All right, Matthew 19. Again, I had problems with my printer. My toner ran out, so I had
to use my computer today. But Matthew 19, like I said, it's a chock-a-block chapter.
It's got marriage, it's got divorce, it's got the young rich ruler trying to work
his way to heaven, it's got, you know, discipleship, it's got the 12 apostles
judging the 12 tribes of Israel. That's an interesting topic. I mean, there are so
many topics in that chapter alone, but the verses I want to focus on this
morning is Matthew 19 verses 4 to 6. And he answered and said unto them,
Have ye not read? Have ye not read? Have ye not read your Bible? He's telling me,
asking the Pharisees, Have ye not read? Right? But before we get there, let's look
at verse number 3. The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and said
unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? I
mean, they came here trying to mess up the ministry of Christ, trying to cause
him to say the wrong things. The question they ask him, Is it lawful to
get divorced? Is it lawful to get divorced for any cause, for every
cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read? That which, that he
which made them at the beginning, made them male and female. Let me just stop
there for a minute. Sometimes I read things in the Bible, and I kind of
think that's kind of redundant. That's, you know, I mean, it's, do we really
need to know that way? And I mean, as soon as you start reading the Bible, you
read Genesis, right? You read about Adam and Eve being created, almost
immediately, you know it's male and female. And there's Jesus telling him, Have
you not read that God made them from the beginning, male and female? And I
think, I kind of think as a, as a normal, I think I'm normal, as a normal
human being, hey, that's, that's kind of redundant. Why do we have to tell, I
mean, is it, is it that difficult to know that there's a male and female? You
know, that there's two genders, that there's two sexes, male and female? Do I
really need to preach on that? Yes I do. Yes I do. How unusual it is, right, to
be in a, in a world, in a society right now, where the teaching is that there's
more than two genders, right? There's more than two sexes. We don't know
anymore if it's a boy or girl when they're born, because it's up to that
child when they grow up to decide whether they're male. I don't know if you guys
even boy, kids, you probably don't even know this. Right now they're teaching that
we don't know if they're male or female. They can decide that later in
their life. And not even that, it's not only two genders now. Now there's the
L, there's the G, there's the B, there's the T, there's the, I don't know,
there's a Q, there's the, they've got all these letters, they've got all these
genders now. They think there's multiple genders, like instead of
just being two, you can decide between the two. No, there's like 10, 12, 15, who
knows how many genders there are. The child can decide. You know what? I'm
glad Jesus said that. I'm glad that before he even gets to marriage, he has
to tell the Pharisees, hey, there's male and female, have you not read? Have you
not read your Bibles? And these people that think there are more than two
genders, they think they can decide what gender they are, it's because they
not read their Bibles. They don't know the truth of God's Word anymore. And
I'm ashamed that I even have to say that. I'm ashamed that I even have to say that, hey guys,
there's only two genders, there's only male and female, right? I'm ashamed for my
nation. I'm ashamed for my society, that I even have to mention that. But thank
God, Jesus in his wisdom knew it was important to mention that there's male and
female. And by the way, who made them at the beginning male and female? It was
God. Did Adam decide to be male? Did Eve decide to be a man? And did Eve
decide to be a woman? No. God made them at the beginning, at the beginning
male and female. So those people that are going out there and saying, no, I'm
actually not a man, I'm a woman, I'm a gender fluid, I'm a transgender, hey,
they're going against God. They hate God so much. They hate God that he even
created them, male or female, that they have to go against what God has done in
their life. I mean, that should be basic, right? Then verse number five, and said,
For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his
wife, and they twain shall be one flesh. First thing I want to point out
to you is that marriage, cleaving to your wife, okay, is between a male and
female, between a man and a woman. God sees fit to make distinction between
the two sexes, between the two genders, and it's male and female, man and
woman that gets married. Again, I shouldn't even need to be saying this, but I do. I do.
And again, just God's wisdom, knowing what our society is going to be like, hey,
let's spell it out very clearly to you what marriage is. It's between a man and a
woman. Let me also note to you that for this cause shall a man leave father
and mother. Leave father and mother, why? Because now when you get married,
you're creating a new family unit, okay? Some people think you need to
have kids to be a family, that's not true. As soon as you leave father and
mother, you cleave to your wife, that husband and wife is a new, a brand new
family unit. That is God's plan for both men and women, okay? It is God's plan
that will always be in a family. You start with a family, you start being under
mum and dad, that's your first family, and then when you leave mother and
father, you commence a new family, okay? It's not God's plan for you to live
this single life, to, you know, move in with your best friend and live,
you know, a single life like that. No, that's not God's plan. God's plan is
that we would be in family units, mum and dad first, and then husband and wife,
starting a new family. And notice in verse number six, or actually verse
number five says, they twain shall be one flesh, wherefore they are no more twain
but one flesh. Okay, so we see two people coming together for the cause of
marriage. Once someone is married, God sees that couple as one unit. He
sees them as one flesh. One. Okay, no more two, but one. What therefore God have joined
together, again, marriage, what is marriage? What therefore God have joined
together. Marriage is an institution given by God, okay? It is God's plan, it
is God that puts two together for marriage, let not man put asunder. Hey,
it's not God's plan for us to ever divorce. God hateth to put in a way, he
says, right? He hates divorce. God hates divorce. This is a question the Pharisees
were asking of Jesus Christ. Now divorce needs its own sermon. I
won't go into divorce too much today, but I just want you to know that God
hates divorce, okay? And once you're joined husband and wife, that's
something that God has done, and God has no intention for man to undo that,
right? Let not man put asunder. Now turn to Genesis chapter 2, Genesis
chapter 2 verse 21. Let's build on this a little bit. What does it mean to be
one flesh? No longer two, but one unit. Genesis chapter 2 verse 21. The Bible
says, and the Lord God caused the deep sleep to
fall upon Adam. So this is when God's about to create Eve, and he slept, and
he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib
which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman, and brought her unto
the man. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.
