Mystery of Marriage

all right well good morning everybody happy fourth of July weekend my apologies that we don't have our music team is not here today and a several people from our church are out of town so we're just gonna jump straight into our topic here for today because even though the music team isn't here and several people are out of town this weekend you're here and I'm here so we actually have a very important fun topper we talked about here today which so we hear fourth of July celebrate our country best country in the whole wide world and we thank God for all the things even though it's not a perfect country it is a great country and it's our home and if you look across our country these days there's one topic which is discussed about at great length this this this time of day or this time of year or should say based on what's going on in the world today and that's a topic about marriage so what I wanted to do here today on this holiday weekend is I wanted to discuss this topic because we are hearing a lot about it and I want to start off by saying I am NOT making any political statements today at all or talking about anything in the news other than the truth about what we believe I shouldn't say what we believe what we what we know is the truth about this thing called marriage because one of the things that I've actually been with all this situation that's going on with the Supreme Court and the same-sex marriage and this ruling and these people hate these people he people hate these people even more and all this stuff I've actually noticed a good thing that has come out of all this is the topic of marriage has been discussed more and more than I've ever remember it happening in our country which i think is a good thing because even though a lot of the attention or a lot of the discussion may be coming from here coming from here it's an opportunity for us to speak about what we believe marriage is because people don't change their opinion from statements people change their opinion from conversations so that's the goal here I don't believe in making statements I don't believe that to the smart people I believe in having discussions and conversations so I would like us to engage in a little conversation right here about marriage I won't try to answer some of these questions which you hear a lot these days you hear a lot of people make it up funny answers to what is marriage where did it come from what's his purpose the general trend in society again I'm not talking about Supreme Court from last week I'm not about that at all I'm talking about the general trend in society over the past decade two decades three decades has been a gradual downward slope on the view of marriage I think you all agree with me on that statement that today is a society we view marriage and probably the lowest state that it's ever been viewed in this country and the trend is that it continues to go worse marriage today if you go out on the streets and you start ask people you'll find people who tell you marriage is old-fashioned like marriage one of those things like our grandparents did but marriage is like black-and-white TV like it served its purpose for a time but now there's newer and cooler things and now there's better things and no one really gets married to fall in love and live with a person forever you live with a person for a little time and then things change this is a this concept of marriage of like one man one woman forever this is antiquated this is something which is like I said it might as well be something from the Jurassic Park era because that's how many people feel about in society today and again I am NOT talking just about gay marriage I'm not talking just about gay same-sex marriage I'm not talk about that at all because if you look at our society from a long time ago marriage has been going downward and downward and downward but here's the part that judges all of us we didn't care for so many years as long as the downward slope of marriage didn't affect us for example I'll give you one very very very example and no one will feel judged by you think I'm saying I'm speaking generalities and God's mercy and forgiveness and grace all that stuff but truth is truth our view towards premarital sex from a long time ago from a long time ago we as a side society said sex outside of marriage is not a big deal and nobody's protested anything the case of all the protesters today of gay marriage nobody protested the thing when society said premarital sex is not that big a deal you know why we didn't protest because we enjoyed it and we benefited from it and we did it and that's why we didn't we didn't protest and then all of a sudden divorce according to the teachings of the Bible divorce should not be something it happens as common as it is it shouldn't be that 50% of couples get divorced but you know what we didn't care we didn't say anything why because we want to get a divorce and we weren't happy in our situation so all of a sudden divorce is not that big a deal then all of a sudden gay marriage comes along and we don't want our kids corrupted by the gay marriage kids so no we believe what the Bible says it's so true oh really if we go with what the Bible says it's so true how come we kept their mouth shut when divorce how can we kept our mouth shut when it came to sex outside of marriage what I'm trying to talk about here today again it says nothing this is not a current issue in my opinion at all it's not a current issue some initiatives are happening for many many many years the decline of marriage in this country the decline of marriage in our society we need to return to a god-centered view of what marriage is what is marriage from God's perspective if you ask God God where did marriage come from and if most importantly you'll get to at the end is what is the purpose of marriage and why are we supposed to get married or not get married what is its role in my life statistics will tell you and I don't have them in front of me but you can find the stuff you go look this stuff up the societies and the civilizations that place the highest value on marriage are the societies and civilizations that are the happiest are the healthiest and are the wealthiest of societies those that place high value on marriage it's not just a matter of marital if the matter of society is better served society is better off when we place a high view on marriage and that's we're trying to look at here today is what is marriage all right before we get into start answering these questions just an assumption I'm gonna make right off the base all right off the start and I think you all agree with me on this statement the statement is that all behavior is driven by belief jewelry or that statement all behavior ultimately is driven by belief and if I want to change my behavior I cannot do so without changing my belief for example September 11 2001 a group of terrorists got into a plane and they had a belief that if they run this plane into a building they will be rewarded with you know whatever 40 virgins when they get up to heaven that was their belief and they believed it earnestly and sincerely and their behavior came as a result of the of the belief so you cannot change that person's behavior without changing that person's belief if I convince them that no hey actually if you