Well, thank you, Terry. And yep, we are celebrating 29 years. I cannot believe that we have been married. Where is Bonnie? Is she back there somewhere? I don't see her in there. She's probably tired of me now. But 29 years. This Saturday, coming up this Saturday, we will have been married. And we just praise the Lord for that. And looking forward to more years together. God's been very, very good to us. Well, I'm glad that you're all here tonight. And it looks like the Spring break bug got lots and lots and lots of people over the last weekend and tonight as well. They're about 50% down in Awanas over there they said so I'm sure everybody's out and about doing their thing and I'm sure well they should with the winter that we've had and the and the ferocity of the winter since January. We've really been having a very unusual winter, and I'm sure everybody's having a good time on their spring break. I want you to take your Bibles, and we really just sort of peekabooed at this passage of Scripture last week just to get going on it in 1 Corinthians chapter 7. And I want you to put your spiritual tennis shoes on with me tonight, because I do want to get finished with it. 1 Corinthians chapter 7, and we'll move into chapter 8 next week. But there is something interesting and curious I want you to see just in chapter 7 and chapter 8 that lets you know the kind of passage of Scripture that you're looking at. Remember I told you that he was writing them and answering some questions beginning in chapter 7. Chapters 1 to 6 were things he wanted to talk about. Chapter 7 through the end of the book are things they wanted to talk about. They had questions for him. He had instructions for them. And we talked about it last week. The first four chapters talked about divisions in the church and they were divided over all kinds of things. And then chapters 5 and 6, he had to take time for a little discipline in the church. straighten out some matters that were pressing, and it was understandable because of the place they were. They were in Corinth. It was a wicked city, a wicked place, with all kinds of deviancies of behavior going on, and it was creeping into the church, and the church people were having a hard time making a clean break with the world that they were Coming out of and so chapters 5 and 6 he talked about discipline in the church in chapter 7 He starts talking about the things that they want to talk about answering the questions And it's interesting how it how it says that look at chapter 7 verse 1 It says now concerning the things of which you wrote to me and then he goes on to talk about and it says down in verse 10 now to the married I command and because they had asked different questions concerning this subject. Look over chapter 7, verse 25. Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord. See that? Now concerning. The idea is you've written, you've asked these questions. Look over chapter 8, verse 1. Now concerning things offered to idols. He's hitting all of these. They had all kinds of questions. And it was the right thing for them to ask the questions of the apostle because he was the one sent. He was the one that had some authority at that time. And what he is going to write to them in these two books that are recorded in 1st and 2nd Corinthians is the inspired word of God. And that's going to be a very, very important phrase. It is the inspired word of God. Because you're going to come to some phrases in chapters 7 and 8 that seem to say that Paul is giving you his opinion instead of actually giving you the Word of God. Well, I have news for you. If it found its way into the Word of God and if we have it recorded in what we call the canon of Scripture, it is the inspired Word of God. It's very important for us to understand that. There is an explanation for the language that he used, and we're going to look at that. I want to repeat, go back and let you fill in some of those blanks. If you weren't here last week and you weren't in the class, I don't want you to go home with empty blanks. So on your sheet there, just very quickly, you have some things that you want to fill in there. It says, what does the Bible say about marriage? And by the way, that's what chapter 7 and 7 is largely about, is about marriage and remarriage. whether they should get married or whether they should stay married and all those kind of subjects. And so the first thing we talked about last week as we just sort of introduced this is that what does the Bible say about marriage in the first place? And first of all, marriage, if you write this down just very quickly for those that are just catching up from last week, first of all, marriage is for procreation, Genesis 128. said to them, let them be fruitful and multiply. The same thing was told to Noah and his wife and their children when they came out of the ark, let them be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth. And so that marriage is for procreation. The second reason for marriage, we elaborated on these last week. I'm only going to mention them this week. Marriage is also for pleasure. Proverbs chapter 5 verse 18 and 19. There were Many well-meaning, puritanical, pilgrim-like people that had it in their mind that that marriage and the intimacy of marriage had one reason and one reason alone, and that was procreation. The Bible is very clear that that's not so, Proverbs 5, 18 and 19, the whole book of Ecclesiastes. As well, if you want to get serious about it and ask yourself some questions, even Sarah at 90 years old asked the question, shall I and my husband, shall I and Abraham have pleasure even at this age? When she laughed at the promise of God, she considered it even at that age. to be something that was of pleasure. So marriage is for procreation. Marriage is for pleasure. There's something else. Marriage is a partnership. Genesis 2.18 They were co-regents. They were partners. And God put them in the world and gave them a co-regency to rule over His creation. Now, make no mistake about it. God made man and gave man a job. And after He made man and gave him a job to do, He gave him a woman to help him do it. That was not part of the curse. There's a lot of people who are likely to think that the woman serving the man, helping the man, that was part of the curse. No ma'am. No sir. It was before the curse. Before the fall, God made a man. And he gave him a job, and after God made the man, he gave him a job, and he couldn't do it very well alone, and so he gave him a woman to help him finish that job. And by the way, there's some of the best marriage advice that you'll ever get right there in those verses of scriptures. Most of you are either already married or you have kids who are going to be growing up and they're going to come along and say they want to get married. Well, there's a real simple formula for that. There ought to be, first of all, a fella, if he wants to come and marry somebody's daughter, first thing is he ought to be a real man. He ought not just think he's a man. You know, he ought to be a man. And he ought to have a job. God did it that way. He made a man, he gave the man a job, then he gave the man a wife. Notice that order there. He made a man, then after he made a man, he gave him a job, then after he gave him a job, he gave him a wife. So if it doesn't come in that order, if a guy thinks he's going to get the wife before he gets the job, he's got another thing coming. He ought to just think twice. It just doesn't work that way. These young people today say, well, we're just going to live on love. That'll last about a week. It's just, it just doesn't work that way. God made a man and he put him in the garden. He said, here's what I want you to do. And you get started doing it. And then he let men know that it was not good for him to be alone. And he brought a woman to him. And I won't belabor that point, except that marriage is a partnership. The next thing, marriage is a picture. of the church. Ephesians 5, 23-32. It is a beautiful picture of the church. A lot of folks take marriage lightly. They men today, women today, whether they're believers or unbelievers, it doesn't make any difference. The institution of marriage had something. God had something in mind. It was supposed to be a picture of the love that Jesus Christ has for his church and that he loves his church so much that he gave himself for it. He suffered. He self-sacrificed. He did what he had to do