Therefore shall a man leave, there it is again, this is the teaching from the
very beginning. Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall
cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. Okay, so when we see Adam
and Eve, they were literally one flesh. They were literally one flesh. Adam was
taken, Eve was taken, the rib was taken out of Adam, and Eve was created
from that bone. And so when Adam says, hey we're bone of bones, and flesh of
flesh, you know we're one flesh, yes they really literally were. And what
that is, is a literal doctrine which symbolizes a figurative
doctrine of marriage. Man and woman, husband and wife, married, one unit, one
team, one body if it will. Okay, we see that in other passages in the Bible. So
I just want to point out to you as well, before I move on to from this one
body aspect, or one flesh, is that again, what does Adam say
therefore shall man leave his father and mother. Now did Adam have a mother
and father? No. Adam was made from the dust of the earth, right? He didn't have
a mother and father. And yet God sees fit to record for us these words,
therefore shall a man leave father and mother. You see how important it is
for this new family unit to start, even when there was no father and mother at
this stage, right? It was a doctrine that needed to be taught right from
the beginning. So first thing, you're in Genesis, turn to Genesis chapter 5 verse 2,
Genesis 5 verse 2. So what does it mean to be one flesh? What does it mean
to be one flesh? Well number one, if you turn to Genesis 5 2, it means to
be one in name. One in name. Male and female created He them and blessed them
and called their name Adam in the day when they were created. Okay, so Adam
and Eve, their name to God was Adam. They had one name. I mean God obviously
sees them as two, but He called their name Singular Adam, okay, in the day they
were created. The day they were married on the first day that they
were created, they were married. So for example, when my wife and I got married
and then we went to the reception and we walked in, you know how
marriages, receptions are, everyone's seated down, they wait for the bridal
party to come in, and then eventually the husband, the new husband and wife
walk in, and we were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Sepulveda. That's how we
were introduced, right. Now is Christina Kevin? No she's not, but now that we're
married, we're one name. She is Mrs. Kevin Sepulveda, okay. But also not only
that, but in our tradition here at least in Australia, she's taken my surname,
right. She's Mrs. Sepulveda. She's Mrs. Christina Sepulveda. She used to be
Christina Rodriguez, now she's Mrs. Christina Sepulveda. So we see this
doctrine, it's not just tradition of man, but we see this in the Bible that
God sees our husband and wife as one name, okay. But also one in purpose and
goals. One in purpose and goals. And let me encourage you, if you want to get
married, don't just find, you know, just anyone. Find someone that's aligned
with you with purpose and goal, okay. Now what do you want to achieve
in life? What are your goals? What are your purpose? How do you want to serve
God? How do you want to put God first in your life? You know, do you guys want
to have children? Do you guys, what is it that you want to achieve in life?
These are things that you should be aware of. Don't just meet a girl or
just meet a guy and say hey they're handsome, they're pretty, let's get
married. Hey find out what substance they're made of. Can you work together?
Okay, can you guys work together? You know it's important to have agreement,
agreements have children, you know. I'm sad, there are couples that I know
that someone wants more kids or wants kids, sometimes they just want kids, right.
Just one, at least one kid. And yet the other spouse says no, we don't want, I
don't want that. You know, I don't want that in life or we want that
later in life. Hey that's difficult, that's going to cause conflict in
marriage, you know. Make sure, you know, Bible says hey, you know, very clearly
you have as many kids as you can have, as many kids as God gives you, you
know. That's, that's, you know, you'll find that teaching throughout the
Bible. Find someone that you can work with in this area. You know why?
Because raising kids, you need two parents. You need the authority of two
parents to raise kids and if only one wants kids, they're going to be the
ones striving to raise the kids and the other one's not going to be
helping and it's going to cause conflict in that marriage. Couples ought
to complement each other to reach the goals that family has. You know,
like I said, child rearing is important. You know why? Because if I set
certain rules in the house and then my wife doesn't follow them, they're
not going to come to me, right? They're going to go to the, to the, to
the father or the mother that's more relaxed, that lets them do
whatever they want, right? They might come to me, dad, can I do
this? No. Now my, at this stage, I think my kids know when I say
no, that means no, right? Or if they go to Christina and they
ask, you know, can I do this? And she says no, you know, I'm
pretty sure they think that's there, that's no. They don't come
and say, well dad, can I, can I check that with you? Mom, can I
check that with you? No. You know, they know that mom and dad are
on the same page. Now we're not always on the same page.
Sometimes we mess it up, we get, we get, you know, things wrong.
But we often talk about, hey, what are the rules of the
house? How can we make consistency? How can we work
together? And let me tell you, that's going to make
raising your kids so much easier, so much easier when
you're both on the same page. And also, hey, one in
finances. We ought to be one in our finances. You know,
again, before Christina and I got married, we decided to,
let's have one joint bank account. Doesn't matter who's
got more, who's got less, whatever. Let's just put it all
together. Hey, that's, that's, that's our bank account. That's
our finances. That's what we're going to work from. Now, I'm
not against, you know, if you, if you, you know, have a
bank account for a wife and a bank account for the
husband, I'm not so much against that. But again, I've
seen couples where, hey, this is my money, you know,
and this is my money. And then like, someone that needs
money, they're like asking, oh, can I borrow this much off
you? I mean, that's not being one flesh. That's not
being one in goal and purpose. You know, I trust my
wife enough to have the bank account where most of the
money is, right, and spend it wisely as she sees fit. You
know, thank God, I don't have a wife that's going out
there, you know, crazy, spending all the money, and
I've got to put restrictions on her. You know, it's been
very rare when I've had to tell my wife, honey, you
know, this week, you know, we're a little low this
week, and you just wait, you know, wait for a couple
of weeks for my next paycheck to come in before we
we spend. It has been very rare that I've had to say
that. And I trust my wife with the finances. I don't, I
don't keep tabs of how much is spent. And she
doesn't keep tabs of how much I've spent, you know,
you know, we're working together, we have the same
goals. I know she's not going going nuts, and I'm not
going to go spend it at the casino or what have
you. Hey, being one in purpose, being one in
finance as well. That's going to draw you guys
together. And obviously, the number one is one in
the marriage bed. Okay, being one in the marriage
bed, obviously, to have that need met, you know,
between husband and wife and to have the children
that God would have you to be so you know, being
one flesh means all of these things. Okay, I ought
to look at you if you're a husband, I'd say, Hey,
that's, you know, that's Callum and Cindy, right?
That's not just Callum on his own, right? You
know, I ought to be looking at Jason, Jason and
Aaron. Hey, that's one unit, you know, that's how
we ought to be. That's how we ought to look at
it. You know, that's Robin Christie, you know,
that's one unit, you know, we are not two, I
don't think of two, I think of one, that's one
team. That's one family, that's one flesh. So
what's the purpose of marriage? purpose of
marriage? Turn to Genesis chapter two, you're
still in Genesis chapter two, verse 18. Genesis
chapter two, verse 18. The first purpose of
marriage, well, let's read it Genesis 218
says, And the Lord God said, It is not good
that the man should be alone, I will make him
and help meet for him. So God says it is not
good that the man should be alone. So the
first purpose of marriage is to overcome
loneliness. Right? It's it's a lonely
existence to be alone, to be without a partner.
