Staying On the Line

2 weeks ago, as some of you know, I went to a preaching workshop in Des Moines with pastor John Mochel. the focus of this workshop was on sermon preparation, not delivery and as such we were expected to bring in home work on two passages. the homework consisted of 6 questions

How does the context inform the meaning of this passage?

How has the author organized this passage?

State the authors Aim for his audience (in one short sentence)

What parts of this passage connect to the gospel?

What conclusion will you argue to your audience? and what applications will you make?

What is your sermon title and your preaching outline?

those are hard questions! but they are necessary if you want to, as 2 Timothy 2:15 says “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.”

and I don't want to be ashamed!

New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.

well my 2 passages were and . I made my worksheets and presented them and let me tell you I learned a lot!!

I learned in that I need to work on finding the structure of the passage, but in I learned a whole lot more. I came in feeling pretty good with my work, but wow was I wrong!!

they nailed me to the wall!!! which is why I am using this passage today, I learned so much by being wrong and I want to pass those lessons on to you.

so then Lets look at our passage.

Ephesians 5:22–33 NASB95

Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

Let’s pray.

I would like to start with where I went wrong so that we can end with the good.

Definations

But first, in order to know what I did wrong I need to explain some terms that they used in the workshop and that I now use.

Firstly we have the Line the Line is the text or the scripture it can mean everything from one verse up to and including the whole of scripture and everything in between. we can go either above the line or below the line this means that we are either adding to the scripture and what it says or we are taking away from it, either way we are not accepting the authority of scripture, This is bad.

take Eve and the serpent in Genesis.

Eve went above the line in saying that God said we can neither touch nor eat from the tree. God did indeed say not to eat the fruit, but He never said anything about touching it. so she added to Gods word and when we do we stray into legalism.

the Serpent on the other hand went below the line when he said “did God really say you cant eat from any tree in the garden?” he is not quite getting to the point the God makes, he isn’t believing the word of God

All of the mistakes that I made were missing the line I missed above and below, but each mistake also falls into a more specific category.

next we have context. this describes where our text is sitting. one quote that stuck with me is “Words mean nothing!… outside of context, words mean nothing!”

the context of the passage is not just the verses before and after although that is a very important context. a very important verse that I missed in my study is eph 5:1-2 lets read that now

the context of the passage is not just the verses before and after although that is a very important context. a very important verse that I missed in my study is eph 5:1-2 lets read that now

Ephesians 5:1–2 NASB95

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

these verses are extremely important to our passage they give us the example of love and submission that our passage talks about! this fits into every verse from 21-33. it actually fits into ch 6:1-9 as well.

but this is not the only context that we have. we also have the historical context of our passage in the history of this passage we have that Paul was a prisoner on his way to execution, we have the temple to Artemis, we have the culture.... these help to inform us about what Paul was saying to his audience.

one last context is biblical context this is finding what the book and the bible say about this passage “scripture interprets scripture” if we look at verse 31

one last context is biblical context this is finding what the book and the bible say about this passage “scripture interprets scripture” if we look at verse 31

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 5

FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.

this is a direct quote from Jesus also quotes this verse in

within this biblical context we have the melodic line. which is the melody or theme of the book. in Ephesians we have constant themes of unity (specifically in the church) and Jesus’s supremacy, Him ascended and at the right hand of God. these themes inform our passage. unity in the church vs 30 and 32

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 5

because we are members of His body.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 5

This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

Jesus’s supremacy in vs 1,2,21,22,23,24,27,29,

this really focus’s the passage on the unity in our relationships, and in the church. it also shows us who we should live in submission to, namely Christ.

we also have structure, my weakest area. here we are looking for how God through Paul built this passage. things that we look for are repetition like submission, love, sacrifice, husband, wife, christ these are all repeated. also we have connection words like; for, so, but, therefore.... these help us see where he is going and what he is arguing for.

also the Gospel is in every passage in the bible. and if we just look we can see that scarlet thread of the gospel which is laced through the bible as CH Spurgeon once said

““but do you not know that from every little town and village and tiny hamlet in England there is a road leading to London? Whenever I get hold of a text, I say to myself, ‘There is a road from here to Jesus Christ, and I mean to keep on His track till I get to Him.'” “Well,” said the young man, “but suppose you are preaching from a text that says nothing about Christ?” “Then I will go over hedge and ditch but what I will get at Him.” So must we do, brethren; we must have Christ in all our discourses,”

the last one we have is framework. this can be thought of as a bias, our beliefs, fears and assumptions are all framework. we take these to the word of God and impose them on the scripture. these are not always bad.

one framework that we saw in my group was that someone forced the structure into three points, to emphasize the trinity. the text talked about the trinity, but that was not the main point of the text.

what we need to do is to let the text tell us what our framework should be not the other way.

My Errors

so then what did I do? I looked at this passage and said “God has setup leadership in our lives and to respect that leadership is to respect Him, leaders must lead in love and humility as Christ leads and those not leading need to follow the leadership as if Christ were the leader, this is a picture of how Christ is leading the church”

that is what I said Paul’s aim was and my sermon title was “Godly leadership at home and abroad”

there are many problems with this.

first I went under the line by missing what the aim was. if we look at verse 21 we can see Paul’s aim.

Ephesians 5:21 NASB95

and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.

New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 5

21aand be subject to one another in the bfear of Christ.

that, I feel, is what God through Paul is trying to tell us. it changes my whole aim, Godly leadership is great and needed, but there are other passages for that. THIS passage is about submission and unity!

that I feel is what God through Paul is trying to tell us

and then we have where I went over the line, “Godly leadership at home and abroad” this is not a missions passage!!

so I let my framework and my fear of saying “Submit” take this passage where it was not intended to go.

