Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

You've Heard It Said Pt.9

Hallelujah! Amen. Let's go ahead and turn to Matthew. Tonight we're probably going to--we'll see how it goes--tonight we'll probably have a panel. We've covered some very specific issues and want to make sure that we are all hearing the same thing and dealing with, of course, the aspects through the teaching of Jesus on fornication. We are talking, now, about the sanctity of marriage and divorce and what the biblical guidelines are there. These two things speak to, really, where we are in our society today. Now, a lot of us would like to think that we are not affected, and we are. We're vexed daily; we are being inundatedwith the sins of Sodom in our society, our prosperity, our idleness; all of these things that lend themselves to the spiritual and mental warfare that idleness creates. In the midst of all that comes the perversion that Romans 1 speaks clearly to, that the prophet spoke of in the sins of Sodom and the consequences of it. We are living in a day when we are being inundated,again, with the alternative lifestyle; and this is being crammed down our throats and told that it is to be accepted and that it is normal, and it's total perversion, according to the scriptural teachings.

It's sin, and we need to address it for what it is. In the midst of all this sale of sex and the fornication, the standards in the church have become lax. Things that we would have blushed at twenty years ago are acceptable today; the standards of modesty and morality are dropping, and we're having to guard our hearts and walk in the spirit and make sure that we are not falling into fear or into legalism, but at the same time living lives of modesty, of sobriety--as we talked about--of biblical order. How do our wives dress? How do our daughters dress here in our midst? And who makes that determination? It's not made by the women. Ladies, you don't chose how you dress, your husbands do; girls, you don't choose how you dress, your fathers choose. And we‘re not moved by fashion. Fashion doesn't dictate how the church carries itself. We saw in Thessalonians the need to sanctify ourselves, and how we ought to walk and to please the Lord more and more, the Scripture says. We talked about those issues and how we can look, not to get by, but to get better; not what's acceptable, what honors God and is most glorifying to Him in our midst. We talked a little bit about personal conscience, and we talked about the fact that we have weaker and stronger among us. No matter what some of us do, lust is going to be a problem in men's hearts. I took a survey, ladies, yesterday--that you would like to know the results of--in the men's breakfast, and I asked how many of the men after marrying no longer had a problem with lust, and nobody raised their hands. So, then we decided, "Well, since marriage won't solve our problem maybe just getting to be an old fogy will." So, I talked to some of the old guys--we young guys were asking the old, "Okay, you old guys: How many of you as you got to the age, you know, where you are just an old dude--you know, forty..."

How many of you think that forty is old? Let me see your hands? Hold your hands up, truthfully, yeah, seem old doesn't it? You'll find out. Jon's is the only truthful guy, we know that all of these mid-twenty guys, you think that forty is ancient until I get you out on the racquetball court and I spank you. The only problem is that the next day you are up and ready again and I am saying, "Oh, man!" But anyway, we won't go there. So, we talked to the old guys and we said, "How many of you, after getting old, the lust leaves?" You know, like at forty, I mean it is all over. We got the same results: It doesn't go away. So, how do we deal with that in our midst in the body of Christ? We didn't ask this question but I could have: "How many of you, after being born again, becoming a new creature, old things passed away, all things become new, filled with the Holy Ghost, speak in tongues walking in the spirit, sanctified, and you no longer deal with lusts?" We would get the same response; no hands would go up. This is where we're living, and so we're seeking how we can please the Lord more. How can we come to the place of guarding ourselves? I shared with the men in men's breakfast yesterday that they cannot live separate from accountability to their wives as it pertains to their sexual lives, their thoughts, their temptations, all that these things are. There has to be communication; there can't be a separation. There has to be the input of the helpmeet, the one the stands alongside to give assistance and strength to, the perspective of the feminine. Then we talked a little bit about the other side also and trying to address the responsibilities that you ladies have.

If we have that tonight and, for the ladies, if there is any of you that have questions based upon the subject, especially of the physicality, the sexual lives, if you could write those down we'll try to address them. We addressed a number of things yesterday, some specific things that would have to deal with the defrauding aspect, the marriage bed, other aspects that would deal with our lives, and so we'll try address all of those according to the biblical principles. So, if you have questions along those lines, if you have questions that would pertain to any of the subject matter up to this point of the teaching, then we'll try to address those this evening.

