God Speaks On Marriage Series
"What Would God Say to Betty & Earl, Bob & Wanda?"
Ruth 1.16-17 NAS
February 22, 2004 Chester’s FBC, Chester, IL Mike Fogerson, Speaker
Introduction:
A Little Connie came home from preschool having heard the story of Snow White for the very first time.
a She retold the story as the father paid half-price attention. At the end of the story, Connie asked her father, "Daddy, do you know what happened after the prince kissed Snow White?" "They lived happily ever after.", dad answered.
b "No they didn’t!" Connie snapped back. "They got married!"
*Connie got it didn’t she! Getting married is not always living happily ever after.
Marriage is not a joke. Marriage is hard work.
B Today, we will conclude our God speaks on marriage series with What would God say to Betty & Earl, and Bob & Wanda?
a These two couples in our church have over 106 years between them collectively!
How did they do it?
b Ruth 1.16-17 tells us how.
Context:
Naomi and her family had fled to Moab due to a famine in their home country Israel.
Ruth (a Moabite) had married Naomi’s son and then he died. Leaving Ruth a widow. Naomi is going to return to Israel and Ruth is going with her.
16 But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God. 17 "Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the LORD do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me."
C (ETS) Ruth made a life long commitment of loyality.
a (ESS) Marriages that stand the test of time are products of loyalty.
b (Obj.) I want you to learn what makes a commitment of loyalty.
c (Probing Question) How loyal are you being to the people you have committed yourself to?
T.S.: Let’s look @ two people that we must be committed to in order to have a committed loyalty in our marriages.
I The first person we must commit to in our marriage is . . .God.
Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. v. 16b
A Ruth left everything, everyone she ever held cherished to be with the one she cherished the most.
a Moab is located east of the dead sea (see map)
The gods in the ANE were believed to only have power in their home territory.
The god over the territory of Moab was Chemosh. Chemosh worship was Ruth’s background.
b Ruth wants to go with Naomi back to Israel (a place she has never seen), and Naomi tries to talk her out of going.
Naomi: My people are commanded to observe 113 precepts.
Ruth answered: "Your people shall be my people."
Naomi: My people are commanded to worship no other God than the YHWH, the living God of Israel.
Ruth answered: "Your God shall be my God."
Ruth’s commitment is rooted into the God that Naomi was committed to.
(They shared the same faith in the same God.)
B God wants Christians to marry Christians.
14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 2 Cor. 6.14 (NAS)
14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: . . .2 Cor 6:14 (KJV)
a Common mistake: "I love them!"
It doesn’t matter what they believe or
whether their Christians or
whether they go to church or
if they love God.
We’ll work out the "church thing" later.
b God objects to Christians marrying non-Christians for two major reasons.
1 Theological. (v. 16a Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; . . .)
a Christians have God dwelling in them. Their body is a temple.
b A husband & wife are ONE flesh. If one is a non-Christian and one is Christian . . .your trying to mix oil & water.
(IL.) Equivalent of us starting next Sunday, you come to church, but were going to sing nothing but Beatle songs in worship. Open with "Come Together" followed by "Love Me Do", instead of a sermon we’ll watch an episode of "Everybody loves Raymond", and then we’ll close with "Let It Be." We’ll pray just say we did something religious.
Some of you would come unglued! Preacher, we didn’t build this church to have all these pagan things brought into it! EXACTELY!!!
God didn’t establish marriage for a Christian to bring a non-believer into it.
2 Practical (v.15a Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? . . .)
(Does he mean Christians and non-Christians can’t enjoy the same music? TV shows? Art? Vacation spots? No.)
a Christians & non-Christians pull in different directions.
b Christians don’t always pull non-Christians to God, sometimes non-Christians pull Christians away from God. You give up your relationship with God to keep peace at the house.
c If your married to a non-Christian, your faith can split your home . . .the faith that God intented to strengthen your marriage has now divided your home because you married a non-Christian.
