A Husband's Duty of Sacrificial Love

There are two other men that also serve as deacons, Bill Krull, who is our Sunday School

! Superintendent, and I believe he is in one of the children's ministries involved, and Tim

! Smith, he is responsible for the ushers and the greeters, and he is at a retreat this Sunday.

I want you to turn in your Bibles this morning to Ephesians chapter 5 verse 25, and as I begin,

Ephesians 5:25

I want you to join me asking the Spirit of God to help us as we study this passage together.

After I read it, we will pray.

Ephesians chapter 5 verse 25, I encourage you to follow along in your own copy of the Scriptures

Ephesians 5:25

and pay attention to the passage that we are going to study with the help of the Spirit.

Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

Let's pray.

Father God, this morning as we take your Word, we take it with a reverence and a thankfulness

because we recognize that it is the perfect expression of your character, your wisdom, your love,

and that the fact that you have given us instruction indicates that we need that.

We confess as well that our nature tends to not want to listen,

and we are thankful that, first of all, salvation has opened our heart to the desperate need of our soul and salvation

and also made us receptors of your truth and willing to hear.

We're thankful also for the ministry of the Spirit of God that imbides every believer

that we can rely upon this morning to take your Word and quicken it to our heart

that having heard, we might be molded and shaped to be more like Christ.

I think, Father, also this morning of those that are here that need Christ.

And I recognize, Lord, that as we study this passage that is directed primarily to believers,

I'm confident that your Spirit can work in a larger frame,

and we pray that those who do not know Christ will be drawn to the cross.

We also think, Lord, of the fact that the purpose of preaching is not just to inform us,

but really to transform us through the power of the Word and through the Spirit.

And so I pray, Lord, that the men who are here today as husbands would be both humbled and encouraged,

and that the effect of the preaching of the Word of God would be one that is recognized

by those in our fellowship that are wives, by children, by unbelievers and neighbors,

that they would recognize that our men are different.

And that that difference would not be, by any stretch, a matter of arrogance,

but one of profound humility.

Because every one of us who are men and husbands know our own frailty

and our desperate need for you.

And so we want to thank you in advance for what you are going to do

through the work of your Word, the power of your Spirit,

and the prayers of your people.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, I've broken the passage that we're going to study down into three simple statements,

and having said that, I'm not going to say that the passage is simple,

but I do want to keep it at the outset, something clear and concise that you can follow with me.

And so we're going to begin, first of all, looking at what Christ has done.

And I want you to track with me, if you will, for a moment,

that Christ has blessed His children incredibly.

And when you take a passage such as this, in Ephesians 5, verse 25,

Ephesians 5:25

that makes this pointed statement,

husbands love your wives,

that statement should not be separated from the larger context of what we've already learned

in the book of Ephesians.

And remember, when the letter to the church at Ephesus arrived,

it was read in one sitting.

Now, you may ask,

why don't I just read it and let you go home?

One of the things that we know from the Bible is that the Scriptures are there also for the sake of exposition.

And what that means is that here is the text,

and we want to understand what the text itself says.

But then we also want to understand how the text applies in our lives today.

And so we have chosen to break the things down a little more carefully.

And yet, as we begin, I do want you to mark the broader picture of what Christ has done for us.

And so think with me just for a moment back to Ephesians chapter 1, verse 3.

Ephesians 1:3

If I were to think of several of the passages that you should be encouraged to memorize,

Ephesians 1, verse 3 would be one of those that I would want stuck front and center in your thinking.

Ephesians 1:3

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies.

There are times in all of our lives, perhaps, I can't speak for everyone,

but I would say for most of us, there are times where our life is pretty blue and disconsolate,

and there are difficulties.

Ecclesiastes comments on the fact that as sparks flow up, so are troubles to a man.

And all of us have had moments in our life where things are complicated and difficult.

But when the apostle writes to the church at Ephesus, he says,

Hey, listen, I want you to understand that you have been blessed to completion in Christ Jesus.

You are rich beyond imagination.

So we want to start, as we look at what will be a command,

first of all to remind ourselves, hey, God has done incredible things in our lives.

He's good.

Secondly, I do want you to understand that Christ has enabled us for godly living through His Spirit.

And I think this is a very important point for us to note.

In fact, as we are looking at Ephesians chapter 5, verse 25,

Ephesians 5:25

where we find a very pointed command to husbands to love their wives,

it is actually set against the background of being a Spirit-filled believer,

and this part is a command directly to those who are husbands.

