So let's please open our Bibles again to 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3. And our text here this morning, verses 1 through 7. E.E. Hewitt is a hymn writer, and he wrote a hymn that, I don't know if it's a hymnal or not, but it's called Stars in My Crown. And it says, I'm thinking today of that beautiful land I shall reach when the sun goeth down. When through wonderful grace by my Savior I stand, will there be any stars in my crown? Will there be any stars, any stars in my crown when at evening the sun goeth down? When I wake with the blessed in the mansion of rest, will there be any stars in my crown? That's the chorus. Verse two, in the strength of the Lord, let me labor and pray, let me watch as a winner of souls, that bright stars may be mine in the glorious day when his praise like the sea billows roll. in verse three, what joy it will be when his face I behold, living gems at his feet to lay down. It would sweeten my bliss in the city of gold should there be any stars in my crown. And the hymn is about souls being saved and reaching people and someday be able to present that to the Lord Jesus Christ. Really, it's the only thing you can take with you if you think about it. we already have sung this morning in the Sunday school hour, more precious than gold, much better than silver, is the price of a soul God wants to deliver. Why? Because you could own a diamond mine here on earth, but you can't take it with you. You could have all the gold that's in Fort Knox, if it's there, and you can't take it with you. You know, you could have all sorts of treasure, but you can't take it with you. The only thing you could take to glory are things of eternal value, not just souls, but righteousness and holiness and living for eternity rather than living for the temporary. And it's a biblical idea, this idea that E.H. Hewitt came up with in that hymn about casting crowns at the feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's found in Revelation chapter four, verse 10 and 11. It says, and the four and 20 elders fell down before him that sat on the throne and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." It's wonderful to have things of value to give to God. You know, Mary, when she broke that box of alabaster ointment and put that upon the Savior, anointing the Savior, a year's wage is what it was. But it was probably a priceless heirloom that had been passed down to her family. It was wonderful for her to have something of such value. She's the only one that anointed the body of Jesus Christ before his death. And actually at his burial because they came, that's right, they came that Lord's Day morning and Christ was risen from the dead and they had the spices and stuff. So she's the only one that anointed the Lord. And what a privilege to have that of value. And that's why the Bible says, you know, there's gonna be wood, hay, stubble, and there's gonna be precious gems, precious things. And I wonder if it's not like what this passage speaks about in Revelation, that the desire for those things is not that, oh yes, someday in heaven, we're gonna walk around with all these crowns and people are gonna look at us and say, oh, you're great. Look at what you did for God. You've got all that wealth. but they're gonna be things that we can, as well, give to our Savior and say, Savior, these were for you. This is something I give to you. This morning, we're gonna combine this idea of those gems with the idea of womanhood. And actually, the Bible, in speaking about godly womanhood, the virtuous woman, that the Bible speaks about, it actually speaks about her in terms of value like that. And that idea of virtuous woman is what Naomi said about her daughter-in-law, Ruth 3, verse 11. She said, My daughter, fear not. I will do to thee all that thou requirest. For all the city of My people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. She had that testimony of godliness. I mean, she wasn't even a Israelite, but she had obviously converted to Judaism and worshiping the one true God as she came back with her mother-in-law, leaving her own people. And what a precious picture she is of the sinner and boy, as of the Savior. You know, as you see them get married later on, the kinsmen redeem her in that passage. But she's a virtuous woman. She's a godly woman. And of finding a virtuous woman, the Bible says, Proverbs 12 verse 4, a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband, but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones. Proverbs 31.10, who can find a virtuous woman for a price as far above rubies? Yes, again, I read that passage just a second ago. That is our text today. And if you were to read that on the street down in Edinburgh, Princess Street, can you imagine? Again, it would be that feeling of the air getting sucked out of the environment that you're in because our world would be so aghast that that's even in the Bible, these verses that obviously we have to understand within the context of what it's saying. in the passage, but as we understand it, we'll see it's what God expects, it's what God desires. And you know what? Satan casts down what God lifts up and lifts up what God casts down. Does that surprise us this morning? Does it surprise us to think that our world's perspective of what a godly, or what a woman, a wife should be, or a mother should be, is absolutely contrary to what the word of God says that she should be? ought not surprise us. Our world applauds nakedness and the Bible speaks about modesty. You know, the world wants women to work. I mean, it's a career-oriented society. They mock the idea of a stay-at-home mom. What do you do? And yet, the Bible is very clear that I'd have women to marry, bear children, and raise them. That's a biblical idea that the Word of God has. What a wonderful privilege a mother has of doing that. They look at marriage and they see that's bondage, you know, the old ball and chain, you know, this idea, it's like putting a rope around your neck and tying a stone to it and throwing it in a lake, the idea that people have about marriage in