Let me have a word of prayer. Lord, thank you so much that you bring us here together week after week. And Lord, you give us your word and tell us what really is true. When we live in a world that they seem to enjoy things that are not true and even reinterpret things so people don't really know what is true. So I pray, Lord, we thank you that you shoot from the hip to us, and you give us your word, you tell us like it is, and we thank you for that, Lord. And I pray, Lord, as we think of the word of God today and what we're going to be looking at in the word of God, continue to give wisdom to your church about the roles of men and women, So, Lord, that wouldn't get messed up in people's heads. I pray, Lord, that we keep that clear. And I pray as we do that, we know that's when blessing comes, when we do things God's way. And I pray this today for all of us in Christ's name. Amen. You can go into any bookstore and pick up a large amount of information on how to do it books. And now many YouTube how to do it pictorials. How to get rich. How to fix your sink. How to make it in business. How to tune up your car. How to grow things. How to lose weight and gain weight. How to dress for success. And the list is endless. I know I've used it. I know you've used it, right? But you do not find many helpful how-to-dos on how to mother, and how to be a father, and how to really know how to love your wife, and how to really respect and love your husband. See, these are basically ignored or riddled with very, very bad information. At a marriage seminar, a speaker asked a question to a young college girl. And the question was, what kind of man would you like to marry? And the college girl says, I'd like to marry someone who can sing and dance and have fun and tell jokes and stay at home at night. And the speaker responded to her saying, you don't want a husband, you want a television set or a big screen TV. But that response really is telling because it shows that when it comes to marriage and what it is all about, people are ill-informed. And if we as Americans are willing to put a Supreme Court justice on the highest court in our land who cannot or will not define what a woman is, we as a country are truly in trouble. Yet when we come to the Bible, we get all the information we need, not only to define what a marriage is, but the roles of men and women within a marriage. There's no confusion in the word of God concerning men and women, because the Bible lays down key principles concerning relationship laws. that people who have studied this subject in depth have gleaned seven biblical principles for male and female relationships. I want to just throw those out to you very quickly, the key relationship principles that are really in the scripture, and when lived out, they can actually be a very secure blessing to those who follow God's blueprint. And the first one is this, that men and women equally bear the image of God and are equally saved in Christ, speaking of Christian women. And if you're right there in Genesis, if you notice in chapter 1, verse 26 and 27, it says, then God said, let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. and let them rule over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." Verse 27, God created man in his own image. In the image of God, he created him male, and female, he created them. So that's clear in scripture, that men and women are equal, bearing the image of God. and equally saved in Christ to those who are believers. The second principle is this. Although equal as image bearers, men and women are not the same. Would you agree with that? That's pretty clear, isn't it? It's clear at least here. It's not clear everywhere. See, they differ at least in three ways. Antinomically, That means they have different anatomy, right? Different structures in their parts. That's clear. Also, they're different physiologically. That means that their body parts function differently. Women can get pregnant and bear children. And our congregation really has successfully proven that to be true. when we have a baby born almost every month, and sometimes two. And of course, there's the third difference, and it's the difference in their God-appointed roles. That women, well, as it says in chapter two of Matthew, Genesis 2 18 it says then the Lord God says it is not good for a man to be alone I will make him a helper suitable for him. So the Word of God begins to lay out for us That a man is to be a leader and a woman is to be someone who is the helper and who submits to the man a Third principle is this Equality does not mean sameness of roles or interchangeability of roles. Now, of course, we go to the New Testament and Paul is drawing from the book of Genesis when he says in Ephesians chapter 5, very well-known chapter, read at most weddings, It says, wives be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, he himself being the savior of the body, but as the church is subject to Christ the head, so also wives ought to be to their own husbands in everything. So in other words, these are set rules. These are set that when we mess with the order, it brings confusion and trouble. relationship principle is, or a fourth one I mean, is the concept of an equal submitting to an equal, like a wife submitting to her husband, is based on the relationship between the father and the son within the Trinity. That's where it comes from. And I can have another message on that from 1915 on exactly how that works. But these principles come out of the relationship the father has with the son. where the father presents himself as the leader in the role, and Christ presents himself as the one who submits to the head, which is the father, as he, in his humanity, as he does the work on Earth. A fifth principle is this, that Adam was created first, and then Eve. 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 12 and 13, you should turn there because there it does tell us that God is the architect and he's the designer and the order of creation was intentional, deliberately designed by God to establish who was to lead and who was to follow. 