I want to talk a little more about the sanctity of marriage and to see what the biblical order is. We realize one thing very clearly: Marriage is ordained of God, "...It is not good that the man should be alone...a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh" (Genesis 2:18, 24). That one flesh is literal in the physical union of us coming together, and also the fruit of that union which is a godly seed that Malachi speaks of. So, there is the one flesh in the union, there's the one flesh that comes from that union, the Godly seed; the two of us become one in these children, the offspring. In the midst of this, we train them up in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. One of the things that we are training them to be is good husbands and good wives. They're watching our marriages; they're watching how we prefer one another. They're watching us. Very frankly, as we have looked over the years, many of you young adults who are wanting to get married and most of you that have problems, have come from messed up marriages. Your perspective of marriage is skewed, your motives for wanting to be married, many times, are skewed. We, then, have to say, what do we have as the prototype? We can look throughout this fellowship and say, "What marriage here do I want to emulate?" There are some here that we could look at, they seem to have that looking good, and those folks seem to have that working good. But we are not here to emulate any one marriage in this fellowship; we are here to emulate the marriage of Jesus and his church. From that we see the perfect marriage.

We see the roles that we have, the responsibilities that we have towards one another. We--the church, the wife--and how we respond to our husband--the perfect husband, Jesus--and how He, then, treats His bride, His beloved. We learn there, then, how we relate to one another. Man having a companion made for him, in Genesis, because "...it is not good that the man should be alone..." I'm giving you guys an opportunity. "...it is not good that the man should be alone..." Some of you single guys should have jumped up, high five. So, God made a helpmeet. God, the source, in his sovereignty is bringing you His will, His gift. It is God's will. Don't try to make it happen, don't think you're the exception and, "Unless, I do something radical... I'm upset, and I don't know... am I ever going...?" It is God's will for you to be married. And all the young guys said... And all the young guys...well, forget it. And all the young ladies said... "Amen!" There you go, I knew that I could get the ladies involved in this thing.

So, God's working. How do we, then, get married? How do we fall in love? Well, Hollywood says this girl has to come by, your eyes have to pop out of your head, you begin to salivate, all of your hormones go crazy, pheromones fill the air--Waffle Whiffer--you're just floating along behind, smitten...and it's love! That's Hollywood. That's Hugh Hefner. That's lust! At the best it's eros. Don't get me wrong; there is nothing wrong with eros. Erotica is good in the confines of biblical covenant, but there is no place for the erotic to precede the agape. Agape love precedes erotic love; it doesn't go the other way. What attracts me to someone is godliness, as a Christian. I fall in love with their love for Jesus. I'm moved by their desire to serve the body of Christ and that attracts me, and in the midst of it all, that attracts me for the same purpose, the same goal. I'm attracted to that, and then, as we relate, and two become better than one, the Scripture says, and we make covenant together to pursue God, and then in the midst of all that we find the phileo and the erotic that will fall into place and will become a part of the union. The world has it backwards. Why should that surprise us? They have everything else backwards. The world has everything else wrong, and somehow we Christians think in the love thing they have it right. "That just seems normal; that's how it should be." It should be... "¯ Feelings, nothing more than feelings...¯ " It isn't about feelings! It's about commitment. It's about honoring God. It's about righteousness, it's about holiness.

"Well, it'd sure be nice to feel good about it." I want to tell you, there is a law: You will reap what you sow. If you put feelings and you put love in, you're going to get love back. If you are not getting anything back, guess what, you're going through the motions and you are not putting anything in. Amen? We talked about sexuality yesterday and some of the guys said, "Well, my wife just doesn't like sex." And I said, "Then, you're not doing it right." And all the ladies said...

What am I saying? Sowing and reaping. You just can't go through the motions. We talked about it in the fellowship meeting. The difference between men and women; men are interested in sex, and women are interested in love, romance. Men are interested in the climax, and women, though they enjoy that greatly, are interested in the process, the affection, the feelings, the commitment, the communication, verbal and non-verbal, and all of thee things that are going on. We each learn what makes up the other person. We prefer that, we minister to that, and in the process, then, we come to the culmination of good relations in the physical realm. Preferring one another and edifying one another and seeking the good of one another and living for the good and the edification of that other person and not ourselves. That is how we relate. It functions in the home, in our personal lives, and in the community, that is how we relate to one another.

