God Invented Family

Week week, you know, we are, of course, very, very busy preparing to go to Africa.

In fact, leaving on the 10th of August. So we just got a very few days before we hit off into the sunset or the sunrise, I guess. And it's going to be quite a trip, a lot of preparations that are going into it. But I ask that you pray about it. That all goes well with the trip over there, the flights and everything, that we make the connections, most of all. Africa, as I understand it, is not noted for its promptness sometimes. And we do have a connection between Indola, which is in the Copper Belt of northern Zambia, and Lusaka. We've got like a two-hour window in order to fly over to Blantyre and Malawi. And if we don't make that, that'll be bad. You know, so encourage you to pray about it. That all will go well so that we'll be able to do all the things we plan to do. Be ashamed to plan to do a lot of things and end up not being able to do something having gone so far. Now, there's a lot of things in this world that you can hate.

You know, we, of course, all of us hate violence, don't we? You know, we hate to see people killing each other. And it seems like more and more in the streets of America, it's almost like the Old West, isn't it? You know, people shooting each other, you know, drug problems, you name it. And, of course, we hate the violence of it. We hate war and all that it entails. It's just hard to see, you know, people come back from war, you know, without limbs or maimed or injured for the rest of their lives. It's just hard to see that and to see it over a long period of time. I hate droughts, by the way. It's a horrible thing to go through a drought and we are going through a difficult time right now. And, of course, we hate to see famines in the world. We hate to see many things. I want to ask you, though, brethren, do you hate divorce? Do you hate divorce?

You know, often we do not think about hating divorce, do we? But, you know that it says in Malachi 2, verse 16, that God hates divorce. Have you ever thought about the fact, brethren, that when we see all the violence that is going on in the world, when we see the droughts, the famines, the pestilences, and the diseases, and all the rest of it, that maybe God shakes His head and says, the reason why this is the way it is is because you do not hate divorce.

You know, but, and, of course, they're not in love with the concept of marriage that I instituted.

You know, God could say that you're not in love with the concept of family, and, consequently, the families of the earth are divided. You know, so, in a lot of ways, everything goes back to the marriage, doesn't it? It goes back to divorce. You know, how do you feel about family, brethren? You love the concept of family. You know, God loves family more strongly than He hates divorce.

You know, if we want to be like God, brethren, because He loves family, then we're going to have to learn to love family if we don't. You know why? Because God invented the family. God invented marriage, and He loves this concept of family and marriage.

Now, interestingly, today, the world, as we know it, is divided in so many different directions, isn't it? The world defines family in many, many different ways. I don't want to go into how many ways the world defines family. You know, but the world has some sort of comical ideas about what a family is. You know, of course, same-sex children, same-sex couples now having children. You know, two men and a baby. You know, kind of a situation, you know, where, you know, in fact, I think was a doctor over in Britain was talking about how a man could actually, literally, have a baby. And just again, the way the world is. But the world defines family in many different ways due to sexual immorality that is in the world. Well, brethren, what is God's concept of what a family is? I think we all need to know, don't we? What's God's concept of what is a family? You know, we have what we call in this modern time nuclear families. Now, that's not a family that's radioactive, by the way. But basically, a nuclear family involves two parents and children. You can have one child, a guest, or many children, for that matter. But what is God's concept of a family? Is it a nuclear family? You know, how do we know that God loves family, by the way? Well, God gave the concept of family to mankind. And we can see that in the pages of the Bible, He invented, as I said, family and marriage. In fact, that is the title of this message today, is God-Invented Family. God-Invented Family. He invented marriage and family. And you know what? He should be able to tell us about the concept He had about those two things.

What He intended for Adam and Eve, and for every successive generation afterwards.

He should be able to teach us these things. You know, the Bible says that God took a rib out of Adam. You know, God put him under anesthesia. You know, put him under a deep sleep. He took a rib out of Adam, and voila, He had a woman.

So how many ribs do you have here? You get all kinds of women, I guess, in here, fellows.

But, and of course, I'm being facetious, but we know that when God did that, you know, the rest is history. Let's go over to Genesis 2 and verse 22 over here. In Genesis chapter 2 and verse 22, just read a few verses here, and it says, Then the rib which the eternal God had taken from man he made into a woman.

Now God is very creative, isn't He?

And He was able to take a human rib and turn it into a woman. And notice here, and He brought her to the man. Going on, it says, And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called woman.

Because I guess when He saw her, He goes, Whoa! And she's not a man.

It's a woman, hence woman. And it says, Because she was taken out of man. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. They shall become one.

So here, brethren, in this passage that we read here, God is acting as the proud father here.

He's created Eve, and God is acting as a proud father, bringing Eve to Adam. It's like we do in the marriage ceremony.

Dad always escorts the daughter, and she presents them to the groom.

And so it goes back, it harkens back ancient times, that custom we have in marriage to this day.

And who performs the ceremony here?

It is God who performs the ceremony and tells them what His intent is about the marriage.

That a man shall leave his father and mother, and cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.

They'll become one. They'll become a teen.

