to Ephesians. You're very familiar with this
epistle. I've preached from it time after
time after time, and it seems to me that this
epistle falls into three divisions, two chapters in each division. In chapter 1 and 2, we're not
going to read it because you're familiar with it. In chapter 1 and 2, Paul writes
to establish believers, the church, in the doctrines of the gospel.
He deals with the most sublime, wonderful doctrines of God's
magnificent grace, the divine covenant, everlasting covenant. in which David rejoiced on his
deathbed. Divine predestination. He has
predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his Son. Eternal
election. We didn't choose him. He said
he chose us. Redemption by Christ, in whom
you have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. You have to quicken who were
dead, trespasses and sins. Peace, pardon, by grace, through
his precious blood. The first two chapters of Ephesians
establishes us in the doctrines of his grace. I will ask you
to turn to chapter 3. Chapter 3 and 4, Paul deals with
the necessity the necessity and the usefulness of the gospel
ministry. It is with the gifts which God
gives, God ordains and gives to men and sends them forth to
call, to feed, to encourage, to comfort his sheep. Chapter
3, Paul says in verse 1, For this cause I call the prison
of Jesus Christ, for you Gentiles If you have heard of the dispensation,
the stewardship of the grace of God given to me for you, how
that by revelation he made known to me the mystery, as I wrote
afore in a few words, whereby when you read, you may understand
my knowledge in the mystery of Christ. He taught me, which in
ages, other ages, was not made known to the sons of men, as
it is revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the
Spirit. He calls men, he teaches men, he ordains men, he gives
them gifts and sends these men. Verse 6, that the Gentiles should
be fellow heirs of the same body and partakers of his promise
in Christ by the gospel whereof I was made a minister according
to the gift of the grace of God given to me by the effectual
working of his power. How shall they hear without a
preacher? Whoso shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be called,
taught, and sent? And look at chapter 4. It says
in verse 10, He that descended is the same. also that ascended
up far above all heaven, that he might fulfill all things.
And he gave some apostles, some prophets, some missionaries,
pastors and teachers. Why? For the perfecting of the
saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body
of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of
the knowledge of the Son of God unto a mature man. unto the measure
of the stature of the fulness of Christ that we henceforth
be no more children tossed to and fro. So chapter 3 and 4,
Paul deals with necessity and the usefulness and the way God
Almighty blesses the gospel ministry and the gifts that he gives to
me and on behalf of his people. And then in chapter 5, 5 and
6, the opening sentence in chapter 5, the opening sentence, verse
1 and 2, gives us the theme of the final two chapters, which
is our subject today. Doing the will of God willingly.
Now look at chapter 5, verse 1 and 2. It gives us the theme
of the last two chapters. Be ye therefore, these things
being so, Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children. Walk
in love, as Christ also loved us, and hath given himself for
us, an offering, a sacrifice to God for sweet smetting savour,
fragrance. As children of God, we are to
imitate our Master. We are to walk in love as Christ
hath loved us, in attitude, in acts of righteousness and holiness,
in a godly life and walk. And he goes on in verse 3 and
he says now, but fornication, uncleanness, covetousness, let
it not be once named among you as becometh saints, nor filthiness,
nor foolish talking, nor jesting, this is not convenient. but rather
giving of thanks. For this you know, no whoremonger,
unclean person, covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any
inheritance in the kingdom of God, kingdom of Christ and of
God. So let no man deceive you with
vain words. Because of these things, this
attitude and action and deeds, because of these things cometh
the wrath of God on the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore
partakers with them. For you were sometimes darkness,
such were some of you, but now are ye light in the Lord. So
do what? Walk as children of life, for
the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness
and truth, proving what is acceptable. unto the Lord, but have no fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove
them. And then in chapter 5 and 6,
the apostle takes up this cause a little more personally, and
he begins to name names. He tells us to walk as dear children
of God in obedience and godliness and holiness and righteousness.
And then he takes up individuals and he calls names and he instructs
each of us in our own capacity in the duties belonging to believers. We go to verse 22 and he starts
with the wives. He calls them by name. He's been
talking generalities. He's been talking to the church
as a whole. Now he says, wives, verse 22
through 24, wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto
the Lord. For the husband's the head of
the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. He's the
Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject
to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Now this subjection is not just in body and outward service and
outward obedience. You can do that unwillingly.