our world and yet the Bible obviously commends that commitment. They often view pregnancy and children as shackles, hence all the pro-choice movement is about my life and protecting my life and unwanted, they say, pregnancies. They certainly are not gonna look at the Bible with us this morning and see what God expects of womanhood. But here in our church this morning, it's my desire not to, in any way, take the Bible and beat our women up in our church. My desire as pastor would be, take the word of God, do what it intends, and that is to build up the ladies that are in church, and the young girls in our church, that they be thinking ahead. And for us as men, obviously we don't sit here this morning and think, well, pastor's preaching on godly womanhood, and I'm preaching crown jewels, you know, the crown jewels of womanhood. and think, well, I can't get anything from that this morning. There is a lot in this passage that would apply to us as men as well, all right? So it's kind of like a graduation ceremony this morning where I preach to the graduates or a marriage where I preach to the couple getting married or something like that, a little bit, but it's something that we all listen to and take in the truth of the word of God here in 1 Peter chapter three and verses one through seven. And so the wise this morning, take the word of God, lay it to heart and say, by God's grace, you know what? That's a high standard that God has. That's high expectation that God has. But by God's grace, that's what I wanna attain to. I wanna be the godly person that God wants me to be in the case of a woman, womanhood, man, manhood. All right, let's do that for the Lord. Let's pray and ask God to bless his word. to our hearts this morning. Father, I thank you for the privilege of preaching the Bible. Father, I thank you that the Word of God is true from the beginning to end. And Father, that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. And Father, so much of what we do as a church is coming to the house of God and hearing how God thinks, because week in, week out, we hear how the world thinks. And Father, the world is bombarding us with their ideas, which are contra Christ. They are against God. And Father, we have to put on biblical thinking. And Father, we have to submit to the authority of the Word of God. And so I pray this morning, would you grant me liberty as I preach? I pray the Spirit of God would speak through me. I pray, Lord, that you'd be lifted up in our eyes this morning. Father, I pray that you give us ears to hear, oh Lord, please, in a day where the world is speaking so loudly. Give us grace to disassociate ourselves from that. to listen to our Savior and our Savior alone, and follow His leading. My sheep hear my voice. They follow me. And so I pray, Spirit of God, may that be so today. It's in Christ's name I pray, amen. All right, so jewels, we're gonna look at that, crown jewels of woman, jewels in that crown, okay? Look at several of them from this passage. So the first one is the jewel of submission. The jewel of submission. Verse one says, likewise, ye wise, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives. Now, there's promises or commands in Bible that have benefit, right? Children, obey your parents and the Lord for this is right. But then it also says, so shall your days be long upon the earth. There's a blessing. associated with a child that in that house looks at that and says, you know what? I'm gonna submit and put myself under the authority of mom and dad that God says it's a first commandment with promise. Here we have another command that God gives with promise. God says, saved wife, you've got a husband that's lost. The best way that you have to impact his heart with the truth of the word of God is to be a wife that is submissive to the leadership of her husband. It's not a request this morning. It's not something that God says, I suggest this as a good idea or I put this forward as a good option. It's that God in His Word commands a wife by His grace to submit to the authority and leadership of her husband. Ephesians 5.22 says, Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands unto the Lord Colossians 318 wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as it is fit in the Lord God says this is a good thing. This is a right thing and we'll talk about why it's the right thing in just a second But the principle is cement that means put under it means if it's a case of final say husband has the final say If it's a case of a decision, a husband has final decision. It's not that husband is a wife, so don't talk about it, don't discuss it, don't think about it together. That there ought not, it's not saying there ought not be a unity and leadership there, but that the husband has that responsibility before God of leading his home. And so we think about it this morning and think, you know what? God hasn't just asked a wife to submit to her husband. We've already talked about it. He's also asked children to submit to mom and dad. But also he's asked mom and dad to submit to their authorities as well. What authorities? Well, let's start at the top, God. Hasn't God today asked, in Matthew, is that really important to play with that zipper right now? It's not. All right, hasn't God asked mom and dad both to submit to God? In fact, the word of God says, James 4.7, submit yourself therefore to God. And if we're just to ask the question diagnostically, like what happens if a society does not submit to God? What is the result of that? Well, the result of that is in the book of Genesis in chapter, I think, six or seven as we get to the flood. Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only able continually. And God repented himself and said, why did I make man when man is so rebellious against me? I know what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna destroy man. Except for that one righteous man, a man that submitted himself to God, God spared him. Boy, you stop and think about it. Just in the beginning, and we're enjoying our study on Thursday nights of the book of Genesis and seeing how God and man, how that all started and what took place and how quickly mankind corrupted their heart against God. But if I were to ask this morning, what's a society look like? It looks like Noah's society. It looks like Babel, where they, God said, separate, divide, and they said, ah, we're gonna live together, and we're gonna stay together, and we're gonna build together, and God can't have his way in my life. All right, Hannah, you're gonna need to move by your dad, all right? That'll help us out. I'm not gonna let God have his way in my life. Does that, I mean, a society that is like that is a wicked society. We looked this morning at the characteristics of the ungodly from 2 Timothy chapter three, and it's disgusting if they, I don't wanna live like that. Well, how do I not live in a society like that? We need revival. We need people to get back and submit themselves to the authority of God. And then government. God asked mom and dad both to be in subjection to government. Hebrews 13, 17 says, obey them that have the rule over you and submit yourselves. What does it look like when government is in power and mankind resists government? Well, it looks like the London riots that took place when we first got here, I think maybe it was 2011, 2012, where they cut back. Remember on the university credits or whatever was going on there, the money that people were receiving for university. Remember London? Those scenes of chaos and burning. I mean, it looked like something that was seen in other countries, but it was here in our nation. What was it? It was people rising up against government. We will not submit to government. That's what it looks like. What about those that do not submit to law? 1 Peter 2.13 says, Submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. Jesus himself said, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. He and his men submitted, even when Jesus Christ went to the cross, put up your sword. As he stood before Pilate, thou stand'st. Jesus Christ was not a leader of a rebellion. He wasn't leading a movement that was anti-government. He was leading a movement that was submit to every authority that God has given for the Lord's sake. Again, what would the world be like if men don't obey law? It'd be lawless. I mean, we wouldn't wanna walk outside today in a society that was rebelling against the authority of the law and not submitting to it. Each one of us today, I hope, as law-abiding citizens, we're submitting to the law that God's given. Spiritual authority within a church, 1 Peter 5.5, likewise ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Even Paul and Barnabas did this as they came back to the Jerusalem Council having done their mission trip and seeing Gentiles get saved. They come back, they share what God has done and they put themselves under the authority of the local church and the body of believers. And they go back and they report accordingly to them and then they take the message that they gave to them to the Gentiles, to the Gentiles, submitting to the authority even within the church that God has given. What's a church look like? that is rebelling against the authority that God's given to them. It's schismatic, it's divided. God's put that authority there, God did it. And with authority, can I say this as far as authority? Authority has great accountability. It's not always easy to be the decision maker. It's not always easy to be the person at the top because that's where it happens, that's where it takes place, and that's who's accountable. See, there's this idea that I want to be at the top, I envy that, I want that, but there's a lot of responsibility given to those that are in positions of authority to which they answer directly to God. And God put them there. And so if we were to ask the question, what's the home like when a woman does not submit to her husband's leadership? It's a home that is divided. It's a home that has a spirit of rebellion instead of a spirit of peace. Proverbs 21 verse nine says, it's better to dwell in the corner of a housetop than with a brawling woman in a white house. That word brawling means contentious. God set that up so that the husband's the leader and the wife is the follower in the case of marriage. That's God's design. I asked a lady this past week, I gave me an interesting discussion with a woman that goes to a United Free Church of Scotland. I was speaking with her and right away she said, I'm an elder in the United Free Church. And so I knew that as I was speaking with her and she said, She brought up that they have a woman pastor. I forget how that came out. And I felt like she is a believer, and I felt like I could have a conversation without offending her. And I said to her, I said, you know, as she said about her pastor's calling, well, she got this word from God. And I said, you know, in all kindness, she didn't. I said the word of God is very clear, 1 Peter chapter 3, a bishop is to be blameless, the husband of one wife having his children in subjection with all gravity, his, his, his, masculine pronouns, the word of God says I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over a man but to be in subjection, that's what God's word says. And we're having this discussion. You know what I really appreciated about this lady is that within this discussion she accepted what the Word of God said, that she could see that. And I said to her, what we really need today is churches that are in obedience to the Word of God. And one of the things I pointed out to her, I said, you know, imagine this. that in my home, I'm the head of my home, because that's what the word of God teaches, that I'm the spiritual authority, that I'm the leader in my home. But I go to church, and my wife's the pastor, and all of a sudden I'm under her authority. How does that work? That's confusion. God's not the author of confusion. And so, again, the Bible is very clear. Now, I want to take us back to the beginning. Because you go back, and this is where studying Genesis, this was insightful to me. In Genesis chapter 3, when Adam and Eve sinned against