September 2026
Sermon Transcript
First of all I would like to thank Pastor Stucky again for another opportunity to be able to preach today.
The title of my sermon is Because Thou Hast Hearkened. It is an interesting topic because you see God actually getting mad at Adam and giving him some consequences, and he links it to because thou hast hearkened — because you listened to the voice of your wife regarding something that was not right. Genesis 3:17 says: "And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life."
What does the Bible say about biblical authority? We see that women can actually send their families in the wrong direction. We see this happening today very much and it is something I believe we need to be preaching against. The Bible has God's point of view and the world has its point of view, and there is a lot of twisting of morals and degeneracy today. The feminist movement is a huge drive in our society. It is definitely the elephant in the room. I asked my wife yesterday in the car — I had some sermon titles Pastor Stucky asked me to prepare, and I asked her which one she thought I should preach — and she said preach this sermon.
There are four points today. Man has biblical authority. To correct is loving. Women that provoke to sin. And women that provoke to good works.
Point 1: Man Has Biblical Authority
Turn to Numbers 30:3.
Even from the start in Genesis chapter 3, the Bible says the man shall rule over her. Man is to rule over his wife according to the word of God — not according to society, but according to the word of God. Numbers 30 shows that even in the Old Testament, men were able to exercise biblical authority where they could command their households and have veto power. Veto power means their word is final.
Numbers 30:3–8: "If a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth; and her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand. But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth; not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand: and the Lord shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her."
So the father has veto power even over decisions a daughter makes in his house. She might make a really foolish vow, but he is able to disallow it when he hears about it. And if she has a husband when she vowed — if her husband heard it and held his peace in the day he heard it, then her vows shall stand. But if the husband hears about a vow or a decision his wife has made and he says no on the same day, God is able to forgive that vow and it is of none effect. However, if you hear about something your wife or daughter has decided and you say nothing about it, then all their vows are going to stand. Verse 16: "These are the statutes, which the Lord commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between the father and his daughter, being yet in her youth in her father's house."
So we see from Numbers that a husband and a father has veto power respectively. The Bible is not trying to take away that authority from the man. The Bible is actually trying to elevate male authority. And if a woman is divorced or widowed and living by herself, then different rules apply — she would be bound by whatever she vows.
Turn to Isaiah 3:12.
Is the man leading in the home celebrated today? Is it encouraged or appreciated? It is not. And when God sees homes where women are leading, God is not happy about it, especially in those of the household of faith. Isaiah 3:12: "As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them." There is nothing new under the sun. You might think it is 2026, feminism is on the rise, it is just a difficult time in our society. But this was already happening in the time of Isaiah. You do not need modern technology or society pushing this agenda — it has always been an agenda. And the Bible says oh my people — God is saying hey, this is not a good thing. They which lead thee cause thee to err. The same way as when Adam hearkened to the voice of Eve, she caused him to err. And that is what I want to really touch upon today — when women try to cause their husbands to sin. They can have opinions and their own perspective and the man is able to listen and say hey, that is a good idea. I did that with my wife when she suggested this sermon — I listened and said that is a good idea. But when she is trying to cause you to sin, that is when the man needs to use that veto power and say hey, we are not doing that. The Bible says this feminist movement is grieving God. When women are ruling over men, it grieves God.
Now if this upsets anyone — when we preach on men having to love their wives and be sacrificial, I do not think men generally get upset about that. Unfortunately I find that when people preach on biblical authority, there are people that get upset. In the same way, men do not get upset when we speak about what they are commanded to do, so I believe the women should also just listen to the word of God and take it from God, because God wrote the word. And believe me, not all women cringe at this topic. My wife loves hard preaching against feminism. There are women that actually love God. Not all women are going to have a bitter attitude. My wife would say she wants to try to excel Sarah — as the Bible says, whose daughters ye are, taking Sarah as an example, those godly women in the past who adorn themselves being in subjection unto their own husbands. I love that there are women in our Baptist churches that actually desire to be faithful to God and want to have the adornment of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
Turn to James 3:4.
