Ephesians 5, the part of the chapter that I wanted to focus on is the latter part there
from verses 22 through 33 where God is giving instructions unto husbands and wives and there
are several passages like this in the New Testament.
This is probably the most famous one and it starts out by saying 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.
For 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 nourished and cherished it that 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.
This is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ in the church and then in verse 33
he gives a synopsis again of what he's saying in this passage just the main thought he says
nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself and the wife
see that she reverence her husband.
So according to this passage we can clearly see that the key responsibility of a husband
toward his wife is to love his wife and the key responsibility of the wife toward her
husband is to reverence her husband.
If we had to pick what is the main thing that's the main thing.
Now there are many other things that we as husbands need to do besides just loving our
wives.
There are many other things that our wives need to do besides just reverencing us but
when we want to talk about what is the major theme it's wrapped up right there in verse
33 when it says let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself and the wife
see that she reverence her husband.
What does reverence mean?
It's like respect but it's a stronger word for respect.
It's more like fear.
It's a very deep respect.
But what I want to preach about tonight and if you would flip over to Proverbs 31.
What I want to preach about tonight is just some practical advice for your marriage.
I'm going to give some practical things that wives should do, that husbands should do,
and that both of us in our marriages should be doing in order to have a good marriage.
You see I strongly believe that what works for one person often will work for everybody
if it's just straight out of the Bible.
You know a lot of people think that it's got to be different for everybody.
Now I understand that okay people are different and they have different situations but there
are certain things in the Bible where God just lays them out as just a principle that's
just a universal principle where it just goes for everybody.
You can't sit there and say well I just don't think that this arrangement will work in my
marriage where the husband's in charge.
I think in my marriage it would be better if the wife's in charge.
That just doesn't work that way and everybody thinks they're the exception and they're different
but honestly there are a lot of principles that are just universal in the Bible that
we could all put into practice and that we could all use.
Now I'm not one who does a lot of marriage counseling and a lot of pastors do a lot of
marriage counseling.
I mean they're doing marriage counseling just every day, every week.
I even know pastors who put ads in the yellow pages in the marriage counseling section just
to do more marriage counseling.
I don't know why they hate themselves that much but anyway but you know a lot of pastors
do a lot of counseling.
Last thing, if somebody asks me for advice on their marriage or has a question about
marriage you know I always answer their question.
I don't just say you know hey I don't do counseling.
I'll give them their question but I don't really do counseling in the traditional sense
because of the fact that usually it's not really that hard to figure out what people
need to change in their marriage in order to fix it.
Usually I have to listen to somebody for about 60 seconds and then I can usually be able
to dish out some biblical advice, some biblical advice that will work for everybody.
But what I find is that the people who've often come to me and ask me for advice about
marriage I give them advice and it's not what they wanted to hear.
And so therefore the counseling session is cut short because I tell them you know do
X, Y, and Z and do those things and then come back and talk to me if you still have a problem.
The reality is they say well you know I can't do that and that's not going to work and you
know that sounds hard and everything like that.
And I always tell people whenever I give people advice on things like when people come to
me with marriage problems I always tell them this I say you know what I say here's the
things that the Bible says you're supposed to be doing.
Do you agree that this is what the Bible says?
Oh yeah.
And I say to that person if you don't do these things don't come back and talk to me about
it.
Now I'm not one that says hey if I give you advice you have to take it because you know
what if somebody comes to me and gets advice and they don't think that my advice is right
and they don't think my advice is biblical then they don't have to take my advice.
You know I'm not I'm not God I'm not your master you know if you just come to me for
advice I'll give you advice you can take it or leave it.
But here's the thing if somebody comes to me for advice and I give them biblical advice
and they don't want to follow it I don't want that person to come back to me and say hey
I'm still having the same problem.
What now?
The same thing I told you last time.
And in reality our problems can often be solved with just some very simple biblical
solutions but people often don't want to take the steps necessary to fix the problem.
They don't often want to hear what the Bible says.
Often what they want when they want counseling is they want to tell you a lot of stories
and they want to give you all their dirty laundry and just get a lot of things off their
chest and frankly I don't want to know about all the intricacies and all the negativity
within your marriage because let me say it this way I don't think it's necessary for
me to know what you've been doing wrong in order to tell you how to do it right.
I mean think about it let's say we were talking about cooking let's say I were going to teach
you how to cook which would be very ironic indeed but I do know how to make one thing
well and that is a cheesy omelet all right and I make one virtually every day of my life.
But let's say I'm going to teach you how to make an omelet I would say to you come into
the kitchen with me and let me show you how to make an omelet I wouldn't say like okay
sit down and tell me all the problems you've been having with omelet making.
Tell me about all the failed omelets in your life can you show me exactly how you're cracking
the egg when shells end up in it can you show me exactly why the yolk is constantly you
know breaking at the wrong time when you're when you're making eggs or what you know I
don't need you to tell me everything that's wrong in order for me to tell you how to do
it right now there are a lot of wrong ways to make an omelet I don't need to know them
all in order to teach you the right way to make an omelet and so people somehow think
that I have to know or that a pastor or counselor has to know everything that's wrong with their
marriage and tell them all the mistakes and all the problems and then I'm going to sit
here and listen to all this crazy stuff and then now I'm going to tell you how to do it
right I just would rather skip a step and just tell you how to do it right and in fact
instead of having to just tell you how to do it right personally to your face which
could be a little bit embarrassing for you if you come to me and have to tell me hey
you know I'm having problems or whatever it's even better if I can just tell it to the whole
church and so these things that I'm going to give to you tonight are just practical
marital advice that just works for everybody just practical marital advice that just it's
for all of you it's for everyone so instead of having to just on an individual basis go
through all your dirty laundry and explain you know what the Bible says you know it's
just it's just better just to do it as a group just that's what the church is supposed to
be just to teach you the Word of God now listen if you do have a serious question you do have
a serious problem don't refrain from coming to me but I just don't need to know details
and I don't need to go into a big long thing with you because honestly it doesn't take
long to figure out what the problem is usually when you talk to people you know people are
not going to church they're not reading their Bibles they're not even married you know they're
like oh I'm having trouble getting along with my wife well actually she's my live-in girlfriend
it's like well wait a minute you know I'm not going to be able to fix that for you you
need to get married you know you need to at least have some semblance of following the
Bible or I'm wasting my time even even speaking to you but let me give you some practical
advice today just I'm going to give some advice for husbands some advice for wives and I just
hope that you can use something in the sermon I'm just going to give you a lot of tips and
things that I've learned and things that I've seen in the Bible and honestly you know I
believe that these are just universal principles and you know that's that's why I don't do
a lot of marital counseling just because I don't want to really get involved in other
people's strife and I don't want to hear all the detail because honestly I want to
be able to think the best of you and I don't want to just know all your darkest secrets
or something you know this isn't a Catholic Church where you go to the confessional booth
and just tell all to the pastor now again if you have a problem and you need my help
I don't want you to be afraid to come talk to me I'm not going to judge you I'm not going
to come down on you but at the same time you know it's better if you can just learn these
principles in a setting like this from the pulpit right and be able to use these things
in your marriage.
