Scott Brown discusses in this video what a virtuous woman looks like. Biblical womanhood is something that has been misunderstood and even disdained throughout the years. Scripture provides principles and examples of what a godly woman looks like.

Proverbs 31:10-11 (NKJV) - "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."

Please open your Bibles to Proverbs 31. Now these things are so exciting for a number of reasons. One, you can put these into immediate action. This is an incredibly action-packed kind of text because it brings forth things that you do every day in your life as a woman. I would just like to title this message, What is a Virtuous Woman?

The Life Focus and the work ethic of a virtuous woman. As we move into Proverbs 31, we need to just understand its supreme applicability, and it's highly applicable for single women living outside of their father's house. If you happen to be in that situation, it helps you to see what kind of life you prepare for. If you are a daughter living inside your father's house, it shows you how to spend your time in your father's house before you're married. If you are a wife, it tells you explicitly what you should focus on.

And what we learn from this passage is there's a lot to do. There's a lot to accomplish. This passage is the fruit of the Gospel because here the subject is a woman who fears the Lord. A woman who fears the Lord is a woman who is a true child of Jesus Christ. She fears the Lord out of her heart.

She's converted. She has stopped fearing the world and man. She stopped serving the devil and she now fears the Lord and the Lord only. So it's a picture of a converted woman. If you want to know what a converted woman looks like in her home, it's right here.

Now let's acknowledge something. This passage of Scripture is part of the artillery of the cultural warfare that we're involved in. We're in a culture that is at war against biblical womanhood. There are a number of propositions, philosophies of womanhood that are purely pagan and they run against these that are here. All cultures have women doing particular things.

There's a career track in all pagan cultures for women. In our culture, a woman can do whatever she wants, as long as she's not limited to her home. This passage actually doesn't give it that way. Now, to say that a woman should focus on her home, these are fighting words in our culture. This passage is unabashedly focused on helping women to be focused on their own homes.

This is a home-centered, child-centered, husband-centered world that's presented for women. That is so contrary. Now, in saying that, I'm not implying that that somehow takes God out of the picture. God is to be worshipped supremely in all of these other focal points. So Proverbs begins with the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom.

In the very first chapter, we learn that the theme of Proverbs is the fear of the Lord. And here at the end of this passage of Scripture, at the end of all the Proverbs, at the very end we learn that here's a woman who fears the Lord. It's interesting that with all of the child-raising commands and principles in Proverbs, it ends the plain lands on womanhood and what women do in their household. What's the message about that? I think it's just very clear that so many of the principles of God for family life find themselves in the lives of women.

And actually the fear of the Lord is summarized by a woman who has her focus on her family. So I want to talk about, first of all, before we get into it, the structure of the Proverb. It pictures a mother's dedication to her son. Look at verses 1 and 2. The words of King Lemuel, the utterance which his mother taught him, What my son, and what son of my womb, and what son of my vows.

These are words of dedication of a son. This is a woman who had dedicated her son to the Lord. This is written by a woman, and a mother is giving advice to her son for the success of his life as a king. And verses 3 through 9 give her instruction to her son, who will be king. She gives him four pieces of advice.

Verse 3, first of all, run from impurity. That's the first piece of advice of a mother toward her son. Do not give your strength to women, nor your ways to that which destroys kings. And then, she instructs her son to reject drunkenness in verse 4. It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, nor for princes intoxicating drink, lest they drink and forget the law.

Here a mother is saying, do not drink wine. Now is it lawful to drink wine? Of course it is. Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding in Cana. Wine is lawful, but all things are not profitable.

And here a mother is saying, don't drink wine. Kings don't drink wine. It's appropriate to say that to your children. You would probably have to follow it up and say, well, there's really no biblical prohibition, but there certainly is a biblical pattern for the prohibition, particularly for those who have high responsibility. The greater the responsibility, the greater level of purity.

So she says, don't drink wine. The third thing that she says to her son is, open your mouth for the speechless. In other words, protect those who have no protection. Verse 8, open your mouth for the speechless in the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and the needy.

And Then she adds a fourth admonition to her son. Everything that follows is really an exposition of this fourth command. She tells him how to identify a virtuous woman. She says, here is what she is like. And he first of all begins to talk about her qualities and in verse 10, who can find a virtuous wife for her worth is far above rubies.

Now what this means is that she's rare. She's rare and she's a powerful force. She's hard to find and she's of inestimable value. Her worth is far above Ruby's. And then there's this explanation of her life focus and her work in verses 11 to 17.

