9:30 AM - "A Great Mystery" - 5:22-33- 9-5-21

[Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] good morning how's everyone this morning happy labor day weekend yeah holiday tomorrow anybody looking forward to that yeah i'm looking forward to that looking forward to some quality smoked meat awesome hey let's stand together this morning let's pray oh god thank you for an opportunity to gather together thank you lord that we have the freedom that many in our world today don't that we can freely and openly gather to worship you as your church that we can freely and openly proclaim your word we thank you for the gift that that is lord we pray that we would steward that gift well god be glorified as we sing and worship you today as we open your word speak to us by your spirit we pray in jesus name amen [Music] [Music] come and see his glory come just as you are come and let his [Music] god so loved his children that he gave his only son that we might be forgiven death has been overcome hallelujah [Music] you are the god of ourselves [Music] [Applause] [Music] come you tired weary and come just as you are come and let us mercy heal your heart [Music] for god so loved his children that he gave his only son that we might be forgiven death has been overcome hallelujah hallelujah you are the god of our salvation you have risen you are the god of our salvation [Applause] is you have rescued us [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hallelujah hallelujah you are the god of our salvation you will conquer hallelujah [Music] salvation [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i was lost but he brought me is [Music] his grace [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes [Music] sets me [Music] yes [Music] me [Music] [Applause] [Music] i am [Music] me [Music] there's a place [Music] there's a place for [Music] yes [Music] [Applause] we want to teach you a new song this morning called the hymn of heaven and as we do that as we sing i would invite you to come to the communion table take your elements and hold on to those because we're going to receive those together this morning after we sing this song [Music] how i long to breathe [Music] to look and upon with him through all eternity [Music] there will be a day [Music] standing face to face again holy holy is the lord every prayer we prayed in desperation the songs of faith we sang through doubt [Music] when he returns to wipe away our tears there will be a [Applause] day for him there will be a day when death will be no more standing face to face [Music] [Music] and on that day we join the resurrection stand beside the heroes of the faith with one voice a thousand generations [Music] a thousand generations [Music] [Music] raise the mighty roar glory to our god [Music] holy is [Music] glory to our god who gave us [Music] you may have a seat for a moment and why you are being seated will become clear in just a moment because i'm going to have you stand again standing for a specific reason and purpose i want to read to you a a passage first corinthians chapter 11 the apostle paul heard that the church in corinth was having some problems [Music] specifically around their celebration of the lord's table communion in the early church they celebrated communion every time they gather once a week there would be a regular service then it would end in a shared meal when everybody would bring food and they would put it on the table and then they would all partake in the end of the meal was to take a loaf of bread and break it and to pass it out and to pass around a common cup from which they would all partake that their dessert if you will was in commemoration of the lord's work communion [Music] the problem in corinth was that uh there were some that were rushing to the table right after service and grabbing up all the food and not leaving enough for for some of the others the problem in corinth was that as part of their society they were very layered in terms of of status the nobles the wealthy and then the poor and even slaves and those distinctions which were supposed to be left outside the church had been brought into the church and so there were factions within the church and they were arguing and vying with each other and there was a lot of division and and paul writes to correct them they had brought this actually to the their meal together their shared meal together and i said imagine you bring in your family of eight you know and you come in and you you go to the potluck table and you grab up all the kentucky fried chicken for your family and you leave none for anybody else that's kind of what's happening in corinth and paul writes to them and he says this now in giving these instructions i do not praise you since you come together not for the better but for the worse for first of all when you come together as a church i hear that there are divisions among you and in part i believe it and then he goes on to talk about how those divisions were expressed in and the way that they came to the the lord's table the lord's this meal called the agape which was supposed to be the love feast that they they shared with each other and and paul then corrects them and says you know the gospel has supposed to change our hearts so that we no longer have these distinctions we're all one in christ and he goes on to give these instructions about communion he says for i received from the lord that which i also delivered to you that the lord jesus on the same night in which he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and said take eat this is my body which is broken for you do this in remembrance of me in the same manner he also took the cup after supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood this dew as often as you drink it in remembrance of me and then he says this for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the lord's death until he comes one of the big problems that we've seen happen over the last couple of years because of covid is divisions this has been one of the big problems that has surfaced where churches argue with each other over how to respond to the plague that has settled over our world should we be opened or closed