Christ Is Pre-eminent! - [Colossians 3:18-4:18]

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I often think to myself if someone were new to Christianity or didn't know much about it and they came into a service like this, what must be going through their mind?

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Probably things like they think they're sinners, not victims, but they've sinned against God.

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That there's a holy book that teaches them what to do and how to think and who they believe in.

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They think there was a real man named Jesus who was more than a man. Matter of fact, he was divine and that he died for sinners and was raised from the dead.

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That's exactly what we believe here at Bethlehem Bible Church. And I couldn't think of a better book to talk about that very issue than the book of Colossians.

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If you have a Bible, please turn your Bibles to the book of Colossians. If you don't know where it is, you can just look up the table of contents,

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Colossians. And we have been going through Colossians week by week and it's extolling the supremacy and sufficiency of who

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Jesus is. Matter of fact, he is the risen Savior. And he's preeminent in heaven, he's preeminent here on earth and everywhere in between.

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And we've been going at a pretty fast pace, about a week per chapter. And we are going to try today to go through chapter 3 verses 18 to the end of chapter 4.

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And a lot of chapter 4 is greetings and so that won't be too difficult.

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I want you to know, dear Christian, that your view of Jesus will impact everything in your life.

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What you believe matters. It's not just a matter of doing, right? Most every religion is just tell me what to do.

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There are things to do in Christianity, but they flow out of certain motives. Of gratitude, of thanksgiving, out of love.

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Christianity is about doing, but unlike every other religion, God, in Christ, through the

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Spirit of God, gives you the power to actually obey. It's not just a list of things that we hope we could do sometime, we could get better.

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No, God actually gives you power to obey the commands that he gives. Because his commands are given in love to guide us and to help us.

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The Bible teaches that when Jesus died, Christians died with him.

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When Jesus was raised from the dead, Christians were raised with him. What does that mean? That means, yes,

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Jesus literally died and was literally raised. And in the spiritual sense, when Jesus died to sin and for sin, we died to sin as well.

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We don't have to live in it anymore. When Jesus was raised in newness of life, we now have the power to obey

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God and do the right things. This is a book that will remind you that you don't need anything else but Jesus.

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People try to take away Jesus, well he's good in this and good in that, but not so good here.

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This book will certainly get your mind right. What was that old

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Paul Newman cool hand Luke? You gotta get your mind right. I wish

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I had a southern accent, but I don't. And when your mind's right, then what you do follows.

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And this is one of these books that tells you it's not Jesus less something and it's not

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Jesus plus something. You're not going to need all kinds of visions and experiences and weird psychologies and false philosophies and everything else.

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Matter of fact, Colossians is summarized with a theme. Jesus is all you need.

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And of course, Paul is writing this book. He's in prison. And there's a little town called Colossae Insignificant.

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It's nowherevilles. I think it's translated in the Greek West Boylston.

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And he writes this great letter to this tiny little church.

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Because it's not really about the church per se. It's about who the Lord Jesus is. And whether you're at a small little church, you're at a large church, who is

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Jesus? And what's the center of Christianity? Matter of fact, the center is a person, the Lord Jesus.

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And Paul's in jail. He writes the letter. And he wants everyone to know Jesus is preeminent.

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And what I've done is I've tried to make this memorable in the sense for outlines. And so chapter one, we thought this way.

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There's a prayer. God, through Paul, has the prayer written of Thanksgiving.

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Then there's the preeminence of Jesus. And then the proclamation. You can see the preeminence right there in chapter one, verse 13, can't you?

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I mean, this basically sums up the book and sums up Christianity. Colossians 1 .13

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He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved

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Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Now, talking about Jesus, how preeminent

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He is. He is the image of the invisible God. The firstborn, the greatest of all creation.

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For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.

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All things were created through Him and for Him. See, Jesus isn't created.

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He's the one who creates. And He's the head of the body, the church.

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He's the beginning, the firstborn of the dead, that in everything He might be preeminent.

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And so chapter one, there's the prayer, there's the preeminence of Jesus, and then the proclamation. Chapter two, we use these three words, and I was just trying to make them memorable.

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Deceive, receive, and does anybody remember the third one? Leave. Leave, okay, great.

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And so, don't be deceived by people coming along telling you things about Jesus that aren't true.

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And I know you've got Jesus, but you need something else. You need someone else. Don't be deceived.

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People are going to come and they're going to try to smooth talk to you. They're going to be flattering. They're going to be eloquent.

