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Motherly Fear
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Mother's Day Sermon
Proverbs 31
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Tribute to Women
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Speaker
Many of you who know my wife, Kim, would agree that she is one special lady.
00:00:07
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She's always been a wonderful wife and a great mother to our kids, but I can tell you without a doubt that long before Kim was on the scene, there was another woman who was already precious to me and held a special place in my heart.
00:00:23
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She was there during my formidable years as I grew from a young boy to a young man. She was always available, especially on those really tough days when I felt like the world was against me and no one was on my side.
00:00:38
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It was on those days that she welcomed me with a loving embrace. She was always excited to see me. Of course, I'm speaking about my very own dog, Poocha.
00:00:52
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Boy, she was a good dog. Boy, I loved that dog. Shiny, shaggy, black-haired mutt No, I'm talking about my own mother.
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My own mother who loves the Lord and who raised her kids in the love, wisdom, and admonition of Scripture. And so it was a godly blessing to me to be raised by her, and now it is a godly blessing that I also share life now with a God-fearing woman in Kim.
Understanding the Proverbs 31 Woman
00:01:23
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So I felt it appropriate today on this Mother's Day that we look closer at what God's Word has to say about these women who bless our lives so
00:01:35
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with so much caliber that I can even call them a Proverbs 31 woman. These are women who are characterized as living a certain type of life that stands out in a crowd of other women.
00:01:49
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Friends, this is what we're going to look at today, Proverbs 31. Brother Maxie did us a great service by reading a portion of what we're going to cover today. If you've got your outlines, you'll see that we're going look at this Proverbs 31 woman. We're going to look first at her worth.
00:02:07
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Second, we're going to look at her works. Third, we're going to look at her witness. And then we're going to finally answer this question, what makes a Proverbs 31 woman's worth works and witness so wonderful.
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If you'll look with me here, the very last chapter you'll notice of Proverbs is indeed chapter 31. thirty one It concludes a very interesting, if I can put it this way, book of wisdom that we're starting to study on Wednesday nights.
00:02:42
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It's interesting, and when I get to the bottom of my reading, I'll tell you why I think it's it's interesting. Look with me, chapter 31, starting in verse 10. ah My Bible, the New Living Translation, which will be up on your screen, ah has this heading.
00:02:55
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says, A Wife of Noble Character. Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life.
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She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. She finds wool and flax and busily spins it. She is like a merchant ship bringing her food from afar.
00:03:26
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She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day's work for her servant girls. She goes to inspect a field and buys it, and with her earnings, she plants a vineyard.
Virtue vs. Worldly Wisdom
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She is energetic and strong, a hard worker. She makes sure her dealings are profitable and her lamp burns late into the night. Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber.
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She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy. She has no fear of winter for her household, for everyone has warm clothes. She makes her own bedspreads.
00:04:06
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She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns. Her husband is well known at the city gates, where he sits with the other civic leaders. She makes belted linen garments and sashes to sell to the merchants.
00:04:19
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She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness. She carefully watches everything in her household.
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and suffers nothing from laziness.
00:04:38
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Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her. There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all.
00:04:51
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Charm is deceptive and beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord will greatly be praised. Reward her for all that she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.
00:05:06
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These 21 verses, friends, are a poetic masterpiece of divine wisdom. This is God's vision of the ideal wife, or mother, or sister, or daughter.
00:05:23
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But why is this poster child for a godly woman at the very end of this closing book of Proverbs so interesting? Well, we first have to understand that this last chapter was written by a son, a king.
00:05:38
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This is King Lemuel. And his mother is bestowing her wisdom of a life of well-lived for the Lord. She's passing on her wisest information on how to find a reputable wife so that his kingdom may survive and his kingdom may thrive.
Characteristics and Influence
00:05:58
Speaker
Now, we don't know a whole lot about King Lemuel. We don't know a whole lot about this mother either, and I think it's the author's point. He simply wants you to look at what the qualifications are, or what the characteristics are of this godly woman.
00:06:19
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Now, ladies, when you heard me reading this scripture today, it made you cringe. And you thought to yourself, how in the world am I ever going to live up to that?
00:06:30
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Don't worry, we'll get to that. This is not prescriptive, meaning this is not for all women at all times. This is to celebrate wisdom in action, not to instruct women of all times to go out and get married and to have kids and to take up the loom, which many of you don't even know what the loom is.
00:06:53
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Our goal this morning is simply to focus on the character of this Proverbs 31 woman. And friends, this Character transcends her gender and her circumstance. It really applies to everyone here today.
00:07:06
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And all the husbands are like, really? I thought this was going to be just for the wives. No, this is for everybody today.
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She gives us, skipped on purpose these first nine verses because she gives us a little bit of introductory information here. Hey, abstain from alcohol. Hey, judge righteously.
