Oh boy, where to begin? You will note that in your bulletin it says, selected scriptures, and in our study of this glorious thing we call marriage, it's hard to simply center on one text. even though there will be times where we will focus on one, we will remain there for a time, but we want to see, insofar as we are able, the whole counsel of God as it regards marriage. We've been through, man, I lost count how much of the material was focused on you men, on you husbands, and all of the responsibilities that you have as an image bearer of God. Whether it's taking dominion, working hard, loving your wives, and anything in between. I am confident that those responsibilities have been clearly outlined, and we can go from here knowing what God has charged us with. And so today, we get into, it says here, wives. I'm supposed to preach on wives today. And so men, I would heartily invite you and encourage you not to tune out, but to listen, because remember, even the word wives or wife denotes a partnership, part of a whole. Without a husband, there is no wife. Without a wife, there is no such thing as a husband. I was thinking about one of my relatives came to visit with his wife at one point and stayed in our house for a while and had a nice visit with them. And they were very clear that they did not refer to one another as husband and wife or man and wife. They referred to one another mutually as their spousal person. And, you know, that just points us to the reality of the challenges that we face. And I think one of the things that we have to think about when it comes to the various roles that we are engaged in under the sun, before the living God and how he has created us, that identity is very important. Identity is essential to understanding marriage. Say, identity is essential to enjoying marriage. Identity is essential to recognizing it. And I would say that in our culture today and with all the challenges, I mean, we can clearly and easily call it a culture war. I think women are probably a greater target even than men. With all our talk and flippancy about toxic masculinity, when you actually start doing some research and looking at both sides, meaning looking at what pagan culture is saying about men and what pagan culture is saying about women, There is such a concerted effort to deface what it means to be a woman. And with that, what it means to be a wife, what it means to be a mother. And so of course, as we did with men, we ask ourselves, is there a word from the Lord? Because the world is busy chirping away. And as I have exhorted you before, In order to have a grasp of what God says about marriage, we have to stop caring about what pagans say. As the saying goes, pagans gonna peg and heathens gonna heave. Well, let them peg and let them heave. It's the same thing we see in Psalm 2. Why do the nations rage? Who are they raging against? They're raging against the Lord Jesus. They're raging against the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. How does this connect to marriage? Well, when people are raging against the Lord Jesus, they are also raging against everything that He stands for. They rage against the kingdom that He has established and is advancing through the proclamation of the gospel. They are raging against this reconciling work that He is right now performing. And that reconciling work, to remind you, includes this cessation of hostilities between man and woman. Remember, part of the Fall included this enmity even between a man and a woman, even though marriage can be joyful, even though marriage can be wonderful, can be a blessing. And even under a fallen creation, it remains that. However, there were certain things that came along with the fall that drove a wedge between this perfect harmony that Adam and Eve formerly enjoyed. And the cross has destroyed the enmity. That's why Christian marriage should be the most joyful union in the universe. Because in Jesus Christ, any enmity, any hostility has been removed by his shed blood. And that becomes the foundation for Christian marriage. And yet for some reason we, due to whatever, probably due to, on one hand, the constant inundation of unbelieving revelation, of unbelieving information, of unbelieving preaching, just constantly pounding in our ears. And I think on the other hand, when the Christian, whether the man or his wife or both of them, take their eyes off Christ and somehow believe that there is a better way to pursue marriage. And one of the things that has happened, I believe I mentioned this earlier, but I think it's worth approaching again, is that due to this sort of pagan onslaught regarding masculinity, femininity, and marriage, and everything that comes along with it, what it tries to do is impute sins that Christ did not die for. And what I mean is that it is seen to be a, what do you would say, a biblical man, right? Embracing biblical masculinity would be seen as a sin. That is not a sin that Christ died for because it's not a sin at all. To embrace biblical manhood under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and to love your wife is a righteous thing. And yet when it comes to that, and even when it comes to femininity, What the Bible describes is seen as offensive, as atrocious, as something that must be rejected out of hand. As the pagans peg, and the heathens heath, and the nations rage, all that is of God, all that is of Christ, is rejected. And I would say specifically rejected, strategically rejected. And unfortunately, women have fallen victim to this. And men, it prevails upon you. I thought we were going to talk about wives today. I still got a lot to say to you men, apparently. It prevails upon you to shepherd your wives through that onslaught, to shepherd her well, and to lead her well, so that you are a hedge of protection to her against the enemy's lies. So the challenges are many. Of course, we've talked about the challenges of the curse. talked about the fact that there is a dominator in marriage. There is a dominant and then there is a one who submits. The man is the dominant, the man leads, the woman is called to submit. And so one of the challenges of the curse is for the woman to usurp male headship in the home. And one of the things that men are challenged with when it comes to this is that their masculinity, their headship, their leadership is put on the spot and is written off as toxic, written off as passé, written off as something to be rejected, and because of that, women are called to... lead. Leading in the sense, not in the home under the headship of the man, but lead in the same sense that men do. And we've talked about the dangers of effeminate men, but on the other side, we