Alright, we're here in 1 Peter chapter 3, and the name of the sermon is The Alphabetic
Characteristics, Ladylike, and we're going to be looking at the character of Sarah to
look at how she was very much a lady throughout the Bible.
And as I said during the announcements, this is not something I'm striving to be.
I'm not striving to be ladylike, I'm not striving to be feminine, but every single woman in
this room, every single young girl, I mean that should be a goal that you have in your
life to be ladylike, to be feminine, right?
And we're going to look at three different characteristics or areas of the life of Sarah
that showed she was very much ladylike or feminine.
Point number one is this.
We see with Sarah that she deferred to her husband.
She looked at her husband as being the leader.
It says in 1 Peter 3, verse 1,
Likewise ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word,
they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives.
So the Bible says here in this verse that wives are to be in subjection to their own
husbands.
So when you think of subjection, it means to put yourself underneath, like a submarine
would go under the water.
So wives are to be in subjection to their own husbands.
This does not say every woman in the world is in subjection to every man in the world.
This does not say that every man in the world is better than every woman in the world.
That's not what the Bible says, right?
What the Bible does say, though, is that wives are to be in subjection underneath their
own husbands.
And the idea is this.
In a family, you have one person who's the head of it, and it is the husband, right?
And then, of course, the structure is husband, wife, and then kids are way below.
And so, for example, if you were to have, you know, a boy that grows up, and he reaches
the age of 18, and he lives underneath his parents in their house and under their rules,
the mom is still in charge of that 18-year-old boy or 18-year-old adult, whatever you want
to say at the age of 18.
You say, why?
Because, obviously, the mom is above the kids, right?
But the husband is above the wife in terms of authority.
Now, look at it like this, because people get offended sometimes when you say this.
I'm not better than my son, Zeph, right?
Obviously, we're both males.
We're both, you know, he'll be a man one day.
I'm not better than my son, but of course, I have the authority above him.
Now, a mom has the authority above her sons and her daughters, but that doesn't make her
better than her kids either.
And the husband being above his wife in authority does not make him better.
It doesn't make him smarter.
It just means he has the authority, just like an employee is underneath the authority of
a boss at the workplace, right?
Says here in this verse that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word
be won by the conversation of the wives.
The saying obey not the word, it's referring to husbands that do not obey God's word.
They don't want to serve God.
They don't want to do what God says.
That could mean they're unbelievers.
It could also mean just men that are saved, but they don't really care about serving God.
You know, one of the things that you find in Asian countries, you're generally going
to find that women are a little bit more excited about serving God than men.
It's my experience, because in the U.S., it's kind of the joke about a bunch of single guys.
We can't find a wife at church, and then it's just like, you know, what I find in Asian
countries, it seems like there's more women that are zealous for the things of God than
men.
It's actually the opposite, right?
And so, unfortunately, one thing you'll see is husbands that are just not that concerned
about serving God.
They should be the leaders in the home, but they're just not that concerned.
They're not as excited.
You say, what do you do with it if you're a wife and you're in that situation?
You can win them over by not your words, but your conversation.
You say, well, what's the difference?
Conversation in the Bible is like pamumuhay.
It's like lifestyle.
It's not just saying your words.
So it says without the word, you can win them by your actions.
Don't we say actions speak louder than words?
And so if you have a godly woman that's trying to serve God and is very feminine and very
godly and respectful and kind, the result is going to be that can win the husband over
to wanting to serve God as well.
The Bible says here in verse 2, while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with
fear, who's adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing
of gold or of putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart in that
which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the
sight of God of great price.
The Bible's not saying in verses 3 and 4 that the outward does not matter.
What it's saying, though, is that the inward matters a lot more than the outward.
And if you're a woman, you should be focused more on the inside than the outside.
Now, look, I'm not saying it's wrong to, you know, make up lipstick and all those things.
That's fine.
But here's the thing.
If you spend an hour in front of the mirror and zero minutes in the Word of God, you've
got a wrong balance.
You need to have a proper balance because you're focusing so much on the outside and
not the inside.
And look, if you're able to focus on both, okay.
But if you're not able to focus, you don't have the time, you only have time for one,
focus on the inside.
Focus on fixing your heart and developing good character.
And I promise you, your husband will find you more attractive if the inside is beautiful
than if the outside's beautiful and the inside is not.
Why?
Because what's on the inside comes on the outside.
I'll give you an example of this.
Think about a lot of, you know, Hollywood actresses or singers that are very famous,
very attractive by the world's standards.
And then you hear the words that are coming out of their mouth, pro-abortion, pro-LGBT.
All of a sudden, it's like, actually, that person's not really that attractive.
Any time you were to look at them, you could not separate their attitude from their physical
beauty.
Right?
There's many actresses or singers in Hollywood and places.
And when they start, they act very kind of young and innocent.
And then all of a sudden, they just change, and it's like, okay, never mind, right?
Taylor Swift is just like the great example to think of.
She was like the conservative young girl, and it's like, oh, look at how sweet and innocent
and godly this young girl is.
And then 10 years later, it's like, whoa, hardcore pro-LGBT, right, you know, very much
dresses like a harlot.
It's just like, and all of a sudden, it's like, well, I don't really care what the outward
beauty is.
It's like you cannot separate the attitude from their looks.
Verse number five, for after this manner in the old time, the holy women also, who trusted
in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands.
So the Bible's saying, hey, the holy women that lived before, they practiced this of
being in subjection.
Then it's going to give us an example of a woman that was very much in subjection to
her husband.
Verse six, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters he are as long as
he do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.