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Don't fall for the trap. Instead, what does verse six of chapter two say, the key to chapter two?

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Don't be deceived. Instead, he says receive. Therefore, as you receive Christ Jesus the

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Lord, the preeminent one, the creator, the sustainer, the providential one, the one who lived perfectly, who died on the cross, was raised from the dead, how you responded in faith to him, so walk in him.

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Don't be bamboozled, as we would say in Nebraska. Then, he says, I want you to leave something.

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What do you need to leave? Well, people try to reduce Christianity to, well, I don't eat on this day,

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I put ashes on my forehead this day, I do this on such and such, I don't eat, I don't touch, I don't do things,

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I just deny myself, I'm somehow more spiritual, and he says at the end of the chapter, just leave that behind.

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This has nothing to do with what you eat or don't eat, what you do or what you don't do. Matter of fact, it has to do with what Jesus has done, and what

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Jesus is doing. Then we come to chapter three, and the three words were ascension, mortification, but you remember, and vivification.

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Somebody said they typed in, what's vivification? Well, ascension is Jesus is raised, he's in heaven now.

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Mortification is dying to sin, saying no to sin. And vivification, viva, is to live to righteousness.

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And that's basically the Christian life. Now that we're Christians, we want to kill sin, and live for righteousness sake.

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But it all feeds through the first four verses of Colossians chapter three. If you'd like to change your behavior in the

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Christian life, you can't forget these four verses. If you'd like to be a better husband, a better parent, a better worker, a better evangelist, a better server at church.

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If you'd like to do things to honor God, you can't forget these four verses. Christianity isn't just do more, try harder, be good.

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You can't miss this, and that's why it's right here in the center. Paul has prayed, Paul has talked about the preeminence of Jesus.

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He's talked about then we're going to proclaim him. He's talking about, well, don't buy into what everybody else does. And now he's going to try to set our minds in the heavenlies, because what you think about Jesus will determine what you do.

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If then, chapter three, you've been raised with Christ. That assumes that's true, that's the language.

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You have been raised with Christ. Seek the things that are above. I mean, unlike those false teachers who were saying everything below is where we need to have our minds set at, set toward, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

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And he's trying to get you to think about who Jesus is and what he's done. Remember the Old Testament? Priests do two things, essentially.

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They pray and they sacrifice. And in the temple and in the tabernacle, there's no seats for the priest.

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Matter of fact, I'm so glad I'm not a priest, because I'd have a nickname. I'd be called The Butcher. And I would have no seat in my office.

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And I would just have a big slab there, probably. I'd have an altar and I'd have my knives. And I'd have my

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Ginsu knives there. Other things. And I would stand all day, because you keep sinning every day.

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And I can't sit down, because the next person comes in. I think, Crane finally confessed his sins and I'm done with it.

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And then the next Crane comes in. But all the Abendroths are trying to go before the Cranes.

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It never, ever, ever ended. No seat. We okay?

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Alright. I'll pay you the dollar later. Jesus, Hebrews 10, dies once for all and sits down.

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Payment in full, never to be repeated. Doesn't have to die again. Doesn't have to be on the crucifix again.

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And he sits on the right hand of power, dominion, authority. This is a job well done, son.

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This is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. And now we're beginning to think that way. Where is Jesus now?

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He's ascended. He has paid for my sin. He has given me the Holy Spirit so I can say no to sin and yes to righteousness.

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I am okay with God. I'm not going to have to walk this tight rope. So I think if I ever sin,

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I'm going to go to hell again. It's all been paid for. And since you're free, and since you're forgiven, be free to obey.

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And if you disobey, repent of course. But you're okay. I'm safe.

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I don't have the notes in front of me, but they used to... During construction of the Golden Gate Bridge, a lot of people fell off and died, tragically.

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And they put the nets underneath when they were building it. And production went up. So we know we're going to make it.

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And so he said, I want you to focus on things in heaven. He says again, verse 2, does he not? Set your minds on things that are above.

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Not on things that are on the earth. You have died. Every Christian here is dead to sin.

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It's not that you have to sin. You want to sin, along with me. And your life is hidden with Christ and God.

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You're safe. You're protected. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.

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We looked at verses 5 and following, kill sin. 12 and following, live for righteousness.

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We ended at verse 17, because there was a lot to do. So now we're going to look at chapter 3, verses 18, through chapter 4, verse 18.

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The three words I'm going to give you for the outline, to try to help it to be memorable, is lordship, evangelism, and ministry.

