 Hey man, all right, Proverbs chapter 31, of course a great chapter in the Bible talking about the virtuous woman here. What are we talking about this morning? We're talking about as, this is the sister sermon or I guess the wife sermon to the sermon last week, which was characteristics of a biblical man, we're going to talk about this morning characteristics of a biblical woman. So keep your place in Proverbs 31, we're going to be going back and forth between other verses in the Bible and also Proverbs chapter 31, I'll be referencing several times in the Bible. Proverbs chapter 31 though is such a great chapter for women because there's no equivalent chapter like this for men. So this is just a really good condensed chapter in the Bible that just kind of encompasses the biblical woman, encompasses a lot of things about characteristics of a biblical woman. The Bible talks a lot about men and characteristics of a biblical man, which we discussed last week, but there's not really a one chapter where it's all slammed together like Proverbs chapter 31 is. So ladies, you're lucky to have a chapter like this in the Bible, let me say that. But first of all, remember last week where I ended the sermon with the men, I ended the sermon with the men with Proverbs 20 verse number six that says, so this is something to keep in mind during the sermon this morning, but I ended last week's sermon talking about a faithful man and how rare it is. The Bible says in Proverbs 26, it says a faithful man who can find. So as the men were sitting and listening to the sermon last week and they were listening to the characteristics of a biblical man and they're like, man, this is stressing me out. I don't meet all these characteristics. Well the nice thing about it is, look, it's a rare thing. It's a rare thing to find a faithful man. It's something to strive towards. Similarly, we see this in verse number 10 of Proverbs 31. Look down at the Bible where the Bible says this. It says, who can find a virtuous woman? It says, her price is far above rubies. Now the Bible doesn't say that her price is rubies or she's as valuable as rubies. The Bible says that she's more valuable than rubies. This virtuous woman is more valuable than rubies. Why are rubies valuable, first of all? Rubies are valuable because you don't go walking down the street or go to Walmart and actually accidentally trip over a bunch of rubies. Rubies are extremely rare. They are extremely hard to find, which is why the Bible calls this virtuous woman compares her to rubies because a virtuous woman, just like that faithful man, is a rare thing. So look, what are we talking about when we talk about characteristics of a biblical woman versus last week's characteristics of a biblical man? What we're going to look at this morning is there's many things that are similar characteristics. Same thing I said last week. Men and women should both be of good report, have a good name. Men and women should both be honest, they should both be spiritually minded, they should both have sin out of their lives. They should both be living in the Spirit, listening to the Holy Spirit within them, not living in the flesh. These are all things that are similar between men and women. What we are focusing on last week and this morning, we are focusing on the differences because what is happening today is the differences are trying to be blended over. Everyone is trying to say that men and women, boys and girls, they're the same. They are to be the same, look the same. His lines are being blurred, but I want to point out, if you get nothing else from this series is that the lines are supposed to be clear, the lines are supposed to be definite. That's what God points out in his law, alright? So we're focusing on areas that are different, alright? So we talked about those things last week for the men. This morning we're going to talk about this for the women. But look, here's another thing you need to understand, as far as church culture goes. So I've talked a lot about church culture. We always want to be a friendly church. There's always going to be people coming into the church. There's always going to be people that are at different places in their Christian walk. What we're talking about with a lot of these things with men and especially women this morning, we are talking about, think about Acts 15 from Wednesday. We're talking about people that are coming together and people may be at different points, different, people may have different standards in their life. We're never going to be, you know, be a church that comes down on people that have different standards at some point in their Christian walk, okay? So no one's ever going to give you a hard time over your standards, okay? So just keep that in mind. But my job is to tell you what the Bible says and I'm always going to do that, alright? So let's get into this. You're going to keep your place in Proverbs chapter 31 and we're going to kind of go back to Proverbs chapter 31 as we step through the sermon. So we're talking about characteristics of a biblical woman. Well we're going to follow the same template that we followed last week. So go ahead and turn to Deuteronomy chapter 22. The first thing that we need to look like or look at is, what are the characteristics of a biblical woman? The first characteristic is this. You should look like a woman. Now that one seems obvious, right? You should look like, men should look like men. We talked about that last week. Women should look like women. Look at Deuteronomy chapter 22 and verse number five. This is the same verse we looked at last week. We're just going to kind of flip the coin around and look at it from the woman's perspective this morning. So look, I mean there's an agenda today. You cannot deny this. There's an agenda today to push weirdness, to blend the lines of what men and what women look like. And the Bible does not teach that