Update Note:
The church is no where near being able to live this sermon. It really is put here for the love of the Truth. This sermon is in line with the Holy Spirit when Jesus discussed divorce and remarriage: I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for marital unfaithfulness, and marries another woman commits adultery.” The disciples said to him, “If this is the situation between a husband and wife, it is better not to marry.” Jesus replied, “Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it.” (Matthew 19:9-12)
The peace of the Lord be upon God’s people.
WORKING MOTHERS
Today we will look at something the church has failed to live out or even preach. In fact, they have given ground to the evil one regarding this issue. This sermon is about working mothers. We can’t fully repent of this even if we wanted to. Perhaps the next generation might be able to fully repent of this sin. In Ezra, they had just rebuilt the temple and were looking at the law, and what God’s requirements were. They realized they would have to clean up their families and lives, but that it couldn’t be taken care of in a day or two.
Ezra 10:10 – Then Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful…”
The church has been so busy fighting the wicked people that they have totally let go of its very foundation in Jesus Christ. Mothers being busy at home is a very fundamental teaching of sound doctrine. The rest of verse 10 goes on to say:
Ezra 10:10 – …you have married foreign women, adding to Israel’s guilt.
They were unfaithful to the law. Being united to sinful things always led to a breakdown of the family. During World War II, the men left to fight the war and the women worked in the factories in order to supply the needs for the men.
Women got a taste of what it was like to not be busy at home and it has continued since then. This has led to a breakdown of the family and now we see children who don’t know how to behave or do anything in the Lord. We see much rebellion and it will only continue to get worse. So, if the church were serious about revival, they would first clean up the family. However, that isn’t happening. Many people talk about it, but not according to God’s law.
Ezra 10:11 – Now make confession to the LORD…
First the church would have to stand up and admit their unfaithfulness to God. They would need to confess the sin of making it easy and convenient. They have preached and lived in such a way that it looks noble for women to work outside the home. The church must rise up—especially if it is serious about becoming holy again—and declare that a woman should be busy at home. The church needs to understand God’s wisdom as to why he arranged things in that manner.
Ezra 10:11 – … the God of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives.
The church must not go along with the pattern of the world or be a part of it. It begins with people “finding” their lives and gaining the money they want. They sacrifice their children to idols of gold and silver in order to fulfill their own lives.
Ezra 10:12 – The whole assembly responded with a loud voice:
There must be a loud voice which rises up in the church and says:
Ezra 10:12- You are right! We must do as you say.
They must realize it is sin for a mother to work outside the home. They must understand how it causes the breakdown of the family. The church must rise up and take full responsibility for what it has done.
Ezra 10:13 – But there are many people here and it is the rainy season; so we cannot stand outside. Besides, this matter cannot be taken care of in a day or two, because we have sinned greatly in this thing.
This kind of repentance cannot be resolved in a day or two, a week, or a month. It will take years to achieve this kind of repentance. Indeed, many women have continued to work outside the home after their children have been raised. You cannot turn the clock back and begin to do what you thought you should have done in the beginning. So, the only hope of repentance is to realize how we have been unfaithful to the law, to the Living God, and to his Holy Spirit. Then we need to raise up the next generation to be fully obedient to what God has in mind. Women have been lied to about what would fulfill their lives and make them beneficial apart from Jesus Christ. We see how the church has encouraged this. We will see what full repentance means. It cannot be taken care of in a day or two because we have sinned greatly. The church must realize a great sin has been committed and it is not a minor thing.
Mothers are responsible for raising children. The father is, because of the fall in the garden, required to work by the sweat of his brow, and then be away from the home. God created women to raise children. Their whole role and purpose is to raise children for the Lord.
Proverbs 29:15 – The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.