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James Boyce was a great preacher down in Philadelphia, and he usually front -loaded the first point, and talked about things in a technical aspect in the first point.

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Talked about really convicting things in the first point. Because he realized that people were going to hear all this conviction, and he kind of gave them a little break on points 2 and 3, because he knew, like himself, they were frail, and they were weak, and they're a congregation that wants to obey and wants to do the right thing, but front -loaded on point 1.

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So any guesses on what I might be doing today? Front -loaded on point 1, because he says a little bit about evangelism, a little bit about ministry, but today

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I mainly want to talk to you about lordship. Jesus is Lord. Not a theological issue called lordship salvation, but no,

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Jesus is Lord. Remember chapter 2, verse 6? As you received him as Lord. So Jesus is

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Lord. How does that manifest itself in my life?

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If Jesus is Lord, what does that look like? And he starts with the home, and then he moves to work.

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So let's talk about lordship at work second, but I want you to look at lordship at home first.

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We're in what we call the ethical section. These are the commands of God to Christians.

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Remember, sanctification is a supernatural work of God's grace, and he helps us to be renewed in the inner man and the inner woman so that we might obey.

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We might die more to sin and live more to righteousness. Jesus is

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Lord. How does that show itself here? Well, how many times can you count the word

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Lord in verses 18 through chapter 4, verse 1? Chapter 3, verse 18 to chapter 4, verse 1.

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I count nine times, kurios, Lord. Seven about Jesus. Do you see verse 18?

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In the Lord. Verse 20 at the end, this pleases the Lord. At the end of verse 22, fearing the

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Lord. Verse 23, as for the Lord. Verse 24, knowing that from the

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Lord. Later in verse 24, you are serving the Lord Christ. And then in chapter 4, verse 1, the

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ESV says, Master, but it's the same Greek word, Lord, knowing also that you have a

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Lord in heaven. Any guesses why I'm calling this Lordship of Christ section? Because it's all about Jesus, his

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Lord. Jesus is sovereign. He's your Lord. And if he has sought you and bought you and owns you and has forgiven you, you say, okay, you tell me how to act at home and I'll do it.

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I might not be perfect at it, but it's my desire as a Christian. I want to honor you. I want to serve you. What does it look like in a house, in a home where Jesus is

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Lord? Warren Wiersbe said, what blessings would come to our homes if each member of the family said,

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I will live each day to please Christ and make him preeminent in all things. Wiersbe, there would be less selfishness, more love, less impatience, more tenderness, less wasting of money on foolish things and more living for the things that matter most.

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Jesus is Lord. He starts off with the wives, verse 18.

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As you know, very controversial, sadly controversial passage. Wives, submit to your husbands as is fitting in the

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Lord. Now, the first thing that happens when people hear the word submission is they think inferiority.

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That's not what the Greek is. That's not what the Bible teaches. It has nothing to do with inferiority.

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Matter of fact, in 1 Peter chapter 5, there are elders and younger men, and the younger men are supposed to submit to the older men.

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Why? Because the older men are better? No, because God just has rank. God just has position.

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Paul is after these wives to respect the position of their husbands.

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That's what submission is. Paul wants the wives. God wants you, dear wives, not to feel inferior, but to say, my attitude toward my husband is that of respect.

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Well, I don't really respect him that much, but this is my desire. This is what God commands me to do. Bethlehem Bible Church, the ladies here, the wives, should say,

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God wants me to defer to my husband. That's what the word submission is.

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He doesn't say, by the way, obey your husbands. He says, children, obey your parents in verse 20.

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He uses a different word here. He says, bond servants, obey in verse 22, but he uses a different word here.

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He doesn't say obey. Wives, obey your husbands. What an awful husband.

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Do this. Don't do that. Do this. Get this. Hurry up. Run around. Fix that.

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Martin Lloyd -Jones was a very famous preacher, and his wife was named Bethany. And she was asked this question.

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What if my husband wakes me up at 3 a .m. demanding I fetch him ice cream? Am I to go and get it? Mrs. Lloyd -Jones.

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Yes. And then phone the doctor, because he's clearly not a well man. Now, of course,

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God made women to help. This is Genesis 2. Men obviously need the help.

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God even used the word helper. It talks about Him helping Israel. But, of course, there was the fall.

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And bad things happened to the men in the fall. Because of the fall, bad things happened to ladies. And one of the things that happens with ladies is they try to rule over their husbands.

