Marriage is Precious | Part 2
In this second episode, a deeper truth about why marriage matters so much to God is uncovered. Our eyes are lifted from roles and routines in marriage to the holy purpose behind them, inviting husbands and wives to see their covenant as a living portrait of grace. Understanding this sacred purpose reshapes the way we love, lead, and live within marriage, turning an ordinary union into an extraordinary testimony of God’s glory.
Checkout these other Family Fortress Ministries Podcasts:
TIME FOR THREE daily couples devotional: https://time-for-three.captivate.fm/listen
FORTIFYING YOUR FAMILY: https://fortifying-your-family.captivate.fm/listen
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Transcript
Welcome to the Fortifying youg Family Podcast.
Speaker A:It can be daunting to navigate through an anti marriage and family culture.
Speaker A:Our teacher will expound biblical principles to help fortify our families and keep these sacred institutions strong.
Speaker A:And now, here's this week's teaching from Sam Wood.
Speaker B:Not only is marriage a divine design, but marriage is a divine display of God.
Speaker B:It's a divine display of God.
Speaker B:And I want you to turn with me, if you would, to illustrate this and show you this.
Speaker B:Back to Ephesians chapter 5 and this is a classic text.
Speaker B:When we talk about the marriage relationship, normally we will go to this text and to try to get an understanding of marriage.
Speaker B:I want to draw your attention back to Ephesians chapter 5 and take a few minutes to share a few thoughts with you From Ephesians chapter 5 regard to marriage being a divine display of God.
Speaker B:Now let me start at verse 22 where the apostle Paul starts and just read down through verse 33.
Speaker B:So look at it with me as I read it here tonight.
Speaker B:Ephesians chapter 5, verse 22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord, for the husband the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body.
Speaker B:Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.
Speaker B:Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of the water by the word, that he might present it to himself.
Speaker B:A glorious church, or a church of splendor, church of beauty, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish, so ought men to love their wives as their own bodies.
Speaker B:He that loveth his wife loveth himself for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth, even as the Lord the church.
Speaker B:For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
Speaker B:For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh.
Speaker B:This is a great or a profound mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the Church nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Speaker B:Now, as we look at this passage many times we will focus in teaching this passage on verses 22 down through verse 25, 26, 27, and really talk about the roles and responsibilities of the husband and of the wife.
Speaker B:But it's very, very important that we understand the purpose of marriage.
Speaker B:And it's only when we understand the purpose of marriage that we can really, in that light, understand how to carry out the roles and responsibilities of marriage that God has given to us.
Speaker B:And in this passage, God gives us, as we look at it, the purpose of marriage.
Speaker B:And that purpose is to be a divine display of Jesus Christ and his church.
Speaker B:And again, until you understand God's purpose in marriage, you'll not properly fulfill the roles responsibilities of marriage.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Living in marriage begins with correct biblical understanding of marriage.
Speaker B:So look at it with me.
Speaker B:Look at verse 31 again.
Speaker B:For this cause shall a man leave his father, mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh.
Speaker B:Now what Paul does here is he goes back and re quotes what God said in Genesis chapter 2 and verse 24.
Speaker B:Now if he had left it right there, then we would have known no more really about the divine purpose of marriage than we would have known from reading Genesis chapter 2 in verse 24.
Speaker B:But he doesn't stop there.
Speaker B:Verse 32 is very, very significant in understanding God's divine display of marriage, God's divine purposes of marriage.
Speaker B:When Paul adds this to it, he says, this is a profound or this is a great mystery.
Speaker B:Very interesting.
Speaker B:Paul says, listen, what I just said to you is a great mystery.
Speaker B:Now mystery is something that we cannot understand.
Speaker B:We can't understand a mystery unless we have divine illumination.
Speaker B:That is, God, through his Holy Spirit has to divinely illuminate us to an understanding of a mystery of God.
Speaker B:And Paul here is about to unveil the mystery of the marriage relationship.
