The Evidential Case For Marriage Series

OPENING

SENTENCE: There is an old joke, not a very good one and one I am sure most of you have heard, but it lays the groundwork for my sermon today so I will tell it nonetheless. It goes like this:

INTRODUCTION: God was once approached by a scientist who said, “Listen God, we’ve decided we don’t need you anymore. These days we can clone people, transplant organs and do all sorts of things that used to be considered miraculous.” God replied, “Don’t need me huh? How about we put your theory to the test. Why don’t we have a competition to see who can make a human being, say, a male human being.” The scientist agrees, so God declares they should do it like he did in the good old days when he created Adam. “Fine” says the scientist as he bends down to scoop up a handful of dirt.” “Whoa!” says God, shaking his head in disapproval. “Not so fast. You get your own dirt.”

In a very real sense that is the situation we find ourselves today regarding marriage and sexuality. We think we can do without God and we have a better plan for how marriage should work. But, in the competition between God’s design and cultures view I want to see that Gods view wins out. In His older conjugal view marriage is a comprehensive union inherently suited for procreation and the sharing of family life. It calls for permanent and exclusive commitment. It is also a moral reality with an objective structure, which it is inherently good. In this view, the state also has an interest in marriage because society needs children who become healthy adults capable of contributing to the common good and stable marriages are best suited for that.

In contrast, the new revisionist view espoused by our culture says that that marriage is essentially a private matter, an affair of the heart between two adults, in which no outsider, not even the children of the marriage, should be allowed to interfere. Marriage is primarily valued by how well it satisfies the adults individual emotional need and is primarily for and about adult happiness. If the sense of romance is absent or one or both parties find themselves unhappy then they have valid grounds for divorce. In other words, it is built on the emotional whims of romantic love.

TRANSITION

SENTENCE: Too many have bought into the lie that we can change marriage’s meaning and purpose without consequences.

TRANSITION: Marriage has an elemental structure, like water. Just as tinkering with the number of hydrogen and oxygen atoms turns water into something else, messing with the fundamental structure of marriage means it is no longer marriage and cannot fulfill the purposes of marriage. So, even if we reject the Bibles as an authority a convincing case can be made for the benefits of marriage simply by observing the evidence.

SAY WHAT YOU ARE GOING TO SAY: This morning I want to see that every society in history, pagan and otherwise, have recognized the intrinsic wisdom and value of conjugal marriage and its benefits to society- that is until the last forty decades. In that light, I want us to look at the question, “What can the weight of evident, scripture and wisdom teach us about the value of marriage?”

THEME: Both wisdom and evidence tells us that marriage benefits the person and society at large.

What can the weight of evidence, scripture and wisdom teach us about the value of marriage?

I. There is an ancient universally shared wisdom regarding marriage and sexuality. (1-6)

My son, pay attention to my wisdom, turn your ear to my words of insight, 2 that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge. 3 For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey,

and her speech is smoother than oil; 4 but in the end she is bitter as gall, sharp as a double-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. 6 She gives no thought to the way of life; her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.

A. The lure of an adulterous woman can be powerfully appealing.

The first seven chapters of Proverbs are words of a father sharing wisdom with his son. From the warning in these verses we are reminded that the powerful appeal for a sexual encounter outside the marriage covenant is not new. It has existed since the fall. Men are visually stimulated and it is not only his wife that catches his eye. Yet, the message of this proverb is that sexual temptation is a powerful universal attraction that works against the marriage covenant.

Notice- there are several principles suggested in these verses. 1. There are sexual impulses that allures us to illicit affairs but we have the ability to abstain from acting on them. 2. There is an objective requirement to abstain from illicit affairs. In contrast, rooted in our contemporary culture is the “Playboy” philosophy which measures manhood by his sexual prowess and promiscuity with James Bond being a typical role model. 3. We place far too much value on the sexual appeal and prowess of a person yet sexual attraction has little to do with stable healthy relationship. 4. Manhood, in scripture involves a willingness to restrain his sexual urges and provide for and protect his family.