I invite you to take your Bibles and turn with me to our text, two passages. Galatians 5.22 continues our study through the fruit of the Spirit, and so that continues to be the text that we foundationally look to. Galatians 5.22, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. We focus once again upon the fruit of faith or faithfulness. And then our second text from Ephesians chapter 5 verses 23 through 25 where we read, For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and He is the Savior of the body." Verse 25, Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it. The Christian family is under siege today by enemies who redefine the loving biblical leadership that God has given to us in his word as being a form of oppression over women in the home. No doubt there are always abuses to which one can point in the use of leadership and authority within the home or anywhere else, any other relationship, not just in the home by way of the abuse of authority, but in any relationship. But the abuse of something good does not condemn the lawful use of something good that God has given to us. Godly husbands and fathers who love and serve their families by providing for their bodily needs, by loving and encouraging them, by feeding and nourishing them in the spiritual truth that we find in the Word of God, and by going before their family as an example for the family to follow in their paths. Such, unfortunately and sadly, such godly husbands and fathers are AWOL, absent without official leave, or are MIA, missing in action to such a large extent today. The world and the worldly church promote egalitarianism. as to roles within the family, and it usually filters up to egalitarianism with regard to roles within the church as well, where the husband and wife have equal authority within the family. However, the scripture firmly places that role of leadership squarely upon the shoulders of husbands and fathers. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 11 3, the head of the woman is the man. Dear men, if you are not leading your family by scripture, by love, by service, by example, the enemy will find your family and easy target to ambush by way of each member of that family going its own way and doing its own thing, rather than being bound together in covenantal love and biblical truth. As we continue our study of the fruit of the Spirit as it's found in Galatians chapter 5 verses 22 through 23, we are presently looking closely at the fruit of faith or faithfulness. Faithfulness, dear ones, as we have noted in past sermons, does not originate in any of us. None of us are faithful by nature as God calls us to be faithful. But rather, faithfulness originates in the very nature of God Himself, who is infinitely faithful and is always faithful. There is never any time that God is not faithful. Therefore, He is the one to whom we flee for us as His people to walk in the paths of faithfulness before Him and in our relationships to one another. And it is the Lord that has implanted within every Christian at his or her regeneration the fruit of faithfulness. And it is the Spirit of God who in the life of the Christian waters that faithfulness so that to varying degrees in every life of the Christian there is faithfulness that is produced as a fruit of the Spirit. Jesus Christ Himself is called, in the book of Revelation, the faithful witness. But as we have seen, dear ones, we are not only to be faithful to Christ unto death, but we are also to be faithful to one another. And that faithfulness, I submit to you, dear ones, that we are to have to one another is especially to be manifested within our families. According to 1 Timothy 5.8, which we looked at last Lord's Day, But if any provide not for his own, especially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. And now we're going to dig deeper in the next few sermons. What does it mean to be faithful to those of your own household? We're going to consider more clearly what that is, specifically what that is by way of faithfulness within our families. This Lord's Day we'll focus our attention upon two questions in considering how the faithfulness we find here mentioned as a fruit of the Spirit relates to the husband, first of all, relates to the husband within a Christian marriage. The first question is this, what is the primary role of a faithful husband in Ephesians 5.23? And the second question is this, what is the primary duty of a faithful husband in Ephesians 5.25? And those of you who are not married, This is not an opportunity to fall asleep because it doesn't relate to you. This is an opportunity for you to learn and to grow and even to the degree that you can, even if you are not married, in these particular qualities and characteristics You see, marriage is one of preparing ourselves. We don't just enter marriage blindly with no preparation. We would not think of entering into any serious relationship or any serious calling without some preparation. You don't just step into it and walk into it. You have to prepare yourself. So if you're not married, this is the time of preparation. And so, with that in mind, listen and apply. these truths in your life this Lord's