Immanuel Baptist Church

Matthew 6:5-8

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Part of our series on the Sermon on the Mount, this sermon was preached by Rev. Chris Roberts during the evening service on Sunday, February 14th, 2010.

Ephesians 5:21-33

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This sermon was preached by Rev. Chris Roberts during the morning service on Sunday, February 14th, 2010

I will leave it up to you to decide whether or not God has orchestrated our series in Ephesians so that Ephesians 5:21-33 would fall right on Valentine’s Day, I will only say that I did not arrange the series in this way. But it is a fitting on this day to consider what God has to say about marriage. We have seen verses 25-33 before, on June 26th of last year. Then we looked at what Paul had to say to husbands. This morning I will focus more on what Paul says to wives. We will take up this text again next time to draw out what Paul has to say about Christ and the church.

Last time we cracked the door on Ephesians 5:21 and Paul’s call for believers to submit to one another. Today we pick that up again and begin a section that runs from 5:22 through 6:9 and spells out how submission works within certain relationships. Paul does not provide examples for every kind of relationship but he focuses on the relationships that tend to be most central in our lives.

In today’s passage Paul’s focus is on marriage. In particular, the way husbands and wives are called to relate to one another, revealing the will of God for husbands and wives.

Ephesians 5:21-33

In the writings of John Calvin there are several references to this world as the theater of God’s glory. That is, throughout creation God is displaying his glory through the things he has made, primarily through the lives of his people. Borrowing that image, we could say that Paul has a similar view of marriage. Marriage is a theater of God’s love in which Christ’s love for his church is to be put on display.

Many people today criticize a conservative or biblical understanding of marriage. What they fail to understand is that God is not being arbitrary with these commands. His design for marriage makes it a grand theater for him to paint a picture of Christ’s love for the church and the church’s submission to Christ. To ignore God’s plan for marriage is to attempt to sabotage the display of God’s love.

So Paul talks to us about husbands and wives and the picture this gives of the church. Most of his attention in this passage is directed at husbands, but he begins with wives. To wives he gives a simple but direct command in verse 22: submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

Notice first the scope of this command. Paul says to submit to your own husbands. Whatever this submission may be, it is limited to the bonds of marriage. This verse does not give us a general rule in which women submit to men; in this verse Paul tells us that wives are to submit to their husbands.

But what is this submission? What does it look like? The answer is not popular today, even though it is biblical. The answer requires a radical rethinking of who we are – as men and as women – and why we are in the world. All of us have to recognize that we are not here to chart our own paths, make our own way, or choose our own destinies.

Within marriage, a husband’s responsibility is to work for the purity and growth and edification of his wife, while a wife’s responsibility is to support her husband. The implications of this fly in the face of the claims of modern feminism. Married women today are told to find their identity beyond their husbands, as though husband and wife live in parallel worlds that merely intersect from time to time when convenient. But the biblical picture given to us in the book of Genesis tells a different story.

In our passage Paul makes reference to Genesis 2:24 where we read about the marriage union. Shortly before that we learn about the creation of Eve. Look with me at Genesis 2:18-24: Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” Now out of the ground the LORD God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.” Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

Some people today claim that male headship is a curse of the fall, that God originally intended no hierarchy in marriage but as a consequence of Eve eating the fruit, she was made to serve Adam. Thus, they conclude, because Christians are in Christ and made free from the fall, male headship no longer exists, whether in society, in the church, or in the home. There are several problems with that argument but one problem should be quickly apparent. Eve was created before the Fall, but Eve was created to serve as a helper to Adam. From the beginning, when God created Adam and Eve he put in place this pattern for marriage.

Submission, then, is the wife seeking fulfillment not by charting her own path in the world but by walking with her husband in his work. There is a great scene in the movie Fiddler on the Roof in which one of the daughters, Hodel, tries to convince her father to let her go marry the man she loves. She tells her father, “I want to go. I don’t want him to be alone. I want to help him in his work.” This is Adam and Eve in the garden. This is husband and wife living faithfully in the 21st century. What it is not is domination. Men are never made dictators and any man who tries to abuse headship and turn his wife into a servant to serve his whim, he is a worm and not a man. But we will get to the men in a moment.

At the end of verse 24 Paul will instruct wives to submit in everything. The wife does not choose which parts of life are her own and which parts are her husband’s. The man and woman are now husband and wife which is to say they are one flesh. They are united in all things and in their unity the husband is head, just as our physical bodies have parts united under one head, and just as the church has believers with Christ as the head.

In verse 22 Paul says this submission is to be done as to the Lord. This tells us three things.