00:07:30
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But then she quickly moves to verse 10 and she says, who can find this virtuous, incapable wife? it's It's not a literal question of can anybody find such a woman?
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Does she exist out there? No, she's she's pointing out a truth here, that this woman, when you find her with these type of characteristics...
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She must be admired.
00:07:59
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And if you want to take notes, this is a great time to write this down. I put down, this type of woman is not common. You simply just need to write in the notes section, not common. Or you could put rare.
00:08:12
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This type of woman who devotes herself wholeheartedly to her families and to the Lord are not common. It means they they are rare.
00:08:26
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And we know this by simply looking around today at your secular neighbors, who are also, by the way, celebrating Mother's Day today. What are they doing today?
00:08:38
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Well, they're probably doing something very similar to what you're doing. You're gonna take your mother out to eat, you're gonna spoil her rotten, you're gonna pretend to wipe away an entire year of neglect on this one day.
00:08:55
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Friends, the sad truth is we live in a very post-Christian time. This does not mean that the church is dead. This does not mean that God's word does not no longer a hold authority.
00:09:07
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It simply means that the church doesn't have that type of influence that it used to have in our nation. And our culture shows us this. How do we know this? Well, because we no longer see high morals upheld in the family.
00:09:24
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We no longer see education upheld in the family. And more importantly, we no longer see the biblical model of parenting upheld in the family.
00:09:38
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What has replaced biblical wisdom has now become worldly wisdom. Worldly wisdom says, you know what, we're we're not going to look to the Bible for truth.
Role of Working Women
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We're going to look to other sources. I'm going to tell you just two sources, other biblical sources, that parents will go to today for guidance.
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You may not know these two people. They are obscure references. The first one is Oprah, and the second one is her minion, Dr. Phil.
00:10:13
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And we laugh at that because we often, what we do is, when it comes to moral issues, family issues, instead of going to God's word, to the book of Proverbs, to search for biblical wisdom and godly wisdom, instead we go to worldly advice.
00:10:31
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And we seek out such silly characters as Oprah and Dr. Phil. Where is that in the Bible, you ask, Pastor? I'm i'm glad you asked that.
00:10:42
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Romans 12.2 simply says this, Do not be conformed to this world, meaning this world's wisdom, this world's advice. Don't be conformed to this world, but rather, on the other hand, be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
00:10:59
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It applies not only to your moral behavior, but to things like marriage and raising your kids and how you are to instruct them in the ways of the Lord. And it tells us here that this Proverbs 31 woman is becoming rare in a time like this.
00:11:17
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You know this, brothers and sisters, because when you find a woman that's like this, whether she's your wife or your mother or your sister, she stands out.
00:11:28
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She stands out from the crowd because most women aren't doing these type of things.
00:11:38
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I heard it already a couple weeks ago from somebody here. Pastor, Proverbs 31 is a tall order for any wife.
00:11:47
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You don't know my wife.
00:11:52
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She's lucky to be here today.
00:11:55
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More or less be in the Bible. That's a tall order for somebody who is in the Bible.
00:12:03
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Some of you are here today on protest. I get it. You're here because your spouse said you do realize what today is, don't you?
00:12:14
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You better be in church.
00:12:17
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Friends, it's hard for me sometimes to fathom the hardships that you guys go through as you argue among your spouse just to simply get here on a Sunday morning so that you can worship with other believers.
00:12:27
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I get it. There are mornings when I am with my own wife. in full transparency, and say, i don't know if I feel like crossing the street to the church.
00:12:41
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That's a long 25 feet to get into the church today. I can only imagine getting dressed and getting in a car and getting your kids ready and getting here on
Family and Community Impact
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church. I am so thankful that you're here today, by the way.
00:12:54
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That's great to see some some faces I haven't seen in a long time.
00:12:59
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We are to be thankful for these type of women who are in our lives. This is the the next point I put up here. A Proverbs 31 kind of woman is to be thanked by her family. Why is that? Well, verse 29, look real quickly, verse she's going to surpass them all.
00:13:25
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She's going to be so much better than everybody else. Her worth is going to be so much valuable you don't want to let her go. This type of woman will change a man's life.
00:13:39
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This type of woman can lift up her king so that he can do king things.
00:13:49
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What does it talk about her character? I wrote here as a question to myself. What does the Proverbs 31 characteristics, what does it speak to her character? Well, says that her not only is she worthy, but we can tell that by her works.
00:14:08
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And I wanna tread real lightly here on this next section because this is not a all-consuming list. I don't want ladies, you to go, well, you know what, i'm I'm not mending my own clothes, so I must not be living up to the ideal.