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Genesis 3 .16. So Paul says, in light of who

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Jesus is, in light of what He's done, in light of chapter 1 and 2 and 3 and the Lordship of Jesus, just submit yourself.

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Put yourself under. It's fitting. It's right. You say, this

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Bible restricts people. Oh, no. Don't talk like that because you talk out of ignorance.

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Because it happens to be true that in the Jewish culture, this was shocking, because here's

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Jewish culture back in the day. I have a wife. I have children. I have sheep.

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And I have goats. And I own them all. This is liberating language.

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The Jewish culture, if you spoiled your husband's dinner with too much salt, or you walked with your head uncovered outside, you could get divorced.

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No problem. No legal rights for the woman. In the Greek culture, you say they were more well refined.

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Oh, really? They quote, women are to remain indoors and to be obedient to their husbands. Here was a popular pun in the

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Greek culture of the day. If a woman runs a house, it dies. You say, well, okay.

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I know. Maybe Roman culture. That liberated ladies. Really? No rights?

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The Father ruled everything. We know Christians, don't we? I know with having a wife who is equal to me in Christ Jesus.

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She is just as justified as I am. Just as redeemed. She's just as forgiven.

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She will be just as glorified. As a matter of fact, Galatians 3 says, there's neither Jew nor Greek, nor slave nor free.

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There's neither male nor female. You're all one in Christ Jesus. But God wants order.

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And so one of the ways, ladies, you can say, Jesus is Lord in my life at home, is I just tuck myself under my husband's leadership.

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God gave me this husband. God's really sovereign over him anyway. And I will humbly recognize your divine order.

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That's what submission is. God, I humbly recognize that you have an order to things in life.

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And while the world says, I'm inferior. The world says, feminism reigns.

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The world says, this is troglodytish, me, Tarzan, you, Jane. I before you,

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God, because you're Lord, I will say, I humbly recognize that my husband's the head of the household.

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You say, well, it'd help if husbands would love me better and I could do my job better of submitting.

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That's the next verse. Hang in there. I get it. Bethlehem Bible Church wives, you humbly yield yourself in love to the

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Lord Jesus and put yourself under the husband's headship. God -appointed leadership.

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I could ask the questions. Do you believe this is true?

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Do you think it's in the Bible or it's somehow corrupt? Is this your heart's desire? I know it's hard to obey, but is this heart's desire to submit gladly out of love?

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To help your husband with his calling? To pray for him because it is hard to lead, to respect him, to defer him?

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Did I offend you, Anthony? Okay, good. Maybe Christine told you to go do something.

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You can take that out of the tape. Everybody else is too afraid to get up now.

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Like I should have gone to the bathroom earlier. It's kind of good to have a little laugh because this is intense stuff.

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This is not how the world talks. But it's true. It's right in your

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Bibles. It says to be submissive. I mean, it doesn't give you a whole list.

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Be a good cook. Know how to balance a checkbook. I mean, it's got kind of one thing here. You say, what if he tells me to disobey

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God? Well, of course, this isn't absolute. Older women are to teach younger women in Titus chapter 2 to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, subject to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be dishonored.

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1 Peter 3, In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands, so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives.

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Look back at verse 18 again. Be subject to your husbands, not other husbands, as is fitting to the

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Lord. Because Jesus is your Lord. So that's why you do it. Not because your husband's better, more godly, or anything else.

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I'm going to submit. And that doesn't mean nag. That doesn't mean counter your husband's authority in front of the children.

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Ephesians 5, As the church submits to Christ, also the wives should submit to their husbands in everything. I mean, far from being demeaning, submission, far from being stifling, far from being, you know what, this is just so awful.

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No, no. What does Paul do? He said, you know, this looks like, to me, the church submitting to the Lord Jesus. Somebody said, nagging, by definition, is simply trying to wear down another by repeating the same things over and over.

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That's not what you want to do, I'm sure. Martha Peace, she said, ladies, when it comes to this, here's some good advice.

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Give your opinion. You're a helpmate. If he makes a decision and you want to appeal it, say, would you consider?

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And say, whatever you decide, I'll do it. Remember, God's watching. Pray for grace. What about the husbands?

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What do the husbands get to do? What are they commanded to do? Verse 19. We're in the section of Colossians.

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Remember, we're parachuting in, but we're thinking big picture about who Jesus is. This just isn't morality.

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The Bible teaches much that's similar to what other people teach. Other people 200 years ago might say, well, wives should submit and husbands should love, but for different reasons and with different motivations.

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We come to Colossians 3 .19. Lordship continues. What about husbands? Wives are to submit.