And then as a final crescendo to this whole passage is an explanation of the reward that she receives, verses 28 to 31. So the structure of the Proverb really is the initial commands of a mother toward her son and then speaking of her virtue in verse 10 and in verses 11 through 27, her life focus and her work ethic, and then lastly her reward. So that's how it's structured. Now I want to give you a number of things you need to know about Proverbs 31 and I'm just going to give them to you really fast in bullet form. First of all, a mother shows her son what kind of wife to marry.

So this is also a very important passage for young men and for fathers because it shows them what they should be aiming for in a wife. You know, Hollywood will tell you what to aim for, God tells you what to aim for, and they're very different. Secondly, it's an example of a prominent theme in Scripture, the importance of women. There are many passages of Scripture that extol the virtues of womanhood. There are many grand and glorious women in Scripture to follow after.

There are many texts of Scripture that explain these things. And so this is just another example of really a gigantic testimony in Scripture that defines womanhood. Number three, the blessings of a godly mother are put on display. Here you have a mother who's willing to talk to her sons. You might think that it's only a father to raise sons, not true.

Mothers have an enormous role in raising sons and they should take advantage of it. There's nothing in the world like a mother's counsel toward her son. My son's relationship with his mother was helpful to him in ways that mine never was, and I am so grateful for it. It broadened, it sweetened his life, it helped him to understand things. She had a way of explaining some of the same things that I would tell him in a way that helped him to grasp it better.

I'm just extremely grateful for that. This is really a beautiful picture of the blessing of a godly mother put on display. Next, let me just say it's an authoritative word from God. I've heard some say, well, this is really important because it's even more authoritative because it's a woman speaking about women. Here's the logic.

Women know women. Therefore, when they speak about women, they really understand what they're talking about and they've got it. That's true. But this is authoritative not because it's from a woman. It's authoritative because it's an oracle from God, okay?

It is the word of God, and that's what makes it of enormous significance. And it has this beautiful twist that it comes from the perspective of a mother. The central message of this proverb is the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 31 also is a vigorous defense of the home. There are few passages that are as witheringly devastating to the feminist vision as Proverbs 31.

It's hard to find one that is so comprehensively contradictory to the spirit of this age regarding womanhood. Also notice this, there's a list for women to attain to. It's appropriate to have a list. Here's a list right here. It's a list for women and it's a list for young men also to try to discern what a virtuous woman looks like.

I would just also like to suggest this proverb defines the kind of conditions that the head of the household must ensure for the next generation. Fathers must rise up, ensure this kind of life for their children, so that they're not deprived of their mother, so they're not deprived of a rich home life, so that all of the economy and the spirituality and the discipleship is not evacuated out of the home. What we've done today is we've taken women out of the home and put them in a cubicle. That's a sinful. Women are meant to be in homes.

Why? Because there is an enormous treasure in a home. The treasures are children. The mouths to feed, the crying, the changing of the diapers. God desires one hundred, one thousand, one billion percent of her focus to be upon the raising of the next generation.

That's the biblical vision. So it defines conditions that husbands must ensure for their wives. Are you doing that for your wives? Are you making sure that this woman has this kind of life so that your children have this kind of experience in their home? It's a very important question.

So these are things you just have to know about Proverbs 31. Now, Let's turn now to the life focus and the work ethic of this virtuous woman. And all of these really are subset definitions of the fear of the Lord. Now I'm going to give you 22 of these qualities now. Are you ready?

22. Number one, she can be trusted to increase her husband's gain. She can be trusted to increase her husband's gain. Verse 11, The heart of her husband safely trusts her. So he will have no lack of gain.

Now, you just need to read that very carefully. Now, the verse has two concepts in it. There's trust on the one hand. In other words, she's busy at work on the right things and he trusts her with it. And secondly, gain.

Her husband is happy in her, he has confidence in her, she's without guile. She's not driven by things that would harm her husband or the family. She's keeping her promises with the Lord. She is following through with her word, and he has confidence in her that she is doing what she ought to do. I love what Thomas Hooker says about the man who is in love with his wife.

The man whose heart is endeared to the woman he loves, dreams of her in the night, hath her in his eye in apprehension when he awakes. He muses on her as he sits at the table, he walks with her when he travels. She lies in his bosom and his heart trusts in her, which forces all to confess that the stream of his affection, like a mighty current, runs with full tide and strength. Now, look for a girl that you can have confidence in, the kind of girl that a man knows that she is focused on the things that God has helped her to know about. And then there's gain.

So, Like I said, there are these two aspects. The other aspect is gain. She keeps focused on the things that will bring gain to her house. She continues to manage frugally and responsibly. She's working at all different kinds of facets of gain.

These are defined later on. We'll get all kinds of detail on this, but the meaning of the words that are used here include getting spoil from an enemy. She's going out and getting spoil for her family. She's seeking gain. She's gathering it in.

