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  MOTHER'S DAY BUCKET LIST OF THINGS TO DO
  by James Jennings
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Summary: This sermon focuses on the importance of living out God's
design for women, emphasizing the roles of motherhood, hospitality,
service to the church, care for those in distress, wise speech, support
for relatives, and dedication to every good work. The speaker highlights
the need for women to imitate Christ in their actions and to seek to
honor God in all aspects of their lives.

Topics: "God's Design for Women", "Imitating Christ in Daily Life"
Scripture References: 1 Timothy 5:10, 1 Timothy 5:16, Proverbs 14:1, 1 Timothy 4:16, 1 Timothy 2:15, 1 Timothy 5:8, Titus 2:5, Amos 5:14

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DESCRIPTION
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This sermon focuses on the importance of living out God's design for
women, emphasizing the roles of motherhood, hospitality, service to the
church, care for those in distress, wise speech, support for relatives,
and dedication to every good work. The speaker highlights the need for
women to imitate Christ in their actions and to seek to honor God in all
aspects of their lives.

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CONTENT
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Go ahead, turn in your Bibles to 1 Timothy chapter 5. And I was again
thinking on the way here, here, not here, but today is Mother's Day. And
as you will see, my sermon hits on this topic. But I was thinking that,
you know, Mother's Day is a time that many of you are grateful for the
mother you have.

But some are sorrowing for the mother they've lost through death. Others
are grieving for the mother they've yet to become, right? Infertility,
that can be a hard trial. Then others are mourning for the mother they
never even really got to know and they had no relationship with.

And so, it's important even on days like this, you know, when you're in
the midst of joy and rejoicing for some personal blessing in your own
life, to be reminded of others who are maybe in a more sensitive spot
and suffering or grieving because of something that has happened in
their own life. And so, just wanted to give that thought and let me
pray. And then we'll look at 1 Timothy 5. So, let's pray.

Father, Lord, thank You for the love with which You've loved us. And
Lord, we're thankful that we do have a Heavenly Father who's never
failed us. Lord, in spite of all the trials we have in our earthly
relationships, Lord, You've never failed.

And Lord, I thank You for sustaining different brethren in this church
through the trials they've gone through. Lord, those who are widows, who
You've sustained. Lord, You've been sustaining Connie for all these
years.

And Christina, Lord, You've sustained her. Father, You've sustained our
brother Bob through the loss of his wife. And Lord Scott, Lord, is one
of those here today.

Lord, who Mother's Day, Father, strengthen our brother. Lord, strengthen
others. Lord, this can be a reminder of a person who's no longer there.

And Lord, we look to You to give us the comfort that You alone can give.
And Lord, we're just reminded this is such a brief, brief life that
we're living in. And it's all going to be said and done.

We're going to look back and all these pains, these relational pains,
these losses. Lord, it's real right now. Lord, it really is.

But one day, all tears are going to be wiped away. And so we thank You
for Your love for us. Pray that You'd use this sermon now to help, Lord,
especially the sisters.

Pray this in Christ's name, Amen. 1 Timothy 5, let's start verse 3. 1
Timothy 5 verse 3, Honor widows who are truly widows, meaning they're
genuinely a widow. They have no one they can look to.

But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to
show godliness to their own household, to make some return to their
parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God. She who is truly a
widow, left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in
supplications and prayers night and day. But she who is self-indulgent
is dead even while she lives.

Verse 7, Command these things as well, so that they may be without
reproach. But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and
especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is
worse than an unbeliever. Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less
than 60 years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a
reputation for good works.

And we're going to look at specifically verse 10. If she has brought up
children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has
cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. But
refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away
from Christ, they desire to marry.

And so incur condemnation for have abandoned their former faith or
pledge. We can see from the context is what he's speaking about. Beside
that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not
only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should
not.

So I would have the younger widows marry, bear children, manage their
households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. For some
have strayed away, some have already strayed after Satan. If any
believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them.

Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are
truly widows. Amen. Well, we're going to consider some of what Paul is
dealing with in this section.

And we see that in the midst of dealing with what was some of the issues
that were happening with younger widows. You see that in verse 13 and
14. There were some problems happening here at Ephesus.

They weren't keeping their commitment. They were being idle. They were
saying things that they should not say.

Paul brings up characteristics for Timothy to look for in older widows
when considering supporting them as a church. He gives these
characteristics. What to look for in them? Qualifications.

So Paul believes Timothy should look for these categories of good works
that we see right there in verse 10, to have been clearly exemplified,
embodied, displayed throughout and over the life of a woman leading into
her being a widow. He's saying you could look back prior to her being a
widow and you see this, she displayed it in her life. And so Paul giving
these qualifications to look for in women who are 60 years of age or
older.

To me, this suggests that young women should presently seek after having
the same reputation and conduct right now in the present that Paul
believes they should have when they're 60. Right? I think that's a safe
conclusion. So Paul is looking to a time in your life before you're 60
to see are these works evident in the woman? Are these qualities, these
are all qualities you want to be said are true of you by the time you
turn 60, just to use the age that Paul puts.

Do I have such a reputation? And these are qualifications you could say
to have on your resume so that if you became a genuine widow, Paul would
look at you and say, enroll that woman. Enroll her in this list to be
supported by the church. He brings in qualifications right here.

This letter is full of qualifications, right? Elder qualifications,
deacon qualifications. This isn't something we should shy away from. And
so, my Mother's Day sermon to you sisters is one of calling you, whether
married, whether young, I'm calling you to a way of life.