to purchase the church. And marriage is supposed to be a picture. It's supposed to be the most living, beautiful picture of the relationship of Jesus and His church. And when a marriage has a very low commitment and a very short continuance, it certainly is not a very good picture of what the Lord intended it to be. It's a picture. And then the next one, marriage is for Purity 7 2 says nevertheless because of sexual immorality let each man have his own wife and let each woman have her own Husband we talked about the rampant rampant sexual perversions and and sexual deviancies that were going on there not the least of which was wife-swapping and just just just getting a divorce anytime you want to and so it was very important that they that they obeyed the scriptures. The society they were living in was tolerant. It was characterized by fornication, adultery, homosexuality, pedophilia, polygamy, cohabitation, and they even practiced keeping concubines during those days. It was certainly a dark place, and the best thing to do in a dark place is turn on the light, and that's what our Heavenly Father did when He decided to send His servant Paul to that city and preach the gospel as He turned on the light. in a very, very dark place. And so we look at those things. So the first question that they actually asked him was, should we marry or should we not marry? Well, he answered the question chapter seven, verse one concerning the things of which you wrote to me. It is good for a man not to touch a woman. And we talked about that for a little bit. It's far more, and we could go to the Old Testament, look at many verses. The touching there is more than just, you know, walking over and just, you know, touching one on the shoulder or something like that. Say, see there, I touched it, nothing happened. You know, nothing went on. And no, the word touch there, if we go back and we look at several passages in the Old Testament, some in the New, we find out we're talking about having intimacy with. And Paul says it's good, but it's probably not possible. It would be a good thing, but it's probably not the best thing. And why would he even comment that it would be a good thing? Because of the horrible relationships that were going on in Corinth, because of the horrible track record that marriage had and that relationships between men and women were, some of them had come up with the idea, the best thing for us to do is just not ever get married. Well, even Jesus' disciples came up with that very same idea back there in Matthew 19, 10 through 12. Jesus had to address His disciples about that. And they had, because Jesus had said that if a man divorces his wife for any reason other than for adultery, then he is, if he does it for that reason, then he's causing her to commit adultery and he's committing adultery. In other words, they had several levels of society and they would divorce over anything. Some would not divorce over it for any reason. Some would divorce for any reason. And there were two schools of thought. One was very liberal. One was very conservative. Both were wrong. And they were playing games with marriage. And so the disciples, when Jesus said that if a man or a woman divorces for any other reason except for adultery, they have committed a great sin and they're going to cause their partner, if they remarry, to commit adultery. And so the disciples said, well, if that's the case, then it would be far better for no one to ever get married. So even His disciples were coming up. This was way before they ever showed up in Corinth. This was before Paul ever went there. They had already made up their mind, wow, if it's that tough, if it's going to be that difficult, then nobody should ever get married. And Jesus answered and said there, He said to them, if such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry. That's what the disciples said. All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother's womb, there are eunuchs who were made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. who was able to accept it, let him accept it. And so the whole idea of should we get married or what the question was, what about celibacy? Should, is celibacy something that should be strived for as Christians? The first thing that we can say, we said it last week, celibacy can be good. It can be a good thing. The next thing is celibacy is certainly a gift. I just read you in that passage of scripture that God gave that as a gift to certain people. I even mentioned Carmen Suarez, our missionary now who is in India, and the very fact that from very young she felt like when she first came to know the Lord that something special was going to be out there for her. She didn't think that she ought to get married and she didn't. The last thing we said about it last week is that celibacy should never be coerced. It should never be coerced or put up as some sort of super spiritual thing that's more spiritual than anyone else. 1 Timothy 4, 1-3, Paul addressed this subject and he said that there were going to be seductive and seducing spirits and demon spirits and deceiving spirits that are going to speak doctrines of demons. And one of the doctrines of demons is that they are going to forbid people to marry, forbid them to marry or put it on a more spiritual plane to not get married. He called it the doctrine There's something else he said about it, and we need to look at verse 2. It says, Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, let each woman have her own husband. Celibacy, the next thing you want to write down, is celibacy is not superior. It is not superior. You see, God said very clearly to Adam, it is not good that man should be, what? I mean, that was the very first thing that he said. It's not a good idea that man should be alone. I want to say that in the general sense, in most cases, and I'm not going to put a percentage on it, but in far more than not, it is far better for people to be married. And what the big point here is, is that some of these folks in this church at Corinth had put themselves on a higher spiritual plane saying, We've given that completely up. We're not going to have anything to do with it. After all, it's just a rotten thing. And look at what's happening in marriage all around us today. And so, celibacy is not superior. I will say that intimacy outside of marriage is forbidden. You can see it there on the Scripture. You see, that was part of the problem as well. They were saying they just wouldn't ever get married. They were not taking a vow of never practicing any kind of sexual contact. And there's a lot of people that think that's the thing to do today is just, you know, just live together. Just don't ever make any kind of public proclamation or any declaration or don't come out and make any kind of covenant or promise or pact. Don't make any promises you can't keep. Well, Paul goes on to say intimacy outside of marriage is forbidden. Intimacy inside of marriage is fulfilling. And we see that in this verse two and intimacy inside of marriage shows ownership. It's about where we left off last week. And so I want to pick up there and we'll go through this a little more slowly. Now, as we move forward in verse number three, that the husband rendered to his wife affection, do her likewise, also the wife to her husband intimacy inside of marriage. Verse number 3 is expected. And there's two words I want you to understand. Look at the word there. It says, "...let the husband render to his wife the affection due her, and likewise also the wife to her husband." Or the word, due. Back up there in verse number 2, I want you to see the word, "...let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband." Affection is due. It is something that is due by one member of the marriage relationship to the other. And we're talking about all kinds of things, not just the physical aspect of marriage, but the affection that is due. I've talked on many occasions of things that are very important in the relationship, one of which, men, this needs to be beat into our heads. I say our, collectively, because I forget just as much as you do. Romance is a very, very, very, very big part of the relationship between husband and wife. And I see men all over this room right now that if I was to get up and say, I want you to tell me the last romantic thing you did for your wife in the last month or the last year or the last five years, some of the guys would have a really, really hard time doing that. Well, the truth is that is something that makes our families, our relationships really tick and really make them go well. And I'm the same kind of guy. I need a two-by-four upside the head about once a week just to say, okay, when's the last time you did anything that really spoke to your wife in the sense of something romantic and not sexual? There's a difference. Romance and sexuality are not the same thing, and it's very important for us to know that. But in this verse, he said, "...let the husband render to his wife the affection due her all kinds, and likewise also the wife to her husband." The affection is exclusive. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his body, but the wife does. There is an exclusivity to this whole thing. A man or a woman, this is very, very, very important for us to understand today. I said this last week just in passing. I'll stop and emphasize this more. A man or a woman is not to use intimacy in the marriage as a tool of manipulation. There is not anything that is more wicked because we're not understanding something here when it says that our body is not our own, that the woman has the power over the man's body and the man has the power over the woman's body. It is speaking very specifically here what's going on. If there's not a physical reason or not a spiritual reason, withholding yourself from your marriage partner is simply wrong and it can lead to the situation of verse number two. Look at verse number two again. Because of sexual immorality, let every man have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband and let them give their due affection. It is very, very important. Mothers and fathers who have young people that are going to get married, somebody needs to teach them. Somebody needs to teach them and it doesn't need to be street language. Somebody needs to teach them what God has to say about the relationships in marriage. And I'm not talking about becoming gross or any of those kinds of things. I'm talking about the fact that when two people get married, the relationship and the bond that is put together there is far more than this little piece of paper that they sign. That's very important because it's a public proclamation of commitment. But far beyond that, when two people come together, there is an ownership that takes place there. I'll just pull over and say this. When men think that they can take their eyes and do something with them that would not please their wife, and they look at things that they should not look at, and in their heart commit adultery with somebody that's not their wife because of things they're looking at with their eyes. And women, when you can read a book and fantasize from a book, some harlequin romance book, and you can read that, and fulfill a fantasy in your own mind and get romance from a book that you're not getting from your husband, you are not obeying what the scripture says. And it would get real quiet, we stayed on this subject very long, but what I'm saying to you is that a wife's body belongs to her husband and a husband's body belongs to his wife exclusively. And that's what the Bible is teaching right here. And you see, this had to be understood because in Corinth, a tolerant society where nobody, nobody thought anything was wrong and where the people that would practice exclusivity in marriage and only cling to one woman or one man They were the weird ones, and we're rapidly coming to that place in the United States of America. That if you marry one woman, or if you marry one man, or if you are faithful and you are committed to that one person, then you are the weird person in the society. And I said this last week, and I want to stop and say this one more time. What is right before God Almighty in heaven and what is right according to the scriptures has absolutely nothing to do with what the cultural norms are in the place where you open the Bible and read it. You see, he is giving these instructions in the most wicked city in the history of the church. This has got to be one of the most despicable and wicked places on earth. He didn't cut him any slack. He didn't say, well, I know you're from Corinth and everything. And so we can't get you to really follow the hard line. So tell you what, if you don't have any more than 10 women, you're going to be okay. And if you gals can hold it down to six or eight guys, everything's going. He didn't do that. He didn't do that. He said, here's the plan. God put them together. One man, one woman, one lifetime. And that's exactly what he meant. And manipulation, intimate manipulation in marriage is wrong because we belong to the other person. Notice that withholding intimacy from your mate is deprivation. Look if you would now, verse 5. Do not deprive one another except for consent for a time that you may give yourself to fasting and prayer and come together again so that Satan does not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. There are physical reasons, sicknesses, there are problems from time to time that a person would be ridiculous to make demands of intimacy, but at other times, there are times of their spiritual reasons for fasting, for prayer, for them to take a part. I will mention, I think I mentioned it last week, that even when Israel was at Sinai receiving the law, the longest period of time that God ever directed them to stay away from their wives or stay away from their husbands was three days. That's interesting, isn't it? by demand. That's what it says. So what about Paul's comments now in verse 6 through 9? But I say this as a concession, not as a commandment. For I wish that all men were even as I myself, but each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that. But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion. Look back up to verse number two. It says, nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife and each woman have her own husband. That's the guiding principle. Verse number one and two there are the guiding principles to this whole passage. He introduces the subject and says, all right, here's what God would have you do. He would like there to be ownership in marriage, one man, one woman fulfilling their duty with exclusivity, and that's what he plans for. Now, then, if anybody becomes a widow or anybody is unmarried, he said, my suggestion, my thought, stay just like you are. So somebody would say, it says in verse number eight, but I say to the unmarried, to the widows, it is good for them. Let's look at verse number six. But I say this as a concession, not as a commandment. This is where we get into an interesting situation. That's the language I was talking about a little bit earlier, where somebody said, well, Paul's just giving his opinion. That's what Paul thinks. Well, if that's just what Paul thinks, then we have a problem with the inspiration of the Scripture, because the Bible says, Paul wrote this, Part 2, he says, all Scripture is given to the inspiration of God, and it's profitable. Remember that whole thing we talked about? St. Peter, Peter said the same thing. He said that we're not following cunningly devised fables that floated down out of heaven. No. It says we are following the inspired Word of God when holy men of old were moved along by the Holy Spirit when they spoke. What he is saying here is I'm speaking by concession, not by commandment. He's not going to be quoting the Lord Jesus. In some of these cases, he's going to quote what Jesus said. He's going to reference it. But I want you to know, let me ask you a question. Who is the author of the Bible? Let me ask you that question. Who wrote it? God did. And which member of the Trinity was responsible for the inspiration? The Holy Spirit. So Paul is writing under the inspiration of whom? So when we go through this and you come to this, well, I write this by concession. I write this not by command. That doesn't mean that it's not inspired. It's not what God wanted to say and that Paul just interjected something in there here, what really was his opinion. It's not like Pastor Phil who's preaching on Sunday morning and I've got an outline and I'm supposed to follow the outline, but I get chasing some rabbit and say, oh, by the way, and I say something stupid over here that really doesn't have anything to do with the sermon or tell a joke. That's not what Paul's not telling the joke. Paul is not just giving his