Father's Day 2015

I Peter 3:7

“Happy Wife, Happy Life”

 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. [ESV]

1.            Thoughtful of your wife

                a.            “Live with…” – sometimes our presence is someplace else (work or play).

                b.            “Understanding” – thoughtful consideration.

                c.             Loyalty, affection, and desire,

2.            Treat her with honor

                a.            Image of a “weaker vessel.”  à special treasure, valuable.

                b.            Honor literally means “value” and tends to be what is given to superior officers.

                c.             Social engineering.  Context of wives as property to wives being treated as superior                                       officers.

3.            Strength

                a.            Reality: society is training, insisting, writing laws to make women “equal.”

                b.            God’s design was to create a “partner” for Adam.  (Legal equals, work together)

                c.             Reality check: men can hurt their wives in countless ways.

(ill.) It is said you can measure a man by looking into his wife’s eyes.

(ill) Oprah TV show, teaching women how to protect themselves in a relationship.

4.            Share

                a.            Grace is equally available to men and women.

                b.            “Heirs”… highly unusual for women to be an “heir.”

                c.             Peter (as well as Paul) destroy the social order of the day…

                                … not something better, something best!

5.            Prayer

                a.            God takes this personally.

                b.            Men, you don’t do right by your woman… God says you are on your own.

                c.             Source of living power “hindered.” (Literally “cut off” or “amputated.”)

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, ²⁶ that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. ²⁸ In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. [Ephesians 5:25 – 28 ESV]

1.            Love à lay down your lives for her

2.            Love à invest in her

3.            Love à She is you.