Let's take our Bibles and turn in them to the book of Ephesians. We'll look at the fifth chapter today, just three verses, verses 22 through 24, in a message that I have entitled, A Word to the Wives. See what I did there? Let's bow our hearts, shall we? Father God, as we come to the importance of your word, and God, just as you want to speak into our lives, I pray that we would give ears, give ear to hear you, Lord. And Father, that you would keep us alert and attentive to what it is that you have to say, that our hearts and minds would be open, that you would cultivate, Lord, your work in us as your people. We love you, we give this time to you. Teach us by your spirit, and we'll give you praise in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, is it just me or as Americans do we seem to generally have a problem with authority? I mean, it's like it's woven into our DNA. You know what I'm talking about? In one respect, our country was founded on rebellion. And it's almost like, you know, it's an anti-American thing if you give in to authority. How many of you remember that song? It dates me a little bit, but John Mellencamp wrote that song. That was the whole chorus. I fight authority, authority always. Remember that? Is it looking at me funky? Maybe it's just my voice. But he wrote the song and it was, the whole chorus was about his battle with authority. You know, like that's the admirable American thing to do. Now we like power, but we resist authority. Now that seems a little counterintuitive, doesn't it, if you think about it. We want power, but we resist authority. Yet the Bible is clear that things like order, authority, structure, and rank, they're just part and parcel with life, really in virtually every arena. If you are in the military and you decide that you don't want to be under rank, they call that mutiny. If there's no order or structure in society, it's called anarchy. And God has established an order, a structure of rank and authority within every arena of the Christian walk and way of life, be it in the church, be it in the workplace, be it in the home. Now today, we'll begin to look at the nucleus of the home, which is the marriage relationship. And today, we're gonna see how God addresses the wives, the husbands next time. So, ladies, that means you better make sure your men make it back. next week, amen? You're like, hey listen, you're not gonna hear God's word to me and then you not come next week. It's just gonna have to be that way. But it's interesting that verses 22 through 33 of Ephesians chapter five is the longest, single most detailed passage of scripture on marriage in the entire Bible. And by the way, as we go through this passage of scripture, we do well to realize that verses 22 through 33 is not God's marriage counsel. What's here is God's marriage commands, okay? However, it's not about an earthly marriage that maintains or paints a picture of a heavenly meaning. It's really the passage speaks of a heavenly marriage that gives the earthly its meaning. And that's why Paul says in verse 32, this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. And so as we go through this, realize that God is up to more than simply giving structure and order to our lives, though that would be sufficient and completely enough. But he's painting a picture in the marriage union that speaks of the sacrificial love of Christ for his church and the church's loving and willful submission to Christ as the head of the church, the savior of the body. Listen, there are evangelical overtones to a godly marriage. And that's why Satan wants to pervert and distort and destroy the marriage union. And so if you've ever wondered why your marriage seems so difficult at times, maybe this gives you a little bit of insight. Now, I would hesitate to give the devil all the blame. or all the credit, as the case may be, because you and me, we can do plenty on our own to dismantle our marriages. But make no mistake, Satan wants you to fail when it comes to your marriage. Now, God wants you to fight. Now, not fight in your marriage, though we excel in that many times, but he wants us to fight for our marriages. Okay. Everyone comes into their marriage with some concept or some idea of roles. What role will I play? What role will you play in this marriage union? And they may have gathered their ideas from perhaps their parents as they grew up. They may have gathered their ideas observing the marriages of friends. maybe whatever the current cultural norm is, perhaps something they've read or seen on television. There's all kinds of things that are seeking to speak into our lives and give us what we consider to be our role or our place as it pertains to our marriage. But ultimately, if we're to have a marriage union that runs the course fruitfully or that endures or bears up under this life successfully, then we do well to gain our understanding from the one who created and ordained the marriage union in the first place. Would you agree? I mean, what we discover when we read our Bibles is the fact that marriage is not some man-made institution. you know, something that man just kind of made up and then fell into a long life's way. Like at some point, you know, there they were thousands