A Noble and Divine Calling

Introduction to the Series: In Praise of Marriage, Motherhood, and Homemaking

0:03 Now, may I encourage you to turn with me in your own Bibles to Paul's letter to Titus. Titus was a man who had become one of Paul's helpers in ministry, and Paul commissioned him and entrusted to him the task of ongoing work in the churches of the Isle of Crete, and in the course of laying out his job description with respect to his labors there in the Isle of Crete, Paul writes in chapter 2 the following, But speak the things which befit the sound doctrine, that aged men be temperate, grave, sober-minded, sound in faith, in love, in patience, that older women likewise be... reverent in demeanor, not slanderers, nor enslaved to much wine, teachers of that which is good, that they may train the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sober-minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

1:26 The younger men likewise, exalted, exhort to be sober-minded, in all things showing yourself an example of good works, in your doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sound speech that cannot be condemned, that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of us. Exhort servants to be in subjection to their own masters, and to be well-pleasing to them in all things, not back-talking, not stealing, but showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to the intent that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and righteously and godly, in this present world, looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works.

2:52 These things speak, and exhort, and reprove, with all authority. Let no man despise you. Now let us once again seek the face of God for his help and blessing upon the preaching of his word. Let us pray.

3:13 Our Father, we thank you again for the Holy Scriptures. We thank you for the light and guidance it gives to us in the most practical concerns of this life. And we pray this morning as we come to consider one of those categories of great practical concern that you will, by the Holy Spirit, incline our hearts to be subject to the Scriptures, that you will take from us all pride, all prejudice, all opinionatedness, that we may know the blessedness of having all of our thinking shaped and framed by the Holy Scriptures. May we be the blessed men and women as described in the first Psalm, who do not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers, but their delight is in your law, and on that law do they meditate day and night. Make us such in this hour, we pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Now I wish to preach to you this morning, and God willing, for the next most likely two Lord's Day mornings, with the theme,

4:34 In Praise of Marriage, Motherhood, and Homemaking. Now I know that sounds like a very plain-Jane title, but coming up with fancy titles is not one of my gifts. But that is what I want to do. I want to turn to the Scriptures with an effort to set before you something of the nobility, the dignity, the God-honoring-ness, if I may coin my own descriptive words, of marriage, motherhood, and homemaking as a divine and noble calling.

Rationale 1: The Gospel Demands Biblical Thinking and Acting

5:15 And if you ask me why I have purposed to do this, I assure you it is not simply because it is Mother's Day, and I want to earn a few brownie points with the mothers, the grandmothers, the homemakers, and the wives among us, who wondered, will pastor have something special for us on our special day? Nor am I doing this to show visitors that we are not totally insensitive nor indifferent to some of the few remnants of common grace that are reflected in our national life. That there should be a day designated on our calendars as Mother's Day is a remnant of God's common grace. I would not be surprised if it will not be too long before there will be some radical groups claiming that this is horribly discriminating, and that we ought to blot it from our calendars. But my purpose and my rationale for preaching on the subject goes beyond any thought of earning some brownie points from our mothers or giving a sop to visitors among us. My reasons are rooted in issues far more weighty, and in substance. I'm using the occasion of the National Observance of Mother's Day to begin this brief series to speak on the subject of marriage, motherhood,

6:44 and homemaking for two very profoundly Biblical reasons. Number one, first in addressing this subject because according to the passage read in your hearing, the Gospel, rooted in the purpose of the death of Christ, demands that we think and act Biblically with respect to motherhood, marriage, and homemaking. Let me repeat that, and I hope to demonstrate it from this passage. The goal of the Gospel, rooted in the very purpose of the death of Christ, demands that we think and act Biblically with respect to marriage, motherhood, and homemaking. With Titus 2 open before you, follow as I seek to demonstrate this. Having dealt with two great concerns in the opening chapter, Paul now turns to Titus and says, Titus, you are to speak the things that befit, that is, that are in consistency with sound or healthy doctrine. He has just emphasized at the close of chapter 1

8:12 that Titus is to do all within his power to shut the mouths of those who are teaching error among the churches in Crete. And now, he says, this jealousy for the maintenance of pure doctrine is not doctrinaire. It has to do with issues of life and of conduct. And Titus, you are not only to do all within your power to maintain purity of doctrine, but you are to speak the things that accord with, that are consistent with sound or healthy doctrine.

8:50 And then he launches in to specific directives for the conduct of older men, verse 2, that the aged men be. Verse 3, specific conduct of the older women, that the aged women likewise be. And then he addresses the conduct of younger married women, that they may train the young women to love their husbands. Then he turns to the younger men, verse 6, the younger men likewise.

9:24 Then he turns to Titus himself. In all things showing yourself a good example. Then he turns to servants, to bond servants, verse 9, exhort servants to be in subjection to their own masters. And then in verse 11, you'll notice verse 11 begins with a little word, for.

