Honoring the Woman's Role

Thank you very much, Dr. Jacobson, for that special music.

I don't know if you heard the story of a woman that was walking along a beautiful Southern California beach, and she was by herself, and she was enjoying the beautiful scenery and the beach and all, and suddenly she noticed an object down there that was pretty much covered, but there was a little bit of a top portion that was protruding from the sand, and so she whisked it away and pulled out a lamp, and sure enough, it was the genie lamp, you know, the kind that you rub, and the genie pops out. Well, this had been a pretty popular beach, though. This genie had been awakened several times and said, look, you know, you really are only going to get one wish here. You're not going to get the usual three, so make it a good one.

So this lady thought, she said, wow, you know, I've always wanted to go to Hawaii.

And I'm afraid to fly. And, you know, I've heard how beautiful it is. I've heard how serene it is, and the flowers and all of that. And I, if I have good, but one wish, I'd like you to build a highway all the way from the coast of California to the island of Hawaii.

Well, the genie thought about that for a while and said, do you realize what you're asking? You know, you have to be reasonable. I mean, let's think about this. It's 2,400 miles. And do you realize how many yards of concrete that it would take? I mean, you know, in parts of the ocean, you know, it's four to seven miles deep, and you've got to have these pylons that go all the way to the ocean floor, and then you've got to go all the way down to bedrock. Do you realize what you're asking? So the lady thought for a while, and she thought, maybe I have been unreasonable. So she thought for a while, and she thought of another wish, and she said, okay, I've got another wish. This is my one wish, then. Help me to understand men. The genie thought for a while, and then replied, do you want that highway with two lanes or four lanes?

Men and women are different. They're not the same. When I married my lovely bride over 22 years ago, I sincerely believed that I would have perfect happiness with her. Now, don't get me wrong, I knew that there'd be challenges. I tried to be realistic. I knew it wouldn't always be easy, but I've been a single guy for 37 years, and I was excited to begin this journey to embark on this new next chapter of my life. I knew we'd have to work together, but I had no idea that my soulmate was going to have so many different ways of viewing things than I did. Now, I mean, over time, I began to look at things, and I began to realize not only does she have so many things that she thought of differently than I did, well, almost in every area she had different views and ideas than I did.

Now, I was prepared for compromise, even looking forward to it, but this beautiful creature had so many passionate ideas that I had never thought about. For example, she had feelings.

She had feelings, and she wanted to share them with me, and she wanted me to discuss my feelings with her. Let me give you an example. You know, just about the time we were about to buy our first house, and we've been looking around, and Albert Lee, and then she had to be out of state for a while, and I came upon this house by myself, and she wanted me to, you know, to look through it and get back to her on it. So I called her up, I was telling her about the house, and she said, how did you feel when you walked through the front door?

I said, well, there's a stairway up to the family room, and there's a stairway down in the study. So, feelings, you know, this was a house. I was looking at the structure, wondering how it would function and how it would begin to serve the needs of the family. Well, this was only the beginning, only the beginning of the many differences that we had when we looked at different situations. How many of you have heard of Dr. Joyce Brothers? Dr. Joyce Brothers. Okay, a few hands going up. She's no longer alive. She was an American psychologist. She wrote a book entitled, this is entitled, What Every Woman Should Know About Men. This is a quote from her book. She said, I spent months talking to biologists, neurologists, geneticists, research psychiatrists, psychologists, only to discover that men are far more different from women than I had ever known. Yes, she goes on to say, I'm quoting, yes, their bodies are different. Their minds are different. Men are different from the very composition of their blood to the ways that their brains develop, which means that they think and experience life differently from women. How true that is. How true that is. Men and women are different.

God created the woman differently than the man. He did. And after 22 years of marriage, I'm very glad he did. As the French would say, vivre la differente. The title of the message today, brethren, is Honoring the Woman's Role.

Honoring the Woman's Role. We're going to discuss that and go through scriptures today. God has given men you women to balance us, to balance us, and to help us to become more like what God is. Those differences that we have were given to us by God. For example, a woman's tenderness. If we look at that, that is a godly quality that God Himself has. God is a tender God.

And women, generally speaking, have that characteristic more than we men do, as well as other characteristics that God has that we, generally speaking, as men, do not have. You women have. It's the same for men. God has put qualities in men, generally speaking, that women don't necessarily have. Not at least in the same quantities or in the same way.

A woman's love. How important. That shapes cultures. That shapes families. It shapes individuals. It shapes her children. While most mothers know that their love and their emotional availability are very important to their children's well-being, many don't understand the profound and long-lasting impact that they have in developing their children.

Teaching them the first concepts of love.

Scaping their consciences. We owe much to our mother's love and our mother's care.

Let me give you a couple of quotes from some very important leaders, past leaders of the United States. The 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, said this. He said, All that I am or ever hoped to be, I owe to my angel mother. That's quite a statement. All that I am or ever hoped to be, I owe to my angel mother. George Washington, first president of the United States. Very important in the formation of our country. Quite a man, quite a leader. Many different ways. He says this, and I quote, My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw.

Quite a statement. Then he goes on to say, similar to Abraham Lincoln, All that I am, I owe to my mother. I attribute all of my success in life to the moral, intellectual, and the physical education I received from her. You know the saying, you may have heard it, The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.

Brother and mothers are the emotional backbone of families, shaping and changing the lives of sons and daughters, often in ways that a man cannot.

They can do things that men cannot do when it comes to shaping the lives of their children. It's a unique and important role, and it's a vital role in the family.

Over the years in the Church and in my own marriage, I've come to understand that God not only created men and women differently, He also created us to have different roles.

Different roles in the family and different roles in our Church family. No less valuable, though, but different.

Let's take a look at Scripture here and see what God has ordained from the beginning. Let's go back to the all the way back to the first book of the Bible, Genesis, and let's go to the second chapter, Genesis 2.

And we're going to pick it up here in verse number 18 of Genesis 2. Let's take a look at what God begins to share from the very beginning. Our Creator, the one who formed and fashioned us, who created us, male and female. Genesis 2, verse 18, and it says, The Lord God said, so this is our Creator speaking directly to you and to me, to all of His creation, He said, It is not good that man should be alone. Remember, as we talked and rehearsed about creation, that it says that everything that God did was good. You know, on day one, it was good. Day two, it was good. Day three, it was good. Everything that God did was good. But as far as it went, when He created the first man, He said, That is not good that this man and any man should be alone. And God's going to make it good, isn't He? That's what He does. He says, It's not good that man should be alone. I am going to make him a helper.

