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Alright, we're here in first Peter chapter three and this is the middle chapter here of the book of first Peter and the main theme in this chapter is really about having a good and strong testimony and the impact you can have on people of having a good testimony. And it starts off by giving the example with wives with husbands. And so notice what it says in verse one, Likewise he wives, be in subjection to your own husband. You say, what does it mean to be in subjection? Well, it's like, you know, you think of the king and his subjects. It's kind of like an archaic or muckled on word for, you know, basically the people underneath the king, but the king and his subjects because the king is in authority over the subjects. And really all areas of authority work the same way, biblically speaking, where those that are underneath that authority should always obey unless they're asked to do wrong. Okay. And the same is true with wives with their husbands. Obviously, you know, the Bible says husbands are the head of their homes and wives are subject to their own husbands. But it's not just that that's something that wives are supposed to do. By the way, she says the benefit that can happen if wives do that. It says that if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives. Now, when it says conversation there, it doesn't really mean just, you know, who stop on this really like it's not just the words you say, but it's also your actions is your conversation according to the Bible. And it talks about the husband's being won by the wise conversation by their lifestyle, by what they do. Now, I think there's a dual application here when it talks about obeying not the word. And one of the applications is referring to the husband's getting saved. So one application would be like, for example, a wife who is saved that believes on Jesus Christ, but she has an unbelieving husband. Go back to First Peter chapter one, first Peter one. It says in verse twenty two, seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth. OK, that's referring to a person getting saved, purified your soul by obeying the truth, by believing on the truth, by believing on Jesus Christ. Go to First Peter chapter two, first Peter two. And it says in verse seven, on to you, therefore, which believe is precious, but unto them which be disobedient. So to us that believe, to us that are saved is precious. But those that do not believe, those that are disobedient to the truth, those that don't believe in the truth, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made that had in the corner and a stone stumbling in a rock of offense, even to them which stumbled the word, being disobedient whereto also they were appointed. And so it talks about those that do not believe as being disobedient. And they're not obeying the gospel. But really, with an unbeliever, there's no good works that are going to be brought up in the great white throne judgment for them. It's just all disobedience. That's probably why the Bible uses that terminology. But when you go back to First Peter chapter three, the way you apply this is you're looking at a wife that's saved and a husband who is not saved. And unfortunately, that is actually a pretty common occurrence in this world. Now, sometimes people get married and then neither is saved and then maybe the wife gets saved and the husband is not saved. But sometimes people just choose to marry an unbeliever. And it's like, well, that was a very foolish decision because hopefully they'll end up getting saved. But in reality, if you can't get your girlfriend or fiancee saved before you're saved, I mean, what makes you think actually you get married and end up getting saved? It's like you need to marry somebody who is in the Lord. But, you know, I know a lot of people like this, you know, wives that want to serve God, they want to do what's right, but their husbands don't believe. They're not saved. You say, what sort of advice would you give? Well, the advice I would give is be the best wife possible because the Bible says if they are in subjection to their own husbands and are being a great example of that godly wife, it can have an impact on getting that husband saved. And you know, if you have a wife that is a godly wife and trying to do what's right, even if her husband doesn't believe, you know, it's going to cause that husband to really love his wife and care about his wife. And that is definitely going to give an opportunity to potentially preach the gospel. But if it's a wife who's just rebellious and rude, is he going to really want to listen to her give the gospel or someone from the church if his wife is just being obnoxious and rude? See, your testimony can be very powerful. You know, I remember after I was saved, you know, when I got saved, my first thought was, what about my parents? What about my family? They believe this. And I kind of thought, you know, if my parents believe this, you know, my parents love me. They would have told me this. And, you know, it turned out as I talked mainly to my dad about this, not as much to my mom. But with my dad, it's like we disagreed on eternal security. That was something that he didn't agree with me on. And I tried to give the gospel quite a bit. And then I realized after a time period went by, you know what, if I really want to have an impact, I've got to show it through my actions because it seemed like there was a wall where it's just like I didn't really have an opportunity. And you know what? Over the course of a couple of years, you know, my parents are both saved now. I know they're saved on their way to heaven. And my dad ended up getting saved. But, you know, a large part of it was not really the words. It was the rest of the conversation. It was the actions that opened up that opportunity. Now, obviously, we go door to door. People don't even know us. So they're ready to listen. They're ready to listen. But in terms of acquaintances, friends or old friends or family members, one thing that's going to impact whether or not you have a chance to preach the gospel is your actions. It's not just what you believe, but it's your actions that can open up that door of opportunity. And the Bible says that here with wives and their husbands. But I do believe another application is not just the husband's being one to the Lord. But let's say, for example, you got a situation of a wife that loves God, but the husband is saved when he doesn't love God. And sadly, this exists oftentimes as well, where one spouse wants to serve God, but the other one doesn't. And, you know, unfortunately, oftentimes it's the wives that want to serve God and the husbands don't. Because generally, if both husband and wife are saved and only one wants to live for God, it's usually the wife that wants to live for God and the husband not quite as much. And you say, well, how do I get my husband to love God more? Because I know the Bible better than him. I'm reading the Bible and my husband is not so much be the best wife possible. And then when you're in subjection to him, it's going to basically show him, wait a minute, she wants to be led. I should be the leader. And that is built inside of him. And it's going to basically teach him through the actions that, you know what? I need to be the leader in this home, the spiritual leader in our house. So if you want to have a big impact as a wife with an unbelieving husband or just a non-motivated husband, it's the actions that are going to do it. Now, it doesn't directly mention husbands with unbelieving