When Intelligence Fails

Good marriages are fueled by an intense determination to follow the Lord

According to “the Google,” computing power as measured by the number of transistors on a chip doubles every two years.

That translates into the doubling of actual computing power ever 18 months.

But now if you factor in AI and the hardware built specifically for AI

Global computing capacity doubles every seven months - that’s a lot and that’s fast.

And even with all of that, the weatherman can’t predict the weather with certainty using his computer models.

That was always one of my arguments with the global warming religion

You are going to tell me what the world’s weather will look like in 20 years when I can’t plan a picnic this weekend because I don’t know if it’s going to rain or not

There are some things computing power just can’t do.

But other things can, I follow a guy on X called Sama Hoole - could be a real name, could be made up, don’t really care.

He talks about the animals in their fell in Scotland - I assume a fell is a field.

He calls them by name - and he has a friend who has a sheep named Doris.

And his friend thought he noticed something about Doris and the weather.

So his friend started documenting Doris’ movements in the fell three years ago

And he started documenting the weather at the same time - and guess what he found.

When Doris grazes by the west wall before noon, it rains that afternoon - every time.

When Doris lies down in the morning, it never rains in the afternoon - never.

When Doris walks across the fell using the high route early in the morning, there will be strong winds by 9 am.

Every. Single. Time.

So what is the conclusion?

If you are planning a picnic, ditch the Artificial Intelligence and watch Doris.

We have more information coming at us than at any other time in human history

And yet, in the basic orders of life, our intelligence fails us.

We think we understand what the data tells us, so we make grand changes.

And then later we realize, we made something that was very, very simple, very, very complex

And by doing that, we broke it.

We did that with marriage.

It’s time to fix it.

Turn with me if you will to the book of 1 Peter, we’ll be in chapter 3.

There are Bibles in the racks in front of you if you don’t have one, no shame in looking at the index to find the page number for 1 Peter

And if you don’t own a Bible, please take one of ours as a gift - everyone needs a good Bible.

While you look, children, let’s you and me talk for a second.

Kids, the message is simple - learn as much about Jesus as you can.

They way Jesus says to live is the right way

But if you don’t know Jesus’ way, we’ll anyone can trick you.

Lot’s of people say lots of things about how you should live.

But only one person was right - and that was Jesus.

So pay attention as as best you can.

If you don’t understand something, ask your mom and dad.

Their main job is to teach you the truth.

Because one day, God willing, you’ll have kids too and guess what

It will be your job to teach your children the truth.

Ok, with your Bibles open to 1 Peter, hear the word of the Lord from 1 Peter 3:1-7

1 Peter 3:1–7 ESV

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

This is the Word of the Lord

Thanks be to God.

Let’s ask the Lord to help us understand.

Dear Heavenly Father,

We need to hear.

Without your Spirit speaking your Truth into our hearts, we will be hopelessly deluded and lost.

Dear Lord, rescue your people - speak to us we plead.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Three points - It’s Us, It’s Him, and There is a right way.

So let’s start with,

It’s us

This is the 60,000 foot view of this scripture.

Notice in the last chapter, Peter started macro - big picture - how do you relate in the global world

How do you get along with the government?

Then he closed in a bit and looked how we relate in our day to day world

How do you get along with your employers?

And now he’s closing in tightly on the most minute to minute relationship that the Lord designed.

How do you get along in your marriage?

Now, to this audience this should sound kind of nonsensical - at least I hope it does.

But you’ll notice that in these 7 verses, Peter is very specific to talk to a man and a woman in a covenant marriage.

It should sound nonsensical to us in here - as Conservative Christians, we should be adamant in our commitment to marriage between a man and a woman for life.

But remember we started with, when our intelligence fails us.

We have so much faith in science, but look what we’ve done to the family.

In Portland, Oregon they’ve passed a local ordinance giving polyamorous families civil protections.

If you don’t know what that is, well, it’s where you have multiple - more than two - people living in a relationship in one house.

And Portland describes them as a “family.”

How do you think that’s going to work?

We are at a place that Israel was at in the time of the judges.

Judges 17:6 ESV

In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Jesus is king in the church

But outside His church, everyone is doing what is right in his own eyes.

It is my contention that the preaching for the last really long time when it comes to gender roles in the Bible has missed the point.

It was preached from a position that a woman must do this and a man must do that - which isn’t necessarily wrong

It’s just the wrong starting point.

But the real starting point, well,

It’s Him

If you’ve noticed, there has been a common theme running through Peter’s teaching about how to relate to government, and employers, and now marriage.

The theme is submission.

We talked about what the word submission means in a human to human context.

Essentially it means to think more highly of the other person than you do yourself with the added flavor of having “a healthy desire to avoid their displeasure.”