And God says, Look, it's not good for a man to
be alone, I need to have someone with him, I
need to give him company, I need to make
sure that he doesn't get lonely. Right? That's
a good reason to get married. I want a
partner, I want someone that I can share life
with share experiences with someone that I can
talk to someone that will be my best friend,
right? Because it's not just a loneliness. But
he also says there at the at the end of it, I
will make him and help meet for him. So God
says not only is he lonely, and he needs
someone, but he needs someone to help him. He
needs someone that will help him and like a
help meet for him, someone that's suitable
for him, right? Two people can do more
together than one person alone. Okay, this is
why, you know, there's teamwork. This is why,
you know, maybe you work in a workplace, you
might go, I don't like working in a team, I
like working by myself. But the truth of the
matter is when you work in teams, when you all
have strengths and weaknesses, you got some
people can do more and achieve more in one
area, some can achieve more, you're going to
get done a lot more when you work together
as a team. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes
number four, Ecclesiastes chapter four, verse
nine, I'll just read it to you, two are
better than one. Two are better than one. This
is a biblical principle, because they have a
good reward for their labor. Okay, when they
labor together, there's more reward, there's
more to enjoy. And verse 10 says, for if they
fall, the one will lift up his fellow, but
woe to him that is alone when he falleth, for
he hath not another to help him up. Okay, so
there's a help that takes place there. When
there's two together, when one falls, the
other person can help them. Right? Now, just
as a practical example, when we were at the,
at the baptism, I think it was, yeah, Isabel, you
know, in that very shallow lake, Isabel fell in
a bit of a hole, and she got stuck a little
bit, right? And then she said, oh, but Lily
came and helped me, she pulled me out of
that, right? Now, I don't think she would
have drowned, but still, the principle is there,
right? You fall, and there's someone there to
help you, right? I mean, what if you fall
and you can't swim? You're going to drown,
right? That's sad. But yeah, if there's
someone there with you, they can help you
up. That's what marriage is. When you're down,
when you're depressed, when you're struggling,
you have your husband or wife there to help
you. That's God's plan for your life, that you
would have someone close to you, someone that
loves you, to help you when you fall. The
third reason, so the first reason was
loneliness. The second reason is to have a
help. The third reason is to raise a godly
seed, a godly seed, a godly generation, godly
children. Yes, that's true. Godly children. God
wants you to be fruitful. He wants you to
multiply. He wants you to have as many kids as
he has for you. Malachi 2.15 says,
And did not he make one? Yet had he the
residue of the spirit, and wherefore one?
Why one? Why did he make two one, the
marriage? That he might seek a godly seed.
Therefore, take heed to your spirit, and let
none deal treacherously against the wife of his
youth. The wife of his youth. Okay, so why does
God want a marriage? Okay, especially a marriage
between believers, a marriage between two
Christians. So you would raise the next
generation of Christians. So you would raise a
godly seed that's pleasing to him. Think
about how important that is. Think about how
important that is. And think about how many
pastors, you know, who have committed everything
to the church, to the people in the church, but
have let their families fall apart, and the kids
have become rebellious, and they've left the
home, they've left the church, they don't want
anything to do with God anymore. Hey, that
person's not fulfilling the will of God in his
life. Okay, so we need to be careful. And
another thing that I've observed with
Christians, many Christians, they know a lot of
doctrine, they've learned a lot of things, and
they like talking to their friends and to
their buddies about all the different
doctrines they know. But then they don't teach
their kids those doctrines. You know, and think
about how long it's taken us some time to know
the doctrines that we know. Think about how
many years it's taken for us to learn those
doctrines. We can give our kids a head start.
Hey, this is what we've learned. This is what
we've learned throughout all our life, throughout
all our years of learning. This is all the
mistakes we made. These are all the false
doctrines that we once believed. And this is the
truth of God's word. Let me show you from
the Bible, right? Let me raise a godly seed so
they don't have to struggle with the same
problems that we struggled with, and then they
can go out and do more for the Lord. They can
go beyond that. They can go and know their
Bibles even more than what we know, right?
They can do more for God. God wants to raise
a godly seed. And how much more important is
that in the society we're in right now? Again,
I spoke to some of the guys, you know, I was
at Saturday morning, I saw on the news that now
our nation's recognizing same sex marriage from
other countries. I don't know where we're at
at the moment. I don't know if it's legalized or
what, like same sex marriage. I don't know if same
sex can get married in Australia just yet. But
those that have gotten married, so-called, you
know, this is false marriage, of course, but
so-called got married in other nations. Now
Australian government is recognizing that
marriage, okay? How much more do we need a
generation to rise up and be a salt of this
earth, right? To be a light of this earth, to
shine the light of God's truth, get people
saved, bring righteousness upon this nation
through the imputed righteousness of Christ. So
we can have people getting saved, people being
brought into the kingdom. I know things are
going to wax worse and worse. But our kids
are so important, more important than what we
were for our generation. They're going to be
even more important for the generation they
grew up in. So we need to raise a godly
seed. That's the purpose of marriage. The fourth
reason to have marriage is to not sin, not to
have, not to commit fornication, to overcome
fornication in our lives. Fornication runs
rampant, right? Sex outside of marriage, you
know, teenagers, young girls getting pregnant.
It's crazy. And yet, you know, marriage, you
might not like the sound of this, but
marriage, the reason for marriage, one of the
reasons is so that we would not commit
fornication, that we would keep ourselves
purer for our spouse. Turn to First
Corinthians chapter seven, First Corinthians
chapter seven. God wants us to overcome
fornication. And that's why he instituted
marriage. That's another reason. First
Corinthians chapter seven, First Corinthians
chapter seven, verse five. First Corinthians
seven, verse five, defraud ye not one the
other, except it be with consent for a time,
that ye may give yourselves to fast and in
prayer, and come together again, that Satan
tempt you not for your incontinency. Okay?
So, husband and wife are not to defraud one
another in the marriage bed. Okay? You're
meant to give of yourself to one another.
It's more blessed to give than to receive.
That principle is true, even in the marriage.
Okay? But what's one of the reasons? Hey,
yes, one of the reasons not to come
together in the marriage bed is so we can
pray and fast. But another reason to come
together is that Satan will not tempt you,
will not tempt you, tempt you not for your
incontinency. Okay? Because Satan knows,
hey, if husband and wife are not together,
all right, in the marriage bed, then I have
a chance to disrupt that marriage. Satan
thinks I have a chance to tempt that
husband, to tempt that wife, to commit
adultery, to leave the husband and wife to
find new relationships if they're not
together. That's very important for a
marriage. You would often spend time
together in the marriage bed. But look
at verse number nine. Look at verse
number nine. This is talking about an
unmarried couple, verse number nine.
But if they cannot contain, all right,
talking about fornication, if they
cannot stop, you know, they cannot
control themselves, let them marry, for
it is better to marry than to burn.
These are teachers from the Bible. All
right? It is better to marry than to
burn. Okay, that's to burn in last, to
commit fornication. It's not good.
That's a sin. We should not do that. So
let them get married. Let them marry
young. Right? Because we don't want
them sinning. We don't want them
destroying their life. We don't want
them getting STDs and having
broken families and children outside
of wedlock. That's not God's plan
for people. That's not God's plan for
his people. So he says, let them get
married. Now, this tells me that
there are people that tell you don't
get married. Right? I mean, if Paul
has to say, let them marry, that
means there are people there saying,
hey, don't get married, you're too
young. You need to. And look, when I
met, I think I was 19 when I met
my wife, we got engaged two years
later. And then we got married two
years after that, four years, like
four years after knowing each other,
we got married. Now, I was 22 when
I got married. Some people
consider that young. But I waited
four years. That was very
difficult. You know, that was
very difficult to wait. You know,
and we said, Well, why did you
wait so long? Well, because I was
told, don't get married. That's
why. Well, not in those words,
but I said, hey, before you get
married, you've got to have a
good job. Before you get
married, you've got to have a
house. Before you get married,
you've got to have all these
things in place. You know, some
of the other people say, well,
before you get married, make
sure that you travel and
experience the world and, and
you know, make sure you're
making the right decision. You
know, some people say, well,
why don't you live together
first? Why don't you live
together? See, test it out, see
how it goes, and then get
married if it goes well. That's
the wisdom of this world. That's
what they teach, right? But no,
the teaching of the Bible is
let them get married. Why? So
they don't commit fornication.
