(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen. We're in Proverbs chapter 31 and part 2. It's from verse 10. It's a virtuous woman, the one all you men have been looking forward to for the last year and a half or since we started this. It's time to set some standards. OK, but I'm kidding. I'm kidding. But last week we did verses 1 to 9, which was the words of King Lemuel, the prophecy which his mother taught him, if you remember. There were some important warnings about potential stumbling blocks as well as what should be a king's priority in life. And it seems that his mother or perhaps Lemuel then after this had a lot to say about the virtuous woman. And like all scripture, OK, just to remind you, it's given by inspiration of God. So ultimately God has a bit to say about the virtuous woman here, doesn't he? Verse 10 says this. Who can find a virtuous woman for her price is far above rubies. I'd like to pray. Father, thank you, Lord, for the Book of Proverbs. Thank you for our study, our series on the Book of Proverbs, Lord. Thank you for, you know, everything that we've learned over the last, you know, well, 31 chapters of Proverbs. Help me to preach this final part accurately, clearly boldly in a way that people want to respond to it, Lord, to preach it in the right way, full of your spirit. In Jesus' name, probably this. Amen. OK, so he said, who can find a virtuous woman for her price is far above rubies. So keep a finger here and turn to Ruth chapter three. So the Book of Ruth and chapter three. Ruth three, you're going to turn to in between Judges and First Samuel, Ruth three. What does it mean to be virtuous? So what does it actually mean? Now, the first time we see the word is in Ruth three, that's why you're turning there, where Boaz is speaking to Ruth, the Moabites. So in the Book of Ruth, Ruth chapter three, we did do a study on Ruth a couple of years back now. Boaz is speaking to Ruth, which the book is ultimately about. She's a Moabites. So she's from Moab. And he said this in verse 10, it says, and he said, blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter, for thou has showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning. And as much as thou followest not young men, whether poor or rich, and now my daughter, fear not, I will do to thee all that thou requirest, for all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. Now, I want to remind you about Ruth at this point in time. Ruth was a widow. She had no children. She wasn't making clothing. She wasn't trading, et cetera. So therefore, how did all the city of Boaz people know that she was virtuous? What were they referring to? Well, verse 10 said that she had shown kindness. He said, blessed be thou of the Lord, my daughter, for thou has showed more kindness in the latter end than at the beginning. She had showed kindness. She hadn't followed after young men, he said, as much as thou followest not young men, whether rich or poor. So basically, she'd not tried enticing just some man to support her, because ultimately she was a widow. She could have done with just getting a husband fairly quickly. I mean, in that day and age, it was get a husband and she wouldn't have had to graft, work the fields instead. And then she could have really, she would have probably had to forget about her mother-in-law, Naomi. However, she didn't do that. Instead, she worked hard to provide for her late husband's mother. So instead of just going, I'll just get a man who, you know, is happy to marry me and I'll be provided for, I'm like, no, instead she said, I'm going to go and graft instead and provide for my mother-in-law who has nothing. She did that by working the fields, this woman. Okay, chapter two, verse 11, chapter two, 11 in Ruth said, and Boaz answered and said unto her, it has fully been showed me all that thou has done unto thy mother-in-law since the death of thine husband, and how thou has left thy father and thy mother, and the land of thy nativity, and art come unto a people which thou knewest not heretofore. Remember, she was from Moab, right? The Lord recompense thy work and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. So she's trusting in the Lord and she's come to look after her mother-in-law by working hard to provide for her. She's loyal. She hasn't gone after young men instead. She's kind. She's fulfilling what she promised to know. I mean, she's got some morals, right? That's what it's talking about here, okay? Webster's 1828 dictionary says of the word virtuous, and with all of that in mind, obviously, we go to scripture first. Does it match up? Well, I think point, so definitions one and three, morally good, acting in conformity to the moral law, practicing the moral duties and abstaining from vice as a virtuous man, for example, and definition number three, chaste applied to women. So morals, abstaining from vice were moral things. We would say practicing moral duties, so not lazy about doing the right thing, doing the dutiful thing, the right thing morally. Chaste or we would say sexually pure, but also in behavior, so not acting like a harlot. So it's like, oh, well, well, they're a virgin but they act like a harlot. Or they're a married woman but they're just constantly trying to use their sexuality to, you know, get what they want from people. No, she doesn't act like that. She's a chaste woman, right? Keep a finger here and go back to Proverbs 31. Proverbs 31 and verse 10 said, who can find a virtuous woman for her price is far above rubies? However, look at verse 29, which says, many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excelest them all. So many have done virtuous things, okay? But this is someone, as opposed to someone who's done virtuous things, this is someone who is described as a virtuous woman. So all that to say, with that in mind, okay, that the list we're going to see are all good things to do that show the attributes of a virtuous woman, but being virtuous isn't a tick box exercise, okay, of how many things you can do on the side of whatever it is in life. It's not like, right, can I tick all these things off? Many people have done virtuously. Many people can tick boxes and do these things, but being virtuous isn't doing those things necessarily. Ruth was doing little of those things. When Boaz said in Ruth 3.11, back where you were in Ruth, and verse 11, all the city of my people doth know that thou art a virtuous woman. So what was it, because she wasn't ticking those boxes, what was it? It was her loyalty. It was her work ethic. It was her desire to do the right thing. It was her giving nature. It was her kindness. It was her trusting in God. All things that we're going to then see, just bear that in mind, we're going to see that as we go into the following verses of Proverbs 31. Just to remind you, loyalty, work ethic, desire to do the right thing, for all you men that have memorized Proverbs 31, you know what I'm talking about, right? That's what it's talking about. Her giving nature, her kindness, her trust in God, they're all things in Proverbs 31. So my point is this, yeah, with all that in mind, my point is this, you can be a virtuous woman, yet be unmarried. So you could be a virtuous woman and unmarried. Ruth was. Ruth was a virtuous woman and she wasn't married, she was a widow. You can be a virtuous woman without children. Ruth was a virtuous woman, described as a virtuous woman, she had no children at that point. You can be a virtuous woman without a home business. Ruth had no home business at this point. Ruth didn't have a bit on the side, she wasn't trying to, you know, make money on the side for anyone. Ruth was a virtuous woman. You can be a virtuous woman without planting crops. Okay, so for those maybe women out there that maybe aren't so green-fingered, or maybe don't have the wherewithal, the ability, the time and effort to plant crops, you can still be a virtuous woman. Ruth wasn't planting