1 Timothy, excuse me, chapter 2, verse 12 and 13, it says, but I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. And then it says this in verse number 13, for it was Adam who was created first, and then Eve. And then without turning there, again, another passage of scripture in 1 Corinthians 11. It says in verse 8, for man does not originate from woman, but woman from man. For indeed, man was not created for the woman's sake, but woman for the man's sake. Now, these statements are all over the scripture concerning how God made things. And when we follow how God made things, then we find that we gain blessing from that. Now, that leads me to a sixth principle, and it's this, that Eve was made by God to be a helper. She was created from man for the man and then led to the man. And where does that come from? That comes from Genesis chapter two, if you're still there, in verse 22 and 23, where it says, the Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which he had taken from the man and brought her to the man And then it tells us in verse 23, the man said, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. And then, of course, in 2, chapter 2, verse 18, that she, I will make her a helper, someone who will come alongside, someone who will be a completer to the man. And then it leads me to the seventh principle, which is this, that Adam was given the leadership role. which includes responsibility, initiative, and gracious authority. Now, that's God lays those principles out in scripture for us to follow and to establish our families on those principles and the relationship and roles between men and women. Now, what happened, though? Well, in the fall, the fall of man, these role relationship principles were compromised by sin. So when sin entered the world, it did something to the roles of husbands and wives. It corrupted them. Romans 5.12 says, therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, so death passed upon all men because of all have sinned. So what did it do? What did sin do to the relationships? It ruined the harmony and unity of marriage. It twisted man's humble, loving leadership into aggressive dominance for some men and others' lazy indifference. It twisted woman's intelligent, willing, joyful expression of submission into a manipulative scheming and vying for control or even unashamed defiance of the headship of man. That's what sin did. That's what sin has done to the roles of men and women. So the fall with all its consequences harmful to women, did not arise from her being subject to the man, but the exact opposite happened, that when she abandoned her role of submission to Adam and decided to take matters into her own hands, the fall came. Eve determined to lead man rather than follow and disaster ensued and sin came upon the whole world because of this. So in Genesis chapter 3 the serpent tempted the woman to disobey God by eating of the fruit that had been forbidden for her to eat and the serpent deceived her and she did eat and immediately after her Her own fall into sin, she offered the forbidden fruit to her husband, and he willingly ate and fell into sin. So in this scene in Genesis, a reversal of the roles occurred. The ultimate responsibility before God rested with Adam, who allowed himself to be knowingly led astray by his wife, and God considered Adam ultimately responsible, rather than Eve. And it is clear from Romans 5, verse 12, that through one man, sin entered into the world, but also by the fact that the all-knowing God asked not Eve, but Adam to explain the actions. And further in Genesis 3, verse 17, It says this, because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, you shall not eat it. So in other words, the term listen means really obeyed, in this case, as it often does in the Hebrew Old Testament. So we come to the New Testament, and the apostle Paul makes the point that the role reversal that caused such devastation at the beginning must not be repeated in the church. We have the full story of what took place and what we're to do. The woman must not be the one who leads the man in obedience to her. And ever since the fall, Women have been vying for a position and power in competition with man. But when they engage in this activity, they are actually making themselves vulnerable to satanic manipulation, as Eve was made vulnerable to satanic manipulation and temptation when she gave in to God's command and gave in to the voice of Satan. So God's intention in Christ was to rescue and reverse what sin has really destroyed in the marriage relationship. And that's what we come to in scripture, that we come to the place where this is how you do it. So this never happens again. So once these role relationship principles are understood, then the husband can fulfill his role as the leader and the woman as his helper fulfilled her role as the one who submits to his leadership. So if these relationship laws are violated in any way and a role reversal has taken place, it is usually because both partners are failing in some way. So let's look at some of the things, not all of them, and hardly can do it in just one message, some of the things that will take place in a marriage between a man and a woman when the man takes the leadership role and the woman takes the subordinate role. So we're taking those seven principles and now looking at them through the lens of scripture. And so the husband now is the loving leader. So we'll start with him. And under that, there's four characteristics that become evident when a man does lead. And the first characteristic of biblical leadership is this, that the husband leads by taking the initiative. You notice that even in our salvation, God the Father takes the initiative to save us. Because he is the leader in bringing salvation to humanity. And Christ submits to his leadership, coming into the world, being a perfect man, and then obeying