First, the wife’s attitude to her husband ought to be one of joyful surrender, even as we delight to submit to Christ. It is willing service, not begrudging agreement.

Second, the wife’s submission serves as an example of how we ought to be obedient to Christ. People see in the wife’s submission to her husband an example of our submission to Christ.

Third, the wife’s submission to her husband does have some limits. Namely, her first and primary service is to the Lord. She submits to her husband as an example of how she submits to Christ, but if her husband instructs her to go against God’s commands her first and primary responsibility is obedience to Christ. She must not submit to her husband if he would lead her into sin.

In these verses to wives, and in the following verses to husbands, Paul highlights the parallel of husbands and wives to Christ and the church. Just as soon as he has given the instruction to wives that they are to submit to their husbands, he presents marriage as the grand theater of God’s love. In marriage God puts on display the relationship between Christ and the church.

Those wives who find submission a difficult concept need to keep in mind what God is doing with marriages. As we said before, his plan for marriage is not arbitrary and the work he assigns men and women is important to accomplish his intentions. And because this is the way God designed us to function, no marriage can be as rich as the marriage lived in obedience to God’s design.

The picture provided is that as Christ is the head of the church, so husbands are heads of the family. In verses 25-32 Paul will draw out the full meaning of this parallel for husbands, and the responsibility on husbands is quite high. I will not draw this out in great detail since we saw this just a few months ago, but I do want to highlight in particular where the work of the husband for the wife mirrors the work of Christ for the church. Taking a broad look at this passage, there are three things revealed about Christ’s work: first, he lived sacrificially for his people. Second, Christ’s work for the church was for, continues to be for, and will accomplish her purity. And third, the church is not just loved by Christ, the church is the very body of Christ.

Husbands are called to embody these same aspects within marriage. In brief, husbands are called to love their wives as Christ loved the church.

Husbands, how do you sacrifice for your wife? Too many men see that women are called to submit and think it means wives are to sacrifice for their husbands. Wives are to follow their husbands, but it is husbands who are called to be like Christ who gave his life for the church. I want all of us, men and women, husbands and wives, single and married and widowed, to keep in mind that our entire purpose in this universe is to glory God and enjoy him. For husbands, you have been called to glorify God in your marriages by working for the holiness of your wife and children. Your purpose on this earth is not to get a better golf swing, not to bag the biggest deer or land the best seats at the stadium – these things are not bad things and they can be enjoyed, but they are not why we are here, they are extras. Husbands, much higher up the list for you is to live for the holiness of your wife.

Husbands, what do you do to lead your wife to a pure and holy life? One day Christ will gather all his body and will present the church to the godhead. Verse 27 says that we will be in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish. One day you husbands will in a sense present your wives to God. You will be held accountable for how you lived up to your responsibility. Are you working for holy homes and godly wives? Is your wife growing more like Christ because of your work and example? If she is not growing like Christ, is it due to her own sinfulness or is it because you are not leading her to him? Men, consider this. We are often willing to ignore the sin we see in someone else if it allows us to ignore our own sin. Seek holiness in your own life so that your sin does not hinder you as you lead your wife to purity.

Husbands, do you really realize that your wife is part of you? To adapt a phrase I recently heard, when Scripture says the husband and wife are one flesh, this is not poetry, this is not just a quaint, sentimental view of marriage. The two really are made one so Paul tells us that as the church is the body of Christ, so the wife and husband are one body. And as Christ nourishes and cherishes his church, so we are to treat our wives.

From the beginning, before the fall of man, marriage existed as the union of husband and wife in which the husband is called to love the wife and the wife is called to submit to her husband. Throughout most of history people did not know what marriage portrayed. They did not know it would someday serve as a picture of Christ’s relationship with his body. But in his great planning and design, God knew, and he designed marriage to be a grand theater of his love for us. To that end it is God, not the husband or wife, that is to be on display. So when husband and wife are living according to God’s design, Christ gets the glory.

I want to quickly apply this text to five groups of people. I know we are at the end of our time but I will move fast so bear with me and keep your minds sharp and your ears active.

Women, submission is not a popular topic today. The things I have said to wives might make some of you angry. I remind you that this world does not exist for personal satisfaction or accomplishment. It exists to lead people into the enjoyment of God. The only way we can enjoy him is to live life as he designed it to be lived and in marriage that means the husband leading in love, the wife submitting in grace. Not because you are subservient or of less worth than your husband, not because you are less intelligent or capable, but because this is how God designed marriage to work and you want to demonstrate your trust and obedience to his plans.

