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Well, I am grateful this morning to be able to invite Lee to come and bring the word this is. Something I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do. I didn't know if I would be with you this morning. We're waiting any moment, and if you see me get up and leave quickly.
You'll know what has happened. Jennifer is having contractions, so it could happen anytime, but I'm grateful that Lee and Adam and Mike and Have all Given me the opportunity to have a little time off from the study in preparation for preaching.
So I want to just express my thankfulness to all of them for doing so and I want to invite Lee up now to bring.
The word brother. We're living today in a rapidly changing culture and.
Most of the changes are not for the better. Almost the only thing that is not changing today is God and the truth of his eternal word.
With that in mind I invite you to open your Bibles to first Peter this morning.
We're going to examine only one verse with close attention. But it's a verse that is jam-packed. With the kind of godly instruction that is much needed at this present time. It's my hope that everyone will be attentive and focused on God's Word.
Especially the husbands who are present today. The verse we'll be looking at is verse 7 in chapter 3 and Now as is our custom at Sovereign Grace Family Church. Please stand for the reading and hearing of God's Word first.
Peter chapter 3 and verse 7 likewise husbands. Live with your wives in an understanding way. Showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel. Since they are heirs with you of the grace of life. So that your prayers may not be hindered.
Let us pray our Father in heaven. Thank you for giving us the living and abiding Word. It is your word that gives us spiritual life, and it's your word that strengthens the spiritual life we have been given and Because you know the end from the beginning and our unchanging.
Your word is just as true today as it was in the first century. May this portion of it relating to marriage be of benefit to everyone here today. But may it be especially enlightening and convicting to husbands Who have a godly calling?
To love their wives as Christ loves the church in his name and for his sake. I pray amen, please be seated husbands if you are married to a Christian woman and Accept verse 7 as God speaking to you. It's quite possible.
You may leave here today with a new appreciation for your wife and A new understanding of your calling to be a godly husband. I say that Because if your wife is a believer You have been given a great treasure by God.
That believing wife of yours is royalty a daughter of the King of Kings. Because verse 7 is a verse that speaks first and foremost to husbands. Those present today who are not husbands Might be inclined to listen with less than full attention.
That would be a lost opportunity because 2nd Timothy 3 16 tells us that all scripture is profitable. It's profitable for teaching for reproof for correction and for training in righteousness. If we wanted to sum up that verse we could simply say that the scriptures are profitable for everything we need for salvation.
That's because it is scripture that brings us to the cross it is scripture that convicts us of our sin and shows us the way back and it's scripture that leads us to spiritual maturity. All scripture is profitable and All of scripture is profitable for all Christians male and female young and old married and unmarried all Christians profit from the scriptures.
Even when a verse or a passage is Not aimed specifically at them. Scripture is profitable for Christians. The wisdom of the world is not profitable. The Apostle Paul warned about this in Romans 12 chapter 2 when he said.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Christian do not copy the world or allow the world to shape your mind. But conform your thinking to the Word of God put on the mind of Christ.
The world that Paul warned believers about is obviously not the beautiful world of creation with all of its natural wonders. Paul had another world in mind in Romans chapter 12. He was speaking about those in the world Who have lived with enmity with God?
Ever since Cain murdered Abel those who do not acknowledge God as God. Altogether they make up what we could call a sinful world system whose agenda is opposition to God and opposition to God's people.
Do not copy that world says Paul. Do not be like unbelievers. Do not take on their ways and values. Fill your mind with the Word of God and pray for strength. To resist the pressure to conform to the culture of the world.
Husbands especially need to resist the pressure of the world. Because God has made the husband to be the head of the house. It's the husband who is responsible for the spiritual quality of his marriage in his home and If he doesn't provide godly leadership, it's the Word of God that will reprove him.
Once he has been reproved once he has been shown his errors. He needs to know how to get back on track. He needs correction and it's Scripture that will guide him back to the godly husband path through tears of repentance if need be.
Verse 7 isn't a complicated teaching. It simply lays out two duties for husbands and a reason for each duty. But before we look at those I'd like to review what Peter Has said leading up to verse 7. So the context of verse 7 will be clear.
So turn back to chapter 1 and You'll immediately see that obedience was one of the main themes of Peter's letter. Follow along as I read verses 1 2. Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus Galatia Cappadocia Asia and Bithynia.
He elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father in Sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. God has a purpose in electing some to eternal life and That purpose is to cleanse them in the blood of Christ and make them obedient to his precepts to his word.