And so when you sit here this morning as a husband and you hear the teaching of the Word of God,

I would challenge you to not ever think that you can accomplish the expectation of Christ

apart from the power of the Spirit of God.

To go about doing the things that God calls you to do

without having a humble dependence upon the Spirit of God

is either profound ignorance or profound arrogance,

and neither of the eyes are good.

I do want you to understand that we, every one of us that know Christ,

desperately need His work in our lives every moment of the day.

And so as you hear His command, as we are going to find here just in a moment,

keep in mind that for the believer,

it's given to us with the expectation that we're going to rely upon the Spirit of God to accomplish it.

So if you're sitting here this morning as a husband, a believing husband,

here is one of the logical outcomes that should go through your mind at the end of the service

or at various points in the journey.

For one, the power of the preaching of the Word of God ought to lead you to profound thankfulness that you're saved

and that you have received the instruction of God Himself

in what it means to live a life that is pleasing to the Creator of the universe

and that person who is infinitely wise and good.

And He's given you instruction.

Secondly, it should lead you to a profound humility and dependence on the Spirit of God.

Because as you hear what God asks or expects for you as a Christian husband,

it ought to leave you a little bit like the Apostle when he considered the responsibility of preaching the Gospel.

He said,

Who is sufficient for such things?

And so as we listen to the responsibilities that God has laid upon those who are husbands in particular this morning,

there should be that,

Wow, what a blessing that God has given me instruction.

But on the other hand, there should also be,

Wow, man, how do I do this?

I need God's help and I'm thankful for the Spirit.

Having said that as a background, I want us to look at what Christ commands.

I read the passage to you, but I want you to look at it again.

It's profoundly pointed, simple, short.

Husbands, love your wives.

I'm not sure how much weight we ought to actually put on the Greek grammar at this point.

And when I say that, please allow me to finish the sentence so that you don't prejudice what I'm going to say in remainder.

My point is this, is that actually in the Greek, the wife is not commanded specifically to submit to her husband.

It's there by implication, and it is correct because in the first part of verse 21 where we says,

Submitting to one another, it goes on and says,

And wives.

It just falls along.

But the man himself receives an explicit and direct command from God,

Here is what you are to do.

Now I want you to understand this morning that the command to love your wife is incredibly challenging.

This command is not about having warm feelings for her.

It's not about having warm sexual passion for her or really, really liking to have her around.

Let me point out several misunderstandings that our culture foists off on us.

And I want you to think with me just for a moment to a passage in Jeremiah chapter 17, 9, where it says this,

Jeremiah 17 · chapter mention

The heart, does anybody remember the remainder of it?

How many of you know Jeremiah 17, 9?

Raise your hands and wave at me.

Get them up high.

Elbow above the ear.

Okay.

Those who did not raise their hands, learn this.

Jeremiah chapter 17, 9,

Jeremiah 17 · chapter mention

The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.

Do you know what it's saying?

Your heart is this perverse little engine that spends a lot of its energy fooling you.

And not only are we fooled by our own heart, but we are fooled by the world that we are in.

And so when we think about what it says here, that we are to love our wives,

I want you to understand that it's pretty easy to gloss over this and think,

Well, yeah, I'm doing that.

But the idea that the world has is that love is either incredibly sappy or it's incredibly self-serving or it's incredibly sexual.

I like The Princess Bride.

It's a great movie.

It's a cult favorite.

My family has watched it so many times that many of our family members can recite little clips, you know,

like never start a land war in Asia or whatever.

You know, there are many little things that...

And I have, for extra credit, I have watched things like Return to Me,

Sleepless in Seattle, and While You Were Sleeping.

You know, I've done all those.

In fact, I've done them more than once.

But I want you to understand that Hollywood's picture of what love is like,

of kind of coming along serendipitously and catching a person at the spur of the moment

and filling them with all these warm fuzzies and then having them drift off into the sunset

where everything works perfectly, that's not what real marriage and love is like.

I want you to recognize others view love as more of what you get or at least trade out

in kind of a proportionate relationship with someone else.

I can't tell you how many times I've had individuals in my office where I ask them,

so what's their perception of marriage?

And the more enlightened individuals will let me know that, well, marriage is kind of a trading situation

where, you know, it's 50-50.