I'm going to make him a helper. I'm going to make him a helper who is comparable to him. They're very much the same. Not exactly the same, but they're going to have an opportunity to work together. I am going to make him a helper comparable to him. So it wasn't good for man to be alone. Man was lacking something. Man was lacking. Men and women, both, were not designed to be alone. We were lacking. Man needs what a woman brings to the relationship and what she brings to the family.

He needed a helper. He was incomplete. And, of course, women aren't complete either. She needs what a husband brings to the relationship and what a husband brings to the family. So creation wasn't complete with just Adam. So men need women. That's what God says. And women need men, not just in the marriage relationship, but in all aspects of society, all aspects of our culture. So God created two sexes, male and female. They are not the same, but they are like two pieces of a puzzle that fit perfectly together. The scripture tells us in verse 18 here that Eve was made as a helper to Adam.

Here, the Hebrew word for helper, it doesn't mean slave. And it doesn't mean slave or a helper to just any and every person or every man. You know, as we look at this Hebrew word, it's used in a way to help us describe the help that God gave to His servants. The same Hebrew word when it talks about helper, that God is going to be a helper to His servant. So in no way does it denote inferiority of any kind. But it's a beautiful role that's unique to God's creation. I'll give you a couple of references here.

In Psalm chapter 33 and verse 20, and also in Psalm chapter 70 and verse 5, where this Hebrew word, helper, is translated in a way here where it talks about the help that God gave to His servants. Now, there's a quote you may have heard. Behind every successful man, there's a proud wife and a surprised mother-in-law. Well, that's not really the... that is a quote. That's not the quote I really wanted to say here. What I was really thinking is, behind every great man, there is a great woman.

A tremendous help and companion that they work together in love and in harmony. We need our incomplete. We need each other. How many of you have seen the movie Rocky? The very first one. There's been a series of Rocky movies. Okay. Okay, most... about half the hands have gone up. Seen the movie Rocky. Okay. If you haven't seen the movie, it's actually a pretty good story. It goes all the way back to 1976, is when this movie came out. It's an American sports drama about...

oh, he's an Italian-American. He's living in the slums of Philadelphia. And he's in this boxing club, and through unusual circumstances, he gets the opportunity to have a heavyweight... he gets to go against... have a boxing match against the heavyweight champion of the world at that time, through an unusual opportunity.

So in this Hollywood movie, you know, Rocky has this opportunity to get a shot at the heavyweight championship. But it's also a love story, isn't it, for those of you that have seen it? It's a drama. It's for the ladies. If you like a drama, there's sports and drama. And so Rocky meets his future wife, Adrian, in the very first series of the movie.

And he's having a conversation with Adrian's brother, and he's talking to Adrian's brother about the relationship. And so he says something... you may remember this line from the movie. It's a pretty memorable line. And mind you, Rocky is the man of few words. He says this, as he's talking to Adrian's brother about Adrian. He says, he's got gaps. I've got gaps. We feel gaps. Remember that part of the movie?

She's got gaps. Nine words. She's got gaps. I've got gaps. We fill gaps. And speaking about that relationship, I think that says it pretty clearly in nine words about the way it fits together, like two pieces of a puzzle. God created men and women to complement each other. And the value and the contributions of both are absolutely vital and important in order for our families to be successful, for them to thrive, and for them to grow, as well as our society and in any nation and any culture.

God defines the roles, though. He created us, and he defines the roles. The role of a caring and a nurturing woman in a family is absolutely meaningful and essential. It's a blessing, and the strong role of the man, a strong, loving man, is also needed for his wife and children in order to thrive, in order to grow. His role is the blessing, but neither one of these roles are any lesser than another in their importance, and they make us complete when we work together.

We men need you women in our lives. We need you in our church family, and the difference that you make is vital and essential.

Now, there are some feminists that are going to wince because some of the scriptures that we're about to look at here, some of the Bible passages that we're going to look at, and some feminists actually look at these scriptures, and in a sense, when they look at that, they reject Christianity out of hand, because in a sense, they consider these things demeaning to their goals, and they consider them demeaning to their aspirations.

You may have heard this name over the years, Elizabeth Cady Stanton. I don't know if you've heard that name over the years. She was an early American feminist, and she called the Bible and the church the following, and I quote, The greatest stumbling blocks in the way of women's emancipation. Unquote. Further, the truth of the matter really is that the woman's role, or the role of women, is one of great honor and great worth. You women, young, old, single, or married, you are women of great honor and great worth. We look at some of the women from Scripture, some of the examples of Scripture. You know, there are many. We look at the prophetess Miriam. We look at Deborah and Sarah. We look at Esther and Ruth and Dorcas. We look at the sisters Mary and Martha. We look at Mary Magdalene. We look at Mary, the mother of Christ, and there's other leading women in Scripture that serve as examples of faith and courage and virtue.

Jesus Christ, who is the example that we're supposed to follow, he is an older brother. He does that as an example. We are to strive to model him, God's standing to show us how to live, how to understand things. Jesus Christ never treated women as inferior. Think about it. He never treated women as inferior. He never treated them as second rate. Not once. Think about it. Never a negative attitude towards women. On the contrary, he treats them with honor and respect. Remember his example here? When we think about it, this is God in the flesh. So his example should speak volumes to us, shouldn't it? We look at his example in the first century when he came in the flesh, when he walked the earth. We were looking at a culture and society of the time when they were separating men and women. Remember that? We recall that Jesus Christ was chided for talking to a woman at the Samaritan woman at the well. Remember that particular example? Remember the example of Jesus Christ having a friendship with Mary and Martha? You know, Jesus didn't follow the culture of his day, did he? He didn't. He came as a light to the world. And he interacted with women the way they were intended to be interacted with, with honor and respect. Further, the truth of the Bible, in a sense, is that the Bible describes women and their role as one of honor and of great worth. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. We're going to look in here at the Bible speaks of a woman's role in the context of marriage. So we're moving here into the context of marriage and family here. Let's go over there.

