[0:00] Well, take your Bibles and turn with me, if you would, to the book of Ephesians chapter 5. That happens to be one of my favorite songs. Thank you, gentlemen, very, very much. Brethren, we have met to worship.
[0:11] Sinners are falling down. How can we let them go? We don't want them to die and go to hell. Amen? I want to spend the day in a little two-hour marriage retreat with you.
[0:24] A lot of you church people, you don't go to our marriage retreats. I think it would be a good thing because the Bible has a lot to say about marriage. And I want to show you that. Ephesians chapter 5, if you would.
[0:37] And I want you to go first down to verse 22. The Bible says in Ephesians 5, 22, many men's favorite verse. Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands.
[0:51] Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands as unto the Lord. Boy, the men love that one. Say amen. Bunch of cowards. All right. Now to go down to verse 25.
[1:02] I don't know if the men love this. It's a good. Look at what it says in verse 25. It says, it says, husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but it should be holy and without blemish.
[1:33] I'm going to read you one more verse there before we go back to Abraham. But let me explain something to you. Whenever you're talking about marriage, what you don't realize is you're really talking about salvation and a relationship with Jesus Christ.
[1:49] Because the family is to be a picture, a type, a representative of a representation of what God did.
[2:02] So you know, and I know, I'm sure we all know this, that all of mankind sinned against God. And so there was irreconcilable differences.
[2:15] I mean, basically we're in divorce land because there's a holy God and sinful man. And man is saying, I don't want to do what you want me to do.
[2:27] You may be God, but I will make my own decisions and I'll consider myself God. And so what God did was God put on human flesh and came to this earth and he died.
[2:41] That's what Christmas is about, him coming to earth. And in John 1 14, we find out that he became flesh and we beheld his glory as the glory of the only begotten of God.
[2:54] We saw Jesus and knew God was here to love us. And then he went to a cross to die and he died on that cross totally on purpose.
[3:08] No one tricked him. No one deceived him. No one found him guilty and made him die on a cross. He died intentionally and on purpose.
[3:18] He told us he was going to do that before it ever happened. While he was still alive with his disciples, he said, I'm on my way there and I'm going to die. He said, I'm going to give my life and I'll be buried, but I'll rise again.
[3:30] Don't you worry. I'll be back. And so Jesus came and he died on a cross. But why did he die on a cross? Because he is the greatest love story ever told.
[3:42] Because he loved us. Because he loved you. And because you sinned and you had to pay for your own sin. And it was really outside the scope of you being able to pay it.
[3:55] And so you were going to be sent to debtor's prison. You were going to be sent to be tortured till you could pay. And you never could have paid. And you would have been going to a place called hell.
[4:06] And you would have suffered forever for a debt you owed that you could never pay. You couldn't pay it by being good enough. You couldn't pay it by going to church.
[4:17] You couldn't pay it by giving money. You just simply couldn't pay that debt. It was outside of your reach. So God said, boy, I love them. And I am going to offer them freedom and salvation.
[4:32] And so God came to earth. And God in the form of Jesus Christ died on a cross. Buried and rose again. And he was doing all of that not for anything he did wrong.
[4:44] But so I could be saved. He died because of my wrong. He died because of your wrong. And he paid that. Then in Ephesians chapter 5, it's one of our most beautiful passages in the New Testament about marriage.
[4:58] He starts off talking about marriage and explains it. And you would think he's just talking about husbands love your wives. Wives submit to your husbands. Husbands love your wives.
[5:09] Wives respect your husband. He says it three times to each of them. But then we find out why he said it. Go with me if you would to Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 32.
[5:20] You're in the same passage of scripture. And he says in verse 32, this is a great mystery. This is something y'all don't understand. This is something y'all haven't caught on to yet.
[5:31] He said, I've been talking to you since up about verse 21 about marriage. And you think I'm talking about marriage. I got to tell you.
[5:42] I'm going to explain to you what I've really been talking to you about. He said, I speak concerning Christ and the church. What's important about that is, what's the church?