“The rod of correction imparts wisdom…” There needs to be a measuring rod that shows what a child should become in Jesus Christ. There must be the rod of correction to tap a child on the shoulder that indicates, “This is the way to go. Don’t move off this path.” Who has this responsibility? Who should have the rod in their hands? “…but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.” We often think of the rod in relationship to the father, but it really is the mother who begins the process of raising a child. The mother teaches the child about Jesus Christ and what it means to worship the Living God. If you take a mother away from that role, something else will fulfill the child’s life. Once a mother begins to work outside the home, I guarantee the government will step in because someone has to raise that child. In our own society today, we find the government fulfilling the role of motherhood. Indeed the government zealously pursues motherhood. Satan wants to lure mothers out of the home and away from their children so he can come in with his system and raise children for himself. Will we raise children up for Jesus Christ to serve the Living God or will we let someone else influence and raise our children? We know Satan will raise them to be a sacrifice for himself. Verse 15 again: “The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother.” Ironically, these children will grow up and pour contempt upon the mothers who left them. They won’t show their mothers the respect due them in Jesus Christ. In spite of all of her words in saying “I love you” and “I care for you” and all the things she provides, a working mother demonstrates to her child—whether she wants to or not—that working outside the home is more important than being at home for them. It is a very loud statement of actions rather than words. When a mother drops off her child at a daycare center or grandma’s to fulfill her life, she teaches that it is more important to fulfill her own needs so she can find herself, than to meet the child’s needs and love him. That child will grow up to disgrace his mother and ask, “Why did you not love me? Why did you not care? Why did you leave me alone?” This is not as simple as a mother just quitting her job and staying at home. A lot of training must happen. Just because a mother is at home it doesn’t mean she has any wisdom. I know of mothers right now who are home with their children, yet leave the children to themselves. They will also grow up to disgrace their mother. The next generation of kids growing up needs this proverb:
Proverbs 31:1 – The sayings of King Lemuel—an oracle his mother taught him:
We want mothers to raise up godly children for the Lord; mothers who find God to be a pleasure and a joy and say, “I’m willing to sacrifice everything I could gain in the world. I’m willing to sacrifice actualizing my life and finding out the things I want in order to serve and love my children.” We need mothers to demonstrate by actions of love that it is more blessed to give than to receive and that the cross of Jesus Christ is worth living. When a woman works outside the home (with no dire circumstances that force her to do so), she demonstrates to her children that being selfish is noble. When a woman stays home to lay down her life, and sacrifices her talents, gifts, and all of the things she thinks she has in Jesus Christ, she demonstrates her joy to pick up the cross for Jesus Christ. It is the loudest sermon that can be preached. Her actions give credibility when the preacher stands up and says, “It is a joy to sacrifice your life for Jesus Christ.” That child will look at his mother and say, “My mother sacrificed her life for me. She sang songs to Jesus Christ all day long. She demonstrated by her actions that it was a joy to lay down her life and pick up the cross of Jesus Christ for me.”
Therefore, that child has a different beginning than a child has who has been sacrificed to the world.
Let’s look at the passage about being busy at home. Notice that Titus says:
Titus 2:1 – You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine.
When we think of sound doctrine we think of the Trinity, certain concepts, or dry doctrine. But, what is discussed in Titus is equal to sound doctrine. Look at the things considered to be sound doctrine; are they preached from the pulpits today? Ask someone, “Does your church teach sound doctrine?” Listen to their reply. Just try it sometime. When someone asks, “What kind of doctrine do you have in your church?” this is what you need to reply;
Titus 2:2 – Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.
Sound doctrine comes down to everyday, basic things. We “teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance.” These are the qualities of sound doctrine. Even the demons know the Trinity is true. They know the quality and character of God, but they don’t know sound doctrine. Sound doctrine leads to real action. The church must stand up and say, “We have sinned greatly in this matter,” and then discover the practical steps they need to take in Jesus Christ to come to a place of repentance. No one would disagree with verse 2. Everyone would say, “Sure, we need to teach older men to be temperate. We need to teach older men to be worthy of respect.”
Titus 2:3 – Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.
A church that preaches sound doctrine has these qualities. The leadership should tell the older women, “You need to be reverent. Be holy in the way you conduct yourself and your life. Do not to be slanderers.” Everyone would agree that older women should not be “addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good.” These should be the qualities of a godly older woman.
