Evil Lording Husbands!

FMH Children’s Club International
–– A Company Of Prophets ––
P.O. Box 640109
El Paso, TX 79904

The following letter-form was brought about as a means of teaching my children the Word of God through the mail. And of course, quite naturally so, that’s the reason I begin these letters with "Dear Children" and end them with "Love Dad". So for the rest of you who participate in these weekly messages, please keep their original intended purpose in mind.

1 January, 2006

Dear Children,

So where do we go from here? Well after our last sermonet – Lanna Perry Prostitutes The Holy Spirit! (11/13/05) – I was beginning to wonder! You see I really got pelted for that one! I mean quite a few “religious folk” threw the biggest stones they could find at little old me…and all because I spoke “God’s Truth about Lanna”. However, as a direct result of my obedience, and their violent disapproval to it, I’ve got the following very special promise from God:

“Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (Matthew 5:11-12 KJV)

Now after having said all that, where do you suppose we’re headed to in this week’s sermonet? Well the title of our message for today is “Evil Lording Husbands!”, and it has everything to do with men who “abuse and misuse” their God-given authority over women. Because you see it was “in the beginning” that God Almighty gave the “man” a “helper”:

“And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.” (Genesis 2:18 KJV)

And of course it was God’s plan that this “help meet” be a real-life companion who would assist the “man” in accomplishing his God-appointed earthly duties…which even included “subduing and having dominion over” all the living creatures:

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:27-28 KJV)

However, it was only a short time later, (two chapters to be exact), that we find the Almighty having to make a few radical adjustments to the woman’s “operating parameters”. Because you see when it came down to this “living creature” called “the serpent”, well, she was the one who failed miserably in helping the man “subdue and have dominion over” it:

“And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” (Genesis 3:13-16 KJV)

You see it was this particular “living creature” called the “serpent” that Satan used to “beguile” (entice/cajole by flattering lies) man’s “help meet” (the woman). She was the one who partook of the forbidden fruit from the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil” after being convinced that it was “the right thing to do”. I mean Eve actually believed this “lying serpent” that spoke the lies of Satan:

“For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” (1Timothy 2:13-14 KJV)

However, it was only shortly after taking her first “bite of sin” that Eve persuaded Adam to do the same…and even though he knew, without a doubt, that it was “the wrong thing to do”. So instead of God’s “chosen couple” exercising their God-given authority over the serpent, the serpent ended up “subduing and having dominion over” the woman…who likewise “subdued and had dominion over” the man. And it’s right about here that the Lord declared “FOUL!!!” by stripping the serpent of his legs and the woman of her authority.

[Read more on “The Great Garden Disaster” in the following sermonets: Once Upon A Time, God's People Were Perfect! (7/30/00), Two Kidneys, A Nose, And Sin! (8/6/00), Which Door Did Satan Use? (8/27/00), and Possessed By The Spirit? (9/17/00).]

So just how in the round world did the “gruesome twosome” manage to pull off this unimaginable crime against God’s lovely couple? Well the following Scripture gives us a clue as to how “Satan and the serpent” did what they did…and it all goes back to that one little old word “subtil”:

“Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” (Genesis 3:1-6 KJV)

You see the word “subtil” has everything to do with the “scheming trickery” developed by Satan to “lure” the Believer out from under God’s divine protection. I mean, after all, God made a promise that Satan could not forcefully “overcome” a “follower of Christ” by the “plucking or snatching” method:

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” (John 10:27-28 KJV)

Now as it concern’s this thing about Eve “walking out from under God’s hand of protection”, the following warning from Brother Paul kinda like sums it all up:

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” (2 Corinthians 11:3-4 KJV)

You see “the simplicity that is in Christ” has everything to do with “trusting in and obeying the Almighty…and Him only!” It’s all about having a singleness of mind – “Jesus and Jesus only” – that rejects everything else! I mean Eve knew the Word of God concerning the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil”, but a smooth-talking serpent gave her the opportunity to believe SOMETHING ELSE. In fact it was right about the time that Eve considered the “word of the serpent” to be more beneficial than the ”Word of God” that her mind became very much so corrupted with the lie of Satan. In other words, once the woman took her mind off of “The Truth” by focusing on “the lie” it was all over but the crying.