Speaker B:And this is what he goes on to say.
Speaker B:He says, here's the profound mystery.
Speaker B:Let me share with you what this profound mystery is.
Speaker B:Let me show you what God's purpose really is in the marriage relationship.
Speaker B:And he tells us at the end of verse 32 when he says, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Speaker B:So Paul gives us an unveiling of the mystery of marriage by stating that marriage is a divine display.
Speaker B:God intended marriage from the beginning, even with Adam and Eve.
Speaker B:Adam and Eve didn't even know it themselves, but their marriage was to be a divine display of Jesus Christ and his bride, the church.
Speaker B:So God created marriage to be a divine display of the relationship between Jesus Christ and between his church.
Speaker B:I like what C.J.
Speaker B:mahaney says.
Speaker B:He says understanding God's divine design of marriage will affect your motives, your attitudes and your behavior in marriage.
Speaker B:And basically what he's saying, like many other writers, he's saying, listen, until we understand that marriage is a divine display of God, of the relationship of Jesus Christ and his bride, that God intends for our marriage relationships.
Speaker B:A purpose of your marriage.
Speaker B:The purpose of my marriage is when people observe our marriage, they might get a picture, they might get a parable of the relationship of Jesus Christ and his church.
Speaker B:And C.J.
Speaker B:mahaney says, Listen, until you understand that it will affect your motives, it'll affect your attitudes and your behavior in marriage.
Speaker B:That is, you can't have the right motives, you can't have the right attitudes, you can't have the right behavior in marriage until you first understand that marriage is a divine display of.
Speaker B:Of a heavenly institution on earth.
Speaker B:In other words, God patterned marriage after Christ's covenant relationship with his church.
Speaker B:One writer put it this way.
Speaker B:When I read this, I thought it was very, very good.
Speaker B:She said, since marriage should be God centered and not me centered, our main care must be to honor God's holy name and to fill his holy purpose.
Speaker B:A lax attitude towards divorce comes from putting the feelings of sinners before the feelings of God.
Speaker B:Just think about that statement for a second and let me just give it to you again.
Speaker B:A lax attitude towards divorce comes from putting the feelings of sinners before the feelings of God.
Speaker B:God created marriage not first and foremost.
Speaker B:Now listen.
Speaker B:To meet our needs, but to advance the kingdom of God.
Speaker B:That is the purpose of marriage is not primarily to get our needs met in the relationship as a husband, as a wife, with each other, but rather to reveal the relationship of Jesus Christ and his church.
Speaker B:And I believe because of that, Christians need to have a covenant mindset about marriage.
Speaker B:John Piper says this.
Speaker B:He says staying married is not about staying in love.
Speaker B:It is about keeping covenant.
Speaker B:Till death do us part, or as long as we both shall live.
Speaker B:A sacred covenant promise, the same kind that Jesus made with his bride when he died for her.
Speaker B:When I wrote the book what is marriage?
Speaker B:And I preached the message, what is marriage?
Speaker B:And I know I've preached this here several years ago when I was here.
Speaker B:I say in that message that a covenant involves great expense.
Speaker B:The great expense of the giving of one's life away for the good of the one that you enter into covenant with.
Speaker B:And a covenant involves the great expectation of till death do we part.
Speaker B:And God wants us to understand in our marriage relationship that we are to have a covenant mindset in the same way that Jesus has a covenant relationship with you and I as a bride of Christ.
Speaker B:We're to have a covenant Mindset in the marriage relationship as a husband, as a wife.
Speaker B:Now, this brings up a question.
Speaker B:How can you.
Speaker B:How can I in my marriage?
Speaker B:How can I make sure that my marriage is a divine display of Jesus Christ in the Church?
Speaker B:How can I make sure that that's happening in my marriage?
Speaker B:That should be a primary question.
Speaker B:Every one of us should ask if we want our marriage to glorify God, if we want our marriage to be precious before God in hell, precious in the sight of those who observe it.
