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All right, Matthew 19. Again, I had problems with my printer. My toner ran out, so I had to use my computer today. But Matthew 19, like I said, it's a chock-a-block chapter. It's got marriage, it's got divorce, it's got the young rich ruler trying to work his way to heaven, it's got, you know, discipleship, it's got the 12 apostles judging the 12 tribes of Israel. That's an interesting topic. I mean, there are so many topics in that chapter alone, but the verses I want to focus on this morning is Matthew 19 verses 4 to 6. And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read? Have ye not read? Have ye not read your Bible? He's telling me, asking the Pharisees, Have ye not read? Right? But before we get there, let's look at verse number 3. The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and said unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? I mean, they came here trying to mess up the ministry of Christ, trying to cause him to say the wrong things. The question they ask him, Is it lawful to get divorced? Is it lawful to get divorced for any cause, for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read? That which, that he which made them at the beginning, made them male and female. Let me just stop there for a minute. Sometimes I read things in the Bible, and I kind of think that's kind of redundant. That's, you know, I mean, it's, do we really need to know that way? And I mean, as soon as you start reading the Bible, you read Genesis, right? You read about Adam and Eve being created, almost immediately, you know it's male and female. And there's Jesus telling him, Have you not read that God made them from the beginning, male and female? And I think, I kind of think as a, as a normal, I think I'm normal, as a normal human being, hey, that's, that's kind of redundant. Why do we have to tell, I mean, is it, is it that difficult to know that there's a male and female? You know, that there's two genders, that there's two sexes, male and female? Do I really need to preach on that? Yes I do. Yes I do. How unusual it is, right, to be in a, in a world, in a society right now, where the teaching is that there's more than two genders, right? There's more than two sexes. We don't know anymore if it's a boy or girl when they're born, because it's up to that child when they grow up to decide whether they're male. I don't know if you guys even boy, kids, you probably don't even know this. Right now they're teaching that we don't know if they're male or female. They can decide that later in their life. And not even that, it's not only two genders now. Now there's the L, there's the G, there's the B, there's the T, there's the, I don't know, there's a Q, there's the, they've got all these letters, they've got all these genders now. They think there's multiple genders, like instead of just being two, you can decide between the two. No, there's like 10, 12, 15, who knows how many genders there are. The child can decide. You know what? I'm glad Jesus said that. I'm glad that before he even gets to marriage, he has to tell the Pharisees, hey, there's male and female, have you not read? Have you not read your Bibles? And these people that think there are more than two genders, they think they can decide what gender they are, it's because they not read their Bibles. They don't know the truth of God's Word anymore. And I'm ashamed that I even have to say that. I'm ashamed that I even have to say that, hey guys, there's only two genders, there's only male and female, right? I'm ashamed for my nation. I'm ashamed for my society, that I even have to mention that. But thank God, Jesus in his wisdom knew it was important to mention that there's male and female. And by the way, who made them at the beginning male and female? It was God. Did Adam decide to be male? Did Eve decide to be a man? And did Eve decide to be a woman? No. God made them at the beginning, at the beginning male and female. So those people that are going out there and saying, no, I'm actually not a man, I'm a woman, I'm a gender fluid, I'm a transgender, hey, they're going against God. They hate God so much. They hate God that he even created them, male or female, that they have to go against what God has done in their life. I mean, that should be basic, right? Then verse number five, and said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh. First thing I want to point out to you is that marriage, cleaving to your wife, okay, is between a male and female, between a man and a woman. God sees fit to make distinction between the two sexes, between the two genders, and it's male and female, man and woman that gets married. Again, I shouldn't even need to be saying this, but I do. I do. And again, just God's wisdom, knowing what our society is going to be like, hey, let's spell it out very clearly to you what marriage is. It's between a man and a woman. Let me also note to you that for this cause shall a man leave father and mother. Leave father and mother, why? Because now when you get married, you're creating a new family unit, okay? Some people think you need to have kids to be a family, that's not true. As soon as you leave father and mother, you cleave to your wife, that husband and wife is a new, a brand new family unit. That is God's plan for both men and women, okay? It is God's plan that will always be in a family. You start with a family, you start being under mum and dad, that's your first family, and then when you leave mother and father, you commence a new family, okay? It's not God's plan for you to live this single life, to, you know, move in with your best friend and live, you know, a single life like that. No, that's not God's plan. God's plan is that we would be in family units, mum and dad first, and then husband and wife, starting a new family. And notice in verse number six, or actually verse number five says, they twain shall be one flesh, wherefore they are no more twain but one flesh. Okay, so we see two people coming together for the cause of marriage. Once someone is married, God sees that couple as one unit. He sees them as one flesh. One. Okay, no more two, but one. What therefore God have joined together, again, marriage, what is marriage? What therefore God have joined together. Marriage is an institution given by God, okay? It is God's plan, it is God that puts two together for marriage, let not man put asunder. Hey, it's not God's plan for us to ever divorce. God hateth to put in a way, he says, right? He hates divorce. God hates divorce. This is a question the Pharisees were asking of Jesus Christ. Now divorce needs its own sermon. I won't go into divorce too much today, but I just want you to know that God hates divorce, okay? And once you're joined husband and wife, that's something that God has done, and God has no intention for man to undo that, right? Let not man put asunder. Now turn to Genesis chapter 2, Genesis chapter 2 verse 21. Let's build on this a little bit. What does it mean to be one flesh? No longer two, but one unit. Genesis chapter 2 verse 21. The Bible says, and the Lord God caused the deep sleep to fall upon Adam. So this is when God's about to create Eve, and he slept, and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, this is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave, there it is again, this is the teaching from the very beginning. Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. Okay, so when we see Adam and Eve, they were literally one flesh. They were literally one flesh. Adam was taken, Eve was taken, the rib was taken out of Adam, and Eve was created from that bone. And so when Adam says, hey we're bone of bones, and flesh of flesh, you know we're one flesh, yes they really literally were. And what that is, is a literal doctrine which symbolizes a figurative doctrine of marriage. Man and woman, husband and wife, married, one unit, one team, one body if it will. Okay, we see that in other passages in the Bible. So I just want to point out to you as well, before I move on to from this one body aspect, or one flesh, is that again, what does Adam say therefore shall man leave his father and mother. Now did Adam have a mother and father? No. Adam was made from the dust of the earth, right? He didn't have a mother and father. And yet God sees fit to record for us these words, therefore shall a man leave father and mother. You see how important it is for this new family unit to start, even when there was no father and mother at this stage, right? It was a doctrine that needed to be taught right from the beginning. So first thing, you're in Genesis, turn to Genesis chapter 5 verse 2, Genesis 5 verse 2. So what does it mean to be one flesh? What does it mean to be one flesh? Well number one, if you turn to Genesis 5 2, it means to be one in name. One in name. Male and female created He them and blessed them and called their name Adam in the day when they were created. Okay, so Adam and Eve, their name to God was Adam. They had one name. I mean God obviously sees them as two, but He called their name Singular Adam, okay, in the day they were created. The day they were married on the first day that they were created, they were married. So for example, when my wife and I got married and then we went to the reception and we walked in, you know how marriages, receptions are, everyone's seated down, they wait for the bridal party to come in, and then eventually the husband, the new husband and wife walk in, and we were introduced as Mr. and Mrs. Kevin Sepulveda. That's how we were introduced, right. Now is Christina Kevin? No she's not, but now that we're married, we're one name. She is Mrs. Kevin Sepulveda, okay. But also not only that, but in our tradition here at least in Australia, she's taken my surname, right. She's Mrs. Sepulveda. She's Mrs. Christina Sepulveda. She used to be Christina Rodriguez, now she's Mrs. Christina Sepulveda. So we see this doctrine, it's not just tradition of man, but we see this in the Bible that God sees our husband and wife as one name, okay. But also one in purpose and goals. One in purpose and goals. And let me encourage you, if you want to get married, don't just find, you know, just anyone. Find someone that's aligned with you with purpose and goal, okay. Now what do you want to achieve in life? What are your goals? What are your purpose? How do you want to serve God? How do you want to put God first in your life? You know, do you guys want to have children? Do you guys, what is it that you want to achieve in life? These are things that you should be aware of. Don't just meet a girl or just meet a guy and say hey they're handsome, they're pretty, let's get married. Hey find out what substance they're made of. Can you work together? Okay, can you guys work together? You know it's important to have agreement, agreements have children, you know. I'm sad, there are couples that I know that someone wants more kids or wants kids, sometimes they just want kids, right. Just one, at least one kid. And yet the other spouse says no, we don't want, I don't want that. You know, I don't want that in life or we want that later in life. Hey that's difficult, that's going to cause conflict in marriage, you know. Make sure, you know, Bible says hey, you know, very clearly you have as many kids as you can have, as many kids as God gives you, you know. That's, that's, you know, you'll find that teaching throughout the Bible. Find someone that you can work with in this area. You know why? Because raising kids, you need two parents. You need the authority of two parents to raise kids and if only one wants kids, they're going to be the ones striving to raise the kids and the other one's not going to be helping and it's going to cause conflict in that marriage. Couples ought to complement each other to reach the goals that family has. You know, like I said, child rearing is important. You know why? Because if I set certain rules in the house and then my wife doesn't follow them, they're not going to come to me, right? They're going to go to the, to the, to the father or the mother that's more relaxed, that lets them do whatever they want, right? They might come to me, dad, can I do this? No. Now my, at this stage, I think my kids know when I say no, that means no, right? Or if they go to Christina and they ask, you know, can I do this? And she says no, you know, I'm pretty sure they think that's there, that's no. They don't come and say, well dad, can I, can I check that with you? Mom, can I check that with you? No. You know, they know that mom and dad are on the same page. Now we're not always on the same page. Sometimes we mess it up, we get, we get, you know, things wrong. But we often talk about, hey, what are the rules of the house? How can we make consistency? How can we work together? And let me tell you, that's going to make raising your kids so much easier, so much easier when you're both on the same page. And also, hey, one in finances. We ought to be one in our finances. You know, again, before Christina and I got married, we decided to, let's have one joint bank account. Doesn't matter who's got more, who's got less, whatever. Let's just put it all together. Hey, that's, that's, that's our bank account. That's our finances. That's what we're going to work from. Now, I'm not against, you know, if you, if you, you know, have a bank account for a wife and a bank account for the husband, I'm not so much against that. But again, I've seen couples where, hey, this is my money, you know, and this is my money. And then like, someone that needs money, they're like asking, oh, can I borrow this much off you? I mean, that's not being one flesh. That's not being one in goal and purpose. You know, I trust my wife enough to have the bank account where most of the money is, right, and spend it wisely as she sees fit. You know, thank God, I don't have a wife that's going out there, you know, crazy, spending all the money, and I've got to put restrictions on her. You know, it's been very rare when I've had to tell my wife, honey, you know, this week, you know, we're a little low this week, and you just wait, you know, wait for a couple of weeks for my next paycheck to come in before we we spend. It has been very rare that I've had to say that. And I trust my wife with the finances. I don't, I don't keep tabs of how much is spent. And she doesn't keep tabs of how much I've spent, you know, you know, we're working together, we have the same goals. I know she's not going going nuts, and I'm not going to go spend it at the casino or what have you. Hey, being one in purpose, being one in finance as well. That's going to draw you guys together. And obviously, the number one is one in the marriage bed. Okay, being one in the marriage bed, obviously, to have that need met, you know, between husband and wife and to have the children that God would have you to be so you know, being one flesh means all of these things. Okay, I ought to look at you if you're a husband, I'd say, Hey, that's, you know, that's Callum and Cindy, right? That's not just Callum on his own, right? You know, I ought to be looking at Jason, Jason and Aaron. Hey, that's one unit, you know, that's how we ought to be. That's how we ought to look at it. You know, that's Robin Christie, you know, that's one unit, you know, we are not two, I don't think of two, I think of one, that's one team. That's one family, that's one flesh. So what's the purpose of marriage? purpose of marriage? Turn to Genesis chapter two, you're still in Genesis chapter two, verse 18. Genesis chapter two, verse 18. The first purpose of marriage, well, let's read it Genesis 218 says, And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone, I will make him and help meet for him. So God says it is not good that the man should be alone. So the first purpose of marriage is to overcome loneliness. Right? It's it's a lonely existence to be alone, to be without a partner. And God says, Look, it's not good for a man to be alone, I need to have someone with him, I need to give him company, I need to make sure that he doesn't get lonely. Right? That's a good reason to get married. I want a partner, I want someone that I can share life with share experiences with someone that I can talk to someone that will be my best friend, right? Because it's not just a loneliness. But he also says there at the at the end of it, I will make him and help meet for him. So God says not only is he lonely, and he needs someone, but he needs someone to help him. He needs someone that will help him and like a help meet for him, someone that's suitable for him, right? Two people can do more together than one person alone. Okay, this is why, you know, there's teamwork. This is why, you know, maybe you work in a workplace, you might go, I don't like working in a team, I like working by myself. But the truth of the matter is when you work in teams, when you all have strengths and weaknesses, you got some people can do more and achieve more in one area, some can achieve more, you're going to get done a lot more when you work together as a team. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes number four, Ecclesiastes chapter four, verse nine, I'll just read it to you, two are better than one. Two are better than one. This is a biblical principle, because they have a good reward for their labor. Okay, when they labor together, there's more reward, there's more to enjoy. And verse 10 says, for if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow, but woe to him that is alone when he falleth, for he hath not another to help him up. Okay, so there's a help that takes place there. When there's two together, when one falls, the other person can help them. Right? Now, just as a practical example, when we were at the, at the baptism, I think it was, yeah, Isabel, you know, in that very shallow lake, Isabel fell in a bit of a hole, and she got stuck a little bit, right? And then she said, oh, but Lily came and helped me, she pulled me out of that, right? Now, I don't think she would have drowned, but still, the principle is there, right? You fall, and there's someone there to help you, right? I mean, what if you fall and you can't swim? You're going to drown, right? That's sad. But yeah, if there's someone there with you, they can help you up. That's what marriage is. When you're down, when you're depressed, when you're struggling, you have your husband or wife there to help you. That's God's plan for your life, that you would have someone close to you, someone that loves you, to help you when you fall. The third reason, so the first reason was loneliness. The second reason is to have a help. The third reason is to raise a godly seed, a godly seed, a godly generation, godly children. Yes, that's true. Godly children. God wants you to be fruitful. He wants you to multiply. He wants you to have as many kids as he has for you. Malachi 2.15 says, And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit, and wherefore one? Why one? Why did he make two one, the marriage? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore, take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. The wife of his youth. Okay, so why does God want a marriage? Okay, especially a marriage between believers, a marriage between two Christians. So you would raise the next generation of Christians. So you would raise a godly seed that's pleasing to him. Think about how important that is. Think about how important that is. And think about how many pastors, you know, who have committed everything to the church, to the people in the church, but have let their families fall apart, and the kids have become rebellious, and they've left the home, they've left the church, they don't want anything to do with God anymore. Hey, that person's not fulfilling the will of God in his life. Okay, so we need to be careful. And another thing that I've observed with Christians, many Christians, they know a lot of doctrine, they've learned a lot of things, and they like talking to their friends and to their buddies about all the different doctrines they know. But then they don't teach their kids those doctrines. You know, and think about how long it's taken us some time to know the doctrines that we know. Think about how many years it's taken for us to learn those doctrines. We can give our kids a head start. Hey, this is what we've learned. This is what we've learned throughout all our life, throughout all our years of learning. This is all the mistakes we made. These are all the false doctrines that we once believed. And this is the truth of God's word. Let me show you from the Bible, right? Let me raise a godly seed so they don't have to struggle with the same problems that we struggled with, and then they can go out and do more for the Lord. They can go beyond that. They can go and know their Bibles even more than what we know, right? They can do more for God. God wants to raise a godly seed. And how much more important is that in the society we're in right now? Again, I spoke to some of the guys, you know, I was at Saturday morning, I saw on the news that now our nation's recognizing same sex marriage from other countries. I don't know where we're at at the moment. I don't know if it's legalized or what, like same sex marriage. I don't know if same sex can get married in Australia just yet. But those that have gotten married, so-called, you know, this is false marriage, of course, but so-called got married in other nations. Now Australian government is recognizing that marriage, okay? How much more do we need a generation to rise up and be a salt of this earth, right? To be a light of this earth, to shine the light of God's truth, get people saved, bring righteousness upon this nation through the imputed righteousness of Christ. So we can have people getting saved, people being brought into the kingdom. I know things are going to wax worse and worse. But our kids are so important, more important than what we were for our generation. They're going to be even more important for the generation they grew up in. So we need to raise a godly seed. That's the purpose of marriage. The fourth reason to have marriage is to not sin, not to have, not to commit fornication, to overcome fornication in our lives. Fornication runs rampant, right? Sex outside of marriage, you know, teenagers, young girls getting pregnant. It's crazy. And yet, you know, marriage, you might not like the sound of this, but marriage, the reason for marriage, one of the reasons is so that we would not commit fornication, that we would keep ourselves purer for our spouse. Turn to First Corinthians chapter seven, First Corinthians chapter seven. God wants us to overcome fornication. And that's why he instituted marriage. That's another reason. First Corinthians chapter seven, First Corinthians chapter seven, verse five. First Corinthians seven, verse five, defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fast and in prayer, and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency. Okay? So, husband and wife are not to defraud one another in the marriage bed. Okay? You're meant to give of yourself to one another. It's more blessed to give than to receive. That principle is true, even in the marriage. Okay? But what's one of the reasons? Hey, yes, one of the reasons not to come together in the marriage bed is so we can pray and fast. But another reason to come together is that Satan will not tempt you, will not tempt you, tempt you not for your incontinency. Okay? Because Satan knows, hey, if husband and wife are not together, all right, in the marriage bed, then I have a chance to disrupt that marriage. Satan thinks I have a chance to tempt that husband, to tempt that wife, to commit adultery, to leave the husband and wife to find new relationships if they're not together. That's very important for a marriage. You would often spend time together in the marriage bed. But look at verse number nine. Look at verse number nine. This is talking about an unmarried couple, verse number nine. But if they cannot contain, all right, talking about fornication, if they cannot stop, you know, they cannot control themselves, let them marry, for it is better to marry than to burn. These are teachers from the Bible. All right? It is better to marry than to burn. Okay, that's to burn in last, to commit