and you know those divisions that are existing not only between churches exist within a church where people differ on their opinions regarding vaccines and masks and whether we should be open or shouldn't be open and there's been this argument that this is my observation over the last couple of years is what's happened in the church it's become very divided and i think paul would speak to that he would say don't forget who you are in christ you are one in him you can have different opinions on these things but they must not divide you you must maintain respect for each other because god loves each of you equally so have your disagreements but don't let that eat into the sense of who you are before the lord we are one in christ but as he says here partake of communion in remembrance of him until he comes the original communion was a passover meal they ate it seated because the original passover when the command was originally given for that first passover when they were in egypt was you are to eat it with the sandals on your feet standing your staff in your hand ready to go because at any moment the word will come that it's time to leave your bondage so be ready to go it was the one meal they were to eat while standing and then the lord delivered them through the blood of the passover lamb they were delivered from judgment out of bondage into freedom and then they came into the promised land and then the command was from now on when you eat the passover you eat it seated because you've entered into god's rest you've entered into the promise now so here we are [Music] in september of 2021 normally we partake of communion seated but i'm going to ask you would you stand [Music] because tomorrow night actually it'll be tomorrow morning for us because in israel it will be evening begins rosh hashanah the feast of trumpets the head of the year and many of us believe it is my belief that the rapture of the church will take place during the feast of trumpets now some of you are like wait lance what are you saying jesus said no man knows the day or the hour right guess what jews refer to the feast of trumpets as the feast that no one knows the day or the hour of jesus was not saying you won't know he was pointing to a particular feast the problem is we don't know exactly when it starts because the jewish tradition is you don't you can't say the day has begun until you see the sun set then you say now the feast is begun and it stretches over two days so you don't know which day is the actual day of the lord's return but we are to know the season am i saying the rapture is going to happen tomorrow or tuesday no i'm saying that it will i it's my personal belief many of us believe that it happens at the feast of trumpets because it's this mysterious feast that god says i want you to observe this feast but there's no meaning attached to it why because the church was a mystery to ancient israel so is the rapture going to happen this week i hope so could it be next year yeah could it be a hundred years from now yes but the point is this whenever it happens we are to be ready for when that trumpet blows and we rise to meet the lord so as paul says to the corinthians as often as you do this do it in remembrance of him until he comes and that's why i ask you to sit and then stand today that we would partake of communion today in anticipation that the trumpet could blow at any moment and we must be ready for him father we pray that you would find us ready that like ancient israel that stood with their sandals on their feet and their staff in their hand ready for them the word that it was time to leave lord we pray that your spirit would find us ready for whenever you come oh lord if you want to come this week please [Music] if it's next year then we pray this next year would be a year that we would look back and say we're more in your grace and more in your truth than we were a year ago if it's a a decade from now 100 years from now whenever lord you come find us ready and waiting let's partake of the bread together [Music] down the cup [Music] until you come we will remember you because you change everything [Music] we love and we honor we adore we serve you o god [Music] holy spirit come now invest this place fill us once more with your spirit receive our worship and our praise for we long to see you as you are [Music] prince of heaven king of all he descended from his throne into the world this son of god was born in my friend [Music] he bore the cross despised the shame clothed in sin his robe was stained and by his blood now i am free now i am safe [Music] the lamb of god was crucified oh and he deserves my love he deserves my life for jesus paid the highest [Music] he descended from his throne [Music] into the world this son of god [Music] despise the shame [Music] now i am safe [Music] for my jesus [Music] [Music] he deserves [Music] there's no greater sacrifice [Music] [Music] sacrifice [Music] i surrendered [Music] of heaven held its breath and creation mourned his death [Music] but then jesus rose and now that he lives [Music] is now that he lives [Music] [Applause] he [Music] deserves my love [Music] [Music] oh god we worship you this morning you paid the highest price for our salvation there is no higher price no higher cost that could have been paid than that which you gave and god we can't earn that we can't repay that we can't justify that but what we can do is offer you praise the fruit of our lips lord we can offer you our lives as living sacrifices to you as our act of worship so we pray that we would do that today we pray jesus that you would be pleased and blessed with our worship not just our songs but hearts and lives surrendered on the altar before you today be glorified be magnified in us lord that we would decrease and that you would increase and that the world would know that you are god because of the way that you love through us speak to us through your word lord as lance comes to share it in a few minutes we pray in jesus name amen amen hey would you turn and say hello and greet a few people this morning before you're seated and if you're with us online say hello to some people in the comments good morning everyone