Speaker B:So I want you to look with me at verse 33, and I think as we look at verse 33, and I really believe Paul, he really takes time in verse 33 to reiterate some things here that he's already mentioned in verse 33 where he says, nevertheless, let every one of you speaking to the husbands here in particular so love his wife, even as himself and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Speaker B:You know what Paul is saying?
Speaker B:He said, listen, a husband, listen.
Speaker B:The primary thing you need to do here if you want to make sure that your marriage is a divine display of Jesus Christ and the church is, a husband needs to love his wife and the wife needs to respect her husband.
Speaker B:A woman's number one need is security, and a man's number one need is respect.
Speaker B:And certainly Paul says that in verse 33.
Speaker B:He says, Listen, husbands, you need to remember something here.
Speaker B:If you want your marriage to be a divine display of Jesus Christ and his pride and his church, then you need to remember that you are to love your wife, right?
Speaker B:You to love your wife even as yourself.
Speaker B:He says, wives, if you want to make sure on your side as a wife that your part of the marriage is a divine display of Jesus Christ and his bride, you need to make sure that you give respect or reverence to your husband.
Speaker B:So a husband displays Christ in marriage when he loves his wife as himself.
Speaker B:Now, how do we do this?
Speaker B:I want you to jot some of these things down.
Speaker B:I don't have this on your outline, but I want you to jot a few of these things down.
Speaker B:Just very practical things.
Speaker B:I think they'll be helpful to us as we think about this.
Speaker B:How does a husband in the relationship with his wife make sure that he is being the husband that he ought to be that pictures Jesus Christ loving the church number one.
Speaker B:I believe that we do this as a husband by giving our wife security in the relationship, by giving her security in the relationship.
Speaker B:Now, praise God, each one of us here tonight are secure in our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:Nothing shall separate us from the love of God.
Speaker B:Now, I don't know about you, but I continually love to read verses in the Bible in God's love letter to me that says, listen, you're secure, you're sealed until that day in the relationship with me.
Speaker B:I am your groom and you are sealed until that day.
Speaker B:Isn't that wonderful?
Speaker B:And as a bride of Christ, Christ gives me security in the relationship because he loves me.
Speaker B:Now, in the same way as a husband, you need to continually give your wife security in the relationship with her, showing her that you love her and continually telling her that you love her.
Speaker B:I mean, you say, well, I hear a lot of men say, well, I told my wife last month I loved her.
Speaker B:She needs to hear it today.
Speaker B:She needs to hear it multiple times today.
Speaker B:Most wives want to hear their husband say, listen, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you.
Speaker B:I mean, they want to hear it over and over and over again.
Speaker B:They want security in that relationship.
Speaker B:And I'd even go so far to say, you ought to add something else to that.
Speaker B:I love you.
Speaker B:And hey, baby, I'm never going to leave you.
Speaker B:I'm always going to be here for you.
Speaker B:And that's really giving her security in the relationship.
Speaker B:You know, I love you also says, I'm going to spend time with you.
Speaker B:Do you know you, you spend time with who you love, Isn't that right?
Speaker B:I mean, if you love the Lord, if you love God, nobody has to beg you to read the Bible.
Speaker B:You love him.
Speaker B:You do it because you love him.
Speaker B:You spend time in the word of God because you love God.
Speaker B:Listen, if you love God, you'll spend time praying to God.
Speaker B:You come to the house of God.
Speaker B:You don't have to beg you to do it because you love God.
Speaker B:You spend time with what you love.
Speaker B:Now, guys, you show love to your wife when you spend time with her, doing things to show her and demonstrate your love toward her, taking her out on a date night, taking a walk with her, taking time to sit down and read the Bible with her, taking time to pray with her.
Speaker B:All of that is showing love to your wife.
Speaker B:So I believe a husband, we might say, we might demonstrate the divine display of Christ loving his church, firstly by giving his wife security in the relationship.
Speaker B:Secondly, and let me just say, man, I think this is very, very important by treating her with dignity.
