In this sermon, the preacher addresses the issue of divorce and the breaking up of families, stating that it is a plague that is sweeping the church. The preacher emphasizes the importance of humility and obedience to God in order to overcome this issue. The sermon includes a moment of prayer and reflection for couples to seek God's guidance and repentance if necessary. The preacher shares personal experiences and highlights the need for commitment and perseverance in marriage, citing the resistance of God towards the proud and the grace given to the humble.

This message is one of the Times Square Church Pulpit Series. It was recorded in the Sanctuary of Times Square Church in Manhattan, New York City. Other tapes are available by writing World Challenge P.O. Box 260, Lindale, Texas 75771, or calling 903-963-8626. None of these messages are copyrighted, and you are welcome to make copies for free distribution to friends. Pride. Oh, now who is it that's clapping? Those who say, I am humble and all around me are pride, proud. Let's pray. Lord, you sent me on a mission this morning. I have a job to do and by your grace I'll do it. Now we're going to talk about divorce. We're going to talk about families breaking up. Husbands leaving wives and wives leaving their husbands. And Lord, it's a plague. It's sweeping the church and it's in this church too. And Lord, you told me to obey you this morning and I ask you for a special grace. Lord, I don't want to get angry. I want to preach it in love. But Lord, how forcefully it comes forth is only by the power of the Holy Ghost. You determine that, Lord. I speak as a pastor. I speak as a shepherd who cares about the flock. And I pray, Lord, that you anoint me now. Help me to say it in grace and mercy. But, oh God, don't let anybody miss the point today. Touch me. Touch this whole audience and let us hear what the Spirit has to say. In Jesus' name, Amen. A spirit of pride has erupted in the Church of Jesus Christ throughout the world, and especially here in the United States, and again, most especially here in New York City. Behind all the divorcing, behind all the slander, behind all of the gossiping in the church, behind all the contention on the job in the homes and in the church, there's a spirit of pride. A wicked spirit of pride that has erupted. I want to focus on how pride destroys marriages. How pride destroys marriages. Now folks, I've been preaching now for over 45 years. That's almost half a century. And in that half, nearly half century of preaching, I've seen a lot of things. But what I've seen the last two years, I've never seen the likes of in the previous 43 years, especially in the last two, three years. I have seen, I have witnessed married couples, spirit-filled, attending Pentecostal churches, evangelical churches, and attending this church in particular, who sat under sound, strong, biblical preaching, and they are leaving their husbands, they're leaving their wives, they are, and those who are still together, claiming to be spirit-filled, coming and worshiping the Lord together, are arguing, they're becoming spiteful, becoming bitter. Husbands and wives are splitting apart, and there's divorce on the right hand and on the left hand, and I'm alarmed at it. And I can't stand still anymore without addressing it. We're going to address it very strongly and right to the point this morning. A husband will come into our office and he'll sit there and begin to describe their marital situation, and if I listen to him, his wife is unlovable, she is mean-spirited, she doesn't understand him anymore, she's argumentative, quick-tempered, on, on, on, on, and he makes her sound either like a witch or a floozy. And I'm sitting there thinking, she must be some awful woman to hear this man talk. He's a Christian, he goes to Times Square Church, he sat under years of strong preaching, he won't lie to me. And so I call her in, and she sits there and they listen to her. He's the woman's man, he's got nothing but eye-roving eyes, he's uncaring, he's unloving, he comes home and just watches television, he lays there, he's lazy, he's a good bum, he's just a rotten person. And I don't care, I want out, there's nothing he can say, nothing he can do can change it, I've had enough and God doesn't expect me to stay in this anymore. And I'm sitting there, my head spinning, saying, my Jesus, help me. Who is right and who is wrong? They're both Christians, both so-called spirit-filled, coming to church, love the Lord, and they come to church with this beautiful front, as if everything is fine, they've argued all the way to church. There's nothing but bitterness and rancor in their midst, and he's there sitting in church as a victim, and she's sitting somewhere else as a victim, they're maybe sitting together, and there's a wall between them that every day, another brick, another layer, goes higher and higher, they can't even see over it now. Now how many couples are sitting here today, still married, and yet you're still putting up a front, but you have argument, there's argumentation, there's bitterness in your home, and you have been entertaining the thought of either leaving or divorcing. I sit with so many people now in marital problems, and I'll get my Bible, and I'll start, and I'll go through it, and I'll say, I want you to listen to this, and I start building a case, where after I'm finished, in my spirit, I'm convinced they could never entertain the thought of divorce, they could never think of splitting, no matter how difficult it was, because you see, first place, I came from a generation that didn't entertain divorce every time there was an argument, and thought that every argument was fatal. In my day, we stayed together, we lived together, we