1 00:00:00,200 --> 00:00:05,280 Good morning. As Weston mentioned, my name's 2 00:00:05,280 --> 00:00:07,840 Kurt. I am one of the pastors here. 3 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:11,720 In fact, I'm the only pastor here at the it's time. 4 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,840 Couple of my friends are in Washington, DC right now. 5 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:20,080 If you don't know these random guys on the screen on the left, 6 00:00:20,080 --> 00:00:21,800 that's Tony. He's the lead pastor of Vita 7 00:00:21,800 --> 00:00:23,560 Springs. He's got about two more weeks 8 00:00:23,560 --> 00:00:25,880 left in his internship in Washington, DC. 9 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:29,840 And then Gordon and Josh are a couple of the other on staff 10 00:00:29,840 --> 00:00:32,439 pastors here. They are at an event called the 11 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:36,520 Weekender up in Washington, DC. That's all Capitol Hill behind 12 00:00:36,520 --> 00:00:38,960 them. They're up there kind of a 13 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:42,560 intensive weekend at the church. And so they get to spend some 14 00:00:42,560 --> 00:00:45,880 extra time with Tony. So I get to teach us today. 15 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:54,160 So this year when people find out that I'm from Indiana, they 16 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,600 say, oh, you must be really, really excited because Indiana 17 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,280 University won the national championship in football. 18 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:07,080 And I say no, not at all. I am from Bloomington IN, which 19 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:10,480 is where Indiana University is. And I grew up a fan of Purdue 20 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:13,240 University, bitter Rivals. And I went to school at Purdue. 21 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:17,000 And and so it is in my blood to be a Purdue fan, which means 22 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:20,120 it's in my blood to root against Indiana University. 23 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,920 And so for me to do that would be very faithless of me. 24 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,400 It would be disloyal. I just, I cannot bear to do it. 25 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,680 And I would say any Purdue fan who cheered for IU is not a true 26 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:33,040 Purdue fan. They're they're faithless, 27 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:34,400 right? And you would understand that, 28 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:35,720 right? You're for many of you, you're 29 00:01:35,720 --> 00:01:38,040 Gator fans, right, in all kinds of weather. 30 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:40,960 And so it doesn't matter who the opponent would be. 31 00:01:40,960 --> 00:01:43,640 If, if the University of Georgia was playing in the national tag 32 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:46,640 game, would you root for them? No, of course not. 33 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:49,080 That would be faithless. That would be disloyal. 34 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:52,560 We have this innate sense in US of, of loyalty and commitment 35 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:55,680 and betrayal stings and, and sports is kind of a ridiculous 36 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:57,720 example, right? Sports, they don't really mean 37 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,480 anything, right? There's much greater things in 38 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:03,480 life to be concerned about, to be loyal and to be faithful 39 00:02:03,480 --> 00:02:05,920 towards like let's say in marriage, right? 40 00:02:05,920 --> 00:02:08,039 That's where, where one place it really counts. 41 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:12,200 And when there's faithlessness in marriage, it is painful, it 42 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:17,880 stings, it's betrayal. And I would add in a greater, in 43 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:23,880 a greater sense, even faithless living towards our faithful God 44 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:29,440 is, is maybe the most offensive form of betrayal and disloyalty 45 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:33,600 and faithlessness that there is. I share that because that's what 46 00:02:33,600 --> 00:02:37,440 we're going to be talking about today in the book of Malachi. 47 00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:42,200 We're going to see some people who betrayed their God, who was 48 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:45,600 loyal, who is faithful, and the people were faithless. 49 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:48,600 We're in the book of Malachi. We're preaching through this, 50 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,400 this short prophetic book in the Old Testament. 51 00:02:51,400 --> 00:02:52,960 Go ahead and turn there. If you have a Bible, if you 52 00:02:52,960 --> 00:02:55,600 don't grab a Bible from under seat in front of you, I want you 53 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:59,240 to follow along with me. If you're not sure, it should be 54 00:02:59,240 --> 00:03:01,120 on page 8, O1. If you have one of those black 55 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:07,320 Bibles we're going to see today, Malachi issues a rebuke to 56 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:12,520 people who are betraying God. They were being faithless to God 57 00:03:12,920 --> 00:03:17,560 through divorce and illicit marriages, and they were calling 58 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:19,280 it good. They were acting like everything 59 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:21,600 was OK. And so Malachi is going to 60 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:25,320 rebuke them and he's going to call them back to faithful 61 00:03:25,520 --> 00:03:27,760 living. He's going to call them back to 62 00:03:27,760 --> 00:03:32,360 faithfully live towards God and towards one another and 63 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:37,720 especially within marriage. So here's here's our main main 64 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:43,160 aim, our main point for today, as God has been faithful to you, 65 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:50,280 as God has been faithful to us, we are to be faithful to him and 66 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:53,480 who you marry and in that marriage. 67 00:03:55,600 --> 00:04:01,200 Now, before I get into this, I know for many of you, you have 68 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:04,800 either you, you have some relationship with somebody who 69 00:04:04,800 --> 00:04:08,480 is divorced or a broken marriage of some sorts. 70 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:10,400 Maybe that's you, you have been divorced. 71 00:04:10,400 --> 00:04:13,000 Maybe you're remarried, maybe you're going through a divorce. 72 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:14,760 Maybe your parents were divorced. 73 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:17,760 Right there. You seen faithlessness in 74 00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:19,360 marriage. And it's, it's painful and it's 75 00:04:19,360 --> 00:04:21,360 sensitive. And so I wanted you to be 76 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:25,280 attentive to that and just call that out today and say, hear me 77 00:04:25,280 --> 00:04:29,360 out as we work through this. And God has something for all of 78 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:33,000 us in that today, as I mentioned, we've been preaching 79 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:34,520 through Malachi. This is the fourth week. 80 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:36,880 We've got four more to go after this. 81 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:39,560 We're going to be 8 weeks total. Malachi was a prophet. 82 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:44,600 He was about 450 years before, roughly before Jesus came on the 83 00:04:44,600 --> 00:04:47,840 scene. And in his book, he issues these 84 00:04:47,840 --> 00:04:51,320 disputes with God's people. And so there's six of them 85 00:04:51,320 --> 00:04:53,160 total. We're in the third dispute 86 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:57,840 today, again dealing a lot with faithlessness in marriage. 87 00:04:57,840 --> 00:05:05,120 So let me take a moment and pause for a time of silence just 88 00:05:05,160 --> 00:05:09,880 to gather ourselves and our hearts before God, to take a 89 00:05:09,880 --> 00:05:15,640 moment and pause to pray or just to listen before we get into the 90 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:17,000 teaching. So you do that with me. 91 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,480 Or take 20 seconds or so and just slow down for a moment and 92 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:23,920 wait and listen and pray. And then I'll read the text and 93 00:05:23,920 --> 00:05:46,880 we'll get to it. Malachi chapter 2, verses 10 to 94 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:54,400 16. Have we not all one Father? 95 00:05:55,320 --> 00:06:02,760 Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one 96 00:06:02,760 --> 00:06:06,040 another, profaning the covenant of our fathers? 97 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:10,880 Judah has been faithless, and abomination has been committed 98 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:14,680 in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the 99 00:06:14,680 --> 00:06:18,720 sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the 100 00:06:18,720 --> 00:06:23,920 daughter of a foreign God. May the Lord cut off from the 101 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:27,360 tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does this, who 102 00:06:27,360 --> 00:06:29,840 brings an offering to the Lord of hosts. 