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Welcome to the River City Church
podcast and a message by our 

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lead pastor, Jason Powers. 
Our prayer is that this message 

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would inspire and encourage you,
build your faith and point you 

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to the life changing love of 
Jesus. 

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May you enjoy the goodness of 
God as you follow Him today. 

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Glad that you're here before we 
stop. 

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We're going to do the confession
here in just a second. 

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That's an important part of what
we do. 

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But I want to tell you something
before that Your worship is 

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beautiful. 
It is a striking offering to the

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Lord. 
I'm standing over like I got a 

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million things. 
I'm ADD I'm old and a million. 

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I'm standing over there. 
I'm just watching and some of 

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you I've, you know, guys I've 
seen right and like to go, 

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you're here and I was like this,
you know, and now I see and it's

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even just like this. 
And I just want you to know I 

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love it. 
I love it. 

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I just want you to know that's 
that's the beginning of 

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everything. 
Like it's, it's imperfect. 

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We don't see it how how you do 
that. 

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But your worship of the Lord is 
beautiful and it gives me joy 

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and it brings me pleasure and 
only imagine the joy of the 

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father for that. 
And so I just want to tell you, 

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keep pressing in more, right? 
Like if you went from here to 

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here, maybe try this, right? 
Like just see what see what 

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happens, right. 
I'm grateful that you're here. 

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I'm grateful for the privilege 
of worshipping with you week 

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after week. 
So we begin with our confession 

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and we tell our confession 
because it's true. 

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And we tell it because sometimes
we believe it and sometimes we 

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don't believe it, but we need to
believe it. 

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But regardless of what we feel, 
we come back to truth. 

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And so our confession is as 
churches that we are badly 

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broken. 
Yes, you are. 

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Grace and peace to you. 
And there's probably nowhere the

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whole idea of broken and love 
comes together in relationships.

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That's the, the, you know, that 
kind of the thing, that's 

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actually the thing that we have 
a hard time getting around is 

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how do we love broken people and
how do we love as broken people?

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My wife is badly broken and 
deeply loved. 

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How does my love engage her 
brokenness? 

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How does my brokenness affect my
ability to love? 

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See, these are all the things 
that are kind of running around 

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just under the surface of 
Ephesians. 

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What this like week, I don't 
know, 278 of Ephesians and we're

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in only 600 weeks to go or 
something like that as we wind 

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up getting ready the whole. 1st.
Half of the book in Ephesians 

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has been making this theological
point that God has been building

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this unified human expression of
Jesus. 

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Like the idea is God's desire is
always to be, has always been to

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be with his people. 
He created the garden in Eden 

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and their mankind and God walked
together, but there was 

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separation and there was 
division, right? 

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Like you see it after the fall, 
you see Adam and Eve covering 

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themselves. 
So there are parts of themselves

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that are hidden that are 
separated. 

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There's things that Adam kept 
from Eve that Eve kept from. 

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Adam and they both kept from God
and that has been the very thing

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that God has been undoing. 
And he said from the beginning, 

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I'm going to put it all back 
together. 

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And that's the revelation. 
That's this open secret that 

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Paul has been talking about over
and over again, that in Christ 

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we are the body of Christ. 
And in just like my body likes 

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to do things, my body likes to 
eat too much, my body likes to 

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watch Astros game, my body likes
to do all kinds of things. 

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And in the same way, the body of
Christ does the things that 

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Jesus did. 
And so if we are his body, we 

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are the expression of the 
ministry of Jesus in the world. 

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That means we continue to teach 
the people that Jesus would have

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taught the things that. 
Jesus would have taught. 

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We love the people that Jesus 
would have loved with the way 

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that Jesus would have loved. 
We model not just our lives, but

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our gatherings around the life 
of Jesus because all the things 

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in Ephesians that Paul tells us 
to do, he says you are this. 

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And when he says you, he means 
all y'all. 

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It is a gathering that we are 
his. 

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And so last week he was talking 
about this apocalypse right in 

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the word apocalypse is is like 
this revelation. 

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It's to have the scales fall 
off. 

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It's to just go, Oh my gosh, I 
see it now, but I didn't see it 

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before. 
And last week we saw this 

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apocalypse of love. 
And love is not just a warm 

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fuzzy feeling, thank God, 
because my feelings change like 

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the wind, like I like right now.
I just feel something. 

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Different, right? 
Like. 

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So it's not this romantic comedy
kind of love, love as Paul 

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described it and as Jesus 
enacted and enabled it says I 

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won't pursue my desires at your 
expense. 

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The idea is if I wake up in the 
morning, I don't walk through my

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house believing that it's 
everybody else's responsibility 

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to meet every need of mine. 
I feel like a sandwich in the 

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morning. 
And the resounding echo is make 

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yourself. 
Do your thing, right? 

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I don't get to use my wife or my
kids as an expression of my 

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identity. 
My love says I prefer the other 

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first. 
And that's kind of that passage,

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this apocalypse of love, Whereas
love is not emotional, but love 

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is this self giving position 
towards another. 

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To say I love my wife is to say 
that her needs and desires are 

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as important to me as my own. 
And that passage that we read 

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last week about the apocalypse 
of love ended with this crazy 

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verse that doesn't seem to make 
any sense at all. 

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But we're going to keep reading.
And it says this in verse 21. 

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It says subject yourself to one 
another in the fear of Christ. 

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Some Bibles like it. 
This is the New American 

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Standard Version. 
But if you have like the, I 

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don't know, maybe the NIV or the
CSB or whatever it says. 

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Submit to one another out of 
reverence for Christ. 

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So my pastor, Sean Azaro, he was
telling the story the very first

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wedding that he ever did. 
And some it's a couple, right? 

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And and so they're standing 
there and he goes through. 

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So now here's three things that 
you should expect from me. 

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Like if you asked me to do my to
do your wedding, number one, I 

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would love to do your wedding. 
Like weddings are my favorite 

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thing to do. 
You should expect I'm going to 

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ask you to go get premarital 
counseling, right? 

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Because marriage is hard and 
because we need it, right? 

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But we have a marriage ministry.
Here are Aaron and Mary in here.

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I see. 
Yeah, in the back. 

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Are there we right? 
Yeah, I see Liz and Cody are 

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right here. 
Listen, we have a marriage 

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ministry. 
And their entire desire and 

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purpose is to help you do this. 
Well, because you know why? 

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Marriage is freaking hard, Hard,
bro, right? 

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And so we have this whole 
marriage. 

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So the thing I'm going to ask, 
you want me to do your marriage?

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I'm going to say before I marry 
you, will you go get marriage 

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counseling? 
The second thing I'm going to 

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say, you're going to come and 
you're going to want to do your 

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own vows, right? 
And listen, everybody's 

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individual vows are so great. 
I promise to love you when the 

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sink is full. 
That's dumb. 

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You're not. 
You won't. 

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I know you think you will. 
You won't, right? 

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And so listen, those vows are 
great. 

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I promise always to be your best
friend. 

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No, but the real vows would. 
I promise not to. 

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There's a real vows of marriage 
vows, your personal, private, 

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special vows. 
But when we stand at the. 

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Altar before God and witnesses 
like we're going to talk about 

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the vows to love and honor and 
perish and obey death do us part

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Zara who's why that's Johnny. 
You may have noticed my battery 

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is going out. 
And so it might be now. 

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Now he said, thanks, Johnny, 
everybody Johnny, for that. 

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Yeah. 
So anyway, Sean's talking about.

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So these are the things, right? 
Like I I'm going to ask you to 

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to say the biblical vows. 
And the reason is because Sean 

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was doing this wedding and he 
stood there and is the first 

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wedding and his couple say no 
form. 

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And he gets to the vow part and 
he's asked the bride. 

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He says, do you promise to love,
honor and obey your husband? 

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And she laughed out loud at the 
altar. 

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Where do you go from there? 
We can acknowledge that this is 

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a. 
Little bit these passages of 

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Scripture that we're going to 
read today, wives submit to your

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husbands out of reverence for 
Christ. 

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We can acknowledge that these 
passages are often 

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misunderstood. 
And I can also as a husband for 

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a long time, I can acknowledge 
that these passages of 

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scriptures can be misapplied and
misunderstood intentionally and 

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deliberately. 
And So what we want to try to do

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is not do that. 
And really, there's this mindset

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that really unravels the whole 
thing. 

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There's some. 
We saw a couple. 

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Weeks ago, Johnny was talking 
about counter formation, right? 

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Like in order us for it to be 
formed, in order us to have the 

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kind of relationships that Jesus
wants to. 

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We have to. 
Unlearn about how to do 

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relationships as the world sees 
them, as they happen out there. 

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And there's one specific aspect 
of our relationship that we have

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to really kind of walk back 
from, and it's this 

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understanding of power and it's 
this understanding of authority.

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What does it mean to have power 
and authority in the context of 

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our relationship? 
And what I would say is. 

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If we opt into earth even more 
than it's, it's more than that. 

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If we don't intentionally step 
back and re evaluate what we 

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think about power and you know 
what power is it's strength, 

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your strength and my strength. 
Square it off. 

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Whose power wins if we don't 
rethink that whole transaction, 

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we're going to continue to do 
the things that we've done we're

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going to continue to have power 
struggles in our marriages. 

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We're going to continue to have 
power struggles in our 

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relationships with our kids. 
We're going to continue to have 

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power struggles in our 
relationships at work. 

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And I do want to say, if you'll 
allow me, like I love you so 

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much, but I just want to say if 
I can speak honestly, I don't 

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think we're doing that well. 
And church in a place where 

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we're supposed to be doing it 
differently and better. 

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We're supposed to be the shiny 
example. 

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We're not really doing any 
different. 

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I love you so much, but I want 
you to know God has a design and

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a power for your relationships 
that isn't just something we can

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squeeze into our normal roles 
out there. 

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I include myself in this, my 
relationships, folks, The way 

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that we're doing marriage, we 
all y'all, me, us together, The 

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way that we're doing marriage, 
it's not working. 

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It's not working. 
The way that we're doing 

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parenting, it's not working. 
The way that we see and 

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understand authority, authority 
in the classroom, authority in 

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DC, authority in Austin, 
authority in the stoplights, the

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way that we do, authority and 
submission, it's not working. 