We're going to see that not only is the woman's role mentioned here in marriage, we're going to touch on the men's role also. That's really for another sermon, though, for another time. But I want to touch a little bit on the men's role in this particular context, as well as the women's role. Because we both have our roles. We both have our God-given responsibilities. Because God, our loving Father, knows what's best for us. He knows exactly what it will take to have a happy and thriving family and a loving family. So Paul, God speaks through Paul here about the women's role and we'll touch on the men's role here in the context of marriage. Let's pick it up in verse number 21 of Ephesians chapter 5. It says, submitting to one another in the fear of God. So there are times when we have to submit to each other in the fear of God. Verse 22 begins to address the wives. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands. And if he would have stopped there, we would have not maybe necessarily know how far this goes. But he didn't. Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as to the Lord. And we know that we have to submit to Jesus Christ. We all have to do that. And so God through Paul is beginning to tell the wives they need to submit to their own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. And we talked about this in one of the presentations I gave on love and respect. That this is not easy for a man to do properly and godly is to be the head of the family. Just as Jesus Christ is the head of the church. It's a huge responsibility. That you have to be willing to lay down your life either literally or as a living sacrifice.

We have a huge responsibility to take care of our wives, to protect them, to provide for them and for our families.

Verse 23, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. And he is the Savior of the body. So we men, that's a pretty big responsibility to be a Savior. As Christ is the Savior of the body, he's the Savior of the church.

Therefore, a concluding statement, as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

Not an easy thing to do. We talked about you have a choice before you marry. Make sure this is somebody that you can submit to. Is this someone that's going to really love you the way Christ loves the church?

Verse 25, now husbands' responsibility and role love your wives. And the word love is the Greek word agape, which means just a godly love. It's an unconditional love. It is going to love no matter what.

And then it goes on to say, just as Christ agape'd, the church, and gave himself for her. That's how far we have to be willing to go, gentlemen. But that's a role we play for a sermon for another time.

So this is what we signed up for. That husbands are to be a Savior. That they are to be, to love, to be willing to give themselves for their wives, for their families, to love them, to cherish them, and all those things. And wives to submit to our own husbands as to the Lord.

It's God's way. I didn't write it.

It's a way that works, but we have to put it to the test.

Here we're told that wives are to submit to their husbands as the head of their marriage. The Greek word that is used here in verse number 22 for submission, it has a couple of different thoughts to this word submission. Number one, it's accepting the authority of another.

And second is choosing to submit to that authority. So in marriage, a woman is to submit to the authority of her husband. So she must first voluntarily accept that.

Pretty big thing. To accept that authority. And then, the second part of her role here is to then submit to that authority. To choose, in a sense, to follow in the footsteps of Sarah, some of the examples of Scripture and other holy women who trusted in God. That he created the roles that men and women have, and the responsibilities that we have in the context of marriage. Ephesians 5 also gives us insight into God's original intentions for men and women. God explains these roles in terms of family. Family. As men and women were intended to marry for life and to have family.

You know, these roles are also patterned after something else. These roles are also patterned after those of Jesus Christ, who's the groom, who's the head, in a sense, of the family, and the church, the bride, in a sense, the wife, and the roles that they are to fulfill right now, and also in God's kingdom to come.

Now, some women don't have a husband in the faith. Let's go over to 1 Peter 3, verse 1 for a moment. 1 Peter 3, verse 1.

What role do you play then? 1 Peter 3, verse 1.

Peter shares some things here. God shares some things through Peter in this regard.

I'll pick it up here in verse 1 of 1 Peter 3.

It says, Likewise you wives, be submissive to your own husbands. So we see that God is inspiring Paul and Peter to say the same thing here.

That if any obey not the word, in other words, they're not of the faith, they're not obeying God's way of life. That if any obey not the word, they may, without a word, be won by the conduct of their wives. And then when they observe verse 2, your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. So an example, apparently, is what God is saying can be really important that they may, without a word, that's basically talking about the way we live our lives, that they may be won over. It's impossible that that can happen.

You know, I think of an example years ago. I may have said this story, and I don't remember if I have here or not, but there was a woman who had a husband who was not in the church. She wasn't of the faith. And their marriage, she came into the church, their marriage began to get rocky. And she was confused about how to submit to her husband. And she had a counseling session with the minister, and she received some very, very helpful advice and counsel. And what she was told by this minister is, look, in every area of life that your husband is leading, be willing to submit to that unless it contradicts with God's way of life, with His law. You know, in other words, if he says, you know, I don't want you to go into church services today, and the Sabbath, well, you're going to obey Him in every other area, submit Him in every other area, but you're not going to do that.

She said, that was the best advice that I could have received. And after a while, her husband, and the woman, many of you know the woman, and she's gone now, it was Lillian Johnson. Remember Lillian, those of you? And her husband, Clarence. Clarence is gone now, too. But after a while, Clarence said to Lillian, I know what you're doing. And it's working. He even perceived what was going on. And you know, after a while, Clarence started coming to services, and he started to come actually pretty regularly over time. And so, this, from Scripture, began to make a difference. As though we have our own verses, don't we? As men and women, we have separate roles, we have separate responsibilities, and we have our own verse, and we have to obey the verses that apply to us, regardless of whether the other one is. And Lillian was doing her verse. She was doing her verse. It goes on here in this context in verse number three, speaking about women. Verse two, when they observe your taste, conduct, accompanied by fear. And he says, and don't let your adornment be merely outward. No, just don't spend so much time on the outward. I mean, there's a place for that. The arranging of the hair and wearing the gold, or putting on the fine apparel, the clothing. But rather, if it was to be one or the other, it can be both, but rather, let it be the hidden person of the heart. So it's the beauty within.

The hidden person of the heart, with an incorruptible beauty, the kind that lasts, that the rust and the moth doesn't corrupt. It's beautiful in God's sight, very precious in God's sight, as it says at the end of verse number four. With the incorruptible beauty, verse four, of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in God's sight.

For in this manner, in former times, holy women, women of God, who trusted in God, also adorn themselves, and being submissive to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters you are, if you do good, and you're not afraid with any terror.