at all, all right? There's an agenda today that says anything you could possibly wear, anything that you could possibly look like is okay. That is not what the Bible says, all right? Look at Deuteronomy chapter 22, look at verse number five. The Bible says, the woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man. Here the show of man put on a woman's garment for all that do so are abomination unto the Lord thy God. First of all, that's very serious, all right? We talked last week about Halloween. We talked last week, I just used an example of something that's coming up here on how, you know, people will think it's funny and people will think it's, you know, a good joke to have a man dress up as a woman in a Halloween costume or go to some costume party. But God says that's literally an abomination, all right? So look, this is why a woman's garment is generally understood to be a dress or a skirt, okay? Because I mean, even bathroom signs, if you, like, well how do we know, you know, what the men's, don't get me started on the men's and women's bathrooms today. But if you even just look at the bathroom signs in the church, you know, how is the woman's sign designated, it is that obvious, you know, woman's garment which is the dress. Now look, this is why my wife and daughter, this is why my wife and daughter wear dresses, all right? And by the way, this is a, this is kind of a, we have kind of a unique story along these lines in my family because you have to remember that I was raised and my wife was raised Lutheran. And we weren't, you know, we weren't, we weren't raised Baptist. So there was a time in our marriage where my wife and my daughter both, you know, they wore pants and they wore skirts only all the time, you know, and it was only when I got saved when we started going to a Baptist church after some time that my wife and my wife decided to make that change herself. And here's an interesting thing that probably a lot of people don't know, is that my wife made that decision on her own. Because a lot of people thought, a lot of people thought when my wife made that transition, a lot of people thought like, oh, Jared's going to some, you know, weird church and now he's forcing his wife and daughter to wear dresses. But my wife actually, I came home and my wife told me like, hey, I've made this decision. And you know, she made that decision on her own and, you know, that's just out of, just out of Bible study and just biblical conviction herself. But and it is also funny that let me say this also with the women. This is a struggle just as I talk about some very specific struggles for men last week. This is a specific struggle to women right here. Just garments in general. I'm not just talking about dresses versus pants and all these types of things. Just garments in general. We'll talk about this in a little bit more detail, but this is a very specific struggle in our society that is going to be more difficult for women. Why? A biblical woman is going to look, if she's going to stand out more than like what a biblical man, I mean, look, I'm wearing a suit and tie. There's nothing, I mean, it's normal for a man anywhere to wear a suit and tie. A businessman, a guy that goes and works at a bank, a white color job would look very similar to how I look right here. It's not something that's very different for men, but women in general, this is a more thing that's more of a change, of a separation, if you would. I remember some people, like the second time they saw my wife in a dress, they're like, what's going on here, you know, what's the big change? What has your husband done to you, right? And that's not the case at all. It was just the standard that she chose to follow. All right, so look, that's where that comes from. If you want more detail about my wife's journey there, please talk to her. I'm sure she'd be happy to give you a testimony about that there. But this is going to be the struggle for women, just garments in general, especially with what we're seeing today. But there's more to it than just the garments of a man and the garments of a woman. Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 2. You say, oh man, there's more. Yeah, there's a lot more actually to garments and what's happening in the world today. Go to 1 Timothy chapter 2. Let's look at some more standards that God has. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 2 and look at verse number 9. Look at verse number 9 of 1 Timothy chapter 2. So look, what the Bible says versus what the world is doing is very extreme, especially when it comes to women. Look at 1 Timothy chapter 2. Look at verse number 9. The Bible says, in like manner also, it was talking about the men, now it's going to say, talking about the women, it says in like manner also that women adorn themselves, this means, you know, put on like clothing in modest apparel with shame-facedness and sobriety, not with broided hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but which become women professing godliness with good works. Now there's a lot there, okay? But the first thing I want to point out is that word modest, okay? And a lot of people will say that, oh, that modest just means not wearing rich clothing. But I'm going to actually show you, notice these two words, shame-facedness and sobriety, shame-facedness and sobriety. Shame-facedness means the ability to experience embarrassment. It means someone that has shame-facedness means that they would be shamed in certain situations, all right? Now turn to Isaiah chapter 47. So what is the Bible talking about? Modest apparel with shame-facedness. What this means is that this person that is a shame-faced person would experience embarrassment or shame, okay? Look at Isaiah chapter 47 in verse number three. Now the Bible explains and makes this equivalent between these two words that I'm going to show you dozens of times. I'm just going to give you