Titus 2:3-5 (Biblical Womanhood)

Biblical Womanhood in a Confused Culture

Thank you for subscribing to the Shepherds Church podcast. This is our Lord's Day Sermon. We pray that as we declare the Word of God that you would be encouraged Strengthened in your faith and that you would catch a greater vision of who Christ is.

May you be blessed in the hearing of God's Word and may the Lord be with you as I near my 40th birthday and As I watch the collapse of the American Empire be right in front of our very eyes. I'm resolved in This past year and and of years of late to speak frankly to speak the truth.

Whether it offends society at large or not. I Want to speak what the word says now, I don't want to do that with pugnacity. We we read that in Titus earlier. If something is offensive, I don't want it to be me and and me being overly offensive as a person, but I do want to not shy away from speaking what the word says.

If Honesty and truth were oxygen Our society especially the church today would be suffocating. Because there's a low short supply of truth. Churches long ago have abandoned their station abandon their pulpits.

There's so many churches today that hang the flag of mockery to God. There's so many churches today that they could not spell the word gospel and I'm not talking about their their their Acumen or their ability intellectually.

I'm just saying that they've forgotten the truth. Being relevant to a society has been more important than righteousness. Men all across the country have traded in their pulpits for man buns and pop psychology.

We laugh because it's pathetic. We've made the approval of man more important than the approval of God. We've made worm-tongued winsomeness. The thing that is the most important today if we can just be nice and say things that are they're sweet and kind to make.

Everybody agree with us then we've been faithful to God. That's spinelessness. That's cowardice. C .s. Lewis once said that we need men with chests. We need that today now more than ever many will wrestle with the text many will fear God and Tremble over his word and declare what it says, even if it hurts.

Today, we're certainly in a passage that's tough and It's not tough because the truth of the word is somehow offensive. The truth of the word is good the truth of the word is like medicine that goes down into the soul and it's sweet and it produces a Wonderful reward.

No, this passage is tough because we've so fully departed from biblical orthodoxy today that it chafes The soul of man. You guys remember back in elementary school when a friend would come up to you and say hey have you ever had an Indian burn and Then you're like no, what is that?

And then all of a sudden one layer of your epidermis has come off. Because we've departed from biblical orthodoxy. This passage is Indian burned our society. It's a text that's focused on biblical womanhood.

What is a woman? Popular documentary recently asked the question. The only problem is is that it never got around to the gospel to what actually is a woman. Today, we're gonna look at a good vision of biblical womanhood.

We're gonna look at a vision of womanhood that will bless Women that will enrich her families that will connect her to her purpose. Which was established by her creator and one word real quick. I know that we do live in a confused time.

I'm not a woman. But that doesn't matter. Because you don't have to be a woman to speak about what womanhood is. God is the one who spoke about womanhood and it's in his word and as we study what it is We can talk about it whether we're women or not.

If you ignore this passage, which we will see in a moment if you ignore this passage in Titus chapter 2 You don't love womanhood. If you rebel against this passage It becomes even more significant than that you not only do not love womanhood, but you've blasphemed God.

That's how serious God paints the picture of womanhood. Do you deny? The designer in His vision you've denied him. So as we move in that direction, I Do want to share a little bit about my heart because confusing times require clear speaking.

Confusing times do not require the soft touch the kid gloves the pat on the back like we've done for 50 years. Confusing times requires tough speech. One of the things that we've done as a church and I put the the blame square at the feet of the church is We have caused our society To become diabetic to the things of God.

We have shoveled so many gospel sugar scoops of Of sweetness right on to the culture that now they can't even hear the things of God. They're like a diabetic. We need a little salt. Which is what we were called to be.

We were never called to be sugar. We're called to be salt. We need to preach truth with a dash of Himalayan we need to say what the Bible says because we don't want our church and we don't want this society to grow fat and spiritually diabetic on our watch if You want cupcakes and devil dogs which cut devil dogs are disgusting.

I'm sorry. I wasn't born in this region for forgive me if you love them. More power to you, but we don't need spiritual devil dogs either if you want that go listen to Joel Steen and dr Phil or any of the other ear ticklers that we've produced in this culture.

But today we want to look at the truth because we want men to be strong. We want women to be strong. Families to be strong and thrive like the psalm that we just sang where a family is rooted into the gospel and growing healthy.