And so this day that we see here where Adam and Eve, you know, Eve was created here from the rib, and God brings her to the man. God created the concept of marriage, for mankind at least.

The man becomes aware of the concept of marriage, and the fact that he was told to be fruitful and multiply, he understood the concept of family, of not only just being a father and mother, but children that would result from that. Let's go over to Matthew 19. And God's intent, brethren, and what He's intended to do is very, very clear in the Bible, is that they would be one, and that they would be one forever. Well, let's read down here in verse 9 of Matthew 19. It says, And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality or porneia, if you, you know, all of us, of course, remember from the Greek, and marries another, commits adultery, and whoever marries her, who is divorced, commits adultery. And so God intended that a marriage be a lifetime, to last a lifetime, that a man marries the wife of his youth, as the Bible speaks in those terms, and it be a lifetime marriage, and from this union between the two. You know, children would result, family would result, and we see, in fact, that the only exception that God gave to the marriage covenant for divorce to be allowed with sexual immorality, porneia, of course, as we understand in the Greek, or fraud, we see this again in another place. In other words, God is saying, and said from the very beginning, this is not a capricious thing, like it is, you know, in the world today. You know, you go down, and yet what do you pay? 500 bucks, and you get yourself a divorce. You know, I don't like, you know, the way she cooks.

You know, these days it would be, they don't cook at all, but, or it might be something else, you know, that a person dissolves a marriage, you know, over. But God didn't expect it, and didn't want it ever to be a capricious thing. You know, social activists, brethren, will surely say, but you know, what about the poor widows in the world, and what about her children? You know, what about, what about, you know, someone who, who maybe, for whatever reason, you know, they lose their husband, maybe the husband walks away, and what about the poor widow? Well, you know, God says he takes care of the fatherless and the widow. He watches after the fatherless and the widow. But, you know, people, people don't also understand that, that marriage is governed up and to the point of death.

In other words, after the death of one of the parties, then the other party is free to remarry. And, of course, many may not be aware of that, and they use these sort of false, you know, arguments. You know, many scriptures show us that God cares for the widow. He cares for the fatherless. In fact, in Psalm 68, verse 5, it says that he relieves the fatherless and the widow. And I'm not going to go through these verses, but in, in James chapter 1 and verse 27, you know, God loves family brethren so much that he tells his people pure and under-found religion for God. And the father is this, to visit orphans and widows in their trouble. So we have a mandate, brethren, from God to watch after those children or fathers, frankly, through whatever means it may have come about. Maybe somebody walked away from that marriage.

You know, maybe, maybe even the person was married to that person and the two who are in the church, you know. We have a responsibility toward such people, and we have a charge from God to take care of the fatherless and the widow. Of course, due to the way the world is, as many times is, these days are many single homes without a husband, long before someone should be a widow. Long before that, like I said, because husbands walk away from the family. Of course, it can happen the other way around as well. Wives can walk away from the families as well. But, you know, the physical family that God created and invented, brethren, actually mirrors God's family. God intended it to mirror his family, the family that he's building. You know, brethren, in God's family, there's a father, there's a mother, there's a husband, there's a wife, there's an elder brother, and there are many children. And so the physical family mirrored God's family. Let's go to 1 John 3 over here. We begin to see this concept brought out within the Scriptures. In 1 John chapter 3, 1 John chapter 3, in verses 1 through 2, here we're told, Behold, what manner of love the Father, the Father, has bestowed on us, that we should be called the children of God. So we are God's children. He is our Father.

Therefore the world does not know us because it did not know Him. And it says, Beloved, now we are children of God already in this physical state we're in with God's Spirit. And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He's revealed we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. You know, so we're going to be like, in fact, Jesus Christ when He appears. And the reason we're going to be like Him is because we're His brothers and sisters. He's our elder brother. And also we know in this model that God has given about the family. You know, the Church is the mother of us all. The Bible says, I'm not going to go to the Scriptures that talk about that. We are the children of the mother, all of us individually within the Church are children of the mother. And the mother is also the wife of the groom who is Jesus Christ. So Christ is the husband. So you have a father, you have a mother, you have a husband, you have a wife, and you have children. That concept, brethren, is very clearly in the Bible. You know, the Bible again talks about how the Church is the mother of us all.

So we see the concept, brethren, you know, of family within the Scriptures. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews chapter 2. You know, Jesus Christ was a type of what we are going to be. We just read that in 1 John 3, but it really is corroborated over here in Hebrews chapter 2.

Hebrews chapter 2.

On down here in verse 10, in speaking of Jesus Christ, it talks about Him in verse 9 here, but we see Jesus as made a little lower than angels. We know He came in the form of the flesh.

For the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He is now, of course, at the right hand of the Father, that He by the grace of God might taste death for everyone. In verse 10, for it was fitting for Him, Hebrews 2 verse 10, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, and to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. So many sons are going to be brought into glory, and Christ, of course, has many titles, one of which is Elder Brother. He's our older brother.