9:43 It is the logical connection between all of this specific concrete instruction concerning older men, younger men, older women, younger married women, Titus himself, and servants. Why all this instruction, Paul? He says, I'll tell you. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men.

10:14 That's a reference to the space-time manifestation of God's grace in the person and work of Jesus Christ and the proclamation of that salvation to the world. And he says that gospel, that is the gospel of the grace of God that has appeared, that gospel by which alone God's saving mercy to hell-deserving sinners is revealed, is a gospel that not only tells us how our sins may be forgiven and we may be fit to die and go to judgment and enter heaven, but notice what the text says. This grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to the intent that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. Why all of this specific, concrete, detailed instruction in ethical conduct, in perspectives of life, peculiarly suited, older men, younger men, older women, younger married women, yourself as a servant of God, Titus, and servants. Why all of this?

11:42 Because the gospel, the gospel demands it, for the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation and this salvation not only extends to needy sinners the promise of forgiveness and eternal life, but it instructs us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts. That's its negative overtone. In calling us into union with Christ and into the benefits of His saving mercy, we are called away from ungodliness and worldly lusts. Positively, we are called to a life of soberness, righteousness, and godliness in this present world. Well, what does that have to do with all this instruction? Precisely this. If you would refrain from ungodliness and worldly lusts as an old man, this is what you're to do.

12:46 If you are to refrain from ungodliness and worldly lusts as an older woman, this is what you're to do. If you're to refrain from ungodliness and worldly lusts as a younger married woman, this is what you're to do. Titus, if you're to refrain from ungodliness and worldly lusts as a minister of the gospel, this is what you must do. Servants, if you are to refrain from ungodliness and worldly lusts, this is what you are to do.

13:15 That's the negative. This is the positive. How are old men, young men, old women, Old women, younger married women, servants of God, bond slaves, how are they to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world? He's told them, this instruction has to do with the very goal of the gospel.

13:38 And he says that goal of the gospel that calls us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, to live soberly, righteously, and godly with a heart set upon the completion of redemption at the return of Christ, that goal has its tap roots in the very purpose for which Jesus Christ died. Look at verse 14. Who gave himself for us. That he might redeem us from all iniquity, all perversity, all crookedness, and purify to himself a people for his own possession, zealous of good works. What does it mean to live in a way that is consistent with the very purpose for which Christ died? That purpose being that he might redeem. He must redeem us from all crookedness and perversity, purify to himself a people for his own possession, boiling with zeal to do what is right, zealous for good works.

14:52 What does that mean? It means precisely what Paul has outlined in the previous verses. How does an old man who cheerfully regards himself Christ's purchased possession, who knows that in the gospel he has not only been called to obtain the forgiveness and pardon of all his sins, but called to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. How does he live?

15:23 He lives in the way that Paul has described. Sober-minded, sound in faith, in love and patience. And why does he do this? Because he knows the very purpose for which Jesus died is realized in that lifestyle.

15:37 He gave himself for me, that I might be his unique possession, and I gladly acknowledge I'm not my own, I am his, and I want to please him. He says, this is how you please him. The same thing with younger men, the same thing with older women, younger married women, the same things with the servants of God. And then, in verse 15, notice what he says to Titus.

16:00 These very things you are to speak and to exhort. And to reprove. In other words, Titus is to speak as a man who knows what he's talking about. Because God has revealed his will.

16:20 He's not to come before the Cretans and say, now I know there are various coarse winds of ideas and philosophies and perspectives about how younger married women should live and what they're, you know, we're going to keep things open-ended, but I would like to suggest that perhaps... you ought maybe to consider that...

16:39 No, no. He says, these things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Why? Because it's the standard of Almighty God.

16:51 And nestled in the midst of these things are these clear words concerning a Biblical perspective on marriage, motherhood, and homemaking. For look at the language. The language of verses 4 and 5. That they may train the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sober-minded, chaste, workers at home, kind, being in subjection to their own husbands, in order that the Word of God be not blasphemed.

17:31 Paul is saying, Titus, there in the midst of the paganism of the Isle of Crete, even pagans know that if you claim to have embraced the Gospel that makes you right with God, and it doesn't make you a better wife and mother and homemaker, they're going to blaspheme the Word of God. Even sinners have enough sense to know that the Gospel ought to make young married women better wives, better mothers, and better homemakers. So, I'm addressing this subject, reason number one, because the goal of the Gospel, rooted in the purpose of the very death of Christ, demands that we think and act Biblically with respect to marriage, motherhood, and homemaking. And I am warranted on the basis of the Word of God to speak and exhort and reprove with all authority, insofar as I stick by this book. Second reason. Well, let me just say by application.

