1 00:00:00,440 --> 00:00:03,760 If we haven't met, I'm Cole, I'm the lead pastor, and I'm the guy 2 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:05,520 that you're stuck with for the next 40 minutes. 3 00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:07,320 So if you've got a Bible, go ahead and get that out. 4 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:09,840 If you don't, that's OK. We've got words on the screen 5 00:00:09,840 --> 00:00:14,840 for you. We are in the midst of our slow 6 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:20,040 track through the first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis. 7 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:25,600 And this morning we bump up against a beautiful but hotly 8 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:29,560 contested singular verse. And that singular verse is 9 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:35,280 Genesis chapter 2, verse 18. It would be important for me to 10 00:00:35,280 --> 00:00:38,920 note that last week I preached on biblical manhood, and that 11 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:42,160 sermon was kind of the correspondent to the sermon. 12 00:00:42,360 --> 00:00:44,440 And the reason why I say that is because if you didn't hear it, 13 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:48,960 it's just important for me that, you know, that last week the men 14 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:51,000 took their licks and got their bruises. 15 00:00:51,520 --> 00:00:53,720 And so this week, what we're going to do is we're going to 16 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:57,000 turn the page, go to the next verse, and we will say, hey, 17 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,000 women, it's time for you to jump into the ring and explore what 18 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,160 the Bible says about womanhood. But this comes with a surgeon 19 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,840 general's warning. OK, here's my surgeon general's 20 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:09,960 warning. I'm going to have some bits from 21 00:01:09,960 --> 00:01:11,920 men. I'm going to have some bits for 22 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:15,120 unmarried women. I'm going to try and spread the 23 00:01:15,120 --> 00:01:17,200 love around as much as I can this morning. 24 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,040 But a lot of my sermon will necessarily revolve around 25 00:01:21,040 --> 00:01:23,600 wifehood. Biblical masculinity or biblical 26 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:26,200 femininity is much bigger than wifehood. 27 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:29,280 It sometimes includes that. For some people it's much bigger 28 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:33,760 than that. But in, in my, in, in, in my 29 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,880 defense, we meet Eve here in verse 18. 30 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:40,200 And Eve is she's only single for like 5 minutes. 31 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,080 OK. It's like the shortest season of 32 00:01:43,080 --> 00:01:45,000 singleness ever. She don't even have time to 33 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,320 change her relationship status on Facebook. 34 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:52,200 And so because of that, the chief description that's given 35 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:55,560 to her in the verse we're looking at this morning is 36 00:01:55,640 --> 00:01:59,360 marital in nature. But if you can hang with me and 37 00:01:59,720 --> 00:02:03,240 and trust me, I've got something in the sermon for you, 38 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:06,720 regardless of what station of life you're in. 39 00:02:06,720 --> 00:02:09,840 And we also have more sermons on manhood and womanhood locked and 40 00:02:09,840 --> 00:02:12,400 loaded for the future in Genesis. 41 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:14,920 Does that sound good? Good. 42 00:02:14,920 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaking of gender, it's become pretty commonplace in the modern 43 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:23,440 world for modern people to criticize, whether they have a 44 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:26,440 good understanding of it or not. It's become pretty commonplace 45 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:31,880 for modern people to criticize the Bible's vision for gender as 46 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:35,600 overly restrictive. And so in light of that, we're 47 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:38,320 going to start this morning with a Riddle. 48 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:43,400 Imagine two people jump off an airplane. 49 00:02:45,840 --> 00:02:50,160 Both of these people experience the exhilarating freedom of 50 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,480 falling through the sky for hundreds of feet. 51 00:02:53,480 --> 00:02:56,400 But there's a crucial difference between these two people. 52 00:02:57,000 --> 00:03:02,440 And the crucial difference is this person #1 And I need you to 53 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,880 be able to visualize this. Person number one is wearing a 54 00:03:05,880 --> 00:03:11,760 parachute. Person number 2 is not wearing a 55 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:15,760 parachute. The Riddle, the question I would 56 00:03:15,760 --> 00:03:21,000 have you consider this morning is who of these two people is 57 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:25,720 freer now? The person without the 58 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:29,960 parachute, she might have an argument that she feels more 59 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,200 free. She's not encumbered by 60 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:36,200 anything. There's no harness around her 61 00:03:36,200 --> 00:03:39,880 shoulders. And the other person wearing the 62 00:03:39,880 --> 00:03:45,400 parachute might feel like she's less free. 63 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:49,000 The parachute might restrict her shoulders. 64 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:54,360 Can you guys visualize us? And so the big question is, who 65 00:03:54,440 --> 00:04:00,000 actually is more free? And are you willing to consider 66 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:03,800 the possibility that what God says about gender, that what the 67 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:08,320 Bible says about gender, is less about restrictions and more like 68 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:12,880 a parachute? Who's freer with or without the 69 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:15,360 parachute? And only God can answer that 70 00:04:15,360 --> 00:04:16,800 question. So if you're able, let's go 71 00:04:16,800 --> 00:04:18,320 ahead and stand for the reading of God's Word. 72 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,160 It's only one verse. It's a doozy. 73 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:33,280 This is your first Sunday. I'll catch you up quickly. 74 00:04:33,840 --> 00:04:38,720 Chapter 2, verse 18. Then the Lord God, Yahweh said 75 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:49,360 it's not good. It's not good, not it's not good 76 00:04:49,920 --> 00:04:55,320 that the man should be alone. So I will make a helper. 77 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:56,800 Can I hear your beautiful voices? 78 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:01,440 Everybody say helper. Helper fit for him. 79 00:05:02,000 --> 00:05:06,360 A rich, deep, beautiful word that deserves all of our 80 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:08,080 attention. Heavenly Father, would you just 81 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:12,400 illuminate your scriptures, keep us glued to the word, focused on 82 00:05:12,400 --> 00:05:16,160 the word, trusting your word. If there's any, anything foolish 83 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:18,840 and unhelpful that I have the propensity to say, would you 84 00:05:18,840 --> 00:05:20,640 just strike that from my lips this morning? 85 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:24,880 And if there is anything life giving, if there's anything 86 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,800 edifying, if there's anything encouraging, if there's anything 87 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:33,240 that builds up, would you just take your heavenly hammer and 88 00:05:33,240 --> 00:05:37,440 strike those things deep into our hearts so that we all 89 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:41,560 virtually just float out of this room with the encouragement of 90 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:44,400 Jesus Christ? That can only happen if the Holy 91 00:05:44,400 --> 00:05:46,880 Spirit is working and working powerfully this morning. 92 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:49,440 So it's in the precious name of Jesus that all God's people 93 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:51,760 prayed. Amen. 94 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:59,240 Again, a seat I've got a lot to say about this one verse before 95 00:05:59,240 --> 00:06:01,840 I even start to unpack it. I'm just going to make a massive 96 00:06:01,840 --> 00:06:07,240 theological claim, foundational theological claim on gender. 