Living Righteous in a Hostile World: Four Duties of a Husband

Take your Bibles this morning and open them to 1 Peter chapter 3 and find verse 7.

! Just one verse today. That's all we're going to look at. 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 7. And let me go ahead and read it.

Okay, husbands, so you know who we're going to be speaking to this morning, okay? Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

All right, there it is. Now, our subject this morning is, again, living righteous in a hostile world. And that's been our subject for a number of weeks.

Certainly, I think, is the overarching theme of this portion of the letter, 1 Peter. Living righteous in a holy, or excuse me, not holy, but hostile world.

Now, the key to it, as I've said all along, well, not I, but Peter, the key to it is submission. Submission. And we considered wives last Sunday, if you were here last Sunday, where Peter said in 1 Peter chapter 3, verse 1, Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands.

That's verse 1. Now, guys, if your wives were missing last week, then I'm sorry, we'll just have to listen to it on the Internet. But that's what we looked at last week.

Now, this morning, we're, of course, going to be considering husbands. And the guys right now are thinking, finally, we're going to get off this subject of submission.

Well, not so fast. Last, I heard about a man who had a vision of heaven. And he saw that there were two lines of husbands in heaven.

One line was for dominant husbands. The other for submissive husbands. And he noticed that there was this line for the dominant husbands, excuse me, submissive husbands, was so long that a reach out and just went off into the distance and he couldn't see the end of it.

But the line for the dominant husbands, he noticed there was just one man there, just one. And this fellow, he kind of looked a little small, a little timid, a little, well, anything but a dominant.

He looked anything but like a dominant husband. And the angel asked him why he was standing in the line. And he said, my wife told me to stand here. And I know you guys were expecting that punch line.

You probably have heard it before. And also, you're probably thinking, well, that's funny, but that's not me. That's not me. My wife can't order me around.

I can tell you that. Not my house. In fact, in my house, I always get the last word. Yeah. And the last word is. Yes, ma'am. I didn't hear it, but I can see the looks on the faces.

In fact, I kind of thought I heard some female voices who answered that little punch line. And I guess, you know, we could joke around all morning here on the issue of, well, submission and the issue of marriage and who really is in charge.

And, you know, some of the funny perspectives on that. But to get serious here. Of course, we know that Peter is not trying to be funny.

Not in this verse, in verse seven. You're not trying to be funny at all when he talks about the subject of submission. Submission, dear people, is a serious issue for Christians.

It is. And God, if you don't know this by now, you need to learn it. God has designed an authority structure.

Within all of society. And it's there for purpose. And if we will keep ourselves rightly related to it. Then God will bless us.

And God will bless our society. And how it functions. And God will bless our work life. God will bless our marriages. God will bless our families.

And we're going to get to the passages on the church. God will bless our churches. When we are rightly related to God's design of authority.

Submission to authority. Now, before we get into the text. Let me just speak to an issue related to the text. And at least one misconception about the text.

First of all. And this is for you ladies. The fact that Peter devoted six verses to the wives. And only one verse to the husbands.

Ladies, that does not mean that Peter was a sexist. Or that the Bible is somehow chauvinistic. Not at all. That's not the case at all. Peter is giving the husband.

Or not rather giving the husband peripheral treatment. So don't come away from this verse. Or the fact that there are six for the women. And one for the men. Don't come away from that thinking that, you know, Peter's giving us guys a better deal here.

Or some kind of preferential treat. Well, why then? The disparity between the number of verses. Well, someone has said, and it was probably a woman. God gave six verses to the women and only one to the men.

Because they're idiots. You know, they can only handle one set of instructions at a time. And I hear a little laughter out there.

Possibly there were some amens out there. But now, in reality, ladies. God packs a whole lot of responsibility into this one verse for the husbands.

Tremendous amount of responsibility. And, by the way. It's all good stuff for you, ladies. The second thing I want you to notice. And this is for the guys. Just because the word submission or submit appears nowhere in this verse, in verse 7, does not mean that husbands have no responsibility whatsoever to submission or submitting to their wives.

Dear people, quite the opposite is true. Do you see the little word likewise there in the verse? Now, if you have a new American standard, you'll see the words of the phrase in the same way, but the same idea is conveyed.

You see that there? We'll find the same thing, as a matter of fact, in verse 1. And we looked at this last week in relation to the wives. See that same word?

Likewise. We're in the same way. And Peter's point here is to refer us back to something that he's already said. He's tying all of this together.

