[0:00] Take your Bibles if you would and turn with me to the book of Nehemiah chapter 10. And we're going to talk about who you are to marry today. That's who we are to marry.
[0:10] Some of you are already married, so don't you be worrying about that. But you do have kids. And this is going to be a whole lot more than that. You know what's happened. They just got through hearing all the wonderful things of God.
[0:21] They have just got through confessing their sin. And they've stated, man, we have really messed up. We haven't honored God. Our parents haven't honored God. Our nation hasn't honored God. But God is good.
[0:32] And they got to the end of the chapter and they signed a document. They came up front and they signed a document saying, we're going to honor God. We're not going to be like our parents. We're going to honor God.
[0:43] And they've signed that document. And now we're kind of in the details. In the first part of chapter 10, he's listed all the other people. He lists who signed it. And then he says, and the rest of the people.
[0:54] So go with me to Nehemiah chapter 10 and verse 28. Nehemiah chapter 10 and verse 28. And you need your Bible out so you can mark this. The Bible says in Nehemiah 10, 28, and the rest of the people.
[1:06] So a lot of people didn't sign. They had somebody maybe sign as the head of their tribe or the head of the other people. But the other people, they came together and they are with these people and they're in on it.
[1:20] I want you now to look at verse 28. I want you to underline this. Separated themselves from the people of the lands unto the law of God.
[1:30] And I want you to circle the word from and the word unto. So this first thing here is biblical separation. Biblical separation. That's a dirty word anymore.
[1:42] In 2019, we don't even want to talk about being biblically separate. But it's in the Bible and since we preach the Bible, we believe the Bible, we practice the Bible, we're going to do it. So look what it says here.
[1:53] I want you to underline in the verse, separated themselves. There was a separation. Biblical Christians are going to practice separation.
[2:03] Now I want you to underline the word or put a circle around the word from. Separation is from and unto. In the verse, circle the word from. And then later on in the verse, circle the word unto.
[2:14] It says, separated themselves from the people of the land unto the law of God. So separation is not a negative. It's a positive. It's not what I don't do.
[2:24] It is what I do. It is that I quit that and I started that. I left that and I started that. That's what biblical separation is. By the way, we all like separation.
[2:35] Whether you admit it or not, and know it may have become a negative term in our churches maybe, because the preacher was a little bit mean to you about something. But most of us are glad our wives separated themselves from other men unto us.
[2:47] How many of you like that part? Say amen. I'm glad that 45 years ago my wife stood up and said, I'm saying no to all them other guys and yes to you. And I was like, I can't believe you're doing that, but I sure appreciate biblical separation.
[3:00] Amen. I'm very glad she chose to be with me. She chose to be with me. Biblical separation. Biblical separation. We kind of want some things separated. We like it when restaurants separate from dirt to clean.
[3:14] Amen. We kind of like, well, we go in a restaurant. We're kind of like, we hope you pass. I pulled up to my eating breakfast place this morning. Thank God for John Pearson. He bought me my breakfast. Because of what he gave me at Christmas, I pulled up there and they had big signs on there.
[3:28] And I'm walking up like, I hope they didn't flunk the health test. Because I'm hoping they separated from that stuff. Amen. And they've decided to do the right thing, but it just said sign permit.
[3:39] I guess the government made them put that there. Separation. Biblical separation. Look at the verse, if you would. Read the rest of it with me. Who did that? Everyone having knowledge and having understanding.
[3:52] Now, I want you to underline this. They separated themselves from the people of the land. That's kind of negative. People don't like that. You mean I can't just be friends with anybody? Not in this verse, you couldn't. You had to separate yourself from the people, but look unto what?
[4:04] You got your Bible open. Unto the law of God. Unto the law of God. They took an oath that they were going to honor God.
[4:14] I am choosing today to not be with the group that doesn't want to choose God. I am choosing to be with the group that does want to choose God. I am deciding today to not be with those that reject you, and to be with those that serve you, and love you, and honor you.
[4:28] I am choosing today not to be with those who reject the word of God, but to be with those who honor the word of God. God had chosen his people out of the world.