have the dangers of a masculine woman, the temptation toward a woman to try to be like a man. And then you have, on the other side, a man simply forsaking his masculinity. You notice that It's not so much that men are encouraged to be girls or feminine, even though men are treated like dysfunctional girls. But I would say the onslaught toward women is way more noticeable in terms of this pressure to be like men, to undertake the same responsibilities as men, to be assertive like men, to dominate like men. And so we have to go to the scriptures. And one of the things I want to talk about today, and we'll see how far we get, I want to map out some of the historical challenges that women have faced and kind of see how feminism has infiltrated society and has caused a very specific and deliberate rift in marriage. And then of course, we go back to the source. What does the scripture say about what it means to be a woman? So maybe you were expecting me to come up here and talk about submission a whole bunch, but we'll save that for later. But what we want to understand is what does the Bible say about being a woman? What does the Bible say about femininity? About the woman's creational role? And it is an important one. very necessary one. And so you can see my points in the bulletin, reforming marriage, wives, the good, the gift, the garden, the glory. That's what we're going to be talking about, Lord willing, if we get through all of this today. But I want to address some of these challenges. So we, again, we're told men, Dwell with your wives, with knowledge, with understanding, know the challenges that face them. So we're gonna actually talk about some of these challenges historically and specifically. So some very helpful works have aided me in mapping this out. It turns out, I wasn't aware of this until recently, there are actually four waves of feminism. first, a second, a third. I was only aware of three, but I guess a fourth one is pretty recent. Gotta stay sharp on these things, gotta stay current. I'm pretty sure a fifth one is coming because feminism is becoming so disjointed and so contrary to itself, it's gonna have to keep evolving. So in the United States specifically, and here's some of the cultural challenges. We have challenges from the curse, but here's the cultural challenges. First wave feminism, in particular, I think one of the main players in that was Susan B. Anthony, and in England, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley. With Susan B. Anthony particularly, it involved the right to vote and prohibition. Susan B. Anthony, incidentally, was not married. She pushed for women's suffrage, which we now know as the 19th Amendment. That was one of the legislative accomplishments of first wave feminism. And whatever your view is on women having the right to vote, What happened in a very subtle way with first-wave feminism is we begin to see this crack in the armor in regards to the headship of the man in his household. We start to see things coming unglued just a little bit, though we would say that first-wave feminism even had some good things to offer, and I'll be specific here. It was abolition. And we would say, yes, slavery, man-stealing, is a heinous evil and does not have any place in a Christian God-honoring society. It needed to be abolished. We face the same challenge today with abortion. It is modern-day slavery and genocide. And so that came out of it. And see, that's sort of the bait-and-switch when it comes to isms. There will be something in the system, in the philosophy, in the movement, in the goals that are noble. It will have some noble things. But we have to look at the other details as well and not get swept along by the initial fervor and passion generated by a movement. Case in point today, we have Black Lives Matter. And we would give a hearty amen to that. Yes, black lives indeed do matter. They matter immensely. They are fellow image bearers. And regardless of race, we have to fight for justice and righteousness for our neighbors, whether they are black or white or anything else. The problem, of course, with BLM is that when you read between the lines, it has a thoroughly Marxist agenda. And so that movement demands that you accept all of it. And if you don't accept all of it, then you really don't think that black lives matter. So we face the same challenges, women especially, with feminism. reading this book, I read a book written by a woman this week, it was really interesting, and so I'm gonna quote her, so men, you can cover your ears so I'm not seen as, you know, as a woman is exercising authority over a man in our church. But one thing Rebecca Merkel writes in Even Exile is that you also see this separation initially between women and the desire to have children, right? Creation mandate says be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, subdue it. And what she says is that children are this bushel under which women hide their light. With the demands of feminism and the mission of feminism comes this detachment and eventually a hostility forged between a woman and children. And as time goes on, and as feminism continues to grow and evolve, there is sort of this grasping for freedom from what we call the natural consequences of sex. Again, a deviation from creational norms, that is, desiring the pleasure of sex, yet without the natural biological consequences, that is, children. That is, women wanted to be in complete control of childbearing, where, when, and how. And so it begins to separate the woman's ties to her husband, her children, and her household, because this feminine agenda takes the woman out of it. You also see around this time, especially in the beginning of the 20th century, a familiar name, a woman by the name of Margaret Sanger, who really popularized birth control and easy access to abortion. Again, these are things that are brought to the forefront to demand that women have control over. Today, Planned Parenthood is known as the single largest provider of abortions in America. And it was seen as, this is seen as liberation from the tyranny of reproduction. And even though Sanger died in 1966, seven years later, Roe v. Wade was passed. And most of that is all wrapped up in the first wave, but you see how quickly things evolve. We want to do a few things, we want to fight for a few rights, but then, whoa, now children are dying in the womb. How did that happen? And the other question is, where is the Christian during all of this? Then you move to second wave. Feminism and I think this is where disaster really began to happen and there was a lot there's a lot to contain here but essentially what happened is that this teaching emerged