Wives Being In Subjection

God, no matter come what may. That's quite a statement he's saying. Quite a commitment, prayer commitment there.

Well, it's been a blessing being here this morning, just hearing what every joint has been supplying and the encouragement, the upbuilding, and trust this will be a continuation as we look into God's word. We don't know how much time we have left in this nation that we can openly come together, look into God's word and be encouraged and becoming more and more aware of the antagonistic world that's out there. And they're becoming very vocal in their hatred towards God and righteousness.

Just the other evening, we're watching a small presentation, a clip from, occasionally we like to watch some of the first creation museum from Ken Ham. There's some encouraging things there, some very enlightening things, just played a little clip of, I don't know how many years ago, a few years ago in the University of Arizona, professor was saying that we're just product of random chance or process, just things, the stars exploded, and through stardust, that's where everything came from. And he was giving a lecture, you can call it a lecture, in his class there, that your right hand and your left hand were probably made from two different stars.

And he says, the stars died for you, he said, Jesus didn't die for you. And when he said that, the class erupted in applause. That's what's out there in our nation.

Let me tell you, Jesus did die for you. Someday they will have a great awakening, and it'll be too late, but let's not be discouraged. So much brighter, our light can shine, we let our light shine in these dark days.

Anyhow, I think we'll continue here in the book of Ephesians, where I've been going. Last time I shared about Ephesians chapter five, 21. Talk about submitting ourselves one to another in the fear of God.

And we'll continue there. I broke my good glasses recently, so I'll be limping along a bit today. Ephesians five, verse 21.

Read a couple verses here again. Now this passage is more, how would you say, the nuts and bolts that we face in everyday life or in relationships. But I think a lot of us know the story of the Titanic.

When it went down, something that affected that ship was something that was underwater, you couldn't see it. It was maybe not part of the beauty, the grandeur, or whatever of that huge ship, but it took the ship down. And some of these, I believe some of these relationship issues can take a ship down that are maybe not so, we don't talk about it as much or so important, but there's been a few people that have mentioned that they like to use some of these subjects on husbands, wives, and marriage, and so forth.

And I'm gonna be honest, I'm not the authority on this, but I'll just share from my perspective what I've seen and experienced, what I believe God has shown to me. And trust we can learn together as we look at this. And yeah, sometime we'll be through this submitting part.

Might be kind of a negative thing in our mind, but it's part of God's plan here. Verse 21, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord.

I just had to think about that. What if you woke up this morning, married lady, and discovered I'm married to the Lord Jesus Christ and realized that's who's beside me, that's who's there. So that's exactly what he's saying.

Submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. It kind of changes the picture when we have some of those realities, we start accepting those. But on the other hand, the flip side for the men, it's just as serious.

You realize that help me by your side is like it's the bride of Christ. That's the picture. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ as the head of the church and he is the savior of the body.

Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Then verse 33, never let every one of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself and the wife see that you reverence her husband. And Lord willing, we want to talk to the men also.

But today, I'd like to just focus on these couple verses here. Might be turning, we'll turn to some other scriptures, Lord willing, and read some other that are connected with the wives and their role in God's plan. But before we do this, let's go to the Lord in prayer.

Father in heaven, thank you for this plan. Thank you for your blueprint here that you've given us for our sisters. Thank you for each one.

Thank you, Lord, that you love each one with an inexpressible love. You die for each sister. Thank you, Lord, that we have your word.

We have your blueprint, we have your guide, and we just choose to submit ourselves under your word today. Help us learn together. Help it not to be a heavy thing, but help it be an edifying time of seeking after your will and being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, Lord.

We can all learn from your word. I pray you'd speak to my own heart, Lord. I need you every hour, most precious Lord.

I just ask that you would have the preeminence in my heart, in my thoughts, in my speech. In Jesus' name, amen. I wanna, first of all, just share, sometimes when we talk about going out and witnessing and sharing the gospel, and it's paramount, and this is, talk about the death of Jesus and about sin and how it's affected everyone.

The death, the burial, the resurrection. But Jesus said there's one thing that wherever this gospel is preached out throughout the whole world, there's one thing I want this done also, and that is Jesus defended women, especially when they were misaligned, when they were misunderstood. And when in Mark chapter 14, on the eve of his betrayal, a lady came in and started washing his feet and broke the alabaster box, anointing his feet, and immediately she was just with criticism from not Pharisees, but his disciples.

Said, what is she doing, wasting this? But Jesus defended her and finished saying, wherever the gospel is preached, this also that this woman has done shall be preached. So I just wanna make recognition of that this morning. We profess to preach the gospel here, this is part of it.

This selfless act of this lady, this woman, I just wanna lift up. The Lord is not, the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father, is not a woman hater, as some people would feel like he is, especially on the streets in our day and you share the gospel. And this part of a lady's role, you're a woman hater, God is a woman hater.