one example to show you what 1 Timothy chapter two is talking about when it's speaking about modest apparel. All right, look at Isaiah chapter 47 in verse number three. Is everybody there? I want to make sure I give you enough time because I want everyone to see this comparison here. Isaiah 47 in verse number three, the Bible says, thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen. So we see the equivalent, the equivalent, that's not a word. We see the word nakedness being associated with the word shame, all right? So the Bible uses that all over, especially the Old Testament, equitably just associating nakedness and shame together, all right? So it's shameful to be naked. Now look, most people would agree with that. Most people would agree that it would be a shame, everyone would be ashamed to go walk around naked somewhere. I mean, everyone would be ashamed to do something like that, right? But here's the difference between what the Bible says and what the world around us defines. Turn to Exodus chapter 28. The difference is, what is the definition of naked? That is the difference between the world and what we see in the Bible. And here's the problem, and you wonder, why am I seeing all the things that I see today? It's because people don't have a biblical view of nakedness. That's why. Look at Exodus chapter 28. Now we always have to just remember, just let the Bible be our dictionary. Let the Bible define things for us and then we won't be confused about anything. Look at Exodus chapter 28 and look at verse number 42. We see the Bible here is talking about, I mean, it happens to be talking about the garments of the priest, the garments of the priest and the high priest. We talked about that in detail, of course. But we get a nice definition of what nakedness actually is in the Bible in Exodus chapter 28 and verse number 42. The Bible says, and thou shalt make them linen breeches. Those are breeches or pants, okay? Thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness. And then it defines what nakedness actually is. It says, from the loins, even unto the thighs, they shall reach. So the Bible here is saying that, hey, you should make these garments for the priest to cover their nakedness. By the way, here's what nakedness is from the loins to the thighs. So your loins is basically everything below your belly button and your thighs. So basically you need to cover everything below your belly button and your thigh. This is why people say that, so basically, and I'll think about this for a second. Think about this for a second. Basically, if anyone is uncovered, I don't care if you're a man or a woman. If anyone is uncovered from their knees to their belly button, they are considered naked in the Bible. Now think about that. Now think about how many naked people are walking around everywhere. The funny thing in the Bible is you don't ever hear this term half naked used in the Bible. The Bible says either naked or not. And the Bible says everything from your belly button to your knees is your nakedness. Now turn to Genesis chapter nine. It's funny because all over, you see this all over the Bible. Even in second Samuel chapter six, I believe it is, David was dancing in front of the ark. As you're turning to Genesis chapter nine, I'll just tell you the story. David's dancing in front of the ark and his wife gets upset at him because he's dancing in front of the ark and the Bible kind of makes a reference to what kind of clothing he had. He had some looser clothing on and his wife actually went up to him and she's like, you've shamefully uncovered yourself. So David was dancing in front of the ark and he was dancing in a way where his nakedness, it must have been his thighs were showing at that point. But she said, you were shameful in your actions because you shamefully uncovered yourself in front of all these, basically all these women and his wife was upset at him. And of course, there's an argument that goes on from there. But the point is it's a big deal to God. It's a big deal. It's considered a shameful thing to be naked. Turn to Genesis chapter nine. Look at verse number 22. This is a story where Noah, he drinks too much and he falls asleep in a stupor in his tent and he wasn't covered and ham his son. Now a lot of people have different opinions about that, this which is fine, but I read this just how it happened from the Bible. So basically one of his sons comes in and sees that he's in a shameful state. And basically does nothing to cover him and remedy the situation, but instead kind of goes and chides him to his brothers. But look at verse number 22 of Genesis chapter nine. It says, in ham the father of Canaan saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brethren without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it both upon their shoulders and went backwards. So look at how serious these two brothers or sons of Noah take their father's nakedness. They don't even want to look upon it. They just, they go in and they cover up their father and their faces were backward and they saw not their father's nakedness. They look at verse 24. And then Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, cursed be Canaan, a servant of the servant shall he be unto his brethren. He literally curses ham and ham's descendants because of the fact that he looked upon his nakedness and he saw his nakedness and he did nothing to cover him like the other two boys did. Look, I believe that this is exactly what happened and it's just because this is how serious God takes nakedness. This is how serious God takes the shame of nakedness right here. So look, the modesty back in 1 Timothy chapter two, the modesty in 1 Timothy chapter two, it not only means not wearing flashy gold and silver and flashy clothing, it means that you are covered. It means that your nakedness is covered. Now, with that in mind, just think about what people wear on a