So that’s how it all happened. The woman let down her guard, believed in the serpent’s lies, fell into sin, and used her God-given “authority” to entice the man to sin. And it was because of Eve’s unorthodox use of her God-given “power” that the Lord God Almighty made a radical change that would effect all women for all eternity: “thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule (H4910) over thee.” (Genesis 3:16 KJV)

Now in order to help you understand the magnitude of this very important “change” for the woman, the following Scripture kinda like defines the “power of authority” that God gave the man as a means of “ruling” over her:

“What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion (H4910) over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field; The fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas.” (Psalms 8:4-8 KJV)

You see when you take it back to the original Hebrew, the word for “rule” in Genesis 3:16 (thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule (H4910) over thee) is the same word that “dominion” was translated from in Psalms 8:6 (Thou madest him to have dominion (H4910) over the works of thy hands). In other words, the “power of authority” that God gave man to rule over every “living creature” was the same “power of authority” that God gave man to rule over “woman”:

Rule (H4910) [ma^shal maw-shal'] - A primitive root; to rule: - (have, make to have) dominion, governor, X indeed, reign, (bear, cause to, have) rule (-ing, -r), have power.

In fact reading from the writings of Albert Barnes we find the following very beneficial commentary on the “rule” of man:

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“Thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” This is evidently a piece of that retributive justice which meets us constantly in the administration of God. The woman had taken the lead in the transgression. In the fallen state, she is to be subject to the will of her husband. “Desire” does not refer to sexual desire in particular. Gen_4:7. It means, in general, “turn,” determination of the will. “The determination of thy will shall be yielded to thy husband, and, accordingly, he shall rule over thee.” The second clause, according to the parallel structure of the sentence, is a climax or emphatic reiteration of the first, and therefore serves to determine its meaning. Under fallen man, woman has been more or less a slave. In fact, under the rule of selfishness, the weaker must serve the stronger. Only a spiritual resurrection will restore her to her true place, as the help-meet for man. (Albert Barnes’ Notes On The Bible)

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So, there you have it! Because of Eve’s sin, the woman’s true position as the “help-meet of man” cannot be as God intended until she becomes spiritually resurrected in Christ. And of course that’s the reason for the Lord giving the man the power to “rule” over the woman:

“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: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.” (Ephesians 5:22-24 KJV)

However, when it comes down to the part about the wife being submissive to her husband in “every thing”, the “submission” must be done “as unto the Lord” or it just ain’t a-gonna work! In other words, the woman cannot be spiritually resurrected “in Christ” unless her husband is “in Christ”! And if there’s the least bit of confusion as to what this part of the Scripture actually means, the following should clear it up:

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That 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 wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.” (Ephesians 5:25-27 KJV)

In fact now that we’re on this subject of “the husband ruling the wife with the love of Christ”, it was only a few weeks ago that the Lord instructed me to give an old friend a call…and read him that exact same Scripture over the phone. His name is Herb Stuckey, And, seeing how Herb claims Jesus Christ as his “Lord and Saviour”, the Almighty had me to ask him the following question: “Did you love Kathy as Christ loved the church by giving your life for her?”

You see my friendship with “Herb and Kathy” goes back to 1975. At the time of our meeting, Kathy was living with Herb and I was attending Clemson University. Now the one thing that bonded the three of us together was a common interest in “drinking booze, smoking weed, and listening to rock and roll music”. And in the beginning there was just the three of us, but then came Annie. In fact Herb got an “honorable mention” in our sermonet My Natural Wife Was Annie...But My Spiritual Wife Is Sandy! (3/14/04) for his very helpful part in introducing me to the girl next door (Annie).

But anyway, Herb and Kathy got married first (8/9/75) with Annie and me following a few months later (10/3/75). Then after my graduation (12/76) the four of us remained friends for many years to come; getting together as often as possible to drink booze, smoke weed, and listen to rock and roll music. However, it was somewhere around 1991 (a few years after having given my life to Jesus), that the Lord instructed me to witness to Kathy by way of a letter and a tract – Are Roman Catholics Christians? (www.chick.com) . I mean the Lord wanted to save Kathy’s soul from the everlasting fires of Hell, and her Roman Catholic Religion had “to go” in order for it to happen.

