The Master Is In Full Control

 Mt.28:19; Is.43:8-13; 45:5-23; lSam.2:1-10; Dan.2:19-22; Rev.1:17-18.

From time immemorial, the Master knows and declares that He is in perfect/absolute control of all situations and circumstances in the spirit and physical worlds. No matter how out of hand a situation may be, He knows and declares that there is no cause for alarm. There is nothing like this matter has gone beyond what God can reverse or change. Consider Him that will bring all that are dead for ages back to life and judge everyone according to his works (Jn.5:28-29), get the devil and all evil spirits bound and confined in the bottomless pit for one thousand years (Rev. 20:1-4), eradicate death, sicknesses, sorrow, etc. for His victorious saints after their several years of mesmerizing the human race (Rev.21:4). The question is, can He not give us a foretaste of what is to come? Is He unprepared now to demonstrate it? His action on your case today will not only convince you but others that learn of it that He is in full control all the times in Jesus’ name. He is set to use you as a point of contact to draw all men unto Himself. Be ready to publish your testimonies until men will be asking you to take them to the Master that is in full control of all their needs (Mt.4:24; Mk.7:31-37; Lk.8:38-40; Jn.4:7-30, 39; Acts 8:5-9, 13; etc.).

This message is treated under two sub-sections to achieve what God has appointed it for: (1) The Master’s Profile. (2)He Is In Control Of All Your Needs.

The Master’s Profile (Mt.28:19; Is.43:8-13; 45:5-23; l Sam.2:1-10; Dan.2:19-22; Rev.1:5-8,17-18; 2:1,7,8,17,18,26-29; 3:1,5,7,12,14,21; etc.):

The Master’s profile is such that no being or thing can say no when He says yes or vice versa. Once one has gotten Him on his side, the matter is settled. After He has ruled on a matter, the case is closed. You don’t refer to whatever any other being or thing is saying or doing no matter the signs following the sayings or deeds.

He Is In Control Of All Your Needs (Jn.16:33; Is. 45:22; l Pet.5:7; Mt.11:28-29; Jn.8:36; l Sam.2:1-10; Dan. 2:19-22):

Bring all your needs to Him in full assurance that there is no alternative to Him. Look away from all that are drawing your attention from focussing on Him alone because He cannot share His glory with another (Is. 48: 11; 42:8). Go to Him for all your needs.

          Now Is The Hour

Jn.5:2-9, 25-29

God’s ways are past finding out. He chooses some times to involve man in what He is doing. At other times, He does things just for the sake of exhibiting to men some of His attributes. Else, how can one explain His making whole the impotent man by the pool of Bethesda, a demonstration of His bowels of compassion and mercy. The man who had become hopeless, who never knew the LORD of all, nor expected anything from the Master’s interaction with him was surprisingly made whole without asking for it. That, which was all he desired and made futile spirited efforts to get was granted him at a platter of gold because then was the impotent man’s hour. For you, Now Is The Hour of getting your long awaited desire granted you unexpectedly by the compassionate Master in Jesus’ name. You will enjoy the LORD’s mercy today in Jesus’ name. You will go away today with miracles you never asked for in Jesus’ name. All your long standing desires will be granted you and you will be made whole in Jesus’ name. Say, Now Is The Hour for the LORD’s visitation of all my matters.

The Matters For The Hour (Jn.5:2-7, 25, 28-29).

The matters for the hour include all matters of those who have been looking for divine intervention (Jn.5:3-4), all long standing matters (John 5:5-6), all matters of those who have no man to help, the abandoned, the hopeless (Jn.5:7), all matters that can be described as the dead (Jn.5:25), all that can be described as being in the graves. Buried matters (Jn.5:28-29).

Why Now Is The Hour (John 5:6, 8, 25-29).

