Wednesday, May 25, 2011

The Triumph of God in the Gospel

The following is a rough transcript of the message I preached from Acts 28:17-31:

Well, we’re still here! The world did not end yesterday as some predicted and one reason that I am glad is that I have been really looking forward to getting to preach this message. Today we conclude our journey through the book of Acts and there are two experiences from last week that really bring this message home for me. One is all this hype about the end of the world and how shamelessly these people were in holding up their signs and proclaiming their message. The other experience is a group of people that paid a visit to the parsonage on Friday and dropped off some Jehovah’s Witness material. What resounded in my mind after they left was this thought: when was the last time I was as bold and persistent in proclaiming the true gospel of Jesus Christ as these people were in proclaiming a false one?

According to Acts 1:8, this is the purpose of His church: to be His witnesses. There is no such thing as a Christianity that does not proclaim its King. This means that there is no true Christianity that doesn’t witness. This also means that there can be no true Christianity that is separated from missions and no true Christians who aren’t concerned about and supportive of missions. We exist to this end: to know God and to make Him known and this reality is to permeate every area of our lives. I’m asking God to shake something in each of us today so that the reality of Acts becomes the reality of our lives.

The book of Acts ends on a note of triumph and victory, with the gospel being proclaimed boldly and without hindrance. Despite all opposition, the gospel is making its way to the ends of the earth. Jesus is building His church and the gates of hell are not prevailing against it (Matthew 16:18). I want you to see with me three ways that God’s kingdom is advancing as this book comes to a close.


THE KINGDOM OF GOD WILL ADVANCE DESPITE ANY REJECTION (Acts 28:17-28)


The Hope of Israel: The Kingdom of God (17-23)


Paul wastes no time once He gets to Rome. Within three days, he gathers together the local Jewish leaders and explains to them why he has come to Rome as a prisoner (which would obviously need explanation). His explanation is what we have already seen in Acts: Paul has done nothing against the Jewish people or the Jewish law; the Romans have nothing against Paul; and Paul is in Rome, not because He has a charge against the Jews, but because he had to appeal to Caesar due to Jewish objection (17-19). But Paul says that there is a
deeper reason that He is in Rome in chains and that is “the hope of Israel.” (20) That’s what he wants to talk to these Jewish leaders about. What is this hope? The Jewish leaders call it a “sect” (22), but in 28:23 and 28:31, Paul “expounds” the content of this hope to them as being God’s promised Kingdom and God’s promised King (Jesus). These promises were made to the Jewish people in the Old Testament, which is one reason Paul always goes to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles when he gets to a city (Romans 1:16).


It’s worth the time to ponder a little further how the coming of God’s King and Kingdom is the hope of Israel,
because the hope of Israel is the hope of all. The kingdom of God is simply the promised rule of God over and among His people through Christ. This coming kingdom (God’s rule over and among His people) is the central hope of the Old Testament. It did include Israel’s restoration, but it also included much more. This kingdom would also be extended to include the Gentiles. And the coming of God’s kingdom in its fullness would mean a reversal of the curse, a defeat of Satan, sin and death, and a return to life as it was supposed to be in God’s good and perfect original creation. Think about it like this: it is the hope of a King who in bringing His kingdom rescues His people and everything else in creation from the fall. And we’ve already saw this, but the reason that Paul keeps tying this hope and kingdom to a resurrection from the dead is because this rescue includes God reaching back into history and rescuing His people who have died from death. This is why God’s Kingdom is the hope of Israel, because it represents everything God is going to accomplish in rescuing and restoring His people. What makes Jesus the King of this Kingdom is His perfect life, His death to pay for sin and satisfy the wrath of God, and His crowning victory over death. He’s the preview of this hope. And in Jesus Christ, this kingdom has both come and is coming. That is at the heart of the gospel that we proclaim to people, that in Jesus Christ God has won, is winning, and will win. This is the heart of all reality: God is advancing His unstoppable Kingdom for His glory.