I don't know about you, but that's hard for me to wrap my mind around, that Jesus Christ is our older brother. You know, I have an older brother. You know, my older brother, his name is Philip. He's about 10 years older than I. And, you know, when I was growing up, he seemed like an adult when I was a kid. He was an adult. He went off to the military when he was about 18 years old. I thought that's what big people did, you know, back in those days, because I would have been about eight, you know, when he went off to the military.

But imagine Jesus Christ is our older brother. And he will always be our older brother.

And God is going to bring many brothers and sisters into the family of God, his spiritual family. In fact, when it's all said and done, there are going to be multiple billions who will be a part of God's family. Right now, of course, God is calling a few. Many are called, but fewer chosen, as the Bible talks about. And that's not ultimately what's going to happen, but that's what's happening now. Many are called, but fewer chosen. Let's go to Romans 8. Romans chapter 8, because we see over here, brethren, something even more profound.

That if Christ is our elder brother, and we're going to be a part of God's family, that means something pretty big, brethren. In order to be, of course, a son of God, we have to be led by the Spirit of God, as verse 14 tells us. We need to have God's Spirit in us, and it needs to be leading us in our lives. But verse 15, for you did not receive the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, Abba Father. Abba Father, meaning a very close relationship with God. You know, not just a father relationship, but a daddy-father relationship. I called my father when I was growing up, Daddy. You know, it seems like all names when you're small have to end in a Y. Have you ever noticed that?

When I was growing up, my name was Jimmy, by the way. And actually, my dad's name was Daddy.

You know, and mom's name was what? Mommy. Everybody has to have a Y at the end of it.

You know, I had little brothers. I had a little brother named Michael. He was Mikey.

You know, we had we had Sonny, we had Lucy. I had a sister named Ruth, and have a sister named Ruth. We called her Ruthie. And I have a sister named Grace Elizabeth, and we called her Gracie.

So, like I say, it's sort of true to form, you know, that we refer to our siblings that way.

But, you know, the Father in heaven, brother, is Daddy. He's Daddy to us. You know, can imagine having that kind of relationship with your father, brother. It's not like, you know, you're going into the study, and here's his father in there. So, maybe he's sitting in this high back chair, you know, really high. You know, goes up to the ceiling kind of chair. He says, well, son, come in and sit down before me. Now, we'll have a Daddy relationship with the father, and we'll have a friendly relationship with our older brother, Jesus Christ.

And notice going on down through here, in verse 16, the Spirit itself bears witness with our Spirit that we are the children of God. You know, if we see that God's Spirit is in us, that it's active in us, brother, and it's transformed us, we should realize it wasn't through physical means that we change, it was through God's Holy Spirit. But then goes on to say, verse 17, if children, if the Spirit of God is in us and is leading us, and we are with us through that fact, if we are the children of the Father and Christ is our elder brother, then Paul says we're heirs with Christ.

And guess what? We have a pretty wealthy father, a pretty well-to-do father, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. He doesn't even say we're just simply heirs, you know, you get a, you know, one millionth of a percent, you know, of the inheritance, you know, how it goes sometimes, you go to, you know, you think you're gonna land a big one, and you go and you find out you inherited a dollar, you know, because I've never had the privilege of going to a situation like that.

So at this point, if I got 50 cents, I'd really appreciate. But anyway, with the Father, though, you know, Father is very wealthy, and not only are we heirs, but we're joint heirs with Jesus Christ. And it says, you know, if indeed we suffer with Him, though as we go through the conversion process, like He suffered, that we may be glorified together, going to be elevated. You know, Christ, when He comes back, is going to be the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Can you imagine how much fanfare that's going to be around that when it becomes King of kings and Lord of lords? You know, all of us, of course, have seen royalty and royal marriages. No, if William ever becomes the King of England, I think it'll be an interesting time. You're going to see what celebrations take place, you know, if Prince William ascends the throne. It'll be a great celebration. And when Christ is the King of kings, when He comes into that job, there's going to be great celebration.

But guess what? Also, brethren, we're going to be coming into responsibility and kingships ourselves. I don't know when God will hand out these duties, these responsibilities to us, but, you know, God may say, well, you know, Tom, Mr. Neesh, you're going to go over here to, you know, India. I'm sending you there. We're going to have, you know, a province over there. You know, he might be saying something to any of us, and he'd say, well, I'm going to send you to Timbuktu, you know, or I'm going to send you to New York City.

Boy, that would be a tough assignment. You know, I'm going to send you to Britain or somewhere you know, London or Copenhagen or anywhere in the world. But we will receive a kingdom when Christ does as well. So the celebration is not just going to be, brethren, about Christ, but it will be for the sons of God and the children of God who are going to be glorified with Christ, because we'll be right there with Him.

You know, God, brethren, intended the church to be a family with fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters, and that we would be one day a part of God's spiritual family. In essence, we already are an embryo. We have God's spirit, but we are a family. It's hard to believe that you and I are going to know each other for eternity. So we better get used to each other. It's been a long time. Let's go to Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10, this is what we see in the Bible, brethren. We are brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers.

All of us have a role to play. But in Mark chapter 10 over here, and it's exciting, really, in a world that is so disjointed, that is so divided and so torn up, that we are family, brethren, and we'll always be family.