Now is the hour for your visitation because the Lord Jesus has seen you lie in that undesirable condition more than He can allow it. His bowels of compassion and mercy are already stirred up. He has elected to speak for you because none can resist His voice. Of course, there is none that can give deaf ears to His voice, for every knee must bow unto Him and every tongue must confess that He is the LORD. So, all your needs must bow to Him and confess that He is their LORD in Jesus’ name. Moreover, He has come down to execute judgment because He is the one the Father has appointed to execute judgment. He will bring all that are responsible for your cases to book today without fail in Jesus’ name. He will quicken you because He is able and willing. It is your time to rise up and take your bed and go home for good. You have been made whole in Jesus’ name. Tell yourself, “Now Is My Hour. I have been made whole”, Check for the problems. They are no more there. Praise the LORD.

Now, rise up with thanksgivings and claim all your miracles for the hour.

AGAINST THE SIEGE

Psalms 91:1-5; Isaiah 54:15-17; 59:19; 2Corinthians10:4-6

Very many people are being destroyed today as a result of ignorance, a terrible and horrible weapon Satan and his cohorts are using against humanity in general. He cashed on it to undo Adam and Eve, the first man and the first woman on earth and succeeded in overturning their blessings and those of their generations (Hosea 4:6; Genesis 3:1-7). Today, he is effectively using it against both believers and sinners. He lays a siege against them, a spiritual military blockade, an action whereby his unseen armed forces surrounds men and isolates them from God while continuing to attack them. The message the LORD is projecting is that He has effectual and effective weapons against them that we must employ today to counter the siege and forge ahead, for Satan is not able to stop the promises of God from being realized. Let him that has ears hear what the Spirit is saying.

Satan cages men with the followings while he furiously attacks them. Among the cages are unconfessed, unrepented and un-restituted sins (Isaiah 59:1-2; Proverbs 28:13), unbelief and doubt (James 1:6-8). Some others are caged by casual and unserious attitude in approaching God for their needs (                        ). Others are frustrated from receiving because they are not persistent (Lk.18:1). Some cancel their miracles with impatience (I Sam.13:5-14). So many ask outside God’s will to consume them in their lust and so receive nothing (James4:1-3). Some, especially old timers, hardly hold on when they are being tried. Satan makes them believe that without them the church will not move, thereby giving reasons or having ministrations that pitch them against constituted authority and delay or bar their promotion(                                  ).

Neglecting special instructions by the LORD is another deadly weapon of blockade (                                ). The enemy equally blocks people, even when they are faultless if they fail to recognize their period of trial and act appropriately (                          ). Familiarity with or disregard of the preacher/God’s Word, and failing to allow the foolish or the ass to be used by the LORD to minister to them cages them (                                  ). The list can continue.

As soon as one is snared with any of these, Satan with his cohorts will bombard him from all angles; push him away from the secret place of the most High. Such with the these snares of the fowler will experience the noisome pestilence, or fear from the terrors by night, or the arrows that fly by the day, or the pestilence that walks in darkness, or the destruction that wastes at noonday, or falling, or inability to have victory over their adversaries, or evils befalling them, or plagues coming in their dwellings, or no protection/no guidance, or bruises, or no deliverance, or bringing down, or no answer to prayers, or dishonour, or shortened life. The reverse will be the lots of anyone who discovers himself under these sieges of the unseen spiritual armed forces and draws away from those things that the devil has used to ensnare him while attacking him. That is to say that he will from now experience all the promises of Psalm 91. We should all take advantage of this revelation and enjoy the unsearchable blessings of Psalm 91 by turning a new leaf.

Divorce - A Biblical Perspective

Critical Perspectives: Divorce - A Biblical Perspective

by Eric Thurman
PhD Candidate
Drew University
Madison, NJ


In an age when marriage, once considered the bedrock of society, has tumbled from its position of moral prominence, and the divorce rate (among Christians as well) has skyrocketed, it seems that the Church has, for the most part, stood impotently looking on, unwilling or unable to tackle the thorny issues surrounding divorce. Many who are involved in divorce themselves, or seek to help others, who are, query what the Bible has to say on the subject of separation and divorce.