18:47 My purpose, then, is not mere sentimentalism. It is not conservative moralism. It is a vigorous evangelicalism. That is, what is connected with the Gospel is the Evangel.

Rationale 2: Radical Commitment to God Demands Nonconformity to the World

19:01 And we cannot claim to love the Gospel and be indifferent to what the Bible says concerning marriage, motherhood, and homemaking, according to this passage, because the grace of God that has appeared, bringing salvation in the Gospel, teaches us the lifestyle consistent with the Gospel, and that lifestyle is rooted in the very purpose of the death of our Lord Jesus. But now, secondly, I want to address this subject of marriage, motherhood, and homemaking as a divine and noble calling because the call to radical commitment to God, issuing in a growing nonconformity to the thinking and practice of the world, demands it. The call to radical commitment to God, issuing in a growing nonconformity to the thinking and practice of the world, demands it. And here, the key passage is Romans 12, verses 1 and 2. After the Apostle has laid out this breathtaking panorama of God's great salvation in Jesus Christ, he now zeroes in on the practical implications.

20:26 There have been many practical implications, but now there's going to be a density of application. And he begins by saying, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, in the light of God's plethora of mercies in his salvation in Christ, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable, rational, or spiritual service. He says, now in the light of God's abundant mercies, I'm entreating you, I'm pleading with you, that you take the posture that God's mercies have captured my hand, they've captured my heart, and having captured my heart, they've captured all of me. Therefore, I present all of me, I present my body as a living sacrifice, a sacrifice unto God, set apart unto him. This is my spiritual service, not to go out and get a lamb, or to get a bullock, and to offer that upon some literal altar, but to say, here, Lord, I give myself away. It is all that I can do.

21:37 Now, in that posture, what are we to do? Are we to assume that we will then automatically be equipped to live out a life that reflects that utter resignation, surrender of ourselves to God? Will there be an automatic transferal from that disposition of utter surrender to a life consistent with that surrender? Apparently, Paul did not think so, for then he goes on to say in verse 2, and Be not fashioned according to this world.

22:11 The world here is the system of things with its standards, its views of reality, its perspectives on right and wrong, to be more concrete and specific, its view of marriage, motherhood, and homemaking, separate from the word of God, and the power of God's grace. That's the world. Do not be fashioned according to this world. Your thinking and acting in all areas must not be an outgrowth of an absorption of the world's perspectives, but be transformed.

22:52 How? By a glorious, mystical experience in which you feel liquid love poured over your head and cascading over your whole being, and you feel enveloped in God. No. Sorry, folks.

23:10 No. What he says is, Be transformed by the metamorphosis of your mind. That's where we get our English word, metamorphosis. The Greek word.

23:27 Be transformed. How? By the renewing of your mind. Your thinking.

23:36 The theater of your thoughts is the great battleground for your life. And you are to be metamorphosized in your mind. To what end? That you may prove experientially and work out in reality the will of God, that is, the good, the acceptable, and the perfect.

24:01 So why do I take up this subject? I take up this subject of marriage, motherhood, and homemaking as a divine and noble calling because of this call to radical commitment to God's, radical commitment to God, issuing in a growing nonconformity to the thinking and practice of the world that demands it. Let me spend just a moment on this matter of the positive. Both of the verbs are present.

24:33 Present, passive, imperatives. Present tense, it's an ongoing action. Passive, the subject is being acted upon. I touch the mic.

24:45 That's active. I am the subject. I'm acting. I touch.

24:50 The mic was touched by Pastor Martin. Passive. It was acted upon. Paul says you are continually being acted upon by this world.

25:00 You don't need to ask it to do it. You don't need to invite it. It doesn't say, please may I? Shall I?

25:06 It's constantly doing it. This world system that John says lies in the lap of the evil one. This world system that according to Ephesians 2 has sinister demonic powers at work in it, walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now energetically works in the minds of those that believe not. And you don't need to invite the world.

25:37 You don't need to ask it. It says I'll do it whether you consent for me to do it or not. It is constantly exerting its pressure to act upon us, to conform us to its schema, to press us into its pattern of thought and of action in every area, including marriage, motherhood, and home making. Now what's God's antidote to this fashioning influence of the world?

26:09 It is that we be continually transformed. Again, a present passive imperative. We are to consciously expose ourselves to the influences that will metamorphosize us to the end that we may, in our own experience, know the reality of the will of God, the good, the acceptable, and the perfect. Now think with me for a minute about the concept that we can relate to when we think of that fuzzy little caterpillar ending up in a cocoon and eventually becoming a butterfly.

26:44 Now my question is this. In that process of metamorphosis or metamorphosis, what does that caterpillar eventually become? It becomes what it was genetically programmed to become from the very beginning. It was never birthed to stay a caterpillar.

27:08 It was birthed to be a butterfly. Right? You all agree with me. I ain't no biology specialist.

