Part 21: FULL Text: Psalm 68:4-6 (NKJV) - Sing to God, sing praises to His name; Extol Him who rides on the clouds, By His name YAH, And rejoice before Him. [5] A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation. [6] God sets the solitary in families; He brings out those who are bound into prosperity; But the rebellious dwell in a dry land. A. Verse 6 promises that God will bring those who are bound into prosperity. 1. God identifies prosperity and freedom as two primary benefits of the family. 2. In this verse, the Hebrew word for bound literally means: in chains. 3. From our recent series, anyone who has ever been addicted will confirm that an addict cannot deliver themselves. Two things are required: a support structure (or family) to hold them accountable, and the help of God to empower them. 4. You may have seen a recent photo of actor Ben Affleck on his way to rehab. Once married to Jennifer Garner, now his ex-wife, she went to his home, saw his condition, and took him to rehab. After experiencing fame and fortune, Ben had developed a reputation as a wild party-goer. As he began to engage in numerous affairs and a strong addiction to alcohol, his marriage to Jennifer was destroyed. When your lifestyle fails to honor God s plan for the family, as these verses declare, Ben found himself living in a desert place. Did you see the photos? He was a mess!
5. The Hebrew word most often used in the Old Testament for family is circle. However, this Hebrew word for family actually means: house. The family should be a permanent place of safety, shelter, and warmth. Part 3 Why God Ordained the Family Defining Love the Biblical Way B. The traditional family institution is under attack as never before. 1. Make no mistake, the place of safety where both freedom and prosperity can be found, is being threatened. Marriage is no longer considered to be permanent. 2. Joke: Wife Wanted! A very lonely man posted an ad on a popular dating website that simply stated: Wife wanted. He was surprised to find hundreds of replies in his box the next few days. Unfortunately, they all said the same thing: You can have mine. 3. Joke: What Is Marriage? Someone else said that marriage is a three-ring circus: the engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffering. 4. If that is your experience, I want to speak a word that I hope will help families and singles begin to honor God in righteousness. C. Not only is the family and institution of marriage under attack, families in the church must also deal with problems that can become confusing. 1. Problem No. 1. We no longer understand the meaning of love. a. Everywhere you turn, the definition of love and family are being questioned.
b. People equate having sex with making love; but they are not the same. You can have sex with someone you do not know and may never see again. 2. Problem No. 2. The standards for moral and acceptable sexual behavior have changed. a. Millennials, in particular, struggle to relate with the biblical definition of a family being a marriage between one man and one woman. b. In our anything goes world, we re taught that a person s sex life is no one s business but your own. Why should God care about who I sleep with anyway? But how far can we carry this idea? In France, there is actually a movement to legalize sex between adults and young children below the age of 10. Is that reasonable? Certainly not! We all realize except for those with a sick mind that certain behaviors are improper and harmful to society. c. It is very common in our day for couples to live together and have children without ever being married. We re told that is okay, but what does God think? He opposes it because real love is about commitment and covenant. Living together without making a covenant is harmful to society. d. Another questionable practice: is gender neutral or binary? We re all acquainted with a coworker or relative who has identified with the gay lifestyle. But to say that biology has nothing to do with being a man or a woman actually denies science. If being a man or a woman is simply a human construct, obvious biological realities must be ignored.
e. If you don t know the Word of God, human sympathy for those who are struggling with lifestyles and behavior can make it difficult to apply biblical teaching. 3. Problem No. 3. The world wants us to believe that when we teach against a particular lifestyle the Bible has condemned, we are being judgmental and unkind. a. In response to that argument, I believe it s possible to disagree on certain issues in a loving and kind way. From time to time, I will disagree with people I love about how to invest money or the merits of a particular political candidate. b. While some people choose a white, blue or red automobile, I nearly always choose black. I also prefer Cajun food. As you can tell by the many types of restaurants in this city, some people like Chinese, some choose Italian, Mexican or some other cuisine. c. My preferred airline is KLM or Delta, but that doesn t mean we ll go to war because you like a white car, you prefer steaks instead of gumbo, or fly United Airlines instead of Delta or KLM. I can still love you even if we disagree. 4. Problem No. 4. Some believers don t know how to embrace and teach God s Word to their families, and still love those who are disobedient. a. The truth is, the Bible is the Word of Almighty God, and we don t get to pick and choose what we teach, based on our individual preferences. b. Jesus loved the woman caught in the act of adultery. But, instead of condemning her, he encouraged her to go and sin no more. We must learn to embrace the holiness of God, yet love those who have fallen.