So they don't commit
fornication. And what's
weird, you know, with this
same sex marriage, this
homosexual marriage, this
sodomite marriage that's been
pushed today. It's fornication.
So they want to get, they
want to have marriage, right?
But marriage is not
fornication. But what they're
doing is fornication. What
they're doing is evil and
wrong. So it doesn't matter
if they're under the name of
marriage, it will never be
undefiled. It will never be
pure. It will always be
fornication. It will always
be an abomination to God. It's
unnatural fornication, that
same sex marriage, right? They
want these words that God has
given us between husband and
wife, and yet they just, they
just want to destroy God's
institution of marriage. They
just want to destroy God's
institution of family. So
yeah, the four reasons to get
married, let me just repeat
them, is to overcome
loneliness, to have a helper,
to raise the godly seed, and
to not commit fornication, to
not sin. These are all
legitimate reasons to get
married. Now, how long should
someone wait? How long should
someone wait before they get
married? I already covered some
of this, right? Get married as
soon as you can. But
obviously, I'll just read to
you Proverbs 5 18. Proverbs 5
18 says, Let thy fountain be
blessed, and rejoice with the
wife of thy youth. Rejoice
with the wife of thy youth. So
when should you get married?
When you're old? No, when
you're young. You know,
rejoice with the wife of thy
youth. You know, don't wait.
Don't wait to have everything
in place that you think you
need to have in place before
you know, you should have a
job. You should, right? When
when God created Adam before
he, you know, before he
brought Eve, God gave Adam a
job. He gave him the job
to to look after the garden,
he gave him the job to name
the animals, and then he gave
him a wife. Hey, that's a
good principle to live by,
boys. That's a good principle
to live by. Hey, get a job.
Save up, get married, make
sure you can provide for
your house. But the concept
you don't have to be old
to do that you can start
young, you can start young
and rejoice with the wife
of thy youth. Now, what
are the reasons that we
should get married young?
Why is it? Why is it that
we should not? Now look,
let me say this. Obviously,
don't get married young with
like, ah, I don't I don't
have a good wife, I don't have
a good, you know, potential
wife. So I'm just gonna
marry young, so I'm just
gonna find whoever I want.
No, you know, you've got to
find a godly Christian to
marry, you know, you got to
find someone that's a
believer. So however long
that takes, we have men in
the Bible that took a long
time to get married before
they found someone. Okay, we
know that. But hey, we
shouldn't delay it. When
you have somebody that you
love, someone that you
believe God has put in your
path to marry, hey, don't
delay it, right? Don't delay
it. So some reasons, the
younger you marry, the more
children your union will
have. I mean, that's,
that's a basic principle,
right? Because the longer,
especially a woman, the
longer they wait, you
know, their body's going
to change, they're going
to go through menopause
later in life. The longer
they wait, the harder it
is for them to have
children. That's just the
medical facts, right? So
the longer you wait to
get married, the less
children your union will
be able to have. And
Psalms 127 verse three and
four says, lo, children
are in heritage of the
Lord. And the fruit of
the womb is his reward.
God wants to reward you
with a fruit. It's not,
it's not a burden. It's
a reward. The fruit of
the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the
hand of a mighty man, so
are the children of thy
youth. So are the
children of thy youth.
You know, you don't
have to wait, right? As
soon as you get
married, hey, have
children. Don't delay it.
It's a reward that God
wants to give you. Number
two, why you should not
wait. The longer you
wait, the greater the
temptation to commit
fornication. We already
covered that. I won't
cover it again, but the
greater the temptation,
right? You have a longer
period to wait before
you can have that
marital relationship, the
more likely you are to
commit fornication, right?
To satisfy those needs
that you have. And
there's nothing wrong
with those needs. God put
those needs in place
between husband and wife
so they can get married.
That's his idea. Okay.
It's nothing evil in of
itself, the desire to be
with husband and wife,
to be with a man and
woman. Number three, a
good reason, a good
reason why to get
married young is that
when you're younger, it's
easier to adapt. It's
easier to adapt to having
someone in your life. It's
easier to adapt to have
children, right? Because
when you have little
children, hey, you're
still young enough to
play with them. You're
still young enough to
run around with them.
And you see, older
people get stuck in their
ways. You know, if I
got married now, when
I'm 36, am I 36? I'm
36. Well, if I got
married now, it'd be a
lot harder for me,
right? I'd be stuck in
my ways. I'd have a
certain way of doing
things. And I wouldn't
want to, you know,
accommodate for a
fellow spouse. It'd be
harder to do. I'm not
saying it's impossible.
I'm just saying it's
harder to accommodate for
someone else. It's
harder to desire to have
children because you're
stuck in your ways.
This is why it's so hard
to preach the gospel to
older people, because
they're stuck in their
ways. Like, this is
what I've believed. This
is how I've lived my
life. No, I'm not going
to hear what you have
to say. It's so much
harder to preach the
gospel because they're
stuck in their ways.
And that makes it more
difficult to work on
those. Remember I said
we need to have those
common goals, a common
purpose, the one flesh.
That makes it harder to
have those common
goals. But the fourth
reason you should get
married young, and I'll
just read it to you,
Proverbs 17 verse 6,
Proverbs 17 verse 6
says, children's children,
so grandchildren, are the
crown of old men, and
the glory of children
are their fathers. So
children's children are
the crown of old men.
Another good reason to
get married young is so
you can enjoy your
grandchildren. Okay?
Because if you get
married really late and
you have children really
late in life, you may
not even live to see
your grandchildren. I
always find it amazing
when I find out someone's
like a great, great
grandfather. Like, whoa.
I mean, how much
rejoicing are they having
with all their kids? You
know, when my parents
have the kids over, you
know, they're happy,
they're rejoicing. And
you know, the house is
loud, and it's hard for
them to control because
obviously they're not the
parents. And, you know,
obviously they're happy
once the kids leave,
because, you know, it's
hard to manage all of
them. But they also, it
gets very quiet, they
say, and they don't know
what to do anymore. It's
like when they've had
the kids for a while,
especially after Christina
gives birth, all the
kids go to my parents for
like a week or two, right?
So we can just get used
to the new baby. And
then like after two
weeks, they're used to
the noise and the kids
leave and they're sad.
It's like, oh, it's so
quiet. What do we do?
What do I do? What do
we do with our time?
Because they rejoice. The
fourth reason to have
kids young is so you
can enjoy your
grandchildren as well.
Hey, you don't have to
put up with all the
the discipline and you
don't have to worry
about all the nappy
changes and all that.
You can just enjoy the
children. And when
things get difficult, you
can give them back to
the parents. You know,
that's, that's the
point of being a grand
grandparent. Enjoy the
children of the
grandchildren. So, you
know, don't wait. So
how, how long does a
marriage last? Turn to
Romans chapter seven,
verse one. How long
does a marriage last?