let's continue our worship by bringing back to the lord what he has already given to us to give visit our app or website you can also drop your tithe and offering in one of the boxes on the way out here are a few things you need to be aware of this week the very first discipleship level 3 session of our cco discipleship program begins on thursday september 16th at 6 30 pm this will run for 12 weeks in order to register for level 3 you must have already completed levels 1 and 2. to register go to our website at calvaryoxnard.org if you have more questions or need information please email pastor rob rob calvertoxnart.org are you new believer in jesus christ but have never gone public with your faith by being water baptized well this announcement is for you we have our next water baptism coming up sunday september 12th at 2 p.m this will be held at the wynemy beach park directly across from the alaskan airlines memorial sundial to register go to our website calvaryoxner.org anyone is welcome to attend and if you have any more questions you can also email pastor rob rob calvert oxnard dot org now it's that time again to remind you all that scammers are out there and they may pretend to be cco rest assured that cco will never call or email you and request a donation or try to sell you an extended warranty ladies of cco we'll be hosting another round of connects groups starting on the fourth week of september we are excited to announce that we will be offering four different meeting times and locations to choose from tuesday am tuesday p.m thursday am and thursday pm register quickly and pick up your books because spots are limited and this is coming up very soon also ladies we are approaching the women's retreat day on october 2nd from 8 30 to 3 30 pm please register on the church center app or our website vicki bentley will be speaking and registration will be 30 finally ventura county needs blood here's a chance to serve our community on thursday september 16th less than two weeks away to register go to our website calvaryoxnard.org for a list of available times thank you for serving in this way that's all for today let's open up our bibles as we get into god's word good morning all right turn your bibles please to ephesians chapter 5. so the text that we're looking at this morning beginning in verse 22 and going through verse 33 flows out of what we looked at last week pastor david taught on in verses 17 through 21 and so that's where we're going to start today because what we're going to study a little bit later just moves flows right out of there there are no chapters and verses in the original manuscript the original text and the thought just flows from one to the next so we really need to see what we looked at last week and just continue on in that uh this morning so let's stand as we read from ephesians 5 this morning if you're a visitor in many churches people will read the text together and we used to do that here at calvary chapel for many years but we don't do it anymore for this reason there are so many different versions of the bible and people have different versions we try to read it together it's just noise so i read you follow along in whatever version uh you're you're following uh i'm reading from the official new king james text what paul wrote when he wrote so i don't know what perversion you're using but i'm using the the new king jesus i'm not making any friends am i verse 17 of ephesians 5. therefore do not be unwise but understand what the will of the lord is do not be drunk with wine and which is dissipation wastefulness but be filled with the spirit speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs singing and making melody in your heart to the lord giving thanks always for all things to god the father in the name of our lord jesus christ submitting to one another in the fear of god lord we pray this morning that as we we look now at living out being filled with a spirit and submitting to one another as we we look at that specifically applied to the relationship between husband and wife that you would renew our minds and expand our vision to understand the larger context and setting for this principle of mutual submission and deference that we would move beyond the traditional understanding of this text just an assignment to a wife and an assignment to a husband into the larger picture of what's really going on in how the gospel redeems us and restores the image of christ we pray this in your name amen go and have a seat so paul calls us to be filled with the spirit and to submit to one another in the fear of god and then he goes on in the rest of chapter five and into the beginning of chapter six describing what that looks like when it's translated into our practical lives first in marriage then in the family and finally in the workplace today we're going to take a look at how that's lived out just in marriage but i want to begin with a couple of things before we dive in first of all we're going to be covering a lot today typically we would divide this into two messages first the role of the wife and then the role of the husband but we're going to cover it all in one time one session today and why we're going to do that will become clear a little bit later may i suggest if you want to dig deeper into this i want to humbly recommend this book on marriage written by some guy in oxnard uh this one's by pastor jeff as well marriage and the gospel they're both really good dives into what the bible teaches on on marriage the second thing is i have to admit that a good part of what we're going to look at today doesn't jive with modern sensibilities some regard what we're about to take a look at as the misogynist rant of a male chauvinist in the first century that just wanted to subjugate women because their minds aren't renewed of that kind of perspective on this they miss an amazing revelation of the power of the gospel to bring us back into the image of christ and that's where i want to begin today even before we we dive into the text i want to begin by going back to the beginning adam was created first and then eve she was his equal in every way as it says in genesis 1 27 human beings are created