And thriving. So we have to be a little salty, but if you like the softer side of Sears. Remember that commercial back in the 80s the softer side. I'm frustrated. I'm frustrated because I watch a society that has absolutely devastated women.

I've watched a society feign that they love women. All while encouraging her to murder the children inside of her body all while causing men to dress up in in Swim gear and and beat them on on the you know, it's not a court.

That's the swimming pool. I've seen a society that acts and says that they love women, but absolutely hate women and it burdens my heart. I've talked to so many women who are in tears over childlessness because they followed the world's vision.

They went to school. They went and got their corner office. They spent all of their years of fertility and vivacity working for a goal that now they've ran out of years and they haven't found a husband and they don't have any children.

I've seen society destroy Women. I've seen men mistreat women. I've seen society mistreat women ladies. If you don't hear anything else today, you are God's daughter. You are daughters of the king and he loves you and he cares for you and he designed you according to a purpose.

Do not listen to the lies that the world has taught you about what it means to be a woman. Because they will destroy you listen to what the Word of God says about you. Because that's where true freedom is when you embrace biblical womanhood.

You open up your heart. You open up your life. You open up your home to the blessings of God when you reject it. You open up your home to the destruction and devastation that has afflicted this society.

And my aim in this is That I've watched Generations of men and women not get discipled by the previous generation. Many of you probably can identify with that. You arrived at adulthood and you said now what no one taught me how to be a godly man.

No one taught me how to be a godly woman and As a result of that what we've had over the last several generations of American history is men who don't know what it means to Be biblical men trying to raise children who don't end up growing up knowing what it means to be biblical men.

The same is true for women and we're perpetuating this. Because we've not done discipleship my goal is That we as a church would know a biblical manhood and womanhood is so that we can raise up a new generation who does not struggle in the same way that our generation struggled.

May it never be said that a young boy grows up not knowing what it means to be a biblical man. May it never be said that a woman grows up and says I was never taught how to do any of this. I was never taught how to be a woman and she has to learn from culture.

May it never be said of this church. May it never be said of Christ Church. Amen with that. There's seven things that I want us to look at today when it comes to biblical womanhood in. The passage that we're looking at number one a woman all in all of this is in your bulletin.

The outline is there so you can take notes if you'd like. If you don't have a bulletin, that's okay. But we have them back there on that black table every week. Number one a woman is to be a lover of her husband.

Number two a woman is to be a lover of her children. She's to be moderate pure a worker at home good and submissive to her husband. And with that would you turn with me to Titus chapter 2 verses 3 through 5 as we examine what a biblical woman is and I'm gonna be deviating from the common practice of the church by preaching from the New King James Version today because in fact It's the only path.

It's the only translation that had the guts to translate this passage correctly. So if you will join me in Titus 2 3 through 4 Wanda, would you put that up? Thank you. The older women likewise. That they be reverent in behavior.

Not slanderers not given too much wine teachers of good things. That they may admonish the young women to love their husbands. To love their children to be discreet chaste. Homemakers good obedient to their own husbands.

That the Word of God may not be blasphemed. Let's pray. Lord, would you help us today? We live in the society that's so confused on what it means to be a woman. Lord would we as your people open up our hearts to see what the scriptures say about womanhood.

Lord, would we not be hard-hearted? Would we not be? Callous. Would we not look at a passage like this and say that doesn't apply to us today? Which is really to dawn the heart of Satan who said did God really say.

You have really spoken. You have really shared truth. Lord let us as your people to embrace it. Lord let us as men in this room to celebrate. Encourage and to be thankful for the incredible blessing. It is that you have given to this world called woman.

Lord would you help us to honor the woman? Would you help us to be respectful and caring of all women. It's Lord, especially the woman that you have called us to care for most intimately our wife. Lord would you help women?

Who struggle so often with? Discouragement shame or guilt. Would you help every woman here today to walk out of here with her head held high proud to be a woman? Proud to be who God made her to be. Proud to be a daughter of the king.

Lord would you help our young girls to catch to catch a vision of this to see it to dream about it to look Forward to the day where she will step into womanhood. Lord, would you help our young boys? To look at the mothers of this community and Think about the kind of wife that he will one day marry.