that That women are miserable Women are contained to the household women are having kids Women are even looking pretty making sure the home is dusted and in order and a bow in her hair, the kids are clean, the kids are smiling, ready to receive daddy when he gets home. And that's not a bad thing. But due to this life that has been cultivated in the United States, post-industrial revolution sort of gave a life at ease, where a woman would try to complete her tasks as quickly as possible, and then what? So there's a sense in which being a housewife, of course, is seen as oppressive. And there's limitations to their potential, to the things outside of the home that they can and should pursue. Because home life is not only oppressive, but it's also unfulfilling and ultimately boring. And of course, technology making things easier has left gaps in their time to be a housewife. So here's the bait and switch again, obviously. It's not being asked, what can you do to maximize your work in the home? Or other things to pursue. No, it follows that because this is so, you need to feel fully human, you need to reach your full potential, but that lies outside the home. And so there's this anger and resentment that's been building. And by the time you get to pretty much around the 1960s, you have all these housewives, supposedly, who are eager to hear this message that you have to break free from the home to reach your maximum potential. Your responsibilities are weighing you down. And that is why, once again, from Merkel, These statistics come from over a decade ago, but by 2010, women comprised 47% of the workplace, and by 2013, 57% of women work. Now, we're not saying it's sinful to work, even outside the home, and we'll get to that later, but the priority of women, according to Scripture, is still to keep the home. And you would think that these so-called cultural advancements would make women more fulfilled and happier. And yet it seems like this movement of second-wave feminism fell flat on its face. It did not work. It did not make women less depressed. It did not make them feel more fulfilled in terms of demographics. And yet still that desire continued to grow. You have that even accompanied with certain accusations. It's interesting, depending on the sources you read, you even have various feminists asserting that apparently abusing the wife and belittling her was sort of a cultural norm. It's hard to generate any kind of reliable numbers with that. But what's happening is that within this, one throws the baby out with the bathwater. If there's any corruption in the current established power structure, right, the patriarchy, then all of it must be overthrown. All of it must be done away with. All of it must be crushed. All of it must be replaced with this new feminist movement that is still developing. And so we have to beware of those times when we're tempted to look back to what we call the good old days, right? Oh, it was so much better back then. And I would say that we had the same kind of godlessness going on back then. Godlessness has always been a part of society. We've always had our sins that we need to repent from. I just don't want us to think that somehow going back in time means going back to a better time. Especially since we have to deal with what is before us. We have to confront the cultural challenges that are before us head-on with the authoritative Word of God and look to Him and see what He says about what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman, what it means to be a husband and what it means to be a wife. It's amazing how God's Word takes the complications out of this and brings us purpose and satisfaction that whatever wave of feminism could not bring. So that's the problem. That's the problem even facing us today, especially women in particular, is that they are seen as, okay, if you are a housewife, you're married, if you are at home, If you are raising kids, if you are homeschooling them, if you are submissive to your husband, if you are making his house into a home, doing the work there, that somehow you are missing out. That's the big lie in all of this. Somehow you are missing out. You know, it's similar to the lie that happened, that was told to Eve in Genesis 3. Has God really said this? God knows, right? You will not surely die. God knows in the day you eat of the fruit, your eyes will be open and you'll be like God knowing good and evil. You see the distortion there. You see what Satan is accusing God of. It always begins with God, right? It always begins. Paganism always begins with an accusation against God, no matter what. It always starts at the top. And then the whole order is undermined. But it's the same challenge. God is holding out on you. Same thing here. It is ultimately an accusation against God and His good created order. God is somehow holding out on you women because you are doing this, this, this, and this. And I think in some cases it never really would have occurred to a woman that there was something wrong until it was suggested. And that's the challenge. Both men and women can be perfectly content in what they're doing, not even thinking about the potential discontent or dissatisfaction until someone suggests it. But it always starts ultimately with this accusation against God that he has done something wrong. And that's why we're in the mess we are, is because pagan unbelieving man has tried to remove God from authority over his created order. And I would say that as time goes on, man will fail again and again and again in very many ways. He has not succeeded completely, nor will he ever, but he still tries. And that's what we have to confront with the gospel. That's what we have to confront with the Lordship of Christ. We can't accept what the unbelieving say regarding manhood and womanhood just because they say it. Just because they say something doesn't make it so. We have to test these accusations against scripture. And then scripture shines the light on it. But this is what happens as second-wave feminism continues. So instead of seeing this priority of homemaking as a blessing, something to enjoy, they see it as something that they complain against. Once again, something that, as long as they stay in it, makes them an incomplete woman. And so along with this sympathy in pursuit of it, the feminists get really loud. They get very demanding, you could say. And so, the women falls under what could be called the tyranny of low expectations, right? Just keeping everything tidy, just keeping everything in place, and that there's no dignity and purpose in the home. And so, of course, we say, well, if this is the plight of the woman, they must be liberated, right? But