Divine Directive to Married Men Part 2

Correction and Context for the Sermon

0:02 Now before we turn to the scriptures, I do want to just mention that I am not so antiquated and out of touch with reality that in truth I do not know the difference between Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson. If I were put under oath as to what I said this morning, I even saw in my mind's eye when I was making that point that no amount of impressiveness in monetary matters or athletic ability should be the great concern for any woman contemplating a potential marriage partner. I even envisioned Michael Jordan's face, and I would have sworn I said Michael Jordan,

0:45 but the witnesses who will affirm that I said Michael Jackson have won the day. And I mention that seriously. I wrestled and prayerfully considered whether I should, but I have no confidence that the devil, will not take the slightest thing to try to erode the credibility of a preacher. And if the devil was trying to take that in the minds particularly of any of you young jocks, I do know the difference between the two very well.

1:12 Now let us turn in our Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 3, 1 Peter chapter 3, and I read in your hearing verse 7.

1:28 You husbands, in like manner, dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor unto the woman as unto the weaker vessel, as being also joint heirs of the grace of life, to the end that your prayers be not hindered. Now those of you who frequent this place of worship with any understanding of our normal patterns will know that generally when we come to our Lord's Supper of Remembrance, the ministry of the Word is often, most frequently, what we would call a communion meditation. That is, we consider a portion or a theme from the Word of God

2:13 that in a very focused way draws our attention to the death of our Lord Jesus or some aspect of the benefits or the implications of His redemptive love to us. However, due to a preaching schedule that will find me out of the pulpit next Lord's Day, my son-in-law will be here on vacation, and the elders conscripted him to preach, it would have meant that two weeks would pass between the exposition of 1 Peter 3.7a and 1 Peter 3.7b, and so I judge that it would be good to complete this morning's message

2:55 and to bring at the end of that message what I trust will be not an unnatural but a very natural application, in preparation for coming to the Lord's table. And so I'm going to try to condense into five to seven minutes, an hour's worth of exposition from this morning, and then we will pick up where we left off in our study. We took up this text in the course of our regular expositions of the book of 1 Peter under the subject of the divine directive to married men. And we noted this morning, first of all, the objects of this divine directive.

Review of the First Strand of Duty: Dwelling According to Knowledge

3:37 Peter is writing to husbands, to married men. But he's not writing to all married men, but to married men who are Christians. Those described in the first two chapters of this letter who possess all of those realities of salvation in Christ, which Peter has so powerfully described by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. He can therefore, assume that these husbands have grace-implanted motives inclining them to obey this directive, and grace-imparted power enabling them to obey this directive.

4:21 And then we began to consider, secondly, having looked at the objects of the divine directive, the substance of this divine directive. And I sought to demonstrate that the translation, given, in the New American Standard Version, far more accurately reflects the structure and the emphasis of the original. And this is the translation of the New American Standard. Live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman, and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, that your prayers not be hindered.

5:04 And we learn then, as we look at the passage, seeking to grasp the substance of this divine directive to married men, that there are two strands of gospel duty. We looked this morning at the first one, the duty to dwell with one's wife. The nature of that duty is bound up in the word, dwelling together with, and it points to the entire spectrum of the experience, of married life, of two people living together, in the multi-leveled commitments of the marital bond. And then we considered the measure, or the standard of this duty.

5:47 Peter says that husbands are to dwell together, the words, with their wives understood, they are to dwell together according to knowledge. They are to dwell together, and, in that dwelling, the husbands have a peculiar responsibility to possess knowledge, accurate knowledge, as to the nature of the marital bond, what God has to say about the responsibilities, as well as the privileges of the marital relationship. Their feelings, inherited patterns, current notions and theories about marriage,

6:32 are not to regulate, the husband's relationship to his wife. He is to dwell together with her according to knowledge, and then we noted, thirdly, the primary focus of this particular part of the duty. Peter says, husbands dwell together with your wives according to knowledge, as unto the weaker vessel, the wifely or the feminine one. In other words, that knowledge is to have a peculiar focus upon the fact that she is constituted by God's creative design and wisdom, the weaker vessel.

7:15 And I sought to demonstrate that that weaker vessel is to be understood in terms of the wife being weaker physically and positionally. And perhaps in concluding that summary, I can do no better than quote the Lutheran commentary, by David Erlensky, who writes, The wife is the weaker vessel. Paganism always tends to abuse her on this account. Her rights are reduced, often greatly.