So, I am saying all that to say this: As we are putting all of these pieces together, we now, in this marriage covenant--what causes marriage to break down is the loss of preferring others, of seeking the good of others. The only way that there can be a breakdown in Christian marriage is the rise of selfishness, self-will and pride back into our lives as a dominant force; because two Christians seeking to honor God--to edify one another, to prefer one another--are going to remain in tandem; they're going to remain as a team. We are going to get this thing done. We have to see it for what it is and what causes the breakdown. In our churches today, the divorce rate in fundamentalist churches is the same as it is in the world, and I understand now the latest statistics are getting close to sixty percent in the church! Well, I've got a question: Is Jesus the Lord of our lives or not? He does not endorse divorce. And everybody said... "Amen." "Well, you know I'm not being treated right, they don't..." That's not grounds for breaking the covenant. What God has joined together don't let your selfishness put asunder. Amen? What do you do? You fix it! You don't ignore it. "Well, we'll just go on and pretend." No. You fix it! The problem is internal. The problem is sin dominating in one of our lives or both of our lives at any given period; and the fact of the matter is, over a long period of time we take turns being selfish and messing up. So, whenever somebody is in their turn, we're longsuffering, we're compassionate; they do not want to be like that. They do not want to be like that, they want to be like the Lord, they want to walk in the spirit, but right now they are battling through this area. So, what do I do, alienate them? Push them away? Or do I come in and lift their hands up and pray for them and intercede and become patient and long-suffering and gentle and kind and meek and gentle? I said gentle again, gentle one more time, and we respond to them the way our husband responds to us. On how many counts do you think daily your husband could put you away? And yet He seeks to edify us, to love us, because we are all marred with this thing called sin and we are working together to honor God and to get to heaven. Amen? So, we need that and there is going to be the conflicts and we are going to get our feelings hurt.

You know what's interesting to me--I was going to teach on it this morning and it wasn't time; the spirit wasn't ready to go. So, I was ready to go into the next subject, but you know, I just have to do what I am told. So, here we are talking about divorce again, and I thought that it was very interesting that Jesus' next topic, following divorce, is the topic of vengeance. Isn't that interesting? Do you know why two Christians can't get together? It's because they're vengeful, spiteful, retaliatory, "You hurt me; I am going to hurt you. We've separated; there is no way you are going to put this thing back, after what you did to me. You will never get another shot at this; I am going to see to it. I am in charge of my life. God's not fair, I don't trust Him. I will never become vulnerable again. I will never let you abuse me." Paul said you can separate yourself and remain unmarried, but you've got to come back together. "No. There ain't no way." Now, what part of Jesus' being Lord lets you make that decision?

Vengeance is not just--I'm getting to that teaching--vengeance is not just something that has to do with trying to destroy or in any way even compensate or bring retribution, always. Vengeance also speaks of the satisfying of my declaration of what is just and right, not God's. "That's not fair, and this is how I am going to respond and until this is done, I'm going to uphold my judgment." That's vengeance. He tells us how to respond to our enemies, those who have despitefully used us and persecuted us. We want to be Christians and yet also determine at all times what is just as it pertains to how I am being treated. He says that we need to humble ourselves. Vengeance is the Lord's. Amen? He will be the distributor of justice. So, two Christians marry. Can we ever break this bond, this covenant? No. Can there be temporary separation? Yes. The temporary separation, however, demands that you remain unmarried and that there be reconciliation; there is no other way around it. To refuse that, both parties being Christians, is a reproach on the kingdom of God and the body of Christ, and it is a horrible example in the day that we're living, when people can go down and get a piece of paper, and because of there own pride, own selfishness, their own self-will, write, "Irreconcilable differences." That's the world. I want to tell you something: Two Christians cannot in good conscience say "This is irreconcilable," it is reconcilable the minute knees are bowed. Amen? Hearts are bowed, Jesus is exalted, righteousness is pursued, self is crucified. So, whether we'd like to think the world is influencing us or not, over all these decades the church has been vexed. We look at these passages--and I want to take a few more moments and see what the spirit of God has to say to us as it pertains to this subject, it's a strong, strong position that Paul takes by the Holy Spirit, and we have to study and see the wisdom of God as it pertains to this.

