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And then so 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 the part I want to look at there is verse 14 and keep something there for the evening We'll be coming back and forth But it says there be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers and the title of the sermon this evening is stranger danger Stranger danger and I'm gonna get into why I've called it that here in a minute, but I want us to look first and see That scripture warns us throughout to not be unequally yoked together Unbelievers and you're there in 2nd Corinthians 6, but I'll remind you that this is a principle that's found throughout Scripture We can even go back to Deuteronomy chapter 22 I'll just read to you from there where it says thou shalt not sow thy vineyard or diverse seeds lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown and The fruit of thy vineyard be defiled thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together Now you say why does God have such a specific rule that they couldn't take? Two different types of animals and ox and an ass and put them in the same yoke Put them in the same plow and do and have them plow together. I mean, what's the problem there? Well, there's really nothing wrong with that specifically But God is showing us even as far back as Deuteronomy that there's that we should not be unequally yoked with unbelievers God does not want to Animals plowing together any more than he wants God's people in the same yoke with unbelievers. That's why I believe he's showing us there in Deuteronomy You know these these animals they differ in difference in size and strength, you know, it's gonna they're gonna be pulling at different strides They're not going to be working in tandem. They're not gonna be working together And that's a principle that we need to learn from that. We need to be Equally yoked not unequally yoked and that would make the work inefficient if you have these two different animals. You got one animal I don't know. I don't know which one has a bigger gate than the other one But they're ones trying to walk faster ones trying to walk slower, you know You're gonna have a harder time getting a nice straight furrow down that that piece of land So and that's the same thing in our own life when we find ourselves unequally yoked with unbelievers You know, we're gonna be less efficient. Could we possibly get some things done in life? Sure, but you know a lot of times it's gonna make things more difficult than they need to be Now if you look there in 2nd Corinthians 6 you'll see that he actually gives some examples of Things that are opposites and he uses these examples to express that fact that they are opposites Just as believers and unbelievers are opposites He says there in 2nd Corinthians chapter 6 verse 14 be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers For what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? I mean could two things be further apart from one another righteousness and unrighteousness What communion hath light with darkness? These are opposites what Concord hath Christ with Belial course Beale being just another name for the devil Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? So he's saying you are just as much an opposite as a believer from an unbeliever as light is from darkness you are just as much opposed as a believer to an unbeliever as a As Christ is with Belial as righteousness with unrighteousness He goes on and says or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel verse 16 or what? Agreement hath the temple of God with idols Now, of course he goes on there and explains that we are the temple of God and he says for ye are the temple of God as God has said I will dwell in them and walk in them and I will be their God and they shall be My people now keep something there and turn over to 1st Corinthians chapter 6 1st Corinthians chapter 6 So we see that God does not want us unequally yoked God does not want us getting in the yoke with an unbeliever because they are opposites just as much as light from dark And he says that the reason for that is is because we are the temple of God Now what's one way a person can yoke themself up with an unbeliever today? There's a there's a way that people are yoking themselves together. Even God's people will get yoked up with an unbeliever and that's through the means of Fornication he said there ye are the temple of the Living God, you know, that's the truth you know, God is dwelling in you his holy spirit is in you and It's very important to God that you don't get the temple dirty When a person goes and commits fornication, that's exactly what they're doing It'd be no different than if you walked into a literal Physical temple of God if there were such a thing today on earth That week would say oh, this is the temple of God and you just came in with a pile of trash and just started strolling about In that temple, that's what happens when a person with a believer fornicates They are making God's temple dirty You know believe me look there in 1st Corinthians Chapter 6 verse 15 know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ Shall I then take the members of Christ and make the members of an harlot? God forbid what know you not that that which is joined unto in harlot is one body for to sayeth He shall be one flesh