7:45 Her status is lowered, often shamefully. Heavy loads are put upon her. She is made man's plaything or man's slave. The fact that she is weaker is always exploited.

7:59 That is why Peter inserts the phrase regarding, regarding knowledge. Christian knowledge will accord the wife all the consideration and all the thoughtfulness which God intends for her as a weaker vessel in her wifely relations. Peter himself had a wife. Whether she was still alive at this time and was with Peter at this writing, we do not know.

8:28 And surely that summarizes the heart of the concerns, as I sought to amplify and apply them, that the husband is never to look upon the wife as the weaker vessel and use that reality as an occasion to exploit her. But he is to dwell with her according to knowledge in the light of that identity given to her in the creative wisdom and purpose of God. That's the review. Now we come to the second strand of duty as found in the words.

The Second Strand of Duty: Giving Honor to One's Wife

9:00 Giving honor. Hating. as being also joint heirs of the grace of life. Here is the duty to give honor to one's wife.

9:12 And in trying to unpack it, I'll do so under two simple headings. Let's look at the nature of this duty, giving honor, and then the primary focus of this duty as also fellow heirs of the grace of life. The word that Peter here uses for giving is, like so many of Peter's words, found only here in the New Testament. It is a word that means to assign, to show, or to pay.

9:44 And so Peter, writing to husbands, says, Husbands, you are not only to dwell with your wives according to knowledge, particularly focusing your understanding upon her identity as the weaker vessel, but you are to continue. You continually be assigning, showing, or paying out honor to her. You are to assign, to show, to demonstrate honor. Now this word, honor, is a word that is one of Peter's favorite words.

10:17 He used it in chapter 1 in verse 7. That the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold that perishes, though it is proved with fire, may be found unto praise and glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Honor has in this context, as its companion, praise and glory. Husbands, you are to give, you are to pay, you are to assign, to show honor to your wives.

10:50 In 2 Peter 1, 17, It is honor which the Father showed to the Son when the voice spoke out of heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. In those breathtaking scenes of heaven's praise in Revelation 4 and chapter 5, and we find creatures in the presence of God ascribing glory and honor to God, and then in chapter 5, to the Lamb, you get a feeling of what this honor is. It means to regard someone or something as of great value, value and worth, and to treat it accordingly.

11:34 To think of it in terms of its intrinsic worth, to think of Him in terms of His intrinsic worth, and to give verbal expression to that recognition. And so the second strand of duty has to do with the husband being under solemn obligation to constantly assign, to show, to show honor to his wife. Then notice the primary focus of this duty.

The Primary Focus of Honor: Joint Heirs of the Grace of Life

12:07 Constantly showing honor as being also joint heirs of the grace of life. In other words, the wife is to be held in honor because of what she is by the saving grace of God. She, with her husband, is, is an heir of all of that which God has purchased for His people. Peter says to these husbands, the honor you give to your wife is to have as its reference point

12:46 that which God has assigned to your wife as an heir of the grace of life. The root of this word, fellow heir, is the word Peter used for inheritance in chapter 1 in verse 4. is the word Peter used for inheritance in chapter 1 in verse 4. is the word Peter used for inheritance in chapter 1 in verse 4.

13:03 All of God's people have been begotten again unto a living hope and unto an inheritance. And our wives are fellow inheritors with us of that which Peter calls the grace of life. The free unmerited favor of God that has conferred spiritual and eternal life upon the wife equally with the husband. Eternal life in its present reality.

13:36 Eternal life in all of its future glory. In all of the pledged commitments of God that constitute the inheritance. And Peter says to these husbands, now you husbands, not only must you dwell with your wife according to knowledge, a knowledge that peculiarly recognizes who and what she is in virtue of creation, the weaker vessel, weaker physically, weaker positionally, but you must also constantly give her honor in the light of what God has made her in His grace. And he turns from the focus upon creation as weaker vessel

14:19 to the privileges of grace as fellow heir. And he says you must think of her in terms of who and what she is by the grace of God. In the wisdom, the wisdom and purpose of God in creation, she is the weaker vessel in the marital bond. In terms of what she is in virtue of redemption, she is fellow heir with you of the grace of life.