of years ago and a man and a woman really liked each other and they hung out with each other and they said, you know, we should just, we should just go through some kind of ritual that speaks to the fact that we're going to spend the rest of our lives together. And the other went, you know, well, that sounds really good. And so they did that, and then another couple looked at them and said, oh, well, isn't that so sweet? We should do that, too. And so marriage just kind of happened like that along the way. No, that's not true at all. The Bible speaks to the fact that in the very beginning, after God had created everything, He said that it was very good. But he said that it was not good that man should be alone. And so he would make a helper comparable to him. And so he caused a deep sleep to come upon Adam and he took from his side and he created the woman. And God brought her to the man. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones. It is flesh of my flesh. You know, you remember, you recall that when God had created everything and he put man there in the garden and he had tasked Adam with the responsibility of literally naming all of the animals. And so there he is. And he's saying, okay, well, here's a Mr. Cat and Mrs. Cat. And oh, there's Mr. brontosaurus and mrs. brontosaurus or you know there's a mr. eagle or I mean I you know I don't know you mr. dog mrs. dog you know however it was going but what he's noting is like here's here's a part in a counterpart here's one and one for the for this one and there's one and then another one for this one but there's no there's no helper no counterpart comparable for me And so God took him and caused a deep sleep to come upon him. And he took from him and he brought, you know, and so he took from him and made the woman and brought her to him. And so like the counter piece of the puzzle, you see. And so he said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. And we read that therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and they shall become one flesh. And so marriage is not man's idea, it's God's. And therefore he reserves the right to order it according to his own eternal purposes and we do well to bring our marriage unions before the word of God and seek to subject ourselves to the word of God accordingly. Which brings us right up to where we concluded last week. Paul was exhorting us, you may remember, unto the Spirit-filled life. That we not hinder the work of the Spirit in and through our lives by sin in our life. You remember it was, and do not be drunk with wine, in which is a decision by which we destroy our lives, but be filled with the Spirit. Not out of control, but maintaining self-control, you see. Be filled, be being constantly filled with the Holy Spirit, that we give Him His way completely and entirely. And we were considering, well then what is the fruit of the Spirit-filled life? And we come to discover that it's not tongues, it's not miracles, it's not eccentric spiritual experiences, but in fact it's a life of worship, publicly and personally, one that glorifies Jesus Christ specifically. It's a life of gratitude for the great things that God has done for you and for me and that he has saved us. He has given the person and the power of his Holy Spirit, gifts of the Spirit to us. He has caused heaven to be our home and all these things and so much more. and it's a life that gives preference. The spirit-filled life is one that will give preference to one another. And that's what we read in verse 21, submitting to one another in the fear of God. We're to recognize that as the body of Christ, listen, you and me, we are a team. and we're not to put personal interest above the interest of the whole. And I'm just gonna tell you, and you probably bears witness in you that if you're not filled with the spirit of God on a continual, persistent, consistent basis, you will find it impossible to maintain a position of submission one to another. But now that God has our attention, regarding the principle of authority and submission, he moves into the nucleus of the family. The husband and wife relationship, why? As goes the family, so goes the church, right? And if the church is to be, if the ministry is to be healthy, then marriages need to be healthy. So, we read in 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. And therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, So the wives be subject to their own husbands in everything. Now, ladies, there is a sum total of one command that God gives you here. There's only one. You know, it's like you've got one job to do. And there's only one, therefore it should be simple, right? Listen, your instruction is contained in three short and simple verses. The husband gets more than double that, so I'm sure you're gonna wanna be here for that. But we read this and we think, why is it that Paul addresses the wives first? And to me it seemed obvious, it's because of the two, when it comes to the husband and the wife, most generally the wife is the biggest problem. Hey guys, I'm kidding. I'm kidding, let's breathe here. Let's relax, let's take in some air. We're gonna survive this, okay? Listen, the topic at hand. is submission one to another, right? Verse 