Hey, I'm really glad you're here today. I recognize we probably have three different categories of people. We have those who are just regularly part of Faith Church all year long, and you're part of this campus, and I just want to say thank you for your faithfulness. We've had a good summer in a lot of ways, a lot of great opportunities to serve the Lord and just rejoice in Him and try to serve our community. So it's been a good summer in a lot of ways, and if you're one of those, thank you for your faithfulness. I realize we also have some college students. You've been part of our church in the past, but you were home this summer, enjoying some of mom's home cooking, huh? I hope you had a great summer. I hope God blessed you in a lot of different ways. I do want you to know we missed you, and we're really glad you're back. And it's not the same when you're not here. And so thank you for being back. And I realize also there's undoubtedly some who are brand new today. You're just starting school, and I'm really glad you're in the Lord's house. Really glad that you would want to worship and fellowship together. I hope you're going to want to make the local church an important part of your college experience. That's one of the reasons that we have this particular campus. So whatever category you fit in, we're really glad you're here and we're glad that we get to worship and study together. Around 30 years ago, my wife and I were building the home where we now live, and that in and of itself was a minor miracle, because when we were first married, I started seminary, so we went to graduate school here in Indiana, and we lived in a trailer, and we loved it. We absolutely loved living in a trailer. Those were good days. Then when I graduated from seminary, we moved out to Philadelphia for my doctoral work, and we were living and serving at a church in New Jersey, so we had an apartment there. But the cost of living was so expensive out there, and frankly, the cost of going to school, too. So honestly, if you had asked us at that point in our life, in our marriage, we would have said that the thought of actually ever owning a house, that's not even on our radar screen. We can't even imagine what that would be like. Then we came here and had a solid education, had $1,500 worth of student debt. And so we got an apartment here and we paid that debt off as fast as we could. We started saving for a house. And then the Lord, somewhat unexpectedly, allowed us to buy a little starter house right over by Faith East. It was a house that a contractor had started but couldn't finish. It was a project for sure, but that went well. We're also able to buy a lot. So by about our eighth year here, we're ready to build a house that was large enough for our family and also just to do the kind of entertaining that we were hoping to do as a pastor and pastor's wife and pastor's family. Well, to save money, I'm all about the saving money thing, I served as the quote-unquote general contractor. I had plenty of experienced people helping me, but ultimately we were doing all the planning, all the scheduling, all the organizing, all the budgeting ourselves. And the point of this story is, what we learned pretty quickly was that there were two very different kind of subcontractors. There were those who kept their word and those who, well, they just didn't. So, for scheduling, I can think of plenty of men and women who, if they said they were going to be there on a particular day at a particular time, they were there. You could practically set your watch to them. But for others, it was almost as if they had no intention, of actually doing what they said they were going to do. And in some cases, they actually acted a bit offended. If you ask them why they didn't follow through, it's like, well, you didn't expect me to keep my word, did you? You didn't think I was serious when I promised to do that. I mean, how quaint a notion that is on your part. Even more significant was keeping their word regarding pricing. Our budget was really tight, so we assumed when somebody gave us a price, here's my bid, I'll do the work for this particular price, we assumed they were going to keep their word. And we had people fall into either category that I've mentioned. So some did, some did, like our septic guy, our septic guy. When I went to get the permit for our septic system, the county person said to me, well, is this a three-bedroom house or a four-bedroom house? And what he was asking was, because it obviously had four bedrooms on the plan, and he said, is it a four-bedroom house or is it a three-bedroom house with an office? And it was almost wink, wink, wink. Don't you really want this to be a three-bedroom house and an office? And I was completely confused by what he was asking me. We had three children. We were building a bedroom for each one of them, and it was a four-bedroom house. And what they explained to me was, well, if it's a four-bedroom house with your kind of soil, you're going to have to have a bigger septic system. It's going to have to have two tanks, blah, blah. It's going to cost you more money. Wink, wink. Don't you really want it to be a three-bedroom house? I don't want to start this project by not having the right size septic system for my family. Plus, I just didn't think it was a good idea to start the whole project by telling the county a big whopper, right? So I said, well, no, it's a four-bedroom house. And we explained that to the septic guy. He knew what he was getting himself into. He gave us a price. And then later on, he did come and he installed that septic system the way he was supposed to, but he said to me, he said, you know, I didn't really do a lot of research on this before I gave you the price, and it actually ended up taking more equipment than I realized, but I'm not going to make as much as I had hoped, but I'm going