Peter opens with this in verses 1-2, 1 Peter 3:1–2 “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands…

The greek word for subject is the same word as submission.

Before we get into what all of this look like, I’d like for us to consider something that’s really the most important question.

“Why?”

“Why would a woman submit to a husband?”

And let’s take it one step further, “Why should a husband show his wife honor?” - that’s in verse 7.

Well, It’s Him.

Back in verse 1, Peter says the reason a woman would be subject to her husband is so the husband would see her Godliness and, if he is not a Christian, be saved.

It has nothing to do with her value or worth in the eyes of society.

It has everything to do with the value and worth of her husband’s soul in God’s eyes.

How hard it must be for a Christian woman to stand at the grave of her non-Christian husband.

She’s lived with him and loved him all of her life and he may have been a good man

But good men separated from Jesus are still sinners carrying their own sin.

Their sins were not carried to the cross by Jesus - therefore they will pay for their own sins for eternity in hell.

Is that what any Godly woman wants for any member of her family - to live in eternity with satan and all of his demons in torment?

Of course not - no Christian wants that for any person - I hate the idea of a person living in an unimaginable terror forever.

That’s why we submit - we want to Make Jesus Known - Jesus is the big deal.

Look down at verse 7 - 1 Peter 3:7 “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

Sounds pretty benign right - If the Christian husband doesn’t show honor to his wife, then his prayers won’t be answered.

He won’t win the lottery, he won’t get the new job, and he won’t get the new fishing boat - big whup.

But God help us if that’s all our prayers are.

When his prayers are hindered, it means his relationship with Jesus is broken.

Oh, he’s still saved, but he’s on his own.

He’s back in Judges doing what is right in his own eyes - and gentlemen, you know the messes we get into when we aren’t following Jesus.

Beginning with how to relate to the government to the most basic organization on earth, the family, the message is the same.

Being close to Jesus is our motivation.

When we glorify Jesus in every aspect of our lives, our faith grows and our lives improve.

In a nutshell, we aren’t doing what we do in marriage out of some sadistic compulsion of God to make women miserable and men kings.

If you think that, you’ve got work to do.

We are doing what we do in every aspect of our lives, especially in our marriages, to glory God and lead others to Christ, to Make Jesus Known.

So is there a right way to be married? Yes

There is a right way

There is an order that God established that will make our marriages reflect the glory of the Lord the best.

So let’s read these verses and amplify them as we go through to see what it means.

1 Peter 3:1–2 “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands…”

We said subject means that you would think of your husband more highly than yourself and you would want him to be pleased with you.

Listen, think that through - you do want your husband to be pleased with you, right?

I want my wife to be pleased with me - when you are dating, you dressed up and smelled nice, you act nice - this idea of being pleasing shouldn’t be off putting.

…to your own husbands,

Notice it doesn’t say to men - this is not an elevation of manhood to kingship.

It is strictly talking about a husband and a wife - he is the focus of your masculine universe - this doesn’t apply to any other man in the world.

Now, here’s your purpose in doing this …so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.”

Won without a word - simply by watching you - and ladies, we watch you.

Men are visual creatures - we watch - and we notice.

See the word respectful - that’s what it means - it’s the word fear but in the human to human sense - it means he can see that it matters to you that you want be a pleasure to him.

He can see you want the best for him and you want to help him be the best man he can be as a husband, a father and a man in the world.

The word pure comes from the word for holy.

When your husband looks at you, he can tell you are obviously different from the other women he has been around.

Ok, so these next verses have been so abused - 1 Peter 3:3–5 “Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands,”

You’ve seen whatever denomination there is the women wear plain dresses down to the floor and up to their chins, with no makeup and no jewelry because of what this verse says

And that is so wrong - that’s such a misunderstanding.

Do you see the word adorning.

That comes from a very familiar greek word - in fact, that word came directly from the greek to become an english word.

It’s two words - the first is the article ho - essentially meaning the

And the second word is cosmos.

Now, when I saw that, these verses opened right up.

Read it like this, “Do not let your whole world revolve around how you look - how you fix your hair, what your jewelry looks like or how beautiful you look in your clothes…

It does not say to denounce your feminine instincts to be physically attractive and to make yourself feel feminine

It’s saying to remember that you are so much more than that

That when your world rotates around glorifying Jesus with your life - then you have an “imperishable” beauty of a gentle

That means meek and humble - as opposed to arrogant and brash

Imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet - quiet means well-ordered.

When your world revolves around Jesus, you aren’t constantly doing battle with everything feeling like you are out of control all of the time.

Because there is no need.

You know that Jesus is your rock and your defender - who will you fear?

You know that Jesus is your shepherd - your life is under His control.

As our Women’s Ministry says, with Jesus, you can breathe.