And when they say that to me, it's like, duh, 1 plus 1 equals 2, right?

I mean, 50-50 is the golden rule of marriage.

I've had people tell me when I've said, so why did you divorce her or why did you divorce him?

Well, they weren't keeping up.

I've had them tell me this.

They weren't keeping up their part of the bargain.

You know, the idea that love is kind of this partnering business and, you know,

you ought to be getting something out of it if you're going to be putting in.

And believe me, there are more people that think that way than you would care to recognize.

In fact, I would venture to say, while we'd not raise our hands on this one,

there's not a one of us in here that at one point or another in our thinking

has not been a little frustrated with the fact that our return has not matched the investment.

Do you follow what I'm saying?

We've been putting a whole lot into it, and it ain't paying out like we'd like.

And now, we don't say that up front to our wife.

We have enough intelligence.

But inside, there's that little frustration of, you know, I brought her flowers,

and what do I get for that?

Or, you know, hey, I go off to work, and I put in 50, 60 hours,

and what do I get in return?

Now, there are other men who've looked me in the eye

and tried to explain that while they really love their wife,

they just can't help loving other women too.

Do you follow that?

It's no big deal.

I really do.

I've had them look at me face to face and say,

I really do love my wife.

And she ought to know it.

But she shouldn't be surprised that I love someone else as well.

I mean, you know, so many people, so little time.

And so, the attitude is, it's all right.

And don't think.

That kind of thinking is only restricted to those who are crass, broken pagans.

The husband is to love his wife because Christ loves him.

And I think that it is very important for us to get that grasp in our minds.

Christ loves me.

You know, if I were to zero in on the most important thing for a believer,

well, that's a pretty mouthful, so I'll guard it a little bit.

But one of the most important things, how's that?

One of the most important things for the believer to be persuaded of and to grow in appreciating

is the abounding love of Christ.

We sang a song that talked about how wide, how deep is his love.

Question.

How many of you sitting out there as you were singing,

and we were doing well this morning singing,

but as you were singing,

how many of you had scriptures going through your mind about that song?

Raise your hands.

Above the ear.

I'm looking above the ear.

Okay.

Stop.

Listen.

You ought to do that.

You ought to do that.

Here's why.

Something that is noble,

or let me start at the beginning and work forward.

Every thought should be framed against scriptures.

We all would say, what, what?

Yes, yes.

Right?

Yes.

Of course.

Unto the law and the testimonies,

that they speak not according to this,

because there's no light in them.

Isaiah chapter 8, verse 20.

Isaiah 8:20

The scriptures are the premise on which we judge all things.

And so as we're singing, first of all,

we want to be sure that what we're singing matches up with what God has said.

By the way, what God has said is 100% accurate, 100% profitable,

and it's just unbelievably blessed.

Correct?

Agreed?

Every Christian, nod their head.

Go ahead, just entertain me.

Yep.

Nod their head.

Yeah, we're good.

Some of you just said, I'm not.

Pastor wants my head nod.

You can come back here and help me.

Stop.

Okay.

Here's the deal.

We accept the fact that God has said good things.

So when you're singing, you ought to be thinking,

well, does God think that really?

And then after you say, well, yeah, I'd like to know what God thinks.

Here's the benefit of tracking and putting scripture along with what you're singing.

Follow.

Follow.

The Spirit of God is not obligated to take your warm, fuzzy thinking and do a whole lot with it.

But He is obligated to take the scripture and drive it home and have it make a difference in your life.

And all of God's people said, I got that one.

So, in the future, what are we always doing?

We're working.

We're working.

We're working.

We're hoping to grow to be a people who think according to the scriptures.

I come back to say, it is so important for the believer to be persuaded of the abounding love of Christ for us.

And here in this passage, it says,

Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church.

The word that Paul chose to use here is one that is very interesting in the Greek.

And the Greek actually was very…it was a very clear and explicit language that made distinctions.

There was love that was largely sexual and passionate.

There was love that was the familial kind of love.

There was love that was kind of brotherly companionship.

And, you know, that's where we get the name Philadelphia, right?

The most loving city in America gets its name from Phila Delphos, you know, city of love, brotherly love.

And so, the Greek made some distinctions.

And the one that Paul uses here is the word agape.

And I don't want to overplay it at this point.

But it is a word that talks about a kind of love that is deliberate and unconditional.

It's an act of the will that seeks the best for the beloved.

It's deliberate and unconditional.