opinion. He's not chasing a rabbit. He is writing down exactly what the Holy Spirit told him to write down. When he says, I write not my commandment, he's saying, I'm not writing what Jesus said, or what an Old Testament prophet said, or what one of the Old Testament writers of the law said. I'm telling you right here and right now, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, this is what God wants to say. So Paul's comment in 6 to 9, I wish everyone would be like me. Wouldn't the world be a better place if everybody was just like you? Wouldn't that be great if you could just get everybody to agree with you? Bonnie kids me about that all the time. We get into talking about something. I see it one way, she sees it another, and I just say, well, I know I'm right. And she said, well, wouldn't it be great if everybody was Phil Winfield? Now, how many of you, you partners that have been married for any degree of time, how many of you have had a similar talk before? Well, if somebody was just like you, you'd just be happy. Now, be honest with me. Raise your hand up. Well, we're all that way. Well, wouldn't it be great? He knows that things are heating up, and this is very important. You've got to understand what's happening here. I don't believe Paul was ignorant of the times. He's going to go on and talk about the time and the times in a little while. And what he's saying as he's doing that is he's letting them know that that things are going to get difficult. Nero is going to start a grand persecution and perhaps Jesus was going to come back. They were talking about this. And so he was saying, you know, times are going to be very tough for married people who are rearing children. And so the question is, should widows marry? And let's look at that now. If you look down here. But I say this as a concession, not a commandment. I wish that all men were even as I myself, but each one has his own gift from God. I say to the unmarried and to widows, there's the question right there, to unmarried and to widows, it is good for them if they remain even as I am. Now, just hold on a minute. That's not the final word, the last sentence, the final edict of the Apostle Paul. He has much more to say on the subject. So just hold that note until we get finished with this chapter before you start making up your mind about what you're going to advise your neighbor, your friend, your cousin, your uncle, or your mother. Just hold on a minute before you start getting ready to give out advice, all right? Let's go on a little bit further. Should widows marry? The answer seems to be not if they can help it, but if they can't, yes. Should unmarried people marry? Well, it'd be all right if they didn't, but if they do, they haven't done anything wrong. Well, what about that burning part? Does that mean they're going to go to hell? No, that's not what it's talking about. If they cannot exercise, verse 9, self-control, let them marry, for it's better to marry than to burn. Some of your translations leave it right there. I think the clarification, burn with passion. is very, very important. In other words, don't let it be the all-consuming thing of your life. Get married. And then you won't be having this problem in the flesh, is what he's saying. 1 Timothy 5.14, I told you that wasn't the last thing Paul was going to say. He says there, Therefore, I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully. So should singles marry? I hear this all the time. Should singles marry? It's almost as if, you know, sometimes we go back and forth all the time here at the church. Should we have a singles ministry? Should we not have a singles ministry? Should we have it? We should, we shouldn't. We should, we shouldn't. Well, we ought to get all the singles together and then sometimes, no, let's just let them be adults. I favor the second. But let me just tell you, I cannot tell you when we have had organized singles things going on, the phone starts ringing and guys call up and say, what are the women like over there? I'm not kidding. I mean, they'll call us and say, what's the women like over at that church? Well, you know, they got pretty hair, you know, I mean, I don't know. What are women like anywhere? You know, what's the big deal? Chuck answers the phone. He says, Chuck, Chuck's great. This guy called up and said, tell you what, I don't make any bones about it. I want to find out about your, about your singles ministry. I'm looking for a woman. Chuck said meat market closed and hung up his phone. Do you have a singles ministry? Don't you have a singles ministry? You know what? What I'd like to say to singles, I'd like to say to singles, be adults first. And if you're a single, you're a single and you be a single adult. Don't think that you can only associate with singles for the rest of your life. Don't do that. Don't assume that you've got to be put over in a corner where people are supposed to pair up. Paul's going to have a lot to say about this as we go on here. Let me just go on with this subject. It's really interesting. Paul says, I desire, in 1 Timothy, he was speaking to Timothy, he says, I want the younger widows to marry, bear children, manage the house. Is that a hard, fast rule? Can you think of anybody in the Bible who was widowed very young, never got married, and God really recognized her? Who was that? No? She held Jesus in her hands. Who was it? Mary. She got married. She was widowed very young. Anna. Do you remember her? There's an example. There's one. So, you know, you say, is everybody supposed to do that? No. Paul evidently says, in general, younger widows should marry, bear children, manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary. Should the singles marry? Yes and no. It should not be the overall driving force of their life. I hate being single. I got to get married. I got to tell you, one of the heartbreaks of my ministry in the last six months has been watching an individual who is ready to sacrifice everything to get a man. Everything, her children, everything to get a man. And the way she's going at it, the one she gets is not going to be a man, but a maniac. Should we stay married? Look at chapter 7, verse 10. Paul speaks, you know, it's interesting to me. People say, you know, the Bible's out of date. You know, that's just a 2,000 year old book. Can't speak to what we're doing. Really? Well, I think that chapter 7, verse 1 through 9 there is pretty up to date. How about verses 10 to 15? Now, to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord. You see there? He says, to the married I command, yet not I but the Lord. A wife is not to depart from her husband. You say, well, what do you mean? The Lord's in heaven now. That's right. He's quoting the Lord. You say, where did He quote Him? Matthew chapter 19, Luke chapter whatever it was. Jesus said that one woman and one man are supposed to be married and only for the hardness of the heart of the people in the days of Moses, in the day of Moses did He say give a writing of divorcement. He did that for protection for the woman so that she would not be called a streetwalker. Now think about that for a moment. The writing of divorcement that they thought was just the cure-all for everything was given for the protection of the woman in the Jewish society so that if she was not in her father's house and she'd been put out of her husband's house, she was able to carry this writing of divorce and say, wait a minute, I'm not a woman of the street. Here's what's happened. I'm going home to daddy's house now and I'm free to remarry because I've been put out. They were doing it for any reason. Jesus said that He gave a concession for adultery Because of their hard hearts, it wasn't the first choice. And then because of the hardness of their hearts, through the years, it had become the cure-all. Just write the paperwork. I preached on this a couple of weeks ago. Just do the paperwork and everything will be okay. Well, that's not what it was all about. Should we stay married? This was a real issue for them. A wife is not to depart from her husband, but even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. The husband is not the divorces wife, but to the rest. I not the Lord say if any brother has a wife who does not believe and she's willing to live with him, let her not divorce her. Let's just stay on versus 10 to 11. He quotes the Lord back in Matthew 19, one to 12. We don't know why these