So first of all I want to talk about for the husbands you know some advice for the husbands
look at Proverbs 31 the Bible says in verse 28 it says her children arise up and call
her blessed her husband also and he prays with her many daughters have done virtuously
but thou excelest them all and the first thing I want to say about how to love your wife
because that's the main thing that the husband is supposed to do to love your wife first
of all you should love your wife more than you love anyone else and you should look to
your wife as being the greatest woman in the world and you don't have anyone else that
you love more or that is more important to you than she is that's why he says there many
daughters have done virtuously but thou excelest them all you know if you read the book of
Song of Solomon a great book on marriage you'll see the husband is constantly praising
his wife's beauty she is the fairest she's the most beautiful she's the most gorgeous
she's wonderful and that's how we ought to feel about our husband or wife as married
people we should love our wife more than we love anyone else okay and number two we should
praise our wife's beauty not the beauty of other women don't say to your wife oh isn't
she so beautiful isn't this other woman so beautiful and by the way don't put up some
calendar or some picture or poster of some woman other than your wife that's not loving
your wife if you're going to put up some other example of some beautiful babe that you have
up well that's just in the garage that's just where I work on my car you know that's just
a guy thing no it's a sinful thing and you know if you love your wife and you really
want to make her feel special and make her feel like she's the only woman in your life
and that you care for her above all others you wouldn't put up those those type of pictures
and number three never look at pornography and this is a big one in the day that we live
and it's one that I don't often talk about just because I don't like to talk about unwholesome
subjects but it needs to be dealt with somewhat today men are looking at pornography on on
a scale that's unbelievable it's pretty much the number one thing that the internet is
used for if you look at the statistics on it there's more traffic today going to pornographic
websites than any other type of website on the internet I mean it's the main function
of the internet now go to Proverbs chapter 6 let me show you some scriptures on this
Proverbs chapter 6 while you're turning there I'll read for you from Matthew 5 28 but I
say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery
with her already in his heart this is serious sin when you're looking on a woman to lust
after her and that's what you're doing when you pull up pornographic images of women other
than your wife it says when you look upon a woman to lust after you have committed adultery
with her already in your heart this is a major sin and people try to justify this and say
well you know I heard this stupid saying just because I've already ordered doesn't mean
I can't still look at the menu well every restaurant I've ever been to in my life as
soon as I order they say give me that menu and they take the menu away from you okay
so that's a dumb illustration but either way that might sound cute to you but you know
what we as as husbands need to have respect for our wife's feelings and understand that
she's not going to be feel loved if we're sharing our affections with someone else and
when we're lusting after some other woman's beauty in our heart and committing adultery
in our heart it's a spiritual mental type of unfaithfulness you know when you're gonna
lust in your heart after another woman look at Proverbs 6 verse 32 it says but whoso commiteth
adultery with a woman lacketh understanding he that doeth that destroyeth his own soul
a wound and dishonor shall he get and his reproach shall not be wiped away for jealousy
is the rage of a man therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance now this scripture
is talking about a man becoming jealous because his wife has committed adultery but let me
say this the flip side is also true a wife is going to be jealous of a husband who goes
out and commits adultery also and that jealousy will produce rage and anger and we see that
in the life of King David where King David and his wife Michal became estranged from
one another because she was jealous of other women in David's life because David did not
keep his affections only upon her but shared his affections with others and had multiple
wives and every story in the Bible where multiple wives are involved there's jealousy
involved there's rage involved there's enmity involved because this jealousy thing goes
two ways and it's not the person who's jealous that's the problem it's the person who's being
unfaithful that's the problem oh the jealous husband yes I'm a jealous husband because
my wife is mine alone and every wife should be jealous of their husband and every husband
should be jealous of their wife because we don't believe in sharing our spouses and so
don't get angry at someone for being jealous get angry at the one who is sharing their
affection with someone outside of marriage and not keeping themselves holy under their
spouse that's who we ought to get upset about but let me tell you I'm constantly hearing
from people that are addicted to pornography that are struggling with the sin of looking
at pornography and I'll read for you from Romans 13-14 you don't have to turn there
but it says but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill
the lusts thereof he said don't make provision for the flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof
let me say this if you are one who is struggling with internet pornography the salute we don't
need a marriage counseling session to deal with this you don't need to come to my office
necessarily and go over this with me because I'm going to give you the advice preemptively
right now you need to get rid of your internet connection okay now look I'm not saying that
everyone needs to get rid of their internet connection but if this is something that you're
tempted by and that you're struggling with then you need to just get rid of your internet
connection it's that simple because think about it for example you know I don't drink
alcohol I've never drunk alcohol in my life I've never drunk a beer or I've never been
drunk I don't really know what that's like I grew up in a Christian home and that's one
thing I never experimented with but let me say this if you were to put a bottle of booze
in my kitchen cabinet that bottle of booze would be there untouched for the next hundred
years I'm not going to touch that thing because it's just not a temptation for me it's something
that I've never done it's something that I've never been into I have no desire to start
drinking I've never drunk in the past I'm not going to drink in the future that bottle
of booze would just sit in that cupboard and it would collect dust and it really wouldn't
bother me at all but let me tell you something someone who's been an alcoholic someone who's
struggled with that and you put that bottle of booze in their kitchen cabinet that's a
big temptation for them that's something that's going to cause them to fall now again I wouldn't
store alcohol in my house just because I'm against alcohol but I'm just trying to illustrate
to you that certain people have certain proclivities towards certain sins because once you open
that door of a particular sin that temptation is always going to be there think about it
if you've never taken heroin you're not going to sit around just man I wish I had some heroin
right now you know you can't crave something that you've never had and by the way that's
why it's better just to never even start smoking then you're never going to crave cigarettes
you never even started you know you never start drinking and then you're not going to
crave that feeling of being drunk you don't even know what it is what I'm saying is that
if you're one who struggles in that area or one who has in the past struggled in that
area and that's a temptation for you and you say man I just keep going back and looking
at it get rid of the temptation the bible says lead us not into temptation you shouldn't
even just have it right there I mean think about it and if you are one who has this tendency
to look at pornography and you're carrying a smartphone you're just carrying around with