do this you probably find eternal condemnation not eternal 40 virgins or whatever whatever their belief says then that would probably change their belief again I said premarital sex before we have this belief system the premarital sex is not a big deal we have this idea that sex outside of marriage isn't that big a deal it's just like you know what we high-five we handshake we have sex not that big a deal just like a physical thing it's not that big a deal and therefore our behavior follow suit and if I wanted to change the behavior I need to change the belief and the too many churches that are trying to change people's behavior without really going to the core belief I don't think that our society today is more sinful than it's ever been I believe our societies the exact same as it's always been it functions based on its beliefs I believe that our belief system today about marriage has strayed further than it ever has before and that's why the behaviors are so bad it's not that the it's not that we are any weaker than generations before us it's that our belief system and what we believe about marriage what we're taught about marriage when we see about marriage in movies and on TV shows and on the radio that's the problem our belief system about marriage and that's what we need to change here so we're going to see what do we believe about marriage man's view of marriage and then we'll see God's view of marriage and see the difference between them I think you all agree with me on this one if I were to take a survey of what is marriage for what is its purpose what is marriage marriage is to make me happy that's the common belief that people will tell you on the streets and let's be honest I'm being nice here today by saying people on the streets that people are here sitting amongst us right here this is how we grew up this the TV shows we watch this is songs we listen to the movies that we a week watch to set ourselves is that we have this idea in our mind that marriage is to make me happy marriage is all about me mayor's to meet my knees the whole happily-ever-after thing why do we get married so the we can live happily ever after someone sent me an email someone who close friend of mine someone like one of us okay not someone who's a heathen someone sent me an email talking about this whole gay marriage thing with asking me saying you know what like okay I'm with you I understand gay marriage is wrong but like it seems like like it's not fair that we ask people and they started saying like it seems like it's too much to ask someone who thinks that they're gay do not get married to someone else who is gay like it seems like it's too much this is what this person wrote quote an email said it's really hard to tell someone that what they feel is part of their core self is wrong say it again because we all share this feeling it's not just a person this all of us it's really hard to tell someone that what they feel is part of their core self is wrong and they need to struggle their whole life against it I am certain that if I didn't say this email was about gay marriage if I said this is about regular heterosexual marriage umm and I'm sure everyone if not everyone of us but I'm sure the majority of us would say yeah it makes sense how can something that feels right be so wrong right like that's what they teach us in the movies we in this country we believe that if something feels right no one can tell you it's wrong now die no one can tell you it's wrong it is unconstitutional to tell you that it's wrong it is your constitutional right but if anything feels right you do it and you let anyone tell you otherwise and we will it's like the whole Romeo and Juliet thing you feel this person is is made for you and it's your soulmate I don't care what your parents say don't cut the government says ok if you die trying we will celebrate we'll make a movie out of you because what we believe is anything for feelings the highest authority in this country right now modern society is feelings and no one will admit it and no one you wouldn't say that you wouldn't say that feelings are the most important thing but that is how we operate on a day to day basis well if I were to go to scriptures and see what does the Scriptures talk about feelings a few passages right here proverbs 14 verse 12 to 13 says they're a where's a way that seems right to a man you can underline that seems right you say that feels right but its end is the way of death even in laughter the heart may sorrow meaning something that you are laughing about today you may not be laughing about tomorrow and the end of mirth may be grief there is a way that seems right that feels right and don't let anybody tell you what's wrong and if you feel like it's right you fight for it man and we'll fight wouldn't you will stand by it there's a way that seems right but its end is the way of death another passage proverbs 28:26 he who trusts in his own heart is a fool that's about as blunt as you can be in the Bible he who trusted his own heart is a fool he who walks wisely will be delivered it's not he who does what he feels is right is the one who's gonna be successful in the end we're gonna be laughing at that person in the end that person's a fool see who walks wisely last passage Jeremiah 17:9 famous verse the heart meaning the heart are tied to the emotions and the feelings is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked who can know it watch his verse I the LORD search the heart I test the mind even to give every man according to his ways according to the fruit of his doings God doesn't judge us according to the fruit of our feelings he judges according the fruit of our doings and there may be a way that seems right and there may be a heart that feels like something's right we don't operate based on feelings the one who operates based on feelings that someone's gonna get himself in trouble and again I am NOT just talking about gay homosexual saint I'm not just talking about that stuff please get that out of your mind because the truth of the matter is like I said I can look at premarital sex and divorce I can look at easily even one of those two and it is very very let's take divorce for example because I know that one hits home on a lot of people I talk about divorce and it is very clear what the scripture teaches about divorce it is very clear yet there is no outcry among Christians about the number of divorces there's no outcry because the bottom line is if it feels like it's okay then it's not that big a deal but if you look in the scripture I just get and I'm not condemning anyone here by the way who's divorced whose parents are divorced I know everyone has circumstances I'm talking more in a general sense about a principle okay but don't don't let anyone take this in a specific condemning way Matthew 5:32 I say to you whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery that's plain and clear there's no interpretation needed for that the biblical sinner and divorce is very simple Matthew 19 Jesus also said 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 his disciples said to him look at how his disciples responded okay when he said no divorce except sex sexual morality his disciples said to him if such is the case of the man with his wife it is better not to marry Jer what they're saying says