Alright, we'll go ahead and get started. Please open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5. The Epistle to the Ephesians chapter 5. I'll read the entirety of the chapter and a little beyond. Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. While fornication, and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints. Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now ye are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by light, for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou the sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. 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. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkled or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish, So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. For we are members of his body, and of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife. and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, that every one of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself and the wife, see that she reverence her husband. Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and thy mother, which is the first commandment was promised. that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest live long on the earth. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ. Not with thy service, as men pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart. with goodwill, doing service as the Lord and not to men, knowing that whatsoever good any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And ye masters, do the same things unto them forbearing threatening, knowing that your master also is in heaven, neither is the respect of persons with him. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you that your word instructs us, that it rebukes us, that it corrects us. Lord, we ask that you would give us your spirit this morning, that we would have ears to hear what you are saying to us, that you give us hearts that are ready to obey and believe, and that you would guide us, that you would forgive us of our sins, forgive us as we have failed to live up to the life that you have called us unto. In Christ's holy name, amen. We return again to this passage of the godly household. Just as a reminder, Paul, in the beginning, he's expounded the truth of the gospel that Christ, that God had prepared before time began to send his son to make redemption for his people. And that he has now, in time, has given us his church, his spirit, as a down payment of the ultimate redemption that will happen at the end of days. And that the spirit that he has given us has broken down all sorts of boundaries, particularly in Ephesians, the boundary between Jew and Gentile. and that there is now one people of God. There's neither Jew nor Gentile. And that we are called, in Ephesians 4, to maintain this unity, and that God has equipped the church through teachers and through the supply of the Spirit from our head, Jesus Christ, to grow into this life. And in Ephesians 5, he points that we are called to walk as his children, and not walk in the way of the world. And finally, in Ephesians 5, 18, he says, be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit. And we are reminded that being filled with the Spirit is not in this losing control of yourself. He's putting it in contrast to drunkenness, contrast to the loss of mind, but rather thinking with a sound mind, walking wisely. and that the filling of the spirit manifests itself first off in joyful thinking, and then in giving of thanks, a thankful heart, and then finally in submission. Submission to those in authority to you. And particularly Paul focuses in on the household and how the godly household is to look. and to live, and how submission works in that godly household. And he first addresses wives. But before we go into that, we must remember, because in our hearts, we often hear messages like this. And we look for excuses not to listen to it. Particularly in our day and age, in the idea of, you have not gone through my experiences. I'm a male. I've been married for three years. I have a son who's only a year and a half. I've never owned a slave, nor have I been a slave to anybody. And so it's easy to say, you don't know what it's like. How can you tell me what to do? How can I instruct parents on how to raise children? How can I instruct wives to submit their husbands, husbands to love their wives when the two married men here have been married far longer than I have? So how do we receive instruction when we have not had all the experiences? And you don't have to turn here, but I'm reminded of Psalm 119. As David, throughout that psalm, is expounding the blessing of the Word of God. And in verse 100, he says, I think I... And the wrong, yeah, verse 100, sorry. David says, I understand more than the ancients, or I understand more than the elders, because I keep thy precepts. And so there, David is pointing to the elders, those who are older than him and had more experience than he did. And he says, I understand more, why? Because I obey your precepts. And so the word of God, though experience is important, we must base all of our experience upon the word of God. And so when the Word of God is expounded, even if the one teaching it, as long as it is faithfully expounded, even the one teaching it, we don't discount it because the one teaching it does not have those same experiences. And so as we teach it, rather than judging by your own experience, rather than judging by my experience, we must bring it all to the Word of God and judge the truthfulness and