In fact, he's taking us all the way back to chapter 2, to verse 13, and then again in verse 18, when he's talking about submission in those particular contexts of life.

And so the idea here is submission of citizens to governing authorities, then submission of workers to their masters or bosses or employers.

And, of course, in chapter 3, verse 1, it's submission of wives to their own husbands. And then here, sorry, guys, but it's likewise. That is submission of husbands to their wives.

In fact, we could go back and look at what Paul said in Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 21, and we know that this is true, where he said, submitting to one another.

One another in the fear of the Lord. Now, let me qualify this, men and ladies. The substance of the husband's submission to his wife is not the same as the wife to her husband.

I need to make that very clear. Husbands are not commanded here in the Bible to submit to their wives in the sense of submitting to their authority or their leadership in the sense of headship in the family.

Peter's not saying that. I'm sorry. That's a little counter counter culture as we are used to in our society. But that's not what Peter say. And yet, I would quickly say that husbands are to submit in other ways as Peter outlines them here in verse 7.

And though it runs, again, counter to how we're taught to think today, I want us to know here on the front end that the husband's duty of submission to his wife is much harder, much more challenging than the command for wives to submit to their husbands.

Now, a husband's submission to his wife involves at least four things that we're going to be looking at here. Four areas, husbands, where you must deliberately subordinate yourself and your own personal interests and your own agenda in life.

You're to subordinate these things in order to meet the needs of your wife. And that would include physical needs as well as spiritual needs.

All right. So here they are, four of them. Number one. Husbands, perceive your wife's ways. That's number one. Perceive your wife's ways.

He says here, Peter says, husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding. Do you see that here in the text? That at least is the way it's translated in the New King James Version.

Husbands, likewise, dwell. And pay attention to that word dwell. Dwell with them. That is your wives. And to dwell with them. How?

With understanding. Now, guys, how perceptive are you to the ways of your wife? I see some wives kind of nudging their husbands a little bit.

In fact, I can see it on your faces. You're thinking, he doesn't know how. He doesn't even have a clue. How to perceive me and know anything about me.

How well are you at that, guys? See, Peter says, dwell with them. You say, well, so what? Well, some versions of the Bible translate this live.

Live with them. Dwell with them. Live with them. And that is a good translation. But the root of this Greek word that appears in the text is the word oikos, which is the word for house.

House. House. And so the idea here is the basic meaning is husbands. You have married this woman and you have now set up house with her.

You have set up house together. Not just a playtime. This is for keeps. And this is serious. But you've set up house. Here's the idea behind the word. And you have now with her and she with you a common dwelling.

A common dwelling. Dwelling. Well, it's from the bathroom to the living room to the bedroom and all rooms in between. I started with the bathroom because the ladies probably want the husbands to know.

Keep it clean. So you need to learn that your wife wants the bathroom clean. But you're dwelling with them. You with her and she with you. You set up house with one another.

That's the idea behind dwell with them. And here is the important point. You are to dwell or live with your wife.

Peter says with understanding. With understanding. At least again, that's how it's translated here in my version. With understanding.

And I would say to you that that's poor translation. And the ESV and NASB kind of follow the same line. And they have it to an understanding way or in an understanding way.

That also is pretty lame translation. If you have an NIV, it's probably the worst of all. Be considerate, it says. Be considerate as you live with your wife.

Now, you're saying, Pastor, are you suggesting we're not to understand our wives or that we're not to be considerate? Certainly, we're to be considerate to our wives. That is a given.

But that's just not the full meaning of what Peter is saying here. The phrase in the Greek text could be translated, should be translated literally this way.

According. That's the word kata. According to knowledge. Gnusen. According to knowledge.

And if you have a King James and you're thinking, well, that's just exactly the way it appears here. That's right. And that is a literal translation of what Peter wrote here.

According to understanding. And so husbands, dwell with them. That is, dwell with your wives. How? Now, according to understanding. Now, that's something a little different than just, excuse me, knowledge, not understanding.

That's something a little different than understanding. It certainly is something a little bit more than just being considerate. You know, you can be considerate to your wife and not understand a thing about her.

But this is knowledge. He's saying, dwell with them according to knowledge. What does that mean? It means learn them. Learn them, guys.

Learn them. And that's what the word gnosis means. It means an experiential knowledge. An extensive. Detail. Knowledge.

Know what they like. Know what they like. Know what they don't like. Know what they hate. What they love. Know what they need.