something we're struggling with the same thing as they are they're saying but Lord it feels right that I get rid of this when I pick up this one he says no not in my book there's no sir we don't operate based on feelings God's law says no divorce and they said you know what if that's the case I'd better not to get married you know what I'll be honest with you if I walked out there on the street today and I said of course I'm not gonna do is come out of crazy brick I know what together and said anybody divorce is bad knowing a lot of divorce and divorces against God and divorce is bad nice too that people would say you say that's a loony person well you know what they thought Jesus was loony - they thought Jesus was crazy - as you can tell I get myself a little worked opera here and the reason why I get myself worked up is one of the things that we can never accept as a church we can never accept hypocrisy we can net we can accept a lot of mistakes we cannot accept hypocrisy and today anyone who's listening to this today the hypocrisy is no more hypocrisy the hypocrisy needs to end either what God said about marriage is true and we abide by all of it or none of it is true but we will not pick and choose so we are going to abide by God's law then that means singles and then married to sex outside of marriage is wrong and we will abide by God's principle I'm not judging anybody everyone has their struggles and we work on it but the principle does not change we don't water down God's Word say no and that's not that big a deal no gay marriage that's really bad for premarital sex not that big a deal divorce is a big deal in God's eyes - we're not gonna just a protest gay marriage and we're not gonna protest divorce either we stick by God's rules or we don't stick by God's rules but we're not gonna pick and choose and just so just so I make sure I get everybody in this - because I want everyone to realize that the importance of this let's say you say well I never had sex for marriage and I didn't divorced my wife okay but God's plan for marriage is a lot bigger than just those two things and there are many times the scripture tells us that husbands give wives the affection due to them I don't know many husbands who refuse to give their wives the affection due to them and they'd say that's not that big a deal I ain't cheating on my wife I ain't do this and I knew that but if we're going with the biblical standard of marriage husbands give the wives the affection that is due to them and ladies that we give the men the honor respect that is due to them as well because that's also what the scripture says and if the ladies are not giving the men the honor and the men are not giving the ladies the affection and we said they're in protests gay marriage I protest that marriage I protest the marriage where I walk into the home and I see a woman who was afraid of her husband I see a woman who was afraid to open her mouth in front of her husband because of fear he's gonna go crazy he's gonna throw something or he's gonna hit her or something like that I protest that marriage and I also protest the marriage where the woman knows that she has the man and she has control of him and she denies him the physical intimacy and she controls him and she manipulates him with that thing I protest that marriage as well what is that that's not the marriage that God yeah you may not be divorced and you may not be same-sex marriage but that's the marriage that God had planned that's how God designed it some marriages you walk in you feel like you into a war zone right some marriages you walk in you feel like walking in a war zone how do we justify that well you're not making me happy I don't feel happy I have a right to do it she doesn't make me happy you have a right to do whatever I want we justify whatever we want to make ourselves happy and then someone who's homosexual does the exact same thing and we protest no more hypocrisy no more hypocrisy I was reading some research done by a sociologist from the University of Virginia who teamed up with a sociologist from the University of Harvard Sara Corson Jennifer Silva and they came up with the term which I like very much yeah I hate it but I'm saying it's descriptive they talk about a therapeutic marriage they say that marriage today the concept of marriage is a therapeutic marriage and they defined it this way they said a therapeutic marriage this is how people view marriage today centers on happiness equality mutuality and self actualization of individuals happiness equality mutuality and self-actualization of individuals and if you find someone who makes you happy then you marry them what's this have you find a way to be happier you go for it and she later on her her research said this said we don't divorce or have affairs because we're unhappy we do those things because we think we could be happier and I agree with that statement Here I am with my wife and I'm happy but if I think that lady can make me happier alright just a matter of time fore I find an excuse to get rid of this one and again we'll justify it you know make up all the stuff and this husband is making me happy he's the best he stopped making me happy he's the worst get rid of him cuz it's all about our happiness what is that is that marriage is that marriage you know that is forgive me that's immaturity that's infancy that's selfishness that's like little babies I want this give me this is what I want no he's no taking away I don't want him anymore that's not marriage that's called selfishness and immaturity and the egotism if you ask me that ain't God's view of marriage because if you go to God's view marriage it is the exact opposite of everything I just said God's view marriage is not selfish it is selfless God's view of marriage is not all about me it's actually all not about you and actually one things that I say in every wedding ceremony that I officiate whenever I say people laugh haha I ain't being funny I'm being serious I say every marriage if you are not ready to die you are not ready to get married the people hahaha yeah that's right let's carry my cross but she's gonna martyr that's not what I'm saying I'm saying if you are not ready to die and you know what I always say I say every wedding is actually a funeral and I don't mean it to be funny of course people laugh then explain it but you know what I also say after that every funeral is also a wedding but we'll leave that turn of the time but every wedding is a funeral and if you ain't ready to die you ain't ready to get married you think that you are getting married to someone will serve you hand and foot husbands you think you can match someone will bring you your slippers and bring you your newspaper bring you a cup of coffee and serve your hand and foot ladies you have something else coming to him yes he does ladies you think you're getting married she's gonna have be swept off your feet every day you're gonna wake up knees to make you breakfast in bed he's gonna kiss you and hug you and tell you that you're the best in the whole wide world every single day you got something else coming to you marriage is not about me being happy never says that in the scriptures marriage is actually the exact opposite mayor just to teach you that life is not about you mayor just to teach you how to serve one another