(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Amen. Page 44. We'll work till Jesus comes. Page 44. We'll work till Jesus comes. On the first. Oh land of rest for thee I sigh. When will the moment come? When I shall lay my armor by and dwell in peace at home. We'll work till Jesus comes. We'll work till Jesus comes. We'll work till Jesus comes. And we'll be gathered home. To Jesus Christ I fled for rest. He made me cease to roam. And lean for soccer on his breast till he conduct me home. We'll work till Jesus comes. We'll work till Jesus comes. We'll work till Jesus comes. And we'll be gathered home. On the last. I sought at once my Savior's side. No more my steps shall roam. With him I'll break death's chilling tide and reach my heavenly home. We'll work till Jesus comes. We'll work till Jesus comes. We'll work till Jesus comes. And we'll be gathered home. Amen. At this time we'll have our announcements. Welcome to Sure Foundation Baptist Church. Our Thursday evening service. If you don't have a bulletin raise your hands. One of the ushers will bring you one. Just raise your hands nice and high. The front cover of our bulletin we have our verse of the week. He has showed thee, O man, what is good and what doth the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God. Micah 6 verse 8. If you open up your bulletins you'll see our service times on the left. The Sunday morning service is at 1030. The Sunday evening service is at 330. And the Thursday evening Bible study is at 630. Tonight the pastor is still out of town. We'll be having brother Robert preach for us. Our soul winning times are listed below that. Do we have any salvations for tonight? No salvations today but that's alright. We have labors that went out. We have our praise report below that. And then we have our upcoming events. We look forward to the Shure Foundation Baptist Church North 5th year anniversary. That's on September 8th to September 10th. And then on September 12th there's a homeschool field trip at Mount St. Helens Visitor Center. That's at 10 a.m. And then on the 30th of September we'll be having the wedding for brother Ryan and Miss Amanda. That'll be at 12 p.m. And there will be a reception to follow. It's going to be potluck style and there's a sign up sheet. So sign up if you would like to bring something. And if you'd like to help with the wedding please see Miss Alejandra. We'll be having a sign up soon for the annual pumpkin patch at Busy Farms. That's on October 7th. Always a good time. And then we have some conferences to look forward below that. Now we're a family integrated church. Children and infants are always welcome in the church service. But we have available for you mother and dad baby rooms available in the back. And please reserve the back rows for families with young children. And also please silence your cell phones at this time. And with that, that's the end of our announcements. And we'll have our next song. I was called to do the song so I'll finish my duty. And our next song this evening is... Sorry about that. 121. Song number 121, Like a River, Glorious. Like a River, Glorious. Song 121 in your green hymnals. On the first. Like a river, glorious Is God's perfect peace Over all victorious In its bright increase Perfect yet it floweth Fuller every day Perfect yet it groweth Deeper all the way State upon Jehovah Hearts are fully blessed Finding as He promised Perfect peace at rest Hidden in the hollow Of His blessed hand Never poke and follow Never traitor's hand Not a surge of worry Not a shade of care Not a blast of hurry Touch the Spirit there State upon Jehovah Hearts are fully blessed Finding as He promised Perfect peace at rest Every joy or trial Fallen from above Traced upon our dial By the Son above We may trust Him fully All for us to do They who trust Him wholly From Him wholly true State upon Jehovah Hearts are fully blessed Finding as He promised Perfect peace at rest Great singing. With that, we'll have our ushers come forward to receive the offering. Brother Ramon, will you pray for the offering? Heavenly Father, thank you so much for your spiritual work. It's great to have you here tonight. Brother Robert, it's a spirit. You've done so well. We bless this offering. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Do we have a Bible? There should be one under the chair. Ephesians 5 Ephesians 5 Be therefore followers of God, as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. But fornication in all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints, neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, no unclean person, no covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them, for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord, walk as children of light. For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord, and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light, for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 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, so ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself, for no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth it and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones, and for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence her husband." Brother Jew, could you pray for us, please? All right. Man, what a great opportunity to be able to preach here tonight for you guys. I also appreciate everyone showing up to listen to me. But if you look down in Ephesians 5, verse 25, it says, The title of my sermon here tonight is Husbands Love Your Wives. Husbands Love Your Wives. I'm going to open up in prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, I just thank you for the chance to be able to preach here. This church, Lord, I thank you for this great church. And Lord, just help me to edify the congregation here today, Lord, and give me boldness to preach your word, and clarity of mind, Lord, and just help limit all distractions here today, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So again, the title of my sermon is Husbands Love Your Wives. And I want to preach this topic for some time now, but it just so happens, you know, I've been reading the book of the Song of Solomon, and so there's a lot of similarities there, and that's why I went over to Ephesians 5, so it's definitely something that I wanted