couples might've wanted a separation, but we can imagine. Maybe their marriages were in a rocky situation at the moment. Maybe they were looking around at other marriages that were falling apart. Maybe they were thinking of all the pagan marriages that were around them that were, you know, maybe the 10th, 12th, or 14th marriage for some of these people. And maybe even the ones that were coming to Christ had been married multiple times. But he says, we don't know what they were wanting to do. Maybe greater dedication, maybe fear of marriage itself, or maybe they wanted to get into the ministry. I'm actually thinking that maybe the division in the church had gotten so big that the woman was for Paul and the man was for Apollos, and they were so divided over who their favorite preacher was, they decided to get a divorce. Who knows? I don't know. But they were talking about it. Here's what he said to them. He said, first of all, stay married. That's number one. Stay married. Number two, don't divorce. Number three, don't remarry somebody else. Number four, do reconcile. Let me just look at that with you. To the married I command, yet not I but the Lord. A wife is not to depart from her husband. And even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife. So stay married. Don't divorce. Don't remarry. Do reconcile. That is the general instructions for married Christians. You see, these are guidelines for Christian marriages. Stay married. If you do separate, come apart from one another, don't divorce. Don't cut all ties. Don't look for reconciliation. Look to be able to come back together. Now, I want to speak to something here and clear up a little matter. Turn in your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 24. A few weeks ago, I preached a sermon. I told you there are two kinds of law in the Old Testament. Two kinds of law. Do you remember what those two kinds of law are? Two kinds of the law. Anybody remember? Just two. There was ceremonial law and what was the other one? Moral law. Ceremonial. and moral law. All right? You say, what does that have to do with anything? Well, look at verse 1 of chapter 24. When a man takes a wife and marries her and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house. Remember, I talked to you about that a moment ago, just paperwork. When she has departed from his house and goes and becomes another man's wife, and if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, then her former husband Who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled. For that is an abomination before the Lord. You shall not bring sin on the land of which the Lord your God has given you as an inheritance." What is she talking about there? I thought we wanted to see people get reconciled. We do. But see, the principle is stay together, Don't separate. If you do separate, don't divorce. Seek reconciliation. But if, because of the hardness of the heart, just like it said back there when Moses was given the permission for the writing of divorce, if there is a divorce, if those parties marry another person or two other people or three other people, And then they get warm fuzzies for the first person they were married to and decide, well, you know, I had it better off in the first place. I'm just going to go back to that first person. That is what God calls an abomination. You see, because you joined yourself to one, two, three different people, and to go back to that first person is behaving like street dogs. See, God has a very, very, very, very high view of marriage, doesn't He? He really does. I mean, he has a huge and high view of marriage. And so this passes scripture. Now you say, well, I know somebody that did that. Well, you know what? We can't change history. You can't go back. You've got to live today, right straight on into the future. You've got to live the life that you are, right where you are. And if people have made mistakes, or if you know people who have made mistakes, you know, you don't take a scripture and batter them over the head about history or water under the bridge. But I'm talking about people who contemplate things and are looking forward in the future to what they might do. Always remember, first of all, grass is not always greener on the other side. And grass always needs mowing. And after a while, it dies. all grass dies, all flowers fade. Remember that. But he that does the will of the Lord will abide forever. That's very important to remember. And so this whole subject of, he says to him, this whole thing of Christians that are married, stay married. Don't divorce. Don't remarry. Even if you're separated for a while, do reconcile. You say, well, pastor, you need to come to the 21st century and get caught up to date on what's happening in the world. That's exactly what I said just a few moments ago. What I said a few moments ago was that Paul wrote this to a absolutely berserk culture. Well, that's where we live today. We live in a day and age where the culture is going berserk. And do you know why? Because there's nobody to set the standard. Do you know why it is so difficult for young people to get married and stay married today? Because what examples do they have? There are just so few examples. You know? Christian marriages. Now then, guidelines for mixed marriages. Verses 12 to 16. This is just a fabulous passage of Scripture. It's very practical. To the rest I, not the Lord, say... Now you say, there he goes again. Paul's giving his opinion. No. He's speaking under inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He's just not quoting the Lord Jesus. He says, To the rest I, not the Lord, say, if any brother has a wife who does not believe and she is willing to live with him, let him not divorce her. And a woman who has a husband who does not believe, and he is willing to live with her, let her not divorce him. Four, the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but now they are holy. But if the unbeliever departs, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace. For how do you know, O wife, whether you will save your husband. How do you know, O husband, whether you will save your wife? There are some difficulties for some in that passage of Scripture, but if we look at it, in the context of the whole Bible, we'll find out exactly what God is saying. So here's some guidelines for mixed marriages. You say, you mean interracial marriages? No, of course not. That's not at all what we're talking about here. I want you to understand, hear me clear, hear me plain, write it down big, bold, and simple. The Bible, the Word of God, does not speak to interracial marriage. It does not speak to, he said, well, I just, that's not the way I was raised. I don't care how you were raised. I'm telling you, Moses was part of an interracial marriage. Now that doesn't make it right. I'm just telling you a statement of fact. You say, is it the best choice? Now that now you've asked a different question. We just studied in our men's meeting and some of the home groups have been studying it. What is the wise thing to do? What's the best question to ask of every situation? Well, what is the wise thing to do? And it may not be the wisest thing to do, but it's not a sinful thing to do. The Bible does not speak to interracial marriage. The Bible speaks here to mixed marriages. What's he talking about? He's talking about one member is a believer and one member is not a believer. Now, no doubt in this case, in this first century church, what was going on was people were hearing the good news of the gospel and a man and a woman who had been just total pagans, total pagans, one of them comes to Christ and the other person does not yet come to Christ. And I want you to just imagine that scenario for just a moment. This is often the case even today. People getting married before they know the Lord, then one gets saved. Can't you imagine the unbeliever or the one that's not yet a believer saying, well, you're not the person I married. Can't you imagine that? Maybe they, before one of them got saved, maybe they were together on fun, entertainment, partying, drunkenness, reveling, values, materialism, loose living, many other things, but now they have less and less in common. So the question would come up, it would be better to be loose from this marriage. That's probably what was coming, happening in that. You know what, I married this guy, you know, and boy, I mean, we were just alike at