I want you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians
chapter 5. Ephesians 5.22 says, 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 wrinkle 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,
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 in the church. Nevertheless, let
every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself,
and the wife see that she reverence her husband." Let's pray. Our Father, would you bless these
words to our hearts. Lord, may we behold, through
the revelation of your Spirit, the glorious union of the Lord
Jesus Christ and His Bride. For His honor and for our good,
we pray these things. Amen. Before the foundation of the
world. The Apostle Paul, under the inspiration
of God's Spirit, reveals that God chose a people, chose us,
His elect, in Christ. Chose us and placed us in the
Lord Jesus Christ, to be represented by, to be answered for. As we have heard, Brother Scott,
and rightly so, God doesn't change. That which Almighty God does,
He does forever. And where the Lord put His people,
there He kept them. Now, the Scripture reveals that
the Lord Jesus Christ, God Himself, has everlastingly loved His people. The Scriptures reveal that our
Maker is our Husband. When we were chosen in Christ,
from before the foundation of the world. This is an eternal
covenant of grace. The marriage between the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is the husband, your maker is your husband. Now remember, God doesn't change. All that the Lord is right now,
He's always been. God has never begun to be anything
different. than what He is right now. He's God. Therefore, we have
always been married to the Lord Jesus Christ. This union, He
said, I have betrothed you to Myself everlastingly. There has never been a time when
the Bride of Christ was not the Bride of Christ. Now, we have
to understand something here. Our relationship to the Lord
Jesus Christ is an eternal relationship. He said in Proverbs 8, He said
that His delights His delight, I'm sorry, was with the sons
of men. He told Jeremiah, before I formed
you in the belly, I knew you, you're mine. We have always been
His sheep, His elect, His chosen, His beloved, His bride. Almighty God, when He formed
man, out of the dust. God said let us make man in our
own image and he formed man out of the dust and breathed into
him the breath of life and man lived. After he formed Adam, God said
it is not good that the man should be alone. He caused Adam to fall
into a deep sleep and took a rib out of Adam and made Eve, made
woman. Now that glorious act of creation
was a beautiful picture of the actual substance of the marriage
between the Lord Jesus Christ and His bride. We were taken
out of Him. We are bone of His bone. Verse
30 of what I just read, we are members of His body, of His flesh,
of His bones. We were taken out of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We were taken out of Christ Himself
eternally. God Almighty formed us before there was ever an actual
creation. We were chosen in Him and He
knew us. He knew us. Adam's creation and the creation
of Eve and the marriage between Adam and Eve. For this reason
shall a man leave his father and mother, be joined to his
wife, cleaved to his wife. There's going to be one flesh.
Whenever the bride of Christ fell in Adam's rebellion, she
did not fall and be separated from the Lord Jesus Christ. She's
always been His, found in Him. This is a great mystery. But
remember, where God puts a people, He keeps the people. Formed them
in Christ. You know, we always say this,
and we understand. When the Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world, we were in Him. When He walked this earth, we
were in Him. When He died, we died. Paul the
Apostle bears what I just said out. He said, I was crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Paul in actuality, in flesh,
in this human flesh, he wasn't on the cross with the Lord Jesus
Christ, but he was in Christ. He said, I was with Him. I was
crucified with Him. Died with Him. Raised with Him.
