Renewed Relationships - Col 3:18 - 4:1

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October 10, 2021 - Morning Service Faith Bible Church - Sacramento, CA Renewed Relationships - Colossians 3:18-4:1

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Good morning to you all. Glad to see you here today. Hope you have a blessing from the
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Lord for being here today. Wanted to remind you of a couple of announcements, which we have an adult
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Sunday school at 930 each Sunday morning going through psalms.
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It's been a real blessing to myself I know and I hope it has been such to you. So we'd encourage you.
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It's been a very Blessed time. And again, we want to remind you that we have a prayer time tonight at six o 'clock which we
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Praise the Lord first of all, and then we have requests and I think it's been a blessed time.
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I think the Lord hears and answers prayer and Also, we have coming up we have our board meeting our leadership meeting this
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October the 13th this week at 630 and then if you look in your bulletin, they have the ladies
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Bible study this coming Saturday It's 10 o 'clock to 11 o 'clock and they're going over first Kings Chapter 8 verses 1 through 30.
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It's a long chapter Barb says so she split it in half so it's been a I always get the
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Message at home or at least sometimes I have to drag it out of her. But sometimes I get the message What did you say to the ladies, you know?
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Yeah, it keeps me guessing and guessing. Mm -hmm.
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I thought The verse that was picked. I don't know if Jack picked it But it says husbands loves your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her
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I thought that was a good verse because it was laying on my heart There's a bar played a song this morning.
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Most of you probably wouldn't know the tune but it's a hymn It's are you living where God answers prayer?
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and I wanted to read the words to you because it's all taken from the scripture and Do you realize that you and I as Christians like?
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When we God when we come and ask forgiveness Number one, there's judicial forgiveness when
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God gave us salvation, correct? But then when you're a Christian, there's parental forgiveness if you've sinned and you come and say to your father
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I've sinned please forgive me There's places in the scripture that says oh if you'll forgive others,
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I'll forgive you If you won't forgive others, I won't forgive you and he's talking about the parental we have to come to the place where we come to the
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Lord and say and But then there's things that we have to do. We have to give our right life straight
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Now what I want to read you the words to this song Because every line in here comes from the scripture
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And so it's are you living so it starts off? Are you dwelling today in a secret place where God can hear you pray that's in Matthew 6 6
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Can you come unto him in confidence and know that he will meet you there
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Verse 2 is do you walk in the light that he has given you committing your ways to him the
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Lord Gives you light in the scripture and then he wants you to act on it and If I've read some places in the scripture now, if you don't act on it
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I'm not going to teach you until you act on that what I've taught you So do you walk in the light?
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He's given you committing your way to him Do you ask him to search your heart and life and cast out your every sin and then verse?
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3 is do you freely forgive when you come to pray the one who wronged you?
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So that's Matthew 6 14 and 15 or if any ought
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If any hath ought against you Then to seek his forgiveness go and I believe that's kind of carried off in Matthew 5
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Might be other places too. Then the chorus is are you living where God answers prayer?
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Are you dwelling in him today? That you may claim in Jesus name and answer when you pray
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Are you sure there is nothing to hinder your blessed communion there?
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when you kneel at the throne your request to make known are you living where God answers prayer and I thought it's kind of interesting in first Peter 3 7
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Thinking what was put in the bullets and husbands love your wives. It says if you don't
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Love your wife properly it can hinder your prayers So we got got to keep it straight with Barb.
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Otherwise, my prayers just gonna bounce off the ceiling Right, and then that's scripture first Peter 3 7 enough preaching.
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Let's pray Thank you Lord that you have blessed us with your word you've given us instruction in your word
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Pray that you would give us the strength to carry out the instructions that we read in your word
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And we would thank you for that Lord. We pray now for the service today We would pray that you would be pastor ilgen and again
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We would pray Lord to give him freedom and liberty to speak the words from your word that you've given to him
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We pray for each individual that's here today may you be give us a blessing
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Lord and May you even speak to our hearts if there's areas that we need to take care of?
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We would pray for the music We pray that it might be a blessed time of singing praises to you and we thank you
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Lord that we have the liberty to come together and Meet together as a body of believers and we thank you for that privilege and we pray in Jesus name.