But he that has joined to the Lord is one spirit flee fornication Every sin that a man doeth is without the body Every sin that a man doeth is without the body but he that committed fornication sinneth against his own body What know you're not you that your body is the temple of the holy ghost Saying look don't commit fornication. Why because your body is the temple of the holy ghost Which is in you what you have of God and you're not your own for you're a bot with the price therefore glorify God in Your body and in your spirit which are gods so We see that one area that people can sometimes get an unequal yoke with is in this area of fornication And of course they you know, uh, there are a lot of times Well, let me just say this that the answer to that desire that a person has that natural god-given desire for that relationship Is met within marriage That's what god the bible says the marriage bed is is honorable to all and undefiled. It's undefiled So if you're satisfied that need within marriage you're not defiling the temple of god bible says it's honorable That's what god has ordained It goes on it says but whoremongers and adulterers god will judge So we see then that marriage is a yoke that people enter into isn't it? That's probably the the most important yoke that you'll ever share with another human being is the yoke of marriage And that's it's a yoke that you should desire You should want that that should be a goal in your life To have a mar have a spouse to help you in this area Because of the fact that it could if you if you refuse that, you know, it could lead to fornication It's very difficult, uh to to manage those feelings often and you know marriage is a great way to satisfy that need And it's godly there's nothing wrong with it. It should be a goal that we have But We need to go into that understanding something understanding that If you go into it and you get yoked up with the wrong person You're going to be like that ox in the ass Trying to plow in the same plow in the same yoke and it's not going to work. It's going to be inefficient Now not every association in life is a yoke so we see that god it's very important that god does not want us to Yoke up with unbelievers, okay And we need to understand that not every association you have in life is yoked now marriage definitely is one of them But there are a lot of associations that we have in life that are not necessarily us yoking up with unbelievers Is it because some people could take this to an extreme and say? And end up living in a convent or a monastery or something like that Or end up like, you know Just recluses in their life But not and if you would turn over to first timothy chapter six What's an example of us being yoked with somebody or excuse me? What's somebody what's an example of us? Having an association with an unsaved person. That's not necessarily Sinful or bad having an association with an unsaved person That's not us yoking up with them Well, I could take one example that we probably most if not all of us will experience to some great another Is working for unsaved employers? Or Along with co-workers now look there in first timothy chapter six verse one Let as many servants as are under the oak servants, right? This is talking about employees let as many servants as are under the oak count their own masters Worthy of all honor that the name of god and his doctrine be not blasphemed And that they have believe they that have believing masters let them not despise them because they're our brethren But rather do them service because they are faithful and beloved partakers of the benefit these things teach and exhort So notice first of all that it's diff. It's not it's not the same yoke You going to work for your unsaved boss is not you yoking up with an unbeliever Because of the fact it's the servants are under the oak, you know a newsflash your boss isn't under the oak Your boss is driving the yoke. Okay, that's the difference there It's not it's you're not you're not in partnership with your boss You know, you should have the same mindset you should have the same goal You should have the same vision desire the same thing make the company money But it's a it's an agreement that hey i'm going to work for you I'm going to give you my time and you're going to give me money. That's what it boils down to That doesn't put you in the same yoke with your with your boss. Do you think the ox? Ever took the yoke off and turned around and went to the one driving it said your turn Give me the whip. I'll handle this for a while. You go ahead and get the yoke. That's not how it works The boss is the master and you know, you're the ox or you know, yes, I don't know you're one of the two, right? But that's the difference there, you know, we are we when you go to work you're not in the yoke with with your master He's he's driving that yoke So that's not an example of being yoked up with an unbeliever So I don't want people to get the wrong idea here that we can never You know have anything to do with anybody ever unless they're saved. Okay? We're going to draw we're going to focus in here on marriage in a minute because I think that's the most important one But notice also the clause there in verse two It says and they that have believing masters showing us that he's talking about the in in verse one to those that have unbelieving