The Heaton File

He who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord. (Proverbs 18:22)

God’s View Of Marriage

Adam lived in a garden of unparalleled beauty, grandeur and the magnificent glory of the Creator’s hand but he could not be happy without Eve. God looked on man and saw that he was alone and declared it was not a good thing. He brought all the animals to Adam to see what he would name them but still, a companion was not found. It was then the Creator formed woman from the rib of man to join two flesh into one and two hearts in a union of love and devotion. Adam knew immediately what the woman meant to him. He did not demean her, ignore her or abuse her. His first reaction was awe at the beauty of the creature that stood before him. While literally there was no woman on earth like her, she was all he needed. Adam did not ask God for another creature or to form the woman into another type of person. What God had created Adam embraced and loved her for who she was. His love was unlike the love defined today by the carnal eye of pleasure, desire, and like-mindedness. His choice was not a begrudging acceptance of life’s reality there was no other woman in the world. He knew he had found a good thing and he further recognized what he was blessed with came from the hand of God and he would treat the woman as such. It was a remarkable time for the newly created husband and wife. Sin had not cast its veil of darkness over the earth and the man and woman walked in the cool of the day communing with God. Their lives were filled with joy, happiness, and acceptance for who the other would be for them. Jealousy did not divide them, anger was not found in their home and fidelity was complete as their relationship with God was one. Before Eve was deceived by the devil to disobey God, their marriage was a union of peace, harmony and eternal love. Then sin came into the home. That is when the problems began because Adam and Eve made a decision to dishonor their Creator and paid a heavy price for their rebellion. God’s grace overshadowed their sin and the Lord made provisions for the seed of man to bring final destruction over the forces of evil.

Adam and Eve lived in paradise because they were dedicated to one another and to God. Often the story is told in respect to the fall of man, how Satan tempted Eve and the terrible consequence of disobedience. What is missed is what the world was like when marriage was in complete favor with God. It does not take a lot of imagination to think about how beautiful the world was at that time. There was no sorrow, no tears, no sickness and nobody died. They walked with God and talked with Him. He communed with them on a personal level and there was great joy in the first home. Surrounded by the love of God, the garden was a place of worship where God was exalted in every part of life. Realize that any part of marriage that is a challenge comes from one source and this is not in harmony with God – it is sin. Discord in marriage is because someone is not following the will of the Creator. Marriage is designed for the ultimate in man’s happiness and when the home is not filled with the joy of God the reason can only be that God is not the joy of the home. If a man is not in love with his wife he has failed to appreciate what God has given him and expected of him to fulfill in the marriage bond. Jesus said the design of the home is one man with one woman for life and that is where happiness is found. Anything that deviates from that pattern is going to bring heartache and sorrow. A man who finds a wife finds a good thing as a gift from God like Eve being brought to Adam in the beginning.

Happiness in marriage can only come from the right viewpoint of why God brought the man and woman together. Eve was created to show the favor of God upon the man. Without the woman, the man was helpless and alone. Together Adam and Eve became the perfect union in the creation of the world blessed by the hand of the Creator Himself when He declared all things He created as very good. Because of sin, two people who marry are joined with someone who (like themselves) is a sinner. The only perfect marriage in the history of man was when God created Adam and Eve. Every marriage after that was bound with two people who were imperfect, disagreeable, and in need of grace. The presence of God is what makes the marriage perfect, agreeable and the glory of grace. Someone said that Christian is not perfect but they are forgiven. This is true in marriage. The husband is not perfect and the wife is not perfect but they can be forgiven by God and by each other. Adam and Eve were created to showcase the perfect union of happiness within the realm of human relations. There is no reason this cannot be replicated in the world when God is the center of the home, the word of God is the foundation of the marriage and the spirit of love exists because what God has joined together no man should desire to put asunder. The man who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord.

Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah, by all of His prophets, every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways, and keep My commandments and My statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by My servants the prophets.” Nevertheless, they would not hear, but stiffened their necks, like the necks of their fathers, who did not believe in the Lord their God. (2 Kings 17:13-14)

They Would Not Hear

Israel had once been the most powerful nation on earth. God gave them victories by His hand and blessed them far above all peoples. His promises guaranteed the providence of the Heavenly would fall upon them without end if they would follow His will and obey His commands. The reigns of David and Solomon gave the nation glory but when Solomon died the nation deteriorated into the abject rebellion of lawlessness, immorality, and idolatry. Within two hundred years of the division of the nation, the ten tribes of northern Israel were carried captive to Assyria never to be heard from again. The two centuries of the northern kingdom’s existence were characterized by the most wicked and vile sins known to man as the people followed every pagan ritual and idol like the nations around them. They rejected the statutes of the word of God, desecrated the worship of the Lord, worshiped all the hosts of heaven and served Baal. They burned their children in human sacrifice, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying and sold themselves to do every evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. They were not unaccountable for their evil deeds as the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah by all of His prophets and seers. These men came among the people warning of the judgment of God, proclaiming the mercy of the Lord to those who would repent and proclaimed the way of righteousness but to no avail. Men like Ahijah the Shilonite, Jehu the son of Hanani, Elijah, Micaiah the son of Imlah, Elisha, Jonah the son of Amittai, Oded, Amos, and Hosea all tried to get the people to repent and their message fell on deaf ears. The chosen people of God mocked His messengers, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets. Finally, the longsuffering of the Lord ended and destruction came. But not without warning.

