Marriage

Marriage is the highest and happiest of human relationships. It is the preserver of true love, the foundation of the home, and bulwark of society. Marriage began in the bowers of Eden under the bowers of Eden under the direction of Almighty God. Moses gave legal regulations on matters connected with marriage for the old dispensation. Christ endorsed marriage as it existed in the beginning for the Christian age and performed His first miracle at the wedding feast in Cana. Paul likens the relationship between Christ and His church to that of husband and wife.

There are three divine institutions in our world. (1) The home, (2) civil government, and (3) the church. The institution of marriage keeps the moral world in being and secures civilization. Without it, natural affection and amiableness would not exist, domestic education would become extinct, industry and economy would collapse, learning and refinement would expire, government sink into the gulf of anarchy, and man would be left to the precarious existence of the savage.

Two persons, a man and a woman, who have chosen each other out of all others, with the design to be each other’s mutual comfort and care, have, in that action bound themselves to be loving, affable, discreet, forgiving, patient, and joyful, with respect to each other’s frailties and imperfections, to the end of their lives. Marriage is to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for rich or for poor, in sickness and in health, in prosperity and adversity, until death do them part. It is a solemn vow taken in the name of God.

1. Marriage is divine in origin. When one compares Genesis 2:24 with Matthew 19:4-5, he finds that it was God “who made them male and female” and it was God who said, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh.” Marriage is honorable in all (Hebrews 13:4). Eunuchs by birth, surgery, or choice would not marry for obvious reasons (Matthew 19:11-12). Also, under certain conditions of great distress one might not wish to marry (I Corinthians 7:1, 26). But it is better to marry than to burn in passion (I Corinthians 7:9). God saw in Adam that “It was not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18).
2. Monogamic in form. This means married to one person or having only one Scriptural mate at a time (Matthew 19:5-6, 9; I Corinthians 7:3). In the Christian age polygamy or many wives, and polyandry, having many husbands are both wrong. Commune marriages practiced among some ... groups are also condemned by Jesus.
3. Companionate and procreative in design. “Let the husband render unto the wife her due: and likewise also the wife unto her husband” (I Corinthians 7:3; cf. 7:4-5). God told the first couple to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth (Genesis 2:28).
4. Mutual in obligation. The husband is to love the wife (Ephesians 5:25) and the wife is to love her husband (Titus 2:4). Man and woman are complements of each other and dependent upon each other.
5. The husband is the head of the wife. This is the way God set up marriage (Ephesians 5:22-24). We sometimes hear people joke that the husband is the head, but his wife is surely the neck that turns the head the way she wants! But the Bible is quite serious about the wife being in subjection unto her husband. To tamper with God’s order can bring serious consequences.
6. United by God. What God hath joined together let not man put asunder (Matthew 19:6). In God’s sight the marriage contract is final until broken by death or infidelity (Matthew 19:9; Romans 7:1-3). There is no marriage in heaven, says Jesus (Luke 20:27-40). This voids the Mormon doctrine of celestial marriage.
7. God wants Christian homes. This is where parents are obedient to God’s laws (II Peter 3:9; Matthew 7:21), and having been baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:26-27), are bringing up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4; Proverbs 22:6; Psalm 78:4; Genesis 18:19).

The sordid moral record of the world in general and America in particular is sad. Twenty five percent of American marriages wind up in the divorce courts. About one in twenty has some venereal disease. One out of six brides is an expectant mother before she gets to the marriage altar according to one journal. The obvious immodest dress of many women shows that while some dress to be chaste others may dress to be chased! There is a vast difference between the words. While parents shout for someone to do something to help the young people, the truth of the matter is that the responsibility is theirs and they need to face it. Parents need to provide opportunities for their children to be with other Christian young people so they will marry a Christian mate. Young people should date clean, pure and compatible partners. Before marriage ask yourself seriously if you are really ready for marriage, if you are mature enough, and is it love or infatuation?

The following entitled “A Recipe for Home” by an unknown author is fine. “First, get out the cooking utensils. You will need one husband, one wife, and children to suit yourself. Next, cream one cup of love until it is fluffy and mellow. Add one-half cup of tears and hardships and stir gently. Whip in a cup of joy; when smooth, add one teaspoon each of thoughtfulness, heartfelt tenderness and sympathy. Add one cup of ambition with two cups of Christianity. Bake in moderate oven, top with kindness, and serve repeatedly.”

