Join us as we journey through Ephesians 5, where we uncover timeless truths about love, marriage, and spiritual enlightenments. Alan J. Huth, together with his wife Terry, brings forth insights from decades of personal Bible study, challenging common cultural perceptions of marital roles while encouraging listeners to embrace a biblical model. As we unravel the mysteries of love and respect, prepare for a transformative encounter with the power of God’s Word to enrich and guide marital relationships.
Welcome to Add Bible, an audio daily devotion from the Ezra Project. Allen J. Huth shares a Bible passage with comments from over 35 years of his personal Bible reading journals and applies the Word of God to our daily lives.
SPEAKER 03 :
Today we’re in Ephesians chapter 5. This chapter is about walking in love and husbands and wives. So my wife Terry and I will split the reading of Ephesians chapter 5. So let’s listen in. Ephesians chapter 5 Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity of covenants must not even be named among you, as it is proper among the saints. Let there be no filthiness, nor foolish talk, nor crude joking, which are all out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.” Therefore do not become partakers with them, for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
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Walk as children of the light, for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. And try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Therefore it says, Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
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Look carefully, then, how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.
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And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery. But be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.
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Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he may present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself.
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And let the wife see that she respects her husband.
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In 1992, at 37 years old, after reading Ephesians 5, I had a lot to write about. So let’s look at that journal entry in 1992. After reading Ephesians 5, I wrote, Be imitators of God, referring to verse 1. Walk in love, verse 2. Be careful how we talk, referring to verses 4 through 6. Let our actions be done in the light. Verses 8 through 15. Because Christ will shine on you. Verse 14. Make the most of your time. Verse 16. And give thanks. Verse 20. Then I wrote, Husband is the head of the wife. Verse 23. Husbands must act accordingly and so must wives. Husbands need to lead, but wives need to learn to follow, not lead. That’s verse 23. Wives need to be subject to their husbands. Verse 24. Husbands need to love their wives as Christ loved the church. He sacrificed it all for them, men. Verse 25. Husbands, love wives as if she was a part of your own body, verse 28. Nourish and cherish her, verse 29. Wife, respect your husband, verse 33. With the list of how to treat a husband and wife, no wonder there are so many divorces and broken homes. Men are not willing to be men and women aren’t willing to be wives. But this formula would work. It’s God’s formula for marital success. In 2002, in the first entry on Ephesians 5, in that first week of starting the Ezra Project, I wrote, “‘Be imitators of God. Walk in love. Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. Walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise. Understand what the will of the Lord is. Nourish and cherish. Terry.'” My second entry on Ephesians 5 was a few days later, April 15th, now about 20 days into beginning the Ezra Project. I have another interesting note in my journal. I wrote, Terry went to a luncheon with Lori and Roxanne yesterday. In her prayer time, Lori felt led of the Lord to have a fundraising dinner for the Ezra Project. She mentioned it at the luncheon and another woman said her husband was a gourmet chef, a confirmation to Lori. Roxanne then offered to host it. Another confirmation. She also talked to Larry about it, and he said the Lord was telling him the same thing. Praise the Lord. And this is all going on, and I had nothing to do with it. The Lord is expanding the Ezra Project without me. Stepping aside from the journal for a moment, that was the first fundraiser the Ezra Project ever had. These ladies put that fundraiser together a couple of months later, and that launched the Ezra Project. Back to the day, I was reading Ephesians 5 in 2002. I split the chapter up in a couple of days, so the first day was the first 14 verses. I wrote, The next day, I had another interesting journal entry concerning the Ezra Project. It was on a Saturday and I wrote, moving into the Blair Foundation office today. Went to Fort Morgan and visited a couple of guys that I used to work with when I was a consultant. They said they would help with the Ezra Project. Praise the Lord. And Terry got a $75 check from Pam. Every little bit helps right now. On that day, I read Ephesians 5, 15 through 21. And I wrote, if I could live these verses, my troubles would be