Married folks, husbands and wives alike, what is it about your marriage that direct people’s gaze to the goodness and love of Christ? How does your home serve as a miniature theater of God’s glory and love? Are you willing to do whatever is necessary to make Christ the focus of your family?

Single folks, how are you preparing now for this kind of life? Are you being careful to enter into relationships that have the potential to be God-glorifying marriages? Men, are you looking for women who already begin to reflect the purity of Christ? This does not mean they have a perfect past but that right now they are striving to grow in Christ. Women, are you looking for the kind of man you could submit to, the kind of man you could trust with your holiness?

To those married to unbelievers. At times yours is a difficult calling, whether you are husband to a wife who wants nothing to do with holiness, or wife to a husband who has no interest in leading you closer to Christ. Continue in the command of Scripture. Consider 1 Peter 3:1-2 which says, Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Your obedience to Christ shines as an example of Christ’s love.

Finally, to any spouse here that is an unbeliever. Consider all that we have said about marriage today. It exists to bring glory to God. Husbands, the work you are given is to lead your wife closer to Christ. Wives, your work is to teach the church by your example how we are to submit to Christ. It does not matter how good a husband or wife you think you are, if you are not carrying out God’s will for marriage, you are failing in your role. Find in Christ the true meaning and fulfillment of marriage. Being a Christian does not automatically make marriage better, but it sets one on the right path.

We have been excited to see growth in certain areas of our body but our work is never done. Our immediate need in terms of ministry growth is to provide opportunities for children and youth around the ages of 10 through high school. We have some things in place now but remain fairly weak in this area. This is a very difficult group to provide ministry for without already having a larger base of children and youth to work with, but it is an area of ministry young families look for when looking for a church.

Pray for wisdom as we seek ways to expand our ministry in these age groups. Pray that God would send us families who desire to help us grow in these areas. Pray that the work we do will bear fruit by leading people closer to Christ.

Also pray that we would see growth among people not already part of a church. It is possible for our church to grow and yet no one be added to the kingdom of Heaven. Christians change churches all the time. What we really want to see is an impact among lost people, that our outreach would be blessed by God to be effective in leading many people to Christ. Pray for wisdom in planning outreach events, pray for workers to be sent into the harvest, and pray for the harvest, that it would be rich and bountiful.

God is in control and he continues to shine his light through Immanuel Baptist Church. Let us praise him for his grace to us and serve him with full faithfulness and zeal.

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. – Psalm 84:1-2. The Psalmist puts us on a good path: desire for the presence of God. In verses 10-12 he goes on to say, For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you.

How might one enter the courts of the Lord? By trusting in the Lord and living out righteousness. We see this elsewhere in Psalms, Psalm 24:3-4: Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. In other words, those who live in obedience to God. We see something similar in Psalm 18:20: The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me. In the light of the New Testament we would say it is those who live like Christ that will enjoy the blessings of God.

The difficulty is that none of us on our own can live the kind of righteousness that gains God’s favor. None of us have cleanness of hands. For that matter, nor did the Psalmist. In Psalm 18 the Psalmist goes on to add in verses 31-32: For who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? — the God who equipped me with strength and made my way blameless.

Serve the Lord in holiness and know that your holiness and righteousness come from him. He has covered you in the righteousness of Christ, making you pure. He is the one who equips you and strengthens you each day to live for him. It is he who cleans your hands, he who makes your way blameless. Follow him, trust in him, rely on him.

The following is our menu for the Wednesday evening fellowship meal on February 10th.

Pork chops
Mashed potatoes
Black-eye peas
Turnips
Cornbread
Dessert

The meal will begin at 5:30 in the fellowship hall. Those unable to attend the meal are welcome to join us at 6:15 for the prayer time and Bible study.

Cost for meals is $5.00 per adult or $3.00 per child. Call the church office by noon Tuesday to reserve your meals.

Our luncheon meeting will be this Tuesday, February 9th. Our program guest will be Tim Putman from Anchorage Children’s Home. For our mission emphasis, please bring socks and underwear. He said they could use all sizes from small children to adult sizes.

Bring your Bible for Bible Study and a covered dish for lunch.

Thank you for your input for ideas for future meetings. Many months are now filled programs.

Stay involved.

Martha

Ephesians 5:18-21

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This sermon was preached by Rev. Chris Roberts during the morning service on Sunday, January 10, 2010

We have continued to see in Ephesians a contrast made between the sons of disobedience and the children of light. We were all once a part of the sons of disobedience until God in his mercy saved us from and out of our sins, adopting us into his family and making us children of light. In the transition a change takes place and we are to no longer follow the ways of the world. So Paul has been showing us some of the ways that our lives are different.