The Bible says Sarah called her husband Lord.
Now realize the word Lord means boss.
It's not saying you are God Almighty.
That's not what she was saying to her husband, and in fact, you don't actually ever hear
her saying this out loud.
I don't personally think she addressed her husband as Lord Abraham, right?
I think it's saying that within the inside of her heart, that's the way that she looked
at it, saying, hey, this is my boss.
This is the leader of the home.
I do believe that you can take this too far as men.
I had a friend of mine a long time ago, and we were both single at the time, and he required
that if a girl were to date him, she had to call him Lord.
I was like, I don't really think that's a proper application.
You can do whatever you want.
I'm not married either, so I guess I can't really give you advice.
I don't think I'd require your girlfriend to call you Lord, right?
I'm not going to mention the rest of the name just for sake of sparing them, right?
The idea is this, that a wife should look at her husband and say, you know what, I love
my husband.
I respect my husband.
I want to follow him.
He is the leader of our home, right?
Go to Ephesians chapter 5, Ephesians 5.
I don't really give a whole lot of marriage advice, but if you're a single guy in this
room and you want to get married one day, there's some advice.
Don't require your girlfriend to call you Lord.
I don't think that's your best strategy.
Even in this type of church, I just don't think it's going to go over that well.
You can do what you want, but that's just my advice, right?
Ephesians 5 verse 21, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
This verse is often misunderstood because oftentimes when we're reading the Bible, we
stop at the end of a chapter and we tend to think we're on a brand new thought.
For example, you read the book of Psalms and what do you have?
Every Psalm is like an individual thing or every proverb is an individual one, but it's
not like that throughout the entire Bible because you have to realize that when the
Bible was first written, number one, it didn't really have these breaks in chapters and verses.
So you'd have the book of Galatians would be like the entire book, right?
I like the chapters.
I like the verses, but one thing we have to realize is if you get to the end of the chapter,
that does not necessarily mean the thought is over and the thought is not over at the
end of chapter 5.
When it says submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God, what it's stating
is that if you are in a position of life of having an authority, you submit to that authority.
First example it gives is wives to husbands.
Second example is the start of Ephesians 6, children obey your parents in the Lord.
Third example starts at verse 5, I believe it is in chapter 6, servants be obedient to
your masters, right?
So it gives us three examples of submission.
So servants are to obey their masters, right?
Or an employee obeys their boss.
Children obey their parents.
And then wives are to submit or obey their husbands.
That's one example of submission.
Now a lot of people have a problem with this, but realize this, every single day all of
us practice submission in one form or another.
You say, what do you mean?
I mean this, when you walk inside a Robinson's grocery store, they have rules.
A lot of restaurants in the U.S., it's like no shoes, no shirt, no service, meaning you
don't walk into this restaurant without a shirt, you don't walk into this restaurant
without shoes.
And if you do, you have to be removed.
You say, well, what do you do if you don't feel like wearing a shirt?
You put on a shirt.
You say why?
It's the rules of the restaurant.
I don't feel like wearing shoes, right?
And look, there could be some stores that are more specific where they don't allow sandals.
Now look, maybe you're wearing sandals or maybe you prefer sandals, but it's like whatever,
just submit to the authority that there is.
You do what they say.
And so look, there's a lot of rules.
I'll give you an example of a rule I don't really like.
When I walk into the mall, of course they always check your book back, right?
They don't really check.
You open it, it's like, oh, you're good to go.
I didn't see a bomb right there at the top, right?
And they let you go.
I don't like that rule because I always bring a book bag when I'm out with my wife and our
three kids and I've got diapers in there, I've got wipes, I've got a bottle of water,
every possible thing that is necessary, 25 pairs of changes of clothes in case whatever.
And so it's packed and guess what?
I'm holding one of the kids and holding a hand for the other one and then all of a sudden
opening it's a bit of a pain.
Guess what I do?
I stop and I open the bag and let them not really look and then I just move on.
And that's what all the parents are like, yeah, I can relate to that and the same sort
of thing, right?
Or a wife has a purse or whatever.
It's not really a rule I particularly like because they don't really look at it anyway,
but here's the thing.
You just submit to what their authority is.
There's no need to cause a problem and make a big fight about it.
So don't get upset about submission.
All of us have submission in our lives.
All of us have areas of our life where we have an authority and so whatever the authority
is, you just submit to the authority.
Well, what if my authority is bad?
Well, obviously ideally you're going to have a good authority, but that's not always
the case.
And what the Bible teaches is you submit to authority unless authority is asking you to
do something wrong or sinful, right?
And we'll look at that here in a second.
But it says here, wives submit yourselves onto your own husbands as in the Lord.
So once again, wives submit onto your own husbands.
So the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he
is the savior of the body.
Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands
in everything.
The Bible says that wives are to submit to their husbands in everything, all areas, right?
So if your husband asks you for something, he says, I want you to cook chicken tonight.
I don't want, you know, some sort of pig meat, right?
I heard Pastor Stuckey's sermon, I don't want to eat pork tonight, right?
I want chicken.
You just cook chicken.
That's just the way it is, right?
Now look, obviously, if you have a good husband, he's not going to boss you and order you around
for all these little things that don't matter.
Just like a good boss at work doesn't just boss you around for all these things that
don't really matter.
But if your boss tells you to do something, you do it.
That's the way it works.
Genesis 18, Genesis chapter 18.
You say, well, my husband's supposed to be loving, but I'm not preaching on the men in
a sermon on being ladylike.
So it's a mute point.
Obviously, I've preached on men, you know, loving their wives, but that's not the point
of the sermon because I'm preaching on being ladylike.