masters He didn't say those of you that as many servants that have unbelieving masters Find another job and don't ever have anything to do with an unsaved employer again. That's not what he said He said look count them worthy of all honor that the name of god and his doctrine be not blasphemed And he you know, he reiterates that in uh in titus in chapter two He says exhort the servants to be obedient under their own masters and to please them. Well in all things not answering again Not preloining but showing all good fidelity that they may adorn the doctrine of god and our savior in all things You know your testimony as an employee is matters Especially to your unsaved boss, you know, you should take that seriously But second corinthian six, you know, I don't want us to get the wrong idea It's not it's is teaching us not to be yoked with unbelievers. It's not teaching us to just try, you know, just Shun everybody that's not saved in our life I'll read to you from first corinthians five the bible says I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators Yet out altogether with the fornicators of this world. He's saying I told you not to fornicate to excuse me not to Excuse me, not to uh, uh to company with fornicators He said yeah, not altogether the fornicators of this world. He clarifies that statement he goes on and says Uh or with the covetous or extortioners or adulterers for then must he needs go out of the world He said look if i'm if you were to you know, uh, separate yourself from every fornicator every unsaved fornicator every unsaved Uh, you know covetous person or extortion or idolater you'd have to leave the world You'd have to go live under an underpass You might still bump into him down there You know, you'd have to go buy acreage somewhere in some Ten buck two and go live there and and live off the land. You'd have to completely go out of the world He's saying there And he's saying look that's not what I meant. That's not what I want you to do You see we we rub elbows with people who are guilties of these who are guilty of these sins all the time Whether we know it or not You know, we're we bump into them all the time. He's not saying look, you know, make sure you you you uh, Vet every person that you're going to interact with, you know, ladies when you get to the grocery store Before you let her start to ring those groceries up. You need to ask her. Are you an extortioner? Excuse me, miss before you start to scan my groceries You know, are you covetous? Are you an idolater? You know, are you fornicator? Yes, I am. Can I speak with your manager, you know? Could you find me a cashier who's none of these things so that I can we can enter that's not what the bible's teaching Because we know we we just it's not practical We're gonna have to rub elbows with these people He clarifies the verse 11 and says but now i've written unto you not to keep company with any man that is called a brother So he's saying look don't hang don't don't have anything to do with a brother that is guilty of these things If he be a fornicator or covetous or adult or a railer or a drunk or an extortioner with such no one not to eat So we see he's clarifying that you know when we're saying don't be unequally yoked with unbelie with unbelievers That doesn't mean just completely shut them out of your life, okay It what it's talking about is you don't want to get in these personal relationships Go back there to second corinthians chapter six and let's look at what's considered a yoke here what's considered yoking up And we'll get a better idea of what kind of relationships we need to be on guard about this with The second corinthians chapter six verse 14 he says Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship? Hath righteousness with unrighteousness or and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath christ with belia or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of god with idols? So he says don't be yoked and then he and then he gives us these words to help us understand what he means by that Fellowship communion having part with Sharing in right and being an agreement with these describe relationships that are personal These describe relationships that are more than just your casual everyday encounter This is talking about people who are going to fellowship together. They're going to commune with one another this is talking about closer relationships You know this talks about I believe you could apply us to friendships, you know, your best friends should not be the unsaved They should be the saved Because they have an influence on your life You know, you want to see where somebody's headed look at who their friends are. That's how they'll say a lot about them What direction they're headed because friends influence one another? And we could talk about that, but I think this applies significantly in the area of marriage I don't think there's any relationship that you're going to find on earth That you will ever have as close as that as husband and wife And this is you know where I really want to apply this tonight this principle of stranger danger as the title of the sermon is The bible says in genesis chapter 2 therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave unto his wife That's a that's a very unique statement to cleave unto her this this grasping this holding on to