WEBVTT 00:00:02.779 --> 00:00:05.660 Now I would need to ask if you would to pass 00:00:05.660 --> 00:00:07.719 your registration slips to the end of the aisle. 00:00:07.820 --> 00:00:09.580 Some of you were rushing to try to get that done 00:00:09.580 --> 00:00:11.800 before the offering plates were passed and didn't 00:00:11.800 --> 00:00:13.919 quite make it. And if you haven't even started 00:00:13.919 --> 00:00:15.720 yet, please take a moment right now, whether 00:00:15.720 --> 00:00:19.280 regular attender or a guest this morning, would 00:00:19.280 --> 00:00:21.920 you please complete for us the registration form? 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:25.440 We have ushers who will pick those up from you 00:00:25.440 --> 00:00:28.079 at the end of the rows. We'll give you a few 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:45.259 seconds to get the job done. It was my privilege 00:00:45.259 --> 00:00:50.079 to hear Gary Chapman this last summer at Winona 00:00:50.079 --> 00:00:52.140 Lake, Indiana, at the Bible conference there. 00:00:52.619 --> 00:00:55.479 And I'm really looking forward to his being here 00:00:55.479 --> 00:00:58.159 this weekend. And I hope all of you will plan 00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:01.659 to be here Friday night and Saturday to gain 00:01:01.659 --> 00:01:05.319 the insights of this man of God with relationship 00:01:05.319 --> 00:01:09.519 to our families. I can guarantee you that you 00:01:09.519 --> 00:01:11.739 will find the registration cost well returned 00:01:11.739 --> 00:01:16.500 to you. in practical understanding of what God 00:01:16.500 --> 00:01:18.799 has to say to us about how to function as husbands 00:01:18.799 --> 00:01:22.840 and wives, as parents and children. All right, 00:01:22.859 --> 00:01:24.920 now if you'll pass those, please, to the aisles. 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:26.819 The ushers will come and receive them from you. 00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:30.359 As all of us turn together in our Bibles to Ephesians 00:01:30.359 --> 00:01:43.930 chapter 5, beginning in verse 22. I'm going to 00:01:43.930 --> 00:01:47.530 read about the three first verses of our text 00:01:47.530 --> 00:01:50.670 today because we will be focusing on those three 00:01:50.670 --> 00:01:55.250 and then picking up there next week. Wives, be 00:01:55.250 --> 00:01:58.069 subject to your own husbands as to the Lord. 00:01:59.170 --> 00:02:02.430 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ 00:02:02.430 --> 00:02:06.890 also is the head of the church, he himself being 00:02:06.890 --> 00:02:11.069 the Savior of the body. But as the church is 00:02:11.069 --> 00:02:14.620 subject to Christ, So also the wives ought to 00:02:14.620 --> 00:02:18.740 be to their husbands in everything. Well, I think 00:02:18.740 --> 00:02:20.219 you can see this is going to be an interesting 00:02:20.219 --> 00:02:23.400 text. Let's bow together, please, in prayer. 00:02:25.639 --> 00:02:28.919 And now, Father, as we come to your Holy Word, 00:02:29.039 --> 00:02:33.879 we acknowledge it as your final authority in 00:02:33.879 --> 00:02:38.479 our lives. And we understand that as we obey 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:42.479 this Word and the power of the Holy Spirit, The 00:02:42.479 --> 00:02:44.900 Lordship of our Savior is being experienced, 00:02:45.020 --> 00:02:47.080 and may that be the experience of each of us. 00:02:48.879 --> 00:02:51.219 May we who have decided to follow the Savior 00:02:51.219 --> 00:02:56.560 do so wholeheartedly and in truth. Sing with 00:02:56.560 --> 00:03:04.659 me, would you? I have decided to follow Jesus. 00:03:07.259 --> 00:03:19.280 I have decided to follow Jesus. I have decided 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:33.259 to follow Jesus. No turning back. No turning 00:03:33.259 --> 00:03:41.319 back. Amen. Our text today, through chapter 6 00:03:41.319 --> 00:03:45.120 and verse 9, flows directly from the fountain 00:03:45.120 --> 00:03:50.259 of chapter 5 and verse 18. When the Holy Spirit 00:03:50.259 --> 00:03:54.639 is allowed to dominate and thus empower one's 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:58.379 life, there is no area that will be left the 00:03:58.379 --> 00:04:02.939 same. The Holy Spirit will convict and cleanse, 00:04:03.379 --> 00:04:09.930 expose and correct, instruct and enable that 00:04:09.930 --> 00:04:13.629 the life and conduct of God's child might be 00:04:13.629 --> 00:04:20.009 a worthy one. No part of our lives or our society 00:04:20.009 --> 00:04:25.149 is under greater pressure than our homes. The 00:04:25.149 --> 00:04:28.629 traditional family is in the minority today. 