CLARIFICATION:
Preacher, I’m already married to a non-Christian. Do I leave my spouse? (NO.) 1 Cor. 7.13-16
3 If your marriage is going to go the distance, both spouses must be committed to God.
a Even the most committed husbands & wives can/do struggle.
*There will be a time when you notice someone across the room or restuarant or the office or the class who appears more attractive/appealling/wittier/friendly than your spouse.
*And for a brief ugly moment you wonder . . . "What if I had married them!"
b It is at the very moment a Christian’s commitment to God brings them back on track.
You better have more than chemistry to make your marriage work. Your going to need Christ to make your marriage work.
T.S.: Committing yourself to God is an essential person to commit to in your marriage, but he is not the only one that requires your commitment.
II The second person we must commit to in our marriage is . . .our spouse.
A Ruth gave her unwavering devotion to the one she loved.
a Apparently, Naomi tried to talk Ruth into staying in Moab. (It didn’t work!)
16 But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you;
Wouldn’t you have loved to have heard that discussion?
N = Naomi R= Ruth
N: "My people go to worship on the Sabboth and we can’t travel more than 200 cubits on that day."
R: "Where you go, I’ll go"
N: "Were not allowed to stay at a non-believers house."
R: "Where you lodge, I will lodge"
N: "If my people do not obey God’s Word they have four methods of capital punishment: stoning, hanging, burning, & beheading."
R: "Where you die, I will die."
b Ruth was from Moab . . .but her place wasn’t in Moab anymore.
*She was going to be buried w/ Naomi! "Till death do us part."
B A couple went to the courthouse for a marriage license.
a As they were filling out the paper work, the county clerk said, "Now this marriage license is good for 30 days."
b The couple then said, "No, you don’t understand. We want that’s till death do us part!"
C To have a marriage that goes 50+ years, you must be committed to your spouse.
a Ruth kept her word!
(Where you go, I’ll go. Where you sleep, I’ll sleep. Etc.)
13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the LORD enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, "Blessed is the LORD who has not left you without a redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel. 15 "May he also be to you a restorer of life and a sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him." 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap, and became his nurse. 17 The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, "A son has been born to Naomi!" So they named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David. Ruth 4:13-17 (NASB)
b Keep your commitments to your spouse.
*IL. Be like the couple who after 10 ten years of marriage, the woman began packing her bags after big argument, and the husband got his suitcase and started packing his too. Where are you doing?, asked the wife. The husband replied, "If your leaving, I’m going with you."
Let me remind you what they were. . .
"Sickness/health, joy/sorrow, rich/poor, faithfulness"
Conclusion:
(ETS) Ruth made a life long commitment of loyalty. (ESS) Marriages that stand the test of time are products of loyalty.
A We’ve looked @ two people that we must be committed to in order to have a committed loyalty.
a God (God is the first person you commit to in your marriage. Unequally yoked.)
b Spouse (Till death do us part.)
B (Obj.) I want you to learn what makes a commitment of loyalty.
a Choices: Your marriage is either build on God or it’s build on something of lesser strength.
b Choices: You are either committed to your spouse or to yourself.
C (Probing Question) How loyal are you being to the people you have committed yourself to?
The idea of this type of commitment can be best be symbolized by the ring married people have on their fingers.
The Christian custom of placing a wedding ring on the 3rd finger began with the Greeks.
a The early Greeks (not Christians) believed that a certain vein, the "vein of love," ran from the 3rd finger directly to the heart. Why they tho’t that no one knows… but when you put those rings on each other’s ring finger part of you are symbolically saying that you wanted to be tied right into their hearts. You want to be committed to each other.
b Now, when the early Christians exchanged rings, they worked their way across the hand beginning with the index finger and ending with the ring finger. The groom first placed the ring on the tip of the bride’s index finger, praying "in the name of the Father," moved it to her middle finger saying, "in the name of the Son," and finally, with the words "and of the Holy Spirit, Amen," he slipped the ring on the to the third finger. In the giving of the ring, the early Christian was saying his marriage would begin with his commitment to God.
How loyal are you being to the people you have committed yourself to?