97 00:06:07,240 --> 00:06:11,280 And and it's this like all things, whether it's the heavens 98 00:06:11,280 --> 00:06:14,600 or the earth, whatever God creates in Genesis, whether it's 99 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:19,160 the heavens or the earth or the sun or the stars or the moon or 100 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:24,800 the sky or the land, all things exist for the glory of God. 101 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:31,000 The glory of God is the chief of why things exist, and that means 102 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:33,720 that gender too exists for the glory of God. 103 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,280 Period. Which means that womanhood 104 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:45,200 exists to display the glory of God in a way that is unique and 105 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:49,840 distinct or different from manhood in some ways. 106 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:53,080 And so at the end of the day, the woman who is pursuing 107 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:56,840 biblical womanhood, the woman who's pursuing biblical 108 00:06:56,840 --> 00:07:02,560 femininity as hard as she can possibly chase after it, it 109 00:07:02,640 --> 00:07:06,840 ultimately has less to do with a personality type. 110 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:12,160 It has less to do with being a wife or being single, being a 111 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:17,280 homemaker or being a boss babe, or having a small personality or 112 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:19,640 having a big personality. That has less to do with 113 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,000 personality. And it has everything to do with 114 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,200 loving, worshipping, and delighting in God. 115 00:07:26,200 --> 00:07:31,120 And so biblical womanhood, at the end of the day, is whatever 116 00:07:31,240 --> 00:07:34,040 it looks like for the feminine spirits. 117 00:07:34,080 --> 00:07:37,080 Be in love with God. I need to make this point 118 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:41,080 because as I preach, your mind is filled with cultural 119 00:07:41,080 --> 00:07:43,680 stereotypes. Some may be helpful, some may be 120 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,840 unhelpful, and what you need to do is need to get those out of 121 00:07:46,840 --> 00:07:49,120 your head. OK, so if I'm not being clear 122 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:51,920 here, what I'm saying is something akin to making the 123 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:58,680 claim that you could take 1,000,000 trad wives with 124 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:03,080 Instagram accounts on being a trad wife who don't know Jesus 125 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:10,600 and they would count for nothing in comparison to a singular 126 00:08:10,760 --> 00:08:16,240 single woman extroverted with a loud personality who does love 127 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:20,000 Jesus. It's about love of God, love of 128 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:25,200 Jesus, not costumes. That means if you're a woman, 129 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:32,840 being single is awesome, being a wife is awesome, being a mom is 130 00:08:32,840 --> 00:08:34,760 awesome. You know why? 131 00:08:34,880 --> 00:08:37,039 Because being in Christ is awesome. 132 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,200 Amen. So that's what we need to start 133 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:43,640 now in come back down, come back down to the book of Genesis. 134 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:47,480 OK, so here's what's going on in chapter 2, verse 18, there's 135 00:08:47,480 --> 00:08:50,160 paragraphs leading up to this verse and the previous two 136 00:08:50,160 --> 00:08:51,960 paragraphs. What God does is he creates 137 00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:56,520 Adam, and then he places Adam in the garden and tells him to work 138 00:08:56,520 --> 00:09:00,320 it and keep the garden. I need all of the world to look 139 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:02,120 like the Garden of Eden right here. 140 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:04,000 It's a big job. It's a big job. 141 00:09:04,280 --> 00:09:07,240 And so after God gives him this job, God points something 142 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:09,840 extraordinary out. It's right there in verse 18. 143 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:14,720 It's the first time we see anything like it in Scripture 144 00:09:15,000 --> 00:09:17,240 because so far, here's the pattern of Genesis. 145 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:19,880 God creates something and he says it's good. 146 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,120 God creates something that says it's good, that's good, it's 147 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:27,840 good, that's good. Now all of a sudden we see 148 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:30,560 something different. After this massive literary 149 00:09:30,560 --> 00:09:33,040 pattern of that's good, that's good, that's good, that's good, 150 00:09:33,280 --> 00:09:36,400 we see something different, something that stands out. 151 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:40,320 For the first time in all of Scripture, we see something 152 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:45,080 that's not good. Whoa. 153 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:53,320 In paradise it is Genesis 2. There's no sin, there's no 154 00:09:53,320 --> 00:09:56,800 suffering. Adam has a relationship with 155 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:59,240 God. Adam has a mission. 156 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:04,840 What could not be good? What could be not good in 157 00:10:04,840 --> 00:10:07,600 paradise? The answer is right there in 158 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:09,120 verse 18. Read your Bible here. 159 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:14,440 It's not good for man to be alone. 160 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:24,160 In out of this statement springs forth a beautiful vision and 161 00:10:24,160 --> 00:10:29,880 idea, God's idea of womanhood. It's not good for this jabroni 162 00:10:29,880 --> 00:10:31,840 to to be alone. One of the guys that I coach 163 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:35,920 wrestling with, he said to me, I can't remember how I elicited 164 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:37,800 this response. You can use your imagination. 165 00:10:37,800 --> 00:10:41,800 If you know me, I think I was maybe messing around or I was 166 00:10:41,800 --> 00:10:44,480 just going full coal and never go full coal. 167 00:10:44,480 --> 00:10:47,600 I was, I think I maybe I was throwing dodge balls at kids or 168 00:10:47,600 --> 00:10:51,080 whatever it was and whatever it was that elicited the response 169 00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:56,520 from one of my coaches. And he said, dyke without, he 170 00:10:56,640 --> 00:10:59,880 said without Chloe, you would be dead in a ditch somewhere. 171 00:11:00,320 --> 00:11:04,280 That's what he said. That's what he said that I 172 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:08,080 heard. What he meant, what he meant to 173 00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:11,920 say was call. I think you're really funny and 174 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:13,560 I like being around you and I love you. 175 00:11:13,560 --> 00:11:19,480 That's what he meant to say. But what he literally said was 176 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,360 call. Without Chloe, you'd be dead in 177 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:24,080 a ditch somewhere. It's what he said. 178 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:27,880 Now if we if we looked at that statement literally and tried to 179 00:11:27,880 --> 00:11:31,280 ascertain the original audience and the original speakers 180 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:36,040 intent, we would ask the question, did he actually mean 181 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:38,560 that literally? Like does he literally think 182 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:41,400 that without Chloe I'd be dead in a ditch somewhere? 183 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:43,560 Literally. Yeah, probably. 184 00:11:43,640 --> 00:11:46,000 That's probably. That's probably true. 185 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:48,720 Is that God's idea for womanhood? 186 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:55,560 Did God create Eve for the purpose making sure that Adam 187 00:11:55,560 --> 00:11:58,080 isn't laying dead in a ditch somewhere? 188 00:11:58,480 --> 00:12:03,960 Maybe, like partly, but that is not the whole of what we see 189 00:12:03,960 --> 00:12:08,240 when we see the word helper. The bigger idea behind the 190 00:12:08,240 --> 00:12:13,640 massive claim that it's not good for man to be alone is that men 191 00:12:13,920 --> 00:12:21,000 do not, will not, and cannot fully image God by themselves. 192 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:27,080 Without Eve, Adam can't get the job done. 193 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:35,560 So the world needs women. God's mission needs women, the 194 00:12:35,560 --> 00:12:41,520 church needs women. And it's only together, men and 195 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:45,800 women, in their equalities and in their distinctions, come 196 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:51,680 together to form a fuller, richer picture of what God is 197 00:12:51,680 --> 00:12:54,880 like. God's mission is not a it's not 198 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:57,920 a, it's not a boy's game. The church is not a boy's club. 199 00:12:57,920 --> 00:13:00,160 Christianity is not a boy's religion. 