanding way. But let's

be honest, by and large, for most of us, women

will still remain a mystery to us. They don't

think like us. So who better to help these Christian

young ladies than older ones who've already been

where they are now? But yet they have godly wisdom.

Okay, so they're to teach. What are they to teach?

Verse 4. That they admonish the young women to

love their husbands, to love their children.

We'll stop there. It goes on. They admonish.

Now again, some translations read they teach.

So the Greek word here is sophronizo. And it

means to correct. It's to restore someone to

their senses. You're causing them to think correctly.

Now think what Paul is saying here. The older

women were to correct the false assumptions that

these younger ladies had about domestic life,

married life. And he specifically says, teach

them how to love their husbands and love their

children. So part of thinking correctly is to

understand that being a loving wife and mother

is about self -sacrifice, not self -fulfillment.

Don't get your ideas about marriage from Hollywood.

The very first command that Paul gives for the

older ladies to teach the younger ones is how

to love their husbands. Now that seems strange,

because if there's anything women are good at,

it's loving. They love naturally. I mean, aren't

women the heart of the home? But the command

here... It's to love, but it's not a romantic

love. It's not a sexual love. The word is philandros.

It means to be fond of their husbands. To be

affectionate toward them. You can see where our

English word is philanthropy. So you could say

this. Christian wives are to be philanthropic

toward their husbands. And you're like, what's

it mean to be philanthropic? The idea... of seeking

the welfare of another. Someone's philanthropic,

they are very generous, usually charitable work.

It's the idea of seeking the good, the betterment,

the welfare of another person. So here's what

he's saying. Wives, young ladies, use your gifts,

and you are gifted, of time and talent and treasure

to make life better for your husband. Again,

I want to quote Davey. I think he just did such

a good job. I loved reading him this week. He

said, a younger woman, go to that next slide,

guys. A younger woman has been married just long

enough to learn how stubborn and difficult and

insensitive and hard -headed her husband can

be. No amens. And she's probably come to the

wrong conclusion that she married the only man

God made that way. It takes an older woman to

come along and say, that's just how they come

out of the box. God's got to work on your husband

as he purifies him and makes him zealous for

good deeds. And by the way, he's doing the same

work in you. So the older ladies, because sometimes

we think we're the only people that's ever experienced

this. So the older ladies can relate to the frustration

these younger ladies had in a way that a pastor

never could. I mean, these are not the first

women to have difficult moments in their marriage.

To have marital conflict, let me just say this,

is common to every marriage. And the older ladies

can help the younger ladies navigate those waters.

How do they do that? They're correcting misconceptions.

There's many misconceptions that abound about

motherhood and also about marriage. And the younger

ones are still clinging to that. Maybe they've

been influenced more by culture than Christ.

So they need to be taught, first of all, and

this is a hard lesson, but it's true, ladies.

They need to be taught that love can be learned.

Your emotions have to be governed by right thinking.

The younger ladies, their emotions are not always

reliable, nor are they ultimate. Truth and commitment

are. Right thinking should come before right

feeling. What do I mean by that? If you set your

mind on the truth and you begin to do loving

things, loving feelings will come. But some of

these ladies, keep in mind this is pre -Christian

era or dawn of the century here of the gospel,

they would have entered into an arranged marriage.

They didn't have romantic love for their husbands.

And by the way, the ancient world didn't care

a whole lot about romantic love or not. So they

needed to be taught, how are you going to correctly

love your husbands? And Paul is telling Titus

that it would help them not to wait for the emotion

of love to be present before they acted in love.

The truth is, You can serve your husband even

when you don't feel like it. Loving actions drive

the train. Loving feelings are the caboose bringing

up the rear. Our culture has reversed that. We

are bombarded with this messaging that says,

first of all, that the feeling of love is paramount.

That's what life's all about, particularly romantic,

marital life. So if you don't feel that spark,

that romantic love, well, get out of the marriage.

Life's too short. Find someone else who will

give you that spark. That's why we need an older

woman who can correct that type of garbage and

misunderstanding. God's calling for a Christian

young lady or older lady is that they live distinctive

lives and they adorn the doctrine, and this will

most clearly show up in the home. Again, I think

of some of these young ladies that Titus would

have been dealing with. No doubt some of them

were disillusioned in their marriages. They may

have thought, well, listen, I'm a Christian and

I married a Christian, so that should protect

us from marital challenges, right? No. See, that's

a misconception. Yeah, you're a Christian, but

you're still a sinner. Who's also married to

a sinner. And guess what? Your children, if the

Lord blesses you with those, they will be sinners.