regular basis. Think about, I mean, forget the beach. Just go to Walmart. I mean, it's just naked people everywhere. It's just nakedness everywhere. I mean, literally, so my standards, I mean, talking about standards, my standards for my family, by the way, for men, you need to set standards in your home. So my standards of where we go, where we don't go are largely designed around this, this one topic right here. Now, I mean, I'm not going to expect my wife and expect my daughter to dress in a modest way, to dress like women, and then go to beaches. Just go to beaches where there's just naked people everywhere. And be like, well, I'm sorry that you look different than everybody, but we're going to hang out at the beach. So we would never do that. So we don't go to places like that. I would never, like I said, these are standards. Other people have different standards. I would never personally join a health club because there's just, there's too many, my kind of my standard is, if I wouldn't be comfortable being there with my wife, I probably shouldn't be there. That's kind of my standards for my family. That's a good way to kind of, that I measure where we go and where we don't go. Look, I have very good friends that have different standards in these different areas, which is fine, but these are how I set my standards. But look, you can't really say that if I had the standard of I'm not going to go where there's naked people, I literally couldn't leave my house today. I would not be able to drive in a car today because of what's walking around up and down the streets, what's in the stores, everywhere. So we have to understand that, I mean, largely my standards are defined, designed around this, but the world is going to be the world to a degree as well. I'm just showing you what we should be separated unto and how serious God takes definitions of modesty, shame-facedness, sobriety. Look at, go to 1 Peter chapter three. So you should look like a biblical woman. You should look like a biblical woman. You should be modest and look like and you should have your nakedness covered. So those are the kind of the three standards of what women should be dressed with and what God's kind of standards is basically three points. It's like you should look like a woman. You should have your nakedness covered and you should be modest about your clothing. Look at 1 Peter chapter three and verse number one. Now the next thing is, just like the men, you should not only look like a woman, but you should act like a biblical woman. So what does that entail? Look at verse number one of 1 Peter chapter three. Again, not popular today. Again, the opposite of what the world is teaching today. Look at verse number one. It says likewise, ye wives be in subjection to your own husband that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives. While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. So this is really interesting context that the Bible talks about here. So first of all, saying like women should be in subjection to their husbands, meaning they should be in a support role. They are not the leader of the home. The Bible says the husband's the leader of the home. We talked about what that means for the husband last week, but it's really interesting because it says that the wife really has a lot of power to influence in a good way her husband. So in this case, it's saying, be in subjection to your own husbands that if they obey not the word, so this is talking about a woman whose husband is not doing the right things. Whose husband is not doing the right things. And it doesn't say, hey, if your husband is not doing the right things, if he's not obeying the Bible, you should nag him until he believes the Bible. No, that's not what it says. It says that you should be in subjection to the husband whether or not he does the right thing or not. That why? That he'll see your spirituality. He will see your chaste meaning pure. He will see your pure conversation. So say your husband is, he's not going to church and he's not doing the right things in his life. He should still have that spiritual wife. That wife shouldn't get angry at him and be like bickering on him and all this. Instead, he'll be won over by, so I mean, women that are in this position and the way to win over that husband or the best way is what the Bible says is to have pure conversation and keep yourself spiritual and in the Lord. And that may win over your husband is what the Bible is saying here. All right, while they behold your chaste conversation, chaste meaning pure. Look at verse number three. And then again talks about where a woman's value is here. It says who's adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plating of hair and of wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel. Now this is so interesting here because the Bible is saying that the value, it says the value of a woman is not in what she looks like, is not in what she wears or doesn't wear. Isn't that the opposite of what the world is teaching today? The Bible here is saying that the value of this woman, the value of this woman is not in how she looks and what she wears in her clothing. It's saying her value is the value of her chaste conversation is what it's saying. Look, this attitude of the world today that is teaching this feminist agenda to these girls, look, it's devaluing women. It's not valuing women. I mean, everybody will look at a biblical, they'll look at this biblical teaching of a husband being the head of the wife and they'll be like, oh, that's degrading. What's degrading is to teach your daughter that she should walk around naked and that her body is her value. That's degrading, that's degrading. What the Bible is saying is that a woman, a virtuous woman is the most valuable thing. It's more valuable than rubies. A virtuous woman, a virtuous young lady is not in her body and not in her looks and not in