[5:54] The church is a bunch of people who used to be sinners that still might sin. But they've been saved. And they've been sanctified.
[6:05] They've been made saints. And they are in the church. And the church is the body of Christ. The church is the bride of Christ.
[6:16] And the church is this group of people who admitted they sinned. Who admitted they were failures. Who admitted they needed God to save them. And they live in life trying to honor and please the one who saved them.
[6:30] So he said in Ephesians 5, I'm going to talk to y'all about marriage. And then he ends up saying, well, I'm really not talking to you about marriage. I'm really talking to you about how I love you. And I'm really talking about how you're supposed to honor me, God, church people, us.
[6:42] We're supposed to love and honor God. We're supposed to love and honor Jesus. And that's what we're supposed to have. That's what's supposed to happen. Now, let me say something to you. Some of you aren't a part of the church.
[6:54] And being a part of the church doesn't mean you got baptized. Doesn't mean that you went through catechism classes. It doesn't mean that you were christened. It doesn't mean that you were confirmed.
[7:05] It means to be a part of the church means there comes a time in your life when you say, man, God, I can't. God, I can't. I'm not good enough. I don't know how to fix myself.
[7:18] I have sinned. And the Bible made that clear. He said, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. He made that clear when he said there's none righteous, no, not one. He made it real clear that no human being is ever good enough.
[7:31] We've all, the fact is, he says in Isaiah 53, you didn't choose my way. You chose your way. And every man has gone his own way. And so he came to save us.
[7:42] And every saved person has come to a place in their life. Now, I didn't say every church member. I said every saved person. And a lot of people, members of churches, ain't saved. And so, but every saved person has come to a place where they realize that they were a sinner and they trusted Christ.
[7:58] And now he talks about marriage. He says, it's a picture. Wives, I need you to act like the church and honor and love and respect your husband like the church ought to to Jesus.
[8:10] And I need you men to remember this. You're a picture of me loving your wife. And that's what's going on. Now, we'll take you back to the book of Genesis. And we're going to look at Abraham.
[8:21] Now, if you understand that, now you can't help but read the Bible. And every time you see a marriage, you're like, look at how they're either doing what he said do or not doing what he said do.
[8:33] I have literally prepared messages on almost every married couple in the Bible over the years. And they're beautiful to see how it works. In Genesis 11, 29, and 30, we find out that Abraham took Sarai, S-A-R-A-I, and she became his wife.
[8:54] We find out in verse 30 that she couldn't have children. She was barren and she had no child. All that's background. Now, let me explain something to you.
[9:04] Who is Abraham? Abraham was an auto worshiper. Abraham was a regular man because that's all there are that serve God. Just regular messed up people that even though they might have believed are still messed up and God's still working in our lives.
[9:23] The very idea that I got saved and I got perfect is ridiculous. I did get saved and he made me holy, but I'm not living up to my holiness. I'm not living up to who I am in Christ that I want to and I ought to.
[9:36] And that ought to be what happened. So Abraham was a regular man and God spoke to him. And Abraham believed God. It was counted him for righteousness.
[9:47] And Abraham followed him. Who's Sarah? She's just a regular woman. She's just a regular woman. She's a human being. She lives on the earth. And God has saved her and she's now married to Abraham.
[9:57] And then we get into this wild and crazy story. I just want to show you three big marriage mistakes that are the opposite of what Jesus would do. The first one is selfishness.
[10:10] The first one is being self-centered, thinking everything should revolve around you, thinking only in yourself. Now we won't go back through Genesis 12, 11 because we read that just a minute ago.
[10:22] But if you open your Bibles there, I'll just give you some things to underline that are really funny. I just want you to understand. Now let's talk about Jesus just a minute. Let's just talk about Jesus just a minute.
[10:34] Is he selfish? Totally the opposite of selfish. Jesus was in heaven, seated at the right hand of God, enjoying all the privileges and blessings of being God.
