Biblical Marriage: A Common Act; An Uncommon Life, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye

Biblical Marriage: A Common Act; An Uncommon Life, by Pastor Samuel Obafaiye

Good marriages are not created, but creations make good marriages.
Gen. 1: 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Gen. 2: 18, 21-24 18 The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.” 21So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh. 22And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him. 23And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.” 24For this reason a man will leave his father and his mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
Gen. 3: 9-12 – 9 So the LORD God called out to the man, “Where are you?” 10“I heard Your voice in the garden,” he replied, “and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11“Who told you that you were naked?” asked the LORD God. “Have you eaten of the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”12And the man answered, “The woman whom You gave me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

Knowledge: Critical factor to a good marriage
Proverb 23: 23 – Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Hosea 4:6 – 6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will also reject you as My priests. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your children.

Marriage: a treasure to be guarded
Mathew 13:44-46 – Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls When he found one very precious pearl, he went away and sold all he had and bought it.

Good marriage? Be married to the Lamb first
2 Corinthians 8:1-5 – Now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace God has given the churches of Macedonia. In the terrible ordeal they suffered, their abundant joy and deep poverty overflowed into rich generosity. For I testify that they gave according to their ability and even beyond it. Of their own accord, they pleaded earnestly for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. And not only did they do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us, because it was the will of God.

Advice for the Singles
Count the cost
Luke 14:27-29 – 27And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple. 28Which of you, wishing to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost to see if he has the resources to complete it? 29 Otherwise, if he lays the foundation and is unable to finish the work, everyone who sees it will ridicule him.

Examples of bad influence in marriage (I)
Ahab/Jezebel
I Kings 21:25-29 – 25 Surely there was never one like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the sight of the LORD, incited by his wife Jezebel. 26He committed the most detestable acts by going after idols, just like the Amorites the LORD had driven out before the Israelites. When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He lay down in sackcloth and walked around meekly. 28Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: 29“Have you seen how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity during his days, but I will bring it upon his house in the days of his son.”

Examples of bad influence in marriage (II)
Solomon/Wives
1 Kings 1:1-11 – 1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women. 2These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love. 3He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away. 4For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been. 5Solomon followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians and Molech the abomination of the Ammonites. 6So Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD— and unlike his father David, he did not follow the LORD completely.

Examples of bad influence in marriage (III)
Herod Antipas/Herodias
Mark 6:18 – For John said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife.

Instrumental to Antipas banishment.
Character: Herodias was proud, manipulative, and arrogant. She used her daughter to get revenge on John the Baptist. She had two husbands (1) Herod Philip and (2) Herod Antipas, who were her uncles and sons of Herod the Great. Herod the Great was her grandfather and also her father-in-law.

Admonition for the Married
Be committed to the end
I Corinthians 7: 26-28
Because of the present crisis, I think it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you committed to a wife? Do not seek to be released. Are you free of commitment? Do not look for a wife. But if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. But those who marry will face troubles in this life, and I want to spare you this.

Examples of good influence in marriage (I)
Nabal/Abigail
I Sam. 25:2-3, 32-35 – 2 A certain man in Maon, who had property there at Carmel, was very wealthy. He had a thousand goats and three thousand sheep, which he was shearing in Carmel. 3 His name was Nabal and his wife’s name was Abigail. She was an intelligent and beautiful woman, but her husband was surly and mean in his dealings—he was a Calebite.
32 David said to Abigail, “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you today to meet me. 33 May you be blessed for your good judgment and for keeping me from bloodshed this day and from avenging myself with my own hands. 34 Otherwise, as surely as the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, who has kept me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, not one male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by daybreak.”
35 Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him and said, “Go home in peace. I have heard your words and granted your request.”

Examples of good influence in marriage (II)
Isaac/Rebekah
Gen. 25: 19-26- This is the account of Abraham’s son Isaac. Abraham became the father of Isaac, 20and Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan-aram and the sister of Laban the Aramean. Later, Isaac prayed to the LORD on behalf of his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD heard his prayer, and his wife Rebekah conceived. 22But the children inside her struggled with each other, and she said, “Why is this happening to me?” So Rebekah went to inquire of the LORD, 23and He declared to her: “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.” When her time came to give birth, there were indeed twins in her womb. 25The first one came out red, covered with hair like a fur coat; so they named him Esau. 26After this, his brother came out grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob. And Isaac was sixty years old when the twins were born.

Examples of good influence in marriage (III)
Pilate/Wife
Mathew 27:17-19, 22-24 – 7 So when the crowd had assembled, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over. 19While Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: “Have nothing to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered terribly in a dream today because of Him.” 22“What then should I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify Him!” 23“Why?” asked Pilate. “What evil has He done?” But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify Him!” 24When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but that instead, a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “You shall bear the responsibility.”

Delivered on Sunday, June 9th, 2019 at the Special Family Service.