She's strengthening the household with all of her might. She is specifically focused on the prosperity of her household. And she's focused on her husband's gain. Now I know that can sound very offensive, but understand that this is what God is saying. He's saying that a wife should have a focus on her husband's gain.

That's just what the Bible says. It's a beautiful thing. Every word of God is pure. Every word of God is an exposition of love. It's also exemplified in Christ.

All of these things are fulfilled and exemplified in love. And so God commands women to operate in this way because of love. God is promoting love. When He says, women get focused on your husband's gain, He's promoting love in the world through you. There's a way that a wife or a girl can live in her home but not really focused on the prosperity of her home, where she's not engaged in the business and activities of her home.

She's more like the strange woman of Proverbs. Sometimes it's a woman who her body is at home, but her brain is in somebody else's home because she's going from one blog to the next on this internet. She's surfing around. She's in everybody else's house. She's a busybody.

She's not taking care of her own business. She might call herself a homeschool mom, But you know what's really happening? She's all over the world. Her body's at home, but her mind is not at home. And that happens all the time.

But here is a woman who's fixed on her home. Her energy is concerned with the gain of her husband. And so, instead of finding herself obsessed with her own gain, she considers how she might add value to her husband's enterprises. And so, her decisions are evaluated on the basis of what kind of gain does it bring to the house? Does it bring strength into the house or does it suck out of the house?

That's her consideration. So out of the wellspring of her fear in the Lord, she's fixed on producing gain for her husband. So that's number one. The second of 22, the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, is found in verse 12. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.

So, The second quality of this virtuous woman is that she does him good. So she's bent on doing her husband good. Her normal thinking pattern is to do good for others. One of the commentators says she is to him a perpetual spring of nothing but good. And she's constantly looking for ways to do him good.

And she's keeping her home for him and when he returns from the smoke and the fire and the failures and the discouragements and the frustrations of the day, There she is. She's provided a place of refuge and she's poised to do him good. And she's a builder, not just a survivor. And she's seeking how, what Paul said in 1st Corinthians 734, how she might please her husband. And she's adorned, like Paul said to Timothy in 1 Timothy 2.10, she's adorned with good works.

So she's out there doing good. Hey, selfish girls make for selfish wives. You have a selfish girl in your house, beware. She's going to be a selfish wife someday. Who she is today is who she's becoming.

Don't think she's just going to flip a switch someday. We are always now who we are becoming. And we have to be very careful with selfishness and self-obsession and all this thing. And you can see how this breaks down in Scripture. You can talk about...

We could talk about Eve who succumbed to temptation. You could talk about Jacob's wife who said, curse God and die. We could talk about Solomon's wives who caused him to sin. We could talk about Jezebel, who continued to baby her husband and also to lead him into all manner of sin because of her covetousness. We could talk about Rebecca, who deceived her husband.

Well, the fundamental orientation of this woman is she does good to her husband. She's doing him good. I pray, I pray that God would give us wives in this church who are bent on doing their husband's good. This is really important, sisters. Have you determined that this is one of your great callings every day in life?

To do Him good. You know His weaknesses. You know His failures. You know His sins, but you still are called by God to do Him good. There's got to be someone in this world who will do Him good.

His company may mess Him over, His friends may abandon Him, but there's got to be someone. And God, in His love, has called for women to do a husband good. Poor, weak, undisciplined husbands need someone to do him good. His discipline, his strength, his vision are not the requirements for your doing him good. They're just to be done, regardless.

You know, feminism says that you must detach yourself from a husband, from homemaking, from children. They tell you to be free of all these things, to be independent, to be yourself, that the home is a prison, you're too smart for this. That's completely contrary to all of this. And this passage exposes the lie of feminism, that you can only have fulfillment if you leave your own home. It's so important for a wife to do her husband good.

I'll just have to say that I praise God for my own wife who is constantly doing me good. It's astonishing to me. She continues to pour good out on her husband. You know, in spite of how I might discourage her, in spite of whatever foolish things I might say, my wife continues to do good to her husband. And it's really astonishing when I think of it.

I'll never forget the day. And this is just an example of the kinds of things my wife does for me. I came home from work one day and my wife was meeting me at the door with a book. And she had all these marks in the book, all these sticky notes in it, of things she wanted to read me. It was a book of poems called, It Can Be Done.

It Can Be Done. And so, the first one she read was the signature poem in the book, It Can Be Done. Here's how it goes. Somebody said that it couldn't be done, but he with a chuckle replied that maybe it couldn't, but he'd be the one who wouldn't say so till he tried. So he buckled right in with a trace of a grin on his face.