And it is a life, using Paul's words, devoted to good works. That's what
he says right here at the end of verse 10. She has devoted herself to
every good work.

He thinks about these women as women who are devoted to every good work
and he gives specific works. And so, I've got seven categories of works
to look at that Paul says are to be true of these women who they are
going to support on this role. And so you could, here are two possible
titles if you wanted to title this.

You could title it, the first one's a little rough, but it does drive
home a point. You could title it this. Will the church at Ephesus enroll
you when you turn 60? Right? I mean, you could gather that from the
text, right? Now, you could also say it this way.

Bucket list of things for women to do on their way to 60. Right? The
world says, I've got a bucket list. I want to get all these things done.

Are the things right here listed in verse 10, are they on your bucket
list, sisters? For these things to be true, that you have a reputation
of these realities in your life. And so if they're not, I hope
afterwards they will all be right there on the bucket list that you
have. And so, first, just a little on the context before we look at
these seven things.

What makes someone a true, genuine widow? And if you look at the
passage, I think it's just clear they have no children or grandchildren.
They're really in need and they have no means of support. Right? Verse
4, if a woman has children or grandchildren, well, that implies she's
not truly a widow.

There's something to do. But here you basically have people in a
situation, women who are in a vulnerable situation, and they've got no
one to genuinely care for them. And Paul expects who gets involved in
caring for these women? The church.

The sauce. Paul expects that here. And in context, was there a welfare
system happening back then? Did they have Social Security? Were they
taking in some money after their husband had died from the Roman
government? The church had to step up and support these women.

And we gather that from verse 16. He says, if any believing woman has
relatives or widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be
burdened.

Well, reverse that. There are people the church should be burdened for.
And that to not have a burden for those individuals, true widows and
true orphans, that is a sinful response from us if we are not burdened
for them.

So we can assume here in 1 Timothy 5 that enrolling a woman on this list
is her choosing to remain as a widow and serve the Lord in a specific
way. And maybe her time, it was devoted to orphans, widows, the sick,
teaching the younger women, right? We see in Titus 2, older women teach
the younger women. Maybe these women, that was something they would give
themselves to do.

But for Paul, it matters to consider their character, right? Did that
already matter in chapter 3 for elders and deacons? Yeah, it did. It
certainly matters who you're endorsing to sit on the couch of a younger
sister and influence her. It certainly matters who you're endorsing to
be in a pulpit and teaching the Word of God, right? Paul looks at
positions that we put people in and he makes a big deal out of
qualifications.

And he does that for widows who are going to be enrolled in a list to in
some way be supported by and serve the church. You see how Paul thinks
here. This is important to Paul.

It should be to us as well. So we also glean from this, Paul does not
shy away from making judgments about people's character and their gifts.
Paul says to honor true widows.

He even says this at the very next verse we didn't read. He mentions,
let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor. I
mean, he's using this term, they're showing this honor.

And one might cringe at the idea of certain honor being shown to one
widow and not another. Or think of this. This seems to imply there were
widows who even after 60 and had no one to care for them, they wouldn't
have what happened to them.

Paul wouldn't say enroll them on the list. Ouch! I mean, actually, that
category exists, right? And so you might cringe at that idea. But
remember, in both situations, this is about helping the church prosper.

Even if the church does not add a widow to its list, by doing so,
they're faithful to the women by showing them the importance of walking
in Christian character. And they're protecting people by not putting
unqualified individuals in positions they should not be in. And Paul is
concerned about women, influencing women in the context of the church.

And he's saying these things, right? That's so we think about the
context here of these words that Paul is stating. Now, I should state
this, this passage in 1 Timothy 5, this is not some ecclesiastical order
of nuns that is living in a monastery. Some would want to take this
passage to teach that.

But if you stretch that to mean that, you miss the fact these women,
first off, they were married, right? They're actually married. And
secondly, they're serving in the context of a remote mountain in Tibet
or in the local church in the midst of Ephesus, right? They're serving
in the context of a church. Now, one other thought here in my
introduction.

I'd also state this. If you plan throughout my sermon to condemn
yourselves for how much you fail and are not living out verse 10, I want
to give you one comfort right at the beginning because I realize in
bringing out what Paul is bringing out, which does create introspection,
all introspection is not wrong. All examining of self is not to be
totally avoided, right? But I think Paul expects it takes time to grow
into this type of woman, right? It's not just something that happens
overnight.

And I get that because he even says here to refuse to enroll younger
widows. And then he mentions some specific sins and things these women
would tend to have problems. Burning with passion, desiring to be
married, even after they made a vow to not be married.

Their speech, right? Idleness. Paul seems to have the idea that the
older woman gets, the better control she has over the use of her time,
the better control she has over the use of her speech. And the less the
sexual and emotional desires for marriage are burning and creating a
distraction in her life.

So there's something this woman is growing into these realities. And one
of the failures in the young women is they reverse the pledge they made,
right? Look at verse 12. He's saying in verse 11, refuse to enroll them
and then they have this desire to marry and then they incur a
condemnation for having abandoned their former faith.

This isn't, I don't believe this is meaning they abandoned the Christian
faith, but they had a, they had in good faith, they made a pledge to
remain as a widow and now they've gone back on that. And Paul looks at
that, that's serious. And so Timothy appears to be told by Paul not to
put young women on such a list because their passions for emotional and
physical intimacy will tend to pull the younger widows away.

And it must have happened enough times to realize this is unwise. It was
proving too difficult for them to keep this vow of widowhood. So
conversely, you could say women 60 years and older to Paul didn't seem
to experience this issue to the same degree.

