How to Divorce-Proof Your Marriage

all right let's pray together father we ask your blessing on this time as we open your word and learn about marriage and we're thinking about us right here at every marriage represented in this room we pray that it will be strengthened and bolstered and that it will last a lifetime so we would commit this time a Bible study to you now in Jesus name we pray amen well good morning the title of my message is how to divorce proof your marriage and by the way this is the last message in this series that we're doing called home sweet home now I've been married 42 years that's maybe a little hard to wrap one's mind around but here's the amazing thing I still remember vividly like a video loop in my mind Kathy walking down the aisle she didn't really look all that different than she looks now as a matter of fact she was a vision and why I look like one of the guys from duck dynasty you know but underneath that she could see that underneath all of that hair was a bald man and that's pretty much what she got but you know when you stop and think about marriage after we say I do there's a lot more to be done any of you think you're done you're finished it's been said if love is it dreamed and marriage is the alarm clock and I think one of the problems is when we see marriages start to unravel it isn't usually overnight it's over a period of time when there is neglect just like your garden if you neglect your garden it'll grow over with weeds if you don't take care of your body you're soon gonna have problems and if you neglect your marriage it will surely slowly but surely die a one comedian said quote the secret of a happy marriage remains a secret is that true though or aren't there actual secrets in the Bible I believe they are and there are and that's what we've been talking about in this series home sweet home but I also think there are things that are threats to our marriage and I would like to identify some of those in this message how to divorce prove your marriage you know the Bible says in the song Solomon chapter 2 verse 15 it's the little foxes that spoil the vines it's always little things left neglected that ultimately turn into big things that can ultimately become destructive things in your marriage so what are some of the threats against our marriage today number one and I've already talked about this a little bit but I want to come back to it I think the number one threat against our marriage is simply selfishness if you were to sum up why people have marital problems it would be because of selfishness if you were to pick one word to describe why a marriage ultimately fell apart again it would be selfishness because we go into a marriage honestly thinking that it's all about us and that person is gonna meet all of our needs and we never stop and think maybe the problem is me in James 4:2 we read these words what do you think where do you think all these appalling Wars and whorls come from do you think they just happen think again they come about because you want your own way and you fight for a deep inside of yourselves that's it we want our own way we want her to do what we want her to do and she wants the guy to do what she wants him to do and of course we live in a culture that's completely self-absorbed my generation the baby boomers were described as the me generation now they're saying this new generation called the Millennials is the me me generation how's that even possible more self-absorbed than we were and I think we're partly responsible because of the whole inning self-love movement self-esteem movement that gained popularity back in the 70s we were told that the reason we have all the problems in our culture today is because we don't love ourselves enough and if we would learn to love ourselves more than then everything would go much better and so there was all this emphasis on self image and self love and so forth and did it fix things though it actually made things worse one expert said quote the problem is that when people try to boast self-esteem they boosted narcissism instead all that self-esteem led people to be disappointed when the world refused to affirm how great they know they are you know so it's sort of the mentality of there's no losers everybody's a winner no there's losers like when I go to my grandchildren's games like soccer games uh I'll ask someone what's the score we're not keeping score Alex please really and then some guy tell me it's four to two you know it's like yeah come on we need to keep score we need to give out grades people succeed people fail and that's true in life and that's also true in marriage and this started a long time ago in the Garden of Eden the origins of sin in selfishness and a focus on ourselves are a result of the fall after the fall of antivenom and Eve in the garden it's very important because God said something to them that there's something misunderstood a verse that is not grasped in its original context after Adam and Eve fell into sin the Lord said to Eve in Genesis 3:16 your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you by the way that's not a positive thing remember as a result of the fall and the curse now here's what God is saying from this point on Eve your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you so don't ever use that as a proof text guys if you're trying to get order in the house