In this sermon, the preacher shares a personal anecdote about encountering a little girl who reveals the struggles her parents face in their marriage. The preacher then references Proverbs 30:21, which states that the world cannot bear an odious woman when she is married. He explains that an odious woman refers to a difficult and self-willed woman. The preacher also shares a conversation he had with John Wesley, where Wesley advises him to observe the preacher's wife and consider if he would be happy with someone like her in 20 years. The sermon emphasizes the importance of choosing a spouse wisely and the impact it can have on one's future.

Thank you for the privilege of being here. I'm very grateful to God. And I have come to love America, to love American people. So not too loud. I was saying I do love America. Thank you to every one of you for coming here tonight. And thank you sincerely for giving me... I wonder if we could bow in a moment of prayer. If we could just bow before our God. And quieten our hearts. Our wonderful Father, we thank Thee that we could have had this lovely time of fellowship and joy of sharing with each other our love for Christ and all the things Christ has done for us. We thank Thee for Jesus. Oh Father, there is nothing we can do. We bless people by love to mankind. And we thank Thee for His blood that was shed for us. We thank Thee that by the blood of Jesus we were saved not only from hell and damnation and condemnation but saved from a life of self. We could live for Christ eternal. For only what's done for Christ will last. And so we bless Thee for Jesus that there's something to live for. There's something to fight for. There's something to die for. Because Christ has saved our soul. Oh God, come now in thy mercy upon us and keep us under the blood of Jesus safe from all the powers of darkness. Rebuke thou the devil thyself, Lord. Rebuke thou him away. Take his hands off this building, off this people, any influence he has on any life. Rip his hands off, God. Put him to flight. All the powers and principalities of darkness put to flight by the risen resurrected power of Christ. Come and put our enemy away, Lord, from this place. Keep us sheltered under the blood of Jesus. Surround us in this whole area with the angels of God standing with swords drawn to do battle against the powers of darkness. And come thou, render heavens and come by thy Spirit, Lord. Move upon us. Visit us. Take me, Lord, in mercy. Wash me in the blood, the holy blood of Jesus Christ. I have nothing but the blood to show thee, God. There's nothing I can commend myself. There's nothing, no reason I can bring to thee as to why thou shouldest come and bless me other than the blood of Christ, the heaven. Now, God, through and through and through that I may have the right to preach the holy word of God. Come fill me with the Spirit of God anew. Anoint my lips and my mind, my heart, my very being. Come stand beside me in the pulpit of God. Come take every heart. Take away prejudice, take away unbelief, take away anger, take away hardness, take away blindness by the blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Take away everything that would hinder everyone from hearing God's voice, from seeking God with the whole heart. Come honor and bless the service that I do. We all are in the name, in the name of Jesus. There are many passages in the Bible that I have staggered over. I could take you to places that I stopped and I wasn't able to read past there for a long, long time until I just digested what God said. My conscience wouldn't allow me to read another word. So I went over and over and over and over until I felt God said, now you have the right to read on. One of those passages, which I think you all know and love, has so much to do with why a marriage is honored by God. And Peter, the godly Peter, wrote these words in his letter, First Epistle of Peter, Chapter 3. He says, likewise, ye wise, he starts with the wise. I love the word likewise in the King James. When you see the word likewise, you say, like what? And so you have to look at the chapter before to see what he starts with. And of course he's speaking of Jesus. Likewise. So looking at the passage before, the verses before, in Chapter 2, verse 19, for this is thankworthy, Peter says. This is thankworthy. If a man, for conscience toward God, endured grief, suffering wrongfully, what has this got to do with marriage, you say? Well, that's why he starts with the wise, because they're the only ones that will accept this. Oh, God has to start so often in the home with a wife. They're so precious, so able to be mowed in God's hands. So we're looking at what? Likewise, like who? For this is thankworthy. If a man, for conscience toward God, endured grief, suffering wrongfully, for what glory is it when ye be buffeted for your foes, ye shall take it patiently? But if, when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. And when he was reviled, reviled not again, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. I love these words, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps, who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. No reason for him to be treated wrongly. No reason. But when he suffered, he threatened not. He reviled, he reviled not again. Isn't that precious? Like this, God turns now, and he says in chapter three, likewise, ye wives, like Jesus, suffering, not reacting, not defending himself. Or if you go back to Isaiah 53, he resists, he didn't say a word. Like a lamb at the slaughter, sheep before his shears is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. There's no reaction, there's no defense. Can God look to a woman and say, I want this of you, my daughter. Likewise, likewise, weighs a lot when you know like who, and what of him God wants in your life. Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection. I don't know if that word's in the dictionary anymore. You've got to go to antique book rooms perhaps to find that it's out of our vocabulary even in the church today. People don't like to hear the word subjection. He's living in the year 2001. Where's he coming from? Be in subjection to your own husbands. God says to this generation, you defy God if you don't. Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands. That if any obey not the ordering statement, while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear, who's adorning, let it not be that outward adorning of placing the hair and of wearing of gold or of putting on of apparel, but let it be the hidden man of the heart and that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time, the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands. Even as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters ye are as long as ye do well and not afraid of any amazement. Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them, remain faithful. Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, using your common sense that God's given you all, quickened by the Holy Spirit in its context. Dwell with them according to knowledge, remain with them, faithful to them. Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honor unto the wife. Oh, if you don't husband, you defy Christ. It's not only obeying God, by thou shalt not commit adultery. Do you obey God for a marriage to be God glorified, giving honor unto the wife? Do you? Do your children know that you honor their mother in the way you speak? Giving honor unto the wife. And at the week of Esau, and at being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers be not hindered. I like that little phrase. A text to marriage. That your prayers be not hindered. I think basically it's saying that if you live right, if you obey God, His commandments, in marriage, God will answer your prayers. If you are what God wants you to be toward your wife, what God wants you to be toward your husband, your prayers will be answered if you obey God. Generally, that's through the whole Bible. 1 John 3 verse 20. Beloved, if a heart condemneth, God is greater than a heart and knoweth all things. Beloved, if a heart condemneth not, then have we confidence toward God and whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. Prayer is answered when our hearts don't condemn us in the light of God's commandments. Then we come to God with such a confidence. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him because we keep His commandments, even the commandments concerning marriage. But in its context, there's far more to this verse than just that prayers will be answered if you're right with God. In its context, there's so much more. You see, speaking of the prayers of a father and a mother, a husband, a wife, over their lifespan, when they pray together, it's more praying for their children than anything else. Your prayers are more for your child if you're a saved man and woman than anything else you pray for to God as the children, the greatest responsibility God places in your hands once you're married as the children. And you will find that most of your prayers earnest true prayers from the heart from then on with this husband and wife before those children over your life, that your prayers be not hindered. I want to read something to you and I want you to all listen very carefully. Oh, how our prayers will be hindered when we pray for our children if we were not holy in our marriage. When we pray for our children, how much of it, when we're forced to pray for our children, how much of it is for God to undo the damage we've done through the influences of our lives upon our children when we failed in front of them, when we failed in our marriage, things they witnessed. Oh, how much is to undo the damage our lives did. I'm not talking about the normal prayer, but when you're forced to pray, Father, how much of it is the result of your prayers. How can you expect God to answer your prayers for your children to be holy? You pray that, Mother, when they leave and get married, you pray that, Father, they'll be holy and Christlike. How can you expect God to answer your prayers for your children to be holy and utterly Christlike if you didn't show them that it's possible through the example of your life, even in marriage, especially in marriage. Your prayers be not hindered if you don't obey God concerning what He wants you to be, wife, what He tells you to be. It weighs a lot. I was in a town a while back. A lady asked to see me and I was unable to see her. So they squeezed in a little time because she persisted. She came to the home where I was staying. They put me in the lounge, sat with her, and after a while as she sat there weeping, she spoke and said, I have a daughter who married a young man and he told us he was saved. He convinced us he's born of God. He's a Christian. And so he married my daughter and there's been