wonderful hymn just to remind us that we are children of the Heavenly Father and we are in His hand. If you would please take your scriptures and turn to the book of Exodus, to Exodus chapter 2. Our reading this morning will be the first 10 verses. As we look at the topic of sisterhood today, we will be looking at various passages, but just kind of gleaning from the Scripture what sisterhood is and the nature of it and why it is a blessing of our God. Again, as we are reminded of the relationships that we have with one another, we are reminded about the the connection that we have to one another in this world as God has created it in family and in marriage and also in that family of brothers and sisters in Christ. So we're going to start with sisters today and look at that unique blessing that the Lord gives to us. Well, before we come to the reading of God's word, let us once again go to him in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, often in this life, our relationships are not what they ought to be. And there are many hurts and struggles, there's disappointments, there's discouragements, there is distrust and even bitterness, Lord. and often ties are broken, Lord, but please remind us today that you have placed us in families and in homes, in relations and in relationships, Lord, that we might, again, as we come to your word, that we would gain your perspective on things, and that we would not take these relationships for granted, but that we would invest in them, we would believe in them, we would foster them, and cultivate them. and do everything we can to serve these relationships so that they would flourish, not only among our own families at home and the only families that you put us into in this world, but primarily also the family of God, even here at our local congregation of Knox Orthodox Presbyterian Church. May we not take these realities for granted, but that we would invest our lives in them as we dedicate and commit ourselves to one another. And so Lord, as we look at this unique relationship of sisters and sisters to brothers, and sisters to sisters lord that we would consider these realities and we would just again thank you and praise you for them even in the turmoil and troubles of life but even especially in the joys and the rejoicing of them We thank you for your joy, Father, and we just pray that your people's hearts would be set in their eyes of faith, focused upon your promises. Though things don't always look as they ought to be and aren't as they ought to be, we know that you are working in our lives through your Spirit, through the means of grace of your Word and sacraments and prayer and Christian fellowship, to knit us together to one another that we might flourish and be conformed more and more into Your image through Your Son, through Your Spirit, and we pray it all in the glorious and exalted name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Brothers and sisters, I'd ask that you please stand for the reading of God's Holy Word that comes to us from Exodus 2. I do remind you, dear saints, this is the Word of God. And a man of the house of Levi went and took as wife a daughter of Levi. So the woman conceived and bore a son. And when she saw that he was a beautiful child, she hid him three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she took an ark of bulrushes for him, daubed it with asphalt and pitch, put the child in it, and laid it in the reeds by the river's bank. and his sister stood afar off to know what would be done to him. Then the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, and her maidens walked along the riverside. And when she saw the ark among the reeds, she sent her maid to get it. And when she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby wept. So she had compassion on him and said, This is one of the Hebrews children. Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call a nurse for you from the Hebrew women that she may nurse the child for you? And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Go. So the maiden went and called the child's mother. Then Pharaoh's daughter said to her, take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages. So the woman took the child and nursed him, and the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, because I drew him out of the water. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of God, it remains forever." So you can see it. Do you have a sister? Are you a sister? Well, today we want to consider sisterhood. We are considering relationships, and they're important and blessing to our lives lived in God's world, and especially for our lives lived before the Lord among his people. And so let's consider why sisters are precious to the Lord and therefore ought to be precious to us. This will be our purpose statement for our message today. Sisters are precious to the Lord and therefore ought to be precious to us. And we'll consider this topic of sisterhood under three points this morning. And our first point is that sisters are a blessing. Sisters are a blessing. Sisters truly are a blessing. from the Lord, but we often take our sisters for granted. I definitely do. I have taken my sister for granted very often. But we need to be honest that if our if our sisters were missing, we just left the Christmas holiday. Think of It's a Wonderful Life. If she was gone, we would greatly miss them, our sisters. OK. And so we need to be honest about that. Again, I picked on my sister often growing up. Often siblings do that. They pick on one another. And so if I look at you little girls and you think about their sisters or their brothers, they probably get picked on. But again, I so much appreciate my sister more now than I have ever done. But what is it that sisters do? Well, one