James 3:4: "Behold also the ships, which though they be so great, and are driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor listeth." Husbands and fathers — you are the captains. The governor controls that rudder and determines which direction it is going to go. If the governor is the woman ruling over the man, she is going to be able to control the way that family goes. That is why the governor, the captain, ought to be the father — the one to whom God has given veto power. And what turns the rudder? It is the will. You are able to control things that are happening in your household.
Turn to 1 Timothy 2:12.
It should not be your children that are your oppressors and it should not be women that are ruling over you. These days I see some children that are actually oppressing their parents — you just see their parents getting completely overwhelmed in line at fast food restaurants, not correcting their children, not loving their children enough to discipline them. But you also see families that are able to have many children who are all in subjection to their parents. It is great to see.
1 Timothy 2:12: "But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." So the woman is not meant to be at the helm. Woman pastors should not be happening — and you see them in Pentecostal churches today. They are at the helm, they are the ones teaching and preaching. It says nor to usurp authority over the man. And Timothy says I suffer not — meaning I am just not going to put up with it. Do not try to take that steering wheel. The governor is already there. Imagine someone is commanding a ship and then someone else tries to jump in and take the wheel from the captain. That is what a woman is doing when she tries to rise up above biblical authority.
Turn to Genesis 2:18.
God gave us wives as men because God actually wanted us to reach our full potential, to be able to do great things for the Lord, to raise up godly children. The woman is given for the man because God obviously wants us to have families. Genesis 2:18: "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." God does not want men to be alone. That is why the Bible says he that findeth a wife findeth a good thing. God actually wants to bring somebody into our lives who is going to be a help to us, to support us, to bless our families and raise our children in the fear of the Lord.
And notice what the modern Bible versions say. I actually heard this from a woman who was preaching at Bethel Church — Jen Johnson. She is exactly what the Bible says should be in silence, but she is not in silence. And look what she says. She says she really likes how a specific modern version renders Genesis 2:18. Instead of saying I will make him a help meet for him, one of these modern versions says I will make him an authority corresponding to him — which pretty much means equal authority, you are on the same level. She likes that translation because it fits her perspective. But the Bible does not say that. The Bible says it is a help. We should not be following feminist versions of the Bible. We are a King James Bible church and the Bible is super clear on what it says about biblical authority.
And when you preach these things, you are going to get evil spoken of. People do not like it. Society does not like it. But we ought to obey the Bible. And men need to rule. Where does that start? Even from when you are single. Proverbs 16:32 says he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city. Before you get a chance to rule over a wife, be a man that has rule over his own spirit, because you are even mightier than those that take a city. That can start from when you are single and wanting to find a spouse.
Turn to James 1:19.
James 1:19–20: "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: for the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." Wrath should not be something you just jump to. It should take a lot to push you over the edge. You are not just blowing up at every situation. You are slow to wrath and slow to anger. God's righteousness cannot be seen if you are just a wrathful man who is angry and ready to blow up about every little thing. God willing, we are going to grow in wisdom and patience, and that is going to help us make better decisions. I really desired patience myself — it was one of my prayer requests, I was really struggling with it, and God really helped me with that. It is good to identify weak areas in your life and actually pray about them and seek to improve. And do not be a weak man — have control over your spirit, rule over your vessel. The Bible says every man shall be able to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honour.
Point 2: To Correct Is Loving
People have free will in this life. Wives have free will. Children have free will. But at least speak up. At least have some action as a man to try and stop certain things from happening. We see Adam — he was a person that just left his wife alone, let her do her own thing, and she got into trouble.
Let us look at Abraham. We actually see him as a man who was leading his family. God was actually pleased with his leading. Turn to Genesis 18:17.
Genesis 18:17–19: "And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him." We see here that Abraham was a person that was able to command his children and his household after him. God is really pleased with a man who is able to say hey, my family is going to go to church, my family is going to serve God, I am going to put God first. How could you do this if you are never chastening your children, if you are never correcting your wife? That is why the point is to correct is loving. You are not a tyrant when you correct. You are trying to lead your family with justice.
