Walking in the Truth; Notes and Reflections from Sunday School

These notes and reflective thoughts are first intended for members of our Friends and Family Sunday School class to stay connected with God through studying His Word in the event of absence from actual Sunday School worship time, and secondly, for everyone, for the scripture and words below are beneficial for a broader readership. The ideas and flow of the lesson comes out of Life Way's Master Work Series. Please provide comments below to participate in the discussion. Add your own thoughts and reflections.

What if you were to realize at the end of your life that there really is no God and Christianity is a myth? Would living the Christian life have been worth it? Absolutely, positively, tee-totally, 100% emphatic "YES"--but it might not be for the reasons one might think. Listen to how Paul answers this question. Read the words of 1 Corinthians 15:12-19.

12 But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 15 More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. But he did not raise him if in fact the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

Paul gives 6 disastrous consequences if there were no resurrection: 1). Preaching Christ would be senseless (v. 14), 2) faith in Christ would be useless (v. 14), 3) all the witnesses and preachers of the resurrection would be liars (v. 15), 4) no one would be redeemed from sin (v. 17), 5) all former believers would have perished (v. 18), and 6) Christians would be the most pitiable people on earth (v. 19). Why would he say that the Christian life without the resurrection is the most pitiful of all lives? Listen to the words of Dr. John Piper from his book, Desiring God: "The Christian life for Paul was not the so called good life of prosperity and ease [the tenets falsely preached in the "health, wealth, and prosperity gospel"--a contemporary view that attempts to erode the very truths preached by Christ]. Paul's belief in God and his confidence in resurrection and his hope in eternal fellowship with Christ did not produce a life of comfort and ease that would have been satisfying even without resurrection. What his hope produced was a life of chosen suffering", freely (255). Come again? Paul freely chose to suffer for the sake of Christ. 1 Cor. 4:10-13 and 2 Cor. 11:23-28 recount the extent of his sufferings: brutally treated, hungry, thirsty, without clothing, homeless, slandered, severely flogged, imprisoned, encountered numerous dangerous situations. Notice Paul's response to such affliction, a response he admonishes in the Roman believers Romans 12:9-13 reads 9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Focus on v. 12. What did Paul teach through words and lifestyle about suffering? Rejoicing in hope, perseverance, devotion to prayer. For Paul, his life was not measured by physical comforts and pleasures in life; the Christian life for Paul was a life of chosen sacrifice that he might gain the joy of fellowship with Christ in the age to come (Piper)

Read 1 Cor. 15:30-32: 30 And as for us, why do we endanger ourselves every hour? 31 I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised, "Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." In other words, what does the resurrection matter? If there were no resurrection, not only would we be the most pitiful people on the planet but we might as well just throw caution to the wind, live it, for the only thing worth living for is eating, drinking, and dieing. How bleak. What was the path Paul chose daily? To die to self (v. 31). Does that sound vaguely familiar? Hope so, for it is the pinnacle of discipleship. Matthew 16:24-25, Psalm 51:17, Luke 9:23.

There were reasons Paul embraced suffering. Oswald Chambers writes in Christian Discipline: "Suffering is the heritage of the bad, of the penitent, and of the Son of God. Each one ends in the cross. The bad thief is crucified, the penitent thief is crucified, and the Son of God is crucified. By these signs we know the widespread heritage of suffering." Paul’s first reason for embracing suffering, for choosing the cross, for choosing a daily death: Obedience to his calling. Dr. Piper writes, "The suffering that comes is part of the price of living where you are in obedience to the call of God . . . .And it is 'chosen'--that is, we willingly take the path of obedience where the suffering befalls us, and we do not murmur against God" (256-257) Read Philippians 1:27-30:

27 Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel 28 without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. 29 For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

See verse 29? Do you regard suffering as gift or a curse?
Are theses reasons for Suffering a gift or a curse?

1. To test the strength of our faith
2. To humble us
3. To wean us from our reliance on worldly things
4. To call us to eternal and heavenly hope
5. To reveal what we really love
6. To teach us to value God’s blessings
7. To develop enduring strength for greater usefulness
8. To enable us to better help others through their trials
   

A gift, with out a doubt. Read this reflection from Aelxander Solzhenitsyn:

It was granted to me to carry away from my prison years on my bent back, which nearly broke beneath its load, this essential experience: how a human being becomes evil and how good. In the intoxication of youthful successes I had felt myself to be infallible, and I was therefore cruel. In the surfeit of power I was a murderer and an oppressor. In my most evil moments I was convinced that I was doing good, and I was well supplied with systematic arguments. It was only when I lay there on rotting prison straw that I sensed within myself the first stirrings of good. Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart, and through all human hearts. . . .This is why I turn back to the years of my imprisonment and say, sometimes to the astonishment of those about me: 'Bless you, prison! I . . . have served enough time there. I nourished my soul there, and I say without hesitation: 'Bless you, prison, for having been in my life.' (qtd. in Piper, Desiring God 263-264)

Suffering is the confirmation of a believer’s intimate relationship with Christ. Take a few moments to read the following scriptures: Luke 9:23-23, 1 Corinthians 15:31, John 15:20, Luke 10:3, Luke 21:16-17, Acts 14:22. 1 Thess. 3:3, and 2 Timothy 3:12. Reflect on the following: How does God’s Word confirm this relationship? 1 Thess. 3:1-4 reads: 1 So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. 2 We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, 3 so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know.