They grew, the younger women are growing into this stability in their
life. So for Paul, it's a big deal to not get someone to make a
commitment that they don't follow through on, right? They incur
condemnation for breaking the vow, not keeping their word. This is
really strong language.

You don't want to see a sister get put in that spot. That was happening
apparently. And so Paul is trying to protect these sisters from entering
into something prematurely where they're just not at right now to be
enrolled on this list.

And that's why, you know, the age, is it a literal age of 60? And would
it take it, you know, down, you know, is that the idea? Or is it just
generally there's this idea of a certain age where these characteristics
are in the woman? So now I would make this comment now. This is still my
introduction. I make this comment because what I could have just done by
my statements is lower the bar, right? Well, there's time to grow, and
that's true.

But in view of my comments, I would say this about whatever
vulnerabilities you have, whatever vulnerabilities I've got, I would
take us back right here above on my page to verse 12 of chapter 4, where
Paul says to the youth, what does he say to the youth? No one despises
you for your youth, right? Whether you're a young man, whether you're a
young woman, we should give no reason for people to look down on us. And
so we should set big goals and high expectations, not just have a plan
where, well, I'm going to see these characteristics by the time I get to
a certain age. No, Lord, I want You to work in me right now, right here
at my age and make these things a reality in my life.

So we should set higher standards for ourselves even in a young age. But
the point I'm trying to make, I think Paul understands things take time
for growth, right? There's a category of older women and then the
younger women, and he keeps bringing out issues even in Titus 2 that the
younger women are struggling with, that the older women need to teach
them. So that implies there's a need for growth in their life.

So, don't be cast down. All right, so here my main thrust is these seven
categories. She has a reputation for good works that we see in v. 10.

And if you look there, he says in v. 10, having a reputation for good
works, and then right after that, the first one of these works is she
has brought up children. And that starts a series of conditional
clauses, requirements to the end of the verse, and it's bookended, if
you look at the end of v. 10, by the statement, she has devoted herself
to every good work. So, these statements provide specific examples and
categories for her good works.

And I'm also going to include on my list two other items from the
surrounding context, okay? So that's where we're at right now. We're
thinking about mothers, and I'm calling mothers to a standard that the
Bible calls mothers to. And that's what we're going to examine.

So, let me just briefly mention these seven things, and then we'll go on
and consider them. So, number one, these seven categories. The first
category, she has good works in the home.

We see that. She raised children. Number two, good works to the
stranger.

We see that in that she practiced hospitality. We're going to look at
that Greek word. It specifically targets strangers.

Three, good works to the church. She washed the feet of the saints.
Fourth, the woman is to have good works to those who are in a trial.

She helped those in distress and difficult circumstances, right? We see
that in v. 10. Number five, good works with her speech. 5.13, it says,
young women were saying what they shouldn't say.

Well, this implies older women should say what should be said, right?
They should use their speech to build up. Number six, good works towards
older relatives. Verse 16, it talks about believing a woman who has
relatives who are widows and her conduct towards them.

And number seven, she is to have good works to whoever, whenever, and
whatever. And I get that from the phrase, she has devoted herself to
every good work. She's not to be nitpicky about who to serve, when to
serve, and how to serve, but every good work she is to be devoted to.

So good works in the home, towards the stranger, the church, to those in
a trial, good works for their speech, good works towards their older
relatives, and good works to whoever, whenever, whatever. So I see all
that right there in v. 10, and in v. 9, and in v. 16. And again, I'm
just explaining here what Paul is setting forward.

And I think that's important because you could, again, you look at
qualifications, it can feel a little burdensome, and you could almost
feel like your eyes are getting off the Lord to some degree. But we've
got to say what the Scriptures say. So Paul expects these seven areas of
good works are to some degree true of the older women.

Because he says to look at their lives and say, did they have these
realities in their life? If they did, enroll that sister over here.
Support her as a church. Has she embodied, has she displayed this over
her lifetime as a woman leading up to being a widow? Is that what we can
say of her? Now, what's missing from the list here in v. 10? What's
missing from the list? Let me mention at least two items.

Number one, good works to herself. That's missing from the list. It's
interesting here, Paul, everything here deals with doing works to serve
who? Others.

Now, that shouldn't surprise you when we're imitating the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ who came to do what? To be served? No, to serve and to
give His life is a ransom for many. That shouldn't surprise us when we
get into the mind of Christ in Philippians 2 and He says, well, each of
us look not only to his own interest, but also to the interest of
others. So we shouldn't be shocked by that.

Now, I'm not saying abandon your Mother's Day plans to go to the hair
salon and treat yourself and husbands. I don't mean now you've got to
call off what you're going to cook for your wife tonight and you're
going to shove her in front of the stove. That's not my point.

The point is, for men and women and all Christians, our lives are lived
in the service of others. Romans 2, for those who are self-seeking,
there will be wrath and fury. Well, the Christian is not a self-seeking
person.

They're concerned about others' interests. Second thing missing from the
list, it doesn't say supernatural works of the Spirit. Miraculous
miracles.

It doesn't have that on the list. Isn't that kind of a bummer? I mean,
you're looking at the widows they're going to enroll. Wouldn't you want
to find one of the things in a woman's life is she raised the dead or
she saw multiple healings? Well, everything on the list is honestly
pretty commonplace.

There's so much linked to a woman's domestic duties. Now, I would take
comfort in that. I would take great comfort in that for you sisters.