to preach. And we need to hear something like this in 2023, because marriage is under attack, and many understand how we need to love our wives. We don't need to take a worldly standpoint from it, but we need to take a biblical standpoint from it, and that's what I'm going to preach on here today. And I know men out there are probably getting your cell phones right, texting Pastor Thompson, right? He's preaching some heresy. Get him out of here, right? No, no, no, I'm not preaching any heresy. I'm preaching from the Word of God. It says, Husbands, love your wives. Even Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. In Proverbs 18, 22, it says, Whosoever findeth the wife, findeth the good thing, and obtaineth favor in the Lord. So it's favor of the Lord to have a wife, and men need to be able to stand up and be a man of the house. That's a problem I see a lot in today's world, especially within Christianity, where men just don't want to stand up, be good husbands. So in this message, I want to really dig deep here and show you what it takes to become a man and to leave your wives and to honor and glorify her. Look at verse 1. So the book of Ephesians here, look at verse 1. What is chapter 5 about here? Ephesians 5, verse 1, it says, Be ye the followers of God, as ye children. Verse 2, And walk in love, as Christ also loved us, and gave himself for us, an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling Savior. So it says, Hey, be followers of God. Really, that's what this book is opening up. And then look, verse 33, the last verse there says, Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself. And the wife see that she reverenced her husband. And I don't think there's no mistake here. It opens up saying how you should be followers of God. Walk in love, as Christ also loved us. And then it closes with how we should love our wives. And the wives should reverence her husband. But then right in the middle of it all, verse 25, husbands love your wives. So I don't think it's any mistake there when God put that in the Bible. Why? Because men need to be able to love their wives. And it definitely needs to be a topic that needs to be preached here in today's world. Because we shouldn't take the world's standpoint. We should take from God's Word. God wants us to love our wives and not to think of them any lower or somehow lower grade than us, if you will. Just because we're supposed to be leaders in the house or in our home doesn't mean they're somehow lower grade than us or anything. We shouldn't disrespect them. We should honor them. But obviously we should also be leaders. So I really hope this message helped the guys out there that are husbands, you know, really just want to love your wives. And I really thought about this a lot. And I didn't know if I was going to say it or not. And, you know, I was kind of hesitant on preaching this. But, you know, I'm a divorced man. I'll just go out there and say it. You know, you can take my standpoint. You know, I got a lot of good points in here, but I'm going to use the Bible. And you can correlate that self. You can use these verses for your own self and see if you can come up to it, you know, and really just know that you're supposed to love your wife. And that's really objective with it here tonight. You don't think I should be preaching that? That's fine. I really don't care. Because I'm going to use the Word of God and I'm going to show you that we should be loving our wives. It's the most important. We should want to grow old with them. You know, and we should want to help them and love them. Go on and turn to Proverbs 5. Proverbs 5. Proverbs 5, verse 15. It says, Drink water out of thine own cistern and running waters out of thine own well. So we should stop trying to find other cisterns and commit for the long haul in our marriage. Until death do us part. There's some marriage vows that we said when we got married to our wives. Look at, go to verse 18. You're in Proverbs 5. Look at verse 18. It says, Let thy fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. You know, we should be rejoicing with the wife that we have. When you love something really a lot, you want to rejoice so much, you just want to give back to something you really like and something you really admire, right? You want to give them gifts. You want to shower them with a lot of blessings. And so, you know, think about flowers, right? I mean, when's the last time you actually bought flowers for your wife? Or do you even know what that means? And when you go into the store, there's actually flowers there. You know, and I mean, hey, listen, they're really cheap. They are. You don't have to spend a lot of money to give your wife flowers. And maybe she doesn't want flowers, but you know what she wants. You know, the idea is that, hey, it's really easy to love them and to cherish something you have. You know, you should rejoice in them, what they do for you. The Bible says. And so, you know, when you're passing in the store, they're everywhere. In our grocery store, you see those flowers. So, you know, maybe your wife doesn't like flowers. I can understand that. You know, find something else that she likes and get that to her regularly. You know, show her the great things that she does for you. You know, admire that. Go on and turn to Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon, chapter 4. Song of Solomon, chapter 4, verse 7. It says, Thou art fair, my love. There is no spot in thee. Go to chapter 1, verse 10. In 4, go to Song of Solomon, chapter 1, verse 10. It says, Thy cheeks are calmly in the rose of jewels, Thy neck with chains of gold. So, again, the whole chapter, you know, chapter 4, chapter 1, is just showing how much love and respect, you know. I mean, you're writing these things to your wife and giving gifts, you know. Obviously, we don't talk like that in our modern day, you know. But you can. There's nothing wrong with that. But, you know, the objective here is you just want to cherish what you have and give to that lady that does so much for you. But the problem these days is men are kind of full of themselves, right? They have no leadership skills. They don't know how to lead their wives. And that's why I wanted to preach this message because we see it all around, everywhere. Just men do not know how to lead their homes. But