[0:00] You may be seated. Good morning, church. I pray you had a good Thanksgiving. Before we get started, I want to say thank you to those who! helped beautify our church and get ready for the Christmas season. I know Melissa was here with a! team of individuals, and I'm very grateful. I pray you had a good Thanksgiving. Today, if you're a guest with us, to kind of give us some context for where we are in our sermon series, we've been looking at the book of 1 Peter. And if I can have everyone turn their Bible to 1 Peter chapter 2, we'll be looking at verse 12 here in a moment, being reminded of the context that we find ourselves for the text today. But let me begin by saying our greatest concern, or the greatest concern of Scripture, is for God's glory. And nothing shows off the immeasurable worth and weight of the Lord's glory more than the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is His person and His work. All of Scripture is leading up to
[1:07] Christ, and then there's Christ, and then the gospels, and then there's Scripture that looks back upon the finished work of what Christ has done and looks forward to His return. So everything is pointing to the person of Christ. And that is Scripture's greatest concern. So our greatest joy then, and to make a point of that, I asked everyone to turn to 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 12. Look, let us remind ourselves of the context. This verse kind of sets the context for where we have been and where we're going to be today. It says this, Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. The point is, Peter is writing to these dispersed people in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey, and he is writing to these believers to encourage them. And he knows that surrounding them is going to be persecution. And he says, let your conduct among those unbelievers around you be very honorable, that they may see your good deeds one day and glorify God, that they would see the salvation of God, that they would trust in the person and the work of Christ for their own salvation. So even that verse that sets the context makes the point that Scripture's greatest concern is the immeasurable worth and weight of the Lord, profoundly witnessed in the person and the work of Christ. So then our greatest joy, then, is to believe in the finished work of Christ on the cross for the forgiveness of sin and the joy of ourselves and others and living in obedience to Him. So Scripture's greatest concern is Christ.
[3:09] Our greatest joy is believing in Christ. However, there's a great disconnect. And this is where the rubber meets the road is the great disconnect we could say is, I want to glorify God in my life and I want to obey Him to obey Him in my life. But when we find out what that will cost us, we demonstrate with our lives that we really want is our own personal happiness. And we define our personal happiness as our favorable circumstances and our personal comfort. And so we have no problem with the greatest, what Scripture all is about, God's glory found in the person and work of Christ. We have no problem understanding our greatest joys to know Him and have our sins forgiven. But there's sometimes a disconnect when our greatest joy, living in obedience to Christ, the Lord calls us to something that sacrifices our personal comfort. And so what we see, I want us to put in context today's message with verse 12 reading it one more time. Keep your conduct among Gentiles honorable so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they will see your good deeds and glorify God on the visitation. He is imploring the believers in Asia Minor. Conduct yourselves around those who are lost among you that one day they may place their faith in Christ and glorify God alongside of you. That's the hope. So then in concentric circles, we looked at three weeks ago, this is Pastor Jay's message about, hey, we are citizens under a government. And there's a way we are to comport ourselves as citizens that bring glory to God and honor our governing authorities. And that submissive relationship just might give cause for some to trust in Christ. Then the concentric circles get a little smaller. Last week, we looked at what that relationship looks like between slaves and masters. We have believing slaves with unbelieving masters.
[5:34] And I related it to our work context in the sector of labor. However, in the first century context, it was slave and masters. And so even when you had a master that treated you unjustly, you as a slave were to submit to that master. But notice, that's sacrificing personal comfort. That's not, that's sacrificing favorable circumstances. And so that's where that great conflict is within our hearts, is will we obey the Lord even when our personal sacrifice, or we have to sacrifice personally and our comfort and our favorable circumstances are in jeopardy in order to honor the Lord. And then today, the concentric circle gets a little smaller, and now we're going to talk about the home. Government and citizens, slaves and masters, and now in the home between a husband and wife. What does that look like?
[6:31] And what is being asked of us to demonstrate Christ to our spouses, to display Christ to our spouses? So today, what are we going to do? Let's read the text that we're going to cover today, and then we're going to look at it in bite-sized pieces, seeing what it has to say to wives, seeing what it has to say to husbands.
[6:57] If you want to read along with me, we're in 1 Peter chapter 3 verses 1 through 7. 2 Peter 3 verses 1 through 8.