Know their fears. Know their gifts. Know their talents. Know their weaknesses. Know their strengths. Know what makes them happy. In short, know what makes them tick.

And you're thinking. Pastor. There's not a man in the world who can do that. I mean, we can't understand our women. Yes, we can. We can.

And Peter says we can. And Peter not only says we can. He says we should. And we can if we really want to. And yet, even Peter admits here.

In this verse. Or just in the form of the word that he uses. He admits that this is a process. It's something that is ongoing. The verb dwell is in the present tense.

It means a continuous kind of action. And so we could maybe render it this way. Constantly be continuing to live with your wife.

According to knowledge. It's an ongoing thing. And I guess really the bottom line is, guys, we have to work at it. We have to work hard at it. And by the way, I would suggest to you.

That if you go away from here this morning. And your desire is, you know, from now on. I'm going to learn my wife. And whatever I learn. I'm going to respond to that. And do that.

I would suggest that you not get yourself too ahead of the curve there. Okay. Be careful because she might not understand you. Like the guy I heard about who was at work.

And he was sitting there at his desk. And he said, you know. I've just learned that my wife really wants me to express. The reality of my love for her. And I want my wife to know that I love her.

And so I've got an idea. And so he happens to have kind of a shower there at the workplace. So he takes a shower. And he shaves. And he puts on her favorite perfume.

And he has a tux ordered and delivered to his office. And he puts that tux on. And on the way home, he stops by the flower shop. And he buys a beautiful bouquet of roses.

And he gets to the door of the house. And he decides, I'm going to surprise her. And I'm going to ring the doorbell. So he rings the doorbell. And his wife comes to the door. And she sees him standing there.

And she said, oh, no. I can't tell you what a bad day I've had. First, I had to take Billy down to the emergency room to have stitches put in his arm.

Then I get a call from your mother. And she's coming to stay for two weeks. And then the washing machine breaks down. And now this. You come home drunk.

You see, I'm suggesting to you guys, kind of ease your way into this. You begin to learn your wife. Learn the things she likes and doesn't like. And, of course, one of those is that you show her love and affection.

Don't go overboard the first time. You want to be careful. And I would say this or use this illustration also to speak to the wives. You need to know your husbands. And understand if he does something very radical.

Kind of look behind that and understand what's going on there. All right. So, we're to husbands. We're to submit to our wives in at least four areas. And here, this first one is.

Perceive your wife's ways. Know her. Learn her. And respond to what you know. Second, husbands. Prize your wife's worth.

Prize your wife's worth. He said here in verse 7. Giving honor. Pay attention to that word honor. Giving honor. Giving honor to your wife.

As to what? The weaker vessel. And ladies, don't get up in arms yet. We'll explain this here in a little bit. But each word here in this phrase carries a significant meaning.

And Peter kind of strings all these words together. Kind of like a string of pearls. And really, when we understand what he's saying here. We're going to see this is really good stuff.

And very important stuff for us husbands. And it's good for the wife. Let's just think about these words here. The first place he says giving. Giving.

And this is not just the kind of your everyday run-of-the-mill word for giving. Or to give something. Like you would give a present. Or give a compliment.

Or give a cold to somebody. The word here is much different than that. It means to assign something.

To, better yet, to ascribe worth to something. Or some kind of designation. Giving. And then you add to that the word honor.

And it begins to make some sense here. And this is very profound. The word honor is timei in the Greek text. And it is the same word, by the way.

That Peter has already used three times in his letter. Only there it is translated precious. Isn't that interesting? Precious. In 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 7.

He used that word to refer to faith. And he said being more precious than gold. In reference to our faith. He used it in 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 19.

To refer to the blood of Christ. And he called it the precious blood of Christ. You understand? It is to ascribe a level of worth to something.

And then he used it a third time. In 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 7. To refer to Jesus himself. And he said he is precious.

Precious. Alright now. So giving. Honor. And then we come to the word weaker. And we will skip that for now. I am going to skip it totally ladies. We will get back to it here in just a minute.

But let's skip on over to the word vessel. Vessel. And I mentioned this word last week. Explained it a little bit. It is the Greek word that refers to the vessel.

Or vessels used in the service of the Lord. Or the worship of the Lord. In his holy temple. It refers to. Same word that refers to the furnishings in the holy temple.

At the temple of the Lord. It refers to some of the vessels there. That are used in the service of the Lord. And so forth. And so the idea here is. That the wife.