Titus 2:4 – Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children,
The church does not teach this today. Indeed, one has to ask, “Where are the older women who can teach the younger women?” The older women are busy with their careers. They have bought into Satan’s lie about needing to earn money. They have listened to the church’s lie too. Right now there aren’t enough older women to teach younger women how to love their husbands. Look at verse 4: “Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands…” This is something that must be taught to a younger woman. Do not think because a woman is baptized in Jesus Christ, she will automatically know how to love her husband. This grace must be taught because God arranged it that way. An older woman has experienced marriage and raised her children. She should have a vast reservoir of knowledge, wisdom, and understanding about conducting a household. She should be able to tell a younger woman, “This is what you need to do. This is how to avoid these mistakes.” What if we had five generations of this kind of wisdom? How holy our families would be! If we went back five generations of older woman teaching other women, by now we would have a storehouse of righteousness in women who know how to conduct themselves. But, we don’t! We don’t have older women who can teach younger women, because they went off to “find themselves.” If we did, they could individually train
the younger women. Talk about fellowship! This is the deepest of love and fellowship. Think about it ladies, if you were free to be home with your children and fellowship with other women who could teach, train, and direct you in the smallest areas of your life, what fellowship you would have with those women in Jesus Christ! Yet women miss all of this because they want a paycheck. It is absurd! “Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children…” They must be taught how to love their children. Have you ever seen a man try to love children? He must be thoroughly trained because he has no clue! Even younger women must be trained and taught the proper way. The church has retreated joyfully from this because they don’t want to be burdened—they want to win numbers. They want to draw people in and make it convenient. They are after the money too. Where they have retreated, Satan has marched in saying, “I will raise your children for you. I will give you wisdom. I will provide and make it easy. I will give you tax deductions that will allow you to work outside the home. Then, once you are outside the home, I will make it difficult for you. I will take away the tax deduction that keeps you from being at home. Then, it will become ‘necessary’ to work outside the home.” We are in that generation where it is difficult. It is hard, but not impossible.
Titus 2:5 – to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.
We twist the Word of God when we say a woman doesn’t have to be busy at home. Who asks a church, “Do you preach sound doctrine? Do you teach that women should be busy at home? Do you teach that older women should be free to teach younger women how to be busy at home, love their husbands, and raise their children?” The church has become a complete failure based on this one issue. Don’t discuss anything else. Don’t discuss miracles, gifts, evangelism, or any of the things they do. If they do not teach this as their goal, then they do not have sound doctrine. Verse 5 again: “…to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home…” For all those Greek fans that want to know what the Greek has to say, I looked it up. It literally means “working at home.” So referring to the Greek doesn’t help their case at all. This one passage has caused a lot of squirming and fighting in the church because it is the very foundation of sound doctrine. It is the basis on which the church was built. God wants men and women to be as he said and they are supposed to raise their children for him. Instead, people sacrifice their children for gold and silver, and to pride and arrogance.
How we are to view mothers? Our attitude and frame of reference should be in Jesus Christ.
1 Timothy 5:1 – Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers,
No one would disagree with that, especially if they were an older man.
1 Timothy 5:1-2 – Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity.
It does not say to treat older women as teachers, workers, laborers, or someone outside the home, but as a mother to the full extent of what being a mother means. Working mothers are at the job, from 8:00 to 5:00 (if not more). First, they drop off the child at daycare where somebody else watches them. By the time they pick up the child, do all of the necessary errands, go home and try to finish the household chores, how much time will they have with their child? Thirty minutes, maybe an hour or so? By the time everything is finished, it is a joke for a woman to say she is a mother to her child. Time-wise, it shows that someone else is raising her child—someone else is the child’s mother. So, they live a lie and find support groups to help themselves get out from under the guilt they feel—the guilt God put there because they know what they do is wrong.
