Peace with the Order of Things (Col. 3:18-25) (8/2/29)

Our God and our Father, we thank you for sending

the Spirit to give us life and to empower us

for the call you have given us to carry your

words of life to the ends of the earth. Please

allow the words of my mouth and the meditations

of all our hearts to be acceptable in your sight.

O Lord, our rock and nearest kinsman and Redeemer,

the bridegroom, Jesus Christ, our risen Lord.

Amen. Excuse me. Our scripture reference today

begins with Colossians chapter 3 beginning in

Colossians 3 · chapter mention

verse 18. Wives, submit to your own husbands

as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your

wives and do not be bitter towards them. Children,

obey your parents in all things for this is well

pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke

your children lest they become discouraged. Bond

servants, obey in all things your masters according

to the flesh, not with eye service, as men pleasers,

but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever

you do, do it heartedly as to the Lord and not

to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive

the reward of the inheritance. For you serve

the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be

repaid for what he has done. And there is no

partiality. These are the words of Almighty God.

Receive them in your hearts. So there are three

things, three lenses, three ideas I want us to

hear throughout our study concerning these things.

And just as a reminder, that we've been all summer

working through a series that's building one

on top of another. If you recall, we started

Psalm 37, trust God and do good. And we talked

about what trusting God and doing good is, right?

Standing in the place God has for you, stand

your post. and being fruitful in the fruit of

the Spirit. And then we've gone through and worked

that out farther and farther. And so now we've

come to this place where we've been discussing

marriage. We talked about God's plan for us.

The fact that when He created us, He created

us male and female. He gave us different origins

and orientations. That was last week. You want

to be thinking about these things. These things

are all connected together. And now we're talking

a little more in depth about marriage. We'll

go through marriage for several sermons and then

we'll pick up with child rearing and then our

work in the world. And this is why we have green

up, right? It's the season of growth in the church.

And so... We want to be growing in Christ in

the Lord. These are the three themes. The first

one is number one, the central theme of scripture

is marriage. The central theme of scripture is

marriage. And we'll explain that a little further

down the road here in our talk today. Marriage,

second, marriage is for the glory of God and

the good of the world. Marriage is for the glory

of God. the good of the world and Finally if

you printed this all for what I sent out yesterday.

I added two words to the last one so pay attention

Trust God and do good in submission to God's

order of things so of things I added Trust God

and do good in submission to God's order of things

Now as we begin this morning In my studies this

week, I've been reminded that my words are mere

meek shadows and explanations of the great love

of Jesus for you. Never lose track of the central

point in every sermon as the Epistle of Jude

declares, but you, beloved, building yourselves

up on your most holy faith. praying in the Holy

Spirit. Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking

for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ into eternal

life. Dearly beloved, love Jesus. Look to Jesus.

Follow Jesus. God the Father before the foundations

of this world had in mind to present a bride

for His Son. The second chapter of Genesis ends

with a marriage in the first Adam and his bride

Eve. The end of all of history culminates with

the marriage supper of the Lamb, Jesus' great

marriage feast with his bride, the church. God

has pursued the good of his son and has pursued

the good of his bride to his own glory. Jesus,

all through scripture, is the faithful husband

guarding and tending his bride, not because his

bride was attractive, good, or worthy, but because

he loved her. He pursued her, leaving heaven,

and took up the humble form of a man to sympathize

with her in every temptation, and yet lived and

served her. without sin. Jesus trusted God that

in the laying down of his life for the bride,

that the Father would resurrect him, which would

lead to the glorious deliverance of his bride

from the bondage of sin and death. In Jesus'

submission to the Father for his bride, We see

these results Ephesians 2 tells us this beginning

in verse 4 but God who was rich in mercy Because

of his great love with which he loved us Even

when we were dead and trespasses us made us alive

together with Christ by grace you've been saved

and Here's the key what I'm pointing to and raised

us up together and made us sit together in heavenly

places in Christ Jesus that in the ages to come,

He might show the exceeding riches of His grace

and His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Because

of the love of God manifested in Jesus' death

on the cross, we are made alive not only for

ourselves, but for Jesus. And we are now raised

up as His church and made to sit together with

Jesus in heavenly places. And so we have been

given authority. All authority has been given

to him and it has been delegated to us in this

world of his kingdom to do here on earth his

will as it is in heaven. And we do this until

all his enemies are put under his feet. In our

marriage, our marriages, your marriage, my marriage,

we image the marriage of Jesus and his bride.

