Okay, by way of introduction, we are having some microphone questions.
!
Right here.
And I need someone with two 16-penny nails.
So you can pray that I don't have to have my feet nailed in one spot.
That would be very difficult for me.
I want you to open your Bibles, if you will, to Ephesians chapter 5.
And we are going to look at verse 22 through 24 this morning.
Let me read the passage to you and you follow along in your own copy of the scriptures.
Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord.
Don't take that to be divine addition.
The text is important in itself without the additional help.
For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, his body,
and he is himself its savior.
Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
Let us pray.
Father God, for us prayer is not a habit or something that we do because it's part of the plan of this day.
It is the expression of our hearts that reflect our confidence in you, our glad dependence upon
your sufficiency and your supremacy and our humble recognition that apart from you we can do nothing.
And Father, this morning as we take the scriptures that you have given to us by divine revelation,
and you have given us for our good and your glory.
We confess that apart from the working of the Spirit of God, these texts and the lesson that you have for us is going to fall on deaf ears.
I know, Lord, that there are some here in our fellowship this morning that do not know Christ.
And there's not a one of us that this morning would not ask that you and your grace would draw that individual and those souls to you.
It's reasonable to think that there are those who also this morning need to hear explicitly what your word has to say regarding this matter.
And so we ask that you would give to us teachable hearts, desire for the glory of Christ, and confidence in the work of the Spirit of God.
And we pray this because of Jesus.
Amen.
As we begin with this passage this morning, let me encourage you to know that one of the dangerous things to do with Scripture is to deal with it out of context.
You always have to keep every piece of study within the larger frame of what the Scriptures teach.
And so as we take up this passage in Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22 through 24,
I want to remind you that actually this is all part of a larger lesson that the apostle has given beginning in Ephesians chapter 1 all the way through to where we are now,
in which first of all, he explains to believers the book of Ephesians was written primarily to people who knew Christ.
Most everybody in the church at Ephesus had come to faith by being drawn by the grace of God to realize the darkness of their own soul and the hardness of their spirit.
And they came by faith and cried out and said,
I'm a sinner who stands justly condemned before Christ, and I need him to be my Savior.
Ephesians takes three chapters to explain that salvation is the work of God in which he changes a man's heart and a woman's heart and brings them into sweet relationship and communion with the Lord of glory.
Following that, Paul takes the remaining three chapters to explain how the church, which is the bride of Christ, the body of Christ, is to relate.
And the passage that we are looking at here, actually, in Galatians chapter 5, verse 22,
is really an explanation of what we've seen earlier in which the apostle says to all of the members of the congregation
that this book was written to, you as God's people are to be, what?
Filled with the Spirit.
And following that, the first piece of counsel that he gives regarding that has to do with the way in which we interact with one another,
speaking Scripture to one another, the attitude we have in our music and worship,
and then also the matter of being thankful in all things.
Following that, he makes one last statement in verse 21,
that we are to be a people who are submissive to one another,
and in particular because of our fear and our regard and our respect for Christ.
Now, I do want to explain this morning as we look at this passage
that one of the first things we need to do is really see the big picture.
So I want you to have it in mind.
First, the Holy Spirit's greater interest in this passage is not principally that Christians will have great marriages.
Now, that may strike you a little odd
because I want you to understand that God does care about Christians having great marriages.
But his greater concern is the glory of Christ,
and we need to have that fixed in our minds.
The gospel and the glory of Christ is at the center of everything that we are to be
and what his instruction is to us.
The explicit, on-point instructions that we are going to see this morning
that apply to wives is only a part of the larger interest that the apostle has
in believers' living, spirit-filled lives.
And in living that spirit-filled life, his intention is that we model the wisdom and the goodness of God,
that people looking at the way in which our lives are constructed and play out
will say, wow, where did they get that idea?
That is novel, and it seems to actually work.
Second, I do want you to understand that Paul actually is going to give us three lessons
following verse 21.
Remember what verse 21 says?