Day. Our first main point in this question, what is the primary role of a faithful husband? We read once again in Ephesians 5 verse 23, For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church and He is the Savior of the body. As the Apostle Paul draws to a close in his inspired letter to the Ephesian church, he has, first of all, in the first four chapters laid out doctrine that is to be believed. doctrine that is to be received into their hearts and their lives in regard to the redemption of the church, which is likened to a new man, to a new man consisting of both Jews and Gentiles. Now as we come to Ephesians chapters 5 through 6, Paul turns his attention to the application of that doctrine in the life of the Church and in the life of us individually as Christians, especially focusing on the faithfulness that members of Christ's Church ought to be showing one to another, and especially within the family. beginning with Ephesians chapter 5 verses 22 through chapter 6 verse 9. We're going to begin this Lord's Day with what Paul writes about the husband and then we will The primary role of a faithful husband within a marriage is that of a leader. Or as Paul states in Ephesians 5.23, a head. He is the head within the family. No doubt the concept of headship and authority within the home has received a black eye. a black eye due to the tyranny of husbands within the home, abuse of husbands within the home, and exercising an authority that primarily benefits themselves. But there is, dear ones, nevertheless, in spite of the abuse, there is, according to God's word, a lawful headship and authority of which Paul here speaks. Just as the Bible reveals that the church has only one head, namely Jesus Christ, we read again in Ephesians 5.23, for the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. So likewise, there is only one head within a marriage, namely the husband. One head within a marriage, namely the husband. There are not two heads of the church. contrary to the teaching of the Church of Rome, which teaches that the invisible head of the Church is Jesus Christ and that the visible head of the Church is the Pope that sits upon his throne in Rome. So the Church has two heads according to the false and abominable teaching of the Church of Rome. Listen to the Church-approved Baltimore Catechism. It has the imprimatur, the stamp of approval, of the Church of Rome. In question 117, the question is asked, Who is the visible head of the Church? Answer, Our Holy Father, the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, is the Vicar of Christ on Earth and the visible head of the Church. This is, again, reaches the height of abomination in the eyes of God. For in the eyes of God, the Pope usurps the role, the place, the authority of Jesus Christ within his church. The title that the Pope takes as Vicar of Christ is equivalent in meaning to that of the great enemy of Christ, was called Antichrist. Which means, Antichrist means one who substitutes himself in the place of Christ. And that's all that Vicar of Christ means. Vicar of Christ and Antichrist mean the same thing. This is, dear ones, in scripture an identity that we see fulfilled in history. In fact, in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 4, we see exactly how the Pope in Rome sits upon his throne and claims himself to be the visible head of the church when it says concerning this one who is to come, concerning whom Paul prophesies, 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 4, and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." Sitting himself in the temple of God, or the church of God, claiming to be the visible head of the church. The scripture never states, dear ones, that The church has two heads, and certainly God did not create man with two heads, a male head and a female head upon one body. So likewise, dear ones, a marriage has only one head appointed by God, namely the husband. That's not a perversion of the Word of God. That is the clear teaching of God's Word. Although the head is ultimately responsible for making good and godly decisions within his marriage, it is, I submit to you, a very foolish head or husband who thinks or acts as though his wife has nothing at all to contribute by way of wisdom and knowledge to important decisions to be made within the home. You see, our wise men ought to be our counselors. We ought to be going to them and asking them, what do you think about this? What do you think about that? We ought to be seeking their advice, their counsel, their help. You see, the Lord created, as we saw last Lord's Day, created Adam and he was alone. But God made him a helper, meet or fit for him. A helper. But when we as men continue to push our wives away, and we become very defensive if they offer advice or counsel concerning something, our authority is in some way threatened. You see, the problem at that point is not with the fact that our wives are, by God, to give us advice, to help us. The problem is with us. The problem is that we are threatened by that. That's a problem and a sin that we as husbands fall prey to. Yes, we're responsible for the final decision made. Yes, that's true. God has appointed us to be the