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Amen Let's stand and sing To our Lord Scripture read this morning is from Ephesians 5 verses 25 through 33
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Ephesians 5 25 through 33 Husbands love your wives
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Just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her That he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water
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By the word that he might present her to himself a glorious church
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Not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing But that she should be holy and without blemish
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So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself
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For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it just as the
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Lord does the church For we are members of his body of his flesh and of his bones
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For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh
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This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church
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Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as Himself and let the wife see that she respects her husband
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May God has read blessing to the reading and hearing of his Holy Word Please turn with me to Colossians chapter 3
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Verses 18 through chapter 4 verse 1 Colossians chapter 3 verses 18
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Through chapter 4 verse 1 wives Submit to your own husbands as is fitting in the
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Lord Husbands love your wives and do not be bitter toward them
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Children obey your parents in all things for this is well pleasing to the Lord Fathers do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged bond servants
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Obey in all things your masters according to the flesh not with eye service as men pleasers but in sincerity of heart
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Fearing God and whatever you do do it heartily as to the
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Lord and not to men Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the
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Lord Christ But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done and there is no partiality
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Masters give your bond servants. What is just and fair knowing that you also have a master in heaven
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This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray Father we are so thankful that Your word
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Tells us how we ought to live as new creation in Christ Father we pray that your spirit would guard us all throughout the week and help us obey
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What your word tells us? Because we trust you in Jesus name
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Amen after commanding the church to put on Christ and Do all things in his name
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Paul specifically lays out what that looks like in a Christian household
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He logically moves from the closest relationship marriage
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To the larger circle of household slaves or bond servants and their masters
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It is important to note that Paul here is not making a social commentary on slavery
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Whether he approves of it or not for many opponents of Christianity, they would quote a verse like this passage like this and run with the idea that Christianity supports slavery
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However, the purpose of this passage is not to support nor abolish slavery, but to show
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What life would have looked like in a first century Christian household?
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And how they must live with this new reality of being new creation in Christ How does that fact that they're made new in Christ?
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Change how they relate to one another in a Christian household in the first century after all
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Paul's main focus was not a systemic change
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But a change in an individual's life from being dead in sin to being alive in Christ Because the gospel was spreading to all social levels
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Paul had to address what that looks like for not only to husbands and wives
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But also to the kids and also to the masters and the slaves Because they all had a new identity in Christ Christianity wasn't an elite organization for the
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Roman men or the wealthy elites But it affected every relationship circle imaginable and This is important to us today
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Because the world will try to jumble up That order that Christianity follows in a family household
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For one thing fathers are no longer present They might not even be physically there in the household
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Because they're going after their own desires and passions But there are also fathers who are physically present
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But spiritually and emotionally absent They do not take charge of their family to lead their kids to Christ They do not make decisions for the family for for their well -being
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They leave that up to Either the government or other family members and this is also important today because kids
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Are called to lead the family It's all about the kids now what the kids want to do.
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We will move the whole family what the kids decide we will Make decisions all around the kids now.
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I'm not saying to ignore the kids But the kids do not lead the family.
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We do not bow to the desires of the children if It goes against God's Word.
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We do not bow to children period so we have to remember what does it look like what does the
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Bible tell us a family household looks like as new creation as Those who are united with Christ So the main point is as a new humanity
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Christ completely renews all of our relationships as new humanity
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Christ completely renews all of our relationships First the standard for marriage is set by Christ The standard is of marriage is set by Christ First Paul starts out with the closest circle of relationship marriage
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Paul addresses the wives first Wives submit to your own husbands as is fitting in the
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Lord in A more egalitarian country like like our country, right?
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verse 18 can sound harsh or foreign to many of us However, we ought to expect
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Scripture to speak Uncomfortable words into our culture as it has
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Done so in many other cultures all the cultures. In fact Contrary to the cultural view today
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It is important to note that the act of submitting Does not say anything about one's worth
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The act of submitting does not say anything about one's worth
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It is a common misconception that our function determines our worth
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Our culture puts so much weight in education and monetary success
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That we put social order as our identity However, that is plainly false in the
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Bible What we do does not determine who we are as Identity but rather to whom we belong determines our identity
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We are in Christ. We belong to Christ That means our first and foremost identity is in Christ.
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I Am NOT a pastor first but a child of God and You're not a nurse or a teacher or a government worker first You're the redeemed of Christ.