14:48 And all that the grace of God has purposed in the conferral of spiritual life and blessing is hers equally with you. And therefore you husbands, constantly assigned, to her, show to her, pay honor to her as joint heir of the grace of life. In your internal attitudes toward her, in your actions with respect to her, in what you demand of your children, in the way they relate to her, you husbands constantly show honor to your wife

Illustration: The Antique Bowl and Recognizing Worth

15:31 as joint heir, as co-heir of the grace of life. Now to try to illustrate how critical this is in the way we relate to our wives, try to imagine with me, that someone has moved into a home that was lived in before they moved into it. They are not the first dwellers. The previous owners cleaned out just about everything, but once the new family comes in, they find in the basement, an old bowl covered with dirt and grime.

16:02 An old bowl covered with dirt and grime. Who knows how long it's been stuck there on a shelf in the basement. So when they are settling in, they have a bunch of odds and ends of nuts and bolts and brackets to hang shades, et cetera. Most of us have such a thing in the basement where we put all of the odds and ends and the bits and the pieces.

16:25 And so they figure this old grimy bowl will make a lovely receptacle for all of the bits and pieces of household hardware. And so it begins to serve them. You have that purpose well, and then, as some of you may do with such old bowls, when you need to have a bowl in which to clean out a paint brush, you'll temporarily dump out the nuts and bolts and curtain fixtures and the rest and slop-in whatever you're going to use, the paint thinner or the brush cleaner, and you use it and throw it out. And back go in the nuts and bolts, and that's the way it's been used for five years.

17:00 Then, one day, you have a friend over, and he happens to come down into the basement with you, eye catches that bowl. And he says to you, where'd that bowl come from? You say, oh, it was here when we came here. Just an old grimy, dirty old bowl. We used it for this.

17:12 And he says, let me take a closer look at that. And this person, who happens to be a little bit knowledgeable in antique bowls, says, you know, you may have something here of some worth. I understand that Antique Roadshow is coming to town in two months. You all know what Antique Roadshow is. Most of you are laughing. That's a traveling troupe that gives

17:32 free appraisals of people's junk. And sometimes they discover that the junk is expensive junk and really worth something. So Antique Roadshow comes to town. And so you go clean up your bowl. And you wait in line. And finally, you're there. And lo and behold, the television

17:47 crew comes and focuses on you. And you say, hmm, maybe something's going here. Well, to make a long story short, someone who really knows that type of bowl says, do you know what you have here? You have a very rare 18th century bowl.

18:02 And then you have a very rare 18th century bowl. And then you have a very rare 18th century bowl. And then you have a very rare 18th century bowl. And then you have a very rare 18th century bowl. And then they give you all the history of it and the rest. And then the moment of

18:05 truth comes. Do you have any idea what this is worth? And you look at them very still and say, I don't have a clue. And he says, this is now going on the auction markets for $30,000 to $35,000. And whatever you do, I hope you don't express an expletive that takes

18:24 the name of God like so many do. But you show your surprise and your wonder. Now I want to ask you something. Does that bowl go back?

18:34 In the basement to hold odd nuts and bolts and curtain fixtures? No, no. You take it home very gingerly. You make sure that it goes into a prominent place, safe, secure, well sheltered in your finest china closet. Now what's happened? Between the time it was

18:58 down in your basement and it ends up as a centerpiece in your china closet, has anything happened to its own intrinsic? Is it worth as an antique bowl? No. All the difference is in your recognition of that bowl, which changes your whole disposition and treatment of that bowl. Do you follow

19:22 me? The bowl was worth $30,000 down in your basement. The problem was you didn't recognize it for its intrinsic worth. And after the appraiser was done, you recognized its worth.

19:36 Now you treat it accordingly. You say, what in the world does that have to do with 1 Peter 3? 7. Will you look at the text? Husbands, not only are you to dwell with your wives according

19:48 to knowledge, a knowledge that focuses upon what they are as weaker vessel in creation, but recognize their tremendous worth in redemption. Don't treat them like an old jump bowl when God has made a precious antique bowl. See their true worth. 8. What is God's estimation of them? He has conferred upon them all the blessings of

20:21 His salvation in Christ. He has made them heirs of that inheritance, incorruptible, undefiled, and that fades not away. You, husbands, give them the honor that is their due in the light of what God has made them in His grace. That's what Peter is saying. You continually

20:45 Nietzsche excessively accuses the are湿 and unless there is됒 The sole rule of conduct is nonheritance. There is no other condition on this. Let me give you two pictures of Mary that show campaign gün stock internet. 1 Just imagine a hall bright, surrounded by a great abundance of earth, full of свет был

Creation and Redemption as the Basis for Marital Duty

21:14 It cannot help but radically alter the way you think of her, the way you speak of her and to her and about her, the way you will demand any within your household relate to her as joint heir of the grace of life. Now, do you see what Peter has done? I've already alluded to it, but I want to focus upon it. He has highlighted the duty of husbands towards their wives in the light of the great biblical realities of both creation and redemption.