So we begin to see some of these things. Now let's turn over to another scripture here in 1 Corinthians chapter 14. 1 Corinthians chapter 14 and verse 34. In any discussion about a woman's role, many women in the world bristle when they read what Paul writes here to the church in Corinth. 1 Corinthians chapter 14 and verse number 34. It says, Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak, but they are to be submissive, as the law also says.

And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home for it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. Now, when I was a young boy growing up in this Presbyterian church, this didn't seem to be a topic that was really even talked about, even at that time, back probably in the late 1950s, early 1960s. You didn't see any women ministers or that type of thing. They were men. And so there weren't long discussions and debates on that type of thing, as there are today. You know, I think this is a story that happened about 30 years ago. I had a married couple that came in, and we were doing a tax return, and somehow you start to talk about other things, and we started to talk about religion. And she said, you know, I'm no longer attending church anywhere right now. And I said, why is that? She said, because the church that we were attending, they just hired a woman minister. And I don't feel right about that. It was 30 years ago. And I had another conversation with her about five years ago. And she's back at church now. And it is a woman minister still. That's there. I know it's the same one, but it's still a woman minister. And so we can see how things have changed in the culture over time. She's come to the point where she has accepted that change, where she felt it was wrong enough that she didn't even want to attend to now where she's attending there. So we see how things have changed over time.

You know, a woman has, though, a lot of opportunities to teach. You know, to teach children, to teach our grandchildren. And you know what your destiny is, is to be kings and priests in the kingdom of God. You know what a priest does? They share, they teach things from the word of God. You know, there's not going to be any male or female in the kingdom of God. So there's going to be many, many opportunities in a sense to teach. And I know of many women of faith in the church today that are very well grounded in the word of God. Women who are filled with wisdom, discernment, judgment, and they've been faithful servants of God for many years. Let's turn to a scripture here in Romans chapter 16. Let's go to Romans chapter 16, because there were many women of faith in the Apostle Paul's day. And he wrote about them. He wrote about some of these women. He praised them publicly. He spoke highly of them and of their service to the church. So let's take a look at Romans chapter 16, and we're going to pick it up here in verse number 1.

Romans chapter 16 in verse number 1. Paul says, I command to you, fee be our sister, who is a servant of the church in Sentria. You know, we're talking about this is not his literal sister. We're talking about our church family here, aren't we? He says, I command to you, fee be. He talks about fee be. And the word servant here is the same Greek word that is translated deacon in other parts of scripture. So most likely fee be was a deaconess of the church in Sentria. Verse number 2. In that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints. She's a part of the family. She's a saint. You receive her worthy as a manner worthy of the saints and assist her in whatever business that she has need of you. For in demeaning, she has been a helper. She's been a helper of many and of myself also. So we see one of her the roles here in the church, the role of deaconess and what value our deaconesses play in the congregation. Wow! You know, they see and fulfill needs that men cannot fulfill. You know, they're looking after widows. They're looking after the children. They're looking after others. They fulfill these needs that might otherwise be overlooked. They perform a vital role in our church family. Verse number three, and greet Priscilla and Aquila. This is husband and wife. My fellow workers. So here's a woman and a man that are fellow workers with Paul. They work together. They're co-workers. They're co-workers together, as it says, my fellow workers in Jesus Christ. Verse four, who risked their own necks. This is both of them are risking their lives here, not just the husband who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all of the churches of the Gentiles. So they've been serving many, many people. And likewise, greet the church that is in their house. So they were hosting the congregation in their home. I've shared with you over the years how we've got a married couple like that in India, in Agra, George and Shoba, Samuel, that week in and week out, you know, they live with their parents. So there's two families under the same roof, and they will remove the bedroom furniture from the room that they hold and conduct services. Every Sabbath that they've done that for years, set up the chairs and then they host, and they have an opportunity for fellowship and snacks afterwards. And you know how much work it can be to be hospitable when you've done that and you've opened up your home to the brethren, the time that it takes to get things ready, the time that it takes to clean, the time that it takes to be able to prepare the food. And sometimes when it's all over, you're glad you did it, but you think, that was a lot of work. Well, they did this week in and week out, and so did Priscilla and Aquila, I would guess, that they hosted the church in their home. Like in Agra, can you imagine 15 people coming to your home every Sabbath? Every Sabbath? And then after they're gone, you then you've got to move the queen-sized bed back into place and move the furniture back into place. Let's go over to Acts 18, verse 24. Acts 18, verse 24. Here's another example here of this husband and wife, Priscilla and Aquila. Acts 18, verse 24.

Remember the story about Apollos, he was just coming into the faith. Very strong and personality of eloquent speaker. Verse 24, in our certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, he came to Ephesus. And this man had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, so he was on fire. God had really inspired him, and he was fervent in spirit. He spoke, and he taught accurately the things of the Lord, although he knew only the baptism of John. So he didn't know anything more when it came to that, that there was another baptism of Christ, the Holy Spirit. Verse number 26. So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. So he came to Ephesus, he went into the synagogue, and he began to speak boldly about the truth of God and of Jesus Christ. He began to speak boldly, verse 26, in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Wow! Here's Priscilla and Aquila together as a team expounding the word of God more accurately. A woman who had grown up spiritually and was used to serve others, helping actually many, many of the churches of the Gentiles.

You know, there was another team years ago, the old-timers will remember Loma, Armstrong, and Herbert Armstrong. And actually, God used Loma to begin to introduce the truth to her husband, Herbert. It started with the Sabbath doctrine, started with the Sabbath issue as a topic. She became convinced from Scripture that the Sabbath, the fourth, or the seventh, the fourth commandment, the seventh day of the week was the commanded day to keep the Sabbath. And God used her back in the 1920s to begin to introduce that topic to Herbert, her husband, Herbert. Well, he studied for six months, and he was resisting. He was trying to disprove it, but after six months of intensive study, he finally accepted that truth, that that is the Allah, that is the command that we were to keep today. And he accepted the truth that God revealed through his wife, Loma. You know, they began to spread the truth of God working together to multiple thousands of people, and some of us here are directly or indirectly have been influenced by that husband and wife. How many of you have had people into your home to talk about the Scripture, the Word of God, over the years? And God has used you both to help people to understand the truth of the Scriptures. You know, I know when we travel to India in Sri Lanka, sometimes we'll get together, and either we try to meet them in their homes or sometimes they come to our hotel rooms, and many of them are hungry for the truth. It's quite an interesting dynamic. It's an inspiring one. But sometimes, as I'm trying to share the truth, and there can be a language barrier, you know, that English isn't their first language, it's not their primary language, and I'm trying to get through, and maybe I'm using some words that are too affluent or too long, and my wife senses what's happening, and I don't.