wives or husbands with wives that aren't interested. But I would say it's a pretty similar thing. Be the best husband possible. You know, be a godly person. You know, basically control your tongue and don't say things that you're going to regret. And that's going to have an impact on your wife. And so it says in verse two, while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear, who's adorning. Let it not be that outward adorning of playing the air and wearing a bowl or putting on apparel. Let it be the headband of the heart and that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of the meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God at great price. So saying, you know, don't worry so much about what you put on on the outside, but actually the attitude and meek and quiet spirit. That's what's really important. Say, well, I want to have an impact on my husband. I'll just try to dress in a certain way. It's good to dress in a certain way. It's good to dress godly. But you know what? What's more important than the outside is actually the matter of the heart. And having that meek and quiet spirit means more than wearing whatever on the outside. It doesn't mean you say, well, you know, I want my husband to love me more, love God more. So I'm just going to spend two hours in front of the mirror just working on my appearance. You'd be better off spending two hours in the word of God working on the thing that cannot be seen. Because that's going to have a bigger impact on your husband. That is reality. And that's reality for guys and girls that, you know, we instead of focusing so much on the outside, we should focus on getting right on the inside and it's going to kind of flow out on the outside. OK. If I was saying what's more important to a guy than how his wife looks is basically her attitude. And any husband would say that's true. I mean, obviously you get married to your wife and you find your wife attractive and you love your wife. But you know what matters more than what's on the outside is what's on the inside. Now, that should be a large reason why a person gets married anyway. Unfortunately, that is not always the case. But I'll tell you what, you know, what matters more than just all the outward is actually inside. Having that meek and quiet spirit. It gives us the indication of what a godly woman is like. A meek and quiet spirit. Say, for a second, do you believe Joyce Meyer is a godly woman, you know, this famous female preacher in the US? Well, she doesn't really have a meek and quiet spirit when she's, you know, a asura. So the Bible says a godly woman has a meek and quiet spirit. This just makes sense. It's kind of like, you know what? You know, men are born to be leaders. Men are born to be fighters. It's really weird in our modern day. You got these fighting sports. You got women that are like professional boxers. It's like, what? It's strange, right? Or women that are professional fighters. It's like, it's just odd. It's like, you know what? This world has become so different from the natural gender roles that are built into you by nature. These are things that it's not just on the outside that teaches us. It's inside of you that you know, you know, the difference in these gender roles. Because the Bible even says you can tell by hair length, not even by a Bible verse, but just by nature, you know that. And it says that you know what's right and what's wrong for men and women just based on that. And these things are built into us as much as the world tries to deny it. They know that's the case. Now, verse five, for after this manner in the old time, the holy women also who trusted in God adorned themselves, being in subjection onto their own husbands. Now, remember, it talked about not the outward adorning. So in a saying, adorn themselves, it's talking about on the inside. Basically, they clothed themselves with righteousness, referring to the inside. They adored themselves in that way. Basically, they put on. That's their symbolically speaking their clothing that they were subject in subjection onto their own husbands. Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters he are, as long as you do well and are not afraid within the amazement. Now, the context is really about the inside. And, you know, the word Lord there is not saying, you know, if I'm going to own Jesus Christ. Right. That's not what it's referring to there. When it's saying Lord, it's just saying, you know, basically the master or the leader. It's not really a word you would use today. Right. I mean, I would suggest single guys saying, you know, I want you to call me Lord. But it's not really how we talk in our modern days. That would actually seem even weirder to a Bible belief Christian because nobody talks like that. But, you know, in a respectful way, obviously that would be a good thing. Like wives that are just speak respectfully to their husbands and you trust them as a leader. But, you know, I believe this is something she called on the outside, but she really felt it on the inside. It wasn't just fainter, fake emotions. Okay. Now, what's interesting about this is a lot of people believe that what I'm preaching right now is very sexist about husbands being the head of their homes. Well, that was just back then, they'll say. Isn't that what people say? It's like, yes, that was common back then. But that was 2000 years ago. You have to understand that, you know, it's a different culture now. Well, what's interesting is that this is what it says in first Peter and it's talking about something 2000 years before, right? Because Sarah and Abraham lived 2000 years approximately before first Peter. So us, and guess what? It wasn't outdated 2000 years later. I mean, if I was saying it's just as relevant 2000 years ago, 2000 BC, I don't know the exact year, you know, with Sarah and Abraham. But basically 2000 BC because the flood was roughly 4,400 years ago. So you're looking at, you know, approximately 2000 years before the time of Christ. And guess what? 2000 years later, just as relevant as so much that the New Testament is quoting that as an example. So guess what? We're 2000 years in the present. And first Peter is just as relevant to us today, just as the time of Abraham and Sarah was just relevant. So don't tell me this is just something of the time. I mean, the Bible is timeless and it doesn't go in subjection underneath a culture. There are certain things where there's nothing culturally right or wrong. It's kind of a custom, right? Like here, you know, you say the word flow. It's not really a word that has any translation in English, but it's a good standard. But there's certain things in cultures that go if they go against the Bible, well, then the Bible is going to trump it every single time. And so is this is outside of time and outside of culture. And what the Bible says is that husbands are the head of their homes. And look, this should not be something that God believes. Because this is what the Bible says, and if somebody is a godly lady, you know what? They should just want to follow what the Bible says and realize this is what God built inside of you. And the Bible never says that men are better than women. It never says that men are more important than women. What it says is men are different than women. And, you know, people get mad at the Bible all they want, but it doesn't change the fact that the Bible says that the woman was of the man. And, you know, however you're born, whether you're born a man or a woman, you should just, you know, basically take that role and be happy and