fornication. It's not good. That's a sin. We should not do that. So let them get married. Let them marry young. Right? Because we don't want them sinning. We don't want them destroying their life. We don't want them getting STDs and having broken families and children outside of wedlock. That's not God's plan for people. That's not God's plan for his people. So he says, let them get married. Now, this tells me that there are people that tell you don't get married. Right? I mean, if Paul has to say, let them marry, that means there are people there saying, hey, don't get married, you're too young. You need to. And look, when I met, I think I was 19 when I met my wife, we got engaged two years later. And then we got married two years after that, four years, like four years after knowing each other, we got married. Now, I was 22 when I got married. Some people consider that young. But I waited four years. That was very difficult. You know, that was very difficult to wait. You know, and we said, Well, why did you wait so long? Well, because I was told, don't get married. That's why. Well, not in those words, but I said, hey, before you get married, you've got to have a good job. Before you get married, you've got to have a house. Before you get married, you've got to have all these things in place. You know, some of the other people say, well, before you get married, make sure that you travel and experience the world and, and you know, make sure you're making the right decision. You know, some people say, well, why don't you live together first? Why don't you live together? See, test it out, see how it goes, and then get married if it goes well. That's the wisdom of this world. That's what they teach, right? But no, the teaching of the Bible is let them get married. Why? So they don't commit fornication. So they don't commit fornication. And what's weird, you know, with this same sex marriage, this homosexual marriage, this sodomite marriage that's been pushed today. It's fornication. So they want to get, they want to have marriage, right? But marriage is not fornication. But what they're doing is fornication. What they're doing is evil and wrong. So it doesn't matter if they're under the name of marriage, it will never be undefiled. It will never be pure. It will always be fornication. It will always be an abomination to God. It's unnatural fornication, that same sex marriage, right? They want these words that God has given us between husband and wife, and yet they just, they just want to destroy God's institution of marriage. They just want to destroy God's institution of family. So yeah, the four reasons to get married, let me just repeat them, is to overcome loneliness, to have a helper, to raise the godly seed, and to not commit fornication, to not sin. These are all legitimate reasons to get married. Now, how long should someone wait? How long should someone wait before they get married? I already covered some of this, right? Get married as soon as you can. But obviously, I'll just read to you Proverbs 5 18. Proverbs 5 18 says, Let thy fountain be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Rejoice with the wife of thy youth. So when should you get married? When you're old? No, when you're young. You know, rejoice with the wife of thy youth. You know, don't wait. Don't wait to have everything in place that you think you need to have in place before you know, you should have a job. You should, right? When when God created Adam before he, you know, before he brought Eve, God gave Adam a job. He gave him the job to to look after the garden, he gave him the job to name the animals, and then he gave him a wife. Hey, that's a good principle to live by, boys. That's a good principle to live by. Hey, get a job. Save up, get married, make sure you can provide for your house. But the concept you don't have to be old to do that you can start young, you can start young and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. Now, what are the reasons that we should get married young? Why is it? Why is it that we should not? Now look, let me say this. Obviously, don't get married young with like, ah, I don't I don't have a good wife, I don't have a good, you know, potential wife. So I'm just gonna marry young, so I'm just gonna find whoever I want. No, you know, you've got to find a godly Christian to marry, you know, you got to find someone that's a believer. So however long that takes, we have men in the Bible that took a long time to get married before they found someone. Okay, we know that. But hey, we shouldn't delay it. When you have somebody that you love, someone that you believe God has put in your path to marry, hey, don't delay it, right? Don't delay it. So some reasons, the younger you marry, the more children your union will have. I mean, that's, that's a basic principle, right? Because the longer, especially a woman, the longer they wait, you know, their body's going to change, they're going to go through menopause later in life. The longer they wait, the harder it is for them to have children. That's just the medical facts, right? So the longer you wait to get married, the less children your union will be able to have. And Psalms 127 verse three and four says, lo, children are in heritage of the Lord. And the fruit of the womb is his reward. God wants to reward you with a fruit. It's not, it's not a burden. It's a reward. The fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of thy youth. So are the children of thy youth. You know, you don't have to wait, right? As soon as you get married, hey, have children. Don't delay it. It's a reward that God wants to give you. Number two, why you should not wait. The longer you wait, the greater the temptation to commit fornication. We already covered that. I won't cover it again, but the greater the temptation, right? You have a longer period to wait before you can have that marital relationship, the more likely you are to commit fornication, right? To satisfy those needs that you have. And there's nothing wrong with those needs. God put those needs in place between husband and wife so they can get married. That's his idea. Okay. It's nothing evil in of itself, the desire to be with husband and wife, to be with a man and woman. Number three, a good reason, a good reason why to get married young is that when you're younger, it's easier to adapt. It's easier to adapt to having someone in your life. It's easier to adapt to have children, right? Because when you have little children, hey, you're still young enough to play with them. You're still young enough to run around with them. And you see, older people get stuck in their ways. You know, if I got married now, when I'm 36, am I 36? I'm 36. Well, if I got married now, it'd be a lot harder for me, right? I'd be stuck in my ways. I'd have a certain way of doing things. And I wouldn't want to, you know, accommodate for a fellow spouse. It'd be harder to do. I'm not saying it's impossible. I'm just saying it's harder to accommodate for someone else. It's harder to desire to have children because you're stuck in your ways. This is why it's so hard to preach the gospel to older people, because they're stuck in their ways. Like, this is what I've believed. This is how I've lived my life. No, I'm not going to hear what you have to say. It's so much harder to preach the gospel because they're stuck in their ways. And that makes it more difficult to work on those. Remember I said we need to have those common goals, a common purpose, the one flesh. That makes it harder to have those common goals. But the fourth reason you should get married young, and I'll just read it to you, Proverbs 17 verse 6, Proverbs 17 verse 6 says, children's children, so grandchildren, are the crown of old men, and the glory of children are their fathers. So children's children are the crown of old men. Another good reason to get married young is so you can enjoy your grandchildren. Okay? Because if you get married really late and you have children really late in life, you may not even live to see your grandchildren. I always find it amazing when I find out someone's like a