A Model for Married Women, Part 1

When we that were translated to encourage that were never appears anywhere in the form. It literally means to bring young women to their senses to train their pattern of thinking to their culture had turned everything upside down. Now go in turn everything right side. What Paul is going to do in these next few phrases is going to provide the curriculum for mentoring young wives and other to build their marriage on the biblical model today were looking at women in particular, the secular model for women hood and motherhood is drastically different from the biblical model but sadly the lines are becoming blurred in our American churches, God's plan for solving this is for the older women in the church to come alongside the younger and mentor them.

Stephen explores this today. In a message called a model for married women. According to an article in the US news and world report, the aging of the American population has been a factor in their science can affect every corner of society are is in the last 25 years.

The 50 and older group grew by 20%, while those under the age of 50 grew by 4%. Estimates are suggesting that the median age of our nation, which was 33 years of age in 1989 in the next decade or so you gonna reach the mid-40s, a one journalist put it this way that this shifting in age is to be considered one of the most significant culture shaping forces that we have ever seen.

And frankly that can be a good thing cannot were studying a passage that tends to endorse those in the congregation the roller by the time you reach 50 most adult of recognizers immortalized in a car in a closet full of clothes in cash and maybe a credit card with a high limit base to be good thing right. By the time you've reached 50 he discovered that relationships mattered more than they used to define yourselves and restaurants and I guess I reach that point, you know, but EEE look at families with little kids in the table you start conversations with them uninvited and the members apparently likely to lie these old people talking sin 90.

Someone or do they know the treasurer they got at their table with delight when you're when you're when you're young you want time to fly. I just please and get on with with things I graduate with my driver's license I want to go to college.

When you get a job by the verse as well and whatever when you get older you don't want time to fly.

You realized it did right you want to slow down is why you love taking pictures and looking at pictures because is like okay that moment can't get away completely. By the time you reach 50 and you now understand that your days are numbered. Uses a depressing sermon here. Listen to believe it all turned the boat around a minute here but I want you to understand it from God's perspective.

Age is a good thing.

In fact, numbering your days brings a level of discernment. The psalmist wrote all God teach me the number of my days so that I may present to you all hearts. Wisdom something related the wisdom and knowing time is flying by my kind of wisdom and perspective is needed in the church today.

In fact, like our culture around us. The older believers can become the most significant culture shaping force in the body of Christ you been with us, you know, Paul told the young pastor by the name Titus to go around the island of Crete and put the churches into good order.

Make sure they're well led wealth that was defined and ordain elders to shoulder the responsibility of spiritual leadership, and then immediately goes into telling older men and older women how they can make a difference in the lives of those who are younger any sort of tasks them with modeling. It the older man were to model maturity, dignity. Remember, there were to be healthy in faith and in all of and then pursue it with all perseverance. He tells older women to model holy living reverence as a sacred duty with a sweet demeanor night shift and is going to tell the older women interestingly enough that it is their distinct responsibility in a hands-on way to mend her younger women. In other words than older women are not to regard their lives as less valuable as they grow older, but more valuable they literally represent a culture shaping force within the body of Christ was pick up our study will be left off the Titus chapter 2, and in verse three where Paul is challenging the older women to train the younger wives and mothers to love their husbands and children to keep in mind that Paul is dealing with the normal patterns of life experienced by the majority of people that only the world within the church. Those who choose to marry those who have children or choose to adopt children on these kind insert this quickly. Here we know from prescription seven that Paul is a very high view of single event. He didn't consider singles less than complete in Christ.

In fact, if because you are single you are somehow incomplete in written your relationship and life in pursuing the will of God. Then Jesus Christ was incomplete as well bring the remarried Paul will stress and other passages. These unique responsibilities and focus for Christian service for those who are single and I was little say you put the body of Scripture to get her married unmarried children. No children divorced without whatever make the maximum opportunity of whatever state you're in for the glory of God, don't waste it on Paul does in his letters and will do here to Titus is deal with God's pattern for marriage and family, and this time he focuses on the woman God's plan for motherhood and marriage is going to continually receive less and less appreciation from our culture as our culture moves away from God's design and it chooses its own depraved self gratifying self-fulfilling desires frankly were seeing that marriage as an institution in our culture is actually fading away now overgrown pastors and evangelists with we would say you have the greatest danger to the institution of marriage is easy divorce. We live long enough to know that it necessarily true. Really didn't help, but in true the greater danger to the institution of marriage is that I virtually ceases to exist.

Couples are now simply living together according on recently released analysis by the pew research taken from the most recent U.S. Census barely half of all adults in the United States are now married and many more than that number are living together to put that into perspective. In 1960, 72% of all adults in America were legally married today only one out of two couples were living together or married. Why well for several reasons. You're probably way ahead anyone. Obviously, as we party discusses the failure or perhaps the inability of young men weren't raised by mature men who were raised by men who refused to abandon adolescent behavior.