27:16 Nathaniel, you're my biologist. You agree with me now. In other words, when that butterfly comes out of that cocoon and spreads its wings, you don't say, oh boy, that's a genetic freak. You know, you say that's what it ought to be.

27:27 Right? Now, when God births you in Christ, He genetically programs you. That you will eventually be totally conformed to the likeness of Jesus Christ. He spiritually, genetically programs us that when He's done with us, when our spiritual genes have their full, mature expression, we shall be like Him.

27:52 For we shall see Him as He is. What a wonderful thing to know. I'm programmed to be glorified with Christ and to be like Him. For whom He did foreknow, He did predestine to be conformed to the image of His Son.

28:05 May I, without being irreverent, say, whom He did foreknow, He did spiritually, genetically program to be like Christ. But we don't get there the moment He begets us to spiritual life. There is a process. And in that process, we are to be active in securing the influences that will metamorphosize us in thought and action.

28:38 So that what we do in our lives is not an expression of the pressure of the world, but an expression of the will of God. As we come to understand it with a transformed mind and do it by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. Now it's because of this very clear mandate that I am constrained on the occasion of this Mother's Day to begin this brief series on this matter of marriage, motherhood, and homemaking as a divine and noble calling because this call to radical commitment to God must issue in a growing nonconformity to the thinking and practice of the world. Now let me, by way of application, say several things under this heading. As the world system around us loses more and more of the leavening influence of the Gospel and of common grace and becomes more and more pagan and satanically influenced, the more necessity there is to address such issues. There were certain factors

The World's Influence on Marriage, Motherhood, and Homemaking

30:03 during the period of World War II which radically disrupted the prevailing climate in our American cultural fabric concerning marriage, motherhood, and the home. You hear what I'm saying? There were factors that emerged in the crisis of World War II that radically disrupted certain things that in common grace and some of it in special grace were part of the fabric of our American cultural climate. Even total secularists such as Tom Brokaw in his book The Greatest Generation identifies this and of course he praises it because he says in essence it opened the door for all the advances of subsequent feminism. We say it opened the door to tragedy. Was it right for Rosie to become a riveter? That's a question that can be discussed.

31:13 I think so. Just as it was right for that delicate woman to take a tent pin and drive it through the head of an opposing army general. But you don't go around training your daughters on how to drive tent pins through the head of your mortal enemies. But without entering the discussion was it right?

31:34 It is a fact that during the Second World War there were elements that tore that fabric shook that whole structure. And then it wasn't long after that before such people as Betty Friedan and Gloria Steinem popularized the writings of Simone de Beauvoir a radical feminist who wrote in the 40s. These two women Betty Friedan Gloria Steinem they popularized her philosophical approach to radical feminism until that became the very air that we breathe in this country from the late 60s and we continue to breathe it to this day. University professors in all the social sciences down to women's magazines to TV sitcoms to talk shows to seminary professors and clergymen they bought in to the notion that the so-called traditional concepts of marriage and motherhood and homemaking were a male projected effort to keep women in bondage and to keep them from self-fulfillment and self-actualization and therefore the only way

33:03 to move toward authentic personhood was to break the shackles of the concept of motherhood marriage and domesticated existence. That's a fact and any intelligent feminist would say amen preach it brother you're on our side. That's reality. That is reality.

33:34 One of the clearest proofs of this and I think I've actually wept tears and I know I've inwardly groaned I don't watch a lot of TV news or anything else but from time to time when watching the news there will be some special occasion where educators are with their children and then they're asking them what do you want to be when you grow up and I cannot remember one little girl of any age or one young woman at a college age who when asked that question by the interviewer said I want to be a wife a mother and a homemaker. Not one! So thoroughly has the whole climate of our society been saturated with philosophical feminism made popular grassroots feminism until it's the air a rising generation breathes so that no little girl can say with a glowing face I want to be a wife a mama and a keeper of my home. It ought to make us weep. It ought to make us weep.

35:00 And I say to take the occasion of Mother's Day to precipitate a brief series on this issue of marriage motherhood and homemaking as a divine and noble calling is vitally necessary because we are called to nonconformity to the thinking and practice of this present world system. Now I thank God for sons such as Danielle Crittenden who in her book What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us have seen these things from a totally secular perspective. She is not a Christian she doesn't write from the base of biblical authority she writes as a well respected author and journalist and columnist and I tell you it's utterly amazing what God in common grace has let this woman see. And say to all of her feministic sisters with regard to these very issues of marriage of motherhood and of homemaking and she challenges the prevailing secular wisdom and on the front piece of her book as you open up she dedicates it to her mother and you open up and she quotes from Horace an ancient Roman poet who wrote this this is her translation of the Latin you may drive out nature