[10:48] He lived in a perfect environment and people, angels and other angelic beings were around him all the time praising him. And he stood up one day and he took off the robes of king and living up in heaven.
[11:03] He still was God, but he descended down to heaven, took on a human body and left streets of gold to be born in a barn. Literally. Any of you ever, any of you ever leave a door open to your daddy said, shut that door.
[11:19] Were you born in a barn? You ever had, anybody ever heard that before? Raise your hand. Yeah. My daddy said it. I still say it to people. Jeff and Mindy had their oldest daughter in a barn and she was really born in a barn.
[11:31] And so when I say to Lydia, were you born in a barn? She says, yes, sir. So it was my daddy's barn and they had an apartment on the side of the barn. Wasn't a real barn. I mean, it was an apartment on the barn.
[11:42] But anyway, now look what happens here. Sarah, Jesus is the opposite of selfish. He's a giver. Fact is, the Bible verse for you to have in mind with being selfish is this.
[11:55] For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that those who ever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life.
[12:05] God loved so much that he gave. But look if you would at this passage of scripture. In chapter 12 and verse 11, you can underline, you are fair. Thou art fair to look upon.
[12:17] That is, Old Testament way of saying this, you are one pretty woman. You are pretty. And everybody knows it everywhere we go. And then he says to her, and they said, look, we're going into Egypt.
[12:30] And in Egypt, they got powerful men. They got a big army. Old Pharaoh's down there. And honey, let's think about it. They might kill me to have you.
[12:43] They're getting you either way. I mean, they might kill me to get you or what. Now, Abraham and Sarah were half brother and sister. They had a mom in common or a dad in common, not a mom, whichever one it was.
[13:00] They're half sisters. He'll tell you that in the passage of scripture. Half brother to a half sister. So he said, it's only a half a lie. You just tell them you're my sister. And that way, if they think you're pretty, they won't kill me.
[13:13] They'll just take you because you're my sister. They can go do whatever they want with you. But I'll be in good shape. Everything will go real good for me. Honey, don't you think that'd be a good idea? I do not know.
[13:25] She must have been blind. Because she said yes. And she went along with it, which is like the craziest thing. When they got there, she was very pretty. And they saw that.
[13:36] Well, he does the same thing again. And they go along with the same thing. They did that in Genesis, the way you just read in Genesis chapter 12.
[13:50] Now skip over to Genesis chapter 20. Could you ever learn from your mistakes? Could you ever quit being selfish? Could you ever quit being selfish?
[14:01] Could you quit following your husband's lead when he's doing something so utterly, ridiculously selfish? In Genesis chapter 20 and verse 1.
[14:12] Some time has gone by. Verse 1, Abraham has journeyed. In verse 2, Abraham said, Sarah, she's my sister. Underline that in your Bible. She's my sister.
[14:23] And Abimelech, king of Jerah, sent and he took Sarah. Now, verse 11, Abraham said, see, this same guy, he does the same thing for everybody. He says, if you'd have just told me, I wouldn't have tried to take advantage of your wife.
[14:38] Abraham said, whoa, I was just scared. I was afraid if it was somebody who was going to take care of it, it'd be, you'd kill me. Verse 11, he said, I thought y'all didn't fear God in this place and that you would slay me for my wife's sake.
[14:53] And yet she is my sister. She's the daughter of my father, but we got a different, we got different mothers. And he said in verse 13, God calls me to wander.
[15:05] And I told her, now honey, this is something I'd just like to ask you to wedding vows. Honey, I love you. I'll be with you forever. I'll protect you.
[15:16] Except when we go places where everybody thinks you're pretty. And they might want to have you for a wife. And they could kill me to take you. So let's agree up front. That's what he said.
[15:27] Look at verse, let's see, that's verse 13. He says, verse 13, this is thy kindness which thou would show unto me.
[15:38] At every place where we shall come, say he's my brother. I just can't imagine those wedding vows. I give you all I have. Except one thing.