that time, but I've come to know the Lord and He's going another direction. Worse, there's a worse case, Some young lady or some young man that grew up knowing the Lord, and then somebody caught their eye that didn't know the Lord, but they were very nice and sweet and kind, and they decided to get married in spite of the warning from the Word of God about an unequal yoke and about value systems and all those things. So they get married anyway. And now you've got the situation as time goes on. when marriage is young and when the physical attraction is enormous and everything is just peachy and everything is great but children come along and what are we going to do on Sunday and where are we going to educate our children and how do we spend our money and what's important in life and all of a sudden the differences between a regenerate, saved child of God and a person who is not saved start becoming more and more obvious and things get more and more difficult. Well, think about this case. You've got two people that were pagans. They went and offered meat to the idols together, you know. Maybe the woman was a temple prostitute, and the guy went to her so many times, fell in love with her, and they got married. Maybe Aphrodite was her middle name. Who knows? So they get married and one of them gets saved. The girl, let's say, gets saved. Or the guy gets saved. And then all of a sudden, everything changes. This one person begins to understand and their mind is lighted up with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Bible says in Psalm 119 verse 118, that the entrance of thy word gives light. It gives understanding to the sinful. What a verse. The entrance of God's Word gives light and it gives understanding to the simple-minded. It's a tremendous verse. So you got one person that's getting lit up. They're getting smarter by the minute. You got one person whose intelligent quotient is climbing because God is becoming more and more real in that person's life. The value system, everything starts changing. But the other person, They're not safe. So what's the, what's the obvious, you know, marriages have been so tough anyway. They're incarnate. What seems to be the natural thing to do? Well, I can see this ain't going to work. Let's just get a divorce. You go your way. I'll go my way. Even in that case, Paul says now to those that are in these mixed marriages, here's what I say. Don't let, if the person is pleased to dwell with you, If they're willing to put up with it, if they're willing to live with you, then do not do anything to dissolve that marriage just because you think it's going to be inevitable in the long run. Don't do that. Here's what he said. It would be better, they thought, to lose the marriage. But there are several reasons to stay together, not the least of which is what God has joined together, let not man put asunder." But somebody would say, yeah, but they were married as lost people, so God didn't put them together. Oh, of course He did. Whether people are saved or lost doesn't make any difference. When they get married, they got married by God, and God instituted marriage. It didn't have anything to do with whether they were saved at the time. Now watch. What lost couple would want any association with a Christian if they were construed to be homewreckers? Think about that. What if every Christian in Corinth, whenever they became a Christian, automatically they divorced? Well, what about two lost people whenever they look over at that church? And as soon as they looked at that church and everybody they knew that went into that church, as soon as they got there, one of them would get saved, one of them wouldn't get saved. Next thing you know, they're getting a divorce. They wouldn't want to have anything to do with that home-wrecking bunch over there. They'd probably bring them up on charges. You know, they're wrecking homes at that church. They're tearing up these homes. We've got so few that are still married and they're home-wreckers. Here's what Paul said. Paul said, stay married if the partner is willing. Don't just run out on them. The partner and the children are now sanctified. You say, what does that mean? Does that mean they're saved? No. You have to go to the general meaning of the word sanctified. What does that mean? Later it uses the same word, but it uses the word holy. Sanctified holy. This unit right here, this pulpit, this podium is sanctified. Really? Yep, it is. This is a sanctified Why? Because it is set apart for the purpose of giving speeches from the Bible here at Grace Church. It is set apart. Of all the podiums that there exist in the world, this one has been designed, built, brought in, and set in. This church has been put here for this express purpose of being used as a place to preach and teach the Word. It's sanctified. You mean it's holy? It's going to heaven? No. In the general sense of the word, it is sanctified. These benches that you're sitting on tonight, we used to call them pews, but that sounds like a stupid word. Benches, you're sitting on these, you know, these benches that you're sitting on, pew. Why do they ever want to call something a pew? That's so ridiculous. Anyway, these benches that you're sitting on tonight are sanctified. You say, what do you mean sanctified? They have a dedicated purpose. And the dedicated, sanctified, set-apart reason for the existence of these benches And so we can come in, sit down, worship, praise the Lord, and sit on them and listen while they're preaching, while Pastor Phil just keeps talking and talking and talking. I mean, that's what these are for. They're sanctified. Now, of all the people in the world, how many of you know anything, most of you people have probably never, how many horseback riders, how many of you have ever really chased cows on horses? Anybody ever done that? You want to, if you want to cut out a group of cows from a field full of cows and you want to get them in the corral and do something, brand them, do something with them like that, you'd get them in and you'd get them off over to the side, get them in a corral, all the rest of them are out there running around doing their thing, you know, just trying to keep them from getting caught. And you get these in here, you get two or three of them in there, you're going to brand them or maybe you're going to do some other things we won't talk about. But you're going to get them in there and you're going to take care of these cattle. And so you cull out, you cut out these different ones. You get them in a corral so that you can work on them. That is exactly the sanctification we're talking about here. When one member of the family has the light of the gospel in their life and the mate is in the same home, they have a far greater chance of seeing Christianity in action if the mate will really live it and have a chance of getting saved. That's why the children are considered holy. You say, well, if we separate, won't that person be able to have influence over the children? Not like if you're with them 24-7. Divorce is never a good option. It's never a good option. if one member is a believer and one member is a non-believer. And it goes on to say that. The reason is, is so that the influence can be there. The unsaved partner can be more loved and served by a Christian mate than ever before. Plus, the world needs more cases, doesn't need any more cases of single parents rearing their children. I want to mention, first of all, One great reason to stay married in a marriage is because the believing wife or husband has a greater chance of seeing that mate come to Christ than if they separate and that mate goes out all by themselves. That's the first thing. The second thing is, is those children are going to be cast into a situation that you know as well as I do is going to be unfavorable for the rearing of that child. Let me say this. There are many single mothers in this room tonight. I do not say this to hurt your feelings. What is done is done. We're going to live from today until the end of time. We cannot change the past. Do not go home and worry, fret, bite your fingernails over what I'm talking about. I'm going to talk about a societal movement for just a minute. I'm going to talk about great societal movements, great societal effects of the thing called divorce. Because of divorce, Education problems are multiplied. Behavioral problems in children are multiplied. Motivation difficulties