I should roll over you know that was an observation about the results of sin that would follow the choice of Adam and Eve why do I say that well interestingly the word desire as in your desire will be for your husband actually means to compel urge or seek control over you it's the same word that is used in Genesis 4:7 when God warned king sin is crouching at your door it desires to have you that is control you but you must master it God was saying listen keen sin wants to master you you must master sin so coming back to the word your desire Eve will be for your husband in other words God was saying from this point you're wanted you're going to want to control your husband and then when God said to Adam and you will rule over her that also was a word that actually was unique it represented an authoritarianism that was not in God's original plan this is not the servant leadership that the husband should be displaying but rather it's a guy wanting to dominate a woman so you could effectively say the battle of the sexes began in the garden male chauvinism and women's liberation if you will started there in the garden women have a sinful inclination to control men men have a sinful inclination to control women and neither of those is God's original plan so that's the origin of all of this it's selfishness look we don't need to love ourselves we already do love ourselves you love yourself I love myself and so when the Bible says love your neighbor as yourself it's not saying learn to love yourself first then love your neighbour it says hey duh in the original Greek does it's implied you already love yourself so love your neighbour that much at least and of course in Ephesians 5:28 husband's ought to love their wives as their own bodies he that loves his wife loves himself so it's not that we need to love ourself it's net we need to love someone else more than we love ourselves or at least as much as we love ourselves and Philippians tells us don't be selfish instead be thinking of others as better than yourself don't think about your own affairs but be interested in others so one of the primary threats against marriage today is selfishness and the antidote to selfishness is self lessness here's another threat against our marriages communication breakdown communication breakdown in a survey that was taken among divorced couples they were asked why did your marriage fail 86% said deficient communication I mean men and women we are so different from each other the way we even communicate you know uh you know a guy uh you look at a conversation between a man and a woman a guy will stop and say you know where do you want to go out for dinner and she'll say well I'm gonna go to this place and you have to start learning how to read between the lines with women um just last time my wife was saying I want to go to dinner it's a great where do you want to go she said you decide that's a good let's go get sushi I don't want sushi okay let's go to that place it has those really great burgers you know I I don't want a hamburger okay well let's go over to this other place I don't know I don't want to go there well let's go to the Mexican yeah that's where I want to go why didn't you just say that in the first place you know she told me to choose but ultimately she she had her will I mean it's sort of like you know when a man and wife are talking two different things are heard she says let's stop and ask for directions and he hears her say you're an idiot you don't know where you're going you're not even a man she says can I have the remote control and he hears her say let's watch something that will bore you beyond belief I can't believe some of the things Kathy wants to watch I we're complete opposites in every way she says you know I'd like to redecorate he hears her say let's take a whole bunch of money and just flush it down the toilet just like that she says you know you need to get in touch with your feelings he hears her say blah blah blah blah she says are you listening he hears her say blah blah blah blah see how so this is part of the problem communication breakdown look you're gonna have conflicts in marriage you're gonna have disagreements so you have to learn how to have a fair fight you have to learn and I don't mean coming to fisticuffs I'm talking about a disagreement you have to learn how to disagree agreeably and ultimately find some kind of solution and resolution and I believe the guy should be the one that takes point in that so you have to learn how to listen what is it that is the problem exactly cuz you know a guy will ask a girl or his wife in particular what's wrong she'll say nothing but you know something's wrong don't accept that answer you're gonna have to take some time and find out listen to her understand what she's saying listen to him understand what are you saying and never let it get elevated to shouting and screaming in fact the Bible tells us get rid of all bitterness rage anger harsh words and slander and instead forgive one another so don't elevate it don't escalate it deescalate it resolve it and then once each has said their peace now it's time to forgive one another and again as the scripture says let not the Sun go down on your wrath listen to this fight to resolve not to win if you go into the disagreement to win you've already lost here's the third threat against marriages and this is a big one