I want to take a biblical standpoint of how we need to lead our homes, man, because it is a failure out there in this world. Don't take their standpoint. Don't listen to those people in the world. They don't know what they're doing. Take what the Bible says. So point one here tonight, the title of my sermon is Husbands Love Your Wives. But point one is men need to be spiritual leaders in the house. Men need to be spiritual leaders. Go on ahead and go to Ruth chapter 2. Most men don't know how to be leaders today. They have no clue. They're following the world and there's a lot of nonsense out there in this world. Come on, we see it all the time. Why would we want to follow that? Right? So let's look at the Bible here. It says in Ruth chapter 2, you're there, Ruth chapter 2 verse 14. It says, Hey, a good leader, you know, the point one there was men need to be spiritual leaders. Well, a good leader is someone who provides for their wife. That's one right there. You need to be able to provide for your wife. Make sure your family's taken care of. You know, don't be a lazy bum. Put food on the table. Right? Is that so hard to think? I mean, men don't know how to do that today. They don't know how to provide. Put food on the table. Because they're lazy. They're lazy bums. Right? They just want to sit back and think everything needs to come to them. We'll go out there and get your hands a little dirty and do some work. Stop being a lazy bum. We should be able to provide. And so we can see how Boaz provided there to Ruth. Right? Gave her plenty. She was well fed. She was taken care of. Don't make your wife support you. It's not the other way around. Okay, I understand some situations that may get into that. I'm not talking about that. A normal, you know, marriage couple, hey, the wife should not be supporting you. I will stand by that. Look at 1 Timothy 5, 8. So you and Ruth go to the New Testament, 1 Timothy 5, verse 8. It says, but if any provide not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, he had denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. Hey, it's up to men to provide. Don't be in denial about this. There was a guy I used to work with and he was in complete denial about this. He literally would sit there at the break table and complain because his wife was able to stay home and take care of the kids. And he was like, man, why does she get to stay home and do that? Like it was so easy, you know, just with the brush of his tongue. And I just remember, I wasn't even saying that, I just remember thinking, man, you're an idiot. You know, I mean, really, you want to go home and just sit there and take care of the kids? I mean, I don't know. I don't want to do that. You know, I know what she has to do. Trust me, I don't want that. You know, I got enough going on. Right? But he literally thought in his mind, he was a fool. He thought, oh, it's going to be so much easier to do that. Like, no, you're an idiot, man. Don't do it, you know. And he only had one kid and he thought, I mean, it's just funny. I remember always thinking back and he'd always talk about, oh, his friend, you know, he was able to stay home. I want to be like him, you know. And I'm just like, man, you're just worthless for a guy. There's no leadership in this world at all. No one wants to be. Everyone wants to stay home. You know, the men want to be a housewife. Come on, what's wrong? There's something wrong with that. Because the Bible says, but if any provide for his own, his own, but especially for those of his own house, he had denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. So that's pretty bad. That's low if you're going to be that man. So good leadership quality is, hey, you should provide for your own family. You know, have the basic needs for your family. But, you know, be provided for your home. You know, we look at that story of Ruth, how she was sufficed. You know, she was well fed, so you should be a Boaz in your life. But men just want to let the women jump in and answer for them all the time, right? They're too afraid to be a stand-up leader, to take a stand for what's right. They just really are afraid in this world. It's sad out there. We're going to turn to Job 31. So we need proper balance in our marriages today as well. Look at verse 6. Job 31 verse 6 says, Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity. So we are supposed to have like this just weight, right? We're supposed to do that. And the Bible refers to like the church, but also it could be in its resemblance to our own life, of how that we should have decent things, decently and in order, the Bible says. So that should be applied to everyone. And decently in order, a just weight, just balance. It's real important to God. We shouldn't have all these different balances in our lives. Hey, we should have the weight of men-should-be-men leaders in our home, right? And then we have, of course, the ladies. And under that, we're men, but not in a way that we should disrespect them by any means, is not what I'm saying. You know, because think about cults, right? They're really good at mistreating the women. I mean, the Mormons are good at it. The Muslims are really good at that. I mean, they dress their women in those long robes, right? And then they put this weird, freakish head cover over it where you can only see their eyes. Like, that's totally racist and disrespectful. There's nothing in the Bible that says we're supposed to do anything like that. And, you know, that's a cult. That's what cults do. And, you know, what about the Mormons? You know, polygamy, right? Just multiple wives. Who cares about the one? Just have multiple wives. Well, no, I mean, that's called adultery, right? Hey, man, and it's worthy of death. That's what the Bible says. So why do we want to have multiple wives? I mean, it's totally disrespectful. When I was in Canada, recently I went there summertime or so, and I went to the church there. We have a church in Manitoba. I think it was Manitoba. And the brother there, he was talking to me. Before he got saved, he was a Mennonite. He was in the religion of a Mennonite. That's really big in that area. They call themselves Christians, but they're not at all. And what's funny is that he said he remembers when he was going to church that they would completely separate the men and