worked things out, we prayed, and we waited on God, and now we have a generation who don't want to work, they don't want to wait, they don't want to let God have time to work it out, they want out, out. They go to a second marriage, they go to a third marriage, and they want out, out, out. None of it works, and I'm sitting there, and I'm giving all these scriptures, piling one scripture upon another, and they know my heart, and then when they get up to walk out, I suddenly realize not a word has registered. I have given them the Word of God, I have shown them the fear of the Lord, I've shown them the consequences of their sin, and still they walk out and say, well, God told me that I don't have to stay in this anymore. Well, that may be so, Pastor, but I feel I am right, and I am not going to endure this anymore, and so they walk out of our office, and my heart sinks, and I say, Lord, what does it take? What is it going to take to get through to so many? Now, I was asking God this week, how is it that Christians can sit under such strong preaching, and still abandon their vows, and waive off all commitments, and end up entertaining divorce? And I found the answer in Proverbs 13 10. You don't have to turn, I'll just read it to you, and here's one of the first distinguishing marks of pride. Only by pride comes contention. Only by pride comes argumentation, bitterness, a war of words. Only by pride. Doesn't say anything about victimhood, it doesn't say anything about any other condition, it says pride. Only by pride cometh contention. Only by pride does somebody come to the place where they're irreconcilable with another individual, with a mate. It is only pride that causes somebody to say, I am right, and he is wrong, or she is wrong. That is only pride, according to the scripture. Now, I'm not talking about the wife whose husband beats her physically. If you're in this church, and you are living with a husband who lifts a finger against you, he slaps you, he touches you, you come and report it, and we'll take it, we'll go with you immediately to the police, and we'll get a restraining order. And we'll put that man where he belongs, in prison. Sir, if you sit here in this church, and you raise a finger, you touch that woman, you're a devil. I'll tell you to your face, you're a devil. And ma'am, you need to report that. God doesn't intend for you to stay with the man who beats you, who lays a hand on you. I'm not talking about a wife will slap her husband around, same thing goes. I'm not talking about a husband or wife who divorced their mate because they find that they have been cheated, and they've married a homosexual lesbian. I'm not talking about the mate who flaunts adultery, or the wife who prostitutes, or someone who you know is a candidate for AIDS because of promiscuity. No, no, no, no. God himself will rescue you from that kind of bondage. God himself will miraculously rescue you from that. There's a preacher's wife who came to us about two years ago, visiting here in New York City, a few years ago. Her husband's a friend of mine, but they had marital problems because he was into pornography, and he was demanding that she watch pornography with him. And she did for a while, it was absolutely killing her spirit, it was robbing her of the Holy Ghost, and she felt so dirty, so filthy, and he said, if you're going to stay married to me, you're going to do it my way. And the Holy Ghost told her not to. She called me one day, and I said, you dare not go with him. I said, take your stand, no matter what it cost. Well, it cost her the marriage. He walked out, and he's now living with a woman who's in the occult, and this was a Pentecostal preacher. He's living with a woman now who's nothing but, forget it. I'm not talking about, I am talking, I'm not talking about these that have reasons to, legitimate reasons to leave their marriage. I'm talking about husbands and wives who will be having a hard time. The enemy is bent on destroying their home and their marriage, and they refuse to believe that God can change the situation. They have already made up their mind. I've had women, I've had husbands, and I've had wives in my office this past year, and they will say to me, Pastor, I don't care if she gets a new heart. I don't care if God changes her personality. I don't care if she becomes loving. I don't want her. I've had enough. Lord can give her somebody else. Let her change, but it's not for me anymore. I've had enough. I have no more love. I have nothing in my heart. I want out. That's it. See, that's a contentious spirit that comes from pride alone. The basis of all that is a spirit of pride. According to God's Word, pride hardens the heart, and it sets your position in stone, so that even God came down. If Jesus came in the flesh, you wouldn't listen to Him, because the pride, the Bible says, hardens the heart. Only by pride cometh contention. According to the Scripture, when King Nebuchadnezzar's heart was lifted up, and his mind was hardened in his pride, he was deposed, and the glory of God was taken from him. The Bible says, when he was hardened by his pride, and it's only pride that hardens you, that you don't want to work on your marriage. Now folks, there are some of you sitting here that are single, and you say, praise God, this is one time the pastor doesn't get to me. All you singles, hear me please. Any contention, whether it's on the job, whether it's in the home, whether it's in the church, anybody you're arguing with, anyone you have a war with, all the contention in your life is from pride. So don't think you're going to be missed this morning. I'd better smile, so you don't think I'm angry. I'm not angry. I'm angry at the devil. God has me on a mission this morning. I