Let's take our Bibles and turn with me to the book of Proverbs 31. Proverbs chapter 31. The writer of the book of Proverbs, the Penman. The Lord inspired these words. These are the words of God. And the amazing thing about this book, and especially this last chapter, was the emphasis that the Spirit of God has put upon this issue of a virtuous woman. The last half of this chapter, this is the last half of this book that we've been in now since 1990. And I've said before, it's like an old friend that we've kind of grown up with, haven't we? The Book of Proverbs, Book of Wisdom. And the last time we looked, we looked at verse 10, Proverbs 31, 10. And the writer was moved to write these words. Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. Who can find? Me telling you numerous times, when you're reading these scriptures, I would highly recommend get you a good concordance. Get you a good concordance and get you a good Bible dictionary. Get you one that you trust. Get somebody that you can trust what they're writing. But I've looked these words up. And I'm assured after checking numerous sources that the words of these two verses that I'm going to look at, 11 and 12 is what I'm going to look at, but we started with that verse 10 about who can find, who can secure, who can find, who can secure, who can get a thing sought. Now already, just that much information right there, already the minds of God's people, they're starting to go in that direction. Who can find that which is sought? Acquire. Who can recognize a virtuous woman? Now, usually when we think of the word virtuous, Somebody said, what do you mean when you say a virtuous woman? Well, you would think something along these lines. Someone of very high moral standards. That's what I'd think. That's what you'd think. Someone that has very high moral standards, a virtuous woman. And that's a good definition. That's a good definition. But that's not what this word means when it says virtuous. Who can find a virtuous woman? When you look these words up, it means who can find a woman of strength, force, efficacy, army, That's what the word means, army, force, strong. Who can find a virtuous woman? This virtuous woman is actually, you know this, this is the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I want us to understand that We're not talking about gender here, male, female. We're talking about the entire bride, the elect of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we say who can find a virtuous woman, just, I listened to a few messages on this by some that I had heard of, things like this. They said a lot of good things. They said a lot of good, they were good things. They just weren't so according to the scripture. That was the only problem. They talked about a virtuous woman that was one that will rise early in the morning and make biscuits for her family and she'll make sure that the clothes are washed and there is nothing wrong with that. I would wholeheartedly agree with you. That's good. Hardworking, virtuous, honorable. But I want to know what does this word mean? I want to know what this passage of scripture means. When it talks about a virtuous woman, who can find a virtuous woman? One that is strong. That's what it means. One that has got force and efficacy. And already you're thinking, okay, I know you're going somewhere with this. Yes, I am. Just hang on. Who can find such a woman? A woman that is strong. Strong in the Lord. Strong in Christ. Who can find a wife like this? One person can. The Lord Jesus Christ. He's the only one that can find a woman that is made worthy by Him to be His wife. I want you to hold your place. Turn to Ephesians 6. Ephesians, verse 6. This woman that is Ephesians, chapter 6, starting verse 10, I can tell you this, this woman that's being talked about, this virtuous woman, force, strength, strong, This woman is in the battle. We wrestle not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places. This virtuous woman, that which makes her virtuous with the meaning of the word, virtuous, strong, strength, power, army, this woman, which is neither male nor female, We're all one in Christ. We're the bride, male and female, neither male, female. We're in the battle. We're in the fight. We're in a fight. This virtuous woman is in a battle. She's in a fight. Look at Ephesians chapter six, starting in verse 10. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might, put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, against rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Therefore, take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand in the evil day. And having done all, stand. Therefore, having your loins girt about with truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always with all prayer and supplications in spirit. watching there unto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. Who can find a virtuous woman? Who can find such a woman who is in the fight, in this battle? Now actually this is a spiritual battle. I know, I know that Man by and large, I know he thinks that everything's going to be just roses, give your heart to Jesus, you'll never have any problems anymore, and you'll be, I'm telling you, man that is born of wicked is few of days, and those days are evil. Where