One of the things I tried to teach our children when they were growing up is the importance of family, that you always have family. And, brethren, we will always have one another. But over here in Mark chapter 10, Mark 10, in verse 29 here, it says, And so Jesus answered, and said assuredly, I say to you, there is no one that has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake and the Gospels, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands with persecutions and in the age to come, eternal life. And so here we see, brethren, that we are family forever as God's people.

You know, think about it. Sometimes when people come into the church, and I think it's quite evident by the verse itself here, that some people have to leave family and come to the church. Not because necessarily they want to, but maybe they're ostracized. They could be disowned.

You know, husband or wife might begin to follow God's way of life, and the husband says, are you going to do that? I'm out of here. I've known of situations like that where I had a man up in Idaho, I think I told you about many, many years ago, that he really had knowledge of the truth. But his wife said, if you follow that religion, you know, he was told by his wife, we're divorcing. Well, in his case, by the way, he didn't follow God's way. Let that intimidate him, and I don't know what he did with his life after that, but he did not come to the church.

But again, look at what it says in the Bible, that the church is our family.

You know, sometimes, again, someone comes into the church of God, and they are ostracized from their family. And like you say, they may have to forfeit a marriage, not by choice, because somebody divorces a member. It's a sad reality, brethren, but sometimes a man or a woman you know, will lose their marriage, and maybe after a while they might find somebody within the church, you know, that again has the like minds and have a compatible life, and marry one another, maybe combine families, and they can have a very happy, a very productive life.

It's sad that it has to be that way sometimes, but it's what happens. You know, it's a wonderful thing when two people can find one another, you know, particularly when a mate has walked away because somebody was following God's way of life. Such families have done very well, combined families have done very well, because there was a loving home that was supplied, and it was there for them, and that home was based upon the laws of God. Or there can be someone who has children who remain single, comes into the church, they have children, and maybe they don't fight a mate for whatever reason.

And so what happens within the church? There are fathers that become surrogate fathers to their children, or surrogate mothers as well to their children. You know, if it's a vice versa type situation. And brother, it's so important for us to not think inward about ourselves, but to think about other people. And think about those people God is calling to the church, whoever they may be.

That if we can be of help, if we can be of aid, if we can be of assistance to our brothers and sisters, that we do that. As much as, of course, is possible for us.

Now, brethren, what is God's view of what marriage should be? Well, this is his view.

We've already talked about how he intends that a man marries one woman, and that that will be a forever proposition at least until death, you know, that someone would part, and with few exceptions, you know, to it, even as Jesus Christ talked about, to that covenant relationship.

But what is God's view of marriage? When God brought Eve to Adam, this is what he desired their family to be. So one of the most happy moments in anybody's life is that when two people get married. You know, if hearken back to when you married, you know, your sweetheart, the person you're going to spend the rest of your life with, and how happy that time was. But somehow along the line, things happen. You know, marriages can go sour, you know, and maybe not work out for whatever reason. There's a thousand different reasons in this world and society, and there are several reasons why it happens even within the Church of God. But in this world, brethren, that God wants, and what he intended when Adam and Eve were created, and here's a proud father. God walked Eve down the aisle and presented her to Adam. This is what he desired. You may see the Camelot that God wanted to come about. That place, brethren, where it never gets too hot in July or August, where there's a legal limit to the snow.

So that perfect place, that world that God intended, if Adam and Eve had only obeyed, if they had only walked in God's way, imagine, it could be ours. All of us could be benefiting from that. We would not have the wars. We would not have the diseases. We would not have all of the stuff that we hate in this world. It's a different world altogether. If we had this Camelot, the world sort of sings a song about that, don't they? And the lyrics I mentioned about the doesn't get too hot, you know, there and, you know, there's a legal limit to the snow. That's a part of that song about Camelot. But, you know, there is a place, brethren, where this is going to happen. There is a place ahead of us in God's kingdom, when God's definition of family is going to be brought about. So what is God's definition of what a family should be? Let's go to 1 Corinthians 11.

1 Corinthians 11, over here.

And just verse 2 and 3 here. Now, if I were in the midst of some groups, about this time they'd be passing off the tomatoes.

But let's read what the Bible says. It's not what Jim Tuck says. This is what the Bible says, and I agree with it. But here in 1 Corinthians 11, verse 2.

But here he says, Now I praise you, brethren, that you remember me in all things and keep their traditions just as I delivered them to you. Interesting how he puts it here, right?

You know, because Paul lived in an enlightened age just like we do.

The people are far more intelligent these days than to embrace these archaic ideas, these traditions. But Paul says, I want you to adhere to those traditions just as I presented them to you. But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ.

Nobody has any problem with that, right? The head of a woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. So you have God the Father, you have Christ, and you have man, and you have family. Now, so this is what the Bible says. So in God's model that he intended, he intended, brethren, that the husband be the head of the family, the husband be the head of the family. The word head sort of carries a very heavy, you know, accent to it, I think, when we say head of the family. That's like then the wife must be a toe or an arm or a knee ear or something, you know, besides the head. Well, all it means, brethren, is that the husband is the head or the leader, you know, of the family. He should lead the family. And quite frankly, ladies, I would not encourage you to ever marry a man that couldn't lead your family. You don't want someone that you have to lead around.

