Marriage is Precious | Part 1
In this episode, we turn to Hebrews 13:4 to rediscover something our culture has nearly forgotten—the sacred worth of marriage. This message is both a gentle reminder and a stirring challenge to see marriage as God sees it: not a social arrangement or passing emotion, but a holy and priceless treasure to be guarded, valued, and lived out for His glory.
Checkout these other Family Fortress Ministries Podcasts:
TIME FOR THREE daily couples devotional: https://time-for-three.captivate.fm/listen
FORTIFYING YOUR FAMILY: https://fortifying-your-family.captivate.fm/listen
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Transcript
Welcome to the Fortifying youg Family podcast.
Speaker A:It can be daunting to navigate through an anti marriage and family culture.
Speaker A:Our teacher will expound biblical principles to help fortify our families and keep these sacred institutions strong.
Speaker A:And now, here's this week's teaching from Sam Wood.
Speaker B:Turn with me, if you would, to Hebrews chapter 13 and look with me at verse four.
Speaker B:And I, I just kind of want to start right there and we'll go a couple of other places, but I want to start right here with the statement that God gives to us concerning the marriage relationship in the beginning of this verse.
Speaker B:So look with me there at Hebrews chapter 13 and verse 4 where it says marriage is honorable in all.
Speaker B:Or in the ESV it says, let marriage be held in honor among all.
Speaker B:Marriage is to be held in honor.
Speaker B:The Bible says among all.
Speaker B:Well, as a way of introduction, what I want to share with you here tonight, I've really, I'll be honest with you, over the last few weeks and even over today, just wrestled with what to share.
Speaker B:I wanted to preach on marriage tonight, but I've got so many different ways I could go with that and so many really different messages that I could share with you that I just really prayed today and I felt like God really laid this particularly on my heart.
Speaker B:I was in a, I guess it was last year in a motel.
Speaker B:I was somewhere preaching and I really woke up in the middle of the night and the Holy Spirit of God really impressed this passage upon my heart and really began to speak to me about some things concerning it and the need to really share this with the people of God.
Speaker B:And, and so tonight, as I share this, I hope it will certainly be a blessing to you and a challenge to you from the Word of God.
Speaker B:As I start, I want to share a short testimony given by a nurse who was tending to an elderly gentleman.
Speaker B:And I came across this several years ago and I kept this because it was the testimony that she gives is just very, very dear.
Speaker B:Listen to her words.
Speaker B:It was a busy morning, approximately 8:30am when an elderly gentleman in his 80s arrived to have stitches removed from his thumb.
Speaker B:He stated that he was in a hurry and he had an appointment at 9am I took his vital signs and had him take a seat, knowing it would be over an hour before someone would be able to see him.
Speaker B:I saw him looking at his watch and decided, since I was not busy with another patient, that I would evaluate his wound.
Speaker B:After examining it, I saw that it was healed.
Speaker B:So I talked to one of the doctors, got the needed supplies to remove the sutures and redress his wound.
Speaker B:While taking care of his wound, we began to engage in conversation.
Speaker B:I asked him if he had a doctor's appointment this morning as he was in such a hurry.
Speaker B:He told me no, that he needed to go to the nursing home to eat with his wife.
Speaker B:I then inquired as to her health.
Speaker B:He told me that she had been there for a while and that she was a victim of Alzheimer's disease.
Speaker B:As we talked, I finished dressing his wound.
Speaker B:I asked if you'd be worried if he was a little bit late.
Speaker B:He replied that she would no longer knew who he was, that she had not recognized him for over five years.
Speaker B:I was surprised and asked him, and you still go every morning even though she doesn't know who you are?
Speaker B:He smiled as he patted my hand and said, she doesn't know me, but I still know who she is.
Speaker B:I had to hold back the tears as he left.
Speaker B:I had goosebumps on my arm and thought, that is the kind of love I want in my life.
Speaker B:True love is neither physical nor romantic.
Speaker B:True love is an acceptance of all that is, has been, will be, and will not be.
Speaker B:As I read that story, I guess I was reminded that this elderly gentleman had not forgotten something that I believe, unfortunately, that most couples in America have forgotten, and that is that marriage is very, very precious.