[15:50] Not my protection. Whenever we get somewhere and everybody thinks you're pretty and they might want to have you as their wife. I don't need them to kill me. I need them to take you and leave me alone.
[16:02] Would you agree to that? And she said, I will. That's the craziest thing in the world to me. The man was unwilling to protect his wife.
[16:14] He was only concerned about himself. He said, if anybody's got to get hurt, I just hope it's you. Honey, Betty, I love you.
[16:25] You're the light of my life. I have enjoyed living with you. But if anybody ever ought to get hurt, it's you. If there's a snake in the yard, you go kill it. If a burglar comes, you get the door.
[16:38] If somebody's out to hurt us, I need you to be the one that'll go take care of the problem. It'd be better if they took advantage of you than for me to have to die.
[16:52] Here's our lesson. Love is not just being there when it's convenient or easy. See, Abraham's marriage mistake is that Abraham is like, I like being married to you.
[17:07] I mean, you are a pretty woman. I enjoy being with you and you're a great wife to have, but I don't want it to cost me very much. Now, what's really beautiful about that story is, if you'll back up just a second, when Jesus looked at you and Jesus looked at me, we weren't pretty.
[17:28] He looked at us and said, you're sinners. You have sinned against the Holy God. You are condemned. You're going to die and you're going to go to hell. There's no hope for you.
[17:41] You are without the strength to save yourselves. You're ungodly. And you're still keep on sinning even now. But I love you. I love you so much.
[17:53] God said, I'll give my son. I love you so much. Jesus said that I will go to a cross. I will let them pluck my beard, beat my back, beat me senseless, beat me till I don't even look like a human being, nail me to a cross naked, laugh at me and spit on me and mock me because I love you that much.
[18:13] So see, oh, Abraham made a mistake. He didn't understand that his relationship with his wife ought to have been to take care of her. Now I need to show you something.
[18:24] If you would go with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 13 and verse 6. Now I just want you to understand something. In our marriages, in our marriages, we ought to learn to love our spouse.
[18:39] And love is honestly the opposite of selfish. Love is the opposite of selfish. The fact is in the Bible that we're going to be reading here, you're going to find out that our Bible translated the word love as charity.
[18:57] You probably read that and go, I don't really call it charity. It actually made a lot of sense. You see, love could mean sex.
[19:08] Love could mean I love you if you love me. But when God loves, God says, I love with charity, which means one way love.
[19:19] I mean, when you give to charity, what do you get back? Nothing. When God loves us, he loves us with charity. And when God told church people and Christians how to love their wives and other church members, he said, this is how I want you to live.
[19:35] I want you to live loving, which is, write this down somewhere, an action, not an emotion. It is an action, not an emotion.
[19:48] Families and marriages don't live on feelings. Good night. We've been married almost 48 years. Do you know what a guy feels when he's 18 and gets married compared to what a guy who's 66 feels?
[20:01] I mean, I was so skinny back then. My daddy used to say, son, you need to carry bricks in your pocket. Because I weighed 145 pounds.
[20:13] I was six foot one. And I just didn't. I mean, now I'm a little bit heavier. I don't need the bricks anymore. I'll just say, man, I just built them in. But look at what it says in verse six. And it's talking about love.
[20:25] And you can get that by reading the rest of the chapter. It says, love, charity love rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in truth. It says, you know what?
[20:35] I'm not trying to find your faults so I can feel better about my faults because your faults are worse than my faults. You know what we do in marriage, don't you? Well, I might not be the best husband, but I just, bless God, she's a lot worse wife than I am a husband.
[20:50] That's not loving. Can I get an amen right there? That's not loving. Hey, honey, mister, you, I mean, I know I'm bad, but I ain't as bad as you. That's rejoicing in iniquity.
[21:02] We don't do that. Verse seven, love bears all things. Did you notice that rejoice is something you do? He didn't say, if you feel like it, sing.
[21:15] He said, rejoice. In verse seven, he said, bear, carry. He said, believe. He said, hope. He said, endure. All of those are action verbs.