Go back to Corinthians for just a minute, if you would, and let's look at the Corinthians passage and in 1 Corinthians, Paul's speaking here and answering again the questions of the church at Corinth, and remember what these questions were. Make sure that when you study the Scriptures of course, you don't take things out of context. It's pretty easy here because, Paul says, "Pertaining to those questions you asked..." and it is very clear that they are asking questions and Paul is answering their situation. Basically, throughout the whole Scripture, questions are being asked and God is responding, and that is what the Bible is all about; it's answering questions, it's how we are supposed to live, it's not just dogma. It is an operational manual, it tells us what to do, not just what is right. It doesn't just tell us what is right, it tells us what to do; and many of us know what is right and think that knowing what is right is sufficient, but he that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. We realize that it's by obedience, it's by doing the word; otherwise we've deceived ourselves. "Yeah, I know, Amen. That what it teaches, yes, praise God." What are you doing? "Well, I just haven't chosen to do that yet." So, you are in rebellion? "Well, no...in the right time." ...and that's determined by? The right time to obey is when you know what you are supposed to do. Amen? There isn't progressive obedience. It is instantaneous based upon our knowledge of what we are supposed to do. So, in Chapter 7, Paul, answering the questions of the Corinthians--Now, remember, the reason that they were asking these questions, they're saying, look, you know, we're living in a day of promiscuity, we are living in a day when Christians are saying they have every right to go the prostitutes up on the Acrocorinth--How many of you remember when we were in Corinth and looking up on the mountain and saw where the temple was--both male and female prostitutes.

You have to understand what was involved in much of the pagan religions when the Scriptures were written. Much of this perverted sexual behavior was part of their religious rites and their worship to the fertility gods, and Christianity being introduced in the midst of all this is so unique. You've got to understand, they're right in the midst of Greco-Roman culture, Christianity invades and it is contrary--I mean not only contrary, it is absolutely diametrically opposed in its greatest distinction, probably, in the history of man at the moment that it was injected, and Christians are now being asked to live such totally different lives that they are being hated, persecuted separated and mocked, blasphemed. The Christians, just like today, were the ones being called the criminals, cults. "You got to be kidding me; you must be some kind of cult if you do not accept homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle. All Christians are loving and tolerant." The world is trying to tell us what Christians are and how Christians are supposed to act. I have a book that tells me how to act; I don't need your input. I know what a Christian is.

You have at this time Gnosticism reigning in Greece, the Judaizers who are trying to bring people back under the law, and saying, "Yes, grace is great, but you have to keep these commandments and keep these rituals and ceremonies and sacrifices." Paul speaks towards that very clearly in Galatians, he addresses it in the letter to the Corinthians. They're saying, "What do we do? I was married to this guy; we used to go the temple all the time, involved in all these pagan rites, and now I am born again, I can't do that anymore. I am a new creature; old things have passed away. Do I just start another life? Tell this guy, ‘It's been nice knowing ya,' Tell this lady, ‘It was nice; I found Jesus, and if you're not coming with me, we're through'?" So, Paul begins to answer that question, and he says if the unbelieving party is pleased to dwell, then you are not to separate yourself just upon the fact that you have now have become a Christian. This was all about a newfound believer and does the unbeliever want to stay? Now, Paul makes it very clear, staying doesn't mean, "I am pleased to dwell and you can't go down and fellowship with those Christians, because we have to go to the pagan parties and we got soccer practice and I'm committed as the Little League coach [I'm sure they had that in Corinth] and we belong to the Moose Lodge, and the all moose and Water Buffalo, Fred Flintstone, and all the things that are going on. So, as long as nothing changes, I'm pleased to dwell."