Well, how long is it
meant to last? Romans
chapter seven, verse one,
Romans seven, verse one,
to verse three. The
Bible reads, know ye not
brethren, for I speak to
them that know the
law. And this, by the
way, this is the law of
marriage. Okay. How
that the law hath
dominion over a man as
long as he liveth. For
the woman which have a
husband is bound by the
law to her husband. So
long as he liveth. So
long as he liveth. How
long is a marriage? As
long as you live your
whole life. A wife is
bound to their husband
as long as he lives. Do
you see how important it
is to make sure you
choose the right spouse
for your life. Make sure
you, you know, you
don't just, yes, I need
to marry young, but make
sure you make the right
choice. A believer,
someone that I can share
common goals with,
someone that loves the
Lord, someone that wants
to serve God, and
there's someone that
wants to raise their
kids and, and, and
be part of the family.
It's important to choose
the right person because
it's for life. You make
a wrong decision. You're
stuck with that decision
or it's God's purpose
that you're stuck with
that decision for the
rest of your life. How
important it is, kids, to
make the right decision.
Find the right partner
for yourself because it's
for life. Never think,
well, if it doesn't work
out, I can always get
divorced. No, God's
purpose is for life. And
then it keeps going, but
if the husband be dead,
she's loosed from the
law of her husband. So
then if, so then if
while her husband liveth,
she'd be married to
another man, she shall be
called an adulteress.
But if her husband be
dead, she's free from the
law so that she's no
adulteress though she'd
be married to another
man. Okay. So divorce
is not God's plan.
Now God's allowed
divorce. I won't cover
divorce right now because
it needs its own sermon.
God's allowed divorce,
but that's never God's
plan. It was never
God's plan. It's God's
plan for a husband and
wife to be married for
life, for life. Um, uh,
so we actually read this.
I'll just read it again.
Matthew 19. So, you
know, we read Matthew
19 verse seven to
eight. And they said
unto him, why did
Moses then command to
give a writing of
divorcement to put her
away? So why did
Moses allow divorce?
What did Jesus say?
He saith unto them,
Moses, because of the
hardness of your hearts
suffered you allowed you
to put away your
wives. But from the
beginning, it was not
so. It's not God's
plan from the very
beginning that divorce
would ever exist. That
was never God's plan,
but it was allowed
because of sin. It was
allowed for the hardness
of their hearts because
one had, um, uh,
fornicated against the
other. Fornication is
the reason for divorce.
The only reason that's
allowed in the Bible,
or yeah, actually
divorce, but for
remarriage, it's that
as well as, you know,
if your spouse passes
away. Now the question
that often comes up
with marriage, obviously
we spoke about there
being one man, one
wife, twain shall be
one flesh. The question
always comes up, well,
why did God then allow
men in the Old Testament
to have multiple wives,
right? You know, like
the Kings, why were the
Kings allowed to have
multiple wives? And some
people teach, you know,
like the Mormons, they
teach that's fine. It's
fine to have multiple
wives. And why did God
allow it? Well, God
didn't allow it. Just
because someone did
something wrong in the
Bible doesn't mean it's
okay. Okay. Adam and
Eve are the standard.
When Jesus preaches
about marriage, he
doesn't preach about
David. He doesn't preach
about Solomon, right?
When he preaches about
marriage, he goes back
to Adam and Eve. That's
what Jesus taught. Adam
and Eve are the
standard, husband and
wife, one man, one
woman, one flesh, not
the Kings or not other
Old Testament men. What
these men did were
wrong. It just shows
you that these men
weren't perfect. They
had problems. They had
sin in their life. And
yet they were great
men, not because they
were great. They were
great men because they
have a great God, because
they had faith upon the
great God and Saviour.
Now turn with me to
Deuteronomy chapter 17.
Let me just reinforce
this with scriptures.
Deuteronomy chapter 17
verse 14. The Bible
reads, when thou art come
unto the land which the
Lord thy God giveth thee
and shall possess it and
shall dwell therein and
shall say, I will set a
king over me like as all
the nations that are about
me. Thou shall in any
wise set him king over
thee whom the Lord thy
God shall choose. One
from among thy brethren
shall thou set king over
thee. Thou mayest not
set a stranger over
thee, which is not thy
brother, but he shall
not multiply horses to
himself. So this king is
not to multiply horses to
himself, not to create
great armies. That's
what basically what it's
teaching. Nor cause the
people to return to
Egypt to the end that he
should multiply horses for
as much as the Lord have
said unto you, you shall
henceforth return no more
that way. Verse 17.
Neither shall he
multiply wives to himself.
Neither shall he, the
king, multiply wives to
himself. That his heart
turn not away, neither
shall he greatly multiply
to himself silver and
gold. So what is God's
command? If Israel were
to set a king over
themselves, I mean,
obviously God knew that's
what they were going to
do eventually. Again, that
wasn't really God's plan,
but he knew Israel were
going to do that. The
command to the king is
not to multiply wives to
himself. So don't look at
the kings and say, well,
that's a standard. God's
allowed it. God's okay
with it. No, he's not.
And any of the men, I've
looked at the men that
had multiple wives. They
all had problems. They
all had family breakups.
They all had fighting
between wives. In
fact, the first man, the
first man in the Bible to
have two wives, he ended
up being a murderer. I
don't know if his wives
driving him insane. I
don't know. The Bible
doesn't tell us why, but
he ended up murdering
someone. I mean, look,
that and God sees fit.
That's a fan in Genesis.
I can't remember the
chapter right now, but
God sees fit to record
this man that murdered
someone and tell, by the
way, he had two wives.
It's problem. You
create problems for
yourself when you have
multiple wives. So
take Adam and Eve as
your standard, not the
Kings of the Old
Testament. So let's
talk about roles in
marriage, roles in
marriage. And I'm going
to try to speed through
this roles in marriage,
but there are four
things I want you to
think about when it
comes to roles in
marriage. Number one,
the husband is the
authority over his wife.
The husband is the
authority. The husband
is the head of the
wife. Number two, the
wife is to be under
subjection to the
husband, naturally, right?
The husband is the
head. The wife ought to
be under subjection to
the husband. The husband
is the boss. Number
three, both father and
mother are in authority
over the children. Both
father and mother are
in authority over the
children. And number
four, the husband and
the wife are in
subjection to Jesus
Christ. The husband and
wife are in subjection
to Jesus Christ. That's
how a marriage should
be. That's how a
family should be,
right? Husbands, the
head, the wife's in
subjection to him, but
under the husband and
the wife, it's the
children. They're to
obey the parents. But
above all that is God.
Above all that is Jesus
Christ. And husbands, you
need to remember this,
that you're accountable
to your family, to
Jesus Christ. You're
accountable to Jesus
Christ for your family.
Ephesians 5, please send
to Ephesians 5, verse
22. Ephesians 5, verse
22. Very popular topic
on this, you know,
when we talk about the
authority and the roles
within marriage, this is
a very popular chapter.
Ephesians 5, verse 22.
Wives, wives, submit
yourselves unto your
husbands as unto the
Lord. The same way you
submit yourself to
Christ, the way you
submit yourself to God.
Now, should you be under
the submission to God?
Should you be in
obedience to God? Yes.