the Father even to the point of death. And even in the garden when Jesus prayed, Father, Not my will, but your will be done. If it's possible that this cup can pass from me, please let it pass, but not my will, but your. See, he submits to the authority of the father. So the man is the one to take the initiative. Now in Ephesians chapter five, how do we see that happen? Well, the man chooses to love his wife. For it says in Ephesians five, verse 25, husbands love your wives. Now the verb there for love is really, it emphasizes choice, that making the love stronger and more enduring than just mere infatuation with another woman. Here is a choice to obey the Lord because this love toward the wife is actually commanded by God. It's commanded by God. And so what he does is he chooses to love his wife, and he takes the initiative to do that. And then also in the same passage in Ephesians 5, he does another thing. He chooses to love his wife sacrificially. Just as Christ loved the church, he gave himself up for her. The church represented as a female, as a her. And Christ is the one who is the one who is taking care of her. So Christ's example shows that the marriage is about what the husband gives, not about what he gets. So he is the initiator. He gives up personal desires and goals and plans for her needs and her desires. And she ends up getting the sense from a worthy man that she's more important than his toys and his hobbies and his projects. See, and what does a man who's endeavoring to obey the Lord understands that and realizes that and tries to keep that in perspective? Under that, a husband also loves his wife by providing leadership in the home. You know the passage of scripture where it gives us the details on the character qualifications of an elder. It says he must be one who manages his household well. That's given to the man, right? Now, of course, that is for elders, but that's the goal of every man, to manage his own household well. So he loves her by providing leadership in the home where he manages his household. He takes the initiative in doing that. He doesn't give all the duties to his wife. No, he takes the lead in doing that. And then under that, he loves his wife by being actively involved in her spiritual life. Now, another passage of scripture in Corinthians, it says, where it talks about, let the women ask their husbands at home, right? For it is improper for a woman to speak in the church. So the husband is the one who is taking the initiative. He is providing leadership in the home. He does not want to let his wife lead spiritually. Real men are spiritual leaders, aren't they? See, and too often I see the woman dragging the man. That's not how it ought to be. It ought to be the man not dragging his family, but leading his family. And see, when he doesn't do it, then he is actually going against the roles that God has laid out for him and doing actually harm to himself and his family when he does that. The second thing that comes under this where the characteristic of leadership is, secondly, the husband leads by exalting the one led. So who is he exalting? He's exalting his wife. And what I mean by that is that he loves his wife when he shows her honor. If you remember the passage of scripture, a great passage in 1 Peter chapter 3, remember what it says there? It says this in verse 7, you husbands, in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way as with someone weaker, since she is a woman. And then it says, and show honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life. Why do you do that? So your prayers are not hindered. See, the Lord takes this very seriously that the man is to honor his wife. And how does that look? Well, let me just look at how dishonor looks. Dishonor looks when you raise your voice at your wife, yelling at her, using harsh words, manipulating her, insulting her, mocking her, and lying to her. That doesn't honor her. What honors her is when you use gentle tones of voice, when you listen patiently, when you speak respectfully, when you speak kindly, when you express appreciation, and when you really act courteously. See, that is the way you honor somebody. You are respecting who they are as a person, and a husband should be doing that because of his leadership. He is honoring his wife as God intends for him to do. That leads to a third characteristic of leadership, and it's this, that the husband leads by abiding close to his wife. Now, how can I express that? Well, in 1 Timothy 3, 2, it says, an overseer then must be above reproach, the husband of one wife. In other words, the husband loves his wife by being a one woman kind of man, that she can trust him to go out there in the world, to do what he has to do in his labor and his work, and not worry that somehow he's going to fool around. He's a one-woman man because he knows he lives as a man-leader before God's eyes. And he fears God in that sense where he wants to do what is right. And it doesn't mean that there's not going to be temptations in all these areas. There will be. There will be a large amount of temptations in our world we live today. But when his wife gets the sense that he abides close to her by being a one-woman kind of man, then it gives her freedom to not worry about that, not be concerned about that. And then also, he loves his wife under this by trusting her. Proverbs 31 11, the heart of her husband trust in her and he will have no lack of gain. He trusts her. All right, meaning too that as she submits to him, he didn't have to worry about her either. And so as you trust each other, things get done. I don't have to be worrying about things. I don't have to be having sleepless nights or wondering or imagining things that are necessarily true or not true. All right, so that's what he does. He releases her to be the woman she ought to be. And then he loves his wife by offering their life. He offers his wife his life to protect their family, also to organize their finances so that She can focus on her