in children is multiplied. Homosexuality is multiplied. You say, why would that be? Now, please do not misunderstand me. A little boy needs the influence of a man. That's exactly what he needs. So a mother can do everything that a mother can do, and a mother can try her best to be mother and father, and many have done it and done it well. I'm just telling you, in giant, big picture terminology, vices, poverty, crime, job performance, abuse, pedophilia, and future marriages are all affected by divorce. That's another big reason to think twice, long and hard, before going down that path. 1 Peter 3, 1 to 4, Wives, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, they, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives, even when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. Do not let your adornment be merely outward. arranging the hair, wearing gold, putting on fine apparel, let it be the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit which is very precious in the sight of God." That's one side of the story. What if it's the man that got saved and the woman's not saved? Then the man ought to put on the right kind of loving, kind, patient, leading, caring spirit to the same degree that the woman does. Some have taken this verse of Scripture where it says, do not let your adornment be merely outward, arranging the hair, wearing gold, putting on... They're taking that to mean no makeup, don't do your hair, you know, dress in a toe sack and all that. That is not what that passage of Scripture is talking about. Women are not supposed to wear burkas. That's not what the Bible teaches. It doesn't teach such a thing. It doesn't teach you're supposed to be drab at all. What it teaches is, is if that's all you have is the outward appearance, if you don't have the inner appearance the inner qualities of a quiet spirit. If you don't have the inner qualities of an incorruptible beauty, gentle and quiet spirit, then you don't have very much to offer indeed. But all of those things, those societal movements are a result of that whole thing. Then it says, so the first thing is, stay married if the partner is willing. The second thing, if the unbeliever departs or let the unbeliever depart if they are unwilling. Verse number 15, the idea is nobody's in bondage. I think that's a key word here. Look at verse number 15. If, but if the unbeliever departs, let him depart. A brother or sister is not in bondage in such cases, but God has called us to peace. So let's say that we have an unbeliever in a home and he or she is just turns into an absolute horror in the marriage. Is that woman or that man that's the believer, are they supposed to fight and just, I mean, supposed to just, you know, throw a chain around that person and refuse under any circumstance? No, that's not what it says. It says that the believer is not in bondage in such cases. Now, you're going to answer a question here that comes up all the time. Pastor, are people ever supposed to get remarried after divorce? Well, this passage of Scripture says that if an unbeliever departs, let him depart, that the believer is not in bondage in such cases. So the answer to that is, is if the believer does everything in their power, in meekness and with a quiet spirit, and doing those things that are pleasing in God's sight, and the other person wants no part of it, it doesn't mean that they should be already arranging their next marriage while this one's failing, that's for sure. But what it does mean is that they're not in bondage in such situations. They are, they are, they are called to peace. So what does that called to peace mean? Well, believers are, the Bible says in second Timothy that the servant of the Lord must not strive. And I got to tell you, there is probably no verse of scripture that slaps me right in the mouth more than that verse of scripture personally. Because sometimes, you know, you get into fighting for what you believe and all that stuff, and the next thing you know, you're getting to be a mean-spirited, angry person, you know, and even in the ministry. How many of you know mean preachers? You know some that are just mean. Somebody say, you're it. You're the guy. The servant of the Lord must not strive. Well, we take that to mean preachers, but you know, Christians are not supposed to be in a strife, fighting all the time. We're not supposed to do that. So he says, we're not in bondage in such situations. We're not under shackles to that situation for the rest of our life. Now, we don't seek the escape, but if the unbeliever departs, then you let them depart because we're called to peace. We're not called to a life of fighting. So let them depart. And then the next thing, verse 16, it says for how do you know a wife, whether you will save your husband or how do you know a husband, whether you will save your wife, let both think long and hard before they allow the divorce to go through. Don't rush to divorce. It's not the best answer. Seldom. It is, is the alternative better. When people say they have a problem in their marriage, they really usually don't have a problem with marriage. They usually brought lots of problems with them to the marriage, and that's usually the baggage that people bring. When people get out of the first marriage, very seldom do they put down the baggage that were the problems in the first marriage. They just carry them right along to the second marriage and the third marriage, and the baggage gets bigger and heavier. Very, very difficult. The next question is 17 to 40. We're not going to read all of these verses. It's should we seek marriage then? Should we seek it? Well, these verses are very interesting, beginning in verse 17. It says, But as God has distributed to each one as the Lord has called each one, so let him walk, and so I ordain in all the churches. Was anyone called while uncircumcised? Don't let him become uncircumcised. Anyone called while uncircumcised? Let him not be circumcised. And he goes on to talk about that. Verse 21, Were you called as a slave? Do not be concerned about it. But if you can be made free, rather use it. For he who is called in the Lord while he is a slave is the Lord's freed man. And likewise, he who is called while he is free is the Lord's slave. A lot of slavery. Up to 70% of the people in Corinth were slaves. Some of them were well-paid slaves, but they were slaves. They couldn't go and come as they wanted to. You were bought at a price. Do not become slaves of men. Brethren, let each one remain with God in the state which he was called. So the first thing we have to do, write it down, we should be satisfied with our state. I was satisfied with Tennessee, but I don't know what happened. I got put out of there. No, just kidding. We should be satisfied with our state. One of the biggest mistakes to think is that many people make this mistake. They say, well, what I really need is a change. Life stinks. I don't like the way things are going. What I need is a change. I need to move, change jobs, get a different house, get a different wife, or try a different husband. Maybe I'll hop churches and go somewhere else. Well, I want to say to you tonight, if you get the urge to go and check out other churches, let it be because of some failure. in this church, not because you decide you just get ho-hum. Because people who get ho-hum by the church they're involved in, usually it's because they're not involved, connected, serving the Lord, usually. But people like changes. The grass is greener over there, I think I'll go. So people like to just change things. Well, the first thing we're supposed to do is be satisfied with our state. Second thing is we're supposed to be steadfast in our commitment. Write that down. Verse 25. Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord. You say, well, see, there he goes again. No. He's not quoting the Lord Jesus. He is writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Now, concerning virgins, you know what all that means. Everybody knows what that means. I have no commandment from the Lord, yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord, in His mercy, made trustworthy. I suppose, therefore, that this is good because of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loosed. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. And even if you do marry, you have not sinned. But if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless, such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you." Somebody reads that without understanding the moment in which it was written. And they say, well, Paul, he just doesn't want to, you know, if you're not married, don't get married. If you are married, don't get unmarried. I mean, just no matter what, don't get married. Well, Nero was preparing to bring the persecution on the church like the church had never ever seen. Peter talks about it. Read 1 and 2 Peter. He talks about the fiery trials that had come on them. Well, that wasn't just graphic language. They were being burned at the stake. So people were getting married. I mean, there's a great time for it. There's some bad times. There are stages in life that are better than others. And so on. And so I say, brethren, verse 29. So here's what I want you to see. Be steadfast in your commitment. The first thing is, take a look at the times. And that's what he talks about in verses 20, 12, and 26. Virgins, don't assume you have to be married. Married people, don't assume you have to be unmarried. Seems like it's always that way. Whoever is unmarried is looking to get married. Whoever is married is looking to get unmarried. I mean, that's even today. And so he says, just be happy, be content in the state that you're in because you can serve the Lord there. Unmarried people don't look to be married and all people, the times are going to make it difficult. Verse 28, persecution is on the way. Not don't just look, take a look at the times, but then take a look at the time. Verse 29 to 31, it says in verse 29, But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as those who had none, those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not. He said, what are you talking about? We're supposed to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice? Is this a contradiction? No. He's just simply saying the time is short, the Lord may come, persecution may hit, and you may not be able to weep the full extent of your sorrow. You may not be able to rejoice the full extent of your happiness. You may not be able to enjoy the full extent of your relationships. You may lose that night by nightfall. You may have to get over it by morning, like like the Old Testament prophets like Ezekiel did. You may have to forget that laughter by midday. You may have to forfeit that property by suppertime. You will have to admit that the performance of this world and what's going on is passing away. So he's just simply saying, make sure you understand time is short. Then finally, third, we should be sure it's God's will. Give me one more minute. 32 to 40. He goes on to say there, and you can read it at home, I want you to be without care. He who is unmarried cares for the things of the Lord, how he may please the Lord. But he who is married cares about the things of the world, how he may please his wife. And he goes on to say that people who stayed like him were able to get up and go and just go anywhere and do anything and camp out under the stars and do whatever God wanted to do. Why? Because he was not any longer, whether he ever was or not, we don't know. He was not responsible for a wife and for those children. He said we should be sure before we get married it's God's will. It says the single life is more carefree in a sense. Then he says the married life is more confined in a sense. Don't misinterpret that. He's just saying in a sense there is, at that present time, it was better to just stay put like they were, stop trying to change things. And then he goes on and he says there in verses, he talks about getting married, and I don't want to go into this real long, but he talked about those He mentions that the man has a daughter who's a virgin, and she's passing the flower of her age. If she wants to get married, let her get married. But if he decides no, then no. Different culture. The fathers, the mothers decided the fate, the marriages of their children. Not that she didn't have any voice in it at all. If the daughter was really, really, really wanting to get married, it says that before she passes the flower of her age, or before she got too old, let her marry. If they marry, they do well. He who doesn't marry does better. I'm summarizing all of that. Let me say a word about long engagements. This is exactly what this passage of scripture is talking about. Somehow, somewhere along the line, and I know the reason, you probably know the reason, but somehow long engagements have become the mode. They're in style. Young men, young women decide, well, we're going to get married one of these days. And so they go, they get, you know, they're together one year, two years, three years, four years, five years. Well, one of two things is going to happen. Either the reason that they are not getting married because they stay together so long and don't get married is because they're not waiting to enjoy the blessing and the physical relationship of that marriage. And so therefore, they just wait until they've got a lot of money. Or two, one of the partners is stringing that person along until they see somebody that they like a whole lot better and they're going to just dump that other person. Those of you that have kids, grandkids that are in engagements that are getting longer and longer and longer and longer, you ought to have a good talk with them and ask them, what's this all about? Say, how long should people go together before they get married? I don't have any idea. They ought to know each other well, they ought to know the parents well, and they ought to understand they're marrying the family. Yes, you are. Absolutely, you're marrying the family, like it or not. How many of you know that's a fact now that you've been married? Look at all the hands on his plate. I don't care about the family, I just love that girl, or I love that guy, and that's it, I don't care." Oh, give me an absolute break. You marry the family, so you ought to get to know the person, their heart, because you're going to marry the family. The second thing is, you ought not wait so long that you give place to the devil. The final three verses, 38 to 40, say, whatever you do, you do it in the Lord. You only marry if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, whether you're a widow, whether you're single, whether you've never been married, man, woman, you only... Oh, I wish I could just... Oh, I just get stirred up about this one. The track record's terrible. I have somebody in this church. I preached this in the pulpit one day, and a guy came up. Well, I'll tell you one thing. I wasn't married. I wasn't saved, and she was saved. We've been together for 49 years. And I looked at him. I said, you're the exception, not the rule. Paul said it three times in this one chapter. In the Lord, in the Lord, in the Lord. It's just so important. Let's pray. Thank you for this time. I took a long time tonight, but I wanted to finish the chapter. Help us to just read your word and understand just how up to date it is. It's just right up to the minute on what's going on in the world. And Lord, I pray that we just pay heed to what you say. Help us to not swallow the cultural thought that we just have to do what the culture does. No, we have to do what God says we're supposed to do. Lord, help us to obey your word and be happy for it. Thank you for your goodness to us. And Lord, those that are married, let them just serve their mates. Those that are unmarried, let them wait till you show them the person they're supposed to marry. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. Hey, invite somebody for Sunday. This coming Sunday I'm going to be preaching what difference does sin make. The next Sunday I'm preaching what difference does the cross make. The next Sunday I'm preaching what difference does the resurrection make. All of them illustrated sermons. Very powerful evangelistic sermons. Invite your friends and loved ones to come. On Easter, I have a book called 50 Reasons Jesus Had to Die, 50 Reasons Jesus Died on the Cross. I'm going to give that book to every single family that comes to church that day. So invite lost people to come over these next three weeks. We're going to have a great time in the Lord's house. Thank the Lord. We're going to finally get beyond the weather and beyond time change and beyond spring break. Hopefully, somebody will be at church on Sunday. God bless you. Thanks for being here. We'll see you. Have a good evening.