Marriage under Gods Laws and with His Blessing

The obvious outcome of the Governments intention to change the definition of marriage here in the United Kingdom will certainly allow for same sex marriage. This will amend the marriage act and enable a situation to exist whereby an Act of Parliament totally opposes Gods Law. When I served my country as a Police Detective, I enforced Laws which had been passed for the protection of life and property and in the defence of peace. These Laws were based on Moral codes found in Scripture. I can’t think of a law which actually opposed the Laws of God.  However this Law does and although we as Christians don’t have jurisdiction in any way over what happens in the world I don’t believe that the world has the right to have Bible believing Christians comply with Laws which are in our view sinful.  This does not mean that I hate homosexuals or want to see them being treated unjustly in any way but as a Bible believing Christian I see that the proposed changes oppose Gods Law and I cannot accept that Christians should comply with a law which is so obviously against the Word of God.     

When Government changed the Sunday Laws, or as is happening today, the Laws concerning Marriage should we throw our hands up in the air in dismay and think that for Christians all is lost.

When I studied the Laws concerning Sunday I found that since 321 AD governments have used secular Laws, Church decrees and cannons to force God’s people to follow practices which directly oppose scripture. When Constantine on 7^th March 321 decreed that Sunday should be a day of rest in the Roman Empire in honour of the “invincible sun” he was enforcing a day to be set aside which was opposed to God’s day. As such Christians were forced to comply with a Law which opposed God’s Laws.

Here in the UK Acts of Parliament, enacted as late as the 17^th century, enforced Church attendance on a Sunday and forced those Christians, particularly the early Baptists who kept God’s command to rest on a Saturday, to attend the “Sunday  Sacraments”. Punishment for keeping Saturday as a day of rest extended to execution throughout the Roman Empire until 1661 when the last known execution in England took place of a Sabbath keeper the Baptist Minister John James of White Chapel London who was hung drawn and quartered for preaching a sermon on the keeping of the fourth commandment. After that dreadful execution the Conventicles Act of 1664 was introduced to prevent more than five persons gathering for religious purposes outside of the permissions of the State Church. Those who refused, and there were many, were prosecuted under such acts as the Conventicles Act of 1664. These brave men and women abided unto death with God’s Laws and refused to acknowledge mans laws. Many were imprisoned and many fled to Holland to evade prosecution. (You can read more about this in my booklet on the subject).  In effect they stepped out of the Law of man and remained within the Laws of God.

The same control exists in the Church and in government when we look at Marriage. Historically marriage varies according to the culture and the time but we Christians should only be concerned with the issue of Marriage from a Biblical perspective. So what is Gods perspective on marriage.

God makes it clear that a man and a woman should be united and in doing so become one flesh;

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh”. Gen 2:24.

Yeshua (Jesus) said  "Haven't you read that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female', ⁵ and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh' Matt 19:4-5

He also said “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law, But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female'. ⁷ 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, ⁸ and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together let man not separate." Mark 10:5-9.

Paul wrote ²⁸ “In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no-one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— ³⁰ for we are members of his body. ³¹ "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." Eph 5:28-31.

³ The husband should fulfil his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. ⁴ The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. ⁵ Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 1 Corinthians 7:3-5

Marriage should be honoured by all;

⁴ Marriage should be honoured by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, Heb 13:4

Marriage is a blessing;

²² He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favour from the Lord. Prov 18:22

There are many other scriptures of course concerning Marriage and we see that at Cana near Galilee Yeshua (Jesus) celebrated marriage.

The practice of marriage in First Century Israel however was rather different than it is today in Christendom. The Man would make a written contract called a Ketubah meaning writing. This is simply a marriage agreement-a contract between two persons. (This has become common again today) There was a period of betrothal a period in which promises were made of marriage and there was the giving of money. There was the need for paternal consent however. There were no requirements in first century Judaism to have the marriage conducted by a religious leader or any requirement for the marriage to be recorded by the secular authorities meaning by the Romans in First Century. There were witnesses and as we see at Cana when Yeshua attended a wedding there was a wonderful celebration (John 2 v 1).

Various Laws and decrees were inaugurated by Emperor Constantine in regard to marriage in the fourth century. He forbade the marriage between Jews and Christians. The Theodosian Code in regard to marriage set out the legal Status of Marriage under the Emperor Theodosius 11 and this code was finalised in 438 AD. This Roman enactment dealt with issues concerning the dowry, property, monies and inheritance. 

In the sixteenth century the Church was concerned about what they referred to as clandestine marriages (marriages not conducted or under the authority of the Church). To deal with this the twenty fourth session of the Council of Trent 1545-1563 set out decrees in regard to marriage. This session decreed that marriages could only be valid if conducted by a priest and at least two witnesses. There had to be parental consent and at least three weeks’ notice given to the community of the proposed marriage.  This brought marriage under the control of the Church with all its non biblical traditions.