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Husbands, love your wives and don't be harsh with them. I love that Churchill quote.

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If I could be anybody else, they ask him, if you could be anyone else in the world, who would it be? Remember his answer?

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Mrs. Churchill's second husband. Yes. The husband is supposed to love.

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He's the leader. And he's to love the wives. This is self -sacrificial love.

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This is love what wants the best for them. This is a love that,

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I don't know if Paul intends this or not, when you do, it makes the wife's submission so much easier. Don't you want to help her to obey?

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One man said, marriage is an educational institution in which a man loses his bachelor's degree without acquiring a master's degree.

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And all the men laughing. They know like I know, this is very difficult. Husbands, love your wives.

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See, this tempers the leadership. This is not, you do what I say, I'm in charge.

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No. The leadership is a loving leadership. You think about Matthew chapter 20. How do the

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Gentiles lead? They lord it. How does Jesus lead?

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By serving. This moderates the husband's authority.

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Ephesians 5, 25, Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

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With love and warmth and tenderness. And you know what he says there? And do not be harsh with them.

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That's interesting. Some translate it, don't be embittered. But really the thrust there is harsh.

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We're louder, we're usually bigger, we're deeper voices, and we can be harsh with people, especially if they're supposed to be submitting to us and they're not.

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Sometimes Kim will say to me, Honey, you sound like you're being harsh. And I'll say, I'm not being harsh. I'm a man.

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I talk like a man. Harshly. I think in the old days, they called this being cross with somebody.

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You have a position of leadership and you're just harsh. And by the way, it does turn into bitterness eventually.

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But Bethlehem Bible Church, you men along with me, are to think, instead of being harsh, what can

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I do to be considerate, to be kind, to learn about my wife like 1

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Peter 3 talks about, to do things for her benefit and for her good. Not because she does this transactionally, now

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I do that. No, I'm the leader. If you're waiting for that to happen, men, it's time for you to engage.

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I'm looking out for my wife's welfare, spiritually, physically. I'm not going to try to intimidate my wife because I'm bigger or I'm in charge around here.

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Matter of fact, the quote, wives submit to your husbands as fitting to the Lord, is given by God to the wives.

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It's not to be used as a club by the husbands for the wives. It's very important.

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Husbands, are you kind and considerate? Yeah, but she doesn't always do what I want her to do.

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She doesn't always submit. How does the Lord Jesus deal with a church that does those things or doesn't?

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Could it be that we men, if we have that kind of embittered, brooding, kind of rancid attitude toward wives after 5 years, 10 years, 30 years, that the problem is we're not loving our wives?

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I found some things over the years. I don't think any of these are original to me. If you'd like to be harsh with your wives, men, keep a score of wrongs done against you.

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Just record every detail. Just replay it in your mind over and over and over. That would be a good way to be harsh.

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Remember every little detail. Hold on to those resentments. Rehearse them. If you want to be harsh with your wife, never give her the benefit of the doubt.

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Last time I checked, love believes all things, right? Love believes all things. If you'd like to be harsh with your wife, here's a good one.

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Blame her for all your marriage problems. Blame her for all the problems raising the children.

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Of course, I'm doing this the opposite because we don't want to do this. We don't want to be harsh. If you want to be harsh with your wife, never tell her to slow down.

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Never tell her, let's work on these things together. If you want to be harsh with your wife, never focus at what she's good at.

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I mean, it's probably taken me... I'm coming up on finishing my 27th year here. Here's one of the things

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I've learned in 27 years. And you're going to say, that's a dumb moment, but I'm a slow learner. Everybody's got problems.

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And every Christian's been gifted by God, and they have some good things about them. And so instead of looking at people with all the things they don't do rightly, well, you look at the things what they do rightly.

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Does that sound right? What they do well. And you go, way to go. And I'm going to encourage you.

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There are some things I just don't do well. But I'm going to try to do the things that I do well even better.

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And instead of saying, my wife doesn't do this, my wife doesn't do that, my wife doesn't do that, I wish she was better in that.

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How about you watch her with the ladies and think, I'll think this way of my wife. I never really met anybody like him who can motivate and encourage other ladies like that.

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I just never met anybody like that. She's great at that. Even 17 year old girls, and she just encouragement, she just on fire, she wants to serve the

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Lord. I just look at those qualities instead of me saying, well, I see behind the scenes this, that, and the other.

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If you want to be harsh with your wife, here's another thing, just never forgive her. If you want to be harsh with your wife, never resolve conflicts.

