In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of not allowing the world's views on marriage and divorce to influence the church. He urges Christians to hold onto their convictions and not compromise their beliefs. The preacher highlights the example of Jesus, who willingly submitted himself to the cross, even though he had the power to save himself. He emphasizes that marriage should be approached with the spirit of unity with Christ and the church, and that it requires sacrifice and humility.

Good morning, all of you. It's good to be in the house of the Lord, as a family, to worship the Lord together, to praise Him, to have some good fellowship, to hear the Word of God. And I want just to remind you that the Word of God is not just to be heard. We've got to live it. That's the plan of God for our lives. It's not just to remember what the Bible says, that we are called to live it, every day of our lives, the best we can. So today I would like to share with you the things that the church Christians must know. So, I'm going to be with you on that particular subject for a few weeks, or let's say a few months. But I believe that there are things that the church must know, must be aware in the time that we are living. There are so many things happening in the church. And the first part of what I want to share with you is, what is God's will about marriage and about divorce? What is God's will? There are things happening in the world, things are changing very quickly, at a great speed. I remember in the times of my grandparents, I was a young boy, and divorce was hardly mentioned in society. But today, in the world that we are living, people are getting divorced every day. It's a talk of the town. But unfortunately, it has reached the church. That's the most unfortunate thing. It seems that the world has crept in, in the church. It seems that the Christians are compromising the Word of God, being influenced by the world lifestyle, the spirit of the world. And I want to ask you a question, very simple. Is that a serious problem for you, that Christians are getting divorced? Pastors, leaders of churches, Christians are just getting divorced. What does it do to you? Do you consider that as a problem, or do you just accept it? Or do you just consider it as acceptable in the church, as part of Christian life today? What does it do to you? How does that witness to you that Christians are getting divorced? By the hundreds, the thousands. What does God think about it? If we go back in the book of Genesis, we understand that God instituted marriage. But there's one thing that we cannot compare, is people under the old covenant, and us under the new covenant. In the old covenant, men would take many wives, and if you don't want your wife, you just give her a letter of divorce. But in the new covenant, I believe that God has done everything through Jesus Christ, for marriage to be a success. So that us as Christians, born again, we would live with our wives until we die. That's the plan of God. I believe that marriage is very special to God. In the book of Hebrews, the author talks about marriage, and he says that the bed must not be defiled. In the book of Timothy, when Paul addresses those who want to serve the Lord as elders of the church, he charges them and tells them that, if your house is not in order, how can you serve other people? How can you take care of other people if your own house is not in order? It means that marriage is very important and special to God's heart. And I don't believe that God had a plan, another plan, for all Christians for when they get divorced, except for very special cases that we are not going to handle. But I want to talk to you in general. A husband cannot just think of having another wife because his wife doesn't cook well, or doesn't want to just serve the Lord even as he wants to. We can find many excuses to get rid of our wives and try to justify ourselves for leaving her for another woman. We can find hundreds of reasons. Let's open our Bibles in the book of Mark chapter 10. We will read from verse 2. Mark chapter 10 verse 2. The Pharisees came and asked him, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife, testing him? In other words, they had the law, they possessed what the law said, but now after hearing what Jesus had been speaking to them before, during the time that he had with him, Jesus challenged them on many issues concerning the old covenant, and told them that things that were accepted in the old covenant would not be the same under the new covenant. And having heard Jesus about many issues of life, they wanted to come and challenge him and test him about the issue of marriage and divorce. The Bible says, the Pharisees came to him and asked him, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife, testing him? Is it lawful? Is it according to the law of Moses? And he answered and said to them, what did Moses command you? They said, Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and to dismiss her. And Jesus answered and said to them, because of the hardness of your heart, he wrote you this precept. Because of the condition of your heart, because it was not possible for your heart to be changed, because there was no way for you to change under the old covenant, even if you tried to follow the law of Moses to the letter. Because we know