Our passage for this morning's sermon is taken from Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. I believe that can be found in the Pew Bible on page 1136. So far in this remarkable book, Paul has been addressing the church in general about its new life that it shares with Jesus Christ. And in our passage, beginning with verse 22, he turns his attention to address those families of Christ's church, considering how God is at work within the family. Ephesians 5, verse 22. Before we read it, let's ask God to bless His Word. Our Father, we do give thanks for Your Word. And as we read it, we pray, Father, that Your Holy Spirit might bless it for us so that we wouldn't merely read it or hear it, but that we would truly understand it and that through our understanding, faith may increase in Christ and that lives of grateful obedience might result. Lord, we pray for this in Jesus' name. Amen. Ephesians 5, verse 22, reading through 6, verse 4. Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church, his body of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word and to present her to Himself as a radiant church without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it just as Christ does the church. For we are members of His body. For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery speaking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself and the wife must respect her husband. Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. Fathers, do not exasperate your children. Instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. The book of Ephesians is indeed a stunning revelation of Jesus Christ and His Gospel. A revelation of that good news that we exist, that we've come here this morning to better understand, believe, and proclaim. And maybe this morning the need for that good news is even more profound than others as there has been other news circulating that has brought thousands of Bible-believing individuals to moments of despair. Shortly after 6 o'clock last evening, Pacific Standard Time, their hope was shown to be false. Their faith was shown to be corrupt as they followed some other news the news of a false prophet, Harold Camping. It's quite remarkable that his family radio was as successful as it was to reach into homes around the world and make disciples of his own who left jobs, who left families, who left vocations to devote themselves to a false message, to bad news. Well, we didn't follow His message, but I trust we share for that same longing for Jesus Christ to come again. In fact, it was already 2,000 years ago just after Jesus completed His earthly ministry when the disciples come to Him in Acts 1. And do you remember what they said? Lord, is now the time? Is now the time that you will restore the kingdom? Jesus answered them that it's not for you, it's not for you and I, to know the times or the dates the Father has set. But you, you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and unto the ends of the earth. We don't know when Jesus will return. No one but the Father knows when Jesus will return. But we do know our mission in the meantime. Our mission is to be about the business of making disciples. To spread the Gospel. The good news that God is bringing about a new creation with new heavens and a new earth with a new humanity through Jesus Christ, His Son. Ephesians 2 even reminds us of this, that we now reign with Christ, having been seated with Christ in heaven. And by His Holy Spirit, we are at work with Him to make disciples for Him. This morning, we'll consider how this mission of Christ's church is shared with the whole of His covenant community. This mission of Christ's church is shared with the covenant family as well. In Ephesians 5 and 6, we see how God is at work at home to make disciples through covenant marriage, covenant children, and covenant teaching. I should step back for a moment and just observe the obvious that marriage is not an obligation. It's not a necessity. And neither are children. Jesus wasn't married. Paul wasn't married. Neither of them had children. And yet, look at how God used them and so many saints throughout history and among us here today to still be about the work of making disciples. And so this passage, though it focuses on covenant marriage, covenant children, and covenant teaching, we should receive it, each and every one of us, is something that we all participate in as the covenant community of Christ. Well, Paul begins by showing to us how God is at work to make disciples within the home through covenant marriage. This work of God begins with marriage. A covenantal union between a man, a woman, and God. Pretty straightforward for us, isn't it? And oh, how we could talk more about that special union and develop it and contrast it with various views of our day. But for this morning, we'll focus on the design and purpose that we find for marriage in Ephesians 5. It's subtly presented, this design. In verse 22, our Lord speaks to wives. And then in verse 25, our Lord turns His attention to husbands. And there you have it. There you have it. God's design for marriage. One man, one woman to gather with God. And it's clear that Paul is working with God's created design for marriage because in verse 31 of our passage, he quotes Genesis 2. That passage where God, having created Adam and established him with dominion over the creatures, leaves him alone for a moment. And in Genesis 2, we find Adam looking for a partner in life, looking for someone to share his nature, to share his knowledge of God, to share his understanding of life. And he doesn't unite with an animal as much as we might like dogs or cats or even a monkey. Adam found no fellowship there. As one made in the image of God, Adam was looking for another to share