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You're children of God that's your first identity in Christ a
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Homeless man is just as valuable as a billionaire who is in Christ in Christ the one who submits is just as valuable as the one who leads
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Submission does not mean less in worth or dignity submission is not reserved for second -class an
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Example of submission not affecting worth is best seen in Jesus himself
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Paul says in 1st Corinthians 15 28 That now when all things are made subject to him
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Jesus Then the Son himself will also subject to him
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God the Father who put all things under him that God may be all in all the word subject here in This verse is the same word used in Colossians 3 18 for wives submitting to their husbands
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The act of Jesus submitting to his father does not make Jesus less divine
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Or less valuable The act of Jesus submitting to his father does not make him less
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God such a view would be utterly heretical and scripturally inconsistent
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Because it is clear that Jesus is God Just as God the
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Father is God What it tells us is that submission does not say
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Anything about one's value and dignity This means
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Husbands and wives are equal in worth and dignity in Christ This was an extremely countercultural view in the ancient days
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In those days women were viewed actually as second -class citizens However in Christ women were made
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Acceptable to God just as men were the same path through faith in Christ alone by God's grace
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Women didn't have a harder road to salvation than men. It was the same
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Savior Jesus They were forgiven by the same blood just as men were
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They were adopted as children of God just as men were and All the spiritual privilege and blessings that men received so did women
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Right the same Holy Spirit the same adoption Same sanctification we are all becoming more like Christ.
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There is not a lesser version that women are becoming in that sense
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Christianity also rubbed the ancient Roman culture the wrong way Again the
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Christian worldview corrects every culture Impartially submitting means
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There is an order in the household. There's a hierarchy God intended husbands to lead wives
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This means wives do not lead husbands But the order is set this way by God himself
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Ultimately the important household decisions are made by men of the household
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This does not mean the husband does not consult the wife before making an important decision
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This does not mean wives do not get an input But rather the husband makes the final decision for the well -being of the whole household
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Right. The decision is not selfish. It's not to benefit the husband. I'm gonna get a new car because mine
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Well, the new car came out. It's for me. No the decisions made for the benefit of the wives benefit of the children and this means the one who is responsible for and held accountable for such decisions is
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Will be the husbands and this is a serious matter
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Husbands if you do not lead your family well God will hold you accountable
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You will have to answer to God as to why his daughter Was not protected and cared for With love
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On that day, you will not be able to use that Adamic excuse right and blame your wife the woman you gave me
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No, God will hold the husbands accountable For how they leave lead and care for their wives
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And why do wives have to submit to their husbands? Is it because they're less intelligent than their husbands?
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No doesn't say that Is it because they're not capable of making good decisions?
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No The bible does not say any of those things But rather As is fitting to the lord
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The prime motivation for wives submitting to their husbands Is because of their new identity in christ
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Because they are now found in christ They follow the set standard in christ
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Christ designed the marriage union to be complementary Men and women have different roles but are working together in a beautiful harmony
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It is it is a duet and each person sings a different part, right?
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And precisely through this difference the marriage union stands out and shines
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After all imagine a duet where two people are singing the same part It's just a louder solo
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Each part in marriage complements each other It's a puzzle that fits together each part brings out the best in the other
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That's the beauty of christ's design for marriage it reflects his relationship with the church
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Just as the as christ leads the church Yet is intimate intimately united with her
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A husband leads his wife and is intimately united with her
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The complementary marriage relationship in the end ultimately reflects The relationship that christ has with his church next
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Paul addresses the men of the house verse 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them
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As wives submit to their husbands husbands are to love their wives Love is the highest virtue in scripture
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Love prioritizes others and their needs before yours
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This is a very difficult command to follow As wives submit to their husbands husbands ought to love their wives
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What does husband loving his wife look like Paul explains it in a greater detail in the text that david read today ephesians 5 25 through 27 husbands
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Love your wives just as christ also loved the church and gave himself for her
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That he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word
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That he might present her To himself a glorious church not having a spot or wrinkle or any such thing
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But that she should be holy and without blemish The gold standard
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For love is christ's love for his bride the church
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First christ's love for the church is self -sacrificial It cost him his life
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So that his bride may live He laid down his life for his bride
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That's the type of posture that earthly husbands have for their earthly wives in christ it is not coercive
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Christ does not force you to believe Christ does not force you to do things
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It is not manipulative It doesn't make
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Christ doesn't make the church Do things that they don't want to do It is not overbearing
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It doesn't hold The love doesn't hold its power over the bride
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Not only that christ's love Seeks the best for his bride Jesus didn't leave the church after saving her
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He cleanses her and sanctifies her until the end To present her as holy and wrinkle -free
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Husbands does your attitude? Toward your wife reflect that of christ
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Husbands as you your decisions are your decisions seeking the best for your wives
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Even if it costs you That she may be presented holy before god
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On the judgment day Will you be able to tell god the father that you looked after his daughter?