that the Bible declares that the law cannot change us, cannot bring us to perfection. And Jesus said to them, but from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So then they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate. In the house his disciples also asked him again about the same matter. And he said to them, whoever divorces his wife and marries another, commits adultery against her. And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery. Now when we read these scriptures, we understand that there was a law under the old covenant that a man could write a letter of divorce to his wife and be separated from her. And the Pharisees wanted to hold on to that law or principle under the old covenant. But here Jesus said to them, no, under the new covenant, it shall not be the same. Now open your Bibles with me, Matthew chapter 5 verse 32. That's one of the verses of scripture that Christians want to use to get rid of their wives easily. Because they have an affair with someone else, because their flesh is directing them towards another relationship with someone else. And they hide behind that verse of scripture, because many times they can accuse the wife to live in adultery. Or Christians can easily make a letter of divorce towards a woman because she has committed adultery. We are not going to get into that portion of scripture. But all I want to say this morning is to handle this issue in general. Although I understand that there are many cases that are so different and needed to be taken care with truth and grace, understanding the heart of the person, understanding the heart of a husband or a wife, because there have been problems among them, even because there has been infidelity. But I want to take the subject in general, because it's becoming a problem for the church. The church cannot be influenced by the world standard. The world standard is one thing, and the church is another thing. The only reason is that because God has made provision for his people, born again Christians under the new covenant, God has made provision through Jesus Christ, so that a man and a woman, a husband and a wife, can live together and change and be transformed so that both of them can live together until they die. God made provision for that. That's why marriage has been designed by God through what Jesus accomplished on the cross to become a success and not a defeat. Divorce is a defeat, it's a failure. Are you there? Now let's read Matthew chapter 5 verse 32, but I say to you, verse 31, furthermore it has been said whoever divorces his wife let him give a certificate of divorce. It has been said, but I say to you, it has been said under the old covenant, but I say to you what should happen under the new covenant, but I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason, this any reason talks about everything, and then it goes on except sexual immorality. Continuous sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery. So in other words, we cannot make a quick reaction because there's been a one problem between the husband and the wife. There's been one case of infidelity. It will be too easy to get divorced. We want to clarify things. We want to declare and clarify what the Bible says. There should be no place for divorce under the new covenant if both husband and wife are ready to give their lives to Christ, to surrender their lives to Christ, to take up their cross and follow him, to deny themselves and deny their own rights and allow the Lord to deal with them, both husband and wives. There should be no place for divorce. Otherwise, the power of the cross of Jesus Christ would be a shame, if I can put it that way. In other words, divorce is a shame to the cross. It devaluates the power of what Jesus Christ accomplished on that cross. Divorce is a total failure. That's why there is one solution. The solution is the message that Christians need to hear. It all depends on the message that you hear, the message of the cross. That's the key. The reason why Christians are getting divorced, leaders of churches, responsible of churches, is because either they have not received the revelation of the cross of Jesus Christ, of the message of the cross, or they don't want to live it. If you don't know exactly what you need to do as a husband in your home, according to the gospel, the revelation of the gospel, then you are going to have trouble. The same for a husband and a wife. But God made provision. We are going to look at some scriptures, so that we can understand that God made provision for a successful marriage. He shows us clearly in scripture. That's why we need the revelation of the gospel. We need the cross. Let's open our Bibles in the book of Ephesians. How many of you know that divorce carries its consequences? It carries its consequences. And I'm not talking about consequences in the natural, because this is also real. When there is divorce in a family, there is chaos. Everything is unbalanced. Children are suffering. There's all sorts of problems resulting from a divorce. But there are also many spiritual problems resulting from a divorce. Spiritual problems. And I want to look at these problems, these spiritual problems, because I believe that if a husband decides to divorce his wife and leaves her and starts a new life with another woman, I believe that this Christian loses