head, but we need all the help we can get. I do. I hope you see that you do as well. Note that Paul says in Ephesians 5.23 that the headship of the husband in relationship to his wife is patterned after the headship of Christ in relationship to his church. Husbands, here's both a very weighty matter, but also a very encouraging matter, very weighty, that our headship and leadership is to mirror Christ. If you don't feel the weight of that, then you don't understand what that means. That you are to pattern yourself after Christ and how Christ ministers to His church. Christ doesn't go around beating up the members of His church. He loves them. Yes, He chastises them, but He loves them. All that He does is for their good. for the good of the church. It's a very heavy responsibility, but again, it's very encouraging because we're not left to our ignorance. We have one to whom we can look as husbands, to whom we can pattern our lives after as husbands, the Lord Jesus Christ and the way he cares for his people so we are to care for our wives. In other words, we can either illustrate the loving headship of Jesus Christ over His Church by our godly imitation of Christ's headship, or we can blur and distort the loving headship of Christ over His Church by our ungodly perversion in not following the example set for us by the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, having stated the role of the husband, namely that he is to be a leader and he is to be the head within his home, having stated that as his role, let us proceed then to make some necessary qualifications concerning his headship and leadership within the home. First of all, a husband's leadership or authority does not in any way imply that a wife is inferior to her husband as to her essential nature for they were both made in the image of God according to Genesis 1 27 where we read so God created man in his own image in the image of God created he him male and female created he them Nor does a husband's leadership within a home imply that a wife is inferior to her husband as to her spiritual graces, as to her spiritual relationship to Jesus Christ. For they are equally, quote, heirs together of the grace of life, end of quote, according to the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 3, 7. And it is for that reason When a husband dishonors, does not cherish, puts down, treats his wife as a doormat, it is for that reason that God says through Peter that the husband's prayers will not be answered in 1 Peter 3.7. God takes this very seriously. Dear men, Nor does a husband's leadership, dear ones, imply that he is necessarily wiser, necessarily more knowledgeable, necessarily more gifted in all areas. You remember that particular example back in the Old Testament that God told and commanded Abraham to listen to his wife, Sarah. who had it right concerning the fact that Hagar and Ishmael were to be cast out of the family. We read in Genesis 21-12 that God said, In all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice. Hearken unto it. Follow it, what she said. A further qualification of a husband's authority in the home is that the husband's authority to lead is not ultimately his own authority that he's exercising, but is rather the authority of God delegated to him by God. It's a delegated authority. Authority doesn't originate with the husband. It originates with God. And we're simply a representative. were simply a delegate, therefore a husband's authority is not absolute, but is derived from God alone. who alone is Lord of the conscience, according to what God has said in Acts 5, verse 29. Here we see that God alone is to be obeyed, not any authority upon earth as the first authority. God is the first authority. The apostles were brought before the Jewish Sanhedrin And Peter and the other apostles answered and said in Acts 5.29, ìWe ought to obey God rather than men.î The apostle Paul even says concerning his own authority in 2 Corinthians 1.24, he says concerning himself, ìNot for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy. For by faith you stand. Faith in God, not faith in the apostles. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, not faith in the apostles. They are helpers to our joy. A minister is a helper to your joy. A husband is to be a helper to the joy of his wife. All of those who have authority are to use it to be helpers to the joy of those to whom they serve. Just as the faithful civil magistrate is called by Paul in Romans 13, verse 4, the minister of God, the minister of God, or a servant of God to thee for good. So is the faithful husband likewise to be a minister of God, or a servant of God to his wife, for her good, for her good, and not for her destruction, not to put her down, but to exalt her and to cherish her, as Peter says in 1 Peter 3. Thus, since the husband's authority is not absolute, but is under the supreme authority of God, neither is the wife's submission to her husband absolute, but is also under the supreme authority of God. It is always a submission on the part of a wife. It is always a submission, quote, as it is fit in the Lord, Colossians 3.18. It is always according to the will of God, not according to