Christ should be the Lord of our home and He is our ever present silent guest. To put marriage and the home on the right path, Christ should be the center: Christ at the marriage altar; Christ on the bridal journey; Christ when the new home is set up; Christ when the baby comes; Christ when the baby dies; Christ in the pinching times; Christ in the days of plenty; Christ for time; Christ for eternity, this is the secret of home.

J. Noel Meredith

Gospel Advocate (August 12, 1971)

Marriage

Marriage

Marriage is the highest and happiest of human relationships. It is the preserver of true love, the foundation of the home, and bulwark of society. Marriage began in the bowers of Eden under the bowers of Eden under the direction of Almighty God. Moses gave legal regulations on matters connected with marriage for the old dispensation. Christ endorsed marriage as it existed in the beginning for the Christian age and performed His first miracle at the wedding feast in Cana. Paul likens the relationship between Christ and His church to that of husband and wife.

There are three divine institutions in our world. (1) The home, (2) civil government, and (3) the church. The institution of marriage keeps the moral world in being and secures civilization. Without it, natural affection and amiableness would not exist, domestic education would become extinct, industry and economy would collapse, learning and refinement would expire, government sink into the gulf of anarchy, and man would be left to the precarious existence of the savage.

Two persons, a man and a woman, who have chosen each other out of all others, with the design to be each other’s mutual comfort and care, have, in that action bound themselves to be loving, affable, discreet, forgiving, patient, and joyful, with respect to each other’s frailties and imperfections,to the end of their lives. Marriage is to have and to hold, for better or for worse, for rich or for poor, in sickness and in health, in prosperity and adversity, until death do them part. It is a solemn vow taken in the name of 

1. Marriage is divine in origin. When one compares Genesis 2:24 with Matthew 19:4-5, he finds that it was God “who made them male and female” and it was God who said, “For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife; and the two shall become one flesh.” Marriage is honorable in all (Hebrews 13:4). Eunuchs by birth, surgery, or choice would not marry for obvious reasons (Matthew 19:11-12). Also, under certain conditions of great distress one might not wish to marry (I Corinthians 7:1, 26). But it is better to marry than to burn in passion (I Corinthians 7:9). God saw in Adam that “It was not good that the man should be alone” (Genesis 2:18).
2. Monogamic in form. This means married to one person or having only one Scriptural mate at a time (Matthew 19:5-6, 9; I Corinthians 7:3). In the Christian age polygamy or many wives, and polyandry, having many husbands are both wrong. Commune marriages practiced among some ... groups are also condemned by Jesus.
3. Companionate and procreative in design. “Let the husband render unto the wife her due: and likewise also the wife unto her husband” (I Corinthians 7:3; cf. 7:4-5). God told the first couple to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth (Genesis 2:28).
4. Mutual in obligation. The husband is to love the wife (Ephesians 5:25) and the wife is to love her husband (Titus 2:4). Man and woman are complements of each other and dependent upon each other.
5. The husband is the head of the wife. This is the way God set up marriage (Ephesians 5:22-24). We sometimes hear people joke that the husband is the head, but his wife is surely the neck that turns the head the way she wants! But the Bible is quite serious about the wife being in subjection unto her husband. To tamper with God’s order can bring serious consequences. 
6. United by God. What God hath joined together let not man put asunder (Matthew 19:6). In God’s sight the marriage contract is final until broken by death or infidelity (Matthew 19:9; Romans 7:1-3). There is no marriage in heaven, says Jesus (Luke 20:27-40). This voids the Mormon doctrine of celestial marriage.
7. God wants Christian homes. This is where parents are obedient to God’s laws (II Peter 3:9; Matthew 7:21), and having been baptized into Christ (Galatians 3:26-27), are bringing up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4; Proverbs 22:6; Psalm 78:4; Genesis 18:19).

The sordid moral record of the world in general and America in particular is sad. Twenty five percent of American marriages wind up in the divorce courts. About one in twenty has some venereal disease. One out of six brides is an expectant mother before she gets to the marriage altar according to one journal. The obvious immodest dress of many women shows that while some dress to be chaste others may dress to be chased! There is a vast difference between the words. While parents shout for someone to do something to help the young people, the truth of the matter is that the responsibility is theirs and they need to face it. Parents need to provide opportunities for their children to be with other Christian young people so they will marry a Christian mate. Young people should date clean, pure and compatible partners. Before marriage ask yourself seriously if you are really ready for marriage, if you are mature enough, and is it love or infatuation? 

