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Marrying and Giving In Marriage |
Dear Brethren,
In the “Countdown to the Return of Jesus
Christ,” we often point out trends that indicate that time is growing short. Indeed,
Jesus often pointed out the conditions that would prevail in the
end-time, just prior to His arrival to establish the Kingdom of
God over all the earth. It is only the wise in the Church of
God who will be able to discern God's meaning for us (Daniel
12:10, Matthew 25:2).
In one very interesting discourse, Jesus points us back to the
conditions extant at the time of Noah’s flood. We do not know
very much about life before the flood – in fact, all that anyone
knows about that antediluvian time is contained within the
Biblical record. Antediluvian is a fancy way of saying, “before
the deluge or flood.” What is so interesting, however, is how
similar things are today, compared to the pre-flood world.
Jesus spoke about the timing of His return: “Of that day and
hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father
only. But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of
the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the
flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving
in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the
ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away;
so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Matthew
24:36-39)
Why would Jesus choose an indicator as ever-present in society
as marriage? Within God’s Church, we are aware of the deep
spiritual significance of a Godly marriage: First, with regard
to God’s plan to reproduce Himself and, secondly, as a figure
and illustration of the Church’s intimate relationship with
Jesus Christ, the Messiah (Revelation 19:7-9).
Some have looked at Jesus’ reference to “marrying and giving in
marriage” to mean that everything would be going along in a
normal fashion. But, a look back into the Old Testament reveals
that conditions were so extremely evil as to
bring about God’s wrath – the global destruction of mankind –
save Noah and his immediate family.
Remember, Jesus tells us that, “marrying and giving in
marriage,” was one of the categories in which the egregious
violations of His will and law was taking place.
“It came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of
the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of
God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took
them wives of all which they chose… And God saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the earth, and
that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually. And it repented the Lord
that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him at His
heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have
created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the
creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me
that I have made them.” (Genesis 6:1-7)
In the same way that un-godly marriage practices brought the
world to the very brink of annihilation in Noah’s day,
un-godly marriage practices will be the norm when Jesus
returns. But, let us not make the mistake of pointing only to
the terrible abuses of marriage in the world at large. Yes,
homosexual vows, extremely high divorce rates, and living
together outside of marriage do make a travesty of God’s
intended marriage covenant, and will incur God’s fiery wrath
(2Peter 3:7). But, infringement against the divinely instituted
state of marriage among God’s people is inexcusable because
judgment is now on the Church of God (1Peter 4:17). If we
forsake God's way, He will cast us off forever (1Chronicles
28:9).
How did Paul know to write, “Marry - only in the
Lord?” (1Corinthians 7:39) The answer is – he
looked into the Word of God and believed it. It is not a matter
of being intelligent enough, because it is the heart that is
deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9-10). We cannot make the mistake of
doing what is right in our own eyes (Judges 17:6, 21:25).
Solomon was the smartest and wisest man who ever lived. “It
came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives
turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart
was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David
his father." (1Kings 11:4)
“Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet
among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved
of his God, and God made him king over all Israel:
nevertheless even him did outlandish women
cause to sin. Shall we then hearken unto you to do all this
great evil, to transgress against our God in marrying
strange [foreign] wives?”
(Nehemiah 13:26-27)
“Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have
transgressed, and have taken strange
[foreign] wives, to increase the trespass
of Israel. Now therefore make confession unto the Lord God of
your fathers, and do His pleasure: and separate yourselves from
the people of the land, and from the strange
[foreign] wives. Then all the
congregation answered and said with a loud voice, As thou hast
said, so must we do." (Ezra 10:10-12)
Brethren, we have been called to be a light to the world (Mark
4:21). Paul knew that relationships outside of the Church would
have dire consequences. It is spiritually dangerous to seek our
own solutions rather than to trust God to fulfill our needs
(Matthew 6:33). God knows our composure and loneliness. He is
not asking too much of His people. “The sufferings of this
present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which
shall be revealed in us.” (Romans 8:18) ***
Sermon: "Marrying and Giving In Marriage"
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