36:30 with a pitchfork yet she will still hurry back you got the imagery? you may drive out nature with a pitchfork nature draws near and says this is who I am and in the light of who I am this is what you are you may take a pitchfork and put it in her backside and say out of here but nature will come back very soon and Danielle Crittenden has allowed what she is as a woman to break through all of the stuff that was overlaid upon her soul by feminism and she's simply speaking as Paul says doth not nature itself teach you? and her whole thesis is if we let nature teach us my dear fellow women we can't deny we are made for the unique relationship of marriage and of motherhood and of homemaking she is not saying that we should all go back to being barefoot and pregnant and frumpy and never read a book thank God she's not saying that even as a pagan but God is good that he's not left us at the mercy of all of the so-called experts so I've said in summary I want to speak to you today and over the next couple of Lord's Day mornings on this subject in praise of marriage motherhood and homemaking as a divine and noble calling why?

Qualification 1: Legitimacy and Dignity of Women Outside Marriage/Motherhood

37:56 not just to be acceptable on Mother's Day but for these two compelling reasons the goal of the Gospel rooted in the death of Christ demands it because the call to radical commitment to God issuing in growing nonconformity to the thinking and acting of the world demands it and now having answered the question why? the subject let me more briefly address the question or I should say not address the question but set before you two vital qualifications concerning the subject two vital qualifications one of the dangers whenever one takes up an isolated subject in Scripture is people immediately begin to think of related subjects and wonder why you don't address the related subjects I can't bring a comprehensive biblical theology of the whole doctrine of femininity masculinity singleness marriage etc. I want to speak in praise of marriage motherhood and homemaking but there are two vital qualifications that I want to address that if I don't make them at the outset what I say and what I attempt to show from the Bible could be misunderstood unnecessarily and that's the last thing I want and especially because the human heart is such that it always has a tendency to go to extremes R.L. Dabney the great southern theologian and preacher

39:26 said this and it's been a help to me over many years we are so constituted that when we identify an error we feel we're never coming closer to the truth than we move farthest away from the error okay here's an error someone has helped oh that's the Romeus I shouldn't think that I shouldn't think in terms of a woman can only find her true identity if she breaks off the shackles of marriage and of motherhood and homemaking that's a horrible error and then they think well the way I get farthest away from the error at closest to the truth is to get to the place where I see that a woman's only significance is in terms of marriage and motherhood and homemaking and Dabney's point is we must never approach truth that way rather we must recognize that the human mind and heart are like a pendulum here it is at its right extreme your left extreme my right there it's stationary and when it's moving over to its other extreme it moves swiftest to its center arc and that's the way we are we're much more comfortable over here or over here another analogy I sat at my desk playing out this analogy it's like taking a piece of metal and we've got

40:55 two magnets and we begin to move the magnets toward it and we say we want to keep it in such a way that the piece of metal won't move I've played with magnets see what kind of crazy man that plays with magnets but it does help with illustrations the hardest thing is to keep the magnet so equidistant that that thing stays right where it is and dear people when we approach a subject like this there's some of you sitting here already in your mind you're a bit over here and you're hoping and praying oh boy I hope he doesn't hmm am I the only one that has this built in tendency to imbalance we all have it and because of that I want to do my best pastorally to give these two vital qualifications which I trust under the blessing of God will keep us from the error of thinking that we get closer to the truth of what we believe to be the truth of what we believe the closer to the truth the more we move away from an identified error here's the first qualification the Bible is abundantly clear in it's teaching that there

42:24 is legitimacy dignity and great usefulness for women in many areas of life and service outside the sphere of marriage or marriage or marriage motherhood and home making let me give it to you again the Bible is abundantly clear not marginally clear abundantly clear in it's teaching that there is legitimacy that is it is right before God dignity it is nothing to be ashamed of and great outside the sphere of marriage motherhood and home making pick up your new testament and what's one of the first things you encounter you encounter a woman who for a few years was married we have no record she has any children her name is Anna and for decades Luke 2 36 says she was day and night in the temple with fastings and with prayers it doesn't say she was in her home

43:53 she wasn't babysitting other people's kids she wasn't out looking for a husband she was serving God outside her home in the temple prophetess and prayer we read in Mark 14 40 and 41 of the many women who were down in Jerusalem all the way from the Galilean area which was their home town and what were they doing Mark chapter 14 verses 40 and 41 tells us what they were doing in the temple of Jesus Jesus was under the cross of Mary and the Holy Mother Mary and Mary Mary Mary Mary and Mary Mary Mary and Mary Mary Mary Mary

45:19 They did so with no direct reference in this text to their role as wives, mothers, or homemakers. And they are forever ennobled by being part of the crowd that is there when he is crucified. Then we have our sister Phoebe. Phoebe, who is a native in a little place near Corinth in Greece. And when we find her in Romans chapter 15, where is she and what's she doing? Romans chapter 16, I'm sorry. Romans, let me get the right book here. Yes, 16, verse 1.