what she wears. It is the Bible and the Bible way that values women and girls. That's what we need to just scream from the house tops because the world is completely lying about this. Look at verse number four. But where is her value? Her value is, but it says, but let it be in the hidden man of the heart, meaning the hidden person of the heart in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God. Now, does this match Proverbs 31, which is in the sight of God of great price? It says this woman who has this chased conversation that is in subjection to her husband that has this meek and quiet spirit is of great value to God. Turn to Genesis chapter two. Turn to Genesis chapter two. Genesis chapter two. In Genesis chapter two, in verse number 18, we see one of the points that God said that why he made a woman. Look at verse number 18. Remember, it was Adam at the beginning and look at verse number 18 of Genesis chapter two. The Bible says, and the Lord God said, it is not good that a man should be alone. I will make and help meet for him. That doesn't mean like a helpmate. That means like a help that is worthy for him. You know, as the sermon last week may have stressed out some of the guys in the room. I mean, I'm sitting here and I'm preaching to the guys and I'm telling them, hey, you know, you're in charge, but that means you may lose your life. That means you may go hungry. That means you must sacrifice. As I say this and it's stressful, look, that is a heavy responsibility and God has provided support. God has provided a wife for a man that's in that role, you know, as a support system for him. So I mean, as a wife this morning, you need to ask yourself, am I a help to my husband? I mean, when I see my husband, you know, sacrificing for the family and being stressed out over the finances and working hard for the family, you know, am I a help, am I a support for him? Because that is what the Bible says that you should be. That's what the woman, that's what Eve was designed to, or designed, she was created to help Adam to be a support for him. Turn to Titus chapter two. Turn to Titus chapter two. The Bible even gives more specific on what this support role and what a woman, a biblical woman is supposed to do in that role. Look at Titus chapter two. Look at verse number five. And you'll see a lot of these virtues of this virtuous biblical woman. You'll see a lot of them repeated here. Chaste, you'll see, you know, a common theme here. All right? The opposite of loud and obnoxious is meek and quiet, the Bible says. Look at verse number five of Titus chapter two. Talking about the women, it says to be discreet, chaste, again pure, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, again a repeat, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Does the Bible seem like it's, you know, light about this? It says, look, if you listen to these characteristics of a biblical woman and you don't do it, it's like you're blaspheming the word of God by rejecting that. All right? Look, it says that the women should be keepers at home. The wives should be keepers at home. You know, what does that mean? I mean, this is a serious annoyance of mine for literally decades that people have played down in our society, this role of a woman at home. You know, a super big annoyance of mine. I've had people tell me, I've had women tell me, like I don't know, they find out my wife stays home with the kids and I've had people say to me things like, oh, I just, I don't know what I would do if I, you know, like it's just some boring role where there's nothing going on. You know, nothing annoys me more than that. But turn to first Timothy chapter five, turn to first Timothy chapter five. Look at verse number 13. First Timothy chapter five and verse number 13. Look at, let's look at keeping the home. Keeping the home. This is something that is completely misunderstood by people, especially people that have no idea what the Bible says. Look at first Timothy chapter five, verse 13. The Bible says, first of all, you know, that keeping the home means, I mean, it doesn't mean you're not gonna have anything to do. All right? Look at verse number 13. It says, oh, they weren't the idol wandering about from house to house and not only idol, but tattlers also and busybodies speaking things which they ought not. So it's possible for, you know, a woman to, you know, stay home and do nothing. That's what the Bible is saying here. Look, if a man is doing nothing, it's not gonna be good either. But look at verse 14. I would therefore that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. So the Bible here is saying that, you know, women should get married, they should bear children, and then they should guide the house. So keeping the home, guiding the house. So what does that mean? You know, what does it mean to guide the house? The house is just a structure. Does it need to be guided? Turn to Deuteronomy chapter six. Let me show you what the Bible is specifically saying. Now here's a huge responsibility. This is a huge responsibility. This keeping the home, this guiding the home is a major responsibility for the wives, for the ladies. Look at Deuteronomy chapter six. Look at verse number five. I mean, there's children involved here. So we see that in 1 Timothy chapter five that she's to bear children and guide the house. Look at verse number five of Deuteronomy chapter six. The Bible says in Deuteronomy chapter six in verse number five, and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. So who is gonna be the one that is there when the children rise and when the children lie down, according to what we've seen in the Bible? This is talking about, you know, the wife, the mother is there too. She has this responsibility of teaching the law of God to her children. That is a major responsibility. I've even said this, like, what is my responsibility? Okay, I go to work every day and, you