women in the congregation. The women were only allowed to be on this side and the men on this side. Totally like, man, oh, I don't want to sit by you. You know, your own wife, you don't want to sit by. I'm like, come on, I love sitting with my wife. You know, I want to get to know her more and more as much as I can and be with her as much as I can. I don't want to, just because we're at some building, all of a sudden I want to put her over there. Like, no, that's ridiculous, right? Where does that burst? It's not in there, you know, and Mennonites are just another cult. You know, they're just respectful. Oh, this is all separation. Well, yeah, that's pretty separated, if you ask me. But only when you're in the church. When you get home, it's okay, you can sit together. But the church, oh, no, we want the division, right? But being a leader doesn't mean you need to treat everyone else like they're nothing. You know, like making people sit over there versus over here. What does that even prove? It doesn't prove anything. Making your wives wear those long robes and covers, why? Well, it's because they want to be seen as men, really what it comes down to. Because the Bible does say, you know, what women should wear. 1 Timothy 2, 9, it says, And like men are also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with same face and essence of variety, not with broiler hair, gold pearls, or costly array. So the idea is that, you know, you should dress yourselves not to stand out of the crowd, you know, these elaborate outfits. But, you know, just because that's what the world wants, right? Because they just, I mean, look what most women wear, man. I mean, they're just, they're wicked, they're filthy, they don't even wear clothes half the time. So that's our example, that's what we're supposed to follow. My second point here today is don't be a cheater, man. Hey, husbands love your wives, but point two is don't be a cheater, okay? Turn to Matthew 5, verse 28. Matthew 5, verse 28. Men need to learn how to respect and love their wives. It's a big problem we have in today's world. Matthew 5, verse 28 says, But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her, hath committed adultery with her in his heart. So just looking at it, the Bible says, you're just looking at another woman to lust. Committed adultery, boom. What is adultery worthy of? Death, the Bible says. You know, we shouldn't have no part in that, we shouldn't want to be cheaters. Hey, second point. Men, do not, don't be a cheater. It's your wife. Commit to her. Love her. Help her. You know? Quit checking out other women. What is wrong? And that's a big thing with guys, like, it's huge. Like, I understand, hey, you know, and so you need to not look at that stuff. It's wicked as hell, the Bible says, and you want to be a good leader in your home? Stop checking out other women. It's that simple, right? Oh, it's okay, you know, the famous saying, right? It's okay to look, just don't touch. No, the Bible says, don't even look at them, they said. I mean, don't take, that's a worldly, what I just repeated, you know, don't look, don't touch, that's from the world. Don't take their standpoint. Take what the Bible says, it says, don't even look upon it. It's wicked as hell. Hey, look at your wife. Turn your head and look at your wife. All she does for you, everyday labor and helping with the kids or whatever she does, you don't have any kids, whatever, she's doing something. Check her out. Come on, I mean, how hard is that, you know? I don't know, I mean, look, you know the famous verse, right? Don't even look upon the wine, it says. So, you know, the Bible tells us how we shouldn't look upon certain things. Why? Because it just turns into more. Just repeat offender, right? More, want more, want more, more. And so, you know, guys, we get into this where we just want more. Start looking, we got to keep going, checking out. You know, I want to turn my head and check out my wife. Hey, man, that's how we should be. That's how you're going to become a great leader in your home and for life there. I just want to go over some statistics here. In Washington, I looked up the divorce rate in Washington. It says right here that every 12 minutes someone files for divorce. That's the state of Washington. An average marriage lasts about 8 years. So pretty sad statistics there, I think. You know, every 12 minutes. I mean, that's pretty sad. That's what this world is coming to. It should be zero. Amen? People should commit until death do their part. That's how it should be. That's how God wants it, right? And so the reason why, another reason why I'm preaching this here today is because my church never, church I used to go to, never preached on this. They would say, like, yeah, it's wicked to get divorced. We'd talk about that, but they would never preach full-length sermons ever. You know? And so I think that would really help out a lot, especially within Christianity, if preachers actually start standing up for the truth, the Word of God, and not afraid to preach it. Who cares what people think? Preach it like we should be, what the Bible says. And, you know, we shouldn't be one to just, we should be strong leaders, men, and not taking the worldly standpoint. I'm going to turn to Ephesians 4. Ephesians 4. So, you know, we don't want to learn from the world, but Ephesians 4 says who we should be learning from regularly, on a regular basis. That's why we come to church three times a week, and that's, you know, why we should be in our Bible reading, why we should be memorizing verses. But look at Ephesians 4. Look at Ephesians 4, verse 11. It says he gave some apostles, some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers. Why did they give him that? Verse 12. For the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ. So that's the whole objective there. So you want edification in life, you want to learn how to be a great leader, well, that's why we come to church regularly, right? That's why we get under great, you know, we listen to sermons when we're not at church. We're constantly putting that in our mind, like, hey, what's next? What do I need to learn next? You know, just call to yourself the remembrance, right? We need to remember that over and over again. Why? So we can grow in it. And so we can get the sin out of our lives