the anointing on his life. It's time for men, Christians, husbands, not to hide anymore and try to justify themselves for their decision to leave their wives for all sorts of little reasons. What's those who have decided to divorce their wives and take another woman? What's their lives after? They were serving the Lord and now they are dry. They were serving the Lord but they have lost their anointing. You listen to them before their divorce, you would feel somehow the life of Christ and the anointing of God upon their lives. And after they got divorced and married another one, another woman, because they couldn't fit together, because she was probably a bit rebellious, she was not listening to him, or many other reasons, many many other reasons. You know the problem in the Christian church is that there are many divorces that happen not because of adultery, but for so many hundreds of reasons that are not justifiable. Justifiable. And you watch these men, you watch them, they have lost the flavor of the ministry. They can't serve the Lord the same way, they don't carry the same anointing on their lives. You watch them and you hear them, they can say the same things, they know the Bible, they have kept the same understanding of what they had before. But before they were preaching under the anointing of God and now they are preaching under no anointing. Dry, it's like dry bones. They can't transmit life anymore. That's the greatest consequence, spiritual consequence of Christians getting divorced for reasons that are not justifiable. You fell in love with your secretary or you fell in love with someone else and then you start pointing your finger at your wife and you start finding reasons. Yeah, you start finding good reasons to get divorced. It's the truth. If you watch these men, you find the consequence of their act. They've lost everything in the spirit. They've lost the flavor, they've lost the perfume of the anointing of God. And they start to just, you know, try to pick it up again. But they do everything they want, but they can't make it in the spirit. They can't make it in the spirit. The church needs to know what is God's will in marriage. What does God think about divorce for anything? There are special cases, yes, where you can understand we're going to go about these things because it's going to be too long. But there are many reasons, many good reasons for some Christians to get divorced. But we're not talking about these issues where somewhere, like for example, someone is deep in adultery and continues in it and has finished with the Lord. And has finished with Christianity and has given up her life or his life to another woman to sin, to continuous sin. And no one knows what the other is suffering. That's why it's difficult for one to take, to make just a decision, a principle out of it. That's why we can't get into this matter now. Because there are thousands of cases that are different. But we're talking about Christians that are getting divorced just for other reasons. She doesn't fit me. She just spends all my money. Yeah? She's not the same anymore. I didn't marry her like I can see now. Yeah? She's too authoritative. She doesn't want to submit. Yeah? She's not so spiritual. Why did you marry her? She'd have known it before. They are very bad consequences that result from divorce as a Christian. And the greatest one... I'm not talking about just preachers. I'm talking about any Christian. Any Christian. You were serving the Lord before and now you want to serve the Lord the same way but it's not the same. You just lose it. You just lose it. And you can't make people understand you. But the problem is that many Christians are so foolish that they understand. That they swallow all the good reasons that the brother gives for getting divorce. Yeah? All the good reasons. And then Christians sit under that ministry where it was anointed and now it's no more anointed. It was anointed now it's technical. It was anointed but now it's principles. There are consequences and there are so many of them who get divorced and then repent. They are involved in a relationship with someone else emotionally and they are advised not to continue. They are counseled not to continue and to believe God to restore the relationship between him and his wife. He's told about the consequences but the flesh is too alive. And then he goes for it, gets into marriage, a new marriage, and then he says, but God forgives me. You can't play with God like that. You can't play with God like that. No. If you've been warned about the consequences, if you've been warned about what you're doing, it's not right that you pursue your decision. You stand trying to justify your act. You put the reasons on paper. There's too many. You need to understand me. And then you still go and do what you want to do, what you decided to do. You see, there is only one thing that can restore you is true repentance. True repentance. There's one thing that can restore you is true repentance. And true repentance is acknowledging that you failed. It's acknowledging that you've taken the wrong decision. But if you never acknowledge it, the anointing of God will never come back on your life. We're not talking about repentance because we have to. No. We're not talking about repentance just to start again. You see, God restores. God restores true