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Advent HOPE Sabbath School

Phil Mills: Preparation for a Happy Marriage

Phil Mills

God’s Purpose in Marriage

God’s Ideal in Courtship

The Essentials of Happiness

Key Questions Before Marriage

Courtship Question and Answer Session

Christians' resources on spouse selection.

We looked at God's purpose in marriage this morning.

And tonight We want to look at God's ideal and courtship.

Tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock we are going to look at the essentials of happiness.

And that is the 2 rules that God gives in the Bible on how you can predict the future.

You can determine if you're going to have a happy marriage.

Then our closing will be key questions in Kortrijk.

Now, at that time, we'll also make available a free workbook syllabus, the revised edition of a syllabus we prepared for a seminar last year.

This seminar is completely different from last year, but builds on that.

This information here details experience and examination of yourself in judicious counsel, and then the courtship process.

We're going to look at 1 topic we didn't get to last year, which is questions.

And we'll see how many questions we can cover in that.

I believe the Student Association of Loma Linda University has made that available for those who are here for that study time.

And then if we have any time, perhaps time for questions.

Before we look at the, just make sure I have everything working?

You know, there are many people that want shortcuts, quick fixes, Easy answers to difficult questions.

Just look at the internet if you want to find flourishing scams.

There are vitamin pills that can give painless nutrition with a junk food diet.

You can party through nursing school but get a 99 percentile on the National Council licensure examination, the NCLEX.

Don't worry about poison ivy or cure cystic acne or cure cancer.

You name it, there is someone claiming an easy solution for a price on the internet.

And you know there are books and seminars for how to find the quality mate of your dreams, the perfect match.

Well, this weekend I can't offer you any phonemes guaranteed to attract Mr.

The Bible doesn't contain any cookie cutter instant formulas for happiness.

And if you look at the courtships of the Bible, you find everyone is different.

From the instant courtship of Adam, who is 1 day old, to the courtships of the distressed Benjamites who couldn't get wives unless they seized some dancing girls at Shiloh, to Daniel who had no courtship, he was a eunuch.

You look at all of these stories of the Bible and can you name 1 that was the same?

It won't fit somebody else's story because he wants it for you to be able to share to an interested crowd on various planets.

You can tell the story of how God led you, different from anyone else's.

But there are principles in the Bible that ensure safe guidance for choice of an occupation, in direction, in courtship, in guidance in life.

These topics and principles are much bigger than a weekend seminar.

You can't even teach acne and how to treat it in a weekend seminar, let alone the spouse of your dreams.

But we can touch on some important principles and introduce the topic.

But before we do, we need to have some divine help.

And let's just bow our heads again for a word of prayer.

We need even more than than angelic effort.

Otherwise we'll say it wrong or we'll hear it wrong, and we'll get it wrong, and our time together, instead of being valuable, will be worse than wasted.

I pray that You will give no unstinted outpouring of your Spirit.

You've said that you're going to be where Jesus is to be revealed and your word is to be spoken, and that you'd be with us until the very end.

And so though we're at the very end, your promise is still in effect, and I pray that you'll fulfill it.

Is there something I need to do, a position I need to change, or if I back up a little bit?

Can you imagine traveling without maps or compass or even a guide?

Perhaps you have read of John Powell's classic exploration of the Colorado River in 1869.

This scientific expedition was forced to survive famine, attacks, mutiny, and some of the most dangerous rapids known to man, all without knowing what was going to be around the next corner.

They didn't know would there be a waterfall, would there be rapids.

After many days of constant peril, 1 of the crew members declared that he had had enough.

He wouldn't continue the journey, he wanted to get home alive.

So he climbed out of the boat and left for safety.

Meanwhile, the exploring party reached their destination safely the next day.

It's hard to travel without knowledge of what's ahead.

They have no particular direction in life, no knowledge of the future, no insight into the possible hazards facing them.

In the trackless wilderness of life, surrounded by perils, nets, traps, landmines, and beset by a thousand other perils, we need to follow a trustworthy, experienced guide, 1 who has traveled the trail and knows what is ahead.

Of all the times of life, the period of courtship, the period when we're dating, the period when we're making decisions about a future life's partner should make us feel our great need and cause us to cry out to God exclaiming, lead me, guide me, as David did Psalm 31 3.

And if we do this we can hear Him reply, follow me.

God designs that beginning with our youth, continuing through manhood and age, there will never be a step that we do not have His guidance.

As God told Jeremiah, will thou not cry from this time, that is, this time forward, my father, thou art the guide of my youth.

And not only in this life here, but we have the opportunity to follow Christ forever.

These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth, and that's in eternity.

Life is not principally made up of great leaps, but many small steps, insignificant but cumulative, very large.

And guidance is not simply for the big decisions, the big leaves, but it must be had in the myriad small decisions.

Solomon noted that the prudent considers well his steps.

We don't just consider, we must consider well our tiny steps in the direction we're going.

It is the prudent who daily ponder their steps during the period of courtship And the Bible tells us that we can receive God's direction in our courtship.

Proverbs 3, 6, God shall direct our paths.

But the directions to this promise are given just before this promise.

In matters that concern the heart, what should we do?

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Series

Phil Mills: Preparation for a Happy Marriage

God’s Ideal in Courtship

Transcript

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