And there's plenty of that in the world today. So the husband is what this means, of course, not that human, that men are above all women. There's some people have mistaken that for what God intends here. But the husband, the father, is the leader of the wife. He's the leader of the family. Now, that doesn't mean that the husband goes around barking orders, you know, to his life all the time. So let's get that clear in our minds. Now, I've seen examples where men learned these things. They've read in the Bible about it. It's like this. There was a man, I heard the story, told that he went to church and he heard a sermon about how the husband was the head of the house.

And he went back home. His wife was not in the church. And she was a pretty muscular, tall woman. He, on the other hand, was not that muscular. He wasn't that tall. But he came home from church and he told his wife, he says, now things are going to change around here. He said, I just found out I am the head of this house. His wife was, you know, listening to him patiently, you know, as he was explaining how he was the head of the house. And anyway, she grabbed him by his shoulders, lifted him up and slammed him down, you know, on the kitchen table and said, I've heard just about enough. So you want to be careful about that kind of approach. You know, of going and saying, things are going to change around here. I'm the head of this house.

And start barking orders to people and expect obedience. And interestingly, that wife in the story actually eventually came to the church. They had a big family. It's an interesting time. You know, a husband, brethren, has to have certain qualities to make his family desire to listen to him. There are many times where a father or husband are just as not, people are not inclined to listen because of the way. There's no love there. There's no care or concern the way God intended it to be. So in God's, you know, model of marriage and family, the husband's ahead of the house. He's the leader of the family. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 5, because more is said, brethren, about this important area.

You know, J. Edgar Hoover, by the way, actually said that if a child is taught in a home, you know, to be respectful of authority and so forth, he said they won't ever have any problems, you know, in society. So again, I point out to you the fact that man has not lived by these principles. It is a contributing factor to the violence that is in the world, the troubles that are in this world in society that we see out there. But in Ephesians chapter 5, on down here in verse 25, let's notice this. God puts more onus on the husband as the leader. You know, he's the one should get, you know, beat about the nose a little bit more because he is supposed to be the leader.

Husbands, love your wives. You know, far from barking orders to the wife, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for her. So the degree that Christ loved the church, a husband should love his wife. And what did Jesus Christ do, brethren? He died for the church.

He died for the church. And why did he do that? That he might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of the water by the word that he might present her to himself, a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

So ought husbands to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. You know, what a beautiful picture, rather than that is. So in God's model, the husband loves the wife and he loves his family very, very deeply. He cares for his family. And he will do anything for his wife to make her happy, to please her. He will do anything for his friend, his wife. You know, wife should be your best friend. My wife and I waited a long time before we had children. We were best friends and we're still best friends. And obviously, we've been able to keep together a little while, you know, and I suspect as long as she will have me, we'll be together a little longer. But, you know, Christ loved the church and you know what? He was the greatest sacrificer. And the husband has to be the greatest sacrificer.

He's the one that has to bend and yield him more than anybody else. He can't just do his own thing.

Let me tell you, young men, if you're thinking about getting married and you want to do your own thing for the rest of your life, don't get married.

Because you're not going to be doing your own thing. At least if, you know, if you want, you know, to have one marriage. There are a lot of men that want to do their own thing, and you know, they can have three and four and five marriages in their lifetime. But if you want to please your wife, that is when you should get married. And she wants to please you as well. So it works both ways. That God's people, again, have love for one another, and that the husband, again, is the greatest sacrificer, and he loves his wife, and he loves his children. Let's go to 1 Peter chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3, over here.

And verse 7.

I bypassed Peter and went to John. But 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 7, it says, Husbands likewise well with them, that is, their wives, with understanding. Men try to figure out what pleases your mate, and dwell with them, of course, with the understanding of God's way of life. No, we need to know how women function.

You know, some might joke, well, you know, if you figure out one thing, you know, that about relationship between a husband and a wife, is the husband is always wrong.

You know, I was telling my wife, I saw a cartoon that said, you know, if a husband was on a deserted island, would he, and he gave an answer, would he still be wrong? You know, but I don't know if you saw that cartoon. At least it was funny to me when I saw it. But no, my wife and I, I'm pleased to say that I make all the really big decisions in our family. And my wife, plus she deals with the small decisions. So we have a good symbiotic relationship. I'm pleased to say that after almost 40 years of marriage, there hasn't been one big decision that I've had to make. And of course, I'm being facetious.

But husbands have to dwell with their wives according to knowledge, as we see here, giving honor to the wife, honoring his wife as to the weaker vessel and as being heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers may not be hindered.

You know, it's kind of hard to pray if you don't have a good relationship with your mate.

I mean, you spend the most time with your wife or your husband, and it can hinder those prayers. You know why? Because if I don't know if you like, I am, but if I am praying, I've got, if something else is very troubling that's happening to me, I'll start praying, and a thought will come into my mind that comes out of the blue about a problem I've been thinking about, and all of a sudden I'm on another tangent in my prayer.