Here in the United Kingdom the Marriage Act 1753 was put on the Statute books. This was also known as "An Act for the Better Preventing of Clandestine Marriage" and that is exactly what it was created to prevent. This Act had been preceded by Cannon Law within the Protestant Church and the marriage Act of 1753 was the first secular legislation concerning Marriage.

In 1753 Philip Yorke, 1st Earl of Hardwicke, then Lord Chancellor promoted the bill that required all marriages to be conducted in a Church of England Parish Church and that banns should be called for three consecutive Sundays in that Church prior to the marriage. The only exceptions were Jews and Quakers who were permitted to conduct their own valid marriage services. Other groups, including Roman Catholics and Dissenters were required to marry in the Church of England though many then went to their own churches for a second ceremony.

The Marriage Act of 1836 did not accommodate Jews and Quakers who continued to be exempt. Until this time only Anglican Clergy were able to conduct marriages but this act allowed other persons to conduct marriages as long as they were registered by the state.

The Marriage Act is now to be redefined as a result of our Secular Government advocating same sex marriage.

I have not felt the turmoil which many of my Christian brothers and sisters have clearly felt over this issue and I have felt The Holy Spirit say to me that my heart such not be troubled as this is the way of the world and we should not enter in to such a world but be separate. Whilst praying further into this I have realised that the Marriage Act is a secular Law which has no foundation within scripture. The laws concerning marriage by an Anglican or other registered priest in a Church or by a secular registrar is also not within Scripture, but has been enforced because of control by the Church and state, in the same way as Sunday legislation has.

Christians should not be agreeing with, or condoning, legislation which is opposed to God’s Laws and we do not have to comply with the legislation already in place or the legislation which is proposed. Christians should marry in accordance with God’s Laws promising to keep commitments to each other in the form of a covenant witnessed by others and with parental consent before The God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and with His blessing only. This would be an accepted Biblical process which would be blessed by God.

Of course it would be opposed by the Laws of man which are clearly not within the precepts of God but would be acceptable and right before God. What more do we want or need other than a Blessing from God. Where in scripture or Christian History or during the time of Yeshua or Paul do we do need to be married by a priest in registered premises or by a secular registrar. We need to make our promises before God in the presence of other believers and no one else. We are called to be in the world and not of the world.

Our Politicians make these ungodly Laws and Church and state joined together attempt to coerce us to keep them. By doing so we condone whatever the Laws include. We must pray for our Politicians and leaders for their salvation but we do not have to abide by their sinful laws.  I Timothy 2 v1-4.      

I realise that there would be many other legal issues which would cause some hardship but we would not have the hardship of battling in the Spiritual realm when complying with spiritual forces opposed to God. Marriage outside of the civil law is not outside of God’s Law. We should pray and consider whether to remain in a system which forces us to keep the traditions and Laws of the State and Church. Yeshua criticised the Leaders for keeping to their traditions and forsaking God’s commands so why should we keep sinful laws and traditions. Mark 7 v 8.

Should the definition of Marriage be re-defined to include same sex marriage we Christians should opt out and marry before God, making promises to each other before God and witnesses and remain totally separate from state and Church Laws. I realise that it may be a shock for many that I a Christian pastor would advocate not being married in a Church or registered premises by a priest or Minister but that is exactly what I am saying should the marriage Act be amended to include same sex marriages.

Should Christians marry outside the Marriage Act there would clearly be issues concerning rights afforded to those who marry within the marriage act such as pensions, insurance and inheritance. These should be dealt with by action under the heading of equal rights and appeals should be made that Christians who marry in accordance with Gods Laws should have equal rights to those who marry under the Marriage Act. Christians should also make voluntary reports of non state/Church Christian marriages to the local registrars for information only.

I do object to Christians being forced to comply with any part of an Act of Parliament which condones sin.

I have found it such a blessing to step out of the Sunday laws of man and keep the Sabbath which God commanded through Moses and I am sure that Marriage outside of the Laws of man would result in the same blessings and would be celebrated in the Heavens as well as on earth.

Pastor Michael Fryer

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Marriage under Gods Laws and with His Blessing

All together in one place

Last week we at Fathers House celebrated Shavuot –The Feast of weeks which is also known as Pentecost. The command for this Feast, which can be found in Leviticus chapter 23, is to meet as a sacred assembly. We did so on both Tuesday and Wednesday evenings to praise and worship and to wave the two loaves which again is a command for this feast. We shared in the bread and wine and were taught about how Yeshua fulfilled this particular Feast. The Holy Spirit met with us as we sat in His presence in silence as He ministered His amazing Shalom. We were so touched by His being with us that it was an unforgettable and for me another life changing experience with Him.