That's what regeneration does to a believer it makes them desire to keep God's law and Not only that it enables them to do it. This is a great miracle when you consider that God takes an individual Who has been born into this world a world of sin and darkness?
That individual becomes very comfortable living in it and would be quite content to live in it forever. But God Rescues them and makes them a stranger and a pilgrim. This is a divine work done to a sinner Not a work done by a sinner.
And so in verses one and two Peter told those first century believers that they were elect for obedience. In saying that he was reminding them that God did not save them To live just any old way But to live according to his word as laid out in the scriptures.
By doing that their lifestyle will be to God's praise and glory. Adam Was created for that very purpose to live in obedience to God and to glorify him. God even created Adam in his own image so that he resembles some of the perfections of God in a human way.
And what is even more amazing is that when God created Adam He created the entire human race. That is to say the entire human race was genetically in Adam and Adam therefore Represented the entire human race before God.
Tragically Adam did not live in obedience to God and as a result of his sin all of mankind no exceptions. All of mankind was born spiritually dead and incapable of pleasing God. But God was gracious and sent his son to do what Adam failed to do.
And on the basis of Jesus's perfect life and sacrifice God recreates his redeemed people. From a spiritual point of point of view they are born again. They become a new creation. This is a work similar to the original work of creation only even more wonderful in the original work God created man out of the dust of the ground and gave him his own image in Jesus Christ.
God takes men women and young people who are at enmity with him and Replaces their stony hearts with hearts of flesh. So that they again have the ability to live according to his word. If you are one To whom God has given a new heart and a second chance Make the most of it.
If you are not Pray today that God will grant you repentance that he will change your mind to believe in him. Peter continues on in chapter 1 and all the way to verse 10 in chapter 2 To remind these elect exiles with brand-new hearts about the many privileges God's grace had brought to them.
Peter knew that with those privileges come responsibilities. And so he's burdened by the spirit to urge the readers of his letter to live holy lives in response to those privileges. He begins his appeal to them in verse 11 of chapter 2 Beloved I urge you as sojourners and exiles To abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul.
This is the negative part of his appeal and in verse 12. He says positively. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak against you as evildoers They may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.
What Peter is saying in verse 12 is that the pattern of a Christian's life Should be one that reflects favorably on the gospel a life that is noticed by the world for the right reasons. How should Christians live so that their manner of living glorifies God.
Peter begins to answer that question in verse 13. He says be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution. Peter continues in verse 13 and On through verses 14 to 20 to work out this submission in its details.
Christians are to submit to the governing authorities. Authorities that exist are put in place by God and therefore to obey the laws of the state Is to obey God. Next he says servants are to be subject to their masters with all respect.
Today, we would expand that principle of submission to employees and employers. And finally Peter says submit Even to those who would persecute you for your faith in Christ. And then in chapter 3 verse 1 Peter turns his attention to marriage and says.
Likewise wives be subject to your own husbands. He continues on in verse 1 to present the less than ideal situation wives Even be subject to those who do not obey the word. Speaking of those who do not obey the word Peter is referring to believers.
I'm sorry referring to husbands who are not believers. Wives be subject even to those. In that way if it's God's will Your godly conduct may win your unbelieving husband to Christ. Peter continues on in verses 3 through 6 with some more wise counsel for a Christian wife.
He says do not let your adorning Be external or better do not let your adorning be merely external. But let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart. With the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which in God's sight is very precious.
For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves By submitting to their husbands as Sarah obeyed Abraham Calling him Lord. That then is the context for verse 7. Up to this point Peter has been urging all Christians to be subject to the will of God.
Now he says likewise husbands. Husbands, I've been writing to Christians in general and also to Christian wives. About how they're to live in this world and in a marriage to reflect favorably on the gospel.
You Christian husbands are also to live like that. You are to submit to the governing authorities and those directly over you. But as a husband There's something else. I'm going to tell you to do Husbands.
Live with your wives in an understanding way. Showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel since they are heirs with you of the grace of life. Remember when Peter addresses husbands here in verse 7.
They are men Who hold title to everything in Christ that Peter has spoken of in the first two chapters? They are men who have been born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
They are men who have been given an imperishable inheritance kept in heaven for them. There are men who have been given trials to test their faith and purify their lives and There are men who have been given a love for God.
Even though they have not seen him. Christian husbands are therefore men who want to please God and want to be godly husbands. To be that man to be that husband. They need to know what God through the Apostle Peter is going to tell them.