God never desired to punish His people in the manner that He did. The heart of the people had turned completely away from Him and He warned them time and time again to repent and they refused. He sent His prophets among the nation to warn them of the impending judgment against their rebellion because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place. The voice of the prophets was heard throughout the land on a daily basis pleading with the chosen nation of the Lord God to return and the blessings of the Lord would return. In the face of all the prophets of God pleading with the nation, the people choose to remain in their sin and were destroyed. It is a tragic story of the grace of a loving father imploring his children to come home and serve him but the children refuse. Sin had so consumed their hearts the Israelite’s could only crave the immoral, depraved debauchery of idol worship as their god as Satan gave them the pleasures of the flesh. The words of the prophets fell on deaf ears. All the preaching that was done by the prophets was pointed to the sins of the people and the message of repentance that would save a few but the nation would be destroyed. If only they would keep the commandments of the Lord He would save them. When the hearts of the nation returned to the statutes of God they would find peace. Keeping the law of God gave the nation hope. The Lord sent His servants the prophets among them to turn their hearts back to Him. Nevertheless, they would not listen, but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, who did not believe in the Lord their God. The sad tragedy of the demise of Israel was that it did not have to happen if they would have listened to the prophets.

The grace of God has always been given to men to know and understand His will. There has never been a time in the existence of the earth that man has not been accountable to the word of God. Like the final days of Israel, the Lord sent many men among the people to turn their hearts through the preaching of the gospel of salvation but the people would not listen. The prophets were only mouth-pieces of the Lord who proclaimed the message of salvation to a lost and dying world. Their words came from the will of the Lord and they spoke the words of the Lord as given to them by God. The problem was the heart of the people did not want to hear the gospel of salvation. Their lives were too consumed by the pleasures of the flesh, enjoyments of the world and pursuits of fame and fortune. Scoffing at the prophets, the nation continued to enjoy its pleasures of the world. They soon turned into the nations around them and went so far as to murder their children in human sacrifice – without guilt or remorse. When men stop listening to the word of God they will hear the voice of rebellion. The Lord sent His prophets but they would not hear. As they were being dragged away to Assyria in chains never to return, the hearts of the people finally realized all the words of the prophets were true. Now it was too late. Servants of the Lord preach the message of repentance, grace, love, judgment, and fidelity to Christ today; and like the nation of Israel can be ignored, rejected and laughed at while the hearts of the people frolic in the attractions of the world. The message remains unchanged. What happened to Israel will happen to those who turn away from the word of God. When a man preaches the word of God and the people refuse to listen they reject God, not the man. The Lord has sent messengers among the brethren to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and many refuse to listen, stiffening their necks and becoming more like the world around them. How sad about the tragic end of those who refuse to listen.

Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. (1 Corinthians 1:10)

By The Name Of The Lord Jesus Christ

The name of Christ is the affirmation that God has given His approval that all authority rests upon the Son of God as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Salvation will not be granted without the name of Jesus Christ. Names identify the character of a person, define the boundaries of their identity and establish a pattern of who and what they are before all men. Authority is determined by the legality of the name and what authority is attached to that name. An ambassador is not the authority but the representative of the one who has all power and rights to determine what is authorized. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, He reminded the disciples the words He spoke were not His own but what the Father had given Him to speak. After the resurrection, all authority in heaven and earth was given to the Son from the Father. No man has taken (or can take) this authority from Jesus Christ. The early church taught that salvation could not come but through the name of Jesus. Men like Philip preached Jesus to those who were in need of salvation. Paul wrote often that his message was the message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The name of Jesus permeated every part of the First Century church because this was the foundation of everything that was true. Sadly, the church at Corinth had become so carnally minded the saints had forgotten which name was authoritative. There were great men in the church like Peter, Apollos and the work of Paul helping to establish many churches throughout the Roman Empire. It would be clear these men would receive the honor for the diligent work they were doing but what had happened is the brethren began to follow these men instead of the authority of Christ. The church had divided over allegiance to the preachers rather than the name of Jesus Christ. Paul purposed to set things right in Corinth demanding the division and carnal fighting stop. God never intended for the church to be divided or believers in Jesus Christ to differ in word and doctrine.

