Would you turn back to Ephesians
chapter five? Now, what I would like for everybody
to do is imagine that you knew nothing
about marriage. May be true, but imagine you
knew nothing about marriage and you're going to hear what God
says with regard to marriage. Beginning in verse 22, 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. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ
also loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the 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 and
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 are members of his body,
of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife. And
they too shall be one flesh." That's a quotation from Genesis
chapter two, before the fall. This is a great mystery, but
I speak concerning Christ and the church. Now he tells us everything
that I have said. Everything that I've said is
with regard to Christ and the church. All of these things I've
said about marriage, they all have reference to the relationship
between Christ and his church, the gospel. Verse 33, nevertheless,
don't look upon this as, well, all this has to do with the gospel
and I don't have to think of my marriage in light of this.
Don't think that at all. Nevertheless, let every one of
you in particular, so love his wife, even as himself. And the wives see that she reverence
her husband. Now in these 12 verses, we are
given glorious gospel truth. And each one of these things
deserve a sermon. And I believe each one of these
things will have a sermon in the weeks to come. But I still
wanted to deal with this whole passage and what it has to say
about marriage. But in this passage of scripture,
we learn about the headship of Christ over his body, the church. Now that's a great mystery. that
the church really is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
Christ is the head of the church. And what is a body without a
head? It's dead, isn't it? The head is the life of the body. The head gives direction to the
body. The head is the identity of the
body. When you're showing a picture
of your spouse, you don't show a headless picture. Nobody will
know who he or she is. He's the head of the church. The church is his bride, called
in Revelation 21, nine, the bride, the Lamb's wife. I love that. I'm called the Lamb's wife, the
bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. The church is subject to Christ
in everything. He says that, is there anything
with regard to Christ that the church is not subject to? Not
at all. We bow to him in all things. Look in verse 25, husbands,
love your own wives, even as Christ also loved the church
and gave himself for it. Now, here we find Christ's love
to his church, to his elect. to those the father gave him
before the world began. Now, if I don't see God's love
for his elect, and if I see it in this general sense that most
religion presents it, I don't even know what the love of God
is. That makes the love of God meaningless. Who did Christ die
for? Who did he give himself for?
Everybody know, the church, the elect of God. And if I don't
clearly bring out that God's love is to his elect, and that
Christ died for the elect, the church. I make everything meaningless. There's no gospel in it if I
don't bring that out. And Paul brings this out from
his statement with regard to the church. He gave himself. That's the cross,
isn't it? He gave himself. He gave everything. And then we see the actual accomplishments
of his death. Look in verse 26. Here's why
he gave himself. That he might sanctify and cleanse
it. That he might make it holy and
clean. And that's precisely what the
Lord Jesus accomplished by his death on the cross. He sanctified
the church. He made the church holy. and he cleanses it, that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word.
Look at the place the word is given in this. He sanctifies
and cleanses it with the washing of water by the word. Now, what
is the word he's speaking of? Well, he's talking about the
word from the word that reveals the word. The word, the gospel
message from the written word of God that reveals the living
word, the Lord Jesus Christ. What a high place is given to
the word. God or Christ, which is saying
the same thing, sanctifies and cleanses the church with the
washing of water by the word. And look what happens as a result
thereof, verse 27, Here's what he does in doing this, and this
is what justification looks like. This is kind of what we talked
about this morning, that he might present it to himself a glorious
church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. He makes his
bride perfect, glorious, beautiful. And that is every believer in
his sight, beautiful to him, perfect to him. That's what justification
is, a perfect righteousness, perfect holiness. This passage
of scripture tells us of the great truth of union with the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 28. So ought men
to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his
wife, loveth himself. The union between Christ and
his church is so one, so real, that when Jesus Christ loves
me or any other member of his church, he's loving himself. That's how close this union is.
When Christ is loving me, I'm one with him. He is loving himself. That's the security of the church.