marriages teach you how to deny yourself and lay down your life for the sake of somebody other than yourself it's the exact opposite of everything that the world teaches us today someone coined the phrase that marriage is not to make you happy marriage is to make you holy marriage is not to make you happy marriages to make you holy and part of the process of marriage is actually to sanctify you and to make you into a better person because when you are single and you have annoying habits and what happens is I'm single and I'm hanging out with these guys and I'm annoying and very annoying so what do we do we just hang out with someone else I'm annoying him so he just goes to his house to go to my house and that's it he annoys me so I just say thank you very much and I send him away but what happens we get married there ain't no body no place to send her she lives in the same house in the same room ain't no place to send her so I got two choices I got two choices I look in the mirror and I say to myself you have flaws fix those flaws oh you know what else you know the other option I look at her and say she has flaws get rid of her and that's what we people do it's never I need to be more patients it's I need a wife who talks list it's never I need a nag less it's never that I need a husband who listens maybe the best thing for you search judgment doesn't listen to you maybe the best thing for you is that your wife does talk because maybe it's trying to expose something inside you that's wrong when I see this and then some people say yeah the homosexual marriage they've ruined the picture of marriage I mean they didn't ruin the picture of marriage we did we're the ones who took marriage and we took God's view of marriage and we ran it through the trash and we spit on it and we did whatever we want and then they picked up a little piece of it the same sex marriage picked up I would say look they ruined marriage they did this reason all the kids are corrupted on drugs they ain't the reason we're the reason that marriage is bad let's see what God says about marriage I got you a nice quote here it's kind of long so stick with me here from one of the church fathers name is Tertullian okay and he was so cool he only had one name just - lien okay kinda like Madonna just one name right listen how he speaks about marriage in God's eyes he says how beautiful then the marriage of two Christians - who are one in Hope one in desire one in the way of life they follow one in the religion they practice they are as brother and sister both servants of the same master nothing divides them either in flesh or in spirit they are in very truth - and one flesh and where there is but one flesh there's but also but one spirit how beautiful these words key key keeps going what's this and compare this to the view of marriage in society they pray together they worship together they fast together instructing one another encouraging one another strengthening one another side by side they face difficulties in persecution they share consolation they have no secrets from one another they never shunt each other's company they never bring sorrow to each other's hearts Psalms and hymns they sing to one another hearing and seeing this Christ rejoices - such as these he gives his peace where there are two together there he is also there also he is present and where he is there evil is not man I read that that is so beautiful in that beautiful like isn't that exactly why we got married isn't that exactly why we want our singles why we want to get married exactly that - one pray together support each other encourage each other like all together compare that to the picture of bears that we see outside today you know what happens when we when we take that and we destroy that we have a society today number one most depressed society ever look at the suicide rates most miserable like quality of life's people meaning go take a survey of marital satisfaction people who are not divorced okay churchgoers fine I'm not just saying whether they do I'm saying satisfaction in their marriage you'll never find an era a civilization with a lower satisfaction level of marriage you will never find more time where single people are afraid to get married than you find today afraid to get married because of what we've done to the picture marriage easy to blame the rest of the world for it I say we we need to repent because part of the reason why marriage has been corrupted in our society it's our fault enough can we agree enough enough we need a whole marriage what it is and marriage in God's eyes something really high and we need to stop the marriage jokes about like you know carry my cross yeah her name is Marianne you know we need to stop those kind of things we need to stop that every how's that pain in your back cuts not as bad as the pain in my neck you know I mean she lives them you know we need to stop those jokes we need to stop talking about marriage as if it is like the greatest misery in our lives we need to stop ruining the view of marriage for the rest of the world out there for our children for the singles in this church for an hour we need to stop it because I don't think God is going to be happy with what we've done to the picture of marriage but we can fix it and the fixing it begins today marriage I'm gonna give you one sentence to describe to you my view of marriage I will break it down marriage is a sacred mystery in memorize but this is everybody in marriage is a sacred mystery created and designed by God for the satisfactory for the salvation and fulfillment of mankind we're gonna break that sentence I don't where you need to write down I'm a saint like 15 times about time we finished let's start with the first part that I said letter 8 on your handout what is marriage marriage is a sacred mystery marriage is a sacred mystery Ephesians chapter 5 verse 31 and 32 st. Paul says for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh this is a great mystery but I speak concerning Christ and the church what is a mystery see when we say a mystery in the Orthodox Church we don't just mean something spooky like a haunted house we don't just mean something like like David Copperfield abracadabra like pull a quarter from behind your ear we don't just mean it's something weird mystery for us has a very specific meaning like we understand the word mystery in a very specific way a mystery is another word for Sacrament really Sacrament is another word for mystery mysteries like the original a mystery so let's forget about marriage for a second I say this is a mystery you'd say okay would have my baptism where someone is buried with Christ and rises to new life I say this is a mystery or say oh that's John by the Eucharist where a piece of bread comes in and turns into the body of Christ and we believe that and we participate in that bread and net wine we participate in the body and blood of Christ I say mystery or you say oh I understand mystery talk about confession where I go in full of sins and I confess my sins and I come out whiter than snow now I understand mystery and I say to you marriage is a mystery say okay I understand this works marriage is a mystery means forgive me with all due respect no Court can legislate a mystery no court no matter what a court says they cannot legislate a mystery a court