00:04:29.490 --> 00:04:33.939 The traditional roles of men and women husbands 00:04:33.939 --> 00:04:38.439 and wives, parents and children, are being dramatically 00:04:38.439 --> 00:04:43.819 challenged and altered by the thinking, writing, 00:04:44.060 --> 00:04:48.759 legislation, and social movements in our late 00:04:48.759 --> 00:04:54.560 20th century pagan culture. No longer does the 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:58.959 Judeo -Christian view of the family receive universal 00:04:58.959 --> 00:05:03.870 respect. In fact, it is viciously attacked by 00:05:03.870 --> 00:05:08.170 some while being ignored and forsaken by many. 00:05:09.089 --> 00:05:13.110 From school classrooms to the cubicles of abortion 00:05:13.110 --> 00:05:18.290 clinics, from courthouses to the halls of seminaries, 00:05:18.430 --> 00:05:22.730 from pages of magazines to media talk shows, 00:05:22.949 --> 00:05:27.470 and from popular television sitcoms to the outlets 00:05:27.470 --> 00:05:32.149 of pornography, What God has said regarding the 00:05:32.149 --> 00:05:37.730 home and the sacred roles of men and women is 00:05:37.730 --> 00:05:43.189 being mocked, argued, and redefined. In the place 00:05:43.189 --> 00:05:47.089 of divine revelation is being substituted human 00:05:47.089 --> 00:05:51.129 speculation, and the result is certain ruination 00:05:51.129 --> 00:05:57.970 in our society. And I think we need not expect 00:05:57.970 --> 00:06:02.370 a significant return to the past value systems 00:06:02.370 --> 00:06:07.569 and role understanding apart from a divine intervention 00:06:07.569 --> 00:06:12.050 and spiritual awakening unparalleled except perhaps 00:06:12.050 --> 00:06:16.769 in the days of ancient Nineveh. What is a concerned 00:06:16.769 --> 00:06:22.490 Christian to do? How can we who love God and 00:06:22.490 --> 00:06:26.529 trust Jesus Christ who believe the Bible to be 00:06:26.529 --> 00:06:31.310 God's inerrant revelation, who desire to obey 00:06:31.310 --> 00:06:35.310 God rather than men, and who bring our lives 00:06:35.310 --> 00:06:38.550 into conformity to Christ's lordship? How can 00:06:38.550 --> 00:06:42.750 we cope with the pressure of the rural system 00:06:42.750 --> 00:06:51.569 in the 1980s? The answer is simple. Only by experiencing 00:06:51.569 --> 00:06:57.029 consistently the power of the Holy Spirit in 00:06:57.029 --> 00:07:01.050 our lives. That is the only way that you and 00:07:01.050 --> 00:07:05.550 I can face and cope with the pressure that is 00:07:05.550 --> 00:07:09.889 being placed upon us by our world system. Either 00:07:09.889 --> 00:07:14.430 we will be transformers in our society because 00:07:14.430 --> 00:07:18.430 the Holy Spirit is dominating us, or we will 00:07:18.430 --> 00:07:24.839 be conformers to the world system. The Holy Spirit 00:07:24.839 --> 00:07:29.220 is God's resident power source in our lives. 00:07:30.300 --> 00:07:34.180 It is He who will produce the kind of home and 00:07:34.180 --> 00:07:37.519 relationships therein which will honor Christ 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:42.920 and be worthy of the name Christian. The Spirit 00:07:42.920 --> 00:07:47.420 -filled home will be known by relationships and 00:07:47.420 --> 00:07:51.639 roles conforming to the God -given pattern of 00:07:51.639 --> 00:07:57.139 Ephesians 5, 22 through chapter 6 and verse 9. 00:07:59.379 --> 00:08:04.459 Wives, be subject to your husbands. Husbands, 00:08:04.560 --> 00:08:11.839 love your wives. Children, obey your parents. 00:08:12.860 --> 00:08:24.189 Parents, nourish your children. wives be subject 00:08:24.189 --> 00:08:29.069 to your husbands. Let's think first about what 00:08:29.069 --> 00:08:33.610 this command means. I want to point out first 00:08:33.610 --> 00:08:36.590 of all that this is not a command given to all 00:08:36.590 --> 00:08:39.950 women with relationship to all men at all times. 00:08:41.570 --> 00:08:45.830 The command dealing with subjection is to wives 00:08:45.830 --> 00:08:51.259 with respect to their husbands. You will notice 00:08:51.259 --> 00:08:54.179 there is no verb in verse 22, that's why it's 00:08:54.179 --> 00:08:57.679 in italics, but clearly it is to be drawn from 00:08:57.679 --> 00:09:02.960 verse 21, where this spirit of mutual submission 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:07.159 and subjection is expected of all of us in our 00:09:07.159 --> 00:09:10.519 relationships to one another, and that in the 00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:13.480 context of the fear or the reverence of Christ. 