Biblical Marriage For The 90"S

Biblical Marriage For The 90’s

Living God Church. Psalms 1:1-6 Luke 22:24-30 Ephesians 5:21-6:4

I consider it an honor to speak to you tonight at this banquet in honor of the pastors and their spouses. God has placed us in strategic places at one of the most significant times in history to make a difference for our lord Jesus Christ. More than anything else, the world is in need of godly homes, especially godly biblical marriages. I want you to know that you are where you are tonight, because God has chosen you for such a time as this to be a beacon of hope in a world that’s gone mad.

It’s almost election time, so we can plan to hear a lot more about family values in the very near future. But for a moments I want us to look at godly values of how a husband and a wife ought to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ. Marriage is an institution which is very close to the heart of God. Yet somehow marriage has become battlefield which God never intended. Of 10 couples which marry, three will end in divorce, two will be intolerable, 3 will be okay, and only 2 will find the kind of joy that God and the couple intended.

Is the biblical concept of marriage workable today. Unfortunately, many cannot answer the question, because few understand what the Scriptures teach concerning marriage. One Sunday School teacher asked the class, if anyone knew what the Bible had to say about marriage. A little boy raised his hand saying I do, I do. The Bible says forgive them for they know not what they do.

As pastors, its hard to listen to another preacher without doing an exegetical analysis of the message. But for the next half hour, I want you to forget about being a pastor and just become a husband or a wife. We have a radio program called another perspective. I want you to be able to hear another perspective on a passage of Scripture which many of use have preached from in the past.

Part of the failure to understand marriage is a failure to understand God’s view of what a man should be and the role he should play in the marriage. In the last twenty years we’ve been in the world of the super heroes. We’ve had four Superman Movies, Three Batman Movies, Three Terminator Movies and now we have the Phantom on the movie screen. The evangelical church has responded with a new super hero of its own. Of all the images of what a man is supposed to be, the image which is most frightening for the health of the church is the one being put forward by some of the great leaders in the church today.

I have called this new man Mr. Terrific . Mr. Terrific is the leader in his home and he tells everyone in the home what to do. He has a direct connection to God that others in the home could not possibly possess so he is endowed with the ability to always knows what’s best for each and every member of the family. There is no need for him to consult with his wife on decisions, because as the head, he has the brains. His wife immediately accepts whatever his final decision is in the event they should have a disagreement, for obviously, since the man is the head, he must be speaking for God. Mr. Terrific loves his family and is its benefactor and protector. To challenge his decisions is to go against the word of God itself, for women are told to submit to their husbands so that they might live long and prosper..

As a result of this wonderful Mr. Terrific being created in the church, many women are under the false delusion of their being a man out there who is going to come and sweep them off their feet. Once this man is with them, no longer will they have to be confused with making difficult decisions. They will look to the man to tell them what God’s will is.

All the things they struggle with today, this man will be there to remove from their lives. All of his decisions will be in their best interests He will know how to handle and fix things. Yes, once this wonderful man gets into their lives, they will not have to worry about anything. He will turn them into a whole person, and this man is always going to accept them, just as they are without putting unreasonable demands on their lives. If you’re looking for this man, you’re about 1,960. years to late. His name was Jesus, and He died on a cross to let you know, Mr. Terrific is about as real as Superman, Spiderman, The terminator and the Phantom. They just do not exist.