[21:28] It's stuff you're to do. By the way, it's what Jesus has done for us. Jesus looked down and said, I'll save them. I'll carry their problems. I'll believe that they can be saved.
[21:39] I'll hope. Verse eight, charity never fails, but everything else will. Now I need you to understand something. What does old Abraham do wrong?
[21:53] Abraham's like, I like being married to you, but not if it costs too much. I like being married to you when it's convenient. Fact is, when we're not in a dangerous place, I enjoy being married to you.
[22:06] But when we're in a kind of a dangerous place, you're my sister. Can you imagine when you're walking into town, she goes, am I wife or sister? And he said, well, here you're sister, because they might kill me.
[22:19] I'd rather them rape you than kill me. Jesus never, ever does that with us. Amen.
[22:31] Jesus looks at him and says, you've sinned, you've failed, and I'll love you, and I'll save you, and I will do in your life. Second thing I want you to notice real quickly is there are roles that we ought to play in marriage.
[22:45] There are roles that Christians ought to play in marriage. Look, if you would, at Genesis chapter 20 and verse 12 again. Now, listen to what I'm going to tell you. Husbands ought to be spiritual leaders.
[23:02] Husbands ought to be spiritual leaders. Being a man is not about muscles. It's not about money.
[23:13] It's not about power and influence. Being a man is about loving Jesus and leading your home. So you could be a little guy and be a man.
[23:24] You could be a big guy and not be a man because a man is concerned about spiritual things. Let me clear that up for you. You're not going to live very long.
[23:34] I mean, when I stand here at the age of 66, you know what I know? I know I am living on a limited lifespan. I know.
[23:45] Buddy, I'm sick. Don't you say amen, David. David's back there saying, yeah, we're calculating. All right, watch, watch, watch. I am living on a limited lifetime. The Bible said, the Bible said 70.
[23:57] And if by reason and strength, 80. I'm living on a limited lifetime. You know why? Because if you know anything at all, you know that this life is only about that long.
[24:08] And eternity is forever out that away. And every one of us are going to go somewhere after we die. Nobody quits existing. When we take you down to the graveyard and lower you into the ground, we're not lowering you.
[24:22] You're already somewhere else. The second you die, you move out. You move either to the presence of God in heaven or you move to the presence of sin and suffering and hell.
[24:33] Everybody goes somewhere immediately when they die. Now, any man that had a half a brain would say, whoa, I'm the man here. I'm the one with the muscles. I'm the one with the power.
[24:43] I'm the leader. And I want to make sure I'm going to heaven. And I want to make sure my wife's going to heaven. And I want to make sure my children are going to heaven. I'm going to teach them about this because I'm a leader.
[24:55] Amen. You know you're the head of the home, man. Being the head of the home doesn't mean she has to bring you your iced tea and fan you and feed you grapes. It means you're going to be the leader.
[25:07] Abraham didn't do that. He told half-truths. She's my sister. In verse 13, he blamed God for his failures. He says to the king, he says, well, it was God who made me go on a trip and wander from my father's house.
[25:23] He doubted God. You know what Abraham will do? Abraham will spend so much of his life using people. He'll end up using his servant and say, God, make him my son.
[25:35] He'll use Hagar. He'll do all these things that are just wicked and wrong. And he won't believe God and what he's doing. Because of time, I'm going to rush on and skip some things.
[25:51] But listen to this. In a marriage retreat, we don't. We go through a whole bunch of stuff. But watch this. Men, you are spiritual leaders. It's not about, I need to get them a good education.
[26:05] I need to make sure they go to college. I need to get them set up financially. Because, you know, you can live a pretty miserable life here. And if you go to heaven, it'll still be pretty good.
[26:17] You can live a wonderful life here and go to hell. It'll be bad. Jesus told the story in the New Testament of a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus.