00:09:14.980 --> 00:09:18.539 Now the Apostle brings that truth down into the 00:09:18.539 --> 00:09:22.379 home specifically, and he applies it to wives 00:09:22.379 --> 00:09:27.799 with respect to their husbands. The verb, as 00:09:27.799 --> 00:09:31.620 I pointed out last week, is from the military 00:09:31.620 --> 00:09:37.360 of that day. It means to line up under the authority 00:09:37.360 --> 00:09:44.259 of another. It refers to subordination to a recognized 00:09:44.259 --> 00:09:50.299 leader and authority in one's life. The command 00:09:50.299 --> 00:09:54.820 that God gives here to wives does not imply that 00:09:54.820 --> 00:10:00.200 the one who is in submission is inferior. There 00:10:00.200 --> 00:10:04.580 is no inequality that is intended or connoted 00:10:04.580 --> 00:10:10.539 by what is said here. It does not imply that 00:10:10.539 --> 00:10:16.200 the one in submission is, or rather loses, identity 00:10:16.200 --> 00:10:21.769 either. It does not mean that the wife's personhood, 00:10:21.929 --> 00:10:26.730 her individuality, her uniqueness is somehow 00:10:26.730 --> 00:10:30.490 submerged and lost in her husband's identity. 00:10:31.269 --> 00:10:35.809 It does not mean that. But what it does mean 00:10:35.809 --> 00:10:41.409 is that God, our Creator, has placed the wife 00:10:41.409 --> 00:10:47.200 under the leadership of her husband. This is 00:10:47.200 --> 00:10:50.320 elaborated upon in verse 33, where he says, Let 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:53.500 each individual among you also love his own wife 00:10:53.500 --> 00:10:58.259 even as himself, and let the wife see to it that 00:10:58.259 --> 00:11:02.659 she respect her husband. And so the term respect 00:11:02.659 --> 00:11:07.500 is used, or the term is also translated reverence. 00:11:08.340 --> 00:11:11.019 In fact, this is a term that is used in other 00:11:11.019 --> 00:11:14.830 places of our reverence for God. It does not 00:11:14.830 --> 00:11:17.470 mean that the wife is to be subject to her husband 00:11:17.470 --> 00:11:22.289 with terror or with fright of him, but rather 00:11:22.289 --> 00:11:25.629 as we are in the fear of the Lord, in reverence 00:11:25.629 --> 00:11:30.070 of him, therefore desiring to please him, so 00:11:30.070 --> 00:11:32.190 he is saying here that the wife should desire 00:11:32.190 --> 00:11:37.029 to please her husband. And notice that in verse 00:11:37.029 --> 00:11:41.470 24 this principle is said to apply in everything. 00:11:43.120 --> 00:11:46.220 As the church is subject to Christ, so the wives 00:11:46.220 --> 00:11:51.600 to their husbands in everything. Now does that 00:11:51.600 --> 00:11:56.659 mean absolutely everything? The answer to that 00:11:56.659 --> 00:12:02.799 is no, it does not. If a husband, for example, 00:12:02.799 --> 00:12:09.379 commands of his wife some immoral act, or some 00:12:09.379 --> 00:12:14.629 deed that is illegal, The wife is under no constraint 00:12:14.629 --> 00:12:17.450 from God to obey her husband in that matter. 00:12:20.590 --> 00:12:24.009 A higher principle comes into play at that point 00:12:24.009 --> 00:12:27.389 which says we ought to obey God rather than man. 00:12:29.389 --> 00:12:34.110 So it does not mean absolutely everything. But 00:12:34.110 --> 00:12:37.929 in the normal course of the carrying out of the 00:12:37.929 --> 00:12:43.740 home in its government, in its decisions, in 00:12:43.740 --> 00:12:48.580 its growth and maturation. The wife is said by 00:12:48.580 --> 00:12:51.879 God to be expected to be subject to him, to her 00:12:51.879 --> 00:12:56.000 husband, in everything. Now why is this command 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:01.000 given by God? Our text tells us that God has 00:13:01.000 --> 00:13:05.720 placed the husband as the head of the wife, just 00:13:05.720 --> 00:13:12.919 as God also has placed Christ as the head. Now 00:13:12.919 --> 00:13:15.639 because that is the rationale for the command, 00:13:15.980 --> 00:13:21.639 which cannot be misunderstood, there is a vigorous 00:13:21.639 --> 00:13:26.059 attempt these days to attack the rationale that 00:13:26.059 --> 00:13:30.179 the husband is the head of the wife. There is 00:13:30.179 --> 00:13:33.299 an attempt in certain circles, even of evangelicalism, 00:13:33.379 --> 00:13:39.090 to show that this word head means something less 00:13:39.090 --> 00:13:44.769 than authority over. Such writers as Paul K. 00:13:44.870 --> 00:13:50.450 Jewett, Berkeley and Alvara Michelson, Letha 00:13:50.450 --> 00:13:54.929 Scanzoni, Nancy Hardesty, Margaret Howe, Virginia 00:13:54.929 --> 00:13:58.870 Mollenkot, and even such a distinguished Bible 00:13:58.870 --> 00:14:03.210 scholar as F .F. Bruce all argue for this point. 