Sermon Tone Analysis

Faithful Where God Has Placed You

The story is told of an eleventh-century German king, King Henry III,who, having grown tired of court life and the pressures of being a monarch, applied to a monastery to be accepted for a life of contemplation.

The religious superior of the monastery, Prior Richard, is reported to have said, “Your Majesty, do you understand that the pledge here is one of obedience?

That will be hard because you have been a king.”

Henry replied, “I understand.

The rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you.”

“Then I will tell you what to do,” said Prior Richard.

“Go back to your throne and serve faithfully in the place where God has placed you.”

When King Henry III died, a statement was written: “The King learned to rule by being obedient.”

Like King Henry, we too often tire of our role and responsibility.

Like King Henry, we too need to be reminded that God has placed each of us in a particular place to be faithful there.

Be it as a plumber, accountant, mother, father, or whatever, God expects us to be faithful where he has placed us.

Whatever You Do, Do It Faithfully For the Lord!

Conduct Your Family Life For God’s Glory!

Last week we dealt with the premise of and pleaded for the necessity of believers to act like believers

…as those who have been raised to new life it is time for us to start behaving as those who have been transformed by the power of Christ...

…as those who have been raised to new life it is time for us to start behaving as those who have been transformed by the power of Christ...

we lay aside the continual corruption of the old man with all its sinful practices, attitudes and desires

we be renewed in our minds and put on the new man…that which stands in stark contrast to the old...

Now Paul is going to carry that out even further by giving instructions to believers of how that looks in your everyday relationships…your marriage, your family, your job…

Paul makes it very clear his readers understood the purpose of this section…

Please notice how many times the Lord recurs in this section…circle it in your Bible, highlight it, whatever you need to do to call attention to it...

Please notice how many times the Lord recurs in this section…circle it in your Bible, highlight it, whatever you need to do to call attention to it...

It appears seven times in nine verses… all the versions translate it as Master…

Wives, husbands, children, parents, worker or boss we all are to be mindful of and faithful to the Lord…regardless of the role you presently hold…you are to conduct yourself in a manner that honors Christ!

Jesus is not just Lord of your Church life, He is Lord of your Everyday life!

Let’s read making not of every time the Lord is mentioned...

In the time we have remaining, let’s examine how the Lord expects you to faithfully fulfill your role!

Three specific relational avenues that ought to be impacted by the sufficiency of Christ!

Faithfully Fulfill Your Role in Your Marriage (18-19).

Wives are to submit themselves to their husband’s leadership.

Submission is such a taboo concept in our culture today…it is not a popular thing…submission gets a bad rap because people do not understand biblical submission...

Jesus submitted himself

M

1 cor 15

We are all called to be submissive to one another...

Submission does not mean inferiority.

Every human we submit to is imperfect so you can’t go around looking for the perfect person to submit to…Jesus is the only person we are to submit to that has not been stained by sin!

God knows that!

Why does God give us submission?

It is a tool that God uses to get work done.

It doesn’t always mean that the person in authority is better, smarter, etc.

a.

It is a tool that God uses to get work done.

It doesn’t always mean that the person in authority is better, smarter, etc.

It just means that God has placed that person in charge

It is also a recognition that we all need to submit to God, and these various roles give us an earthly picture of our heavenly relationship to the Lord.

As we walk through this text, it is important to point out, that if you are a believer in Christ, you are the bride of Christ, you are the child of Christ, and you are the slave/servant of Christ.

2) It is important to point out, that if you are a believer in Christ, you are the bride of Christ, you are the child of Christ, and you are the slave/servant of Christ.

It is also very important to note here that this is written in the middle voice…meaning that it is not forced submission…it is the wife acting upon herself to be submissive…

Submission does not mean inferiority.

Submission does not mean inferiority.

Submission does not mean inferiority.

Submission is not absolute.

Submission is not mindless obedience

Submission is the voluntary placing of yourself in proper rank!

It is very important to note here that this is written in the middle voice…meaning that it is not forced submission…it is the wife acting upon herself to be submissive…

Men…this is the wife’s command...this is not directed at you…God doesn’t say “husbands make sure your wife submits”...It is a command for wives to put on as they want to please God.

The point is wives can honor God in everything they do, and one of the ways they do that is through a willing choice to submit to their husband’s leadership.

When wives choose to be submissive they show Christ-like humility.

One of the best passages on a wife’s submission is , and it is directly linked to Christ’s example of How he entrusted Himself to the Father’s plan.

Please notice the caveat regarding submission...As is fitting to the Lord... a wife who bears the name of Christ is to submit to her husband as she would submit to Jesus as her Lord...

Husbands we will do with you in a moment, but for now, hear this, The believing husband must NEVER DEMAND his wife to be submissive…it is something she must do of her own will.

d.

This is fitting to the Lord.

This does not mean your husband has absolute authority…only God does…you are not obligated to follow your husband’s leadership if it conflicts with Scriptural commands…if you know what he asks violates God’s word you have the right and the duty to disobey...

So a godly wife who is in Christ will of her own volition submit herself to her husband with that understanding.

This is Christ-like...so a godly wife who is in Christ will of her own volition submit herself to her husband.

1) In other words, this is in line with a wife who bears the name of Christ.

This is Christ-like, this is fits like star shaped kids toy fits in the star shaped lid cutout… so a godly wife who is in Christ will of her own volition submit herself to her husband.

That is what fits, what the role is supposed to look like.

Husbands we will do with you in a moment, but for now, hear this, The believing husband must NEVER DEMAND his wife to be submissive…it is something she must do of her own will.

The wife is called to do this herself as she lives out her role.

f.

Notice The husband is never told to make the wife submit.

1) The wife is called to do this herself as she lives our her role.

Submission is when you willingly place yourself under the leadership structure the Lord has provided, particularly when you would do something differently.

Some say, yeah I will submit, if I agree…that is not submission, that is called agreement.

When everyone agrees there is no problem there is no need for submission.

That is also not always what happens.

ii.

Some say, yeah I will submit, if I agree…that is not submission, that is called agreement.

When everyone agrees there is no problem there is no need for submission.

That is also not always what happens.

Submission is when you willing place yourself under the leadership structure the Lord has provided, particularly when you would do something differently.

Submission is when you willingly place yourself under the leadership structure the Lord has provided, particularly when you would do something differently.

Husbands are to love their wife without becoming bitter towards them.

Buckle up here husbands...because God’s word hits us right in the face...

Husbands are called to love their wives...

Agape is not used anywhere outside the Bible to talk about a love that a man has for his wife.

This is a present imperative meaning you continue to love… “keep on loving”

Agape Love is not simply to have strong feelings of affection for my spouse, although we are to cultivate those in our thinking.

this is a love of choice meaning it is not simply to have strong feelings of affection for my spouse, although we are to cultivate those in our thinking.

More importantly, agape love is a willingness to give up our wants to serve her.

Husbands are commanded to love our wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

The way you love your bride is to be a reflection of your Lord’s love for you as His bride.

A leader often is viewed as the one who gives the instructions, and everyone else sacrifices to carry those instructions out, but Paul goes to a whole other level.

Husbands loving their wife’s

The way you love your wife is to be a reflection of your Lord’s love for you as His bride.

That is something that God brings to the husbands role as that is what Christ did for us, and even though we are men, we are part of the Bride of Christ, and so we are to reflect His love for us, to our bride.