[4:38] I want you, you might not look all these up, but you can follow along. We're going to go to Leviticus chapter 20 and verse 24. From the very beginning of the nation of Israel, there has been this idea of being separate, of being separate, of being chosen, of being called out, which is exactly what happens with you if you're a born-again believer.
[4:58] In Leviticus chapter 20, verse 24, it says, I have said unto you, you shall inherit the land, and I'll give it to you to possess it, a land that flows of milk and honey. I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people.
[5:14] Look at the last part of that verse. I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people. That's exactly what happened. When I got saved, by the way, he came down amongst all the lost people. He convicted me of my sin.
[5:25] I realized he was convicted of my sin. He said, leave the sin and come to me. I turned from my sin, and I turned to Jesus, and I was separated from the world. I'm separated from them going to hell. I'm on my way to heaven.
[5:36] Thank God for what Jesus did on the cross. Amen? Look at what the Bible says. If you went in Leviticus chapter 20 and verse 26, he said, Now be holy unto me. Be holy unto me. Then he uses a quite severe term for this separation.
[5:50] You need to underline that in your Bible. In Leviticus chapter 20 and verse 26, he said, I have severed you from the people that you should be mine. I have pulled you out, cut you off from the rest of them, brought you over to be in mine.
[6:03] I did that to a girl on August 18, 1973. I mean, I went to her mom and daddy's house. I severed her from that, changed her last name, brought her home, made her mine.
[6:14] She'd been mine ever since I separated her, that she should be mine. Amen? So you're not against that. If you'll be honest, you're not against. I've had a couple of galoots come into my house and take a couple of my daughters to do the same thing. They just walked in the house and said, we're taking your daughter.
[6:28] And I'm like, oh, no, you're not. They said, oh, yeah, we are. And I look at my daughter. She said, yeah, I'm going. I asked my daughter. She married this big old boy, bigger than me. Bigger than me and uglier than me, at least in my opinion.
[6:39] I asked her, I said, how do you love him? She said, a lot of practice on you. And I said, how does he treat you? And she said, far better than you ever did. So I'm glad she left. Amen. Just joking.
[6:51] God chose his people. God chose to determine to bless them. The desire is for them to recognize God as God. They need to realize that they've chosen to love God.
[7:02] That's what's going on in the story. Look at Ezra chapter 6 and verse 21. In Ezra chapter 6 and verse 21, when he saved them, this whole nation of Israel, we're getting to the book of Nehemiah.
[7:13] But in Ezra chapter 6 and verse 21, he separated themselves unto them from the filthiness of the heathen. The filthiness of the heathen. You've got to understand, these lost people are filthy.
[7:26] They are doing wicked and vile stuff. You know, they're actually taking their babies and laying them in the bronze arms of a heated idol. And they are sacrificing their kids.
[7:36] They're burning their kids. They're filthy. They are having immoral relationships, man with man and woman with woman and man with another man's woman. And they're having animal stuff.
[7:48] All kind of junk's going on. They're filthy, God says. I pulled you out of that. So you would seek the Lord God of Israel. You would seek the Lord God of Israel. Nehemiah chapter 9 and verse 2, he said, The Lord separated themselves from all strangers.
[8:03] Get away from the people who are worshiping other gods. That is not unusual at all. In the book of Romans chapter 1, Paul even said that God had separated him unto the gospel of God.
[8:15] That's the picture that you get in the New Testament, which I know because we're in the book of Nehemiah. You've been hearing it a lot. But in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 14, you're not to be unequally yoked.
[8:26] That's not just about marriage, by the way. That's about Christians need to be careful who they hook up with. Christians need to be careful who they hook up with. That says unequally yoked with unbelievers.
[8:38] What fellowship do they have? Righteousness with unrighteousness. What communion has light with darkness? What concord has Christ with the devil, Bilal? What part is he that believes in the infidel, an unbeliever?
[8:51] What agreement has the temple of God with idols? Come out and be separate. It's a biblical thing. God calls on you to choose. Jesus, everybody in this room, you say, well, I thought we were talking about marriage.