full and best attention, and that attention's gonna be in her home and her family. That's where she is the most fulfilled, is the centrality of her home. And that's how God designed it. And then he loves his wife by maintaining an environment in which his wife feels safe, that she can be herself. She doesn't have to come into her house and feel like she has to walk on eggshells. when he comes home, right? This is what a leader does. This is what God's kind of leader does, that he really takes care of her in all kinds of way, emotionally, physically. And he lays that down. And then there's a fourth characteristic for the man, that the husband leads by including loving words and expressions of approval to his wife. In other words, he loves his wife by making her happy. You know, this passage of scripture, every time I read it, and I'm going through the Bible, in Deuteronomy, chapter 24, verse number 5, remember, it says, when the man takes a new wife, it says, he shall not go out with the army, nor be charged with any duty. He shall be free at home. one year and shall give happiness to his wife whom he has taken. So he's paying attention to, in that first year of marriage, to make sure that they draw close together. And they begin to talk to each other and work together with how we're gonna do things and how we're gonna plan things. It's a time where A lot of things get done in that first year as you spend time together. Not to be pulled away and not be there. So this is what happened in Israel, that they made sure this took place. And for what reason? So she can be happy. And then, of course, underneath that, he loves his wife by being a good noticer. 1 Peter, again, chapter 3, verse number 7, he's to dwell with his wife in an understanding way. As one who is weaker, I believe that means that one who is the prize vessel. It's not a container that you put on the ground or you put junk in. It's a vessel you put on a mantle and it's praised and lifted up. And so he looks at his wife and takes care of his wife that way in which he notices things that are going on. He notices and realizes and recognizes his wife's behavior, her attitudes, her desires. so he can encourage, help, and praise her. He also understands his wife is weaker in a certain physical way, and sometimes in an emotional way, and sometimes in a spiritual way, even if she isn't those things. He is to notice what's going on in her life. It's funny, you have marital counseling, and you just ask some simple questions to the man and you say to the man, do you know what your wife's favorite so-and-so is? And they look at you with a blank stare and not have a clue that his wife would like or dislike something. It's not that we know everything about, but the thing is that we're growing in to understand what our wives need and want and desire. And we're leading them. We're taking the initiative. That's what the man is. And of course, worthy men. Not all men are worthy in the sense they're not putting any of those things into practice and they're being disobedient to God and I don't think a Christian man could actually not put those things into practice or want to put them into practice and say that they are obeying God. That leads me to the second person in the marriage, and that's the woman, that the wife is to be a respectful, submissive helper. Now, that's a good thing. That is a good thing. And there's four also characteristics of the wife's submissive helping role. And the first one is this. The first characteristic of her submissive role is that the wife actively seeks out to submit to her husband. She actively does it. Again, in Ephesians 5, it says, wives, be subject to your own husbands, for the husband is the head of the wife. As Christ is the head of the church, he himself being the savior of the body, but as the church is subject to Christ, so also wives ought to be to their own husbands in everything. So it is also the choice of the woman to obey the Lord because this submission toward her husband is commanded in the Word of God. It's a spiritual matter between her and her Lord. And the motive for obedience is God himself. In other words, you cannot be right with God if you don't want to do that. It's like it says in the passage where when a husband doesn't want to do it, his prayers are hindered. And here, can't be right with God if you don't want to do that. And of course, the wife then desires, in the same passage of Scripture, to respect her husband. Nevertheless, each individual among you also is to love his own wife even as himself, and the wife, Ephesians 5, 33, must see to it that she respects her husband. It's interesting, the Greek word for respect is the word phobeo. That means to fear. But it doesn't mean to fear a knee-knocking fear. It means reverence. It means to have respect for someone, like we have respect or reverence towards God or toward a person, and in this case, toward one's husband. You respect them. Now, if the husband is who he ought to be, it's not hard to do that. Is it? Ladies, is it hard to do that? When your husband's like that? And there may have been a time in your life when he wasn't like that. What sometimes amazes me is when a husband becomes like that, then it seems sometimes the women are mad that he's like that now. Like, I don't know, sometimes you throw your hands up, right? Let lead men be the initiators in those things and wives be the one who chooses to submit to his leadership and someone who desires to respect him, that you're going out of your way to do that. You ought to do it. It's like it says in scripture, see to it that that's done. And then the second characteristic of her submissive role is that the wife follows her husband's agenda, not seeking her own freedom and independence. She's following the man's agenda, his plan. And she does that where the wife understands that respect and submission to her husband is comprehensive. In the same passage in Ephesians 5, 24, it says, also, the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. That