the veracity of it, whether or not the Word of God teaches it. So that's an important reminder because nobody, even the most experienced teacher, has not experienced everything that others have experienced. And so we must bring to the Word of God. And that's very important because in this passage, So often we bring our culture and our experience to this in both ways, both in the rise of the feminist movement, where we think that this kind of teaching is impractical and it's oppressive, but also on the other end, as we live in an American culture, where there are some who teach any income that, for example, the wife makes, wife cannot make any income, otherwise she's not being the keeper of her home. And so it's very important to what does the Word of God teach rather than what our culture, whether our Christian culture or our secular culture teaches. What does the Word of God teach? So we first, we are at verse 24. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. This is, how is the church subject under Christ? Well, he expounds it in saying that it is everything in everything, but it's also important to understand that the church is not subject to Christ in an oppressive way, right? And we will see this at submission as well as the husband's duty. It's not absolutely passive in the sense that I just stopped doing things, but rather submission is something that is offered by the wife. And it's her obligation to submit. However, it should be her voluntary obligation. She should willingly submit. And so she should offer submission. And so too with the church to Christ. Though Christ has every authority, and the church ought to submit to Christ regardless, and yet Christ has made his people willing in the day of his power. So our submission unto Christ, though it is an obligation, and we don't remove that obligation, yet it is also a willing obedience. And so the church offers obedience, offers obeisance to her Lord. And so too, the wife is to offer submission to her husband. And as we get into verse 25, the husband's duty as it is to love the wife, it's important. The husband is not commanded, govern your wife. Husbands, make your wife submit. He's called to love her. And so when we hear these things, we must look at our duty. Husbands are called to love. Yes, he should govern. He should govern his household well. But he's called to love, and the wife is called to submit. And so it's not a completely passive thing. It's something that she offers. And he says in verse 24, as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. And so also, how the church's submission to Christ is analogous to the wife's submission to her husband is why? Because it's to her own husband. It's not to every man. And so as a church, though, as Paul says, in 1 Corinthians, there are many lords, there are many people who have authority, and yet the submission that we offer to Christ is a unique submission. We are called to submit to governing authorities. We're called to submit to ecclesiastical authorities, and yet the submission we offer to Christ is a unique submission. And ultimately, we see that even Christ's authority is above the husband's authority, and so the wife submits her husband as under Christ, as Christ has called her to submit. But so the wife is to submit to her own husband, Humanly speaking, she has many authorities. She has ecclesiastical authorities. She has magisterial authorities. She even has authorities, she's offered honor to her parents. And yet there's a unique submission, a unique honor that she is to bring to her husband, unique to offer her husband. And this is also gonna be in the other way as husbands, as Christ has a general love for all people, and that he does good to both the just and the unjust. He brings rain to the just and the unjust. He does good to all men, and yet he has particular love for his church, that he came and died for his church. And so the husband is to have a general love for all people. and he had a particular love for his wife. And it goes the other way. The wife is to submit, generally, to other authorities, a unique submission to her husband. Any questions or thoughts there as we? I can't help but think about, as we're going through this, we kind of have the ability to choose, in some ways, who we submit to, who we want to work for, who we want to marry. You don't want to submit to this person, man, OK, maybe I'll marry them. Correct. I mean, you have the opportunity. You don't have to just, in our day and age, you can get to date and all that kind of stuff. And don't put yourself under an authority you couldn't submit to. Correct. Especially in the benefit we have, because we don't, in America, there's not arranged marriages. And so the woman who wants to honor God in her marriage should be wise on who she chooses as her husband. Someone that she is who could willingly submit to because obviously there are some men that are easier to submit to than other men. And so there is every woman who desires to honor Christ in her marriage should seek a man that is she's willing to submit to. I can also point out that in this using Christ in the church as the paradigm there, that these things are to be joyful. So when we think about the world, I mean a lot of times the world looks at this, oh, not just the wife submit to the husband, but men in general today really don't like the biblical framework for what the man's supposed to do. You know, men are very happy to say, you know, let the wife do everything I do, bear the curse with me. Exactly. And don't want to leave, want to be passive and stuff. And because from both