“Husbands and wives should be as two sweet friends, bred under one constellation, tempered by an influence from heaven whereof neither can give any reason, save mercy and providence first made them so, and then made their match; saying, see God hath determined us out of this vast world each for other.”
Daniel Rogers (1573-1652)
Leave a Comment » | 
Marriage, Puritans, Wedding | Tagged: Marriage, Puritans, Wedding | 
Permalink
Posted by allenmickle
“Marriage is honourable in all”, (Heb. 13:4) it being an institution of God, and that of God in paradise; by whom our first parents were directed to it, in a state of purity and innocence; God made the woman for an help meet, and brought her to the man, proposed her to him, whom he approved and accepted of, and she became his wife, (Gen. 2:18, 22-24) it was the Lord’s act and deed, and to him Christ ascribes the act of marriage (Matthew 19:6). Christ honoured it by his presence, and at such a solemnity wrought his first miracle, and manifested forth the glory of his Deity, (John 2:1, 2, 11) and what makes this state yet more honourable is, that the marriage of Adam and Eve was a type and emblem of the conjugal union of Christ and the church, (Eph. 5:32) Adam was a figure or type of Christ, and, among other things, in his marriage; and Eve, the mother of all living, was a type of the church; Adam was first formed, and then Eve; Christ was before the church, and, indeed, before all things; Eve was formed from Adam, from a rib taken out of his side; the church has her original from Christ, and her subsistence by him; all her grace, blessings, and happiness, are from him; her justification and sanctification are from him, signified by the blood and water which sprung from his pierced side. Eve was brought by the Lord to Adam, not against her will, but with it, and by him presented as a proper match for him, which he approved and accepted of; and the church was brought to Christ, and given to him by his Father, to be his spouse and bride, whom he liked, accepted of, and betrothed to himself; and her consent is obtained by the drawings and influences of his Father’s grace: and though this is no direct proof of, yet it has a favourable aspect upon, and may serve to illustrate the “supralapsarian” scheme; that Christ had an interest in his church, and she in him, and was espoused unto him before she fell in Adam; this marriage transaction between Adam and Eve being before the fall. Moreover, marriage is honourable with respect to the ends of it; which even before the fall, and supposing Adam had stood, hereby he would have had an help meet; and the first law of creation would have been carried into execution, increase and multiply; a godly seed, a legitimate offspring would have sprung from hence; families formed and built up, and the world peopled with inhabitants; and since the fall the ends and uses of it are to preserve chastity, to prevent incontinence, and to avoid fornication; as well as to answer the other ends: and particularly this state appears honourable.
– A Body of Practical Divinity – Book 4 Chapter 1 – Of the Respective Duties of Husband and Wife
Leave a Comment » | John Gill, Marriage, Uncategorized | Tagged: John Gill, Marriage | Permalink
Posted by allenmickle
I apologize for not posting this past weekend on either my review of Rapture Fiction (sorry again Crawford!) or my weekly quote from Fuller. Being home visiting the family and celebrating the death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ can be quite a busy feat! This coming weekend is even busier so I doubt I will be able to post anymore this week, let alone again for my Rapture Fiction review or my Fuller quotes. My sister is getting married on Saturday to a godly young man and I am performing the ceremony. Then I am preaching at a local church here in Toronto on Sunday evening so I will be quite busy. Therefore, I wanted to leave you with a quote for the week by our good friend Andrew Fuller. This time, because of the spirit of marriage, I draw this from his commentary on Genesis especially 2:18-25 and the creation of woman.
This selection can be found in Fuller, Works, III:9-10.
“The subject closes with a more particular account of the creation of woman. We had a general one before (chap. i.27); but now we are led to see the reasons of it. Observe, 1. It was not only for the propagation of the human race, but a more distinguished provision for human happiness. The woman was made for the man; not merely for the gratification of his appetites, but of his rational and social nature. It was not good that man should be alone; and therefore a helper that should be meet, or suitable, was given him. The place assigned to the woman in the heathen and Mahomedan countries has been highly degrading; and the place assigned her by modern infidels is not much better. Christianity is the only religion that conforms to the original design, that confines a man to one wife, and that teaches him to treat her with propriety. Go among the enemies of the gospel, and you shall see the woman either reduced to abject slavery, or basely flattered for the vilest of purposes; but in Christian families you may see her treated with honour and respect; treated as a friend, as naturally an equal, a soother of man’s cares, a softener of his griefs, and a partner of his joys. 2. She was made after the other creatures were named; and, consequently, after Adam, having seen and observed all the animals, had found none of them a fit companion for himself, and thus felt the want of one. The blessings both of nature and of grace are greatly endeared to us by our being suffered to feel the want of them before we have them. 3. She was made out of man, which should lead men to consider their wives as a part of themselves, and to love them as their own flesh. The woman was not taken, it is true, from the head, neither was she taken from the feet; but from some where near the heart! 4. That which was now done would be a standing law of nature. Man would ‘leave father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and they twain should be one flesh.’ There was no guilt, and therefore no shame: shame is one of the fruits of sin.”
2 Comments | Andrew Fuller, Marriage | Permalink
Posted by allenmickle
You are currently browsing the archives for the Marriage category.
Working out Salvation with Fear and Trembling 