do you find a virtuous woman? One that has been made by the grace of God to be in the fight. This is a battle. This is a battle we war against principalities and powers. This flesh right here. Evil, Satan, false religion. I mean, this is a battle. It's a constant. Who can find one? Who can find a strong, able, strength army that'll stand in the day of evil, strong in the Lord and in the power of His love. Who can find one like that? The Lord can. Who can find a woman that knowing that man by nature is born of a woman and he's found being born among those that are just like him, weak, evil, haters of God. All were such of you, all were such of all of us, until God, by His grace and mercy, regenerated, stopped us, gave us a new heart, gave us a new mind, new spirit. Until the Lord was pleased to call any of us out of darkness, How much did you really care about this spiritual battle? How much did you really care about the evils of sin and unbelief? How much did you care, Mitch? You didn't care at all. We didn't care at all. We didn't care. It's not until, by the grace of God, we're made to possess a new heart that hates those things that God hates. that to hate false religion, to hate the evil of this old man, to hate old, Paul said, old wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me? Paul was warring, he was in a battle. Who can find a woman, a bride, that must be and longs to be washed clean by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Who can find a woman, who can find a bride that just desires only to be clothed in his imputed righteousness? Who can find a bride that is never going to be satisfied now that she's been regenerated by grace? Never, never long to talk about her righteousness. She knows good and well that her righteousness is nothing but filthy rags. She knows that she's never done one good thing. Who can find a woman like that? Who can find a virtuous woman? Who can find a strong, able, who can find an army like that? Only the Lord. The scripture says in Proverbs 18, 22, he that findeth a wife, and he's talking about spiritually speaking, The wife of the Lord Jesus Christ, a virtuous woman. Who can find, he that findeth a wife, findeth, the scripture says, a good thing. He found a good thing. Only God. For her price, her value, that's what the scripture says back in Proverbs 31.10, who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. What did it cost? What did it cost to find one like that? You know. You know what it cost. It cost the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Her price is far above rubies. You can't put a value, you can't put a value on her. God knows. But who born among women, who can born of Adam, who can find the value of that? We see through a glass darkly. We don't know what it costs. But who, for her price, is far above rubies? Man, in his fallen state, you can't put a price We come together, we meet together, we want to hear the things of God. We cannot put a price. We talk about the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ being shed. And we believe it. We do believe it. But let me ask you, you that believe. Can you put a price on that? Can you try, immediately, you that know Him, you're saying, this is so far above me. This is so far out of my realm of capability of understanding. Who can put a price upon her? For this wife, for this virtuous woman to live, for her to live, what did it cost? for this virtuous woman, this woman of strength, this one woman of power, this army, this one that has been drafted. Let me say it like that. You know, I'll say this and you'll understand what I'm meaning. You know, if you've, you know what it means to be drafted into the army. You get a notice. You get a notice in the mail, greetings from the President of the United States. You've been drafted. Now, I do know that, you know, you can volunteer, but I'll tell you this, in God's Army, they're called. They're called. They're called. No man can come. No man can come. except the father which has sent me drawing. Who could find one like this? The Lord has. And he's always found her. He's always known her. He's always seen her. For this wife to live, he had to die. He had to die bearing all of her guilt. For her to have any righteousness whatsoever, he had to robe her in his own precious righteousness. Robed in him, she possesses a glorious gift, the righteousness of Christ. Did she earn it? No, sir. No, sir. God chose to give it to her. He chose her. This glorious bride has in herself, she has no strength. She has no might. She has no efficacy. She has no energy, spiritually speaking. She has no wealth. But this virtuous woman, who can find one? Because that's what it means. Who can find one like that? God has to create her. God has to make her new. And listen to this. Now, I'm gonna look tonight at verses 11 and 12. I'll be sure. Look at the preciousness of this. Now, knowing who this bride is, this is the bride of Christ. Like I said, I'm not talking gender now, humanly speaking. I'm talking about the bride of the Lord. And the heart of her husband, doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil." The heart of her husband, the heart of the husband of the bride, the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. I looked up the word heart. It's