200 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:02,680 I've got a six year old daughter. 201 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,800 I want the church to be a place for her where it is awesome to 202 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:12,360 be a woman. Church needs women, and 203 00:13:12,360 --> 00:13:17,800 fortunately for us, God gives us an awesome word for Eve. 204 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:23,560 He calls her A helper. So we got to dig deep on this 205 00:13:23,560 --> 00:13:25,920 word again. Right now the temptation you're 206 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:30,080 experiencing is to is to unpack cultural stereotypes. 207 00:13:30,360 --> 00:13:32,880 And instead we need to sweep those out of the way and 208 00:13:32,880 --> 00:13:35,840 actually get to what the Bible says about the word helper. 209 00:13:35,840 --> 00:13:38,520 So we're going to go deep here. And if we go too deep, just plug 210 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:41,560 your nose and breathe out like a scuba diver and I swear your 211 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:44,640 ears will pop. And so the first thing we need 212 00:13:44,640 --> 00:13:48,920 to do before I give a definition of the word helper, words also 213 00:13:48,920 --> 00:13:52,800 have, they have weight and they have textures and they have 214 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:54,480 feelings. And so the first thing we need 215 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:59,080 to get right is how the word helper originally felt. 216 00:13:59,640 --> 00:14:03,640 OK, so here's probably the most important observation that any 217 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:08,160 Christian theologian makes when they unpack the word helper from 218 00:14:08,160 --> 00:14:11,880 chapter 2, verse 18. And the observation is this. 219 00:14:12,160 --> 00:14:17,360 The word helper into 18 is used many more times in the Old 220 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:19,680 Testament. Do you know who it's most 221 00:14:19,680 --> 00:14:24,520 frequently attributed to? God. 222 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:29,040 Not women, not Eve, although it is attributed to Eve right here. 223 00:14:29,240 --> 00:14:33,600 But it is most frequently attributed to God himself. 224 00:14:33,600 --> 00:14:37,640 I'll give you 2 examples, though there are many in Psalm 54 verse 225 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:42,560 4. Behold, God is my helper. 226 00:14:44,160 --> 00:14:49,320 Hebrew word is is that EZER? It's the exact same word as 218 227 00:14:50,880 --> 00:14:52,320 Psalm 118. Seven. 228 00:14:52,520 --> 00:15:00,040 The Lord is on my side as a helper, the exact same word as 229 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:04,400 chapter 2 verse 18. The reason why you need to feel 230 00:15:04,400 --> 00:15:09,560 it before I define it is to make sure that this never becomes the 231 00:15:09,560 --> 00:15:14,120 type of church where the word helper is used, like in a 232 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:19,040 derogatory or undercutting way. I don't care what your favorite 233 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:21,760 podcaster says, if your podcaster is like, well, you 234 00:15:21,760 --> 00:15:26,280 know, she's just a helper. Never treat the word helper that 235 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,640 way. It's a word imbued, infused with 236 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,840 ultimate worth, value and dignity because it's ultimately 237 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:36,040 A tribute to the one who has ultimate worth, value and 238 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:37,520 dignity. God. 239 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:46,160 And so it's a massive, way rich, beautiful word that in chapter 240 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:50,640 2, verse 18, yes, is attributed to Eve uniquely. 241 00:15:50,640 --> 00:15:54,720 And if you can feel that, then what we can also do is define 242 00:15:54,720 --> 00:15:56,400 it. There's some distinction on the 243 00:15:56,400 --> 00:15:59,840 spectrum of theologians, but ultimately the vast majority of 244 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:03,400 theologians, and I think they're right, ultimately end up defying 245 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:08,400 the word helper as literally meaning one who encourages and 246 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:13,360 one who brings out strength. So we'll take these one by one. 247 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:16,520 They're both beautiful. We'll start with one who 248 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:19,600 encourages, helper as encourager. 249 00:16:19,880 --> 00:16:24,000 Ephesians 5 in the New Testament maps this out beautifully in 250 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,760 Ephesians 5, if you read it in a toll, and I think you should. 251 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:31,560 What Ephesians 5 maps out is Paul exhorts men to love their 252 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:35,720 wives, and he exhorts wives to respect their husbands. 253 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:38,040 Now why is that exhortation there? 254 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:41,400 It's not there because men don't need love and women don't need 255 00:16:41,400 --> 00:16:43,760 respect. Of course we all need those 256 00:16:43,760 --> 00:16:45,520 elements, right? I've got a six year old son. 257 00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:50,360 I want people to love that little booger. 8 year old son 258 00:16:51,080 --> 00:16:59,200 and I love him. You know, it happens sometimes. 259 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:01,680 I'm a words guy, not numbers. Give me a break. 260 00:17:02,240 --> 00:17:04,599 Right. We both need both of of those 261 00:17:04,599 --> 00:17:06,400 things. So why is the exhortation there? 262 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:08,960 The exhortation is there to correct errors. 263 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:12,560 It's corrective. Men tend to value honor, so 264 00:17:12,560 --> 00:17:14,960 their tendency is to give respect. 265 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:19,960 Women tend to value love more, so their tendency is to give 266 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:22,800 love more. And So what results is a little 267 00:17:22,800 --> 00:17:26,200 bit of a disparity. Men tend to want people to 268 00:17:26,200 --> 00:17:28,920 validate their skills, their abilities and their 269 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:31,520 achievements. Women tend to want their 270 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:35,240 personhood validated in love. And so there's tendency, there's 271 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:38,000 a deficiency and a disparity in the relationship so that the 272 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:42,200 Bible says women respect your husband's husbands, love your 273 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:43,840 wives. And so one of the best things 274 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:47,480 that a wife can do if she's seeking to live out and embody 275 00:17:47,800 --> 00:17:51,400 that title of helper is to correct that of disparity by 276 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:56,920 strategically and genuinely emphasis on genuinely is to 277 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:02,880 strategically and genuinely aim to be the most encouraging 278 00:18:02,880 --> 00:18:09,640 person in her husband's life. Now, if you bristle against 279 00:18:09,640 --> 00:18:15,000 that, if that rubs you the wrong way, I can probably tell you why 280 00:18:15,000 --> 00:18:17,480 that is. Maybe what you just heard me say 281 00:18:17,800 --> 00:18:20,680 is you got to be the person to just blow smoke up your 282 00:18:20,680 --> 00:18:23,240 husband's rear end all the time. And that's not what I'm saying. 283 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:25,920 So there's two errors that people tend to make when it 284 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:28,320 comes to encouragement. I'll outline them both. 285 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:31,400 Error #1 is flattery. I am not. 286 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:34,360 When the Bible says, when the Bible says wives honor your 287 00:18:34,360 --> 00:18:36,280 husband's, it's not saying flatter. 288 00:18:36,280 --> 00:18:43,240 Your kisses ring all the time. Publicly flattery is on helpful. 289 00:18:43,320 --> 00:18:46,960 That's not what's going on. You, Kristen, should never say 290 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:49,840 things that aren't true. So you should not say things 291 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:51,600 that aren't true. And so you shouldn't flatter 292 00:18:51,600 --> 00:18:53,440 your husband and encourage him for doing nothing. 293 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:54,920 And that's not what I want to advocate for. 294 00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:59,440 That's brown nosing. You can also, though, error on 295 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:01,720 the opposite side of the spectrum of error #1 is 296 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:06,280 flattery, Then error #2 there at the bottom is perfectionism. 