The Bible on Submission in Marriage

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.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

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,

Ephesians 5:22–24

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,

Ephesians 1 · chapter mention

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,

Galatians 5:22

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.

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.

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

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.

Genesis 3:16

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,

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

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.

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

In Galatians chapter 3, verse 28, we get a picture of how the gospel delivered

Galatians 3:28

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,

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

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,

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

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,

Genesis 2:7–18

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,

Genesis 3:1–9

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,

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

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,

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

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,

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

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

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

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,

1 Timothy 2:12

verse 12.

In 1 Timothy chapter 2,

1 Timothy 2:12

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,

Ephesians 5:24

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,

that was dumb,

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

Ephesians 5:22

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

Ephesians 5:21

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

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

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 25 · chapter mention

Matthew chapter 25.

Matthew 25 · chapter mention

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

Matthew 25:31

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.