you in your pocket the ability to look at pornography at any time in your pocket and
then you say well I just don't know why I can't kick this habit I mean that'd be like
if you were saying you know I really want to kick the habit of gluttony and overeating
and you just live in a house that's just filled with Twinkies and Ho-Hos I mean all over the
counters you have Twinkies you have Ho-Hos you've got soda in the fridge you've got all
kinds of sweets and treats and you're saying I just don't understand I just keep giving
into temptation obviously the smart thing to do would be to get it out of your house
you know and just have nutritious foods in your house as an alternative and so I'm telling
you that if you are one who is struggling with internet pornography you need to just
get rid of your internet connection because honestly you can live without the internet
now the internet does have many legitimate uses but wait a minute we could all live without
people I mean people didn't even have when I was a kid and I'm a young man people didn't
even have computers when I was a kid almost no one had a computer let alone the internet
and you know what I thank God listen to me I thank God that when I was a kid this stuff
wasn't available because honestly if this stuff would have been available when I was
a teenager I can see that I myself could have fallen into this you know when you're young
when you're immature when you're carnal when you're sinful when you're immature I could
see myself having gotten on the internet and looked at stuff that I shouldn't have looked
at thank God it wasn't available back then you know and by the time it became available
by the time the internet came out and was high speed and you could actually look at
images or videos or anything like that you know I was already mature enough in the Lord
to not seek after those things but you know what little kids and teenagers they're not
going to have that discernment they're not going to have that maturity they're not going
to have that wisdom and so don't give them unfettered access to the internet because
it's just the door is wide open for them to just out of curiosity or just out of their
wickedness to go into things that they shouldn't go into now the best illustration I could
think of about this is my microwave okay you know the microwave is really convenient but
you know we came to a point where we decided you know we don't want to eat stuff out of
the microwave it's probably not the healthiest way to make your food and and we decided let's
let's use the microwave less let's in fact let's just and then we said let's just stop
using the microwave but we just kept using it every day because it's just so convenient
and my wife and I decided we're not going to use the microwave anymore but we just kept
using the microwave why because it's just so convenient it's just so easy to just oh
just this once you know just heat something up real quick yeah just heat that just heat
everything up you know you're heating stuff up every single day and so finally I realized
the only way to stop using the microwave is to get rid of the microwave because if it's
there you're going to use it and so I ripped out my microwave and threw it in the garbage
can and and you know put it in like a hood fan instead and guess what I've never used
the microwave since and I don't find myself just you know sneaking food down to the gas
station and using the gas station's microwave you know because it's just the fact that it's
just right there it's just so easy it's just so convenient to just fall back into that
now I'm not saying that using the microwave's a sin okay I'm just saying that I didn't want
to use the microwave I was trying to eat healthier and use the oven and the stove to cook things
instead of the microwave but when you have a problem with alcohol alcohol needs to be
gone from your house and if you have a problem with smoking you need to get all cigarettes
away from you and if you have a problem with drugs you need to have all drugs taken away
from you and you need to get rid of the internet access if it's leading you into sin you know
whatever it is that's leading you into sin whether it's your microwave or whether it's
your internet I'm just kidding but my point being don't make provision for the flesh to
fulfill the lust thereof that's an easy fix folks and you know you can downgrade this
thing to just being a phone if you can't handle that internet connection now if you're using
it for a legitimate purpose and you're not using it to get into sin well you know what
that's up to you because you're an adult to be able to parent yourself and take care of
yourself but don't just give a kid unfettered access to this because they're not going to
refrain from looking at the wrong things they don't have the maturity or the wisdom
of the discernment in most cases number four these are just tips for husband I got to hurry
because I got to get to the wives number four as a husband you need to make all the money
and pay all the bills why because the one who pays the bills is the one who makes the
rules okay and the Bible says but if any provide not for his own and especially for those of
his own house he had denied the faith and is worse than an infidel okay number five
you need to be manly okay first Corinthians six nine and a long list of sins says the
unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God be not deceived neither fornicators
nor idolaters nor adulterers nor effeminate nor abuses of themselves with mankind the
modern Bible versions change this and take this out but according to the King James Bible
being effeminate is a sin what does it mean to be effeminate it's a man that acts womanly
in his behavior you say why is that bad for my marriage because your wife her primary
responsibility to you is what to reverence you it's going to be hard for her to reverence
you when you're a little Twinkie and a little sissy and when you're being a girly man she's
not she's gonna have a hard time respecting you what are we supposed to do for our wives
love our wives how do we love our wives that means we love her more than anyone else we
don't share our affections amongst other women we're not looking at pornography we're not
you know praising other women's beauty and putting up other posters and things like that
and then what's her responsibility toward us to reverence us well you know what if you
want reverence and you want respect strive to be respectable if you want to be respected
you need to be respectable here's one thing that will bring you respect when you pay the
bills when you make the money as the Bible teaches that the man should provide when you're
manly and someone that your wife can look to as as someone that's manly not a queer
little sissy number six and for this I'll read first Corinthians 13 11 when I was a
child I spake as a child I understood as a child I thought as a child but when I became
a man I put away childish things number six you need to be mature and not be juvenile
and do things like playing video games all the time you know you want your wife to reverence
you it's hard to reverence a video game addict I mean the word reverence and video game addict
just don't go together I want my wife to fear me and reverence me and respect me and you
know you spend hours and hours playing video games or being juvenile in other ways you
say what are some other examples of being juvenile just trying to be just so trendy
all the time you know just acting like a child thinking that you're like a teenager or something
grow up be manly be an adult be mature and then it'll be easier for your wife to respect
you when you're respectable okay being juvenile you know you see people today that they get
they get so into professional sports sometimes and they get juvenile about it sometimes you
know they're like a little kid or something you know and look if you like sports I'm not
against you liking sports but you know what you need to keep that in you need to keep
that mature and adult and in moderation and not you know not just become one that's just
like a little kid or something just you know in front of the TV for hours and with your
all your you know junk food and your sedentary and you're out of shape and you're just you
know just so into the game and like a little kid I mean little kids love to idolize sports
stars you know men grow up and they do their own exploits you know they they live their