You can do that even as a rebel. You can submit outwardly in body
form and actions. But this is in heart and spirit. Wives, submit yourselves unto
your own husbands as unto the Lord. This is a hard work. This is in spirit. You see, all
spiritual work, work of faith and labor of love, is acceptable
to God only when it's done in love and in the spirit of God,
as unto the Lord. Why, love your husband in the
heart, in the spirit, genuinely, and think well of him. Entertain
kind thoughts. And then secondly, speak kindly
to him. If you love somebody, you speak
kindly to them. And speak kindly of him in the
presence of others. I've heard wives speak pretty
harshly concerning their husbands when he wasn't around. That's
not submission, is it? And take care of the home and
the family, family matters, in a way that pleases him. Because
he is, as he says here in verse 23, he is the head of the wife,
as Christ is the head of the church. So recognize your husband
as God's appointed leader and God's designated authority and
provider and protector of that home. Wives, submit to your husband
in heart. in kindness, in love, in affection,
in peace. Be a peacemaker in your home.
And that starts with recognizing the authority and the leader.
And he's not a tyrant. He's a leader by example in the
home. And then he talks to the husbands
in verse 25. Husbands, love your wives. even as Christ
loved the church and gave himself for it. You know, this is still,
this is still and always will be the key, this is the key word
to the success and happiness of any relationship. It doesn't
matter what that relationship is. This is the key to the happiness
and success of any relationship, is to love one another. Our Lord said that Peter's going
out as a minister, as an apostle, as a preacher. And our Lord settles
this issue with him right away. He said, Peter, do you love me?
Yes, Lord, I love you. Then you feed my lambs, if you
love me. That's the basis. Now, let me
show you how he deals with that. Now, the next verse. Husbands,
love your wives. And love them even as Christ
loved the church. You can't love them too much. When John Newton's
wife died, it took him years to really get over it. And some
people criticized him. They said, you're not setting
a good example. You loved your wife too much. He said, it can't
be. It can't be I love her too much.
Because Christ loved me with an infinite, everlasting, immutable
love. And I'm supposed to love her
the same way. But this is the key to the success of any relationship. Look at verse 26 through 28.
He loved the church and gave himself for it, verse 26, that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with a 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 men ought to love their wives
as their own bodies. He that loves his wife loves
himself, because Christ, listen to this now, because Christ loved
me, gave himself for me. Because I love him, then his
yoke is easy, and his burden is light. I was sitting at the
desk studying yesterday. I study. I make no apologies,
and I try to be an example to young preachers. I study Friday
morning from 8.30 to 2.30 in the afternoon, preparing this
message right here. I do that every Thursday, Friday,
Saturday, and Wednesday on a Wednesday night. And my wife came in, she
said, don't you get tired of this? I said, yes ma'am, I do. But I love it because his yoke
is easy, his burden is light. And when you love somebody, his
yoke is easy, his burden is light. And that goes for marriage. If
the husband loves his wife, and she loves him, she submits, he
loves her, and he recognizes what she is to him, And she recognizes
what he is to her. And they recognize what she's
done for him, what she's done for me. And she can recognize
what I've done for her. Very little, but I've done what
I could. And we recognize this, that what we are in God's sight,
we're one. That's what God said, we're one.
Then I tell you this, the marriage yoke is easy. and the burden
is light. But if the love is not there,
it's a wretched, pitiful, discouraging relationship. You read Ephesians, I just read
Ephesians 5, now let's read verse 28, then I'm going to read you
a scripture over in Genesis. Now listen, you stay with me,
throw me in verse 28. "...ought 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 he nourisheth
it, and cherisheth it, and even the Lord his church. Remembers
of his body, of his flesh, of his bones, for this cause shall
a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined to his wife,
and they too shall be one flesh." This is a mystery. But now, how
long has this been in effect? This home business, this relationship,
husband-wife children, how long has this institution, this This,
I don't call it organization, this institution, this relationship,
how long has God ordained it? Before the fall. Let me show
you that in Genesis 2. This is before Adam and Eve fell. This is before the fall. This
is the first time God made that woman and brought her to the
man. He said it's not good for a man to be alone. You see that
over here? In Genesis he says, it's not
good for a man to be alone. And then verse 20-21, And the
Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept.