anything. But can you be a virtuous woman without faith in the Lord? No. Boaz said of Ruth in verse 12, the Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. And in verse 30 of Proverbs 31 it said, favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. So it's trusting the Lord, it's fearing Him. Which, if you think about it, would include, for example, 1 Corinthians 4.2, you don't have to turn there, which says moreover, it is required in stewards, and by the way, we're all stewards of the mysteries of God, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. So someone who's trusting in the Lord, someone that's fearing the Lord, would hopefully give some, not just pay lip service, would actually give attention to verses like that and be trying in the utmost to be faithful, to be loyal. Faithful to their husband, for example. Faithful to their children, faithful to the Lord. Hopefully someone fearing the Lord would fear commanders like Romans 12 and 11, which says not slothful in business. Fervent in spirit serving the Lord, and that's in everything that we do. So ladies out there, and this is going to be, you know, we're going to be looking at ladies today, ladies out there, you know, when you're doing chores at home, when you're doing work at home, when you're, whatever you're doing in life, whether you have a job, whether all that stuff you're doing it, ultimately serving the Lord, and you should not be slothful in business. Same as us men, we shouldn't be slothful in business, we should be putting our utmost into whatever we do. It would include things like verse 9 of Romans 12 as well, where it's, where Paul said this, let love be without dissimulation, abhor that which is evil, cleave to that which is good. So again, you're fearing the Lord, you're, you're, you're coming to trust under whose wings I'll come to trust, talking about the Lord, you should be cleaving to that which is good, and you should be following the instruction of Colossians 3.12, which is put on there for as the Elect of God, holy and beloved, bows of mercies, kindness, humbleness of my meekness, longsuffering. So again, another command, isn't it? And we're going to be memorising those verses, we are doing that in our six-week Bible memory challenge, but bows of mercies, kindness, again, that's, ultimately that's commands of God. So depending on life circumstances, stages in life, all of that would manifest in different outward signs. So again, just to make it clear, because people can read through Proverbs 31 and go, right, I need to look like, I need to be this virtuous woman, so I need to tick off all these things. Yeah, but these things are just outward manifestations of someone in this period of time, in this particular situation in their life, that, that is showing that, that virtuous woman, but for someone else in a different situation, different period of time, it might not manifest like this, because it's ultimately what's coming out of the inside, right? So here in Proverbs 31, what it is though, it's a married woman, with children, in a majority farming and agriculture society, with what seemingly moderate wealth too? Okay, just to make that clear, you might not be all those things. Oh man, I'm not going to be virtuous until I can buy, buy a field and plant on it. You don't, till I can have my own home business. Well, you might not be in a position to have that right now. You know, just, I'm never going to be a virtuous woman until I'm married. You can be a virtuous woman and unmarried. Okay, that's my point. Okay, so whatever the circumstances though, a virtuous woman is basically priceless. Verse 10, back in Proverbs 31 said, who can find a virtuous woman for her price is far above rubies. Far above rubies. Now rubies being of great worth, okay, these are expensive stones, jewels, light diamonds, basically her price is far above them. Basically she's priceless. So with that in mind, that sounds like this is some good stuff to aim towards, right, women, okay? So let's see some of her attributes in more detail. Verse 11 said this, the heart of her husband does safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. So basically she's loyal, she's faithful. So first off, okay, he's not worrying that she's considering other men to start with. Not worried at all, should never, it should never be a thought in his mind, well, could she be considering other men? Not at all, we'd never give that sign, we'd never ever have that thought, okay, for starters. But he's also not worrying that she might leave him at any moment for any other reason. So his heart can trust her, he's not thinking, well, I better, you know, what's going to happen if we, if I don't, you know, do this or I don't please her in this way, she's just going to leave me. He's not worrying about that. She's not threatening divorce every time she gets angry. And God forbid that any of the women in this church should be threatening divorce when they get angry with their husband. That ain't, that ain't an option, okay? Okay, get that out of your heads. He can trust her to not be threatening that, to not thinking, well, one day she might divorce me. He can also trust her to not be airing their dirty laundry in public. Now, don't get me wrong, there could be a time and a place for counsel, but there are people that, they just want to tell everyone and anyone about their spouse, about their failings of their spouse and everything else, but he can put his trust in her. He can have trust in her. She's not talking about him to all and sundry. She's not just going around telling everyone, you know, her version of events for this and that. She doesn't do all of that stuff. So it's not just that he trusts her, but he safely trusts her. So basically it's for good reason. So it's not, look, you can trust a woman and you can, you know, that could be a folly, you know, that could be a foolish thing to do, but here he safely trusts her. He's trusting her and it's for good reason, okay? There's a reason to trust her because she is trust whether she's faithful. He said, the heart of her husband does safely trust her so he shall have no need of spoil. So no need of spoil is, I believe, talking about extra treasures, riches. So you think of the spoils of war. So I think that perhaps you could add to this that he can trust, he can also trust her not to waste his money. He has no need of spoil. He doesn't need to like, I'm going to have to get some more money in because my wife just spends all my money. My wife just, you know, as soon as it comes in, she's got something else to spend it on. He can trust her. He doesn't need the spoil. He doesn't need the extra. They can live off of their budget. They can live off what he earns. He could trust her to have respect for his hard work and effort. Because there are women out there when it's like, they're just like, I need more money because I need to spend on me. And there's a lot of women out there, right, like that. He could trust her not to do that. He could trust her to respect the fact that he's gone out and grafted for that, to not be frivolous with his money. Well, the more, oh, he's earning all right. I'll just go and buy this and buy that and just be like, what's she buying now? What's she spent on now? Where's all the money gone? Oh, she bought another dress, another pair of shoes. Some women like a lot of pairs of shoes, right. She hasn't just bought a load more sandals. Oh, she's got the special sand repellent sandals now. It's like, no, he could trust in her. He can trust her to have respect for it. She will do him good and not evil, it said in verse 12, all the days of her life. So she will do him good and not evil, not just when they're getting on, not just until she's offended, feels hurt, not just if he makes her feel loved. It didn't say any of that, did it? Not just all the days of his life, then she's free from obligation and she could just talk badly of him and tell