And as Ravenhill's wife said when asked if she prayed 10 hours a day
like her husband, she said, someone's got to do the dishes, right? And
so sisters, do not despise what the world or your relatives might say is
commonplace. It's precious in God's eyes. It can't count how many
sisters they've abandoned some... the world says this whole career,
that's your main thing.

And then they start having children and they start pouring into those
children. And the family just says, look, you wasted all this money. You
wasted all this time.

Is that Paul's attitude here? Does he call that a waste? He looks at
this woman by the time she's 16. He says, she raised children. And so,
we must not give in to the carnal thinking of the world.

And so, Paul puts a great emphasis on living a life devoted to every
good work. And when you think of Ephesians 2.10, the well-known verse
that we are created in Christ Jesus beforehand with works He has
prepared for us to do, well, what are those works? We see some of those
works here in chapter 10. If your wife gets to the point where she says,
I don't know what the will of God for my life is, honey.

I'm just struggling to know what God's will for my life is. Oh, well,
you know, you want to have a good reputation. You want to bring up the
children, show hospitality, wash the feet of the saints, care for the
afflicted, devote yourself to every good work.

No, honey, I want something greater than that. I don't know. That seems
pretty incredible right here, honey.

And you know, when I'm dead and maybe all the kids die and you're 60 and
the church is looking to support you, this is what they're looking at.
They're not looking at all these other things. So honey, don't minimize
these things.

It's commonplace. They're not. So, is this part of my life? Do I have a
reputation for this? I mean, he says that.

She used to have a reputation. We should worry about what is my
reputation? What am I known for? What's my track record? Right, sisters?
I mean, that is a concern. And I realize you can totally derail all of
this and be like Martha and Luke 10 and you're just anxious and troubled
and your motives are wrong and your heart's wrong.

And I would just make that statement here. Notice, none of these items
necessarily focus on the fruits of the Spirit, but the very fruits of
the Spirit that Craig has dealt with have to be present in the midst of
you living out any of these works. Right? You're not going to have a
good work of hospitality if the Spirit's power isn't helping you to
overcome grumbling and you're grumbling there.

It's no longer a good work. Right? And if all you're doing as a parent
is provoking your children by not keeping your word and following
through and they just have no clear standard about what they can or
can't do, that's not a good work because you're impatient. You're
sinning towards those children.

It's only those led by the Spirit who are walking near to the Lord, not
grieving Him, who will naturally do all the works that are hereby
listed. Right? In one way, you don't have to put this list before a
woman. These are great and helpful reminders.

In another way, you put Christ before the sister and she loves the Lord
Jesus Christ and she sees Christ doing all of these things, and guess
what she does? She goes and imitates her Savior. So, this is very much
about looking to Christ even though it's not exactly what Paul says
here, but it is. Look at verse 11.

For when their passions draw them away from Christ. That's an
interesting verse. You'd say that in the midst of this.

They made this commitment to the Lord to be a widow, and now they've
gone back on that, and he looks at that as being drawn away from Christ.
You know what that tells me? This is all about a woman living for the
Lord Jesus Christ. And so, Paul gives this list.

He calls Timothy to look for this to be true of these widows, and so we
should also do the same and try to be more intentional in areas that we
are lacking in. It doesn't matter your personality, your upbringing,
what might not come naturally to you. These are things you want to say,
Lord, help me to live these out.

And one other comment before we look at all seven. What about the man?
Husband, what if you and I died and left our wife a widow? We'll say
there's no children, or the children have died. Are these areas
something we're seeking to lead her into and cultivate in her life? Or
am I as the husband, hindering my wife from living out these
characteristics and serving the saints in these ways because of some
selfishness and laziness that I have as a husband? So that's something
us men should ask ourselves.

Alright, let's look at these seven categories. Okay, we've got 10, 28.
So, number one, good works in the home, raising children, loving her
husband.

And verse 9 mentions she was the wife of one husband. That's why I add
in there loving the husband. That clearly is a good work in the wife's
life.

But then he goes on, he has that list right there. The first thing on
the list is if she has brought up children. It's the first thing he puts
on this list.

If she has brought up children. Now, a whole sermon could be dealt on
this. And this is going to be my longest point here.

And hopefully it's not too long. I don't have time for the other points,
so we better stop talking and get going here. But, so Paul says that she
brought up children.

Now, first here notice this. Mothers bringing up children, Paul calls
you doing that what? It's in a list describing what? Good works. Do you
ever think about your parenting like that? It's a good work.

You think about someone evangelizing. Are they doing a good work?
They're doing a good work. Guess what you're doing as a mother? A good
work.

It's not just you're doing your duty. You're doing works that are
pleasing to God. You understand? I think first that could be a helpful
thing to think about here.

Now, what does Paul specifically mean? One lexicon says this phrase
means to raise a child to maturity by providing for physical and
emotional needs. To raise, to rear, to bring up. They're saying that's
what this phrase is.

She's brought up children means. It's not just she had a child, but
she's involved in the child's life to this point of maturity. And you
see that with the elder qualifications, right? How does he manage his
household? What's happening there? It's not just they have children, but
what is the conduct of those children? And so most likely it seems this
refers to her bringing up her own children.

But it could be a widow who could not even bear a child. And maybe they
had experience in bringing up children like orphans, for example. Maybe
that's part of it.

I honestly would want to ask Paul for a negative example. I'd want to
say, Paul, what would a woman who did not bring up children look like?
Give me that, Paul. What does that even look like? Does that mean they
didn't even have children or they had children, but they didn't bring
them up? Someone else brought them up? They weren't involved in the
children's lives? Or does it mean they never even really matured? And
you're looking at the conduct of the children? So there's a lot of, to
me, unanswered questions right here.