1 Timothy 5:3-4 – Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.
Will the children or grandchildren of working mothers feel they have an obligation to repay their mothers and grandmothers when they are grown? Do they stop and think, “My grandmother did this for me.” Or “My mother did that for me,” thus feeling an overwhelming obligation to repay them? Not any more! Now everyone grabs for what they can get from their job, and the children continue in the same pattern. The family is broken down and torn apart, not because of the world, but because of the church. The church builds the Christian daycare centers. We might as well have Christian abortion clinics. We might as well say, “Here is my child. Destroy him spiritually. I sacrifice him for convenience.” Some mothers are in dire poverty. This is not about those kinds of situations. Even so, where are the prayers to trust God? Where is the fight to stay home? Where is the hurt and anguish about leaving? There may be times when mothers have to work because divorce is so rampant, but what rises in the hearts of these women? Do they pray? Do they weep before the Lord? Do they ask, and fight so that God might meet their needs? How does the church to try to meet their needs in Jesus Christ? Where are the men and families who will meet the needs of somebody else who needs to be busy at home? Where is the guidance and counsel that will show these women how to be busy at home because there is so much to do? So often I hear women saying, “Well, I don’t know what I would do all day long.” Once you area at home, you won’t find enough time in the day to get it all done if you are serving Jesus Christ.
1 Timothy 5:5-6 – The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God and continues night and day to pray and to ask God for help. But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.
The woman who lives to fulfill her life—even those women who have children to fulfill their lives—will become a widow later on. Does she live for her own pleasures? She is dead even as she lives. So many widows today are worthless while they sit in the pews because they live for their own pleasure. They began their lives going after their careers, fun, and the material things of this world, so then they will finish by being dead even while they are alive. They sacrificed their children to gods of gold and silver. They took the convenient and easy way out.
1 Timothy 5:7 – Give the people these instructions, too, so that no one may be open to blame.
Do we desire that no one will malign, twist, or pervert the Word of God, so that no one may be open to blame? These are the basics of sound doctrine. If a church wants revival and purity, it must begin with mothers, children, and the very basics of what it means to be a family.
1 Timothy 5:8 – If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
It comes down to the individual relationships we have with one another, and how we conduct ourselves. We need to admit we have been unfaithful in this matter because we encouraged women to work outside the home. We made it easy for them to do so by opening up Christian daycare centers—centers that are run by women! This is totally out of line with what God has to say. Let’s look at the qualifications in order to be on the widow’s list:
1 Timothy 5:9 – No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband,
This isn’t a mushy kind of Christianity that automatically puts you on the widows’ list because you are old and in need. Look at the standard of quality shown for the women. There is no such list for men, but there is for women. God knows if the foundation is destroyed because mothers are taken away from their children for whatever reason, then the whole thing will collapse. I don’t care how good looking the temple or how magnificent the ministry, if the mothers don’t raise their children and stay busy at home, the whole thing will be totally destroyed. It will fall in upon itself because there is no foundation. “No widow may be put on the list of widows unless she is over sixty, has been faithful to her husband….” There is a measurement about what it means to be faithful to a husband.
1 Timothy 5:10 – and is well known for her good deeds, such as bringing up children, showing hospitality, washing the feet of the saints, helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.
What is one of the good deeds which are in Jesus Christ? “…bringing up children…”—not working or being outside the home. A woman can be put on the widow’s list when she has raised children in Jesus Christ, and “show hospitality, and wash the feet of the saints….” All of these things involve servanthood. They go against our sinful nature of doing what we want to do. The women should be known for this if they are to be on the widows’ list in Jesus Christ. If you have time to wash the feet of the saints and raise children, you won’t have time to be in the workplace. “…helping those in trouble and devoting herself to all kinds of good deeds.” If you fulfill even half of these things you can’t work outside the home. A woman has to be free in order to do all of these things. What a grand calling! Wouldn’t it be grand to find a group of women washing the feet of the saints, raising children, and training and teaching younger women how to serve their husbands at home? Instead, everyone busily gossips, slanders, and selfishly does his or her own thing. No wonder children and husbands are serving self! The foundation of the wife setting the example has disappeared.
How many husbands come to Jesus Christ because of the behavior of their wives? They are the foundation of the family. Think about it! When we fell in the Garden, didn’t Satan go after the woman? Who will God go to in order to build up a generation of righteous children again? He will go to the foundation—the women.
1 Timothy 5:11 – As for younger widows, do not put them on such a list. For when their sensual desires overcome their dedication to Christ, they want to marry.
Older women can teach younger women to put to death their worldliness by the cross of Jesus Christ. A younger widow begins to burn and wants to marry. She can easily forsake Jesus Christ in this position.