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Well, just as christ did for the church That is the standard of love
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I don't know about you. I think the command to love is much harder than to submit It will be scarier for husbands who do not love the wives the daughters of the very king
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What a scary thought After the positive command to love paul states the command negatively what not to do
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Do not be bitter toward them bitterness Is rooted deeply in unforgiveness
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It is to hold a grudge against someone for a series of disappointing events
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Paul says do not be bitter toward your wives in the marriage union
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Which reflects christ's relationship with the church bitterness has no place
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After all christ is never embittered by his people Imagine that he does not hold anything against you if you're in christ
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There is not a second when christ has considered not forgiving his people
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Not a second passes by There is not a second in which christ has held any rotting feeling toward the church christ
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Is a fountain of forgiveness Not just seven times but 77 times
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He will forgive not hesitantly Or sparingly
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Oh, this is your last time That won't ever leave his mouth But he forgives lavishly
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Christ lives to forgive those who come to him husbands
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Because you are to love your wives as christ does the church Bitterness against your wives has no business being in your heart at all
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It is not about hiding bitter feelings Well, but the bitter feeling itself must not even be present inside of you
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If you're harboring any bitterness toward your wife You ought to surrender that unforgiveness to god
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Remove yourself from the judgment seat And let christ be the judge
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You have no business judging your life for any sin because you're not the judge
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That's how we deal with the bitterness We surrender it to god as a new humanity united to the
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Last adam christ We have to keep the order that was established
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Since the beginning Men leading and loving women
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And women submitting to their men Consider how sin entered the world
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The serpent entices eve That she could be like god worthy of worship
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By eating the fruit that's forbidden to them Now, where was adam?
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Was he absent during this encounter? Was he not aware of this conversation with eve and serpent?
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No genesis 3 6 tells us So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes
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And that the tree was to be desired to make one wise She took of its fruit and ate and she also gave some to her husband who was with her
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When adam and eve rebelled against god adam failed to lead and protect eve if adam
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Had done his job, right? To be the leader of the household The serpent would have been crushed on the ground that moment
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And sin would have never entered the world This is what happens when men do not lead and protect his household
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When humans rebelled against god, they flipped the order that god established In the marriage union nowadays our culture distorts the order as well
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The order that god has set for us We teach boys to stop leading
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And we tell girls to start leading boys We're raising passive men and training up aggressive women
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Just turn on the tv our culture
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After that celebrates it When young boys play superhero and fight bad guys
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They're told it's inappropriate Well, how are they going to learn to protect their wives?
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How are they going to know that they're supposed to be the heroes of the household fathers are the heroes
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When young boys want to be policemen or soldiers They're discouraged from being heroes who lead
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Similarly when young girls want to be stay -home mothers They're told why not consider a ceo or doctor or lawyers instead
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No, this is not to say that women cannot work In those fields even
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But motherhood must not be discouraged It must not be the lesser option
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Because motherhood is a noble calling The opportunity to disciple and nurture her own children
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Is a divine gift but the culture Will put it down The culture has flipped god's intended order in the marriage
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Movies and tv shows highlight women leaving their men for the greater true love or their careers even and vice versa men being absent in the family or men who are portrayed as bumbling idiots who can't lead
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Most cartoon character dads are not the ones the bible portrays
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They're helpless They need help from the mothers And in fact in the end the mothers tend to make the decisions in those shows
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Loyalty is ignored And submission is discarded In the school system students are taught that everything wrong with the world is due to patriarchy
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And teach that if women rule the world it would be better But we know that queens of the earth were just as violent and capable of doing wicked things
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Think of bloody mary Think of zarina catherine Because at the core of the problem is not male leadership
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But the core of the problem Is sin which affects both men and women
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Indiscriminately And what kind of man does our country have passive men
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Irresponsible man man, babies A passive man who does not take responsibility in leading whatsoever
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When life gets hard he abandons his wife He does not make wise decisions, but surrenders that duty to someone else
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Maybe his own dad or his own mom or his in -laws Well, they said it's good to do this, so yeah, let's do that No men need to take responsibility for their own decisions for their family not they told me to but I have decided to Passive men do not commit in relationships and this hurts the women the most
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Passive men just use women for pleasure and when they're done They will move on to other women other interests video games
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Passive men objectify women for their own pleasure and do not treasure women as christ does the church
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There is no love only lust There is not loyalty only self -centeredness
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For the men of the church our example is not the culture, but christ
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We ought to look to christ who who he is and what he has done for the church
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In order to love our wives well joyfully sacrificing for the good of our wives
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Taking responsibility for our actions that we take and faithfully protecting and providing for her so that you may present her to god the father
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As daughters of god who were well taken care of That's the goal and that's because that's their main identity before she is your wife
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She's the daughter of god Now before he is your husband
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He's a son of god we Submit and then we love in this relationship of marriage because of our new identity in christ
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For both parties now, how does christ affect parenthood?
