Be subject to one another
Ephesians 5:21-24 · Roger Henderson · Nov 4, 2018
Ephesians (2018-19), No. 41
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/49261912433962

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

This is the bird's eye view of the rest of Ephesians. So we made a decision about, you know, I had it all crammed in since we didn't have, we're going to lose two classes here. We decided, this is sort of a little bit of, we decided right before Christmas and New Year's, it's just so crazy that, you know, coming to main service is probably the best a lot of people can do. So we're just going to, we're going to cancel those classes. And we've done that previously. So we're going to slop over into the new year through January to finish up. So most of January will be in Chapter 6, which is just a tremendous chapter. A lot of good stuff there.

So we're going to take it slowly. So today we're going to start into the section about the family, we'll call it. We're going to talk about starting off with being subject to one another. And actually this section is also going to include the wives being subject to their husbands.

And hopefully we can, I don't know, there's no new, probably no new thing I'll say, but hopefully it'll be, maybe we'll see it in a different light. And then next week we'll talk about the husbands, and so we'll see, they get equal treatment. And actually, I've actually realized some cool things, and actually in the following week, there's kind of a wrap-up of that subject, at the end of Chapter 5. And there'll be a review of Chapter 5. Okay, could someone read in Chapter 5, verses 18 through 24?

And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing the making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Great, thank you. So let's go to this outline which I borrowed from a colleague.

So the first part is just, we get down to being filled by the spirit. which Randy did last week, are actually filled with the Spirit. Actually, I'm going to talk a little bit, just briefly, that word, with, can, and others translate it, by. So I'm just going to talk a little bit about what I see. It's the ministry of the Holy Spirit that's in view, and Randy did a great job last week, and we have the list. It's an incredible ministry, but the by, with, we'll kind of talk about that just slightly. So then actually, we're going to talk about it here. I'm sorry, I got a little bit ahead of myself.

The results of being filled by the Spirit, or with the Spirit. So now today we're going to talk about subjection. And just so you don't get all wrapped around the axle, subjection in scripture is a military term. And it's actually the idea of rank under, to rank under or to line up under. So it's going to talk about believers. First of all, we're going to talk about pertaining to one another, believers in the body of Christ. as pertained to the wives, to the husbands, pertains to children and parents, and to slaves and masters.

So that's going to kind of go over to chapter six there. But that topic about subjection, really it's the last result of being filled with or by the spirit. And I'll show you that shortly here. Okay, so that was from McCauley. So from last week, let's just go here. And do not get drunk with wine for that is dissipation, but be filled with or by the Spirit. So if you, you know, Wendy did a great job.

So look, if you think about the, so what if you say be filled by the Spirit? Do you have, what does that say to you guys? Or what do you think about versus with the Spirit? Do you see any difference in how you might understand what the Holy Spirit's doing? It's more action oriented by the Spirit.

Okay, okay, I like that. So actually, we surrenders it by the Spirit. So what I like, and actually this is our brother Hal, he had a really keen understanding of this passage, was that by, if you think about the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus Christ, if you go back to John, when the Holy Spirit is, Christ says, I'm going to go away and I'll send you a helper, and he talks about the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And he says, He will take of mine and reveal it unto you. He will show it unto you. So, taking that understanding from the Gospel of John, that the ministry of the Holy Spirit is to take the things of Christ and show it to us, you could look at this and say, well the Spirit is going to fill us with the things of Christ.

Boy, to me that really resonates well. Hopefully that will be another little adjunct to think about. It talks about being controlled by the Spirit, but I think by the Spirit actually adds another little flavor to that little He is going to show us or reveal to us the things of Christ. So now we have to be filled by or with the Spirit. The first thing he talks about is speaking. There are actually five things.

Speaking, singing, making melody, giving thanks, that's the fourth one, and then lastly, being subject. And these all are participles, it's a verbal adjective, speaking, singing, making melody, and giving thanks. I kind of lump those as praise. We talked about it a little bit last week. This is the ministry of the Holy Spirit in praising God. speaking, singing, making melody, and giving thanks. But the fifth one is kind of, whoa, and being subject. That sounds different. So he's started off on a different tact here, but they're all ministries that the Spirit of God desires to direct the believer in.

Okay, any thoughts or stuff before we go on here? So I thought it was cool. I hadn't seen this until I started looking at some things. Wow, look at that. And several people spoke about this, so I thought it was worthwhile. It actually fit in well with transitioning from last week to this week.