103 00:06:31,160 --> 00:06:34,840 And the second thing you do, you cover the Lord's altar with 104 00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:38,840 tears, with weeping and groaning, because he no longer 105 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:42,240 regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. 106 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:49,000 But you say, why does he not? Because the Lord was witness 107 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:53,680 between you and the wife of your youth, to whom you have been 108 00:06:53,680 --> 00:06:58,160 faithless, though she is your companion and your wife by 109 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:01,120 covenant. Did he not make them one with a 110 00:07:01,120 --> 00:07:03,160 portion of the Spirit and their union? 111 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:07,800 And what was the one God seeking godly offspring. 112 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:11,800 So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be 113 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:13,600 faithless to the wife of your youth. 114 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:20,760 For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says 115 00:07:20,760 --> 00:07:25,240 the Lord, The God of Israel covers his garment with 116 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:27,560 violence, says the Lord of hosts. 117 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:34,920 So guard yourselves and your spirit, and do not be faithless. 118 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:40,040 Let me pray. Lord, we thank you for these 119 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:43,040 words that you have preserved and provided for us. 120 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:47,040 They are your words spoken through the prophet Malachi many 121 00:07:47,040 --> 00:07:52,280 years ago, and yet they are still true and for us today. 122 00:07:53,280 --> 00:07:57,520 Help me, Lord, to preach faithfully to you in this text, 123 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:00,040 to honor you with my words and what I say. 124 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:06,800 Lord, help us to honor you rightly, to see you as you are 125 00:08:06,880 --> 00:08:12,160 the faithful God, and help us, Lord, call us into faithful 126 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:14,440 living. Amen. 127 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:20,480 So there's there's a couple of charges or indictments that 128 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:24,880 Malachi issues to the people today, both related to marriage. 129 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:26,640 And so let's start with the first one. 130 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:32,919 God indicts their faithlessness to each other and to himself. 131 00:08:32,919 --> 00:08:36,760 So look back at verse 10. Malachi starts off and he says, 132 00:08:36,919 --> 00:08:42,080 have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? 133 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:45,320 So he's saying he's reminding them, hey, aren't we one 134 00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:49,880 remember 1 father Abraham created by God as one people, 135 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:51,760 right? We are his children, He is our 136 00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:55,240 father. There's some echoes of the Shema 137 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:57,400 in here. And this was a phrase that the 138 00:08:57,400 --> 00:09:00,440 Jews all memorized and repeated often. 139 00:09:00,680 --> 00:09:05,360 It goes like this. The Lord our God, the Lord is 1. 140 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:10,560 The Lord our God the Lord is 1. And so in Malachi's questioning 141 00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:13,120 of them, he's saying, don't we have remember, Remember the 142 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:15,280 Shema, Remember the Lord our God, the Lord is 1. 143 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:18,640 Don't we all have one father? Hasn't one God created us? 144 00:09:19,880 --> 00:09:22,920 So if that's the case, and then he gets into his argument, the 145 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:25,920 rest of verse 10, he says why then, right. 146 00:09:25,920 --> 00:09:30,840 If this is our God, there's one God that we serve, why then are 147 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:35,240 we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our 148 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:37,440 fathers? Judah has been faithless. 149 00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:42,200 Abomination has been committed. Judah has profaned the sanctuary 150 00:09:42,560 --> 00:09:44,720 of the Lord. He says, all right, why are you 151 00:09:44,720 --> 00:09:48,680 being faithless? If this is our God, the one God 152 00:09:48,680 --> 00:09:53,840 who has created us all, why are you being faithless or disloyal 153 00:09:54,240 --> 00:09:57,800 or unreliable? Why are you betraying one 154 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:00,560 another? And so he brings this charge up 155 00:10:00,560 --> 00:10:03,240 interestingly against each other. 156 00:10:03,240 --> 00:10:05,640 And we're going to see they're being faithless within 157 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:08,200 marriages. But it's a communal thing. 158 00:10:08,680 --> 00:10:11,200 And maybe some people weren't being faithless in the way he's 159 00:10:11,200 --> 00:10:12,920 describing, but they were allowing it. 160 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:15,320 They were OK. They're kind of collectively 161 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:16,760 letting this be OK. And he says you're being 162 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:21,920 faithless to one another. He says you're profaning the 163 00:10:21,920 --> 00:10:23,600 covenant in the sanctuary, right? 164 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:25,920 We think of the word profanity, right? 165 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,600 It's profane is to treat something with irreverence or 166 00:10:29,600 --> 00:10:34,800 disrespect or even to violate, he says because of your 167 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:37,680 faithlessness to one another, because we're going to see their 168 00:10:37,680 --> 00:10:41,160 faithlessness, faithlessness within marriage. 169 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:44,600 It's like profanity against God's covenant, right? 170 00:10:44,600 --> 00:10:46,160 This union that he made with you. 171 00:10:46,160 --> 00:10:47,280 And I'll get into that in a moment. 172 00:10:47,280 --> 00:10:49,560 Some of the covenant and his sanctuary, they're they're 173 00:10:49,560 --> 00:10:52,360 bringing and making and desecrating God's holy temple 174 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:56,320 because they're bringing in these offerings, but they are 175 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:00,120 living faithlessly. He says they've committed 176 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:02,760 abomination. It's one of those words where 177 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:04,720 you know it's bad, but you can't really define it. 178 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:08,520 What is it abomination, right? It's it's something that's evil, 179 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:12,880 it's disgusting, it's horrific, it's a disgrace. 180 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:17,040 The word abomination is used in in Leviticus talking about child 181 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:21,800 sacrifice, right? That's an abomination and this 182 00:11:21,800 --> 00:11:25,040 is what they are doing. They are doing it to each other. 183 00:11:25,480 --> 00:11:28,920 They're profaning God's temple in the sanctuary and how and it 184 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:32,000 and it kind of builds up and then and it says explicitly how 185 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:36,880 at the universe 11, he says you have married the daughter of a 186 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:40,320 foreign God. We've married the daughter of 187 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:42,280 foreign God. Let me unpack this a little bit. 188 00:11:42,720 --> 00:11:47,000 Essentially he's saying you are marrying women who worship other 189 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:49,640 gods. He's not saying foreign women. 190 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:52,600 OK, so non Jewish women. That's not what he's talking 191 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:53,440 about. Actually. 192 00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:56,960 God welcomed outsiders. He was one of the only gods, 193 00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:59,400 maybe the only God at that time who would actually welcome 194 00:11:59,560 --> 00:12:03,760 people into his family if they devoted themselves to him. 195 00:12:04,320 --> 00:12:08,840 In fact, there's two women that stand out, Rahab and Ruth, both 196 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:12,400 in the lineage of Jesus. Matthew includes them in Jesus's 197 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:15,360 lineage, and these were foreign women. 198 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:19,760 Many of the Old Testament passages actually denounced 199 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:25,400 mixed marriages, but not because of ethnicity, but because of 200 00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:28,800 idolatry. That's the issue that's at play, 201 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:32,400 Idolatry, not ethnicity. And so what's happening in 202 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:36,320 Malachi's day is people were marrying non Israelite women, 203 00:12:36,400 --> 00:12:38,320 non covenant women. You might say they've got a 204 00:12:38,320 --> 00:12:41,160 different father, they're of a different religion. 