The lesson this morning is taken
from 1 Peter 3, verse 7. Peter's been talking to us about
the ministry in a more broader sense than what we think about
when we think about the ministry. When we think about the ministry,
we think about a public pulpit ministry. But there's more to
the ministry than that. The ministry is a lot broader
than that. There is a public pulpit ministry. And this ministry
is the means God has ordained to call out His elect to please
God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. But there's a sense in which
all believers have a part in this ministry. And the truth
of it is that there's a lot of things that take place in God's
providence to bring men and women to the place where they're willing
to hear. There's all kinds of things.
I look back at my past, and it's like a maze. You just look back
there through it, and if this hadn't happened and that hadn't
happened, and I wasn't in this place, and I didn't have to move,
and if this job didn't do this and that, I wouldn't be here.
I wouldn't be here. I never would have heard the
gospel. But all of those things work together like gears in a
clock. You see them gears in there and
there's some big gears and lift gears and all these things and
they're all meshed in there and they all run. That's how God
works in his providence. He works in his providence. In a broad sense, our ministry
is to live our lives in this world and to live before others
in such a way as to adorn the gospel that we have professed
and do confess before men. That's our ministry. That's our
ministry. And this is pictured, you know,
it was pictured in one example that our Lord had of some men
who brought a man to the Lord to be healed. They brought him
there because he had no hope anywhere else. He had some hope
there if they could get him there. And so they put him on a bed.
But they knew when they got there, there was going to be a crowd
just thronged around the Lord. And they weren't going to be
able to get into him. And they brought some rope. And the Lord,
on this particular occasion, was inside of a building or inside
of a house. And these guys got him a ladder
and got up on the roof of that house and took away some of the
thatching up there and took this paralyzed man on ropes and lowered
him down before the Lord. Now you think of what all went
into that. The ropes didn't have any power to heal the man, and
bringing him on the cot didn't have any power to heal him, and
the guys bringing him didn't have any power to heal him. The
power was in Christ. But the Lord used all those means
to get that man to Christ. And that's the ministry that
Peter's talking to us about when he talks to us about the wife
and when he talks to us about the husbands. And then a little
later on, he's going to talk to all of us about how we live
our lives before men. Everything we say and do has
an impact on those around us. We're told that a godly wife
who adorns herself with the inner man may greatly affect the mind
and heart of her unbelieving husband. This was a man who's
heard the truth and denied it. This is a man who came and he
heard some things, and boy, they went sideways with how he was
raised and sideways with what he's always thought, and he just
turned it off like you turn off a water faucet. But he tells the woman, if you
were to live your life and adorn what you say you believe, adorn
yourself instead of with plaited hair and lipstick and all those
things, but pay some attention to that inner man. Adorn yourself
with that inner man. It can have a great impact on
the heart and mind of this unbelieving husband, and it might be used
to condemn his rebellious unbelief, and it might result in his reconsideration
of the gospel. We can all minister the gospel
in our attitude and spirit. That's what Paul's talking about
here. And he tells us that the ornament of a meek and quiet
spirit is in the sight of God of great price. Now, I want you
to just think about that statement. That statement just stayed on
my mind in my study, and finally I went back and just dealt with
it. Why is it of such a great price
to the Lord? Why is this meek and quiet spirit?
I know why the gospel is, and I know why Christ is, and I know
why the Spirit of God is, but why is this quiet spirit, this
meekness and this quiet spirit in this believing wife of such
a great price before the Lord? Well, it's of a great price because
of what it took for you to have it. Huh? You didn't produce it. You didn't
produce it. It was produced in you of God. It God who worketh in you both
to will and to do of his good pleasure. This is God's work
in you. For you to know the gospel in
your heart requires that the son of God must leave his thrones,
lay his crown aside, robe himself in human flesh, and become one
with the sinner. Come down to this earth. live
under that holy law for you, and then go before an all-just,
all-righteous, all-holy God, bearing your sins in His own
body on the tree. Now, if it wasn't for that, there'd
be no work in you. Huh? For you to have what believers
have in their hearts, thousands. Don't you listen to me. Thousands
of men and women must suffer and die. You can read about it
in Hebrews chapter 11. They must be martyred. They must
go through things that will, more than likely, by the grace
of God, you and I will not have to go through that. But they
did. And because they did, you have this book this morning that
you can look and see the word of God. Thousands, thousands
must die and suffer. They must endure, the scripture
said, cruel mockings and scourgings and bonds and imprisonment. Some
were stoned, taken out in big rocks like that, thrown at them
and left for dead. They were sawn asunder, according
to the book of martyrs that I read. They took a big wooden saw, like
a cross-cut saw made from wood, and they used that and cut those
people in half. They were sawn asunder. They
were burned at the stake. And those who did believe and
didn't die, they had to wander around like castaways in the
wilderness. They were dressed in sheepskins
and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, and tormented. And
these ones of whom the world was not worthy must wander in
deserts, mountains, sleeping dens, and caves in the earth.