in god's image as male and female but equality of essence doesn't mean the sameness of roles think about god the father god the son and god the holy spirit they are all god they are all equal but they have different roles jesus often in the gospels delighted that he as the son was an active and joyful submission to the father he repeatedly said i don't do anything in my own what authority but only what i hear the father saying he lived a life in complete deference to his father and then in john chapter 14 jesus said that the holy spirit would come and glorify who him jesus the holy spirit comes to point people to jesus you see there in the godhead we see what mutual submission looks like when the father wants to reveal himself who does he send the son when the son wants to abide with his followers who does he send the holy spirit then the holy spirit comes and points people to jesus and who does jesus point people to and make a way back to the father in the creation of adam and eve and in the image of god we see a reflection of this amazing deference in the godhead adam was created first and then eve the order of creation establishes the pattern for how they express their mutual submission adam's responsibility was to lead he was created first therefore eve being created second was to follow theirs was a beautiful relationship of harmony as each actively and joyfully fulfilled their roles and we see all of that affirmed in adam's task in his assignment to name the animals you see in scripture naming something shows your authority with it it was a way of kind of establishing identity and so someone who's in authority they they name something they name their children uh they name even a a plot of land that belongs to them it was a way of marking out this is something i am in authority with and so god tells adam name the animals why because it's part of his dominion in creation but when god takes eve from adam adam doesn't assign her a name he gives her his name he gives her his name he calls her woman he takes the masculine ish man and makes it feminine isha he's just taking his name and giving it to her by doing so by actually taking that step of calling her woman he's showing that he's in the lead but he's recognizing her equality to him but they're not the same they're male and female and that images god in the order of their relationship but then enter satan who isaiah 14 tells us rebelled against god and wanted to take god's throne and who does satan sidle up to and attempt to eat of the forbidden fruit who does he go to is it to adam who does he go to he goes to eve it's eve that he plies with lies and he goes after her because it mirrors his rebellion against his head he tells her that she can forge an identity apart from god distinct from her relationship with him and bypassing her relationship with her husband i want you to note that in the fall eve doesn't consult adam she doesn't include him she doesn't ask his advice she acts autonomously and for his part adam who genesis chapter 3 verse 6 tells us was right there he's neglecting his responsibility to protect her you see adam's role as leader in his relationship with eve was in submission to god whose prohibition of eating the forbidden fruit ought to have moved him to intervene in that conversation between satan and eve a fundamental failure of the fall was the confusion of their roles there between adam and eve and that confusion gets cemented in the consequences of the curse in genesis 3 16 god says that as a result of their sin he says to the woman your desire shall be towards your husband but he shall rule over you now the english misses the the sense the flavor of the hebrew for the woman the fall means that her inclination will be to want what belongs to her husband but he will rule over her that beautiful harmony and that act of joyful mutual deference to one another that they had before the fall was replaced by tension and conflict where each seeks to dominate the other but the remedy the way back to what god originally intended is the gospel it's jesus he first restores our relationship with god and then with one another now let me be clear there is no separating our walk with god and how we treat others can i get an amen there is no separating them this is the message of ephesians chapters one through three tell us what christ have done has done and who we are in him and then chapters four through six is how we live out this new identity in christ here we see that it restores the order that god intended for a husband and a wife and so let's get into it look at verse 22. follow along if you have your bible please read with me note carefully verse 22 husbands or wives to your own husbands is to the lord now what word did i leave out and you know why i left it out because it's not in the original text look at your bible is the word submit in italics it should be when a word is on italics it means that the interpreters have added it to bring clarity to the text when it's translated into english paul did not write submit in verse 22. why because he's continuing the thought of verse 21 submitting to one another in the fear of god wives to your own husbands as to the lord you see the flow of thought verse 21 is it called a mutual submission verse 22 is how a wife shows that towards her husband and then in verse 25 paul moves on to show how a husband shows the principle of mutual submission to his wife and he tells why but there's a crucial phrase there at the end of verse 21 that makes all of this clear it's a phrase that we read and we tend to just kind of ignore because it sounds so religious look at verse 21 submitting to one another everybody read the last part with me in the fear of god a restored relationship with god restores all other relationships starting with the relationship between the husband and the wife so wives your submission is to your own husband it's as to the lord why verse 23 for the husband is the head of the wife as also christ is the head of the church and he's the savior of the body therefore just as the church is subject to christ so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything a wife's submission to her husband is