God, remember what the judgment was that God gave to women. And the judgment's this, Genesis 3, 16, unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception, and sorrow shalt thou bring forth, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. All right, now if I were to talk about men, let me just skip and go to men real quick. God's judgment against man is this, in the sweat of thy brow thou shalt bring forth. that when you work, it's gonna be labor, it's gonna be tough, and what man hasn't got up and gone to work, and it doesn't go the way it's supposed to go, there's always problems associated with it, and the guy can either curse and quit, or demand to live off the government, or he could submit to what God's given him to do as the breadwinner for his family, and as he does that, he does that by God's grace, helping him. do exactly what God called them to do. See, men can try to shirk the curse as well, but the curse exists. And see, the curse, having happened because of men's sin, it's already in place. It's a fact. God isn't in heaven today saying, you know what, they don't really like the curse, even though they're sinners just like Eve, so they can't blame her. They don't really like the curse, so today, I'm just gonna take the curse away. God doesn't do that. God hasn't done that. God will not do that, so the curse exists. So what is the point? The point is for a woman, this idea of submission, for a woman to exist in that position, you know what it takes? It takes the grace of a loving and gracious God, and God will do it. And that's where a happy home is, and that's where joy is, and that's where peace is, because God's put that authority there. And as you think about jewels, diamonds aren't formed easily. They're formed with a 725,000 pounds per square inch of pressure. That jewel of submission, it's valuable, incredibly valuable. It'll be such a blessing to the home where it's found, but it's not easy, is it? And nothing that, I don't think anything that we look at this morning with the crown jewels of womanhood is something that you look at and say, that's easy. If it was easy, everybody would have it. I wouldn't have to preach the message this morning. It would just be there, but the reality, it's not there because it's of God, it's God's expectations, it's what God desires, and it comes at great price. That's why the Word of God says, who can find a virtuous woman? Her price is far above rubies. Why? Because it is so very unusual to find a gracious and submissive wife. It is. But any husband that has one would say, praise God, I'm so thankful for the wife God's given me that she has that spirit of submission. So do you have this morning, the crown jewel of submission, you adorn your crown with it. The second is the jewel of purity, the jewel of purity. Verse two. It says, while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Chastity, chaste, it means purity. But it's not just marital fidelity, though that's part of it, it's that morality, it's that purity of life that we expect in motherhood, even society. You know, mothers ought to be different. I remember growing up that we didn't have bad humor in my home, but my dad and myself and my brother, maybe even my sister at times growing up, might have had crude or rude humor. You know, just something you say and, you know what I appreciate about my mom is that's not something she laughed at. All right? Mom was above that. And mom might turn and say, you guys, knock it off. Why? Because she's different. There's something different about mom in a house that is set apart from those kind of things. And again, I mentioned, even the world used to adhere to that idea that within womanhood, there is virtue. That used to be in our world. Women didn't go where men would go. That was different. There are places men go all the time. They go to the pub and out doing those things. Women didn't go there. Women didn't drink what men would drink, smoke what men would smoke. Women didn't say what men would say. In fact, in the day, men would change the way they speak in a lady's presence. And sadly, I lived in some time with that, but it's not our day, is it? Our day, sadly, women speak worse than the men, and that's just the way it is, possibly, or at least as bad as. In general, women had higher morals and society expected it. And there's an article written by Jasper Copping of the Telegraph, and he looked at a study of World War I. And you might wonder, when did it change? When did society begin to accept all these changes that took place within womanhood? You go back to World War I, and you see a very distinct change taking place. And this study points out that their drinking habits were transformed during the conflict. More of them were working, and with so many men away at the front, women found themselves with more disposable income and freed from many domestic restraints. In increasing numbers, they flocked to pubs, traditionally the preserve of men, and drank alcohol in greater quantities than before. The 10 prompted moral outrage among many observers with calls for the government to take action to keep women out of bars, for publicans to stop serving them, and even for changes to the design of pubs to discourage female drinkers. Who did that? The church? The church came together and said, hey, this is bad. Our mothers are beginning to drink, and they're getting into pubs. And so this is what we're going to do. We're going to start a social movement against women in the pubs. No. Society looked at it and says, that's disgusting to see our mothers in the pubs. That is something that they're above. Society said that. It ought to make sense to us today as we're looking at what the Bible says that this idea of chastity is something within womanhood that God says, that is a jewel. That's a wonderful thing. Oh, for a day where women would say, you know what, I don't want that. I'm above that. Even unsaved women to say, you know what? That's wicked, that's filth. Why should that be in a mother's life? Think about it. I mean, just that purity of a mother. Obviously, this