You can be seated. I just told Doug, I don't know
if I've ever seen anyone look happier. I'm reading from Genesis chapter
two, beginning in verse 18. And the Lord God said, it is
not good that the man should be alone. I will make him and
help meet for him. And out of the ground, the Lord
God formed every beast of the field. and every fowl of the
air, and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them.
And whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the
name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle,
and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field.
But for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the
Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, And he slept. And he took one of his ribs,
and closed up the flesh thereof. And the rib which the Lord God
had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh. She should be called woman, because
she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his
father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they
too shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the
man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Who giveth this woman in holy
matrimony? Her mother. Today is a day of great joy,
and Holly and Doug would like to thank all of you for taking
the time out of your Saturday to come and celebrate this very
special day with me. I can tell you in literally the
very first minute of Holly's life, I stood in the delivery
room and looking at her and I thought, oh no. I thought I'm going to have to
give her away marriage someday. And I thought, I bet that'll
be hard. I love her so much already. But
I comforted myself through the years by thinking, well, when
she gets married, I'm just going to have to choke out those four
words, her mother and I, and then I'll go sit by Janet and
she'll pat my hand and comfort me. So when Holly and Doug asked
me to perform their wedding ceremony, I asked, what if I lose control
and start to cry? And Holly said, well, just wait
until you can pull it together, and then we'll go on. I hope
I don't do that. There's no reason to do that. But Doug, if I do, it's not because
Jan and I are not happy that you're marrying Holly. We are
very happy, and we welcome you into our family with open arms. What I know now that I couldn't
have known when Holly was first born is not only is it not hard,
But it's a joy to say her mother and I. When Holly found someone
we love, we think is a good and a kind man. And we are very,
very happy. This is a happy day, especially
for the two of you. I'm so happy that you found someone
that you can spend the rest of your life with. And I may get
a little emotional. I've been known to do that from
time to time, but only because I'm very thankful and happy for
you. And this is a very important moment for the two of you. Because
marriage is so important. The vows that you'll take in
a few moments are very important. They're vows that you take before
Almighty God and before these witnesses. As Brother Todd just
read, marriage was first ordained by God. He ordained the institution
of marriage in the Garden of Eden. Before man fell, God brought
a woman to Adam. And he said, it's not good for
man to be alone. I'll make a helpmeet for him.
This was ordained of God. And then marriage was recognized
and blessed by our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord himself attended
an event just like this one. He attended the marriage feast
at Cana of Galilee, and it was at that wedding feast he chose
to perform his first miracle. Our Savior put his seal of approval
on marriage by taking part in the celebration of marriage that
day. And then marriage is very important. because the relationship
that the two of you now enter is a picture of the relationship
between Christ and His bride. The marriage relationship is
important for the good of society, for the good of your family,
and it is especially important because your marriage is to be
a picture of the union between Christ and His bride. This is
what the Apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 5. After
he gives instruction in marriage in verse 32, he says, This is
a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
So in light of this instruction from our God, I want you to listen
to what his word has to say concerning marriage. I want you to, I'll
read these verses in a moment and through the course of your
life, you listen carefully to them this morning and you read
these verses often. These verses contain everything
you need to know about how to have a happy, loving marriage.
Paul begins in verse 22 of Ephesians chapter 5 when he says, wives,
submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. For
the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head
of the church, and he is the savior of the body. Therefore,
as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to
their own husbands in everything. Now, Holly, now you are to be
in subjection to Doug as the head of your home. You are to
be in subjection to Doug just as the church is in subjection
to our Savior. And your first priority now is
to your husband, is to Doug. And I know you'll still be a
good daughter, you'll be a good sister, you'll be a good friend,
but your first priority is to Doug. You're to seek to please
Doug. You're to seek to find ways to
help him. You're to seek ways that you can encourage him and
make his life better. Look for ways. that you can find
something you can do to make Doug feel loved and appreciated.