That's how the church is beautiful to Christ. He's loving himself. Read the Song of Solomon of the
love relationship between Christ and his church. Go on reading. Verse 29, for no man ever yet
hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it. Think of the
way the Lord nourishes and cherishes you. Oh, the greatness of his
care for his church. For we, and here's this thing
of union, for we, the church, are members of his body. Now, how close is, you know,
every part of my body, I don't look at it as something separate,
it's me. It's me, it's mine. Well, I wouldn't mind losing
just a little finger, I would. It's mine. It's mine. If one
part of my body's hurting, I'm the one hurting. I'm not just
saying, well, you know, my finger's hurting. Well, I'm hurting. The oneness
of the body, and that is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
For this cause, and this is a quotation from Genesis 1, for this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother. Now, when you're
married, You leave your parents. They're no longer number one
to you. You leave your father and mother, with everybody but
Aubrey. Of course, I don't believe that.
I hope I don't. I still like to tell her what to do, and I'm
wrong every time I do it. Aubrey, here's what you need
to do. Like Lynn says, she's an adult. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife and they
too shall be one flesh." This is talking about the intimate
act between a man and a woman in marriage. These two shall
be one flesh. Now, Paul says, this is a great
mystery. And I love the way he says this. This is a great mystery.
We would never know this. unless the Lord was pleased to
reveal it to us. It's a mystery that he's revealed. But you know,
of all the mysteries of the scripture, only two are called by God the
Holy Spirit great. They're all great, but he only
calls two of them great. The first one is found in 1 Timothy
3.16, where he says, great is the mystery of godliness. God
was manifest in the flesh. That's a great mystery, isn't
it? And then in our text, this is a great mystery Everything
I've said up to this point, it's concerning Christ and the church.
This is not something, some kind of way, this is how we can have
a happy marriage if we learn how to do this. This is not what
this is about. This is about Christ and the church. Nevertheless, even though this
is concerning Christ and the church, do not use this as a
reason for carelessness in your responsibility before God as
a husband or a wife. This is very important. Very
important to God. We're gonna look at this in a
minute, but I think of where the Lord said to Peter, or the
Lord said through Peter, husbands, dwell with your wife according
to knowledge. That doesn't mean just knowing
the right stuff, and that knowledge is love. That's what he means
by that. Dwell with your wife according to love, giving honor
unto her as the weaker vessel, as heirs together of the grace
of life, you might know the rest of the verse, that your prayers
be not hindered. In other words, if I am not being
what I'm supposed to be to my spouse, my prayers are hindered. Somebody says, what's that mean?
Just what it says, my prayers. are hindered. That's how important
this thing is. Now turn with me to Genesis chapter
one, and we're going to see how marriage was ordained of God. Now, before I read this passage
of scripture, I want you to remember that Eve didn't come on the scene
to the end of chapter two. Remember when she was taken out
of the side of Adam, and that's a picture of the gospel. Adam
put to sleep, Christ's death, Eve coming out of her, being
born of her. That's a picture of the gospel,
what Christ accomplished. But remember, she didn't come
around to the end of chapter two, but look in verse 26. And
God said of chapter one, God said, let us make man in our
own image after our own likeness and let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea and the fowl of the air and over the cattle
and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, and the
image of God created him, male and female created he them. Now,
he created one man, Adam, and the woman was in the man. Now
that is the gospel, the eternal union of Christ and his people. When he created that man, he
created them, although she didn't come around the end of chapter
two. Now remember, this is still before
the fall. Look in chapter two, verse 18. And the Lord God said,
it is not good that man should be alone. This is what God says. I will make him and help meet
for him. Now I love the way the spouse
has called the help meet. I need help. Lynn needs help. You need help. You need the help
of your husband. You need the help of your wife.