everyone about what a terrible marriage she had, but luckily he's dead now, you know. No, it's all the days of her life. She's just going to be respectful to that man. She's going to do him good and not evil all the days of her life. And aside from pleasing God, serving him, trusting his commands, aside from all of that, wouldn't it be nice also to be a crown to your husband, the man that you vowed to love? Proverbs 12, 4 says a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband, but she that maketh ashamed is a rottenness in his bones. So with that in mind, that a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband, aside from pleasing God, doing all those things he wants you to do, isn't that another incentive, ladies, to not shut your ears? If you're already feeling a bit put off by this first bit, you're like, oh, this is tough, you know. I enjoyed last week when he was saying everyone's got one of their mums. What's going on? Well, you know, you could be a crown to your husband rather than being rottenness in his bones. Isn't it a good thing to listen to this and I'm going to respond to this preaching today. I'm going to listen to what the word of God says, how I should be aiming for the goals, what sort of woman God wants me to be, to try to be like, yeah, well, everyone falls short, right? But can you can you listen and think, yeah, I'm going to try and improve or are you going to listen to this now and just sing? Already ears are shutting. Sounds a bit like heart preaching to me. Verse 13, he said she seeketh wool and flax and worketh willingly with her hands. So this woman is making clothing and that is a great thing to be able to do, isn't it? You can make clothing. It's a great skill to be able to have. It's great to be able to make things, to be able to make clothes that could be a useful thing to be able to do, especially nowadays is just, I mean, where do you even shop for clothing nowadays? You know, it's like so much clothing is just just basically the the shop might as well just like be called like Harlots store, you know, and just say, you know, like have mannequins of just like whores, you know, and just like come on in because, you know, we can help you look like a whore. It's hard, right? It's probably good to be able to make some stuff, right? Especially for your daughters as well, maybe for your sons as well, if you don't want them to look like queers or something as well, right? It's probably a good thing to be able to make some clothes. But aside from that, yeah, it's hard, but it is still possible to get clothing, right? Remember that this is in a time and society when the Chinese sweatshops just weren't thriving. You know, they tried to get them to take off. It just wasn't happening. OK, it was a longboat journey, right? So Chinese sweatshops weren't, you know, weren't thriving. They weren't able to get the cheap clothes. So it would have been even more important to make your own, wouldn't it? But also when to get most jobs out there. OK, so just just remind you this. Making clothing is good, but making clothing is time consuming. Now, if you have the time, the ability to do that, great. But just to remind you that that this was a time when to get most jobs out there, her children didn't need five GCSEs, A to C, or the equivalent just for starters. OK, just a reminder. Training, if you are going to, and this is obviously I'm talking to mums that maybe probably want to homeschool, right? If they have the ability to, if it's a possibility, getting your kids five GCSEs, A to C, and depends what you start with. You might have a bit of a dunce kid. You might need to put a bit more effort in, right? OK, that it takes time, takes effort. That wasn't the situation back then. I'm not saying they're uneducated, but I don't believe that most kids in these farming communities were spending several hours a day from five upwards learning the sciences, etc. I might be wrong. Maybe I've got this completely wrong. I don't think they were. And I'll tell you why. Because they were generally being trained in those things. And they were able to do that hands-on and be a help to the family business and stuff like that whilst learning those things, rather than sitting there in books and nowadays maybe on laptops and everything else learning and learning and learning and learning. And if a mum's teaching her kids, can she also run a side business effectively nowadays in our society? Well, thank God we've got Chinese sweatshops. Because if you had to make all your clothes for scratch, that's going to be hard to be able to do, isn't it? Whilst also training your kids up. So just something to bear in mind here. Again, we're in a different time, different thing. You go, well, well, then maybe we just need to teach our kids how to plough the ground instead, right? Get biblical. Let's get biblical. Kids should be farmers, right? Well, there is a problem as well. There's a law in our land that if you're home educating, you need to give them an appropriate education for their age and ability, according to what our government considers an appropriate education. Is that going against the law of God? No. So is that something we should be following? Yes. We should be giving our kids a proper education according to what is the modern standards of that. So that does make it hard to then start doing a load of side businesses. Now, some people might do that, but the problem is, is it going to then take away from the kids? Now are the kids being left to it the whole time? And again, look, there are different curriculums. Some people choose curriculums where it's kind of more like it's kind of online school. And again, that's your choice to do. And if you do that, maybe you will have the ability now to help out. Maybe that works for you. Maybe it's like, okay, well, I think for us it's going to work. Maybe it doesn't suit me to be sitting down and actually literally teaching the kids out of the book. I'd be better to maybe put them online and be taught by whoever it is, a tutor or on a curriculum where it's kind of taught online. That might work for you. Now maybe you can do the side job and maybe you can help with the income, but it's individual, right? You don't look at this and just go, right, if I'm married and I've got kids, I've got to have some sort of home business. I've got to make clothes. You know, if I don't do that, I couldn't be the Virtuous Woman. No, because it's horses for courses, right? Just make that clear. Okay, so however, it is great if you can also fit in the home dressmaking business, but it's not if it detracts from your kid's education. Yeah. So what do we take from verse 13? Well, there are two key words. Verse 13 says, she seeketh wool and flax and worketh willingly with her hands. So she's putting effort in and not begrudgingly, is she? Notice that? That's the key point here. She's not looking for the easy life. She's not like, well, you know, I can't be bothered with all this. And she's not moaning and complaining about working hard. So something, again, a goal. Look, if you fall short of this, women, you know, then it's something to work towards. The Virtuous Woman seeks the wool and flax. She seeks, ultimately, she's seeking the things that are needed and then she's working willingly with her hands. So whether it's a job, a side job, it's making the home, raising and teaching kids, she seeks the work and it's willing. It's done willingly. It's not done begrudgingly because if only she could be like the Stepford wives, you know, and just drive the Chelsea tractor to the gym and, you know, and then drive back home again, you know. And why do I have to put the graft in? No, she wants to do it. She wants to work. She wants to put effort into life. She is like the merchant ships that she brings her food from afar. So like I said, she puts effort in, she goes the extra mile for the better ingredients. She doesn't just throw the MSG-coated