"The Wise Woman Builds Her House" – Proverbs 14:1 (Mother's Day)

well i would like to say happy mother's day to every mother who's here today and i would say you might be surprised but mother's day is actually the third most celebrated holiday in america so it's good to have you here and we wish you all a happy mother's day i would say that i ran across online a few quotes a few mom quotes from women's day magazine that i thought you might find enjoyable this morning here's a quote from a young mother sleep at this point is just a concept something i'm looking forward to investigating in the future another one says why don't kids understand that their nap is not for them but for us when you get a little bit older i think this one is from jerry seinfeld he says a two-year-old is kind of like a blender but you don't have a top for it here's one that says it just occurred to me that the majority of my diet is made up of food that my kids didn't finish if you first don't succeed try doing it the way your mom told you to do it from the start silence is golden unless you have kids then silence is just suspicious i like this one any mother could perform the job of several air traffic controllers with ease a suburban mother's role is to deliver children obstetrically once and by car forever after a mother need only step into the shower to be instantly reassured she is indispensable to every member of her family i like this one from buddy hackett my mother's menu consisted of two choices take it or leave it irma bombback when your mother asks do you want a piece of advice it is a mere formality it doesn't matter if you answer yes or no you're going to get it anyway here's when it says my sister said once anything i don't want my mother to know i don't even think of it if she's in the room meditation is my thing but i'm not going to lie sometimes i go into my closet and lock the door so no one can find me when your children are teenagers it's important to have a dog it's important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you the best way to get your children's attention is to relax and look comfortable i want my children to have all the things i couldn't afford then i want to move in with them and my favorite at all of all because this reminds me of my mother and my mother-in-law when she lived with us for a while and even my wife listen to this a sweater is a garment worn by a child when the mother feels chilly well anyway those are a few mom day quotes you can think about those this morning but we're going to talk about mothers this morning in our central passage is in proverbs chapter 14 in verse 1. and there solomon writes the wise woman builds her house but the foolish tears it down with her own hands the wise woman builds her house noticed the tremendous influence that a woman has the wise woman builds her house well how can she build her house well it says she builds it through wisdom that she is wise now there's another verse in in the proverbs chapter 9 verse 1 that's very similar but a little different listen to what it says there wisdom has built her house she has hewn out her seven pillars so in chapter 14 verse 1 it says the wise woman builds her house in chapter 9 verse 1 it says wisdom builds her house and it says wisdom has hewn out seven pillars now i don't think there's a particular paragraph where it tells us exactly what those seven pillars are but we're going to look into the book of proverbs primarily in a few other places to see seven pillars of wisdom that i think can help to build that house so our first verse of course is proverbs 14 verse 1. the wise woman builds her house well what would be the first pillar well in the book of proverbs in the book of proverbs is a book of wisdom that's really the theme of the book and wisdom has the idea of being skilled or skillful and it has the idea of specifically in being skilled in living or to live skillfully so what is the first foundational pillar to live skillfully well probably the theme verse of the book is chapter 9 verse 10 it says the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom so if a woman's to build her house and she's to be a wise woman then what would be the first pillar and it would be the fear of the lord now what does it mean to fear the lord well first of all it means to believe in the lord in psalm i think 14 verse 1 it says the fool has said in his heart there is no god the fool says there is no god but the wise woman believes and fears the lord and then what else does it mean to fear the lord it means to trust in him and trust in jesus christ as your savior and it means to walk with him and that's the fear of the lord and i think it also means to look to him for help because there's another verse in psalm 127 verse 1 where it says unless the lord builds the house they labor in vain who build it so we're talking about building a house proverbs 14 verse 1 says the wise woman builds it proverbs 9 verse 1 says wisdom builds it's psalm 27 127 verse 1 says the lord builds the house so if you have a pillar if you have a foundation if you're going to build that house then the lord ultimately is the builder of all things and we look to the lord so a woman who fears the lord is one who believes in him who trust in jesus christ as her savior who seeks to walk with him and who looks to the lord and asks for his strength and his blessing and another verse says a man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven and so we look to god as the ultimate source of our blessings well what's another pillar well i had in my notes anyway to love your husband to love your husband if you want to build that house in titus chapter 2 it says older women who are in to our older women are to encourage young women to love their husbands to love their children so if you were going to build that house and you had seven pillars what would that house be built upon i'd say number one would be the fear of the lord but number two