Now, I want to just pause right here and say

something to you all. If you're not married,

perhaps you're still young and aspiring to marriage.

Perhaps you're widowed. Perhaps there are other

things in life. But if you're single, understand

as we go through these things on God's marriage

to us, through his son, Jesus Christ, and us

as his bride, the church, that all these things

have application to you even now. That you rest

in Jesus, that you stand with him, and he has

a delightful thing for you in service in his

kingdom through his church. Right now we turn

and look at Ephesians 5 continuing on and what

this picture looks like. It says in Ephesians

Ephesians 5:22

5 verse 22, wives, submit to your own husbands

as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of

the wife, as also Christ is the head of the church,

and he is the savior of the body. Therefore,

just as the church is subject to Christ, so let

wives be subject to their own husbands in everything.

Husbands, love your wives just as Christ also

loved the church and gave himself up for her,

that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the

washing of the water of the word, that he might

present her to himself a glorious church not

having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. but

that she should be holy and without blemish.

So husbands ought to love their own wives as

their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves

himself. We look around and we think, wait a

minute, my marriage is supposed to be a picture

of Christ in the church? And we think, who me?

Who us? My wife, my husband, sometimes we dreadfully

think, oh man, our marriage is an image of Christ

Jesus and His bride, the church. Well, maybe

I got the bride part down, the church thing,

sinful, rebellious, I got that part down, but

I don't know. As Christians, we are the image

of Christ and His bride. A very sermon of Christ

and His bride every day to the whole world. But

it is first to who? Each other and our marriages

as husbands and wives? What about that sermon

of Christ and His bride to your children? What

about to your fellow church members? What about

the whole community? in which you live. You know,

we often think that the spirit of our age is

recent in its development. We always think that

sin is novel, it's worse than it's ever been.

These are new tactics and devices by Satan. It

may have a new form, but as Ecclesiastes chapter

Ecclesiastes 1:9

1 verse 9 tells us, that which has been is what

will be. That which is done is what will be done.

Here's the clue. And there is nothing new under

the sun. Now Satan takes old lies and like an

unscrupulous used car salesman, he cleans it,

he polishes it, he puts good -looking wheels

on it so you don't notice how ratty the tires

are. Right even puts it in the olden days. This

was a very common trick put sawdust in the transmission

So it'll just run okay for a little bit, but

all of this is a bad lie That the car is just

going to get a few blocks away or maybe to the

next town and then it'll break down The lies

of feminism male passivity and niceness are simply

providing the itching ears of what they want

to hear or what our eyes desire. All that's so

beautiful. I one time had a family member who

was super excited because he bought this beautiful

Mitsubishi spider car with no motor. Well, here's

the thing. He saw the beautiful car. He wanted

the car. He figured, well, I'll get a motor.

Sometimes we do that, right? We say, oh, she's

so beautiful. Oh, he's so great. It doesn't matter

that they're not a Christian. Nope. Go for Christians

only. Only Christians. That's what God's word

tells us. This lie that Satan has put out there

that all of life and everyone in it is here for

me my pleasure and Affirmation now of course

we've seen as of late now. This is real important

We think we're doing pretty good at managing

that lie by the way however as a culture we're

not And we need to be careful about how that

drags into our life Because what happens is,

when the realities of life, the hardships that

come to everyone, those that are following God

and those that aren't, just the normal challenges

of life, all of a sudden, we lose our minds.

I think we've all seen when people didn't get

their way politically, or they didn't get their

way in so many circumstances, maybe the grade

at a university. You see, we're not here for

ourselves. We're not here for our own pleasure

and affirmation. For more than a century, news

outlets, the internet, and apps have baited men

and women to come to believe that they are not

made in the image of God, created male and female,

and that we are defined, we are not defined,

by our God -given origin and orientation. In

other words, we have no connection or responsibility

to anything or anyone outside of what I think

is good for me and mine. This denial misses the

core of life. To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Now, of course, we've heard those lines before.

The big question is, what in the world does that

even mean? To glorify God and enjoy Him. Forever.

Of course, this is why he gave us things to do.

He gave us origins and orientations and made

us male and female. He's given us lots of things

to do. And we go, how do we glorify God? It's

so ambiguous. Well, it's only ambiguous because

we won't put ourselves to following Jesus in

the text of his word. The myth that marriage

is all about me and my satisfaction, sadly, is

the standard understanding. When I do premarital

counseling, in the very first session, every

first session, the first thing I say to that

couple is this, this wedding is not about you.