They'd never had it modeled. They do not accept an and and and embrace the responsibilities and the rigors of married life. Fact one of my earlier messages.

I mentioned that the National Academy of Sciences has already redefined the length of time for male adolescents that.

At times when the onset of puberty and adulthood and they redefined it for men to begin at age 12 and not end until age 30, which has implications for the church and all of culture.

One secular journalist put it this way, we are simply surrounded by grown-ups who will not believe childhood but a greater reason.

I think for the lack of marital commitment in the 21st century is the moral digression of our culture. Couples are living together, there there rapidly out pacing or outnumbering couples are getting married course there. What why bother with a covenant and a commitment for life. When you have the physical benefits the financial benefits of marriage and even a child or two without ever closing off all your other options. Why choose wed lock one statistic from the same pew research analysis revealed. Now this is startling, but nearly 5/10 Americans. When asked her saying marriage is an institution is obsolete, but none of this really surprises us doesn't.

I mean, for some it is a you marriage is obsolete less than the service brought where were simply observing the natural effects of a culture which has resisted and now over the last 4050 years now successfully banished Bible from the public square and when the Bible is exiled. What is also disappeared as any kind of stigma related to any kind of lifestyle or choice that the Bible refers to sinful is just not a problem anymore deliver the guy or girl you're not married to the stigma related to that anymore. I can actually had a couple several in my office to talk about with any embarrassment, how's not wrong for them to live together, and one not too long to tell me there was nothing wrong with any set there with his girlfriend telling me all the things that were right about it made sense financially.

There were the benefits of getting to know each other before they married and who was I to tell them they were living in sin, which I did by the way.

In fact, before our meeting ended, the guy told me love.

I know you have the thing about it, but we've never felt closer to the Lord.

I said enjoy that feeling while you can consider when they be going one secular author not a Bible commentary or has with a secular author wrote that we are watching today what he called a tectonic shift in sensibilities within our culture what's right is no wrong. What's wrong is now right welcome to the island of Crete. This was their lifestyle. Older men were immature and self-centered, refusing to grow up and accepting the responsibilities of the rate pulses to Titus. Older women were gossiping drunkards speaks very bluntly to every age group. Younger men redefined out another session are all about themselves and younger women are abandoning their husbands and their children for their freedom walk, to the 21st century right like Titus in these churches on the island of Crete that I want you to think about it this way said this before but I want to continue to read form your vocabulary in your thinking. Don't think of us living in a post-Christian world. It is true, but I want you to think that I want you to think that you're living in a free Christian world. What that means is a couple of things for one when you got there they don't know what got her talking about getting to find that God they don't view the Bible any more sacred than the other big of a deal over the book of Mormon. They consider Jesus's words like any other good man's words easiest another prophet in a long line of other prophets. That's pre-Christian. So, do you know what that means is this this is the perfect time to be living with the gospel message. I know I can really shine that we are living in a phenomenal age when we can display the gospel of Jesus Christ and the kinds of relationships within the family at home and and and in the church that that mankind has abandoned but still desperately wants and knows intuitively in his heart that the right because it's been stamped on his heart.

The will of God has been poured were living in a day now are the lights can really shine so we will spend our time cursing the darkness we got dark it is out there great. The darker it is the brighter one little light can be. So Paul does reveal the depravity of the green country talks about chapter 1 and then he gives his divinely inspired solution verse four informs us that a big part of God's solution for transforming lives was older women encouraging the young women knows that verse four so that old woman, here's a live reverent your behavior, not malicious gossips were enslaved much wine teaching what is good so that here's the purpose clause so that they may encourage the young women to do a number of things.

By the way, that were translated to encourage that verb never appears anywhere else in the New Testament in that form. It literally means to bring young women into their sentences to train their sentences to train their pattern of thinking one translator put it this way to why is them up to their culture had turned everything upside down. Now go and turn everything right side up and what Paul is going to do in these next few phrases he's going to provide the curriculum for mentoring young wives and mothers to give effectively seven attributes or six will pair them together and back for the sake of outline but have a pencil or something you can circle what Paul for the most part delivers in the form of payers.

The first pair has to do with relationships within the family. There love their husbands and their children. The second pair in verse five has to do with their reputation in the world. First, the relationships in the family. Secondly their reputation in the world are to be sensible, pure, and the third pair refers to the role in the home. Workers at home and kind. The final phrase in verse five basically provides this mind set and an ultimate motivation to get all of that today. After the shock she will really get to just maybe, the first two pairs of attributes right now. The first are the model for the wife's relationship in the family. He writes in verse four, so that the day that is the older woman may encourage literally train the sentences of the young women the love their husbands, and the love their children, the word for love here is a compound word first part for loss for Leah flow which means to have affection. It is the love of befriending it is.

It is an emotional affection and commitment to another. It's the only time this particular compound word appears in the New Testament and I was surprised to find I was surprised that this would be the word used the it means to be a friend that this kind of sounds odd that the show affection. How can you command affection.