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The obedience to our parents is to please christ The obedience to our parents is to please christ
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From the marriage relationship paul broadens the audience to the whole family Similar to the last section paul addresses the children before the men of the household children
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Obey your parents in all things for this is well pleasing to the lord Here children are believed to be young children who are living with their parents
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After all this whole passage is addressing those who are in the same household Those who live together
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Here the command to obey is stronger than the command to submit This command is further modified by the phrase in all things
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Not just when you feel like it Not just when you think is logically correct
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Correct But in all things Now this does not mean if your parents cause you to sin
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That you obeyed them For example a lot of children who have non -christian parents
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The parents might even forbid them from going to church to worship
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In those cases The children need to obey god rather than their parents and it is
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Difficult, but that is the reality of living in a fallen world Just because the kids are saved doesn't mean the parents are
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Paul's command here is generally to the christian household So he has in mind both parents and the kids
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Who are new in christ who are new creation in christ That's why he can say obey your parents in all things
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Because the assumption is that children under christian parents Would be commanded to do things that are obedient to god as well
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Now, what is the ultimate motivation for the children to obey their parents? Is it so they do not get grounded or spanked?
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No, is this so that they please their parents? No, the ultimate motivation for the children to obey their parents
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Is to please the lord It is not a self -centered motivation of avoiding punishment
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And it is not an other centered motivation of pleasing man But rather it's to please the lord that is the primary motivation for children to obey their parents
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This is astounding because Children you can honor christ and please him who rules all things
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Just by obeying your parents In the end when children obey their parents because of christ, they are ultimately obeying christ
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The motivation is christ When a household is saved by faith the whole dynamic of parental relationship changes
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Right No longer are the children just your children. These children belong to the lord
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They're god's children. You just have temporary custody over them until they grow up to become godly men and women
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In christ there is a higher purpose for obedience It is not just to please the parents but to please christ the savior
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Children's obedience now is done out of their love for christ Next paul concisely addresses the fathers
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Fathers do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged This is a reasonable request
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But it would have been very very counter -cultural back then In ancient rome the father of the house had much much more power
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In fact, they could decide whether a child lived or not
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The roman culture allowed for the fathers to decide The lives of the children so When it says do not provoke your children
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It's astounding Not provoking Means not irritating
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Not provoking means not overbearing Not provoking means not threatening
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The goal of parenting is not about control But discipling your children to know god know christ
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The purpose of parenting is nurturing your kids so they grow up to be godly women and men
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Who represent christ well in all facets facets of life Your children first and foremost belong to god thus
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We have to treat them as so They're not yours first and foremost they're gods
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Because of this we dare not irritate our children to lead them to discouragement
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Right when parents can get overbearing children can get disheartened They might get timid
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They just lose any hope. What's the point? I tried my best, but i'm still not meeting
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The standards that my parents have for me because of this
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We better not overwhelm them with endless demands that are impossible to meet
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That they end up timid and disheartened We have to know that the children first and foremost belong to god
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That's their identity. They are sons and daughters of god, too in the nuclear family
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The the bible makes clear that there is a clear order hierarchy The husband leads his wife and the parents lead their children and the children obey their parents
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Uh, this is an order that god has set up for our good even
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And it is not surprising that the world flips the order And we see the world crashing and burning as a consequence
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In our country this parental order is lost. We live in a country where parents obey their children
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Oh, I I don't discipline my kids because psychology said it's bad for their development
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Or I'm going to let my kid define their gender when they're old enough
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Or even species that's the scary thought There are kids who are thinking they're rabbits
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And acting as so in the classroom Wearing the rabbit ears and making rabbit sounds
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Parents who let their children to surgically change their body parts is committing a great abuse
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They are neglecting what god has told them to do in taking care of and protecting their children
