A Family’s Responsibility to One Another Pt. 2 .

A Family’s Responsibility to One Another Pt. 2 .

Eph 5:25-33 and Eph 6:4

06/15/25

LaFayette Baptist Church

By: Jacob Winters

Introduction

Scripture

Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can more like You, and more made into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much, that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all to often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possible can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing[f] her with the washing of water by the word. 27 He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless. 28 In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 since we are members of his body.[g] 31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.[h] 32 This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

4 Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Context

Today is the day, where we celebrate the Fathers in our midst and in our hearts. But, most importantly, let's not forget God. So, I felt it was appropriate today to choose this text that Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, concerning Husbands and Fathers and the importance of their leadership and what it represents. Indeed, as you will remember from our mothers day sermon, Paul wrote this letter to the church at Ephesus and churches everywhere to undo and combat many false teachings and ideas that had creeped into the church, in this particular section (the end of chapters and beginning 6), it was regarding everyone within a household.

One idea that has creeped into our time and day, is the lie that 1, that dads and men in general are to blame, and that they don't matter; and 2, that their leadership is bad and unnecessary. However, The Bible makes it clear that this is untrue, and that A Fathers activeness and proactiveness in his wife and children’s faith life has a dramatic kingdom of God effect and purpose. But don’t just take my word for it, I want you all to hear these statistics from an article and study done in 2001, it found that.” If both father and mother attend (Church) regularly, 33 percent of their children will end up as regular churchgoers, and 41 percent will end up attending irregularly. Only a quarter of their children will end up not practicing at all.

If the father is irregular and mother regular, only 3 percent of the children will subsequently become regulars themselves, while a further 59 percent will become irregulars. Thirty-eight percent will be lost.

If the father is non-practicing and mother regular, only 2 percent of children will become regular worshippers, and 37 percent will attend irregularly. Over 60 percent of their children will be lost completely to the church.” Now, of course you all know that attending church doesn’t save you (putting your faith in Jesus and accepting His sacrifice on the cross does that), but regular church attendance is a clear indicator if someone is a practicing and obedient Christian who has submitted themselves to Jesus’ Lordship at that time in their life.

So, all of that to say, if a child sees both of their parents taking their faith in Jesus and living out his commands to Love God, Love People, and Make Disciples seriously, they are much much more likely to become practicing and faithful Christians in their adult lives. But, notice how the Father’s regular practicing had a great effect on the statistics. Why is this? Because God has ordained The Father to be the priest of his household, which comes with expectations and responsibilities that one day he will be held accountable if he did not fulfill them to the best of his ability. So, what i’m getting at is this, Christian Fathers and Husbands must fulfill the biblical expectations placed on them. To not do so when you are able, is a terrible thing, and a sin that needs repenting of. While this is true, let me encourage you, if you have messed up before (so have I) and you have a heavenly Father who is happy to forgive you if you seek it and equip you to fulfill your role, duty, and expectations better. So, to help you understand these truths and expectations that are on you, lets look at a few of them from our bible and jump into the text where I want you to see, understand, and do these biblical truths and actions that are placed on Christian Fathers and Husbands.

Message

The first biblical truth to see, understand, and do is to: Love your wife sacrificially 25-27

25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing[f] her with the washing of water by the word. 27 He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.

Right off the bat, here we see and important command and in the next few verses, Paul explains the reasoning. Here it is, husbands love your wife, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself. What does this mean? Well, objectively for men, you are to love, honor, and consider your wife every bit as much as you do. Seeing her wants, needs, and desires as every bit as important and valid as your own. To not do so, is not to fulfill this command and truth. Jesus, our Lord Himself, loved His bride (The Church, that is believers everywhere, including you) so much that He gave His life up, as He always preferred The Father’s will over the wants and desires over His own flesh. Jesus gave and did this sacrifice to cleanse us, taking away every blemish and speck of dirt (sin) from us, to show us before God The Father as beautiful, Holy, and blameless, no longer guilty and condemned under the curse of sin.