Why Titus 2 Makes False Teaching About Womanhood a Blasphemy

Lord would you make our family strong? Would you make it strong through godly men and through godly women and Through godly children. It's in Christ's name. We pray. Amen. Now before we can get into this passage and look at the seven things that it discusses we have to actually cover a couple things as introductory thoughts because there's three things really that this passage says that we have to look at before we can actually get to what a woman is the first.

Is that it is a blasphemy? Against God's Word to not teach biblical womanhood or To teach it wrongly. What a strong statement. Paul uses the word blasphemy. Which is on the same level of damnable cursing.

Which is strong language. But that's what it is and the Old Testament when you blaspheme you were killed for it. It was a capital crime. It was executable payable by death. It was considered a social poison upon the society and it was an affront to the holiness of God.

Let me give you an example. Leviticus 24 16. The one who blasphemes in the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone him the alien as well as the native when he blasphemes the name He shall be put to death.

When you blaspheme God you are shaking a middle finger at the heavens and you're saying I have no need of you and your maniacal demonic Disdain you were saying may you be condemned God. Blasphemy is to bring the infinitely matchless Perfect holy name of God down to a common level and then to assert something else up and over it as if to say That God is now under you and That's what it is.

It is nothing less than looking at the Creator who was blessed forever who can never be brought down. It is to look at him and to wish upon him deicide. That's what blasphemy is. That's why the blasphemy the blasphemer deserves death.

It is not because the Bible is anti-human and God is up in heaven like Zeus ready to whip a lightning bolt at somebody. The God is not or the Bible is not anti-human but it is absolutely pro The holiness of God.

If God is holy our response to him must be holy. We can't treat God in violent ways and expect That our sin will go unpunished. The Bible holds God's name as absolutely Sacred if Satan will be thrown into the lake of fire and punished for an eternity for his crimes.

Is it really that's true that much of a stretch of the imagination to see why the blasphemer would be killed for his crimes. For taking the name of God in vain and blaspheming it It would be like an ant shaking his fist at a at a six foot eight 400 pound man.

Inviting the soul of his shoe to crush him down into the earth. That is What the man deserves. Who blasphemes God. And you may not like that and you may say to yourself well, that's a little severe but in that what you have done is you have said that God is really not that holy and That my opinion of how things ought to go is really the way that God ought to operate.

So if you struggle with the fact that a blasphemer should be put to death It is because you have not yet seen how righteous and holy God is and how every sin Is an act of violence against him. Death would be too good for the fool who shakes his fist at the Almighty in this way now the Bible in Titus 2 Makes that term blasphemy a little broader.

It doesn't just say that blaspheming the name of God is worthy of death. It says that it's possible to blaspheme the Word of God. The Word of God now the reason that this is the case is because the Word represents who God is.

Everything that God loves and everything that he ordained the Word is Emblematic of his character so that when you curse the Word you're actually cursing him. Because his word carries his authority his word carries his righteous opinions on every topic.

Said if you blaspheme it you're blaspheming him. Also the phrase in Titus 2 Nagas hafez It's Word of God. It's this exact same phrase that's used of Jesus Christ who is the Word made flesh. So that when you blaspheme God's Word you're blaspheming God and you're blaspheming the Son of God to attack.

The Bible is to attack Christ. The same God who fiercely punishes blasphemy will also respond with fury when his word is blasphemed. Now this passage is a noose that is hanging over every pulpit in America.

Because while it does admonish older women to teach the younger women it also admonishes Pastors and shepherds and elders and leaders who are the ones who are preaching the Word of God to make sure that they preach it rightly.

How many sermons have you ever heard on this passage? Probably not one if you have praise God for that. How many passages or how many sermons have you heard where. Where a an empowerment vision a modern secular vision of womanhood is presented that goes against this passage blasphemes the Word of God.

If we don't teach this passage or if we neglect this passage or if we teach this passage wrongly We will blaspheme God's Word and may God have mercy on the man the elder the teacher. Who does that? Why is God so intense about womanhood you may ask.

Why is God so? Passionate fervent ferocious about womanhood. It's because he loves it. He loves womanhood. He loves womanhood so much That he's unwilling for anyone to pervert it. He loves womanhood so passionately because he designed it.

He's unwilling for secular society to water it down or destroy it. To tamper with womanhood according to this passage is blasphemous. Because God loves his design so tremendously you remember in the beginning men.