Speaker B:By treating her with dignity.
Speaker B:Guys, I want to remind you of something here because I think we really need to be reminded of this as husbands.
Speaker B:Your wife is an equal image bearer of God with you, that is.
Speaker B:Just because the Bible says you're the head of your wife doesn't mean that you're better than your wife.
Speaker B:It doesn't mean you're superior to your wife.
Speaker B:It doesn't mean you're inferior to your wife.
Speaker B:The Bible says that we are both created equally in his image.
Speaker B:We have equal value before God, not in the same function.
Speaker B:God has different functions for husband and wife, but we're equal image bearers before God.
Speaker B:When I make a decision, giving you illustrations, when I make a decision, if I don't view my wife as being an equal in value and image of God, if I don't view her with dignity, I'm not going to ask her what she thinks.
Speaker B:I want to ask her.
Speaker B:But, you know, I do view her opinion.
Speaker B:I think my wife is a very intelligent woman, value her opinion.
Speaker B:So when I make a decision, I don't just ignore her.
Speaker B:I don't turn my ear away from her.
Speaker B:We discuss our decisions together and we try to come up with a decision that is agreeable to both of us.
Speaker B:I mean, sometimes I go to her wishes, sometimes she yields to my wishes.
Speaker B:If we can't agree on something together, since I'm the husband and I'm the head, I make the final decision of which I'm held responsible for.
Speaker B:And, and so it's very, very important, I think, as a husband to realize that we reflect the divine display of Jesus Christ and his church when we give our wife security, but also when we treat her with dignity and treat her with great respect for who she is.
Speaker B:Let me say thirdly, by living a holy and pure life, by living a holy and pure life, we're the bride of Christ.
Speaker B:Jesus is the perfect man.
Speaker B:Jesus has never sinned.
Speaker B:Jesus has character.
Speaker B:Jesus is pure.
Speaker B:Jesus is holy.
Speaker B:And when we take on the name of Christ, when I call myself a Christian, that's something I can be proud of because Jesus is perfect, he's sinless, and I am the bride of Christ.
Speaker B:He has utmost character.
Speaker B:In the same way your wife, guys, when she takes on your name, she should be able to take on the name of someone she can be proud of.
Speaker B:She should be able to take on the name of someone who has a purified character, who has integrity in their life.
Speaker B:You should be a man of character.
Speaker B:You should be a man of integrity if you want to display the divine display of God in your marriage relationship as a husband and as a wife.
Speaker B:I remember years ago when I used to work as an engineer on nuclear power plants and we would check what they call the integrity of the system.
Speaker B:We had these giant steam lines, and high pressure steam would come through these lines.
Speaker B:And when we checked the integrity of the system, basically we were checking it to make sure there weren't any leaks in the system because it was extreme pressure in these pipes.
Speaker B:And when I thought about that, I thought, really, to have integrity is to make sure that I'm a man who doesn't have integrity.
Speaker B:Any leaks.
Speaker B:That is, I am what I am before people.
Speaker B:And I'm the same man when I'm by myself.
Speaker B:A man of purified character, a man, we might say, that doesn't have any leaks.
Speaker B:You can't be that man.
Speaker B:That's a divine display.
Speaker B:Your marriage is not a divine display of Jesus Christ and his bride.
Speaker B:If you're not a man of character and integrity, if you're a man who goes home and gets on the Internet and gets involved in pornography, if you're a man who's slipping out magazines and reading those magazines, if you're a man who's watching movies that you shouldn't be watching, if you're dishonest in your relationship with others, if you cheat on your taxes, I mean, we could go on and on and on.
Speaker B:We need to be men of integrity and character through and through.
Speaker B:And so it's very, very important that we look at that and understand that if we are to be the man that God wants us to be, to represent Christ in the relationship with her wife, let me say number four.
Speaker B:A husband displays Christ in marriage, number four.
Speaker B:By not abdicating his headship to his wife.