297 00:19:06,560 --> 00:19:11,080 If flattery is just saying things that aren't true, then 298 00:19:11,080 --> 00:19:16,800 perfectionism is withholding encouragement intentionally from 299 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:20,640 your husband because the standards you have for him are 300 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:23,640 standards that can only be met by God. 301 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:28,840 That's also on unhelpful. You won't be doing any helping 302 00:19:28,840 --> 00:19:32,120 if your husband has to be God in order to receive encouragement. 303 00:19:32,120 --> 00:19:38,440 So of course, of course, the key somewhere in the middle, but 304 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:42,280 being a helper at the very least means verbally out loud, 305 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:46,680 encouraging your husband when you see him exhibit traits that 306 00:19:46,680 --> 00:19:51,560 are honorable, even if they are imperfect. 307 00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:55,560 I I read, I was reading in a Christian author. 308 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,160 I can't remember who said this. So I can't, I can't attribute 309 00:19:58,160 --> 00:20:00,040 this to anybody, but it wasn't my original thought. 310 00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,680 And he made the point he, it was really interesting. 311 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:06,640 He he made the point that modern churches. 312 00:20:07,720 --> 00:20:15,320 Tend to love calling out masculine sense and they tend to 313 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:19,200 be deeply afraid to even touch feminine sense. 314 00:20:20,440 --> 00:20:22,760 And I read that and I was like, that's interesting. 315 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:25,560 And I immediately my heart turned inward and I was like, is 316 00:20:25,560 --> 00:20:28,800 that true of me as a preacher and a leader? 317 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:33,840 And the answer I think is totally, it absolutely is. 318 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:35,480 I'm deathly afraid of doing that right? 319 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:38,280 Because like, if if a preacher gets up in front of a church and 320 00:20:38,280 --> 00:20:41,160 it's like, hey, and rips into man by man, you know what I 321 00:20:41,160 --> 00:20:45,840 mean, Leaders, sacrificers and rips into them for being lazy or 322 00:20:45,840 --> 00:20:49,040 distant. The church is like, Hooray, you 323 00:20:49,040 --> 00:20:52,840 are so brave. Here's a golden star. 324 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:57,160 But if a guy gets up and it's like, hey, women, let's talk 325 00:20:57,160 --> 00:21:01,360 about being unnecessarily harsh and overly critical, I think the 326 00:21:01,360 --> 00:21:06,000 church has a tendency to be like, and I don't like being 327 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:12,440 boot, but I'm afraid of that. But I'm going to take a step, I 328 00:21:12,440 --> 00:21:16,120 think, in the direction of growth and faithfulness this 329 00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:19,640 morning and just dig in a little, a little bit. 330 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:23,160 I was listening to a podcast with Allison Armstrong, having 331 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:25,520 you guys listened to her. She was new to me. 332 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,600 You're laughing. I thought it was great. 333 00:21:30,360 --> 00:21:32,200 Fantastic. OK. 334 00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:33,800 Is she a Christian? I couldn't tell. 335 00:21:34,120 --> 00:21:36,440 So not a Christian. So take this with the grain 336 00:21:36,440 --> 00:21:38,560 salt. She ended up drawing a lot of 337 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:40,840 conclusions that I thought were absolutely profound. 338 00:21:41,120 --> 00:21:43,600 Of all the things that she said that I thought were profound in 339 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:51,640 the podcast, what she said, what she said is that in marriages, 340 00:21:52,560 --> 00:22:00,920 wives have the tendency to attack their husbands when their 341 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:06,880 husbands are happy. That was really interesting. 342 00:22:08,120 --> 00:22:10,440 And so she substantiated the argument in a couple different 343 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:14,000 ways, but the main way she abstained substantiated the 344 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,800 argument was with this statement. 345 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:20,400 I wrote it down. She said, look, if he's happy 346 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:26,680 about something that isn't me or I didn't do, I experienced that 347 00:22:26,680 --> 00:22:31,960 happiness as power. And so my gut reaction, my 348 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:34,920 impulse is to feel threatened by his happiness. 349 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:38,880 And I feel like I have to attack and tear down that happiness. 350 00:22:45,800 --> 00:22:47,200 I don't know if you identify with that. 351 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:51,960 She she goes on to actually talk about this story where she was 352 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:54,880 talking in a marriage conference and she was talking publicly 353 00:22:54,880 --> 00:22:59,360 about the tender care that women tend to show their dogs. 354 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:05,000 And she pauses in the middle of the speech and she reads the men 355 00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:09,560 in the room. She leans in and she says, men, 356 00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:16,720 I'm sorry if your wives treat your dogs better than you. 357 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:21,200 She said all, not all. She said the majority. 358 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:26,480 The majority of the faces of the men in the audience just melt. 359 00:23:32,360 --> 00:23:39,520 So is your pastor if you are married and you identify with 360 00:23:39,520 --> 00:23:43,640 that impulse or temptation to attack your husband when he's 361 00:23:43,640 --> 00:23:47,440 happy. If I were you, I would treat 362 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:52,160 that like potential cancer. I would treat it like cancer. 363 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:56,800 I would bomb it with spiritual chemo right away. 364 00:23:57,160 --> 00:24:02,120 I would, I would treat that like it like, almost like it's a 365 00:24:02,120 --> 00:24:03,840 demon that needs to be casted out. 366 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:07,600 I would find my closest women friends, a couple of them who 367 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:11,880 love Jesus, who I trust. I would confess that impulse and 368 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:15,200 I would ask them to lay hands on me and cast it out like a demon. 369 00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:19,200 Because if you don't adequately deal with that, your marriage 370 00:24:19,200 --> 00:24:22,680 becomes characterized by constant criticism and you end 371 00:24:22,680 --> 00:24:27,160 up building a ticking time bomb. And so this is this is key. 372 00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:30,200 This is this is not a trick. This is just reality. 373 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:33,360 Let me say this. Let me qualify it first. 374 00:24:34,560 --> 00:24:38,720 Christian husband should be loyal to their wives no matter 375 00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:42,040 what, unconditionally. Amen. 376 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:46,960 But if you're married and you want your husband to be gladly, 377 00:24:47,400 --> 00:24:54,760 happily, just over the moon gladly loyal to you, the key is 378 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:57,920 actually simple. Honor him and encourage him. 379 00:24:57,960 --> 00:25:03,200 It doesn't mean nothing that Paul exhorts wives to honor 380 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:06,800 their husbands. And so that aspect of being a 381 00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:13,160 helper as encourager, I think is absolutely beautiful and I think 382 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:15,960 it's absolutely valid. But it's more than that. 383 00:25:16,360 --> 00:25:20,320 That's just a small chunk of it. The second interesting thing 384 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:25,920 about the word helper is that it also literally means one who 385 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:29,640 brings out strength. So we're going to dig deep into 386 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:31,960 this one as well because this one is gorgeous. 387 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:36,320 The word helper it it has it literally has military 388 00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:40,520 connotations to it. It's most frequently used of God 389 00:25:40,720 --> 00:25:43,720 in military environments. Right. 390 00:25:43,720 --> 00:25:49,920 So at a literal level, the word helper means Co conqueror or 391 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:52,320 Paul in the New Testament says Co heir. 392 00:25:53,640 --> 00:25:57,640 It means war body, a war buddy that you're on mission with 393 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:01,480 that's an equal to you. It means that Eve was designed 394 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:07,000 to meaningfully participate in the mission that God gives Adam 395 00:26:08,680 --> 00:26:15,840 in a million different ways, chiefly by bringing out uniquely 396 00:26:16,200 --> 00:26:19,720 his strength. You are a strength bringer. 