From His Heart

Speaker 1

Today on From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve, we'll learn some key truth about love and marriage that you shouldn't ignore.

Speaker 2

You know, the Bible is very, very practical on the subject of love and marriage. And it's very straightforward.

And it can be a little bit uncomfortable because we're not used to reading some scripture that we're going to read tonight. It's like, oh, I didn't know it said that.

God doesn't mince words when it comes to the subject of love and marriage. Real love, real hope. From his heart.

Speaker 1

Welcome to From His Heart with Pastor Jeff Shreve. As Valentine's Day nears, we'll study how to better understand God's purposes for marriage—yours, that is—and the expectations that God places on both the husband and the wife in their special, divine, God-ordained relationship.

The message is obviously entitled "Love and Marriage." If you missed part one today or part two tomorrow, you can catch up at fromhisheart.org; just click the listen link right now.

Open your Bible to First Corinthians chapter 7 as Pastor Jeff Shreve examines the necessities of love and marriage.

Speaker 2

Well, if you have your Bibles, please turn to First Corinthians, chapter seven. We're in a series on First Corinthians entitled "And You Think You've Got Problems." And we've been talking about all the problems that were in the church in Corinth. They had problems with division, pride, spiritual gifts, and people getting drunk at the Lord's Supper. As I've told you before, their biggest problem was that they were saved out of a very pagan, hedonistic society there in Corinth. They were brought into the church and had trouble jettisoning all the junk from their old life. They brought old sins into the church and struggled through all these things because they had trouble cutting off their old life and really pursuing the Lord with a pure heart.

Well, as you can imagine, when a church has problems, it's pretty common to find issues regarding love and marriage. They had all sorts of problems with that subject, including bad marriages and rampant divorce. There are records of people living at that time who had 25, 26, or even 27 marriages and divorces. It was just all over the place. Adultery was also rampant. You had a guy who would marry a woman, and she would clean house for him and take care of the kids, while he had girlfriends on the side. This was considered commonplace, leading to bad marriages. Consequently, there was kickback in the church. Some people in Corinth said, "Well, if you really want to be super spiritual, marriage is a mess. If you want to be super spiritual, you need to be celibate." They preached that celibacy was the mark of a super saint, and some people believed that.

The Jewish Christians in the church had a different mindset. They grew up believing that God wanted them to get married and have children. In Genesis 1:28, God told Adam and Eve to "be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth." So, if you weren't married, you couldn't fulfill that commandment, and therefore, you were breaking God's commandment and sinning against Him. The Jewish population was big on the idea that you needed to get married, while some Christians were saying, "No, you don't need to get married." Others even suggested that if you were married, you should start living a celibate life. This led to many questions about what to do, and they asked Paul about it.

You know, the Bible is very, very practical. Sometimes we forget that. We might look at the Bible and think, "Well, it's all these things, and I'm not really sure what it's talking about." Especially when you read in Ezekiel about a wheel within a wheel, and you're left wondering what that means. But really, the Bible is extremely practical on the subject of love and marriage. It can be a little uncomfortable because we're not used to reading some scripture that challenges our understanding. God doesn't mince words when it comes to love and marriage.

So here is the issue. First Corinthians, chapter 7, verse 1: "Now, concerning the things about which you wrote, it is good for a man not to touch a woman, but because of immoralities, let each man have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband fulfill his duty to his wife, and likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. And likewise also the wife does not have authority over his own body, but the husband doesn't have authority over his own body, but the wife. Stop depriving one another except by agreement for a time that you may devote yourselves to prayer and come together again, lest Satan tempt you because of your lack of self-control. But this I say by way of concession, not of command. Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am. However, each man has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that. But I say to the unmarried and to the widows that it is good for them if they remain even as I am. But if they do not have self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion."

What does God say about marriage and love? There are three truths that I want you to see tonight.

**Number one truth:** Marriage is not for everyone. Those in the church who were saying, "Hey, you're sinning against God if you don't marry and have children," were misinterpreting the scripture. Paul, who was not married, said, "Hey, marriage is not for everyone." Most people believe Paul was at one time married, but we don't really know what happened to his wife. He doesn't talk about that. However, he starts off by saying that marriage isn't for everyone. The New Living Translation of verse 1 says, "Yes, it is good to live a celibate life."

Some in the church thought that being super spiritual meant engaging in no sexual activity and living a celibate life. Paul affirmed that it is good to be single. He wasn't saying that everyone should choose to be single, but rather that being single is not a bad thing. In our culture, we often expect people to be married by a certain age, but Paul is saying that being single is okay. Some people are single for a reason, and some for a season, and that's perfectly fine.