own lives and they don't get that excited about a game it's a game it's not life it's
not yeah you know we yeah we beat them yeah you didn't do anything you're not on that
team we won you're not on the team you couldn't even run from one of that football fields
with other without without you know being out of breath let alone play the game all
right but I'm just saying you know you got to be mature folks no woman wants to be married
to a video game addict no woman wants to be married to someone who acts like a child and
is juvenile and is into video games and just idolizes sports heroes and and in an immature
way okay so number seven go to Proverbs 31 once again Proverbs 31 I don't know if you're
still there but in Proverbs 31 I want to show you that some things that you can do to help
your marriage as a husband is to express appreciation unto your wife express your feelings toward
your wife of love and affection tell her that you love you love her but also express your
appreciation for her and what she does see the Bible says in Proverbs 31 28 her children
arise up and call her blessed her husband also and he praises her you see that many
daughters have done virtuously but thou excel ist them all favor is deceitful and beauty
is vain but a woman that fear at the Lord she shall be praised watch this give her of
the fruit of her hands and let her own works praise her in the gates so she should be recognized
and praised and rewarded for the good things that she does and shown appreciation by her
husband and eighthly let me say this to husbands never complain about your wife to someone
outside of your marriage and this is something that husbands and wives are both often guilty
of you'll hear it all the time a husband criticizing his wife to other people it's a shame wives
criticizing their husband to other people it's hurting your marriage these are some
things that you can do husbands to help your marriage love your wife love her more than
anyone else express that love to her don't put up pictures and things of other don't
get into pornography I also you need to make the money and pay the bills you need to be
manly you need to be but sure don't be juvenile you need to express your appreciation your
wife and don't complain about your wife to someone outside of the marriage now gone to
the wives let me just flip that coin of course that the wife should not complain about her
husband to other people number one don't criticize your husband to other people and
I I've heard it in this church I've heard it everywhere I go you hear people just criticizing
their their spouse to other people and you know when that get but when that gets back
to them that's going to hurt your marriage and you know what it does it's breaking the
closeness and the trust of your marriage because here you're supposed to be on the same team
and you what you're doing when you criticize your spouse to other people you're siding
with other people against your spouse is what you're doing you know you're putting distance
between you and your spouse and you're siding with someone else to gang up and criticize
your spouse that's why you should never hang around with people that are critical of your
spouse or critical of their own spouse or of just all men in general you know there
are women out there they're just these man-hating type women they've been divorced three times
and let me tell you something all men are this and all men you know and they're just
these man-haters or even just women who just despise their own husband because the Bible
says evil communication that corrupts good manners a companion of fools shall be destroyed
and when you walk with people that are like that you're going to learn their ways when
they are constantly criticizing their husband or just negative about men in general and
there are women that are like that and not only that especially if they're not critical
of your husband because you know they might have something against your husband in particular
maybe your family you have family members who are just constantly ragging on your husband
to you you need to just stop hanging around with those people for a while and tell them
hey we can have a relationship again when you stop criticizing my husband to me and
stand up for your husband you know stand up for your wife but you know this part is under
the women stand up for your husband and side with him against other people don't side with
his enemies against him it's going to destroy your marriage here are some other things under
that same type of a point don't ever tell a story about your husband that embarrasses
your husband that's another way irreverent thing that you could do to your husband telling
a story about your husband where it's embarrassing unto him or reflects poorly on him that you
know what do you what are you accomplishing with that all you're doing is just enraging
your husband all you're doing is just tearing him down in your own side and in the side
of others also don't disclose your finances to other people as a woman don't go around
talking about your financial problems as a wife because you know what that does that
reflects poorly on your husband and then that's going to make him ashamed and that's going
to make him angry and that's embarrassing unto him you know don't go around just talking
about your financial problems all the time because it reflects poorly on your husband
are you listening you know being critical of your husband you need to love him and stand
up for him and not do that you know another thing that you should not do if you want to
have a good marriage don't compliment other men to your husband don't go to your husband
and start telling him how great other men are isn't he so handsome doesn't he make so
much money you know isn't he such a great guy look at how he treats what a wonderful
guy isn't he so cool you know that's just a subtle way of just not being supportive
of your husband you know you should praise your husband and compliment him not compliment
other men to him and again you know this is you know we talk about men with their you
know with their posters and their whatever they get into on the internet but you know
what it's a two-way street with that too when women are idolizing these stupid faggoty
actors right and saying like oh you know oh Brad Pitt oh you know Johnny Depp oh you know
Tom Cruise oh you know Justin Bieber oh you know I just had to throw that in you know
but let me you know Keanu Reeves oh Leonardo DiCaprio oh you know shut up these guys are
a bunch of sodomite faggots they're not you know and you're you're idolizing him for being
so manly he's an actor he's acting manly because he's an actor in real life he's a queer he's
a sodomite he doesn't even like women seriously Hollywood listen I've got a good friend who
works in Hollywood he said it's all sodomites did you need him to tell you that but it's
true though I mean it's all it's filled with sodomites that's who dominates Hollywood that's
who runs it that's who the actors are it's a bunch of filth and so it's just as wicked
when women try to jump on this bandwagon and start lifting up and exalting their male heart
throbs and so forth you know that's hurtful to your husband because jealousy is the rage
of a man the Bible says you want to enrage your husband start telling him about Johnny
Depp with his faggoty eyeliner every time I see a picture of that guy he's got eyeliner
on what's his deal oh he's a pirate yeah I'm sure pirates went around putting on makeup
I mean what kind of stupid this is the stupidity of Hollywood I'm sure I'm sure pirates just
they really you know had their Revlon and their Maybelline and their Max Factor on that
pirate ship and they applied makeup no he's applying makeup because that's the queerness
and weirdness of Hollywood for you and so don't sit there and insult your husband and
demean your husband by praising other men to him praise him to him tell him how great
he is tell him what a cool guy he is tell him what a stud he is don't sit there and
praise other men whoever they are to your husband and not praise him to him that's insulting
especially when you're praising the queers of Hollywood okay what else number two that's
number one don't don't be critical of your husband especially to other people number
two treat your husband respectfully you know obviously the Bible said see that the wife
reverence her husband what are some ways you could do that well first of all you should
