Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

We are gathered here today because John and Mary have expressed their desire to renew their wedding vows.

Vows they made 42 years ago.

We have been brought here to this place, a place that they have requested for two primary reasons.

Mary always wanted to be married in a church, but never had the opportunity.

John and Mary having given their lives to following the Lord and desire to renew their vows upon the foundation of their commitment to the Lord.

As we prepare to have them exchange their vows once again and renew their commitment to one another in the sight of the Lord, with us as witnesses, let me offer just a few thoughts.

Marriage has all kinds of purposes: it provides the environment in which children may be born and properly reared.

It provides the context in which the sexual instincts can be exercised in a God-intended way.

But first and foremost, Genesis teaches us, it provides a very special friendship.

In marriage a man and a woman can become the best of friends, knowing each other to such a depth that only God knows them better!

This, too, is a gift from the Creator.

A Heart for God, 1987, p. 32, by permission Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA.

Sinclair Ferguson

But what is marriage?

Where did it come from?

What is the purpose of marriage?

In a day where marriage is being maligned and rejected, these are critical questions.

Why bother getting married?

Why bother renew vows after 42 years?

I submit to you this morning that… (Big Idea)

Outline

Big Idea: Marriage is a covenant of companionship whose enduring commitment is a living display of the gospel of Jesus Christ

Where Did Marriage Come From

What Is Marriage?

A Covenant of Companionship

An Enduring Commitment

A Living Display of the Gospel

Sermon Body

Big Idea: Marriage is a covenant of companionship whose enduring commitment is a living display of the gospel of Jesus Christ

Where Did Marriage Come From?

Let me show you the where marriage began...

It begins way back in the beginning with God, our creator or made man and woman in his image.

God tasked man, Adam, to name all the animals and creatures he had made.

This task was given BEFORE God made woman.

AFTER Adam did so, and AFTER Adam realized there was no other like himself, we see...

This is the institution of marriage, made BY GOD, not man, from the very foundation of our existence.

After creating man...

After instituting marriage...

God gave a command...

What did God think of this creation, this marriage he made?

What God created, what God made was good.

After he made man and woman and instituted marriage, he called it VERY GOOD.

Marriage is not something conjured up by man, but by our creator Himself.

That being said…what exactly is marriage?

What is its purpose?

What is Marriage?

A Covenant of Companionship

To answer that question, let me go back for a moment...Listen to how the Genesis 2:18 described marriage....

Genesis 2:18

Proverbs 2:17 (speaks of a wife....)

Malachi 2:14 (Husband’s Vantage point)

Genesis 2:18 makes clear that one of the purposes of marriage frames marriage in terms of companionship to meet a need of intimacy and relationship

God created man LACKING and in NEED.

Then, when he realized it, GOD SUPPLIED for that need of relationship, community, fellowship with woman.

She is his HELP meet…meaning not only is she to be a companion for him but she is to be his companion in effort....as he is to be hers.

They are to aid, assist, and work side by side AS ONE in all that they do.

Proverbs 2 takes that imagery and deepens it, clarifies it, calling marriage a “companionship.”

The word uses in the Hebrew literally means “to tame; to be docile.”

One cannot establish a close, personal relationship with something that is wild.

The imagery behind this word is that which has been tamed, brought near, and is enjoying a trusting and intimate relationship.

Companionship, then, involves closeness.

The Malachi 2 passage uses a very different word for companion, but one that is complementary to Proverbs.

The term is ONLY ever used here and refers to a close, intimate union or association.

Putting these terms together, Jay Adams give us a definition of companionship

…marriage is fundamentally a contractual arrangement (called in Malachi 2:14 a marriage "by covenant") and not a sexual union.

Marriage is formal (covenantal) arrangement between two persons to become each other's loving companions for life.

In marriage, they contract to keep each other from ever being lonely so long as they shall live.

Jay Adams - Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage

The marriage union is the closest, most intimate of all human relationships.

Two persons may begin to think, act, feel as one.

They are able to so interpenetrate one another’s lives that they become one, a functioning unit...God’s revealed goal for a husband and wife is to become one in all areas of their relationship intellectually, emotionally, physically.

The Covenant of Companionship was designed to fill this need.

Jay Adams - Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage

Marriage then....is a very specific response of God to meet man’s very specific created need of companionship.

Fundamentally speaking then, marriage is a covenant of companionship.

Covenant being different from contract in that contract provides a means of voiding the agreement should one size default on their commitment.

Covenant is a ONE WAY PROMISES that is irrevocable.

Does not matter what the other person does or does not do.

In a covenant, the promise is kept, regardless.

Why is this important to emphasize?

Because to best fulfill your vows and covenants in a marriage, it is ESSENTIAL that you understand WHAT you are committing to; what you are RENEWING today.

Big Idea: Marriage is a covenant of companionship whose enduring commitment is a living display of the gospel of Jesus Christ

Going further...

Marriage is NOT ONLY instituted by God, Called VERY GOOD

Marriage is NOT ONLY a covenant of companionship

But

Marriage is...

An Enduring Commitment

In you vows today, just like your original vows, you both will express/renew the permanency of your commitments.

The nature of a covenant, versus a contract, is that the vows you make today ARE PERMANENT.

There is “OUT” clause.

THERE is no just cause for breaking the covenant’s you made 42 years ago and that you renew today.

What God puts together today, man is forbidden to separate.

As you join your lives today, you MUST UNDERSTAND that you are required to biblically address problems when they come…and they will…in his power and might.

It is also IMPORTANT to note that YOU HAVE ALL YOU NEED in Christ to affectively meet those challenges.

For two followers of Jesus, there is no such thing as irreconcilable differences.

God, His Word, and His Spirit provide ALL you need to live a healthy and whole marriage for His glory and each other’s good.

And when you live with this ENDURING commitment, you display the nature and character of God in your marriage.

In 2 Timothy 2:11-13, see something of the nature of God…something that our enduring commitment in marriage imitates and displays.