46:08 I commend unto you Phoebe, our sister. How is she identified? Who is a servant of the church that is at Centria, just a bit south and east of Corinth, a port city. Paul's writing to the church at Rome that you receive her in the Lord.

46:27 Now notice, worthily of the saints, a sister in whatsoever matter she may have need of you. For she herself also has been a helper of many, and of my own self. No reference to a husband. No reference to a family.

46:46 No reference to a household.

46:51 That's the way it goes with this. I ain't going anywhere. I'm just letting the Bible go where it goes. You ready to go where it goes?

46:57 The Holy Spirit did not have any reservations of letting us know that here is a woman with a noble, honorable sphere of service not directly connected to marriage, motherhood. And homemaking. She's a helper of an apostle. She has a mission on which she is sent.

47:24 Now this does not in any way negate all the rest of the Bible teaches about ruling offices are not open to women. Public teaching is not open. I'm not waffling something. Oh, where's Pastor Martin?

47:35 Folks, stop that stupid nonsense. It's stupid nonsense when you send up defenses before the Word of God. Don't have any defenses. Phoebe's there.

47:46 And then, when we come to the book of Philippians, we often know about Yodi and Syntyche, because they apparently had a fuss that wasn't resolved, and Paul had the nerve to name them publicly. Can you imagine the day this letter came from Epaphroditus, he comes back to Philippi and says, Kevin, everything's fine with the apostle. I visited him there in the Roman prison, and he gives his report and said, and he sent me back with a letter. Oh, the apostle got a letter.

48:18 And so either Epaphroditus or one of the leading men stands up and he starts reading the letter, and their hearts are ravished as they hear about Christ and Paul's desire to be with Christ, yet his confidence is going to remain and return to them and minister to them. All of this, and then all of a sudden, everyone's sitting there, and then they hear this, I exhort Yodia, and Yodia perks up and says, what's coming? And I exhort Syntyche, what's coming? What's coming?

48:48 To be of the same mind in the Lord. Can't you feel their necks flushing and their cheeks flushing? And you see the cat's out of the bag. Everybody knows we've had a fuss and we haven't resolved it.

49:01 And Paul is exhorting them, but we stop. Look at the next verse. Yea, I beseech you also, true yoke fellow, help these women, for they labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my people. And the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the book of life.

49:21 How are they identified? In conjunction with being fellow workers with the apostles labors in the gospel. Nothing to do with marriage, parenting, and home making. Absolutely nada.

49:36 Now were they married? I don't know. Did they have kids? I don't know.

49:44 Did they have homes of their own? I don't know. But what I know is, the Bible identifies their person and their sphere of service totally separate from marriage, motherhood, and home making. And that's the only point I want us to see.

50:03 Now that's just a smattering of the biblical witness. So I say, this first qualifying principle is absolutely essential. I cannot in good conscience address the subject in praise of God. But marriage, motherhood, and home making, as a noble, God glorifying calling, without making this qualification that the Bible is abundantly clear in its teaching, there is legitimacy, dignity, and great usefulness for women in many areas of life and service outside the sphere of marriage, motherhood, and home making.

50:46 Now I trust you girls and you ladies will internalize that. And you see, the Bible reveals that not because it has incipient feminist teaching that only when you reject the possibility of and the commitment to marriage, child bearing, and home making can you find your true identity. No. What it is saying is, your true identity is not bound up in marriage, child bearing, and home making.

Qualification 2: Singleness for Undistracted Service to Christ

51:23 That's what it's saying. Nor is your true usefulness bound up in those. Second qualification is this. The Bible is clear in its teaching that some women may deliberately choose or be providentially consigned to a life of singleness.

51:45 And thereby render undistracted service to Christ and His Kingdom. The Bible is clear in its teaching that some women may deliberately, deliberately choose or be providentially consigned to a life of singleness and thereby render undistracted service to Christ and to His Kingdom. Jesus articulates this principle in Matthew 19. Our Lord has been teaching about the nature and when He gets done, the disciples say, man, if that's what marriage is all about, maybe it's better for us to remain single. Then Jesus goes on to say that no one has a gift of singleness, only some. Then He says inрыв sechs yeder there are eunuchs at home, Pedro ins sente, that were born from their mother's womb. There are eunuchs that were made eunuchs by men.

52:55 There are eunuchs that make themselves eunuchs. For the kingdom of heaven's sake, he that is able to receive it, let him receive it. Now he's speaking particularly of males who remain single. But by parity of argument, I believe it is right for us to put females there, and I'll show you why, because they get the primary attention in the second major passage that teaches this.

