Now we've spent quite a bit of time lately on the subject of marriage. Quite a bit of attention on the subject of marriage and rightly so, for two reasons, First of all, marriage ought to be and can be a real blessing now. But far beyond that, it is the vehicle, the means whereby God teaches us concerning our collective relationship with Him, and our eternal being with Him. And so it's of extreme significance. Marriage, as it were, is of extreme significance to the human life, and that is mirrored in the significance to our spiritual life. So it's very important to study marriage. You know that marriage and wine go together. There is such a thing as the wine of marriage, both humanly and scripturally. Therefore you ought to learn a good bit about marriage thru wine. It follows then that there is the teaching of marriage. There is the teaching concerning wine and there are the figures concerning marriage. It is already certain that God has planned that there be a connection between the two; in his teaching and in his work. There are many figures that have to do with the marriage figure system. Some are BRIDE, GIRL, GARMENT, BRIDEGROOM; FEAST is one of the wedding-marriage figure system words. All these things have to be properly balanced. But the method is what I'm speaking of first. You heard a whole bunch of figures there on each side, and you know there is a right teaching concerning wine, and certainly there's a right teaching concerning marriage. That's the thing we're after. Well, what we have to do, as in algebra, is to get two or three fixed points, then the next one is easy to get; A is to B as B is to C--that kind of thing. Let's go back again then to the teaching of wine, the figures of wine, the teaching of marriage and the figures of marriage. Of the four, isn't it true, it is the teaching concerning marriage which is wanting in our case, because the teaching concerning wine and the figures of the other two will certainly as soon as Pam O'Neill is done, will be plainly evident, as soon as they're arranged of course, that's crucial. They've got to be identified first. So it is the teaching concerning marriage that is missing, which is the way God teaches. I'm going to give you an example of what we do and then we'll proceed to do it. I mentioned 4 or 5 figures concerning wine and 4 or 5 figures concerning marriage. Now here's an important: If it's true that God has planned that there be a direct connection between marriage and wine, then they must be proved, then they must be studied, and the teachings from those connections must be be believed. So it is that today God showed me a beautiful one. And that is 2 figures that I slipped in to those 4 or 5 examples on both sides. There's a direct connection between 2 of them and a whole avenue of teaching opened up because of the connection. An avenue of teaching which concerns the direct statements of the New Testament and further indicates where the apostles were coming from and of course also agrees with the Old. This present connection is girl and wineskin. And all kinds of scriptures confirm that there is in fact meant to be a connection and that all the scriptures taken together show just what that connection is meant to be and therefore what to do about it. A girl and her lack of spirit of herself (By the way, a sheep skin becomes a wine skin and the sheep must be sacrificed,) as it were; the girl has to give up her identity as it were, to become another identity in order to hold new wine that can then become old wine. And to do it as a sacrifice, on a sacrificial basis as devotion. How can you put it together? The clearest connection you should go to is `are you free from a wife, do not seek marriage, but if you do, you do not sin and if a girl marries, she does not sin.' Now with all this background, connect that with new wine is not put into an old wineskin. If it does, the old wineskin bursts. Now it sounds like there ought to be a connection there. The woman is water. She does not have spirit, wine of herself, she must look to the man for that. It's from the man that the spirit comes. She therefore, as the wine skin, becomes filled with new wine. You remember that no one must marry a divorced woman, that is a used sheep skin. It's hopeless--It bursts, remember, it turns to vinegar. Remember wine can't go back to being water, and the girl can't go back to being single. It either continues right or goes sour, which of course as you know is one of the natures of marriage, and the all or nothing aspect. Now, it's a little dangerous--you're a little worried right now. "Is this really true?" you're saying. You're saying, "Can this really be trusted? This is far out stuff!" And indeed it is. Can this be trusted? Only to the degree to which your faculties have been trained. To understand the language and the usages of that language and how God teaches in His teachings. Now you take the last half hour of speech and run the whole thing thru and you won't be able to knock it at any point and yet you do wind up with a [my word, this is heavy stuff] Now I'm going to do one of those things in this area of promise. I'm just going to throw it out right off hand. What's the connection between marriage and faith in Jesus? Both are based on a promise. Marriage is a covenant where a promise is made. And we know there is a scriptural connection between marriage and faith in Jesus. And as you know it is both scriptural and understood among everyone, that faith in the promise must be the beginning. And so we're off and running into looking for a figure by the very same method--figures in the two that teach concerning. The gentle rain, a woman; there's no spirit there. I'm going to talk to the sisters, you have to realize that a quiet and gentle spirit is very precious in God's eyes. The woman, of course, greatly needs the spirit as the church needs the Holy Spirit. Now understanding marriage, as I said in the very beginning is one of the things that we're pursuing now. Understanding God's will, both practically on a what to do basis in our marriages, and also God's teachings. What is the purpose concerning the teaching of marriage. It's crucial at the end.
Copyright, 1977, The Church of Bible Understanding; used without permission.
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