[9:02] We are. We are. We're going to get there. But see, it starts in this passage with you choose Jesus. Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.
[9:12] You as a believer ought to be saying, I am not trying to find out what the world thinks about this. I'm not trying to find out what the educated people are trying to find out. I want to know what God says. I have chosen Jesus.
[9:25] Second thing I want you to look at. Go with me to Matthew or to Nehemiah chapter 10 and verse 29. Now, when they made this decision to sign that piece of paper, they were making a strong stand, a hard decision on penalty of death.
[9:40] Look at verse 29. This is kind of a crazy verse. They claimed to their brethren, their nobles. They claimed. Underline that. They said, I'll tell you who I'm sticking with. That's all that means. I'll tell you who I'm sticking with.
[9:50] I'm sticking with my brothers and the nobles. And they entered into a curse. Entered into a curse. Basically, they said, if I don't do this, I'd rather be dead.
[10:02] If I don't do this, that God killed me and my family. I mean, I mean business here. I'm not playing around. This isn't some flippant decision I'm making. They entered into a curse and into an oath.
[10:12] What did they promise to do? Look at it. Walk in God's law. You should underline that. I tell you what, I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back. No looking back. Though none go with me, yet I will follow.
[10:24] And if I don't follow, I really wish God would just take me out. I don't follow. I wish God would just take me out. I was at Jason Holt's ordination.
[10:38] And his dad, who's in heaven, was preaching his ordination. He said, I'll just tell you right now, boy, if you come back, you quit, you come back. I hope you come back in the pine box.
[10:51] I mean, the whole room was like, okay, dad, that's a little stronger. Amen. I hope you don't get it. Something help make you cut. But that's what's going on in this verse. They're saying, I'm in. I'm in.
[11:02] By the way, you know, when you got married, you said something like that. You said, I'm leaving all others. And goodness, and the sickness, and the health, and wealth, and poverty, and you never did get the wealth part. You know what I'm talking about?
[11:13] And so they took a strong stand to walk in the law. And look at what it said. They weren't going around like some of us do going, I believe it's a Bible. I believe it's a Bible. Look at the verse. You got it open right there?
[11:24] It said, to observe and do. Would you underline that? A lot of Bible believers in America. Not a lot of Bible doers. A lot of Bible believers.
[11:34] But if you underline it in the verse, which you ought to be, they knew that it was God's law given by Moses. It might have been given by a man, but it was God's. And they said, we're not just going to. I mean, I really get tired of all of us going around and saying, I believe the Bible.
[11:47] I'm like, will you ever read it? Nope. I believe it. No. How do you know you believe it? You haven't read it yet? Say, man. You haven't read it? You say you believe it. Aren't you kind of a hypocrite or a dingbat? One of the two? I mean, one of them.
[11:59] I mean, you ought to read it. To observe and do. They chose. Now, the third thing I want you to look at. Go to Nehemiah chapter 10 and verse 30. Look at Nehemiah chapter 10.
[12:10] This choice was going to influence who their kids would marry. Now we're there. This decision would influence who their kids would marry. Nehemiah chapter 10 and verse 30. That we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons.
[12:27] Now it has gone a lot past theological ideas. It's practical. They said, we have made a decision. We stand with God.
[12:38] We are separating ourselves from the world. And curse us if we don't. And I'll tell you where it goes to. My kids will not be marrying lost people. I didn't say this.
[12:50] I'm just reading a book. Would you read it right here behind my head? We would not give our daughters to the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons. That's a lot of strong talk there.
[13:02] But they've been warned about that all through their history. If you're a Bible person, which I hope you are, all this, we're up to Nehemiah, and all this, they've been being told that all along. Go with me, if you would, to Exodus chapter 34 and verse 11.
[13:15] Now they have just gotten out of the land of Egypt, out of slavery. They have crossed the Red Sea, and they're now wandering in the wilderness, and they're getting all the law, and God's telling them everything.