the mere sinful commands of men, but according to the command and the will of God, what God has stated in His Word. And in another sermon, we will be addressing in more detail how a wife faithfully submits to her husband, but first focusing upon the use of a husband's authority and headship within the home today. Thus, since the husband is God's minister of good to his wife, a husband must always lead his wife in a way that is first and foremost honoring to God. that is honoring to God, that is agreeable to the will of God. And secondly, in a way that is edifying or beneficial to the spiritual and physical well-being of his wife. Honoring to God, edifying, and beneficial to his wife. Keep those always before you. In 2 Corinthians 10.8, we can apply this certainly to The authority that a husband has, as Paul applies it to his own authority as an apostle, I think we can make a fit application to us as husbands within the home. 2 Corinthians 10.8 For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification. The authority is given for edification, building up. not for destruction, which the Lord has given us for edification, and not for your destruction. I should not be ashamed. God's glory and His wife's well-being should always be that which motivates the husband in his leadership, not his selfish, childish way. I'm going to have my way regardless of what my wife thinks. I don't care what she thinks. This is so often that which governs the attitude of men in places of leadership within the home, sadly. The Lord never delegated, dear ones, His authority to the husband so as to satisfy the desire for power on the part of a man. That wasn't the purpose. The purpose was to build up, to edify his wife by the use of His authority. We'll look at that again. I think the next Lord said a little bit more in detail as well. Although I do not condone, dear ones, the scornful attitude many women have toward the biblical concept of male headship within a marriage, I submit to you that very often the resentment toward male leadership is severely aggravated by either the overbearing attitude, words, and actions of men toward their wives, or by the cowardly attitude words and actions of men in surrendering the opposite extreme, in surrendering all godly leadership in the marriage to their wives, either an overbearing attitude or a cowardly attitude. Neither one is a biblical headship or a leadership. We must, as men, shun and avoid both extremes. I have had the privilege of witnessing on a number of occasions when a husband has humbly repented of his abuse of authority in the marriage, how his wife has gladly accepted her husband's loving leadership. But dear ones, just as faithfulness begins with Christ and we imitate His faithfulness, I submit to you that in the home our wives must see our faithfulness to God and our faithfulness to the One that we love and to the One we have covenanted to be for the rest of our lives. I hope it doesn't come as a surprise But gentlemen, our wives may not so much resent our leadership as much as they resent our overbearing or wimpy leadership. A wife will not respect the leadership of either a bully who abuses her or a coward who runs from his responsibilities in the home. Beloved, selfishness and authority, those two together, selfishness and authority, lead to the abuse of godly headship in the home and unfaithfulness. However, sacrifice and authority, self-sacrifice and authority, lead to the use of godly headship and leadership in the home. just as Jesus, God made flesh, came not to be ministered to, but to minister and to give His life a ransom for many, in Matthew 20, verse 28. I love this quote from William Gouge in his book, Domestical Duties, found on page 378. of the older edition, and how he has aptly cautioned us men in the use of our authority. And he says this, authority is like a sword, which with over much using will be blunted, and so fail to do that service which otherwise it might, when there is most need, A wise, grave, peaceable man may always have his sword in readiness, and that also very bright, keen, and sharp, but he will not be very ready to pluck it out of his scabbard. He rather keepeth it for a time of need when it should stand him in most stead Such husbands, therefore, as are too frequent in their commands, show themselves not grave, nor wise, nor lovers of peace, as the use of a husband's authority and commanding must be rare. So when there is occasion to use it, it must be with such mildness and moderation tempered. Very wise and godly words submitted by one who I believe is one of the classic works ever written with regard to relationships within the home, domestic duties. You can find a copy. There's a book that I would strongly encourage you to read with regard to these relationships within the home. Husbands, as those who have been given authority within our homes along with that authority to rule on behalf of God to the edification and to the well-being of our wives comes a time of reckoning. A time of reckoning that yet lies in the future for us in which we will stand before God and give an account for that ministry. We are the minister of God to our wife for good. We will stand to