Thank you very much. Now I want you to turn to the book of Proverbs about midway through the Old Testament, if you have your Bibles, please. The last two or three weeks I've been preaching, as I've told you, on a lot of things I've never preached before, a lot of things I'm not an authority on, and today's the ultimate. I'm going to preach about women. I never preached a sermon on heaven. I never preached one on how to raise kids until the last two Sundays. I never did preach one on womanhood. I wouldn't say I'm nervous, but I'm not too sure whether it's Thursday or Sunday, and if I find out, maybe I'll get through this this morning. You know, we talked a good deal last Sunday about the whole relationship of mother and father to children and the subject train of a child and the way he should go when he's old or not depart therefrom. And so as we look to the whole context of family relationships, I would normally do something like that today on a sermon on Mother's Day. But because we touched that lightly last week, I want us to look just today exclusively at the subject of womanhood and whether a woman is a young woman or older or whether she is married or single. Perhaps this will be an inspiration and a help and a blessing to all of these dear, wonderful Christian women. Now, I've entitled this message, The Fascinating Woman. A lot of our girls have been studying a book. I've not read it. It's called The Fascinating Woman. And I understand it's a very fascinating book. And I thought that'd make a fascinating title today, even though I'm not too sure what the book says. But we're going to give a Christian view to the perspective of the fascinating woman. What makes a woman a cut above the average, a different? A woman that is both admired by her husband and her children and by her Lord. And it's a homiletic natural. There are three points here, and all of them are right out of the text. Our authority is no less an authority than Solomon, a man who had 700 wives. And so he ought to be a man who knows wherein he speaks. And before you look droolingly at this man, let me remind you that that means 700 mother -in -laws. So I wouldn't envy him too much. Now, we're going to look in the last chapter of Proverbs, chapter 31, verse number 10. My mother -in -law is coming next Sunday, and I better hurry up and say that this Sunday before she gets here. Proverbs chapter 10, verse 31, verse number 10. I'm not nervous. Proverbs chapter 31, verse 10. If I start preaching from the 32nd chapter of Proverbs, don't believe a thing I say after that. All right. Proverbs 31, verse 10. Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil. She shall do him good and not evil all the days of her life. She seeketh wool and flax and worketh willingly with her hands. She is like the merchant ship. She bringeth her food from afar. She riseth also while it is yet night and giveth meat to her household and a portion to her maidens. She considereth a field and buyeth it. With the fruit of her hands, she planteth a vineyard. She girdeth her loins with strength and strengtheth her arms. She perceiveth that her merchandise is good. Her candle goeth not out by night. She layeth her hands to the spindle and her hands hold the staff. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor. Yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of the snow for her household, for all her household are clothed with scarlet. She maketh herself coverings of tapestry. Her clothing is silk and purple. Her husband is known in the gates when he sitteth among the elders of the land. She maketh fine linen and selleth it and delivereth girdles unto the merchant. Strength and honor are her clothing and she shall rejoice in time to come. She openeth her mouth with wisdom and in her tongue is the law of kindness. She looketh well to the ways of her household and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up and call her blessed. Her husband also and he praiseth her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all, you kind of virtuous, fascinating woman. Favor is deceitful and beauty is vain. But a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise her in the gates. Well, we'll keep our Bibles open there. And I want you to look with me first of all over where we just read in verse number 10 and then in number 11. You will find in verse 11 that this fascinating woman is trusted by her husband. We find down in verse number 28 that she is blessed by her children and in verse 30 that she is praised by her Lord. Now that's a pretty good recipe for fascinating womanhood. She is trusted by her husband, she is blessed by her children, and she is praised by her Lord. It seems to me strange that a man that had had this much experience with women would make the statement that he makes. He begins with a cry of futility and says, Who can find a virtuous woman? And he says that there doesn't seem to be such a creature. It seems to be a cry of futility. That here is a man that has had hundreds of wives, and God incidentally was not pleased with that. But remember that if God can speak through the mouth of a mule, once he did, then he can speak through the mouth of a fool. And he's speaking through this foolish man's mouth, who made a lot of mistakes and later came back and said, It's all