As we observe with Jesus’ sacrifice, sacrificial love can open up all kinds of doors you never thought were possible. For example, there is this story of a rice farmer, he was actually an evangelist in China known by the name of watchman nee. Nee had this rice farm, and as you would imagine, raising rice requires a lot of water. So, every morning, he would dutifully get up and pump water into his rice patty. Next his field was another from another rice farmer. Every day for several weeks, after doing the hard work of pumping, Nee would be dismayed and bitter to discover that his rice field (patty) was drained and his neighbor had taken all of his water! So, in despair, he decided instead of retaliating, he would meet the challenge with sacrificial love, and he got up that morning, and before pumping water into his own field, he first pumped water into his neighbors. Nee’s sacrificial love, would lead to conversations, that would see that neighboring farmer coming to have faith in Jesus and be saved forever.

Christian Father, you are called to love your wife sacrificially. This is an expectation that is placed on you, and a way that you lead your family. Loving them in this way, will open doors, possibilities, and unity that you would have never imagined was possible before, because what God has joined together in the marriage relationship, is so much more than simply meets the eye. So, the next time you want to get something for yourself, ask yourself, “when was the last time I did this for my wife?” The next time she has a need, don’t blow it off, but honestly hear her and make them a priority. The next time she’s asks you to do something and you roll your eyes or you don’t want to , remember that you are members of the same team that is joined to do one thing together, to bring Honor and Glory to God and she is a co-heir to the kingdom of God just like you. You, Christian Father and Husband must fulfill the biblical expectations that are placed on you. So, love your wife sacrificially. This is one of your responsibilities to your family.

The next biblical truth to see and understand is that: Your love is a reflection of Christ 28-33

28 In the same way, husbands are to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 For no one ever hates his own flesh but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, 30 since we are members of his body.[g] 31 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.[h] 32 This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33 To sum up, each one of you is to love his wife as himself, and the wife is to respect her husband.

Husbands, you see it again right here, you are to love your wife just like she is your own self, your body, your being… Because she is! She joined her whole life and being with you and you joined your whole life and being with her. To neglect your wife, is to neglect yourself. To remember to do this, to take care of, be considerate of; that is love your wife is exactly the same thing as loving yourself. Your relationship together is important, no other relationship with any created being (including your kids and grandkids) is more important than the husband and wife relationship, so do everything within your power to foster it, grow it, increase it, and watch it grow. Do this, and watch something magical happen in your life.

Why? Well, God has made ordained the marriage relationship to be something that nothing else can compare to. This is that it is a representation of how Christ is one with the church (believers everywhere of every tribe, tongue, and nation), it is His body and bride on earth, and He gave up even His own life to purify her and make her spotless. Jesus gave Himself up sacrificially for all the Children of God, all of the members of the church, including you, the marriage relationship is representative of His closeness to us and His sacrifice for us. Paul then concludes this chapter by restateing his whole point, a husband is to love his wife every bit as much as himself, this is a huge part of his family responsibility, a huge part of a wife’s responsibility is to respect her husband, and this relationship if a reflection and representation of the union between Christ and His Church.

So then husbands, what must we do? Well for starters, ask your wife what makes her special, and then, get this, do it! Even if it means giving up something you really enjoy doing. Take her out on a date, and let everyone see that you love being with her and around her. Prioritize her wants, needs, and desires every bit as much you do your own. Afterall, Jesus prioritize our need for a savior, over His own life here on earth. So, to fulfill our need for a savior, he made His way to Jerusalem (where He knew He would be captured) and He carried His own cross the best His battered and bloody body would allow and gave up His life because God’s people needed to be saved from their sins above all else. So remember Christian Fathers and Husbands, that your love for your wife is a representation of Christ’s love His Church, and take that weighty representation and meet it satirically, this is one of the biblical expectations put on you.

Let’s keep going and see

Another biblical truth to see understand, and do is to: Train and Instruct your children 4

4 Fathers, don’t stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

Here, Paul points out to Fathers, something that both in his time, our time, and the time in between, many of the fathers failed to understand and live out. This is that you are to have a leadership role in training and instructing your children. This is true of course about learning to read, write, and “rithmatice, “ but importantly also with their faith lives. Yes, you Dad are to model consistency in worship, reverence and consideration towards God. You are to be the leader of your family who shows everyone else how to love God, Love People, and make disciples. Without you, without the parents direct intervention, as is nature your children will rebel, but with you they will see and gain wisdom that can only be gained by observing your wisdom and experience.