means submissive to him in everything. Of course, all categories of life, obviously, excluding sin, parenting. How are we going to raise our kids? Are we going to use the rod? Spiritual part of life, how are we going to lead our family spiritually? Are we going to make sure that church is an important part of our whole family coming together and going there to church to learn, to fellowship? Finances, how are we going to handle those? Who's going to do it? It doesn't have to be the man who does the finances. It could be the woman who is more apt to do those things. But it needs to get done, and you need to decide which is going to happen. So all kinds of decisions have to be made in the home. And as the wife submits to her husband, then she submits also to his agenda. and pray that he's worthy to carry out that agenda. It was Wayne Grudem who writes Evangelical Feminism and Biblical Truth. He said this, if there is genuine male leadership, there is a quiet, subtle acknowledgement that the focus of the decision-making process is the husband, not the wife, and even though There will often be much discussion, and there should be much mutual respect and consideration of each other. Yet ultimately, the responsibility to make the decision rests with the husband. This is not because he's wiser or a more gifted leader or person. It is because he is the husband. and that God has given him that responsibility. That's why. See, this is a God-given responsibility. It is a very good responsibility. And when it is lived out, it brings peace and joy to the marriage. That's the way God designed it. That's the way God designed it. Think about it as building a building. have the building plans in front of you, and you decide somewhere in the building project you're going to throw the plans away and figure it out yourself, the building's going to end up crumbling, right? Falling down. But if you build on the building plans and you stick with the building plans, and the structure's going to be built strong, and very little is going to be able to take that thing down. That's how God designed marriage and how these things work. A third characteristic of her submissive role is that the wife serves her husband by not competing with his leadership. Not competing. Unfortunately, we live in a world that everything is about competing with men. Everything. Every area of life is about competing with men. We live in a society that's feminizing men. You hear the term today, toxic masculinity. What in the world? We need some toxic men who are going to leave their families. We need that kind of thing. We need men who will be men. That's what we need in our country. That's what we need in the church. We could never give that up in the church because that's how God designed it. If the world can't look anywhere for an example, they must look at the church. And in the church, you know what they're going to find? They're going to find men and women, not perfect men and women. They're going to find men and women who desire to obey Lord, and they're figuring these things out and putting them into practice every day. And in doing that, they build a strong family. And then their kids are looking at them then they know when they leave the home, I already know what a family's supposed to look like. I already know what a husband's supposed to, how a husband's supposed to respond to his wife. I already know what a wife is supposed to, how she's supposed to respond to her husband. I already know that. Not only do I know it from the word of God, I know it from example. I know it from modeling. It's before my eyes. So we're passing down to the next generation the model That's gonna save our nation. The breakdown of the family is a real thing today. And most time, you'll find that police officers and people in law enforcement will say the reason why crime is so high is because there's no father in the home and there's no family structure. And so the crime goes up and everything goes wacky, chaos happens. So she's not competing with his leadership That's why it says in 1 Peter 3.1, she respects her husband by influencing her husband with a wholly submissive behavior. 1 Peter 3.1, in the same way, you wives be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives. Wives, a respectful, submissive behavior of the wife is very powerful before a man. That's the tool in your toolbox, right there. You want to win him, win him like that. If you're going to preach to him, nag him, pulling on his coattails all the time, Becoming silent in all the ways that those things happen, you're not going to win them. You're just going to push them away. Submissive, respectful, helpful. When you influence your husband by a submissive, holy behavior. Also, she respects her husband by dedication to her husband as a helper. Again, Genesis 2.18, I already mentioned that. She was created by God for the man to be a helper. She's his teammate. She completes him. She puts her gifts at his disposal. I love what it says in the last couple chapters of Proverbs, especially Proverbs 31, verse 10 through 31, that whole section that talks about the personification of wisdom as a woman. And of course, the excellent wife, it tells us there, who can find? That's a question. But when you find her, her worth is far above jewels. And the heart of her husband trusts her, and he will have no lack of gain. When you find a wife like that, you don't want to let her go. You want to continue with her forever. And then in Proverbs 31, 23, her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. Why is he known in the gates? You know why he's known in the gates? Because of the excellent character of his wise, helpful wife. That's why you look in Proverbs 31, and she's doing all these things. Like some people have called her the bionic woman. But she's taking care of her family. She's taking care of her husband. She's taking care of the needs of other people. It's amazing what's going on, but it's showing when