It says it was not good for men to be alone. And then that's the only time that that word not good is used in that way in the whole Bible. It's not good for a man to be alone. Do you know the only time the word very good is used by God in that way is when woman is made and given to The man it is very good.

That God made woman his design is very good. God does not love the progressive lumberjack feminism that we see today. God does not don't love the confused and muddled and watered-down Womanhood of evangelicalism today.

He loves his design in his design only and he's jealous for his design and We must teach it now. The second thing I would give his way of introduction blasphemy serious, so remember that. The second thing that I would give you is older woman.

The passage is written to the older woman. It says the older women are supposed to teach the younger women that they're supposed to be this Culture inside the church where older women are pouring into the lives of younger women.

Discipling them teaching them how to be a woman how to do these seven things and may that be the case here the thing that I want us to see is That it's pastors and elders at this church are coming alongside of families.

That we want to encourage the older women in this congregation. Women who've had their children already move out out from home. Women who are maybe in later seasons of life. We want to encourage you to come alongside of younger women and to teach them how to be godly biblical women.

This is not a novel concept. The Bible has this idea that the community will disciple each other. Older men are supposed to disciple the younger men. Older women are supposed to disciple the younger women.

How can we possibly grow up in the biblical maturity if the only access that we have to discipleship is a 45 minute sermon once a week that often doesn't even cover these topics. Men older men older women pour into the lives of the younger people in this congregation.

And that's gonna require something of you because maybe your life. Maybe you were never discipled. Maybe your life doesn't look like this passage. That's okay. You don't have to have done this perfectly in order to help someone else by pointing to the perfect word.

Your perfection and your standard of righteousness is not going to be what teaches The younger people in this congregation. It's going to be pointing to Christ in his word. If there's repentance that's needed older men older women repent.

If there's no one younger than you in your life who you're helping. Helping to learn what it means to be a godly man or woman pray into that. Seek out that I've got older men in my life praise God for that.

I didn't always have that and it's a blessing that I won't. I wouldn't trade in for anything. Older men older women you can be used by God in tremendous ways. The younger men and the younger women in this congregation need it.

Last thing I would say is a word about my aim my point in doing this. I want people to rejoice in what womanhood is in the culture of confusion that we found ourself in. I want people to rejoice in what God has said womanhood is there are many counterfeit versions of womanhood that are alive today that we could cling on to.

I want us to rejoice in what God has said for Us to cling to the biblical vision of womanhood and for us to pray. That our young daughters would be raised up into that that men would celebrate that. That older women would get involved with that that our little church and churches all around this area and nation and world Would be redefined by what the word says.

Again many have never been discipled in this way, but praise God he gave us instructions on how to do it in this passage. So if you will turn with me, we're gonna look at the first part of this passage, which is in verse 3 that they The older women would admonish the younger women to love their husbands.

Loving Husbands and Children with Friendly Affection

The very first aspect of what biblical womanhood is is that they would love their husbands. It's a simple command. One of the aspects of womanhood is that she would have a desire for marriage and that in her marriage She would love her husband.

It is central to what it means to be a woman that she would be a lover of her husband and if she does not do That or if anyone teaches her not to do that. It is blasphemy. I Look at the sitcoms that are on our television screens today.

Where men are mocked made fun of and women are encouraged to to treat them like they're stupid and idiots and Neanderthals. That is blasphemy. Men are To be loved by their wives. It's right there. Now by this it doesn't mean agape love.

That is a very fascinating aspect of this passage. Agape love is the most common use of the word love in the New Testament. It's the love that Christ has for his church that he would lay down his life that he would sacrifice for his church.

Agape Means sacrificial love wives women you are not called to be sacrificially loving to your husband's. Why. Because you do that naturally. That's who you are. Women are the most sacrificial creatures on earth.

Women Will make food for their children after they have disobeyed them all day long. They will pray for their children after they have rebelled. They will nurse children with with razor-sharp teeth that are cutting through their gums and they will do it.

Maybe not with a smile on their face, but they'll do it joyfully. Women. You will sacrifice and you will sacrifice and you will sacrifice for the good of your family. There'd be no use for Paul to command you to be sacrificial because that's what you are.

