All right, well we just saw, before we fellowship together over a meal, that we're all made in God's image. And we've heard about the five aspects of that, and really those five aspects, by the way, are major categories. You could pick up, there's several books I could recommend for you that really flesh all the various aspects of that out. But the heart, the heart, what I want you to remember from that, Just in case it wasn't clear, but it was kind of clarified in our time of questions. The heart of what it means to be made in God's image is that man... and woman were created upright in righteousness and holiness and perfect communion and fellowship with God. And the sin that enters into the world, the sin in which infects every image bearer of God, then robs us of that fellowship with God. And just to reemphasize this, the Second London Baptist Confession says this in Chapter 4, Paragraph 2. It says, After God made all other creatures, He created man, male and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, we picked up on that, rendering them fit unto that life to God for which they were created. Here it is, being made after the image of God, and knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness, having the law of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfill it. Yet, under a possibility of transgressing, being left to the liberty of their own will, which was subject to change. And as we know, left to the volition of their own will, they did indeed break God's command to not eat of the tree, and that it has indeed brought ruin and death into all the world. But in this second session, I want us to look at the biblical distinction of male and female. I want to just begin by saying gender is God's idea. Gender is God's idea. It's not a social construct. The fall of sin entering into the world doesn't destroy gender. The gospel doesn't destroy gender. Where you live out in the world doesn't destroy gender. And if gender is God's idea, then we better pay attention and listen to what God has to say about this. If God is the one who has designed us, He has made us male and female, then we better listen in humble submission to Him of what that means. Imagine if you were there back in the day when Big Ben, the famous clock tower in London, was being constructed. sat at the base of that beautiful clock that I love very much, the beautiful portray of Gothic architecture. And you were there critiquing the structure, critiquing the beauty of it. Oh, this thing is hideous. This is wrong. He should have built it like this way. He should have made it like that. And then the creator, Augustus Pugin. That's probably not how you say his last name, but that's how I'm going to say his last name. He comes up. You're kind of unaware as you're giving your criticism. And he's standing beside you. And then he just politely taps you on your shoulder and begins to sort of take you to school of why he did what he did. And you quickly realize, hmm, who am I to critique this structure. Now that's a silly illustration, but we often do that when we disobey God's word, when we cast doubt upon God's We'll give all kinds of excuses for why it shouldn't be like this and it shouldn't be like that. And at the end of it, it really is the grand excuse of failing to believe that God and all that He does is good and right and just and true. And so when we look at that this evening, this distinction, we must remember that. I want us to go back to Genesis chapter 2. Genesis chapter 2. And what I'd like to do in this final session tonight is to give us a couple of observations just from the text of scripture in Genesis 2 and 3. Then I want to give us a definition of manhood and womanhood. And then I want to conclude by kind of giving us a positive model of womanhood and a positive model and manhood from the Bible. In Genesis chapter 2 we can see 8 observations about men and women. The first thing we see in chapter 2 verses 4-14 is that God created Adam first. Let's read that. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, and the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no bush of the field was yet in the land, no small plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land. and there was no man to work the ground. And a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground. Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living creature. The text goes on to tell us how God created this garden called Eden and God placed Adam in the midst of that garden. But you'll notice there is no woman yet. Eve has not been created yet. God created Adam first. And actually Paul draws upon this in 1 Timothy 2, 11-13 as he's talking about the office of an elder. And he says, let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over man. Rather she is to remain quiet. Why? For Adam was formed first. This ordering is not inconsequential. And Paul is drawing out the theological point here in 1 Timothy 2. And I'm going to talk about this text a little more tomorrow evening. But let me just say the context of this prohibition here towards women is particularly in regards to the corporate worship and in particular the office of pastor who teaches and rules over the congregation. But God created Adam first. Then we see in verses 15-17 that God placed Adam in a garden. And He put him in that garden to work and to keep it. Let's read that together. Chapter 2 verse 15. The Lord God took the man, put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, You