But what about widows who couldn't even bear children? And thus they
don't have any children to provide for them in old age, yet one of the
requirements to get on the list is that she had to have children to
raise children. And now one of the very women who could really need to
be supported because she could never have children at all and her
husband died, is supposedly now she can't even be on the list? I don't
think we want to take the list, though Paul mentions all of these
things. And this could be wrong of me to assert this, but I'm going to
try to prove this.

But I get the sense Paul's point here isn't to narrowly look at every
one of these things in such a specific way, but he's looking at
something broader in view of what is in the entire letter here. And so,
you know, is Paul belittling those who suffer the trial of being
childless or especially back then? I mean, obviously a lot of children
died early on in childbirth. A lot of women died in childbirth.

But Paul expects most women, not all, 1 Corinthians 7, Paul talks about
people not marrying, but most women will get married, have children, and
then be directly involved in raising those children to the point of
maturity. I think it's at least safe enough to say Paul has that
expectation on women. That's going to happen for these widows that would
have happened in their life.

So what's Paul getting at? In view of other statements Paul makes in
this letter, I think the bigger issue he is getting at is Timothy
enrolling a woman whose heart longs for God's standard of a model woman.
And Paul's main way to illustrate, understandably, this standard is
through motherhood. So he keeps bringing out this issue of motherhood.

Since most women, not all, but for most, this will be a true reality in
their life. So he's obviously looking at it in a broader perspective
here. Now, some are going to remain single.

Some will be childless. But he's not dealing with the exceptions. I
think he's dealing with the majority rule.

I think that's what Paul is doing here. Okay, now where do I partly get
this? What other verse comes to your mind from the same letter when you
read this statement right here that we just did? If she's brought up
children. What verse drops to your mind? Yeah, 1 Timothy 2.12. Look at
this.

1 Timothy 2.11 Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. So
that deals with conduct. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise
authority over a man.

Rather, she is to remain quiet. And then he goes on to appeal to
creation. Not culture at Ephesus, but he appeals to creation for why he
just stated what he did about women not exercising authority over men in
the context of the church.

But then look at verse 15. Yet she will be saved through childbearing if
they continue in faith, love, holiness, and self-control. She'll be
saved through motherhood.

I mean, how do you take that and then take what we just read right here
in this chapter? We've got these similar phrases. Childbearing and
brought up children. Both referring to this idea of motherhood.

And we have this right here in the same letter. Now, I think there's one
verse that's helped me to understand what Paul means. And I think if you
read the verse, you might right away get it.

Right? And I'm going to try to explain this as clearly as I can.
Hopefully you get it. I'm hoping you get it.

Because this has really helped me. Go to chapter 4. Again, he's getting
at the majority rule here. He's looking at this area of motherhood.

You're going to be saved through childbearing. And you're looking for
widows who have raised children. He says something similar about another
class of people.

He talks about another class of people who will be saved if they
maintain their role of their class. Right? They've got a role. If they
maintain the role, they will be saved.

The woman has a role. If she maintains the role, she will be saved.
Ultimately saved.

Ultimately persevere. And we find this in 1 Timothy 4.16. This class is
not women. He's not saying women are going to be saved through
childbearing.

He's actually taking a small class within Ephesus, that of preachers and
teachers. Keep a close watch on yourselves and on the teaching. Persist
in this, for by doing so, you will what? You will save both yourself and
your hearers.

So I think the simple idea, Timothy, you have a role. If you don't
persist in this, and you abandon sound doctrine, and you go into error,
you will not ultimately be saved. It will lead you to your apostasy.

Women, you have a role. Continue in it. The role is not exercising
authority over a man.

It is not teaching over the man. It is childbearing. And he summarizes
it in this way by saying she'll be saved through childbearing if she
continues in faith, love, holiness, and self-control.

She will be saved. You see, there's a continuing. Right? Each one of us
in whatever sphere of life we're in as a Christian have certain things
that the Bible, as a majority rule, there's going to be exceptions to
the rule, but as a majority rule, the Lord's calling me to certain
things.

He's calling the mother to certain things. And if they abandon that, and
they give in to some distortion that's being taught from false teaching,
Paul's saying that's going to lead them to somewhere they don't want to
go. It's going to lead them to actually abandon the Lord ultimately in
the end.

Because again, Jesus talks about those who endure to the end will be
saved. Right? His point here is not past salvation. It's the final
salvation.

Getting to the end. So if a woman abandons God's design, she won't
endure. That is God's model role for a woman.

If you distort it with false teaching, Paul's saying, I'm afraid you're
not going to make it. And so are men saved by sound doctrine? Yes and
no. I mean, you abandon sound doctrine, that's not going to lead to your
salvation.

But am I saved? Does the doctrine itself save me? No, it's Christ who
saves me. Without the doctrine of the Christ, I will not be saved. Are
women saved by having children? Must you have a child in order to be
saved? No.

But if you reject the clear teaching of the Lord and what He's calling a
woman to, and you say, you know what? These false teachers at Ephesus
were on to something pretty good. Let's just reverse all our roles.
Let's ignore what happened to Eve in the garden.

And I can go down this path, and there's going to be no consequence to
it. I could ignore the model role of a woman, and I'm not going to be
affected at all by it. And Paul says, no.