to keep the price that I gave you. That's a good guy. He kept his word, even when it hurt a bit. But then there was another trade. They gave me a price. They gave me a bid. And when they were all done, I can remember this like it was yesterday, they gave me their bill, and it was a lot higher, a lot higher than their, and I questioned about it. That probably wouldn't surprise you. I did question them about that. And they said, well, it took more material than we realized. Even though they had come through and measured it all up ahead of time, that's how they arrived at the price they gave me, which is why I selected them over somebody else to do the work. And again, the surprising aspect was the cavalier attitude about just a lack of willingness of keeping one's word. And in this case, they were actually Christians. But keeping a promise, even when it was hard, That seemed like a foreign concept to them. Now, I think we probably all have stories like that on either side of that equation, people who keep their commitments and people who don't. Now, do you mind if I ask you a question this morning? And if you're new around here, you probably just need to know the answer to that is, no, please go right ahead and ask me. That's the appropriate answer to that, because it's coming. Which one are you? When it comes to people who either keep their word, that they keep their commitments, or that they don't, I'm just asking you this morning, which one are you? Even on those occasions where keeping your word is going to be harder than you thought. Now, here's a different question. In which category is our Lord? We are saying about promises. So I'm asking you, do you believe God is a God who keeps his promises, or is he a God who doesn't? One more question. What does any of this have to do with marriage? With that in mind, open your Bible, if you would, to Ephesians chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. That's on page 1172 of the Bible under the chair in front of you if you need one of those this morning. So Ephesians chapter 5 or page 1172 of the Bible under the chair in front of you. Our theme this year is building on our heritage. And we're celebrating our 60th anniversary together. We're having a great time. I've really enjoyed this year. I hope you have too. And we still have several very exciting opportunities to think about our anniversary yet this year, Lord willing. Well, our core study all year long has been a verse-by-verse exposition of the book of Ephesians. And so now we're at the end of chapter 5 and the beginning of chapter 6, where Paul gives very specific and very practical teaching about the Christian family. And so we've titled this section, Strengthening Unity in All of These Relationships. I think it's very providential that we're at this particular point in light of our annual theme, in light of our 60th anniversary, because biblical principles about the family have been a crucial aspect of our church's emphasis throughout all of our 60 years. And, you know, given the trajectory of our culture, what God's Word says about the family, it sounds like a foreign language to so many people. In fact, much of what I'm about to read to you from the Word of God about marriage and the family would be strongly criticized by men and women in our world today. And that puts you, it puts me, it puts all of us in an interesting position. What are we going to do about that? What are you going to do about that as an individual? And what are we supposed to do about that as a church? And I hope we'll continue to study and obey the Word of God regardless of what our world happens to think about it. See, that's the way. When we talk about building on our heritage, that's the way we intend to continue to build on our heritage is with fidelity to the inspired Word of God. Now, if you know these verses, you know that at one point Paul specifically quotes from Genesis chapter 2. That's the first mention of marriage in the Bible. And we're going to zero in on that this morning because there's where we find that God's emphasis is marriage is a covenant, which is a theological concept that is central to the way God chooses to relate to people. He's a covenant-making God. And maybe more importantly, he's a covenant-keeping God. And when it comes to our marriages, he wants us to do exactly the same thing. He wants us to be the kind of people, lifelong, who keep our word. So we're talking this morning about the meaning and the purpose of the marriage covenant. Let me read beginning in Ephesians 5, verse 21. and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Wives, be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, he himself being the Savior of the body. But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word that he might present to himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she would be holy and blameless. So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves his own wife loves himself, for no one ever hated his own flesh, for he nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church, for he remembers of his body for this reason. Now, here's the verses from Genesis. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, that's part of the covenant, and shall be joined to his wife, so is that, and the two shall be one flesh. Paul says this mystery is great, but I'm speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Nevertheless, each individual among you is to love his own wife, even as himself. And the wife must see to it that she respects her husband. Now, as I said, all that's so very, very important. So at some point, either messages that we've given or ones that are going to be given in the next weeks, we're going to zero in on each one of those concepts because they're all so very, very crucial. This morning, we're really lasering in on verses 30 and 31. And we're looking for three actions we must take to fulfill our marriage covenant and purpose. Now, let me just say a word to the many who are here, and you say, well, I'm not married. I'm not married, so what does this have for me? It's a fair question. Well, for one thing, what we're talking about regarding a person who keeps your word, that's applicable in all sorts of areas of life, right? This week, you're going to have opportunities to either be a person who keeps your word or who doesn't in all sorts of ways. Is that right? That would be a good time for a yes. That's really, really right. So even if you're not married, it's helpful for you to be reminded about how God wants us to be people who keep our word. And also this, how he enables us. This isn't just moralism here. So how is it that the gospel allows us to be the kind of people who keep our word? There's also this. Even if you're not married today, that doesn't mean you're not going to be married ever. You understand that? And what that means is you might want to listen up to all that the Word of God has to say about marriage, just in case God ever wants to put you in that position. And this particular issue right here is crucial, because if you're in a situation where you're moving toward marriage, one of the questions is, well, what kind of a relationship are you planning to have regarding the permanence of the covenant? Are you the kind of person who intends to make a promise when you're married? And are you the kind of person who, with the help of God, intends to keep that promise? And you also, if you're dating, you might want to get around to asking the person you're dating that question. You know, we've been dating for a period of time, and every so often we talk about the marriage word. Let's just talk about your definition of that regarding the matter of permanence. When you make promises, if that's where this is heading, are you the kind of person who keeps promises even when it's hard? Are you committed to that? And if the answer is no, well, It'd probably be best to find somebody else to marry. So these principles are very, very important in all sorts of ways. So three actions that we must take to fulfill our marriage covenant and purpose. First of all, understand your covenant establishes a brand new family unit. You know, you just have to back up when you think about this through the lens of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2, what Adam would have thought about all this information, and eventually what Adam and Eve would have thought about all this information. And we have what we have laid out for us in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. We don't know exactly how this was taught to Adam and Eve. We don't exactly know when. We don't exactly know where. We don't exactly know in what order. Right? We just know it came to them. Probably this is what God was talking with them about when they were walking in the garden in the cool of the day. God is giving them instructions about marriage. He's giving them instructions about children. But you just have to imagine their eyes. I mean, wide as… What is that? What? What? What? What? What? What? Like they're uniquely made in the image and likeness of God. Their lives are to reflect His character and His—think about the holy God that we sang about this morning in awe and reverence of Him. Adam and Eve being told, you were made in my likeness, and you can actually live in a way that reflects my glory. And then the stunning acknowledgement that it hadn't been good for man to be alone. Up to that moment, something was lacking in what God had made thus far. It wasn't good. It's not good that man would be alone. And then what do we have next? We have the parade of the animals. I've always thought that was very unusual. Why, if you're going to say to Adam, it's not good that man would be alone, then why are we taking a trip to the zoo? What is all of this naming the animals and looking at all the kitties? What is all of that? And maybe it was to help Adam understand that this aloneness problem, it's not good that man would be alone. This aloneness problem can't be solved just by anything. He needed a partner. He needed someone like him who he could establish a family with and the command then to multiply and fill the earth could be obeyed. And that relationship was so central to God's plan that it would actually be sealed by a covenant. Now, as I said a minute ago, God's covenants are a key theme in Scripture, just to help us understand what is our God like? And therefore, why can we and should we have security in our relationship with Him? So think about, what does the Bible teach us about this matter of a covenant? Well, after the flood in Genesis chapter 9. Do you remember what God did? After the flood, God made a covenant. Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying, Now behold, I myself do establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you and with every living creature that's with you, the birds, the cattle, every beast of the earth with you, all that comes out of the ark, even every beast of the earth, I establish my covenant with you. and all flesh shall never again be cut off by the water of the flood, neither shall there again be a flood to destroy the earth." God said, this is a sign of the covenant which I'm making between me and you and every living creature that is with you for all successive generations. I set my bow in the cloud. If you were paying attention last night, there was actually one last night. There was a rainbow last night. I set my bow in the cloud and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between me and the earth. shall come about when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow will be seen in the cloud, and I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. Never again shall