Husbands (Part 2 of 2)

The Bible makes it clear that a husband is to love but are there guidelines for what this kind of love should look like this model to follow today on Truth for Life weekend.

Alistair Begg explains that Scripture gives us a template in the standard it sets is incredibly high last time we pointed out and tried to do so clearly that the wife's submission to her husband is one evidence of her submission to Christ that for a wife to declare the Lordship of Jesus will be borne testimony to within the fabric of home life in her submission to her husband. Now we come to the reverse of this and we recognize that in the selfsame way for a husband to declare that Jesus is Lord demands that he serifs his wife and by doing so makes it clear that he is serving Christ. I love which considers the other before the self and then acts on that premise becomes our words and will do so quickly.

Some of them will go faster through than others.

By the first word is the word sensitively. Secondly, naturally. Thirdly, to love our lives is to do so, not only sensitively and naturally but purposefully we just have a comment on this showy and once again you will see that the work of Christ in relationship to the church was a purposeful work were still in Ephesians 5. It is the most helpful at correlative passage. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Why, here's the purpose to make her holy, cleansing her by washing with water through the word and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any blemish, but holy and blameless. Another simple and obvious application is simply this, the Christian husband is to have a similar concern that the Christian husband's role is not to suppress his wife, but is to see his wife flourish to see her flourish in purity and within the framework of her feminine identity as established by God to see her grow and mature and become in every realistic sense glorious glory that is related to that perfection of personhood which will one day be completed when I wife's stand before the Lord Jesus many others as man will predecease our lives. Therefore, when we go our lives will stay for a while. As a result of that we have tried to make certain plans underway financially, and so on. But how will I wife's two and progressing towards glory when we go as a result of our purposeful commitment to to allow them to encourage them to coax them to pray for them to become all that they might possibly be under God in the fulfilling not only of the feminine identity but in the fulfilling of the purposes of God Florida Christ loose on his brain and he loves her with a purposeful love member CT start but remember CT start gave his wife that little boy and that she was supposed to include in in her day.

He was a vastly wealthy, he was off to Africa he had given up his fortune, but can't back a substantial portion in today's money.

1,000,002 million 3 million that he put in trust for his wife. She found out that he done that, she said, what's the deal you mean you can trust God. But I can trust God brought a lookout for you, but he will look after me, give the rest of it away, Charles, so he took the final aspect of his fortune and he gave it to William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army and off they went to serve Christ together and this was what he had his wife say every day. Dear Lord Jesus, you are to me dearer than Charlie ever could be. Dear Lord Jesus, you are to me dearer than Charlie ever could be that we understand that as husbands and wives. We know all the things we say to one another, but we also understand the nature of it only and what it really means.

How many times have you seen husband and wife separated by death and the spouse is just a complete emotional, physical, spiritual, disaster, and not in every case because one must be careful of generalizations but in certain cases is due to the fact that they had grown in on one another in such a way that neither had been an encouragement to one another to grow up into Christ who is the ultimate goal of all our living and all of our dying while fourthly and can ultimately sacrificially. If our loving husband generally wants the very best for his wife and is prepared to work towards that goal and he's going to have to do so sacrificially. How daunting is the standard. How would you like me to love my wife.

We ask of the Bible. The Bible comes back and says why don't you love your wife the way Jesus love the church is a harder to be a wife or harder to be a husband but when you factor this demand this standard in here then you realize what a challenge it is the model for the why is the submission of the church which is good but not perfect by the model for the husband is the love of Jesus which is both good and perfect and that is the model and that is the measure of a husband's law.

The husband standard for loving his wife is to be nothing less than the cross of Christ. Most of the material that I found in preparing for this if I went out with Bible commentaries I found material on marriage in books on ethics.

I found a very interesting, I understand that there is an ethical, moral aspect of marriage, but I thought it interesting that marriage falls in books on ethics resembled wonderful book the New Testament average by the late Prof. John Murray very very helpful stuff and then while I was thinking on that. I came across a quote from Martyn Lloyd Jones and was gratified to discover that he'd been thinking the exact same way and he was actually able to articulate it. This is what he wrote. How many of us have realized that we are always to think of the married state. In terms of the doctrine of the atonement is not our customary way of thinking of marriage books on marriage are found in a library under ethics, but they do not belong there, we must consider marriage in terms of the doctrine of the atonement rights FF Bruce by setting this highest of standards for the husband's treatment of his wife. Paul goes to the limit in safeguarding the wife's dignity and welfare.