Is a chosen instrument. A vessel. A vessel of God. And for God. To be used for his glory.

That's the idea here. Guys. Guys. That's what your husband. Your wife is. She is a chosen vessel. She.

She has been chosen. As a chosen instrument. For the glory of God. And she is precious. So. Husbands. What are we to do? We are to assign.

Great worth. To our wives. Great value to them. They are precious. Do you think of your wife in this way? She's precious.

To you. She is a chosen instrument. Of God. And. And she is that. For our good.

Guys. It's good for you. She's that chosen. Precious. Valued. Vessel.

For our good. And for the good of our family. And for the good of our society. Because what is a society. But a. Group of families. But. Even more importantly.

She is. That. For the glory of God. So. Husbands. Submit. To your wives. In these four areas. Perceive your wife's ways. Prize.

Your wife's worth. And third. Protect. Your wife's. Well-being. Protect your wife's. Well-being.

Notice what he says next. Or. Let me just. Read most of it again. Giving honor. We've talked about that. Giving honor to the wife. As what?

As the. Weaker. The weaker vessel. And. As being. Heirs together. Of the grace of God. Okay.

I've avoided it as long as I could. It's time to talk about this word. Weaker. Weaker. Because some of the ladies are thinking. Weak in what way? Pastor.

Is what do you mean by that? What. What does Peter mean by we? Well. Consider just a few things about what Peter says here. In the first place. You need to notice that. What Peter uses here.

Is. What is technically called. A comparative. A comparative. The word weaker. Is a comparative. He. He. He says. Weaker. Not.

Weak. Weak. And ladies. You've got to see that. Now they may not. Give you. The. The whole answer. You want to hear yet. But we'll get to it here in a minute.

But you do need to see this. That it's a comparative. Weaker. Not. Weak. Women are not. Weak. It's the man talking.

And I can tell you. The woman that lives in my house. That I live with. And dwell together in my house. She is not weak. Not weak. That's not the idea. Second.

You need to notice. As a comparative. The word weaker. And this is for you guys. You need to see this. And understand this. Peter acknowledges here. By using the word weaker.

He is acknowledging that. Both men and women are weak. Do you see that? See we just want to read through that. And just pass over that. And we want to just hear.

What. What we want to hear. So that we can react to it. But we need to understand. That this is comparative. Weak. Weaker. But not weak. And.

The idea that both. Man. And woman. Both. Men and women. Both. Why. Husband and wife. Are. Weak. See. There's no. Place here.

For pride. Guys. You can't be all puffed up. With pride here. And ladies. There's nothing here. To suggest. That Peter. Is saying.

You are inferior. To men. That's not the idea. At all. So don't come. From this verse. Away from this verse. Thinking that. Not at all. That's not what he's saying. In reality.

As a matter of fact. There is a strength. In women. That is rarely. Found in men. But listen. In marriage. Each one's. Weaknesses.

And we. Both have. Both husband and wife. Each one's weakness. Should. Be discovered. Here's a bit of counsel.

From the word of God. It's implied in the text. We could. Go other places. And find it taught. More deliberately. More. Explicitly. But I would say. To couples. And maybe those.

Who are. You know. Prospective. Husbands. And wives. And some of you guys. Are going to be. Husbands. One day. You young fellas. And some of you. Young women. Are going to be wives.

Someday. I would say to you. That our weaknesses. Need to be acknowledged. Honestly. To one another. This is no place.

For pride. Here. Because a happy marriage. Is one of. Complimentation. You ought to get this down. A happy marriage. Is one of.

Complimentation. Not. Competition. We say that again. It's why it's so important. That we honestly. Admit to one another. What our weaknesses are.

You know. It's a kind of. Born in. And bred in. Us men. Especially. Did not ever. Reveal our weaknesses. Never to admit. But we need to admit them. Admit them to our wives.

If to no one else. And our wives. Need to admit. Their weaknesses to us. And we need to learn. This about one another. Because. Our weaknesses. And strengths. Come together. In the marriage.

Relationship. To complement. And it's not a place. For competition. You see. Now. The wives. Are still thinking. Now. Wait a minute.

Pastor. You said. That women. Are weaker. Than men. Just what do you mean. By that. And how so. Well. Not. Weaker. In moral purity.

That's not what Peter. Say. Not weaker. By the way. In intellectual ability. That's not the idea here. So we dismiss. Dismiss those.