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If you want to be harsh with your wife, do not disparage your wife in front of others. Of course, as I say these things, it's kind of like reading

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Hosea, where I'm like, I don't want to do that, Jesus is Lord. And if you fall into these traps, then you can say,

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Lord, please forgive me, I'd like to honor my wife, I'd like to love her, and I don't want to be harsh with her anymore.

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Well, lordship continues into parenting, does it not? Chapter 3, verse 20.

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Children, Bethlehem Bible Church children, I'm talking to you. By the way, one more reason why you should bring your children into church.

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Here's a letter to be read to the church. Children are supposed to be in the church. Parents who bring their children into the church, good job, that's our goal.

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Children, listen to me, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. Dads, don't point to them.

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I'm talking to them, not you. Children, obey your parents. This is about the lordship of Jesus.

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He gives the reason. And the reason is this pleases the

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Lord. Here's Exodus 20. Honor your father and your mother that the days may be long in the land that the

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Lord your God is giving you. Ephesians 6 .1 Children, obey your parents in the

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Lord, for this is right. You children are to obey your parents.

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It means to hear under. It means if somebody says to you, hey, listen up. They're trying to get you to listen because you're going to have to do what they say.

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That's what this is. Hey, listen up, children. God's structure is He's given you parents and you need to learn from them.

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This does not mean I tune out, I tune off, I don't care, I ignore,

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I debate, I argue, I delay in my obedience. Children, obey your parents.

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You say, well, it's hard for me to serve. I'm ten years old. It's hard for me to have a ministry in the church. Here's a ministry.

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Obey your parents. God is pleased with that. Your parents love you.

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Your parents have provided for you. Do you know God so loves you children that He knows you couldn't make it on your own, so He gives you parents to care for you and to guide you and to protect you.

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You should not be thinking, young people, 14 year olds, 18 year olds, I will not have these parents rule over me.

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I'll do what I want when I want. As a matter of fact, last days, end time days, here's how the end times are described in 2

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Timothy 3. People will be disobedient to their parents.

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I want to say this nicely to you children and teenagers. You're not as mature as you think you are.

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You're not as smart as you think you are. You're learning. You're growing. That's good. But you need somebody who's more mature, who's wiser, who's ahead to protect you and to provide for you.

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And God wants order. There's order in military. There's order in government. There's order in the home. And you're under your parents.

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By the way, dear children, do you know God planted a special love in the hearts of your parents for you?

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It's indescribable how much they love you, how much they care for you. They love other children, that's true, but for you in particular.

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And when you say, I'm not going to obey God, I'm not going to obey my parents, I'm not going to obey

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God. Yes, but my parents aren't always godly. What do I do? When Jesus went down with them,

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He came to Nazareth, Luke 2, and He continued in subjection to them. Yeah, but I want to be in charge.

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Good. Grow up. Get some money and move out. That's the idea. Built in.

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Yeah, but they tell me not to pray. They tell me not to read my Bible. Well, then you disobey them, of course. Colossians says what?

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Look at it again. Obey your parents in all things. Do your schoolwork.

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Take out the trash. Don't talk that way to your mother. I don't care whatever it is you obey.

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How much have they done for you? And by the way, this never really ends, the honoring part, and I think some of the sweetest memories

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I'll ever have, is my mom's dying of cancer, and I flew home because my sister was a nurse. She needed a few days off for caring for her, caring for my mother, and I go home, and I just remember thinking,

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I just wish I could do more for my mom because I know what she's done for me. My point, children, is going to be what your parents have done for you, you have no idea, because a lot of it you can't remember.

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But I thought all the times my mom wiped me, and burped me, and fed me, and consoled me, and trained me, and gave me great opportunities, all those things.

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So when she said, I can't get into the shower, but I really want my hair washed, and so we had this weird thing that we put around her neck, some kind of like,

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I don't know, a cone that you put around a dog's head, or something, you know, and we put this cone around my mom's head, and she's crying,

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I'm crying, I'm washing her hair, finally I'm like, it doesn't even matter, just let all the water and suds go everywhere.

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We don't care, I just think, the privilege to wash my mother's hair as she's dying, the privilege to take care of her in the bathroom, and I'm thinking, that's my honor, out of all the things

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I remember about my mom. Well, one of them is when she let me eat three ice cream cones at once. She let me take care of her when she's dying, in the most personal and intimate ways.

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Sometimes young people just forget about that. All the things your parents have done for you, why wouldn't you obey?