This leads me back to my previous blogs on the subject of needing to be in fellowship with like minded believers. Yeshua made this statement about being together;

 "Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matt 18:19-20

How much clearer does Yeshua need to be? We have to learn to be in fellowship with each other in agreement in our prayers and He will answer. Of course agreement only comes when we are in line with Scripture and our prayers have to match up because God would never go against His word. The point here however is that we need to be together.

I am in contact with a number of believers who are not in fellowship anymore for various reasons. Some say that they feel God has told them to pray alone or to be separate. Some now are attending Synagogues where Yeshua is denied and some say that there are no fellowships with whom they can meet in agreement. All these dear believers are sincere and loving and many are hurting but should they be isolated from the Body of Yeshua?

I do not agree that God in any circumstances would tell a believer to remove him or herself from fellowship and pray alone. This does not agree with the advice of Yeshua or Paul as I have explained in my previous blogs and as Yeshua has stated in the verse in Mathew. This idea aligns itself more with Monasticism and does not allow for the persons gifting to be exercised or their fellow believers gifting. We are all called to be intercessors and to pray without ceasing but we all have different gifts as well which God gives us to make the Body of believers function. My question is if you are on your own and you have a teaching, pastoral, or Prophetic gift, who are you teaching? Who are you shepherding? To whom are you Prophesying?

Then there are those now who are attending Synagogues and say that the teaching on the Feasts and many other aspects of Scripture are far superior. I have every respect for the Synagogue and applaud the building of relationship with the Jewish people. I think it is wonderful to visit Synagogue occasionally and I value their desire for correct teaching and a deeper understanding of Torah-(Gods Divine Regulations- the Law). Are these believers in agreement with the Synagogue who would not teach that Yeshua fulfilled The Torah? Are they exercising their God given gifts?

I have friends who are not meeting together because there are no other believers in their area who meet on a Sabbath, or keep the Feasts or support Israel. When Shirley my wife and I began meeting with other believers fourteen years ago we didn’t understand anything at all about the Sabbath or the Feasts but as the Lord spoke to us about these things we changed to follow Gods timings; Sabbath and His Feasts. We taught that we should bless Israel and were aware that not so many people did. Now there are thousands of like minded people who bless and support Israel. Many people now keep Sabbath and the Feasts. So the answer to them is to try and find people in your area with whom you can meet with. You may want to contact me to see if I know anyone in your area who would value your fellowship.

During the second half of this year I will be holding Sunday Seminars to teach about the end times and how we can identify the false messiah and the times we are in. These seminars will be at Fathers House on 9^th June, 7^th July, 15^th September and 3^rd November. I will be discussing the areas of deception which will cause many to fall away and how we can stand in these times. I feel one of the many tactics of satan is to isolate us, make us impotent and ineffective by removing our God given ability to bless the wider body of believers.

My prayer is that as we move towards the Feasts of Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles in the autumn many of you will have found fellowship in which you can be in agreement and be functioning as the Body of Messiah and as we are called to do. I will conclude by quoting the scripture in Acts 2 which tells us that at the Feast of Shavuot they, the Apostles and the first followers of Yeshua were all in one place meeting as a Sacred Assembly.

 When the day of Shavuot came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Acts 2:1-4

Love in Yeshua

Mike Fryer

Do I stay or Do I Go

There are many Christians who are asking the question do I stay in my Church when my pastor is so opposed to Israel and there is so much opposition to the words of the prophets. I don't advocate leaving a Church without finding a new fellowship but in most areas now you will find pro-Israel Churches or small groups who pray and support Israel. You will see from my previous blogs that I have written allot about being in fellowship and the need to be part of an active body of believers. However if your pastor or Clergyman doesn't believe in the Prophecies in Scripture regarding Israel  then you can't follow him. The following may help you decide what you should do and why.

Many within Christendom are trying to raise awareness of the troubling statistics which show that antisemitism is rearing its ugly head again in Europe in the same way that it did in the years preceding the Holocaust. There are however major differences. In Europe prior to the Holocaust it was the Political leaders who were creating laws which were removing the rights of the Jews. It was an antisemitism, which although was fuelled by Christian hatred of Jews, was not led by Christianity. Christianity became one of the tools Hitler used to enable the mass murder of innocent people. The Nazi party called for boycotts, for isolation Policies against Jews and for their human rights to be removed.

Today, although there are some exceptions, Politicians are not calling for boycotts, or for the rights of Jews to be removed, the Church is sharing this offensive with Islam. We have seen calls by Church leaders to boycott Israeli companies, or companies who do business with Israel to be boycotted. The Methodist Church has travelled that antisemitic road and now the Church of Scotland is following with statements denying Israel’s Biblical and Human rights. We must not forget that the Church of England divested funds from JCB because its machines were used by Israeli soldiers and some clergy within the C of E are still advocating boycotts. I suspect the Church in Wales will be next. Who are these so called Christian leaders and what are their beliefs? Are they Christian? Do they believe in the Word of God? Do they teach the prophecies of Daniel, Isaiah and others through to John in Revelation? Or are they following another spiritual religious path which endangers Judeo/Christianity and the human rights of the Jewish people.      

