Husbands and Wives Before God #1

The point: Desire for the Holy Spirit to clarify understanding and move hearts to greater commitment to be the husband/wife God desires.

Martin uses the fanciful analogy of a foolproof truth serum and brain electrodes to reveal the audience's inner thoughts and attitudes towards the sermon topic, setting the stage for a discussion of God's true discernment.

The following message was delivered at the 1992 New England Reformed Baptist Family Conference. Now I'm quite confident that if not every single one of you, the vast majority of you, are very much aware that the announced and assigned subject for this second hour each morning of the conference, as printed in the conference brochure, is husbands and wives before God. And I'm equally convinced it would be a most fascinating study were we able to inject each one of you with a clinically proven, foolproof truth serum. A truth serum that under very close and widespread clinical and laboratory exami...

0:01 - 1:02 Read in full sermon

The point: Husbands, do not refuse to learn to love your wife with tender, selfless, sacrificial love like Christ loved the Church.

The analogy of a frustrated dieter who cynically views new diet announcements is used to illustrate the reluctance some feel towards hearing familiar biblical commands about marriage, having heard them many times without personal change.

But alas, it's like the disappointed, frustrated would-be dieter who's read every book on how to lose weight, and the scale still says you're carrying around a mound of unwanted blubber. And so when some women's periodical or some television commercial announces the new sure-fire diet, you look at that announcement with cynical reluctance, even to consider that anything will work for you. I'm convinced there are probably some for whom the projection would express the language of cynical reluctance. For others, I'm sure there would be very strong language of carnal aversion to be reminded of du...

3:11 - 4:39 Read in full sermon

Driving home: It would be blasphemy to transfer all of the doctrine of the fear of God which is a synonym for true religion to transfer all that to Christ not God it would be blasphemy but Paul does it with shall I say the abandonment…

Martin uses the example of touching a hot plate and the body's immediate, coordinated response to illustrate how the unity and usefulness of the body of Christ depend on the subservience of each part to the whole and to the head.

subject unto the elder yea all of you be clothed with humility to serve one another Romans 12 10 in honor preferring one another Philippians 2 3 each esteeming other better than himself and the basic idea is that since God has constituted us a body in Christ that the unity and usefulness of that body depends on the subservience of each part to the whole and the whole to the head and that grows very naturally out of our common experience with our own bodies if I inadvertently were to have reached out this morning in the guest house where we have our little coffee pot with its warmer plate that ...

22:20 - 23:49 Read in full sermon

The point: Live in the whole of your Bible to better implement the specifics of Ephesians 5.

Martin references Sarah's calling Abraham 'Lord' even in her unbelieving giggle (Genesis) as an example of a virtuous address, showing how living in the whole Bible provides insights for wives.

implement the specifics of Ephesians 5 the more you live in the whole of your bible the better you will be able to implement the specifics of Ephesians 5 likewise you wives the more you live in the whole of your bible the more you will be at home in this passage for you remember in a parallel passage Peter picks an incident right out of the book of Genesis when an unbelieving woman who's past the flower of her age has heard that God's going to give her a child and behind a tent flat she's giggling in unbelief. But in her giggle there's a virtue. She calls her husband Lord. And the Holy Ghost r...

50:12 - 51:18 Read in full sermon

The point: Live in the whole of your Bible to better implement the specifics of Ephesians 5.

Martin uses Abigail as an example of a godly woman, encouraging wives to find inspiration in such biblical figures.

But when she giggled she still called him by the right name. Now you see as you live in your Bible, women, you'll find little hints and examples. You come to the life of Abigail. Every time I read that I say, Lord, give us, give us, give us an army of Abigails.

51:44 - 51:59 Read in full sermon

The point: Come under the discipline of God's grace to feel comfortable with the subordination of women to men in the home, church, and society, without feeling contradiction or false guilt.

Martin shares a personal anecdote about asking his wife if her conscience was with him on speaking about Ephesians 5, to demonstrate his commitment to living out the principles he preaches.

Thinking biblically, no contradiction. And we must remember that as we come to Ephesians 5, as best I know my heart before God, I not only believe that, but I've sought for 36 years to live with a woman in the light of it. In my last words before I left the home yesterday morning, where, honey, I'm going to speak on Ephesians 5, is your conscience with me? She kissed me and said, it's totally with you there.

55:58 - 56:27 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin explains that Ephesians 5 is organically joined to the entirety of Scripture, drawing from creation and natural revelation. He also stresses that the passage stands within…

Martin uses the metaphor of a platform he stands on to preach as a 'presupposition,' explaining that it's something foundational that one might not think about until it's removed.

He recognizes the peculiar struggles of the one who is called to be subordinate to another, and he justifies that he is subordinate. jealously guards any abuse of the place and the influence of the one who is in the position of authority. Now then, very quickly in my remaining five minutes, we've looked at the immediate and remote context of the passage. Secondly, the broader setting of the passage. Now the undergirding presuppositions of the passage. For you kids, presuppositions are just the things you stand on. This platform is my presupposition of preaching. I'm standing on it. Take it awa...

59:56 - 60:57 Read in full sermon

The point: Wives who refuse to take Ephesians 5 as normative will die the eternal death in hell as impenitent, unconverted rebels.

Martin describes the dysfunctional and often cruel nature of pagan Gentile family life in Roman times (e.g., infanticide) to highlight the radical transformation expected of Christians despite their backgrounds.

Paul assumed. They're in a state of grace. Therefore, the dynamics of grace are at work. The motives of grace move them and the knowledge of basic Christian truth shapes their actions. And then the second and final presupposition I want to drive home is this. Paul presupposes that the diversity and difficulty of background is no excuse to the implementation of these directives. These were pagan Gentiles. He says so. You were without Christ, without hope. You were at that time. What was Gentile

65:37 - 66:24 Read in full sermon