of the things sisters do is that they provide friendship. They provide friendship. It has been said, a brother or sister is a natural born friend given by God. Proverbs 17, 17 says that a friend loves at all times. There is often a deep, a very deep bond between sisters. Sisterhood is a beautiful and sacred bond. There ought to be a natural unity love and harmony again in this relationship of sisters and sisters and even sisters and brothers, but specifically sisters and sisters. Again, in Ecclesiastes four, Solomon reminds us that two are better than one. And this is especially true for siblings. There is mutual support. and provision in the time of need that is provided from your sister. Being a true sister brings with it loyalty, dedication and commitment. Is this not what we see with Miriam, Moses's older sister? We don't even know her name yet. All we know is that he is this little baby boy's sister. But we know that her name is Miriam, and if you didn't know, Miriam is the Hebrew name for Mary. The Greek version is Mary that we have all over the place in the New Testament, but Miriam is the Hebrew equivalent of that. But what does she do? She watches out for her little baby brother that was placed on the Nile River and just sent off. She has a protective eye, wants to see what happens to him. And so we see her love, we see her loyalty, her dedication, her commitment to watch out for this little baby brother that she has. We also see this with Mary and Martha. Not in the story the elder read, but we see their love and deep concern for their brother Lazarus. Remember when Lazarus is very sick, they come complaining to the Lord Jesus Christ, if you had not been here before, our brother would not have died. But there's a great love and concern. And so again, we see that loyalty, that dedication, that commitment of a sister. Sisters also provide wisdom, counsel, and advice. Wisdom, counsel, and advice. It is no mistake that in Proverbs, wisdom is personified as a lady. It's lady wisdom. In fact, the author tells us that we are supposed to have such a close bond with Lady Wisdom that he says, say to Wisdom, you are my sister. See, again, in the eyes of God, this is a great compliment. This is again to show the bond and the love and the closeness and the affection that you have with wisdom, that she is your sister. And then it goes on to say, and call understanding your nearest kin. What is your nearest kin? A sister. Again, Proverbs 7, 4. Again, my sister, especially in later years, has become one of my dearest counselors. She has given me much wisdom and advice, especially that in relationships. But true sisterhood also provides comfort and encouragement. comfort and encouragement, especially during times of adversity. Again, Proverbs 17, 17 goes on to say, a friend loves at all times, but a brother and we can, we can legitimately add in there and a sister, a brother or a sister is born for adversity. Now you may think, well, that means they're there to cause me problems. No, the actual context there is that a sister is one that helps you in time of need. They help you in time of need. You might not have a very good, friendly relationship with your sister, but when things come down to it and you're in the hospital or whatever, you're dying, you're having extreme hardship, you're going through things. Again, often sisters will be there because of their loyalty, their dedication and their commitment, but they're there to comfort and encourage. A good sister stands by you through the thick and thin, of life, offering consistent encouragement and care. Sisterhood involves being there for each other regardless, again, of the circumstances. And yes, sisters bring a sweetness, a happiness with them, but they are not only for the good times, but also lend support during the difficulty and the trouble. We see this with Moses. He's just left to fend for himself. But no, his sister stood there guarding the way. And actually on the way to Lazarus as Jesus and disciples make the way, who is it that's there guarding and protecting and defending? Even after Lazarus has died, it is Martha and then later Mary, his sisters. They are there. Who was with the Lord Jesus Christ at his death? It was the women, was it not? It was not only His mother, but it was all those women, sisters of Mary. It was again the sisters, the ladies that followed as disciples in the Lord. And who was it that was there at the resurrection when He was laid in the grave to take care of His body when it was laid? It was the sisters that Christ had, Mary Magdalene and the others. We see that sisters again are there during times of difficulty. And let's be honest. Let's be really honest. There are certain things that you can tell your sister that you would not dare be comfortable telling anyone else. A sister lends an ear and there are things that you can talk to her about very delicate matters that you do not feel comfortable. Definitely not telling a brother and maybe not even telling your mother. Right. You tell your sister. because you have trust for one another. Perhaps you again, you know that she will hold your confidence in these things and be worthy of that. Here, then, is but just a few things, again, that are highlighted in God's word of how sisters can be a blessing from God. But as many of you have firsthand experience Again, sisters, there can also be your relationship with your sister can be challenging, right? It can be challenging. So our second point is sisters can be a challenge as well, because sisters are so very usually so very close to you. They're not always fearful of losing your trust. They can sometimes be brutally honest with you, which can be hurtful. They may not be always gentle with you how they say those things. And often they can boldly