205 00:12:41,160 --> 00:12:43,640 They do not worship the one true God. 206 00:12:44,880 --> 00:12:47,800 They are devoted to another God. They are the daughter of a 207 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:50,800 foreign God. They have yoked themselves to 208 00:12:50,800 --> 00:12:55,000 some other spiritual being. That's who they're in bed with. 209 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:02,400 And Malachi is rebuking them for this marriage to someone who's 210 00:13:02,400 --> 00:13:04,800 already, in one sense, married to another person. 211 00:13:04,800 --> 00:13:08,840 They're married to another God because you can't be one with 212 00:13:08,840 --> 00:13:13,360 God and another God, right? You can't be faithful and 213 00:13:13,360 --> 00:13:16,040 faithless at the same time. If you're faithful and then 214 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:18,800 you're faithless, it wipes out your faithfulness. 215 00:13:19,160 --> 00:13:21,240 He's saying you can't do that anymore. 216 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:26,280 And why is this so profane, right? 217 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:28,960 Why does he call this profanity and abomination? 218 00:13:30,280 --> 00:13:33,640 Because we aren't comparing people to people. 219 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:38,520 We're comparing our faithfulness to God and in light of God's 220 00:13:38,520 --> 00:13:43,160 covenant faithfulness to these people, this is an abomination. 221 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:47,640 This is profanity. That they would be marrying 222 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:51,840 people from a different religion who worship different gods and 223 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:54,640 bringing them into the temple and offering sacrifices and 224 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:58,160 saying it's all good, right? It's profanity. 225 00:13:58,680 --> 00:14:02,120 I want to take a trip back to Deuteronomy Chapter 7. 226 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:04,480 You can flip there if you want. Keep your finger there if not. 227 00:14:04,480 --> 00:14:06,200 I'm going to put some of these verses on the screen. 228 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:10,280 But I want to look at this covenant because I think in all 229 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:13,080 of what I'm teaching today, if we don't understand how 230 00:14:13,080 --> 00:14:19,040 incredibly faithful God is to us, then we won't quite 231 00:14:19,040 --> 00:14:23,120 understand how atrocious and awful it is when we are 232 00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:27,360 faithless towards other people in marriage. 233 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:30,800 God is faithful. Now here's what happened. 234 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:36,240 Deuteronomy 7, God rescued his, these people from Egypt. 235 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:39,400 He is about to send them into the promised land where they're 236 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:41,720 going to conquer the people, take over the land. 237 00:14:42,400 --> 00:14:44,360 And here's what he says. He says when the Lord your God 238 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:46,520 brings you into the land. And here's the first verses that 239 00:14:46,520 --> 00:14:49,320 are going to be on the screen. Deuteronomy 7, starting verse 2, 240 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:54,160 here's what God says. You shall make no covenant with 241 00:14:54,160 --> 00:14:59,360 them, the enemies, the outsiders, and show no mercy to 242 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:01,920 them. You shall not intermarry with 243 00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:05,160 them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their 244 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:09,720 daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons 245 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:12,280 from following me to serve other gods. 246 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:15,440 Then the anger of the Lord would be kindled against you, and He 247 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:19,000 would destroy you quickly. He knows how they're going to be 248 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,920 tempted to go in that land and then betray Him and His covenant 249 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:24,600 faithfulness. And so He warns them up front. 250 00:15:24,840 --> 00:15:27,880 Don't do it. You are making a covenant with 251 00:15:27,880 --> 00:15:31,040 some other gods when you do that and you intermarry with them and 252 00:15:31,280 --> 00:15:35,000 they will turn you away from following me. 253 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,840 He gives them this great warning and then in the next verses He 254 00:15:39,840 --> 00:15:44,640 reminds them why this is so important as He reminds them why 255 00:15:44,640 --> 00:15:48,280 and how they have this union with God, this covenant with 256 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:50,760 him. In the 1st place, Deuteronomy 7 257 00:15:50,760 --> 00:15:56,240 verse 6 says for you are a people holy to the Lord your 258 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:59,720 God. The Lord your God has chosen you 259 00:16:00,360 --> 00:16:04,080 to be a people for His treasured possession out of all the 260 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:05,640 peoples who are on the face of the earth. 261 00:16:06,600 --> 00:16:11,320 God says I chose you, I chose you, I want you to be my 262 00:16:11,320 --> 00:16:14,040 treasured possession. I want you to be my bride. 263 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:16,480 I want to be in a covenant relationship with you. 264 00:16:16,480 --> 00:16:19,200 You are a people wholly to the Word, to the Lord. 265 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:21,480 That means you're set apart, you're distinct, you're 266 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:23,560 different. You're 1 of God's people. 267 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:26,160 He chose you. Don't betray him. 268 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:29,800 Now why did he choose them? Well, look what the next verses 269 00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:35,280 say, verses 7 and 8. It was not because you are more 270 00:16:35,360 --> 00:16:38,120 in number than any of the other people that the Lord set His 271 00:16:38,120 --> 00:16:41,640 love on you and shows you, for you were actually the fewest of 272 00:16:41,640 --> 00:16:45,240 all peoples. But it is because the Lord loves 273 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:49,360 you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your Father's, that 274 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:52,760 the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed 275 00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:56,440 you from the House of slavery. But he reminds them, I, I 276 00:16:56,440 --> 00:17:00,280 rescued you from slavery. I have redeemed you and I love 277 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:04,040 you because I love you. Why does God love us? 278 00:17:04,240 --> 00:17:07,720 He loves us because he loves us. And he says here, I'm keeping 279 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:10,160 the oath that I swore to Abraham, right to your father's 280 00:17:10,319 --> 00:17:11,440 right. There's a covenant there. 281 00:17:11,440 --> 00:17:13,839 And he says I'm going to be keeping that. 282 00:17:14,319 --> 00:17:17,160 I am the faithful God. I chose you. 283 00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:21,359 I made this covenant with you. Don't intermarry. 284 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:26,280 Don't be faithless to me. And then verse 9, last one, God 285 00:17:26,280 --> 00:17:33,320 says no, therefore that the Lord your God is God, the what 286 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:39,520 faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those 287 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:43,080 who love him and keep his commandments to 1000 288 00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:46,680 generations. God is the faithful God. 289 00:17:47,400 --> 00:17:50,120 He keeps covenant. And if we would go on and we 290 00:17:50,120 --> 00:17:54,240 could go on and Deuteronomy 7, we would see He is abundant and 291 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:56,520 He is generous and He will bless you. 292 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:59,320 And He lists all of these ways. He's going to bless you for 293 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:02,120 keeping this covenant that He established in the 1st place, 294 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:03,640 right? He's doing all of the work. 295 00:18:04,480 --> 00:18:06,920 He even says in verse 13, you shall be blessed above all 296 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:09,560 peoples. And in all these ways, God is 297 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:15,840 the faithful covenant keeper, His faithfulness and when we are 298 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:19,440 faithful to him leads to blessing, it leads to life and 299 00:18:19,440 --> 00:18:23,920 betrayal, leads to destruction, and it leads us away from God. 300 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:29,400 And that's what Malachi, you might say praise in verse 12, 301 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:33,720 almost this curse on the people that are doing this. 302 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:37,560 Look at verse 12. He says, may the Lord cut off 303 00:18:38,160 --> 00:18:41,600 from the tents of Jacob any descendant of the man who does 304 00:18:41,600 --> 00:18:44,640 this, who brings an offering to the Lord of hosts, Right. 305 00:18:44,640 --> 00:18:46,480 You bring an offering like nothing is wrong. 