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:06.740 that this word head in the Greek language does 00:14:06.740 --> 00:14:11.639 not mean authority over. Now, of course, if that 00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:15.419 can be proven, it undermines, they think, what 00:14:15.419 --> 00:14:18.639 is said in the command, wives be subject to your 00:14:18.639 --> 00:14:24.340 husbands. The Greek word here is kephale. Their 00:14:24.340 --> 00:14:27.539 argument is that this word head, or kephale, 00:14:27.820 --> 00:14:35.889 actually means source or origin. In other words, 00:14:35.970 --> 00:14:38.490 the husband is the source or the origin of the 00:14:38.490 --> 00:14:42.870 wife, they say. The Michelsons, in their writings, 00:14:42.950 --> 00:14:45.429 say that the word head is used here in the sense 00:14:45.429 --> 00:14:47.950 of, quote, the head of the Mississippi River, 00:14:48.169 --> 00:14:51.350 close quote. In other words, its source or its 00:14:51.350 --> 00:14:55.830 origin. They point out that man, or rather that 00:14:55.830 --> 00:14:59.929 woman, was derived from man, but that there is 00:14:59.929 --> 00:15:02.850 no authority here that is intended, they say. 00:15:04.240 --> 00:15:06.799 And in their writings, they use phrases like, 00:15:06.860 --> 00:15:09.580 such an understanding of kephale was, quote, 00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:13.919 commonly understood, close quote, in New Testament 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:19.220 days. Or they say, quote, there is careful documentation, 00:15:19.620 --> 00:15:23.059 close quote, which supports this redefinition 00:15:23.059 --> 00:15:26.059 of kephale. Now, do you know the interesting 00:15:26.059 --> 00:15:34.070 thing about this? That is absolutely false. That 00:15:34.070 --> 00:15:36.409 was not a common understanding in that day of 00:15:36.409 --> 00:15:40.789 the Greek word kephale. Nor is there careful 00:15:40.789 --> 00:15:44.250 documentation available to scholars to prove 00:15:44.250 --> 00:15:49.889 otherwise. If this is a matter of concern to 00:15:49.889 --> 00:15:53.330 you, and to some of you it is, I would like to 00:15:53.330 --> 00:15:56.710 recommend to you a book by George W. Knight III. 00:15:57.889 --> 00:16:02.120 That's K -N -I -G -H -T. who is the professor 00:16:02.120 --> 00:16:06.440 of New Testament at Covenant Theological Seminary 00:16:06.440 --> 00:16:10.200 in St. Louis. He has written a book published 00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:13.120 by Moody Press called The Rural Relationship 00:16:13.120 --> 00:16:20.460 of Men and Women. In this brief but thorough 00:16:20.460 --> 00:16:25.799 book, Dr. Knight exposes the superficial and 00:16:25.799 --> 00:16:29.600 fallacious claims of such writings as I've mentioned. 00:16:30.759 --> 00:16:33.980 In fact, he includes as an appendix in the book 00:16:33.980 --> 00:16:39.940 a survey that was done by Dr. Wayne Grudem, who 00:16:39.940 --> 00:16:42.799 is the assistant or associate, rather, professor 00:16:42.799 --> 00:16:46.299 of New Testament at Trinity Seminary in Chicago, 00:16:46.620 --> 00:16:50.220 in which he thoroughly surveys the Greek literature, 00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:56.899 examining over 2 ,300 examples of the use of 00:16:56.899 --> 00:17:03.980 kephale in ancient Greek. The result of his survey 00:17:03.980 --> 00:17:06.740 embarrasses the scholarship of those who attempt 00:17:06.740 --> 00:17:13.579 to redefine the word. To redefine head as being 00:17:13.579 --> 00:17:20.599 source or origin is a new meaning previously 00:17:20.599 --> 00:17:25.319 unrecognized by standard New Testament lexicons. 00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:29.779 Even in classical Greek language, that possible 00:17:29.779 --> 00:17:33.700 definition of kephale is found only two times. 