ready meal in because it's easy. It's not like, look, I'm going to Iceland and getting the quickest, easiest thing I could possibly get because that makes my life easier. Now again, look, there are times and there are, you know, situations of days where sometimes it needs to be a quick or easy meal. I'm not saying you've got to write, women, you ain't virtuous if you don't spend three hours on every meal. But this woman is going, she's bringing her food from afar because she's trying to get the best stuff, the best ingredients, the healthy stuff. She's putting effort into food, yeah. Verse 15, she riseth also while it is yet night and giveth meat to her household and a portion to her maidens. So she's getting up extra early to start her day providing for others. This is a point here. She gets up early to provide for those in her household. It looks like even for those that she employs. It says in a portion to her maidens. So perhaps those that she's not obligated to. Does she have to give a portion to her maidens? I don't think so. So I think the point here is that she just has a giving nature. She gets up early, she provides food and she's like, well, the maidens are coming. And you're going, well, why don't I have maidens? Well, you know, I have maidens, right? But in this situation she does. But what is she doing? She's giving to her maidens. She's giving to the kids. She's giving to the household. She's giving to her husband. She's giving to her maidens. She's just got a giving nature. She's got her head around the fact that she, one of her roles in life is to provide for others. And that's something that, you know, sometimes, you know, having grown up women in a world here where it's all like me, me, me, self, self, self, and everything else, it can be hard to get your head around. But you've got to get your head around it otherwise you'd just be unhappy. You've got to enjoy and get pleasure and get fulfilled by providing for your family, providing for your household, even providing for those that you're not obliged to do so. You know, giving to people, if you get the right head with it, it'd be quite enjoyable, can't it? You'd be fulfilling. You'd feel good about it. So she riseeth also while it is yet night. So she gets up early, early. Now, again, you go, the problem is I've got a newborn or I've got a however many months old who's not sleeping and I'm getting like a couple of hours sleep. And so, again, it's horses for courses. This woman at this, she's able to do this, right? She's able to get up early while it is yet night. She's able to do all these things. It might be, because what happens is sometimes men can look at this and go, that's what you should be doing. It doesn't matter that I've managed, I'm not doing the 72 hour farming week. I'm actually doing a 38 hour week of which 25 hours of it is at home. I'm off down the gym, love, and I'm off to do, you know, whatever else. Well, you deal with the kids in the morning because that's my gym time. Yeah. Get on with it. And it's like, you're failing because you're not doing what Provo 31 does. Yeah, but you know what? I see most men working 72 hours a week in the Bible. You know, so again, it's horses for courses. If that works, it works, right? But you need to make it work for your whole family as well. But who should the decision come down to finally in the end is a man, right? But I mean, you need to think about your wives as well, right? Gently lead them and not just go, right, Provo 31, let's go. But are you being a virtuous man, right? But here, this is what this woman's doing. This is a good outward sign of her giving nature of her hard working nature. She's getting up early. She's giving meat to her household, a portrait to her neighbors, to her maidens. She considerth a field and buyeth it. With the fruit of her hands, she planteth a vineyard. So she's industrious. She's thinking of ways to be successful, but also she's willing to work. She doesn't see manual workers beneath her, does she? So she's not thinking, well, what about my nails? She's not thinking, well, I shouldn't have to do this sort of thing because look how pretty I am. You know, men should just do, pay for me, take me here, take me there, pay for everything. I shouldn't have to lift a finger. No, she's considering a field. She's industrious. She's buying it. She's with the fruit of her hands. She's planting a vineyard. She's grafting, right? Nowadays perhaps, so again, how can we apply that now if you don't have that money or you don't have that ability or whatever else? Nowadays she's thinking about ways to make her husband's work life easier. Be it maybe a side job. Maybe she's thinking, I'm going to get a side job and help him because it's hard for him to provide for us. Or maybe it's ways of cutting costs in the home. Maybe that's what she can put some time and effort into. But also with that, she's buying the field. She's planting the field. Maybe she's also thinking of the future of her family, of her kids. You know, maybe she's thinking and planning and putting time and effort into what sort of vocations they can go into. What sort of courses they might be able to do when they're older. Not just be like so many people in this world where it's like, oh well the kids just go to school and they can just get a job. Well, you know what? It'd probably be more successful if their parents who know them best know what their skills are, especially if her mum's teaching them. She's going to know what they're good at, what they're not, what might suit them, what might be a good thing for them. Not just, well I like this and the world's your oyster son, you go and do it. And then sort of five years later they've got like tens of thousands of pounds of debt from university and they still don't have a job. Or they've just been, you know, knocking about in a dead end job that they could never have gone anywhere in because their parents who knew them best didn't think about it, put time and effort into that and consider that, consider that future job, consider what they could get from it and actually put effort into it and help them to get that job, right? Verse 17 says, she girdeth her loins with strength and strengtheneth her arms. So she's not just some fragile doll, is she? She's a hard worker, so she's strong. She's strong because she's grafting. She's not just like, oh well I'm just too weak to do anything. Well how on earth is, and again this is talking about her mum, this is talking about her mum, kids, working, grafting. And it's not because she's staring in the mirror all day. Obviously verse 19 shows, we'll just quickly jump there, we'll go back again, why she's strong, because she leith her hands to the spindle and her hands hold the distal. These are like thread spinning things. It's heavy work, it's hard graft. She's got some strength. Well that doesn't sound too good to me. Well nowadays they're all spending £1000 an hour each week trying to get strength in certain areas, right? Squatting and everything else and doing all these weights and everything else. But that's not why she's strong. She's not strong because she wants to look good. For sure she's strong because she works hard. And that's a real strength as well by the way. Because half them women in the gyms who are like, you know, in their stupid outfits doing stupid exercises trying to look good, they still ain't going to be able to do even half a day's manual work or something like this woman here, right? Unless the manual work is literally doing like strange things, you know, strange exercises, which usually isn't the case. But this woman's got strength. She perceiveth in verse 18 that a merchandise is good. Her candle goeth not out by night. So she's happy to work into the night time too. So it's not, and again, sometimes a mum needs this, right? But it's not just a case of, kids are in bed, me time. And some people find it hard to get away from that. It's