Which is why being a mother is the most difficult

job in the world. And the older believing ladies

were to help these young ones, not only to love

their husbands, but Paul goes on, teach them

to love their children. This seems strange because

almost all parents have natural affection for

our children. But that does not mean that we

know how to love and guide them well. You can

have emotions for them and not really love them.

Because to love does not mean to feel. To love

your children means you're going to seek their

welfare and guide them into truth. Human flourishing,

we could say. So the goal of Christian parenting,

this ought to be your goal if you're a Christian,

is to raise your children to be disciples of

Christ. The older ladies teach the younger ones

to love their children in such a way that leads

them to being faithful to Christ. Because, listen,

there's all kinds of mixed messaging out there

now. A lot of really dumb ideas about parenting.

In other words, older ladies disciple the younger

ladies who will then disciple their children.

That's what we need. If you're a mom, you have

an important, precious job because you have been

trusted with the stewardship of your children's

souls. God's sovereign over salvation, but he

uses means. See, you can love your children and

love them in the wrong direction. You can love

your children all the way to hell. I mean, you

can love them too much where you never tell them

no and they never have a bad day and you're there

to rescue them every second of every moment of

every day. That doesn't turn out well. The goal

for most parents, sadly, even Christian ones,

is that their children simply be successful.

Now, obviously, I want my children to be successful.

But by success, they mean we'll get a good education,

get a good job, and hopefully have a happy family

one day. Christian parenting ought to have different

goals. We are to love our children so they are

useful in the kingdom of God. Young ladies, had

to be taught, don't live by feelings. Because

your feelings are going to lead you straight.

Live by faith in God's wisdom. See, it's not

your feelings. It's her devotion to Christ that

causes a Christian wife to be devoted to her

husband and her children, even when, and they

will be, ungrateful and uncaring. She's not looking

only for that reciprocal kickback, if you will.

But you say, why would a woman live like this?

This is hard. Verse 5, that the word of God be

not blasphemed. This is not about us. It's about

him. This adorns the gospel. It showcases the

beauty and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom

we serve. And Paul goes on. He says he doesn't

stop there. Not only do they love their husbands,

love their children, but they are to be discreet,

he says. We'll go through this fairly quick.

It's sensible. Christian women should be characterized

by sound judgment and good sense. Then he goes

on. Chaste. Chaste. Chaste there is pure. Now

keep in mind something. Keep in mind the culture

that these ladies came from. Pagan culture, Crete.

Flaunted sexual expression. Heterosexuality was

considered prudish. This was an anything goes

culture. So most likely these women, if they're

first generation Christians, they would have

come from homes with mothers who did not teach

them how to be pure because that was not desired.

So they had to be taught. The importance of being

sexually chaste and faithful. So the older ladies,

now they've walked with the gospel, they've walked

with the Lord. They could help these younger

ladies with modesty. Help them to see beyond

the cultural lies. Help them to see that their

value came from the beauty of their faith and

not the beauty of their figure. See, part of

being pure, for a lady and for men, but for ladies,

is to focus more on how you live than how you

look. But our culture doesn't get that. These

ladies had been bought by Christ. They had been

washed. They had been made pure by the sacrifice

of Christ. They had been made new in Christ.

But they needed help in living out that identity

in their daily lives. Davy said, Paul is effectively

saying to these younger women, you may not have

had a reputation for being pure. Again, they

grew up in this culture. But you can have one

now. Purity may never have been associated with

your past lifestyle, but that can change in the

present. This is the gospel of grace. No matter

your past, the word pure can define you now.

This is what Jesus does. He makes all things

new. And Paul is saying, teach them. Teach them

how to be pure. Teach them how to be chaste.

But then he goes on, teach them how to be homemakers.

That's what the word says, literally keepers

at home. Now let's just be honest. This word

right here is anathema to our culture. If we

were looking at Paul today, he would be called

politically incorrect, chauvinistic, misogynistic,

a bigot. His advice, or let's be honest, his

admonition would seem prehistoric and out of

step with progress and advancement of women.

So ladies, let me ask you this question because

you do have a choice. This word we're going to

talk about, you can believe what the culture

says, or you can choose to believe what the word

of God says. But you can't believe both. See,

the word here is oikouros. It means literally

keeper at home, homemaker, guardian of the house.