So we're going to spend the rest of our time talking about being subject to one another, and then it's going to be in the fear of Christ, and so on. We're going to talk about different parts of that in terms of the wife. So here's the passage that we're going to cover. I won't read it again.

Actually, that's kind of interesting. It goes way up to the top there. And be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. This subject, as I mentioned before, is a military term. It's to rank under. It's literally a compound word. Under and to arrange. And I like the idea of to line up under, because that really helps me with understanding what's desired.

We're not talking about, and the Lord's going to go to tremendous pains here to show you that that his kingdom the Godhead operates in this principle Christ is subject Christ the second person of the Trinity is subject to the Father And you say, wow, that seems, you know, we think a subject is being, we have a much lower expectation of being, he's only a subject.

And we got it down here at the bottom. Well, in God's kingdom, no, they're equal. And we're going to see the same way with the wife and the husband. They're equals, but they're in this subject, you know, one is a subject, or flip it around, we're going to see headship. One is a head, and one is under the headship.

So it's, that's God's plan all through his creation. So we can get a little ruffled. But I don't think we need to. We can praise him. That's the way you designed your kingdom. Hey, amen. Okay. So, and it's to one another. So this is the first example he's going to give of subjection. And I was, I want to do these verses here. All believers are, and this is actually, we went through it, I go through it with Vonnie, like I think Randy does too with his wife. And so, She said, wow, how am I being subjective to my brothers and sisters in Christ?

I don't know, your head kind of gets, you know? Maybe some of them you have, you know, maybe you ruffled each other's feathers, so to speak, you know? They're not your good buds. Not that they have to be your good buds, but I'm just saying. Sometimes your brothers and sisters in Christ, you love them dearly, but sometimes you may have things you, you know, But this talks about ranking under your brothers and sisters. So it's interesting. So let's look at a couple of verses here.

So someone read Galatians 5.13. And actually we have a plaque. I was overseas in England for five years and this dear lady gave us a plaque, a husband, they gave us a plaque with this verse on it when we left.

Galatians 5.13.

For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh. But by love, serve one another. So by love, serve one another. So part of this is, you do this in love, realizing that yes, it makes sense that I subject myself to my brothers and sisters in Christ. That's God's plan. That's God's order. Okay, Philippians 2, 2-3. Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose, Do nothing from selfish or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourselves. Wow. There's some tough things here. I mean, look at these. Wow. You know, this brother and sister, I really get along with this brother and sister.

And the other part is, is it going to be you? Is this something we do in the flesh? We try to gin up this warm fuzzies for our brother. Or we say, well, wait a minute, Lord. This is my brother and sister in Christ. Hey, they deserve the honor that comes with what you told us about that. So we look at it in that context. And that's going to be the comparison I can constantly through this passage. He's going to compare the subjection of the wife to all these lofty things of Christ and His Church. So he wants us to settle down and accept this and believe Him and trust Him and allow the Spirit of God to show us those things.

OK, how about first Peter 5.5?

Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility. For God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Boy, humility. Doesn't that go a long way in relationships? If you come across a person, and this is humble in a good sense, they just aren't tooting their own horn. They're just, hey, I want to listen to what you have to say. I want to hear, you have some concerns? Tell me. Humility is not, you know, groveling on the floor. It's just being, you know, respectful of the person that you're with and giving them honor. You had something, Randy? Oh, well... No, if you didn't, I don't want that. No, it's...

That passage, or this whole principle of submitting to one another is challenging because Just like the time that Paul was writing this, our culture is definitely about status and personal gain in how we interact with one another. How do I have authority? How do I have position? I told my manager I'd like to be a leader within the organization. And their expectation for what leadership meant was that I came in and dominated, not that I came from underneath and served. Which is biblically what I'm called to do.

So I don't behave in a way that they can understand. This idea of submitting through leadership is weird in a worldly context, isn't it? Absolutely. It's total counter to the culture then and the culture now. I can think of cases where I was leading a project or whatever and there's always difficulties. A lot of times they're personal ones.