morning we understand that that chastity is really not possible without Christ. And that that sanctification also is not possible without Christ. But always godly women this morning that want to be a godly woman. That idea of being above, of morality, really godly morality, is something that the Bible speaks highly of. They behold your chaste conversation. Conversation, by the way, I didn't say what that is. That's lifestyle, pure lifestyle, coupled with fear. And so that's a wonderful jewel. I hope you have that jewel this morning of purity. And then third, the jewel of humility. the jewel of humility. Verse 3 says, who's adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plating the hair and of wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel. The idea of amassing outward physical beauty and trying to dress in such and such a way as to draw attraction to the outside of a woman. Now have you ever noticed that and I'm a guy so I notice this I guess because I try to find something like I'm looking for a new coat or something and I go into some shops and there's not even a men's department. You ever notice that? And then when you find the men's department, you've got to go up the stairs into some obscure corner of the building. A lot of times, and their men's department is 10 by 10, and their women's department is the rest of the shop. It's just massive. I don't know what the comparison is, but I look at that and say, even society understands today that men are not shoppers. Women are. That's something that women do. I looked online because I was curious. What's the most expensive wallet? You know, guy's wallet. What's the most expensive one I could find? You know, the most expensive wallet I could find was a Bluetooth wallet. All right, it's a guy thing, I guess. Biometric wallet, which links your Bluetooth phone to that wallet, and if it gets more than five meters away from your phone, it sounds an alarm. All right? Again, it's a guy thing, right? Gizmos. But it was only 850 pounds. And you might think, well, that's a lot. But you know when you Google what's the most expensive purse that you could buy? Do you know last week, you might have seen this in the news, a Birkin purse sold for 208,000 pounds at auction? I forgot, 208,175 pounds. For what? A purse. Is it better quality because it costs that much? OK, so it has 245 diamonds and white gold detailing. But do those 245 diamonds make it a better purse, better handbag? Is it better able to hold your stuff, you know, your lipstick and stuff? Is it better able, I don't know what women keep in their purse. I don't really wanna know what women keep in their purse. Is it better to hold that stuff? No. Is it less likely that a thief is gonna rob you? You know, you got your valuables, right, in your purse. I guess your valuables, in that case, are your purse. But, I mean, is it less likely a thief is gonna rob you? or more likely they're gonna not just rob you, but take your life because that's valuable enough to them that they're willing to do that. Why does a woman get a purse like that? You know, the Bible tells us why. It's called the pride of life. It's that outward adorning, that plating of hair, that wearing of gold, putting on of apparel. It's that idea that I care so much today about what people think about me based upon what I put on. And God says, that's not where it is for a godly woman. Now, God's not saying dress horribly and hideously. No, I mean, you could dress nice without having a 245,000 pound purse. But it's not that pride of life. where I've gotta have that. And if I don't have that, I'm just not living. 1 John 2.16 says, for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abideth forever. See, if you want to say today, why do I have such a strong desire? Because I've got to have that. I've got to have that. If I don't have that, what do people think? Young people, guess what? You're susceptible to this, and you better realize it. And it's a lot of peer pressure saying, you've got to have this. You've got to have this. And if you don't have this, you're not cool. Listen, it's exactly what we're talking about here. It's that pride of life. And it's not true. It's the devil's lie. And it's not what God desires. What's God desire? Not that. That's the jewel of humility. I don't have to have that. Oh, boy, I'd like to be married, and I am. God bless me. I don't want to make it personal. I speak about my wife, but I praise God. You know, I don't have to afford a woman that has to have that, has to have that, has to have that. If she doesn't have that, she's not going to be happy. I praise God. It's a jewel of humility. You know, I can make do with this. This is fine. This is great. That's a jewel of humility. But the fourth thing is A jewel of meekness, okay? Don't get all dressed up like that on the outside. Don't let that be your adornment, that which draws people's attention to you. But what is your adorning? How do you dress yourself? Verse four, but let it be the hidden man of the heart and that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. There's a verse, Proverbs 31, 30, You know, these people that are pumping all that money into Botox and other, oh, I don't even know what Botox is, having your face, you know, getting rid of the wrinkles, I understand that, but I know it goes bad sometimes. It takes two months to wear out. You know, so they're doing all these things and tanning and tanning and tanning and tanning and, you know, someday, 40 years from now, how's that gonna look? All those beautiful tattoos, how's it gonna look? How's it gonna look in the nursing home, you know? Favor is deceitful, beauty is vain. But you know what endures beyond age is? that godliness, that meek and quiet spirit, that holy living, that righteousness that people look at and say, you know, that is just such a godly person. They got a great spirit about them. You know, I've mentioned many times that I like agates, all right? And in my eyes, they're of great price. Like if you're walking with me in a finite agate, I'm going to look at that. Oh, this is great. You