That is why God made this thing of marriage. This is ordained
of God. And we're in bad shape without each other. We need each
other to help one another. Oh, may our marriages reflect
this thing of helping one another as heirs together of the grace
of life. Now let's go on reading. And
out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field
and every fowl of the air, and he 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 and help meet for
him. He was all by himself. And the
Lord caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept. And he took one of his ribs and
closed up the flesh instead thereof. Now, I don't know how all that
worked, but that's what took place. He put Adam to sleep. That signifies the death of Christ.
I don't know how the first surgery, the first anesthesia, all this
stuff took place, but God was doing this and Eve came out of
his side and the rib, which verse 22, 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 shall be called woman
because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave
his father and mother and shall cleave, be joined unto his wife
and they too shall be one flesh. And they were both naked and
not ashamed. Now, once again, we have the
gospel clearly set forth in the dedication and the faithfulness
of the man to his wife. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother and be joined unto his wife. And when you're married, your
spouse is your family. Mom and dad are no longer the
ones you answer to or depend upon, and some people hurt their
marriages by not recognizing this. The two shall be one flesh,
and this is a reference to the act of intimacy that's created
by God. It's not dirty, it's holy. It's
what only God could create. It's beautiful for a man and
a woman in the covenant of marriage. The two becoming one flesh represents
the complete commitment of one to another in marriage. Outside
of marriage, well, here's what God says about it. The seventh
commandment, thou shalt not commit adultery. Outside of marriage,
sexual acts are wrong. They're sin against God. And
I think of what, even when David, what did the Lord say about David
when he committed adultery and committed murder? The scripture
says the Lord, the thing David did, displeased the Lord. So we can't ever think of anything
that is outside of the marriage covenant as okay. It's the gift
of God. It's a beautiful, glorious gift
that God has given. He created, it's not dirty. It's to be in the covenant of
marriage of two people who are committed to each other forever.
And that's what the marriage covenant says. I'm committed
to you forever. I'm committed to you forever. Now, Adam and Eve's perfect marriage
didn't stay perfect. You know, you've looked at couples
and thought, boy, they have a perfect marriage. No, they don't. No,
they don't. They may try to present it like
that, and they should. I want to present a good front in every
way. But wherever you've got two people,
you know what you've got together? You've got two centers. Always. And that always creates some
challenges in this thing of marriage. But look in, you know that Adam
and Eve's perfect marriage didn't stay perfect. You know, when
they ate, verse seven of chapter three, and the eyes of them both
were opened and they knew that they were naked. Now they were
naked before the fall. and it was absolutely not an
issue. There wasn't any kind of sinful
thoughts, any kind of, it wasn't an issue because they didn't
have fallen natures. But this is the first thing that's introduced.
After the fall, they knew that they were naked. And look at verse, I think verse
12. Verse 11, and he said, who told
thee thou was naked? Has thou eaten of the tree whereof
I commanded thee that thou should not eat? And the man said, here's
where we see their marriage went south. The woman you gave me, she gave me of the fruit and
I did eat. Now what he is saying is this
is your fault. He was refusing to take personal
responsibility for his sin. This is part of depravity. He
said, this is your fault. If you wouldn't have given me
this woman, this would have never taken place. Now, while we see
that there are no perfect marriages, shouldn't we strive for perfect
marriages? Shouldn't that be what we seek to be to our spouses
in every respect? Marriage is forever. And let
me remind you, one of the many keys to a marriage
is forgiving one another. Forgiving one another. Because
you're going to have reason to do it. Your spouse is going to
mistreat you. Your spouse is going to be inconsiderate
of you. There's all kinds of problems
that are going to take place during a marriage. As a matter
of fact, when I hear of one where there's nothing like that, I
don't believe it's real. I don't believe they're even talking
to each other. Because if you have, I can just see me telling
Lynn something. OK, I'll submit. No, it doesn't
work that way. But there is to be submission
that I'm talking about. It's not a milquetoast kind of
no communication. And the biggest example I thought
of was Sarah. In Genesis chapter 16, Sarah suggests to Abraham,
go into Hagar. And that's how God will answer
his will for us and bring us this child. Abraham said, okay,
I'll do it. And he went in and she had Ishmael. And you remember what happened?