Unity is found when men submit to one banner of truth. What happened in the church at Corinth would become the mantra of the religious world fifteen hundred years later. In response to the apostate church known as the Roman Catholic Church, men rose up to create their own bodies of faith. A protestant movement began to divide the religious world into factions of different names (Lutheran, Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptists, Quakers, Episcopalian, etc.) and doctrines of the faith were established outside the scriptures. Paul had written to the Corinthians seeking for them to speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among the believers in Jesus, but that they are perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. He was asking for unity in the name of Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ was not a divided Lord. What the brethren were doing in Corinth became a worldwide movement in the last five hundred years when thousands of churches have carved their niche in the name of Jesus Christ. What is lost on the minds of most religious people is the name of Jesus represents authority demanding the divine pattern be followed according to the word of God. Paul was pleading with the saints by the name of Jesus Christ because He was Lord and there can be no division if Jesus is Lord and men follow His word. No matter how hard religious leaders try to sell the idea that all faiths serve under the same banner of truth they do not speak the same thing, have the same mind and use the same judgment. For example, the dogmas of the Lutheran church will not make a person a Methodist. They are contradictory to one another. The Baptist church manual will not help a person become a Mormon and the book of Mormon will not make an Episcopalian. If all believers in Jesus are united then why do they follow different creeds, faiths, patterns of worship and teach a doctrine of salvation that differs from what the Bible says? Is God to blame for religious diversity? Has the Creator of the world written a book that cannot be read and understood so that all men can come to a unified conclusion of how to worship the one true God? If there is religious division – who is responsible? According to the apostle Paul, the religious division is carnal (sinful) and a work of the wisdom of man; not God.

Establishing authority by the name of Jesus Christ requires one thing: book, chapter, and verse in the only book that is the word of God. Unity can only come if you can find the name of the church you are a part of in the Bible. If you cannot find the name of the church in the Bible, it does not come from the authority of the name of Jesus. Look closely at the pattern of worship, organization, the teaching of salvation and make certain everything that is done has a scriptural basis of what the Bible says. If all men would accept the Bible as the only authority there would be no divisions. Speaking the same thing means that we are on the same page of the Bible. There will be no divisions if we are united under the same name and that name is Jesus Christ. Following the teaching of the Bible alone all minds will be bound by the same law. The same judgment is what is declared in the same book, by the same Judge, under the authority of the same name – Jesus Christ. It cannot be pleasing to the Father to look down upon His creation and see men divided under the name of His Son. He sent Jesus to die for all men so that all men could find the truth under one faith, one church, one Lord, one Spirit, one baptism, one hope, and one God. Denominations are by definition divisive and condemned by God. Let all men stand on the name of Jesus Christ as Lord and King and speak where the Bible speaks or speak not at all.

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. (2 Peter 2:1-2)

False Teachers In The Church

The early church faced many challenges as it came through the growing pains of infancy. In the beginning, there were many converts who were added to the church as three thousand souls initiated the first days of the kingdom. In time over five thousand people and then multitudes were added to the church. It was an incredible time of growth and like all things that grow, there would be growing pains. Slowly the forces of persecution began to affect the church and the first severe test of the church came by the hands of Saul of Tarsus. The metal of the early disciple’s character was tested and tried as the persecutions continued under the hands of the Romans. Often the problems faced by the New Testament church are viewed only from the standpoint of Saul’s persecution or the devastating impact of the Roman Empire as it tried to stamp out Christianity. In fact, one of the greatest threats to the church was not from forces outside the body of Christ but the insidious influences of false teachers that crafted a web of deception to lead the hearts of the people away from God. Paul would exhort the brethren at Corinth to beware of those who would deny the resurrection of Jesus as a failure to the whole doctrine of grace given by God. The apostle Peter is very concerned about the dangers brought from the teachings of those who would deny the Lord Jesus Christ. He writes about the false teachers that would use any means to dissuade the hearts of the disciples to follow false doctrines. This was a very real danger and the early church must be on guard for what Satan would throw against them.

Peter establishes some vital realities about truth and error. The church should never be lulled into believing that false teachers do not exist or sell their wares among the brethren. There are false prophets in the world and there are false teachers in the church. They will secretly bring in teachings that seem harmless at first but will, like leaven, grow into destructive heresies that will destroy souls. Many will follow the teachings of false doctrine because it appeals to their carnal nature and sound pleasing to what they want to hear. False teachers will use materialism as a means to attract and destroy the hearts of the faithful. The great danger of false teachers is their siren call to listen and follow doctrines that are in conflict with the word of God. It must be clear the nature of false doctrine is not an opinion or viewpoint of a person’s interpretation but a disregard for the word of God. As the father of lies, Satan will use men to accomplish his work of deceiving the hearts of those unwilling to believe in declared truth. The Holy Spirit preserved the epistle of Peter so that all men could see what impacted the church in the early days will impact the church throughout the ages. In other words, if there were false teachers in the church, in the beginning, there can be those within the ranks of God’s people that are not holding true to the word of God. This is not a license toward McCarthyism within the church where individuals actively pursue the theological beliefs of every member demanding allegiance to a certain position. The warning is a wake-up call that every saint must have the spirit of the Bereans of old that diligently sought the word of God in its context examining what the apostles were saying with what the word of God said. Fighting against error is using the word of God as the foundation of truth regardless of the opinions or teachings of men. From the old hymn of restoration heard long ago there is a need for book, chapter, and verse. Precepts are established upon precepts and lines are proven upon the lines of divine authority. When men begin to teach without the authority of scripture they slowly open the door to apostasy.

