Husbands love your wives

Good morning and welcome in today. Today we’re going to look at some scripture from Ephesians chapter 5. Verse 25 says…

25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

This morning we’re going to take some time and break this passage down bit by bit. I hope you’re feeling hungry for the word of God!

Let’s start with verse 25

25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;

First of all men if we are really going to love our wives even as Christ loved the church we have to explore how Christ loved the church.

I’ve always believed that if you truly love others you are going to speak the truth to them. If you truly love your wives, you are going to speak the truth to them. The truth is found in the Holy scriptures.

Jesus is the way the truth and the life. If you really claim to love other people you will give them the Word of God because it leads to their salvation and eternal life. It begins at home with your wife and also your children. Which one of you men out there don’t want your wife or your children to be in heaven someday?

Love is an intense feeling of deep affection for somebody else. It’s a feeling of liking and caring for someone or something and having tender attachment and fondness toward them. It means being affectionate or tender, or to cherish somebody else.

How does the Lord Jesus show us how much he loves us?

He loved the church by preaching to it. He loved the church by teaching them God’s holy Word. He loved the church by guiding them into biblical truth. He loved the church by dying on the cross for our sins. He loved the church by extending to us His forgiveness and mercy.

As a representative of the lord in our own homes, that is the love that we are supposed to show our wives.

For years I have said that the greatest love that you can ever give or show someone else is to guide them into biblical truth because if they accept it and convert and believe it, it’s going to lead to their own salvation and eternal life.

The greatest love in my life personally that I have ever known is found in what Jesus taught. It helps me. It comforts me. It guides me. It leads me. It converts me. It’s save’s me.

Again we are supposed to love our wives that much. To love them as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. Jesus spent his time preaching and teaching and educating the church. That my friends is real love. Why?

26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,

John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.”

The Lord Jesus wants you men to be a part of sanctifying your wives through biblical truth. If you truly love them you will do it because it leads to eternal life where we can all be together someday forever. Teaching God’s word is not just meant for a pastor or preacher in a church somewhere. Men who love your wives and your children will teach and educate them at home in God’s holy word.

Sanctify means to free from sin and to purify. Your wife may be sinning against you or other people so you educate her in the scriptures and try to convince her to turn away from her sins and to believe what Jesus wants her to do. That is how a husband loves the wife. This is what Jesus does for the church.

In that fact, you are truly showing her how much you love her because you care about being with her forever in eternity. Jesus preached and taught to us so that we could overcome sin and be with him forever.

A husband wants to cleanse the wife with the washing of water by the word.

John 15:3 says “Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.”

You men are supposed to educate your wives in knowledge of God’s holy word. Listen to what the Apostle Peter teaches.

1 Peter 3:7 – Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with [them] according to knowledge.

Continuing….

27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.

Holy means someone who is perfected in perfect love. I’ve taught my family at home that if it is Charity in its purest form, that is holiness: the opposite being sin.

A husband is supposed to instruct his wife on how to walk in perfect love towards him and others. He’s teaching her how to please him. He’s teaching her how to please and obey the teachings of Christ. When she’s doing these things perfectly she is sanctified and holy. She’s walking in perfect love. What a wife to be praised and adored!

A blemish is a small mark or flaw which spoils the appearance of something. We are not talking about physical appearance here. We are talking about her actions. A man is trying to instruct her to become a kind loving obedient faithful wife. That should be the husband’s greatest goal. To help her achieve that, so that the neighbors and the community talk about her saying how wonderful and kind she is and how loving and selfless she is. She is the product of a loving husband who teaches and and instructs her day by day in God’s Word.

Think about it men, don’t you really like to hear people in the community talking about how nice your kids are? Your children are a reflection of you and how you have trained them. So is your wife. She needs to be the epitome of love and kindness.

28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.

Remember that in marriage the man and the woman become one flesh. You are no longer two, but one. So you see when you love your wife you are loving yourself because she is a part of you. Take a look in the mirror would you hate that person in the mirror? Your wife has become a part of your own body in marriage. As much as your hands or your feet are a part of you she belongs to you and has integrated herself into your very being. Just as Eve has a piece of Adam, wives become a part of us.

Continuing on it says….

29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church
30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

To nourish means to provide with food or other substances necessary for life and growth; feed.

How does the Lord Jesus nourisheth us? He feeds us day by day with spiritual food from the scriptures. He does this so we can become pleasing unto him and perfected in love.

Cherish means to protect and care for someone lovingly. The scriptures teach us that God careth for us and that’s the way we want to treat our wives. When you care for somebody else you are looking after them and providing for their needs both spiritually and physically.

You men provide a home, food, and other provisions to care for her. You have been charged with that responsibility. We provide not only physically but are helping her to grow in the teachings of Jesus Christ day by day so that she can become the perfect woman of charity. Without a single blemish or fault. That is the ultimate goal.

30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.

In the church as baptized Believers we partake of Holy Communion. When we do we become a part of Christ. We become members of his body of his flesh and of his bones. The marriage is a replication of that. The wife represents the church and the husband represents the Lord in the Christian home.

31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.

So in a marriage you are no longer two people but one flesh. Te church doesn’t leave Christ, neither does He abandon us. We have different functions and purposes as a man and a woman but our bodies are joined together as one. As Jesus is head over the church, man is head over his wife. Like the church, she is the body. As the Church is subject unto Jesus Christ, the wife needs to be subject under her husband in everything because he is the head and we are the body. As Jesus leads the church the husband needs to lead the wife and she needs to obediently follow.

This is why teaches in verse 32

32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.

Looking at verse 33 it says

33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.

As I’ve said already the greatest love that I have ever been given are the teachings of Jesus Christ found in the Holy scriptures. It’s only through the scriptures and through faith in what they teach, that we ultimately can be saved and someday enter into paradise. What greater love could you ever give someone else, or to your wives? If I’m going to love someone in the way I want to be loved I would want them to give me scripture so I could grow into what God wants me to become. I couldn’t think of any better gift.

The wives need to reverence their husband. It’s more than calling someone a reverend but it’s about the act of reverencing them. All husbands are deserving of that title.

Reverence is a feeling of deep respect or awe. I’ve always tried to explain it to my family like when you would go into a courtroom and there’s a judge how would you treat them. A judge needs to be treated that way and others in who are in a place of authority, including any husband out there in the world. A husband chose to care for you and take care of you for the rest of your life. And you need to reverence him for doing so as a faithful wife.

So, husbands love your wives the way Christ loves the church and gave himself for it. Guide her and lead her in the teachings of scriptures so she can become a perfect loving wife without a spot or blemish, perfected in God’s grace.

And that’s where I’m to stop right now but Lord willing will talk to you some more tomorrow till then bye-bye everybody