adultery adultery it's such a big deal at meet God's top ten and saddling every one of us listening to this message knows at least one couple of not more that have had their marriage devastated by adultery think of how many marriages would still be together today if this one sin was not committed just if America alone stop committing this sin for a year it would change the face of our nation how many families would still be together how many people would still be loving each other and then this just gets passed on from generation to generation I heard about a young pastor I was listening to a visiting evangelist in his church and the guy was speaking in and the Evangelist said you know some of the happiest moments of my life have been spent in the arms of another man's wife there's kind of a pause and people are shocked and then the guy says and that and that woman was my mother they ever what laughs okay get it another man's wife he's happy moments and his mom's arms and so the Evangelist excuse me the young pastor said I gotta use up line so a couple months passed and he thought I'm gonna use it in this sermon he said you know some of the happiest moments of my life have been spent in the arms of another man's wife and then he forgot the punch line and he said and for the life of me I can't remember who she was well that didn't go well that didn't go well you know unfaithfulness is one of the greatest threats against marriage today stats tell us that 40 to 50 percent of all married men have had extramarital affairs and 70% of all married men under 40 expect to have an extramarital relationship that's scary so a bunch of guys are just waiting for what they would see as an opportunity and so this just gets worse and it's men of course but now women are catching up the numbers for women being unfaithful to their husbands is higher than ever 1953 while one-half a varied men had been a faithful to their wives only 26% of the wives responded in kind but today while only 19% of married women knew their husbands cheated on them 41% of the women cheated so they're just going out and doing that as well this is destroying the fabric of the family and God has warned us about this sin in 1st Corinthians 16 he says don't you know the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God nor the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers Solomon warned us about going to the house of the prostitute the House of the Rising Sun as it was memorialized in the song years ago in Proverbs 724 listen to me my son pay attention to my words don't let your heart straight toward her don't wander down her wayward path free she's been the ruin of many numerous men have been her victims her house is the road to the grave her bedroom is the den of death Wow her house is the road to the grave in her bedroom is the den of death and Jesus of course took this to another level he said you've heard that it has been said you shall not commit adultery but I say unto you if you look on a woman with lust in your heart it's effectively the same thing by the way that phrase that Christ used look on a woman in the original language could be translated continuously looking it's not a casual glance now it's continuously looking and not only that but it speaks of intentional and repeated gazing so you know you're gonna see an attractive guy like right now um I mean the guy next to you not me of course are you gonna see an attractive woman you got Oh attractive woman attractive guy that that's not the issue here it's like when you see I'm now gonna go looking for this and I'm not only gonna go looking for this I'm gonna go looking for this lustfully I'm going out of my way to feed the flames of lust now in the old days uh you would have to go searching for a place to stimulate your lust but nowadays it's only a mouse click away pornography of course is everywhere on the Internet they estimate that the worldwide sex industry is around fifty seven billion dollars there's 4.2 million porn sites and pornographic search engine requests total 68 million per day as I said wickedness is just a mouse-click away and of course the word pornography comes from the Greek word porneia and it's interesting because that word is actually used a number of times in the New Testament we learn in 1st Corinthians 16 our bodies were not made for it we should not seek it out either according to 1st Corinthians 7:2 and finally 1st Corinthians 6:18 we should run of it run from it and then finally we should repent of it if we fallen prey to it 1st Corinthians 12 21 you need to run remember the story of Joseph and the original cougar Potiphar's wife she was an older woman attractive no doubt laying lustful eyes on the attractive handsome young Joseph and she was very upfront about her intention she just said day after day have sex with me and he repelled her advances and one day she just grabbed him and pulled him down on the bed and he did what any clear-thinking red-blooded young man would do or should do under such circumstances he ran and sometimes literally it's as simple as running it's as simple as hitting the off button it's as simple as terminating a conversation and so you need to take the step because people that get into the trap of adultery lose perspective and here's the thing we don't think about we call it an affair what a stupid word that is an affair sounds like a