Fellowship: Newly Married Couple

One of our serving ones in the literature service just got married last Friday. Though he has been eating lunch with us during office working days and is close to our family we could not attend his wedding due to the limitation of the number of invited guests. Because of the persecution faced by the churches in North India at the present time, some families have been affected, and one brother's marriage which was scheduled a day after this brother's marriage had to be canceled as he could not be released yet from the imprisonment for the sake of the gospel. For that reason, the marriage was conducted in a simple and quiet eat and only close relatives and saints in the same district were invited. Therefore, yesterday, after three days of their marriage, we invited them officially to the office for a time of fellowship, prayer, and lovefest. This was the best way I could think of shepherding and cherishing the newly married couples along with their relatives.

Ephesians 5:31For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh.

As we had a time of informal small group fellowship, the Lord gave me the burden to share for this couple, for all the other married couples, and also as a preparation for the young saints. Marriage was ordained by God for multiplication and much more for the fulfillment of His eternal purpose in creating man. My burden was simple, oneness between the spouses and loving one another in the divine love of God. I testified in the presence of my wife, how we have been praying together this prayer almost every day, "Lord, cause us to be one with You and one with one another. Lord, cause us to love You and love one another." According to the truth of the Bible, husband and wife are one flesh. This is practical only when the couple is one with one another and loves one another. Without oneness and love, there can be no one flesh between husband and wife. However, for the oneness to be a reality, though God Himself is the oneness and He can only grant the oneness, there are certain prerequisites from the human side that need to be fulfilled. They are listed in Ephesians 4:1-3. I simply read and declared the word of God as they are and encouraged the married couples to practice these human responsibilities of being lowly, meek, long-suffering, bearing one another in love, and being diligent to keep the oneness. May the Lord bless His words to all the married saints for the reality of the oneness of being one flesh in the marriage life.

I beseech you therefore, I, the prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering, bearing one another in love, being diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit in the uniting bond of peace. Ephesians 4:1-3

A married brother and four sisters also testified of their marriage life especially their relationship with their spouse as a testimony and encouragement to the newly married couple. Then, we continued our fellowship over lovefeast lunch. In the humanity of Christ, I did all that I could do officially to shepherd this brother as he newly got married. I allowed him to take marital leave to prepare for his marriage and allowed him to work from home as he requested a week after his marriage. Should he request for a honey trip and a holiday too, I believe it would have been granted. But I left it to them to decide.

In the church in Gurugram, we have not yet conducted a proper marriage among the saints. All marriages that we have witnessed so far were not really from our locality though they have some connection with the church here. There are a couple of unmarried saints in the church life. I do believe, the Lord will grant us a breakthrough in the matter of marriages in the church life. 

May the Lord's will be done among all the saints, especially in their marriage life.