shall surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. I want to point out a few things here. Again, Eve is still not here. The woman has still not been created. So there is a sense in which when she is created, Adam is to teach her what the Lord God has commanded them to do. And of this prohibition, to not touch, sorry, that's Eve's interpretation, but to not eat. Yeah, look what I did there. To not eat of the garden in the midst of the garden. And by the way, the language of to work and to keep it are very unique terms in the Old Testament. And everywhere they are found together, they are in reference to the Levites who were commanded to guard and to keep God's temple. And what we learn about later on in the Old Testament is that Eden is referred to as a temple of God. A place in which God specially dwelt. So in one sense, maybe for some of you brothers who like video games, Adam was dual wielding. He had two weapons in his hand. He had a trowel in one hand to till and to work the garden, to cultivate the garden, and he in one sense had a sword in the other hand, as he was called, to guard the garden, to preserve what God had established there. I'm not saying literally Adam had these things, but you're getting the theological point. Then in chapter 2 verse 18, we read earlier this, God declared that it was not good for man to be alone, and he would make Adam a helper. He would make Adam a helper. And this language of helper is really a high calling, a godly title and task. The same word is used in the scripture to speak of the Lord who is the helper of his people. Psalm 70 verse 5 says this, But I am poor and needy, hasten to me, O God, you are my help. Same word. You are my help and my deliverer, O Lord, do not delay. Or Psalm 121 verse 1-2, I lift up my eyes to the hills, from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made the heaven and the earth. We're going to talk more about this tomorrow, but when a woman strengthens, and comforts, and ministers to serve, and to uplift, and encourage, and renew, and nurture those around her, those women are displaying the character of our helping God, the God who is the helper of His people. We see also in Genesis 2 that Adam names things. He names animals. And that's not just an interesting fact for us, but in the ancient Near Eastern world, to give things their name was to show one who had authority. And so God brings the animals to them and He gives them their names. And he does something similar when God creates Eve. He brings her to Adam and Adam gives her her name. She shall be woman for she was taken out of man. Then we see in chapter two, verse 24, we have sort of a wedding ceremony here. God creates the woman and he, in a sense, just as we see on a marriage ceremony, the father brings the bride and presents her to her husband. The Lord brings Eve to Adam and presents her to him. And it's the first song in scripture in verse 23. This is at last bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. Flesh, she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. But notice what it said in verse 24. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. So when a marriage and the union of marriage, a new family unit is formed, And together, the man and the woman, physically and in their God-given dispositions, together become one flesh. And they complement one another and they benefit one another. And together, by the way, they are dependent upon one another to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. That's not something that Adam could have done by himself. But together they are given this command, this creation man, to subdue the earth, to be fruitful and multiply, and to fill the earth. And together they are to do that together. Now we could point out a couple of things about the man and the woman from Genesis 2, and I think we're going to see this in a minute when we get to Genesis 3, about men and women's disposition. Now these are dispositions, these are not absolute distinctions, so please don't hear them in that way. The woman's disposition is more aligned to filling the earth. She has a relational disposition of nurturing and cultivating life in others. Seen even in the name that she is given, Eve in chapter 3 verse 20, she is the mother of all living. One commentator says this, What is the mightiest strategy for influencing the world unto God-glorifying good? It's women of dominion who give their life to the bearing and nurturing of God. Fearing offspring are the power brokers of the world. The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. And so tomorrow we'll see, as we look at men and women in the home, in the church, in the world, we'll see what this cultivating and building up of life around the woman looks like. And then the man, then, he has a disposition more aligned with forming and subduing. He has a working disposition. That's why I say these are dispositions, not distinctions. Because if you've ever met a stay-at-home mom, then you've met someone who works harder than most men will ever work. as they go out into the world. There is no start and stop. There is no task completed. There is just God-glorifying mess after mess to clean up, and attitudes to shape, and conversations to have. So I say these are dispositions, not distinctions. But the man is to cultivate, he's to build, he's to grow things, he is to reap the fruit of his labor to provide for those he is entrusted to care for. But as we'll see tomorrow, men, you are