like, kids go to bed, now it's my time, I'm not doing anything else. Well, her candle goeth not out by night. She keeps grafting, she keeps working. And like I said, it's not that those things are always bad, but she has the right attitude. What she's saying here, she perceiveth that a merchandise is good. She knows that her work makes a difference. She knows that it's going to make a difference. What she does, and whether that's preparing for homeschool the next day for maybe a mum of kids, or whether that's, you know, putting time and effort into the things of God. Maybe she's reading her Bible, maybe she's going out and going and doing the shopping, or maybe she's helping her husband with some counsel, talking to him about his job and issues and problems he's got, whatever it is, she knows that, yeah, it's effective, my time. Time is, look, we just don't have enough time, do we? Many here just, like, it's hard, you just think, I need more time, I need more hours in the day. She perceiveth that a merchandise is good. Her candles goeth not out by night because she knows that her time is precious and she can do, she can do fulfilling things that she can do, things which make a difference. Verse 19, she layeth her hands to spindle and her hands hold the disc stuff. So these are things used for spinning thread, like I said, flax and things. So she's hands on making things. She's not, like I said, she's not sitting around thinking she's too pretty to lift a finger. And, you know, with this as well, we can read this as, you can read this ultimately as women and read this and think, OK, these are some good goals and everything else. But you know what? You can read this as a man as well and think that, like, this is the sort of woman, ideally, and someone who can tick at least some of these boxes again. It doesn't have to be, like I said, it doesn't have to be that she's doing these particular things, but these qualities in her is what you want to be marrying, don't you? Young men, you know, lads growing up here, single men out there. What you don't want to be marrying is some lazy good for nothing that thinks that she's too pretty to do any hard work. Marrying someone that thinks that she's God's gift to men, like, you're going to have an unhappy marriage because that ain't going to last, you know, that the lure of the beauty will soon wear off. And if she doesn't have anything else, it's going to be it's going to be a rough time for you. So she doesn't think that she lays her hands to the spindle, her hands hold the disc stuff. She spend a thousand in the mirror and at the local beauty parlors. She injecteth weird stuff in her face to look like she keepeth bees. She doesn't do any of that, does she? She doesn't. She's not just obsessed with how she looks now. We're going to see in a minute, she does take, she does have some self-respect though. Okay, she's not like, I'm going to look like an old bag lady because that makes me look more holy. Okay. But she's not just like injecting stuff and staring in the mirror for hours and hours and hours, which sadly is half of the women out there. It's crazy. And then the funny thing is that they think, because here's the reality again, if you've injected stuff in, you look sorry. Okay. I'm going to say anyway, if you've got loved ones that do, hopefully they can sort themselves out. But that is like, it's basically like an advertisement. Someone who's doing all that stuff, filler, botox, eye lift, whatever, whatever the stuff's called, all that different stuff. Yeah. That, and again, no offence. Okay. But I don't care. That's basically like a good sign going, don't marry me. Yeah. Don't marry me because I am vain because I care more about that stuff than all the other things in life. Let's be honest, that becomes an idol in their life. And they look so stupid. It's ridiculous. I had a family member say to me recently, and they were just like, I'm all the people, all the people she knows, all the women she knows are all injecting and doing all this stuff that I'm the only one. And I think she was kind of maybe lining me up. And this isn't anyone you know, okay. This is like a family member. I think she's potentially lining me up to say I might have to do it. I was just going, good. Be different. Don't have to be like the rest of them. But then it becomes this pressure where then they're feeling insecure around others because everyone else is doing. But the thing is they just look like idiots. It is right. Well, she doesn't do all that. She's grafting. She's laying her hands to spindle. Her hands hold the distaff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor, not to the beautician. Yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. So she's got a heart for others. She's prepared to help those in need. She's not so self-centered that she can't do anything for anyone else. And sadly, there are women out there like that, right? She's not like that, though. She finds ways of helping other people. She finds ways. She stretch out her hand to the poor. She reacheth forth her hands to the needy. No, she doesn't go and fund crackheads, just in case you get confused. People get confused by this, you know, mainstream Christianity. Let's just give money to crackheads. No, that's not what she's doing. She helps the legitimately poor and needy. People that are needy, not needy of crack, okay? That's modern Christianity, isn't it? You know what, forget this service, guys. This has opened up the doors to get some food in here and get the crackheads in. And then we can tell everyone and put it on Facebook and look really holy. It's ridiculous. Verse 21 says, she is not afraid of the snow for all her household clothed with scarlet, which was either due to it being higher quality or perhaps a bright, I was thinking about this as well, maybe the bright color preventing them, you know, being lost in the snow type thing. I'm not saying they're all off hiking up mountains, but just in general, maybe that's a handy thing to have when everything's kind of in blankets. This is before sort of snow plows going out and everything else. Remember, they're working fields as well. And even in the winter, maybe if they're having to prepare and stuff, but I don't know. But the point is that she looks after a household. She makes sure they're dressed appropriately, okay? So again, a good thing to think, look, you'd be surprised, right? Sometimes you see a mum with a kid out there or something and the kid's like, you know, shivering as they walk down the street, you know, like next to nothing on and like the mum's in like a big nice woolen and hats and scarlets and the kids are like shivering and blue and like, that's not a good example, is it, right? That's not how they should be. They should be thinking of others, thinking about their children, that they are their responsibility. So she's not afraid of snow for a household, for all her household of clothing with scarlet. She looks after them. She dresses them appropriately. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry. Her clothing is silker purple. And that's what I wanted to point you to when I mentioned earlier. No, she's not injecting stuff and some vein just, you know, it's all about how she looks, how she looks, how she looks, whatever the latest fashion is, whatever is meant to be apparently attractive according to 2025 now. She's grafting, she's providing, she's caring for others, but she still makes an effort with her appearance. Yeah, notice that? She's still a woman at the end of the day. Just pointing that out because I know sometimes like maybe people can think, oh, well, if she's holy, she wouldn't even care how she looks. She's a woman, of course she cares. But she doesn't. So point being, she's not like walking around in a nightie. Just ah, who cares? Whatever, right? I'm going to go to bed soon or just, you know, go and like, you know, pop down the shops in, I mean, nowadays like their pyjamas, isn't it? You know, it's like the Asda mum in her pyjamas. No, but due to her industriousness, she's able to wear nice clothing, but it's not nice because of a name on it. So again, so she's not like, right, you know, the modern, the more modern scam of somehow you're apparently, you know, you look like you've got money because you're advertising someone's brand. Still, it always tickles me, you know, it's like big blazin' like, they should be paying you, you idiot. Well, maybe not some of these people. It's bad advertisement. But a lot of the time it's like, I'm just going to promote someone's brand. It's like, what are you doing? No one thinks you're cool because you've got a big brand name on you. You know, you're just advertising and paying for it, right? That's not what she's doing. But what she's doing is she's able to wear nice clothing. It's good quality. OK, silk and purple were signs of wealth of quality. OK, tapestry is woven wool and silk. So ultimately, tapestry is to look nice. OK, she still wants to look nice. She still wants to, you know, look respectable, to look attractive, to make an effort with her presence. She wants to present herself in a nice way. But it's in the right way. This silk and purple is like signs of good quality stuff. Silk feels nice. It's not, oh, well, well, it's just got like the right, it's got the right little logo on it so we shove like double money or triple money on it. No, it's because it's good quality. It's nice stuff. So like I said, it's not that she's just, you know, well, let's just put the bin liner on. No, she wants to look nice. But it's, again, it's not something that's just her sole focus in life. She's she's grafted, she's industrious. Verse 23 says her husband is known in the gates when he sitteth among the elders of the land. Now, the gates being the place where people meet, the entrance and exit to the city, OK, the elders being the leaders, obviously. Why is her husband counted among them? So why is he seemingly highly regarded? And I'll tell you one reason, because a married couple are a team. OK, we're a team with a you know, if you're married, you're a team with your wife, wives, you're a team with your husband. He's able to succeed in life with his wife being that help that's meet or suitable for him. You know, he's able to get to these. Do you know what? It's hard for him to succeed if his wife is some lazy slob spending all his money. It's hard for him to succeed in life. Now, it's not that she's a reason necessarily. She's a salt right. Right, men, if you haven't succeeded, it's all your wife's fault. No. OK, but what happens if he has got some lazy slob of a wife? He's got to spend less time and effort in work because he's doing all the jobs that she should be doing. Something he's got to give, isn't it? He's unable to maybe focus on, you know, put more focus on his career because his wife isn't picking up the slack at home. But that's not the case for this guy here, because he's got a wife that cares, that has respect. His heart can trust in her. Remember, we saw at the beginning she's not just lavishly spending all his money. He has no need of spoil. So he's happy, supported. He's able to succeed. There's an old saying, behind every successful man there is a woman. You ever heard that before? And maybe it's not entirely true, but I think there's some truth to it, isn't there? And for men to be a success in life, that's why, remember, the woman is in help meet for her husband, meet for the man. She was made to be able to help him, to support him, to help him with these things, to help him with his life. And if he has this virtuous woman or someone close to that, he's more able to succeed to be known in the gates when he sitteth among the elders of the land. So basically, he's got that position of leadership of an elder. She maketh fine linen and selleth it and delivereth girdles unto the merchants. So another example of her being hands-on, helping her husband and other applications. So aside from side jobs, can be maybe a wife willing to listen to and counsel her husband with his work problems, maybe. Maybe she's able to do that. Maybe, look, making the clothes isn't really going to make much difference because the cheap Chinese sweatshop stuff is just a click away. So instead, maybe she's helping him with his work problems. Maybe a wife helping her husband with his job, be it self-employed or not. They can help, can't they? A wife can maybe help him with decisions, help him with other things, help him in his self-employed job. There's many jobs that can be done to help, to support, with your own business, obviously, as well. Or maybe if needed, a wife selling things that aren't needed anymore in the home can be helpful, can't it? For men that are busy, that are working, that don't have the time for that sort of thing. Maybe she's able, if she does have, again, if she has the time and effort, maybe she's able to do things like that to just help out a little bit, to just make things a bit easier. So different ways that she can help with the income into the home here. She's making fine linen, she's selling it, she's delivering girdles unto the merchant. Verse 25, strength and honour are her clothing and she shall rejoice in time to come. So she's strong, but you would add mentally, don't you think, spiritually strong? They're her clothing, so she's clothed in her, or her honour is apparent to others. And we would maybe say her dignity, her distinction, that people recognise her as honourable. And sadly for most women out there in this nation, that's pretty rare, isn't it? She shall rejoice. And he said in time to come. And you know why in time to come? Because sometimes there are harder times in life. We looked at that earlier. You build your house upon the rock, it takes some time and effort, doesn't it? It's not always easy. I don't expect every mum out there, every woman in our church, especially mums with young children, and especially when they're starting to get into home education and stuff like that. It could be a graft, right? It could be hard. And you could be thinking I'm not getting much rejoicing right now. It's hard work. And not just, and obviously if it's hard work, if she's having hard work, then I'd imagine the husband will do too. Because you're a team, right? So if you're unable to take some of that pressure off for a vice versa, you're probably going through a hard time. And it can be hard. You know, life can be hard. And you might not be rejoicing, but you will in time to come. Because when you build it upon the rock, when the wind and the rain and the floods come and everything else, your house is going to stand. And eventually do get out what you put in. You know, you put time and effort into raising your kids, you put time and effort into your household, into your marriage, into your family, you're more likely to have good retirement years, aren't you? And not years where you're just spent bailing your kids out of the next bit of trouble, getting them out of prison or, you know, or visiting them in the grave because they've just, you know, messed up their lives or trying to, you know, fend them off while they're asking for money to help their drug addiction or what. Look, honestly, that's the reality for a lot of parents out there. Still got the, you know, the sun in your basement or maybe you don't have a basement in the attic or in the spare room at 35, 40 years old. And it's like, a lot of this stuff can be a problem for people, can't it? Because of that. So, he said she shall rejoice in time to come. So yeah, look, you might have to put some graft in, you might have to put some effort in, but what you put into life you get out. Said she openeth her mouth with wisdom and in her tongue is a law of kindness. So none of this is any good if she is a complete fool. All right? Half of this wouldn't be the case if she's a complete fool. Where does the