How can we accept suffering more easily when we know it is our destiny? Suffering is a part of faithful Christian living. God uses suffering to wean us from self-reliance to God-reliance (2 Cor. 1:8-9). Dr. Piper concurs when he states, "This is God's universal purpose for all Christian suffering: more contentment in God and less satisfaction in self and the world" (265). Malcolm Muggeridge, a Christian Journalist who died in 1991, said this about suffering:

Contrary to what might be expected, I look back on my experiences that at the time seemed especially desolating and painful, with particular satisfaction. Indeed, I can say with complete truthfulness that everything I have learned in my seventy-five years in this world, everything that has truly enhanced and enlightened my existence, has been through affliction and not through happiness, whether pursued or attained. In other words, if it ever were to be possible to eliminate affliction from our earthly existence by means of some drug or other medical mumbo jumbo . . . the result would not be to make life delectable, but to make it too banal or trivial to be endurable. This of course is what the cross signifies, and it is the cross more than anything else, that has called me inexorably to Christ. (qtd in Piper, Desiring God 265-266).

On a wall in his bedroom Charles Spurgeon had a plaque with Isaiah 48:10 on it: "'I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.' 'It is no mean thing to be chosen of God,'" he wrote. "'God's choice makes chosen men choice men...We are chosen, not in the palace, but in the furnace. In the furnace, beauty is marred, fashion is destroyed, strength is melted, glory is consumed; yet here eternal love reveals its secrets, and declares its choice.'" (qtd. in Warren Wiersbe, Wycliffe Handbook of Preaching and Preachers 223).

There is a difference between suffering from normal life trials and choosing to suffer for the cause of Christ. Both Paul and Dr. Piper are specifically referring to suffering because of being openly Christian in risky situations. How might any suffering tempt us to doubt and disobey God? When we suffer we question, often with self-pity. We doubt God's goodness often when we suffer for we see people around us who don't know the Lord, yet seem to be living the good life. If that is our focus, then we have lost site of the resurrection; we simply view life like the false teachers of the "prosperity gospel." How can I be comforted today? What must I do to live a good life? These are the wrong questions. Christ calls us to more than that, much more. Dr. Piper poignantly states, "God is calling us to live for the sake of Christ and to do that through suffering. Christ chose suffering; it didn't just happen to Him. He chose it as a way to create and perfect the church. Now He calls us to choose suffering. That is, He calls us to take up our cross and follow Him on the Calvary road and deny ourselves and make sacrifices for the sake of ministering to the church and presenting His sufferings to the world" (286). We are to be the Bible to a lost world; we need to be Jesus to the world, to our neighbors, our co-workers, our family, our friends.

Take some time to carefully read James 5:7-12. This scripture warrants mentioning because of what it teaches and commands. James gives four commands to his readers--the brothers, believers--Be patient, strengthen your heart (stand firm), don’t complain, and don’t swear. (For the sake of this blog and these reflective notes from Sunday School, we will not spend any time on the latter.)

1. Be patient (v. 7, 8). The word patient comes from two words in the Gk: makros (long, far) and thumos (anger), which we get our word “long-tempered” or “long-suffering” This is a different word then the one translated in James 1:3-4, which refers to patiently enduring trying circumstances; makrothumeo refers to patiently enduring trying and difficult people.
   
   Hebrews 12:1 tells us to "run with endurance" the race set before us. George Matheson wrote, "'We commonly associate patience with lying down. We think of it as the angel that guards the couch of the invalid. Yet there is a patience that I believe to be harder -- the patience that can run. To lie down in the time of grief, to be quiet under the stroke of adverse fortune, implies a great strength; but I know of something that implies a strength greater still: it is the power to work under stress; to have a great weight at your heart and still run; to have a deep anguish in your spirit and still perform the daily tasks. It is a Christ-like thing! The hardest thing is that most of us are called to exercise our patience, not in the sickbed but in the street.' To wait is hard, to do it with 'good courage' is harder! (Sermon Illustrations, http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/p/patience.htm. Accessed May 29, 2010).
   
   
2. Strengthen Your Heart (v. 8--the NIV uses “stand firm,” the NKJV uses ‘establish your hearts”, the Message reads, “Stay steady and strong.”--the original Gk word, sterizo,--meaning to “make fast,” “to establish,” or “to confirm”. Notice that James mentions in vv 7-8 the Lord’s coming--both in association with patience and strengthening our hearts. So sterizo derives from the root word meaning to “cause to stand” or “to prop up.” What does this mean? James urges those ready to collapse under the weight of persecution to “prop themselves up” with the hope of the savior’s return, for this hope motivates us to live godly lives, spotless and blameless (2 Peter 3:14)
   
   Have you ever heard of the “50:20” principle? This rocks, by the way. One way to strengthen our heart in times of persecution is to apply this principle, taken from Gen. 50:20: But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. What does this principle do? Rather than looking at ourselves, or others, or the circumstance, the 50:20 principle enables us to focus on God; we are freed to see God as the teacher and the other person as a tool for making us into the people He intended us to be.
   
