Matthew chapter 19 today. Matthew chapter 19. Matthew 19. Matthew's gospel chapter 19. We'll take our reading from verse 1 in the chapter here. Matthew chapter 19 verse 1. It came to pass that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee and came into the coasts of Judea beyond Jordan. The great multitudes followed him, and he healed them there. The Pharisees also came on to him, tempting him and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female? 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. Wherefore, they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. And they said unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and put her away? He saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your heart suffered you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, commiteth adultery, and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery. His disciples say unto him, if the case of the man be so with his wife, is not good to marry but he said on to them all men cannot receive the same see if they to whom it is given for there are some eunuchs which were so born from their mother's womb and there are some eunuchs which were made eunuchs of men and there are be eunuchs which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake He that is able to receive it, let him receive it. Amen, and God will bless the public reading of his precious word. Let's stand, please, for a word of prayer. Our everlasting God, we now come before thy holy word. We rejoice, Lord, in this special revelation given to us from God to man, that, O God, helps us in all matters pertaining to life and to godliness. And therefore we pray that we might live our lives in light of thy word and conduct ourselves in a manner that is in parallel with the teaching of scripture. Come now and help the preacher and the hearer. We recognize that both need help. The preacher to preach the word, the hearer to hear it and to heed it. Lord therefore give help by the power of thy spirit and bless our waiting souls we now offer prayer in and through the savior's holy and precious name amen and amen As I intimated last Lord's Day, we want to return to the subject matter of marriage that we were considering together back then. Now last Lord's Day, we considered a number of thoughts about marriage. First of all, we considered the primacy of marriage. The primacy that God places upon marriage. We were reminded that it is marriage that is the first institution that we come across when we enter Scripture. Before government, before worship, before the church, we find that it is marriage that is placed before us in the record of Holy Scripture. We considered the purpose of marriage and gave four reasons why men and women should marry. We thought about the partnership in marriage, the companionship that comes about when a man and woman join together in marriage. We thought about the purity and how it keeps us pure. We are freed from committing the sins, the sexual sins of fornication and adultery whenever we enter into marriage. We thought about procreation, the having of children, and also the portrayal of marriage. How it is a picture of Christ's union with his church. And then we thought about the price of marriage. the price of getting married and then the price of staying married. Well, today we want to go a little further in our studies together in marriage and consider some other matters that the Bible highlights to us when it comes to this subject matter of marriage. Now, the first matter that we want to consider today with you is a matter that is most relevant. It is a matter that is very up-to-date. It is a matter that is, as I've said, relevant. And that is the perverting of marriage. The perverting of marriage. Now contrary to popular belief, marriage as God purposed it and ordained it to be, has been under attack not in the last decade, But marriage has been under attack from the very first moment that God instituted it within the garden of Eden. Just think about how the devil tried to drive a wage between the first married couple, Adam and Eve, in the paradise of God. When the devil, in the form of the serpent, came to entice Eve to sin by partaking of the forbidden fruit in his craft and in his subtlety, the devil tempted Eve to usurp her husband's authority. and to go against the order that God had given when He had first created man and then He created woman. And so we find that from the initiation of the institution of marriage that Satan has set his sights upon the marriage union, a target that he has still firmly within his sights today, his attack on marriage can be traced back to the very institution of marriage. And one of the ways that the devil attacks the divinely ordained institution of marriage is by perverting marriage so that it no longer aligns itself with God's original intention. What was that intention? Well, God's intention for marriage was the coming together of a biologically born man and a biologically born woman to form a lifelong union into which no other human being was permitted to enter and to put asunder by their interference with that union. Let me repeat that. God's original intention for marriage was the coming together of a biologically born man and a biologically born woman to form a lifelong union into which no other human being was permitted to enter and to put asunder by their interference with that union. Now, there are various ways in which