true wisdom come from? Well, Proverbs 2.6 says, for the Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. So for me, she reads the word, she learns the things of God, she's obviously saved to start with. Okay? And again, if you can find someone like that, that's what you want to find, don't you? If you're a saved man, you want someone that's not only saved, but at least that you feel you can lead to those things that does want to serve the Lord as well. Because they're two separate things, aren't they? But like I've said before, you know, if you can lead well and you think you've got someone that's able to be led, then it's not like she has to be a three to thrive, you know, soul winning church member for you to consider marrying her. But I think you want to hope that you can lead her to the things of God. You want to at least have someone that you feel like they show that they could be led to that. So she's opening her mouth with wisdom. So what wisdom is, okay? So obviously it comes from the word of God, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. But wisdom is applying that knowledge and understanding. That's what makes it wisdom. So it's not just knowing things. It's not just having a knowledge. It's being able to apply it to your life. And also it said, and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She's kind to others. But what's the kindness? Is the kindness by the world's standards? Is it because she just goes around and talks about how cute different animals are? Oh, she's just so kind because she puts animals above people. Is it she's just so kind because she kind of, you know, kneels down, you know, in front of someone with a camera and slowly gives money or something to a hobo while they take a picture of it. That's not the type of kindness. It's the kindness of God's word. It's the law of kindness. It's his ways, isn't it? Okay. It's kindness according to how God wants us to be kind. So let's not miss the obvious application here. Would there be kindness if she wasn't showing people the gospel? Would there be? Could you call her, could you say, in her tongue is a law of kindness? In her tongue is a law of kindness, yet she's got, doesn't care if people are going to end up in hell. I don't think that would be very kind. She's got the, she's a steward of the mysteries of God, the mysteries of the gospel, the truth of God's word that only needs to be explained to people. But she doesn't bother, doesn't care, but at least she's saved. I don't think that's what, I don't think that's what this virtuous woman is. She openeth her mouth with wisdom, and in her tongue is a law of kindness. And in fact, you could say, could she really be wise if she didn't? Because Proverbs 11 and 30 says, the fruit of the righteous is the tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise. Now, don't get me wrong, if she can, you know, she's learning to do that, and that could take a long time for some. So, you know, maybe she gets involved, maybe she does some silent partnering. I did mention to someone earlier that sometimes, you know, when I preach a sermon like earlier, and it's meant to be an encouragement, sometimes, you know, you forget to give the caveats that there are times in life, there are times with, you know, new babies or, you know, pregnancy, other things which can make that hard, right, for a time. But that's got to be the goal, hasn't it? That's got to be the end goal, the end result is preaching the gospel. Some people, it might take a time to get there, but maybe they can be half a pair, you know, soul-winning or something else. But if she's doing none of that, she's not showing others the free gift of eternal life, could you really say that in her tongue is a law of kindness? Okay, however, it's not all soul-winning and then everything else doesn't matter. Because as well as that, verse 27 says, she looketh well for the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. So she cares about the spiritual health of her own family too. So look, you could be out knocking doors, you could be out soul-winning marathons, you could be turning up to all the soul-winning times, but you're forgetting about the needs of your own household. She cares about her kids. She doesn't just leave them to it while she's looking spiritual. And I'm not thinking of anyone, I'm just, there are people that will do that, right? And be too busy trying to make themselves look spiritual, but the kids are lacking, the kids are being maybe neglected, the kids aren't, then, you know, going to go on to do the same. She looketh well to the ways of her household. But then it said, and she, and eateth not the bread of idleness. So that means that they're fed properly. She's not eating lazy food, okay? What would be the equivalent nowadays? Fast food, junk food, anything that's just kind of, you don't have to put any effort into it, the bread of idleness, or maybe you could even say she's not eating the results of idleness either because she's not idle. But either way, look, and again, you now and again have that odd fit, okay, it doesn't mean that you're now, you can never tick the virtuous box, but there are people where that is just their life, because they've allowed that fleshly desire for laziness to take over. But no, she's putting the time in, she's putting the effort into food, she's providing for her household. Verse 28, her children arise up and call her blessed, her husband also and he praises her. Isn't that a great goal for every mum out there, isn't it? And you go, well, I'm not a mum. Well, you know what, you could work on that eventually being the result of you trying to be virtuous now, that when you do have kids, if you do have kids, they'll rise up and call you blessed, to be called blessed by your kids, to be praised by your husband. Isn't that what mums want? Isn't that what so many women would like? It takes effort, requires effort. Oh, I'm just so pleased he praises me because I'm just so good looking. Oh, he's always telling me how pretty I am. Look, you know, husbands, you know, compliment your wife, but that didn't take any effort. Well, maybe a little bit, right? Maybe a couple of extra injections. A bit painful, I don't know. But really, you know, this is ultimately, this is the goal, isn't it? But it's not because of that, because if they're calling you blessed, if your husband's praising you, then I'd imagine if it's the right husband and the right children, it's because God is as well, right? Because you're doing things right by God, but it takes effort. It said in verse 29, many daughters have done virtually, but thou excel'st them all. Favour is deceitful and beauty is vain, but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. So that's where it all comes from. It's from fearing the Lord. So that's how a woman can achieve even some of this. OK, it's by fearing the Lord, it's by respecting the Lord, fearing him, fearing his judgment on you, fearing his chastisement, fearing his commands and trying to do them, legitimately caring about what he wants from you. We should all feel like that, right? But we're looking at, we're talking to women today, ultimately, we're looking at the virtuous women and you've got to care. You've got to care. And not care, it's not really care what my husband thinks, care what my friends and neighbours care, what the people down at church think. That's not what the virtuous woman is, it's someone that cares what God thinks. Legitimately caring, fearing him, which then should result in you actually trying to keep his commandments, if you legitimately fear God. Instead of fearing being unfavoured by the world, because that's sadly what a lot of women are out there, just fearing the world, fearing how they might fit in or not fit into the world, fearing being not beautiful enough by the world's standards. And them standards change all the time, right? I know, right? For those of us a bit, you know, going