Speaker B:In our text today, In Hebrews, chapter 13 and verse 4, the Bible says that marriage is to be held in honor.
Speaker B:Now, the word honor means to esteem something in a very, very high place in your life or to count something as a priceless treasure unto yourself.
Speaker B:Or we might say it means to be very, very precious.
Speaker B:There are several other places in Scripture where the same Greek word is used, but translated really as precious.
Speaker B:I'm reminded of First Peter, chapter one and verse 18, where Scripture shares with us that we're redeemed with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Speaker B:In Second Peter, Chapter 1 and Verse 1, Scripture shares that our faith very precious.
Speaker B:In Second Peter, Chapter 1and Verse 4, the Scripture says that we're given precious promises from God.
Speaker B:So the Bible says the blood of Jesus is precious, our faith is precious, and the promises of God are precious.
Speaker B:But in the same way, God views and holds marriage to be very, very precious.
Speaker B:In Malachi, chapter 2 and in verse 11, the Bible says in that verse that the men of Judah have dealt treacherously with the wives of their youth.
Speaker B:And as we look at that verse, it says that they have profaned the holy institution of the Lord which he loves the holy institution of marriage.
Speaker B:I use this text when I preach on the topic, what is marriage?
Speaker B:But I just want to refer back to this for just a second tonight, because in this passage it refers to these men of Judah dealing treacherously with their wives.
Speaker B:But the statement that stood out to me in this text was they had profaned the holy institution of the Lord.
Speaker B:Now, the word profane means to make common.
Speaker B:That is, they had taken what God had called very, very holy, and they had made it something very, very common or something very, very ordinary.
Speaker B:And as I read that, I thought to myself, you know, in America today, it seems like that marriage is just common and just ordinary to most people today, unfortunately.
Speaker B:But God wants us to see even as he talked to these men of Judah and he said, listen, you have profaned, made common the holy institution of the Lord which he loves.
Speaker B:God loves marriage, he says.
Speaker B:And because of that, we went on into that scripture.
Speaker B:He says, I'm going to cut you off.
Speaker B:I'm not going to accept your offerings.
Speaker B:I'm not going to accept your worship anymore.
Speaker B:God wants us to understand the seriousness and the sacredness of marriage.
Speaker B:That God holds marriage to be very, very precious.
Speaker B:And then Also in Hebrews 13:4, it says that marriage is to be held in honor.
Speaker B:Then look at the end of that little statement.
Speaker B:It says among all.
Speaker B:And I don't want to overlook that either, because what God is saying here is that marriage is to be held precious by everyone.
Speaker B:Everyone is to hold marriage as being very, very precious.
Speaker B:Every man, every woman, every teenager, every child, every church should view marriage as being very, very precious.
Speaker B:Parents, I want to admonish you here tonight to teach your children the whole Marriage as very precious.
Speaker B:Teenagers need to understand that marriage is something in God's eyes that is very, very precious.
Speaker B:As I think about my marriage relationship, and I think in my life, there's nothing, and I can say this honestly tonight before my wife, there's nothing outside of my salvation is more precious to me than my marriage relationship with my wife.
Speaker B:She is a precious gift to me from God.
Speaker B:And our marriage is a very, very precious thing that God has given to us.
Speaker B:The Bible is telling us that marriage is precious, marriage is priceless, and therefore marriage.
Speaker B:Now get this.
Speaker B:Marriage should be protected.
Speaker B:Marriage is to be taken seriously, thought of sacredly, and is to be preserved very, very carefully.
Speaker B:Unfortunately, in America today, the prevalent attitude toward marriage is one that is not holding it precious, but one that is saying, you know, it's something that's just ordinary, it's common in fact, I read about a recent movie, some of you may have seen this movie, in fact, entitled 27 Dresses.
Speaker B:And Kevin and Jane, when they first meet, Kevin tells Jane this in this movie, and this is just a recent movie that came out months ago.
Speaker B:He says this about marriage.
Speaker B:He says believing in marriage is like believing in Santa Claus.
Speaker B:It's a hypocritical spectacle, this last legal form of slavery, he says, the sole purpose of which appears to be to prop up a battalion of overpaid wedding planners, event caterers and cake decorators.
Speaker B:It rarely lasts, so what's the point anyway?