[13:28] And notice what he says to them in Exodus 34 11. He said, observe thou, that means pay attention, to that which I command thee. Just say, y'all listen to what I'm telling you today. Behold, I drive out.
[13:41] And he named all these people. He's driving out all these tribes. Now, these are all wicked people. They practice sexual perversion. They sacrifice their babies and their children.
[13:54] They will actually take children that are old enough to, I mean, they take my grandkids, like Chloe came in and hugged me this morning in my Sunday school class, and they take a girl like Chloe, who's this tall, and they take her and just stick her in an oven and burn her for some demon god.
[14:08] He said, those are filthy people. Stay away from them. Get them out of here. Because God has never called on anybody to sacrifice their kid. Can I get an amen? So look at it.
[14:19] Exodus 34 12. So you get what he's saying. Take heed. Make a covenant. Take heed, lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land.
[14:32] See, here's the deal. He said, now, look, guys, I'm throwing them out. But you need to be careful because you just might make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land. And you need to underline it in your Bible, and that'll be a snare to you.
[14:44] Underline it in the Bible. That'll be a snare to you, lest it be a snare for thee. Verse 13. You shall break, you shall destroy their altars.
[14:55] You shall break down their images. You shall cut down their groves, their worship places. Destroy their worship. You're like, Austin, come on.
[15:05] That's old-time fundamental Baptist right there. Where does the coexist? Not in the Bible. Not in the Bible. He said, you'll go in there.
[15:17] I'm giving you this land. I'm throwing these people out. Don't even hook up with them because it'll be a snare to you. Destroy their altars. Break down their images. Cut down their groves. Verse 14. Worship no other God.
[15:28] Are you ready for this? Because my name's jealous. Because my name's jealous. I like you liking me and nobody else. I don't find that all that strange. I don't have to walk around saying I'm jealous, but I am.
[15:41] I mean, I don't really want my wife with another man. The rest of y'all in here. How many of y'all just like, no, I offer open marriage. You kind of got an open mind, all right? Your brain fell out if you're for that. Say amen.
[15:54] God said, I don't like my people liking other gods. If you like me, you don't like other gods. Could you amen right there? All right? And look, if you would, at verse 15. If you get around these people, you'll learn their ways and you'll go a-whoring.
[16:06] That's a Bible word. Verse 15. Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land and go a-whoring after their gods. You know what ends up happening? If you don't get rid of them, if you don't hate wicked worship, you will sign up with it.
[16:21] You'll become friends with it. And the next thing you know, you will go a-whoring. And you'll like their gods. You'll like their gods, it said. And you will do sacrifice to their gods. And they'll call you and say, come over for a party.
[16:34] And we're going to worship my false god tonight. You come. Hmm? So over here at this house over here, they're going to light some incense for some Hindu god tonight. And you're like, well, I think I'd like to see on that.
[16:46] And you go over there and you say, well, the incense smells good. And the little god, he looks pretty good. And the people are friendly. And I don't think I see very much wrong with that. Okay, you just messed up.
[16:57] That's what he's saying. He told these Israelites that all the way back in Exodus. Now go down, if you would, to verse 16, Exodus 34, 16.
[17:07] And thou take their daughters unto your sons, and their daughters go a-whoring after other gods. And what that means, in God's economy, your love for him is like being married to him.
[17:20] So if you're in love with God, and you go on a date with a false god, you're a-whoring. Did you hear that? I love Jesus, but I think I'll check out these new gods people are making up, and God's up in his.
[17:35] Whoa, whoa. I love my husband, but I think I'll go on a date with a new guy moved in the community. Oh, no, you don't. That's a-whoring. You don't go a-whoring. Look at verse 16.
[17:46] You make your sons go a-whoring after their god. This is not a racial restriction. It isn't saying you can't go with them because of their skin color.
[17:58] It's saying you can't go with them because of their religious affiliation. It's a religious reason. In the Bible, there is Rahab the harlot, who is not a Jewish lady.
[18:10] There is Ruth, who is a Moabitess, who is not a Jewish lady. They both make it into the lineage of Jesus. It isn't about their race. It's about who they worship. You can be Arabic, but not Islamic.