know, look at this. It's beautiful. And I value that. In my eyesight, it's great. But you know, I'm not a My eyesight's imperfect, you know? I'm not the authority. You might look at that and say, well, that's not that great to me. But imagine somebody is an art critic, and they're good at identifying value, and they're with you, and you're walking through a place that has these works of art, and they're pretty cheap, and they look at that and they go, wow, that's incredibly valuable, buy that, buy that. What are you gonna do? You're gonna sell everything you have, buy that, why? Because it's incredibly valuable. And whose eyesight is this meek and quiet spirit valuable? in God's eyes. He's the authority. See, it isn't this morning, and I praise God it's not, because I wouldn't want to preach this message without the authority of God, but it's not Pastor Ben this morning looking at it and saying, you know what I'd really like to see in the womanhood of our church? I'd like to see this. I praise God it's not me saying it. It's God saying. God says, hey, that meek and quiet spirit, that ability to have it all under control, that sweet spirit, God says that's valuable. That's valuable. You know, in contrast to that, and I think I need to make the contrast, Proverbs chapter 7 speaks about a woman that is an adulterous woman. The Bible says her feet abide not in her house. What a condemnation of a woman that is a wife. Her feet abide not in her house. But you know what it says about this woman? She is loud and stubborn. That her characteristic is opposite of what God just said, meek and quiet, that's godly. Loud and stubborn, that's a adulterous woman. And so the Word of God says, she's without in the street, life that waited at every corner. She caught him and kissed him with an impudent face, said unto him, I've peace offerings with me, this day have I paid my vows. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, I've found thee. I've decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I've perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let's take our fill of love until the morning. Let us solace ourselves with loves. For the good man is not at home, he is gone on a long journey. And she goes out and she lures, you can say unsuspecting, but very simple, wicked men into an adulterous relationship with her. And see, God's Word doesn't just suggest that that's the case. It's not just a correlation. It's a reality that loud and stubborn is the opposite of quiet and meek spirit. One's godly, one's not. It doesn't say that every loud and stubborn woman is going to be an adulteress, but it ought to scare any woman that's loud and stubborn to think that that's the characteristic of a woman that is an adulteress. And so we look at it this morning and think, wow, don't cheapen your womanhood by being loud and stubborn. Make it quiet. God says that's valuable. God says that's where it's at. That's where it gets priceless. A virtuous woman, her price is far above rubies. It's that person, that woman that has that ability to have that meek and that quiet spirit. And then the jewel of faithfulness, the jewel of faithfulness, verse five. It says, for after this manner, in the old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands. Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement. Again, we look at this passage, and the world goes, what, she called him Lord? What's that mean, master? And what's the Bible saying? What's Peter saying? Whose daughters you are, as long as you do well. He's saying, I encourage you to attain to this. I encourage you to so be faithful and respectful to your husband and to God. that you'd be just like a daughter of Sarah. God doesn't look at it and say, oh, she didn't know what it's all about. Women's lib, women empowerment, equality of the sexes, which by the way, I question whether it's equality, I believe it's superiority. Think about it in every case that somebody wants equality. Do they really want equality or do they want superiority? I don't think it's equality. And biblically, I know who has the superiority by God's authority. And so you look at it and you say, you know what, this Sarah, what is she? She is a faithful wife. And God says, I lift that up to you. You could be a daughter of Sarah if you have that meek and quiet spirit and you are able to follow the leadership of your husband. So the question would then be this, should I honor my husband if his attitude is wrong? You don't know my husband, you know, you could say. And you don't know the situation that I find myself in. And by the way, it is always within marriage. Notice that the command to submit is to the husband. It's not to all men, it's to the husband, all right? There's other commands that have to do with other authorities that God's given to us. But as it says it, what about if he is arrogant, conceited, bullheaded, you know, and he's just wrong? What about that? Well, let's go back to chapter two, the same book, and Peter's dealing with submission to earthly authority there as well, but it's in the context of servants, okay? I'm not equating womanhood with servanthood, I'm not. But I am going to another context of submission where the Bible says to submit, it's the same principle, and see what the Word of God says about this. What if their attitude's wrong? 1 Peter 2.18. Says, servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the forward. Somebody's attitude's wrong, they're rude, unkind. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it if when you be buffeted for your faults, you shall take it patiently? But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. for even here unto where he called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. You know, husbands, let me say straight up, we ought to be kind, we ought to be gracious, we ought to be gentle leaders. But when we mess up, and we will, God doesn't say, well, because they messed up, now's your opportunity to rebel against the authority that I have in your life in commanding you to submit to your husband. God doesn't give that. And the example that Peter uses is the example of Christ, and Christ who went to the cross when he was reviled, reviled not again when he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. And so, but his attitude's wrong. But God says submit. And that is a great thing, to be able to submit, even in a case where, you know what, he's not right about it, his attitude's not right, but I'm gonna trust myself, listen, unto him that judgeth righteously. Isn't that what Christ did? Christ allowed himself to be in a situation that you could say was even abusive, the cross. But he did so with confidence because God would take care of it. And I'm not, I wanna be careful what I say, abusiveness violates the next principle. Okay? Physical abuse or sexual abuse or verbal abuse. Okay? Could become a greater issue than what we're talking about. But if he's not asking you to sin and he's not bringing you to sin, the biblical principle is to submit. I think of Abigail's, you know, in the Bible, Abigail was married to Nabal. Nabal, the Bible says, is a fool. He's the one that David protected his sheep. Nabal was a rich fool. He's very wealthy. And David had protected him. David is living in the wilderness. He's fleeing King Saul, and he's living off the land, and he's investing his men in protecting Nabal's sheep so that Nabal will reward them and pay them for their work that they've done in keeping his flock safe. He rightly expects Nabal to pay him for that. They come to Nabal, and Nabal refuses. Remember Abigail? Abigail doesn't go to her husband and say, you are so wrong, you are a fool. She does, by the way, confess to David, you know, his name's Nabal, it means fool, and so he is. But she doesn't rebuke her husband. She just is a wise woman. She runs to David, takes an offering to him, spares him coming as he's coming to kill Nabal. She tells Nabal about it lately, and God takes care of Nabal. Nabal dies. Say, we can trust this morning. Say, you know what? That's really tough. I got to submit. Yeah. God will take care of it. I don't want, I hope you don't want God to kill whoever that is, but God's able to work in their heart. God's able to get it right. What's my responsibility? Submit, unless they're asking me to violate God's word, that's the second thing. Should I honor my husband if he asked me to violate God's word? Drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, go to a wicked place, anything you can think of that would violate God's word. Acts 5.29, what Peter said, we've preached on this recently, we ought to obey God rather than men. If it's a command to violate God's law, I have a higher authority, I obey God. But if he's just asking me to do something I don't wanna do, I don't think we should do that, he's answering to God for it. And I can submit to that. See, it's possible to submit. I've shared this story before. When I was at university, I was in a position And my boss and my boss's boss kind of got in an argument. It's a Christian organization. And so I tried to catch up with my boss's boss. He's on his way to my boss's boss's boss. You got it? All right? And I get to him and I say, come on, we're believers. Let's go talk about this. Let's deal with it. Because I saw, come on, Matthew 18. Let's do it. Let's deal with it. Let's get it out, right? And I was right. But he went to my boss's boss's boss anyway. Instead of complaining about my boss, he complained about me. So that night, I spent a lot of time in prayer saying, God, you know, I'm trying. Help my boss's boss's boss to understand, all right? He was a godly man, Mr. Dunbar. He came in the next morning. He said, Ben, he started talking to me. I said, well, Mr. Dunbar, this is what happened. And he looked at me and said, you know, Ben, you were right. I believe you're right, but for the sake of Christ, I'm gonna ask you to go apologize to your boss's boss. So I went in, submitted, and said, you know, mister, he's a good guy. I could tell you his name, but I won't. I'm sorry. Please forgive me. And he did. I submitted, why? For the cause of Christ. Did I have to submit? Wasn't I right? I was right. And that was one of the greatest lessons I ever learned. I hope I learned it. Submit for Christ's sake. Isn't that what God has said so many times in this passage? As unto the Lord, as unto the Lord, submit as unto the Lord. And so here, that jewel, that jewel of faithfulness, a faithful wife, no matter what, I mean, it may not be an ideal thing, oh God, help us to be godly husbands, but that that jewel of faithfulness is a great thing. And then the jewel of honor is the last thing this morning, the jewel of honor, verse seven. It says, likewise ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of God that your prayers be not hindered. Okay, what's the verse teach us? Equality of grace, do you see it? Heirs together of the grace of life. Is a woman as much a child of God as a man? Yes. but we're not equal in strength. See, our world rejects that. But our world often perverts truth to its own ends. Let me give you some examples. Homophobic, it means that someone hates homosexuals. That's what the word means, or fear of homosexuals is actually what it means. Fear of homosexuals, why? Because I don't believe that they're in obedience to God. See, I'm accused of not loving homosexuals. If I say, you know, the Word of God says that sin, but God forgives sin, and He can change your life by the power of God, just like He can set any sinner free. And I'm not a better sinner than you, I'm a sinner just like you. They say that's hateful, you hate homosexuals. No, we don't hate homosexuals, we believe the Bible. We believe the Word of God. And misogyny, new term, I think. I didn't grow up hearing misogyny. I've only heard it the last year or so, two years. It means a dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against women. They'd accused me of misogyny this morning, preaching this message that I have with the authority of the word of God and the authority of God. They say that's misogyny. See, you hate women. Do I hate women this morning because I agree with the word of God that they're