They also need to know that they should not rely on their own strength. Neither should they rely on the world's advice? Instead they should pray Lord, I am weak and I need help. Help me to be the husband.
You called me to be. Fortunately the calling of a husband Doesn't depend on weak sinful human nature, but on grace. God not only calls men to live a certain way as a husband. He provides the grace that enables them to do it.
And so God has given a man the ability to be a godly husband. Now he needs to know how God expects him to live before his wife. He won't learn how from the world. It's God's Word that will teach him and verse 7 contains some of the very best instruction.
The first thing to notice about verse 7 is that there are two duties listed and a reason for each duty. Husbands are to live with their wives in an understanding way since they are the weaker vessel. Husbands are to give honor to their wives since they are heirs of the grace of life with them and so first of all a Husband is to live with his wife.
Because that seems so obvious. What is Peter getting at? The word translated live with can also be translated dwell. And some translations do in fact use dwell instead of live with. Dwell is a beautiful word that has a lot of meaning in the Old Testament.
We're told that Sarah we're told that Abraham dwelt with Sarah in tents and God dwells with his people. When the Bible says God dwells with his people It means that God talks to them Reveals his thoughts to them and listens to them.
It means he loves them protects them and cares providentially for them and Always He thinks good thoughts towards them. And so when Peter says husbands should live with their wives He has in mind a very close intimate and unique relationship.
Live with writes Peter a husband and a wife should be home together as much as possible. Sometimes a husband must be away because of his job but some married couples hardly see each other as they're coming and going pursuing careers.
A Marriage suffers from that kind of lifestyle. Work should not be more important than home life. But a married couple may rationalize that a little sacrifice now will mean a better life later. But what does the Word of God say?
The Word of God says that a man must work to provide for his wife and family. But it also says Husband live with your wife. This means the husband must be home on a regular basis, let me ask a couple of questions.
Does our modern culture with all of its complexities make the Word of God outdated today. Did Peter say that Christians should live as sojourners and pilgrims from the first century through the 20th century and Then in the first part of the 21st century.
They should shift their priorities from heavenly things to earthly things. Those of course are rhetorical questions. Peter said no such thing. Husband live with your wife. Spend time with her. Share meaningful conversation with her be home.
Verse 7 also says that a husband Must not only live with his wife, but he should live with her in an understanding way. That could also be translated according to knowledge as the King James does. Where is a husband acquire the proper knowledge about his wife So that he can live with her in an understanding way.
The proper knowledge a husband has of his wife and of the marriage relationship Comes from only one source the God breathes scriptures. Scriptures. Husbands don't learn what they need to know about their wives and marriage from TV sitcoms movies or popular magazines.
Obviously not from dr. Phil or Oprah. The world can't tell him what he needs to know. True knowledge about his wife and his relationship with her comes from only One book. God's book the Bible. If a husband is Biblically illiterate in these areas his marriage will reflect his ignorance husband.
Go back to school be a student. Audit first Peter chapter 3 and Ephesians chapter 5 to learn about being a godly husband. There's no tuition and only one book is required. Then learn more about your wife's spiritual and emotional needs by listening to her.
Don't just Hear her but listen to her. There's no credit to you in just hearing a duck can hear. Listen and be involved in what is going on in her life. Auditing 1st Corinthians chapter 13 is also strongly recommended.
Not only should a husband live with his wife and Live with her in an understanding way. But his understanding of her should be a work in progress. Because that's how God's Word is is the living Word of God.
It continually gives more understanding of faith and life. Some of the ablest theologians and preachers Have testified that they thought they knew everything there was to know about a particular verse.
They thought they knew that verse or passage inside and out. Only to discover one day something they had never seen before. No surprise there, it's the living and abiding Word of God. What else does God's book tell a husband about his wife?
Verse 7 Says the wife is the weaker vessel. To many people today that is offensive language. Exactly what is meant by weaker vessel. First of all it's not something demeaning or belittling. Did you know that in Romans chapter 9 all humans are referred to as vessels?
Both male and female are either vessels of wrath or vessels of mercy. The Apostle Paul referred to himself as a chosen vessel and so Referring to the wife as the weaker vessel is not a slight. We're all created by God and fitted for a purpose that he has in mind.
Everyone who objects to the term weaker vessel must take their objection up with God and by the way In saying that the wife is the weaker vessel. What is Peter saying about the husband? Is He not saying that the husband is also a vessel that is weak without Christ.
Is there anyone who is not weak? Just like his wife a husband is clay in the hands of the potter who formed him and made him exactly as he thought best. We could say it like this. The husband is a weak vessel.