would be to love your husband and that's also found in the book of proverbs in proverbs chapter 15 verse 17 it says better is a dish of vegetables where love is than a fattened ox served with hatred what that means is it's better to have a few peas in a home where there's love than to have a big steak dinner with a contentious in a contentious atmosphere in other words he's saying there that love is that which can permeate the home and that the wife can help bring that and so i think a pillar is to love her husband in proverbs 31 verse 12 it says she does him good and not evil all the days of her life what does it mean to love and i think we would say a definition of love is seeking the best for another a definition of love would be sacrificially doing good think about john 3 16 for god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son so part of love is giving and here it says this woman seeks to do him good all the days of his life in proverbs 31 11 it says the heart of her husband trust in her what does it mean to love i think it means to be trustworthy and that's what the proverbs say what does it mean to love in proverbs chapter 5 it talks about romantic love and it says to the young man rejoice in the wife of your youth as a loving hind and a graceful dough be exhilarated always with her love and there he's talking about romantic love and he's saying there that that's a blessing of god that the husband is to enjoy and i would say that the wife is as well and she's responsive to him and i would say that's part of the second pillar but where do we go from there number three i would say to look well to your house in psalm or excuse me proverbs 31 verse 27 it says she looks well to the ways of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness now notice the word looks well that's an interesting word that word looks well as a word that's used of a man who was on a watchtower who was on watch to look for enemies that might be coming it was a word sometimes used if someone were to spy he would be watching one of the dictionaries says it means to be fully aware of a situation in order to gain an advantage or keep from being surprised by an enemy it means to diligently care for every need and so it's saying here that this woman looks well to the ways of her household and notice it says her household and i think that's very important my mentor used to always tell me plow your own field he'd say don't worry about whatever other other people are doing do what you're supposed to do in what you're responsible to do and that's really a paraphrase of proverbs 28 19 he who tills his land will have plenty of food but he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty notice it says he who tills his own land he's active he's working but it says here his own land gracie used to say and i remember her quoting it says ask yourself the question is this something someone else can do because there are certain things that only you can do for your children and your husband if you have followed other pursuits and neglected to do what only you can do have you really built your house in other words plow your own field look well to the ways of your house that doesn't mean there can't be an overflow to bless others but what i'm advocating here is be sure though that you're plowing your own field and be sure that you're blessing your own house well what's number four well i would say number four is to teach your children it's really a theme in proverbs chapter 6 verse 20 says my son observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother the book of proverbs talks about the mother and says she's a teacher the many great men in history who've said that their mother was the greatest teacher that they've ever had i think abraham lincoln said that i think winston churchill said that that their mother was the greatest teacher that they ever had well what is that woman to teach well i think obviously she's to teach we'll say general information i mean i've talked to a preschool teacher kindergarten teacher and they'll say that there's a tremendous difference of a child who comes from a home where the mother taught them things and one who did not have such an advantage in saying here just teaching simple things simple academic things colors numbers addition things like that obviously that would be part of it but there's certainly so much more than that in proverbs 6 23 after it talked about the teaching of the mother it says the commandment is a light and the teaching or excuse me the commandment is a lamp and the teaching is a light well the commandment what do we mean by that well i think certainly we could say the ten commandments nine of the ten are repeated in the new testament and those ten commandments teach morality they teach what is right and they teach what is wrong and the mother can be a crucial teacher of those things to teach what is the word of god and the mother can also teach wisdom because the commandments teach objective truth but there's such a thing like wisdom where how is it applied in their verses we could look at them there's one that says the fear of the lord is to hate evil well if the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom well what does the fear of the lord look like well one way one thing it looks like is to hate evil and that can be communicated what are other things just a few here's one in proverbs 12 27 a lazy man does not roast his prey but the precious possession of a man is diligence and a mother can advocate for being diligent in other words there's not a commandment necessarily that says to be diligent in at least in the ten commandments but it says that's the precious possession of a man and a mother i think can advocate for that proverbs 26 16 says the sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can give a discreet answer in other words here speaking against slothfulness in talking about humility those are things that can be taught another one