We are members of His body. When we fell in Adam, the Lord
Jesus Christ was still our husband. He has betrothed Himself. I was
talking a few moments ago to a dear friend, and we were talking
about when Hosea was told by the Lord, you know, you go and
you marry Gomer. She was a harlot. He married
her. You know what she did? She ran
off. Ran off in rebellion. At what
point was she not his wife? She was still his wife. He provided
for her. When she didn't know any better,
he'd bring her food and lay it at her doorstep. And she gave
all the honor and praise and glory for all that food to her
lovers. And it was her husband that was
taking care of her. She didn't even know it. When
she was wore out, out there auctioning her off, the Lord said, you go
and buy her. Pay the ransom. Hosea went and paid for her again. Why? Because she was his wife. That was his wife. And he bought
her and brought her home. We fell in Adam, but we were
never separated from Christ. Never. Adam's rebellion could
never thwart the eternal purpose of Almighty God. Oh, we were
aliens. Aliens in our minds. But He said, I've always loved
you. You've always been mine. And because we were always His,
because we were His bride, His wife, fallen, ruined by the fall,
He was made flesh. And he came into this world born
of a woman, made of a woman, made under the law, made likened
to his brethren, likened to sinful flesh, yet without sin. And he
came into this world as the husband, the Redeemer, the Savior of his
church, And he went to Calvary, having
lived this earth and earned her righteousness that would be imputed
to her, and bore her guilt, and paid her debt, made sin, he who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in him. Why? Because we are his bride. and He washed us in regenerating
grace, cleansed us, gave us a new nature, gave us a new heart,
new will, that which we lost He restored, that which He took
not away. We rebelled against Him, but He always loved us. When
we didn't love Him, He loved us, His people, His church. because we were His, because
we were in Him, because He was ever our representative, our
surety. I'm going to make good. I'll
finish the work. His work, the will of the Father,
was that all that the Father had given Him, that He should
lose nothing. He came into this world, brought her back, paid
for her. What did it cost him? It cost
him his life, it cost him his blood. And he hung before Almighty
God, before God's law, made sin, and put her dead away, cast her
dead as far as the east is from the west. Why? That's his bride. And having now washed us from
our sins, gave us a new nature that doesn't sin, that which
is born of God sinneth not. There's coming a time when He's
going to come back. All that have died in the faith,
died in Christ, died in the Lord, they're going to be raised first.
And He's going to then receive, we, Paul says, that are alive
and remain upon this earth. We're going to meet Him in the
air. So shall we ever be with the Lord. And we're going to
be presented before heaven and hell, everybody. They're going
to see a bride washed white in the blood of the Lamb. The glorious institution of marriage
is a beautiful picture. of that which Almighty God has
everlastingly purposed, willed, and chosen for the Son abroad. It was not good that
the Son should be alone. The Lord Jesus Christ, He would
be glorified and magnified in a way that Almighty God knew
there'd be no better way that His power and His mercy and His
grace and His obedience and His faithfulness would be displayed
in the best and right way by Him having a bride. And in her
fall, He would redeem her and cleanse her and wash her What an institution. Marriage. Marriage. A marriage born in
the heart of Almighty God. The Scripture says, Genesis 2.24,
Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall
cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. Now that,
that's God's command. concerning a man and his wife. A man leaves his father and mother,
cleaves to his wife, and they're one. God makes them one flesh. Marriage, being born in the mind
and will and purpose of Almighty God for the express purpose of
displaying all honor and glory and praise unto the Lord Jesus
Christ as the Bridegroom and His Bride, the Church. That institution
of marriage is commanded by God Almighty that we might behold
Him. And when marriage in its simplest
terms is obeyed, marriage A man marries a wife. That obedience is worship. The marriage of a man and his
wife is worship. First time that the word worship,
I've told you this, it was ever mentioned when Abraham was told
by God, I want you to take your son, your only son Isaac, and
I want you to take him to a place that I'm going to show you, and
I want you to sacrifice him to me, a burnt offering." And Abraham
went, and he saw the place, and he told the two servants that
were with him, he said, you stay here with the ass, and the lad
and I are going to go up yonder. You know what Abraham was going
to go do? He was going to go kill Isaac. That's what God told
him to do. But you know the way Abraham
said it? He said, Lad and I are going to go worship. God has commanded me to sacrifice
my boy. And he said, I'm going to go
worship God. God Almighty has decreed a man
and a woman in marriage will be to the honor and glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, a believer longs to know
what God has to say about a marriage and the relationship between
the man and the woman. Now, this is God's Word. This is God's way. And our desire
as a believer, now I'm talking to a believer. An unbeliever
doesn't care. Unbeliever doesn't care. Unbeliever is going to
argue with God and say, well, I think I've got a better way.
I think we can improve on this. A believer wants to know what
does God have to say about the management of a marriage, of
a home. This is what the Lord has to
say. Realizing that this is a beautiful
picture of that which God Almighty has everlastingly done, given
the Son a bride. Listen to what God has to say
concerning this marriage. Verses 22-24, Wives, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. When a wife
submits, and I looked up these words so that I could know what
they mean. I don't want to think I know
what they mean. I want to know what they mean.
