06/16/2026
2024-06-07 - Our Sermon Recording Failed. Below is the text of the message. This message begins a series of sermons on Biblical Order. I trust it will bless your heart.
"DIVINE ORDER: KEEPING RELATIONSHIPS IN ORDER"
Text: Matthew 22:36-40; Ephesians 5:21-6:9
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INTRODUCTION
"Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." - Matthew 22:36-40
Church, I want to begin this morning by asking you a simple, yet deeply penetrating question. If you answer honestly before God, it may well change the entire trajectory of your life. That question is simply this: Are your relationships in the right order? In God’s Divine Order?
Biblical Relationships:
Group 1 – Vertical Divine Relationships
1. Man's Relationship with God the Father – The Supreme Relationship – Priority One
2. Man's Relationship with Jesus Christ – Our Savior – Our Lord and Master
3. Man's Relationship with the Holy Spirit – The Indwelling Relationship of God Within Man
Group 2 – Ecclesiastical Relationships
4. The Believer's Relationship with the Local Church – A Corporate Relationship
5. The Shepherding Relationship – Congregation with Pastoral Leadership
6. Fellowship – Believer’s Relationship – Brothers & Sisters in Christ
Group 3 – Family Relationships
7. Husbands & Wives – The Covenant of Marriage Relationship
8. Parents & Children – The Nurturing, Education & Training Relationship
9. Extended Family Relationships – Siblings, Grandparents, In-Laws & Out-Laws, Uncles, Aunts & Cousins
Group 4 – Civil & Social Relationships
10. Civil Governments – Local, State & Federal – Taxes, Law & Order
11. Vocational Relationships – Employers & Employees
12. The Social Relationships – Friends and Neighbors -vs- Personal and National Enemies
Obviously we will not cover all these today.
We live in a day and age when everything is past being turned upside down. It’s being destroyed!
Society tells us there are no absolutes, that family is whatever you want it to be, love is whatever feels good, and the individual is the supreme authority in their own life.
The world has taken God's beautiful, divinely ordered, and revealed structures of spiritual and human relationships and turned them into something unrecognizable. And I am sad to say that too many church members have followed the world right down that path.
Now, I want you to understand something this morning; God is not the author of confusion. He never has been. He never will be.
From the very beginning, when God formed Adam from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, He had a divine order in mind. When God placed Adam in the Garden, gave him an help meet for him, established the family unit, structured human society, and breathed life into His church;
- He did not do it randomly. He did it with divine intentionality and precision.
The problem is not with God's order. The problem is with man's rebellion against it.
Today, I want to preach to you from the whole counsel of God's Word about Divine Order: Keeping Relationships in Their Proper Place.
We are going to examine what God says about our relationships - who they are with, what they require of us, and what happens when we get them out of order.
• I am going to tell you right up front where I stand this morning. I stand on the Word of God - The King James Bible.
• I stand in the tradition of Baptist churches that have faithfully preached this Word for generations.
• And I stand in the conviction that God's Word has not changed, culture has not improved on it, and no amount of social pressure will ever make me preach anything other than what is written in this Book.
Now, let us go to God in prayer, and then let us open His Word together. (Prayer)
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POINT ONE: THE VERTICAL MUST COME BEFORE THE HORIZONTAL – That is the focus for this morning
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment." - Matthew 22:37-38
The very first thing we need to establish this morning is this foundational truth: before you can have any relationship right with any person, you must first have your relationship right with God.
• I don't care how good a husband or wife you are trying to be - - - if your relationship with God is broken, your marriage will be strained, unfulfilling or broken.
• I don't care how hard you are trying to be a good parent - if you are not walking with God, you will raise your children in confusion.
• I don't care how faithful you are to come to church every Sunday - - - if you do not have a personal, intimate, saving relationship with Jesus Christ, all of your church attendance is just religious ritual with no spiritual reality. These relationships are difficult in the best of circumstances, but almost impossible without God!
Notice what Jesus said. He didn't say the greatest commandment was to love your spouse. He didn't say it was to love your children. He didn't even say it was to love your neighbor. He said the first and great commandment is to love the Lord thy God with ALL thy heart, ALL thy soul, and ALL thy mind.
All means all, church! Not part. Not mostly. Not when it is convenient. ALL. God is our 1st priority in relationships.
When God is in His rightful place in our life - when God is sitting on the throne of your heart as Lord and Master - then every other relationship in your life begins to find its proper order. But when God is displaced from that throne - when you put your spouse, your children, your job, your pleasure, or your own ego in God's place - every other relationship suffers the consequences.
The man who loves God first will love his wife better. The woman who fears God first will be a better mother. The church that puts God's glory above its own comfort will be a better church.