It says, submit to one another.
Then he is going to use three different pictures of what that relationship of submission looks like.
One is in marriage.
Two is in parenting.
Three is in employment.
And in every case, along with the lesson that he gives on the matter of submission,
he is also going to give a lesson on the responsibility of the one who is in the position of authority
in that particular arena or venue.
He is going to address the order of submission in the home, in marriage, and at work.
Now, third, when I say to you and when you heard the passage read, I think it would be fair to say
that for some this morning, hearing that statement, wives, submit to your own husbands,
you may kind of smile on the outside, but the heart, the natural response to any issue of submission
is, guess what?
It's a little bit like nails on the chalkboard.
Do you follow that?
I'll never forget as a pastor, one of the things that happens is a couple says to me,
well, we'd like to get married, and they come in for premarital counseling.
And I usually have the young man and the young woman in my office.
And more than one occasion, I've gotten to this part of the process of premarital counseling.
And I ask the little girl who grew up in our church, do you think you're going to have any problems with submission?
And she twitters and giggles and says, oh, not at all.
And I think, wow, really encouraged to hear that.
I do want you to understand that the issue of submission is not something that is a struggle just today.
And it is a struggle.
I want you to turn back in your Bibles just for a moment to a passage in Genesis chapter 3.
And I want you to understand that with the fall came the struggle that we see today.
Genesis chapter 3, verse 16, God comes to Adam and Eve following the entrance of sin into the garden.
And here's what He says in verse 16.
He says, I will surely multiply your pain and childbearing.
Is there any mother here that doesn't think God spoke authoritatively in that passage?
Huh?
No.
I have been the happy witness to my children's births.
And I can tell you, my wife's a trooper.
But I can also tell you, in the good old days, you didn't have private birthing rooms that had a lot of sound protection.
And I will never forget Judith and I having one of four stalls in this birthing place.
And the woman across the hall had a vocabulary of a drunken sailor.
And when she could draw breath, all that she could draw was spent on doing two things.
One of the things that had a lot of time was spent on doing two things.
And the woman was just like, oh, my God said, here's some of the consequences of sin.
And we find there in verse 16, in pain you shall bring forth children.
But mark the next part, it says, your desire shall be for your husband and he shall rule over you.
It's not saying, hey girl, you're really going to have the hots for your husband.
Thank you.
It's explaining that the desire and the heart is going to resist the headship and leadership that God has ordained.
And the husband is going to be inclined to be a little bit of a whiner or a tyrant.
How's that?
So I want you to have it in mind that when Paul wrote this statement, and you can go back to Ephesians chapter 5,
he was addressing a problem that his desire was bent towards helping the body of Christ,
and people in particular, honor and adore the Lord Jesus Christ in their marriages.
As a note of history, and I think it is important for us to keep the context in mind,
if you're a student of history at all, you will know that in the ancient world,
whether you were in Jewish culture or you were in Roman culture or you were in Greek culture,
women as a general rule were not highly prized or valued.
I'm not going to get into all the details of what that was like,
but I want you to understand that for the larger part, women were kind of viewed as a...
I want to be careful how I say that, but they weren't viewed with respect.
And the gospel brought deliverance.
Do you follow that?
If you think with me just for a moment over in Galatians chapter 3, and I want you to turn back just a little bit so you can see this.
In Galatians chapter 3, verse 28, we get a picture of how the gospel delivered
believers from the cloud and the pall that set over top of the unbelieving world.
Verse 28, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Now, is that Bible truth?
Truth?
Yes, it is.
And I would suspect that as this liberty and freedom that we find in salvation began to work its way into the culture of the church,
which reminds us that in God's eyes we are all equal, and we are,
that brutal suppression that had characterized the culture led to the pendulum began to swing a little bit.
And I would suspicion that the Spirit of God sensed we need to clarify something.
How many of you understand that the Bill of Rights declares that we are all as citizens what?
Equal.
But the fact that we are equal as citizens does not change the need for order and structure.