want to see at least 50 marriages in this church saved, and I want to see it saved today, this morning. I want to see God call an armistice by the power of the Holy Ghost, and this war of words, stop. Only by pride cometh contention. The word contention here means to expel or drive somebody away by strife or argument. Only by pride do you try to drive somebody away by your arguments. Only by pride you try to expel somebody out of your life. That's exactly what the interpretation means. Proverbs 17, 14, the beginning of strife is when one lets out water. Therefore, leave off contention before it be meddled with. Now, in the original, it simply means this. Abandon the quarrel before it breaks out and becomes uncontrollable. And one interpreter says it means before the snarling dog shows his teeth. In other words, you can you can snarl, but watch out when the teeth come. And some of you right there, you're snarling at one another, and he said be careful lest you show your teeth. And then you bite, and you won't. It comes out of control. In this scripture, the beginning of strife is when one let out water. It's a picture of a dike, and there's holding back the water, a dam, and there's just a little leak. It's as if somebody's letting out just a little pinhole. And the Bible says be careful. Deal with that pinhole. Deal with that little leak of water that's coming out now, lest it continue to expand, and a hole get bigger and bigger, and you have a flood. He said stop it now. You're arguing now. You're saying little hurting things to one another now. You are giving each other the silent treatment. You are saying and doing things that are hurting. There's a little leak in the dam. He said now, deal with it. Stop it before it comes a flood, and you have a flood of words. You have a war of words. Your house becomes a war zone. I was in a home once where the wife was going after a husband, and they were shaking each other, and you should have seen three little kids screaming, grabbing at dad's leg, and at mom, and trying to pull them apart, screaming. They knew. They knew a war. They could tell it. And the Lord is saying, the Scripture says, you better deal with it before the flood comes. And some of you are already in the flood, and that flood has swept away all love. It's swept away everything that has to do with dignity. It has swept away your children. It's swept away every consideration for reconciliation. It has been sweeping everything away. You've been carried away by a flood because you didn't stop the little pinhole leak. Stop it now. If there's a war of words going on in your home, how many of you had a little bit of that leak this morning when you got up in your home? Sister, did you wake up angry? Did you wake up with a spirit upon you? That spirit of pride that feels victimized? That spirit of pride that's afraid to say, I'm sorry? That spirit of pride that says, he shouldn't or she shouldn't think the way or treat me like they do? That spirit of pride that won't come down off its high horse? That spirit of pride that doesn't know how to say, I'm sorry, and take the first move? Waiting, always, always waiting. I always have to make the first move. Folks, I've never believed marriage was 50-50. That's a lie from the pit of hell. Marriage is 99 or 100 to nothing. What are you going to do? Go halfway and draw a line and say, hey, wait, I came 50%, you're only 30%. There's a 20% hole here. Marriage is 100% giving. If you get anything back, that's fine. That's icing on the cake. But our job as Christians is to go 100% all the way to be the one that says, I'm sorry. I wonder if my wife's sitting here taking notes. She's going to grade me when I get home. Oh, God, help us to stop this war of words. Throwing these ugly, awful words. And you know, dear wife, you know exactly the button to push. You know what gets you mad? What is that one word? You know, cheapskate, phony, ladies' man. And, sir, you know exactly the button to push. I'm not even going to start naming the names. But isn't that the way even Christians are acting now? Pushing buttons, saying hurting, cutting things. And these are Christians who claim they're going to live together for an eternity. And they can't even get along for a year. Only pride will keep you from being a peacemaker. You can go ahead and build a case against your husband or your wife. You can get on the telephone and you can tell all your friends how you're mistreated. You can keep focused on the bad parts and the bad things, the things that you don't like about your mate. You can tell all your friends all about it and you can keep the fire raging. You keep on the war of evil words. But let me tell you where you're at. You can't change because pride is hardening your heart. And you can't even see now that you're part of the problem. I had a young lady a number of years ago come to me. She just had been served divorce papers from a very famous football player, professional football. She said, Pastor Dave, we were married five or six years and it was fine, but then last year we started arguing. We're not getting along and in one of the arguments, she said, I don't remember which one of us, but in one of our arguments the word divorce came up. Well then let's get a divorce. We were both shocked and we apologized and we said, we're sorry, I didn't mean that. And she said, Pastor Dave, I want to tell you something. Would you please tell people wherever you go, don't ever use the word divorce in an argument. Don't bring it into the house because it's an evil seed and once it's planted, it's like an oak tree and it grows. And she said, that thought was planted in our minds and the next argument out it came again. This time there was no apology and that was