Wives, now listen to this. Wives, leave the management of
your home to your husband. That's what submit means. Submit. to leave the management too. Whenever I say this, when we
have a marriage, I'll tell the wives. Now this is what God has
to say concerning the home. You've got a husband, you've
got a wife. Wives submit. Husbands Listen to me, a wife
has got a brain and a very wise man will talk to his wife concerning
the decisions that have to be made in a home. Husbands, listen
to what your wife has to say. Listen to what she has to say.
But listen to what God has to say concerning if there has to
be a decision made. Husbands, it is your responsibility
to make a decision concerning the home. If you have to make
a decision, you're talking about it, and wives, leave the management
Express your opinion. It's fine. Listen, Glenda and
I will talk about things and sometimes I'll ask her, I say,
what do you think? But there comes a point to where
a decision is going to have to be made. This does not mean that
the wife is blindly just left out of all decisions. It doesn't
say that. But we submit yourselves, leave
the management to, The husband and wives do it as
unto the Lord, knowing that it is the Lord's
way. Why? Because the husband is a
picture of Christ and the Lord will bless it. Listen, the Lord
will bless it. A wife that submits to her husband
and leaves the management of the home. And the husband that
is loving his wife and doing all for her, and she knows that
he's doing all for her, for her good, her betterment, her protection,
everything that a husband does. As Christ loves the church, Husbands
love their wives. He's not trying to see how much
he can put her down or make a rag out of her or something. That's
not the way the Lord does the church. Wives, when you submit
to your husband, leave the management to your husband, do it as unto
the Lord. For the husband, verse 23, is the head of the wife,
even as Christ is the head of the church. He's the Savior of
the body, the Protector, the Redeemer. The Lord has given
you wives, a husband, to watch over you. A husband that loves
his wife. I'm telling you, somebody tried
to get to his wife, A husband that loves his wife's got this
attitude, and rightly so. You're going to have to come
through me. You may kill me to get to her,
but you'll have to kill me first. You say, you mean that? I mean
that. Yeah, that's a husband that loves
his wife. He's going to watch out. Wives,
submit to him. He's watching out for you. Therefore,
verse 24, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives
be to their own husbands in everything. That is, everything that is lawful. I mean, a husband is telling
his wife, you know, let's go off and knock off a bank. It's
not talking about that. Everything that is lawful and
consistent with God's Word. Now here's something we need
to remember. When a husband loves his wife
and a wife is in subjection to her husband, she's resigned to
subjection, being in subjection. She's depended upon. I'm going
to tell you something. The Lord blesses this. He blesses
this. He'll bless it. You know, wives,
submit yourselves to your own husbands. That is, look to Him,
respect Him as the one that loves you, Cover his faults. Defend his character. Remember
him in prayer as he strives to be obedient to God as your husband. Pray for him. Pray for him. I want to make the right decision.
I do. I want to make the right decision.
And it is a comfort to me to know that my wife would be praying
for me. It's a comfort to me that you
would be praying for me. How does the bride of Christ
think and act toward the Lord Jesus? Well, I can tell you this,
she thinks well of Him. She loves Him. She's respectful
of Him. And she knows that He does what
He does out of a heart of love for her, out of compassion for
her. The Lord has ordained this marriage
in this way and has placed the husband to be the one that is
to be the one that is in authority. But he does it lovingly, compassionately,
with her well-being in mind, with her feelings in mind. He's
not a tyrant. He's not a tyrant. I think about,
you know, marriages that I have witnessed
where the husband loves his wife and wife is just beautiful, beautiful,
beautiful. Husbands, I mentioned this last
week, I look at it, husbands love your wife, verse 25, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. He gave himself, he gave himself. He laid down Himself. That's
a husband that loves his wife. Husbands, love your wife. Take
delight in her as being your wife. Take delight in her. Show her respect and honor her
as your bride, the weaker vessel. The Lord has declared her to
be the weaker vessel. She is dependent upon her husband
as Christ is dependent upon the church. Seek her contentment in a quiet
and peaceful home. And have the best opinion of
her. always endeavoring to seek not
only for her physical but her spiritual welfare. I've said
this and I mean this. Place her on a pedestal in the
home. Treat her as one that you truly,
truly respect and love. Treat her as the queen of the
house. She's deserving of that. She's
deserving of that. You know, I've heard people ask
some women, what do you do? Well, I'm just a housewife. What a wonderful calling. Just
a housewife? That is the greatest thing that
you could do. I mean, just be a homemaker. Homemaker. I'll be honest with
you, I'm not very good at it. Sometimes I just don't see
stuff. I just don't recognize. I came
home yesterday afternoon and Glenda said, did you see that
new fall door? It goes on a door. Thank
you, wreath. Did you see that new wreath?