What is most disturbing about the warnings of Peter is the reality that this is not a first-century problem. Each generation lives with the cocoon of their own time without realizing that error comes in slowly and develops over generations by those who forget to establish authority with the word of God as the foundation of truth. History has shown how that many doctrines that once would have seemed impossible to find within the ranks of God’s people are now the fundamental truths of the apostate church in a world filled with many churches. In the first century, there was one church but now there are thousands. The apostles of the early church taught a plan of salvation that is denied by most believers in Jesus Christ today. Innovations fill the religious services of those who profess allegiance to Jesus like instrumental music, concert worship halls, fellowship buildings with family fun centers, acceptance of sexual freedoms as long as one loves Jesus, religion that is more a social and political in its character and the deafening sound of the devils siren is loudly heard in the absence of what the Bible teaches. Apostasy is alive and well in the generation of those who say they believe that Jesus is the Son of God. The church of Christ has never been immune from the trappings of false teachers who deny the power of the word to condemn sin, love the sinner and save the lost. Many churches are dying because they refuse to follow the New Testament pattern of authority in organization, worship, and evangelism. Preaching has been softened to a dull whisper. The Bible is seldom read or used in the discussion. Immorality fills the hearts of the adherents with immodest clothing, social drinking, denial of allegiance to the communion of Christ and generally a disinterest in spiritual matters. Members arrive to worship at 11:00 and leave at 12:00 dull, bored and indifferent.  There will be false teachers in the church and if the eyes of the saints are not opened to the word of God the church will die.

Remember me, O my God, for good! (Nehemiah 13:31)

Nehemiah’s Prayer

There are many great prayers preserved in holy writ from men like Moses, David, Daniel, the prophets and the apostle Paul. Jesus prayed often to His Father teaching His disciples the nature of approaching the throne of God with grace and humility. The prayer of Jabez is found in the midst of a long genealogy that would be missed if the reader did not take careful note of what is said of the sons of Judah. One of the great books of the Old Testament is the story of a man born and raised in the land of Babylon who became the cup-bearer for a Persian king that would change the face of Israel’s history forever. Nehemiah, the son of Hachaliah, took on a task of huge proportion to accomplish something not for himself or the people but for the glory of God. The walls of Jerusalem lay in ruin and no one seemed to care. He took upon his own heart to have the courage to begin the building, face the opposition and accomplish in fifty-two days the establishment of the city of Jerusalem its walls and gates. Nehemiah was a leader extraordinaire. He had a gift for leading men. His spirit helped others see the potential in themselves. What set Nehemiah apart from others was not something he was born with as natural talent, or his stature or the depth of his wisdom so far as human wisdom would dictate. The final words of the book of Nehemiah are where the character of Nehemiah is found. He had a deep and personal relationship with the Lord God. Seven words form a prayer of love, diligence, courage, faith, hope, and promise. There was nothing arrogant about Nehemiah. He asked for the Lord to remember him and to bless his life for the good he could accomplish for the glory of his heavenly Father. Building the walls of Jerusalem was not about mortar and stone. It was about the city of God. Nehemiah was filled with sorrow because the place where God possessed the people was a run-down, broken city with burned gates and broken walls. He did everything within his power to change the city and united a people under the banner of the grace of God.

Adam Clarke writes, “Of Nehemiah, the Jews speak as one of the greatest men of their nation. His concern for his country, manifested by such unequivocal marks, entitles him to the character of the first patriot that ever lived. In the course of the Divine providence, he was a captive in Babylon; but there his excellences were so apparent, that he was chosen by the Persian king to fill an office the most respectable and the most confidential in the whole court. Here he lived in ease and affluence; he lacked no manner of thing that was good; and here he might have continued to live, in the same affluence and in the same confidence: but he could enjoy neither, so long as his people were distressed, the sepulchers of his father’s trodden underfoot, the altars of his God overturned, and his worship either totally neglected or corrupted. He sought the peace of Jerusalem; he prayed to God for it; and was willing to sacrifice wealth, ease, and safety, and even life itself, if he might be the instrument of restoring the desolation’s of Israel. And God, who saw the desire of his heart, and knew the excellencies with which he had endowed him, granted his request, and gave him the high honor of restoring the desolated city of his ancestors, and the pure worship of their God.”

The work of Nehemiah continues today for those with the courage to pray a small prayer of seven words. To implore the mind of God in the life of a humble servant like Nehemiah and to invite the presence of the Lord to dwell in the heart of a man who only wanted to bring glory to the Father; this is a story that resonates within the city of God as the church of Christ needs Nehemiah’s to rise up and build the kingdom of God to its eternal glory. Men and women who will pray for God to remember them for good in the work of teaching the lost the saving grace of Christ, building up the church to worship and be evangelistic in the measures of worship, teaching and doctrine and to rebuild the walls of God’s people so the world can see the glory of the Lord in the body of Christ. “Remember me, O my God, for good so that others can see You living in me” is a prayer where the heart is devoted to doing all that is possible to build the walls of the kingdom of Christ. There is much work to be done. Jesus reminds us the fields are white to harvest and workers are needed to go into the field. The prayer of Nehemiah is an expression of duty of the part of a man willing to roll up his sleeves and get busy about the work and to invite the grace of God to bless the efforts of the church in reaching the lost. There were many people living in Jerusalem at the time Nehemiah came to town but no one was working or concerned about the fallen walls and burned gates. They had not been praying the seven-word prayer. When Nehemiah came, everyone learned to pray and the work was accomplished. What do you pray?

Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well. Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, streams of water in the streets? Let them be only your own, and not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and always be enraptured with her love. For why should you, my son, be enraptured by an immoral woman, and be embraced in the arms of a seductress? For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and He ponders all his paths. (Proverbs 5:15-21)

God’s Plan For A Happy Marriage

Fidelity will bring about a happy marriage. When God created the world, He set in motion many laws that when followed will bring about the intended purpose, design and outcome desired by the one who created everything to be very good. Before sin entered the world, God looked upon His creation and proclaimed it to be very good because it was very good. One man and one woman lived in a paradise garden and they both walked with God. Like the heavenly bodies that were placed in the sky in a precise manner for a precise purpose, the union of Adam and Eve was designed to maximize the full potential of why the Lord created two beings in His image. Until the fall of man, that design was lived in its perfection because the home was surrounded by the presence of the grace of God. The temptation of Eve was not only the beginning of man’s fall but the battle for the home that remains through every generation. The wisdom literature of the Old Testament is a reminder of the will of God to impress upon the hearts of all men and women the purpose and design of the home as intended by the Creator. Solomon uses the analogy of the cistern or a well to show the relationship enjoyed by a husband and wife should be exclusively their own. Wells of water were highly regarded for their life-giving force and possession of a well was severely protected. In some cases, drinking from a well of another would bring about death. The husband must guard the trust of this love for the wife and the wife to the husband with devoted love for the blessings each brings to the other. God created the marriage of a man and woman to share in the flowing waters of the blessings of conjugal, spiritual and personal fidelity. There is no purpose in allowing the streams of the marriage love to be spread among others. In marriage, two streams are joined together as one so they may both flow together as one without others merging into their union. Sexual immorality is sharing that stream with others and is condemned by the Maker and Creator of the marriage bed.

Often the marriage union can be viewed as one does dining at a fine restaurant. An order is placed for the desired dish and after it comes and is tasted the eyes look at what others have and a desire to have what they have fills the heart with envy, regret, and lust. There is nothing wrong with sampling the delicacies of another’s dinner plate but to disperse the fountain of marital fidelity among others is an abomination in the eyes of God. Marriage is a blending of souls only for the one union formed by the hand of God, instituted to be a faithful promise of hearts devoted to the purity of marriage. What happens in marriage remains in marriage. Happiness will only come from commitment to the creative design of God’s word for the union of one man and one woman. The fulfillment of marriage comes from each party committing to finding the blessing of one another in the union of God. Solomon exhorts the husband to be blessed in the fountain of marital happiness in the joy of his wife and his wife alone. There will be no regret, sorrow or heartaches that will last a lifetime in marriages that are held together by the desire of following the divine pattern. A woman who is loved by her husband will always be the wife of his youth. There will never be a desire for another because there is no other. The passions of the sexual designs of marriage are highlighted in the relationships husbands and wives share with one another. God created the woman to be a beautiful creation to become one with the man in every aspect of their union. Solomon tells the man to keep his heart and his mind upon the beauty of his wife physically, sexually, spiritually and emotionally. A man should be enraptured by his wife, to be ravished always with her love, and as the English Standard Version suggests, a man should be intoxicated by the love of his wife. This is further explained in the New American Standard Version that tells the man to be exhilarated always with the love of his wife. Happiness in marriage is when the man keeps his eyes on the wife of his youth.

There is a counter thought to the need of faithful love. Solomon poses the question of why would a man so devoted to his wife be enraptured by an immoral woman? The same word is used in the negative as it was earlier used in the positive. What makes a difference is what becomes of the enraptured soul that has filled the heart with a ravishing need to find sexual enjoyment outside of marriage. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and failed to follow His divine plan, sin brought immense shame. For a moment they thought they would enjoy an eternal pleasure in eating the forbidden fruit but the moment they rebelled they felt shame, fear, and dread to be in the presence of God. Sexual infidelity is the same. There is a rush of desire that is as intense as any emotion but when gratified there is nothing but anger, shame, and fear. Guilt enters the mind as sin corrupts the pure heart. The word of God tells the tempted to keep the fountain of marital purity for one another and not to dispel abroad the blessings intended by God for marriage to others. There will never be any lasting happiness in sexual promiscuity and supposed freedom to disperse abroad the fountain of life. Marriage was created for a union of fidelity so that happiness can be enjoyed, enriched and enlivens the hearts of the man and woman in the holy bond of God’s design. A happy marriage comes from hearts that are happy in the word of God.