planted in his mind and it grew, it possessed him and it just took over and now I've been served divorce papers. She said, would to God, I'd never heard the word in my house. Whatever you do, no matter how angry you get, no matter what condition in your home, don't ever, ever mention the word divorce in your home. Not before your wife, your husband, or your children ever. It's an evil seed, it'll grow, become a tree. The spirit of pride causes, first of all, contention, it hardens the heart, it refuses all efforts to make peace and beyond that, it keeps on stirring up strife. Pride will never let go of the battle, never let go of the argument. It holds and it digs and goes deeper and deeper and hotter and hotter. The scripture said, he that is of a proud heart keeps stirring up strife, Proverbs 28, 25. Hatred, Proverbs 10, 12, hatred stirs up strife but love covers all sins. You see, it doesn't matter how you tell me you're a victim, that you've been mistreated in your marriage. The Bible said if you're not making an effort to cover it, if you're not making an effort to make peace, it's because you have been hardened in your pride and you're the guilty person now because you keep stirring up the strife. And here's a husband, for example, he says, this has gone too far. He tells himself, this has gone too far, so he goes and buys flowers at my recommendation. And he goes in and he's saying to himself, I'm going to make the first move, this has got to stop, this is going to get out of hand, this is getting too much. And so he walks into his house with flowers. And his wife looks at him and says, what did you do now? I see that look on your face, I know when you've done something, what did you do now? And he's flabbergasted. He said, honey, I haven't done anything, I want peace. But you see, if you won't let that argument go, if you won't let that thing go in you and if you won't strive to be a peacemaker, that is going to harden your heart and you will take that argument, you will take that victimhood right to divorce court. And I don't care if an angel came down from heaven, he would not dissuade you because you would be hardened in your position. Because this is exactly what the Bible says, he that's of a proud heart stirs up strife. Boy, how can we speak so hatefully when the Bible said love should cover, love surrenders all rights, love seeks peace, love lays down the argument, love wants reconciliation. But now you have a heart full of hatred. And what the Bible calls nothing but arrogant pride, that hatred in you is not because you're a victim, the Bible said that arrogance, that unwillingness to be reconciled, that unwillingness to work things out and that driving desire to get out of your marriage and leave. Folks, husband, wife, you leave your marriage and you have absolutely disobeyed every commandment in this book, every commandment in this book. The mouth of the righteous is a well of life, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked. Now folks, it's my duty this morning as a shepherd to warn this body of the consequences of acting in pride, taking matters in your own hand and doing what you think is right rather than to conform to the word of God. And I know in my heart, I'm going to have a few couples walk out of the church this morning and never come back. There'll be some of you wives that have left a marriage, you're going to say, you're aiming at me, Pastor Dave, and you're going to walk out angry at me and you'll never come back here. I know that. I would to God that would not show, but that's the way it's going to be. Because there's an anger in you. You are full of anger. Now you that have already been divorced, I have a comfortable word for you in just a minute, so don't sit here thinking, well Brother Dave, you're making me feel terribly because I've been divorced. Now we'll talk about that in just a minute and I'll do it as lovingly as I know how and as the Spirit of God is upon me. But there are some of you here right now sitting in this church. I don't know how long you're married, but you've come to the conclusion now that it's a hopeless situation. You're sitting in this church this morning really feeling beyond the point of reconciliation. And you have thoughts, either you have left or you were thinking of leaving. Now I would hope that those thoughts are not based on you having somebody else in mind. When I see a husband or wife who doesn't want to work things out, the first thing that comes to my mind, I may be a little suspicious. But the first question I want answered, do you have somebody else in mind? Have you been flirting around? Have you been cheating? Are you wanting out of this because you see something better? Or if you don't know somebody right now, is there somebody you would like to know? I want that question settled first. If that's out of the way sister, brother, then we can get to the issue. But there's no hope for you if you have that in mind and you're going to build a case. You will build what you feel is an ironclad case that will get you out and keep the blessing of God. And there's no such thing. It's my duty this morning to warn about the consequences of acting in pride. The word says God will plentifully reward the proud doer. Plentifully reward the proud doer. Now the proud doer is the one who refuses to hear and obey the clear word of the Lord and the commandments of God and thinks that they have a right. This woman, this man thinks he or she has a right to just leave, just go and pursue the divorce. The Bible said every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord pondereth the hearts. There is a way that seemeth right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Death. You hear about people heading