Well, as it turned out, I never received a response from Kathy until just recently. In fact one of the reasons for the long delay was that Kathy didn’t get my letter until many years later…because her husband Herb decided not to give it to her. And the way that I found out was through my most recent reunion with Kathy. Because on the 1st of January 2005, I received an e-mail from her trying to re-establish communications with me. You see Kathy had searched the Internet and found my e-mail address along with all the sordid (disgusting, dirty, and distasteful) details of “Annie’s divorce” against me, and she found it in our article entitled A Christian's Divorce!

So here it is one year later, after many long hours with Kathy over the phone, that the time has come to expose Herb Stuckey as the “Evil Lording Husband” that he really is. And of course the reason for such drastic measures is so that Herb might “get it right with Jesus” so that others (including his new “Christian” wife Donna) might not suffer the same fate as Kathy:

“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:” (Ephesians 4:14-15 KJV)

Now what better place to start-off in this “Herb and Kathy” story than in the beginning? Because you see Kathy is just another one of those very special persons whom God Almighty has gifted with some very special hardware. I mean “in the beginning” Kathy was born with the necessary “spiritual accessories” that would allow her to perform in her awesome calling as prophet(ess). And of course it was because of her enormous potential to do such “great and mighty things for Jesus” that Satan hated her everlasting insides! So it was very early in Kathy’s life that the Devil set out to destroy her…and his chosen “method of destruction” was the most powerful weapon in his arsenal – “child molestation”.

Now just in case you didn’t know it, a person who’s been sexually molested will automatically (naturally) “attract” more molesters to molest them. I mean it’s a given! Satan marks his victim for easy identification so that the dirty deed is repeated “over and over again” until the molested individual loses all hope of living the life that God has intended. And as it pertains to Kathy, after having lived a life of “sex, drugs, and alcohol” she finally decided to make a change for the better. And that’s right about the time Herb entered the picture. And I do mean “herb”…as in “weed”!

You see Kathy always knew that she was special in the eyes of God. Even during the times of her deepest sin she could feel God’s presence surrounding her. In fact when the day came that Herb Stuckey came knocking on her door for a date, well, Kathy knew without a doubt that he was not the one that God had chosen for her. However, Herb did have a good paying job, and a nice “Z” car, and Kathy’s mother even encouraged her to give Herb a chance. So she did!

And what a mistake that was! Because you see Herb is a very likeable person, with some very good manners, but layered beneath his outward appearance is a “sociopath” who will stop at nothing to get his way. In fact Kathy’s seemingly innocent date with Herb only took her deeper into the lifestyle she was so desperately trying to leave behind. A bottle of tequila, a bag of pot, and the rest was easy. Alcohol, drugs, and sex!

And then came the day of the wedding. I mean if God had written on the church wall – “DO NOT MARRY HERB!!!” – it would have not been any clearer than the sign He gave Kathy that day. Because you see when the time came for Kathy to put the wedding ring on Herb’s finger, well, she put it on his left hand first, but very quickly moved it to his right. Kathy did not understand why she had done what she did, but she did understand that it was a sign from God that “MARRYING HERB WAS NOT THE RIGHT THING TO DO!!!”

So the question is: “Why did Kathy marry Herb?”…and of course the answer goes back to the serpent with his “cunning craftiness, whereby he lieth in wait to deceive the woman”. You see as much as I hate to admit it, my ex-wife Annie knew what she was talking about when she nicknamed Herb “snake eyes” – “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.” And, seeing how the Devil wanted to finish-off Kathy for good, what better means than a “man” who would “rule” over her in a very evil sort of way? I mean, after all, Herb’s relationship with Kathy had absolutely nothing to do with “loving his wife, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it”…but everything to do with “the lusts of his flesh, fulfilling the desires of his flesh and of his mind”. In other words Herb married Kathy to satisfy his enormous “fleshly appetite”…and through it Satan’s “molestation of Kathy” continued for an additional twenty (20) long years. Because you see on the 26th of June, 1996, Kathy finally did “the right thing” by divorcing Herb Stuckey.

