Couples Night - Part 4

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 wept. 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. God doesn't expect you to live like this. And our mother looked at me and my sister and said, no. When I said to God to death us two parts, 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 will 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's 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 fail God who was not utterly Christlike. 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 we speak when our husbands fail. You see, our mother lived a life proving to us that God gives all the grace you need, and no matter what your husband does, you can still be Christlike. You don't need to fail because your husband fails. We're very careful how we react to our husband's failures because of what we saw in our mother's life proving to us through the example of her life. Through the example of what we saw in her life. When I courted my wife, I had a few socks, you know. I'd one day want to write a book on all that. But one of the first socks was my future father-in-law. He's a preacher, he's a farmer, but he's known throughout our country as a preacher. 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 has to preach. And oh, thousands and thousands across our land just walk with God through his ministry and the impact of his life of preaching. 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 to sit down and say, Preach! He's making sure nothing goes wrong in this marriage. So he just has sermons and doesn't let me have it. All I see from my father-in-law is sermons just flowing at me, you know, that he's worked out to keep me true. Anyway, when I finally had the courage to sit down and ask him, How 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 quietness. And then he said, Keith, I want you to do me a favor. I want you to have a good look at Jenny's mommy. I want you to have a long look at my wife, my boy. How she speaks. Her values, her reactions. I want you to look at my wife, Jenny's mommy. That is what you will have in 20 years time. Is that what you want, my boy? Will you be happy with that? Don't doubt it, Keith. And I don't want you to answer fast, I want you to think about it. And I sat back and I was shocked at that. And then I said, I think it's wonderful. I think your wife is wonderful, sir. And you look happy. So he laughed. 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, the way you treat him. The way you conduct yourself in marriage and in that home. Are you happy with that? What she sees in you now... she's going to be that. I wonder if I could ask all you ladies... if you could just answer God on that right now. Are you happy with that? Will you please answer God? Do you really mean that? My daughter is going to be like me in her marriage. Oh, by the way, 20 years have passed. Jenny's daddy was right. She's just like her mother. In so many ways, it's uncanny. He was right. Proverbs 30 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.