Deaf Ears, Blind Eyes, & Hard Hearts (24-28)


As beautiful as this story of a loving God-King fighting for, dying for, and rescuing His people is to His people, it is not beautiful news to those who are not part of the people of God. As
2 Corinthians 2:16 says, “the aroma of Christ” is a fragrance from death to death for some and a fragrance from life to life for others. The same light that illuminates reality for some causes blindness in others. This means that rejection will be a reality. Some, who are Christ’s sheep, will receive this message and others, who are not Christ’s sheep, will reject it. This is what we see here in verse 24.


For those who reject God’s message, Paul gives a solemn warning here from
Isaiah 6:9-10. He accuses these Jews who reject the gospel of having blind eyes, deaf ears, and hard hearts. He is issuing a prophetic warning that refusing is risking. To refuse to hear and obey the word of God is to risk reaching a point where it will never be heard again. Is this not what we saw with Felix in Acts 24:24-27? Felix put off surrendering to Christ and as a result had the gospel preached to him for another two years without ever hearing it again. That is a terrifying reality for me and it should be for you as well. We need to pray constantly for open eyes, open ears, and open hearts to perceive and understand what God is saying to us.


THE KINGDOM OF GOD WILL ADVANCE DESPITE ANY PERSECUTION (Acts 28:30-31) – the Word of God is not Bound


God’s Ambassador in Chains

The point here is simply going to be that Paul will experience an extensive ministry as a prisoner under house arrest. This is because even though Paul is in chains, the gospel is not. The first place we see this is in Paul’s witness to the Jews here as a prisoner. Are you catching this? He jumps on the opportunity, AS A PRISONER, to preach Christ to these free Jews! Under house arrest, Paul would be chained to six guards a day who would rotate in four-hour shifts. Well guess what Paul, AS A PRISONER, loved talk to the guards about? By the time Paul writes the Philippians, he says these words, “I want you to know brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.” (Philippians 1:12-13) He even sends greeting from some of the “saints” who are part of Caesar’s household (Philippians 4:22). He will even go on testify to emperor Nero himself, something that would be impossible apart from His being a prisoner.


Simply put, Paul is, as he says in
Ephesians 6:20, “an ambassador in chains.” His chains have not sidetracked Him from His calling. The servants of God are not sidetracked by their suffering, but instead they utilize it and their vocation, their relationships, their hobbies, and everything else as a platform to preach Christ from. Is this what your life looks like (countless platforms from which to preach Christ to others)?


God’s Author in Chains


Not only was Paul an ambassador in chains, he was also an author of Scripture while in chains. During this imprisonment, Paul would write the books of Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon. Through them Paul is still preaching from prison today! One of my favorite verses that Paul writes concerning his imprisonment is in 2 Timothy 2:9, where he says that even though he is “bound with chains as a criminal,” “the word of God is not bound!” Paul could say this because even though he was Rome’s prisoner, He was ultimately God’s prisoner. And as God’s ambassador in chains, he would preach Christ in any way that he could, be it in spoken or written form, and he had an unshakable confidence that even if he were to be silenced, the God of the gospel could not be.


THE KINGDOM OF GOD WILL ADVANCE DESPITE ANY UNCERTAINTY (Acts 29?)


“To Be Continued…”


What I mean by uncertainty is how the book of Acts ends. There is uncertainty as to what happens to the Apostle Paul. Luke tells us that Paul ministered in Rome for two years and what that ministry looked like (30-31) and then kind of says, “the end.” It is very “Monty Python and Search for the Holy Grail”! We’re left looking for Acts 29! And here is what is even more puzzling: while there is uncertainty as to what happens to Paul, what most people are certain about is that Luke knew what had happened to Paul when he wrote Acts. So catch this: Luke knows the fate of Paul and chooses not to tell us. Why not? Because the fate of Paul is not the point of the book of Acts. There are two powerful lessons here that I want you to consider.


WE ARE ACTS 29…


One reason that the book of Acts ends with a sense of “to be continued,” is because the story of Acts is “to be continued” by you and me. The reason there is no Acts 29 is because Luke wants his readers to understand that they are Acts 29! We, as the church of Jesus Christ, are to take the baton of the gospel and carry it to all peoples in all places, from where we are to the ends of the earth until the end of time. We are Acts 29.


The Real Hero of Acts: GOD!!!