The Israelites had a problem with this. Repeatedly, in the Old Testament, you find God's people turning to other gods…idols. And every single time they went after other gods, their homes fell apart, their society crumbled, and their nation went into captivity. There is a direct correlation between the state of your vertical relationship with God and the health of every horizontal relationship in your life.
Now let me speak specifically about the three persons of the Trinity, because each one occupies a vital place in our spiritual lives.
God the Father is the object of our supreme devotion. Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." Not part of man's duty. The WHOLE duty. Everything else in life flows from this one supreme obligation.
Jesus Christ the Son is the only way of salvation and the Lord of our lives. John 14:6 declares, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." There is no relationship with God the Father apart from a saving relationship with God the Son. You cannot have reconciliation with God without Christ. We cannot earn our way to heaven. You cannot work your own way in. You cannot be good enough, religious enough, or Baptist enough to be saved. Salvation comes through repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ alone.
The Holy Spirit is our indwelling guide and comforter. Galatians 5:16 says, "Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." The same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside every born-again believer. He guides us, convicts us, empowers us, and intercedes for us. And when we grieve Him by sin or quench Him by disobedience, we forfeit the very power we need to maintain every other relationship in our lives.
Church, let me ask you this morning: Is God truly first in your life? Not just in words - not just in the religious answers you give on Sunday morning - but is He genuinely, practically, sacrificially first in your life? Does your schedule show it? Does your checkbook show it? Does the way you spend your time show it?
Because until the vertical is right, the horizontal will always be wrong.
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POINT TWO: THE CHURCH RELATIONSHIP IS NOT OPTIONAL
"Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching." — Hebrews 10:25
Now the second major point I want to bring to you this morning is this: your relationship with the local New Testament church is not optional for the Christian.
We live in an age of what I call "Lone Ranger Christianity." People want Jesus but they don't want the church. They want the blessings of God but they don't want the accountability of the body. They want to be saved but they don't want to be submitted to pastoral authority. They want to call themselves Christians but they can't tell you the last time they sat under the preaching of God's Word, gave their offerings, or used their spiritual gifts to serve the body.
I want to be very clear: that is not Biblical Christianity.
The New Testament knows nothing of a Christian who floats around from church to church with no commitment, no accountability, and no real connection to any local body of believers. Look at the early church in Acts 2:42 - "And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."
Did you notice what they did? They continued stedfastly. Not occasionally. Not when it suited them. Not when there was nothing good on television. They continued steadfastly. They were committed. They were connected. They were covenanted together as a local body of believers.
Now, there are several dimensions to our church relationship that I want to highlight.
First, your relationship with the local church involves commitment to sound doctrine. Acts 2:42 says they continued in the apostles' doctrine. That means they were committed to what was being taught from the Word of God. In our day, there is a great danger of what 2 Timothy 4:3 calls having "itching ears" - running after teachers who will tell you what you want to hear rather than what you need to hear. Baptist churches have always stood for the authority of Scripture, and we must not abandon that standard now.
Second, your relationship with the church involves submission to Godly pastoral leadership. Hebrews 13:17 says, "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account."
Now, the pastor is not a dictator. He is not a pope. He is a shepherd - a servant leader who feeds, leads, and protects the flock under his care. But the sheep have an obligation to receive his leadership, to follow his teaching, to pray for him, and to honor him as God's called servant.
And pastors - let me speak to you for a moment. You have the most solemn charge in the Kingdom of God. Acts 20:28 says, "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood."
Every soul in your congregation was purchased by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. You will give an account to God for how you fed them, how you led them, and how you guarded them. Preach the whole counsel of God. Don't water down the Gospel for the sake of numbers. Don't scratch the itching ears of your congregation when they need the faithful wounds of a friend.
"Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine." (2 Timothy 4:2)
Third, your relationship with the church involves genuine love for the brethren. John 13:34-35 says, "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
Church, the world is watching us. They are watching to see whether our Christianity is real or just religion. They are watching to see whether we actually practice what we preach. And when they see a church where people genuinely love one another - where they bear one another's burdens, forgive one another's faults, weep with those who weep, and rejoice with those who rejoice - that is a powerful witness to the transforming power of the Gospel.
But when they see a church where there is gossip, factions, bitterness, jealousy, and strife - when they see deacons who won't speak to each other and members who have been feuding for twenty years - that is a testimony alright, but it is a testimony against the Gospel rather than for it.
Galatians 6:1-2 tells us, "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness...Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ." The church is supposed to be a hospital for sinners, a place of restoration and healing. When a brother or sister falls, our first response should not be gossip - it should be genuine, Scriptural, Spirit-filled restoration.