So she'll kind of give me the nod, and she'll be able to put it in simpler terms, simpler English, that they can understand. And sometimes it's just the opposite. She'll be talking with some of the ladies, and she's trying to explain something, and I can sense that they're not getting what she's saying, and so God's moving me at the moment to try to say it a different way, to be able to get the meaning across. There are examples in Scripture of a woman and her role, and wonderful examples of how women have served in that role. Let's go over to Titus chapter, or no, let's go first to Micah. Back to the Old Testament here, Micah.

Micah chapter 6.

Micah's a hard book to find, but if you can find Jonah Obadiah, Jonah Micah, it's towards the back of the Old Testament.

Maybe something we haven't seen before here. Micah chapter 6, and we'll pick it up here in verse number 4. God is speaking here through Micah, and he says, For I brought you up from the land of Egypt, and I redeemed you from the house of bondage, and I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam. Miriam's there listed as well.

God not only sent Moses and Aaron, but he sent Miriam to lead his people out of slavery and out of bondage. Miriam's role was different than Moses and Aaron. It was different, but it was a vital role, just the same. Otherwise, God wouldn't have called her to fulfill that role. Let's go over to Titus chapter 2. Titus chapter 2. We'll look at the role here of some of the older women.

Titus chapter 2, and we'll pick it up here in verse number 3. Titus chapter 2. We'll pick it up here in verse 3.

God through Paul is writing to Titus here, and he says, The aged women likewise, that they be in behavior as becomes holiness.

In a sense, being holy as God is holy, that they in their behavior as becomes holiness, not false accusers, not given to too much wine, teachers, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to teach them also to love their husbands, and to love their children. You know, there's really no way around it when we look at scripture here. There's no way around it what the young women are supposed to learn about Christian womanhood. They're not necessarily primarily supposed to learn from men, or from the lectern here necessarily, but that they have a role, a God-given role, to share what they have learned over time with those that have not yet gone down the journey, down the road, that they've gone down or experienced all the things that they've experienced. Older women have the responsibility to teach the younger women.

Now, I'm sure some of you older women have never been asked directly from younger women precisely these words, how can I love my husband?

Some of the husbands out there would probably like you to ask that question.

How can I better love my husband? Which would give you then the opportunity to fulfill this scripture if they were to ask you that question. But you know, older women can teach when they're asked, and sometimes in casual conversations some of these things can come up. Older women, sometimes you can perceive things you don't want to prod or you know to get in between a husband and wife, certainly not, you don't want to pry. But sometimes you can perceive things and you can offer through a card, maybe in the mail that you know it looks like things have been tough for something, you want to be discreet. If you ever need any help, you know, I'd be happy to try to help.

Sometimes it's just nice to know that you are struggling and someone's offering their hand to help. And the younger women, according to this scripture, should feel comfortable going to the older women in the church and asking them questions. You know, this is God's way. This is the way we work together as a family in that sense. And of course, you always want to, when you teach and you share, we, you know, we have a responsibility as older women in the congregation. There's a responsibility, as it says in Proverbs chapter 31 and verse 26. Proverbs 31 verse 26. You know, we have to be led by the Spirit of God. We want to do this from the wisdom of the scriptures. We want to have a scripture to rely on here. And we point young women to God's Word as the ultimate authority. We want to have scripture. Keeping in mind what it says here in Proverbs chapter 31 and verse 26, that she opens her mouth with wisdom.

And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. So you want to do it with wisdom. And according to God's Word and with the teaching of kindness in the way that you present the information.

Let's go over to 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse number 5.

2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 5. There's another important role of women is to teach God's truth to the children and to the grandchildren. Let's notice here what it says here in 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 5. Paul is addressing Timothy. And he gave credit to Timothy's faith, which was first in his mother and his grandmother. Let's take a look at that. They were passing on God's truth to the next generation. That's certainly an important role of women, really of any age. 2 Timothy chapter 1 and verse 5. He says to Timothy, When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in you, Timothy, that is in you which dwelt first in your grandmother lowest and in your mother eunice. And I am persuaded that it is in you also. You know, there's no mention of men here in this verse, is there? I don't know what the situation was with father or dad, but these were women of faith and they were changing the lives of the child and their grandchild, in this case, Timothy. These were women of faith. These were women of courage. These were women of strength.

And they're recorded here through the Scriptures. These were not weak women.

They were strong women. Let's go over to 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 7. 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 7. Kind of the, I suppose, the key Scripture here of the message of honoring the woman's role here, not only in the context of marriage, but really in all contexts, but this focuses on the context of marriage here. There's a lot of confusion in this particular passage of 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse number 7. A lot of confusion that people come to the conclusion that the woman is a weaker vessel. She's somehow less than the man. And God, through Peter, here is giving married people now in the context of marriage here in their roles, giving marriage people some advice. And verse 7 here has been a very controversial one. It's been a controversial Scripture between men and women for generations. Elizabeth Cady Stanton didn't like this particular verse. But the meaning of Peter's words here, that some have translated incorrectly or concluded incorrectly, that it means the woman is the weaker specs in many different ways. You know, we in the men's group, we had a discussion on this particular passage. I think it was a pretty helpful, profitable one when we discussed the Scripture. But let's go through it. Let's read it together. 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse number 7. It says, "...husbands likewise dwell with them," referring to their wives, "...dwell with them with understanding, giving honor," we'll talk about honor and what that means here in a moment, "...giving honor to the wife as to the weaker vessel and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered." God says, if we don't follow this Scripture here, men and women, our prayers can be hindered. So God instructs husbands to dwell with their wives according to understanding. So what does that mean? How do you dwell together with your wife according to understanding? You know, to dwell with my wife has been no small feat. I don't mean that in a wrong way. I've had to learn a lot of things, and I'm still learning, as she will tell you. I've got a lot to learn. But I will say that the journey has been full of adventure as we continue to learn and grow and recover from difficulties and begin to change.