I'm telling you. My wife. Is. In so many ways. A lot smarter. Than I am. I'll just give you one example. I am. And I hate to admit it. Because I'm a man.

I am. Directionally. Challenged. Can I say it that way? Well. The truth of the matter is. I can't find my way. Out of a parking lot. I just.

I just. Totally inept. About this. And so. My wife knows that about me. It didn't take her very long. To learn it either. You know. Not too many times.

Didn't take too many times. For us to get to an intersection. And for me to pause. And for her to say to me. You don't know which way. Do you? No I don't. And so she knows that about me.

And my wife. On the other hand. She never ever forgets. A direction. And if we have traveled somewhere. And you know. From home. To some other unknown location.

Or at least previously unknown. And we take a right. And a left. And a right. And a left. And lefts. And rights. And finally get to our destination. I can't find my way home. But she can. And so.

We have this. Kind of arrangement. In our family. I do the driving. And she does the navigating. Now I will add. That there are times. Because Jonathan is here. And he knows.

There are times. We get lost. Still. Have to take. What we thought. Was a shortcut. And really. Turned out to be a long cut. But we have this kind of arrangement. In our family. See. When Peter says.

That you wives. Are weaker. He's not talking about. Moral purity. Or intellectual ability. He's also not. Referring to spiritual maturity.

Either. In fact. It's quite. Common. I think it was. In Peter's day. And I think it. Certainly is today. That the wife.

Is much more. Spiritually sensitive. Than is the husband. And tends to be. More spiritually. Mature. That doesn't mean.

It has to be that way. But it is that way. Sometimes. And often. Time. And so then. We know. That Peter's not talking about. A weakness. In that area.

He's also. Certainly. Not talking about. Being weaker. In physical beauty. We don't have to. Go on about that. We understand that part. So what is he talking about? Peter.

Is talking. About. The most obvious thing. Though it doesn't seem. To be as obvious. In our culture. As it once was. But he's talking about. Physical strength. Okay.

That's the idea here. Sheer. Physical. Strength. As a matter of fact. To reinforce that. And I'm not sure. Why. Most of our. Versions.

Of the Bible. Leave this out. I believe. The new American standard. Includes it. But right after. He says. Weaker vessel. Are the words. Since.

She is. A woman. If you have a new American standard. You'll see that there. Something similar to that. The other translations. Leave that out. But in the Greek text. It is there. It's just one word.

And the root of the word. Is the word for woman. Or female. Female. And so. The idea here. That she's the weaker. Vessel. By virtue of the fact.

That God made her that way. She is a female. She's a female. She is weaker. Than her. Male counterpart. I know that.

That just. Causes some women. In our culture. To bristle up. But we might as well. Admit it later. Guys have been. Created. With more physical strength.

Than women. That doesn't mean. You don't have. As much endurance. Sometimes. Sometimes women. Can outlast the guys. And I. I think there is some strength. In childbearing. That certainly.

A guy. Does not have. It's a good thing. That the women. Have the babies. All right. But. In. In the overall picture. In regard to the difference.

Between male and female. Males are stronger. Than women. And that is all. In the world. That Peter means. By this. Okay. Although the implication. Of it.

Goes further. Especially. Since it is tied. With these other things. That Peter has said. About the woman. That. And how the husbands. Are to respond to them. That they're. To honor them. And so forth.

All right. So it's physical strength. And. And so therefore. What? She should be protected. That's our role. Guys. Among other things.

We're to protect our wives. Because they are weaker. Physically. And they need our protection. We are to. To provide for them.

We are to. Nourish them. We are to cherish them. That's what husbands are to do. That's how we're to. Submit to our wives. As Peter instructs us.

Now. Guys. Do you know what that means? It means. Sometimes. Maybe more than just sometimes. You need to go to that closet.

That certain closet in your house. And pull out the vacuum cleaner. And sweep the carpet. For your wife. Now. I can't hear anything. This morning.

And I'm hoping. Some of the wives said amen. To that. If you are. Kind of the quiet type. You certainly. Some of the husbands. Sure got a jab. In the side. I'm sure. Get out.

And. Vacuum the carpet. Wash the dishes. Dust. Though I don't do that in my house. I don't do dusting. Because I'm terrible at it.

You have to pick up. Some of the duty. In the house. To help your wife. It's interesting. In our culture. And I've noticed this. That. You know. More and more women. Are in the workplace.