[7:34] 1 Peter 3 verses 1 through 8.
[8:04] 1 Peter 3 verses 1 through 8.
[8:34] They are unbelievers in this context. In the context we're reading, they're unbelievers. They need to know the Lord. So while Peter may have as his aim, your spouse being an unbeliever, the principles also remain true even of believing spouses with believing husbands and wives.
[8:54] So, okay. 1 Peter 1, we're just going to stop at verse 1. Speaking to the wives. What does displaying Christ to your husband look like?
[9:06] Number one, we're going to look at three ways. Firstly, it involves submission. Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands. Likewise, the passage begins with, or in the same way.
[9:21] Well, what is Peter referencing in the same way? Well, remember, he's already talked about citizens to government. Be subject, submit yourselves to the government. Governing of those who are governing authorities.
[9:34] We're to also submit ourselves, slaves to masters. And so now he's applying the same principle. He says, okay, wives, you the same thing. Wives, submit to your husbands. A few months ago, when we were in the book of Colossians, I spent probably about 10 minutes talking about where submission is rooted, being rooted in the Godhead.
[9:56] I'm not going to review that same thing today. I'm assuming many of us were here to hear that or go online and listen to that Colossians 3, 18 message.
[10:08] But I do want to talk about what does submission look like and share two things that I didn't share back then. It is to willingly place oneself under another.
[10:27] It's a military term, to place yourself under the rank of another. It is, submission is an attitude and an action of willingly placing and yielding yourself under and to obey the authority of another in order to please the Lord.
[10:46] And Sarah is held up as an example of this toward Abraham. There are two things that I want to make mention of with regard to authority and submission here. That is, the purpose, I want to speak to authority first.
[11:02] This applies not only to husbands and wives, but when we look at scripturally, what is the purpose of authority? It is to protect and bless those under authority, not for the benefit of one who is in authority.
[11:16] So the purpose of somebody who is in authority is to protect and bless those who are under that person's authority. So husbands, your role as a person who is in authority, in your family, your whole purpose is to protect and bless those under your authority, to protect and bless your wife.
[11:36] Because of sin, though, we know that authority is often abused and God will hold them accountable for that. Nobody gets away with anything in God's economy. One day, we will all give an account the living, the dead, the lost, the saved.
[11:53] Second, God never tells the husband to demand of their wives to submit to them. All the commands to submit are directed to the wife. All the commands to submit are directed to those under authority.
[12:06] So if in your home you are one who tells your wife and reminds them often of your authority, you're out of line. That is not winning your wife over to the Lord or to you.
[12:26] Notice the condition of this husband. This wife is married to somebody and it says, so that even if some do not obey the word.
[12:37] Speaking of the husbands, this husband that this woman is married to, that some husbands do not know the Lord. When it says disobeys the word, it is a way for Peter to be communicating he is in disobedience to the word.
[12:52] He doesn't know the Lord. And this is fitting. What's the whole context? This is why I had us read chapter 2 verse 12. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak of you as evildoers, they will see your good deeds and glorify God in the visitation.
[13:09] So it's all about displaying Christ to those who don't know the Lord. And so this wife, some husbands do not even know the Lord. Now this, let me give a quick time out, a little rabbit trail.
[13:21] This is not, Peter is not advocating for missionary dating. Well, some husbands are without the Lord and so let me date them into heaven.
[13:32] No, that's not how that works. That's not what Peter is writing about. Think about this in first century. Christ is just being proclaimed for the first time everywhere around the world.
[13:43] Some spouses believed in Christ, some spouses didn't. In this case, Peter is saying, yes, the wife came to faith in Christ and she is already married and now she is left with an unbelieving husband.
[13:55] That's the circumstance. She didn't marry likely someone without the Lord. But someone who is without the Lord and who does not obey the word will act like someone who doesn't obey the word and act like someone outside of the Lord who is only looking to please himself.
[14:16] So this man is disobedient to God's standards in every area of his life potentially. He is in rebellion against the Lord. So what does that imply?
[14:32] He may treat his wife harshly. He may ignore her. He may speak to her very unkindly. All of these are very real possibilities.
[14:45] and she is still told to submit yourself to your husband so that even if some do not obey the word, even if some treat you harshly, do not know the Lord.
[14:59] Now notice what is the purpose of this? so that they may be one without a word by the conduct of your wives.