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The way that we do truth, it's 
not working. 

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Christian homes, too many 
Christian homes. 

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Listen, there's no condemnation 
in any of this. 

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But listen, we got to shine a 
light on it, right? 

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Like we got to be willing to go.
Yeah. 

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I think we can do better in 
that. 

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Too many Christian couples, too 
many Christian people come to me

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and look at me and I and they 
talk about their home and I can 

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see baked into their home, 
resentment and loneliness, fear.

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And isolation. 
I talked to parents of their 

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kids trying to make their kids 
do they want. 

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They put they parent by control 
or by fear. 

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Worse than that, they parent by 
passivity and permissiveness 

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where they're trying to control 
our kids and make them to do 

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whatever you want. 
But listen, you can't do it. 

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We'll talk about a little bit 
more later, but listen, if you 

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don't tell your kids no, the 
police will be happy to tell 

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them no. 
At 18 years old, be happy to. 

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God's desires that. 
You would do it first but not 

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know with a hammer and a sword. 
And like death hammer with love 

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and grace and peace. 
Too many homes are held captive 

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by the children or the 
children's hearts are neglected 

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and withering and drying up. 
Too many marriages just hold on 

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and cling on with self 
preservation power struggles. 

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They wake up figuring out how 
can I get what I need to survive

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today And so they wake up and 
the person laying next to them 

228
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is now an obstacle to be 
overcome or they are some kind 

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of sponge to. 
Squeeze the goodness that we 

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need. 
And what I would say is I'm 

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00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:38,400
probably not any of this is 
unusual to you. 

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00:12:38,560 --> 00:12:41,000
You've probably seen it. 
The problem isn't that we don't 

233
00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:43,040
see it. 
The problem is that we see it 

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00:12:43,160 --> 00:12:46,360
and we see it and we see it and 
it gets into our homes and it 

235
00:12:46,360 --> 00:12:48,600
leaks into our hearts. 
And we don't know what to do 

236
00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:49,960
about it. 
And we don't know how to change 

237
00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:51,240
it and we don't know how to 
overcome it. 

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00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:54,240
And we don't know that we see 
anybody who's really thriving 

239
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and making it happen. 
And we're going in. 

240
00:12:55,560 --> 00:12:57,360
And So what happens is we just 
normalize it. 

241
00:12:57,520 --> 00:13:00,040
We just say this is what 
marriage is supposed to be. 

242
00:13:00,160 --> 00:13:02,400
And we look around the church 
and we say, well, it's not any 

243
00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:04,120
different in the church than it 
is out there. 

244
00:13:04,120 --> 00:13:06,880
And so maybe God, what God has 
to say about marriage, maybe 

245
00:13:06,880 --> 00:13:09,680
that doesn't work at all. 
And what I would say, CS Lewis 

246
00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:13,600
said this, the problem isn't 
that we have tried this and 

247
00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:16,640
found the principle wanting. 
The problem is that we found the

248
00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,320
principle difficult and left it 
untried. 

249
00:13:20,920 --> 00:13:23,640
And what I want to say is this 
whole apocalypse of these 

250
00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:27,040
divisions about these unity 
between US and the people like 

251
00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:30,240
us and God and then us and each 
other, this apocalypse that has 

252
00:13:30,240 --> 00:13:32,560
everything to do with our 
families, not just our families,

253
00:13:32,560 --> 00:13:35,680
our work relationships and where
and where we where we're going. 

254
00:13:35,680 --> 00:13:38,640
And listen, the last thing in 
the world that we need is 

255
00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:40,760
soothing. 
And listen, some of you are in 

256
00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:43,320
here and you feel like I'm just 
like digging a knife in your 

257
00:13:43,320 --> 00:13:45,880
guts. 
Your kids are gone, your 

258
00:13:45,880 --> 00:13:48,720
marriage is failing and you just
feel like weak and like a 

259
00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:50,320
failure. 
But listen, don't do that. 

260
00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:53,600
The last thing I want to do is 
come in here and say like, oh, 

261
00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:55,360
it's OK Everything you're doing,
it's like it's OK. 

262
00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:59,440
You know, it's not OK. 
What I want to give you is hope.

263
00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:02,920
I don't want to soothe you, but 
I also don't. 

264
00:14:03,200 --> 00:14:07,280
I don't want to shame you. 
I, I don't want you to think 

265
00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:09,960
that things are hopeless or that
like, and, and we can 

266
00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:13,160
acknowledge, right, like my 
marriage is the result of my 

267
00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:16,400
decisions and my actions. 
I am responsible for the context

268
00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:18,360
of my relationships. 
But listen, the whole reason 

269
00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:20,080
we're talking about this, the 
whole reason we're doing any of 

270
00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:22,480
this is because Jesus can change
our hearts. 

271
00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:25,000
And what that means is that 
Jesus can change your 

272
00:14:25,000 --> 00:14:27,040
relationships. 
Jesus can change the. 

273
00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:28,600
Way that you. 
Talk to each other. 

274
00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:30,880
And so the question behind all 
of this as we get into these 

275
00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:34,440
relationships is what if God has
a different idea for how 

276
00:14:34,440 --> 00:14:38,160
marriage looks? 
What if God has a different idea

277
00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:43,280
for how singleness looks? 
Church, Listen, church sucks at 

278
00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:44,840
this. 
We're Terra. 

279
00:14:44,960 --> 00:14:50,200
Listen, the apostle Paul wrote 
the New Testament single, never 

280
00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:52,680
got married. 
You know what he said, I wish 

281
00:14:52,680 --> 00:14:56,080
you all were more like me. 
Church has done not done a great

282
00:14:56,080 --> 00:14:58,680
job throughout history at 
painting singleness as a 

283
00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:01,880
beautiful portrayal of God's 
purpose and his vision, his 

284
00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:03,400
life. 
There are some of you in here. 

285
00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:06,040
I think that God is maybe 
impossibly called to singleness.

286
00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:08,760
And what I would tell you is 
it's not a lesser calling and 

287
00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:12,120
all of these things are still 
relevant for you. 

288
00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:15,040
But as I look over here, as I 
think about my children, my 

289
00:15:15,040 --> 00:15:17,200
kids, my daughter's last week 
loved. 

290
00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:19,440
They're like you said, sex too 
many times. 

291
00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:24,440
I don't I don't ever want to 
hear you say, but here we are 

292
00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:32,360
kids. 
So this is listen, we can look 

293
00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:34,160
around, can't we? 
And we just like like here's the

294
00:15:34,160 --> 00:15:35,920
question. 
What if the all good, all 

295
00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:38,960
benevolent creator of all things
was able to do more than what we

296
00:15:38,960 --> 00:15:44,720
see in the world around us? 
What if what if unlearning what 

297
00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:47,960
Paul wants to teach us here and 
building our lives around this 

298
00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:51,240
undivided body of Christ? 
What if that's the way to make 

299
00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:55,320
God's desire and his plan and 
his heart for us a reality in 

300
00:15:55,320 --> 00:15:56,960
our life? 
But again, like I said, there's 

301
00:15:56,960 --> 00:15:59,680
this one principle that all 
these things like we're going to

302
00:15:59,680 --> 00:16:02,160
read a lot of verses today. 
We're going to unpack a lot. 

303
00:16:02,280 --> 00:16:04,880
But there's one thing, one thing
behind that. 

304
00:16:04,880 --> 00:16:09,480
If we will unpack this thing, if
we will unpack this idea, things

305
00:16:09,480 --> 00:16:12,240
will begin to fall in place. 
And here's the idea right The. 

306
00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:18,840
Cross of Jesus redefined power. 
Authority and relational rules 

307
00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:22,040
redefined it. 
They don't mean the thing that 

308
00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:24,760
they meant before. 
So we all stand here and look 

309
00:16:24,760 --> 00:16:26,440
right and we look on the news 
and just go. 

310
00:16:26,600 --> 00:16:29,280
We got more guns than anybody. 
That's the old power. 

311
00:16:29,360 --> 00:16:32,760
Here's what I say we do have. 
Do you feel safe and secure and 

312
00:16:32,760 --> 00:16:34,600
stable and never afraid and 
never? 

313
00:16:34,600 --> 00:16:37,600
No, we don't, do we? 
We've got all this stuff. 

314
00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:40,800
We've got more money than any 
culture in the history of the 

315
00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:43,000
world. 
Do we feel at peace, at ease? 

316
00:16:43,840 --> 00:16:46,320
Are we nervous? 
We got to do right. 

317
00:16:46,320 --> 00:16:48,360
If we do what we've always done,
we're going to get what we've 

318
00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:50,480
always got. 
If nothing changes, nothing will

319
00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:52,400
change. 
And what I want to say is Jesus 

320
00:16:52,400 --> 00:16:55,040
wants to change the way that we 
understand power for something 

321
00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:57,640
that we cling to, something that
we grasp to something that we 

322
00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:00,880
have, that we. 
Serve others with. 

323
00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:02,680
The idea is. 
You're home. 

324
00:17:02,680 --> 00:17:07,640
Are you listening? 
Your home is not a structure of 

325
00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:10,960
authority and control. 
Of course there is authority and

326
00:17:10,960 --> 00:17:15,000
a home, but it is not about your
ability to control your kids or 

327
00:17:15,000 --> 00:17:17,359
your money or your wife or your 
husband. 

328
00:17:17,400 --> 00:17:20,119
Similarly, your work, you're 
like, no, I'm the boss at my 

329
00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:21,640
work. 
Or you may say, no, I have a 

330
00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:23,760
boss at work. 
And my boss tells me all the 

331
00:17:23,760 --> 00:17:26,520
time that it is about authority 
and control. 

332
00:17:26,599 --> 00:17:28,680
But what if your boss doesn't 
know everything? 

333
00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:30,800
See, that's the revelation 
behind all of this. 