306 00:18:46,960 --> 00:18:49,560 Oh, we got these other. We got this other wife and 307 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,080 she's, you know, yeah, she's got, she's bringing in her idols 308 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:54,400 and her little statues and figurines and her, you know, but 309 00:18:54,400 --> 00:18:56,440 it's fine. She could be in the temple with 310 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:57,800 me. Here's my offering to you. 311 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:00,600 God, he's like, no, I'm cutting you off. 312 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:02,680 I'm cutting off your descendants, right? 313 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:04,680 Your children, your blessing, your heritage. 314 00:19:04,840 --> 00:19:10,640 Sorry, they're gone. What God is saying through 315 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:14,960 Malachi is who you marry matters. 316 00:19:15,800 --> 00:19:20,880 It matters who you marry. So be faithful to God in who you 317 00:19:20,880 --> 00:19:25,520 marry. Who you marry impacts your life. 318 00:19:25,640 --> 00:19:29,560 It impacts your kids, it impacts your church and your community. 319 00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:32,960 And ultimately, who you marry impacts your union with God 320 00:19:33,080 --> 00:19:36,160 probably more than any other relationship in this world that 321 00:19:36,160 --> 00:19:43,960 you can have. Let me apply this to especially 322 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:46,280 and first and foremost, those of you that are single. 323 00:19:46,880 --> 00:19:50,000 And if you're married, don't worry of lots of things for you. 324 00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:53,920 And in the second part, this part included, But for those of 325 00:19:53,920 --> 00:19:58,920 you are single, the first question is, are you in a 326 00:19:58,920 --> 00:20:04,520 covenant with God? Are you a disciple of Jesus? 327 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:08,440 Is He your Father and are you his Son or his daughter? 328 00:20:08,960 --> 00:20:10,440 That's the first place that you have to start. 329 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,240 God is a faithful God. Even though we have been 330 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:17,880 faithless towards Him, we do not deserve Him to choose us and to 331 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:20,800 set His love upon us. But He did that, and He showed 332 00:20:20,800 --> 00:20:23,000 that most prominently through the love of Jesus. 333 00:20:23,200 --> 00:20:24,720 And so that's where you must begin. 334 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:26,600 Are you in a relationship with Jesus? 335 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:29,520 Do you know Him? Have you trusted Him with your 336 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:31,600 life? Have you repented from your sins 337 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:35,040 and your ways and your worship of whatever foreign God you 338 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:39,760 were, whether that was some actual other false religion or 339 00:20:39,760 --> 00:20:43,960 maybe just your moralism or your do goodism, or let me just be 340 00:20:43,960 --> 00:20:47,040 better than the other people, or the gods of money or the gods of 341 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:49,760 sex or success, whatever it is that you worship? 342 00:20:49,960 --> 00:20:54,440 Have you turned from those gods and set your love on the one 343 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:57,200 true God and trusted in Jesus? If you have not, you have to 344 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:02,800 start there. But if you have, then God cares 345 00:21:02,840 --> 00:21:06,240 who you date because who you date is who you will marry. 346 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:10,000 And so be faithful to God and who you date. 347 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:15,200 Dating is very much a modern concept and it's pretty messed 348 00:21:15,200 --> 00:21:18,040 up in most of the ways that it's played out in this world. 349 00:21:18,640 --> 00:21:20,920 And some of you have been through that and experienced 350 00:21:20,920 --> 00:21:22,920 that. And so if you're a disciple of 351 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:27,880 Jesus and you don't date as the world dates, you date to Mary, 352 00:21:28,080 --> 00:21:33,040 and any potential spouse must be in God's family. 353 00:21:33,600 --> 00:21:37,680 They also must be like you. And that it doesn't matter what 354 00:21:37,680 --> 00:21:40,640 ethnicity they're from or what country or what language, but 355 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,680 you must worship the same God. That's a must. 356 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:46,760 This is not an optional thing. It's not a OK. 357 00:21:46,760 --> 00:21:49,560 It's a good idea too. It is a good idea and it is 358 00:21:49,760 --> 00:21:53,240 biblical command and directive, and I would say it's pretty 359 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:54,640 explicit. It's pretty clear throughout the 360 00:21:54,640 --> 00:21:58,600 whole Bible and there's specific places where it gives that 361 00:21:58,600 --> 00:22:00,120 command. First Corinthians 7. 362 00:22:00,120 --> 00:22:02,760 If you want to read more about marriage and singleness, go read 363 00:22:02,760 --> 00:22:05,840 First Corinthians Chapter 7. And there Paul is addressing 364 00:22:06,520 --> 00:22:09,640 wives whose husbands have passed away and so they are now widows. 365 00:22:09,640 --> 00:22:11,000 And then what does he say to them? 366 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:13,360 He says it's OK if your husband dies. 367 00:22:13,560 --> 00:22:18,480 You are free to marry whom you wish only in the Lord, right? 368 00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:20,960 Mary, who you want, as as long as they're in the Lord, as long 369 00:22:20,960 --> 00:22:25,520 as they are a disciple, your potential spouse must be in 370 00:22:25,520 --> 00:22:27,280 God's family for some of the reasons we just read in 371 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:31,480 Deuteronomy Chapter 7. Now here's a, a question that I, 372 00:22:31,560 --> 00:22:37,360 I want you to think about. Why are disciples of Jesus often 373 00:22:37,360 --> 00:22:41,640 so willing to try out relationships with unbelievers? 374 00:22:42,960 --> 00:22:45,360 Why? And if you're single and you 375 00:22:45,360 --> 00:22:50,800 feel any of that pull or that temptation, ask yourself why, if 376 00:22:50,800 --> 00:22:54,560 you're a disciple, and this is, this is really clear biblically, 377 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:58,200 and it's very wise practically why? 378 00:23:00,000 --> 00:23:02,440 I thought of a few reasons. For some of you, it's fear. 379 00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:07,480 You're afraid, man. I don't want to be single 380 00:23:07,680 --> 00:23:12,880 forever and seems like there's a lack of options around here. 381 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,120 At least I don't like my options. 382 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:19,160 Or maybe I'm starting to feel lonely and fear is creeping up. 383 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:23,800 Maybe it's pressure. You feel the pressure societally 384 00:23:24,160 --> 00:23:27,000 and all of your friends are getting married and your parents 385 00:23:27,000 --> 00:23:29,920 are Hey, when are you going to, you know, hey, can I set you up 386 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:31,560 with somebody? Hey, if you could download any 387 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:35,480 of those new dating apps, right? Or you feel the pressure of 388 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:39,960 getting older and still being single. 389 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:45,240 Pride. Pride would be a really a reason 390 00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:49,760 that I could foresee some disciples of Jesus getting into 391 00:23:49,760 --> 00:23:52,560 relationships with non disciples of Jesus. 392 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,240 You say, well, I won't betray God. 393 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:57,600 I'm not going to, I'm not going to fall. 394 00:23:57,600 --> 00:24:01,360 I will actually marry them if they're not a disciple of Jesus. 395 00:24:01,760 --> 00:24:04,240 I'd say, oh, so you know better than God. 396 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:08,040 Oh, you're going to be the one that actually makes that through 397 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,600 and and sees that happen. You're going to be the strong 398 00:24:10,600 --> 00:24:13,560 one, even though so many people have failed at that throughout 399 00:24:13,760 --> 00:24:16,280 history. Said what? 400 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:18,400 Kurt, he's going to church with me. 401 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:23,400 OK, great. Evangelistic dating is utterly 402 00:24:23,400 --> 00:24:27,080 foolish. It gets your heart into into a 403 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:30,440 relationship with somebody that it's hard to unwind it. 404 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,400 And the closer you get to them, the harder that is to separate. 405 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:37,480 And isn't that interesting? You're the carrot, right? 406 00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:42,440 That's not a good idea, right? You, you're trying to lead them 407 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,800 to God by saying, hey, see, I'm here, I'm I'm on God's side. 408 00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:48,000 Great, they're going to church with you. 409 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:52,040 But Anne, are you yoking yourself to them in a way that's 410 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:54,200 actually going to lead you astray? 