Now at this point in the sermonet I could very easily list a few of the unimaginably “degrading, demoralizing, and damnable things” that Herb Stuckey has done to Kathy during his ungodly relationship with her…but I won’t. Because what’s important right now is that Herb Stuckey realizes the terrible wrong that he’s done by “abusing and misusing” his God-given authority over this “woman” Kathy:

“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 24:45-51 KJV)

So “who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household”? Do you think Herb Stuckey is his name? Was Herb Stuckey one of those faithful and wise “servants of God” who obeyed God’s Word by “loving his wife Kathy, even as Christ also loved the church, by giving himself for her”? I mean was Herb Stuckey (the “Christian”) really interested in seeing Kathy get “saved and set free” from all the molesting “demons” in her life? Or was Herb Stuckey that “evil servant” who continued the “use and abuse” of Kathy in order to satisfy his own ungodly and immoral lifestyle?

Well of course the answer to my question is the second choice – “evil servant” – which is not a very good choice for Herb. I mean according to the preceding Scripture, that makes Herb Stuckey (my Christ-professing friend) one and the same as a “hypocrite”. Because you see after having gotten all the pertinent skinny from Kathy, it became very apparent that Herb Stuckey “the hypocrite” had tried his best to do the following to her:

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he [she] is made, ye make him [her] twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” (Matthew 23:15 KJV)

So now that we’ve determined the fact that Herb is in a mess, just how do you suppose he got that way? I mean, after all, he does claim “Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour”.

Well the answer to that question goes back to that fateful day (11/17/05) when I read “Ephesians 5:25” to Herb over the phone. Because it was right about the time I spoke the word “Ephesians” that Herb lit up like a light bulb. I mean he let me know “real quick” that his favorite verse in the whole Bible was found in chapter 2 of the same book…

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9 KJV)

…and of course that’s the reason for Herb’s hypocritical ways. Because you see Herb has taken that one little old verse and believed in it for his salvation! Herb “believes” that his “work of salvation” has already been done – “the finished work of Christ was carried out on His cross” – and there’s nothing left for Herb to do! I mean after all, who in their right mind would reject salvation if you didn’t have to work for it? (See The Cross!!! Whose Cross???) But this is where Herb Stuckey completely missed the boat (the salvation boat) by not going on to the very next verse:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 KJV)

You see it’s that very next verse (v. 10) that kinda like shoots holes in Herb’s “belief system”…like Swiss cheese even! God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus He has created us for a life of good works, which he has already prepared for us to do. I mean without a doubt, Jesus died on His cross so that all might be saved:

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16 KJV)

However, there is an implied “but” that goes along with it. Because if Herb Stuckey would only grab hold of the Spiritual significance of that one Word “BELIEVETH” he could understand that he’s not doing it! And relating this back to Ephesians 2:8-10, it’s only through the “grace” of God that the “Believer” can put their “faith” in God’s Word by “walking” in obedience to it, and thereby producing the “works” which manifest “Christ’s righteousness” within the “Believer” for the glory of God. So…seeing how Herb is not one of those that “WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM”, he must be one those that “SHOULD PERISH”.

In fact if Herb would only take an honest look at his life he could very easily see that his “righteous works” are missing:

“…Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” (Romans 3:22-26 KJV)

Because you see Herb Stuckey is one of those who believes that a “believer in Christ Jesus” can continue in their sins…and he “believes” it even though the Scriptures say that “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…for the remission of sins that are past”. I mean “Get real Herbert!!!” Jesus the Christ died on His cross so that we might receive His “grace”, walk in His Spirit (“works”), and “sin no more”:

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1-2 KJV)

“Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” (1 John 3:6-9 KJV)

So just what is this “grace” that allows the “Believer” to put their “faith” in God’s Word and produce “works” of righteousness by “walking” in obedience to it and “sinning” no more? Well a good place to start is with a definition of “grace”. And reading from Webster’s 1828 Dictionary we find the following:

Grace - Favorable influence of God; divine influence or the influence of the spirit, in renewing the heart and restraining from sin.