the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. Every time we see a rainbow, we can be reminded of that. God makes promises, and God keeps those promises. A few chapters later, after the terrible story of the Tower of Babel, God comes to a childless man named Abram. And what does he do? He makes a covenant. One of the most pivotal chapters in all the Word of God is Genesis chapter 12, where God comes to Abram and he says, I'll make you a great nation. He had no children. I'm going to make you a great nation. And that, just think about, if you're in a situation right now where God has made a promise to you in his Word, and you look at your situation and say, there's absolutely no way. Don't ever say that about God. I'll make you a great nation. I'll bless you. I'll make your name great, and so you shall be a blessing. I'll bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I'll curse, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed." Think about how outlandish that must have sounded. Maybe, by the way, about as outlandish as the words I read earlier from Ephesians chapter 5 and the role of the wife and the role of the husband. Think about how outlandish this promise would have sounded to Abraham. So what did Abraham have to do? What was his role in that covenant? And we read about it a couple of chapters later. And he took him outside, God did. And he said, Now look toward the heavens and count the stars. Can you imagine that? Count the stars if you're able to count them. And he said to him, So shall your descendants be. And here's what Abram did. Abram believed in the Lord and he reckoned it to him as righteousness. What does that tell us? That tells us every person has to decide if he or she is going to believe and act on the covenant promises of God. And by the way, what we're studying from the book of Ephesians and what we're studying about the Christian family, that does assume that there's been a definite time in your life where you admitted your sin and you placed your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. And if you've not yet done that, we would love to talk to you about what that means. What does it mean to have a personal relationship with God? And one of the delightful aspects of being in a personal relationship with God is that that's a covenant. That's a covenant that He seals. We remind ourselves of that every time we take the Lord's table. That's why, by the way, I would encourage you to be with us at church family night. When we observe the Lord's table together, what is it that Jesus said? He held up the cup and He said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. It's a promise. It's a seal, sealed in this case by the Holy Spirit of God. And then Jesus said, do this in remembrance of me. And if you're not sure that you're in that kind of a covenant relationship with God through trusting in the shed blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, we would love to talk with you about it because that's what empowers us to be people who keep our word even when it's hard. Now, do you remember what happened next? Right after Abram believed in the Lord, God, if you say it, I don't even have a child, but if you say I'm going to be a great nation, I'm on it. I am on that. You remember what happened next? It's fascinating. You have to picture this in your mind occurring. Here it is. And he said to him, I'm the Lord who brought you up out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess it. He said, O Lord God, how may I know that I'll possess it? He said to him, bring me a three-year-old heifer, and a three-year-old female goat, and a three-year-old ram, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. Then he brought all these to him, and he cut them in two. What? Cut him in two. And he laid each half opposite the other, but he did not cut the birds. The birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. It's fascinating just the details God gives us in his word. Now, now, picture this. When the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him. God said to Abram, no for certain, that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they'll be enslaved and oppressed 400 years. I'll also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they'll come out with many possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace, you'll be buried at a good old age, then in the fourth generation they'll return here. For the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete." It's almost like this God knows the future. If you're going to believe somebody, you want somebody like that. It came about, now here it is. It came about when the sun had set that it was very dark and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between the pieces. On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram saying, to your descendants, I have given this land from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates. Now, what was all of that? Are you picturing it? They cut up animals. They laid the animals out this half here, this half here. Abram falls into a deep sleep and God walks in between the animals. You say, that's a little strange. That would not have been strange in that day. Abram knew exactly what that was because when two people were going to make an agreement or a covenant, historians tell us, they would often do exactly the same thing. They would cut animals in two and then walk side by side in between the halves of the animals. And the imagery seems to be this. If either one of us breaks this covenant, the same thing that happened to these animals is going to happen to us. In other words, don't be making promises unless what? unless you fully intend to keep them. In fact, you know what? You might want to do that the next time you have a contractor over to your house. The contractor says, hey, I'll be back Friday morning at 9 a.m. to