And so it interferes with prayer.

And, brother, sometimes you interfere with my prayers. You know, and I mean that seriously, you know, because maybe you're dealing with a problem or a difficulty, and I can be praying. All I can do is stop in my prayer and say, well, God help that person, you know. I might be talking about something altogether different with God about, but it comes into my mind. So you can see how that happens, and our prayers not being hindered, that we have a good relationship with our mates. We don't want that to be a problem.

That the husband is honoring his wife and cherishing her as an error of eternal life for the future, treating her with gentleness and kindness and love as a weaker vessel.

Sometimes the wife actually is the stronger vessel. But nonetheless, I'm talking about here, usually the physical. In the case of the one situation I told you about, the wife was stronger than the husband was in that case, but it happens sometimes. Let's go on here in verse 1 of chapter 3, because we see the other aspect here. The first aspect is husband is to be the leader of the family. The second aspect is the husband loves his wife and his children. He honors his wife and he loves his children. The third, the third, rather, is wives are not afraid to submit to their husbands.

They're not afraid of that. And, you know, sometimes people can be afraid to do that. Well, let's read on here. It says, and let's begin in verse 1, wives likewise be submissive to your your own husbands. This is the word, by the way, that many would like to strike from the marriage. So, certainly this word submit. Submissive, you know, I would think that that word means being willing to cooperate. The two people are on the same page.

They're thinking along the same lines, or they should be anyway. In other words, the wife doesn't have to assert herself and to put her mark on something, you know, that that is, that should be, that's a carnality. A man can have the same attitude, by the way. A woman can have that attitude as well. Be submissive, be cooperative to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they without a word may be won by the conduct of their wives. When they observe, your chase conduct accompanied by fear. Do not let your adornment be merely outward.

Don't let it be superficial, arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel, but rather be the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. As Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror. Don't be afraid to be cooperative, submissive to your husbands, is what Paul is saying.

You know, Sarah called Abraham Lord, her master, as it would have probably been in those days and times. My wife calls me Lord, by the way, calls me Lord Jim. And of course, I'm being facetious, but many of you remember the old movie called Lord Jim years and years ago.

That's about as close as to the Lord I would ever get. By the way, my wife, though, must say, is always very loving and very respectful. But wives shouldn't be afraid to submit to their husbands, you know, because he should be her protector. He should be watching over her, and she should know that. And so she should be willing to respond to him. This person we walk down the aisle and we say I do to. You know, if we're not willing to do that, we really should get married. You know, we really shouldn't get married. It's just the bottom line.

You know, it needs to be contemplated that way. Let's go to Titus over in Titus chapter 2.

Titus chapter 2. Okay, Titus, I know it's in here somewhere.

I don't have the Koran up here anywhere, I think. But Titus chapter 2 in verse 3 through 5. Notice what Paul told Titus.

You know, this is a lost art, I believe, that we find in the world today.

You know, when I grew up, by the way, and it was not Camelot, by the way, when I grew up, but it used to be when we go to outings, a lot of times the men would be in one place talking, and the women would be in the other place talking. Usually they had more fun, I think, than we did. You know, at least you heard them laughing a lot, no telling what they were talking about. But, you know, basically the idea is that men taught men how to be men, and women taught women how to be women. And, you know, so we see this model that God has. That what, in fact, it should be, what marriage should be, that the older women who have experience should teach the younger, you know, those things that they need to know. And again, this is a missing art in the society we live in out here. No wonder, brother, and our families are torn apart.

It shouldn't be missing in the Church. You know, many things, though, in the Bible are out of mode in the world. In fact, some even think the whole book is outmoded. You know, nothing applies to today. Even theologians have tried to rewrite the entire Bible. And these days, more often than not, not, brethren, fathers have gone missing. It's like they disappeared, you know, from the family.

If they're there, you know, basically they are, you know, glorified house husbands.

You know, they're doing things, you know, that, you know, they're not taking care of the family, is what I'm saying. They're not watching after the family. And God placed the responsibility on the fathers, you know, to take care of their family, to watch after their family. You know, not that the wives do not have a part in it. And let me say also, brethren, a lot of times we grow up hearing this concept about marriage. It's 50-50 proposition. You know, we see that, in fact, acted out every day in the United States around the world. 50-50, you do your part, hear the chores, we'll divide them down the middle. You know, here's the response, this is the money, we'll divide down the middle. 50-50. Well, brethren, it's not that way. It's 100% both ways. You know, my wife and I have never entertained the idea of having separate checking accounts. Never!

No, again, I'm proud to say she has the checking book. I haven't seen it for years, but I wanted to tell you she gives me generous allowances. Very generous, you know.

I get two, three dollars a week, you know, and I can spend it anywhere I want.

Because I'm being facetious again, brethren, but, you know, again, it was 100% both ways. We were in it for the duration, and it started out that way, and it's still that way, 100% both ways.

Again, if you're not wanting to marry in those ways, under those conditions, don't get married.

