In his sermon, 'Building Strong Families Until Jesus Comes Again,' David Green reflects on the spiritual battles that families face and emphasizes the importance of grounding family life in biblical teachings, particularly Ephesians chapter 5. He acknowledges personal family struggles and highlights that all families, past and present, face challenges. The sermon underscores the necessity of redeeming time in evil days and being filled with the Spirit. Green elaborates on the roles and responsibilities of husbands and wives, emphasizing the biblical model of headship and mutual respect. He warns against cultural influences that weaken family structures and advocates for adherence to scriptural principles. Additionally, Green addresses the role of children in families and the importance of obedience and honoring parents. He concludes with a call for families to engage actively in church, practice family worship, and foster hospitality as ways to build strong families until Jesus' return.

Ephesians chapter 5 you go ahead and be turning there in your copy of God's Word The subject that's been assigned to me is building strong families until Jesus comes again. So Ephesians chapter five. And I'm not gonna stand here and tell you that I have this subject all figured out. In fact, the older I get, the more I realize I don't know as much as I used to think I knew. And, You know, a lot of things been on my mind.

My dad just passed away and a lot of things about family, a lot of things about the past, a lot of things about the future. Mom and dad had A lot of struggles in their marriage and as a matter of fact they were divorced. I'm not going to stand here and tell you that I'm any better than they were. In fact, the reality is I'm no less of a sinner than my parents. My whole family's a unit of sinners.

We struggle daily. But I can I can tell you this, I'm certain of two things this afternoon? Today, today I'm certain. I'm certain of two things, and that is, I may not know what time it is, but I do know this. There is a spiritual battle that's going on that involves the family There's a spiritual battle going on in my family there was a spiritual battle going on in my parents family And I may not know anything about your family, but I can tell you this there's a spiritual battle going on your family too.

Many books have been written about families but the Bible the Bible has all we need to build strong families. That's number one. Number two, strong families are not simply families modeled after the Puritans or the Amish or even your grandparents or my grandparents. We like to look at the past with rose-colored glasses and think that they all had it all together. Well guess what?

They struggled too. And if we if we simply model our families after the Puritans, the Amish, or our grandparents, and we leave out the Bible, we've missed the mark. And so that's where we start today, is on the subject of building strong families until Jesus comes again even though we're at a later hour than where they were the message doesn't change we've got to be in this book So Ephesians chapter 5 and I want us to begin Probably not where you think we're gonna begin. I want us to start back at verse 15 More than willing we'll get down through into chapter 6 in just a few moments here this afternoon but beginning at verse 15 he says, see then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, Redeeming the time because the days are evil Wherefore Being not unwise but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Be not drunk with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.

Speem to yourselves in psalms and hymns, spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God." so right away, Paul in this letter to the church at Ephesus, he tells them, and by extension we're being told the same thing as he's writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, this is the Word of God here, we're being told to redeem the time because the days are evil. What days? The days that we're in. That's the days.

The time that we're in, that time, as our brother was talking about between already and not yet. The time that we're here on this earth, this time that we live right now, whether Jesus comes back in our lifetime or whether it's going to be another 300 years from now, this time, the days are evil. Redeem the time. The time until Jesus comes again. There is a reality here today that we all must face, and that is whether Jesus comes in our lifetime or not, we all have an appointment to see Jesus.

Everyone in this room in less than 50 years and some of us closer than that will see Jesus. The majority of us will be there. And so let us redeem the time because the days are evil. He says don't be drunk with wine we're in his excess, but be filled with the spirit What does this mean being filled with the spirit well, I believe he gives us that answer What it looks like he says some speaking to yourselves in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Giving thanks always for all things unto God.

Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. And then what does that look like? What does it look like to submit ourselves one to another in the fear of God? Well that's where we kind of want to begin looking at the family. This is where the spiritual battle begins.

Because that old flesh rises up and says, it's all about me. That old flesh rises up and says it's all about me. That old flesh rises up and says I want to be my own and the world revolves around me and my selfish desires and this. But hold up a second. The Bible's got the answer.

