And the Bible is like a loud siren wailing in the darkness of this godless thinking that pervades our culture today.

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1 Text: I Peter 3:1-6 Title: Holy Women INTRODUCTION Open your Bibles with me to I Peter 3. In our study of I Peter we come to a section that speaks to God s design for families, specifically for marriages. There s a word to the wives and there s a word to the husbands. Church, we desperately need the wisdom of God s Word confronting our culture today. The fact is that our nation today is in a mess when it comes to marriage, to gender issues and to sexual lifestyles because we have strayed from the truth. Let me show you how it all comes unraveled: While most in our culture would not say it in these words, practically speaking we are Godless. For most today, no matter what they say, God is essentially irrelevant. We ve written Him off. There is no Creator, therefore there is no creation. Therefore there is no unique man and no unique woman. Therefore there is no role that is uniquely masculine, no role that is uniquely feminine. There is no standard of truth, so there is no right, and there is no wrong. So all we have left are sexual preferences. How do you prefer to live your life? And who has the right to interfere with someone s preferences. And the Bible is like a loud siren wailing in the darkness of this godless thinking that pervades our culture today. So it s all the more important that we as believers live according to the way of Scripture. Let s look at the wisdom of God s Word when it comes to the role of holy women as wives. Read vv.1-6. Remember we talked on Father s Day about the mandate for men found in I Peter 3:7. 1 Peter 3:7 (NIV) - Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. By the way, someone asked me earlier about why the requirements for the women take up six verses, and the requirements for the men take up only one verse. Well the answer to that is that everybody knows that men can only do one thing at a time. So Peter didn t want to overwhelm them. Women can handle it. So here is a God s Word and wisdom to women to holy women. Holy women are precious in God s sight. Holy women are powerful in God s sight. 1 Peter 3:1 (NIV) - Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands

2 Believe it or not, there are people (well-meaning Christians) who are embarrassed that a statement like this is found in their Bible. They say it is so demeaning to women. They say it is so politically incorrect. They say it is archaic, a carryover from the stone age when women were dragged around by the hair of their head and treated like animals. So they begin to rip into this passage and others like it, to try to explain away the clear straightforward teaching here. And in so doing they think they are rescuing the Bible and the historic faith from some politically incorrect faux pas. We re much too sophisticated to believe that today. Now when it comes to this matter of submission, an important thing to know is that at various times and situations in life, God puts us all under certain overseers in life. God is the final and ultimate Overseer over all of our lives. As a Christ-follower, He is our King, above all others. But beyond that heavenly overseer, God puts us under certain earthly overseers. We learned in I Peter 2 to submit to governmental authorities. God has placed them as an overseer in our lives. We learned that in I Peter 2 that we are to submit to our employers. God places them as an overseer in our lives. And as we see here, wives are to submit to their husbands. Why? God has placed the husband in the life of the wife to serve as an overseer for her. Paul picks up on the same theme Ephesians 5:22 (NIV) - Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. So as part of a wife s submission to her heavenly Overseer, the Lord, she submits to her husband as an earthly overseer. Now, as I said earlier, there is much misunderstanding about this, so let me show you what Scripture is not asking holy women to do. It doesn t mean 1. IT DOESN T MEAN YOU AGREE WITH YOUR HUSBAND ABOUT EVERYTHING. In fact, there is an important disagreement mentioned here: 1 Peter 3:1 (NIV) - Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word Here in I Peter you have a wife who is a believer, and a husband who is not. She has one viewpoint about the ultimate meaning of life, and he has another. He heard the word and made a choice not to believe the Word. She heard it and made the exact opposite choice. She believed. Apparently this woman thinks for herself. She obviously did not let her husband make this decision for her. She chose Christ, he didn t. And she doesn t abandon her viewpoint and agree with her husband.

3 But she is still told to submit to him, so it must mean something else. 2. IT DOESN T MEAN YOU DON T WANT TO SEE YOUR HUSBAND CHANGE. 1 Peter 3:1 (NIV) - If any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives She has a goal. Deep in her heart, this woman wants her husband to change. She wants him to be won over to Christ. But the manner in which she seeks this change in her husband is not the typical way it is done. It is to be done without words. So the typical way that a wife might try to change her husband with the use of words is not the way to do it. It is the way she lives her life her behavior that wins over her husband. And this behavior is called submission. But at the bottom line, she really wants him to change. 3. IT DOESN T MEAN YOU PUT YOUR HUSBAND BEFORE CHRIST. The whole system of authority and submission in Scripture starts with the Lordship of Christ and the authority of God. We put no one ahead of our Lord. The Apostle Paul chimes in on this Colossians 3:18 (NIV) - Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Obviously there s a huge difference between the authority of a husband and the authority of Christ, because husbands, unlike Christ, are fallible. Christ is always right. No man is always right. So there are moral limits to this submission; it is only as is fitting in the Lord. But there s more. 4. THIS DOESN T MEAN THAT YOU HAVE NO LIFE APART FROM YOUR HUSBAND. 1 Peter 3:5 (NIV) - For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. They were submissive to their own husbands, A believing wife doesn t get her spiritual strength primarily from her husband. Now the husband should strengthen his wife. My wife should feel safe and secure in my presence. Remember 1 Peter 3:7 (NIV) - Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life,