You won't be happy, you just won't be. Because, you know, there's not enough contracts you can sign if you want to make up different rules. Well, okay, the party of the first part is going to be subject to the second part. Now, do you agree with that marriage? Would you sign here on the dotted line? There's not enough contracts, brethren, to make a marriage work if it's 50-50. It just isn't. You're going to be displeased. It's 100% both ways on the part of the husband. A wife gives herself totally to her husband, and a husband gives himself totally to the wife. One flesh. One flesh. In fact, you're dealing with one person. I remember when I was a kid, wherever you saw my dad, you saw my mother. That's where it should be, really. They stay together, and they're doing things together through the journey of life. I want to talk about another major part of God's model, brethren, of this Camelot. It's not Camelot. It's a reality, as a matter of fact. And, brethren, it is this. Fathers are to be a major part of their children's upbringing and spiritual education. Fathers, not mothers, being the primary force, but the fathers being involved in the upbringing of their children. I'm not going to have you turn to them, but you might want to write down Ephesians 6, verse 4. Paul wrote to the Ephesians, he says, you fathers do not provoke your children to wrath. So, you see, that has to be, when somebody is administering God's way of life, it has to be out of love. Don't provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and the admonition of the Lord. Now, again, the mother has a very important role in parenting. No question about that. But, remember, the father's not gone missing. In fact, he's taking the lead in his family. No, maybe when the family gets together, the father is the one that is giving the direction, spiritually speaking, in the family.

Colossians 3, verse 21 says, fathers do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. The fathers, again, are admonished to be very, very careful with their children to be a major part of their upbringing. Also, you might want to write down Proverbs 13, verse 24. You know, fathers are to also give age-appropriate discipline. And by that, I mean, when your son is 35, you probably are not going to be able to paddle him. You know? And I know you know I'm joking about that. In reality, I'm not actually joking about it. You can't paddle a 35-year-old man. 30, maybe, but not 35. No, I'm just kidding. You'd like to sometimes paddle a 35-year-old, but that won't do any good. You know, by that time, you have to reason if you're going to help in any way. But in, you know, Proverbs 19, verse 18, you know, it says there, chasing your son while there's hope. Now, what does he mean by that?

And it says, and do not set your heart on his destruction. You know, sometimes we can see our kids going in a direction and we say, he's bound for destruction. You know, he's bound for the lake of fire. We don't know that. We really don't. But you know what? If fathers, we do not begin assisting and helping with the education of our sons and our daughters at an early age, and that's really what he means, chasing your son while there's hope. And when you have the opportunity to talk to them, even when they're older, when they're open to it, and you know when that occurs, and God, you know, God has a way of working with older kids. I mean, look at you. You're sitting here. You're part of God's church today.

Did God do any correcting of you? You know, before you came around and you saw the light? You see in the Bible, of course, the prodigal son who goes out and expends his inheritance, and finally, after he's spent everything, comes back home, and his father receives him with open arms. So the father, again, is a major part of the child's education. Let's go to Hebrews 12. God the Father, brethren, is a major part of your education, my education. How many times, brethren, have we gotten caught in our own lives and God has had to correct us? It's hard to count. I would hope that as you get a little older spiritually speaking, it's far less than it used to be. But, you know, when we're younger spiritually, well, we get into trouble all the time, don't we? Isn't that the way it is with kids as well? Well, God is correcting us more, you know, maybe when we're younger. While there's hope, you may say, well, he can communicate with us. We're not hardened or newered to what God is saying. But here in Hebrews chapter 12, let's notice here, in verse 7 it says, if you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? Well, I can show you a lot of them in the world today that have not been chasten, who have not been corrected. But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be subject to the father of spirits and live? So he's showing, you know, look, you submit to your physical father, and you love him, you respect him. My father had chats with me, and he said, well, I'm not going to do that. My father had chats with me, and they were not always pleasant, by the way.

But I loved him, and I respected him for it.

Very hard when I lost my father. Very, very hard. A very, very difficult time in my life. When my dad died, by the way, brethren, I felt so alone in the world. Even though I had a family, a loving family, I felt alone. Even though I have a lot of siblings, a lot of family, it's just different. If you haven't gone through it, you don't know what I'm talking about. But you, I hope it's not anytime soon, but you'll know if you don't know already. Titus 1 verse 4. Titus 1 verse 4.

I'm sorry. Titus 2, I think, wrote in my notes here. So fathers would be a major part of a child's upbringing, and, of course, mothers are too. And we read this earlier.

But here in verse 4, it says, speaking of wives, that they admonish their children. They teach their children. Now, we should not, again, just simply let our children just happen and sort of grow up, sort of by osmosis, getting things from the school. Now, that's a fallacy in the world. The school is supposed to teach our kids everything. Now, we leave things to the schools of this day. Oh, wow. I hate to think what we'll have when it comes out. Well, all you got to do, brethren, is look into Washington right now, the day. You find out what comes out of schools, the schools of this world and the society. Look in the Congress. Look in the Senate. Look at the leadership of this world. So mothers are to admonish their children. So, in God's model, the Father is one who is teaching his children. He's a spiritual leader, and mothers are taking a very big role in the education of their children, also equally so.