[15:10] So that even so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be one without a word. They may be one. They may be, they may trust in Christ without a word.
[15:22] But by the conduct of their wives, more speech will not move him, more preaching at him will not move him toward Christ, more teaching will not move him toward Christ but by the conduct, but by a wife's conduct.
[15:41] A wife's godly behavior demonstrated in submission is the most powerful testimony and tool to open her husband's heart to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[15:54] It will be as he observes her submission as a faithful wife that she truly commends the gospel to her husband. A loving and gracious, submissive attitude and action is the most effective evangelistic tool that a believing wife possesses.
[16:13] I do want to pause and acknowledge something that there may be some in this room who are in abusive, physically abusive relationships with their spouse, husband.
[16:33] And if you are in that case, thankfully, our civil laws protect you and that is an offense criminally called battery. And if you would like some help, I want to encourage you two ways.
[16:48] Number one, call the police the next time he lays hands on you. And number two, would you allow us as a church to ensure that you are safe as a person? Melissa, who leads us often in giving announcements in our worship services, she's the director of our women's ministry, among other many roles that she hosts, and she would be a tremendous person to talk to if you don't feel comfortable talking to me or one of the elders, but I invite you to please, we would want to help you.
[17:28] The big idea, let's not forget the big idea, is to display Christ to one's unbelieving spouse. And the wife displays Christ to her husband by being in submission to him.
[17:41] Number two, by being respectful and pure. Look with me in verse one, it finishes that he may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives. And what does that conduct look like?
[17:55] Well, it involves being respectful and pure. Verse two reads, and when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Respectful conduct. How do you speak to your husband to your children?
[18:09] Of your husband to your children? How do you speak of your husband to your girlfriends? How do you treat and speak to him in your home? Is it honoring? Is it uplifting? And the pure conduct.
[18:23] Pure means to free from moral defilement. And so, do you, as a wife, do you seek other men's attention? Do you play the seductress?
[18:34] She is not one who makes herself available online or in person to others. She is not one who feigns as one who is not married. She honors her husband and is faithful to him.
[18:50] Thirdly, a wife displays Christ to her husband by being, submitting to him, by being respectful and pure in conduct, and thirdly, by being one who emphasizes one's inner beauty over one's outward appearance.
[19:10] Look with me in verses 3 through 6. Do not let your adorning be external with the braiding of the hair and putting on gold jewelry and clothing that you wear, but let the adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which in God's sight is very precious.
[19:32] For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves by submitting to their own husbands as Sarah obeyed Abraham calling him Lord.
[19:44] And now you are her children if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. Peter is not putting a prohibition against external things of beauty.
[19:55] He is not speaking of those things. He is speaking of where a wife places emphasis. In the first century there was some ostentatious clothing wearers and so they were like to wear very expensive things and for the purpose of being showy that everyone in the community would know they have some wealth.
[20:17] Or there was also women who played a seductress and playing a part of a temptress. So what Peter is prohibiting is spending excessive amounts of money on outward adornment and wearing seductive or immodest clothing.
[20:31] That's what he is saying. Women don't do that. That is not going to help you win your husband over to the Lord. Where is a wife to place emphasis? The inner beauty the adornment that is exemplifying a gentle and quiet spirit found there in verse 4 is where a wife is to put emphasis.
[20:50] And notice the contrast. It says this imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit. Clothing will disintegrate over time.
[21:05] It will one day perish. It won't always look that good. But the gentle and quiet spirit is imperishable. It doesn't fade away. It's beautiful.
[21:15] And that is one of the things this gentle and quiet spirit this imperishable thing that is so beautiful to your husband that wins him to the Lord.
[21:27] Because you are like Christ in that way displaying Christ to him in that way. Peter is contrasting these things.
[21:38] Okay. Before we transition to a word to the husbands I have asked Pat and Mary Ellen Stahl to join me on stage and share their testimony.
[21:56] I want us to review what verse 1 reads. And Pat and Mary Ellen if you want to join me go ahead and come on up. Verse 1 reads Likewise wise be subject to your husbands so that even if some do not obey the word they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives.
[22:12] And they have just a wonderful testimony of how God worked in their life in a similar using these principles. So Mary Ellen and Pat would you please share with us? Well the story with me begins with the fact that I was raised in a home where Christ was not a factor.