   
3. Do not complain (v. 9): Why do people complain? James speaks of the adversity which comes from insult, persecution, abuse at the hands of others. Those who choose complaining as their lifestyle will spend their lifetime in the wilderness--empty, joyless, emotionless, cheerless, not experience the blessings God has given us. The result of spiritual poverty. What should be our response, instead? Trust and embrace His grace as sufficient. Notice the two illustrations James gives to help us resist the grudging spirit, and thus show patience under persecution?
   
   The prophets: To establish context, read Hebrews 11:32ff. What encouragement do we receive by their example? They honored God, stood firm and trusted, never cast blame or bore a grudge or complained; they were persecuted because they spoke in the name of the Lord; did not fear insult or rejection; they were in the will of God yet still suffered, Is it not comforting to know that “The will of God will never lead you where the Grace of God cannot keep you.” They suffered and endured so that their lives might back up their message. They suffered, and through their suffering they evangelized
   
   Job: Job was a righteous man, yet he suffered. Satan predicted that Job would turn impatient and deny God, yet he endured. In Job’s case, what was the end result of the Lord? To reveal himself as full of compassion and mercy--verse 11--isn’t that awesome? Isn’t this the end result of all saints who suffer (whether through circumstances or persecution)? Suffering is designed to spotlight God’s grace, for God was glorified and Job was purified--if there is nothing to endure, we cannot learn endurance.
   
   Notice v. 11a again--God’s blessing does not come to people who do great things but to people who endure. Paul proclaims in 2 Corinthians 12:7-10,
   
   7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
   

Whether we have chosen the suffering or it’s just part of life, we can choose to accept the path God has put us on and praise and trust Him anyway. When we do so, we magnify Christ as our superior satisfaction. Listen to what Dr. Piper says, "Here is the astounding upshot: God intends for the afflictions of Christ to be presented to the world through the afflictions of His people. God really means for the body of Christ, the church, to experience some of the suffering He experienced so that when we proclaim the Cross as the way to life, people will see the marks of the Cross in us and feel the love the Cross from us" (269-270). Romanian Pastor Josef Tson provides clarity: “I am an extension of Jesus Christ. When I was beaten in Romania, He suff ered in my body. It is not my suffering: I only had the honor to share His sufferings" (The Theology of Martyrdom 4). Piper continues, "Christ’s suffering is for propitiation (Propitiation is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ by which He appeases the wrath of God and conciliates Him who would otherwise be offended by our sin and would demand that we pay the penalty for it); our suffering is for propagation" 278). Here is how Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 4:10-12: 10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11 For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12 So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.

Here again is another quote by Pastor Tson germane to the premise that the "life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body:"

I had a man in an important position whom I baptized come to me and ask, ‘Now what shall I do? They will convene three or four thousand people to expose me and mock me. They will give me five minutes to defend myself. How should I do it?’

'Brother', I told him, 'defending yourself is the only thing you shouldn’t do. This is your unique chance to tell them who you were before, and what Jesus made of you; who Jesus is, and what He is for you now.'

His face shone and he said, ‘Brother Josef, I know what I am going to do.’ And he did it well – so well that afterwards he was severely demoted. He lost almost half of his salary. But he kept coming to me after that saying, ‘Brother Josef, you know I cannot walk in the factory now without someone coming up to me. Wherever I go, somebody pulls me in a corner, looks around to see that nobody sees him talking to me, and then whispers, ‘Give me the address of your church, or ‘Tell me more about Jesus, or ‘Do you have a Bible for me?’

Every kind of suffering can become a ministry for other people’s salvation.'”

And finally, as we close, read the words of Brother Andrew who heads a ministry called the Open Doors,

There is not one door in the world closed where you want to witness for Jesus . . . . Show me a closed door and I will tell you how you can get in. I won't, however, promise you a way to get out . . . .

Jesus didn't say, 'Go if the doors are open,' because they weren't. He didn't say, 'Go if you have an invitation or a red carpet treatment.' He said, 'Go,' because people need his Word . . . .

We need a new approach to missions--an aggressive, experimental, evangelical, no-holds-barred approach . . .a pioneering spirit . . . .

I'm afraid we'll have to go through a deep valley of need and threatening situations, blood baths; but we will get there.

God will take away what hinders us if we mean business. If we say, 'Lord, at any cost . . .'--and people should never pray that unless they truly want God to take them at their word--he will answer. Which is scary. But we have to go through the process. This is how it has worked in the Bible for the last two thousand years.

So we face potentially hard times, and we have to go through that . . . . We play church and we play Christianity. And we aren't even aware we are lukewarm . . . .We should have to pay a price for our faith. Read 2 timothy 3:12: 'Indeed, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.' The church has been much purified in countries where there was a lot of pressure . . . .All I can say is to be ready. (qtd. in Piper, Desiring God 286-287).

Thank you Brother Andrew for these wonderful yet sobering thoughts. In your affliction, who can you show Jesus to today. Evangelize through your suffering.