not just cultivator of jobs and tasks. But you're also to be called to be cultivators of people's hearts, especially those in your homes. But one thing's clear when we look at the creation account, and as we look at the New Testament, which helps us understand some of these things. It's clear that Adam is given authority and leadership in the home. He names Eve. He's to teach God's law to Eve. Eve was created to be his helpmate. And Paul is helpful in explaining this to us in 1 Corinthians 11 verse 3. Why don't you go ahead and flip there. We'll read a few verses in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. Now there's some strange things happening in 1 Corinthians 11, and if you ask me in the question and answer time about those strange things, I'm going to say, well, we'll talk about that as elders later. But there's some specific things, looking back at creation, that Paul points to for us. Look, starting, we'll read verse 3, and then we'll jump down to verses 7 through 9. Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 3, But I want you to understand, that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Skip now down to verse 7. For a man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God. Let me just say, whatever Paul means by that, he isn't saying or denying what we've already seen in Genesis chapter 1. That men and women equally are made in God's image. So we've got to use scripture to interpret scripture. He is the image and glory of God. But woman is the glory of man. For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for a woman, but woman for man. So here we see the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 11 really drawing out this principle that Eve, the woman, is created from the man, that God has given man as the head of his wife, as the head of his family. And we're going to flesh that out more this evening and tomorrow. But we see here, just looking at Genesis, all of these observations. And then when we go to Genesis chapter 3, we see a few more things here that I would like to point out. First notice in Genesis chapter 3 the specific ways that God curses the man and the woman. He curses them specifically in the unique roles and dispositions that he has given them. Remember I said that the woman's disposition is primarily that of cultivating life? And what does he say to the woman in chapter 3 verse 16 of Genesis? To the woman he said, I will surely multiply your pain and childbearing. In pain you shall bring forth children. Your desires shall be contrary to your husband, and he shall rule over you. hinders Eve really from filling the earth and also puts enmity between her and her husband. Childbearing is now going to be a thing of pain, a thing, to borrow the imagery from what's going to be said towards Adam, a thing that's filled with pain and thorns and thistles and even infertility. Or all the things that we know that comes now with childbearing and the difficulty of it. And then notice what he says again. Your desires shall be contrary to your husband. But he shall rule over you. Now one suggestion about what's meant by this is that the woman will have an inordinate desire for her husband and she will look to him for satisfaction rather than God. That's certainly a real sin that a wife can struggle with. But actually using scripture to interpret scripture, If we look at Genesis 4, verse 7, the same expression, desire for, is used. And it refers to how Sin seeks to have mastery over Cain. And if that's the way we're to read it then, this means that the wife will be tempted to resent her husband's leadership, desire freedom from his authority, but God says he shall rule over you. Which can either be, by the way, a positive statement or a warning that a man in sinful ways will overstretch his leadership and rule in sinfully harsh ways. I think you could take it both ways. But you see, even in the curse, you see this, the way God curses the woman, it's directly towards her God-given role. And we see the same thing with the man in verse 17. Look what he says, look at the curse towards man. And to Adam he said, because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it. Cursed is the ground because of you. In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. You shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you are taken, for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. By the way, brothers, work is not a result of sin. God created us to work. The thorns and the thistles, the frustration in the work, the lack of fruit from our work, the difficulty of work, all of that is a result of sin. And God curses the man in this specific way, now bringing conflict between him and his work. And even verse 19, now death will be the end of you. Just as you were taken from the dust to the dust, you shall return. I can't go past chapter 3 before we give our definition without pointing out the fact that it's even in the midst of these curses that God is bringing upon man and woman, and by extension creation, because of their sin, here God gives them a word of promise. The first mention in the gospel, if you back up to chapter 3 verse 15 again, He's actually saying this to the serpent. And he says, I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring, and he shall bruise your head. and you shall bruise his heel. That verse, friends, really is the theme of the rest of the unfolding of Scripture. The rest of the unfolding of Scripture really is a searching for and looking