And a lot of men do not realise — it is actually loving to not send your wife to work. People might think, why are you stopping her from having a career and living her dreams? It is actually loving to not want your wife to work. I knew a lady from my old church whose husband got her to work as a cleaner, and the chemicals completely destroyed her body. She ended up in hospital. That was not very loving of that man to be sending her to work. Another lady was picking up boxes at a warehouse — she was a small, frail woman and she ended up destroying her back because of all the boxes she was lifting. Another lady was standing up for long periods at her job and had really bad leg problems. I just did not think it was a very loving thing to be sending your wife off to work. And not to mention if she is a mother — your children can be with their mum rather than at daycare. We can get criticised for this, but I believe we are showing love to our wife through that.
We do not see Adam stopping his wife from sinning, and I do not think that was very loving. Turn to 1 Kings 21:1.
Men today remind me of Ahab. He was a very weak man. If you do not rule over your wife, it just proves you do not care about her. Ahab was really consumed with his own things — his vineyard, his hobby — and not really concerned about his wife. Because of that, the same way Eve went off and got beguiled by the devil, Ahab's wife was running amok in the kingdom of Israel whilst he was just concerned about extending a vineyard. He is like kids that cannot play their video games and just get mad. When the king's request for Naboth's vineyard was refused, he came into his house heavy and displeased, laid on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat bread — just cranky because someone took his hobby away from him.
And Jezebel his wife came to him and said: "Dost thou now govern the kingdom of Israel? arise, and eat bread, and let thine heart be merry: I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." So Jezebel really supports his hobbies. And sometimes a lot of women do not have a problem with what their husband is doing because they are getting up to their own wickedness. She did not care because she was able to run amok in the kingdom of Israel whilst Ahab was so concerned about a vineyard. This could be one of the reasons your life is falling apart — you are taking hobbies overboard. Instead of being something you do in your free time, you are just not concerned about your wife. That shows a lack of love for your wife.
And he ends up hearkening to the voice of his wife where she says I am going to give this to you, and he is like great — not stopping her from the wickedness she wants to do. She ends up being thrown from a height and her blood licked by the dogs. And Ahab himself dies and his blood gets licked up by dogs too. There were consequences for not refraining and correcting his wife from the wickedness she was doing.
Ephesians 5:25–27: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." That is where a man's thinking should be — washing his wife with the word, showing her these verses. That is what we are trying to do when we come to church and preach from the Bible. We are trying to take away the spots and blemishes from the congregation. That is what Jesus wants to do. And that is why God gave us his word — to correct us and instruct us. This is what a man ought to be doing for his wife. This is a loving thing to do — to instruct his wife and cleanse her with the word, not to be a person that just hearkens to the voice of his wife even when she tells him to do evil. It is not loving when you fail to address those blemishes. If you just ignore her, let her do what she wants, and are focused on your hobbies or your next work promotion — the Bible tells us to teach our wives, to wash away their bad ideas and wrong doctrines with the word of God. Obviously people think loving your wife means just doing everything she says, just happy wife, happy life. But according to the Bible, you show love when you are actually trying to correct. Correction is loving.
Point 3: Women That Provoke to Sin
People love to give their opinions and unfortunately there are a lot of women that have ideas that do not line up with the word of God and they want to bring them forth to their husbands, and their husbands can get into a lot of trouble. That is why God makes it clear, and that is what he is telling Adam in his consequences — because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife. God is not happy about that.
Turn to Genesis 3.
Genesis 3:1: "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" And the woman said unto the serpent: "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." She actually understood what the Bible said. She knew what God had commanded. But then she gets beguiled — because she is alone, because she is in a situation where she is susceptible, because her husband is not protecting her, she ends up falling to the deception. Then the serpent said unto the woman: "Ye shall not surely die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Death entered into the world by sin. The woman is already deceived by this lie. And in verse 6: "And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat."
