Prov. 18:22, 19:14
AE 45, especially part 3
*United in Christ: Preparing for Christian Marriage, *CPH.
Trobitsch (sp?). I Married You.
Mark Gungor. Laugh your way to a better marriage.
AE 45: 38: That is what it means to find a wife. Many have wives, but few find wives. Why? They are blind; they fail to see that their life and conduct with their wives is the work of God and pleasing in his sight.
AE 45:46: But the greatest good in married life, that which makes all suffering and labor worth while, is that God grants offspring and commands that they be brought up to worship and serve him. In all the world this is the noblest and most precious work, because to God there can be nothing dearer than the salvation of souls. Now since we are all duty bound to suffer death, if need be, that we might bring a single soul to God, you can see how rich the estate of marriage is in good works. God has entrusted to its bosom souls begotten of its own body, on whom it can lavish all manner of Christian works. Most certainly father and mother are apostles, bishops, and priests to their children, for it is they who make them acquainted with the gospel. In short, there is no greater or nobler authority on earth than that of parents over their children, for this authority is both spiritual and temporal. Whoever teaches the gospel to another is truly his apostle and bishop. Mitre and staff and great estates indeed produce idols, but teaching the gospel produces apostles and bishops. See therefore how good and great is God’s work and ordinance!
Gerhard, Heaven, § 51. (5) From the parabolic description of this blessedness. You see, anything joyful and good that happens in this life, anything desirable and lovable, all of it is set forth as a foreshadow of the blessedness and happiness of eternal life so that there may be a hint that eternal life is going to be the fullness of all good things, the treasury of every happiness, <P9:334> the end and fulfillment of every desire. The blessedness of the elect is compared to:
(a) A wedding. Rev. 19:7: “Let us rejoice and be glad because the marriage of the Lamb has come.” Verse 9: “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” At a wedding all the guests rejoice (Matt. 9:15). So also in eternal life all the blessed will rejoice. At a wedding people eat until they are full, drink until they are gladdened. So also the blessed will eat, drink, rejoice, and be glad (Isa. 65:13). Ps. 36:9: “They will feast on the abundance of the house of the Lord, and they will drink of the river of heavenly pleasures.” <C20:369> At a wedding there is sweet music; so in eternal life the chorus of angels and men will sing their praises to God in very sweet harmonies. At a wedding the most intimate and indissoluble bond between groom and bride begins. The bride is taken to her husband’s house and shares in his honor, goods, etc. In the same way in eternal life the indissoluble fellowship between Christ the bridegroom and His Bride the church will follow. The Bride will be led into the Groom’s heavenly home, where she will share in all the good things of heaven. From the wedding hall all will be driven out who do not have on a wedding garment (Matt. 22:13). The same thing will happen at the heavenly wedding, and “outside are the dogs” (Rev. 22:15).
Therefore the first natural bond of human society is man and wife. Nor did God create these each by himself, and join them together as alien by birth: but He created the one out of the other, setting a sign also of the power of the union in the side, whence she was drawn, was formed. For they are joined one to another side by side, who walk together, and look together whither they walk.—St. Augustine, On the Good of Marriage, Par. 1
The Evangelical parsonage, founded by Luther, became the model and blessing of the entire German nation, a nursery of piety and education, a place of social welfare and social equality. Without the German parsonage, the history of Germany since the sixteenth century is inconceivable (Adolf von Harnack, quoted by Carter Lindberg, “the Future of a Tradition: Luther and the Family,” in All Theology is Christology: Essays in Honor of David P. Scaer, 141).
You can learn how to fall in love again, with work (Gen. 2, 24:67).
Contempt = relationship over or soon will be.
Healthy couples 5x more positive things said/done than negative in a day.
Revisionist view of marriage (contra Luther’s quote on souls): a deep emotional commitment (soul mate); sexual and emotional union—the goal is personal fulfillment.