sides, in different ways, it seems this is burdensome. But for the Christian in Christ, these things aren't to be burdensome, they're to be joyful. And they should lead to joy in our home. More love between husband and wife, more security in the family, more stability in the marriage, and such. And that's really true of all Christian duty. It's not just, oh, we've got to do this because this is what the scripture says. That's true enough. But that all Christian duty is ultimately to redound to our joy. Right. And we think of the passage about giving. God loves a joyful giver and not giving out of a compulsion. He's not saying there that it's not your duty to give and you have to give only when you have jollies, when you really joyfully give, but rather that our giving, though it is an obligation, it ought to be a willing and joyful obedience, even in our obligation. That's true for everything. And so there are some who turn Christian ethics to only obey when you delight to do it. But rather, we obey at all times. As one man has said, there's only two times you have to obey. When you want to do it, and when you don't want to do it. But you should always do it with joy. And so when we do obey, when we do obey, and we don't want to do it, and we don't do it with joy in our heart, we obey, but we obey asking God to forgive us of our lack of desire, and that he would grant us his spirit to desire it more the next time. Yeah, I like what Justin said, because I thought about maybe when you're young and when you're in love, and let's say from a female perspective, you might love this guy, but you're generally not thinking about, probably not when you're in marriage, but you're definitely probably not even thinking about, well, what would I be subject to? Usually the love is just emotional, and that's far off in the thinking, in the process with how you're going to love this man. And I think vice versa with the male, like Justin had just said, as a man, you're loving the wife, you're loving the female. But then, has it ever occurred to your mind, well, OK, will she obey me? How will she be, like, obeying me when she's not willing? What will that side look like? And so usually, those factors don't, like love and subjection, usually they're not in the conversation. I've seen a common trend of certain people who want to embrace this, and so they'll say this half-truth, but not realizing the repercussions of it, they say, I'm not married to you yet, so I don't need to submit to you. And that's true. However, if you're viewing submission as, I don't have to do it until then. You're viewing it the wrong way. If you're not willing, already have a deference and a desire to submit to that person, even though you do not have the obligation as a wife, but you don't even have the disposition to do that, then you ought to be hesitant to marry that person. If you're not already having, I want to submit to this person. Instead, you're looking at a, what's that? If the man doesn't show a willingness to lead. Exactly. you'd be a certain leader in that sort of thing. Exactly. And so there's not already signs of that, even though we don't say, well, it's the duty of the boyfriend to lead his girlfriend, and the girlfriend's duty to submit to her boyfriend. However, if there's not already a readiness and a willingness to do that, then there should be great hesitation for marriage in that scenario. So as Paul continues, he says, so let the wives, and this is the heart of how the church's submission to Christ is analogous, or I should reverse that, the wife's submission to her husband is analogous to the church's submission as Christ, is that it is in everything. Now Paul here, as often they do in the scriptures, particularly in the Pauline epistles, but throughout the Bible, they do not, labor us with all the qualifications, as we often do in sermons and teachings, where we say, let me say this, you know, when they say, speaking about divorce, and you spend all the time speaking of the exemptions and how you can be divorced and how people will pursue, when a wife or a husband desire to divorce their spouse, They'll look, what are the exceptions? How do I get out of this? And so that's our tendency. And that's not how the Bible instructs us. The Bible instructs us, here is our duty. Now there are exception clauses, such as when the husband commands something that is forbidden in the law of God. For example, the husband commands that a wife is not allowed to meet with God's people. When a husband commands her to do something illegal or immoral. Obviously, Paul knows that she's not to offer that submission. Why? Because her submission is ultimately under Christ. She is submitting to her husband in Christ. And so her ultimate authority still remains Christ. However, in those cases, other than those, she is called to submit. And often we look at it, so she has to submit to every little thing. what to eat or whatever. However, it's not saying that the husband cannot show deference to his wife in the sense that she wants to do something and he wants to do another and he says, okay, we do this because I love you and I want to serve you in this way. And so often we think about that in little things. I'd say that is absolutely appropriate. Let me reword this. The husband can show deference to his wife in what she desires. Absolutely. However, the husband is always, because she is called a Semite, the husband is always responsible in all those areas. And so I'd say it is more appropriate for the husband to show deference in those areas when they are minor things, and less appropriate when