Walking in the Truth: Notes from Sunday School

These notes and reflective thoughts are first intended for members of our Friends and Family Sunday School class to stay connected with God through studying His Word in the event of absence from actual Sunday School worship time, and secondly, for everyone, for the scripture and words below are beneficial for a broader readership. The ideas and flow of the lesson comes out of Life Way's Master Work Series. Please provide comments below to participate in the discussion. Add your own thoughts and reflections.

Since this blog series is entitled Walking in the Truth, I thought it relevant to share an entry from pastor James MacDonald's (whose preaching and radio ministry has been a blessing to me for a number of years) blog, Straight Up. Walking in the Truth means loving God's Word, obeying it, and reflecting it to my family, friends, and neighbors. I link to his blog as an additional spiritual treat this week, but also to remind us that God's Word is our life, meant to be hidden in our heart, to bring glory to Him.

Now, here are the notes and and reflections from this past Sunday's lesson on Marriage, the matrix of Christian Hedonism.

How does the world view marriage? It is assuredly 100% antithetical to the biblical portrait of God's design and purpose for marriage. Today, many Christian marriages do not look all that different than the marriages of nonbelievers. Marriage by and large has become a matter of convenience; vows are flippantly recited in marriage ceremonies. Roles of husbands and wives have become distorted and twisted and many believers have grossly misinterpreted the writings of Paul and Peter on this subject. Fay Angus offers the "Four D's of Marriage": "Depression, despair, drink, and divorce." Ms. Angus has clearly not seen the desire of God's heart. Chuck Swindoll wrote that the world views marriage like the sign on Ken Stabler's boat: "Get in, sit down, shut up, hang on." This vision of marriage is tragic; far from the truth of God's Word on the sanctity of this institution.

I never want to minimize marriage, but I see marriage summed up in one phrase: "One Flesh." Genesis 2:24 states: "For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh" (also quoted in Ephesians 5:31).

The Bible speaks of harmony, unity, joining, and cleaving. In the original language the Hebrew word for "cleaving" is translated "glue". So, the portrait here is marriage in essence is two people who "stick together," not two people who are "stuck with one another." Listen to this beautiful illustration offered by Dr. Piper in his book, Desiring God:

"A different kind of unity is enjoyed by the joining of diverse counterparts than is enjoyed by joining two things just alike. When we all sing the same melody line, it is called unison, which means 'one sound.' But when we unite diverse lines of soprano and alto and tenor and bass, we call it harmony; and everyone who has an ear to hear knows that something deeper in us is touched by great harmony than by mere unison."

What a beautiful picture of marriage and the marriage relationship. So, with my bride, I would so much rather be waltzing in harmony than stepping in unison. Dr. Dwight Hervey Small explains, "It is humbling to the woman to know that she was created for the man, but it is for her glory to know that she alone can complete him. Likewise, it is humbling to the man to know that he is incomplete without a woman, but it is to his glory that the woman was created for him" (qtd in Warren Wiersbe, Life Sentences 28-29). In 1 Peter 3:7, Paul calls marriage and this kind of relationship between men and women the "grace of life."

Now to our focus passage. Let's read Ephesians 5:25-30 together: 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.

Notice vv 28-29. What does Paul mean when he says husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies . . .loving his wife as he loves himself." ? That sounds hedonistic, doesn't it? But Piper explores this passage from the perspective of Christian Hedonism. He writes, "love is the pursuit of our joy in the holy joy of the beloved" (206). Doesn't that seem self seeking? "Selfishness," Dr. Piper continues, "seeks its own private happiness at the expense of others, [whereas] love seeks its happiness in the happiness of the beloved" (207). Here is Christian Hedonism defined again in context of this passage in case we have forgotten: According to vv. 28-29 of Ephesians, "Husbands should devote the same energy and time and creativity to making their wives happy that they devote naturally to making themselves happy. The result will be that in doing this, they will make themselves happy" (209).

This verse gives commentary on Matthew 7:12: In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets. This verse formulates the foundation of goodness and mercy--the kind of love God demonstrates to us everyday, the kind of love we should demonstrate to our circle of influence everyday. This I am sure is what Paul meant by "grace of life." What would like most from your spouse (or friend/family member)? Let me share mine, and this is definitely not to say that I am not receiving these things from her: respect, love, understanding, acceptance of who I am. So, in turn, I must (not when I feel like, or maybe, or only if she gives this to me in return--but must) show her respect, love, understanding, and acceptance. As husbands and wives, we will be Golden if we follow this Rule. Reflect on these questions: Are we more likely to apply the words of Christ in Matthew 7:12 at home or outside of the home? Why? Now this one: Why must our homes be the place we most strive to love others as we love ourselves? Spend time praying through that. If you find yourself willing to show others outside your home more love and acceptance and understanding than your spouse or children, then take it to the cross.