here is in 14 23 in all labor there is profit but mere talk leads only to poverty in other words those are wise principles that's a work ethic that's communicated that's not just a commandment but that's an encouragement i remember one of my sons one time i felt sorry for him he started a science fair project a little late as a matter of fact he started it real late and you know he was in the wrong but you know he received lo we'll just say a frosty reception from one of his parents to the degree that i even felt sorry for him in other words and he kind of reminded me of myself actually that's where i feel close to home but but anyway those are things that are communicated and those are things that are taught so the mother can teach the law she can also teach other principles first corinthians chapter 15 it says do not be deceived bad company corrupts good morals that's not a commandment but that's a truth and so that's saying well how do i take these commandments and apply them in life and i apply them in life by saying there's certain people who are not walking with god and if you get involved with them they can lead you astray and you can have the best of intentions but if you're not careful bad company corrupts good morals that's something that a mother can teach so a mother can teach the law a mother can teach wisdom and a mother can teach the gospel in proverbs 11 30 it says he who is wise wins souls so the wise woman apparently wins souls in the book of second timothy we read about timothy and paul says to him that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in jesus christ he says timothy you know the sacred writings you know the scriptures and those scriptures give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in jesus christ and you've known those from childhood and how did he know him from childhood well if you read in ii timothy he had a mother and a grandmother lois in eunice and i'm sure that they were the ones that taught in the scriptures which gave him the wisdom and remember wisdom is that which builds the house and what's the fundamental truth it is the fear of the lord in what could be the fundamental truth the foundation there is no other foundation other than that which is laid which is jesus christ and a mother can teach the gospel and a mother can be the greatest evangelist in the life of a child she can teach the law what's right and wrong but she can teach the gospel how we can be forgiven when we fail to keep god's law so she can build her house well what else should can she do well i have point number five she can discipline her children proverbs 29 15 says the rod and reproof give wisdom but a child who gets his own way will bring shame to his mother that surprises me a little bit because you think that say a child who gets his own way will bring shame to his father but it actually says will bring shame to his mother so that must imply that there's some accountability even to the mother there because there's a direct result for the child who gets his own way so what the scripture is saying here is foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child but what does it say here the rod and reproof give wisdom and it drives it away and in no way no way am i talking about any kind of abuse but here he's talking about a healthy discipline and discipline can be positive reinforcement it can be negative reinforcement but it says here it's a blessing another verse says he whom the lord loves he disciplines even as a father the son in whom he delights it says if you really really really delight in your son or your daughter you will discipline them isn't that contrary to our world people say well i don't want to discipline because i want my kids to love me what does this scripture say in proverbs 13 24 he who withholds the rod hates his son but he who loves him disciplines him diligently so that's just the opposite of what the world might think and again it's loving discipline even as a father the son in whom he delights so he's saying here the woman has this power think of all the things that she is she's an evangelist she's a teacher she's a disciplinarian she's a a teacher of wisdom in life she does all these things well what is number six on my list my sixth pillar she's a forgiver you say a forgiver that seems a little bit odd but no no she's a forgiver why would i say that well she teaches the law but she also teaches the gospel and what's the heart of the gospel is forgiveness it says in ephesians 4 32 be kind to one another tenderhearted forgiving each other just as god in christ has forgiven you he says that's what we're all supposed to do but i think a mother can do that in a great way in proverbs 28 verse 13 back to proverbs it says he who conceals his transgressions will not prosper but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion so you see in the home a child's learning what's right and wrong in the home the child is learning how to be forgiven in the home the child's learning about the triune god in the home a child's learning about jesus christ as savior in the home a child's learning that if you confess and forsake you find compassion and forgiveness and these lessons they can be learned before they show up to the kindergarten class so how much can be communicated at home in in proverbs 10 verse 12 it says hatred stirs up strife but love covers all transgressions you could translate that love overlooks a multitude of sins i remember one time gracie and i were talking about a life verse and she was asking what you know ideas on life verses and i said i'd like your life verse to be love overlooks a multitude of sins i thought it would surely be to my advantage if that was her life verse i'm not sure she took that one as as as a instruction but i tried right i tried but think about that i mean i've said she's the teacher of the law she's the teacher of the gospel i've said she's to forgive and i said there's to be grace there love overlooks a