Among the changes come changes in community. Even our interactions with one another are not like the world’s ways. We are not disparate groups bound together for security or prosperity and at odds whenever conflict furthers our goals. We are the church, the body of Jesus Christ, united into one great group of God’s people, members of the kingdom and household of God. How we interact with one another – and with the world – is defined by God’s love. As he has loved us, so ought we to love one another.

In today’s passage Paul focuses on the work of the Holy Spirit in the community of believers and how the Spirit demonstrates himself through the body.

Ephesians 5:18-21

Paul seems to start in an unusual direction when he says, do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit. This is his first mention of drunkenness; why does he bring it up?

Paul’s warning against drunkenness is not unique. We find similar warnings throughout Scripture. There are two things Paul could be responding to. First, there were the pagan notions of the cult of Bacchus, or Dionysus, the god of wine. The notion was that being drunk opened a person to be controlled by the deity. Drunkenness was a state of release of self-control so that Bacchus or his minions could take control. It was a way for mortal man to connect to God. Second, more general secular notions see drunkenness as the means to carefree living. To be drunk is to have a good time.

The problem for Christians comes on several fronts. Drunkenness kills productive living. Paul has just told us in verses 15-16 to make the best use of time because the days are evil. How can we make the best use of time if we are too drunk to even know what we are doing with our time? And that points to the second problem with drunkenness. In 1 Peter 5:8 we are told to be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Self-control, sober-minded, watchful – these cannot happen when one is drunk. Temptation is everywhere and we love sin. We need all our wits to spot and avoid the snares of the devil. Being drunk loosens inhibitions and makes it easier for us to plunge into the sin we want to do.

So Paul tells us to instead be filled with the Spirit. Alcohol does not lead to an actual experience with God, but Christians have God living in them by the Holy Spirit. We bear the very presence of God. And though the world considers drunkenness a state of joy, we know that we were created for God and can only find joy in him. Thus the Psalmist tells us in Psalm 16:11, in your presence there is fullness of joy. The Spirit of God brings the presence of God into the lives of God’s people. Only in him can we find true and lasting joy.

As Christians living in evil days, we must not waste time. Not all of our moments will be spent working, we must spend time resting, unwinding, and recharging, but even that time must be used in God-glorifying ways, for everything we do must be God-glorifying. And the Spirit guides us in all our moments, guiding our moments of work and our moments of leisure. Be filled with the Spirit to be guided in doing the will of God.

How then are we filled with the Spirit? Scripture tells us often to be filled, but how does it happen? There are three ways the New Testament speaks of Spirit-filling, and only one of them is in view here.

First, there is Spirit-filling that we have nothing to do with. An example is with John the Baptist. Luke 1:15 tells us that he was filled with the Spirit from his mother’s womb. In the womb he could not hear a command like Paul’s and decide to be filled with the Spirit; this filling was entirely God’s doing. There are other such instances even in our lives when God does a special work, imparting his Spirit to us in special ways. We can ask for such filling but we cannot cause it or nurture it.

Second, there is Spirit-filling at salvation. As we see from 1 Corinthians 3:16, we are temples of the Holy Spirit. When we are saved we receive the Spirit and he dwells in us. This filling takes place once at conversion and the Spirit’s presence remains throughout our time on earth.

The third kind of filling is what Paul has in mind. This is the Spirit-filling that we nurture day-by-day. To get an idea of how this filling takes place, look at Colossians 3:16-17: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians is basically a shorter form of Ephesians. Paul offers the same kind of instruction as he does here, so when he says something in a different way we can compare the differences to better understand his meaning. In Ephesians Paul says to be filled with the Spirit. In Colossians he says to let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. So there is some connection between being filled with the Spirit and letting the word of Christ dwell richly.

We see this connection again in Galatians 3:2-3: Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Paul here is challenging the Galatians on their notion that though salvation is a matter of faith, sanctification is a matter of obedience to the law. In their minds, the Mosaic law does not save, but the Mosaic law sanctifies. Paul’s response is that in the same way that they were saved, so they continue in the faith. How were they saved? They received the Spirit or began in the Spirit by hearing with faith. What did they hear? Paul tells us that in Romans 10:17, faith comes from hearing the word of Christ.

The connection in Colossians and Galatians to Ephesians is that the daily Spirit-filling of the Christian takes place through the Word of God. We must be regular and faithful to study Scripture, for it is through the Scriptures that we are filled with the Spirit. The Spirit’s work in our lives is in large measure a work of guiding us in Scripture. The less we have of God’s word, the less the Spirit has to work with in us.