21, submitting to one another in the fear of God. Paul was speaking generally in verse 21, he begins to speak specifically in verse 22. In other words, if we are to submit to one another generally, how much more will this principle apply within marriage and family? And so he addresses it accordingly, beginning with the wives. And let me say this, he's addressing believers. Let's not forget that he's aiming ultimately at the mystery of verse 32 concerning Christ and the church. He is not putting forth a model for society in general. He's speaking to the Christian home. And so he says, wives, submit. We wanna talk about this for just a minute. What does it mean to submit? Well, you know, literally, we're talking, it means to be in subjection under, okay? It's to recognize that someone has a legitimate authority over you. It means that you recognize there is an order of authority and that you are part of a unit or a team and that you as an individual, None of us as an individual are more important than the working of the unit or the team, okay? So there is a big picture in play here that we're coming under. But again, the principle of submission, let's just think about that. In some form or another, the principle of submission governs the whole of our lives. We cannot escape it. When we submit to the police, we recognize their authority, we act accordingly. When we submit to our employer, we recognize their authority and we act accordingly. And so submission, contrary to what many men want to believe, this is a lot of guys' favorite passage of scripture, by the way. But submission is not, and that's kind of, I'm kind of joking as well on that, you guys can smile. But it's not simply for wives, it's for all of us in several different arenas. And the word submit, or we could render it to be subject to, is found at least 32 times in our New Testament, and it's not just within the context of wives. We discover that Jesus was a man who submitted as a child to his earthly parents. We discover in Romans chapter 13, verse one, that we're all to be subject to governing authorities. Paul said, let every soul, notice, be subject or be submissive to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Now Peter tells us that we're to submit ourselves to every ordinance or law of man. In other words, we're to subject ourselves to the law of the land. We find that young people are to submit to their elders, employees to employers, and ultimately it pertains to every one of us, you see, and it should go without say, but the author of Hebrews and James goes ahead and tells us every one of us are to submit to God. And so we're to recognize his authority and act accordingly. And so submission is a recognition of authority and placing myself under it accordingly. So that's what submission is. What submission is not is a recognition or a admission of inferiority. Okay, nor does it mean that the wife is to sit silently and never say anything, just be quietly submissive, you see. No, Jesus subjected himself, as we said, to his earthly parents, but he was certainly not inferior. I mean, Jesus is God, completely equal in every way with God, and yet he also, we find, subjects himself to the Father. Why? Well, because God has ordained, and I know I keep using the word, but I hope that you'll find how the context shifts it a little bit for me, but God has ordained not an order of authority with respect to, well, you know, the Father is the greatest, And the son is not quite on par with the father, so he's submitted to the father, you see. And the Holy Spirit's not quite on par with the son, so he's subject to the son. So you have the father is kind of the main one, and then the submitted is the son, and submitted is, you know, as though there's an order of authority. No, it's not like that at all. They're all completely equal. There's one God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Spirit, equal in every way. But God has ordained the operations of authority. Does that make sense? So not an order with regard to a better or greater than, but the operations within. And so too in the home. And so as we think of the word submission, let's just think of it like this. There is a mission, right? that God has ordained for married people and we place ourselves under that mission. We're submission. We're submitted to God. And in so being, he says, wives, submit to your own husbands. Now, you're not inferior to your husband. You're placing yourself under the mission that God has for your marriage. Guys, just so you know, this isn't the only place that the Bible speaks of a wife's role in this. It's in Colossians chapter three, in Titus chapter two, in first Peter chapter three. But we also see here the sphere of the wife's submission. Notice there's a specific sphere in which the wife submits and it is to your own husband. There is no command whatsoever anywhere in the Bible of a general submission of women to men in society. There is a submission in the home and in the operation of the church. But listen, ladies, you want to be the president of the United States, go for it. You can hold the most powerful seat on the planet should you so choose. If you want to be the CEO of a company, knock yourself out. You know, be