then the question following that is, well, liberated from what? That's always the question. From what and why and by what standard? And I would say that even, once again, you have some of the good things, right? What did second-wave feminism oppose? They opposed pornography. They opposed prostitution. Why? Because it objectified women. It dishonored women. And yet, all the other ungodly things that came with that continued to undermine the home. See, you hang a, you dangle a good, something that's good, bait and switch, and then they hook you. That's what feminism has done and continues to do. One of the successes that came out of this was birth control, the contraceptive pill in 1961, the Equal Pay Act of 1970, Sex Discrimination Act of 1975. So the activism continued continued to grow. And then, and then you come into what we call third wave feminism. Yes, there is a, there is a third wave in all of this. Third wave feminism. This actually began in the 1990s, so a lot of us were around when this happened. And what it did is that it kind of used the platform of this professional and economic power that women had worked for during the second wave and continued to build up. Of course, one of the main goals of third-wave feminism was this, is that it basically centered on expanding the fight for equal legal protection and rights for women. So, of course, we would say, yes, equality is a good thing. You know, the Bible instructs us not to pervert justice. We seek equal justice for all. But, of course, a biblical justice. Righteousness as God sees it. And I think much of what came out of third-wave feminism in terms of equality meant equal outcomes. One thing significant that happened that we continue to see today is what is called the emergence of intersectional feminism. That is, women are an oppressed class. It's not just that women are missing out. It's not just that women are not reaching their potential. Women are oppressed. And so you couple that with second-wave feminism And the trouble continues. One feminist website describes it this way. Intersectionality ensures that the feminist movement focuses on more than just able-bodied, cisgendered, straight, rich, white women. By focusing on inclusivity, third-wave feminism was able to take the goals of previous feminist movements and bring them into the modern age. It goes on. Third-wave feminism also focused on empowering women through femininity instead of in spite of it. So I'll pause there. See, one of the accusations leveled against second-wave feminism is that women were rejecting their femininity. Typically, what we think of as stereotypical feminism. Goes on to describe This, many second-wave feminists rejected heels, makeup, and other stereotypically feminine products. However, this rejection led to the false characterization of feminists as angry, shrill, and man-hating, and yet we do see that expressed in many feminist movements today. So really, feminism is all over the place. So in doing the best I can to kind of distill this, but most importantly, I want you to see what it leads to, right? Again, the problem isn't that women want to work. The problem isn't that women want to be productive. The problem happens is when that desire removes them from their biblically ordained and mandated priorities. when it gets in the way of a desire for children, when it gets in the way of their ability to keep home, when it prevents them from being able to effectively be a man's helpmate. That's when we have a problem. And unfortunately, yes, some of these stereotypes, in a sense, are true, is that much of feminism has developed an angry, shrill, man-hating woman who isn't very feminine. Because what feminism does, even if it's on accident, is that it sheds much of what we know about traditional and historical femininity, where men or women are trying to be like men, especially when it comes to the wielding of authority. That's why feminism brought a lot of pressure upon women to pursue political office, to pursue, you know, to be that boardroom boss babe, the CEO, which of course takes her away from the home. It compromises her ability to be a wife and a mother and to keep a house. And then we come to the fourth wave. See, you think, I mean, now we're going from the sublime to the ridiculous. The fourth wave. And it's still actually forming. But this is the first time where we see a very clear rejection of historical femininity. And the reason is, one of the, included in the goals of fourth-wave feminism, are not only to end sexual harassment, which we would say is a, that is a good thing, once again, dangling the bait, but also it includes inclusion, queerness. One website says, collaboration, mobilization, use of technology to challenge abuses of power. So there's the intersectionality. Movement against power structures and hierarchies, right? Down with capitalism and the patriarchy. And I'm up here trying to uphold biblical patriarchy, rule of fathers, rule of godly fathers. Change in culture and psychology. So those are its main goals. So it's moving against actual power structures, right? Throwing, finding fault with the structure and then saying, well, because we have found fault in here, we have to do away with the entire structure itself. And that, of course, is patriarchy. But because you have inclusion and queerness, this inevitably includes transgenders, transsexuals, men who identify as women. Under this umbrella, you have the Women's March, you have Me Too, you have the, again, this continual growth and pursuit of women in power, whether economically or politically, in business. I say a lot of you know, say a lot of hashtags as well. That's what makes this so difficult, is once you put someone on the intersectional perspective, spectrum, it becomes very difficult to talk about, because if you are a white, what we call a WASP, a white Anglo-Saxon Protestant, you are seen as talking from a person of privilege, and a person of privilege, according to these prevailing philosophies, have no right, a person of privilege has no right to actually speak to or speak against Those who are seen are classified as oppressed. That's the challenge. And so what are Christian men to do? We say, do it anyway. We're not under their authority, remember? We are not to fall by the wayside to their intimidation. We are to stand firmly on the solid rock of God's word and confront ungodliness, to confront deviations from God's creational order. to confront all that arrays itself against the Lord Jesus Christ and His kingdom. And once again, don't be discouraged. Sometimes it seems like the other side is winning, but one thing I keep saying, friends, men, this prevails upon you