for and hearing promises about and seeing pictures of this skull-crushing Savior who will crush the head of the serpent. And though he will receive a mortal wound, right, his heel, he will be bit. He will crush the head of the serpent, and we know that is Christ. So we see all of these observations in chapter 2 and 3, and they're helpful for us as we move in to begin to look at these models of what biblical manhood and womanhood looks like. Well, I want to give us a definition, and definitions can be dangerous because they can either be too narrow and they don't say enough, or they can be broad and they say too much. And so maybe you don't like my definition, but please show me grace. I've given you these definitions actually at the bottom of your handout. of biblical manhood and womanhood. But when we define biblical manhood and womanhood, we must avoid stereotypes. In other words, manhood is more than having a beard, maybe wearing the occasional flannel shirt, having a low emotional intelligence, grunting, and all kinds of other weird things, being a slob, or whatever other stereotype picture you might see of manhood. And womanhood is more than the ideal version of a perfect housewife. It's more than dresses and tea parties and becoming a snack legend. Did you ever go over to a friend's house when you were a kid, and that mom, she was a snack legend, right? You'd always go up to your mom and say, Mom, you got to pick up the, she had a full-on lunchable table here, pizza rolls here, and you know. But being a woman is more than those things. And we could add all kinds of other stereotypes Manhood and womanhood is far more than those stereotypes that often are merely appeals to the flesh and actually end up distorting God's design because they're built on half-truths and usually are reactions, they're overreactions to the insanity in our culture. I would qualify, by the way, while womanhood and manhood are more than skills, wisdom may call a man or a woman to learn certain skills to be better equipped to fulfill their calling as a man or a woman. So while I wouldn't say, hey, you're not a man in here, brothers, if you can't change the tire on your car, I wouldn't say that. That would be unbiblical. It may be wise, brothers, in calling to protect and to provide for your families to know how to change a tire on a car. Okay, I think you get what I'm saying there. We could give all kinds of other examples. But manhood is more than wielding authority and womanhood is more than a gentle and quiet spirit. There are all kinds of sinful pressures on us as men and women to either distort our callings or to abandon our callings. So with that being said, here are the definitions. Biblical masculinity or biblical manhood is displayed in a sense of benevolent responsibility to tend God's creation, provide for and protect others, express loving, sacrificial leadership, in particular contexts prescribed by God's Word. And then biblical femininity or biblical womanhood is displayed in a gracious disposition to cultivate life, help others flourish, to affirm, receive, and nurture strength and leadership from worthy men in particular contexts prescribed by God's Word. I want to point out a couple things about these definitions. First, you'll see these definitions apply to all men and all women, whether you're young, old, married, single, have children, do not have children. Second, these definitions avoid stereotypes. They avoid particular details that the Word of God does not prescribe for us. And we would be foolish to give a definition that narrows manhood and womanhood to something that is smaller than what the Bible gives us. So you'll see in these descriptions, there are all kinds of ways for a lady to do what I have just read here. And there are all kinds of ways for a man to do what I have just read here. These definitions extend to the home, and to the church, and to the world, and every area of life. And these definitions are grounded trying to take Scripture's clear teaching and still leave room for sanctified common sense. Tomorrow we'll actually flesh out these some more. What I want to do, and we'll spend the remainder of our time here, is give you a biblical picture, a biblical model of manhood and womanhood. The Bible is full, if you were to begin in Genesis and go to Revelation, is full of examples of godly women. You think of Rahab and her courage with the spies. You think of Mary and Elizabeth and the Gospels. You think of the various women who supported and cared for Jesus' ministry. You think of Priscilla. You think of Lydia. You think of Phoebe who's commended at the end of Paul's letter in Romans 16. And in one sense, Christ's submission and the work of redemption to the Father is a model of what God is calling you to do as women. And the church's submission to Christ is definitely a model of womanhood in a sense that Paul shows us. But I think Proverbs 31, and if you'll flip there, Proverbs 31, if we had one text and a little bit of time, I think Proverbs gives us the fullest picture of biblical womanhood. Now let me just say, the The obvious context here is we are talking about a married woman with children in the home. But I would just say to those of us who are not married, hopefully you're a member of a church, and the church is the household of God. And while you are not married, and while you do not have children, there still are plenty of beautiful and appropriate ways for you to take the virtues here listed, and the things that