Last year, the Lord spoke to us that there would be many marriages this year and the Lord is faithful to his Word. Another wedding ceremony took place in the church on Saturday and we’re very grateful to God for the success of the wedding. The servant of God in this atmosphere, was led to speak about marriage and what it entails. We therefore bring to you again the review of the sermon. Stay blessed!
TEXT: HEBREWS 13:4, 1 CORINTHIANS 7:1, PROVERBS 31:10
Marriage is a journey of no return, it requires prayer, patience and conviction before proceeding. Every other thing may change and may be done in haste, doing it as you please, but not marriage. Marriage is not done anyhow, not in your own way, neither in haste; marriage is ‘until death do us part’- a vow unto the Lord. Therefore, knowing that marriage is permanent, every man or woman in their right mind ought to choose their spouse very carefully. Every man should think carefully and pray earnestly before he chooses a wife; a wrong choice can ruin your entire life. Also, one must seek godly advice before proceeding with marriage. If you sense that your partner is not fit to be yours and yet you go ahead to marry, then it is your fault.
The kind of person you marry, shows what is in your mind and how your future will be. Whatever your wife is, shows how she will raise your children. God is the one that started marriage, so God is still in it. Natural things type spiritual things; if the choosing of a bride was such a serious action in the Bible then it shows how it should be taken, naturally. A Christian should not focus on the outward appearance of a man or a woman, but look for a Christian character.
Marriage is very sensitive, it can cause problem in the family, community or church. Hence, you don’t enter into marriage unadvisedly; one must seek godly counsel and be properly guided by spiritual authorities. Prayer is also very imperative; you’re not praying about whether or not to marry but whether the person you have in mind, is the right person for you- who should I marry? You have to be convinced by God before proceeding to marry, marriage is not a thing of uncertainty or skepticism. Even God provided a woman that was meet (suitable) for Adam.
Every brother in the church cannot be your husband, neither can ever sister be your wife; God has a choice. Two people may be children of God, but that doesn’t make them compatible; you have a helper that is meet for you and you can only find it through prayer, patience, obedience and humility, then God will bring his choice to you. You may see what you like in a person and yet God is saying he/she is not for you. God sees differently from us, his ways are not our ways, what he sees as beauty is not what we think. The beauty that God recognizes is your character!
There’s no shortcut in marriage; the Bible says that marriage is honorable in all. Every protocol must be observed. When one is fasting or very hungry, he/she tends to eat whatever is presented to him, but marriage should not be done that way.
Prayer should be continuous, even in courtship. And if you realize halfway that you can’t continue, then put an end to it before you go too far. Although in such a case, it means that God was not the one that gave a go ahead because if God is not in it, it will never break. But a broken heart is better than a broken marriage. A broken heart can be healed, but who will heal a broken marriage? The fact that two people disagree doesn’t mean that they are evil or not children of God. Sometimes God gives us signs to withdraw from a relationship, but because of youthful exuberance, we ignore. Other times, even when both parties involved, love each other, God can say ‘no’ even after you’ve gone far. It is still the love of God, God wants us to know that the final decision of marriage is still in his hands. We see the now, but God sees the future. That is why, prayer and patience are key when choosing a spouse.
Don’t emulate anybody, let God lead you, talk to him in prayer (he wants to hear your own voice), wait upon God and pray without ceasing. Don’t look at material things when choosing a spouse, look at what God is looking at. We have seen cases of people who see what they like in their supposed partner but refuse to look at what God likes, we have seen the end of their marriage.
Parents also have their roles to play. Mother especially, don’t push your daughters, don’t put pressure on your children, pray to God for them, talk to them as they become of age, teach them what they need to know, teach them the Word of God, let the Holy Spirit fill them up. We Christians are fond of taking the Word of God so lightly, placing education, money and other things before the word of God. See how the Muslims train their children, allowing them go through qur’anic schools from a young age, watch how they dress and take their religion seriously. We need to wake up and act. God instituted marriage so he is still very interested