Well, we come to the last session of this conference, and the topic of this conference, as you all know, has been standing firm. All right, so Kelly talking about standing firm on the authority of scripture, Stephen coming and talking about standing firm on the gospel, and then the talk that's likely to get us maybe in the most trouble as a group is gonna be standing firm on God's design for men and women. Culturally, it wasn't that long ago that we were able to joke about the differences between men and women. This is before your time. It's honestly even before my time. But there used to be whole game shows on television really poking fun at some of the obvious differences between men and women. These newlywed shows where you have the husband and wife and they make all these jokes. Really just to highlight that generally, Men and women are different, okay? And that's a fun thing that people used to like to laugh about and poke fun at. But we don't live in that world anymore, do we? Now, if you say anything in jest, kind of highlighting some of the differences between men and women, that is very likely to get you written up. expelled from school, fired from a job, or canceled. Relationships could be lost because of comments that you say about the differences between men and women. So in just a really short time, things have really changed for us. And as we get started, as we think about this extremely important topic, which is God's design for men and women, I just want you guys to understand something. A lot of what we're going to talk about over the next 30, 45 minutes, it is very serious stuff. And I hope that we can laugh along the way. And I hope that as we talk through this and as we look at what the scripture says about God's role, God's intended design for men and women, that this is able to legitimately help you. It's gonna help you to make sense of the world that you live in. It's gonna help you make sense of some of the stuff that you hear from your classmates. It's gonna help you make sense of a lot of the stuff that you're gonna see and experience whenever you go to college. Okay, so I know some of you are very far. It feels like a very long way away from when you're going to leave home and do some of those things. Some of you are much nearer than that. Do we have any seniors other than Aaron that are seniors in high school going to college soon? Are you a senior, Aaron? Okay, well. Okay. He acts like a senior, which I don't know. That's good, okay, so that's good to know. Okay, well I knew that, I knew you were younger than that. So a lot of you still have a ways to go before you're actually gonna leave home and have to face some of these things directly as an individual in the world. But I know that many of you, given the different schoolings that y'all are in, even private schools, you're not exempt from having to think about some of these things. You know, it's really the duty of your parents, it's the duty of your pastors, and it's the duty of those who organize this conference that we wanna see you guys equipped. And we want these two days that you're with us to be a time of meaningful discipleship for you, okay? That way, as you learn these things, as you think about these things, as you study God's word, that you are able to walk faithfully and stand firm. Now something that, just by way of introduction, I want you to think about, and this for old fogies like me, and a few others in the room, it's always tempting to look back on the good old days. The good old days when men and women could joke about being men and women and there was no offense made by that kind of joke. Okay, we always want to harken back and think about how good it was back then. And I want us all, including you, to resist that kind of thinking, because at the end of the day, what we know is God has, in his divine providence, placed you in this time, in this place, for a moment such as this. This is where He has placed you. It does no good for us to look back on what we might think were simpler times, what we might think were better times. This is the time that we're in. This is our moment. So we don't want to have this wishful thinking, always wishing that things were the way they used to be. Or not liking the present reality we're in, even though there's a whole lot maybe that we don't like. This is our time. This is the moment that the Lord has placed us in, and to wish that way is unhelpful. And I do want us to recognize that we really are living in challenging times. Now, I'm sure that if you ask any Christian throughout history, they all would have felt this way. Think about those who were suffering under different types of persecution, who were burned at the stake for things that they believed. If you ask Christians throughout history, they probably all felt to some degree that they were living in a difficult moment. And I think that today, this is especially true, given the kinds of things that the culture is feeding us about God's intended design for men and women. So in every time, in every place, no matter the circumstance, the call that God places on all of our life is that we would stand firm. So, as I've mentioned, Kelly, last night, talked about standing firm on the authority of God's word. And earlier today, Stephen, standing firm on the gospel. Now standing firm on God's design for manhood and womanhood might seem like a different way to end this conference. Those two things we looked at earlier are very foundational. Standing firm on God's word. Standing firm on the gospel. These are those, like Stephen was talking about, that foundational level. If we're going to build a house, we want to get down to the bedrock, we want to construct a building, those are the things that we want to build on. So why are we talking about God's design for men and women? Okay, that seems a little bit like an odd way to end a conference like this. And I think the reason for this is actually very simple, okay? The reason is just that in our time, all right, our enemy, the devil, right, is using more successfully this lie, this lie that's being peddled about men and women today. He's using it most successfully to undermine