The believer was also saying, "How can I, now, being a new believer and understanding the sanctity of our temples, our bodies, how can I be joined physically with a pagan? Isn't that unclean? What if there are children that come out of this, or what about our existing children?" Paul says that they are sanctified by the believer; the children that you have, the children that you might have, are sanctified by the believing party. In other words, we can remain together; they will be raised in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. Amen? "Well, I am going to take them, they're not going to church, I'm taking them with me to wherever." No. Now, this culture, of course, the children belonged to the men and they could take the children. So, now ladies what are you going to do? Ladies were treated much like chattel at this particular time. If this man puts you away and your family didn't take you in, you were destitute. There was no alimony; there was no child support. But thank God there was the church. Amen? We realize that at this time, there is a new society being introduced, the church and how we relate. He said, there will be no compromise. I want you to live in peace and so without the compromise, then, the Scripture says, if the unbelieving party wants to depart, then what do you do? Let them depart; you are no longer under bondage. You're free now at this particular time to be joined with a believer, because what we are talking about here is spiritual adultery, a death being inflicted upon yourself. Once that person is dead you are free to marry again. The teachings make it very clear to us in Romans, Chapter 7, and so there is spiritual death. Let's take two believers, and two believers are having conflict and they separate; they are to remain unmarried as long as they are both professing to be believers. And if they are both professing to be believers, actions are being taken to reconcile and bring this back together. What if in the midst of this, one of them defects, becoming an unbeliever. If this continues, then they have committed spiritual adultery. The Scripture makes it very clear in Jeremiah that God himself divorced Israel in the midst of their adultery.

The purpose for divorce, the purpose for marking someone in the fellowship, is for reconciliation. It's always about getting people back right with God. If this person is going and they are spiritual adulterers, or whatever, there can be the separation. This, now, becomes the grounds for--this person now becomes no different than the pagan who is no longer pleased to dwell, and you are no longer under bondage in such cases. You see, it always ties back to the relationship with Father. It is not about us; it's about the glory of God. Every decision that we make in these relationships, it is not about us, it is about what brings glory to God; what keeps the church and the body of Christ holy. These are very important aspects of our daily lives, keeping it pure.

Let me show you one of the greatest ways that you can understand that. Go over to the book of Ezra for just a moment. Ezra, Chapter 10, and you can look through Chapters 9 and 10. It's talking about sanctification, a holy seed, Chapter 9 of Ezra. They've taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons so that the holy seed have mingled themselves with the people of the lands. The leadership, God's bringing about reproof to this type of heart and this type of action. For a moment, now, in verse 8 of Chapter 9 "And now for a little space grace hath been shewed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape...[Go into Chapter 10 and he says that we need to get order back into the covenant people. Ezra prayed, Chapter 10, when he had confessed with weeping, casting himself down before the house of God and he says] We have trespassed against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land [non-covenant]...Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. [And go to verse 10] And Ezra the priest stood up, and said unto them, Ye have transgressed, and have taken strange wives, to increase the trespass of Israel. Now therefore make confession unto the Lord God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives."

So, we see at this particular juncture, that the Lord, according to Malachi, hates the putting away. In Malachi, in Ezra, in Jeremiah, always, spiritual pollution not only allows but demands the putting away. It is not just allowing, it demands the putting away. The purification of the covenant people, the house of God, and in these particular situations, this is something that would not be an easy thing. I am sure that even though that it was motivated initially by lust, by perversion of doctrine and philosophy, there were unions that came, there were children that came of this, there were natural affection towards them; and God says, "You are not taking those kids back with you. You are not bringing that woman back with you." The purity of the house of God, of two walking together of living lives to honor God, and the moment that there becomes this deviation, we are missing out on the anointing, we are missing out on that purity that God has called us to in our union. It's vital that we understand this. In Nehemiah, the priest, though their priesthood was to be perpetual, the only thing that cost them their priesthood was the marrying of those Moabites. The priesthood is perpetual. "I am a priest." But to be united with the world, the Moabites, to get into the unholy union cost you your priesthood. That's how vital this thing is. Don't even think about it. We are not to be unevenly yoked together with unbelievers. Amen? There is no place for it. You young ladies, you young men, don't even think about coming to your mom and dad and saying, "I'm kind of interested in this girl, but she is not really committed." Don't even think about it; it will not be entertained. There is no place for it; it's death. It's a reproach on God. It's a treading of the blood of Jesus beneath our feet to even entertain a union with somebody who isn't seeking to be the best they can be for God. He's calling us into these unions and we're seeing how holy the sanctity of marriage is.