do this work. Just find a few animals. This would be a great time for a cat joke, but I'm not going to make it. But anyway, if I find a few random animals, don't be sending me emails about that. I fully am aware that some people in this church like their cats a whole lot more than they like me, okay? I don't need any more reminder. And don't send me pictures either. People are forever texting me pictures of their cats. I don't But anyway, imagine this covenant, or this contractor, say, we're going to walk through these animals together, and if you're not here Friday morning at 9 a.m., what happened to that animal is going to happen to you. That contractor's likely to say, you know, I wasn't that serious about the promise that I was making. Now, by the way, this is just a little aside, but I want to be sure I've said it since we're in the neighborhood. The fact that God had Abram sleep, that's what was different. In a typical covenant, both parties would walk together side by side. The fact that God had Abram go to sleep and he walked through by himself tells us some covenants are irrevocable. That's a totally different issue, but while we're in the neighborhood, I just wanted you to see that. But for our purposes this morning, this is the same kind of language that God uses when he's discussing marriage. It's a covenant. Now, what are the stipulations? Because every covenant always would have stipulations, and we have stipulations found both in Genesis and also repeated in Ephesians 5. What are they? Well, one of them is leaving. God says, for this reason shall a man leave his father and mother. That is an incredibly strong word. It literally means cut off. It literally means dessert. And if that was the only word that we had in the Bible about marriage, what we would assume is God is saying when a person is married, they leave parents and they never come back. That relationship is entirely severed. Now, that's why it's so important, by the way, to interpret the Bible in light of the Bible. So whatever we're going to make a seemingly obscure passage mean, it has to be able to bear the weight of the rest of the Scripture. And we know that the Bible talks about the role of grandparents in a family's life, in a child's life. So this word leave, it can't mean leave entirely and never come back. But it does mean this, this covenant you're making, we're talking about prioritizing one's spouse above either side's parents. And that can be very, very challenging in all sorts of ways. Those apron strings that are supposed to be cut, those apron strings can be incredibly stretchy. But for a man or a woman struggling to do that in a given situation, what do they need to tell themselves? You promised. You promised to do that, and now it's time to keep your word. Another covenant stipulation is the beautiful notion of cleaving together as husband and wife. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife. Again, another powerful word in the Bible, even used to describe our relationship with the Lord. Like in Deuteronomy 10, you shall fear the Lord your God, you shall serve him and what? and cling to him. That's part of the way God has designed Christian marriage, to leave father and mother and to cleave to one's wife. And then over time, weaving your lives together, the two shall become one flesh. I mentioned that these kind of principles have been taught here for decades and decades and decades. That's a very important part of the heritage that we're seeking to build on as a church. Our former pastor was named Bill Goode. Pastor Goode became the senior pastor of this church 49 years ago, which is pretty amazing when you think about a church that's 60 years old. We've only had two senior pastors in 49 years. which tells you a lot, I think, about the patience of this church family. But anyway, Pastor Goode became the senior pastor here 49 years ago. And Pastor Rob Green was looking at some old notes from Pastor Goode on this particular topic and came across this illustration. And I want to give you the illustration. I can hear Pastor Goode giving it. But I want to give it to you in his words, in part just to thank the Lord that God's Word has been taught for decades and decades and decades. Here's what he said, some things that have been joined together a long time are really difficult to get apart. In fact, have you ever stripped a screw trying to get it out? Have you ever broke a bolt? Then he said, in college I had to do an exhaust repair on my vehicle. I was going to replace all the piping from the catalytic converter to the tailpipe. I bought the parts. The job was not overly complicated. I had to loosen about 10 bolts, take the pipes apart, install the new ones, and re-bolt it back together. No problem, right? except one bolt broke. He said, I didn't have appropriate tools, so the solution was to take a hacksaw and cut the bolt under the car where I could only move the blade an inch or two at a time. Anybody ever been in that situation? Then Pastor Gooden, he was from the south, so he had a southern accent. He used to call that pure English, and he swore that's what we would all speak in heaven, in case you're wondering about that. But I can hear him say this next thing. He said, "'I was trying to live for Jesus, but I may have said a few choice words during that time, because what should have taken an hour or so would have, had the bolt not broke, took much longer.' Then he said this, "'Isn't that a picture of marriage, where through time and trial we become one, so that attempting to separate us breaks it, breaks us?' I'm thankful for a church family who, for decades, wants to hear and wants to, in the power of Jesus Christ, try to apply the very principles that we're talking about. Now, let's think about what does that look like practically. We need a little diagram. You ready for a diagram? This is the best I