In the same way to your
husbands. That's a big
call, right? It's a big
saying, right? Now, is
it ridiculous to rebel
against God? It is
ridiculous. It's just as
equally ridiculous to
rebel against your
husband, because that's
how you're sure to look
at your husband, the same
way that you subject
yourself under the Lord.
Verse 23. 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. Is
it ridiculous for a
church to tell Christ
what to do? Yes, it is.
It's equally ridiculous
for the wife to tell
the husband what to do,
to be in charge of the
husband, equally
ridiculous, right? We
never, we would never
dream of us being in
authority of God, in
authority of Christ. We
never dream of that. We
know Christ is the head
of the church in the
same way that husband is
the head of the wife.
Verse 24. Therefore, as
the church is subject
unto Christ, so let the
wives be to their own
husbands in everything. I'm
just reading the Bible
to you. I'm just
reading the Bible to
you. Okay. Therefore, as
the church is subject
unto Christ, so let the
wives be to their own
husbands in everything.
Whatever your husband
says, goes. As long as
it's not a sin, obviously,
as long as it's not
against the Lord God,
obviously you put God
first in your life. God
is above both husband
and wife, but whatever
the husband asks of you,
do it in everything. And
that's a big call. I
know it's hard, ladies. I
know it's hard because
we're not perfect, right?
I know that. I know
we're not perfect.
Verse 25. But why is this
achievable? Why is it
achievable for a wife to
be under subjection to
the husband? Because
husbands have a major
role in this. Verse 25.
Husbands love your wives.
Love your wives. Now, if
you love your wife, are
you going to get them to
do difficult tasks? Are
you going to put
impossible expectations
upon them if you love
them? No. If you love
them, you're going to
help them. You're going
to encourage them. You're
going to be there for
them. You're going to
love them, support them
as much as you can. And
your husbands, when you
love your wives and when
your wife knows my
husband loves me, it's
so much easier for your
wife to be in subjection
to you. It's so much
easier for them to do as
you've asked them to
do. Love your wives even
as Christ also loved the
church and gave himself
for it. Gave himself
for it. Husbands, you
ought to love your wife
as much as Christ loves
the church. You ought to
love your wife so much
that you'd give yourself
away. You'd give up your
life for your wife. Do
you love your wife that
much? That you would die
for your wife? That's how
much you need to love
your wife as much as
Christ loved the church
and gave himself for it.
That he might sanctify
and cleanse it with the
washing of water and by
the word. And by the
way, husbands, it's your
job, I know this is
talking about Christ, but
it's your job to wash
your family as it were
with the word. It's your
job to teach your
family spiritual things. You
know, one question that
came to me is from a
woman that was more
spiritual. She'd been
saved longer than her
husband. And she emailed
me saying, hey, how do
I, you know, I know more
about the Bible. So how
do we do this? Like how
does the, how is the
husband, the spiritual
head of the, of the
house? But here's the
thing. The person in
authority, the person in
leadership doesn't
actually have to be the
most knowledgeable in the
Bible. Now, ideally he
would be, ideally he
would be the most
spiritual, right? Have the
most knowledge of the
Bible. But there are
other cases where the
husband knows less because
he's maybe he's been
saved for the least
amount of time, but he's
still in authority. You
know, when I was, when
I was a manager for a,
for a company, I didn't
know the day to day
time. I didn't know the
detail. I had people
under me that knew more
than I did. All I could
do was organize, right?
All I could do was,
was, was set the
goals. All I could do
was, was use the
knowledge, use the
experience of other
people to get the job
done. Hey, and if
you're a husband that
has less knowledge of
spiritual things, hey,
you should still head
up the time of Bible
reading. You should
still head up the
prayer, but then
utilize your wife. If
your wife has more
knowledge, honey, we
read this chapter, what
do you think this
chapter says? You're
still in authority.
You're still leading the
family, but you're
utilizing the skills and
knowledge of other
people. That's fine.
That's fine. But
husbands, you are to be
the spiritual head of
your wives. Verse 27,
that he might present it
to himself a glorious
church, not having spot
nor wrinkle, nor any
such thing, that it
should be holy and
without blemish. Verse
28, so ought men to
love their wives as
their own bodies. He
that loveth, his wife
loveth himself. For no
man yet hateth his own
flesh. What does this
mean? We don't hate
our flesh. Why? But
nourisheth and
cherisheth it, even as
the Lord, the church.
Nourishment is feeding
yourself, having the
nutrients you need,
cherishing, is looking
after yourselves, right?
God wants you to
cherish, well, first of
all, to nourish your
wife. God wants you to
nourish your wife.
That's to provide for
your wife, provide for
your family. It's the
man's job. It's the
husband's job to bring
food, to be the
breadwinner, to provide
the finances that the
family needs. That's
the man's role. That's
the man's job, to
nourish. You know,
nothing gives, I don't
know, and men, you can
tell me if I'm wrong
on this, but I reckon
we're all the same
because we're made the
same way. But there's
nothing that gives a man
more joy and
satisfaction than going
to work and providing
for his family. I
reckon that's what
drives me to make sure
that my family's
provided for. I have no
greater joy than seeing
my kids eat a meal and
being full. I'm full.
It gives me no greater
joy. Why? Because I
was the one that
provided for them. I
was the one that looked
after them. I was the
one that was able to
provide that need. Of
course, my wife cooked
the meal and did
everything else around
the house. Hey, but I
made sure she had the
resources to be able to
nourish herself and
nourish your family. It
gives me great joy
and satisfaction. I might
hate my job sometimes,
right? I don't have a
full-time job
anymore, but in the
past, there were times
I hated my job, but
you know, it gave me
great joy just knowing,
hey, the paycheck is
going to provide for
my family. Great
satisfaction. And then
it says, cherish. To
cherish, that's to
protect and care for.
First Peter, chapter
three, verse seven
says, likewise, ye
husbands dwell with
them, according to
knowledge, giving honor,
giving honor unto the
wife. Hey, respect
your wife. Love your
wife. Give her honor.
Praise her for the
work she does. Make
sure she knows she's
loved as unto the
weaker vessel. The Bible
calls the wife, the
weaker vessel, as, and
as being heirs together,
heirs together, you're
working together. You're
both achieving this
inheritance that God
has for you together of
the grace of life, that
your prayers be not
hindered. Hey, you know
what? A bad
relationship, a bad
marriage. When a man
despises his wife,
that's going to hinder
your prayer life. That's
going to hinder your
prayer life. Give honor
to your wife. That's
the teaching of God. Give
them honor as unto the
weaker vessel. And that's
why, you know, weaker can
be used in many ways.
And, and obviously,
physically, women
generally are weaker
than men, just
physically, right? I
know there's probably
women, you know,
especially now with all
these hormones that they
take, they're probably,
you know, they're
pretty strong these
days. But God has made
it so that women in
general, just physically
are weaker than men.
That's why men are
meant to go out and
work hard. All right.