We see both of them confronted by God, and then God gets really mad. He says unto the woman in verse 16: "I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." Because you were deceived, because the devil was able to get a real easy loophole in your life, the husband needs to rule over you now. That is why a woman is not permitted to teach nor to assert authority over the man — because it was not the man that was deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into the transgression. So just because you think you are right about something, you should consider — am I being deceived right now? Is my thinking aligning with the word of God? Even as a woman you should be thinking about these things, because you might make a decision or push your husband into a decision — and we see even Abraham being pushed into a really bad decision.
Turn to Genesis 16.
Genesis 16:1–3: "Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai." She is obviously thinking about something that is not a good thing to do, but she brings it as her opinion and says I think we should go down this road. But her husband hearkened to her voice. He could have vetoed that decision, but he hearkened to the voice of his wife. Unfortunately us men, there are going to be times when we just kind of do not want to fight those battles. You might have a really persistent idea and eventually a man just gives in. We see that with Delilah — she was just so persistent, she nagged Samson daily, and he just could not be bothered anymore. He told her all that was in his heart. Think about it — Samson was the strongest man in the world, and even he was just nagged to death. He was vexed unto death. How much more us, who go to work, try to provide, try to care for our wives — if we constantly get nagged and nagged we are going to end up giving in sometimes and hearkening to the voice of our wives even in things that are not good. That is why it is so important that a woman understands this and realises — I might regret my decision. If my husband is saying I do not think that is a good decision, I have got to consider that instead of just keep pressing and pressing until he gives in.
And Sarah ended up regretting it. In verse 4 Hagar conceived, and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. Sarah is seeing it actually happening and now she is getting envious. Then in verse 5: "And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee." She is basically saying I messed up. I made the wrong decision. He hearkened unto her voice, but now she is regretting that decision. "I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the Lord judge between me and thee." She assumed Hagar was despising her — obviously because she could not have children, but Hagar could. She regretted it.
I think it is a wise thing when a wife has an idea and brings it forth to her husband, and her husband wants to veto it, for that wife to actually look at the word of God and ask — am I right here? Is this something God wants me to be doing? Should I even persist in this, or am I going to end up regretting my decision? Sarah was unhappy after her husband hearkened to her voice. It was a foolish thought. She had the promise from God that she was going to have a child, but she was impatient. She lacked patience and came up with this idea that was not part of God's plan. Sometimes we go out of God's plan because we are just impatient or just not able to trust God at his word.
Turn to 1 Timothy 2:11.
1 Timothy 2:11–14: "Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." Adam was not the person who got deceived. He just hearkened to the voice of his wife. The serpent always goes to the wife. Expect that to happen. It is always the same game plan for the devil — it goes after the wife, tries to deceive the wife, to get to the man.
Go to 1 Corinthians 11:7.
This is not a difficult subject to understand, just a difficult thing to do. There are things in the Bible that are hard to understand — this one is not hard to understand, just hard to do. 1 Corinthians 11:7–9: "For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man." My wife was talking to me about this and she said this really helped her understand her role — when she saw that she was not created for herself, she was created for her husband. She said her flesh did not like it at the beginning, but then she realised God said it and she was created to be a help to him, to be a blessing to him. Society is not going to say that. Society says what can I get out of this, what is in it for me? And you realise God's word is completely contrary to that.
1 Kings 21:25 says — you do not have to turn there — but there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the Lord, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up. These men are getting stirred to do evil things against the Lord. And I believe that is that Jezebel spirit — just trying to stir up that man to end up doing things contrary to God's word. If you are provoking your husband to disobey God's word, you are doing the work of Jezebel.
Turn to Revelation 2:20.
Revelation 2:20–23: "Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. And I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works."
Remember when Paul said I suffer not a woman to teach? Here it says you suffer that woman Jezebel to teach. She is getting up in church, teaching people. And God is judging the church for allowing it. God gives her space to repent, because he is long-suffering even with someone doing really evil things. But verse 22 shows that people getting swayed by this woman — unless they repent, God is going to bring down the hammer on them.