And we're seeing with Sarah that she's a very feminine and ladylike woman.
By the way, the world tries to get rid of this idea.
They try to act like, well, don't brainwash your kids, you know, let them be whatever
they want, let them be whatever gender they want, decide whatever they want to do.
Let me explain something to you for those that have not raised young kids.
At a very young age, you see a clear difference between boys and girls.
A clear difference.
I mean, look, it's not a matter of brainwashing, but our daughter just loved the color pink.
Guess what?
Zeph didn't love the color pink.
Ezra, you know, doesn't love the color pink.
But Christabel just always loved pink and loved playing with baby dolls and just wanted
to wear a dress and wanted to look like mommy and wanted to have long hair.
It's not something we brainwash.
It's just built into them.
And guess what?
My son Zeph, guess who he wants to be like?
Me.
He wants to be just like daddy.
That's just the way it is.
Boys want to be like their fathers.
Girls want to be like their mothers.
That's the way that it works, right?
Genesis 18, verse 16, and the man rose up from thence and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham
went with them to bring them on the way.
And the Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?
Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations
of the earth shall be blessed in him.
This is the chapter before the famous Sodom and Gomorrah in chapter 19.
And notice what God says here in verse 19 to Abraham, for I know him that he will command
his children and his household after him.
So what God said about Abraham is he would be the leader in his home.
This is why I said I'm going to give him the information of what's going to take place
with Sodom and Gomorrah.
I'm not going to hide it from him.
Why?
Because I know Abraham is a good and a godly person.
And of course, a godly man, guess what's beside that godly man?
A godly woman.
Godly wife, Sarah.
And so Abraham was the leader of the home, and Sarah submitted herself underneath her
godly husband Abraham.
That's what we see in this example.
It kind of reminds you of, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Abraham commanded his family, right?
Go to Genesis chapter 2.
Genesis chapter 2.
And look, you don't want to be one of these people that just always hates every authority.
You refuse to listen to anybody.
It's not the way that God set up this world.
Everybody is in a position of authority.
I've been doing a lot of research on atheism recently for a sermon series I want to preach.
And so I read a book by Christopher Hitchens, God is Not Great.
It's a really famous atheist book.
And he wanted to popularize the term anti-theist.
It's not just that I don't believe in God, I'm glad there's no God.
Why do the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh?
Because these people that hate God, they say in their heart, there is no God.
It's like you're an idiot.
You deny reality when it's obvious there's a God because you don't want to believe in
God.
But what he said about God is, you know why I don't want to believe in God?
Because if God was real, then he's like a dictator that's telling me what to do.
And it's like, here's someone who's showing out of their own heart, they don't want to
have an authority.
They don't want to listen to anybody.
It's funny because a child growing up, they're not bothered by having a parent that's the
authority over them when they're growing up.
They're happy to have someone be the authority.
And look, considering God is loving and He has their best interests at heart, why would
you not want that authority above you?
It doesn't make any sense.
But you're just looking at people out of their own heart, they speak, and it's like, I hate
having authority.
Let me explain something.
If you don't know who Christopher Hitchens is, that's fine.
He's one of the most vulgar people that's ever existed.
I don't think you want to be like that guy.
A guy who mocks the existence of God, who mocks people like us, that says we're stupid.
I don't think you want to be like him.
You know what it's like to be like that person?
Hating having any authority in your life whatsoever.
And look, as a father and as a husband and as the head of the church, in a lot of areas,
I am the leader and I don't have an authority above me.
But number one, you always have God as your authority no matter who you are.
And number two, I work for Pastor Mendez and guess what?
I do what he tells me to do.
You say, why?
Because he's my boss.
That's what you do.
And so everybody has authority.
You go to a grocery store, you go to a restaurant, they have rules.
And you don't always agree with those rules, you don't always like those rules, but you
need to obey those rules.
It says in Genesis 2, verse 24, Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother,
and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.
So here's the way it works.
Before you're married, you're underneath the authority of mom and dad.
Now, what is very common in today's world is people will move out from their parents.
That's a bit of a different situation.
But let's say, for example, that you're with your parents and then you end up getting married.
You leave and cleave, right?
Husband and wife both leave their parents and then you leave and you cleave together.
You become one flesh.
What has taken place now is that guy who was underneath the authority of mom and dad is
no longer under the authority of mom and dad.
He is now the head of his house.
And that woman is no longer under the authority of mom and dad, she's now under the authority
of her husband.
That's what the Bible teaches.
And you say, wow, I got a problem with it.
But here's the thing, nobody can deny the Bible clearly teaches this.
And the thing is, the world knows the Bible teaches this.
There's no reason to try to hide from it.
I'm sure you can give me examples of bad husbands that beat their wives or did horrible things.
And yeah, those situations do exist.
It doesn't change the fact, though, that God's ideal situation is a woman gets married and
she is underneath the authority of her husband.
Turn your Bible to Genesis chapter 12.
Genesis 12.
You say, wow, pastor, I think that's degrading to women.
No, let me explain to you something that's degrading to women.
Islam.
Islam's degrading to women.
Let me explain to you something that's degrading to women.
Hinduism.
Those are the religions that are degrading to women.
The Bible's not degrading to women.
Now, do you see examples of men in the Bible that are not good husbands and that don't
follow what the Bible says?
Absolutely, you see that.
But if people were to follow what the Bible says, you know what would take place?
It would make it a very nice world, both for husbands and wives, if they would fulfill
their roles.
Genesis 12, verse 1.
And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee and make thy name great,
and thou shalt be a blessing.