00:14:24
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I don't work tirelessly, so i I might not be living up to the ideal. If you're taking notes, you just simply need to write these words. My works speak to my character.
00:14:39
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This is individual, ladies, for each one of you. We can tell you live your life in a godly manner. Just listen to how how it's listed out here.
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She provides, it says, for her family. She provides them how? With clothing. She finds wool and flax and spins it. I don't know what flax is, but I know what wool is.
00:15:07
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She's industrious, I put down. She's holding it all together.
00:15:13
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She plans meals, and she plans her day.
00:15:17
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She goes and gets food from afar, and she gets up before dawn and prepares breakfast. Some you ladies are like, that's not me. It's okay. She's tireless in her work. She's a hard worker. She's looking for bargains.
00:15:30
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She stays up late at night. She cares for and watches over her entire household. This is what makes her so special. This is what makes her stand out from all these other ladies.
00:15:43
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Her works are not about herself, but they're all about others.
00:15:49
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I like this. It says she makes her own clothes and bedspreads. I wouldn't even know the first step to make a bedspread. But I imagine that means she's thrifty. She's not only working hard for her family, it tells us, and she's also working hard hard in her finances.
00:16:07
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says she buys and sells property. She plants vineyards with her earnings. She reinvests. She makes and sells belts and linen garments and sashes.
00:16:19
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She does all this not only for her family, but it says she takes this and reinvests it for the less fortunate. She extends her love by giving to the poor and the needy.
00:16:32
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Then it goes through a whole bunch of what I would call business functions. Let me just read this. She supervises a staff of workers. She goes out as
Modern Application of Proverbs 31
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a buyer and represents her business or her enterprise.
00:16:44
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She sells what the staff produces. And she takes those profits and she reinvests them. And I'm just gonna go out on a limb this morning and I may ruffle a few feathers, calm down, before I say this.
00:16:58
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But listen to the reason why I'm gonna say this. This sure doesn't sound like a stay at home mom to me.
00:17:08
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It's a far cry from the very modern, ultra conservative Christian stay at home mom This picture of a Proverbs 31 woman is directly from the Old Testament.
00:17:20
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Friends, she's out and about. She's out working. She's out doing whatever she needs to do for her family, for her husband, for the less and fortunate. She's out and about on equal grounds, you can say, with men.
00:17:34
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Now hold on now. I know what you're saying. The pastor's gone off a deep end.
00:17:42
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What I'm telling you, friends, this morning is that Women have God-given abilities, just like men do.
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They are made just like men in the image of God, equal in person, different in role, equal in value, equal in worth.
00:18:05
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The Apostle Paul affirms this for us and when he says both men and women are equal and in God's eyes in Galatians 3.28, where he says there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female. All of you are one, meaning you are united in Christ.
00:18:24
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So what does that mean to you and I today? Women, if you are somebody who is outside the house working, ah praise God for you. Praise God for you if that's what it takes to to get the job done.
00:18:38
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If you're a single mom here today and and you're playing both roles, mother and father, praise the Lord for you today. If you're here today and you have a spouse that is unhelpful and non-engaged, praise the Lord for you today.
00:18:58
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He has gifted you with a special work ethic that goes far beyond staying at home, don't let anybody ever tell you that that's a negative, that you're somebody who has to work outside of the house.
00:19:14
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The king's own mother tells him this is what a virtuous woman will look like. This is somebody, if you find her, don't lose her because she will lift up your kingdom. She will support you as you protect her.
00:19:32
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Undoubtedly, friends, these type of women, when you meet them, even today, they stand out in a crowd. They stand out in a crowd because you can see how hard they work. And you can see their worth.
00:19:45
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And you can see how selfless they are.
00:19:49
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Not only is it her worth, but her works, the author of Proverbs tells us here, that it extends far beyond her works to her witness. This is the last area that we're going to look at.
00:20:01
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It says that it extends out to her first place as her husband.
00:20:09
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It says he trusts her. this This word trust here means an intimate confiding. This type of woman, this Proverbs 31 woman, picks up and supports her husband and he feels safe in that relationship.
00:20:26
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And it says she will greatly enrich his life. He knows that she's there to help him. She knows he's not there to harm him.
00:20:38
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I listened to somebody this week, and she simply said it this way, and she gave this illustration. I thought this was a fabulous illustration. I'm not even going to try to change it. I'm just going to tell it exactly how it is.
00:20:50
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She said, it's like the storm of life is coming, and this Proverbs 31 woman in her marriage opens the umbrella for her husband to stand under. She's there to support him so that he can be over the family, so that he can do his role. She's supporting him in her role.
00:21:12
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So not only does her witness extend to her husband, that he recognizes her health or help and that he praises her, ladies, it says your own children will stand up. they will be stand They will stand up and praise you and bless you in public.