And they kind of look at it, and I turn to the

bride to be, and I said, this is not really about

you. They're like, what? So I go through a little

diatribe where I say, Don't spend too much money.

Don't try to make everything. Don't try to control

everything. The only thing that's going to happen

is you're going to be miserable on your wedding

day because nothing is the way you thought it

might be exactly. You will have spent all this

money for 30 minutes of your life. No. This wedding

is for God and your witnesses. You're making

vows to Almighty God and yes, it will change

you and transform you and so I'm not saying take

no interest in how beautiful it is It's for God

And the vows you take before him and it is for

your witnesses who you must be glad for Rejoice

in what are those witnesses there for? They are

as the Bible teaches us there to stand with you

in trouble and sorrows. And it is there, they

are there to stand with you throughout your life

in your joys and your expectations. And if you

struggle or you stumble, they are there to come

alongside you and say, remember God, remember

the works of Jesus, remember your covenant vows

before Him, remember your baptism. And as we

like to say sometimes, grab you by your baptism.

Don't fall into this sinful trap. That's what

the witnesses are for. And you should rejoice

in it. Dearly beloved, marriage is for the glory

of God and the good of the world. As we've already

seen, marriage is an imitation of Christ and

His church. Sometimes our imaging is truthful.

And sometimes it's a blasphemous lie. Christ

Jesus loves us and gave himself for us. Jesus

came not to be served, but to serve even unto

death. Jesus, trusting in his father, making

his bride sanctified and cleansed, to present

her to himself as a glorious church without spot

or wrinkle, to be holy. This service of the husband

to love and to cherish. By guarding and tending

for his bride that she might respond in submission

and respect For the glory of the kingdom of God

to see God glorified in his kingdom and to see

his kingdom flourish and Expand until the knowledge

of the glory of God covers the earth as the waters

cover the sea Now all of you have believed that

for Christ in his church But you must understand

that too is what marriage is. To see these things.

To see the kingdom of heaven. The knowledge of

the glory of God expand until it covers the entire

earth. As the waters cover the sea. The falsehood

of marriage existing to meet my needs is the

wide path of destruction. That's not to say it

won't meet your needs, but the difficulty is

if that is what we say the purpose is, we're

in trouble. As one commentator puts it, if marriage

is there to meet your needs, what do you do when

it doesn't meet your needs in your understanding?

Now, I want to be honest with you. Everybody

look up here. Young people, you too. So young

people, you're looking around watching all the

married people right now. Have you ever found

that your marriage at some point wasn't meeting

your needs? If everybody in this room didn't

do a double hand up like this, you're not being

honest. If I make my relationship the goal of

my life, I doom myself, you doom yourself. The

goal is not to pursue a good marriage. What?

Because that's what all the self -help books

say, pursue a good marriage. That's what I'm

here for. So that I can get my needs met. The

goal is not to pursue a good marriage, but to

pursue the honor. God Our marriages must aim

for more than to keep us satisfied and happy

Just as Jesus the bridegroom and the church the

bride are for the glory of God and the good of

the world Think about this. What did Jesus do?

he laid down his life for us and he ascended

into heaven and He left us the church to bring

the his good to the world And all of this is

not just for the glory of God and the good of

the world in some mystical way. Although one

of the most powerful ways to transform the world

is in unified worship by his people like this

on a Sunday morning. Nothing shakes the gates

of hell like that, like what we are doing right

now. But then we're called to go out from the

Lord's presence. and transform the world in whatever

meager little way we have responsibility for

it. You see, we are in a tangible real way to

worship God together, and it is a real relationship.

You see, word and sacrament have a face -to -face

element. First of all, through your elders speaking

to you. That's face -to -face. We represent Christ's

words to you. That's why this is a scary place

to stand. And it is also a beautiful place of

God's presence, Jesus' presence, by the power

of the Spirit in our lives at the Lord's table.

These are not just empty symbols, but real tangible

gifts of God from His presence to us. to strengthen

us and bless us so that we can go and glorify

the world. Word and sacrament have a face -to

-face element, Jesus with us, that we may be

strengthened and side -by -side with Jesus, see

the world transform for the glory of God and

the true goodness of the world. So here's the

thing. According to Ephesians 2, where are we?

We are beside Jesus. He's interceding for us.

