* * 0

* * 0

* * 0

From Dread-Lock to Wed-Lock!

Gen 2:24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they

shall become one flesh.

* * 0 Truly marriage is a wonderful & beautiful gift, but not all marriages are what they should & could be!

Heb 13:4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and

adulterers God will judge.

●Marriage has been around as long as man (Gen. 2:18-25) “They were both naked, the man and & wife!” (Vs.25)

−Adam & Eva were created to be “husband & wife!”

−This was God’s plan from the very beginning!

* * 0 Unfortunately not all marriages are as

honorable and fulfilling as they were created to be!

●When there are two imperfect people in a marriage there will be problems.

−The success or failure of a marriage doesn’t hang on the fact that there is never a problem, but rather on how husband & wife deal with the problems!

●I have given this lesson this title for good reason!

−I am sure every married couple in this room understand what I am talking about!

* * 0 I have known many people that are married,

yet they are far from happily married!●They may live in the same house, eat at the

same table and file their taxes jointly, but the joy they once shared has all but gone out!

●The good news is that things can & must get better!

−God has given us a plan to strengthen our marriages!

−There are guildlines in His Word that can bring one’s marriage from dread-lock to wed-lock once more!

* * 0

I. God’s Plan for the Home!Eph. 5:21-24

●God has always given a structured plan for man! (Cf. Gen. 4:1-6; 6:9-22)

−There is a right way & wrong way to worship!

–“In spirit” (Jn. 4:23-24)

−There is a right kind & wrong kind of worship!

–“In truth” (Jn. 4:23-24)

●First & foremost husband & wife must be “subject” to one another! (Eph. 5:21 cf. 1 Cor. 7:1-5)

* * 0 The husband is not the

dictator, neither is the wife!●Now God does tell us how we are to function in

the home!

−Eph 5:22 Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.

–When a wife has failed to submit to her husband, she has failed to submit to the Lord!

●This does not mean that the wife is inferior, but that God has set things up in a way that is best for all of us in the home!

−God’s plan is always better than man’s!

* * 0 Anytime we take it upon ourselves to try and improve on what God has given we only end up

making a mess!Pr 14:12 There is a way that seems right to

a man, But its end is the way of death.●It is foolish to think that we some how are better

qualfied to direct our lives than God!

−Jer 10:23 O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps!

−Jer 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope!

* * 0 II. God’s Plan for the Husband!

Eph. 5:23-31

●Being a husband is a great opportunity and I thank God every day for my wife & my family, but as the saying goes “with every opportunity, comes great responsibility!”

●The husband is to be “head of the house” meanings he is responsible for everyone in the house!

−1Ti 5:8 But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbelieve

* * 0 I would like to ask all the women a question? If your husband loved you like this would you

submit to him?Eph 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as

Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,

●Husbands are to nourish & cherish her!

−Nourish = provide for her every need, spiritual, physical and emotional

−Cherish = to protect, greatly love and care for

●Eph 5:29 For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church.

* * 0III. God’s Plan for the Help-mate!

Eph. 5:21-24●There is indeed a great deal we can learn from

the first man & first woman!

−Adam was first created and then after noting there wasn’t anyone for him, God created out of man a woman to help him! (Gen. 2:18-25)

●I am assure you that God knew what He was doing when He created a woman to be there to help a man!

−Let us never forget that God knows what is best for His creation!

* * 0 Anytime husband, wife or even child oversteps their place in the home there will

be trouble!See. Eph. 6:1-4

●I have seen homes where the children run the house, I have seen homes where the wife runs the house and this should not be!

●We must never forget that God knows what is best for our homes & families!

●The one that designed the home, understand how it is best suited to function!

* * 0 Conclusion:

●Our marriages can be all that God has designed them to be, when we do things His way, then we experience His glory!

●If you are here and you are living in dread-lock, then we hope you will seek to once more be wed-locked to your wife/husband!

●Have you come to be a part of the Bride of Christ? Are you looking forward to the weeding feast of heaven? If not, then why not come to Jesus tonight?

* * 0