334
00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,480
The thing that Paul keeps coming
back to is there's more that's 

335
00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:35,640
going on here. 
There are things underneath the 

336
00:17:35,640 --> 00:17:38,560
surface that if we'll bet on 
those and if we'll play by those

337
00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:41,480
rules, all these other 
structures fine and fall into 

338
00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:45,960
place, right? 
Jesus, the cross redefined all 

339
00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:47,400
of that. 
And so now we're going to look 

340
00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:52,400
at Paul presents three different
contexts, basically loosely 

341
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:55,880
framed around the Greco Roman 
household, three different kind 

342
00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,480
of relationships which will 
affect every aspect of our lives

343
00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:02,480
where we begin to reimagine 
this. 

344
00:18:02,480 --> 00:18:04,760
Power, right? 
So let's go back to what Andrew 

345
00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:07,800
and Jennifer read in Ephesians 
chapter 5, verse 21. 

346
00:18:08,880 --> 00:18:09,960
I'm just going to read the 
whole. 

347
00:18:09,960 --> 00:18:12,560
Thing I'm probably not. 
I'm going to stop because I get 

348
00:18:12,560 --> 00:18:13,600
distracted. 
My goal? 

349
00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:15,640
Is to read through. 
All of it, and then we'll talk 

350
00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:21,520
about it, OK. 
Verse 21 Subject yourselves to 

351
00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:25,320
one another in the fear of 
Christ. 

352
00:18:26,120 --> 00:18:31,200
Wives, subject yourself to your 
own husbands as to the Lord. 

353
00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:36,040
For the husband is the head of 
the wife, as Christ also is the 

354
00:18:36,040 --> 00:18:39,560
head of the church, He himself 
being the Savior. 

355
00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:41,640
Of the. 
Body I couldn't do it remember a

356
00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:46,080
couple weeks ago when we talked 
about Jesus in the church and we

357
00:18:46,080 --> 00:18:51,240
use this Greek word kefali which
means head and what we said is 

358
00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,800
in the Greek language in the 
Greek literature there's no use 

359
00:18:54,800 --> 00:19:00,160
of that word have kefali which 
means boss authority. 

360
00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:04,080
The use of kefali in the Greek, 
which are the Ephesian listeners

361
00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:07,360
would have heard from means like
source. 

362
00:19:07,360 --> 00:19:09,680
It's beginning. 
And the illustration I use is if

363
00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:13,000
you go to land a park right 
before the Panther Creek trails,

364
00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,680
right down there on the left 
there's a little looking cave 

365
00:19:15,680 --> 00:19:19,320
thing, and that is the head of 
the Komal River. 

366
00:19:19,960 --> 00:19:22,960
That is where all the water that
comes in the Komal River, when 

367
00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:25,120
you go to me, it comes from that
one place. 

368
00:19:25,120 --> 00:19:27,120
That one place is the source of 
the river. 

369
00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:31,480
And in the same way we see Jesus
as the head, the source of the 

370
00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:33,320
church. 
Now, does that mean that there's

371
00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:35,480
no authority? 
Of course there's authority. 

372
00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:39,040
The Hebrew understanding, as 
Paul would have trained in it, 

373
00:19:39,080 --> 00:19:41,560
that idea of headship and 
authority, it would have brought

374
00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:44,360
authority with it. 
But that headship always points 

375
00:19:44,360 --> 00:19:47,040
to the authority of Jesus or to 
the authority of God, right of 

376
00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,240
the Father. 
And the Father's authority is 

377
00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:52,800
for our goodness. 
When he commands us to love one 

378
00:19:52,800 --> 00:19:54,360
another, it's for our 
flourishing. 

379
00:19:54,520 --> 00:19:57,600
When he commands us to serve 
others, it's for our 

380
00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:00,400
flourishing. 
So whether we ascribe the 

381
00:20:00,400 --> 00:20:04,160
authority of the Father to this 
word of headship, or the idea of

382
00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:06,320
source and the headship the 
idea. 

383
00:20:06,400 --> 00:20:10,400
Either way you go it, the point 
isn't the husband's role isn't 

384
00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:15,120
to command and to control and to
make his wife do whatever he 

385
00:20:15,120 --> 00:20:16,200
wants her to. 
Do. 

386
00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:19,480
Submit Woman. 
We should just get rid of that 

387
00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:22,600
all together. 
It's not even really that funny.

388
00:20:23,480 --> 00:20:25,720
Right? 
So good someone thinks so. 

389
00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:26,560
That's right. 
Yeah. 

390
00:20:29,760 --> 00:20:34,320
The example is we are the head 
of our family and our wives in 

391
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,120
the same degree that Jesus is 
the head of the church. 

392
00:20:37,640 --> 00:20:42,680
And so if the church resents and
rejects the authority of Jesus, 

393
00:20:42,680 --> 00:20:45,400
well, then, OK, that's it. 
But we don't do that because 

394
00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:47,200
we're one body, we're the same, 
right? 

395
00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:53,280
So he goes on, Husbands, love 
your wives, just as Christ also 

396
00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:56,240
loved the church and gave 
himself up for her. 

397
00:20:56,240 --> 00:20:58,840
You hear that? 
Love as Christ love. 

398
00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:03,840
How did Christ love? 
He gave himself up for her. 

399
00:21:04,680 --> 00:21:10,040
Your responsibility in marriage,
husbands, is not to get the ham 

400
00:21:10,040 --> 00:21:12,520
sando anytime you want it. 
Your. 

401
00:21:12,520 --> 00:21:17,120
Responsibility in marriage is. 
I'll get my ham Sando later. 

402
00:21:17,120 --> 00:21:22,360
How can I serve you, honey? 
What are you dealing with, 

403
00:21:22,680 --> 00:21:26,240
honey? 
So that he might sanctify her, 

404
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,720
having cleanse her by the 
washing of water with the word. 

405
00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,360
This is interesting, right? 
So his love has a purifying 

406
00:21:32,360 --> 00:21:34,320
effect on his wife. 
I wonder what that's about, 

407
00:21:34,600 --> 00:21:38,920
Verse 27, that he might present 
to himself the Church in all her

408
00:21:38,920 --> 00:21:42,200
glory, having no spot or wrinkle
or any such thing, but that she 

409
00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:44,640
would. 
Be holy and blameless. 

410
00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:48,400
So husbands, this is he's saying
like this is what Christ does 

411
00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:50,880
with the church. 
He purifies her, He sanctifies 

412
00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:53,600
her, he removes her sin, He 
covers her love. 

413
00:21:54,040 --> 00:22:03,240
So, husbands, love your wives. 
Remarkably, your timing is 

414
00:22:03,240 --> 00:22:08,200
excellent. 
So husbands also ought to love 

415
00:22:08,200 --> 00:22:10,160
their own wives as their own 
bodies. 

416
00:22:10,160 --> 00:22:12,000
He who loves his own wife loves 
himself. 

417
00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:14,720
For no one ever hated his own 
flesh, but nourishes and 

418
00:22:14,720 --> 00:22:17,360
cherishes it, just as Christ 
also does the church. 

419
00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:20,480
You know what he's saying, 
husbands, like in this specific 

420
00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:23,400
instance, he's saying the 
temperature of your home is up 

421
00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:26,040
to you. 
How you treat your body is how 

422
00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:28,600
you treat yourself. 
Are you miserable at home? 

423
00:22:28,600 --> 00:22:32,080
Is your wife just miserable? 
You're not doing your job. 

424
00:22:33,680 --> 00:22:38,280
I hate that for this reason a 
man shall leave his father and 

425
00:22:38,280 --> 00:22:41,280
his mother and be joined to his 
wife, and the two shall become 

426
00:22:41,520 --> 00:22:43,160
one flesh. 
Here's the idea. 

427
00:22:43,280 --> 00:22:47,080
Here's the the power structure 
that governs Christian 

428
00:22:47,080 --> 00:22:48,480
marriages. 
Gospel. 

429
00:22:48,480 --> 00:22:53,040
Power operates in relationships 
through participation, not 

430
00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:57,440
through possession. 
So here's what Paul is doing. 

431
00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:01,080
Paul is speaking to thoroughly 
Roman people, and what he's 

432
00:23:01,080 --> 00:23:03,480
talking about is he's couching 
the. 

433
00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:08,320
Whole group Greco Roman 
household in terms of one 

434
00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:09,800
another. 
This is what they all would have

435
00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:11,760
understood. 
In every home there would have 

436
00:23:11,760 --> 00:23:14,760
been a family, a marriage, there
would have been slaves and 

437
00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:16,320
servants, there would have been 
children. 

438
00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:17,720
And that's. 
How the structure? 

439
00:23:17,720 --> 00:23:22,600
Runs and what Paul is saying is 
your households must come under 

440
00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:27,640
the authority of Jesus and what 
he's showing us is this is all 

441
00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:31,560
verse 21 submit to one another. 
The way that wives submit to 

442
00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:35,040
their husbands is respect them. 
The way that husbands submit to 

443
00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:39,880
their wives and they both submit
to each other as like a mirror 

444
00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:43,320
so that the entire marital 
relationship is this circular 

445
00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:47,520
giving of self deferential love.
And here's the deal. 

446
00:23:47,600 --> 00:23:50,960
When I know my wife and my wife 
knows me, I don't have to walk 

447
00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:53,600
through the door kicking down 
the door going where's my 

448
00:23:53,600 --> 00:23:57,760
sandwich when we're tied into 
each other when our hearts are 

449
00:23:57,760 --> 00:24:00,480
connected when she's not 
thinking about he better come 

450
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:02,520
home and ask me about my day was
until my hair. 

451
00:24:02,680 --> 00:24:07,080
She's thinking how can I welcome
my husband home from work? 

452
00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:11,240
I know what he, I I bet Jason 
would love a ham sandwich. 

453
00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:15,240
So now I come in and she's not 
serving me because I'm held it 

454
00:24:15,240 --> 00:24:17,160
over her head. 
She held me because she. 

455
00:24:17,160 --> 00:24:20,840
Loves me. 
And if you don't think my love 

456
00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:24,360
for my wife grows when I walk 
into a thick, delicious ham 

457
00:24:24,360 --> 00:24:30,800
sandwich, you're Wildman. 
But do you see how the circle 

458
00:24:30,800 --> 00:24:33,520
goes? 
Do you see how the reflection of

459
00:24:33,520 --> 00:24:35,760
love and respect to each other 
goes? 

460
00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:38,480
And so what's all this about 
sanctification, right? 

