Titus chapter 2 and Proverbs 31. I'd like to introduce our message this morning by quoting to you from an article in Christianity Today written by a Dr. Armand Nicolai II, who was a psychiatrist on the faculty of Harvard Medical School, and here's what he says. Certain trends prevalent today will incapacitate the family, destroy its integrity, and cause its members to suffer such crippling emotional conflicts that they will become an intolerable burden on society. If any one factor influences the character and development and emotional stability of a person, it is the quality of the relationship he or she experiences as a child with both parents. A society without families will produce such an abundance of emotional misfits that it will not be able to cope with them. What has proven to produce an emotional stable child is a warm, close relationship with both parents. And then he names six major trends that he believes are the causes for why the family is disintegrating in this nation today. And let me name those six major trends. The first one, I think, is the most obvious to every one of us. The issue of divorce. The third one is families which move a lot. The children are not able to develop roots in the community and never begin to develop strong relationships with other children. The fourth trend is the invasion of television into the home. He said that 20% of the life of the next generation will be spent in front of a television set. Now, if you take 20% of 70, that's 14 years of watching, for the most part, anti-family propaganda. The fifth trend, which he says is helping destroy the family, is lack of control in our society. And he means by that a society where there are no moral standards. Because a society with no moral standards breeds moral confusion, which produces an abundance of guilt, which results in abnormal behavior. A tremendous increase in the use of drugs, and alcohol, and violent crimes, and all kind of weird sexual practices. I think we're beginning to see some of these things in our own society. And the sixth major trend, he says, is lack of communication within the family itself. Now, if you'll notice, I deliberately did not name the second major trend, which he said is causing this tremendous breakdown of the family and makes it almost impossible for the child to develop this close relationship with parents. In his opinion, the second most devastating trend in this nation is the working mother. The working mother. He goes on to say, in my clinical studies it has been very clear to me that no woman can do both, meaning working outside the home and raising children. No woman can do both without sacrificing the quality of her work or the quality of her child care. Now isn't that exactly what Jesus said in Luke 16, verse 13? No servant can serve two masters. He will love one and hate the other, or he will hold to one and despise the other. Notice Jesus did not say it is hard for a servant to serve two masters. He says no servant can serve two masters. Kate Millett, a radical feminist, wrote a book called Sexual Politics, and this is a statement she made in her book. The family unit must go because it is the family that has oppressed women. Now, it's interesting if you take the words of Dr. Nikolai and this Kate Millett and put them together, you'll see that they're both saying the same thing, but for different reasons. Nikolai warns of the danger of destroying the family. Kate Millett welcomes the destruction of the family. But both are saying that one of the most effective ways to destroy the family is to get the mother out of the home and into the workforce. Carolyn Bird, another radical feminist, in an interview in U.S. News & World Report admitted that the family, where there's a mother working outside the home, the possibility of divorce certainly looms much higher. When I was in Florida this past summer, I was watching a television program where they had two psychiatrists, and the one psychiatrist, and neither one of them made any professions of knowing the Lord or anything at all, the psychiatrist said, well, if we want to save our nation, we have to save the home. And if we want to save the home, we need to get the husband back in the position of leadership and the mothers back in the home raising children. Now, all of these so-called experts, whether they are for the working mother or against the concept of the working mother, all make the same statement that it is the major cause of destroying the family in our nation today. But the issue we'd like to look at is not what the experts say, but what does God say? And that's the area of our concern this morning as we are working our way through a series on the Christian family. And there's no way that I could work through a series of this nature without dealing with this issue, even though it is a very volatile issue. Even though there may be some of you who may be mad by the time I'm finished this morning, you may be upset with what we're going to say, But I think as long as I say what God's word has to say, your dealings are not with me, your dealings are with God. So let's look at this this morning. The priorities of the Christian mother. I'd like to first of all lay down to you a proposition and then seek to prove that proposition by looking at a command of God and then by an example. First of all, this is the proposition. The Christian mother's priorities are her husband, her children, and her home. The Christian mother's priorities are her husband, her children, and her home. And if she gets those priorities backwards or seeks to adopt other priorities, There will be problems in that home or in the future generations from that particular home. You cannot violate the commands of God and expect not to suffer consequences for it. Alright, that's the proposition. Let's seek to prove that proposition by looking at a command in the book of Titus, chapter 2, and then by example, by looking at Proverbs 31, verses 10 through 31. And if you want to follow along with the outline, it is on the back of your bulletin. Alright, first of all, let's prove that proposition by looking at the command in Titus chapter 2, and I'm beginning to read in verse 3, down through verse 5. Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, not enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good. that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored." Now, as we look at that command, we want to look at its basic features. Paul is telling young Titus that the older women in the church have a definite ministry, a very, very important ministry. Many women say, well, gee, I'm old, I don't really have a ministry. But Paul is saying, you older women have a tremendously important ministry, and that ministry is to teach the younger women what her priorities are if she's a married woman with children. And Paul says, here are the woman's priorities. You older women are to teach the younger women, first of all, to love her husband, love their children, verse 5, and to be workers at home. That's the priorities of a Christian mother. Now let's look at that phrase, workers are home, because that's the one, that's the area of our concern this morning, and that's the phrase that causes all kinds of problems in the minds of many people because they don't really want to accept what God has to say. The word workers at home comes from a compound Greek word, oikergous. Oikos, which means home. Ergon, which means work. Home, work. Worker at home. And many times the word ergon, which is translated workers or work here, is used in the New Testament in this way, an assigned task. Your area of employment, a lifetime task and responsibility. Let me show you very quickly two references just to prove that point. Look at Mark chapter 13, please. Very quickly, because we do have a lot of ground we want to cover this morning. And I don't want to run over into the Sunday school hour if I can, if at all possible. Mark chapter 13, verse 34. Jesus is talking about being aware of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Mark 13, verse 34. I'm reading from the New American Standard. It's like a man away on a journey who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge assigned to each one his task. Now that word is air gone. Now, it's not saying that the man who went away on his journey gave his slaves a part-time job. What he is saying there, he assigned them a task. That was their complete area of responsibility. We see that same word over in John chapter 17, where our Lord is praying what is commonly referred to as His high priestly prayer. In John 17, verse 4, He says, "...I glorified thee on the earth, having accomplished the work, the air gone, which thou hast given me to do." Well, what are we trying to say? In every instance in these specifically in these two instances and in the book of Titus, when it says work here, it's talking about your assigned responsibility, your assigned task, your area of employment. So, in other words, when Paul says to young Titus that the younger women with children are to be workers at home, he is saying in a very real sense that is their area, their total area of responsibility, their husband, their children, and they are to be employed at home. Now, the problem, as you look at the scene today, is that if many of the younger Christian wives are outside the home working, this is going to cause a lot of problems in the future, just by looking at this particular text. If they don't have the right priorities as they are younger women, when they become the older women and begin to teach the younger women, what are they going to teach them? The only thing they know, how to go out and establish a career. What's that going to do to the Christian home in several years from now? I just heard an interesting statistic on the radio just two weeks ago, the kind that sort of makes your blood run cold when you hear it. They said if the current trend of the working mother continues, that by the year 2000, by the way, that's only a little over 18 years away, by the year 2000 we will have a total matriarchal society. You know what a matriarchal society is? That's a society that is totally controlled and dominated by women. In other words, they are saying that by the year 2000, a little over 18 years from now, the women will be in the place of leadership in the government, and leadership in industry, and leader in finance, and the men will be those who are home taking care of the family. In other words, in a little over 18 years, they expect that there will be a total reversal of the roles as far as the husband and wife are concerned. And you say, oh, that can never happen. One out of three mothers right now with children under three are working outside the home. Fifty million working mothers. We are about to get the first woman on the Supreme Court. I'm not going to say anything for or against that. That's not up to me. But the thing that concerns me is just a week or so ago in the newspaper, there was a full-page article on the very real possibility of very soon having nine women on the Supreme Court. I just cut this out of the paper this last week. Maybe many of you saw it. Forty-one percent of the workforce in the state of Pennsylvania are women. Forty-one percent. Even the Pope came out and said that they ought to pay the men more wages so the women could stay home. Not very often I agree with the Pope, but there I'd say right on. And the question in light of all of this, and specifically in light of this passage here, the question we need to ask is, who's raising the children? Who's staying at home and raising the little ones? And the greatest tragedy of all is that many Christians are contributing to this scenario, either because they're unaware of the devastating problems it could cause, or unfortunately, in