know, make a paycheck. Ooh, I pay, you know, I pay the bills. My wife has a much bigger responsibility than I do. She is literally responsible for teaching the law of God to the next generation. And I go to work and I pay the bills. I go to work and I make money so we can pay for, we can have a home to live in. But this is a huge role, and this role is just thrown off today. This role is just pond off today. Turn to John chapter 10. This role, look, this is the role in the family. This is the role, and this is the role that is trying to be deleted today, that is trying to be thrown to the curb today. My wife told me a story this week. She showed me a video, actually. She showed me a video this week. I never would have watched something like this, but she showed me this news article of this daycare where there was like two and three-year-old kids in this daycare. And there was these daycare workers. This is just crazy. I couldn't believe it. If I didn't see it, I wouldn't believe it. Even, you know, do I think good things about daycares? Of course I don't. But there was this daycare where these workers in the daycare, I think there was two of them, they put on these like wicked murderer masks or something, and they were going around, you know, the kids were sitting at the little tables, you know, the little tables that are this tall because the kids are like this tall. All the kids are sitting around the table, and these two daycare workers come out in these psychotic monster masks with these black robes on, and they're just like coming up to the kids, and the kids are just, the kids are terrified. The kids are just like, what's happening? I mean, this, and you know, turn to John chapter 10, I'll tell you what's happening. And this is what I referenced to my wife when she said this, this, you showed me this article, this video. This is what's happening though. This is what's happening. You have people that are outside of God's plan. They're outside of God's design. Look at John chapter 10 and look at verse number 12. The Bible says, but he that is in hireling and not the shepherd whose own the sheep are not, seeeth the wolf coming and leave it the sheep and fleeeth and the wolf catches them and scattereth the sheep. You see, when you take your kids and you put them into daycare and you put them into, you know, these situations, they're hirelings. They don't love your kids. They're just hirelings. And look, yeah, that's an extra extreme situation and a lot of people can say, oh yeah, but you know, my daycare's good and my daycare's not like that at all or whatever. But here's the thing, they're still hirelings and you're still outside of God's plan. And the funny thing about this is every single, every person that has had children and decided that the woman's not gonna be the keeper at home. She's not gonna guide the house. She is going to be, you know, she's gonna go off and she's going to work and make money. The only reason that people do that is for money. The number one reason people do that, make that decision is for money. And look, I can tell you that anytime that you make a decision in your life based on money, it's gonna be the wrong decision. Anytime that you decide to do something just solely based on money in your life, you're wrong. You're deciding, you're gonna be wrong, all right? So look, lady, that's another thing. In Deuteronomy chapter six, you say, this is my responsibility to teach the children, teach them the law as they rise up and as they lay down. You better not let your husband be the only spiritual one in the family. That's a big responsibility. Just like when I'm telling the men about the lifeboats and it's kind of a stressful thing, this should stress you out a little bit. This should stress you out. This is a huge responsibility for the women. Turn to Proverbs, chapter 31, it is your job to teach these things to the next generation and why do people even say that they love coming to a biblical church? It's for, yeah, it's for our own personal growth but really it's for the next generation is why people would say they want a good church to go to. Look at Proverbs, chapter 31. Go to verse number 10. Now you see why she's so valuable. Who could find a virtuous woman for her price is far above rubies? But look at this, this is the nice thing. This is that support role right here. Look at verse number 11. It says, the heart of her husband, the safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil. Here's a man that just, he has found this woman. He's found this woman and he's just like, there's nothing that I need because I have this woman and she is taking care of what she's doing. The Proverbs, chapter 31, woman. I mean, if you read through all these verses, she is strong, she is caring for her family, she is extremely hardworking this woman. She gets up when it's dark. Look at verse, well, I'm not even there anymore. Let me turn back there. But look at verse, let me go back there, but look at the verse where it talks about her providing, I mean, she's providing clothing. This woman is making sure that, look at verse number 21. It says, she's not afraid of the snow. She's like, you know, just put this as like, she's not afraid of any trouble, of anything that could come because she knows that her family is taking care of. She knows that everything is squared away. She's not afraid of the snow for her household. For all her household are clothed with scarlet. This woman is on top of things. She has things taken care of. And look, this woman is also, you know, let me just say this as well. So the woman should guide the house, be a keeper at home. And a question that I've been asked is, well, this woman is, she's making garments and she's selling the garments. She considers a field and she buyeth it with the fruit of her hands. And she perceived it in verse number 18 that her merchandise is good. Her candle go out, not by night. She