Applications: Family Life

Driving home: You have no idea of the tremendous impact of a well-ordered, God-directed family structure in this present crooked and perverse generation.

Martin describes how public education, materialism, and the 'two-member working family' have eroded God's norm for family life, highlighting the impact of a well-ordered family in a perverse generation.

in which that two-fold essence of the Christian, Christian's role must be applied with great prayerfulness and thoroughness. The second area in which we must refuse to let this present age mold our thinking and shape our practice, but rather be renewed in our minds and transformed in our lives. And it is the area of domestic piety, order, and stability, or stated differently, striving to attain God-honoring family life. You have no idea of the tremendous impact of a well-ordered, God-directed family structure in this present crooked and perverse generation. For one of the tragic results of the...

3:55 - 5:24 Read in full sermon

Driving home: But nonetheless, all those qualifications and husband bashing notwithstanding, wives, listen to what God says to you, wives, be subject to your husbands in everything. In everything! In everything!

He uses the creation of Eve as a helper for Adam to illustrate that a wife is not a 'blonde bombshell with a BB brain' but an intelligent companion whose input should be sought by a wise husband.

In everything where they're convinced their husband knows better. In everything where they feel their opinion has been duly sought. No such qualification is given. Now, if you're a wise husband, you'll seek your wife's input in your decision-making because God, when He gave Adam, Eve, to be a helper answering to his need, He didn't just give him a blind, a blonde bombshell with a BB brain.

18:10 - 18:39 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Husbands, love your wives even as after the pattern and standard of Christ who loving his bride did not give up something external to himself. A world here, or a galaxy there, but he gave himself.

Martin uses the absurdity of a man chopping off his own fingers or ignoring a thorn in his hand to illustrate how naturally men care for their own bodies, and how this 'sanctified self-love' should extend to their wives.

For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife and they too, shall become one flesh. I don't know what else to call this, but what I've called it, a sanctified, self-like love that is to be extended to our wives. Now, what man ever hated his own flesh? Did you ever go along the street and find a man sitting on the curb with a butcher knife, chopping off his fingers a half inch at a time?

28:04 - 28:33 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Ought, ought, ought is a word of duty. Duties to be performed no matter what you feel like.

He references the character Grumpy from Snow White to illustrate that a husband's duty to love his wife is not dependent on his feelings but is an obligation to be performed regardless of mood.

That's a word of obligation. It has nothing to do with what you feel. You may wake up on a given day feeling grumpy as old Grumpy himself in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Grumpy was always grumpy.

30:16 - 30:31 Read in full sermon

The point: Dwell with your wife according to knowledge, continually learning what makes her who she is, and reassure her of her beauty and worth.

Martin humorously speculates that Peter, being married and having a mother-in-law, understood the complexities of women's emotional and hormonal patterns, underscoring the need for husbands to dwell with their wives 'according to knowledge.'

hormonal patterns remember it wasn't Paul who gave this directive Paul the single man it was Peter the married man and he also had a mother-in-law and maybe many a time he scratched his head when his wife was in a state of PMS and wondered what in the world has happened to my wife from the sweetest most reasonable woman she has become so unreasonable she puts two and two together and gets seventy-five and lo and behold the day her period starts she comes back to the real world and two and two again equal four and she looks back and says honey forgive me I was such a witch for those five six da...

35:39 - 37:09 Read in full sermon

The point: Dwell with your wife according to knowledge, continually learning what makes her who she is, and reassure her of her beauty and worth.

He compares a wife to 'fine thin delicate china' and common dinnerware to 'stoneware' to illustrate that while a wife may be the 'weaker vessel' (physically, emotionally), she is to be treated with special honor, care, and protection, not demeaned.

according to knowledge and let her know what's true that she's still the most beautiful woman in the world to me the crow's feet and the sagging chin don't change cause I know all the shared burdens and all the shared joys that lie behind those crow's feet and the lines beginning to emerge and all she needs is the reassurance that that's so and she glows dwell with her according to knowledge and as she's continually changing you've got to be continually learning what is it that makes my wife what she is who she is why she reacts that's my responsibility I'm not to sit down and compose a song l...

37:09 - 38:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Dwell with your wife according to knowledge, continually learning what makes her who she is, and reassure her of her beauty and worth.

He references the song from 'My Fair Lady' to highlight the common male frustration with women's differences, which Peter's command to dwell with wives 'according to knowledge' directly addresses.

according to knowledge and let her know what's true that she's still the most beautiful woman in the world to me the crow's feet and the sagging chin don't change cause I know all the shared burdens and all the shared joys that lie behind those crow's feet and the lines beginning to emerge and all she needs is the reassurance that that's so and she glows dwell with her according to knowledge and as she's continually changing you've got to be continually learning what is it that makes my wife what she is who she is why she reacts that's my responsibility I'm not to sit down and compose a song l...

37:09 - 38:38 Read in full sermon

The point: Treat your wife with special honor as the 'weaker vessel,' like fine china, not stoneware.

He references 'Fiddler on the Roof' to illustrate the context of arranged marriages in biblical times, emphasizing that even in such relationships, the grace of God enables the fulfillment of marital roles.

she's not stoneware that's your responsibility man that's the sensitive kind well too bad you married her now god tells you you become the sensitive kind well i didn't have an example so what you got your bible and you got the holy ghost i'm sick and tired of this cop-out business it's not the way i'm put together oh too bad are you christian that wasn't the way you were put together either you were put together to be a child of the devil and an heir of hell and almighty god broke in and changed you and he who started the change can continue it and you can become by the grace of god this kind ...