And I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that cursed thee, and in thee shall
all families of the earth be blessed.
So Abraham departed as the Lord had spoken on to him, and Lot went with him.
And Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.
You know, one of the most difficult things to do when you're preaching sermons is to
read the name Abram and pronounce it Abram, right?
It's like, by default it's like Abraham.
By default, Sarah.
I did it yesterday, and then all of a sudden I was like, oh, I just said Abraham, right?
It's like he's not yet been renamed Abraham.
And Abram took Sariah's wife and Lot his brother's son and all their substance that they had
gathered and the souls that they had gotten in Haran, and they went forth to go in the
land of Canaan and into the land of Canaan they came.
Now, ask yourself this question.
Does Abram make the right choice?
Actually, go down to verse number 10.
Verse number 10.
Verse 10.
And what we saw, what we just read, Abram decides to leave his family.
That was God's instructions.
God first appeared to him in Mesopotamia, and God said, leave your father's house.
If you pay attention to the book of Acts and also with Genesis 11, he does not actually
follow what God says.
He allows his father to move their family to Haran, and then when his father dies, then
he follows God's instructions.
So the Bible says he obeys, but he actually doesn't obey immediately.
He waits until his father dies.
Right?
But you're saying that he's making the decision to move his family.
Then in verse 10.
And there's a famine in the land, and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there, for
the famine was grievous in the land.
And it came to pass when he's come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sariah's
wife, Behold, now I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon.
Therefore, it shall come to pass when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall
say, This is his wife, and they will kill me, for they will save thee alive.
Say, I pray thee thou art my sister, that it may be well with me for thy sake, and my
soul shall live because of thee.
Now in verse 10, Abraham moves his family to Egypt because there's a famine.
Is this the right decision?
No, it's not.
He's leaving a godly place to go to an ungodly place because of a famine.
Does Abraham make the right decision?
No, he doesn't.
Does Sarah or Sariah make the right decision by following her husband?
Yes, she does.
It was Abraham's choice to make.
Abraham moved the family to Egypt and Sariah follows.
Now the problem, though, is found right after that because then Abraham says, Hey, pretend
that you're just my sister.
Tell people you're just my sister and lie.
That is something she should have disobeyed.
You say, Why?
Because he's asking her to sin.
He's asking her to do wrong.
You say, Well, it's not really a lie because they were half brother and half sister.
Well, number one, a half lie is a lie.
Number two, why do you think that they were actually half brother and half sister?
Does the Bible say that or did Abraham say that after he got caught lying?
Abraham said that after he got caught lying, he said, Oh, she's my sister.
Then he gets caught lying.
Oh, she's my half sister.
I think he's lying again personally.
I don't think they're half brother and half sister.
I mean, I could be wrong.
The Bible doesn't really say.
But here's what I'm saying.
She can disobey and she should disobey when he's saying, Well, pretend like you're just
my sister.
Right?
But I don't think she did anything wrong going to Egypt.
Now, I'll give you my opinion and go to Genesis 18.
Genesis chapter 18.
There's another famous story in the Bible with Elimelech and Naomi.
And Elimelech moves a family to Moab.
Right?
Once again, that's the wrong decision to make.
But once again, that's the decision of the husband.
Now, in situations like that, you say, What if my husband is making this decision and
it's a bad decision?
It's going to lead to problems in our family and all of these things.
I don't have anything wrong or see anything wrong with a wife talking to her husband in
a calm and polite way and making a suggestion.
I don't think this is the best decision and here's why.
Just like if a boss had instructions for an employee and it was a really bad idea, you
know, if you're an employee, you could talk to your boss in a kind and respectful way,
but still realizing that's your boss and they make the final decision.
I personally believe both Naomi and Sarah probably told their husbands, Hey, I don't
think this is the best idea.
I could be wrong.
It's definitely the husband's fault in these situations.
But the wives are meant to follow.
They went to Egypt because that's a decision.
I'll give you an example of modern day.
I think this is the best church in the area.
I think this is a great church.
I think this church is filled full of great people that love God and are trying to serve
God, but let's say, for example, there's a husband in this room and he got really mad
at something I preached and he said, I don't want to go to this church anymore.
And he says, We're going to go to another Baptist church that's also correct on salvation.
I don't want to go to Verity Baptist anymore.
I believe that what you should actually do is follow what your husband says.
Now, I don't think that's the right decision.
I would try to talk to that person and say, Hey, you know what?
I don't think you should leave.
I'm sorry you got offended.
Can we talk about this and try to reason with them?
Now, if they're trying to get your family to go to that church over there, well, I'd say disobey that.
But if they're trying to get your family to go to a church that is, in my opinion, not as zealous or fired up,
but they're also right on salvation, you know what?
I believe that's the husband's decision to make.
And I've seen it in action in the U.S. where a husband gets mad at the sermon
and he takes his family away from a good church to go to a lame church because he's mad at the preacher.
But that's the decision that the husband makes.
And look, I don't want to be dishonest with what I'm teaching because if I teach that husbands are the head of the home,
but I'm going to make an exception in this situation because it doesn't benefit us, I'd be a hypocrite.
Now, if they're trying to get you to go to a church like that, I believe it would be a sin to walk into that church personally.
Unless you're doing a documentary, which I would never advise.
That's the smartest thing to do, right?
But the wife defers to her husband. She follows her husband. You see that with Sarah.
You see that with Naomi. And both of those are very godly women that you find in the Word of God.
Point number one, we see that Sarah deferred to her husband. She looked at her husband as being the leader.
Point number two, Sarah kept the home. She took care of the home.
Genesis 18, verse 1.
