Pastor Ray Bentley Of Maranatha Chapel

Now, there are two reasons for this call to honor and obey our parents. The first is there is a natural law of children obeying their parents, that God is just kind of written into the genetic code of of human existence. Or as Paul puts it, for this is right. And I think that we would generally agree. And it's interesting that essentially every culture and every society is built on the premise that children ought to obey their parents.

Paul writes, children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother. Which is the first commandment with promise that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth. And you fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her. Now Christ is our example. Now how did this love story begin? By the way, the Bible is a love story. It's very passionate romantic story. Every fairy tale that's ever been written borrows from this story. And you have this this beautiful, attractive, desirable bride who has been stolen, who has been taken advantage of, who has in some ways been imprisoned.

And all of a sudden you realize there are other human beings. And then in particular, the opposite sex as you begin to fall and to fall in love. Do you remember? I think the first step in falling in love again is to start paying attention again. Do you remember, when you first found the love, how much attention you paid with phone calls and with cards and and maybe flowers and expressing your heart with words.Do that again. You want to appreciate your wife. What does that mean? Appreciation. Very simply, appreciation means goes up in value. What does Jesus do with us? He builds us up. That's what the word edify means. He builds us up with his words. So, husbands, build your wives up. Sometimes we can get, you know, two familiar and two critical.

I think that, you know, all, my brothers and sisters need to look carefully at this. Verse 21 says, submitting to one another in the fear of God. So in reality, the foundation of what Paul is now going to share is that both of us submit, but we both submit in different ways.

Marriage is God's idea. It's his design that one man and one woman would promise to him that they'll live together as one for the rest of their lives.But today, we'll see there's more involved in Hannon's ship and procreation. We'll see. Marriage is God's colorful painting of our relationship with him. Let's open our Bibles to my favorite chapter in all of the Bible, Ephesians chapter five. Okay. The title of the message is The Mystery of Marriage. It is a wonderful picture of our relationship between Jesus, who is the heavenly bridegroom, and the church, which is like the bride.

Now that is that's amazing to me. Why is Paul comparing a man who gets drunk with wine and alcohol, with a man or a woman that is filled with his spirit? He is. He's bringing some rather unusual linkage here. But there is a purpose. These two have more in common than what appear on the surface. For instance, both men have a thirst. Both men have a need. Both men have something inside that they need to help with the pressures of life and the anxieties of life and and the complexities of life. And, you know, you ask a guy that drinks, why are you drinking? And he says, because it helps me relax. Takes the edge off and it makes me calm down.

The foundation of Ephesians. And by the way, it is not only the foundation of Ephesians. It is God's priority throughout the entire Bible. And this is how God has revealed himself to us and how we have a relationship with him. It begins with what God has done for you. It begins with God's gift to you of salvation, forgiveness, eternal life, the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The instant the instant light comes on the scene. Darkness is chased away. Every time you turn on the light switch, you see a powerful spiritual principle demonstrated right before your eyes.

Our goal as believers should be spiritual growth. The process often reveals some surprising things growing spiritually is a greater revelation of just how big a sinner that I really am, and God's grace is deeper than I had imagined. His mercy is far wider than I could have ever dreamed, and as I begin to experience that now, I have a greater capacity to share that same love, grace, forgiveness toward others spread.