Chapter 14     Spiritual Fellowship

And now we come to what may be the most important part or aspect of the marriage and the family relationship. This is an aspect that should always be in the heart and on the mind of every single Child of God who attempts to walk in the Kingdom Church of God. The husband and the wife must see themselves as being spiritual companions! Both viewing their relationship as one in which they are both making a spiritual journey through this life here and now…together!: Walking together hand in hand as the Children of God toward the wonderful eternal life that God has laid in store for them in His presence, in heaven and immortal glory.

What a wonderful blessing it is when the husband and his wife are both dedicated to walking and living in God’s Church Kingdom! There is no possible way that anyone could measure just how much help and support they receive, and in return give to one another spiritually as they travel through life’s often rough and bumpy road together.

God knows how important it is for the two of them, because He has designed it to be so, one husband and one wife walking together in the unity of the Spirit with the necessity that they be in agreement together (See Amos 3:3).  God inspired the Apostle Paul to remind the Church of believers at Corinth to not “be unequally yoked together with unbelievers” (See 2 Cor. 6:14-18). Paul asks us the question, “what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” He said this to remind us that we are the body of Christ Jesus, and that we are not to live out our lives trying to do the impossible, that is to “serve two masters” (See Matt. 6:24).  We can’t do things the way that world does, and also live according to God’s ways! That would be trying to serve two masters. I don’t know about you, but “as for me and my house we will serve that LORD” (See Josh. 24:15)!

He continues in 2 Cor. 6:16-18, to remind us that because we are children of God we “are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” And so we are to “come out from among them,’ (that is to say that we are to come out of and not live according to the ways of the world) ‘and be ye separate,’ and to be transformed by the renewing power of Christ, and not by the attitudes and opinions of the world. He continues to say, “and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” What a wonderful promise which comes directly from the inspired word of God!

This spiritual aspect  must not be ignored, and it can be clearly seen in all of the passages about the marriage relationship in which we have spent so much of our time studying. Paul says to the husbands: “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave himself for it; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 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. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself” (See Eph. 5:25-28).

It is so important that we as husbands and wives be able to realize that there is a cleansing, and a purifying dimension found in the marriage relationship that cannot be found in any other relationship in the world. Why is this? It is because there is no other relationship like it in the world!  Look and see, in the same manner in which the Church which is the Bride of Jesus Christ is made better by Her relationship with Her husband, so we too are also made better when we walk into our marriage relationship with one another living as one husband and one wife.

But you are probably asking yourselves how does this happen? Maybe you’re saying that I’ve been married now for 5 or 6 years now, and things don’t seem to me to be turning out that way in our marriage relationship. Beloved we must follow after the example that was left to us by our Lord Jesus Christ, who loved His bride so much, that He gave Himself for Her. The marriage is a relationship of love and sacrifice! This is an ongoing process, and it is one in which we are constantly growing and learning while we are following His leading! It’s this loving and sacrificial aspect that sets the marriage relationship apart from any other relationship in the world that makes it possible to have true spiritual fellowship with one another.

The Apostle Peter teaches us in 1 Peter 3:7, the Spiritual dimension by saying, “ye husbands, dwell with them’ (your wives) ‘according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.” At the closing of this passage he says, “that your prayers be not hindered” (blocked, crippled and withheld and brought to a standstill). When we both, not just the husband, also the wife, rebel and refuse to live out our marriage relationship as we are taught by God’s holy word we find that our prayers are indeed hindered. And we will find ourselves building up walls between one another, brick by brick, until we find ourselves completely separated from one another. Not being able to even talk to one another, let alone being able to share those deep feelings that we are facing. And as we build up this wall we find that we will not even have the will within us to be able to pray to God for help. Yes, dear little child of God, the very last thing that will be in our heart is to pray to the Lord, because our thoughts will only be toward our own selfish motives.

And beloved, if this is already your case, then put your hand to the plow, and don’t be found looking back, (See Luke 9:62) but look forward, and go, and ask the LORD to guide you in tearing down that wall, so that you may restore that spiritual aspect that is missing in your marriage relationship.

And as the husband grows in his relationship with his wife, he must give her honour and respect, seeing her as an heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ, living in the very same grace of life, and then God will bless his prayers, and he will not be hindered in their vital union together.  If we do not live this way with our spiritual companion, we will lose the freedom of the joy of unhindered prayers.

To live this way and to enjoy this quality of life several things are necessary for the husband and the wife:

•        They MUST worship God TOGETHER.

•        They MUST seek God’s WILL for their lives TOGETHER.

•        They MUST SERVE Christ TOGETHER in His Kingdom Church.

•        They MUST raise their CHILDREN together in the NURTURE and ADMONITION of the Lord.

•        They both MUST PRAY for ONE ANOTHER.

•        They MUST STRENGTHEN, ENCOURAGE and SUPPORT one another’s faith.

•        They must accept the authority of God’s written word, in the English language the 1611 KING JAMES TRANSLATION.

The Apostle James puts it this way in James 4:8, “draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.” The husband and his wife must draw closer to God through prayer together, for one another, reading and meditating on His written word, in fellowship, and submission to Jesus and His righteousness, and they will find that as they do, they draw closer to Christ, and to one another.

Why should we rebel against these common sense things? When we do we only handicap our own selves in the process. When we put our focus our attentions on the cares and worries of the world, we cut ourselves off, not from heaven and eternal life, but from the joys of living together here as husband and wife in the Church Kingdom of Heaven, and from our union together in our marriage relationships! The more that the husband and his wife grow in their relationship with God, and His Church, the better and more secure their marriage bond together will become!

Beloved, if our marriages are to work in the way that God has designed them to work, we, as one husband and one wife must be upright with Him. God created the marriage relationship to be a reflection of the relationship and union that exists between Christ Jesus, His Bride, and so that we would not have to live alone in the world. He has given us His word to teach and instruct us in our marriage relationship. And when husbands and the wives are obeying Him, their marriage will work.

Little Child of God, don’t try to work it out your own way! It simply doesn’t work that way. God hasn’t left it all up to mere chance. Nor has He said that we can just do any old way that we choose. He didn’t say to Adam and Eve, “you work out things that way that you want to.” It has always been, and always will be by His design that we seek out His perfect will in our lives, and follow the leading of the Holy Ghost.

And now if things are not working out right in your relationship, and you’ve considered just calling it quits, or if you have already divorced and have remarried, and now you have learned a far better and a more perfect way, starting right where you are now, with your husband or wife, I say to you, yet not I, but the Lord Jesus Christ, “go and sin no more!” And the Lord will restore even all the “locust has eaten away” (see Joel 2:25).  Let me encourage you to go back to your “first love,” and “remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first work.” (See Re. 2:5).

Admit that you’ve made a mess of things and that without Jesus Christ you can do nothing. Turn away from your pride and rebellion, and stubbornness. Confess your sin to God, and ask Him to guide and help you to build your marriage in the way that He has designed it. He can and will do it, because He is a gracious God, plenteous in His mercy and love.

Beloved the next chapters we will try to take brief look into the last subject in this series of articles on marriage and the family, by looking at “THE CHILDREN” and our responsibilities for and to them.