Would you recognize that?
There are a number of young men in our fellowship that have decided that they want to pursue the military.
And when you go into the military, in one sense you are all equal,
but do you understand that being equal before our Constitution and the Bill of Rights does not mean that you don't respect those who are an authority over you?
It would seem that as the gospel began to transform that ancient culture,
it became evident that believers still need to be reminded of the fact that God who created all things
and was the one who designed order to be what it is,
he saw the need and we recognize that there is still a need.
And we need to have attention to that.
So, I want you to recognize this morning as you look at this passage in Ephesians chapter 5,
that the Bible begins by telling us, it says here,
wives submit to your own husband as to the Lord.
And God's plan for order and for what is wise and good,
it still remains even though it is countercultural.
So, let's take up verse 22 in particular and kind of break it down and begin to pay attention to what the passage says.
I want you to understand that without question the Bible makes it clear that spirit-filled submission is for the wife.
The believing wife who values the Word of God,
and I want to say that carefully,
the believing wife who values the Word of God and seeks to be spirit-filled is subject to her husband.
That's what the Bible says.
To put it another way,
the Christian wife is under her husband's headship and authority.
That means she is to follow his lead,
to submit to his counsel and direction,
and respect the office and role that her husband has received from God.
Now, I want you to understand that God has assigned specific roles to each member of society
and each member in a marriage in particular.
He has appointed the husband to lead
and the husband to provide.
I want you to turn back again.
You were in Genesis,
but I want you to go back, if you would, to Genesis chapter 2,
and we are going to discover there several different passages
in relationship to a husband's responsibility to be the leader in his home.
Genesis chapter 2,
verse 7 through 18.
Then the Lord formed the man of dust from the ground
and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.
Man became a living creature.
The Lord planted a garden.
And we find there in the matter of the garden
that God gives explicit instructions to man
regarding what he was to do in the garden.
I want you to also notice in Genesis chapter 3,
verse 1 through 9,
that after sin came into the garden,
that God was not going to deal,
first of all,
with the first perpetrator of the sin,
but to the one who was responsible with headship.
The fact of the matter is,
is that Eve was the one who was first tempted.
She fell.
Her husband followed her.
But when God came into the picture,
his question of what has happened in this situation
was not directed to the woman,
but was directed to the man.
The proof of God's plan in a home,
as seen in the passages that we are looking at
here in Genesis 2 and Genesis chapter 3,
makes several points.
Number one, that God created man first,
and in doing so,
he did so to establish order.
He wanted to make clear what that plan was,
and he did that for us so we don't forget.
For another, we find there in the passage,
in the Genesis chapter 2 passage,
that he gave explicit instructions to man,
and he expected the man to pass those on.
Many of you work in environments
where those who are in a leadership and authority over you,
they're the ones who are given the instructions
from those who are above them,
and they are responsible to see
that you know what the instructions are
and that you follow them.
And as we recognize,
and we've already noted,
after sin entered the picture,
we find that God came to man
and held man responsible.
And I want you to look again,
if you would,
at Genesis chapter 3,
and mark what it says there in verse 9.
Do you know what he's trying to do?
Trying to pass the buck.
Trying to shuffle off his responsibility.
So as we look at this passage,
I want you to understand that God has ordained,
and I want to make this clear,
and we're going to come back to that again,
but I want to make it clear
that God has ordained
that the husband is to be the leader in his home.
That is his office and his responsibility.
And it is his duty to develop the skill
to do so in a biblical and honoring fashion.
I'll never forget the commissioning service
that my son was at,
and I had the privilege of attending,
and there he stands
as a newly minted second lieutenant,
green behind the ears.
All the experience that he had
was getting through officer's training school.
And the one who is there
to recognize his transition
from being an enlisted man
to an officer
is a veteran of the chase.
And the man who is commissioned
makes a very interesting statement.
He says,
follow me.
And the commissioned,
the man who is,
what's the word here?
You have an officer
and you have an enlisted man.