You see why it is so important that the expectation of verse 18 from last time and the exhortation in verse 19 tonight that not only are they read together, but they are understood together so that the notion of submission is not bowing to some kind of tyrannical forms, but it is the melding of a life into the role that God is intended and romantic of the submission of the church, the Jesus and being met. Being you like preceded by the love of the husband which has the very doctrine of the atonement to get the self giving love of Jesus as the standard is the modus operandi for the exercising of that leadership role is nothing faulty or flawed with this mechanism all the faults and all the flaws in the husband's rail because God intends for us to be lovers, not ogres.

Finally, scree word is finally physically means to love your wife exclusively exclusively because that's how Jesus is love the church. The church is the object of Christ's exclusive love the church belongs exclusively to Christ in the same way, husband and wife are bound exclusively to one another.

The husband sustains a relationship with his wife that he sustains with no one else Richard Baxter provided for his congregation fiber notes six points of her husbands and wives. I have them up the stairs in a file number five reads as follows, to keep conjugal chastity and fidelity and to avoid all unseemly and immodest conduct with another which may stir up jealousy is read that again is a bit of a mouthful is to keep conjugal chastity and fidelity to avoid all unseemly and immodest conduct with another which may stir up jealousy and then he acts and yet, to avoid all jealousy which is unjust tremendous amount of pastoral wisdom in bottom-line straightforward is our life's gentlemen are not to share this with anyone, anyone, real or anyone imagine our wives are not the shares with the Internet. Our wives are not to share this tall. The husband has a relationship with his wife which he enjoys and may not enjoy with any other person. The key is to make your mind monogamous. When you've promised to drink only from one spring it's water will be sweet.

Surely, when a woman knows that she is it for you that she is the Alpha and Omega of your erotic world. She will be emboldened by Richard Baxter as men's health January 1996 in a soundly helpful article on monogamy physically, emotionally and spiritually.

We are to go all out and love for our wife's never taking advantage of them.

So how do you feel well you feel like me don't you you say who is sufficient for these things the same God who calls us to this standard equips us in order that we might make an attempt at the standard and advise in every other again in life without investing, saving, training, exercising, putting together a beautiful garden. The real game is the game that is made consistently over the long haul and the lies of the world are just that lies and affixes of the world are no fixes a tall if you have not husband being taking care of business within your home consistently along the journey. There is no trip to Hawaii that is going to fix this. There is no slick methodology that you can get out of a magazine to go and put everything back together again. But if you will get down on your knees with your wife and take her hand in yours and cry out to God from the depths of your being, for his help and his grace and his restoring power and then get on your feet and by his help to what the Bible says to do and if you are prepared not to look for the short-term bias, but for the long term blessing than all of the encouragement of the Bible is that we might look to see a radical transformation with the same old you the same old me living in the same framework out. I want to give you husbands a little primer a little start of this. PS okay and that the whites are not really listen to this very much blind I quoted from Martyn Lloyd Jones and he was talking about how you know the only test of true husbandry has true husband's love is the doctrine of the atonement that sounds like wall way out there you know it. Save yourself a whole winter. I wonder what he was like when he came home and all for me on some soup. I was just thinking about the doctrine of the such and such annoyance are not on not on no, that would be we would miss the man completely.

Let me let me just give you a little flavor of one of the great preachers of the 20th century, one of the great theological mind. One of the most a steer left over Puritans you could ever hope to meet the day that I met Ami and soon I met them together is wearing a black hat look like he came out of the 17 century, he had net gloves on little black net gloves and he had a black coat the button right up here, shook hands with a little net gloves quite a guy on 18 May 1937. It was his wife's birthday.

Unfortunately he wasn't with her the reason he wasn't with her was because he had to go and preach on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean and he was on a ship.

Having got on the ship.

He determined that he would write to his wife since it was a strange experience for him to be gone on her birthday and so he wrote to her. The authorities told me that there was no doubt that if I send you a telegram, it would arrive on your birthday.