All of a sudden, Hagar started looking down her nose at Sarah
and despised Sarah and was angry with Sarah. And Sarah got mad. And she comes to her husband
and says, kick him out. Kick him out. And she says, My
sin, or she goes, my wrong me upon thee. This is your fault
this took place. I know I told you to do it, but
you shouldn't have listened to me. You know that was wrong and
you did it anyway. She wasn't a milk toast, but
the scripture still says she was subject to Abraham and called
him Lord. And I'm not telling you to call
your husband Lord, but have that attitude of submission. And we're
going to talk more about that in a moment. But at any rate, I want to remind you before we
go on to the next passage of scripture, this thing of marriage
is for life. And God says, I hate divorce. He said that in Malachi
chapter 2, verse 16. If you're contemplating divorce,
know that God hates it, it's wrong. And let me also say this,
I've heard it said that if two professing believers divorce,
at least one of them is not saved. There's all kinds of problems
with that statement. There's all kinds of problems with that
statement. Because if you say that, there
is no sinful activity that a believer cannot fall into. Is that true? It is. And yes, a true believer
can get a divorce. And two true believers can get
a divorce. It's wrong. We don't like seeing it, but
it certainly happened. So that statement should not
be made. If two professing believers get a divorce, at least one of
them is not saved. You ought not say that. However,
I'd say quite often that is the case. Quite often that is the
case. You know, when I was growing
up, We didn't have one divorce family in my class. Not one. Everybody had same parents. Well, how have times changed?
How have times changed? And what trouble divorce brings,
and I realize there are times when it is unavoidable, and it
would be wrong for us to not recognize that. There are times
when it is unavoidable. But what trouble and pain it
brings, I've heard it's one of the worst things anybody ever
experiences, but what a blessing marriage is. But if you've been
through a divorce, I pray God will give you grace to move on.
Move on. And I hate it when people try
to, if you know somebody that's been through a divorce, mind
your own business. Don't be trying to tell them
what they need to do and what they don't need to do. Don't you do it.
That's in God's hand. You don't be telling somebody
what to do. Mind your own business with regard to this thing. But
divorce, how sad. I mean, your heart breaks. And
if you've been through that, may God give you grace to just
move on. It's over, next chapter. I know I'm talking about things
I don't know anything about. I've never been through a divorce.
I've never experienced that. I realize that. But when it happens, may
God give you grace to just move on. 1 Corinthians chapter seven. 1 Corinthians chapter seven. Verse one. The church of Corinth
had asked him about this thing of marriage and not being married. He says, now concerning the things
wherever you've wrote unto me, it's good for a man not to touch
a woman. Now, if you can live without being married, that's
a good thing. That's a good thing. You can
devote yourself more to the things of the Lord. He goes on to say
that more in 1 Corinthians 7. It's a long chapter. We're going
to get there in Bible study, Lord willing, because we're going
to start 1 Corinthians. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication,
let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her
own husband. I like the word own in there,
don't you? That's your own wife, that's
your own husband. What a close relationship. Verse three. Let the husband
render unto the wife due benevolence, the goodwill that you owe them. Let the husband render unto the
wife due benevolence, and likewise also the wife unto the husband. We owe each other goodwill. We owe each other due benevolence. The wife, verse four, hath no
power over her own body, but the husband. And likewise, also
the husband hath no power over his own body, but the wife. Now here he tells the married
couple, wife, your body belongs to your husband, husband, your
body belongs to your wife. He says that, inspired by God,
the Holy Spirit. Verse five, defraud ye not one
the other, except it be with consent for a time that you may
give yourselves to fasting and prayer and come together again
that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. Turn to 1
Peter chapter three. This has such glorious instruction
with regard to the gospel, but it's also glorious instruction
for man and wife. Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection
to your own husbands. Now, let me remind you this about
being in subjection, submission. I love to think, and I'm glad
Rick read that passage in Philippians chapter two, because The Lord
Jesus Christ is not in any way inferior to his father. Amen? He's equal to God. The only one
who's equal to God is God. He's not inferior to his father.