vanity, brothers. I've tried liquor and luxury and learning and lust, and I want you to know where it's at. It's at in the Lord. And he made his mistakes, and he's beginning to get some smart here. He's been through it all. But he throws up his hands in futility and says, There are no such things as virtuous women. They cannot be found. I wonder why he said that. I wonder if it's because that a man that had this kind of relationship is very much like a man who never learns to make a commitment and know a real relationship at all. You see, a man that has 700 wives couldn't really have anything except a sexual relationship with any of them, and that's not all marriage was intended to be. And so the man never realized that sex is merely to be set in an atmosphere in which it becomes the vehicle of the blending of the totality of two personalities. Why did God originally create the Institute of Marriage? I have a little book that I just finished writing that has a little theory in it in one of the chapters that I call The Plus and Minus Theory. And it seems to me that every human personality brings into a marriage a powerful set of personality characteristics. I think of them as pluses and minuses. The pluses are strong points, strengths, assets, where we have fulfillment in ourselves. And the minuses I think of as needs, liability, weaknesses, where we haven't got it all together. And none of us measure 100 on the scale of normality. All of us have some needs. Now I believe that in the perfect ideal marriage, the Holy Spirit has brought together two personalities, not who are necessarily the same, but who in most ways are different. And in fact, the pluses and the minuses fit precisely. And where one is strong, the other is weak. Where one has fulfillment, the other has need. Such that only as they exist in relationship to each other is the ultimate union of two personalities into one, what God intended marriage to be. And sex is merely a physical symbol of that total union. And when a sexual relationship exists apart from that context, in which there can be no responsibility, no security, but only sex for sex sake, then it's a one -way street and a losing proposition and fails to give the fulfillment that God intended it to be. That's why this man never found such a fascinating woman and threw up his hands in frustration and said that it's all vanity. But he's mistaken. There are virtuous women. There are women and men who have found that in Jesus Christ, the oil of the Holy Spirit blends into oneness, the meshing, merging opposites of two personalities such that the ultimate union of two beings creates one perfect union, completely whole, a fulfilled entity such that a man and his wife are only what they are as they exist in relationship to each other. Solomon learned and was learning and was one day to learn as he said that it was all vanity that sex for sex sake as it exists out of the atmosphere of commitment and responsibility, which is possible only in a marriage relationship, is a futile and frustrating experience. What a pity that he lived that long and never knew his fascinating woman. Now he goes on to say another reason that her husband can safely, another thing about this woman, is that her husband safely trusts in her. Now why does he trust in her? Well, for one thing he says, because she is a woman of priceless value. Now in the King James Version here, it says, for her price is far above rubies. The literal rendition is that her value is unspeakable, and the worth of such a woman cannot be purchased. But if you will, let's just pretend for a moment that maybe he knew that this King James translation would say her price is above rubies rather than value. And as we look down hundreds of years beyond which this time was spoken, that expression is something that we certainly identify with today. They say that everybody has his price and that a person's commitment to things that are true and real and of significance for value can under certain conditions always be bought. Well, I don't think that's true. I think it's unfortunate that Solomon never found such a person. But there are men and women whose price is above values, whose value is above price. Joseph was such a man when he pulled himself from the arms of Potiphar's wife. Moses was a man who was a priceless man who had no price when he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, but took the reproach of God's people as being a far greater value than all the riches of Egypt. Paul was such a man when he forsook the knowledge and the reputation and the wealth and the worldly esteem that was all of his to commit himself to one thing, the preaching of the gospel. Put him in a barrel and he'd kick the slats out and preach through the cracks. Put him in jail and he'd come out with a convert under one arm and a jail door under the other. Put him in prison and he'd changed and conquered the whole Roman Empire by the writing of his pen. There was nothing to him that was worth his commitment to Jesus Christ. And there are women that are above price. Vashti had no price when she refused to dance naked before the king of Persia and it cost her her life. The woman taken in adultery, forgiven, cleansed, given a second chance, was a woman without price, such that when she returned to her hometown where