00:17:34.259 --> 00:17:37.680 And careful research shows that it's doubtful 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:40.619 as a definition even those two times in all the 00:17:40.619 --> 00:17:43.839 ancient classical Greek language available to 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:49.279 us today. But suppose, just for a moment, that 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:54.009 it were a legitimate optional reading. Would 00:17:54.009 --> 00:17:56.609 it necessarily be the preferred meaning of the 00:17:56.609 --> 00:17:59.569 word kephale in the text in Ephesians chapter 00:17:59.569 --> 00:18:04.029 5? I think as one examines the text and what 00:18:04.029 --> 00:18:09.809 it says, the answer is strongly no. There is 00:18:09.809 --> 00:18:13.950 no scholarly basis for a redefinition of this 00:18:13.950 --> 00:18:17.990 word from its traditional historical understanding. 00:18:20.009 --> 00:18:22.869 The scholarly work that is being done by conservative 00:18:22.869 --> 00:18:28.490 evangelical authors absolutely devastates the 00:18:28.490 --> 00:18:31.230 theological arguments of the Christian feminist 00:18:31.230 --> 00:18:37.390 movement, so -called. The word head does mean 00:18:37.390 --> 00:18:46.180 authority over. lexicon that we have is Bower, 00:18:46.299 --> 00:18:48.500 Arndt, Gingrich, and Dankers. And in the case 00:18:48.500 --> 00:18:51.960 of that particular book, they say, quote, in 00:18:51.960 --> 00:18:55.579 the case of living beings, this word means to 00:18:55.579 --> 00:19:02.359 denote superior rank. Close quote. In verse 23, 00:19:02.640 --> 00:19:07.180 we see that the husband's headship, his authority, 00:19:07.259 --> 00:19:11.140 is compared to Christ's. Not that it's a perfect 00:19:11.140 --> 00:19:15.539 parallel by any means. But he says, just as Jesus 00:19:15.539 --> 00:19:18.319 Christ has been appointed head of the church, 00:19:18.579 --> 00:19:20.859 does that mean that he is only the source of 00:19:20.859 --> 00:19:25.019 the church? Does that mean that he is the origin 00:19:25.019 --> 00:19:29.480 of the church only? Absolutely not. In the context 00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:32.160 of the whole book of Ephesians, his authority 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:36.779 as head of the church, which is his body, is 00:19:36.779 --> 00:19:40.980 the theme. And he says, just as Jesus Christ 00:19:40.980 --> 00:19:44.039 is the head of his church, so is the husband 00:19:44.039 --> 00:19:49.900 the head of the wife. Now the Apostle Paul elaborates 00:19:49.900 --> 00:19:54.000 upon this in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. We do 00:19:54.000 --> 00:19:57.019 not have time to look thoroughly at the whole 00:19:57.019 --> 00:20:00.200 context here, but I would invite you to look 00:20:00.200 --> 00:20:04.180 there with me quickly at an overview of what 00:20:04.180 --> 00:20:09.859 Paul is saying. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and 00:20:09.859 --> 00:20:15.630 verse 3, He says, I want you to understand that 00:20:15.630 --> 00:20:20.890 Christ is the head of every man. In other words, 00:20:20.910 --> 00:20:26.789 every Christian man. And the man is the head 00:20:26.789 --> 00:20:34.029 of a woman. And God is the head of Christ. Notice 00:20:34.029 --> 00:20:37.930 he says that God is the head of Christ. Does 00:20:37.930 --> 00:20:41.329 that detract? from the person of Jesus Christ 00:20:41.329 --> 00:20:47.190 as incarnate deity? When it says God is the head 00:20:47.190 --> 00:20:50.549 of Christ, does that suggest that he is inferior 00:20:50.549 --> 00:20:56.390 or that he is less than equal to God the Father 00:20:56.390 --> 00:21:03.950 in his person? Of course it does not. It says 00:21:03.950 --> 00:21:08.400 Christ is the head of every man. So notice that 00:21:08.400 --> 00:21:11.400 the Christian man, likewise, is under authority 00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:17.140 of Jesus Christ. And he says, coming to completely 00:21:17.140 --> 00:21:20.140 or purely human relationships, he says the man 00:21:20.140 --> 00:21:25.180 is the head of a woman. Paul applies that in 00:21:25.180 --> 00:21:27.319 a specific way, but I want to skip down to verses 00:21:27.319 --> 00:21:30.180 8 and 9 where he comes to the reason for this. 00:21:30.299 --> 00:21:32.519 What is the basis for him making that statement? 