needful subject, and I want us
to consider the issue of marriage. But I want you to turn with me
before we begin to Psalm 110. Psalm 110. Psalm 110, the Lord said unto
my Lord. I want you to notice now, we
quote this scripture a lot, but look at your Bible, and look
who says what. The Lord, capital L-O-R-D, Jehovah,
said unto my Christ. sit thou at my right hand, until
I make thine enemies thy footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of
thy strength out of Zion, rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness, from the
womb of the morning, Thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord
has sworn and will not repent. Thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. The Lord at thy right hand shall
strike through kings in the day of his wrath. He shall judge
among the heathen. He shall fill the places with
the dead bodies. He shall wound the heads over
many countries. He shall drink of the brook in
the way. Therefore shall he lift up the
head." Let's pray together. Our Father, as we come before
you this evening, how thankful we are for this blessed privilege
to pray. And we ask, Lord, your blessing
upon the Word. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for Your
presence. Thank You for allowing us to
hear Your Word. Forgive us, Lord, for our insensitivity. Forgive us for our attitude toward
You. I pray now, watch over us as
we hear. Cause us to worship. And these
things we ask. For Christ's sake. Amen. Take your Bibles please and turn
with me to Genesis chapter 2, verse 24. Genesis 2, 24. I want to make a couple of statements before
I begin. We're going through the book
of 1 Corinthians. And Lord willing, this Sunday,
I will take both services and begin in verse 1 of 1 Corinthians
chapter 7. 1 Corinthians 7 deals with the
issue of marriage and what actually had happened was the church had
written to the Apostle Paul and asked him his advice on some
problems that had arisen in the church. And they'd already talked
to him about, or he had talked to them, let me say this, about
lifting up one preacher over another preacher. I like this
preacher, I like that preacher. He told them all, he said, you're
carnal. You're carnal. You start picking and choosing
who, you know, you think is the most blessed and Paul said they're
all sin of God. And then they had problems with
taking each other to court. And they had problems with a
man marrying his stepmother. In chapter 7, there were some
questions that they had on marriage. And there were some problems
that had arisen in their minds over what's the right thing to
do. What should we do? And as I contemplated starting
that chapter this evening, and I have worked on that this latter
part of last week into today. And instead of starting 1 Corinthians
chapter 7 verse 1, I want us to look at what God has to say
concerning the institution of marriage. Then we'll go in, Lord
willing. into the problems that had arisen
in that church which will be for our admonition, edification,
learning and comfort. So this evening I want to say
a few words on God's word on marriage. Genesis chapter 2 and
verse 24 says this, Therefore shall a man leave his father
and his mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall
be one flesh." Now, the subject of marriage is a grave issue. It's an issue that I think has
been, certainly I know in my lifetime, come to be looked upon
by many as something that is not taken as seriously as it
should. This is one of the things that
Paul told the church at Corinth. He said, you're not taking this
seriously. Again, I don't want to get into
the message, I really don't, but they came from an environment
where everything was fine, everything was good, Whatever, whatever,
whatever, just do whatever. And Paul had to deal with them
on it. But marriage is an institution,
it's a union, it's a bond of unbelievable significance. I've
been in a marriage state for a total of almost 43 years. And let me tell you what that
doesn't make me, an authority. I'm not an authority, and no
one else born in Adam is either. But I will say this, we do have
the Word of God, and He is the authority on the subject. And by the grace of God, we can
consider what He has to say, and therefore, by God's grace,
we'll understand something. concerning this state of marriage. Now, for those that are here
that are married, for those who either are contemplating marriage
or possibly one day shall be married, I want us to take heed
what the Lord has to say on this subject. The Scripture declares
in Genesis 2.18 that Almighty God created man out of the dust. And then after he had created
man out of the dust, out of the dirt, he said, it is not good
that the man should be alone. Now, you know that primarily,
ultimately, that scripture right there is dealing with the relationship