1 Timothy 5:12-13 – Thus they bring judgment on themselves, because they have broken their first pledge. Besides, they get into the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. And not only do they become idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying things they ought not to.
Older women must teach restraint to the younger women in Jesus Christ. Older women should set the example of holiness, righteousness, reverence, and how to be proper in all things. This demonstrates to younger women, who have the zeal and energy of youth, to get before the Lord to be crucified, so they might become holy. That is the purpose of older women in the church.
1 Timothy 5:14 – So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander.
He told them to get married before their sensual indulgence overcame their dedication to Jesus Christ. “…to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander.” Everything has to do with not maligning the Word of God, teaching sound doctrine, and not giving Satan a foothold to slander the gospel. Not only does he have a foothold now, he has entire countries where he can slander Christianity. He has a whole host of children who are under his control. They spend their time criticizing Jesus Christ and continue the tide of wickedness. They do so because the church abandoned the family a long time ago by making it easy for women to work outside the home. Indeed, in most churches the church secretary is a woman. I hope, in this church, we will have a man as a secretary. Now, this is the most important verse:
1 Timothy 5:15 – Some have in fact already turned away to follow Satan.
The issue of working mothers is a choice between following Satan or following God; be busy at home or follow the way of the world. This decision is clear. The church isn’t sounding a clear call and that is a problem. The church is not making a distinction. Either you follow the way of the world and work outside the home, or you follow God and be busy at home. People are not aware of their need for repentance. Indeed, the church has to throw up its hands and say that it is impossible to fully repent of this sin. It is impossible to fully repent of, but it is not impossible to repent. Should we just throw up our hands and say, “It is inconvenient” or “We can’t do it,” or “It is too hard?” Or, should we seek the Living
God and ask him to work repentance starting with this generation, so eventually there might be a few people who give themselves fully to the Lord’s holiness? We need to get this in our hearts and minds. When we talk to other people we must ask, “Do you teach and live this? Are you following Satan and the world, or are the women being busy at home?”
In 2 Timothy Paul wrote about his relationship with Timothy. This needs to be the goal of every woman who is in Jesus Christ. These words should be said about every mother and grandmother.
2 Timothy 1:3-5 – I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
Paul gave credit to Timothy’s mother and grandmother. Notice verse 4, it is very important: “Recalling your tears…” Only a man raised by a woman like this knows how to cry. How do fathers conduct themselves as they raise their children? When a child is hurt, what is the usual response from a father? “Dry up the tears, it is not that bad.” But, a godly mother knows that balance. She knows to turn to the father and say, “He’s hurt.” These mothers know the hearts and emotions of children. They offer life to them. They were able to cry and rejoice with their kids. Timothy had this kind of character and he could cry when necessary. He could show love. Now children are raised who no longer know how to express love. Yet they are desperate and lonely for love. They are orphans even with parents, but they do not know how to express love. Timothy’s grandmother and mother were examples to him, so Paul said, “I recall your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.” Think about it, Timothy began his Christian walk with a relationship with Paul! He was able to be in a relationship with one of the most godly men that has ever been recorded in history. If you are like me, I was not raised in a godly home. I couldn’t have hung with Paul! I could have run as fast as I wanted and still could not have kept up with him. Indeed, I am not worthy to be in his shadow. But, Timothy could fellowship with him, and more than that, Paul longed to be with Timothy. I want my children to be raised and fellowship with the Pauls of this world. May they be an encouragement to the Pauls who have very few people with whom they can fellowship. That kind of joy, responsibility, and freedom falls upon the grandmother and the mother. Women miss their high calling because the church has lied to them. Their flesh wanted to hear the lie. Verse 5 says: “I have been reminded of your sincere faith…” Just to have those words said about any child would be an amazing thing today. “…which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded…” Paul was persuaded because he saw Timothy’s life. Timothy didn’t say, “Believe the right doctrines,” or “My grandmother and mother were believers, so that makes me a Christian.” Paul was persuaded that something lived within Timothy that could not be contained.
