Looking Ahead: May 16 Matthew 5:43-48 “Loving Others Beyond the ‘Norm’ ” May 23 Matthew 6:1-4 “Giving, for Whose Credit?”
If you would like to TEXT a prayer request to The Chapel Staff, text the word “prayer” to 269-280-2878.
“Great Marital Relationships Are Built on Our Relationship with Christ ~ Part 1: Men” Ephesians 5:15, 21-33 May 9, 2021
Introduction:
Eph.5:18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms …
I. We Must Be Mutually Submissive, v.21.
II. Wives, Be Submissive to Your Husbands, v.22-24.
III. Husbands, Be Loving of Your Wives, v.25-32.
A. What is to be done: Be sacrificially loving, v.25a.
1 Jn.3:18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
B. How this is done: In comparison to Christ, v.25b-31.
1. Possess a sacrificial love, v.25b.
2. Possess a purifying love, v.26-27.
Eph.1:13 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit …
3. Possess a caring love, v.28-30. 4. Possess an unbreakable love, v.31.
a. There is a leaving of all other relationships.
b. There is a cleaving or bonding or cementing to our spouse.
c. There is a oneness in marriage, the two becoming one flesh.
C. Why this is done: Because we have experienced the church and Christ union, v.32.
Conclusion: Eph.5:33 However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. 1. Each husband: Love your wife as you love yourself. 2. Each wife: Respect your husband. Eph.5:21 Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Application: 1. When we can picture marriage in the context of Christ and the church, Paul’s statements to wives and husbands are not all that scary. a. Submission becomes a privilege in our relationship with Christ.
b. Sacrificial love becomes a joy in our relationship with Christ.
2. When love and submission are in place in marriage, they become cyclical.
3. When the husband and wife are seeking the filling of the Holy Spirit, love and submission come together without complication.
4. What’s inside your gloves? (We are the gloves.) Will you allow the Holy Spirit to fill and control you?
Action Steps: 1. Wives: o Are there areas of submission you need to work on?
o Are there areas where you are not showing respect? How can you turn that around?
2. Those not married: How can you improve in these two areas, submission and respect, in your life?
3. Husbands: How can you work on your love for your wife? o Sacrificial love, v.25b. o Purifying love, v.26-27. o Caring love, v.28-30. o Unbreakable love, v.31-32.
a. The first area of love to work on: ______b. The second area of love to work on: ______
4. Those not married: What two types of love can you work on within your family or closest relationships? a. ______b. ______