patterned after the churches to our submission to christ now we all know that christ is the master he's the lord he calls the shots he's the head we do not question jesus right to be the head he's the lord that we yearn for that one day every knee will bow and every tongue will confess what that jesus christ is lord to the glory of god the father don't we all yearn for that that the whole world the whole world bows the knee and says you are lord not newsom not biden not any other name among the names of man but the name of jesus christ oh how we yearn for that day you know why jesus is lord it's not because he says i'm lord i'm lord it's not because he appoints himself large and in charge jesus is lord because the father made him lord look at chapter 1. look at chapter 1 of ephesians verse 22 he that is the father put all things under his that is christ's feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church which is his body the fullness of him who fills all in all who made jesus lord the father did jesus serves the father as lord as master as the head of the church this establishes the all-important principle that those who are in authority are under authority and jesus shows us how the authority of his leadership is worked out when he kneels at the feet of the disciples with a bowl of water and washes their dirty feet one of the most amazing pictures in all of history it's the last night that he's with the disciples he says to them all authority in heaven and earth has been given unto me and watch what he does with it he rises from the table he takes off his garment he walks over and takes a bowl of water and a towel and he kneels at their feet and washes their feet once he's done he goes back to his place he takes his robe again and he sits down at the head of the table and he says this to them do you know what i've done to you you call me teacher and lord and you say well for so i am if i then your lord and your teacher have washed your feet you also ought to wash one another's feet for i have given you an example that you should do as i have done to you most assuredly i say to you a servant is not greater than his master nor is he who sent greater than he who sent him friends behold mutual submission witness godly authority it's not dominion it's taking responsibility for what you've been assigned by god and god's assignment for husband is to be the head to be the leader therefore eve's posture towards him is to follow and it's right there that we get pushback from those who say that well well certainly we've moved on from from this 2000 year old ancient document written in a society where women were were subjugated certainly we've evolved past that this is 21st century america this isn't afghanistan under the taliban no it isn't but what we find here wasn't just the ranting of some male chauvinist trying to keep uppity women in their place what paul wrote here was inspired by the spirit of god and his timeless truth i want you to think for a moment who paul wrote this to to women in ephesus in the first century ephesus was a greco-roman city that was governed by roman civil law and a major part of that law regarding the home was called paterfamilius the man of the house and it said this that the man of the house the husband the father had absolute control over the members of his household he could literally do whatever he wanted with and to them he had the power of life and death with his wife and his kids a man could beat his kids beat his servants a man could kill his wife and the law could do nothing about it and paul says to the women under that system submit to your husband as to the lord at first blush the woman would read this letter and say well duh why don't you tell us to keep breathing paul i mean it makes that much sense and they would quickly realize paul can't mean the obvious indeed what paul writes here is an invitation into something unexpected he's empowering women who thought they didn't have any power at all the submission that he's calling for here isn't the mere compliance of outward behavior he's saying that they can choose to honor their husbands from their hearts biblical submission isn't mere obedience it's honor and respect and that's why verse 24 reads this way look at verse 24 very important there are key words here therefore just as the church is subject to christ so let the wives be to their own husbands say the last two words with me in everything everything you see this isn't just a submission of the hand he's not saying do what your husband tells you to do he's saying adopt an attitude and of submission from your heart from your heart far from this being the brutal subjugation of women paul is empowering women who didn't think they had any power whatsoever proof of how revolutionary this was comes clear in what he says to the husband look at verse 25 husbands love your wives just as christ also loved the church and gave himself for her that he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word that he might present her to himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing but that she should be holy and without blemish so husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies he who loves himself loves his wife loves himself you know that may not sound so revolutionary to us because it's become part of our understanding of marriage well yeah husbands love your wife of course and you know why that's so standard for us because paul wrote it here what he wrote here has transformed our understanding of marriage utterly what he says here was unheard of in the social life of ancient ephesus people didn't marry for love they married for status usually parents arranged the marriage of their children with one overarching concern what's the most profitable union for my son or my daughter what match will ensure that they rise in society that was all they cared about love was completely out of the picture people married with an eye to produce children that would advance the family name and prestige and fortune marriage was business it was not romance a man found romance and love and pleasure with mistresses all the ancient writers agree on this a wife is for children