between the Lord Jesus Christ and His bride. Now, that's an
amazing passage of Scripture because Almighty God said it's
not good, it's not good, it's not pleasant, it's not comfortable,
it's not agreeable to man's nature that he should be alone. Therefore,
the Lord said, I will make him and help meet or fit for Him. I will make one that's useful. I'll make one that's comfortable
to Him, a help that is one with Him in nature, one in disposition,
and pleasant in His sight. I'm going to make him one that
I know, the Lord says, is best for him. So, God having made
man out of the dust of the earth and created man, He then created
a woman. But the Scripture says He didn't
make the woman out of the dust. What He did was He made the woman
by taking a rib. from Adam's side, and someone
said that from a place near to his heart, one that would be
loved and cared for by him, and then made this woman out of Adam's
rib and then presented the woman to him, and Adam said, and obviously
this is by divine revelation, Genesis 2.23, he said, this is
bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh, she shall be called
woman, because she was taken out of man, which woman, the
title, woman, the description, woman, means taken from man,
that's what woman mean? Taken from man. So here now is
his spouse. He's got a spouse and it's a
type of the church in its relationship to the Lord Jesus Christ. The
church that has eternally been taken out of, placed in and taken
from. the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Well, then the Lord declared
concerning man and woman, He said in Genesis 2.24, where we
read a while ago, Therefore shall a man leave his father and his
mother. Now, it's not that a man should
forsake or dismiss his parents, you know, from his life. When he says he shall leave them,
he needs to still honor them and respect them as his parents. But now being married, a man
is to have his place of residence with his wife. Now they're now
a family. And shall cleave unto his wife,
that is, with affection, providing for her, continuing with her,
glued to her. When it says cleave to her, it's
to be glued to. They shall be one flesh, one
person, one soul. That's the way God now declares
them to be. So here, We behold the first
institution of this holy state of marriage. It's a bond. It's a covenant. It's a covenant. It's an agreement. It's a contract. It's a bond of divine authority
and it's established by Almighty God Himself and therefore worthy
to be observed with reverence and respect. So according to
God's Word, man and woman were created for each other, a glorious
picture and type of the relationship between the Lord and His bride,
giving honor to that bond, giving honor to one another as a covenant,
a picture of that bond between Christ and His church. Now, concerning
the roles, of marriage. Ephesians chapter 5 verse 22-26,
it says this, Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto
the Lord. Now this is God's word, this
is what God has to say. Submit yourself in heart and
spirit, think well, submit to him, think well of him, speak
respectfully to him and of him. And be careful that in the family
affairs or family matters that would fall under the responsibility
of the wife, be careful to watch over those things as directed
by the Lord through the husband who's the God-ordained head of
the wife. Wives, submit yourselves unto
your own husbands as unto the Lord. Four, the husband is the
head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church. Now,
you know, I got thinking about that, and I bet this is the only,
the best illustration that I can come up with that makes this
point perfectly plain. We're all sitting here, we all
have heads. Everybody's got a head. Okay? And in that head is the brain. That's the center of thought
and reason and everything. We have a brain up here. And
this head just directed my hand to do that. It directed my hand
to gesture, it sent a signal and I understood what it was
saying and I just, when I move, when I gesture, whatever I do,
the thoughts that I'm coming out with as I'm speaking right
here, my head is directing my vocal cords to do certain things
and it's making my mouth and it's using my teeth and it's
forming words and you're hearing what I'm saying and your head
is telling your ear to listen to what I'm saying and you're
understanding it. You've got reason and you're
sitting there and all the while, while you're sitting there listening
to what I'm saying, you're sitting there breathing. And you're,
you know, you're taking in oxygen because you have to have oxygen.
Well, how did your body know to take in? Your head told them
that. But while your head is doing all of that, let me tell
you what it's doing it for. It's for the good of my body. It's for the pleasure of my body
and the sustenance of my body and the maintaining of my body.