it is major things. And so the wife is to submit in both the small decisions and the big decisions. But the husband, again, the husband is called to love. And so that is what controls all that he calls that it needs to be submitted to. And the husband is ultimately responsible for those things. And so, I mean, this is, it's hard to put all these qualifications as we often do in this, because he simply says wives are just meant in everything. And yet, he labors, when he gives the wife that obligation to submit in all things, he labors to tell the husband his duty. And so he actually spends more verses expounding what the husband's duty is, to love his wife. And so that controls what he calls her to submit to. That controls what he calls her to go through, right? Speaking in our modern society. Think about, for example, a move. The husband desires to go somewhere, and the wife does not desire. Now ultimately, somebody is going to act as head. Somebody's will is going to be, if there's not unity, somebody's will is going to be submitted. Somebody's going to submit. And so as we try to manage that today, You say, well, if you can't come to an agreement, then don't make a decision. However, then that is still causing the person who desires to move, in this example, to submit. And so they're still called to submit. And so somebody is going to submit in one of these areas, whether it's the husband or the wife. And yet the Bible would push us that the wife is called to submit. And if the husband does submit, in that sense, or I should say show deference, he can show deference. However, he's responsible for that decision. The wife is responsible to submit. The husband is responsible to lead. I think what's interesting in God's economy and creation, we are wired that way. So that when the wife is following the husband's head and the husband is leading, they are one. They're both, they're goals, big picture goals for the household and stuff. They're one and together. You have the husband leading and the wife following, being a part of all of that. Bless me, God, in making it whole. It's not good that man should dwell alone. However, in the modern age, when the woman is the one calling the shots and leading, you don't tend to see that what then the man is doing is submitting to her. Even though she may be making the decisions, you don't so much see it that the man is coming under her and following her one vision for the home and being one in unity, what you wind up seeing is maybe a passive husband who's more checked out. And often bitter. And often bitter while the wife does her thing, it does not, reversing the roles doesn't, I can't think of a single case where I've experienced that, seen it out there, where it leads to, okay, they've just reversed the roles, but they're one, there's unity here, unity of vision and purpose and direction. And a lot of that comes down to God put these things within us. We've been created male and female with proclivities that make this economy, God's economy work out in regards to these roles. And we ignore them and go against them at the peril of our marriages and our family and our children. Absolutely. And so the wife's the mission in everything, so we just said, you know, where it is, it is in everything apart from the exceptions, in disobedience to Christ, or disobedience to civil authorities, or ecclesiastical authorities as they have their realm. But he doesn't focus there. And so the wife's submission and everything, how is she to do it? It does not mean Wife submission does not mean that she cannot advise her husband. God has given man a wife, not to be a doormat, but to be a helpmate. And so, yes, it is appropriate for the wife to offer her advice and counsel in whatever decision. And it is appropriate and the husband's responsibility to wisely consider her advice. And so it's not that she can't advise, and often the wife may have better reason in that, and the husband say, yes, you're right, it is wiser in my previous example to stay here, governing by reason. But again, the husband is responsible for that decision and the repercussions it has on the family for that decision. So even when the husband accepts the advice, he says, yes, it's wise, he then must accept that responsibility. And the same thing for a church situation. The wife wants to leave the church. The husband wants to stay. She can advise him, this is why I want to leave. And the husband can accept that advice and then wisely determine whether or not his family should remain or be removed. But he's responsible. And so often, As we look at the submission and everything, we look at it, I can be obedient in the small things, but in the big things, I don't want to upset my wife, and so we just follow her. And often it is, particularly in spiritual realm. So often men leave churches, even though they believe that this church is faithful unto the word of God, but because their family is discontent, he does not lead them, but follow them. And so in these matters of particularly of spiritual weight and then also provisional weight as far as like financially, the husband ought to be very wise with how he leads. And so that's why it's important for a wife to also support her husband in that and be willing to submit knowing that he is responsible to that. And then A drawing from verse 33, as we'll get back to it, she is to reverence her husband, and so she is to honor her husband. And so in that submission, submission is not making his life miserable but not having your way. Submission is listening, offering your advice, offering your counsel, a husband hearing