He took one of his ribs, closed up the flesh thereof, and of
the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man, made he a
woman, and brought her to the man. Now here is Adam and his
wife, Eve. No power, no sin, no church. by organization, no other institution,
no other organization, no other relationship on this earth except
that man and his God, that man and his wife. And God said, listen, Adam spoke and this is the word
of God. Now this is now bone of my bone
and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because
she's taken out of man. Now then, therefore shall a man
leave his father and mother, cleave to his wife, they shall
be one flesh. They were naked, the man and
his wife were not ashamed. Now here's the point I'm making.
Before the fall in the garden, the Lord God established, ordained,
and set forth for all people the most important human relationship,
institution, and influence, the home. That's the home. God Almighty
before man. He said to Adam and Eve, now
you multiply and replenish the earth. And here's the home. That's
what everything hinges on. That's the reason we're in trouble
today. The home's in trouble. God made a man and a woman and
children. That's the home. That's the home. Mother, father, and children.
God ordained it. God ordered it. You change it.
Split it. Somebody wrote a book, takes
a village to raise a child, uh-uh, takes a mother and a father.
That's the way God ordained it. A mom and a dad. And children. Now that's just, now then, take
chapter 6. Let's go to chapter 6. You know, the mother and father
and children, God's order, change it, mess with it, substitute
it for something else, and everybody suffers. Just suffer. And I'm saying that to our young
folks, particularly. Now, verse 1 of chapter 6, he
talked to the wives, he talked to the husbands, now he says,
children, you young people, listen to Brother Mayer, children, obey
your parents in the Lord. Now, this children, obey your
parents, this refers mainly to unmarried children who are still
at home. We're still at home. But now there is an honor and
a respect and a reverence that's due to our children, to our parents,
even after we're married. We still honor them and love
them and seek their counsel. But now this is talking about
you boys and girls that are still at home. You're still in that
family circle. You fellas married, you ain't
got your own family circle. You don't run to mama. You wives
don't run to mama. You husbands don't run to daddy. You serve
your family yourself, you see. Now let's talk to the children
at home. Children at home under the authority of parents. Those
parents, children listen to me, those parents are God's ministers. I never looked on my parents
as being God's ministers, but they are. They're God's ministers. They're God's leaders. And they
are to be obeyed as unto the Lord. They are to be respected
and obeyed as if their words and wishes were the words and
wishes of God. That's true. Obey them and the
Lord. That's four words there. For this is right. When your
parents are trying to guide you and counsel you and discipline
and teach you, when they speak their words and their wishes,
are the words and will of God to you. That's the only way God's
going to speak to you is through your parents or through your
pastor. That's so. So you honor your father and
mother. Look at verse 2. You honor them, your father and
mother. And young people, this touches
on a vital, vital area. It goes beyond just doing what
they're saying. It goes beyond just carrying out their will
and wishes. Because you can do that with a rebellious spirit
and an unwilling heart. Mothers say now, you can't stay
out tonight past 1030. All right, you come home, but
not willingly. So you're not honoring your parent.
You honor your parent by carrying out their wishes and their wills
willingly and lovingly. See what I'm saying? And kindly.
Honor your parent. There's a reason for what they
say. There's a reason for what they do. They're experienced.
They're up in years. They've gone through all the
things you'll go through. They've experienced them. And
what they're doing is for your good and for God's glory. So
don't be a rebel. Don't be an unwilling child. Honor your parents. Love them.
Honor them in your mind, in your thoughts. Think good thoughts
of them. He's doing this for my good. I don't understand it
now, but it's for my good, because he loves me. She loves me. Consider what your parents mean
to you. Young people, if you're born in a home that's got a mother
and a daddy who love each other, you're blessed beyond words.
If you're born in a home that's got a mother and daddy that take
you to the house of God on a Sunday, you're blessed beyond words.
If you've got a mother and daddy that care when you come home,
and care how you dress, and care how you act, and care how you
look, you're blessed beyond words. A lot of young people got parents
that don't care. They don't care. If you got a mother and father
that knows Christ, every morning you get up, you always say, thank
God. Thank God. Thank God for my home. Think how your parents have sacrificed
for you. Do you realize how they've sacrificed? How they've labored to give you
the best, to make you comfortable and well-fed. I'll tell you to
me, an ungrateful child is a monstrosity. A rebellious, ungrateful child,
especially in this fellowship, is a monstrosity. And God says
in verse 3, listen, you honor your parents, honor them, love
them, respect them, that it might be well with you, and you may
live long on this earth. Now verse 4, fathers, he talked
to the wives, he personally, he's dealing with them, he said,
fathers, fathers, And he's not talking, listen to me here, he's
not just talking to father, he's talking to parents, mother and
father. But why does he say father? Well, both mother and father
are intended here, but the father's address, two or three reasons.