Speaker B:Now, we'd have to admit if you watch a TV show or you watch a movie today, that's pretty much an attitude that's prevalent in our society and in our culture today.
Speaker B:Is that marriage to most couples, unfortunately, it's kind of like a toy that a child gets.
Speaker B:Now, a toy that a child gets.
Speaker B:They are fascinated with that toy when they first get it and they like to play with that toy.
Speaker B:But after a while it loses its fascination.
Speaker B:It's not that fun to them anymore, so they just toss it aside.
Speaker B:And unfortunately, in America today, it seems like with many couples, marriage is like a toy to them that they are fascinated with when they first get married and they get involved romantically with each other at the beginning.
Speaker B:But after a while they get tired of each other, get distressed at each other, and they distance themselves apart from each other.
Speaker B:And then they end up in divorce.
Speaker B:Statistics suggest that a growing number of Americans agree with Kevin, their actions showing that they somehow believe marriage is an old fashioned idea with little relevance in today's changing culture.
Speaker B:For example, I looked up some statistics recently and listen to these.
Speaker B: In: Speaker B: And by the year: Speaker B: In: Speaker B:Now, what this is simply saying is today in America, singles are the new majority in America.
Speaker B:That is not those who are married are the majority, but those who are single are.
Speaker B:Those who are unmarried are the majority in America today.
Speaker B:Now, I think there's numerous reasons for this, but I believe that the main reason is that people are waiting much longer to get married.
Speaker B: In: Speaker B:I picked up the USA Today when I was over in town and it was interesting because they had a brand new update on the average Age.
Speaker B: and woman getting married in: Speaker B: and woman getting married in: Speaker B:And so just in a few years, that age has increased dramatically.
Speaker B:And statistics tell us that it's increasing upward every year.
Speaker B:Now, we might ask the question, in those extra years before marriage, what are these singles doing in these extra years?
Speaker B:Are they.
Speaker B:I mean, they.
Speaker B:They've got extra years to memorize the Bible, extra years to meditate on Scripture, extra years to read books like I've got back here about how to be a good husband or how to be a good wife.
Speaker B:Are singles meditating on scripture, memorized in the Bible, buying books to prepare themselves for marriage?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Most singles.
Speaker B:Listen to me, Church.
Speaker B:Most singles are naked, and they're breaking God's commandments during these years.
Speaker B:In this article today in USA Today, it says there's a new order in our society today for singles.
Speaker B:School, career.
Speaker B:Now notice this.
Speaker B:Living together and then marriage, School, career, living together and then marriage.
Speaker B:And statistically, that is what they're doing.
Speaker B: tional Public radio survey in: Speaker B:80% of singles at age 20 in America are sexually active.
Speaker B:Only 20% of women when they get married today in America are virgins, only 20%.
Speaker B:This means that most singles in America are doing something.
Speaker B:Now, I'll just use a biblical word here.
Speaker B:They're doing something the Bible calls fornicating.
Speaker B:Fornicating is when you have sex with someone you're not married to.
Speaker B:And as a result, marriage has become a disappearing institution in America.
Speaker B:That is marriage.
Speaker B:It seems to be disappearing in our civilization.
Speaker B:Now.
Speaker B:This is exactly what Satan wants.
Speaker B:Satan wants to destroy, redefine the marriage relationship.
Speaker B:He wants it to disappear because it is the foundational institution upon which this country stands.
Speaker B: % in: Speaker B:What a tremendous, tremendous decrease in a period of 45 years that we see in our country of the number percentage of households in America that are home to a married couple.
Speaker B:Americans are living longer.
Speaker B:They're marrying later, exiting marriage more quickly, choosing to live together before marriage, after marriage, in between marriage, and as an alternative to marriage, singles.
Speaker B:I think God wants you to understand.
Speaker B:I'll just pause to say this that God doesn't want you to have safe sex.
Speaker B:God wants you to have sacred sex, that is, in marriage.
Speaker B:I recently came across an article when I was doing some research by William Ware of the Hartford Courant, which is a newspaper up in Hartford, Connecticut.
Speaker B:And he made this statement.
Speaker B:He said the central institution of human social life is largely missing from the musical scene and positive references to marriage are virtually non existent.