give an account as stewards. How have we been? Have we been faithful stewards in the use of our authority? Have we been overbearing? Have we been abusive or have we been wimpy and cowardly? Have we sought to walk in faithlessness? And when we have blown it, which all of us do, every husband, there is no perfect husband, who exercises perfectly faithfully his authority and headship within the home. How do we handle that? Do we go back to our wives, husbands, broken, contrite? that we have offended, that we have misused the authority God has given to us. Repenting, seeking the forgiveness of our wife as well as seeking the forgiveness of God. And then going forth with renewed obedience to endeavor that new obedience, practice that new obedience afresh and anew. Always remember, dear ones, with authority comes greater responsibility, greater accountability before God. With authority comes greater responsibility and greater accountability because we are the minister of God for good to our wives. We represent Jesus Christ in our families. Thus, we should not be conceited at all, gloating in the glow of our own authority, but to the contrary, we should be greatly humbled and fear the Lord in our use of authority within the home. Our second question that we will be looking at from our main points What is the primary duty of a faithful husband? In Ephesians 5.25 simply stated it is this, Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. There are many duties that as husbands we owe to our wives. But they are all under this supreme heading of love. Husbands, love your wives. Because if we love our wife, as Christ loves the Church, we will be fulfilling the other duties that God has given to us within the home. God has commanded husbands to love their wives because as leaders who have been primarily delegated God's authority to oversee the marriage, their weakness and their sinful tendency is to abuse authority by either acting like tyrants or acting like cowards, either ruling with a rod of iron or running away from all responsibility to lead. go before as an example and say follow me as I follow Christ. But Paul in declaring that husbands are to lead their wives here and they are to lead them by loving them. They are to lead them by loving them, dear ones. It makes clear that the use of leadership in the marriage is directed away from the self-centeredness of the husband, and rather directed to the good, to the benefit, and to the well-being of the one loved, with whom the covenant is made in the first place, that is, with one's wife. Thus, a faithful leadership in the home may be defined as a loving leadership. Faithful leadership in the home is a loving leadership. That's the kind of leadership that Christ has for his church, a loving leadership over his church. What is the love that is to be exercised toward the wife here? when we read husbands love your wives as Christ also loved the church we find love your wives and we also find love the church well that's again the first fruit of the spirit we spent several weeks talking about in Galatians 5 22 but the fruit of the spirit is love comes from again the greek verb agapao the greek noun agape We spend a number of weeks considering that this is the same word. Husbands love your wives, as Christ also loved the church. This kind of love, dear ones, is not a mere romantic emotion for his wife that comes and goes depending upon how he feels from day to day. Although there ought to be, certainly within a good marriage, strong desire for physical affection on the part of a husband toward his wife, this love in Ephesians 5.25 is much more than mere physical intimacy. Nor is this love in Ephesians 5.25 giving his wife whatever she desires, for it may not be good for her. or may be contrary to the revealed will of God. For example, many wives may desire a diamond ring, but again, it may bankrupt the family. Simply because a wife desires something, it does not in and of itself become the husband's duty of love and faithfulness to obtain that for his wife. Giving in to the demands or threats or manipulations or tears of our wives is not demonstrating love for them if what they want is contrary to God's revealed will and is not good for them. In fact, the love that we husbands are to have for our wives is summarized for us in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. There, the chapter, the love chapter, summarizes the agape love that we are to have for one another, but I would submit to you especially that a faithful husband, in loving his wife as Christ loved the church, is to exemplify in his life. In 1 Corinthians 13, verses 4-8a, listen to how Paul describes this type of agape love that a husband is to have for his wife, just as Christ has for us. Here it uses the word charity, it is the same word love. Charity suffereth long and is kind. Charity envieth not. Charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. Doth not behave itself unseemly. seeketh not her or his own, as it applies to husbands, is not easily provoked, not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things, charity never faileth. Nor do we ever love our wives as we are herein commanded, when we love them more