And if they had not, you and I wouldn't have a Bible, and
we wouldn't have a preacher, and we wouldn't have a church,
and we wouldn't have what we have in our hearts today. That's
why it's a great price before the Lord. In order for you and
I to have this meek and quiet spirit, God's providence must
be ordered in all things, every event, every advent, precisely
according to the counsel of His own will. And for you and I to
have this meek and quiet spirit, a man must give himself to the
ministry, leave his job, leave his family, and be led of God
to preach the gospel to you. That's what it takes to have
what we have in our hearts. And after all of that, it yet
takes the effectual calling of the Holy Spirit of God to produce
what you have in your heart. And I tell you, when it's genuine,
when it's genuine, I am not talking about put on. I'm not talking
about playing church. But when it's genuine, when God
sees it and it's genuine, it's a great price to Him. Great price. Never get the idea that the life
you live in this world is of no value. It's of great value. Paul said, the sufferings of
this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory which
shall be revealed in us in that day. The whole of creation, it
says, waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. Believers
know what creation is all about, don't we? We know what creation's
all about. It was made by Christ and for
Christ to manifest the glory of God in the salvation of His
elect. We know that. So isn't it spiritually
logical? Isn't it logical when you think
about the things of the spirit and how God's worked in you and
all these things that we should know our role? That we ought
to, by this book and through the preaching of the gospel,
understand our role in this creation and what it represents and take
our place in that role in the purpose of God. All right. Here's this week's lesson. Last
week, I titled the lesson, Likewise Ye Wives. Peter applied what
he'd been saying to the wives. This week, in verse 7, he says,
likewise ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge,
giving honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and as
being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be
not hindered. There's four things here in this
verse. Four things that will help a believing husband to have
a godly relationship with his wife. First of all, he tells
us husbands, and we're talking about this is part of the ministry.
This is part of the ministry. We're ministering this grace
that's been ministered to us. And he tells us to dwell with
them, dwell with your wives according to knowledge. What knowledge? What you talking about? There
was a man named John Gray who wrote a book. The title of the
book was Men Are From Mars and Women Are From Venus. Is what
he's talking about, we need to go buy that book and read it?
Is that the kind of knowledge he's talking about? What's he
talking about? Do I need to enroll in some kind of a sex education
program so I can understand what it's all about? What knowledge
is he talking about here? He's telling the husband. to
dwell with them according to knowledge. Well, he's not talking
about any of those things. He's talking about gospel knowledge. Gospel knowledge. Gospel knowledge
is experiential knowledge. And it teaches us to be kind
and generous and merciful and patient with others. Listen to
this. Paul said, husbands, love your
wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it that
he might sanctify it and cleanse it with the washing of the water
by the word. Now, one of the meanings of the
word sanctify is to set apart, to set apart. Now, the Lord gave
Himself for the church to set it apart, to set it apart, to
sanctify it. I know He's not talking about
the cleansing sanctification because He adds that to this
word sanctification. Christ gave Himself for His church
to set her apart from the world, to manifest His love in His death
for her in particular, for her while she was yet a rebel. Paul said, who maketh thee to
differ from another? Who sets you apart? Isn't that
what he's saying? Who sets you apart? Who maketh
thee to differ from another? If you have a heart to be here,
if you have a will to be here, if you have a submission to bow
down and be taught, how come you have it and your neighbor
don't? Who maketh thee to differ from another? Why would God single
me out from the masses and reveal Himself to me? Why would He be
so long-suffering and patient and kind to me while severely
judging others? You all had read the book of
Ruth. What prompted Boaz to single out Ruth? There was a lot of
young women out gleaning in the field. What prompted Boaz to
single out Ruth out in that field and then go to her and say, don't
go in anybody else's field, you just glean in mine. You just
glean in my field. Don't go over there to those
other fields. I know those guys. Don't go over there. You stay
right here. There's plenty in my field. You go out here and
glean in my field. And then he turned to his helpers and he
said, when you go through harvesting, you throw out handfuls of purpose
for Ruth. Why did he do that? What prompted
Boaz to do that? He loved her. But he didn't sit back and love
her and do nothing. He loved her and he went to her. He loved her and he sanctified
her from everybody else in the field. He loved her and he manifested
his love to her, giving her himself. Gospel knowledge. Gospel knowledge
conveys to the heart the love and grace and mercy of God. Gospel
knowledge teaches us to be patient and kind. How often has God overlooked
my faults? Oh, I'm full of faults. I've
got faults running out my ear. How often has God overlooked
my faults, dealt with me in patience and longsuffering? Dwell with your wives according
to gospel knowledge. And I'll tell you this, where
law fails, grace has the victory. Has the victory. That's gospel
knowledge. And then secondly, a knowledge
of her needs. Well, you say, I'm a man. Who
knows what a woman needs? She needs something different
every day. Who knows what she needs? All a husband needs to
know about his wife's needs is to know his own needs as the
wife of Christ. Is that not true? That's all
a man needs to know. He's the bride of Christ. If
he's in his church, he is. That's all he needs to know.