I don't think anybody in here thinks that somehow

the church is equal to Jesus. And yet, he has

put us by his side in this image of marriage

to do what? To transform the world. The face

-to -face intimate relationship in marriage is

designed to strengthen the unity of marriage

for the side -by -side relationship that you

have for the good of the world over and through

trials. Last week we talked about that phrase,

right? Marriage is easy, or are you doing it

wrong? Meaning that if we make the focus of our

trials ourselves, each other, our marriage, that's

where trial is. Guess what happens? We didn't

do anything on the outside. The gospel lived

out to the glory of God and the benefit of others.

Who are those others? Your household, your church,

and the broader community. When we studied Psalm

37, we heard of the steadfastness of God's love

and actions for his people. Verse 23 says, the

steps of a good man are ordered by Yahweh, and

he delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall

not utterly be cast down, for Yahweh upholds

him with His hand. And also down in verse 39

of Psalm 37, but the salvation of the righteous

is from, not ourselves, but Yahweh. He is their

strength in the time of trouble, and Yahweh shall

help them and deliver them, and He shall deliver

them from the wicked and save them, because they

trust in Him. And again, why do we say Yahweh?

Because it reminds us it is His covenant name

that He gave Himself. He keeps His promises.

He keeps His covenant with us. Marriage means

dying to self, trusting God and His promises

to raise us from the dead to His glory. But it

isn't just that, it is also the true benefit

to the world. In dying to self, God provides

sanctification for you. You've heard me say it

many times, God's ordinary means of sanctification

in your life is other people. And the greatest

sanctification in that is the person who knows

all your sins and shortcomings the most, your

husband, your wife. Let me declare to you the

truth of Almighty God. Trust God and do good.

willingly die to self in your marriage and see

the glorious transformation not only of your

marriage, but for the world that God has placed

you in at this time, at this place, and during

these circumstances that you find yourself in

right now. See, we are happy to believe in Jesus

for our eternal resurrection, but really that

faith. That trust needs to be in through the

actions of dying to ourselves That that that

we will see God resurrect us and resurrect the

relationships in our lives Jesus delights in

us Sharing our joys and sorrows All our happiness

we owe to Jesus. How then do we respond to the

love of Christ? Love is made manifest as you

render your love to him and obedience Jesus is

or excuse me. Jesus has your best interest and

outcome in mind He has done all for you and has

given you all you need from his cross Resurrection

and ascension where he now and his ascension

intercedes for you He has given himself to us

through the Holy Spirit in his word and sacraments.

He provides what we need when we need it. Even

when we think he is slow or late or not involved

at all. Read 1st and 2nd Peter on that one. Saints

of God, trust God and do good. Now interestingly,

In all three epistle passages on marriage, Ephesians

5, Colossians 3, and 1 Peter 3, there's a list

directing submission with varying descriptions

of who and how we are to respond to our God -ordained

superiors and inferiors. I want us to consider

this. Again, this brings us back to our passage.

We've heard it in various ways, even in the Ephesians

passage, but here we go. Our passage from this

morning. Wives submit to your own husbands as

is fitting to the Lord. Husbands love your wives

and do not be bitter towards them. Children,

obey your parents in all things for this is well

pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke

your children lest they become discouraged. Bond

servants, obey all things. Your master is in

all things your masters according to the flesh

not with eye service as men pleasers But in sincerity

of heart fearing God and whatever you do do it

heartily as to the Lord and not to men Knowing

that from the Lord you will receive the reward

of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ

And of course it ends in a negative way, but

he who does wrong will be repaid for what he

has done And there is no partiality That inheritance

is believing in and seeing and trusting God in

the death to yourself. Now here's our problem.

With modern sensibilities, we groan when we hear

such a numbering of the list. But as you can

see, all three epistles begin the list with the

submission of the wife. And that just grates

our nerves. We think, why wouldn't you deal with

the husband first? Well, because the list is

about submission to the authorities. You know,

we often manage to cope and soothe our offended

heart when we remember from Ephesians 5 that

husbands are to love like Christ loves the church.

And so for some of you, you rationalize. Well,

my husband doesn't love me like Christ loves

the church, so I get a pass on respect and honor

and obeying. Or if I do do those things, it's

not heartily or joyfully unto the Lord. We will

cover the duty of husbands in coming weeks, but

submission is required as Jesus submits to the

Father. as husbands submit to Christ, which also

includes husbands submitting to Christ's representatives

on earth, their elders. Wives to husbands, children

to parents, servants to slaves, and employers,

slaves and employees to masters and employers.