Another reason that the book of Acts ends so open-ended is because Luke wants to communicate Who the real Hero of Acts is. God, not Paul, is the real Hero of the book of Acts. As I said, the point of Acts is not the fate of Paul, but the triumph of God through the gospel. The book of Acts begins with Jesus Christ in Acts 1:8 declaring that His people will be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. I say “declaring” because what he was telling them was more than a suggestion or a command. It was a declaration of what would be! The Holy Spirit Himself would see to it. That is what we see here in Acts 28:30-31 where God’s witness is in chains, but His gospel is freely, and mightily, and unstoppably advancing “with all boldness and without hindrance.


In closing, we see a book that ends with a faithful church who is a faithful church because she has a faithful God and a faithful gospel that is unstoppable. And we are to read, “to be continued” as this book ends and understand that the story of Acts continues with us. And we are to march ahead faithfully as the Church of Jesus Christ knowing that our God has won, is winning, and will win. This note of the triumph of God through the gospel is to ignite a confidence and a boldness and a passion to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the earth until the end of time.


If you would take the time to turn with me to
Revelation 7:9-17, I would like to show you the real ending of Acts. As we see Acts 28:28-31 close with this note of God’s salvation being extended to the Gentile nations and God’s gospel going to the ends of the earth, we also see here Revelation 7 that that has come to fruition. The gospel has made it to the ends of the earth, as evidenced by the diversity of the saints seen in heaven. Here the hope of Israel has become the hope of all. Here God’s kingdom has come and we will forever live with and enjoy our glorious King Who has fought for us and rescued us at the greatest possible cost to Himself. This is our God. This is our gospel. If you have never sworn allegiance to this great King, will you do so today?

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The Perfect, Powerless Storm

The following is a rough transcript of the message I preached from Acts 27:1-28:16:

I want you to see three realities in this text, two of which are completely outside of us and the third of which is inside of us and affects the way we respond to everything outside of us.

THE REALITY OF OPPOSITION

During Paul’s ministry in Ephesus, he indicated that God was leading Him (he was “resolved in the Spirit”) to go to Rome (Acts 19:21), and we saw that God Himself in Acts 23:11 declared that His plan was for Paul to testify in Rome. And yet it seems that at every turn, Paul is meeting opposition to this thing that God wants to do with Him. That is nowhere more clearly seen than on this sea voyage to Rome. It is a journey that is saturated with difficulty.

The Difficulty of the Sea & Storm (1-44): We repeatedly read that the winds were “against” them (4), that they had to sail “slowly” (7), and that they proceeded “with difficulty” (7,8) the whole way! The journey became so bogged down that they were in danger due how close they were getting to the winter season (9). “The Fast” is a reference to the Day of Atonement, which took place in late September to early October, and the sea was considered “closed” from November to early spring due to how dangerous the open seas were during the winter months.

Before they can get to a port big enough to winter in, they are taken by a typhoon force wind called the “northeaster” out to the open sea (14). The storm is so violent that they have to, “with difficulty,” secure the ship with cables (16). Fear then arises that they might be taken by the storm over “the Syrtis,” which was an area off the northern coast of Africa that was known as a ship graveyard for its shallow shoals and sandbars. They apparently take on a large amount of water, because they throw over most of the ships cargo and even the gear needed to sail the ship (18-19). Add to that so heavy a cover of clouds that they cannot see the sun or stars in order to navigate! Eventually, everyone moves from desperation to ultimate despair as it says, “all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.” (20) Have you ever been here?

The Difficulty of the Shipwreck (41): Hope is not lost though, because Paul encourages the crew with a word from God that they will all be saved and after fourteen days at sea in this storm they find an island. Finally, there is hope. They eat and take heart only to have their ship wrecked as it tried to get to this island that is in plain sight! Now everyone is going to have to swim or float the dangerous waters to shore.

The Difficulty of the Soldiers (42-44): Faced with the reality that everyone will have to make it to shore own their own, the soldiers realize that this will be an opportunity for some of the prisoners to try to escape. A soldier would have to pay for an escaped prisoner with his own life, so they decide to now execute the prisoners on the spot. Doesn’t this just keep getting better for Paul? Providentially, God keeps Paul from being executed through Julius and everyone makes it to shore safely (44).