Theosophy is a Religious and Spiritual movement founded by Helena Blavatsky in the late 1800’s and on which she initiated the first meeting of the Parliament of World Religions. She taught the idea that all ways lead to God but that Judea/Christian values, as given to us through scripture, are now obsolete. She taught that we are now living a post Christian era and that the Bible is not the true written authority for all mankind. Theosophists today teach and claim a higher spiritual knowledge which transcends the divine regulations given to us through the word of God.  Blavatsky denied the teachings of the Bible given to us by the Jewish people and taught to us Gentiles by the early Jewish Apostles. Blavatsky wrote that “Judaism was a religion of hate and malice toward everything outside itself”.  She was also opposed to fundamental Christianity for the same reason.

I have been teaching recently that the so called “Emerging Church” of America led by men and women who have their spiritual roots in theosophy rather than in Judeo/Christianity are not in fact Christian at all but are preying on thousands of young Christians. When they call themselves Christian but are so far removed from the Biblical tenets of our faith we must ask, how they can be Christian? The leaders from this movement do not only threaten the very core of our beliefs but like their founders in theosophy are anti-Semitic in that they seek the destruction not only of Judaism the root of Christianity itself and despise the very idea that Israel has the right to defend her citizens, a right they would afford to other nations. My advice, when exposing such leaders is not to try to unravel their theology and argue its values, as we do if we see them as truly Christian, but to realise that they are trying to abrogate our Theology and beliefs because they are not Christians.

In the United Kingdom we have leaders within Christianity who are now reporting that the promises given to the Jewish people particularly but not solely concerning the land of Israel, are not everlasting or for the Jewish people of today.  What they are saying is that God has broken His covenant with Israel and does not intend to fulfil His promises to them. In other words the promises are obsolete. They are in making these false claims advocating that Christians should align themselves with Islam and support tyrannical governments in the Middle East in opposition to the writings of the Prophets including John the Apostle. Leaders within Christianity are today making statements which abrogate the very words and promises of God given through the Prophets.

They do so in the name of Social Justice for Palestinians but they also know that ordinary Palestinians have no Justice under the governance of Hamas or Fatah. Leaders within Christendom who defend accusations that the Muslim Brotherhood are not a danger to Copt Christians in Egypt or who say that Christians in Gaza are protected by Hamas clearly have motives which are rooted in the ideas, promulgated by theosophists. The idea that Judea/Christian Values are not current and that Israel and her supporters are a threat to world peace is a theosophist’s doctrine not Christian. This is the Christian anti-Zionist message and has to be seen in terms which separate it from true Christianity into a religion which is more aligned to Theosophy than Christianity. To teach that Christians should support groups like the Muslim Brotherhood who repeat that they will never accept a Jewish State in the Middle East is a clear sign that these leaders are ardent opponents of Scripture.

The “Palestinianisation” of Yeshua (Jesus) bound to the idea that the Palestinian people are being crucified by the Jews, is a twist on the antisemitism of the early Church who accused the Jews of Killing Christ and is being used by Church leaders and within Islamic. Islam has always been the strongest opponent of Christianity and with the threat of Islam becoming the prominent religion of Europe by the end of the twenty first century, according to Professor Bernard Lewis an eminent authority on Islam, why would leaders within Christendom stand alongside Islamists who call for the destruction of Israel.

As we expose the Christian antisemitism of the years prior to the Holocaust those anti-Semites within Church leadership try to expunge that memory by creating the view that the Palestinian is the new Jew and that the Jews are the new Nazi’s. These same leaders accuse Biblical Christian Zionists, when speaking about Holocaust; of using the Holocaust to defend the State of Israel. They clearly don’t want Christendom to learn the lessons of history.

We have to acknowledge that those who teach against the prophecies of God, those who oppose Israel in favour of another Arab state, those who deny the oppression of ordinary Palestinian people by Hamas and Fatah, in order to pursue their goal of denying Israel her human rights are not bible believing Christians. So who are they, are they Theosophists or are they simply anti-Semites.

Theosophy is in part antisemitic and is spreading throughout Christendom destroying our beliefs, our calling and our understanding of the promises of God and who God is. If you are sitting under such teachers don’t try and argue using the Bible as they don’t believe it. You must get out and join with a fellowship which is being led by a Bible believing pastor or you will be dragged along a path which God has not set for you and which will lead you to become an enemy of God and the people He calls the Apple of His eye. 

Michael Fryer