Love That Glorifies God
A Sermon on Matthew 19:1-8 by Pastor Shafer Parker
Watch the sermon here.
Definition
Love that glorifies God is love that grows out of faithfulness to God’s original creation purposes for man and woman.
Outline
Love that glorifies God begins by agreeing that all God says about human beings and about marriage is good.
Love that glorifies God accepts that just as God made Adam for Eve and brought her to him, so He continues to bring men and women together. God does this through what we call Providence, that is, the Biblical teaching that God sustains and guides every human by being involved in the details of each life and in guiding them to their ultimate destiny and purpose.
Love that glorifies God knows that God is not glorified in decisions and actions that defy His purpose in creation.
a. Marriage is not to be avoided. Some are called to celibacy, but most are not. Therefore, with few exceptions young people need who love God need to prepare themselves for marriage, pray for their spouse even before they have an inkling as to who that might be, and hold themselves holy and pure in expectation of that wonderful day when their loving Father in heaven brings them a partner.b. Such people know that God is not glorified in promiscuity or serial relationships.
c. Finally, such people also know that God is not glorified if they give in to the temptation to experiment with sexual expressions that are directly opposed to the Biblical pattern of creation. If they do feel themselves drawn in those directions, they treat it like every other temptation to sin; they (1) pray for strength and healing of the mind to resist temptation, (2) steer clear from opportunities to give in to temptation, and (3) trust that the God of all grace will grant them relief.