And it's an act of the will that seeks the best for the beloved.

So, when somebody walks into me and says,

Hey, and I've had this happen, I just don't love her anymore.

My response to that is,

Oh, well, that's not a problem because Jesus can fix your attitude.

And I don't mean that in a crass way.

But, hey, every one of us in here have not loved for a couple minutes or days.

Do you agree?

Huh?

I mean, thankfully, we've not said it as often as we thought it.

But it's been there.

It's been there.

Paul uses this little phrase.

He says,

Husbands, love your wives agape like Christ loves the church.

Do you know how easy it is to deceive yourself on how you're doing at loving?

Huh?

Do you really know?

It's easy.

In fact, if I were to ask all of you, and I'm not going to.

I'm not going to say,

So, how many think you're really doing well?

Nobody here.

No, it's me.

But as you walk out the door, most of you are thinking,

I'm doing okay.

I mean, you know, I'm not as bad as Bubba.

You know what I mean?

I know guys that are a lot worse than I am.

I've got to tell you something.

I debated about this.

But here's the truth.

There was a time in my life where I really didn't love my wife.

I was in seminary.

What should a seminarian be studying?

Oh, how to handle the Word.

And I remember I was a senior in seminary,

and I had another seminarian in my home,

and we were talking about,

Well, eventually we're going to graduate.

And then we're going to have to get a job in a church.

And I was thinking,

And here's what I was thinking.

As I was listening to that young man,

he was just all fired up about,

I'm going to get out there.

And I was thinking,

I don't like people.

That's what I thought.

That's what I thought.

Oh, I tell you,

someone asked me,

So what's changed about you in the last 35 years

of whatever ministry?

I said,

Well, for one thing,

I've grown to love people.

But it wasn't the bad thing,

the worst thing.

I remember sitting there and thinking to myself,

I don't love my wife.

How can a man be a shepherd of the congregation,

the bride of Christ,

if he doesn't love his wife?

I had to learn the hard way how to do that.

I sat on the other side of a counseling table.

I had Bill Good say to me,

Tim, you don't love your wife.

And truth of the matter is,

I was thinking,

What are you low life?

I haven't shot her.

I mean, you know,

I'm just telling you what I thought.

Despicable me.

Not the movie, but the person.

God put me on a two-year remedy.

Listen to me.

Husbands, love your wives.

As Christ loved the church.

So what does it mean for a husband to love his wife like Christ?

Well, it would be fitting for the lesson,

being that it is in Ephesians,

to rely to a large degree upon the context of the book.

Does that make sense?

So are there many,

many different passages where I could take you and help you see how Christ loves the church from other books?

I could,

but we're going to try to stay within Ephesians for the most part.

And I want you to understand that,

first of all,

the kind of love that Christ has for the church

and the kind of love that a husband is to have for his wife

is love that is ambitious for the future good.

Love that is ambitious for the future good.

You look at Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4 just for a moment.

Ephesians 1:4

I just touch on it in passing.

It says,

Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world,

that we should be holy and blameless before him in love.

By the way,

who was he thinking about when he decided on you?

He was thinking about some scumbag

that really wasn't worth a passing thought.

And before you ever were created,

he decided that he would love you

and he would draw you out of your rebellious state

and he would bring you to himself

and wrap you in his loving arms

and he would care for you

by purchasing your redemption with his own blood.

Amen.

So,

a godly husband

is ambitious

for his wife's

future good.

Now,

I'll tell you what,

Lord willing,

and we don't have snow

and I'm around,

I hope to preach on that a little more next week.

There's a lot there.

But,

future good.

Secondly,

love that is unconditional.

Ephesians chapter 2 verse 5.

Ephesians 2:5

Love that is unconditional.

It says there in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 5,

Ephesians 2:5

it says,

even when we were dead in our trespasses,

made us alive together in Christ,

by grace you've been saved.

Now,

dead doesn't tell all the story.

It is part of the picture.

One of the things that God

did over and over again

in the Old Testament

with the nation of Israel

is he reminded them

where they came from.

And,

and as he was giving them

his expectations,

he kept on framing

those expectations

against the backdrop

of his unconditional love

and his interest in them.

Let's just try this,

the Ten Commandments.

He starts out by saying,

I am the Lord your God

who brought you out of

Egypt,

land of slavery.

Elsewhere in the book of Jeremiah,

I believe it is,

or Isaiah,

he says,

listen,

I found you

as a,

as an outcast.