this not letting go. Okay You wouldn't say that about your best friend. You wouldn't say that about your buddies, you know, you're not going to cleave unto them You know, they stop wanting to hang out. No, I got it. I just you can't leave me You know psycho Right stalker, right? That's what that's what would happen. But he's saying look you need to cleave unto your wife and they twain shall be one flesh I mean, that's how intimate that's how close that's how Uh a deep this relationship is between a man and a woman a husband and a wife go over there to ephesians chapter five ephesians chapter five So I want to just drive this principle in of of not being hey You sit up and you straight up. You keep your eyes on me. You understand me? So I really want to drive this in this principle Of not being unequally yoked in the area of marriage the area of marriage because that's what's going to count the most and We don't want to fall into the trap of end up marrying Somebody that we're going to be unequally yoked with It's going to make life long. It's going to make life hard And we're not going to get done everything that we could get done for the lord look there in phesians chapter 5 verse 22 Submit your wives submit yourselves under your own husbands as unto the lord You know, that's not every relationship Doesn't say women submit unto every man Yeah, I don't believe in that. I don't believe a woman is, you know bound by duty to submit to every man That's what the bible says And some guys get this idea in their head. So let's just go ahead and nip in the bud right now You know, you don't have to just because you're a man doesn't mean you go tell women other women what to do You know, it says wives submit unto your own husbands As unto the lord and that sounds like a pretty Serious relationship. Hey, you need to submit unto them as unto the lord Look there in verse 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything I mean if you want to be pleasing to god, uh, ladies if If you want to obey this commandment, you're going to have to submit to that man you marry in everything in everything So you can see why it's so important That you don't end up getting unequally yoked with an unbeliever Because you're going to obey him, you know In the lord, obviously you can you don't have to obey your husband when it comes if he's asking you things that are opposed to god or contrary to the lord But it does say in everything doesn't it? He goes on to verse 25 husband love your wives even as christ also loved the church and gave himself for it You know husbands are to be willing to make sacrifices To lay down their lives to lay Aside their own ambitions the things they want for themselves and care more about the things of their wife How they can please them how they can take care of them how they can love them how they can nurture them And help them and and lead them So it says in verse 28 men not to love their wives as their own bodies So this this relationship is the most important relationship you'll ever have in your life this area of marriage It has there's gravity there. You have to understand the gravity that it comes with the marriage relationship And you know this principle of separation is taught throughout scripture You know all the way from deuteronomy we saw and in second corinthians to not be unequally yoked with unbelievers especially in this area of marriage Which means this that a spouse should be chosen very carefully and very wisely The person that you're going to spend the rest of your life with Needs to be chosen very uh, carefully and very wisely, you know, you should probably seek godly counsel in that area, you know Especially, you know if you have if you have parents, you know Mom and dad number one, right that they should be if you have saved parents who are going to lead you and guide you in That decision making uh, you know, you need to go to them Uh, but mainly what i'm going to drive in is tonight is the fact that christians should not marry the unsaved If you're if you're saved if you're a believer If if you are born again, you don't have any business marrying an unbeliever You shouldn't be unequally yoked with unbelievers. That's what the bible says And tell me in relationships that that that's more closely Is more of a yoke than that of marriage two people coming together in the bonds of matrimony And in in making those vows one another say we're going to live our lives together We're going to raise children together. You're in a yoke with somebody friend. That's work Marriage relationship is is wonderful, but it's a lot of work too It's two people saying hey, we're gonna we're gonna go at life together And the christians therefore should not be marrying the unsaved in fact the bible teaches this i'll read to you in first corinthians chapter seven Concerning widows it says in verse 39. The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth. Let that sink in right You're bound by the law as long as your husband is alive But if her husband be dead she is at liberty be married to whom she will Then he gives this on the end only in the lord He says look she is at liberty first corinthians 7 verse 39 She is at liberty to be married to whom she will only in the lord So that's the one that's the one qualifier for that lady You know, she's widowed she's at liberty to marry She can marry