No, no, if you don't continue in faith and holiness, if you don't
continue in striving after this model woman and not giving in to a
distorted view, he says, you're not going to be saved. You're not going
to make it. And so women who abandon this, and they become teachers over
men, and some preachers who abandon good doctrine, Paul is saying
they're both choosing to distort God's design, to distort good doctrine,
and that path leads to a deadly, deadly end.

And if you remember the context of what false teaching was happening at
Ephesus, 1 Timothy 4, 3, there were people there who were forbidding
marriage. Forbidding marriage. And here Paul says a woman is saved
through childbearing.

Something that happens in the context of marriage. But the false
teachers are forbidding marriage. So what does that do? It pushes women
from being in the realm they should be in to being in an outside realm
with a wrong, distorted idea about what God's majority rule and what
will most likely happen to the majority of women is.

It pushes them out of that. And as I've said from 1 Timothy 2, 12, it
seems the false teachers were putting women in teaching roles over men.
They weren't encouraging them in the primary role of motherhood.

They're saying you go teach over those men. Let's get women elders in
the church. And this is taking the women away from her primary teaching
and authority opportunity, which is being over her children in the home.

She goes from that primary authority and teaching opportunity over to
here. So that's a big picture of what was happening at Ephesus, and I
think that's what he's getting at here. In verse 10, this first good
word, she's brought up children.

I think the more specific idea is you look and you see a woman who
longed for God's design and what the majority rule is going to be for
most women. They're going to be married and they're going to have
children and they're going to love their husband and they're going to be
faithful to serve the saints in this way. But at Ephesus, the picture of
an ideal woman was being distorted.

And that was leading younger women astray. And the consequences of being
led astray, he's saying ultimately can end in greater distortions of
other things and lead to going to hell. Right? This is more major than I
think we would even want to recognize.

And the same thing is happening in our culture today. And so Paul links
here together that the women who fall away and abandon the faith, first,
willfully abandon, despise, and turn from a God-given role. Just as I as
a preacher can turn from my God-given role and I don't rightly divide
the Word of God, I don't keep a close watch on my teaching.

And he says here, I won't be saved. Doesn't mean I lose my salvation.
That means I get into greater and greater errors and I ultimately deny
the faith I once said I believed and I proved to be false.

And 1 John 2.19 says, I go out because I was never of to begin. So does
this teacher woman only experience His ultimate salvation as she has
children? No. His point is childbearing is in the general scope of
activities in which most Christian women should be involved.

And as they are involved in such, they remain faithful to the Lord. And
all of this leads as they continue on it with self-control and holiness,
all this leads to final salvation. In contrast to the women at Ephesus
who abandoned and rejected the ideal model woman and they chose to
abandon Christian values, just like the false teachers who did the same.

And Paul says those groups of people, they're drifting away into
apostasy. Does that make sense? You guys get what I'm getting at here?
You've got two different classes. A woman and a teacher.

Both can distort the truth of God. And he says in both cases, the man
who gives up on the good doctrine, he's not going to be saved. Says the
woman who gives up on this model role of a woman, that's the majority
rule for the majority of women, abandons that.

That's not going to be well for her in the end. These are stark warnings
not to distort God's design and doctrine and God's design in our roles
as women and men. And our culture is full-on attacking this.

They're trying to encourage women to pursue everything apart from what
we actually find in the Word of God. And obviously, there are exceptions
to all of this. That's why I'm stressing this model thing.

But one thing to ask yourself, sisters, I mean, when you go to God's
Word, can you actually say these very things? Yes, I've longed for these
things. I mean, you look in the Old Testament even, and I realize
they're trying to have a physical line for the Messiah. And there's this
expectation all these women had that maybe the very child they had would
come to become that very child.

But women were greatly longing for children. So, this is the first
category of works. I think it's a broader idea than just she's raising
children and bearing children, but she's seeking to exemplify motherhood
as a desirable life commitment.

Did her children call her blessed? Did they reach maturity through her
endeavors? Because if you're going to support that woman and she's going
to be involved in other women in the church, that's exactly the idea you
want her conveying to those women. The value of these things that God
has designed. And so, happy Mother's Day for you mothers.

Being a mother is a glorious privilege. You're being devoted to good
work. It's good.

And you're doing that which a lot of the world is not promoting. You're
going against the flow. Praise God for that.

Don't be discouraged. Don't look at being a mother as some commonplace
thing. It's not.

What God designs is not commonplace. If I get a position at a company
and the CEO gives me a position, and I might think, well, this is a lame
position. Why'd He put me here? The CEO here is God.

It's not Elon Musk. It's the Lord. And He says, this is a beautiful
thing.

This is a great thing. This is a good thing. And so we've got to fight
against a world that is totally opposing these realities.

Alright, what do we got? Okay, ten minutes. Let's ram through the rest
of these. Second, good works to the stranger.

Practiced hospitality. In the NAS, it renders it if she's shown
hospitality to strangers. This is the only time that Greek word is used.

And when it gives it as an elder qualification, I think the emphasis is
on us elders having you all over the body. Obviously, strangers too. But
here, it's specifically rendered she shows hospitality to strangers.

The emphasis is the wife is ready to engage in serving strangers through
hospitality. You know, there's new people in the church. She's not just
hanging out with this group that she's comfortable with, but she's
engaging with people she has no idea who they are, no idea how the kids
are going to wreck the house, or maybe the kids are going to build
something in your backyard that your kids are going to love for the next
20 years.

I mean, you don't know what's going to happen, but you're not concerned
about that. You're seeking to love the stranger because Christ has loved
the stranger. And it seems here from what Paul says here that she has
shown hospitality seems to indicate that the woman was involved in
coordinating and initiating all of this to happen.