Paul explains in verses 33 and 34 that an unmarried man can spend his time doing the Lord's work and thinking how to please Him, while a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife. His interests are divided. As a single person, you can devote yourself to ministry and the things of the Lord in a more focused way than someone who is married. Paul, as a missionary, would have struggled to fulfill his responsibilities as a husband and father if he had a family at home.

Not only is it good to be single, but Paul also states that it is a gift from God. In chapter 7, verse 7, he says, "But I wish everyone were single just as I am. But God gives to some the gift of marriage and to others the gift of singleness." Being single can be a good thing for those who are called to it, allowing them to devote themselves to the Lord.

**The second truth:** Marriage is for most everyone. While it's not for everyone, most people have a desire to get married. However, due to the state of marriage in America, some people hesitate. They may choose to live together instead of getting married, thinking it will help them avoid the pitfalls of divorce. However, studies show that living together before marriage can be detrimental to a relationship.

Paul states in verse 2, "But because of immoralities, let each man have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband." While it is good to be celibate, not many people can handle that. Therefore, because of sexual immorality, it is good to get married. Paul is not saying that one is better than the other; he is affirming that both are good depending on how you are gifted by God.

**The third truth:** Marriage is the only legitimate place for physical love. The only place for sexual love is within the confines and protection of marriage. Hebrews 13:4 states, "Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for fornicators and adulterers God will judge." The only place for sex in God's economy is within marriage.

Sex is like fire, and marriage is the fireplace. The only good place for a fire in your house is in the fireplace. If there's a fire in the attic or the bedroom, that's a bad deal. The only place you can have fire, and it's a good thing, is in the fireplace, which is marriage.

I once made a humorous mistake while preaching about this, saying, "Now sex in the fireplace is good," which led to laughter from the congregation. But the point remains: God created marriage, and within that context, He designed physical love to be expressed.

In conclusion, God created sex, and He created it for His people as a blessing, not just for procreation but also for pleasure.

Speaker 1

And what a blessing God has given us. And he also reserved it for love and marriage. And that's the name of today's lesson, Love and Marriage. We're halfway through this message now. We'll have part two tomorrow to continue to discuss more essentials in relationships between men and women.

Maybe your life is not as full of love as you had hoped. You've struggled finding real love that lasts. There's much evil in the world that distorts what real love is. And finding real love takes great discernment, great spiritual discernment. In the midst of hate, are your senses trained to know the difference? Spiritual discernment is the ability and the skill to understand and apply God's word for the purpose of separating right from wrong, good from bad, truth from error in life and in your love and marriage.

This truth is the cornerstone for Pastor Jeff's five-lesson series, Discernment in the Days of Deception. It will help you learn not to judge, but also to separate the clear truth of God from an obvious, or maybe not so obvious lie. We can still remain faithful in these dangerous days in marriage and in life.

This practical and timely series is also our gift of thanks to you for your support to From His Heart this month, and the series is available in the format of your choice. Simply call 866-40-BIBLE (866-40-BIBLE) or go online to fromhisheart.org and make your supportive gift of any amount this month. Request the series Discernment in the Days of Deception. We simply couldn't broadcast around the world each and every day without the sacrificial and faithful support of our listeners.

Pastor Jeff is a volunteer for this ministry, so thank you for praying about what God would have you do to join us in helping us share the word about the discernment we need as Christians in these days of deception.

We also hope that you'll visit our website each day where you can hear a daily Real Hope minute from Pastor Jeff and sign up for the weekly Real Hope email encouragement letter that you'll get from Pastor Jeff every Friday morning, or download an MP3 of any broadcast you may have missed. Plus, you can easily join Pastor Jeff on our social outlets and hear the commentary and comments and encouragement throughout the week.

The web address again is fromhisheart.org. Hey, thanks for joining us for today's From His Heart broadcast. I'm Larry Nobles, trusting that you'll be right back here tomorrow for part two of the timely lesson Love and Marriage. Here's a taste of the love too.

Speaker 2

Come, listen. God created sex to be pleasurable, and God wants sex to be freely and frequently expressed in marriage.

In marriage, let the husband fulfill his duty to his wife. Say, does he have a duty to his wife in the area of sexual fulfillment in marriage? Paul says he does. Fulfill your duty.

Speaker 1

That's on Friday when Pastor Jeff Shreve will open up God's Word and share real truth, real love, reality, and real hope from God's heart.

Here on From His Heart, From His Heart is the listener-supported Broadcast Ministry of Dr. Jeff Shreve, speaking the truth in love to a lost and a hurting world.

Remember that no matter what, God loves you and He has a wonderful plan for your life.

Find out more about that. Go to fromhisheart.org.