lays her hand to the spindle. Her hands hold the disc staff. She's working very hard. And she's selling some things, the Bible says. So I mean, the question is, the question I've been asked is, is it okay if a woman, if a mother, you know, works from home, has a home business? Something like that. You know, generally the answer is yeah, that's, there's nothing biblically wrong with that. But I would say this, because I have seen this a couple of times in my short time in the ministry, you have to remember and look, men will do the same thing. Men will do the same thing. So women are in this support role. You know, they're to be keepers at home. They're to guide the house. They're to teach the children the law. This is the homeschooling mom right here, okay? And what people will say is, what people will say is well, you know, can a woman have a home business? And you know, because of the Proverbs 31 woman is, you know, she's doing a lot of stuff here. And she's selling merchandise. All I would say is theoretically yes, that is true. But a mother has to remember that her first works are teaching the children. Her first works are homeschooling the children. And let me just say this, there is a wide spectrum of homeschooling mothers out there. There is homeschooling mothers that are just from the moment they get up, they are teaching the children until I get home. And it is just nonstop education. It is just extremely hardworking education. I can tell you right now that my wife would have never had, we didn't have that many kids compared to a lot of people that we know. And my wife would have never had time to run a home business. So you have to remember that theoretically, yes, it's okay biblically for a woman to have a home business. But the problem is, is that if it gets in the way of her first works, which is her duty to the family, to the house, to the children, to her husband, then it becomes unbiblical very quickly. And I have seen that a few times. I have seen where all can work from home and then all of a sudden the children are put to the side. The Deuteronomy 6 mother is put to the side and it's all about trying to make money. And that is not, look, that is not right. Men will do this too. Men will do this too. Men will say, well, oh yeah, first Timothy chapter five, verse number eight, you know, he that doesn't take care of his own is worse than an infidel. You know, he that doesn't provide for his own is worse than an infidel. So men will say, I must support my family. True. And then men will go make all kinds of unspiritual, unbiblical decisions to chase money, to chase a career, to get their family somewhere where there's no church or just make all these just horrible decisions all to like, oh well, I need to support my family. Wrong, you have first works. You have first works. Your first work is to be the spiritual leader of your family. Is to have your family in a good church where your family is growing and learning the Bible that is out soul winning and winning people to Christ. Look, that's really what it's all based on right there is those first works. So as soon as you start letting basically money, money's the root of all what? Money's the root of all evil. As soon as you start letting money just dictate your life, you can turn things that are theoretically okay into bad things in a hurry. And that's what you see today. You see people just throwing the kids onto the bus for a dollar. It's pitiful. It's pitiful. You see Christians doing this and in the world it's a regular thing to do this. All just for money. So we can drive a nicer car. And look, it's hard living on one income. It's not the easiest thing. For the men, it means you're gonna have to work harder than the normal man. You know, for the ladies, you're gonna have people in society, a society where 80-some percent of women now work. I mean, look, you're gonna be outside the status quo if that's what you choose to do. But look, folks, look, just think about this. Think about Satan's plan for the family. And we talked about this last week. What are the definitions of a manly man in the world today? A manly man is defined by this hard-drinking, womanizing man. That's a manly man. If you watch a TV show or a movie, that's what the pop culture of the day is gonna tell you a man should be. And then you say the definition of a, so now we've got that man. Now let's look at the biblical, not the biblical, but the worldly definition of what a woman should be. A woman should be this loud, bossy, obnoxious person that's out there just trying to compete with men and compete with her husband for the leadership role in the family and just, you know, how's that household gonna go? How's that family gonna, how's that marriage gonna go, first of all? How's that marriage gonna work? Now you understand, look, how are those kids gonna turn out? How are those kids gonna turn out? Now you understand why things are going the way they're going today. You say why are kids just flying off the handle today? This is why. Because this is the roles of men and women that people are following. They're completely thrown off the Bible and they're like, you know, this is what we're gonna do. This is why we see the results that we see today. So folks, ladies, if you're listening to this sermon and you're like, ugh, you're like, ugh. Here's what you need to understand. You need to understand two things. First of all, God wants us to be different. He wants us to be separated. We know this, right? This is why we're a King James only, independent, separated Baptist church. But here's the thing that you really need to understand. And I want you to remember Genesis chapter 17 that we just studied on Wednesday night. This is why these Bible studies are so great on Wednesday nights. Because you actually, what happens? You learn the Bible. Genesis chapter 17. First of all, God wants you to be separate. He wants you to