not scold or rebuke your husband now go to First Timothy 5 1 see a lot of ladies they
mistakenly get the idea that it's their job to correct and rebuke and straighten out their
husband all the time well he's not doing what he's supposed to do and he's not obeying
the Lord and he's not you know but here's the thing God did not give that women that
responsibility to make sure that their husband lives right now he did give husbands the responsibility
to make sure that their wife lives right well that's a double standard yes it is you're
finally getting it but listen it's not the wife's job to be the parent or an authority
figure over the husband and scold him and rebuke him and correct him and make sure that
he does what he's supposed to do because it's not your responsibility now the Bible does
teach that is the man's responsibility you know as for me and my house we will serve
the Lord and to wash and cleanse his wife spiritually and help her to grow and to be
able to present her and so forth but let me say this it's not the wife's responsibility
to make sure that is that her husband lives for the Lord it's only a one-way street there
it's the husband's responsibility to make sure the wife is is doing what she's supposed
to be doing but it's not the wife's responsibility to make sure that the husband's doing right
and and here's the thing this will destroy your marriage when you have this dynamic of
a wife that's trying to rule over her husband Lord over him scolding him correcting him
rebuking him and you're not allowing him to be the leader as the Bible teaches he should
be you know a scripture I would point to is 1st Timothy 5 where it says rebuke not
an elder but entreat him as a father and the younger men as brother now I realize this
isn't about husbands this is about the pastor when it says rebuke not an elder it's talking
about an elder meaning like a bishop or a pastor but here's the thing if you're not
supposed to rebuke the pastor but entreat him as a father what that means is that if
the pastor says something that you think is wrong or does something that you think is
wrong you're to go to him and kindly entreat him and explain to him the his error of his
ways okay it's not saying hey you can never tell the pastor he's wrong you can tell the
pastor he's wrong but you entreat him as a father you come to him respectfully and and
let him know you don't rebuke him what's rebuke rebuke is is scolding it's all about the respect
that you show what's the difference between entreat entreaty and rebuke the level of respect
but here's the thing the reason we can apply this same principle unto husbands and wives
is because we know that the wife is told to reverence her husband and so in fact the wife
should show even more respect to her own husband than unto the pastor you know it's even a
greater respect that's shown I don't even call myself reverend hey reverend I don't
even go by that name okay because I you know I think that that words overkill for a pastor
I mean that's my opinion I think reverend is a little over the top for a pastor but
it's not over the top for a husband and it's not over the top for the Lord you know those
are people that deserve those titles and let me say this you know you should not rebuke
or scold your husband if you you know bring in something to his attention kindly okay
but you don't just don't feel the need that it's your responsibility to fix every problem
in his life you know he's a grown man if you don't like the way he is why did you marry
him well I married him with the hopes I'd fix him later that was a bad idea you know
because honestly it's not your job as a wife to fix him you know you need to show him the
respect of not scolding and and rebuking him and coming down on him and you know just to
give you some examples you know I I've seen wives just completely freak out and and you
know they're gonna they're gonna threaten to leave their husband they're gonna call
the police they're gonna do it because their husband smokes pot now listen smoking pot's
a wicked sin I'm not gonna defend it for one second I'm against it it's wrong it's sin
I put it in the same category with drunkenness the Bible commands us to be sober it is sinful
it is wrong but let me tell you something it's not the wife's job to just say hey you
know if you don't stop drinking I'm leaving if you won't stop smoking pot I'm leaving
you know if you don't quit doing that you know what that is out of line there's not
what the Bible ever teaches you'll never find in the Bible where the Bible says hey you
know if your husband's doing wrong you know you you can you can fix it you can you can
threaten to leave no the Bible says let not the wife depart from her husband that's what
it says.
Says that the husband and wife are in it for better for worse and not to be to cut asunder
what God has joined together and so this attitude of just well but there are just certain things
where I draw the line and blah blah blah you know you just need to get over it and I know
that that preaching might make some people uncomfortable but I'm gonna I'm gonna say
it right now that you know what when you get married it's till death do us part and
it's a relationship where the husband is in authority that's what biblical marriage is
and you know if you marry a guy who's a loser who sits around playing video games and smoking
pot you know you got to think about that before you get married but if you're married to a
guy like that let's say right now you're like pastor that's me right now pastor Anderson
I am married to a pot smoking video game addict then you know what your job is to be
the best wife that you can be to love your husband to reverence your husband obey your
husband and to serve the Lord and do the best you can in that situation I you know I'm sorry
that your life turned out that way but honestly when you get married that's the commitment
that you're making and so this attitude of scolding and yelling at your husband screaming
at your husband because of whatever the whatever the sin you know it's not going to help your
marriage it's not going to fix anything it's not biblical number three you want to have
a happy marriage wives you know you liked it when I was on the husband's now you're
like but anyway you know well don't complain don't be a complainer you know the Bible says
when the people complained it displeased the Lord and the Bible talks about clamor
being clamorous about being a complainer it's a sin okay number four go to Romans chapter
12 Romans chapter 12 and I'm just I know I'm just throwing a lot of points at you I'm just
throwing points at you but you know what if people would do this stuff they would get
along with their spouse you know do you want to get along with your spouse follow these
principles and you'll get along with your spouse you know you want your you want you
want to get along with your husband and you're having a hard time getting along with your
husband well here's the thing stop scolding him be respectful to him stop trying to correct
him and straighten him out and fix him all the time and start obeying him that's what
the Bible says but that's not what people want to hear often but that's what the Bible
says you know you want to to get along with your husband you know you got to stop criticizing
him to other people you got to stop being critical of him and praising other men unto
him you know you need to start loving him for who he is you need to stop complaining
number four Romans 12 15 says rejoice with them that do rejoice and weep with them that
weep number four is that you need to have empathy for your husband meaning that when
he's happy you should be happy with him and when he's down you should mourn with him now
that's called empathy when you reflect the feelings of other people yourself so when
your husband is rejoicing you should be rejoicing with them if he's happy that should make you
happy and if he's sad or down that should make you down also and you know what this
can be obviously one that could go both ways too between husband and wife you say why is
this important because some people have a marriage where they're they're not in tune
with each other and basically you know when one person's down they're happy the other
one gets happy that you're down and then you know when you're happy I'm in a bad mood why
because this is what it is they have this us against them like variance with their spouse
where basically it's kind of it's like a it's like a battle I mean look people are like