preaching had never gone, when Jesus Christ came into Decapolis, one of the great revivals of the New Testament broke out because that woman had probably gone there and had spread the news. I think of Mary who, shamed by her husband before Joseph had been told that she was conceived of the Holy Ghost at any cost, at any cost, was willing to suffer shame and ridicule and embarrassment because she alone knew that the Spirit of God was the father of that child. There are such people whose price is above rubies. And let me say to you young men and women that that boy that you go with may date you and want to fool around and take liberties and go as far as he can with you, but when he gets ready to find a Christian woman to be the mother of his children, he's not going to find a woman. He's not going to look for a girl whose life is so much like an ad I saw on some material for sale in a department store a lot long ago that said, slightly handled but greatly reduced in value. When it's all on the line, the man wants the virtuous woman. Now he trusts in her because she does him good always. He goes on to say, she does him good all the days of her life and does him no evil. What ways can a woman do a man good? How can a woman act toward her man such that he will do her good and cause him to be a great man because he safely trusts in her? Remember, many times women come to me and say, my husband is not a believer in Jesus Christ. Now the apostle promises that by your chaste, pure, virtuous, fascinating kind of life that you can win your husband to Jesus. It is a promise of the word of God. Now what does a woman need to do to win her husband to Jesus Christ? Four things. Live in front of him for Jesus Christ. Listen, you are a Christian. You are the woman that he knows, the person that he knows more intimately nor personally and better than any man in the world. Therefore, I say to you that you are the best Christian he knows. And he may never read the Bible, but he will read you. And it is imperative for you to live a life above reproach in front of him. Secondly, pray for him. Third, don't pick at him. The worst thing you can do is to cut and condemn and nag. Let me say again, the worst thing a wife can do to win her husband, to keep her husband from coming to Jesus Christ is to nag him. Because when you do that, you assume a mother role. You want to control him and correct him and tell him what to do. And if you want to play the image of his mother, dear wife, you may find that he will be looking for somebody else to play the image of his lover and wife and sweetheart and let you be the mother. You need to learn to honor your husband as the head of the home. Don't nag him. Another thing that you need to do is to meet all of his needs. I think it is critical for a woman to understand her man, to ask questions, to communicate and know what makes a man tick. I want you to listen to a promise of the word of God. Over in Proverbs, turn back a few chapters now to chapter six and verse number 20. Here's a woman who's made a bad mistake. Proverbs 6 20. My son, keep thy father's command and forsake not the law of thy mother. Bind them continually upon thy heart and tie them about thy neck. When thou goest, it shall lead thee. When thou sleepest, it shall keep thee. And when thou wakest, it shall walk with thee. For the commandment of God, that is, is a lamp and the law is a light. And reproofs of instruction of the way of life to keep thee, to keep the man from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. Lust not after her beauty in thine heart, neither let her take thee with her eyelids. For by means of a whorish woman, a man is brought to a piece of bread, to where that's all his value is. And the adulteress will hunt for the precious life. Can a man take fire in his bosom and in his clothes and not be burned? Can one go up on hot coals and his feet not be burned? So he that goeth into his neighbor's wife, whosoever touches her, shall not be innocent. Men do not despise a thief, if he steal, to satisfy his soul when he is hungry. You see, you satisfy that man where he doesn't get hungry and go looking for bread somewhere else like a thief. But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold. He shall give all the substance of his house. Whosoever committeth adultery with a woman lack of understanding, he that doeth it destroyeth his own soul. Now turn over to the next chapter and look at how it closes. He's talking about the man who is seduced by a woman into an adulterous relationship. And chapter 7, verse 27 ends by saying, her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death. I want you to understand two contrasting options that a woman would virtuously and admirably so live for Christ that her husband will be led to heaven by her, or that she can so fail to be a woman to him in every area of life that a man by the woman can be led to hell. He can be led to heaven. Ladies, you have a grave responsibility to live a kind of a life that makes you a fascinating woman in whose heart your husband does safely trust. Well, the second thing about this fascinating woman is that she is not only trusted by her husband, but she is blessed by her children. Now let's turn back to the closing words of Proverbs chapter 31, in which we just read, and look in verse 28. 