say, hey, I want to become the best woman I can or become the best man if you're a man. Right? And not be like, oh, the Bible should say this. That's not fair. I want my equal rights. Look, if you go down that road, you're going to be miserable because actually what's going to make a believer happy is following what the Bible says. And whether you realize it or not, as a lady, you will be more happy raising your children. And look, we understand it's obviously difficult sometimes. Obviously, it's hard raising kids. But at the same time, the Bible talks about being able to look back at your kids as years have gone by. And one of the saddest things you'll see is people whose kids have grown up and are adults and they don't really love their parents. And basically, the parents didn't really invest time into those kids. So the kids, when they grow up, don't want to invest any time into parents. And there's just this depression that's permanent and it can't be changed. It's not like a video game where you hit reset when you're about to lose the sports game or whatever. Right? I used to have this old video game, you know, and it's like the last minute you're going to lose the game. It's like reset and nothing ever happened. And you just start. It doesn't work that way in real life. You know, you can't hit the reset button. It is what it is. And so it might be difficult, but you need to take for granted and trust in what the Bible says and just say, hey, I'm going to be the best wife possible or I'm going to be the best husband possible. And to go to Ephesians chapter five. Ephesians five. As I mentioned recently, people really need to to realize that, you know, before someone is married, a man provides for himself. And, you know, typically women are working and they're providing for themselves as well. If they're adults, if they're grown in their 20s or whatever, if you think back to your life like, oh, man, you know, it was so much less stress when I was working and I enjoyed it better. But see, that's not an accurate application because here's the thing. I had a lot less stress before I was married in terms of providing for myself financially to say why there's a lot less costs. So it's not the same thing. Right. I mean, being single, providing for yourself is completely different than being married and provided for a family. There's so much more stress. It's so much more difficult. I mean, when I was single, you know, and I'm not a big spender, but you can just go to restaurants and you wanted you had extra money. It wasn't really that's completely different. And there's really not much stress, you know, providing for yourself as a single person. So, you know, ladies should not look back to the past and say, well, you know, when I was single, I didn't have any. Yeah, because you weren't married. But once you get married, it's just completely different. You being married and working is not the same as being single and working. And see, the thing is, as a guy, as a husband, you are the head provider for your family. So look, as ladies, don't get this idea. Why not? You know, I wish I could go back. Look, the grass is always greener on the other side. We have to realize, you know what? You're going to grow up one day and you're just in a different place in life. Look, there are things that I miss about being in college. I'm happy to be married and have a family, but you know what? There are things that I miss about being in college, being 20 years old. And I could just, you know, go to the gym and play sports whenever I want. I don't have to worry about when I come home or anything like that. I'm just kind of on my own. No real responsibilities. I just need to get my grades in college so I can get my degree and everything. There are things I miss about that. But here's the thing. When I became a man, I put away childish things. And once you get older, you need to change because things are just different. There are responsibilities. You know, there are things I miss about being an eight year old. It's really nice then because there's literally zero responsibilities. You can play and play and play and play. You can eat candy and you can eat pizza and you're not going to gain weight because you're just running it off. But here's the thing. You're not going to be eight forever. This is not your man where you want to stay in Neverland forever. You grow up and you need to forget those things which are behind, as Paul says. And look, you're just in a different stage of life. One mistake people do is they remember things they really liked about a former stage, but those things are gone. You're never getting them back. Your life is just different. And so, look, as it's the Bible speaking about women don't have this attitude. I want to look back to it. Look, you're not single anymore. It's done. Forget about it because it's just going to make you depressed if you just look back to the things you missed. There's plenty of things we missed from our past, the past, the past. I miss playing Super Nintendo when I was a kid. I miss Super Mario Kart. I had so much fun playing Super Mario Kart. But you know what? Super Nintendo went out of style like 20 years ago or something. It's like, you know, it's done right. Ephesians 5, Ephesians 5, verse 22. Wives, submit yourselves on 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. But the wives should be in submission to their husbands in everything, in all areas. Now, this shows the importance of marrying the right kind of person because if you marry a guy who's a loser, and a derelict, and a jerk, that doesn't change the fact that you're still supposed to be in submission underneath it. So you need to marry someone who's a godly person. And here's the thing the Bible says to submit, and what submission is, is when there's two people and basically one says this, and one says this, and they disagree, and then one says, you know what, instead of being side by side, I'm going to be like a submarine. I'm going to go underneath. I'm going to submit to this person's decision because I consider him the boss. Isn't this what you do at work? Sometimes you disagree with your boss, right? I mean, I've never had a boss that I fully agreed with on everything. There were times where I was working on a project on Microsoft Excel, and you know what, my boss said to do it this way, and in the back of my head I'm thinking, I don't agree with him. But here's the thing, if you choose to just fight against it and not do, well, that's how you get fired, right? So you've got to submit whether you agree with it or not, and the Bible's saying the same thing with wives. They're to submit to their husbands when they disagree. Now as husbands, it's our job to be good leaders and to make good decisions, but whether or not you think your husband's making the right decision doesn't change the fact you're still supposed to submit underneath that decision unless he's asking you to sin. I'm not saying, well, you know, my husband told me to help him out selling drugs. Should I just slip? Well, of course you shouldn't listen because he's asking you to sin. But if he's just saying, hey, you know what, let's, you know, eat this for dinner tonight and you're like, no, I don't want to do it. Well, that's not being submissive. Now turn to your Bible to Genesis 60 Genesis 60. Now, what every ruling authority should do is actually love and care for the people that are underneath. Whether that's a king or a politician, they should care about the people that are underneath them and want to serve the people underneath. Now that