And the enlisted man says,
lead the way.
By appointment,
in the military,
a man is placed in office
and he's expected to lead.
And by appointment,
God has set the man
to be the leader in his home,
and it is God's expectation
that he do that properly.
Well, what this passage teaches,
and I want us to go back
to Ephesians chapter 5
and mark what it says,
there in verse 22 and 23,
what it teaches
is that a wife,
a Christian wife,
and I want to make that clear,
a Christian wife
is not to assert authority
over her husband.
I want you to go to a passage
that will help us
with this a little bit,
and you are there
in Ephesians.
Go forward
to the back of the Bible,
to the right.
Go to 1 Timothy chapter 2,
verse 12.
In 1 Timothy chapter 2,
verse 12,
we find that Paul
writes to the church
and he gives instruction
here as well.
And there in the passage,
he says,
I do not permit a woman
to teach or to exercise
authority over a man,
rather she is to remain quiet.
For Adam was formed first,
then Eve.
The order,
the Spirit of God,
God makes clear
is an indicator
of headship.
Secondly,
I want you to understand
that the Christian wife
is to follow
her husband's lead
and decisions.
And going back
to Ephesians chapter 5,
verse 24,
I want you to understand
that her leadership
and her submission
is to be extensive.
Look at the passage.
Now,
as the church
submits to Christ,
so also the wife
should submit
in everything
to her husband.
The Bible instructs
the Spirit-filled wife.
Can I stop
just for a moment?
I want you to understand
that apart from
the enabling
of the Spirit of God,
submission is not natural
or normal
to any woman.
And by the way,
so that we don't think
this is a gender issue,
I want you to understand
that submission
is not normal
to any of us.
It is something
that happens
under the enabling
of the Spirit of God,
and we need to remember that
because as we work
our way through this passage,
if you're sitting here
as a woman and saying,
I don't want to do that,
and the guy I'm married to
I'm not sure about,
I want to tell you,
your problem is not with him.
Your problem is with
allowing the Spirit of God
to work in your heart
and life
and allowing God
to be the one who leads.
Come back to the point
that this submission
is to be extensive.
I want you to understand
that the Bible instructs
the Spirit-filled wife
to submit to her husband's lead
in all things
except where he instructs her
to be clearly disobedient
to the written Word of God.
Over the years,
I've had wives call me up
and say,
hey, my husband wants me
to sign the tax form
and I know that it's false.
I've had wives call me up
and say,
my husband has prohibited me
from going to church.
I've had wives call me up
and say,
my husband has prohibited me
from being baptized.
My explicit counsel
in such case is,
listen,
you are to respectfully
let your husband know
that you are also
under someone else's authority
and that is the Word of God.
And humbly show him
what the Word of God
has to say in these regards.
Can a husband
command his wife
to sin against God?
The answer is,
no.
But if he doesn't want
to eat liver
and Brussels sprouts
and he says,
don't ever fix that
for me again,
don't.
You got it?
Pretty clear.
And I happen to like
liver and Brussels sprouts
in case you're wondering.
I did that at home.
No.
In our home,
I want you to understand
there's kind of a plan
that if God produced it
and my wife cooked it
and we prayed for it,
it's going home.
Okay?
You got that?
And we have,
of course our children
are all grown now
and under their own
authority and rules,
but we had a plan
that things that weren't
eaten for supper
were for breakfast.
And things that weren't
eaten for supper
and for breakfast
were for lunch.
You know,
eventually,
the refrigerator
was an amazing thing
and eventually,
there's a saying,
Shakespeare said,
hunger makes the best
sauce.
Okay,
back we go.
A wife's humility
and submission
to her husband
is to be extensive.
Let me come to another
point that I think
is important.
I want you to recognize
that the Bible says
that her husband
is the head.
I want you to recognize
that the Bible says
that the husband
is the head.
Put your finger,
if you will,
on verse 23.
The husband is
the head of the wife.
Not might be,
not should be,
not let's have a vote,
it says is.
