What the Lord has Joined
God compares the relationship that a man and a woman has with his relationship with the Church. What about the Church with one another? Doesn´t he say love one another AS I have loved you?
Matt 19:3-11
3 The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? 4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?
6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. 7 They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? 8 He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.
10 His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry.
11 But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given.
Cleave: Glue together
Joined: Put together, Yoked together, put together to pull in the same direction.
· When two people get together in a sexual relationship they become one flesh. Whether good or bad, with the purpose of marriage or just sex.
1 Cor 6:16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
· Man can glue together, But only God can yoke together. There are relationships that men put together and there are those that the Lord puts together.
· There are relationships that are God ordained and there are those that are not. I am looking for those that are. Zb.. written on my heart.. Ulrike…others…We have to stop being covenant breakers. Selfishness can no longer rule the Body of Christ.
2 Cor 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? (KJV)
· Joined: Let me look at another aspect of the word JOIN. This is not the meaning of this word that we used before, but think about this. To Join something. Become a member of, a part of something. Do you think that it is important for people to know Christ before they get married? Yes? It says in Matt 11:29 to take a yoke upon us, the yoke of the Lord.
· Some of us may be in relationships that the Lord will not Join.
· Let no MAN put asunder. Not just third parties…
· God yokes together and MEN divide, put room between, departs.
· There are no greater hurts, no greater wounds, than those that come from unfaithful friends and family. Those that promise heaven and deliver hell. Wives and Husbands, Pastors and Sheep, Leaders and workers, etc…
· Why does this happen?
1. We quickly stop seeing our Godess, and she her Prince. We find out that there are only People here on the earth.
2. We don´t leave our childhood relationships of dependancy on others to fulfill our needs and then become givers ourselves.
3. We are led by selfish gratification to something else, a new Idol (Person, Preacher, etc..)
Phil 2:25-30
But I think it is necessary to send back to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow-worker and fellow-soldier, who is also your messenger, whom you sent to take care of my needs. For he longs for all of you and is distressed because you heard he was ill. Indeed he was ill, and almost died. But God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, to spare me sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I am all the more eager to send him, so that when you see him again you may be glad and I may have less anxiety. Welcome him in the Lord with great joy, and honour men like him, because he almost died for the work of Christ, risking his life to make up for the help you could not give me. Philemon 1:23 Epaphras, my fellow-prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings.
1. Brother: What does it cost you to be a brother in Christ? Let me put it this way what did it cost you to have brothers and sisters? It may have cost you your place of being the center if you were the first born, it may have meant you had to learn to share. That is it!
2. Fellow-worker: companion in labour, (fellow-) helper (-labourer, -worker), labourer together with, workfellow. Here we begin to see division in the body of christ. When the work begins. Joke from Wayne Lyndsey: blisters and christians. There is a practical side of christianity, not just a spiritual one.
3. fellow-soldier: an associate in labors and conflicts for the cause of Christ. We seem to always find enough people that are ready to fight, but they seem to be fighting against you instead of by your side. Conflict is unavoidable, but we have to go through this too.(2Tim 2,1-4)
4. fellow-prisoner: one who is willing to be a prisoner of war with you. When the battlte really gets rough, he will stay with you and serve even in captivity. They are even willing to serve till the death.
· It is amazing how quickly people will abandon you when the problems and accusations come. I wish it were true today that because of the chains the brothers would be encouraged. We in the body of christ because of our high sense of right and wrong, we kill our wounded and quickly remove from our midst anyone that might make us look bad.
FOR THE LEADERS: Before we get cynical and blame everyone else.
Eph 5:25-33
25 Husbands,(Leaders, Pastors, etc..) love your wives,(Workers, People, sheep..) even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27 That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28 So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29 For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30 For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31 For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32 This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33 Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
OUR GOAL
Rom 8:35
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ(MY brothers and sisters)? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (KJV)
38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord(and his people).