mistresses are for fun for love for romance what paul says here was a radical departure from what was practiced in the greco-roman society before christ christian husbands were to express mutual submission to their wife by loving them sacrificially with the same kind of love that jesus showed in going to the cross he was to sanctify her he says to set her apart as so special that she knew that nothing came close to her in his love and devotion and affection his deference to his wife was shown by taking responsibility for his assignment by god as the leader in their relationship you married men listen up your wife's submission to you puts her in a vulnerable place because the decisions that you make are going to impact and affect her she'll defer to you when she sees that you are leading her in what's most important in the things of god she needs to see that god is first in your life and that what you do you do because you love and you serve the lord and that love and that service of him is lived out first in how you treat her ladies can i get an amen being the head doesn't demand doesn't mean that you demand that your wife wash your feet being the head means you wash hers and when you do that when you love and you serve her in that way it frees her confidence and your ability to lead because she sees that you are following your head that you are a man in authority but one who is under authority and so your authority is safe because you do what you do to bring honor and glory to god verse 29 for no one ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it just as the lord does the church for we are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones and then he quotes genesis 2. he takes us back to creation and says in verse 31 for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh now watch this verse 32 don't miss this this is a great mystery but i speak concerning christ and the church after giving the roles of the husband and the wife paul in effect says i've really been talking about christ in the church wives submit as to the lord husbands love as jesus did because your marriage is a picture of christ and his bride you see it's a reversal we read this and we think oh we're to we are to pattern our marriages after christ in the church and there is an element of that here but paul actually flips it on us and says no what i'm really telling you is your marriage is a picture of christ in the church that's what it's to be this isn't the only paul place that paul speaks of this great mystery in first corinthians 11 we find one of the most cryptic lines in the entire bible you've read it before and you've read it and you've said what does that mean and then you just you just read on in that passage as in here in ephesians 5 paul is speaking about how the gospel restores god's plan for relationships between men and women in the home and in the church let me read to you what he says in first corinthians 11 verse 10 he says this for this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels what come on paul you can't bring angels into this and then not explain but he doesn't for this reason the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head because of the angels and then he just goes on to something else and we're like hold stop back the truck up paul explain angels what does that have to do with anything he doesn't need to say any more that takes us back to the beginning where it all went wrong satan and the angels that he persuaded to join him in his rebellion against god they contend that god isn't fair they're rebels that vie with god for control their attitude is this why should god be in charge why can't we be in charge we're smart we have glory i mean look at us lucifer the most glorious of all of god's creation he was a genius he was brilliant he was the worship leader of heaven you have these angels these incredibly powerful and glorious beings why why shouldn't we be in charge why does god get to be in charge we don't think that's right in fact we don't like this plan that he has to to create this creature out of dirt and eventually make that his eternal companion we want that role we don't like god's plan in fact let's stage a rebellion and that's been the argument ever since god's in charge we don't like that we think we should be in charge and they stage a rebellion though god originally created us in his images male and female to reflect the harm the harmony of the godhead satan hijacked humanity and messed everything up the gospel is the way back to that harmony back to what it means to be fully human in the image of god when a man sacrificially loves and serves his wife it affirms that god is right and satan is wrong when a wife actively joyfully defers to her husband it declares that god is true and satan is a liar and the angels are watching you understand what's going on in your home angels are watching how you live out your relationship as husband and wife they're watching because they are in this this competition the the demons are in this competition and wanting to usurp god's throne and they think that it's done but the gospel shows that there is a way to be reconciled to god that's why peter says in his first letter that the angels are bent over carefully watching the work of god's spirit in us they're learning about the power of the gospel as they watch us husbands and wives you married couples you're schooling the angels you're showing them that the gospel has the power to not just fix our relationship with god but to fix our relationships with one another the home is the first and the best place where the the gospel's power to redeem relationships is lived out every home every marriage is a mini church where the husband is like jesus and that the wife is like the church the strength of this church lies on the success of your home being a healthy mini church all around the world some incredible messages are being preached in churches today and if the lost were in them no doubt many people would come to faith in christ but they're not in those churches but i'll tell you where those lost people are they're at your work tomorrow they're living next door to you this afternoon they're in