usually doesn't happen, but that's the way it should be. Godly kings in the Bible, that was their attitude to actually care about the people that they were overseeing and they were ruling them. If you're a pastor of a church, you should care for the people at your church and be willing to lay down yourself for them. That's what Jesus Christ did. He didn't come to be ministered onto. He came to minister. And a good husband is going to care about his wife and want to be a good husband and love her and care about her. The Bible speaks about that. But the main thing first Peter three was talking about is wives being in submission to their house. We'll talk about the guy's husband's here in a second. But notice Genesis chapter 16, verse one. Now, Sarai, whose wife bear no children, and she hadn't handmade an Egyptian, his name was Hagar. And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold, now the Lord hath restrained me from bearing. I pray thee, go in unto my maid, it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abraham hearkened to the voice of Sarai. So Abraham listens to his wife telling him, I can't have kids, so, you know, take my bondmaid as a wife. And Sarai, Abram's wife, took Sarah, her baby Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan and gave her her husband Abram to be his wife. And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived, and when she saw that she conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes. And Sarai said unto Abram, By wrong be upon me, I have given my maid into thy bosom. And when she saw that she conceived, I was despised in her eyes, the Lord judged between me and thee. And so Sarah realizes, you know what? I made the wrong choice. I shouldn't have asked you to do that. It was the wrong thing. And my purpose in bringing this up is what you see is that women have a tendency to make emotional decisions. Now it doesn't mean that husbands are always right, but what you see is Sarah makes an emotional, very foolish decision. I can't have kids, so just marry this other woman. What a foolish thing to do, right? Because the Lord had restrained Sarah from bearing, so that having your husband marry another woman, that's just bizarre to me. But this is not just in this story that you actually see this take place. And so Abraham listens to Sarah, and what you see is that women have a tendency to make emotional decisions. And that's what you see in Genesis chapter 16. And then all of a sudden, verse five, she's like, Oh, I made I made the wrong decision. I don't want you to be married in a multiple way, right? And so go back to 1 Peter chapter three, 1 Peter three. Now, I've heard I've heard people say this before, and I can't prove this. I'm not trying to become a psychiatrist here. You know, we just talked about psychopaths. But they talk about one difference between men and women, like inside of the brains, is that basically you have two sides to your brain. Like one's more emotional, one's logical, and there's connections made between those sides. And basically for women, there's a lot more connections between emotional and logic. And that basically women always have some emotion and some logic in decisions they make. Whereas men will either be all emotional or all logical. And I know that's true or not, but I certainly know that guys, when guys lose their temper, they lose their temper. Women tend to be more emotional than men, but when men get emotional, it's like a nuclear bomb that goes off. When a guy gets angry, he gets super angry. If a guy gets sad, I mean, he gets really sad. And so women have more of a tendency to maybe get emotional, but men, when they get emotional, it's like there's no logic. And so I can't prove that's necessarily the case, but my idea is one difference between men and women, and this is probably why women are much better at raising the kids and why that's so important to them, is because men have the ability either to be all logical or all emotional. And because they have the ability to be all logical, they can be in difficult decisions and make the right decisions because they're not allowing emotions to cloud their judgments. They're not allowed in tough times to cloud their judgments. And so that's one of the reasons, but whether or not you agree with that or not, it doesn't change the fact that God put men as the head of their homes and women as the leader. First Peter 3, verse 7, Likewise, he husbands, well with them, according to knowledge, giving honor on the wife, as honor the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. The Bible says you're supposed to dwell with your wives according to knowledge, meaning that you're supposed to get to know your wives. You're supposed to get to have knowledge of your wife, and you're supposed to give honor on her. Now look, if you're a woman that has a loser husband that treats you like a jerk, well, he's not doing what he's supposed to do, because he's supposed to give honor on the wife. And as husband, who might be the head of our homes, but we're expected to give honor on our wives, get to know our wives, and realize that they are the weaker vessel, the Bible says. Now I do believe, certainly, that men are physically stronger than women, but honestly, I don't really think that's the main context of this verse, though. I think the weaker vessel is more in reference to emotionally that they're weaker. I believe that would fit the context of First Peter chapter 3. Obviously men are the stronger vessel in terms of just physically being stronger, but they can lift more weights, they have more muscle, and things like that. But I really think the main context, saying the weaker vessel, is really referring to emotionally. Because when you really think about it, men are, yes, physically stronger, and I do think that's an application, but in some ways, men have a higher mortality rate at every stage of life. And I know this very well, because that's what I did in my old job. I just worked on mortality tables, and at every stage of life, male babies are so much more likely to die than female babies. It's not even close. It's like five times as much, or something like that. And men typically live shorter lives, because basically when you look at the graphs of mortality charts and deaths, basically it's the exact same chart, but the only difference is men are basically thrown five years ahead on most of the chart. So basically men tend to die at a younger age than women. And so in that way, men are kind of weaker, but you know, the context really, I believe, is referring to emotionally, because you're thinking about making decisions in First Peter chapter 3, and how wives are in subjection on their own husbands. And one thing we need to realize as husbands is, yes, women are emotionally more fragile and weaker. And so if you say something that's really about stokes, that can really cause some real damage to them, because they are the weaker vessel, the Bible says. Now of course it's wrong for men or women to say something that's rude, but you have to realize if you say things, if you treat your wife like garbage, and you're not kind to her, the problem is you're probably not going to be heirs together of the grace of life, as it says at the end of that verse. And if you're going to be successful as a Christian, you need husbands and wives serving God. You need to be heirs together of the grace of life. And that's not going to take place if the husband's rude to the wife, and the wife's rude to the husband. You're fighting all the time. You're not going to be serving God together. And so there's importance of having the proper roles, and of both sides, the husband treating the wife, knowing she's the weaker vessel, well with her according to knowledge, and give honor on her life. And you need to be that strong and firm vessel, especially in regards to emotion, that your prayers be not hindered, the Bible says in verse 7. Because one command is that once you get married, as a husband, is to lay down your life for your wife. And so look, if you're someone who's trying to serve God, but you're not treating your wife correctly, your prayers are going to be hindered, the Bible says. Verse 8. Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love his brethren, be pitiful, be courteous, not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, but contrary wise, blessing, knowing that ye are there unto call, that ye should inherit a blessing. And so the main context here is in regards to husbands and wives, because that's what it's been talking about. The spouse is not rendering evil for evil or railing for railing, right? So it means that if the husband says something rude to the wife, the wife should just try not to respond. And if the wife says something rude to the husband, he should not respond. You say why? Because when you do railing for railing or evil for evil, what happens is this side says something that's this rude, this side says something that's this rude, and then this side goes to this level, and it just gets worse and worse because you're just trying to hurt your feelings and make them feel like garbage. Right. And unfortunately, we tend as people to hurt those that are closest to us. I mean, there's things that we would say to our parents or our spouse or kids that we would never say to a random stream. Right. I mean, you'd be embarrassed to say something like this to somebody in public. And yet it's like World War three sometime when you talk to people that you actually care about. And the reason why I guess people do it is because, one, they're more emotionally invested because they're around that person a lot. And the other thing is, you know that at the end of the day, they're going to end up forgiving you. Right. Maybe not at the end of the day, maybe in a couple of days or whatever, depends on what you say. But you know that eventually they're probably going to forgive you. So it's like, is that the way you want to go through your life? Because you're going to be miserable if you're just railing on each other and just screaming at each other and just always being mad. It's like you're going to go through life miserable and it's going to hinder you from serving God. And look, as a married person, you're going to do better by making sure that your heirs together of the grace of life and realize that it's a team effort. As a husband and wife, it's an effort in serving God and raising the cheddar. It's not a solo effort like it was when you were single. OK, now this was the first thing for he that will love life and see good days. Let him refrain his tongue from evil in his lips if they speak. No, God, let us do evil and do good. Let us seek peace and in suits. It's interesting when it says he that will love life is remember Ephesians five to talk about he that love his wife, love himself. And the Bible says that if you love your wife, you actually love yourself because if you don't love your wife and you're not a good husband, it's actually going to make your life miserable. So if you really love yourself, the Bible is trying to say you better love your wife because otherwise you're going to be miserable because she's going to be mad. You're going to be fighting all the time. It's going to make your life miserable. It's interesting because in first Peter three, he that will love life and Ephesians five talk about the husbands and wives. He that loved his wife loved himself. So you can see how these things really mesh together. And so the thing is this. If you want if you really love life and you love yourself and you want to have a good life and see good days, basically shut up. Refrain your tongue from people. Don't say things that are rude to your spouse, OK? And don't say anything that is wrong because you're going to end up destroying your life and being miserable all the time. Now, this sort of sermon is good for everybody who's married because all of us are guilty of sometimes saying things that I don't think there's anybody. I've heard people say that they've never gotten in a fight with their spouse. It's like all that tells me is that, you know, you lie more than I do. It's like I remember what somebody that was friends with in West Virginia told me. He's like, yeah, I know people say, you know, about how husbands and wives, you know, all husbands and wives get by. Honestly, me and my wife have never been in a fight. And I'm just thinking, you expect me. It's like I didn't tell them that, but I was just like, oh, I guess you're listening to just everything she says. I guess that shows who wears the pants in that family, so to speak. Right. It's like, look, husbands and wives, we had a disagreement. Because we're not perfect and you're around that person a lot. And look, if you're around, I mean, that's why even in church settings, people get advice in churches. You say, why? Well, I mean, you're around each other, you know, for hours every week, you're around each other for so long. I mean, you're going to get in a disagreement sometimes. Sometimes people get on your nerves. Sometimes you get frustrated with you. It's going to take place. But the Bible says what we should do is refrain our tongue from evil and our lips from evil. So basically, just not say something that's wrong. Not say something that's rude, because if we do that, it's just going to cause problems and we're not going to be happy. Look, I want you to realize that when I preach things like this, it's not like I'm standing up here and saying, well, I've never said anything wrong. I've never gotten in the fight with my wife. You know, obviously that would be that that's not true. Everybody gets in fights. But this is what the Bible teaches. And it's good advice not just for everyone. It's good advice for me and my wife because it's something that we're all working on, trying to have good marriages. In the church, if we want to be successful as husbands and wives, we need to make sure that we're heirs together of the grace of life and our relationships. We make sure we're doing a good job raising our kids. And that's not an easy thing to do. That takes a lot of work. But you know what? That is what's going to make us successful. And not just in our individual families. I believe as a church as well, because this church is going to be around for decades. And you know what? The kids are the next generation. We've got a lot of young kids in our church. And you know what? We're going to raise them to serve God and love God. And if we do that, then you know what? We're going to have a successful church that's slowly getting broken. And so it's worth it to invest the time into this. First of all, for the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous and his ears are open on their prayers for the faith. But the face of the Lord is against them to do evil. And who is he that will harm you if you be followers of that which is good? So the Bible says, who is he that's going to harm you if you're followers of that which is good, if you're doing what's right? In general, if you have a good attitude, if you're a nice person, if you're a kind person, if you don't say anything rude, if you don't do