on to like the fourth decade, fifth decade or whatever, you probably think back to many different so-called, this is the picture of beauty. And it's like, give it another few years, decade, this is now the picture of beauty. Now it's a new body type. No, no, no, we've got a new one now. And we've got a new look now. And it's, it's just, you can't keep up. And it's all just a load of old nonsense. Don't fear that, fear the Lord. Fear the Lord. Get that beauty on the inside. The ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God at great price. He said in verse 30, favour is deceitful and beauty is vain. But a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. So you want real praise, you want praise from your kids, you want praise from your husband. Praise from the Lord one day, then fear him. Fear him. Care what he says. Read his word. Read his commandments. Care about his commandments. Get right with God. Stay right with God. Because the rest of it, look, that favour, it's deceitful. It's like, oh, I've got some favour from the world. How long is that going to last? That beauty is vain, it's emptiness. It's not like, is that really what you judge yourself by, your so-called beauty? And that's, you're going to change, you're going to look different as you age and as you change and as you have kids and everything else. Is that really what matters most to you? Because you know what, if that's what you're relying on, well, you're not going to be praised for that long. But a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. He then said, give her of the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise her in the gates. So I think it's saying that she'll get back what she puts in, that those in the gates or other people, you know, those that she, you know, those in her life which comes across, other people eventually see the result of her hard work. You say, look, she'll get the fruit of her hands, give her the fruit of her hands. You know, ultimately, her own works, all that hard work, all that time and effort and everything else, eventually, that will praise her in the end. There will be results of that. Having children that love you, that you're close to, that are well brought up, that are well raised, maybe having a husband that loves you, that cares about you, that you can grow old with without wondering, you know, is he going to leave me next week or vice versa, having a strong relationship, a strong marriage, a strong family, all of that stuff, let that praise you, right? Not all the favour and so-called beauty in the world and everything else. So give her the fruit of her hands, let her own works praise her in the gates. And that was The Virtuous Woman. And like I said, just to remind you again, that's The Virtuous Woman, this particular woman in this time, this period, this sort of, this stage of her life and everything else, but it's ultimately what's on the inside, isn't it? And like I mentioned earlier, it's being hard working, not being lazy, caring, kind, fearing the Lord ultimately is where it all comes from. And that's something that hopefully, you know, everyone here, the girls growing up here, the women here, something that they can all strive to be more like. And that was the end of the Book of Proverbs. So we finish on a great note there. That's one of my favourite chats. I've memorised many of those verses because they all stuck up in my house, you know, on the fridge and freezer and on the cooker. I'm kidding. But, you know, the Book of Proverbs, I don't know, I've really enjoyed going through that. I know it's taken a while. I know that it's been a long, I mean, whatever, right? Because you're going to be hearing something each week anyway. But you know what? I feel like I've learned so much going through the Book of Proverbs and studying out each of those verses. It's been a lot of work and I think probably you can see that. That was probably the easiest one out of the lot. But going through a lot of those Proverbs does take some time, does take some effort, preaching lots of mini-summons. But I hope it's been worth it for you all. And hopefully people have learned from that, grown from that. I have definitely, hopefully we've got wiser from that as a church. That was the goal. That's why I wanted to go through the Book of Proverbs so that we could all grow in wisdom as a church together, become, you know, that's what we need. We want to get that wisdom, right? With all our getting, we want to get that understanding. Hopefully we've achieved that to some degree, but don't forget it now. Hopefully, like I kept saying, I forgot today to say make notes, right? But hopefully you've made some notes over the course of this series and you can go back and look at those notes, go back, look at your Bibles, you know, and remind yourself some of those Proverbs, it takes a bit of comparison, a bit of time to work out what actually it's saying, you know, and hopefully that, you know, for me that's helped me a lot. I'm looking forward to annotating my Bible with all my notes with that and just having all of those very clear in my Bible for the future and, you know, you can, what some people do with the Book of Proverbs and it's a good thing to do, you can just go through them each month, go through, you know, a chapter each day, 31 Proverbs, usually 31 days in a month. You can do a double on one of the days if it's a 30 day month and just keep, remind yourself of the wisdom that God wants you to have. It's a good thing to do and now with them maybe understanding some of those a bit more, having some potential applications that I've kind of thought of as we've gone through, maybe that might help you a little bit more with that as well to be able to apply them more to your life. But that was the Book of Proverbs. We're going to be doing a new series. I've got a little bit of time actually because next week we've got the Lord's Supper and then toying with the idea of starting a new series on Easter Sunday evening, but I might just do a standalone sermon because then I think it's immense preaching like the next one. So, and then I think I've got, there might be a week before Pierre, there's a week before Pierre preaches. So, but yeah, I've got a bit of time to prayerfully consider what we're going to do next. But yeah, we'll be doing a new series. Might not be a book, might be a standalone series or some stuff. I've got a few ideas I'm going to think about, pray about what I want to do. But that was the end of that Sunday evening series on Proverbs. On that we're going to finish in a word of prayer. Thank you Lord for, well, the Book of Proverbs. Thank you for all the wisdom that you've taught us through that, through the Book of Proverbs over the last sort of well, 18 months or so since we started it with breaks in between. And Lord, we thank you for just all the teaching, all the ways that you help us to be wiser, help us to make wise decisions in life. There's many crossroads in life, Lord, and the Book of Proverbs helps us to take the right turning. Lord, help us to apply it to our lives, to not just be hearers, to be doers of the word, to want to keep reminding ourselves of the wisdom in your word there, especially there, the Book of Proverbs. Help us to take it to heart, help us to apply it to our lives, help us to keep applying it, to keep reading it, to keep learning from it, Lord. If there's anything over, and I'm sure there is over the last 31 chapters of Proverbs that I've preached incorrectly or inaccurately, please help everyone here to, myself included, to learn more, to know the correct application, the correct understanding of things, Lord. Help us to just constantly search the scriptures, constantly grow, constantly get wiser. Help us to get home safe this evening, Lord, for those that are able to make the sole winning times in the week to return on Wednesday for the midweek service and Jesus' name for all of us. Amen.