The wife is the weaker vessel. This is not saying a woman is weaker in intellect. It does not mean that a woman is weaker spiritually morally or Even necessarily emotionally. What it means first of all is that God created the woman a weaker vessel physically.
God has made the male to be physically stronger most often. The woman is also weaker a weaker vessel in her position. In Genesis chapter 2 we learned that God made the woman to be the husband's help me.
He made the man the head and the woman to be under his authority. That's what helps to find the difference between male and female. Do away with the phrase weaker vessel and you have to do away with the word feminine.
And so weaker vessel simply means that the wife is weaker physically than her husband and her in her position or Authority in the family. She is subordinate to her husband. Unbelieving women don't like this kind of talk.
They are at enmity with God regarding the role he has designed for them and So they rail against God even blaspheme him. But nothing they say or do can change how God made a woman and appointed the man to rule over her and protect her should she marry.
Sinful human nature, of course can cause a man to deceive a woman and take advantage of her contrary to God's Word. Sin always tries to turn something good into something bad. But all those who despise and twist his word will be held accountable.
A Christian husband has a calling to be different from those who twist God's Word. He is to live with his wife with the knowledge that she is the weaker vessel. The Word of God in verse 7 is therefore something that a Christian husband needs to think about and meditate on often.
If he does that He'll be prompted to ask himself. Am I living with my wife as God made her to be and if so, am I leading? Protecting guiding and Delighting in her even as the Lord loves his bride the church.
And husbands who have sons should ask themselves. Am I showing them how to live with a wife in an understanding way? Am I teaching my sons? How important it is to treat their sisters and other girls in a respectful way.
To speak kindly to them not to be rough with them to open doors for them to look out for them. A Husband's first duty then is to dwell with his wife in an understanding way since she is the weaker vessel.
A husband's second duty Is To honor his wife as being an As being an heir with him of the grace of life. Husbands are called to show honor to their wives. They're not called to give flowers candy or jewelry.
Although that's probably a wise thing to do on certain times of the year. Or on no particular day or occasion for that matter the unexpected gift is often the most appreciated and remembered. Honor is the main thing.
However Husbands give your wife honor. Do that by caring for her needs. Do that by listening to her counsel. Do that by respecting her. To give honor to someone simply means you understand their great value and your conduct reflects your understanding.
When a husband honors his wife he is recognizing her value as a helpmeet a mother and his best friend and so He honors her as being an heir with him of the grace of life. She has been given eternal life by grace.
She is an heir of what Christ purchased. Husbands think of what that means. Your wife has been given an inheritance. That is Imperishable and does not fade away and is reserved in heaven for her as an heir of the grace of life.
She is a woman who exists for God's praise and glory. She Is one of those precious living stones which Peter spoke of in verse 5 of chapter 2. She is royalty royalty in Jesus Christ. She's a woman to whom God has pledged his everlasting commitment.
A woman for whom Christ shed his blood. These are the things a husband should know about his wife and the things he should remember. A Husband who thinks on these things? Cannot help but honor her and live with her in an understanding way.
By the grace of God a Christian wife has a very impressive resume. It's so impressive in fact That it doesn't seem possible That a Christian husband could ever forget that God has blessed him in marriage with an extraordinary woman.
Neither does it seem possible that a mother Could forsake her nursing child or the child of her womb but in Isaiah chapter 9 God says that because of what we are it's possible that a mother could actually do that could forsake her own child and.
So it's possible that a Christian husband Married to a Christian woman could lose sight of the fact that he is married to someone very special. Does the fact that he has forgotten some truths about his wife in any way change them.
No, God's Word is eternal. Whether he remembers or not. She is still someone for whom Christ shed his blood. Her value in God's eyes is not changed because he forgets or fails to appreciate her uniqueness.
Sometimes a husband gets caught up in the busyness of life. The eight to five of earning a living Raising children and maintaining a home and Maintaining all the things necessary to maintain a home. Perhaps time in God's Word has become less of a priority and certain truths He once knew about his wife and himself have been forgotten.
It's also possible that he was never exposed to a verse like verse 7 in 1st Peter. And never learned the true value of the woman he married and his role in their relationship. Whichever the case Forgetfulness or ignorance he needs to be reminded or taught these truths about his wife.
Perhaps an illustration will be helpful. Husbands. Suppose you're driving around the neighborhood one fine morning and see a promising trash pile. You decide to check it out because you never know what you'll find.