[18:23] I can't put up with Islam. I can put up with Arabic. I can love Arabic. I can love an Arab person. I cannot love a false god. I'm going to check out that new church where the pastor's got on his skinny jeans.
[18:37] He goes for everything. Well, I couldn't put on skinny jeans. So we're just going to have to stick with the Bible and what it says. Amen. Thank God there's a Bible or I'd be out of business.
[18:50] So who is a Christian to marry? So who is a Christian to marry? Marriage is a God thing. And we need to understand that. Marriage is a God thing.
[19:00] Society didn't come up with this idea. Humans didn't come up with it. Psychologists didn't figure it out. And evolution didn't figure it out. It's a God thing. You see, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
[19:11] And when he created the heavens and the earth, he made marriage. If you're married, I'll get to this a little bit more. I got so much we might not finish.
[19:22] But in the very beginning, God made Adam, he made Eve, and he put them together. And it was his purposes. That's why they got married. Now, before I go on any further, I need to stop and have one of them things where the guy talks real fast on the radio commercial.
[19:36] And he goes, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. If you're married, nobody in this room gets to say, I think I married the wrong one. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You don't get to do that. You don't get to do that. If you got married, you're married.
[19:46] And we're going to talk about how to fix that, too. So there's no outs here. So please don't get that here. By the way, even if you married a lost person, the Bible says you ought to stay together.
[20:01] 1 Corinthians 7, verse 12. You got your Bible? You're going to do a little working today. All you people, your fingers are going to get all messed up on your keyboard trying to find it in your electronic Bible.
[20:14] You can just look it up in the Bible. We've got to mark it. 1 Corinthians 7, verse 12. He says, to the rest speak I, not the Lord, which Paul says that. So for those of you who are Bible studiers, when Paul says, I speak this by permission and not by commandment, that doesn't mean it's not the Word of God.
[20:29] It just means most of the time when Paul preaches, this will blow your mind. Don't tell any of our fancy, cool preachers. But even the New Testament preachers, when they preach, they're always quoting the Old Testament. See, real preaching is Bible preaching.
[20:41] Real preaching is not a preacher telling you what he thinks. It's real preachers, a guy saying, this is what the Word of God says. I'm explaining it. So Paul said, but this one right here, he's giving me new stuff. Go ahead and write her down. She'll be Bible tomorrow. But right now, I'm just telling you.
[20:52] And it is the Word of God. He said, a wife that believes not, if any brother have a wife that believes not, and she'll live with him, she ought not put him away. Or he ought not let him not put her away.
[21:03] You see that? So don't you leave here saying, well, my wife's lost. I'm canning her rear today. That's not what this is saying. Verse 13, and the woman which has a husband that believes not, if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.
[21:16] You know why? Because in verse 14, if the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband. You understand what happens?
[21:27] Because if you're married to a lost person, and you're loving Jesus and living for Jesus, living out what Scripture says, your spouse is going to be like something different about her. There was this guy in Peru.
[21:38] He wouldn't come to our church for anything. And we were visiting him one day and talking to him, and he said, but you can keep my wife. Keep her going down there. But why would you let her go if you don't believe it?
[21:49] He said, oh, man, she's a whole different woman now. I think every man ought to run his wife down through there. Because, you know, when you learn some Bible, you become a better wife. Could I get an amen right there? When you learn some Bible, you become a better husband.
[22:01] Women, you can say amen right there. Now go with me to 1 Peter 3. I know I'm running around the Bible, but it's the whole point of who you ought to marry. 1 Peter 3. Suppose I'm married to a lost person.
[22:11] Don't leave him. Don't leave her. Sanctify. Pray for her. Share the gospel. Live a Christian life. Have influence that will eventually draw them to Jesus, Lord willing.
[22:23] 1 Peter 3 and verse 1. He says, likewise ye wives. Peter's writing this letter. He says, be in subjection to your own husbands. Wives, submit to your husbands.
[22:34] Wives, be submissive toward your husband. Now look at this. That if any obey not the word, if any obey not the word, underline that, put a margin and say unsaved.