21:52 In creation, they were constituted the weaker vessel, weaker physically, weaker in their position of subordination to the husband. Rather than being the occasion of exploitation, of abuse. Peter says, for the Christian husband, this becomes the occasion of dwelling with her according to a knowledge that constantly is reminding itself of her position as weaker vessel.

22:27 And then he joins to that the responsibility of constantly giving honor to her in the light of the redemptive grace of God. You are joint heirs. Of the grace of life. Now, with an onlooking world, and remember, this is Peter's constant burden in this epistle.

22:49 How these Christians in Asia Minor will impact their pagan neighbors. And we find that emphasis coming through again and again. We've already found it, as we've noted again and again in chapter 2, verses 11 and 12. Peter, in calling these believers to a radically different Christian lifestyle, is conscious that the Gentiles, the unconverted, will look at the life of the people of God.

23:18 And will see that pattern of life. Later on in this chapter, he will speak of that lifestyle being so different from those in the world that they will eventually ask, what is it that makes you tick? And Peter says, sanctify Christ as Lord, ready always to give an answer to everyone who asks you concerning, the hope that is within you. And surely, my brothers, I speak to my fellow Christian husbands, in a day when on the one hand machoism and the abuse of women abounds, in which they are looked upon as playthings, in which they are looked upon as something to be exploited,

24:03 or on the other hand, where we have this cursed, wimpy out of all responsibility, and of all aggressive masculinity, men who've been neutered by aggressive feminism. What an opportunity to bear witness to the transforming grace of God, to see husbands that are graciously assertive, protectively assertive,

24:32 honorably assertive, knowledgeably assertive, sensitively assertive, so that in a sense, the way we relate to our wives ought to cause the worlding to scratch his head. And when they see godly wives embracing their place under the protective strength of their husbands, under the government of their husbands, it ought to cause them to be amazed and say, you actually seem to be comfortable in a relationship in which it's clear who wears the pants in your family. And for you to say with a smiling face, yes, I'm a liberated woman. I'm free to be joyfully what God made me to be,

25:17 the weaker vessel.

25:21 That's what it means to be a radical Christian woman in this age. For you as a husband to make it evident that you bear the burden of leadership in the home and leadership with your wife, that you are conscious that this is not an egalitarian relationship where we divide the leadership 50-50. No! God's made me the head and the leader.

25:44 He calls my wife to be in submission to me, to follow in the steps of her spiritual mother, Sarah, who obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord. And yet, and yet, while seeing that role assumed and the burden of it discharged nobly, they sense that we do not speak of women in a demeaning way. For as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. And out of the abundance, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

26:13 It's often in semi-jesting little words that we show what's really in there. We will have no sympathy for language that in any way is dishonorable to women. We will not engage in activities that in any way would cast any shadow over the nobility and honorableness of those who are our wives. This is what Peter calls us to.

The Crowning Incentive: Unhindered Prayer

26:41 As Christian husbands, you are to dwell with them according to knowledge, and you are to show honor to them as joint heirs of the grace of life. Now, having looked at the subjects of this divine directive, Christian husbands, the substance of this divine directive, two strands of gospel duty, each one buttressed with a peculiar reason, now we come thirdly and finally to the question of the divine directive. Now, we come thirdly and finally to the question of the divine directive. Now, we come thirdly and finally to the crowning incentive to obey this divine directive.

27:16 The crowning incentive to obey this divine directive. And what is it? Peter says, to the end, that your prayers be not hindered. And the peculiar structure in the original points to a negative purpose which refers back to both strands of duty.

27:42 The NIV, though it's a bit paradoxical, captures the sense of what Peter wrote. Do this so that nothing will interfere with your prayers. Now, let me take a moment to explain the words. The words, that your prayers be not hindered, again, is one of these words rarely used in the New Testament, but it is used in other places.