If he worried, he hid it. He started to sing as he tackled the thing that couldn't be done, and he did it. Somebody scoffed, oh, you'll never do that. At least no one has ever done it. But he took off his coat, he took off his hat, and the first thing we knew, he'd begun it.

And with a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin, without any doubting or quit it, he starts to sing as he tackled the thing that couldn't be done and he did it. There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done. There are thousands to prophesy failure. There are thousands to point out to you one by one the dangers that wait to assail you. But just buckle in with a bit of a grin.

Just take off your coat and go to it. Just start to sing as you tackle the thing that cannot be done and you'll do it. Well, you know what? I am so grateful for a wife who's thinking about how she might inspire her dull husband. And my exhortation to all the rest of you wives and girls who are trained to have a life like this, go and do the same.

Go and do the same. So out of the wellspring of the fear of the Lord in her heart, she does her husband good. Number three, she pursues the commodities of her family's needs. Verse 13, O women of hope, look at these words, these are so insightful and so helpful. She pursues the commodities her family needs.

She seeks wool and flax, and willingly works with her hands. So she's a vigorous worker at home. And what is she doing? She's working with raw materials and she's improving them. Maybe it's eggs and butter.

Maybe it's wood and glue. Like with my wife, it's a circular saw and a router. It's whatever, whatever tools cause improvement to the raw materials around our place. My wife is using them. She's taking the raw materials and she's involving herself in women's business.

She has both the cheapest and the most expensive and the best products to use. It's wool and flax. She's able to use a number of things that are appropriate to their use and the family economy. And she has the Protestant work ethic moving through her veins. Many women are not willing to work with their hands anymore because they have so many other diversions.

But this woman, out of the wellspring of the fear of the Lord in her life, she willingly works with her hands. Number four. She creatively exerts energy to find the food her family needs. She creatively exerts energy to find the food her family needs. Verse 14 says, she is like the merchant ships.

She brings her food from afar. She's diligent to provide the right kind of food and she's riding out the storms of the economy and the waves to bring this food to her house. Interesting anecdote about Sarah Edwards, one of the fantastic role models for women, who ever lived. She did not lose any of her children in childhood. People say it was because of her cleanliness and it was because of the kind of food that she fed her family.

Her husband was very careful with what he ate. He would actually do daily experiments to find out what kind of food would give him the greatest amount of energy and lucidity and longevity in a day to do his work. He wasn't just eating whatever he wanted. He was eating what made him efficient and powerful in the world. This idea that Sarah Edwards had, you know, her diligence and cleanliness made her children healthier than others, but out of the wellspring of the fear of the Lord in her heart.

She is like merchant ships. She brings her food from afar. Number five, she is early to seize the day. Verse 15, she is early to seize the day. She also rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and a portion for her maidservants.

Now, this speaks of her management of time. This woman rises while it's still night. She's not a sleep idolater. Are there any sleep idolaters here? You men sleeping in longer than your wives while they're getting up and working, shame on us when we do that.

If a wife rises early while it is yet night, let me tell you, A man ought to double it in order to provide a context for all of her labors and even to help her. She rises well as yet. You know, this has to do with the government of time. You who have daughters in your house, are you teaching them how to govern their time? Or do you have daughters who just sleep the morning away?

Don't you dare do that. That's wrong. That's not preparing a daughter to be a woman like this. You need to be preparing to be a woman like this, not a woman who's wasting her life away sleeping more than she ought to. Particularly when young girls get in their teen years, often parents just let them sleep and sleep and sleep and sleep.

In our household, we rose at a certain time and my daughters came down and everybody was ready for war. Almost no one in the world has ever seen anyone in my family in their pajamas because they don't ever come down in their pajamas on a regular day, on a normal day. They come down ready for action. They come down ready for business to do the work of the day. Now I'm not saying that that's some kind of law that everybody should feel guilty about because they don't do.

I'm just telling you how we apply that in our own family. Get on deck, get ready for action kind of perspective that I believe women should be instructed in how to get going in a day. Here's one result of it. My daughters can be ready in a flash. They don't take hours to get ready.

They look absolutely gorgeous in just a few minutes. That's just the way they are. I know other girls, it takes forever to get them gorgeous. But this is a woman who's seizing the day while it is early. Do not love sleep lest you come to poverty.

Open your eyes and you will be satisfied with bread. Proverbs 20, 13. In all labor there is profit. She's diligent. She's adding value to her family and this woman is adding value to her maidservants.

Now, how many of you have maidservants? Almost no one. Well, this woman had significant resources. The principle works for all of us. Now this woman has maidservants and she's still rising before dawn.

You think, well if I only had maidservants then I could have the leisure that I desire. Maidservants were not designed to give you leisure. Maidservants were designed to give you more reach and more power and more dominion and more gain for your family. That's what they're for. They're not so you can sit around and do your nails.

