April 3, 2022 | Pastor Seth Drewry

He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”—Matthew 19.4-6 (ESV)

GOD’S WORD FOR SINGLE PEOPLE

SINGLE & CONTENT:

Now as a concession, not a command, I say this. I wish that all were as I myself am. But each has his own gift from God, one of one kind and one of another. To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single, as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion. —1 CORINTHIANS 7.6-9
Rejoice in the Lord always, again I say, rejoice! —PHILIPPIANS 4.4
Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. —COLOSSIANS 3.17
And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right there. God, not your marital status, defines your life. —1 CORINTHIANS 7.17 (The Message)

SINGLE & READY TO MINGLE

He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. —PROVERBS 18.22

# 1 - You have to

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a wife.
# 2 - You have to find a

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.

It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make a helper fit for him. —GENESIS 2:18

A wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives. —1 CORINTHIANS 7.39

Let each man love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband. —EPHESIANS 5.33

THREE QUESTIONS:

# 1 - Is this a man who is worthy to have me as his lifelong helper?

# 2 - Is the man he is right now a man I’m willing to live with the rest of my life?

# 3 - Does this man love me and has he earned my respect?

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem…that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. —SONG OF SOLOMON 2.7

GOD’S WORD FOR COUPLES CONTEMPLATING MARRIAGE

This is the most important and intense job interview you will ever have.

ASK

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. THEN ASK MORE QUESTIONS.

Abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God. —1 THESSALONIANS 4.3-5

Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body. —1 CORINTHIANS 6.18

GOD’S WORD FOR MARRIED COUPLES

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled. —HEBREWS 13.4

COUNSELING INFO
Paul Senn, River Valley Christian Counseling (Russellville)
479-219-3019

FaithfulCounseling.com (Virtual, online Christian counseling)

And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery. —MATTHEW 19.9

If any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever, and she consents to live with him, he should not divorce her. If any woman has a husband who is an unbeliever, and he consents to live with her, she should not divorce him…
But if the unbelieving partner leaves, let it be so. In such cases the brother or sister is not enslaved. God has called you to peace. —1 CORINTHIANS 7.12-13, 15

GOD’S WORD ABOUT DIVORCE

God sees Christian marriage as a lifelong covenant not to be broken.
God permits divorce & remarriage in specific situations:

• Marital infidelity/adultery
• Abandonment by an unbeliever

A WORD ABOUT ABUSE

…treat that person as a pagan or unbeliever. —MATTHEW 18.17
…such people are worse than unbelievers. —1 TIMOTHY 5.1
[The Lord] hates those who love violence. —PSALM 11.5
Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly. —COLOSSIANS 3.19
…for this case is like that of a man attacking and murdering his neighbor. —DEUTERONOMY 22.26
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. —EPHESIANS 5.25

GOD’S WORD FOR THE NO LONGER MARRIED

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN THROUGH DIVORCE

For the LORD God of Israel says That He hates divorce, For it covers one’s garment with violence,” Says the LORD of hosts. “Therefore take heed to your spirit, That you do not deal treacherously. —MALACHI 2.16

God hates divorce because he

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divorced people.
God hates divorce because he hates the violent

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it causes for everyone involved.

The Lord heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. —PSALM 147.3
Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. —PSALMS 30.5
You are the God who sees me. —GENESIS 16.13

FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN WIDOWED

[Widows are to] set their hope on God and continue in supplications and prayers night and day. —1 TIMORTHY 5.5
He executes justice for the fatherless and widow, and he loves the foreigner, giving him food and clothing. —DEUTERONOMY 10.18
[God is] Father to the fatherless and protector of widows. —PSALM 68.5

What is the Holy Spirit speaking to you through today’s message?

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