But I've had a lot to learn when it comes to dwelling with my wife and dwelling with her according to the role that God has given me and according to the role that God has given to her.

Of course, her ultimate role and goal is to be a child in the family of God, son of God. A man must understand his wife. Not all women, but he does need to understand his wife. We're going to pick on the men here for a little bit. Each of you women are unique.

You have your own hopes, your own dreams, you have your own likes, you have your own dislikes, you have your own personalities, and you have your own God-given gifts that God has given to you.

And your own husbands, those of you that are married, must dwell with you according to understanding. You know, we learned from Peter here that a man must give honor to his wife as to the weaker vessel. What does that mean? Brethren, I think many miss what this scripture is saying. We often emphasize the weaker vessel, but we don't hear a lot about the honor.

We don't hear a lot about the honor. That a husband must honor. Let's read that part again. Husbands, giving honor to the wife as to the weaker vessel, because you're both heirs together. You're both heirs. Some have taken this passage to mean that a woman is physically weaker than a man, and I think that's generally true, but that's not the point. I think that God is trying to make to Peter here. Rather, Peter is making a comparison, as he said, as to a weaker vessel. You know, we are all vessels, and I can tell you we're all dust as far as God is concerned. We are all vessels, and we don't compare at all to what our Heavenly Father and Elder Brother are. We're all vessels. Remember, God told Paul, or he was talking to the prophet that he sent to him when he had the vision and everything, and he says, you are a chosen vessel to me. Paul's the vessel. We're all vessels. So what are we talking about here as to the weaker vessel? Some have taken it to a physically weaker vessel, and generally that's true, but really the point is as to a vessel. A vessel holds something. A vessel has a role. A vessel has a purpose that it serves, a specific, unique purpose. Some vessels hold a liquid. It can be many different things, water, oil. It can hold flour. It can hold oil, flour, water, and heavy vessels. They're the ones that can be knocked around. They won't be damaged. And there's other vessels that are very fine crafted, and they're very valuable. Crystal, in a sense. We talked about in the men's club, I liken two different vessels to a man and a woman. You've got the beer stein, which you could slam down in that lectern, and nothing's going to happen. It has the purpose of holding beer. And when you're inebriated, sometimes you slam that thing down as you're singing the song. You know, it has a purpose for drinking beer. And then you have more fragile and precious and valuable vessels, like a crystal wine glass, that it serves a purpose. That you have to be very careful with it, though. It serves a very vital function. But you handle it with care. You take care of it so that it can continue to perform the purpose that it has. The crystal wine glass is weaker, I suppose. It's more delicate. But it serves a wonderful purpose that the stein just doesn't do.

They both serve a purpose. But just because one of the vessels is weaker than another does not mean that it's inferior or that it's any less valuable.

Many men, including this one, have had some things to understand when it comes to this point. We don't understand it as well as we should. We're rough by nature. We tend to be macho and proud that, yeah, God put me in charge. So you've got to do what I say, not realizing that's not the situation at all according to God's Word. Many men want to let their wives know who's boss.

But if we love God and we love our wives, they will give her the honor that God says she deserves.

Dwelling with our wives with understanding involves knowing that our wives are different than we are and they have different needs than we do, but we still have the responsibility as men to fulfill the needs of our wives. They're different than us, but knowing her deepest physical and emotional needs, knowing what makes her unique, and understanding her, and giving her the honor and respect that God says she has as the special vessel.

You know, when we look at that word honor, I don't know if you've ever looked up the word honor here, what it says, men or husbands honor your wives. You ever looked up that Greek word honor? Here's what it says. It's the Greek word. It's pronounced team-a, but it's pronounced or it's spelled like our word time, t-i-m-e, but it's pronounced team-a in the Greek and it means value or valuable or by analogy and esteem. You esteem someone and it goes on to say, especially of the highest degree you are esteeming them extremely highly, that they're valuable. There's dignity, there is honor, there is preciousness. You know, when something's precious, you take care of it.

By God's design, women, you are a special object of your husband's care and love. And as a weaker vessel, he used to use his strength to care and protect you.

Weaker doesn't mean weaker spiritually or intellectually. It doesn't mean that. Not at all.

So, when Peter says the husband's role is to give honor and respect her as a weaker vessel and as a fellow heir of the grace of life, he's commanding husbands to honor and respect their wives as equal partners on their journey in their marriage and on their journey together towards the kingdom of God.

This is key in a woman's role that you women understand. I think most of you do. That you have the identical potential as men. Men, heirs together with men as sons of the Most High.

I'm going to skip gears a little bit here as we begin to work towards a conclusion.

Hopefully, we understand that men are different from women and women are different from men.

And that God designed it that way. That we have different roles to fulfill. That we are different from each other, but that we are to fit together and work together, not only in family, individual families, but also in society and in culture. A lot of times in the world today, you hear this big back-and-forth sexist thing. Men and women. They're different. And we are. But we were created that way. But you know what?

If we're honest with ourselves and we think about it, women are also different from other women. They're not all the same either, are they? Women are different from other women. And men are different from other men. We're not all the same either, are we? We're different.

And so it's not just an issue of women being different from men, because men are different from men. And women are different from women, aren't they? But I think what's fascinating to me is that despite all the differences that we all have, whether it be in our individual families between husbands and wives, or whether it be in our church families between all of us here together, despite all the differences that we have, there is at least one thing that I'd like to focus on the time that I'm going to take before we come to the end here. And that is something that Scripture reveals that we must all do.

All of us, no matter our differences. One area where we must all have a commonality.

One area where we must all think alike. What is that? Well, let's turn over to John 17 and verse number 20. John 17 and verse number 20. Brethren, we're not very far away from Passover. I know it's just a few weeks away. And here, when this is written, it's shortly before Passover. And Jesus Christ is praying a very heartfelt prayer. It's a very deep prayer. And let's read here the words that Jesus prayed to his father on the night just before he was crucified. And we've probably read these Scriptures many times. And sometimes I think we read over them and they become a cliche. But Jesus is praying for his disciples. Not only those that were on the ground there, but also for the future generations. And that includes you and me. He's praying for you and me, as well as for them and anyone in between and anyone to come. He's praying for his disciples for future generations. And he says something that's very important. And he says something that's very profound. He says this in verse 20 of John chapter 17. He says, I do not pray for these alone. We're talking about his disciples, male and female, brothers and sisters in the church family. I do not pray for these alone, but also for them who believe in me through their word. That's male and female disciples. So the words that we have, those who believe through the words that we have, male and female. So these disciples are working together so that through their word, future generations would begin to understand God, his purpose, and their destiny. Notice verse 21. That they may all be one. All means all. Okay. They all may be one. As you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. And the glory which you gave me, I have given them that they may be one, just as we are one. I in them, you in me, that they may be made perfect in one.