Biblical Teachings on Separation and Divorce

Divorce is discussed directly in a number of New Testament texts, but perhaps the most important ones are Matthew 5:31,32 (along with 19:1-12) and 1 Corinthians 7:10-15. In the Matthew texts, the Greek word apoluo is used. The term Apoluo, however, carries a broader range of meaning than the English word “divorce,” and most of its occurrences in the New Testament are along the lines of "release, set free, send away, and acquit." Matthew uses the term about seventeen times and in most of those instances it means either "to send away," as in sending away crowds, or "to release" as in releasing a prisoner (see Matthew 14:15, 22, 23; 15:23, 32, 39; 18:27; 27:15, 17, 21, 26).

Other uses in Matthew, however, refer specifically to divorce because of the phrasing of apoluo gynaika, to divorce a wife. This is the case not only in 5:31,32, but also in 19:3, 8, 9. (See also Mark 10:2, 11; Luke 16:18). In addition, the context of Matthew 19:3-9 makes it fairly certain that legal divorce, not separation, is the subject throughout the entire exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees. As they do elsewhere, the Pharisees seek to "test" Jesus and his understanding of the Law (19:3).

Marriage, Ordained by God

Matthew’s Jesus, in the discussion of marriage and divorce at 19:1-12: “And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea beyond Jordan; And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there. The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away. He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. His disciples say unto him, If the case of the man be so with his wife, it is not good to marry. But he said unto them, All men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given. For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it”, appeals to Genesis 2, 3 as the divine intention for marriage. So, it is understandable that in his debate with the Pharisees, Jesus interprets Deuteronomy 24:1-4: “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house. And when she is departed out of his house, she may go and be another man's wife. And if the latter husband hate her, and write her a bill of divorcement, and giveth it in her hand, and sendeth her out of his house; or if the latter husband die, which took her to be his wife; Her former husband, which sent her away, may not take her again to be his wife, after that she is defiled; for that is abomination before the LORD: and thou shalt not cause the land to sin, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance”. This passage says that a man may divorce his wife if he finds “something objectionable” about her, by stating that the Deuteronomic allowance for divorce was introduced only as a pragmatic concession. Perhaps like another early Jewish teacher, Rabbi Shammai, Matthew’s Jesus limits what a man may find “objectionable” to what in the Greek is called porneia. Many translations render this word as “unchastity” in this passage and “sexual immorality” in other contexts, although its precise meaning is a constant point of debate.

A Legal Loophole?

Thus, in his dialogue with the Pharisees, the more accurate interpretation is that Jesus limits justifiable divorce only to cases of sexual infidelity of some kind. Some scholars have suggested that Matthew himself has added the clause “except for porneia” to Jesus’ original teaching as a kind of concession as well, since other New Testament texts on divorce, like Mark 10:2-12, do not have Jesus naming this exception.

Within the Bible alone, the term porneia can range in use from “incest” (1 Corinthians 5:1), “adultery” (Jeremiah 3:9), “prostitution” (Matthew 21:31,32; Luke 15:30; 1 Corinthians 6:13-18), and even “idolatry” in a metaphorical sense (Revelation 17:1-5, 15,16). Since there is a more specific Greek term for adultery, moicheia, which Matthew uses elsewhere separately from porniea (see 15:19), its meaning at 5:31,32 may invoke a more general sense of sexual immorality.

Therefore, if Jesus held such a strict view of divorce, and even if those who attempted to qualify his stance allowed divorce only for instances of sexual infidelity, it is certain that Jesus, his Jewish dialogue partners, and his Christian interpreters would all agree that having sex with, much less actually marrying, another woman while married–separated or not–would amount to adultery.

Pauline Thinking on Divorce

In chapter seven of his first letter to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul uses two different terms for divorce. In 7:10,11, 15 one finds xorizo and in 7:11-13, aphiami is used. Some have suggested that while aphiami here means legal divorce, xorizo simply means separation. Since the command attributed to Jesus at vv.10,11 uses both verbs, and since that command is likely based on a tradition like the one found in Matthew 5:31,32 and 19:3-9, it is difficult to make a sharp distinction between legal divorce and informal separation.