and clean up and become strong leaders within our church and stop, within our families, and stop taking a worldly standpoint. But men, men always want to seek out the flesh, lust of the eyes. But love not the world, the Bible says. 1 John 2, about 15, it says, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that are in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is not of the Father, but of this world. So the lust of your eyes, you're always checking out the chicks, all that. Hey, that's of the world, the Bible says. And a lot of the leadership qualities that you have growing up from public school or whatever it may be, you need to forsake those and challenge them all and make sure, hey, am I doing this right? Is this going to help me and my family succeed for years to come? Are my children going to grow up and be great Christians, be God-fearing Christians? Well, you need to check yourself and make sure what you're doing there's the right qualities within God's rules so you can become a great leader. And your wives deserve respect. Not looking at, like I said, not looking at the other women. Look at your wife. She's the one that deserves respect. Go to James chapter 1. James chapter 1. But temptation happens to all of us. And we're not supposed to be looking at other women, obviously, but the temptation will easily beset us all. James 1, 12, it says, Blessed is a man that adored temptation, for when he has tried, he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord had promised to him that loved him. So, yeah, we're all going to endure temptation. It's going to happen. It doesn't mean it's a sin. You know, because, I mean, Christ, Hebrews 4, 15, For we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our affirmities, but was at all points tempted, like as we are, yet without sin. So even Jesus Christ himself was tempted, right? So we're going to be tempted. We should endure that. Not endure like, oh, get past it and fall into the wicked sin, but meaning overcome it, sort of. I don't know if I'm explaining myself good enough there, but, you know, basically, enduring temptation is, you know the temptation is going to happen, it's how you get through it. You know, like, endure and conquer, right? Conquer, there's difference there. You're going to conquer. Enduring means conquer, basically. You're conquering that temptation, meaning you're not going to fall into the sin, the lust of the eyes. So I hope I explained myself good there when it comes to that. But, you know, Jesus Christ is tempted in all points. So know that you are going to be tempted. It's how you come out of it. You know, and then, hey, blessed is a man that endured. Hey, bless those temptations that you fight all the time and you go through them. Hey, blessed are you for that, you know? And there's great rewards for that. Hey, yeah, sins in our life, we need to push through it. And, hey, blessed are you. Rejoice in that, that you conquered that. You fulfilled that victory in your life, you know? And so that you can look back and say, hey, yeah, I did. I pushed myself through that and now I've become stronger, you know? And that way you can become a stronger leader in your home. The title of my sermon is, Husband, Love Your Wives. My third point is, grow old together, not grow separate from one another. Grow old together, but don't grow separate from one another. So as the years go by, you should be growing stronger and closer together. Right? That makes sense. I mean, you're longer with somebody, you should know them better. It shouldn't be declining, you know? So make sure you do that, husbands, when you love your wives. Like, get to know them more and don't grow from them. Yeah, things are going to get busy, absolutely. But that doesn't, you should be growing stronger. Because you may wake up one day and, man, you're going to wake up with no kids in the house one day and you're like, I don't even know you. Like, who are you? You don't want to be that guy, right? You want to know, you want to know what color she loves. You know we have, we do that newlywed contest here, or not newlywed, but we do a contest here where all the couples retreat, I think is what it's called. And so you should know some of those answers. Off the top, you know, it should just ring right off the top of your tongue. You should know a lot about your wife. Right? And how you do that is you ask them questions, you get to know them personally, right? Going to turn to Song of Solomon chapter 7. Song of Solomon chapter 7. So back to Song of Solomon. Sorry, I should have had you put a bookmark there. But look down at verse, Song of Solomon chapter 7. Look at verse 11. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field. Let us lodge in the villages. Verse 12. Let us get up early to the vineyards. Let us see if the vine flourish. Where the tinder grapes appear and the pomegranates bud forth, there will I be, there will I give thee my loves. So verse 12. What does it say? Let us get up early to the vineyards. Explain how us, couple, man and woman, right? So us, we get up early. Maybe you don't get up early, maybe you stay up late. The objective is you get time alone together, right? That's where it is. And spending time with one another, getting to know one another. If there's something you really want to get done, you'll make sure it gets completed, right? Like your job. If there's something there you really want to get done, you're going to make sure that it gets completed. So that's where spending time is with your wife. Make sure you get it completed every week. Put it on your calendar, whatever you got to do. Make sure that time is there. Get up in the morning, read your Bible. I think I heard at one point how Pastor Roger Menes does that with his wife. Every morning he knows. He gets up and reads his Bible with his wife. Praise the Lord. That's a good example. That's something you could be doing. Maybe you're not an early riser. That's fine. Do it at night then. You got to be reading your Bible at some point during the day. So that time, set aside for you and your wife to spend some time. Get up early with them while the kids are sleeping. Because when you're young and you have the new family, right? You got that one kid, wife, take care of, right? You think, life's so busy. Oh, I got that one. Man, it's life. It's