He made you that way you will cook a man dinner when he has been an absolute jerk and. You might sit quietly and not say anything to him, but you've just been sacrificial you put yourself aside you may be fuming.

But you are sacrificial. You're way more sacrificial than men. That's why when God commands men to love their wives He tells them to sacrifice for them to be sacrificial because men that's not natural for us.

We're selfish. Amen, that's it. That's who we are. We need our wives to help us. Wives are much more selfless much more sacrificial. So they're not commanded to love in that way. So, how are they commanded to love?

There's an there's a very unique word in here for love. It's actually a word that doesn't show up in the in the Greek text of the ancient world. It's two words that are shoved together to make a unique word fell and Ross.

It's Phyllis the word for friendly love and it's and Ross the love for husband. It means to be a husband lover more specifically than that though. The word means to be friendly and kind. It's to love him with your kindness the command.

Although sacrificial love is certainly important in women you will do that. Well, the command is to be nice and friendly and to love him with your kindness. It's to be agreeable in character. It's to show joyful affection for your husband.

My key were your bestie. That's what the word means. It's friendly love. Paul is telling the older women make sure you encourage the younger women to be pleasant towards their husbands to be kind. Now this is where a woman is gonna struggle.

There are times where men. You will have not sacrificed an ounce for your family, but you will come in with a dopey giddiness and you're like, hey, honey. How are you? Because we are more pleasant. We don't struggle with that as much.

But there will be days when you have sacrificed everything for your husband and it will be a struggle for you to be kind. It'll be a struggle for you to be friendly to him to laugh with him to cheer for him to build camaraderie with him.

So that the Word of God is not blasphemed. One aspect of what this is is that you women have been called to be a helpmate for your husband and. The helpmate of your husband is that you would share with him your warm affection.

That you would help him and that you would encourage him and it strikes right at the heart where most marriages struggle. Because she naturally sacrifices and men are natural at at misunderstanding where she sacrifices taking advantage of her sacrifice.

Children take advantage of her sacrifice and that's easy to become frustrated over and that's easy to feel like you're being used and that's easy to feel like. That you're bitter. How many times has it been that you have given every ounce of energy that you have to feed to care for to clothe.

To love to minister to your family and they've not even said a single. Thank you it's really easy in that moment to feel like you're being taken advantage of and Your family whether they say it or not is gonna see you sacrificing and they're gonna see you.

Giving all of those things. They might not tell you enough they should but do they see you being joyful? Do they see you smile? Do they see you with laughter and happiness in the home? Do they see you?

With that sort of Encouragement that was true of you when you were dating. Let your husband see you smile. Let your husband see your mirth and your happiness. Let him see your vivacity. Let him see You in the same way that he did when you were his girlfriend.

That sort of encouragement is so important to the happiness of the family. If the mirth of a woman is gone that have the household will be. Will dry up and wither, you know, they say the phrase I don't.

I don't particularly love it, but happy wife happy life. In some ways it's true. The wife sets the tone and the aroma of the household. If she's not consistently happy the home will devolve Into frustration and bitterness.

She's that important to the life of the house. Who is your man getting to see you as? Is he getting to see you kind at church, but cold at home? Is he getting to see you patient with your friends but annoyed at him?

These things matter to God. The word here is friendly love. Let's be friendly to one another. Kind to one another. That's the first thing that Paul commands is that Paul commands that women would have a friendly affection for their husbands and I agree.

He does not make it easy. I understand. But these are commands of God that honor Christ whether your husband is worthy of it or not. The second is that Paul tells women to be Lovers of children. He does the same thing.

He makes a new word to describe this sort of friendly love that a woman will have for her children. That they would admonish young women to love their husbands and to love their children. Paul does the same thing here.

He doesn't tell her to be sacrificial because that is what she's going to do. All day long for the rest of her life as long as her children are alive. She's gonna sacrifice for them. He tells her instead to be friendly chipper kind.

To have a warmness and an affection. Again, this goes beyond just feeding them and praying for them and changing their soiled diapers. All those things are sacrificial. This goes to creating an aroma of friendliness in the home.

Now how many times have you sacrificed all day long? For your families. For these little humans who willfully disobey you. Who don't follow your instructions? Who are loud demanding and show very little gratitude and yet they've never once missed a meal.