The Difficulty of the Serpent (1-6): Now on shore, surely it can’t any worse than this right? Wet and cold, but glad to be alive, they are met by the native people of the island who show them kindness by building a fire for them. While helping gather and add wood to the fire, “a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand” (28:3). Wow. Have you ever had a bad day? Paul has had a bad couple of years! I must say that this may have been my breaking point. But not Paul, and I’ll talk about why a little later.

A Word on Difficulty:

Life is difficult. Don’t let graduation speeches misguide you. You should plan and dream, but you should also expect difficulty. I’ll talk about one reason why later, but another is that we are broken people who live in a broken world full of other broken people. What I am saying is simply this: there will be storms and shipwrecks and soldiers and serpents and sickness, and a host of other things that go wrong in your life. Life is especially difficult for anyone who has chosen to follow Christ. This is because this fallen world full of fallen people under its fallen master is opposed to God. To follow Christ is to sail into the wind. Difficulty, however, is not the final word, because there is a greater reality seen in this passage.

THE REALITY OF PROVIDENCE

Providence is such a beautiful word & concept. It really means the same thing as saying that God is sovereign, but it brings to mind something much more poetic than simply saying that God is sovereign does. To say that God is sovereign means that He rules and reigns and does whatever He wants in and with all of history and creation. To say that God is providential is speaks more to the way that He rules and reigns over all of history and creation. He does so in a way that provides for His people. And sometimes it doesn’t look that way! Yet hidden under what appears to be is His good and unstoppable plan. In what seems to be a catastrophe, God is providing everything that is necessary for the good of His people and the display of His glory. These are the two lines of the poem of providence. And no attempt to thwart the plan of God is ever successful. There are at least six places that we see the Power and Providence of God displayed here.

The Storm is Powerless: all the storm does is take them closer to Rome! We see providence here because the odds of them randomly ending up on the island of Malta are about the equivalent of finding a needle in a haystack! We also see that the Shipwreck is Powerless: not only is Paul preserved, but not one person loses their life in the journey to shore. The Soldiers are Powerless too. Not only are the soldiers prevented from killing the prisoners, but none of the prisoners are said to escape!

The Serpent is Powerless: Here we see both a profound miracle and a profound metaphor. While this is possibly not in the text itself, I say metaphor because the opposition that Paul faces on his way to Rome, I would argue, is Satanic. And here we see a powerless serpent. This is one of the great victories of the cross and of the gospel: Satan, the serpent, has been rendered ultimately powerless! 1 John 3:8 says that the reason Jesus Christ appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Satan is just as powerless to stop the plan of God as this serpent is to harm Paul. His bite may be felt, but his venom is powerless.

The Sickness We See is Powerless: not only do we see death defied, but also disease defeated in Paul’s time on the island of Malta as God’s kingdom continues to break into this fallen world. This reminds us that God has won, is winning, and will win. The Sinful Hearts of Mankind are Powerless – it is remarkable that we meet brothers that are already in Italy. The idea seems to be that Christianity is somewhat widespread in Italy when Paul arrives. In Acts 2:10, we read that some visitors from Rome were present when Peter preached on the day of Pentecost. Paul has already written his masterpiece, the book of Romans, and in it Paul addresses a multitude of believers that are his friends in Rome even though he has never met them! This final place that we see the power and providence of God here makes a powerful point: the gospel is advancing to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8) and will not be stopped. And it will even get there with or without Paul. Is God taking Paul to Rome? Yes, but God doesn’t need Paul to get the gospel to Rome.

A Word on Providence:

In this passage we come face to face with what Ephesians 1:11 calls the God Who “works all things according to the counsel of His will.” As Proverbs 21:30 says, “No wisdom, no understanding, no counsel can avail against the LORD.” The beauty and the poetry of providence is that God also works all these things for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28). That’s providence: God doing whatever He wants and because He wants what is always best for His people, He sovereignly provides whatever they need to become like Himself.

THE REALITY OF FAITH

The Importance of Faith: Fewer things are more important in the life of a Christian than faith. We are both saved by it and walk by it (Eph. 2:8-9, 2 Cor. 5:7). Hebrews 11:6 says that it is impossible to please God without faith. So what is it? Hebrews 11:1 calls it “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Romans 4:20-22 describe faith as being “fully convinced that God” is “able to do what He had promised.” Simply put, faith is believing God. It is taking Him at His word, regardless of what reality may look life for feel like.