that image with, share his knowledge, to share his understanding of life. And it was then that God gives to him Eve. You know how Adam responds, right? When he sees this capstone, this climax of God's creation, he says, ah, maybe imagine. He says, finally, bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh. And there's when God says in verse 24 of chapter 2, that for this reason, A man shall leave his mother and father and unite to his wife and they will become one flesh. What a beautiful design that God has established through creation for marriage. One man, one woman to gather with God. And it's clear that Paul is working with this design in Ephesians 5 because he quotes from that text and yet he develops God's created design that is common for all people. Paul develops this design of marriage in a very Christian way while calling wives to submit to their husbands and husbands to a sacrificial, loving leadership within the home. Notice that Paul refers to Jesus Christ in verse 23. In verse 24. In verse 25. He goes on in verse 26 to talk of the Bride of Christ. Again in verse 27. And I trust you get the picture. You get the point of how Paul is bringing a very Christian understanding to God's original design for marriage. That for Christians, marriage is to be a response to the gospel of Jesus Christ and an understood participation and even extension of Christ's own kingdom. Wow! What a profound design that God has given to us. in marriage. As marriage itself is a participation and extension of His kingdom. It's so important that we understand this today because as we look at the world around us, God's created design has been so desperately corrupted and confused by sin. Apart from Christ, There's just simply no hope for it to carry out its intended purpose. In fact, over the last couple of weeks, we've heard throughout the news the adultery of our former governor, haven't we? Heartbreaking scenario. Heartbreaking witness of a civil leader. And I was stunned to hear commentators reflect upon his poor decisions and one in particular, an expert in family and marriage counseling, saying, well, come on. They've been married for 25 years and in my business, that's a great success. They get a gold star, though their relationship ended with heartbreak, with infidelity, and their families broken by divorce. Without Jesus Christ, there's little hope for God's design. But with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, with the coming of Jesus in His life, death and resurrection, God is at work to bring about a new creation and He restores those creational institutions into something that reflects the image of Christ along with providing power to live for Christ And that's what God does in His design for marriage, empowering it to fulfill its purpose, both practical and spiritual. The purpose of marriage in its practical terms has been attested to in history books as far back as the ancient Hittites, the ancient Greeks, the ancient Hebrews, all of them bearing witness to the very basic practical purposes of marriage of which I'm sure we could make a quick list. But in short, marriage was very rarely pursued for basic romance but rather for basic necessity. Households and homesteads needed workers and families needed the next generation in order to survive. Basic, practical necessity. And within that context, if a marriage ends, it's not such a big deal, right? You can hook up with someone else and carry on. And yet, with Christian marriage, with this restoration of God's created design, the purpose of marriage is far more than practical. It is also spiritual. We see the intended spiritual significance as Paul says to wives, not simply submit like it. No. He says to wives, submit to your husband as to the Lord. And then continues on to husbands so that the wives don't feel left out, so that the husbands don't feel left out, he turns to them and he says to them, Husbands, love your wives. It doesn't say rule your wives. It doesn't say manage your wives. It doesn't say govern your wives. He says, Husbands, love your wives. And as if that wasn't enough, he establishes the model for love by saying, love your wives as Christ loves His church. And as we read on, we come to see the discipling nature of this loving marital relationship within the covenantal community as Paul says that Christ, having given Himself up for His church, cleansed her by the washing with water through the Word so that she would be holy and blameless. See, the parallel is as Christ is at work through the Word to disciple His church, so husbands as head of the home are to be about the work of discipling within the home, beginning with his own wife. And the wife compliments and encourages that relationship of disciple-making by submitting and complimenting her husband's leadership so that what we have in God's design is a fulfillment of both a practical and a spiritual purpose in making disciples of Jesus Christ and showing forth and bringing glory to His name as those who bear His image. I know of a couple who, not long ago, before they were married, went to something called Engaged Encounter. And while they were at that weekend, part of the responsibilities or the activities were to go off into separate rooms and fill out this long book of questions and answers regarding their understanding of faith and life and marriage. And one question in particular asked each, what is your top five priorities when married? And the soon-to-be husband responded to that question by some amazing grace of God saying that my top priority is for our home to be a place where Christ is worshipped and adored. And the second priority is that our home would be a place of peace and prosperity. By God's grace, we see there both His intended purpose, His intended practical