[26:27] And everybody would have thought the rich man was in good shape with God. He was a rich man and he fared sumptuously every day. He had a great life. And so anybody in the community would have been like, he's got the hand of God on him.
[26:39] God's favoring him. And there was a poor man at the gate at his gate named Lazarus. And he was extremely poor. He ate crumbs that the rich man fed him. They took their table scraps off, scraped them on a bowl, and took them out to the puppy dog Lazarus and let him eat.
[26:55] And everybody would have thought that poor Lazarus. I wonder what he did wrong. Why didn't God bless him? But Lazarus had trusted Christ. The rich man hadn't trusted Christ. And the rich man looked like a success.
[27:06] But Lazarus was a true success. Lazarus dies and goes to heaven. And the rich man dies. And in hell, he lift up your eyes. It's not about how much money you have.
[27:16] It's about, do you know God? Have you trusted Jesus Christ as your Savior? Be a spiritual leader. But you ought to have a wife that is a spiritual motivator or a spiritual challenge.
[27:29] Now, listen to what I'm going to tell you, ladies or Christians here. Your husband, look, you ought to go to him and say, God put you in charge. I told you I'd follow you. And you need to lead us.
[27:40] What are we going to do about eternity? What are we going to do after we die? What's going to happen to our children if they die in a car wreck? What's going to happen if COVID takes one of us? Where are we going?
[27:50] You ought to be helping him say, man, I need to figure out the really important stuff in life. And the really important stuff in life isn't how much money I make. It isn't what kind of house I live in.
[28:01] It isn't what kind of clothes I wear. It's what's going to happen when I die. More important than what's happened when my wife dies. I want to make sure she's all right. In the story, Sarah gives bad advice.
[28:14] She says, why don't you sleep with my maid? I'm always like, what in the world, Sarah? Sarah goes in and says, hey, honey, you want to sleep with my maid?
[28:27] She opens the door for such a dumb thing. Let me give you the last thing real quick. There are wrong goals. Most of us have wrong goals in life. It's ruining our marriages.
[28:39] It is ruining our marriages. You know what the wrong goals are? Comfort. You want comfort. Comfort to you is more important than a relationship to God.
[28:52] Comfort is more important than a relationship to your husband or your wife. You're choosing the wrong thing. Now, what's going to happen in the story is Abraham is actually going to really turn his life around.
[29:05] And God's going to say great things about him. But Abraham has these big doubt times. And Abraham is told in Genesis 15, verse 1, Fear not, Abram.
[29:18] I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And when God looks at him and says, buddy, I'm going to take care of you. I'm the great God. But Abraham answers and says in verse 2, Well, what are you going to do about me not having a baby?
[29:33] I'm an old man, don't have any children, and I want a child. And he tries to talk God into what he would do. And that's when they make major mistakes in their life.
[29:45] Listen to me, please. I want you to go with me to Matthew 6, 32 and 33. Every human being on the planet needs the same stuff.
[29:58] We all need the same stuff. The Bible calls it in Matthew 6, 32, all these things. And he starts up in about verse 25.
[30:09] And he starts saying, I know you're worried about what you're going to eat. I know you're worried about your money. I know you're worried about your future. I know you're worried about your clothes. I know you're worried about all that. And then he says in Matthew 6, 32, After all these things, underline all these things, Do the Gentiles seek?
[30:27] Pagans, that's what Gentiles are. Godless people, that's what Gentiles are. Lost people, lost people. In this verse, that's referring to those people who don't know God. They all want to eat, have clothes, have their future secure.
[30:41] They all want all of those things. And then God looks at them and says, but your heavenly father, he knows that you have need of all these things. Underline all these things again.
[30:52] You see, everybody needs these things. And God knows you need these things. But let's get straight what the real goal of life is. Matthew 6, 33. In Matthew 6, 33, he said, But seek ye first the kingdom of God.
[31:06] Get things right with God first. Get things right with God first. And all these things, there's all these things again, shall be added.