for divorce and I've talked to some and absolutely the reaction I get as pastor, I'm going to have to take my chances with the consequences because I don't feel that God wants me in this marriage anymore. First of all, God would not tell you that. God will not speak anything against his word into your heart. That's unscriptural. Unless these cases that I have brought to your attention. Let me give you some of these consequences. Number one, Bible says, if you walk out on your obligation to your vows, you'll be greatly despised of the Lord. Now don't turn there, but Obadiah is a one chapter book and this is the prophet Obadiah speaking to Edomites. God was judging Israel and they were in flight from their enemy and the Edomites began to rejoice at their downfall and the prophet said, God sent in a bastard and warned them that you're in a time of judgment. You're under the judgment of God and you'd better obey the word of the Lord. And the scripture says thou are greatly despised. The pride of thine heart has deceived you that you can say, who shall bring me down to the ground? And here's what the prophet was saying to the Edomites. You people have become violent against your brother. You've made it hard on your adversaries. You did not grieve over the trouble that came upon them. You rejoiced instead. You even tried to halt them or hurt them when they were down. And the Lord says, these are the kind of people I despise. Those who don't grieve in the Lord, those who don't grieve in God, when there's trouble. If your marriage is in trouble, there should be grief before God. You should be on your face before the Lord. You should be seeking God. Oh God, I need help. I need a miracle. You shouldn't be on the telephone telling other people about your husband or your wife and how bad they are. That's gossip. That's slander. That itself brings the judgment of God on you. Do you take it to God? Do you grieve over it? Some that see their husband, a woman will divorce her husband and then there's something inside that says, now God make him pay. And then when he loses his job, she rejoices. And it can be the other way around. When trouble comes or they get into another marriage. I've heard so much of that. The divorce and then that husband or wife gets married to somebody else and there's trouble and ah, he had to come and do it. No, no, no, no. That's not the kind of spirit that has anything to do with a true Christian. That's not the spirit of the Lord whatsoever. The spirit of the Lord grieves when there's trouble, grieves where there is sin. In Malachi, the prophet came against the priest and the rabbis and the Jewish leaders who were divorcing their wives. And they would go according to Malachi and cover the altar with their tears. They would weep and they would cry because most of these men were really building a case against their wives so they could marry these heathen wives. The prophet Malachi came. God said to this prophet, he said, you cover my altar with your tears, but you have been unfaithful to your wives. And folks, you can, you can cry a river of tears about your victimhood. You can cry a river of tears about the trouble in your home. But those tears don't mean anything in the sight of God if there's not a desire to make things right, to walk according to the mind and the will of God. Those are crocodile tears in the sight of God. I know women and husbands that cry and weep over their marriage, but they're crying and weeping because they say, well, I missed it. It's not working out. And they weep and cry over all kinds of troubles and problems in their home. But they're not weeping with the grief of the Holy Spirit. They're not weeping in a burden for that husband or wife that God would give them a new heart. It's a self-pity kind of thing. I'm a victim, Lord. Folks, we live in a generation when there's nobody but victims. Everybody's a victim. Nobody's a perpetrator. Everybody's a victim. The whole society is a victimized society, and that's not the heart of God. The heart of God says, search me, O Lord, see if there be any wicked way in me. God says, you have wearied the Lord when you say everyone who doeth evil is good in the sight of God. He delighteth in them. Or where is the God of judgment and what they were being told by their shepherds until the prophet came? They were being told, it's not wrong to divorce your wife. God still sees you as a righteous person. God still delights in you. There are no consequences. There's no judgment. God's merciful. You can do it. There's no problem. This is what they were told. You're not going to hear that from this pulpit here. You won't hear it said that there is no judgment against this kind of walking in pride. God said, if you will not hear and lay it to heart, I will curse your blessings. I will make you contemptible in base. I will bring you down. It's a loss of God's favor and blessing because of acting in pride. The proud, he knoweth the far off. Psalms 138.6, everyone that is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord. He shall not go unpunished. He shall not go unpunished. There is a punishment on this folks. There is a terrible punishment when people sin against the light. Walk right into it. After the message you hear today, you cannot walk out on your marriage without sinning against special light. Another awful consequence of acting in pride according to scripture is that God is going to resist you. God will resist you. God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. According to the word of the Lord, you have two options. You can humble yourself, lay down your awful pride, and God will give you all the grace you need to be sustained in your problem. That's the Bible. The Bible said, God will give