To coincide with Blessing of Marriage Service
Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke 9:18-21 is about Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ.
Luke 9:18-21
9:18. And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"
9:19. So they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."
9:20. He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."
9:21. And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one,
Confession and recognition of Jesus determine our success in following Him, marriage, and future, up to entering kingdom of Heaven forever.
There are two kinds of confession and recognition of Jesus as follows:
The practices of the marriage that recognizes and confesses the cross of Christ are as follows:
God blesses us.
Peace and grace in the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Luke 9:18-21 is about Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ.
Luke 9:18-21
9:18. And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"
9:19. So they answered and said, "John the Baptist, but some say Elijah; and others say that one of the old prophets has risen again."
9:20. He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said, "The Christ of God."
9:21. And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one,
Confession and recognition of Jesus determine our success in following Him, marriage, and future, up to entering kingdom of Heaven forever.
There are two kinds of confession and recognition of Jesus as follows:
- General confession and recognition, namely recognizing and confessing Jesus as John the Baptist and Elijah.
It is the physical confession and recognition, especially recognizing Jesus because of His activity and physical miracle.
Revelation 13:13-14
13:13. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heavenon the earth in the sight of men.
13:14. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived.
Satan can do physical miracle and he even makes fire come down from heaven.
If a Christian recognizes Jesus generally only, he will worship Satan, so his following to Jesus fails. - Special confession and recognition.
Peter's confession was the one of Jesus as Messiah of God.
Messiah means One who is Anointed.
There are four anointed offices as follows: the king, the high priests (servant), the prophet (human) and Son of God.
If these four offices are connected, they will form the cross.
Recognizing Jesus as Messiah is the same as recognizing His cross.
Luke 9:18
9:18. And it happened, as He was alone praying, that His disciples joined Him, and He asked them, saying, "Who do the crowds say that I am?"
Jesus prays so all of us know His cross, and we experience success in following Him in the world up to the Heaven.
Tonight, Jesus prays so the marriage can recognize Jesus and His cross. It makes successful marriage in God until entering perfect marriage in marriage supper of the Lamb of God when Jesus comes a second time on the glorious clouds.
Revelation19:9
19:9. Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’"And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God."
The practices of the marriage that recognizes and confesses the cross of Christ are as follows:
- One must experience redemption and freedom from sin, especially six sins that destroy the marriage.
1 Corinthians 5:8,11
5:8. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
5:11. But now I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral(1), or covetous(2), or an idolater(3), or a reviler(4), or a drunkard(5), or an extortioner(6)––not even to eat with such a person.- sexually immoral.
- covetous.
- an idolater. One of idolatry is the hardness of heart or self-truth.
- a reviler, true things are said false and false things are said true.
- a drunkard, smoking and drugs abuse.
- an extortioner.
Quarrel will happen until there is divorce.
The divorce is the same as the head is separated from the body which means death. Getting married with other woman or man after the divorce means decay.
If the six sins are cast away, we can live in sincerity and truth.
Proverbs 10:2
10:2. Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, But righteousness delivers from death.
If we live in righteousness and hold fast to true teaching word, our marriage will be delivered from death and blessed by God. - Serving and ministering to God.
Hebrews 9:14
9:14. how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
1 Timothy 4:8-10
4:8. For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
4:9. This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.
4:10. For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.
Living in the world is a struggle, but do not forget that Jesus has already struggled for us, so we can serve and minister God. We must struggle to minister God although we face a lot of challenges and obstacles.
There are double promises in the worship, namely promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. - Living in the world is bitter. Only a tree can make it sweet. A tree refers to the cross.
Exodus 15:23-25
15:23. Now when they came to Marah, they could not drink the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah.
15:24. And the people complained against Moses, saying, "What shall we drink?"
15:25. So he cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a tree. When he cast it into the waters, the waters were made sweet. There He made a statute and an ordinance for them. And there He tested them,
The sign of the cross means we experience renewal from carnal men to spiritual ones like Jesus.
If a husband is renewed up to being like Jesus and so is the wife, they will become one.
Ephesians 4:23-25
4:23. and be renewed in the spirit of your mind,
4:24. and that you put on the new manwhich was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.
4:25. Therefore, putting away lying, "Let each one of you speak truthwith his neighbor," for we are members of one another.
The renewing is started from having sweet fruit of lips. It means no lie, but speaking good and true word.
If we are honest, we will become the house of prayer, so our prayer is answered by God.
Proverbs 15:8
15:8. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD, But the prayer of the upright is His delight.
We must be renewed continuously and when God comes a second time, we are renewed to become as glorious as Him. We are with Jesus forever and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.
God blesses us.