This guy is having a problem at home or whatever and the schedule is slipping. So I go to the guy above me and I say, well you know we're not going to make that date where it's going to slip. Well, you've just got to make that date. And I said, well, I don't think we're going to. But we can make up for it. I think in the long picture, we can make up for it. It'll be OK. In the long term, down the road, it'll work out OK. But for now, we're not going to make that. You know, sometimes days where everybody has these little bubbles with dates, and oh, you missed that triangle. The sky is falling! Anyway. You race to a deadline that you have set up artificially. Exactly.

But because you've not considered one another the consequence. And even that same thing in the church. We all would, you know, when people come to Holly Hills and the music isn't right. Or they come to Holly, which is the previous person. Exactly. And you have a different position on you know, works or whatever else, and they grew up hearing works.

They don't even submit themselves to listen to find out what the doctrine says. They're focused on, do you match me, rather than do we match the Word. That's it. That's it. Okay, cool. Okay, so what's neat is here, he's going to make a comparison. He says, be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. And I take this to be a reverential fear. So I have a few verses here.

Let's look at Corinthians 5.11. And anyone is allowed to read.

Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest unto God, and I trust also are made manifest into your conscience. The wrong way? She's right. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but we are made manifest to God, and hope that we are made manifest in your conscience. It's not easy.

Manifest is to see clearly. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord. matches this phraseology here. Knowing the fear of the Lord persuaded that we are clearly seen to God and hope that we are manifest also in your conscience. So there's more to be said about that verse. But anyway, I was tracking the fear of the Lord. Let's see if the next one is any better.

Let's try Acts 9.31. Yeah, and this is a good one. This is a little bit better.

Acts 9.31.

And this is kind of a summary of a part of the ministry there at Acts in that time period. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace being built up and going on in the spirit of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit it continued to increase. Right. So it's kind of a summary statement about the ministry there and notice the different words that are used and it kind of ends up with and on in the fear of the Lord in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. So the fear of the Lord is a good thing.

So we do this realizing that we subject ourselves to one and realizing that that's God's plan and that's a reverence for Him. So basically Macaulay says, Submission to one another is placed on the highest footing, mutual submission of all to the headship of Christ. So we're looking, this is God's plan, this is God's purpose, and things will function best when believers go down this path, walk this way.

So now, when we switch to the second example, wise be subject to your own husband as to the Lord. Well just for starters, I'll show it shortly. Look here, we start off with, first of all, it's your own husband. And second of all, it's not men to women.

This is within God's view. If you go back to Genesis, I re-read Genesis just in account of the creation of woman. And it's just incredible. You read through that. Woman was created for a specific purpose. And when we get outside that realm, we go outside that realm, It's a compliment. Man was insufficient without a woman. And God did that. And so we think, wow, that's huge. I think that's beneficial. And mostly, God speaks in the marriage context. You have to be a little careful. But this is the marriage context. So let's go on here. First of all, be subject to your own husbands. So let's look at that a little bit. There are some parallel passages.

How about Titus 2, 3 through 5? The aged women likewise that they be in behavior as become as holiness, not false accusers, not given too much wine, teachers of good things, that they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. So it's that last part that kind of really caught my eye. So whenever we see a so that, or that, so that, or that, the purpose of whatever action before it comes into view, that the word of God will not be dishonored. So it's saying, hey, this has a purpose here.

Being subject to your wife is not only God's plan, but it's going to be a testimony to others of the word of His word. Okay, and then 1 Peter 3, let's do 1 and 2. 1 Peter 3, 1 and 2. In the same way you wives be submissive to your own husbands, so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. Yeah, great. Thank you. So once again, we see the so that or that. So what's the reason for the wives being submissive to their own husbands? So that if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be one without a word. So it's cool.

I've always thought of that as salvation, but actually thinking about it more, I think, wow. And that's true in the Christian relationship, and it's true with God. God loved us. He didn't wait for us to love Him. And in the marriage relationship, You know, one party may not be lovable at that moment, but you love them anyway.

That's the way it should be. That's good, Whitney. I like that. You're a wise man. OK, second. And so what I did here, the verb here is actually an implied verb. It's because, you notice, it's in italics. And so what I did, in looking at the structure, and I looked at others, they actually can put the verb in here, as be subject to the Lord. So he's making an analogy here. He's saying, wise be subject to your own husbands as be subject to the Lord. OK, say it another way. Being subject to your husband, or your own husband, reflects your being subject to the Lord.