[22:33] It was an atheist home but it wasn't outspokenly antagonistic. We just I just had no background at all. Then I fell in love with a girl during my senior year in high school and she came from a family that I thought was phenomenally religious.
[22:52] They probably weren't as much as I thought but nevertheless from my background they were kind of crazy. but she was pretty and she was nice and we got married and I thought I was really a pretty smart guy because well I graduated at the top of my class in high school.
[23:21] I was a valedictorian. We had 15 seniors in our senior class. And so to condescend to her occasionally I would I would agree to go to church and she and so intermittently we went to church and I thought I was really gracious by going with her but I didn't really understand.
[23:47] Anyway I got a job teaching in a little town called Ennis, Montana. I was teaching English and coaching basketball and just totally involved with my own life and not paying a whole lot of attention to her.
[24:01] But I thought things were going along just wonderful and we were doing okay. Then she started a friendship with the superintendent's wife and another teacher's wife and they were religious fanatics.
[24:19] They were going to church every Sunday. They were going to a Bible study on Wednesday night and things started going south as far as I was concerned with our relationship.
[24:34] She was headed in the direction of Christ and I was kind of stuck over here and that close relationship that we'd had seemed to be disintegrating a little bit and it kind of culminated.
[24:46] I came home from work one day and we lived in a house that had kind of a long narrow living room and she was sitting next to a guy I didn't know at the end of the living room on the couch.
[25:03] I came in the back door and there she was sitting there and she introduced me to Pastor Snyder and that's right Snyder and anyway without much of an introduction that was it he said to me Pat if you were to die today would you know where your soul is going to be and I'm thinking to myself I don't know this guy I really hadn't been contemplating dying today and I got angry I got very angry and the visit was a short one and so that's where we were and she'll carry the story and he kicked the pastor out of the house okay didn't tell it so here's my side of the story so when I was I was raised in a very liberal church but we did go every Sunday my mother was a believer and it was the only it was a really small town it wasn't as small as Ennis but it was a small town in
[26:06] Montana it was Boulder I don't know if you're familiar with Montana at all it's right near Helena but it was I learned about Jesus from my mother I learned about him from the hymns we sang I don't remember hearing much about him from the pulpit but when I Christmas Eve when I was 13 I took communion for the first time and I I didn't understand a whole lot but I committed my life to Christ I said I don't get it it was very simple salvation prayer I don't understand this Lord but I want it and that was the end of it there was no fruit no growth nothing then I went to college got married and of course I married an unbeliever didn't think about it my mother mentioned that he didn't you know his family didn't go to church and he probably wasn't a believer but he was really a nice guy so we went ahead and got married years later probably about seven years later we had five or three little children all under five he was coaching basketball gone probably 12 hours a day came home frequently late for dinner
[27:15] I'd have to keep his dinner warm I was very angry when he would get home I was stuck with three little babies all day long and so there was a lot of friction but I did have these friends that were taking me to Bible study and through a fairly dramatic incident I recommitted my life to Christ and he became very real to me and I recognized the truth of scripture and I realized it dawned on me I'm married to an unbeliever so now I've got three children how are we going to raise them as they should be raised when their father's telling them one thing and I was determined to tell them something else so I called I went to see Pastor Snyder and I was obsessed about him becoming a believer I thought if he would just become a believer then my household would be great because I wanted him to be saved too for his own sake but it became a very selfish prayer that I just wanted for my home and for my children
[28:21] I don't know if that's selfish but I also wanted it for him but I could not I prayed constantly about it and I left tracks around the house I preached to him a lot a lot of words a lot a lot of discussion and he liked to discuss it because he really felt that he could out discuss me at everything because he really did found fancy himself very much an intellectual and I wasn't but I knew I knew the truth at that point and I went to Pastor Snyder and he knew my concern and I begged him to come to the house and try to lead Pat to Christ so he did that because I asked him and when after he got kicked out of my house he said well how about you go to 1 Peter chapter 3 and this very passage that Pastor is preaching today and I do contribute that to Pat salvation I know that it was the Holy Spirit that drew him to the Lord but I quit talking there were so many words and it was pretty easy for me to quit talking and to quit leaving the tracks around the house