this with their spouse sometimes where it's like a battle instead of being like a friendship
or they're on the same team they're they're both you know doing the same because think
about this if we're both on the same team and we're both united us us against the world
kind of a mentality then when I'm happy you're gonna be happy too I mean if the people we
love are happy that should make us happy right and if the people that we love are sad wouldn't
that make us sad too but you'll see people that have a bad relationship this isn't how
they are one will get happy when the other is down or vice versa okay so you know how
you would apply this is just when you see your spouse happy rejoice with them share
in their joy and when you see them down you know don't just be all jovial and bubbly the
Bible says not to sing songs unto those that are of a heavy heart it can really irritate
people when they're in a bad mood and you're just like really happy and jovial it's almost
like a little salt in the wound instead you should have some empathy and try to mirror
your spouse's mood a little bit and try to understand where they're coming from and try
to feel what they feel and then I just got to quickly hurry through some of these but
if you would go to Proverbs chapter 1 Proverbs chapter 1 obviously you know things that wives
should be doing I'm gonna skip some of this for take of time but obviously you know cook
the food that your husband likes to eat you want to get along with your husband make food
that he likes if it's food that he doesn't like don't make it now obviously you need
to feed him nutritious food so I'm not saying to just you know just feed him all kinds of
junk because he just wants junk you know try to slowly ease him into nutritious foods if
he's one that is prone to junk food but honestly make him the food that he likes and that's
gonna make him happy you know be feminine you know I talked about being manly being
masculine you know you need to be feminine your husband doesn't want you to be going
around the house in your carpenter pants and you know your short hair and you're all gruff
and you're walking like a cowboy and everything you know be feminine you know be appealing
unto your husband by being feminine by being womanly in your demeanor and in your appearance
if you want to get along with your husband what's the sermon about it's about getting
along it's about having a good marriage it's about being happy in your marriage and not
having a lot of marital problems and a lot of these things people will resist these things
that I'm listening I'm just throwing ideas at you and a lot of people will resist these
things well why should I because you want to have a happy marriage because you want
to obey the Bible because you want to do what's right you know why do I have to always
you know make the food that he wants and why do I have to you know do all this stuff because
you love your husband because you want to get along now what are some things that both
people should be doing well did I return to proverbs one proverbs one twenty four says
this because I've called and you refused I've stretched out my hand and no man regarded
so what we get in this verse here is the image of you know reaching out to somebody
and being rejected you know it reminds me of that video there's a really good video
on YouTube where Obama I think he's in Russia or something and he walks up to these these
foreign ministers and these ambassadors he holds his hand out to one and they just don't
shake his hand and then he goes to the next and they don't shake it and he goes to the
next and then finally he's just kind of like you know but you know has anybody seen that
video does anybody know what I'm talking about go home and watch it but anyway you know if
you're one that doesn't have to demolish their internet because of your you know pornography
addiction no I'm just kidding but anyway honestly Obama is just getting just completely disrespected
by these people I mean he just he holds out his hand and there's I mean so embarrassed
can you think of anything more embarrassed I mean you're the president of the United
States you hold out your hand and just I mean he's and you can tell he's just embarrassed
he doesn't know what to do now get that image in your mind and think about this you don't
want to treat your spouse that way because in our lives on a daily basis and and and
so this point is number one don't rebuff your spouse when they reach out to you you know
and obviously you know I'm not talking about a handshake where you know your your wife
goes to shake your hand you're like I mean hopefully your relationship's not that bad
but you know honestly throughout our lives there are often times where we as husbands
or wives will reach out to the other person in some way make some gesture you know what
I'm saying make some gesture of maybe wanting to have a conversation or you know wanting
to have fun together wanting to go somewhere together or just you know wanting to do something
and and just reaching out to them proverbially speaking and wanting to have a close relationship
with them maybe you just want to give them a hug or just want to talk to them or bring
up something to talk about and and you know when you when you're when your wife comes
to you and and and reaches out to you like that and you just do like a Russian emissary
did to Obama I mean that you know that's going to hurt your wife's feelings or you know and
you know what's going to happen next time they're going to be less likely to reach out
to you in the future you know when you call to someone and they refuse when you stretch
out your hand and no man regards it you know what you're going to be a little shy about
reaching out your hand and a lot of marriages that the husband wife get very distant from
one another and really cold with each other and really estranged from one another because
when one person reached out the other person refused and then the distance just builds
and the coldness just builds and then you're going to be less likely to reach out that
hand the next time and then not only that but number two that's number one but number
two you know especially when you're when your spouse wants to as the Bible says lie with
you you know and when the when your spouse wants to go to the bedroom with you and you
turn down your spouse you're doing damage to your marriage and by the way that is a
sin according to first Corinthians chapter seven go to first Corinthians seven quickly
I don't want to spend a lot of time on this but I just want to briefly touch this point
but see honestly the stuff that I'm saying right now this stuff is not being practiced
in most marriages and that's where the problems are coming from it's where a lot of the problems
are coming from you know you want to know why fifty seventy five percent of marriages
are ending in divorce it's because of of men looking at pornography it's because they don't
love their wife more than any other woman it's because they don't show her love and
affection it's because they don't you know live their life in a respectable reverence
worthy way it's because wives are not obeying their husbands they're not respecting him
they're critical of them they're down on him they're scolding him they're not empathizing
with them you know and you want to know why a spouse they're having a bad marriage you
know part of it is because of a lack of a bedroom life of a lack of intimacy in the
bedroom between married people and the Bible talks a lot about this you know I'm not going
to go into a lot of scriptures on it tonight but the Bible of course says in in verse two
of first Corinthians seven nevertheless to avoid fornication let every man have his own
wife and let every woman have her own husband let the husband render unto the wife do benevolence
and likewise also the wife unto the husband the wife hath not power of her own body but
the husband and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body but the wife
defraud ye not one the other except to 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 incontinence now what the Bible is teaching here is that if your wife wants that relationship
with you and you turn her down you're committing sin because you're defrauding her I mean does
fraud sound like something sinful fraud that's a pretty strong word he says you're defrauding
and and the Bible and if the Bible says defraud her not and you're defrauding her then it's