Paul may very well be alluding to such a strict (and possibly original) saying of Jesus forbidding divorce at 1 Corinthians 7:10,11. Here, too, although Paul may be parenthetically qualifying this teaching at v.11, by allowing for divorce without remarriage, he explicitly qualifies Jesus’ teaching in vv.12-15 in light of a situation that Jesus did not address. If a believer and an unbeliever are married, they should remain so, says Paul, unless the unbeliever wishes for a divorce. In that case, the believer is under no obligation and is free to remarry. Therefore, with these two central New Testament texts on marriage and divorce, one encounters two different grounds for divorce.

Modern Thought

Early church theologians, by and large, leaned toward the teaching of Matthew’s Jesus, even going beyond it to the extent that they forbade remarriage even in the case of a legitimate divorce. Such stricture is not implied in the New Testament texts which assume that a lawful divorce allows lawful remarriage to another. Modern churches, of course, differ in their interpretations of the New Testament and their criteria for permissible divorce. Likewise, different churches may have different criteria for what counts as “proof” of infidelity.

For Further Reading

Divorce in the New Testament, by Raymond F. Collins (Liturgical Press, 2002)

Getting Marriage Right, by David P. Gushee (Baker Books, 2004)

Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage, by Kenneth E. Hagin (Faith Library Publications, 2001)

Marriage, Divorce, and Remarriage in the Bible, by Jay Edward Adams (Zondervan,1980)

Marriage Made in Eden: A Pre-Modern Perspective for a Post-Christian World, by Alice P. Mathews, M. Gay Hubbard (Baker Books, 2004)

Resolving Conflict in Marriage, by Darrell L. Hines (Whitaker House, 2001)

The Marriage You’ve Always Wanted, by Tim Clinton, Julie Clinton (Word Publishing 2000)

Home Affairs Committee publishes report on Forced Marriage

Forced Marriage

17 May 2011

In a report published today, the Home Affairs Committee criticises the lack of progress made by successive Government towards addressing the concerns raised by its predecessor Committee in 2008.

Forced marriage remains an issue that affects thousands of young people in the UK—the Committee welcomes the fact that more at-risk individuals are coming forward to seek help but warns that there is insufficient support available to them, and that this situation is set to worsen with many specialist services particularly at risk from spending cuts.

• Report: Forced Marriage
• Home Affairs Committee

The Committee is pleased with the relatively high take-up of Forced Marriage Protection Orders—293 issued between November 2008 and February 2011—but disappointed at a lack of agency follow-up to ensure compliance. In the rare instances where breaches are discovered, not enough action is taken, with only one individual jailed. It recommends that the Government, while maintaining this civil route, also criminalises forced marriage, as the Prime Minister promised to consider while in Opposition. This would send a stronger message that forced marriage will not be tolerated.
Our predecessors found that many school authorities were reluctant to take action to protect their pupils against forced marriage, in part because they feared accusations of racism. Evidence to the Committee suggests this situation has not changed: it therefore urges the Secretary of State to take a more pro-active approach to remind schools of their statutory responsibilities on an annual basis and make use of the inspection regime to improve performance.
The Committee has repeatedly raised the plight of estranged or abused partners who are under pressure from their families to sign a request for their spouses to have indefinite leave to remain in the UK, or who simply want to be kept informed of the progress of their spouse’s application, but are refused this information by the UK Border Agency because of data protection. During its inquiry, the Information Commission confirmed that there are situations in which data protection considerations can legitimately be overridden and the Committee therefore urges the UK Border Agency to encourage staff to use their discretion in these kinds of cases.
Rt. Hon Keith Vaz, Chairman of the Committee said:

"Forced Marriage is a serious issue that affects some of the most vulnerable individuals in the UK. I am very disappointed that progress on protection and awareness remains slow. I am also concerned that a loss of specialist support services due to spending cuts will stunt further progress.

We believe that the best way to deter people from forcing individuals into marriage is through criminalising forced marriage. Taking this bold step alongside providing a range of services supporting victims of violence and raising awareness in schools must be a priority for the Government. There should be zero tolerance of this harmful activity that ruins the lives of so many."

Further Information

• About Parliament: Select Committees
• Topics: Marriage