repentance. Repentance where you can come and acknowledge, I have missed it. I took the wrong decision. I was a fool. I acted by the desires of my flesh. I got deceived. I got involved in a relationship that I should not. And you declare. And you repent. And you become broken before God. But if you still pursue trying to justify what you've done, you lose the anointing. You lose it. And it will never come back to you until there is true deep broken repentance. Until you acknowledge it. You acknowledge it. I messed it up. I missed it. And if it takes you to come back again to that woman before, your original wife. Yeah. But if you keep trying to justify yourself and say, well, it's too late. I've done it. It's that. It's okay. Accept me who I am. Doesn't work that way with God. Doesn't work that way with God. You know, God looks at the heart. Now you can come to me and say, which which one should I come back if I've got the third marriage now? I mean, I don't want to get involved in that sort of thing. All right. But you see, I've mentioned something that I've got to go to the end of what I said. What I'm saying that I don't know. I don't know. It's up to God. It's up to the Holy Spirit to guide you. And if you are true with God, He will. He will. Because things have happened. The mess. You know, there is mess. There is problems. There are problems. All sorts of things have happened. And what is the best solution now? I don't know. But all I know is that the church must know that God is not interested to hear good reasons about how your wife is. Yeah. God looks at the heart. The heart of men. That's why I like the cross. That's why we need the gospel. That's why we need to understand the spirit of the gospel. Understand the revelation of what Jesus Christ did on that cross. So that we may also bring our lives to Him and identify ourselves with Him in His sufferings, in His death, so that we may partake to resurrection life. It's too easy to become so what do you call that? Superficial about marriage. So easy for Christians to say, okay, get married. Let's have a second chance. What's a second chance? Is it a second chance for you to have a successful marriage? Is that the God of the second chance? Or the third one? Is to give you, maybe after the second or the third or the fourth, to have a successful one? Hey? God is a God of one marriage. Yeah. You say, you are too legalistic, brother. No, I'm not. I can understand. There are things that happen. I'm not there to condemn. I'm not there to judge. But I'm there to just to try and transmit to you the heart of the Lord, the heart of Christ. In marriage, I'm not condemning or judging those who got divorced. No. Because I don't know how they got divorced. I don't know the situations of life. I don't know. But oh, there's one thing I know, that you know, this church knows, that if we keep walking on the road of the cross, we'll be safe. We will be safe. You know what? And I know something else. Now, listen to me well and carefully. If any elder of this church gets divorced, you, because you have the gospel in your heart, and you know what's the gospel of the cross, you will not follow the example. Yeah. I tell you, you will not follow the example. Because you know, you have got the revelation of the gospel. You know, as a husband, how you need to love your wife as Christ loved the church. And that is written on your heart. You know that you've got to lose your life for her. You know that you've got to accept many things because of her. And it's not because one of the elders of the church get divorced, that you are going to take the example and change your conviction and your vision. That's your security. That is your security because of the gospel. Because of the gospel, it is your security because of your conviction. Now, open your Bibles with me in the book of Ephesians chapter 5. Now, I remind you that I'm talking about general situations here. Can you understand? In other words, I'm talking about Christians or anyone that just wants to get divorced because his wife is this, is that, or the other. You know, he doesn't feel it's the right one anymore. She doesn't want this. She doesn't want that. She doesn't this. She wants that. She wants this. You know, Ephesians chapter 5, I want to read to you what the apostle Paul says about marriage. And it's amazing how the revelation that the apostle Paul had about marriage is totally linked with Christ and the church. It's just not something that you can put aside or apart or separate it from Christ and the church. Can you hear me? Or make as if you hear. You cannot separate marriage from Christ and the church. It's not just a union in the church between a man and a woman. No, it's totally linked with Christ and the church. It's not just an event. It's just, it's not a reception. It's not just a blessing. It's not a prayer or blessing for the future. No, it's not a vision for having kids. Can you understand what I'm saying? Yes, it's good to have a vision to form a family and kids, but you cannot separate it from Christ and the church. I'll show you how. Verse 24 says, therefore just as the church is subject to Christ, now I want you to be remindful of that word just. Just. In other words, the same as. Correct? Just. Or the same as. If you don't catch that, you are not going to see what I want you to see. Just. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives just as. Or in other words, the same way. Is that good English? Just as means the same way. Have I got some very good English people here today? Yes, I can see a few. Am I right here? Okay, just as means the same. So husbands, love your wife the same way that Christ loved the church and gave his life for her. Now, let me tell you, this is the solution for marriage. You say, what about the wife? Hold on. We'll get that later. But, but let me tell you something. Christ is before the church. You can't put the church before Christ. How many are agreement with me? There is no church without Christ as the head. Okay, so Christ is more important than the church and the church has become one with Christ. Okay, because of one sacrifice. Okay, there's no church without Christ. Okay, can you agree with me that Christ is more important than the church? That's why the same way the ministry of the husband is more important than the ministry of the woman, the wife. Okay, because husbands must act like Jesus, but wives must act like the church. Can you see something here? Can you see something here? That's why we must put more emphasis on the ministry of the husband. He's the key. He's the key factor. He's the key person of marriage. The same way that Christ is the key for the church, for that union with Christ, the church with Christ. Christ is the head. You can't put the church above the Christ. You can't put that. Okay, do you see, sir? Do husbands love your wife as the church? No, as Christ loved the church. As Christ loved the church. That's why my ministry as a husband is more important and more, carries more responsibility than the ministry of my wife. In other words, the church would never be able to love Christ before Christ loved the church. Correct or not? Did you look for Christ? No. It's because you felt his love for you that now you can love him. You can't love Christ just because, you know, like that. No, you can't. You love him because somehow deep down in your heart you understand that he gave his life for you, that he shed his blood for you, that he took his sufferings for you, that he went down in the tomb for you, that he died for you, that he lost his life for you. Then your eyes pop open and your heart feels the love of God. And then you say, Jesus, I love you. I want to give my life to you. I want to submit to you. I want to do what you say. Yeah, I want to do what you say. That's what we as a church say to Jesus. Correct or not? See, that's the key. That's the key. If a husband is ready to give his life for his wife, there's no place for divorce. Husbands, love your wife as Christ loves the church and gave his life for her. How can I do that, sir? How can I love that woman? How can I give my life for a woman that doesn't listen? That's exactly what you need to do. Yeah, you can't write a huff. You can't do that. For three and a half years, Jesus walked with 12 rebels. Yeah, they denied him. Yeah, Peter, Peter said, Jesus, you can't, you can't go and die that way. I'll be with you. You know what happened to Peter? He denied the Lord. But that was before the cross. But after the cross, he died for the cause of Christ. Correct? He died for the cause of Christ. Why? Because he understood how much Jesus loved him. The revelation of the cross came alive. He saw the love behind the death. He saw the love behind the suffering. He saw the love behind the humiliation of accepting everything. That's what he saw. Yeah, his eyes became open. The Holy Spirit revealed to him the love of God, the love of Jesus. And good old Peter had no option but to love Jesus back and was ready to give his life and die for Jesus Christ, which he did, which he did. That's why you can't say, but I can't love that woman. She doesn't want to listen to me. No, my brother, the day will come. It took three and a half years for them to obey. It took three and a half years for these disciples to be submitted to love Jesus Christ, to stop denying him and to stand for him, to submit to him, to hear him and obey him, to respect him. It took three and a half years until their eyes popped open, until they saw the revelation of the cross. They could not do so. They ran away. They went to hide themselves. That's why many husbands do. They ran away. But Jesus saw the final product and he stood and he gave up his life and his apostle saw the revelation of the love of Jesus Christ. And they had nothing more to do but to give their lives and say, Jesus, I am yours. Wait for the time when that woman would tell you, hey, sir, I am yours. But you must walk on that road first, sir. You must give your life for her. You must humble yourself. You must carry the humiliation. You must give her to win. You must swallow. You must take it as a man, not as a woman, as a man. Yes, sir. Just wait. Don't give it up. Don't give up on that woman. Don't do that. You have one thing to do. Love her as Christ loves the church. Do one thing, sir. Do one thing. And that's the reason why many Christians are getting divorced today. Yeah, they don't know their responsibility. They don't know how to love their wives in the spirit. That's why I said to you that marriage has been designed for success. There's no defeat. There cannot be any defeat in marriage when husbands love their wives, take up their cross, and give their