things that are wrong, you know what? People are not going to be fighting with you and getting mad at you and harming you. Now, one application is certainly in marriage. I mean, if you're a very kind person, then you're going to get in a lot less fights with your spouse. I mean, if they're saying something rude to you and you respond, you know, I'm sorry, and you're very kind to them and you're very long suffering with them. In general, you're not going to get through a lot of fights. Who's going to harm you if you're followers of that which is good? Meaning refrain from your tongue, being a kind person, caring about other people. Another application is with government. And in general, if you're doing what is good and you're doing what is right, in general, you're not going to be harmed. Now, the reason why I'm making that application is the next verse really is where you would apply that. Because it says in verse 14, but and if he suffered for righteousness sake, happy are ye and be not afraid of your terror, neither be troubled. And so now I'm talking about suffering for righteousness sake. And as a Christian, one area you see throughout the Bible where Christians suffer for righteousness sake isn't an application with the government where they're going so many and they're getting arrested and they're doing what's right. In general, if you are doing what is good and not breaking the law, you're not going to get in trouble with the government in general. As Christians, we should try to be as obedient as possible just to have a good relationship with the government, not to get in any trouble. And in general, they're not going to harm you. But and if he suffered for righteousness sake, so let's say you do get arrested for preaching the gospel, you're not doing anything wrong. Let's say you have a situation like Daniel. Daniel gets in trouble because he's praying. They have nothing to think and criticize Daniel about except that he was praying to God. And then guess what? He gets in trouble for righteousness sake. The Bible says happier you. And so look, if you're doing what is right and being obedient, the Bible actually says you can have happiness when you're going through persecution because there's nothing that's going to make you happier than having a clear conscience. Even if you are going through problems in life and you know that you're right with God and you know you're doing good, in general, you're going to be a happy person. Of course, you could have moments in your life like Joe where you go through tragedies. And I'm not sitting here saying that if you go through a tragedy and you're not sad at all, you're happy as can be. It's like, well, you might be a psychopath, right? That's what we talk about. I mean, obviously, you know, there's going to be times of depression and sadness when there's tragedies that take place. But, you know, there's moments where, you know, men and women could cry because of something that's taking place in life. I mean, I've had that take place before. But in general, you know what? If you're suffering for righteousness sake, you're just being persecuted for serving God. You're not depressed. Right. When I've been serving God and you feel like, you know, in this honest, this is on a small level, but you get you get a video that gets taken down from YouTube and they take it down because it's like it doesn't make you upset. You know what I mean? It's just kind of makes you more bold to do what's right. OK, now I'm going to ask everybody, let me show you an example of this with the government. I hope, you know, all the people were pretty young. We're going to be living for another 50 years or whatever. I hope that, you know, we never get into a situation in our lifetime where there's a lot of resistance. We can be arrested for preaching the gospel. But the good news is that if that does come, we can still actually have joy in serving God. It's going to make our lives difficult. But if you're suffering for righteousness sake, you know what you're doing is right. We can still have a joyful life, even in the midst of a lot of persecution. It says the next five, twenty seven, and when they had brought them, they said that before the council, the high priest asked them, saying, did not we straightly command you that you should not teach in this name? Behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. We command you not to preach the gospel. Well, we're not denying that you commanded us that we never said we agreed to it, though. Right. We ought to obey God rather than go to the end of the chapter. Verse, verse 40. Acts five, verse 40. And in the end, they agree that when they had called the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. So they're going to beat them and command them. Well, since we beat them, they're going to stop. Right. And they departed from the presence of the council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer. For his name. I mean, literally, what can you do to someone if you beat them and then they're like happy? You know, praise the Lord, just singing praise to God or whatever. It's like what? And then it says in daily in the temple and every house they cease not to teach and praise Jesus Christ. What ends up happening? Well, by and large, the government just backs down because it's like, what else are we going to do? It's like we beat them. It makes them more bold to preach the gospel and they're happy and rejoicing. It's like, whatever. It's not worth the headache. Right. So the good news is that if we suffer for righteousness sake in our lifetime, you know, we're serving God, which could take place, you know, let's say there's a lot of resistance to preach the gospel one day. We can still have a joyful life. We can still be happy in our life. Go back to first Peter. First Peter, chapter three. First Peter, chapter three. And in verse number 15, the Bible reads, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready. Always give an answer to everything that has to be a reason of the hope that is in you with weakness and fear. And it's a very famous verse. I don't spend a lot of time on it, but obviously we should always be ready to give a reason for why we believe what we believe, why we live the way we live, why we're serving God, you know, and we should always be ready. No matter who would ask us for that reason. Verse 16, having a good conscience, that whereas they speak evil views and evil doers, they may be ashamed and falsely accused or good conversation in Christ. And so we're suffering for righteousness sake. And people are, you know, getting arrested for serving God. And then they're asking, like, why are you doing this? The government said no. The Bible says, you know, I wish we could have a good conscience because we know they're speaking against us, but they're falsely accusing our conversation in Christ, meaning they're falsely accusing the way we're living. They're saying, how dare you disobey? But it's like if we know that we're obeying God and we're not doing anything wrong, it's like we can have a clear conscience and we can be happy suffering for righteousness sake. Verse 17. For it is better if the will of God be so that he suffer for well-doing than for evil. And says in verse 18, now let's shift here to verse 18. We got kind of a deep section here at the end of this chapter. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. And so Jesus Christ was put to death in the flesh. He was killed, but he was quickened or made alive by the Spirit, referring to the Holy Spirit of God. So he is made alive by the Holy Spirit, the Bible says. And then it says here in verse 19, by which also he went and preached on the spirits in prison. So by which is referring to by this Holy Spirit, by the Holy Spirit, Jesus went and preached on the spirits in prison. Now, some people see preaching under the spirits in prison and they think that, you know, they believe in Abraham's wisdom and they believe that Jesus Christ was in the heart of the earth for three days and in the good part of hell. And he was preaching a sermon to those in hell, like ha ha ha, I won or something like that. Right. They have this idea where they say he was just preaching to the other saved people, you know, for those three days. Like, hey, we're going to go to heaven one day, just wait a couple of days. But that's not what it means by preaching on to the spirits in prison. OK, first go to Acts chapter two. Let me show you a few verses on this. Acts two. And I'm going to show you what it means to preach on the spirits in prison. It's not really all that complicated and it makes sense when you cross reference and everything. But first I want to show you that Jesus Christ, yeah, he was in the heart of the earth for three days, three nights, but he was not in a good part of hell. It says in Acts two, verse thirty one, because they say paradise was part of hell. It says in Acts two, verse thirty one, he seen this before speaking the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption and the flesh of Jesus did not see corruption because he rose again before the body could actually corrupt. Yet for three days and three nights, his flesh did not see corruption. Seeing corruption would be a bad thing. His soul being left in hell would be a bad thing as well. Corruption is a bad thing. Hell is a bad thing. And grammatically, he wouldn't make a statement where it would be like contradictory thoughts like that. Well, hell is a good place, but seeing corruption is a bad thing. Right. So saying his soul was not left in hell. Right. And saying, praise the Lord, his soul was not left in hell. Praise the Lord, his flesh did not see corruption because he rose again before his flesh could see corruption. And he rose again so his soul did not have to stay in hell because he was there for three days, three nights. So just writing grammatically, that is how you would do it. Now, of course, throughout the Old Testament, you're looking at burnt offerings that tells us that the soul of Christ was in hell. And throughout the Bible, we see hell is a bad place. But it says his soul was in hell for three days, three nights. Now, a lot of Baptists are very resistant to this. And they say, no, no, no. Jesus did not go to hell for three days, three nights. And if you show them this verse of that, well, yeah, you know, he went to hell. That's really paradise. And it's just like they have a problem with you saying Jesus went to hell. But Jesus went to hell. And it's clearly what the Bible says. And it makes sense because if we deserve to go to hell and pay for our sins, doesn't it make sense that a price paid for our sins that he went to hell to pay for our sins? Makes sense? Now, go to James 2, verse 26. Let me show you something real quickly. James 2, verse 26. Because it says he went and preached unto the spirits in prison. And a lot of people say, well, he was in the heart of the earth and he was preaching to those in hell. Well, why would he increase in them if they have no chance to be saved? Because once you're in hell, you're in hell forever. So what's the point of just like robbing a ha-ha you didn't make? That doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. But they say, well, preaching unto the spirits in prison, he preached unto the unsaved people that were in hell. Or some will say, well, he preached unto those that were in paradise. They preached to the serpent because they're going to one day get out of there. They're kind of in prison. They're going to one day get to go to heaven. OK. Let me show you first off here in James 2, verse 26. It says, first, the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also. Now, the definition of somebody being dead physically is that the body is without the spirit. Once they separate, then they're dead. Now, somebody could be hit by a car and pronounced dead. And then five minutes later, it's like they're resuscitated. Well, they weren't really dead in a difficult sense, because even though they appeared to be dead, even though they appear like their heart rate was gone, the spirit hadn't actually left the body. God was not dumb. God was, you know, allowing them to live. Either he had something for them or it wasn't their time to die or whatever. But just because they're declared dead in a sense in this world doesn't mean that God is declared dead because they're dead when the spirit leaves the body. But here's the thing. When somebody dies, the spirit leaves the body. The Bible says the spirit shall return on to the Lord who gave it. So what's the problem with saying Jesus preached on the spirits in prison? They don't have the spirits. It's done. In return to the Lord, it's your soul that goes to heaven or hell when you die. The spirit shall return on to the Lord who gave it, the Bible says, whether you're saved or lost. So when someone dies, the body and the spirit separate. The body is dead. The spirit returns on the Lord who gave it. And then the soul either is in heaven or hell. Okay. And so look, if he's preaching on to the spirits in prison, they have to be alive. They can't be dead. If they're in hell, the spirit already returned to the Lord. That's what the Bible teaches. And so these people are alive. So when it says he preached on the spirits in prison, these are people that are alive, not dead. You say, what's it talking about? We'll go to Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61. No, if you believe that, if people believe the spirits in prison is just speaking like, well, on the symbolics, the spirits in prison. But if you're taking it literally, it's the soul that is in hell. Pronouncing it personally. It doesn't say they preached on the souls in prison. Now I understand the soul versus the spirit is a very deep and complicated topic. But literally, the spirit returns on the Lord who gave it. But regardless, in Isaiah 61, let's look at what it says here. Verse one, the spirit of the Lord. Isaiah 61, verse one, the spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath appointed me to preach good tidings on to the meek. Now, good tidings, the gospel, the cross reference talking about preaching the gospel. Yes, simply to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, because, you know, when people get saved, they enter into the freedom found in Christ. Liberty to the captives because somebody has no hope of going to heaven without hearing the gospel and the opening up of the prison to them that are found. Now, why does it say the opening up of the prison to them that are found? Because of the fact if somebody is unsaved, they cannot do anything to get out of that situation. They are basically in prison. When somebody is in prison, they can't get out unless they get declared innocent or unless somebody makes the payment if there's a bail. Well, unsaved people are literally in prison because they cannot do anything to get out of prison. The only hope they have is somebody comes and preaches the gospel because Christ did make the payment for them. And once somebody preaches the gospel to them, the prison doors are opened, then they also have free will to walk out. Now, they should walk