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:36.779 He says, man does not originate from the woman, 00:21:36.940 --> 00:21:41.240 but woman from man. Of course, that is true. 00:21:41.640 --> 00:21:45.880 Eve was created out of Adam. And he says, for 00:21:45.880 --> 00:21:49.099 indeed, man was not created for the woman's sake, 00:21:49.259 --> 00:21:55.720 but woman for the man's sake. So the basis for 00:21:55.720 --> 00:21:57.839 his statement that man is the head of the woman 00:21:57.839 --> 00:22:00.599 does not go back to Genesis chapter 3 and the 00:22:00.599 --> 00:22:06.609 fall of man into sin. Now, if that were the case, 00:22:06.650 --> 00:22:08.730 some would argue that the redemption of Jesus 00:22:08.730 --> 00:22:14.390 Christ nullifies that and cancels it. But he 00:22:14.390 --> 00:22:18.730 goes back to Genesis chapter 2, to the created 00:22:18.730 --> 00:22:24.049 order before there was sin involved. And he says 00:22:24.049 --> 00:22:26.970 that is the basis for God's order in the home 00:22:26.970 --> 00:22:30.970 of the man over the woman, the husband, authority 00:22:30.970 --> 00:22:36.309 over the wife. Now lest some man should run off 00:22:36.309 --> 00:22:40.990 in a direction he should not, he goes on in the 00:22:40.990 --> 00:22:43.750 later statements here to show that there is an 00:22:43.750 --> 00:22:48.470 interdependence of the man and woman. Notice 00:22:48.470 --> 00:22:51.450 that he says in verse 11, However in the Lord, 00:22:51.490 --> 00:22:53.690 neither is the woman independent of the man, 00:22:53.829 --> 00:22:58.049 nor is man independent of woman. For as the woman 00:22:58.049 --> 00:23:00.950 originates from the man, so also the man has 00:23:00.950 --> 00:23:04.490 his birth through the woman. and all things originate 00:23:04.490 --> 00:23:09.069 from God. And so, lest a man somehow think that 00:23:09.069 --> 00:23:15.349 he is a dictator, or that he may somehow oppress 00:23:15.349 --> 00:23:18.890 his wife with his headship, the Apostle Paul 00:23:18.890 --> 00:23:21.549 goes on quickly to remind both man and woman 00:23:21.549 --> 00:23:23.809 that each is dependent upon the other. There 00:23:23.809 --> 00:23:26.549 is an interdependence that is involved here. 00:23:28.269 --> 00:23:33.000 The headship of the man, or the husband, is not 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:41.279 dictatorship. It is not independence. But it 00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:46.980 is responsibility and accountability for the 00:23:46.980 --> 00:23:51.400 governing, the decision -making, the leadership 00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:56.799 of the home. It does not mean that the wife has 00:23:56.799 --> 00:24:00.440 no place to express an opinion or even to disagree. 00:24:01.440 --> 00:24:06.400 because she has that absolute right. But ultimately, 00:24:06.700 --> 00:24:10.220 headship means responsibility, and God holds 00:24:10.220 --> 00:24:19.019 the husband responsible for the home. Dr. Hendrickson, 00:24:19.019 --> 00:24:22.759 in his commentary, says that the husband is the 00:24:22.759 --> 00:24:27.319 head as, quote, one vitally interested in her, 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:31.380 the wife's, welfare, close quote. Notice that 00:24:31.380 --> 00:24:35.079 Jesus Christ is the head of his church in our 00:24:35.079 --> 00:24:38.960 text. He is the Savior of the body. Not the dictator 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:41.720 of the body, it says, but the Savior of the body. 00:24:42.779 --> 00:24:45.940 As head of the church, he is the one who is interested 00:24:45.940 --> 00:24:51.140 in redemption of the body, the saving of the 00:24:51.140 --> 00:24:54.759 body. And so the husband, as head of the wife, 00:24:55.000 --> 00:25:00.519 is one vitally interested in her welfare. Not 00:25:00.519 --> 00:25:05.640 domineering her, but protecting her and providing 00:25:05.640 --> 00:25:10.119 for her. Now there are a number of arguments, 00:25:10.119 --> 00:25:13.059 of course, from those who disagree with this. 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:16.960 For example, in Galatians chapter 3, verse 28, 00:25:17.180 --> 00:25:21.319 and I would invite you to turn there, there's 00:25:21.319 --> 00:25:26.380 a marvelous statement. It says, there is neither 00:25:26.380 --> 00:25:30.299 Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free 00:25:30.299 --> 00:25:33.940 man. Notice, there is neither male nor female. 