lives for this woman. Then you'll find a hard-headed woman. Bow down before Jesus Christ, yes, and allow the Lord to break that hardness, or to break this or that or whatever she carries. Never forget that Jesus was the first one to give his life. The first one. Ah, but brother, I'm waiting for her to submit. You'll wait all your life. I'm waiting for her to change. You'll wait for that change all your life. I'm telling you, just do one thing. Do your part. That's all you need to do. Do your part. Don't put expectations on her life. And many times it's your law that is hardening her own heart. It's because you don't know how the spirit works, and you think that you want to change her yourself. But the same way Jesus Christ opened the door for you, you've got to open your door, husbands, for your wives. I would say in this place this morning, that many of us have tried to change our wives, but in vain. You know, even in the Christian church, I'm telling you, Christians think of divorce. Have you ever thought of divorce? Or come on, be sincere here. Lift up your hand. Is that all? Is that all? Come on guys, I don't believe you. I don't believe you. Why don't you lift up your hand, you? Why? Why do you keep that hand down? And you, and you, and you. I have. It's not because I have that you need to. But I know. We think of separation. We think of divorce. We think that she's not the right woman. And then you start to have emotional relationship with that sister. It's true. And then suddenly you find that that sister, she's so wonderful. She's not like this woman of yours. She's so kind. You know, that's how it starts. That's how it starts. Husbands, love your wife. Ask Christ at the church. And give himself for her. Just as, the same way, the same way. It's tough guys. It's tough. But that's the way it is. Do you want the solution? That's the problem of the church. That's the problem of the church. The lack of one message. The message of the cross. When I read these verses in Ephesians chapter five for you, I was talking about the message of the cross. That's what I was talking about. The message of the cross. You don't win your heart of your wife by good things you give her. All the things that just you say. If you want to wait for her to change, well, good luck. You know what she wants? You know what she's waiting for? You know what she's waiting for? Why her, not me? Because that's nature. That's how God made it. God designed it that way. That this woman is waiting. Waiting for you to make her feel that you love her. By giving your life for her. That's what she's waiting. That's the only thing she's waiting. It's natural. When I say it's natural, you understand. That's how God created a man and a woman. And then he made a plan for them through the cross for each one to have his own responsibility. And you can't interchange it. You understand? You can't interchange it. You can't put the responsibility of the husband on the wife. But what I'm saying also is that, if the husband doesn't want to, what do you do? You take up your cross. Yeah. If he doesn't want to serve the Lord, then what can you do? He doesn't want to take up that cross. He doesn't want to love you like Jesus Christ loved the church. He doesn't want to die. He doesn't want to deny himself. He doesn't want to. I'm talking about the message of the cross here. Do you understand that? If he doesn't want, you woman, your wife, you're not going to sit down and wait. You're going to take up your own cross. You are going to take up your own cross. And you're going to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in that relationship. And you're going to serve the Lord. That's what Peter says. The apostle Peter. 1 Peter chapter 3 verse 1. Wives. Wives. Not woman. Wives. Be submissive to your own husbands that even if some do not obey the word, they without a word may be warned by the conduct of their wives. You know, when you are a spiritual woman and you want to serve the Lord and you see that husband of yours, you know, doing what he wants and, you know, he doesn't want to serve the Lord. He's not interested in serving the Lord. He is not interested in serving the Lord. And yet, somehow deep in your heart, you know that in some areas of your life, you've got to submit to him. Submit to someone that doesn't serve the Lord. I'm not talking about submitting to a husband that tells you to do things that are not according to God's will. I'm not talking about that. But deep down in your heart, as a woman of the Spirit, you want to serve the Lord, but he doesn't want to. So what do you do? You take up your cross. When the Holy Spirit directs you to submit to him in that area of your life, you do it. Even if you are submitting to a man that doesn't want to serve God. But look what Peter says. He says, even if some do not obey the word, they without a word may be warned by the conduct of their wives. What conduct? He says it at the beginning. Be submissive to your own husbands. Be submissive to them. And how many of you understand that submission is of the heart? It's not an action. It's of the heart. Submission is of the heart. Okay? You as a Christian woman, as a woman of the Spirit, yes, you can come to the place where you submit yourself to him. Yeah. And what's going to happen? Peter says what's going to happen. He said, by your conduct they may