Let's turn our attention to Ephesians 5:31-33: 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. Is this mystery the fact that God has called to very diverse individuals to be "joined" as "one flesh." That sounds remarkable and only an act God can accomplish through is goodness and grace, but Paul calls it a mystery. He gives us a hint in v. 32 when he writes, but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Question: Which came first, the marriage relationship between man and woman or the relationship between Christ and the Church? Dr. Piper responds: "The mystery is this: God did not create the union of Christ and the church after the pattern of human marriage--just the reverse! He created human marriage on the pattern of Christ's relation to the church" (213).

Look back at v. 31: See it? "One flesh". In Ephesians 1:22-23, we read And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. He is "head" of the "body" (the church). By faith a person is “joined” to Jesus Christ, thus we become one with all believers (Galatians 3:28). So Paul sees that husbands and wives become "one flesh" and that Christ and the church become "one body". For the Christian marriage is to be loving, holy, pure, self-sacrificing and mutually submissive because those virtues characterize the relationship of Christ and the church. So, why is it important that we joyfully fulfill our roles in marriage? Simple, we are copying and reflecting the relationship God intended for Christ and the church.

According to Ephesians 5:22-33, we have specific roles and specific role models that create the harmony of marriage. Let's begin with the wives. Read closely vv. 22-24: 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. So, what is the role of the wife? To submit, to be subject to their husbands.

This reminds of the story told by Charles Swindoll: "A couple went to a two day conference on marriage; one of those speakers just hammered away at the wife on being in submission to her husband; the woman's husband was drinking it in, wanting to stay late and get everything this speaker had to say; when they got home, walking inside, the husband closed the door and said, 'I want to get something straight with you right now. From now on, that is the way things are going to be. You got that? You submit to me.'" He didn’t see her for two weeks. At the beginning of the third week he could begin to see her out of one eye.

We laugh at stories like this--perhaps they ring true. At times, husbands seem to focus on the "submission of wives," but they skip over what Ephesians 5:21 says: be subject to one another in the feat of Christ. Or what Peter writes in 1 Peter 3:7: You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way. In what same way? In a submissive way (Ephesians 5:21). John MacArthur explains in his note n 1 Peter 3:7 in the MacArthur Study Bible, that the husband is equally responsible to submit, but not the wife as leader but lovingly submitting by "being sensitive to the needs, fears, and feelings of his wife." "Be subject" in Ephesians 5:22 was not in the original, but the meaning is carried over from v. 21: Be subject to one another in the fear of Christ (and as a first example) wives to your husbands; the original Greek emphasizes the willing submitting of oneself--a voluntary response. The submission is not the husband’s to command but for the wife to willingly and lovingly offer. John MacArthur writes in his study on Ephesians: "A husband is not to treat his wife as a servant or a child, but as an equal for whom God has given him care and responsibility for provision and protection" (281). We are only slaves to Christ, not to one another.

I love this. Notice that it says in Ephesians 5:22 that wives are to be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. Look again, own husbands. This limits her submission to one man God has placed over her but gives balancing emphasis that he is hers as an intimate possession--she submits to the man she possesses as her own.

Ray Stedman, in his book on Ephesians, tells a relevant story: "A Woman approached me with an insightful question: 'Does Ephesians 5:22-23 mean that my submission to my husband is a gauge of the degree to which I am submitted to Christ?' 'Yes, it is exactly that,' I replied. 'Well then, my submission to my husband is not some sort of gift that I give my husband, that he should feel indebted to me for. Nor should I use my submission to him as some sort of manipulation or blackmail. I can’t say to my husband: ‘I submitted to you, now you have to do such and such for me.’ Nor can I say to God, ‘I submitted myself to my husband so you have to produce certain results in my life.' No! If I submit to my husband as unto the Lord, I should not care what the results are; that is up to my husband and to God.'"

Stedman exclaimed in the book. “She got it.”

Who is the wife’s role model? Verses 23-24 gives us a clue. The church. How does the church submit to Christ? The body recognizes Christ's headship; we surrender to His Lordship; we obey His word; we walk uprightly, honestly, and righteously. In that vein, the wife’s submission is based on His headship and the headship of the man in the family. What is the relationship to the head and the body? The head leads, guides, nourishes. Therefore, husbands are called by God to take the primary responsibility for Christlike servant leadership and protection and provision in the home. What are specific was wives can honor and affirm their husband’s leadership? 1 Peter 3:1-6 states that it is with humility, love, moral purity, kindness, and respect. The consequences of such willing and loving submission, MacArthur writes, is a wife who is "an honor to her Lord, her husband, her family, her church, and herself" (The MacArthur New Testament Commentary on Ephesians 288)

Return to verses 25-33. What is the husband’s role and role model? The husband’s primary submission to his wife is through his love for her. The apostles clearly say that it is a boundless kind of love. Look closely at verses 25-30. Identify the verbs Paul uses to describe Christ’s commitment to His bride: "love," "gave," "sanctify," "cleansed." What does this say about the Husband’s responsibility in marriage?. Verse 25 commands, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her." Dr. Piper comments on this passage by saying, "If the husband is the head of the wife" (v. 23), than he is to primarily lead out in "the kind of love that is willing to die to give her life" (Desiring God 217)

God commands us to love as He loved, right? MacArthur says, “loving as Christ loves does not depend in the least on what others are in themselves, but entirely on what we are in Christ (New Testament Commentary on Ephesians 297).