Before we even get to this, let me just point out that while Christianity in our world gets mocked, scoffed, and run off in a lot of places, we're in not for the grace of God and the restraining hand of God, you and I would be martyrs, burned at the stake, killed, hunted, meeting in secret with a password to get in and all those sorts of things even at this very hour. But the reality is that you will not find strong families in Muslim countries. You won't find it. You won't find strong families in atheistic cultures. You won't find strong families among the communists.

In fact, it's the opposite. They're destructive to families. And when I speak of strong families, I mean women being treated the very best that they could be. I mean children being cared for from the from conception all the way through. But yet in God's perfect plan for a family is laid out here in the scriptures.

You'll find battle after battle in our culture and in other cultures where this is preached and taught and even lived. And I say to you, even though these are dark times, we must not compromise or give the enemy even an inch if we want to build strong families to build strong families until Jesus comes. In Ephesians chapter 5, in verse 22, new paragraph going down to verse 24, first of all, Wives submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord, for the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, 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." As we begin to enter in and wade into this text, You'll begin to see a pattern, a pattern that is different from what the culture tells us. First of all, You'll begin to see this pattern of one man and one woman.

This is how strong families are built. Not on the dictionary definitions because I don't know about you but I've noticed something dictionary definitions change they're just a reflection of how the words are being used in the culture the the The pattern here is not based on the Supreme Court definitions because the court is fickle. You can't depend on the court to do the right things. This isn't based on the culture, not the culture of Ephesus, not the culture of the Roman Empire, and certainly not on the culture, the whims, and the way things go in the American culture. These things change, but God doesn't change and His Word never changes.

And by the way, when you're engaging with the culture and when you're out talking to people and witnessing to people and you're talking about these things, don't be discouraged if somebody comes to you and says, Jesus never addressed this subject. Number one, let us recall that the the black letters of your Bible are no less important than the red letters. That's number one. Holy Spirit inspired is Holy Spirit inspired. Scripture is scripture.

Whether it was penned by Paul or Luke or Matthew, regardless of who it was, that's something to keep in mind. But Jesus did indeed address this issue. Very, very clearly in Mark chapter 10, you can hold your place there in Ephesians chapter 5, but thinking about building strong families, Jesus addressed this in Mark chapter 10, verses 6 through 9. He says, But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and cleave to his wife.

They twain shall be one flesh, so then they are no more twain but one flesh. What Therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." What we have here when we talk about the family is not something that was made up, invented, Something that came along through evolutionary random chance processes. No, no. This is actually something that has come to us out of God's very good creation in the Garden of Eden. And you and I, when we think about this, when we talk about building strong families until Jesus comes again, we must realize that we cannot that we cannot improve, change, or alter what God has given us, not without serious consequences.

Not without serious consequences. Sadly, you and I have lived long enough to see some of those consequences, even on our very own country. Someone said, is God going to judge America? Take them to Romans chapter 1. God gave them up.

God turned them over. Tell me that the judgment of God has not already fallen on this country. And then pray much for this nation and build strong families until Jesus comes again. And so we get back to Ephesians chapter 5. Because not only is there a battle over a strong family being with a man and a woman, but also when it comes to the wording, the plain wording of the scriptures.

He says here, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands. Remember, we're talking about strong marriages. The only way that this can happen is by following the Word of God. This is God's order. Over in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, 1st Corinthians chapter 11 verse 3 God has ordained headship and that includes in the family But I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.

Understand something. This is dealing with headship. Christ is no less God than the Father. Re-read that verse and consider the application there. The head of every man is Christ, the head of the woman is the man, and the head of Christ is God.

This is orderly, the way that God has set it in place. 1 Timothy 2.13, he says, for Adam was first formed then Eve. In this, right away when you get into this kind of language as what is laid out here in Ephesians chapter 5, this is a cultural battleground. You get past the man and the woman part of it second battleground that you face is this wife submitting to their own husbands but this is What the scripture says and not only in the English but it's the same in the Greek. This is what Paul wrote.

In this, notice he says, wife, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. There's a couple different ways we could look at that. For time's sake I'm not going to go all the way through this. However, I just want to point out something that William Gooch or Gouge in his book, Building a Godly Home said, and I thought this was great. The wife is to obey her husband as he obeys the Lord and no further.