Speaker B:By not abdicating his headship to his wife.
Speaker B:In Genesis, chapter three and verse six, it says, and when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes and the tree to be desired, to make one wise.
Speaker B:She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And notice it says, with her and he did eat.
Speaker B:You know, when I read that verse and I've studied this verse, there's different opinions on this verse.
Speaker B:But I thought to myself, you know, he's right there with her.
Speaker B:What did Adam do?
Speaker B:The answer to that question is he did nothing.
Speaker B:Unfortunately, in America today, there's a lot of men who are doing nothing.
Speaker B:Do you know in your relationship.
Speaker B:Listen to me, guys.
Speaker B:If you abdicate your headship to your wife, you're not doing what God called you to do and leading the relationship in a godly direction as being the head of your Wife, then that's a sin.
Speaker B:It's a sin of doing nothing in your marriage relationship.
Speaker B:Just like Adam did nothing in the original sin.
Speaker B:He was with her.
Speaker B:He did nothing.
Speaker B:And as men, we need to make sure that we're not abdicating our headship to our wife Number five.
Speaker B:We need to understand, I think also a husband displays Christ in his marriage by not abusing his headship through domination and violence.
Speaker B:Through domination and violence.
Speaker B:And see the curse in Genesis, chapter three and verse 16, it says the woman or the wife would have a desire for a husband, that is to control him, but.
Speaker B:But the husband would rule over her.
Speaker B:Now, that word rule is a very strong term.
Speaker B:It means he would rule with his strength and power.
Speaker B:He would no longer rule in a loving way as a head of his wife, but he would rule in a dominating way.
Speaker B:He would start being a tyrant to his wife.
Speaker B:I came up with some statistics.
Speaker B:I was looking at this recently, and I came across this, and it really shocked me.
Speaker B:It said 31% of American women report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives.
Speaker B: This is according to a: Speaker B:Nearly 25% of American women report being raped and are physically abused by a current or former spouse, a cohabiting partner, or a date at some time in their lifetime.
Speaker B:In fact, we're counseling a young lady right now whose husband is verbally and physically abusing her.
Speaker B:I came across another statistic, said that up to 7%, or even more than 7% of men in our churches today are physically abusing their wife.
Speaker B:Listen, guys, you're not representing Christ.
Speaker B:You're not being a divine display of Christ and his church if you're abusive to your wife.
Speaker B:So we see a husband displays Christ in his marriage by giving her security, by treating his wife with dignity, by living a holy and pure life, by not abdicating his headship to his wife, by not abusing his headship through domination and violence.
Speaker B:And let me say sixthly and lastly, by not abandoning his headship by leaving her, by not abandoning his headship by leaving her.
Speaker B:And I think of the verse in First Timothy, chapter 5 and verse 8, where it says, but if any provide not for his own house, and especially of those of his own house, he's denied the faith and he's worse than an infidel or an unbeliever.
Speaker B:God says, listen, as a husband, we're to provide for our wife.
Speaker B:We're not to leave them, we're not to abandon them, but we're to take care of them.
Speaker B:Actually, the word husband means to take care of.
Speaker B:You've heard of animal husbandry, and it means the science of taking care of animals.
Speaker B:To be a husband to a wife means I am to take care of of my wife.
Speaker B:I'm not to abandon her, but I'm to take care of her.
Speaker B:Now, we've talked about how a husband displays Christ in marriage.
Speaker B:How does a wife display the church in the marriage relationship?
Speaker B:Let me just give you a couple things and we'll close.
Speaker B:I believe a wife displays a church in marriage.
Speaker B:As we look at this, it says firstly, that she shows respect to her husband.
Speaker B:She shows respect to her husband.
Speaker B:See?
Speaker B:And the wife see that she reverence her husband or that she holds him.
Speaker B:That word reverence, or to revere means to hold him in awe.
Speaker B:Now, ladies, look over at your husband right now.
Speaker B:Do something for me.