Read carefully these words from MacArthur: "The Christian who loves because of what other people may do for him or because they are attractive does not love as God loves. The husband who loves his wife only because of her practical attractiveness or pleasing temperament does not love as Christ loved the church. The husband who loves his wife for what she can give him loves as the world loves, not as Christ loves. The husband who loves his wife as Christ loves His church gives everything he has for his wife, including his life necessary. If a loving husband is willing to sacrifice his life for his wife, her is certainly willing to make lesser sacrifices for her. He puts his own likes, desires, opinions, preferences, and welfare aside if that is required to please her and meet her needs. He dies to self in order to live for his wife, because that is what Christ's kind of love demands" (298)

We are to love with not only a sacrificial love but a purifying love as well (v. 26-27), protecting our wives from defilement, protecting her holiness, virtue and purity, protecting her from the world’s contamination, never inducing her to do that which is wrong or unwise or expose her to that which is less than good (MacArthur, New Testament Commentary 300). Look at vv. 28-30. How do we nourish and cherish our wives? When she needs strength, we give her strength; when she needs encouragement, we offer her encouragement, to provide for her needs, to help her grow and mature in favor with God, to provide tender love, understanding, consideration, sensitivity, to give her warmth and comfort, protection and security.

Dr. Piper says that "If you want to be a Christian husband, you become a servant, not a boss" (217). So what does Christlike leadership look like? Dr. Piper continues: "You [speaking to husbands directly] should feel the greater responsibility to take the lead in the things of t he Spirit; you should lead the family in a life of prayer, in the study of God's Word, and in worship; you should lead in giving the family a vision of its meaning and mission; you should take the lead in shaping the moral fabric of the home and in governing its happy peace" (218). There use to be famous cigarette billboard pictures of a curly headed, bronze-faced, muscular macho with a cigarette hanging from his mouth. The caption read "Where a man belongs." Society teaches this, and at the same time perpetuates a lie. This is not the biblical portrait of a man. Where a man belongs is at the bedside of his children leading devotions; with his family serving together, worshiping together; up early with God, kneeling, confessing, seeking. That is the role of the man in general, and husband specifically.

I close with these final two passages:

Matthew Henry wrote, "the woman was not made our of his head head to rule over him, nor out of his feet to be trampled upon by him, but out of his side to be equal with him, under his arm to be protected, and hear his heart to be beloved" (qtd. in Warren Wiersbe, Life Sentences 28). Now, this sums up beautifully the role of the husband in marriage and the spiritual harmony in the marriage relationship

A Prayer for Married Couples written by Bishop Slattery, soon after his marriage, to be used each day in their family devotions at home in Boston, Massachusetts. I pray this prayer be blessing to you and your spouse.

O God, our Heavenly Father, protect and bless us. Deepen and
strengthen our love for each other day by day. Grant that by Thy
mercy neither of us ever say one unkind word to the other.
Forgive and correct our faults, and make us constantly to forgive
one another should one of us unconsciously hurt the other. Make
us and keep us sound and well in body, alert in mind, tender in
heart, devout in spirit. O Lord, grant us each to rise to the
other's best. Then we pray Thee add to our common life such
virtues as only Thou canst give. And so, O Father, consecrate
our life and our love completely to Thy worship, and to the
service of all about us, especially those whom Thou has appointed
us to serve, that we may always stand before Thee in happiness
and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Walking in Truth: Notes from Sunday School

These notes and reflective thoughts are first intended for members of our Friends and Family Sunday School class to stay connected with God through studying His Word in the event of absence from actual Sunday School worship time, and second, then for everyone, for the scripture and words below are beneficial for a broader readership. The ideas and flow of the lesson comes out of Life Way's Master Work Series. Please provide comments below to participate in the discussion. Add your own thoughts and reflections.

I must say that one of my deepest passions is to teach THE Word; and each Sunday, God has blessed me with that opportunity. I have been really enjoying our study of John Piper's Desiring God, not only a challenging read, but also intentional about drawing us closer to God. How often do we feel distant from God? Have we lost passion for Him? How often do we love well or love loudly (I love that--just heard that is an upcoming theme for our Baptist Association)? Do we have radical faith? Are we committed to worship, by living a life-style that reflects His heart, and His desires? In short, do we desire Him above all other pleasures? God's Word has brought clarity to these areas of our walk. God has used Piper's work as an instrument to deliver that message.

Our focus yesterday? Prayer, the Power of the Christian Hedonist.

Why do people pray? Rightly, we pray to align our will with His Will; we pray to glorify His name; we pray to worship; we pray to fellowship. We pray to cry to Him our sufferings and hurts; we pray for others and their needs. Wrongly, we pray to ask for things; we pray to say we did; we pray because we believe that is what "good Christians" do; we pray because we feel guilty when we don't.

Our main text on Sunday was John 14:13: And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.

and John 16:24: Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.