it in politics or education or business or any other field, there's no limitations. But submit to your own husband's notice as to the Lord. Now, what does that mean? It's a critical phrase, isn't it? Because it colors or influences our understanding of everything else in this passage. Well, let me just tell you what it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean that you place your husband on par with the Lord, you know, as to the Lord, and as if he were the Lord, you're going to submit to him. You know, you submit to God in everything without question, and so you submit to your husband in that same sense. The person that sees this scripture in that light, you know, wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord, it seeks to define the extent of the submission. However, though it is true, I don't want to, listen, I don't want to diminish the enormous respect that a wife should render to her husband. The Bible in no place requires anyone to render submission to anyone else without question in every way. Be it to employers, there are limitations that your employer can expect from you when it comes to your submission, or your government, or anything else. The only exception, there's only one exception with whom we submit without question, and that would be to God himself, okay? To render submission without question in every way to anyone with the exception of God is really on par with idolatry. It puts someone in the place of God in my life. I never have a question, I submit without reservation, and whatever they say goes. That's my relationship to God, right? Now here's something else that it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean that, and so I find a lot of times it's the man that wants to interpret it kind of like that. Well, you're supposed to submit to me as to the Lord, you know? But wives can have a tendency to try to interpret in the light of the limitation. In other words, that the wife will submit to her husband as long as she knows what he's doing is from the Lord or what the Lord would have. It's as the Lord's directing, you see. And that interpretation seeks to define the limit of submission. Now the problem comes in with that understanding that then it becomes the wife's responsibility to determine if his direction or if his decision is of the Lord. And so the wife reasons like this. If I believe your direction or your decision is godly, I'll submit. If I don't, I won't. And ultimately what that boils down to is the fact that you'll submit as long as you can agree with your husband. Now listen, can I just tell you, apart from those who are cantankerous and argumentative, world without end, and I'm not talking about just ladies, there are people in this life who will argue with you or bring some form of resistance or grief to you no matter what you say. But apart from that particular type of personality, submission is only tested when I don't agree with you. If I'm going along with you, that's not really submitting to you, I'm in agreement with you. The test comes when we don't see eye to eye on the issue, right? So, this isn't describing the extent of submission, nor the limit of submission. Well, what then does it define? Listen, the motive of my submission. Does that make sense? It's unto. It is a rendered act of obedience to the Lord. So the wife's submission isn't really something that she does primarily for her husband, though again, she should certainly respect him and honor him, but her act of submission is something she does primarily for the Lord. It's so that you might be found well-pleasing in His sight, that you might glorify Him in your obedience to His word. It's as to the Lord, you see, as unto, if you have an American Standard Version, that's the way it reads, and it's appropriate, as unto the Lord. But listen, ladies, now that's very freeing in one respect. It's just, if this is your, rendered act of obedience to the Lord, to bring glory to the Lord. But there's another side of that as well. Because what that means is that when a believing wife doesn't submit to her husband as unto in order to bring glory to the Lord, she's not only falling short as a wife, she's falling short as a follower of Jesus Christ. You see the gravity of that? Now stay tuned, because I told you that submission has nothing to do with being inferior or anything else. You don't submit to your husband because he's more intelligent. You don't submit to your husband because he's more gifted or he's more capable, but because you're gonna honor Jesus Christ. You don't even submit to your husband because you believe he's right. but because Jesus is right and you're gonna honor Christ, okay? Listen, your husband may very well be wrong. You've given him your advice, you've sought to speak into the situation, he's opted to go a different direction, so what do you do? You submit to that because God will hold him accountable for that. But do you see, listen ladies, now those of you who are married already understand the gravity of what I'm about to say. And those of you who will one day or want to be married, take this to heart. This is why there's to be such careful and prayerful consideration taken in when it comes to whom you're going to marry. Okay, don't