the inner man. It's the inner. It's himself. It's the heart. It's his being. It's the heart of her husband. does safely trust in her." What does that mean? Well, when you look at that word, the heart of her husband, does safely trust in her, it means that he's confident and secure in her. He safely trusts her. He safely trusts her. You know why he safely trusts her? Because she's kept by the power of God. Where is she going? Oh, I can't even enter the depth, but I can give an example from scripture. Peter said, when the Lord asked him, said, will you go away also? But Peter said, Lord, where am I going to go? Where am I going to go? This is what the bride of Christ says. This is what the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. He trusts her because she can't go away. I can't. Where am I going to go? I can't go away. He keeps her by power. This woman, this bride, this virtuous woman, strong in the Lord, power of his might, He is confidently secure in her, because as He is, so is she in the Lord. He has made her so. As God cannot lie, God cannot sin, He cannot be He doesn't waver. The bride can't leave. She can't. God keeps her. He keeps her. She's in this world, but she's not of this world. She's a new person. She's a new creature created in Christ Jesus. She's in this world and Christ Having made her so, according to these scriptures, the heart of her husband does safely trust in her. He will have no need of spoil. He's not worried that anything that this woman does is going to be a disappointment to him. That's as simple as I know how to put it, what he's saying. He has no need of spoil. She's been made one with Him in this divine union. Oh, in this beautiful union, spoken of. Hold your place right there and turn with me to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5. Ephesians chapter 5, verse 23. Ephesians 5, 23. for the husband. Now listen, I know just a minute, I'm gonna get down to this verse 32. I'll read this in just a minute here in chapter five. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. So this, what I'm about to read, the Apostle Paul is going to say, just 32, he said, I'm talking about Christ and his church. So as we read, starting in verse, Oh, I'll start in verse 21 and read on down. But listen, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. Submit yourself, adapt yourself to them. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. And he's the savior of the body. Therefore, As the church is subject unto Christ, so let wives be to their own husbands in everything. And here is the very basis of a wife that is submitting to her husband. Here's the basis of it right here. I'm telling you, you miss it here. You missed it. Spiritually, humanly speaking, you missed it right here. Here's all the responsibility. I'm talking to all you husbands. Now you listen to me. Listen to what I'm saying. I'm saying, I'm telling you what God says. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church. And here it is. He gave himself He gave himself for it. He gave himself for the bride. When I perform a wedding, I always try to give a little example so I can get my point across. I'm making a point. Here's a man and woman. They're getting married. And I'm telling them, here's the instruction to the wives. Wives, you adapt yourself. Submit yourself. Adapt yourself. to your husband. I always tell them, if he makes $30,000, don't spend $40,000. Adapt yourself to it. But husbands, you love your wife. You put her on a pedestal. Christ did. He loved her. He gave himself for her. All the cost was borne by him. You treat her with respect. Christ does. You honor her. You pamper her. She's the weaker vessel. You take care of her. You provide for her. Don't, don't, don't put her down. Don't, don't talk down to her. You speak of her as I've used this. I said, it's the queen of the house. She is the weaker vessel. and you're her protector, your guide, her provider. You love husbands, you love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church. He gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So, amen. to love their wives as their own bodies. Let me ask you something, man. Do you abuse your body? Now, I'm serious. Do you like to slap yourself around a little bit and, you know, talk down to yourself and make yourself look like a worm? You like to do that? Don't do it to your wife. So are men to love their wives as their own bodies. What am I going to do to my body? I'll tell you exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to pamper me as much as I can. If I'm hurting, I'm going to try to get something to help me. Whatever. You love your wife as your own body. For no man ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth it and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church I want to do all I can. I wouldn't embarrass Glenda for anything, but I can tell you this. I'm going to do whatever I can to take care of her. If she's hurting, I'm going to try to help her. If she's sad, I'm going to try to sit there and talk to her. Why? Because I love her. No man ever hated his own flesh, but nourisheth it, cherisheth it, even as the Lord of the church For we're members of his body, of his flesh, of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and be joined