411 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:59,080 Just like the warnings that we read here in Paul's second 412 00:24:59,080 --> 00:25:02,520 letter to the Corinthians. He says this in chapter 6, verse 413 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:05,120 14. He says do not be unequally 414 00:25:05,120 --> 00:25:08,680 yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has 415 00:25:08,680 --> 00:25:11,760 righteousness with lawlessness or what fellowship has light 416 00:25:11,760 --> 00:25:18,600 with darkness? He's saying don't yoke yourself 417 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:19,760 right. Don't be joined. 418 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:21,920 You can't have light and dark. You can't have righteousness 419 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:27,000 with lawlessness. For some, you answered that 420 00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:28,920 question. Why was a disciple of Jesus so 421 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:31,440 willing to try out a relationship with an unbeliever? 422 00:25:31,440 --> 00:25:33,560 Because of just weak devotion to God? 423 00:25:34,360 --> 00:25:35,840 It's not that big of a deal, is it? 424 00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:39,840 It'll probably be OK. You don't really trust God. 425 00:25:39,880 --> 00:25:44,040 Maybe you don't look to him to satisfy you or you just dismiss 426 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:46,760 his commands. Some might object. 427 00:25:46,760 --> 00:25:49,560 Kurt, I'm already committed in this relationship. 428 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:52,760 Well, if you're not married, then I think you should break up 429 00:25:52,760 --> 00:25:54,560 with them. I think you should do that 430 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:55,880 today. Yeah. 431 00:25:55,880 --> 00:25:57,200 It's going to hurt. It's going to be painful. 432 00:25:57,200 --> 00:25:59,880 Then so will be if you enter into a marriage. 433 00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:01,680 And there might be some of you in this room. 434 00:26:01,680 --> 00:26:04,400 And I know some people that I could point you to who got 435 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:06,240 married to someone who's not a Christian. 436 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:09,680 And is one of the most painful things because the person that 437 00:26:09,680 --> 00:26:12,960 you love the most in this world and yet spiritually you could 438 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:16,760 not be farther apart from them. It's one of the most painful 439 00:26:16,760 --> 00:26:18,240 things. And I have talked to men and 440 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:21,360 women who are in those positions where their spouse does not 441 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:27,160 believe the hurt. It'll challenge your, your kids 442 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:30,640 will be hindered by that. And often what really happens 443 00:26:31,120 --> 00:26:34,200 when you compromise in this area, it actually leads you away 444 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:39,360 from the faith. If you are already married to an 445 00:26:39,360 --> 00:26:43,480 unbeliever, the Bible has lots of instructions for you as well. 446 00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:44,840 I don't have time to get into those today. 447 00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,760 The simple guidance is this. Don't leave them be faithful to 448 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:51,120 Jesus. Be a light to them and show them 449 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:57,200 Jesus. Be faithful to God and who you 450 00:26:57,200 --> 00:27:00,840 date. Do they really love Jesus? 451 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:04,000 Are they faithful to God now? Because that's the best 452 00:27:04,000 --> 00:27:05,840 indicator of their faithfulness in the future. 453 00:27:06,320 --> 00:27:09,560 If they're not faithful to God now, can you trust them to be 454 00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:11,600 faithful to you even in the future? 455 00:27:13,760 --> 00:27:17,880 Hasn't God been faithful to you? Hasn't He been faithful to you? 456 00:27:18,880 --> 00:27:22,360 Trust Him and your singleness and your potential future 457 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,840 marriage. Most will get married, not all 458 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:30,120 will you might say I, I he's not he's not providing for me right 459 00:27:30,120 --> 00:27:31,120 now. I'm not married. 460 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:36,880 But if you are married to Jesus, as challenging as that might be, 461 00:27:36,880 --> 00:27:39,760 if you want to be married, but you're married, you've got him. 462 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,280 That's what you need. Trust him with your singleness. 463 00:27:43,560 --> 00:27:45,400 Be faithful to God and who you marry. 464 00:27:46,640 --> 00:27:51,320 A quick word to parents parents, train your kids now in this. 465 00:27:51,880 --> 00:27:56,000 Do not leave it to what their peers are saying and doing. 466 00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:57,840 But I've got a couple kids in elementary school. 467 00:27:57,840 --> 00:27:59,520 It's kind of funny. They're like, Oh yeah, so and so 468 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:01,800 is a boyfriend. What does that even mean? 469 00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:07,240 You're 10 years old. They will learn from that. 470 00:28:07,960 --> 00:28:11,000 How many of you watch TV shows and you see what dating is like 471 00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:16,000 portrayed in media? Teach your children to be 472 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:19,320 faithful to God. Say only marry somebody is in 473 00:28:19,320 --> 00:28:21,160 the Lord. Doesn't matter how beautiful or 474 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:25,280 amazing or wonderful they are. If they don't have Jesus, say 475 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:28,040 no. Be faithful to him. 476 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:31,840 If you are the friend of a single person, maybe you're 477 00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:33,840 some, you're married and you have some single friends, or 478 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:35,200 you're single and you have single friends. 479 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:40,440 Look who this is spoken to. It's plural, right? 480 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:46,440 We, Malachi says. And our and one another, right? 481 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:49,160 This is individual, but it's a corporate rebuke. 482 00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:51,960 If you were here last week, Gordon talked about how we are 483 00:28:51,960 --> 00:28:55,360 all priests. We're all priests who are in 484 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:58,720 charge of guarding and protecting truth and holiness. 485 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:04,360 There is pervasive covenant betrayals happening in Malachi's 486 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:06,480 day, and they are approving of it. 487 00:29:06,640 --> 00:29:08,400 And he says that's hurting all of you. 488 00:29:09,720 --> 00:29:11,920 And so you might have some say, well, actually that's none of 489 00:29:11,920 --> 00:29:13,240 your business. Or you might say, oh, that's 490 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:15,480 none of my business. Well, no, If you're a priest and 491 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:17,360 that's your friend, if you're a Christian and that's your 492 00:29:17,360 --> 00:29:19,960 friend, it is your business, that's not applicable anymore. 493 00:29:20,120 --> 00:29:22,360 Speak to them. Speak in their life. 494 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:26,480 Give them wisdom and guidance and warnings if needed. 495 00:29:26,840 --> 00:29:29,720 Ask them tough questions and speak the truth in love. 496 00:29:30,280 --> 00:29:36,400 This is our job collectively to be faithful to God as God has 497 00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:40,280 been faithful to you. Be faithful to Him and who you 498 00:29:40,280 --> 00:29:43,600 marry. Now he gives a second charge. 499 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:47,760 He's indicting faithlessness now specifically towards the 500 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:50,080 covenant wife. And so let me get into the 501 00:29:50,080 --> 00:29:54,640 second part of the verses here. He starts off in verse 13 and he 502 00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:57,080 says, here's this second thing that you're doing. 503 00:29:57,360 --> 00:30:01,160 He says you weep, you cover the Lord's altar with tears, with 504 00:30:01,160 --> 00:30:04,040 weeping and groaning because he no longer regards the offering 505 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:05,920 or accepts it with favor from your hand. 506 00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:10,200 So there's this pious grief. Oh God, we brought our offering, 507 00:30:10,200 --> 00:30:12,280 but you don't accept it. You're not regarding it. 508 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:14,160 God, what's going on? Why not? 509 00:30:14,160 --> 00:30:15,840 God? Here's what's happening. 510 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:18,360 They're trying to honor God in one area of their life. 511 00:30:18,640 --> 00:30:20,360 Oh, here we're bringing our offering to you. 512 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:22,240 God, this is what you wanted, right? 513 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:25,280 But in the other sense, they are being faithless towards their 514 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:29,640 covenant wife. So God says no, no, no, no, no, 515 00:30:29,760 --> 00:30:32,720 you can't have that. You can't be cheating on me and 516 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:34,840 then try to bring me flowers. It doesn't work like that. 517 00:30:35,560 --> 00:30:37,880 He says I'm rejecting your offering because you are 518 00:30:37,880 --> 00:30:40,040 faithless towards your covenant wife. 519 00:30:40,600 --> 00:30:43,800 And then in verses 14 and 15, he reminds them about the covenant 520 00:30:43,800 --> 00:30:45,480 of marriage. And so let me talk about 521 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:48,040 marriage and it's covenant a little bit because this is what 522 00:30:48,040 --> 00:30:53,680 Malachi brings up. He says in verse 14, the Lord 523 00:30:53,680 --> 00:30:58,040 was witness between you and the wife of your youth. 