taxing. One kid. So much going on. I have no time for nothing, right? No. Wrong. It's wrong. It's the opposite. Because I know I've been there and I'm like, man, it's just I got all these things to do. Now I got a lot more than one kid. I'm like, man, I wish I was back then because now I really don't have any time, right? I mean, two or three kids, you can handle that. You start getting a five, six, seven, eight. It's like, eh. I mean, that's really taxing. That's when you really got to make sure you nail down your calendar so you can spend some extra time with your wife. You know, make sure you have time for her. And sit next to her. Go soul winning with your wife. You know? The good times, the bad times, do it all with her. Go together out soul winning with her so you can grow together in the Bible. There's nothing, like literally, there's nothing wrong with going soul winning with your wife. We have a lot of schedules so many times here. Bring your wife and go soul winning together. And you will learn a lot more. I mean, when I go soul winning with everybody in this, people in this church, like I learn more about each individual. So don't forsake, there's an opportunity. If you're just so busy, there's your opportunity to spend time with your wife out soul winning. And you can grow doctrinally and you have great, I mean, how many stories do we come back with all the time about this happened out soul winning, that happened out? Will that be a great memory to have with your wife out soul winning? Like, hey, remember when this freak said this or whatever, you know? Like, hey, praise the Lord for her execution, you know, a little bit or whatever, you know? So that's a perfect opportunity. That's just one area. There's many other areas that you could be spending a lot more time. And, I mean, how great is it to win souls with your wife? I mean, praise the Lord, there's nothing wrong with that. It will create some great memories. My fourth point here today is husbands. In order to be a good leader of your house or your home, be a good leader to your wife. Husbands, you need to protect your wife. Right? And that's, again, a big failure in today's world. Men don't know how to protect their wives at all, like Zilch. They let them rule over them. Go to Psalms chapter 23. So how can you protect your wives? There's many areas. Obviously, you know, most people are probably thinking or most men are thinking of strength, right? Protect your wives. But, you know, you can protect them from things in this world. Help them feel comfortable under your leadership, that they can go to you as a leader. I mean, that's a pretty good protection, you know? I mean, hey, I got this Bible question. Can I go to you? Or is it the other way around, right? Is she no more than you? Well, hey, you need to turn the table a little bit. Maybe it's time for you to start studying and get better at it. Psalm 23 verse 4 says, Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, thy comfort me. Verse 5, thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou annoyest my head with oil, my cup runneth over. So we know that's a famous verse there, how men are supposed to be protecting. The whole chapter's there for, you know, the women. The men are supposed to be leaders, right? And the women are supposed to sit there and be like, hey, that table, the food's going to be there. You know, I fear no evil. My cup runneth over because of all the blessings my husband is showering me with, right? And so that's how we should be, you know, protecting our wives. Protect them through the good times and the bad times. Things do get rough, right? I mean, they really will. So that, I mean, that's a skill that men have. We're just stronger there mentally sometimes, you know? We need to be able to realize that when our wife really needs us and to be able to comfort them. Because things do go bad. I don't know if you know that or not. But, you know, like, not just in marriage, but I mean, you know, and I'm not trying to make a joke there, but people do get really sick. I mean, we do lose loved ones. So are you going to be the one that just caves to? Or are you going to be there to help her? You know, we're supposed to protect our wives. She needs to be able to rely on you when things do get tough. And know, hey, what can help me here? Well, you can show them this first. Show your wife this first. Say, hey, look, you know, don't fear it. You know, or, you know, just help them. You know, financial problems come up too. I mean, that happens a lot to people. And you need to be able to push through that and know how to protect your wife and protect her. So that, you know, you guys can go through the hard times through each other. That's part of the marriage vows. And be able to hold it together. Hold your wife and your family together. And if you're consistently staying in the Word and growing in the grace, you know, that will help you get through the challenging times. I do believe that. It'll help make everything look easier. Through those hard times, if you're constantly in the Word of God, constantly growing, when you get to those hard times, it'll just be easier. You know, because the Bible, God says He promises it. The world doesn't promise that by any stretch of means. They don't know where they're going, right? I mean, more than half the people we talk to, they have no clue where they're going. There's no leadership quality skills at all. And the world is failing. And godly marriage is for sure. It's our job or our role to make sure our wives' cup runneth over in our lives. So, you know, that is a great quality to have within your life. As men, for their wives, make sure her cup runneth over. Not just a little bit. She's not half full, right? The cup's running over because of what you're doing. Also, another way that we can protect our wives is keep them from falling into sin. Right? And so, as a man, as a man of the house, you're supposed to know your Bible better. And so you should be able to foresee things that are happening within your house. If you're never there and you're never spending time, how could you know what's going on? Right? But we should be diligent at that. And we should be keeping them from falling into sin. You know, and that could just be simply by lead, by example. You know? If you've got a lot of sin in your life, well, more than likely your wife does too. So maybe, you know, it does start with you. I want to look at 1 Peter 3. I want to look at the life of Sarah here and Abraham. I thought this was a good point here. We can look at and men could see how they could keep their wives from falling into sin. 1 Peter 3. 