It's not doing it. As a tyrant, I said breathe. No. It just said breathe. And
I breathed. I take in that air and it's not
doing it in an uncaring way. It's just, it's not laying down
on reasonable demands. My head is telling the rest of
my body what to do. And it's doing it because it's
my body. I love and am thankful for my
body. In my head, that is directing
me, is a beautiful picture of Christ, the head of the church,
and in the bond of marriage, the man is the head of the wife.
So when it says, wives submit yourselves, and I'm going to
say something about this in just a second here again, but submit
yourselves unto your own husbands and do it as unto the Lord. Because
the Lord said it. Because the Lord said it. Because
it's the right thing. Because it's the best thing for
you. Your husband, wives, has the
responsibility for you. Husbands, it's our responsibility
for our wives. Our wives are to submit themselves
to us as we are doing for them, that which is best for the bond
of this marriage. So if husband is the head of
the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, He's the
Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject
unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything,
that is, everything lawful. everything becoming unto the
Lord and for the good of the family, while that man is doing
all that he can for you as unto the Lord. The scripture says,
let the wives be in subjection to their husbands in everything
according to these scriptures, according to the good that he's
doing for. And then it says, 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." Now, right here is the foundational key. This is the foundational point
of the stability of a marriage. Because the Lord loved the church,
He gave Himself for it. He gave Himself for it. I'm not going to go. I'm coming right back here. But
I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians. And Lord willing, I'll say something
more on this on Sunday. But in chapter 7, in verse 1,
the apostle Paul makes this statement, Now concerning the things whereof
you wrote unto me, it is good for a man not to touch a woman. Now let me tell you who he's
talking to. He's talking to believers. He's talking to believers. And
what he had obviously been asked concerning the bond of marriage
was this. They asked about whether or not
it was right or good or profitable in a state that that church was
in and it's going to apply to us today. The Apostle Paul, I
don't believe, was married. I don't believe he was. But God
had given him some light on this subject right here. And because
of Paul's situation, the Lord didn't allow him to be married.
The Lord put him through some real trials. And he used Paul
to write a major portion of the New Testament. And Paul was All
over here, he was here and here and here and here, and he was
in the deep, and he was beaten, and he was in prison, and he
was all... That would have been a real strain
on a marriage. That would have been a real strain on a marriage.
Almighty God did not allow Paul, obviously, to marry. for the
good of God's church, the good of Paul, the good of a marriage,
he didn't allow it. When Paul wrote this and he said
it's good for a man not to touch a woman, here's what he was saying. At first, when I first read it,
I thought it would mean to not have intimate relationships with
a woman outside of marriage. That's pretty obvious. I mean,
that's pretty obvious that that's not right. But that's not what
Paul was talking about here. He was talking about good, it's
not good, meaning it's not profitable. It's not profitable. If you were
going to look at a situation concerning a marriage, when you
look at the trials that arise, you know, because of a marriage,
You know, if I wasn't married, I wouldn't have a lot of the
responsibilities that I have. If I wouldn't have been married,
I wouldn't have had children, I wouldn't have grandchildren,
I wouldn't be trying to take care of kids and grandkids and
you don't ever get rid of them. You know, you think, you know,
will my kids grow up and leave the house? Are you kidding? No. No, no, no. But Paul was saying,
he said, listen, It's not good or it's not profitable. Not that
it's not good to marry, because God, this is why I'm preaching
this first message tonight. Almighty God established the
institution of marriage. But what Paul was telling was
this. When you enter into the bond of marriage, be advised. Be advised. You've got two sinners
that are now giving themselves to each other. and with two sinners
saved by the grace of God, but we're frail creatures of the
dust. And you're going to find that
there's going to be times when problems arise in a marriage.
Problems that would not be there if you weren't married. He goes
on into the next verse then, but to say, but to avoid fornication,
marry. If you can't control yourself,
you know, marry. But there's problems that come
with marriage. And it's a picture. I might as
well go ahead and just preach the message now, and just not
even wait till Sunday. But it's a picture, it's a type.