In your bible, we see a story about where 2 children were not taught, trained, and given discipline, and went very very badly, and ultimately ended in their deaths. These were 2 of the sons of the great king David of Israel. These children were given everything they wanted, but not what they needed (for their father to be a father to them, and not just a spoiler of them). The first to die was Absolome, who would die on the field of battle because he rebelled against his father wanting the throne for himself. The second was Adonijah, who began to build to build an army for himself so he could rebel and take the rule for himself even though before his death David had declared Salomon to be the heir to the throne. Both of these children, caused great grief for the King, their families, and all of Israel, because David didn’t take the role of training and discipline that he should have.

Fathers, is the life you desire for your children? A life of rebellion, death, and pain? I sure hope not. King Solomon Himself, no doubt inspired by watch his 2 brothers and fathers mistake penned this wisdom in the book of Proverbs in chapter 13 where he said, “he one who will not use the rod hates his son, but the one who loves him disciplines him diligently. This includes not only punishing/giving consequences for actions, but also teaching the virtue of having discipline. Discipline in spiritual things like: Church attendance, bible reading, worship, and prayer. Discipline in honing skills they will need in life like math, reading, and writing. Discipline in sticking with your team and seeing your objectives through. I could go on and on and on, but you know what I am saying, you Dad, have much to teach your children, and it is unwise, unbiblical, and unfair to leave it all on Mom or someone else. Christian Fathers and Husbands must the fulfill biblical expectations placed on them. One of those expectations is to train and equip your children to be worshipful, responsible, and productive adults. So do it, to the best that you can, this is one of your responsibilities to your family.

Conclusion

Beloved, husbands and dads, hear me. Noone is perfect. I’m not perfect. You are not perfect Only one person who has ever been born of women is perfect, and this was God the Son, Jesus Christ the righteous. You will make mistakes, you have made mistakes, and maybe you're making one right now. Know this, it’s ok to make a mistake here and there, but it is not OK to continue to make a mistake once you know you have made one. So, don’t dwell on it and don’t let it keep you down. Instead, repent from that mistake, and ask God to forgive you and make you do better next time, and I Promise you, He will forgive you and He will equip you if you are good and ready to be. With that, you are now wise to these truths, and are charged with taking a look at these biblical truths: That you are to love your wife sacrificially, Your love to your wife is a reflection of Christ’s love of The Church, and you are to train and equip your children; so, make any course corrections that you need to with that knowledge, knowing that if You ask God will provide, and He has put your here in this church body with the men in it to help you and advise you in how you can do it and honor God all the way. What i’m saying is, if you need help, don’t be afraid to ask for prayer and help with your equipping, because God has spiritual fathers here that would love to help you.

With all of that being said, I would be remised if I didn’t share the Gospel (or the Good News) of Jesus Christ with you today, for the benefit of both believer and non-believer in the room. This begins all the way back at the beginning, God created everything, and he created all things good. He gave His most treasured creation (us, mankind) the ability of free will, the ability to choose Him or rebellion. Man was deceived by Satan and desired to be like God and sinned (or rebelled against God). This brought the curse of sin and death into the world and it remains with us to this day; which separates us from God. God though, loved His creation (mankind) so much that He worked through history to redeem all mankind that would turn to Him from sin so that we can experience a full and perfect relationship with Him again. This was through the perfect and final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the pay for sins. Accepting this free gift from God, makes you new and forgiven. All you have to do accept this free gift by repenting and believing in the Lord Jesus and you will get to experience the good side of God’s justice forever. So, now that you know this, you can no longer plead ignorance. I invite and urge you to respond today non-believer and apply this to every part of your life believers in the audience today.

With that, Let’s conclude. Brothers and Sisters, I love you all. During our last song together, if you need prayer, or want to talk more about Jesus, or have something you want to talk about, I’ll be here, don’t be afraid to come on down. Let’s pray. Father God, we thank You for who You are and what You are doing to us here in this place. May whatever it is that You are doing in each of heart here, continue as we leave go out into the world this week. Change us, mold us, make us, re-arrange us, that we can be both better lovers of You and better showers of You. It’s in these things that I ask and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.