Speaker B:A look at last week's Billboard Top 50 finds plenty of songs about relationships in general, a few about dancing.
Speaker B:There's even one about moving to Boston.
Speaker B:But a single ditty about two people living in wedded bliss.
Speaker B:He said, no, there's not one.
Speaker B:He goes on to say that marriage has simply fallen off the charts in America.
Speaker B:Does America view marriage as precious the way God does?
Speaker B:I think for what I've shared with you here tonight, we'd have to say in general, in America that most Americans do not.
Speaker B:They view marriage as the men of Judah did.
Speaker B:That is, they're dealing treacherously and they're taking marriage and profaning the holy institution of the Lord and making something that God has called holy.
Speaker B:They're making it again, something that is very, very common.
Speaker B:But the question tonight, and this is a question I want to address to you, is how do you view your marriage?
Speaker B:That's what we want to look at tonight.
Speaker B:How do you really view your marriage relationship here tonight?
Speaker B:Now listen, your marriage or your view of marriage in general, your view of marriage in general will be no greater than the view you have of your own personal marriage relationship.
Speaker B:That is, if you don't hold your marriage precious, then you won't view marriage as precious in general.
Speaker B:So you have no greater view of marriage as being precious in general than you do of your own marriage relationship yourself.
Speaker B:We cannot have an understanding of the preciousness of marriage without learning about the preciousness of marriage from God who institute and ordained it.
Speaker B:I believe in the church today, in churches all across America, our vision of marriage must match God's high vision of marriage, which requires that we understand the preciousness of marriage from God's perspective.
Speaker B:So I want to briefly share with you as we look at this tonight, the preciousness of marriage.
Speaker B:I want to share with you two main reasons why I believe that God states that marriage is precious.
Speaker B:And as I share these with you, I want you to think about these in light of your own marriage.
Speaker B:I believe the first reason that God says that marriage is precious is because marriage is a divine design of God.
Speaker B:Marriage is a divine design.
Speaker B:God.
Speaker B:Marriage is not A secular institution, but it's a divine institution of God.
Speaker B:In the Bible, we see that before the institution of the church, before the institution of human government, God instituted marriage.
Speaker B:It's the foundational institution, we might say, upon which all the other institutions rest and are depended upon for their survival.
Speaker B:So we need to see that God designed marriage.
Speaker B:It's not a secular institution.
Speaker B:And I want you to look back with me to Genesis.
Speaker B:You don't have to turn back there, but if you'd like to, you can turn back to chapter two in Genesis.
Speaker B:And I want to mention just a couple things briefly with you about God's design of marriage.
Speaker B:It's a divine design, and I think these are some things we need to be reminded of and keep in our mind today when we think about the preciousness of marriage.
Speaker B:Firstly, I think we need to be reminded that God designed marriage for male and female.
Speaker B:Let me say that again.
Speaker B:God designed marriage for male and female.
Speaker B:In Genesis 1:27, it says, so God created man in his own image.
Speaker B:In the image of God, he created him.
Speaker B:Male and female created he them.
Speaker B:And then if we go to verse 18, when we look at the first marriage relationship, the Bible says, and the Lord God said, it's not good that man should be alone.
Speaker B:He said, I will make a help meet for him.
Speaker B:And the help meet that God made for Adam was not another man and it was a woman.
Speaker B:And it's very, very important, I think, that we stress this and understand this as part of God's divine design.
Speaker B:In fact, in verse 22 and 23 of Genesis chapter 2, if you're still looking there, it says in the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
Speaker B:And Adam said, and actually in the Hebrew, if you go back in the Hebrew, it's actually Adam sang.
Speaker B:Adam sings a song here when God presents Eve to him.
Speaker B:And Adam says, this is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh, and she shall be called woman because she was taken out of man.
Speaker B:When Adam saw her, he saw that she was different than he was.
Speaker B:And he was excited about those differences.
Speaker B:I mean, she looked a little bit different than he did.
Speaker B:And he liked the way that she looked different.
Speaker B:She was a woman, he was a man.
Speaker B:I like what Elizabeth Elliot says.
Speaker B:She says, throughout the millennia of human history, up until the past two decades or so, people took for granted that the differences between men and women were so obvious as to need no comment.