cannot say yeah this biscuit here you had that's communion from now on oh you could say that's communion but any commute you can say okay any hot tub of water then just dunk him in there and that's baptism and they you could say that if you want but let then make it true no marriage and sorry no court no society no politician can tell me what marriage is and by the same token watch out for this one in the same way that a court cannot make a marriage a court cannot dissolve a marriage either a court cannot undo what God has done that's Jesus said in Matthew 19 is it let not man separate what God has joined together no court can make what God didn't make and no court can undo what God did make nobody can do that because marriage isn't a man-made thing it's a god thing sacramental thing so say what you want about it do what you want our understand of merit our understanding of marriage is it it's not a that's something to be discussed amongst us not a toy it's not like a agreements not a contract we don't believe in marriage is a contract that's why else it by the way in the Orthodox Church we don't have wedding vows no vows the vow is in from man to woman the vow is from God to man and man to God that's the vow okay there's no such thing as we don't play around with marriage as a human institution marriage or something godly something divine something in heaven it's something like Eucharist it's something like baptism it's something like like like sacrament of confession like it's something big and we don't view it in anything less than that we view when I take communion I enter the life of Christ at the Last Supper I take communion I'm at the Last Supper I receive the body and blood we view when I participate in baptism I'm in the tomb with Christ I'm buried three days I come out we believe when we confess we're at the cross of Christ all of the mysteries our participation in the life of Christ we believe when there's marriage God is present and God one's them together he ones them he unites them he makes two into one no court has the power to dictate or legislate that I don't care what anybody says marriage is a sacred mystery marriage is a sacred mystery B that was created and designed by God that was created and designed by God we're gonna go back to the original design here we'll go back to Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 when God created marriage forgive me for the picture up there is kind of cartoony every picture I wanted to show of Adam and Eve in creation at the beginning was not pg-13 it's not appropriate to be shown so just like straight cartoon no innuendos no nothing like that okay but that's what I want to go back to I want to go back to pre the fall when marriage first started so we're going back to the very very very beginning of the Bible and Genesis chapter 1 in case you haven't read it it's on page 1 of your Bible in case you haven't seen it God creates everything and God creates the Sun he creates the moon creates the stars he creates the rivers creates the mountains creates the rocks creates the bugs creates everything everything everything everything everything and then God creates marriage first creation that God made for his prized possession was marriage but before he did that after God created everything after God created everything before he created marriage says it this way it says in the Lord God said so this is again at the tail end created the rocks the stars the moon everything everything everything everything everything and then it says and the Lord God said it is not good that man should be alone I will make him a helper comparable to him why I point out this verse is one of the most important verses especially for marriage because it says that God created a world I started first with Adam and add him in that world had no job had no boss breathing down his neck he had no it was no traffic there was no violence there was no hatred there was no problems in the whole wide world all the things that we husband's say that if we just had the world like this they would get rid of them wives because they just make our lives miserable and we just need peace and we just need my Bostic we don't need any that stuff because we had a perfect world and in that perfect world man was not good in a society what everything was good man was not good because man was missing something man was missing a helper comparable to him and don't get tripped up by this word helper comparable all right because that is not in any way a demeaning word we may look at that way and say it's a demeaning it's not a demeaning word in any way and I'll show you that in a little bit all right when God talks about that a little bit more so God looks and says this is good this is good this is good this is not good man is in a state of not good so what does God do first nineteen out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field every bird of the air and brought them to Adam and see what he would call him an Adam called each living creature that was its name so Adam gave names to all the cattle to the birds of the air to every beast of the field but for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him second time we see that phrase talk about it a little bit and the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam and he slept and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place then the rib which the Lord God had taken from man he made it into a woman and he brought her to 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 a man again get the context right here there's Adam and he's alone and he's kind of sad so God says okay don't worry let's make some animals and God tried made him a dog made him a cat a giraffe or whatever it may be and he brought them one by one actually I think he made him two by two to be honest and I'll show you why okay go back to this verse right here what he would call them so God brought two and he brought a boy dog and a girl dog and Adam said dog okay and shipped them into the side cat boy cat girl cat boy horse girl horse boy rhinoceros girl rhinoceros like all of them one right there and he was teaching at him a lesson see Adam how there's a boy and a girl yeah there's a boy and a girl each one has a partner so Adam looked round said well I don't have one of those like the dog had a partner the cat had a partner the drought even a monkey had a partner but I've got a partner God said okay now you're getting this it's Adam take a nap cuz I'm gonna do something great I need you out of the way have a snake take some greater he put out him to sleep well I had him was asleep he took one of his ribs made into a woman and then it says I love how it says he brought her to the man so I here's how I pictured a picture God is a big guy okay and like he got Eve behind his back right here he's like Adam got something for you wake up hey Ames like I was know I'm five more minutes mom please you know that I had him trust me on this would trust me it's Adam wakes up and he goes Wow and there's Eve not in her wedding dress but in her birthday suit and what does Adam say he says this is now just to understand the prot like to understand the way Moses wrote it in Hebrew right here this is now was an expression as one word which is the equivalent of saying like this is now like wow like yes like this is it