People think Jesus is just this long-haired hippie ready to bring peace. I remember when the current American pope was ordained and got up and just kept saying peace to everyone, peace to your family, and everyone was getting emotional. It is just a lie. Jesus is actually really serious about sin. He is not playing games. He gives people space to repent, but he will give to everyone according to their deeds. We ought to be fearing God, not man. And that is why, even in the book of Job, God comes to Job — the most righteous man on earth — and says who is this that speaketh without knowledge? And Job just says I repent. If God is going to speak to even Job that way, who was the most righteous man on the planet, and tell him hey, get back in your lane — God is very serious and is to be feared.
Turn to Proverbs 14:1.
The Bible says whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth. He is going to chasten people when they are doing the wrong thing. Even wives in this church should realise that because you are a child of God, God will chasten you when you disobey his word.
Proverbs 14:1: "Every wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands." If you are a wise woman, you are going to be trying to lift up your husband, trying to be a help to him, trying to be a supporter of him, actually caring about the household. I see a lot of women today that are just plucking down their houses with their own hands. It is a tragedy. It is a sign of a foolish woman, not a wise woman. She buildeth her house — she is caring about things being better, things improving. She is not trying to pluck that house down with her hands. And a woman has to be really careful because they do have tremendous influence. If Eve was able to get Adam to sin, if Sarai was able to get Abraham to sin, if Jezebel was able to stir up Ahab's heart — women have tremendous influence. They can actually be a real blessing and encourage their husbands to do good things as well.
Turn to Numbers 12:1.
And you know, a lot of women today are going to be criticising the man of God for things that are not even in the Bible. Miriam — the sister of Moses — was criticising Moses for something that was not even in the Bible. You see this in the new IFB movement as well, where people are criticising pastors for things you are not going to find in the Bible. If something is not in the Bible, it is generally good to just leave people to their own discretion and not criticise them for something that is not a biblical issue.
Numbers 12:1–2: "And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it." The anger of the Lord was kindled against them and the cloud departed off the tabernacle, and Miriam became leprous, white as snow. Aaron looked upon Miriam and said unto Moses: "Alas, my lord, I beseech thee, lay not the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned." Aaron is pleading and saying please be merciful to Miriam. She is speaking up against Moses for something that is not even a sin in the Bible. And she gets leprosy — extremely severe consequences.
And Moses cried unto the Lord saying: "Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee. And the Lord said unto Moses, if her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received in again." So everyone has to halt seven days and look upon the judgement of God upon this woman who had no right to talk and judge something that was not even in the Bible. And you just see that it was probably her idea in the first place — getting Aaron on her side and saying hey, Moses married an Ethiopian woman, who does he think he is? Miriam gets humbled by God for it. In the same way, Eve got humbled because God said to her, because you did this, your husband is going to rule over you. You did what you wanted to do, so someone else is going to be your authority. A woman has no right to try to bring down the reputation of the man of God. God takes it very seriously.
Turn to Deuteronomy 25:11.
Imagine your husband is in a fight and you as a woman just want to back him up — look at what God thinks about it. Deuteronomy 25:11–12: "When men strive together one with another, and the wife of one draweth near for to deliver her husband out of the hand of him that smiteth him, and putteth forth her hand, and taketh him by the secrets: then thou shalt cut off her hand, thine eye shall not pity her." So severe for trying to butt into your husband's affairs and have your say. God takes it so severely — women should just sit in their place. They should be in silence as the Bible says. They should not be getting up there being super opinionated, starting podcasts, trying to sway all these people and trying to be that oracle. You have people like Candace Owens online who think they have an opinion on everything. She thinks she is an oracle — and she is hurting other women who are listening to her, turning them into incredibly opinionated and super destructive people who are just going down that road like Miriam, trying to sway other men of God against the leader. God does not allow this and there are severe consequences.
Turn to Exodus 32:1.