Equal to God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. It wasn't a thing he had to grasp
for. That's how glorious he is. Yet his whole life was a life
of willing submission to his father. And with him, it was
an act of complete trust. You know, he's the only one who
ever really trusted God. Me and you haven't. Things go
bad and we fall apart. Not him. He said, though he slay
me, yet will I trust him. And he trusted him completely. And when he submitted himself
to his father, it was an act of strength. What strength he
demonstrated in trusting himself completely to his father. So
when a woman, by the grace of God, because she wants to, the
only way you can submit is if you want to. There's no such
thing as forced submission. If it's forced, it's not submission.
The only way a woman can truly submit to her husband is because
she wants to. If you submit to your husband, It's an act of
you trusting the Lord. Because I guarantee you, there's
all kinds of things about your husband you can't trust. There's
things of weakness in him that you see. You think, well, why
would I submit myself to him? Because the Lord says to. That's
all the reason that's needed. And it's an act of trust to the
Lord. And it's an act of spiritual strength. So that's what he's
telling women to do. You see this throughout the scripture.
This is not male superiority and women have to hunker down
to men. In Christ, there's no male, female anyway. There's
no gender in Christ. They're not gonna mean gender
in heaven. How that's gonna be, I don't understand, but there
won't be. No male or female. As far as that goes, who stuck
with Christ at the cross, the women or the men? The men were
gone. The women stayed there. Who did
Christ appear to first, a woman or a man? A woman. This is not
talking about some kind of male dominance or male superiority,
but it is saying that the woman is to submit herself and subject
herself to her own husband as unto the Lord. Let's go on reading. Likewise, you wives be in subjection
to your own husbands, that if any obey not the word, they may
also without the word be won by the conversation of the wives. while they behold your chase
conversation coupled with fear. Who's adorning? Let it not be
that outward adorning of plaiting the hair and of wearing gold
or putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the
heart in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
Now he's talking about the way a woman should conduct herself
before her husband, but here we're giving up beautiful view
of what the new nature is. It's not corruptible. It's not
even subject to sin. It's meek. That's an attitude
before God. Whatever he brings my way is
right because he's God. I might not understand it, but
I don't need to. He does. And whatever he brings
my way is right. He's God. And that quiet spirit
talks about of a tranquility within because you know God's
on the throne. And you really believe that.
You believe that he's the first cause behind everything. And
this meek and quiet spirit is the product of a new nature. Incorruptible is what it's called
in 1 Peter. Now there's one thing. The only
way you can understand having two natures is if you have two
natures. If you only have one nature, this won't even make
sense to you. But if you have two natures, you understand what
it is to have a holy nature and to have a completely evil nature. with that, but this is what he
talks about when he talks about this woman. He wants the husband,
even if he's not a believer, submit yourself to him, even
if he's not a believer, that he may see your chaste conversation
coupled with fear, your attitude, fear of the Lord, and this meek
and quiet spirit in the sight of God. Verse five, for after
this manner in the old time, the holy women also who trusted
in God adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own
husbands, Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose
daughters you are as long as you do well and are not afraid
with any amazement. Likewise, you husbands dwell
with them according to knowledge, love, giving honor unto them. Unto the wife, as unto the weaker
vessel and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your
prayers be not hindered." Now, I hope that sticks with us, that
your prayers be not hindered. Okay, turn back to Ephesians
chapter five. We're gonna close up here. Wives, verse 22, submit yourselves
unto your own husbands as unto the Lord, just as you would the Lord. For
the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head
of the church, and he's the savior of the body. Therefore, as the
church is subject unto Christ, I've got to tell you this. I
probably was wrong. I don't know if I was wrong in
doing it. I did it. There was a young couple that came to talk
to me about getting married. And she said, well, I'm not going
to say I'll submit. I'm not going to say I'll obey.