than we love the Lord Jesus Christ. That's not loving your wife, when you exalt her above Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is always our first love, and in fact we cannot love our wives, men, if we do not love Jesus Christ supremely. We will not love our wives as God calls us to love our wives if we are not loving the Lord Jesus Christ above all. The love commanded here And Ephesians 5.25, dear ones, is a sacrificial love and is captured in the word give. Give. Notice, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. It is a giving love rather than a taking love. is a love that looks to the spiritual and physical well-being of the one loved, even at the expense of one's own comfort, one's own health, one's own life. Jesus Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. He laid down his life for the church. And so ought we to be willing not only to lay down our physical life if our family, if our wife is threatened, but to lay down every single day our life for our wife by way of serving and ministering and seeing that that's our calling as being heads of a family. Heads of our wife is to serve, is to serve. Jesus Christ did not simply give us blessings, dear ones. He gave us himself. He gave himself for us. And so will we husbands do when we love our wives as Christ loved the church. He laid down his life that we might be set free from the penalty, the condemnation of our sin, from the guilt of our sin, from the power of sin over us. He laid down His life because He loved us from all eternity. He loved us and came to die in our place. You see, love always is self-sacrificial. Love is always giving of oneself to the one loved. In so many homes, wives are essentially bribed to keep quiet. to keep some type of measure of order in the home by giving them spending money to buy whatever they want. Money, in such cases, is supposed to, I guess, replace the time that we as husbands ought to spend with our wives. I can't be there, I'm not going to be there, so enjoy yourself without me. No, that's not giving of yourself. Giving of what money you have to simply keep the wife happy, as it were. My fellow husbands, in reality, what our wives really want from us is simply that we give ourselves. That we give ourselves to them and for them. To give them time to talk with us, to walk with us, to enjoy our mutual love and company together. That's what love is about. Jesus Christ gave himself for us. that we might be set free from sin and its condemnation, but also that we might commune with Him, that we might love Him as He has loved us, that we might enjoy Him. And that's why it's such an awful offense against God when we enjoy the things of this world more than we enjoy Jesus Christ when all that He has suffered and given up to rescue and to save us. Husbands, we cannot trample upon the dishonor of wives, yea, even the mothers of our children, by our harsh words, by our anger, by our selfishness and our self-centeredness, by our deception and by our lying to them, and yet look upon ourselves as the leaders God will use to promote reformation. in our families, Reformation in the church, and Reformation in the world. It's not going to happen. But that's our attitude and our practice within our homes. The Lord did not treat us, his bride, as a doormat, but willingly laid down his life for her in order to save her, protect her, purify her, and sanctify her. where a man rules his family without giving himself in loving service to his wife and to his children, but rather only expecting them, them to give of themselves to serve him as the head of the family, that man will not likely lead his family to Christ, but will more likely drive them away from Jesus Christ. For those who are led must know. Those who are led must know. Their leader loves them. Their leader loves them and is willing to give his life for them and has their best interests at heart in the decisions that are made. He's not thinking of himself. He loves those whom he leads. I was thinking of them. The love commanded here, dear ones, in Ephesians 5, 25, is also a righteous love. Self-sacrificial love, but also a righteous love. Just as we noted in 1 Corinthians 13, where we read that charity rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. It is a love, dear ones, that does not deviate from or ignore the commandments of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ. Showing love in confronting sin in one another's lives also implies things like waiting for the best time to do so. Doing so in all humility. doing so by first removing the beam from one's own eye, doing so with clear and conspicuous violations of God's law rather than with every mere irritation that pops up, and doing so with a view to helping rather than destroying the one loved. And finally, this love, in Ephesians 5.25, this love is a supernatural work of God's grace and not a natural work of man's mere affection or determination Certainly there is a common blessing given by God to even unregenerate men that is unrelated to salvation, whereby even unregenerate men can demonstrate a certain measure of these qualities to care for one's spouse. But only those who are filled with the Spirit