They are there for you can make more war against the devil in this world, to pull out more weeds and plant more gardens, figuratively. Matthew Henry says this, She is none of those who sit up at playing cards or dancing till midnight, till morning, and then lie in bed till noon. No. The virtuous woman loves her business better than her ease and her pleasure. She is in care to be found in the way of her duty every hour of the day.

So out of the wellspring of the fear of the Lord in her heart, She seizes the day early. Number six, she has a vision for the expansion of the family holdings. Verse 16, she has a vision for the expansion of the family holdings. She considers a field and buys it from her profits. She plants a vineyard.

So she's thinking in terms of profit. She understands, this woman does real estate and farming and how to profit from it, and she's involved in profit-making enterprises. She does two things. She considers a field. That means that she's counting the cost and analyzes it.

It's for the benefit of the family. Is the price right? Is the field the right kind of field? Is it a wise purchase? These are the questions she considers.

It's easy to get burned when you purchase things. Now, everyone doesn't have the cash to send his wife out to buy a field. That's not the point. The point is I can't fulfill this. I don't have enough money to go buy a field.

I can't be a real woman. We can't go out and buy a field. I'm sorry. There's nothing for me to do. No, no, no.

The principle here is that she's considering how to bring gain, and she's considering the ups and downs of the purchase that the family is able to do. Now this is a king's wife, so she's not like all wives, but she does have the same quality that all wives can apply. You know, she can give haircuts to preserve family cash. She can go to the Goodwill and buy a $300 sport coat for $7. That's what my wife does.

What does she do with the money of the house? She plants a vineyard. She does not spend the profit on doodads and worthless novelties. A vineyard is a long-term investment. This doesn't mean if you don't have a vineyard you can't be a real woman.

That's not the meaning here. The meaning is that she's taking the family funds and investing them. Often family funds are squandered on all kinds of doodads and trinkets that mean nothing, that don't promote the family economy or anything. Women have to be very careful not to be trinket checks. And that's all they spend their husband's money on.

So out of the wellspring of the fear of the Lord in her heart, she has a vision for the expansion of her family holdings. Often it's appropriate for a family to go into a season of extreme discipline, where the husband says, there will be no purchases in this family that are not oriented to things we absolutely need. It's appropriate for that kind of thinking. That's the kind of thinking this woman has. She's considering it, and she's spending money for the things that bring gain to her household.

There's so many things that you can purchase as a woman that don't bring gain to anything. They go down the rat hole, And wives have to be disciplined about that. That's what this woman is. Number seven, she is strong and not fragile. Verse 17, she girds herself with strength and strengthens her arms.

So there's a physical stamina about her. She's not indolent or fragile, but she's a strong person with a vigorous life. She's not living a life of leisure or entertainment, and she's not afraid to exert her strength. And so, out of the wellspring of the fear of the Lord in her heart, she's strong and not fragile. I glory in the day that I pulled down the road and I saw my daughter Claudia's legs hanging out the bottom of a vehicle that had broken down on our road.

She was going to get on it. She was going to figure out what to do with it. I was so happy to see that. Something needed to happen, she was going to do it. She was going to be afraid of it.

Number eight, She finds satisfaction in the good she brings. She perceives that her merchandise is good. Now this is worthy of some real pause and contemplation. It's sort of a see-law moment here because she sees the benefit she brings. She looks at it and she says, it is good.

In the same way that when the Lord created the world, He said, Ah, behold, it is good. And here is a woman who has a deep and abiding satisfaction, for a word. She's not fretful or regretful about it, but she's confident of her efforts. And she's not depressed, and she's not repressed about these efforts. She's been exerting.

She's not worried that she's wasting her life. She knows, she knows that her contribution is good. She doesn't need the favor of the world to tell her? She knows it's good because she's doing what God told her to do. And she can have that confidence, she can hold her head up in the face of the snake-tongued feminists out there who are trying to tell her she's nothing, That she's stupid by staying home.

No. She doesn't take that. She doesn't buy that line. It's a lie. She knows it.

So, she's not worried. She knows her contribution is good. The world might not appreciate it. The world might tell her she's in a prison, but she knows she's in a palace. She's in the king's palace.

She's in the center of God's favor. And she's confident, and she's happy about it. And she's bold as a lion about it. Out of the wellspring of the fear of the Lord, in her heart, She finds satisfaction in the good that she brings. She knows it in her heart.

Number nine. She creates items of tangible value. Verse 19. She stretches out her hands to the dis-staff and her hand holds the spindle. Here again, we see a picture of her industry, her activity in creating tangible things of value for her family.