He is not a woman hater. He knows what is best. And he's actually, I find he was very defensive towards the women.

He said, let her alone, let her alone. She has a lot of good work. So I just wanna lift up at the beginning here.

This is not to put ladies down at all. This is just, I just trust that we can be encouraged together that they have a very, very important role. Without them in their place, we might as well pack up and go home.

Reality. Remember years ago, some years ago, when we were at one of the missions retreats in Ghana, Bernard Denny was there and he said, you know what, it's our wives, it's the ladies that really make this thing work. It wouldn't be for them.

They actually are the ones that go through all the hardship. They're the ones that are in the shadows, suffering and sweating, doing a lot of the dirty work. It's really because of them that this all goes forward.

So I just wanna, we wanna give recognition to that. So Jesus spoke well of women, but with all of that, Jesus, God has an order. God is a God of order when he created the earth and he formed man.

And the woman from Adam's side, he has an order there. In Romans chapter two, some people struggle with that, especially ladies that don't see God's concept that there's partiality here. But in Romans chapter two, I'd just like to look at a couple of verses here.

Verse nine, he's talking about the Jew and the Gentile in response to receiving the gospel or rejecting it. He says in verse nine, he says, truth, elation, and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth evil of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile, but glory, honor, and peace to every man that worketh good to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile. You see the pattern here.

If it's, even if it's good or it's evil, it's to the Jew first and to the Gentile. Then he says, for there is no respect of persons with God. We just got done reading that.

It's not, well, there is respect, the Jew's always first, they're first in line. But he says, there is no respect of persons with God. The same way in Galatians it says, there's neither Greek nor Jew, there's neither bond nor free, there's neither male nor female.

We are all one in Christ Jesus. We're all one in Christ Jesus. We're all one, we're the same work.

You all have the same work in the eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there is an order. There is no respect of persons with God, but it is the Jew first, and then the Gentile.

Man was created first, and then the woman. It's just God's order, it's not a matter of work or value at all. There's no partiality.

But God has a distinct order. God is a God of order, and if he would allow his creations, the universe, just a few of the planets that we're closely connected with, to deviate just slightly from his order, we'd be toast. The sun would be off.

I just read this recently, I can't believe this. Well, I shouldn't say this, I don't, I preach against that phrase. But it's hard for me to grasp this, but someone has, I forget where I read it, someone estimated that a part of the sun the size of a pinhead placed on the earth would have the potency to kill someone 93 miles away.

It would still be so intense. I don't know how they did math, I would question that a bit. But just imagine the sun veering off course, I don't really care for this order that God has placed me under, we'd be gone.

So God in his order has our best in mind. His order, he looked at it as a way of blessing and prolonging life. It's not a curse, it's not something that just, oh, it's all against me.

It is for you, God's order is for us. So here it says, why submit yourself unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. You know, a woman's part, I think I might have showed this before, but a woman's part is very effective.

It's like, so mission has a word, think about the word subway. A subway is very effective underground. It moves the masses, it moves the masses in the big cities.

But you bring that to the surface, it'll be chaotic. It'll just bring a lot of trouble. But they probably move people more efficiently underground than what's happening visibly.

Kind of like the Titanic, what happened under their outer side was very, very, um, affected that ship very much. So a subway, a subway is very effective, but it operates underground, it operates out of sight. I think we've written this maybe time or so, but we'll just do it again.

We have God, Christ, man, then woman, and then we have children. Um, so, if the order comes from God, I guess we call it authority. I think sometimes we're scared of the word authority, but if we look at that, order is God's authority.

It's God's channel of blessing. Flows, it flows to us. I'd just like to, I'd like to, I wanna sit here, mention to any husband or any man that thinks, well, this, I hope my wife is listening.

I'll be glad I'll use this. If that's your thought process, you got it all wrong. I'll just say that.

That's a wrong, that just won't work. Because if we, I believe we have the right view of authority, we, God, God is moving this way. God looks this way.

But Christ, Christ looked to his father. He always was looking to please him, and I believe that's our, that's our, especially this husband and the woman and the children, we're supposed to be looking up. And we don't just see, we shouldn't just see Christ.

We're ultimately heading towards the father, the originator of authority. So, but for men, God appoints us to represent. I just like to leave this thought with us as men especially.

God, God, I believe God appoints the man as a representative of his authority. I don't think we are an authority ourselves, if that makes sense. God has placed us maybe in a position of authority as husbands, but it doesn't end here.

It's not an end in itself. We're just, I just see ourselves as a channel that God's authority flows through. It's how I look at it.

And I believe we can keep that concept if we keep our faces towards the Lord Jesus Christ. If we keep facing upwards, it puts things in perspective. But once we look downwards, we're not taking God's place or God's view.

We just see those beneath us, what we consider beneath us. It puts things backwards. True authority is those that are above us are actually our servants.