Seems like that's part of what he's saying here. And so, women, are you
seeking to share what you value most? Family, home, finances, food,
privacy as Alexander Strauch said. To do so with strangers.

That's a good thing in God's eyes. A third category of works for a woman
to seek to have in her life is good works towards the church. He says
right here in verse 10, she's washed the feet of who? The saints.

That's just a Christian. It's the set-apart ones. And I think literally,
he's hitting on what it meant back then.

You'd wash the feet of the saints. But when you literally washed the
feet of the saints, what type of act was the woman doing? She was doing
a very humble thing. Very humble thing.

She wasn't too proud or full of herself to even render the most humble
services to the saints. Because she saw, as much as I do to that person,
I'm doing unto Christ. And Christ shed His blood to die for that person.

She just gets on the ground and cleans the person's feet off. And you're
thinking, oh, don't do that. You're 50 years old and you've got all
these children.

You shouldn't be doing such a humble act. And Paul says, no, that is
good for her to be doing that. That's imitating Christ.

The kids and I were watching a construction video the other day, and
this company was at some million-dollar company's offices, and they're
shooting a video, and behind them, a guy was on the ground cleaning the
floor for some competition they're about to have. And they found out the
guy was the CEO of the company. And the one guy made a comment to his
boss.

He said, yeah, man, you should really learn something from that guy over
there. Well, yeah, we should really learn something from the King of
Glory who's seated on His throne and how He lived His life. Amen.

We should. Am I willing to serve? Even in the most humble of ways. You
don't get any idea here of some... Even if the woman is rich.

Because there are those who are rich who are to be rich in good works.
But you get the idea, even in the midst of all her riches, she's willing
to do the most humble of tasks. It's not this movie character of the
rich, snobby person who's just stepping on everyone else's toes.

Fourth, good works to those in a trial. We see that here. She helped
those who were afflicted.

She cared for the afflicted. She cared for those who are in distress.
Might have been financial means.

Might have been encouraging them. Might have been praying for them as
verse 5 says. That widow is praying for God.

But this woman has the discernment to recognize people in the church who
are in a distress. And her goal to get in the conversation with them is
to help to encourage them. And she's got the self-control while
encouraging them to not engage in any gossip or being a busybody.

She's able to refrain from asking certain things that she realizes
wouldn't be appropriate to ask and are none of her business. And at the
same time, she's able to approach it in a crafty way. Not a crafty way,
a strategic way to encourage the woman.

So that's the fourth thing. Good works to those in a trial. Women are
looking for that.

Looking for those in a distress. Seeking to care for them. It's not just
about me and my distress.

I'm looking for others. That was number four. Number five, good works
with their speech.

And we saw that in 5.13. The young women were saying what shouldn't be
said. That implies the godly woman should say what should be said. And
also mentions they didn't manage their time well.

Sisters, we all know it. I mean, it's been said multiple times. Your
speech can greatly help build up, but where gossip exists or slander
exists, it will absolutely destroy.

So we need the Lord's help there. Proverbs 14.1 The wisest of women
builds her house, but folly with her own hands tears it down. And you
think of the house, the home.

That's true. The same thing could be applied in the church, right? Any
of us could be... We want to be the wise people seeking to build up the
body, but we don't want to be the one who with folly, with our own
hands, actually tears down the body. And Paul, clearly that could happen
right here.

He talks about the women being gossip, busybodies saying what they
should not say. And even in Titus 2, he says, older women are not to be
slanderers. And so women, that's an area to pray.

Lord, guard the door of my lips. Lord, help me to grow in this area with
my tongue. 6. Good works towards older relatives.

This believing woman has relatives who are widows. And verse 4 even
mentions making a return to their parents. But here, just notice this.

We don't have a lot of time, but notice a connection I never saw. Verse
16, If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care
for them. Let the church not be burdened.

So you've got a believing woman who has relatives who are widows, and
the woman is to seek to care for them. But you know what? I often never
thought of that. Guess what other verse is in context here? It's verse
8. If anyone does not provide for his, and if you look at the his and
relatives, oh, he's talking to the men alone, especially from members of
his household, he has denied the faith and is worse off than an
unbeliever.

So we tend to just look at that and say, oh, he must be talking about
men. Well, in context here, he's dealing with the widows. He's dealing
with the women here.

And so, if you look at verse 16, if any believing woman has relatives
who are widows, pure and undefiled religion is to love the widow and the
orphan, and she refuses to love the widow, I would say you could take
her to verse 8 and say, sister, if you do not provide for your relatives
here, you're denying the faith and you're worse off than an unbeliever.
You tend to think of that as men who don't provide for their families.
Brethren, in context here, this could also be applied to a woman who is
refusing to show help towards even here specifically widows.

Specifically widows. And so, Paul's saying look for women who have
actually had care for their own relatives and then the church is willing
to step up and care for them. Number seven, good works to whoever,
whenever, whatever.

And my point was that's at the end of verse 10 when he says she has
devoted herself to every good work. Every. Meaning this list he gives
here, it's not some exhaustive list.

Is there anyone who you're not willing because who they were? You're not
willing to serve them because who they were. Is there any when? Well, it
just isn't the right time. Is there any what? Well, I know that's what
you wanted me to do.

I think I'll pass. Is that the idea you get about the woman here? You
get the idea the woman is devoted to every good work. She's willing to
wash people's feet.

She's willing to care for the relatives. She's willing to pour her guts
out for all these people. Her wallet out.