He had something that was beyond religion and just “normal belief.” It was alive within Timothy. It was a part of him. It was his joy, his life, and his fire. Paul said, “I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy. You bring me such happiness because of what lives in you.” Did the grandmother know she did that? Did the mother know? No, it didn’t matter. She simply loved her child and raised him in Jesus Christ. She didn’t know she would raise a child who would be an encouragement to Paul. We don’t know how our children may glorify God. God works in the simple, everyday things, not in these grand career moves and fulfilling of self.
2 Timothy 1:6 – For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
Timothy conducted himself in Jesus Christ. Not only was he a friend to Paul, but he had the Holy Spirit received from Paul in his life, and fanned that gift into flame. Timothy was alive in Jesus Christ in every sense of the word, wasn’t he? He was full of tears, full of fire, and full of joy because of what his grandmother and mother did.
2 Timothy 1:7 – For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
This was the quality of Timothy’s life, and God took the time to record in Scripture that it was because of his grandmother and mother.
People will shout about legalism and rules because of this next passage.
1 Timothy 2:8 – I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.
Again, nobody would argue against that.
1 Timothy 2:9-10 – I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.
We have seen what those good deeds are.
1 Timothy 2:11-12 – A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent.
A woman isn’t allowed to teach, because there isn’t time. This is an ironic commandment. If these women were busy at home and the men came and asked, “You know, we’d like for you to teach a class and be a preacher in the church,” she should respond, “Are you crazy? I have enough to do raising all these godly children for Jesus Christ!”
1 Timothy 2:13-14 – For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.
Verse 15 is a very troubling passage to most people. But, if you understand it by the Spirit, it is not troubling at all. It is not legalism or death. Look at what it says:
1 Timothy 2:15 – But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.
The church has reduced Christianity to a simple, wide road gospel call that tells people to just ask Jesus in their heart while continuing to do everything they want. To be on the narrow road you have to walk through a narrow gate and women, you will be saved through childbearing! That is your calling and purpose. That is why God made you. If you don’t believe me, look in the mirror and see how you are constructed. “But women will be saved through childbearing,” not through working in the labor force. This country should have told all of the women to stay home from the factories and get on their knees to pray and seek the Living God. In a spiritual sense, we lost World War II because women began to enter the work force, which was the downfall of our children. “But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.” You must have the qualities of faith, love, and holiness. These things must be taught because God said older women are to teach the younger women. Just because a woman is busy at home, it doesn’t mean she has the qualities of faith, love, holiness, and propriety that come from the cross. A woman is called to be married, be a help-mate, and raise children for the Lord. Then everyone asks: “What if she can’t have children?” “What if she can’t do this or that?” There will always be a “what if”! Let’s begin with what we do understand and God will make clear the “what ifs.” Let us not use the “what ifs” to justify everything we want to do.
You see, the more we abandon the discipline that God set in place, the more wickedness increases in the land. If man doesn’t have to work by the sweat of his brow, the more time he has and the more sin increases. The more women are not busy at home, the more sin increases. We see this going on today.
Isaiah 2:5 – Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD.
Let us move into the light and admit we have been unfaithful in this matter as a church. Not only have we been unfaithful, we have encouraged and strengthened the hands of the church and the world as well.
Isaiah 2:6 – You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob. The church has abandoned the people. They are full of superstitions from the East;
This land is full of superstitions from the East. Even the church talks about how this has entered the church.
Isaiah 2:6 – …they practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands with pagans.
Pagans run after the things of this world. The pagans don’t have a Living God. The pagan women work outside the home, feed their own flesh, and do their own thing. You clasp hands with them! You open up your Christian daycare centers. You have a Christian babysitting service—not an outreach. You don’t tell them to stay home and be busy with their children. The church, indeed, does clasp hands with pagans. You know, we might as well have a Christian striptease club or a Christian bar.
Mark 13:12 – Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.