“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord God. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore turn and live!” (Ezekiel 18:30-32)

The Gospel Of Christ In Ezekiel

There is little that has changed when it comes to the relationship of man to God and especially how man comes to God. The covenants have changed over time from a patriarchal law to the covenant established with Israel at Horeb and finally the grace of God in the new testament of Christ. What has not changed is how man comes to God. Israel lived under the curse of the law and through the Law of Moses fulfilled the requirements of God to be found just in His sight. While the law was given only to the Jews and abolished when Christ rose from the dead, the principles of obedience were the same as prescribed to Adam, Moses, David, Elijah and the preaching of the gospel in Christ in the first century.  Ezekiel the prophet is living in the exile with the people of God preaching the same message that Paul the apostle would preach many years later in any city of the Roman Empire. Repentance is the first word of the gospel whether in the time of Ezekiel or the time of Paul. The judgment of God places man at risk. Because of the wrath of God, man must decide to change his life conforming to the will of the Creator or face the fury and displeasure of the Lord. The first thing the heart must do is to be filled with remorse for the rebellion of heart characterizing a sinful nature. Repentance is demanding a change in soul, mind, and spirit turning to the Lord for help. Godly sorrow motivates the heart of man to divest himself of pride and embrace the mercy of a loving God willing to forgive. Without repentance, there can be no forgiveness. To repent is to act upon the reality of what sin has done to the nature of man and God. The people of Israel needed to repent as much as the people of Philippi, Colosse, Rome or Jerusalem in the days of Paul needed to repent. Preaching the gospel of repentance did not begin on the Day of Pentecost. This has been the eternal message since the Garden of Eden.

Ezekiel admonishes the people to repent and turn from their sins to God. The message of repentance is not just a feeling of remorse but an action of the person to change everything about what they have done. Sin will destroy the soul and removing it far from the heart, soul, and mind of the person will show the character of repentance. Repenting of transgressions against God cannot be complete until the sin has been removed, rejected and reviled. This requires all the transgressions be removed. Keeping a few things around to appease the desires of the flesh is not repentance. Turning away from all their transgressions is where God meets the heart of man and forgives. In the case of the Israelite’s, they had to completely remove their desire for idol worship. Many of the kings of the southern kingdom were evil and a few were good but even the good kings would often not completely remove the Baals, Ashtoreth or high places where idolatry was practiced. Repentance requires a complete cleansing. Casting away all the transgressions which you have committed is the language of true repentance. Ezekiel was not preaching a new doctrine. This was true before the Law of Moses and the early church preached the same message of turning away from sin completely to serve the true and living God.

The real key to repentance is when a heart turns away and casts away all the transgressions of rebellion that a new heart and a new spirit are infused in the soul of man. There is no reason to be punished by God when He has offered His grace to allow man back into His fellowship. Repentance is a desire to be a better person and this can only come about when the desire is given to get a new heart. When a person goes to a doctor and finds they have heart disease requiring a transplant, everything is done to move in that direction to preserve life. So it is in the spiritual world to seek a new heart with a new mind to attack sin not allowing it to overcome the soul again and again. Repentance means all efforts are made to change the heart from the transgressive nature of rebellion to the accepting grace of God’s love. A new spirit is the willingness to get rid of anything that will bring harm to the soul again and again. Ezekiel and the prophets preached this message of repentance but the people refused to listen. Some tried to live in both worlds of idolatry and worship of God but that cannot be done. Their hearts were not fully devoted to the Lord and because of this divided loyalty leaned towards the idols instead of righteousness. Repentance demands a new heart and a new spirit to remove the stain of sin. Then, and only then, can one finally say they have repented. The message of Ezekiel is still the message of repentance today. Christ died to bring all men to the Father. Peter’s first words on the Day of Pentecost began with “repent” and that is what they did. Repentance is followed by turning away from sin and creating a new heart and filling a new spirit with the love of God. Repent – turn – create. The gospel of Christ in three words.

So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. (John 4:5-9)

Look At The Fields

The life of Jesus was a wonderful cornucopia of moments that revealed the character of deity in the flesh and the surprising relationship of a teacher to His disciples. Jesus would find Himself in conflict with the religious leaders of the day because He made no separation of persons as He dined with Publicans, touched the flesh of lepers, spent time with little children, talked with tax collectors and was brazen enough to speak to a woman in the middle of the day at the well of Jacob. The Lord had left Judea wanting to return to Galilee but He needed to go through Samaria. More than a thousand years before the birth of Christ, Jacob gave a plot of ground to his son Joseph and there was a well that was still in use that was Jacob’s well. Wearied from His journey, the Lord sent the disciples into the city for food while He rested at the well. Soon after arriving at the well, a woman came from the city to draw water. As the woman approached the well, it would have been uncomfortable for her to see a Jew sitting by the well where she was to draw water. Being the middle of the day it has been surmised that because of the character of the woman which was later revealed by Jesus she came to the well at noon because of being shunned by the women of the city. Regardless, she was a Samaritan and the man resting by the well was a Jew. Long-held customs did not allow the Jews and Samaritans to interact much less a man dignify a woman by speaking to her. She warily took her vessel to draw water when Jesus speaks to her. He asked for a drink of water.