28:07 In the secular Greek of that day, it would be the word you would use to describe what an army might do in blowing up a bomb. A bridge in order to hinder an approaching army or a retreating army. To impede the progress of an enemy by breaking up his road, by radically interfering. It's the word that Paul used in Romans 15.22

28:30 when he speaks of being hindered in his purposes of coming to Rome. Galatians 5.7 You were running well. Who hindered you?

28:39 Who stepped in the racetrack and stopped you, turned you aside out of the way? That's the word. That's the word that he uses. And he says to these men as the crowning incentive to obey the divine directive, if you are indifferent to this, if you do not in gospel strength render obedience to this directive, your prayers will be impeded.

29:03 Your prayers will be cut off. Your prayers will be hindered. Now how? Whose prayers?

29:12 How are they hindered? When he said that your prayers, be not hindered. Is he speaking of the prayers of the husband and wife? Some commentators believe he is.

29:22 And then they draw out many very practical applications of the text that are very good, that are very true. However, remember, Peter is speaking to the husbands. Verse 7, You husbands, and unless there is compelling contextual reason, we must believe that when he says that your prayers, he is referring primarily to, to the husbands.

29:47 Now, let me ask you as you sit here, does the hearing of the words that a given course of action will do something to your prayer life, does that strike any deep interest in you?

30:01 Or do you breathe easy and say, well, if the only consequence of blowing this off and treating it like I do a lot of other sermons is something will happen to my prayer life, no big deal. My friend, if that's your disposition, I seriously question you whether you're a child of God. For the true child of God, few things touch a more sensitive core than those things that pertain to whether or not that child of God can enjoy the peculiar intimacy and communion with God that are found in the place of prayer.

30:34 And Peter is assuming that when he says to these Christian husbands, look, any of you tempted to treat these directives lightly, any of you tempted to think, well, if I feel like it, yes, if I don't, it's a matter of indifference. He says, look, this is a matter of whether or not your prayers cut a straight course through into the ear of God or whether they are cut off in their progress, whether they are hindered, whether they are impeded. Now, how would refusal to comply with these directives hinder their prayers? Well, think of what the Word of God teaches, of what happens from God's perspective in one of His children who would come into His presence to pray

31:18 is not dealing honestly with his duty or with his failure to perform duty. Psalm 66, 18, If I had regarded iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not hear. If you countenance iniquity, if you deliberately treat any form of iniquity with indifference, the psalmist said, the Lord would not hear. Isaiah 59, 1 and 2, The Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither His ear, heavy that it cannot hear, but your sins have separated between you and your God so that He will not hear.

31:59 From God's perspective, when His children are deliberately countenancing iniquity, God says, I will not hear you. Yes, He will hear the prayer of penitence and brokenness, but we cannot treat our sins with carelessness and think we can crash into the presence of God and have an intimate hearing. And then from our perspective, our prayers will be hindered because once the light of God's truth has come to our minds and puts its pressure upon our consciences and we do not yield to the pressure of truth and independence upon the grace of God walk in the way of truth, we now have a bloodied and guilty conscience.

32:39 And that is a horrible hocking of your spiritual feet when you try to go into the presence of God. If you go into the presence of God to have a guilty conscience cleansed by righteousness, repentance and confession and fresh going to the fountain open for sin and uncleanness, that's one thing. But you try to deal with God on other matters when your conscience is bloodied because of sin that you're not dealing with. Your prayers are hindered.

33:07 Furthermore, such a state grieves the Spirit who is the Spirit of grace and supplication. And there is no fresh, imminent enablement of the Spirit of God drawing us out in prayer. So he says to these men of all the motives he could have laid before them, by the guidance of the Spirit of God, Peter picks out this one and says, now you husbands, I've given you this directive as an apostle of Jesus Christ. The will of God for you is this.

33:39 Dwell with your wives according to knowledge in the light of what they are as the weaker vessel. Continually give them honor in the light of what they are as joint heirs of the grace of life and never forget that the fulfillment, the pursuit of this duty is a matter of whether or not you're going to be heard when you go into the presence of God. And surely among the many things that this underscores, it underscores a vital biblical principle found in many places of Scripture that your horizontal relationships have a great impact. I'm sorry that your, yes, your horizontal relationships have a great impact

34:22 upon your vertical relationship to God. You can't be all wrong at this level and be all right at this level. Remember how Jesus emphasized this in the model prayer he gave to us? We're to pray, Matthew chapter 6, one of those petitions is this, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and what's the one petition Jesus amplifies in Matthew 6, verses 14 and 15?