truth, to destroy families, to weaken churches, to confuse young people, to harden hearts, and to subvert God's intention for his image bearers. He's using lies about men and women to accomplish these things. So hopefully that helps you understand why a talk like this, after a conference like this, with the topic of Stand Firm, why this is such a timely topic for us to think about. It's difficult to think of a more widespread and a more convincing set of lies that are being shared with you, whether you know it or not, that's being accepted by the world, that is doing more damage than ideas regarding manhood and womanhood in the world today. Our desire is that you be watchful and that you be wise. We desire that you have your feet planted firmly in the truth of what God has revealed regarding the calling that God has placed on your life to be a godly man or a godly woman in a world which no longer accepts such things. The world no longer accepts the categories of a godly man and a godly woman. So as we get started, before we turn to the scripture to see what God's design is for men and women, I want us to think a little bit about the lie that's being peddled in our world today. Now at the heart of every lie, you're going to find a contradiction. You all know what a contradiction is? A contradiction is going to be a combination of ideas or statements which oppose each other. So at the heart of every lie, you're going to find a contradiction. And when it comes to the world's understanding for the design of manhood and womanhood, it really appears that a whole series of lies has been accepted. So I'm just gonna give you two. There are more out there, I promise you. The lies regarding manhood and womanhood in the world today are abundant. And I'm just gonna focus on two. And I hope as we talk about these things, I hope that you can see how this is a contradiction. These are two things which really don't belong together, and yet it's two things in which the world puts forward at the same time. So what is this great lie? The first one, goes something like this. Boy, girl, man, woman, male, female, these things are meaningless. Okay, so the first lie. Boy, girl, man, woman, male, female, these things are meaningless. So let's think of an example, okay, where this lie has been accepted and is now being promoted in the world in which we live. Okay, a simple example, eliminating boy toy and girl toy aisles, boy and girl toy aisles in major department stores. It wasn't too long ago that Target made a decision to eliminate boy aisles and girl aisles for toys. Okay, why did they do this, right? Well, because they have a separate aisle for boy toys and a separate aisle for girl toys is to accept that. is to accept that there's a meaningful difference between boys and girls, right? So we're gonna keep those things separate. Well, the lie is that boy and girl distinctions are meaningless. Therefore, we want to eliminate boy aisles and girl toy aisles. We're gonna eliminate those things because this distinction is meaningless. Boy, girl, male, female, man, woman, these are things that are not real. So anytime they show up and they look real, we want to eliminate them. They are meaningless. Okay, so lie number one, boy, girl, man, woman, male, female, these things are meaningless. The second lie, boy, girl, man, woman, male, female, these things are matters of maximal importance. Okay, so lie one, These things are meaningless. Line number two, these are things of maximal importance. Do y'all see the contradiction in these two statements? Okay, meaningless and things of maximal importance. Let's illustrate the second one. Okay, here's an example. Encouraging a man or a woman to be true to themselves, especially when being true to themselves means rejecting their biological sex that they were born with, no matter the cost. Why? Because the categories of male and female are not absolute realities. They're not fixed, okay? They can be changed. They can be altered according to how a person feels about themself in a given moment. And to suppress that feeling is bad. Why is it bad? Because things relating to this are of maximal importance. So as you exit these walls, as you leave your homes, and as you step into the world, you're going to find a strange combination of these two lies being told to you by the culture around us. We're gonna talk a little bit about how these things show up, especially after we look at the book of Genesis. But I want y'all to see that there are a whole series of lies that the culture is communicating to you about what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman. And we definitely, most definitely need scripture to help us know how to navigate these things. And what we're gonna see is really that when it comes to manhood and womanhood, the world has exchanged the truth about manhood and womanhood for a lie, or rather a series of lies. And that God's design for men and women is being rewritten according to lies. And what do y'all think the end of this is going to be? Okay, those who accept these things, those who live by these things, they are going to experience nothing other than misery, destruction, and finally, God's judgment. So these are topics that really do matter, okay? They really are serious, they really are important. So important that we thought it was appropriate to spend some time talking about you, talking with you about these things today, talking with you as though y'all are on your way to becoming mature adults who need to understand what's going on in the world around you. So we talked about the lie, which rejects any idea that there is a God-designed way for men and women to be in the world today. What does the truth say? Here's the question. Does God have a design for men and women? What do y'all think? Does he actually have a design for men and women? What do y'all think? I think he does too. So let's go ahead and look at what God's design is for men and women. So everybody turn. This should be an easy place for you to find. Page 1 of your Bible, right? Genesis chapter 1. And I think the fact that we're turning to Genesis chapter one is an instructive thing. If you want to