The following entitled “A Recipe for Home” by an unknown author is fine.

“First, get out the cooking utensils. You will need one husband, one wife, and children to suit yourself. Next, cream one cup of love until it is fluffy and mellow. Add one-half cup of tears and hardships and stir gently. Whip in a cup of joy; when smooth, add one teaspoon each of thoughtfulness, heartfelt tenderness and sympathy. Add one cup of ambition with two cups of Christianity. Bake in moderate oven, top with kindness, and serve repeatedly.”

Christ should be the Lord of our home and He is our ever present silent guest. To put marriage and the home on the right path, Christ should be the center: Christ at the marriage altar; Christ on the bridal journey; Christ when the new home is set up; Christ when the baby comes; Christ when the baby dies; Christ in the pinching times; Christ in the days of plenty; Christ for time; Christ for eternity, this is the secret of home. 

J. Noel Meredith

Gospel Advocate (August 12, 1971)

[Some of the statistics in the above article may be out of date, but the general principles taught are just as true as when they were written. Lester]

The Right Attitude for Congregational Unity

Not only must one believe the right thing to have unity but one must also have the right attitude and disposition of heart to have unity. Having the truth is no justification for having a haughty disposition. We must have lowliness and meekness with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love.

Of Diotrephes, the beloved John wrote (III John 9–10):

I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

The sin that John charges against Diotrephes is that he loves to have the preeminence. The word here employed by John is a very rare one and means “fond of being first.”

Years ago A.T. Robertson wrote an article on Diotrephes. He set him forth as “a church regulator,” “a short-horn deacon.” He of course, never knew all the results of the article. But one thing he did learn was that twenty-five subscribers to the paper in which the article appeared, asked that their subscription be cancelled immediately. They did this as a protest against the personal attack that they thought had been madeupon them. These twenty-five men recognized themselves in the picture of Diotrephes whom the writer had painted. The shoe fit; the hit dog howled; the guilty conscience saw its owner in such a setting.

The church does not need men like Diotrephes. We do not need men who seek to rally parties about them. We need people who will follow Jesus and preachers who point people to Jesus and not themselves. Men heard John the Baptist preach, and they followed Jesus. This was great preaching. John was a great preacher. He was no Diotrephes. He said Jesus must increase, but that he himself must decrease. He could gracefully grant the preeminence to Christ, where it belongs, in all things.

Paul did not want the brethren at Corinth divided into parties with each following their favorite preacher. That is the wrong attitude. The glory in the church is not to go to the preacher who plants or the preacher who waters, but to God who gives the increase (I Corinthians 3:1–9). We should step out of selfishness and into the service of God. With the proper attitude among brethren all of the small things vanish away.

J. Noel Meredith

The Right Attitude for Unity

Not only must one believe the right thing to have unity but one must also have the right attitude and disposition of heart to have unity. Having the truth is no justification for having a haughty disposition. We must have lowliness and meekness with long-suffering, forbearing one another in love.

Of Diotrephes, the beloved John wrote:

I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth hem out of the church (III John 9-10).

The sin that John charges against Diotrephes is that he loves to have the preeminence. The word here employed by John is a very rare one and means “fond of being first.”

Years ago A. T. Robertson wrote an article on Diotrephes. He set him forth as “a church regulator,” “a short-horn deacon.” He of course, never knew all the results of the article. But one thing he did learn twenty-five subscribers to the paper in which the article appeared, asked that their subscription be cancelled immediately. They did this as a protest against the personal attack that they thought had been made upon them. These twentyfive men recognized themselves in the picture of Diotrephes which the writer had painted. The shoe fit; the hit dog howled; the guilty conscience saw its owner in such a setting.

The church does not need men like Diotrephes. We do not need men who seek to rally parties about them. We need people who will follow Jesus and preachers who point people to Jesus and not themselves. Men heard John the Baptist preach and they followed Jesus. This was great preaching. John was a great preacher. He was no Diotrephes. He said Jesus must increase but that he himself must decrease. He could gracefully grant the preeminence to Christ, where it belongs, in all things.