31, verse 28. Her children arise up and call her blessed. Her husband also, and he praiseth her. Her children rise up and call her blessed. Now we saw last week that God says, raise up a child in the way he should go. When he is old, he'll not depart therefrom. Doesn't say when he's young, when he's old. The promise is that he'll always come back. And one day your children will praise you and bless you. And we've had that experience. In just a few weeks, our daughter is going to be married to a fine young man that's a minister and studying in the seminary to be a preacher. She paid my wife the greatest compliment that Aldean's had in all of her 28 years. She said to her, mother, I don't have to have any courses. I don't have to have any books. I know how to be a perfect preacher's wife. I'm going to do what I've seen you do for the last 20 years of my life. And dear woman, you will never have a higher day than that when your daughter call rises up and blesses you because she has imitated certain qualities in your life and says more than anything else in the world to be a perfect woman, a perfect mother. I just want to be like you. And I tell you, Aldine wouldn't take $100 million for that beautiful voluntary expression. Now, what is this woman like? What are some of these qualities that a child will bless you for instilling in their lives? Well, let's take a quick rundown and see what he just said. Look in verse number 13. She seeketh wool and flax and worketh willing with her hands. A fascinating woman knows how to work. She doesn't have to sit around on a silver cloud all day and be pampered and petted. She knows how to get up and get started and work. Number 14, she's got a good economic base. She knows how to shop. She is wise. She's like a merchant ship. And she bringeth her food from afar. Now, why would she bring it from afar? Because by going from afar, she could probably get a discount. I really believe that. You know, she could have bought it close by, but she was diligent in finances. And she knew a good bargain and she knew how to shop. Verse 15, she arises while it is yet night. She gets up before her husband does. Ha ha, I like that. Don't you? She gets up before the kids do. She gets the day started off. She doesn't lay in bed till 11 o 'clock and sit around watching a bunch of silly soap operas and drinking coffee and taking a nap. And then the husband comes home at night and she's too poop to pop. Listen, she gets up and gets with it. That's my kind of woman. All right. Verse 16, she considereth a field and buyeth it. She knows how to make decisions. It is the characteristic of women oftentimes to kind of hold back. It's the characteristic of men to be more impetuous and act decisively. But in this plus minus relationship, one of the many illustrations of how opposites help each other is that the woman can tend to cause the husband to think things through and the woman can bring out the best, the man, the best, and the woman and get her to go ahead and commit herself and make decisions. And she's not just a wallflower who can't do anything and decide anything. She is a creative, sharp, intelligent woman who knows how to get things done. Verse number 20, she is benevolent. She stretcheth out her hand to the poor. She is gracious and kind to people in need. Verse 21, yet she is not afraid of the snow for a household. She doesn't care when it snows, they're not going to freeze to death because she has seen that they're well clothed. She takes good care of her family's physical needs. Verse 22, she maketh herself coverings of tapestry. She makes her own clothes. I'm not saying you're not a virtuous woman if you don't make your own clothes, but I'll tell you this. My wife, bless her, has sure saved us a lot of money through the years making some of her own clothes, and that's a good thing. Verse 25, strength and honor are her clothing. Now, I like this. That really means dignity and dependability. That's what makes her special. And she is wise. Verse number 26, she opened her mouth with wisdom. You know, a lot of women, they may look like a sex pot and like a movie star. They open their mouth and a bunch of silly nothing comes out. But this, a real woman that is esteemed of God and man is a woman that has wisdom. You know, there's a good deal of difference in knowledge and wisdom. Some people got a lot of learning, but they haven't got any sense. It's the ability to have an insight to make proper decisions slanted in the word and will of God. Now, another thing, she is kind and firm. That's another part of that expression in verse 26. Well, our time is almost gone. Let me look very closely with you for a moment at the ending. Over in verse 31, we've seen back here that her husband shall praise her. And then in verse number 30, this woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. Let me infer that possibly that means because we've already seen that her husband will praise her, that in this context, it means that the Lord will praise her. Let me come to a conclusion and say that the fascinating woman is a woman that is trusted by her husband, blessed by her children, and praised by her Lord. Now, you say, preacher, hang on a minute. We live in a context today in which sexiness is almost synonymous with femininity. And how is