It's an upside down kingdom. We should view ourselves as husbands, as servants to our wives, to our children. The Lord Jesus Christ, he came as a servant, but he's our head, he's above us, but he really got up, he flashed it out as a servant.

So, husbands, I just plead with you. Don't ever think that, okay, I got some arsenal. I can really beat it across my wife's head with this.

But no, we're gonna have it all wrong. We are, I believe we are to represent God, not to be a substitute. Substitute, well, God's on the scene, so I'll be the authority.

We're not that. We're just on the substitute. We're just channels that God has set up in place as husbands.

And the wives have found themselves under that, not in a subjective, negative way, but as protection. It's their protection. It's their realm where they can truly see that they have great liberty, seeing that subway can run all over that city underneath that city and move very effectively.

It brings the freedom. If you can see that as a lady, as a godly woman. I believe every godly woman longs for a husband that is solid, knows where it's going, and making decisions that will, I believe that will bring a rest.

A husband that is not in his place, it brings unrest to a home. I just yesterday had a talk with an Amish neighbor there, and we were talking about some of these things. I just asked him a question, was taking him somewhere.

He was talking about where he had been at one time in his life, feeling like he doesn't really need anyone else, he's just more spiritual, just hearing directly from God. As I said, he's come to a place that he realizes the more he sits alone, or has sat alone, he's become a sitting duck for deception. And I wasn't there, you weren't there when Eve was deceived.

And I don't know how it happened. Was Adam there, were they walking together, and Adam just watched her step to that tree? But you almost have to think that they were apart, I don't know. But being alone can be a very dangerous place.

If we think we can do it alone, that deception came probably because she was alone and she was deceived. So let's not fight against God's orders. We are connected, we are definitely connected with other people and with other, I'll say, delegated authorities that God has set up.

And today, when I look at that, the lady, or the wife, her place under the host, and I think I shared some time ago about the vertical view versus the horizontal, and I would consider this as divine authority, and then some delegated authority. That's authority that God hands out, or that he flows through, like I shared before. It's not an end in itself, but it's connected.

I believe there is a, I think there's a principle here, in the book of Luke 15, when the prodigal son came home, before he actually came home in a pig pen, he said, he finally came to himself, and he says, this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna go home. He finally came to himself, said, I'm gonna go home, and I'm gonna say, you know what he said in his mind? What did he say? I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna say, as father, I have sinned.

Yeah, that comes later, but what he said, father, I have sinned, this was in his mind before he even had come home. Father, I have sinned against heaven and against thee. I think he saw the full picture.

I think that was why repentance started working in his heart. And when he came home, that's in verse 18, Luke 15, 18. Father, I have sinned against heaven and against thee.

And when he came home, I'll tell you, God the Father is always watching, and his father was watching when he came home. Verse 21 says, his father, when his father came running, verse 21 says, that's what he said. It's exactly what he said.

It is his father, I have sinned against heaven and against thee. I'm no more worthy to be called thy son. I think that is true repentance.

I would feel, or I've experienced in my own life, why we're sometimes struggling with gray areas and issues in our own life, and not quite sure where someone's at, because they haven't done the twofold repentance. They might take care of these things, these separate things, but have never really sinned, they sinned before God. Or maybe they just wanna say, well, I'll just confess it to the Lord, but don't make things right that are affecting their delegated authorities.

I think these things are very important. Because the elder son, it says, when he heard the celebration, he came out, or he refused to go in, his father came out, and the elder son just kind of threw everything back in his father's face, says, I never transgressed the eye commandment at any time. Thou never gavest me a kid to make merry with my friends, but when this thy son, everything was on this level.

I don't think he ever saw himself that he was a sinner himself. So he leaves, that older son kind of leaves us hanging. I don't know where he ended up at.

But the younger son gives us a lot of hope, because he saw this principle. And I think in the issue of God's order and authority, I think this is very important that we see that we need to have a clear slate with God and with our fellow man. And especially today, my dear sisters, this is God's heart that you, first of all, have your connection with the Lord, but then also under your husband.

I believe faith is the principle whereby life is obtained, but I believe the obedience, even with the Lord, obedience is the principle by which this faith is lived out. I think they're connected. I'll read a couple of scriptures here, and I'm just gonna read them.

I don't know how much comment we'll make on some of these. There's a scripture in Colossians 3 that is a parallel with this passage here in Ephesians. Colossians 3 says, wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as is fit in the Lord.

Then it says, husbands, love your wives, be not bitter against them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. And fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

And it says, servants, obey your masters in all things, according to the flesh. And then talk to the masters. And what I've noticed here in Colossians 3 in Ephesians has the exact same pattern.

The first people that it addresses, the word of God addresses is to the ladies. It always addresses those that are under authority. I don't know why it starts with a woman.

Maybe that's because that's how the fall came into the world. But I just noticed that I don't have a complete answer there. There's something to think about.