some cases, in spite of it. I have an article here from the U.S. News & World Report, but because of the time, I won't take time to read it, but it's called, When School Kids Come Home to an Empty House, and it talks about the devastating psychological effects it has when children come home from school when their mother's not home. You say, oh yes, but you see, I'm home before my children come out of school. God says you should be a worker at home. Jesus said you can't serve two masters. He did not say it's hard to serve two masters. He said you cannot serve two masters because you will love one and hate the other. You will hold to one and despise the other. I didn't say that. Jesus said that. I didn't say a woman should be a worker at home. Paul said that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Studies show that children whose mothers are at home are more emotionally stable than those whose mothers are working. You see, when that little child goes off to school, especially in those early years, he no longer has the security of having mom around. But when he knows mom is home, or she knows mom is home, that little mind thinks, if I get sick or something happens, I don't have to worry, mom's at home. Mom's like an anchor there at home. Every one of you parents know, and you know when you were children. When you were sick, it made no difference how much you loved your father. When you were sick, who'd you want? You wanted mom. You wanted your mother. Because for some reason, a father just cannot bring the kind of comfort that mom can bring. I know when our children were little and we were first married, I wasn't even aware of this. My wife had a part-time job where she'd go out and demonstrate these clothes at these parties. And I'd be home with the kids, and I'd do everything I could to entertain those kids, but they were just like fish out of water. When's Mommy coming home? When's Mommy coming home? When's Mommy coming home? She'd drive in the driveway, they'd run to the window, and their whole personality would change. Because Mom was home. I was reading a book by Charles Tremendous Jones on life is tremendous, and he was talking about the day he was in his study, in the house studying, and this little boy come running in screaming at the top of his lungs, Mom, Mom, Mom, Mom, where are you? He said, he walked right by me, just totally ignored me, and she come up out of the cellar from doing clothes, and he says, what in here, what do you want? Oh, nothing, I just wondered where you were. Do you ever wonder why those football players on nationwide television When they stick the camera up in their face, what do they say? Hi, Mom! What's Larry Holmes say when Howard Cosell sticks the mic up under his face after he just got done knocking somebody's head off? Hi, Mom! I'm okay, Mom! Why? Because those men knew that their mother fulfilled a need in their young lives that no other human being can fulfill. And unfortunately, many Christian mothers aren't fulfilling that need, because they're working outside the home. Sometimes it breaks my heart in my neighborhood when I see husband and wife jump in their individual cars, and as they're pulling out, the babysitter drives in behind them, and there's two little children standing at the screen door crying, because there goes mommy off to work. That's the features of this command. Older women teach the younger women to be. and to love their husbands, to love their children, and be totally involved in working at home. And now Paul gives us a reason why he gives this command. Look at the latter part of verse 5 of Titus 2, that the word of God may not be dishonored. There's an implication that comes from that. If a wife is not loving her husband, not loving her children, not being a worker of home, the Word of God will be dishonored because the neighbors are going to look around and say, hey, they got the same problems we have. They claim to be born again. They claim to be saved. They claim to have the truth, but they got the same problems we have. What difference does it make? You say, Pastor, aren't you building an awful lot on one phrase? Well, if that was the only phrase that spoke in that direction, I'd say that would take and bear all the weight that you could put upon it, but I think the point is well taken. Let's look at 1 Timothy chapter 5 and see if there's another portion of God's Word which says basically the same thing. 1 Timothy chapter 5, verse 14, just over the page a few pages. 1 Timothy 5 verse 14, Therefore I want younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house. Basically the same thing. Get married, bear children, keep house. Why? It gives another reason. And give the enemy no occasion for reproach. Again, the implication is that if the women aren't getting married and bearing children and keeping house, you will give the enemy occasion for reproach. Remember, we cannot violate God's Word without suffering devastating consequences. And I think it's interesting that for one of the few times where the Word of God and the world agree, I think that's interesting. Because generally, and almost without exception, the world's ideas will always be in conflict to God's Word. But I think it's interesting that they both make the same observation. Although they may disagree, and if anyone from the world would hear the kind of message we're speaking about this morning, they say, that's right out of the caveman era. That's something I'd expect back in the dark ages, where the wife has to be a worker at home. But they all come to the same conclusion. Even though we do want the women out into the workforce, as the world says, we do recognize it is the one thing that's breaking up the homes of this nation today. All right, we looked at the command. Now let's look at the example. Go over to Proverbs 31, please. Proverbs 31. You want to be looking at the last several verses in