When the Lord Jesus Christ bore the guilt of His people. Had
He not been made flesh, had He not come into this world, had
He not been ridiculed, had He not been crucified, He bore the
brunt of the weight, the problems that arose from his love for
his church. Are there problems in marriages?
Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Are there problems
that you would have, that you'll have being married that you wouldn't
have had if you weren't married? That's right, you wouldn't have
had them. But let me ask you this. Would you give up your
wife to avoid the problems? No. No. Why did you get married? I loved her. I loved her. That's
the reason. Yeah, but she did this, that,
and the other. But I love her. I love her. Christ gave himself husbands. Love your wife. 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."
I'm telling you, here's the stability right here. If you were going
to ask yourself or someone, when we consider the stability of
our relationship to the Lord, Upon whom is that stability found? The Lord or us? Now you know that. It's the Lord. A husband that loves his wife,
showing her respect and affection. delighting in her, seeking her
contentment and happiness, hiding her faults, preferring her above
all others, and lovingly directing her in the things of the Lord,
will find that her submission to Him is a joy and a delight. Any wife joyfully submits herself
to a husband that she knows is doing what he's doing because
he loves her. But a man that unlovingly demands
that it's his way or the highway, one that allows no place for
her thoughts or desires, One who places unreasonable restrictions
upon her and never finds time to consider her needs, never
remembers to thank her for the unceasing demands of the home.
One who was never willing to give up his time for her to be
able to do what she'd like to do. I'm going to tell you something,
husbands. I can tell you this. I got four
kids. And when they were growing up,
If I was asked, if Linda asked me, could you keep the kids this
afternoon while I just go and do some shopping or something? All four of them? She has them every day. All day. When they're sick. When I'm gone. When I'm at work and everything's
fine. A man that's never willing. to
give up his time for her and always rehearsing to her that
he's the head of the house. You're going to find that submission
to him is not a joy. It's not a delight. Are there
burdens to be born in a marriage? Yes, sir. Yes, sir. But love. Love. God ordained the institution
of marriage for this cause. Shall a man leave his father
and mother, shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall
be one flesh. And concerning the reason for
the marriage, the reason for that attitude and responsibility
of each other in that marriage is to give honor and glory and
praise unto the Lord Jesus Christ as the husband of the bride.
I'm telling you, when a man and a woman married and this wife
submits herself to her husband that loves her. And that man
loves his wife. And what he's doing, he's doing
all he can. He's going overboard trying to do for her and help
her and encourage her. She's the weaker vessel, fellas.
Encourage her. When you find that, I'm telling
you, you find a man and a wife that's got a good marriage. They have problems? Yeah, they
do. Sure they do. But they love each other. They love each other. This is a great mystery, Paul
said, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless,
let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself,
and the wife see that she reverence. her husband. Now, knowing what
the Lord has to say concerning the bond of marriage, Lord willing,
you go ahead and I'd encourage you to read 1 Corinthians chapter
7, 1 Corinthians 7, read the chapter. I plan to preach both
messages, but I promise you this, there will probably be multiple
messages that I'll preach. I'd like to take that chapter
and just take our time and go through it and see what the Lord
has to say because this is what it's dealing with. It's dealing
with problems. It's dealing with responsibilities. It's dealing
with attitudes. It's dealing with questions.
The things that just come up, that come up and we want to know. We want to know. Not what the
psychiatrist says or this or that. I want to know what God
has to say. And finding out what the Lord has to say, then we've
got some assurance and we've got some safety right there. Alright? Our Father, as we come
before you this evening, I thank you for this time that we've
had. to consider the blessed establishment, foundation of
marriage. I pray that as we now remember
the Lord, our husband, and the taking of the Lord's table, would
you bless this taking and this drinking and eating together.
Would you bless it, Lord, to our comfort and our remembrance,
and these things we ask for Christ's sake. Amen.