got. So you see who that is right there, right? That's a husband and wife. Do I need to point out the difference? That's a man and a woman right there, a husband and a wife. Then we could also layer on parents and just the various relationships that are there. And by the way, we could draw all sorts of lines because you could talk about the man's relationship to his dad, the man's relationship to his father-in-law. You could draw lines all over that. It starts getting complicated. And because you may be in a situation where one or more of your parents are divorced, there could actually be more of you. That's why it's so important to understand what God's Word says, because this can become very, very complicated very, very quickly. And so there's constantly the question of how does husband and wife relate properly to their parents and their in-laws? then God may provide these little darlings, little children. And so now we have all sorts of additional relationships. And you could draw lines all over the page. A mom's relationship to the kids, dad's relationship to the grandparent. You could draw them all over the page. It can get very, very complicated. We're suggesting that these covenant stipulations in both Genesis 2 and Ephesians 5 can provide incredibly important guidance in cutting through the complication. And we like to think about this using the words temporary, permanent, and temporary. And what we're saying is that a husband and wife have to prioritize, they have the privilege of prioritizing their relationship with each other And the idea is you're not going to let anything in your relationship with parents or anything in your relationship with your kids drive a wedge between the relationship of the husband and the wife. Why? Because humanly speaking, that's the permanent relationship. Why so? Your relationship with your parents is temporary in the sense that you're going to leave home. and it's highly likely that they're going to pass away before you. That is a temporary relationship. And it's very, very unwise for a married couple to let things in their relationship with parents or in-laws drive a wedge between husband and wife. The exact same thing is true with your kids. You're raising your kids to leave home. That's the point. You love your kids. You're gonna love them all of your days, but you're raising them to leave home. That's a temporary relationship. And so that's what Jesus calls upon us to do. That's what Jesus empowers us to do. And it is amazing. It's amazing the practical applications that flow out of that principle. So for example, I'll just give you some. I think young couples ought to be very careful about being financially dependent on their parents, especially if there are any kind of strings attached. Because if you have a financial relationship with parents after you're married that includes money, That means that if there's some other sort of problem that needs to be addressed, some other sort of problem that needs to be solved, maybe the married couple is going to be reluctant to deal with that issue biblically because of the money issue. What just happened? They didn't leave home. They didn't keep their covenant commitments. Or if a married couple, let's just take the husband. If he cares more about what his dad says than what his wife says, He just made a very serious mistake. If he prioritizes what parents think more than what spouse thinks either way around, do you see what's happened? They're allowing that to impact the issue of weaving their lives together. They're allowing that to impact the ability to cleave to one another. You have to establish an independent relationship from your parents. If God ever gives you children, God bless them. They're a wonderful, wonderful delight. But kids have a way of trying to weasel in between mom and dad. They have a way of trying to divide mom and dad. And parents have to be very, very careful to prioritize the relationship of husband and wife and not let anything that's going on in their relationship with their kids drive a wedge between them and their parents. And if you would say, man, you're starting to frighten the fire out of me. This sounds like it's harder than it is on the Hallmark movies. Well, listen, listen, it is hard. We live in a sin-cursed world, and it's not like, well, you're going to find your soulmate, and it's all going to be easy, and you're never going to have any differences. You're never going to have any challenges. That's not true. But remember this, if Jesus Christ has chosen to be in a covenant relationship with you, sealed by His blood, You're not handling these problems alone. You're not facing these challenges by yourself. You have the resources of heaven to help you keep the covenant that you made. Now, let's move forward. You're keeping this covenant for life. In fact, I think it's amazing and instructive that God even uses this terminology to describe the marriage of people who don't know him. Proverbs 2 says this, to deliver you from the strange woman, from the adulteress who flatters with her words, that leaves the companion of her youth and forgets, listen to this, this is an unbelieving woman that forgets the covenant of her God. Even an apparently unbelieving person's marriage is considered not just a covenant with man, but the covenant of her God. That may be why Malachi uses such strong words about divorce. Malachi 2, this is another thing you do. You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. Yet you say, why? For what reason? Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously. Though she is your companion and your wife by covenant, but not one has done so who has a remnant of the Spirit." And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit. Let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. And then God says, for I hate divorce. And I would just ask you this morning, if you're married, how serious are you about keeping your words? You remember what you said? It was something like this, for better or for worse. For richer, or for poor, in sickness and in health, till death do you part? Were you serious about the covenant that you made? And a single person who might be married someday, don't you go to that service. And don't you sin against the person that you're going to marry if you're not serious about being the kind of person who's going to keep your word. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part. And you say, how do we do it while we follow the Word of God? These words about marriage in Ephesians, they're not given in a vacuum. There's all sorts of great truth that can help us build marriages that are going to honor the Lord and be a great delight to us. But there'll be days, there'll be days when you don't want to keep your word, and that's when it's important to remember that God says this is a covenant. Psalm 15, 1, a Lord who may abide in your tent, who may dwell on your holy hill. That's a good question. He says, He who walks with integrity and works righteousness and speaks truth in his heart, and listen to this next part, but who honors those who fear the Lord, he swears to what? To his own hurt and he does not change. That's what our septic guy did all those years. He promised a particular price, then he got into it and he realized it was going to cost more and he was going to make less. And what did he do? He kept his promise. He swore to his own hurt. I know an elderly woman who had been married to a pastor, and they served in very, very small churches. They never had much money. That was fine. She walked by her husband's side all of his days, and then that husband passed away. And eventually, she started dating a man who, frankly, had a lot more money. And so they started planning trips and all sorts of things they could do. After they were married, they got married, and not long after the wedding, he developed a kidney disorder. And he had to be on dialysis treatment at home that she had to now administer to him every day. And his health very quickly deteriorated till they were unable to travel. And I knew her during those days. And humanly speaking, it was very, very hard. But here's what her attitude was. Just like to my first husband, I made a promise. For better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part." And she did her best to follow God's instructions in that marriage, even though it was difficult, because she wanted to keep the covenant that she made by remembering God's general view of divorce. We can't get around what Scripture says. God hates it. Even in the rare cases where it is allowed in Scripture, and I want to be sure that I've said this, I do realize we have a number of people in our church who have been through a divorce or maybe multiple divorces. I am certainly not here this morning to rub that in anybody's face. I want to grieve with those who grieve for sure. But I'll tell you, some of the people who would give the strongest amen to what I'm talking about this morning are people who have gone through a divorce. And God can forgive anything, God can sustain anything, God can replace the years that the locusts have eaten, but God's word is God's word. There's a lot at stake here, including the privilege to reflect Christ's relationship to the church through your marriage. See, this mystery is great, Paul said, but I'm speaking with relationship, with reference to Christ and the church. And I'll tell you it's true. When people choose to allow God to give them the power to keep their promises, it can be a marvelous proclamation of the gospel. And I realize somebody here might say, well, my spouse isn't a Christian, or they're not interested in the things of God. That does not diminish the impact that your willingness to keep the covenant, even when it's hard, can have on others. Paul said it like this, for the unbelieving husband, in a situation where he's pleased to dwell with his wife, an unbelieving husband is sanctified through his wife. The unbelieving wife is sanctified through her believing husband, for otherwise your children are unclean, but now they're holy. I grew up in a home where my mother was a Christian and my father was not. And one thing that I'm eternally grateful for is that my mother chose to be a godly wife all of the days of my dad's life, even though it was hard. And that had an incredibly powerful apologetic impact on me. And it had an incredibly powerful impact on many other people that just watched the way God allowed my mother to live as a person who was willing to keep her word. It will bring glory to Jesus Christ. You know, over the years as a pastor, I've had a number of occasions to be with people whose spouse was dying. And generally speaking, it's been with a wife whose husband is dying. And each one of those situations is different, but I've had several occasions in my ministry where during those moments together, I was able to talk with the wife about her wedding. sometimes 50 or 60 years ago, talk to the wife about the vows that she had made, and then just to say to her, thank you. Thank you for the testimony you've been to all of us. Thank you for allowing the Lord to help you keep your promises. You said it all those years ago, for better, for worse. for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do you part. You promised it. And by God's grace, you kept the promise. Let's pray together, shall we? Father in heaven, thank you, Lord, for your word. And Lord, I do thank you for the solemnity of the marriage covenant, along with everything else about it that's good. And Lord, I pray for all of us that we would be the kind of people who would We'd keep our word, and we would ask you to give us the power to do so. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.