And that's the picture constantly through this. It's constantly, we're not doing this to, we're doing this to honor God's plan and purpose in the family. And then Schaefer, and I've thought of this often, and this is going to point to next week, the submission of the wife to the husband is placed on a very high plane, as unto the Lord. And he says, this is not difficult for the wife to do, providing the husband is unto her as he is enjoined to be.

His writing is over my head sometimes. As he is enjoined to be in verse 25. We're going to cover that next week. And 25 reads, we read, the husband is to love the wife as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. So as many have said, the wife will have no problem. If your husband acts as verse 25 says, there will be no problem. Because he's going to be acting as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. So what I see here is that both parties, the wife and the husband, have these elevated positions that God has asked them to be. the wife to be in submission, and the husband to be as Christ. They both are going to fall short of that. But in that relationship, we're to love them in spite of that. They both are going to fall short.

The analogy here is asking the Lord, how are we to be in subjection to the Lord? How does that happen? It's not a hard question. for a talking person. And we already kind of covered that. Do we need to go back to verse 18? Okay, I think that's appropriate. It's going to be Christ working in us.

And I think it's important to remember that, because like I said, if you try to manufacture this by, well, I'm going to really try hard to make this happen. I'm going to really try hard to be loving my wife as Christ loved the church. You're going to fail. But if you say, well, Lord, I see that's an impossible thing for me to do.

But as I walk by faith with you, then there's a possibility that can happen. The real possibility. And the same way with wives. We'll see more about that. All right, let's go on. Okay, so I drew a few pictures here. First one is... Actually, I got the idea from other pictures I saw. Other guys wrote pictures. This is a little variation.

So basically you see believers being subject to believers in the fear of Christ. And we see wives being subject to their husbands as to the Lord. So the focus is always on God, like I said before. So these were kind of helpful to me. Not real high tech, but you know. And often in scripture we see that human relationships, if both are focused on the Lord, they work out. And that's kind of part of the story here. OK. So now it goes on.

For the husband is head of the wife. So now we're going to switch from, we were talking about subjection. Now he's going to kind of flip it around a bit. He's going to talk about headship, which is kind of the flip side of subjection. For the husband is head of the wife, as Christ also is head of the church, he himself being the Savior of the body. So, more details about subjection, headship, for, because.

The husband is head of the wife, and what I notice here is that I... OK, so basically we have two statements here if you look. We have two is statements. For the husband is head of the wife, and he makes a comparison as Christ is also head of the church. So in that structure, the is is this word amy, which is to come into a new state of being. Let me see that right. No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Actually, I said that wrong. I'm sorry. It's the state in which someone or something continuously exists. I actually have the definition on a previous chart, I mean a following chart.

So it's saying that the head, I mean the husband, is head of the wife. That's his title, if you will. And head here is the idea, it's metaphorically of a person, head, chief, one who others are subordinate to. And then there's a parallel verse here. But I want you to understand that Christ is the head of every man, and man is the head of a woman, and God is the head of Christ.

So let's look at this in statement form. So now it's kind of a picture of headship or hierarchy. So the question here is we're going to have three examples. There's three examples or three statements in the verse in 11.3. So when does superiority come into play? And Macaulay kind of pointed this out. I thought it was good. So we're trying to put to rest the idea of superiority.

I've already kind of said it, but the verse says, God is the head of Christ. Is God superior to Christ? Well, the obvious answer is He's not superior to Christ. We have Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They're all God, but they have different... The Father, the Son, that's why they have different... Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

They're equal, so not one is superior to the other. Christ is ahead of every man. Is Christ superior to man? Yes, he is. He's God, and man is his creation. So there is a superiority that does come into view. And the third one... Man is ahead of the woman. Yeah, that's what it says. Man is ahead of the woman. Is man superior to woman?

No. To my mind, what's being done here, Paul has gone, he's looked at it like every way he can look at it. Subject, master subject, I'm a master slave. He's looked at it, headship versus those under you. So this is another go around of this, looking at, so the take away from this is that no, man is not superior to woman.

But in God's plan, his purpose, he has an order. Okay. For the husband is head of the wife, as Christ also is head of the church. So that's the comparison we talked about. So here's what I didn't have in the other one. Amy is this word, the state in which someone or something continuously exists. So the relationship between the husband and the wife, he's in that relationship as head. Here's a way of looking at it, kind of a flip side.