cruise or something but really it's the worst thing you can do it's adultery and God tells you not to go there but when a person is committed this act it's not one time because when two people hook up and engage in this kind of a lifestyle it's all about sex it has nothing to do with love so it's gonna be many many times it's gonna be a lot of lying to cover up what they've been doing so effectively if you're a Christian you go into a completely backslidden state of immorality and I have also found people that are found out in Affairs they say it was only once at their Liars they're always liars and you'll find out later it wasn't once it was many times and it wasn't one person it was more than one person see it's just a trap that gets worse and you don't ever want to go down that road again you say but great come on now won't God forgive me yes he will God won't forgive you if you fallen into the sin of adultery but your spouse may not forgive you quite as quickly gnats will point out it technically is grounds for divorce hopefully that won't happen but it is a deal breaker and even if it's been forgiven there's a lot of time that needs to be taken for trust to be restored so we don't want to go down that road ever because it is a horrible destructive sin and when you commit this sin it's gonna catch up with you this is what people don't think about I'm gonna be the exception and I'm gonna get away with it and I'll never be caught not true you will be caught maybe not today maybe not tomorrow maybe not five years from today but ultimately the Bible says your sin will find you out and if you were to go back and take that first at the original language and re stated it would say your sin will find you out and actually what it means is your sin will find you out and by the way Moses made that stay and he knew a little bit about it remember when he killed the Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew he looked to the right he looked to the left she looked up to God and he wouldn't have done it and then what does he do he hides the guy in this hand you know if you're gonna hide someone that you just killed don't put him in the sand when the winds are blowing cuz it wasn't long until oh look a corpse and okay yeah so his sin found him out and that's the same way it's gonna catch up with you eventually why is it such a bad thing to go down this road well number one you do incredible damage to yourself you damage yourself the Bible even says that when you enter into a sexual union with a prostitute you effectively become one flesh with her so when you say well it was a one-night stand and it didn't mean anything actually it means a lot also you do incredible damage to your spouse you damage that oneness you damage that bond it's a devastating sin thirdly you do incredible damage to your children they're gonna find out maybe they're young and they don't know at first but later though they'll get it figured out someone will tell them and so often the sins of parents are repeated by children the Bible speaks of the sins of the parents being visited on the children that's not a description of some mystical generational curse rather what that's what that is saying is your kids will end up doing what you do and we see this happening in the life of King David remember he fell into adultery with Bathsheba and his own children repeated his behavior David's son Amnon raped his half sister Tamar and Absalom murdered Amnon as the prophet Nathan said to David the sword will never depart from your house here's another thing when you commit the sin of adultery you do great damage to the church the scripture says when one member suffers the whole body suffers we're all interconnected as believers when one of us has exalted we're all exalted when one of us Falls we all are affected by it and a lot of times people don't think about this but there's your testimony to a lost world you've told them all about your faith in Christ and how much you love your spouse and then you go and commit this sin and lastly you do great damage to the cause of Christ after David fell into sin with Bathsheba the prophet Nathan said because you've done this you've given great opportunity for non-believers to blaspheme let's not give Numb believers more ammo to use against us and of course the worst thing of all is you sin against the Lord Himself coming back to Joseph I love the way that he resisted the wife of Potiphar he said how can I do this great sin against God that's the greatest deterrent okay so that brings us to our text Matthew 19 and this is the most serious threat against the marriage today and that is divorce and the title of this message is how to divorce prove your marriage Matthew 19 starting at verse 7 they said to Jesus why did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce and to put her away he said to the Moses because of the hardness of your hearts permitted you notice the word permit they used the word command he uses the word permit he permitted you to divorce your wife from the beginning it was not so and I say to you whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery will stop there note again that they said commanded why did Moses command us to get a divorce and Jesus excuse me he never commanded he permitted because of the hardness or the callousness of your heart you seem to protect a woman from the hardship