Proverbs 31, beginning in verse 10. We've seen the command in Timothy chapter 5, Titus chapter 2. Now we come to the example in Proverbs 31. And may I remind you that the Word of God says on at least five occasions, in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every fact may be confirmed. We have three passages of Scripture that basically say the same thing. Therefore, it is a fact that is confirmed. that the mother, the responsibility of the mother as far as her employment is concerned, is to be in the area of her home. And we want to look at this particular passage. We've broken it down into at least four basic heads. May I say any attempt to break it down and divide it up is strictly arbitrary. because each verse begins with what they call a Hebrew heprostic. In other words, it begins with the successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet. So you can't really divide it up, but I sought to do that to help you better retain what's in this particular passage. Now, many like to take this passage and use it as a contradiction to what Paul said in Titus. May I say, any time your interpretation of Scripture obviously contradicts another passage of Scripture, your interpretation is wrong. because God's Word does not contradict, what you will see is that Proverbs 31, rather than contradicting Titus 2, verse 5, is an expansion upon that phrase, worker at home. What does it mean to be a worker at home? And this passage, I think, shows in a very comprehensive way what it actually means. And when you're done, no woman will be able to say, well, I can do all that in a few hours and then I don't have nothing to do the rest of the day. I think as you read this, you'll find that you'll need 27 hours in a day to do what this woman does. And by the way, we'll look at how God evaluates her. We first of all want to look at her character, her concerns, her capabilities, and then her commitment. Let's look first of all at her character in verses 10 through 12. If you'd like to outline that in the Bible so that you're able to retain this material later on for your own edification, please feel free to do that. Verses 10 through 12 would be her character. The first thing we recognize in her character, it is precious. Look at the first part of verse 10. An excellent wife, who can find," or you may have a translation, a virtuous woman who can find. We see that this woman's character is precious because God calls her an excellent wife. In Proverbs 12, verse 4, it says, "...an excellent wife is the crown of her husband." Ladies, if you are an excellent wife, in God's perspective, you are like the crown on the husband, just like the crown that sits on the head of the king. That's valuable. Because that is the symbol of his authority, and it's usually filled with precious jewels. Her character is precious not only that, but because she's a gift from God. Proverbs 19, verse 4. A prudent wife is a gift from the Lord. Her character is precious because she's rare. Notice the latter part of verse 10. An excellent wife, who can find? There's just not many of them around. Anything that's rare is precious. And as you read this passage, you'll soon understand why they are few and far between. The second thing we see about her character is not only is it precious, but it's priceless. For her worth is far above jewels or far above rubies. In other words, you can't measure her worth by monetary considerations. I know the feminists a few years ago were saying what we need to do is find out what the wife should be actually paid, what her worth is, and then pay her. Well, you can't pay this kind of a woman because her value is far above any kind of monetary considerations. And one thing we have to recognize as we read this passage is that God and man have different value systems. Luke 16, 15 says, that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God. In other words, man will look at something and say, that's very valuable. God says, that makes me sick. But the opposite is true. God looks at something and says, that's priceless. Man looks at it and says, it's valueless. And that's certainly true in this area that we're studying this morning. The woman that God highly esteems, as you read this passage, man looks down upon as something being less than a second-class citizen. She's a slave. She's in bondage. She's a victim of the society that we live in. But God looks at that same woman and says, she's priceless. Now, men will look at certain women and say they're very valuable, and God will look at them and say they're a dime a dozen. You know, who is it that the world considers very valuable? Those who portray themselves on a movie screen or on your television screen in all kind of lewdness? They're the ones who are making the money. They're the ones who are the stars. The feminists who shake their fists and claim they're going to bring down the Christian home and are going to destroy the family in this nation, they're the ones who get all the publicity. They're the ones who are on your talk shows. They're the ones who are considered valuable in our society. But God says they're worthless, because they're a dime a dozen. Her character is precious, it's priceless. It's also practical. Look at verses 11 through 12. The heart of her husband trusts in her. and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life." You see, her character is precious and priceless, not because of what she's doing outside the home, but because of her relationship with her family, and specifically her husband. As you read this, you find that she's consumed with one desire to be pleasing to her husband. That's her first priority. See how that lines up with Titus chapter 2? Her first priority is her husband. Now, let's notice three things about these two verses. First of all, we notice that she promotes confidence in the first part of verse 11. The heart of her husband trusts in