On The Sanctity Of Marriage - Matthew 19:4-6

And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”  - Matthew 19:4-6

    Jesus raised the standard of marriage beyond that of the Mosaic Law. The Pharisees knew that according to Old Testament law a man was entitled to divorce his wife if certain covenantal agreements were breached. But they soon began to throw in additional breaches to the law thus enabling a man to easily divorce his wife for even the most inane reasons. Christ would not be tested on such a grave matter as His heavenly Father’s will, so He declared that what God had put together no man should ever try to separate or divide. God’s declaration that a man and a woman becoming one flesh was to remain inviolable.
    It stands to reason that from the days of Eden marriage was sanctioned by God; sanctioned and legitimized. Therein lies the consternation which plagues the homosexual community regarding the legitimacy that the institution of marriage brings to an interpersonal relationship. Because of the time-honored institution of marriage and the recognition implied by its legality homosexuals have sought, demanded, and gained the support (albeit erroneously) of courts, despite God’s decretive will. “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” - Genesis 1:27.
    Since homosexuals cannot be “married” as Biblically defined, what they are asking for, demanding, and receiving is similarly as illegitimate as heterosexuals choosing to cohabit outside the bonds of matrimony. It is the simple choice of cohabiting with another person in a non-marital relationship they want recognized as legitimate without the incumbrance of “the paper work.” There are no permanent ties or bonds holding such people together. Their mutual agreement that they will remain faithful is all they share. But they are missing the point: mere legality is not the issue in a marriage any more than it is in an abortion. The simple “right to do something” is not in itself validation! Both same-sex marriage and simple cohabitation among straight couples violate God’s plan for men and women. Marriage is the union of one man and one woman, not two or three men or women, nor simply a straight couple “shacking up.”
    Divorce? Approximately 50% of all first marriages end in divorce, a statistic which is often the excuse of couples who choose to cohabit rather than enter into a legitimate marriage. But it doesn’t square it  in the eyes of God.
    If we Christians are to invoke the word of God in such matters we must do so uniformly and without prejudice. Any violation of marriage as defined in the Bible, is a violation against God’s word, a transgression against God, and sinful, regardless of the sexes involved. “The woman answered and said, ‘I have no husband.’ Jesus said to her, ‘You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.’” - John 4:17-18.
    Our Lord, Jesus Christ raised the bar on marriage. We should not trivialize nor redefine what a marriage is or who the participants may be. God’s word on the matter is sufficient and final. Christ’s emphasis on “what God has joined together” should ring as a warning to those who seek to do otherwise

Rebuke & Exhortation - 2 Timothy 4:2-4

Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. - 2 Timothy 2:2-4

    Rebuke, according to Merriam- Webster, is “an expression of strong disapproval.” Exhort is “to try to influence (someone) by words or advice : to strongly urge (someone) to do something”  Neither of these actions find many fans in today’s worldly culture, unless, of course, the receiver is subjected to them for simply telling the truth.
    Paul was, in his own manner, exhorting Timothy to carry the mantle of “preacher” with strength and integrity, two more characteristics that have come into a low view these days. But why? Why do exhortation and rebuke incite such vitriol today? Paul finds the symptom to be in “the desires.” It is what they desire that provokes them to anger against anyone who would dare rebuke them for ungodly hearts and minds. And exhortation is simply too much like leaning on them or pushing them against their own sinful desires. But it is more than rebuking and exhortation that angers the masses. The real root lies in the truth. They choose not to believe even though they know it is true.“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” - Romans 1:18. In fact, they will believe anything as long as it isn’t the truth! Paul continues in Romans - “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools . . .” - Romans 1:21-22
    The fact is that no one wants to be rebuked for doing what is wrong or exhorted to do what is right. Not one of us! We perceive our sinful pride is being stepped upon; that we are being judged. It is and we are. “He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.” - Romans 2:6-8. We’re being judged righteously when we are being rebuked for sinful pride and exhorted to seek the truth in humility. And to take offense continually, with no sense of repentant humility, with those who rebuke and exhort us, is dangerous - “He who is often rebuked, and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” - Proverbs 29:1.
    Rebuke and exhortation are in every man’s and woman’s best spiritual interest. However, it must be given in proper Christian manner. “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth . . .” - 2 Timothy 2:24-25.
   May we always and at all times accept correction and encouragement with humble hearts and show true Christian love for our brothers and sisters when we correct and encourage them in Christ Jesus’s name.