[29:24] I had given him mere Christianity I had given him a case for Christ by Lee Strobel all these books and actually he read them but then he would just highlight what he was going to argue with me about them so we quit doing that completely quit arguing so I could shut up and I could be quiet but then it said you have to be godly too so then I had to have a different attitude when he came home and that was kind of taking every thought captive I had to change my attitude mind you this was in the 70s at the height of the women's liberation movement some of you older people remember Gloria Steinemann and women were not supposed to be submissive and this scripture really has been fairly controversial down through the years through you know since the 60s and 70s but anyway I stopped talking I tried to be godly it wasn't I certainly wasn't perfect but I did change and I not only changed with him my attitude was not slamming the dishes around when he got home but to try to ask him about you know well how's how's
[30:36] Robbie's jump shot going or something you talk to him about what really interested him and also I tried to be a better mother and to not be cranky with my children I tried to be a better friend and I just I tried very hard I tried to be obedient and as I tried I knew I couldn't do it on my own strength I prayed and God did give me the strength far from perfect then and even now but anyway that's that's where I was is that I think that's where you need to take off okay well as as it progressed she she quit talking and I kept wanting to have these these little debates and and lorded over her with my great intellect and finally it dawned on me she wasn't saying anything and I said don't you want to talk and she said well no because you wouldn't understand wow was that a blow to my ego that I wouldn't understand that was the ultimate challenge but she was true to it she was like she said she changed and so that it just really troubled me because
[31:54] I really did love my wife and I wanted her to be happy and I wanted our relationship to be back where it had been before but it couldn't be so I fretted about it I was gone Ennis is about 90 miles from Bozeman that was the closest big town and I was at a meeting in Bozeman came home late one night and I'm fussing and fretting about our relationship I'm trying to stay awake because it was midnight and so I started looking on the radio to find a station that would help me stay awake and in Montana you don't get a lot of good radio reception there was only one station I could get and it was some guy preaching and I have no idea what he was preaching about but he said if you really want to change you need to pull if you're in a car pull off on the side of the road and pray this prayer with me and I did and
[32:54] I changed now I thought probably stars would start shining and there would be explosions and things like that nothing happened there was nothing and I was waiting for a few minutes and then I had to get home and so the realization of what I had done came about a week later it was Easter and on Easter Sunday the truth came clear to me and I became a believer an interesting side light to that was that when I told Mary Ellen that I made a commitment to Christ the first thing she told me she says you know now you're the spiritual leader of the family I had said up to this point I don't believe in the Bible I never read the Bible how could I know that but I was pretty certain I didn't believe in the Bible now I'm saying I did but I've never read it I don't know what it tells me to do and so I told her I can't be the spiritual leader
[33:55] I don't know anything about the Bible Mary Ellen said scripture doesn't say if you know a whole lot you get to be the spiritual leader it says the father is the spiritual leader of the family I said okay so here's the deal this is how it's going to work when we come across things that I don't really understand scripturally I'm going to ask you what does the Bible say you're going to tell me what the Bible with one thing I was as I was preparing this I just was really praising the Lord for a pastor that stuck to scripture and when I was struggling he gave me the answer and it was a difficult scripture for him to give me to tell me I needed to be submissive when the world was telling me I didn't need to so I was very appreciative for Pastor Snyder he's Scott and
[34:58] Pastor Jay and Fourth Memorial that that adheres to the word of God no matter who it offends I love being a part of a church family where you get to know one another's stories and to revel in the beauty of who God is being faithful and true to his word so Pat Mary Ellen thank you for sharing with us now to the men you don't get off the hook verse seven likewise husbands live with your wives in an understanding way showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel since they are heirs with you of the grace of life so that your prayers may not be hindered if you are not overly familiar with this passage the motivation for the husband to honor his wife we are not to treat our wives well to honor them so that the husbands can have a happy marriage that's not the primary motivation listed here while that may be a side benefit certainly is great when that is true but rather men are to honor their wives so that their prayers will not be hindered so that their communion with the
[36:27] Lord is maintained and is blessed by that that's startling there is an undeniable connection between how a man treats his wife and his prayer life or his communion with the Lord God so cherishes!