461
00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:41,720
About the sanctifying? 
Well, I want to read a quote 

462
00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:44,480
from NT Wright. 
OK, NT Wright is Anglican. 

463
00:24:44,480 --> 00:24:46,200
He's British. 
He sounds like Johnny. 

464
00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:48,120
He's a British scholar, He's 
great. 

465
00:24:48,120 --> 00:24:50,160
And he says kind of a long 
quote, right? 

466
00:24:50,160 --> 00:24:51,240
So I'm going to. 
Walk through a kind of. 

467
00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:54,880
Gently and just unpack it 
because there's a lot here. 

468
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:57,880
And listen, I know I'm talking 
right now predominantly to 

469
00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:00,640
husbands and a part of that is 
because there's like 2 verses 

470
00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:02,920
for the wives and like 12 verses
for the husbands, right? 

471
00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:04,840
So I'm just preaching biblically
to you here. 

472
00:25:05,200 --> 00:25:08,240
Here's what NT Wright says. 
Paul, of course, lived in a 

473
00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:12,800
world where women were not only 
regarded as lesser beings, but 

474
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:17,720
as often as not impure. 
So this is important. 

475
00:25:18,520 --> 00:25:24,280
Who did Paul talk to 1st? 
The wives Wives submit to your 

476
00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:26,960
husband in. 
Paul's address of the women 

477
00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:31,600
before men even at this point he
is undermining the patriarchy. 

478
00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:35,000
He is talking to the wives, to 
the woman in the household with 

479
00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,600
a measure of agency and 
recognition that they wouldn't 

480
00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:42,200
have got in most In most other 
places they were seen as 

481
00:25:42,200 --> 00:25:45,000
property, they were seen as as 
they were owned. 

482
00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:47,760
They were just part of the 
household right and often 

483
00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:49,600
impure. 
A lot of this comes from the. 

484
00:25:49,600 --> 00:25:55,280
Law, right? 
Like I this is awful, but the 

485
00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:58,440
commands were like blood is 
impure. 

486
00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:02,360
And so the command in the law 
was as long as there's active 

487
00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:05,920
bleeding, there's impurity, 
you're excluded, excluded from 

488
00:26:05,920 --> 00:26:09,160
the from the camp, you're 
excluded from worship. 

489
00:26:09,840 --> 00:26:10,880
That kind of sucks. 
Huh. 

490
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:16,680
See, the problem is the old view
of power says we separate from 

491
00:26:16,680 --> 00:26:20,080
things that are impure. 
What we see is impurity is 

492
00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:22,520
danger. 
Right guys? 

493
00:26:22,520 --> 00:26:24,320
Listen, I'm going to go finish 
and read this in just a second, 

494
00:26:24,320 --> 00:26:25,480
but I just want to stop right 
now. 

495
00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:29,000
There is no woman that is a 
threat to your purity. 

496
00:26:30,120 --> 00:26:35,240
You are a threat to your purity.
Your unwillingness to put guards

497
00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:37,880
around your eyes and your mind 
and your brain and to not 

498
00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:41,120
meditate on things like that. 
That is the threat to our 

499
00:26:41,360 --> 00:26:45,880
security, to our purity. 
Like not not like a strap, 

500
00:26:46,760 --> 00:26:48,040
right? 
Like it's, it's it's. 

501
00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,800
Us so the idea here is like 
women were often seen as impure 

502
00:26:51,920 --> 00:26:54,520
their regularly body functions 
were deemed to make them 

503
00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:58,120
dangerous for a man who wanted 
to maintain his own purity. 

504
00:26:58,120 --> 00:27:00,840
We see it all kinds of stuff 
like that right but Paul sees 

505
00:27:00,840 --> 00:27:04,600
what Jesus did the actions the 
life and ministry of Jesus and 

506
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:09,280
by parallel he has set up the 
action of the husband right the 

507
00:27:09,360 --> 00:27:12,760
he's made the connection Jesus 
to the church husband to the 

508
00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:13,920
wife. 
So the husband does. 

509
00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:19,600
The actual husband has taken the
responsibility to bring the wife

510
00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:25,800
into full. 
Purity Instead of rejecting the 

511
00:27:25,800 --> 00:27:29,000
wife at times of technical 
impurity, the husband is to 

512
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:33,320
cherish and take care of her, to
look after her and let her know 

513
00:27:33,320 --> 00:27:36,520
at. 
All times that she is loved and 

514
00:27:36,520 --> 00:27:39,080
valued. 
Listen, if husbands, not the 

515
00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:42,480
least of which Christian 
husbands, had even attempted to 

516
00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:44,800
live up to this wonderful ideal,
there would. 

517
00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:49,760
Would be a lot less grumbling 
about bossy or bullying men in 

518
00:27:49,760 --> 00:27:55,920
the world today. 
Listen, guys, your wife's 

519
00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:59,720
spiritual flourishing is your 
responsibility. 

520
00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:02,880
Now, let me be very clear so we 
don't end up in some weird 

521
00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:06,400
codependent kind of thing. 
You cannot make your spouse or 

522
00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:09,960
your wife follow Jesus. 
You cannot make her connect to 

523
00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:11,680
Jesus. 
Everybody gets their own faith. 

524
00:28:11,840 --> 00:28:13,760
Here's what you can do. 
Are you ready? 

525
00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:17,400
I if if I take what this is, I 
am the head of my household. 

526
00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,200
To whatever degree I have 
authority in my household, the 

527
00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:26,240
proper exercise of my authority 
is to make sure that my family 

528
00:28:26,360 --> 00:28:30,680
has every opportunity to 
experience Jesus, to make sure I

529
00:28:30,680 --> 00:28:34,880
can't make my wife follow Jesus.
But what I can do is operate in 

530
00:28:34,880 --> 00:28:40,000
my home so that if she doesn't 
want it, she has to say no, She 

531
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,560
has to reject Jesus. 
So here's what that means. 

532
00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:44,440
I asked her about it. 
How's your prayer life? 

533
00:28:44,440 --> 00:28:48,000
Are you talking to Jesus? 
How can I create time for you to

534
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:51,560
do that? 
How can I createspace for you to

535
00:28:51,560 --> 00:28:53,920
do that? 
She can just say no, I haven't 

536
00:28:53,920 --> 00:28:55,560
prayed in months. 
Well, that's between her and the

537
00:28:55,560 --> 00:28:57,120
Lord. 
And sometimes that's, you know, 

538
00:28:57,120 --> 00:29:01,200
I like, I get it, I know, but my
job and my responsibility is to 

539
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,000
check on and tend to and make 
sure that the spiritual 

540
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,280
temperature in my house is. 
Right, single. 

541
00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:09,280
If you're over here and you're 
single, ladies, if you find a 

542
00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:14,320
man who will not prioritize your
spirituality, he ain't the one. 

543
00:29:15,760 --> 00:29:17,920
He ain't the one. 
That's not the guy. 

544
00:29:18,360 --> 00:29:20,080
A guy who's going to take, 
right? 

545
00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:22,840
What are you going to give me? 
Anybody who's going to say if 

546
00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:26,040
you love me, you will ain't the 
one. 

547
00:29:29,320 --> 00:29:33,880
I know, I know. 
Wait, it'll be better. 

548
00:29:34,200 --> 00:29:38,720
Find someone who will love you 
like Jesus loves the church. 

549
00:29:39,320 --> 00:29:44,360
Husbands and wives, love your 
husband and wives as Jesus loved

550
00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:48,640
the church so that our children 
see households with self giving,

551
00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:51,640
self sacrificial love. 
The idea that Paul's making here

552
00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:54,600
is that our purity, that my 
wife's purity or impurity or 

553
00:29:54,600 --> 00:29:57,760
whatever they are, impurity is 
not a reason to withdraw 

554
00:29:57,920 --> 00:30:00,920
impurity in my wife, her 
failures, her weaknesses, her 

555
00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:03,960
insecurities, the baggage that 
she got grown up, the baggage 

556
00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:08,160
that she picked up. 
Right now my job is to cover her

557
00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:10,800
in those, not to take it 
personally and get my feelings 

558
00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:13,680
hurt every time she doesn't do 
what I want right? 

559
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:16,320
To cover her because why love 
does what it covers a. 

560
00:30:16,320 --> 00:30:20,440
Multitude of sins Do your wife's
sins anger you? 

561
00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:22,240
You can yell. 
At her. 

562
00:30:22,240 --> 00:30:28,400
How's that working? 
Or you can love her and cover 

563
00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:32,760
her now. 
Wives don't like if he's 

564
00:30:32,760 --> 00:30:34,080
covering you. 
Give him a break. 

565
00:30:34,160 --> 00:30:36,480
Right, let him do this. 
So let me now speak as a man, 

566
00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:38,480
let me wrap this up and I can 
just go on so much about this, 

567
00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,600
right? 
But let me do you know why like 

568
00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:45,000
men that The thing is, men 
either have a hit reputations 

569
00:30:45,000 --> 00:30:46,960
like either bluster. 
Watch. 

570
00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:49,520
Submit something like that, and 
they act like that or just as 

571
00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:51,800
total passive. 
Let me talk about the passivity.

572
00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:55,640
Do you know why men can 
sometimes be passive and all 

573
00:30:55,640 --> 00:30:57,920
seriousness? 
Because we think you're better 

574
00:30:57,920 --> 00:31:01,080
at it than we are. 
Because we trust you. 

575
00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:04,960
Because we see wisdom in you. 
Because we see life in you. 

576
00:31:04,960 --> 00:31:08,360
Because we see goodness in you. 
And so when you talk about the 

577
00:31:08,360 --> 00:31:10,840
kids, we trust you. 
And so we just set back. 

578
00:31:10,880 --> 00:31:13,520
So here's the responsibility. 
Why don't you listen to me? 

579
00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:16,960
Talk to your husband like he's 
the man you want him to be. 

580
00:31:17,960 --> 00:31:20,000
And I'm not. 
And listen, if there's abuse in 

581
00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:21,920
your home, I'm not saying be a 
punching bag. 

582
00:31:21,920 --> 00:31:24,080
Jesus never said that. 
Paul never said that. 

583
00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:25,880
Get out of the house, go get 
saved. 