be different. Second of all, it's gonna cost you something. It's gonna be, look, it's not going to be easy. Remember Genesis chapter 17, where God told Abraham, he's like, you know what? I need you to circumcise all the males. Why did he do that? Why did he tell him to do this obscure, painful thing? I mean, why did God implement that? It says in Genesis chapter 17 that it was to be a token. Meaning a sign of how they were separated from everybody else. On how this nation, wasn't there salvation? It wasn't, it was a sign of how they were separated from all the other nations. God implemented this, this a little bit extreme, a little bit painful thing for the men and the male children to do. God could have just said, why I need you to wear a red shirt on Sundays. You know, I need you to just kinda, you know, I want you to put a stripe on your shirt and that way, when everybody knows you, when everybody sees you, they'll know that you're mine. But no, he implemented this thing that it cost them, it cost them something. It was a little bit painful for them to go through. This is what you need to understand men and women about separation, especially women with the sermon this morning. This is something that's gonna separate you. This is something that is gonna, people are gonna look at you and say, she's different and by the way, it's a good thing. People will treat you different, they'll treat you better and you'll find that out. You'll find that out. The woman that goes from, I mean, my wife recognized this, my daughter's recognized this. I mean, if you dress like a lady, people will treat you like a lady. Go figure. But look, it's a different thing and especially at the beginning, it may seem like something that's painful, but here's the thing. It's a picture. It's a picture because what did God do for us? Why make it painful? Why make separation something that, you know, cost me something, but here's the thing. Didn't God sacrifice for us? Didn't God go through something that was painful for us? It's a small picture. It's all of these things we talk about with separation. It's a small token. It's a small token of showing our sacrifice to obey God. That's what it is. You know, because look, everybody, everybody wants all the good things from God. Salvation, I'll take it, it's free. Yes, I want that. Blessings, put blessings on me, God. I'll take all the blessings you can give me. Everybody wants that, but obey him. Listen to what his word says. Ah, only if it's pleasant. Only if it doesn't hurt. But that's not what God wants. Turn to Romans chapter 12, only if there's no trouble. Only if I could still keep going to the same places and I could still hang out with the same people and I could just have the same life. But guess what, folks, it doesn't work that way. That's not how obeying God's law works. Go to Romans chapter 12 and we'll end here. Look at Romans chapter 12. Look at verse number one of Romans chapter 12. It's very simple. The Bible says in Romans 12, one, it says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your what? You present your bodies a living sacrifice. Well, how do you present your bodies a sacrifice? How do you, you know what you do in your body? You know, with how you look, with how you act. This is for men and women. This is why we talked about this in the last couple of weeks. You present your bodies with how we look and how we act, a living sacrifice, whole acceptable unto God, which is great if you do it. No, it's just like Pastor Mejia said when he was here. It's like, it's your reasonable service. It's like, you know what that is saying? It's like, listen to how God wants you to look and listen to how God wants you to act because it's the least you can do is what the Bible is saying here, okay? So look, I hope that helps you out. These are standards that we're just constantly improving, constantly implementing in our Christian lives. And for men, there's struggles. For men, there's struggles. For men, they're just being constantly bombarded. And look, men have to take extra precaution, be extra careful because they're being bombarded with things being put in front of their eyes that they should not be seeing, that they should not be looking at. They should make standards in their families, make standards for where they go. Look, they should have respect for their wife. They should be faithful to their wife. I mean, no man, I knew a man like this many, many years ago, many, many, many years ago that had these strict standards for his wife but no standards for himself. It did not work out well. Look, these standards being faithful to your wife means no matter what is happening around you, you're like, we are not gonna go there. I am not going to put those things in front of me. I'm gonna protect my home and the things coming into my home. I'm gonna protect my children and the things that they see in front of their face. I'm gonna protect my wife and I'm gonna show faithfulness to my wife and my daughter. I'm gonna show faithfulness in a world where faithfulness is going away. And also, for the ladies, just being attacked by really what these standards and these dress standards and the way they're going downhill today, really what they're doing is they're just devaluing women and girls everywhere. They're just telling women and girls that feminism, it must have been invented by a man because they're just telling women and girls that what you look like and what you can wear and not wear, that's your value. That is exactly what the Bible does not say. The Bible says that your value is your spirit. Value is your purity. The value is, and it's so valuable that you can't even put a price on it, the Bible says. It's the Bible that values women. But both are under attack today. So let's make sure that we just listen to what the Bible says and have that define what is correct for us in our lives. So let's bow our heads and have a word.