My opinion of these three men, one of them I believe is the Son of God appearing in the Old Testament, and then two angels.
But these three men come to him, and it says here in verse number 3,
So here's a situation of unintended and unexpected guests.
And look, this can be a bit of a disaster situation because, look, this is the way it is.
When you know that you have guests coming over, you prepare the house, you get everything ready,
you get everything clean, you get everything planned out.
But if unexpected guests come, it's a bit of chaos, right?
Well, these unexpected guests come, and Abraham just comes in, and he's like,
Sarah, I need you to do this.
It's kind of like your boss coming to you. It's like the end of the day, and all of a sudden,
you've got to finish this in the next three hours before you go home.
It's like, right?
And that's what we're seeing in this story.
Now, go to Genesis 19, and I want to show you a comparison between Genesis 18 and Genesis 19.
Because in Genesis 18, we have a great example of a godly woman named Sarah.
In Genesis 19, we have an example of a woman whose name is...
I have no idea.
Lost wife.
What's her name?
I don't know. I like to call her Pillar of Salt, but I'm not really sure what her name is, right?
We have an example of a godly woman versus an ungodly.
And imagine this.
You also have an example of a godly husband, Abraham, and an ungodly husband, Lot.
Amazing how they go hand in hand together.
But Genesis 19, verse 1,
And there came two angels of Sodom at even,
and I think these are probably the same two angels.
They just came without the Lord this time.
But it says,
And Lot sat in the gate of Sodom,
and Lot seeing them, rose up to meet them,
and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.
And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn, and I pray you,
into your servant's house, and tarry all night,
and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go in your ways.
And so we're seeing that Lot is very concerned about these men being there.
It's like, come in quickly, stay all night, and leave very early in the morning.
It's like, obviously you know what Sodom and Gomorrah is like, Lot, right?
And they said, Nay, but we will bide in the street all night.
Now, that's sort of comedy when you're reading it,
because obviously they're not going to sleep in the street.
They're just kind of messing with Lot.
We'll just sleep in the street, right?
Verse number 3,
And he pressed upon them greatly,
and they turned it on to him, and it into his house,
and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread,
and they did eat.
And so, here's the thing, in Genesis 18, what do you see?
You see that Abraham comes to his house,
and he says, Sarah, I need you to do this.
In Genesis 19, Lot comes to the house,
and he does it himself.
It's like, where's his wife?
And the question is, and the answer, I don't know.
My best guess is she's hanging out with her friends.
And look, I'm not saying it's wrong for a woman to hang out with her friends.
I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the guy cooking.
I think guys should know how to just do basic skills.
I remember having friends in college,
and they struggled with some very, very basic things,
and I'm just thinking, haven't you ever done this before?
Right? I mean, I know how to cook some meals,
but we're seeing a comparison the Bible's trying to give us,
where basically it's like Lot is the housekeeper of this family.
Is it any shock in the system they have
where the kids just are ungodly?
Because look at both the husband and the wife.
They're not fulfilling their roles.
I mean, Lot wasn't a leader at all.
He's a joke of a husband in the Bible.
I mean, what kind of a father...
I mean, look, nobody would want to be in this situation,
but if you were in this situation,
what kind of a father throws his daughters out to the wolves?
I mean, obviously Lot was failing quite a bit as well,
and I heard recently one of these atheists was trying to mock the Bible.
I mean, Lot was so godly, God spared him.
The Bible never says Lot was godly.
You know why God spared Lot?
Because God remembered Abraham.
It didn't say God remembered Lot,
because if God remembered Lot,
he would have just had him burned up with everybody else.
God remembered Abraham, and that's why he spared Lot,
because Abraham was praying and beseeching God
on behalf of Lot, which was like a son to him.
Go to your Bible to 1 Timothy 5.
1 Timothy 5.
And in 1 Timothy 5,
notice what the Bible says in verse 11.
But the younger widows refused,
for when they have begun to wax wand against Christ,
they will marry, having damnation
because they have cast off their first faith.
And withal they learned to be idle,
wandering about from house to house,
battlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.
You know, I believe it's possible,
because by default, every single person in this room,
by nature, is lazy.
All of us. We want the easy way out.
The path of least resistance.
This is why a lot of religions are very prominent and popular
when they teach things like you can have the easy way,
and they become very popular because we want the easy way.
I believe, though, that you can learn to be a hard worker.
It doesn't come naturally.
No kids grow up in this world,
and they're naturally hard workers.
You tell your kids, hey, clean your room.
And then all of a sudden you come back five minutes later,
and you're just like, they're like, we cleaned.
It's like, what are you talking about?
Everything's on the floor.
It's like, no, we put the stuffed animal away.
It's like, clean all of it, every single piece.
You come back five minutes later, and there's a few things cleaned,
and it's just like every single paper right here,
and you're trying your best not to lose your temper,
which it's so easy not to lose your temper if you've never had kids.
But once you have kids, it's really, really difficult sometimes.
And it's just like they want the easy way out.
That's just the way kids are.
You can learn to work hard.
Did you know that you can also learn to be idle and lazy?
Did you know you can be a hard worker,
and then you can learn to be lazy?
That's what the Bible is saying in verse 13.
They learn to be idle,
meaning that before they were working hard,
and then they learn to be idle. You say, why?
Because if you have too much free time, that's just by default what takes place.
You end up sitting around doing nothing.
Verse 14,
I will, therefore, that the younger women marry their children.
Guide the house.
Give none occasion the adversary to speak reproachfully.
The Bible says here, guide the house.
Other places it says women are to be keepers of home.
So basically, keeping the home, guiding the house.