great, great grandfather. Like, whoa. I mean, how much rejoicing are they having with all their kids? You know, when my parents have the kids over, you know, they're happy, they're rejoicing. And you know, the house is loud, and it's hard for them to control because obviously they're not the parents. And, you know, obviously they're happy once the kids leave, because, you know, it's hard to manage all of them. But they also, it gets very quiet, they say, and they don't know what to do anymore. It's like when they've had the kids for a while, especially after Christina gives birth, all the kids go to my parents for like a week or two, right? So we can just get used to the new baby. And then like after two weeks, they're used to the noise and the kids leave and they're sad. It's like, oh, it's so quiet. What do we do? What do I do? What do we do with our time? Because they rejoice. The fourth reason to have kids young is so you can enjoy your grandchildren as well. Hey, you don't have to put up with all the the discipline and you don't have to worry about all the nappy changes and all that. You can just enjoy the children. And when things get difficult, you can give them back to the parents. You know, that's, that's the point of being a grand grandparent. Enjoy the children of the grandchildren. So, you know, don't wait. So how, how long does a marriage last? Turn to Romans chapter seven, Romans chapter seven, verse one. How long does a marriage last? Well, how long is it meant to last? Romans chapter seven, verse one, Romans seven, verse one, to verse three. The Bible reads, know ye not brethren, for I speak to them that know the law. And this, by the way, this is the law of marriage. Okay. How that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth. For the woman which have a husband is bound by the law to her husband. So long as he liveth. So long as he liveth. How long is a marriage? As long as you live your whole life. A wife is bound to their husband as long as he lives. Do you see how important it is to make sure you choose the right spouse for your life. Make sure you, you know, you don't just, yes, I need to marry young, but make sure you make the right choice. A believer, someone that I can share common goals with, someone that loves the Lord, someone that wants to serve God, and there's someone that wants to raise their kids and, and, and be part of the family. It's important to choose the right person because it's for life. You make a wrong decision. You're stuck with that decision or it's God's purpose that you're stuck with that decision for the rest of your life. How important it is, kids, to make the right decision. Find the right partner for yourself because it's for life. Never think, well, if it doesn't work out, I can always get divorced. No, God's purpose is for life. And then it keeps going, but if the husband be dead, she's loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, so then if while her husband liveth, she'd be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she's free from the law so that she's no adulteress though she'd be married to another man. Okay. So divorce is not God's plan. Now God's allowed divorce. I won't cover divorce right now because it needs its own sermon. God's allowed divorce, but that's never God's plan. It was never God's plan. It's God's plan for a husband and wife to be married for life, for life. Um, uh, so we actually read this. I'll just read it again. Matthew 19. So, you know, we read Matthew 19 verse seven to eight. And they said unto him, why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement to put her away? So why did Moses allow divorce? What did Jesus say? He saith unto them, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you allowed you to put away your wives. But from the beginning, it was not so. It's not God's plan from the very beginning that divorce would ever exist. That was never God's plan, but it was allowed because of sin. It was allowed for the hardness of their hearts because one had, um, uh, fornicated against the other. Fornication is the reason for divorce. The only reason that's allowed in the Bible, or yeah, actually divorce, but for remarriage, it's that as well as, you know, if your spouse passes away. Now the question that often comes up with marriage, obviously we spoke about there being one man, one wife, twain shall be one flesh. The question always comes up, well, why did God then allow men in the Old Testament to have multiple wives, right? You know, like the Kings, why were the Kings allowed to have multiple wives? And some people teach, you know, like the Mormons, they teach that's fine. It's fine to have multiple wives. And why did God allow it? Well, God didn't allow it. Just because someone did something wrong in the Bible doesn't mean it's okay. Okay. Adam and Eve are the standard. When Jesus preaches about marriage, he doesn't preach about David. He doesn't preach about Solomon, right? When he preaches about marriage, he goes back to Adam and Eve. That's what Jesus taught. Adam and Eve are the standard, husband and wife, one man, one woman, one flesh, not the Kings or not other Old Testament men. What these men did were wrong. It just shows you that these men weren't perfect. They had problems. They had sin in their life. And yet they were great men, not because they were great. They were great men because they have a great God, because they had faith upon the great God and Saviour. Now turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter 17. Let me just reinforce this with scriptures. Deuteronomy chapter 17 verse 14. The Bible reads, when thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee and shall possess it and shall dwell therein and shall say, I will set a king over me like as all the nations that are about me. Thou shall in any wise set him king over thee whom the Lord thy God shall choose. One from among thy brethren shall thou set king over thee. Thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother, but he shall not multiply horses to himself. So this king is not to multiply horses to himself, not to create great armies. That's what basically what it's teaching. Nor cause the people to return to Egypt to the end that he should multiply horses for as much as the Lord have said unto you, you shall henceforth return no more that way. Verse 17. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself. Neither shall he, the king, multiply wives to himself. That his heart turn not away, neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. So what is God's command? If Israel were to set a king over themselves, I mean, obviously God knew that's what they were going to do eventually. Again, that wasn't really God's plan, but he knew Israel were going to do that. The command to the king is not to multiply wives to himself. So don't look at the kings and say, well, that's a standard. God's allowed it. God's okay with it. No, he's not. And any of the men, I've looked at the men that had multiple wives. They all had problems. They all had family breakups. They all had fighting between wives. In fact, the first man, the first man in the Bible to have two wives, he ended up being a murderer. I don't know if his wives driving him insane. I don't know. The Bible doesn't tell us why, but he ended up murdering someone. I mean, look, that and God sees fit. That's a fan in Genesis. I can't remember the chapter right now, but God sees fit to record this man that murdered someone and tell, by the way, he had two wives. It's problem. You create problems for yourself when you have multiple wives. So take Adam and Eve as your standard, not the Kings of the Old Testament. So let's talk about roles in marriage, roles in marriage. And I'm going to try to speed through this roles in marriage, but there are four things I want you to think about when it comes to roles in marriage. Number one, the husband is the authority over his wife. The husband is the authority. The husband is the head of the wife. Number two, the wife is to be under subjection to the husband, naturally, right? The husband is the head. The wife ought