4 But it s a mistake for the wife to think that her life is nothing without her husband. She has her own relationship with the Lord, and she puts her hope in God above all others. 5. THIS DOESN T MEAN YOU ARE TO BE AFRAID OF YOUR HUSBAND. 1 Peter 3:6 (NIV) - like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. You see, a wife s submission to her husband is given freely. It is not forced or compelled by the husband. The wife makes a choice to obey the Lord by placing herself under the leadership of her husband in the home. In obeying the Lord and doing that, she has put herself, in a sense, in a weaker position. She is vulnerable. And so Peter writes to the husband, Your wife, because she wants to be a holy woman, has put herself in a position of weakness by submitting to you; therefore make sure that you do not take advantage of her. She has obeyed God in submitting to you, and you better be sure you obey God by respecting and protecting her. So this is what the Scripture is not asking you to do. Now let me show you what it does ask you to do as a holy woman: 1. HOPE IN GOD. Ladies, you may ask, How in the world can I do this? How can I entrust myself to my husband in this way? Answer: Put your hope in God. According to v.5 1 Peter 3:5 (NIV) - The holy women of the past put their hope in God What does that mean? Well Peter uses Sarah as an example. Remember her story. One day Abraham and Sarah received some angelic visitors from the Lord. Abraham and Sarah had all but given up hope that they would have a son, in spite of the fact that the Lord had promised it. But on this day three men arrive to deliver the news that by the same time next year, Sarah would give birth to a son. Now Sarah is listening to this conversation from a distance, and when she heard what the angel had said she laughed. She thought, Are you out of your mind? I am worn out and my master is old. So at first, Sarah had trouble believing and hoping in God. But God s promises are always true. The next year rolls around and, sure enough, Sarah has become pregnant and has given birth to a son. And this time Sarah laughs, but not in the same way she laughed before. She laughed in disbelief before; now she laughs in joy, her hope confirmed. God has come through and she praises Him. And the boy is named Isaac, which means laughter.

5 So women who hope in God are women who can look away from the obstacles of life that make their life seem bleak and impossible, and they look unto the sovereign, powerful, loving God who can do the impossible. So holy women hope in God. Next 2. STRIVE FOR INNER BEAUTY. Just look at the references to this inner beauty. 1 Peter 3:2 (NIV) - when they see the purity (the word is the same word from which we get the word holy ) and reverence (awe of God) of your lives. 1 Peter 3:3 (NIV) - Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Holy women know there is a higher, a greater and more lasting beauty to acquire. 1 Peter 3:4 (NIV) - Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty All physical beauty, no matter how hard we work, is fading. But there is a kind of beauty that never fades inner beauty. 1 Peter 3:4 (NIV) - The unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God s sight. Note: The word for gentle is the same word Jesus used in the Beatitudes when He said, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. That word meek doesn t mean weak. Rather it means strength that is harnessed and under control. 1 Peter 3:5a (NIV) - For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to make themselves beautiful. You don t have to be a non-believing husband to benefit from a holy woman like this. Many of us who are believers have wives who are holy women. I for one can tell you that my wife wins me over every day. Her life spurs me on to be a better man. 3. DO WHAT IS RIGHT. 1 Peter 3:6 (NIV) - like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her master. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. We hope in God and do what is right always! And here s where the power and influence come is. Remember, we ve seen this already in I Peter.

6 I Peter 2:12 tells us to live such good lives before the pagans that when they see our good deeds they will glorify God. I Peter 2:15 says that by doing good we can silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. I Peter 2:20 says that if you suffer for doing good this is commendable before God. And now wives are told that if they do the right thing they can have a powerful influence upon their husbands. CONCLUSION ILLUSTRATION Recently I re-watched one of my favorite films ever Chariots of Fire. Do you remember the scene where Eric Liddell, the runner they called the Flying Scotsman, had discovered that his first heat in the 100 meters in the 1924 Olympics in Paris was to be run on a Sunday. Eric Liddell was a man of great Christian commitment and he believed that he would be violating the Scriptures if he ran on the Sabbath. Eric quietly but firmly informed his country and his teammates that he would not run on Sunday and thus break the Sabbath. His decision was quite controversial. Many of his countrymen thought he was betraying his country and giving up their best chance to win the gold medal in this event. Eric stood on his convictions. On the Sunday of the race, in keeping with his convictions Eric was not on the track, he was in speaking in a church. One of his teammates, seeing the dilemma Liddell was in decided that Liddell could take his place in the 400 meter event that would be run later. Though Eric Liddell was not prepared for this event, it gave him the opportunity to compete. Just prior to the race, a famous American runner by the name of Charlie Paddock handed Eric a piece of paper on which he had written a paraphrase of 1 Samuel 2:30. It said: The Good Book says He who honors me, I will honor. Clutching that piece of paper, Eric Liddell went on to win the 400 meter race, and setting a new world record. So wives, when you honor God in this way, He will honor you. A holy woman is precious in the sight of God and powerful in the sight of God.