look for an attractive man. Listen, that's just a bonus. My wife was very blessed in that area. But don't make that your chief pursuit. Don't look for an attractive man. Don't look for a wealthy man. My wife was not blessed in that area. Don't look for a romantic man. Listen, look for a godly man whom you can respect. Because listen, listen to me. Those of you who will one day be married, ladies, when you say I do, What you're saying is that you have counted the cost and you are willing to place yourself under this man's headship for the rest of your life in order to glorify Jesus Christ. Because listen, your flesh, well I don't want to submit, okay? Your flesh, I don't want to, or his foolishness, making decisions he ought not to, does not circumnavigate God's divine design for your marriage, okay? Just because you don't want to or he's made a decision that he would have been wise had he not, that does not in some way, how do you say, neutralize God's design for our marriage. Okay, look at verse 23. He says, 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. Now when Paul says for the, the first two words in verse 23, what's happening there is he's giving you an explanation. Now I think we can all agree, now I kind of made a little light of it and we kind of harassed the ladies a little bit there in the beginning, but we can agree the command given to the wives in verse 22 is a It's a very difficult command to fulfill. Can we all agree on that? Guys, can we at least acknowledge this is a very difficult, this is no light thing that God has instructed of the wives. And God knows that as well. And so he allows us a little insight here into why. Now he owes us no explanation whatsoever. He could say, wives, submit to your husband, and we're like, why? And he could say, well, because I said so. And that's really all you need to know. But he didn't. In his compassion, he wants us to understand the guiding principle behind it. Now, the first reason for a Christian wife's submission to her husband is right there in verse 22. It's in order to honor and glorify Jesus. It's as unto the Lord, in order to bring glory to the Lord. The second reason is found in the priority of creation, in the order of creation. Verse 23, for the husband is the head of the wife. Now when he speaks of the head, again, the idea is that of authority. You know, the head of the company is the authority of the company. The head of the organization is the final authority in the organization. It speaks to an appropriate responsibility to lead and the matching accountability. Okay, that's very important and we understand that. It's not only a responsibility, man, It's an accountability. You will be accountable before God for how you lead your family. And we'll get to that next time, I promise. But when you're under the head of a company, it's appropriate to submit to the head. Now God has created the husband as the head of the wife. And Paul points this out in 1 Corinthians 11, in 1 Timothy 2, when he says, for Adam was formed first, then Eve. Now the scriptures also emphasize the fact that the woman was created from the man to show her connection to and completion of the man. Okay, again, it's that counter piece of the puzzle. It was not an accident, they fit. as two becoming one, okay? And all of this happened, and guys, this is important that you understand this, all of this happened prior to the fall. This is not part of the curse. This is a divine design. God ordained roles for the husband and the wife before the fall ever took place. Now, the fall certainly placed a strain on it, and God acknowledges that in Genesis chapter three. but God's plan for our marriage didn't change due to the fall, okay? And guys, there is a general, almost instinctual, think it through, there's almost an instinctual global understanding of the man's headship in the marriage union. That's why when you get married, now again, not categorically necessarily, but generally speaking, the vast majority of the time, this is why the woman forfeits her name and takes on the man's. Why is that? You ever stop to think about that? Well, why don't you take on the wife's name? Or why not, you know, it could have worked in that, you know, I'm Mr. Jones, she's Mrs. Smith, and when we come together, we just choose Mr. and Mrs... Williams! You know, as a third party, we're not gonna say either one of us distinctively, but we're just gonna come together in a different, you know, context altogether. No, they don't do that. The woman says, I'm coming under his headship, I'm taking his name. Okay? So, reason number one that the wife is submitted to her husband is because it's her service unto the Lord. Number two, the order of creation. The husband is the head of the wife. And when Paul says, that He is the Savior of the body, we wonder, well, how does this correlate between husband and wife? And it depends on how you interpret the word Savior. If you're looking at it from strictly, you know, with regard to salvation, then you have to see this as the emphasis of who Christ is. He is our salvation. You know, just as the church is subject to, what does it say here? Christ is the head of the church, and He is the Savior of the body, emphasizing His role, you