1 Peter 3:5–6 “For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.”

Holy women whose world revolved around the Lord count their husbands as more than themselves, wanting to please their husbands.

Now - here’s a toughy, but I think we can handle it.

“As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord.”

First, Sarah made a couple of mistakes when she should not have done what Abraham said.

A woman is not obligated to follow her husband when the husband is asking or demanding she do something unGodly.

Twice Abraham asked Sarah to fudge about their relationship and he put her in a position to commit adultery.

Only the intervention of God saved them - twice.

Abraham was wrong to ask and Sarah was wrong to do what he said.

It was unGodly and wrong.

But I want you to think about this - Genesis 12:1

Genesis 12:1 ESV

Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.

Now, realistically, do you think for a skinny minute that Abraham went home to Sarah and said, “Pack the bags honey, God told us to move.”

“Where?”

“I dunno, but pack up girl, we’re riding.”

Ladies, exactly how would you react to that?

There is not exposition on this - simply that they moved as God said, but I don’t believe for a second that there wasn’t some discussion between him and her.

Had to be.

I have no proof but based on how we see a Godly marriage relationship works, I see Abraham telling Sarah what he heard the Lord say to him.

I suspect they prayed and mulled it over for a season

And as Sarah watched her husband, she realized he was truly trying to follow the Lord

So she submitted - and - and this text puts it, she obeyed.

Again, she responded to her husband because her world revolved around the inner beauty of the heart which is imperishable.

The motivation was not the domination of a woman by a man

The motivation was of a husband and wife diligently wanting to follow the Lord.

Finally, look at verse 7 1 Peter 3:7 “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

A lot of words were added here to make it readable in English

But the text literally reads, “Live with according to knowledge.”

What knowledge?

Sticking with what the text says first, the knowledge that his wife is “the weaker vessel.”

A lot of things have been nuanced into that word by all kinds of people, but it seems to me and others that it simply means

A man is a vessel to be used by God for His purposes.

A woman is a vessel to be used by God for His purposes.

But simply, the woman is physically weaker than the man - and the husband should honor that.

Gentlemen, everyone of us who are married know we have an innate desire to protect our wives.

You know that makes sense.

The Lord created you to protect your wives.

They are physically weaker and it is your job to protect her, regardless of what the unGodly world says.

1 Peter 3:7 “…since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

We are both vessels made so by the grace of life - the grace of God in the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When men lose sight of the fact that among their responsibilities to the Lord is to honor their wives, our relationship with the Lord is broken.

God doesn’t answer our prayers.

We are left to do the best we can on our own - knowing - KNOWING - that the shepherd doesn’t just have a crook to save us from the ditch

But He has a rod, to compel us back on the way.

Do you see how the Lord designed a marriage to operate.

It’s about us in that it’s only a man and a woman in a covenant marriage for life

But it’s about Him, because our lives, our cosmos is to revolve around Jesus.

He has made us both heirs of grace - husband and wife, brother and sister who will one day dance on the streets of gold in the presence of our Lord.

Because that’s the way it’s all supposed to end.

Which brings us to Ephesians 5:31–32 ““Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”

What exactly did Jesus do?

He thought more highly of us than He did Himself.

In a sense, He wanted His Father and us to find Him pleasing.

He saw the danger we were in and He protected us - to the point of giving His life to protect us.

Men, when we are called to protect our wives, if we fail, the worst that can happen is they and we are killed.

But if Jesus had failed to protect us, then for eternity we would have died - over and over and over again in hell forever.

He protected us from the punishment we deserved - He protected us from the wrath of God.

We deserved the punishment.

We did not deserve a protector.

But Jesus submitted Himself, He thought more highly of us than He did Himself.

He died to protect us.

And He was resurrected to prove that the Father wasn’t mad with Jesus or anyone who follows Jesus.

The price for Jesus follower’s sins was paid.

Jesus knew exactly what it meant when He stood between us and God’s wrath.

Mark 14:22–25 “And as they were eating, he took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to them, and said, “Take; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said to them, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many. Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.””

He stood straight and tall and walked right into the mouth of the dragon to protect His bride.

In just a moment, we’ll meet at the Lord’s table.

If you are a born again believer in Jesus Christ, you are invited to participate with us.

We come forward to receive the bread and juice as a testimony that we believe.

We eat the bread and drink the juice as reminders of the great grace of God who made a way for us to be saved.

As you come forward today, think about the price Jesus paid to save us from our sins.

Jesus is the big deal.

Let us pray:

Would the brothers who are serving please come forward.

Everyone, please exit your pews to your left and come forward to the table closest to you.

The gluten free bread is at the _________ table.

Remember, Jesus came once to save us from our sins.

Jesus is coming again to take us home.

Please stand.