53:19 Jesus is saying there are some who by birth are so genetically programmed in a fallen world that normal desires and capacities that would lead to marriage and its multi-leveled intimacy with a man is off the charts for them. I personally believe that we would put into this category whatever there may be, whatever there may be, listen carefully, whatever there may be, in the genetic programming of any individual, male or female, that in their development, not a matter of social conditioning, perversity of mind, but in their genetic programming, causes them to be shortchanged in normal heterosexual desires and inclinations, that they may fit this category, that they can best glorify God in their life of celibate, slavery, crime, and death, and any kind of issue that may be of extraordinary importance to their lives. Hence, by seeing this, they see the form of their life and their relationships as one that is invisible to them, the state of singleness. Others, as their minds and hearts are influenced by kingdom demands, they see circumstances in which they can render more effected service to Christ in a state of singleness.

54:45 Men who will not be distracted by nurturing and caring for their wives and their children, which they believe God is calling them to serve. They make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom's sake. And when we turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 7, Paul takes up that subject in great detail.

55:06 If you've not read for some time 1 Corinthians 7 verses 25 to 40, I urge you to read it. I'm not going to read the whole passage this morning in the interest of time. Suffice it to say that in this passage, Paul says, verse 32,

55:46 Paul says, here's gutsy, earthy realism, that undistracted service to Christ can be rendered in a state of singleness, unique to that state of singleness. And for this very reason, in the third passage, 1 Timothy 5, 3 to 5, Paul deals with the subject of widows in the church, and he identifies a category of widows who choose to remain widows, that they might, being, supported by the church, render unique service to the people of God. So whatever, whatever I say from the scriptures, God willing, next week, and perhaps two more following weeks, about the subject of marriage, motherhood, and homemaking, please understand that I do so from the scriptures, the same scriptures that clearly teach us some women may deliberately choose or be providentially consigned. Now, before I move from this head, I want to say something by way of application. You see, one of the fundamental errors of the Roman Catholic Church is they've elevated celibacy to a higher level of sanctity than the married state. They do so, first of all, with their

57:15 idolatrous worship of Mary. And their dogma, not officially incorporated into Roman Catholic teaching until the 18th century, that Mary remained perpetually a virgin. You know what that makes Mary? It makes her an unconscionable witch. It makes her an unconscionable, reprehensible witch. For the scripture says, Joseph knew her not, had no sexual intercourse with her till she had brought forth her firstborn son. This man who so loved this young woman that he was thinking of what he should do to honorably deal with her and had decided on a course that would subject her to the least amount of social and religious ostracization, he loved her. And when God revealed that her pregnancy was the action of the Spirit of God, it says, he took unto him Mary, his wife, but knew her not, restrained all of his normal, natural sexual urges that there would be no question for any who inquired that Mary was impregnated by God the Holy Spirit.

58:32 To say then that he lived as a eunuch is to turn her into an unconscionably despicable witch.

58:43 And it doesn't explain how Jesus had at least six siblings. Four of his brothers are named, and then it says, and his sisters also.

58:55 But you see, it's erroneous to elevate celibacy because though you may shove nature out the door with a pitchfork, she soon returns. Are you shocked with the disclosure of all of the sexual perversion among the priesthood? I'm not. Why?

59:17 You've shoved nature out the door. She's out the door with a pitchfork, but she returns. And when you do not let her return in her native framework, nature will find a perverse way to gratify itself.

59:36 So we don't elevate the single state, but the danger in our circles is to regard singleness, whether chosen or voluntarily embraced, or as providentially imposed, as a little less, than the married, motherhood, homemaking state. And I trust that in this assembly, we will view our single sisters as God does.

60:10 View them as God does.

60:14 A single woman, single beyond the ordinary marriageable age, single after widowhood through the death of her husband or the death of a marriage in a righteously granted divorce. We must never...

60:28 we must never regard them as less noble, less dignified, less useful in Christ's kingdom. And I say to you single girls, who don't know whether God has marriage for you, I say to you single women, to you widows by death or divorce, your identity is not dependent on your marital status. What you are as image of God, what you are in Jesus Christ, in what you are in the will of God. That's your identity.

61:03 And you can be fully feminine and fully a woman where you never have a ring on your finger. You've never known the bliss of a honeymoon. You've never known the awesome delight of a little one nursing at your breast.

61:19 You can be fully woman as image bearer,

61:25 as in Christ,

61:28 and in the will of God. So whatever I say in the coming messages about the dignity, the nobility, marriage, motherhood, and homemaking, I don't want anyone in the single state to say we're being pushed down and overlooked. It would grieve me to the core. Furthermore, I'm conscious that there are sitting among us this morning some who are in the marriage state and who are homemakers, but who live with the pain of a barren womb.

Addressing the Pain of Barrenness

62:05 I'm conscious that and I said, Lord, how do I let my dear sisters know I'm conscious of that? I don't want to hurt them. I know what it is to live with a wife who lived with that pain for almost five years.

62:19 Five years.