Miriam was not in a position to talk, and God was really strict with her. What about Aaron? Aaron is trying to bring up the same type of thing against Moses, and you think wait — Aaron is the one who should know better. But let us look at Exodus 32. Aaron had his own serious issues. Exodus 32:1: "And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him." And Aaron received their earrings and fashioned a molten calf, and they said: "These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt." So we see Aaron hearkening to the voice of the Israelites. It would not be surprising if he also hearkened to the voice of Miriam when she was swaying him to bring an accusation against Moses for something not even in the Bible. Deuteronomy 9:19 says the Lord was very angry with Aaron to the point of destroying him, and Moses prayed for Aaron also. So Aaron should have been put to death for what he did with the molten calf, and then that same Aaron is going to call out Moses for something that is not even in the Bible. It just shows weak character from Aaron. Aaron showed the right attitude though in Numbers 12 where he was humble enough to say please God, be merciful to Miriam.
Turn to Job 2:5.
We also see Job's wife trying to influence Job against God. Obviously you can understand her a little bit — she had lost 10 children, lost all their belongings. She wanted to persuade her husband to sin, but he does not hearken to her voice. Job 2:5–9: "But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face... Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips."
When you correct your wife and say hey, you are not speaking wisely right now — that is not a sin. That is not unloving. Job is saying we should be receiving the evil as well because God has already blessed us so much. And he says I am not going to do what you told me to do. And the Bible says Job did not sin. When you correct your wife, you are not sinning.
I believe in verse 5 where it says touch his bone and his flesh — that is referring to his wife, because bone of my bone is what the Bible says about Eve in relation to Adam. So I believe Satan went after Job's wife to get to him. And Job did not hearken to the voice of his wife.
Turn to Genesis 39:11.
We see another man that did not hearken to the voice of a woman — Joseph. He did not hearken to Potiphar's wife. She was nagging him daily, just trying daily to get him to sin, and he did not hearken to her voice. That is again a great example of a man that has rule over his own spirit. He is able to even though temptations come his way and alluring things are there — he just says hey, I am not hearkening to that. Genesis 39:11–12: "And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within. And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out." He was falsely accused and his master hearkened to the voice of his wife and put him in prison. His master did not do a diligent inquiry to see if it was true — he just hearkened to his wife's word and ended up falsely imprisoning an innocent man. Potiphar's wife had the greatest sin — it is like the Romans who had a sin, but the Jews had the greater sin for actually putting Jesus Christ to death. In the same way it was Potiphar's wife who falsely accused.
Point 4: Women That Provoke to Good Works
There are negative examples in the Bible of women provoking their husbands to sin, but there are also positive examples of women who actually provoked their husbands to good things.
Turn to 2 Kings 5:2.
Naaman the Syrian had leprosy, and it was actually a woman that said something really wise — and because he hearkened to the voice of this young maiden, he was able to get healed from his leprosy. 2 Kings 5:2–4: "And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife. And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy." She is like a soul winner here — saying if only you would hear the truth, you are going to recover. It is like somebody wanting to bring someone to a soul winner and saying look, you have this problem, you are not 100% sure you are going to heaven, if only you would listen to a clear gospel presentation, then you could recover. You could actually get well. And one went in and told his lord what the maid had said. So Naaman hearkens to a voice and he is actually blessed because of it. His skin becomes again like the skin of a baby — a great picture of being born again, becoming like a child again. He just obeyed the voice of the Lord, doing something simple. It is a great picture of salvation where just by hearkening to the word of the Lord, his faith made him whole.
What about provoking your husbands to love and to good works? The Bible says let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works. When a wife is able to provoke her husband — instead of provoking him to evil, she can provoke him to serve God more, to do greater things for God.
Turn to 2 Kings 4:8.