understand something, a lot of times there's no better place to go than the very beginning of that thing. Okay, because there you can just see what the purpose was, what the intention of the person who made the thing, what the purpose of that thing is. So it makes perfect sense that we would be going to the beginning in order to understand what God's design is for men and for women. So Genesis chapter one, verses 26 through 31. I'll read those in just a second. And then we're gonna jump ahead to chapter two, verses 15 through 24. Now, if you've ever read the creation account in Genesis, you know that God goes through day one all the way through day seven in chapter one. And then in chapter two, okay, the creation story is given again. but it's told with different language using different, you know, different way of describing it. The way I like to look at it is 1 through 7 is kind of that big zoom out picture of creation. On day one, God did this. On day two, he did this. On day three, he did this. And then in chapter two, what the author does is he kind of zooms in. So at first, it's chapter one, it's zoomed out, looking at just the big picture of what God was doing. And then in chapter two, he zooms in. Okay, and he looks very specifically at the creation of man and woman. And he gives a lot more details about that particular part of creation. So that's why we're gonna look in two different parts. So if you're reading through Genesis and you see that, I don't want you to be confused by that. There's not two separate creation accounts. The same event being described in a few different ways. Okay, so Genesis chapter one, verses 26 through 31. Follow along with me. Then God said, let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth. Then God said, behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of the earth and every tree which has fruit yielding seed, it shall be food for you. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that moves on the earth, on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food, and it was so. God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day. So that was the zoom out picture. Now let's look at the zoom in portion. Go ahead and turn to Genesis chapter two, verse 15. Then the Lord took the man and put him into the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it. The Lord God said, it is not good for man to be alone. I will make for him a helper suitable for him. So the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man and he slept. and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in that place. Then the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which he had taken from the man and brought her to the man. The man said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. And for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh. Okay, so there is the account in Genesis of the creation of the first man and the first woman. Very, very important text for you all to be familiar with. There's a verse, hopefully you're taking notes, that there's a verse that you should commit to memory. It's Genesis 1, verse 27. God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. Okay, if you stand firm on that verse alone, so much of the nonsense that's going on around you will have no sway over you. That verse is key. So write that down, put a star by it, commit that to memory. The truth is, there's a lot of things that we can observe from this text. And I'm gonna give you five different things that I want you to, if you're taking notes, and I hope you are, to write down. These things are so obvious that I know that when you go home, your mom or your dad asks you what you learned, you can open up your notes and you can show them these five things. Okay, there's nothing special or super hard to pull from this. It's just five observations about the text. So here they are, number one. Men and women are designed in God's own image. Men and women are designed in God's own image. Okay, that's illustrated in verse 26 of chapter one. Then the Lord said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Okay? Man and woman are designed in God's own image. Look at 27. Then God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. If you read through the first six days of creation, nothing else that God made was given this designation of being made in the image of God. That title was given to man and woman. It is mankind. It is the human race alone that is created in the image of God. Nothing compares in terms of importance, in terms of sanctity, in terms of dignity, than the image of God existing within man and woman. I was talking to my 10 year old son just before we came here and he's reading all these books and he made a comment that I thought was really interesting. He said, you know, I read all these books and one of the things I noticed is that they tend to paint man in a very negative light. they elevate maybe nature, they elevate animals as kind of the heroes, and man is kind of pictured in this negative type light. And I was like, well, that's very perceptive for you to recognize that, and where do you think that's coming from? And, you know, we talked about in Romans where God says that man exchanges the truth for a lie and serves the creation rather than the Creator. And if you do that, guess what? Your view of God's image in your brothers and sisters and in your fellow mankind is going to begin to be skewed, and you are not going to value human life like you should. Okay? God designed men and women in his own image. And as such, men and women are equal in dignity and worthy of the highest respect. Okay? That was point one. Men and women are designed in God's own image. Number two, men and women are created differently and are different. Okay? So this is an area, if we wanted to have some fun and joke around a little bit like the good old days, we probably could do that. But, you know, think about this. Men and women are created differently and are different. Now this is a verse that we didn't read, but if you go to chapter two, verse seven. whenever God creates Adam, it explains how he did it. So two verse