D. Let s consider some obvious solutions to these problems, and then probe a little deeper. 1. Solution No. 1. When we encounter a scripture we don t agree with or understand, we must acknowledge that our opinion is wrong but never is God s Word wrong. a. Psalm 119:128 (KJV) - Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way. b. ALL of God s precepts are right. Not only are they right, the psalmist said he hated every false way, or any alternative to God s way. 2. Solution No. 2. Instead of disagreeing with a particular issue, seek to understand why the Bible takes this position and then change your thinking, since God will never change His! a. Psalm 119:89 (NLT) - Your eternal word, O LORD, stands firm in heaven. b. If you are living together without being married or in an alternate lifestyle, please understand that God does not call this relationship a family. c. About the issue of gay marriage, there are many more straight people having sex with someone outside of marriage than those who are living together in a gay lifestyle. d. I mention this because it s wrong to accept what the Bible says about one thing and ignore the other or to make one an issue and not the other. Both choices are based upon our sinful nature and fleshly desires. 3. Solution No. 3. These concepts must be taught to our families. a. Deuteronomy 11:19 (NKJV) - YOU shall teach them to YOUR children, speaking of them when YOU sit in YOUR
house, when YOU walk by the way, when YOU lie down, and when YOU rise up. b. It is the parent s responsibility to teach a child the ways of God and prepare them for the time when the torch of your faith will be passed to them. 4. Solution No. 4. Believers must influence society for good, and for God. a. Matthew 5:13 (NKJV) - You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. b. We must deal with questions that were never even imagined as we grew up. There was no such thing as gender fluidity where one day you feel like you re a male and the next day a female. In some places, the law requires that you address people according to how they feel. If someone feels as though they are a man today, that s how you must address them. But if tomorrow they feel like they re a woman, then you must address them as a woman, or a zer, or a zim, or any of the 75 pronouns now used in Toronto, Canada. Should you fail to comply, there are legal penalties, including jail time! c. There are still other issues than people living together who aren t married or the legalization of same-sex marriage. For the first time in history, due to a rocketing divorce rate, basically disposable marriages and drive-through divorces, more adults are now unmarried than married. E. How to answer the reasoning for same-sex marriage.
1. One of the most common reasons we hear for accepting same-sex marriage is: I was born that way. a. The desire for an improper relationship with a person of the opposite sex or a person of the same gender are both wrong. Both are lusts of our sinful nature that wants us to fall. To say, this is how I was born doesn t make it any more acceptable than the straight person who commits an immoral act. b. If it s your nature that makes same-sex marriage okay, what if my nature makes me want to kill someone? Is it permissible to commit murder? If I want to steal when I m behind on my rent, is that okay? Or if I want to give the person who cut me off in traffic a piece of my mind, does that make it acceptable? Of course not! Like you, I ve done that and then regretted it when the Holy Spirit rebuked, Well, that was really nice of you, wasn t it? 2. The Apostle Paul s letter to the church in Rome was written from a prison cell for preaching the gospel. What is most significant about this epistle are the cultural surroundings and times when it was written. a. The Romans indulged in every imaginable fantasy. Rulers and noblemen were very open about their sexual preferences. It was not at all unusual for married people to have sexual relations with people of both genders. Since the Roman leaders set the example for the nation, some of the Caesars openly slept with both men and women. Pedophilia was also common. Men kept little boys as their sexual playthings. b. Christians were persecuted by the Romans for speaking out against these practices by dousing them with pitch, impaling