I found you

lying in your blood.

One of the things

that happened

in the ancient world

is when you had a baby

and you didn't want a baby,

what you did

was you just

abandoned the baby

on the side of the road

and the baby died of exposure.

Very common.

Very common.

And he says,

I came along

and I saw you there

lying in your blood.

Your mother had walked away from you,

left you there.

I picked you up.

I bathed you.

I took care of you.

I clothed you.

The love of God for us

is unconditional.

And so a godly husband

loves his wife

and lets her know

that she is beautiful

and beloved

when she has morning breath,

when she has bed head,

when she doesn't have her paint on.

Some of you little girls

are wondering,

what's that all about?

Well, you'll understand.

Don't look at me yet.

What?

You're the only one

I'm allowed to look at

and keep looking at.

Do you follow that?

What?

No,

is it?

That's it?

One, one person.

By the way,

she's sitting right over there.

I know where she is.

A godly husband

loves his wife

with her weaknesses

and her repeated frailties.

And he lets her know

that his love for her

only grows stronger

by the day.

Christ's love for us

is also fully relational.

Look at Ephesians 2,

Ephesians 2:6

verse 6,

and then verse 13.

It says this.

It says there

in Ephesians 2,

Ephesians 2:6

verse 6,

it says,

and raised us up with him

and seated us with him

in the heavenly places

in Christ Jesus.

A couple weeks ago,

our kids went

to the winter jam.

And that was just

an incredibly cold day.

I was obsessing about

whether my grandchildren

were going to survive.

Do you have hand warmers?

Are you wearing wool socks?

Do you have,

you know,

yeah, yeah, yeah,

I'm going to be good.

You know,

and it's like,

so after it's all over,

they had to go,

oh,

skinny jeans

are not for cold weather.

You know,

yes,

I understand.

You know,

and it wasn't

just my grandchildren.

I know there were

a bunch of them out there

that were testing

the elements.

How's that?

You want to look

like a Michelin man?

There's a reason for it.

Okay.

Well,

back we go.

We're staying with the text.

That's what we're working on.

There in verse 6,

it says,

he seated us with him

in the heavenly places.

You know what it's saying?

It says,

he called us,

come on inside.

Let me put my arms around you

and love you.

We were outside.

He brought us inside.

He loved us.

Then in verse 11,

here's what it says,

therefore,

remember that at one time

you Gentiles in the flesh

called the uncircumcision

by what was called

the circumcision,

which is in the flesh

by hands.

It says,

we were alienated.

And then in verse 13,

it says here,

and we who were once

far off

have been brought

nigh.

Do you understand that?

You were out

and now you're in.

There's a relationship

there

that the apostle

is referencing

that's important

for us to recognize.

And so,

let me tell you,

to love your wife

like Christ loved the church

means that you're willing

to spend time

listening to your wife's interests.

You should know

when she's happy

or when she's sad.

You should know

what she's concerned about

or what's on her mind.

You should know

what her favorite restaurant is

and what food she likes.

And by the way,

let me tell you something,

there's no substitute

for actually being

a good listener.

And I can tell you this

from experience,

it takes lots of time.

be interested in the things

that are important to her.

I've got to tell this.

Sorry Carrie's here,

but I'll tell it anyway.

I've been tracking

on Facebook.

Yeah,

pastor goes on Facebook.

Some of you ought to watch

what you post.

But anyway,

I've been tracking

on Facebook

where there's one young couple

in our church

and I'm watching this guy

go in and look at dishes.

You know,

I mean,

why does the bride-to-be

have to take pictures

of all these things?

I don't know.

But she does

and she posts them

and so here's the young man,

you know,

yeah,

yeah,

those towels

will really go good

with the paint

in our bathroom.

You know,

I've got to tell you guys,

hey,

you're just warming up

for the main event.

You're not even halfway home.

I want you to recognize

another thing about this love.

It's sacrificial.

There in the passage

in Ephesians,

it says that,

look at the passage

because it is so profound.

As Christ loved,

that's past tense.

Do you understand that?

Past tense.

He loved the church

and gave himself up for her.

when you love your wife,

it means that

when you don't get your way,

you don't pout

and let her know about it.

Everybody look up,

men in particular,

that smile at me,

say,

I know you're talking to me

because I am.

when you don't get your way.

You know,

some of us are

kind of surly boors.