The husband may be
a poor head.
There may be
some pieces missing
in terms of his logic
and structure,
but at the end of the day,
if God arrives
on the scene
and asks a question
about what's going on
at that address,
he's not going to talk
to the wife,
he's going to talk
to the husband.
Whether the wife
recognizes it or not,
God himself
has appointed the husband
to be the head
in that home
and he is.
By the way,
if the wife
doesn't like the head,
she probably should have
thought about that
before she said,
I do.
Don't be saying,
yes, I'll follow,
I do,
and then do it,
then not do it.
Again,
come back to the issue
of premarital counseling.
I can tell you
on more than one occasion,
and I've had the privilege
of, for the most part,
doing marriages
of young people
that have grown up
in our fellowship.
But there have been
those rare occasions
where individuals
have come to me
and said,
would you do our wedding?
Wonderful opportunity
of evangelism.
I've done two
non-believing people
and I did the civil service.
But I said,
if you want me
to marry you,
yeah, we want you
to marry us.
I said,
try that again.
We want you to marry us.
I said,
you have to go
through counseling
with me.
Oh yeah,
not a problem.
It's good,
blah, blah, blah.
And so there we go
and we get over
to this part
and it's like,
whoa,
what is that?
I'm not following him.
I said,
find somebody else
to do the wedding.
You know,
you're going to stand up
there and say,
I do.
What are you saying
I do too?
I do.
So let me give you
some practical counsel
for godly,
spirit-filled wives.
This verse,
and by extension
these verses
suggest that,
number one,
a Christian wife
will support her husband
as he learns to lead.
Let me say that slowly
so you don't miss it.
A Christian wife
will support her husband
as he learns to lead.
In most cases,
I think it was last Sunday
as I was teaching Sunday school
in our class
called Home Improvements,
I asked,
how many of you
in this class
grew up in Christian homes?
Probably 80%
of my class
grew up in Christian homes.
That's good.
I said,
how many of you
young men
or how many of you
who are husbands
had specific training
in what it was
to be the leader
of your home?
No one raised their hand
and say,
oh, yeah,
I had that class.
My father taught me
the responsibility
of being the spiritual leader
of his home.
I want you to understand
that in most cases,
and I trust it does not
stay this way,
most cases,
young men are not
explicitly instructed
in what the responsibility
and obligations are
of being the spiritual leader
of their home.
And so, wives,
godly women,
you have to learn
how to support your husband
as he learns how to lead.
And learning how to lead
is a challenge.
Furthermore,
secondly,
the Christian wife
should pray
for her husband
as he grows in this area.
Something you learn
in leadership
is that
you learn by
trial and error,
you learn by consulting
those who are wise,
you learn upon,
you learn how to rely
upon the word of God,
and guess who suffers
as the young man
is going through
the learning curve.
Does anybody have an idea?
It's the other person
in the canoe.
Poor girl.
She decided,
yes, I'm going to follow,
yes, I'm going to be
his wife,
and the poor guy,
without extensive instructions
in what to do
as he leads,
he's bumbling around
and causing accidents,
and she is saying,
I don't like
all this consequence.
Here's what usually happens.
they leave this place
where they've said,
I do,
and smiles and giggles
and stuff,
and they walk out
and begin life,
and that rookie
novice husband
decides he's going
to try out
a couple decisions,
and he makes
a couple boneheaded ones,
and she begins
to say,
that was dumb,
and pretty soon
he says,
well, you take over,
and guess what happens
when she begins
to take over?
Two things.
She diminishes
her value
and respect
for him.
Can't help it.
And number two,
he begins
to think less
of her as well.
So when you have
a couple accidents
and you tip
that canoe over,
and he says,
why don't you try it
for a while,
godly,
young girl,
wife,
you say,
not on your life.
I want you
to understand
in relationship
to this,
the Christian wife
must trust
the Holy Spirit
to be more instructive
and persuasive
than she is.
Now,
what do I mean
by that?