out. I don't know why they wouldn't want to walk out, but they aren't forced to walk out. I mean, the opening up of the prison to them that are bound, but don't they still have a choice whether or not they want to walk out or not? I don't I don't try to use, you know, symbolic references as my main doctrine. Obviously, we know this is the case, right? People have free will to decide whether they believe people must hear the gospel to be safe. But if you want to take this, you know, just looking at it in a symbolic sense, it makes perfect sense, right? We are the ones that have the key to open up that door to unlock it, the opening up of the prison to them that are bound. But they have the free will whether or not they want to walk out or not. Now, it's logical for a prisoner to walk out if they are able to. But as logical as it is for unsafe people to receive a free gift, many of them say, no, I want to figure it out on my own. I want to trust in my works to get to happen. Right. I mean, that would be a foolish thing to do. Somebody is guilty of committing murder. It's like, well, we just open the prison. You go out. No, no, no. I want to just defend myself from the door. And it's a prideful thing. It's stupid. I really think about the symbolic record. It's stupid. But, you know, it makes sense because of the fact people that are in prison, they're not allowed to get out. They're not able to get out unless that prison door is open. And we are the ones that can open the prison door for the unsafe people. So go back to First Peter three. So let's talk about preaching out of the spirits in prison. This is referring to preaching to unsafe people because when people still have their spirits, they're not dead. The spirit has not returned on the Lord. When we preach the gospel, because they have a spirit, they're able to understand and comprehend what we're preaching out of them because we're preaching a spiritual book. And they can basically, you know, leave on Jesus if they weren't. If they hear the gospel and they have that choice, if they're going to accept it or not, because they have a spirit inside that can comprehend these things. OK, but if we don't preach the gospel to them, they are bound. They're basically prisoners. So Christ obviously preached the gospel to many people. Then it says in verse 20, which sometime were disobedience. Now, what is that referring to? Well, I mean, unsafe people. Now, literally being disobedient is, you know, throughout first Peter not obeying the gospel. But here's the thing. It's going to link back to the days of Noah. And the people were not just not obeying the gospel. They were very disobedient. They were very sinful. Which sometime were disobedient. Well, when was that? When once the long suffering of God was in the days of Noah. In the days of Noah, they were very disobedient. And God was long suffering not to destroy the world. And then it says, while the ark was preparing, were few that his eight souls were saved by water. Now, how were those eight souls actually saved by water? Well, they were literally saved by the water destroying the wicked people. Because our world is not that bad yet. It's not like the days of Noah. Imagine if you lived in Sodom and Gomorrah because the days of God and the days of Noah. So you can imagine the days of Noah were pretty similar. Imagine if you lived in Sodom and Gomorrah and we had this church in Sodom and Gomorrah. Oh, they would want to kill us, wouldn't they? They would kill us. I mean, they wanted to kill those that raped those angels right when they came to town. I mean, this church probably couldn't exist in Sodom and Gomorrah because we would be burned down. And so when the world becomes wicked and you're righteous, the wicked world hates the righteous. And so, look, they were literally saved physically by the water destroying the wicked people. That's how they were saved in the days of Noah. Because, you know what, by and large, I have no doubt that Noah got many people saved spiritually. That doesn't mean that they got them in ark, though. There's only eight people in that ark. People could believe the gospel, but the world itself is becoming very wicked. I mean, don't preach for hundreds of years with zero confidence. No matter how unreceptive the area is, you're going to get some people saved. But the water basically saved them by destroying the wicked people because the world was wicked. They wanted to kill Bible believers. It says in verse 21, the like figure, wherein to even baptism God also now saves. Now, people try to look at this and say, well, see, talks about water, verse 20, baptism, verse 21. That proves you must be baptized in water to be saved. Well, in verse 20, they were conveniently saved, not spiritually saved. And they were saved by water because the water destroyed the wicked people. And it says it's a like figure where to even baptism God also now saves us. Now, I do not believe the baptism here is referring to a water baptism. I believe it's referring to being spiritually baptized into Christ, meaning you put your faith on Christ. There is that terminology used in the Bible about baptism. It's not always referring to water baptism. Baptized means to immerse. And the Bible says bring your all the children of God by the faith in Christ Jesus, or as many as you have been baptized into Christ and put on Christ. So it's referring to when you put your full 100% faith on Jesus Christ. Now, the reason why I don't believe it's referring to water baptism is because you can take out the part in parentheses and the same is still going to make sense. Okay, because the parentheses adds clarification. So it says the light figure where to even baptism baptism also now save us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ if you take out the part of the parentheses. Okay, we'll talk about the part of parentheses here in a second, but you can literally take that part out and the sentence will still make sense. So we're baptism also now saved us by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. So it's actually the resurrection of Jesus Christ which saves us. Now I understand that baptism in terms of water baptism is symbolic of salvation, because you're believing that Jesus was buried and that he rose again. But I believe the baptism here is referring to you putting your faith in Jesus Christ and because of his resurrection. That is why we receive salvation. Now the part in parentheses. Okay, it says not the putting away the filth of the flesh. Now in verse 20, the putting away the filth of the flesh was literally the wicked people, the water destroying the wicked people. But here what it says not the putting away the filth of the flesh. See, it's not us basically getting rid of our filthy sins that gets us saved. So in verse 20, putting away the filth of the flesh was literally putting away wicked, evil people. But for us that received salvation, it's not us putting away the filth of our flesh. It's not us getting rid of our sins. It's not us changing our lifestyle or reforming our life. It's not us putting away the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God. Now why does it say the answer of a good conscience? Well, the answer is referring to basically your response to something. And it talked about a few verses earlier that Jesus preached unto the spirits in prison referring to soul winning, right? Preaching the gospel. Well to be saved, you that are in prison that are unsaved, basically somebody preaches the gospel to you and you have the choice of having the right answer to that gospel.