criticize. They can boldly criticize. We see this in the story of Miriam and Moses as well. In the younger years, here we see Miriam, this very one who defends and protects, and yet when we turn to Numbers 12, after Moses has been raised up as to be the deliverer of God's people, to lead God's flock, Israel, out of Egypt, and again to be established in covenant with God at Mount Sinai. Moses becomes the great mediator between God and men, the voice of God as a prophet. He goes in before the Lord as a priest. He's the great mediator of God's people. And yet Miriam seems to get upset and criticize Moses because of a wife that he takes who is not an Israelite, and she accuses Moses. And actually, she brings her brother Aaron with her, in Numbers 12, and accuses Moses. And what happens is the Lord strikes Miriam with leprosy. Now, he's still kind to her because she'll be restored from that. But again, he's very stern with her. But we see her bold criticism of even Moses, who we're told was the meekest of all men on the earth. But it is not merely of sisters against brothers, but it can be from sister to sister as well, as is the case with Martha accusing Mary. It seems like he's accusing her before Jesus himself of being lazy. She's just sitting there listening to you while I'm sitting here doing all this work, right? So she's very bold there. She's very honest of how she feels. And although we perhaps see it in the relationship between Miriam and Moses in Numbers 12, we definitely see a theme develop in the scripture concerning sister to sister of jealousy and competition. Of jealousy and competition. We see this in the Old Testament primarily between Rachel and Leah. We find this in Genesis 29 and 30. In their relationship, it has to do primarily there with children. We can perceive there was probably a competition between them about beauty in their relationship with their father, perhaps their brothers as well. We don't have that as much. But again, Rachel gets so jealous of Leah's fertility that she demands Jacob, give me children or I will die. The competition leads them to employing even their maidservants, so that after Bilhah, Rachel's maid, bore two sons for her to Jacob, she says triumphantly, with great rustlings, I have rustled with who? My sister, and I have prevailed. So you think it's only boys that wrestle together. No, women wrestle together as well, maybe in a different way. Maybe they do get in a fight, I don't know. But anyways, and in fact, again, Leah and Rachel's competition to bear children became so fierce that the sisters fell into bargaining. for this fruit, the mandrake, whatever that was, for a chance to spend the night with their husband Jacob. And you know, God recognizes such competition inherent to sisterly relationships, that he included in the law a command that a man shall not take a wife as a rival to her sister. And primarily in the context he's saying, if for some reason he's divorced from his wife and his wife's still alive, he shall not marry her sister. And what's the precedent for that? It goes back to Genesis between Rachel and Leah, okay? But although not wives to the same man, I think that we see similar issues with Martha and Mary, especially on Martha's side in Luke 10. Again, this idea of competition, of jealousy in this thing. And what's interesting in both of these cases, whether Rachel or Leah or Martha or Miriam, a man stands at the center of the competition. Jacob on the one hand, and the Lord Jesus Christ at the other. These kinds of things and others can lead to distrust and a deep bitterness. a distrust and bitterness, especially among sisters. And I'm not saying that men are any better, but it has been at least my observation that when women become bitter and a root of bitterness takes hold, it is very difficult for them to let that go because their trust has been broken. And they can hold on to that for years and years. And this is why repentance with confession and forgiveness is always absolutely necessary in all of our relationships. You must not allow pride and envy again to get foothold in your relationships, especially as sisters. Humility and contentment should rule the day. Again, we must humble ourselves and submit to one another and again, be content with the lot that God has given us. Relationships can be very delicate. But you need to learn to be very patient and long-suffering with one another. James is going to highlight that, isn't it, as we enter into James next month. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you have various trials. Know that that works, patience and long-suffering. It's maturing you in these realities. God is very patient. Very patient. And so we ought to have been working to this end. And again, for the sake of God's honor, watch what you say. James is gonna talk about the use of the tongue as well, what we say to one another. The tongue again is an unruly beast and cannot be tamed. But then again, James says, control your tongue, restrain your tongue, that's maturity. So we see this especially in this nature of sisterhood. One more thing I want to say, and I hope I don't offend you. One more challenge of sisters is an element of neediness. Sisters need protection, don't they? Especially when they're young, okay? And sometimes they can be naive. Now that doesn't mean that boys can't be naive either. Men can be naive too. But sisters can be naive. And we see that in the Bible. Remember the story of Tamar with her half-brother Amnon? How very close she was, taking him while he was sick. Again in naive in that way Again, so it's easy for sisters to be taken advantage of we see that time and time again in the Bible We talked about that with Ruth, right? Here's a single woman Her husband has died and now there's these three woman women