[31:19] Now you listen, it's Valentine's Day. And I hope you're feeling real sweet and romantic with your wife. I really do. I mean, my favorite person on the planet is my wife.
[31:31] We've been together a long time. I wouldn't know what life would be without her. Let me tell you something. Much more important than having a good day today is knowing where I will spend eternity.
[31:42] It is knowing that when I die, I almost died this year. Seven months ago, they didn't think I'd live with COVID. But I knew one thing.
[31:54] Did you know when I went in the hospital, I was out of my head, don't even remember. And the doctor said to me, and I don't know this, but my family was there. They know some things. The doctor said, we're going to have to intubate you probably.
[32:07] And I said, well, can I call my wife? I know where I'm going, but I think I'll at least tell my wife. I knew I was going to go to heaven. I knew I'd put my faith and trust in Christ. I knew that was okay.
[32:18] I knew that. Do you? Do you? You came to church today, or you're watching online, and you're listening, and in your mind, you're like, hey, I got a good marriage.
[32:32] I got beautiful kids. I live a good life. What are you going to do when that's over? It's going to be over soon. Come on.
[32:43] I never thought I'd be 66. Sometimes the guys will come in the office. They'll say stuff like, yeah, we were with this old pastor. And I say, how old? They said, goodnight. He was like 65 or 66.
[32:55] Excuse me? Old is like 86 or 87, not 66, you dang bat. But I remember when I thought 35 was old, don't you?
[33:06] I remember when I was a kid, a guy was 30. I was like, he's over the hill. He's a goner. But here's the real question here. Are you ready to meet God?
[33:18] Because here's a final promise to you. I believe it's Hebrews 9, 27. But it says, it's appointed a man once to die.
[33:31] And after this, the judgment. You're going to die. And you're going to get judged. Are you ready?
[33:44] Father in heaven, touch the heart of those that don't know you that today would be the day they get saved. Help them to realize that you love them and save them.
[33:55] And then God, help us that we're being selfish. We're not fulfilling our spiritual roles. We're not making right goals and choices in life. Help us to build our marriage for your honor and glory.
[34:07] God, help us to build our marriage for your life. With your heads behind your eyes closed. I really would like to ask you a simple question. Do you know you'd go to heaven if you died?
[34:19] Does your wife know you're going to heaven? If the kids called and said, I just found dad and he died. Would that whole family be like, I know he's saved. I know he went to heaven.
[34:31] Or would they be like, oh no, what happened? Where'd he go? I wonder what's going to happen. What are they thinking? I want to ask you to be saved today. No one's looking and we're not going to embarrass you.
[34:42] But if you're here and you say, I'm not sure I'm saved. I'd like to talk to somebody. I'd like to pray with somebody. I'd like to ask some questions. I want to be saved today. Would you hold your hand up and let me pray for you?
[34:52] Anybody? I'm not sure I'm saved. Would you hold your hand up? Let me help you. Let me tell you what to do. Know that you've sinned. The Bible says that you have sinned.
[35:04] Know that your sin has consequences. The Bible says the wages of sin is death. But the gift of God's eternal life. God offers you eternal life.
[35:15] Trust Jesus. Tell him, God, I've sinned. I deserve to go to hell and I sinned. But today I turn my life over to you. I believe you. I trust you.
[35:26] And I look to you. Save me, Lord. Tell him he'll save you. Men, women, where are we in our marriage? Are we being the spiritual leader we ought to be?
[35:37] Maybe you ought to come forward and say, I need to be a better leader. Maybe you ought to come forward and say, I ought to be a better challenge. Maybe we ought to set better goals for our life. Why don't you do whatever God's spoken to you about? Father in heaven, I pray your name will be glorified and magnified.
[35:50] Pray you'd save somebody, change some lives. And I'll give you praise. With every head bowed and every eye closed, you can pray in your seat. Or you can pray at the front. I'll be glad to help you.
[36:01] If you want to come forward, I'll get you help. And whenever you finish praying, you can stand and sing with Stephen as he leads us in this song. Thank you.