of endeavoring to carry on in a home where she was unloved and unwanted because the men didn't understand the high ideal of marriage a clause was given a release clause and what is the release clause I think there are two reasons in Scripture that you can use to say we may have cause for divorce most divorces I've seen could have been avoided most marriages that are having conflicts that I've seen could have been restored but because of selfishness a lack of communication an unwillingness to commit themselves that were unwilling to go through with it make the hard choices but there are these two options in the Bible number one uh would be when immorality takes place back to verse 9 of Matthew 19 anyone who divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another commits adultery and it's not to say if adultery is committed divorce is mandatory or even recommended every effort should be made even if adultery has taken place to restore the marriage and examine the steps that led to the sin sin in applies some preventive measures because immorality is not only grounds for divorce that's also grounds for forgiveness so there can be forgiveness and I've seen marriages survive this but there's some guys and sometimes girls - usually guys I have to be honest who are serial adulterers I mean they just go from one thing to another thing to another thing and that comes a point where our wife says I can't take it anymore and far be it for me to say no you have to keep forgiving him forever another can come a point where you could say you know what you do have these grounds pray about it I would love to see restoration in your marriage somehow but you actually do have a release clause given to you by Christ himself now here's the second reason for divorce or second legitimate a point that you can make and that is desertion desertion first corinthians 713 says if a Christian woman isn't a husband who's an unbeliever and he's willing to continue living with her she must not leave him so first of all this uh addresses the idea of be married to a non-believer and many people find themselves in this situation maybe because they became a Christian after they were married so now you're married to this non-believing guy or me non-believing girl sometimes unfortunately Christians will go out in intentionally marry a non-believer and say well I'll lead them to Christ well maybe you will and there's a good chance you won't and then after you've been married for a year or so you're saying wow I really made a mistake and I just met this really cute Christian guy at church and the Lord spoke to my heart and he said to me dump your heathen husband and marry the cute Christian guy I know God didn't say that well how do you know God didn't say it because God said this first Corinthians seven thirteen of a Christian woman is her husband who's an unbeliever and he's willing to continue living with her she must not leave him but then it goes on in verse fifteen of first Corinthians seven and says first Corinthians 7:15 if the husband or wife who isn't a Christian insists on leaving let them go in such cases the Christian husband or wife is not required to stay with them for God wants his children to live in peace okay so here's how this works let's say you're married to some person we'll take a guy as an example and he just says I'm leaving you any what's away he moves out of the house he's living in another house he's even living with another woman in another house but you're technically married still so you're waiting and a month goes by and five months go by and a year goes by and you're waiting and you're being patient and then you say are you ever gonna come back he says no I'm never going to come back so some well-meaning Christian I'd say we'll just keep praying no here's what the Bible says you have a release clause now you may want to keep praying and you may want to hang in there and I have seen situations where that person came to their senses and by the way you know in the King James it says have been unbelieving two parts I don't think this is really about if they claim to be a Christian or not cuz any man that walks out and his wife effectively to me is behaving as a non-believer fact the Bible even says if you don't provide for your family you're worse than a non-believer so he may or she made to the point and we're seeing this happen with women today now even walking out on their husbands and even their children and this is mind-blowing to me why Greg we're all sinners I don't know I just can't believe a mom would walk out on her children we know guys are dogs and they've been doing it for years but a mother who bore the children to walk out on a vet just so shocking but that's the time we're living in now we hear of this thing happening there comes a point where you could say they're not coming back and that verse says God has called us to peace and so you have grounds for divorce you have biblical grounds I never encouraged divorce I think as I said most divorces can be avoided but there are times when these release clauses can be utilized but even when divorce has happened that's not the end I received a letter from one of our listeners to our radio broadcast a new beginning she says dear Greg been listening to your program for 15 years I was struggling with a marriage that wasn't going very well I've been married for 25 years but