You know how many times the word one or oneness here is here in this context in just these three verses? It's a lot. What is it that Jesus Christ is trying to get through to us?

What is he trying to share here as he continues to emphasize this oneness? He uses the word several times. And then in verse 23 he says that they may be made perfect in one. You know, that we're not complete or we're not perfect unless we are coming to this oneness that he's talking about here. And a husband and wife, they will never be complete. They will never be perfect in the context of marriage unless they come to this oneness that God ordained. And we as a church family will never come and become complete and perfect unless we come to this oneness. What is it that he's talking about? How do we do that with all the differences that we have? Because we've got a lot of them, don't we? How do we do that? This is because at the end of verse number 23, and that the world may know that you, referring to the Father, have sent me, referring to himself, and have loved them as you have loved me. What's he trying to get us to understand? Why does he continue to talk about this oneness? With all the differences that we have, how is it that we become one? Not only in our individual family, but in our church family, commanded to be working together as one and ultimately to become one. How does that work? Jesus instructed his disciples and his future disciples, which we are, to keep in mind the importance of this oneness. It's a priority of God the Father. It's a priority of Jesus Christ in our families, in our church family, in society culture. It's going to be in God's kingdom. This oneness, this agreement, this working together as a team. Becoming one begins with family. Family, husband and wife, begins first in the home.

Let's go back to Genesis 2, verse 24. We read verse 18, we didn't read verse 24. Genesis 2, verse 24. This is the first mention, really, of oneness in the Scripture.

Genesis 2, verse 24. Familiar Scripture, but hopefully more meaningful in the context of the message today in this particular point. Genesis 2, verse 24. God says, "...a man shall leave his parents and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." First time oneness is mentioned in the Scripture, right here. Verse 24. They shall become one flesh. Later on, almost 4,000 years ago, and I should have the Scripture, but I don't, but Jesus Christ was asked about, you know, well, why did Moses give his divorce decrees, and all this and all that. He says, "...from the beginning it wasn't so." And he goes on to say, he adds something further that verse 24 doesn't add here. God says here that the two shall become one flesh. Jesus goes further, and I think it's in the book of Matthew, he says, "...they are no longer two, but they are one." They're no longer two, but one. So this concept of oneness begins here in Genesis, Jesus talks about it in the book of John, but there's other places that talk about it over and over again in the Scripture. Let's go over to Galatians chapter 3 and verse 26.

What is God trying to help us to understand, and how on earth does this thing work? Galatians chapter 3 verse 26.

We're going to see oneness now is expanded. It's expanded now to the church family here. Galatians chapter 3 verse 26. We know there are differences. Jews and Gentiles, they have differences. Male and female, there's differences. Slaves and free, there's differences. But notice what God says here through Paul here in Galatians chapter 3 verse 26. He says, "...for you are all sons." He's talking about all men, women, slave, free, Jew, Gentile. You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many as you were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. He's our model. We live the way that He lives. We do our best to follow His example. Verse 28. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. We're one in Christ. How do we do that? What's the mechanics of that? Is that just a phrase? We're all one, and then instantly we are one? The body of Christ, the church is composed of brothers and sisters, of brethren, of men and women in the family of God. We are family, and we all have different likes and dislikes. We all have different gifts that God has given to us. We have different talents. We have different strengths, and we have different weaknesses. We all have an Achilles heel. We have weaknesses. We have strengths, though, too.

But with all of these differences, how is it that we work together as one? Whether it be in a marriage, whether it be in a culture, whether it be in the church family, how do we do that? How can we become one? God begins to explain through Paul in 1 Corinthians 12.

God doesn't leave us in the dark of how this works. According to His, how He defines the roles, how He defines how this should work. He's very clear.

Let's take a look here. We'll pick it up here in verse number 1. 1 Corinthians 12, now, Concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I don't want you to be ignorant. He says, I want you to know how this works. Not all of you have been given the same gifts and talents. I want you to know how this works. I don't want you to be ignorant. Let's go on to verse number 4. There are diversities of gifts. God says the Spirit is given diversities of gifts, but it's the same Spirit that's done that. So we all don't have the same gift. He says in verse 5, there are differences of ministries. That, you know, ministries is another way of serving, of how you help somebody else, how you edify, how you encourage, how you help. There's different ways of serving ministries. There are differences of ministries, but it's the same Lord. Verse number 6, there are diversities of activities. There's something going on in various parts of the area of the congregation, in this sense, the church family. There are different activities, and you're not all involved. You can't do it all. Okay, you can't. If you can, you let me know. I'll put you to work. There are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who is working in every single one of those different activities.

Verse number 7, but the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one, male or female. Does it make any difference? Why is it given? It says at the end of verse number 7, it's to edify, it's to profit other people on the family for the profit of all.

Not to exalt ourselves. I know something you don't, or I've got a gift that you don't know. Not at all. The only reason God gave you the gift and talents that you have is to serve others the way Christ served, who had more gifts than anyone. Serving the body, serving the church. Verse number 8, for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit. Someone's got more wisdom than somebody else. It came from the same Spirit, though, because the other person seems to have an understanding of the Scriptures. The word of knowledge through the same Spirit. Two different gifts that are not the same. One person has one, the other person has the other. And consequently, these two form a team, in a sense. They can accomplish more. You've heard the term synergy, where you have the idea that the whole is more than the sum of its parts. It works that way even in life. Works that way in sports teams. You've probably seen five average guys beat five superstars in the basketball court. As they're working together, they know their roles. They're not all trying to be a star. They know their roles and that they can accomplish more when they work together than they can working individually. It works the same way in the church, in the body of Christ. It works the same way in individual families with a husband and a wife. The point is not which gift goes to which person. The fact is they are given one here one there one the other place as it pleases God. God's the one that gives the gifts.