The word helpmeet means to aid, and it means to tenderly and
lovingly comfort. No one can do that for a husband
like a wife, and you're to seek to do that for him. And you know
these things. This is not something you've
not heard before, and you've grown up with a wonderful example
of that in your home. So you don't need me to give
you a lot of specific advice about specific instances that
you'll face as a wife. As long as you remember these
verses that I just read to you, you'll know how to act as a wife
if you remember that you are a picture of the church, who
is in love with and is in subjection to our Lord Jesus Christ. You
don't need me to give you a lot of specific instruction, but
let me give you one. You know this. You're old enough
to know this. Men do many dumb things. We make ourselves easy
targets for women to make fun of sometimes. It's hard for you
to believe right now, but someday Doug may do one of those things.
He's a man after all. But my advice to you is this.
Don't you ever get in a group of women and make fun of them.
Don't you ever take an opportunity to tear him down in public. but
you seek to protect his reputation. Don't tell some insignificant
thing he did. You protect him. You protect
his reputation. Just as the church is to zealously
protect the honor and the glory of our Savior by always preaching
him in the most glorious way we know how. And Doug, you have
a much more difficult and weighty task. Paul speaks to husbands
beginning in verse 25 of Ephesians 5. He says, Love your wives, even as Christ
also loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with a washing of water by the word,
that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy without
blemish. So ought men to love their wives
as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord
the church. For we're members of his body,
of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and his mother, and shall be joined unto his wife,
and they too shall be one flesh. Doug, now your first responsibility
is to Holly in all things. And I feel like I know you. I
know what kind of man you are, so I expect you to still be a
good son to your parents. You'll be a good friend to your
friends. But your first responsibility is to Holly. You're to seek to
please her. You're to seek her happiness.
Seek to make her feel loved and appreciated. You do your very
best to love Holly as Christ loved the church. Now that's
a tall order. You consider, how did Christ
love his people? He loved himself sacrificially.
You think how he humbled himself to become a man so he could be
joined to her. And then he sacrificed himself
for that bride that he loves. And that's what you're to do.
You're to sacrifice some self-interest for the good of your wife and
the good of your family. And I know no man's sufficient
to do anything like our Savior did. Everything Christ did was
perfect because he's perfect. But if you do your very best
to love Holly as Christ loved the church, Doug, she'll follow
you anywhere. And you'll make her want to be
the best husband or best wife that a man ever had. That's your
job. You lead so that she wants to
follow you, so that she wants to be in submission to you. And
the responsibility for a happy, loving home lies primarily on
your shoulders. Remember, you're the picture
of the Savior in this relationship. Who has the most responsibility
in the relationship between Christ and His people? The Savior does. So if you do your best to love
Holly as Christ loved the church, you'll make it easy for her to
be in subjection to you. And you will set the tone for
a happy home, a happy, loving home. In a few moments, you're
going to become the priest in your home. It's your job to make
sure your family worships the Lord. If you want a happy home,
my advice to you is make sure your family worships the Lord
together. And I understand that that's a tall order. But if you
keep these verses in mind that I just read to you, you'll be
a good husband. You'll know what to do. And you
don't need me to give you a lot of specific advice about specific
instances that you may face. But if you'll indulge me, let
me give you one. If you find Holly can't cook something very
well, say biscuits, don't ridicule her for it. My advice to you
is put butter and jelly on it and eat it with a smile on your
face. And don't you go out in public and make fun of her for
her shortcomings. Christ our Savior never ridicules
his people for our sin and our failure and our shortcomings.
Instead, what does he do? He's covered our sin in his blood.
He covers our shortcomings. He covers how we've sinned and
come short of his glory and his righteousness. Now you do the
same thing. And I can tell you this, if you
find Holly can't cook something very well, you secretly let Janet
know. She'll give her a cooking lesson
in a way that will not embarrass Holly. Jansk me for you. She wants you to have something
of good to eat. She wants you to enjoy your life, so if you
need her, you use her. She'll help you. Now, with that
instruction from our God, I want you to carefully consider the
questions that I now ask you. You join right hands and you
take heed to these questions. Doug, would you have Holly, who
you now hold by the right hand, to be your lawful wedded wife?