I thought it's interesting that in both passages, God starts there with the woman. And then he addresses the husbands. And then the children.

And then the fathers. Then the servants. And then the masters.

God has his order. God has his delegated authority that he has set up that he wants to flow through to fulfill his will. So faith, I believe faith is a principle whereby that life is obtained.

But obedience is the principle by which that faith can be lived out. It's one way of how I can look at that. I think we can look at that like that.

So I look at this divine authority. Does that make sense? Divine authority then delegated what God has handed out to others. And that's where we really find a lot of our life being lived out in relation to others.

And I know wise people, and it's been encouraged to me. And I'll just say it like this. And I'll just say this.

I've never, I'm not perfect in that. I haven't lived that out perfectly. The Lord has been opened my eyes.

It's the blessing of, in the right. Looking at authority right and the blessing it is in my place, wherever I enter. I've been encouraged already.

Wherever you go, wherever you enter, be mindful. Where are the authorities that you can bow to or you can respect and honor? And you'll find your life blessed. And I found that.

Just a little testimony. When I left the Amish church about 30 years ago, I was a neighbor to the bishop, the Amish bishop. And I just went to talk with him, had a good talk.

And we had a level of respect. I think he appreciated that I came and just had a good talk. And of course there's things that we saw different.

Probably even today we do. But over the years, occasionally we see each other. But I never felt an antagonistic.

I think he, I really think he felt that I never was against him somehow. And you will find if you maintain that attitude, it'll just open up the door more of blessing. They will much quicker pour a blessing onto you.

It's been my testimony. Just a few months ago, we were at a funeral. It happened, just happened.

We're in another state. Actually it was Brother John Smoker's mother-in-law. Funeral out there in Pennsylvania.

Sitting there, all of a sudden he walks in and forgot he had some connections there and sat beside me. And we afterwards just had some little bit of interaction. And he just gave me a blessing.

And I never, my father died when I was pretty young. And it just meant so much to me. You might think, well he's an Amish man.

But it was still, there was a, I just felt some respect that I had to maintain. Came back and just with a blessing, with a calling that I have here now. He'd heard about that.

He just gave me a good, good blessing. There was no antagonistic, just everything was positive. And I'm not worth it, I don't deserve that.

But that's just a small testimony. If you keep your heart in the right place, there's nothing but blessing will enter in. Nothing but blessing.

First Timothy, I'm just gonna read some of these. I don't know how much comment I'll make. First Timothy two, verse eight says, I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting.

In like manner also that women adorn themselves with modest apparel, with shame-facedness and sobriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or corset raised. For which becometh women professing godliness with good works. And it says, let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.

But I offer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first born, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Just thought that we'll just read that because it has the words authority. The words subjection in there. This is just God's word, I'll just read that.

And there's a verse in, a couple verses in Titus two. All very familiar with these. Titus two says, but speak thou the things which become sound doctrine or just proper teaching.

Sound teaching of the age, men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity and patience. The age women, likewise, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness. Should just flip back to first Timothy two.

Verse 10 it says, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. Here it says, which, that they be in behavior as becometh holiness. Holiness and godliness I think are interchangeable here.

If we would have, we write down godliness and holiness and the various women characters throughout the Bible and we could also write other negative attributes on there and just kind of, our children do this at school, match this meeting with an antonym, what's the homonym and so forth. This is the idea here, this testimony of your life should be matching godliness, holiness. That's always where it should match up at.

Not false accusers, not given too much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. A lot of testimony, a great portion of God's testimony of his gospel hangs on your submission. That the word of God be not blasphemed.

That's what it says here, it's God's word. To do all these things, be mindful of them, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Second Peter, I'm going to that passage that Brother Jerry shared out of.

First Peter two, I had planned on reading first Peter two, verse 21, but he very well explained that. I'd just like to, I'd like to, for you to just think about those last words that he expounded, who when he was reviled, reviled not again, when he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously. Then let's just go down to chapter three.

Says likewise, now the Holy Spirit didn't put that three, the chapter three, that was just a continuation. So it says likewise, like men are ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives. So what I understand in the scriptures, Paul wrote, and this is God's heart, that it is through the foolishness of preaching that men are converted.

But there's one, there must be a category of men that cannot be reached unless through a woman's testimony like this. It seems that there are cases for unreached any other way, this is one way you can do it. Is if they know, if they can see an ungodly man, or ungodly husband has a wife that fears the Lord, can be won by the walk of life, by the walk of that woman, that lady, while they behold your chaste conversation.

It's just visual, total visual, just watching that life. Coupled with fear, who is adorning, let it not be that outward adorning, of plating the hair and of wearing of gold or of putting on for peril, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is inside of God of great price. So this attitude of submission, I believe is very foundational.

I just brought a little simple illustration along here today. I'll get set up here in a little bit. We used to play this, haven't played it a long time.