Now do you understand what the “grace of God” is all about? Well it really goes back to John 3:16. Because you see if “God had not so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”, there would never have been a “snowball’s chance in Hell” that anybody would ever be “saved”. In other words the “grace” of God is what gives us the “opportunity” to receive the Spirit of God, be renewed in Christ, and sin no more…and it only came about through “Jesus Christ and Him crucified”!

However, when it comes to this thing about being “saved”, we must understand that we “are saved” when we initially give our lives to Jesus (turning away from sin and to Christ). That’s “in the beginning” of the salvation walk! But then we are “being saved”, day by day, as we walk in obedience to His Word and become renewed in Christ through “works of righteousness”.

Now it’s this second phase of the salvation journey – “being saved” – that can sometimes get rather confusing (as in with my friend Herb). And what better example of this “confusing” phenomena than the following Scripture:

“For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:3-7 KJV)

Do you see what I mean? Well for someone like Herb, who doesn’t want to do any “works of righteousness”, those are words to shout about. However, letting the Truth be known, by taking a close look at this Scripture we’ll discover that Brother Paul was talking about “works of righteousness through the law” and not “works of righteousness through the Spirit”. In other words, when Brother Paul was sinning (acting foolish, being disobedient, serving divers lusts, and etc.) he was going about this “salvation walk” the wrong way! (See Thou Shalt Obey The Law…But Not That Law! (11/7/04) for more on the subject.)

Because you see before Brother Paul came into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, he was one of the world’s best at obeying the Ten Commandments (righteousness through the law)…but yet he couldn’t stop himself from sinning like the Devil. In other words Brother Paul’s “works of righteousness through the law” was not getting the job done by saving him from sin. And of course the reason for his very un-Christ-like behavior was because of the fact that he had rejected “Jesus Christ and Him crucified”. I mean Brother Paul, at that particular time of his life, was not “saved”, he was not “justified” by the “grace of God”, and he was not even being renewed through the power of the Holy Spirit (righteousness through works of the Spirit). And because of his very compromising position, Brother Paul was not being made an heir (son of God) according to the hope of eternal life.

“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” (Romans 8:14 KJV)

“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I [Jesus] speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63 KJV)

And now that we’ve said all that, has this thing about “being saved” through “works of the Spirit” as the Believer is “led by the Spirit” become just a little bit clearer? I mean nobody, not even Brother Paul, can be considered as one of God’s “family members” until they first accept Jesus Christ as their “Lord and Saviour” and become “born again” through a “walk of obedience” to the “will of God” through the “Spirit of God”:

“He [Jesus] came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him [Jesus], to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:11-13 KJV)

“For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.” (Matthew 12:50 KJV)

So getting back to my friend Herb, I hope it’s become abundantly clear by now the reason “why” God Almighty did not want Kathy to marry him. I mean after all, it was impossible for him to be the Godly husband that Kathy so desperately needed in her life. Herb could not “love his wife, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it”, because Herb is not “in Christ”:

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1-5 KJV)

Well that about wraps it up for this one. And as it concerns Herb Stuckey – the “Evil Lording Husband”, well, I just pray that he becomes one “in Christ” for the sake of Donna. I mean after all, it is Herb’s responsibility to give his new Christian wife the “love of Christ” that she so desperately needs.

So…this sermonet of today is just another in our growing list of messages on the marriage relationship: A Christian Marriage Outside The Law! (12/28/03), A Christian's Divorce! (2/19/04), and My Natural Wife Was Annie…But My Spiritual Wife Is Sandy! (3/14/04). And of course where we’re headed to in this series of “marriage messages” is an understanding of what God wants us to understand about being married “in the Lord”: “The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will; only in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 7:39 KJV)

And having said all of that, it should be abundantly clear by now that “Keeping The Faith In Jesus!!!” is what being a “Christian” is really all about: Christianity [Faith In Christ] = Hear God + Obey God.

Love,

Dad (Bruce Hallman)