Now, next, in God's model that he intended, what he intended Adam and Eve to do, and from the beginning there. But remember, because they didn't follow God's laws, they had the first juvenile delinquent. His name was Cain. He ended up killing his own brother, Abel. And so God sent him to detention.

And he drove him out of the area of the altar at the Garden of Eden. He dwelt other places, as we know. And there was a note that was put on Cain for what he did. But that's what happened, because they did not live by God's laws and God's principles.

We see in Cain that he simply did not obey his own parents. Let's go to Colossians chapter 3, but over here, the next part of brethren, this model that God wants us to have, is God wants children to love and obey their parents. It's a natural thing.

Or at least it should be to love your mother and your father.

You know, you see that, in fact, in the world, don't you? In the animal world, even, you see that. It reminded me of the time when we were camping up in the Payson area of Arizona. Jonathan, I don't know how old he was at that time, but Jonathan was probably, I guess, maybe eight or nine, something like that. But we were out camping, and was it a chipmunk or a squirrel? Well, anyway, this baby chipmunk was in the campground, and the mother was nowhere to be found. And this chipmunk saw Jonathan's shoes that he had on. Of course, he couldn't see his face, you know, because he was on the ground. So he saw his shoes. And you know, that little chipmunk followed Jonathan around with his shoes all over the campground. He couldn't get rid of the chipmunk. I guess the chipmunk, the baby chipmunk, thought his shoes were his mother.

And it was remarkable. I think finally he walked out in the forest, and as a mother, he left his chipmunk. But no, there was nothing else he could do. But he finally had to just let it go for the wild. You know, but of course, you never know what, in fact, something like that would have. It could have rabies, or it could have other things. So I didn't want him to touch the animal. But you know, nature even shows that an infant attaches to the first person it sees. I guess Jonathan's tennis shoes was the first thing that this chipmunk had ever seen.

It's natural, isn't it? But in Colossians chapter 3, let's notice here, Colossians 3, down to verse 20 here, it says, "...children obey your parents of all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord." So children are to obey their parents to walk in their ways, to make their mothers happy, to make your fathers happy. Fathers and mothers, if they care at all for their children, want success for their children. Ephesians 1, Ephesians 1, or Ephesians 6, I don't know why I put Ephesians to 1. Yeah, yeah. Ephesians 6, in verse 1, but it says, "...children obey your parents of the Lord, for this is right, they gave birth to you." Like, you know, Bill Cosby was telling his son, after his son had messed up and done something wrong. Maybe remember this about old Bill Cosby, his eight-year-old boy or whatever, and he had him up to the house. Bill Cosby gets home, and his wife says the boy did this and that, and anyway, you know, she says, I want you to go up and kill the boy.

And Bill Cosby says, oh, I get to kill him. Today I get to kill him. You know, you remember the story about him. He goes up there, I believe in this story, he looks at his son, and he said, I brought you into this world, and I can take you out. And, you know, so it's right that you should be able to teach your children, and that children should listen to those who brought them into the world.

Now, of course, Bill Cosby was just joking about that. I don't think he's killed any of his children, so far as I know. But, you know, how Bill Cosby is, he jokes about sort of things, things, everyday things that people go through. But going on, you know, we see here, it says, Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise. There's a promise that comes with this, that it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.

You know, you listen to mom and dad, you'll keep from killing yourself. It's amazing what kids want to do sometimes. You know, and mom, of course, is always the cautionary one. Sometimes dad even says, well, that's just going a little too far, son or daughter.

You want to do what? You know what can happen if you do this? Well, brethren, it's good for you to listen to your parents, if they give you a caution, to listen to the instruction.

And I think the most important thing is that you listen to them spiritually, the spiritual instruction that they give to you. You know, what is God's intent, brethren, with all we've talked about here? What's His intent? You know, with a husband who's a leader of the family, the husband loving his family, being the family's greatest sacrifice, giving 100% to his wife, loving his wife and loving his children, of wives not being afraid to submit to their own husbands, and husbands not being afraid to lead as well. And fathers being a major part of their children's upbringing and spiritual education, and mothers loving and rearing and teaching their children, and children loving and obeying their parents. What is what God wants to come out of that? Well, God wants something incredible to come out of it, brethren.

God wants what is in fact talked about in Malachi chapter 2. Let's go over to Malachi chapter 2.

And God looked at Judah. He looked at the way Israel conducted itself. Certainly Israel had already gone. Samaria had gone into captivity already long before.

But in Malachi chapter 2, down here verse 13, it says, and this is the second thing you do. You cover the altar of the Eternal with tears.

There's a lot of tears, brethren, in this world, you know, that we see where people are shedding tears. Women are shedding tears. Men are shedding tears over their marital relationships, over their families. So he does not regard the offering anymore, nor receive it with goodwill from your hands. God says, I'm not listening. All these tears. Yet you say, for what reason? Because, notice verse 14. So here, people of Judah were saying, for what reason? Why are you not hearing what I have to say? God, why aren't you listening? It is because the Eternal has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth. I've seen it too much, God is saying, with whom you have dealt treacherously. Yet she is your companion and your wife by a covenant.