Did you notice how Paul has this unshakeable peace and calm in the midst of this storm and these circumstances? Why? It is because he believes the God to Whom he belongs and worships. Look at Acts 27:21-25 again. Paul tells everyone on board to “take heart” and to “not be afraid” because God has spoken to this situation. Paul “must” stand before Caesar. No one will die and not even a hair on their head will perish (34). And here (25) is the key: Paul says “I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.” Paul says that God will do exactly what He says He will do. This brings up two very profound and practical questions.

The Importance of Having a Word from God and Believing It: Biblical faith is not blind; it simply sees what others do not. Biblical faith is also not wishful thinking; it is being fully convinced of something. Paul’s faith has an object: God and His Word (25). This is some of the most practical and most powerful advice I could ever give you. You need to have passages of scripture to hang on to and to hide in your heart for the storms that you will face. Whether your storm is death, divorce, or depression, or something else, you need to have passages of scripture that speak to those situations. You also need passages of scriptures down that speak to suffering in general (Romans 8:28-39). Do You Have a Word from God for Your Storm?

But here’s the kicker: a word from God will do you no good if you don’t believe Him! This is important because many of us who say we believe God really don’t. I’ll give you an example. If the thought of my own death paralyzes me with fear every time I think of it, then there is some point at which I do not believe what God has said about death, regardless of what I say.We must have a word from God and we must believe that word because when God doesn’t speak to the storm, He can still speak to our hearts. God may not say, “Peace! Be still!” to the storm (Mark 4:39). But His Word can say it to our hearts. Here’s the final kicker: we can’t believe God on our own. It must be granted to us and it must be helped along the way (Phil. 1:29). We need to pray here what the father of the demon possessed boy prayed in Mark 9:24, that God would help us with our “unbelief.”

In passing, I hope you to notice in this passage of how liberating it is to believe God. Paul is freed to encourage and minister while everyone else is so full of fear and anxiety that they cannot eat. I could preach a whole sermon on what a witness Paul is in this whole experience. I want you to know that the same thing can happen in your storm when you begin to believe God and take Him at His word.

The Importance of Storms: The last thing I want to say about faith is how storms are absolutely necessary to it. In other words, because faith is so important, there must be storms, and shipwrecks, and soldiers, and serpents, and sickness, and the like. If we put Ephesians 1:11 and Romans 8:28 together, we get the truth that everything God orchestrates is aimed at His own glory and the good of His people. Well, what is good for us is to believe Him. Faith is what is good for us. And here’s where I’m going with this: Storms that wreck ships build faith. Faith is built by hearing God’s Word (Rom. 10:17), but faith is also built in seeing God keep His Word that we hear through a terrible storm. Storms force us to ask that question, “Do I believe God will do what He said?” Otherwise we would coast along and possibly never trust God for anything. When we come through a storm and see God be faithful to us, something begins to solidify in us as we learn by experience that God is good and trustworthy. Then we begin to say, “Oh taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.” (Psalm 34:8) That’s what storms do: they build our faith.

In closing, I want you to know that you will have days and weeks and months and years like this if you live long enough. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you can know that in all of them that God is at work for His glory and your good. Everyone of the hairs of your head are numbered (Mark 10:30) and not a one of them will be harmed without the almighty permission of God. And any one of them that is harmed will be part of the providential way that God molds you more into image of Christ than He would have had those hairs not been harmed. As Psalm 51:8 says, even the bones that He has broken can rejoice. Find a word from God’s word and beg God to help you believe it.