the wicked one has been successful in perverting marriage from God's original intention. And I want to speak to that just now. The most recent perverting of marriage has been seen in the legislation of same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage is a perversion of biblical marriage. Now God very quickly established in His word, His ideal, His purpose, His plan, His order for the human race, creating a man and then a woman, not two men, not two women, but a man and a woman, and bringing those two biologically different entities together in marriage, God established the fact that heterosexuality, not homosexuality, is God's purpose and God's design for mankind. The idea of a heterosexual marriage, the truth of a heterosexual marriage, a marriage between a man and a woman, was not Adam's idea. It wasn't Adam's idea. It was the sovereign plan and will of an all-wise God. God said in Genesis 2 verse 18, I will make him and help me for him. I will, God said. This was the well, the settled purpose of God, that God would make him, Adam, a wife, make him a woman to help him. You see, even in Eden's perfect environment, with Adam having a perfect relationship with God, the Lord observed, as we thought about last week, that it is not good that man should be alone. And so, noting man's need, we find God in Genesis chapter 2, creating and help meet for him and how we see God taking active steps to meet the need of Adam in the paradise of God. Genesis 2 and the verse 24 establishes then what is to happen here when we follow God's order. Genesis 2, 24, Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave on to his wife and they too shall be one flesh and they were both naked the man and his wife and they were not ashamed the man joins himself to a woman and they become one flesh. And the Lord Jesus Christ goes back to creation in order to establish God's order in marriage. He reaffirms what happened in Genesis continued to be his Intention continued to be His order in New Testament times. And so we find here the Savior going back when speaking to the Pharisees. He says in verse 5 of Matthew 19, for this cause, shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh. Traditional marriage, biblical marriage, is always between one man and one woman. And any divergence from that order, and same-sex marriage is most certainly a divergence from that order, makes such a marriage non-compatible with God's intention for marriage and the teaching of Holy Scripture. Marriage was created as a heterosexual union, a permanent join of two opposites, male and female, who have the physical capacity and the natural inclination to unite in love. John Calvin, the Protestant reformer, condemned as, and I quote, monstrous vices, such alliances arguing that to lust after our own kind was, and I quote, repugnant to the modesty of nature itself. Same-sex marriage is a perversion of God's order in marriage and thus, It can never have the blessing of God. It may have the blessing of government. It may have the blessing of society. It might even have the blessing of some churches. But it can never have the blessing of God upon it. This is the kind of perversion from God's original intention that sinful mankind has taken. In this kind of perversion from the intention sinful man has taken that which was unthinkable in the past and has made it tolerable and then acceptable and then legal and then commendable. That's the order. They take that which is unthinkable to becoming tolerable, to then being acceptable, to then being legal, and then to be commendable. However, we must always be clear that the Bible teaches that marriage is only to take place, and I repeat it again, between a biologically born man and a biologically born woman. For those who promote anything else, their argument is not with this preacher. Their argument is not with this church, but rather their argument is with the Son of God. For he said in Matthew 19 verse 4 and 5, have you not read, and we've quoted it, but let's repeat it again, that he which hath made them at the beginning, made them male and female, just two genders, not a hundred genders, just male and female. God believes only in a man and only in a woman. This is the Son of God speaking here. And he said, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh. That's what Jesus Christ said. And therefore, your argument is not with the preacher, but your argument is with the Word of God, with the Son of God. And so there is the perversion or the perverting of marriage with regard to same sex. There is another perversion of marriage that exists today and that is that of polygamy. Polygamy is a perversion of biblical marriage. Now polygamy is a type of relationship that typically involves a person marrying more than one partner. Polygamous marriages are not legal in the United Kingdom, at least with regard to UK law. I'm not saying that they do not exist. I believe that in Muslim areas that there is polygamy, men can have more than one wife, but not with regard to being legally acknowledged. Polygamous marriages are not legal in the United Kingdom. But if you go to places, especially on the continent of Africa, you'll find that polygamy is widely practiced. While it is true in Scripture that we do have examples, and let's not get away from it, there are examples of men who married more than one wife. The overwhelming teaching of Scripture is that marriage, as divinely