a wise person does things, they are efficient in what they do. And the wife who is wise is efficient in what she does. It was John Piper who said a divine calling about the wife, that it's a divine calling of the wife to honor, affirm, and nurture her husband's leadership, and to help carry it through according to her gifts. She's carrying through his leadership. She's helping him lead. That's what she's doing. And the fourth and final characteristic for the woman in her submissive role is that the wife submits even when she would have preferred a different plan. That's a big one. She submits even when she would have preferred a different plan. Now, that could be some biting of the lip a little bit. Maybe we should do it this way. Doesn't mean you don't talk about it. But when her husband has a plan and you prefer a different plan, you submit to his plan. Now, of course, I'm saying that in the sense it's a good plan. It's just an alternate one, right? It may be not exactly what you've done, but he's doing it. as a Christian man leading his family. So she respects and submits to her husband by keeping her home, and this is a key thing, keeping her home the primary influence, which is the greatest sphere of influence that she has. So the Christian man wants his home in order. He wants his wife to help him do that. And when she does that, believe me, it's peaceful. It's peaceful. And that's why the epistle of Titus, what does it tell the older women to do? This is what it tells the older women in chapter 2, verse 4 and 5 to do. It says, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands. In other words, the older women are teaching the younger women, let me show you how it is to be a submissive wife. Let me show you how to do that. Because you don't know how to do that. Not that she says that to them. But they don't know. When you first get married, you don't know anything. You're just figuring it out, right? But if you have the word of God, you will figure it out. And you will be these people that the Bible's talking about because you know this is how God designed it. And you know what? If God has a plan, it's the best plan. There's no alternative plans. And if you've been around for a while and you actually put these principles into practice, there's no arguing with them. This is it. This is the way to do it. This is the way to have a blessing. This is the way to have influence right here. This is it right here. It says this, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands and to love their children. And then it says this, to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands. And why do they do that? Here's the result. So that the word of God will not be dishonored. So in other words, so the plane of God will be exemplified by all who see. This is not my design. This is God's design. And when you put it into practice, God's honored. That's the goal. When a man puts that into practice, his prayers are heard as the leader. So this is the attitude of a God-fearing woman. And if these roles go out of sync, it is usually the fault of both partners. The husband may need to become a better leader, a better lover, a better learner. And the wife may be making it difficult for him to lead because of her contentious attitude. So the husband really, really, the husband makes the submission of the wife easier when he is an attentive, caring leader. And the wife makes leadership easier by being a gentle and supportive and helpful follower. See, that's the goal of the church. So as the Spirit of God enables us, both the husband and the wife, to daily put into practice these role relationship principles, we're hedging against role reversal. or hedging against the sin of the garden, which always brings disastrous results. And we end up having a marriage that will be more and more reflective of the leadership and the submission that exists between the father and the son. And then, of course, how the church, how Christ loves the church, in whom he is the head, and then the church submits to the headship. And then the husband is the leader, and the wife submits to his headship, as God designed it. And then when we do that, God is honored. God is exalted. The gospel now brings power to those who may come to you and say, how come your family is so different? Is that not an open door for the gospel? Let me tell you how it is. It's not, has nothing to do with me, has everything to do with God, and let me give you my testimony on how that took place, a gospel opportunity. And not only that, moms, when this happens, you'll be happy. And you know what they say, when mom's not happy, what? Nobody's happy. Let's pray. Lord, thank you this morning. Your word is amazing. I thank you, Lord, contained in it are the very principles of life. And Lord, we have to praise you and thank you that you have given them to us. You opened our eyes to see. You put the word of God in our hand. I pray, Lord, that we'd not ignore these things, we'd not set them aside. But Lord, we would practice them every day. And I pray, Lord, that our families would come to the place where we are honoring you, that we're becoming more and more like a picture of how Christ loves the church. And I pray, Lord, that you would help the men to be spiritual leaders, enable them to do that. I pray that you would help the woman to be a submissive helper. I pray you would help them to do that, enable them to do that by your spirit. And we do know, Lord, if we walk in the spirit, we will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. But we will put these principles into practice. And Lord, I pray that you would bring the results when we do. And we know, Lord, those results are security and joy and peace that is in our home. So we can pass that baton to the next generation, and they can know how to do it too. And I pray, Lord, in the end result, your name will be exalted. and your word would be lifted up as what is true. And I pray this in Christ's name. Amen. Let's stand together.