her. Now, you can think of many, many reasons why that would be so. She promotes confidence in her husband about herself because of her purity. There's no reason for him to ever be jealous of the way she conducts herself, in her modesty, the way she dresses, her support of him, where she prays for him and encourages him. And when they're out in public, she never says anything to cut him down in front of other people. She promotes confidence. Secondly, she's conservative. Look at the latter part of verse 11, "...and he will have no lack of gain." She's not wasteful. She doesn't spend all his income. She doesn't run over to Bamberger's or Sears and run up a great big gigantic charge account. She's not concerned and she's not obsessed with having things and trinkets and junk at her house. Thirdly, she's consistent. Verse 12, she does him good and not evil all the days of her life. It doesn't say she does him good on occasion, but she does him not evil but good all the days of her life. She fulfills his physical needs, nurses him when he's sick, sensitive to his needs, to his problems, and to his disappointments, all the days of her life. In other words, she took her marriage vows seriously. When she said, for better or for worse, through sickness and in health, through death do us part, she took the vow seriously. Alright, that's her character. Let's look at her concerns. There's three concerns that this woman has. Verses 13 through 22. food, finances, and finery. First of all, let's look at her concern for the food of her family. Verse 14, she's concerned about the quality of the food. She's like merchant ships. She brings her food from afar. Now, I had to wrestle with that phrase and try to say, what is the writer trying to say here? Well, I'm not sure I know the full significance of it, but as I read and remember about King Solomon, he used to send out his ships and they'd import all kinds of exotic things, including exotic and priceless and very high-quality food. And I think that's what the writer's trying to say. That the woman here spares no quarter in finding quality food for her family. Not only is she concerned about its quality, but its preparation. Verse 15. She rises while it is still night and gives food to her household and portions to her maidens. No TV dinners here. No warmed up leftovers all the time. Notice she gets up early. She doesn't lay in bed till noon. She gets up before it's daylight. Your husband's quitting jabbing your wife in the ribs now. She makes sure the family and the servants are properly fed. That's interesting. She's not like Rodney Dangerfield's wife. Rodney Dangerfield says, my wife is such a bad cook that at our house we don't say, come and get it. We say, try and eat it. But there's another thing that I thought was interesting here. This woman is married to someone that we would probably consider in the upper middle class as far as economics are concerned. Notice she has servants and down in verse 23, he's one of the town fathers. In other words, this is an interesting point. This is not a picture of a woman who works like this just to make ends meet. If she lived in our society today, we would probably say she doesn't have to do these things. Her husband makes enough money. They seem to be economically well off where she doesn't have to do that. But she does it because that's her assigned task. Titus 2, verse 5. Her first concern is her husband, then her family, without regard for her own comfort. Without regard for her own comfort. The second thing she's concerned about is not only the food, but the finances. Verses 16-18. She's thrifty. She's a good steward of her husband's money. First of all, she's conscientious. Notice verse 16. She considers a field and buys it. Underline that word considers. That's important. In other words, she takes everything under consideration before she goes out and buys this field. It may be that she considers its worth. Can we afford it? Is the title free and clear? Is it good soil? Will it be good for the family? After consideration from all angles, she buys it because she's conscientious. And notice, as she plants the vineyard, she's not taken in by some kind of phony sales scheme and false discounts, but because she has considered this field in every aspect, she buys the field because she's conscientious. Secondly, she's considerate. From her earnings, she plants a vineyard. She doesn't buy the field for her own selfish reasons. She doesn't want to become a real estate agent. She doesn't want to become a land baron and say, look how great I am. She does it for one reason, for the family. She considers a field and buys it. And from her earnings, she plants a vineyard. We'll find out where she gets her earnings from later on in our study. Not only is she conscientious, not only is she considerate, but she's careful. Look at the first part of verse 18. She senses that her gain is good. She takes a dollar and seeks to stretch it as far as it'll go. She gets her money's worth. Maybe she takes care of all or takes advantage of all the coupons and the newspaper. She'll go and find where the best values are and take advantage of them. So we see that she's concerned about her food, her finances, and her finery, or clothes, verses 19 through 22. Now, as you read this, you begin to say, yeah, but this woman, they probably run around in rags. They probably look just the way I have it in my mind. They're wearing barrel-op bags and rope-firm belts and shoes half-worn out. The kids probably look like they just got off the boat. Well, let's see if that's true. One thing as you read these next few verses, you'll find that her family, as well as the interior of her house, and herself, last nothing as far as their wardrobe is concerned. Notice her attitude as far as making the clothes. Verse 13, she works for wool and flax and works with her hands in delight. Now, I've shared this passage