That's what dogs do. I'm not going to do that. And I tried to explain to her that
this is not about male dominance, but this is about the church's
submission to Christ. And it pictures the church's
submission to Christ. And I tried to go at length in
explaining that to her. And when I was finished, she
said, well, I'm still not going to do it. And I looked at him. I said, if I were you, I wouldn't
marry her. And well, they've been coming to church here. They
don't come now, obviously. And then he came again after
that. Now, should I have done that? I don't know. I don't know. But that is how I felt. Another time I was doing a wedding,
and somebody wrote me out a note right before the service and
said, take the stuff about submission out. I don't want that in my
wedding. And that just flew all over me. And I sent her back
a note. I said, you need to get yourself
another preacher. And right during the wedding, so she I probably
shouldn't be telling you all this stuff. I mean, I'm bad. But at any rate, those things
took place. Oh, I wish I hadn't said all that. Verse 25, husbands, love your wives even as Christ
also loved the church. and gave himself for it. And
I have no doubt that it would be difficult for me. And I know for me, I don't remember
what I was preaching on a few weeks ago, but I remember telling
y'all, I can't stand it for somebody to tell me what to do. And I
can't. I can't. I wouldn't do real well. That'd
be hard to submit yourself. How easy it would be to submit
to a perfect husband that loves you completely in a way that
he gave himself for you and there was nothing he wouldn't do for
your good. How easy it would be. Husbands
love your wives even as Christ also loved the church. Look in
first Corinthians 13 real quick. Here's the love that Christ has,
verse four. And this is the way the husband
is to love his wife. Charity suffers, it's long suffering
and it's kind. Charity envieth not. Charity
vaunteth not itself. It's not trying to sell itself
or push itself. It's not puffed up with pride.
It doesn't behave itself unseemly, it's not rude. It seeketh not
her own, it seeketh the good of the object of its affection.
It's not easily provoked, touchy, irritable, easily offended. It
thinketh no evil, that means it keeps no records of wrongs.
It keeps no records of wrongs. It rejoices not in iniquity,
but rejoices in truth. It bears all things. That word
means covers with silence. All things. Covers with silence. All things. Believes all things. Believes the best. Hopes all
things. Endures all things. Now that's
the kind of love we're talking about. The love of the husband
to his wife. What is referred to as love here
in this passage. Charity never fails, Christ never
fails, love never fails. Back to our text. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the 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 and 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 are members of his body,
of his flesh and of his bone. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother and anything else that would hinder him in
this. anything else that would hinder him in this. To be joined
unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. Now this is a great mystery.
I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, don't
look at this as just quote theological. I hate that word anyway, theological. It's not in the Bible, theology. Nevertheless, let every one of
you in particular so love his wife, even as himself. You seek your own best interests.
Seek the best interests of your wife. And the wife, see that
she reverence her husband. Now may the Lord use this first
to teach us the gospel. And how this teaches the gospel.
but also to give us a renewed zeal to be a good spouse. Don't think about, I hope my
wife hears this, or I hope my husband hears this. Don't think
that way. Think about you. Let each one in particular. Let's
pray. Lord, we come into your presence
in the name of thy son, and we thank you that he gave himself. We thank you that he loved the
church, and we thank you that through him we're presented a
glorious church having no spot, wrinkle, or any such thing. And
Lord, we pray that you would bless our homes. We pray that
you would bless our marriages. We pray that you'd bless those
who are not married, that your will would be done, that according
to your will, if you would have them be married, that you'd supply
them a spouse according to your will. Lord, we have so many that
have gone through the difficulties of divorce. We pray that you
would give them the grace to move on. And Lord, we're so thankful
that you're on the throne. Give us the grace to be lowly, humble, nonjudgmental people. Cause us to make our moderation
be known to all men. Bless this message for Christ's
sake. In his name we pray.