If you are not a believer, then I beg and plead with you to come to faith in Christ. While God uses every storm that a Christian faces for their good, exactly the opposite is true for you. Every storm that you taste is but a small token of the ultimate storm of God’s righteous judgment that is coming for you. Just as surely as the flood waters of the Mississippi will make their way to the gulf, so will God’s judgment pour all over you. And there will be no evacuation from the flood of His judgment. You are His, and you will answer for whether you have lived that way or not. Your only hope is to surrender yourself to Jesus Christ and come to trust that He has weathered this ultimate storm for you in your place on the cross. That is the only way to avoid it.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Motherhood & Spiritual Motherhood

The following is a rough transcript of the message I preached on Mother's Day 2011:

Why women should treasure Motherhood

Because it is part of the very fabric of Who God designed and created women to be. The Biblical portrait of manhood and womanhood is complimentarian and is rooted in creation and not culture. What is meant by complimentarian is that men and women are equal as persons but differ and are distinct in their roles, which compliment each other. Motherhood is essential to womanhood, which is why we see the first woman created given the name “Eve.” Eve sounds like the Hebrew word for “life-giver,” meaning part of what it means to be a woman is to be a life-giver. A man does not share this aspect of the image of God in the way that a woman does.

Why I use the term “Spiritual Motherhood”

Because in God’s family, a woman can be a mother without having any physical children of her own and a woman with children of her own can still raise spiritual children long after her own are gone. This is some of the meaning of Mark 10:29-30, where Jesus says that people who belong to the family of God belong to a family that is exponentially larger than any earthly family they could be a part of. They receive “a hundrefold…children” in this time. One example of this is Phoebe in Romans 16:2 who Paul calls “a PATRON of many and of myself as well.” This is the essence of Titus’ command to teach and so train younger women that we read about in Titus 2:3-5, that there is a deeper and higher and more eternal motherhood than just that of raising physical children, and that is the raising of spiritual children.

What Mothers & Spiritual Mothers are to Be (Titus 2:3a)

They are to be a certain kind of woman, a woman of godly character. It would be important to remember in reading this command to “older women,” that age and maturity are not always directly related. Sometimes young ladies are very mature, very “old.” Sometimes older women are very immature.

Submissive:

She is “reverent in behavior.” This reverence is a disposition primarily pointed to her husband and isn’t to pointed to other men in the way it is to her husband, but is to be pointed to other manly leadership as well.

Self-Controlled

They are to not be “slanderers or slaves to much wine.” The idea here is that they are to have control of their tongue and any addictions. They have a godly discipline about themselves in matters where other people don’t know where to draw the line. It is interesting that many New Testament passages speak to a woman’s need to watch her tongue. This must mean that it will be a temptation for a woman to cross the line in her conversations with and about other people. Women and mothers of godly character know where to draw the line.

I Timothy 2:9-10, I Peter 3:1-6

Here are two more passages that we see several of the same items here and even some new ones that speak to a woman and a mother’s godly character. What I want to point out is the emphasis in both of these passages on the inner focus of godly character. A godly woman is more concerned with how she looks on the inside than on the outside. Her time and attention is does not go to the external but the “imperishable beauty” of “the hidden person of the heart.” Think about that phrase for a second: “imperishable beauty.” Is this not what our culture is spending a fortune on? My mother has always said that beauty is only skin-deep and I would say that we live in a culture that apparently thinks that skin is very deep. What people find who value “skin-deep” beauty eventually find is that it is just as painful as diving headfirst from the high dive into inches of water. It is really exciting for a moment, but in the end hurts more than you could possibly imagine. God says here that there is a beauty that is not skin deep and that it is imperishable, but it is the beauty of godly character.
The most important thing that I want you to see about godly character is that “HOPE IN GOD” is the root and fountain of godly character for a woman. She hopes in, trusts in, joys in, and walks with God, and from this root and out of this spring flows forth this imperishable beauty of godly character. This affects dress, submission, self-control, etc.

What Mothers & Spiritual Mothers are to Do (Titus 2:3b-5a)

They are to reproduce certain kinds of women, women of godly character. I hope you see that the New Testament shows us that disciple making is to flavor and infect every relationship we have. Paul says that older women are to teach younger women “what is good,” and then he describes what teaching them what is good looks like, training them in two areas: godly character and homemaking.

They are to Teach and Train Other Women to Be Godly Women

They are “to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure…kind, and submissive to their own husbands.” You are to be a mentor to younger women, which includes your own daughter as well.