with some women, especially when we went through this woman's seminar. And I've had some women say, well, I don't like to sew. I don't like to make clothes. Well, a slave doesn't ask his master and tell his master what he likes. We're slaves of Jesus Christ. And if He tells us what to do, we don't tell Him, oh, we don't like that. There's areas in the ministry that I don't like, but it's not that I do them. But she has the right attitude. She works with her hands in delight. Notice her ambition, verse 17. She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong. That's interesting. Here's a woman with all her busyness, takes time to exercise. How does she make her arms strong? By exercising. She keeps in physical condition. When you find out what she does, you'll know why she has to be in the physical condition that she's in. But that's important. Many people today, and I'm not picking on women, I'm specifically mentioning men. Most men can't go through a day of hard day's work, including myself, without being exhausted because we're in such lousy physical condition. This woman takes time to exercise. Verse 18, the latter part. Her lamp doesn't go out at night. She's not in the sack by 8 o'clock at night. She's up early, goes to bed late. Why? Because she's totally involved with her family. Her attitude, her ambition. Now let's look at her aim, verses 20-22. As we notice, as she begins to make all the clothes of her family. Notice verse 20. She's concerned, first of all, with the poor. She extends her hand to the poor, she stretches out her hands to the needy. Maybe she sees Johnny Jones down the street who doesn't have as much as she has, and while she's making clothes, she's even concerned about the poor people. Secondly, she's concerned about her family. Verse 19, she stretches out her hands to the distaff, and her hands grasp the spindle. Verse 21, she's not afraid of the snow for her household. for all her household are clothed with scarlet. Winter's coming, she says, but I don't have to worry about the high prices over at Hesse's. I don't have to worry about the high prices over at Bamberger's. I don't have to care about the ridiculous prices they want for that jacket. I'll sit and make my family's clothes, and when winter comes, they'll be clothed with the finest winter clothing you can have. After she takes care of the poor, After she takes and clothes her family, she's concerned about furnishing her house. The first part of verse 22, she makes coverings for herself. Now, when you compare that with Proverbs 7, 16, I have spread my couch with coverings. You understand what she means? She furnishes her house. She's got the finest drapes, the finest bedspreads. She's got the finest wallpaper. She paints and fixes up her house. After all of that, after she takes care of the poor, takes care of the family, fixes up her house, then she looks after herself. Verse 22, latter part, her clothing is fine linen and purple. That's an interesting phrase when you compare that to Luke 16, where Jesus talks about the rich man who was clothed with purple and fine linen. In other words, despite all the hard work this woman goes through, because she's an industrious woman, she doesn't have to take a back seat to anybody as far as her wardrobe is concerned. She's dressed like a queen. Those are her concerns. I hope you noticed, ladies, that if you were concerned like that, you wouldn't have to worry about not having enough to do at home. What are her capabilities, verses 23 through 28? And this I would like to really bring forth to your thinking, because Today, if you would preach this message, like I said, to the average mentality of our day, they'd say, well, that kind of a career for a woman is demeaning. It's restrictive. It hinders her full development. She'll never be able to reach her full potential. I had some woman come up to me and say, why should I send my daughters to college then, if they're only going to be a housewife? I want my daughters to be somebody. And whose economy? God's or man's? Let's find out if this woman is shackled in her home or whether she's unable to reach her full potential or not. First thing we notice, she's influential. Verse 23, her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land because of her husband. Because of her, her husband is a respected businessman. He's an influential businessman. As a matter of fact, he sits among the elders of the land. In other words, he's one of the town fathers. Because of her, or at least certainly she plays a significant role. The old adage is true behind every successful man is a woman. Her conduct, her character, her desire to be a God-honoring wife has a tremendous positive influence on her husband's reputation. Second thing we see, not only is she influential, but she's industrious. Verse 24, she makes linen garments and sells them and supplies belts to the tradesmen. After she's helped the poor, After she clothes her family, furnishes her house, clothes herself, she's industrious enough to have a little business on the side. You say, aha, see, she works outside the home. That's not what the text says. There are three important things you need to notice here. As we just said, this little business of hers never takes precedent over her domestic affairs, and she's working out of her home, not outside the home. She's not putting herself under another master. She has her own little business as a result of her being industrious. By making the clothes for everyone else, she's even able to make a few pennies on the side to help supplement the family income. Thirdly, she's independent. Verse 25, "...strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future." She's not worried about the future. She's not worried about inflation. She's not worried about whether the kids are going to have enough clothes to wear, or whether the family is going to have enough to eat. Because of