00:21:29
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To which I put, ladies, read that again. When was the last time your kids stood up and publicly praised you?
00:21:39
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What's the closest thing we might get? Sure, my mom is blessed. She has me, doesn't she?
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Think about that. If you still have your parents that are alive today, man, what a better benefit to them, maybe to call them today.
00:21:57
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and and publicly praise them for raising you. It says, her children will stand up, they will be they will rise up, they will be counted, and they will call her blessed, so too will her husband.
00:22:14
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But it goes even further. It says, not only does her family, not only does her husband, but it says friends are neighbors. Verse 31 says, Her works will be praised at the gates. You and I probably don't understand this. This is a biblical reference here. At the gates is where all the city business happened.
00:22:32
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This is where all the friends and the families, is where all your neighbors would be doing commerce. It says not only are this type of woman, not only is she so worthy, and not only does her works stand out in her own family, and her husband not only praises her, her kids not only praise her, but when she goes out of public, other people praise her.
00:22:53
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for living this virtuous kind of life. I put, if you're writing down a note, your witness extends further than you think.
00:23:03
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Ladies, sometimes it's easy to sit there and go, I'm just in my house and I'm just with my kids and man, this seems like this is my entire world. Where would I ever have any influence outside these walls? Well,
00:23:17
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The author of Proverbs 31 wants you to know that that your extend your your reach, your influence extends far outside. What I wrote down to myself this week is, this may be very common
Foundation of Virtues
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to you.
00:23:31
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This may not seem very biblical to you, but I just want to share it to you. As I kept reading this back, I thought, she never once toots her own horn.
00:23:42
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I don't know if that's theological. But do you ladies, do you know other ladies that are like this that always have to tell you how good they're doing and how much work they're doing and how great they are? Friends, that's completely opposite than this type of woman.
00:23:56
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It says that she just goes about her duty, she knows her worth, and she does all this stuff not only for her family, not only for her husband, says not only does it extend outside these walls, says everybody will praise her.
00:24:10
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Why is this so great? This is what I want to take home today in our few minutes remaining. What makes a mother's worth and her works and her witness, this type of person who's living a Proverbs 31 life, what makes them so great?
00:24:24
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Well, verse 26 gives us a hint. Look with me. Verse 26 says, When she speaks, her words are what? i This is somebody you want to listen to.
00:24:39
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This is somebody that has biblical discernment. This is somebody when when everything is chaotic around you, you go to this person because you know you can trust what they tell you. Her wisdom, her instruction of knowing what's right,
00:24:56
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is so apparent that people are drawn to her, and it has to be because verse 30 tells us the whole reason somebody lives this way. Ladies, look at verse 30 with me. Fellas, look at verse 30.
00:25:11
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Charm is deceptive and beauty will not last, right? Charm lies and beauty doesn't last. What does last? A woman who fears the Lord. Oh my goodness, we should this we should just end right there.
00:25:25
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What does it mean to fear the Lord? Well, if you came Wednesday nights at our Proverbs Bible study, we talked about this just last week. It's both a trembling, a i use the picture of Moses leading the Israelites as they cross the Red Sea and God parts the Red Sea and as they cross through, he closes the Red Sea on top of the Egyptians.
00:25:48
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Can you imagine an Israelite looking back and seeing the water wash your enemy away? and go, the God that created the sea just did that for me.
00:26:01
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it's a It's a fear, a trembling of, oh my goodness, he is so powerful. And it's also on the other side of that coin, oh, I'm in awe of him. Friends, this is why call this sermon today, motherly fear, motherly awe.
00:26:19
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like Because this type of woman has that type of fear of the Lord. Because she has that reverence for what the Lord is and what the Lord does, she can live in such a way that's pleasing to Him.
00:26:31
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Friends, that's all the book of Proverbs really is. And I know most of you on Wednesday nights said, why do I even need to come back for the next eight weeks? Because it teaches us day to day how to live a life that's pleasing to God.
00:26:45
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Ladies, let me encourage you this morning. If you think Proverbs 31 is a tall order that you'll never be able to live live up to, the Lord doesn't expect you to be perfect. Can I get an amen?
00:26:58
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He calls you to walk in His perfection. He calls you to walk in His strength, not your strength. In His power, not your power. Because if you're trying to do it yourself, you're going to fail.
00:27:13
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But this type of woman...
00:27:18
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She loves to sit at the feet of Jesus.
00:27:23
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So on this Mother's Day, as you go about your daily festivities, let me encourage you to take some time to get into God's Word, to read the Bible, to study the Bible.
00:27:35
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And when you're faithful in these things, before not before too long, you'll realize you're already leading that Proverbs 31 life.
00:27:47
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Friends, may we be people who keeps our eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith in all God's people said.