Jesus was tired. He was very tired. Exhausted from the grueling schedule and the long journey by foot from Judea, the Lord needed to take some time to refresh Himself and relax. Sending the disciples into the city to buy some food would give Him some much-needed downtime to reflect and gather Himself together. He was thirsty but there was nothing at the well that He could draw water. Deity sat by a well of water that He had created and could not draw the water. In the distance, a lone figure appeared carrying a bucket. It was a Samaritan woman who had lived a very immoral life. She was living with a man that she was not married although she had been married five times previous. When she began to draw the water from the well, Jesus asked a simple request. He desired a drink of water. This startled the woman as Jews would not ask a Samaritan for anything much less a Samaritan woman. As the conversation grew the man from Nazareth opened the eyes of the woman of Samaria to the bountiful grace of a loving God who came to give all men the water of life as a fountain springing up into everlasting life. There was no rabbinic prejudice in the man’s voice as He conversed with the woman and it did not dissuade the Lord the woman was not of the highest character in society. Two people came to a well to quench their thirsts but only one had the water of life. Jesus offered this outcast woman the greatest gift she would ever know.

The story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman is the eternal voice of God telling every man that He loves and cares for them desiring to save them from themselves. There are so many souls that wander the earth trying to find happiness in the carnal pleasures of the flesh like the woman from Samaria. She could not be satisfied in one marriage but had five husbands. This did not satisfy her and she decided to live with a man. She could never find happiness. As she walked to the well of Jacob she might have reflected on her life that had brought nothing but shame and heartache and believing there was no escaping her despondent life. There had been no hope in her life and there was no hope in her future. What she did not know was the man sitting by the well was going to give her something she had longed for all her life. He had the answer to what she needed. The water that He gave her would never make her thirst for the failings of human wisdom again. Believing in Jesus as the Son of God would change her life. Jesus was tired, weary and exhausted but He took the time to change the lives of not only the woman who came to the well but many of the Samaritans of that city who believed in Jesus that day. Everyone has a story and Jesus has the answer to every story. The disenfranchised of the world need the gospel as much (if not more) than the quiet neighbor who pays his taxes, work hard each day and attends church once in a while. Jesus talked to the woman at the well because she was not well. Her soul was corrupt with the filth of the world and Jesus washed her clean with the living water. Look at the fields for they are already white for harvest.

So the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great works of the Lord which He had done for Israel. Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel. Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served the Baals; and they forsook the Lord God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the Lord to anger. (Judges 2:7-12)

It Only Took One Generation

The book of Judges is a case study of the fickle nature of men who cannot keep the focus on spiritual things being tempted and swayed by the trappings of the world to leave God. Time and again they are delivered to the hands of their enemies and after a while when they cry out to the Lord salvation comes in the form of a judge who delivers them from their oppression. This will last for a short time and they fall again into the clutches of Satan who takes their hearts away from the Lord. The book is a cycle of obedience, rebellion, grief, deliverance and after a short time of faithfulness falling back into rebellion and suffering brought on by the wrath of God repeated throughout the book. One of the keys to the book is found in the early writings. As long as Joshua was alive there was great prosperity in the land and the hearts of the people followed the leadership of Joshua to be faithful. The elders who outlived Joshua exerted a great influence over the land as they told the stories of the early conquest and how God had delivered the land into the hands of Israel. For as much influence and goodness given by the generation that conquered the land, something was missed in the translation of that faith to the succeeding generations. Sadly a generation arose that did not know God. They did not know the works of the Lord in delivering the Hebrews from Egypt and the great works of the wilderness wanderings. Their early history of dwelling in Canaan was not taught in the course of God’s power working among the people. What happened to the next generation was ignorance of the word of God and it nearly destroyed the people. As a result, the people did those things that were evil in the sight of the Lord. Baal worship was accepted as the norm and they took very little time (if any) in a study of God’s word. Forsaking the God of their fathers, this new generation prospered and filled their lives with the enjoyments of a land flowing with milk and honey. Times were good and hearts were merry and no one took time to think about the Lord.

The wrath of God would be brought against them time and again throughout the story of the Judges. Their nature to seek after other gods did not end there. During the times of the united kingdom and especially when the nation of Israel was divided, the worship of Baal and gods of the people became the stumbling block leading to the destruction of the nation of Israel. There were many reasons that led up to the destruction but as the home was built so was the nation and what was not happening in the home was the telling of the story of the Lord God. Generations after generations were raised up that did not know God and did not learn the stories of the power of God. In the case of the book of Judges, it only took one generation and the nation went into a spiral fall of apostasy. This would become their pattern throughout the telling of the Old Testament as a warning to the people of God of what happens when one generation is neglected and not taught about God. The generation before them had the responsibility to teach the word of God. It was incumbent upon the fathers and mothers to instill in the hearts of their children the love of God, His power and grace and the old, old stories of His majesty. Instead, the parents taught their children nothing and a generation arose that did not know God.