Why does this happen? What about the conditions of the last days will make it so children will rebel against their parents and hand them over to be killed? It is because they were first abandoned by their parents. The fathers and mothers demonstrated to their children that they meant no more than “things.” When women work outside the home and fathers tolerate it, in essence they say to their children, “The car is more important than you.” The things they own and their comforts are more important to them than loving the child. So, why would a child not turn and betray his parent? Growing up the child has learned, “You’re just a thing, Mom,” “Dad, you’re just another item,” and “If you are in my way and it is inconvenient for me to be around you, I will turn you over.” “Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.” When we rise up as a church and declare that women are to be busy at home, the world will hate us. When we say, “You know, a widow that lives for her own pleasure is dead even while she lives,” the world will hate us. When we declare that the state should not raise our children, but only those who are godly, the world will hate us. This is what Jesus said:
Mark 13:13 – All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.
He who preaches and lives sound doctrine, he who moves into a place of repentance says, “Fathers, get out there and provide for your family, and mothers, stay home and get busy and raise some godly children for the Living God.” But, we love silver and gold. We love our careers and our pride. Look again at Isaiah:
Isaiah 2:7 – Their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots.
Is that not the time period in which we live? The land is full of it. It is everywhere. The more you find wealth and prosperity, the more you find an abandonment and a sacrificing of children for gold and silver. Our younger daughters are being raised to believe they must have a career and sacrifice their children for what they want to do. The church says you need to realize the gifts God has given you and fulfill those gifts at the cost of sacrificing your children. Now we have children because it makes us feel beneficial. It makes us feel good. We use our children like we use a new car.
Isaiah 2:8 – Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.
There is no end to their treasures! The world has attained its highest prosperity level, and it will continue to grow until the Antichrist comes on the scene. Until then, Satan is raising up a whole host of children who will serve him. The church is at the forefront saying this is an OK thing and it is all right. “You have our blessing in this! We know this is a necessity and that it has to be done.” There is no indignation in the land over this. Nobody stomps their feet anymore. “Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots” (Isaiah 2:7). Cars are everywhere! We are a nation of mobility, and going where we want and doing what we want. How often you said to yourself—maybe secretly in your heart—“Well, I need a car or a boat. I need these extra things to help me fulfill my life.” You know you have thought it! “Their land is full of idols…” Full of them! Pick an idol and go for it! “…they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.” People bow down to their idols and are zealous for them. What is the call of the church today? “Rejoice always and be happy! God wants you to have all of the blessings.” It is so far from sound doctrine. One doesn’t even know where to begin to call for repentance.
This is very simple. The church has left pure religion. It has left the most basic things of being a Christian and favors what is flashy and feeds the flesh.
James 1:27 – Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure…” Not what man accepts as pure. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless….” Faultless! Perfect! The most holy is this; “…to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” I can’t tell you the number of children who are orphans even as they have parents. So here is one answer to the question, “What if a married couple can’t have children?” There are tons of orphans to look after! Step out your front door and look down the neighborhood. There are plenty of children to love—children who need a grandmother or mother. Share the gospel and lay down your life for others. There
is no end to the work that can be done, and the last thing this country needs is another woman entering the work place. “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” What is the call of the world? “Don’t stay home. If you do stay home, do both, have your career and your family at home. Try to balance the two.” I looked up the word “orphan” in the
Dictionary just for a few people who might say that being an orphan means you don’t have parents, but one of the definitions of an orphan is this: One that lacks support, supervision, or care. Another one says: Lacking support or supervision; abandoned. We have a whole world of children who are abandoned with no supervision, no love, no tender grace, and no mercy. Even if a child goes to public school, there is something about a child who knows his mother is home all day long for him. There is a sense of security and peace in knowing that the mother is just there. There probably will be days when the child is sick, he needs something, or he’s having a rough day. Working mothers have to be paged. A mother who is home for her child doesn’t have to interrupt her business meetings. She doesn’t have to work out what is convenient. She can be there immediately. That mother teaches her child that God will always be there when he needs him—that God will answer every time he prays and cries out to him. But, when a mother works outside the home, she teaches that God will come when he finds it convenient! That he is aloof and uninvolved, really, in your life—that he is busy with other things, and when he can fit it in, he will meet your needs. “Pure religion” is to keep ourselves from being polluted by the world. Keeping mothers busy at home with their children is the greatest challenge in this
generation. One time a man told me that a certain woman was divorced. She had two or three kids at home and he planned to marry her. I asked, “Why do you want to marry her?” He said, “Well, because the children need a father.” “You don’t have to marry her to do that,” I said. “With all the sin of divorce and remarriage, you can still be a father to those children without marrying her.” Men have all kinds of noble excuses for feeding their flesh. The church has to stand up and declare: “That is not sound doctrine. That is not holy or righteous.” Look at Revelation 18:1 very closely.