584
00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:27,720
Separate on that. 
But I'm talking about you just 

585
00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:31,360
have a marriage and you fight 
and he says things that are ugly

586
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:34,440
or hurtful because he's small 
and weak and afraid and all 

587
00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:36,880
this, and you take it on. 
You get all the stuff, right? 

588
00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:41,440
Like the point is love each 
other well, serve each other 

589
00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:48,320
well, be different together, 
draw close to each other. 

590
00:31:48,520 --> 00:31:51,240
In love, Love is not about 
getting something. 

591
00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:54,080
Love is not about getting 
something. 

592
00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:57,800
Love is not about being happy. 
Wait a minute. 

593
00:31:58,240 --> 00:32:00,080
Love is not about being happy. 
We're going to get there and 

594
00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:01,880
we'll talk about that in just a 
second, right? 

595
00:32:03,520 --> 00:32:07,520
But this idea of submission, the
biblical idea of submission is a

596
00:32:07,520 --> 00:32:10,200
choice. 
Why is when it says wives submit

597
00:32:10,200 --> 00:32:11,880
to your husband's out of 
reverence to Christ, what it 

598
00:32:11,880 --> 00:32:15,200
means is choose to trust your 
husband as the head of your 

599
00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:17,760
household because we trust 
Jesus. 

600
00:32:18,960 --> 00:32:21,480
And here's something else that 
this makes very important. 

601
00:32:23,200 --> 00:32:27,440
If you are just smitten with 
somebody who could care less 

602
00:32:27,440 --> 00:32:30,360
about Jesus, they don't care 
about this either. 

603
00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:35,320
The reason I want my daughters 
to marry a Christian, the reason

604
00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:37,960
I want my son to marry a 
Christian, is so they're 

605
00:32:37,960 --> 00:32:41,680
operating out of the same. 
Playbook If I tell my wives, Oh 

606
00:32:41,680 --> 00:32:44,240
yeah, my daughters, yeah, don't 
worry about whoever you can. 

607
00:32:44,560 --> 00:32:47,280
If they don't understand that 
their responsibility is to love 

608
00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:49,400
my daughters as Christ loves 
church, here's the deal. 

609
00:32:49,400 --> 00:32:51,560
Let's make it more close. 
Like they don't even have to 

610
00:32:51,560 --> 00:32:54,680
worry about how Christ love love
my daughters like I love them. 

611
00:32:55,920 --> 00:32:58,160
You don't. 
You're not worthy like you're 

612
00:32:58,160 --> 00:32:59,360
not. 
You're not right? 

613
00:32:59,480 --> 00:33:02,440
Because here's the deal. 
Every time I talk poorly to my 

614
00:33:02,440 --> 00:33:09,000
wife, I'm talking to the 
precious beloved daughter of my 

615
00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:14,360
king, and I'll go to jail for my
kids, right, I will. 

616
00:33:14,360 --> 00:33:17,240
I'm sorry, I Jesus doesn't want 
me to, but I would I if I had to

617
00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:18,640
right like that. 
And I just want you to know if 

618
00:33:18,640 --> 00:33:21,600
me and my sin will fight like 
that over my kids, over my 

619
00:33:21,600 --> 00:33:23,840
daughters. 
Can you imagine how the eternal 

620
00:33:23,840 --> 00:33:29,960
creator of all things feels 
about his And so we get to love 

621
00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:33,800
each other imperfectly, but 
together in submission is where 

622
00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,480
Natalie just says, Jason, I 
trust Jesus, so I'm going to 

623
00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:39,400
wait for you. 
And and what it looks like in 

624
00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:41,800
the context of her home is there
are things that my wife does so 

625
00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:43,880
much better than my wife is the 
heartbeat of her home. 

626
00:33:44,000 --> 00:33:46,800
She'll come to me sometimes and 
she'll be like Reagan needs to 

627
00:33:46,800 --> 00:33:49,400
spend time with you. 
That's my middle daughter. 

628
00:33:49,400 --> 00:33:51,040
She's one of I love to spend 
time with her, but I'm always 

629
00:33:51,040 --> 00:33:53,160
doing this right all over the 
place. 

630
00:33:53,280 --> 00:33:56,440
She's got the heart and she'll 
say, hey, you need to go do 

631
00:33:56,440 --> 00:34:00,960
that. 
I submit to her in that I don't 

632
00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:02,520
say, well I'll decide who I 
spend. 

633
00:34:02,520 --> 00:34:05,360
I mean, I can do that, but that 
would be dumb because she's. 

634
00:34:05,360 --> 00:34:09,400
Really good at that I the 
numbers work for me and my 

635
00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:10,600
brain. 
So when we talk about. 

636
00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:13,840
Financial things she'll come to 
me and go I really want to go do

637
00:34:13,840 --> 00:34:16,920
that right and we have to that 
we decide right and I figure out

638
00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:19,199
can we sacrifice? 
Do we make it right but we are 

639
00:34:19,199 --> 00:34:22,679
submitted to each other because 
we know that what we're doing is

640
00:34:22,679 --> 00:34:26,320
bigger than her and what we're 
doing is bigger than me and 

641
00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:30,679
that's the idea marriage is 
always supposed to tell the 

642
00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:34,159
story of Jesus. 
Listen verse 22 and 23 and. 5. 

643
00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:39,320
No 32 and 33. 
This mystery is great, but I'm 

644
00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:41,320
speaking with reference to 
Christ and the Church. 

645
00:34:41,440 --> 00:34:43,440
When he talks about husbands and
wives and the love for they 

646
00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:46,920
have, he's talking about Christ.
Nevertheless, As for you 

647
00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:50,480
individually, each husband is to
love his own wife the same as 

648
00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:54,159
himself, and the wife must see 
to it that she respects her 

649
00:34:54,159 --> 00:34:57,560
husband. 
The point of marriage is not 

650
00:34:57,640 --> 00:35:02,280
happiness if you're waiting to 
get married so you can be happy.

651
00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,360
As someone who's been married 
for 2520, how long? 

652
00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:06,200
A lot. 
Of years. 

653
00:35:06,200 --> 00:35:07,760
I should have got that right. 
I should have. 

654
00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:13,200
I should have hit that. 
It's 21 years. 

655
00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:24,280
It'll be 22 in March. 
Listen, there's nothing I 

656
00:35:24,280 --> 00:35:27,440
wouldn't do for my wife. 
Marriage is hard. 

657
00:35:28,680 --> 00:35:31,520
It's hard. 
It requires a level of grace 

658
00:35:31,520 --> 00:35:32,960
that I don't know that I have in
me. 

659
00:35:33,720 --> 00:35:37,200
And most days I feel terrible at
it and it drives me back to the 

660
00:35:37,200 --> 00:35:39,800
presence of the Lord. 
But here's what I have. 

661
00:35:39,800 --> 00:35:42,520
I have this sense that it can be
different. 

662
00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:45,040
There's nothing that I look at 
in our relationship that a 

663
00:35:45,040 --> 00:35:46,600
difficulty. 
And I just go, well, you know, I

664
00:35:46,600 --> 00:35:49,440
can't imagine how I could have 
done anything differently in 

665
00:35:49,440 --> 00:35:51,720
that situation. 
It's not like that. 

666
00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:55,120
What our marriage continues to 
require is a greater degree of 

667
00:35:55,120 --> 00:36:00,360
love and humility and submission
by both of us to just say, it's 

668
00:36:00,360 --> 00:36:02,880
not about whether I feel good 
right now. 

669
00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:07,480
It's not about whether I'm happy
right now because in marriage 

670
00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:09,760
we're going to have to suffer. 
This is why I don't let you do 

671
00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:12,480
your own vows, right? 
Because your vow isn't going to 

672
00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:15,720
say I will stay there and wipe 
the spit from your mouth when 

673
00:36:15,720 --> 00:36:17,480
the cancer has ravaged your 
body. 

674
00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:24,360
God says that hard, hard worth 
it. 

675
00:36:24,920 --> 00:36:29,720
What if we did a different, what
if we chose to lift up power and

676
00:36:29,720 --> 00:36:33,720
love as redemptive factors and 
not destroying factors and 

677
00:36:33,720 --> 00:36:36,560
listen and you can see how this 
happens as husbands and wives, 

678
00:36:36,560 --> 00:36:39,160
as you begin to have that kind 
of mutual submission and love in

679
00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:41,360
your home. 
It absolutely flows down, right?

680
00:36:41,520 --> 00:36:44,240
So Paul does another thing and 
picking this up chapter 6 verse 

681
00:36:44,240 --> 00:36:46,720
one, the first word in chapter 6
is children. 

682
00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:49,560
First, she talked about wives. 
If you thought wives were 

683
00:36:49,560 --> 00:36:52,960
property, children were less 
than property, nobody would have

684
00:36:52,960 --> 00:36:56,880
even considered to talk to them.
But Paul addresses them first in

685
00:36:56,880 --> 00:37:01,360
the context children, he says 
obey your parents in the Lord 

686
00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:04,120
for this is right. 
That whole in the Lord thing is 

687
00:37:04,120 --> 00:37:07,280
so important because what he's 
saying is this obedience to your

688
00:37:07,280 --> 00:37:08,880
parents. 
This is part of your 

689
00:37:08,880 --> 00:37:11,280
discipleship. 
Like the way that you learn 

690
00:37:11,400 --> 00:37:14,040
about trusting father is by 
trusting your parents. 

691
00:37:14,160 --> 00:37:15,720
Your parents didn't get it all 
right. 

692
00:37:15,720 --> 00:37:18,800
Your parents had all kinds of 
weird hang ups and things that 

693
00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:21,480
God was working on them that 
maybe they listened or maybe 

694
00:37:21,480 --> 00:37:24,040
they didn't. 
But here's the idea behind your 

695
00:37:24,040 --> 00:37:27,760
parents failures and mistakes 
was an omnipotent, omnipresent 

696
00:37:27,760 --> 00:37:31,600
God who loves you from the ends 
to the beginning of everything, 

697
00:37:31,720 --> 00:37:34,760
who was watching you regain you.
Do you have wounds? 

698
00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:37,840
Of course you have wounds. 
Can Jesus heal him? 