whoever she want wants but it has to be in the lord That's the one thing he clarifies there and says look whoever she wants as long as it's a saved person It's as somebody who knows the lord And I mean chose the title of that sermon tonight so that because we have a lot of young people in this church praise god You know And we have unmarried people that you know one day there's a there is a there's a lid for every pot. I believe that okay They're going to look for a spouse. They're going to find a spouse, okay And I want you to let these words settle down into your hearts and ears stranger danger I know we're taught that when we're little kids, right when a stranger says hey Come see the puppy in my trunk You know I've got some candy Want to go for a ride stranger danger, right? Let's not forget that as we grow older and we start to look for a spouse apply that same thing stranger danger And if you would turn over to first kings chapter 11, we'll look at an example and actually where I get the title for this sermon Of somebody who failed to understand this principle of stranger danger when it came to this marriage relationship And that would of course be the example of king solomon there in first kings Chapter 11 verse 1 but king solomon Loved many strange wives. Okay. So there's a couple things wrong with this one He's got more than one wife the bible God explicitly told that the kings of israel will not to multiply themselves wives And he did that the bible does not condone polygamy that we've preached on that in the past But he loved many strange wives Together with the daughter of pharaoh Now when it says there he loved strange wives. It doesn't mean he loved weirdos. Okay, you know, she's got a bone in her nose And green hair, you know He's not what he's talking about. He's talking about the fact that they are of a different nationality Okay, because it goes on there and it mentions the nationalities right women of the moabites ammonites edamites zydonians And hitites that's what it means by strange They are strangers in a strange land as moses said, right? So this isn't a matter of preserving some bloodline god's saying look the problem here is that that he was marrying Uh, you know the wrong nationality That's not what he's he's is the problem here. The problem is that He was marrying women that turned his heart from the lord these strange wives from these different nations. They worshipped another god They worshipped heathen gods Then we'll see here the the results of that So this isn't about don't get the wrong and I either that that god somehow was That that god somehow was some kind of supremacist, you know that god only wants a certain races getting together You know bible says that he hath made all nations of one blood And and in heaven, we'll see People from every nation kindred try and tribe up in heaven praising god And we could even think about other examples in the old testament of men marrying foreign women that loved the lord And it turned out good. I mean think of boas, right? boas married ruth and that you know, which led to jesse which led to uh, david Right, which eventually led to christ? So it's not a matter of that You know another and think about this boas himself if you if you look and study your bible Boas was the was the product of uh of an israelite marrying Rahab the harlot when they when they went into jericho that led to him So there's a there's actually a harlot in that lineage of christ that's given rahab the harlot You see that in matthew chapter one i'll read to you it says salomon begat boaz of rakab that's talking about Rahab the harlot and boaz begat obed of ruth and obed begat jesse So, you know i'm not saying we should go out and try and marry a harlot, but it's saying here, you know Rahab's redeeming quality was that she believed That she believed on the lord. If you recall that story, you know, she was she hid the spies by faith The bible says in hebrews 11 by faith the harlot rahab perished not with them that believed not when she had received the spies with peace So what the bible's showing us really here is that you know, you'd be better off and i'm going to just say this And i'm and it's true but because that's what we see here you'd be better off marrying a harlot that got right with god Than marrying some heathen girl It's true You'd be married you'd be better off marrying some A girl that came from some dark past with some checkered past had a you know Was a woman of ill repute that got right with god than you would marrying some Uh, you know some heathen girl who didn't believe in the lord, but seemed to have it all put together That's what that's what the bible's showing us But salomon here he ignored this warning look there in verse two He says, uh, he says king salomon loved many wives together with the the daughter of pharaoh women of moabites ammonites edomites and ziodonians and hit tights Of the nations concerning which the lord said on the children of israel. Ye shall not go in unto them into them Neither shall they come in unto you For surely they will turn your heart your way your heart after their gods salomon clave unto these in love So he didn't say, you know, there's a strong possibility There's a strong possibility He didn't say, you know, maybe They will turn your hearts after other god, you know, don't get married to them Don't have