Page 70 - The Marriage Covenant

visiting temple prostitutes. One man had even taken his father’s wife to be his own. There
was great transgression as many were partaking of the blood and body of Christ in an
unworthy manner. (I am speaking here of the substance of what the bread and wine point
to.)
Paul chastised them severely, and even declared that he had determined to turn the
transgressor over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh that his soul might be saved in the
day of Christ (I Corinthians 5:5). If you continue in sin, do you suppose that God will not
turn you over to Satan for the destruction of your body? He surely will. Even now, many are
sick, and some will die, because they have treated the blood of the covenant as an unholy
thing.
Yet, a remarkable thing is observed in Paul’s next epistle. The man who had taken his
father’s wife to be his own, bringing great shame to the name of Christ, had repented and
put away his father’s wife. There was yet room for repentance in the eyes of God. The man
was restored to God and to fellowship with the body of Christ.

II Corinthians 2:6-10
Sufficient for such a one is this punishment which was inflicted by the majority, so
that on the contrary you should rather forgive and comfort him, lest somehow such
a one be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. Wherefore I urge you to reaffirm your
love for him. For to this end also I wrote that I might put you to the test, whether you
are obedient in all things. But whom you forgive anything, I forgive also; for indeed
what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the
presence of Christ.

If you are experiencing conviction of your sin, then God’s Spirit is yet striving with
you, seeking to turn you to righteousness. There is yet room for repentance. If Yahweh had
forsaken you due to continual transgression, then you would not be able to repent. He
would give you over to your sin, and you would remain hardened until the stroke of
judgment fell.
This is a serious matter. Do not delay to repent of your sins. Confess them to God and
to those you have transgressed against. Fear God and pursue righteousness. If you shrug
off the conviction, God will not strive with you forever. He will send upon you a spirit of
delusion so that you will believe a lie and will be hardened until His judgment falls.

II Thessalonians 2:10-12
Because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved... for this reason
God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is
false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took
pleasure in wickedness.

I have strayed somewhat from the subject of betrothal, but the Spirit convinces me
that I have not strayed from His message. Let us now return to our examination of
betrothal.
According to the custom of the Jews, which is also the pattern demonstrated by Christ,
a man would enter into a marriage agreement and would then depart to prepare a home in
which to live with his bride. During this period following the betrothal much activity would
be going on. As the Groom was preparing a Bridal chamber, his father was also making