whoa is however translating the modern father Anthony translation in the Bible he said this bone of my bones flesh of my flesh and I got the best name for her I am man she is whoa man an atom was now complete atom was now complete because he had a helper comparable to him that's why now Moses gives his kind of interpretation over here he says therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh and they were both naked the man and his wife and we're not ashamed did Adam create marriage with marriage Adams idea whose idea was marriage God's idea and God said Adam you don't know what you need so you take a nap and I will solve your problem for you cuz you cannot figure this one out yourself well you need is a helper comparable to you two words help her incomparable just show you it's not in a demeaning way at all and some what some people mistakenly interpret this in a derogatory way and it's it's it couldn't be further from the truth because who in the scripture is referred to as the helper the Holy Spirit so when Jesus says the Holy Spirit is to help her it is not in a demeaning way whatsoever whatsoever it's in fact the exact opposite it's in an elevating kind of a way and the word comparable okay I'll tell you a better way comparable suitable literally when he says a helper comparable it means someone that fits spiritually emotionally and yes ladies and gentlemen physically man and woman fit that's why some people say well you know what it could have been a man and a man a God created coulda created just two men who could've created two women it's arbitrary he created a man and a woman you cannot read the story of creation tell me anything was arbitrary the God said yeah it could have made two men but I decided like flip a coin okay it's a woman okay make a woman but it's no difference they don't differ between a man and a woman there's no difference you cannot tell me that anything was done arbitrarily because then you could just make it up for anything God created and said there should be a man and a woman and each one has a role and they to fit together earlier in Genesis chapter 1 okay God said it this way says when God said let us make man in our image according to our likeness so God created man his own image man being like mankind in the image of God he created them male and female he created them very specific what I'm trying to say is God had a plan God had a master plan that for society for man for everything to be complete there's one of these and one of these and the way marriage was made was like two puzzle pieces you can look at it and say it's discrimination all the puzzle pieces should be the kind that look this way okay that's fine and you could say that but anything a fake now you could try to make them fit and you can legislate that they fit that's fine I have no problem with that we abide by the laws of our country I'm not saying that we should burn the Supreme Court I'm not saying it that way I'm saying you try to make it fit ain't gonna fit you can try to make it fit you have that right but it ain't gonna fit because the way God made marriage it's just three parties there's a God and there's a man and there's a woman and if any of these three is not in the picture it is not complete the man is not there woman is not there and yes Christians who used to be hypocrites before this if God is not there is not complete so again the marriage that says you know what that you know the way we do it we don't know by by God's rules by by God's rules my marriage is not completed for us to say and it makes no difference whether it's man and a man or woman and a woman or man for us to say that is so ridiculous you know what that is for you know what that is that's a child and you go to a child you say one plus one equals two they say why does one plus one equal afters you have to equal Jew why does it have to equal two it equals two no I don't believe it equals two why does that equal to I can make it equal three you could say what you want to say but in the end one plus one equals two and to question God to say no God marriage between man and man and woman and woman and man and woman is the same you could say that all you want but it ain't true and the way that we approach God with arrogant mentality where he says this is how marriage is that we say no we wanted to be this way that's not gonna be good in the end it's not gonna be good all right so number one marriage is a what if I said what is marriage marriage is a sacred mystery say it all together marriage is a sacred mystery and then someone says okay well where did marriage come from marriage is a sacred mystery that was created and designed by God not by the courts marriage is a sacred mystery it was created and designed by God now the important question what's the purpose of marriage for what why did God create marriage why did God create this thing what's its benefit well I say that marriage is for the salvation and fulfillment of mankind marriage is for the salvation and fulfillment of mankind and you may want to substitute the word and mankind with your own name in there cuz you're a part of mankind and I believe that when God had brought me in this lady Mary Ann together and brought us together I believe 100 centers for my salvation of my soul and I believe it's for the salvation of her soul because we are defining the word salvation not as a ticket to heaven we discussed this before salvation what's another word that we can substitute salvation is healing it's for the healing of my soul because me and you have things that are broken inside of us and whether you like it or not whether you like it or not if you are a Christian you believe what I'm about to say whether you like it or not the person that you wake up next to in the morning God brought you that person to make you healed that very person that you think is breaking you God brought you that person to heal you and we need to stop resisting that healing and embrace that that God is gonna use that person to heal me and not only to heal me but also as you see to fulfill me like marriages not just I don't want to take it from the perspective of I'm on cell I'm selfish so marriage to make me set unselfish no no yes that's that's true but marriages to more than that it's to complete me to fulfill me to give me satisfaction at a physical level at an emotional level and at a spiritual level that I could never have outside this is the part that so many people miss out on and because they miss out on this this idea that a godly marriage is for your salvation and your fulfillment they miss out on both of them on the process of being healed and more important on the process of being truly happy like truly happy like we want someone to make us happy and we think we know what's gonna make us happy what God knows it's gonna really make us happy like we want someone to be our companion for life well god knows what really we need to have a companion for life to have a support for like to have an encouragement for life and it only happens when we abide by God's rules of marriage I said earlier that marriage is a is a mystery is a sacrament well let's go all the other sacraments okay leave marriage aside why do we have the Eucharist why why do we have baptism what's the benefit of it to make me happy hey I'm bored let's go to confession is