[22:46] Unsaved. If you don't obey the word, you're not saved. If you don't obey the word, you're not born again. And so if anybody obey not the word, they obey not the word.
[22:58] Here's what you're supposed to do. That they may be one. That they also may, without the word, be one by the conversation. Under conversation, just draw a circle around, put it at the margin and put the way you live.
[23:10] See, what's supposed to happen is your manner of life. So what's going to happen is, you know, by the way, if you're a saved husband and wife, quit bellyaching all the time about your lost husband.
[23:21] Or your lost wife. Quit being, quit doing that. Had another lady in Peru and she just ripped him all the time. I'll be going to help him when I die, but you won't.
[23:33] You're burning in hell, hubby. That really doesn't tend towards a good marriage. Say amen. That doesn't really help your marriage. Hey, do what you want to do.
[23:43] Husband, go on after you get drunk. You better enjoy it while you can. You'll be frying like sausage in a minute. Probably not the best way. Here's what he said. If they don't obey the Bible, then you live out who you are.
[23:54] So a wife that would go home and be loving and kind to her husband, a wife that would, hey, don't put a gospel track in his breakfast. He gets there at work. He gets ready to eat his sandwich at lunchtime and he bites it.
[24:06] He says, something in there. And he opens up and there's a gospel track. You're stuck in it. He's not just hoping he'd get saved. That's not a way to get it done. You do it without the word. Look at the Bible. That's the word of God. Without the word. Without the word.
[24:17] That they can be won by the way you live. In verse 2 there it says, by your chaste conversation, by your pure living. With your respectful living coupled with fear. And really you're not worried about how you look on the outside as much as you are on the inside.
[24:32] That doesn't mean you don't worry about the outside. It just means that more important is how you're looking on the inside. You choose who you marry. I just said all that so I could say this.
[24:42] Some of you are going to get out here and say, I married the wrong one. I'm going home. Do you have a number for, I'll be after shaking hands. You're going to say, could you give me a number for a lawyer? I'm canning her this week. That's not what the scriptures say. Can I get an amen right there?
[24:54] All right. So you're going to win her to Christ. You're going to win him to Christ. It's going to be different. But the biblical idea is that you are living your life on purpose. Every Christian ought to live on purpose.
[25:08] You ought to know who you are and know what you're supposed to be doing. Seek ye first the kingdom of God. So you ought to honestly get up every day and say, I'm for Jesus. I'm serving Jesus. I'm making decisions based on Jesus.
[25:19] So you don't marry somebody that wouldn't please Jesus. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 and verse 39 that this lady's husband has died and she can get married to anybody she wants to.
[25:33] As long as they're in the Lord, only in the Lord. In other words, believers marry believers. Those who love Jesus marry those that love Jesus.
[25:44] It's going to be all through your Bible, by the way. In 1 Corinthians chapter 9 and verse 5, the apostle Paul is talking about Peter and the other apostles. He said they all got to get married to a sister. To a person that was a believer.
[25:57] To another sister the other day we were baptizing. And some of the dads were baptizing their kid. And now my sister, now my brother in the Lord, they get married to a sister.
[26:10] You see, separation, biblical separation is what brought all this to a head. You see, honestly, if here at my house we're worshiping Jesus and we're loving Jesus and my son marries this woman that has a false God, she's going to come to my house and she's going to say to her husband, I don't want to go over.
[26:29] They talk too much about Jesus. Or they're going to say, I'm not comfortable in their house. They've got too many Bibles laying around. Or your daughter's married to that guy or your husband, whichever side it is.
[26:42] They're not comfortable together. Or you get to go over to their party and it's all about something else. 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 14 that we went over, you're not to be yoked up like that. You don't want to get hooked up with anybody.
[26:55] You don't want to get hooked up with anybody that would take you away from Jesus. You don't even want to get hooked up with somebody in business that will take you away from Jesus. You don't want to do any. Your life is Jesus first.
[27:08] Jesus second. Jesus third. Jesus the whole list. It's about Jesus. Throw this in for our young people.