are described to this virtuous woman, and you can seek to strive to emulate and to follow. But let's just kind of work through this, and I'll point out a couple of things. He begins in chapter 31, verse 10, saying this, An excellent wife, who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not harm all the days of her life. The first thing we see here is that this virtuous woman is the helper of her husband. He trusts her. She supports him and helps him flourish. She does good to him. She even adds to his reputation in the world. Skip down to verse 25. That's not verse 25. When we keep reading through the text, I'll point it out to you. The second thing we see as we read verses 13 to 24 is that she selflessly labors and is industrious for the good of others. Look at verse 13 and just listen to what's being said of her. She seeks wool and flax and works with wheeling hands. She's like the ships of the merchants. She brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens. She considers a field and buys it. With the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard. She dresses herself with strength. Oh, look at that. More than a gentle and quiet spirit. She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong. She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. Her lamp does not go out at night. She puts her hands to the staff and she holds the spindle. And her hands hold the spindle. She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household. For all her household are clothed in scarlet. She makes bed coverings for herself. Her clothing is fine linen and purple. Here's the one I wanted to find. Her husband is known in the gates and when he sits among the elders of the land. She makes linen garments and sells them. She delivers sashes to the merchants. Did you see all the things that were named of her? Or the characteristics? She works with her hand, gathering and cultivating resources. She labors, not just for labor's sake. She's not out busy out in the world just for her own good or to make a name for herself, but she labors to provide food for her household. She's resourceful and industrious. She labors with strength. She turns a profit for her goods. She cultivates the home for a place of warmth and comfort. Then the text goes on in verses 25 to 27 and says this. Strength and dignity are her clothing. She laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Verse 30 says, charm is deceitful and beauty is vain. But a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. What is she clothed with? Strength and dignity? What are her words like? They're filled with wisdom and kindness. What is her heart? Where is it aimed at? The good of others. And she fears the Lord. Now, this is the response to a woman like that. We already saw in verse 10, an excellent wife who can find. She is more precious than jewels. And then it says this in verses 28 to 31. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also, he praises her. Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all. And then to verse 31, give her of the fruit of her hands and let her works praise her in the gates. You know, the world often will say the Bible's view of a woman is oppressive. And I would say, does this sound like an oppressed woman to you? Does this sound like a feeble and meek and a woman that doesn't speak and she will not say often in appropriate context what needs to be said and is not industrious? No, this woman is girded with strength and dignity and she is full of wisdom and she is full of care when she speaks. And all that she does is for the good of others. Why? Because she fears the Lord. This is a beautiful picture here the Lord gives us. This is a strong woman, a woman of character, a woman of dignity. And her husband praises her, her children praise her, the fruit of her labors are praised in the gates. Nancy DeMoss says this, In a book called Lies Women Believe, talking about this woman in this text, she says, doesn't sound like an oppressed woman to me. In fact, what woman wouldn't be overjoyed to have the same rewards? How did she get all these benefits? Not by insisting that her husband roll up his sleeves and help out with the household chores. You're not off the hook, brothers. We're going to talk about that tomorrow. But by choosing the pathway of servanthood. by making her number one priority to meet the needs, obviously after her relationship with God, to meet the needs of her family. Now let me just say to you ladies real quick, the Proverbs 31 woman ought to be comforting and freeing to you, not discouraging. Remember, this is a picturesque, picture-perfect picture. It leaves out the messiness of the details, okay? It leaves out the craziness of the home. It leaves out the difficulties of marriage and life and children. It leaves out the frustrations that we encounter in a sinful world and the fact that we are sinful. the fact that our children are sinful, the fact that our husband is sinful. It leaves out all of those difficulties. So don't read this and say and be moved to despair. Woe is me. I'll never reach that model. Read this and be free to say, Lord, as if this is the high calling you've given me, then give me the strength to do this as I seek to fear you. And as I seek to serve those around me, not because I want to build a name for myself, but because I want to glorify God. All right, that's, now ladies, you're off the hook. Men, it's your turn. What model does the Bible give for us? Let's go to Ephesians chapter five. And this is why I said, yes, there's a sense in which biblical womanhood is pictured in the church's submission to Christ. But let's go to Ephesians chapter five. Scripture is full of godly examples of men. I think of Joshua. I think of Jonathan and David. I think of the Apostle Paul. In one sense, the qualifications of an elder and a deacon really do give us a standard to aim at men of godliness and of masculinity. But the chief model for manhood is Jesus Christ. In fact, Paul in Ephesians 5 speaks of Christ's love and leadership for his church as the chief example for husbands and loving their wives. Let's look at Ephesians chapter 5. I'll read for us, let me read for us verse, I'll just read for us verses 25 all the way to verse 33. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves him for no one has ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, we've heard that from Genesis 2 verse 24, and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, Let each one of you love his wife as himself. Let the wife see that she respects her husband. What are some things we see here about Christ and His love and His leadership over the church? Well, the first thing we see is that husbands are called to love their wives as Christ has loved the church. And how has Christ loved the church? He has gave Himself up for her. The Son of God has humbled Himself. coming and taking on a human nature with his divine glory veiled in order to die for sinners, Philippians 2, 4-8. He came not to be served, but to serve, to give his life a ransom for many, Mark 10, 45. And in the hymn, the church's one foundation says, From heaven he came and sought her to be his holy bride. With his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died. That's a high calling, brothers. It is a high responsibility to be called to love our wives in this way. That Christ loved the church selflessly and sacrificially. He did not regard his own position of glory in heaven, nor the cost he had to pay as an obstacle to pursuing his bride in love. And Christ loved the church freely and fully. Because was there anything lovely within us? Was there anything within us that merited this love? Was there anything that caught Christ's eye from eternity and said, oh, look how lovely they are, I will love them? No, that's quite the opposite. There was nothing lovely about me. And there was nothing lovely about you. And yet Christ so loved us in this free and full way. He set His love upon us according to divine grace. And from heaven He came and sought us and redeemed us and clothed us with fine linen to make us His. And Christ and His church in one sense say to one another as Song of Solomon does in chapter 1 verses 15 through 17. He says in the song, Behold, you are beautiful, my love. And she responds, Behold, you are beautiful. Your eyes are doves. Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful. And that is the love that Christ has given us. And that is the love we in turn, we receive and give back to Christ. The second thing we see here is that husbands are called to wash their wives in the word so that they grow in beauty. How is Christ watching us with the Word? How is Christ sanctifying us and adorning us as His bride and with beauty? Well, He's doing it by His Word. And He's doing it by His Spirit working through the Word. He's given us His Spirit to illuminate the Word to us. He's given us His Spirit to remind us of the promises of God. He's given us His Spirit to comfort us with the Word of God. He's given us His Spirit to convict us of sin and to keep us in Christ's love. And while in one sense the church is already wed to Christ, in another sense we are being prepared and adored and cleansed and washed for a fuller and final wedding day. So yes, we have been saved in our justification. Yes, we are being saved in our sanctification. But one day we will be saved in our glorification, fully adorned as a beautiful bride. Let me see that picture in Revelation 19 verse 7. Christ's model for us here as men is contrary to the domineering, selfish, arrogant, prideful, and harsh leadership we see in the world. And if you leverage your authority in the home to serve yourself, then you have a low view of what it is Christ has done for the church. And you have an improper view of what it is God has called you to do as a man in the home. Biblical manhood calls us to protect and to provide for those around us. It calls us to use the authority and leadership that God has given us for the good of others and not ourselves. And so we're to take responsibility and display a godly assertiveness for the spiritual and physical well-being of others. But brothers, first of all, you must do it leading your family in humble repentance of sin. They might see you be quick to repent of your sin when you are harsh with your wife in front of your children, or when you're angry with your children when you discipline them, or when you deal with something. That goes, by the way, we didn't hit this with you ladies, but just to shoot equal shots across the bow towards both here. Ladies, you're called to model repentance in your home as well. But men, as the spiritual leaders in your home, may your family see your love for Christ, your love for the gospel, and this high calling, brothers. We can only do it if we are living upon Christ. if we are living upon Christ and drinking deeply of the gospel, and then we will be equipped, and then we will be full of that love of God that we