so much. It's always a little disconcerting when you live in an era where it seems like the Lord is calling you to simply stop the bleeding, where maybe we're not gonna see a lot of progress in our life, but we are still called to stand strong, and we stand with our wives as well. And wives, conversely, you stand with your husbands in that calling. And so all in all, we would say that From first wave to fourth wave, some of these things were good things. Some serious social and cultural evils were pointed out. That is to say, it's OK that women are educated. Slavery is evil. Alcoholism is evil. Pornography, prostitution is evil. We would say even the superficiality of the 50s housewife is evil. Yes, there was more to housework than, again, dusting and vacuuming as quickly as possible and then being without something to do. The tyranny of low expectations. But just as important as knowing what to fight is how and why. What are our weapons, right? How do we confront it? And I think feminism's idea, and this is where the danger is, feminism's idea is to completely obliterate and overturn the prevailing power structure. And what we would say is, no. We are called to repent. We are called to repent. Even though it is said that women are oppressed, and to a degree everyone is oppressed, we're all oppressed by the fall. We all have our various challenges as men and women to confront, but to confront it in the power of the Holy Spirit with the truth of Scripture. But this is the thing, women being oppressed and men who want to be women being oppressed becomes the impetus for overturning the entire system because of the sins of a few. Right, we do the same thing with healthcare. We do the same thing with immigration. How many times have you guys heard, the system is broken, right? We keep hearing that again and again. The system is broken. Something must be wrong with it. The system is broken. That's code word for out with the old. We have to overturn this entire structure and bring in something else. Incidentally, something that is usually culturally Marxist. Something that defies the living God. Those are the systems that are trying to be introduced as we speak, and that need to be constantly confronted. That's the excuse, and the costs are typically staggering. You know, again, imagine you blow a tire on your car, right? You run over a bolt or something, or you swerve to miss a squirrel in the street. You blow a tire, right? Serviceman comes out and says, your truck is broken. You need a new truck. You need to salvage this one. It needs to be junked. Get a new truck. When the truth is all that needs to happen is for your truck to be restored. And that's what's going on here. And that's what Christians are to be doing. We are to call for restoration. We are to call for repentance. We are to call for reconciliation. The main thing is not to completely overturn the system. And here's why this is so important. What is the system we are currently living under? Very important. Who knows? What system are we living under? What authority are we, what power structure are we living under now? Christ's. That is why you do not seek, along with the pagans, to overturn the system. Because the fact is, no matter how bleak things seem, we are still living under Christ's kingdom and authority. And so, the rise of feminism and cultural Marxism is a veiled way to put down the kingdom of Christ, to undermine it in any way possible, to remove all vestiges of it from this so-called progressive society. because there's corruption in it, because there are bad actors in it. And so we need to throw out God's systems of doing things. And to take that into greater consideration, honestly, I don't care if 99% of the population are composed of bad actors. I don't care if 99.99% of people are unfaithful. We say, let God be true and every man a liar. Noah was a righteous man, perfect in his generations. One family, it seems. Imagine if he saw the whole world full of wickedness and said to his family, well, all the world is full of evil and has forsaken God. All these people out there can't be wrong. It's like we're rationalizing the same thing. All these feminists, all these pagans, all these Marxists, all these abortionists, they can't be wrong, can they? There's so many of them. Imagine if Noah had that mindset. See, the real plight of women is not that they are oppressed and not free to pursue their dreams. The real plight of women is that they have constantly the ring of an anti-God paganism telling them that they must forsake God's design for them. It's that simple. And yet it continues to ring day after day, especially through media and government-sponsored perversion. And it's done so subtly, it's done through so much obfuscation. You know, you go back to the garden. God knows that on the day you eat of the fruit, your eyes will be open, you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Yeah, your eyes would be open. It happened, right? Her eyes were open. But what was the problem? She died. With her husband. You will be like God. What was the obfuscation there? They already were like God! They were image-bearers, but again, the lie You're oppressed. What God has given you isn't enough. God is keeping you down. Imagine that. And you're hearing this from a talking snake. That was your first clue. But that's the issue. And it's a big one. And that's just scratching the surface. And so, In some way, we have to marvel, too, at the irony of this. It's ironic that feminism comes in waves because rather than galvanizing womanhood, it's defaced it. It's like a sandcastle on a seashore, right? You go to the beach, build a beautiful sandcastle. You even got those little sandcastle-shaped buckets. But inevitably, it gets struck with wave after wave until it just blends in with the rest of the sand. That is what has happened to womanhood today. It's barely recognizable because it's so distorted. And yet the pagans would have us believe that no, femininity has taken shape. It's more beautiful than it's ever been. And yet, has it? It's constantly being defaced. Nothing remarkable, nothing beautiful, nothing glorious, nothing distinct. And that's why we say progressivism really is regressivism. Only by the word of God can femininity be restored. into its natural, beautiful, creational state. But that's what's happening today. Women are simultaneously isolated and indistinct. Think of all the isms we've covered. Paganism turns a woman against God. That's how it begins. Feminism turns a woman against a man. Abortion turns a woman against her children. Now transgenderism has turned a woman against herself. And you're telling me that women are really finding themselves