The Virtuous Woman (Proverbs 31)

In this part of the sermon: Martin discusses the possible setting of Proverbs 31 as King Lemuel's mother's advice or a celebratory poem, emphasizing that cultural and social station differences mean a…

Martin uses the example of a queen dressing like a peasant or vice versa to illustrate that virtue is expressed concretely within one's God-given station in life, bringing reproach if not honored.

Just as it would be wicked for a woman who was placed in a lowly situation to be discontent that she could not dress like a queen, or attempt to dress like a queen, it would be evil for a virtuous queen to dress as though she were a peasant. This would bring reproach upon her calling in life. And the Bible loves to describe virtues, virtue in the concrete. Rarely does God describe virtues in the abstract.

9:19 - 9:47 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin discusses the possible setting of Proverbs 31 as King Lemuel's mother's advice or a celebratory poem, emphasizing that cultural and social station differences mean a…

He uses Jesus' command to 'turn the other also' when struck on one cheek as a concrete example of the virtue of a non-retaliatory spirit, showing how the Bible describes virtue.

It describes virtue and vice in the concrete. Jesus does not say, cultivate the virtue of a non-retaliatory spirit. What he says is, he did strike you on one cheek, turn the other also. There's the concreteness of the virtue of a non-retaliatory spirit.

9:48 - 10:08 Read in full sermon

Driving home: I'm fishing for, that there is no incongruity between being thoroughly domesticated and busy from morning to night being a godly woman.

Martin uses the Roman Catholic concept of Mary's perpetual virginity and nuns' 'marriage to Christ' to illustrate the flawed idea that holiness requires separation from domestic life, contrasting it with the biblical picture of a godly, married woman.

You don't need to take your head and go into a nunnery to be holy. Now, you see, one of the fundamental flaws of Roman Catholic theology is that the high heights of holiness and asceticism, as Sir Murray says, would make her nothing but a miserable witch. If she withheld herself from Joseph sexually after the birth of Jesus, she would have been a wicked woman.

26:43 - 27:23 Read in full sermon

The point: Husbands, cooperate with your wives to ensure their Sabbath is a true Lord's Day, perhaps by simplifying meals or sharing tasks.

Martin shares a personal anecdote about how he and his wife efficiently prepared Sunday meals when their children were younger, allowing his wife to have a true Lord's Day, illustrating practical application of the fourth commandment and diligence in the home.

A woman is at all Sabbath she better have a cooperative husband who's going to make sure that instead of being her mother most burdensome day expecting a royal feast on the Lord's day that maybe you'll be willing to have soup and crackers and you'll go home and take the soup out of the fridge and heat it up and tell your wife to go in and just kick her feet up and look over her notes in the morning sermon. My wife and I had a good scheme when our kids were younger in 20 minutes we could get the Sunday meal on together. That was our standard time and we just went at it like a well-coordinated m...

44:32 - 45:35 Read in full sermon

The point: Men and women, consider using Emmeline Spencer's book on Proverbs 31 as a devotional project to work through together, agreeing on the outworking of virtues in your context and how husbands can help wives be more efficie…

He uses the analogy of a trust fund to explain trustworthiness, where money is put into a fund and the administrator has the responsibility to show themselves trustworthy, connecting it to the husband's trust in his wife.

You see there's an element of trust and the husband has learned that she is a trustworthy woman. That is when you give her a sphere of responsibility that's a trust. A trust fund is money put in a fund that if you're made the advisor the administrator of that trust or the guardian of that trust then responsibility to show yourself trust which was put in your trust. And so this element of trustworthiness is set forward and in this excellent book that I highly recommend by Emmeline Spencer I don't endorse every single sentence and every single word in it like any book that is a human production ...

47:01 - 48:29 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He continues listing characteristics, including prudence (or sober-mindedness), demonstrated by her thoughtful decision-making like considering a field before buying it. He also…

Martin describes a woman who is very busy but spends half her time 'undoing what she did yesterday because upon reflection it was unwise,' illustrating the lack of prudence and discretion.

She's not a frizzy-headed, scatterbrained, dumb blonde, okay? She's obviously someone that's got her act together between her ears, okay? Her hands are not just busy having to do, undo tomorrow what she did today. Some women are very, very busy, but they spend half their time undoing what they did yesterday because upon reflection it was unwise.

50:07 - 50:31 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He continues listing characteristics, including prudence (or sober-mindedness), demonstrated by her thoughtful decision-making like considering a field before buying it. He also…

He gives the example of a woman buying a field without considering legal claims, ending up in court, to further illustrate the importance of prudence and thoughtful consideration.

She doesn't go out and buy a field and find out a week later that the thing's got four different legal claims on it and then she ends up in court for six months. She considers that field. She wants to see is it legally clear? Any liens against it?

50:32 - 50:46 Read in full sermon