this don't marry and you're married with these heathen people because there's a chance That they will turn away your heart. No, he said surely Count on it because there's a principle in scripture. You never see the good making the bad good You're gonna see a lot of you see the bad making the good bad and that's exactly what happens here with salomon And salomon ignored this in this warning And he suffers the consequences if you would look there in uh verse three where he says And he had 700 wives Princesses and 300 concubines. I mean come on How many how many do you need, you know? His wives turned away his heart for it came to pass when salomon is old that his wives turned away his heart from After other gods and his heart was not perfect with the lord as was the heart of david his father I mean salomon had that that that law that was quoted in you don't marry them They surely will turn away your heart after other gods and he ignores that warning And you know what god's word comes true When he gets into his old age after he'd multiplied all these strange wives His hearts turned away from the lord god And Says in verse five for salomon went after ashteroth The goddess of the zydonians after malcom the the abomination of the ammonites. I mean here's I mean let that sink in This is king salomon. We're talking about He built the temple He saw god god came to him and spoke to him on more than one occasion I mean and here he is Going after these gods he had he knew they weren't even real But he's getting pleased his wives he's going to just make them happy So he's just going to go after the goddess of the zydonians You know a goddess Uh after the milcom the abomination of the ammonites, you know, he's worshiping something that god calls an abomination That's how much the uh turned his heart from god And salomon did evil in the sight of lord and when not fully after the lord as did david his father Then did salomon build high place and high place for kimosh the abominations of of moab And the hills that is before jerusalem and for molec The abomination of the children of ammon molec now if you study that out molec is who they burnt Uh, they burnt their children so that they committed child sacrifice to molec now. I don't know if that was going on in his day I might have to study that out But that is that same god and he's and he's going after it in the hill that is before jerusalem he's doing this so, you know, it just goes to show us that You know if you get yoked up with the wrong person, they can turn your heart I mean, it's bad enough. They're going to make your life difficult marry the wrong me marry some Unbeliever marry some heathen that doesn't care about the things of god doesn't care about the bible doesn't care about the lord I mean that's going to make life hard enough as it is But it might even turn out that they actually turn your heart from god To where now you're just living like they are And and you and people be like, oh you're a christian. I had no idea Because here's the thing One's religion Makes or breaks a potential spouse. I believe that You know that that should be the deal breaker, you know, you get interested in somebody You want you know start dating you start thinking about hey, maybe this could be somebody in marriage Get married to you know, their religion's got to come into play at some point. You have to consider that Because it affects every area of your life And everyone wants to just pretend like they can just keep religion over here What they believe about god over here as if it's you just you know, I show up on sunday I show up and we worship god for a little while but the rest of the week it has no bearing on my life Maybe that's the case now, but hey when you get married and now it's time to raise kids Now it's time to baptize Uh little billy, right? And and and she's gonna say well, you know, I go to this church and this is how we do it here Well, i'm a baptist and this is what I know what the bible says And this is how I want to do it. Oh, really? and Now you're at odds in your own house over something like that And i've i've met people i've known people where that that's a real source of contention It's it's hard Oh, and how are we going to raise these these kids? How are we going to discipline them? Well, she's you know, she's from the unsaved world. She's been watching oprah and dr. Phil and she's read all of the latest and greatest, you know, uh fad child rearing that's out there I don't know what they all are because like I don't care But i'm sure there's some weird ones, right? She says well, i'm just going to tell them that we love them And that he we expect better from them and we're going to do timeouts and we're never going to lay a finger on them Well, I know the bible says thou shalt beat And I shall beat him with the rod that the the rod of correction will drive the heart of foolishness Shall drive foolishness far from him That i'm not going to i'm going to spare not for his crying See how that goes over in your marriage when you when you have two different views on how you're going to raise children Two different views on what you're going to teach them about the truth Because every kid eventually asks, you know, where do we come from? How do we get here? You know these deep profound like you're too young to even think about that, you know They ask it