the way she's totally committed to the home, she's taking care of all that. I read, I heard an interesting statistic not too long ago where they said that the worst credit risks in the United States are two paycheck families. They're the worst ones when it comes to paying the bills. Although more money is coming in, they're spending more, they're spending more. And they're not really getting out of debt, they're just in debt further because they buy things that normally they wouldn't be able to buy. Not only is she independent, but she's intelligent. Verse 26, she opens her mouth in wisdom. Now, that's very significant in light of Proverbs, because the word of God is where wisdom comes from as you read this entire book. This was a woman who was a Bible student. This was a woman who knew God's word. And when she taught, she preached truth with love. And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. That doesn't sound to me like a second-class citizen. That doesn't sound to me like a woman who's in bondage. That sounds to me like a woman who's been totally liberated. She has dignity. She has poise. She's full of wisdom. She's unselfish. She's highly regarded and highly respected in her community. We're going to have to close. Let's look at the last part, her commitment, verses 27 through 31. First of all, in verse 27, the reality of her commitment, she looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Three things. She's totally committed to her assigned task. She looks well to the ways of her household. You cannot look well to the ways of your household if you're away from the household 40 hours or more a week. Second thing, she has a total unselfish attitude. Her main concern is for others. That's interesting. That comes through that whole passage. She's concerned about her husband, her family, her servants, the poor, and only after she takes care of them is she concerned about herself. And that's the problem with people who want to work outside the home, and especially when you hear some of these feminists speak, they're all caught up with I, my life, and my desires, and my income, and my role in the community. I, I, I, I, I. But this woman is concerned for others. Doesn't that fit in with what the Apostle Paul tells us, and the entire Word of God tells us? But notice, when she's concerned about others, she walks, she talks, she dresses and acts like a queen in all her regal splendor. Again, she has to take a back seat to no one. Because as she gives to others, God gives back so much more to her. Let's look at the results of her commitment, verses 28 through 29. Her children rise up and bless her, her husband also, and he prays to her, saying, Many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all. Listen, one of the true evidences of a person's true spirituality is what do the people who know him best say about him. We can come to church every week and fool everybody else in thinking that we're spiritual. because we don't see what we do during the course of the week. We don't see each other in the most trying of conditions. We don't see each other when we're grouchy and grumpy, and when we're not really living the way the Lord wants us to live. Therefore, we all look spiritual. But these people live with her day and night, and her children rise up and bless her. I think one of the greatest compliments my daughter ever paid to my wife is when she said, When I get married, I hope I can be the kind of wife that you are to daddy." That's the greatest compliment that you could ever receive when it comes from your children, because they see all your faults and your defects. And I'm sure these children saw the faults and the defects in their mother. But as a result of her total commitment to her home, they rise up and bless her. Look at the testimony of her husband. Her husband also, and he praises her saying, many daughters have done nobly, but you excel them all. How many wives would like to have their husbands say that to them? How many wives would like to have that kind of an evaluation from their husbands? You need to be committed like this woman was committed to her home. Finally, the reason for her commitment. Verse 30, charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord shall be praised. That's the reason she was committed to her husband, to her children, and totally consumed by working in the home, because she feared the Lord. That's what her Lord and her Master asked her to do. That's what her total responsibility was. Mothers with young children, I didn't write the book. If this flies in the face of your lifestyle, I'm not the one you need to talk to. The Spirit of God wrote this book. If this makes you angry, recognize you're not angry at me, you're angry at God. Now ladies, I don't know how you could read that passage and shake your head and say that's impossible to be like that, she has to be Wonder Woman. I don't think that's true. I think if you begin to fear your God the way she did and you become totally committed to your home like she was, you will find that you will begin to emulate that woman. And in God's eyes, She's worth more than all the money in the world. In man's eyes, you'll be despised and laughed at and ridiculed. It all depends on who you're trying to please. Men or your Lord. Let's bow in prayer. Let's stand and be dismissed, please. Lord, we realize as we deal with something as involved as this that we leave a lot of questions unanswered. But we do recognize as we study your Word that we need to build strong homes if we're going to have a strong church. And only will we build strong homes if we do what your Word says. I'd ask that you'd work and deal within the lives of every single one of us, whether husbands or wives or children, singles, divorced, whatever, Lord, speak to us. That whatever your Word says, may we bow to its authority, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.