Number one, he's the head of the home. Remember when Harry
Truman put on his dress the buck stops here? Well, it does. And that's the daddy, the buck
stops here. And mothers, we love to say, see you daddy. Mother
can ask your daddy. That's not bad at all, that's
all right, because he's the head of the home. The second reason
why the father is addressed, not only because he's the head
of the home, but perhaps, I say perhaps, because he is more apt
to be severe with the children. You see what this is saying?
Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath. but bring them up in the nurture
and admonition of God. Don't agitate and offend and
drive them away from it. A father is apt, I'm saying perhaps
he's apt to be more severe with children than the mother, who
because of her motherly nature, now don't get mad at me ladies,
but they're prone to be a little more indulgent. Is that not true? The mother is prone to be a little
more indulgent. And the father is prone, I want it done now, you know. So there's a sweetness that's
got to be brought about and a balance on both of them. So he's talking
to parents, but especially us dads, especially. Don't provoke
your child to anger. What does that mean? Well, children
can be alienated. They can be alienated from the
parents, they can be alienated from the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ, they can be alienated from the gospel by unwise and
unreasonable discipline, unwise and unreasonable rules and requirements. You see, they're not adults.
We want them to act like adults, but they're not. Believe me,
they're not adults, they're children. And they don't think like you
do, and they don't... I'm talking to myself now as
well as to you. They don't reason like you do. They don't and can't
act like adults. They're children. Nor can they
believe the Word of God without the Holy Spirit revealing it
to them, any more than you can. I know you want them without question, but it's not
that way. They're children. And until God
Almighty breaks their hearts and humbles them and brings them
to the foot of Christ, the feet of Christ, they're going to still
need our compassion and understanding and warmth. That's right. We
need to remember our own childhood foolishness. That's a good thing
to do. Remember what you did and how
you acted. You could say that, child. I
know what you're thinking because that's what I thought. So bring them
up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, the kindness of
God, the mercy of God, the love of God, in the values and counsels
of the word of God, in the fellowship of believers. But all the time
remembering that if they become obedient, loving believers, God
will have to make them so. Our rules and regulations are
not going to do it. So don't be too hard on them.
Don't be too hard on them. Remember, they're little sons
of Adam. Little sons of Adam. You can really remember that,
can't you, Adam? Who, like their fathers and mothers, are in dire
need of love, grace, and mercy. All right, then he says servants,
verse 5. It comes down to servants. And you know, we're all servants
of somebody. Everybody works for somebody. Everybody works for somebody.
So verse 5 says, servants be obedient to them that are your
masters, your bosses, your foremen, according to the flesh, and do
it with fear and trembling and singleness of heart as unto Christ. Be obedient to your masters.
We don't use these words master and slave, master and servant,
but the scripture does because that's the way it was written.
But here's what he's saying to all of us who work for other
people. If you work for a person and you're under a foreman or
a boss, be obedient. Do what you're told to do. And
do what you're hired to do. And do what you're paid to do.
And do it with diligence. Do it without complaining, without
quarreling. Do it with respect. Do it with
fear and trembling, humility. Do it as if you were serving
the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that what that says? Be
obedient to them which are your masters according to the flesh
with fear and trembling and singleness of heart as unto Christ. Now watch this verse 6. Not with
our service as men pleasers. You know, sometimes there are workers who
pretend to work when the boss is present with great diligence. If the boss is In the desk next
to him, he hardly looks up. He works so hard when the boss
is near. But when the boss is gone, he doesn't do his job. What is he? He's a man-pleaser.
He's already revealed that he's a man-pleaser. But he says, here,
don't do your service that way, as I service as men-pleasers.
Look at verse 6. But as the servants of Christ,
doing the will of God willingly from the heart. Believers should
work as diligently when they are alone as when the boss is
around. This is a God-pleaser. A man
who does what he does with diligence, with care, and with his whole
heart, whether the boss is there or
not, he is a God-pleaser, not a man-pleaser. Do it with good will, doing service
as to the Lord, not to men. Knowing this, I'm going to paraphrase
this, knowing this, that whatever a man does out of a right motive,
with a principle of faith, as unto the Lord, with a heart desiring
to glorify God, he'll receive of the Lord, he'll be blessed
of the Lord whether he's a boss or a servant, whether he's bond
or free. If he does what he does with
the right motive, with the principle of faith, with a heart that desires
to glorify God and give a good witness, God will bless him.