397 00:26:20,040 --> 00:26:23,760 I'm really, I'm really passionate about this and I'm 398 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:28,000 really passionate about this because I have been the 399 00:26:28,000 --> 00:26:32,800 beneficiary of it and the recipient of it in, in my own 400 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:34,880 marriage. Like I've just experienced this 401 00:26:34,880 --> 00:26:37,960 deeply from from my wife. I'm not saying she's Jesus. 402 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:40,160 I'm just saying she's second best thing. 403 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:49,120 I can't do this. I can't do anything without her. 404 00:26:49,480 --> 00:26:54,760 Like literally no Chloe Dickey, no Frontier Church period. 405 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:02,040 I, Chloe and I, we were engaged when we were engaged, I was AI 406 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:04,400 was a high school English teacher. 407 00:27:04,880 --> 00:27:07,600 And then I started to feel or sense in me that God might be 408 00:27:07,600 --> 00:27:09,960 calling me to to plan a church. And we were engaged in that 409 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:12,040 time. And so I remember feeling that 410 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:14,760 burden to have that conversation with Chloe, especially at that 411 00:27:14,760 --> 00:27:17,440 point in our relationship and be like, Hey, I think God might be 412 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:19,560 calling me to plan a church. What do you think? 413 00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:22,480 I was really nervous about that conversation because I really 414 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,080 liked Chloe. And also I was under the 415 00:27:25,080 --> 00:27:28,120 assumption that she felt like she was marrying a guy with 416 00:27:28,120 --> 00:27:33,240 like, you know, like a dependable job and like a 417 00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:39,200 predictable paycheck Slirk. So I was really I was really 418 00:27:39,200 --> 00:27:43,160 nervous about that. And I was fully, I was fully 419 00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:46,200 prepared to hear Chloe say, I don't think, I don't think so. 420 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:50,200 Or maybe not in the season. If that was the case, I would 421 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:54,120 have spent my life happily married to her as a high school 422 00:27:54,120 --> 00:28:01,520 English teacher for sure. Like, I don't need, I don't need 423 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:04,840 this. I like it. 424 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,920 I like, I like this. Hope I get to do it for the rest 425 00:28:08,920 --> 00:28:09,920 of my life. But I don't. 426 00:28:09,960 --> 00:28:17,800 I don't need this, OK? I need, I need Chloe. 427 00:28:19,480 --> 00:28:25,760 I don't need you like you, but I'm good without you. 428 00:28:27,760 --> 00:28:32,480 I'm good without preaching. I'm good without church plants. 429 00:28:32,480 --> 00:28:35,040 I'm not good, not OK without Chloe. 430 00:28:35,840 --> 00:28:38,800 So I was fully prepared to have that conversation with Chloe and 431 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:42,840 for her to be like, no, I don't think so, at least not, you 432 00:28:42,840 --> 00:28:46,280 know, in the season. And so I I'm trying to describe 433 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:51,520 to you, does this get so close to strength bringer? 434 00:28:52,600 --> 00:28:55,640 I'm trying to describe to you what it felt like to have that 435 00:28:55,640 --> 00:28:57,800 conversation with Chloe and be like, I didn't gonna let me go 436 00:28:57,800 --> 00:29:01,800 on me to be a church planner. Am I crazy expecting to hear no 437 00:29:01,800 --> 00:29:09,640 and instead having her go pick up a journal and turn it to one 438 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:16,240 of the front pages of her prayer journal and to read a prayer 439 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:22,760 that she wrote after one of our first dates and the prayer said, 440 00:29:24,800 --> 00:29:27,280 thank you, God, I'm going to marry a pastor. 441 00:29:29,480 --> 00:29:31,680 And I was like this. That makes this conversation a 442 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:40,880 lot easier. She saw something in me before I 443 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:51,440 saw it in me and the effect that that had on me was to draw more 444 00:29:51,440 --> 00:29:56,240 strength out of me. Like I think about that moment 445 00:29:56,240 --> 00:30:00,240 and I think to myself, I want to be the man that Chloe thought 446 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:03,640 she saw in me in that moment. And that brings strength. 447 00:30:05,840 --> 00:30:12,120 It that is what has but by the calling of God kept me doing 448 00:30:12,120 --> 00:30:14,400 this. And on mission as a church 449 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:18,320 planter and a pastor, One of the hardest things I ever said no 450 00:30:18,320 --> 00:30:21,960 to, I remember telling my principal that I was resigning 451 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:24,000 and that was hard. He was like, what can I do to 452 00:30:24,000 --> 00:30:25,240 keep you? And I really value that 453 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:27,760 relationship. That was not the hardest thing 454 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:29,840 I've ever said no to. The hardest thing I've ever said 455 00:30:29,840 --> 00:30:33,000 no to is when my parents, who are my heroes and we're just 456 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:34,920 being good parents. This is not a criticism. 457 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,600 There's being good parents. When I told them I resigned from 458 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:40,960 being a high school English teacher, they called me the next 459 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:45,480 day with tears in their eyes because they're good parents and 460 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:49,960 begged me to crawl back and beg for my teaching job. 461 00:30:51,720 --> 00:30:55,080 I'd never said no to my parents before in a meaningful way. 462 00:30:56,080 --> 00:30:57,880 Do you know what gave me strength to do that? 463 00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:05,200 I remember thinking, if Chloe thinks I can do this, then we 464 00:31:05,200 --> 00:31:09,600 can do this. And so it brought strength out 465 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:12,040 of me. Like that's it dude, that that's 466 00:31:12,040 --> 00:31:17,480 it, that's it. That moment that help. 467 00:31:17,880 --> 00:31:24,080 To me, even 10 years later, it feels like an Oasis in the 468 00:31:24,080 --> 00:31:28,200 desert. It feels like a voice calling 469 00:31:28,200 --> 00:31:31,320 out to me. It feels like strength when I 470 00:31:31,320 --> 00:31:40,520 don't have any. Nothing apart from the Spirit of 471 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:48,120 God, nothing can draw more strength out of a man than a 472 00:31:48,120 --> 00:31:51,200 woman who sees his potential and believes in him. 473 00:31:52,400 --> 00:31:56,440 And God knows that only Eve can draw that strength out of Adam. 474 00:31:57,400 --> 00:31:59,640 It's not good for Adam to be alone. 475 00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:01,880 And so this is going to make you nervous. 476 00:32:01,880 --> 00:32:04,560 But I guess maybe that's just what I'm doing this morning is 477 00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:06,840 making you nervous. So I'll throw another. 478 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:07,920 I'll throw my hat in the ring again. 479 00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:12,200 This is why I make you nervous. The word helper in 218 also has 480 00:32:12,200 --> 00:32:17,440 salvific connotations as well. It's used in situations in the 481 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:20,880 Bible where there is salvation on the line interchangeably, 482 00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:23,880 synonymously with salvation. Here's Psalm 121. 483 00:32:23,880 --> 00:32:25,520 Just listen to this. I'm not going to put it up on 484 00:32:25,520 --> 00:32:29,200 the screen. Psalm 121 I lift my eyes up to 485 00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:33,880 the hills. From where does my help is 486 00:32:33,880 --> 00:32:37,000 there? Where does my help come from? 487 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:41,760 My help is there. Same word as 2/18. 488 00:32:42,160 --> 00:32:46,560 My help, Some translations. My salvation comes from the 489 00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:49,560 Lord. Does that make you nervous? 490 00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:50,920 All right, let me make you nervous. 491 00:32:50,920 --> 00:32:54,480 OK. Eve is salvific to Adam. 492 00:32:56,480 --> 00:32:58,880 Wives are salvific for their husbands. 