The Message

let us read this passage again, this time lets look for the structure. keeping in mind the melodic lines of unity, Christ ascended and supreme. also remember the aim to “be subject to one another in the fear of Christ.”

we are going to read 5:1-2,then 21-33

Ephesians 5:1–2 NASB95

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.

Ephesians 5:21–33 NASB95

and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife must see to it that she respects her husband.

that is awesome and humbling! isnt it?

as we look at this passage we can see a structure the first three verses are about submission the next 5 about love and the last three are a conclusion

Submit v 22

I spent the first few years of my marriage running from God and His call on my life. this was very hard on Daisy, as she was on fire for God for one of the first times in her life, but I was acting like a boat anchor in our marriage. it was a rough time! daisy tried and tried to change me, but if someone is trying to change me it makes me resist all the more I am sure that none of you know about this. this tug of war went on for a while until daisy was told something. she was told that submission is not letting someone walk all over you! its ducking, so that God can slap sense into your husband. so she ducked! and it didn’t happen over night, but God got a hold of me and my life. as a consequence I am standing here in front of you telling you what I have learned.

this passage here is saying that wives are to submit to their husband, but it also says husbands are to submit to Christ as Christ submitted Himself to God the father and I think that it is safe to say that in the same way that Jesus and God are one so too are the husband and wife one. neither one is better, but to each God has given roles.

God has set Christ as the head of the church and the husband as the head of the marriage, but if we look at verse 2 we see an image of Christ’s leadership. which we will see again in the next verses

Love v 25

Love husbands love wives submit as one of my commentary’s says about love and submit

“when we try to define the two verbs, it is not easy to distinguish clearly between them. What does it mean to ‘submit’? It is to give oneself up to somebody. What does it mean to ‘love’? It is to give oneself up for somebody, as Christ ‘gave himself up’ for the church. Thus ‘submission’ and ‘love’ are two aspects of the very same thing, namely of that selfless self-giving which is the foundation of an enduring and growing marriage.”

so then Men, Love her... how, you ask? verse 25 answers

Ephesians 5:25 NASB95

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her,

we love as Christ did! He actively gave up His life for us! and so we need to actively show our love to her.

as Christ did! He actively gave up His life for us and so we need to actively show our love to her.

to better explain how lets dig into verse 25 a little more.

now what is the obvious meaning of verse 25?

what is it refering to when it says “Christ.....gave Himself up...”

that’s right the cross.

Stott, J. R. W. (1979). God’s new society: the message of Ephesians (p. 235). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

He came to earth and died in our place so that we could be with Him in heaven for always! now if I ask any man here if he is willing to take a bullet for his wife. he will say yes before the words even leave my mouth! so then what is a more practical way to love like Christ? because taking a bullet is not a practical way to show love and I think that God has more for us here.

so then what other way did Christ lay down His life? He humbled Himself. He left heaven where He was in His glory and He came down to us as a baby. He did this to show us His love for us.

Men how can you humble yourself for your wife? what should you give up out of love for her and for Christ?

Golf? your carer? video games? guys night out? men if we can love her more than these things she will have no problem submitting! we dont give these things up so that she will submit. we give them up out of love.

I heard last night about a couple who were arguing in a restaurant, at the end of the fight the wife told the husband to grab what he wanted and get out. so the husband promptly got up picked her up and left. now I am not saying that this is a good tactic, but at least at that point he had his priorities straight.

why? why do we do this? Christ did this for the church so that we, the church will have no spot or wrinkle, but would be Holy and blameless.

so then we need to love our wives into perfection not because she is perfect, but because she will be!

so then we need to love our wives into perfection not because she is perfect, but because she will be!

the text also takes it down into practical terms vs 28-29 love your wife as you love yourself she needs to be at least on par with how you treat yourself!

Because v 30

Because v 30

now, this is all summed up in verse 32 as being about the church,

Ephesians 5:32 NASB95

This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church.

so then church, Christ loves us, He has even shown it to us! why then dont we submit to Him? we need to. it says right here that He is the head of the Church. and that the church is to submit to Him, why? again Perfection!

He wants to build us up to perfection. and one of the ways that He does that is through submission. we need to look at what we are doing as a body and make sure that everything we are doing is in submission to His Headship!

then in verse 33 Paul restates in-case you forgot husbands love your wife and wife's submit to him

Conclusion

in closing, my job is to come to the word of God and bring you to the word of God. this, the word of God is one of the most important things that He has given us! so we need to study it, to learn what He has for us!

improper study is worse than simply being wrong! it will lead you down the wrong path, and before you know it you will be miles off course! but please don’t let that discourage you, start now! start reading the bible in its context! start letting the text inform your framework! find the melodic line of the book that you are reading! find where the gospel is in your passage! study this love letter. it will change your life!

we also cant forget what this passage has for us. Men stand up and act like men! submit your self to Christ and love your wife. don’t tell her, SHOW her. show your love for her in your life, day to day. and women submit to your husband. if that is to hard start by submitting to Christ and duck, so He can correct your husband!

and church, let us unify. we are all collectively the body of Christ. together we are the body, you know the saying “together we stand, but divided we fall” this is so true about the church. you know that we have an active enemy out there. he is prowling like a lion just waiting for us to trip up! if however we are one, and we are unified in Christ he doesn’t stand a chance, but as soon as we get in to our groups and cliques he will have us for lunch

I love you and we love each other let us show that to the world

Let us pray

New American Standard Bible: 1995 update. (1995). (). La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.