be warned to the Lord. I'm not talking about just doing things that are not scriptural. No. I'm talking about other things where the Holy Spirit leads you to submit to him, even if you are not on the same line and you don't see the same things. And sometimes it's harder for you to submit and accept what he says, even if you know that what you say is right. Can you see? And this husband needs to feel your attitude of heart. He needs to feel what's in your heart. Everything is won by the heart. That's why the Lord Jesus Christ has designed marriage as a success. It can be hard. You'll have problems. You'll have difficulties. You'll have issues, tests and trials in that relationship. But there's a way. It's the way of the cross. There's a way to deny yourself of your rights. That's why I like the attitude of Jesus Christ. When all the soldiers captured him in the garden so that he would go to the cross, he could have called the Father to send angels, a legion of angels to come and save him. But he submitted. He had the power to stop that. But he decided to submit himself. He decided to lose at that very time. And that's a hard thing to do, to lose. To lose when you are in position of authority. To lose when you can do everything you want, but to accept the defeat. That's why marriage, if it's not taken in the spirit, and if it's not united with Christ and the church, we'll miss it. We'll miss it. So what does the Lord, what does God believe? What has the Lord instituted in marriage? You know, you get the first chance, and then you get the second chance, and then you get the third chance. How many chances? What's the difference between two and three? And what's the difference between three and four? You go in churches today, and you know, every day some people come and introduce you to their new wives. That's my new wife. Oh, where's the first one? I got divorced. Oh, she's a bad woman. You know, you just get introduced to people that just get remarried. It's amazing, man. It's like the world. You go into the world, and you meet people, and you know, you used to know them before, and you see them with some other woman. It's normal. It's not, you cannot allow this thing to become normal in the church. And I want to say something before I close, is that we must not lose our convictions. We must not allow the world, and church, and the church, and Christians, and Christian leadership to change our convictions. That is not legalistic. No, it's a conviction of heart. Because of the gospel, we know it works. We know it works. It's a question of accepting to take up that cross and following Him. That's why I believe today that there are thousands of divorces that have occurred because of the lack of revelation of the responsibility of the husband and the wife. And then you get into the flesh. You get in the flesh. You see things in the flesh. You know, I can tell you many times in my Christian life, when I'm walking on the road of the cross, I'm in the Spirit. I'm in the Spirit. And the moment, the moment I step outside that road, it's my flesh that takes over. I start to see things differently. I start to hear things differently. I don't look at the heart anymore. I don't feel the heart anymore. I look in the flesh. Then everything starts to get sour. Right? Can you see what I'm saying? But I know that when I remain on that road, when I'm ready to continue to deny myself and identify my life with Christ, identifying my life with Christ is not just saying, I'm with you, Jesus, and you are with me. No, an identification is a fellowship. That's why Paul says that I want to know him in the power of his resurrection and in the fellowship of his sufferings. And our suffering is the cross. Our death is the cross. And until God deals with me, I'm never, I'm not safe. I'm not safe to end up with the same woman at the end of the day. What is the key? The cross of Jesus Christ. My identification with him. Jesus, you suffered. I will suffer with you. I'll take up my cross. I'll give up my life. I'll persevere. Even if she doesn't change now, but I persevere Lord. I love her. I'll give my life for her. I persevere. And I know that this is my security. That's why I can say today, pre-marriage courses, post-marriage courses, pre-counseling sessions, post-counseling sessions. Are they worth it? Are they worth it? If we are not walking on the road of the cross, they are not worth it. They only be worth it when you sit down with some spiritual man or woman and be encouraged to stay on that road. Then it will be profitable to you. Oh Lord, help us. I tell you, you must help us. Some people tell you, you just have to communicate, just communicate, continue communicating. You know, but I'm not a communicator. So I'm lost. If you're not a communicator, then you are lost. And everybody knows I'm not a communicator. My wife is the first one to know it. Do you understand? Communicate, talk, explain. No Lord, the cross. Put me on that road Lord. Allow me, give me the grace to stay on there. Give me the grace to continue to deny myself and take up that cross and identify my life to you. Jesus. Amen. I pray the Lord bless you. I pray the Lord be with you. You young Christians to get married and all those Christians that are battling in their marriages. I trust that these few words have helped you. God bless you and we'll see you next week.