unto his wife, and these two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you, in particular, so love his wife, even as himself. And the wife see that she reverence her husband, back in Proverbs 31. The heart of her husband to safely trust in her so that he shall have no need of spoil. This wife is the bride. God has called his bride. And as the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ, he's commissioned us. You go into all the world, you preach the gospel to every creature. And this is what the bride does. This is what we do. This is what we're doing. We go into the world and we preach the gospel. I don't know how many people are going to hear this message tonight on the internet. I don't know. I'm thankful for the internet. You can go all over the world. But what I want to do is I want to set forth that whoever hears this gospel, that is faithfully preached by God called preachers in his spiritual bride. He trusts her, he gonna trust her. What a privilege to be trusted of God, to trust his bride where he raises up the gospel of God's grace. He trusts And he's put that trust there. I know that. He's put that want to there. But what the Lord has committed to his people, he keeps that commitment. He keeps it. And he trusts her. I don't know any other way to say it. Lord, help me to be trustworthy to that calling. As long as the Lord allows me to have breath and stand in this pulpit, may I be found trustworthy to preach the gospel. And the scripture says in verse 12, she will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. She will do him good. She'll do him good. You know, I thought about that. She'll do him good. Whenever we find that precious truth being set forth of the Lord trusting, trusting his bride and she will do him good. It made me It made me think of that passage of scripture in Matthew. When the Lord divides the sheep from the goats in that day, enter in, I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty. You gave me something to drink. I was naked. You clothed me. I think they said, Lord, when did we see you? When did we see you naked? When do we see you hungry? He said, when you've done it unto the least of one of these, my brethren, you've done it to me. And when he says, she will do him good, she'll do the Lord good all, and not evil, all the days of her life, she'll do him good. You know what? That faithful bride, that one that's called by God, strong in the Lord, faithful in the army of God, called by His grace. You know, when she does Him good, when she does His people good, when we stand and preach the gospel, telling people, telling men what they are by nature, telling them who Christ is, the Savior of sinners, You know what we're doing? We're doing the Lord good because we're doing his people good. He said, when you've done it unto the least of these, my brethren, you did it to me. You did this for me. You did it for me. She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life. If God's called her to preach the gospel, if God has called the church, the bride, to preach, she's gonna be faithful to it. She'll be kept. The husband of this bride has entrusted, the husband of the bride has entrusted the gospel of his free grace. This is a gift of entrustment. I think about a miracle of God's grace that Katie Baptist Church has been entrusted with the preciousness of the gospel. Do you know that that's a glorious trust? A glorious trust. If I were to, if I were to, you know, baby, you know I'm not trying to embarrass you. I'm just using you as an example. But if I entrust somebody and take my wife somewhere, go with her. I'm entrusting you with a precious thing. If I've entrusted you to take her somewhere, what I mean is I think that you're able, capable. If the Lord Jesus Christ has entrusted us, she will do him good, not evil, all the days. He has entrusted the gospel. to this place right here. God help us to be faithful to that entrusting, to that calling. God forbid that we should do anything but faithfully preach the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace. Why? It, it, it, the gospel, the gospel. Anything else? Nothing? The gospel is the declaration of that which God Almighty has eternally purposed and accomplished. It's finished. It's finished. And what we're doing is we're proclaiming the finished work of Christ. We set forth the glory of God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he has entrusted us Many times people will find out that somebody's a preacher. Oh, you're just a preacher, you know? This is a great entrusting of a precious gift. The Lord has set forth that the bride of Christ, verse 12, will do Him good. She will do Him good. She'll honor Him. She'll go all the days of her life. If the Lord is pleased to allow me to continue and preach the gospel until he takes me out of this world, what greater entrusting could he give a man? What greater entrusting could he grant an assembly of believers? Be faithful to it. Thank the Lord for it. If we haven't done so until this moment, Lord, thank you. Thank you. Thank you for calling us and entrusting a group of unworthy sinners that you have chosen to set your heart, your love upon and keep us by your grace. Oh, may we do you good all the days of our life for God's glory and our eternal good.