nothing but sorrow. Now he doesn't want her anymore. He wants to divorce. What can I do, she said. What am I going to do? After a while I said, Lady, could I shock you? Could I ask you, is it not possible that there's two sides to the story? It's not altogether his fault. You say he's not saved and you thought he was saved. But he couldn't be saved if he wants to divorce your child. Is it possible that your daughter had something to do with that he doesn't want her? Is it possible that it's not just that he's unsaved because there's problems in the marriage? Is it possible that your daughter has a lot to do with this? That he doesn't want her? That it's not just him? And she sat back in shock at first and then tears came down her face and she said these words. It is so. I didn't want to admit this. It's her fault. But the worst part, sir, is I'm to blame. You see, I was not the example I should have been in the home to my daughter of how a wife should be, how a Christian wife should be. I gave the wrong example to her. She treats her husband as I treated mine. And I only know now how unhappy my husband must have been. He had grace not to throw me out. It's my fault, sir. I gave her the wrong example of what a mother should be, what a wife should be. She's just as I was. She's just being what her mother was in marriage. Now that shocked me, what that woman said, that your prayers be not hindered when it comes to your children's marriages collapsing. Tell me, is she like you? Is she like you, lady? Tell me what you showed her, the example, that your prayers be not hindered if you couldn't prove it to them in your life. Oh, how hindered your prayers are going to be for them to live the life that you couldn't prove to them possible in marriage. I was in a town where there was this godly woman. And oh, what a woman of God she was. She stood out as a sore thumb amongst all God's people. Years went by, years and years and years. And I returned to that town. Her little children had grown up. They had children of their own. And this godly woman was old now. I stayed in the home of her daughter while I was preaching in the same town now some 28 years later. And they brought the old godly woman down for one meal and after the meal when she left I said, when I was in this town many years ago, her life, her Christ-likeness, her gentleness, it's like she has no ability to be unkind. There's nothing but kindness flowing out of her no matter who has been spoken of, no matter who does wrong. There's just this inability to say an unkind word about anyone. And I said, oh, her life is in impact even more now. And her daughter said to me, you don't know the half, sir. My father was not a good man. My father was like an animal. My father was like a monster. We left. The way he treated my mother, when we were girls there came a day I grabbed my mother and screamed, let's get out of the house. God doesn't want this of you, mommy. Let's get away from him. He expects you to live like this. And our mother looked at me and my sister and said, no. But I said to God, to death or to pot. For better or worse, I meant it. And my girls, I'm not leaving your father. I'm going to win into God. Your father's not a psychopath. I would be the first to flee with you. He's just unsaved. He just needs God to save his soul. And that's what I'm praying for daily through my life. But listen, girls. And listen carefully. Your father would stand before God one day. I will never stand before God to give account of anything your father did or said in his home. He will give account to God, though. He will have to give account to God. But I will never have to give account to God for anything your father has done. But I will have to give account to God for how I reacted to your father's wrong. I will have to give account to God for what I said and how I reacted to anything he did. I will have to give account. And I don't want to have to give account to God for any word I uttered, no matter what your father said or did. And this lady said to me, you know, Keith, my father did come to God through my mother's life. He had to in the end. But we never saw her fail God once in 53 years of marriage before he died. We as girls never saw our mother once. And then she said these words. Now we have husbands. They're saved. But they're human. And they fail. But before we react, when our husbands fail, we remember our mother's life. And we remember her life before. You see, our mother lived a life proving to us that God gives all the grace. When I courted my wife, I had a few sons. But he's known throughout our country as a priest. He's one of the most loved preachers of the land. He sits on the tractor working out the sermons. For the next sermon, he's just a priest. And oh, thousands and thousands across our land just walk with God through his ministry and the impact of his life as a priest. A very loved man. Well, when he saw me looking at Jenny, I think he got the fright of his life. He started preaching at me, you know. And he never stopped. To this day, when I see my father-in-law, I just start... Anyway, when I finally had the courage to sit down and ask him, can I court Jenny? He sat back and he took the smile off his face and he looked at me and thought for a while. I began to tremble because I didn't think it was going to be quiet. And then he said, Keith, I want you to do me a favor. I want you to have a long... Will you be happy? Don't