Speaker B:They accepted the way things were.
Speaker B:But our easy assumptions have been assailed and confused, we have lost our bearings in a fog of rhetoric about something called equality.
Speaker B:So that I find myself in the uncomfortable position of having to belabor to educate people what was once perfectly obvious to the simplest peasant.
Speaker B:When I read that, I thought, wow, very, very godly woman.
Speaker B:Elizabeth Elliot says, listen, it wasn't just a few years ago the simplest peasant understood that God made male and God made female and that marriage was for male and female.
Speaker B:But he says today.
Speaker B:She says, today we have to educate people to something to understand something that the simplest peasant understood just a few years ago and give you a few examples of what's happening in regard to this in America today.
Speaker B:There's a lot of gender confusion, we might say.
Speaker B:That's one reason I'm bringing this up, because I think it's important that we understand what's happening in our country today.
Speaker B:In Germany, a 12 year old boy was allowed to become the world's youngest transsexual.
Speaker B:Tim, now known as Kim, had declared himself a girl early in life.
Speaker B:He has recently been undergoing hormone treatments and is now waiting for a sex change surgery.
Speaker B:Even as doctors admit there are ethical difficulties in any case of a young child, they are going ahead so that the boy will not experience male puberty.
Speaker B:He's now 14, and according to press reports, the child dresses in fashionable clothes, has long blonde hair and blue eyes, and dreams of moving to Paris to become a fashion designer.
Speaker B:You say preacher, that's over in Germany.
Speaker B:I know stuff over in Europe's messed up, but that's not in the United States of America.
Speaker B:Well, listen to the words of a recent article in the Miami Hurl newspaper.
Speaker B:Miami, Florida.
Speaker B:One little girl entering Broward county kindergarten this fall is actually a little boy.
Speaker B:Few will know this genetic truth because a 5 year old's parents and school administrators have agreed that it's in his best interest to blend in as a female.
Speaker B:Mental health professionals have diagnosed Pat, not his real name, with gender dysphoria, a condition in which a person believes that he or she is the opposite gender.
Speaker B:After two years of examination, they have determined that he is not simply effeminate or going through a phase.
Speaker B:Our society is so confused about gender today that they come up with a new name called gender dysphoria to describe or give a condition.
Speaker B:So a little boy to tell a little boy that he's not really a little boy.
Speaker B:God didn't mean him to be a little boy.
Speaker B:He was really meant to be a little girl.
Speaker B:A little girl was meant to be a little boy.
Speaker B:All I can say about that is baloney.
Speaker B:God's design of the sexist, listen, is not a negotiable design, but it's a permanent design.
Speaker B:I think, first, we need to be reminded.
Speaker B:I'm just taking a few minutes on this.
Speaker B:That God designed marriage for male and female.
Speaker B:Secondly, we need to be reminded in God's divine design that God designed marriage with distinct functional roles.
Speaker B:He designed marriage with distinct functional roles.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And let me just add to that and say, and these roles were rooted in creation, because that's important to understand.
Speaker B:God designed marriage with distinct functional roles, and these roles were rooted in creation.
Speaker B:Look at verse 15 of Genesis chapter 2 if you're still back there.
Speaker B:And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
Speaker B:Now, as we look at Genesis chapter 2 and verse 15, and we look at other places in scripture, we see that God has distinct roles for the man and God has distinct roles for the woman.
Speaker B:And the way God made a man, God made the man to be the protector and the provider.
Speaker B:God said, I want you to dress the garden and I want you to keep the garden, or I want you to provide, I want you to protect.
Speaker B:And that's what that word keep means.
Speaker B:A man is to be a provider.
Speaker B:A man is to be a protector of his wife, of his family.
Speaker B:The man is to be the head of the wife.
Speaker B:We see that even in Genesis chapter two, in verse 18, as we go down through this scripture where God gives man the.
Speaker B:The command to name the animals, and by naming the animals, it indicates headship of the man, authority of the man.
Speaker B:And the reason I'm saying this is back in Genesis chapter two is because a lot of egalitarians today would say, well, the result of these functional roles is not.
Speaker B:It wasn't the way that it originally was.
Speaker B:When God created man and woman, the reason it happened that is because man sinned.