seven, then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and the man became a living being. And now go ahead, jump ahead to chapter two, verses 21 through 22. So the Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept. And he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. And the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib from which he had taken from the man and brought her to the man. Okay, so we see two different methods of creation. They were designed, they were created differently, and are different. Okay, so this is where you get into a lot of trouble if you start making these observations. So the difference between men and women is true both physically, okay, emotionally, and mentally. Now let me tell you what I mean by that and what I don't mean by that. Okay, generally physically. Generally, okay, most of the time, men tend to be stronger than women. Is that true in every case? No, it's not, okay? That does not prove the point that generally men are stronger than women, illustrating that men and women are different, okay? Emotionally. Okay, it doesn't mean that there are some men that maybe are a little more, that carry themselves in a more emotional way like a woman does, and a woman vice versa, that does happen. Okay, but generally, we see that there is a certain way that men are emotional, and a certain way that women are emotional. There's some difference here. Okay, and it's generally true. And mentally, I'm not talking about intelligence, and probably if y'all wanted to have a fight about which gender in here, which sex in here is the smarter of the two, I think that would be an interesting conversation to have, and I imagine that the young ladies in here probably would win that bet, right? Okay. What I'm talking about is in terms of generally males, men, okay, they're more oriented towards engineering, towards things, towards math, towards these types of interests. Their minds tend to work better in those ways than women's do. And women, okay, think about, okay, just the difference between a man and a woman in terms of the kind of books they like to read. All right. Generally, females like, they prefer fiction. Men tend to prefer nonfiction. This is generally true. It's not true in every case, but if you look at the buying book habits of men and women, you can see a difference. Okay? These are things that are generally true. and they're true and God created us with these differences for the purpose that we would be together more suitable for rulership. Now that takes me to the third point. Okay, so let me just repeat all that because I know I said a lot there. Men and women are created differently and are different. And the reason for those differences is that men and women would complement each other and make us both more suitable for rulership in this world. Okay? So these differences really do matter. They really are real and they don't look the same within every individual person. Okay? These are things that are generally true. All right, number three, men and women are designed to rule over creation. Men and women are designed to rule over creation. Look again at chapter one, verse 26. Then God said, let us make man in our image according to our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. Okay, let us make man and let him rule over creation. Look at verse 28. God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and rule over the fish of the sky and over the birds and over the fish of the sea and the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And then look at one more verse, chapter two, verse 15. Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to keep it. So man and women are designed by God to rule over creation. Now, while Adam and Eve are both to participate in rulership, the man and the woman have different and complementary roles in that task. Adam, the man, is designed to bear the responsibility of rulership. Like we saw in chapter two, verse 15, then the Lord took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it. And Eve is designed to be his helper. Look at 2.18. Then the Lord God said, it is not good for man to be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him. Okay, so man and woman are designed to rule over creation. And if you remember in chapter three, verse nine, after Eve had taken the fruit, ate, was deceived by the serpent, she took the fruit she ate. She was the first one who did that. And then she gave some to Adam and he also ate. When God showed up, Who did he go find and who did he talk to first? He talked to Adam. Because Adam had the unique responsibility of bearing the responsibility of rulership and Adam failed at that. So God went directly to the man to address that sin. Number four, men and women are designed to fill the earth with image bearers. Men and women are designed to fill the earth with image bearers. So again, 128, we keep coming back to that verse as well. God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. And look at 224. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. Okay? So men and women are designed to fill the earth with image bearers. So just as soon as God created man and woman, what else did he create? Okay, he created marriage. He created the family. It's important to note that it was God who created marriage between one man and one woman. Marriage cannot be redefined by man. It can't be redefined by a court of law. It cannot be redefined by the state. It cannot be redefined by the church. Marriage is something that was designed at the beginning when man and woman were created and it was given at that time and defined at that time. All redefinitions of marriage that you're going to hear and see about that are becoming commonplace. All redefinitions of marriage are more mirage than they are marriage. You know what a mirage is? You're sitting in the desert, you're looking out, you're about to die of thirst, and there in the distance you see an oasis, palm trees, the whole bit. You know there's water there, okay? And as you start walking, guess what? It's never, it disappears. It's not there. Okay. The point is it's not really there. So any redefinitions of marriage, other than one man and one