Ephesians # 28 Eph 5-28 thru 6-3
We’re going to continue on the book of Ephesians. So let’s just pick up where we left off last week.
I. EPH 5:28
A. Husband, you wash your body, you keep it clean, you buy things for yourself.
1. Your wife is as much your flesh as you are.
a. Jesus said in (Matthew 19:5) “For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?” KJV
i. You became 1 flesh when you accepted each other in marriage.
ii. Just as you became 1 spirit with the Lord Jesus Christ when you received Him in salvation.
b. When Jesus loves you He loves Himself.
i. When you love your wife, you love yourself.
2. EPH 5:29-30
a. Each of us is a member of the body of Christ.
i. The head is also part of that body.
ii. Most of the time, we look at Jesus and ourselves as being separate, but we must realize that we are 1.
iii. The head is not severed from the body.
b. The husband and wife can see that they are 2 separate individuals, but they have become 1 flesh.
i. I am not the Lord Jesus Christ, but we are part of the same body.
ii. The same way, the husband and wife are 2 separate people, but they are 1 flesh in marriage.
B. EPH 5:31
1. Because they are 1, just as Christ and the church, shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
a. The Lord gave this instruction to Adam and Eve way back in (GEN 2:24).
i. This is 1 of the 1st instructions that God gave to Adam and Eve. It came before that there were earthly father’s and mother’s.
ii. This instruction even came before God’s warning of not eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
b. 1 reason why many marriage’s fail is that they have not received this instruction from the Word of God.
i. This V doesn’t mean that you are to totally separate yourself from your parents and never see them, visit, or talk to them again.
ii. But this does mean that the newlyweds are to leave the authority of their mother and father.
iii. The # 3 reason for divorce in America is “Interference with the in-laws.”
c. When there is a problem in the marriage, you need to be very careful about running to mom and dad and telling them about all the problems.
i. Some parents are very good about this and them only give advise, but there are others that will get right in the middle of the disagreement, which causes a division between the husband and wife.
2. EPH 5:32
a. When Paul says that this is a great mystery, it doesn’t mean that it is something that will never be understood.
i. The relationship between the husband and wife is very similar to the relationship that the church has with the Lord Jesus Christ.
ii. This mystery has never been understood throughout the entire OT until Paul’s teaching.
b. The husband is to treat the wife like Christ treats the Church.
i. What would things be like if Jesus treated the church life men treat their wives?
ii. Or, what if we treated Jesus like the wives treat their husbands?
3. EPH 5:33
a. The word “Reverence” here means “Honor, respect, and Admire.”
i. We are to Honor, Respect, and Admire the Lord Jesus Christ, the wives are to do the same to their own husband.
b. Look at your husband and Imagine that you’re looking at Jesus. (LOOK AT HIM IN FAITH)
i. Of course, he’s not Jesus, but the honor and respect should still be there.
ii. If you want your husband to change, you have to change.
4. Look at 1PET 3:1
a. “Subjection” again means “Submission” but it also refers to your Honor and respect that you give to your husband.
i. Peter goes on to say that he will be won (or CHANGED) without your nagging or arguing by the “Conversation,”
ii. Literally, he will be changed by the manner in which you treat him.
II. EPH 6:1
A. Men don’t treat your wife like a child by telling them to obey.
1. But children are told to OBEY. The reason for this is that children haven’t reached maturity.
a. Much of the time they don’t know right from wrong.
2. It is the parents responsibility to train them in the things of the Lord.
a. (Proverbs 22:6) Says, “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” KJV
i. It is the parents responsibility to train them in the things of the Lord and in the Word of God.
ii. For this to take place the parents need to know the Word of God for themselves.
B. EPH 6:2
1. Children are told to HONOR their parents.
a. The word “Honor” means “Hold in honor, as of great price, precious, esteem, especially dear,” which also implies respect.
b. This is a commandment to the children, but again the parent have to teach them to Honor their father and mother.
2. The promise that Paul is talking about here is found in (EXO 20:12), but Paul goes on to talk about it here in (V 3).
C. EPH 6:3
1. The word “WELL” in this V means “To be well off, prosper.”
a. Teaching the children to honor their father and mother will teach them to also Honor God as the grow.
b. In turn this will cause the child to prosper because God will bless him.
2. It also says that the child will live long on the earth.
a. When we follow the Lord, God will satisfy us with long life.
b. It all starts with teaching the child in the things of the Lord.
WOLCC Thurs. 10/17/96