They've never once had to go to a soccer game with a soiled outfit. Maybe they have with that, but you know what? I mean, but how many smiles have they missed on your face? How much joy have they seen?

Again it's easy for a family to become discouraged. Easy for a wife to become discouraged if you're a homeschool mom. I feel for you. You've spent all day long trying to help your children learn and to grow and to become the kind of citizens of heaven that will storm the gates of hell.

It's easy to become discouraged. It's easy to become depleted and It's easy to become sour and frustrated and bitter. Fight against that repent against that. Because the home Will suffer when your happiness and your kindness is withheld.

It's true, that's why Paul commands it here. He wants women to blanket their families with kindness and affection because it heals them and It blesses them. That's the second thing. The third thing is Paul says that woman.

Moderation, Purity, and the Call to Be Homemakers

Women are to be moderate to be discreet chaste homemakers good obedient to their own husbands. That word that is Translated the New King James is discreet. It's actually a word that means moderate. It means to be in balance.

If life were a seesaw, then you would be on the pivot point. It means that you will be in the middle and not given over to the excesses and to the extremes. Now before we look at Paul and we say that he is a world-class chauvinist.

He is not saying that women uniquely struggle with this. He just got through saying in the few in the very verse before this and Titus 2 to men are to be moderate. He just got through saying it in Titus 1 That leaders are to be moderate.

So he's not talking about something that's unique to women. He's talking about something that is Applies to all of us. We are all given over to excess. We are all giving over to the polls for men risk-taking aggressiveness adventure merrymaking overworking accumulating shotguns and rare bottles of whiskey whiskey.

Neglecting emotional aptitude under communication or ways that we go to the poles of things. Now women may have a very impressive scotch collection, that's not what we're talking about. But women often struggle in different ways to be immoderate.

Women will struggle in spending or emotional overexpression or over communication or Comparison or image and dieting perfectionism isolation bitterness and jealousy. Both men and women are given over to the extremes or to the polls and we rarely live in the middle.

Paul is admonishing us and these are generalizations for sure. But Paul is admonishing us to live moderately to live in the middle to the balanced lives. What he's saying women is Live a balanced womanhood a balanced femininity.

That is content with what the Lord God has given you. Avoid the excesses of womanhood on the gluttonous side of things avoid the starvation of womanhood on the other side of things and live a life that is moderate and content With the things that God has given you that's number three.

Women are to be lovers of husbands lovers of children and moderate. They're also to be pure. He says to be not only discreet. But also chast. The word chast here is the word for purity and it goes beyond sexual purity.

It goes to a kind of purity that encompasses every aspect of your life. The word is Agnus. Which includes sexual purity? But it's also a purity of everything a purity of your mind a purity of your heart a purity of your will a purity of your Actions a purity that affects you from the top to the bottom.

It is a purity that that when God looks at you. And he sees that. It's a woman who's been sanctified and built up by the gospel. She's pure in all her ways. That's number three number four or sorry. That's number four.

The Home as a Woman's Primary Sphere of Work

Number five is That a woman also will be a worker at home. This one is one of the more controversial ones. It says to be discreet chast and homemakers and that word does not mean Go get the corporate rat race job and get the corner office.

It actually means to work in homes. The male and female roles in the Bible are where the strongest language actually occurs. It says that if someone tells a woman to leave her home and to go work. To serve the rat race the corporate.

Struggle to have a certain quality of life if she goes out into the corporate world working and neglecting her children. She's blaspheming the Word of God, but it says also for the men. If you don't work and you sit at home and you and you do your play box or your X station.

Then you've denied the faith and you're worse than an unbeliever. Do you see that? Men, if you don't work, you're worse than an unbeliever. Women if you neglect your children in your home, you blaspheme the Word of God.

God deeply cares about that the workings of his families. The strongest language in the New Testament applies to this male and female roles. Women you're not called when your children are young to pursue secular vocations and to climb the corporate ladder and to prove yourself that you're as good or as smart or as.

As you know excellent as as the men you're not called to compete with men. You're not called to that. You're not called to drop your children off at the local public school so that they can indoctrinate them and whatever hellish fantasy that they've come up with next.

If a woman leaves her home to abandon her children she's blaspheming the Word of God, that's what it says. We can paint makeup on a pig and call it something different, but that's what it says. Men and women are not the same men are called to leave their home to provide for their family.