MARRIAGE IN THE LORD

W. Lamont

1 Corinthians 7: 39 (from “she is free”); 16: 19, 20

One would like to say a few words, beloved brethren, for the encouragement of our brother and sister and the encouragement of us all. It is a time of great encouragement. One is thinking of this word, “she is free to be married to whom she will, only in the Lord”. I trust we understand that, only in the Lord. Marriage being a very favoured matter, under great attack in the world, as we all know, but Paul’s words are as applicable today as when they were written, “only in the Lord”. Oh, you say, that is very restrictive. In one way it is very restrictive. It means that our brother and our sister have come to the recognition of the Lord’s claims upon them. It is a very important thing that they, and all of us, should recognise the Lord’s claims, they are absolute. Paul at the beginning of this epistle refers to the fellowship of God’s Son into which we have been called, “Jesus Christ our Lord”. One of the most essential things for a believer, it ought to be true for all men, is to come under the regulation and lordship and authority of our Lord Jesus Christ. I think I can say it is true of our brother and sister, they have recognised that, submitted themselves to the Lord Jesus, and their marriage, I would say, definitely and positively, is “in the Lord”.

Of course there has been the time earlier of civil marriage. One is thankful for the references there to the permanency of marriage, still recognised in the law of the land, still a right thing, and it is intended to be permanent, that is, as far as our lives here are concerned. Paul says that in this very epistle, stresses that: it is a permanent matter not to be taken up lightly, not to be discarded. So our brother and sister, I am sure, recognise the importance of marriage being ‘only in Lord’. That is an area of authority, it is also an area of privilege, and it involves God’s will; God’s will is involved in it. If there is a marriage ‘in Lord’ it would mean that both persons have become subject to the will of God, know something in a definite way about Romans 12, having proved “what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God”, Romans 12: 3. These words are very important. So Paul says here, “she is free to be married to whom she will, only in the Lord”. There is no such thing in the Christian circle as a forced marriage. Our sister has been free to choose our brother, only ‘in Lord’, great regulative feature; beloved brethren, we are to pay attention to it. So it is a word for all of us, for younger persons who are contemplating marriage, to make sure that their marriage, while there are these natural matters of happiness and joy, make sure beloved young brother and sister that your marriage is ‘in Lord’ and that you are finding in your life all the blessings that come from it. It is not a doleful thing, it is a very happy thing that a marriage is established ‘in Lord’.

I can think of nothing finer between a man and a woman than a marriage ‘in Lord’; what a blessing it is, to have the benefit of all that the Lord has in mind for them, setting up of a household, whatever may follow, and having part in local assemblies. We will feel the loss of our brother, but I am sure wherever he is local he will be an asset, a young man who has devoted himself to the truth and knows something of what it is to be subject to the Lord Himself and not only subject to His lordship, but to know something about His headship. We will never know the Lord’s headship unless we first know something about His lordship, come under His authority, then we will be the beneficiaries of all that flows from Him where He is now in His place of exaltation as Head of the assembly, He is nourishing it and cherishing it. Wonderful thought as one looks around the brethren here, and to see the fruit of the Lord’s nourishing and cherishing, His care for His assembly. Soon He will have it complete for the very first time. It has been said, and said rightly I think, that most of the assembly is with Christ. That is a tremendous thing to think about, but the Lord’s service goes on. His own tender love and power to nourish and cherish His assembly, and that involves the personnel of the assembly.

Now I go on to the second reference; these persons, Aquila and Priscilla, have often been referred to. Brethren know well three times Aquila is first and three times Priscilla is first. That does not mean that Priscilla usurps Aquila’s headship, but there is a certain equality about it. Marriage in the Lord is also a partnership; how wonderful that is. I can think of nothing more precious in human relationships than a man and a woman united together in marriage. Then Paul says, “The assemblies of Asia salute you”. What a precious thing that is. Aquila and Priscilla would know something about the exigencies of the testimony, and even what would be involved in their movements. These are things to be taken account of, and again, must be ‘in Lord’, that is, subject to the will of God. Believers’ movements are not promiscuous, a believer’s life is not promiscuous, it is under divine guidance.

Well, it says here, with the assembly in their house”. I suppose that would be literal, but for us the application would be that we are always thinking of the assembly, even in our households and in our relationships together. It is quite remarkable that Paul, in speaking about marriage and relationships in Ephesians, says, “but I speak as to Christ, and as to the assembly”, Ephesians 5: 32. That was always before him, and it should always be in our thoughts that the close relationship between our households, and what goes on in our households, involving children and the relationship of husband and wife, always has the assembly in view. In our local settings, what is in our households and what transpires in our households ought always to have the assembly in view. Well, it says here, “with the assembly in their house, salute you much in the Lord”. That relationship is maintained, the Lord’s authority is known throughout it all. What a blessing, beloved brethren. Here we are here, and I think we maintain this thought of “in the Lord”. What a thing it is to meet a brother or a sister and to be able to greet them ‘in Lord’. It is not so with everybody. You cannot greet everyone ‘in Lord’. We have love towards all the saints, and we have regard for the work of God in every saint, the preciousness of the work of the Lord Jesus and the Spirit of God, but I think it is a wonderful thing to be able to meet one another and salute each other in the Lord.

May the Lord bless the word.