She sees opportunity and she makes things and perhaps instead of buying them, Her home is a place of industry and not indolence. And she's creating items of tangible value. And so it all comes though out of the wellspring of the fear of the Lord in her heart. And she creates items of tangible value. You know I woke up fairly early this morning and got up and my wife passed me by and at six o'clock in the morning she was out in the garage painting a swing that she wants her children to swing on.

That's what my wife was doing early this morning. She creates tangible value. Number 10, she's compassionate toward those in need. Verse 20, she's compassionate toward those who are in need. She extends her hand to the poor, yes.

She reaches out her hands to the needy. Now, notice the passion that's loaded into this sentence. The poverty, the compassion, the hands, all loaded into this passage. She's not just concerned about getting, but also giving. Not only toward those who are nearby, not only to those in her home, but those who are at a distance for whom her reach is needed.

So her prosperity has not hardened her heart against those who are struggling. She's not so self-absorbed that she becomes haughty toward those who have less, and who are in trouble and need more. The poor, those who need a hand, she doesn't leave them behind, but she reaches out. Out of the wellspring of the fear of the Lord, in her heart, she has compassion toward those who have need. Her heart is a sweetheart toward those who are the underdog.

Number eleven, she's proactive and outfitting for her family. Verse twenty-one, she is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household is clothed with scarlet. She outfits her family with clothing that's fitting for the situation. Now scarlet with strong cloth, why red? We're not told.

Maybe red is helpful because it absorbs heat. But whatever it is, she's not fretting about the clothing and the outfitting of her family because she has that covered. Not only is her household supplied with practical clothing for the season, but there's more to her understanding and provision of clothing. So out of the wellspring of the fear of the Lord in her heart, She's proactive in outfitting her family. Number 12.

She's well dressed. Verse 22. She makes tapestry for herself. Her clothing is fine linen and purple, and she wears it first thing in the morning. No, actually, that's not what the text says.

Her clothing is fine linen and purple. She is well dressed herself and she pays attention to the quality of her clothing. Her family is well dressed with scarlet, not dowdy, not inadequately clothed. She's clothed with fine linen and purple. What is godly dress?

What is the apparel of a godly woman look like? Now, here, I think there's at least one indicator of that, and we understand that Scripture speaks of modesty and shamefacedness and their admonitions against excessively ostentatious clothing and also sexually alluring clothing. Those kinds of things are sinful in clothing. But our apparel is about the glory of God. It should reflect the Gospel.

A woman's clothing should be a reflection of the gospel. It should never be alluring. It should never draw too much attention. But it is beautiful here. It's obviously something far, far better than wearing a burlap sack or something.

No, that's not what God is saying. Women should look beautiful. I think that's what this is saying here. And there should be some level of attention. Not an obsessive attention, not a clothes-horse kind of attention, but it's a godly attention to the kind of clothing and an appropriate look that has some level of quality, but not ostentatious or not too expensive, as we're told in the New Testament.

So out of the wellspring of the fear of the Lord in her heart, she is well dressed, and let me just add, with apparel that befits and glorifies the gospel of Jesus Christ. Number 13. Now Lemuel's mother turns to describing the life of the husband of the woman who fears the Lord. And let's just make this perfectly clear, you know, behind every effective man as a mighty woman. And that's what's being said here in this thirteenth item.

Her husband is available for counseling with men in the community. Verse 23. Her husband is available for counseling with men in the community. Verse 23 reads, her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. This means that there's a home life that is secure and it's operating and it provides a solid foundation for a man's life in the community so that a man's life wouldn't exclusively be to the home.

And so his wife has given her energy to making her home a place of refuge and strength. And in Proverbs 12, 35 we read, you know, an excellent wife is the crown of her husband. This is one aspect of it, for sure. So out of the wellspring of the fear of the Lord in her heart, her husband is available for counseling with the men in the community. Number 14, she engages in commerce.

Verse 24, she engages in commerce. Verse 24, she makes linen garments and sells them and supplies sashes for the merchants. Now, we live in a day and age where economy has been taken out of the home and leaving it exclusively to be a place of consumption. It's exciting to me to see families who bring economy back into their home. In the old days, you know, often families would live above the family business.

I'm telling you, this is verse 24 on steroids and it's a beautiful thing. What's happened in America is we've taken an economy that used to exist in the home and we've transported the economy out. We've taken a man and we put him in a corporation, and we've taken children and we put them in an institution, and we take a mother and we throw her in a cubicle, and the home is completely devoid of life and economy and spiritual nurture. There is legislation, there are a number of things that happen, that have driven us to a place where the home is evacuated of economy. Now, one interesting and wonderful thing that's happening today is because of the Internet, and the usability of the internet for making money, economy is coming back into homes.