I had endless pleasure and happiness in sending it. I somehow felt I was in touch with you once more in this awful distance of separation thing like that is a great help.

But all what a poor substitute. I cannot describe the various feelings I have experienced since I saw you last. On Waterloo station and I had better not try to do so, let me say just this much thinking of you gives me endless happiness and I am more certain than ever that there is no one in the world like you, nor even approaching you, not in all the world.

I don't know if I'm losing my reason like that for Mrs. JT and send brides but I often feel that you are with me and that I could almost talk to you I have at times tried to imagine where you all three are his two daughters and his wife and what you're doing. I would give the whole world. If you could have been with me, but there I must be content to look forward to some four weeks. Today when I show God willing be back with you again looking into your eyes and sitting beside you.

I think I shall be perfectly content just to be with you and Elizabeth and I just sitting with the three of you and doing nothing else I said in my letter, telegram that I am sending you all my love, and here I am seeing it once more.

I have been thinking of 11 years ago tonight, when we went together to Covent Garden and then back to delicious. I thought at that time that I loved you, but I had to live with you for over 10 years to know you properly, and so to love you truly, I know that I am deficient in many things and must at times disappoint you.

That really grieves me and I am trying to improve but believe me, if you could see my heart you would be amazed at how great is my love. I hope you know indeed. I know that you know in spite of all my feelings. I can do nothing but say again that from the human standpoint I belong entirely to you. That is not even 1/5 of the letter. His next sentences. Forgive me for writing in English from this point on, having written all of the first part of the letter to her in his native Welsh now husbands. You can find these letters in the bookstore in volume 2 of the biography of Martyn Lloyd Jones, you may be entirely disinterested in his in his life and ministry. But now that I would give you any Nazi advice or anything, but I could see slipping in their own afternoon showing a peculiar interest in volume 2 while I drank coffee and scribble down this letter verbatim and then hope for my life and forget all about it so that I could use it someday in the future. You don't need it. Just write your own loving our wife the way Christ loves us today's message for husbands from Alastair Begg on Truth for Life weekend.

Alastair will be back in just a minute to close with prayer so please keep listening our message today is portable. We can series titled the Christian family. We been reminded of the sacrificial way. Jesus loves us that love is the heart of the gospel Truth for Life. We are passionate about that gospel message. Try our mission is to teach the Bible in a way that is clear and relevant so unbelievers will be converted. Unbelievers will be strengthened in their faith were also passionate about choosing books that can help you share the good news of the gospel and to why we were so excited when we came across our featured book this month.

It's called the God contest and it teaches children about God's power first in the Old Testament story of Elijah on Mount caramel and then in the New Testament account of Jesus on Mount Zion. We love recommending children's books that are faithful to Scripture and books that spark conversations about the gospel between parents and children.

This is a book that fits that criteria God contest is a wonderful way for parents, teachers, and anyone who interacts with young children to present the gospel in a simple understandable and entertaining way. You can find out more about the book the God contest when you visit us online@truthforlife.org but please don't delay this is the last week and were mentioning this book now hears Alastair to close with prayer. There's a reason why am the notice boards of old and outside of churches. They used to say that the divine service was conducted at 11 AM and six in the evening or seven in the evening and also that the minister was available for the solemnized nation of marriage. We recognize that there is something profoundly wonderful and yet significantly solid because marriage is capable of the greatest joys in the deepest source and on our best days.

It's a struggle because of sin. All of us are flawed. What would we expect to imperfect people to sin are stuck together in the one room forever so we cry out to you tonight Lord Jesus simply and humbly forgive our sins as we forgive those who sin against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. May your will be done in our homes on earth as it is done in your home in heaven, save us from rummaging around in the garbage cans of the sins of the past help us in every realistic way to say with Paul.

We are forgetting those things which are behind our successes and our failures and were pressing on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called us heavenward in Christ Jesus. Remind us as we give ourselves wholeheartedly to the privilege of marriage. If we do that there will actually be no marriage in heaven. And so we pray that, given the very temporary nature of this earthly framework that we might give ourselves to Christ and to marriage partners body soul and spirit, to the glory of your great name on them about team. Thanks for listing sure to join us next weekend when Alastair explains why children should obey whether they feel like it or not. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life Learning is for Living