You poke around a few minutes. You're just about to leave. When you spot a large wooden bowl. The wood appears to be very old but still solid. The strange carving on the sides are interesting, but don't mean anything to you.
You bring the bowl home and it cleans up nicely. You put it in the garage and then forget about it. Sometime later a friend notices the bowl. And thinks it might be valuable. You forget your comments your friend's comment until the day the antique roadshow comes to town.
You grab that old bowl and bring it in. The appraiser says you have a genuine American Indian artifact that is very collectible. Then the appraiser asks do you have any idea what your bowl is worth? I Have no clue you say.
Well says the appraiser because your bowl is a rare and beautiful piece and since it's this and since it's that a Conservative estimate is that your bowl is worth between 25 and 30 Thousand dollars. Now if that happened to you, wouldn't you immediately been begin working on an eBay ad?
Of course you would but why? Does something happen to the bowl did it change? No, it was a valuable bowl the day you found it on the curb. What has changed is your understanding of it? You learned how valuable it is.
It was always valuable. But now, you know, it's great worth. A husband Can sometimes be like the owner of a valuable bowl who was ignorant of its true worth? But then was told some facts about it. Or he may have known those facts and forgotten them fortunately God's appraiser the Apostle Peter Reminds the husband what a treasure God has given to him and from that time on He will remember to live with his wife in an understanding way.
He understands that she is not just a wife or a mother or a homemaker. Or a homeschooler. She's not just an aunt or a grandmother. She may be all that and more and those are praiseworthy roles but in addition She is also one who possesses great worth and is worthy of honor.
By grace she has been made to be a Vessel belonging to the King of Kings a joint heir with her husband of the grace of life. It's the Word of God that tells a husband these things. A Husband should not listen to what the world says about her.
The world will only devalue her. The unbelieving world and sin distort the role of a woman, but God says she is royalty. And one glorious day He will bring her to his place to dwell forever. Although the world can't tell a husband what his wife is a Husband can tell the world about her.
If a husband lives with his wife with understanding the world will take notice. The world watches Christians very closely to see how they live. That's why Peter urged believers in verse 12 of chapter 2 to keep their conduct honorable among the Gentiles.
Husbands neighbors and co-workers will observe him. They may never know his wife, but they will know what he thinks of her by how he talks about her. What they must know is that he believes he is living with a princess a beautiful woman by the grace of God.
Well this godly instruction in verse 7 is almost complete. We have seen that a husband has two duties and a reason for each duty. He is to live with his wife in an understanding way since she is the weaker vessel and He is to honor his wife since she is an heir of the grace of life.
Those reasons alone Should be sufficient teaching. To cause to cause a man to want to fulfill his calling as a husband and a man. They should be sufficient, but Peter knows that husbands can be forgetful and He knows that they can be influenced by the world.
After all there are also weak vessels and sometimes leaky vessels. Peter therefore adds a powerful incentive at the end of the verse and it comes in the form of a warning. Husbands Live with your wife and honor her so that your prayers may not be hindered.
The word hinder means delay or impede. Peter says the way a man lives with his wife will determine if his prayers are hindered. This is no little thing. If a husband does not heed how he lives with his wife His prayers will not be heard by God.
Think that can't happen. Listen to what Isaiah said. Behold the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save. Nor his ear dull that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God and your sins.
Have hidden his face from you. So that he will not hear. God will hear the prayers of the husband who lives with his wife as the weaker vessel and honors her. If the communication between a husband and wife is good the communication Between a husband and God will be good in closing.
Is there any doubt that God is serious about marriage? God is serious for his name's sake. He has taken himself a bride the church. He loves the church. He dwells with her with honor it is his church.
And he loves her and Protects her and allows no one to harm her. He cherishes her and comforts her with his word. And he tells her how often how much he loves her. Husbands are to love their wives with the same kind of love.
They are to dwell with them and honor them and protect them. Can a husband do that? Yes, he can. Will he sometimes fail? Yes, he will. But God has pledged to give him the ability to glorify him in his marriage.
A husband's part is to stay in the word and to go to the Cross in prayer each day for forgiveness and strength. Let us pray our heavenly father. Thank you for the cross and for your word that has been heard today.
May it form a hedge of protection around the heart and mind of each husband who heard it. So that the ungodly teaching of the world will not divert him from dwelling with his wife in an understanding way.
May each husband be convicted by this word to show their wife the honor deserving of a daughter of the king and in that way You will be glorified by their godly marriage and their prayers will reach your ears in Jesus name and for his sake.
Amen.