Enemy At The Gate - Deuteronomy 28:34

So you shall be driven mad because of the sight which your eyes see.  - Deuteronomy 28:34

    Today is a somber occasion: the 15th anniversary of the terror attacks on September 11th, 2001. As we look back over the last fifteen years it seems that we have learned so very little of the consequences begotten by our enmity with our heavenly Father. “The Lord will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand, a nation of fierce countenance, which does not respect the elderly nor show favor to the young.” - Deuteronomy 28:49-50.
    The first part of the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy is comprised of blessings given to the chosen people for obeying God’s holy word. The second part details the curses God would place upon them for their heard-necked resistance to His words. “Moreover all these curses shall come upon you and pursue and overtake you, until you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded you . . .” - Deuteronomy 28: 45. Still, today, we scorn God for both His holiness and His justice.
    Surely, on that tragic day not so many years ago, there was a deep feeling that we were no longer invincible. There was a feeling of dread which swept our nation. “Your life shall hang in doubt before you; you shall fear day and night, and have no assurance of life. In the morning you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were evening!’ And at evening you shall say, ‘Oh, that it were morning!’ because of the fear which terrifies your heart, and because of the sight which your eyes see.” - Deuteronomy 28:66-67. Why have we not returned to Him? If we have been driven mad by the sights we have seen how could we ever expect God Almighty to take a lesser view?
    Many will scoff at these words and suggest convoluted popular interpretations but God has truly spoken to us - “They shall besiege you at all your gates until your high and fortified walls, in which you trust, come down throughout all your land; and they shall besiege you at all your gates throughout all your land which the Lord your God has given you.” - Deuteronomy 28: 52. Why do we continue to serve other gods and worship at the altars of idolatry even after such tragedy? Why do we still ignore God’s warnings to our nation even as we continue to face the enemy at the gate when we still have a prayer; we still have His promise - “. . . if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” - 2 Chronicles 7:14.
    May we observe this occasion and take the time to reflect on the great providence our heavenly Father has given us and return to Him now, today, at this very hour!

Generational Contempt - Deuteronomy 5:16

   
Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. - Deuteronomy 5:16

    As a man in my early 60's I often wonder how we ever got along without the younger generations. I mean how do we manage to get out of bed in the morning, dress ourselves, and go through our days without the immediate supervision of younger people? Of course the remark reeks of sarcasm and facetiousness - it’s supposed to!
    But the fact remains that the younger generations are just as scornful of my generation as I was of my father’s. I was wrong then and they are wrong now. “Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.” - Proverbs 23:22.
    Part of a generation’s contempt for previous generations is that they cannot experience the wonder of the past’s accomplishments and innovations. All they can do is reap the benefits. They flick the light switch, not anticipating the light, but expecting it. So yes, familiarity does indeed breed contempt. They scorn the past because the innovators were more imaginative and creative than they can aspire to be today.
    The greatest discoveries and inventions come as a result of the perfect marriage of knowledge,  imagination, and creativity tempered by wisdom. My generation and those of today are mired in the morass of fanciful imagination and unable to climb up and out of it to the apex of true creativity. The generations are the same. So how in the world can we possibly attain the heights, since our reach exceeds our grasp despite our imagination? The fact is that “in the world” we cannot. “By humility and the fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life.” - Proverbs 22:4.
    Face it: there are very few “original concepts” alive in the world today. Most achievements are merely modifications of past ideas and accomplishments. The greatest inventors and innovators were men who realized they were adrift in a world created from nothing by a God who is all powerful! Without the humility that comes from recognizing our God as almighty we are simply slapping a stick against a stone and expecting a skyscraper to rise from it. Humility begins in the heart and only our heavenly Father knows what is in each of ours. “Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’” - 1 Peter 5:5.
    Our hearts and minds can only be inspired by the Holy Spirit. And Jesus Christ is the only true vine by which we can come to fruition with our hopes, dreams, and imaginations.