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They've wanted your best from the very beginning. This is right.

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Verse 21, Lordship continues, Fathers, do not provoke your children lest they become discouraged.

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What does the Lordship of Jesus look like in a home? Wives submitting, husbands loving, children obeying, and fathers not provoking.

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In the old days, if you wanted to blame people, and you were a husband, you blamed the children, the slaves, the wives.

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We're to raise our children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, Ephesians says.

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Dads, you can say, Obey me. That's not exasperating. Dads, you can say,

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These are the house rules. That's not exasperating. Getting children to obey isn't. Obviously, it's otherwise to be contradicting.

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Obey your parents. Now, don't exasperate. Yeah, Dad, you're exasperating me by asking me to do something. No. How does

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God father children? Not just with the rod. He fathers children of grace and gratitude.

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And so we have to be careful that we're just not the drill sergeants, that we're just not the ones who just launch off because we're bigger.

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We want to encourage. We want consistency. We don't want our child to lose heart.

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Matter of fact, one of the ways you can have your children lose heart is you give them the rules, they don't obey, you coddle them, and you're not consistent with them, and then later down the line, you just can't take it anymore, so you finally deal with it.

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Just deal with it early on. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and admonition of the

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Lord. That's Ephesians chapter 6. And wouldn't you know, He doesn't just say, bring up your boys.

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That would be the Roman culture. That would be the Greek culture. Train the boys. The girls do what the girls do.

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No, children, because they're both image bearers. I don't want to train my children in a way that obscures how gracious God, how the gracious God trains me.

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Luther said, spare the rod and spoil the child. That's true, but beside the rod, keep an apple to give him when he has done well.

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I like that. Most parents that I know, many included here, I don't think they have enough fun with their children, and I don't think they discipline their children enough.

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Some people are all fun, no discipline. Some people all discipline, no fun. To the level you want to have your discipline, in the

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Ebenroth household, is you're going to obey but we want to temper it with... I don't think we used apples.

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I think we used... What did we use instead? I don't know. Rotisprings.

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But you see what Paul is doing for our own good, for your own good, for my good.

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Jesus is Lord. Paid for all our sins. Redeemed us. Hope of heaven. Inheritance. He is preeminent in my own home.

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What does that look like? Well, the list isn't that big. I humbly tuck myself under my husband and recognize that's from God.

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I want to pour out my life to love my wife. I want to train up my children. I want them to obey and I just don't want them to be discouraged and just beat them down all the time, all the time, all the time.

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Being severe. Nagging the children. Humiliating them. Calling them names.

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I think it would be better to encourage children with, you're so good at that. I'm glad the Lord gave me you. You're my best little number one, etc.

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You know the point. I know what you're thinking right now. You're thinking it's time to land the plane and we're still in point one.

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I told you! I purposely wanted to talk about families because we have families here.

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The Lordship continues into work. I'm simply going to read the passage and we're going to just go quickly now.

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Okay, so now we're still Lordship and now it's Lordship at work. Most of the people back in the day, or at least half of them, a third of them, were slaves.

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And that doesn't mean like our Civil War slaves. And so you can see the New Testament ESV says in verse 22, bondservants instead of slaves.

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So you can kind of get the idea there. Obey in everything those who are your earthly masters. This is kind of not quite a one -to -one correspondence with bondservants back in the day and you the employee going into work tomorrow, but the principles are the same.

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Obey in everything those who are your earthly masters. If you don't want to obey, get a new job. Not by way of eye service.

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As people pleasers, I work when they're watching, but with sincerity of heart. I want to do this from the heart.

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Fearing the Lord. Not a cringing fear, remember in the Bible, for Christians, but because God has so loved me,

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I want to honor Him and make His name look good. Lordship continues. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the

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Lord. I'm going to make shoes like I'd make them for Jesus. I'm going to make widgets.

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I'm going to deliver lumber like I would for Jesus. And not for men. Knowing that from the

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Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. He sees. He watches. You're serving the

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Lord Christ. You're not serving your union boss. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done.

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There's no partiality. The Lord will figure it out. He's the Lord. Masters, treat your bondservants, if you're the boss, justly and fairly.

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Knowing that you also have a Lord in heaven. Paul says

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Jesus is preeminent in heaven. He's preeminent to save sinners. He should be preeminent in your life, your home, and your work.

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Now we move to evangelism. How do we work with the world? In the world. And not be part of it.

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Verses 2 -6 It's by prayer and evangelism.