purpose, and His spiritual purposes fulfilled. Brothers and sisters, may we pray and devote ourselves in our marriages for the very same priorities that Christ would be worshipped and adored there and that there would be much peace enjoyed by all. This design and purpose of marriage is for bride and groom. For bride and groom to unite with their Savior for the cultivation and procreation of His image. We do this as spouses and Lord willing, if God would bless as parents. Because God works through covenant marriage and He also works with our covenant children. See, parents, it's so important that we understand it is by grace that we have been saved through faith and that even now we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places, participating in His new creation, even in the procreation of a new humanity. God's own children, your children, that He's given to you. There are many who have questioned the place of children within that new creation and new covenant. In fact, we read in Matthew 19 that there were those of Jesus' own day who saw that children were really outside of Jesus' kingdom. But now you know Matthew 19, right? And I hope the children know Matthew 19 because it's about you. Jesus says, No, let the little children come to Me. The little toddlers and other Gospel texts, we know what even included the ones the ladies were carrying and they bring them to Jesus and He holds them. He says, Do not hinder them, For to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. And this wasn't merely an object lesson because Jesus then proceeded to bless them. Jesus blessed these children and by embracing them demonstrates their participation in His kingdom. Children, you too are born with the image of God. And as those who have been baptized, you bear the sign of your place with Jesus. You carry His sign. You carry His name. And that is why chapter 6, verse 1 is written for you. Chapter 6, verse 1 says, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, it says. You see, when you think about life, what God wants you to think about from your earliest days is to think about life in the Lord. Obey your parents in the Lord for this is right. He goes on to say, Honor your mother and father. Honor your mother and father, which is the first commandment with a promise that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. In our house, we say things like, right things lead to happy things. And our children are young enough to already know that that's not always true. That's often true. It's often true that right things, that good things, lead to happy things. Obeying God's Word often brings joy and fulfillment in God's world. Isn't that what the Bible says? Children, obey your parents for this is right. And as you do what is right, You can anticipate joy, a joyful and long life on the earth. You see, the reality is that especially as you get older, children, you may not always agree with your parents. And as you get a little bit older yet, you might be tempted to think, well, are my parents interesting enough? Are they cool enough? Are they fun enough? Have they given me enough? you've no doubt had those thoughts or heard them spoken on various occasions. And yet, I hope as you hear those questions spoken out loud, you can see that they're very unhelpful, very unhelpful questions. Imagine coming down one evening quietly looking for a glass of water and you happen to overhear your parents talking and they're wondering, you know, I wonder if child number six, I don't know how fun they really are. And do you think they're attractive enough? You know, do you think they really do enough for us? That would just be such an unhappy way of thinking and living with your family, wouldn't it? You see, children, Jesus has blessed you. He's shared His love with you through your parents and He's promised you a joyful life of heaven and wants you to begin that life now by obeying your parents and honoring them as God's representative authority. in your life. And that means you need to have patience with them as they address the kinds of friends you have, entertainment, social activities, maybe the way you dress or what clothes you have. And the reason why your parents do that is because Jesus and Paul, the Bible is concerned about the way you use your time and the way that you use your body. These things matter as you consider the way that you are to be a witness for Christ in this world. And even more importantly, you need to have patience with your parents as they ask and inquire about your faith. Because it's through faith in Jesus Christ that it all comes and fits together. As they talk about your faith in God and your understanding of man and the Holy Spirit, you need to be obedient to your parents and patient with your parents because they are so concerned that you come to know Jesus truly so that you're not led astray by some prophet who says the end of the world is tomorrow. Or by some teacher who says you can be more happy if you might follow this religion or that philosophy. Parents do these things because God expects them to bring you up in the training and instruction of the Lord. God works to make disciples in the family through covenant marriage, through covenant children, and covenant teaching. Chapter 6, verse 4 says, Fathers, do not exasperate your children. Instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Those words, a training, an instruction of the Lord, it echoes a whole host of Old Testament passages. We can think of Genesis 18 when God says that I have chosen Abraham, that he would command his children to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice. Quite a profound statement about why God has chosen Abraham, isn't it? That he would instruct his children. Deuteronomy 6, verse 7, a