That's all he needs to know about the needs of his wife is what
does he need as the wife of Christ. What do you need? What do I need? You find everything that you
need to know in that. So what do I need? I need constant
assurance of his presence and his favor, don't you? He's told me that He loves me.
I've seen that. I've seen it in the Scriptures.
I've seen it in my own experience. I need to hear it again. Don't
you? Aren't you in need of constant
assurance from Him? Constant assurance of His presence
and favor? I need to know on a regular basis
that I'm His and He's mine. Somebody needs to tell me that.
I'm hungry to hear that. I need daily provision. I need to express my love for
him and hear of his love for me. I need to be with him where
he is. Where is he at? Well, where two
or more gathered in my name, there am I in the midst. You
want to be with him? Get up, get dressed, and come
on down here. We've met in his name, and according
to his promise, he's in our midst. I need to be with him where he
is. I need help. I need help. I can't do what
my husband would have me to do without his help. Can you? I can't do it. Our Lord told
his disciples. This is his bride. And this is
pure wisdom speaking. And he looked at his disciples
and he said, without me, you can do nothing. You dwell with them, husbands,
you dwell with them according to knowledge. And then secondly,
he said give honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel. Society,
you young kids going to school, you're going to hear this. Society
is going to tell you this. The news media is going to tell
you this. All the human rights people are
going to tell you this. Society would have you believe
that you're equal, but not in the word of God. You won't find
it. Not the history of mankind, you
won't find it. And not in the experience of
life. Eve was taken from Adam. We go all the way back to the
beginning. Eve was taken from Adam. Adam was not taken from
Eve. Eve was not made to rule. She was made to serve her husband.
Adam was not deceived. Eve was. Eve was the weaker vessel. Now listen to me. God created
men and women to picture Christ and His church. There's no other
reason for that relationship. There's no other reason for a
man and a woman to be joined together. No other reason. They're
a picture of Christ and His church. And if creation is the stage
upon which God will manifest His glory in Christ and His church,
let us then assume the role that God's given to us and help one
another as best we can to do what God put us here to do. Paul
summed up this whole thing, this whole marriage relationship in
Ephesians 5 verse 32. He said, this is a great mystery,
but I speak concerning Christ and His church. And as a picture
of the church, the woman was created as a weaker vessel. Now hear what I'm going to tell
you. That's not to her shame. Huh? That's not to her shame. That's to her honor. What does
Peter tell us to do? You honor your wife in her role
as the weaker vessel, because she represents the church of
which you're a member. And in that role, you honor her. You honor her as the weaker vessel,
She breaks down from time to time. Does not his church break
down from time to time and run into her husband's arms? As the
weaker vessel, she needs more attention. His church, you talk
about needs attention. They're like those little children
that was gathering around Christ, just thronged around him and
run up and was sitting on his lap and talking to him and hugging
his neck and all them things. And the disciples said, they're
just They're wearing the Lord. Get them out of here. He said,
you suffer these little children come to me, and except you become
like them, you're not going to enter into the kingdom of God.
