Occasion: Sunday Worship 24th August 2014
There is an Akan Proverb that goes something like this: If you respect or honor me, I also will respect or honor you. The Proverb teaches that elders treat youth similar to the way the youth treat their elders, and disrespectful youth will not receive the respect from elders they desire.
Text: 1 Peter 3:7
Purpose: Peter emphasizes the importance of husbands treating their wives with honor and the danger of not doing right toward them, so they will treat their wives as God would command them to be treated.
Proposition: God wants you to honor your wife.
Interrogative: How will a husband honor his wife?
Truth 1: Disobedience is dangerous: 3:7 “Husbands are commanded to honor their wives, so that their prayers may not be hindered.”
There is a simple yet important principle, that God does not bless disobedience. Here are just three out of many Biblical examples:
- God rejected the worship of the disobedient: Genesis 4:5-7 God did not respect Cain and his offering. And said, if you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door.
- God refused to answer the prayers of the disobedient: Isaiah 59:1-2 Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear.
- God made people’s work unfruitful when they were disobedient:
Ecclesiastes 3:13 That ability to enjoy the good of all our labor– is the gift of God.
Proverbs 13:7 There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing; And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.
Haggai 1:1:5-7 Consider your ways! You have sown much, and bring in little; You eat, but do not have enough; You drink, but you are not filled with drink; You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; And he who earns wages, Earns wages to put into a bag with holes…Consider your ways…You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why…Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house.
God does not bless our willful disobedience, even if we have been able to justify it in our own hearts, and here are just a few among many scriptures that bluntly state this truth.
Truth 2: Obedience takes work: three simple commands
Live with your wife: “Husbands, likewise, dwell with…”
Ephesians 5:31 At marriage, two shall become one flesh.
1 Corinthians 7:1-5 Because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
You cannot obey this passage if you do not live together, and this instruction is for the benefit of both husband and wife.
Warning: Do not give in to the temptation to live separated from your spouse.
Walking in obedience is called walking by faith for a reason, and walking in disobedience means I am not trusting God in a specific area of life.
Learn about your wife: “according to knowledge/with understanding”
You must work hard as a husband not only to live with your wife, but to really know her as a person. One of my responsibilities as a husband is to lead my wife and to disciple her in the faith.
3 Biblical Responsibilities:
- Men should initiate the marriage: Genesis 2:34 A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife.
- Husbands should disciple their wives: 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive…and if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home.
- Husbands should lead their wives: 1 Peter 3:1,6 Wives, be submissive to your own husbands…Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord.
Love your wife: giving honor unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life. (Joint heirs means we are a unified team working together for
Wives are not inferior to their husbands or worthy of a smaller reward because their position in the home is one of submission rather than leadership. Peter emphasizes that husband and wife are a team and joint heirs of the grace of God.
Ephesians 5:25-29 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church and as your own bodies; nourishing and cherishing our wife, just as the Lord does the church.
The husband’s calling in the marriage and in the home is a difficult calling, but beautiful and rewarding.
Conclusion: God wants you to honor your wife. Will you honor Him by honoring your wife?
Ministry Musings 