Her finances out. So brethren, I think these are really seven
commendable realities that you sisters should continue to pray, Lord,
make this real in my life. Make this true of me that my reputation is
these things in my life.

That I have good works in the home to raising my children. I have good
works to the stranger. I have good works to the church washing the feet
of the saints.

I have good works to those in distress. I have good works with my
speech. I have good works towards the relatives.

I have good works to whoever, whenever, whatever. And you're not just
focusing on, like Martha, doing. Your eyes are on Christ because every
one of these things is simply imitating the Savior.

Just imitating Christ. And there is a lot at stake here because verse
14, he says, we could give the adversary occasion to slander us if these
things aren't true in our lives. Same thing in Titus 2. If women do not
submit to their own husbands, it says the Word of God ends up being
reviled.

So a couple of final thoughts because we've got a couple more minutes.
That was one of the final thoughts. What's at stake here? The second,
Paul wants us to invest our time and care for those who truly need it.

We see that in 5.16. The church should not be burdened, right? Except
for those who are truly in need. What this means is it's possible to be
burdened by something you should not be. And so I would say, husbands,
maybe your wife is being truly taken advantage of in some area where
there's not truly a need and you need to get her to stop investing her
time in that.

Or maybe it's the opposite and she's wasting time in another area where
there is someone that could be served in a specific way. A third thing
here. A final thought.

Verse 4 is really for all of us in some way. But if a widow has children
or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own
household. To make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in
the sight of God.

Is that something? Jeff brought this up multiple times in the last few
years. Some of the times he feels like people don't honor their parents.
And maybe I've not seen all of that and how it manifests itself.

But brethren, we realize the Bible says you'll hate your own father and
mother and yes, even your own life or you can't be my disciple. But the
Bible also says honor your father and mother. And that might be an area
we more lack in in the midst of radically following the Lord Jesus
Christ.

Husbands, are you helping guide and lead your wife to blossom in these
areas? Are you giving an encouraging word to her or tearing her down?
Are you being nitpicky and critical on these seven things? Are you
seeking to build her up and give her opportunity to flourish and
encouraging her when she says, hey, that person's afflicted and they're
suffering. Can I go over and visit them? Yeah, honey, I think that's a
good idea. You can say that or you can say, honey, man, I've been at
work all day and I really just want you to stay and watch multiple
movies with me or I don't know.

It's probably an exaggeration. But you get the point. There's a time the
husband's got to die to sell for the woman to go serve someone else in
the church.

And there's a time the woman needs to say no to the service to not
neglect her own family. I leave you to figure out which one it is in
each situation you face. To the widows, remember, you're not left all
alone.

He says in 5.5, set your hope on God and continue on. And lastly, to the
church, even though there is a social security and there are welfare
programs like never before, don't forget God's heart is for us to love
the widow and the orphan. And Bill Mounce mentioned his wife and him
attended Simpson College in San Francisco.

When they decided to move their campus to Reading, a Chinese church
purchased their property. They purchased a Bible college. I was
surprised to see a church buy buildings with so many dorm rooms.

Then I learned that they wanted to actually obey 1 Timothy 5 and care
for their widows who were godly and truly alone. Isn't that something?
And I know even Steve Helms mentioned to me years ago, his own burden
for missionaries who labor on the field for decades, then they come
home. What happens to them? I mean, there's a place for a church to buy
an apartment complex, to put widows in there, to put missionaries who
come off the field and they don't have some social security coming in.

They've been serving over there and sacrificing for the kingdom. Are we
caring for those sort of individuals? And so this Chinese church was
willing to buy a Bible college and create dorm rooms for widows to
support them, to live them out. This again is one of the things, loving
the widow.

I think in our culture where so many people have social security and all
these things coming in, you feel like we have no responsibility. But
brethren, there might be more responsibility than we realize. Alright,
well, sisters, I hope this was encouraging and challenging to you.

But may the Lord give you strength. The only way you will live out any
of these, the only way I as a husband will help my wife continue to seek
to manifest these things in her own life is by the power of the Spirit
of God. And that goes all the way back to the messages we've been
hearing from Craig lately.

You know, it says there, save through childbearing if she continues in
holiness. And it says self-control. Well, how do we have self-control?
These are characteristics of God.

Just like everything in this list is manifesting who Christ is. It's
showing who Christ is to the world. And then when they slander us, it
can't stick, because they see these people are living out their
religion.

Father, Lord, thank You for our time. And I thank You for all the
mothers. And Lord, as I mentioned right at the start, Father, there are
some here today, Lord, they're rejoicing in the mother they have.

There's others who are sorrowing for the mother they've lost. There's
others who are in sorrow for the mother they have not yet become. And
there are others who are sorrowing for the mother they never really got
to know.

And Lord, I just pray You'd comfort each and every one of these people
where they're at. And Father, I pray You'd keep us as a church in these
areas. Lord, help the sisters to excel in these general categories we
looked at.

Father, they're right here in the Word. Lord, at times we just so, I
don't know, Father, afraid of maybe even a list like this here and
examining our life. But Lord, Paul got to a point where they're saying,
is this your reputation? And so, Lord, we want to even do that today.

Lord, how can we grow in certain areas and have a greater reputation for
certain works as individuals, as a church? And Lord, do help us to be
those who love the widow. Lord, what a person who's in maybe the most
helpless situation or apart from a young child and an orphan. And we
just pray, give us the grace to love as Christ is loved.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

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Video: https://sermonindex2.b-cdn.net/ualxfXZEZeA.mp4
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/james-jennings/mothers-day-bucket-list-of-things-to-do/
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