40:07 - 41:36 Read in full sermon

The point: Be careful what you read in popular articles about family relationships, as they often contradict God's Word.

Martin shares a personal anecdote about his wife's love for recipes and her intention to pass them down, contrasting this with the harmful advice found in popular women's magazines.

at all dear women god have mercy on you if you read the popular articles in family circle in women's day get your recipes out of them my wife still does she's a recipe nut that's going to be her greatest legacy outside of her godly example she's going to leave to her daughters divide up her recipe boxes split them up in her will to her two daughters but you be careful what you read no the bible knows nothing of egalitarian marriages and on the other hand the bible knows nothing of a carnal machoism in the name of well we've got a weak generation i'm going to be a strong christian leader in the...

43:05 - 44:34 Read in full sermon

The point: Have a hearty commitment to and a Spirit-empowered fulfillment of your God-assigned roles, not just outward conformity.

He tells the story of a Quaker child who sat in the pew but whispered, 'Me sitteth on the outside, but me standeth on the inside,' to illustrate the difference between outward conformity and hearty, internal commitment to God's will.

god assigned roles for the husband and wife but i said i wanted to say two things under that head and here's the second there must be a hearty commitment to and a spirit empowered fulfillment of these roles not enough to have a clear understanding of these roles there must be a hearty commitment to and a spirit empowered fulfillment of these roles now what do i mean by a hearty commitment well the story's told whether it's true or not i don't know of the little child in the quaker service where they sit quietly you know waiting for someone to be moved upon by the quote spirit to speak and this...

44:34 - 46:03 Read in full sermon

The point: Prioritize pouring your life into your children's nurture over less important pursuits like sports or hobbies.

He references William Wilberforce's impact on overturning slavery in England to inspire fathers to nurture children who might similarly make a significant mark on future generations for Christ.

I tell you when I think of the potential at times I get excited oh yes I'm not taking back anything I said earlier if God should raise up a thousand and give them tremendous influence it will be a matter of degrees it will still be a world that mocks the gospel and laughs at us stupid people who believe the Bible but if God can use a Wilberforce to overturn the bastions of slavery entrenched in the social structures of England if God can use other men in mighty ways in history what God might do to me is a thrilling thing just to think about it but it won't just happen it means fathers somethin...

55:25 - 56:53 Read in full sermon

The point: Teach your sons what godly, noble manhood is, including practical life skills.

Martin shares a personal story about his son-in-law not being taught practical skills like changing car oil by his father, highlighting the father's responsibility to prepare children for the mundane concerns of life.

had a dad who never even taught him how to change the oil in his car change a filter on an air conditioner I'm doing it now with great delight and he welcomes his father-in-law helping him but I thought what a shame for a young man to come to life unfit to take care of the most mundane concerns in the keeping of a home thank god he did teach him a trade a marketable trade a noble trade and I'm proud to say my one son-in-law's a preacher and the other's a tailor saves me lots of money no suit I ever buy off the peg fits me but when my son-in-law is done with it it fits like a tailor-made suit a...

56:53 - 58:20 Read in full sermon

The point: Teach your sons what godly, noble manhood is, including practical life skills.

He uses Carl Sandburg's description of Lincoln as a 'man of steel and velvet' to illustrate the ideal godly manhood that fathers should model and teach their daughters to look for in a husband.

had a dad who never even taught him how to change the oil in his car change a filter on an air conditioner I'm doing it now with great delight and he welcomes his father-in-law helping him but I thought what a shame for a young man to come to life unfit to take care of the most mundane concerns in the keeping of a home thank god he did teach him a trade a marketable trade a noble trade and I'm proud to say my one son-in-law's a preacher and the other's a tailor saves me lots of money no suit I ever buy off the peg fits me but when my son-in-law is done with it it fits like a tailor-made suit a...

56:53 - 58:20 Read in full sermon

The point: Make a principled, Spirit-filled commitment to the task of nurturing your children through chastening and admonition, including instructing them on sensitive topics.

Martin recounts his commitment to personally instruct his son on the 'facts of life' from Proverbs, contrasting it with his own negative experience, to emphasize the father's proactive role in nurturing children.

chastening and admonition and what is the source of this? God is the source of it all it comes from the derived authority God is vested in you it is of the Lord what is to set the parameters it is the word of the Lord what's to give you the strength it is the power of the Lord wherein do you hope that it will issue in a godly life the grace of the Lord it's the chastening and admonition of the Lord and if you and I are to fulfill our task we must have an accurate understanding of the unchangeable God-assigned role and then there must be principled spirit-filled commitment to the task principle...

59:46 - 61:12 Read in full sermon

The point: Ask your husband if he senses you embrace his headship as a religious conviction and reverence his position and person, seeking his help to improve.

He uses James' analogy of a man looking in a mirror, seeing dirt, and then forgetting it, to warn against hearing sermons without applying them and seeking the Spirit's grace for change.

that I do embrace it in everything do you sense dear that I reverence your position and your person as my God given head if not where not help me dear help me that I might be light and salt in this crooked and perverse generation that's how we make progress in grace not by hearing sermons that we say well that was nice and that was good and go on our way James says you're like the man who looks in the mirror and says uh oh got a blot of coal over here and got a little bit over here I better go wash my face he walks away from the mirror completely forgets puts on his tuxedo and his finest and s...

65:37 - 67:05 Read in full sermon