[27:19] Missionary dating is very risky. You know, here you are, young man, you say, she's purdy and I think she ought to get saved. So I'm going to take her out on a date. That kind of goes against this whole deal here.
[27:32] First off, you really haven't got your mind on Jesus when you're on that date. You've got your mind on how sweet she smells. Say, man. Just ignore me. When we talk about who you marry in Bible terms, you'll have to get weird about dating.
[27:49] But you need to know whoever you date has a good indication where you're headed. Well, I know he doesn't believe in God, but he's a good guy.
[28:00] No, he's not. You can't be a good guy if you don't know Jesus. You can act like a good guy, but you're not. Well, he's got a good heart. No, he's got a black heart. He's got a dark heart.
[28:10] He's got a God-hating heart. Y'all make sure that back hallway is cleared out there, Josh, so I can get out when everybody starts throwing stuff.
[28:23] The original marriage in the Bible was about doing God's work together. So when you study the Bible, you go back and figure out, now, who started marriage? We call it first mention.
[28:34] You go to the first mention, well, it was God. It wasn't like the Israelites got together and made up. There's no Israelites for hundreds of years to come. There's no Israelites.
[28:45] In fact, the whole world is going to get wiped out. And Genesis 6, 7, and 8 is going to get wiped out, except for about eight people. And the whole world is going to get wiped out. We're going to start all over again. But from the very beginning, God's the one who made a man and a woman.
[28:57] And it was God who decided that that's how marriage was going to work. And you can't redefine that. I don't care how many times you want to redefine it. I don't care what the state of New York has to say about it or anybody else. You can't redefine what God's already said.
[29:09] In Genesis 2, verse 15, the Bible says, The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden. You say, now, how did that work? Well, God's so big, he just reached out and said, come here, Adam.
[29:21] There you are. Because God did what he wants. I mean, he just took dirt and formed it together and breathed into it. The nostrils of breath of life and made a man. You say, you really believe that? Yep, I do.
[29:32] Just like it says. And he told that man to dress it and keep the garden. And then they looked around for somebody to be a helpmeet for Adam, and they didn't find any. And so in verse 18, he said, it's not good that the man will be alone.
[29:45] I'll just make him a helpmeet or a helpfit, the right person to help him do what I got in mind for him to do. I think I've shown you more than enough in the scriptures so far today, God wanted separation.
[30:01] God wanted separation. What's the separation about? It's not about races. It's not about nationalities. It's about who you love. Do you love God? In the Bible, the most beautiful picture, I think, of a wife in marriage is Proverbs chapter 31.
[30:20] And most of you have heard that on Mother's Day. You've heard that read about who can find a virtuous woman. Her price is far above rubies.
[30:30] And in chapter 31 and verse 30, favor is deceitful because you can look pretty, but it's going away. And beauty is vain. But a woman that fears the Lord, she shall be praised.
[30:45] Proverbs 31, 30. You know, if you've ever seen those things where they say, this is your favorite actress when she was 18, and here's her picture now, and you're like, Lord, help me Jesus. She must be on the Transformers movie.
[30:58] How do you get from that to a truck? I mean, Sherry laughed at my joke. That's the funniest thing of all.
[31:10] You know what doesn't change? That man or that woman who loves Jesus. You know what will make her beautiful? When she's 100 and got more road maps than Rand McNally has maps.
[31:21] She got them on her face, lines going everywhere. She's more round than she is all that thin that she used to be. You know what will make her beautiful? All loving Jesus. Last thing I want to show you.
[31:36] The clearest picture, the clearest picture of marriage in the entire Bible is found in Ephesians 5, verse 21. I don't have time to show that all to you.
[31:46] You've heard it preached here. I've shown it to you more than once. Anybody, when you say, I want to preach on the family, the first place you're going to go is Ephesians 5. It's the best passage of Scripture.
[31:56] The fact is, it says three times that husbands don't know how to love their wives and need to learn how. You know, men are just dumb. Men are like, I'm a lover. I used to tell the Previans, you think you're a Latin lover, but you don't know anything about love.