The man should the Christian man should realize that he is the head of the ship, so to speak. It's nice to have a captain, right? That's a good thing. In a marriage relationship, the husband is to be the head. The comparison is, as Christ is the head of the church.

He does that consistently through this passage. The head of the church identifies who Christ is, just like the head of the wife identifies who the man is, who the husband is. So here's a parallel verse here. And he put all things in subjection under his feet, and gave, or appointed, him as head over all things to the church. So it's important to see that the body of Christ, Christ is the head. And we see that so many different pictures of that in scripture. We see the picture of the body with Christ being the head. So there are a couple of verses They kind of just amplify that a little bit.

How about Colossians 1.18?

He is also head of the body, the church, and he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself will come to have first place in everything. Right. So headship is an important concept in scripture, and here he's relating that to the marriage relationship. And the one in Ephesians that we had earlier, grow up in all aspects into him who is head. So the last part, he himself being the savior of the body. So actually this is kind of rhetorical. The body spoken here is the body of Christ. So there are other verses that kind of have this idea.

Christ is the savior of the body. He is also the Savior of the world. In John 4.42 it says, We have heard of ourselves and know that this one, Christ, is the Savior of the world. In Timothy it says, We have fixed our hope on the living God, who is Savior of all men, especially believers. And lastly, another kind of repeat of the the Gospel of John passage, we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

Like in this passage, there is a headship involved. The Father sent the Son. So there is order to the Godhead, and there is to be order to His creation, order in the marriage relationship. Okay, so this is kind of interesting. I hadn't thought about this until right before I got this all together.

What do you think What do you think about, he's making something out, husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, he himself being Savior of the body. What do you think that he talks about Christ being Savior of the body, what aspects of that would apply to the husband with the wife? He obviously, he's not saving her, right? She's saved by Christ. But are there other aspects you think of the relationship where this idea of, I'm not sure it's saving her, but Are there other aspects that might come to mind? Go ahead, Randy. Well, I think what did Christ do to save the Church? He sacrificed himself. And this idea of sacrificial love is a weighty principle.

And it's one of those things where often I find myself coming to just good conversation and saying, I'm not very good at this, so I apologize, but then also, what are ways that I'm not living this out, that as I abide in the future, I can have awareness? Because there are times where in our relationship we have to grow, and that growth comes through communication in part, but it's the Holy Spirit working through us. Oh, I'm not going to go out and buy the new sports car or the fancy guitar or the whatever else it is and live sacrificially, financially.

This is one example. So that I can provide for my family in a meaningful way. Or any number of other places. Well, what I thought... I'm sorry, did someone else have something? Go ahead. It's the same idea to me as provision. People are guided for our internal life. That's good. No, I like that. Providing yes, that's true.

Well, I think we're going to learn more about that question as we go into the husband's responsibilities. We're going to see different kinds of love, sacrificial love. He's actually going to come back to this idea, but put the husband, because the first part of 25 says, Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for. So he actually kind of expands on this. That's how this applies to the husband. He defines that in 25. So it does come up. But it's a good thing to think, wow, look at these comparisons. There's just all these constant comparisons here. So now, let's see here.

But as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be to their husband in everything. So everything might bother you, but we're going to try to address everything. That means she can't go out, go shopping. Does Randy have to approve every every outfit that Jessica buys? I'm being a little bit. Okay, let's go on with this one.

And I'm going to tell you right now, we're going to actually answer that question, believe it or not. Not about his outfit, but just about the principle. But as the church is subject to Christ, but now, but indeed, it's the same word we had before, to line up under.

Wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. We're going to hold the everything for a little bit. So, Weiss has it in this manner. Also, wives should subject themselves in obedience to their husband in all things. Okay, so now here's another picture here. The previous couple of verses. Christ is the head of the church, as the husband is the head of the wife. So, here's headship on the first go-round. That was in 23. And then the next go around was the church subjects itself to Christ, and the wife subjects herself to the husband.

So we see headship in view and subjection. I actually didn't, until I studied this out, I hadn't realized that kind of parallel between two headship and being subject. So now, we have two questions about submission and rise. So we're going to answer a couple questions here. Oops, wrong way. Question one. And I think we answered this about 10 times. Does subjection indicate inferiority? So, the answer, no. OK, but we're going to look at the verse that helps us there. OK. He said no already. Wait a minute. OK, so the verse says 1 Corinthians 15, 28. And this is actually not an easy verse to read.