And do you promise in the sight of Almighty God and these witnesses
to be to her a true and a devoted husband, that you love, honor,
and protect her in joy or sorrow, in prosperity or adversity, in
leaving all others, will you cleave to her and her alone as
long as you both shall live? Yes, I will. Ollie, would you have Doug, who
you now hold by the right hand, to be your lawful wedded husband?
And do you promise in the sight of Almighty God and these witnesses
to be to him a true and a devoted wife, that you will love, honor,
and obey him in joy or sorrow, in prosperity or adversity, in
leaving all others, will you cleave to him and him alone as
long as you both shall live? I will. Doug, would you please
repeat these vows? I, Doug, take thee, Holly, to
be my wedded wife. I, Doug, take thee, Holly, To
have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for
richer or poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to
cherish, till death do us part. And I pledge to thee my love
and faithfulness. Holly, will you likewise repeat
these vows? I, Holly, take thee, Doug, to
be my wedded husband. I, Holly, take thee, Doug, to
be my wedded husband. To have and to hold from this
day forward. To have and to hold from this
day forward. For better or for worse. For
better or for worse. For richer or for poorer. For
richer or for poorer. In sickness and in health. In
sickness and in health. To love and to cherish. To love
and to cherish. till death do us part. And I
pledge to thee my love and faithfulness. Now our rings. Everyone can't see that, but
our football is embossed with the University of Kentucky logo. They were delivered in a, well,
it was a handoff. It was supposed to be thrown.
It was delivered in a way that shows the bride and groom's love
for the Kentucky Air Raid offense. That worked out pretty well. Historically, Rings have been
used for many occasions. And the ring reaches its loftiest
prestige as a symbol of your love for each other. This ring
symbolizes your love, your unending love for each other. A ring doesn't
have a beginning or an ending. Your love is to never end. And
it's made of pure gold. And I pray that these rings will
always be worn as a token of the permanence and the purity
of your love for each other. Doug, do you give this ring to
Holly as a token of your love for her? And Holly, will you receive and
wear this ring as a token of Doug's love for you? I will.
Doug, please repeat after me. With this ring, I thee wed. With
this ring, I thee wed. And with all my worldly goods,
I thee endow. And with all my worldly goods,
I thee endow. Holly, do you give this ring
to Doug as a token of your love for him? I do. And Doug, will
you receive and wear this ring as a token of Holly's love for
you? I will. Holly, please repeat after me.
With this ring, I thee wed. With this ring, I thee wed. And
with all my worldly goods, I thee endow. And with all my worldly
goods, I thee endow. Please join right hands again.
For as much as you have taken these vows upon yourselves in
the presence of God and these assembled witnesses, upon the
authority vested in me by the laws of the state of Kentucky,
I pronounce you husband and wife. What God has joined, let no man
put asunder. Let's bow in prayer. Our Father, we bow before you,
very thankful, so thankful for this day that we celebrate, thankful
for this new home that Doug and Holly have formed. Father, we're
thankful for the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, how he loves
his people, how he gave himself to redeem her. And it is our
prayer that this new home that Doug and Holly form be a good
picture of that love. Father, give them a loving home
and a happy home. Give them a home where Christ
is king. where the name of our Lord Jesus Christ is heard often,
where he's talked of, where prayer is made, where the scripture
is read. Give them a home that is a good
reflection of Christ's love for his people, the union between
Christ and his bride. Fathers, as they go through the
life that they now begin in these happy days, cause their love
to flourish and be a blessing to one another, and in dark difficult
days that surely will come. Father, cause their love to draw
them closer to one another, to be a strength and a help to each
other. Bless them in every way, we pray. In the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, we pray and give thanks. Amen. Doug, you may kiss your
bride. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my
distinct pleasure to introduce to you for the very first time
Mr. and Mrs. Doug Hardin.