And she's going to tell them or he's going to tell them Well, you know, uh billions and billions of years ago Everything was as small as a period on a page and it exploded out of nothing and became everything Right Just center the twilight zone Right, but that's what she's going to want or he's going to want to teach your your precious little darling And you're going to say well no actually the bible says in the beginning. Oh, you can't teach them that We'll stop you see how important who you marry is Especially in this era of child rearing How you're going to live your life? It affects every area of your life, so it's friday night. What are we going to do? Well, we you know one wants just that, you know, hang out and and have some good clean fun The other one wants to go hit the bar again. You get drunk and who knows what? It affects every area of your life so, you know, it's a it's a deal breaker it really is at least it ought to be And crit, you know, we'll say well they're a christian and let me just give a little word of warning here today right now Christian is too broad of a term to be a qualifier. It's too broad of a term Are you a christian? Yeah. Okay, we're good No That's not how it works You know find out if they're saved now listen Don't i'm not saying that that has to be question number one But if there's you know, hi, you know, my name's so-and-so are you saved? I like you are you saved? I mean, it shouldn't be the last thing you ask you should probably before you get emotionally invested in somebody that should probably come up You should find out. Hey, is this person saved? Am I going to break this off before this gets any it gets it gets at all serious? Well, then you need to find out if they're saved and you know what if they're not saved get them saved If you get them saved get them come to church great You know, maybe you can get that person you're interested in, you know to the place where they are marriage material You know discuss that discuss their salvation, you know, and this is probably something that's more reserved where You know mom and dad have been approved or you know, if you're out of the house You know, this would be in your own discretion, but Discuss how you're going to live your life and in light of the scriptures with them before you get married Before you get married discuss whether or not she's going to stay at home and he's going to be the breadwinner figure that out before you get married Because that's a big source, you know, a lot of marriages end because of of things like this these are just practice It's a very practical sermon. Okay You know discuss the child rearing before you get married and have kids Before you get married and have kids And here's here's my word of warning. We'll close it here Don't think you're the exception don't sit there and think well, I you know, I can I can do I can handle this I know this person i'm interested in, you know, they're they you know, they don't they're not saved They have a different worldview, but i'm i'm going to change them Right. How many times have we heard that? Well, that's every woman thinks that i'm going to change him You know mold him into what I want him to be good luck he might not be able to I mean you don't think you're the exception I mean solomon likely thought he you know Could have thought he was the same thing given his experience with the lord Are you still there in uh? Where do I have you first kings 11? Are you still there? It says and the lord was angry with solomon Because his heart was turned from the lord god of israel Which appeared unto him twice God appeared unto solomon twice. Well, that's why I made god so mad How could you get turned so easily away by these strange women solomon when i've come to you twice? And spoke with you. He was accountable And had commanded him concerning this thing That he should not go after other gods. God came to him and spoke to him personally and explicitly said don't go after other gods And solomon probably got in his head. Well, you know, I I hey I got this i'm cool. I got the i'm the exception But we saw how it turned out But he kept not that which the lord commanded so You know, I hope we see from this this this sermon night that Scripture commands us not to make our closest relationships with the unsaved especially in this area of marriage They need to be saved And you know what? It would probably be a good idea to even take it beyond that they should believe What we believe about the bible when it comes to these major areas of life Like child rearing and and everything else that comes along it You know, we are we should keep We should not shun unbelievers, right? But we should keep them at our arm's length You know our deepest our most personal relationships not be with unbelievers I'm not saying be rude. I'm not saying be mean but you know, we should keep that at a distance because it will affect our heart And it applies in the area of marriage more than anywhere else because of the severe consequences That come with such an influential relationship Let me just close by saying this The effects of that relationship good or bad are permanent. It's permanent. You only got one chance to get that right. So consider These things when we look for a spouse or when we even look to develop relationships other than that of marriage, let's go ahead and pray