In these two verses, Jesus points to the reasons we ought to pray, really the two primary reasons: To bring glory to the Father and to be given the fullness of joy (that is joy in Him). For these reasons, Christian Hedonists will be devoted to prayer, for he or she operates under two pursuits: The pursuit of God’s glory and the fullness of our joy (that is delight and joy in Him, the great giver of joy and sustainer of joy); and it is God’s desire that He be glorified and that we (his children) experience complete joy--and prayer is the privilege that accomplishes both.

Let's examine John 14:3 a little more closely. If I ask you, as my friend, to do something for me, would you feel complimented or insulted? Why? If you said you wanted to help me but I brushed you off saying that I could do it better, how would you feel? Would I demonstrate your character by asking for or refusing your help? How? It is obvious that if I were in need--let's say paralyzed--and I asked you, my friend, for help I would then demonstrate your character as strong and kind, for I would trust in your strength and kindness to meet my need; I glorify you by needing you and asking for your assistance, for I know that without you I can not do for myself. In this same vein of thinking we are paralyzed--helpless before our Father. Without Christ we are unable to do for ourselves. When we realize our weakness, our need for Him, and seek His face, we are glorifying Him.

Let's take a deeper look shall we? Take the time to read John 15:1-17. What does Jesus call himself? He calls us "friend" (v. 15), in deed a strong friend. As the "vine", he is giver of life, sustainer of all things; we must be connected to that "life", for separated from the vine, we (the branches) dry up, and no long do what we were made to do. So, according verse 5, what were we made to do, that which God intends (commands)? Bear fruit. But notice the last part of verse 5: "a part from me you can do nothing." Christ promises to do for us what we can’t possibly do for ourselves. So, how do we reflect the character of--that is, how do we glorify--Christ? We glorify Him by needing him, by abiding in him, by clinging to him, by trusting in Him, by believing (refer to a previous post about examining our faith) in Him. All we need is Jesus, just Jesus, not Jesus plus anything else, but JESUS. Notice what verse 7 says: We pray! We ask God to do for us through Christ what we can’t do for ourselves--that is bear fruit. Dr. Piper says that "prayer is the open admission that without Christ we can do nothing. And prayer is the turning away from ourselves to God in confidence that He will provide the help we need. Prayer humbles us as needy and exalts God as wealthy" (161). Psalm 50:15 says, Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me. We call; God delivers; we glorify. At the heart of Christian Hedonism, "God gets the glory; we get the delight" (Piper 163).

Can prayer be self-centered? What about when you hear phrases like, "we get the delight", or when Christ says that "our joy may be made complete"? In the Disciples prayer (Matt. 5:9-13), what did Jesus say for us to pray for in verses 9-10? For God’s Will, for his name to be glorified, for His kingdom to come. That doesn't sound self-centered, in fact just the opposite, very God centered. Even though the focus in verses 11-13 is on our most basic of needs, the prayer is still God-centered, for it is a prayer to bear fruit, to be forgiving (forgive others), patient (give us our daily bread--just what we need), and self controlled (lead us not into temptation) We can see that prayer to bear fruit and do God’s Will is far from self-centered.

But what oftentimes makes up the bulk of our prayers? Prayers motivated by selfish desires. Listen to what James says about wrongly motivated prayers: When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely? (3-5) Notice that he calls the Jewish believers “adulterous people.” How do believers commit spiritual adultery with our prayers? Selfish desires lead to wrong praying. Dr. Piper offers quite a shocking view of spiritual adultery. Listen to what he says: "So there is a kind of praying that is wrong because it makes a cuckold out of God. We use our Husband's generosity to hire prostitutes for private pleasures . . . . he pictures the church as the wife of God. God has made us for Himself and has given Himself to us for our enjoyment. Therefore it is adultery when we try to be 'friends' with the world. If we seek from the world the pleasures we should seek in God, we are unfaithful to our marriage vows" (165). Instead, we should sing God-centered, faithful prayers like this psalmist. There is no infedelity here:

Psalm 73:25-26

Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

Psalm 27:4

One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

Dr. Piper says that "we do not glorify God by providing His needs, but by praying that He would provide ours--and trusting Him to answer" (168). Read the following verses:

Psalm 27:14:Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

Psalm 37:7: Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him;do not fret when men succeed in their ways,when they carry out their wicked schemes.

Psalm 37:34: Wait for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.

Proverbs 20:22: Do not say, "I'll pay you back for this wrong!" Wait for the LORD, and he will deliver you.

Isaiah: 8:17: I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.

Isaiah 26:8: Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts.

What then is the predominant role and attitude of the believer in prayer? To be still and wait. The psalmists declares in Psalm 33:20-22, that he will hope in the Lord, for He is hope and protection, that in Him we find joy and delight, and because of that, we trust. Dr. Piper renders it this way: To wait "means to pause and soberly consider our own inadequacy and the Lord's all-sufficiency and to seek counsel and help from our Lord" (170). But, why would we rather work than wait? First, waiting does not produce immediate results. We have a tendency to work harder because we can see the immediate fruit of our effort, all the while pushing us to burn out, or work for the sake of work--to say that we have one more thing checked off our "list." or by working, we run so far out ahead of God, that he is distant blip on the GPS of our hearts.

Read the words of David in Psalm 40:1-3:

I waited patiently for the LORD;
he turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.