There is a great danger in not taking care of every generation. The church of Christ is being filled with generations of young people who are not taught the word of truth. They sit on pews and attend Bible classes but have little knowledge of the word of God because their homes are not filled with God. The material pursuits of the world are a priority and often when conflict with allegiance to God defers to the worldly pleasure rather than stand for the Lord. Joshua and the elders had great influence but they died. It is clearly a need for generational faith be established in the hearts of the children so that when the parents are gone they will continue on throughout the next generation. Each family prepares their family to be the next generation of faithful saints who will continue the work of the Lord. It is tragic when the generational flow of Christians stops within a family. The church will suffer in years to come because children are not obeying the gospel and families are not passing along the faith of God to the next generation. Like Israel, those who do not follow the Lord will bring the teachings and desires of the world into the church and destroy the work of the Lord. The church will never cease to exist but local congregations are dying because the next generation does not know God. If as much effort put forth to help children become successful pioneers in the business world was put into teaching those same children the worth of spiritual heritage, the church would explode in the community. Let it not be said of our families a generation arises that does not know God. The consequences are too grave and the results are too deadly for the future of the church lest we anger the Lord.

And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:26-29)

The Lord’s Supper

There is something powerful in the act of a memorial where time is set aside to reflect, ponder and deeply consider the life of a loved one. Since the beginning of time places have been set aside to bury the dead with markers signifying their burial place so that loved ones can return and commune with the precious memories of lost love, friendships, sacrifices, and family. Often grieving souls will embrace the marble monuments in their deep sorrow for their personal loss. Reminders are placed within the home, conversations turn to the laughter of days gone by and stories told from generation to generation regaling the exploits of previous generations. Sadly, a time will come when these memories fade away and markers that once held great prominence in the lives of many fall prey to the dust of time and fade away to obscurity. The names of past generations hold no meaning and their lives are nothing more than notations in a book with no life story connected and no feelings of relationship. Memorials of men fade in time to insignificance and unimportance. Two thousand years ago a man gathered with eleven disciples and instituted a memorial that has thrived for every generation since and will continue to enliven the hearts and souls of men for generations to come. Jesus Christ gathered His remaining faithful disciples and proclaimed to them a feast that would live without end as a memorial to what He was about to do – sacrifice His life for the agony of all men. In an upper room where the feast of Passover had solemnly been held as it had for generations since the great night of deliverance God bestowed upon the Hebrews, the Lord’s Supper was established.

The early church immediately embraced the memorial of their Savior. Luke tells of how the first Christians learned of the feast of remembrance and it became a solid foundation of the worship in the first century. Every first day of the week the church gathered together as a body of believers to reflect, remember, and ponder the immense love of sacrifice given by Jesus when He took the bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to His disciples. Jesus knew what was going to happen in the next few hours and He knew His disciples were going to be caught unaware of how sudden He would die. The unleavened bread of the Passover would become the emblem of His body that would be tortured that day for the sins of all men. As a memorial feast, the bread would remind the faithful of how much God loved the world in sending His only begotten Son to die on a cross. Jesus then took the cup of the blood of the grape, and gave thanks, and gave it to His disciples to drink in memorial of the blood of a new covenant. The crucifixion would be overshadowed by the blood of God’s Son being poured out like a lamb to the slaughter. Giving the cup to the disciples, Jesus establishes the blood of a new covenant that would find salvation in His blood through His sacrifice with better promises, a better hope, and a greater High Priest. Remission of sins would not come from the blood of bulls and goats or from the fruitless efforts of men seeking to save themselves. Now the glory of God would surround a table of grace where the blood of Jesus Christ would remind the faithful of God’s love and the love of Jesus to die for all men. The bread and the cup – emblematic of everything man could hope forgiven by a loving Father to an undeserving world who would kill His Son in accordance with His own will.

Years later the apostle Paul would write to a church in Corinth of the powerful message given by Jesus when He instituted the supper. The man from Tarsus was not witnessed to the supper when Jesus met with His disciples in the upper room but the Holy Spirit had revealed to him the impact of that moment on the world. Remembering the sacrifice of Jesus Christ would become a memorial that would not be written on stone, wood or marble but in the hearts of all disciples throughout every generation. The names and memories of loved ones would fade to a distant past but the name and memory of Jesus Christ would be as alive in generations to come as it was in the first century. His story of love and sacrifice would be remembered every first day of the week in every month of every year since the beginning of the church. No memorial has lasted as long and no remembrance has remained in the hearts of men as the feast of God’s love in the Lord’s Supper. In every corner of the globe on the same day of the week, the faithful of God gather to sing, pray and talk about the death of a man on a Roman cross killed for nothing He had done but all He did was for the saving of all men. Jesus gave His disciples a means to come to know Him more in the feast of the supper. Thank God for His great love in sending His Son and thank God each first day of the week when the saints can stop and say thank you for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.