699
00:37:38,040 --> 00:37:41,080
Heck yeah, he can heal him. 
That's a better story. 

700
00:37:41,960 --> 00:37:44,360
That's a better story. 
So what we want to do is we want

701
00:37:44,360 --> 00:37:47,920
to show our families places that
are healing, right, places that 

702
00:37:47,920 --> 00:37:50,160
we're growing into. 
And one of the things for 

703
00:37:50,160 --> 00:37:53,760
children is obey your parents. 
Your parents may be. 

704
00:37:53,760 --> 00:37:58,320
Awful parents may be awful, and 
I want you to know Jesus says 

705
00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:00,200
that. 
And this is not a mandate to 

706
00:38:00,200 --> 00:38:05,040
fall into sin. 
We don't get to ignore the 

707
00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:07,280
Scriptures for this. 
But this is saying within the 

708
00:38:07,280 --> 00:38:10,560
context of parents who are 
following Jesus, honor them. 

709
00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:12,360
You won't understand them. 
How could you? 

710
00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:15,840
Possibly they've been doing this
longer. 

711
00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:18,560
They've experienced things that 
you haven't experienced. 

712
00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:22,640
It's the first one of the with a
promise that it may turn out 

713
00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:26,280
well with you and that you may 
live long on the earth. 

714
00:38:26,960 --> 00:38:30,520
So once again, Paul treats 
children as moral agents, not as

715
00:38:30,520 --> 00:38:32,080
possessions. 
And this is an absolutely 

716
00:38:32,080 --> 00:38:35,520
revolutionary thing that's going
to come up bigger in this next 

717
00:38:35,640 --> 00:38:37,960
section, right? 
But again, the point. 

718
00:38:37,960 --> 00:38:42,360
Is not good behavior. 
Paul didn't say manage your kids

719
00:38:42,360 --> 00:38:44,600
so that they never speak up in a
restaurant. 

720
00:38:44,640 --> 00:38:48,160
He said, manage your kids so 
that they flourish, so that they

721
00:38:48,160 --> 00:38:51,400
know that they're a part of a 
united world, So they're part of

722
00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:54,800
a new creation. 
Raise them to know the love of 

723
00:38:54,840 --> 00:38:58,720
Jesus in their lives, to see 
other people, not as not by 

724
00:38:58,720 --> 00:39:02,400
their race or by their income, 
not to identify them by how they

725
00:39:02,400 --> 00:39:05,440
look or how they vote or where 
they come from, but to recognize

726
00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:08,520
in them the image of God and to 
believe that and to pray for 

727
00:39:08,520 --> 00:39:10,680
that and to call that out in 
people. 

728
00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:14,000
And what he tells parents and 
fathers, and he's not just this 

729
00:39:14,000 --> 00:39:16,400
isn't just for men. 
This is for the the household, 

730
00:39:16,400 --> 00:39:18,520
right? 
But he acknowledges fathers as 

731
00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:22,840
the as the resource. 
Fathers, he says, do not provoke

732
00:39:22,840 --> 00:39:24,600
your children to anger. 
But. 

733
00:39:24,600 --> 00:39:28,680
Bring them up in the discipline 
and instruction of the Lord. 

734
00:39:29,480 --> 00:39:34,840
Do not provoke your children to 
anger parents. 

735
00:39:34,840 --> 00:39:37,000
Make sure that your kids are 
growing. 

736
00:39:37,080 --> 00:39:38,840
Make sure that they understand 
authority. 

737
00:39:38,840 --> 00:39:41,400
Because like I said, the police 
will happily take your children 

738
00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:44,000
to jail and teach them about 
authority if you won't. 

739
00:39:44,840 --> 00:39:51,680
So here's my 28 second teaching 
on parenting, because this is 

740
00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:53,320
hard. 
Parenting is hard, right? 

741
00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:56,000
Because like I've got in my 
house, I've got the go with the 

742
00:39:56,000 --> 00:39:58,600
flow, right? 
I've got the the quiet reserved 

743
00:39:58,600 --> 00:39:59,880
one. 
I got the bit like we got all 

744
00:39:59,880 --> 00:40:00,760
the kids. 
So here's the deal. 

745
00:40:00,760 --> 00:40:06,480
Are you ready? 
This is it clearly defined, 

746
00:40:07,720 --> 00:40:12,040
radically defended boundaries. 
Your kids need to hear you say 

747
00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:14,760
no, we're not going to do that. 
No. 

748
00:40:14,760 --> 00:40:16,840
We're. 
No, we don't do that. 

749
00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:20,280
Nope, it's time for bed. 
Nope, you have a curfew. 

750
00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:23,880
Nope, you'll be here. 
Oh, you don't have to come home 

751
00:40:23,880 --> 00:40:26,080
at curfew. 
Like your curfew's 11. 

752
00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:28,720
Great. 
At 12:30, I'll call the police. 

753
00:40:28,720 --> 00:40:31,560
They'll be happy to find you. 
Take the car away and you can 

754
00:40:31,560 --> 00:40:37,280
deal with that radical, clearly 
defined, radically enforced 

755
00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:39,240
boundaries. 
And Are you ready? 

756
00:40:39,240 --> 00:40:40,880
This is maybe sometimes where we
miss. 

757
00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:47,440
Over the top, appropriate sloppy
affection. 

758
00:40:49,200 --> 00:40:53,920
You are grounded to a night on 
the couch, a movie night with 

759
00:40:53,920 --> 00:40:55,840
the family. 
But I don't want to hang out 

760
00:40:55,840 --> 00:40:56,440
with you. 
I want to go. 

761
00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:58,200
Hang out with my. 
Friends, then you should have 

762
00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:04,000
made better choices. 
Harry Potter marathon in 

763
00:41:04,000 --> 00:41:09,800
perpetuity? 
We're doing this right if we 

764
00:41:09,800 --> 00:41:12,480
will tell our kids no to show 
them that there are things that 

765
00:41:12,480 --> 00:41:15,080
do not belong to them and they 
are not for them and they are 

766
00:41:15,080 --> 00:41:16,320
not good. 
Like and here's the problem. 

767
00:41:16,320 --> 00:41:19,120
I got teenagers now in some 
ways, maybe this is this is too 

768
00:41:19,120 --> 00:41:21,640
late, but it's not. 
I got to still say no to things.

769
00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:23,720
I got to teach them. 
There are not everything is for 

770
00:41:23,720 --> 00:41:26,960
us and not everything is to make
me feel good or to make me do 

771
00:41:26,960 --> 00:41:31,160
all of that right. 
And so trying to catch up here 

772
00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:33,720
and see this right. 
So bound is and love. 

773
00:41:33,720 --> 00:41:36,000
It's OK to tell your kids no. 
It's OK to disappoint your 

774
00:41:36,000 --> 00:41:37,640
children. 
It's OK for them to be mad at 

775
00:41:37,640 --> 00:41:39,360
you for a second. 
They won't be mad when they're 

776
00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:41,240
older and they go. 
Man, I sure am glad that you 

777
00:41:41,800 --> 00:41:43,840
told me that. 
You know why I know that? 

778
00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:46,760
Because I didn't do one single 
thing that my parents told me to

779
00:41:46,760 --> 00:41:53,800
do. 
Ever go to church with your dad?

780
00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:55,320
They said. 
It'll be fun, they said. 

781
00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:55,880
Right? 
Yeah. 

782
00:41:56,080 --> 00:41:59,080
But guess what? 
I'm a I'm a 49 year old man. 

783
00:41:59,480 --> 00:42:03,520
Grateful for parents who said no
he taught me that I couldn't 

784
00:42:03,520 --> 00:42:08,320
just do whatever I wanted. 
And so this is that sense right 

785
00:42:08,320 --> 00:42:12,320
where we love our kids by having
boundaries with them by by 

786
00:42:12,320 --> 00:42:16,000
loving them by if they're not 
our pawns, they're not for us to

787
00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:17,520
get the most that we can. 
Adam. 

788
00:42:17,680 --> 00:42:20,760
It's our job as parents to train
them to be who God has created 

789
00:42:20,760 --> 00:42:24,160
them to be. 
And so now it flows into one 

790
00:42:24,160 --> 00:42:26,040
that's difficult. 
It's a harder thing, right? 

791
00:42:26,040 --> 00:42:28,280
This is one that a lot of people
have taken aim at and they're 

792
00:42:28,280 --> 00:42:31,280
just like the Bible is like 
archaic and it and it doesn't 

793
00:42:31,280 --> 00:42:34,280
work right, Because it's the 
metaphor for us, as we talked 

794
00:42:34,280 --> 00:42:37,400
about now is like the workplace 
or work relationships, bosses 

795
00:42:37,640 --> 00:42:41,040
and employees. 
But the word that Paul uses here

796
00:42:41,040 --> 00:42:44,800
is slavery. 
And so there's been a lot of 

797
00:42:44,800 --> 00:42:46,280
common. 
And Paul, Paul had a chance. 

798
00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:50,120
Why didn't Paul just say slavery
is evil and slavery is terrible?

799
00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:51,840
I'm glad you asked. 
That's a good question and 

800
00:42:51,840 --> 00:42:54,760
there's a good answer, right? 
The reality is Paul could no 

801
00:42:54,760 --> 00:42:58,040
more imagine a world without 
slavery than you can imagine a 

802
00:42:58,040 --> 00:43:02,080
world without electricity. 
It was just baked into the 

803
00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:03,840
fabric of what? 
Of what they did. 

804
00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:05,840
It was everywhere. 
It was a sign. 

805
00:43:05,840 --> 00:43:07,360
And Paul sought it and saw it, 
did it. 

806
00:43:07,520 --> 00:43:10,800
And so one thing that we can 
say, though, commentarian FF 

807
00:43:10,800 --> 00:43:16,000
Bruce said this, Paul didn't 
destroy the institution of 

808
00:43:16,000 --> 00:43:20,640
slavery, but what Paul did do 
was place a time bomb at the 

809
00:43:20,640 --> 00:43:23,520
door of the institution and wait
for it to go off. 

810
00:43:23,600 --> 00:43:28,200
Here's what he did. 
Verse 5 Slaves, be obedient to 

811
00:43:28,200 --> 00:43:30,920
those who are your masters 
according to the flesh. 