The husband is to be the Lord's representative bearing his image and having fellowship with the Lord." The way I take this is this, and some of your brethren may disagree with me and some of you ladies may disagree with me but if your husband says hey I want you to go out and you know money's tight so I want you to go down on Street Corner make us some money it's your duty to say hold up a second this is not biblical, you've lost your mind. Let's look at the scripture together. Be respectful, but say, we need to get back to the Bible here. Here right however however as someone said she the wife must do nothing against God's will but she must do many things against her own will if the husband requires her. So there may be times when there are things that maybe your husband does and you don't really like.

Maybe he has requested something of you and you're not quite liking it, but if it's not contrary to the Word of God, or if it's something that is according to the Word of God, you certainly need to follow his leadership. And this isn't all about the wife either here in this section. Husbands pay attention. We have a book. We're to submit ourselves as 1 Corinthians chapter 11.

We've got to remember who our head is. We've got to follow him. We've got big responsibility here. We have a book, and we better not lead contrary to this book. If, If we think about that and consider that, building strong families.

The husband is to lead according to the word of God, according to the leadership of God and his word, and the wives are to submit to their own husbands, we're beginning to build some strong families, aren't we? Verses 25 through 31. Obviously I'm going very quickly through some of this, but for time's sake. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. Then he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or ankle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.

So then, so ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, of his bones. For this cause shall the man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh.

This is another area in which we've got to make sure as we think about building strong families until Jesus comes again Men love your wives even as Christ loved the church. Don't miss this. My marriage, your marriage, all marriages, beloved, should be a reflection of Christ in the church You say but preacher you don't know how hard my wife is to love Yeah, well the ladies were already saying but preacher you don't know how hard my husband is to submit to. And he goes back to what I was saying at the beginning, two sinners. Two sinners married.

Do you know something? I'll tell it like I heard Paul Washer say it once before. He said marriage is a reflection of Christ in the church. He said your spouse may not meet all your expectations but how else would you learn unconditional love? He doesn't say in here wives submit to your husband if he deserves it.

If you don't smell funny, you know? Because I mean, think about it. We meet. We meet together, you know? Boy meets girl.

They fall in love. They become Twitter-pated, as the thumper used to say, right? Then they get married, there's a honeymoon phase, last for a little bit. Then all of a sudden, she quits cooking dinner the way she used to. He starts belching, and you know, it's kind of downhill from there.

But Paul doesn't say, wives submit to your husbands, wives submit yourselves to your own husbands as long as he's mannerly, as long as he does everything you want him to do doesn't say doesn't say husbands love your wives as long as she cooks everything the way mama used to no doesn't say that either does it Husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. You know something about that? Christ loved you, me, when we were unlovable. Yea, even when we were at war with him. But this text says something deeper too.

He says, husbands love your wives. I love brother Mark. I love brother Zach. But I don't love y'all the way I love my wife. You know?

Husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved the church Gave himself for it that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word He loved his church to the point that he gave himself for it died for her laid down his life for the church. There's no room for a girlfriend, no room for a polygamous relationship here. There's no room for pornography. You see the battle that's going on here that Satan throws at us and the world throws at us constantly. A battle with the flesh, a battle against the world's ideas, building strong families until Jesus comes again.

The strongest families are the ones who stick to God's plan. He says in verses 32 and 33, This is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ in the church nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself and the wife see that she reverence her husband. God has an order for his church and an order for your marriage. These aren't suggestions here. This is command.

We can't improve it, we can't change it, we can't alter it. And for sure, do not rebel against it and think that there won't be consequences. There are. And there are. And you know, building a strong family, let me tell you something, sometimes when two people get married, the Question gets asked about children.

Say, well, you're going to start a family soon? Back up a minute. You started a family when you got married. Okay? So understand that.

If it's you and your wife, you are a family. Whether you just got married or whether the kids have all moved out, you are a family. And so this is the backbone of the family. Fight for it. If you're a husband, get into the scriptures.

Learn everything you can about being a husband. And I don't mean being a concordance kind of a guy and just looking for the words. Get in the Bible, read it cover to cover, because guess what? If you get in the concordance and just look for husbands, you're going to miss some things. There are some patterns and some Examples that are there that if you don't read it cover to cover you're gonna miss The same thing if you're a wife get in the Bible read about being a wife There's more than just Proverbs 31.