Let me explain
something to you
so you get this,
and I've got to
watch my time here,
take my watch off,
so that's a real signal
I'm going to do that.
Truth of the matter
is,
is that little girls
learn a whole lot
more about playing
house than boys do.
Do you follow that?
I mean,
I'm around my grandkids,
and just from
this time they're little,
they get dolls.
Girls get dolls.
Do you know
what boys get?
In fact,
they get guns
and swords,
and my grandchildren,
my grandsons
can turn anything
into a sword.
I mean,
almost anything.
Do you follow that?
My little grandson
had tinker toys
crammed down
into his pants.
I mean,
you know,
tinker toys,
you know how you
join them together?
And,
you know,
tinker toy is a really
floppy sword,
but he pulled that out
and said,
see my sword?
I mean,
boys have swords.
Girls have what?
Dolls.
And they are learning
because they're being
coached by mommy.
Hey,
you don't just drop
that thing on the head.
Now,
why do you say that
to the girl?
Huh?
You know,
there's some consequences
to dropping a baby
on their head,
you know?
Now,
sticking each other
with a sword,
now those are details
you've got to work on,
but girls are being
coached about being
mommies
and nurturing
and caring,
and they learn
a lot of things
about what makes
life happen
that boys who are
playing with swords
and guns
and trying to hurt
each other,
you know,
they're not learning.
And so,
that well-trained
little girl
marries that rookie
boy who has
no idea
what leadership
really requires.
And they climb
on the tandem bicycle,
she says,
honey,
you're supposed
to be in front,
and he says,
I'll do that.
And so,
they get on the tandem
by,
they go down the road
and have a couple wrecks
and guess what she says?
She lets him know
that wrecks are not fun.
And he says,
well,
you drive.
And from then on in,
she's up front
catching bugs
and complaining about it
and he's behind
wondering about
who's doing the driving
and it gets messier
and messier.
I want you to understand
that a godly wife
will rely upon
the Holy Spirit
to be more instructive
and more persuasive
than she ever will be.
And by the way,
a Christian wife
cannot play
the I told you so card.
One of the ways
men learn to lead
is by making dumb mistakes.
How many men here
would agree?
You learn the hard way.
And the wisest thing
for a godly wife to do
is just kind of smile
and let him learn.
Can I tell you women
that the Holy Spirit
is more persuasive
and more painful
than you will ever be?
I'll never forget
an experience I had
several years ago
of driving on 270.
I saw this Land Rover
mega SUV
blow my doors off.
You know,
got my attention.
And on the back
it had a large bumper sticker.
And bumper stickers
are how you advertise
your view of life.
Isn't that right?
And here's this bumper sticker.
It said,
all men are idiots
and I married their king.
I thought to myself,
whoa.
I bet you
the woman driving
that SUV
is a sight to behold.
You know,
something kind of
in the Amazon culture.
You know,
6'5",
you know,
forearm resting on the...
So,
I did speed up.
I do want you to admit.
I pulled kind of,
you know,
it was a little
furtive glance,
you know.
It was this little
Walter Mitty type of guy.
You know what
Walter Mitty is for you?
You know,
a wuss.
I mean,
I looked at it,
I thought,
heaven,
help me.
Bud,
you need to get that off.
You know,
here,
given the command
that we have,
it would be wise
for godly parents
to help their sons
learn how to be
godly leaders.
Would you agree
with that?
It's important.
And also,
can I tell you
that you
who are parents
would be wise
to teach your daughters
how to make good picks.
You know,
he may be
Joe Sixpack
in the gym,
but if the word
of God
does not govern
his life,
he is going to be
a leader
that is a terrifying
fact in your life.
Let's come to
one more piece.
Going back
to the passage
in Ephesians
chapter 5,
verse 22,
it says,
Wives,
submit
to your own
husbands
as
to
the Lord.
I want you
to go back
with me
just for a moment
to Ephesians
chapter 5,
verse 21,
where it says,
Submitting to one
another out of
fear for Christ.