When all things are subjected to him, that's the Son, So you can say, when all things are put under subjection, and this is the same word, this subjection here is the identical word used all through this passage. When all things are subjected to Him, Christ, then the Son shall also subject himself to the Father, the One, who subjected all things to Himself, so that God may be all in all." So there's an order. Once again, back to the Godhead again. Christ subjected Himself to the Father. Remember He said, I do nothing except what I see the Father doing. So you think about it. Wow! That's a pretty incredible statement.

He's not going to act outside. He has to act totally in agreement with the Father. I can't walk over here? I can't do this? That's a little bit crazy. Now here's Randy's answer. Does submission deny the right of independent action? And let me tell you first, this wasn't my idea originally. So let's read. Can someone look at Luke and read chapter 2, 49 to 51? I have the last part, but let's read the whole part. Luke, chapter 2, 49 to 51.

And it kind of jumps in in the middle of them. We actually probably could go back farther, but let me just... And this is the account where Mary and Joseph take Lord Jesus. When he was 12 years old, they take him to Jerusalem. And so it kind of picks up... 49 picks up kind of in the middle of a statement. They were searching for him. And then starting at 49, he tells them why he did what he did. So 49 through 51. And he said to them, why is it that you were looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be in my father's house? But they did not understand the statement which he had made to them.

And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and he continued in subjection to them. And his mother treasured all these things in her heart. So, the same words, the subjection words, the same words we've been studying. So what's cool is here, the Lord Jesus, you know, He acted independent of his parents.

They didn't understand. He went and spent that time in the temple and he explains that. They didn't understand what he was saying. The way it reads is almost like, well you should have known this. Why is it that you were looking for me? It says you shouldn't have been looking for me. So it's an unusual situation.

But anyway, that action was independent of their care for him. He acted outside of their care. But 51 comes back and says, he went down with them and came to Nazareth and he continued. He was in subjection. He continued in subjection to them. So there is independent action.

And maybe you don't think it's the strongest verse ever. I'm just wondering why you didn't tell them. Well, the implication in the text is, I actually thought when I was a teenager, I thought, well, it says Jesus was always righteous and always obedient, but this looks like disobedience. It does look like disobedience.

I actually spent some time talking about this with my dad years ago, and it was one of those things where It says they thought, his parents thought he was with their larger aunt. Right, they did. So there's some miscommunication. Boy, that ties back to the marriage thing. But it is, you know, Christ's statement there is how come he's doing what his father... Right.

Of course I'm doing what my father says, but it is independent, it appears at least. It appears independent, I mean, that wasn't, I know, So, and maybe you'll think this is the strongest verse, but I think it does show, it does show that he, once again, the Godhead, you know, Christ, you know, voluntarily came down, became a man, he subjected himself to his earthly parents. Which is pretty, you know, he being God did that. And so, but he did have independent action in that whole time period he was in subjection to them.

He operated independent, at least in this recorded case here. Maybe we can find others, but this is the one that That seems to be the strongest. OK. So next week, we're going to go on and talk about the husbands. This will be their turn. OK. Any last thoughts or comments? OK. All these areas. items that we were to do, singing and so on. Okay, yes, yes. Kind of a guise of being filled with the Spirit. Okay. And then this idea of love, it seemed like...

I want to read one in 1 Peter 1.22. It says, Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently. So again, it brings in seemed like this idea of a spirit.

Right. Well, I wondered when you first read that, are all these various items that were first mentioned, is that through the spirit? It sounds like you're kind of leading into that, that the Spirit is what really enables us. Well, yes. It has various issues, or items. Yeah, that's true.

The point here is this is the Holy Spirit's ministry, and as we're filled with the Spirit, we will carry these out. Now, you know, Scripture talks about various other words, abiding, faith in, as we abide with Christ, then his life can be lived out. And we can, like I said, the wife can't perform her function without that and the husband can't perform his function. If they try to do it in their own strength, it's not going to work. I have another question. Sure, keep going.

Just giving thanks always for all things to God the Father. in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And when we give thanks, sometimes I wonder, I mean a guy kicks a field goal and he goes, oh thank you God for that field goal. What a kid's fault. It just seems funny doing this idea of thanking God for all things, for little things that we get.