Now, in Malachi, Chapter 2, you can turn over there for just a moment, and when we read that, and we say that God hates the putting away. Some of us seem to think that God is always against divorce. Now, don't think for a moment, that I am saying anything other than God hates divorce. God hates divorce but God hates pollution and sin and unholiness more. Divorce, if used in the right motives to honor God, can be a good thing, because divorce is only a vehicle. Divorce is not evil in and of itself; it's a vehicle. It can either effect holiness and good; or, if it is based on selfishness and pride and lust, it can bring about a defilement, separation and death. It's motive. In Malachi, Chapter 2, you can look at verses 10 to 16. You remember I referred to this real quickly in the last session, what's happening here in Malachi, you remember, they were taking these new wives and putting away the wives of their youth, the wives of the covenant, and they were taking on these pagans, nominal, sometimes, in their hatred of God. We need to see, then, that when the Lord spoke that and said, "I hate this; you do not leave the covenant the pure, the proven to seek the obscure." He said, "The whole motive is to make you one [look at it in those verses] and that you bring about a Godly seed."

Now, here's something else, we talk about this from the fifties, my decade, and even though it didn't work right among unbelievers, even though it may not have been ideal; how many marriages--for you older people, or not so old, like my age--know of the fact that a lot of parents stayed together for the children, and it wasn't the best, but they stayed together for the children. Malachi is saying that. This is about a godly seed. We're sowing into another generation; we can't be causing all the schisms and confusion. As he is speaking towards these things, it sure can't be done for selfish motives, for convenience, or "I like this better," or "This is difficult." I want to tell you something: relationships are difficult at their best. As we relate to one another we have conflicts, don't we? We do not agree on everything, we can have friction that comes up every once in a while, but when we love one another and we're caring for one another and we are assuming the best about one another and they're wanting to do what is right, then we learn how to address the issues of holiness and purity and we know when to push an issue and when not. We learn these things from relating to one another, but ultimately we are seeking the good of the whole and not just our personal gratification. That is what it means to be a member of the body of Christ. It is not about us; we are only a small part. I'm not talking about the body of Christ, Calvary Temple, this little fellowship; I am talking about the body of Christ universal, of which we are part. We are living for something bigger than ourselves.

What makes us different, then, from the world? "Yeah, this is my fourth husband since I've been a Christian." "Fourth husband, that's tragic. You've had three husbands die?" "No. One of them, he was a Christian but he, well, you know, he never went to church, but his family did and they were Christians, and he told me he was a Christian, and he was handsome and had a lot of money and now he doesn't. [Many of you were assuming that I was making a derogatory statement about the lady. I am kind of suspect of her myself, but this is a hypothetical lady. Let me go on with the story] Because of that his self-image was damaged, because he trusted in what he possessed and what he was able to provide, he no longer saw himself as a man and our relationship deteriorated. My other husband, the Mormon-Christian... and my other husband the Catholic-Christian..." How do we ever even witness to the world what holiness is and what covenant is? It is not the decisions we make after, it is the decisions we make to get into these things. Are you making the right decision? Are you marrying for the right reason? Are you basing your decision based on what will bring the most glory to God and what will best prepare me and my children to make it to heaven? That's what Malachi is talking about. So, we look at all these different issues. We see that we can't marry unbelievers; we see that we are to marry those that are seeking God with all their hearts. That's what attracts us, that's what we make covenant with. It's not about externals and it is not about fashion and looks and the monetary. "Well, does he have the wherewithal to provide?" Provide what? Many of us parents think you've got to be able to provide. Provide what? Two young people in love with Jesus and in love with one another, going to start out in life, what do you need?

