The Plowman

Introduction
Marriage is so important and yet today must fight an uphill battle. Sometime back I was sick several days and found myself watching the Biography Channel for a good portion of the day. I watched as celebrity after celebrity was paraded before me as they recounted failed marriage after failed marriage. One couple’s 15-year marriage was lauded as a great achievement (It was his 3rd marriage and her second). Sociologists have even given up on the idea of a lifetime monogamous relationship and are now calling for multiple monogamous relationships. You can have as many as you need just be faithful during the relationship – whether it be for a week or 5 years. We must also acknowledge that Christians are not immune from marital struggles or failure as the church now boasts the same divorce rate as the general population. Why is this so tragic?
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.

(Ephesians 5:25-32)

God was not seeking some way to illustrate the relationship of Christ and his church so he chose marriage. Rather marriage was created as the illustration of Christ and his church. Our marriages speak of Christ. This is important. This matters. I hope to share some things with you over the next few weeks that will help you as you seek to honor Christ through your marriage. I’m not going to tell you anything earth-shaking or revolutionary but I hope to give you some encouragement and remind you of some things that can help you along the way.

Let’s begin by stating some presuppositions:

1. The perfect marriage does not exist so quit trying to create it.
2. Marriage is a relationship – that means it is work.
3. Marriage is not a 50/50 proposition.
4. She is not your mother.
5. He is not your father.

THE BIBLICAL BASIS FOR MARRIAGE
Genesis 1:26-28, Genesis 2:24-25

The first thing I want us to note therefore is that marriage is God’s idea!

4 ESSENTIALS FOR A GODLY MARRIAGE

• Severance – Genesis 2:24
• Permanence – Genesis 2:24
• Unity – Genesis 2:24
• Intimacy – Genesis 2:25

Two primary obligations:

• Wives: to know yourself so well and to respect yourself so much that you give yourself to your husband without hesitation.
• Husbands: to love your LORD so deeply and to accept yourself so completely that you give yourself to your wife without conditions.

3 MARRIAGE KILLERS

• Self-Consciousness
• Isolation
• Abandonment

How do we avoid these mistakes or get back once we’ve wandered off? That’s coming but let me say in closing, “The way back is always the same – repent and return.”

Introduction:
I still remember the look. The look struck terror in my soul. At the same time there was outrage. Why is he so upset? What’s the problem? The job is getting done. I was told the yard was to be mowed before he got home from work. I was finishing up. Sure I had wasted most of the day. Sure I waited until the last minute – but I was in the process of putting on the finishing touches. Okay, maybe I do understand why he is so upset. Maybe I do understand the fury. Yes I was finishing up the front yard – I guess it was the fact that mom was sweating away in the backyard trying to get it done so I wouldn’t get in trouble. I thought it was a brilliant move. The perfect con – but he wasn’t buying it and he was not amused. Dad had a way of seeing past my bag of tricks. He always knew what was going on in my head and what I was up to. Nothing got by him.

That’s the way it is with our Father in heaven. The Sovereign One knows everything. He sees our every action; He knows our every thought. He has established a standard and will accept nothing less. We know that and yet it still surprises us. It surprises us because we’re pretty good at the con game. We can con most anyone. But we are especially skilled at conning ourselves. But then – we are easy – we want to be conned. So it really shouldn’t come as such a surprise when we find God angry with man – and maybe we’re not really that surprised. But what does surprise us is His grace. I’m constantly amazed by God’s grace. You find it in the most unlikely places. This morning I want us to look at one of those “unlikely places.” It is found in the sixth chapter of the book of Genesis.

Text: Genesis 6:5-8
The picture painted by the inspired narrator is pretty bleak. The dark clouds of judgement are gathering. We are at the beginning of a time of tremendous judgment upon the earth. God is sorry he ever made man. He is going to wipe him out and start over. And yet there is a word of grace. This is actually a perfect example of the principle stated in Romans 5:20:

…moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more…

Often it is wrongly assumed that the God of the Old Testament is a God of wrath and judgment. The God of smoke and fire. While the God of the New Testament is loving and gracious. It is as if God somehow became civilized between the Testaments. The fact is He is the same yesterday, today and forever. God didn’t change. He is still a God of wrath, of smoke and fire. And He was, in the Old Testament, a God of love and grace.

God is loving, gracious and kind and yet He is at the same time holy and righteous. He is transcendent and yet He is approachable. Vengeance is His and yet He is forgiving. All of this is a part of who He is and who He has always been.

As we walk through this passage this evening I want to call three things to your attention.

1. A Shocking Announcement (6:7)
2. A Righteous Judgment (6:5-6, 7b)
   1. Sin is internal as well as external – “The thoughts of a man’s heart.” Sin is not to be thought of in terms of outward acts such as adultery, stealing, murder but internal thoughts as well. “As a man thinks in his heart so is he.” We often try to comfort others and ourselves by saying, “God looks on the heart.” If this verse is true – that is not a comforting thought. How about Jeremiah 17:9?
   2. Sin is pervasive. The reason for that is that it comes from the heart and the heart controls what we think and do. That is why the narrator says, “every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” That is why Paul can say with such confidence “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:10-18.
   3. Sin is continuous. “Only evil all the time.” This is from God’s perspective. We look at each other and see many good things. But we do not know the thoughts and intents of the heart. Why do you do the good you do? Is it to be notice? That makes it evil. Is it so that you can feel better about yourself? That perverts it. Unless it is done in faith – for the glory of God and the glory of God alone – it is sinful and corrupt.
3. A Gracious Exception (6:8)