In our culture today. And yet. Isn't it. Interesting. How. That doesn't mean. That the duties at home. Somehow get less.

And in most homes. Where both. Spout. Both the wife. And the husband. Are working. The wife still has. All that stuff. To do at home too. And there are a lot of husbands. To our shame.

Who wouldn't let. Don't lift a finger. To help our wives. At home. They don't have the physical. Strength. To take care of all of these things. We need to help them out. That. And you know.

Our culture has changed so much. And I. I really think that. Some of the inventions. That have. Come along lately. Are indicators of the fact. That husbands. Are not.

Helping their wives at home. And doing some of the. Manly things. That require the. The. That extra. Physical strength. That you have. Take for example. These little furniture sliders.

You. You. You. Have. Have. A set of those. The greatest invention. That's ever come along. But I'm convinced. That. It's an indication. That the husbands. Aren't helping their wives at home.

And you know. Here. The husband comes home. And he comes in the door. And his wife's over there. She's standing by that big. Amour. That weighs. You know. A couple of tons. And. She's. Going to move it.

To some other part of. Of the room. Because wives just do that. They. Rearrange the furniture. I think there was a laugh out there. And so here comes the husband.

He comes in. And says. Oh. Let me get that for you. You know. And she says. Never mind. She just takes her index finger. And she pushes it across the room.

You know. How those things work. Well. Guys. All joking aside. We need to. Acknowledge the fact.

Honor our wives. In such a way. That we do. Whatever is needed. Because we're. Strong. The physical. To help her. To. To.

Make. To enhance. Her well-being. In life. In a physical sense. We're to protect. Our wife's. Well-being. You are heirs.

He said. Heirs together. Of the grace of life. Now. It's kind of a confusing. Phrase. And. But I. I really believe. He's talking about. Physical life.

Our physical life. We're heirs of that. He may include. Also. The having of children. But I do not think. The idea is spiritual here. But it's the grace of life. We're heirs.

Together. Of these things. And it's the duty. Of the husband. Because. He has been created. With. Greater strength. Physical strength. To. Protect his wife's.

Well-being. Physically. By taking up. Some of the things. That need to be done. To help her. And so forth. Now my wife. Has learned this. You know. And if there's a box. To be lifted. And put up in.

On a shelf. She'll just stand there. Until I do it. You know. And she just expects me. To do it. And. And that's all right. That's my role. Pick up that heavy box. Hurt my back.

I don't want her back. To be hurt. See. And put that thing. Up on the shelf. All right. Now. Peter says to husbands. Men. Submit to your wives. In. Four ways.

At least four ways. Perceive your wife's ways. Prize. Your wife's worth. Protect. Your wife's. Well-being. And one more. Pray. For your.

Wife's. Walk. With Christ. Pray. For your wife's. Walk. He ends this verse. See. It's amazing. All this.

In one. One verse. In the Bible. He ends it. With this phrase. That. Your prayers. May not be. Hindered. That's an important thing.

Peter said here. That your prayers. May not be. Hindered. Now. There is good reason. To believe. That Peter has in mind. Here.

Believing husbands. Whose wives. Are unbelievers. I've not mentioned this before. But there's good reason. To believe. That that's really. The primary idea.

Behind what Peter is writing. Here. Though. What he is telling. Husbands to do. In that kind of situation. Where the. Husband's a believer. And the wife is an unbeliever. Are the same things.

That believing husbands. Need to do. For their believing wives. So that part. Doesn't change. But the. The primary idea. Here. Is. Very likely. That we're talking about.

A situation. That is the complete. Opposite. Of the situation. That Peter addresses. With the wives. To the husbands. In the first few verses. Of chapter three.

And we. Looked at this last week. In those first six verses. He is. Speaking. To a scenario. Where the wife. Is a Christian. And the husband. Is not. And then we get to verse seven.

And we have the word. Likewise. Wives. And so I think the. The. Same idea. Is there. And that's why we have six. Verses for wives. And only one for husbands. Because.

It was rare. In Peter's day. For a husband. To be a believer. And the wife not. As it is today. Too. And so that's why. More. Coverage. Is devoted to the wife.

Now. That said. What Peter says. About prayer. May apply. To believing. Husbands. Who have. Who are praying. For their. Unsaved.

Wives. To come to faith. In Christ. That may be the idea here. Now. I would say to you. That grammatically. It does seem. Very clear. That Peter.

Is talking about. The prayers. Of the husband. That is the focus here. The prayers. Of the husband. And he may be. Praying. For his wife's.