See how many you take out before it collapses. But in the book of Proverbs 14, it says, it says, verse one says, every wise woman builds her house. Can someone finish that? What's the rest of that verse? Yes, thank you.

But the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. And maybe we'll have a little illustration here. But the children can also glean some from this.

But we'll call this side the foolish woman. But it says, every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish will pluck it down with her hand. I think one of the big things that we read about these scriptures this morning already was objection, just admitting yourself.

And I believe that is probably the foundation of that relationship. But the foolish will just pluck it down, disregard it, and start destroying her house, taking it down. I think it's very foundational.

We'll just take some away from her and allow the wise woman over here will start building her house. Every wise woman, not just some of them, but every wise woman will do these steps, will build their house. But the foolish will just pluck it down, doesn't really matter, I'm taking things into my own hands.

So every wise woman builds her house. And very foundational is that attitude of submission, like we were reading here in 2 Peter. It says that, you wise, be in subjection to your own husbands that, if any obey not the words, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives.

And I have seen, I've been around, and I've been a close friend with a person that walked away from his relationship, from his wife, and he's not doing well. But I will say that he shared so much already, being preached at, he knows all the scriptures, but being preached at by his wife, he's not gonna reach me. I'll just say that that is how it works.

I see the principle here. You might think that's the right thing to do, but he shared, I know from his heart, if he would see I'm doing all I can as far as submission and by my heart and saying, I'm sorry, even if it's not, if this lady would follow the pattern that Brother Jared is expounding, it would go a long way. He basically said, I'm unwilling to come, I'm unwilling to bow until I see that.

Preach all you want. Preach, preach. I'm closed to it until I see that.

So it's a very foundational thing. It's this attitude of submission. I think obedience, to me, obedience is kind of related to the conduct of someone.

It's an outward thing. But submission, I believe, is more related to the will. It's the inside.

If submission is seated there in its proper place, obedience will flow out of that, it will be a fruit. Because we all know we can force someone into obedience, but the submission is not. I mean, we face that with training children.

Like the little child that said he was forced to sit, but he said, inside, I'm still standing up. And that will not be submission. It'll be maybe a display of obedience, a symbol of obedience, but it is not, the principle is not there and it won't be any foundation there.

I believe it's connected with a will, with a hard attitude. I believe it's possible to have obedience without submission, but I don't think it's possible to have submission without obedience. I think that's a principle that is set.

We can have forced obedience, we can have obedience that kind of looks like I'm conforming to someone's will, but it's not true, the heart can't, might not be at the right place. But true submission will have the proper obedience. And the last verse I read there in Ephesians 5, it says that the man, in conclusion to that whole chapter of husband and wife and marriage, let the husband love his wife and let the wife see that you reverence her husband.

That word reverence is a strong word. It talks about alarm, being alarmed, being in fear, calling, viewing him as Lord, like you're frightened and in awe. Here in this passage in 2 Peter 3, verse six it says, even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters he are, as long as you do well, I'm not afraid with any amazement.

That word is basically the same word, fear, frightened. I thought, well what, it almost sounds like contradiction here. It says here that it should not be afraid with any amazement.

But Ephesians says that it should, reverence, have that fear, a godly fear. I think what he's saying is that there's a fear that originates from meeting God. When you meet God, you will establish a godly fear.

You have a meeting with God. Even as Sarah, when those three men came and talked with Abraham, and Sarah was listening, heard about Isaac being born, said she laughed. And the angel said, well why did you laugh? And she denied right away.

Said, you didn't laugh. And said she was afraid. She had a meeting with God.

She met divine authority. She met divine presence. And I believe that brought a fear, the proper awe and reverence in her heart.

But here it says, not afraid with any amazement nor, how would you say, hyperactive fear. Something that is kind of out of control. Fear that is out of control, that is unfounded.

A fear maybe that comes from self instead of a godly fear. Imagine Sarah, on the other hand, after they had the son, I don't know how this all worked. I was very interested to watch some of these scenarios when Abraham got the word, take Isaac up the mountain.

Offer him. Where was Sarah in all this? You never read how she responded. But times like that would have been opportunities for her to respond in amazement, in a way, no way Abraham, you're crazy.

This must not be from the Lord. Would never would ask someone like that. That's probably the difference where he's talking about this amazement, it's a fear, made up fears that come from within, from not trusting the delegated authority in her life.

It's what this is bringing out here. Not with any amazement. So fears, a true fear needs to come from really meeting God, divine authority.

Fears shouldn't originate from our own whims. The submission is not outward, but it's inward, but it manifests through outward obedience. So I'd like to ask the question, does the will, does your will, does that originate from your body or your mind, your head? Well, that's, our body can think, but it's the mind that thinks, that's where the will, the seed of emotions are in our mind.