see. If you see it as Paul used it in 1 Timothy 4, where he said, we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, but especially those who believe, excuse me, then you see it more, this word Savior, as applying or implying more of a common grace, okay? You remember when Jesus said, you know, I may be getting a couple scriptures mixed up here, but he talked about, you've heard it said, you know, love your neighbor, hate your enemy, but I say love. your enemy do good to those who, you know, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, for so you will be sons or daughters or children of my Father, of your Father who is in heaven, for He causes the rain, He causes it to rain on the just and the unjust. In other words, there's a common grace that God extends to all mankind. He doesn't just cause your crops as His children to grow and the crops of the wicked to wilt or anything. There's a common grace that God sustains and saves all men in that capacity. And so then you will see this particular, and he is the savior of the body, as that common grace application. You know, everyone lives and moves and has their being because of the grace of God toward us all. And so in that sense, the husband would be the savior of his wife in that it's his responsibility to tend to her, to take care of her, to protect and provide for her. You see, he is there for her. Now that leans kind of into verse 29, but however you want to understand it, it doesn't change the emphasis of the passage. And he says in verse 24, Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Reason number one, to glorify the Lord. Reason number two, the order of creation. Reason number three, the wife should submit to her husband because it's the model of the union between Jesus and the church. Now if the wife doesn't really want a leader in the team marriage union, then she doesn't understand biblical marriage and will always be working against it in some form or fashion. But what Paul's saying here is that would be like a believer saying he really doesn't want Jesus as his head. You know, even as the church is subject to Christ, you see, it's counterproductive to God's design. And when the wife resists the headship of her husband, he says, that's like your body acting independently of your head. That's an indication of something unhealthy, not something advanced or modern or evolved understanding. No, I mean, if your body is acting independent of your head, maybe you've had a stroke or maybe your body doesn't respond to your head. That's not good, it's bad. It's indicative of a problem, you see. Now, certainly the head needs the body, and the body needs the head. So there's nothing inferior about one or the other, but they serve different roles, okay? Now, I should also qualify, guys, we're not far from finished, you're doing great. But I should qualify what's said here in verse 24, when Paul says, be subject to your husband in everything. because context is everything. See, the question comes up then, is there ever a time when it's appropriate for a wife to not submit to her husband? And the answer is, of course there is an appropriate time to not submit. Now remember, we already established the fact that unqualified, absolute submission is idolatry, right? If your husband is asking you to do something illegal, you know, maybe shortchange your tax form, or something like that, then you should submit to God and do the right thing, not your husband and do the wrong thing. You remember, because this comes back to let every soul be subject to the governing authorities, let every soul be subject to the ordinance of man, and you remember, was it Peter, I think, and John, there they were, they were preaching, they were taken, they were beaten, they were commanded, By their authorities, no longer preach in the name of Jesus. They were commanded by the authorities, but what did they say? They said, whether or not we should obey God rather than man, you decide. And so there comes a time when being obedient to God will trump being obedient to man, right? And so, now listen, what you consider to be a bad decision isn't grounds to refuse to submit. but something sinful is. If your husband has lost his mental capacity, I mean genuinely, he's incapacitated medically, then you're free in that case. If your husband is physically abusive, if he endangers your safety or the safety of your children, you don't have to submit to sinful violence. If your husband commits adultery or breaks the marriage bond, you don't have to submit to that. You don't have to simply allow that to continue. You are biblically free to come out from under his rank at that point. And listen, men, wise is the man who will listen to his wife When you're making decisions and navigating through life, wise is the man who will listen and take to heart what she says, and weigh it in the balance. And if she's right, she's right. You know, and I think about this. There's a muddle, and I'm finished. I'm just gonna give you one last little thing to think about here, but there's a... a model that's given to us for you ladies in scripture as to what a godly wife looks like, and it's Sarah, you remember that? And there were times, now Sarah, she's the model of a godly