that why we have sacrament of confession what up sacrament of confession because it makes us happy we haven't because it makes us healed cuz it fixes something inside of us that's broken we'd have communion because we're bored we say hey the church has cool snacks on Sundays let's go we go under knee receive because that's our fulfillment that's our satisfaction that's our nourishment in life marriage is the same way remove from your mind that marriage just to make you happy or move from your mind that marriage is just to make you feel good right now right here right exactly where I am marriage is to make you like Christ marriage is to make you like Christ like all the other sacraments to make you into his image got you here's some quotes right here and these quotes are incredible because they're written by single people not by married people st. John Chrysostom church father lived in the 4th century the goal of marriage is that man and woman should become one in the image of the Holy Trinity who three persons are essentially united in love why is marriage a Trinity because it's God man and woman and when we marry we enter into something mystical image of the Trinity second one here when husband and wife are united in marriage they are no longer seen as something earthly but as the image of God himself last quote here is from more modern father from Russia I'm not even tried to pronounce his last name all right he says this in marriage the human person is transfigured he overcomes his loneliness and egocentrism his personality is completed and perfected a full transformation of the human person takes place the enlargement of his personality new eyes new perception of life birth into the world by means of it in new fullness means he enters the world after marriage in a new way he's a new person before marriage the human person glides above life seeing it from the outside only in marriage is he fully immersed into it and if you're married you might understand what that means and enters into it to another person this enjoyment of true knowledge and true life gives us feeling that of complete fullness and satisfaction which renders us richer and wiser and this fullness is even deepened when out of the two of us United and reconciled a third appears our child has some deep deep deep stuff am I talking about homosexual marriage no I'm not I'm talking about God's plan for marriage and any distortion of this of this any distortion of this is outside of God's plan be it same sex marriage outside of God's play that's why we're not telling people let's I spoke about this last week we're not saying same-sex marriage is bad God will judge you I'm saying you were missing out on God's plan for your marriage you were missing on the same way that someone who believes in premarital sex isn't missing out you you're missing out in the same way that someone who believes that he can have a best friend who's a lady and that's not his wife you were missing out in the same way you were missing out in the same way as a husband who believes that it is his god-given responsibility to make sure that his wife doesn't get the affection that she deserves desires you miss now in the same way of what God has planned for your marriage that's why what we need to do is we need to repent we need to repent ladies and gentlemen and we need to remind ourselves of what marriage is and we need to start to show the world what true marriage is because if we the church are not going to show people what marriage is they ain't never gonna find out next week or off here okay we don't have the well because we have the special service that morning all right so the wet we won't have the well next week the week after that we're gonna start a five week a six week series and it's called real talk adventures and love sex and dating and we're going to have a five week discussion with a six week kind of like a six which will be a lot of fun but a five week discussion about what mayor truly is and I'm going to I know a lot of people here I'm married alright I know a lot of our singles are out of town all right we're going to be speaking very directly to the singles I'm just speaking very directly to the singles all right I'm gonna be talking very very clearly because what I discovered and you marry people you all agree with me too there's a lot of things that we were taught about marriage or wrong and we made mistakes and we care about our singles so much that we don't want them to make the same mistakes so we want to show them from our experience and tell them that we entered marriage with these preconceived ideas we had no idea what we were doing because you be surprised the number of things that are commonly believed today by our young single people I couldn't be further from the truth and just for you thinking well I'm married what am i doing this series oh don't worry we'll get you married people in the series but we'll do it an indirect kind of away so I'll say things like from won't give it away now but I'll say you singles make sure that you don't do this because then you'll get married and you'll say this you'll blame your spouse for this okay and of course all the marriages people know that well be like yeah of course we knew that don't blame speck so don't worry it'll be equally applicable rate but we give them singles a little bit of extra love because we love them and because marriage is too great for them to walk in and believe these things which are taught as in a Lia bull right since society is too great for them to go in and believe in these lies I got one more quote right here but this quote is not from an ancient church father kind of a modern-day Church Father ok we're gonna watch a little video clip right here all right someone asked the people who can dim the lights for me to help me dim these lights and before I showed this video ok this video is someone who I admired tremendously yeah ok yeah so no I just I just real quick there's someone who I admire tremendously alright and I don't want you to be distracted like if I if I kind of give him a little intro like he's like very eloquent ok and he's very wise and like he's stunningly handsome as well so don't be distracted by that ok just try to listen to what he has to say ever since I probably since I entered college everyone has been telling me that there's no one better than marrying an Jake there's no one better than marrying an Jacob and I always knew that and I consider myself very lucky and very blessed because whenever I prayed to God I just prayed that he would do what's best for me so I feel like God has answered my prayer you know a thousand times over by you know giving me the honor and the blessing of being able to marry Mary Anne when I think about our life together in the future all I think of is peace and happiness being with someone who is so dedicated to God and to serving him and to living a godly life there's one thing I could never ask any more for in a person is that desire to reach the kingdom of heaven and maariyah not only wants to get there herself but she's bringing me along for the ride so I thank God and I thank her something I told Mike at the very beginning of our relationship we were talking about role models and I told him that even though me and had never talked in college or before that he's always been my role