812
00:43:31,520 --> 00:43:34,520
First thing he does is he speaks
to slaves. 

813
00:43:35,080 --> 00:43:37,760
He addresses them as moral 
agents. 

814
00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:42,960
He says you have the choice. 
You get to decide who you will 

815
00:43:42,960 --> 00:43:45,520
submit to. 
You get to decide who you will 

816
00:43:45,520 --> 00:43:47,800
say yes to and who you will say 
no to. 

817
00:43:47,880 --> 00:43:50,440
You get to choose. 
And So what he says is choose 

818
00:43:50,440 --> 00:43:53,120
submission. 
Choose to submit to the 

819
00:43:53,120 --> 00:43:54,760
institution that's there. 
That's a part of it. 

820
00:43:54,880 --> 00:43:57,760
Be obedient to those who are 
your masters with fear and 

821
00:43:57,760 --> 00:43:59,520
trembling in the sincerity of 
your heart. 

822
00:43:59,680 --> 00:44:04,280
As to Christ, he said not by way
of eyes service or as people 

823
00:44:04,280 --> 00:44:07,840
pleasers, but as slaves of 
Christ doing the will of God 

824
00:44:07,840 --> 00:44:11,120
from your heart with goodwill. 
This is what he's talking about 

825
00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:14,080
with goodwill. 
Render services to the Lord and 

826
00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:15,920
not to the people. 
Do you see what he's telling? 

827
00:44:16,080 --> 00:44:19,240
He's telling these slaves act 
like they're your family. 

828
00:44:19,920 --> 00:44:21,600
Treat them like you would treat 
other people. 

829
00:44:21,600 --> 00:44:25,760
Help them, serve them, love 
them, be kind to them, knowing 

830
00:44:25,760 --> 00:44:29,080
that whatever good thing each 
one does, he will receive back 

831
00:44:29,080 --> 00:44:31,160
from the Lord, whether slave or 
freed. 

832
00:44:31,160 --> 00:44:33,320
You see what Paul's doing is 
he's raising their eyes. 

833
00:44:33,600 --> 00:44:36,560
Hey, he's saying don't look at 
that guy, that guy's terrible. 

834
00:44:36,720 --> 00:44:39,240
Jesus saying, look at me, look 
at me. 

835
00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:41,480
You've been through terrible 
things before. 

836
00:44:41,480 --> 00:44:42,880
I'm with you. 
We can get through this. 

837
00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:44,920
Again, this is so important. 
Are you listening? 

838
00:44:45,120 --> 00:44:49,320
What I am not doing and what the
Apostle Paul is not doing and 

839
00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:55,880
what the Scripture never does is
justify injustice, ever. 

840
00:44:56,080 --> 00:44:59,440
What Paul is doing and what I 
want to say to you is what Paul 

841
00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:03,760
is doing is showing how this 
apocalyptic kind of love can 

842
00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:07,440
literally transform everywhere 
we go and everything that we do.

843
00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:11,320
Wives, go home. 
Give yourself A6 week, 6 month, 

844
00:45:11,320 --> 00:45:13,280
90 day. 
I don't know, go home. 

845
00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:16,640
Begin to submit biblically to 
your husband and see if the 

846
00:45:16,640 --> 00:45:18,560
temperature in your home doesn't
change. 

847
00:45:20,120 --> 00:45:23,520
Husband, show up. 
Tell your boss at work. 

848
00:45:23,800 --> 00:45:26,680
I don't have energy to give you 
because I'm going to give my 

849
00:45:26,680 --> 00:45:30,640
best energy to my house. 
Show up after work ready to 

850
00:45:30,640 --> 00:45:34,160
contribute to the household. 
Ask your wife how she's doing. 

851
00:45:34,240 --> 00:45:36,800
How was your day today? 
And watch. 

852
00:45:36,840 --> 00:45:41,840
If your respect from her doesn't
show up, you model the kind of 

853
00:45:41,840 --> 00:45:45,200
behavior that you want to see in
your home. 

854
00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:49,400
And he tells the masters here at
the end do the same things to 

855
00:45:49,400 --> 00:45:50,960
them and give up threatening. 
Right. 

856
00:45:50,960 --> 00:45:54,120
You see how this undermines 
Christian masters don't get to 

857
00:45:54,120 --> 00:45:58,040
treat their slaves as property. 
Treat them with kindness, with 

858
00:45:58,040 --> 00:46:03,160
love, knowing that, listen, both
their master in yours is in 

859
00:46:03,160 --> 00:46:05,120
heaven and there's no partiality
with him. 

860
00:46:05,120 --> 00:46:06,280
Do you see what he just did 
there? 

861
00:46:06,480 --> 00:46:10,360
He's like, they've got a master 
and you've got a master. 

862
00:46:10,360 --> 00:46:11,960
You know what that means? 
You're the same. 

863
00:46:12,880 --> 00:46:16,680
You both work for the same guy 
and his name is Jesus. 

864
00:46:17,160 --> 00:46:22,160
And so if you treat them as 
slaves, great. 

865
00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:26,880
It's like, listen, the guy who 
treats my daughters wrong, he 

866
00:46:26,880 --> 00:46:31,040
doesn't want to face me, right? 
Those who treat their workers 

867
00:46:31,160 --> 00:46:34,800
poorly, you don't want to face 
the king over and over in the 

868
00:46:34,800 --> 00:46:36,080
Old Testament. 
It comes like if you're an 

869
00:46:36,080 --> 00:46:38,800
employee, be kind and be good to
your people. 

870
00:46:39,040 --> 00:46:40,920
But here's the deal. 
If you work at a job and you 

871
00:46:40,920 --> 00:46:44,200
just go like my job is terrible,
there is nothing redemptive in 

872
00:46:44,200 --> 00:46:46,360
my job. 
You may be right. 

873
00:46:46,640 --> 00:46:49,160
I don't think probably so, but 
you may be right. 

874
00:46:49,360 --> 00:46:51,000
So here are your options 
biblically. 

875
00:46:51,000 --> 00:46:52,800
Are you ready? 
Your first option is to get the 

876
00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:55,320
heck out of there. 
Just go in love. 

877
00:46:55,440 --> 00:46:57,960
I'm quitting. 
I won't come to work here 

878
00:46:57,960 --> 00:47:00,360
anymore because it's awful. 
I love you. 

879
00:47:00,360 --> 00:47:02,400
Go with God, go do your thing, 
find your place. 

880
00:47:02,400 --> 00:47:04,120
Do that. 
You can do that right? 

881
00:47:04,600 --> 00:47:07,640
The other thing that you can do 
is say I will stay here as a 

882
00:47:07,640 --> 00:47:10,840
servant of the Lord and I will 
make sure that this place is the

883
00:47:10,840 --> 00:47:13,720
most God honoring God fearing 
place as much as it depends on 

884
00:47:13,720 --> 00:47:14,800
me. 
And the way that I'll do that is

885
00:47:14,800 --> 00:47:17,400
I will not gossip. 
I will serve those, I will bring

886
00:47:17,400 --> 00:47:20,760
kindness every chance I get and 
I will be the love of Jesus in 

887
00:47:20,760 --> 00:47:24,200
this place. 
What you cannot do in Jesus name

888
00:47:24,280 --> 00:47:26,840
is show up at your work, or at 
your class, or at your. 

889
00:47:26,840 --> 00:47:28,480
School. 
And be a pain in the butt. 

890
00:47:28,960 --> 00:47:31,880
You cannot do that. 
You cannot be a bad worker. 

891
00:47:32,040 --> 00:47:35,200
Do not March into the 
principal's office at your kids 

892
00:47:35,200 --> 00:47:37,600
school. 
Slam down on the table and in 

893
00:47:37,600 --> 00:47:40,000
Jesus name start demanding 
things. 

894
00:47:40,120 --> 00:47:42,040
You should be the one at your 
kids school that the. 

895
00:47:42,280 --> 00:47:45,240
Administrators are happy to see 
because you bring cookies or 

896
00:47:45,240 --> 00:47:48,160
whatever, now you may have to go
and sit down and go and we've 

897
00:47:48,160 --> 00:47:52,040
had to do this and just be like,
hey, I heard a thing, can we 

898
00:47:52,040 --> 00:47:54,160
figure this out? 
But that's different than 

899
00:47:54,160 --> 00:47:56,120
swinging from the gates and from
the fence, right? 

900
00:47:56,120 --> 00:48:00,320
This is not power that destroys,
but it's power that unites and 

901
00:48:00,320 --> 00:48:04,320
that unifies. 
So what do we do? 

902
00:48:06,240 --> 00:48:08,800
We let the Spirit of Jesus 
reshape our posture towards 

903
00:48:08,800 --> 00:48:12,120
power and towards authority in 
our relationships. 

904
00:48:14,000 --> 00:48:21,880
Allow me to be prophetic. 
We understand power primarily is

905
00:48:21,880 --> 00:48:26,560
that which allows us to do what 
we want with other people. 

906
00:48:27,800 --> 00:48:30,360
And I just want to say I 
understand it. 

907
00:48:30,360 --> 00:48:32,800
It's everywhere We see it on the
news, We see it everywhere we 

908
00:48:32,800 --> 00:48:35,040
go. 
I just want you just to know 

909
00:48:35,800 --> 00:48:40,440
that is the mindset that we must
unlearn if we're going to get 

910
00:48:40,440 --> 00:48:43,440
this. 
Whatever power and authority you

911
00:48:43,440 --> 00:48:47,800
have in this world, you can 
either use it like Jesus or you 

912
00:48:47,800 --> 00:48:50,520
can use it like the like to 
control and to men. 

913
00:48:50,520 --> 00:48:54,480
So here's what Jesus's love 
looks like, right? 