524 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,880 God was witness. You could say he presided over 525 00:31:01,880 --> 00:31:04,280 their marriages. God instituted marriage. 526 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:07,240 God created it. It's not a man made idea for us 527 00:31:07,240 --> 00:31:10,360 to redefine and change the laws on. 528 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:15,040 He made it between a man and a woman as he is the witness 529 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:18,200 before it and it's not just you fill out the papers and the 530 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:19,560 state of Florida approves your marriage. 531 00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:24,000 You get married before God and he is witness and he's reminding 532 00:31:24,000 --> 00:31:25,840 them I was a witness in your marriage. 533 00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:29,120 Genesis chapter 2, the first marriage, Adam and Eve. 534 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:32,240 It says therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and 535 00:31:32,240 --> 00:31:35,320 hold fast his wife and the two shall become one flesh. 536 00:31:35,320 --> 00:31:41,600 God was a witness, but he goes on in verse 14, he says you've 537 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:45,320 been faithless to her, though she is your companion and your 538 00:31:45,320 --> 00:31:50,480 wife by covenant, right? There's a there's a covenant of 539 00:31:50,480 --> 00:31:54,120 marriage and they are companions for life. 540 00:31:56,640 --> 00:32:00,040 The Pharisees were testing Jesus one day and they asked him about 541 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:01,720 divorce. And here's Jesus's answer, 542 00:32:01,720 --> 00:32:03,800 Matthew chapter 19, verses 4 to 6. 543 00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:08,040 Jesus says, have you not read that he who created them from 544 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:11,920 the beginning made them male and female, and said, therefore a 545 00:32:11,920 --> 00:32:14,160 man shall leave his father and mother, and hold fast his wife, 546 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:16,320 and the two shall become one flesh, Verse 6. 547 00:32:16,320 --> 00:32:20,000 So they are no longer 2, but one flesh. 548 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:21,840 What God? What? 549 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:23,560 Therefore God has joined together. 550 00:32:23,720 --> 00:32:27,680 Let not man separate. This is the intention of 551 00:32:27,680 --> 00:32:30,440 marriage. It's a lifelong covenant, a 552 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:33,560 bonding. The two become one. 553 00:32:33,560 --> 00:32:37,320 That's why in verse 15 he talks about this union, that the Holy 554 00:32:37,320 --> 00:32:39,120 Spirit is a part of your marriage. 555 00:32:40,480 --> 00:32:44,320 He says in verse 15, did he not make them one with a portion of 556 00:32:44,320 --> 00:32:47,760 the Spirit in their union? So how does this mystery work? 557 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:50,520 The two flesh become one. God brings two people together 558 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:53,200 and they get married. And he says a portion of my 559 00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:55,800 spirit is in that marriage, uniting you together. 560 00:32:55,960 --> 00:33:00,120 That's the covenant of marriage. It is to be for you for life. 561 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:03,280 It's spiritual, it's emotional, it's a connection and there's a 562 00:33:03,280 --> 00:33:05,400 great purpose in it. There's lots of great purposes 563 00:33:05,400 --> 00:33:08,600 in it, but one of them, godly offspring, that's what he says, 564 00:33:09,000 --> 00:33:12,120 verse 15. God is seeking godly offspring. 565 00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:16,520 If you get married, have kids, it's a good thing, Challenging 566 00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:19,080 thing, but a wonderful blessing to have. 567 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:26,320 Now ultimately marriage doesn't just point to marriage. 568 00:33:26,360 --> 00:33:31,000 It's not an ending of itself. God created it so that one day 569 00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:35,240 he would point to the way that Jesus loves us and he would say 570 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:40,600 that that's the ultimate marriage In in the New 571 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:45,120 Testament, Jesus is described as the groom and we are his bride. 572 00:33:45,640 --> 00:33:50,040 Right there is this union, this marriage, this covenant, this 573 00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:53,240 oneness, this 2 become one flesh with Jesus. 574 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:56,840 Paul, Paul says this, he quotes the Genesis 2. 575 00:33:56,840 --> 00:34:00,120 The two flesh shall become one. And then Paul says, this mystery 576 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:02,360 is profound. And I am saying that it refers 577 00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:06,200 to Christ in the church. If you're a disciple of Jesus, 578 00:34:06,480 --> 00:34:10,440 you're one with Jesus. You are a member of his body, 579 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:15,360 united to him in one flesh, covenantily married to Jesus by 580 00:34:15,360 --> 00:34:17,520 the Spirit, never to be separated. 581 00:34:17,679 --> 00:34:20,400 And marriage points to that great reality. 582 00:34:21,880 --> 00:34:25,239 And how were the people in Malachi's day treating that? 583 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:33,199 They were treating it with violence, he says in verse 16. 584 00:34:34,040 --> 00:34:39,000 For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says 585 00:34:39,000 --> 00:34:42,600 the Lord, the God of Israel covers his garment with 586 00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:47,800 violence. Divorce is separating the 587 00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:52,239 covenant of marriage. It's it's tearing it apart, it's 588 00:34:52,480 --> 00:35:02,960 betrayal, it's being faithless. The the phrase translated here 589 00:35:02,960 --> 00:35:07,200 is a difficult one. Lots of disagreement on how you 590 00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:10,480 actually translate. This covers his garment with 591 00:35:10,480 --> 00:35:13,680 violence. We could just think if there's 592 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:16,720 some relational and spiritual violence that happens if you try 593 00:35:16,720 --> 00:35:19,440 to take two things that are glued together and you RIP them 594 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:21,560 apart. There's a kind of violence that 595 00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:25,080 you have to do to, to split apart something that is supposed 596 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:29,360 to be 1. It makes me think of spilling 597 00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:31,160 something on your shirt and you get a stain. 598 00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:34,800 This, the stain is the covering of violence by, by divorcing 599 00:35:35,120 --> 00:35:39,560 your wives and staining violence on your shirt. 600 00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:42,800 And that day there was some, some kind of tradition where you 601 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:44,760 would, you know, if you wanted to marry a woman, you would, you 602 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:47,320 would kind of symbolically cover her with your garment. 603 00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:49,400 And so maybe Malachi's playing on that. 604 00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:51,520 It's like you're bringing violence to what should be a 605 00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:55,640 sacred and beautiful thing. Some translations even render 606 00:35:55,640 --> 00:36:02,800 this God hates divorce. It's an affront to God's design 607 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:06,160 and faithfulness. It's a misrepresentation of the 608 00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:08,400 covenant love that he intended it to be. 609 00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:13,240 Now don't hear me wrong. He doesn't hate divorcees. 610 00:36:13,880 --> 00:36:17,480 He hates the relational violence of divorce. 611 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:22,200 Divorce then seems like it was pretty common and easy. 612 00:36:22,200 --> 00:36:25,640 Divorce today is pretty common and easy. 613 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:32,360 And sometimes we become numb to the violence, to how painful it 614 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:36,640 can be, to how unnatural it is because God's joined them 615 00:36:36,640 --> 00:36:39,280 together and how destructive that it can be when divorce 616 00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:42,560 happens. Divorce was never God's 617 00:36:42,560 --> 00:36:44,840 intention. Like those verses I just read 618 00:36:44,840 --> 00:36:49,920 from Jesus show that divorce was never God's intention. 