instituted, is to consist of one man and of one woman. Whenever you consider the practice of polygamy in Scripture, you'll find that none of those marriages fared well at all. You think of the conflict that's brought in to the home whenever there was more than one wife within that particular home. It should be evidence enough to ward off a person from such behavior. Let me give you a number of proof texts that affirms that marriage really should be only between one man and one woman. Genesis chapter 1 and the verse 27. Genesis chapter 1 the verse 27 you see anything that God has ordained and instituted sinful man perverts whether it's marriage whether it's gender whether it's religion sinful man takes that which is good and perverts it And in order to make it as it is suitable to their own base and sinful desires. Genesis 1 verse 27. You know, by God's making of only a single woman for Adam, creation itself teaches that Monogamy not polygamy is God's ideal when it comes to how many are to be within a marriage. Only one woman was created for Adam, just one. And in that, God was showing that this union that he was going to bring together was to be between just a single man and between a single woman. Polygamy was divinely prohibited from the beginning by God's creation of one woman for Adam. And thus he commanded Adam to cleave on to his wife. Did you notice there, chapter 2, verse 24? Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave on to his wife. Singular. Not wives, but wife. Just one, just one wife and they shall be one flesh. Sadly it wasn't long. After sin entered into the world, that sinful man began to defy this prohibition and marry more than one wife. If you turn to Genesis chapter 4, you only have to turn into the Bible four chapters. Look at the verse number 19. And here we see the words, And Lamech took to himself two wives. He took to himself two wives. Sin has only entered, and now man thinks he knows better than God, and Lamech takes to himself two wives. Sin, sin is now manifesting itself within the marriage union. God's intention, one man, one woman, but Lamech He takes himself to wives. Proverbs chapter 18 verse 22 tells us, Notice that Solomon, now Solomon had 700 wives. He had 700 wives, but what do we read about those wives? We read that they turned his heart away after other gods. And so we find a man with more than one wife, 700 wives, and we find the downfall of such relationships. They turned his heart away from God to follow after other gods. But notice that Solomon there in Proverbs 18 verse 22, again, there is the singular use, the singular term wife, not wives. It does not say, whoso findeth wives, but whoso findeth a wife, singular. findeth a good thing. 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and the verse number 2 is another proof reference. 1 Corinthians 7 and the verse number 2, nevertheless to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife and let every woman have her own husband. Singular again. They are both wife and husband, again, in the singular terms, and they're to have their own. No one else's, their own. In Paul's epistles, especially his pastoral epistles, he speaks to ministers and elders and deacons, and it tells us there that they were to be the husbands of one wife. 1 Timothy 3 verse 12, let the deacons be the husbands of one wife. ruling their children in their houses well. Then in 1 Timothy 3 in the verse 2, a bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behavior, given to hospitality, apt to teach. And so those officers within the work of God, within the church of God, they are to be those who do not practice polygamy. They are to be those who have only one wife. It couldn't be any clearer. The Savior's own words in Matthew chapter 19 in the verse 9 imply a probation on a man having more than one wife. Matthew 19 verse 9, Christ said about a wife, just a single wife, The practice of polygamy is a perversion of biblical marriage and it leads to all kinds of problems. Let me quote from Robert Shaw's exposition on the Westminster Confession of Faith. This is what he says. Think about Abraham and Sarah and Hagar. There's an example there. It produces distracted affections. Or the loss of all affection in the husband himself tends to the denigration of the female character to the neglect of children and manifold other evils. Polygamy is most certainly a perversion of biblical marriage. Let me deal with the third form of marriage that exists in some countries that perverts God's original intention. And that is namely common law marriage. Common law marriage. A common law marriage is one in which the couple lives together for a period of time and holds themselves out to others as being married without ever having gone through the formal ceremony of getting married or having a marriage license. Such people cohabit with each other and do not commit themselves to be husband and wife in a legal way. And such seems to be the whole fashion nowadays. It's as if people who enter this kind of arrangement are giving marriage a trial run without the lifelong commitment that is attached to biblical marriage. People argue that you don't need a wedding ceremony before God and before witnesses to be married. However, Christ's parabolic teaching indicates that a wedding ceremony was commonplace in His day. That ceremony publicly affirmed the joining together of a man and of a woman in marriage. I'm thinking about the