Salvation. And. He should. If his wife. Is an unbeliever. He may be. Praying. This husband. May be praying. For his.

Wife's. Walk. With Christ. Her spiritual. Maturity. How she is. Progressing. In her walk. With Christ. And. And. How each day.

She is. Obedient. To him. And living. For him. And learning. From him. And growing. In her spiritual maturity. And husbands. Need to be doing that. In fact.

I think. Both of these. Go together. Regardless. Of what. The wife's. Spiritual condition. Is. The husband. Who is a believer. Should be praying. For his wife. And if his wife.

Is an unbeliever. Praying that she would be saved. That she would walk with Christ. Be a follower of Christ. If her. Wife. His wife. Is a believer. Then he's praying. For her.

Walk with Christ. Either way. Or. I might add this. Just. Just in general. He may be praying. For anything. It doesn't matter. What it is.

And I think there is the implication here. But. But. Here's the point. And don't miss this. It's very important. The husband. That does not.

Do. These things. Or submit. To his wife. In the things that Peter. Has ascribed here. The husband. Who refuses to do these things. Listen guys.

Will. Not. Have. His. Prayers. Answered. Now. This is serious. Very serious. Let me.

Say it again. The husbands. That will not. Submit. To their wives. In the way. That Peter. Has instructed. In this verse. Will not.

Have. Their prayers. Answer. That's the idea here. Don't be fooled. By. This word. Hindered. That is. The way it's used. In the English. The word.

Here. In the Greek text. Is. A very powerful word. And. It's a much stronger. Has a much stronger. Meaning. Than the word. Hindered. As we use it in English. It's only found.

By the way. Five times. In all of the New Testament. And it means. To be cut off. I mean. It's strong. Serious. And so here's the idea.

The husband. That fails. In his relationship. With his wife. Will be. Constantly. Cut off. From his conversation. With the Lord. That's strong.

And that's directed. Toward. Believing husbands. Regardless. Of whether your wife. Is a believer. Or an unbeliever. Whatever the situation is. If you will not follow.

The Lord's instructions here. Then you cannot expect him. To hear your prayers. And answer your prayers. Now. This. There is a word here.

For all of us. All of us. Every one of us. In this building. If I might wrap it up. This way. There is a word. Here for husbands. And wives.

In this. This idea. Of. Of not having. Our prayers answered. Because we're not. Obey. Obedient. To the Lord. There's a word. For all of us here. For men.

For women. For married people. For single people. And we have a. A number of single people here. There's a word here. For you. There's a word. For those. Who would consider themselves.

Adults. And those. Who are young people. Even children. There's a word. Here for us. Because you see. We know. That the Bible teaches.

It very clearly. Teaches us. That prayer. That prayer. That prayer helps us. Live right. And that's normally. The way we think of it. Isn't it? We. We. We conceptualize it this way. If I am faithful in prayer.

Then God will grant me the grace. To live right. And that's a very understandable concept. From scripture. And taught. Many places in the Bible. However.

It's just the opposite here. In this text. And. This truth is equally. Equally valid. Equally true. The Bible.

Is teaching us here. And by the way. There are three other times. In first Peter. That this idea is conveyed. The Bible is teaching us. That living right.

Helps us. Pray. Helps us in our prayers. We've got to know. That it works both ways. Both ways.

Prayer. Prayer. Consistent prayer. Helps us. To live right. But living right. That is obeying what God has clearly commanded us in his word.

You may not know everything that God wants you to do. But the things you do know. You need to do them. And if you will do them. If you will obey God's word. Then it will help you in your prayer.

Your prayer life. And that works for husbands. Who need to be praying for their wife's walk. With Christ. It works for fathers.

Who need to be praying for their children. And their walk. With Christ. It applies to men. Who are praying for these things. Or anything in their lives.

Applies to women. And people in every possible context. That is believers. In every possible context. So. Here. There you are husband.

It's not just your wives. Who need to. Place themselves. Willingly. Take the initiative. And. Place themselves. Under.

Your authority. And submit to you. To be in subjection to you. We husbands. If our marriage is going to be. What God intended for it to be. Then we husbands.

Must. Place ourselves. Take the initiative. Put aside our own. Interests. And our own. Agenda. And our own. Things that.

We want to do in our lives. To put those things aside. And subject ourselves. To our women. Our wives. So that. They will get.

What they need. Amen. And amen. Thank you.