619 00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:53,240 He desires all marriages to last for life. 620 00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:58,720 But there are sometimes where there is extreme unfaithfulness 621 00:36:59,000 --> 00:37:02,080 and divorce is permissible. I would say generally not 622 00:37:02,080 --> 00:37:09,800 preferable when in the same verses and Jesus is being tested 623 00:37:09,800 --> 00:37:13,000 by the Pharisees and he talks about divorce, he says whoever 624 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:16,880 divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality and marries 625 00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:22,040 another commits adultery. So there is adultery is probably 626 00:37:22,040 --> 00:37:25,520 the ACT most extreme act of unfaithfulness that there can be 627 00:37:25,520 --> 00:37:28,880 in a marriage. And Jesus says, OK, if you do 628 00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:31,040 that, you are already breaking the covenant. 629 00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:37,240 You can you can divorce. Paul adds in First Corinthians 630 00:37:37,240 --> 00:37:41,720 7, he talks about abandonment. If your spouse just leaves you, 631 00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:44,080 you're not enslaved to them any longer. 632 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:48,720 We can talk about abuse as a form of abandonment. 633 00:37:48,720 --> 00:37:51,920 It can certainly could be a reason you separate. 634 00:37:52,240 --> 00:37:55,640 If you're in physical danger or harm, separate. 635 00:37:58,320 --> 00:38:02,680 Get help, Try to bring other people in so that there can be 636 00:38:02,880 --> 00:38:06,560 repentance and the marriage can hopefully be repaired and 637 00:38:06,560 --> 00:38:10,400 restored. Abuse can be an act of 638 00:38:10,400 --> 00:38:12,000 abandonment to the marriage covenant. 639 00:38:12,560 --> 00:38:17,000 Those are some extreme situations of unfaithfulness, a 640 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:21,040 lot different than what we tend to see in our culture, isn't it? 641 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:23,920 And maybe some of you have experienced in your life or in 642 00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:27,760 your own relationships. And, and, and when Malachi, he 643 00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:30,480 doesn't explicitly say, he just keeps regarding, he just keeps 644 00:38:30,480 --> 00:38:32,520 saying faithlessness and divorce. 645 00:38:32,520 --> 00:38:34,320 And so he doesn't even say if there's adultery. 646 00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:37,520 It could be that they're just divorcing because it was more 647 00:38:37,520 --> 00:38:40,840 expedient to be married to someone who already lived there 648 00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:43,520 and had more money or had more prestige or status. 649 00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:46,640 And so they're just ditching the wives of their covenant so that 650 00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:48,880 they could get better if they could move on up in society. 651 00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:53,000 Could be, could be things like we hear all the time we just 652 00:38:53,000 --> 00:38:56,920 fell out of love. As if you could just fall out of 653 00:38:56,920 --> 00:39:00,160 the two becoming one flesh. It's just a misunderstanding of 654 00:39:00,160 --> 00:39:03,000 the covenant that we have. We have irreconcilable 655 00:39:03,000 --> 00:39:05,360 differences, right? I think that's probably a common 656 00:39:05,360 --> 00:39:07,040 check box for people that get divorced. 657 00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:10,360 We're just too incompatible. He's different than he was at 658 00:39:10,360 --> 00:39:12,320 first. She's changing. 659 00:39:12,320 --> 00:39:14,680 She doesn't meet my needs anymore like she used to. 660 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:18,720 Marriage is just hard. Listen, I've been married for 15 661 00:39:18,720 --> 00:39:19,960 years. Marriage is hard. 662 00:39:19,960 --> 00:39:22,520 I understand why people get to divorce. 663 00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:25,560 It can be challenging at times. There can be great conflict and 664 00:39:25,560 --> 00:39:30,360 tension. But none of those qualify for 665 00:39:30,360 --> 00:39:33,080 being faithless to the wife of your youth. 666 00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:38,000 You might say I don't like this teaching. 667 00:39:38,000 --> 00:39:40,120 It's kind of hard. But you know, it's funny. 668 00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:42,640 That's how the disciples responded to Jesus. 669 00:39:43,560 --> 00:39:49,240 Jesus says unless whoever divorces his light, his wife, 670 00:39:49,240 --> 00:39:51,440 except for sexual morality, marries another, commits 671 00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:53,480 adultery, You know what the disciples response in the next 672 00:39:53,480 --> 00:39:56,320 verse? If such is the case of a man 673 00:39:56,320 --> 00:39:58,480 with his wife, it is better not to marry. 674 00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:03,480 They took it seriously. And in their day and age, 675 00:40:03,480 --> 00:40:06,400 divorce was pretty easy and pretty rampant as well. 676 00:40:07,640 --> 00:40:10,080 Count the cost of marriage before entering marriage. 677 00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:14,400 And if you are already married, OK, you're locked in. 678 00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:17,440 You made a covenant with somebody and you might have not 679 00:40:17,440 --> 00:40:19,960 understood that when you did it, but you did it, and now you're 680 00:40:19,960 --> 00:40:23,240 in it. And God will give you grace and 681 00:40:23,240 --> 00:40:27,520 mercy and patience to endure and to be in that marriage, even if 682 00:40:27,520 --> 00:40:30,680 it is difficult and challenging. Seek to be faithful in marriage. 683 00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:35,480 If I had more time, I would be able to get into maybe a lot of 684 00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:39,440 the particulars because each situation is different, right? 685 00:40:39,440 --> 00:40:42,000 Each marriage is different and the difficulties and challenges 686 00:40:42,000 --> 00:40:43,160 that you might face in your marriage. 687 00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:46,280 And so I can't today, but I would encourage you if there's 688 00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:48,920 something in your marriage that's difficult, there's a 689 00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:52,440 hardship, maybe there's been adultery or unfaithfulness, 690 00:40:52,800 --> 00:40:56,720 please talk to me, talk to somebody else today. 691 00:40:57,120 --> 00:41:01,640 There are lots of couples in this church who have experienced 692 00:41:01,640 --> 00:41:04,480 unfaithfulness and adultery in their marriage and they are 693 00:41:04,480 --> 00:41:08,720 still married because God had such grace and mercy on them and 694 00:41:10,720 --> 00:41:13,920 they forgave and they worked through it and it was hard. 695 00:41:13,920 --> 00:41:16,880 All right? We've had couples that have been 696 00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:19,800 on the brink of divorce and they're still together and many 697 00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:21,760 of them decades and decades of marriage. 698 00:41:21,960 --> 00:41:25,160 So you're, there's people here that can, that can help you and 699 00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:28,880 encourage you and talk to you. You just have to be willing to 700 00:41:28,880 --> 00:41:35,200 let them in. Malachi gives us some real 701 00:41:35,800 --> 00:41:40,560 practical and straightforward application, if you will. 702 00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:43,000 And so I want to finish by talking about that. 703 00:41:43,480 --> 00:41:45,840 And he says it twice. He says it at the end of verse 704 00:41:45,840 --> 00:41:49,120 15. He says, so guard yourselves and 705 00:41:49,120 --> 00:41:52,160 your spirit, right? Stop being faithless. 706 00:41:52,520 --> 00:41:54,760 Stop divorcing your wives of your youth. 707 00:41:54,920 --> 00:41:58,720 He says, so guard yourselves in your spirit and let none of you 708 00:41:58,720 --> 00:42:00,640 be faithless to the wife of your youth. 709 00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:04,400 And then verse 16, he says it again, so guard yourselves in 710 00:42:04,400 --> 00:42:06,360 your spirit and do not be faithless. 711 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:09,920 Faithfulness and marriage matters. 712 00:42:10,400 --> 00:42:15,000 So if you are married, guard your spirit and be faithful to 713 00:42:15,000 --> 00:42:17,760 your spouse. So think about that. 714 00:42:17,760 --> 00:42:20,200 Guard your spirit, right? You might say, guard your heart, 715 00:42:20,440 --> 00:42:24,040 protect the internal side of you because it's not just a physical 716 00:42:24,040 --> 00:42:25,560 thing. Well, I'm, you know, I'm not 717 00:42:25,560 --> 00:42:26,960 sleeping around with another woman. 718 00:42:26,960 --> 00:42:30,280 You know, there's an internal aspect of this that that leads 719 00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:31,400 it. You don't just wake up one day 720 00:42:31,400 --> 00:42:33,880 and commit adultery. It usually begins in your heart. 721 00:42:34,040 --> 00:42:35,720 And so he says guard your spirit. 722 00:42:36,200 --> 00:42:39,800 And so if you are married, what are those dangers to you, those 723 00:42:39,800 --> 00:42:42,200 temptations in your spirit within your marriage? 724 00:42:42,880 --> 00:42:45,160 One is the common phrase we use all the time. 725 00:42:45,160 --> 00:42:47,800 The grass is always greener on the other side, right? 726 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:50,160 Until you get to the other side and you realize, Nope, I got the 727 00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:53,960 same kind of dead grass and Dang holes from those Dang armadillos 728 00:42:53,960 --> 00:42:56,280 dug up in my yard. The grass is not greener on the 729 00:42:56,280 --> 00:42:57,920 other side. But that's the temptation in our 730 00:42:57,920 --> 00:43:00,360 heart, isn't it? And so you look into, oh man, 731 00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:03,960 that marriage is so great all that and that person is so their 732 00:43:03,960 --> 00:43:05,680 spouse is really taking care of themselves. 