It's all there. God has graciously given us instructions,

and we too often dodge ignore, or just rebel

of the true ways of life. I'm mentioning this

again, but last week we heard the quote, marriage

is easy or you're doing it wrong. Dearly beloved,

the long and the short of it is this. We turn

our marriages into the trial of life because

we do not obey the words of life. And so we choose

the path of hardship and death. Proverbs chapter

Proverbs 1 · chapter mention

1 beginning of verse 22 says this, hear this.

How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?

I'm going to pause right there. How many parents

have thought that of their children? Every one

of us. But have we taken that and put it on ourselves

and our relationship to God, the Father, and

through Jesus, the Son? For scorners delight

in their scornings. and fools hate knowledge.

Lady wisdom tells us that the foolish disdain

her counsel, and now terror and calamity will

come. The storm and the whirlwind of destruction

will bring distress and anguish because we hated

knowledge and chose not to fear the Lord. We

become complacent, holding on to our life that

leads to the destruction of marriage and to ourselves.

Proverbs 133, that's the end verse. It ends with

this. It says, but whoever listens to me will

dwell safely and will be secure without fear

of evil. Wives, God is clear. Submit, obey, respect,

and honor your husband, trusting God. When you

die to yourself, Trust God to bring a glorious

resurrection for His glory and for the good of

the world, starting in your marriage. As one

commentator puts it, submission does not make

the wife a doormat, and headship does not make

him a tyrant. What does those things? Sin. But

God's order of things, He places there on purpose.

All husbands should invite his wife to talk back

to him in respectful ways. Many a wife has saved

her husband from an idiotic decision by giving

respectful pushback. And wise patriarchs will

always recognize this fact about their wives.

Hebrews 13 17 talking about submission to authority

says and this is specifically aimed towards elders

the church and elders but I think because we've

made this and the elders of representative Christ

because we've made this connection already we

can apply it here in Hebrews 13 17 it says obey

those who rule over you and be submissive for

they watch out for your souls as those who must

give an account Let them do so with joy and not

with grief, for that would be unprofitable for

you. For all of you in this room, and anybody

here in this, are you making your superiors joyful

in your labors and submission? Or are they full

of grief from your inability to follow Jesus

and obey His word? I think that's a big question

for all of us. Wives, do not view yourself as

your husband's rival. No God has made you differently.

He has given you different gifts. It is not less

glorious. And he cannot complete his call by

himself. Likewise, men, love and cherish your

wife. It's not about rivalry. It's not about

who wins a fight. But is God being glorified?

Are you being for the good of the world? God

has made you male and female. By God's sovereign

plan, each of you have a different origin and

orientation. As one commentator puts it, granting

the obvious qualifications that would apply to

any human authority, that is to say, if they

tell you to sin, yes, stop. Don't do that. But

it says this, wives should submit to their husbands

in everything. He has real authority over you,

given by God, grounded in creation, symbolic

of the gospel, and enforced by his word. Thus,

in pleasing your husband, you please Christ,

and you honor God's divine design. In obeying

and respecting your husband, You obey and respect

Christ. The question for Christian wives is simple.

Do you trust God? Do you trust that God knows

best? If so, obey your husband. In submitting

to him, you submit to Christ. In respecting him,

you respect Christ. Reject the lies of mutual

submission and submit to your husband. Reject

feminism and embrace true femininity. For both

husbands and wives, your marriage is not for

you, but for the glory of God and the good of

the world. So thinking of Psalm 37, trust God

and do good. Stand your post and see the kingdom

of God expand and fill the whole earth. Let us

pray. Heavenly Father, Thank you for your great

love demonstrated to us in Christ Jesus, the

faithful and good bridegroom. Help us, we pray,

for every husband and wife to find the joy and

blessing in Christian marriage through obedience

to your holy life -giving word, that your name

will be praised and glorified and your kingdom

advanced to the ends of the earth. We ask all

this for the sake of Jesus who reigns with you

in the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen. Let

us continue our worship by the giving of our

tithes and offerings. Father, we thank you for

your goodness. And so we have these gifts to

share. Lord, we offer them up as a tribute offering

for all our works in the past weeks. Accept and

use your tithes and offerings for your glory

and for service in your kingdom. Blessed be God

forever and ever. Amen.