They demanded his attention, and he gave it. As a weaker vessel,
she demands attention. If we're faithful husbands, we'll
give her our attention. And I'll tell you this. It's
not a shame for a woman to be dependent upon her husband. It's
an honor. Do not we as the bride of Christ
depend on him 100%? We depend on him. And it's not
until one takes his place in the role in which God has given
him that they can in some degree glorify God in that calling. The Church of Christ is called
to be dependent upon Him completely, willingly, and lovingly. In fact,
the Scripture speaks of our relationship to Him being according to His
good pleasure. And there's just no other way
for a husband, especially with an unbelieving wife, to honor
her as a weaker vessel except to see her as God has ordained
her to be and to see her in that room. Husbands, that includes
me too, you try to imagine Christ loving
you and treating you and being patient with you as you do your
wives. And I think you'll find out you'll
be ashamed of yourself. I think you will. All right. Dwell with them according to
knowledge. gospel knowledge, knowing their needs, and giving
honor unto the wife as unto the weaker vessel, and then thirdly,
he said, as being heirs together of the grace of life. Now, the
union of a man and a woman is a picture of the union of Christ
and his church, and they too become one flesh. We're one.
We're one with Christ, and the man is one with her husband. That's a picture. Picture of
it. That woman, she's known by his name. Some in our day marry
and they don't take their husband's name. That's an abomination.
That's a disgrace. That's a disgrace. I love you,
but I ain't taking your name. Now you try to imagine yourself
telling Christ that. I'll be your disciple, but I
don't want to be called Christian. Don't call me Christian. I don't
want your name. She's known by His name. She's
an heir of all He possesses. What's His is hers. She bears
His children. And she gives herself to Him. Here's the equality. Heirs together
of the grace of life. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
3. I'm going to show you something over here. In the eyes of God and concerning
the gift of eternal life, there is an equality. There's no equality
in this world in the positions that we have by God's ordination. I'm a husband. My duties are
not the same as the wife. My duties are as a husband. Her
duties are as a wife. Children, be obedient to your
parents. One day you'll be grown up, you'll
have your own children, and you'll understand the importance of
it. But in the eyes of God and concerning the gift of eternal
life, there is an equality. I'm saying that as a man, understanding
my role as a man in the wisdom of God, And by gospel knowledge
and understanding my wife's role by the same wisdom, I ought to
understand that we're joint heirs and equals in the kingdom of
God. Galatians 3, verse 26. For ye are all the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There, that is in
Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither bond
nor free. Now listen to this. There is
neither male nor female. For you are all one in Christ
Jesus. And if you be Christ, then are
you Abraham's seed. And as according to the promise,
and we are to do all these things, Here's the fourth thing back
in Peter. We're to do all these things that our prayers be not
hindered. When the believer lives a life
contrary to grace, contrary to God's purpose, contrary to a
proper attitude and spirit, prayer becomes an almost impossible
thing. When there's fighting and confusing and arguing and
when tempers flare and we pat and we don't talk and all those
things that husbands and wives do. When all these things are
going on, you can throw prayer out the door. You're not going
to pray. You're not going to pray. What you're going to do is sit
there and stew. Sit there and stew. And you'll stew about her
attitude, and she'll stew about yours. And you walk around there
until finally you reconcile. When you reconcile, then you're
able to pray. But you can't pray with all that confusion. You
can't pray with all those things going on. And what he's saying
here is that these things are important. You think, well, I'm
just doing these things. Nobody sees what's going on.
It's not important. It's not important. It's important,
or God wouldn't put it in words. But it's important for this reason,
that your prayers be not hindered. Your prayers be not hindered.
And there's something about, you know, we struggle, Paul said,
for unity within the church. We struggle for that. We sacrifice
everything we can to have that. We want this unity of spirit
and the bond of peace. We want that in our congregation.
We ought to want that in our marriage. We ought to want that
among our children. And that's why he tells us, let's
assume these roles that God has given us. Let's assume these
roles. And let's labor to achieve those things. Don't just let
them go by. Don't just let nature take it. You know what nature's all about.
We children are wrapped by nature. We don't want that. What we want
to do is this new man. We want this new man to be more
prominent in our lives. work of the Spirit of God to
be more prominent in her life. And husbands, we have just as
hard a task to do that as the women. Just as hard. Just as
much to overcome as they do. So let's work at it. Isn't that
what Peter is saying? Let's work at it. Because this
is part of the ministry. This is part of the ministry.
And if one of you be an unbeliever, it might just be the means that
God uses to make him reconsider, to make her reconsider hearing
this gospel.