Now, there's more to do there because often it's just the singular focus of a man, the whole family is not involved. But there needs to be progress, or the internet presents tremendous opportunities for this. But she is engaging in commerce. Martin Luther's wife, Katie, was a brilliant example of this by 16th century standards. His wife seemed to have it all.

She was a homemaker, she was a mother of six. She had several careers of her own choosing and making. After marrying Martin Luther, she improved their economic position by renovating their home. She made a bunch of rooms in it so that people could come in and rent rooms. And she fortified the family economy by making a bunch of rooms.

I can see Katie Luther doing this just like I've seen my wife so many times build things that were helpful and necessary for the family. She profitably expanded the herb and vegetable gardens and had a reputation as an herbalist. She actually purchased new land in vineyards and she personally cultivated them. She repaired a brewery and began to produce enough beer to be drunk by all. So, you have examples of this kind of provision and economy.

You have women like Dorcas, full of good works and charitable deeds. She's bringing benefit to those on the outside. When she died, you know, the widow stood by weeping, showing the tunics and the garments that Dorcas had made when she was with them. It's a wonderful thing to have busy hands, but out of the wellspring of the fear of the Lord in her heart, she engages in commerce. Lemuel's mother now turns from the outward appearance to inward strength in verse 25.

She is strong, stately, and joyful. Strong, stately, and joyful. Strength and honor are her clothing. She shall rejoice in time to come. So she exudes the grace of strength and honor.

And when she thinks about the future, she is confident. She is armed by the doctrine of the sovereignty of God against all sorrow and care and depression. She knows that God rules the winds and the waves, and He holds her in the palm of His hands, and His angels keep watch over her, and nothing can stay His hand. This is a woman who smiles on the future because she knows who holds the future. He's got the whole world in His hands and He has me.

And that's her perspective on life. Her confidence in God is unshakable, she is cheerful and she looks forward to what God will do. So out of the wellspring and the fear of the Lord in her heart, she is strong and stately and joyful. Number 16, she speaks words of wisdom. Verse 26, she opens her mouth with wisdom and on her tongue is the law of kindness.

She speaks words of wisdom. Verse 26, so her friendship and her love are shown right here in this verse. Her voice speaks love. She's wise in her speech and her tongue is blessed by the government of the Lord Jesus. This is the speech that Proverbs speaks of over and over again.

What's the law of kindness? Well, it's the law of love. Her speech is all about love. Everything she says leads to love. You know how easy it is for a wife to become like a fish wife, a yelling wife, a wife who's carping at this or that.

It's easy to happen if you have disobedient children. Often it's just a vicious cycle. Where does it break? It has to break with the fear of the Lord. It has to break with seeing that the mouth was created for a purpose, and that is for wisdom.

The law of kindness is nothing less than this, fulfillment of the law of God, which is a law of love. So out of the wellspring of the fear of the Lord in her heart, the law of kindness is on her lips. And then number 17, she diligently watches over her household. Verse 27, she diligently watches over her household. She watches over the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.

So out of the wellspring of the fear of the Lord in her heart, she diligently watches over her household. She knows what's going on. She's not gone, okay? She's not in a cubicle. She knows what's going on.

And she watches. If anyone thinks that a woman can lawfully go and live and work in a cubicle when she's a mother, has to read this verse and understand, can you fulfill this? Oh, yes, get a video monitor in your office and claim that you're watching over your children or at their daycare. Absolutely not. Daycares are wicked places to send your children because you're not watching over them as a mother.

Someone else is. God has given you that responsibility, not someone else. This means that you, the mother, watch over the children. You don't hire someone to watch over your children. God gave you children because you need to watch over them.

I know that sounds very harsh in a world where that doesn't hardly exist. But let me tell you something. The Kingdom of Heaven is the only real world. It's the only good world. Number 18.

Her children and her husband praise her. Verse 28. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Her husband also. And he praises her.

Here we find now a turning to the fruits, the fruits of this home-based life. There are many fruits of it that so many millions of women are deprived of because they're not at home watching over their households. A tree is known by its fruit and here the works of her own hands praise her in the gates. In other words, her children, her husband, and her community, all these things are rising up to praise her. That's part of the fruit.

When all is said and done, then there's praise because there's a product out there that's really different. While the other women were off in the corporation, this woman was taking care of her children. And guess what? Her children are different. And they praise her.

And they give thanks that their mother was there when they were little. That they were the object of her attention and her discipleship. That she taught them scripture. That she cared for them. That she changed their diapers and helped them know how to walk with God.

And they praise her. Notice the children, the husband, and the community all praises her. Because they see it. They see the fruit of it. Number 19.