my husband and I got a divorce however I was listening to your marriage series and I was able to grow and be changed and she writes I learned to love my husband in a way I never knew possible and now we are married again for the past five years so here was a family broken they got a divorce and they got remarried again we need to divorce proof our marriages some years ago we had one of our famous wildfires here in Southern California and a lot of homes were burned in a very nice upscale neighborhood all these homes were devastated just all these foundations are reduced a charred rubble and in the midst of this tract of beautiful homes stood a home a ret almost in perfect condition a little bit of smoke damage in the midst of all of these devastated burned down homes and so the press went out thought what what on earth happened here and they interviewed this man and they said why did your house not burn down his answer was well and I found this article fascinating he says we went beyond that which was required and made it even safer what did he do in particular get double pane windows extra thick stucco walls sealed E concrete tile rub and abundant insulation so when the firefighters came they said that's what we're gonna make our stand we're gonna defend this house and it did stand and I'm gonna ask everybody listening to this message right now right at this moment to make a stand for their marriage and say I'm gonna do everything I can to secure this marriage to keep it strong to keep it vibrant to go the extra mile not just give some token effort but go the extra mile to keep my marriage thriving so periodically you got to step back and ask yourself the hard questions like husbands am i loving my wife as Christ loves the church and wives am i respecting my husband and submitting to his servant leadership and for both am i denying myself and putting the needs of my mate above my own sort of asking the question are there any flammable materials you have lying around in your relationship you make your stand there you know you stop and ask yourself is there any activity I am engaged in that is putting distance between my mate and myself is there any relationship I have with any other person that is hurting this marriage why is this important because one day you're gonna be old like me and before you know it life's gonna be coming to an end and you're gonna be sitting in that rocking chair or in that retirement home or maybe on your deathbed and you're gonna reflect back on your life and I'll tell you this much when you look back upon cross your life the big accomplishments are not gonna be how much money you make or how well known you were those big accomplishments you're gonna find are gonna be your faith in your family and you're gonna think about your children and perhaps your children grandchildren and even great-grandchildren and if you know on that day that you've been faithful to your spouse and you've had a marriage that has lasted a lifetime you're gonna be one happy person because the regrets always come when we've neglected these areas so let's take some preventative steps to keep our family strong here's of closing points and then we're done number one walk with God this is the greatest thing you can do even above keeping your marriage strong just walk with God if you are walking closely with the Lord you will have this relationship with him and the resources you need to do what God has called you to do because there is no way I can love my wife as Christ loves the church without the help and filling of the Holy Spirit on a regular basis and there's definitely no way that Cathy can submit to my leadership without the help of the Holy Spirit so we need God's help we need to walk closely in his presence you know David of course fell into sin with Bathsheba and I've mentioned him it all started when there was a breakdown in his fellowship with the Lord you know David was known for his closeness to God his intimacy with God but that was neglected and then other things began to crowd into his life so walk with God point number one point number two walk with your spouse walk good to your spouse I mean literally walk with your spouse take walks together long leisurely walks but even more spend time developing friendship and romance don't grow complacent enjoy each other's company spend time together break away from your schedule and do that I was talking with Kathy recently I in this series remember we talked together and she said one of the things I did early on in her marriage that she didn't like at the time was I said we need to just take a little time off just you and me cuz she didn't want to leave the kids and uh but I said no we need to do this now she looks back on it and says I'm glad we did it and I would just periodically say we need a little break just you and me let's go somewhere let's do something even though it's for a day let's just you and me go let's put the stinking cell phones away and let's have conversations together and talk together and be together and it doesn't even have to be an exotic or nice place just maybe a different place and you're normally in away from the pressures and demands if possible of your life and just enjoy each other's company number three don't walk in the counsel of the ungodly so walk of God walk with your spouse don't walk in the counsel of the ungodly the wise person