to be under subjection to the husband. The husband is the boss. Number three, both father and mother are in authority over the children. Both father and mother are in authority over the children. And number four, the husband and the wife are in subjection to Jesus Christ. The husband and wife are in subjection to Jesus Christ. That's how a marriage should be. That's how a family should be, right? Husbands, the head, the wife's in subjection to him, but under the husband and the wife, it's the children. They're to obey the parents. But above all that is God. Above all that is Jesus Christ. And husbands, you need to remember this, that you're accountable to your family, to Jesus Christ. You're accountable to Jesus Christ for your family. Ephesians 5, please send to Ephesians 5, verse 22. Ephesians 5, verse 22. Very popular topic on this, you know, when we talk about the authority and the roles within marriage, this is a very popular chapter. Ephesians 5, verse 22. Wives, wives, submit yourselves unto your husbands as unto the Lord. The same way you submit yourself to Christ, the way you submit yourself to God. Now, should you be under the submission to God? Should you be in obedience to God? Yes. In the same way to your husbands. That's a big call, right? It's a big saying, right? Now, is it ridiculous to rebel against God? It is ridiculous. It's just as equally ridiculous to rebel against your husband, because that's how you're sure to look at your husband, the same way that you subject yourself under the Lord. Verse 23. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. Is it ridiculous for a church to tell Christ what to do? Yes, it is. It's equally ridiculous for the wife to tell the husband what to do, to be in charge of the husband, equally ridiculous, right? We never, we would never dream of us being in authority of God, in authority of Christ. We never dream of that. We know Christ is the head of the church in the same way that husband is the head of the wife. Verse 24. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. I'm just reading the Bible to you. I'm just reading the Bible to you. Okay. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Whatever your husband says, goes. As long as it's not a sin, obviously, as long as it's not against the Lord God, obviously you put God first in your life. God is above both husband and wife, but whatever the husband asks of you, do it in everything. And that's a big call. I know it's hard, ladies. I know it's hard because we're not perfect, right? I know that. I know we're not perfect. Verse 25. But why is this achievable? Why is it achievable for a wife to be under subjection to the husband? Because husbands have a major role in this. Verse 25. Husbands love your wives. Love your wives. Now, if you love your wife, are you going to get them to do difficult tasks? Are you going to put impossible expectations upon them if you love them? No. If you love them, you're going to help them. You're going to encourage them. You're going to be there for them. You're going to love them, support them as much as you can. And your husbands, when you love your wives and when your wife knows my husband loves me, it's so much easier for your wife to be in subjection to you. It's so much easier for them to do as you've asked them to do. Love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. Gave himself for it. Husbands, you ought to love your wife as much as Christ loves the church. You ought to love your wife so much that you'd give yourself away. You'd give up your life for your wife. Do you love your wife that much? That you would die for your wife? That's how much you need to love your wife as much as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water and by the word. And by the way, husbands, it's your job, I know this is talking about Christ, but it's your job to wash your family as it were with the word. It's your job to teach your family spiritual things. You know, one question that came to me is from a woman that was more spiritual. She'd been saved longer than her husband. And she emailed me saying, hey, how do I, you know, I know more about the Bible. So how do we do this? Like how does the, how is the husband, the spiritual head of the, of the house? But here's the thing. The person in authority, the person in leadership doesn't actually have to be the most knowledgeable in the Bible. Now, ideally he would be, ideally he would be the most spiritual, right? Have the most knowledge of the Bible. But there are other cases where the husband knows less because he's maybe he's been saved for the least amount of time, but he's still in authority. You know, when I was, when I was a manager for a, for a company, I didn't know the day to day time. I didn't know the detail. I had people under me that knew more than I did. All I could do was organize, right? All I could do was, was, was set the goals. All I could do was, was use the knowledge, use the experience of other people to get the job done. Hey, and if you're a husband that has less knowledge of spiritual things, hey, you should still head up the time of Bible reading. You should still head up the prayer, but then utilize your wife. If your wife has more knowledge, honey, we read this chapter, what do you think this chapter says? You're still in authority. You're still leading the family, but you're utilizing the skills and knowledge of other people. That's fine. That's fine. But husbands, you are to be the spiritual head of your wives. Verse 27, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot nor wrinkle, nor any such thing, that it should be holy and without blemish. Verse 28, so ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth, his wife loveth himself. For no man yet hateth his own flesh. What does this mean? We don't hate our flesh. Why? But nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord, the church. Nourishment is feeding yourself, having the nutrients you need, cherishing, is looking after yourselves, right? God wants you to cherish, well, first of all, to nourish your wife. God wants you to nourish your wife. That's to provide for your wife, provide for your family. It's the man's job. It's the husband's job to bring food, to be the breadwinner, to provide the finances that the family needs. That's the man's role. That's the man's job, to nourish. You know, nothing gives, I don't know, and men, you can tell me if I'm wrong on this, but I reckon we're all the same because we're made the same way. But there's nothing that gives a man more joy and satisfaction than going to work and providing for his family. I reckon that's what drives me to make sure that my family's provided for. I have no greater joy than seeing my kids eat a meal and being full. I'm full. It gives me no greater joy. Why? Because I was the one that provided for them. I was the one that looked after them. I was the one that was able to provide that need. Of course, my wife cooked the meal and did everything else around the house. Hey, but I made sure she had the resources to be able to nourish herself and nourish your family. It gives me great joy and satisfaction. I might hate my job sometimes, right? I don't have a full-time job anymore, but in the past, there were times I hated my job, but you know, it gave me great joy just knowing, hey, the paycheck is going to provide for my family. Great satisfaction. And then it says, cherish. To cherish, that's to protect and care for. First Peter, chapter three, verse seven says, likewise, ye husbands dwell with them, according to knowledge, giving honor, giving honor unto the wife. Hey, respect your wife. Love your wife. Give her honor. Praise her for the work she does. Make sure she knows she's loved as unto the weaker vessel. The Bible calls the wife, the weaker vessel, as, and as being heirs together, heirs together, you're working together. You're both achieving this inheritance that God has for you together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. Hey, you know what? A bad relationship, a bad marriage. When a man despises his wife, that's going to hinder your prayer life. That's