woman for natural life, okay, is more mirage than it is marriage. And finally, verse five, the fifth point, God's design for men and women is very good. Look at chapter one, verse 31. God saw all that he had made and behold it was very good and there was evening and there was morning the sixth day. So God, after completing his creative work, he took a step back, and he beheld all that he had made, and he concluded that it was very good. From light to darkness, from land to sea, sun to moon, birds to fish, plants to animals, all that he made was good. He said that at the end of every day, and God saw that it was good, right? But it's only at that moment when God creates man and woman, God's created image bearers and he places them within this garden, places them within creation, gives them the task to rule. At that point, his work of creation is complete. He steps back and he declares that this is very good. And after that, what did God do on the seventh day? He rested, right? His work was done. crown of creation, which was humankind, was made and commissioned to rule, to fill the earth with image bearers, and to participate in this glorious task. And after that, he stepped back, saw that it was very good, and he rested. Okay. So we're so tempted. Okay. If you think about the most beautiful picture, there's these pictures that show up on our TV of different, all these different, you know, scenes throughout the world. There was one recently, I think it was Yosemite National Park. Has anyone ever been to Yosemite National Park? Is it beautiful? Like extremely. I'm just looking at this picture and I'm just, I'm staggered. Like how do places like this even exist? It's just so beautiful. I mean, it's hard to even comprehend the majesty of some of these places. Okay, these are created mountains and rivers and bodies of water and animals and all this creation that's just crying out the glory of God. Okay? All of it pales in comparison. Okay, it should. Then whenever you sit down next to a fellow image bearer and you interact with that person, that's an amazing thing. You are interacting, you are sitting right now in a room full of image bearers. So often we forget that. Okay, these are our brothers and sisters, believers, unbelievers, every single person, okay, that is a person, right, is an image bearer of God. And that is a beautiful thing. That is a very good thing. Okay, we should be oriented around others and find them glorious. So every time you see a beautiful mountain scene, okay, remember that there is something that bears God's image that's even more beautiful than that. And that is yourself, that is your family, that is your friends, that is the people that walk this earth. So it is very, very good. So standing firm, okay, so we just spent, I gave you five points to think about from that text in Genesis about God's design for men and women. And probably you're thinking, okay, I see these things, they're there. Is it difficult to stand firm on these things today? And you may not know the answer to that yet, but I think that you need to know that one day you will need to know that it's important to stand firm on these things because these things are going to come at you and you're going to need a way to be able to understand them and to stand firm. That way you're not swayed. You're not led astray and that you fail in the very intention in which God has created you. So does God have a design for men and women? The answer to that should be a resounding yes. We just read about it. And finally, to be a man or a woman is to receive an assignment or a calling from God to live, to move, and to have your being as a man or a woman in this world. That's part of God's calling, that part of the way he created you is that you would live in this world as a man or a woman. Those who fear God, okay, will joyfully submit themselves to this calling. This will result in God being glorified, and it will result in the flourishing of those around them. And they're going to do this in part because they understand that God does not commit accidents. His designs cannot, under any circumstances, be improved by man. Okay? We know that God does not commit accidents, and so if you in here today are a male or a female, that is God's intended design for you. and to live into that, to accept that calling, and to carry yourself as a man or a woman in this world is a way to bring Him glory and a way to bring flourishing to yourselves and those around you. Now, those who do not fear God, they will submit to their own design for their life. And in doing so, they're going to invite misery, not only on themselves, but also on those around them, that ultimately will result in God's judgment. Now, earlier, before we looked at Genesis chapter one, we talked about those two lies. Y'all remember what they were? Boy, girl, male, female, man, woman. These things are meaningless. Okay, that was the first lie that we heard about. Okay? The second line, boy, girl, male, female, man, woman. These are matters of maximum importance. Okay? There's these two things. Now, I want us to revisit that a little bit because I think that if we think about it a little bit more, well, we're actually going to see that these are lies that are being shared really to manipulate you. Okay? They're things that are given to manipulate you. And here's what I mean by that. If you really think about when someone's saying that the distinction between male and female is meaningless, they usually will give that to you whenever you are advocating for what could be called a more traditional view of manhood and womanhood. That happens to also coincide with the biblical idea of what manhood and womanhood is. So if you stand up and you assert men, God created man, he designed them male and female for a specific purpose. the response will be, oh, no, no, no, no. Those are old, worn-out distinctions. They're actually meaningless. That's what's going to undermine that view of what it means to be a male or a female. And what will happen, the second part of that lie, is anytime a desire shows up that's contrary to the traditional view of male or female, or contrary to what the Bible has