A godly wife
submits
because of her
relationship with
Christ.
And let me say
that carefully.
A godly wife
submits because
of her relationship
with Christ
and her desire
to please Him
as her Lord
and Savior.
And where there
is a lack
of willingness
to submit,
the problem
is not principally
with the husband
that God
has given her.
Her first problem
is with the
headship of
Christ Himself.
Her unwillingness
to hear
the authority
of her Savior
only plays out
in the home,
in the place
where she lives.
I want to tell you
it's quite easy
to profess a love
for Christ
and a faith
in Christ,
but the real proof
is not in
what we say,
but how we live
in the settings
where He places us.
A godly child
obeys,
as we see
in this passage
later in Ephesians
chapter 6,
because of Christ.
A godly employee
works hard
because of Christ.
And by extension,
a godly wife
submits
because of Christ.
So let me close
with this wonderful
little picture
that Jesus gave us.
I want you to turn
back in your Bibles,
if you will,
to Matthew chapter 25.
Matthew chapter 25.
And we're going
to be looking
at a little
setting
that Jesus gives us
that's a little surprising.
Let me pick up
and read
beginning there
in verse 31.
Matthew chapter 25
verse 31.
When the Son of Man
comes in His glory
and all the angels
with Him,
and He will sit
on His glorious throne
before Him,
will be gathered
all the nations
and He will separate
people one from another
as a shepherd
separates the sheep
from the goats.
You know this passage,
don't you?
One group goes one side,
the other group
goes the other side.
And there in verse 34
it says,
And the King will say
to those on the right,
Come you who are
blessed by my Father.
Inherit the kingdom
prepared for you
from the foundation
of the world.
For I was hungry
and you gave me food
and I was thirsty
and you gave me drink.
I was a stranger
and you welcomed me in.
I was naked
and you clothed me.
I was sick
and you visited me.
I was in prison
and you came to me.
The righteous will answer
and saying,
Lord,
when did we see you hungry
and feed you
or thirsty
and give you drink?
When did all these things happen?
You know what Jesus
is going to say
to the godly wife?
He'll say,
Hey,
you served me,
you fed me,
you cared for me,
you honored me,
when you followed
your husband's leadership.
Look at the passage.
Jesus says,
What?
If you did it
to the least of these,
you did it,
what?
To me.
And he says,
If you refuse to do it,
you refuse to do it
to me.
Verse 40,
Truly I say to you,
as you did it
to the one
of the least
of these my brothers,
you did it to me.
So here's the truth.
The godly wife,
the spirit-filled wife,
who submits to her husband,
lifts up the name of Jesus.
Listen to me as I close.
Do you realize that
God puts all kinds of
couples together,
and in most cases,
A,
the young man
was not born,
well,
always not born,
but in most cases,
he didn't learn
how to lead.
The girls had an advantage
in many ways.
But the godly,
spirit-filled wife
says,
You know what?
I want my husband
to develop leadership,
and I will invest
my energy
in helping him learn
how to do it
wisely.
Judith and I,
this is the whole truth,
I'll tell you the truth.
When I was dating
with the intelligent intention
of finally marrying somebody,
I knew what kind of girl
I needed.
Do you follow that?
I knew, actually,
I needed someone
that was smarter than I was.
And I married
a very wonderful,
intelligent,
capable,
organized,
outstanding young lady.
I, by nature,
came into that marriage
as a tyrant
and a coward.
And our home
suffered significantly
under my lack
of biblical leadership.
friendship.
And when the doors
blew off of our home,
God came and talked to me
and said,
Tim,
this is your problem.
And he fixed it eventually.
And one of the first things
I said
after we got reconciled,
I said,
never let me
abrogate
or give away
my responsibility
of leading again.
And I want to tell you,
thank you for the Lord
that my wife
has been smart enough
that when there's
a scary sound
in the house,
she sends me
to check on it.
That's the way it,
what,
should be.
Let's close in prayer.