that, and then the wife submitting and saying, but God has put you in my authority and I am to follow you. and it's not making his life better, miserable. It's not speaking ill of him towards others. It's to honor him and reverence him. And so the submission is not simply, again, it's not simply passive. It's not simply not having my way. It's not simply just, okay, then you do whatever you want to do and I'll do it, but I'm not gonna be happy about it. But rather, she is to lovingly and offer her submission and lovingly listen to him. lovingly submit, as the church does to Christ. We as Christians, as Christ has offered himself for us, as Christ has redeemed us from our transgressions, and he now says, follow me, submit to me, submit to my law, we're not to be bitter towards it, we're not to, I mean, John says, evidence of a true Christian is that his law is not burdensome, it's not a pain, it's not a I hate this. Rather, what we hate is our disobedience to it. And so too, for the wife to submit like the Church unto Christ, she is to do it lovingly. And ultimately, we can't fulfill this perfectly. A husband is often, unfortunately, going to make foolish decisions, and the wife is often going to be insubmissive. Thankfully we serve a savior who has died for his church and has forgiven his church and washed his church so that we do fail, husband and wife fail at this. But he has forgiven us of our transgressions and he grants us the spirit to walk in obedience to this. Any thoughts or questions on that aspect of the submission in everything and the way that you submit? would this be analogous, like I was thinking about, just practically speaking, like let's say the husband has agreed to it, and the wife was not wanting it, but let's say they move, and just hypothetical situation, children, probably middle school, maybe high school, And then once the move happens, the children are just disgruntled. They're upset about the move. They don't feel like they have good friendships anymore. There's constantly that tension. So you said that ultimately the husband is responsible for that decision. But in a certain respect, the wife, too, is responsible for that decision, because now we're having to deal with disgruntled children and whatnot. And so I can see perhaps where a wife in that situation could be. Why did we move? I mean, this was, I knew this was going to happen, so then you have that tension going back and forth. But, I remember this part here where it says about, you know, where the church is subject to Christ in everything, and then the Y says to the Lord. So, if this move, I see it as Christ wanted us to move here. Christ had, you know, if he said, okay, we're moving here, no matter what the consequences are, I would still trust Christ and help me work through all those challenges. So you have that submissive attitude because you trust Christ 100% wholly in whatever decision he decides to make with you. So should that be the same thought, even with those challenges, to trust your husband in that and work through it? Yeah, it's analogous. Ultimately her trust is in Christ and not ultimately in her husband, but in the sense that God has appointed that husband for her to submit to. And so as far as who's responsible, I'd say that she is responsible, as she sees the writing on the wall of what it will do to children, to advise her husband and to be able to give her advice. But ultimately, her responsibility is to submit. His responsibility is to love his family and to govern his family well. So when the children struggle, they don't like it. It's not that she's responsible now. But she does bear the consequences. So because she bears the consequences, it doesn't mean that she's responsible. The man is responsible. He led, he made the decision. And her submission of him as far as following Christ, let's say he's completely outside of the will of Christ, that this man was completely foolish in every way. That it was just, you know, all the signs were there that this is not what you need to be doing, but he doesn't. And it all goes sideways, like everybody around him thought it would. her hope and her peace is not that I'm following Christ in this move and that this is his will that we move. What's Christ's will is that I submit to my husband. That's Christ's will. So regardless of then what happens, she can at least be at peace in knowing I did before my Lord what I was supposed to do. It certainly doesn't make it easier for a woman to submit to a husband when he's being mabeled. And thinking about, in light of that too, speaking about an ungodly husband, she is called to submit, yes, even to an ungodly man, right? Even to an unbeliever. And Peter points out that God often uses that means of the wife's submission to an unruly man. Again, he can't command beyond Christ's will, but to win him as he sees her love. and her love to her Lord, willing to submit to even such one as that. Right, you're exactly right. The submission that he's commanding us, just as the love, it manifests itself in actions, but it's a whole manner of life. And so the husband, his love is not, it manifests in how he tangibly loves her. but it's a whole manner of his life. And so too for the submission of why. And so something just in the context of the discussion has been right here that we should keep in mind as a church is as men in the church and as women in the church to some degree, we love our sisters. We love our brothers. And there is a time and a place and a right way to do it if we see a man behaving like a navel. despairing his wife with horrible leadership, there is