in this cultural wave, in this movement? No, women are losing themselves. Because now anyone can be a woman, apparently, if you identify as a woman. It's amazing. We're making, for all of our progress, for all of our scientific advancements, we are now producing documentaries called, What is a Woman? And if you're the wrong color, if you're the wrong sex, if you're the wrong religion, don't you dare step on the mat and think you can weigh in on what a woman is. And that's the intimidation tactic. And as Christians, whether men or women, we simply have to say, I don't care. You're wrong. What God's word says is the most important thing. What God's Word says is the only path to recovering and reinstating what it means to be a woman, and then, of course, what it means to be a wife, because we are talking about marriage, and what it means to be a mother. So, let's get started. That was my introduction, by the way. So here are the things that follow. Let's get the first one. Wives, the good, or the goodness. Now, all you Calvinists out there, I know you're thinking like Romans 3, 10 through 12, but none is good. I'm talking about how woman was created. Woman was created as part of God's good creation. So we are talking about the goodness of the woman, the creational goodness of the woman. So what is a woman? She is goodness. If you look in Genesis, we start in creation, right? Look at that creation narrative of Genesis 1 and 2, right in verse 26 of chapter one, he says, let us make man in our image according to our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sky and over the birds of the sky, or sorry, fish of the sea, birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on 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. God blessed them. So far, so good. So that's the overall narrative. But when it gets to the specifics, when God created man, he looked at man and he said, It is not good for man to be alone. That's Genesis 2, verse 18. The Lord God said, it is not good for the man to be alone. So in the opening chapter, good, good, good, good creates mankind, very good. But when we get into the focal narrative of this and get a closer look, when God created man, Woman was not originally part of that package deal. He didn't create man and woman at the same time. It's like God is trying to tell us something here about His creation and about His purposes for us. It's not good for man to be alone. And so what did God do? He provided a good thing. So, I mean, you talk about the accusation against Scripture. We've talked about this before, how somehow Christianity, the Bible, or that mean apostle Paul demeans women. oppresses them. As soon as the woman comes into the picture, we see her elevated. We see her exalted. We see her as a fellow image bearer, and on this side of the cross, a fellow heir of the grace of life. What demeaning or oppression of women do we see? The first mention provides a helpful clue. Nothing. She's an expression of God's goodness to the man. It's not good for man to be alone. So the Lord God did not leave man to be alone. I will make a help me for him. That is a counterpart to make his other half, someone who completes him for this work of subduing the earth, for being fruitful and multiplying. Proverbs 18.22 says this, he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. That goodness points to God's grace, to God's favor. As long as man is alone, it's not good. God does not approve of it. So when God says something is good, it means it has his stamp of approval. This is the way things were meant to be. And as a reflection of his favor, Proverbs 31, 12, talking about the wife, she does him, her husband, good and not evil, all the days of her life. So there is an ongoing, lasting, consistent goodness that she gives to her husband. She does him good. Need we say more? God is good and he expresses that goodness to man by giving him a good thing. by giving Him a wife. And that is why, men, we say, treasure your wife. Cherish her. Love her. Seek her highest good. Do all of the things for her that are consistent with Christ loving His church. Because He has given you a good thing. Secondly, not only is she goodness, she is a gift. The woman is a gift. Note that when God designed to give the man a woman, He brought the woman to Him. Gave her as a gift. And here is how this gift plays out. It plays out as a helpmeet. A helper suitable for Him, Genesis says. And when you read in the scripture, going back to chapter 1 of Genesis, we see this creation mandate. And he says, be fruitful and multiply, right? That's Old Testament parlance for have babies. and fill the earth and subdue it, right? Subdue, as we talked about in our introduction, it means to put down with force, right? To bend to your will. That there was work to be done. That even when God was finished with creation, with man as his vicegerent, as his representative, as the crown of his creation, he put man in the garden, he put man in the earth to do work, right? So that the end goal was that the earth would be filled with faithful image bearers. So that the earth would be full of people who reflect the knowledge of the glory of the Lord. That was always God's purpose. And yet man was not called to do this alone. And so man gave, or God gave man a woman. And even we see this in Genesis 5, says He called them mankind. So the man and his wife equal mankind. Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth, subdue it. That is their partnership. Adam was put there to do the work, to cultivate the garden, to grow things, to build out the garden, as I would contend that the purpose was that the whole earth would be a garden, would be lush and fruitful and beautiful, where God could dwell with man in perfect fellowship. And he gives the man a woman to help carry that out. Man needed a helper. So, don't miss this. God gave man someone to help him do the work. So, yes, it is true. That picture of the completely put-together, primped 50s housewife is an incomplete look. It's an incomplete picture of the woman. When he says, subdue, he is telling both the man and his wife, you guys are now going to work. That's part of your image-bearing capacity and quality and mission is to do work. Don't let that be lost on you. Both man and woman are to do work. Yes, women work. The problem was never with the what, it was with the how and the why. See, not autonomously, that's the how. It's to be partnered with her husband to help him subdue, rather than, as Merkel says, rather than the woman just being a decorative object or an ornament to admire. So men are not meant to do all of the work. They are meant to partner with their wife, and the wife is