God honors those who honor him. Now verse 9, you masters, you
bosses, You who are superiors, there are men here who fell,
many women who have fallen under both these categories, servants
and masters. You employers, do the same things under your servants
as you expect them to do to you, forbearing threatening. If you
don't do this, I'll fire you. No, that's not the way to do
it. Knowing that your master also is in heaven, neither does
he respect the persons with him. Now, here's what he's saying.
You bosses, superiors, employers, perform your duties and responsibilities
in the same way that you would have your servants perform theirs,
as unto the Lord. Treat them as you would be treated,
with respect. Pay them well, knowing that they
also have families to support. Those who have authority over
others, those who hold the lives of others in their hands, have a serious and grave responsibility. Do you know that? Over here in
James, turn to James chapter 3 a minute. I know what this
is talking about. I know what it's talking about,
but the scripture is bifocal. In James chapter 3, verse 1, My brethren, be not
many masters. In that who is addressing you,
masters, covet not to be a teacher, covet not to be a master, covet
not to be a leader, knowing that we shall receive a greater judgment.
And what I'm saying is this. Those who have authority over
others, those to whom God has given a gift to teach, to preach,
to lead, to influence. to direct men by what they say
or what they do or what they order. We're going to be judged. If God puts something in our
hands, leadership, capacity, authority, you're going to give
it a count. That's right, you're going to
give it a count. I think about, I drive up in West Virginia,
it just depresses me sometimes, I see these huge mansions. There's
one in Claremont, West Virginia, it was built on on coal years
ago. The fella that built that home
owned a lot of mines, coal mines, worked a lot of people. His garage
is bigger than three homes. And I see all that. It was built
by the blood and sweat and tears of people he robbed who worked
for him. And I passed their little shacks
down here that they lived in years ago. I grew up in that
coal region. No heat, no lights, no electricity,
no plumbing. And they worked in those mines
from, they didn't see the sun till Sunday. They'd go in before
dark, before light, and come out after dark. And they were
paid off in scrip that was used at the company store, that the
old man made a profit on that too. That man is going to be
judged. He's got a master in heaven.
That's what this is saying. You masters, you do the same
thing to those that work for you, forbearing, threatening,
knowing you've got a master in heaven. And he deals with men
as they deal with others. He's talking to us about giving.
He said, give, press down, pull, and it shall be given to you.
Running over, give, it'll be given to you. He says, forgive
men their sins and God will forgive yours. God deals with men as
they deal with others. God's no respecter of position.
I know these miners are afraid of that big fella up there because
he holds the purse strength. But God's not afraid of him,
and God's not impressed by his mansion. God's not impressed
by his billfold. God's not impressed by his position.
God is not impressed by his skills and power. God gave them to him
to be used for the good of others. But he uses them for himself. People ask me at times, have
you ever been in that Biltmore mansion down there? No, and I
don't want to go. Because when I walk through it,
I think one thing. This was built on the blood,
sweat, and tears of people who were robbed. It's just so. It's just so. We give an account. We give an
account of our ministry. We give an account of our homes.
We're going to give an account before God if we're not good,
diligent servants of the Lord. It's just so. The good master,
like a good servant, is the handiwork of a good God. Isn't that right? With his workmanship, if there's
anything about us that's fit to talk about, God gave it to
us. God make me a blessing. Make me a good father, good husband. Make me a good child, obedient
child. Make me a reasonable parent.
Make me a good worker, make me a good master. That's a blessing,
isn't it? But we're his workmanship created
in Christ Jesus on two good works. But let us aspire to be what
we're told to be and do the will of God willingly. And then he
comes down to the last the last personal charge, and finally,
my brethren, all of us, be strong in the Lord. And the Lord willing,
we'll take up there tonight on the whole armor of God. I pray
that'll be a blessing to you. You'll receive it not as the
words of a man, because it's not. It's the Word of God. He's not preaching to people,
saying, you're talking to me this morning. Well, I hope so,
because I wasn't talking, God's talking. I hope so. I'm talking to me, I know that.
Talking to me. And talking to you. Because as dear children, be followers
of the Lord. We're going to sing number 333.
May the mind of Christ, my Savior, dwell in me. from day to day. 333. Let's stand while we sing.