That's not something
that's meant to be for
a woman. The woman is
meant to be at home
looking after the
children. Are you still
in Ephesians? I think
you should still be
right. Ephesians chapter
five. Okay, good. Um,
verse 30, for we are
members of his body and
of his flesh and of his
bones. There's the one
flesh, the one bone,
you know, for this
cause, again, this
teaching, verse 31, 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. You notice how
often the Bible says
this? For this cause
shall a man leave
father and mother. You
know what that means?
That means don't let
the in-laws interfere in
your life. Husbands,
listen to your wife.
Don't go to your
parents. Hey, you've
got that partner there
to help you, to work
with you, seek advice
from your wife. You
know, oh, I'm the
head. I'm in charge.
Yes, you are the
head, but hey, it's
wise to listen to your
wife. You know, if
you're a manager of a
workplace, if you
manage a workplace,
isn't it wise to
listen to employees? Your
employees to do the
work day in, day out.
Isn't it wise to hear
their recommendations?
Right. And you know, I
once worked in a
workplace where, you
know, I had my job and
then I thought, man, we
could do this better.
So I'd go to my
manager, you know
what, if we did this,
if we made these
changes, I think we
could be more
productive. We can be
more efficient. And my
manager would often
say, all right, cool,
try it, go ahead, do
it. Right. Now the
manager was calling
the shots, right? But I
would bring my
recommendations forward
and imagine, yeah,
try it. And then
there'll be other
times I bring my
recommendations forward
and my manager would
be like, nah, can't do
it. It's not
happening. And I get
frustrated. I'll be
like, oh, come on,
it's going to work.
Imagine, nah, don't
do it. But I had to
respect the authority,
right? But a good
manager is going to
listen to the
employees, whether they
take it on board or
not is up to them
because they're in
authority. And this is
why sometimes even in
the church, yes, I
have the authority in
the church, but quite
often I'll go to
the men and say,
Hey, what do you
think about this? If
we did this, what
do you think? Why?
Because I want to
hear from other
people. It'd be
unwise for me to
just decide and just
do whatever I want
without getting some
thoughts of other
people, right? In the
same way, husbands
and wives, wives, you
know, you should feel
free to go to your
husband and make
recommendations and,
you know, help your
husband, give them,
give them advice as
well as to how
things can be done.
But at the end of
the day, it's the
husband's decision,
whether they want
to go ahead with
that or not. It's
the husband's
decision. You know,
moving up here to
the Sunshine Coast, I
spoke to my wife
about that. I spoke to
the kids about it.
What do you think?
What do you think
if we left Sydney?
But at the end of
the day, it was my
decision, right? It
was my call, but I
wanted to hear what
my family had to say.
Verse 32, this is a
great mystery, but I
speak concerning Christ
and the church.
Nevertheless, let every
one of you in
particular so love
his wife, even as
himself, and the wife
see that she
reverents her husband.
So we spoke about
the man loving the
wife. And again, if
you love your wife
men, then your wife's
going to find it easy
to be in subjection
to revere her husband.
That's to respect
her husband. I hate
it when I hear a wife
speaking bad of her
husband. I hate it
when I hear a husband
speak bad of his wife.
Right? I mean, it's
not a nice thing.
You know, and again,
I'm just thinking
about my workplace.
I remember hearing
women come into work,
oh, my husband this,
my husband that. I'm
like, that's the man
you married. Deal with
it, right? It's for
life. Deal with it.
It's for life. Make
sure your marriage
works. Make sure you
have the roles in place.
That's God's plan.
It's God's plan to
have the two genders,
the two sexes, so you
guys can compliment one
another, so you can
help one another to
make the marriage
successful. And it's
the wife's job, you
know, 1 Timothy 5
verse 14. Can you
please turn there? 1
Timothy 5 verse 14.
I'm trying to speed
through my notes a
little bit now. 1
Timothy 5, 14 says,
I will, therefore.
Now these are the
words of God, right?
The Bible's the
word of God. Men
moved by the Holy
Ghost. I will,
therefore. It's God's
will, therefore, that
the younger women,
there's the younger
bit again, get
married in your youth,
that the younger women
marry, bear children,
guide their house, give
none occasion to the
adversary to speak
reproachfully. This is
the will of God for
young ladies to get
married, to have
children, to guide the
house, be a keeper of
the house. Why? To
give none occasion to
the adversary. Don't
give occasion to
Satan. If you go with
your own will, ladies,
if you go with your
own will and not the
will of God, you're
opening yourself up to
the adversary. You're
opening yourself up to
the devil to deceive
you, to tempt you.
That's why Eve was the
one that was deceived
by Satan. And then Adam
took part because of
his wife. But it was
Eve that was deceived by
Satan. It's the will of
God that you marry,
bear children. And
people, you know, this
society today think
that's, that's like
old fashioned. That's
like prison for a
woman. And yet, what
does the Bible say in
Psalms 128 verse one?
Blessed is everyone that
fearth the Lord and
walketh in his ways,
for thou shalt eat the
labor of thine hands.
Happy shalt thou be, and
it shall be well with
thee. Thy wife shall be
as a fruitful vine by
the sides of thine
house. Thy children like
olive plants round about
thy table. God knows
there's joy in women
to have a family.
Ladies, if you weren't
influenced by the media,
if you weren't influenced
by this world, if you
weren't influenced by
feminism, you too would
desire to be married, to
have children, to raise
kids. There's great joy
in that. That's God's
reward for you. That's
God's inheritance for
you. And I know probably
maybe some of you are
thinking that's crazy. I
know I can't just do
that. I need more. No,
that's God's plan for
you. God knows there's
great joy in that for
you. And you've got to
discover that joy if
you've lost that joy in
your life. God says he
wants you to guide the
house. Proverbs 31 verse
27. She looketh well to
the ways of her house
hold, and eateth not the
bread of idleness. Her
children arise up and
call her blessed. Her
husband also and he
praiseth her. There's
great praise to be had.
There's great blessings
to be had to look
after the needs of your
house, to raise your
children, to look after
the house. You know
what, with my wife and
I, as far as the
house is concerned, I
give her complete
control. I don't tell
her how often she
needs to clean. I don't
tell her what meal she
needs to make. I don't
tell her what clothes to
iron and what... You
know what, I give her
complete ownership of
the house. She's her
own boss. You know,
when I'm in my
workplace, I've got a
boss to answer to. I
can't do whatever I
want. I've got... Hey,
can I do... No, the
boss has to make calls
to shots, right? But
with my wife, she's
got complete freedom
around the house. I
don't... You know,
she knows what she
needs to do. I don't
have to tell her. You
know, she's better at
organizing that stuff
than I ever will be,
right? God's created
men and women
differently. She's her
own boss. I give
Christina complete
freedom in the house to
do as she sees fit.
Turn to Genesis
chapter 3, Genesis
chapter 3 verse 16.
Now, when Adam and
Eve took part of that
fruit, remember that
fruit, that forbidden
fruit they weren't
allowed to eat from,
God cursed Satan. God
cursed the earth. But
God also put a curse on
both male and female.
Okay, Genesis chapter 3
verse 16. God put a
curse on both male and
female, man and woman.
God says this in verse
16. And to the woman
he said, I will greatly
multiply thy sorrow and
thy conception. In
sorrow thou shall bring
forth children. Now
ladies, if you're
wondering why is it so
difficult to deliver a
baby? Why is it so
difficult? It's a curse.