responsibility on the community to take the man aside and say, and if it's a brawling woman, same thing. Either way, to take aside for counseling, for encouragement, for rebuke, that we shouldn't ever be content just to stand by while a man acts like a tyrant. And that goes back to the last, as I taught, The submission the wife offers her husband does not preclude her being able to appeal to other authorities that are in his life, such as ecclesiastical, that's the church authorities, when he is in sin and he is abusing her, but also civil authorities as the government. especially with abuse cases, because domestic abuse is a crime. And so there's nothing wrong with a wife appealing to authorities in his life and in her life when it's appropriate. And that's a perversion of submission that some have taken, that that means that the wife can't do anything apart from the husband. And again, that's a perversion. We all are under authority. Wives, their husbands are under authority. And so she can appeal to appropriate authorities in those cases. If you think about it, all God-ordained earthly authorities have some sort of check and balance over it. Exactly. There's no authority on earth that isn't ultimate authority. There's some appeal somewhere. Absolutely. And do you see that even in that example that we were talking about? I forgot Nabel's wife's name. I think, Abigail? Why did you tell David to keep him from massacring the entire village? Did she appeal to a sense of an authority beyond able in that sense? No, she appealed to mercy from David in that case. She didn't. Because the husband wasn't going to do any of that feeding, giving, anything. He didn't want it, and yet she did it anyways. I think a parallel to that would be an abusive man. who's endangering his family, and so the wife takes the kids, loads them up in the car, and flees, you know, goes to a safe place or back to her family or whatever because he's completely out of control. Something like that. She's not doing what he wants. She would say it's a life and death kind of thing to preserve life. she's going to take her kids and go, and we would say that's in the spirit of scripture, that's what we should do. And in that case, if the husband is a member of a church, she should appeal to ecclesiastical authorities as well as civil authorities in those cases. And if he's not a member of the church, simply the civil authority. But if he is, I'd say both authorities, as is appropriate. So because she also has a responsibility as a parent to protect her children and appealing to other authorities in her husband's life is also for his good even when he's an unruly man. It's for his good to appeal to those authorities. Any other thoughts or questions? And so Paul, moving on, he instructs husbands and he elaborates on the husband's obligation more than he does the wife's obligation. The wives he offers simply a few verses and the husband concludes the chapter. And this is important because he Giving that all-encompassing everything that the wife is called to submit, he then moves, okay husbands, how are you to godly, to lead your family in a godly way? And notice, as I pointed out, he does not say, husband, make your wife submit. Husband, govern your wife well. Though governing his wife well is is his duty. That's not where Paul goes. Paul says husbands love your wives. Even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. So he points to the ultimate expression of love in that the just died for the unjust. That the Lord of heaven took on our flesh and took on our sin and died for us. Christ did not die for His church because they were already obedient. Christ did not die for His church because she was inherently lovely. Because she had potential. Christ died not because He needed something from her. He died out of an overabundance of love. Love for His people. Love that came ultimately from Himself and not from them. And so, for husbands, it can be a tendency for them to say, I would love her if she would quit being so unruly. I would love her if she was pretty. I would love her for all these other reasons. And Paul strips that by telling us to look to Christ. Christ didn't see anything in you to die for you. Christ didn't see anything in his church to die for his church. He died because he loved her. And it's also interesting that this love isn't because of her submission, because of the church's submission, but this love, even though it's the church's obligation to submit to Christ, the motive of the church's submission, ultimately because she sees the love of her Lord. She sees the love that her Lord offered. And so the wife is obligated to submit to her husband, and yet, in the economy, the motivation is spurred on as it were, not simply for obligation, but because she sees the love of her husband, and she sees the love of her Lord. And that, ultimately, the way that a husband makes his wife submit is not by bringing down the hammer, but by sacrificially loving his wife. And as we see, it's as Christ loved the church. Christ does not love the church, by doing everything the church wants him to do. Christ loves the church by sacrificing himself and leading his church well. Doing everything for the good of his people and for his own glory. And so that is how the husband is to love. This is ultimately, it is something that we will never be able to fulfill and yet we are to strive for it, amen. And so the love of the husband is, as it were, the original. And then the wife's submission comes after. Granted, she is obligated, but the husband is to love first. That he might sanctify and cleanse