62:23 And every returning monthly cycle was regarded as the weeping of a disappointed womb. That pain is real. And I don't want to add to your pain. God knows that's the last thing I want to do.

62:37 But will you forbear with me running the risk of adding to the pain of a barren womb? Of adding to that pain when you know I'm not doing it insensitively or deliberately? That I might address the biblical issues relating to marriage, to motherhood, and homemaking? I trust you will.

62:57 I trust you know that I'm not being willfully, deliberately insensitive. Your barrenness is a suffering that only a barren woman knows.

Hopes for Single Women and the Church Family

63:11 Well, having answered the question why am I taking this pain? Why am I taking up the subject? I gave you my two reasons. Having given you two qualifications, now I close with just three minutes.

63:23 What do I hope to accomplish?

63:26 Well, for you single girls and women, I hope, I hope I will both create for some and strengthen for others a well-grounded biblical perspective of the dignity, the nobility of marriage, motherhood, and homemaking. I want to help you to do what Romans 12 says you to do. Get the garbage of this present age out of your head. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

64:01 For you husbands and men and church family, I hope it will cultivate in us a greater ability to be an affirming context for our dear wives and mothers and homemakers. They ain't got much affirming context in the world. They're not. They're made to feel like they're jerks and dopes and stupid in bondage to the expectation of their domineering men and to all the other evidences of a patriarchal society.

64:33 They're made to feel less than fully woman because they don't have, quote, their own identity, their own self-actualization. All that they see when they look in the mirror has connections with husbandry and children and home. That's a cruel and a wicked thing. That's what they get out in the world.

64:57 God grant that in this context of the church,

65:01 they are made to stand tall and to breathe the clear air of knowing that what they are as mothers and wives and homemakers has dignity and mobility. And long after all, the feminists have made their way through the corporate boardrooms and bossed around the men under them and proven anything you can do, I can do better. And when they've flown our jets and when they've captained our seagoing vessels and gone to their graves, what legacy will they leave behind? No children to rise up and call them blessed.

65:41 But the children rise up and curse them that they didn't give them what they most needed by a woman committed to be a mother.

65:52 So hold your heads high, my dear sisters, and make them proud. And make them proud. And make them proud. And make them proud.

Hopes for Mothers and Homemakers: Resisting Worldly Pressure

65:55 And make them proud. May God help us to help you to hold them high. And then, for you who are mothers, I hope you will so internalize these things that by the grace of God, you won't be bullied.

66:11 You won't feel embarrassed when you're filling out the forms in the doctor's office. Place of employment put down in big letters and exclamation points after my home. I carry on a little one-man campaign. When they ask me, does your wife work?

66:31 I say, yes. If she didn't, she wouldn't eat. Look at me. What strange bird am I dealing with?

66:40 So I quote 2 Thessalonians. If any will not work, let him not eat. God says if she don't work, she ain't supposed to eat. But she works.

66:51 Morning to night, she works. So think biblically. Be determined. We won't let the world squeeze us into its mold.

67:04 Don't let them talk about, you're a working mother. That is, if you work, outside the home. You say, yes, I'm a working mother. I have chosen to expend most of my energies in the home.

67:18 See, even little words have significance, folks. And that's Pastor Martin. He's a tickler about words. Words clothe thoughts.

67:26 And thoughts shape lives. And lives shape whole societies. We can't do a lot. Let's be small.

67:35 Sprinkle a little salt here in the doctor's office when we fill out the form. Sprinkle a little salt here when they ask who we are, what we do. Sprinkle a little salt here and there. We are the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

67:48 It's a wonderful thing to be a Christian, isn't it? To be free from letting the world tell me who I am, what I'm to do, how I'm to view these most basic issues. If you're sitting here this morning, you may be someone who's come in here just oozing with the world's perspective. And I've made you downright spit and angry.

68:12 That's all right. I'll still love you. And furthermore, I'll not only love you, but if you have the courage to tell me you're angry and why you're angry, and you're willing to be reasonable and sit down with the Bible, I'd like to still get you angrier yet, if necessary, till you come to the place where you see the way to be happy is to stop trying to dictate to the God who made you how you're to function. Because He made you.

68:38 He programmed you. And He's telling you how you can know the way of blessedness. And the way of His commandments. Well, may the Lord be pleased to bless us as we enter into this brief series of studies in the coming days.

Closing Prayer

68:52 Let's pray. Father, we're so thankful for the Scriptures that they are a lamp to our feet and a light to our pathway. Pray your blessing upon the things we've considered together today. Bless especially those among us who have chosen the role of wife and mother and homemaker.

69:15 Be with our dear sisters who in your providence and will are in another sphere of usefulness and honorable service to you. We ask that your word will liberate us from all false guilt, from all of the pressures of ungodliness upon us. And may we be Christ's free men and women walking in His way.