914
00:48:54,480 --> 00:48:56,400
Because this is the thing like 
I'm just going to acknowledge 

915
00:48:56,600 --> 00:48:59,840
you're skeptical of this. 
You don't think this is going to

916
00:48:59,840 --> 00:49:01,840
really work. 
I mean, you think it'll work in 

917
00:49:01,840 --> 00:49:03,840
here, right? 
Like you think if like like if I

918
00:49:03,840 --> 00:49:06,280
find my really Christian 
neighbor, we can like love each 

919
00:49:06,280 --> 00:49:08,240
other but but not. 
Really like, not when we're 

920
00:49:08,240 --> 00:49:10,640
talking about politics and 
elections, not when we talk 

921
00:49:10,640 --> 00:49:13,560
about, right, like, like angry 
Democrats who are mad, like, 

922
00:49:13,680 --> 00:49:15,000
like, and that's what we've been
talking about, right? 

923
00:49:15,000 --> 00:49:16,480
Like those are the lines that 
are gone. 

924
00:49:16,640 --> 00:49:19,040
Those are the things that we're 
building up when we fight with 

925
00:49:19,040 --> 00:49:21,040
Republicans online or Democrats 
online. 

926
00:49:21,160 --> 00:49:23,600
We're just rebuilding the things
that Jesus tore down, right? 

927
00:49:23,720 --> 00:49:25,880
And that's the thing that He's 
called us to do because we 

928
00:49:25,880 --> 00:49:29,240
really think if we just love our
enemies, nothing will ever 

929
00:49:29,240 --> 00:49:30,480
change. 
I get it. 

930
00:49:30,480 --> 00:49:33,000
I understand the skepticism, but
here's what I want to say. 

931
00:49:33,120 --> 00:49:35,880
For at least 2000 years you've 
been trying the other thing and 

932
00:49:35,880 --> 00:49:38,640
it's not working. 
Do we have less division and 

933
00:49:38,640 --> 00:49:41,560
scare and fear and all that 
stuff in the world or more? 

934
00:49:41,720 --> 00:49:45,720
Are we less divided or more? 
The question is, are we going to

935
00:49:45,720 --> 00:49:49,240
just keep doing the same thing 
and hoping something changes or 

936
00:49:49,240 --> 00:49:51,840
are we going to say no, we're 
going to follow the way of Jesus

937
00:49:51,840 --> 00:49:53,240
in the world. 
Here's what it looks like. 

938
00:49:54,280 --> 00:49:59,040
Jesus's very last night standing
there with his friends, knowing 

939
00:49:59,040 --> 00:50:01,920
that the Father had handed all 
things over to him, and then he 

940
00:50:01,920 --> 00:50:04,240
had come from God and was going 
back to God. 

941
00:50:04,240 --> 00:50:06,440
I want to stop right there and 
point out this doesn't sound 

942
00:50:06,440 --> 00:50:08,760
like a guy who was wondering 
whether he had any authority or 

943
00:50:08,760 --> 00:50:10,280
not. 
This doesn't. 

944
00:50:10,280 --> 00:50:13,240
Sound like a guy who's wrestling
with whether they like him or 

945
00:50:13,240 --> 00:50:15,400
not. 
He knew where he was coming 

946
00:50:15,400 --> 00:50:18,680
from, he knew where he was 
going, and with that power and 

947
00:50:18,680 --> 00:50:20,800
that authority and that 
knowledge he got up from. 

948
00:50:20,800 --> 00:50:23,080
Supper and laid his outer 
garments aside. 

949
00:50:23,160 --> 00:50:26,000
He took a towel and tied it 
around himself, and then he 

950
00:50:26,000 --> 00:50:31,560
poured water into the basin and 
began washing the disciples feet

951
00:50:32,480 --> 00:50:36,840
and washing them with the towel 
which he tied around himself. 

952
00:50:37,480 --> 00:50:43,560
World only sees hierarchy and 
control and power, but Jesus 

953
00:50:43,960 --> 00:50:49,480
upended that, and the call from 
last week was to imitate him. 

954
00:50:50,720 --> 00:50:56,200
Listen, church, we can fight in 
all the places that we want. 

955
00:50:56,480 --> 00:50:59,320
We can fight with anger and 
power and fear and intelligence,

956
00:50:59,320 --> 00:51:01,680
all of those things, and we can 
go and we can stand and go toe 

957
00:51:01,680 --> 00:51:03,880
to toe. 
But that's not the calling. 

958
00:51:04,840 --> 00:51:09,480
The calling is to engage 
injustice with love and with 

959
00:51:09,480 --> 00:51:12,800
grace. 
We speak truth to places that 

960
00:51:12,800 --> 00:51:16,240
oppose that. 
We hold lights up, we shine the 

961
00:51:16,240 --> 00:51:18,480
light of revelation on that. 
But what we? 

962
00:51:18,480 --> 00:51:22,880
Do is we go to the poor and the 
lost and the hurting, and we 

963
00:51:22,880 --> 00:51:27,400
identify with them and we feed 
them and we cleanse them and the

964
00:51:27,400 --> 00:51:28,960
whole world is laughing and 
mocking. 

965
00:51:29,000 --> 00:51:30,680
Ha ha ha, you're so. 
Dumb. 

966
00:51:31,560 --> 00:51:36,040
The Roman Empire is gone. 
The Church of Jesus Christ that 

967
00:51:36,040 --> 00:51:40,200
washes the feet of lost and 
hurting disciples continues to 

968
00:51:40,200 --> 00:51:44,800
grow and expand today. 
You are either a part of a 

969
00:51:44,800 --> 00:51:48,280
vision and a perspective of 
power that will last into 

970
00:51:48,280 --> 00:51:52,720
eternity, or you are betting on 
a power structure that's already

971
00:51:52,720 --> 00:51:57,800
lost and will continue to leave 
you frustrated and alone and 

972
00:51:57,800 --> 00:51:59,800
without hope in a lost and dying
world. 

973
00:52:00,960 --> 00:52:04,720
That's why this apocalypse is 
such good news, because it is an

974
00:52:04,720 --> 00:52:08,560
invitation to embrace a reality 
where every power, every 

975
00:52:08,560 --> 00:52:14,320
structure, every relationship is
remade in the kind of love that 

976
00:52:14,440 --> 00:52:17,120
gives itself for the well-being 
in the other. 

977
00:52:17,880 --> 00:52:23,680
Let's pray Jesus. 
We like power because we've been

978
00:52:23,680 --> 00:52:27,800
told and we believe that it will
get us the things that we need 

979
00:52:27,800 --> 00:52:32,600
and the things that we want. 
That goes all the way back to 

980
00:52:32,600 --> 00:52:36,200
the Garden of Eden and the tree 
of the knowledge of good and 

981
00:52:36,200 --> 00:52:38,600
evil. 
We want to decide. 

982
00:52:41,800 --> 00:52:43,720
So Jesus, I just pray for an 
apocalypse. 

983
00:52:43,720 --> 00:52:46,680
I pray their eyes will be open 
to see the power that you had 

984
00:52:46,680 --> 00:52:50,120
and the way that you wielded it 
and to go and do likewise. 

985
00:52:52,200 --> 00:52:54,720
I pray that our marriages, 
Father, I pray for all of those 

986
00:52:54,720 --> 00:52:59,480
in here today whose marriages 
are upended and hard and they 

987
00:52:59,480 --> 00:53:02,680
maybe are losing hope or maybe 1
is here today and they're 

988
00:53:02,680 --> 00:53:03,960
clinging and the other one's 
not. 

989
00:53:03,960 --> 00:53:06,160
I just pray, Father, that they 
would hear your invitation to 

990
00:53:06,160 --> 00:53:07,280
love. 
And I pray that you would 

991
00:53:07,280 --> 00:53:09,160
protect them. 
I pray that you would surround 

992
00:53:09,160 --> 00:53:11,880
them and overwhelm them. 
Lord, give them a vision of how 

993
00:53:11,880 --> 00:53:14,160
this can work. 
But Lord, I pray for the 

994
00:53:14,160 --> 00:53:16,880
husbands that You would enable 
us to love our wives as You 

995
00:53:16,880 --> 00:53:25,680
loved the church. 
I pray for the wives to respect 

996
00:53:25,680 --> 00:53:29,600
their husbands with the respect 
it comes from love and 

997
00:53:29,600 --> 00:53:33,120
submission to you. 
I pray that our families and our

998
00:53:33,120 --> 00:53:35,560
workplaces, Father, will be 
different because of the grace 

999
00:53:35,560 --> 00:53:40,720
that you've shown us. 
That's the power of love. 

1000
00:53:42,480 --> 00:53:44,240
That's the power of 
transformation. 

1001
00:53:45,240 --> 00:53:47,720
So let us be loved and let us 
love well. 

1002
00:53:47,720 --> 00:53:50,960
Jesus, in your name and for your
glory, Amen. 

1003
00:53:51,240 --> 00:53:54,240
Thank you for joining us today. 
River City Church is all about 

1004
00:53:54,240 --> 00:53:56,960
experiencing and expressing 
God's love in our lives and 

1005
00:53:56,960 --> 00:53:59,640
community, and we hope that 
you've been able to experience 

1006
00:53:59,640 --> 00:54:02,280
that today. 
As grateful as I am that you've 

1007
00:54:02,280 --> 00:54:05,600
spent this time listening in 
this morning, this podcast is no

1008
00:54:05,600 --> 00:54:08,640
substitute for full 
participation in a local church.

1009
00:54:09,040 --> 00:54:12,200
I love it when River City people
listen to other pastors, but it 

1010
00:54:12,200 --> 00:54:15,280
is those who show up week after 
week faithfully giving their 

1011
00:54:15,280 --> 00:54:18,200
support and time and resources 
that make all of this possible. 

1012
00:54:18,840 --> 00:54:22,040
If we can help you get connected
to a local church, pray for you,

1013
00:54:22,200 --> 00:54:25,320
or support you in any way, click
the link in the description and 

1014
00:54:25,320 --> 00:54:27,440
let us know. 
If you'd like to financially 

1015
00:54:27,440 --> 00:54:30,280
support the ministry of River 
City, click the give link on our

1016
00:54:30,280 --> 00:54:33,440
website in the description. 
Don't forget to subscribe and 

1017
00:54:33,440 --> 00:54:35,160
don't forget to share this with 
your friends. 

1018
00:54:35,400 --> 00:54:38,160
Thanks so much for listening. 
May the Lord bless and keep you 

1019
00:54:38,240 --> 00:54:39,760
in all grace and peace.