Speaker B:And so we need to understand.
Speaker B:And John Piper, I think, addresses this very, very well.
Speaker B:He says this.
Speaker B:He says, in the Bible, differentiated roles for men and women are never traced back to the fall of man and woman into sin.
Speaker B:Rather, the foundation of this differentiation is traced back to the way things were in Eden before sin warped our relationships.
Speaker B:Differentiated roles were corrupted, not created by the fall, they were created by God.
Speaker B:Now, again, that's so important for us to understand today because there's a lot of confusion in America today about gender distinctions as far as role relationships.
Speaker B:In a marriage of a husband and a wife, a wife, God designed her to be a primary, and I say primary, nurturer and caregiver and the man to be the primary protector, the provider and friends.
Speaker B:God hadn't changed his mind about this.
Speaker B:God still feels a way about this today that he did when he first created man and he first created woman.
Speaker B:And God says, this is my design, this is my plan.
Speaker B:And I want you to understand that I design marriage.
Speaker B:And marriage is very precious to me.
Speaker B:And I'm sharing this with you tonight because anytime that we distort God's design of marriage, then we're not holding marriage as precious and God will hold us accountable for that.
Speaker B:Let me say something thirdly here about God's divine design.
Speaker B:That is, God designed marriage to be a one flesh relationship.
Speaker B:A one flesh relationship.
Speaker B:In verse 24, Genesis chapter 2, it says, Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife.
Speaker B:And they shall be what they shall be, one flesh.
Speaker B:Now Jesus gives us further insight into the meaning of this verse in Matthew chapter 19.
Speaker B:When the Pharisees come to him and they ask him the question, they say, jesus, is it okay to divorce a wife for any cause?
Speaker B:And of course they're trying to trick him.
Speaker B:They're trying to ask him a question to trick him into giving an answer that would be contrary to what the Bible would say.
Speaker B:And so Jesus answers them this way.
Speaker B:He says in verse six, he says, have you not read that he which made them in the beginning made them male and female?
Speaker B:I like that.
Speaker B:I can imagine Jesus standing there and said, haven't you read this?
Speaker B:Are you so ignorant?
Speaker B:Don't you know this?
Speaker B:You ought to know this yourself.
Speaker B:And it's like, let me give you a little Bible lesson.
Speaker B:Have you not read that he which made them from the beginning are male and female?
Speaker B:And said, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife, and they too shall become one flesh?
Speaker B:Then he continues in this very well known verse that we hear many weddings today.
Speaker B:And he says, wherefore there are no more 2 or Twain, but one flesh, what therefore God hath joined together, he said, let not man put asunder.
Speaker B:That is, marriage is a divine joining of God between a man and woman into a one flesh relationship.
Speaker B:Now becoming one flesh is a heart, we might say, of what marriage is.
Speaker B:It's a divine joining by God into a one flesh relationship between a man and between a woman.
Speaker B:Now, I've taken a few minutes and I'm not going to take a lot more time tonight.
Speaker B:Some of this stuff.
Speaker B:I'm sure you say, well, I already know some of this, but we need to be reminded in light of the fact that God says that marriage is precious and is to be held precious and viewed as precious by everyone.
Speaker B:And part of doing that is understanding that God is a divine designer, is the divine designer of marriage.
Speaker B:And God divinely designed marriage to be a one flesh relationship.
Speaker B:He designed it to be a marriage relationship where the man and woman have distinct functional roles.
Speaker B:And also he designed it for a man and woman.
Speaker B:So it's very, very important as we look at some of this to really understand that.
Speaker B:Now let me give you a second reason.
Speaker B:I want to spend a little bit more time and you may not have thought about this as much, but this is very, very important for us to understand that is not only is marriage a divine design, but marriage is a divine display of God.
Speaker B:It's a divine display of God.
Speaker B:You have listened to the first part of a two part message by Evangelist Sam Wood.
Speaker A:Thank you for joining the Fortifying youg Family podcast.
Speaker A:And if you feel encouraged by today's teaching, give us a follow so we can invite you back and share us on your socials so more marriages and families can be strengthened and fortified through the truths of God's word.
Speaker A:Remember, the fortifying your family starts with a strong belief in God's Word.
