Month: August 2009

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; (Ephesians 5:25)

In our studies of the Sermon on the Mount, there is a recurring theme of the inability of any person to become righteous with God on the basis of his own merit. When Jesus expounded the Old Testament law, He clearly confronted the people with their shortcomings in how they had failed to reach the perfect standard of righteousness that God requires. Every command spoken by the apostles as they taught New Testament Christians was in effect a command of God. They spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit so that every word spoken under inspiration is as if Jesus had spoken the words Himself.

As Paul gives this command in Ephesians 5:25, it is the Holy Spirit telling us one more time that in the power of the flesh we are helpless to please God. How can we keep this command? We cannot even fathom the depths of the statement much less fulfill it with our sinful heart. I cannot explain to you how much Christ loved the church. Paul steers us in the right direction by saying that Christ was willing to die for His church. Theologians and preachers spend their lives declaring this sacrificial love but none of us can ever touch the bottom of its meaning.

And yet, this kind of love is what Christ demands of husbands. It should be immediately apparent that Paul can only be addressing redeemed, born again believers. No husband that has never received Christ nor known His love would have a clue where to start. But for those of us, who have been touched by the saving grace of God, we know where to begin and we know the one who gives the grace to fulfill it.

The duty of a husband is to be a Spirit filled man. As we become closer and closer to Christ in our daily walk, we learn more about Christ’s love. We reach higher levels of understanding of His love and this knowledge teaches us how to obey the command. Husbands, your ability to love your wife as Christ loved the church is in direct proportion to your spirituality. The conclusion—if you want a happy wife and a happy marriage, spend more time working on the spiritual man!

Pastor V. Mark Smith

And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, [5] And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? (Matthew 19:4-5)

Today in our study of Matthew, we begin a multi-part series on the biblical doctrine of marriage. I have used the term “biblical” to describe this teaching because there is so much confusion about what marriage is, who can be rightfully married, and the proper parameters for a marriage that is God honoring. I do not intend to focus as much on the perversions of marriage as I want to deal with issues that will make our marriages conform to biblical principles.

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus addressed the lowered standards and expectations of the scribes and Pharisees as He dealt with God’s law in connection with the problem of divorce. Divorce would not have been an issue then nor would it be today if we only applied the real meaning and intent of the Ten Commandments. The Commandments are not merely a list of “do’s” and “don’ts.” They are meant to be a regulation of our relationships. Jesus said the entire law rests upon two commandments—love God, and love your neighbor.

Loving God is expressed in commandments one through four and loving your neighbor is expressed in commandments five through ten. I believe in one sense we understand the first four and their relationship to loving God better than we understand the last six and their relationship to loving man. It is easy for us to say “I love God,” because even though He is near us and we can feel His presence, we don’t actually see Him. We see other people and we interact with them regularly, and it is much harder to love them when we see all their faults and blemishes. It is especially harder when those people disappoint us. And yet, fighting through those disappointments and loving others is the thrust of the second division of the law. The apostle John wrote: “If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?” (1 John 4:20).

The second division of the law is dependent upon the first. If we love God as we should, we will love our neighbor. This is really the key to a successful marriage. Any marriage in which loving God is the focus is one that could never crumble into divorce. If there are issues in your marriage that are tearing it apart, ask this question first: “Am I fully surrendered in my love for Christ?” There is no need to run to the bookstore or to a secular psychologist for the latest advice. Just turn to Jesus’ exposition of the commandments. Love God supremely and you will resolve your conflicts.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

…for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. (Matthew 5:29b)

Just before the presidential election of 2008, the financial markets on Wall Street were stunned when Merrill Lynch one of the oldest brokerage businesses in New York agreed to sell the firm because they were in near financial collapse. Another respected firm, Lehmann Brothers, was forced to liquidate because of bad investments. What followed could most nearly be equated to an economic earthquake as major brokerage houses, insurance companies, banks, and corporations were on the verge of destruction.

As we all know, this led to a massive monetary bailout by the Federal government. These institutions in which people put their money, their livelihoods, their hopes and dreams were failing. Most believed their futures were safe and sound and all they need do was sit back and watch the dollars roll in. The hard cold reality is now upon us. None of these institutions is safe and some are predicting the Federal government itself cannot long withstand the deficits and financial pressures that it has incurred.

As I think about how this will affect many Americans, I am reminded of the truthfulness of Jesus’ statement in the Sermon on the Mount. He said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal” (Matthew 6:19-20). Jesus pits time against eternity. What is most profitable? Astute investors are always looking for a good return, and yet most people are so short sighted that they miss the best investment of all.

Many Christians are working hard to ensure retirement. They put all of their time and energy into brokerage accounts, savings accounts, real estate, or whatever in hopes they will accumulate enough to make their future secure. The Bible definitely teaches the wisdom of financial preparation, but at the same time it teaches that more and more of our wealth should be going into eternal treasures. God gives the ability to work and earn so that His work can be blessed. As we make more and more money, how much have we increased our giving to God?

Profitability in Matthew 5:29, however, is not primarily about money. This is encouragement to consider every part of our lives. Anything that distracts from holiness and righteousness is not profitable. Sin is a bad investment with only negative returns. Negative returns come from any departure from Christ’s sound investment advice. This means in your personal life, your family, your work—if you choose against Christ in any area, you have made an unprofitable, unwise investment.

How is your future adding up? Jesus had little concern for bank accounts because He declared that He must always be about the business of His Father. Believe me, if you want to invest in any kind of business, make it the Father’s business. His business will never fail and always yields the best returns!

Pastor V. Mark Smith