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Continue steadfastly in prayer. Being watchful in it. That's where we get the word Gregory. Watchful, alert with thanksgiving.

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Remember the theme of thanksgiving in chapter 3? Now he gets very specific. It's good to pray generally.

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That's true. It's good to pray with watchfulness and thanksgiving. That's true. But what's the specific prayer request that Paul has in jail?

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At the same time, pray for us also that God may open to us a door so I can get out of jail.

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A door for the word to declare the mystery of Christ on account of which I'm in prison, that I may make it clear which is how

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I ought to speak. Dear Christians, this is a good prayer. God, would you open doors for the word?

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And for those in the places that have opportunities to preach the word, would you open their mouths and say things about who

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Jesus is? I want an open door. And when

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I get through that open door, I'm going to open my mouth and tell the truth. That's what

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I'm wanting, Paul says. That's what we need to be praying for. Because it's harder than it seems. We fear people.

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We're ashamed sometimes of the Gospel. And Paul said, please pray that God opens up a door and I declare the mystery of Christ.

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We're going to need some wisdom around unbelievers, are we not? Verse 5, he continues in this evangelistic area.

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Walk in wisdom toward outsiders. Making the best use of time.

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Let your speech always be gracious. Season with salt so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

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Paul says, I'd like you to pray. I'd like you to have doors open for us so that I might preach rightly.

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And I want you, congregation, when you're dealing with unbelievers, to be wise. And then he goes into the final section, ministry.

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I called it ministry because most of these people out of the ten that I see named here, they ministered in every way, shape, and form.

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And so let me just read it and make a couple comments, and we're going to be done. Tychicus will tell you about all my activities.

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He's a beloved brother and faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. See the focus on ministry?

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I've sent him to you for this very purpose that you may know how we are and that he may encourage your hearts.

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You don't know a sub -theme for all the book of Colossians? Encouragement. God, I need encouragement. Colossians is for you.

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And with him, Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.

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Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you. Mark, the cousin of Barnabas, concerning whom you have received instructions.

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If he comes to you, welcome him. And Jesus, who is called Justice. Isn't that interesting?

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Jesus called Justice. Two weeks ago, I got an email from Steve Pru. And there's a man down in Chelsea and his name is

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Jesus. And he was in my preaching class and he was going to Honduras and he wanted my preaching notes.

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And so I get this email from Steve Pru. Jesus wants your preaching notes. He can have them.

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These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God. See, work, ministry, not to get saved, but because you are out of gratitude.

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What would we do for the Lord? Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you.

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Always struggling on your behalf. That's the language of Paul in chapter 1. In his prayers, he said,

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I can't serve. I can't work. I can't do anything. I'm too old. You can struggle on behalf of others in prayer. That you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.

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For I bear Him witness that He has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and Heropolis. Luke, the beloved physician, greets you.

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As does Demas. Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea and to Nympha and the church in her house.

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And when this letter has been read among you, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans. And see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.

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And say to Archippus, see that you fulfill the ministry that you have received in the Lord. I, Paul, see he picks up the pen now.

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He's been dictating the letter. But now to show the authenticity, I write this greeting with my own hand.

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Remember my chains. Grace be with you. Did you know, dear

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Christian, that God knows your ministry to Him and He knows you by name? Look at the list of names.

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He knows everything that the people did for the Lord Jesus. Do you know, dear Christian, you don't have to be perfect to serve?

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Were any of these people perfect as they served the Lord Jesus, including even Paul? You see, the love that Paul has for the servants, that's the love we have for Evan Burns, his sons, and all our missionaries.

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Jesus is preeminent. Christianity is about a risen Savior. You're a sinner. I'm a sinner.

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And we have to bear our own sin unless somebody bears it for us. And the Lord Jesus, the Eternal Son, came, assumed humanity, died on the cross, and was raised from the dead.

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And then He ascended into Heaven. And He's seated at the right hand. And He bestows great gifts now upon the church, including even pastors and teachers and evangelists and others.

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How do I live? Well, here's how I want to live, and it's my desire to live, that Jesus is not just Lord in Heaven, but I want

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Him to be Lord in my home. And I know you do too. Let's pray. Father, thank You for Your Word.

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Would You help us? We're weak. We stumble. Whether we're wives, husbands, children, workers, bosses, we need

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Your help. And certainly, a prayer like,

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Lord, would You help us to honor You? will be answered in full. And we look forward to how that will be answered in full in our lives, even to Jesus Christ.