Naomi Orpah and Ruth and again, they are vulnerable They need protection right again And we see this theme of a brother's duty, a brother to protect and defend their sister. We see this with Simeon and Levi especially seeking to defend the honor of their sister Dinah in Genesis 34. Although misapplied, what they do They take revenge. OK, but at least their motivation of winning honor for their sister again is there. We see it with Absalom with Tamar. Absalom was Tamar's direct brother against Amnon the half brother among David's children. Again, the mess that was. Sisters have an inherent trust of their brothers. Even with her permission, but obviously the parents weren't around Mom still has it. It's in a scrapbook somewhere. I And mom's like, why would you ever dare do things? I said, well, because I asked her and she said it was fine. And she did. She said, you can give your hair back. That was not wise. But anyways, again, there is an inherent trust there, but there's also a naivete, right? There's a neediness. There's a need for protection, both for boys and girls, as we see. Again, boys can be very naive. So we all need protected. We need, again, each other to protect one another, especially in more sophisticated and complicated ways as we get older. So although sisters can and are a wonderful blessing, there are obvious challenges in this sinful, cursed world, this veil of tears. Again, especially in our relationships. And you guys have experience in these things, these delicate relationships. Our relationships are not perfect. Far from it. But the good thing is that although your relationships may not be as they should, there's hope. There's hope, which brings us to our third and final point, the hope of sisterhood, the hope of sisterhood. Remember, the Lord opens our eyes in his word to these relationships. He opens our eyes. He helps us to get a grander vision and perspective of the way things will and ought to be. Right. We are, again, discouraged. We are disappointed. We are downtrodden in this life, in our relationships. We get very discouraged with how people react, how they respond, what they do. And again, the church is not immune to this. But a reminder, as we think a little bit more deeply about this from the word of God, we need to remember that in God's economy, in God's kingdom, sisterhood is a relationship that extends beyond blood and even beyond death. Sisterhood is a relationship beyond family relations blood and even beyond death. Sisterhood is more than just a biological relationship between siblings in a natural family. It also encompasses the spiritual bond between women in Christ. When I ask you, do you have a sister? Everyone ought to have nodded yes. Because the role of sister is a sacred bond in the family of God that extends beyond our natural family's blood. Right? There is a reason why the ladies get together is called blessed bonds. I love that. That's what it is. It's a blessed bond of sisters coming together to be together, to lift one another up, to enjoy one another's presence and friendship in the bonds of sisterhood. The Apostle Paul tells his spiritual son in the faith, Timothy, treat the women in the church as sisters. And that's it all he should have to say, but he reminds them in all purity. Again, brothers should have an inclination of defending their sister's purity. Fathers, of course, do. You're going to excruciatingly interview that young man that has an interest in your daughter. Well, brothers do too. And sometimes brothers don't go about it the right way. Sometimes fathers do. But again, there's that naturalness there. But again, Paul, the apostle Paul in his wisdom, tells how we are to relate to one another in the church. And he mentions treating women in the church as sisters in all purity. Get this truth. Every female member of the church is a child and daughter of God, and is therefore your sister. Every female member of the church is a child and daughter of God and is therefore your sister. In Romans 16, Paul commends Phoebe, our sister, who is a servant of the church in Sancreia, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, the holy ones of God. and assist her in whatever business she has need of you. For indeed, she has been a helper to many and to myself also." Remember how sacred that word helper is. We learned about that last time about marriage. This is not a low position. The Lord himself is referred to as our helper. She is your helper. That is a glorious and exalted position to be in. But Paul also goes on to speak of Priscilla. And actually, God honors Priscilla somehow because he doesn't refer to her husband Aquila first. It's always Priscilla and Aquila. Priscilla always precedes the husband. But again, she was a sister in the Lord. And then he refers to Mary. There's many Marys. But then he refers to Apphia. James speaks of our sisters. John speaks in his second epistle to our elect sister. And whenever the apostles address the brethren, the brothers, you should always think not just the men. It's speaking of brothers and sisters, the brethren in the church, it's almost always including the sisters as well. This is a present reality. It's a present reality in the church, whether it is your mother, your grandmother, your aunt, or even your wife or daughter. Think about this reality for a minute. It is difficult to think about this because we are so tied and used to thinking of our relationships in this life and in this world. Well, that's not my sister. That's my mother. That's my grandmother. That's my wife. That's my daughter. And those are important. But in the church, think about this. Before our God and Father in whom we stand, we are all brothers and sisters. We are all brothers and sisters. And this is true here when we come into the Lord's