over. I redeem the time pretty well. I am a good organizer and time manager. Heck, I teach it. I try hard to understand what the will of the Lord is. I don’t drink, and I hope I am filled with the Holy Spirit. Verse 19 is the challenge. “…speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Then I wrote, this attitude would be great to live life with a song in my heart making melody throughout the day. Being joyful, happy, and contagious. Wow, wouldn’t that be nice? Then, quote, giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I wrote, I am pretty thankful, but all things, I can be more thankful. Quote, submitting to one another in the fear of the Lord, I can do a lot better at this too. Submitting to people. I’m not much on submission. So in summary, I need to make melody and submit more. And the next day, I read Ephesians chapter 5, verses 22 through the end. And I wrote, Submission is different for many women, partly because men have abrogated their role as spiritual leader in the home. Women would have a hard time submitting to a man who is not a father or a husband, but primarily a breadwinner, consumed with his occupation, not his wife or his family. And then I referred to a part of my prayer that day, to love my wife. Thank you for her. And then I wrote, let no corrupt words come out of my mouth, but words of edification. And in 2012, at 57 years old, I read Ephesians 5 on that cruise on the coast of Bermuda. I wrote, walk in love and thanksgiving. Walk as children of light and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Expose the darkness. Understand what the will of the Lord is. Give thanks always. Submit to one another. Wives, submit to their husbands. Husbands, love your wives. Wives, respect your husband. And then I look at the note in my prayer that day. I wrote, thank you for a biblical marriage of 37 years. For Terry, bless her. Bless me. Bless us together in you. So I think my journal entries have summarized the important points of this chapter. I wrote in one of those journals, if the formula for marriage would follow Ephesians chapter 5, there would be a lot less divorce. I realize this is a biblical model for marriage, not a cultural model in today’s world. But I, for one, will take a biblical model over culture any day. So the balancing act of a marriage is clear in Scripture. Wives, submit to your own husbands. You notice the Scripture never tells a wife to love her husband. Scripture tells a wife to submit to her husband, to respect her husband. I don’t know why that’s the case. But I think maybe it’s because love comes naturally for a woman. Women love their husbands. They don’t have to be told to do so. But for us men, husbands are to love our wives. And the dimension of that love is defined in the scriptures. As Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. So our love for our wives must be all in. If that dimension of love wasn’t enough, Paul goes on to say husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. Whoa, how many of us are so in love with our own bodies, ourselves? We are to love our wives as much as we love ourselves. And the scripture goes on to say we are to nourish and cherish it. So we are to nourish and cherish our wives. Men, we are instructed to leave our fathers and mothers, hold fast to our wives, and become one flesh. So the formula for a successful biblical marriage is right here in Ephesians chapter 5. The question to all of us who are married is, can we do it? Not, do we know it? I spend time in God’s Word to change how I live my life, not to just gain knowledge. So how is your marriage? Is it based on these principles? If not, maybe you and your spouse can look over these verses and consider how you can change your marriage based on a biblical model. I wrote in my journal that I was thankful that Terry and I have a biblical model of marriage. At the time I wrote that, we had been married for 37 years. Today, as I record this, we celebrated our 43rd wedding anniversary yesterday. I think both of us would praise God for a biblical marriage. How about you? And of course, if you’re not married or not married yet, consider building your marriage on a biblical base. Ephesians 5 is a great place to start. Father, thank you for reminding us how you constructed marriage. You modeled it after your love for your own church, your bride. You remind us as husbands to love our wives, nourish our wives, cherish our wives. And you remind our wives to submit to their husbands, respect their husbands. And back in the very first verse of this chapter, you remind all of us to be imitators of God and to walk in love. If we just do those two things, we will have a great marriage. Thanks for the reminders of how to live life according to biblical principles. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening to AdBible today. We love the truth of God’s Word, but finding truth in our world today is much more challenging. In the movie A Few Good Men, Jack Nicholson screamed at Tom Cruise, You can’t handle the truth. That’s not our problem today. It’s not that you can’t handle the truth. It’s that you can’t find the truth. If you want to find the truth, I encourage you to watch our video message simply called Truth. You will find it at EzraProject.net. I know you’re going to enjoy it.