And I said, no, I didn't see it. I had to open the door. I just, you know, be respectful,
be thankful, you know, and cover her faults. She's, you know, she's a frail
creature. You know, defend her character.
Take her side. Take her side. against all others. And don't put her down. Don't
put her down. She's left the security of her
home. Her mom and dad took your name. Love her husbands. Love your
wives even as Christ also loved the church. Here's the key. 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 wrinkle or any such thing,
but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives,
even as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself." Here's a great mystery. The Lord said that man leave
his father and mother, be joined to his wife. I've looked that up. In verse
31 it says, man shall leave his father and mother and be cemented,
is what the word is, be cemented, be glued to his wife. They're a unit. They're a beautiful
unit. Love your wives as Christ loved
the church and gave Himself for it. Husbands, this is why we
treat our wives, why we're to treat our wives like we do, like
the Scriptures command us to do in loving them, because it's
honoring to the Lord. because that's what the Lord
does for us. And I realize how frail we are
and how little we find ourselves doing these things. There's not
a time that I could read these scriptures right here and think
to myself, you know, I'd like to go back and try this one again.
Maybe I'd like to handle that situation again. But it doesn't
change the fact that I desire to. Verse 29, 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, of His flesh, of His bones. That's why I said a while ago
what I said, where God put us eternally, that's where He's
always kept us. He has never separated us from
Himself. He's always been our husband.
We've always been taken out of Him. God the Spirit gave that
illustration, gave that actual happening to teach us something
of what the Lord has done for us in Christ as that bone was
taken out of Eve. We are members of His body, of
His flesh, and of His bone. One of these days I'll understand
that. But I can tell you this, it is a wonderfully magnificent
thought that we were taken out of Christ. and created from Him
and in Him. And one of these days we're going
to see the fruition of it. It's going to all be made manifest. We're going to see what Almighty
God has ever done. No man ever hated his own flesh
but nourisheth and cherisheth it even in our fall. This was the
Lord's attitude toward us. The Scripture says we are of
His flesh, verse 30, of His bones. No man ever hated his own flesh.
The Lord has always cherished us and nourished us. I told you last week, I had somebody
tell me the other day, they said, you know, if it had been me,
I would have just cut that finger off. I said, well, I'm kind of
partial to it. I'm just kind of partial to it.
Why? Because it's mine. It's mine. It's mine. I'm glad. I'm glad
that I have. For this cause, verse 31, shall
a man leave his father and mother, shall be joined unto his wife,
and they too shall be one flesh. For this cause, because God Almighty
chose us in Him because the Lord Jesus Christ redeemed us, because
the Spirit of God in time regenerated us. For that reason, for that
reason, because it's honoring unto the Lord, for this cause,
because we're His, chosen, redeemed, regenerated by Him, because we're
His, for this cause, This is the reason why a man leaves his
father and mother and joins himself to his wife, their one flesh. And then Paul says in verse 32-33,
this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ
and the church. Everything that Paul said concerning
Wives submitting to their husbands, their own husbands, and husband
is the head of the wife, and the church is subject to the
Lord. Let wives be to their own husbands
in everything. Husbands love you. For that reason,
that great mystery, he said, I'm speaking concerning Christ
and the church. This is a beautiful picture of
Him and us. Nevertheless, verse 33, let every
one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself. And the wife see that you reverence
her husband. The Lord loves His own. They're out of Him. They were brought out of Him. fell in Adam, but always His. Rebels against Him, but He ever
loved us, cherished us, and gave Himself for us, that He might
cleanse us, and wash us, and robe us in His righteousness,
and present us unto Himself, A glorious church, not having
a spot now, not having a wrinkle now, you know, beautiful. And there's coming a time, real
soon, in light of eternity, that He's going to receive us unto
Himself, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. May we look
at our spouses, husbands loving their wives, wives submitting
themselves to their own husbands as a beautiful picture and type
of Christ and His bride for His honor and glory and for our eternal
good. Amen.