It's the curse of God.
It's a curse for
sinning against the
Lord. But notice
something. It's a curse
for something women
really want. Women
really want children.
They want to get
pregnant and have
children. That's a great
need, a great
satisfaction that women
have, right? So when
women can't fall
pregnant, when they're
barren, they have such
a great desire to have
kids. It's something in
your DNA that God's
put in there. And yet
that great satisfaction,
that great desire you
have, God's put a
curse where it's
difficult to give birth,
right? I don't see,
you know, when animals
give birth, yes, it's
hard for that, for that
creature, but you don't
see him screaming in
pain, right? It's not
as difficult as it is
to a woman. And then
it's verse 17. And
unto Adam, he said, oh
sorry, I didn't finish
there, shall bring forth
children and thy desire
shall be to thy husband
and he shall rule over
thee. God says, hey,
women have a desire.
I'm going to put this
in the women's DNA. I'm
going to make sure they
have a desire to have a
husband over them. Have
a desire. That's
something women
actually want. They
want to be provided for.
They want to be
protected. Okay. And
boys, when you're old
enough to get married,
these are things you
want to think about.
You know, it's not so
much your muscles that
they're looking for.
They're looking for a
man that can provide,
nourish and protect
them. That's what
they're looking for
in a wife. And verse
17, and unto Adam, he
said, because thou has
hearkened unto the
voice of thy wife
and has eaten of the
tree of which I
commanded thee, saying
thou shall not eat of
it, curses the ground
for thy sake. In
sorrow shall thou eat
of it all the days
of thy life. Thorns
also and thistles
shall it bring forth
to thee and thou
shall eat the herb
of the field. In
the sweat of thy face
shall thou eat bread
till thou return unto
the ground for out of
it was thou taken,
was thou taken. For
thus thou art and
unto thus thou shalt
thou return. So
remember I said,
there's nothing more
satisfying to a man
than to work hard and
provide for his family.
That's a desire of
man. That's in our
DNA. It's in our DNA
to provide for our
family, to provide for
our wives. And God
says, I'm going to
make that hard for
you. You're going to
be doing that in
sorrow. You see how
there's that desire of
man and woman, women
to have children, men to
work hard and provide
for his family, but
God's going to make it
difficult. That's the
curse that is put on
us. So even though it's
difficult, it's
something we want to
achieve.
But I just want to
point out this to you,
okay? The woman got a
curse, the man got a
curse. And feminism
today wants the woman
to have both curses.
Make it hard for you
to have kids, right? And
make it hard for you
to go out and get work
and provide for your
family. That's not the
curse. That's not what
God put upon the
woman. That's something
for the man to do.
Why would you want
two curses on your
life? I know it's hard
to live on one
income. I know it's
hard. And I've had
great difficulty, you
know, but at the same
time, God's always
blessed us somehow. You
know, before my wife
and I got married,
Christina was working
as a receptionist at
a medical center. I
told her, I told
Christina, hey, we're
going to get married. I
want you to quit the
job because I don't
want to get used to
having two incomes. If
we get used to two
incomes and then you
fall pregnant and all
that, then it's going
to be hard. Like we're
used to that money and
then we're going to
have just the one
income. So we, you
know, she quit her job.
I was the only one
working. We got married
and I've always just
lived on one income and
somehow God's made it
for us. I don't even
budget. I think you
should budget, but I
don't even budget.
Somehow God's made it
easy for me. I don't
know. Okay. I'm not
saying that we've
always had plenty of
money, but it's been,
you know, we've been
fine. And here's the
funny thing. Every time
my wife's gotten
pregnant, we've gotten
a pay rise every time.
Like I didn't wait for
the pay rise before
we, I just have kids
now. Christina would
just fall pregnant. And
then I'm telling you
within a month, oh, you
know, we've promoted
you. This is your new
paid every time. All
right. It's like, just
God, just, and by the
way, I'm expecting a
pay rise because number
10's on the way. Number
10's on the way. All
right. So I don't know
where it's going to
come from, but it's
going to come right. I
just have great faith
in God. Number 10's
on the way. He's going
to make sure that I
can provide for my
family. So my wife can
sorrow in birth. Okay.
She can have that
curse and I'll have to
find a way to make
sure we can provide for
our needs. Yes. Number
10's on the way. I'm
looking forward to it.
Finally, I've been
telling people, it's
like, you know, get
into nine to nine when
you're playing cricket
and then getting bowled
out before a hundred.
Like once you get to
nine, you've got to
have 10, right? You've
got to have 10. So
thank God for that. Now
the children have a
role as well. Colossians
3 20. I'll just read
it. Children, children
by attention, you can
listen to me. Children,
obey your parents in
all things for this is
world pleasing unto the
Lord. Children, it's
your job to just obey
your parents. God's made
it easy for you right
now in your life. Okay.
You don't need to go
out and have a job. You
don't need to go out
and get married and
raise kids. You just obey
your parents. That's
what God expects from
you for it is well
pleasing unto the Lord.
Do you want to please
God in your life? Do
you want God to look
at you and say, Hey,
these children, I'm
pleased with them. Then
you need to obey your
parents. Obey your
parents for this is
well pleasing unto the
Lord. Now let me just
finish with this. First
Corinthians 11 three,
first Corinthians 11
three, but I would have
you know that the head
of every man is Christ
and the head of the
woman is the man and
the head of Christ is
God. But I just want
to point out to you
this. Okay. So the
head of Christ is God.
That's referring to God,
the father. We remember
we spoke about that.
The father has
authority over Christ or
Christ's authority over
the husband, over the
man and the wife and the
husband has authority over
the wife. That's God's
system of family. Okay.
So, you know, ladies,
you might go, that's
not fair to be subject
to my husband, but you
know, Christ is subject
to the father. You know,
God doesn't ask us to
do anything that he
doesn't already do. He's
not asking anything
difficult from you then
he's already done and
what the system he's
already set in place.
But I just want to
point out that bit
there, husbands, that the
head of every man is
Christ. Christ is the
head of your family.
Yes, he's put you in
authority. Yes, you call
the shots. Yes, you make
the decisions, but you're
accountable to Christ.
That's a scary thought.
That ought to be a
scary thought. God's
going to hold me
accountable for my
family. And so when Adam
and Eve sinned, yes, it
was Eve that was
deceived by Satan. But
who did God come
looking for? He came to
Adam, right? Adam, what
happened? He came to
Adam finding out what
happened. Hey, and if we
don't take our
responsibility, men, as
the husbands, as the
authority of our home,
God's going to come to
you. Hey, what's going
on? Okay, you're
accountable to Christ. So
let me just finish on
this. Marriage is an
institution of God. It's
between one man and
one woman. Yes, I have
to say that these days.
One flesh, one in
purpose, one in goal.
Okay, you're one unit.
Work together to raise
a godly seed. Raise a
new generation for this
nation. So there'll be
light in this world, so
there'll be salt in this
world. Raise your kids
to love God. Raise them
so they know their need
for salvation early in
their age. That's the
purpose of marriage. Let's
pray.