going to hinder your prayer life. Give honor to your wife. That's the teaching of God. Give them honor as unto the weaker vessel. And that's why, you know, weaker can be used in many ways. And, and obviously, physically, women generally are weaker than men, just physically, right? I know there's probably women, you know, especially now with all these hormones that they take, they're probably, you know, they're pretty strong these days. But God has made it so that women in general, just physically are weaker than men. That's why men are meant to go out and work hard. All right. That's not something that's meant to be for a woman. The woman is meant to be at home looking after the children. Are you still in Ephesians? I think you should still be right. Ephesians chapter five. Okay, good. Um, verse 30, for we are members of his body and of his flesh and of his bones. There's the one flesh, the one bone, you know, for this cause, again, this teaching, verse 31, for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife and they too shall be one flesh. You notice how often the Bible says this? For this cause shall a man leave father and mother. You know what that means? That means don't let the in-laws interfere in your life. Husbands, listen to your wife. Don't go to your parents. Hey, you've got that partner there to help you, to work with you, seek advice from your wife. You know, oh, I'm the head. I'm in charge. Yes, you are the head, but hey, it's wise to listen to your wife. You know, if you're a manager of a workplace, if you manage a workplace, isn't it wise to listen to employees? Your employees to do the work day in, day out. Isn't it wise to hear their recommendations? Right. And you know, I once worked in a workplace where, you know, I had my job and then I thought, man, we could do this better. So I'd go to my manager, you know what, if we did this, if we made these changes, I think we could be more productive. We can be more efficient. And my manager would often say, all right, cool, try it, go ahead, do it. Right. Now the manager was calling the shots, right? But I would bring my recommendations forward and imagine, yeah, try it. And then there'll be other times I bring my recommendations forward and my manager would be like, nah, can't do it. It's not happening. And I get frustrated. I'll be like, oh, come on, it's going to work. Imagine, nah, don't do it. But I had to respect the authority, right? But a good manager is going to listen to the employees, whether they take it on board or not is up to them because they're in authority. And this is why sometimes even in the church, yes, I have the authority in the church, but quite often I'll go to the men and say, Hey, what do you think about this? If we did this, what do you think? Why? Because I want to hear from other people. It'd be unwise for me to just decide and just do whatever I want without getting some thoughts of other people, right? In the same way, husbands and wives, wives, you know, you should feel free to go to your husband and make recommendations and, you know, help your husband, give them, give them advice as well as to how things can be done. But at the end of the day, it's the husband's decision, whether they want to go ahead with that or not. It's the husband's decision. You know, moving up here to the Sunshine Coast, I spoke to my wife about that. I spoke to the kids about it. What do you think? What do you think if we left Sydney? But at the end of the day, it was my decision, right? It was my call, but I wanted to hear what my family had to say. Verse 32, this is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself, and the wife see that she reverents her husband. So we spoke about the man loving the wife. And again, if you love your wife men, then your wife's going to find it easy to be in subjection to revere her husband. That's to respect her husband. I hate it when I hear a wife speaking bad of her husband. I hate it when I hear a husband speak bad of his wife. Right? I mean, it's not a nice thing. You know, and again, I'm just thinking about my workplace. I remember hearing women come into work, oh, my husband this, my husband that. I'm like, that's the man you married. Deal with it, right? It's for life. Deal with it. It's for life. Make sure your marriage works. Make sure you have the roles in place. That's God's plan. It's God's plan to have the two genders, the two sexes, so you guys can compliment one another, so you can help one another to make the marriage successful. And it's the wife's job, you know, 1 Timothy 5 verse 14. Can you please turn there? 1 Timothy 5 verse 14. I'm trying to speed through my notes a little bit now. 1 Timothy 5, 14 says, I will, therefore. Now these are the words of God, right? The Bible's the word of God. Men moved by the Holy Ghost. I will, therefore. It's God's will, therefore, that the younger women, there's the younger bit again, get married in your youth, that the younger women marry, bear children, guide their house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully. This is the will of God for young ladies to get married, to have children, to guide the house, be a keeper of the house. Why? To give none occasion to the adversary. Don't give occasion to Satan. If you go with your own will, ladies, if you go with your own will and not the will of God, you're opening yourself up to the adversary. You're opening yourself up to the devil to deceive you, to tempt you. That's why Eve was the one that was deceived by Satan. And then Adam took part because of his wife. But it was Eve that was deceived by Satan. It's the will of God that you marry, bear children. And people, you know, this society today think that's, that's like old fashioned. That's like prison for a woman. And yet, what does the Bible say in Psalms 128 verse one? Blessed is everyone that fearth the Lord and walketh in his ways, for thou shalt eat the labor of thine hands. Happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house. Thy children like olive plants round about thy table. God knows there's joy in women to have a family. Ladies, if you weren't influenced by the media, if you weren't influenced by this world, if you weren't influenced by feminism, you too would desire to be married, to have children, to raise kids. There's great joy in that. That's God's reward for you. That's God's inheritance for you. And I know probably maybe some of you are thinking that's crazy. I know I can't just do that. I need more. No, that's God's plan for you. God knows there's great joy in that for you. And you've got to discover that joy if you've lost that joy in your life. God says he wants you to guide the house. Proverbs 31 verse 27. She looketh well to the ways of her house hold, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up and call her blessed. Her husband also and he praiseth her. There's great praise to be had. There's great blessings to be had to look after the needs of your house, to raise your children, to look after the house. You know what, with my wife and I, as far as the house is concerned, I give her complete control. I don't tell her how often she needs to clean. I don't tell her what meal she needs to make. I don't tell her what clothes to iron and what... You know what, I give her complete ownership of the house. She's her own boss. You know, when I'm in my workplace, I've got a boss to answer to. I can't do whatever I want. I've got... Hey, can I do... No, the boss has to make calls to shots, right? But with my wife, she's got complete freedom around the house. I don't... You know, she knows what she needs to do. I don't have to tell her. You know, she's better at organizing that stuff than I ever will be, right? God's created men and women differently. She's her own boss. I give Christina complete freedom in the house to do as she sees fit. Turn to Genesis chapter 3, Genesis chapter 3 verse 16. Now, when Adam and Eve took part of that fruit, remember that fruit, that forbidden fruit they weren't allowed to eat from, God cursed Satan. God cursed the earth. But God also put a curse on both male and female. Okay, Genesis