Verse 11, but the one and the same spirit works all of these things, distributing to each one individually as he wills. God's ultimately been giving out these gifts, and he gives them out individually to you as he wills. You have your role and you have your responsibility.

There was a scripture in Romans 9 that says, How can the potter say to the clay, Why did you make me this way? You're telling God, Why did you give me the gifts that you gave me? Why did you create me male or female? Why is it that I have this role, these responsibilities, these gifts? Why? It's kind of a rhetorical question we're not supposed to ask, but we tend to think that way. He's the potter. We're the clay. Why do we ask, Why did you give me this role? Why did you give me this responsibility? Why did you make me this way?

You know, we have to have faith that God knows what he's doing, that he created us male or female, and he gave us the gifts that he gave us to serve. Verse number 12, For as the body is one, so we come back here to this word, one, here in verse 12, For as the body is one and has many members, but all members of that one body being many are one body. So also is Christ. This is the way the body of Christ works. It has many members, and yet there's one body, and each member has an important role in the body. For by one Spirit, verse 13, we're all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, we've all been made to drink into one Spirit. For in fact, he's trying to get the point across, the body is not one member but many. And that's something that sometimes we don't think about. We're not fully realizing. We're not understanding what this is all about. This whole concept of a member. What does that mean? A member of the body. Whether it be a club member, you think about clubs like AAA, you know, or whatever it is that you may be a member of. The whole idea of member really comes from the first century church's use of that word member. But they think of it differently now, even though it ultimately came from the church originally. The whole idea of member comes from the church's use of it and from the human body. Your hand is a member of your body, and if it's sliced off, it's called dismemberment, you know. You have an accident and you lose an arm, it's been dismembered. Your hand is a member, your eyes are a member of the body. They perform a function. That's very important to the body. Your arms are members.

Your legs are members of your body. So, in the sense of the way God inspires Paul to use the word member, though, is not remotely connected with AAA and other clubs, memberships, and how they use it. You know, a lot of times you're just a member. I mean, a number. Yeah, members come, members go. Our numbers are up, our numbers are down. It's just a number. We're all the same to them.

So many people use membership, even concerning churches in the same way that AAA does. That's not how God uses it. That's not the way God inspired Paul to use the word member. Paul is talking about a member in the same way you talk about your hand, or your foot, or your heart, or your ear, or your eye. So he says in verse number 14, the body is not one member, but it's many. If the foot should say, because I'm not a hand, I am not of the body. Is it not, therefore, the body? It's a rhetorical question. If the foot says, I'm not a hand, I'm not part of the body. Yes, you are part of the body. A foot's a part of the body. It's a foolish thing in a sense, but he's giving us the silly analogy to make a point. Verse 16, and if the ear should say, I'm not an eye, I'm not of the body.

Is it therefore not of the body? It's still a part of the body. I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense because in a church, someone might say, well, I'm not an elder. I'm not a deacon. I'm not part of the body. No, that's not what it's saying here at all. It's not saying that you're not a part of the body. It's not saying that you're not important. You are important. The point is, you really can't say that is what God is inspiring Paul to write here. You can't say you're not a part of the body. Verse number 17, if the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? True? You've got this big eyeball staring back at you. Boy, you can sure see great, but you can't hear anything. And for those of us that are losing our hearing, we're missing out on a lot, aren't we? The ears perform a vital function. So do the eyes.

So do the feet. You can't get around. I know Bonnie's mom was telling me, if I could do one thing, I wish I could walk again. She's in a wheelchair. The feet perform a very important part. Does the hands serve the body? Imagine taking away your hands. Do the eyes serve? Does the nose serve? Where be the smelling? You know? Verse 17, if the whole body were an eye, then where be the hearing? If the whole were the hearing, where would be the smelling? Does the hand serve the body? Of course it does. Does the ears, the eyes, the nose? Of course. But notice verse 18, but now God has set the members. He gave you the gifts that He gave you, the talents He gave you, and He's given us all some, in the body, just as He pleased.

Now, the problem can be sometimes when we're saying that, well, you know, I don't like my role, or I don't like the way somebody else is doing their role. Okay? Okay. We don't focus on our own verse to do our own verse.

God, verse 18, has set the members, each one of them, in the body, just as He pleased. Now, for all one member, how do we get a body out of this? For all in here, how do you get a body out of that? You don't. You don't. So, this is the way God has worked it out. This is the way He's working. We're not just a stack of eyes or ears or hands. We are different. Our roles are different. But each one is absolutely vital. Each one. Whether it be in our human families or in our church family.

Although God is using, speaking through Paul, He's using the analogy of members of a body. You know what He's really talking about? He's talking about family. We're all different. You can have six, eight, ten siblings. They're all different. They're not the same. They're all part of the family. And they all have a role. Brethren, as we approach Passover, it's not going to be too long down the road here in a few weeks here. We're going to be thinking about, maybe you already are, about the spring holy days in Passover. How inspiring is this verse here? This will be our concluding verse here. Psalm chapter 133 and verse 1. Psalm chapter 133 and verse 1.

This is God speaking, not our enemy who would try to confuse the issue, but our Creator, the one that gave us life.

Notice what it says here, Psalm chapter 133 verse 1. There's a hymn that we think about this. It says, Behold, kind of a way of saying, wow, behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. The oneness that God talks about. He has. And he says, in order for us to be a part of this family, we have to have as well. So what does God expect of men and women who are all different, who are each unique and are special to God the Father? Because you, each one of you, each one of you ladies, are special and you are unique to God. What does he expect of men and women who are different, who are each unique and special? People from all walks of life, people from all different backgrounds, strong, some weak, Jew, Gentile, male, female. Every kind of person that you can imagine, all different. What does he expect? Well, I think it's clear from Scripture he wants us to appreciate and enthusiastically live the role that he has given to us individually as members of the family and of the church family of the body of Christ, to serve our families, to serve our church family, and to reach our potential of the oneness of sons of God. He wants us to work together as one body in unity, esteeming our brothers and sisters more highly than ourselves. And with these God-given differences, he wants us to work together in oneness and to become perfect in one, to embrace the oneness that Jesus prayed about that we would have, that we may work side by side together to become sons and daughters of God.