That's a that's a big part of it, but there's more to it than that be not hearers only but doers of the word live it but even though a family is a family with just Husband and wife there are instructions to children here in this text isn't there If we're going to talk about building strong families until Jesus returns we have to talk about children And so in Chapter 6 and verse 1 he says, Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee, that thou mayst live long on the earth. And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up into nurture and admonition of the Lord." It's a battle zone when we talk about male and female, when we talk about the role of husband and wife and all that. But bringing children in, then that's another battle zone. But Christianity is generational.

And We've got to consider this very, very carefully. And so, I know my time is almost up, but understand, if and when the children come along, they've got to be obedient to their parents. Little Johnny has rights, we're told. Little Johnny gets to decide for himself this and that and on and on we go. But the Bible is clear.

First of all, children are to obey their parents for this is right. And Paul says, by the way, this is in the Ten Commandments, which are still applicable in this age, he says, honor your father and mother. There's no expiration date on that. He doesn't say honor your father and mother till you turn 18. He doesn't say honor your father and mother until you get married.

He says honor your father and your mother. God has designed a family for the raising of the children, not the village. The village doesn't do it. If mom and dad tell you something that's contrary to what your teachers in school tell you, You better listen to mom and dad. If mom and dad tell you something different than your friend's parents, you better obey your mom and dad.

There's a reason for that. You see, Your parents have more of an interest in you than other parents. Your parents have more of an interest in all of those sorts of things. You know, in this he mentions, fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in nurture and admonition in the Lord. Somebody reads that and says, what about the mom?

Isn't she supposed to be involved too? Yes, and I thank God for mothers who are involved with their children. Mom and dad are to be, well, every parent, to some extent or another, is a homeschooling parent. We're all teaching our children something. Whether our kids go to public school or not, we're all doing something with them at home.

We better be bringing them up into nurture and admonition of the Lord. But why does he mention fathers here? Well, I Believe the answer that goes back to headship It goes back to you know when when things went sideways in the garden, what did the Lord say? He said, Adam, wear our dowel. Adam, wear our dowel.

Not Eve, Eve, Adam, Adam, Eve, he didn't do that. He said, Adam, wear art down. You and I have an awesome responsibility as husbands and as fathers and we better understand where this is at. Our problem is we want to be like Adam when things go wrong. He said, well it wasn't my fault, it was my wife, The woman you gave me, right?

That's not the way it works. It didn't work in the garden, and it don't work with us either. And you know, Paul, after he lays all this out, I hope you'll go back in here and really study this out. There's so much more. I'm only giving you a tip of the iceberg here.

But Paul, after he lays all this out about the home and about families, chapter 6 verse 10, finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord in the power of His might, put on the whole armor of God, and you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. We need the whole armor of God In order to be a strong family put on The the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil Be strong in the Lord and in the might of his strength Be a family beloved that is active in church We're not intended to be lone ranger Christians. Don't just send your kids to church, but bring them. Every time that the church assembles, bring them, the whole family. And don't just be a bench warmer.

Engage with the church. And engage the children. And engage the whole family. But beyond that, if you want a strong family, it's not just about Sunday morning. It's not even about Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night.

If you've got all that going on, great. But have Bible study at home. What does family worship look like? And I can sit down and I can show you some pretty legalistic, rigid books and papers that have been written about that, but let me tell you something, don't make it complicated. Open up your Bible, start at chapter one, verse one, with a book and go through it.

Go through it with your family. Have them read. If they can read, if they're old enough to read, have your children read. Ask questions. Get them to ask questions.

And don't be afraid to say, I don't know. Don't fear the use of good commentaries and other helps. Catechisms, confessions of faith, theology books. Use those things in there and incorporate that. Even get some good videos like from Answers in Genesis or some of those groups and get those going in your home.

Be a family, a strong family that's engaged in the word of God. Teach them diligently as They taught in Deuteronomy there, but be a family that is hospitable as Well again, don't complicate it, but have others in your home there's nothing like a good round-the-table discussion with your pastor a missionary or even your neighbors once in a while, even if it's over some cold-cut sandwiches, a cup of coffee or something. That's building a strong family that is occupying till he comes, doing the Lord's business. That's what we need in this age in which we live. Thank you for your attention and I trust that it's been a blessing to you.