Rev. David Holwick W
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
July 6, 1997
1 Peter 3:1-6
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I. An embarrassing topic?
A. Last sermon, slaves, this one, wives. Yikes! [MEN next week]
B. Rise of women important in our generation.
1) My grandmother got the right to vote when she was 24 years
old.
Yet 55 years later, not too much had changed.
In the movie "Apollo 13" a desperate emergency threatens a
mission to the moon in the 1970's.
Mission Control swings into action - and in the huge room,
not a woman is to be seen.
In the whole movie, you have the astronauts' wives and one
female reporter.
Back then a woman could also be a teacher, a secretary,
or a nurse.
Many still are - but so many other opportunities have
opened up.
2) Some are slow to catch on.
Tama Starr put together a book composed of put-downs of
women through the ages.
Here are some of the quotes:
Martin Luther, leader of the Reformation. 1538:
"Eloquence in women shouldn't be praised; it is more
fitting for them to lisp and stammer."
Napoleon, 1817:
"Nature intended women to be our slaves. ... What a mad
idea to demand equality for women!"
Rudyard Kipling, author of Jungle Book; 1885:
"A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke."
Henry Miller, American playwright; 1975:
"I enjoy women as a breed, like a dog. ... I don't mean
that in a derogatory way."
#1678
II. The position of the Bible in all this.
A. Many consider the Bible to be a throwback to stone age views
on women.
1) Today's passage is one of the doozies.
a) Sarah is even said to call her husband "Master."
b) Modern feminists erase "master, lord, king and father"
from church hymns.
2) Reject passage as old-fashioned prejudice?
B. This passage contains eternal wisdom from God.
1) Contrary to modern ideas it is not sexist, anti-woman,
and does not seek to keep women down and repress them.
2) Rather, it seeks to elevate them from the status of their
fallen sinful nature, which is:
a) In opposition to God,
b) In opposition to their husbands,
c) And overly concerned about outward expressions of
false beauty.
3) Today's seeks to bring out those qualities which are truly
feminine and pleasing to God.
III. Submit!
A. Submission is something every Christian does.
1) Paul says we should submit to one another.
2) Submission does not imply inferiority.
a) Even Jesus is said to be in submission. 1 Cor 15:28
b) It shows respect for the divine order.
3) Peter makes it the key instruction in each relationship
he discusses.
a) Becoming a Christian should radically influence a
person's behavior in every relationship, especially
in their family.
b) We should be aware that God's eye is upon us, and desire
what is valuable in God's sight.
B. Every team needs a captain.
1) Every family needs a head, and it should be husband.
2) Some husbands are hard.
a) Pagan family envisaged, where wife converts.
b) Husband doesn't just not believe, but "disobeys," a
stronger term.
1> He deliberately sets himself against the truth.
3) This doesn't get us off the hook.
a) We should be Christian, and act like it, even when
others give us grief.
b) God has a mission for us.
IV. Evangelism begins at home.
A. Men have always been the deadbeats in the faith department.
1) If your husband is unsaved, what is your response?
a) That you can go to church without bothering him??
b) That he would be saved??
2) Win him over - to Christ, and to yourself.
B. How husbands can be influenced:
1) Nagging and threats.
John Chrysostom said this almost 1,600 years ago:
A wife should never nag her husband:
"You lazy coward, you have no ambition!
Look at our relatives and neighbors; they have plenty
of money.
Their wives have far more than I do."
Let no wife say any such thing.
"But why should she endure poverty?" some will ask.
If she is poor, let her console herself by thinking of
those who are much poorer still.
If she really loved her husband, she would never speak to
him like that, but would value having him close to her
more than all the gold in the world.
#3351
2) Coldness and withheld affection.
3) Love and example.
a) "Silent witness."
1> Back up with words later?
b) Saint Augustine's mom witnessed to her husband for 25
years, and he converted just before he died.
c) In West Lafayette, Ohio, Jeanne Stewart faithfully
prayed for her husband to be saved.
Early in my ministry there, he was saved.
And he credited his wife's love for his decision.
d) A Bolivian minister, discouraged by lack of men in church,
saw himself as a failure.
Then it dawned on him that the women in his church had
a huge mission opportunity.
He emphasized the importance of loving their husbands
into God's kingdom, and dozens were saved.
V. What makes a woman beautiful.
A. Society has strong views on beauty.
1) $$$ in cosmetics and silicone.
2) Starts with ear piercing, then nose piercing, then lips,
tongues, and worse and worse.
3) It's not just advertisers on Madison Avenue - an experiment
with babies showed they stared longer at pretty faces.
4) When asked if a women is good-looking, the most cutting
thing a man can say is,
"Well, she has a nice personality.."
B. Beauty is inward, not outward.
1) Bible passages on cosmetics: Isaiah 3:16-24, Paul, Peter
a) Prohibition?
1> Early Christians.
2> Mennonites. (friend with wedding band)
b) Cosmetics not evil, but off focus.
1> Values are in view. See yourself the way God does.
2> Inner self = "inner man of the heart."
3> The external stuff will wrinkle, fade, and droop.
Only the inner stuff can get prettier.
2) Be beautiful inside.
a) Purity.
b) Reverence.
1> Your actions are determined by reverence for God.
c) Gentle, quiet spirit.
1> Not mousy, but quiet strength.
VI. A sterling example.
A. Sarah, Abraham's wife, shows the way.
1) Called Abraham her master.
2) Doesn't mean she was like a slave, but she acknowledged his
leadership in the family.
a) Genesis shows she could be very independent-minded.
b) Her hope was in God, not Abraham.
c) But she submitted to her husband.
B. Necessary corrections.
1) Submission doesn't have to mean secondary status.
2) If God used a "chain of command," and only spoke to women
through their husbands, consider this:
He called the Virgin Mary directly, and did not send her
call through Joseph.
#1524
C. Do right and don't be fearful.
1) Accept God's plan for your life.
2) Men, recognize inner beauty of your wife.
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