2 Kings 4:8–11: "And it fell on a day, that Elisha passed to Shunem, where was a great woman; and she constrained him to eat bread. And so it was, that as oft as he passed by, he turned in thither to eat bread... And she said unto her husband, Behold now, I perceive that this is an holy man of God, which passeth by us continually. Let us make a little chamber, I pray thee, on the wall; and let us set for him there a bed, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick: and it shall be, when he cometh to us, that he shall turn in thither. And it fell on a day, that he came thither, and he turned into the chamber, and lay there." She is saying let us build something for him so every time he passes by he has somewhere to stay. She is provoking her husband to love and to good works. She is thinking — how can we support the work of God? How can we support the ministry? Let us use some of our money and resources for the things of God. That would have cost something — time, money, resources — but she is saying hey, let us do this for the man of God. And Elisha was really delighted by what the Shunammite woman decided to do because he needed a place to rest and refresh himself. What a great woman of God.
Turn to Luke 1:5.
You have Elizabeth in the Bible as well — just a woman of great character who loved God. Luke 1:5–6: "There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." This is not just a man who is righteous. It is not just a man who is a soul winner or loves the Bible. Both of them — Zacharias and Elisabeth. Women cannot use the excuse of saying well, I am just a woman, I get a pass to disobey God's commandments. Elisabeth is not playing any woman card here. The Bible says both of them were walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. So you can be a woman that also fears God and cares about the things of God. God could say this about you.
Turn to Judges 4:17.
How about Jael? Evil came into her house and she destroyed it. Women are to be keepers at home, and whatever came into her house she was able to take good care of — in a very decisive way. Judges 4:17–21: "Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him." She is actually being very clever here — all you parents know that if a baby has a bit of milk he starts getting sleepy, and she gave him milk to make him drowsy. And in verse 21: "Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died." He is completely knocked out from the battle and from the milk she gave him, and she goes softly and drives that tent peg through his temple and kills him instantly. A great example of a woman that is able to destroy the evils that come into her house — able to actually care about protecting her family, destroying the evil that comes in. You can do that. You have the ability to be righteous as well. Have the same hatred as your husband for the reprobates. Realise this is really destructive and we need to get these people far away from us. Cut ties with people you need to cut ties with if it helps protect your family.
And why did God give us women? It is to be helps. The Bible speaks about Jael that she was blessed above women, and Deborah and Barak said that about her — this woman is great, she is blessed above women. I am sure Heber her husband was also blessed to have a wife like Jael.
Turn to Proverbs 12:4.
We are considered in the Bible as the bride of Christ. We are the help meet of Christ on this earth, the ones that help achieve great things for the Lord — the soul winners, the people that go out and preach the gospel and get people saved. And it says in Proverbs 12:4: "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones." It is like people that are just not going out soul-winning, not caring about the things of God — Jesus can be so ashamed of those people. It says if you are ashamed of me I will be ashamed of you as well. A lot of people are going to stand before the judgement seat of Christ and be ashamed. And we should not want to be that. But it says a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband. You make your husband look bad when you disobey his authority. People can see it, and it can be really destructive.
That is why I want to have a church that has good families — women that actually care about their husbands and are a good help to their husbands, because it is going to influence other women in the church as well.
Turn to Esther 1:15.
Esther 1:15–22: "What shall we do unto queen Vashti according to law, because she hath not performed the commandment of king Ahasuerus by the chamberlains?" She is telling the king — I am not coming. I am not going to do what you want. And look what the Bible says: "Vashti the queen hath not done wrong to the king only, but also to all the princes, and to all the people that are in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus. For this deed of the queen shall come abroad unto all women, so that they shall despise their husbands in their eyes." When people hear about authority being defied, when women are doing the wrong thing in terms of authority, this gets spread abroad and other women get that idea. And unfortunately that is what happens today. A lot of women are disobeying their husbands, not caring about what their husbands have to say, and they start influencing other women. The king's decree was: "And when the king's decree which he shall make shall be published throughout all his empire, for it is great, all the wives shall give to their husbands honour, both to great and small... that every man should bear rule in his own house." He is saying you have got to make a decree that every man has to be in charge in his family. This cannot happen — as soon as people hear about this, other women are going to despise their husbands in their hearts. It is something that can be very contagious.