familiar one to us, speaking of the Old Covenant, saying that parents are to teach it, that Old Covenant, diligently to their children. Oh, and there's so many more. We'll just look at Proverbs 22, verse 6. Train a child in the way he should go, and when he's old, he will not depart from it. What we see as we read the Old Testament is that the training and instruction of a covenant child is the fundamental obligation of believing parents. And it's something that we really need to deal seriously with parents. Because in our modern context, there are so many other options. And I fear that parents are simply delegating the responsibilities that God has given to them to other very worthwhile institutions, whether the church, the school, or even the state. But God has not given the responsibility to instruct and teach your children to the church, the school, or to the state. He's given it to you. We need to be on guard lest we think that while the church is teaching my children God's Word, lest we think that the school is teaching our children about God's world and the state, well, if all else fails, at least they'll make them behave. Oh, we need to be careful. We need to be careful. I was reading some Puritan theology in preparation for this message and boy, those Puritans thought a great deal about life and the family. One Puritan saying it only like a Puritan can, it seems to me. He's responding to covenant parents who are neglecting their duty to instruct their children. And he said, What? Will you bring God's children into the world only to leave them for death and the devil? That's a humbling rebuke. And how can we answer? How can we answer that warning? How can we respond to the caution that we bring the joyful new life of a young child into the world and then just what? Because life's busy, because there's so much else going on or there's other opportunities, I'll delegate off their five years through 20 plus to something else. I'm very humbled by this study and was looking for other wise pastors and again came to the Puritans to help me reflect upon what past generations have done with regard to teaching and instructing their children. And one named Richard Baxter, he has a wonderful little book about the godly family and he provides 20 duties of parents to their children and then follows that up immediately with 24 directions for the right training and teaching of children. And they were worthwhile to read, but the 40 plus pages is far more than this sermon or a series of sermons could handle. So let me give you just a selection of some things that he observes. He says that parents in teaching and instructing their children in the Lord are to ensure that they are properly equipped to read. That they know history. that they understand how to properly discipline their body, especially when it comes to things like eating and lust. And Baxter goes on then to some more things that we would expect. For example, the reading of the Bible and the memorization of key biblical texts like the Ten Commandments. And then the reading and teaching and memorization of the catechism. Suggesting, actually, that we begin while our children are young, maybe five or six, because their minds are so spongy. They're so ready to absorb and they haven't yet been caught off in the interest of friends or games or other toys. He says, have them memorize while they're young. Even if they don't understand the words, it doesn't matter because they'll get categories, they'll get ideas, they'll get God's truth planted within their minds as they grow and develop. And he says, of course, if we haven't started when they're young, well, we can start now. Start today. And his great emphasis was family worship. We might summarize Richard Baxter's summary of the Christian family by instructing children in God's world, God's word, and worship. And he was so concerned that families would not delegate the responsibility of worship simply to the church. He was, to be more specific, along with Ephesians 6, he was so concerned that fathers would take their God-given responsibility to lead their families into a time of family worship. Because, he would suggest, how else can fathers ensure with their busy lives and hectic schedules and countless responsibilities that their children are learning to read and understand and develop what is necessary for the Bible, for faith and life. Family worship. Where God's act to make disciples within the home can come together in a beautiful, harmonious way as husbands and wives, whether there's children or not, can gather around the Word of God together and pray together and sing together and reflect upon His truths together. It doesn't have to take an hour and 15 minutes. It can take five minutes. It can take ten minutes for a couple to come and enjoy their union with Christ together. And then with children, it becomes all the more joyful to hear the Lord's ordained praise through the mouths of youths. Fathers, do not neglect your responsibility given to you by God to lead and love your wives, to lead and love your children, training them and instructing them in the ways of the Lord. In conclusion, we mustn't forget that God is at work at home too. We mustn't identify the Great Commission as something that happens over there or that making disciples is something that evangelists, ministers, and missionaries are responsible to do. God is at work, dear friends, through you within your homes, within the context of your marriage to bring about the next generation of those who know Jesus Christ, to bring about the next generation of those who are participating in His new creation as a witness to this dying creation that there is indeed a living hope, a message that is indeed good news that will never perish, spoil, or fade away. Amen.