Speaker B:Look over in your husband right now.
Speaker B:Look in his eyes and just say, honey, you're awesome.
Speaker B:And when you tell him, honey, you're awesome, what that's saying is, I'm revering you.
Speaker B:You are awesome to me.
Speaker B:And you know what?
Speaker B:Now listen to me, wives, us guys need that.
Speaker B:We really do.
Speaker B:We need that respect.
Speaker B:The number one need for men is respect.
Speaker B:The number one need for women is to be loved.
Speaker B:But the number one need for men is to be respected.
Speaker B:And so it's very, very important.
Speaker B:That's why Paul brings this up before he closes in verse 33, says, you wives see that you reverence your husbands.
Speaker B:If you want to be a divine display of the church in the relationship, this earthly relationship that pictures a heavenly relationship between Jesus Christ and his bride.
Speaker B:And then you make sure that you give reverence to your husband.
Speaker B:Even as my bride, the church is to revere or hold me in awe.
Speaker B:And I believe her wife reverence her husband.
Speaker B:Let me just mention a couple things.
Speaker B:You might jot these down by submitting to her husband, but let me just add this.
Speaker B:By joyfully submitting to her husband, by joyfully submitting to her husband, complying to her husband's wishes out of devotion and not out of duty.
Speaker B:You know, as a bride of Christ in the church, if we comply to the wishes of Jesus Christ as my head, and I do it out of duty, then I'm living in legalism.
Speaker B:I am to do it out of devotion to Him.
Speaker B:And it's the same way I submit unto Christ out of devotion to him, and I joyfully do that.
Speaker B:He is my head, he is my Savior.
Speaker B:And if we wanted to be A divine display as a wife, even as a church.
Speaker B:Then a wife does that by submitting to her husband out of devotion and not out of duty.
Speaker B:Let me say secondly, by enjoying him and having fun with him, you know, your husband wants you to enjoy your time with him in fellowship with him.
Speaker B:Your husband wants you to have fun with him.
Speaker B:Men want to have a recreational partner in marriage.
Speaker B:That's very true.
Speaker B:I have men many times will say, my wife is just not a recreational apartment.
Speaker B:She don't have fun with me.
Speaker B:It doesn't seem she enjoys being with me.
Speaker B:Now listen, as a bride of Christ, I enjoy Jesus, don't you?
Speaker B:I enjoy being with him, I enjoy my time with him, I enjoy reading the Bible, I enjoy taking time to get to know him better.
Speaker B:In the same way a wife who is displaying the church in the relationship of Jesus Christ and his bride is enjoying her husband, taking time to get to know him better, having fun with her husband.
Speaker B:Let me say thirdly, by noticing him and commenting about him.
Speaker B:And again, this is part of reverence, this is part of holding him and revering him, is to notice him.
Speaker B:Do you know, God wants us to notice him in all things.
Speaker B:When we go outside and I look at the sky and I look at nature, God wants us to notice him.
Speaker B:And by noticing him, it makes me think about him.
Speaker B:And in the same way a husband wants his wife to notice him, he doesn't want his wife to think that his wife that he's out of her mind.
Speaker B:He wants her to notice him and to comment about him.
Speaker B:I like it.
Speaker B:Listen, I like it when Debbie comes up to me and says, sam, boy, you're good looking today.
Speaker B:I like your hair, you know.
Speaker B:And she'll say, bend over, let me kiss you on top of your head.
Speaker B:And see, that's why I haven't never got a toupee up here, because I really like the kissing up here.
Speaker B:But all the time she notices things and she'll comment about that.
Speaker B:She'll say, I really like what you got on.
Speaker B:I like this or I like that.
Speaker B:And she's always noticing and commenting and that shows respect and it's very, very, very important to a man.
Speaker B:Ladies, I'm just trying to share some very practical things with you.
Speaker B:Let me say also, you reverence your husband by encouraging him, encourage him.
Speaker B:God wants our praise.