493 00:32:58,880 --> 00:33:02,640 Now I'm a Jesus alone guy, so you can unclench your butt 494 00:33:02,640 --> 00:33:03,720 cheeks and relax here. Let me. 495 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:10,800 No, she does not save Adam from the penalty of his sin. 496 00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:19,960 Only Jesus can do that. But she does say that only wives 497 00:33:19,960 --> 00:33:24,920 are salvific in the way that their feminine presence saves 498 00:33:24,920 --> 00:33:27,480 men not from the penalty of their sins, but from their 499 00:33:27,480 --> 00:33:32,400 stupidity and bad decisions and aimlessness and nihilism and 500 00:33:32,400 --> 00:33:36,160 lower selves. I've been reading this book of 501 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:39,440 dragon stories from my kids called Highly recommended 502 00:33:39,440 --> 00:33:42,160 Dragons and Dragon Slayers and my kids won't let me stop 503 00:33:42,160 --> 00:33:43,920 reading it. They ask for as many as I'll 504 00:33:43,920 --> 00:33:46,760 read to them and I and they all have the same plot. 505 00:33:46,960 --> 00:33:50,920 And so we were like 5 or 6 stories in when Della was like 506 00:33:50,920 --> 00:33:56,000 hey, yeah, question. I was like, yes, you in the 507 00:33:56,000 --> 00:34:02,080 back. And she says, why is it always a 508 00:34:02,080 --> 00:34:07,640 Princess? And shame, I was like, that's a 509 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:11,520 good question. And it's not because the 510 00:34:11,520 --> 00:34:15,639 Princess is helpless or incompetent. 511 00:34:16,159 --> 00:34:19,760 You can look at, I mean, in the modern world, in virtually every 512 00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:22,800 realm and area, women are outperforming men. 513 00:34:22,840 --> 00:34:25,960 It's not about competency. That's not the design of the 514 00:34:25,960 --> 00:34:29,080 story. It's not because women are are 515 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:32,600 helpless. It's because the stone it's the 516 00:34:32,600 --> 00:34:34,960 only thing that makes the story work. 517 00:34:35,480 --> 00:34:41,080 Because the only thing in the world that makes men want to 518 00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:46,080 fight Dragons is women. It's the only thing that gives 519 00:34:46,080 --> 00:34:49,639 them the strength to do that. And an awesome conversation with 520 00:34:49,639 --> 00:34:52,520 the church member this week about what it was like listening 521 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:56,040 to last week's sermon about men being the primary sacrificers 522 00:34:56,040 --> 00:34:58,960 and being willing to take the bite from the serpent and fight 523 00:34:58,960 --> 00:35:00,680 the serpent. He said something super 524 00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:02,040 interesting. He was like, I was in that 525 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:06,000 sermon and I thought, I thought, I want to get bit. 526 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:10,360 What would make a man want to do that? 527 00:35:10,720 --> 00:35:17,040 Why do why do men Daydream about getting into bar fights where 528 00:35:17,040 --> 00:35:22,000 they protect their wives honor? This right here. 529 00:35:22,360 --> 00:35:25,840 It's because the only thing in the world that makes men want to 530 00:35:25,840 --> 00:35:30,240 fight Dragons is women. So Eve as Adam's helper, she's 531 00:35:30,240 --> 00:35:35,600 Adam's help in that her presence will strengthen Adam and make 532 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:38,880 him actually want to fight the dragon or the serpent for him. 533 00:35:39,240 --> 00:35:42,240 Without Eve, Adam would. Without Eve, Adam would just 534 00:35:42,240 --> 00:35:45,480 watch porn and eat Doritos on his couch all day long. 535 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:48,520 It's all he would do. He would descend into his lower 536 00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:50,720 self. Don't misunderstand those 537 00:35:50,720 --> 00:35:53,440 ancient dragon stories. They're not just about the 538 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:55,440 Prince saving the Princess from the dragon. 539 00:35:57,080 --> 00:36:01,840 They're also about the Princess saving the Prince from his lower 540 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:07,960 self. Without Eve, Adam's prone to 541 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:10,760 aimlessness and directionlessness and nihilism 542 00:36:10,760 --> 00:36:12,560 and self destruction. It's true. 543 00:36:12,920 --> 00:36:16,400 Without women, men descend. Descend into meaninglessness and 544 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:20,160 savagery and brutality. I spend a lot of time in male 545 00:36:20,160 --> 00:36:25,160 only spaces. Promise you men will descend 546 00:36:25,160 --> 00:36:29,280 into savagery without the presence of women. 547 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:35,320 Presence of women draws out the best, the godliest of men. 548 00:36:35,320 --> 00:36:38,480 And so I'm, I'm skipping a little bit ahead here and I'll 549 00:36:38,480 --> 00:36:40,040 have a sermon for this in a couple of weeks. 550 00:36:40,040 --> 00:36:44,080 But have you ever noticed this is so profound? 551 00:36:46,240 --> 00:36:53,680 You ever noticed what the first thing Eve draws out of Adam when 552 00:36:53,680 --> 00:36:55,400 Adam sees Eve for the first time? 553 00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:05,680 It's a poem. I like what I'm about to say too 554 00:37:05,680 --> 00:37:08,800 much. Oh, this is good. 555 00:37:10,680 --> 00:37:14,520 Without women, there would be no poetry. 556 00:37:16,400 --> 00:37:18,520 There would be no poetry in the world. 557 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:22,680 Women and men collaborate together to, yes, fill the earth 558 00:37:22,680 --> 00:37:28,400 with purpose and mission and achievements, but also to fill 559 00:37:28,400 --> 00:37:33,280 the world with poetry and relational warmth and comfort. 560 00:37:33,440 --> 00:37:36,280 The Word I love here that theologians will use for the 561 00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:39,040 word helper is collaborative. I love that word. 562 00:37:39,360 --> 00:37:43,040 God's designed men and women to be collaborative, to work 563 00:37:43,040 --> 00:37:46,120 together. That's why Genesis 218 uses the 564 00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:48,120 word fit. Did you notice that I'll make a 565 00:37:48,120 --> 00:37:51,080 helper fit, fit for him? God. 566 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:55,200 The idea is that God carved out and molded and designed the 567 00:37:55,200 --> 00:37:58,440 woman to fit with the man collaboratively so they would 568 00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:02,800 collaborate together as equals. And when they do, women should 569 00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:06,640 flourish because of men, and men should be strengthened because 570 00:38:06,640 --> 00:38:09,160 of women. And the church only flourishes 571 00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:12,640 when men are strengthened and women flourish. 572 00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:19,880 I'm not. I'm just not saying this out 573 00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:21,240 loud doesn't make me nervous at all. 574 00:38:21,240 --> 00:38:23,320 We just have to be able to talk on this level together. 575 00:38:23,320 --> 00:38:24,680 So this just doesn't make me nervous. 576 00:38:25,360 --> 00:38:31,400 Estrogen is awesome. Estrogen is God's idea. 577 00:38:32,480 --> 00:38:36,000 It's how he hardwires women. So if you're a woman, you should 578 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:38,520 ask yourself why? Why did he do that? 579 00:38:38,520 --> 00:38:42,400 Why did God sovereignly decide to pump, depending on the 580 00:38:42,400 --> 00:38:47,840 academic, 5 to 10 times more estrogen in my body than He puts 581 00:38:47,840 --> 00:38:49,920 in the average male body? Have you ever wondered that? 582 00:38:50,440 --> 00:38:55,240 Why would he do that? It's because estrogen is the 583 00:38:55,240 --> 00:38:58,840 hormone that encourages relational connection and 584 00:38:58,840 --> 00:39:02,680 nurturing and empathy. And the world needs that. 585 00:39:03,520 --> 00:39:07,920 The world needs estrogen. It draws the best out of people. 586 00:39:08,080 --> 00:39:11,840 It ensures that people receive nurture and care, which are not 587 00:39:11,840 --> 00:39:14,880 secondary things that are less important than food. 588 00:39:15,520 --> 00:39:20,640 Without those things, human beings don't develop or grow. 589 00:39:22,720 --> 00:39:25,360 They don't, they need it more than they need food. 590 00:39:25,760 --> 00:39:29,520 And so femininity is it's just, it's magical. 591 00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:33,520 I just, it's magical the way you see it, like work out sometimes, 592 00:39:33,560 --> 00:39:38,840 like in the Daike household, if a kid these things are magnetic, 593 00:39:39,240 --> 00:39:43,360 like if one of our kids bumps her head or gets his feelings 594 00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:48,680 hurt, Chloe's like a magnet, right? 595 00:39:48,680 --> 00:39:51,680 If Chloe's there and I'm there, like if it's just me, they'll 596 00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:53,400 come to me. But if Chloe's there and I'm 597 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:59,320 there, they will stiff arm me, run through me to get to Chloe. 598 00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:02,480 It's like a tractor beam. It's amazing. 599 00:40:03,120 --> 00:40:08,360 Now, if the kids want to have fun, I like, I, I tend to be the 600 00:40:08,360 --> 00:40:11,800 magnet there, right there. They're drawn to me and like 601 00:40:11,800 --> 00:40:14,640 this guy is one of us. Let's go play with them. 602 00:40:14,880 --> 00:40:16,320 So there's like a trap. They're mean. 603 00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:18,040 That sucks them into me. But then what? 604 00:40:18,040 --> 00:40:21,480 You're that's what that's one small way where you see God's 605 00:40:21,480 --> 00:40:25,200 utter brilliance on display. The world, the church, the 606 00:40:25,200 --> 00:40:31,520 family needs estrogen and testosterone, women and men. 607 00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:38,760 Estrogen images more fully, more richly, the nurturing and caring 608 00:40:38,800 --> 00:40:42,800 aspects of God's character and displays it to the world. 