a sin because you're disobeying the word and then the other way around too if the man or
I'm sorry if the if the woman you know rebuffs her husband her husband wants to have that
physical relationship with her and she turns him down you know what that is also sin but
not only is it sin because it's a violation of 1st Corinthians 7 not only is a sin it's
all it's also stupid now here's why it's stupid who here is a man that says I want my wife
to commit adultery and who here is a woman that would say I want my husband to commit
adultery okay so here's the thing by denying your spouse that relationship you're being
stupid because you're opening up temptation for your spouse to commit adultery now again
I'm not excusing anyone who commits adultery and I would never say well you know that adultery
was justified because of you know the fact that it was being denied at home but let me
tell you something stone the adulterer with stones okay is my opinion on that but let
me you know adultery is a major sin but listen if you're just a smart man or just a smart
woman and you realize that your spouse has a need in that area and you're not filling
it you know what are you opening up the possibility of it that need being filled somewhere else
and you're being stupid so number one it's sin number two it's stupid and number three
it's it's hurtful you know and again this is like the whole thing of you know your spouse
is reaching out to you trying to have a good relationship with you and you shoot them down
then they're going to be less likely to reach out to you the next time and then there it's
going to build distance and coldness and anger you say well I you know I don't I don't feel
like it well you know sometimes I don't feel like going to church and sometimes I don't
feel like reading my Bible and sometimes I don't feel like eating my vegetables and sometimes
I don't feel like praying and sometimes I don't feel like doing a lot of things like
going to work and paying the bills but you know what you do things in life because they're
right to do you do the right thing because it's right not necessarily because you feel
like it okay you do what is right and you know sometimes you do things for other people
you know not necessarily for yourself but you do things for other people because it's
the right thing to do number three go to first peter chapter three this is a this is a good
one first peter chapter three is that we should be courteous to one another what does
it mean to be courteous to one another that means to be polite and and to talk to each
other in kind words isn't that what you think of when you hear courteous being courteous
you know using kind words being polite to each other talking nicely to each other now
you you might not think of this as a marriage verse but this actually is a marriage verse
if you look at the context look at first peter three eight it says finally be ye all of one
mind having compassion one of another love as brethren be pitiful be courteous but if
you get the context of this verses five through seven are all about marriage do you see that
so verses five through seven are about marriage in fact the whole chapter from verses one
through seven is all about marriage and then he wraps it up by saying finally be courteous
so you this is applicable under marriage because verse five says after this manner in the old
time the holy women also who trusted in god adorn themselves being in subjection unto
their own husbands even as sarah obeyed abraham calling him lord whose daughters ye are as
long as ye do well and are not afraid with any amazement likewise ye husbands dwell with
them according to knowledge watch this this goes with being courteous too giving honor
unto the wife do you see that giving honor unto the wife as under the weaker vessel and
as being heirs together of the grace of life that your prayers be not entered and then
we have the verse about being courteous in verse eight so another thing that you can
do to have a better marriage is to treat your spouse with courtesy be careful of the words
that you use with your spouse don't use harsh words but be polite be courteous be gentle
with your spouse and and do not speak to them in a very impolite rude discourteous way by
the way this isn't in my notes but in the scripture it says that sarah obeyed abraham
calling him lord that will improve your marriage call your husband lord or sir is that what
the bible says oh man that's crazy no you're crazy if you think that the way our culture
deals with marriage is the right way if you think that the american culture promotes a
good marriage you're crazy i think that i think the bible's right i think you're wrong
i think that it was a good idea when sarah called abraham lord and i think it's right
for wives today to call their husbands sir sir would be like a monodego or lord you say
oh i can't even imagine that well you know what uh welcome to you know the world of biblical
marriage i can't even imagine that oh okay how much tv have you been watching you know
where are you getting your ideas about what's right and wrong not from this book apparently
because the bible is pretty clear on this uh another thing on this same subject of of
of being courteous is you know we need to be slow to anger and part of being slow to
anger because the bible says let every man be uh swift to hear slow to speak slow to
wrath slow to anger another part of being slow to anger is not being really touchy and
what i mean by that is that you know you just wear your feelings on your sleeve where
everything that is said unto you and again this stuff goes for both husband and wife
every little thing your spouse says it's like what's that supposed to mean what do you mean
by that you know just your spouse says something that maybe is a little ambiguous give them
give them the benefit of the doubt or give her the benefit of the doubt and don't just
jump all over your spouse and just be on a hair trigger i mean think about it just on
a hair trigger just waiting for her to say the wrong thing and i'm just gonna explode
you know just on a hair trigger to blow up just get angry just touchy every little thing
is just what's that supposed to mean and another another thing about this too is people who
put a negative filter on everything that their spouse says like they put a negative slant
on it like let me give you an example and and the verse i thought of with this is where
the bible says unto the pure all things are pure but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving
is nothing pure but even their mind and conscience is defiled you know sometimes we judge people
by our own heart and it's like no matter what they say we're gonna take it the wrong way
because we have a bad attitude now let me give you an example of this of just putting
a negative filter on everything there are people who just anything you say to them they
interpret it in a negative way like for example let's say i said to my wife wow this this
meal is amazing i mean this spaghetti is way better than usual oh so what you're saying
is that all the other times it tastes like garbage you know or like wow honey you are
so gorgeous today oh so normally i'm not so why just today so you're saying yesterday
i looked awful and you know it sounds silly but some people are like this you know you
just tell you know it'd be like if you if you told your husband like wow you know you
are you have really been uh you know uh bringing home some great paychecks lately honey it's
like what do you mean lately i've been supporting you you know and look in all of those examples
isn't it a positive statement that's being made hey this this meal is this is the best
this is the best spaghetti you've ever made this is that was oh so in the past there was
something wrong with it you know or hey you look great today or hey you're really bringing
home the bacon these days but what happens is you know there's two ways that you can
interpret that you know if you if you love your spouse and you want to get along and
have a good marriage you know what you're going to do you're going to look at things
through a positive filter you're going to give the benefit of the doubt you're going
to latch onto the positive part of that statement and say thank you and not just fixate upon
the most negative aspect to that of that statement and that man there's so much more in my notes
i have like way too much for one sermon here but go if you would to uh go if you would