described the role for a man or woman to be, guess what? All of a sudden, what was five minutes ago was meaningless, now guess what? it's a matter of maximal importance. So really what this is, the lies that are being told about manhood and womanhood, they're about one thing, and that is rebelling against God. That's it. Those two lies, they serve that very end, to rebel against God. Because anytime that you stand up and say, Manhood and womanhood matters, and the Bible tells us how to be a man or a woman. They're going to write you off and say, that's meaningless. And anytime someone says, I think I want to change genders or whatever else they may want to say, they're going to say, that thing in you is of most importance, and it would be wrong for you to suppress that. You have to accept that, and you have to not only accept it, but you have to force all of those around you to participate, because this is an issue of maximal importance. So I hope that you can see how these two things that we were talking about, they really serve one purpose. And that's to undermine our creator. That's really it. It's a lie of the devil to undermine God. That's it. And as you stand and as you assert what the scripture teaches about man and woman, I promise you, you will be resisted. You will. You'll be resisted in the world today. As the world rejects God, as they reject the intended design of man and woman, we really see that they're doing it because first and foremost, they have rejected God as their creator. They're doing it also because they are convinced that they know better than their creator, right? And they have rejected it because they fear man more than they fear God. Because to stand up to some of these lies requires a tremendous amount of courage and there may be a cost. There may be a cost. They have rejected God's design for man and woman because they prefer lies to the truth. They can't abide the truth any longer. And finally, they have rejected God's design for man and woman because they prefer the bondage of their sin. They have rejected it because freedom to them means to be enslaved to every possible thing other than God and His commands. And finally, as you submit yourself to God, as you submit yourself to His word, as you submit yourself to the gospel, and as you stand firm there, don't be surprised when they reject you. Because they will. Now at the very beginning I made a big deal about us not being hearkening back to the good old days when times were simpler and things were all rosy, right? Let's not do that. I want you to remember that even though this is a hard, increasingly difficult time to walk faithfully in many, many, many ways, I want you to remember that you were made for such a time as this. And I want you to never forget that he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. And though we may suffer the scorn and the mockery of the world for our submission to God's word, his gospel, and his very good design for men and women, we know that the fullest possible life comes by taking the narrow path and conforming ourselves to the truth. rather than following the well-trod path, the wide path, right? Which the world is attempting, in vain I might add, to conform the truth to themselves. So on the narrow path, we conform ourselves to what is true. We conform ourselves to what is revealed. This is hard, okay? There's not many who do it, and we only do it by the grace that the Lord provides. The broad path, the wide path, is a path made up of people who have decided that they're going to try to bend the truth to what they want. You see that distinction? And when you think about the roles of men and women, hopefully you can see that in our time today, this has become a very energized discussion topic. Okay? And what it is, is people on the broad path trying to make war on those who are walking the narrow way. God knows best. His ways are established for all eternity. Everything else is going to blow away like the chaff. cling to your creator and you will not be blown away with it. So in times such as these, when many have so accepted the lie that they can no longer tell the difference between a boy and a girl. And this is a real thing, okay? If you've watched the news, and we can give a myriad of examples, but we have women who are standing before to become judges in the highest court of the land that refuse to answer the question, can you define a woman? Can't do it, they won't do it, okay? Or you have a situation where a man pretending to be a woman is defeating other women at collegiate sports. These are real things that if you turn the TV on you will see them. Our world is drunk on this stuff. And it's critical that in this time we remain sober minded. And the only way you're going to remain sober minded is by clinging and standing firm on God's very good design for men and women standing firm on the beauty of the gospel, and standing firm on the rock-solid foundation of God's Word. And as you do it, He will be your shelter. He will be your hiding place. So let's pray, and I look forward to hearing what y'all's questions or thoughts are after this session. Father, we're so thankful for your word. Thankful for the clarity that it provides for us. And God, I do pray that as we think about topics that are very just difficult to understand given how confused our world is about these things. I pray God that you would provide clarity, that you would provide conviction, and Lord, that your revealed word would guide us, guide our thinking, guide the ways that we interact with others, and Lord, ultimately guide the trajectory of our life, that we would be pleasing to you, and that we would be a blessing, Lord, to the world and to those around us. So Father, we are so grateful for who you are. We're grateful for your son. We're grateful for the room of male and female image bearers that you have brought to this place. And God, I pray that those in this room and those that we know, Lord, would be able to be the kind of light and the kind of influence in a hurting and dark and confused world that it so desperately needs. So give us courage, give us strength, and it's in the name of your son we pray, amen.