I know how I started: Having food and raiment therewith be what? Content, praise God. Didn't have a lick, didn't have two nickels to rub together; had a vision, had a heart for God, and took off running. Amen? Whether we'd like to think about it or not we've become so vexed just like the world. We think that all these things have to be in order and you have to have this, and, "I have to have my education done." I'm not trying to promote getting married out of high school. I am not trying to promote not getting your education. Just listen to what I am saying: I am trying to promote trusting God and seeking somebody who has a heart for God and when you do then you praise God. Some of you young guys, "Well, I have to wait until I get a certain age." Get married young, like I did at twenty, and let your wife put you through college. It was great, praise God. Now, I hope you don't get the image of me lying on the couch. I was going to college, my wife was working and I was working forty hours. On top of working forty hours, I had a part time job. On top of the forty-hour job managing apartments, I was carrying seventeen units in college. You have it tough, don't you, with your six units, living at home with Mom. "Man, this thing is tough, boy." Don't come to me for sympathy. Loving it, in the will of God, just acting like we had good sense, because you trusted God.

I want to tell you something: If you've got God, you got enough. If you have the Lord in your life, you have all you need and someone that loves the Lord with all their heart, none of this other stuff matters. We're living in Sodom. Young people get married and go on their cruise and go to Hawaii and the Bahamas. I stayed at my grandmother's house on my honeymoon. We came back to our sofa that had that quilt on it because the springs were literally coming out of it; you'd rip your pants if you didn't have that on there. A kitchen table that was four galvanized water pipes screwed into a pressboard without any Formica on it, dining room table. We were blessed. Amen? Bookcases that were unstained pine on cinderblocks, Hallelujah! Now, I don't have that any more and I am absolutely no happier now than I was then.

The will of God, someone to walk at your side is a precious thing. And two are better than one. I want to let you young people know that marriage is good, but it's for life. Don't make the wrong decision. Don't marry based on what the world says is important. When you marry for the right reason, for the glory of God, and you marry the right person, then all these other things are worked out through dying to self, preferring one another. The only, the only reason--Jesus said I'll consider adultery, but it was only considered, and it was only for the hardness of the heart. He didn't say that you had to divorce for physical adultery, but the Bible teaches that you do have to for spiritual adultery. Put these things in the right level, and after that there are no reasons to be separate.

Father, we thank You for Your word and we ask that You continue to bless us as Your people, to cause to see that we are different, we are not like the world, we do not live with our own justice system but we live for You to honor You, to glorify You. Father, cause these young people who are looking now at marriage to not be affected by society, thinking, "I'll try it out and if it doesn't work, I'll get another shot at it." No, it's one shot. Don't take these things lightly, but don't be afraid. Two people who love God with all of their hearts will love one another, will produce godly seed, will finish this race, and will live forever in His presence. Marriage has only got to last you to heaven. There's no marriage in heaven, just brothers and sisters. But the power of this union is so vital now to help us finish this course to be made strong to protect the unity of this kingdom, to stand at the wall as family units against the powers of darkness with a trowel in one hand and a spear in the other. By family, by family rank, covenant, commitment to a unit and commitment to a community, and it can't just arbitrarily be dismissed. "We just can't live together any more." Why? "Well, you know, we are on each other's nerves and I do not like the way that they do that, we can't agree." Then, somebody needs to bow. It was not so from the beginning. Jesus said it was never intended by God. Make that real, we ask, in Jesus' name, Amen.

Let's stand before the Lord. As Katie plays for us for just a moment and we rest in the Lord's presence, let Him speak to you. You might be saying, "Pastor, why did you take so much time? Are you aware of a bunch of divorces pending? No, not that I know of, but I know the spirit that is in the world right now. You see, this whole teaching that we are doing on the Sermon on the Mount is to deal with the spirit of the age. If you remember how we started, this is what we are facing every day as we go out there. If you like to believe or not, you are being vexed. Greer tells me many times; I get an opportunity, a number of times out and about, and people almost fall over when you tell them how good your marriage is, how good your spouse is, how good God is. Are you provoking everyone around you by telling them how great your husband is? "I've got the greatest husband in the world. He loves the Lord; he is so kind he is so thoughtful." Every woman that you run into you outside of this fellowship ought to envy you. You ought to walk into the store and they should bow down. What are you doing to brag on what God has done in your life and how good He's done? "Well, you know, it'd be a lie." Then do something about it. Are you just going to continue on statue quo? Make it the best that it can be by you becoming the least you can be, and Him the most He can be, Jesus. Amen. Before we go, just turn to someone next to you and say, "It's not good for man to be alone." Amen. Go in peace. God's love go with you.

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