Right?
And so taking care of the things at the house.
Now look, a carnal way to look at this
is merely looking at cooking and cleaning.
Because this is not kind of what people throw out.
You're saying women are supposed to stay home and just cook and clean.
Let me explain something to you about the word house in the Bible.
Think of a common verse in the Bible.
Acts 16.
Right? Verse 31.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in all thy house.
Right?
I mean, it uses that phrase, house,
not referring to the wall or to the floor,
but referring to the people inside of the house.
You know what the most important part about keeping the home is?
It's not the cooking.
Right.
It's not the cleaning.
It's the kids.
It's taking care of the kids.
Right.
Raising the kids.
That's the most important part.
Guiding the house, the most important part.
I mean, look, as Joshua said,
as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
He's not referring to house as in this.
He's referring to the people in the house.
And the most important part about being a housewife
or a homekeeper keeping the home is the people inside the home,
taking care of those that are inside the house,
the kids that are growing up.
That's the most important part.
Now, look, if you have the traditional roles
of the husband working and the wife staying home,
obviously cooking and cleaning is part of that,
but that is a small part.
That is nothing compared to taking care of the kids.
Right.
The kids are far more important than the cooking and the cleaning.
Right.
Turn in your Bible to Proverbs 31.
Proverbs 31.
Now, look, as I said, you know,
I think there's nothing wrong with a guy knowing how to cook and clean.
I learned that at a young age.
I think they're good practical skills to have.
Even more so, I'd say, for a woman,
especially if she's going to, you know, follow these traditional roles.
But here's the thing.
The best thing young ladies or young women in this room can do
is not learning how to be good at cooking and cleaning,
learning how to be godly so you can teach your kids one day.
That's the most important thing.
You have to realize this.
When you're raising kids,
one of the things that amazes you
is just all of these things that you think are very simple
and your kids have no idea how to do them.
Like putting on a shirt.
Right?
It seems so easy.
And yet, it's not something that you immediately know how to do
when you're bored.
It's hard.
Or they put the shoes on and it's like,
no, switch them.
You assume that they can do it,
but it's like you've got to teach them.
Everything you've got to teach the kids.
They don't know how to do these things.
And look, every parent in this room, they know that's true.
Raising kids is like, yeah, it's like all these things,
and all of a sudden you start thinking things that seem so easy
and you're thinking in your head,
how do I teach it, though?
I know how to do it, but how do I explain it to someone
that doesn't know because it seems so easy?
It's like, which side's the front and which side's the back?
It's like, what do you mean?
Of course this side's the back.
And it's like, but they don't know that.
Right?
So by default, it's like, well, look for a tag.
If it's a tag, there's a back.
So then they'll give you something, there's no tag.
And it's like, how do I explain this?
Right?
More important than the cooking and cleaning
is taking care of the kids.
Far more important.
Right?
Proverbs 31, verse 21.
The Bible here gives an example of a virtuous woman.
It says, she is not afraid of the snow for her household,
for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
The significance of scarlet in purple mentioned in the next verse.
There are colors of royalty.
I mean, many people are wearing something that's somewhat scarlet today.
But if we lived thousands of years ago, none of us could afford this.
Right?
A purple or a scarlet, red shirt, or anything like that.
There are colors of royalty.
She maketh herself coverings of tapestry.
Her clothing is silken purple.
Her husband is known in the gates when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
She maketh fine linen and celloth, and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
Strengthen, honor our clothing, and she shall rejoice in time to come.
She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
Her children arise up and call her blessed.
Her husband also, and he praiseth her.
Look, in this passage, it talks about household several times.
Here's the thing.
What is the main focus of this section here?
It's not about cooking and cleaning.
It's about taking care of the kids that are in the house.
So the biggest role that a woman has of being a housewife or a homekeeper is taking care of the children.
And you say, well, I think it's demeaning to women to have to take care of children.
What an offensive thing to say.
What could be more valuable or important than taking care of kids and raising your kids?
Go in your Bible to Genesis chapter 16.
Genesis 16.
Point number one, Sarah deferred to her husband.
Point two, she kept the home.
Point three, she desired a child.
One of the famous things, or the famous thing you think of with Abraham and Sarah
is the fact they didn't have kids for a long time.
And Sarah had a child past the point of childbearing.
She wanted a child. She had that desire.
And that is a very ladylike and feminine characteristic to want to have children.
At a young age, girls, they want to have children.
My daughter loves playing with baby dolls.
My son also likes playing with baby dolls because he's like...
But my daughter likes to hold them and then take care, put on the blanket.
Oh, she's going to sleep right now.
Put on the little blanket and all that stuff.
It's a difference between men and women.
It's a difference between boys and girls.
It's born into them at a young age.
It's a very feminine characteristic.
And I want to give you an example of how people can demean women
because I want you to realize something.
You might be surprised by this.
We're the most feminist church in this area.
I'm a feminist.
I believe in women being feminine.
I believe in women being like ladies.
I'm probably the biggest feminist in all of Pampanga, Metro Manila, or whatever.
I am all for women being like women.
The feminist movement is the most anti-feminist, feminine thing that you could come up with.
It's like, well, instead of a wife taking care of the kids and loving her family,
it's like a wife not taking care of her kids, working, but not raising her kids.
It's like, how is that being feminine?
But I want to give you an example of this.
I have an older sister.
She's almost exactly two years older than me.
When I was growing up, because I was homeschooled starting in middle school,
but I was not homeschooled in elementary school.
In the U.S., elementary school is first grade to fifth grade.
My sister is a lot smarter than me.
My sister in second grade, she skipped.