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If the parents have the boldness to disagree with their kids They're ultimately labeled as bigots and child abusers
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And you see the effect of this lost hierarchy now multiple generations of spoiled entitled brats
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And parents who worship them in approval Teenagers go online to curse out their parents for not letting them play video games all night
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And they're praised by the world Oh, I feel so sorry for you that you had to go through that Children cancel their parents on twitter for their conservative political views
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There is no wonder why our country is headed towards socialism and communism. We've raised them entitled
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We've raised them to think that they deserve all these good things unearned
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We have flipped the godly order and raised up narcissistic generation Who think the government now their new parents
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Owe them everything from healthcare Education to even their income
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Now universal income is in discussion You don't even have to work. The government will pay you
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Just like a parent However for christian households, we must keep the order focused on how christ has set it up Children you obey your parents because it is pleasing to christ
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The moment children disobey their parents. It means it does not please christ Think on that Now, how does our identity with christ affect beyond the nuclear family?
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Both slaves and masters are under christ the heavenly master
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Paul broadens to bond servants or slaves Bond servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh not with eye service as men pleasers
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But in sincerity of heart fearing god First it is important that we must not view the roman slavery as equivalent under the same lens as the american slavery system
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Slavery in ancient rome did not depend on the color of the skin But only their social status
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Unlike american slavery people could sell themselves into slavery. They were not often kidnapped into slavery
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And when they could They could buy themselves out. They could buy their own freedom, which was much much more rare in american slavery
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And oftentimes they entered into slavery to pay off their debt Some sometimes it was voluntary now
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Because slavery did not depend on the skin color The former slaves who were freed they were not stigmatized
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Right as freed slaves. They would not be discriminated against Uh Most importantly we have to consider the fact that paul here is not to overthrow systems
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He knows that the world doesn't get better from changing systems from human effort he knows that the world changes from an individual basis when the heart changes
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And you would see in how he addresses slavery The bible really sets up slavery to crumble from the church
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This is why The christians led the abolition movements
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They could not fathom slavery Existing where it dehumanized a certain group of people because of the color of their skin who were made in the image of god
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And This happened in rome and it happened in the british empire the biggest empire to overthrow slavery once and for all
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So the most striking thing paul does In this letter is that he actually addresses the slaves
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In the roman empire slaves were treated as tools or think furniture
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The fact that the apostle paul would address them as part of the church was radical
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He valued them enough to address them personally the church
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Welcomed even the lowest rank and called them brothers and sisters
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Secondly their owners are referred to as earthly masters right masters of the flesh.
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What does that mean? It means their status as slaves is only temporary
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That's not who they are the slaves are not Slaves, they're they're not it's not their identity
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All of the slaves were meant to be under the heavenly master Just as their earthly masters were
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Their social status in the end were at best earthly It was temporary
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Now, what does paul command them to do? Bond servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh
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Not with eye service as men pleasers, but in sincerity of heart fearing god
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He says obey in everything those who are your earthly masters Not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart
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Fearing the lord paul is saying You are under the authority of your earthly masters
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But there's a greater master who is above them And you're actually under them
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He confirms this in the next verse And whatever you do do it heartily as to the lord and not to men
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Ultimately, they're serving god Not their earthly masters
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Because this great master jesus knows even your heart and intent you obey him
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The motivation is still jesus With earthly masters. All you have to do is pretend to work only when he's walking by And that's eye service as men pleasers, right
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It's for the eyes to see and it pleases men But because you have a new greater master you actually work hard knowing that ultimately you're working for him
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You're working for jesus Notice how paul does not tell them to fear their earthly masters either right but fear god
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Even their posture towards their earthly master is different Slaves who were not freed in christ
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They had every reason to fear earthly masters They could get hurt. They could even die
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Not so these christians the newly freed christians who happen to be slaves
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They only had to fear god Paul doesn't say fear your earthly masters.