And it comes down to women not teaching by example. When women are not meant to teach verbally, they are actually meant to be an example. Let us look at Titus 2:3.
Whatever women come into this church, they should actually see great examples of women and the women are going to be teaching them the right thing by example. Queen Vashti was teaching by example just by what she did — that was already teaching a lot of women to do likewise. Titus 2:3–5: "The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed." That is something God wants women to teach other younger women — be a keeper at home, obey your husband. Why? Because the word of God can get blasphemed.
I understand this temptation. My wife and I went soul-winning yesterday and we saw a Muslim lady come to the door and she was very much in subjection to her husband. She said I have to go call my husband. Her husband was very confident. And you know what, a lot of Muslims kind of mock and say oh you Christians, your women do not even listen to you, but look at our women. They listen to us. They have that kind of attitude where they say we are the real men here. But the Bible says that when a woman fails to be in subjection to her husband, fails to obey her husband, the word of God is going to get blasphemed. I understand there is a temptation for godly saved women today to disobey their husbands, because the devil wants God's word to be blasphemed. That temptation is going to be really strong upon Christian women, and that is why we need to be preaching this. You know, Queen Vashti was teaching by example — all these characteristics, discreet, chaste, keeper at home, obedient — these are all things that people can see. These are not things where a woman has to get behind a pulpit and start teaching. These are things people can see if you are a keeper at home, if you are obedient to your own husband, if you are chaste, if you are discreet. If you are just out there saying everything about your spouse and your family, that is not being discreet. And chastity is purity — people can see if you are a woman who is flirting with other men. That is not pure. That is not being set apart for just your spouse. So these things are visible and that is why it is so important that a woman does these things — not just for herself, but also for the women around her that she can teach to do the right thing as well.
In conclusion — we see in Romans 16 a lot of great women in the Bible that Paul actually refers to as great women of God. It is something that every woman in this church should strive towards, because you get that opportunity to have God actually speak really well of you. Romans 16:1: "I commend unto you Phebe our sister, which is a servant of the church which is at Cenchrea: that ye receive her in the Lord, as becometh saints, and that ye assist her in whatsoever business she hath need of: for she hath been a succourer of many, and of myself also." Probably similar to the Shunammite woman — caring about hosting, lodging strangers. Then in verse 3: "Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: who have for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles." All the churches acknowledging her sacrifice, this great thing she was willing to do. Verse 6: "Greet Mary, who bestowed much labour on us." Another woman just doing so much great work for God, her name written in the Bible for it. Verse 12: "Salute Tryphena and Tryphosa, who labour in the Lord. Salute the beloved Persis, which laboured much in the Lord." And verse 15: "Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them." So there is Julia, and a sister of Nereus — not even named, but still given a shout out because of the things she did, because of the works she did.
He has a call out to everybody specifically, but then he specifically says hey, these people really left an impact, these are great women of God. And their names are there cemented in Romans chapter 16. You have your life as well. You can be a person who decides hey, I am going to try my best to improve in this. If I am struggling in this area, I am going to try to improve because God wants me to.
And as men — let us not hearken to the voice of our wives when they tell us to sin. That is something we should just say hey, that is not going to happen. Stand firm, because they are going to end up regretting those decisions that they pushed us into anyway. And as a woman, ask yourself — do you build up or are you tearing down? Are you plucking down your own house with your hands? Because you have a great influence over your family. I believe women can follow the great footsteps of the women mentioned in Romans chapter 16. The choice is up to us. God has given us this one life on this earth, and as it says in Revelation, he is going to recompense to every man according to his works — whether you do good things, God is going to recompense you well; whether you do evil, God is going to chasten the evil.
Father God, thank you so much for these great truths in the Bible. I just pray that Soulwinning Baptist Church Melbourne will have great families and we would all just hearken mostly to your word, Lord God. And Lord, if our wives tell us to do things that are contrary to your word, that we would have courage and would instruct them kindly and really lead our families as men. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.