Speaker B:God wants us to praise him and talk about his wonderful attributes and to thank him.
Speaker B:And your husband wants you to encourage him.
Speaker B:And you do that by thanking him.
Speaker B:And you do that by praising him and telling him when he does things that are good, like, I can go outside and I can work on something outside in the yard, and Gabby will come out a little later and say, boy, that you did a good, great job on that.
Speaker B:That's great.
Speaker B:I was talking to a young couple last week, and this really hit me because this guy was talking about fixing up.
Speaker B:He was building some shelves in a room.
Speaker B:And he said, you know, when I build these shelves, he said, I know my wife's going to just come in and tell me how I did them wrong.
Speaker B:And he said, because everything I do around the house, she always just tells me what I do wrong.
Speaker B:He said, I can do something to try to make her feel better, do something she wants done, but she always finds something wrong with it.
Speaker B:She doesn't encourage him, she degrades him.
Speaker B:And that's not showing respect.
Speaker B:I'm reminded of the verse in Proverbs, chapter 12 and verse 4 where it says, a virtuous woman is a crown to her husband.
Speaker B:You know, a godly wife.
Speaker B:The Bible says it's like placing a crown on her husband's head.
Speaker B:It's like crowning him king.
Speaker B:But in the end, that verse, it goes on to say, but she that makes him ashamed, or a wife that makes her husband ashamed is his rottenness in his bones.
Speaker B:Don't make your husband ashamed of you.
Speaker B:Be that virtuous woman.
Speaker B:Be that godly wife that gives reverence to her husband.
Speaker B:I think it's so, so important tonight as we look at each one of our individual marriage relationships.
Speaker B:And this is what I want you to get out of this message tonight.
Speaker B:As you think about your marriage, is your marriage a picture of the divine display of Jesus Christ and his church?
Speaker B:When someone looks at you and looks at your marriage relationship, do they see a picture of Jesus Christ, of the husband loving his wife as Christ loves the church?
Speaker B:Of a wife joyfully submitting unto her husband as unto the Lord?
Speaker B:Is that what they see?
Speaker B:Do they see a marriage relationship where.
Speaker B:That you celebrate your marriage relationship, that you're living joyfully together as a husband and wife?
Speaker B:That your marriage doesn't look like it's dull, that it's drear, that it's something that you're just putting up with, but it's something that you're really, really enjoying?
Speaker B:And see, that's what God intended for marriage to be.
Speaker B:And if our marriage is not that way, then we're not the divine display of Jesus Christ and his bride the way God would want us to be.
Speaker B:And we're not holding Marriage as precious to everyone around us.
Speaker B:God wants the world.
Speaker B:God wants your children.
Speaker B:God wants brothers and sisters in Christ.
Speaker B:God wants his community.
Speaker B:When they look at this church, when they look at marriages in this church, God wants them to be able to see that marriage is precious.
Speaker B:And the way that you show them that marriage is precious and the way you show your children, the way you show your neighbors, the way you show the people at your job place, because they're hurting, they're looking for answers.
Speaker B:I believe one of the greatest witnessing tools we have today in America is to live a marriage relationship that's godly and pleasing to the Lord.
Speaker B:That's a joyful celebration, that of Jesus Christ, a picture of Jesus Christ and his church.
Speaker B:And when couples see your marriage relationship that way, they say, you know, how is your marriage so good?
Speaker B:You say, it's all because of Jesus.
Speaker B:It's all because of the grace of God.
Speaker B:I believe it's one of the greatest witnessing tools that we have available to us today, just realizing the preciousness of marriage and living out that relationship and the way God wants us to live it out.
Speaker A:Thank you for joining the Fortifying youg Family podcast.
Speaker A:And if you feel encouraged by today's teaching, give us a follow so we can invite you back and share us on your socials so more marriages and families can be strengthened and fortified through the truths of God's word.
Speaker A:Remember, fortifying your family starts with a strong belief in God's Word.
