Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
Marriage is the testing ground for living the spiritual life.
Friday, February 13, 2004
Angels do not experience the intimacy of the relationship of marriage –
1CO 11:10 Therefore the woman ought to have a symbol of authority on her head, because of the angels.
The first divine rule for marriage is the responsibility of the man –
EPH 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself as a substitute for her.
The second divine rule for marriage is the responsibility of the woman –
EPH 5:22-24, 33, EPH 5:33 – let the wife see to it that she respect her husband.
The third divine rule is the mutual responsibility of both the husband and the wife, forgive as Christ forgave –
EPH 4:32 And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
MAT 22:30 Angels neither marry, nor are given in marriage.
They learn about Christian marriage from the church, EPH 3:10; 1PE 1:12.
Demons and elect angels are watching Christian marriages, because it is a part of fulfilling the uniqueness of the Church-age, EPH 5:32.
Elect angels observe Christian marriage while fallen angels oppose Christian marriage.
Marriage of two believers is the proving ground for the commands and duties which demand the highest form of virtue that has ever existed.
The great Christian service is fulfilling the spiritual life by which you have a testimony in the greatest trial in all of human history.
This new attitude toward marriage only exists in the C.A., because this is the only dispensation where every believer can take the fantastic spiritual life provided by God and fulfill principles such as being content in whatever state you are in, PHI 4:11-13.
Three vital principles in marriage: freedom, authority, and having values.
A woman can only respond to a man in freedom.
Capacity for love expands where one is under authority.
Respect has to be the mandate for the Christian wife, because she is under the authority of her husband.
Virtue and values always meet in one place, coalescence of bodies and coalescence of souls.
Freedom in marriage belongs to both spouses, but you must have values to avoid anarchy.
In less than a hundred years, you are not going to be married to that person anymore forever and ever, MAT 22:30.
Only one life will soon pass, and only what is done for Christ will last.
“Undistracted” – aperispastos = to be free from domestic problems, free from problems relating to the household, to the family, and relating to the duties of home. It also means to be free from fatigue, anxiety, worry and concern.
“Devotion” – euprosedos = to sit with relaxation and confidence. It also means to be steady, attentive and diligent, to have your undivided attention.
God has provided for the believer a whole system of values related to the spiritual life but many of God’s people are too busy becoming a hot shot in time but nothing more than a snap shot on a wall in the future.
One of the greatest forms of Christian service is fulfilling the spiritual life by which you have a testimony in the greatest trial in all of human history.
LUK 14:18 “I have bought a piece of land and I need to go out and look at it;”
LUK 14:19 “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to try them out”
LUK 14:20 “I have married a wife, and for that reason I cannot come.”
LUK 14:18 “But they all alike began to make excuses.”
LUK 14:21 And the servant came back and reported this to his master, the Lord Jesus Christ. Then the Lord became angry and said to his slave, “Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.”
GAL 4:16 Have I therefore become your enemy by telling you the truth?
Christian marriage is a testing ground for living the spiritual life.
Having freedom does not mean anything unless you have a personal sense of responsibility with that freedom.
Freedom without responsibility is apathy.