So to will and to do God's will for a woman needs to meet that divine authority. Our will needs to be Christ as the head of the body, and Christ's will needs to be expressed throughout our members. So we need to be connected with Christ the head and allow his will to become our will.

That's basically what that protections lineup is there, that his will can flow through the body. Christ is the head, so our will really needs to be Christ's will. Now, this is something I'd just like to point out briefly that I think has been a detriment in my life, and I see it worked out in so many situations that people tend to, we tend to separate the person that God has set, and ladies do that especially, or we all do that.

We tend to separate someone that God has set there from their character. If they have a nasty character, we have a Kim that's over in North Korea, we think we don't have to bow to him. Someone that doesn't display a good character, we kind of have the mindset, well, I don't have to bow, I don't have to obey that one.

I'm kind of exempt from that one. I don't believe that's how God looks. Paul wrote about obeying the authorities when Nero was in reign, a ruthless heretic, ruthless, brutal ruler, but they, Paul wrote that they are God's ministers, God's ministers.

I think you will gain a lot of mileage if you can come to the place and realize no matter where I find myself in life, who are my surrounding people that God has set to speak into my life to protect me, if I can just accept that, and if they make wrong judgments, make a wrong call, that's between them and God. I don't have to fix that. Actually, being under is so much easier.

You have so much less responsibility, woman, than your husband does. They have to answer to God. If they make a wrong call, they have to answer to the Lord.

You are in a protective position, but it's just the nature of us to not trust that and we want to detour that and go out around. That would be rebellion. I think God would call that rebellion.

I had to think of 1 Samuel, where Saul stared at Amalekite. The rebellion is never left unjudged. You want to write something down.

Rebellion is never left unjudged. That situation Saul was taken care of by God. God addressed that.

His life was taken. He stared at Amalekite, and you know who took his life. At the very end, he was an Amalekite, a young man that Saul held in his soul, but he didn't finish him off, and the young man was coming by and Saul asked, who are you? He said, I'm an Amalekite.

So the very people that he stared at in his rebellion is the one that finished him off, brought death to his life. But even that young man was then, his life was taken by David, and he came with a bracelet and with a crown, thinking that he would be very happy. So the fruit of rebellion is always judged by God.

Always judged. It's never left unjudged. Okay.

So please, please, let's not separate. Let's try to refrain from that, from lading it, if you can. Your husband makes a mistake, that you kind of obey in proportion to his, what you see his faithfulness, what he is worthy.

Kind of prorating. You know, we prorate a lot of things in business. I'll just prorate this.

We can't do that in, and come out on the, you come out on the short end and you start prorating in honoring your husband. In some of the things I've seen in scripture, and I'll just share it like this. If you want to build a house with wisdom, Proverbs 31 says, and the woman there, the wise woman, the virtuous woman, verse 26 says, in her tongue is the law of kindness.

It's okay to be under that law. The law of kindness. On the opposite, of course, is harshness or nagging.

Nagging tears down a house. Kindness builds up. I just read some of these scriptures, and again, as a refresher, it's just, you know, it's surprising in Proverbs 19 and 21 and 27, it says, it's better to dwell in a house, something with a contentious wife and a wide house.

And I remember reading the statistics, I think it was in the 70s, and I don't have the numbers. People built small houses here in America at that time. Lived in small houses.

But ever since, the houses have been getting bigger and bigger, the family's smaller and smaller. And you never heard so much about man's cave and all that stuff back then, but now that's a big thing that's been, you know, it's kind of a man's retreat. So, the bigger the house you build, I guess, don't forget your quarters somewhere in there.

But it shouldn't be a name among Christians. It says, it's better to dwell on a housetop, like a little stairway, all along the housetop, in a big house with a contentious woman or with a brawling woman. Brawling woman, it's out of control, I'm in control.

Now, that can be very wearing, I should say, like there's a very wearing on a husband or a man of the house, if there's a continual nagging or just a, even without words, just an unspoken nagging, you don't measure up. That eats away at a man. It does, I've seen that, and nagging is destroying.

And it also says in verse 21, 19, it is better to dwell in the wilderness than with an angry woman, contentious and angry woman. So, anger, anger will destroy your home. But a wise woman will control or so have temperance.

Spirit of the Spirit is, one is temperance, it's self-control. A wise woman will do that, have that self-control under the Holy Spirit. And, see the door's unlocked, but if you just give me the liberty, talking about self-control, this is a very fragile subject to tread upon, but I'll be the one you can throw stones at.

I just had a mental picture in my mind of a band of ladies with rolling pins and mixing spoons running me out the side door here, but talking about self-control. We hardly dare talk about it, but in our nation, in the churches, obesity is becoming an issue. Can I just share that to all of us? I'm just including men also.

Can we look at that? As far as being a testimony to the world, I believe that the fruit of the Spirit is temperance, and that will control our eating. Now, I know as men, we get away with things. It doesn't seem fair, because a lot of us can eat, it doesn't show up as quick as does the ladies with the body changes that go through, but it is something I think we just need to honestly face, and especially, I'll say, us that have that platform background where butter and sugar has been heavily used.