[36:49] your wife that if you don't treat her well it is as if God does not hear you I don't care what you say husbands of your claim for your love for your wife if you mistreat her God cannot enjoy close communion with you as you treat your wife so poorly men are called to understand their wives notice live with her in an understanding way this is more than just sharing the same address or sharing the same food and bed this is to live with her in understanding means to develop and maintain a togetherness in your marriage this is the job of a husband if your wife feels like you are drifting apart it is your job to remedy and prevent that it is your job to promote!
[37:46] spiritual emotional physical closeness so it is only as possible in the commitment of marriage it is significant that Peter puts the responsibility of togetherness on the husband in our culture women are often understood as the relational ones and men aren't real communicative all men do is grunt but the Bible puts the burden of intimacy on your marriage primarily on the husband not the wife that means men are to be active not passive and developing and maintaining close relationships with your wife that's the first thing that is called your men are to do secondly as husbands women are to honor their wives it says showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel showing honor assigning her a place of honor you are not to take advantage of your wife as the physically weaker one so when
[38:47] I read the weaker vessel that is not to mean it's just physical weakness she's just physically weaker in fact our culture is helping to make this point of their understanding of this because they're trying right now to have men not compete against women in female sports they're making the point for us but women are not to be viewed as inferior please do not read weakness as inferior just physical weakness is all if I were to go to King Tut's museum that had King Tut and a curator of the museum supposedly let's imagine I had permission to hold King Tut's staff and he was able to allow me to see it and view it up close he's going to handle it very carefully and giving it to me and I would be very foolish to handle it in any other way why it's yes it's not inferior it's precious that's why we're handling it so carefully so too is your wife it is a significant part of honoring your wife is how you speak to her and about her there is no room for jokes or sarcasm at your wife's expense if you have children it is your job as the head of the house to make sure your children honor their mother you model it by how you treat her and how you honor her at work how do you speak of your wife how do you honor her with your male and female colleagues or do you dishonor her and the result here again so that your prayers may not be hindered the result is an effective prayer life or an effective communion with the
[40:31] Lord he doesn't care how much you tell him that you love him he cares how you treat your wife and think of this let's put this verse in context what is the overarching concern verse 12 of chapter 2 keep your conduct among Gentiles honorable so that when they speak of you as evildoers they may see your good deeds and glorify your God on the day of visitation that they may be saved so then he talks about citizens to government slaves to masters and then he talks about this home relationship and the wife had an unbelieving husband in the context that is possible in the context well what is the man's greatest concern what is he trying to do he is trying to display Christ to his!
[41:17] wife! and he's doing it in these ways and so what should be the chief prayer of his that she may know him and the Lord is like treat her well before I can answer that prayer he loves her that much more than you he loves his daughter and so a prayer of salvation for even an unbelieving wife in this case he's not listening it doesn't necessarily have to be applied to that but I do think that is the immediate context of this that is the husband's prayer but it could be prayer of all kinds it could be just communion with the Lord is hindered when one treats his wife poorly men your wife is not a puzzle to solve but rather a posture you are to choose to when thinking about her and relating to her and honoring her let me stop where
[42:27] I began what is the greatest concern of scripture is God receiving glory the immeasurable weight of his worth is the concern of scripture our greatest concern is to know him and to make him known and to enjoy that and to make him known so that others may enjoy salvation and so what is the greatest disconnect we have a hard time when we have to sacrifice our personal comfort to achieve that and you can see in relationships citizens government slave masters husbands and wives there's great sacrifice in order to glorify the Lord and to obey him with what he's asking of us and I pray that we would have the courage to say Lord the greatest concern of scripture and my greatest concern remains true I want to know you and make you known I've asked
[43:29] Brendan to conclude our service with a song Brendan give me the title again his glory and my good because the song speaks of the Lord dying on the cross and showing his glory but it also is my good and I want us to be convinced that when the Lord receives glory through my life and my obedience toward him it is also for my good whatever personal comfort may have to be sacrificed to achieve that end and I pray that we would be convinced of that would you pray with me father thank you so much for this day Lord you're good and kind and Lord I pray that for those in this room who are in difficult marriages Lord I pray that we would be a people who just take you at your word regardless of what culture says or society says or whatever movement that is common among us in the world
[44:31] Lord but we would be a people who just say Lord this is how you've shared a husband is to relate to his wife and a wife is to relate to her husband in this way and I will do that I I'm convinced that what you say is true give us the courage to live this out we love you Lord and it's in your beautiful name we pray amen