a weaker vessel? Oh, they despise that term, a weaker vessel. Listen, I saw, and let me just ask you, are women weaker than men? Remember the Olympics, we just had them. Did you notice that they were men's events and women's events? And did you also notice that the men went faster? They went higher? I'm not bragging them in, I'm just saying they did. Why did they? Because God has made them that way. God has put bigger, stronger muscles in the legs and the arms of men. I saw a woman police officer getting the worst of it on our road when we lived across from the pub, and I'm on the phone with the emergency people, and I'm saying, you know, your lady officer here, has got a, there's a drunk, and she's getting the worst of it, and the lady on the phone, she goes, hey, she's got a thing, she can call for help if she needs it. I go, she needs backup, you know? I'm just gonna tell you right now, she's not gonna press that button. And I thought this, I thought, you know, if I'm getting the tar beat out of me by somebody, and I call for the police, I don't want, and as much as I respect this woman, and I think it's great, and I respect women police officers, I don't want her to show up. I want some big, huge, strapping, I don't want me to show up, okay? I want some big, huge strapping guy to be there. Why? Because my life's getting kicked out of me and I want somebody that can protect me. And so I ask the question again this morning, are women weaker than men? Answer, yes. Now again, our society, you know, you hate women. I don't hate women. I just, I can understand. I mean, if I know anatomy, I understand women are weaker than men. I don't want my wife to have bigger biceps than me, all right? Mine are small enough, all right? Got a little bit of pride there. You know, God's made that. Men are the protectors that God has given. And I mentioned I like to collect West German pottery. Don't go get any because then I won't be able to find any. But they're hardy. I mean, they're strong. If you pick one up at my house, they are solid. But you know, if you have a Ming vase and you hold it up, and you took them both and you held them, you know, five inches off the ground, and then you dropped them both, the West German pottery is just going to go boing, boing, boing, crash, you know, and it's not going to... The Ming vase is going to go... What one's weaker? The Ming vase. Which one's inferior? West German, but it's stronger. Yeah, I mean, we're not talking about inferiority. We're not talking about value. We're talking about the wonderful sweetness and gentility of a lady. And again, oh, this is contra society, but I don't mind because I'm preaching the Bible. The Word of God lifts it up. You know, I love the fact that I have a wife that I get to nurture and cherish and care for, and she doesn't have to open the door on her own and carry everything, although she does more today than she should do, and I need to get back to carrying more stuff. You know, but I mean, the fact is, I love providing for her. I love protecting her. I love doing that. Why? Because God made me that way. And see, when the kids bang their knee, they don't run to dad, oh daddy, daddy, daddy, help me, help me. You know, I bang my knee. Who do they run to? Mom. Why? Because she's a whole lot more gentle than I am. What do I say? Get over it. Who cares? Try to, you know, go cry to mom, right? Mom's like, oh man, that's terrible. A lot of moms, right? Is that inferior? No. What is that? It's that jewel of honor. It's that, no, mom's above that. See, we don't let mom do that. Not that she can't do it, because it's below her. We'll do that, all right? That's what it is. And so, this morning, E.E. Jewett writes that hymn, Will There Be Any Stars In Your Crown? You know, as we talk about the jewels of womanhood this morning, I'm telling you, every single one of these, the world's plucking it out, going, I despise that, I don't want that. You know what they've got? And I'll just be honest, they've got a very valueless crown. See, even, you know, the Bible goes, consider Sarah. Who do we have to lift up today and say, consider? Consider. Would to God, we just had examples all over say, you know what, young people, you're growing up, be like that person. That is a godly, godly woman. That's a virtuous woman. Look at her spirit. I mean, she's got a great spirit about her. Look at her, you know, she's honorable. She's pure. I mean, she's, that's below her. That's not in her line. I mean, look how she supports her husband and respects her husband. What a jewel. This morning, do you have that? God looks at it and goes, wow, that's valuable. Proverbs 31 10, who can find a virtuous woman for her price is far above rubies. And let me ask you this morning in conclusion, having said all that, did God devalue womanhood or did he lift it up? You know what he did? He lifted it up to an attainable standard that's attainable by his grace, and that is incredibly valuable. And if we had that, we'd have something worth having. And so God's lifted it up to us this morning. I pray God will lift it up in our hearts. And God's spoken in my heart, even as I preach this morning. I hope he's spoken in your heart as well, and I believe he has. Let's pray. Father, I pray that your word would Go down deeply. Satan would come, pluck this out, say, that's a bunch of rubbish, why would you listen to that? That's so contrary to society. In fact, if that goes online, it could just hit the news, and people would mock that, they'd laugh at that. But Father, you're a holy God, and the world hates you. Jesus, you're righteous, but the world despises you. Father, why should we think that the world's got it right, and God's got it wrong? So I pray this morning, take the precious truth of the word of God, put it deep in our hearts. Father, help us understand what it's about. And I pray, God, that you build up our women, strengthen their hands as they seek to be the woman that God desires them to be. I pray, oh God, that they would be a jewel to their husband, and Father, a jewel to you. It's in Christ's name I pray, amen.