If you can just accept that exhortation, and I don't want to run off the side door, but it's something I just would encourage us to look at. It's not healthy. A lot of those cooking, just a little, might be a play on words, but I believe a lot of well-meaning, and I grew up in that.

My mother was from a home where there's a lot of that used, and her sister get together, it's, yeah. I don't know if it was butter on sale or not, but it was used heavily, and it was kind of encouraging. You have enough, and I'll say a wise woman will build her house, and the food is just slowly, even a good-hearted lady that wants to provide, and means it so well, but she's slowly cooking, and frying, and baking her wife, her husband, and children to death.

I think she is, by unhealthy. Yeah, maybe enough said on that, but self-control. I'll say this, but my wife had an interesting talk here just a few months ago with a lady that just pressed in, realized, you know, I can try this fad, diet fad, that diet fad.

There's just nothing really. She was finally honest. There's nothing just like self-control.

She was past the childbearing years and all that. She just really made this, took it personal. She owned the situation, and her life is different.

A lot of ladies come to her. What did you do? What's the secret formula? We all want that secret formula of getting there without the journey somehow. She says, do you really want it? Do you really want it? It's just self-discipline, it's temperance.

How much do we want that? Self-control. Another thing that I've noticed that this might not all be negative, but I think it can destroy her. A foolish woman can destroy her.

Her home is that, and a wise woman, a wise woman especially will build on this one, is to realize that she often operates on the temporary, what she sees here and now, and kind of responds according to the emotional, just what I see now. The husband, that laid-back husband kind of just doesn't get with it, she thinks. But sometimes that husband has more of a long-term vision and he's processing things, how will this, he sees down the road a little bit further.

You see he's up a little bit higher, he can see a little bit further. Even God, God sees it all. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.

I'll just, I think our wives, God is, they have so much input, and I lean on my wife heavily. I trust you do too. You have a beautiful, flowing together.

But there is something there that women tend to respond to the immediate now, and a little bit more reactionary, and might not see down the road quite as far. Just want to take care of it now, and just fix it now. Maybe at the expense of down the road a bit.

I think that's a principle that affects some ladies, maybe not everyone, but just remember God, God is higher, he sees the big picture. God in Christ, I believe man, God has, it was God's idea to put man there, you know? And I believe he can, he's a little bit higher, and I think he can see a little bit further, if that makes sense, so. Just a encouragement, not to be reactionary, short-term vision, but trust that, trust those decision-makings into your husband's hands.

And of course, a godly husband, you'll be a team, he'll bounce things off of you, and you can work together. But ultimately, he needs to chart out the course. Another one that we read there in Titus, is a keeper at home, a keeper at home.

Take one out of the center there. Someone that doesn't want to stay at home. I think we're all aware of this, but I don't have to mention a whole lot.

Be domestically inclined, a wise woman will be domestically inclined. She will enjoy her children. I think Titus says that she should love her children.

My wife, my wife has a large, comes from a large family, and she shared this already, out of all the 15 children, her mother encouraged all her daughters, when you go somewhere, basically take care of your own children, they are your responsibility. Don't push them on others, don't, you know, you want to go eat, just unload them somewhere else. I'm not saying that's not all wrong, people come and volunteer, that's a blessing, but own that responsibility, love your children.

That's first of all, love your children, a wise woman will do that. Love your children, and don't let, expect others to do that for you. A keeper at home, on the flip side, is in Proverbs 7, talking about the wise woman, says her feet abide not in her house.

She's loud and stubborn, her feet abide not in her house. And the day and age we're living in, those feet can so easily, figuratively speaking, be outside the house with, there you go, at least you said that, smartphone, or any phone, really. Her feet abide not in her house, and Facebook and all that, I'm not up to that stuff, but I'll just say that, that has destroyed a lot of, a lot of homes already, a lot of us contribute to that.

Has left gaps in relationships, and homes are being torn apart by that, those social sites, and I wonder what would happen if all the time that ladies, even just ladies, spending in all their contacts, and updating, all that, they just, for one year, I'm gonna leave that all aside. 20 years ago, we could do a lot without any of that. I'm gonna leave that aside.

Instead, I'll just write letters to people, I'll just read more in the word of God. I think relationships would really take an increase in quality. I think it would build houses, because her feet abide not in her house.

The one, kind of along with that thought in 1 Timothy 2, we read about shamefacedness. Her countenance, her look at life, her interaction, her flow with other people, her relationship, it should be with shamefacedness, a downcast, even as Sarah, Sarah called Abraham Lord, it was like a bowing to him, it was a respectful term. And I think, Brother John, you had maybe love and respect.