609 00:40:43,760 --> 00:40:45,600 Here's the way. Oh my goodness, this is poetry. 610 00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:53,600 Ed Stein, in her tremendous essay, says the feminine soul is 611 00:40:53,600 --> 00:41:03,080 fashioned to be a shelter in which other souls may unfold. 612 00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:09,360 It's beautiful, This is not. Again, I can't be more clear 613 00:41:09,360 --> 00:41:13,720 about this. This is not a personality rights 614 00:41:13,720 --> 00:41:16,680 of responsibility. This is not a personality type. 615 00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:22,560 A woman can be a godly woman. She can be a shelter if she is 616 00:41:22,840 --> 00:41:30,640 quiet or exuberant, introverted or extroverted, shy or driven, 617 00:41:31,040 --> 00:41:35,840 emotional or intellectual. Women can be faithful women of 618 00:41:35,840 --> 00:41:42,360 God if they are an Enneagram. 12345678 or 9. 619 00:41:43,520 --> 00:41:47,360 It's not a type, it's not a personality, it's not a costume. 620 00:41:47,360 --> 00:41:50,560 It's not about fulfilling cultural stereotypes. 621 00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:54,280 So let's spread the love out here a little bit because I 622 00:41:54,280 --> 00:41:55,600 think I, I think I still have time. 623 00:41:55,600 --> 00:41:56,960 I'm going to spread the love out a little bit. 624 00:41:56,960 --> 00:41:59,360 All right, we'll, we'll start with married woman, then we'll 625 00:41:59,360 --> 00:42:02,160 go to unmarried women. Married women. 626 00:42:03,040 --> 00:42:10,240 You as a helper are worthy of being cultivated and guarded and 627 00:42:10,240 --> 00:42:14,720 treasured, and you should be. And unfortunately, the 628 00:42:14,720 --> 00:42:18,120 statistics are very damning for the USA. 629 00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:21,640 They're a little bit better for Christians, but depending on the 630 00:42:21,640 --> 00:42:25,280 statistician you read, the odds of American women being an 631 00:42:25,280 --> 00:42:27,960 abusive marriages is absurdly high. 632 00:42:27,960 --> 00:42:33,640 It's roughly like one in four. And so not enough churches say 633 00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:34,760 this. We're going to say it. 634 00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:40,640 That's you and you are in an emotionally, spiritually or 635 00:42:40,640 --> 00:42:46,120 physically abusive marriage. This is a safe place for you to 636 00:42:46,120 --> 00:42:49,600 get help. This is not. 637 00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:56,720 This is not a safe place for abusers, husbands who are 638 00:42:58,240 --> 00:43:00,880 physically, spiritually, emotionally abusive. 639 00:43:03,480 --> 00:43:05,800 We will find you. We will. 640 00:43:05,920 --> 00:43:08,200 We always do. It happens, and that will be 641 00:43:08,200 --> 00:43:12,400 God's mercy to you because you might be able to run and hide 642 00:43:12,400 --> 00:43:15,640 from us, but you can't run and hide from the Lord Jesus Christ. 643 00:43:16,480 --> 00:43:22,320 And it would be much better for you to get caught or come out to 644 00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:26,800 elders than to stand before Him on Judgement Day. 645 00:43:27,440 --> 00:43:33,880 So this is not a place where way too often the games that 646 00:43:33,960 --> 00:43:39,400 religious men play is they use religious words as a facade to 647 00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:44,280 baptize abusive behavior. That's not going to fly here. 648 00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:48,720 We know the words, we know the interpretations. 649 00:43:49,080 --> 00:43:53,520 I don't care how many Bible verses you can memorize one. 650 00:43:53,520 --> 00:43:56,120 I mean, one of the probably one of the best compliments I've 651 00:43:56,160 --> 00:43:58,960 ever gotten as a pastor is one of my college buddies was 652 00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:03,600 visiting and she dropped in one Sunday and afterwards she said 653 00:44:03,600 --> 00:44:04,880 this. I thought this was so cool. 654 00:44:04,880 --> 00:44:07,640 She said cool. A lot of times in churches, I 655 00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:11,280 actually don't feel comfortable around the men in the church. 656 00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:15,320 For whatever reason, and I don't know what it is, but I actually 657 00:44:15,320 --> 00:44:18,360 felt really comfortable around the men in your church. 658 00:44:18,960 --> 00:44:20,560 Oh, that was awesome. So let's keep building the 659 00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:21,680 church like that. Amen. 660 00:44:22,720 --> 00:44:27,960 Unmarried women, the mission of God is not waiting for you in 661 00:44:27,960 --> 00:44:31,720 the future. It's now the mission of God 662 00:44:31,720 --> 00:44:34,840 needs you on married women. Paul tells the Corinthian church 663 00:44:35,120 --> 00:44:37,360 in first Corinthians 11. Listen to this, he says quote. 664 00:44:37,760 --> 00:44:43,160 Nevertheless, in the Lord, woman is not independent of man nor 665 00:44:43,160 --> 00:44:47,040 man of woman. For as the woman was made from 666 00:44:47,040 --> 00:44:53,000 man, Eve from Adam, so now man is born of woman and so all 667 00:44:53,000 --> 00:44:56,240 things are from God. Man and women are not 668 00:44:56,360 --> 00:44:59,520 independent upon one another. What does that mean? 669 00:45:00,120 --> 00:45:05,760 That means that Christian men need your presence in the church 670 00:45:06,800 --> 00:45:11,400 and not just as a potential husband, right? 671 00:45:11,400 --> 00:45:13,960 That's not, that's not even a description in the Bible. 672 00:45:13,960 --> 00:45:17,040 You know what the Bible calls women in the church that you're 673 00:45:17,040 --> 00:45:20,160 not married to? They're called sisters in the 674 00:45:20,160 --> 00:45:24,280 Lord, not potential stumbling blocks. 675 00:45:26,080 --> 00:45:29,880 Sisters in the Lord. You can. 676 00:45:29,960 --> 00:45:34,560 Let me say it this way. Single women are so needed in 677 00:45:34,560 --> 00:45:38,640 the church because men, you can learn things from the women in 678 00:45:38,640 --> 00:45:43,240 our church that you can't learn from men because they image God 679 00:45:43,240 --> 00:45:46,080 in a unique way that men usually don't. 680 00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:48,960 And no, I'm not suggesting that you need to be BFFS with all the 681 00:45:48,960 --> 00:45:52,000 women in our church. But you do need to be in 682 00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:56,800 community with godly women so that you can be discipled by 683 00:45:56,800 --> 00:45:59,520 their presence. You can gain things. 684 00:46:00,840 --> 00:46:07,480 You can gain things in the Lord from Aubrey Harbaugh and Lauren 685 00:46:07,480 --> 00:46:12,440 Kerr and Sheila Young and Alex Pasker that cannot be gained or 686 00:46:12,440 --> 00:46:17,520 learned from Andrew Self, Noah Holthouse, or even John Piper. 687 00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:25,000 The church needs women, their voices, their personalities, 688 00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:27,880 their spirituality, their presence. 689 00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:36,880 God help us if this church ever descends into being a locker 690 00:46:36,880 --> 00:46:44,000 room space where men roll their eyes at the voices and presences 691 00:46:44,200 --> 00:46:49,720 of women in the church. God will destroy that church. 692 00:46:52,280 --> 00:46:54,920 He won't build a house where his daughters are dishonored. 693 00:46:56,880 --> 00:47:00,120 We need the presence of women. So at the risk of 694 00:47:00,760 --> 00:47:03,440 oversimplifying, here's maybe a thesis statement to consider. 695 00:47:03,960 --> 00:47:08,360 A church without masculinity would descend into 696 00:47:08,360 --> 00:47:11,240 sentimentality and be consumed by wolves. 697 00:47:12,320 --> 00:47:15,720 But a church without femininity would descend and do a 698 00:47:15,720 --> 00:47:19,760 brutalized, cold locker room without shelter, where nothing 699 00:47:19,760 --> 00:47:22,760 grows. And so it's only when women and 700 00:47:22,760 --> 00:47:26,880 men come together, little atoms and little Eve's, in all their 701 00:47:26,880 --> 00:47:29,720 equalities and their distinctions, that we can 702 00:47:29,720 --> 00:47:35,000 honestly say to the world here, this is what God's like. 703 00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:43,120 We together are what God's like. It's only them. 704 00:47:44,160 --> 00:47:47,440 And yeah, maybe I just want to poke maybe at one more thing. 705 00:47:48,040 --> 00:47:53,000 Maybe the biblical description of Adam as a guard and Eve as a 706 00:47:53,000 --> 00:47:56,320 helper, as a single woman, makes you feel like you're missing out 707 00:47:56,320 --> 00:47:59,240 on something. And if that's you, you just need 708 00:47:59,240 --> 00:48:04,520 to know that you have a guard. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. 709 00:48:04,920 --> 00:48:07,800 He's the perfect guard. He's the perfect cultivator. 710 00:48:08,040 --> 00:48:11,880 And your ultimate purpose in life is not to be the helper of 711 00:48:11,880 --> 00:48:19,040 some future man, because in Christ there are no Eves without 712 00:48:19,240 --> 00:48:22,120 an Adam. If you're a Christian, there are 713 00:48:22,120 --> 00:48:26,400 no Eve's without an Adam, because the ultimate fulfillment 714 00:48:26,400 --> 00:48:29,720 of Adam is the second and last Adam, Jesus Christ. 