733 00:43:05,680 --> 00:43:07,680 This right? And we the grass is greener. 734 00:43:07,680 --> 00:43:10,640 And then we, you know, we flirt with the person that at work and 735 00:43:10,640 --> 00:43:13,800 it starts to grow in US and we begin to covet other people's 736 00:43:13,800 --> 00:43:16,600 relationships and be jealous of their spouse or be jealous of 737 00:43:16,600 --> 00:43:22,120 the single person, the flesh and the desires and the lusts of our 738 00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:28,080 hearts come up. Guard your spirit, guard your 739 00:43:28,080 --> 00:43:30,840 heart. Proverbs tells just tells us 740 00:43:31,440 --> 00:43:35,000 this was the husband's it says rejoice and the wife of your 741 00:43:35,000 --> 00:43:40,880 youth. We have that language here, the 742 00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:47,400 wife of your youth bodies get old people age and yet guard 743 00:43:47,400 --> 00:43:50,800 your spirit to the wife of your youth, the covenant that you 744 00:43:50,800 --> 00:43:53,160 have with her. And So what are those dangers to 745 00:43:53,160 --> 00:43:56,000 your spirit? And here's one that's kind of an 746 00:43:56,000 --> 00:43:59,160 internal slash, external sexual sin. 747 00:43:59,920 --> 00:44:03,320 It can be internal, the lusts of the heart, right? 748 00:44:03,320 --> 00:44:07,160 The viewing of pornography. And it can be external self 749 00:44:07,160 --> 00:44:11,440 pleasure and even into adultery. And so here, here's some real 750 00:44:11,440 --> 00:44:14,880 practical advice. Stop sinning sexually. 751 00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:21,720 Stop looking at pornography. Stop cheating on your spouse 752 00:44:21,720 --> 00:44:23,240 with your eyes and in your heart. 753 00:44:23,680 --> 00:44:25,920 It is destructive. It is destroying your 754 00:44:25,920 --> 00:44:30,160 relationship and it will it will possibly end your marriage. 755 00:44:31,120 --> 00:44:33,080 And sexual sin is rampant in our culture. 756 00:44:33,320 --> 00:44:36,120 You can't hardly watch a single TV show or commercial and it's 757 00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:39,760 not in your face. But if you are a disciple of 758 00:44:39,760 --> 00:44:45,040 Jesus, be faithful to him and, and, and so stop today. 759 00:44:46,240 --> 00:44:48,680 And as one who's wrestled with that and dealt with that sin in 760 00:44:48,680 --> 00:44:50,960 my life, I know it's a lot harder than just someone 761 00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:53,920 shouting at you. Stop so you got to be in. 762 00:44:53,920 --> 00:44:57,200 Has God been faithful to you? Be faithful to Him and stop 763 00:44:57,200 --> 00:44:59,640 hiding. Stop pretending like you can get 764 00:44:59,640 --> 00:45:03,960 through that on your own. This is an issue most men have 765 00:45:03,960 --> 00:45:07,200 dealt with or are continuing to deal with, but I know for some 766 00:45:07,200 --> 00:45:13,920 women this is a challenge too. If that's where you are, know 767 00:45:13,920 --> 00:45:17,800 that there is mercy and grace from God for you, but you need 768 00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:20,600 to repent. Confess your sin and repent 769 00:45:20,840 --> 00:45:23,480 today. Believe it, flee from it. 770 00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:26,600 There is hope and there is freedom in Jesus. 771 00:45:27,360 --> 00:45:33,320 Guard your spirit. The Bible gives different kinds 772 00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:36,720 of advice specifically to wives and husbands. 773 00:45:37,520 --> 00:45:39,720 Let me briefly share some of those. 774 00:45:39,760 --> 00:45:41,400 So how do you be faithful to your spouse? 775 00:45:41,400 --> 00:45:46,960 Wives of Ephesians 5 and First Peter 3 talk about being careful 776 00:45:46,960 --> 00:45:51,360 to Don't be tempted to adorn yourself with external beauty, 777 00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:55,000 right? Be faithful to your spouse. 778 00:45:55,120 --> 00:46:00,360 Not by putting on a show on the outside trying to seek control 779 00:46:00,360 --> 00:46:05,000 in your marriage, but rather the internal is what matters most. 780 00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:09,680 Be respectful, have pure conduct, grow and godly 781 00:46:09,680 --> 00:46:11,240 character. Be gentle. 782 00:46:11,720 --> 00:46:15,000 In Ephesians 5, he talks about respecting and honoring your 783 00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:18,480 husband and submitting to him. It can be a great challenge, he 784 00:46:18,480 --> 00:46:20,280 said. What if he's not honorable or is 785 00:46:20,280 --> 00:46:23,800 not respectful? OK, you be faithful and you do 786 00:46:23,800 --> 00:46:26,960 your part and pray like crazy for your husband because he 787 00:46:26,960 --> 00:46:31,480 needs it. Husbands, we are to live with 788 00:46:31,480 --> 00:46:35,200 our wives in an understanding way, Peter says. 789 00:46:35,960 --> 00:46:38,920 And there can be a temptation to either be domineering or 790 00:46:38,920 --> 00:46:41,080 passive, right? I am strong. 791 00:46:41,080 --> 00:46:44,400 I'm a man, I'm in control, and I'm physically stronger than 792 00:46:44,400 --> 00:46:45,880 you. I'm the provider. 793 00:46:45,880 --> 00:46:48,480 I'm the And we can go too far in One Direction or we can go too 794 00:46:48,480 --> 00:46:51,000 far in the other direction. We just have passive, weak men 795 00:46:51,000 --> 00:46:56,360 who don't lead their families, but we are to be providers and 796 00:46:56,360 --> 00:46:59,520 protectors. And as Peter says, you live with 797 00:46:59,520 --> 00:47:01,440 your life in an understanding way. 798 00:47:01,720 --> 00:47:05,520 You listen to her, you think about her, you consider her. 799 00:47:05,800 --> 00:47:09,520 You tend to her heart and her emotions and her affections. 800 00:47:10,480 --> 00:47:13,480 You honor her. In Ephesians 5, he says, 801 00:47:13,560 --> 00:47:17,360 husbands love your wives, love them as Christ loved the church. 802 00:47:18,200 --> 00:47:20,480 I've heard the expression, you know, I just love them to death. 803 00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:25,160 Yes husbands, love your wives to death, yours, not hers. 804 00:47:26,720 --> 00:47:31,520 Just like Jesus died for his bride, the church us, you are to 805 00:47:32,080 --> 00:47:36,640 die to yourself for your wife. That is your command from God. 806 00:47:37,320 --> 00:47:43,640 How can you present your wife to Jesus, holy, pure and spotless? 807 00:47:46,080 --> 00:47:48,840 Two quick things just to conclude, and maybe you can take 808 00:47:48,840 --> 00:47:51,720 these home as some something practical as you think about 809 00:47:51,960 --> 00:47:55,320 just the big picture, guard your spirit and be faithful to your 810 00:47:55,320 --> 00:47:57,920 spouse and marriage. Be thankful. 811 00:47:58,480 --> 00:48:02,440 I want to challenge you to regularly be thankful to God for 812 00:48:02,440 --> 00:48:05,280 your spouse, and there's a lot of things that you might not be 813 00:48:05,280 --> 00:48:08,520 thankful for. Thank Him for the good things 814 00:48:09,440 --> 00:48:12,640 that's guarding your spirit, that's cultivating that in your 815 00:48:12,640 --> 00:48:15,040 heart. Thank him for the wonderful 816 00:48:15,040 --> 00:48:18,120 things about your spouse. And as an added bonus, you 817 00:48:18,120 --> 00:48:21,560 should tell them what you're thankful for, but regularly 818 00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:24,200 cultivate thankfulness that that will help guard your spirit 819 00:48:24,360 --> 00:48:26,680 against some of those other things that infiltrate that. 820 00:48:27,360 --> 00:48:30,840 Secondly, the next time you go on a date with your wife, which 821 00:48:30,840 --> 00:48:35,400 hopefully will be soon, or your spouse, you should be review and 822 00:48:35,400 --> 00:48:38,920 discuss your wedding vows. Find those, look them up. 823 00:48:38,920 --> 00:48:41,880 If you don't have them printed somewhere, write them down, 824 00:48:41,920 --> 00:48:45,040 bring them with you, read them to each other and talk about 825 00:48:45,040 --> 00:48:47,440 them. Hey, how am I doing in this? 826 00:48:47,440 --> 00:48:49,240 Which one of these am I doing? Well? 827 00:48:49,360 --> 00:48:52,000 What are these vows? Have I actually not doing so 828 00:48:52,000 --> 00:48:55,680 well? Just as a way to think, these 829 00:48:55,680 --> 00:48:57,560 are the covenants I made. This is the commitment I made. 830 00:48:57,560 --> 00:48:59,560 How can I be faithful to my wife? 831 00:49:03,520 --> 00:49:09,240 Faithfulness and marriage matters, and it matters because 832 00:49:09,240 --> 00:49:13,000 God is faithful. He's been faithful to you, and 833 00:49:13,600 --> 00:49:17,240 He has made marriage to be a sign of faithfulness that points 834 00:49:17,240 --> 00:49:20,560 to Him. Be faithful to God because He 835 00:49:20,560 --> 00:49:23,240 has been completely faithful to us. 836 00:49:24,400 --> 00:49:28,480 As God made this covenant with Israel so many years ago, He 837 00:49:28,480 --> 00:49:32,720 makes a new covenant with you by his Son Jesus. 838 00:49:33,200 --> 00:49:38,120 You are now one with Him. And as Israel was unfaithful and 839 00:49:38,120 --> 00:49:41,000 we're reading about it today, so have we been faithful. 840 00:49:41,520 --> 00:49:43,760 We have committed adultery against our Lord. 841 00:49:44,160 --> 00:49:46,800 We have been faithless to Him. Even though he's been nothing 842 00:49:47,000 --> 00:49:50,920 but faithful to us. We've betrayed Him. 843 00:49:51,440 --> 00:49:56,320 We were disloyal, We were faithless, but God remained 844 00:49:56,320 --> 00:49:59,520 faithful. And through belief in Jesus, 845 00:49:59,520 --> 00:50:04,720 you're not one with Him. He is our ever faithful and ever 846 00:50:04,880 --> 00:50:08,320 true husband. And so we look to the 847 00:50:08,320 --> 00:50:12,840 faithfulness of Jesus. Look to His faithfulness towards 848 00:50:12,840 --> 00:50:17,040 us and let that cause you to seek faithful living. 849 00:50:17,240 --> 00:50:20,440 If you're single, then be faithful to Jesus and who you 850 00:50:20,440 --> 00:50:22,880 seek to marry. If you are married, then be 851 00:50:22,880 --> 00:50:26,800 faithful to the spouse that Jesus gave you, guarding and 852 00:50:26,800 --> 00:50:30,640 protecting your marriage. As God has been faithful to us, 853 00:50:30,800 --> 00:50:32,720 let us seek to be faithful to Him.