doubt it, Keith. I don't want you to answer for... And I was shocked at that. And you look happy. He really laughed. And he gave me permission to court Jenny. Tell me something. Can I ask all you ladies here, are you happy? Are you happy with that, if that is true? Your daughter will be like you in her marriage. The way you speak to your husband, are you happy with that? I wonder if I could ask all you... Are you happy with that? Will you please answer God? Jenny's daddy was right. So many ways it's unclear. Verse 21. A shocking statement from the Bible. Listen. Four things the world cannot bear. What did you say that is, sir? Four things, God says, the world cannot bear. God says. Well, I won't tell you three of them, but I'll tell you this one. And this is a shocking statement. Verse 23. An odious woman when she is married. Difficult to explain what the word odious means. It has a lot of meaning. I would say the closest you can come to strong-willed, difficult, self-willed, difficult woman. The world cannot bear such a woman when she is married. God says. John Wesley. One of the greatest soul winners in the history of the world. Many say the greatest soul winner in the history of our church. Wesley never could be discouraged. That was one of the most remarkable things about him. They stoned him. Wonderful things that happened, you know. Fifty men punching. And they all laid down cold. He was so short they missed him. They knocked each other out. Tragic incidents that happened, but they ran him out of the town. They threw him over a cliff. He just flew through the air, you know. They left him for dead. They threw stones on this man. Even the king of England had to step in to stop and say, This has to stop. This treatment of Wesley and his followers. This cannot go on. All this stoning. Well, the king stepped in. And it started to slow down. But nothing discouraged Wesley. They say he got up and he laughed. And he walked back into the chapel. Nothing could discourage him. Nothing could make him despondent. I wish I could be like that. One thing. Only one thing. Brought Wesley to despair. In his godliness. You know what that was? His wife. No one judged him. It wasn't his choice of marriage. The only thing that drove that man. Tell me, are you a Sarah, ladies? Are you like Sarah? Sarah. Are you like Sarah? In God's eyes and man's eyes? In your marriage? Or are you like the woman that God says the earth cannot bear once she's married? Cannot bear. God says. What are you like? Quite a question to ask you. You're all Christians here tonight. David's wife despised him. He was a man after God's own heart, you know. It's possible that a man after God's own heart can have a wife that hates him, for God's sake. You know that's possible. She despised him. She danced after the great victory. It wasn't the dance that made her despise him. It was despising in her heart. Of course it was the influence of her father. Not everybody has the cross to bear of having a father-in-law like Saul. Or David. Saul just lives to destroy David. I wonder if I can just speak for a moment just to fathers and mothers-in-law. Broaden this out a bit. Tell me, do you live to destroy your son? Do you know how many Christian marriages are destroyed by their in-laws interfering? You may not throw a spear at him, but there are other spears to throw, you know. Words, unkind words undermining him. I can take you in America to Christian homes where the in-laws were the reason the marriage ended in divorce. They so hated him. Mainly because he was going through with God all the way. Tragic. Just for a moment, I just hope there's no souls here tonight. How do you treat your David? For many reasons. For many reasons. I was once in a convention preaching and this man and lady came over to sit with me while we were having a meal. All the things of the things of God, the church, the state of the church, the things of the convention, just on a spiritual level. I hadn't seen them for many years and this little girl ran up, pretty little girly. And she looked at me standing with her mommy and daddy. And they said, this is our daughter. And I said, oh, little baby in your mommy's arms. So the mommy said, this is the man who's preached. He's standing preaching and telling us how to live right with God. Through the corner of my eye I had mommy and daddy and their mouths. My mommy every night cries and weeps and weeps and cries and daddy screams. Mommy, you must speak to them. When I looked at the little girl, you know, I could have been cruel and turn and rebuke that mother and father, but I was also in a test. You have no right to ever be cruel. And I said, little girly, you are so. I'm sure your mommy and daddy love you so much. And I know God loves you, mommy. And I know. You know, I got up and walked up to Blaine. In a Christian marriage, where there's this fighting all the time. You may say it doesn't happen. It does happen. Because you're a Christian doesn't mean you say you're going to have a happy marriage. Oh, no, no. I want to ask every one of you here tonight. How is your marriage in the light of God's word? Where does love turn to hate in a Christian marriage? Why does love leave a Christian marriage? Who's to blame when the sweetness turns to sour? When I was a little boy, I was unsaved. And my parents had friends. Beautiful lady. And they would always have time of socializing together with this other married