Because it's derived from two words. You get

the word house or household or family. Oikos

and ouros, a watch, a guardian. So the Christian

mother is to guard the home. And watch over.

Not physically. That's not what we're talking

about. And it's not so much about her staying

in the home, but about her diligent, watchful

management of the home. She's a steward. She

stewards the resources that come into the home.

She watches over the influences allowed in the

home, particularly as it relates to her children.

But modern feminists are going to look at this

and tell women, well, this is bondage. This is

slavery. This is something you need to be freed

from rather than embrace. But Paul's not showing

a low view of women at all here. He's showing

a very high view of the home. God has created

women incredibly capable, industrious, endowed

them with many gifts. Seriously, my wife is far

more gifted than I in almost every way. But when

employed correctly in the home, that leads to

the family's flourishing. is to work hard at

providing an environment in which our husband

and children can thrive. Does this mean, what's

asked the question, does it mean that she cannot

ever hold a job outside the home? Not necessarily.

At this time in history, the wife may have helped

in the fields or in the vineyards. She may have

stewarded or watched over any servants that may

have been employed there. The home doesn't have

to be your only place. But it does have to be

her first place. Her home must be the priority.

And Paul is not very ambiguous about this. He

says, listen, you have to understand this is

where God, this is the influence, ladies. Don't,

do not, please, I beg of you, don't outsource

your influence to others. You guys have the influence.

Take advantage of that. God's given you such

a high, noble calling. He goes on saying they

need to be good and the word can be translated

good is actually kind. This is so important.

A wife can do her job well and still make others

miserable in the process. A godly lady will try

to speak with the law of kindness on her lips.

Daniel Doriani in his commentary, he says husbands

and children are frustrating. Therefore, these

young women must take care that the constant

strain of domestic duties does not make them

irritable. Or cruel. They must pray for grace

to remain kind. We have four children. My wife

stays home with them every day. Occasionally

I do. And when I do, I usually at the end of

the day, I tell her thank you. And I'm like,

really? No, I mean that. Thank you. You are so

much better than I. Because I think I'm patient.

I don't know why I think I am. But I think I

am until I spend the entire day with all four

of them. And by the end, I'm like, don't talk

to me. You forwarded the right to talk to me.

And I'm not kidding. I literally have said you

cannot ask me any more questions at this point.

None. And I don't even care if it's a dire one.

I'm not joking. But my wife does that every day.

And so I'm surprised she's not in a corner like

tapping her head or something like that. So you

can see, are you prone to be irritable? Yeah.

Are you prone to be naggy? Yeah. So kindness,

though, ladies, you're saying, well, I've got

to try harder. Well, try that. It's not going

to work. Kindness does not come by trying harder.

kindness is a fruit of God's spirit. It comes

by being filled with the spirit of God. The very

last one here, we start to close. This is another

big one that people will say amen to. I'm kidding.

The last item Paul mentions, he wants older Christian

women to teach young ones to be obedient to their

own husbands. Obedient. It's a military term.

To range in order under. Subordinate. So it's

the idea of here placing troops in rank under

an officer. That's what it literally says. They're

ranking under. I'm choosing to rank under. What's

Paul saying? Christian wives are to willingly

place themselves under the authority of their

husbands. You chose to marry a lady. Don't marry

a fool because you're going to place yourself

under a fool. You better know who you're marrying.

Husbands are not. Listen, husbands. This is one

thing I will say. We are not. called to force

our wives to submit. This whole hupotasso is

a voluntary submission. It can't be forced by

you. And by the way, this is not a call for all

women to be in subjection to all men because

notice the text, obedient to their own husbands.

A wife has to submit to her husband, not to you

if you're not her husband. The Christian lady

voluntarily does this under the protective leadership.

Why? To adorn the gospel. For the testimony's

sake. See, if society's going to be ordered,

everyone submits to someone. A child called to

submit to his parents. Student submits to his

teacher. Teacher submits to the principal. Employee

submits to employer. Congregants submit to their

elders. The wife submits to her husband. And

let me just say this. Be quick to say this. This

submission is not based on the character of the

one you're submitting to. For example. You may

be more talented, more godly than your husband,

but God has still placed him as the head of the

home. You're saying, how do I know that? 1 Corinthians

11 .3. I want you to know that the head of every

man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and

the head of Christ is God. The wise husband will

understand you can help your wives greatly, men,

by giving loving leadership and placing her needs

above your own. She's going to have a much easier

time submitting to you. Michael Foster wrote

this. He said, men should want a wife who follows

their lead, but that in no way makes her passive

or a non -influence. I don't want my wife to

be passive. I want to hear from her. Quite the

opposite. A passive and uninvolved wife will

undermine the beauty of the marital dance. The

magic of marriage is found in the interplay of

two individuals who dance according to their

sex, their unique roles, but yet they dance together.