parables of the king's son. Do you remember that parable? I think about the parable of the wedding garment. There's another wedding celebration. I think about the wedding, oh, the parable of the ten virgins. Three parables. And then I want you to think about the Savior's own conduct when he was here on earth. Christ attended the wedding ceremony at the feast in Cana in John chapter 2. And by his attendance, it certainly affirms his own endorsement of such a wedding ceremony taking place before God and before men. If there would be those then who would have such a so-called common law marriage, I would say that it's time for you to get legally married and to commit yourself to each other as husband and as wife before God and before men. And so there is the perversion of marriage, the perverting of marriage. There is a second matter to consider today and that is the products of marriage. the products of marriage. We'll turn to Genesis chapter 2, 24, although Matthew 19, it really gives us the same. But in Genesis 2, verse 24, we glean a number of products that really come about from marriage, byproducts, the products of marriage. What occurs when a man and a woman come together? What is produced as a result of this union before God? What is produced? Let's read that verse 24. The first product that arises from a marriage is a new headship. There's a new headship. No, before marriage takes place, the intended couple, are under the headship of their respective parents. They submit to their parents that they're under their authority. That is the headship under which they were born into and they continue to live under as a single individual. That is their headship. However, once married and once a marriage has taken place, a new headship is created where the husband becomes the head of the wife and of the home. Ephesians 5 verse 23, For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. As difficult as it might be, The parents, and I want to speak to parents now, the parents of the newly married couple must recognize that new headship and must not unduly interfere with the running of a new home. Under this new headship, the husband is now to lead the home and is now to lead his wife, and the wife is to care for those who are within the home. And so, mum and dad, there must be no unduly interference, because there is now a new headship. The husband has become the head of the wife. You know marital bliss came to an abrupt end for a newly married couple when the husband and wife had their first argument. It always happens. They had their first disagreement. The young wife, frustrated with her husband's behavior, decided to ring her daddy. She was a daddy's girl. She wanted to tell him all about all that had happened within the argument and all that had materialized as a result of their disagreement. Their conversation, the daughter told her father that she wanted to come home, just for a little time, want to come home. This was her father's wise reply, but dear, you are home. You are home. You see, the girl's father was reminding his daughter gently that she was now under a new head. You are home. To all men in this meeting, I want to remind you as I remind myself that when you marry, you become the head of your home. You become the head of your family. With that new headship, there is much responsibility attached, spiritually and temporally or physically. And to the woman in this meeting, when you marry, you come under a new head. A headship of your husband. A headship that God would have you to submit to. To be submissive to your husband. There is a new headship produced when a married couple come together. In the second place, there is a new home. There is a new home that arises from a marriage. Look there again, therefore shall a man leave his father and mother and shall cleave on to his wife. These words they speak about leaving, leaving the family home and establishing another home. The man leaves his father and mother and then pleads to his wife. Regarding this statement, John Gill wrote the following, not that a man upon his marriage is to drop his affections to his parents or be remiss in his obedience to them. honour of them, and esteem for them, or neglect the care of them, if they stand in need of his assistance, but that he should depart from his father's house, and no more dwell with him, or bed and board in his house. But having taken a wife to himself, shall provide an habitation for him and her to dwell together. You see, a married couple must prepare to live together as an independent unit, as an independent unit. When a Christian couple marry, there is the establishment of a new home, a Christian home. The community in which that home is found benefits from the presence of that home. Because the saints of God within it are light, and they are salt in a dark and in a corrupting world. And I trust that that's how our neighbors view us, that we are salt and we are light and that we benefit the community in which we live by praying, by praying that righteousness would enter the neighborhood, the cul-de-sac, the house-n-estate, the country lane in which we live. There is a new home established, a new home. The third product that arises from a marriage is a new harmony. Having left home, the husband has said to Cleve to his wife, and they shall be one flesh. The word Cleve means to cling, to stick, to keep fast. It has the connotation of being glued together, being glued