715 00:48:31,320 --> 00:48:35,080 And so your goal, the purpose of your life is to be Jesus 716 00:48:35,080 --> 00:48:37,480 Christ's helper. That's the goal. 717 00:48:37,880 --> 00:48:41,160 The goal of every Christian woman is not to get married. 718 00:48:43,360 --> 00:48:46,160 The goal of every Christian woman is to be a disciple of 719 00:48:46,280 --> 00:48:49,000 Jesus and treasure him above everything else. 720 00:48:49,840 --> 00:48:52,600 Yes, marriage is awesome. But like the Gospel of Jesus 721 00:48:52,600 --> 00:48:56,480 teaches over and over and over again, your worth does not come 722 00:48:56,480 --> 00:49:00,040 from your works, does not come from your station in life. 723 00:49:00,040 --> 00:49:02,160 It does not come from your season of life. 724 00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:07,120 It comes from Jesus. So the highest aim of womanhood, 725 00:49:07,120 --> 00:49:12,440 the ultimate goal of femininity, is to glorify Jesus, to worship 726 00:49:12,440 --> 00:49:16,000 him, to treasure him, to love him, to throw yourself entirely 727 00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:18,280 on the gospel of Jesus, to believe with your whole heart 728 00:49:18,440 --> 00:49:21,920 that Christ was crucified for sins, to cover us in his 729 00:49:21,920 --> 00:49:24,880 righteousness, to grant us eternal life, and then to tell 730 00:49:24,880 --> 00:49:27,640 the world about him. God created womanhood. 731 00:49:28,240 --> 00:49:30,840 You know why? Because he wants to be glorified 732 00:49:30,840 --> 00:49:33,920 by women. There's just this beautiful 733 00:49:33,920 --> 00:49:36,960 story in the New Testament, Martha and Mary, a lot of people 734 00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:38,400 are familiar with it in the church. 735 00:49:38,680 --> 00:49:42,240 It's a really interesting story because Jesus is in the home and 736 00:49:42,880 --> 00:49:45,040 Martha and Mary are doing two different things. 737 00:49:46,200 --> 00:49:49,880 Martha is doing, she's doing the dishes, she's doing the meal, 738 00:49:49,880 --> 00:49:52,480 she's doing all of that, which which is an awesome 739 00:49:52,480 --> 00:49:54,600 responsibility. I'm not demeaning that in any 740 00:49:54,600 --> 00:49:56,200 way, but that's what that's what she's doing. 741 00:49:56,200 --> 00:50:00,080 She's busying herself with that. She's doing what the 1st century 742 00:50:00,680 --> 00:50:03,080 IT Israelite would have interpreted as that is the 743 00:50:03,240 --> 00:50:07,480 cultural stereotype for women. And what's Mary doing? 744 00:50:09,400 --> 00:50:13,760 She's sitting at Jesus's feet. Do you know who didn't do that? 745 00:50:13,760 --> 00:50:17,840 In the ancient world? Women discipleship was for men 746 00:50:19,000 --> 00:50:20,880 only. Men sat at the feet of their 747 00:50:20,880 --> 00:50:26,560 disciples and other men. And so for sure with the 748 00:50:26,560 --> 00:50:29,480 original audience is thinking is, oh, Jesus is going to come 749 00:50:29,480 --> 00:50:33,520 down on Mar on on Mary for doing the for doing that thing. 750 00:50:33,960 --> 00:50:38,480 And who's he come down on right. Martha's like, you want to help 751 00:50:38,480 --> 00:50:40,880 me out here, bro? And he goes, Hey, what you're 752 00:50:40,880 --> 00:50:42,640 doing, I think it's great. This is a rough interpretation. 753 00:50:42,840 --> 00:50:46,400 What I think you're doing is great, but Mary has chosen the 754 00:50:46,400 --> 00:50:51,080 greater portion. What does that tell you? 755 00:50:51,080 --> 00:50:55,280 That tells you that the ultimate aim and purpose of a woman isn't 756 00:50:55,440 --> 00:50:58,760 any singular thing you can do inside the house or outside the 757 00:50:58,760 --> 00:51:03,640 house. It's to sit at Jesus feet like 758 00:51:03,640 --> 00:51:08,280 wives. If if I I don't even doesn't 759 00:51:08,280 --> 00:51:09,560 matter to me. If you divvy out the 760 00:51:09,560 --> 00:51:11,720 responsibilities differently, it doesn't bother me at all. 761 00:51:12,320 --> 00:51:15,720 And and Chloe and I's marriage. Chloe tends to make the majority 762 00:51:16,040 --> 00:51:20,560 of the meals. I, I like grilling, you know, 763 00:51:20,560 --> 00:51:27,000 because cultural stereotypes. If that's you, if you make the 764 00:51:27,000 --> 00:51:31,080 majority of the meals, you know, and you're in the middle of a 765 00:51:31,080 --> 00:51:35,000 really busy day, you don't have any time to be with the Lord 766 00:51:35,000 --> 00:51:37,440 because you're just busy at work or busy with the kids or 767 00:51:37,440 --> 00:51:39,160 whatever. And you don't have 5 minutes to 768 00:51:39,160 --> 00:51:42,920 yourself. You finally got 30 minutes. 769 00:51:43,480 --> 00:51:49,760 Should you make the meal or get in the Bible? 770 00:51:52,880 --> 00:51:55,720 Let your husband starve, He's fine. 771 00:51:56,560 --> 00:51:59,080 Get in the word of God. That's the most important thing 772 00:51:59,080 --> 00:52:01,600 for you to do. If you have kids, maybe send 773 00:52:01,600 --> 00:52:06,000 your husband in the van with the kids to McDonald's or something. 774 00:52:06,760 --> 00:52:09,600 Or sorry, you got to know your audience to Chick-fil-A. 775 00:52:12,120 --> 00:52:15,640 But the singular, most valuable, important thing a woman should 776 00:52:15,640 --> 00:52:20,400 be doing is exalting him and loving Jesus. 777 00:52:20,400 --> 00:52:24,040 Because then, and only then, when you treasure Jesus more 778 00:52:24,040 --> 00:52:28,280 than anything, can you truly see the Bible's vision for gender as 779 00:52:28,280 --> 00:52:31,560 freeing and not restrictive. I can't say this more beautiful 780 00:52:31,560 --> 00:52:33,880 than Elizabeth Elliott. She says when it comes to 781 00:52:33,880 --> 00:52:36,080 gender, the world looks for happiness through self 782 00:52:36,080 --> 00:52:38,760 assertion. But the Christian knows that joy 783 00:52:38,760 --> 00:52:42,880 is found in self abandonment. And so a Christian woman's true 784 00:52:42,880 --> 00:52:48,280 freedom lies on the other side of a very small gate, humble 785 00:52:48,280 --> 00:52:53,560 obedience to Jesus. But that gate leads out into a 786 00:52:53,560 --> 00:52:59,920 largeness of life on dreamed of by the postmoderns of the world, 787 00:53:00,920 --> 00:53:05,000 to a place where the God-given, Oh my gosh, what a writer, she 788 00:53:05,000 --> 00:53:06,600 says, to a place for the God-given. 789 00:53:06,600 --> 00:53:10,280 Differentiation between the sexes is not obfuscated but 790 00:53:10,280 --> 00:53:12,880 celebrated, where our differences are seen as 791 00:53:12,880 --> 00:53:18,440 essential to the image of God. For it is in male and female, in 792 00:53:18,440 --> 00:53:22,520 male as male and female as female, not as two identical and 793 00:53:22,520 --> 00:53:27,360 interchangeable halves, that the image of God is manifested. 794 00:53:27,880 --> 00:53:31,680 To gloss over these profundities, profundities, is 795 00:53:31,680 --> 00:53:35,600 to deprive women of the central answer to the cry of their 796 00:53:35,600 --> 00:53:38,880 hearts. Who am I, who am I? 797 00:53:38,880 --> 00:53:44,440 And no one but the author of the story can answer that cry. 798 00:53:45,240 --> 00:53:49,840 He says we are women. And my plea is let me be a woman 799 00:53:50,640 --> 00:53:55,320 wholly through and through, asking for nothing but what God 800 00:53:55,320 --> 00:54:00,960 wants to give me, and receiving with both hands and with all my 801 00:54:00,960 --> 00:54:07,000 heart, whatever that is. The Bible has a lot to say about 802 00:54:07,000 --> 00:54:10,360 gender and you just need to know that everything that God has for 803 00:54:10,360 --> 00:54:14,280 his daughters is good and freeing. 804 00:54:15,600 --> 00:54:21,440 Freeing the person who says no to the parachute or mocks the 805 00:54:21,440 --> 00:54:29,320 parachute, they can claim that they feel freer for a short 806 00:54:29,320 --> 00:54:35,000 time. That freedom isn't real because 807 00:54:35,000 --> 00:54:41,080 it ends with a splat. Only the person who wears the 808 00:54:41,080 --> 00:54:47,760 parachute is truly free, because they'll land safe and sound for 809 00:54:47,760 --> 00:54:51,720 eternity in the glorious freedom of the Lord Jesus Christ. 810 00:54:52,560 --> 00:54:58,240 Heavenly Father, I pray that we would believe your Word and 811 00:54:58,240 --> 00:55:01,360 beyond believing in Your Word, believe that all that you have 812 00:55:01,360 --> 00:55:04,680 for us is good. It's not an easy thing to live 813 00:55:04,680 --> 00:55:07,800 out last week's sermon. It's not an easy thing for men 814 00:55:07,800 --> 00:55:12,040 to envision themselves as the primary sacrificers, the first 815 00:55:12,040 --> 00:55:15,400 to die so that others can flourish. 816 00:55:15,800 --> 00:55:19,560 And it's and it's also not easy for a lot of women to envision 817 00:55:19,560 --> 00:55:23,120 themselves as strength bringers and encouragers and helpers. 818 00:55:24,440 --> 00:55:27,360 And so I just pray that you would stir in our heart even 819 00:55:27,360 --> 00:55:31,440 just a flicker a lot if possible, but even just a 820 00:55:31,440 --> 00:55:36,000 flicker of trust that you are not calling us to anything that 821 00:55:36,000 --> 00:55:42,680 is not for our ultimate good. And when we believe that, when 822 00:55:42,680 --> 00:55:47,280 we really believe that, we experience the freedom to be who 823 00:55:47,280 --> 00:55:49,720 you have called us to be. Not stereotypes, not cultural 824 00:55:49,720 --> 00:55:53,960 stereotypes, although we may embody some of those to certain 825 00:55:54,520 --> 00:55:57,600 or lesser degrees, but to be who you have called us to be, that's 826 00:55:57,600 --> 00:55:59,840 the goal. So it's in the name of the Lord 827 00:55:59,840 --> 00:56:01,800 Jesus Christ that all God's people prayed. 828 00:56:03,080 --> 00:56:04,320 Amen. Let's stand and let's worship.