Isn't that more like... I know where you're headed with this. Are we really thanking God for... We can cross out... We can eliminate some things, right? We're not going to thank him for evil things, right? There's plenty of evil things in our world. We're not going to thank him for that, right? Based on his character, some things can be eliminated.

But I think it points to the fact of an attitude of a person's life. If you see life as well, I was fortunate to get this happen and that happen. I'm just a fortunate person. I got the luck of the draw. A lot of people look at it that way. Well, the believer has a different view of that. They say, well, wait a minute. I'm his child and he has a plan for my life. So they look at it in that context.

And it's rightful to say you thank him for that. Now, some of that may be a trial, which is not much fun, or a tribulation. And it tells us, you know, where to be thankful. That's a tough one, you know, when you have a trial or tribulation. But in the context, that's one of the things, humility and thankfulness, there's three things that I like in a person. Humility, thankfulness, what's the third one anyway? Faithfulness. Faithfulness, humility, and thankfulness. This is one of our big three, being thankful.

Because that indicates that you have a right understanding of, you know, you're his son, right? And if you say, well, you know, my life hasn't worked out exactly how I'd like it to work out, you know, I think you have to, when you look at it in God's context, that he is, He is your father and he has a plan for your life and he is working that plan out and it may involve difficulties and trials. Can you see the trials coming from him? Many times that is why people get angry with God. Because they thought it should work out this way and it worked out that way and they say, well, unfortunately they either give up on God Or they say, well, maybe, you know, hey, maybe I have something to learn here. I'm talking myself here, too. Don't think I have this all wrapped up or, you know. Randy, go ahead. So another, first of all, I wholeheartedly agree with what you said so far. But when you have an athlete who says, thank God that I got a field goal or whatever it is, maybe a touchdown. What we see in that is almost like this false humility, right? Isn't that one of the things that you see there?

It's like, oh, he's thanking God now, but when he missed the field goal, he was using Jesus' name in vain. Maybe that's not quite... And he's kicked off the team because he didn't make all the field goals. But Paul's focus on this text is that we see things in light of God's direction and God's purpose, not And so when you have an athlete like Tim Tebow, for example, who tended towards humility and thankfulness in all things, it really stood in stark contrast to the person who was celebratorily thankful only. And so there's kind of a contrast there. And I don't mention Tim Tebow to incite too much frustration as the problem is forming. That thankfulness is there.

I mean, last week when I was teaching on this, we talked about Paul being in jail in Philippi. He was praising the Lord in prison. He had wounds that were not tended to. The jailer tended to those after the fact. And yet he was praising the Lord in that circumstance. Paul lived out examples that looked like it wasn't It wasn't doing victory laps around the Colosseum in Rome after he got them squirted away.

This whole section, falling from 18, actually, through the rest of it, all talks about the Spirit's ministry in believers' lives. And you quoted beautifully. All those verses we've all talked about. You try to live this without... the Spirit of God being involved in showing you the things of Christ and living out, you know, letting Christ live through you, then it's not going to work. You're going to be frustrated. I would like to ask for your opinion on something, Roger. Okay, all right. Oh, wow.

And I'm saying this with some sarcasm, but I think that both Romans and Ephesians are masterfully written letters that build upon one another and use logic or reasoning to accomplish getting us to the point of knowing that it's the Holy Spirit working through us. Is Ephesians or Romans better at it? Why don't you ask me an easy question? But thematically, he's been building on this since chapter one.

Well, isn't it incredible how he's gone through this and he's gone, I'll look at it this way, and then look at it this way. Well, you think you have a case? Well, I'll take care of it. He tries to run to ground. I don't know, it's a term that people, maybe engineers use, maybe, whatever. You know, you stamp out every, you know, like the thing in the circus, right? All the heads pop up, knock that objection out. Every objection I'm going to take care of.

Because, you know, this is his order and this is his plan. And we're to be thankful for it. And if that's his plan, hey, I should listen to that. Maybe I'm frustrated by that. So, anyway. Great class. Great class, guys. Next, we get to talk about the husbands.

Dear Father, we thank you so much for this day, Lord. Thank you for the blessings we have, Father. We thank you for your order. We thank you for just an incredible account and creation about how you've created a woman and her purpose and her plans. We praise you for all that you've done. You've done it right. Help us to see your design and your plan and all that you tell us in Scripture, Father. In Christ's name, Amen.