Text:

Matthew 19:3-6:

3 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for

   every cause?

4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male

   and female,

5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one

   flesh?

6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

 

Theme:

The Covenant of Marriage

 

Introduction:

I have testimony!

• Married 10 years on August 21, 2003
• Marriage is rough…you go THROUGH some things…you get IN some things

Ask – One word to describe marriage

• We have different perceptions of marriage and struggle with different manifestations of marriage.

• Our society has struggled with married folks through marriage counseling, psychological and sociological studies, and “too many” activities and settings for the married folks to “hang out” and single folks to “hook up”
• We tend to have marriages contaminated with the possibility of OR plagued with the fear of DIVORCE

There is a Word from the Lord even in these most social and intimate of subjects

• Later in Matthew 19 Jesus speaks with his disciples on how it is good to not marry at all à All to GOD
• BUT
• Jesus said in Matthew 19:11, “But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.” à If God didn’t will it to be so, it ain’t gonna happen.:)
• Paul also said in 1 Corinthians 7:9, “But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.”
• This is why GOD established MARRIAGE à He knows…just how much…we can bearJ

• In the Beginning…Marriage!
  • Our text explains that God founded and erected mankind under the rubric, or construct, of marriage.
  • “Have ye not read,” à You should know because THE BIBLE SAYS
  • “that he which made them at the beginning” à In the beginning, GOD!!!!!
  • “made them male and female” à God set it up in the beginning

 

• The words spoken in the wedding ceremony give the biblical overview of marriage:
  •  Marriage was originated by God. Our thinking on the subject has its basis in the divine revelation we call the Bible. Marriage was the first institution given for the welfare of humanity. In the Garden of Eden, before the tempter had touched the world, God saw that it was not good for man to be alone, so He made a helpmeet suitable for him and established marriage.  Marriage was originated in divine wisdom and goodness. Marriage was designed by God not only to promote human happiness and holiness, but also for our growth as eternal spiritual beings. It was sanctioned and honored by the presence and power of Jesus at the marriage in Cana of Galilee, where He began working His miracles.  Also, the Holy Spirit, speaking through Paul, selected the symbol of husband and wife to describe the union between Christ and His church.

 

• We have strayed away in thought and in action from what God established
• Romans 10:1-3, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they 1)being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and 2)going about to establish their own righteousness, 3)have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”

Body: 

Let us focus on one aspect of marriage for this session à THE COVENANT OF MARRIAGE

Marriage IS a COVENANT

• What is a Covenant?
  • Webster – “Promises made by God to Man”
    • We break OUR PROMISES to God
    • He never breaks promises to us!
      • As the song says, “He’ll do just what He said he would do!”
      • Psalms 16:1 “Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.”

The Promise made by God:

• Matthew 19:6, “What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”
• • Matthew 19:5, “…shall a man CLEAVE to his wife”
    • Woman was made FOR MAN, “helpmeet” à HELP man MEET God’s expectations of him.
      • Genesis 2:18, “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”
    • Man was created to be the HEAD!
      • 1 Corinthians 11:3, “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God.”
      • Therefore, the MAN is to CLEAVE to HIS WIFE!
        • To cling to, stick to, be faithful to

  • (Example of a husband and wife standing firmly arm and arm)
    • If GOD hath joined together, no MAN (man, woman, husband, or wife) can break it!
    • Hold on – in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, in good times and bad times,
• The Covenant of Marriage is about TOTAL SUBMISSION to God!
• Marriage is NOT a CONCEPT
  • We THINK that we know what to doJ
    • Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

Marriage is NOT a CONVENIENCE

• “In sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer”
• It’s not “your world” any more.J   The two have become one flesh!
  • Mark 8:34, “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

God is the Bond

• Marriage is “…before God and this assembly”
  • Before God à God is the Righteous Judge who truly brings two people together as one flesh.
  • Before this assembly à Like Baptism, the marriage ceremony is an outward show of an inward change made by God who has brought these two people together.
• God is LOVE! — The bond between two people is the Love of God
• Song — “Love will keep us together” (Captain and Tenille)
• 1 John 4:16, “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
• Marriage is a lifetime
• “’Til death do us part”
  • A chain is as strong as its weakest link à Our Heavenly Father is our “Weakest Link”
    • Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”
    • Psalms 103:17, “But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children;”
    • Psalms 90:2, “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.”
  • The bond won’t die, but someday we will!!!
• • Just to show how this world has perverted God’s Word, when I was growing up, there was a song by a group called “Full Force” entitled, “Temporary Love Thing”. It said in its lyrics, “Ain’t nothing wrong with a temporary love thing. Can’t you see, I want you just for me!”
    • That is society’s misconception of marriage, a “Temporary Love Thing”!Conclusion:
• Let us hold on to the gift that God as made available to us

Marriage is an ORDINANCE à–Ordained by God

• Established BY GOD
• Blessed BY GOD
• Sustained BY GOD
• That’s why my testimony about marriage is documented in the gospel pearl

 

Hold To God’s Unchanging Hand

Hymn 248

 

Time is filled with swift transition,

Naught of earth unmoved can stand,

Build your hopes on things eternal,

Hold to God’s unchanging hand.

 

Chorus

Hold to His hand, God’s unchanging hand

Hold to His hand, God’s unchanging hand

Build your hopes on things eternal,

Hold to God’s unchanging hand

 

Trust in Him who will not leave you,

Whatsoever years may bring;

If by earthly friends forsaken,

Still more closely to Him cling.

 

Covet not this world’s vain riches.

That so rapidly decay;

Seek to gain the heav’nly treasures

They will never pass away!

 

When your journey is completed,

If to God you have been true,

Fair and bright the home in glory,

Your enraptured soul will view.