1 Peter 3, verse 6 says, 1 Peter 3, verse 7, 1 Peter 3, verse 7, So we know that wives are our weaker vessel physically. They're just not stronger than us, right? We know that. But don't let your wife be stronger in the faith. Since you are weaker, then you know you need to make that up. You need to grow stronger so that you can become a great leader within your household. You know, it's time to step it up and dwell with them according to the knowledge. Help them grow spiritually. The verse says in prayers, right? That your prayers be not hindered. Praying with your wife regularly. If you do these things, praying, dwelling in the knowledge, giving honor to your wife, she will obey you. That's what the Bible says. Hey, I'm not taking a worldly standpoint. The Bible says, hey, she will obey you. Verse 1, what did it say? Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham. Why? Because he followed after righteousness. He knew his Bibles. He knew what he should be doing as a great leader. So that's how men should be, you know? You need to be like that Abraham. Abraham was strong in the faith, a good example for us to follow. Hey, when Abraham asked for a sandwich, he got a sandwich, amen? I don't know. I don't really like sandwiches, but I'm sure if I asked my wife for a sandwich, she probably wouldn't make me one, you know? I'm just saying, like, you know, we should lead. He led by example, and naturally she wants to be a blessing to him when he needs something. So, you know, if that's a problem you're having in your life, men, well, the wives really don't want to follow you, don't really want to help you with anything. Maybe you're just not being a good leader. She's like, forget you. You don't got nothing for me. No, you're not getting a sandwich. You know where the cupboard is? No, you know, come on. That right there should be a flag, ding, ding, ding. Hey, I need to be a better spiritual leader within my house. Lead by example, the Bible says. Another way to protect your wives, men, is men need to be bold. They do. Boy, man, there's all kinds of sissy Christians out there. We see them all the time knocking the doors, right? It's disgusting. And you know what's even more disgusting is when the women can outbench the men. I'm sorry, no, I don't, I mean, you know, you see the women that are all just ripped, and it's like, oh, man, that's disgusting. You know, but I'm not talking about that, you know. I'm just talking about just, like, be bold as a man. You know, both spiritually and physically. That's how you're going to be a great leader in your house. Just be bold for both points there. You know, and you might laugh at that, but, hey, there's some limp-wristed men out there. There really are. And so, you know, this is definitely an area that people need to grow, especially men within the leader, with being the leader in your home. Most men just kind of go along and get along, right? Just make everyone happy. That's called being weak, is what that's called. You know, it's a huge problem we have, especially in the contemporary crowd, right? I mean, that's the worst, those guys. I mean, those pastors don't stand up for nothing. The people that go to church there, have no biblical foundation. They're really weak, of all. You know, Crossroads Community Church, right? I mean, those men are really weak. I mean, you answer the door, like, half the time you talk to them, and the wife jumps in on top of them and is talking over them. And they're like, oh, you know, yeah, she's right. I'm like, come on, stand up for something, man. You know, come on. It's horrible. Going to turn to 1 Samuel 18. So I want to take a look at David and Jonathan here. This is a story that I came to remember since I was writing the sermon. Because, you know, we need to have the right friends. We also need to have the right church. Those two go hand in hand, I believe, and that's how we can become straight, just really strong leaders within our home and with our wife, man. Hey, you want to become a good leader in your home? Good leader to your wife? Hey, you need to have good friends, and you have a good church. Look at 1 Samuel 18. 1 Samuel 18, verse 1, it says, And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Verse 2, And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father's house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as much as his own soul. And we see later on how that just gave him everything. I mean, he took the clothes off his back and gave it to him. That's how much he loved him as a friend, right? And they went through a lot. There were qualities there that they had in common, right? I mean, we know the story of David defeats Goliath, right? There's that story. We see earlier on in Samuel how Jonathan there had a great defeat. So both of them were trained fighters who really knew what they were doing, and they loved and they feared God. Those are great qualities. And that's what men need to have in a leadership quality skill today, is you need to have good friends, and the only way to obtain good friends is being a good church. You want to go to Crossroads as limp-wristed friends? Go ahead. You're going to fail as a man. I truly believe that. You're going to be the next guy I'm knocking the door, and your wife's going to be talking over you, and I'm going to say, I told you so, brother. No. And that's how we get good friends, is you come to a great church because we're like-minded. We're doing the same stuff. We're soldiers in Christ, amen. We're out there preaching the gospel, and our feet are shot with the preparation gospel of peace. The same qualities basically that David and Jonathan had. Yeah, they're physically battling. Well, hey, we're spiritually battling. What greater friendship is that? I mean, that's great friendship. That's a friendship I want. I don't want some limp-wrist. I don't want those friends. They're no good for me. Literally, I stay away from people like that because I don't want any of their qualities to rub off on me in any way. I don't