them on stakes, and burning them as torches. For entertainment, the Christians were fed to starved lions, tigers and bears in the Coliseum and forced to fight against trained gladiators as sport. 3. It was from a jail cell in this very city of Rome where Paul wrote what I am about to read. That makes his words all the more impacting. But Paul never shirked his responsibility as a believer or a preacher of the Gospel, just because it wasn t popular or convenient. 4. Romans 1:18-32 (NLT) - But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness. [19] They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. [20] For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. [21] Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. [22] Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. [23] And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. [24] So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other's bodies. [25] They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. [26] That is why God abandoned them to their shameful desires. Even the women turned against the natural way to have
sex and instead indulged in sex with each other. [27] And the men, instead of having normal sexual relations with women, burned with lust for each other. Men did shameful things with other men, and as a result of this sin, they suffered within themselves the penalty they deserved. [28] Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. [29] Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. [30] They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents. [31] They refuse to understand, break their promises, are heartless, and have no mercy. [32] They know God s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too. 5. Paul is actually describing how a society falls apart. This is the progression: a person goes from idolatry to indulging in fleshly desires; from the indulgence of fleshly desires to being enslaved by those desires, and finally, from enslavement to complete societal disintegration. 6. Trying to pretend there is no God while indulging in all our selfish fantasies with no concern for what He thinks or how we harm those we love becomes a slippery, sliding board that carries us deeper into self destruction than we could have ever imagined. 7. Again, some may ask, of what concern is that to God? Paul said that God has every right to be concerned. Since He created us, He has the right to determine what is proper sexual conduct and behavior. A society that gives itself to immorality of ANY kind is headed toward dreadful, distressing times.
8. It is especially important to note that Paul did not change his message just because he was in Rome. I have been shocked at comments pastors have made while being interviewed. They seem to fall into the ditch on the right side of the road or on the left. Either they compromise and approve what the Bible teaches is sin, or they become so harsh, they fail to convey the love of God. Neither of these positions are acceptable. F. Why are there such unrelenting enemy attacks to sow confusion and chaos about the family and marriage? 1. I believe it s because of God s assignment to the family in the very first book of Genesis. When God created man, he was given four specific mandates in chapter one: a. Genesis 1:27-30 (NKJV) - So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. [28] Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." [29] And God said, "See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. [30] Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food"; and it was so. 2. The four mandates in Genesis 1:28 are: a. Be fruitful: that is, be prosperous. b. Multiply: create other humans who will also bear the image of God s glory.
c. Fill the earth: populate the earth with those who carry God s image. d. Subdue the earth and have dominion over all things: let those who bear God s image of glory expand Eden. 3. God created us to have dominion over EVERYTHING! Because of this crucial fact, NOTHING should take dominion over us. Failing to take dominion is a rejection of this mandate. a. Notice that having dominion includes plant life. You can t allow the addictive substance in cocoa leaves or herbs to dominate your life. b. So meone may say, Okay, I ve got it. No weed. But vegetables are okay, right? Oh, but vodka is made from potatoes; so take away the veggies and I ll do the same. No, no, you can t allow ANYTHING to have dominion. YOU are to have dominion! 4. Dominion includes more than just plants. God wants us to take dominion over the animals His little creatures that do what they want, whenever they want, regardless of who is watching. a. My grandmother had a little female chihuahua and some much larger dogs that kept watch over the farmhouse. One day when I was a little guy, the chihuahua came into estrus (when a female mammal is most receptive to mating). The reason I knew was that a large dog, about five times her size, sniffed the air and came charging in her direction with only one thing on his mind. He didn t ask if he could buy her dinner or take her to a movie. I mean, he was on her in a second, and if we hadn t rescued her, he would have killed her while trying to have his way.