together. The married couple are now one. They are now united to each other. They have become one flesh. We enter marriage with high hopes of unity. This adorable person that I'm going to spend the rest of my life with is so easy to get on with. That's how we enter marriage. We're in love. We'll never have any problems. But then a few months, a few years in, and the reality hits, the husband and the wife discover that the spouse is just not quite as adorable as they once thought. In such times, a married couple must come back to the principle of this oneness that is to exist within marriage. This harmony that is to be maintained and to be cultivated and worked at within the marriage. Each spouse selflessly loving the other spouse. Just as Christ selflessly loved the church, so the husband is to selflessly love the wife. And yes, Also true of the wife in loving her husband, this realization that there is a harmony, a sticking together, a binding fast together, being glued together, being harmonious in the marriage union and in the marriage bond. Whenever I speak at weddings, I suppose you always like to give a verse of Scripture to the married couple and Genesis, or Matthew 6, 33 is, well, it's well rehearsed, but seek ye first the kingdom of God. I never use that verse, but I always use these verses found in Ephesians 4, verses 31 and 32. They would do well, it would do well for us all to memorize these words in the book of Ephesians chapter 4. Especially if you intend to marry, Ephesians 4 verse 31 and 32, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. Be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. What verses we could apply to our marriages? Remembering the Savior's forgiveness of us, we in turn forgive those who hurt us and those who sin against us even at times. I believe if we would only but follow this inspired counsel, harmony rather than discord would prevail within our homes. And so the products of marriage, a new headship, a new home, a new harmony. Let's think thirdly about the permanence of marriage. The permanence of marriage. It's undoubtedly true that marriage as an institution is in decline within our nation. Many couples, as I've said, they prefer simply not to live together without committing themselves to marriage. You see, marriage is a lifelong commitment that a man and woman make when they are joined together in the covenant of marriage. And many simply do not want to make that commitment. You know, when people are married, and I speak of Christian marriages and all marriages, it is God's intention that they stay married. Sadly, as with many within our society, marriage has become just another disposable commodity. But let me direct you to a number of scriptures that really speak about the permanence of marriage. Matthew chapter 19 the verses 5 & 6 the Savior speaking about marriage he said for this cause shall a man leave his father mother and shall cleave to his wife yes and they tween shall be one flesh wherefore they that are no more tween but one flesh and What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Note that final statement. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. Christ states very clearly that no outside party must put asunder, must break the bond of union that exists between a husband and a wife. The intention is that they stay together as one flesh for the rest of their lives. Look down there at the verse number nine, as Christ then goes into the matter of divorce, and he says, and he said unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, suffered you to put away your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. It wasn't God's intention to put away a wife. It wasn't God's original intention. It was not so. This was not my intention. Dr. Gill said about these words, the sense is that the bond of marriage being made by God himself is so sacred and unavoidable as that it ought not to be dissolved by any man. In Romans chapter 7 verse 2, Paul wrote, for a woman which hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth. But if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. According to Paul, a wife is bound to her husband as long as he lives with the disillusionment of the marriage only taking place when the husband dies. Paul repeats that again. That same teaching, 1 Corinthians 7, 39. The wife is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth. But if her husband be dead, she is at liberty to be married to whom she will only in the Lord. I believe that the permanence of marriage is also argued from Paul's teaching with regard to Christ's union with his church. In Ephesians chapter 5, Paul deals with that union and employs marriage as the illustration for it. In Ephesians 5, marriage then becomes really the symbol, defining for us in visible terms the relationship between Christ and His church. Now, I want to ask a very simple question. Is Christ's union with His church, is it permanent or is it temporary? Is it permanent or is it temporary? Well, if it is permanent, then ought not the illustration also have the thought of permanence in it with regard to the marriage union. And therefore, couples who intend to marry must never enter marriage lightheartedly without considering the lifelong commitment that they are making to each other. Couples should also consider the vows that they make before God. and before many witnesses. Vows that include the following words, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death us do part. Those vows should only ever be taken if you intend to make good on them by the grace and by the help of God. Better it is that thou shouldest not vow than thou shouldst vow and not pay. And so God's intention is, God's original intention for marriage was a lifelong commitment, a lifelong commitment and union with each other. That was God's original intention. But let me conclude with a thought finally very quickly on the pleasure of marriage, the pleasure of marriage. I suppose we've all heard the humorous quote, we've been at a wedding, and we've all heard it. There are three rings involved in marriage, the engagement ring, the wedding ring, and the suffering. And everybody laughs. But you know, folks, from a Bible's perspective, marriage is never to be endured. Marriage is to be enjoyed. It's to be enjoyed. Yes, there are difficulties. Yes, there are problems. Yes, there are trials, yes, there are troublesome times in any marriage, but marriage is to be a most pleasurable union. It is a relationship of joy and a blessing. Within marriage there is that physical intimacy, of course, as well as lifelong friendship. Imparting wisdom to his own son, Solomon gave this advice to him in Proverbs, 5 verse 18, Let thy fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Solomon will give more advice on marriage. Ecclesiastes 9 verse 9, Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun all the days of thy vanity. For that is thy portion in this life, No brethren and sisters, if we fail to find pleasure in our own marriages, we're going to leave ourselves exposed to the temptation of finding pleasure in activities and in relationships that are sinful and forbidden in Scripture. If we do not find the pleasure within our marriage, the wicked one will most certainly tempt us with temptations to find pleasure elsewhere, in activities and in relationships that are strictly forbidden in Scripture. And so the counsel of God to you today is to enjoy your marriage. Enjoy it. Find pleasure in the company of your husband, your wife. Delight yourself in them. You see, we must never forget that a Christian marriage is to be a reflection of the relationship, and I've said this time and time again now, it is a reflection of the relationship between Christ and His church. What then does an unhappy Christian marriage convey to an unbelieving world? What does it convey? If a Christian marriage is to be a picture of Christ's relationship to his church, what does an unhappy Christian marriage relate to an unbelieving world? Do you know what it conveys? It conveys that there is no pleasure in knowing Christ. It conveys that there is no pleasure in being united to Christ. May God help us to have happy marriages. May we find pleasure. in our marriages. May God not only give us enduring marriages, as in marriages that last, but may he give us enjoyable marriages. Martin Luther, the Protestant reformer, he said this, let the wife make her husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave. that the wife make her husband glad to come home and let him make her sorry to see him leave. I wonder, are those our marriages? Are we glad to go home to the wife? Wife, are you glad when your husband stays at home and doesn't go off elsewhere? Are you glad to get him from under your feet? May God give us happy homes, happy marriages. These things are God's order. This was God's intention, marriage between a man and woman to endure for a life together and that they would find pleasure in one another. Oh, that God would give us such marriages. biblical marriages. I want to return to the subject matter for one final time next Lord's Day in the will of God. I want to speak about preparing for marriage, who I should marry, who I shouldn't, and preparing yourself for marriage. And so you pray that God will lead and guide in this word. And God will help this preacher. But that's where we'll end for today. May the Lord bless His word to our hearts for Christ's sake. Let's bow in prayer, please. I'll go down to the door just here in the church building. We trust that we'll see you tonight at the house of God, make that effort to be here. But let's commit the word now to the Lord in prayer. Our loving Father, and our gracious God, we come before Thee and we pray that Thou wilt help us to be biblical in our thinking and in our living. We cry to Thee, O God, for our marriages. We realize, O God, at times they may not be as smooth, the waters may be troubled, the difficulties great, but we pray, O God, for every Christian marriage. May thy hand be upon it, Lord. May thy hand be upon them. Keep us together. Help us to love as we are commanded to do. We are commanded to love our wives. Oh, to obey that commandment. If ye love me, keep my commandments. Help me to be a loving husband. Oh God, our wives to be submissive wives and loving wives. Oh God, may harmony exist within our families. Help us to be tender-hearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Oh, show us mercy, we pray. We recognize that many things are difficult in this world. We recognize that sin has destroyed the ideal of God in all of this, in every aspect of our living. Oh, help us, we pray, therefore. Guide us, Lord. May we love Thee more and more. May we come to submit ourselves to Thy word. We offer now these our petitions and prayers in and through Jesus precious and worthy name. Amen. Thank you.