can then in turn give to our spouse freely and fully, even if they don't reciprocate, even if there is sin there. But the gospel, the gospel that we have known in Christ who has freely loved us, we can then in turn freely love one another, even when there is sin, because we understand the gospel. So, just by way of conclusion, I want us to just point out a few ways that the serpent's hiss, or the devil, or even just sinful thoughts, cause us to doubt our calling as men and women. First, we're tempted to reject God's authority in His Word. I'll be my own authority, and I'll figure this thing out on my own. We're tempted to love as the world loves. We only love in kind. If you will love me, I will love you. A selfish love. We're tempted to exercise authority as the world does, as I just mentioned. We're tempted to dishonor authority as the world does. We see all authority as inherently sinful and as a burden. We're tempted to worship self as the world does, rather than to see ourselves as servants in God's hands, and in particular in this context, as servants to our spouses. We're tempted to denigrate the high calling of motherhood as the world does. We'll find purpose in something better, something higher, something where we can receive more glory and honor from other people. We're tempted to ignore sin in the home as the world does. We'll just sweep it under the rug. I don't know if you've ever been in a home with lots of children, lots of living beings there, but toys and stuff gets thrown all over. And what happens if you're like, oh, I'll get it tomorrow, and I'll get it tomorrow, and I'll get it tomorrow, and I'll get it tomorrow, and I'll get it tomorrow. And then Saturday comes and you can't walk from one place to the other. Sin's like that as well in the home. When we do not quickly deal with sin, biblically and appropriately. I don't mean a sort of a pharisaical, got the whiteboard on the fridge up, you sin today, well, we're gonna deal with that tonight. But I mean a real dealing with sin, brokenness, contrition, confessing sin to one another. But we need God's grace to live this out. And just close by saying, for the husbands and wives here, I would encourage you to not listen to this conference, or even to these models I just gave, and use it to load the proverbial gun of criticism towards your spouse. Because we're tempted to listen to the word that way. And Satan is pleased, by the way, when we listen to the word that way, because we're not hearing it for our own souls. And my question to us and to my own heart as we're dealing with issues in our marriages, are we quick to level the criticism or are we quick to go and pray for our spouse? Lord, would you help them with that sin? And God, if there is a sin that I am committing against them, will you convict me of that sin? Have you labored in prayer for your spouse? Indeed. All of us have things that we sin against one another with, some very grievous and all the rest. But if you hear this and you are thinking of your spouse, please don't do that. Ask God's help to think of yourself. And then if you do realize there are some things, don't ignore those things, but ask God to give you a fervent spirit of prayer for them. And pray that God's spirit would work in them. Scripture calls us to hear the word for our own souls, like looking in a mirror. God requires us to be faithful in what he has required of us, not in what he has required of our spouse. And so may we not use their unfaithfulness to be unfaithful ourselves. Well, I want to open it up for questions, but I feel like that was a sober way to finish. But do we have any questions? Tomorrow, like I said, we're going to really get particular in Sunday school about the home. What does that look like, husband and wife? We're going to spend a lot more time in Ephesians chapter 5 tomorrow and actually deal with some very, very practical questions that I know many of us have had or will have in our marriages and in the home. Any questions as we close? All right, let me close this in a word of prayer. Lord, we thank you for your wisdom and your goodness that is displayed everywhere in creation. The order, the beauty, the diversity, how all of your creation works together, from the weather to the seasons to the mountains. But we thank you, Lord, for your beautiful design in creating us as men and women in your image. We pray, Lord, that you would help us. We have really seen these grand models this evening from your word of the virtuous woman and of your son Christ. And we pray that you would help us. We pray that this would be a time for us to be renewed in our prayers for our spouses. Lord, that we would not be so foolish to fixate on our spouse's sin all the while to ignore our sins. God, we pray that you would use the things that we are hearing and the things that we are seeing in your word to strengthen the marriages in our church, that we would take seriously our high calling as men and women, that we would believe it, believe what your word says, that we would submit to it, that we would see it as beautiful and good. Lord, that we would find in our church women full of strength and dignity and honor, as certainly we have, Lord. I pray that you would give us more and that we would find men who fear you, are zealous for your word, zealous to lead their families spiritually. God, help us in this. We need the gospel to do this. We need your spirit to work in us, giving us gospel graces. And we ask these things in Christ's name. Amen.