wife. Now she spoke into her husband's life on several occasions. And there were times that Abraham listened when he shouldn't have, and there's times that he didn't listen when he should have. You remember there they were and God had promised to give them a child? They were getting up there in age, I mean like 70s, 80s, and no child. And so you remember it was Sarah's idea to say, Abraham, why don't you take Hagar, my maidservant, be with her and the child she has will consider mine. Abraham's like, that sounds like wisdom. He should not have listened to that advice. But then, 13, a little over 13 years later, Isaac has been born. Ishmael is kind of, you know, mocking, badgering. Sarah says, send Hagar and her son away. Abraham says, no, I don't want to do that. But you remember God rebuked Abraham and said, you need to be listening to your wife right now. So guys, consider what she says. Weigh it in the balance. If she's right, she's right. But ladies, maybe you are right and he chooses to still go another direction. Support him, encourage him. Don't sit back and take pot shots and do the I told you so. You know, listen. Let him learn to lead, and God will honor it. He's accountable for it. Now, if Paul had stopped here, it would be easy for the wife to feel like all of the weight, all of the obligations were on her. But he didn't. Now, We will, for now. We're gonna stop right here. But I want you to realize there are obligations on the husband as well. Both are called to die to self. Both are called to sacrifice. Both are to see their marriage as a model of Jesus's relationship to the church. And it's difficult. You know, ladies, I know this is a heavy word. But guys, I want you to understand this too. I've never met a lady who would have a problem coming under the authority of a man who was loving her as Christ loved the church and gave himself sacrificially for her. Okay, there's no problem in coming under that kind of loving, sacrificial, putting others first kind of leadership. Okay? We'll think through that a little bit more next time. But for now, let's pray, okay? Father, we thank you for your word. And not only that you have ordained order and structure for your people, but God, you have graciously given us the why behind the what you've called us to obey. And we want to honor you, we want to submit ourselves to you and glorify you in our lives. And so Father, I just lift up every wife, every wife-to-be that's here, God, that you would pour your spirit out upon them, that you would be glorified in them, that you would strengthen them as they resolve to honor you in their obedience to you. And I pray for every husband here, Lord, that we learn to love our wives as you have loved the church and given yourself. God, that there not be a tyrannical kind of mindset when it comes. So many men want to abuse their authority. God, I pray that we would glorify you. Teach us, Lord. Have your way in us. Pour your spirit out upon us. You know, while we're just sitting here and kind of in this prayer posture, as a church, we're called to submit ourselves to Jesus Christ. But before we're called to that, before we were called to that, Christ loved us and gave himself for us upon the cross. You know, Jesus shed, in other words, he didn't wait till we were perfect. and then love us. He loved us when we were undesirable. He gave himself for us upon the cross, he shed his blood, he paid the penalty of our sin that we might be reconciled to him. And I'm just gonna give you a quick opportunity that if you need Christ to come into your life, if you need Jesus to forgive you of your sin, that you might come under his headship. I promise you, he will never, you know, ask you to do something sinful or illegal. He will never abuse you. He will never, you know, violate or do anything against you. You can submit to Him unreservedly, without question, you see, and if you need Him to come into your life, you might come under His headship, then believe on Him, even now. Turn from your sins, submit your life to Christ, and He'll make you new. It doesn't matter how old or young you are or where you've been or what you've done. If Jesus is calling to you today, can I pray for you? If you need Christ to come into your life, this is your moment. I don't care if you've been to church or whatever, and I'm not asking you to join a church. I'm asking you to make sure Christ has his home in your heart. If you're not sure of that, I wanna pray for you. If you say, man, that'd be great, would you pray for me? Yeah, just show me who you are. Just raise your hand. If I see your hand, I'll acknowledge it. You can put it back down, but I just wanna give you a second. If the Lord is dealing with you in this way, and you wanna give your life to Christ, then today is a day of salvation. Anybody, this is your time. The Lord just speaking to you. Okay, okay. And Father, we just thank you for assembling us here today as a family that you might minister to us what it is you desire of us. I pray, Lord, that every home here, God, that you would help us to grow more spiritually healthy. God, that we might receive your priorities for us. Again, that you might be glorified in us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.