“Peace has in it confidence in the Lord: that He directs all things, provides all things, and that He leads to a good end.” - Arcana Caelestia §8455
Kempton New Church

June 2013

Dear Neighbor,

June is a popular month for a wedding. This June, the Supreme Court will issue rulings on two cases affecting the definition of marriage. As Christians, we seek to be guided by what the Lord teaches us in His Word. Here are some Scriptures relating to the holiness of marriage, and to the alternatives being put forward, to guide your thinking and your life. May the Word be a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.

The holiness of marriage

Genesis 1:27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

28 And God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it….”

Genesis 2:22  Then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.

23 And Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”

24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

Isaiah 62:1.  For Zion’s sake I will not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, and her salvation as a lamp that burns….

4 You… shall be called “My Delight is in Her,” and your land “Married”: for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.

5 For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you; and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

Matthew 19:4  And [Jesus] answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’

5 “and said, ‘For this cause a man shall leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?

6 “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Revelation 21:2  And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them and be their God.

Revelation 22:16  I Jesus have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches.…

17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come….

20 He who testifies these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly. Amen.” Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

The unholiness of the practice of homosexuality

Genesis 19:4  Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house.

5 And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally”….

15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city.”

16 And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought out and set him outside the city….

24 Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of the heavens. [See also Judges 19:22–23.]

Leviticus 18:22  You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination. [See also Leviticus 20:13.]

Romans 1:21  although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened….

24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies between themselves,

25 who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.

27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one for another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their perversions. [See also 1 Corinthians 6:9.]

The Lord does not condemn but calls us to repentance.

Mark 2:16  And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?”

17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of the physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”

John 8:3–4  And the scribes and Pharisees…. said to Him, “Master, this woman was caught in adultery, in the very act.”

7 …He said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.”

11 …And Jesus said to her, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.”