you grace. If you will humble yourself, if you will seek the Lord and say, Lord, I am not going to turn against my vows. I am not going to break my commitment that I made to you because those commitments are made to the Lord. There are some that have been divorced already that were right here where I stand and they, when they stood here three years, four years, five years ago in this church right where I stand now and they made their vows, looking at each other full of love, they said, making a lifetime commitment, said, this is my mate for life. Made those commitments right here where I stand. And now, those commitments are broken. Those vows have been broken. God says, I'll resist you. 1 Peter 5, 5, Submit, yea, all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility, for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble. God says, there's all the grace that you need. Folks, I wouldn't be standing in this pulpit. I wouldn't be standing in this pulpit. I would have been divorced long ago if in our home we hadn't believed God for grace and mercy to see us through all the hard times, financial problems, all the other problems that come on life, sickness and misunderstandings and all of these things. But there was something there, a willingness to fight, a willingness to hold, a willingness to go on. There was something that said, I'll not break my commitment, I'll not break my vows. Submit. Stop the war. Stop the fighting. Submit. Yield. Give in. The prophet Isaiah warned that God has a day of reckoning for those who act in their own pride and self-will. The Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning against everyone who is proud and lofty. Isaiah 2, 11 and 12. And folks, the problem is when you act in that kind of rebellion, this act of pride in walking out on your commitment, the Bible says furthermore in Proverbs 15, the Lord will tear down the house of the proud. He will tear it down. Do you know that when you walk out on your vows, when you walk out on your marriage, if you're a Christian, I'm not talking about you who are sitting here divorced and you were in sin. I'm talking about those who are Christians and spirit-filled believers and then walking out on commitments and walking out on marriages and not believing God for miracles. Nothing works. How can anything be right when God is resisting you? How can anything turn out right? How can a job turn out right? How can another marriage turn out right? How can relationships turn out? How can anything turn out when the Bible says God is resisting you because of your pride? God resists the pride. I don't want God against me. I want Him on my side. I want the favor and the blessing of God in my life. And that's why so many people are in trouble today. They have walked away, gone off in pride. I'm going to close in just a moment. God warns, your pride will bring you low, ending in shame. A man's pride shall bring him low. Proverbs 11.2, when pride cometh, then cometh shame. Let me tell you something about that shame. You know what the shame of divorce is? The shame of divorce is a testimony to the whole world, an awful testimony that says that God can't keep His people, number one, that God can't answer prayer, that He can answer prayer for everything in the universe, but He can't heal a marriage. It's an awful testimony, a shameful testimony to the whole world, to everybody you work with, and everybody around you, that God really doesn't care much about whether we keep our vows as Christians or not. He's not much concerned about commitment. Marriage doesn't really matter too much to Jesus. You can get divorced and still keep His smile. You can keep His blessing upon your life. No, no, no, that's contrary to everything in this book. God says, I will resist you, I'll tear your house down. You become an abomination, I'll make you base and abominable before all around you. I will resist you, and I will bring you down low, and then I will bring you to shame. You know what shame is? It's the shame on the name of Jesus Christ that we bring, that as Christians we cannot work things out with the help of the Holy Spirit. An awful, awful testimony to the world. You know what the shame is? It's the shame before a whole young generation of children that are being destroyed because they don't understand why dad and mom was split up. They heard dad and mom talk about the power of God and the love of Jesus, and they can't understand why that God that their parents talked about, the Jesus they so loved and worshipped, couldn't keep them together and keep their home right. It's the shame of a whole generation now that's going to hell because of a lack of commitment by their parents. And you want to talk about what it is to be brought low? Here's a wife who walks out on her husband, and she's divorced, and I can't handle it anymore. And so she just walks out, and she gets a divorce, and she's got two, three teenagers. You know what it is to be brought low? It's when those children can't be touched. They're out of control. They say, Mom, you have no right to tell us how to act. And they come home smoking pot. They come home drunk. They party half the night, and that mother watches it. That's low down. That's low. That's being brought low. Nothing could be lower for any individual to see their children damned. We have a whole generation of young people being damned by parents who won't get on their face before God and cry out for mercy and keep on their everlasting arguing in the war of words. Pride will bring you low. Now, before I close, there are some of you saying, Pastor Dave, I've been divorced, and that's in my past. I was divorced in the past. Some of you may be remarried sitting here now. The only thing I ask of you is