00:25:34.339 --> 00:25:39.539 You are all one in Christ Jesus. And so feminists 00:25:39.539 --> 00:25:43.480 tell us that this text shows that in Jesus Christ 00:25:43.480 --> 00:25:47.359 and his redemption, there is no longer any headship 00:25:47.359 --> 00:25:51.730 or any subjection. But we are all one and equal 00:25:51.730 --> 00:25:55.029 in Jesus Christ, and of course that is true with 00:25:55.029 --> 00:26:00.369 respect to the spiritual position we have. There 00:26:00.369 --> 00:26:04.190 is absolute equality in that spiritual position 00:26:04.190 --> 00:26:07.849 that man and woman, Jew and Gentile, slave and 00:26:07.849 --> 00:26:12.150 master, we all have before God. But what is said 00:26:12.150 --> 00:26:19.819 here does not nullify our maleness. Or our femaleness 00:26:19.819 --> 00:26:27.539 does it? We are still male and female. Nor does 00:26:27.539 --> 00:26:32.259 it nullify the role of each in the family under 00:26:32.259 --> 00:26:38.400 God. Then there are those who argue that this 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:41.019 relationship of husband and wife as described 00:26:41.019 --> 00:26:44.859 in Ephesians 5 is temporary. They say it's like 00:26:44.859 --> 00:26:48.460 the slave and master commands later in this paragraph, 00:26:48.619 --> 00:26:52.980 that it no longer applies since the social inequity 00:26:52.980 --> 00:26:57.480 has been thrown off. One says, quote, to insist 00:26:57.480 --> 00:27:02.299 on it also sanctions slavery and government by 00:27:02.299 --> 00:27:05.700 kings since apostles also gave commands about 00:27:05.700 --> 00:27:08.599 them, close quote. And therefore they say that 00:27:08.599 --> 00:27:11.740 this command in Ephesians 5 is culturally relative. 00:27:12.650 --> 00:27:15.470 As the culture changes, it's no longer true. 00:27:16.609 --> 00:27:20.029 Dr. Knight has an interesting statement regarding 00:27:20.029 --> 00:27:23.730 that. He says, quote, Notice carefully that the 00:27:23.730 --> 00:27:26.769 unchanging word of God speaks authoritatively 00:27:26.769 --> 00:27:30.089 to the culture of man that God allows to pass 00:27:30.089 --> 00:27:34.809 away. In other words, slavery. To the culture 00:27:34.809 --> 00:27:37.490 of man that God allows to change appropriately, 00:27:38.049 --> 00:27:43.359 like civil government. and to the culture of 00:27:43.359 --> 00:27:47.700 man that God requires man to maintain, the form 00:27:47.700 --> 00:27:51.759 of authority and headship in marriage. It is 00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:55.079 imperative, writes Dr. Knight, that we distinguish 00:27:55.079 --> 00:27:58.440 the areas of man's culture and not confuse them, 00:27:58.539 --> 00:28:01.799 as some have done in our doing. We must always 00:28:01.799 --> 00:28:05.299 understand, believe, and apply God's unchanging 00:28:05.299 --> 00:28:08.519 word in the way in which he directs us from within 00:28:08.519 --> 00:28:12.299 the word itself. Only then does it continue to 00:28:12.299 --> 00:28:15.640 be the authoritative word of God that stands 00:28:15.640 --> 00:28:22.500 over man's changing culture. Dr. Paul Jewett 00:28:22.500 --> 00:28:27.779 argues, quote, Paul's exegesis of Genesis 2 in 00:28:27.779 --> 00:28:31.779 1 Corinthians 11 is inaccurate, close quote. 00:28:32.839 --> 00:28:35.980 That is an amazing statement for a man to make 00:28:35.980 --> 00:28:39.809 who claims to be an evangelical. For when he 00:28:39.809 --> 00:28:43.910 says that Paul's exegesis in 1 Corinthians chapter 00:28:43.910 --> 00:28:48.230 11 is inaccurate, he is saying that the word 00:28:48.230 --> 00:28:54.230 of God is wrong. He is saying that God allowed 00:28:54.230 --> 00:28:57.309 his apostles and the writers of scripture to 00:28:57.309 --> 00:29:01.750 write in error, and yet they claimed to communicate 00:29:01.750 --> 00:29:07.019 God's will to the church. If Jude is right, then 00:29:07.019 --> 00:29:09.119 God has allowed the church to be in error for 00:29:09.119 --> 00:29:14.579 20 centuries. How good of God to give us this 00:29:14.579 --> 00:29:19.579 man to correct us at this late date, if that 00:29:19.579 --> 00:29:24.880 be the case. You see, what happens is that the 00:29:24.880 --> 00:29:27.420 authority of the word of God in our lives is 00:29:27.420 --> 00:29:30.180 undermined if we take the position of these people. 00:29:32.359 --> 00:29:34.980 God's revelation in brief regarding the home, 00:29:35.079 --> 00:29:37.700 his design for it is that the husband is the 00:29:37.700 --> 00:29:41.660 head, the wife is the helper. That is the language 00:29:41.660 --> 00:29:48.240 used. God warns against abuse of power by the 00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:53.240 husband, recognizing that sin corrodes relationships 00:29:53.240 --> 00:29:57.220 and alienates men and women, as well as all of 00:29:57.220 --> 00:30:02.150 us, from God. Therefore, God commands both the 00:30:02.150 --> 00:30:04.869 husband and the wife to do what they are naturally 00:30:04.869 --> 00:30:13.210 least likely to do. The wife to submit and the 00:30:13.210 --> 00:30:18.670 husband to love. Now, I want to make it very 00:30:18.670 --> 00:30:21.390 clear that this command in God's word to wives 00:30:21.390 --> 00:30:29.509 does not authorize any type of physical, or psychological 00:30:29.509 --> 00:30:33.049 or emotional abuse of the wife by the husband. 