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POINT THREE: GOD'S ORDER FOR THE FAMILY MUST BE RESTORED
"For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church...Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord...Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." - Ephesians 5:23, 22, 25
I want to speak now about the family, and I want you to know that I am going to say some things that the world will not like. I am going to say some things that even some professing Christians won't like. But I am going to say them anyway, because the Word of God demands it, and the state of the family in our nation demands it.
The Biblical family is under assault. We are living in a day when marriage is being redefined, when gender is being confused, when children are being robbed of their innocence, and when the family structure that God ordained in the Garden of Eden is being systematically dismantled. And the church of Jesus Christ must stand up and speak with a clear, uncompromising, Biblical voice.
Let me begin with marriage.
Marriage was God's idea. Genesis 2:24 says, "Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh." One man. One woman. One lifetime. That is God's design. That has always been God's design. And no court ruling, no cultural pressure, no Hollywood narrative will ever change what God has established.
God designed marriage with a beautiful order. Ephesians 5:22-25 gives us the pattern clearly. The husband is to love his wife as Christ loved the church - sacrificially, unconditionally, continuously. And the wife is to submit to her husband as unto the Lord.
Now, I know that word "submit" has become one of the most controversial words in modern marriage vocabulary. But before you react, let me explain what the Bible actually means. Biblical submission is not slavery. It is not the diminishment of a woman's worth or dignity. It is a God-ordained order of authority and function within the family unit — and it is beautiful when it operates as God intended.
A husband who loves his wife the way Christ loves the church will never abuse that authority. He will cherish her, honor her, protect her, provide for her, and lay down his life for her if necessary. When a man loves like that, submission is not a burden for a wife — it is a privilege and a joy.
The problem in most marriages is not that wives won't submit. The problem is that husbands won't lead. They won't get off the couch and lead their families spiritually. They won't get on their knees and pray with their wives. They won't open the Bible and teach their children. They have abdicated their Godly responsibility, and then they wonder why their homes are in chaos.
Men, God is calling you back to your post. You are the spiritual head of your household. That is not a suggestion - it is a divine order. Get back in your place.
Now let me speak about parenting.
Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Deuteronomy 6:6-7 says, "And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up."
Parents, you are the primary spiritual educators of your children. Not the public school. Not social media. Not YouTube. Not even the Sunday School teacher - as wonderful as Sunday School is. You are the primary spiritual educators of your children. God gave those children to you. He entrusted them to your care. And one day, you will stand before God and give an account for how you raised them.
Are you teaching your children the Word of God? Are you praying with them? Are you bringing them faithfully to the house of God? Are you modeling for them what it looks like to walk with Christ in daily life?
Ephesians 6:4 says, "Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." Bring them up in the nurture - that is the affectionate, tender care - and in the admonition - that is the instruction and correction - of the Lord.
And yes, I am going to say it: Proverbs 13:24 tells us, "He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." Consistent, loving, appropriate discipline is not child abuse - it is Scriptural parenting. The culture may not like it. The government may try to regulate it. But the Word of God is clear: disciplined children become disciplined adults, and disciplined adults build Godly families and strong churches.
Children, Ephesians 6:1 says, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right." Obedience to parents is not just a cultural suggestion — it is a divine command. And Exodus 20:12 says that honoring your father and mother carries with it a promise: "that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee."
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POINT FOUR: THE SOCIAL ORDER REFLECTS OUR WALK WITH GOD
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." — Romans 13:1
The final dimension of our relationships that I want to address is our place in society - our relationship with government, with neighbors, and even with our enemies.
Romans 13:1-7 makes it abundantly clear that civil government is a God-ordained institution. We are to submit to governing authorities, pay our taxes, and be good citizens. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 tells us to pray for all who are in authority over us.
However - and this is critically important - when the laws of man directly conflict with the laws of God, we have a higher obligation. Acts 5:29 says plainly, "We ought to obey God rather than men."
We are to be good citizens in all things that are lawful and righteous. But we will never compromise our allegiance to God's Word for the sake of political acceptance or social approval. When government tells us to call sin good, we will not. When culture tells us to silence the Gospel, we will not. When the world demands that we bow at the altar of political correctness, we will stand on the Word of God and declare with Martin Luther: "Here I stand. I can do no other."
Regarding our neighbors and our social relationships, Matthew 22:39 says, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." The parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10 reminds us that our neighbor is anyone who has a need that we have the ability to meet. Galatians 6:10 says, "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."
But here is the key - we do good to our neighbors not just to make their earthly lives more comfortable. We do good to our neighbors so that they might see the love of Christ in us and be drawn to salvation. Matthew 5:16 says, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Our social engagement with the world must always be oriented toward the ultimate purpose of the Great Commission.
And what about our enemies? Matthew 5:44 says, "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." This is one of the most counter-cultural commands in all of Scripture. Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Overcome evil with good. This is the radical, transforming love of Jesus Christ - and it is the most powerful witness we can offer to a world full of hatred and division.