And so,

yeah,

we didn't get our way,

but buddy,

there's payback.

That means,

and here I'm telling

to myself,

and it's hard,

but it means moving furniture

just because.

You know,

I've got to confess this.

There was a time

where I thought

that I really needed

to change my wife

and God thought

she needed to change me.

But I thought

that it would be a good idea

if what I did

was I took out a magic marker

and on the bottom of the couch

every time I moved it,

I put a date.

I don't do that anymore.

But there is an advantage.

I'm getting older

and one of the things

that goes with getting older

is I,

guess what?

I have grandkids.

Woo-hoo-hoo!

And I have a son-in-law

that is just a worker man.

Yes, sir.

So Judith now said,

honey,

would you ask?

Okay.

But things we've got

to work on.

We're in the process

of remodeling again.

Yeah,

I know,

don't laugh,

but we're kind of

preparing,

so if my parents

move in with us,

we're able to take care

of them.

And I've moved

the toilet in

where we're going

to have our bedroom

three times.

Now,

understand that it

hasn't been plumbed yet,

but the reason

it hasn't been plumbed

is because I knew

what was going to happen.

Do you follow that?

I want it here.

Yes, ma'am.

And a couple days later,

I want it here.

Okay.

I want it here.

You know,

our toilet is in a circular

kind of,

we're not talking about

the bowl,

we're talking about

the toilet itself

is just moving around

and it's a,

okay,

hey,

it's sacrificial.

That means

that you as a godly husband

are willing to get down

your knees

and wash your feet

like Jesus did.

Sitting around

like some little

North Korean dictator,

you know,

Kim Il-jong,

you know,

and stomping your feet

and expecting her

to grab you a glass

of ice water

while she does

everything else,

it's just not

the Bible picture.

So what goes

through the mind

of a Christian husband

this morning

as they sit here

and listen to the teaching

of the Word of God

and the preaching

of the Word of God?

One of the things

that ought to be happening

is that you sit here

and think,

oh, Lord,

help me.

Right?

Is that logical?

I'm not up to that.

Well,

who is?

But you know

what it ought to do?

It ought to drive

the Christian husband

to prayer.

It ought to drive

the Christian husband

with humility

to recognize

his desperate need

for the Spirit of God

and it ought to make

a difference

in your home.

I have no doubt

that there are some

here today

that do not know Christ.

And I would confess

at the outset

that preaching

about Christian husbands

loving your wife

like Christ loved the church

is so far

off the screen

that it's hardly

anywhere

in the room.

But here's what

is always in the room.

As you consider

the difference

between Christ

and his love

for the church

and the natural heart

of the unsaved man

or woman

who's here today,

there has to be

a sense of shame

and guilt

for the sinfulness

of the heart

of every man

and woman.

Do you follow that?

And the gospel

is sweet.

Do you know

what the gospel is?

It says that you

are a sinner

condemned

before a holy God

and you cannot

save yourself

or change

your way.

But God

knowing the

desperate condition

of your heart

sent Jesus Christ

to be the Savior

of the world

and he

died in

your place.

And the Bible

offers as a free gift

it says

so that

whosoever

believes on him

should have

everlasting life.

So

Christian women

who are sitting here

may be thinking

to themselves

I really wish

my husband

loved me

that way.

That's fair.

But here's your deal

you just work

on your part

let God work

on his part

do you follow that?

There are Christian

husbands who are

thinking

I'm not there.

Good.

I'm glad

you got that message

because the purpose

of the preaching

of the word of God

is putting us

on the spot

of saying

hey

I got to work

at this

how do I do it?

I rely upon

the word

and I rely upon

the spirit

and I rely upon

God's people

to help me.

To walk

out of here

indifferent

to the authority

of the word of God

is to kind of

invite him

to get your attention

another way.

Make sense?

So let's close

in prayer

and ask God

to help you deal

with the teaching

of his word

in practical

personal way.

Our Father God

this morning

your word is clear

it's called to us

as Christian men

and husbands

in particular

is profoundly

humbling

that we

who are frail

as we are

should be

examples

of Christ.

And so like

the Apostle Paul

we say

who is sufficient

for these things

and then we

recognize

with the very

same breath

our sufficiency

is from God.

Convict us

of your expectation.

Convict us

of our need.

and encourage us

to be faithful

in our divine duty.

We ask this

in your precious name.

Amen.