it, the church, with the washing of water by the word The way that Christ has loved His church is by giving Himself in order that He may make her holy. In order that He might cleanse her from her sin and set her apart for Himself. He does it through the washing of the water by the Word. The washing of water most likely is a reference to baptism as the sign of our salvation as we have our sins washed away and the sacrament points to our sins being cleansed. It also points to us being set apart for God as God is promising to be our God and to forgive us of our sins and to wash us of our iniquity. And as by the Word of God, the meaning of the washing is not something inherent in baptism, but is as the meaning is expounded through the Word of God. And so that is how Christ sanctifies and cleanses his people is by his Word and sacrament. And as the sacrament is instructed, the meaning of the sacrament is understood through the Word of God. And so how does that teach us? Again, we looked in the past how some people are hesitant to say much of this has been supplied to the husband, but I don't think Paul is simply giving words for no reason and simply expounding the mission of Christ. I think he is saying that this some way, this love of Christ that has died for his church and has washed his church of her sins, is analogous to the husband, and how? Not because the husband is a savior in the sense that he can now bear her iniquity for her, but in that he is a means that God has put in her life for her sanctification. That the husband is to instruct his wife. We live in a society that most women are more spiritual than men in the broad sense of things, and yet Christ is calling husbands despite where they are to lead their wives spiritually. And so that's a question that we must ask ourselves, husbands, as we seek to love our wives. Are our wives holier because we are their husband? Are they more like Christ because they're married to us? Because so often, so often it's the other way. So often in our sin, we make it harder for them to obey. And that goes same thing for submission. Is our love a help for our wives to submit to us? As it is a typological and analogous to Christ forgiving and building up His people, so too is that our calling. Any questions on that? Because we're almost at the hour. having cleansed her by the washing of water by the Word, that cleansing aspect that's coming by the washing of water followed by the Word, is the Word also, so I know you mentioned baptism, potentially, but the Word also has a cleansing effect to itself, correct? Right, and so the sacraments, because, you know, we can look at Ezekiel, and I believe 1 Peter, of the washing of regeneration, and Ezekiel sprinkling the hearts clean, And so they say, is it talking about baptism or is it talking about regeneration? And I say, yes. That the baptism, just as the word God uses, the baptism is a physical sign that demonstrates and shows forth that reality. And so it's not saying exclusively baptism or exclusively the washing that comes by the Word and the washing that comes from the blood of Christ, but the baptism in itself is nothing, but understood through the Word, it testifies what the Word is saying. Is there also a sense in which the Word, and I mean in Scripture, as far as the word itself. When I think about Jesus' own words, and his teachings, and those teachings also encompass commands. Those commands are there, we are submit to them, but those commands are unto our sanctification, unto increasing that, unto cleansing us, helping us staying away from that which is not the will of God. And so, if that's the idea, I just thought about the wife submitting, I would submit to Christ's words because it's unto my sanctification. It goes to that. Is there any sense in which the wife and the husband and his leadership unto increasing the sanctification of the two as becoming one flesh? Yeah, certainly. And as a wife submits to her husband, even in those matters that are not explicit commands of our Lord, but her submission is, exercising that faith in submission is to her sanctification, is for her growth. And as she is able to do that with joy and gladness, as her husband is a godly man and a loving man, it is even a greater benefit unto her. And so that's how the husband is a means to her sanctification, a means and an aid to her because the husband should be for her good and should grow her in godliness in that way. And so yes, her husband's leadership and her submission to it as they grow up in one and also as she exercises faith in obedience, she grows in her likeness unto our Lord. Yes. Yes, but ultimately her husband leading her goes beyond family worship. It's a life that hopes through conversation, through church attendance, through whatever means, is to lead her into a greater heavenly mindedness. And so that can be a rebuke to us because so often men who have a political tendency or a work tendency can often lead, be a means to our wives being anxious rather than putting their hope in Christ. And so it doesn't mean that you can't discuss politics or the things of political realities and your certain fears, however, The husband, as a means of sanctification, should always point his wife to Christ, that her ultimate hope is in Christ and not in political nations. And so it goes beyond family worship. Family worship, I think, is an important aspect as we cultivate that life, but it goes beyond it. It's leading our wives spiritually, leading our wives in a way that is growing them in Christ, growing them into the likeness of Christ. any more thoughts or questions.