chapter 3 verse 16. God put a curse on both male and female, man and woman. God says this in verse 16. And to the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shall bring forth children. Now ladies, if you're wondering why is it so difficult to deliver a baby? Why is it so difficult? It's a curse. It's the curse of God. It's a curse for sinning against the Lord. But notice something. It's a curse for something women really want. Women really want children. They want to get pregnant and have children. That's a great need, a great satisfaction that women have, right? So when women can't fall pregnant, when they're barren, they have such a great desire to have kids. It's something in your DNA that God's put in there. And yet that great satisfaction, that great desire you have, God's put a curse where it's difficult to give birth, right? I don't see, you know, when animals give birth, yes, it's hard for that, for that creature, but you don't see him screaming in pain, right? It's not as difficult as it is to a woman. And then it's verse 17. And unto Adam, he said, oh sorry, I didn't finish there, shall bring forth children and thy desire shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over thee. God says, hey, women have a desire. I'm going to put this in the women's DNA. I'm going to make sure they have a desire to have a husband over them. Have a desire. That's something women actually want. They want to be provided for. They want to be protected. Okay. And boys, when you're old enough to get married, these are things you want to think about. You know, it's not so much your muscles that they're looking for. They're looking for a man that can provide, nourish and protect them. That's what they're looking for in a wife. And verse 17, and unto Adam, he said, because thou has hearkened unto the voice of thy wife and has eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying thou shall not eat of it, curses the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shall thou eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee and thou shall eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shall thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground for out of it was thou taken, was thou taken. For thus thou art and unto thus thou shalt thou return. So remember I said, there's nothing more satisfying to a man than to work hard and provide for his family. That's a desire of man. That's in our DNA. It's in our DNA to provide for our family, to provide for our wives. And God says, I'm going to make that hard for you. You're going to be doing that in sorrow. You see how there's that desire of man and woman, women to have children, men to work hard and provide for his family, but God's going to make it difficult. That's the curse that is put on us. So even though it's difficult, it's something we want to achieve. But I just want to point out this to you, okay? The woman got a curse, the man got a curse. And feminism today wants the woman to have both curses. Make it hard for you to have kids, right? And make it hard for you to go out and get work and provide for your family. That's not the curse. That's not what God put upon the woman. That's something for the man to do. Why would you want two curses on your life? I know it's hard to live on one income. I know it's hard. And I've had great difficulty, you know, but at the same time, God's always blessed us somehow. You know, before my wife and I got married, Christina was working as a receptionist at a medical center. I told her, I told Christina, hey, we're going to get married. I want you to quit the job because I don't want to get used to having two incomes. If we get used to two incomes and then you fall pregnant and all that, then it's going to be hard. Like we're used to that money and then we're going to have just the one income. So we, you know, she quit her job. I was the only one working. We got married and I've always just lived on one income and somehow God's made it for us. I don't even budget. I think you should budget, but I don't even budget. Somehow God's made it easy for me. I don't know. Okay. I'm not saying that we've always had plenty of money, but it's been, you know, we've been fine. And here's the funny thing. Every time my wife's gotten pregnant, we've gotten a pay rise every time. Like I didn't wait for the pay rise before we, I just have kids now. Christina would just fall pregnant. And then I'm telling you within a month, oh, you know, we've promoted you. This is your new paid every time. All right. It's like, just God, just, and by the way, I'm expecting a pay rise because number 10's on the way. Number 10's on the way. All right. So I don't know where it's going to come from, but it's going to come right. I just have great faith in God. Number 10's on the way. He's going to make sure that I can provide for my family. So my wife can sorrow in birth. Okay. She can have that curse and I'll have to find a way to make sure we can provide for our needs. Yes. Number 10's on the way. I'm looking forward to it. Finally, I've been telling people, it's like, you know, get into nine to nine when you're playing cricket and then getting bowled out before a hundred. Like once you get to nine, you've got to have 10, right? You've got to have 10. So thank God for that. Now the children have a role as well. Colossians 3 20. I'll just read it. Children, children by attention, you can listen to me. Children, obey your parents in all things for this is world pleasing unto the Lord. Children, it's your job to just obey your parents. God's made it easy for you right now in your life. Okay. You don't need to go out and have a job. You don't need to go out and get married and raise kids. You just obey your parents. That's what God expects from you for it is well pleasing unto the Lord. Do you want to please God in your life? Do you want God to look at you and say, Hey, these children, I'm pleased with them. Then you need to obey your parents. Obey your parents for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Now let me just finish with this. First Corinthians 11 three, first Corinthians 11 three, but I would have you know that the head of every man is Christ and the head of the woman is the man and the head of Christ is God. But I just want to point out to you this. Okay. So the head of Christ is God. That's referring to God, the father. We remember we spoke about that. The father has authority over Christ or Christ's authority over the husband, over the man and the wife and the husband has authority over the wife. That's God's system of family. Okay. So, you know, ladies, you might go, that's not fair to be subject to my husband, but you know, Christ is subject to the father. You know, God doesn't ask us to do anything that he doesn't already do. He's not asking anything difficult from you then he's already done and what the system he's already set in place. But I just want to point out that bit there, husbands, that the head of every man is Christ. Christ is the head of your family. Yes, he's put you in authority. Yes, you call the shots. Yes, you make the decisions, but you're accountable to Christ. That's a scary thought. That ought to be a scary thought. God's going to hold me accountable for my family. And so when Adam and Eve sinned, yes, it was Eve that was deceived by Satan. But who did God come looking for? He came to Adam, right? Adam, what happened? He came to Adam finding out what happened. Hey, and if we don't take our responsibility, men, as the husbands, as the authority of our home, God's going to come to you. Hey, what's going on? Okay, you're accountable to Christ. So let me just finish on this. Marriage is an institution of God. It's between one man and one woman. Yes, I have to say that these days. One flesh, one in purpose, one in goal. Okay, you're one unit. Work together to raise a godly seed. Raise a new generation for this nation. So there'll be light in this world, so there'll be salt in this world. Raise your kids to love God. Raise them so they know their need for salvation early in their age. That's the purpose of marriage. Let's pray.