a woman supposed to act and dress and live and be and carry herself and have a demeanor and a deportment and a way of life that is attractive? She doesn't look unstylish and frumpy. She looks sharp and attractive. And yet she has an air about her and a modesty that she is not only pleasing to a man, but she is also pleasing to God. And God trusts her, and God praises her. You know, on the one hand, we have a society in which we have an image that a spiritual woman has her hair in a bun, and she's got on no makeup, and her clothes don't fit, and her dress is clear down around her ankle. And that, you know, that kind of an image. And over here is the swinging, curvy sex spot, and this is where it's at, and that's the way religious women look. That's not what the Bible says. I believe that there is a certain quality, a certain grace, a certain something about a woman in which she can be very feminine, and yet be very pleasing to God. Pleasing to her husband, and pleasing to her Lord. What makes a difference? What makes a woman a real fascinating woman in the eyes of both God and man? Well, I can't speak for all Christian men, but I can speak for myself. And if I had to take one word and boil down everything that is important and attractive about a woman that makes a Christian woman a different kind of woman, I think that word would be class. You can call it grace and style, but it seems like some women have a kind of an air about them, a queenly, regal royalty that I call class. And it's not found too often. And you don't put it on with a $300 dress. And you don't get on a pair of blue jeans and your hair in curlers and lose it. It's an aid. It comes from the heart. It comes from within. And it's something that is pleasing to a man, and it's pleasing to God. Now, I suppose that if I had to define what one thing in all of the world, that God was trying to say to a woman, that it might be best designated in 1 Peter chapter 3, 3 and 4. I want you to look at this. It's my judgment that is one of the most misunderstood and misinterpreted things in all the word of God. Let's look at it just for a second. 1 Peter chapter 3, verses 3 and 4. Now, he's talking about women who are chaste, who are pure, who are admirable, who are attractive. He's talking about the fascinating Christian woman, that woman with that special plus that makes her different, cut above the crowd from the world. And he is describing this woman and how she should be. And verse 3 says, whose adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of the plaiting of the hair and the wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man or person of the heart in which is not corruptible, even the ornament, the ornamenting of a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price. There's that same word again, of great value. Now, some of our friends have taken this verse to mean that that means a woman should never fix her hair or wear makeup or wear jewelry. I don't think that's what it's saying. I think it is saying don't let that be all you've got. Don't let that be all the beauty you've got. You know, have you ever wondered, I confess that I have, why there are more good -looking women than there are good -looking men? You know, maybe it's because women have got more to do with, you know, and I'm all for makeup. I think a little paint helps the old barn. I think some need it more than others. I think that's fine. But you know, a lot of women, they get up and they put on, well, we won't go through all that, but, you know, it just takes them forever to get ready, and that's good. And I don't think he's saying don't do that. I think he's saying that if all you've got is that, you haven't got anything. It isn't putting it on and taking it off. It's something, it's a class, it's a quality that comes out of the inside of the heart that makes a woman pleasing to a man and pleasing to God. Now, let me ask you this. What one thing in this world can give a woman a good self -image, a coolness, a composure, a confidence, a class, a regal queenly style to make her feel and act like she's a queen more than a good understanding of the fact that she belongs to the king, the king of kings. I say to you, women, a little story Billy Graham said about a movie star that he won to Christ. And he said, before I was saved, frankly, I used to dress to knock the daylights out of the men. But now I dress everywhere I go as though Jesus Christ were going to be my start. I don't think that means that I don't think if Jesus came to town, he'd be riding on a donkey. They don't ride donkeys today. I think he'd probably come to town in a Chevrolet, maybe an Oldsmobile. I don't know. maybe a Volkswagen. I really don't know. I really don't. I'll tell you this, I think he'd be wearing a business suit. I think he'd be dressed properly, decently, modestly in the style. And now that's what that woman was saying. She's saying that I want Jesus Christ to be pleased. And there's a whole lot more than what I am on the outside. But the adorning of the heart gives that woman, you can put it down, you don't take it on and take it off, a special, grace -like, queenly, regal style and quality. And nothing will do it like a constant mindset that I belong to the king. You want to be a queen, you get a good relationship with the king.