Divine Object Lesson of Marriage-Ephesians 5:21-33

This coming Lord's Day we'll be looking at "The Divine Object Lesson of Marriage" (Eph 5:21-33). Love for God and spouse was no better seen than in the life of Dr. Robertson McQuilkin, the beloved former president of Columbia Bible College when his wife Muriel suffered the ravages of Alzheimer's disease. In March 1990 Doc McQuilkin announced his resignation in a letter with these words: "My dear wife, Muriel, has been in failing mental health for about eight years. So far I have been able to carry both her ever-growing needs and my leadership responsibilities at CBC. But recently it has become apparent that Muriel is contented most of the time she is with me and almost none of the time I am away from her. It is not just 'discontent.' She is filled with fear--even terror--that she has lost me and always goes in search of me when I leave home. Then she may be full of anger when she cannot get to me. So it is clear to me that she needs me now, full-time. Perhaps it would help you to understand if I shared with you what I shared at the time of the announcement of my resignation in chapel. The decision was made, in a way, 42 years ago when I promised to care for Muriel 'in sickness and in health...till death do us part.' So, as I told the students and faculty, as a man of my word, integrity has something to do with it. But so does fairness. She has cared for me fully and sacrificially all these years; if I cared for her for the next 40 years I would not be out of debt. Duty, however, can be grim and stoic. But there is more; I love Muriel. She is a delight to me--her childlike dependence and confidence in me, her warm love, occasional flashes of that wit I used to relish so, her happy spirit and tough resilience in the face of her continual distressing frustration. I do not HAVE to care for her, I GET to! It is a high honor to care for so wonderful a person." Dear friends, such love did not just happen! It came from inner resolve of a young husband who had determined forty-two years before to live under the authority of God's directives regarding how a godly man must love his wife--as it is spelled out in Ephesians 5. Join us for this study.