your school this week they're they're in costco on wednesday afternoon at 3 30 when you do your shopping and you and your you know the husband and wife are walking along and you're pushing the card and should we get some of this no they may not they may not ever come in to a church to hear the gospel preached but they're watching the gospel lived as they watch your marriage many of the members of this church came to faith in jesus christ because they saw the gospel being lived out in a relative's life or a friend's life as husbands and wives fulfilled their god-ordained task assignment calling a healthy marriage is a powerful way to preach the gospel verse 33 nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his wife as himself and let the wife see that she respects her husband important insight into what paul means by the deference that a wife is to show her husband it's respect for his role as leader that word respect means to reveal revere someone specifically for the role that they have but i want to end with what paul says here to husbands it's remarkable paul gives them specific application and it's so important it's such a priority that he wants us to read this not just as a blanket statement to all husbands collectively look at what he says here he says let each of you in particular love his wife paul knows that he's writing this letter and a bunch of men are going to read it but he doesn't want them to read it as a letter written to a bunch of men and so he says i want you to understand that if i could if i was there i would speak this to you personally each of you in particular i would come to and i would look in the eyes and i would say cody love your wife everybody wouldn't say your wife love her love hammer love her lord spirit comes to me through paul lance love lin i do really like christ loves the church are you loving her sacrificially lance are you washing her feet oh no but i i rubbed her neck yesterday she wants that more quite frankly so if i start rubbing her feet she'd like forget that up here lance are you protecting her does she know you're you're you're working to keep her safe are you leading her in the things that are most important are you setting a good example are you investing in your relationship with her to make sure that she's growing in my grace and my truth husbands do you want your wives to submit to you love them ladies do you want your husband to love you respect them interesting that the bible says husbands love your wives do you know the bible never says wives love your husbands never says it not once but it repeatedly says honor them respect them because that's the way a wife shows love to her husband i'm going to say something now that's it's a little uncomfortable but that's my job to make you uncomfortable i've heard women say this well i love my husband but i don't respect him respect is what a man needs when a man is actively respected by his wife he will die for her he will love her like christ loves the church and gave himself for her the mentality we must not have in looking at this passage is for a wife to say well i'll start respecting him when he starts loving me or i will start loving her when she starts respecting me our marriages turn around when we decide to do what god has called us to do and stop waiting on others to do what god has called them to do amen would you [Applause] stand father i pray your blessing and the filling of your spirit over every person in this room today married and single you'd fill us with your spirit all of this begins where your servant paul said be filled with the spirit we can't do any of this we can't even start on this without your enabling without your grace but lord i pray that our minds would be renewed and rather than adopting the fallen mindset of broken humanity wanting to dominate and control each other we would understand that the relationship that you've restored with you means restored relationships with others starting with our homes their marriages for those husbands and wives that are struggling in their relationship lord we pray that your word your spirit would bring healing and restoration that forgiveness would flow where forgiveness needs to flow that you would heal that you would restore we pray this in your name amen [Music] you give life you are love you bring light to the darkness [Music] you restore heart that is broken [Music] great are you lord it's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise pour out our praise it's your breath in our lungs so we pour out our praise to you only [Music] you give life you are love you bring light to the darkness [Music] you restore every heart that is [Music] so we pour out our praise pour out our praises [Music] and all the earth will shout your praise our hearts will cry these bones [Music] and all the earth will shout your praise our hearts will cry these bones [Music] lord all the earth and all the earth will shout your praise our hearts will cry these walls [Music] [Music] our lungs so we pour out our praise pour out our praises your breath in arms so we pour out our praise pour out our praise it's your breath in arms so we pour out our praise pour out our praises [Music] so we pour out our praise [Music] you lord great are you [Music] lord we worship you [Music] lord we pray that you would help us as husbands as wives as single people to be the people you've called us to be that a lost and dying world would know who you are because of the way that we love one another that they would see a picture of the gospel in the way that we live in the way that we relate to one another that you would win them to faith in you because of that god caused this word to go with us as we go throughout our day today as we go throughout our week to continue to speak to us we pray in jesus name amen hey if you need prayer this morning we'd love to pray with you up front if you're with us online please send us an email so that we can pray for you god bless [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Calvary Chapel Oxnard

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Id: Cj3RgncCr40

Length: 94min 46sec (5686 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021