How can you command emotion what Paul that is implying here is that love can be learned and thank you again so think, and so live that emotions evidently according to the command of God are eventually corralled and governed by right-thinking and not the other way around and finally got does this to all of us often in the Bible that the he commands emotion. He tells us to rejoice evermore. I don't feel like it doesn't matter.

I'm dual bay that you be my disposition versus 2560 he commands us to respond to trials without a saddle root resolved acceptance of joy.

I certainly don't feel like that, but I'm committed respond that with James chapter 1 he commands us to give thanks and then he adds that in everything for this is the will of God.

First Thessalonians 518 there all commands that all involve emotions which we might not have at the moment but we obey the commands and our biblical actions pull along biblical emotions. See, we happen to be living in a fallen culture and were walking around the fallen body and fallen mind that's turned everything the wrong way. It tells us that our actions should be the result of our emotions. However you feel then act.

That's what were told and we like that message so were going to live. However, we feel way to treat everybody else how we feel about everybody else.

That's what our culture says and that's what our flesh says God reverses all of that, he says here through Paul basically submit.

Train your sentences. That is act according to his commands and your emotions then follow by the way, if you have young children. That's exactly how you're raising them get out of bed is time to go to school. I don't feel like it when did that the bus will be here in 15 minutes. I want candy for breakfast. So I'm feeling. I don't care you're feeling and I can have but a 53 number. My mother bless her heart a year. I never did like vegetables and I know Lottie were the same way that never mattered.

It was never a matter of emotion or feeling I get a vote and it took most of my life before my feelings begin to change. I happen to I have enough feel differently about fruit hi Ebony feel differently about fiber. Let me tell you I feel very different fire everything I buy one, think how many grams of man. He had to get a little older and appreciate all that that's what's happened. See I see value in certain things now because of that I act differently no matter how I feel and I retrain my feeling the command of Paul for Titus is for women act in such a way that they trained themselves in obedience and ultimately reach rains there feelings let me paraphrase the verse, Paul writes younger wives and mothers allow yourselves to be trained to love by acting toward your husband and children with the affection of love.

Now I can tell you this. This is especially profound and and all the more difficult its difficult effects and possible purpose for God to do it.

We just said posted but especially for them and and those in the Jewish community and for first culture. You see what happens in their traditions of marriage and parenting would make this command to an American military. This what we in America we learned as kids out of the salty to never this little rhyme.

Stay with me if you know what Johnny and Susan sit in a tree KISS ING first comes love, then comes marriage then comes baby in a baby.

This is deep I know but you remember that Dr. did you notice that first comes love, then comes, not for them first came marriage because it had been arranged and they met each other maybe 12 months before the wedding. Then after marriage came love. Maybe that's why he says this here wives learn to be a friend to your husband. I mean, you really don't know. Learn to be his friend learn the affection. The friendship for Leah marriages were arranged the troubles set. In fact, I've met several couples from other nations and and they still do it to this day around the world affected the predominant culture is the arrangement of marriage that's much in the Western world.

I met one couple from Africa not too long we were introduced to each other the day before their wedding. I met a couple.

In fact, one of the deacons and his wife originally from India met each other before their marriage they decelerated. I think their ninth or 10th anniversary. First comes marriage then learning how love each other that was on to that another cultural challenge for these women bearing children in the first century was quote a duty to provide the air for the estate. In other words, children were considered the duty of a wife to bear and raise on our own whether she wanted to or not. With little help. By the way, from the husband she could easily resent him and transfer it to them. So, be a friend and affectionate toward children. Please wives. These mothers are getting saved by faith in Christ there introduced a new family, church is the fallacy of the redeemed sinners. They hear about new relationships and new priorities.

The Christian home is something totally new way of thinking. And Paul is not accepting Christ. Here's how you can get all of that now he's saying here's how you go back into all of that, here's how you lacked as you return to that there's a new way of thinking is tough sometimes to live out our Christianity in the context of the marriage relationship. But God's word does not leave us without help or hope God gives us both.

This message is only halfway done, but were close to the end of our time. So were going to stop right here for today. This is wisdom for the heart with Stephen Devi. Today's message is called a model for married women friends. How would your life be impacted if you set aside one year to study God's word experience authentic community growing discipleship take a trip and do some study in Israel and earn your Masters degree in theological studies all in one year. The seminary Stephen leads offers a special program called shepherds Institute where you can experience all that I just described this unique one year program offers a life changing opportunity to believers no matter your vocation. We've had men and women join us right out of college and before entering their career they spend one year in God's word earn their masters strictly and then enter the workforce better equipped to serve God in their church and community. Whatever God has called you to investing one year like this will help learn more@shepherds.ed I'm Scott Wiley.

I thank you for joining us today. Be with us for part two of this message tomorrow here on wisdom