He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear
and put their trust in the LORD.

Notice how praying and then waiting for God to answer resulted in glory for God and joy for David. God works for those who wait on Him (Isaiah 64:4). According to Dr. Piper, "God aims to exalt Himself by working for those who wait for Him. Prayer is the essential activity of waiting for God--acknowledging our helplessness and His power, calling upon Him for help, seeking His counsel . . . . Prayer is the antidote for the disease of self-confidence . . . .God is not looking for people to work for Him [and we often have that attitude about "working for Him], so much as He is looking for people who will let Him work for them" (170-171). As one of our class members said (and this Rocks), "Let go, to let God." Simple and profound wisdom.

Now to John 16:24. Let me offer Christ's words again: Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete. Question: If the aim of prayer is to glorify God and give fullness of joy as we delight in Him, then why is there so much prayerlessness? What does prayerlessness signify? Lack of passion, lost delight, overwhelming burden, weary souls, seeing praying as a "thing" to do. There are countless of reasons, I am sure. Dr. Piper offers this insight: "There is a direct correlation between not knowing Jesus well and not asking much from Him" (162). Remember what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman: If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water (John 4:10). Dr. Piper continues, "a failure in our prayer life is generally a failure to know Jesus. A prayerless Christian is like a bus driver trying alone to push his bus out of a rut because he doesn't know that Clark Kent is on board" (162). If we knew, we would ask.

I was never a math wiz in school, but let me give you two equations; and these two equations I get: Prayerlessness = Joylessness; Prayerfulness = Joyfulness. Why are these equations true? John 16:20-22 gives answer: I tell you the truth, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. Here are two more: Separation from Jesus = Sadness, lostness, confusion, emptiness; then as verse 22 states, Fellowship with Jesus = Joy.

Listen to Jonathan Edwards, a soldier of faith, as he discusses the height and intensity of this fellowship with Christ: "I had vehement longings of soul after God and Christ, and after more holiness, wherewith my heart seemed to be full, and ready to break . . . .I often felt a mourning and lamenting in my heart, that I had not turned to God sooner, that I might have had more time to grow in grace. My mind was greatly fixed on divine things; almost perpetually in the contemplation of them. I spent most of my time in thinking of divine things, year after year; often walking alone in the woods, and solitary places, for meditation, soliloquy, and prayer, and conversation with God; and it was always my manner, at such times, to sing forth my contemplations. I was almost constantly in ejaculatory prayer, wherever I was. Prayer seemed to be natural to me, as the breath by which the inward burnings of my heart had vent" (quoted in Piper 176).

1 John 1:3-4 reads: We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write this to make our joy complete. Prayer makes our joy complete. Why? Because we get to enjoy His presence. We get to communicate with the Father who knew us even in my mother's womb. Prayer is about Him, all of Him (His grace, mercy, forgiveness, love, judgment, justice, sovereignty, truth, wisdom, counsel, protection). No Christian can have fullness of joy without a vital fellowship with Christ; otherwise, Christianity becomes a joyless burden. I pray that my walk with Christ never becomes a joyless burden.

Let's go back and explore John 15 again. This time, focus on verses 7-8 and 16: If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. . . .You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Look at what Christ says that we need in answer to our prayers to fill our joy. We need to bear fruit. We have made reference to that a couple of times, so what fruit are we to bear? We know one is joy. Dr Piper says that "prayer is the fountain of joy [John 15:11) because it is the source of power of love" (176). Read closely John 15:12-17. So, in addition to joy, what other fruit are we commanded to bear? It is all about love. Prayer empowers us to be on a mission of love. But we have to be on the right frequency, with the right transmitter. Listen to how Dr. Piper explains this metaphor: "It is as though the field commander (Jesus) called in the troops, gave them a crucial mission (go bear fruit), handed each one of them a personal transmitter coded to the frequency of the general’s headquarters, and said, “Comrades, the general has a mission for you. He aims to see it accomplished. And to that end he has authorized me to give each of you personal access to him through these transmitters. If you stay true to his mission and seek his victory first, he will always be as close as your transmitter, to give tactical advice and to send in air cover when you need it(177). He ends with this question: "Could it be that many or our problems with prayer and much of our weakness in prayer come from the fact that we are not on active duty, and yet we still try to use the transmitter? (177). He then offers this truth: "If the pump of love runs dry, it is because the pipe of prayer isn’t deep enough." I pray that I am on active duty and have not gone awol, and that my pump never runs dry and that I keep on digging.

Martin Luther once said, "If I should neglect prayer but a single day, I should lose a great deal of the fire of faith." Here is another poignant statement by the reformer, Luther: When Luther's puppy happened to be at the table, he looked for a morsel from his master, and watched with open mouth and motionless eyes; he (Martin Luther) said, "Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat! All his thoughts are concentrated on the piece of meat. Otherwise he has no thought, wish or hope." Where are out thoughts? What is the object or our attention? What pleasures do we delight in? God is our only thought, wish, and hope. We should pray not because we have to, but because we want to. Do you know what causes that attitude? Being tyrannized by the press of busy days--let’s commit to rethink our priorities.