to luke chapter six luke chapter six i gotta hurry up and finish but you know it's it's
amazing how people people who love each other they they interpret everything that their
spouse says and does in a positive light they put a positive spin on it and then people
that are disgruntled with their spouse they put a negative spin on everything that their
spouse says or does and so you know this is something that you need to work on just having
a positive attitude toward your spouse now one part of this too is that i'm just trying
to blow through some of these last points is that you know you should never hold a grudge
from one day to the next in your marriage the bible says be ye angry and sin not let
not the sun go down on your wrath that means at the end of the day everything's over and
the next day it's a fresh start every day has to be a fresh start but you know when
marriages go downhill it's they don't just go downhill in one day people don't just have
a happy marriage and then they just wake up one day have horrible fighting lawyer in the
afternoon sign the papers in the evening you know and it's just like wow we just got
divorced in 24 hours went from being happily married to divorced no what it is is it's
a build up of of bitterness and the bible talks a lot about bitterness where you don't
forgive and you you have the same grievance that you're angry about and you're letting
the sun go down on your wrath okay that's where marriages are destroyed and so we need
to make sure that we don't have that we're not quick to anger and that when anger comes
we don't hold a grudge from day to day but that we let things go because then when our
spouse sins against us we can still have a fresh start tomorrow and not just have a negative
slant on everything for the rest of our lives because of you know this fight that we had
you know be positive and start over a fresh start the next day number six don't make negative
comparisons about your spouse in your mind in other words don't compare them negatively
to other people like that husband is better than my husband in this way or he's better
looking than my husband or he's better provider than my husband or she's better looking than
my wife you know if you're never let negative comparisons enter your mind about your spouse
okay number seven don't don't let your appearance and your hygiene go to pot if you want to
have a good marriage you know if you want to have a happy marriage don't just be one
that just let yourself become a slob it doesn't take care of the way that you look you don't
take care of your body you don't take care of your hygiene and that you know you're just
making yourself as unappealing as possible to your spouse well you know what that's bad
for your marriage and then lastly this in Luke chapter six it says in Luke chapter six
verse thirty two for if you love them which love you what thank have you for sinners also
love those that love them and if you do good to them which do good to you what thank have
you for sinners also do even the same and if you lend to them to whom you hope to receive
of whom you hope to receive what thank have you for sinners also lend to sinners to receive
as much again but love your enemies and do good and lend hoping for nothing again and
your reward shall be great and you shall be the children of the highest for he is kind
unto the unthankful and to the evil what we see here is that we should a couple things
number one we should not wait for our spouse to be the person that they're supposed to
be before we start being the person that we're supposed to be he says don't just love those
who love you don't have this attitude that says well I'm gonna start loving my wife when
she starts referencing me when she shows me some love then I'll show her love or as a
wife to say well I'll reverence my husband but he needs to be more loving first no the
Bible says that we as Christians should be the one to make the first move and that we
should do right by our spouse love them and and and obey the Lord and and do right by
them whether they are a bad spouse or not so don't blame everything on your spouse and
say well I would be a great wife if I were married to somebody else or I'd be a great
husband if I were married to a woman like so and so I'd be the best husband ever I'd
be the best wife ever you know what that's a lie because God expects us to do it in whatever
situation we're in to be the best so I don't care how much of a loser you think your husband
is you need to just be the best wife that you can and no matter how bad of a wife you
think you have you need to be the best husband you can and you know you may find that by
doing your part they'll do their part more too and you say well what if they don't well
you know what God's still going to bless you and you're going to be right with the Lord
because at least you did what you were supposed to do and that's what Christ is calling us
to do not to just love those that love us not to just do good unto those that do good
unto us but to be the one who loves even our enemies I'm not saying your wife is your
enemy or your husband's your enemy but if they are at enmity with you you still should
love them and do right by them and not have this attitude of you know well you know I'll
do this if you do this and because I did this now you're going to do this you know when
you do something for your spouse when you give unto your spouse it shouldn't be just
to get something in return when you give something to your spouse or do something for
your spouse you should do it out of the goodness of your heart with no strings attached and
a lot of bitterness in marriage comes from people they do something for their spouse
and it's like now I want something in return it's like well wait a minute that's not how
it works you know you show your love and you do things for your spouse hoping for nothing
again not expecting it to be requited but rather just because it's out of the goodness
of your heart okay now again obviously there's an authority structure there and obviously
there are expectations that the husband has for his wife and so forth but that's another
story I'm just talking about when it comes to acts of kindness and when it talks about
just you know being loving and doing the right things you know we can't wait for our spouse
to do right by us and then all of a sudden we're going to start obeying the Bible we
need to be the one to take the first step and you need to take this sermon and not try
to apply it unto your spouse and go home and say did you hear him did you hear what he
said he said you're supposed to make me the food I like you know you're supposed to be
you know doing this and that you know and then it's like well yeah let's throw your
video game console in the trash because he talked about that too you know look honestly
just apply this to your don't go home you know you've already failed if your attitude
is just blaming the other person and you're you know it's all their fault and and if they
if they could only get this message and apply it but you know if only you could get this
message and apply it you know you need to be the one to take that first step let's bow
our heads and have a word of prayer father we thank you so much for our wives and our
husbands Lord respectively and thank you for the teachings of your word Lord to help
us to stay married because everyone around us is failing and divorcing and not staying
married Lord thank you for giving us your word to give us some guidance how we can succeed
Lord and how we can actually have a successful marriage that would honor you and not to just
succeed by staying married but actually to be happy and to get along with each other
and enjoy each other's company Lord but help us to to be willing to take some steps and
make some changes in our lives and you know a lot of the things that I said tonight might
not apply to a lot of people but Lord I pray that there would just be at least one thing
that that each married couple heard tonight that would help them just at least one thing
that they'd say you know what that's something that I think I could do better and I think
I could have a better marriage if I would put that into practice and so Lord I just
pray that every single person would walk away with one truth tonight that would help
them to have a happy successful marriage for the sake of their kids for the sake of our
church for the sake of Christ and for the sake of our nation and in Jesus name we pray
amen.