of someone it says of him or her blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly nor stands in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful but here's the line is in the law of the Lord in in it does he meditate day and I don't walk in and godly counsel so needless to say this would speak of any kind of relationship with a member of the opposite sex especially if it's gotten a little bit flirty you know here's a little word of advice don't ever go to a member of the opposite sex for marital counseling you know a girl you work with I'm having problems with my marriage can you counsel me but are you an idiot that's almost like an invitation hey let's see what happens now if it's your mother it's okay you can talk to your mother or you know but I'm you get my point don't walk in the counsel of the ungodly if you know people that sort of encourage and faithfulness or encourage illicit activity don't hang out with people like that and finally count the cost remember some of the warnings we brought up those along with an intense love for God in your spouse will see you through the rough waters of sexual temptation I mean pay attention there's a cost you cross these lines and your marriage falls apart that's a heavy cost to pay you don't want to go down that road now someone might say well Greg I have gone down that road actually I have committed adultery or I am divorced what about me is life just over no it isn't because we serve a God who gives second chances you think of the story of that woman caught in the act of adultery she was brought before a crowd of people who wanted to stone her Jesus looked around and said well him that's without sin cast the first stone and the Bible says he wrote on the ground oh man I've always wanted to know what did he write on the ground do you think he was like just doodling down there or something no I think he was writing names cuz it says he he looked at me let him that without sin cast the first on then he wrote on the ground and then he stood up and they started leaving from the oldest to the youngest I think he probably but names Caleb maybe commandment number three that he broke or four or five and six or maybe the word or something that that guy had done and they left and all that was left was this woman he says woman were your accusers she says I have done he says neither do i condemn thee go and sin no more but here's a key he says woman where are your accusers she said Lord I have none she is the word Lord so that woman who had been caught in adultery who had sinned at that moment recognized Jesus Christ as Lord and he forgave her so if I'll come to God and say Lord I failed I failed on this marriage I failed in this choice I failed in this other thing and if you'll turn from that sin he will forgive you of that and here's your marching orders now go and sin no more don't go and do it again no you can't change the past anymore than you can unscramble an egg but you can start today to say I'm gonna do the right thing from this moment forward and some of you listening to this message right now may not have a relationship with God maybe you've never asked Jesus Christ to come into your life to be your Savior and Lord and there's others of you that have known the Lord for years but you've had a lap so you've made a big mistake you've sinned against God and you need to get rid of the Lord get rid of that sin and get right with the Lord it was David after he sinned who said in some fifty-one against thee and the only have I sinned and done this iniquity and then David said restore to me the joy of my salvation God wants to forgive you but you like that woman caught in the act of adultery need to acknowledge your sin and you need to acknowledge him as Lord and you can be forgiven of everything you've done that is wrong and sinful before God and if you've never asked Christ to come into your life to be your Savior and Lord or if you need to make a recommitment to him you can do it right now let's all bow our heads and pray father I pray for any here watching this now that do not know you help them to come to you and believe in you and find your forgiveness and at this moment as our heads are bowed and we're praying together if you've never asked Jesus Christ to come into your life you could just pray this prayer right where you are after me just pray this prayer Lord Jesus I know I'm a sinner I need to know you in a real and personal way I'm sorry for my sin I turn from it now and I choose to follow you well our heads are still bowed maybe there's some believers here that need to make a recommitment to Jesus you know what's right but like King David you've fallen into sin and you need to come back to him or you need to repent of a particular sin maybe it's adultery maybe it's selfishness maybe it's something else but whatever it is you see it's a problem and you want to bring it to the Lord now why don't you pray this prayer with me lord I know it's right and I haven't been doing it and I want to repent and I want to change my behavior I want to go and sin no more so I recommit myself to you again now in Jesus name I pray amen god bless you you

Channel: Pastor Greg Laurie

Views: 10,117

Rating: 4.8851676 out of 5

Keywords: Greg Laurie, Home Sweet Home, Divorce, Marriage, Bible, Church

Id: nrVSXwj5NqY

Length: 41min 33sec (2493 seconds)

Published: Sun May 15 2016