Admirable Women, Part 3

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem.

A stained glass window sparkles and shines when the sun is out. But in dark times, beauty is seen only if there is light within. Our culture places a heavy burden on women when it comes to outward appearance, but God's Word calls us to focus more of our attention on the imperishable beauty of the heart. Are we cultivating a heart ruled by trust in our Lord? Are we allowing God's grace to transform our attitudes and affections? Christ frees us from the chains of impossible beauty standards so we can live for an audience of one, Christ Himself. Rich unpacks 1 Peter 3, 1-6 in this message titled, Admirable Women. This is part 3 of a sermon first preached on October 30, 2022.

Ladies, let me share something with you. If you ask your husband to do something around the house, don't nag. He will do it.

You don't have to remind him every six months. But that gentle and quiet spirit is with the circumstance, sometimes the difficult circumstances of life. And even if he's speaking here of a woman who may even have an unbelieving husband, her gentle quiet spirit means that she is responsive with godly grace. Responsive with godly grace.

Not manipulative, not controlling, but responsive with godly grace. So let me quote David Helm here in his exposition on this text. He says, women should consider how much time it takes to prepare getting ready in the morning. And by the way, Andrew and I got married in the 80s, back in the big hair days. I was marveled by how much time was spent on hair in those days.

I'm like, how do you do that? Women should consider how much time it takes to prepare getting ready in the morning and then see that Peter is urging them to take the time to adorn their inner person as well. Maybe make a comparison there.

How much time do you spend adorning your inner person as opposed to adorning your outer person? That's just a thought. Now the next section here is called Daughters of Sarah, School of Beauty. And that's because what he says here, for this is how holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, verse 5, by submitting to their own husbands as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, and you are her children if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. And so I list Daughters of Sarah, School of Beauty. I like that.

It sounds great. Well, somebody Googled that. What I am saying today is not associated with that website. Now you're all going to god out of it.

Some of you are pulling out your phones. Oh, what is it? Don't do that, okay?

But what I'm saying is not associated. I probably should have Googled that. I thought, oh man, this is a great title for this.

Somebody else thought of it before I did. So turn with me to Titus, Paul's letter to Titus. Go back to Hebrews and turn left. Chapter 2, look at verse 3. Now remember Titus is talking about the order of the church, order in the church. Verse 3, older women likewise. Chapter 2, verse 3, older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. That is the syllabus, if you will, maybe the mission statement of the Daughters of Sarah School of Beauty. This ought to define the nature of relationships between the older and younger women in the church.

Here are the two courses that are offered by the Daughters of Sarah School of Beauty. Course number one, how to live with this boybarian. This boybarian is that gorilla holding the Stradivarius. How to live with this boybarian. I'm talking about your husband. The second course that is offered is how to live, how to love little bundles of joy that are self-preeminent rebels. You know that, don't you? And we are, in this church, we are overwhelmed with cuteness by shorter than average humans. Your little bundle of joy is a self-preeminent rebel.

That's not Rich saying that. The word of God reveals that to us and I think it actually becomes pretty apparent once you've been their parent for, what, a month or two. But you know, you're not called to do that on your own. First of all, you're a team, mom and dad, and that's God's ideal, so that's the best way that it works. If not, there's also the church community and Adrienne gave us a beautiful picture this morning of how the church community works together to do life. But what the young women should be learning from the women who have been walking the path for a while, have had children and have the experience and have developed the wisdom, the godly wisdom and grace. Three things, trust, respect. Three verbs, trust, respect, and serve. First of all, trust.

And it's the book ends here in verses five and six, for this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves by submitting to their own husbands as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord and you are her children if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. He's talking about trust here. Ladies, your adornment is that internal sense of trust. And who is he calling you to trust here, your husband?

No. If you think that's the one you have to trust, you need help. Because he's a fallen creature. He's calling you to trust God. Trust his goodness, trust his ordained order. And he says do not fear anything that is frightening. It's like good grief Peter, how high of a bar are you going to raise this for me? He's touching on issues that are very real for women. Do not fear anything that is frightening.

And it could be that boy barium that you're married to. He says do not fear is the word for alarm. And alarm can lead to anxiety. And again, when I'm controlled by that, when that becomes my controlling disposition, then I will manipulate. Manipulation is not a fruit of the Spirit.

Did you know that? It's not included in Galatians 5 as a fruit of the Spirit. Because that manipulation frankly is quite the opposite of that quiet, gentle Spirit. That is a trusting Spirit. My wife has had to trust God in our history.

I've made some pretty stupid choices. But she trusted God. And so the older women in the church are to teach the younger women and not just teach them by talking about it, but through your life. This is what trusting God looks like.

It's life on life, a term that Adrian used. But also the second verb is respect. To teach, older women teach the younger women to respect.

And here's what it looks like. And this is going back to verse 1. Be subject to your own husbands so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be one without a word by the conduct of their wives. In this respect, you demonstrate your trust in God by functioning in His ordained design. In the order of His ordained design. That's how you demonstrate your trust in God.

Cosmos. And specifically within the unit of marriage. This is not a general broad statement contrasting men and women.

This is specifically within the unit of marriage. God designed men and women differently. Western culture notwithstanding today. Doesn't mean a lack of equality. We are equal but we are not the same.

May I make that very clear? We are equal but we are not the same. God designed us for a diversity of functions. And I like to use the example of, because I believe God designed the husband to be, He designed a man to be an initiator and He designed a woman generally to be a responder.

And that's what works so beautifully in the marriage relationship. And men, listen to me, we're focusing on the women today, next Sunday we're focusing on the men. So men, I'm taking attendance, alright? If you're not here next Sunday, you will be initiated into church discipline. I'm just kidding.

I'm going to be hard on you guys, so just be prepared for that. But I like to use understanding that God created men to be more initiators and women responders. I like to use the example of pairs figure skating. It's a beautiful thing. It's the only reason I watch the Winter Olympics. Not really, I'm just kidding.

I don't watch them. But this truly is a beautiful thing. And as I was watching, I will never forget, as I was watching the Olympics one time and I was listening to a commentator, and this is a person who had been a figure skater. The commentator said, the man initiates and the woman responds. He said those words.

I'm like, that is a beautiful picture of marriage. Now let me ask you something. Does that make one superior over the other? Absolutely not.

They are equal. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace weekdays at 10 a.m.