00:30:36.130 --> 00:30:41.769 It does not make the wife a slave to the husband. 00:30:43.069 --> 00:30:49.710 God views the husband and wife as co -regents, 00:30:49.710 --> 00:30:56.269 as heirs together of the grace of life. But God 00:30:56.269 --> 00:31:00.769 in his governing, of the human institution of 00:31:00.769 --> 00:31:05.089 the home has established the husband as the head 00:31:05.089 --> 00:31:10.289 with the final responsibility to him. Now, I 00:31:10.289 --> 00:31:12.210 could only wish that we had time this morning 00:31:12.210 --> 00:31:15.529 to talk to husbands, lest some of you go away 00:31:15.529 --> 00:31:17.829 with an unbalanced picture of what God says. 00:31:18.789 --> 00:31:22.289 But I can guarantee you this. If you come back 00:31:22.289 --> 00:31:27.299 next Sunday, by God's will, you husbands, will 00:31:27.299 --> 00:31:30.400 understand that you have the more difficult command 00:31:30.400 --> 00:31:36.299 in Ephesians chapter 5. There is a beautiful 00:31:36.299 --> 00:31:38.720 balance in the roles that God has established 00:31:38.720 --> 00:31:43.420 for the husband and wife, but the spirit of such 00:31:43.420 --> 00:31:47.019 a marriage where the wife submits herself to 00:31:47.019 --> 00:31:49.700 her husband and the husband loves his wife, that 00:31:49.700 --> 00:31:53.500 spirit can only be realized as the Spirit of 00:31:53.500 --> 00:31:59.319 God dominates. both husband and wife, enforcing 00:31:59.319 --> 00:32:04.980 the lordship of Jesus Christ. These commands 00:32:04.980 --> 00:32:08.960 from the word of God fly in the face of our present 00:32:08.960 --> 00:32:14.640 culture, but they are not harsh. Indeed, the 00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:16.640 commands that are given to us in the word of 00:32:16.640 --> 00:32:20.279 God when applied to our lives actually bring 00:32:20.279 --> 00:32:27.710 peace to troubled hearts and healing. to fractured 00:32:27.710 --> 00:32:34.490 homes. We never do wrong when we obey what God 00:32:34.490 --> 00:32:40.089 tells us to do. What we need is a fresh filling 00:32:40.089 --> 00:32:45.490 of God's Spirit. And for that fresh filling of 00:32:45.490 --> 00:32:50.390 God's Spirit, we need to confess our sin. And 00:32:50.390 --> 00:32:55.670 we need to desire the Spirit of God to empower 00:32:55.670 --> 00:32:59.750 us. and to yield ourselves unreservedly to him. 00:33:00.609 --> 00:33:03.730 May that be the attitude of our hearts today, 00:33:03.849 --> 00:33:08.789 whether we are single or married, or the husband 00:33:08.789 --> 00:33:13.650 or wife. May the cry of our hearts be that, oh, 00:33:13.650 --> 00:33:17.329 God would fill us with his Holy Spirit and enable 00:33:17.329 --> 00:33:21.049 us to experience the fullness of the blessing 00:33:21.049 --> 00:33:25.089 that God has designed in the Christian marriage. 00:33:26.019 --> 00:33:35.180 Let's pray together. Father in heaven, I pray 00:33:35.180 --> 00:33:39.039 that you will give to us, all of us, an understanding 00:33:39.039 --> 00:33:45.420 of your word. May we put aside our prejudice. 00:33:47.579 --> 00:33:54.019 May we put aside our misunderstanding. And I 00:33:54.019 --> 00:33:56.859 pray that the Holy Spirit will give us to comprehend 00:33:56.859 --> 00:34:03.819 the beauty, the balance, and the need for His 00:34:03.819 --> 00:34:07.480 infilling, that we may obey what you say here. 00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:12.679 Father, thank you for designing marriage in the 00:34:12.679 --> 00:34:19.420 home so that it not only works, but it works 00:34:19.420 --> 00:34:22.949 to the glory of God and to the good of... all 00:34:22.949 --> 00:34:27.610 of those in the home. Show us how to apply your 00:34:27.610 --> 00:34:32.050 word and make us transformers in our society, 00:34:32.210 --> 00:34:40.269 not conformers to it. In Jesus' name. Would you 00:34:40.269 --> 00:34:42.530 stand with me, please, and let's sing just a 00:34:42.530 --> 00:34:45.949 verse or two of the song that we sang earlier.