I'm not yet in school at this time.
I go to school in first grade, so my sister I guess would be in fourth grade
because she's already skipped a grade.
I have the same teacher as my sister had.
Your sister was so smart.
Man, your sister was a genius.
She won all those competitions.
I was like, yeah, I know.
I've heard this from all the teachers.
Thank you.
I'm really happy to hear this.
Then of course my sister, and I'm going through, okay, no big deal.
Then all of a sudden it's like I'm in fourth grade.
My sister would be in seventh, but she skipped seventh and eighth grade at the same time.
All of a sudden she's in high school.
It's like, wow, your sister skipped two grades?
She's like, yep, yep, she skipped two grades.
That's the reason why I wanted to be homeschooled, right?
No, I'm just kidding.
My sister skipped seventh and eighth,
and then she skipped two more grades in high school.
She graduated when she was 13, which five years early in the U.S.
because you usually graduate at 18.
Here was the assumption of my sister in the town I live in.
I grew up in a small town.
She's going to be a doctor, a lawyer.
Maybe she's going to be the next president or whatever.
She's going to be someone of fame and importance.
She's so smart.
Then all of a sudden, guess what?
When she was in college, she met her future husband.
She got married right before she graduated college.
She got married when she was 17.
My sister at this day, she's two years older than me.
I think it's 11 kids.
I lose count sometimes.
She was a stay-at-home mom.
You know what people in that town would tell my parents?
I would hear them say it sometimes.
It's like, you've got to talk to your daughter.
We're talking about my sister who's already married at this point.
She's throwing her life away.
What is she doing with her life?
She always wanted to be a doctor.
My sister always said she wanted to be a doctor,
but she was very young at the time.
She wanted to be a doctor.
She's throwing her life away.
She's getting married.
Here's what's so foolish about this.
My brother-in-law is just as smart as my sister.
He got his doctorate in mechanical engineering when he was 23 or something
because he got an honorary master's because he worked for the university.
He was already getting paid a lot of money while in school.
Right when he graduates, it's like $100,000 salary day one
because he's really advanced with a lot of work experience.
He retired in his early 30s.
He works on a family business.
They moved back to West Virginia.
They didn't need the money.
They were able to buy a house in cash just like a few years after being married.
It's just like they didn't need the money.
Everyone is saying that.
It's like how rude can you be?
How are you throwing away your life if you invest the intelligence God has given you
and the education that you have received into raising your kids for the glory of God?
How is that wasting your life?
Look, my wife is a very smart person.
My wife worked both as a nurse and as a teacher in the secular world before.
My wife is a stay-at-home mom.
She raises the kids.
How is it throwing away your life by raising your kids?
Because I'll tell you this.
When we're in the U.S., everyone under the sun is just like,
wow, it's great you're in the U.S.
because my wife never wanted to move to the U.S.
before.
She just always wanted to stay in the Philippines.
We got married.
We lived in the U.S. for several years.
Everyone is like, that's great.
You can pick back up your nursing career.
You can make all this money and everything like that.
That's the mindset that this world has.
Money, money, money, money, money.
But what could be more important than raising your kids?
I don't think that my sister regrets it now raising the 11 kids.
Here's the thing.
Sometimes I go out in public and I'll talk to people sometimes
and they'll ask, oh, why are you in the Philippines and everything?
And I'll say, well, I'm married.
We have a family.
And they think three kids is a lot.
It's like, you have three kids?
And they're like, wow.
And I always say, I say big family equals happy family.
And they're like, well, that's true.
It's like, look, my brother-in-law and my sister,
they have a happy family.
And it's like, you know what?
You make some sacrifices in some areas.
But you know what it leads to?
It actually leads to happiness.
You're not throwing away your life by raising kids.
Actually, let's skip Genesis 16 for sake of time and go to Genesis 18.
Now, of course, they don't have a child for a while.
And then eventually Abraham and Hagar have a child.
It was Sarah's suggestion.
Obviously, that was the wrong suggestion to make.
It's kind of Abraham's fault because he moved the family to Egypt
and Hagar was an Egyptian.
That's where they got her from.
And then they're promised they're going to have a child.
And Abraham laughs at God.
And he's like, oh, that Ishmael might live before thee.
Then you get to Genesis 18, and I love this story.
It's very interesting.
And notice what it says here in verse number 9.
And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife?
And he said, Behold in the tent.
Now, here's the thing.
The Lord knows where Sarah is.
I mean, this is the Son of God in the Old Testament.
He knows where she is.
Sometimes you just ask questions even though you know the answer.
Sometimes I ask my kids, who spilled milk on the floor?
And I already know the answer.
But you're waiting for them to admit it.
But he says, Where is Sarah thy wife?
And he said, Behold in the tent.
And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life.
And lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.
And Sarah heard in the tent door which was behind him.
Now, here's the thing.
He asked where Sarah is because she's not there to be seen by man's eyes.
Even though he knows where Sarah is, she's in the tent door, but he can't see her.
So he can't see her when he's making the statement.
And Sarah hears this, and Abraham doesn't know that Sarah hears this.
He doesn't know she's close enough to hear this.
But, of course, God knows that Sarah heard what he just said. Right?
Then it says in verse 11, Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age
and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
Therefore Sarah laughed within herself saying,
After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord being old also?
And so Sarah laughs within herself, not out loud,
and she's not visible to be seen by Abraham or by the Lord at this moment. Right?
Then notice what it says in verse 13,
And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh,
saying, Shall I have a surety-bearer child which am old?
And Abraham's probably thinking, My wife laughed?
He has no idea. I mean, the Lord's the one breaking that news.