I want to insert one point as a kind of corrective or addition to last week’s sermon. As I focus on Scripture, and as I want you to focus on Scripture, I don’t want you to see Scripture as a kind of end in itself. We do not study the Bible just to know the Bible better. We do not love this book just because it is an amazing book. We study it to know the mind of God and to learn how to better serve him. In this book is the revelation of God’s truth about himself, about ourselves, and about the life he has called us to live. So study Scripture! And study it with God as your goal.

The result of Spirit-filling is given in verses 19-21. Here Paul describes three things the Spirit-filled believer will do. I think these actions are the Christian opposite to the sins of the sons of disobedience described back in 5:1-4 and the motivation of our action given at the end of verse 21 points back to where the chapter began, verses 1-2. The verses in between tell us a little more about the debauchery of the sons of disobedience and why Christians ought have nothing to do with such things.

Paul begins with worship. In verse 19 Paul tells us to speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. The speaking to one another or addressing one another is the action of Christians that goes against verse 4, the filthiness, foolish talk, and crude joking of the sons of disobedience. Instead of speaking filthy things to one another, we are to speak words of worship to one another.

The three types of ‘speaking’ or ‘singing’ that he mentions are different kinds of singing but Paul’s point is not so much to point out the differences in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. His point is to highlight the difference between sons of disobedience and children of light. Psalms are songs of worship that draw directly from Scripture, particularly the Psalms themselves. Hymns are prepared compositions, where we get the notion of a hymnbook. Spiritual songs are perhaps akin to praise songs and probably were more spontaneous, songs of worship created and offered during times of worship.

The content of all this is Scripture, directly or indirectly. In worship we either repeat back to God his words in Scripture or we praise God with an understanding of him and his works given to us in Scripture. The Spirit stirs the Word within us and out comes praise.

The second thing Paul mentions is thankfulness. Paul’s word in verse 20 is challenging. How can we give thanks always and for everything? Terrible things happen in this world. How can we give thanks in the midst of Haiti or abortion or dead loved ones?

One key is that we do not have to be thankful for terrible things that happen. For everything does not mean I pray thank you Lord for abortion. Such things are an abomination to God and he would not have his people be grateful for such things. What we do pray is thank you Father that even things such as these are not beyond your sovereign control and you are guiding all human history to a predetermined end. No sin or raging of Satan can thwart you. Nothing can turn the world aside from your purpose. Thank you that you promise to undo Satan and use even this terrible suffering for ultimate good.

Our hope, like our worship, comes from Scripture and from life. From Scripture we read the promises of God, his promise to work out all things according to his plan, his promise never to leave us nor abandon us. In Scripture and in life we have repeated examples of the faithfulness of God, that he sustains his people in suffering. Most of all, the promise and hope and example of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who has made us his children and has conquered sin and Satan and will return to bring his work to an end. When we are immersed in Scripture, the Spirit stirs these things in our minds day by day. The result is that we walk in thankfulness. No matter how Satan rages, we remember the goodness of God and we give thanks in all things. Thanks for his promises and faithfulness. Thanks that he has saved us and even if Satan should kill our bodies we have everlasting security with God.

The third demonstration of Spirit-filling is humble submission. In verse 21 we are told to submit to one another. This verse does double duty, it rounds out the examples of Spirit-filled living and it serves as a transition into the next part of Paul’s teaching when Paul will teach about the family life of believers. What we see is that one thing the Spirit stirs in us is humility. Through Scripture we learn how great God is and how small we are. We have no cause for proud posturing.

We are not a community of people striving for position over one another but we serve each other in humility just as God in Christ has served us. In Christ there is no rich or poor, slave or free, Jew or Gentile, man or woman, white or black, legal immigrant or illegal immigrant, democrat or republican. We gather as the people of God for the worship of God and we humble ourselves, serving one another.

At the end of verse 21 Paul gives one reason for submission that is, I believe, a reason for all of this: worship, thankfulness, and submission. Paul says we do these things out of reverence for Christ. People will talk in many exalted ways about Christ but to truly revere him and love him is to be like him. Imitation is the highest form of flattery, the old saying goes, so those who want to attest to the value of Christ will copy him, will try to live as he lived.

Paul has already told us to do this, back in verses 1-2: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. Imitate God, walk in the love of Christ. Christ glorified his Father, and this is the very definition of worship: to glorify God. Christ was thankful in all things. Christ was a humble servant, submitting to those around him. Not bowing to their whims, but humbling himself and putting their needs before his own. We revere Christ, and we follow after him, striving to live as he lived and thus to shine his light in the world.