model kind of like a hidden role model and he really has like used to always kind of like whatever he was doing he went to Africa I thought that was amazing the next year I went to Africa and I kind of always followed in his footsteps and he graduated a year before me and when I saw his zeal for service and how amazing he was and how amazing his life at church was it seemed incredible to me I wanted that for myself and I definitely you know there was no romantic interest but I just thought he was the most amazing Christian in the world and I never ever ever ever did think we'd get together ever at that time because I thought he was gonna be the next pope and he hated girls and I thought he was gonna marry Kaitlyn too but I just thought he was an incredible person so I definitely feel very very honored to be his wife or soon-to-be wife and I'm very very very very thankful to God for this relationship because from day one I couldn't feel that it was God who picked out Mike for me and it was God who moved us you know towards every step towards engagement and towards marriage and it was definitely not human planning and it kind of taught me that those who wait on the Lord he will he will give them the desires of their heart and that's how I felt with my life this relationship right eat your hearts out ladies that guys taking eat your hearts out stunning stunning young man that guy was as a sharp-dressed man that that's marriage okay that and she was beautiful of course as well but she's always beautiful okay so that's marriage and I'm not trying to say that I was something special I'm just saying I'm saying that the way what I want that that video was before we got married and they did like this little video thing and and just so y'all appreciate if it was a little fuzzy you know why it's fuzzy because it was something called a VHS okay and I had to order this thing and get a rush ship from Amazon to convert VH like it was a big process okay but we were able to save that little piece of video they we were asked a question the question that we were asked for we answer that was what are you looking forward to in marriage and why is that you want to marry this person and I'm and again I'm not saying about me I'm saying that the way what was in our mind is what I hope is in everyone else's mind you didn't hear two people saying I want to be happy you hear two people saying this person like you didn't hear anything what you heard they're saying that marriage is something sacred and this person is going to help me to have a god centered marriage and that is my prayer for our society is that we get rid of this man center view of it's all about me let's say this together read it with me marriage is a sacred mystery say it all together from the start all together marriage is a sacred mystery Cruzatte created and designed by God for the salvation and fulfillment of mankind that's what we need to go out in the world and let me tell you why it's so important that we go out today with this more than ever because like I said at the beginning the world is talking about marriage more than ever before you can show up tomorrow to work and people at the water cooler everyone's talking about marriage marriage here marriage there we need to be ready to show the world that marriage is the greatest thing that it is no more the butt of all our jokes marriage is something that we elevate and we don't joke about it anymore because marriage is a sacred mystery and it's something created and designed by God and if we go by the rules that God created for it then it will lead to our salvation and our fulfillment more than anything else in this world I'm telling you is what I told y'all last week that I actually think I am encouraged and excited by the Supreme Court ruling that allowed same-sex marriage I know that sounds weird for me to say because I'm obviously opposed to same-sex marriage base and everything I'm saying right here but what I am excited about is the world today there's it has never been an easier time to talk to people about marriage the subject is no more taboo that gets on the forefront of everyone's mind and the other thing that I believe very very very strongly very very very very very strongly is that you will never be satisfied by marriage outside of God's plan so it's kind of like told be careful what you wish for because you just might get it now you know how when you have little kids you say no you can't play with this toy no I need that toy I need that toy okay here's the toy okay I don't want the toy anymore that's exactly what's gonna happen with this same-sex marriage thing a lot of people are they're gonna get exactly what they wished for and I'm not saying it in a bad way like I'm not wishing evil upon them but I'm saying they're gonna have what they asked for and they're not gonna be fulfilled and then here we are as the church how are we gonna respond you know we're gonna do when we're ready to put our arms around people and say let me show you what marriage truly can be we're not gonna condemn we're gonna say huh I told you so any more than we're gonna say that to people who have sex before marriage we say hi I told you so you never be happy with a prayer arms around people we're gonna love people and we're gonna say hey you made a mistake let me show you let me help you get to where God wants you to get to because I promise you then when you do this marriage thing right man it is something up here because marriage is remind me again what is marriage marriage is marriage is Seguin marriage is sacred mystery where did marriage come from marriage was what's the purpose of marriage let's stand up and say a prayer please in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit one God amen Lord we thank you for the gift of marriage that you've given to us a gift lure that you gave to us to fulfill us to unite us with you Lord forgive us for running the picture of marriage through the dirt forgive us for making fun of it forgive us for lowering what the world thinks about marriage with the way that we treated it I pray Lord that you would change not our behavior today but our belief about what marriage is and what it can be and for those who are single lord I pray that you'd get rid of like the fear that they have of marriage and that you would encourage them that marriage can be the best thing and those who are here who are married and who can't believe that their specific marriage can never be good can ever make them happy lord I pray you give them like a new hope that when they go with your rules and they go with your system of marriage that you can make anything great Lord Lord your specialty is taking bad things and making them good and I pray Lord that you would elevate our view of marriage our country's view of marriage anyone who has a wrong view of what marriage is and can be pray Lord that you would heal that and that you would show us what it can be in your eyes I pray this in the name of your son Jesus Christ the prayers of all your saints hear as Lord as we pray thankfully our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one in Christ Jesus our Lord

Channel: STSA Church

Views: 17,190

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Id: 5i-9StYvfHs

Length: 59min 12sec (3552 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 05 2015