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No your posture of fear is to god alone Just as freed people would too
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And he gives them the reason why For it is the first it is the positive reason verse 24
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Knowing that from the lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the lord christ
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The reason for slaves serving their master is not because slavery is correct
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The reason for slaves serving their master is not because they deserved it No, the reason is because the heavenly reality that the slaves were now under Their identity is heirs of christ not earthly slaves
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They belong to the heavenly master first and foremost What will they get from the heavenly master for their obedience?
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the reward of inheritance This is an astounding verse because slaves did not have much to do with inheritance
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Inheritance was for the wealthy free men not slaves But not so in christ
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Here slaves are promised reward not from their earthly masters But from their heavenly master jesus
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Their heavenly master will lavish them with a bountiful reward They will be repaid by the lord himself because in reality
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They are serving jesus when they're doing hard work They're actually serving jesus.
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It's for christ And even if the earthly masters do not reward them at all
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Because they do not see all the hard work done Their heavenly master will not miss a second of it
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Also inheritance was reserved only for the promised people of god Paul is telling the slaves the lowest members of the society back then
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That they belong to the promised people of god the highest heavenly rank
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The most superb privilege known to man The highest honor the heavens could bestow
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Was promised to the lowest members of the earthly realm Only because of their new identity in christ
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They did not have to be free in order to be saved into the kingdom of god They were already freed from sin by the work of christ on the cross
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I don't know about you belonging to god trumps any earthly social privilege
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It's better to be a slave who belongs to god Than to be a king who is against god because the eternal
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Perspective Is at stake here The second reason for full obedience is negative
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But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done and there is no impartiality.
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No partiality The fact that jesus sees all things could also be a motivation to cease from doing evil work being doing deceitful work
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He not only knows when you're serving him faithfully But he sees the wrong things too
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Paul tells the slaves that those who do wrong will be held to account And there is no partiality
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He judges based upon true justice biblical justice And this is a stern warning for those who disobey
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Thinking that their earthly masters will not catch them Their greater heavenly master.
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However will And lastly paul addresses the earthly masters
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Masters give your bond servants. What is just and fair knowing that you also have a master in heaven
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This is a firm reminder to the masters that they do not
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Get to do whatever they want to these slaves Just because there is no one holding them accountable on earth
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Just because the roman government is allowing for slavery doesn't mean god is okay with that Paul reminds them that justice and fairness are expected and required from them
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After all if these earthly masters withheld justice and fairness they are withholding jesus workers justice and fairness their sons and daughters
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Jesus sons and daughters are held withheld justice
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And this is why they also must know that they have a heavenly master In the end both the slaves and masters
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Serve one singular Master and that's jesus christ That is the motivation for treating the ones who are below you with justice
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And Although we do not have slavery in this country the most applicable thing would be jobs or military service
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For some of you you have to work in order to feed your family you don't have a choice
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For some of you you are bound to work by a contract you can't leave the contract until a certain time
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For some of you your managers are harsh and overly demanding They don't understand you and to you
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Paul encourages us to see from the heavenly perspective God has placed you there for a reason and everything you do you are actually doing it for christ
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Even if your work is secular You don't have to be a minister in the church to work for christ
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You're working for christ right now when you're grinding Right, you're doing things and you feel like no one's appreciating you
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You feel like this doesn't have any Consequence in the kingdom of god
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But paul says you're actually serving jesus Right the slaves were not doing ministry when they were slaves they were washing they were cleaning they were cooking
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Yet paul says you're serving jesus which means
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Every item you shelf Every report you type Every client you talk to you're ultimately working for christ
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And that's an honor You're working for the king of kings And there are seasons where you will be doing work that you do not enjoy
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Work that are totally unrelated to what you studied Or what you desire to do in the long term
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However daily faithfulness at work is daily faithfulness to our heavenly master jesus
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In the end we're not serving our earthly managers or clients But jesus the heavenly master
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We can submit and obey lesser authorities Knowing that we are ultimately submitting to jesus himself
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And as people united to jesus as new humanity
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Every relationship is reshaped and renewed in christ
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Let us pray Father we're thankful that we are not our jobs
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We are not What we do but we are Found in christ our identity is in christ
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We're sons and daughters of christ and god because of that fact it totally changes how we interact with everyone
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Starting from our family and father. I pray that we would walk in a manner worthy of our new identity in christ in jesus name amen
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Will it stand for our closing song? How true it is we are god's people