34:57 The one petition that he amplifies in that entire model prayer, verses 14 and 15, for if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Your horizontal spiritual experience experiences have a tremendous impact upon your vertical spiritual relationship. In Mark chapter 11, in verse 25, Jesus said, when you stand praying, forgive.

Application to the Lord's Supper and Seeking Grace

35:37 If you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven. In other words, I would have dealings with God at the vertical dimension. I must be certain that the horizontal dimensions of relations to others are what they ought to be. Now, while I don't agree with the commentators who say that your prayers be not hindered as referring to the prayers of a husband and wife, I do agree that few things are more telling as to whether or not you're dealing as you ought with God in terms of your husbandly duties than your ability to pray with your wife.

36:15 I have found over the years that a ritual we established years ago where I kneel to pray with my wife and take a moment to take her hand and there's anything unresolved between us. Anything wherein I have not expressed dwelling with her according to knowledge, respecting what she is as weaker vessel, giving honor to her as joint heir, I would either have to cross the line into a form of gross hypocrisy that in my judgment could be the first big steps to apostasy. To hold her hand as a symbol of marital intimacy and be the mouthpiece at the throne of grace if things aren't right between us.

37:01 I find the pressure of that discipline to be a great means of grace. And we've had some of our most intense here publicly I call them in-depth marital discussions with more or less heat when attempting to pray together because there were issues that needed to be thrashed out and dealt with. And I think that's why a number of the commentators almost invariably say well it must mean that your prayers that is prayers as husband and wife because they had the same experience. And while I don't believe that's the direct meaning of the text surely, surely all of us understand that that is

37:45 one of the implications of whether or not we are dwelling with our wives according to knowledge giving honor to them as unto weaker vessel. Now we're going to come to the Lord's table in a few moments and I say to you my brothers who are husbands what better place to go to the fountain open for sin and uncleanness than here at the table and say Lord Jesus when the scripture says you died for our sins you died for my sins of failing to dwell with my wife according to knowledge. Lord Jesus you died for my sins

38:30 of not giving honor to my wife as joint heir fellow heir of the grace of life. Lord Jesus forgive me. What better place than here at the table to plead the promise of 1 John 1 9 if we confess our sins he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What better place to plead with God for present and future supplies of grace to do what the word of God tells us to do.

39:05 What better place than here at the table to plead the promise he that spared not his own son how shall he not with him also freely give us all things. Lord Jesus give me the things I need to dwell with my wife according to a knowledge that constantly remembers that you made her the weaker vessel.

39:30 Lord Jesus give me grace to constantly honor her as one whom you have made joint heir of the grace of life. For the death of Christ is not only God's answer to the problem of our sin it's God's pledge of his commitment to give us all things needful that the purpose for which Christ died might be realized in us. And so may we hear at this table tonight as Christian husbands go to the Lord Lord Jesus in the confession of sin and failure go to him in fresh appropriating acts of faith

40:14 that he would give us what we need that we may by his grace be husbands who are living commentaries on this text so if someone were to come and say to another what does it mean they would be able in some measure to say you look at that man and the way he relates to you to his wife and there you will see at least a faint picture of what it is to dwell with a wife according to knowledge in the light of who she is as weaker vessel and to give her honor as joint heir of the grace of life. Let's pray together.

41:04 Our Father we do thank you for your word. We thank you that it is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We pray that you would seal to all of our hearts this portion of your word that we have studied today and we do ask that as we come to the table in a few moments that many of us will have deep heart dealings with you in the light of your truth. How we thank you that there is a fountain open for sin and uncleanness.

41:37 We thank you that having spared not your son you are committed and you have pledged with him also freely to give us all things. In his name therefore we plead for fresh supplies of grace that we who are husbands may be obedient to this directive given to us by your spirit through the pen of your servant and your apostle Peter. Help the wives with fresh commitment to your grace. Joyfully to take their place as the weaker vessel.

42:16 Joyfully embracing the mandate of your word that they be submissive to their husbands that they constantly strive for that true inner beauty of the meek and of the quiet spirit which in your sight is of great price. Oh Lord seal these things to our hearts. Bring them constantly to our remembrance. And give us grace to live them out in the power of your grace and in the strength of your spirit for Jesus' sake.

42:51 Amen.