this. Have you thought back about it? Have you taken it to prayer? If you say, Lord, was it pride? Was there pride in my part? How much did I contribute to this? Have you gone to the Lord, and have you repented before God for any pride that you may have acted in? Yes, he'll forgive you. Yes, he restores. Could it be, though, some of the trouble you're facing now in a second marriage, or some trouble that you have right now, even though you're divorced and not remarried, and you're single now, and there are trouble upon trouble? Do you think maybe you need to go back with the help of the Holy Ghost? Not dig up the past, but say, Lord, search me, try me. See if I acted in self-pride, if my pride is still there, or do I have to apologize to you, do I have to write a letter to somebody, or have I rejoiced in the trouble on somebody that I felt has abused me in the past? Take it to God, and get things right before the Lord so that you lift all of this from your back. Now I want to speak in closing right now to those that are sitting here now, living in contention. I hadn't planned to do this at all. In fact, till about 2 o'clock yesterday, I had no word from the Lord, and I sat at my desk, and I just started to write, and God began to move in my heart and said, David, you have got to unburden my heart to the people this morning, because there are going to be some that if they don't hear this are going straight to the divorce court. Today is Armistice Day. The Holy Ghost is calling you to make peace. You make peace today while you still have time, while it's still just a trickle before it comes a flood, and then there's no way of holding back the flood. It's too late. I haven't covered it all. I've only touched on some highlights. You say, well, Brother I'm concerned that some of us might be sitting here very angry at you, maybe some divorced people that are here angry. I didn't slam you. I didn't rail on you. I gave you His Word. It's His Word, and the only reason God speaks like this by His Holy Spirit is because He loves you. He loves you. He loves me. Marriage is an institution that came from the heart of God. God hates divorce. God hates divorce. The great majority of people getting divorced today, and here's what bothers me. Do you know that evangelicals have just as big a rate of divorce as the world now? The evangelical church has the same one out of two marriages ending in divorce in evangelical circles. One out of two. Every other marriage is ending in divorce in the church. So somebody is not hearing God. Somebody is walking in pride and disobedience. Hallelujah. I made vows years ago. By God's grace, we keep those vows, because I made them to God. Not to a woman. I made them to God. You may be a wife here, and your husband's not here in the service this morning. I'm asking you to go home and be the peacemaker. I'm asking everybody in this church that's having family problems to ask God to help you, sir, ma'am, to swallow your pride, to jettison, get rid of it with the help of the Holy Ghost. Say, oh God, this thing has to stop. Folks, you can stop it today. God can turn your marriage around. God can heal your marriage. With the Lord, nothing is impossible. Nothing is impossible with God. Hallelujah. You know something? If you're here this morning, married, and you have a good relationship, you may have a few disagreements, but you never go to sleep at night without peace. You don't want a whole hour without peace. It's not just about going to bed at night with peace. It's just having that peace. You come home and there's joy. You have a wonderful wife. You have a wonderful husband. How thankful you should be this morning. God should fill your heart with joy. You that have been divorced, I have nothing that's in your past. If you have searched your heart and you've humbled yourself before the Lord, that's all in the past. The blood is sufficient to cover and bring healing to you. I want to see at least 50 couples walk down this aisle, up in the balcony and the main floor. I know that takes a lot of courage. We don't have to know anything. The Holy Ghost knows it, and this is family. I want you to make a public commitment to your marriage. That's to say, Brother Dave, the enemy has tried to destroy our home. The enemy is trying to bring contention, but I as a husband, as a man of God, I refuse to allow it to happen. I want peace. I want reconciliation. I want my marriage to be healed. If there's been a breach in your marriage, if there's been something that's come between you and your wife, it's just a little bigger than it's been last week or even last month or last year, I want you to get out of your seat. Now, you may be a husband here, but your wife's not here. I want you to come. I want you to come down here boldly. I mean, as a husband, I want you to come hand in hand and come and stand here right now. Follow these that are coming. It's boldly and clearly. This is life and death. This is life and death. Up in the balcony, go to the stairs on either side. The Lord is going to do a miracle. God is not only going to heal, he's going to make these marriages strong. He's going to make them godly. He's going to bring peace and joy. Everything the worms have destroyed, everything the canker worm has eaten, God is going to restore it. God is a restorer. Folks, I know this takes courage, but that's what it's going to take. It's going to take you getting out of your seat right now and say, yes, now. Don't let pride hold you back. That's been the problem all along, been pride. Humble yourself. Submit to one another now. Wife, if your husband's with you and there's something there, touch him. Lovingly. Don't drag him, but lovingly. Why don't you turn and say, honey, should we go? I