b. Having dominion includes those fleshly desires that seek to control our lives. Dominion over animals means we aren t allowed to act as they do. We must keep our fleshly appetites under control. 5. If your flesh wants to have sex with someone to whom you are not married, resist the temptation. God doesn t want you to behave as the animals and yield to every fleshly desire. Take dominion over your sexuality whether you re a heterosexual or you re struggling with inward desires for someone of your own gender. Take dominion over those desires! G. To accomplish these four mandates, God saw that Adam needed a helper. 1. The task that was too great for Adam required a divine partnership. 2. In this first typology of scripture, we see the partnership between Christ and the church and the importance of believers being part of a godly congregation. 3. Of course, God knew before He created Adam that he would need help and that it was not good for man to be alone. But for Adam to value what God was about to create, he had to first discover why he needed this gift. 4. God put Adam to sleep and created Eve from a bloody rib in his side. She was now bone of Adam s bone and flesh of his flesh. 5. God then told the couple to multiply. The four mandates of Genesis were intended for the family. H. Unfortunately, because of Adam s disobedience, he forfeited the right to the four Genesis mandates. 1. First, the earth would no longer be fruitful. Prior to the fall, the earth enjoyed a continual harvest. But after the fall, the ground was
cursed. The fact that we even have one harvest season a year is an accommodation of grace. 2. Second, Adam could no longer multiply. Obviously, Adam and Eve had children, but they were incapable of producing a species that bore God s image and likeness. When Adam sinned, the image of God s glory that he once carried was lost. Eve could have children, but they were born in sin, with the image of fallen man. That is why God called, Adam, where are you? God knew exactly where the man was hiding, but His question was, Where is the Adam that looks like Me and bears My image and likeness? 3. The third mandate could not be accomplished because Adam was unable to multiply and fill the earth with those who carried God s image. Yes, the earth was filled with those who bore Adam s fallen nature but not God s perfect nature. 4. Neither could Adam fulfill the fourth mandate of taking dominion. God s plan was for Adam to fill the chaotic earth and expand Eden into a paradise. But when he listened to the wrong teaching about spiritual authority, Adam lost his dominion. Once he had lost God s likeness, he no longer had the ability to expand Eden. I. Because Adam lost the four mandates of Genesis, God had to send a second Adam into the world to fulfill His plan. 1. God s act of putting Adam to sleep and taking a bloody rib from his side foreshadowed the second Adam s ministry. From Jesus bleeding side, His bride the church came forth. 2. The blood and water that poured from Jesus side demonstrated His declaration in John chapter 3: man must be born again of the water and the Spirit to enter the Kingdom of God.
3. The four mandates of Genesis are yet to be fulfilled. God promised to give those who believed in Him a new birth so that His glory could once again be restored to mankind. Every born again believer is part of the new creation that will accomplish the four mandates in Genesis, chapter 1. 4. Those who say that fruitfulness and prosperity are not biblical simply do not understand God s prophetic design for the church. He wants to remove the effects of the curse upon mankind and to model the church s restored image! 5. If you are enslaved or dominated by anything but God, He wants to give you freedom and victory over your fallen nature. Every family was meant to be fruitful, prosperous, and take dominion over God s creation. J. This is why the enemy fights so hard to redefine the family and the meaning of love. 1. The Genesis mandates must be lived and practiced in our homes. Satan has desperately tried to destroy the image of a family that is busily engaged in being fruitful, prosperous, and multiplying offspring who will fill the earth with God s glory and expand Eden. Your home should portray a little bit of Eden in the community where you live. 2. Satan usually begins his attack against the family by denying that the Word of God exists. Eventually, he will deny the very existence of God Himself. If he can persuade mankind to doubt God s Word and then believe there is no God, He can argue that it was man not God who created the institution of family and marriage and then change the definition of each one.
3. If there is no God, and we were not created in His likeness and image to reflect Him on earth, then love is nothing more than an accumulation of chemicals and hormones and is therefore physical, rather than spiritual. But if God created the family, He can both name and define the family and marriage. 4. God alone can define love because that s who He is! a. 1 John 4:16b (NKJV) - God is love. 5. So what is love? Love is God,... because God is love. If love was ever redefined, then God would have to be changed. God has modeled for us what love looks like in the Gospel of John: a. John 3:16 (NKJV) - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. K. Life Application Points: 1. Embrace God s Word as the ultimate authority in all matters of life. 2. Adjust your lifestyle to reflect the teachings of God s Word about love and the family. 3. Learn how to defend your beliefs to others in a loving way. 4. Don t be afraid to take a stand for God and become a voice for Him in today s society.