Revelation 18:1 – After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor.
The light of the Lord is coming! Every church that caused these women to be busy outside the home, will be revealed for who they are by this light.
Revelation 18:2 – With a mighty voice he shouted: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird.”
Now, look at what happens in verse 3:
Revelation 18:3 – For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries.
This wine intoxicates them! Some women work outside the home and don’t know why they do it! They can even sit down, calculate, and realize, “It costs me more to work outside the home,” but they still can’t give it up. It is an addicting, maddening wine and it unsettles their reasoning. They can’t see things clearly. You have to cut off the wine in order to become sober. By the way, that is one of the things that older women are to teach the younger women.
Revelation 18:3 – …The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.
A land full of gold and silver and chariots!
Revelation 18:4 – Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues…”
One of the most simple calls of the churches is—“Come out and become separate from all this.” With all of the talk of the Antichrist and talk of Babylon the Great, who calls: “Women come out and be separate. Men come out and be separate. Do what you need to do”? It is not heard or preached that women should be busy at home. The pastor doesn’t stand up and say, “We won’t move on until we get this down.” I don’t care who the Antichrist is; he can be your next-door neighbor. Until we get this down, it doesn’t matter.
Revelation 18:5 – for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes.
This vicious cycle continues to grow. First, a woman is not busy at home, and then her child becomes wicked. I don’t know how many generations we are into now of children being abandoned. It will take a lifetime to even begin to talk about righteousness and holiness to them, to get them up to the most basic things in Jesus Christ. When I preach the gospel I can’t begin with the gospel, I have to begin by telling them, “This is how you think. This is how you reason. This is how you look at things. This is how you talk about things.” These are the most basic things a mother should have taught her child. You have to bring them out of the fog and sober them up from the wine. You have to say: “This is what it is to be in a relationship with the Living God.” You have to teach them what a relationship means, let alone the dynamics of a relationship with the Living God.
Revelation 18:6 – Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Mix her a double portion from her own cup.
Let us become indignant, stand up, and say, “Enough is enough! This will not continue. We will not abandon or sacrifice our children. We will not let another generation do the same thing we did. We will not let them buy the lie.”
Revelation 18:7-8 – Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, “I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn.” Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning, and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
Let us come out of this so we do not share in her judgments.
Revelation 18:9 – When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her.
Notice the kings will not weep and mourn over her sins. They are selfish to the core. They can’t weep because of sin. They can only weep because they can’t fulfill the sin.
Revelation 18:10 – Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: “Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!”
The foundation level has cracked and it will collapse in on itself very quickly.
Revelation 18:11-12 – The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more—cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble;
Do you get the idea this has to do with material things? But, it goes deeper than that.
Revelation 18:13 – cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.
The church has sold the souls of their children. They make it difficult, if not impossible, for women to be busy at home. Some of the projects that consume the money in the church should be utterly destroyed. There needs to be men in leadership who are willing to find, pray for, and plead for older women who can teach the younger women. Don’t even begin to talk about holiness and righteousness in these churches unless they preach, live, and demand that women be busy at home. It is her high and glorious calling. Unfortunately, many have turned from God and are now following Satan.
Let’s go ahead and pray.
Father, your Word says that when the foundations are being destroyed what can the righteous do? Father, we don’t know what to do in this .even to envision a second generation, Father, that will be able to live this remotely seems impossible. For many, Father, it is already too late. Their children are already grown. Father, we know that you are the God that works on impossible things. We know not, Father, how you work it. We just know that you can work it. Show us, Father, what to do and move on the hearts of many children, Father, to draw them back to you to awaken them in you. This common work can be holy, Father. Amen!
This transcription has been edited to a reader friendly format. Every effort has been made to be true to the speaker’s original message. Any mistranslations are unintentional. The original audio tape can be ordered free of charge by contacting Sound Doctrine Ministries.
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