presence and specifically when we come to the Lord's table. This again, we all come to the table as children. Why? Because we all have one Father in heaven. We all have one elder firstborn brother, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are all indwelt with the same Holy Spirit, which makes us all children of the heavenly Father and thus brothers and sisters in Christ. And not only is this a present reality in the church, in the kingdom of God, but it is a future promise as well. It's a future promise as well. I remind you that Jesus asked this question when his natural family came to him and he was sitting there teaching among his disciples. And they said, your mother and your brothers are outside. They're asking for you. And he asked this question, who truly is my mother, my brother and my sister? How does he answer? He says, those who do the will of my father in heaven. Ladies, please take this to heart. Your relation as sister, your position as a sister will last beyond your relationship as a mother and as a wife. Your relation as sister will continue throughout eternity. And this is one more reason why it is vastly important and precious to God and ought to be for you. So brothers and sisters, consider your relationship to your heavenly father and to the Lord Jesus Christ and to the Holy Spirit, who is called the spirit of adoption. You are precious. Listen to this, sisters. You are precious to the triune God. He has adopted you into his family as his child. And so you are siblings. You are all brothers and sisters. And my dear sisters, you are precious to the Lord. You are precious to the Lord. Therefore, you are precious to me and you are precious to all of us here. You are given to us, the congregation of Christ, here as a gracious, glorious gift. This is who you are. This is your identity. You are a sister in Christ. And this is your calling. You are called to be a sister. Sisters have a calling. Miriam had a duty and obligations to perform as a sister. Martha, Mary had duties again to perform as sisters. You have obligations and responsibilities. This is a calling. This is your identity. This is your value, your dignity. So sisters act and behave like true godly sisters. The concept of sisterhood is rooted in mutual love and support and encouragement, again, among women. It is about lifting each other up, praying for one another and standing in solidarity, being of one mind in Christ together. You don't have to agree on everything. But the important things, again, of loving one another, of commitment, of wisdom, of all those things, those attributes that we talked about, you need to be of one mind in those realities. God's word also highlights the significance of unity and harmony among believers. Romans 12, we are urged, be devoted to one another in love, honor one another above yourselves. This emphasis, the importance of selflessness and affection in the community of the saints of believers is mirroring the essence of sisterhood. The Apostle's letter to his spiritual son Titus speaks to the role of the older women in the church family mentoring and guiding younger women in their faith and life and encourage you as women to teach what is good And to be an example of love, self-control, purity, and kindness. It emphasizes the guidance and support that older women should provide to younger women. Especially that wisdom, that counsel, that advice. Nurturing a strong sisterhood within the church. As ladies, you are called to uplift. to support, to encourage one another. Again, Phoebe is a great helper in the church. And this is a sacred calling, sisters. Again, just as God instructs us in his word, sisterhood, therefore, is a crucial part, not only of your identity and calling, but of your spiritual journey. And you should seek to cultivate genuine and loving relationships with your fellow sisters in Christ. And brothers, you're not off the hook. Be brothers to your sisters. Be true godly brothers to your sisters in Christ here. That means honor them, support them, protect and defend them. care for them, pray for them, encourage them, and treat them with all purity and grace. These are your sisters, and they're going to be your sisters forever. These are your Heavenly Father's daughters, and as such, they are beautiful and precious to Him, and therefore ought to be beautiful and precious to you. Cherish them. Treat them with all dignity, respect, and love as every brother should treat his sister. They are gifts of God to you, brothers, to be your beloved siblings and friends throughout eternity. Sisterhood is a gift from God, a relationship that provides love, support, spiritual growth, and accountability. It is a bond that enriches our lives and allows us to experience the fullness of God's goodness and blessing. May we cherish and nurture sisterhood, fostering unity, love, and encouragement among the women in our lives. May sisterhood flourish here in the Church of Christ at Knox Presbyterian Church. So let me end with, again, these questions. Are you a sister here today? And secondly, do you have a sister or sisters here today? And thank and praise God. They are a gift from Him. Our gracious and heavenly Father, we do thank you for this bond of sisterhood. And we just pray that as we think through these relationships at the beginning of this year, 2025, and how critical and necessary relationships are, we desperately need your perspective, Lord. And we thank you for this time and this grace of leading us through this study of sisterhood that we may greater never take it for granted. but greater appreciate it and cherish it as we cherish and again treat as precious our sisters. We thank you for these gifts. We thank you for your wisdom, Lord, and we pray it all in Christ's holy and precious name. Amen.