I think we went through that when we were years ago. I know one of my family members, they had listened to that, and they actually tried to live it out, but his wife called him Lord, and he finally didn't like that either. But she at least was trying.

But that, we laugh about it, but I don't think Sarah and Abraham laughed about it. I think she viewed him as her Lord, and reverence, and godly fear was there. Crazy things that Abraham did, took Isaac up that mountain, he went, he traveled here and there, not knowing where he went.

Had, Sarah ended up in Pharaoh's house to cover up for him. Took a risk, but you never hear of any reaction, how she responded, calling him Lord. Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters ye are, it's conditional.

As long as you do well and are not afraid, she could have just freaked out, I'm not going to that house, they're not taking me in, kicked and screamed when they came to take her, but I don't think there's anything like that. Her husband just said, this is the best situation, she viewed him, this is from God. I think she saw authority, she saw authority, it is God that is speaking, this is what we all need to come to.

It's not just that man with all his troubles and flat spot, but it's really God is speaking. Once we get that concept clear in our mind, children also, and all of that, no one is out from under authority, really, no one is. Once we have that concept, things will flow well.

Talking about that, a fee to buy a night at her house, and the social media and all of that, I've had this picture that the spider and the spider webs are increasing all around us, and you ever saw a spider web and just watch an insect, I'm one to always defend the spider's ability to get that insect if I'm around, because I just, something's hard for me to take, to see something being overtaken, I just, I always struggle with that, seeing a lion take down his apron and so forth, and even a spider take down a fly, and I'm glad it happens when I'm up there to take the flies, but I can't, I don't like to see it. But you just see how they set their webs out, and they're always catching, always out there to catch people, to try to get the unsuspecting ones, and so a lot of what's out there, that smartphone like you shared, there's spider webs out there, be very careful, be very careful. They can really take your house down.

Now, fill your heart, fill your home with joyful sound, with singing, a wise woman will do that instead of the nagging, the criticism. Joe was singing and positive. I think it was John D. Martin, he's really into singing, he's done a lot of teaching.

I've heard him say already, basically he learned his singing from hearing his mother. His mother sang and sang and sang, knowing mother was knowing someone that sang. Always sang, said mom wasn't singing, it's because mom was sick.

Only reason she didn't sing is if she was sick. So she didn't know the notes, my dad was actually the techy one, he knew the music, but she's the one who just sang, sang. That's where I got my ear for music, for the melody.

She just naturally was on, sang. I have many good memories, I think I shared it a while ago when I was talking about singing, making music, melody in our heart and so forth. Growing up at home, my sister just sang and sang and sang, and even at a young age, they were building their house already.

And it's broad, I just look at their homes where the ones that sang the most, I just see more of a blessing and liberty in their home. Fill your heart, fill your life, fill your home with singing and joyful sounds. Hold on, there's so many other things that we could talk about yet that will destroy your house versus build them.

I think there's one thing I'd like to just mention yet. Just fill your heart with forgiveness. A foolish woman will pluck down her heart by bitterness.

I think our nation is filled, our prisons are filled with people that are bitter, angry, never have the grace to forgive. And their house, you look at their home life, their houses are just completely broken. And we're facing it all the time in our foster care.

This is a sad situation. Things are falling apart. People are bitter, angry.

Forgiveness versus bitterness. Bitterness will just take it down and just destroy yourself. Maybe the wind's gonna take this down yet.

Yeah, there's probably others we could share with you. I trust this can just give you a little bit of visual that really, a foolish woman ends up with really having nothing left. That she responded negatively, made wrong choices.

We all, every day, you will face choices, dear sisters. You'll have the opportunity to respond in a negative way. You can get up tomorrow morning, it's a Monday morning, and everyone knows mom's not really having a good morning.

It's just, I don't know why it is. My wife says, I can say this now, I have liberty. She's not here, but she said that others can kind of get away with their feelings, the children, the husband, but if mom's down, it seems everyone is affected.

Mom ain't happy, ain't no one happy, it's all the same goes. It doesn't have to be like that. Fill your heart with the love of God, with the spirit of love.

Allow the Lord Jesus through his spirit to fill you, to build your house with positive input. Well, I don't know how many sisters or daughters of sisters we have in here, I trust your heart is all there. You want to be that.

But if not, God is gracious, he's forgiving God. Remember, like I shared in the beginning, God is on your side. He's willing to help you be rebuilt.

He can help anyone rebuild what the caterpillar has eaten, the locust has destroyed. If we just, if we do this like the prodigal son, we just come to the father. Say, as father, I have sinned against thee, and whatever it takes on this level for restitution, make things right, the house can be built again.

Okay, let's pray. Thank you, Lord, for your word. I'll just be honest, Lord, some of these scriptures are probably just not so fun to look at, to be honest, how we look at things, but accept them as your word, and you have a will in all of this, you want people to be blessed, you want homes to be blessed, children to be blessed, you want husbands to be blessed.