They are to Teach and Train Other Women to Be Godly Women Who are Homemakers

They are to “teach…and so train the young women…to be…working at home.” What the Bible seems to teach is that homemaking is a primary responsibility of godly women and mothers. This is true in both the Old Testament and the New. Andreas Kostenberger says the following concerning a mother’s role in the Old Testament:

“The mother’s responsibilities to her children are well summarized in Proverbs 31: providing food, clothing, and shelter. At a child’s birth, mothers would cut the umbilical cord, bathe the child, and wrap it in a cloth (cf. Ezek. 16:3-4). During the first decade of the child’s life, he or she was the special concern of his or her mother. Since in ancient Israel the home was the primary place for education, the mother’s example and instruction was vital. Once children reached adolescence, they would increasingly spend more time with their fathers, though this does not mean that the mother’s influence was no longer felt. Mothers would also train their daughters for their future roles as wives and mothers. This was even more important since daughters upon marriage would leave their paternal household and join that of their husband. Nevertheless, mothers would continue to follow the course of their daughter’s lives, and being able to witness the birth of grandchildren was considered to be a special blessing and delight (e.g., Ruth 4:14-16). Mothers also bore responsibilities toward domestic servants and slaves.” – "God, Marriage, & Family" pg. 98

When you come to the New Testament, Paul says here that the one skill set a woman is to have is that of homemaking. They are to be “working at home” to make their house a home. Paul also says in 1 Timothy 2:15, that women are actually saved in childbearing, which includes both the having and the raising of children. Part of homemaking is seeing to it that you as a mom raise your children and not someone else. Let me make two comments here:

Because homemaking is given to women and mothers from the Bible, it is a gloriously high calling. It is anything but a worthless existence. Proverbs 31:10 says that a woman like this is worth “far more…than jewels.” Feminism has not enriched women, it has robbed them of their worth and of their children.

To say that homemaking is a woman and a mother’s primary responsibility does not mean that it has to be their only responsibility. Please understand that this issue gets very grey and very heated very fast. This does not mean that a woman cannot work outside the home. There are exceptions, but the problem in our culture is that we make the exception the rule and the rule the exception. Single mothers have to work. Women with disabled husbands may have to work. A woman’s whose husband is pursuing additional education may have to work. Sometimes there may be such a financial burden on a family that the only way out is for a woman to get a job for sometime. I've seen women with older children in school get a job at that school. She takes them to school, is with them at school, brings them home, and is when them when they are out of school.
But again, in our culture, we have made the exception the rule and have used our greed to justify women and mothers leaving the home to pursue careers so that we can own more things. There may be exceptions where this is the only option, but I feel that in our culture women leave the home not due to a lack of options, but due to the fact that we don’t like some of the options that we have. Staying at home would mean not having as many things. We need to prayerfully consider that response because at this point we are saying that having things is more important than raising our children. And shame on husbands who want to load up their wives with their portion of the curse in order to have more things.
What am I telling you to do here? I’m simply telling you to read and know the Bible and believe what it says and once you get there to pray with and talk with one another as husbands and wives about what it might look like for you to make sure that homemaking remains your primary responsibility. At the end of the day, if you have done that, I trust that what is grey will become clear for your home.

Why Mothers & Spiritual Mothers are to Be and Do These Things (Titus 2:5b)

Women should take this calling seriously because if they don’t the Word of God will be reviled. In other words, the glory of God is at stake when a woman does or does not embrace this calling. I Timothy 5:14 says that when a woman isn’t this type of woman, it gives our adversary (Satan) an occasion to slander. According to Ephesians 5:22-33, a woman who isn’t this type of woman warps the message of the gospel that marriage is suppose to preach, first to her children and then to the watching world as well.

How the rest of us should treat women like this

The rest of us sons and daughters and husbands should honor and praise women like this and we should defend their honor when it is at stake. I want to call any husband, son, or daughter who does not treat their wife and mother this way to repentance. I am ashamed of the way I treated my mother for most of my childhood. Basically I was a selfish brat who did not appreciate her. Some of you are like that and I know all to well the reason you are: you only care about yourself.
I think the best example of how to treat a woman is Jesus Christ. He honored His mother and His bride in a way that you never can and never will: He died for them. Let all women remember that there would be no godly women apart from the death of Christ on their behalf. And let all men remember that instructions of Paul to lay yourself down for your wives as Christ has done the church, so that she may be the godly woman that she is called to be.