She does better than her daughters. Verse 29. She does better than her daughters. Now, we have this idea that our sons and daughters should exceed us, and that's true. But we shouldn't just be content with that.

We also have room to grow as well. And so, many daughters have done well, but you excel them all. So your house will be better kept by a good wife than good daughters. Often wives want to flip all the responsibilities off on their daughters. Now wives need the help of their daughters, absolutely.

But wives need to excel as well. And then number 20, she is a woman of substance, verse 30. She is a woman of substance, verse 30. Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing. So this is the value of a wife that lasts, not in outward appearance, because that beauty is passing.

Appearance fades, but true beauty keeps on giving. And that's the principle of true beauty. And she's a woman of salvation, Verse 30, number 21, she's a woman of salvation. But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. What makes a woman like this?

She fears the Lord. The Lord is her salvation. The Lord is her object of worship and sustenance. This is the centrality of the fear of the Lord. This is justification by faith.

It's in her heart. She loves the Lord. And it causes her to fear God. And then finally, number 22. She's a woman of satisfaction.

She's a woman of satisfaction. This life has done something to her. Verse 31, give her the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates." She's a woman of satisfaction. Her own works are out there praising her in the gates. Her godliness has won her a reward.

Give her the fruit of her hands. She's not ignored, she's not taken advantage of, but she's showered with gifts of exaltation. The community knows how precious she is. Her own works praise her. You know, I married a woman like this.

I pray that all you young ladies would become a woman like that. It's a blessing. And I'm telling you, I am being heaped upon blessing after blessing after blessing here in, I guess, sort of the later years of my life because of the labors of my wife who gave all of the best years of her life to her home. I am reaping blessings every single day from it. And I'm thankful for it.

You'll know them by their fruits. And that's the principle that's here. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Now this is a challenge to each generation. The name's the name of Christ.

To walk with God, to walk for God, to walk in the ways of God. New social systems and new patterns are required in this generation. Do you understand how different this is? Do you understand that you have to break out of the way that everybody else is living? This is not the way everybody's living.

Your friends don't live this way. And if you do live this way, there will be many people who will hate you and despise you. You will lose a hundred friends if you live this way. But let's be very clear about this. This is God's way.

And he's spoken very clearly and distinctly about it. And the blessings are so enormous. And while the feminist women of this world are being ripped to shreds, and they're languishing in their lack of satisfaction, and they gnash their teeth, and they do, and they are. And they're saying the feminist vision never worked and it's not helping me at all. I'm bankrupt, I'm empty, I'm deprived.

That's what the feminist community is saying. And yet they continue on and go back to the slop and the vomit. And the truth is, the world is vomiting them out of its mouth because they've defied God. Because they listened to the world and they put themselves in a cubicle. And they sent their children to an institution.

And now they're reaping a whirlwind, and they have no legacy. And they're putting their children to death at the abortuaries of this land. Because they do not love the things that God loves. So here is a biblical vision of home life and womanhood, and it defines the labors and the focus of a woman's life. Now I would just like to close with a statement by John Angel James.

He says this, Woman was the finishing grace of the creation. Woman was the completeness of man's bliss in paradise. Woman was the cause of sin and death in our world. The world was redeemed by the seed of the woman. Woman is the mother of the human race.

She is either our companion, counselor and comforter in the pilgrimage of life, or she is our tempter, scourge and destroyer. Our sweetest cup of earthly happiness, or our bitterest draft of sorrow, mixed and administered by her hand. She not only renders smooth or rough our path to the grave, but helps or hinders our progress to immortality. In heaven, we shall bless God for her aid in assisting us to reach that blissful state, or amidst the torments of unutterable woe in another region, we shall deplore the fatality of her influence. And of course, only if she does not listen to God, will we deplore the fatality of her influence.

But if she is a woman who truly fears the Lord and believes the words of the Bible have meaning, She will be a blessing and her works will be praised in the gates and she will be given the fruit of her hands. And that's a promise that the devil cannot destroy for a woman who fears the Lord. And let that be Your confidence. Let's pray. Oh Lord, we pray that You would help all of us to facilitate this vision that every man, that every woman and child would See that these words have meaning and they're meant to be applied.

Help us to apply them here. Lord, I pray for a church. Oh Lord, give us a church that understands these things. We know we're so imperfect in all of our ways, but help us now, Lord, to refine any of these things that need refinement. Help us to repent of anything that needs to be abandoned.

And help us to glory in your salvation. Amen. Music For more messages, articles, and videos on the subject of conforming the Church and the family to the Word of God. And for more information about the National Center for Family Integrated Churches, where you can search our online network to find family integrated churches in your area, log on to our website, ncfic.org. Energy.