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THE GREAT SIN: DISORDER IN RELATIONSHIPS
Before I move toward a conclusion, I need to address what happens when we get these relationships out of order. Because the consequences are severe and they are all around us.
When a man puts his career before God, he becomes an idol worshipper with a good work ethic. When a woman puts her children before her husband, she creates mommy-idols and damaged marriages. When parents put their children's sports and activities before the house of God, they teach their children that church is optional. When a church puts its traditions before the Holy Spirit's movement, it becomes a religious club with stained glass windows. When people put their pleasures and entertainment before their relationship with God, they wonder why they feel empty on the inside.
The story of Israel in the Old Testament is the story of a people who repeatedly got their relationships out of order - who put other gods, other nations, other pleasures before the one true God - and who paid a terrible price for it. And the church of Jesus Christ in America in the 21st century is in grave danger of repeating that same tragic story.
But I have good news this morning. The same God who allowed Israel to go into captivity also brought them out. The same God who allowed the prodigal son to hit rock bottom also watched for him every day while he was in the far country - and ran to meet him when he came to himself and turned toward home. The same God who sees the disorder of your relationships this morning is the God who can restore divine order if you will surrender to Him.
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CONCLUSION
Brothers and sisters, I want to draw this message to a close with this final thought.
All of these relationships - every single one we have examined this morning - find their meaning, their power, and their proper order in one person: the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the one who makes the marriage covenant holy. He is the one who gives parents wisdom to raise their children. He is the one who binds the church together in love. He is the one who gives us grace to love our neighbors and even our enemies. He is the one who gives us the courage to stand before governments and cultures and declare: "We ought to obey God rather than men."
But here is the most important thing I will say this morning: none of this is possible without a personal, saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
You cannot order your marriage according to God's design if you are not born again. You cannot raise your children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord if you don't know the Lord yourself. You cannot be the kind of church member that God calls you to be if the Holy Spirit does not live within you. You cannot love your neighbor as yourself if you are walking in the flesh rather than the Spirit.
Everything we have talked about today depends on one foundational reality: you must be saved.
Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Romans 6:23 says, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 5:8 says, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Jesus Christ went to Calvary's cross. He took your sin upon Himself. He bore the wrath of God that you deserved. He shed His precious blood for the forgiveness of your sins. He was buried in a borrowed tomb. And on the third day, praise God, He rose from the dead! He is alive today - seated at the right hand of God the Father - and He is calling sinners to repentance.
Romans 10:9 says, "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved."
Not might be saved. Not could be saved. Thou shalt be saved.
Perhaps you came in here this morning and you know that your vertical relationship with God is broken. You have been going through the motions of Christianity without the reality of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Or perhaps you know that you are living in sin, and your family relationships are in shambles because you have refused to yield to God's divine order.
Or perhaps you are carrying the weight of broken relationships - a broken marriage, estranged children, bitterness toward someone who has hurt you - and you know that the only way to healing is through the Lord Jesus Christ.
I want to give you an opportunity this morning. The altar of this church is open.
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"The Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." - Revelation 22:17
The invitation of the Gospel is as wide as the love of God and as near as your next breath.
He is calling you this morning.
He is calling you to come - just as you are, with all of your failure, all of your disorder, all of your brokenness - and lay it at the feet of Jesus.
If you have never trusted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, I am asking you to come this morning. Come in repentance, acknowledging that you are a sinner in need of a Saviour. Come in faith, believing that Jesus Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead. Come in confession, surrendering your life to Him as Lord. Come today - because tomorrow is promised to no one.
If you are a believer who has allowed your relationships to fall into disorder - if God has been displaced from the throne of your heart - I am asking you to come today and surrender to the Lordship of Christ again. Let Him reorder your life according to His divine design.
If you are a child of God who is not connected to a local New Testament church - or who has been faithful in attendance but unfaithful in commitment - I am asking you to make a covenant before God today to fully commit to the body of Christ.
If your marriage is struggling, if your home is in disorder, if your family is suffering because relationships are out of their proper place - come to the altar. Cry out to God. Let Him restore what the enemy has stolen.
The doors of this church are open. The altar is available. The Holy Spirit is present. And the Savior is calling.
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28
While the musicians play softly, I am extending this invitation.
If God has spoken to your heart this morning -
if the Holy Spirit has put His finger on something in your life that needs to be surrendered to Christ
I am asking you to step out of your seat and make things right.
You don't have to have it all figured out. You just have to come.
We will wait on the Lord together. Take that step of faith. Come now, while God is speaking to your heart.
"Just as I am, without one plea, But that Thy blood was shed for me, And that Thou bid'st me come to Thee, O Lamb of God, I come, I come."