couple. But what was so different about this married couple was the way they spoke to each other. They were very much in love. They called each other by these wonderful names, you know. Sweetness and Dewdrop. And Sunstein. And Honey Pie. And all sorts of amazing, extreme statements of their love to each other. But it was always these lovely names flowing, you know. And of course, Mommy and Daddy couldn't resist the temptation to joke a little bit about it at home. Sweetness and Honey Pie. Rainbow. That's the other one. Rainbow. Wow. They were in love. Anyway, the years went by and one day Daddy came home. It's the same word, but it's a different tone. That is a bit flabbergasting. The change of tone. I'd like to ask everyone here tonight, and I want to ask you very, very carefully. Has the tone changed in the way you speak to me? Has the tenderness gone in the way you speak to me? You say you serve God. Do you still love me? I want you to be utterly honest there now. I was in a German home. Germans are very different. I suppose coming from Mennonite background, you might have a lot of German background here. But this German man really was something different. We sat at the table eating a meal with him and his wife. St. Martha was her name in our language. And he would speak, you know. He would say. He was older and he would speak about all the different preachers that he knew from the movement that I came from and the years that had gone by and the things that had happened. And after a long time of him speaking, suddenly St. Martha decided just to say something. And this German man sat back. A little statement she did to make it. She carried on speaking and after a while it seemed. So I thought that the third time was the worst. And I sat there and thought, can't she say anything? There must have been a time there was tenderness in it. There must have been a time when she was. Her opinion meant. This opinion becomes something that makes. Where did the tenderness, where did the tone change, sir? In the way you spoke to her. In the way you spoke to him, lady. That's an extreme case. Do you give her a chance? Do you honor your wife, sir? Anymore? Does she know she's honored? The people who walk into your home know she's honored. You know, I can tell you how holy. Don't doubt that now. I guarantee you. I can tell you how holy a man he is. By the way he speaks to your wife. Don't doubt it. Don't doubt it. It doesn't work in the home. It doesn't work anywhere. If she's un-Christ-like. And you're un-Christ-like. That doesn't mean that you. When I thought of uncle. Oh, I nearly said his name. His son's Martha. Paul says I stop another woman to speak in the church, you know. I forbid for a woman to. Let her keep silent in the church. But I think many men take it. And interpret it. The woman should never speak at all. In the home. Many Christian men honestly treat their wives. That I stop another woman to speak. Full stop. That's a tragedy. When did love leave your heart? When did the way you speak betray the condition that God expected? I met a preacher once. A very well-known preacher. When he heard I was getting married, he walked along. And he was a very revered and wonderful preacher. But he said, Keith, can I give you some advice? You're getting married, Jenny. Can I give you some advice, boy? Don't ever allow yourself to say an unkind word. You don't have to. You can never take it back once it's said. Guard your lips from unkind words, Keith. No matter how much. Run out of the door before you answer. Rather than say an unkind word. Because once unkind words. I looked at him and he began to weep for a while. One of the great names in our country is a preacher. After a few years, it's a great privilege. Do you know why? The way he speaks to his wife. No one. No one that works for him. One conversation between you and your wife and the proof that just once. You're as real as you are in your home. We named our second child after him. And I joked with my wife after about two years. I actually joked. My jokes were never good. I was told that very, very emphatically from. I won't tell you who. My uncle Roy. Don't you ever. Even in a job. You and Jenny have some. Yours. I love Abraham, you know. But one of the things I like about. A lot of people don't like to hear such a word. I hate to say things like that shouldn't be saying in Ohio. And I was preaching and they put me in the home of this dear. Put me in this home with such genuine tend. To be preparing in the last minute. Preparing how to preach. I came down the stairs ten minutes early. I should never have done that. Needless to say that. I've never seen. Young people. Old age demand you. Get you all thrilled when you see. Walks in the. And the way Abraham must have. Oh, you can only do that. With a real. To everyone here who has need to us. To heal the wounds. To bring back the tenderness. Have that old couple enough to believe with all your heart. That. You all pray with me. Please. A prayer. Oh, God. Forgive me. In my marriage. Wash me in the blood. For every grief. I have given thee. And my loved one. I just let thee have thy way. By thy grace. Give me a new start. I may be holy. In my marriage. I may love my husband. Through and through. Create in me a clean heart. And renew a right. Fill me now. With thy Holy Spirit. The fruit of the. Who triumphed. Spontaneously. Reacting. Toward my wife. Make our marriage beautiful. In Jesus Christ.