Hey, why'd your wife laugh?
And she's doing this on the inside. She's not even seen. Right?
And then it says here in verse 14, Is anything too hard for the Lord?
At the time appointed I will return unto thee according to the time of life,
and Sarah shall have a son.
And look, this phrase at the beginning of verse 14,
you need to memorize this in your head.
When you go through difficult times or you lack faith,
you need to say in your head, Is anything too hard for the Lord?
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
I've said this phrase a lot of times in my life inside my head.
Sometimes I'll repeat it over and over and over again
if there's a situation I'm going through.
Is anything too hard for the Lord?
Verse 15, Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not, for she was afraid.
So picture this. Sarah is not there. She laughs within herself.
She can't be seen. And so here's what's taking place.
Sarah all of a sudden is coming out.
I didn't laugh. What are you talking about?
Now, the Lord knew that Sarah heard this,
but Abraham wouldn't have known because she's in the tent.
He doesn't know she's close enough to hear.
And she's like, I didn't laugh.
And then I love this. He says, And he said, Nay, but thou didst laugh.
He's like, Don't lie to me, Sarah. I know you laughed.
Here's what's interesting about this.
He says, Is anything too hard for the Lord?
You know that he just proved himself right there in these verses?
He just showed I'm all-knowing, omniscient, right?
He's omnipresent. He already knows where Sarah is.
He's showing nothing's too hard for me. And he proves it.
Sometimes you miss that focus, but he's saying,
Hey, I just showed you Sarah.
I knew you laughed. And she, of course, knew that she laughed.
He's like, I knew you laughed. Nothing's too hard for me.
You will have a child at the time appointed, as I said.
Go to Genesis 3.
And we'll close up here in Genesis 3.
And Genesis 3, verse 20.
And Adam called his wife's name Eve because she was the mother of all living.
Look, when you're thinking about Eve
and you're thinking about the defining characteristic about Eve
or the defining characteristic of being a woman,
you would say that desire to have a child.
And we didn't look at it for the sake of time
because Sarah actually does things that are sinful and wrong
to want to have a child when she tells her husband to go with Hagar.
And that's obviously wrong, but it does show that desire for a child that she has.
And what I would say is this, that regardless of what the world says
of the feminist, pro-LGBT world that we live in,
everybody knows this to be true whether they want to admit it or not.
Because a lot of people today will say they don't want to have a child.
I've never understood this because before I was married
I just wanted to get married and have a family.
But here's the thing about this, and especially more so as a woman than a guy.
But here's what's interesting about this.
The world will say, well, you know what?
You don't want to be tied down to having kids
and taking up all your time and your energy and effort.
It's like it's too much for me.
Well, then why is it that you will see that women will end up raising animals
as if they're their babies?
It's everywhere.
In 2024 it's like an epidemic of homes where they don't have kids,
but they have a lot of diapers.
Look, I'm not saying it's wrong to have a pet.
That's not my point.
What I'm saying is people are saying,
oh, I would never want to have a child and be tied down to it,
the money and the time and the effort,
and yet you're completely tied down to the animals you raise
and all your time and your effort and your energy.
Once again, I'm not saying it's wrong to have a pet,
but you know what that's showing?
It's showing that in the inside what they actually want is,
I want a child.
I want to admit the Bible is the Word of God,
so you want to do the exact opposite of the Bible to be rebellious.
But that shows that they actually have that desire to have a child.
Look, we live in a day where it's like people treat animals
like they're their little baby,
their little child that they're taking care of,
and that's like a whole sermon in and of itself
that I'm really tempted to get into, but it's already time.
But my point, when you're looking at being ladylike or feminine,
Sarah is certainly a great example of a woman.
She's not perfect, but nobody is perfect.
And if any of us were living during these times
and our life was written down for everybody to see,
we'd probably see a lot of mistakes.
But you look at Sarah, and she did defer to her husband.
Inside of her heart, she looked at her husband as Lord.
And let me just say this.
When you know what's right, you need to obey from your heart
that form of doctrine that's given you,
because you know what I'm saying is true,
but the thing is, if you don't decide inside your heart
that you want to do something,
it's only going to last for a couple weeks,
and it's going to fade out.
And it's easier said than done,
because it's hard to obey from the heart,
but you need to obey from the heart.
She deferred to her husband.
She had the desire to have a child.
And what do we say? Number two.
And she kept the home.
And when it comes to keeping the home,
that is far more than just cooking and cleaning.
That's an important part of our house at home.
And here's the thing about this.
Most husbands, because people say,
well, women, they have to follow their husbands
and listen to all their orders.
Let me explain something.
Most husbands don't really care about the stuff at the home,
like what kind of dishes or what kind of plants or whatever.
As long as our walls are not painted pink,
I don't care what color they are.
They don't care what kind of, you know, whatever.
Guys don't really care.
Just for dinner, I'm fine with it.
Right?
It's like, if you work in the secular field,
you have a lot more rules than if you're at home
raising your family.
Women have a lot more freedom
than they do in the secular world.
Right? They're their own boss.
Like 99% of the time at home is they're raising the kids
and making the decision.
A lot more freedom.
And if you think about this logically,
there's no denial.
What you need to do is put off all the garbage news
that you hear that's lying to you
and realize the Bible's correct, the Bible's perfect,
and this is what's going to make your life happen.
Let's go to a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be here today.
And I ask you to help all the ladies in this room
to strive to be like a woman like Sarah,
be a godly person, strive to do right
and be a feminine lady like God.
And I ask you to help also all the men in this room
to fulfill their roles as well, God.
We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.