to help man do the work. Remember, the man was not given to the woman. The woman was given to the man to do that work and to do it well. And we go on. Part of this subduing, part of this gift that God gives is not only to subdue, but also to fill. To fill the earth, we say, with the human race. Men are not asexual. Men are sexual. Meaning there has to be a partner in procreation. What is that? How does this exalt women? In a very obvious way, it makes women necessary. Women are key to this procreative activity. And that's what happened in feminism, is that activity was separated from this sexual freedom. Women and men alike fell victim to the sexual revolution. And I think that when you look at men and women, those differences are not only obvious, but it is clear that women are built for childbearing and raising those children, feeding those children, taking care of kids. And what feminism has done is separated those two. The act of sex, the act of that conjugal fellowship with the joy of childbearing. And so, this subduing can sometimes feel like an either or rather than a both and. So, just as scripture instructs us, we do not separate childbearing from the act of sex. Here's another way. We've been over this too, but it's a help. That the woman is called to help the man. Now, when we get into stuff like this, it can be really offensive. What do you mean you're calling woman the help? What? It's amazing how we can turn these things around. We're just looking at what God's word says, and then we have this choice to be offended by it. An unbelieving society says we should do just that, we should be offended by it. What do you mean the woman is the help? Does that mean somehow she's inferior? Does that mean somehow she can't pursue her dreams? That she's less of a person? This is the message we're receiving. That's not all what the scripture means. It means that the woman is called to help the man. doesn't make the man superior, it doesn't make the man more significant, it does make them different. But this, once again, is the trap of feminism, is this need to repent from this charge that women are inferior, enslaved, and oppressed. No, this is God's mandate in exalting the woman to her proper place, that she is to help the man in his subduing of creation. As Paul says, the head of the woman is man, the head of the man is Christ, the head of Christ is God. This in no way implies inferiority. We are not to imply that or infer that God is somehow superior to Christ, because Jesus is God. Moving on here. Thirdly, almost done. Thirdly, she is a garden. The woman is a garden. She is good. She is a gift. She is a garden. What does this mean? That in her help, in her helping of the man, she acts as a multiplying force. So pray tell, how does that sound oppressive? How does that sound demeaning? She is a garden. You give her food, she makes a meal. You give her a house, she makes a home. Men, you give her your seed, she gives you a child, and every once in a while these children come in pairs. Pretty efficient. But God designed the woman as a helper to bless and to multiply what the man does in carrying out his creational orders, his creational duty. You say, so yes, seeing all that women are capable of. that they are capable of having a child grow in their womb, but they can nurse a child and sustain life. Yes, women have superpowers. The issue is that they use the superpowers that God has given them, not the ones that people should say you ought to have. The woman is a multiplier. The idea is she takes the raw materials and makes something beautiful and lasting. It's amazing how the woman is designed and equipped to be a blessing to the man. And so that's the exhortation to you husbands. Your wife is a garden, but you are the one bringing the soil. You are the one sowing the seed. So the question is, is the soil rich with nutrients? Are you sowing the seeds of peace and godliness or of chaos and misery? Whatever it is, right? We talked about domination. Whatever it is that dominates your household, your wife will multiply it. So if you are ungodly, if your life is in shambles, your wife is gonna be a multiplying force of that, and you are held responsible for that. Yet if you bring peace and godliness and leadership, that will be multiplied by your wife. That is how she helps you. That is how she is a garden to you. Whatever goes into the ground will be what your wife tills and what your wife tills will multiply and grow. Let me use Proverbs 31 as an example, starting at verse 13. She looks for wool and flax, and she works with her hands in delight. She is like merchant ships. She brings her food from afar. She rises also while it is still night and gives food to her household and portions to her maidens. See, she's productive. She's industrious. She's working. She's a blessing to her man. She rises, let's see, she considers a field and buys it. From her earnings, she plants a vineyard. She girds herself with strength and makes her arms strong. You see the multiplication going on. She stretches out her hand to the distaff and her hands grasp the spindle. She extends her hand to the poor. She's also generous. She is not afraid, or she stretches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household. For all her household are clothed with scarlet." See, her work produces blessing in abundance. She makes coverings for herself. Her clothing is fine linen and purple. Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. See, this is not a wife that is suppressed or oppressed and put down and told to sit in silence. No, this is a woman who is out there, who is a faithful representation of her husband and her household. She is hustling and making it happen and being a multiplying force to her household. Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she smiles at the future. She looks at the future, she doesn't worry. She trusts in God. She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. Men, this is why it is so essential to disciple your wives, to shepherd your wives in the word of God, because they are then going to multiply that to your children. They will be able to be faithful and efficient in that task. See, there's no contradiction. There's perfect consistency. The woman is able to be a helper to her husband, to multiply what he does without violating the precepts of Scripture. So I like this song. It's really interesting. It's by, if you guys are familiar with this band called Cake, they had this song called Short Skirt Long Jacket. And it describes sort of the ideal woman. And I think it aptly expands on this, on what is described in Proverbs. But it says this, I want a girl with the right allocations who's fast and thorough and sharp as a tack. She's playing with her jewelry. She's putting up her hair. So there you have the femininity, right? She's touring the facility and picking up slack, right? She's getting stuff done. She's working hard. She's not sitting at home, bored, wondering what to do. She is a garden. She is productive. She is an honor to her husband. I want a girl who gets up early. I want a girl who stays up late. I want a girl with uninterrupted prosperity who uses a machete to cut through red tape, once again. getting work done, making things happen. With fingernails that shine like justice and a voice that is dark like tinted glass, she's fast, thorough, and sharp as a tack. She's touring the facility and picking up slack, right? You have their beauty, intellect, and industry, all good things, all biblical things, all God-honoring things. One more point, and then we're done. Gotta get through this. Fourthly, and finally, and perhaps most significantly, she is a glory. She is a glory to her husband. This actually comes from the book of 1 Corinthians, where it's actually talking about authority within the church and authority within the household, that man is the glory of God, but woman is the glory of her man. So once again, this is not the subjugation of women. This is not the undermining or oppression of women. This is actually a high compliment to win that is to say wives are the glory of their husband they represent their husband they reflect their husband so of course husbands this is great application to you be a glory worth reflecting be obedient to your Savior serve him be a godly man and your wife will all the more reflect that she will as a multiplier multiply that glory in a sense she will concentrate that glory she will shine all the brighter. Proverbs 12.4 indicates that women are the crown of their husbands. So men, keep your crown on. Keep your crown from being broken and tarnished. And don't abuse the authority. And you will find that your woman will reflect the glory that is inherent in that. You will never, men, have a greater crown of glory than your wife, and that is precisely why you honor her and cherish her and care for her. So just as the crown reveals the glory of a king, the wife will reveal the glory of her husband. And what's the blessing of that? When that comes together, when you work as one flesh, as man and wife, what that does is it reflects the glory of Christ's rule and reign in this world, the very purpose of our entire lives. How can we effectively advance a glory and rule that we do not ourselves reflect? So we are to reflect the fullness of that glory of God and the person and work of Jesus Christ. And so when the woman reflects the glory of her husband, when the husband is reflecting the glory of his master, of Christ, You look at something that is the glory of the glory. I was reading this morning, actually, that the difference made there between the man and the woman is if the man's glory is a beer, work with me here, the woman's glory is fine whiskey. It's more distilled, it's more potent, it's more concentrated, it's more obvious, right? And think about this. I think this is worth bearing out. when you gone to a wedding before, okay? When was the last time you heard someone say, wasn't the groom radiant? The groom, I saw him in his black tux, he just glowed. Sounds weird even saying that. No, we say it regarding the bride. There is this sort of luminosity about the bride that even outdoes the groom, even though the groom shows up in all of his strength and manliness, and hopefully he's ready to lead, he's not completely clueless at the altar. But all eyes are on the bride, all stand when the bride walks down the aisle. She's the object of attention. There you see the concentrated glory. And men, when you are faithful, to be a godly husband and leader of your wife, that is what the glory comes to express. That is the great luminescence, the great effulgence, the brightness of that glory will radiate from your wife, and those watching will have an even greater glimpse of the glory of Christ in our lives, whom we desire to exalt. women, wives, don't sell yourself short. Why? Because God has it. Look to scripture. Look to the word of God for your identity, for your purpose, for fulfillment. Don't buy into the lies that are being thrown around today. It's a bill of goods and it's straight from the pit of hell. Look to what God has to offer you. Look to what God has revealed to you and obey him and follow him. So you will be a blessing to your husband and that you will glorify your creator. So next week, I know we went long today. We keep going long, but there's so much to cover. I don't apologize for it, but I do thank you for your attention. So I'm sure there will be many questions ahead. So when it comes to women especially, guys, gals, if you have any questions, anything you want to cover in particular, please let me know and we'll cover it. With that, let's bow in prayer. Father, again, we come to you and we thank you for your grace, for your involvement in our lives. We thank you for your creation, for the goodness that is built into it, for the truth that it reveals. It's so clear to us. who are called to be both as men and women. Gosh, so much data today, so much information. And yes, it's challenging to digest, but I pray, Lord, that you would give us the wisdom to do just that, that you would help us, that you would aid us in that, and help us to have obedient and humble hearts that follow your word, that delight to do it. Lord, I pray, especially for our women. Women, wives, mothers are particularly attacked today by the unbelief of this world, by everything that assaults their identity, that calls into question the way that God has created them, and with His purposes, and with His leading and guidance, and with His truth. All that, Lord, is under assault, and we do pray for your protection upon our wives. Lord, we recognize that even as men, even if we are stalwart, even though we are vigilant, though we know the scriptures and all of that, we have our blind spots. There are things we miss. There are things we don't see. We need your help, Lord, to faithfully lead our wives so that they are free to be the women that you have called them to be. and all their grace and all their beauty and all their femininity, that they are, that there is goodness in being a woman, that they are a gift, they are a garden, that they are the glory, that they are all of those things, all emblematic of your grace, that we can help them be free to pursue those things and be a glory and a covering for us and a blessing to you ultimately. All these things we pray in Jesus' name, amen.