care. I want the qualities of a good friend from a church like this, a church like this, the strong in the faith, a soldier, that has good boldness. That's what men need to have in this world. Hey, it took a lot of boldness to defeat that giant, right? I mean, it took a lot. Jonathan's defeat as well. Laboring together in soul-winning preaching and during persecution. Those qualities your wife wants as well, according to the Bible. She wants to see that you have godly friends in a great church, and that's how she's going to follow you. Because those people in those other churches, they're not going there three times a week. Come on. They're really not. Maybe once or twice, and when they kind of show up late, they're kind of dressed all casual. There's no respect at all. There isn't. And really, those churches want your money anyway, so they're all garbage. But if that's where you want your friends, crossroad community, church, you know, go for it. I want no part in it. There's no boldness in those churches. Saul set David over the men of war. That's what Saul did. He set David over the men of war. He was a powerful leader in God's eyes because he behaved himself wisely. And the only way you become yourself wisely is you be attained in the knowledge of Jesus or Christ or Lord. You read your Bible all the time to become more wise. Not worldly wisdom, but spiritually wisdom. But men, you know, lack a lot of leadership skills in their home. I'm going to turn to Ephesians 5. Men are lacking boldness, and they're too afraid to stand up and be strong in the Lord. Their boldness is lacking, you know, and it falls into a trap is what it does. Because the more that you become weak and less weak in the faith, you just keep falling deeper and deeper into that trap. Before you know it, you're like the world. You don't even realize that you're gone. So Ephesians 5, verse 33. It says, Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife, even as a self, and the wife see that she reverence her husband. So men need to be spiritual leaders. You know, I'm just kind of reviewing the points here. Men need to be spiritual leaders. You know, don't be cheaters. Obviously, you know, don't look at other women with lust. But be strong in the faith and commit for the long haul. Grow together and not grow separate from one another. Sweeter as the years go by. I think that's a hymn that we sing here. You know, they should be getting sweeter as the years go by. Not diminishing. Work on acquiring more knowledge. You know, if it's a problem in this area, just work on attaining or acquiring more knowledge. Study more. Get in the Word of God more. Make time for it. You know, don't be that Peter, right? Where he just denies Christ three times out of nowhere. Right? He had an opportunity to stand up, but he was lacking boldness. Right? I mean, after that cock-roll, you know, he said, you're going to deny me thrice, what he said. And the progression, obviously, you started with, oh, I don't deny him. You know, he wouldn't even say his name, Jesus Christ. He just said, I don't, you know, I don't knot the man, is what he said. You know, he wouldn't even say our Lord Jesus Christ. That's how weak and no boldness he had at the end. We shouldn't be that. We should look at that as a complete opposite example of how we should be wanting to stand up for what's right and be a great leader within our home. And, you know, he just said, it's just some man. Well, he wasn't some man. He was a Lord Jesus Christ, right? He was a man Christ Jesus. So we need to stop being weak men and start standing up for what's right. And you know what? Get your wife some flowers sometimes. Help her. I mean, it's not that much, like five bucks. Go script some paintings. Bye. Come on. Or whatever she likes. Let's do it. Come on. You know, regularly. I mean, oh, it's Valentine's Day. Well, I know it's Valentine's Day, but I'll wait a month from now. And then the month never comes, right? You forget. No, just do it when you remember. Just drive over to the store. And we all live here within the city, or at least close to a store, Safeway, Fred Myers, whatever. Walk in there. Five dollars. I mean, come on. It's easy. You know, that's really all it takes. And be a great leader. Study your Bible so you can be great, great. And she has someone to look up to, someone she can look up to and when things get rough, she's like, hey, I know he's there for me. Amen. The world does not understand that at all. I'm all done there. I'm going to pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, Lord, I just thank you for the chance to preach, Lord. Lord, I just pray for the marriages here. Lord, I pray for the men here and that they become strong leaders and that they don't look at these community churches, these limp-wristed pastors, Lord. But follow after righteousness, Lord, and help them be strong, Lord, and that we can look at your word, Lord, and follow those qualities so we can be great leaders within our home. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. 266. On the first. Oh, my brother, do you know the Savior who is wondrous, kind, and true? He's the rock of your salvation. There's honey in the rock for you. Oh, there's honey in the rock, my brother. There's honey in the rock for you. Leave your sins for the blood to cover. There's honey in the rock for you. Have you tasted the Lord is gracious? Do you walk in the way that's new? Have you drunk from the living fountain? There's honey in the rock for you. Oh, there's honey in the rock, my brother. There's honey in the rock for you. Leave your sins for the blood to cover. There's honey in the rock for you. Do you pray unto God the Father? What will thou have me to do? Never fear He will surely answer. There's honey in the rock for you. Oh, there's honey in the rock, my brother. There's honey in the rock for you. Leave your sins for the blood to cover. There's honey in the rock for you. Then go out through the streets and byways. Preach the word to many or few. Say to every fallen brother. There's honey in the rock for you. Oh, there's honey in the rock, my brother. There's honey in the rock for you. Leave your sins for the blood to cover. There's honey in the rock for you. Thank you all for coming this evening. Brother Alex, will you end us in a word of prayer? ... ... ... ... ... ... ...