of God can know and grow in giving of themselves and bearing the fruit of faithfulness in loving as Christ loved the Church. Only those who are regenerate, only those whose heart has been changed, because that requires a supernatural work of God's grace in the heart of a human being. And where there is this type of love being faithfully demonstrated within a family, it is far more likely that a wife will take seriously her submission to her husband, and even take joy and take delight in her submission to her husband's authority, because she knows he loves her. He's not abusing her. He's not practicing some type of tyranny over her. He is doing what he does for her welfare and for her benefit. Husbands, I ask you to consider how you are training your own sons for their marriage. those of you who have sons. Will you have to tell them as they grow up, don't follow my example in leading the way I have led my wife and your mother, but rather follow Mr. So-and-so in the way he has led his wife? Husbands, if we sincerely desire that our wives follow our leadership in the home with joy and delight, If we earnestly pray for a godly peace and order within our homes, God calls us to imitate Christ in laying down our lives and in putting aside all selfishness so that they know we leave them because we love them, not because we're on a power trip. What woman What woman in her right mind won't delight to follow a husband who loves her as Christ loves the church? Husbands, this is an impossible calling. From a mere human perspective, this is an impossible calling. To love as Christ loved the church, and yet that's our example. You see, dear ones, there's nothing more humbling to a man who realizes that responsibility to love one's wife as Christ loved the church. It's not going to exalt a man in pride and conceit and tyranny and abuse. It's going to have the opposite effect. I'm to love my wife as Christ loved me? It's going to cause that man to fall upon his knees, his face before God and say, Lord, I can't do this apart from the grace of God working effectually in my life and in my heart and changing me and transforming me from the inside out. With God and His grace, we can grow in conforming ourselves to Christ and loving our wives as Christ loved the church. Jesus said, without me you can do nothing. But he also said through the Apostle Paul, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. There is hope. There is hope. It doesn't matter. I speak to you now, dear men, if you have failed in such a huge, huge way in your marriage, Jesus is able to take that which is ugly and make it beautiful. Jesus is able to do so. You're not able to do so in your own strength, but Christ is able to do so. Will you turn to Him? Perhaps you've been a tyrant in your marriage, in the use of your authority. Perhaps you've been a wimp. You've been a coward. You've run from your responsibility to be the head of your home, to lead your family to Jesus Christ. There is hope. There is hope in Jesus Christ. That's what Christ works within those who give their lives to him. He's able to do so. Even if your wife will not follow your loving leadership within the home, Men, it is still your responsibility, your duty to be faithful to the Lord and exercising loving leadership. You cannot resign or abdicate that loving leadership in your home any more than Jesus Christ can resign or abdicate his loving leadership over the Church of Jesus Christ. And let me just say this in closing. Wives, your encouragement to your husbands in this matter is so very important. You are a helper to come alongside your husband. For a husband who struggles in this area, there will not be a more effective means that God will use them for a wife to come alongside, to pray for your husband, to encourage him to be faithful, to let him know that you are praying for him, and in all lawful commands, that you are willing to submit to his authority. Our children, for generations to come, dear ones, will rise up and call us blessed if they see that love manifested between a husband and a wife within the home. Amen. Let's stand together in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, To Thee be all glory and honor and power. We praise Thee and thank Thee for the love of Jesus Christ for us, we who are so undeserving. There be any within the sound of my voice, O God, who has not trusted in Christ as one's Savior and Lord, who has fallen away O Lord, we pray that their hearts would be melted even now and drawn unto Thee to give their lives unto Jesus Christ. O Lord, use us for Thy glory. May the love we as husbands have for our wives be a sacrificial, self-sacrificial love of giving rather than taking. We pray, Father, bless our marriages, bless our homes. We plead with Thee, our God, that faithfulness to Thee and to one another would reign within our hearts and our lives. We ask that Thou would hear our prayer for Jesus' sake. Amen. Still Waters Revival Books is now located at PuritanDownloads.com. It's your worldwide online Reformation home for the very best in free and discounted classic and contemporary Puritan and Reformed books, mp3s, and videos. 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