[32:10] Or God wouldn't have said three times you need to learn how to love. He said three times to the wife, she'd learn how to submit. It's like them women have a hard time with that one. Say, baby, amen. I'm in trouble.
[32:24] But you know, when he finishes that, in fact, if I had time to go through it with you, it starts off by saying, as Christ is the head of the church. He is the Savior of the body. The church is subject to him.
[32:35] As Christ loved. A glorious church. Even as the Lord, the church. And he ends up saying in verse 32, I'm talking about Jesus Christ. I'm talking about Christ and the church.
[32:47] So who can you marry? Well, if you had a picture of it from the Word of God, you'd realize that marriage in the very beginning was a God thing. And when you get the whole story told through the whole Bible, you get over to Ephesians chapter 5, it's going to be about Jesus and the church.
[33:06] If you get to Revelation, which we won't take the time to go there, you're going to find out the church is his bride. It's about Jesus and the church.
[33:17] Now, how in the world do we go about marrying people that don't love Jesus? And so, parents, you need to make a decision. And I know it can make you mad when I say it, but I've got Bible authority, and I've proven it this morning.
[33:27] You need to help your kids know. We don't date people that don't love Jesus. You say, well, he says he does. Well, where's he going to church? How many times has he read his Bible through? How much is he living for Jesus?
[33:39] You don't take a man's word for it. Hey, buddy, you been drinking? No. Biggest drunk in town. We think the biggest drunk in town is going to tell you, if I have, I can hold my liquor. We don't go by their word. I want a breath analyzer test.
[33:50] I want to know if you really love Jesus. I want a Bible analyzer test. Do you love Jesus? Now, your parents, we got a lot of young people in this church, and you cannot take this lightly.
[34:03] You cannot take this lightly. They swore an oath under a curse that their kids wouldn't marry. Lost people. Let me explain something to you.
[34:16] You're going to be hard-pressed to find a guy who loves Hindus as much as I do, or Muslims, or atheists, or homosexuals. I love them all. I want them to get saved.
[34:28] But my kids can't marry them. We can evangelize them. But we just can't really be having a lot of parties together. It's not our place to be.
[34:40] You don't love Jesus, but I love you anyway. I love you until you get saved. But, I mean, I just can't run where you... Tell me who you run around with, and I'll tell you who you are. Birds of a feather flock together.
[34:53] Father, I know the new cool church is, we don't come as you are, stay as you are, we don't give a rip, whatever happens. Not this book. That doesn't mean you come...
[35:04] I don't care how anybody comes in here. I don't care about the dress. I'm talking about the heart. You need to know Jesus. Now, you parents ought to make a decision this morning. I want to help my children find people that love Jesus.
[35:17] Now, everybody in the Southeast loves Jesus. So, they can't love Jesus. They got to love Jesus. You say, what's the difference? Oh, you know. Oh, you know.
[35:33] Who are we to marry? Well, since marriage is a God thing, it starts out that way and ends up that way in the whole Bible. And I'm God's. I want to marry somebody that pleases God.
[35:44] You say, well, what about if my child has some kind of gender confusion? I don't really think they're born with it. I think you taught them that.
[35:57] I do feel like a Lone Ranger this morning. But just be honest with you. It's time to say what the Word of God says. So, Dad, why don't you come forward and say, I'm going to ask God to help me help my kids marry the right kind of person.
[36:11] A person that loves Jesus. Why don't you come forward and say that? Young people, why don't you come forward and say that? Why don't you make a decision? We teach about loving Jesus.
[36:22] If you're here and you've never been saved, you're not sure you'd go to heaven if you died, you can be saved today. We want you to have a new life. We want you to know Jesus Christ as your Savior. That's the most important thing of all.
[36:33] You need to know Him. So, if you're not saved, in a minute I'll give you an opportunity. There'll be two men standing here at the front. And their wives will be here with them. So, if you're a lady, you can come forward and they'll take the Bible and they'll show you how to turn to Jesus and trust Jesus.
[36:45] That's what you want to do today. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.