multitude of sins i mean there's some things that are really big and need to be addressed but there are probably some things that aren't too big at all and they can be overlooked and so she can do those things and then number seven what did i have she is to be joyful joyful in her house proverbs 17 verse 22 says a joyful heart is good medicine a joyful heart is good medicine i've heard the illustration said that a woman can be a thermometer or she can be a thermostat a thermometer is up and down and up and down but a thermostat is consistent and kind of sets the tone of a home now i wouldn't say this but let me tell you what proverbs in solomon says solomon says the contentions of a wife are a constant dripping solomon says it is better to live in a corner of a roof than in a house shared with a contentious woman solomon said it is better to live in a desert land than with a contentious and vexing woman now i wouldn't say that but solomon said that now i'm not even sure what a vexing woman is but i'll tell you what it doesn't sound very good does it i'm glad i don't have a vexing woman at home and i hope you don't either and i hope you're not but think about that think about the thermometer or the thermostat in a place of joy the home can be you know there are verses in the new testament that say rejoice always rejoice always pray without ceasing in everything give thanks for this is the will of god for you in christ jesus that's the kind of home i think god wants us to have in first thessalonians 2 verse 11 the apostle paul they're talking about a father but certainly this would imply to apply to a mother also that she would exhort and she would encourage and she would implore her children can you see all those things isn't it amazing all these things that the mother can do what is a mother well i would say from the book of proverbs a mother can be a builder or a mother can be a destroyer but she has tremendous influence when i was preparing for this message i was looking up that idea build the house build the house a wise woman builds her house wisdom builds her house and i found another reference too that i don't know that i've ever really noticed in the book of ruth when boaz was about to marry ruth listen to what the citizens of bethlehem said all the people who were in the court and the elders said we are witnesses may the lord make the woman who is coming into your home like rachel and leah both of whom who built the house of israel and may you achieve wealth in ephrathah and become famous in bethlehem i never noticed that if you were to ask me who built the house of israel well i'd say the lord built the house of israel if you'd asked me who built the house of israel i'd say well maybe abraham and isaac and jacob built it or maybe i'd say the 12 sons of jacob built it but the bible actually says rachel and leah built it isn't that interesting that it would say that that rachel and leah built the house of israel and not only that the prayer or the blessing there is that god would make ruth like rachel in leah that she would come into the house of boaz and how'd she do there well let's see the house of boaz became the house of david so i guess she did pretty well too didn't she and it says here may you achieve wealth and ephrath and become famous in bethlehem well i'd say ruth and boaz did quite a bit better than that didn't they they achieved quite a bit more than just wealth in ephrathah and fame in bethlehem because they became world famous and we're still talking about them today in other words what is a woman she's a builder or she's a destroyer how does she be a builder or how can she be a builder by i think applying these principles of wisdom where she fears the lord and loves her husband is devoted to her home and teaches her children and disciplines her children and forgives and has a joy and if she does those things as the book of proverbs say an excellent who can find her worth is far above jewels may we appreciate mothers and mothers may you build your house and may you see jesus christ is the foundation there is no other foundation other than that which has been laid which is jesus christ and may you believe in him and may you teach him and may you call out to him and may he build your houses and it's through faith in him trusting him initially trusting that on the cross he paid for sins and that salvation is a free gift not by what we've done but by what he did on the cross not by anything that we can do but by what he already did when he shed his blood and if you trust in him you're forgiven and then as a forgiven person call upon him and walk in his ways and again may you build your houses let's pray lord we thank you for your word what is a woman and we pray father we thank you for the women in our lives i thank you for my mother my wife mother-in-law we pray father that your blessings would be upon each one today that you would encourage them it's easy to get discouraged it's easy to feel like i've fallen short here or there we've all fallen short but may we be encouraged in the lord encouraged by your power and we pray you'd bless each one and bless the homes represented here and if there's one who's not sure they're forgiven may they not leave without that assurance in friend i invite you to look to the cross to look to the cross where jesus christ did the work and to trust in what he has done for you that he died and paid the penalty for the sins of the world and if you trust in him you're forgiven you can pray with me dear god there's nothing i can do but i believe jesus christ did everything for me on the cross and i trust in him as my savior and i trust that his blood was shed to pay the penalty for all of my sins i trust in him father may you bless and encourage your people on this day we ask in jesus name amen

Channel: Springfield Bible Church

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Id: j6OVmG9XOM4

Length: 30min 8sec (1808 seconds)

Published: Sun May 08 2022