Paul did not want the brethren at Corinth divided into parties with each following their favorite preacher. That is the wrong attitude. The glory in the church is not to go to the preacher who plants or the preacher who waters but to God who gives the increase (I Corinthians 3:1-9). We should step out of selfishness and into the service of God. With the proper attitude among brethren all of the small things vanish away. 

J. Noel Meredith

Life With a Purpose

Our life upon this earth is of few days and full of trouble. Some days are the best of times; some days are the worst of times. There are moments that look like the spring of hope; others look like the winter of despair. Through it all we need to live a life with purpose and meaning. We all seek happiness as the world lashes about us.

Something to Do 
Paul wrote:

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Phi. 3:13-14).

Paul says he was pressing toward the mark. The pursuit is no groping after something undefined. He was pressing on with contentment. He had learned in whatsoever state he was in to be content (Phi. 4:11). To be happy in life we all need something to do; we need a mission to fill. As preachers we blow the trumpet clear so people will know the battle for truth is on. Do not be disarmed by the smiling tolerance of the new school of peaceful coexistence. Let us stand for the right and not lose sight of our duty to serve the Lord, do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. 

Someone to Love

 “We love him, because he first loved us” (I John 4:19).

It brings happiness to love God. We are to love the Lord with all our heart. He first loved us and we should return our love. We also need our family and friends to love. To visit with friends and enjoy good times together brings sunshine into our days. 

Something to Hope For 

“In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began” (Titus 1:2).

The hope of heaven keeps us going through sickness, pain, disappointment, suffering, and hardship. In fact these present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed. God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. On that fair shore we shall serve the Lord with perfect bliss. There we shall be with and know (I Thessalonians 2:19) our loved ones whom we have known in this life.

J. Noel Meredith

Notes from II Timothy

In II Timothy 2:3-6 Paul gives three figures which suggest the hard service which is in Christ. The soldier, the athlete, and the husbandman. Paul gives the simile of comparing service to Christ to that of a soldier. The soldier has to go on duty and leave comforts, he must face the hardships of service, and the dangers of the battlefield. Paul points to his own example in saying, “Suffer hardship with me.” Paul did not ask Timothy to submit to that which he was unwilling to do; he suffered for his loyalty to Christ, and he asked Timothy to be willing to accept similar hardship. “No soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life; that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier” (II Timothy 2:4). A soldier “on service” is one actually engaged in performing the obligations of a soldier. A soldier on duty must devote himself to the service of him who enrolled him. A soldier, to please his officers, must perform their orders without interference from his ties of home or business affairs. The comparison is that the Christian soldier, engaged in the service of the Lord, must keep himself free from the entangling affairs of the world which would hinder him in performing his duties.

"And if also a man contend in the games, he is not crowned, except he have contended lawfully” (II Timothy 2:5). In this verse the Christian is represented as an athlete. The reference is to an athlete in the ancient games which were so well-known in Greek history. Those who had a part in the games were required to conform to the rules of the game. They had to undergo much training to participate. Paul’s comparison is that Timothy must, therefore, conform to the laws of Christ, and not give up the discipline which would come through training.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

And every man that striveth in the games exerciseth self-control in all things. Now they do it to receive a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible (I Corinthians 9:25).

“The husbandmen that laboreth must be the first to partake of the fruits” (II Timothy 2:6). Here the figure changes to that of a husbandman or farmer. The farmer should be the first to enjoy the fruit of his hands; but, he must first labor to have the fruit. One cannot receive the harvest of the fields if he does not work the crop. The comparison is that Timothy must recognize that for him to receive the fruit of Christian labor, he must engage in work in the Lord’s field.

“Consider what I say; for the Lord shall give thee understanding in all things” (II Timothy 2:7). Paul had used three illustrations to impress upon Timothy the necessity of concentration, endurance, and faithful toil to please the Lord as a preacher and a Christian. These points were drawn from the activity of soldiers, athletes, and farmers. Timothy was to consider these points carefully. If he properly considered these points, he would see that he was a Christian soldier fighting under Christ in a spiritual war with evil, that he was a Christian athlete running for the prize of eternal life, and a Christian farmer sowing the seed of the kingdom and looking to a bountiful harvest in the judgment.

J. Noel Meredith