mean, seriously. Lord, right now, I ask you to speak all over this house. There has to be healing. God, come. Holy Spirit, come. I have to say this because the Holy Spirit's prompting me. There are some of you standing here yet in your seat and you're married. Both husband and wife are here, but pride alone has kept you from making a commitment. Now, if you don't come forward, that's fine, but don't leave the service without tearing down that wall. Somebody has to take the first move. There has to be a swallowing of the pride and say, honey, right now, I want things right. I want to humble myself. I want to submit myself to you right now. Say I'm sorry and ask God by his Holy Spirit to help you follow through on that commitment now because believe me, it's life and death. There are probably 10, 12 couples up here right now that would be in divorce court unless God did something and does something supernatural this morning and others in the congregation that are not up here, probably more out there than are here now. You say, can it be that bad, David? Yes, it is. It's that bad. Are you standing by your husband? Are you standing by your wife? Are you examining your heart before the Lord right now? I don't care how old you are or young you are or how long or how little of a time you've been married. God, tear down the walls today. God, bring armistice today. Bring peace. Tear down the walls. God, I pray now for a miracle. I ask you to help us tear down these walls. They won't come down unless we attack them. They won't come down unless we tear them down, but God, you can give us the grace to do it. God, give us grace now. Give us grace to humble ourselves and to submit ourselves and to come down from our proud area, our pride and say, oh God, forgive me. I want things right. Now, if you're standing here and you're not married, you're single, but you may be back, maybe marriage is not your problem. There's been a coldness. You've been straying from the Lord. You're not right with God. You're not even right walking with the Lord. Let's sing it once again. If you're here and you want to come to the Lord this way, you don't want to leave this service without getting right with God or coming back to your first love for Jesus. I would look this way for just a moment. I'm going to ask you to deal honestly with God and with your own heart and with others around you. Be honest with God. You've got to stand before his presence right now, acknowledging that the vows you made, the commitments you made were for life, that you have no right to walk out on them. There are no circumstances other than those few that I've named for you to walk out on your commitment. If you make that commitment to God, you can make it to one another. You make that commitment to God. Lord, I make this commitment to you. I'm committed to this marriage. I will not walk out of this. I will do what's necessary. I will pray. I will seek your face. I will humble. I will submit. I will do whatever you ask of me, Lord, that I'm no longer the victim. I'm no longer the victim. As I walk out of this church, I'm no longer a victim. Lord, I want you to be in control of my heart and my home. If that's what you want, I want you to pray this prayer with me right now. Everybody came forward and out in the audience as well. Heavenly Father, I made a commitment and I stand on that commitment. I made a vow for better or for worse, richer or poorer, till death do us part. I come back now, Lord, and I acknowledge before you these vows that I made to you and to my mate. I pledge, O God, to keep those vows with the help of the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of Christ. Deliver us, O Lord, from the vows of the devil. Deliver us, O God, from the spirit of pride. Humble us both. Lord, we're both at fault, and we humble ourselves now. Take away all the pride, all the selfishness, and heal us. Heal us today. In Jesus' name, forgive us. So sorry. Now, Jesus, we commit this to you for your keeping power. Let me pray for you. Father, I pray that the Word finds its place. O God, you don't want to resist us. You died, Jesus, to save us and redeem us. You're here, Lord. Your desire is to bless your people and to give your favor and to bless our blessings. O God, to remove every curse from our life. That's your desire. That's your heart. And, O Lord, we can have that if we just humble ourselves today. Now, look at me, please. It's not in some kind of a syrupy, hey, I'm going to try. It's not just planting a kiss on the cheek of your mate and say, everything's going to be okay. It's a change in the heart that says, I'm committed. God, whatever it takes, I'm going to stay on my face until you tell me how to act and what to do, until you get a hold of my temper, until you get a hold of my eyes, until you get a hold of my heart, until I see my husband and my wife through your eyes, Jesus, until I see the good and not the bad. Hallelujah. Lord, I know you're saving marriages here today. I know it. And I thank you, Jesus. I thank you, Jesus. Now, just take a minute, if you're with your husband or wife, to whisper to one another in the presence of God, whatever you feel God tell you. Don't take my words. Come on, just turn. Nobody needs to hear it. Just get somebody, get the ear, say whatever God says to you right now. Come on. If there's repentance, if there's a need to say, I'm sorry, whatever it is that God is speaking to your heart, you do it right now. Yes. Amen. I see some marvelous healings taking place right now. Marvelous healings. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you. Lift your hands and thank him right now. Lord, we thank you. We give you praise for your faithfulness, your goodness. This is the conclusion of the tape.