So what he's saying, the wife's voluntary submission

to her husband, it's an act of worship offered

to her Lord. So ladies, your service to your

husband. Now listen, get this. As a Christian

lady, your service to your husband is your service

to Christ. It honors him. And marriage, that

beautiful romantic dance, it is mutually satisfying

when husband and wife both are submitted to the

Lord. And both make it their aim to please him.

And again, why did Paul command any of this?

Verse 5. That the word of God be not blasphemed.

This adorns the gospel and glorifies the Lord

who bought and rescued us. Now what? Let's close.

We read those stats at the beginning and it's

easy to get discouraged because we do see families

fractured and God's design for the home is mocked.

It's rejected. It's ridiculed. We live in a dark

culture, but we must remember, you and I are

not the first generation of Christians to face

these problems. Early Christians lived in a world

filled with immorality, broken homes, moral confusion

that was even worse than our own. They did. Yet

the gospel, the good news of Christ, the dunamis

of God, the power of God, the gospel changed

the world, not through political influence, by

the way, but through transformed lives, one life

at a time. The church will change the culture

when Christian men and Christian women live differently

according to the design that God has placed on

your life. The church will change the culture

when the marriages in the church look different

than the marriages in the world. See, the gospel

is transforming, and its transforming power is

seen when a husband will lovingly lead, a wife

will lovingly submit, and when children are raised

in the fear of God. We don't need to make it

hard or complicated. Jesus, remember, he died

to purify us and make us zealous for good works.

He died not only to forgive us, but to transform

us. Our ultimate goal in life is not merely to

have a happy home. That's far too short -sighted.

What's our ultimate goal? To glorify God and

enjoy him forever. We don't want the word of

God to be blasphemed by our lives. Our aim in

everything in life is that Jesus Christ the Son

of God who has died and risen for us, might be

exalted. As a church, the Lord will work through

ordinary Christians like ourselves, living obedient

lives in the midst of a very dark and crooked

generation. May our homes be a strong witness

to the grace and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

May his name be praised. Let's pray. Father,

we thank you for your word, and Lord, I am so

very grateful, Lord, for... That you gave us

your word so that we're not left in the dark

or uninformed about what you would have us to

do. Lord, the problem is not ignorance. The problem

is rebellion. It's not that we don't know what

to do, it's that we don't want to do it. And

Father, this is a problem. It's a problem in

our modern day as we hear with modern ears, Lord,

secular advice that, Lord, God will lead us to

hell. Lord, it's a terrible way. And yet, Lord,

your word. will always, because it's according

to your design, will lead to human flourishing.

Lord, I pray that, Lord, we would first of all

understand the gospel, how God has rescued us

in Christ, not through any effort of our own,

but simply by your grace. And Father, that you

have given us your spirit, not to simply forgive

us and bring us to heaven one day, but to transform

us here as sons and daughters of the living God,

to shine as children of the light who live in

the kingdom of light. Father, I pray if there

may be one here who's in darkness, whose faith

is merely a profession that James wrote about

earlier. Lord, wake them up before it's too late.

Lord, cause them to see eternal realities. Let

them understand the day of judgment that is coming,

Lord. And Father, I pray for Christian ladies

in here this morning, Lord. Some of this may

be hard to hear because they do live with a foolish

husband. Oh God, I pray that you give her courage

to be obedient to you, to find her strength in

you, Lord. that the law of kindness would be

on our lips, and Lord God, by without a word,

she might win her foolish husband. And then,

Father, I pray for those, Lord, who have marriages

that are strong, that, Lord God, that they would

continue, not just for their own aim of marital

happiness and bliss, but, Lord God, that we would

live our lives for the glory and honor of Christ,

to adorn your gospel, that, Lord, our lives are

living testaments to the transforming power of

Christ. God, we can't do this, Lord. We're impotent

on our own, Lord. We have no power. So, Father,

we're asking, Lord, for your spirit to work in

us. Give us grace to live these countercultural

lives for the glory of Christ, in whose name

we pray. Amen. We're going to come to the table

of the Lord. We do this every Lord's Day.